Power Overwhelming

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It wasn’t all that surprising that Envy had recognized her as Wrath, even if the beastwoman had likely seen her Name as Karma. The two of them had met several times in previous lives, and Karma was her most commonly used True Name. She personally believed there was some kind of fate that kept bringing the ones bearing the Names of the sins together, and they of course learned many of the other Names the others possessed. The same held true to some extent with the virtues, though to a lesser degree. She’d met Valor before, but only in passing, so it wasn’t all that surprising if the man had not connected Karma with Wrath before Envy had voiced the connection.

True Names were a curious thing. There was no reliable source of information on them, and everything the reincarnators knew about them was learned through trial and error. And many of them weren’t willing to share any information they had managed to scrape together. For example, Karna knew the acquisition condition for her own Names, and she’d been there when Envy, Lust, and Pride had gotten their Names, so she could make a decent guess how those Names were gained, but she had no idea how Gluttony, Sloth, and Greed got theirs.

There were several techniques to find out about someone’s True Name, some of them more effective than others. Normal magical means and even items could be quite effective, but they could also be defended against, and Karna had made her own magical defenses long ago. It had been one of the first things she’d made in fact. The most commonly used techniques were the kind of soul techniques all four of them had just used to identify each other, but the effectiveness of those techniques was limited, especially when using it against someone with a stronger soul than your own.

The most common issue was that you only got one Name. In many cases that didn't matter, as even among reincarnators, you usually only had a couple of True Names. People like her that seemed to gather a large number of Names were rare and old. But the issue still existed. For instance, none of the other three reincarnators in their group got more than a single Name from her, despite her having multiple. Her case was also special in that her other Names were concealed, but even if they had not been, they'd still only get one. Repeated uses of the technique would only yield the same result.

The second issue was that not all Names had an equal chance of appearing. Even Karna didn’t have an exact idea of what the odds were and how it exactly worked, but apparently the more widely a Name was recognized, the bigger the chances that people would see it. Universal recognition seemed to have some effect, but the most important part was how many people associated the Name with the current you. So even if the people of this universe knew of the existence of the Reaper, since no one associated the name with her specifically, the odds of the Name appearing were relatively minor. Not non-existent though. The same held true for Wrath, except now Envy had associated that Name with her, so it had a much higher chance of appearing, even if still relatively minor in comparison to Karma.

“Why do I always keep running into you.” Envy complained, though there wasn’t any real heat behind her words.

Of the sins, Envy had always gotten along with Wrath the best, though that wasn’t saying much. As her Name implied, Envy was quite prone to jealousy and the sin she was Named after, and Wrath, or Karma as she was better known as, had many qualities to be envious of. No matter how she looked at things, Wrath always seemed to be better, more attractive, more connected, and stronger than her. She knew most of that was because Wrath was older than her, but it still annoyed her. What made Wrath much more tolerable than most other sins was the fact that she never lorded that fact over her. In fact, the few times Envy had managed to get one over Wrath, the other woman didn’t seem to really mind it at all.

The problem was that the reason she had gained the Name Envy had been due to the feelings of inadequacy that she’d felt towards both Wrath and Lust. She’d largely gotten over that later and improved as a person, but there was no denying the fact that it had been mostly Wrath that had driven her down this road, which caused their interactions to always be a little strained. That said, she wasn’t stupid enough to pick a serious fight with someone carrying the Name Wrath. She’d made that mistake once, and never again. She wasn’t Pride after all.

“You know, I’ve been wondering the same thing. How long has it been? Eight? Nine lifetimes?” Karna asked, trying to remember the details.

"Your lifetimes maybe. For me, it's been four." Envy responded. She was aware that Wrath had a habit of living much shorter lives than many other reincarnators.

“Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that the sins are so familiar with each other.” Valor commented. “That being said, we were in the middle of introductions I believe. I’m Lucian.”

“Karna.”

“Really?” Envy asked with a deadpan voice and got a nod in reply. “That’s…anyway, I’m Noriko.”

“Zis is silly.” The white-clad vampire now better known as Tremere seemed discombobulated by the situation but managed to gather himself. “I am Morgan.”

“And I’m Qydrys. Lady Karna, Queen Amaranthine sends her regards. Mind explaining to me what was going on with the four of you? You seem…unsettled.” The magical beast asked, confused by the situation. He seemed to realize there were some undercurrents he wasn’t aware of.

“Let’s just say that we aren’t complete strangers. We’ve either run into each other before, or we at least know each other by reputation.” Karna side-stepped the issue.

“Send forth your first representatives.” The voice of the Sentinel announcers sounded once again.

“Ah, we didn’t really have that much time to discuss strategy.” Lucian or Valor realized.

"No, but we did find out something more important," Karna replied while eyeing the other teams. The Kensei had her eyes locked on Karna, clearly signaling that she'd step in if Karna did.

