Chương 18: Chapter 18: Arthur vs Arthur
As soon as I grabbed the sword, my grip on it tightened so hard that it would break the handle of most swords.
But my eyes never left Arthur, as he slowly walked towards me with two swords in his hands. I knew that one mistake and I will be on the ground.
As he got closer, I immediately took charge and attacked him, doing a wide slash. He jumped back just the right distance and charged at me. One of his swords made some scratches on my heavy armor, while the other only could bash against it, but did no damage.
He frowned. "Heavy armor? How the hell aren't you exhausted yet?"
Well, it was due to my strength potion who could handle armor at this size easily. After all, usually, the bigger the body, the more strength it has. But also, the market armor would be needed to cover that big body. I had the strength, but my body wasn't bigger. So heavy armor like this felt normal for someone like me.
"Well, maybe I train harder than you," I added jokingly. That was the logical explanation most would arrive at. I obviously wouldn't tell him about my magic.
He didn't say anything and just got closer to me. Swinging his sword in a powerful wide slash, I decided to dodge and not take my chances here if he could bisect me.
I swung my sword overhead, he blocked it with his other sword.
Clang!
He winced at the clash as his arm almost crumbled due to the power and he jumped back. Though he hadn't dropped his sword on the ground, I knew that arm would be fucked for the rest of his fight.
Not only was I swinging my sword with two hands, but my strength was above his. If it hadn't been for his quick reaction, his arm would have broken.
He probably was going to use some counter move when my hands would be busy and attack me with his other sword. If that worked, the fight would have been over. Sadly he didn't know my strength and assumed that I was just a normal guy.
I attempted to slash at him, my sword cutting through the air like a whip. But Arthur's reaction time was perfect like always, he dodged back, smiled slightly, sidestepped my next slash, and used his swords to hit me four times.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
I blocked one hit with my sword and the other three landed on my armor. Once again, the heavy armor protected me. Seems like using heavy armor was a smart idea. At first, it only tired me out while I moved against the small fry.
Due to my hawk vision, Arthur was also unable to hit anywhere lethal as my vision could see his hits. Though dodging them was a problem sometimes, it didn't mean that I couldn't position myself to move slightly and let it hit a thick place in the armor.
Seeing that strong and wide slashes weren't working against him, I started using quick jabs and lighter, but faster slashes.
Clang! Clang! Clang!...
But still, Arthur always seemed to move away by a hair's length and dodge the attack. This was nothing short of raw talent. He was someone that people called a natural fighting genius, his body moves without thought and dodges the attack.
The battle went on for some minutes, with my heavy armor, and his fast reaction time. We were in a stalemate. I wasn't winning, but I wasn't losing either. Well, at least until my strength potion ran out and I entered a weakened state.
Suddenly, as I was rushing him, he blocked each by hits, metal clashed like it was a factory. The smell of sweat was becoming overwhelming, as this heavy armor wasn't easy to use.
But suddenly Arthur stumbled due to a rock on the ground, he would catch himself within a second. But I wouldn't let such a chance go, I wasn't honorable like him.
Clang!
Somehow, impossibly, the man had used his sword and busted his arm, trying to direct my sword. I cut straight through his shoulder pad.
Fwish!
But unluckily, I wasn't able to draw blood. My goal there was to try and cut his shoulder or even whole arm. The deflecting had been impeccable, and even with my strength, Arthur had adjusted his body and not fallen on the ground.
Clang! Clang!
Two hits landed on my chest plate again. By now I could notice that the place he was hitting was the same. I had seen a lot of movies and anime where someone continues hitting the same place. A normal person from this world would think that it was an original idea that no one had done before.
But to me, it was so predictable, that I used those attacks he landed to try and cut him up.
I wasn't beating Arthur Dayne… but I wasn't losing either… at least not yet...
The crowd seemed to be cheering, but I wasn't paying attention to that at all. Instead, this whole time I was using my hawk-like vision, changing perspectives with my hawk which was flying in the sky, and barely keeping up with Arthur.
