Metal Clash of Two Proud Blacksmith!
Scar and his girlfriends are sleeping peacefully together in their own beds though the girls decided to push the beds together to make it a king size bed, and the sun just started rising from the horizon with the sunlight shining on the closed windows.
Keltan slithers up to his mistress's legs making her moan a bit and between her between all the way up to her face.
"Good morning, Keltan. Have you been behaving through the night?" Echidna asked gigging, Keltan lick the tip of her nose a bit.
"Tell me, is that little girl with the axe still nearby?" Echidna asked and Keltan nods.
"Hmm, that just gives me an interesting idea to help a certain mother." Echidna grinned as she sat up and stretches her arms up to the ceiling.
Just when Echidna was about to leave the bed, she felt her arm being gently grabbed by another hand that feels strong, she didn't need to look down to know who is grabbing her.
"Going somewhere without telling us?" Scar asked, revealing to be the hand that grab her.
"Don't worry, I don't be going anywhere. I just need to go check up on something, and hopefully it'll be something interesting." Echidna said.
"Does it have something to do with Cattleya?" Scar asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You could say that." Echidna leaned down and kissed him on the lips for a second.
"Don't worry about waking up so soon, I'm just gonna be out for a little walk." Echidna smiled before leaving the bed and making her way to the door.
"Try not to do anything that could get us into trouble." Scar yawned before going back to sleep a little longer.
"Don't worry, there won't be trouble. Just some metal clashing." Echidna chuckled as she leaves the room.
"(Now, let see if she is willing to cooperate with my little plan.)" Echidna thought smirked.
(With Ymir)
After the unexpected and scary encounter with the woman yesterday, Ymir didn't want to be near that store again until that woman with the pet snake is gone but she didn't want to leave entirely because she knows that Cattleya woman will be here since this is her shop.
However, she didn't get any sleep through the night because of the nightmares with snakes.
"I can't go to sleep, because if I go to sleep then the snakes will get me." Ymir said to herself but drop her head down but got up again.
Ymir hopes that she will be able to sleep again soon until she spotted someone leaving the house/blacksmith shop.
"It's the snake charming lady!" Ymir recognized that woman from yesterday.
"Hmm, so she's up there." Echidna grinned, knowing where she is thanks to Keltan.
Echidna started walking in the direction to make that little dwarf girl think she is leaving town right now and not coming back.
"Ah! She must be afraid of my hidden power! As she should be!" Ymir laughed in victory believing now there is nothing that can stand in her way.
Ymir hurry herself running down tower windmill to finally get her chance to challenge Cattleya the human blacksmith, to finally prove to everybody that blacksmith materials made from dwarfs are the true items of the world.
"Alright, now to see what Cattleya is capable of." Ymir smirked as she jumps out of the windmill door.
"Considering her former title was "Giant Slayer" back in her adventuring days, you'd probably get an idea." Echidna mentioned.
"Giant Slayer? Like that would matter, I want to see if the stuff she makes are stronger than dwarf mountain steel and as princess, I will prove our crafting skills and the items we make are the superior ones!" Ymir smirked.
"Well, you're definitely a determined soul, I'll give you that." Echidna commented.
"Thank you, it helps that I'm doing this in the name of dwarf metal… steel…" Ymir paused upon realizing something off right now.
Ymir slowly turns around with her face looking a little pale and her eyes gazes on the pointy ear snake charmer from yesterday is leaning her back against the windmill with a grin.
"You must really want to fight Cattleya if you were waiting out in this windmill through the entire night." Echidna said.
"Wh-What are you doing here? Don't tell me you were sent by Cattleya to force me out of this town!" Ymir gasped and move back a few feet.
"No, I'm here of my own reason and that reason is wanting to see you." Echidna answered.
"What? See me, but what for?" Ymir asked, freaking out and saw the snake is still with her.
"Because you got me interested in fighting against Cattleya, and I want to see it for myself." Echidna walked up to her.
"Oh, so you wish to see teach of our blacksmithing techniques are the best, huh?" Ymir guessed.
"I'm not all that interested in blacksmithing myself, but I believe you might be able to help Cattleya with something she's been struggling to do." Echidna grinned and leans down for a close up face-to-face.
"I… don't think I understand what you mean." Ymir gulped and Echinda just giggles.
(Later)
Cattleya is seen outside of her home doing some sweeping of the front yard to make sure it's presentable enough before opening the shop.
"(There she is. She looks just like the description that snake charmer woman said, guess the boy from before must've been her son.)" Ymir thought realized seeing the woman.
"So, you must be Cattleya, the known blacksmith around these parts?" Ymir asked, making herself known.
"Huh, yes, you're right, I am. The shop isn't open yet, but if this is an emergency, I'd be happy to accommodate with you." Cattleya offered.
"Shut up! Shut up!" Ymir yelled; she did not want to waste time on this.
"Yes, my name is Ymir the Steel Princess! I'm here to challenge you as a rival in business and weapon making! A shop like yours that'll only sell cheap goods deserve to be smash!" Ymir revealed herself and the reason for coming here.
