For Elsa Granhiert, the day had not gone as planned. Not at all. When she was originally approached by her client and was tasked with stealing the Insignia from the Royal Selection Candidate, Emilia, she didn't think much of it.
Although Emilia was a dangerous Spirit Arts User with considerable combative power, and she was being assisted by an Oni capable of using advanced Wind Magic, Elsa was still incredibly confident.
After all, she had hunted much tougher prey in the past, and had even fought against the Blue Lightning of Vollachia, Cecilus Segmunt, and lived to tell the tale.
Nonetheless, since she was merely tasked with thievery, and not murder, she couldn't be bothered to personally get involved with the mission, and instead, decided it would be best to delegate the task to another. Killing with a borrowed knife per say, or in this case, stealing with a borrowed hand.
Thankfully, her organization had a rather extensive information network here within the Lugunican Capital, and thus, it didn't take long for her to find the most skilled thief in the Capital, Felt, entrusting her with the task of stealing the Insignia whilst Elsa handled different matters.
Elsa was supposed to meet with Felt at the Loot House, a large storehouse located on the outskirts of the city's slums, at sunset to make the trade. However, after she arrived, she soon realized that not only was Felt nowhere to be found, but the Giant old man wasn't around either.
After some asking around, she found that the two of them were kidnapped by the Sword Saint, Reinhard van Astrea.
This was something that Elsa was simply unable to predict happening. At first, she couldn't even begin to comprehend why the Sword Saint of all people, the most powerful person in the world, the person she was most wary of here in the Capital, would decide to take an interest in the thief she had hired?
Initially, she thought that Reinhard might be arresting them for their thievery, but after some digging, she found that surprisingly, Felt was a candidate for the Royal Selection?
Out of all the thieves in the Kingdom, Elsa just had to pick a candidate for the Royal Selection? And out of all the times for Felt to be found, it just had to be between the times of stealing the Insignia and bringing the Insignia to Elsa?
Elsa felt that her luck today could only be described as abysmal. It was as if some cosmic force was working against her.
Her original plan was to target Felt, assuming she still had the Insignia. Though she was being protected by Reinhard, Elsa would even target someone who was being protected by Cecilus Segmunt, who was far more ruthless than the merciful Reinhard. Elsa felt that even if she didn't manage to reclaim the Insignia, she at least wouldn't lose her life when facing Reinhard.
However, it turned out that a tangle with the Sword Saint was completely unnecessary, as according to information gathered from witnesses on the city streets, Felt wasn't actually in possession of the Insignia, instead, it was stolen by a random wandering knight who took the insignia to ingratiate himself with the Royal Selection Candidate, Emilia.
Though Elsa felt it was incredibly ironic that the thief she chose was thieved from, considering who her client was, she wasn't in the mood to laugh.
Once again, Elsa couldn't believe how bad her luck was. Of all the days this busybody knight had to stick his nose into things, it had to be today, and of all the places he had to be, it had to be the same street as her thief.
Elsa had never had so much bad luck with one of her missions before, and considering this was supposed to be a simple thievery, she almost couldn't believe how bad things were going for her.
However, after thinking about it, she found that this was actually much better for her. Rather than fight the Sword Saint, all she had to do now was disembowel this phony knight and his mistress, then simply pluck the Insignia from their corpses.
Regarding this so-called 'knight', according to eyewitnesses, this wanderer was a complete nobody who preferred style over substance, flashy to the extreme, carrying around some ornate sword that was clearly better as a decoration than as a weapon.
As a renowned and experienced assassin, Elsa was familiar with all sorts of famed and enchanted weapons, and she could safely say she had never heard of a magical sword that fit the descriptions she had received from her informants, most likely, it was just a tacky decoration for a flamboyant aristocratic scion playing knight.
At the same time, she was also familiar with all the competent swordsman in this world. Whilst she couldn't deny there were most likely some old hermits that had secluded themselves into the mountains that she didn't know about, according to eyewitnesses, this knight was at youngest in his late teens, and at eldest, in his early twenties.
Her informant had even stated that this knight was most likely more adept at flirting with women than he was at wielding a sword.
