BORN OF SIN

Prologue: A Knight's Search for the Holy Grail

Tora Village was small and not known for being rich by any means, but the forests that surrounded the town housed some of the most potent herbs in Britannia. Holy Knights came to its healers and apothecaries for medicinal herbs and plants known to increase magical power, but they also came in the dead of night to ask about all manner of poisons.

You had to know which apothecaries were willing to sell them, and if they did, people would come cloaked in shadows with a handful of gold and no questions asked.

Such was this night, as clouds stretched out to cover the moon and plunged Tora Village into darkness. A single horse came into town, carrying a single rider whose face had villagers closing their curtains out of fear.

The only herbalist awake at such an hour nearly jumped out of his skin when his front door was slammed open, a raging wind sweeping in along with the cloaked figure. They tracked in no rain nor mud, but the herbalist felt as though a raging storm had entered his shop.

The clank of heavy armor approached him, pulling a bundle of cloth from behind their back and presenting it to him before he could muster up enough courage to tell them they were closed. He couldn't see their eyes, but judging by the soft face he saw beneath their hood, the herbalist only assumed his late customer was a woman.

She pointed to the wrapped parcel, the herbalist catching a short glimpse of her icy lilac eyes. The hatred blazing within them made the herbalist tremble, knowing the knight wouldn't hesitate to kill him if she wasn't satisfied.

He quickly unwrapped the cloth, halting when he gazed upon the perfectly crafted silver and gold goblet.

He sensed a great deal of magical power from the goblet, only… it felt weaker somehow, as though it had been drained.

"I've never seen a magical object of such craftsmanship." he traced his fingertips delicately across the metal, finding it's intricate designs incredibly familiar. "May I ask where you acquired it, my lady?"

She clenched her fists, her metal gloves grinding under the force. "The ruins of the Fairy King's forest."

The herbalist felt the breath in his lungs leave him, his shaking hands pulling away from the perfect goblet. "This… this is…!"

"So you know what it's capable of?" she asked. He nodded furiously, having heard the stories since he was a boy, about the waters that granted eternal life, from a goblet just like the one before him. "Then answer me this, is there anything on earth that can end the life of an immortal man?"

Knowing the stories, he was about to tell her no, but the look in her eyes was not something he wanted unleashed upon Tora. He rewrapped the goblet and offered it back to her, reaching for the bottles on the shelf behind the counter.

He presented her with three. "Nightshade is painless but potent and irreversible, Foxglove sends the victim into hallucinations and crippling pain…"

She glared and knocked aside the two bottles, the glass shattering against the wall. "Useless to me! I have no time to wait for my opponent to die! He can regenerate even if he his burnt away, I need something more powerful than these useless flowers!"

The nightshade liquid dripped through her fingers, and the herbalist tried to shield himself from her fury, but she did not strike him, only looked at him expectantly with those icy eyes.

"These natural poisons can kill any human man… but immortality is not as easy to break."

She slammed her fist on the table. "I will do whatever it takes! Nothing is too far or too powerful. I know you possess darker methods of execution in this apothecary, so give them to me!"

The herbalist cowered before the knight, kneeling behind the counter and pulling a hollow floorboard loose. Beneath the floor were a series of vials hidden from anyone else in the shop, he selected one and presented it to the knight, its glowing contents colored as red as blood and shimmering in the low candlelight.

"Th-this is a poison crafted from the blood of a Tyrant Dragon… it burns its victim from the inside out faster than the body can register pain. There is never even ashes left behind, the victim dies instantly… is this what you're after?"

She placed a sack of pure gold coins on the counter, taking the vial and slipping it into the bag that held the silver goblet.

The knight said nothing more, leaving the same way she had come, under cover of darkness and with no one in Tora aware of her presence.

Hours later, miles away from Tora, the knight held up the vial of poison, watching it glitter like gems in liquid form.

"Finally…" she whispered, pulling down her hood and revealing her long blond hair. "I've finally found a way to kill you… he who slayed the Fairy Saint and destroyed the Fairy King's forest…"

The immortal man.

The Fox's sin of Greed.

"Undead Ban."

Might as well start another god damn story without finishing my other ones! Meet Lancelot! She's got more than one bone to pick with our favorite boi! Ciao!