10 Ceremony and An Interruption

"I, King Arthur, rule this land and therefore, will reward and reprimand my people when it is needed!" the same speech I'd heard Artoria practicing for the past week echoed through the open land she was currently speaking in.

Though, it wasn't an empty bedroom this time but instead a massive field just outside of Camelot with a massive crowd of people all celebrating.

Why were we outside Camelot? Well, during this celebration - about something I had no clue about - Artoria thought it best to hold a tourney.

Oh, and thought it best to have me FUCKING KNIGHTED!

I don't mind too much about it - being a Knight seems pretty cool, I guess - but I don't want to have it done in front of thousands of plebs! I'd rather get it over and done with behind closed doors where I could wear my usual training clothes. A tunic styled as a tank-top and some shorts. But because we're in front of the people, I've had to dress myself in some fancy 5th century clothes worn by nobles.

I tried to get them to make a tuxedo but neither could they understand my instructions, and Artoria and Merlin said it wasn't right for the occasion, so my plans of looking like James Bond while getting Knighted went right out the window.

Woe is me, right?

"Now is not the time for reprimands, however, but for rewards and rewards will be given a plenty!" she continued shouting, her voice having an illusion cast over it to make it deep enough to pass as a man's while her clothes and heavy metal armor hid her frail physique. While I pulled at the overly tight shirt collar, Artoria continued, "I call forth Gabriel, my friend, to receive what is rightfully his!" hearing her, I stopped messing with my clothes and stood up from the chair I was on.

Walking up the steps of the stage, I felt the gawking but I was unperturbed by it - I'd had people call me a demon and a monster, so a bit of curious staring wasn't all that bad by my standards, honestly.

I heard a few gasps here and there, however, as my sensitive hearing picked up people speaking about my...size, I guess.

You see, I wasn't what you'd call giant in terms of height. I was about 6'2". Nothing too big. But my muscles...well, they were quite big and noticeable. Even under the clothes I was currently wearing. You see, most people in the 5th century can't get the right nutrition or training to have muscles like mine - I, on the other hand, have wonderful genetics and my ability to hunt animals and steal food from whoever I wanted, well, it allowed me to get the nutrition I needed.*

(*A/N - He's also only 15. Plenty of time to grow. Oh yeah, if you want a reference for his body type and what he looks like overall, look to the cover for the novel. Minus the Japanese clothing. For now, anyway.)

What am I getting at? The peasants don't see someone like me much. Tall, obviously shredded with muscle, handsome beyond belief--I mean, even the Knights of the time aren't exactly the most muscular. Not when compared to the kind of muscular you'd see in the 21st Century or in, well, Baki.

Coming to a stop in front of Artoria, I looked down at her and she pulled Caliburn from it's scabbard gaining a few 'ooh's and 'ahh's when she did.

Seeing this, I took a knee in front of her, with my height still letting me stay somewhat on eye-level with her. What? Didn't think I'd kneel to people? Bah. Only an actual weakling would worry about something like that. 'Oh no! People will think I'm weak because I showed proper respect and manners to someone!' Get real. If they think I'm weak for this, they can for all I care.

I don't care much for appearances, honestly. I'll do what I want, when I want, and how I want. People can think what they want. They just better be careful it doesn't come back to bit them in the ass one day when they underestimate me.

Caliburn came down to be rested on my shoulder and Artoria spoke some stuff about protecting the kingdom or whatever, I wasn't really listening.

I only really started listening again when Artoria said, "Rise, Sir Gabriel," and so I did, looking down at the oddly proud Artoria, "And receive your holy sword," she said and I furrowed my brows for a second.

Sword? When the hell was that brought up?

She flourished her arm to the side and I instantly heard grunting. Following the sounds, I saw a dozen strong-looking men carrying a massive sword. When I saw it, I instantly recognized it.

Ah, so that sword is also here.

But...'It was too big to be called a sword. Massive, thick, heavy, and far too rough. Indeed, it was a heap of raw iron.' That's how the quote goes, right? But a holy sword, huh? Well, that's odd. Don't remember it ever having holy properties.

"I present to you, Sir Gabriel, Durandal, the Unbroken Sword!" she gave a valiant shout, causing excitement to erupt through the crowd through the medium of cheers and hollering.

...Durandal? This sword is clearly Dragon Slayer, not some poxy holy sword.

But casting aside my thoughts, I turned to the men who were walking toward me, their muscles exerting themselves to the maximum. Well, not the maximum. They were using their muscles incorrectly but I guess not everyone's as gifted as me, huh?

