When he woke up, all he could see was the blue sky above. By the looks of the position he was in, he was probably on the ground, lying on his back.
"What the hell? Where am I?"
Arnold shook his head when he felt like he had whiplash. His head felt dizzy and his vision was unfocused.
"Ugh…." Standing up, he noticed that he was standing in the middle of an open plain. It wasn't the grassy plain they were battling the dragon. The plain was beneath a mountain with a cliff hanging over the side. The forest the dragon was spotted in was right beneath that same cliff.
'I can still see the city but it's still far away…Are these the canyons in the Culb mountains?'
In an attempt to understand what was going on, he looked around.
"Huh? What's that?"
A green dome suddenly surrounded the area.
It was about 1km wide. Since he was a bit further away from the others, he alone was now trapped inside this strange barrier.
"What the…"
Looking around in confusion, he spotted a small figure in the distance. It grew bigger and bigger until it formed a human man's figure.
The human lifted his head and spoke.
"Do not move or I will cut you down."
A young man's voice reached Arnold's ears.
"Huh…?"
Arnold's mind blanked. He pointed at the man who appeared before him. Specifically at the mask.
"T-The Sun Knight…Lancelot?"
"I am unsure who this Sun Knight is whom you are talking about but I am indeed Lancelot."
Blonde hair, white mask and a black cloak. Two magnificent swords were sheathed on his back.
"I am surprised. To think the son of duke Marcus von Berkley would be the culprit who slaughtered an entire gang and joined hands with a demon accomplice."
Lancelot unsheathed the Holy Swords from his back.
A green energy surrounded his body.
"I will slay you here if you do not give up the location of Flora Luthial."
'Green?'
Arnold was suddenly reminded of something but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. Since he couldn't remember it, he concluded that it wasn't important. As such, he asked another question.
"What just happened to me was caused by a rank 7 magic called [Target Teleportation], right?"
Being the top magic caster in the game, Liam knew everything related to magic. Although he never actually used the spell before, he had seen his opponents cast it once or twice.
It was originally a spell that one could unlock after gathering four magic books called grimoires. A certain wizard hid the books in four relic tombs. Once one could find all four then you can complete the chant of the magic.
Of course, it was extremely hard for normal people to acquire such magic. The relic tombs were protected by powerful monsters and the tombs had many dangerous traps.
'How the hell do they have it?'
"So you know of this magic. It seems that not only are you an extremely powerful individual but you possess connections that not even a king could have. To even know of the Theocracy's created magic spell."
'Created?'
That word almost made Arnold laugh. It seems that he wants to hide the fact that it was actually magic from ancient tombs. Or Lancelot truly didn't know the truth and only believed his superiors' blatant lies.
"I am in awe. Perhaps if you weren't a demon accomplice, we could've used your information gathering skills in a more efficient way."
Lancelot kept walking towards Arnold.
It was the casual gait of someone who didn't acknowledge the other person as a strong opponent.
"H-Hold on!" Arnold took off the magic item. His once silver hair changed to dark blue. "Isn't there some kind of misunderstanding?"
Lancelot stopped.
"Misunderstanding?"
"Maybe you have me mistaken for someone else?"
Lying was not his strong suit but he had to try.
'What method did they use to sniff me out?'
It was probably useless to pretend to be someone else since Lancelot already saw through his disguise.
Lancelot silently stared at Arnold. As if he found it funny, he scoffed.
"We found traces of your aura at the crime scene. Using the technology we possess, we were able to find out who it belonged to. Namely, Arnold von Berkley."
'Fuck…'
He screwed up.
He never should've gone so overboard so as to kill Ruduli.
'And technology? What the hell is up with the Theocracy? Why are they so advanced?'
"If you tell me where the demon accomplice is then I shall spare your life."
Arnold knew that he was referring to Flora.
"…Spare my life?"
Arnold frowned.
"You'll probably torture me to death once you get that information out of me, right? That is the way of the Inquisitor code, after all."