To conclude, no swordsman she was familiar with fit his visual description. As such, she could estimate there was a 99% chance that he was the son of some ludicrously rich aristocrat, wandering around with an ornamental sword, posing in front of impressionable young women to gain status beyond his ability.
With that being said, Elsa wouldn't completely disregard him. He was capable of stealing from Felt after all, so he was clearly superior to the thief in dexterity, but at the same time, Elsa was confident that she was several hundreds or thousands of times faster than the thief.
Even if by some miracle the knight was as quick as her, Elsa was highly confident in not just her durability and regeneration, but also her ability to kill ruthlessly and mercilessly.
In short, she was completely confident in killing her prey.
It was around midnight when Elsa had gotten herself ready to attack the Mathers Mansion, and the veil of darkness cloaking the world was simply overwhelming.
But for an assassin like Elsa, this kind of darkness was most comforting, as it meant a natural concealment for her, and a debilitation for her opponent's vision.
Her client had already provided her with a complete layout of the mansion, so she knew precisely where Emilia was sleeping.
Originally, she was concerned as to whether or not Emilia would actually be in her room, especially considering how poor Elsa's luck had been today, but considering Emilia's newly acquired guard dog was standing sentinel outside her room, and this was apparently a dog that would never stray far from its master's side, she knew she had come to the right place.
Elsa would describe him as of a moderate height. Though he was not as tall as giants, he certainly wasn't short either. His sun-kissed, silky golden-blonde hair glimmered faintly beneath the cascading moonlight, whilst his emerald green eyes shone with regal, majestic splendor.
His features were incredibly handsome, only comparable to the likes of Reinhard, a small, polite smile resting on his face. He was clad in a beautiful royal blue robe, embroidered with black, gold and silver, fully showcasing his noble bearing.
He donned ephemeral platinum armor over the top, with a convenient gap between the chest piece and the thigh guards, as if inviting her to slice his guts open. For as fancy as the armor looked, it admittedly did a poor job of actually protecting his body. Like his sword, it was clearly more decorative than made for actual combat.
Speaking of which, he had his sheathed sword resting in front of him, his hands resting on the pummel, with the tip of the sheathed blade pressing into the ground beneath his feet.
Appraising the sheathed sword, Elsa found it somewhat difficult to describe. After hearing about its vibrant sapphire and gold design, she had dubbed it a fancy ornament best suited to rest upon the fireplace, but honestly, seeing it in person, it gave her a strange feeling that she couldn't quite describe, as if she was going dizzy from just looking at it.
Elsa chalked it down to excitement at the prospect of disemboweling such a handsome and promising young man.
Her overall assessment of the 'knight' was that he spent more time and attention on his appearance than his actual skill and abilities, and it was clear that he was stupidly rich, fighting using his father's wallet.
In short, he was not a threat.
It was at this moment that the young man finally opened his voice, speaking to Elsa, "You're finally here."
It was around midnight when I finally sensed the frightening bloodlust of Elsa, and roughly twenty minutes had passed since Emilia left for the Knights Garrison alongside Reinhard, Ram and Felt.
Thus, I was left alone with the assassin.
It seemed I quite suited Elsa's tastes, as her thick thirst for my blood was enough to make the air freeze. It was clear that I had sparked some kind of arousal in her, as she had no intentions of hiding her presence, boldly walking towards me. Perhaps this was a display of her confidence in dispatching me quickly.
Admittedly, some part of me was relieved to see Elsa. Standing here in this darkened corridor, I had all kinds of thoughts as to who or what might come to greet me, but thankfully, it was just Elsa. Now and again, I had a habit of overthinking things, and I was glad that this time, I had indeed been overthinking.
The best thing was that from what I could tell, she had come on her lonesome, and I couldn't ask for better odds.
Nonetheless, I was still feeling both grave and solemn, as well as a little perplexed. Before I arrived here, I was quite the coward. My fear of death was so great that even leaving the front door took a lot of mental preparation, and now, not even twenty-four hours later, I was standing face to face with the embodiment of death, and yet, despite the logical part of me knowing that this was incredibly dangerous, there was not a single cell in my body that felt like retreating.
Scared? Of course I was scared. It was impossible not to be terrified when facing down the Bowel Hunter. Though I had the influence of King Arthur constantly mixing with my own emotions and feelings, getting worse and worse with time, it was impossible for me to not be scared. I had never even been in a fist fight, and now I was about to fight to death with a vicious, bloodthirsty assassin.