Smirking to myself, I took a step toward them, wanting to do them the favor of taking such a 'heavy' burden off their shoulders. Literally.

The handle of the colossal sword was pointed in my direction. The sword was easily taller than a regular man. Even taller than I was. It was wider and thicker than any sword I'd ever seen as well. It truly was a heap of raw iron given the form of a sword. Well, more like a bladed club but you know, whatever floats your boat.

After a few steps, I grabbed the sword and under the astonished gazes of the men carrying it and the people in the crowd, I easily picked it up with a single arm.

Meanwhile, I looked at the heap of iron on a stick, and I gave a nod.

"It's got a good weight to it," I smiled before moving the blade about a bit, doing some practice swings. Away from the people who brought it to me, of course. Don't wanna make a mess on stage, after all. But before I could do anything else, I felt the ground shaking and at the same time my hears picked up some hoarse shouting in a language that definitely didn't belong to any human vocal cords.

Stopping my display, I turned to look passed the crowd and toward the horizon. Figures were running here, armored in crude armor made of iron scraps...they looked like barbarians.

Usually, this wouldn't be a problem. Barbarians against Artoria's army or well-trained soldiers and knights? The barbarians would get crushed. Especially seeing as this is near Camelot - it was Artoria's army's home ground. They had the home advantage.

Yet that wouldn't be the case today. Why?

Because while they may look like barbarians, they're also about 20 feet tall and built like brick shit houses.

Giants. Massive beings of prodigious strength and endurance. A small group of Giants can take on an entire human army. They're skin is also unnaturally resistant to things like fire and other elemental attacks making most Magics useless against them. You'd need to be a mage on the same level as Merlin to take down a group of three Giants and that'd require draining yourself to the last brim of Mana in yourself and throwing your strongest spells at them.

Physical combat is the way to go and going up against a Giant in a physical fight...well, let's just say unless you're like me, you'd be very outmatched.

And this approaching group isn't just a few Giants, either. A quick look and estimate tells me that there are around 25 of the bastards.

25 Giants...that's enough to lay waste to a city. Easily.

Even with the brawn their overall size and bulk affords them, they can punch through stone easily enough. Put that together with the fact that they're magical creatures that are enhanced by their own innate magic and you get some real heavy hitters.

...Exactly what I've been waiting for!

Turning back to Artoria, a jagged smile ripping itself across my face, I hoisted Durandal, as it was called in this world, onto my shoulder before speaking to her, "Your Majesty, get the civilians inside Camelot and rouse the army. I'll cover the evacuation," I said, as politely as I could or as politely as my excitement would let me. Upon seeing Artoria's face go confused, I clarified quickly, "Giants. There's a band of about 25 Giants on their way. I'll cover the retreat. Good time to test out this sword, huh?"

And with that I was off. My balance was a bit lopsided with Durandal and it's massive size and weight but I soon adapted to it. I let my muscles begin to warm up, their vibration beginning in fervor as I flew over the crowd with them making space for where I landed.

Good thing to - I wasn't gonna stop for some common humans when I have such a good fight waiting for me! Hahaha!

I charged and leapt my way to the my destination and the Giants met me halfway. The lead giant, the biggest one who was a few feet taller than the rest, lifted his massive hammer to the side, stopping his brethren's charge. He looked at me, his massive beard shaking as he opened his mouth to show his crooked and blackened teeth, "You not human. You defend humans?" his spoke English, which honestly surprised me. It wasn't fluent and sounded a lot like how I'd imagine a caveman to speak but it was well beyond what I expected to hear.

"Yeah," I nodded, lifted the sword off my shoulder and holding it like one would a stick, "I defend humans," I smiled wide, clenching my teeth together as the sound of my blood rushing began to enter my ears, sounding like a tidal wave of red, filled with adrenaline and endorphins.

A gruff roar came from the Giant Leader's mouth as he stepped forward, shouting something in Giant as he swung his gigantic Hammer down at me.

...Get it? 'Gigantic'? Ah, nevermind. 5th century England has sent me a bit mental.

The power behind the hammer was massive. The brute force held inside the Giant's arm was massive. Maybe even greater than my own. But that's the problem.

Lifting Durandal up, I swung my body around, building up centrifugal force before I swung my arm out like a whip, Durandal's weight increasing the speed, momentum and power even further. Just as the two weapons collided, my muscles released a burst of pure power that slapped the hammer to the side, making it miss my body by a few feet.

