Arthur's Point of View

The Hollow Forest

While keeping my eyes on Elincia, I pulled out her sword from the ground. "Arthur, wait!" Typhon cried out and moved back towards me as he put his hands up. "This is all a big misunderstanding!" Eyeing him as he got closer, I kept my guard up.

"Typhon! Get away from him!" Arceana ordered as she pulled out a piece of paper. "Ayda gave us your note."

"Note?" I repeated.

"That was to tell you I was going to follow Arthur! He did nothing wrong!" Typhon pleaded.

Elincia turned her attention to the boy. "Explain. Your note clearly said you had been watching Arthur and trailed off." The blonde Priestess pointed out, and I just groaned at that. "In fact, you stopped mid-sentence before disappearing. Ayda was most concerned."

Bring his hands up shyly, he held them together as if he knew he was going to get a stern talking to. "I heard that Arthur was leaving, so I stopped writing to follow him. He didn't kidnap me."

Both Priestesses looked skeptical. "How do we know he isn't threatening you to say that?"

"He would never do that!" Yes. Yes, I would, but only in a more extreme situation.

"Now that that is settled, we can start." I said as I moved Typhon out of the way with my elbow.

"And what is that?" Arceana inquired.

Tossing Elincia's sword back to her, I spoke in a low tone. "I don't let just anyone attack me and get away with it. Cassidy, I gave a freebee since she assumed her family was involved and had a reason. A note, while mildly alarming, is no excuse." Pointing at them got the two to glare at me again. "As the rulers of this nation, you both have an obligation to find the truth before passing the sentence."

Elincia gave a curt nod. "You are right, and I apologize for my recklessness. Your first action as our Knight left an uneasiness among our people and us. Surely you can understand that?"

I nodded. "True, but who was right in the end?" I asked, but neither replied as I pointed at myself. "Me, that's who." Gesturing for Typhon to leave with my head, I continued. "Now, run along while I teach these two a lesson."

Both Priestesses looked insulted. "Arthur," Typhon began in a low and deeply concerned tone. "Don't do this. It was my fault! They are the Priestesses! No one can match them in terms of power or magic!"

"That's true, but I'm feeling confident." I then shrugged. "If I didn't do anything for this insult, it would make me look weak. Doesn't matter whose fault it was; I'm not a dog that comes when these two whistle." Smirking a little, the two Priestesses seemed to realize I was adamant about this and merely shook their heads in disappointment.

"If this is how our Knight wishes to conduct himself, so be it." Elincia replied.

"We will gladly put you in your place if that is your desire.�� Arceana crouched immediately after. "Run along, child. We will be along shortly with our new Knight in tow."

Typhon looked between all of us and realized it was unwise to try and stop a battle of titans. He quickly ran along, and while I did turn my gaze back to Arceana, my mind focused on the creature that was watching us. It made no move, which made me smirk. While I did want to put the two Priestesses in their place, I was also concerned with Typhon making it out of this forest alive. Guess the arrival of the Priestesses put a temporary halt on his approach.

"You sure you want to do this, Sir Arthur? I think you might be disappointed with the results." Elincia moved forward as her swords floated about.

"Sure, I'm sure! Besides," I began with a shrug. "I doubt I'll be too disappointed."

Arceana ignited her magic around her scepter, and it glowed a magnificent white before turning into an almost blinding halberd. It lit up the surrounding area, and I widened my stance as we all waited. Seems like we all wanted someone else to make the first move. Even the creature hiding further into the woods.

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Hearing a heavy step from behind, I turned with a focused stare at Elincia, and I felt a wave come from me again. She stopped as her look turned to horror as it washed over her. Teleporting away, I stayed in place as the Priestess watched from above where she flew at what she thought was a safe distance. It appeared she was focusing on my eye and was unsure of the wave that just washed over her.

"Sister, we have been deceived!" Elincia said as sweat seemed to flow down her temples in nervousness. "Sir Arthur appears to be much stronger than he let on!"

More swords appeared in the sky, and Arceana teleported off the ground to hover next to her sister. "It would appear so. Such murderous intent is not often felt in these days. Last I felt this was when we fought against Rudnurth." Then she eyed her sister for a moment. "Among others." Her gaze soon found its way back to me. "Do you truly intend to kill us?"

Not replying, the two frowned and seemed more on edge than before. "Very well," Elincia began. "It would appear this is a fight to the death. Your role was short-lived, but we were clearly wrong about you. You are not the one from the prophecy."

Focusing on my eye, the two sisters suddenly fell from the sky and slammed into the ground. Both were wide-eyed as they looked up as I approached them. My right eye held them in place with some manner of gravitational pull. It was almost as if my sword told me what to do and how to do it. So, here we were with me standing over two subdued Priestesses.

"Both of you picked a fight you could not win." I said as I crouched down before them and pulled off Arceana's tiara. "A crown does not protect you from those you slight. Remember that." Waving the crown in front of the two, I tossed it in front of them as the field didn't affect me. "You can teleport away, I know this, and you're probably going along with this as a part of some ruse. However, just know that I am like nothing you've ever seen."

"Clearly! You don't have a tell when you use magic!" Elincia grunted under the weight.

