I-No
Background:
Her origins lie in the alternate dimension of the Backyard, a dimension composed of data corresponding to reality; during the Crusades, when Gears were ravaging the Earth, she was created as an analogue to humanity's intense longing for a better tomorrow. The Original discovered her and took half of her power as well as her human desire to prohibit her from ascending to godhood, leaving her unaware of her own origin and with a fixation on saving humanity's future that she could not understand. In a freak coincidence, the redaction of the data left I-No with an identical data set to Axl Low, which caused both of them to uncontrollably move through time. She originally worked for That Man, but after Happy Chaos returned and told her about her origins, she attempted to regain her full power and turn all of humanity into eternally stagnant gods, resulting in her death at the hands of Sol Badguy.
Powers and Abilities:
Superhuman Physical Characteristics,
Immortality (Type 1 and 5),
Self-Sustenance (Type 1 and 2),
Enhanced Senses (Can sense people from different points in time and dimensions, and can navigate through the Backyard, a well of infinite information),
Flight (Capable of flying and gliding),
Time Manipulation, Time Travel, and Time Stop (As a Time Slipper, I-No has complete control over time, including manipulating it, stopping it, and traveling to other time periods),
BFR (Can strand people in time, or send them to the Backyard),
Sound Manipulation,
Energy Manipulation and Danmaku (Can generate energy with her guitar and hat, and can generate dozens of energy blasts via her Instant Kill),
Portal Creation and Teleportation (Can create portals that is connected to different time periods, and travel into the Backyard),
Acausality (Type 2 and 4; She has no past or future and is unwanted by the Backyard),
Physics Manipulation,
Reality Warping,
Existence Erasure and Causality Manipulation (She can warp reality, erase timelines, with her power as a time slipper and disturb cause and effect and physical phenomena),
Magic as Information Manipulation (Magic stems from the Backyard, an infinite well of information),
Thread Manipulation and Limited Transmutation (Can manipulate her guitar strings and her hat),
Matter Manipulation and Creation (Can manipulate matter and create clocks and tables),
Non-Physical Interaction (Able to hit souls),
Telepathy,
Resistance to Extreme Cold and Cosmic Radiations,
Information Manipulation,
Transmutation,
Matter Manipulation,
Deconstruction,
Soul Manipulation and Mind Manipulation (Able to withstand the effects of the Backyard, a realm that targets and assaults one's physical body, mind, spirit with an infinite amount of information, with no difficulty)
Weaknesses: Time travel is difficult for her to do, by her own admission. She can be located during her time travel and stopped with the right tools. Is arrogant and sadistic. Her right palm is exploitable.
Nine the Phantom
Background:
Konoe Ayatsuki Mercury, more commonly known as Nine, is a witch, one of the Six Heroes, and one of the Ten Sages. After her supposed death by the hands of Yūki Terumi, Konoe mysteriously came back as the servant of Hades Izanami, Phantom. Nine is the mother of Kokonoe and the wife of Jubei.
