Arthur frowned as he realized that soone had approached him without him noticing it. Slowly, he turned around and looked at the newcor and his face imdiately darkened.
'Now, what the hell is this guy doing here?' He asked himself. The familiar, irritating face was that of none other than Lanter, the last person Arthur wanted to et. The boy approached him while clapping his hand slowly as he complinted 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." Lanter replied casually.
'How did he know it was my first? Had he been following the entire ti?' Arthur frowned visibly. He didn't know if that was just a suspicion or if Lanter was trying to send him a ssage 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 ant sounding cowardice or afraid, he didn't want anything to do with this person.
"Wait a second, Arthur," Lanter 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 Lanter said made Arthur stop for a mont 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 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 Lanter 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 . If I co across him inside the ga, I may or may not kill him just for the fun of it.' Arthur thought to himself.
"Arthur! There you are!" At that mont, he saw Elise approach him and he smiled at her. His mind was already moving away from his conversation with Lanter.
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 improvent. 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 soone with so much potential be that afraid." Lanter 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 mont, Elise stopped when she felt sothing 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 seed to be looking at soone else she didn't know.
Slowly, Arthur turned around and walked to Lanter. 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, Lanter was a little taken aback. This was the first ti 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 Lanter, then he tapped the 'Duel' button without breaking eye-contact.
Lanter squinted his eyes slightly before he nodded and did the sa thing. The two then linked their devices.
Staring at Lanter'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 mont she took a glimpse of it. Sothing wasn't right.
Putting their devices inside the capsules, both of them got inside.
"This is going to be entertaining." Lanter licked his lips.
Opening his eyes inside the training realm, Lanter 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 sa ti, he saw Arthur appear on the other side. He looked completely apathetic and didn't even eye Lanter once as he pulled a rather ordinary sword out.
'I still haven't tried this weapon yet. This will be the first ti I use it. I hope it's as I felt, sothing 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?" Lanter 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.
Lanter nodded his head and did the sa. 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. Lanter 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. Lanter'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 tals clashing echoed around them, sending a small gush of air everywhere.
'Strong and fast… Just as I expected.' Lanter 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.
Lanter 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 Lanter's thought could even finish, he saw Arthur put up his right arm as he blocked the hit with his body. Then, he grabbed Lanter's leg with a strong grip.
"AAAGH!" Using raw strength, he yanked Lanter from his position and threw him to the side.
The young man spun in the air as he landed on the ground. At the sa ti, several red arrows manifested all around him and shot toward him from different angles.
At the sa ti, Arthur vanished like mist and appeared right in front of him, swinging his sword down with no hesitation.
In that single mont, and with all of that surrounding him, Lanter realized for the first mont that perhaps… That request and those words he said… It was a mistake.
Stay tuned with empire
Right in front of him at that mont, all he could see was a bloody demon. It was simply a few seconds since the battle started… Just a few seconds and already, Lanter 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 so golden tickets for good luck! :3
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