"Mmh." I mumbled back, knowing that I didn't actually have this world's magic.

Arceana eyed me for a moment before the two of them teleported away like I knew they would. "So, you clearly don't intend to kill us." She pointed out as they were once again on the ground, but much more on guard.

While I did consider using my eye again, my control was limited, and I took a risk using it the first time. Think of a cylinder-like zone being affected anywhere from the ground into the sky and controlling the gravity in that area specifically. Not an easy task. Thankfully, the Priestesses are stronger than those Ghouls I killed because that technique took care of them easily. Maybe I didn't put as much force this time, but it was hard to say.

"Never said I was going to. I merely said you two needed to be taught a lesson, and I intend to teach it." Gesturing for them to approach with my pointer finger in a condescending manner, I continued. "Class is in session girls, and you're no longer the teachers."

Both disappeared to my sides, and I immediately brought my sword to the right where Elincia appeared to match her blade for blade. On my left, my leg shot up and kicked Arceana's halberd into the sky. Twisting low, I brought my other leg to swipe Elincia's legs, but she jumped. She never expected the hilt of my sword to slam into her stomach and send her flying through some trees.

"Elincia!" The pink-haired sister shouted before turning those red eyes on me. "How dare you!?"

"Gotta say, though, the red eyes really work for you when you're angry."

Slamming Defiance into her magical halberd's blade, I replied. "I mean, you two struck first. This is only fair, don't you think? Your sister did try to injure my leg with her sword earlier."

Gritting her teeth in anger, her magic flared, but before she could do anything, my forehead slammed into her nose. The Priestess squealed in pain as she stumbled back. Clearly, neither of these two had seen battle for a long time. While this body was new to me, fighting and carnage was not. This was just another day for me in this sinful life I had been forced to continue.

Arceana grabbed at her nose as I approached without her noticing. "You-" She stated but didn't get to finish as my foot was planted firmly into her stomach.

Falling to her knees, the wind was clearly knocked out of her as she struggled for air. "Wow. You two really underestimated me. At least you didn't go flying like your sister. While this should have been much more difficult, I'm glad you two made this so easy." Letting go of her weapon as she hunched over, clutching at her stomach, I crouched down in front of her. "Either the two of you have ruled for so long, and no one has been able to challenge you for quite some time and that made you rusty... Or,"

Stepping out back and out of the way as Elincia teleported over her sister in a defensive manner, she swung violently at me with pure rage on her features. "Get back!"

"You two seriously thought I wasn't that much of a threat that you wouldn't need to take seriously." I finished as I was now standing again while Elincia looked over her sister. "Either way, you two fucked up."

Elincia and Arceana glared at me as their hands ignited simultaneously. Spells were launched in quick succession. Anything from fire to ice. Wind magic that swept through the area and earth magic that messed with my footing. None of it helped them too much. However, it was when pure magic slammed into me that I felt a sting sensation in my arm when they finally landed a solid blow on my arm.

Hissing slightly and wiggling my arm got them to smirk. "Congratulations, you've made me wince."

"It's a start." Elincia said proudly. "Seems you're not as immune to magic as we suspected. Turns out raw magic seems to be the best way to deal with you."

The two sisters began launching magic beams that I took extra caution to dodge. "How is your arm, Arthur!?" Arceana asked across the area that had been obliterated during the fight.

I spoke loudly with a smirk of my own as I jumped in and out of some of the trees still standing in the area. "Just fine! How's your stomach?!"

Explosions ripped through the area that could likely be seen and heard from Helmsforth. Honestly, with how powerful some of these blasts were, they might be able to feel them in Helmsforth. Both were more serious, and I was doing just fine evading, but I was out of options for going on the offensive. Since I didn't want to actually hurt them too bad, I figured I could monkey about until they were both tired.

However, the situation quickly changed when shadows converged over the entire area. As if a dome was forming above us at an alarming rate, I used the opening to close the distance to the stunned Priestesses who were staring wide-eyed.

"By the gods-" Elincia whispered out, but stopped when I knocked her out cold with a hard blow to the back of her head.

Arceana turned too late as she was distracted and only moved to look when her sister stopped short. "Elin-"

Both fell to the ground hard, one after the other, and I sighed as I stood up. "I was wondering when you were going to interrupt us. Surprised you didn't do it sooner."

"…" No response.

"Come now. You've been watching me for some time now. Ever since I entered the forest, you've been lurking about. Surely there must be something you want to say."

The shadows started to fall from the dome as if they were dripping down like water droplets. It was an odd thing to see in total darkness, but my right eye was able to make it out well enough. A mass of energy composed of the surrounding shadows compiled into a beast like creature that stood on four legs. Multiple red slitted eyes with no iris or pupil appear across its body, as did a sharp grin.

A vile creature, to be sure. "It's an honor to meet you, Sir Arthur. I've heard so much about you." The demonic being said as I saw the same red and black energy that was covering the area before. "While I do have my orders, this is much too big of a treat too let pass me by." While some energy was left surrounding us from the dome, most of it was coming from the body directly in front of me. "Allow me to introduce myself." Its grin became wider as its eyes seemed to narrow gleefully. "I am Tor."