"So... what is this, my lord?"
"MAHJONG! It's a really ancient game I picked up during my travels with the other humans!" Taro's enthusiasm spiked as he'd presented such a set before his soldiers during the early stages of Orochi's creation: 120 tiles each, all of which had different katakana, color, and shade that showed the age of the tile itself. Perplexed, the Soldiers would tilt their heads and poke into such pieces, seeing if they would react as if they were alive. Taro merely laughed at their curiosity and began to scatter them around, before assembling such pieces. "We'll start with a simple memory test. Find a matching tile between the two first." He'd command.
By his words, they followed, scampering around in a circle, watching and paying close eye on what was similar. One of such tiles would be found, an Honorific for the winds of east and west. Another was spotted seconds after it was taken, a number set of 3 and 6. A third would only find a pair of 5's, a fourth with a pair of Bamboo. One by one, they unraveled and took their respective pieces, looking at it's glistening color, as Taro spoke up once more. "Now tell me... why did you pick your specific tiles?" The group looked amongst one another confused, shrugging towards him. The Human Vritra continued his speech. "When one finds something that befits themselves, their eyes get attracted to it, doesn't it? When one sees what they like, they take it, correct? So... why? Is it its shape? Its decorum? Out with it!" Words of encouragement, but once again, they were lost.
One would be quick to speak up. "I... I guess I like mines because it's Bamboo? I'm a big fan of plants, always wanted to have my own garden."
"Yes! Yes! That's good! More, give me more reasons!" One by one, they'd take their time and answer in earnest. Some were obvious, such as the color and shine the small pieces had. Others were more sentimental, such as a father who picked a pair of white dragons due to being a representation of himself for his children. Taro smiled proudly as he'd see his soldiers begin to converse with one another, sharing such equal thoughts and feelings, praising some, curious in others. Such vocality would slow once he'd raise his hands up. "Now... do you see why I like such tiles like these?" Once more, quiet. Nobody knew the answer, yet Taro continued. "Mahjong is a Game of strategy. Of reliance in others. Of understanding what the next move is and why they make it so. To play Mahjong, you play with knowledge. Furthermore, others would try to read you in the same way, slowly adapting your style, your moves, your methods, to see what can and cannot be accomplished in the given setting!"
"Out with it, my lord! What does this have to do with us!?" One shouted, letting Taro simplify his words when asked.
"Put simply... it is a game about your opponent. A Game about your memory. A Game of Adaptation." He'd pause himself as he'd take a pair of 6's from one and placed it down on the ground. "When you see an opportunity, your first guess is to take it, correct? But when it gets buried with others, it becomes harder to find that chance. At that point, you'd choose to take what's around it instead to find the core of the game. The center. The point which you memorized from the beginning." The crowd began to be more curious as they'd see the leader take such pieces and place them back, all in the same pattern, all in the same format. "Eventually, you'd take it apart so many times... you'd eventually be able to reform what you took down back together. With a game like Mahjong, at least when it comes to memorization, it WILL eventually let you find the center of it all. Battles, war, surgery for diseases. All of them focus on that one specific area as well. How you get there... depends on the pieces in place... and what you wish to take first."
"At the end of it all... your mind is a weapon sharper than swords and more precise than a bullet. It's how that mind is used, and to an extent, how other's are used, to read and attack back."
As he gave his speech, giving his people confidence, such praises and shouts he heard only muffled down to a ringing sensation and the gushing of blood. His body was being battered around, struck across on all sides by the Human Serpent, whilst Koina focused on freezing his body to break down and expose his vitals. Currently his neck is wounded, holes punctured away, but not deep enough to guarantee a lethal blow. His hide was breaking down from the impacts in both sides, his exposed weak points ready to be ripped into. As soon as Adel was inches, nay, centimeters away from skewering through the hole and stabbing into his stomach, he regained his consciousness. He can see it, a tell visible on his shoulders which housed the remaining lives. He can see the hard thrusts made to bring out as much power as possible, tethering it to her strong arms to make such fish become wyverns to swarm and crash themselves into his body.
It only took three moves to take back the fight in his heavily injured state: one to grab and flip Adel's body to its side, a second to stomp on Koina's feet and trip her over, and a third to kick the knife away, grabbing it to stab straight into the holes themselves, having just enough force to thrust in and make the wyverns swarm through, freezing his insides clean. The two's eyes widened upon seeing how quick he took up the advantage, let alone enact upon it. The Human Serpent tried to step back, but it was too late. The dagger was already hidden within the massive crater, and all it took for Taro to take back the fight in his own reigns was to swipe down, an arc of frost slashing and ripping through his body.
Most importantly, however, is that it is a direct hit into his vitals, his heart freezing over.