Author Note: For those who are concerned about what just happened to Lancelot... well, Greek mythology should teach you two things: Eating another god has never had very positive effects on the Titans or the Olympians. Making a sojourn in the stomach of a god has never prevented divine beings from coming out in one form or another, sometimes with dramatic changes.
The King's Awakening
The interior of Gilgamesh's ship of light was bathed in a golden light emanating from the bulkheads. It was a strange place, difficult to describe. Nothing seemed to be made of ordinary matter. On the contrary, the interior was as if woven with "solid light".
But at that moment, none of the people present were paying attention to the strange appearance of their mode of transport. All eyes were directed to the screen that had just appeared in front of Gilgamesh's command chair.
They were watching... a beautiful city built on a shiny metal disk that was orbiting over Japan.
The King of Heroes turned to Athena with a mocking smile:
"An asteroid?"
A suspicious redness appeared on the cheeks of the silver-haired goddess. This, strangely, did not prevent her from answering in an impassive voice as if she had not heard the implicit reproach.
"That's what I deduced from the information I discovered... but it seems I was mistaken."
Iskandar stroked his beard.
"Um... I saw similar constructions in India." He turned aside, looking towards Guinevere. "Are we to assume that the King of the End is a Hindu Heretic God?"
But the adorable girl with cherry-colored eyes had not even looked at the city of her king. She sat in one of the armchairs made of golden light, her arms surrounding her ankles. Since Lancelot's defeat, the Witch of Brittany had hardly spoken. Her decision to accompany the Servants and Athena to the tomb of Arthus was all the more astonishing. Questioned, she simply replied that as King Arthur's Handmaiden, she had to be there when her King woke up.
Getting no answer, the King of Conqueror looked at Jeanne d'Arc, but the Maid of Orleans only makes a sorry smile. She constantly kept her eyes on Guinevere worried about her friend's depression.
Gilgamesh spoke with a disdainful smile.
"It's not really a city, actually."
Iskandar turned in the direction of the demigod in gold armor.
"What do you mean, Goldy?"
With a hand gesture, the King of Uruk showed several translucent screens floating around the command seat.
"It's a Vimana!"
There was a movement of stupor.
"You mean like your flying throne, Goldy?"
"Exactly" the hero in gold armor pointed to the ship's detectors report. "Like my flying throne, this orbital city is propelled by a mirror reflecting gravity, in the form of this disc you see below. And like my own Vimana, the fuel is mercury."
There was a moment of silence as everyone was reflecting on the implications. Jeanne broke the silence murmuring in a thoughtful manner.
"Man builds his house according to his ambitions... I dare not imagine the ambitions of a god who build a palace the size of a city, and set it high in the sky, higher than the highest mountains."
Iskandar crossed his muscular arms over his chest while reflecting, then nodded his head.
"This confirms what I thought; Arthus is actually a Hindu god... and most certainly one of the most important gods of this pantheon."
He turned to Athena.
"But I suppose you know the identity of the god residing in this city, noble Queen of the Night."
The goddess of wisdom merely nodded her head without answering the implicit question.
"Does this town have defenses?"
The question was asked by Altera, the most down-to-earth member of the small expedition. Gilgamesh smiled.
"Yes and impressive ones. Moreover, the city of Arthur is invisible to ordinary eyes. You only see it because the King makes you benefit from the effects of one of its treasures able to see the invisible as a special favor. This Vimana is currently hidden by its cloaking device. In addition, the city is protected by many spells able to destroy unwelcome visitors." He sneered with sufficiency. "But I've already taken care of clearing the way, we can land whenever you want."
"Now" simply replied the Queen of the Huns.
"Attention!"
Jeanne raised her flag wrapped in light and blocked the surprise attack of the spirit of the wind. Since they left the Ship of Light, it was at least the tenth time they had been ambushed. Those responsible were invisible beings, aerial and impalpable creatures who unleashed squalls and hurricanes.
Iskandar jumps forward while shouting a battle cry. The spirit, pierced by his sword charged with prana, disappeared in a last moan.
Other elementals assembled at the end of the street, but Gilgamesh snapped his fingers, opening about ten golden gates. Nobles Phantasms came out of it. Like an artillery barrage, the king of Uruk's mighty weapons smashed the paving of the streets or caused walls and roofs to collapse. As for the spirits, a dozen were massacred in the bombardment, scattering in blue sparks after a melodious last cry.
"Come, our enemies seem to defend this dome-shaped building."
Giving the example, Altera led the assault. Following the movements of her sword, rainbows appeared, cutting the air into slices. Twirling in her hand like a living snake, the Sword of Mars slaughtered the elemental ten by ten.
