Chapter 19

The Duty of a King

As soon as Heimdall began the match, Nezha's Wind and Fire wheel came to life, bursting into flames and beginning to spin with incredible speed as they propelled the Third Lotus Prince straight towards his opponent with his spear outstretched, leaving the ground behind him scorched and blackened.

In response to this, Arthur raised his shield in front of himself and skillfully blocked Nezha's attack with a mighty resounding, "CLANG!" that echoed throughout the arena.

"So you're THE King Arthur huh?" Nezha said as the two were momentarily at a standstill,"I always imagined that you'd look much older than this."

Arthur grinned in response as he forcibly pushed his shield forwards, forcing Nezha's spear point of it and causing the Third Lotus Prince to leap backwards and land gracefully on the ground.

"Haha! And why is that so, Third Lotus Prince?" The King of Camelot replied brightly,"Did you think that perhaps you would stand a better chance against a decrepit old man? Because even so, I SHAN'T lose this match!"

"Funny," Nezha said with a cocky smirk,"That's what countless other opponents I've fought over the years said to me as well. They all still got absolutely CURB STOMPED in the end though." As he said this, Nezha's spear head ignited into flames and the Third Lotus Prince resumed his attack.

The Third Lotus Prince fought in an unorthodox way Arthur had never seen before. Rather than simply thrusting his spear forward to pierce him, the Third Lotus Prince fighting style consisted of him swinging, jumping and jabbing with his spear at Arthur. Creating an impressive display of fiery circles in the air with his flaming speartip, as he expertly spun his own body around to deliver more powerful strikes at his enemy.

Nezha's erratic, yet still somehow coordinated swift footwork, made it extremely hard for Arthur to block or dodge his attacks. Lifting his shield or parrying with Excalibur simply wasn't enough to keep up with the Third Lotus Prince, and Arthur found himself being dangerously grazed by Nezha's spear on his sides every now and then.

"Interesting battle style," Huitzilopochtli commented from the god's VIP section whilst chewing loudly on a tortilla he was having as a snack,"Though all that twisting and turning Nezha's doing seems very unnecessary, no?"

"It's a staple of the Celestial Pantheon," Amaterasu explained to her colleague,"the swift turns and jabs make it hard for their opponents to properly block their attacks, and the momentum produced each time they spin around creates more kinetic energy for them to deliver stronger blows."

"Huh, I see." The Aztec God replied as he shoved another tortilla in his mouth,"Though that Arthur guy… He doesn't seem like much despite Heimdall's introduction for him, so far Nezha got him on the defensive and he hasn't been able to carry out a counterattack."

"True enough I suppose, also Huitzy?" The Sun Goddess tone suddenly shifted to something much sweeter and polite.

"Yeah?"

"Please stop with all those vulgar noises whilst chewing with your mouth open, or I will SHOVE those stupid tacos down your throat, and make you choke on them.'' Amaterasu said with a smile on her face that did not at all match the threat that had just come out from her mouth.

Unshaken by the Shinto Chief God's threat, Huitzilopochtli simply flipped Amaterasu off in return, though he did start chewing his food less loudly than he had done before.

By their side, Ra let out a cold laugh, "If you presume that human is already struggling against Nezha's spear NOW, Huitzilopochtli. I hope you won't be disappointed with how quickly the match will end once the Third Lotus Prince brings out the REST of his toys."

Arthur grunted as he blocked another of Nezha's attacks with his shield, before pushing it forward and forcing the Third Lotus Prince back, "IMPRESSIVE!" He said with a wide grin plastered on his face, "Such skillfulness and speed for one so young as you! Quite a show you've put on there, Prince Nezha! Truly worthy of a god"

The Third Lotus Prince gave a cocky grin in return to Arthur's praise, "The salt I have eaten is more than the rice you have ever eaten, King of Camelot!" As he said this, Nezha couldn't help but laugh at his own words,"DAMN! Always wanted to say that, now I see why that old codger always kept using that same stupid phrase!"

On the gods' side of the arena, the Jade Emperor and Nezha's entire family were seated amongst other Chinese Gods, all spectating and rooting for Nezha in the third round.

"YEAH! SHOW HIM WHAT YOU GOT BRO!" yelled Nezha's two brothers, the deities Muzha and Jinzha.

