Chapter 52 - Honour on the line

"I've told you already, you're not getting it back unless you beat me in a fight," Arwen sighed.

"Please, I need it. I'm heading to fight the Fae, I can't do that without my damn sword!"

"Your 'damn sword' was gambled away. Then I won it, that makes it mine, and unlike you, I don't plan on disgracing it by using it as a bet. Unless it's a duel of course."

Pulling out Honour, Arwen smirked as she held it in the air. Corrupt flame wrapped the blade, the steel shaking, trying to break free. Kenji could feel it's anguish through their connection, their bond. The sword didn't understand what Kenji had done, it didn't grasp that Kenji had traded it away.

It just felt alone, away from the only person it loved.

"Damn you, the whole world is at stake and you-"

"Don't you lecture me about what is right and good. I'll deal with the fae in your absence, after all, putting them in my favour means they'll have to do anything I want. I wanted what those masters of enchantments could make me? A talking spear? A flying sword?"

"Fine...I can duel you, but there has to rules."

"Absolutely," Arwen said at once, deadly serious as she snapped Honour back in its scabbard. "name them."

"We fight all out. On the open ground. I lose if you kill each of my forms, or force me to surrender in my base form somehow. I win if others have to intervene to stop me from killing you, but you accept the responsibility if they cannot stop me in time."

"Still weak then huh," Arwen sighed, "well, I'll show you real strength. Because unlike you I can both win, AND not put my opponent in the grave."

Clasping hands, the deal was made.

"This way then, I've gotten the field ready."

Raising an eyebrow, Arwen followed him.

"You expected it would come to this, I'm somewhat impressed. Although I do hope whatever body you used in the sewers is as interesting as I think it is."

"You saw that?"

"I saw fire blasting out from manholes, then found a bunch of your people guarding the entrances. After getting in, I then found the slag you left behind."

"Yeah, had some more spiderwebs left to burn here before I left. It's all under control now though, I can leave Oldeth in the hands of my friends."

As they walked Kenji couldn't help but wonder, why had Skadi claimed Arwen was the only one who would emerge from the Fae lands alive if Kenji hadn't received his powerup? Mithril armour or not, that wouldn't do anything against what he had seen in the Cloud City. What then would she have done, betrayed them? Summoned something to fight for her? Or was this silver swordmaster even more powerful then Kenji had thought?

Chuckling he knew that couldn't be it. No matter what, he was confident regular humans were weak. The Sidkhani were easily the most powerful variation of human he had come to know and even...no, Arwen had defeated their champion hadn't she? And the Silver Swan Knights during the siege of Tariak had been impressive too - but Kenji had been distracted at the time, he hadn't fully gauged their individual power.

Shaking his head he decided it was too late now, he would just have to accept Arwen's strength and give this his all.

"You can still give up, let me keep your Honour," Arwen grinned.

"Not on your life, just don't die. I need you."

The sword maiden's cheeks felt a touch of pink, then her smile widened only further.

"You've got balls, I'll give you that!"

Her slap on the back nearly swept Kenji off his feet.

"I meant for dealing with the Fae!" Kenji growled and walked a little faster.

Bickering like old couple they arrived at an open field, only those trusted watching from the sidelines. Violet, Arti, Kragg, Hartog, Almanac, Lando and Caster ready to intervene if Kenji grew unstable as the Green Overlord.

"Can I at least use Honour with this duel? I swear I'll give it right back afterwards, but if you want to fight me at my full potential then you'll need to hand it over."

"Swear on your Honour that you'll give it right back if you lose," Arwen smirked.

"Fine," Kenji wilted, "I swear on my Honour. Can you hand it over now?"

Feeling Honour's leather grip again the blade hummed with delight. Immediately Kenji felt ten times worse for gambling the blade away, although his regret was burned away by the feeling of Honour's excitement. Together again, Honour was in the mood to dish out the pain.

Taking stock, Kenji still had Arthur and the still unstable Green Overlord. Paired with his new additions of Spider, Vector, and Sangria Amar - Kenji was confident he wouldn't have to use more than two bodies to win. Despite any trick she might have, Kenji could learn to counter them and Honour would be his again.