Lancelot didn't answer and only drew the other sword.
Both swords were a magnificent golden glow. The sun's rays seems to make the swords that much more beautiful.
That said, from Arnold's perspective, all he saw was a reaper that came to collect his soul.
'Fuck…He seriously intends to kill me if I don't talk.'
There was no reason for Lancelot to even ask Arnold to tell him. If he wanted to, he could've chopped off Arnold's head a long time ago. He could take Arnold's head back to the Theocracy and have them examine his brain using magic to find out where Flora was.
Yet, he didn't.
That showed that he wasn't as crazy as those other cult members of the Theocracy.
If it were Alitus or a member of the high seats of the [Warriors of the Word of God] called the Testaments then Arnold would've been dead already.
'Shit…I can't fight this guy. It'll be like a toddler trying to fight a full armored knight.'
He was quite tired now after the battle with the dragon. The adrenaline that went through him was also gone.
However…
"Tch…You think I'll just let you take me without a fight!?"
The pride of the original Arnold wasn't to be messed with.
Arnold poured aura into his ring and took out his Aura Sword from the pocket space dimension.
'I shouldn't show what I can do using this sword just yet. I need to see what kind of things he can do first.'
In PVP, to win against another player, one had to possess information regarding the opponent's skills, strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, since Lancelot was a minor character—supposedly—in the game, there wasn't much information on him.
He was only described as being as powerful as the members of the Theocracy's most elite.
To test the waters, Arnold had to be careful of showing his full power.
That said, he could only use one martial skill and only knew elementary swordsmanship. He'll have to make due with his physical strength and his fast reflexes while studying Lancelot.
'But with this…'
Arnold looked at the dark blue blade in his hands.
With his Aura Sword, he could mimic the original Arnold's moves in order to use Flow of the Tide. How it works wasn't exactly simple.
Since Arnold had been using the Aura Sword ever since his childhood, his body had become accustomed to using his sword style as well. It was like muscle memory. Yes, that was a thing with aura-manifested weapons.
Liam might not remember the steps to use Flow of the Tide, however, Arnold's body and brain should if he used his aura along with the Aura Sword.
It was because the sword had a will. Using that will, he could subconsciously use Arnold's original sword style.
Liam didn't know that when he first fought with the Aura Sword back at the gang's hideout. It was in that moment when he was able to grasp the full potential of the sword.
'As long as I don't use aura while fighting with the sword, my body won't immediately assert that sword style.'
What was troublesome about being in another person's body was that it was hard to use that person's powers as your own. It wasn't like he could do everything Arnold could. That was because Liam had completely taken over Arnold's body.
All that he could do was use Arnold's aura and his physical strength. The reason he could use [Storm of the Water Dragon] was also related to the Aura Sword.
"So you choose to fight, is that it?"
Lancelot asked calmly.
Arnold smirked.
"Fight? I think you're misunderstanding something here, buddy. I'm going to beat the shit out of you. You bring me to this place against my will and now you threaten to take me as your prisoner? Did you expect me to just sit by and let it happen?"
Lancelot didn't seem fazed at all by Arnold's arrogant remark.
"Although I have only read your profile documents for a brief few minutes, I can now see why everyone hates you so much."
"Humph."
The two locked eyes. Well, Arnold wasn't exactly sure if Lancelot was actually looking into his eyes or at his weapon.
He blinked.
Then….
Lancelot disappeared.
"WHAT—"
Maybe it was because Arnold's body had the warrior's instinct, but he raised his arm holding the sword.
"Guh!" A strong force sent him flying to the side when he heard a grating sound of swords making contact.
Arnold crashed into a boulder. He felt pain run down his spine when his back made contact with the boulder.
"What the hell…"
"Hmm…Though I wasn't trying to attack you seriously, to think you could take that hit with minor injuries…."
'Shit. This bastard also knows that I have no chance against him.'
