THE MOMENT
The Paladin King rose from his throne as Abby entered the great hall. He was amazed and aggravated by the teenager's appearance. She appeared the eve before his great campaign and singlehandedly decimated his legion of paladins. It was a setback; but, he considered it lucky that he hadn't actually engaged in war yet. She needed to be dealt with if he was going to rebuild his army.
"For decades I have honed my skills in the frozen wastes of the north...," he approached the intruder. She wore black chainmail armor on her body with plate boots and helm. The black helmet hid her face and only showed eight glowing, red eyes. A thick white tome hung from a red chain at her waist and a small white leather box was strapped to her left wrist. Her variety of armor types was completed with black leather gloves. "I have led uncountable legions of warriors to conquest and glory...," The Paladin King continued forward.
The king's golden armor was silent as he walked. He reached his hand to the side and made a gripping motion. He suddenly held a great steel hammer when he closed his grasp. He let it drop to the floor and dragged it forward with him. He destroyed several stone tiles as a result.
"...and yet you singlehandedly stand in my way?" He was a king and a conqueror; he did not need to indulge his guest any longer. He only talked long enough to summon his weapon. She hadn't said a word, nor shown any evidence of raising her guard. That would be her last mistake. He moved swiftly, with decades of practice guiding his every muscle. He leaned back slightly, then shifted his weight forward to bring the hammer around behind him and onto her head.
The black paladin did not move to step out of the way. She touched the white box on her wrist with her right hand, then a white card appeared in her hand. She held it up in front of the falling hammer, and the card disappeared.
The Paladin King smirked at her useless defense and decided not to hold anything back. He only meant it as a first strike to test her defenses when he started the swing. If she wasn't going to do anything, he was going to end their encounter in one blow. His hammer landed directly on the top of her head, then bounced off.
"What??" he looked at her to see what damage he caused and it only confused him. He heard the sound of glass cracking at the same time that he saw cracks spider out from the top of her helmet. He was surprised; but, he wasn't done yet. His special attack had a second part to it. A golden circle of light appeared beneath the black paladin and pulsed upward to do even more damage.
She did not move; but, her armor and helmet shattered into tiny, jagged pieces. It seemed like he shattered a mirror and revealed the black paladin still armored beneath it. But, he did not have much time to understand what he saw. All the jagged, black, glass shards around her shot forward to bury themselves in him. Then, it was over.
The Paladin King rose from his throne as Abby entered the great hall. She was getting kind of bored of this encounter and hoped she could move on soon.
"For decades I have honed my skills in the frozen wastes of the north...," the King came closer and Abby giggled to herself.
"I have led uncountable legions of warriors to conquest and glory...,"
"I have led uncountable legions of warriors to conquest and glory...," Abby spoke his lines along with him. She made sure to add a tone of mockery; the baby voice she used wasn't entertaining enough on its own.
The Paladin King paused for a brief moment in surprise. But, he was a king and a conqueror. He knew how to push past minor things. He summoned his warhammer and stood within range of the black paladin.
"...and yet you singlehandedly stand in my way?"
"...and yet I singlehandedly stand in your way?" Abby mocked him further. His grip tensed around his weapon and she raised a card in front of her.
[Punishing Reflection] The King had no idea what the card did, and he could not hear the System voice that Abby could. But, he knew something strange was afoot.
"How??" he asked. That single question represented several questions that formed because of her clairvoyance. How did she know what he was going to say before he said it? How did she destroy so many of her men so effortlessly? How many men did he have? It was a chain of questions that he didn't have answers to.
"Oh you know, I just did a few hours of grinding here and there. You only have a few lines, they’re not hard to remember. Aren't you going to attack me?" Abby asked. She was already running slower than her last few attempts. She decided that if she didn't get the drop this time, she wouldn't antagonize the NPCs more than she had to.
"No...," the King released his hammer and looked around the room. "I've done this before...," he said. His head whirled around and he stared at the pristine stone tiles. "Those should be broken....," he said.
"Aww man...," Abby sighed. "Now I have to start all over...,"
"What's my name?" he asked Abby. "Why do I keep calling myself the Paladin King, that's not a name...,"
"What's your favorite -," Abby cut herself off and shook her head. Then, she reached up and removed her helmet. The Paladin King screamed in terror and jumped back. He was confused enough as it is; but, he was not expecting to see a teenage girl with spiders living in her eye sockets.
"Nevermind, it doesn't matter," she smiled.