As the female version of Attila arrived in front of a huge wooden door giving access to the inside of the dome, a cracking of stone warned her that something abnormal was happening.
With slow clumsy gestures and the fall of fragments of stone, two colossal statues were torn from their niches on both sides of the portal. They were depictions of ancient warriors dressed in loincloths with helmets adorned with feathers and a harness covering their chests. They were armed with huge spears.
Without showing even a sign of astonishment in the face of this prodigy, Altera dodged the first attack with a side jump, cutting the spear with a sword stroke. Then she jumped back to avoid the assault of the other stone warrior.
But, before the Queen of the Huns could counter-attack, the first enemy returned to attack again. Having dropped his spear, he tried to crush Altera with his hand... as a man would have done with an insect. But Velber's envoy was not a gnat.
The Sword of Mars whistled through the air and sliced... the reality itself! A breach had just opened in the path of the blade, the lips of the wound were purple energy... and the tear showed the cosmic void where stars and nebulae sparkled.
The statue that was in the path of the blade was not only cut in half but when the breach imploded, the fragments of the statue were sucked out and disappeared from this universe.
Without showing any emotion at the destruction of his companion, the second stone warrior advanced toward Altera. But, before it could strike with its spear, a jet of ice from the Sword of Mars froze these movements, immobilizing it under a crystalline case. She then raised her sword and jumped to strike the statue in the chest.
The stone warrior exploded, falling to the ground as fragments of rock.
Jeanne lowered her standard, looking at the spirits running away.
"Victory, the opponent retreats."
Altera nodded and pushed the double doors. The shutters turned on their hinges without a sound.
The interior of the dome-shaped building consisted of a single room. The circular walls were decorated with frescoes depicting dancers, battles, and offerings to the Vedic gods. A colonnade supported the dome ceiling sculpted with a real lace of stones with geometric motifs. Statues regularly placed on cornices looked down.
The room was overloaded with sculptures and engravings that gave an impression of exuberance.
Incongruous, vertical from the dome, the newcomers saw a very simple tomb whose cover depicted a knight in chainmail with his sword lying on his chest. The hands were crossed on the knob.
A knight? No, a king recognizable by his crown.
Athena turned to the Heroes.
"Wait here, I'll wake up the Devil King-Exterminating Hero."
Without showing any emotion, the Queen of Night separated from her allies and approached the lonely tomb.
"Wake up, Artos (1)."
There was a noise, and then suddenly the headstone was raised from the inside and violently thrown against one of the walls. Simultaneously, a magnificent sword came out of the stone coffin and rose about ten meters before coming to rest under the vault. Until then, plunged into darkness, the immense dome was illuminated as in daylight by the platinum light emanating from the dazzling sword.
In the Campioneverse, there could only be one blade inspiring so much awe.
It was Excalibur, the Divine Sword of Salvation, the sword of the King of End.
A hand seized the stone ledge of the tomb. A man... no, a god... stood up and stood up. In the platinum light of Excalibur, Altera and her generals witnessed the revival of the King Who Rule at the World's End. He looked like a young man barely out of adolescence. His long jet-black hair was very stiff. He was wearing a dark sleeveless tunic with a simple scarf as a belt, long wrist guards covering his forearms and he had pants of the same fabric as his tunic. A grey cape was tied under his neck, covering his shoulders.
Although beautiful, his face was strangely unimpressive. He was a young Hindu man with the pale skin typical of the Kshatriyas (the warrior caste of India) and black eyes full of melancholy.
He turned to Athena, without looking at the others.
"Since you woke me up when my intention was to stay asleep, I would be entitled to yield to anger. Nevertheless, I am eager to hear your justifications, goddess whose name I do not know."
As King Arthur left the tomb in which he had slept for fourteen centuries and walked a few steps, the Queen of Night bowed politely.
"I am Athena, King Artos. Since you ask me about my intentions, I will answer you, Artos. You have the sacred task of eliminating the Devil Kings. Now, one of them is my prey. I don't want you to steal my prey, so I'm going to stop you."
There was a moment of silence then... Artos' shoulders began to twitch rhythmically as a sound was heard. The King Who Manifest at the World's End laughed!
"A Heretic Goddess; for selfish reasons; wants to prevent the very march of destiny?! Oh? After centuries... no, millennia... of the endless repetition of my eternal war... finally, for the first time, here I am faced with something new!"
Artos paused a few moments, looking up at Excalibur.
"Since you are a goddess and not one of those despicable Campione, I would fight you without my sword. But know that doesn't mean the fight will be easy for you. I was chosen by the gods of destiny to assume the Godslayer Extermination Fate because I was the Strongest Steel!"
