“Arthur Curie,” I replied without thinking. “The Builder.”
“I have never met a Builder before,” the voice answered, and it was both closer and farther, both angry and pleased. “Tell me, Arthur Curie, the Builder, why have you come to my small slice of Heaven?”
“Are you making a joke?” I asked, confused. “With the slice of Heaven crack? Because if you are, it didn’t work.”
“Would that please you?” it asked both bored and curious.
“I don’t know, to be honest,” I said with a shrug.
“Why are you here?” it repeated a little angrier this time. “Arthur Curie, the Builder?”
“I am here to complete the trial.” I nodded to the statue because it was the closest thing. “To complete the achievement.”
“Oh?” the voice responded, and this time the ground beneath my feet shook. The sky overhead opened, and a crimson sun shone amid a cotton candy pink sky. “Do you truly think you have what it takes? None before you have passed my trial.”
“You just said no Builder has ever tried.” I shrugged. “Maybe I will surprise you.”
“I doubt that very much.” With those words, I stepped forth from the shadows.
“What the fuck?” I cried, taking in the being before me. It looked exactly like me, right down to the scar on my neck I’d gotten from trying to shave with an old-fashioned razor.
“If you wish to complete the trial, Builder, you must do one thing,” the Dark Arthur said before touching his T-shirt with one hand. “You must defeat me.” He smiled. “It will not be easy to do because I am you.”
“Only I am me,” I replied, and as I hefted Caliburn, the other me did the same. Only unlike Caliburn, his sword seemed to pulse with pure, unrelenting Darkness.
“That remained to be seen, Arthur Curie. For I have looked into your soul, and I have found you to be quite normal indeed.” Dark Arthur raised his free hand and gestured for me to bring it. “Now come.”
Something about this felt off to me, and as I stood there gripping Caliburn, the wrongness of the situation was damned near overwhelming. It was weird because while I knew Michelle had told me the trial was always different, I couldn’t help but think if the trial was really by combat, one of them would have succeeded. They were all amazing warriors, and while I’d gotten better, I was still, well, me.
That meant I had to fight this challenge like me.
“Are you scared or do you wish me to attack first?” Dark Arthur asked, cocking his head to look at me. “The first would not surprise me, and I do not think you want the second.”
“What do people normally do?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and considering its words. They felt off. Hell, this whole thing felt off.
“They attack me,” Dark Arthur said after a time.
“Then I want you to attack me.” I gripped my sword and waited.
“Are you sure?” Dark Arthur asked, the vaguest tinge of interest filling his voice. Then he tightened his grip on his weapon. “Very well.”
He charged, sprinting across the sandy beach toward me. I’d like to say it was fast, but it wasn’t. Not really anyway. I don’t mean to say it was slow either because it wasn’t.
It was just, well, my speed. That was certainly interesting.
As Dark Arthur slashed at me, clearly trying to decapitate me with his first strike, I ducked. The blade passed over my head, missing me by a hair’s breadth. Only before I could counter-attack, the sword whipped around, coming back at me, and I instantly recognized the maneuver as one I’d learned when I’d spent the year in Mammon’s domain. It was Slash That Separates Rain Droplets.
Again I dodged. It was hard since it was quick and precise, but I knew the maneuver and knew what it was supposed to do. Stepping sideways with The Wind That Flings The Sand, I brought my sword up, catching the blade before flinging it backward.
“Are you just going to copy my attacks?” I asked as Dark Arthur recovered his footing and looked at me.
“They are not copies.” He shook his head, his grin widening. “I am you, and they are mine.”
“That’s just silly talk.” I shrugged. “Why don’t you try again?”
“With pleasure.” Dark Arthur raised his hand, and I saw it begin to fill with Hellfire. Only it was Caliburn’s Hellfire, not that from the earring. I wasn’t sure how I was able to tell, but I just could. What’s more, I also knew I could stop it.
As he threw the fireball at me, I lashed out with Lightning That Arcs Across The Sky, catching the fireball and deflecting it away. As it spiraled off into the ground behind me, I peered at the guy before me. He had to know I could easily deflect such an attack, so why would he do it?
