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.