Chapter 170: Forbidden Art - Sword Tribulation

Sceptim shouted while exchanging blows with Kalda.

"Formation soldiers! Attack the enemy before you with Formation Hit-and-Run. Do not—under any circumstances—allow yourself to be grabbed!"

"Yes!" all of the knights shouted.

All of them had their weapons and their Ki ready.

'Did Sceptim train all them to get this strong?' Arnold looked up at Sceptim, 'I guess Flora has met her match.'

Flora was known as the greatest swordsmanship master in the entire game. Of course, this is only later in the story when she's older and had gone through several battles.

She had to stop Luke's training midway because she had to go on a journey to find herself. This is something warriors do to reflect on their mistakes in battle and to improve themselves mentally. This is way different than physically training yourself. Flora became one with the sword due to this.

Of course, there were sacrifices. Luke almost lost the interschool Knightly Competition where aspiring knights duel for honor and prestige.

He was weak compared to his opponents. It was an event brimming with talent and geniuses.

He couldn't fight against other knight students while his weapon art training was incomplete. If he lost then he would've lost Olivia, his heirloom Semi-Star sword and even the Berkley House.

Knightly Competitions are a tradition amongst academies that takes place every two years. It's an honored tradition between academies that put Houses, spouses and even heirlooms at stake. Many have lost the abovementioned. It's a battle that only heirs can partake in. Those who can't fight or are in other fields are exempted from this, however.

The most important thing any heir should have in this competition is a weapon art.

Fighting against someone with a weapon art while lacking one yourself is beyond idiotic. A butterknife can't win against an enchanted magic sword. It's a bizarre comparison but that's sadly the distinction between weapon art users and normal knights.

Arnold would've fought in this competition as well since he meets all the requirements.

Is it possible for Luke to create his very own weapon art just like in the DLC? Could that weapon art rival Arnard Valith Claude von Berkley's [Water's Edge], Arnold's [Flow of The Tide] or Marcus' [Spear God Thunder]?  

It's highly likely that Arnold will fight in the competition again. He's fought in one of these events two times so far. He won both times. Their household gained new vassals and Arnold had several different candidates to pick as his wives.

He wants to fight in the competition again next year. Of course, it won't be under the Berkley name. It will be under the Penston name if Selia gives Arnold the go-ahead with the engagement. 

Which means… a rematch between Arnold and Luke isn't impossible.

Arnold continued watching how Sceptim was skillfully handling an opponent who was far stronger than him.

'What would've changed if Luke met this guy?'

Flora was a long ways away from obtaining the Sword Master title.

Sceptim was already worthy of that title. He was probably as strong or stronger than Vance.

Kalda and Sceptim landed on the ground. The two gained distance from each other.

Sceptim landed near Arnold.

Her eyes were focused solely on him.

'She doesn't even see the knights as worthy enemies.' Arnold thought as he glanced at the calm Sceptim, 'Only Sceptim is worthy in her eyes.'

This wasn't arrogance because of one's strength. It was confidence. The confidence that only the strong have.

Arnold's senses suddenly screamed for him to dodge something coming from his right. Instead of dodging, he swung his sword to his right. Sceptim swung his sword as well.

Kalda was standing right between the two.

She knocked their weapons away by hitting their wrists.

Arnold felt a portion of his aura being sucked away when she touched him.

'What an annoying power.'

He also felt some sort of sting on the area she touched. Perhaps she has the ability to stun the people she touches? That seems useful if you want to suck your prey dry without having them struggle. Many animals stun their prey through poison that acts immediately. Kalda's soul power acts the same way it seems.

Arnold jumped back just before Kalda could grab him. If he lost more aura then he wouldn't have enough reserves to fight properly.

Sceptim decided to do the opposite: He closed in on Kalda again, dodging her attempts to grab him and striking her with his longsword. The cut on Kalda's left arm healed instantly.

Sceptim relentlessly pursued her as she flew away and threw projectiles made from her own energy. 

The pole of Kalda's scythe shortened again, becoming small enough to be held with one hand. She met Sceptim's longsword calmly when he caught up to her.

The two fought in mid-air as they fell to the ground slowly. They were like two leaves falling while spinning around each other.

The knights joined in when Sceptim gained distance from Kalda.

'He's playing cat and mouse with Kalda.'

It's a great tactic against someone who absorbs energy or has a skill that can absorb energy.

Gaining distance every once in a while ensures that Sceptim doesn't lose a lot of Ki.

Judging by his heavy breathing, Kalda had managed to touch him during their exchange of blows.

