Fate's Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

Gepard leaped from building to building, the rundown architecture shattering with each push of his legs. His shield was poised by his side, prepared to be defend against any blows if necessary. His eyes searched the labyrinth below him.

His eyes focused on a black figure, barreling through buildings without losing it’s momentum. Saint’s crimson eyes were locked onto him, her graceful figure easily overpowering any barrier in her path without using any excessive strength. Her charge was unbroken as she pursued the Silvermane Guard.

Currently, Pela and the rest of the Silvermane Guards present were facing Serval. Due to the fact that she didn’t have a combat-related Aspect, it was considered to be safer for them to face her rather than the black knight.

As Gepard landed on a massive tower, the strange Echo pivoted. Instead of running through another building, she redirected all her momentum upwards. Despite the obvious matter of Saint’s weight, she managed to force herself up a wall with nothing but her leg strength. Craters were left behind on the wall from where she stepped.

Gepard did not let her agility fluster him as he whirled around. Saint rushed him down as she held her sword in a low position. She flicked it upwards, aiming to hit him with a vertical blow.

Her stone sword was caught by the edge of Gepard’s shield. Suddenly, all her momentum bled off, causing her to step back in caution.

Although Saint was certainly much stronger than Gepard, his defensive capabilities were unmatched. While his Aspect Abilities give him enhanced bone structure and regeneration, as well as an illusory shield of ice, his Attributes gave him a resistance to the cold as well as superior defensive capabilities.

If an attack was properly blocked by Gepard, it was almost impossible to break through his guard; up to a certain extent, of course.

However, the definition of a ’proper guard’ was very particular. If he blocked a blow with his arm, it wouldn’t be much more effective than if another Awakened with the same physical capabilities were to do the same. If he were to block with a sword, the results would be greater, but not by an extraordinary amount.

With a shield however, his ability to withstand blows was phenomenal. As such, Gepard found that it was much more beneficial to use a mundane shield instead of using one of the many weapon Memories that he had.

As he observed Saint’s movements, his eyes narrowed.

Despite Pela’s Aspect, her strength was around the level of an Ascended Beast. With the amount of strength that should have been taken away, she should have been somewhere between the Awakened Rank and Ascended Rank. He knew that she wasn’t a Transcendental foe, because the loss of power would have been minuscule.

There would be no way to defend against that.

Based on the knight’s intelligence, she must have been a Demon at the minimum. If she could still operate at the Ascended level despite Pela constantly weakening her, then it was possible for her to be a Tyrant, Terror, or Titan that was purely focused on physical strength.

...What was strange was that Gepard couldn’t see any strange abilities being used by the stone statue. Even if she was strength-focused, she should still have an obvious Devil Ability. After all, it wouldn’t have been weakened by Pela’s Aspect.

With his rich experience as the captain of the Silvermane Guards, he was able to rationally analyze his opponent’s strength, while also being able to see any inconsistencies.

Saint gazed at him for a few moments, her crimson eyes flashing with murderous intent. She rushed forward again, aiming to split him in two with an overhead slash.

However, Gepard simply raised his shield. Once more, all force was harmlessly absorbed by his body.

However, Saint wasn’t done.

As his shield stayed above his head to block Saint’s sword, her other arm — which was holding onto her shield — had been cocked back. Her fist flew out, attempting to smite his defending body.

And yet, her fist was blocked in a manner similar to her sword. Saint’s arm went still as she was stopped by a floating illusory wall; one that was only slightly larger than her hand.

Although it was certainly possible to break through the barriers manifested by Gepard’s Aspect, their durability only increased the smaller they were. If he was able to predict where an attack would land, then he was able to sacrifice range for potency.

Finding an opening, Gepard twisted his body. Slanting his shield, the sword slid off before being pulled back by Saint. With a twirl, the blonde man swung his hefty, custom-made shield at the stone knight.

Having been staggered due to the failure of both of her attacks, Saint could only accept the attack that came her way. She shield struck her on the head, ringing along with her stone helmet. A small crack appeared, one that caused the two red lights behind her visor to deepen.

Despite Saint’s strength — one that the average Awakened shouldn’t be able to face off against — Gepard was able to keep up. After all, having spent his days defending against the Fragmentum, while also protecting the Belobogian stronghold in the Dream Realm, he had personally defeated beings that were much more powerful than he was.

As Belobog’s first line of defense, an Ascended Echo wasn’t even at the top of the worst foes he had the misfortune of going up against.

***

Leaping back, Saint raised the hand that was holding onto her shield to the crack that was left above her visor. She gazed upwards at the blonde Awakened before her.

Suddenly, her gaze began to display an emotion seperate from her cold indifference.

Amusement.

Feeling her master’s joyful shadow granting her strength, she made a very reckless decision.

