The cheers of the crowd were almost deafening as Arthur stepped into the arena. I took a deep breath and emerged into the light. A dome appeared around the arena as soon as I stepped past the portcullis, I looked at it with interest but no real surprise. The cheers of the crowd slowly faded as they looked at me, my appearance very different from the knight they had come to know.
My voice rang out, amplified by Voice of the Chasm.
“You may be wondering what is going on,” I said. “Why my armor is different than what you have come to expect.”
“I am the Warlord, the Champion of Kalesa, I am the Storm Knight. I am Sir Mordred a Knight of Camelot and I have come to take my woman from the hands of your Prince over his dead body if I have too,” I announced the silence of the crowd changing from one of anticipation to one of fear. “If this barrier comes down, I will not hold back any of my attacks, I will kill indiscriminately without malice or mercy, I would advise you to run.”
My warning given I turned to Arthur as he launched into motion racing towards me a javelin of golden light hurled towards my head.
“Mordred!” Arthur shouted. “Face me!”
You have been given a Challenge, refusing the challenge will increase the damage dealt to you by the challenger by x10 for the next hour, reduce your Toughness Attribute by 25% and give you vulnerability to Holy damage. If you accept the challenge, you can only attack the target. Any attack that you make that strikes another target will break the challenge resulting in the above penalties occurring. If any allied creature that jumps into assist you will break the challenge resulting in you being penalized, any rival creature that assist the challenger will break the Challenge with no ill effect towards you; third party interference will have no effect.
Accept Challenge?
Yes/No
“Yes,” I snapped dismissing the notification from my vision.
I bent around the radiant projectiles that Arthur hurled from his hands, I answered them with bolts of scarlet lighting. Arthur deflected the lightning off his sword, and it hit the sand turning it to molten slag. Thousands of spearheads dropped out of my storage pouch as I hurled them at Arthur with Telekinesis. He rolled under them a shield of semi-translucent light appearing above his arm deflecting most as the rest skid off his armor.
Excalibur and Clarent hit each other with the force of two asteroids colliding, the two swords screamed as if they were a pair of stallions that had just been placed in the same pen. Clarent was a bit shorter than Excalibur, the barely restrained lighting that formed its blade sparking in all directions whenever it struck the azure metallic edge of its rival blade.
The force of our strikes sent reverberations up my arm as I spun and ducked under Arthur’s lighting fast slashes and lunges and tried to get around to slash into the joints of his armor. Arthur’s knee came up in a sudden jerk hitting me in the chest and sending me flying a dozen yards. I spun midair landing on my feet and rushing straight at him again.
Releasing a roar point blank the sand rose before me like a sandstorm aimed straight at Arthur. In response Arthur drove Excalibur into the ground, his feet sliding on the sand as the rushing gale tried to fling him across the arena. The sand fell and Arthur met my charge, our blades screaming again as we once more made contact.
“Hell’s Talons,” I said, the nails of my left hand turning to claws.
Spinning under Excalibur I drove my claws down and they bypassed the armor on his leg as I hamstringed him. I rolled out of the way, but I already knew I wouldn’t be fast enough. My arm went up blocking the strike, but it only slowed it as Arthur’s swords came down on my bicep where the gap between my maninca and pauldrons had my skin exposed.
My arm fell to the ground, and I stumbled backwards as Arthur kicked with his good leg into my chest and slammed me into the ground, Clarent tumbling from my hand and rolling away. I felt my ribs break, Arthur’s strength having grown over the course of our battle, enough to far surpass my own Might attribute.
This is it, I thought, preparing myself.
“You should never have come at me alone,” Arthur said.
“That’s the thing about me,” I said with a bloody smile, my next words came out reverberating with a multitude of other voices as the spirits inhabiting me and I spoke as one. “I’m never alone.”
I spent a hundred eather and all the damage I’d just taken disappeared as if I’d never suffered it in the first place. My severed arm reappeared as Clarent slammed into my hand. Two arms emerged, one holding Thorn the other ending in wicked claws. Another pair of arms emerged, one made of lightless black void energy and another of silver-grey mist making me appear like some humanoid spider. I levitated off the ground as black tendrils extended from me like a wild mass of waist long hair. The arms were clad in twisting white and silver armor a beautiful otherworldly sight. Arthur stumbled back as I attacked him from three points at once. My gauntlet sword Thorn and the spear Janus were all in use as I harried Arthur across the arena.