Still, with Kenji's current power he hoped it wouldn't have to come to that.

"Before we start, I'll show you what my base form looks like. Please do not attack if I look this way midnight, it means I've run out of forms and have been defeated," Kenji transformed into the [Forbidden Mimic - Aspect of Greed].

Taller again now, his chains turned a grey silver, a mask of the strange weblike steel covering his face. Etched with faint details, it looked like the artefact of a bygone era. His cloth had similarly turned a space purple, red stars glittering beneath the flaps, the black bandages beneath even that now made of spider silk.

"Very exotic, can we get started now?"

"One last thing, just wanted to try this out now that I have the chance," with a flourish of his hands Kenji produced a magical sets of glittering playing cards. Then a gleaming gold coin, a glittering dice, and his very own floating spinning wheel. Banishing it all in a shower of sparks, Kenji finally transformed into the Boy Knight and lowered his blade.

"You start when I say so!" Violet shouted, "Read? Set? FIGHT!"

"[Overdrive][Martial Aura][Champion of greed Evolution]!" Kenji called out in quick succession, power flooding his limbs even as Arthur's body began to erode. Even then he was nearly too slow to stop Arwen's blade.

"[Silver slash]!"

Wicked fast she cut Kenji across the left arm.

"[Full frontal ass-"

"[Silver slash]!"

Before Kenji could activate his skill, his head was sent spinning, the crowd gasping.

A flash of green light later, and Kenji reformed as Vector the land titan. Grasping Honour, he reactivated "[Overdrive][Champion of Greed Evolution][Spirit Sword Refit]!" and added a "[Titan strength]" to the mix, Vector's body gaining an extra foot of height while the skill of ancient warriors filled his limbs. Honour's' ability activated, and the blade extended to a claymore to suit the Vector's preferences.

"That [Silver slash] is bullshit. You'll have to convince your father to teach it to me sometime." Kenji said and lowered the now extreme length of Honour's blade, the sword as long as he was tall.

"Please, I was the one who both invented it and taught it to him. Even then the old man can only do it once before getting exhausted - oh and if you think a bit of extra muscle will help you, just know, it won't."

Arwen smiled from a decent distance away and lowered her sabre. Nonetheless, she couldn't use those skills much more, no matter how strong she was, she was only human.

"Try not to die!" Kenji roared, stomping forward, Honour on-route to cleave through Arwen's mithril plate and splatter her blood across the stone.

"[Silver dash][Silver slash]!" in a flash of light Kenji lost a leg and an arm. Hopping on one foot, blood pumping in his ears, he saw only a flash of light before he lost his head.

Rising again as Sangria Amar, Kenji fitted out his buffs and produced a shield of smoke.

Evolved, his mana was greatly expanded, his spells additionally potent, and Amar's spellcasting speed tripled. Arwen cut through his ultimate defence like a boil all the same, shrugged off a blast of dark magic to cleave free another of Kenji's heads.

"Just who the hell are you?"

"Arwen, progedy of the sword, and General of the Northern Army," Arwen smiled, and with a flick of her blade, the blood-splattered free to leave the steel shining and smooth.

Reforming as Spider, Kenji quickly readied his abilities. Unlike the others, this was one of the 18, and while his [Death Curse] had finished him quickly, Kenji discovered several interesting abilities.

"No going back now, so much as a touch in this form and your dying for good," Kenji said and cast "[Poison Touch]" to send rippling ultra-purple corrosive lines crisscrossing his body. Pair that with "[Gambler's Greed]" and his luck was boosted too and "[Shadow blades]" to produce five shadow swords. Evolving had both increased these abilities power, while also unlocking the powers Venom had foolishly gambled away his ability to use.

Still, some of the Spider's more potent abilities hadn't simply been sealed from him but removed altogether. And even an evolution couldn't return the godlike poison that had forever been sgiven to Skadi.

"Oh I see, so I have to kill you without being touched?"

Kenji didn't like how Arwen was smiling, seeming like she had all the puzzle pieces she needed.

"Indeed, but each movement I make does this!" Jumping forward, a hundred purple droplets filled the air, "Which when mixed with my enhanced luck - do that!"

Inexplicably, the majority of his jettisoned droplets screamed through the air towards Arwen.

"[Silver Matrix]!" A web of silver slashed filled the air as her sword blurred, every single droplet that would have hit home deflected, "[Silver Dash][Silver Slash]!"

She closed the distance in a moment. Another damn head lost.

Reforming in his base form, Kenji [Reclaimed] the head, and looked up at Arwen.

She breathed heavily, forehead slick with sweat, shoulders slumped.

"Oof, now that was a workout," She smiled, sweat dripping down her side. "Got any more, or is this another win for me?"

"Oh I have one more all right, but you're not going to like it. PUT UP THE BARRIER!"

It wouldn't be enough, but a blue dome of mana appeared to surround the battlefield, the onlookers hiding behind stone walls reinforced with sandbags, the weakest ordered to leave outright. No one would be safe in the coming fight.

"I can truly not hold back this time. I am not joking, I will try to kill you with everything I have and it will be impossible for me to do otherwise. Are you sure you want to do this, General of the North?"

Crystal walls exploded around the rim, Violet adding one last layer of protection for the onlookers.

Vines erupted to hold the crystal tight, sprouting wood forming walls behind as Arti and his druids creating a living wall. Kragg sharpened his claws, Almanac prepared his most terrible spells.

Because if Kenji won, he had to be killed no matter the cost. The Green Overlord could not be allowed to be set free in the centre of a populated city.

"Come at me," Arwen grinned, arms trembling with the effort to raise her sword, the toll of using so many skills finally sapping her strength.

"You'll die," Kenji said plainly.

"Oh, I doubt that very much," Removing her gloves and the crystals beneath, she threw them to land outside the barrier. With her power restrictors gone, she breathed easily once more, "Still have a trick up my leave you see, so don't you worry. Come at me with everything you've got!"

Kenji frowned, she took of those gloves before in the arena. But if she could have used [Silver Matrix] and [Silver Dash] back then, she would have wiped the Spiderknight Champion in a moment. Why had she decided to reveal these skills now?

Kenji shifted, flashed, his body raged and he screamed as he pulled forth such dense power back to reality. Just like the dungeon, he was consumed with the urge to destroy adventurers, but after using [Champion of Greed Evolution] that desire muted into hate as dense as a star.

Rage became cold reason, wild power became calculated fury. The mark of the black star formed on his chest, a flaming crown appeared above his head, furious eye filled wings spread from behind his back to carry him into the air.

Kenji snapped his entire focus on the girl hiding in that mithril armour, using it to...downplay her strength? His eyes saw the truth beneath her shell, no longer could she fool him.

"[Obliterate]!" Kenji cast at once, urging the screaming laser to vaporise the opponent before her true power could be unleashed. The laser hit her armour to rebound, piercing the weak magical dome and fly high into the sky. The explosion tore apart a cloud, a great many birds taking off in fright across Oldeth.

But why did his [Obliterate] become deflected? It should have exploded when in close proximity.

Kenji spied Arwen throw aside her superheated shoulder plate, the mithril red hot and running across the ground. Beneath her armour, a muscular shoulder was covered in runes, magical wire, and binding spells in a shell of nail thin mithril. The plate, it was fake, and what lay beneath, was it meant to empower her? Had it anti-magical properties that had deflected his [Obliterate]?

"[Hell Portals][Soul Engine]"twelve portals appeared to Kenji's side, evolved Green Boys spewing out, while his [Soul Anchor] still filled with the souls of those decrepit gangsters activated. They screamed inside, as their spiritual essence was converted to limitless mana.

"[Obliterate][Obliterate][Obliterate]!"Firing from his wings as well, three streams of death crashed against Arwen, to again be deflected high into the sky. Explosions rocked the heavens, while Arwen was forced to allow her chest and arm plates to fall away a liquid mess.

"Fine, better a girl undress herself than allow you to do so so poorly," Arwen laughed, and sent her armour crashing around her. Mithril coated magical equipment tumbled in a pile, a sudden aura lashing the very air as she jumped from one foot to the other. Her exhaustion faded as spurts of silver aura unfurled behind her, the aura growing dense, and forming cloudlike wings.

Kenji roared and sent a concentrated wave of his demonic aura to crash against her.

Shielding herself with the silver cloud wings, wearing nothing more than underwear and bandages, Arwenwitheld from his attack. Then split it in two.

"The hell are you - a bloody angel?" Kenji lost his cool, rage resurfacing, this bodies primeval enemy presented before it, "A FUCKING ANGEL?"

Something clicked within Kenji, ancient genes activating, old magics awakening, and perhaps the touch of a vengeful demonic god. Because right there on the spot, Kenji evolved. Not like the increased power from [Champion of Greed Evolved], but certainly helped by it, his wings bubbled with eyes, his horns grew tall, his aura terrible to behold.

"I am the Ruler, King of Power, Face of Destruction!" Kenji roared. His face felt hot as plasma, the same red hot fire wrapping his body, and in moments he was reborn in full. His carapace glittered more majestically than any crown, his nobility grander than any prince, his body firming, wrapping, to form a plasma armoured man with flaring green hair, a crown of rainbow crystal, and his mind filled with ancient secrets of some forgotten nightmare.

"[Face of Destruction]!" Kenji cast his spell, and everything before him was blasted aside by crashing waves of magic. Walls blew away, the ground was scorched, the air corrupted, and every lash of magic washing over the damned angel and her wings.

Arwen shielded herself behind her silver cloud aura, and stalked closer, battling the hail, the fire, the wind and magma as if a common storm. Kenji's Green Boys charged only to be cut to pieces, and only after adding a double salvo of "[Obliterate]" did she finally halt to deflect both beams into the atmosphere with the edge of her blade.

"[King's Flame]!" Kenji unleashed a torrent of green to wash away the entire battlefield, smoke clearing to reveal only molten stone. Grinning, he raised his hands and turned them upon the crowd- what was that glint above him?

"[Silver Dawn][Silver Matrix]!"

Too slowly he noticed Arwen descend, and in a flash, the deed was done.

The Green overlord's head added to the rest, Kenji reforming in the hellscape he had created.

"Well that...was a hell...of a fight," Arwen weaned, burns crisscrossing her body, sweat dripping in buckets. She offered Kenji a hand.

Sighing, Kenji took it and was pulled off his feet. Holding him close in strong arms, Arwen pushed their faces dangerously close together.

"Maybe one day you'll be strong enough to beat me, but for now your Honour remains mine. Now, shall we get going?"

Heart throbbing, Kenji didn't know what to say, what to do. Eventually, he nodded and was let go.

"Oh, and I'm not an angel. I don't even worship the Three, or the Fourth. I'm my own being and creating armour that stops everyone staring wherever I go is going to be even more expensive than last time. A had a Frost Giant make that armour you know, he's going to be so pissed when he hears how I broke it. Still, it has been a very long time so I didn't have to hold back, even if it was for only a little bit."

Arwen winked as she licked the blood running down her face, and returned to her pile of armour, re-attaching those scraps that still worked. A pair of gauntlets and boots mainly, their sealing power strong enough that those silver cloud wings faded away, as did her heavenly radiance. Other than buck-naked, Kenji could almost see her as just a regular human girl again.

Other than the fact she stood unalarmed amidst a field of magma.

"You coming? I thought we had Fae to kill."

"Yep, I'm coming," Kenji said, staring after her, feeling almost as if he was floating. It felt odd, but to have her come with them made him feel safer, and a little happier.

Holding his chest he felt warm inside, like a dying flower had finally bloomed.

She cleaved her own path through life, and Kenji realised now that he wanted to do the same. It was time to stop worrying, stop holding himself back, and start building the feature he wanted himself.