“In that case, I’ll go first. I’m less beholden to such strategies.” Qydrys volunteered and stepped forward before being covered in a pillar of light that soon brought him to the large central platform.

“It seems the other two teams are also taking things carefully.” Envy commented as two other pillars landed on the platform.

“I’m a bit surprised. I expected at least…” A third pillar flared, as another person entered from the team that didn’t have the Kensei or the witch. “Ah, there it is. At least one team should try and seize the advantage.”

“What are they doing?” Envy asked with a confused voice as all four people in the central arena walked to the middle and just started talking.

“They’re trying to find a non-violent solution. You should try it sometimes.” Valor made a small jab at the beastwoman, who didn’t appreciate the implications.

“I’ll have you know that I can be very diplomatic. In fact, I’m one of the more diplomatic sins.”

"She's not wrong," Karna confirmed. Envy really was a sin that relied on violence less often than many of the others, partly because her abilities shined elsewhere. They were useful in combat as well, but their use case was much wider. Pride and Greed were the worst, and Gluttony wasn’t far behind. Lust was…well, Lust had earned the Name for a reason, and it was a fitting one. Sloth was simply slow to rouse, but once they got going, they were hard to stop.

“Next you’re going to tell me that Wrath has become a pacifist.” Valor clearly wasn’t buying it though.

“Oh goodness no. I abhor pacifists. They are the worst kind of hypocrites, as the only way they can espouse their trite is when they have someone they can bribe or cajole to stand behind them with a big enough weapon that no one messes with them.” Karna didn’t mind individuals that chose to be non-violent, and she’d led several lives sticking to the principles, just enjoying life, but that only applied if those same people knew when the time came to put aside those principles or accept the consequences. “Still, a non-violent solution would be interesting in this case.”

“It seems ze negotiations ‘ave failed.” Tremere pointed out as the participants pulled out their weapons and took some distance. Qydrys decided to finally show his true form and transformed into an Earth Dragon without wings. The dragon was covered in steel-colored scales that seemed like a metal armor, and he had a powerful but lithe body filled with power. He also had a single horn on his forehead pointing straight forward.

“A rather young dragon to be that big.” Valor nodded. “But then again, Earth Dragons grow up faster.”

"It was also sent by a kingdom of elves, so they probably had difficulty finding someone that fit the age bracket," Karna explained. Both elves and dragons matured slowly, though dragons reached a combat-ready point earlier in life.

The dragon seemed to almost teleport as he moved so quickly to slash his claws at one of the two representatives from the Yellow team, while the single member of the Red team cast a hasty spell to slow down the approach of the warrior chasing him down. The fact that they had been negotiating just moments before and thus were standing close together wasn't a good thing for a mage, but the man didn't seem to be too fazed as he quickly raised a wall of earth to block the approaching warrior. The warrior in turn ignored the wall entirely and seemed to somehow phase through, reaching for the mage with his blade.

Meanwhile, the person Qydrys attacked also revealed themselves, and in the place of a rather non-descriptive humanoid now stood a large eagle, although only for a moment before it flapped its wings and took to the ‘skies’. The air above the platform was filled with nothing but darkness, so it was hard to call it an actual sky. With another flap of its wings, the eagle sent a bolt of lightning towards the dragon, who ignored it entirely.

“A bad match-up for our dragon, perhaps? Without wings, he won’t be able to chase.” Envy suggested.

“I wouldn’t be too worried. I doubt the dragon hasn’t prepared a solution and the lightning of the bird seems really ineffective.” Valor stated, and his word proved almost prophetic as the dragon seemed to be running on some kind of invisible platforms, chasing after the suddenly spooked bird. The continuous stream of lightning didn’t seem to be doing anything against the dragon’s scales, while the dragon returned fire with several scythes formed from air magic. Even though the eagle had managed to dodge the strikes, it was being herded towards the approaching dragon.

The eagle's partner noticed his partner's peril and had to abandon his chase of the mage. The warrior simply disappeared from his previous position and appeared next to the dragon, slashing at its flank. "Oh, that's risky, using Shundo in a situation like this, leaving your opponent free to retaliate.” Valor stated with a quick comment, which once again was very timely as the exit point of the Shundo was suddenly filled with magical energy as the mage had managed to calculate that exit point and retaliate. While the warrior's blade did indeed manage to pierce through the dragon's flank, though only in a very limited fashion, he had to pay for it when a bolt of arcane energy struck him in the back, causing him to fall and crash down on the large platform. The mage didn't let up and kept bombarding the warrior with spell after spell while he was down, clearly not planning on allowing him to get back up.

“Nice try, but ironically the dragon and mage are working together better than the two on the same team.” Envy shook her head.

