Prelude here: https://brendansversus.wordpress.com/2020/06/10/prelude-knives-millions-vs-jin-kisaragi/
Alright, the combatants are set. Let’s end this debate once and for all! It’s time for a Death Battle!
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Snow Town, 9th Hierarchical City of Akitsu-Kou
The sound of boots crunching against snow echoed throughout the abandoned streets as one man trudged through the cold, unforgiving land. His green eyes scanned the area for any signs of life. Massive houses made of wood and brick adorned his surroundings, all of them lit from the inside and covered in snow, but he knew firsthand that each one remained unoccupied. It was odd. He recalled seeing the occasional snowman with each city block he passed, and he could clearly see the frozen over, igloo-like turrets that towered above the houses, which indicated that there must be at least one person inhabiting this place!
The man closed his eyes and exhaled, his breath visible in the town’s cold air as he recalled the events that had led up to this.
“Stop! Get away from me!” Knives Millions screamed in desperation as he realized what his brother was going to do. Instead of listening, Vash the Stampede only responded by focusing his energy into the cable he was holding. The energy shot through the cable, exiting out through the Ark and, by extension, Knives himself. Now knowing they were both connected, Vash proceeded to bring his end of the cable up to his neck. Electricity crackled out of the plug for a brief moment, and then it happened!
The moment it entered into his body, both Knives, Vash, and the various Plants let out bloodcurdling screams of agony. A fiery pain spread throughout Knives’ mind as he felt his body start to break down. Veins appeared across his entire frame, and the Plants that had helped make it up were slowly trying to push themselves out. To make matters worse, the energy had created an adverse effect on the Ark, as the once sentient ship was now roaring in agony. Knives looked down toward its direction, and he soon saw why: its entire frame was being disintegrated! With every second that passed, another portion would be consumed in a white fire, leaving the organic vehicle to suffer a pain even worse than its master’s!
An enraged scream emerged from Knives’ throat as he desperately spread his Angel Wings, forming them into tendrils that grabbed hold of the disintegrating ship. Then, using some of his own energy, Knives began repairing the ship, regenerating all of the damage in a matter of seconds while also integrating his own consciousness into it! He wouldn’t let Vash throw away all of his hard work so easily!
“You haven’t reached me yet, Vash!” As his body fused itself to its new vessel, Knives looked down to see the wire still attached to his body. “This wire connection must be your last chance. You’ve done well at cornering me like this, but…” he paused for a brief moment to focus his energy, and with it a small blade began to form from his new body. “There is absolutely no way I’ll lose to these humans!”
As these words escaped his lips, Knives brought the blade down, fully intent on severing the wire. Just when it seemed that he was about to do so, however, his vision seemed to go black for a brief moment. Upon its return, a CLANG echoed out as he struck… tile?
His eyes widening in surprise, Knives then looked up at his surroundings, and it was then that he realized something was wrong. No longer were his surroundings that of the desert planet Gunsmoke. Instead, he found himself standing inside a large cave, his feet resting against tiled floor. Wait, his feet?
Confused, he took a brief look at his own body, and this caused his confusion to morph into a look of surprise. There didn’t seem to be any of the Ark attached to him. In fact, he looked just as he had prior to fusing with it! How was this possible? Could it have something to do with whatever had brought him here?
Shifting his gaze, Knives began studying his surroundings further. Each tile on the ground was inscribed with some sort of rune in its middle. His only sources of light seemed to come from the surrounding fire and lava, though this didn’t help him figure out his current surroundings.
“Let me guess, you’re probably wondering where you are and how you got here.” Hearing this new voice, Knives turned around, and he was met with the sight of a voluptuous woman in a purple-and-black witch’s costume.
“That would be correct.” He confirmed as he raised his arm, extending a blade to the point where it was only a few centimeters from her throat. “I’ll only ask this once: why did you bring me here, and for what purpose?”
“Maybe if you put that sword down and let me explain, you’d find your answer.” The mysterious woman responded, her tone somewhat frosty as she pushed the Angel Wing aside.
From there, this woman- Nine the Phantom- had told Knives of his current situation. According to her explanation, he had been selected as one of the “qualified,” a set of individuals who were given the privilege of surviving the end of the world. Apparently, he had been transplanted out of his universe and into this one by a being called the “Master Unit: Amaterasu.” Because of his status as a qualified, he was now tasked with defeating a woman by the name of Hades Izanami. By doing so, she explained, he would obtain the Azure, a power that would allow him to reshape the world as he saw fit.
Naturally, when he’d first heard this, Knives had scoffed. This sounded like some sort of naive, childish fantasy. A power that would grant him whatever he desired, and all it would cost was the life of one woman? At first he thought it sounded too good to be true, but then he began thinking on it a bit more. If this “Azure” really did exist, then he could use its power to bring about a new era to Gunsmoke. He could finally wipe the slate clean. The human race would no longer exist, and in their place would be paradise- an Eden for himself and all of his siblings to remain in for eternity!
—
Opening his eyes, Knives’ attention became drawn elsewhere as he could feel a familiar sensation entering his mind. It was faint, but he could still feel this sort of… buzzing enter his subconscious. This only happened if he was around another Plant, and with the frequency he was receiving, it could’ve only been one person.
“Vash?” He asked aloud. Was it possible? Had his brother also materialized in this new world? And if he had, then that meant-
Knives cut off his thought process and chuckled.
“You just always have to get in my way, don’t you, little brother?” He asked aloud, his tone joking and humorous in spite of their recent conflict. As these words left his mouth, Knives took to the air, using his wings to begin flying over Snow Town. Although he wasn’t aware of it at the time, he would soon find himself victim to yet another confrontation, though it wasn’t with someone he had expected!
On the other side of town, casually trudging through the snow was another blond man, whose green eyes were remaining focused on his surroundings. He could sense a mysterious presence in this city, one he had never encountered before, and it seemed to be approaching his direction at a rapid pace. As he felt the air currents shift around him, Jin Kisaragi looked up just in time to see a vague blur crash several feet from him. Recognizing this new arrival as a possible threat, Jin placed a hand on his sheathed blade, mentally preparing himself in the event that he’d have to remove it and defend himself. To his surprise, the figure instead chose to remain still, allowing Jin to see its true form once the cloud surrounding it had dissipated.
Standing before him was a blond man of equal height. His hair had been fashioned into a sort of buzz cut, and Jin could notice a small streak of black across its left side. Most of his body was covered by a beige cloak, though Jin could still make out his hands and feet, and that was when he noticed something odd. For some reason, both of these limbs were a bright cyan, a sharp contrast to the peach skin tone on his head. Extending out of his back were a pair of white, metallic wings. But rather than focus on this person’s appearance, Jin’s attention was drawn to something else. He could feel a malevolent aura emanating from the man’s body, one that caused him to raise his guard even further.