"Now, now, boys." Chided their mother Lady Yi, a beautiful middle aged woman with long wavy black hair tied into a ponytail," I know we all want to show Nezha our support, but let's avoid making too much of a ruckus alright?"

"Sorry mother." The two gods replied sheepishly to Lady Yi, who now glanced at the other son that was currently in the battlefield with a worried look.

"Oh Nezha my son," She whispered sadly under her breath, "Please win and return home to us, I beg of you."

Meanwhile, the Jade Emperor nudged Li Jing with his elbow with a hearty laugh at Nezha's words "Good to see you have been teaching your son his Chengyu (Idiom), Li Jing! Though it seems to have done little to quell his rebellious spirit, HAHA!"

Li gave a weary chuckle, "True indeed Yu Huang, that boy will be the death of me I tell you, he needs to stop fooling around and take this seriously!"

"Calm down, Li Jing!" Replied another spectator seated next to the two deities, the Warrior God Erlang Shen was a young Chinese man dressed in white and gold armor and a cape. He had long hair that was tied into a man bun and a third vertical eye on his forehead, "Have more faith in your son's skills! Don't get your beard in a twist, Nezha will wipe the floor with his opponent!"

Li Jing growled at Erlang's relaxed response, "Perhaps so Erlang, but this is Ragnarok we are talking about, and Nezha cannot risk any sort of slip up. It could very well mean the END of him if he doesn't start taking things seriously! Maybe if he listened to me for ONCE, he wouldn't be in this mess!"

Erlang rolled his eyes, like Nezha, he had a rather strained relationship with his own uncle, the Jade Emperor. Thus the two had bonded over not only their love for battle, but also their disdain for figures of authority in their lives

"And just maybe, Li Jing. The reason for your strained relationship with your own son has LESS to do with Nezha's behavior, and MORE to do with YOUR overbearing personality pressuring him every step of the way. Ever given THAT a thought?" The Warrior God retorted at the Pagoda-Bearing King.

"You dare insult me?" Li snarled angrily as he rose from his seat, while Erlang simply glared back at the Pagoda-Bearing King.

"That's enough, all of you." The Jade Emperor said in a commanding voice, "We are here to support the Third Lotus Prince in his match, not argue pointlessly over past feuds."

"Please husband," Lady Yi said gently as she tugged on her husband's arm, "Let us not make a scene here, what would our son think if he saw us arguing amongst ourselves during his match?"

"Yes of course, dearest," Li said to his wife before addressing the Jade Emperor, "Apologies my emperor, I forgot myself in the heat of the moment." Li said with a solemn bow as he sat back on his seat.

"My apologies as well, uncle." Erlang said, though his tone felt less apologetic than Li's as they all turned their attention back to the match.

In the battlefield, Arthur inspected the small cuts and tears on his clothes created from Nezha's and chuckled," Well then!" He said as he took on a new stance, placing his shield in front of himself, and holding Excalibur parallel to the ground as though it were a lance," I believe now it is MY turn to initiate combat between the two of us! En Garde!"

With that, the King of Camelot charged full steam ahead towards Nezha, his sword raised and his eyes filled with determination.

"Wha-what this?" Heimdall yelled, "It seems like Arthur is now the one INITIATING the battle! Charging STRAIGHT towards Nezha, despite ALL the risk in store! Has the King of Camelot gone mad?"

Arthur smiled at the Watchman of the Apocalypse's words, "No, not mad, rather I am merely setting an example!" He proclaimed as he continued his rapid advance," As KING, it is my DUTY to lead the PEOPLE, even if they aren't my own, into a brighter tomorrow! By forging a path towards the FUTURE! And THAT is exactly what I intend to do now!"

Nezha smirked at the king's words, "Cool speech dude. I can see why your loyal subjects look up to you so much. HOWEVER!" He said as he spun his spear around and pointed it towards his advancing foe, "When all is said and done, there's only gonna be ONE of us left standing, and that persons gonna be ME!"

As he said this, the Third Lotus Prince shifted his body towards Arthur's left where the King of Camelot was less protected, preparing to flank him from the side. However, as Nezha tried to move he suddenly found himself crashing straight into an invisible wall of sorts!