She dropped her sword and shield.

As her opponent sent her a guarded, yet confused look, Saint took a step forward.

A weapon was merely a tool. A shield was simply a wall to seperate her from her foe. Neither truly had any meaning against true strength.

The power to Destroy wasn’t something that manifested as a weapon. Rather, Destruction was something that must be brought out by one’s own power.

As the [Destined Destroyer], wasn’t it her duty to display the true meaning of meaningless Destruction?

She raised her leg with flawless flexibility, before suddenly slamming it onto the the ground.

Or rather, the roof of the building that they had been fighting on.

The entirety of the structure effortlessly collapsed on itself, a look of surprise appearing on Gepard’s face. Suddenly, the two of them fell alongside rubble and dust, losing their foothold for battle.

However, while Gepard was in free fall, Saint was gripping onto a perfectly cut stone slab. Even though she had slammed her leg onto it, everything else broke down while it stayed pristine.

She chose what to Destroy despite the indiscriminate damage of her attack.

As she fell, Saint used her body weight to tilt the slab towards Gepard’s direction. As he was slightly lower than her, she angled it so that she was facing diagonally downwards. Hanging tightly onto it’s edges, she pushed off with all her might. This time, the slab completely shattered from the force.

The stone knight rocketed towards the Silvermane Guard’s direction, her fist pulled back. Despite the chaotic and precarious situation, Gepard was still able to comprehend what was happening despite all the movement from every direction.

As Saint prepared to strike Gepard in the gut, he was able to skillfully predict the the point of contact. He was able to do so while in the midst of falling with his enemy, a masterful show of his ability to read his opponents.

As he was unable to comfortably move his shield into a good position, he called on the power of his Aspect once more. A small space distorted as a wall of ice was created. It was larger than the one he had previously used to block Saint’s blow, but it was small enough to easily stop the attack in it’s tracks.

The onyx armor trembled, a deep crack splitting across the chestplate. From within the fracture, amber light began to pulse, faint at first, like the glow of embers beneath the surface. The crack widened, spreading, jagged lines of light radiating outward, carving through the once-solid black stone. The amber glow intensified, crawling down the sides, creeping over the shoulder guards, as if the armor itself were alive, shifting beneath her skin.

With each movement, the cracks lengthened, the light growing brighter, more vibrant, as though the stone was giving way to a new force. The transformation was inexorable, an elemental force unraveling the armor’s cold surface, melting it into something softer, more fluid. The amber spread down her arms, glowing brighter as it followed the contours of her gauntlet, inching closer, consuming the onyx.

The gauntlet, untouched until now, began to tremble as the amber light reached it. Slowly, reluctantly, the dark stone began to dissolve, turning to liquid, and then to smooth, molten amber. The last remnants of onyx fell away, leaving behind a gleaming gauntlet of pure amber, glowing with an inner heat, its surface flawless and radiant. The transformation was complete. The gauntlet, once dark and solid, was now alive with light, warmth, and the power of the amber that coursed through it.

Without giving Gepard a chance to react to her strange metamorphosis, Saint’s gauntlet crashed into his barrier. There was a split-second of contact, almost nonexistent, before it shattered into ether. Her fist continued on it’s path as the amber radiance faded away, before pulverizing his gut as his armor shattered. A breath of air was forced out of him along with his bile, as he was forced to plummet down like a meteor.

Once he landed, a small dust cloud was forced into the air. Meanwhile, rubble continued to rain down on the Overworld from the tower’s destruction as Saint gracefully landed on the ground. Looking around, she first searched for her discarded equipment.

After a few seconds, she found her sword and shield. She then walked over to Gepard’s unconscious body. There were chunks of half-digested food on his face.

Picking him up by the armor, Saint froze. She looked down at her own onyx body.

Although she had only taken a singular blow to the head, her armor was covered in cracks. Wielding the Destruction was...

Self-Destructive.

Indifferent, she haphazardly carried Gepard as she returned to where Serval had been.

Once she returned, she found a clearing of unconscious Silvermane Guards. Among them was Pela, who was slumped against a wall.

Meanwhile, Gepard’s sister was simply sitting on top of a random guard’s body, a spear resting over her shoulder. There were lingering sparks traveling around the tip, hinting that their battle must have been... electrifying.

Silently, Saint tossed Gepard in Serval’s direction. As the blonde woman noticed both the knight and her brother’s presence, she stood up as she approached him with concern on her face.

Uninterested, Saint turned in the direction Sunny had left. As she was still in the range of his Shadow Control, she was able to allow herself to be dismissed as she returned to his Soul Sea. The Happy shadow stood still for a moment, before rushing back towards his direction as it glided over uneven ground.

Meanwhile, Saint was resting within Sunny’s Beast core, her body restoring itself at an excruciatingly slow rate.