“Well, it’s about time I found someone in this frozen trash heap.” Knives said, his tone joyful before he noticed the swordsman’s current expression. “There’s no need to be so defensive. I just need some directions.”
“Directions to where?” Jin asked, his tone on edge.
“Not where. Who. I’m looking for someone named Hades Izanami.” Upon hearing this, Jin’s gaze hardened slightly.
“So you’re another one of the chosen.” Jin surmised. “And what exactly do you plan to do once you’ve defeated Izanami? What is it that you desire?”
“What do I desire?” Knives repeated as a small grin appeared on his face. “All I want to do is recreate the world I came from, to give the humans who mistreated my sisters their long overdue punishment. Every day they would be abused, forced to supply resources to an ungrateful species before being thrown aside as if they were nothing more than garbage! If I were to obtain the Azure, I could strip my sisters of their prisons, and then humanity would be forced to fight amongst themselves. And once the last remnants of that putrid garbage have fallen, I’ll build a new world, one where we can thrive without any oppression or conflict!”
“So you want to play God?” Jin asked, his tone sounding somewhat testy.
“If that’s what you want to call it, then sure.” Knives said, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. Hearing this caused Jin’s grip to tighten.
“I have made it my mission to not let the Azure fall into the wrong hands, and if that’s truly what you desire…” The former major paused for a brief moment, and then, as he unsheathed the Mucro Algrescro: Yukianesa, he continued with, “Then I’m afraid I can’t allow you to go any further!”
As these words left his mouth, Jin threw out a swift quickdraw slash. Yukianesa flew through the air-
CLANG!
Only to meet a cyan blade that had extended out of his target’s forearm. The two struggled for a brief moment, but Knives eventually pushed Jin back. The Hero of Ikaruga skid back a bit, but he proved quick to stop himself and stared his adversary in the eye. Knives’ only response was to close his eyes and sigh in disappointment.
“I shouldn’t have expected anything less. It looks like no matter where I go, you humans are all the same.” He lamented as he applied more strength to his push, causing Jin to skid back several inches. Opening his eyes, the Plant glared at Jin with contempt. “What gives you the right to judge me? You’re no different than your brethren! Arrogant, loathsome, downright disgusting!”
“Hmph. Spare me your words.” Jin responded dismissively. “Your opinions on humanity don’t concern me. As far as I’m concerned, they’re nothing more than the ravings of a delusional madman intent on condemning an entire species for the actions of a select few.”
As he finished speaking, Jin lowered himself into a fighting stance before continuing.
“And if your plan is to judge humanity, then I will be the one to judge you!” Upon hearing this, Knives chuckled.
“Trying to play the hero, are we? Alright then!” Once he had finished speaking, Knives tore off his cloak, revealing what lay underneath. The first thing Jin noticed was that Knives was completely naked, revealing that the peach skin on his face continued down his neck before fading into a cyan color. His lower half seemed to lack any genitals, instead sporting a completely blank space where they would’ve been. Small, spike-like extensions protruded out of his legs and wrapped around the outside of his thighs. Though he couldn’t have possibly known about it, Jin was currently looking at the result of Knives fusing with almost every one of the Plants on Gunsmoke. The naked science experiment looked at Jin’s neutral expression and responded by giving a smirk. He then swiped his arm through the air, causing a blade to extend out of his forearm.
[If rooting for Jin]
“If that’s what you want, then come on and fight me!” Knives declared with a grin. “But just as a warning: if you decide to step forward and take me on, I won’t show you any mercy! I’ll make your death as slow and excruciating as I can!”
At hearing this, Jin scoffed before running forward, with Knives responding in kind.
The two blonds soon met in the middle of the street, with both swinging their respective blades through the air. A loud CLANG echoed throughout the streets as their swords collided, producing a massive shockwave throughout the block. The snow surrounding them became dispersed, but both men remained unmoved as they glared intensely at each other. They continued struggling against each other for a brief moment, only to leap back upon realizing that they were getting nowhere. The moment their feet hit the ground, the two men lunged forward, ready to deliver their next attack, but it was ultimately Jin who proved quicker on the draw.
Thrusting his hand forward, the Hero of Ikaruga immediately conjured up a blade of ice out of thin air and launched it at Knives. The sword flew toward the Plant at blinding speeds, and he just barely had the time to tilt his body to the side. Despite Knives’ best efforts, the sword had still managed to slash across his forearm, producing a decently-sized cut, but he proved quick to put it aside. Turning his attention back to Jin, his eyes widened in shock as he found that his opponent had suddenly appeared in front of him! Yukianesa was already in motion, moving toward Knives like a blur, but then-
CLANG!
He raised his other arm and formed a second blade, resulting in another collision. A grin appeared on Knives’ face as he raised his free arm, intent on ending the fight early by driving his sword through Kisaragi’s throat. Just as he was starting to thrust it forward, however, Jin swung his arm once again. A wave of ice materialized in front of him, stopping Knives mid-strike and immediately encasing him in ice!
With his opponent now immobilized, Jin wasted no time in beginning his counterattack by delivering a swift upward slash. The moment it struck, Knives was freed from his prison and sent flying back, but his freedom was short-lived as Jin closed the distance between them, having boarded a massive slab of ice. The Musou Senshouzan slammed into Knives, freezing him once again, but he was once again freed by a swift slash from Yukianesa. Millions rolled across the ground, but before he could try and push himself back up-
KRACK!
A massive tombstone of ice struck him from behind, courtesy of Jin planting his katana into the ground. Even with what he’d experienced from the blade, pain still flared through Knives’ body as he felt the ice smack against his back. It slammed into him hard enough that he flew back toward Jin, who stopped his flight with a sudden kick to the stomach. Knives lurched over, unintentionally coughing up spittle, but this hit had also helped him regain focus. He noticed Jin’s hand was already gripping Yukianesa. As his opponent unsheathed the Nox Nyctores and swung it through the air, Knives immediately leaned back, causing the blade to sail a few centimeters past his face. Upon seeing that Yukianesa had missed its target, Jin began sheathing it, mentally steeling himself for when his opponent would unleash another attack.
He wouldn’t have to wait for long, as Knives pulled himself back upright and swung his sword-arm once again. While it soared toward Jin, Knives began forcing the blade to extend in length. It was now large enough that Knives could’ve easily cleaved him in two, but just before he could test that theory-
SHINK!
Jin unsheathed Yukianesa, producing a circular flash that seemed to have a crystalline snowflake embedded in its middle. The moment he saw this, Knives froze up, stopping the blade only a few centimeters from the field. Unfortunately, this would prove a costly mistake, as Jin threw out a swift slash aimed at the chest. Realizing this, the Plant quickly rectified it by swinging his sword once again!