Lightning arced over his body and Janus thrust into his thigh. Arthur’s confusion lasted only a minute as he used his singular blade with expert technique. I could only see his eyes but I watched the arrogant confidence fueled by anger disappear, replaced by an emotionless calculating gaze.
“A neat trick,” Arthur said, taking another hit from Clarent, his body smoking from electrical burns. “But I hope you didn’t think this would be enough to face me.”
Arthur surged forwards golden wings made of light appearing on his back. He flew past me, his sword swinging back and around to strike at my back faster than my Foresight could even calculate, his myriad of possible actions too much for me to keep up with. My Nemean cloak took the hit from Excalibur, and I felt part of my spine crack but I wasn’t ripped open like a shredded tire so I took my victories where I could.
I activated Storm Fall, red lightning mingling with the black smoke that leaked from my skin as I flew after him. Like two fighting hawks we circled each other in the air, our blades crashing into each other or skidding off the other’s armor. We flew so high we hit the top of the dome and began sliding along it sparks flying whenever our weapons hit it. My helmet scraped along the barrier as Arthur and I grappled with each other. I got a look at the crowd, I noticed most of them hadn’t taken my advice to run and were still there watching. Whether they were cheering or screaming I couldn’t tell with the rumble of thunder, the ringing sound of metal on metal and the blood pounding in my ears.
---
The reach Excalibur gave Arthur was a disadvantage now as with the two of them so close together. He had to half-sword his weapon to block Mordred’s attacks, the clawed hand in particular which could bypass his armor. Luckily most of Mordred’s other weapons were equally ineffective with how close they were except for his lightning bladed sword. That crimson lightning shifted at a moment’s notice becoming as long as a greatsword one moment before losing three feet of its length and wiping around in a surprise tight arc.
Mordred’s sword had the skill he gained from training with Guinevere for a year but his other martial attacks were less skilled. What they lacked in skill they made up for in ferocity. Arthur got up a knee and kicked out separating the two fighters as they spun through the air before turning and flying straight at eachother. Their swords screamed again as they swung through the air the force of their impact displacing all the air in dozen meters.
Blood dripped down from Arthur’s armor and Mordred leaked the stuff from cuts all over his body that healed as soon as Arthur inflicted them. Slowly Arthur felt his strength grow and grow as his divine ability let him grow stronger the longer, he was in a duel. Even with Mordred’s advantage of his strange spectral arms he was starting to lose ground again.
Arthur let Mordred get in several attacks grunting with the pain then his wings snapped down as he rose above Mordred and brought Excalibur down in a titanic blow. Mordred blocked the strike, but it was still enough to throw him all the way down to the ground as the recoil from it sent Arthur spinning. He recovered quickly and dropped towards the crater where Mordred had landed.
“Good one,” Mordred said his voice rough and deep as he jumped up out of the crater.
He cracked his neck as he advanced on Arthur. “I’m glad to see my efforts preparing for this duel were not wasted.”
“You weren’t the only preparing for this fight,” Arthur said circling around happy to play for more time. “I have to ask; how did you survive?”
“What?” Mordred asked. “So many things have tried to kill me you’ll have to be more specific.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“The World Bosses,” Arthur said. “We saw you burning on the ground, and everything go dark then no one heard from you for a week.”
“Oh that,” Mordred said. “Sure, I almost died but you know what they say; what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
Arthur changed tacks as he waited for his strength to grow. “I know about you and Guinevere, and your child.”
Mordred went still for a moment before his body relaxed. “Is she alright?” he asked, his voice calm but promising to explode into violence if the answer wasn’t to his liking.
“I am not a monster,” Arthur replied. “No harm will come to Guinevere or her baby, this is a fight between you and me.”
Mordred nodded. “I will give you this one last chance,” he said. “Let me take Guinevere with me and I will let you be as long as you let me be. As one father to another we can both turn our backs on the other and never see the other again.”
