Emery's Fey form specialty was speed and he was faster than Morgana in this form. So, when he shot forward to save Morgana, the old knight was surprised, making the old knight let go of Morgana and jump away.
Emery didn't chase the old knight right away. Instead, he got on one knee and checked on Morgana who had returned to her human form. Emery could see her chest heaving up and down unevenly, making it known that she was still breathing but in great pain based on her suffering expression. He then touched her bleeding side, which felt warm to the touch and had a deep cut.
"Morgana! Morgana!" Emery called out to her several times however she wasn't responding. Her eyes were kept closed, unconscious. Not again, he couldn't let someone die whom he had considered family, so Emery hurriedly used the spell [nature blessing] which was able to heal open wounds like this. Just to be sure, Emery took out his last container of healing paste from his bag and quickly smeared it all over Morgana's wound. He also removed his clothing to cover her naked body.
The Knight of the Anvil whose pupils were white said, while Emery was doing all of that, "Don't worry too much about that Chrutin Witch. I didn't aim for her vitals. But she will if you do not give up."
The old knight's words only added oil to his already boiling rage. He turned around, teeth bared, and pounced with the intent of slashing the old knight in half!
Their swords clashed, sending a loud clunk throughout the area. Emery's eyes widened in surprise to see that the old knight didn't even budge from his position nor looked struggling after blocking his swords in his Fey wolf form. Thoughts of the old knight having a special skill that could increase his power entered Emery's mind. How was the old knight able to match against him? Was it magic? Or did the old knight have the support of a wizard as well?
Emery's gaze also fell on the sword the old knight was wielding. It didn't look like the normal iron sword he was holding, which had dark spots on the body and had slightly bent from all the fighting he had been doing so far. The sword the old knight was wielding appeared to be a bit shinier and purer in comparison to his two iron swords. Not thinking much of it, Emery proceeded to relentlessly attack the old knight, believing that the old knight's single sword would eventually bend or chip faster than his two swords while using his Fey form.
However, to Emery's surprise, after he had exchanged more than twenty moves with the old knight, it was his swords that had completely bent out of shape while the old knight's weapon was still as sharp and straight as if it hadn't seen any battle.
Switching his gaze between his and the enemy's Emery became more and more enraged as to why and how this old knight was still standing unscathed! In a fit, Emery threw away his useless bent iron swords. He pulled out the jet-black dagger, he took from granny.
The jet-black dagger was a third-tier artifact, and although Emery didn't understand what it meant, he was under the assumption that this dagger was able to damage the sword the old knight had been using. After all, it was able to hurt him even when he was using the sword skin spell. So, if his presumption was correct, he should be able to at least block the Knight of the Anvil's sword with it or hopefully break the sword in half.
Emery lunged forward and swung his jet-black dagger and claws like a savage beast.
The old knight blocked Emery's jet-black dagger and the dagger didn't break! Instead, now the situation has reversed. His enhanced perception made him notice the miniscule chip on the sword's edge. This was good, so Emery kept up his attacks and the old knight kept on blocking.
However, Bagdemagus seemed to have caught on to Emery's plan; the old knight changed strategies and no longer bothered blocking Emery's slashes but just kept on dodging.
A good few more minutes had passed and Emery was surprised to see that the old knight seemed to have endless stamina. