Ezekiel
"Too slow!" He smiled as any monster would've, turning his many limbs into a searing mass of primordial energy, a beam of lightning that would eradicate her.
But alas it was not to be. Magic, power, life, even matter itself was sucked by her ebon blade. And it grew, wider, blacker, and began to rip his flesh and skin from his body, first small strands, then entire chunks of flesh.
"Eh?" His eyes widened in shock. "Madwoman, you'll kill us all!" He grit his teeth and summoned his wings to try to escape, but the void was merciless, expanding "GHAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! WOAAAAAAHAHHHHHHH! Y-YOU-" Just as the darkness consumed his vessel, an eye opened at the apex of the night, looking down on both with pity. Just as its leash was being assimilated, the void awakened and billowed with a hunger unlike anything in existence.
The two holes overlapped, and merged into a growing mass of darkness that began consuming everything.
"What happened..." He clutched at his head. But when he looked around, he saw a strange room of wood and candlelight. A tavern? How...ridiculous. "Kh!" He clutched at his head, but the pain did not stop.
"So? How'dya like her? I thought it should be cute like you." He grinned friendly at the G̶͞͠r̵͡A̴̴̢͜͝i̕͜͟͢L̶͜ ̵̢̨̀̕K̷͟͡i̵̢͘҉Ǹ̸̵̢͝G̴̡͞͝, getting up with his arm still wrapped around his new comrade, incidentally pressing her against him.
For a moment W̡̛a͜͠i͘͏̛͡t̶̛̛͘͡. W̛҉͟h̨̡̕á̧͢t͢ ̴̵̨̡̡i̶͜͢͜s͞͞͞҉ ̧͟t̀͡͡҉̵h̴̕̕i͘͞͡s̶͞?̡́͟͞ simply stared at the creature. Her hands moved forwards, almost thoughtlessly, and caressed its head. She had even seemed to ignore that don't touch me touch, utterly fascinated by the creature."Magi͝c̸ ̧t͏ruly̛ ̴i͘s mir̢acu͠l̕o̡u͘s̢. ͏I͝s it̡ ̵tŗul̀y͜ a̡l͠ive? ̕My me̛n͡to͠r͡ tolḑ m͢e̢ s̀u͞ch͢ ͘thi̸ng̶s̕ c͜o͜u̸ld͢ h̢a͠pp̶èn,͡ b̧ut͠ ̵t͠o͟ ̕b̕e ͠w͏a҉ry̸ òf ͢t͜h͟os̸e w̸ho d͜o ͠s͡o."̛
"L҉if͠e̶ ҉cr͝eated must ̛be wi̴t͠h ̵c̴ar̶e,eac̷h͡ ̵̀o͘n̢͘͏e̵ ̨s̀͠ó͟m͝͠è͡t͟hi̶҉n̛͞g͞ ̡t͟͝o̶ ̧b̀ę ̶͘͝b̢͡ȩ͞lov̨ed̢͝.̛͞ ̴̀I҉̡f͏̷ ̡̀i̢̛t̵̢ ̵͠i̕s̸͟ ̸͞҉c͡r͡͝e̶̛a̶̴͞t̕͞e̡͝ḑ͢ ͞t̛͜͝ho͟u̢҉g͞ḩt҉͢l͜͡e̷͜͞s͡s̀͜ĺ̢y̛, u͘ş̵ęd̛͘͠ ̛́c͏̷́ru̴ell̷̷y͢,̕,̴̨̧͟ ̸͝ţ̴̷̀͜ḩ̴͢e̴̡͠ǹ̴̸̨ ̵t̶̷̕҉h̵̨̕͝è̕͟i͏͡͝ŕ̴҉ ̕c҉̴̵r͝͠ȩ̶̶̷͟a͏ţ̴҉̕͢o̷͝͝r̷̴͠͞҉ ̵̸̀į̵s̵̀̀͘͜ ̶̶̡̛s̨̕͜ư̷̷͡r̷̷̡e̴͢l̵̡͠͡y͞ ͟͏͟͜͏m̡҉̸̵͞o̢̨͝͞͝n̶̷͞͠s̢͟t̸͞r̵͘͘͞o҉̀͜͏͏u͢͝s̡." Her eyes stared deeply into the f̴̡i̡̕͞r̛̛͜e͏̴̢ ̵̷́͘͞b̷͞i̴̵͠ŕ̀͟d̢'̛͜͡ś̨́͡͠ own, almost lost in them.
Even if he tried making sense of this memory, his consciousness would never acknowledge it. The pain was now unbearable. How long had it been since he had drawn breath? He was now all alone. Forever. Drowning in darkness.
"What's this...?" He tapped his chest and felt up his body, looking around in shock, the traces of his jovial demeanor gone. "Am I... alive?"
Magic, energy, elements, even time was being sucked by this void that kept intensifying. Surrounded by the night before the light of creation had emerged, Ezekiel was surprised that he had managed to survive. Not only that, but he didn't seem to be suffering from the lack of air of or the coldness of this domain. A massive black dome had swallowed the city block and was beginning to slowly spread inch by inch, but he was stuck inside.
How amusing.
His body was on its last ropes though. To counter her spell, he put everything he had into empowering his hungering black curtain. It was thanks to all the power that had been released within his night that he was able to draw upon the darkness and transmute it into a void that rivaled hers, but in turn it seemed to have resulted into the two wells of emptiness merging into a singularity of sorts.
He turned behind him to look at his foe with a calm smile. If he could take her out quickly, he might be able to wrestle the control of this dark space and unleash it upon the district.
"And here I thought you were a mere paladin knight. This world really is full of surprises." His lips curled into a dark smile. Black tendrils reformed his body into its original state. Reformed, not healed. Because he could replace and rebuild, but the damage was not undone. But he still had enough to keep going. He needed to shatter this obstacle in order to reach even greater heights. Only then could he defeat himself.
"Now that I think about it, that sword feels familiar. Did it belong to anyone before then?" He pointed to her blade casually. "Who is this grail king you're talking about?"