Chapter 357 - Heaven, Earth

"King Arthur?"

Iris looked at Ren as she tilted her head to the side with no clue as to what that name meant. Noticing this lack of knowledge, Ren sighed internally.

That's right; I forgot Iris didn't grow up on Earth, so she's not familiar with our tales...but if Arthur exists in this world, shouldn't he be well-known? Maybe not--that doesn't matter, Ren thought. 

Keeping his eyes forward, the young man nodded his head, keeping his blade steady, "Arthur Pendragon is a legend in Earthen Folklore; the chosen king, the wielder of Excalibur...that's the blade that guy has--there's no mistaking it--that's King Arthur." 

"He sounds strong…"

"Well, he feels strong too...trust me." 

Ren could only chuckle wryly to himself, remembering the residual impact of simply being thrown back by the knight's strength. 

I need to keep a cool head; if I'm unable to at least think sharply, I'll be eviscerated...then Iris, he thought. 

Suddenly, the slow approach of the hollow king shifted into a rapid assault as the towering knight was directly in front of Ren, raising his borrowed sword above his head. 

So fast! No…so strong! The strength behind that blow…Can I block it? No, I can't think of it like that…just do it! Ren thought.

Gripping the handle of his sword tightly with both hands, he drew in a deep breath as he met Arthur's blade halfway—clashing with a brutal collision of power. 

"Ngh…!"

Immediately upon steel-to-steel contact, Ren winced as he felt the abrasive strength of his foe's overhead swing flow through his body like a shock wave. Though he miraculously managed to stop the attack, his shoulders felt as if they dislocated simply from defending. 

"Iris…! Stay back! I know you don't want to hear it...but right now, you're in far more danger than I am!"

Ren spoke through his gritted teeth as he held the king's blade in place, feeling the weight of his mighty push down on top of him as he placed his one hand on the back of his own blade to support his push. 

"...I can handle this! Just keep yourself safe, Iris!" 

The azure-haired girl opened her mouth to try and say something, but for some reason, words couldn't be found. Witnessing just how dedicated Ren was to his words, she couldn't reject them--and above all, the damning aura emitting from King Arthur halted her actions as even breathing required immense focus. 

He's right...but even more than that, if I helped him right now, he wouldn't accept it. He'd be worrying about me constantly. Is this the best I can do to aid you, Ren…? If so, I'll do it, Iris thought. 

With a somber, worriful look in her azure eyes, Iris whispered an incantation as a single tear strolled down her cheek, erecting a barrier of warm light around herself--witnessing the battle with trembling, anxious eyes. 

Even in the midst of their clash, the towering king clad in gallant, yet grimy armor was silent behind his enigmatic helmet. 

Retaining his breath in his lungs, Ren finally let it all out with a self-igniting roar that allowed him to finally repel the king back, causing the knight twice his size to stumble back. 

Following up with another roar as sweat escaped his pores anxiously, he dashed forward, swinging his hips into a slash clad in desperate resolve, nearly sending the edge of Belus across the king's midsection, but was countered by an agile movement from his foe. 

Lifting his right knee and lowering his right elbow, the hollow king managed to catch the thin, swiftly-moving blade between both points of his body. 

...Fast, but I expected something like that! Ren thought. 

Letting go of his sword for a moment, it was an action that King Arthur didn't seem to anticipate as the white-haired young man jumped up, swerving into a visceral kick against the side of the king's ivory helmet with a resounding thud of metal. 

Maybe you're better with a sword than me, but that's all there is to it! He thought. 

Leaning back a bit as if frozen by the impact of the blow, King Arthur stood stationary while his opponent didn't let up; Ren continued as he caught his blade once more, unleashing a massive, dark-coated slash that was launched from a rapid spin, sending the sharp assault across the chest of the decorated king. 

I can do this...I can! There's no other choice! Push yourself to the brink, Ren Nakamura! He thought. 

--Or so he thought. As the roar of darkness he released with his slash settled, his eyes met with the scenery of the desolate throne room--the knightly king wasn't standing before him. 

It was just then that a chill trickled along his spine before fully grasping his back at a blank realization. 

If he's not in front of me, then--he thought. 

"Iris…!" 

As he screamed out the name of the young woman while turning himself around, he witnessed the tall king holding his borrowed blade above his head, looming over the barrier with full intentions of destruction. 

No, you don't…! Ren thought. 