"Whoa, WHOA! What the hell is this!" Nezha exclaimed as two massive rectangular blue force fields materialized on his left and right. Leaving him trapped in a small lane, completely blocking off from moving anywhere but straight towards his opponent who was quickly getting closer and closer!

"It seems like Arthur's shield has created some kind of BARRIER!" Heimdall commented, "With Nezha trapped inside with nowhere else to go but TOWARDS his charging foe! Things aren't looking good for the Third Lotus Prince!"

"Looks like Arthur is using his Divine Weapon's special ability!" Göll said excitedly to Pandora and Prometheus as the inevitable clash between the two fighters became more imminent by the second.

"Tremble before the Shield of Avalon's mighty technique, Third Lotus Prince!" Arthur yelled as he charged faster and faster towards Nezha, "As I said, a king forges a path forward for his people! And I shall cut down any obstacles that stand in humanity's way! Even if that obstacle is a GOD! SO PREPARE YOURSELF! HI-YAH!"

"CAMELOT CHARGE!"

Due to his confusion, Nezha barely had time to defend himself as Arthur thrusted the tip of Excalibur straight towards his chest, smashing into his breastplate and sending him flying backwards into the arena wall with a, "BANG!"

"NEZHA!" His family cried out in horror as they saw the Third Lotus Prince crashing into the wall. Muzha and Jinzha couldn't believe their brother would be so easily beaten, Lady Yi broke into tears, fearing the worse for her son. However it was Li Jing who kept his composure, though he and Nezha argued a lot, the Pagoda-Bearing King knew his son would not be so easily defeated.

Meanwhile humanity rose to their feet with a loud cheer, surely this would be the match where they finally secured their first victory against the gods!

"YES!" Cried one of the Knights of the Round Table seated next to Merlin excitedly. Sir Gawain had the same brown hair as Arthur, but lacked the scar and beard his uncle possessed, "Keep it up my king! Humanity won't lose this round with YOU in the fray!"

"You can say that again Gawain!" Another knight, Sir Percival seated beside him exclaimed," That technique Arthur's mastered is sure to knock down any foe foolish enough who stands in his way!"

Merlin chuckled at the knights' confidence in their king," Quite true Percival, the Shield of Avalon's 'WALLS OF CAMELOT' ability is quite the game changer!"

Suddenly, out from the rubble and debris of the broken wall, flew Nezha's Qiankun Ring, not the small bracelet the Third Lotus Prince wore on his wrist. But rather a much larger form of it, around the size of a large frisbee and perfect to use as a throwing weapon against foes.

With a, "THUD!" The ring hit Arthur straight on the forehead, causing the crowd to gasp in shock, and sending the King of Camelot to let out a sharp yell as he stumbled backwards from the impact.

After hitting its target, the ring curved backwards and flew back into the hands of Nezha, the Third Lotus Prince had recovered quickly from the impact of Arthur's attack, though the front of his chestplate now had a huge dent and cracks in it.

Seeing Nezha back on his feet, Lady Yi let out a sob of relief that her son was still alive, while Muzha and Jinzha cheered even louder for their brother, hoping that their support would somehow help him in battle.

Li simply nodded seeing his son was back on his feet, the small seed of doubt and fear that he had after seeing Nezha taking the full force of Arthur's attack banished once more to the back of his mind.

Nezha panted heavily as he tried to catch his breath," Hah, hah, what the fuck dude," He said looking up still with a grin on his face, though this one was more impressed than it was cocky, "Was that a WALL your shield just produced?" He asked incredulously.

On the other side, Arthur rubbed the side of his forehead where he was struck by Nezha's ring, "Your eyes do not deceive you, my dear Prince Nezha!" The King of Camelot proclaimed loudly with a smile on his face, "The mighty Walls of Camelot are capable of keeping even the most stubborn and tenacious gods within its hold, ready to be pierce by Excalibur's mighty blade!"

Nezha's grin widened, "Well, guess I'm gonna have to take this a bit more seriously now eh?"

With that, Nezha threw his ring straight at Arthur once more, the ring spun at dizzyingly fast speed towards the king. However this time, Arthur was more prepared for the attack, and had already planned a counterattack.

With his right hand that held his shield, Arthur moved his arm in a wide sweeping arc, deflecting the incoming projectile with a loud, " CLANG!" And send it flying straight back to Nezha.