Finally, my strength potion's power started running out and with each clash, I was giving more and more ground. Even though I was cheating majorly here, I was having such difficulty here, this sucks.
It's like installing hacks in a game and yet having other players beat you because they are just better. Fuck.
His sword was so fast that I had difficulty keeping up. Just how the hell can a human be this good at swordsmanship. It's unnatural as hell. Though I wanted to say that it was foul play on Arthur's part, I knew that wasn't the truth.
Our weapons created sparks as they clashed against each other, my stomach suddenly started churning and it felt like I was going to throw up. This was the first sign that I had about less than two minutes left of the potion and I was going to drop down on the ground like a potato after that.
We were both trying to injure each other, but it all failed. His reaction time was too fast and my heavy armor was blocking all of his hits.
Fuck it. I can't hold this any longer, this bastard will beat me if this continues any longer. I already gave the audience a fight to remember. Using magic openly was a big No, even if he had to lose. But small, unnoticeable magic wouldn't be a problem as no one would be able to notice.
Running a bit back, just out of Arthur's sword distance, I looked at the ground where he would have to step on and I whispered under my breath. "Movereterram." The words that came out of my mouth were unnatural and unknown, it felt like I was being crushed by the earth even as I spoke them. Every magic in this world had a price.
Once Arthur's feet stepped on the ground as he walked towards me, my heart jumped in elation. I forgot all the pain and almost wanted to scream in joy. But I held myself back, and instead, my gaze sharpened to inhumane levels.
If I had my helmet off, people would have seen my eyes go from dark to yellow and then dilate to an inhumane level. The ground Arthur stepped on shifted slightly, and as soon as I saw him start tumbling I charged the man. Such a small move had broken his whole sense of balance and given me a chance.
To him, it might seem like a coincidence or bad luck, to the code it would seem like he had finally stumbled due to tiredness. But this was all calculated, and I swung my sword towards his midsection. If the attack landed it would kill him, but as expected Arthur used his sword to redirect the attack to the side.
But that was what I had planned as I dropped my sword and took out my dagger. Arthur tried to use his other hand but that arm was wrecked due to an injury he suffered earlier and he wasn't fast enough.
He shifted his body to jump away from the blade and then he would have a chance to reposition himself.
Baam!
I body-slammed him on the ground as if I was a wrestler, my heavy armor took the breath out of him and he dropped to the ground, motionless. I immediately had my knife pointed at his throat, but Arthur did not react.
Immediately my heart stopped.
Did I just kill the Sword of The Morning? I could see the Mad King looking at me gleefully, that one expression on his face said a thousand words. I took off my glove and used my fingers to sense the pulse in his neck.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I could feel my heart start beating again loudly in my ear and I smiled, taking off my helmet and throwing it in the air.
Killing a Kingsguard in front of the Mad King would have been a terrible ending to this event and I would have probably ended with my head on a spike. The chances of escaping the middle of this ring were impossible, as I was surrounded by knights on all sides. People don't care about the rubbish knights, but those of Noble Families could earn you a debt that will be paid back in blood.
I looked at the referee and pointed towards the unconscious Arthur. "He is down. Do your job."
The man finally came to his senses and smiled widely. "The winner is Arthur Frey! The Undefeated Knight!"
His voice boomed through like lightning and the crowd cheered loudly. I could barely hear anything, though I noticed Robert throwing ale from his cup and towards me. He tried using the liquid to hit me, but he was failing horribly, though the excited smile never left his face.
Then the Referee came into the fighting pit together with some Maesters to help the downed Arthur, carefully taking off his armor and checking for injuries right on the field.
I only smile at them and stab my sword on the ground, leaving it behind for the Kingsguard I got this from to come and pick it up. I bowed towards the King, and surprisingly he seemed in a jovial mood and waved at me.
With that, I went back towards my corner and into the fighters' rooms. As soon as I was out of sight I started taking off my heavy armor as fast as I could or else this thing would pull me to the ground once my strength potion wore off.
