The Bronze Knight wielded a long, unadorned double-edged blade that glowed with a faint golden energy, far weaker than what Haider used to kill Crowley's student. Despite that, Luca sensed great danger from it.
After all, he was still only an Initiate mage.
Luca rolled to the side, grabbing one of the talismans he had hastily prepared before leaving the house that morning.
The battle with Moth and his escape from Finley had already exhausted most of his reserves. Falling into the canal and ending up in the sewers had destroyed the last two or three talismans he carried. By the time he returned home, he could only make five more.
All of them were Explosion.
He was about to throw one straight at the Knight and hopefully end the confrontation at once, but then realized there was a serious problem with that plan.
'The Sky Tyrant. The noise and shockwaves might wake it. I need to do this quickly and quietly.'
Still, that was easier said than done.
The miasma rolling off the Knight's body spread in every direction, destroying what little shrubbery was left in the clearing. The moment it reached the trees, they began wilting at an alarming pace.
That was not good. Luca would have to end this before any of the other Knights on duty noticed.
Under normal circumstances, he would have been forced to use talismans and spells, but there was no need for that just yet.
He watched the walking corpse carefully, then reached into the satchel of items Digger had given him, pulling free a bottle filled with a mysterious blue liquid.
He uncorked it with his teeth and drank it down without hesitation.
THUMP!
Luca's chest tightened as his heart skipped and then slammed against his ribs with crushing force. His vision blurred for a moment, his ears ringing as though his own pulse was too loud. His veins bulged, and his muscles cramped as if they were about to tear under the sudden pressure.
For a second, he thought his body might collapse before the potion even settled.
But then the strength surged through him. His blood cooled, his muscles loosened, and every sense sharpened. It was unlike mana. This was raw power, dragged straight out of his flesh and bone, as if the potion had forced his body into a state it was never meant to reach.
Digger had explained it.
The first potion, Titan's Breath, permanently enhanced the body by unlocking its latent potential. The second, Nature Renewal, was for healing. Both were meant for survival, when magic couldn't be used.
Luca flexed his arm, testing it.
His hand trembled with the weight of the strength coursing through him, each movement sharp enough to split skin if he wasn't careful.
Even so, the effect was undeniable.
The zombie, still carrying a faint spark of the Knight's old consciousness, noticed the change. It roared and charged, blade wrapped in wild miasma, hacking down toward Luca's skull.
SWISH!
Luca moved in a blur, slipping aside at the last instant. One moment he was caught in the sword's path, the next he was standing at the Knight's flank.
But the walking corpse spun faster than expected and struck again.
This time the attack grazed him. A shallow scar opened across his face where the blade scraped him.
TSSS~!
The cut festered instantly. Purple ooze and dark glow seeped from the wound.
"Fucking hell."
Luca staggered back in alarm, but the Knight didn't relent. It lunged forward again, tearing the earth apart with its speed. Miasma shredded the clearing, and even the Raven Cloak barely held against the rot.
The smoke thickened until Luca could barely see through it. Getting close was nearly impossible, much less landing a proper strike.
Every breath filled his lungs with immense energy and the unnatural energy of Titan's Breath burned under his skin, feeling as though she would split apart if he made any sudden movements.
But there was no other way.
He reached into his pocket and drew a vial of rust, gripping it tightly in his left palm. In his right hand, he pulled his dagger.
Mana pulsed through his veins alongside the raw physical power of Titan's Breath. His glyphs burned faintly against his skin.
'Unfortunately, the only gods I believe in right now are the almighty Crown… and myself.'
He shot forward, feathers trailing from the cloak as he dove straight into the miasma. It burned at his skin instantly, eating at him the deeper he went.
And of course, the Knight attacked the moment he entered.
SHING!
Two jagged blades of miasma fell against him, glancing off the Raven Cloak
A third blade cut downward, striking across his forehead. Blood ran down his eyes as the festering itch spread deeper than before.
SWISH! BANG!
He ignored the pain and lunged toward the source, crashing into the Knight. They tumbled backward in a violent heap.
Luca raised his dagger and drove it deep into the Knight's throat. Nearly black blood sprayed across his face. At the same time, the glyph sewn into his clothes lit up, the spell fully primed.
"Rust Hand!"
Brown decay spread like fire across the Knight's armor, corroding it in seconds. The metal cracked and split under even the slightest pressure. The rust leapt from armor to blade to dagger, even consuming Luca's weapon where it remained lodged in the corpse's body.
He stood and pulled away, watching the dead Knight slump to the ground.
"Tsk. That was a great dagger. How unfortunate."
The festering wounds on his body had stopped spreading, but his pulse was still ragged from Titan's Breath. His skin itched with lingering cracks of strain, as if the potion had forced him past a point his body should not have crossed.
He wasn't sure whether to waste his last potion. It was a small bottle, and he wanted to save it for something worse.
He weighed the choice for a long moment before pulling the vial free. The liquid inside glowed faintly green, catching the dim light of the clearing.
He uncorked it.
"Fine."
The potion slid down his throat. Relief washed through him in a wave, quenching the festering heat like water on fire. His wounds closed in seconds.
The rot vanished, leaving smooth flesh as though it had never been touched. His breathing eased and the dangerous pounding and aching of Titan's Breath steadied.
Finally, Luca turned his gaze upward toward the Sky Tyrant.
The dark miasma had yet to clear completely, still covering the whole clearing in a vague dark haze.
And within the darkness, two massive golden orbs stared back at him.
The forest fell silent. The air itself grew heavy. Even the smoke curling off the dead Knight seemed to hesitate, as if frozen under the weight of that golden gaze.
The giant did not stir, but Luca's chest tightened as he realized the truth.
It was awake.