Powers and Abilities:
Superhuman Physical Characteristics,
Self-Sustenance (Type 1; Can withstand the Edge, which has no oxygen),
Expert Hand-to-hand Combatant,
Magic,
Alchemy,
Sorcery and Ars Magus User,
Acausality (Type 1; Is unaffected by the effects from a Phenomena Intervention, which can reset an entire timeline),
Psychometry (Alchemists are capable of gathering information on their surroundings),
Flight,
Presence Concealment (Can hide her presence inside the Embryo),
Alternate Future Display (Showed Hakumen alternate realities in their fight),
Extrasensory Perception (Can sense killing intent, as well as being able to sense Relius),
Stealth Mastery (Magic users are stated to hide their tracks easily),
Shockwave Generation (Capable of blowing people away by bursting),
Shapeshifting (Can swap between her Phantom and normal form),
Weapon Creation,
Void Manipulation, and Durability Negation (Can create blades of voids that can sever anything),
Explosion Manipulation,
Non-Physical Interaction (Can harm Arakune and hit abstracts),
Invulnerability (Is a being that exist outside of Logic; the fundamental rules of the world; meaning any abilities/weapons/and powers that are restrained by Logic cannot harm them),
Intangibility (Can phase through attacks),
Energy Manipulation,
Energy Projection,
Fire Manipulation,
Air Manipulation,
Water Manipulation and Ice Manipulation (is part of her most basic attacks),
Chain Manipulation (Was able to bind Izanami in chains),
Resistance Negation (Can affect beings who are naturally immune to phenomena intervention with said ability),
Light Manipulation,
Electricity Manipulation (via Amethyst of Annihilation),
Attack Reflection (via Citrine of Change),
Teleportation,
Paralysis Inducement (Can paralyze Ragna),
Sleep Manipulation (A superior alchemist than Cipher, who can put people to sleep by a mere touch),
Creation,
Forcefield Creation,
Absorption and Statistics Reduction (A superior alchemist than Cipher, who can create a barrier that absorbs the opponent's strength, can also absorb magic in the atmosphere as shown in Phase Shift),
Transmutation,
Earth Manipulation (Superior alchemist than Cipher, who can manipulate the earth and change the shape of any objects),
Plant Manipulation (via Morganite of Malice),
Soul Manipulation,
Healing and Regeneration Negation (up to High-Godly; Nox Nyctores, Azure Grimoire and Magic can damage the soul, negating any form of recovery, even when the reality is warped by multiversal entity, magic's regeneration negating factor is also superior to Ars Magus, a weapon capable of killing the Black Beast, a creature that has the ability of Self Observation, which is what Terumi used to regenerate from Hakumen's Time Killer),
Telekinesis and Gravity Manipulation (Slammed Nago and Gii with a gesture and pinned Rachel with gravity),
Illusion Creation (Can manipulate illusions inside the embryo),
Black Hole Creation (Scales from Kokonoe, who can create one),
Duplication (Can make another clone of herself),
Dimensional Travel,
BFR (Sent Hakumen to somewhere else),
Status Effect Inducement (Can make a restraining field),
Power Nullification (Rachel couldn't teleport),
Perception Manipulation (Tager couldn't visualize anything during his fight with her),
Mind Manipulation (Used the Mind Eater spell on Terumi),
Technology Manipulation (Can shut down Tager's comms inside her pocket dimension),
Phenomena Intervention (She can create Phenomena Interventions),
Spatial Manipulation (Can compress space),
Pocket Reality Manipulation (Is stated to have her own world),
Darkness Manipulation (Can restrain Hakumen and Rachel in darkness),
Mathematics Manipulation (Helped created the Phantom Virus, which has countless unsolvable equations),
Sealing (Taught Kokonoe the Infinite Gravity spell),
Statistics Amplification,
All of Tōya Kagari's abilities (Due to her having exact copy of Original Grimoire)
Resistant to the Following:
Poison Manipulation,
Madness Manipulation,
Biological Manipulation and Statistics Reduction (Can resist the effects of Seithr, which is poisonous, can induce addiction and deteriorate bodies, as well as reducing the power of others),
Memory Manipulation (Can resist the effects of Cauldron and/or Boundary, which erases memories),
Chaos Manipulation (Resist the Boundary, which turns everything into a spiraling chaos),
Void Manipulation/Existence Erasure and Corruption (Can resist the effects of the boundary, which can erase those that enters it, and corrupt them beyond recovery in a similar fashion to what happened to Arakune),
Technology Manipulation (Is unaffected by the effects of Seithr, which can mess with technology),
Corrosion Inducement (Resists getting corroded by the Cauldron),
Time Manipulation (Can resist the effects of Cauldron and/or Boundary, which stops time by existing),
Mind Manipulation and Information Manipulation (Able to resist the boundary/cauldron, which when entered or get closed, will result in taking infinite information and memories, dating across beginning of time and all possibilities),
