Tānlán's face visually changed when Matsumi mentioned the idea of rules. As if life were simply a game to him. How foolish. His coat continued to fly off of his shoulders, looking on at the four.
"Your call. Let the games begin."
Matsumi surprisingly smiled in the situation they were in.
"Okay…how about this- If I win, you tell me all about your mom and what she wants. If you win…hmm…you can decide that one!"
"My mother….You mean Lilith…"
Tánlān sat in silence for a few moments.
"Very well. I'll tell you anything you want if you lot manage to beat me and make it to the next floor. You have my word."
His smile grew wider, a really odd person that's for sure.
"It's a game then! Haha! Oh, I really love this tower!"
"Tānlán's name translates to exactly what his sin is. Greed. Thus I noticed something Matsumi."
Eraba stood in front of Matsumi and pointed to his necklace.
"He stole some of your mana on your attack. Both from Kibō's reservoir and from yours, and whatever else is amplifying it. Due to this we can't just attack him like we did with the enemy on Floor Ten. We have to try and use as little mana as possible, especially since the reservoir in which he could draw from could reach infinite levels of power hypothetically, since he isn't a living creature but rather a concept. The more mana we use the more powerful he'll become."
"No mana? How the heck am I gonna fight then? Oh well, I'll just figure it out!"
"You're going to have to use less or you're going to have to use pure physical strength."
"Yeah, I got it. Can't be too hard."
"Well then..enough talking. Show me just how much of a winner you are at this so called game."
Matsumi popped out his roller blades as he moved toward Tānlán. Using the same plan as he always had, straight on.
Tānlán moved and grabbed Matsumi by the face, clean off his feet as the force of his grab caused the wheels on the bottom to roll still at high speeds. He pushed him to the side stopped an attack head on from Kurai, keeping his grip around her wrist as he watched the other two.
Matsumi still raised up his leg to slam his heel into Tānlán's chin. After being pushed he tried to tackle him from behind.
Tānlán rolled on the ground with Matsumi before getting on top of him, He grabbed him by his face and hair and planted his head back down into the concrete.
"Get…off!"
He struggled on the ground with him, when he remembered he wanted to try something out. This wrestling thing Kyōki mentioned. He layed face up on the ground before wrapping his arms around Tānlán's neck. Is this how it works? He thought to himself as he started to squeeze.
Tānlán struggled before ripping the two apart completely. His hands started to glow red as the same lightning from before surged through his own body. He had practically stole Matsumi's technique for himself.
Matsumi stood back up, the red lighting catching his eye.
"I gotta admit, your magic is pretty cool."
He wanted to rush in again but he was already grabbed twice, so he took a little moment to think, as much as someone like him could.
"I would say the same about yours but it's rather average. You summon lightning from the God of Lightning in an attempt to boost the massive amount of strength you already have. I've seen ones like you who carried that necklace throughout many many years. They all failed in the face of battle!"
Tānlán made the first move this time. His speed was probably twice that of Matsumi's, and not only did he manage to grab Kurai but he managed to get in front of Matsumi while he was thinking holding her once again by her torso.
He turned and slammed her into Matsumi with a German Suplex. The style of battle that Kyōki had told him about had appeared before his eyes. The boy of Greed was a technician, so much so that it was an art to him.
"Massive strength? What are you talking about? I just-"
He couldn't finish his sentence before the attack started, being taken off guard for a moment he took the slam from him. But he also attempted to catch Kurai in the process, if he had just moved out of the way she would've gotten hurt way more.
"I mean your massive physical attributes of course. That power is so great that I see it drip off of your vessel. Long ago the sins were blessed with an ability to see other's potential and strength. Almost how Witches can see Mana and its physical properties and attributes…we can see that..but the pure and unbridled strength that rests in all creatures. Yours appears to be infinite in potential capacity. I didn't notice at first since i've eliminated so many from this floor before you arrived…but you…you're different. That has to be why Barghest would entertain such a boy as yourself."
He recovered a little slowly from the previous attack, he was hurting.
"So you're a peeping tom looking at me like that! I didn't say you could see my attributes!"
He extended his hand, calling out to Trops internally, having him summon a strangely large tennis racket.
"….What is that?…"
Tānlán squinted his eyes at the racket before coming to a halt in his movement.
A toy that the humans use to play Tennis? In what world would that object destroy him?
He digressed. His main focus was keeping Eraba out of the mix and handling the two of them first.
"This? It's my plan."
This time he didn't rush in, but instead used the flash step around Tānlán, not abusing it but using it periodically.
Tānlán turned to him, his eyes panning toward Matsumi, watching his movements behind him.
He moved past him, waving the racket in tandem to strike with the edges of it. It didn't hurt much, given that the racket was rather light, very light actually for its size. Nevertheless, Matsumi attacked, just waiting for Tānlán to react.
The unorthodox nature of his attacks caused him to get wacked a few times, before deflecting one of his attacks with his own mana, a force of energy pushing the racket away from him.
Matsumi gripped the racket tightly, not letting it go despite the deflection. Instead he slammed the strings of it into the side of Tānlán, positioning it as close as he could.
When suddenly he would get knocked back with the same force the tennis racket felt when it was deflected.
Tānlán bounced back and fell toward the ground, a small bruise on his pale forearm. He moved as Kurai tried to slam her foot through his chest practically, rolling around. He watched the two as Kurai rushed him on, her mana pushing her speeds to higher levels with each step.
"Hey, it worked!"
He followed through, holding the tennis racket in front of him in a defensive manner. Getting up close to him, trying to bait him into attacking him again.
Tānlan moved with force and stopped right in front of him, not attacking him, before he turned and blocked Kurai's attack, grabbing her by her arm as Matsumi could see the mana draining from her arm as she quivered.
He knew that if Matsumi was only looking for defense he could gain some strength in the process.
"You ignoring me now?"
With this small moment of freedom, he activated the necklace again. The lightning pulsing through his legs as he kicked Tānlán away, immediately deactivating the necklace after he propelled himself forward.
Tānlán went flying as he slid over towards a nearby house, slamming into the wall. He recovered quickly as Eraba went on the attack, a pure wave of mana, far too violent to absorb for him, he moved out of the way and watched, keeping his distance from the three.
Matsumi didn't let him have too much time to breathe as he attacked him with the racket again, this time from the side as he tried to move out of the way.
Tānlán grabbed the racket as Trops Mana was immediately sucked from the tool, it withering and rusting in Matsumi's hand. Greed held his hand out to the side as a racket materialized in his hand, one that was in the shape that Matsumi's was prior and, for the kicker, was his own set of colors that were a juxtaposition to Matsumi's.
While his hands were occupied, Matsumi attempted to strike at Tānlán with his right hand. Leaving the rusted item in the hands of the enemy. Tānlán jerked back from the attack as his body bended backwards before he snapped back and hit Matsumi with a taste of his own medicine, slamming the newer racket into Matsumi's side.
Matsumi was knocked back, a piece of Trops cracked slightly. It was already damaged before, so the armor it provided lessened.
Looks like his plan was a little short lived.