And yet, despite that fear, the part of me that was still 'me', the part of me that was still human, did not want to retreat in the slightest.
The reason was due to Lady Emilia.
I was just a nobody that had been gifted this physical body, like randomly winning the lottery. I was a fake, a phony. Yet Emilia accepted me nonetheless, and I was starting to truly believe in her ideal.
Though the thought of death was scary, if everyone else could develop, why couldn't I? Rather than living my life in fear, why not fight for a beautiful ideal? That way, even if I did die, at least my existence would've been a meaningful one.
It was a juxtaposition to who I was; yet I would not run. Though I was not the real King Arthur, I at least wanted to be a knight that made my Lady proud.
Even if I couldn't defeat Elsa here today, I would at least make sure I stalled her long enough for Julius to arrive and assist me.
"You're finally here." My soft voice echoed out amidst the quiet darkness.
"Ara, I wasn't aware that someone was waiting for me." Elsa's silky voice echoed through the hallway as her sultry figure skulked out from amidst the squirming shadows, illuminated by the watery moonlight.
She was considerably tall with an exceptionally beautiful appearance. Her long, black hair flowed gently down her back, whilst her tranquil amethyst eyes fully highlighted her calmness, serenity, and self-confidence. She was clad in a rather revealing battle outfit hidden beneath a black cloak, granting a rather generous view of her cleavage.
Elsa was incredibly bewitching in appearance, appearing much like a black widow spider, charming, yet incomparably deadly, "If I had known you were waiting here patiently, I wouldn't have taken so long to come and greet you, Mr. Knight."
This was the Elsa Granhiert I remembered. Even now, standing before her, looking into the eyes that showcased her arousal towards my abdomen, I didn't feel disgust. However, I didn't feel sympathy either.
All I felt was the desire to keep Lady Emilia safe, whether that meant subduing or killing my opponent.
"Don't worry, Miss Granhiert. As I always tell my lady, 'Patience is a virtue', I don't mind being made to wait." I smiled softly towards the assassin.
"I see. So you were aware that I would be coming for you?" Elsa made a faint smile. Despite the fact she had been ambushed, she didn't look very concerned. In fact, she looked incredibly calm, "And yet, despite that fact, you decided to stay. Are you confident, Mr. Knight, or just grossly ignorant?"
"Whether I am confident or ignorant, you will soon find out, Miss Granhiert." I stepped forward slowly, making a polite bow, "Though first, please allow me to introduce myself. I am the third-rate knight in service of the future Queen, Lady Emilia, Arthur Pendragon. I shall be your company for tonight, Miss Granhiert."
"Arthur Pendragon… whilst it sounds awfully fancy, I'm afraid I don't know any knights by that name." Elsa shook her head, her interest towards me waning.
"I'm not surprised, I'm new around here." I admitted with a weak smile, "A wandering knight of no renown. If it wasn't for Lady Emilia taking pity on me, I probably would've struggled to find employment." I chuckled lightly.
Elsa also chuckled with some mirth as she ran her hand across her pale thigh in a seductive manner, gripping onto the hilt of a foot-long kukri knife strapped to her leg, pulling it out and pointing it towards me, the black blade glimmering ominously beneath the ephemeral moonlight, "Whether you're a third-rate knight or a first-rate knight, I don't really mind. Such a delightful young man, I'll take great pleasure in spilling your guts." Elsa licked her lips bewitchingly.
"Unfortunately, Miss Granhiert, I made a promise to my lady to remain uninjured tonight, so I will have to decline having my guts spilled on the floor." I shook my head at her.
"Haha, you really are a riot, Mr. Knight, but unfortunately, whether or not I disembowel you is not something you'll have a say in, though admittedly, I do hope you can bring me some modicum of entertainment. It's been a long time since I last found a proper dance partner. Everyone just breaks too easily." She made a sad smile.
"I'm rather confident in my endurance, Miss Granhiert, so hopefully I'll be able to satisfy you." I smiled back at her as I slowly lifted my blade.
"I must say, I'm really starting to enjoy this, not to mention, you have a rather unique scent about you." Elsa's cheeks started to redden as desire appeared in her eyes, "I can't wait to see what your guts look like."