With his words stuck in his tightening throat, his heart throbbing with desperate malice, Ren covered the distance of a dozen meters in an instant with a shadow step that required no thinking. There was no hesitation, no fear in approaching the king anymore; he wrapped his arms around the waist of the silent king from behind. 

Making certain his hold was absolute, he curled his own fingers, interlocking them like an unbreakable seal. 

Squeezing tightly and ushering all of his strength from the depths of his stomach, he managed to lift the towering, heavily-clad knight from the ground, bringing him back as he guided him backwards through the air before slamming him into the marble following--head first. 

It was in a way an unintentional shared destiny as the suplex wasn't something he mastered or even put into practice, causing him to hit his head against the marble as well. 

With how viscously he slammed the knight back, the impact he shared in nearly knocked him out, feeling his entire skeleton shoot over with a jolt of pain that he managed to ignore in his adrenaline-filled situation. 

Probably should've worked on the last part of that move a bit more, huh, Brahmi? Ren thought. 

Standing up, he huffed, wiping the sweat from his chin as the harsh suplex managed to excavate a crater into the royal tile that the king was laid in. 

Without a single noise pouring from within his helm, the king silently rose back up like an undying entity, standing up as sediment from the decimated tile fell from his kingly cape. 

"You really are some sort of monster, aren't you? Well, I guess that's to be expected of a legendary hero...even if you've fallen to a state like this." 

Ren spoke as he caught his breath, raising his blade once more in preparation for another clash--but instead of the King of Knight's attacking, the silent guardian dropped the blade he borrowed from one of the fallen soldiers. 

What's he doing? Ren thought. 

He watched the tired steel drop to the shattered tile, raising his gaze back up to find a sight that turned his skin to stone; King Arthur's cobalt-engraved gauntlet reached to the sword situated at his hip. 

From his gentle, almost melodic movements coated in his regal silence, the king's hand suddenly, and with authority, gripped the handle of the sheathed sword of legend as a sense of grandiose dread stretched itself across the vast, death-filled chamber of the king. 

Here it comes; there's no about it...in that sheath is "Excalibur", Ren gulped. 

"Iris...reinforce your barrier; double it--triple it if you have to!"

Ren yelled out as he kept himself between the young woman kept within the bounds of her barrier spell, watching as at last, the king began to slowly draw his true weapon. 

His eyes were completely fixated on that blade; though he feared it, he couldn't help but be curious to what the divine steel exhibited--but it was this fixation that was his mistake. 

--In an instant, the figure he watched was gone, presenting speed that somehow surpassed what he faced earlier. 

Where--? Ren asked himself. 

The answer to his question was met as an enormous presence was felt to his left; a wave of seraphic malice cascaded down as a radiance that matched the heavens shined against him. 

"Death"

--That is what embodied the unseen strike that neared the ignorant young man; the sword of legend had already been drawn from its sheath, nearing his neck with a steel soaked in mysticism and utmost divinity. 

Though in this moment between the threads of life and death, he didn't register the knight at his side already with the renowned blade gliding towards his neck--he recognized the approach of death. 

And it was with that realization that his body chose--"life". 

As the blade resumed through time, its radiant sharpness met only air as the white-haired combatant disappeared from Arthur's vision, causing the king to miss his slash. 

"How irritating." 

The voice of Ren came from behind the silent king, who didn't register the presence behind him until just then--moving in a way that spoke of his surprise without words, jumping back as he looked at the snowy-haired young man. 

Ren stood with his back turned to Arthur, letting out a sigh as even Iris looked at the young man with the seemingly same perplexion as the floor guardian. 

Wait...could it be…? Iris thought. 

"It took long enough, but better late than never, right?"

Speaking as he turned only his gaze back, Ren smiled calmly as he looked at the king. It was his gaze that confirmed it for Iris; those hazel irises of his transformed into golden wheels that transcended normalcy. 

Turning himself to face the hollow king, Ren's gilded irises accompanied a new aura that clung to him, felt by Iris; a cloud of soothing divinity, one that gave an air of reassurance. 

...I only saw it for a moment back then in Butcher's Locker, but his ability...it's like I'm looking at a different person. It's like there's a glow around him, an absolute confidence that I can't help but accept...please, Ren, win, Iris thought. 

"It's okay now, Iris. Now I can win for sure." 

Ren smiled warmly as if sensing the doubt present in the girl's heart.. With his blade in hand, he approached the cautious king before stopping, keeping his gaze on the armored guardian without a cloud of doubt in his heart.