CLANG!
The two weapons collided once more, but this time the winner was becoming much clearer. With each second that passed, Jin continued applying pressure to his hold, slowly pushing Knives further back. The cyan-skinned blond responded in kind, but his determination would only be rewarded with failure as Jin pushed even harder, breaking his guard and staggering him.
“Gale!” Jin shouted as he followed up by delivering an upward slash, launching the Plant into the air. Refusing to let him recover, Kisaragi immediately leap after Millions, drawing Yukianesa from its sheath once he was close enough. Then he chose to act!
With immense speed, Jin threw out a swift flurry of horizontal slashes, each one producing another laceration on Knives’ body. Once he had reached the apex of his ascent, the Hero of Ikaruga finished his combo with a downward vertical slash, tearing open a massive gash in Knives’ chest and sending him back to the ground. Knives slammed into the snow, his impact kicking up a massive cloud of frost, but even then he could still see Jin’s silhouette. The blue-clad hero had formed a massive construct of ice, one that resembled a bow, and it was currently pointed at Knives.
“Arrows of Ice!” He shouted as he notched its drawstring back. An arrow, one even larger than the bow itself, suddenly formed inside of the string, and it was pointed directly at Knives. After making sure he had lined up his shot right, Jin let out another declaration:
“Let everything freeze!”
With that, Ragna’s brother released his grip, allowing the arrow to fly toward Knives. As the arrow approached him, Knives’ eyes widened in fear and his breathing stopped for a brief moment. There was no way he could avoid it, not at the speed it was going, anyway! Not unless…
SHING!
Almost as if on instinct, a white blur emerged from Knives’ body, effortlessly pulverizing the arrow into mist. Though this left him confused, Jin put it aside as he chose to continue firing. Arrow after arrow emerged from the bow, all of them shooting through the air like a machine gun, and there seemed to be no sign of stopping! Unfortunately, it seemed that whatever had defended Knives was continuing its attempts, and it seemed to be more persistent! In fact, it seemed like more had arrived!
Every time another arrow shot out of the bow, it would be destroyed, and the distance between the mysterious objects and Jin would continue shrinking. Realizing he was getting nowhere, the swordsman-turned-archer allowed himself to drop through the air, firing off a final arrow. In tandem with his descent, one of the objects had swiped at his former location. Although he’d avoided a direct hit, a grimace still formed on Jin’s face as it sliced through one of the blue strips on his jacket, with the weapon’s tip grazing his forearm.
‘So he’s using some sort of blade to try and get at me from afar?’ Jin wondered as he flipped through the air, landing gracefully on the ground. The moment his feet hit the ground, he noticed several blurs appear in his line of vision and reacted accordingly. Quickly aiming his palm forward, Jin summoned a translucent green barrier, and it was at this same time that-
THOOM! THOOM! THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!
[Stop music]
“What?!” Knives asked as he felt his Angel Wings stop mid-strike, having been repelled by an object of equal force. At the same time, Jin took note of his opponent’s new weapons. From what he could tell, these seemed to be extensions of Knives’ wings, and they were rather strong! While his barrier may have shielded him from any damage, Jin could still feel the force behind each strike. Making a mental note of this, he thrust his arm out even further, forcing the barrier to explode and causing all of the blades to scatter.
Realizing this opportunity wouldn’t last, Jin wasted no time as he rushed forward at top speed, swinging Yukianesa in wide arcs with each step he took. As he felt his wings become moved aside, Knives’ immediate response was to reorganize them and spawn more. In no time at all, Jin had become completely surrounded by a void of razors, all of them set to close in and run him through! Unfortunately for Knives, it seemed that his opponent had other ideas.
Almost as if he were doing it subconsciously, Jin quickly unsheathed Yukianesa, and performed a sweeping slash, repelling the front row of blades. More began hurtling toward him, but Jin only responded by picking up the pace! The Nox Nyctores became nothing more than a blue blur as its owner continued swinging, knocking away Knives’ onslaught of blades with the greatest of ease! It didn’t matter where he attempted to strike from, nor how large the blade was. If it was in Jin’s way, Yukianesa would divert its path, freezing it solid in the process! Each swing was slowly bringing him closer to Knives, though the Plant wouldn’t even realize this until Jin had sliced through the final wing. With his adversary now in sight, Jin charged toward him at top speed! Now only a few inches from colliding, he thrust his hand out and summoned forth a massive construct shaped like a wolf’s head. It flew toward the cyan-skinned experiment-
THOOM!
Only to crumble as it met some sort of invisible barrier. Confused, Jin threw out another slash, only for an equal force to push him back, causing him to skid back. Once he had come to a stop, the hero cocked an eyebrow at this. This man didn’t seem to be using Ars Magus, so how had he summoned this barrier?
“Confused?” Knives asked with an amused grin. “Really, after that last assault of yours, what makes you think- even for the tiniest second– that I’d ever let you lay that blade on me again?”
Jin merely scoffed as he planted Yukianesa into the ground once again, causing Knives’ eyes to widen as he felt a familiar construct slam into him. The moment the tombstone struck him, Millions found himself frozen solid once again, with his barrier dissipating in the process. Now that he had a clear shot, Jin wasted no time in beginning his attack!
Closing the distance in an instant, the former major threw out an upward kick and followed up with a sweep that knocked the frozen Plant to the ground. Before he could land, however, Jin threw out a vertical slash that sent him into the air. Leaping after the immobilized blond, Kisaragi gave a horizontal swing, followed up with another vertical, and sent Knives further into the air with a diagonal battoujutsu slash. Rather than leave it at that, Jin conjured up another board of ice and rammed into Knives. The moment they collided, he delivered a horizontal slash that freed Millions from his prison, but Jin still wasn’t done!
A downward diagonal slash ran across Knives’ face, producing a gash where it struck and sending him crashing back to the ground. Just before he could hit the snow, however, a flash of blue light covered Knives’ body, causing Jin to instinctively shield his eyes. It quickly faded, but before he could regain focus, something slammed into him from behind, leaving a massive cut across his back!
Despite the pain coursing through his mind, Jin proved quick to flip through the air, letting him land gracefully against the snow. Looking back up, he found himself staring at Knives, who looked down at him with a smirk before waving his hand through the air. Though this action left him somewhat confused, Jin soon realized what his opponent was planning as the sound of something rushing toward him made its way to his ears. Turning toward its direction, Jin prepared to counter it, but before he could-
SCHLICK!