"Thank you for the compliment, Miss Granhiert. Whilst I cannot comment on your scent, you have an incredibly lovely voice. Like a beautiful lullaby inducing eternal rest. I will surely remember your voice for several years to come even whilst you're rotting in the bowels of the capital."
"You certainly talk big for a self-proclaimed knight of no renown. Someone who is both humble and arrogant, you've got a very, very unique flavor about you." She moaned amorously as she readied her knives into an offensive stance, "I just hope your abilities are as good as your talk."
"I will do my best to live up to your expectations, Miss Granhiert." I made the last bow of the night, readying my sword into the standard knight's stance that had been hammered into the muscles of this body over hundreds and thousands of battles.
"So, you don't intend to draw that fancy-looking sword of yours from its decorative sheathe?" Elsa asked with a peculiar smile.
"As you can probably tell by its appearance, this isn't an ordinary sword, Miss Granhiert, and as such, it is not a sword to be drawn casually." I responded back faintly.
"I do believe I'm being underestimated, Mr Knight. I'll make you regret not drawing your sword." Elsa frowned heavily at my response.
I always believed in honoring your opponent. I did not want Elsa to feel like I was underestimating her.
However.
No matter what, the Noble Phantasm would not be unleashed.
Even in its completely sealed state, Artoria had shown that Excalibur was a veritable weapon of mass destruction. A single swing of the Noble Phantasm without calling its true name would leave irreparable damage to the city, so unshackling the restraints was completely unthinkable.
Where I to call its true name, let alone a Royal Capital, there might not even be a Lugunica left for Lady Emilia to rule over, and if I released six shackles, there would no longer be a world left to live on.
In short, unsheathing this sword in the middle of the Royal Capital was simply impossible, Reinhard would never forgive me, and I would never forgive myself.
Either way, it seemed that Elsa's bloodlust had reached its limits, and as much as I would've liked to stand there chatting until Julius arrived, there was no way I could continue stalling her.
And it seemed she sensed my intentions.
"No longer continuing the charade of yours?" she smirked.
"If you knew, why didn't you stop me from stalling for time?"
"I guess I was partly curious as to what would happen if I let you stall, and partly confident I could kill you no matter how much time you wasted."
"I see." I nodded my head, "Bowel Hunter Elsa Granhiert, I suppose I shall inform you that the Finest Knight, Julius Juukulius is already on his way. As such, in honor of my friend, I will give you one final chance to submit peacefully."
"Thank you for your kind offer, Mr. Knight, but I'm afraid I must politely decline." Elsa shook her head, waving her knife at me, "Here's what I'm going to do. First, I'll slice you open. Secondly, I'll take my time to admire your guts. And thirdly, I'll escape through the mansion's secret passageways before your friend arrives. How does that sound to you?" she laughed, licking her blood red lips.
"It seems peace was an impossibility." I shook my head, steeling my resolve as I looked at her, tightening the grip on my sword, "Very well, Bowel Hunter. Your opponent is the knight Arthur Pendragon, and on behalf of Lady Emilia, I shall defeat you here today."
"My name is the Bowel Hunter Elsa Granhiert, and for nothing other than my own personal satisfaction, I shall disembowel you here today."
With our declarations, still silence dawned upon the darkened corridor as the bloodthirst boiled, and without hesitation, Elsa began her bloody assault.
She stepped forward, seemingly blurring in and out of existence as she appeared in front of me in an instant, her knife cutting horizontally, clearly intending to make use of the gap in my armor to cut my stomach open.
Though Elsa usually liked to play with her prey, it was clear that she was trying to kill me before I even had the chance to react by relying on her overwhelming speed. It seemed my mentioning of Julius had indeed bothered her more than she let on.
And she was quick. She was incredibly quick. For my viewer-self, it was difficult to comprehend how a 'human being' could move that quickly. Though Felt already moved like the wind with incredible pace, Elsa's current movement speed made the speed Felt displayed earlier in the alleyway look like a joke.
Nonetheless, despite her tremendous movement speed, it still seemed to me as if she was moving in slow motion, allowing me to clearly process her knife as it cut towards the slight gap in my armor between my chest-piece and my thigh guards.