Heat Manipulation (Is unfazed by the intense heat from a cauldron),
Paralysis Inducement (Could fight Hakumen without getting paralyzed),
Transmutation (She's unaffected by the Embryo's effect to turn everything into seithr),
Body Puppetry (Unaffected by body puppetry effects of the Nox Nyctores),
Phenomena Intervention (Unaffected by the Embryo's phenomena intervention),
Deconstruction (Is capable of being near a Black Beast without deconstructing as it's stated to do in Phase Shift),
Curse Manipulation (Broke out of the Phantom Curse),
Perception Manipulation (Resist the effects of Ars Magus, which nullifies senses of the user),
Disease Manipulation (Can resist the Black Beast's power, who's mere existence caused the Union Virus in Xblaze),
Power Absorption (Can fight the Black Beast without having her powers absorbed from its presence),
Resistance Negation (Is immune to the Embryo's phenomena Intervention, which is shown to affect beings that are protected by Celica's existence, who were able to ward off Phenomena Intervention that's capable of affecting beings outside of logic),
Petrification and Gravity Manipulation (As one of the founders of Ars Magus, she should be able to replicate an Ars Magus barrier, which is stated to protect the user from these effects),
Law Manipulation,
Water Manipulation,
Earth Manipulation,
Fire Manipulation,
Air Manipulation,
Darkness Manipulation, and Light Manipulation (Exists outside of Logic, the fundamental rules of the world, which includes the 4 elements and two great origins),
Absorption (Can fight the Black Beast without being absorbed),
Absolute Zero and Life Manipulation (Could withstand Yukianesa's strikes, which can freeze Azrael and erode away life),
Soul Manipulation,
Healing and Regeneration Negation (up to High-Godly) and Fear Manipulation (Is capable of fighting against Ragna numerous times with the Azure, which can inflict soul damage beyond the help of a multiversal entity, and negate any form of Recovery, is also unfazed by his passive fear hax, can also shrug off the regeneration negating effects of a Nox Nyctores, which are superior to Ars Magus, weapons that are capable of killing the Black Beast, a creature that has the ability of Self-Observation, which is what Terumi used to regenerate from Hakumen's Time Killer),
Radiation Manipulation (Magic is stated to being able to cancel out the effects of radioactive substances in Phase Shift),
Physics Manipulation (Could tanks blows from Azrael, who is so strong that he bends and breaks physics whenever he strikes),
Pain Manipulation (Can nullify her sense of pain during the events of Phase Shift),
Power Nullification (Is able to use her powers despite Kushinada's Lynchpin being activated),
Death Manipulation (Could resist the effect of the Immortal Breaker),
Explosion Manipulation, and Spatial Manipulation (Was able to withstand Bolverk, which can pierce through space),
Precognition (Was unpredictable to Terumi)
Wesknesses: Can be overconfident sometimes.
Song: Blacklight Phantoms
The picturesque town of L'oro Di Illyria in 2187, nestled by the coast, exuded an air of tranquil beauty. Its striking buildings served as a prominent backdrop, while pedestrians either quietly admired the view or busily engaged in shopping and bartering. A woman could be seen diligently painting the scenic landscape before her, capturing the essence of the town on her canvas.
The serene atmosphere of the town was suddenly shattered by the melodic strum of a guitar, prompting people to turn their attention in the direction of the unexpected sound. Their gazes fixated on a young girl, brutally beaten and pushed out onto the street, as a slender woman clad in a revealing halter top and short shorts emerged. Adorned with a red witch's hat, this mysterious and dangerous figure is none other than I-No, a notorious terrorist known to wreak havoc wherever she goes. I-No strut across the street arrogantly, swaying her hips as she approached the girl with a cruel smile. I-No, her voice dripping with sadistic satisfaction, taunted the battered girl,
"Come on, is that all you've got?"
As the victim attempted to rise, I-No cruelly stomped on her back, relishing in the pain she inflicted. Grabbing the girl by the hair, I-No ruthlessly yanked her upwards, causing her further agony. With a callous tone, I-No demanded,
"Now, Celica. Tell me where I can find Nine the Phantom."
I-No, ever alert, swiftly teleported away in a momentary flash of swirling darkness, narrowly avoiding the imminent threat of a raging flame that passed through her former position. A subtle smirk graced her face as she observed the Great Mage, Nine the Phantom, descending on a fire elemental, her demeanor exuding an aura of suppressed fury. Nine, while maintaining her regal composure, holding a flaming ember in her palm, her expression radiating anger and concern as she caught sight of her younger sister in distress.