One of Knives’ amputated wings had sliced across his hand, preventing him from grabbing Yukianesa. Another white blur whizzed past, causing Jin to stagger back as a second feather ran through his forearm, creating another laceration. Three more of the razor-sharp quills ran past the major’s body, leaving three bloody scratches across his stomach. Another four quickly followed, embedding themselves in his pecs and causing him to stagger back. Pain flared through Jin’s mind once again, but he put it aside as he reached for Yukianesa.
Grabbing hold of the katana, a barrier briefly appeared in front of Jin’s body, and at the same time, another of Knives’ feathers hit his body. When it struck, the swordsman rushed forward, throwing out a flurry of quickdraw slashes to deflect each of the oncoming feathers. By this point, neither Yukianesa nor the feathers could be seen. The only signs of either’s existence could be seen with the ice particles created from the shattered projectiles, as well as the numerous cuts on Jin’s body. The two continued struggling, though it was slowly becoming clear who the victor was.
Even with the progress he was making by using Yukianesa, the feathers were still cutting apart Jin’s body. For every feather deflected, another five razors would run across his body, slicing apart more of his skin! Despite the pain that was wracking his body, Jin attempted to continue fighting, but then-
SCHLICK!
One of the larger feathers had embedded itself in his stomach, causing him to lurch over and vomit up blood. Another large one slammed into his chest, causing his knees to buckle as he collapsed to the ground. A stream of blood emerged from Jin’s mouth, but before he could try to muster the strength to keep fighting-
SHING! SHING! SHING!
The razors that had impaled his body suddenly ripped themselves free, causing blood to spurt out of his torso and stain his remaining clothing a deep crimson. He tried to push himself back up, but he would only get halfway there before the pain overloaded his mind, forcing him to fall onto his back. A few seconds later, Knives landed on the ground, his boots crunching against the bloodstained snow. He looked down at Jin’s bloody, laceration-covered body, and after what felt like an eternity, he smirked.
“I’ll admit, you did a pretty good job getting as far as you did, but it looks like your time’s up. Now rest, hero.” He spat the word venomously before turning his back to Jin. As he began walking away, Knives finished by declaring. “The rest of your kind will join you soon.”
CRUNCH!
“Just where the hell… do you think you’re going?”
Knives’ eyes widened in surprise at the voice. When he looked toward the source, his expression hardened slightly, though it still displayed a bit of shock.
Jin Kisaragi was still alive, though the previous onslaught had clearly left its mark. His blue coat and military uniform were both reduced to tatters, numerous scars adorned his body, but he had somehow managed to find the strength to stand back up. He looked Knives in the eye, anger blazing through what was otherwise a cold, steel gaze.
“Did you really think… that would be enough… to finish me?” Jin asked between ragged breaths as he continued seething with rage. “Do you think I’d actually allow myself… to be killed by someone like you?”
While these words were leaving his opponent’s mouth, Knives was noticing an odd feedback in his mind. He could sense a well of strength emanating from Jin’s body, and it was enough to send a chill down his spine. But even though this brief twinge of fear had entered his body, Knives quickly put it aside and began chuckling.
“Well, you’re quite the persistent bastard, aren’t you? But since you’ve gotten this far, maybe you can tell me what your plan is.” A smirk formed on Knives’ face as he continued. “Just think about it for a second. Your body’s practically at death’s door, you can barely stand, and you haven’t even been able to land so much as a glancing blow on me. I, on the other hand-“
A wing suddenly sprouted from Knives’ right shoulder, extending so quickly that Jin just barely managed to block it with Yukianesa.
“-have more than enough power to wipe you off the face of the earth!” He finished, emphasizing his boast with a victorious smirk. As he forced the cyan appendage to retract back to his side, Millions’ expression changed once again. His pupils shrank and his smirk evolved into a full-blown psychotic grin as he asked “So tell me, ‘hero,’ what are you planning to do now? Are you going to fight until the bitter end, or maybe I should just spare you the trouble and end this little farce right now?”
While those last words were exiting his mouth, Knives forced his wing to curl around his shoulder, its end pointing straight at Jin’s head.
“As if you had to ask!” Jin responded as he gripped Yukianesa and slowly brought it up. “I don’t care what power you have, or what state my body’s in! Even if it’s until my last breath, I won’t rest until you’ve received judgment at my hands!”
Laying the sheath in the palm of his left hand, with his thumb placed against its bottom, Jin gripped Yukianesa’s hilt with his right.
“So feel free to attack me with whatever you’d like. No matter what it is, it won’t change the outcome! None shall escape!“
Once those last words had escaped his lips, Jin’s body seemed to let loose an explosion of energy, causing Knives’ brow to raise in intrigue. Although he wasn’t aware of it, what he just witnessed was a sign that the Hero of Ikaruga had just tapped into his Overdrive, Frost End.
In a sudden burst of speed, Jin rushed toward Knives, who immediately responded by allowing his wing to shoot forward. As it flew through the air, the wing began changing shape, morphing into some kind of sickle. The newfound weapon came down at an angle, no doubt to bifurcate Jin through his collar, but its target proved quick to respond as he swung Yukianesa through the air! The moment both blades collided, Knives’ wing became coated in ice, causing its owner to grimace in pain.
Before he could recover, Jin grabbed the frozen portion, snapped it off, and hurled it at Knives with all his might! The blade soared toward its former owner, positioned to impale him through the shoulder, but then something odd happened. It was caught, not by Knives himself, but by an enormous, white tentacle that had suddenly emerged from his arm. This newfound limb crushed the impromptu weapon to dust, and several dozen more sprouted out from Knives’ arm immediately after!
Jin’s gaze hardened as the tentacles suddenly rushed toward him, and he only responded in kind! The moment they reached out to strike, he unsheathed his katana and began parrying them like a madman! The moment each one struck the flat of his blade, the tendrils became coated in a thick layer of ice. A swift amputation would then follow suit as Jin continued rushing forward, countering the tentacles as he continued blocking and swinging Yukianesa. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be enough to keep Knives down, as he only responded by summoning a legion of tentacles.
Hundreds of tentacles rushed toward Jin at blinding speeds, but he didn’t seem to be alarmed. In fact, his expression shifted into a cocky smirk as he conjured up a red, runic barrier. This shield symbolized a technique he had learned from a certain legendary hero, which Knives would soon experience as a tentacle slammed into it. The moment it struck his barrier, Jin activated the technique known as-
“Empty Sky Form…”
Knives let out a grunt of pain as he felt something slice past him, amputating his tendrils and arm-blade while also trapping him in a block of ice! Instead of leaving it at that, however, Jin rushed through him a second time. A third. A fourth. A fifth slash ran Knives through, and once he had emerged from the other side, Jin immediately sheathed Yukianesa. The blade made an audible CLICK upon its insertion, and with it Jin finished the technique’s name.