Seeing the blade moving towards me was indeed positively frightening, and my untrained self wouldn't even know where to begin with defending it or avoiding it, but nonetheless, I was completely calm and composed.
This was not due to the influence of the King, but rather, the skill I possessed, [Instinct, that acted as a form of precognition, allowing me to perfectly predict the best course of action when combating a threat like Elsa.
Measuring the length of her blade with a glance, I took a gentle step back, traversing a meter in an instant, completely avoiding its curved edge.
"So you managed to avoid my blow?" she smiled, "I must admit, your reaction time is much better than expected – so how about I kick the speed up a notch?" with that, a sadistic, bloodthirsty smile spread across her face as she bent down, her body turning into a literal blur as her acceleration increased several times, causing my hairs to quite literally stand on end.
Her movements were uncanny. Her speed was inhuman. She used the shadows of the darkened mansion as her veil to reduce my visibility, darting around the walls as I slowly stepped backwards, relying on [Instinct] alone to predict where her next attack would come from.
The moment she saw an opening, she struck viciously, darting out from the shadows, her knife piercing towards my unguarded back.
I didn't even need to turn my head. As if my body was being remote controlled, I immediately pivoted on my foot, my sword twisting to perform the perfect parry, causing sparks to fly as her knife slid off my sheathe, successfully defending her assault.
Immediately, my body automatically followed to counter, slicing towards her unprotected body.
In that moment, Elsa saw death. However, the threat of my blade caused every single cell in her body to burst into action, and I could physically see her eyes register my incoming blow as her entire body seemed to twist, bending abnormally around my blade to avoid the fatal strike.
Elsa was a different monster entirely. Although I had almost cut her in half, she immediately counter attacked, spinning around beautifully and elegantly, intending to cut my outstretched forearms from my elbows before I even had time to realize that my attack had missed.
Seeing that sharp, blooded knife swinging down towards my arms was terrifying, but my body moved on instinct, stepping backwards as I tilted my blade gently to block her incoming knife blow.
A horrendous screech was heard as her knife cut across my sheathe, and in the next moment, her hand reached into the shadows, drawing a second knife, intending to cut my stomach open whilst I was busy blocking her first strike.
Once again, my body moved on instinct, and as the blade approached, I jetted backwards, performing a perfect backflip to ascend over her strike. Although her attack had missed, a vicious grin spread across her face as she instantly adapted to the change in the battlefield, releasing the knife from her hand, throwing it towards me as I was still caught in the middle of the air.
My eyes locked onto the incoming knife and Excalibur moved on its own, parrying the blade aside.
Before the knife had reached the ground, my feet landed on the floor, and in that instant, Elsa was already on top of me, a blade in either hand, a bloodthirsty smile on her face as she attacked relentlessly, swinging her blades at me one after the other, with each strike targeting my vital points, intending to brutally maim me with every slash of her blades.
My feet moved so quickly they couldn't be seen as I backstepped through the corridors of the mansion, my sword moving on autopilot, blocking each consecutive blow as her speed and momentum grew with each consecutive strike.
The most frightening thing was that as I watched her blades swing with incredible speed, I noticed that she didn't repeat a single strike once, each strike of hers was a unique movement, targeting a new vital point in my body. Elsa taught me just how vulnerable the human body was, pressure points, veins, arteries, she didn't need to target the organs to kill me in an instant.
Despite the fact that King Arthur was having a heavy effect on my mind, my body was still covered in cold sweats, and my heart pounded furiously as my sword moved without my control.
It seemed that Elsa could smell my fear as the smile on her face just grew wider and wider, and her blows became all the more intense. Her desire and intent to see my blood spattered across the ground was so visceral it was practically tangible.
Each attack came from my blind spots, and she melded with the shadows perfectly. The darkness that obscured my vision was of no consequence to her, and in fact aided her in her relentless assaults.
Nonetheless, even whilst she was gaining the obvious advantage, her mind was rapidly processing the battle, and she clearly realized she could not break through my impregnable guard with a standard assault, and she understood that if she wished to kill me, she would have to get more creative.
This was the experience of a veteran assassin, her own [Instinct].
