This really wasn't how I expected to be greeted once I arrived in Australia.
I mean, here I come, the queen, or rather the king of Albion, surely I should be greeted with honors upon arriving in a former member of the Commonwealth.
Or at least be greeted as I had in Idia, as just another tourist, one rich enough to skip the normal procedures. Because if there was one thing I had learned after becoming a ruler in this modern age, it was that money was big.
Like if you had it, you lived by different rules.
Not that it mattered here.
Clang!
Nope, money wouldn't do anything about this situation.
Boom!
Honestly, I didn't fully understand why I was even in this situation.
Clang!
Here I was, traveling around this hellhole of a country, and as soon as we reached the absolute middle of bloody nowhere, because of fucking course these two members of the Eternals decided to build their little love nest out here.
And what do I get for traveling all the way here?
I get attacked without warning.
It was a good thing I managed to not bring out Rhongomyniad and blast this woman into dust. Instead, I met her attacks with Excalibur Morgan.
It was the first time I used Excalibur Morgan in this world, and it was something alright.
It was truly worthy of being a corrupted version of my Excalibur. It was dark, foul, giving off an unmistakable feeling of dread, death, evil, and corruption.
Yet, it still held the base form of Excalibur; it was by no means an ugly sword, even in this darkened state. It still drew gazes, impossible to ignore as it seemed to almost draw in the light around to leave a haze of darkness in its wake as it danced through the air.
Thena moved like a memory of war given flesh.
There was no hesitation, no wasted motion — only the lethal, crystalline shimmer of her conjured blade, slashing down toward me with the weight of countless battles behind it.
Clang!
I caught her strike with Excalibur Morgan, the force of the impact ringing through my bones. She pressed harder, testing, measuring. Her golden hair whipped behind her, her white armor gleaming under the harsh, unfiltered sun of the Outback.
She didn't speak; she was just fury incarnate. I wasn't even sure she was aware of what she was doing. She didn't seem to be fully there.
Yet I had to admit that she was strong. Not to mention skilled.
Her skill with her weapons eclipsed even my skill with the sword. Then again, she had fought a lot more than I had and was a lot older.
But she had fought only beasts, whereas I had fought plenty of other knights. So when I came to fighting against another weapon, I was superior to her.
If only slightly.
Not to mention that her enraged state reduced her to a beast herself, mostly just fighting by instinct.
Not that it wasn't frighteningly effective, I too had to rely on Intuition Ex and Fae eyes A to be able to match her.
At least without going over to use some big moves.
However, that would likely hurt her, and I was here to ask for help, not kill people.
Boom!
Her next lunge was brutal, the ground cracking beneath her feet as she pushed herself forward, twin blades flashing gold against the deepening crimson sky.
I shifted, parried one strike wide, turned the second with a tilt of my wrist — and answered with a backhanded swing that drove her a step back, forcing her to reset.
Thena snarled low in her throat, eyes bright with something that wasn't entirely anger, nor entirely reason.
Battle had consumed her.
This wasn't a fight for pride or honor. It was instinct, old as time. A reflex to survive. To attack. To destroy.
I breathed in, steady, letting the hum of Excalibur Morgan seep into my bones.
She might not be a real enemy, but I knew, I could tell.
There was only one way to deal with her.
Let her burn out.
I lowered my stance, focused not on overpowering her, but containing her.
Excalibur Morgan was a blade of pure slaughter, of absolute destruction, yet here I held its edge back.
I used my Fea eyes to see the weakness in her energy weapons, and as our weapons clashed, I struck them. causing her weapons to break.
It didn't matter much. She was skilled, and she instantly conjured another to take its place. Honestly, I was impressed at how easily she flowed from one weapon to the next.
Swords, axes, spears, shields, all manner of weapons came at me with equal skill; she truly was a master of weaponry.
Yet, with each weapon broken, she needed to use energy to form a new one, and slowly she was getting drained, getting closer and closer with every clash to wake up from her rage.
I could feel it.
The edge in her strikes dulling ever so slightly.
The ferocity still burned in her—but the endless tide of conjured weapons slowed, each clash echoing longer in the barren air before the next came.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Another blade shattered in a crack of broken light against Excalibur Morgan's darkened edge.
Yet, there was no pause in her attacks, they just kept coming, her entire body was a weapon, kicks came at me as she moved in ways only enhanced beings could, spinning around, blasting the ground, or shattering the sound barrier with a foot.
By the side stood the three other Eternals. Gilgamesh had been worried at first, but now he just stood by, watching the breathtaking sight of two stunning women locked in an epic showdown.
I wanted to yell at them, yet I could barely pay them attention. Thena was worthy of my full attention.
Unless I was willing to unleash Avalon or my lance, she wasn't someone I could half ass.
"Damn, that is so badass! She is holding her own against Thena." Sprite said as she stood there watching, utterly amazed by the sight.
She understood just how strong Thena was, and here someone was fighting them without losing.
"She isn't just holding her own, she is clearly holding back, staying on the defensive, not because she can't attack, but because she won't," Gilgamesh muttered beside her.
He had been fighting Thena a lot over the years. Every time she lost control, he would keep her company and fight her until she calmed down. So he knew just how hard that was.