"Unforgivable."
Nine's voice, seething with restrained anger, resonated as she clenched her fist, crushing the ember that had been in her palm. Dismissing the elemental upon which she had been perched, she softly touched down to the ground, her words laden with a promise of retribution as her glare locked onto I-No.
"You must have a death wish. A slow, painful, and well-deserved deathwish."
I-No chuckled mockingly, backing away from Celica to add to the sadistic tension of the situation. Her voice laced with a hint of twisted humor, she drawled out,
"What's the matter? I was just having a little fun with her. A reeeeeal good time."
With a strum of her guitar, she launches a barrage of explosive musical notes from her guitar to propel the crying girl forward. With a swift and agile maneuver, Nine utilized her telekinesis to skillfully catch her younger sister, her concern for Celica's well-being briefly exposed on her face. As Nine carefully sent her younger sister away to a safe location, she then fixed her burning gaze upon I-No, her anger now fully ignited. With a sharp tone, she demanded,
"What do you want from me, witch?"
Her resolve was firm, and there was no trace of fear in her expression. I-No's subtle smirk widened as she began to circle around the Great Mage, her steps deliberate and calculated. With a hint of manipulative persuasion in her voice, she declared,
"I require your power. Whether you choose to work for me, or I forcibly take it for the greater good, I can ensure a future for myself. I can save everyone from a dull, gray fate, if only you'd surrender your power willingly."
Nine's expression remained stoic, her eyes narrowing as she absorbed I-No's words, feeling both insulted and protective of her younger sister, offended that this woman offered partnership after beating up Celica. With a hint of defiance, she spoke up,
"What kind of future could possibly be worthwhile in a world like this? Perhaps it would be better to start anew by burning it all down, especially without you, as I dismantle you until your very existence is erased from our realm."
I-No's laughter echoed through the air as she prepared her guitar, a sly grin on her face.
"Have it your way. Makes it more fun for me."
She taunted before swinging her instrument, unleashing a sonic slash that sliced through the air and caused a nearby building to slide off diagonally and collapse into a pile of rubble. The panicked screams of onlookers filled the area as they fled the scene. However, I-No observed something unusual about the Great Mage's reaction, or rather, her lack of reaction. Instead of showing any signs of fear or concern, Nine remained eerily composed, shimmering like a phantom, her moniker fitting perfectly.
I-No and Nine engaged in a graceful and deadly dance, circling each other as I-No fired a barrage of musical attacks with her guitar, while Nine moved with exceptional finesse to dodge each strike. Nine attempted to catch I-No off guard by summoning an elemental from behind, only to witness the fiery creature being effortlessly kicked away by the cunning witch before it could make any impact. The elemental dissipated into thin air, leaving both witches to continue their dangerous dance unhindered.
I-No swiftly erected a defensive barrier to withstand Nine's attack, consisting of a forceful splash of water and two fiery plumes. In response, Nine conjured a massive boulder adorned with shimmering gems that she sent plummeting down on I-No, intending to crush her. However, the gem encrusted boulder shattered into countless sparkling fragments as it came in contact with I-No's formidable force field, leaving her unscathed. I-No, still wearing her smug grin, quipped with sarcastic praise,
"Hmm, not bad at all."
As she effortlessly evaded a splash of water from Nine by ducking beneath it, I-No then slid across the ground, scraping her rear hand against it before lifting it up to create a sizable energy blade. Despite the attack's failure to harm Nine, the intense mic shriek stunned the Great Mage, leaving her momentarily disoriented.
I-No seized the opportunity provided by Nine's disoriented state, swiftly ducking down as her red witch hat expanded to reveal a gaping speaker-like mouth. With a loud scream, she launched a green quaver-shaped projectile at the Great Mage, forcefully propelling her against a wall. Nine, desperately trying to regain her composure, shook her head to shake off the intense white noise that was assaulting her senses.