However, instead of simply grabbing hold of his returning weapon with his hand, Nezha chose to extend his arm forward, expertly catching his ring around the spear point.

Arthur raised an eyebrow as Nezha sneered back at him, "Are you ready for this, King of Camelot?" He taunted before using all his might to throw the ring right back towards Arthur once again!

Just having blocked Nezha's previous blow, Arthur was caught off guard by the quick follow up attack. He just barely lifted his shield before the heavy impact occurred, which sent him staggering backwards across the field, struggling to regain his footing.

However that was not the end of Nezha's attack, speeding along the outer rim of the arena with his Fire and Wind Wheels, the Third Lotus Prince followed his ring which had bounced off Arthur's shield and was now flying off in a random direction.

With incredible precision, Nezha held his spear like a bat, and with one swing, sent the ring flying once again towards the King of Camelot's direction much faster than it was before!

Arthur's eyes widened in shock as he just barely managed to deflect the ring off his shield once again, but just as before, Nezha simply dashed over to where his ring was heading towards and knocked it back towards Arthur again, with the speed and strength of the ring increasing each time it was struck.

Soon enough, Arthur was under fire from a seemingly endless barrage of projectiles, while he was able to shield himself from most of the strikes. That only made the situation even worse for himself, for the ring had become so fast now that to the audience, it now resembled a blurry line zipping all across the arena.

"Uh oh folks!" Heimdall said as the gods began to cheer louder and louder for their fighter," Looks like Arthur is in DEEP trouble now! It seems like Nezha is executing THAT move!"

Just like how the Walls of Camelot had trapped Nezha in before, now the Third Lotus Prince was responding with a move of his own that trapped opponent in the center stage, forcing them into a corner till the attack inevitably striked them in the end. It was called…

"CELESTIAL RICOCHET!"

As Arthur just barely managed to deflect Nezha's ring once more, the Third Lotus Prince once again positioned himself right where his ring was headed to. But this time, rather than bat it with his spear, Nezha extended his arm and swiftly caught the ring in his clenched fist. And with one mighty swing of his arm, he sent the ring hurtling right back at Arthur at such high speeds, there was no time for the king to even blink!

"CRACK!" was the sound heard by the audience as the Qiankun Ring landed heavily on the right side of his lower chest. Sending the king tumbling to the ground as it flew back into its owner's hand.

"NO!" Percival yelled seeing Arthur's fall," MY KING GET UP!" His panicked call was echoed by numerous other knights and audience members all worrying for Arthur's current condition.

"Merlin, why didn't Arthur use the Shield of Avalon's ability again? It could have protected him from Nezha's attack!" Gawain questioned as he turned to the wizard in a panic.

Merlin grimaced in response, "Because the Walls of Camelot isn't MEANT to act as a shield Gawain, rather it's meant to TRAP Arthur's opponents in, forcing them to fight on HIS terms. Flesh and bones cannot pass through its barriers, but weapons CAN. I didn't think that would be that big of a problem in battle, but it seems I have SEVERELY misjudged Nezha's prowess in the battlefield."

On the other side of the arena, Erlang roared with laughter, "YEAH! You showed him what for Nezha! Turn up the heat and keep the pressure on him!" Other gods quickly began to follow suit, cheering loudly for their fighter.

In the arena, Arthur struggled to his feet, wincing as he touched the area where he was struck. One of his ribs was broken, but despite this injury, the king still wore a confident smile on his face, his eyes burning bright, "Bravo! BRAVO INDEED! Wonderful stuff right there, Third Lotus Prince! You really gave me a run for my money!"

Nezha wore a look of surprise seeing Arthur still able to laugh despite getting knocked down. Before his face split into a grin as well.

"I just broke your rib, and yet you laugh? You're one crazy guy!"

Arthur smiled in return before loudly proclaiming, "Did you not hear me before, Prince Nezha? I am a KING! And it is my duty to pave the way for my people, no matter the severity of the pain and hardships I must endure along the way! In my quest for a brighter tomorrow, a mere fractured rib is NOTHING to me!"

Nezha chuckled weakly at the king's words, "Gotta admit you got a penchant for making rad speeches, almost makes me feel bad for what I'm about to do."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Nezha flung his ring towards Arthur once again, the projectile hurtling at breakneck speed straight towards the King of Camelot's head this time, aimed to finish the fight.

