Arthur frowned as he realized that someone had approached him without him noticing it. Slowly, he turned around and looked at the newcomer and his face immediately darkened.
‘Now, what the hell is this guy doing here?’ He asked himself. The familiar, irritating face was that of none other than Lamenter, the last person Arthur wanted to meet. The boy approached him while clapping his hand slowly as he complimented Arthur.
“Truly a great fight that was,” Lamneter said as he stopped in front of Arthur. “The way you finished it in a split second is a work of art.”
“…”
“I wonder how you were able to pull that off. It’s truly amazing.”
“… What do you want?” Arthur asked coldly as he took a step back, making sure there was a good distance between them.
“Hm? I was simply congratulating you on your first duel win.” Lamenter replied casually.
‘How did he know it was my first? Had he been following me the entire time?’ Arthur frowned visibly. He didn’t know if that was just a suspicion or if Lamenter was trying to send him a message that he was always watching, and Arthur was leaning toward believing the latter.
“Ok, thank you. Have a nice day.” Arthur replied as he turned around to leave. He wanted to cut the conversation as short as possible. Even if it meant sounding cowardice or afraid, he didn’t want anything to do with this person.
“Wait a second, Arthur,” Lamenter added. “I have one request if you don’t mind.”
“I do mind, bye.” Arthur waved his hand without looking back.
“How about we have a duel?”
“…”
The words Lamenter said made Arthur stop for a moment as he looked over his shoulder. His eyes sharply inspected the boy silently.
“A Duel?”
“Yes, seeing your strength, there is no better opponent for me than you.” He explained.
‘Everyone suddenly thinks I’m the perfect opponent for them.’ Arthur rolled his eyes. However, he knew deep down that this was simply not what Lamenter was looking for. He had completely different intentions and Arthur was aware of them.
There was of course no reason for him to even contemplate the offer. He had decided to stay away and that was what he was intending to do.
“No, thank you. I’m busy.” Arthur said. “I hope you can find another ‘good opponent’.”
‘He is really annoying me. If I come across him inside the game, I may or may not kill him just for the fun of it.’ Arthur thought to himself.
“Arthur! There you are!” At that moment, he saw Elise approach him and he smiled at her. His mind was already moving away from his conversation with Lamenter.
However, nothing could’ve ever prepared him for what he was about to hear.
“Is this cowardice all from Isla? Did she finally pass the illness to you?”
They were two simple questions. Hell, they didn’t even sound intimidating or terrifying. However, just hearing them made Arthur stop. His entire body froze as his head slowly turned around with his eyes wide.
“What… did you just say?” He asked calmly.
“Cowardice is the enemy of all improvement. Perhaps that’s why Isla is still in that position, unable to move a single step forward. If you only knew what is hidden under that tough front she keeps up, just to hide her fear from everything. It’s truly saddening to see someone with so much potential be that afraid.” Lamenter continued talking as if he didn’t care that Arthur was staring directly at him with empty eyes.
“…”
“I thought you were better. But, I was wrong after all.”
“Arthur?”
At that moment, Elise stopped when she felt something off. Suddenly, her body felt a lot colder and her skin shuddered with goosebumps. Looking down, she didn’t understand what was happening.
Then, she looked up and she realized that Arthur wasn’t acting normally. He seemed to be looking at someone else she didn’t know.
Slowly, Arthur turned around and walked to Lamenter. The latter stood there, silent as ever, as he waited. The boy stopped in front of his enemy at a close distance before he stared into his eyes.
For a second there, Lamenter was a little taken aback. This was the first time he had seen that look in his life. It was not simply anger, or rage, or even hatred. Instead, it was… nothing. Just purely empty eyes with no feelings at all.
“Let’s do it,” Arthur said coldly. Then he pulled his device and lifted it up to his level while showing it to Lamenter, then he tapped the ‘Duel’ button without breaking eye-contact.
Lamenter squinted his eyes slightly before he nodded and did the same thing. The two then linked their devices.
Staring at Lamenter’s account, Arthur realized that his opponent already had 50 points and he was the second in ranking.
But, he didn’t care at all. In fact, he didn’t even think about it at all. His head was completely empty as he walked to his capsule, passing by Elise who was very confused.
“Arthur? What is happening?” A sense of unease filled her heart. She had never seen the boy with that expression before. It was so different that she felt a deep sense of horror the moment she took a glimpse of it. Something wasn’t right.
Putting their devices inside the capsules, both of them got inside.
“This is going to be entertaining.” Lamenter licked his lips.
Opening his eyes inside the training realm, Lamenter chose his main character. Slowly, his armor and weapons appeared around his body. His weapon was a long spear strapped to his back.
At the same time, he saw Arthur appear on the other side. He looked completely apathetic and didn’t even eye Lamenter once as he pulled a rather ordinary sword out.
‘I still haven’t tried this weapon yet. This will be the first time I use it. I hope it’s as I felt, something special.’ He thought to himself as he rolled it in his hand gracefully, getting more and more familiar with its design. Luckily, the size was simply perfect and the length was also exactly what Arthur liked.
“Are you ready?” Lamenter asked as he pulled his blue spear out. “I can wait for you if you wa-“
“Start.” Arthur cut him off as he tapped the ready button.
Lamenter nodded his head and did the same. The two then watched the countdown going slowly as they got prepared for the fight.
Arthur slowly took a fighting stance as he started channeling his mana into his body. The entire aura around his body shifted completely as if he was a completely different person. All the peaceful and harmless presence he had vanished as if it was never there in the first place.
All that was left was a horrifying threat and impending doom. Lamenter gripped his spear tighter than usual without noticing.
“3… 2… 1…”
Arthur muscles contract and his entire body leant forward.
“Start!”
*Swish*
Almost instantly, Arthur vanished from his position. Lamenter’s eyes quickly moved to the side as he felt Arthur appear next to him. His arm moved to the side, using the spear to block the sudden attack.
*CLING*
The sound of the two metals clashing echoed around them, sending a small gush of air everywhere.
‘Strong and fast… Just as I expected.’ Lamenter thought to himself as he pushed Arthur a step back and tried to stab him with the spear. However, his target vanished again and appeared behind him.
Lamenter used his balance to shift his position as he sent a flying kick toward Arthur. ‘I can easily go between mixed martial arts and spearmanship. He is only relying on ambushes and speed… That won’t wor-‘
Before Lamenter’s thought could even finish, he saw Arthur put up his right arm as he blocked the hit with his body. Then, he grabbed Lamenter’s leg with a strong grip.
“AAAGH!” Using raw strength, he yanked Lamenter from his position and threw him to the side.
The young man spun in the air as he landed on the ground. At the same time, several red arrows manifested all around him and shot toward him from different angles.
At the same time, Arthur vanished like mist and appeared right in front of him, swinging his sword down with no hesitation.
In that single moment, and with all of that surrounding him, Lamenter realized for the first moment that perhaps… That request and those words he said… It was a mistake.
Stay tuned with empire
Right in front of him at that moment, all he could see was a bloody demon. It was simply a few seconds since the battle started… Just a few seconds and already, Lamenter understood why Isla had this guy on her team. It was a weird decision and one that he didn’t understand till that point.
Arthur was an utter monster.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3