“That’s not going to work.” I shook my head, and as I did, something in my brain sort of clicked.
He may have looked like me, and had similar moves, but he was just a guy in a shirt and jeans.
“Why is that?” he asked, and he was genuinely curious. “I know all your tricks, Builder.”
“Thing is, they aren’t tricks.” As I spoke, he seemed confused. “They are just me for better or worse.”
“I don’t understand. A man is only the sum of his parts and nothing more.” He touched his ear, and I realized he had The Cold Embrace of Death in his ear. That was odd.
As ethereal armor appeared around him in a flash, I stopped and stared at him. He did have what looked like Caliburn, and he did have Sam’s Armament, but he didn’t have the others.
He lacked the Ruthless Crown of Pride I’d received from Lucifer as well as the Relentless Grips of Greed, the Uncontrollable Binding of Lust, the Remorseless Chain of Envy, and even the Merciless Greaves of Wrath. It made me wonder what would happen if he hit me.
I blinked, concentrating on him as his sword began to glow with sapphire light, letting me know he was going to try to blast me.
The crown on my head glowed, and his stats popped into view.
Name: Apparition of Reflection
Health: 84/84*
Mana: 162/162*
Strength: 38/100*
Agility: 46/100*
Charisma: 22/100*
Intelligence: 84/100*
Special: 78/100*
Unique Ability: Mimic
As I sidestepped the sapphire blast with The Wind That Flings The Sand, I read the note next to his stats.
*Note – These stats are subject to change based upon who is currently being mimicked.
My eyes widened. Were those my stats? I wasn’t sure, but it seemed likely given the circumstances. Not that it mattered. What mattered was that while he had managed to copy Caliburn and the Cold Embrace of Death, he hadn’t managed to copy my other armaments.
A grin spread across my lips as he charged at me, and I instantly knew what he aimed to do. Skewer me with Caliburn. The thing was though, I had used the Remorseless Chain of Envy to steal Dred’s healing ability…
I screamed in pain as he drove his sword through my chest. The blade punched out my back in a spray of blood, and as the Apparition of Reflection met my eyes, he laughed.
“All too easy,” he said right before his chest practically blew apart as the Merciless Greaves of Wrath reflected the damage back to him sevenfold. It was a bit crazy to see because one moment he was standing there triumphant and smug, and the next his stupid douche face (yes, I get the irony) was filled with shock.
He staggered backward, hands slipping off the sword embedded in my chest as blood leaked from the open wound in his torso. Blood poured from the wound as I calmly pulled his sword free and tossed it to the sand beside my feet. It hit with an empty clang as I raised my hand.
“Dodge this,” I whispered, summoning my own hellfire and unleashing it from only a couple feet away. The blast took him in the face, reducing his skull to fragments of ashen bone.
As the headless corpse fell to its knees, the horizon began to flicker, and a glowing golden seal fell rose from the ground in front of me.
24
&n
bsp; As I moved toward the seal, I couldn’t help but be in awe of it. It was pretty big, easily twelve feet in diameter and covered with twelve distinct runes. As I approached it, energy began to crackle along its surface, causing each rune to blaze with light every color of the rainbow.
Caliburn began to glow in my hand, and as I glanced at the weapon, I realized there was a spot in the middle of the seal that I could have sworn would fit my sword.
That was certainly interesting.
Wasting no time, I moved to the edge of the seal, and as I stared at it, I realized it sort of resembled a table with no chairs. Crazier still, the closer I got, the more Caliburn glowed. As I touched the disc with my hand, energy surged through me, and the hole in the center began to glow.
“Well, I guess I know what I need to do.” Climbing up onto the massive disc, I made my way to the center until I was standing on the spot. “Time to put my sword into the hole.”
As energy crackled around me, I drew a deep breath. Then I drove the sword into the golden table beneath my feet. Energy crackled overhead, and for a moment nothing else happened. Then the disc beneath my feet exploded into a flurry of scintillating sparks that threw me across the Plains of Desolation. As I struck the ground hard, I realized the horizon had shifted in color, losing the tinge of Darkness that had clung to it before.
“Arthur, what’s going on,” Michelle cried, and as I turned toward the sound of her voice, I saw the archangel racing toward me.
“What do you mean?” I asked confused, right before she tackled me to the ground. We hit with a thud, and as I lay there confused, she leapt to her feet, hands gripping her flaming whip-sword.
“Stay back!” she snarled, and as I tried to orient myself to what the fuck had just happened, I realized all the statues were moving toward us. Only that didn’t make sense because they hadn’t been moving a second ago. “If you come closer, I will cut you.”
“You do not need to fear us, Archangel,” the closest statue, the long-haired hippie with the claymore said. He had a deep, rumbling British voice. “For we have awoken to serve the True King.”
“The true king?” Michelle asked, shooting me a confused look.
“What in the fuckety fuck are you talking about?” I added, scrambling to my feet. I knew they couldn’t hurt me but there were twelve of these fucks, and I’d just fought a magical apparition. Only, that’s when it dawned on me. The achievement.
Were these guys the lost warriors? Feeling dumb, I sighed.
“I think these are the guys I was supposed to find, Michelle,” I said, gesturing at the statues. “I think they’re going to help because I beat the challenge.”
“You did?” she asked, and that’s when she turned and gaped at me. “I didn’t even…” she flushed. “I just saw them all coming toward you and thought you’d failed.”
“No. Arthur has completed the trial and released us from our imprisonment,” the statue said, and I realized the others had lined up behind him in ever increasing numbers, so it was like facing a triangle of heavily armed men. Only, they were still all the same gray stone color they had been before.
Odd.
“Who are you guys?” I asked, and then I said my next thought even though I felt dumb as fuck. “I mean, you’re men.”
“We are the Knights of the Round Table.” The statue touched his chest. “Many years ago we were lifted to Heaven, and our souls were placed in these statues while we waited for the one who would defeat the Darkness to rise.” The statue knelt before us. “I am Lancelot, please accept me and mine to your service, Arthur.”
“The Knights of the Round Table?” I said, watching the others kneel as well. “Like King Arthur?”
“King who?” Michelle asked, giving me a quizzical look. “Are you a king? Is that why you won the challenge?” She flushed. “I did not realize you were royalty. You must have thought I was the biggest bitch…”
“No, stop, just wait.” I sighed. “On Earth, there’s a legend about an old king who had Knights of the Round Table.” I waved my hand. “It’s a really famous story.”
“And you are named after this king?” Michelle said, looking me over. “Names have power, you know.”
“I’m named after Aquaman, actually. He is also a king, but he’s way less cool.” That’s when I got the “who the fuck is Aquaman” look and decided to press on because Lancelot and his merry men were still kneeling. “You may all rise. I accept you into your service.”
As I spoke, golden, glowing script flashed in front of my eyes, but from the look of things, I was certain no one else could see it.
Achievement: Those who were Lost are Found has been completed.
You gain 10% Legitimacy with the Heaven faction.
“Thank you, my liege,” Lancelot said before turning to the others. “May I introduce you to our battalion?”
“Yes, that would be great. The only one I remember is Galahad because he found the grail.” I shrugged.
“You found the grail, my son?” Lancelot asked, turning to look at another knight who looked like a much younger version of himself. “Why did you not say so?”
“No.” Galahad shook his head. “Sir Percival, Sir Bors, and I set out in search of it, but alas we never found it.” He looked at the ground. “It is my eternal shame.”
“I’m about to lose my shit,” I said, swallowing hard. “I’m having a total fanboy moment. Did you know I was named after King Arthur?”
“I’m not following. What’s the big deal?” Michelle asked, glancing at me as the knights began to explain how they had trekked across all of Britain in search of the Holy Grail but had not managed to find it.
“You’d understand if you were me, but you’re not so just…” I took a deep breath. “You’d think I would be less excited, I mean I’ve met you.”
Michelle blushed. Hard. “Arthur…”
“But these are the Knights of the Round Table.”
“And just like that, you blew it,” Michelle huffed, stepping away from me as she extinguished her whip-sword and sheathed it. “Maybe you can explain why they are so,” she gestured at me, “this while we walk back to the city.”
“Right, okay.” I paused, trying to control myself. “Can you guys please introduce yourself to Michelle, she’s the Archangel of Justice.”
“Isn’t Michael the Archangel of Justice?” the one Galahad had called Percival responded. “And isn’t he male?”
“No.” Michelle shook her head. “Almost all angels are female. It’s just that men wrote all the books.”
“That sounds suspiciously like heresy,” Percival replied, watching Michelle closely. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“Well, let’s assume you’re God,” I said, gesturing at Michelle. “Would you want to be surrounded by hot chicks or hot dudes?”
“That… is an excellent point,” Percival said, nodding his agreement. “I do enjoy the company of women more than men.”
“We all do,” Lancelot said.
“All except Lamorak, anyway.” They all glanced at the biggest, strongest looking knight who just shrugged.
“I am what I am,” he replied, his gaze flicking to me. “If that’s a problem, we can arm wrestle over it.”
“Nah, you do you.” I shrugged, wondering how I was gonna deal with twelve giant statue men. “Are you guys even equipped? You know, down there?”
“Alas no, we have shed our mortal bodies in favor of these stone ones so that we may serve the True King.” He looked at me. “It is good to meet you, Arthur.”
“So what was King Arthur like?” I looked to Lancelot. “You know, before the whole Guinevere thing?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lancelot replied, looking at me with confusion. “Who is Guinevere?”
“Arthur’s wife. The one you um…” Yes, I totally did the finger going into the circle thing.
“I’m not following,” Lancelot said, glancing at the other knights. “Do any of y
ou know an Arthur or a Guinevere?”
“No,” Percival replied with a shrug. “I didn’t even know these blokes before I was plucked up to Heaven.”
“And who, exactly, brought you to Heaven?” Michelle asked, looking somewhat annoyed. “Your whole presence here doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
“I was taken by the Archangel Jophiel,” Sir Galahad replied. “Like my father before me.”
Lancelot, and the others, nodded.
“Jophiel.” Michelle made a fist. “I should have known.”
“You should have?” I asked, not sure what confused me more, everything, or well, everything.
“She was always scheming, always trying to figure out ways to beat the Darkness, but none of them ever worked.” Michelle glowered at me. “This has to be another one of her tricks.”
“Either way, having a contingent of awesome knights seems fucking awesome.” I gestured to them. “They’re all huge and made of stone.”
“I will reserve my judgment until I see them on the field of battle,” Michelle said. “Until then, they’re just walking hunks of rock.”
“We can hear you, you know?” Lancelot said, coming up beside me and glancing at Michelle. “And if you would like a demonstration of skill, I would be happy to show you. Just point me in the direction of a foe, and I will vanquish it post haste.”
“You’ll get your chance,” Michelle said, gesturing at the horizon. “For Darkness never waits long before it tests our mettle.”
“You hear that lads,” Lancelot called, turning back to the other knights. “We will have foes aplenty!”
As a cheer burst from their lips, I couldn’t help but wonder about something else. Galahad had said they had never found the Grail, but in the myths, he had definitely found it. I’d have to look at the myth a bit more, but it seemed like a lot of those stories might not be true. After all, Lancelot didn’t seem to know about King Arthur. What if that was supposed to be me?
If it was, maybe the reason Raphael hadn’t been able to figure out more about the Restore the Hallowed Host achievement was because I needed Galahad and the others to complete it, like, I dunno, a chain quest? It seemed a bit reasonable, especially since that achievement had referenced the Holy Grail, but as I thought about it, another thought struck me, and I found myself annoyed with Lancelot.
The Builder's Wrath (The Legendary Builder Book 4) Page 14