"Ugh. You're so loud,"
Nine grumbled, fixing a disapproving glare at the musical witch. Then, with a snap of her fingers, she summoned a little fairy, known as the "Taaffeite of Fascination." The tiny creature zipped around I-No, darting around her and delivering a barrage of annoying magical zaps, further agitating the already irritated witch. I-No yelped in pain as the bothersome fairy continued to zap her with its magic. She exclaimed, unable to tolerate the continued assault,
"Get out of here, you pest!"
In a swift and agile move, I-No leaped into the air, executing several splits that summoned two long, thin energy blades, which let out a shrill sound akin to a blown-out mic. The deafening volume caused the fairy to get destroyed by the powerful split kick. However, I-No's sense of satisfaction was short-lived as she was suddenly hit from behind by a blast of fire unleashed by Nine.
Nine continued her onslaught by lashing I-No with more flames, displaying a smug expression on her face as she snapped her finger to bring forth a massive flaming skull. With a flick of her wrist, she directed the fiery skull towards I-No, who was launched away by the powerful explosion that followed. I-No found herself tumbling across the ground, her annoyance growing with each passing moment as she glowered at the Great Mage.
I-No stood up, her attire singed and marred by several burn marks, and promptly created a green portal beneath her. With a series of swift attacks, she alternated between exiting and re-entering the green portal. First, a powerful divekick pushed Nine back, followed by a diagonal spinning palm strike, and then a horizontal spinning move that delivered a barrage of hits. Finally, a rising diagonal spinning palm strike continued the assault, pressing Nine even farther back.
Nine found herself under considerable pressure, struggling to defend against the onslaught by deploying both wind and fire as countermeasures. As the assault intensified, she eventually decided to conjure a mirror barrier, successfully stopping I-No's next kick. In retaliation, Nine kicked the mirror herself, propelling the musical witch backward with force and slamming her against a wall, causing I-No to be flattened against it. The mirror shattered upon impact, causing I-No to fall to her feet.
I-No couldn't act quickly enough to block Nine's kick, which landed squarely in her gut, causing her to ricochet off the wall and back into Nine's opposing knee, aggravating the already injured area. With another kick, Nine sent I-No soaring into the air, trailing a streak of fire behind her. Before the musical witch could regain her bearings, she was enveloped in a powerful explosion of flame overhead.
I-No, battered and bruised, mustered the strength to push herself back onto her feet, gritting her teeth. As her frustration and anger mounted, she violently strummed her guitar, unleashing a shockwave of intense yellow and orange energy that pushed Nine backward. Despite the brief pause that the attack granted her, I-No's agitation only seemed to amuse the Phantom, who responded by duplicating herself into multiple versions that encircled the musical witch from every direction.
I-No found herself quickly overpowered by the relentless barrage of attacks from the duplicates, suffering hit after hit. She was first assaulted by a trident of darkness, then trapped in a block of ice, followed by a gust of wind that propelled her backwards and shattered the ice. The onslaught continued with electrocution by a sphere of electricity, explosion by a sphere of darkness, and being whipped by several wooden plant tendrils. The combination of attacks and duplicates left her feeling trapped and overwhelmed, struggling to defend against the varied assaults.
I-No realized she needed to regain control of the situation, so she leaped into the air and played a note on her guitar, causing her hat to expand like a shield and generate a widespread shockwave that disintegrated the duplicates. However, while the attack had bought her a brief reprieve, Nine, on the sidelines, took advantage of the momentary distraction to use her magic to increase I-No's gravitation, forcing the musical witch to crash into the ground with such force that it cracked upon impact, leaving her momentarily stuck in place.
Nine's form surged with a fiery red aura, and she confidently clenched her fists, ready to unleash her ultimate power.
"I'll show you. Prepare to witness the devastating force of my Hi no Kagutsuchi. Hi no Kagutuchi, smash her to Hell!"
She declared with a proud smile. With a mighty command, portals opened up, revealing the fire elemental from earlier. Car-sized limbs emerged, launching into a powerful series of punches that slammed into each other repeatedly, trapping I-No in the middle. Following the barrage, a colossal kick from another oversized leg thrust her into the air, only to be confronted by a pair of enormous fists crashing down, flattening her into the ground.
