Chapter 19: The Pride before the Fall

A knight from Heaven? Right. That was true. Was this the effect of his Grace? It was a magical power; that much was obvious. Graces are always potent; he knew that. This was his conclusion. He unlocked his Grace, so he was really about to die.

She had a Grace, he could tell that. Maybe it was her plant nonsense that allowed her to regenerate with vines. That had to be it! Charging forward, a sonic boom exploding behind him, he slashed at her with his blade! A second slash, and a third, as well as a fourth! Each slash left an intense burn on her body that would not heal. Each slash felt as if he were cutting through vines with a machete that had been heated by the sun. Each movement of the blade had a potent trail of flame following it, which would then repeat the slash he made, essentially doubling the damage he could deal.

She tried to hit his weak side, which the blade wasn't on, only to have her hand grabbed by his gauntleted hand; then, the blade was embedded in her stomach, similarly to how she had impaled him with the spike of ice earlier. The Moon was rising; he could see that. It was only a matter of time before Amani was up and active. He had to hold her off in the meantime!

The Emerald Tyrant, like an animal stuck in a trap, slashed her own arm off with her claws in order to get away from him! Backing away, the blade still stuck in her stomach, he felt the blade humming. Even from such a distance, as he glared at the dragon, he heard the blade's voice call out to him.

"Hold your hand out, boy."

He would, and a chain wrapped itself around his wrist; the other end was attached to the blade's handle. Then the blade, followed by the dragon it was inside, had flown back to him, and he caught it before the blade erupted into a pillar of flames, which reduced the dragon to ashes. Iskatl looked around, and he still felt her presence. Significantly weaker, but he felt her presence nonetheless.

A soft exhale as the dragon came at him from a different angle! Directly behind him, she slashed her claws at him, and he turned and slashed! His blade struck true, and once again; one was two.

"What an interesting Grace. So full of yourself that you could create a powerful clone made of plants. But two versus one, and you still lost."

A cut across her middle, and her top was separated from her bottom, and the dragon's halves fell to the ground. Iskatl glared down at her, expecting her to get up, but unfortunately, his blade's full potential was too much for her. That much was obvious.

"Iskatl? Did you win?"

Amani asked as she limped over, still panting.

"I think I did."

A second internal voice interrupted his thoughts; now he had two. It sounded like the Goddess, but more robotic and without any of her... well flamboyant personality.

"Good evening, Descender. You've awakened your potential as a Singularity and unlocked Reliquary access. Displaying information."

He saw what seemed like a screen in his vision. It was purely information about him.

"Race: Hybrid (World Serpent, Wolf Beastkin, Demon, [REDACTED]) Abilities: Flame Resonance, Arcane Seal, Heavenly Grace."

"Would you like to know anything more?"

He thought his answer, as this was a voice in his head, and he got his reply.

"Error! Further information beyond the basics is locked. Sorry. Would you like to know anything more?"

He shook his head, and the screen disappeared. He looked to Amani and sighed before she hugged him tightly.

"I was so scared, I thought you were gonna die..."

He smirked softly before looking down at her and hugging back, as the gauntlets faded and his blade shrunk in size.

"Worried about me? Cute."

"Quiet."

"Yes, ma'am."

He chuckled softly before she pulled away.

"I can tell you've unlocked your Grace, haven't you?"

A soft nod. Based on what it did with the blade, there were many things he could imagine it specifically doing, but he had no concrete answer. It awakened the Hellfa-- Shamash's full potential, it would seem.

The Reliquary seemed to be an AI assistant of sorts, created by the Goddess. He asked internally for her name, and one word flashed across his vision: "Sovereign, the King of Gods."

Blinking twice, he couldn't help but sigh before offering a hand to Amani. His wounds had already closed, and she hadn't recovered fully yet. When she took his hand, he did something unexpected! Scooping her up and holding her like a princess, his blade inexplicably disappeared right as he did. It was called the Reliquary, which made it obvious that it also acted as storage.

Amani's cheeks were flushed red as she looked at him with wide eyes and puffed cheeks.

"What? You wanna walk?"

She shook her head in reply before he made his way back toward the town from before, where they had stayed. He had a renewed confidence, and he was... Well, happy.

Amani pressed her lips against his cheek, and he went equally wide-eyed as he looked at her with an even darker blush than she had just moments before. A sigh as he smiled ever so softly, saying nothing more. Their return journey was full of silence as they got to their pit stop. Stopping in front of the inn, Iskatl set Amani down before the pair went in.

The innkeeper looked all too excited to see them return! He announced to all who were inside his inn.

"Everyone! These are heroes from the Adventurer's Guild! The Moon Maiden Amani and her companion Iskatl! They've slain the Emerald Tyrant!"

The inn had about ten or so people, who all erupted in cheers! Celebrations were surely in order! The innkeeper himself cheered before beckoning the pair over. He placed two mugs of mead down and smiled at them.

"On the house, as well as a room and any other rounds for the night! Everyone! Free drinks for the night! Thank our heroes!"

"Heh?.. Thank you, sir."

Iskatl seemed bashful; it wasn't often that his deeds were so heavily praised. Even in his past life, most of his good deeds were met with a mere "Good job," so this felt new to him.