“Winter’s Reposte!”
The moment these words escaped his lips, Knives’ prison suddenly exploded outward, with its captive screaming as he was violently thrown to the ground, his entire body now covered in lacerations. Knives placed his hands against the ground, trying as hard as he could to push himself up, but a sudden wave of exhaustion forced him back down. Gritting his teeth, the Plant continued attempting to push himself back up, though in doing so he involuntarily opened his mouth. A stream of blood emerged from his mouth, pooling directly in front of him.
As he looked down at the crimson puddle below him, Knives’ expression contorted into one of pure, unbridled fury! It was bad enough that a human had managed to damage him this badly, but now this trash dared to spill his blood?
Rage began to cloud Knives’ mind as he pushed himself back up, quickly getting back to his feet. He turned to face Jin, but the major cut this action short with a sudden uppercutting slash. Vash’s brother reeled back in pain as another gash appeared on his face, and Kisaragi proved quick to exploit this newfound opening. A rapid flurry of swings struck Knives head-on, each one leaving another cut on his body. Despite this, Jin could tell that something was wrong. Although he hadn’t noticed it before, Knives’ body was actually managing to regenerate from each cut almost immediately after it had been made! Even the injuries that had been inflicted prior were nowhere to be seen!
‘How the hell is he healing from Yukianesa’s blade?’ Jin thought in confusion, only for his expression to quickly harden. ‘If he can do that, then I need to end this before it goes any further!’
As this thought entered his mind, Jin raised Yukianesa through the air. Then, with a cry of “Arctic Daggers!” he brought it down! The moment he did so, a crescent-shaped wave of energy shot out from the permafrost blade, approaching Knives at blinding speeds! As he watched the beam speed toward him, Knives’ only response was to let out a smug “hmph” as he forced his wings to spawn. As if sensing the oncoming threat, they immediately folded themselves over their master, and the moment the beam slammed into them-
KRRRRRK!
It exploded against the makeshift shields, causing Knives to let out a chuckle.
“How pitiful! If that’s the best you can do, then-“ whatever he was about to say soon died in his throat as he realized something was wrong. He’d intended to spread his wings outward and use them to attack Jin, but nothing happened. Confused, he attempted to retract them back into his body, only to reach the same outcome.
‘What’s going on here? My wings… why can’t I move them?’ He thought as he grit his teeth. ‘All I did was block that beam of ice. Unless it actually managed to-‘
Knives looked down at the ground, and his pupils shrank as he realized his suspicions were confirmed. While he’d managed to block the beam, it seemed that Jin’s Touga Hyoujin still had the last laugh. The moment the two had collided, the beam exploded into a thick layer of ice, covering the wings’ surface and leaving their owner stuck to the ground. Unfortunately for Knives, his situation was about to get far worse, as Jin suddenly planted Yukianesa into the ground. In tandem with this, three tombstones of ice erupted from the ground and ran themselves through Knives’ body, coating him in a block of ice once again. With his opponent now immobilized, Jin ripped Yukianesa out of the ground and sheathed it, simultaneously shattering the tombstones and freeing Knives once again.
As he fell to his knees, Knives began to feel a familiar pain spread through his mind. In addition to leaving three large, bleeding holes in his body, those last attacks had also created another adverse effect. The pain from each one seemed to have spurred his sisters into awakening, and they desperately wanted out!
Knives’ body convulsed for a brief moment, causing Jin to raise an eyebrow in confusion. This convulsion shot through him again, this time causing all of his veins to begin popping out. It soon passed, and his body quickly morphed back to normal. But then a third one started up. Soon it was followed by a fourth. Then a fifth. Each time this convulsion spread through Knives’ body, his veins would emerge, and various patches of skin would form into something else. Feminine arms, legs, and faces of varying sizes all began to emerge from his body, though there was something wrong with each one.
All of the limbs seemed to be bent at unnatural angles, yet they desperately grasped at the air. The faces all seemed to be stuck letting out silent screams of terror, screams that were vocalized through Knives himself.
As if to make up for the unheard cries of his “sisters,” Knives was letting out a chilling scream of agony. Just like his fight with Vash, he could feel the other Plants continuing to push themselves outward, and each convulsion was only making it worse! He felt like his mind was about to split apart, and every fiber in his body felt like it was on fire!
While he didn’t share his adversary’s pain, Jin could still sense what was occurring on a more spiritual level. Each time Knives convulsed, Jin would feel some sort of mental feedback. Hundreds of presences made themselves known to him, all screaming in unison. Through these screams, he began to feel a surge of emotion through the air. Whatever was causing this, they seemed to be in pain, and each one shared the same desire: to obtain freedom. Each time Knives’ body moved, another of these creatures would add to the feedback, and Jin could feel their presences growing closer.
‘What is this? Are these his “sisters” he was talking about?’ Jin asked himself. ‘It seems like he’s been absorbing them into himself, overriding their wills with his own, but why?’
While these questions swirled through Jin’s mind, he felt the presences continue their screams, but then something odd happened. He could feel each one start drifting away, fading into a subconscious buzzing as a new scream emerged. As he snapped back to reality, Jin began to realize where this scream was coming from: it was Knives!
As he felt the other Plants try to tear themselves free, Knives let out another scream, but this one was different in tone. Rather than a tortured roar of pain, his growing determination had caused the scream to evolve into one of pure, unbridled willpower.
‘I’m sorry, sisters, but I can’t let you leave me just yet!’ He thought as he forced his body to stabilize, trapping his fusees back inside.
[Pause]
As he pushed himself back up, subconsciously healing his gaping wounds in the process, Knives turned his attention back toward Jin. The NOL alumni now bore… Knives couldn’t even tell how to describe the expression. If he had to guess, he’d have said it was some sort of crossroads between disgust, confusion, and anger.
“Just now, I felt the presence of hundreds of people. All of them were originating from one point: your body.” Jin’s expression hardened, becoming an angered glare before he continued. “Is this what you’ve done to your ‘sisters?’ You claim that humans abuse them and regard them as nothing more than a fuel source, only to turn around and use them to fuel your own demented goals?! How can you claim to be dispensing judgment on humanity? Going by your own logic, you’re no better than we are!”
This statement seemed to spark something within Knives, as his otherwise neutral expression morphed into a hateful glare. Then, much to Jin’s surprise, he suddenly appeared in front of him, Angel Wing already mid-swing. A resounding CLANG echoed throughout the street as Yukianesa reacted immediately, automatically defending its master from the oncoming strike.
“Don’t you ever compare me to garbage like you!” Knives demanded as he swung a second time, causing Jin’s feet to begin digging into the ground. “Everything I’ve done, every action I’ve set in motion, it’s all been to free my sisters! True, I needed to fuse their conscience to my own, but there was no other way I could’ve done it! Either I could let them share their minds and bodies with mine, or I could allow them to continue suffering in their cages! What other choice did I have?”