Athena acquiesced with a brief chin movement while invoking her scythe. The Strongest Steel! This title was awarded to the most powerful of all Gods of Steel!
"My determination will not falter!"
Again, Artos laughed wholeheartedly.
"For thousands of years, I fought the Campiones over and over again, an endless odyssey around the world. I hated the role that was imposed on me. And you would deliver me from it? I wish you success! Alas for you, it is not in my nature to let me kill, so I would defend myself with all my strength!"
The Heretic God focused.
"During the reign of Emperor Yao, the world was afflicted with terrible calamities: intense heat dried up the ground, destroyed the harvests; violent storms devastated the cities and the countryside, the oceans rose causing terrible deluges, while huge monsters rode in the countryside. Humanity believed the last hour has arrived. Consulting the oracles, Emperor Yao called the divine archer Hou Yi so that he could use his arrows to destroy the nine false suns spinning in the sky."
A bow appeared in the hand of the Heretic God. It was not a Hindu weapon. Decorated with gold dragon engravings, lacquered in red it was even a typically Chinese weapon!
Plunging the other hand under his cape, he detached one of the medallions hanging from his neck. Between his fingers, the medallion turned into an arrow that Artos placed on his bow.
"Let bullish heaven strengthen you, the bull; as bull, you travel with your two bullish fallow bays. As bull with a bullish chariot, well-lipped one, as bull with bullish will, you of the mace, set us up in loot."
The Heretic God having invoked the power of the Hindu god Indra, the arrow began to crackle with electricity. And when Artos released the rope, the arrow turned into a powerful, dazzling blue lightning, which went through the cupola unleashing the thunder and spreading a smell of ozone.
But Athena had summoned her shield. Raising the Aegis, the goddess blocked the attack in a shower of sparks. Indra's arrow shattered in several minor flashes that bounced around the Queen of Night. In response, she invoked a silver bow and fired, in quick succession, several arrows with an unthinkable force.
But Artos was not impressed. Spinning his bow like a whip, the Heretic God deflected the arrows in a few sharp movements. The Strongest Steel smiles mockingly at the projectiles that had sunk deep into the walls, ravaging the frescoes. Yet it was not ordinary stone! His Vimana, his flying city, was a manifestation of his divinity and no ordinary weapon could have scratched a Divine Authority.
Artos then took another of his medallions and as the first it turned into an arrow between his fingers.
"Śiva had to make grand preparations for a fight with the Tripuras (2). He invoked half the strength of the devas to himself to make Śivaśakti (3) greater than Asuraśakti. He made the mountain of Mandara his bow, Vāsuki, the string, and Viṣṇu his arrow. He installed Agni at the tip and Vāyu at the bottom of the arrow. Then he sent an arrow to the cities. Bad omens began to appear in Tripura. People became lifeless in the cities. Soon an arrow from Śiva burnt the cities and the Tripuras were burnt to death."
And the arrow began to radiate with a dazzling flame. When Artos released the rope of Hou Yi's bow, the projectile turned into a comet of fire that rushed to Athena. It contained the power of Shiva, a power so vast that it only took one arrow embedded with the power of Shiva to kill a Campione morphed into a dragon. Directed at a city, Shiva's arrow would have destroyed it in an instant.
Again, Athena hid behind her shield.
Shiva's arrow struck the Aegis creating a plasma sphere as dazzling as the sun. All the spectator of the fight closed their eyes as the explosion inflated excessively, generating a real hurricane. When Altera opened her eyes, she discovered that the dome had collapsed and that part of the ground had disintegrated. An orange nuclear mushroom was still spitting fire and ash on the orbital city still shaken by a blast equivalent to several million tons of TNT!
As the smoke cleared, revealing the room ravaged by an explosion that had leveled several of the nearest buildings, Artos was shocked to see that Athena had not even been ginned. Certainly, the power of Aegis was immense and it was not so surprising that the divine shield contained the explosion... However, Shiva's arrow did not only kill directly. It consumed the vital energy of its target, a cruel attack against which there was normally no protection.
Panting, Athena began to laugh. The violence of the fight had a strange effect on her... The goddess of wisdom had recognized the arrow and its effects. Thanks to her magic, the Queen of Night had managed to protect herself. Nevertheless, the shock was very violent. To tell the truth, unleashing the power stolen from other gods intoxicated her, and fighting as equals the Strongest Steel began to amuse the Heretic Goddess.
The King of the End, surprised at first, began to laugh too.
In the devastated room, the two opponents smiled at each other.
"I think that's enough of a warm-up."
