Ickni's Grand Palace, the Spire. Was equipped with many different facilities to suit her even need, it also came with a small arena disconnected from the main building to avoid the clashes of battle from disturbing her sleep.
While it may seem like Ickni would use all of these facilities to her fullest extent, she actually hadn't visited the spa, baths, or any other facility outside her throne room and bedroom. From the few times I had gone to these places, I didn't once spot Ickni; only the servants and visitors used them.
This should have been a positive, but it was far from enjoyable. The first time I went into the baths, I was practically pushed back out of the door with the sheer amount of malice in everyone's gazes. Wingless angels didn't deserve to share the same space in the eyes of most winged angels. I couldn't avoid or distract myself from the malice oozing from the servant when they weren't under Ickni's nose, so I ended up just using the baths at midnight when everyone was asleep.
It was stressful after all, being under Ickni's nose, I wasn't surprised that everyone was asleep by midnight. The anxiety was double-guessing every single movement before and after draining every sliver of stamina from the servants. While I didn't appreciate their aversion, I still held some sympathy for them.
I once asked Artoria about Ickni's schedule, she said that Ickni doesn't leave her throne room or bedroom, spending most of the days reading and sleeping. This interested me slightly. I didn't exactly know how old Ickni was, but I guessed she was equal to or even older than Artoria, so I supposed it was only natural to grow tired of everyday tasks.
After Lucius's challenge, we walked silently to the arena on the palace grounds. Eventually, we reached the arena, taking our positions at opposite ends of the battleground. We were around twelve meters away from each other; despite this, we were still able to hear each other easily.
The moon shimmered in the night sky, illuminating the whole battlefield, casting away the shadows. Lucius's charming features heightened under its direct gaze as if the moon empowered him.
"Evernight, if I'm totally honest, I'm not sure what exactly your power is. I once tried asking Ickni, but was brushed off with a sharp reprimand not to meddle. So I don't really know your power, but if I had to guess, you aren't a pushover, so I won't be holding anything back," exclaimed Lucius.
"What makes you think I hold some great power?"
"The look of determination overlapped with sorrow in your eyes. Everyone I've met who holds power that is considered 'great' has the very same look as you."
I didn't respond to Lucius, taking a couple of moments to think. Did I really have those types of eyes? I thought I was doing well concealing my sorrow and anguish. But from the looks of it, I'd have to try harder.
"I'll take your silence to mean you are ready to start."
I gave Lucius an affirmative nod.
"Then let's start! Edict of the Moon, Grand Gu—"
I didn't waste any time; if I wanted to win this battle, I wouldn't be so foolish as to allow Lucius to summon whatever power he was channeling. He was a thousand-year-old warrior, not some teenager like me.
While I had been sitting idly in the Spire, I discovered an intriguing thing about my power and how it manifests itself. When I thought and created symbols or gestures with my hands, it made it much easier to channel and launch my power without having to fully focus on the divinity in my blood. This was an effective method for simple and directional spells, but it wasn't a method that could be used for catastrophic or large area of effect spells.
I swiftly made a finger gun gesture with my right hand, firing off a single beam of light bigger than my palm straight at Lucius, interrupting his chant.
"Bang."
I couldn't see Lucius's form as the light approached him, but I felt something changing in the environment; it was beginning to cool considerably. My breath became visible.
Once the light dissipated, Lucius's body came back into my view. He didn't seem to be harmed, just stunned at my sudden attack. A small ice wall had been erected around him.
"Light, then? I didn't expect that you would break the sacred rule of battle and interrupt my chant. But it's of no real concern, it just makes this more exciting!"
"Why would I wait for some potentially dangerous attack to manifest? And it's not a sacred rule, it's stupid to let someone power up."
"Well, I'm sorry to break this to you, but you didn't break my chant. You might want to look behind you…"
Tilting my body just often so I could still see Lucius, I looked briefly behind, seeing a gigantic armour soldier of ice holding a halberd. It was at least 150 feet tall, towering over me; I was nothing but a small insect in the eyes of this behemoth.
It wasted no time swinging the ice halberd down on my head, while its movements were quite cumbersome. If the attack landed, I wouldn't be able to avoid it. No, actually, if this thing hit me, then the arena would be leveled alongside me.
"What are you thinking?!"
I fired multiple blasts off in Lucius's direction, keeping him occupied with dodging and blocking, not giving him an opportunity to close the gap. Focusing most of my power into my left hand, I fired a single massive beam of light aimed directly at the behemoth's left hand, annihilating it entirely. This caused it to lose its grip, the halberd slipping from its grasp as it staggered backwards into the walls of the arena, crumbling under the guardian's immense weight.
"Shit." I squealed.
While I had successfully pushed back the guardian and halted its attack. The halberd was swiftly getting closer to crushing me. While it no longer bore any force, the gravity acting on it was more than enough to reduce me to a bloody puddle.
My only thought on how to handle the crushing weight of the halberd was splitting it into multiple pieces, reducing its weight altogether. I still wasn't confident in my defensive abilities, and I definitely didn't have any when looking at a gigantic halberd.
A spike materialized at my command, shooting from the floor below, piercing the ice, splitting it into multiple pieces, and inviting a river of cracks to run along its surface. As the weapon impacted the ground, it shattered into multiple smaller chunks, destroying the once pristine arena, turning it into a ruin. Luckily, I was unharmed by the debris; my spike created a safe zone from the rubble.
"Rarr!"
