Chapter 310: First Duel

"Wha—" Moby mumbled under his breath. 

Artorias's duel request seemingly came out of nowhere. He had just saved him from those two and now here he was challenging him to a fight.

Part of him thought that this was a perfect opportunity to see where he would stack up. There was no one watching them so he might be able to use more techniques and he would not have much of a loss in reputation when he loses.

But, at the same time, what was the point in all of that? If he fought him now, he might not have the chance to find time to contact his friends back on earth. He was more than certain that with his current power, even if he used his spirit mode, he would not even be able to bait out his ability. He would need to use sin mode to force it out of him, and for a simple spar, would it even be worth it to expose such a thing? It might cause some problems. 

No, even if he used his sin mode, by looking at the man in front of him he seemed completely calm. Sin mode's emotion-sucking might not be so effective, even if he did sense hints of oddity coming from him. 

"So… Kane… What will it be? I am patiently awaiting your response!" Artorias smiled brightly, asking his question once more. 

"*sigh* I'm sorry Artorias, but you think too highly of me. I've only got 1 year of experience with my ability and I know for a fact I am no match for you. Besides, I had other things planned for today… I'm sorry,"

"Oh! Come on! It's just a simple spar! It will not take too long!"

"..."

The air stood still, Artorias's expression turning more serious. 

"I see… So, you are the kind of person who only fights knowing they will win… Or, when you know you'll get something out of it…"

"Well… Yeah… What's wrong with that?"

"Fine… I'll play your little game… 10 seconds… If you survive for 60 seconds then I concede. I'll even use my ability, and we will both use standard weapons from the military. But, no spirit mode. You said you're low on time, and your reward will be that you get to see my ability.  As an added bonus, if you win I'll tell you exactly who I am and what my true mission is. You must go all out! If you lose it will simply be your loss. Fair trade right?"

Moby thought about it slightly before he made up his mind and smiled. 

"Sounds good! Those conditions are lovely." 

Already, Moby had failure in his mind. He had no intentions of using his sin-mode for a simple spar as even then victory was not guaranteed. He was going to get the simple reward of seeing his ability and that was it. He could not allow himself to be reckless, recklessness was what led to his agony.

"Very well! Then Prepare yourself!" An odd aura of light overcame Artorias's entire body, a light forming and flowing around his palms until it came into the form of what could only be described as a bastard sword with the intensity of something devine, like it was Excalibur itself.

"So… This must be your ability… Impressive…" Moby grinned, pulling out a standard military katana from thin air, transforming into his blackened spirit mode once more, eyes of sin fully active.

*Ding* 

Suddenly, a sound came from Moby's watch, making him look down only to see exactly what he expected. A duel request with all the conditions stated, which Moby quickly read."

"Accept it so we could start. After you do, there will be a count down until we begin."

"I see… Well, let's get this over with…" Moby's remark incited a certain look from Artorias, which he didn't notice due to looking down at his watch. 

[ Accept ]

[ 3 ]

[ 2 ]

[ 1 ]

[ START ] 

Immediately, Moby went for the defensive approach, doing exactly what he did with Lisvern by creating clones to buy time and distract his opponent. 

Artorias did not initially react, which made Moby feel like something was wrong as he was switching positions.

"Such circus tricks won't work on me…" Artorias mumbled in a low voice, and before Moby even knew it, there he was, besides his real body striking directly at his chest. 

Moby only had a split second to react, which he did by swapping his body with one of his clones. 

Moby was at a loss for words at how quickly he managed to track him… It was not even his first time teleporting. As he was mixing himself amongst the clones, he switched places with a few of them, so how was this man able to so easily make out who was who?

"Impressive... " Artorias smiled, lifting his sword up in the air. And, with simple slashes of his blade, shock waves and swipes of light were seen cutting through the air, straight towards Moby's actual body once more, forcing him to teleport again… And again… And again… Until he was the only one left. 

"I've figured your tricks out long ago Kane… Show me something new…"

Moby simply stood there speechless, his sweating hands grasping his sword as he prepared for what was coming towards him next.

"Show me your true strength!" 

Just like before, and possibly even quicker, there was Artorias once again straight in his face, aggressively slashing his sword towards him, and now with no clones to hide behind, he was forced to fight back. 

Right before the slash hit, its mark, Moby blocked and deflected it with his Katana, but instead of counter-attacking, he decided to use the opportunity to back off. 

However, his actions seemed to have garnered the wrath of his opponent even harder, as he seemingly teleported towards him once more, launching a fury of attacks with his brilliant blade. 

"Come on Kane! What is this!" He casually mocked, he clearly was not even trying, clashing blades together as Moby continued to back off towards the edge of the school roof. 

That was when he snapped his fingers, and 10 massive orbs of blackened purple appeared right above him, crashing down towards Artorias like meteorites. 

'This should buy me so—'

"PATHETIC!" His eyes glowed keenly, and with one swipe of his sword, all the attacks that Moby spent a good chunk of energy on were dispelled— he did not even bother to dodge.

"COME ON!! I refuse to believe this is the same man that fought that high-ranking shalker!" 

Artorias's attacks were relentless, they were quick and near impossible to react to, yet that did not take away from his clear skill and mastery over the blade. What made it worse was that it was a style of swordplay Moby had never seen before. He was struggling, clearly on the ropes.

'Avilia! How long has it been?'

'It's been 24 seconds,'

'ONLY!? Oh well...' 

His conversation was brief, he could not afford to split his mental focus. 

"Kane!!  Is this what the famous reported hero has to offer!? I really doubt it! Push yourself! Break past your limit! Don't you dare hold back against me!!" 

"..."

"I know you're far stronger! Show me what you've truly got! There is definitely more within you that you have not shown! Show me your might! KANE! How do you expect to win like this!?" Artorias's screams echoed in the air, yet there was no reaction from his opponent.

Artorias's annoyance was not obvious, yet to the keen eye, it was more than clear on his face. 

*Tch* "I've had enough of this stupid game…"

As if Artorias's power multiplied tenfold and his moves became more unpredictable, Moby suddenly felt an odd feeling in his stomach, like he was ready to face death… And, in that blink of an eye, he found himself on the ground with beyond bewildered eyes, a glowing sword pointing directly in front of his face mere inches from stabbing him through.

"That's all… I've won… You still had 20 seconds left to win too… That was the sorriest display of a hero I've ever seen. I'm beyond disappointed in you… Kane… This is not the way a 'Hero' should act… This is not the way a leader should act… And, this is definitely not the way a KING should act..."