Sheltered behind the many divine shields that Gilgamesh had brought out of Gate of Babylon, Velber's envoys had not been injured despite the violence of the confrontation. But Iskandar giggled when he heard Artos talking about "getting down to business."
"I hope he's joking! Each of the King of the End's attacks is the equivalent of an A-rank anti-country or anti-fortress Noble Phantasm!"
Altera agreed to that.
"And he's not even using Excalibur."
Indeed, the sword continued to float above the ravaged room... absolutely not affected by the outburst of violence.
Jeanne and Iskandar scolded, understanding that the King of the End had in reserve an absolutely terrifying power.
Even Gilgamesh was thoughtful. Artos fought a bit like him. The King of Heroes drew from an arsenal of weapons the prototypes of the weapons of the greatest heroes of his world, while the King of the End used arrows invested with the power of different gods.
Even more strangely, Gilgamesh was the archetype of the first king... while Artos was the archetype of the last king.
The Edge of Heaven had some Noble Phantasms capable of matching the destruction power of the arrows used by Artos... but could the Sword of Divine Salvation equal Ea or even surpass it?
Suddenly Athena stopped laughing and transformed. Her legs merged to become a serpent's tail, keeping the bust, arms, and head of her usual child-like appearance (4).
But this transformation was probably not considered sufficient because the Goddess of Wisdom caught fire... not exactly that... Athena turned into a creature made entirely of blue flames!
Crawling at a prodigious speed on her snake tail, leaving behind a burnt trace on the pavement, the Queen of Night rushed forward.
Her scythe - also transformed into a blue-fire weapon- hit the chakram (5) that the Devil King-Exterminating Hero had just invoked. Artos blocked the attack with a nonchalant gesture, smiling with contempt, certain of his superiority over any opponent. He was the Strongest Steel, after all.
But his smile faded as Athena opened her mouth to spit out a stream of blue flames!
Horrified, the Queen of the Huns and her generals saw the effect of Athena's breath of fire. It was petrifying flames, capable of transforming even the invulnerable flesh of Strongest Steel into ordinary stone. The petrifaction had already reached Artos' hips and continued to rise towards the head of the Heretic God.
Ten orbs of white lights suddenly appeared around the King of the End. This was the manifestation of the protection of the spirits. Altera felt that the spirits were trying to absorb the heat from the flames to protect the Devil King-Exterminating Hero, but that it was a difficult task even for them.
Meanwhile, despite the mighty flames that turned him into stone, despite the pain, the King of the End had a wry smile. It was not a sign of surrender; it was not even a sign that he recognized the strength of his opponent. No, he was smiling at a friend whose presence he felt nearby.
A flickering shadow suddenly appeared next to the divine sword that was floating in the air tens of meters high, and then the shadow contracted, densified, and gradually changed.
A weak voice, barely stronger than a whisper became audible. Strangely, everyone heard it as if the speaker was standing right next to him.
"King of the End, my revered brother, you are the saving king who manifests himself at the end of the ages. The king of kings. The great hero with the noblest of destinies. A tiger among men. Your glorious achievements have infinite splendor. A supreme hero. Awarded to those with the greatest blessings from the myriad gods!"
Hearing these extraordinarily flowery words of praise, the King of the End was shocked.
Looking up from the blue flames, Artos was looking directly at the Divine Sword of Salvation floating in the air above. At the same time, the shadow in the air that had called him "revered brother" was also slowly changing in shape. The lower part of the body remained like a whirlwind of shadow spinning, while only the upper part became a light-haired aristocrat.
At that moment, everyone realized that the newcomer's face was identical to that of the King of the End! However, unlike his older brother's pale complexion, his brown skin looked like it had been tanned by the sun. The dark-skinned divine aristocrat, being one with the shadows, turned to Athena, uttering a long cry of ill-contained rage.
"Goddess of the mere earth, how dare you continue to humiliate my noble brother? Let me help my brother in an act of impertinence!"
But Artos did not welcome this initiative from his sworn brother, quite the contrary. His face immediately reflected a strong annoyance. God-hero, god-knight, he took the notion of an honorable duel very seriously.
"Stop! With my position as the older brother, I forbid you to act. Don't interfere!"
However, the King of the End burning in blue flames was not heard. Floating in the air, the 'younger brother' reached for the Divine Sword of Salvation with his right hand. Just as he was about to grab the hilt, Athena stopped him. On her shoulders, wings of blue flames had just appeared. Flying, she stepped between the sword and the aerial spirit.
With the blazing flames coming from the Queen of Night's mouth and red light emitted from her eyes, she attacked. In a flash, the 'younger brother' was devoured by the blue fire just like the King of the End.
