I was a Nerfed Hero in Another World

After a minute, my system announced that I had imbued Clarent with my dark magic. This dark matter would be the strongest weapon that would go against King Arthur. But I guessed that it would take multiple strikes to bring King Arthur down. The fight would only depend on my experience in close-combat. All those battles I had would test me for this fight for our lives….

"I'm ready." With my word, the battle began. 

'He who strikes first wins the match." Those words rang inside my ears as I dashed straight at King Arthur.

The crowned man parried my attack as he glared into my eyes. We didn't move our muscles, since our blades stood in the middle. Nobody let the other win, while the two of us tested our strength in battle. 

It didn't take long enough for King Arthur to overwhelm me once again. Even though I had imbued my sword with dark magic, King Arthur still had the upper hand. He only showed the comparison between our raw strength, regardless of the spell advantage.

King Arthur seized my collar and threw me backwards. Since we were in a death battle, I couldn't call his move a cheap trick. We included those performances in the battle without uttering about it. 

However, I wanted to retort about the questionable movement. A knight shouldn't do such cheap tricks against his opponent.

"Hey, King Arthur! I thought knights are fair warriors? Why would you do such a dirty trick against me?" 

"Dirty trick?" King Arthur asked. "I only pushed you away because you left yourself wide open! And besides, you could use dark magic. I couldn't use any of those wretched spells, even if I wanted to! Knights aren't supposed to use such magic! But you could do it, especially against a knight!"

"Fair enough," I retorted, and resumed the battle.

We repeated our moves, but I became wiser after that mistake. Our Excaliburs stood in the middle once again, paired with a clanging sound. But instead of leisurely glaring at King Arthur, I leaned my head backwards. I avoided King Arthur's hands and stood my ground without getting tossed out again. I even dodged King Arthur's sweep attack, hoping he could disrupt my balance.

"You're pretty good seeing your mistakes, Arthur," King Arthur remarked, and complimented my moves. "And that dark magic is doing its trick….But that is not good enough!" 

When King Arthur mentioned those words, a sudden light emerged from his hands. The handle of his sword glowed a brilliant light as it eventually reached his blade. Within a few seconds, I tried unlatching myself from the battle. I successfully left King Arthur in the middle and leapt away, but I was already too late.

A beam materialised at the tip of King Arthur's sword and zoomed straight at me. Fortunately, Lilith's barrier from before halved the incoming damage from the attack. My passive abilities also kicked in, which also helped minimise the damage. I blocked the projectile using my arms, hoping it would help too. Since my Aegis wasn't working yet, I had to use everything I could to protect myself.

However, my efforts didn't block everything. 

My skin had turned dark when the beam scraped my arm. Excruciating pain travelled through my upper extremities, which made my arms vibrate in pain. The blast also gave me a headache and spun my head like a beyblade. 

Despite these side-effects I received, I rose from the ground and maintained my posture. It would take more than that to bring me down on the ground!

A black smoke came from King Arthur's location, which was the blast's result. Luckily, the damage didn't go through the city. If it did, those demons would have died already. Thanks to the barrier King Arthur made, we limited the spread of chaos.

Although the shield saved the people, it didn't save me. I still had to deal with King Arthur and his pesky abilities, which I still didn't know.

"Come on, Arthur….You could do better than that. Don't die on me now," King Arthur mumbled, as he emerged from the smog. "You have the Excalibur, yet you are this weak. You could have given the Excalibur to the knights of the roundtable….We could make good use of it, you know?"

"Tough luck for you, King Arthur….But the Excalibur chose me as its wielder. It cannot choose anyone else besides me!" 

The legendary sword marked their wielders as their masters. Nobody can use the Excalibur besides the chosen player or wielder. There were three Excaliburs in this world throughout my journey. Those game developers didn't mention anything like this before. And those swords had their own unique abilities, which made them special. 

And among the three Excaliburs, mine had the weakest attribute. I didn't even have the full grasp of my sword's abilities, for god's sake.

King Arthur's ability involved that blasting energy. But according to my system, it didn't include any element known to this world. I even thought King Arthur could use light magic, considering the glowing substances from his blade. But it didn't seem he knew anything about that element.

"It must have been his raw strength," I whispered to myself, while hiding my trembling hands. 

King Arthur launched himself to me again, with his sword flickering like before. It only meant that he wanted to do it again, thinking I would fall at the same trick twice. That knight planned to close the distance and use the shockwave to trip me.

But I didn't fall for anything and kept my distance. Thanks to Meliodas' enhanced magic, my speed rose like an ostrich running around. Even though King ARthur displayed such horrifying attributes, I outmatched him with my speed. 

"You couldn't run forever from me, Arthur. You know that. This barrier is shaped like a dome. And I doubt you could dash in every direction without getting tired," King Arthur commented, while catching up behind me.

But no matter how desperate King Arthur tried, I still had the lead. But that changed in the blink of an eye when the barrier shortened. It only meant that I would bump right into Fenrir's battle. Running away was out of the question, since I could affect Fenrir's and Merleen's battle.

"I told you your actions would bring terrible results instead of an advantage," King Arthur said, while flashing me a snicker. "This battle won't go too well, considering that our neighbours are right beside us. Don't let me attack them, or else you would save them before battling with me."

King Arthur had a point when he said those lines. If I would run away, King Arthur would chase Fenrir and Merleen. Since he couldn't catch me, King Arthur would target my friends instead. And if I fought him up close, that man could use his devastating blast once again. When that happens, it would be the end of everyone inside this shield.

"Either way, I would lose this battle…..You didn't even give me the luxury to choose, King Arthur….as expected to the loose screw inside of you! You're no benevolent king! You're a monster, trying to make things worse instead of better!" I shouted, while gritting my teeth.

"Ho? But I am no benevolent king…..I will do what I think is best for my people, regardless of their thoughts. If I listen to those villagers who have nothing but their presence, their concerns would be limitless. But if I lead them, those people won't do anything but listen to me. That's the difference between you and I, Arthur. We are not the same….The only thing that we share is the sword you're holding. Besides that, you're nothing but a fool."

After King Arthur's words, he rushed towards me and made the first move. Instead of blocking his attacks, I took the assault and tried looking for an opening. However, my eyes didn't find anything. The longer King Arthur and I brawled, my chances of winning had turned slime.

It was because of my darkened magic constantly depleting. After a few minutes, my blade wouldn't have the same obsidian effect as I had before. If that would happen, I may not have any means to battle against King Arthur. 

"There's still a way to win this fight! I just have to outmanoeuvre him!"

But that thought became more impossible as the fight prolonged. King Arthur became more resilient and powerful at every passing second, even without magic.

The only motivation I had was my comrades fighting beside me. I wanted to take King Arthur out, even if it would take my life away.

But before I could do anything rash, Sir Geraint's sword struck Fenrir's chest. The blade pierced through Fenrir, which injured her lungs. I could only guess that one of her lung got cut by the sword. And that wound could be a fatal problem I needed to resolve.

"FENRIR!" I shouted, hoping she could still live through the pain….