The knights were now relentlessly attacking Kalda. Of course, a few of them were unable to dodge Kalda and were sent flying with either a kick or a punch. The others managed to hold on, trying to push Kalda into a corner.

Having to fight so many knights at once doesn't give her a big window to attack or escape.

The reason he stayed behind is because he was studying Kalda's moves. She's way faster than before so he needs to be able to predict her moves without solely relying on his speed.

It seems the more aura he loses, the heavier the armor becomes. This is what pisses him off about magic armor. Every other player of Star Fantasy would share this sentiment.

Arnold heard Tanaera's voice coming from the wisp.

-"Should I summon more of the demons from before?"

"No. Summon demons that can act as tanks and have a lot of HP."

-"Eh?"

"I mean that it should be able to tank powerful blows. I want to do something that'll end this fight for good. I need some time for it to succeed."

Arnold looked at the knights and Sceptim who were attacking Kalda in turns. None of them could land a single hit. The hits that Arnold thought would connect were deflected by Kalda's scythe. Only Sceptim was able to visibly hit her. Of course, her wounds healed instantly.

Arnold wasn't planning on dragging this fight on any longer. He wants to end it in one blow.

He still has his martial art that he hadn't used in a while.

He looked at his left arm. He could move it somewhat but couldn't exert a lot of strength with it.

'If my adaptability as a Transcendent is the same as described in the game then I should be able to use my weapon art with one arm.'

Plus, he may go through a temporary evolution.

If [Storm of The Water Dragon] could turn into [Leviathan Storm] then [Flow of The Tide] can ascend to [Fury of The Trench]. Being a "EX" skill means that a skill doesn't have a limit to how strong it can become. It can be continuously levelled up and new martial skills can be added to it.

Arnold could only use one martial skill that's linked to his weapon art. He'll have to make sure to unlock his other skills in the future. For that he'll need to keep am eye out for Quests from the System. Having only one skill makes fighting harder since you can be forced to show your trump cards beforehand. 

But wait… Didn't Arnold unlock a skill not too long ago?

"Actually…" Arnold spoke into the wisp again, "Try summoning a greater demon this time."

-"What kind?"

"Strength-type. They should be able to hold out on their own when the time calls for it. Also, make sure their skin is immune to magical effects."

Meaning their Magical Damage stat should be maxed out.

Tanaera exchanged her [Dark Magician] class for a [Dark World Summoner] class. The class allows her to summon many variants of demons, including demon monsters. Considering how she works with dark magic, it didn't come as a surprise to Arnold that she knows so much about demons.

Dark magic is linked to the Demon World. Dark magic races—just like normal magic races—originate from dark magic. Succubi are one example of a magic race. Like High Elves or Fairies, they don't eat. A magic race's source of energy varies. It depends on which race they're from. Succubi get their energy from bodily fluids, like semen or blood. One could say that they're similar to vampires in that regard.

Arnold had her summon demons that have explosive puss leaking out of their bodies. They can naturally make their bodies produce a flame which in turn causes them to explode. They are known as "Suicide Bombers" in the game.

Arnold used his speed to switch places with the demons in an attempt to deal some damage to Kalda.

That plan failed. Even if it did succeed, there's no way for him to use it now. That's because the knights were now fighting alongside him and Sceptim.

"Lord Arnold!" someone suddenly appeared next to him. It was one of the knights who works under Sceptim.

The woman took off her helmet, letting down her vibrant pink hair.

"What is it?"

"What should we do? We're using the tactic that Master Sceptim taught us but that's not stopping Lady Kalda at all. She's too fast. She's not even paying attention to us. She's only focusing on fighting Master Sceptim."

Arnold looked over at Sceptim. He was busy fighting Kalda one-on-one.

Arnold also noticed that empty pieces of armor was littering the floor. He was so absorbed in thought that he didn't notice what had happened.

'She didn't just absorb their energy… She erased them from existence itself.'

Arnold spoke to the woman, "I have a plan in mind but it will be dangerous. Also, it will require all your help."

"What should we do?"

"My companion, the summoner, is busy with a ritual that will summon a demon which is vital to my plan. The demon will try to immobilize Kalda."

"Immobilize her…? Surely you jest…?"

"Kalda doesn't seem to have gotten stronger since her first form. She only acquired the ability to absorb energy at a stupidly fast rate. I felt it earlier when she touched me during our exchange."

Absorption is a kind of magical effect. Kalda isn't using a skill to absorb energy but her soul power so Magic Damage should be resistant to a certain degree.