"How mere subordinate god dare to interrupt one's enjoyment in battle? Unbearable foolishness" said the arrogant goddess, now certain of her victory
Burned by the blue divine punishment, the younger brother screamed. Athena took one look at his pained demeanor and muttered with a bored face. To end the confrontation with the 'little brother', the Greek Goddess of Wisdom used a power corresponding to the Hime-miko's Spirit Vision, projecting her thought into the mind of her adversary. However, Athena's thoughts were the very definition of divine wrath. The result was terrifying. The conflagration of anger instantly burned the 'little brother' to ashes. No bone was left behind around the divine sword floating in midair. Only the burned ash scattered everywhere.
As Athena turned to face Artos, a laugh surprised her.
It was the voice of the 'little brother'.
Invoking her scythe, she recoiled with a flapping of a wing looking around her with anxiety. The ashes of the Subordinate God gathered together in a ribbon that moved in an absolutely unnatural way.
"I was born from the shadow of my brother - revered as the Strongest Steel. Even if it is only a small part, I possess the trait of Indestructible Resistance. Watch carefully" said the 'younger brother' with a laugh. His voice could be heard from the ash resulting from the wrathful conflagration.
As he roared loudly, the ash took the form of a human arm. He then grabbed the hilt of the divine sword and pulled the sword out of the sheath in one go. An instant later, platinum-colored light thoroughly illuminated the entire surroundings.
Terrified of the power she felt. Athena recoiled and spit out a long stream of flame.
Strangely, it was not aimed at the arm of ash that was holding the Sword of Divine Salvation. On the contrary, it was aimed at the ground!
Instead of dissipating by striking the cracked slabs that remained between the craters which smoked as the result of the divine confrontation, the blue flames began to grow in size and change shape, transforming into a dragon entirely made of the blue fire to which Athena had given life!
The blue-fire dragon took the air, heading for the 'little brother', ready to attack. But the arm of ash directed Excalibur towards the Divine Beast and...
Suddenly, the air was filled with a beam of platinum light that cut the immense room into cubes... There was in fact only one attack. But the ray of light moved so fast that it crossed its own path, cutting it regularly at right angles. So that Altera and the others had for a moment the illusion of being inside a 3D wire-frame model made of stacked cubes...
The dragon vanished, hit several thousand times in just one second!
Behind him, the Queen of Night held one hand on her chest. Faltering, she landed awkwardly on the ground. The blue flames went out and she became flesh and blood again.
Athena was bleeding profusely. There were hundreds of cuts on various parts of her Gorgon body. Each wound was dark red with blood flowing nonstop. The ground where she was lying had been stained with an ominous shade of red. The King of the End was standing on her side, alone. Looking down sadly at the dying goddess. The flames had dissipated around him, and the petrifaction had completely dissipated. In fact, Artos no longer bore any wounds.
Athena shook her head with besieged thoughts. However, the goddess remained motionless and collapsed on the ground while bleeding profusely. What had happened?
Thanks to the intervention of his 'little Bother', Artos defeated her in one stroke. That unbelievable power!
Athena resumed her usual form, which was of a little girl with silver hair. Her usually impassive face expressed suffering.
She reached out into nothingness, looking at something only she could see:
"Godou!"
Author's note: Strange chapter like this one where the main characters do not appear once. But you will admit that there is an impressive fight. This chapter is actually a key episode with the first appearance of King Arthur, and his victory against Athena. The next chapter will make you understand how terrifying the King of the End of Time really is. Note that all the powers used by Athena and Artos are canonical (I was largely inspired by Chapter 17 of the Campione LN). And yes, Athena (with the power of all the divinity that she swallowed) is as powerful as that! You never saw her fight seriously before, now it's done. Nevertheless, Athena and her pet dragon were defeated by Excalibur in one stroke... Let's just say Excalibur doesn't usurp its reputation as the most powerful Divine Authority. In fact, between you and me, Excalibur is the crystallization of several Divine Authorities... the sword has many distinct powers.
Besides, don't you think that this Excalibur attack looks a lot like The Claws of the Lion (one of the attacks of Ayoros, Athena Lion's Gold Saint in Saint Seya)?
(1) Note that there is no 'Arthur Pendragon' in the Campioneverse. It's just a legend born from the distorted narrative of the deeds of a Heretic God known as 'Artos the Devil King-Exterminating Hero'.
(2) Shiva's Bow.
(3) Shiva's Javelin.
(4) According to some theories I found on the internet while doing my preparatory research for this FanFiction, it would be the real form of Athena. It is known as Athena's Gorgon form.
(5) Ring-shaped weapon originating in India.