Chapter 1457 Not Over Yet
Arthur Pendragon, the destined king that united the seven kingdoms and created the New Britannia, that was who he was.
He had achieved a momentous feat that could only be dreamed of by his father and the countless kings before him for hundreds of years.
All of that was made possible with the help of the Sword of Divine, the Excalibur.
But now, these foreigners came to his kingdom, to his home and said they were going to take the sword from him? Absolutely not!
After seeing how the man nicknamed the Warrior of Vanir had fought earlier, Arthur knew he was not on his level. However, that did not mean his resolve to fight vanished. In fact, it only got stronger, as he wanted to prove to those who doubted him that they were wrong.
The moment he got the Excalibur back in his hand, he immediately brought it into the air with both arms, holding its blade close to his face as he closed his eyes and whispered.
"Excalibur, grant me the power to wield you once again."
As soon as he finished saying those words, the Sword of Divine gave off a radiance so bright that dark smoke could be seen being forced out of it. With confidence that was apparent to see, he walked into the circle and stood squarely in the center before taking his stance.
Gaze as sharp as a knife as he stared at Klea, Arthur was prepared for the challenge.
"I am ready!"
The moment Klea began summoning the opponents he would be facing, Arthur immediately used the Knight's special technique [Divine Power]. Klea slightly raised her eyebrows when she felt his battle power increasing.
[Arthur Pendragon]
[Battle power: 45 (52)]
Arthur cast his gaze on the summoned creatures before his feet kicked the ground and his body shot off. His strategy was to eliminate them as fast as possible, before more were summoned and overwhelmed him.
With his enhanced battle power, combined with his solid swordsmanship, Arthur managed to defeat them just in time before the next one appeared.
Arthur fell into a kind of trance as power churned and surged within his body. He continued to relentlessly swing the gleaming sword in his hand as his body followed suit, cutting the water creatures back into puddles on the floor.
However, by the time the five minute clock struck, Arthur found himself struggling. Facing Klea's Tier 2 water summons, he could clearly feel their superior strength that made him stagger back a step.
He could not believe the Vanir warrior managed to hold on under their onslaught earlier.
Because his opponent had the upper hand, Arthur's strategy was rendered obsolete as he was slowly overwhelmed by the water summons. As more and more were summoned, it seemed that his continuous struggles were in vain.
However, he still did not fall. On the contrary, much to Klea's surprise, she saw the Britannia King's battle power increase, albeit slowly.
[45…. 46…. 48… 50]
When she realized the power didn't actually come from within him, but instead from the sword in his hand, Klea couldn't help but reveal a glint of a smile. At the same time, expectation flashed in her eyes.
Everyone watched with various expressions on their faces as Arthur tenaciously held his ground, swinging his sword relentlessly. A man and a sword in one, persevering against waves of water creatures.
The struggle was of course far from easy. He could feel his hands growing numb as he dealt with every attack that was thrown his way, sharp pain when it landed. However, he persisted, using the count of the number of summons he had defeated as his impetus to keep going.
"37… 38…"
In order to defeat the Vanir warrior, Arthur would not only have to survive for ten minutes, he would also have to defeat at least 47 summons. But looking at the current situation, that number seemed way out of his reach.
"Arrghh! It's not over yet!"
Arthur shouted as he swung his sword again, fighting off the next few summons with nothing but sheer will. But in the end, he finally took a heavy hit that knocked him to the ground. He of course immediately tried to get up, but found himself unable to do so fast enough.
Just as the water summons were about to strike again, Klea quickly broke her spell and dispelled them.
"Nine minutes and ten seconds. Forty-one summons,"
Arthur slowly stood up with an ashen look on his face. His body was wracked with pain, but his heart ached even more when he heard his result.
"It was not over… I'm not finished… not yet!"
With a smile, Klea looked at him and casually said, "You have… and you lost."
While still grasping at the fact he had lost, Arthur could hear the reactions of the other party. Fjolnir was celebrating Brandt's victory together with his companions, while on the other hand, yet another protest was being raised by his knights. But ultimately, everyone was waiting for Arthur's admission of defeat.
Klea walked up to the defeated king and asked him to hand over the sword. However, Arthur couldn't seem to let go.
"Another try… give me another try…"
Klea sighed before saying, "I'm afraid that if I also let your opponent try again, he'll be able to finish all 50 this time… Just admit it, you lost."
As if knowing their king's heart, the knight escalated their protest even more, to the point that Sir Gawain, Arthur's closest friend, took out his sword and brandished it. "My king! Give me your orders and we will stand by your side!" 𝑏𝑒𝑑𝘯𝑜𝘷𝑒𝑙．𝑐𝘰𝘮
Gaious also readied his spell saying to Klea, "What authority do you have to decide the ownership of that sword?"
"What authority?" Klea gave a little chuckle before nonchalantly turned her gaze at the old wizard and the knights. The moment they met his eyes, they felt the atmosphere in the air instantly turn heavy.
All of them were unable to move and speak a single word and their swords unknowingly fell from their hands.
Of course, this was the doings of the powerful mage in front of them. She unleashed a spirit attack, but restrained the power so as to not kill these people.
"If I wanted, I could take this sword from you and there's nothing you can do to stop me," Klea said, her tone relaxed but everyone could feel their hearts tighten. "But here I am, doing all these unnecessary things… I'm doing this not because of you, but out of respect for someone I care about…"
To read the uncut version, go to 𝒃𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒐𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝙘𝙤𝒎.
She turned back towards Arthur and was about to take the sword from his hand when she noticed someone approaching. She raised her eyebrows in interest when she saw they were even able to talk.
A woman in silver armor, Gwenneth Lioness.
"You may not take the sword, not until you test me as well."