“No,” Arthur said stopping his circling and pointing Excalibur at him. “You are a threat to the world and my child; I cannot let you leave alive.”
“So be it,” Mordred sighed and launched himself at Arthur.
There weapons met each other again Clarent and Excalibur meeting in shower of sparks. Arthur was even faster and stronger now his body a blur, only the other limbs of Mordred let him block the rapid cuts, strikes, and thrusts he made with Excalibur. New confidence filled Arthur as he danced around Mordred his feet as light as feathers as he got in the tiny cut here and there. He could taste victory on his tongue now.
“I remember what you said to me in the Event,” Arthur said preparing himself for the finishing blow as Mordred couldn’t spin fast enough to meet him. “You warned me to not look into the Abyss or I’d become like you. But just because you looked into it and fell doesn’t mean that I will.”
Mordred made a desperate attack that hit Arthur in the back of the knee drawing a spray of blood. The attack had been a good one, but it cost him as the golden edge of Excalibur cut down and took off Mordred’s legs. He kicked forward, Mordred’s ribs snapping inward as he kicked him into the crater he had formed earlier.
“I’m not like you Mordred,” Arthur said, his breath heaving as he recovered from the strain of the fight, his attributes growing to the point where his body was having trouble supporting his superhuman strength. “I can resist becoming a monster.” He moved forwards to the crater to finish the job.
“You misunderstood me,” Mordred wheezed spitting blood with every word his words becoming more labored with each second as his lifeblood spilled out on the ground. “I wasn’t the one looking into the abyss… I’m… what’s… looking out of it. Voidra, release the shadow.”
---
The dark miasma around me in an instant but I was no longer the one in control I lacked the will to hold the Shadow back and it eagerly took control. My severed legs rose and slammed into my stumps as two new arms armored by the void shot from my torso and crossed their arms blocking Excalibur as it swung down for my neck. A storm of attacks launched against Arthur, their sheer speed, ferocity, and number of attacks overcoming his superior attributes and driving through the cracks in his armor. Mad laughter escaped my lips as the Shadow rejoiced in the bloodshed and its freedom.
Even with the Shadows help this wouldn’t be enough. Arthur was just stronger than I was, so I needed to get stronger.
Arthur shook his head. “Look at yourself, your more monster than man. How could you ever think we could stand by and let something like you live. Look how much pain you’ve caused people, and for what? No greater good, no higher cause, only your own personal power.”
“Pain is weakness,” I responded my voice a guttural snarl. “Luckily, I don’t feel it. System, raise Jotunn Slayer to rank twenty.”
I wasn’t sure if this was wise decision or if my thoughts were being influenced after releasing my id out from his soul prison. I remembered what Arthur had told me, there was no cost to great to kill me; looking at him now I felt the same. Because of Wrathful Mediation I couldn’t feel the pain as the muscles, my flesh, bone and skin all changed.
Ares, I thought. I can’t focus on the fight and look over my upgrade options at the same time. Pick whatever you think will be best.
Very well, Ares agreed.
I dismissed every notification without even looking at it right now just struggling to stay alive. Then a notification did pop up that I did catch sight of briefly.
Congratulations! You have raised one of your Attributes beyond 50 the Veteran limit. Your body will now physiologically change to adjust to this increase to keep your Attribute from killing you.
Your skin has mutated growing threads of mithril through it giving you increased resistance to physical damage. Your body will reduce slashing and physical damage by two stages.
I blocked Excalibur the force of catching the strike sending me flying like I was a baseball. I spun through the air lightning wreathing my body as activated Storm Fall and sped back towards Arthur.
“Gravitational Forces,” Arthur snarled, and a weight slammed down on my shoulders.
I pushed eather energy into my body, just like when I had to fight against Aramid. My body strained and began breaking down under force, but I wasn’t helpless against Arthur as I had been the last time.
Jotun Slayer (Rank 5): The slayer of giants becomes the giant. Upon activation your size increases by 5’ and your weight by 100lbs. Increases your physical attributes by 12.5% while active.
Equipment you are wearing also shifts sizes with you.
Cost:
6 stamina per second.