“And yet, the mage will have to pay for it.” Valor pointed out as the eagle turned its lighting against the surprised mage that had to erect hasty defenses, which didn’t protect him completely from the eagle’s wrath.

At the same time, the dragon finally reached the eagle, his claws just about to close around the bird, before the bird removed its own pendant, thus throwing in the towel and getting teleported out. “One down. And the other two aren’t a match for the dragon.” Valor stated simply, once again proving correct as both the warrior and mage decided to follow the eagle’s example rather than try fighting an almost completely uninjured and full-strength dragon of the eighth rank.

"He's not your run-of-the-mill dragon, is he?" Envy asked suddenly, as the realization hit her.

"No, I don't think he is," Karna replied. The dragon was brought out of the arena, but not back to their platform, clearly signaling that he would not take part in further bouts. “I did not expect a win from that fight. Bodes well for us.”

“Also means the yellow team is already almost out of this competition. Which might also be a bad thing as they might end up playing the kingmaker.” Valor pointed out.

“I vill go next.” The vampire decreed. “If ve vin as two, ve ‘ave essentially secured the vin.” As he stepped forward, a pillar of light brought him to the central platform.

“Well, who would you rather go with?” Valor asked Envy. “Sins together?”

“Oh hell no. I won’t take the risk of being around when Wrath goes off. I’d rather go with the newbie.” Envy said, referring to the progenitor of an entire vampire bloodline that had been around for eons. That alone was enough to tell how the sins considered time. She too was transported to the arena.

“Sigh. So still no strategy.” Valor seemed especially insulted by the lack of coordination, which seemed to be his forte. “What did she mean by the way?”

“You mean with me going off? Well…let’s just say that I haven’t always cared about collateral damage. I’ve changed since then, but it’s hard to shake a reputation like that. Especially with a Name like Wrath. They conveniently ignore my other Names, like Mercy.” Karna shrugged.

“Wait, you’re both a sin and a virtue?” Valor asked with a surprised tone.

“Naturally. You can’t become Karma without seeing both extremes. Oh, this might be interesting. Envy was allied with that guy earlier, and now they’re fighting each other.” Karna pointed at the central platform, where a guy with an open shirt had entered together with someone covered in heavy clothing.

“I wonder if there’s some history there. It also seems the yellow team is punting the last round where we’re involved.” Valor wasn’t sure how pleased he was with that, as it meant the red team could also focus on them instead of the yellow team.

“Perhaps. They might be hoping to get an upset win while our two teams are pummeling each other. They did leave their strongest member for last.” Karna pointed out.

"The barbarian-looking woman with giant blood? I didn’t read her as the most dangerous.” Valor admitted. He usually got a pretty good grasp of all enemies with a single glance, but he could be wrong.

"I think she might be more like us than she's letting on, and that attire is just camouflage. I have no doubt she can swing that axe, but people didn't pay attention to her when she took the power test. She's the reason their team is weaker overall." Karna had been paying attention to the woman, as she had a hunch.

“I must admit, while I’m usually very observant with such things, I was distracted by the Kensei at the time.” Valor wasn’t above admitting his mistakes. “What result did she get?”

"She got rank eight in both Aura and Qi. And her real power was in the upper end of the ninth rank of both. She got the highest evaluation aside from Tremere and the Kensei.” Karna revealed.

“And you.” Valor pointed out.

“I got both a high and a low evaluation, so that doesn’t count.” Karna smiled slightly. “But let’s focus on this bout first. The red team has made their choice as well.”

The red team had chosen to send their magical beast and who Karna suspected of being one of the travelers that had arrived with the Expansion. “Oh dear, I can recognize that aura coming from the red team. That’s a Lamassu, and one with a lot of holy power. Their kind always tends to be favored by the Divines.”

“Hmm, this fight might turn out a lot more interesting than we first assumed. I have no idea how strong Envy’s little friend is but I doubt she’d drag him around without a good reason. Sending a psion against her is a great idea as well, though I think more by accident. Her abilities won’t be able to work so well against a psion. The other team might be an excellent counter against our vampire if the other person of the red team is what I think. Our team will be at a disadvantage match up-wise if this turns into a brawl and the other teams do the sensible thing and ally against us.” Karna speculated.

"I don't think our allies will care though. I'm pretty sure they think they can handle it anyway." Valor argued.

“And they might be right. Envy’s always been quite skilled, so she should be able to handle it. Don’t know about our vampire friend though, despite the fact that he should be our ace on paper.” She pursed her lips a bit.

“Oh? They don’t seem to be gearing up for a brawl?” Valor suddenly noted. “I might be getting my non-violent solution after all.”

“Well, Envy is the type that can come to other agreements.” They looked on for a while. “Wait, are they actually doing a contest on who has the most powerful and valuable magical items?”

“It certainly looks like it.” Valor was a bit caught off guard as well.