Fate's Edict: The power of giving out various effects to herself or other people through the use of her tarot cards. At least, that was how Shizu explained it to him when they first talked about their abilities. Apparently, depending on what card she drew and in what orientation it was, she could give anyone a magical effect that could either be beneficial or damaging to them. Riku didn't manage to ask about the exact details of each card she had, however, since Nyx decided that then would be the time to whine about running out of lion sashimi.
Still, it was more than enough for him to know that his ally would do better acting as his support whenever they had a fight to negotiate. He would have to act as the frontline, even if he really didn't want to do so in the first place.
"Uhmm... They're getting closer, Riku," Shizu worriedly stated behind him, her back now hitting his as the lion circle began closing in. "When are we going to fight back?"
"Just a bit more," he told her, his calculating gaze trained on the nearest of them all. "Just aim at the one furthest to us and work your way down. I'll handle the rest..."
The former assassin held his ground, his knife singing with excitement at the prospect of having to cut and kill again. It wasn't really ideal, in his opinion, but what else was he supposed to do other than defend himself and those in his protection?
"Riku?"
"Not yet," he insisted, ignoring the fear in Shizu's voice. "The closest one needs to get closer."
The lion closest to them still had a few ways to go before it was in reasonable range. It slowly stalked them, circling around as if eyeing its prey. Not that it knew that it was the one that was going to die in a few seconds, however. It was clearly confident in its abilities and backup, something that Riku took note in terms of the intelligence his enemies. If this was any indication of their tactics moving forward, then he should probably expect craftier opponents and animals deeper in the Deep Blue.
But of course, such thoughts were irrelevant in the moment where they were currently at risk of dying from a single swipe of these beasts.
"What are you two waiting for anyway?" Nyx asked with a bored tone from where she was casually lounging in mid air. "There's being careful, and then there's this, you know?"
"I-I don't know either, but I trust Riku," Shizu answered for him. "It's not like he'll let us die like-"
"Now, Shizu!"
With a slightly louder shout than usual, Riku engaged the enemy, his legs pumping his movements as he lunged at the closest lion in his vicinity. Immediately, he felt the lion's flesh bite his knife, it's blood and guts splashing out of its gaping wound before finally falling onto the ground. A clean and quick kill, if he must say so himself. However, that wasn't all that was happening.
"R-Right!"
Behind him, Shizu audibly gave herself a shout of encouragement as her cards flew through the air, hitting the lions furthest away from them right in between their eyes. Looking at her targets, he couldn't help but be impressed at her accuracy. Clearly, she had potential.
[CHAOTIC TEMPERING: +0.5 MOVEMENT]
Riku blinked at the prompt that just popped up in the corner of his eyes. It would seem that his [Chaotic Tempering] ability just activated again. Well, now was the perfect time to test out his supposedly faster movement.
Crouching down, the former assassin lunged at his next possible target, the lion already midway through charging a light beam before Riku cut it right at its neck, its white blood spraying out like a jet before the animal fell onto the ground with a thud. The speed that he approached his next target then surprised even him as he almost overshot his destination, having to twist around and stab the next lion on the back just to make sure that it died before it can retaliate.
"Oh, you're faster than usual," Nyx complimented him.
"My ability gave me a slight boost," Riku explained. "Not by much, but enough to have to make me adjust, apparently."
"Riku, watch out!"
He raised a brow at Shizu's warning. He was fully aware of the two lions charging their light beams at him, but he was confident enough to dodge them if needed. In addition, he was focused more on the fact that his partner had clearly killed her own fair share of lions, the corpses of her kills already disintegrating along with the cards that killed them as the one that did the deed looked like she wasn't even winded in the slightest.
"I'll get the one on the right!" Shizu announced as she hovered a hand over her deck, the cards starting to glow green with power as she prepared her ability. "F-[Fate's Edict]!"
At the same time, Riku ducked as the two lions let out their concentrated beams of light, letting the attacks fly right above him before turning on a dime and lunging at the one on the left. But just as he was about to take off, he felt his feet turn lighter as a green sheen enveloped his legs.
"[The Chariot: Upright Position]!" Shizu called out, her hand up in the air with the image of the selfsame tarot card glowing above her. "You'll be faster now, Riku!"
Giving the tarot reader a grateful nod, Riku shot forth, his newfound speed letting him almost teleport behind the lion before he ceremoniously slit the animal's throat, its beam of light flickering out of existence as it fell to the ground without much trouble. On the other hand, the other lion had its attack interrupted by a slew of cards impaling its forehead, Shizu having killed it with precision as her cards hit their mark.
"T-There..." his fellow Champion breathed out. "I... I actually did it..."