The impact kicked up a wave of dirt but I didn't let it distract me as I used the leftover momentum of Durandal to swing the blade down and then up in a beautiful arc before slashing down and cutting the Giant's arm off at the elbow.

Durandal, despite being like a dagger or short sword when compared to the Giants' weapons, was still big enough to be considered a weapon by Giant standards.

Hence why it was able to cut through the thick forearm of the Giant Leader.

Artoria's Caliburn would have the sharpness to cut through a Giant, sure, but it wouldn't have the size or thickness to cleanly cut through the entirety of a Giant's arm without being stopped in the process. At most it could inflict deep slashing and stabbing wounds.

But Durandal didn't have such a problem.

With a scream that was deep and rough, hurting even my ears, the Giant Leader backed up, holding his new stump as it spewed out blood like something out of Kill Bill. It backed up, confusion and pain very clear in it's eyes as it looked to me.

It looked like it was about to bark out some more orders, but it was stopped when it's own hammer slammed into it's own face - courtesy of me - crushing it inward with a sickly crunch and dropping the Giant to the floor like a bag of potatoes.

A real big bag of potatoes.

The other Giants seemed utterly dumbfounded by what had just happened and I didn't wait around for them to get their heads out of their asses.

I jumped up, slamming Durandal right down on top of the nearest Giants head, squashing it like a watermelon and inwardly remarking that Durandal really was like a bladed club more than anything else.

This kick started the Giants' brains and I spring boarded myself off of the Giant with the crushed head, just in time to narrowly dodge dozens of blades cutting into it's upper body.

Yeesh, not even caring about your comrade's body~?

Smiling to myself and at my own joke, I used Durandal's weight to move myself out of the way of a Giant's punch, countering with my own kick that snapped the Giant's arm in half before I stabbed through it's stomach, using my momentum, Durandal's weight and the wonderful power of gravity to bisect the Giant from the stomach down.

Once on the floor, the carnage really began as I started hacking and slashing at the Giants' legs and when they somehow dodged, I'd get in real close and snap their legs with a kick or a punch.

Though, in the heat of the moment, I didn't notice an attack coming and found myself getting hit by a hammer that quite frankly dwarfed even Durandal which must have been about 6 and a half feet long, with a thickness and width to match such a length.

The clump of metal, tied to a tree, hit me and I felt my consciousness fade to black for a second.

The power was...unreal. More so than my own. My skin split opened as the sharp edges, a telltale sign of poor craftsmanship (especially when we're talking about a hammer), dug into my skin, goring it open. I felt numerous cracks and even some small rips flood through the second layer of black skin that had up to this point only been breached by Merlin's magic and Artoria's Caliburn. I felt all the bones on one side of my body, the side that had been hit, break and snap like brittle twigs.

Worst of all, I felt my organs popping and squashing as the force bashed them against one another. Force they couldn't handle.

I felt myself flying through the air. I felt my consciousness fading once again.

...But I didn't want it to. I wouldn't let it slip away from me. I refused to let that happen.

I slammed my feet into the ground, a colossal boom echoing through the field as further cracks ran up my legs. But I didn't let up. Instead, I pressed harder.

The pain? Meaningless. The fading of consciousness? Meaningless. The broken bones? Meaningless. The organ damage? Meaningless. The blood loss? Meaningless.

My skin healed. The black armor-like secondary skin healed. The bones healed. The organs soon followed. The pain went away, just like the blackness that was threatening to take over my mind and stop this fight.

I was driven with an unnatural determination brought on by a single thought:

...Why would I ever go unconscious when there's such a good fight to be had?!

By the time my body had fixed itself, I came to a stop, only a dozen feet away from where I'd been hit by the Giant's hammer. The Giant in question looked at me with both confusion and fear as he saw my body that had just been broken, now healed and perfectly fine. Laughing, I smiled my usual slasher smile, feeling the manic excitement building inside of me before I boomed out at the Giant who'd hit me.

"You better have more hits like that left in you...because I'm just getting started!" I roared as I kicked up my muscles even further. I pumped my blood even faster. Fired off signals in my brain even faster.

I stepped forward and the ground crumbled away from me and I appeared in front of the Giant who hit me.

A simple slash.

Dead.

The Giant was cut in half, the top half sliding off and hitting the floor before the rest of the body followed suit, collapsing to the floor.

I felt a flux of elation and excitement fill me as I let all that rage inside me loose.

It'd been a long time since I'd had a chance to slaughter like this, huh? Then I better make the best use of it~!