"I see, you're from the Steel Mountains." Cattleya realized.
"Sorry Princess, but my store's motto is "Quality Weapons at Affordable Prices" and I know that they don't compare to the standards of Steel Mountains because they make the finest weapons." Cattleya stated which surprises Ymir a bit.
"Well yeah, you know there is simply no denying that. Our weapons are of the finest qualities of the continent. It's not like just anyone can arm themselves with one of our master pieces." Ymir bragged with a smirk.
But Ymir just realize that she got caught up in the moment.
"But that goes much without saying. I came here to fight!" Ymir pointed out, but shocked when she saw Cattleya hugging onto her battle axe between her huge breasts.
"This really is magnificent battle axe!" Cattleya admired how the weapon feels on her body.
"So, this a Steel Mountain weapon! It's really educational to see something so well made!" Cattleya complimented, she always wanted to see these Steel Mountain weapons but never gotten the chance until now.
"Really? Did you notice all the decorative details we put into our design crafts? It makes a real different to handling and design!" Ymir showed the crafting on the hilt of the axe.
Once again, Ymir realizes that she lost track of the whole reason she came seeking out Cattleya in the first place.
"You keep trying to fool me with all your pretty words!" Ymir screamed.
"I came here to fight you! I'll have no more of this crafty conversation!" Ymir pointed her axe at Cattleya and ready herself.
"Alright, now we'll see how Cattleya will do in this fight." Echidna smirked, sitting on top of a hill road.
(With Scar)
Scar just got his armor on while everyone else just woken up from their slumber as Menace lets out a yawn.
"Scar! Scar! Everyone! Help!" Rana called out as he comes into the guest room.
"Rana, what's the matter?" Leina asked.
"It's my mom, she's in trouble!" Rana answered in a worried tone.
"What do you mean by trouble?" Risty asked.
"She was challenged to a fight by this girl with the big axe I met yesterday who was looking for her and now she's fighting my mom right now!" Rana explained the situation.
"(Girl with a big axe, I see. So, she was a dwarf and that was a Steel Mountain weapon.)" Scar thought remembered that little counter the yesterday when arriving at the shop.
(Flashback)
Scar and his party along with Cattleya are walking right at the shop to get Leina's sword some maintenance, then they saw one girl with a big red battle axe came out of the store screaming in fear like she just saw a monster.
"(If I remember correctly, Steel Mountain weapons are really strong and they're also pretty expansive to even get one for yourself.)" Scar thought recalled hearing about that.
Scar narrowed his eyes at the girl noticing the pointy ears and the red battle axe she is carrying with one hand.
(Flashback)
"(Most people would go buy some other weapons with affordable prices. Guess that means the dwarf girl came here to challenge Cattleya to see how tough her weapons are.)" Scar thought figured out the motive.
"Nanael, go outside and make their battle a Queen's Blade fight." Scar ordered.
"Huh, what?" Nanael shocked.
"Wait, Scar? What are you doing making their fight as a Queen's Blade fight?" Leina asked.
"Because I want to help Cattleya start moving forward." Scar answered as he walks out of the room.
"Help my mom move forward, you mean about my dad's disappearance?" Rana asked.
"So, you notice too." Scar looked down at the boy as they walk together.
"Of course, even a kid like me would notice something like this. And my mom has just been waiting for him every day for two years, just waiting." Rana said, looking sad and concern for his mom.
"Well, now the wait is gonna be over for your mom very soon." Scar walked into the workshop and saw something big wrapped in cloth.
(Ymir vs Cattleya)
Ymir jumps in the air a few feet higher than Cattleya's height and swings down her axe attack that was blocked by a spear that Cattleya managed to get when this dwarf girl started attacking her.
"Take this!" Ymir swung her axe again lower to the leg, but Cattleya was able to parry it away.
Ymir can tell this woman is strong to withstand a dwarf's strength, must be from that "Giant Slayer" title that snake charmer woman mentioned, but she wouldn't back down.
"Take this! And this! And this!" Ymir kept on attacking with strong swings on Cattleya who blocks and parries them away, but one attack managed to cut a cup on her right breast off.
Ymir attacks again only for Cattleya to move out of the way causing the dwarf girl to move forward but stops herself with the axe on the ground.
"It's just as I feared." Scar said as he and Rana arrived witnessing the battle happening with the other girls.
"Why won't you fight me? I demand that you defend yourself!" Ymir angered of how this battle is going, feeling insulted of this woman refusing to fight back.
"Please, you must understand, I'm a simple weapons smith. It is not my desire to fight anyone." Cattleya stated.
"Well, too bad! Because fighting people is what I do!" Ymir stated for herself and charges in to attack again.
"Scar! You have to help, or my mom will die!" Rana begged.
"No, the only ones who should be helping her in this battle is herself, but you can clearly see how your mom is hesitating." Scar said, kneeling down to Rana's level.