Of course, common sense doesn't apply to that woman so he might he wrong.

"We'll have a small window to completely finish her off. What I'm going to do will only work if multiple people are involved."

The skill he unlocked is more effective against armies and giants but he has a hunch that it can work if he uses it the way he's imagining.

'If years of playing this game has taught me anything, it's that every skill is flexible so long as you know what you're doing.'

"Gather the knights. I'll give a signal when you should get ready."

"Uhm, what should we do once you give the signal?"

Arnold looked at the woman, "What's your name?"

"My name is Caerwyn… Lord Arnold…"

"Caerwyn, all I want all of you to do is swing a sword at the enemy. I'll handle the rest."

The hesitation disappeared from her eyes.

She nodded with a determined expression.

"I won't disappoint you!"

"Alright. Now go. Don't make it too obvious what we're doing. Kalda is currently being distracted by Sceptim."

'I wonder... Did he purposefully fight her alone so that I can come up with a plan?'

"Yes!" Caerwyn saluted before she ran towards the group of knights that were nearby.

'It seems all of them grew scared when they saw what Kalda can do in her second form.' Arnold looked at the empty pieces of armors, 'I'm risking my life for an artifact. Things would've been much easier if this were the game.'

Of course, if he dies then he'll be sent back to that Angel Sanctuary they visited not too long ago. His mark was already on that shrine. He'll cause the death of an angel in the process.

Just because he won't die if he's killed doesn't mean that he'll get complacent and screw things up.

This has to work.

'What was that saying again?' Arnold wondered to himself.

-Martial gods look down upon the curse delivered to the world by forbidden arts.

'Every single martial arts school followed this same example and cast forbidden arts out of their spaces.'

Forbidden arts wasn't a major part of the main storyline but some appeared during side quests. A few of the enemies that Luke fought alongside the Hero Party were forbidden arts practitioners who gave Luke quite a bit of trouble. There was even a cult at some point who regarded Arnold as their god or something.

Why did they regard Arnold as their god, you ask? Well, that's because Arnold is the only known warrior capable of learning every single forbidden arts there was. He even created his own using the foundations of lost martial arts and turning them into forbidden arts.

This caused him to draw a cult of followers unknowingly.

Forbidden arts don't have a true name. They're simply known as "Forbidden" because they go against the rules and laws set by the martial gods who passed down their martial arts. Martial arts are for self-defense and battle.

However, forbidden arts are solely meant to kill.

The first forbidden art didn't originate from a martial god. It originated from a  human who learned a certain martial art. That human ruined everything that was sacred about fighting with martial arts.

Arnold trained under Sebastian so he knows quite a lot about forbidden arts. In fact, he was planning on mastering some of them before the Knightly Competitions.

Despite being taboo, they won't stop a duel just because a participant used a forbidden art.

The motto associated with the event is:

Fight with everything you have.

Arnold already has several forbidden arts that he learned under Sebastian. Of course, Sebastian only taught him these arts to use when the time calls for it, not for sport in killing monsters and bullying people. It all started after Arnold was almost assassinated.

Some believed in the following myth:

A child with a forbidden art can defeat even a martial arts master.

It sounded ridiculous but knowing the kinds of forbidden arts out there it begins to sound less ridiculous.

Arnold gripped his sword.

'If this fails to kill Kalda then I'll be defenseless.'

His priority was to secure her soul for "that" personage that Siana mentioned. Killing was his only option since there's no way he can take her alive.

Arnold remembered a certain quote as the scene of Hero Arnold decimating an army on his own flashed in his mind:

-"A man using a thousand swords is deadlier than an army with an equal amount of weapons. If he has the power to fight with a thousand swords alone then he is no man… He is the army itself."

"Forbidden Art – Sword Tribulation." Hundreds of bright lights manifested around the great hall.

Each of those lights turned into swords of varying sizes.

Arnold took out his Aura Sword.

The dark blue blade of Arnold's soul weapon became a bright yellow and grew in length before it turned into an Ultra Greatsword.

Every single one of the swords radiated such pressure that the air became several times heavier.

All that pressure and killing intent was meant solely for Kalda.

Everyone was looking at Arnold.

Even Kalda's eyes were drawn to him.

Doesn't matter. They were already prepared to face her.

Arnold felt his power draining at an extremely fast rate but he held himself together.

"Grab the swords!" Arnold's voice boomed throughout the great hall, "Show her no mercy!"

"""""OOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!""""

The knights bellowed before every single one of them grabbed a light sword and charged at Kalda.