Grey didn’t even feel the pain. He had suffered far worse, and it all happened so fast that the delay had given him enough time to steel his body against what would inevitably come.
What he felt instead was a blank, white out sort of fury that didn’t even make its way to his face.
He had done everything right. He had memorized the dialogue tree, tried to find out more information, pressed on Captain Terran’s weaknesses, revealing himself as someone with the favor of the Goddess they supposedly trusted so much.
The only thing he hadn’t done was the one thing he didn’t want to do, the one thing that would probably have ended the exact same way considering how trigger happy Terran was.
And it had still ended like this.
Why?
Captain Terran didn’t seem to notice Grey’s expression. Or maybe he never looked in the first place.
The difference was irrelevant to him. What did the reaction of a Proving Class mean?
Not much at all.
In fact, to him, the fact a Proving Class peasant was becoming a Knight was already enough of an insult to the Goddess’ name. The fact he had to stand beside Joaquin was rage inducing enough for him.
Instead of paying attention to Grey, Terran had bent over and picked up his arm as though it was a bundle of wood by the roadside.
Blood pooled down, slicking the stairs through. But somehow, it only existed for a short while before a pulse of light erased it as though it was never there.
The Holy Knight turned the arm over and took a good look at the bracelet.
Grey just stood there, his face a vacant mask, his blood dripping down from the socket that was left of his arm.
"This item will be returned to the Church. A Rare Blessing of her Holiness is a protected asset. This one in particular is able to restrain the effects of the Fog of Chaos. Even as a Proving Class item its value is far beyond what you’ve displayed.
"Your arm is punishment for not immediately bringing this item forward for the Church to decide its best use case."
Terran finally met Grey’s eyes and the Holy Knight felt his heart constrict.
"I really can’t wait to kill you." Grey said coldly.
The words left Terran so taken aback that his sword arm didn’t even twitch. It would have been the perfect time to kill Grey, and yet he failed to capitalize on it.
Tendrils of blood erupted out from Grey’s stump and connected with his severed arm. As though a bullet fired from a rail gun, he shot forward through the line of crimson as his uninjured arm rose high into the air.
His toothed dagger flashed out from his heart in a raging inferno, and by the time Grey was swinging it down, it was already growing a blade of blood that was expanding so rapidly it was like Grey didn’t give a single damn about leaving a drop of life in his body.
His arm snapped back into place, but there was hardly enough blood left in his body to heal it.
He didn’t care.
His blade descended in the only gap in Captain Terran’s armor he could see, a crook between his neck, shoulder, and collarbone.
A savageness glowed in Grey’s eyes. All he could think of was blood and carnage, his mind the equivalent of a flashbang of rage.
He barely managed to make his severed arm grip the Holy Knight captain’s wrist, his other arm descending as fast as he could pull it down.
Chi.
The crimson blade cut into the golden aura that protected Terran...
And then shattered to pieces.
The dagger itself was different, though. It continued to descend, ripping through the cracks caused by the blood blade and into Captain Terran’s neck.
Blood spurted and Grey clung to the Holy Knight’s body, raising his dagger and striking down again, and then again.
He didn’t get a fourth try.
His body was sent flying back, his ribs collapsing so thoroughly it looked as though he had been flattened into a pancake.
He rebounded against the ground as dead as dead, his consciousness barely a sea of white hot fury and what was left of his thoughts an incoherent heat flash of molten nothingness.
—
[You have died. Better luck next time. Oh wait, there won’t be a next time. Toodle-oo]
—
**
Grey woke up in a roaring rage, his nails sinking into his skull.
He didn’t know how long he raged, or how long it took the ache in his head to finally vanish. But that unsettled ache in his chest wasn’t going anywhere.
He stood, his image reflecting off the cracked mirrors as he paced back and forth.
At some unknown point, he walked into the bathroom and dunked his head beneath a cold stream of water, his fingers gripping the counter so hard he was convinced he might crack it.
A Canon Event he couldn’t clear. A Holy Knight who wanted him dead. A bastard of a "rival" who would probably piss on his grave the instant he got a chance.
And not a single way out of it.
If things happened like they had with Esmeralda, Captain Terran would only get more aggressive. The fact that Grey had almost killed him during the last loop definitely wouldn’t help.
At that point, it wouldn’t even matter if Grey managed to find a perfect dialogue train, he would die anyway.
Who cared if Captain Terran was punished after the fact if Grey was already dead? If the Holy Knight became unhinged enough, that was exactly what would happen.
At some point, he would stop caring even about his own motivations and goals and just feel a very clear, visceral hatred for Grey that even the Holy Knight wouldn’t be able to explain.
And in all of this, Grey still didn’t have an explanation for why Terran had been so aggressive in the first place. Was it really just related to Joaquin?
"FUCK."
Grey smashed the bathroom counter to pieces.
He had no idea what to do.