Chapter 43: cheat existence
The two men faced each other, Brain having taken a fighting stance and his hands on his blade focused and ready.
Arthur, on the other hand, seemed relaxed. He didn't grab his sword but instead took a typical boxing stance. It was clear that he was not going to use the sword strapped to his waist.
Brain could not help but feel Insulted by the blonde knight's actions, it was clear he being underestimated and He did not like that very much however he kept his mouth shut, rather than complain he simply resolved himself to end the match quickly and perhaps humiliate his foe
"Begin!!"
One of Brain's men who had been tasked with being the one to start this duel shouted, and not a second after the word left his mouth, Brain moved.
*FWOOP!!*
The blade cut through the Air at great speed, its sharp edge aimed directly at Arthur's shoulder, Brain sought to rid the knight of his right arm, the Armour he was wearing meant nothing to Brain as he was confident his blade could cleave through it without issue.
Arthur simply turned his body to the side, letting the blade swing past him, and clenched his fist, preparing for his own attack
Unfortunately for Arthur Brain was a high-level swordsman, the Blue haired mercenary halted his swing, then turned the sharp edge of the from the ground towards Arthur and swung sideways.
"Hmph"
Brain snorted, feeling already convinced of his fatal strike against the knight, Arthur simply bent backwards and dodged the attack, letting the blade once again swing past him; however , Brain once again halted his swing and turned the edge downward.
Gripping with both arms, he swung down without a wind-up, which needed him to pull up and swing down, as a result, the swing had significantly less power.
Arthur firmly placed his hand on the ground, supporting himself before using his leg to kick away his foe.
*BAM!*
Arthur's foot connected with Brain's abdomen, forcing him to stagger back and miss his swing and allowing for Arthur to stand up straight
After the exchange, the spectators let out a sound of amazement and whispers, with a few encouraging their boss to win this battle.
"you said you were better than Gazeff, yet you can win against me, I'm not even using a sword"
"Don't get cocky you brat, that was just the first exchange"
Brain responded, and Arthur simply shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. Brain could not help but tighten the grip on his sword. The knight before him was very skilled and may not be as easy as he thought.
The man claimed to have been taught by Gazeff yet doesn't use his sword, he clearly thinks Brain isn't good enough for him to draw his sword, gritting his teeth the blue haired swordsman launched an attack.
This time he went for a forward thrust, to which once again Arthur dodged, Brain once again planned to switch the edges of his blade toward his foe and swing, however unfortunately Arthur did not wish to play the same game.
Arthur quickly got up close and invaded the man's personal space before swinging his right arm towards Brain's chest.
*BAM!!*
The swing connected and Brain felt the force of the attack forcing his eyes to bulge out of his eyes before he felt a hand grab his shirt and was launched off the ground, his sword left his hands as his body went up and was then pulled down and was slammed back on to the ground with enough force to push the the air out of his lungs.
*GASP!!*
*GASP!!*
Arthur had used his right arm, slammed it against Brain's chest and since one of Brain's arms was held out straight, Arthur used that to hook his arm and grab the man's shirt, lifted him up and slammed him back down and now Brain was on the floor struggling to breathe, coughing and wheezing.
Arthur then caught the man's sword that had flown into the air and tossed it back to him.
"You son of a bitch!! You think you're going to get away with this!!"
One of the mercenaries shouted as he and his comrades suddenly began preparing for a fight, however before Arthur could do anything Brain stood up, he held his hand up silencing them as he took a moment to properly gather his breath.
"this… this is a duel between him and I, I won't let you pieces of shit ruin this for me"
Brain informed Brain, it was clear to him that the Knight's arrogance was not misplaced, if he is powerful with the sword as he is without it then, as a swordsman Brain needs to see that skill and sew it it matches up with the Gazeff he has in his mind.
"one thing's for certain"
Arthur raised his brow in a bit of confusion.
"though Gazeff I'd a swordsman, he never shied away from using his hands and feet in a sword fight, if there's an opening but he can't reach with a sword then he'd use his hand to punch or his foot to kick, I can sew what you're doing being a sort of inspiration from that style of fighting, a mix of hand to hand and swordplay but you separate them unlike Gazeff."
Brain explained and Arthur could not help but wonder where he got all of that from, he was only fighting hand to hand because Excalibur would be overkill against someone like Brain, he didn't plan to use the sword on people that were weak.
Arthur however decided not to correct the man and let him believe whatever he thinks, it wasn't like it was going to help him anyway.
"Now that I've got you figured out. let's do this for real"
Arthur smirked, amused by the man, he could understand what Shalltear felt when she fought against the man in the anime, there was just something amusing about watching someone weaker than you speak as if they've already had the upper hand.
"as you already know my name is Brain Unglaus"
"Arthur Pendragon"
"Well then Arthur, come at me if you dare"
Brain inform before grabbing his sword and taking a low crouching stance, he then erected the sword barrier.
"just so you know, no one's survived this technique"
The mercenaries smirked already assured of his victory, of course that was a lie, this would be the first time he uses it on a person but he was confident that no one could survive it, this was his magnum opus, the peak of his martial art and he was certain none could survive it.
"Is that so?"
Arthur took a step forward, walking towards his foe and Brain closed his eyes and waited, there were no doubts in his mind and he could visualise his attack slicing through his opponents with ease, like a warm knife through.
'God flash: whistling wind'
Arthur stepped onto the sword barrier and in a fraction of a second after his foot touched the barrier Brain's sword was swung so fast that it became a blur.
The blade whistled as it sliced through the air with practically zero resistance or hesitance
"Blut vene"
*clink!*
The sound of metal hitting metal echoed throughout the forest rendering everything else silent.
"Im… IMPOSSIBLE!"
Brain had opened his eyes and witnessed something he thought was unthinkable, God flash was his life's work, he spent a painstaking amount of time developing it and perfecting it to its peak.
What he saw right now told him that everything he worked towards was for naught the hard work he put in was useless, the Sense of Pride he had for the technique, what use was all that hard work if the technique he thought placed him at pinnacle of martial art, what use was it if a single man could catch it with his bear hands?
"Was that it? Disappointing"
Arthur said mockingly as he watched Brain drop to his knees, the confidence and pride left his eyes replaced by nothing, in a single instance Brain had suddenly lost pride in himself and his skills.
"Boss?!"
"Yo boss what's going on, get up!"
His men beckoned but he ignored them, they did not care for him and their relationship was purely business meaning if they lose Brain their mercenaries group was practically done for.
"Do you surrender Brain Unglaus?"
"yes I surrender"
He answered, if his skills meant nothing to the man before him, then it made no difference if he was a subordinate or a slave to him.
Arthur could not held but feel sad for the man, the powers Arthur has were given to him he didn't earn them through hard work like Brain and everyone else, seeing a man being betrayed by his own hard work made Arthur feel like a fraud, it wasn't talent that beat Brain Arthur simply cheated, his entire existence was simply cheating.
"Good, now we can work on making you stronger"
Arthur informed, the least he can do is repay the man and make stronger. Show him that his hard work wasn't useless, he just so happened to be unfortunate by meeting a cheat existence.
.....
A/N: hope yall enjoyed. Next chapter eight fingers gets a talking to.
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