Relic of the Future: Chapter 87

The spiderlike Grimm managed to push past his guard and catch his cheek with the tip of one leg.

[...]

Jaune rubbed his cheek, brushing away the faintest amount of blood. The cut was small enough to not even bleed properly, more a graze than anything. He'd instinctively leaned back to lessen it. "Lucky hit," he said.

"Your aura didn't block it?"

"Guess my concentration slipped."

[...]

Amber's boots crunched on the steps as she came up onto the dais behind him.

Directly behind him.

Jaune twisted left.

The knife pierced through his white coat but struck his flank rather than his kidney. It sparked off aura pushed to his back and slid right. His hand snapped down, catching her wrist even as he drove his other elbow back. Amber ducked that, but it had only been a distraction, he twisted her wrist up and used his thumb to flick the hilt of her knife up, breaking her grip.

Catching the dagger before it could fall, he spun and slashed at her without pause, catching her wide eyes and the hand she brought up to block the hit. The knife grated across her palm, spitting green aura and making her leap back with a cry.

Jaune hurled the dagger aside and drew Crocea Mors, standing atop the dais with a wary but not entirely shocked scowl.

Amber couldn't mistake it for anything else.

"You knew."

Knowing was too strong a term. Had he known, he wouldn't have walked into this like an idiot. If he'd known, he would have lured her into an ambush and killed her just like Cinder had. Ironic to think of doing her work for her, but it was better than letting a Maiden exist under Salem's sway. But no, he hadn't known.

"I suspected," he said carefully. "I had a suspicion."

"And you threw yourself into danger to confirm that?"

"No. I gave you the chance to prove me wrong." He stepped back further, putting distance between them. A Maiden was so much stronger than any other being, but they weren't invincible. Amber hadn't been against Cinder, and in the end even Cinder had died. It was just harder. Much harder. "But that didn't mean I let my guard down. I had my aura up the entire time, and always pushed in your direction."

"The spider Grimm cut you," she realised, staring at the line of blood on my cheek. "Your concentration didn't slip at all. Even when we were fighting them, you kept your aura focused on your back to protect against me…"

—Relic of the Future: Chapter 87