He never left a fight without hurting all over; he could avoid critical injuries, but he couldn't do what this woman did, perfectly avoid or block every attack.
He was awestruck at the battle, and honestly, he was scared. Clearly, this woman could hurt Thena; just her sword alone made him feel afraid. He was clear about it. That dark and evil sword could kill him.
And it could kill Thena, he had never felt like this before. Few weapons could even harm them, much less make him feel such danger. "Who is that woman?" He couldn't help but ask.
"That is king Arthur, or Arthuria." Sersi said as she too stood there watching the fight.
At first, she was scared and alarmed. As soon as they knocked on the door, it exploded, and a blur charged at them.
She hadn't expected to be attacked as soon as they arrived, even less by Thena herself. Yet as she called out, Thena didn't stop; she just continued and ended up assaulting the king of Albion as if she were a deviant.
Next came Gilgamesh charging out as if ready for a fight as well, and she was really about to panic, compared to those two, she only had Sprite, who weren't that strong. Yet thankfully Gilgamesh wasn't planning on fighting them.
As Thena closed in on the quickly retreating king of knights, a sword suddenly appeared in her hands and blocked Thena's attack.
That sword felt wrong, evil, not at all like the sword she had seen her wield back in Camelot.
As the two locked swords, Gilgamesh was able to explain what was happening, apparently, Thena was sick, very sick, and entered uncontrollable rages from time to time.
Then she had been afraid that Thena might kill Arthuria, which would cause no end of issues. After all, it was known to the knights of the Round Table that she was out with them.
So if she suddenly died, they would surely be blamed. It would have a massive impact on human society, and that went against their mission, their orders.
Thankfully, as the fight progressed, and seconds turned to minutes, and one turned to ten, she calmed down.
Clearly, there wasn't much real danger. Arthuria was amazing, able to hold off Thena without hurting her or getting hurt.
"Arthuria's insane," Sprite said, eyes wide with pure admiration. "In the best way possible."
"She's not just insane," Gilgamesh muttered, arms folded across his broad chest, his gaze never wavering from the fight. "She's disciplined. She's fighting like a knight. Like a real one."
"Obviously," Sprite snorted. "She is King Arthur, remember? Weren't you listening?"
"I was," Gilgamesh said dryly. "but still struggling to understand how this." He motioned towards the fight, "Is the same Arthur that followed Thena around like a lost puppy."
Sprite let out a snicker. "People change, Gilly. Some glow up a little... others turn into smoking hot babes that are totally overpowered and apparently a god."
Gilgamesh grunted. "Right because that makes sense."
"Hey, it's the twenty-first century," Sprite said, throwing her hands up. "Get with the times, old man."
Sersi gave a tired shake of her head. It was never easy to explain what had apparently happened if Arthuria was to be believed, and well, she didn't have any reason not to believe her.
Given how strong she was, there was no point in lying to them.
She was well aware, that beyond this ability to fight Thena hand to hand, she also had that devastating beam of light move. That none of the Eternals could do much against.
While the peanut gallery was chatting away, my dance of blades kept going without pause, every attack seamlessly chained into the next, a brutal display of skill that wouldn't give anyone a break.
Anyone with less strength or agility than I would surely struggle to find ways to get past the endless barrage, slowly they would be forced to defend endlessly, and wear out without a chance to counter.
Which meant that it came down to their endurance, could they last longer than her?
Most likely couldn't, she honestly was an impressive warrior, which only made the celestials all the more dangerous, given that they could make people like Thena, they could send forth an endless army of beings with such power.
If they needed to, they could likely conquer the universe without much of a struggle.
They had, however, not designed their weapons to deal with divine spirits or servants.
Thena's breathing was ragged now, her stance growing sloppier by the second. The last conjured spear flickered, unstable, before she even threw it.
I batted it aside effortlessly.
She stumbled.
That was the moment.
I let Excalibur Morgan's dark hum vanish into silence, dismissing it from my hands completely.
Clarity returned to Thena's eyes.
She blinked once, twice, as if waking from a dream. Her body swayed on unsteady legs, the adrenaline draining away all at once. Gilgamesh was already moving before she could fall — catching her easily, wrapping her in an embrace that was more reassurance than restraint.
"It's alright," he murmured low into her hair. "You're safe. It's over."
Thena didn't answer right away. Her gaze, sharp and confused, locked onto me — the last opponent her instincts remembered.
I gave her a shallow bow, polite and nonthreatening, hands clearly empty of weapons. "It was an honor," I said softly. "You fought well, warrior."
(end of chapter)
A bit late upload today, but that's just how it turned out.
But about this chapter, I wanted a fight between the two. Yet I didn't end up staying on the fighting too much, merely because I felt it would get boring, with Arthuria just blocking or parrying strike after strike.
I'm sure I will give them another around, or maybe have Thena fight other knights were it isn't just a mindless beast, I feel like Thena is one of those who can give a servant a good fight.
The Eternals are after all pretty powerful, even if their abilities makes little sense.
But for Thena, I feel like given her 7k years of fighting around on earth alone, and millions of years to build up 'muscle' memory, she should be able to push even Arthuria, unless she goes full divine mode.
I'm for sure gonna use the Eternals a bit more, I feel they have so much potential, just too bad Disney apparently disagrees with that.