I-No, exhausted and weakened by Nine's powerful magic, struggled to rise, her breath ragged. With a determined glare in her eyes, she looked up at Nine, her voice strained but resolute.
"If I can't stop you here..." she began, her words punctuated by short gasps for air, "then maybe... in there..."
In a final act of desperation, I-No employed her Time Slip abilities, creating a portal that enveloped both herself and Nine, transporting them into a peculiar realm composed entirely of pure knowledge - the Backyard.
The sheer incomprehensible nature of the realm in which they now found themselves defied description. If the world they came from resembled an online video game, then the Backyard was akin to the very coding that formed the very essence of that world itself. I-No, anticipating that Nine the Phantom would be overwhelmed or disoriented by the overwhelming influx of knowledge, was shocked to discover that the Great Mage appeared intrigued by the surroundings instead. "H-How?!" she questioned, aghast, "You should be atomized by the sheer volume of information that the Backyard is, you dipshit motherfucker!"
Despite being immersed in the chaotic and overwhelming environment of the Backyard, Nine the Phantom nonchalantly held up a random piece of data, and with a flick of her wrist, ignited it and let it burn away in her hand. Unfazed, she nonchalantly replied,
"The Backyard, eh? Well, I've been exposed to a similar void called the Boundary before. Once you get acclimated to it, it's not such a big deal. If you thought that bringing me here was your masterstroke to harm a being unaffected by the constraints of logic, then I must say I'm underwhelmed."
Nine, enveloped in flames, charged forward, and delivered a powerful punch that sent her opponent flying into the void of information. I-No's voice rang out, tinged with realization.
"So, that's how it is."
As she focused her energy, her attire and skin turned monochromatic, and her eyes glowed with intense white fire. With determination, she gripped her guitar, preparing to retaliate. Nine, her confidence unwavering, had not anticipated any significant impact from I-No's counterattack. However, she was stunned when the guitar struck her head, sending her spinning and generating a sudden jolt of pain. She lifted her hand to touch the spot where the impact had taken place, only to find a trickle of blood staining her fingertips. Confused and taken aback, she exclaimed,
"But... how?"
I-No, now confident and composed, declared,
"You assume that the Backyard is merely a place to which I can transport you? My dear phantom, when I fight seriously, I AM the Backyard. If I wish to strike you, you shall be struck!"
With a focused gesture, she conjured a pair of floating speakers, each adorned with a large white wing, and released a swarm of energy balls adorned with pink hearts. The speakers unleashed a barrage of heart-shaped projectiles, each one homing in on Nine, delivering a multitude of small yet cumulative impacts, relentlessly battering the Great Mage.
Nine, visibly struggling to keep her composure at the loss of her invulnerability to logic, gasping for breath after enduring the swarm of energy balls. In a desperate counterattack, she unleashed two dark energy beams from her hands, following up with a powerful torrent of fire from Hi no Kagutsuchi. However, an unexpected twist occurred as I-No's newfound power effortlessly negated the attacks, causing them to explode harmlessly before connecting. The tables had turned, and it seemed I-No now held the advantage.
I-No took a moment to reflect, her voice tinged with a mix of resignation and determination. She flicked her wrist, sending Nine crashing into the hard data surrounding them, before speaking once more.
"Would you ask if being a god is enjoyable? It isn't. In this state, everything is reduced to a binary sequence - mere ones and zeros, only all I see is nothing but ones. Without a past, there can be no future. And even in the present, any capacity for joy is lost. That is why I seek to create a better tomorrow, so humanity need never endure this monotonous existence like I have."
Nine, shaking her head with determination, found herself momentarily frozen in time, the data around them becoming frozen and unyielding. However, she resisted the temporal freeze and swiftly maneuvered herself out of the way, avoiding the impending telekinetic blast. As she spoke, her voice filled with conviction,
"You question whether I care about the state of the world? Any value assigned to it remains insufficient to justify its continued existence. My sister and I shall live in our own paradise, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to bring it to fruition."