“Did you try communicating with humans first? Did you let them know what they were doing to your siblings? Did you ever once try doing that?” Jin asked as he stood his ground, slowly overpowering Knives and pushing him back.
“You sound just like my brother. He listened to the words of the woman who raised us and believed her little sob story, then he became perfectly fine with humanity as a whole. Even though we’d discovered that she covered up how her crew members had killed an infant!” Knives snapped as another wing emerged from his body, only for Yukianesa to intercept that as well. “What makes you think I’d be willing to talk with someone like that? If the woman who raised us was capable of something like that, why should I bother giving any of you a chance?”
“What was she like?” Jin asked. This seemed to catch Knives off guard, and he blinked in surprise.
“What?” He asked in confusion.
“The woman who raised you. How did she treat you before you discovered her secret? And what about after?”
“She tried to make us feel like we were one of them. She said she opposed Tessla’s murder, and that she’d committed a violation of regulations in order to save us.” Millions admitted.
“Then if she was willing to do all of that, what reason do you have for doing what you are right now?” Jin questioned as he broke off their clash and threw out a wave of ice, only for Knives to leap back to dodge it.
“Because by looking through Tessla’s report, I saw the truth behind humanity!” Knives declared as he extended his right arm outward. A wing shot through the ice, coming extremely close to impaling Jin through the chest, but he responded by conjuring another barrier. Scoffing at this, Knives continued swinging away at it, each collision producing another chip in the shield.
“It doesn’t matter how pleasant you try to appear or what good you claim to do! In the end, all of you- whether you know it or not- were only able to succeed by profiting off of my sisters’ lives. Even here, I can still see the flaws in humanity! Just looking at you, I can feel the pride radiating from your body, that arrogant sense that you believe you have some sort of power over me!”
As he continued speaking, Knives’ swings grew in intensity, producing more cracks against the shield.
“Well, tell me! How’s that pride treating you now?” Millions asked excitedly as he summoned more wings to strike the barrier. Seeing this, Jin forced the barrier to explode, scattering the wings through the area. Knives himself was also pushed back, but before he could regain his focus, he heard Jin’s voice in front of him.
“So that’s it, then?” Instinctively, Knives attempted to summon another blade, but Jin proved quicker on the draw as a diagonal swing nailed the Plant in his chin. The cyan-skinned blond was sent flying through the air as Jin once again planted Yukianesa into the ground, creating a massive tower of ice that trapped Knives inside.
“If that’s the reason for your crusade against humanity, then you’re more of a madman than I thought!” Kisaragi declared as he threw Yukianesa into the air. The Nox Nyctores spun as it ascended, repeatedly smacking the frozen Plant in the face.
“You were convinced you saw humanity’s nature just because of one bad experience, and then you use that as a means to justify genocide?” Jin asked as he leapt through the air and caught his blade. Then, with lightning-fast speed, he began wailing on the frozen immortal, rapidly hacking away at his frozen prison.
“You use it as a reason to put your own siblings through excruciating pain?” He asked between slashes. “To cause suffering toward those unrelated to your sister’s death?” As the intensity of his slashes grew even further, the Hero of Ikaruga continued speaking.
“You see yourself as being above humanity, and appointed yourself as worthy of condemning them. But no matter how you try to justify your actions, it still doesn’t change the fact that you’re nothing more than a damn hypocrite! Your actions are no better than the humans you claim to despise!”
Once these final words had escaped his lips, Jin threw out a final, downward slash. This freed Knives from his prison and immediately slammed him into the frozen ground below.
The moment he made impact, Knives involuntarily opened his mouth, coughing up blood as he did so. Jin fell to the ground soon after, still maintaining his pointed glare. The genocidal Plant responded in kind as he tried to push himself up, ignoring the newfound lacerations that coated his body.
“Don’t lecture me, you bastard!” Knives snapped between ragged breaths. “You can label me as a false judge, call me a deluded madman, I don’t give a damn! Even if my actions destroyed everything, even if it left me as the last being on Earth, I wouldn’t have any regrets about what I’ve done! Nothing will make me regret the path I’ve chosen!”
In tandem with these last words, Knives’ right arm began changing shape. It started by splitting itself in half, with the upper and lower portions twisting and bending themselves in unnatural ways. His fingers began sinking into his hands, replacing themselves with sharp extensions that were protruding from both halves. These extensions then began taking on a more definitive shape, quickly evolving into an entire set of fangs. The malformed arms were also changing shape, forming into what could only be described as an alligator’s jawline.
With this demonic maw now fully formed, Knives pointed it directly at Jin, which caused it to open even further. As it did so, Jin noticed something forming from within its throat. It seemed to be some sort of black orb, and it was constantly crackling with white electrical energy. Just as soon as he’d seen it, however, the mouth spat out its mysterious ball!
The moment he saw this, Jin’s instincts took over as he rolled to the side, causing the ball to miss him by only a few inches. This proved to be the right choice, as not even a few seconds after dodging it, the orb suddenly expanded in size! The wind suddenly picked up, creating an audible howl as it rushed past Jin’s ears. To make it even more concerning, all of the wind seemed to stop only a few inches from where he was standing. Confused by this, Kisaragi looked over his shoulder, and what he saw caused his eyes to widen in horror.
The sphere Knives had fired had suddenly grown in size, and it was quickly devouring everything. The snowy terrain that surrounded it was being rapidly dragged in. The trees and houses followed soon after, their structures collapsing and being torn to shreds as they were pulled forward.
In a desperate attempt to avoid the fate of his surroundings, Jin leapt back, throwing out three ice swords in an attempt to destroy the sphere. Once they got near it, however, each one seemed to be caught in a vacuum. The blades flew into the heart of the projectile, only to suddenly disappear from sight. No, disappear wasn’t the right word. It was more like they had been absorbed!
“W-what the hell is this?” Jin asked, his tone one of simultaneous irritation and fear. As he turned his attention back to Knives, Jin’s eyes widened as his attacker fired off three more of the spheres. As they flew toward him, Jin leapt into the air, sailing over the black holes as he conjured a board beneath him. It began to fly through the air-
CRUNCH!
Only for its flight to come to an abrupt end as Knives swung his left wing through the air, shattering it! With his only means of escape now destroyed, the combined gravity of the black holes began pulling Jin back. As they grew closer, Jin’s eyes widened in horror as panic began filling his mind. He was staring directly at the black holes, which at this point might as well have been death itself! Once he made contact with them, these voids would consume his very being, and there was no way he could avoid them!