Upgrade this ability to increase the size, weight and your attribute percentage gain. Each upgrade increases your Might, Speed, Toughness and Endurance by 1.
Being compacted inside of my armor had been my main concern when I got this ability. I considered activating it now but waited. Arthur’s strength had stopped growing, I wasn’t exactly sure when but it seemed his ability had matched my attributes, if I used this now he’d start steadily growing in power again. I needed to wait until it was max rank then surprise him all at once. Arthur slashed out at me but I skid underneath his slash one of my void limbs slashing at his legs with my claws.
It wasn’t much he had an ability like my Regeneration that let him heal overtime but my claws blocked all healing for nine seconds. I’d bleed him dry if I had too. We toyed with eachother like that I didn’t look at any of the other upgrade notifications until I finally got to the last once.
Congratulations! You have raised one of your Attributes beyond 50 the Veteran limit. Your body will now physiologically change to adjust to this increase to keep your Attribute from killing you.
You have lost the need for most of your internal organs and all food consumed will be converted directly into stamina and mana eliminating your need for processing waste.
You have raised all your Attributes beyond fifty, the Veteran limit, you have reached Hero rank. All damage done to you by creatures of a lower ranking than you is reduced by one damage stage for every stage you are above them, damage dealt to a creature of a lower ranking than you is increased by one damage stage for every stage you are above them. You will only get a quarter of rank points from creatures of a lower ranking than you.
I grinned, the wounds on my body starting to hurt less. Arthur was still Veteran rank so I had just gained another stage of damage reduction and increased all my damage by one stage against him. I just had to wait a little longer. Dodging attacks got a little easier as my speed increased but Arthur continued to advance his own stat percentage gain. I could only see a bit of his face through the slots in his visor but I saw sweat pouring down his skin. Going this high in his stats had to be wreaking hell on his body.
I remembered when I used my speed boost from my boots and almost had a heart attack when I first came to this world. Now Arthur was experiencing that strain with every one of his attributes going far past what his body was supposed to be able to handle.
Jotun Slayer (Rank 20, Max Rank): The slayer of giants becomes the giant. Upon activation your size increases by 15’ and your weight by 300lbs. Increases your physical attributes by 37.5% while active.
Equipment you are wearing also shifts sizes with you.
You can choose how tall your form becomes while active.
You deal double damage to targets twice your size and receive half damage from creatures half your size.
Max Rank Bonus: A giant does not fear lesser creatures, you are immune to fear effects while this form is active
Cost:
6 stamina per second.
Upgrade this ability to increase the size, weight and your attribute percentage gain. Each upgrade increases your Might, Speed, Toughness and Endurance by 1.
“Jotun Slayer,” I snarled and activated the speed boost on my boots I’d been saving.
Instantly the gulf between me and Arthur vanished. I didn’t grow in size yet, no need to give him a larger target to hit, but my attributes did all jump up. I blocked Excalibur my extra weight helping me keep my feet as I tackled Arthur into the bloody sand. All my weapons besides Clarent disappeared as I tore into him only my claws from Hell’s Talons. My body was a blur as I knocked aside Arthur’s attempts to half sword Excalibur and defend himself his body exposed and vulnerable to my multi-limbed attack.
The claws passed right through his artifact armor, and I could hear Arthur screaming as purple flames engulfed him as the cursed flames spread across his body. Mad echoing laughter filled the arena, it came from multiple sources within me, myself, the Shadow and Voidra rejoicing in our imminent victory. Arthur went limp the fight finally leaving him as I hit something critical.
Clarent swung down for Arthur’s neck. Just before it could touch something like the fist of Titan hit me in the back and sent me flying. My foresight had given me no warning of the attack and I collided with the arena wall. Looking up I saw the dome above us was gone now.
Duel ended due to outside interference on behalf of the challenger, no penalties incurred.
Rolling to the side I dodged an explosion of violet energy. Merlin stood over Arthur now a black staff gripped in his hand.
“Oh, you little shit,” I growled.
Scarlet Lighting raced towards him, and Merlin spun his staff deflecting it up and away. The lighting targeted a random person in the stadium and just like that three-hundred-thousand people died.