The behemoth let out a war cry, producing a thunderous vibration to ripple across the city. It charged at me, aiming to crush me with its remaining hand. Momentarily, I had to avert my gaze from Lucius and drop my restless assault, focusing every sliver of power to summon a light pendulum to cleave the colossal guardian in half.
Just before my attack impacted with the beast, it held out its finger, and a small ball of ice materialized and launched towards me. I couldn't respond in time; I had no defense when the ball morphed into a sword, slicing directly through my abdomen.
"Ugh."
Blood spilled from the wound. I hadn't expected such an underhanded tactic. If I hadn't moved instinctively, then my injury would have been much worse, just barely missing my vital organs.
Placing my hand over the slash, I redirected my gaze to Lucius, who was eying me, his gaze oozing speculation and curiosity.
"Why didn't you take the opportunity to attack when I stopped my assault? I asked.
"That wouldn't be any fun, and you may have temporarily stunned me by your impressive actions."
"Impressive? I'm bleeding out, how is that impressive!"
"Fu fu. You've never seen my abilities before. I'm impressed at how you adapted to my power. You may be injured, but at least you aren't dead."
I bit my lip in response to his words. I wasn't impressed by my own performance. His words of flattery fell hollow on my ears; I only felt a burning desire to crush him after humiliating me in such an underhanded way. Whether it was a true compliment or not. I didn't care; it still felt passive-aggressive, invoking a deep sense of irritation to flood my mind.
"Careful, there. Your eyes are adopting the look of a killer; calm your mind."
"I am a killer. Why did you think I would be something else?" I spat.
I knew better than anyone what I had become. I wouldn't back down just before someone called out what I truly am; the feeling of rage and malice swirling within my mind was destroying my sense of control. The mounting pain only fueled my desire to fight.
"That may be true, but you are still young, don't fall into that mindset. It's poisonous."
"Shut up."
Putting my arms at my sides, seemingly playing a defenseless act, seeing if Lucius would bite, but after a few moments of no movement. I stepped slightly back, summoning multiple balls of light in Lucius's rear, picturing the next steps in my mind. I commanded them to change into devastating beams of light, morphing into pointed spears as they reached Lucius's back.
Caught slightly unaware, Lucius snapped his head around, panicking before regaining control of his mind. Lucius responded in a way I hadn't expected because I was connected to the manifestations of my light. I felt as the spears impacted with something on his body, stopping dead in their tracks. Not even breaking his skin.
This wouldn't sway my desire to see this fight to the end, however, only heightening it.
Something interesting appeared in my mind, a new idea for an overpowering attack. The many different articles of fantasy and books I had read on Earth had incited hundreds of ideas into my mind, but I had to fully test them against an opponent.
I was in the perfect mindset to put them to the test; I didn't have any more time to waste on directional attacks. If I wanted to win, then I'd have to channel every drop of light into my next attack.
"Edict of Light, Penance."
Artoria had secretly advised me on speaking the words of an Edict of Light when using more powerful attacks, while simple attacks can be passed off, a full-blown attack cannot be. It would only draw Ickni's gaze.
BOOM!
A holy cross burst from the ground below, consuming Lucius in the heat of a thousand suns, attacking him from every angle. Inside the cross, thousands of smaller crosses pelted and stabbed him, making it completely impossible to avoid or block, the extreme heat melting any attempt to save himself.
A hideous buzzing sound rippled throughout the silent city; the holy cross towered over the city, looming in the background. The perpetual darkness of night was temporarily destroyed, illuminating the city in the shining holy night, appearing to be day.
I stood there silently watching the glistening light consume every trace of Lucius, trying my best to conserve my strength. I slumped to the floor, holding the wound at my side, my firm grip was slowly fading, releasing a sea of blood.
As my strength faded, the cross slowly began to lose its light before dissipating completely, plunging the city back into the embrace of night.
The ragged figure of Lucius appeared in my vision, his clothes painted scarlet and multiple wounds littering his body. Despite this condition, he still stood tall, gazing at me with blatant admiration and glee. A bright smile formed on his bloodied face.
Despite my best effort to wipe his existence off the map, he still stood there gleaming from ear to ear. I honestly couldn't even bring myself to feel an ounce of hatred or annoyance at this, only a creeping sense of amazement.
Artoria had been the only person to stand up to me. I didn't think I'd meet anyone else so soon, but here he stood, Lucius von Snow. The Pale Moon, next Dominion of the Moon.
"Wingless, my—"
Lucius finally succumbed to his injuries, falling limp on his back, lying there with a bright smile even in defeat. I doubted such a man would be bested by my efforts. I had hope that I'd wake up to see his face gazing down at me.
My vision of the surrounding ruins that were once a grand arena was beginning to sink into darkness, and the sound of heavy footsteps caught my attention, shifting my remaining strength into seeing what it was. The air in my lungs became laboured and a mounting pressure was pushing down on my shoulders, only heightening my fatigue.
Behind me was a disgruntled Ickni kicking the ground in annoyance at mine and Lucius's actions, her displeasure and fury disguised very poorly. Artoria stood at her hip, looking down at me with the normal indifferent look, her eyes filled with the usual sea of sorrow.
"Ugh! Why can't you just be good and stay in your room!? Why do you have to cause trouble? If he dies, I'm going to be furious! Stupid Moon!" shouted Ickni.
I let out a slight chuckle as Ickni and Artoria approached me hurriedly, coming over to me, only just noticing my wound. My strength finally disappeared, taking my consciousness with it. The childish face of Ickni peering down at me was my final sight, how cruel.