After taking off my armor, I sat down and waited for the after-effects of my potion to hit me. It felt like my stomach was already churning and burning as if I had drunk lava. Suddenly, I felt bile raise up my throat.
*bluegh*
I threw up on the ground strange red and green liquid that slowly sunk in on the floor. A feeling of weakness, nausea hits me like I hadn't slept for days and had no caffeine either. Every muscle in my body had been ripped apart and that would take a while to heal, I was at my weakest right now.
*sigh*
The things I do for power...
After a few minutes, the pain in my body calmed down and I looked at my hand, it was still twitching but I could now clench it into a fist. I felt like a baby again, barely able to move anything.
By leaning on the wall, I was able to get up and I took a deep breath, straightening myself and fixing my disheveled hair. Showing weakness wasn't something I ever planned to do in a cruel world like this, or it will eat me alive as soon as I do so.
In the fighting rooms, there was only me and as I went outside, there were two of my soldiers keeping guard and my healer was there waiting for me. I had left them here since I didn't want anyone to see my weak state.
"Arthur!"
"The Undefeated Knight!"
The people around took notice of my presence and cheered, it seemed like the stories about me had already started spreading. I wonder what kind of legendary figure I will be made into a hundred years from now?
Of course, with the normal people, the Lords came in too and they were even more annoying since I couldn't refuse their 'kind' gestures.
"Lord Arthur. Have you met my daughter? They say she is famous in the Riverlands."
Famous for what? Sucking dick? I never even heard of her. But I could already guess what kind of boring girl she would be. Plus she probably was nowhere near Ashara Dayne either. But of course, while vile thoughts crossed my mind, on the outside I was all polite smiles. "Oh, Lord Shawney. It's a pleasure meeting you here."
His face brightened once he heard me, seemingly surprised that I even knew of him and his small house. Well, I had a spy network for a reason, and remembering things like this was a basic need in this world.
...
I spent over an hour greeting Lords of minor houses, they introduced their daughters and some had even brought them along. I only smiled, fucking Ashara Dayne was different from messing around with some Lord's daughter. Well, technically Ashara was a Lord's daughter too, but there was no indication of her using our time together to try and honey trap me into marriage.
As a man from modern times, I knew a honey trap when I saw one. Just like many things, people in the future were better at honey trapping too, and honestly, these girls that were being offered were amateurish at best.
I just smiled and waved through the conversations with ease. Leaving room for negotiations and not closing anything. While at the same time letting the Lords dispute amongst themselves. I was the prize here after all.
It was such a shame, I truly wasn't made for fighting. Cheating people like this with words was way easier for me.
When I finally arrived at my tent I was left alone and finally relaxed my already overly abused body. The tend was like a small house and I had everything that I would need here.
"My Lord!" yelled out my healer as he interrupted me. Two guards were also with him.
Ah… I see now...
...
Arthur looked at his guards and healer like always, with a nonchalant look and unguarded demeanor. "What is the problem? Hopefully, it's something good."
His words were softly spoken, but there was an undertoning threat there. But the men didn't seem bothered by it and they smiled. "We got some news of the Iron Bank starting to act up," said the healer with a happy smile on his face, expecting some kind of reward.
"I see…" said Arthur, in a calm but hurried voice. He had a frown on his face and seemed to be in deep thought. He then took a long cloak from the clothing compartment on his tent and put it on.
Getting he walked past his guards hurriedly and rushing towards the exit of the tent. Suddenly he stopped and turned around, opened his mouth to say something, but before even a word could come out...
Fwish!
A dagger was stabbed straight into his heart, the assailant was the healer. Arthur's eyes widened in shock and he looked down, flowing out of him like hot life liquid.
Fwish! Fwish!
But it wasn't over though, as the two guards also stabbed him, one in the eye, having the dagger come out of the other side of the skill. While the second guard went for a more brutal attack and stabbed him in the groin area.
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Good old fashion Game Of Thrones betrayal. I miss these moments.
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