In a swift and calculated move, Nine snapped her fingers, enveloping I-No in a fierce explosion of fire that rapidly transformed into a prison of ice. However, I-No, undeterred, teleported out of the confining icy embrace, hovering above the Great Mage with a casual, bordering on bored, expression. In a seemingly effortless act, I-No summoned a planet the size of Earth and prepared to slam it down onto Nine. Caught off guard, Nine hastily erected a shield, bracing herself as the colossal projectile came crashing down.
Nine strained under the immense pressure of holding the shield in place, her arms trembling from the effort. Suddenly, a sense of dread washed over her as she turned to face an approaching planet, bearing down on her with alarming speed. In a moment of shocking collision, the planets collided with near-light speed, their impact generating a supernova's worth of energy. Nine the Phantom found herself at the epicenter of the explosive force, caught in the cataclysmic blast.
I-No, growing to colossal proportions until she reached the stature of a celestial presence, observed the now-diminished supernova with detachment. As she extended her hands, enclosing the supernova within her grasp, she began to condense it, compressing the kinetic and heat energy into a tighter, more intense sphere. The force field surrounding Nine strained under the increasing pressure, encasing her in the explosive clutch as the supernova was being relentlessly compressed.
I-No's voice rang out with a hint of curiosity in her tone.
"Why do you desire a world crafted solely for you and your sister? What's the purpose of such a realm, where only two individuals can find contentment? Doesn't everyone deserve happiness? I yearn to abolish age, hunger, sickness, status, standing—even time and space. The sole answer, the true answer...is absolute liberty from all worldly constraints. Answer me, why would you discard the opportunity to bestow such liberation upon all, choosing instead to confine it to just two?"
Nine the Phantom, contained within her compact shield, gritted her teeth as the supernova's energy became increasingly confined. I-No's words echoed around her, prompting a moment of deep contemplation. The pressure intensified further, the gravitational forces bearing down on her like never before. Nine answered,
"You speak of freedom, of a world unbound by all worldly constraints. It's a noble goal, but you're mistaken if you think such a realm can be achieved through chaos. True freedom isn't found in the annihilation of hierarchy and order, but in the creation of a world where all are capable of living lives as they see fit. Not dictated by the whims of powerful beings like yourself or me, but by their own choices and pursuits. I seek to create that world for me and my sister, even if it means sacrificing everything else."
I-No regarded Nine with a mix of irritation and disappointment, her head tilting slightly.
"Is that really what you believe? You speak of freedom, yet your actions only seem to serve your own interests. By prioritizing the well-being of you and your sister, you're inadvertently depriving everyone else of the ability to make their own choices. Is this truly what you consider true freedom—freedom for the few, at the expense of the many?"
Nine's mind raced as the pressure continued to build, the gravitational forces nearly crushing her. She was forced to confront the contradictions in her beliefs and actions. I-No's words struck a chord, revealing the selfishness that lay at the heart of her goal. Nine admitted, her voice strained,
"Perhaps you're right. Maybe I've been blinded by my devotion to my sister, sacrificing the freedom of many for our own happiness. But what choice do I have? So long as Celica and I are happy, nothing else matters!"
Nine, pushed to her limits by the relentless forces surrounding her, made the quick decision to retreat into her pocket dimension. She took a moment to catch her breath, leaning against her knees for support. Her mind raced as she tried to formulate a plan to counteract I-No's newfound power. She muttered to herself,
"I need to think. She's untouchable in her current form. I have to find a way to bring her down, to restore the balance."
As her arms stretched wide, Nine gazed upon the magical displays of various paths the future might take, sifting through multiple windows of potential outcomes. Her eyes landed on a particular vision, and a satisfied smile tugged at her lips. She mused, recognizing the favorable future scenario before her,
"Ah, this will do wonderfully."
I-No, searching through time and space, could no longer detect the presence of Nine the Phantom within the fabric of the Backyard. However, as the Great Mage reappeared from her pocket dimension, she did not escape I-No's notice. With a subtle smirk, I-No returned to human size.
"Ah, there you are. I had thought you might have chosen to opt for a life in my world, rather than risk perishing in your quest to make your own."
