Chapter 154 – Floor 14: Part 4

“There, just cross out that sigil and the entire line will fail.” Arthur explained as he pointed at the ground near his invisible prison. Arthur smiled when Mathew withdrew the sword ‘Excalibur’ from the sheath at his hip.

“Ah! There’s a familiar sight! I’m surprised the Lady let you have it!” Arthur exclaimed as Mathew knelt on the ground and carefully positioned the tip of the sword against the small rune. The symbols were densely packed, and Arthur warned that any mistakes would only strengthen the barrier rather than weaken it.

“She didn’t.” Mathew replied. With a gentle push of the hilt, the blade bit into the stone and gouged out the required sigil. A flash of light went through a section of the seal enclosing Arthur before fading. The barrier was still in place but marginally weaker than before.

“I bet she wasn’t happy about you taking it! She always did have a bit of a soft spot for me. She’s a fae, you know. A quirk of the Aether that gave life to a magical being.” Arthur explained as Mathew moved on to the next sigil in the chain that needed to be destroyed.

Mathew’s response was a grunt that could have meant anything. Arthur continued to speak despite Mathew’s inattention to what he was saying.

“I bet you’re wondering, do the gods pick people to fulfill a legend? We have the story of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table on my Earth, and you no doubt have the same story. But here, I am King Arthur. Maybe our worlds had their own versions of me as well? The multiverse is infinite; there has to be other versions of me out there…” Arthur rambled on, and Mathew tried his best to tune him out.

With a final slash of an obscure and well-hidden sigil near the corner of the room, the glowing array of runes and symbols gave a final, bright flash before fading away. There was a sound similar to glass breaking, and the invisible gave way with an influx of air filling the space where Arthur was trapped.

As soon as the barrier was dispelled, Mathew felt the force of the Buzz hit him with a strength he had never felt before. His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the ground. His head was pounding with a blinding headache, and he couldn’t put his thoughts in order.

“Ah! Finally!” Arthur yelled as he stood and stretched his arm over his head.

His mana flared around him, making the ground and walls shake. Mathew winced as Buzz grew slightly stronger. Incapacitated, he could do nothing as Arthur walked out of his former prison and drew in a deep breath of air.

“You can’t imagine how good it is to breathe air that hasn’t been endlessly recycled. Sure, I can go without oxygen for a long time, but it’s nice to have fresh air. Isn’t that right, Mathew?” Arthur turned to look at Mathew and finally realized the much weaker Player's predicament.

“Shit. Sorry about that; I haven’t been around someone so fragile in a while. I forgot the effect the ‘Buzz’ can have. Not much I can do about it, I’m afraid.” Arthur said as he knelt down next to Mathew, patting him gently on the head like an owner petting a dog.

“There, there. Look at the bright side: you finished your task, and you can move to the next Floor! Good for you!” Arthur said with a smile. He reached down and plucked the sword ‘Excalibur’ from Mathew’s stunned fingers.

“You won’t mind if I take this, will you? Don’t worry, I’ll set things straight with the Lady. Make sure that she understands that you did everything for me.” Arthur winked and placed the sword in his own inventory.

“There now, all safe and sound. I can’t wait until I see the look on her face. I bet she’s been missing me something fierce. I won’t be staying long, mind you. Just long enough to shake the cobwebs off, I’ll set out to the next Floor. I’m sure Righteous Subjugation has something lined up for me already.” Arthur stood up and began to walk away.

With each step the man took away from Mathew, the pounding of his head seemed to lessen a bit. Snapping his fingers, Arthur turned around as if he just had a thought.

“How rude! I can’t believe I forgot!” Arthur exclaimed, slapping himself playfully on the forehead. Shaking his head, he walked back to Mathew and knelt beside him once again. The pain in Mathew’s head exploded as Arthur gently reached out toward him.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Here I am, pleased as punch to be free, and I forgot all about your reward! I can’t give you Excalibur, sentimental to me as it is, but I’ll give you a couple of things to compensate you. First, here’s a little gift from me.” Arthur said as he ‘tapped’ Mathew on the forehead.

Strange mana entered Mathew’s mind, and, for a moment, the pain of the ‘Buzz’ lessened. It swirled around his body for a minute before it dissipated. Foreign knowledge seeped into Mathew’s brain, incomprehensible symbols, runes and glyphs that burned themselves into Mathew’s mind.

“Those are something I picked up on one of the lower Floors. It’s pretty useless to me now, but you might find it helpful. Words have power, and this is a Blessing that lets you draw on them. Once you’re up and about, give them a whirl.” Arthur explained as he withdrew his hand.

