Clusters of light formed into armor, attaching to Durandal's body. In less than three seconds, the outfit of Bright Knight: Excelsis was complete.
"So cool..."
Ryn looked on with admiration for a few more moments. Once he completed his own promotion to S-rank Valkyrie, he would go and ask Otto for a set of "Moon Knight" series armor. Whether it improved his abilities or not was secondary; it would definitely score major points in the looks department.
With a Phased Weapon Array rapid-fire cannon in his left hand and a Phased Weapon Array greatsword in his right, Ryn also completed his combat preparations.
"Come on!"
Durandal raised the long lance in her hand—Throne of the Gods: Hel of Eternal Silence. The skirt-like optical wing modules on her back ejected a dazzling stream of gamma particles.
As the countdown began, Durandal abruptly shot towards the sky at superluminal speed, vanishing into the heavens like a shooting star.
"Have you ever heard of a spear that descends from the heavens... is that it?" Ryn immediately raised his rapid-fire cannon and began firing continuously at the sky, each energy bullet enhanced and accelerated by his authority.
High above, Durandal held Hel vertically in front of her chest. Aided by gravitational acceleration and the thrust from her optical wing modules, she became a streak of light tearing across the sky, piercing vertically towards Ryn.
The energy bullets Ryn fired at her were all blocked by an ethereal shield in front of her.
"Such a simple and unadorned thrust... a pity it doesn't seem to work on me."
Ryn leaped up from the ground, swinging his greatsword to clash with Durandal's lance. The moment they made contact, Ryn rewrote Durandal's gravity, nullifying all the built-up momentum of her attack.
Without its momentum, the thrust's power was greatly diminished, and Durandal's lance was easily parried by Ryn.
However, the moment she felt her gravity change, Durandal knew that Ryn's authority was the manipulation of gravity. And knowing an opponent's authority meant having a countermeasure.
Durandal immediately mobilized the Honkai energy within her body, driving the Bright Knight: Excelsis suit to disturb her own electromagnetic field, thereby interfering with Ryn's control over her gravity.
Bang—
The two adjusted their stances in mid-air and clashed again.
After a few collisions, Ryn shook his aching hand...
Is Durandal's physical constitution even human... Although she has the amplification from her armor, my own slashes are enhanced by my gravity authority, yet I'm the one giving out first.
Realizing he couldn't win in a contest of strength, Ryn threw his greatsword directly at Durandal, raised his rapid-fire cannon, and fired continuously, occasionally throwing out a gravity singularity to control her.
This kiting tactic of Ryn's was starting to annoy Durandal. Ryn could fly freely, changing his direction and angle at will, while Durandal's flight relied on particle jets from her optical wing modules, which was far too restrictive. Ryn also kept throwing gravity singularities and altering the regional gravity, making it impossible for Durandal to even touch him.
"I have to admit, Herrschers are indeed much harder to deal with than Honkai Beasts... but you'd better keep dodging, Ryn. The moment I hit you, you're finished!"
Slightly enraged, Durandal reversed her grip on Hel, raised it, and hurled it forcefully towards Ryn.
Having left Durandal's Field, the thrown Hel's gravity was easily rewritten by Ryn, stopping it in front of him.
Ryn raised Hel and aimed it at Durandal.
"What's this, Durandal? Getting desperate?"
"Not at all. I just hope you're holding on tight." Seeing Ryn grasp Hel, Durandal gave a knowing smile, then shouted furiously.
"King!"
"What?"
While Ryn was still wondering why Durandal was calling for a king, an ethereal knight emerged from Hel, swinging a greatsword directly at him.
Too close to dodge, Ryn raised the Phased Weapon Array to block, only to have it shattered by King's slash.
Although the weapon broke, it bought Ryn enough time to react and evade the strike.
The instant King attacked, Durandal also charged towards Ryn with a thrust. Ryn dodged King, but he couldn't dodge Durandal's attack. Durandal's straight punch landed squarely on Ryn's face.
That punch from Durandal brought tears to Ryn's eyes. After a 360-degree spin in the air, he was hit by Durandal's downward axe kick, sending him crashing from the sky to the ground.
The sheer power of that kick was evident from how deep a crater Ryn made in the ground and the size of the dust cloud he raised.
Ryn lay spread-eagled in the rubble, looking up at Durandal who was gazing down at him from the heavens.
"I always thought you were a pure warrior. I never expected you to be a summoner!"
"You could say that... This suit I'm wearing, Bright Knight: Excelsis, is equipped with a Honkai particle-driven tactical phantom system, or Self-Propelled Phantom for short. I can summon two autonomous phantoms, armed with the Sword of the Holy Spirit and the Shield of the Holy Spirit. The one that just slashed you, I call him King, and the shield-wielding phantom that blocked your attacks earlier, I call her Queen."
Durandal landed next to Ryn, pulling him out of the rubble as she explained.
"Can you still fight? Winning like this feels a bit cheap."
Ryn touched his swollen face, using Honkai energy to reduce the swelling.
"Of course. A minor injury like this is nothing. I can keep fighting for another day."
"Good. Then let's continue with close combat on the ground. Fighting in the sky has become a bit boring."
Durandal extended her hand to recall her lance and immediately put distance between herself and Ryn. This time, both King and Queen appeared by her side. A sneak attack was a measure of last resort; Durandal preferred a fair and honorable fight.
Looking at the fully armed Durandal, Ryn let out a few cold laughs. He then re-summoned a new Phased Weapon Array and charged towards her.
"I let you have the first move just now. Now it's my turn. Any objections?"
"None at all."
Duang—
Queen blocked Ryn's greatsword attack with her shield. Durandal immediately seized the opening created by Ryn's loss of balance and countered, thrusting her lance directly at Ryn and lifting him up.
But the impaled Ryn showed no sign of panic, instead smiling at Durandal.
"I told you, it's my turn now."
"What?"
"You're banned."
As Ryn spoke, Durandal instantly lost control of Hel of Eternal Silence, and with it, she felt her control over Bright Knight: Excelsis slipping as well. The lance fell from her grasp, and the inability to pilot her Valkyrie battlesuit caused Durandal to freeze for a moment.
Ryn seized the opportunity and punched Durandal square in the face, sending her flying.
"Hmph, I hold a grudge, you know."
But then, Durandal simply discarded the Bright Knight: Excelsis suit and charged over, clenching her teeth in fury.
Seeing the menacing Durandal, Ryn raised his hands.
"Durandal, let's be clear, I surrender!"
But Durandal was a stubborn mule who hated losing. How could she possibly let Ryn surrender after he'd punched her in the face without letting her hit him back?
"Since this is a battle, it must end with one side losing the ability to fight. Neither of us is seriously injured, so how can it be over?"
With one cheek swollen, Durandal squinted, a benevolent smile on her face as she punched Ryn, sending him flying again.
Dammit, I can't take this anymore. Now both of Ryn's cheeks were swollen.
Ryn flew up, charged over, and gave Durandal another punch. Now they were both little chubby faces. Then, the two of them, fuming, started scuffling.
Both tacitly agreed not to use their full strength, brawling like children throwing a tantrum, trading punches back and forth.
(Durandal has a serious grudge about people hitting her face. In the game, Durandal gets her face slapped by either the Herrscher of Sentience or Kevin.)
(In both Tianyuan and Flamescion's animations, you can see that both their faces are swollen. This is the Kiana treatment, manual smirk.)
(The power levels are roughly, Pseudo-Herrscher ≈ A-rank Valkyrie, S-rank is a tier stronger than a typical Herrscher, Durandal > S-rank.)