Nine smirked confidently at I-No, having regained her bravado. She declared,
"No way I'd settle for such a monotonous existence in your world of boundless freedom. I just needed a moment to gather my thoughts and reassess the situation. Let the battle between our ideals continue. A dance to determine who shall forge the new order of this world."
And with that, she summoned Hi no Kagutsuchi to fight by her side, creating a duplicate of herself to join the fray with its scorching heat. Hi no Kagutsuchi and the Nine clone flew in circles around I-No, evading her attacks as she conjured black vortices that unleashed lasers in their direction. The clone successfully kicked I-No, ensnaring her with chains in a cruciform shape before pelting her with a barrage of fireballs. However, I-No swiftly exchanged positions with Hi no Kagutsuchi, allowing it to take the brunt of the fiery assault.
The Nine clone approached from I-No's left and hurled flaming skulls in her direction. I-No successfully detonated the skulls with her left hand, but as she did so, the clone took advantage of her momentary vulnerability to chain her left arm. Sensing the real Nine's presence, I-No grimaced in frustration and unleashed a blast at her. Nine quickly sidestepped the attack, and retaliated by firing two dark energy beams at I-No's right hand, her critical weak spot. I-No gasped as an intense pain surged through her right hand.
Cracks began to spread across I-No's arm, snaking up to reach her face. Nine smiled, capitalizing the advantage she held.
"How interesting. You and I may hold boundless power, but it seems your body possesses a critical flaw. It can't withstand the onslaught of opposing infinite power, revealing a vulnerability to exploit."
Now scowling, she raised up a free hand to summon a pentagram portal.
"I will show you mercy, my dear. I shall grant you freedom by freeing you from the confines of existence!"
Nine the Great Mage unleashed a torrent of asteroids from a pentagram-shaped portal, raining them down upon I-No. The relentless barrage created an explosion, combining the infinite stream of magical energy with the force of the impact. I-No cried out in agony as her body began to disintegrate, starting from her hand and gradually spreading over her entire frame.
With a sense of victory, Nine summoned Hi no Kagutsuchi and perched upon its head. Looking down at a model of the Earth, she beamed with satisfaction.
"Now, I shall reshape the world to my liking in this realm. Celica, you and I will truly find happiness together at last. Finally."
Strength: I-No and Nine the Phantom are possibly the strongest characters of Guilty Gear and Blazblue respectively. Comparing this to another Death Battle power wise, this is similar to Bill Cipher vs Discord. Both had infinite power, but like how Bill has power of a higher dimension, such as the 4th dimension, I-No has higher dimensional power with the Backyard when completed with Happy Chaos, which can bypass even Nine's invulnerability to logic, as she can simply rewrite the rules where her attacks can harm such a person anyway.
Speed: However, even with her mastery of time itself, she would not be able to catch up to Nine in pure speed. She can slow down time for Nine and quicken her own sense of time and space all she'd like, but that still requires time to be passing by, which Nine's infinite speed breaks outright. Even fully stopping time wouldn't stop Nine, since she can resist time stopping in the Boundary.
Skill: I'd say that I-No has the better combat skill, but by how much is unclear, since both are older than their looks show, an thus anything could've happened in the hundred plus years they've been alive off screen.
Experience: I'd say that Nine is the more experienced, as Blazblue, while a physically powerful universe of multiversal power, focuses more on hax abilities that makes it harder to fight against with brute power.
Powers: This was Nine's greatest advantage. At her base, I-No was vastly overwhelmed, and while she made a powerful display of her reality warping powers, she only possessed it for about ten minutes before being killed by an immortality breaker, whereas Nine possessed such abilities to an extent that she can match I-No's versatility, and resist the majority of them against her, since she would've had to in order to survive existing in the Boundary, and can replicate such an immortal busting feat herself. I-No may be the greatest foe Nine the Phantom has ever come across, but her infinite speed, greater experience, and deeper understanding of magic gave her the win.
Next time:
"The only reason that you're conscious right now is because I don't want to carry you."
"The cruelest thing you can do to a person who's living in panic is to offer him or her hope that turns out false."