These were the last thoughts to enter Jin’s mind before his body entered the voids’ proximity. He felt his left arm violently contort and twist as it became absorbed into Knives’ black holes. The pain of his limb being ripped apart caused Jin to let out a bloodcurdling scream, and then his vision went black.
As he watched this from where he stood, Knives gave a triumphant grin. This human had been a nuisance, but it was over! That sanctimonious, self-righteous piece of garbage had finally been wiped out!
“Heh… heh heh heh!”
Once this realization had come over him, Knives began chuckling, which soon crescendoed into full-blown joyous laughter.
“Hahahahahahaha!”
While he was in the midst of this laughing fit, however, Millions noticed a white flash enter his field of vision. At seeing this, the Plant stopped laughing and looked toward its source. Upon doing so, he was met with something odd. All of his black holes seemed to have disappeared from sight, almost as if they were never there!
“What the hell?” He asked in confusion. ‘What was that light, and how did it cancel out my black holes?’
As this question blared through his mind, Knives noticed something standing in the epicenter of where his attack had been. No, it seemed to be someone. And when he noticed who it was, Knives’ brow furrowed in irritation.
Standing in the middle of the desolate crater was Jin Kisaragi, his body surrounded by some sort of white aura. He opened his eyes, which now shone with conviction, and met Knives’ furious gaze. Then, after his legs tensed up for a brief moment, the Hero of Ikaruga gave a powerful battlecry as he rushed forward! Rather than being concerned at this, however, Knives’ only response was to give a cocky grin.
‘Does he actually think he’ll be able to close the distance between us in time? There’s really no limit to human arrogance, is there?’ He began chuckling as he aimed his transformed arm forward, firing off another black hole. The projectile flew toward Jin…
Only to suddenly disperse into nothingness thanks to the Power of Order’s influence. Seeing this caused Knives to cock an eyebrow in confusion.
‘Is this where that light was coming from? Has he somehow managed to negate my black holes?’ He thought. His gaze hardening, Millions attempted to test this hypothesis by firing off four more black holes. They flew toward Jin, only to suddenly disappear into nothingness much like before. Seeing this caused Knives to grit his teeth. With his black holes out of the picture, there was only one weapon he had left that could possibly stop Jin. He didn’t want to use it, but this human garbage had forced his hand!
His gaze hardening, Millions attempted to test this hypothesis by firing off four more black holes. They flew toward Jin, only to suddenly disappear into nothingness much like before. Seeing this caused Knives to grit his teeth, but he wouldn’t be able to think up another way to counter this newfound power. Jin suddenly leapt into the air, and now he was diving toward the Plant like a hawk.
“ARCTIC DUNGEON!”
Once these words had escaped his lips, Jin descended onto the ground and slammed Yukianesa into it as hard as he could! The moment it made contact, both Knives and a majority of the town became frozen in solid ice! Jin then began pushing his katana in even deeper, causing Knives’ icy prison to begin growing in size. With each millisecond that passed, the Plant’s body grew further entrapped in the Seithr-infused ice. But even with his body had been frozen over, Knives still refused to give in!
Gritting his teeth from within the ice, Knives realized that with his current situation, he only had one weapon that could get him out of it. He didn’t want to use it, but Jin had forced his hand!
His right arm began changing shape, starting with his hand elongating and his fingers fusing into some sort of gun barrel. This shapeshifting was causing a spider web of cracks to begin forming across the ice, rapidly weakening its structure with each passing nanosecond. Then, to deliver the coup de grâce, a pair of wings emerged out of Knives’ forearm, causing the ice to explode outward and send Jin flying back.
“What was that?” He asked in confusion. Keeping a firm grip on Yukianesa, Jin looked back at Knives, and his eyes widened in surprise at what he saw.
Knives’ right arm was now a massive cannon. From the looks of things, it seemed to be formed from his own skin, and a massive white sphere had formed inside of his forearm. To make matters worse for Jin, Knives had aimed it directly at him, and a white light was now glowing out of its barrel. Then, before the Hero of Ikaruga even had a chance to react, Knives fired his Angel Arm.
A massive beam of antimatter emerged from the cannon’s barrel, immediately consuming Kisaragi and the very land that surrounded him! A scream of pain and fury emerged from the former major’s throat as he felt the Angel Arm’s blast tear him to shreds. The lacerations he’d suffered earlier were nothing compared to what he was feeling now! It was almost as if his entire body had been set on fire, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t endure it! Then, as if he were attempting to add to the pain, Knives added more power to the Angel Arm, widening the beam’s range! The fully-powered Angel Arm erupted outward into a massive explosion of white, causing Jin to let out a final scream of pain and rage, a scream that would soon fade in tandem with the beam.
Once the energy from his cannon had dispersed, Knives wasted no time in scanning the area. Given what Jin had done before, it was likely there was still the chance he was alive. He looked around intently, searching for any sign that this might be the case. Instead, he was met with the smoldering crater that was now Snow Town, which seemed to extend as far as the eye could see. Nothing seemed to remain of Jin Kisaragi. Nothing except for-
“Hm? What’s this?” Knives asked curiously as he bent over and picked up a nearby item. Upon bringing it closer, the blond realized what he was looking at: it was Yukianesa, surprisingly still intact after the Angel Arm blast. In fact, it seemed like the katana hadn’t even been damaged by the beam. Realizing this, Knives raised an eyebrow in intrigue as he grinned.
“Well, this is interesting.” He admitted as he studied the Nox Nyctores for a brief moment. After admiring its craftsmanship and looking it over once again, he placed the katana back in its sheath and strapped it to his leg. Then, after he’d made sure it was secure, Knives summoned his wings and took to the air once again. As he looked toward the horizon, Knives couldn’t help but grin. With the power of this katana at his side, no one would be able to challenge him. Not these humans, not Izanami, and certainly not Vash!
As he flew through the air, Knives began laughing once again. His laughter echoed throughout the remains of Snow Town, and it would only fade once he had left the desolate wasteland.
First Relius dies to Kira, now Jin dies to Knives. Man, Blazblue’s blond guys don’t seem to have that much luck in the ring, huh?
Anyway, deciding the winner for this fight was honestly pretty hard, but not for the reasons you might think. While I was writing this, Blazblue’s stats kept getting upgrades, downgrades, debunks, it was a mess. Every time these updates came out, the verdict would change. First I was going to have Jin win, then Knives, then Jin again, then Knives again. At one point I felt the match was close enough to warrant it ending in a draw, but then another update came out for Blazblue’s stats that caused me to reconsider. So, with that bit of trivia out of the way, let’s get into why I ultimately picked Knives as the winner.