She fell down low like a spider, intending to cut across my Achilles heels. Despite the fact she preferred cutting the bowels, she knew she could always cut my bowels open and admire them after I was dead. It was more important to break my defenses and incapacitate me first.
However, my [Instinct] was not to be underestimated. By the time her blade touched my trouser leg, I had already leapt into the air, successfully dodging her strike.
Elsa, however, had already predicted I would dodge this blow, and followed up by throwing a knife at me whilst I was caught in mid-air.
Like before, I swung Excalibur to parry the blow, but it seemed that this too was in her calculations. It was only after my sword had already moved to block the incoming knife that I realized there was a second knife melded into the shadows, aiming straight towards my unprotected head.
During the last few seconds of battle, she had processed why her previous attack failed, and already calculated a counter.
It was horrifying.
She had predicted that I would predict her prediction?
However, her schemes ran even deeper.
Not wishing to have my head cut off by her incoming blade, I arched my spine and bent backwards, allowing the blade to fly over my head, successfully dodging the strike.
But by then, I was already in mid-air, in an awkward position, my gaze resting on the ceiling. I was in no position to properly defend myself.
Whilst I was caught in mid air, she drew her final pair of knives, launching at me from beneath, intending to cut through my center and spill my guts all over the floor.
It was only then that I realized that I had vastly underestimated Elsa. Though I knew she was incredibly strong, the anime did not properly illustrate just how inhuman she was in battle.
Her true strength was not her overwhelming speed or her abnormal regeneration, but rather, her inhuman battle intelligence.
I couldn't understand how her brain worked. I had Instinct, so I had an excuse, but she didn't possess any mind-related skills.
How was she processing my movements instantly and coming up with these multi-layered predictions and strategies on the spot? It was simply absurd!
Nonetheless, I simply couldn't allow her to stab through me like this. Thankfully, the armor on my body was not just for show, and as her blades approached my unguarded back, I kicked off the ceiling and rocketed down towards her, positioning myself in the air so that my armor fell onto her blades, and the two of us blasted through the floor towards the first floor, the rubble crumbling around us as we fell.
Though throughout the entire battle I had been trying desperately not to cause any property damage, my promise to Lady Emilia not to get injured came first, so there was no helping it.
The lack of gravity did not halt Elsa, no, in fact, it was the opposite. She used the falling debris as platforms, darting around, attacking me from every possible angle.
Her speed was unreasonable, and my head span rapidly as I overworked my [Instinct, predicting the trajectory of every single one of her blows, using Excalibur to block them as we fell.
Thanks to gravity, the time it takes for debris to reach the ground was not very long at all, and despite that fact, I lost count of how many blows we exchanged. The viewer self of me was absolutely dumbfounded. This was not a battle that humans could comprehend.
As we finally landed to the ground, Elsa's face was stark red with arousal, ecstasy brimming in her eyes, "This is great! Truly great! Entertain me more, Mr. Knight!"
In an instant, she was back in front of me, and time seemed to slow down as I focused on her movements. She started to twist like a whirling tornado, launching towards me, her blades spinning around rapidly, with one aiming towards my neck, and the other aiming towards my gut. It seemed she wanted to kill me twice in a single move.
Nonetheless, I held Excalibur steadfast in my hands and blocked both of her knives head on, but the sheer velocity of her attack was so intense that it sent me shuttling back around ten meters, my feet dragging furiously across the carpets, setting them alight from the sheer friction alone.
And like that, I found myself at the very edge of the Roswaal Guesthouse, right beside the gardens, pressed up against the wall, with quite literally nowhere to run, "And thus, it seems we've reached the end of the line, Mr. Knight, there's nowhere left for you to run." Her vicious grin spread off her face, and her thirst for blood was causing the air to palpitate horrifically.
Truly, it seemed like a dead end. Despite that, however, as I looked towards the window and saw the garden, I let out a massive sigh of relief, speaking to her softly, "I must say, Miss Granhiert. I have been incredibly, incredibly impressed by your fighting capabilities. Your instincts in battle are thoroughly terrifying, your ability to calculate, your ability to adapt, your ability to move, your ruthless, merciless assaults. Though this is my first battle, I can confidently say that you're strong, Miss Granhiert. Incredibly so."