"ARTHUR, LOOK OUT!" Merlin shouted in horror as knights and audience members held their breath.

Their worries though were for naught, for this time Arthur was prepared. Rather than shield himself from the attack, Arthur raised Excalibur high above his head. And as the Qiankun Ring drew closer and closer, he swung it down hard with incredible accuracy and skill, striking the ring with his blade and sending it hurtling back to its sender.

"VALOR SLASH!"

Seeing this Nezha immediately raised his hand to catch his weapon once more, but this time the immense force that Arthur had used to send the ring back was too much. And instead of landing into Nezha's palm, the ring slammed into the Third Lotus Prince's wrist, causing him to yelp in pain as he let it fall to the ground.

The Crowd gasped in shock before the humans started cheering again, how was Arthur able to deal such a powerful blow after being injured himself! Such tenacity and perseverance was amazing!

"That's my boy for you!" Merlin cheered, beaming for pride as Gawain and Percival leapt for joy at their King's amazing comeback.

As Nezha rubbed his bruised wrist, he glanced down at the ground to look at his ring. And to his shock, he saw that Arthur's attack had somehow managed to cause a sizable chip in the rings outer layer, the amount of power to do that sort of damage to a Divine Weapon must have been immense!

Arthur then stood upright, revealing to Nezha that Excalibur had also suffered a chip on its blade, though it was more minor in comparison to his.

"What the..." Nezha muttered in amazement as he picked up his ring to inspect the damages closer, "What the heck is this guy MADE of?"

" King Arthur is so cool!" Pandora gushed from above," This one, THIS ROUND! Please let it FINALLY be this round!" She begged to no one in particular as she clasped her hands tightly together

By her side, Göll giggled, Pandora's constantly changing from enthusiastic to worried reminded her of how she herself was like 1000 years ago, constantly worried about their prospect for victory, no wonder Brunhilde couldn't stand her crying at times! But although Arthur was doing well so far, there still was a small part of her that felt uneasy, Nezha had proved himself to be a formidable opponent, but time would tell who the victor would be.

Meanwhile, Prometheus, sensing his companions' nervousness, laid a hand on Göll's shoulder to ease the Valkyrie's worries, "Worry not so soon, Göll, the battle has not even reached its climax yet. This will be the one, I'm sure of it."

Arthur breathed heavily trying to catch his breath, "I see that your friends have a lot of faith in you, Third Lotus Prince." He commented, gesturing to the crowds of cheering gods.

"Who, them?" Nezha said with a look of confusion as he turned his head backwards to look at the crowd," Oh nah, those are just my supporters, not my friends."

Now it was Arthur's turn to look confused, "Is there a difference between the two? If so, please enlighten me then." The King asked curiously.

"Uh, yeah?," Nezha spoke in a tone that suggested that Arthur had just asked him if the earth was flat.

"If all those guys were my FRIENDS, it would mean that I have opened myself up to them, and allowed them the chance to get close to me, they would potentially backstab me when I least expect it, so that's definitely a no-go. But since these guys are my SUPPORTERS, it means all I expect of them is to just show up for whatever dumb party I throw, or to cheer me on in fights like this. Doesn't even have to be genuine, no 'bond' or 'relationship' is formed, so even if they betray me, it's nothing that I wouldn't have expected. So that's all that they are, supporters, nothing more nothing less."

"So you have no one genuinely supporting you?" Arthur asked with a look of pity.

"Pfft! What? Of course not silly! I mean I do have SOME people I actually consider friends, like my buddy Erlang over there," Nezha said pointing to the warrior god," And of course there's my mom and my two brothers," Nezha now pointed to his family members, save for his father, "And finally Yu Huang, the big man himself, although he's more of a boss to me."

"Hm, I see." Arthur said thoughtfully, "Very well then. Nice chatting with you, but I believe we should get back to the fighting wouldn't you say my good fellow?" As the king said this, he held his shield in front of himself with his sword outstretched, ready to strike once more.

Nezha grinned as he prepared to engage in combat as well, shrinking the Qiankun Ring back to its original size and slipped it onto his wrist, his spear bursting into flames once again as his wheels spun to life.

"Thought you'd never ask, hope you're ready for round 2, King of Camelot! Cause this battle is gonna get RED HOT!"