"You're the son of both strong and wonderful blacksmiths, and you know about their adventuring days before you were born. So, you tell me, would you mom really lose to that girl when she used to slay giants?" Scar asked.
Rana gasps with realization hitting him in the head that Scar is right, if his mom really wants to then she could've easily defeated that big axe girl no problem even with the spear that she is using right now, and he started to understand more on why she's holding herself back.
"(Because of dad's mysterious disappearance two years ago, mom has always been doing her best to be there for me and just kept waiting at home for dad to return.)" Rana thought recalled those days seeing his mom with a sad expression, thinking about dad and she would change that whenever she sees him.
"(But… what needs right now isn't waiting around forever. She needs to move, move forward!)" Rana thought realized with his heart feeling strong.
Cattleya lost her spear when Ymir threw in a strong uppercut swing of her axe, and now she is without a weapon.
"Oh no, Cattleya is defenseless now!" Menace worried.
"Mommy!" Rana shouted as he ran up to his mom and hugs her.
"Rana, wait! It's too dangerous!" Leina warned, but Scar stop her.
"Rana, please go back inside." Cattleya said, not wanting her son to get hurt here.
"No! I'm staying with you! If you can't move forward in your own, then let me help you because I know you have the strength to do so!" Rana refused to leave his mom's side.
"I know you're worried about dad, and fighting right now could drag me into conflict, but that's all the more reason you need to be strong for us and start moving forward!" Rana said strongly.
Cattleya is shocked to hear her son saying such strong encouraging words, this reminds her of what Scar said to her last night when he carried her to bed.
"I'm not gonna show you mercy just because you have a kid. Pick up your weapon, Cattleya!" Ymir demanded a true challenging fight to prove Steel Mountain weapons are the best.
"She will fight, with this!" Scar tossed the clothed weapon into the air and towards Cattleya.
"(The Giant Slayer!)" Cattleya thought gasped on recognizing that and caught the hilt.
"Cattleya, it's time that you stop being the one waiting and start being someone who forges your fate in the fire of destiny. Just like how blacksmiths forge the fate of every weapon they make." Scar shouted.
"(Those words!)" Cattleya thought shocked. She hadn't heard those words since her husband.
"He's right. As long as I'm with you, there is nothing I have to fear. So fight her, mommy. Defeat her. Make my father proud!" Rana encouraged.
"I will, Rana." Cattleya nodded and the cloth glows for a second and bursts into pieces revealing the giant sword known as Giant Killer.
(Music: Perfect Time, Hiroyuki Sawano)
"Cattleya the Weaponsmith accepts your challenge!" Cattleya declared to her opponent.
"Ha! You could've made that choice a little sooner. I expect you'll give me a fight worth having." Ymir smiled, now this can be the fight she was looking for.
"And that's my cue!" Nanael smiled.
"The Angel Nanael is here to take charge of this fight. May this battle be seen for Heaven to bear witness!" Nanael declared and activates the magic circle dome.
"These fighters who seek to enter the Queen's Blade! May all be witness to your competition, now the gates of testing shall be open!" Nanael announced.
"On this side, we have Ymir the Steel Princess. On the other side is the Weaponsmith, Cattleya!" Nanael introduced the fighters.
"A Queen's Blade fight? Well, that makes it even better." Ymir smirked.
"It's about time you have a taste…" Ymir's gauntlet started to let out steam before she charges at Cattleya. "Of the might of Steel Weapons!"
"(Owen, I hope you're watching this fight, wherever you are. This is from me and Rana!)" Cattleya thought charged forward emitting a strong red aura.
Ymir and Cattleya clash their blades at each other in the air seems to be evenly match for a moment until the mother pushes harder with more strength sending Ymir flying and causes a huge crate in front of Cattleya.
"Amazing!" Leina smiled as the other girls are blown away from this.
"You low-rate weaponry… This is far from over!" Ymir refused to give up, but suddenly the blade of her axe fell off.
"No… This can't be, not my precious battle axe!" Ymir shocked, losing the will to fight.
"The battle is over! The winner, Cattleya the Weaponsmith!" Nanael announced.
(Music End)
"If your weapon breaks in a one-on-one fight, you must do anything the opponent says. As I understand this, that's a dwarf's law." Cattleya recalled hearing that, Ymir nods.
"Everyone recognizes the superiority of the Steel Mountain weapons. They have nothing to prove, do you promise never to do this again?" Cattleya stated her condition.
"You have my word." Ymir promised.
"Great. Well, consider the matter resolve." Cattleya smiled.
"I'm just about to serve some breakfast, would you like to join us?" Cattleya offered.
"Sure, why not." Ymir accepted.
"Speaking of joining, there's something I hope you don't mind if I ask you something." Scar said as everyone walks in.
KO a new chapter is done and hope you all enjoy it!
Thanks to some encouraging words from both Rana and Scar, Cattleya has finally found the means to move forward in order to go search for her husband and it looks like Scar may offer something that can help them all.
KO comment, favorite, and follow through of how this story will go!