When it came to strength, Knives ultimately had the edge. While he doesn’t have as many concrete feats in this department, being able to damage Vash, who survived being blasted by a fully-powered Angel Arm, would put Knives at Planet Level. Jin, on the other hand, has shown that he can trade blows with the likes of Ragna, Hakumen, and the Black Susanoo; the latter of whom wields the full power of the Susanoo Unit, which would grant Susanoo the ability to fight the planet-destroying Black Beast and puts him on par with the likes of Hades Izanami. Izanami could output the same energy as the Corpus Sepulcro: Requiem. which she herself says is 10^31 joules, or Small Planet Level. Given that Jin was shown to fight Susanoo, albeit briefly, he should scale to this.
Speed was another aspect that Knives took. He’s shown the ability to blitz Vash, who could react to blasts from an Angel Arm, which can reach the Moon in seconds, putting both Vash and Knives himself at Relativistic speeds. By contrast, Jin would be Sub-Relativistic at minimum due to being superior to the likes of Iron Tager, who can fly to the exosphere and back in seconds. At maximum, he would be Sub-Relativistic+ due to dodging Take-Mikazuchi’s beam, which can move at 6% the speed of light, though it should be noted that this is with the use of assumptions and highballing. And in case you’re wondering, no, the calc that put this beam at Faster Than Light speeds wasn’t legit. It relied too heavily on assumptions, such as Take-Mikazuchi’s height above the atmosphere and the timeframe only considered the speed the beam traveled until it was close to Earth.
So, in short, Knives takes the stat trinity pretty hard. What about the non-physical stats?
In terms of intelligence, both have shown some impressive feats in this regard, and they could both use them under certain circumstances. Knives mainly uses his intellect to manipulate people, which he could also do here by taking advantage of Jin’s arrogance and prideful attitude. Jin, on the other hand, has shown that he’s been able to use his swordsmanship and martial arts abilities during a fight.
Similarly, experience was another hard one to decide. Sure, you could say Knives should take this since he’s been alive for much longer. The problem is that he spent that time scheming, leading the Gung-Ho Guns from the shadows, or absorbing Gunsmoke’s Plants to further his plans. The amount of actual fights he’s been in can be counted on one hand, and they were all against his brother, Vash. By contrast, Jin had better combat experience due to participating in more one-on-one fights in his series, and his service in the NOL’s military further solidifies this.
When it came to arsenal, Yukianesa granted Jin some impressive abilities. Its ice, ability to attack the soul, and the ability to negate healing factors meant that he could theoretically bypass Knives’ durability and healing factor. Its ability to automatically defend the user would also make it harder for Knives throughout the fight, though this is assuming it could react in time.
Knives’ Angel Arm was more than strong enough to kill Jin, on top of being too fast for Jin to react to. The Angel Wings give him better offense, defense, and mobility; all of which are furthered by their ability to grow in size. His black holes let him bypass Jin’s durability, in addition to being faster than Jin could react to. His barriers also gave him another way to negate Jin’s attacks, and his Angel body gave him an edge in unpredictability due to how it lets him spawn Angel Wings from anywhere.
In terms of powers, Jin easily had the edge in variety. His enhanced senses could possibly let him sense Knives’ weapons before they hit him, he could summon freezing winds, he has a healing factor (albeit one that’s inferior to Knives’ own), and then there’s his hax resistance. Admittedly, from the massive list of what he can resist, the only thing that’s relevant here would be his ability to resist mental manipulation. Thanks to remaining unaffected by the Boundary, which floods the minds of those who enter it with infinite amounts of information, it’s safe to say that he could easily resist Knives’ telepathy. Admittedly, this doesn’t even matter since Knives never really uses his telepathy, but it’s still worth noting. Finally, there’s the Power of Order, which is arguably one of Jin’s strongest abilities. There’s just the unfortunate problem that it likely wouldn’t come into effect.
You see, the Power of Order exists to combat threats to the world, and while Knives outclasses Jin in the stat trinity, that doesn’t automatically make him a threat to the world. Maybe you could argue Knives’ Angel Arm would meet that requirement due to its planet-destroying capabilities, but there’s a slight problem. Even if it did see Knives as a threat, the massive gap in stats means that Jin would most likely be dead before the Power of Order could affect him.
Not even Jin’s Unlimited Mode would be able to save him. While it increases his durability and applies Frost End by default, it does nothing for his strength and speed. This means Knives could still blitz or one-shot him with his superior stats and weapons. Admittedly, Knives’ sadistic nature would prevent him from using the black holes or Angel Arm right off the bat, but it’s likely he wouldn’t even need them. As I stated above for the Power of Order, Knives’ already superior power ensures that he’d have already killed Jin before it could even take effect.
Knives Millions (Winner)
+ Outclassed Jin in the stat trinity
+ Could manipulate Jin’s prideful and arrogant mindset to his advantage
+ Angel Arm could easily one-shot Jin, on top of being too fast for either him or the Power of Order to react to
+ Angel Wings boosted his offense, defense, mobility, and range
+ Black holes could bypass Jin’s durability, on top of being too fast for him to react to
+ Barriers could negate Jin’s attacks
+ Angel body grants him an edge in unpredictability
+ The Power of Order is unlikely to regard him as a threat
+ Even if you argue that his Angel Arm would count, he still blitzes Jin before it could come into effect
+ Superior healing factor
– Though Yukianesa’s ability to negate all forms of healing and bypass durability by attacking the soul rendered this moot
– Less experienced
– Smaller array of powers
+ Though he makes up for this since the powers he does have are more suited for combat
– Sadistic nature would prevent him from using his black holes and Angel Arm at the start
+ But given how he already outclasses Jin in physicality, this isn’t really a problem
– Jin’s ability to resist mental manipulation rendered his telepathy useless
+ Though this isn’t an issue since Knives never uses his telepathy in the first place
Jin Kisaragi (Loser)
+ More experienced
+ Intellect was more suited toward combat purposes
+ Larger array of powers
– Though most of them were useless
+ Could bypass Knives’ durability and negate his healing factor with Yukianesa
+ Yukianesa could automatically defend him from Knives’ attacks
– But that’s assuming it could react in time to counter them
+ Unlimited Mode could lessen the gap in durability
– But even with its boosts, he’s still heavily outclassed in the stat trinity
– Arrogant and prideful nature would be easily exploited by Knives
– Had no counter to Knives’ Angel Wings
– The Angel Arm is far beyond what Jin could survive or react to
– Knives’ black holes could bypass his durability, on top of being too fast to react to
– Knives’ barriers could negate Jin’s attacks, and they were superior to Jin’s own barriers
– Inferior healing factor
– The Power of Order is unlikely to register Knives as a threat
– Even if it did, Knives still blitzes and one-shots Jin before it could take effect
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Brendan’s Versus Battles 