"To think that although this is your first time fighting, you're already able to fend me off to such a degree, you must be really loved by the world, Mr. Knight. I'm truly jealous." She let out a regretful sigh, "Nonetheless…" she frowned, resting her knife against her chin as she spoke curiously, "Considering you're about to die, you don't seem very nervous, Mr. Knight, do you have some kind of plan?"
"Correct. Well done Miss Granhiert, though I'm sorry to inform you that there's no prize." I smiled at her, causing her to frown as I began to explain myself, "Considering this is Lord Roswaal's property, I much rather would have preferred to fight you outside, but if I waited out there, you would've known that Lady Emilia wasn't here. As such, I had to wait outside Lady Emilia's bedroom. Therein lies the issue. Although I have not met Lord Roswaal yet, I aim to make a good impression, so I didn't want to ruin the interior of his mansion, as such, this entire battle, I've been guiding you towards the outside, and well, here we are."
"Haha!" Elsa laughed, she laughed aloud, "I was wondering why you kept backtracking no matter what, so you was actually leading me outside to avoid property damage? Are you an idiot or something? This is a battle to the death!" she was all cheer as she pointed her knife to me, "But now what? Though you've managed to lead me here, the difference in our capabilities is as clear as day. You're still going to die, Mr. Knight."
"Regarding that, Miss Granhiert, you're going to have to forgive me for my rudeness, but I'm going to go all out now." I made a soft smile towards the Bowel Hunter, causing her to frown.
"What do you mean by that?"
In response to her question, I finally activated the Magical Circuits within my Magic Core, like turning the key and switching on the ignition.
Like that, the Magic Core started to whir, creating a simply torrential storm of Magical Energy that flooded outwards, instantly drowning the corridor in a thick sea of overwhelming pressure.
That palpable bloodlust Elsa had been emitting was swallowed whole like a proud lion devouring a timid rabbit.
The ignition of the Magic Core was truly incredible to experience. Just igniting it like this generated enough heat to rival the core of the earth. It was like the breath of a dragon flowing throughout my body.
The magical energy exploded outward endlessly, causing the atmosphere to grow heavier and heavier, until it felt like we were swimming in an entire ocean of magical energy.
"You… what are you…?" Elsa looked bewildered by the ignition of my Magic Core, and the lust and desire that had been dulled by my inexperience started to reignite in her eyes, her cheeks dying red.
"My apologies." I responded, stepping forward. The Magical Energy in my feet exploded outwards, cracking the floors and walls up and down the corridor, and before her eyes could even register my movements, I was already behind her, my hand grabbing the back of her neck, gripping her tightly like a chicken.
With that, before her brain had time to properly process the changes in my speed, I dragged her across the floor and through the wall, throwing her across the garden, causing her to rocket outwards, bombarding the sound barrier to pieces as she ripped the earth beneath her to shreds, scarring the garden beyond recognition.
Looking at the hole in the wall, I apologized to Lord Roswaal inwardly as I stepped out into the garden, bathing in the watery silver moonlight, looking towards Elsa as she got up out of the ground, breathing ragged, cheeks flushed, "You really are the best, Arthur!" she cried out excitably, finally addressing me by my name.
"Whilst I admit this dance of death has been awfully entertaining, I'm rather anxious about the welfare of my Lady, so let's put an end to this shall we, Miss Granhiert?" and like that, I readied my sword for round two. Now that we had exited Roswaal's guesthouse, I could finally go all out.
Authors Notes:
Well, that has been Chapter 7, I really hope you enjoyed!
Sorry for the delay in posting. I had originally intended to post this chapter yesterday, but quite frankly, the chapter was way longer than I originally anticipated, so it took a lot longer to edit.
In my original plan, this chapter was going to be around 3,000 – 4,000 words, but as you can see, it's over 6,000. I probably could've made it a lot shorter by cutting out some of the dialogue with Elsa, but considering how much build-up she had, I really wanted to make the most of her interactions with Arthur and explore the dialogue between them.
The next chapter will be the conclusion of Arc 1, and Chapter 9 will be the epilogue. Chapter 10 will be the first chapter of Arc 2.
As always, thank you so much to everyone that has taken the time to read, follow, favorite or review my story, it really means the world to me, and I really hope you enjoy this chapter!
Take care!