If anything, the only reason Lancelot wasn't attacking that aggressively was because he was on guard despite the fact that his opponent was much weaker. His opponent being an over thinker was prolonging Arnold's life.
'He said something about tracing my aura…Wait a second…'
Arnold stood up and groaned.
'The only time I ever went wild with my aura was when I killed Ruduli. Shit. Was it that after all?'
When Arnold was in the middle of analyzing what he had just learned, he saw a shadow cast over him. He looked up and saw Lancelot who was about to swing down both swords.
"Shit!"
He did a side jump, barely avoiding the shockwave from the powerful tremor that followed after Lancelot struck the ground.
'Why the fuck is this guy so strong!?'
Maybe it was a ridiculous comparison but he couldn't help but consider fighting the dragon being an easier battle.
"Why do you not attack me as well?"
'Because I'm scared!'
"Hah! What do you mean? I'm being careful to not kill you with one swing."
Arnold's mouth never fails to spout taunts in the middle of a fight.
"That so?"
Lancelot's body suddenly glowed in a golden light. The golden energy formed multiple spears of light.
"Go, [Judgement Spears of Melis]."
With lightning speed, the light spears charged at Arnold.
Infusing aura into his feet, Arnold dodged the first two and blew away the other three—that followed—with his sword.
No, the sword actually cut through the light spears as if it were paper.
"Ah?" Lancelot suddenly exclaimed. Although he kept conjuring more and more spears of light.
Arnold was literally trying his best to dodge and avoid all the light spears.
'If I keep doing this back and forth then I'll run out of stamina. Is he aiming for that?'
Arnold gritted his teeth.
"Don't screw with me!"
Using Sword Intent around his whole body, Arnold charged at Lancelot. The thin barrier completely destroyed the light spears when they touched it.
Lancelot seemed completely surprised by Arnold brazenly charging at him.
"Fool." Lancelot needn't use both swords for only one was needed to handle Arnold.
The two's swords finally connected. Arnold felt a painful vibration go up his arms but he endured. Lancelot seemed unfazed by the exchange.
"This could all end if you just tell me the location of Flora Luthial. You will answer for your crime of committing multiple homicides on the Empire's soil. I promise not to intervene."
"As if anyone would believe that!"
Arnold head-butted Lancelot's face. Although all he felt was the mask's hard surface.
"Kuh!"
'So hard! What the hell is up with that mask!?'
Lancelot didn't suffer any damage yet Arnold felt like a headache was coming.
Before Lancelot pulled back, Arnold swung his sword again. The two were once again locked in an exchange of swordplay.
Arnold tried his best to not lose his footing while in a stalemate with Lancelot.
"Guh!"
Lancelot punched Arnold in the stomach which made him to cough up blood and clutch his stomach. Lancelot landed another blow on his neck. It almost made him lose consciousness.
Before Lancelot grabbed him, Arnold stabbed his sword towards Lancelot's feet.
It was extremely cowardice to strike your opponent's feet when one locks swords with another. Then again, Liam had no pride as a human being anyway so he never cared much about upholding the warriors code.
If Sebas saw him now then a beating wasn't far off.
"What the!?" Not expecting him to do that, there was an opening in Lancelot's stance.
Arnold hurriedly shifted the direction of his sword's strike upwards towards Lancelot's head. Lancelot tilted his head back, his face mere inches away from the sword burning with aura.
A few strands of his hair was cut off but not much else.
After jumping back, Lancelot stared at Arnold who was standing up from his kneeling position.
"Hahahahaha! Look who's running now!"
"You really are an interesting fellow." Lancelot grabbed the other sword which was floating next to him and went into his special stance.
His aura suddenly changed when he went into that stance. If before was him being nonchalant, now he was serious about the fight.
'Well, I haven't been able to locate any players but it's been great being the villain for a week. I haven't even tasted a woman yet but it can't be helped…'
Arnold also got into a stance, although he was visibly trembling like a scared mouse.
With no warning whatsoever, Lancelot charged first just like when the fight started.