She removed her cloak, revealing a light armor hidden underneath the discarded outer garment. Her armour was white, with silver designs edging it. It was well fitted, leaving enough room for white silk around the majority of her arms and legs. The armour only covered the vital parts of her body, ensuring better agility, quicker movements and flexibility.
She drew her sword which was placed in the sheath by her hip. From the looks of it, the sword seemed to be a relic. However, unlike the others that I had seen with humans so far, this one was brimming with divine power. Taking her stance, she readied herself and looked at me with a decisive expression. It looked like she was planning to go all out now.
"Prepare yourself, your end is nigh, thou heretic" She said.
She immediately dashed from her location, launching herself with full speed towards my location. Her body was covered with white aura, making her movements phenomenally faster. She raised her sword to attack me at full speed. Quickly, I materialized a sword of my own to parry, however, her slash immediately broke my sword and nearly hit me. Twisting my body, I dodged the strike, jumping away from her. However, it seemed she had predicted this, as she immediately reacted to my withdrawal by launching herself to my location and slashing me with her sword.
I boosted my speed, causing me to move even further away from the range of her strike. However, by extending the aura of her sword, she increased the range of her strike, causing me to be in its area of effect.
"Begone! Holy Light Strike!" She said, bringing her blade down in a swift and powerful manner.
"Hexarion!!!" Talia screamed.
However, it was too late. The sword descended and the flash of light covered everywhere.
The light shone brightly, and the slash fell, causing the building behind to be neatly cleaved in two, as well as the ground. The pressure and destruction blew Talia and the disoriented shadow shifter away, causing them to hit the debris and fall on the ground. Smoke filled the air and sizzling sounds were heard. The ground which had been affected was red hot, same with the building behind which was caught in the strike.
"May the gods save your soul from eternal anguish as it fades into the afterlife, may you find peace instead of eternal damnation. May the mercy of the..." The girl prayed, seeing nothing but smoke and no remains of her foe.
"Yeah, yeah. That's enough" The royal, Lord Phobio said.
The girl frowned, looking at him with a glare.
"A prayer must be made to the perished souls so the gods may look upon them with mercy when they go to the afterlife." She said.
"I get it, I get it. But more importantly, what of the wings?" The Royal asked.
"Wings? Oh, you mean what this man stole from you during the auction. Unfortunately I did not sense any item of such with him. I have yet to harm his comrades, perhaps they will provide us with the location of the wings" She answered.
The royal smiled, pleased with the work of the apostle he brought to handle his enemy.
"Hehehehe. I knew it would be a good idea to involve one of the apostles," Lord Phobio said to himself.
"Their powers are invincible. Perfect for squashing any of my enemies. Now then, once I obtain the wings I'll be able to obtain even more power and influence. I better hurry though. No one knows I came here, not even father."
"Then let's waste no more time." Lord Phobio said, walking towards Talia and the shadow shifter, who had both been blown away by the apostle's attack and were lying on the floor.
"Where are the wings?" Lord Phobio asked in a condescending tone, looking down on Talia and the shadow shifter.
"Tch" The shadow shifter grunted.
He knew he was powerless in this situation. The woman's power was far beyond anything he had ever seen, plus she used light as her major source of attack, an element that was the natural enemy of his shadow. Besides, if his master couldn't beat her then what was he supposed to do?
"Hexarion. Master Hexarion." Talia sobbed.
The apostle's eyes widened at the sound of the name Talia so carelessly mentioned. Immediately, she pointed her sword at Talia in a fierce manner.
"Shut up, you wench. How dare you mention the name of the evil one so carelessly in my presence. I intended on sparing your life since I did not sense any trace of the impure art on you, so do not make me change my mind!" She said in anger.
"Well? I won't ask again. Where are the wings?" Lord Phobio asked with a wicked grin.
Talia merely looked down and the shadow shifter, or rather, hybrid, glared at both of his enemies. Any wrong or sudden move was definitely going to cost him his life. The apostle's speed far surpassed his own. Lord Phobio seemed like an easy target, but there was no way the apostle would let him land a hit.
"You deserve some punishment don't you? Very well!" Lord Phobio grinned.
He used his hand to hold Talia's long hair, which was a mess due to the earlier attack of the apostle. He dragged it up forcefully, and turned Talia directly to his face. The look on Talia's face was that of defeat. She seemed lost, devoid of hope. Hexarion, her hope, her saviour, her reason for living, was gone.
"Hey you, answer me!" Phobio said, slapping Talia on her face to cause her to respond, which she didn't.
The apostle looked at what Lord Phobio was doing and was clearly displeased with it. She initially made an attempt to protest, but decided against it.
This caused him to smile sadistically, no one could stop him anyway.
"Hehehehe, you look broken already. Oh well, I don't mind having fun with you. But first, you're going to tell me... Where. Are. My. Wings?" He said.
Talia muttered words he could not understand, saying nothing more.
"Hey bitch! I'm talking to you!" He said in anger, raising his hand to slap Talia again.
Suddenly a whooshing sound was heard, and then a clang. It happened so fast that no one could tell, not even the apostle. What happened was something that they could not explain.
"Arghhhhh!!!!!" Lord Phobio screamed, looking at his hand.
His hand was not attached to his arm, where did it go? He had raised it to slap the uncooperative girl, and now it was unattached to his arm. Blood poured from his arm as he screamed.
"My hand! My hand! Where is my hand?! Garghhhh!" Lord Phobio cried, letting go of Talia's hair.
He used his other hand to hold his cut off arm and wailed in pain. Tears streamed down his face as he rolled in pain.
Pain unimaginable seared through him. As he screamed and bellowed in pain, one question remained. What exactly just happened?