“And, as Apostle of Righteous Subjugation, in return for the service you have rendered to my Deity and myself, I bestow upon thee the ‘Subjugation Aura of the Righteous.’” Arthur said formally as he stood up and gestured toward Mathew.

A glow bathed Mathew, a divine light that gathered around his body before permeating every part of his body. He felt the new Blessing gather inside him, joining the others. The pain of the ‘Buzz,’ temporarily abated and quickly returned with a more potent force.

Mathew nearly blacked out as Arthur turned around for a final time to leave.

“There, now we are even. Perhaps I’ll see you in the future, on the higher Floors! Until then!” Arthur smiled and gave him a wave before he disappeared from Mathew’s sight as if he had never truly been there in the first place.

The ‘Buzz’ gave a final, aching throb before it stopped, and Mathew was released from the paralysis that gripped him. He let out a deep breath, and blackness consumed him.

Page Break

Londinium was still celebrating the success of the North’s liberation when the ship returned to its port. Daphne and Enalious immediately departed to inform the King and Queen that ‘Aiden’ had not made their rendezvous.

The ship had made multiple attempts to breach the storm and make landfall on the island, but the wind and the waves drove them back. After two weeks of waiting, they had made the decision to return without him.

“My King, there was nothing we could do. Even if Prince Aiden were alive, I fear he would be trapped in that forsaken place.” Enalious explained.

The King and Queen were seated in a private sitting room, a smaller and less formal palace area suitable for intimate gatherings or conversations that required the utmost secrecy. Joining them was Alfred, the young prince, who sat quietly with his hands folded in his lap.

For some reason, Alfred doubted that the man who had taken his dead brother’s name would fall so easily. Not when Alfred had seen what he was capable of with his own eyes.

“He will return.” Alfred stated calmly. His parents looked at him in surprise upon hearing the conviction in his voice.

“I believe so as well.” Daphne added. She had seen Aiden fly into the storm on the back of the Wyvern, and surely he could have left in the same manner.

Albrecht let out a sigh as he assessed the others in the room and nodded.

“Very well. We will keep the details of this expedition secret until-” Albrecht was interrupted by a loud roar outside the palace. The noise rattled the windows, and the occupants leapt to their feet in surprise. Rushing outside, they saw the guards, Knights and servants of the palace looking up into the sky and pointing excitedly.

There, Alfred and the others saw Aiden flying on the back of his Wyvern. The Crown Prince circled the palace several times as he descended onto the courtyard. Climbing tiredly down the Wyvern, Aiden returned it to its statue form before placing it back into his inventory.

Alfred could see the exhaustion on Aiden’s face. He stumbled slightly as he walked, a show of weakness that Alfred would never expect to see from him. If he couldn’t hide it, then Aiden was likely so tired that he was about to collapse.

The crowd parted as the Crown Prince reached the King and Queen. Nodding in greeting, he immediately spoke.

“Have you seen him?” Aiden asked as his eyes flicked around the crowd as if looking for someone. Evidently not finding the person he sought, Aiden relaxed.

“Who?” Albrecht asked in concern. First, the young man in front of him requested to sail to a strange island immediately after a massive military campaign. Then it was reported that he was either dead or trapped on that island. Now that he had returned, he straightaway asked about someone?

Albrecht’s head nearly spun, trying to keep up with the current events.

“Arthur!” Aiden hissed out quietly enough that only a handful of trusted people around them heard him say the name. Seeing the stunned looks on their faces, Aiden continued.

“Then he hasn’t returned here. Good. The last thing I need is to black out again because he can’t keep himself under control.” Aiden muttered.

After a few minutes of explaining where he had been and who he had encountered, Mathew, or Aiden as his was still being called here, wearily sat in the same sitting room the others had just occupied and leaned gratefully against the back of his chair.

Alfred joined him, and the others went to calm the populace of Londinium and deal with the fallout of Aiden’s unexpected Wyvern flight over the city. Daphne returned home to her parents and then went on to university.

“What will you do now?” Alfred asked his ‘brother.’ He was determined to learn more about this young man next to him who had helped him so much in the north.

“First, I’ll need to get something to eat. Then, I plan to sleep for as long as I can.” Aiden explained as he ran a hand wearily across his face and through his hair. He had trouble keeping his eyes open, and he blinked to try to clear his blurry sight.

“Then, when I’m ready, we’re going to the mainland to kill some Ancestral Beasts.”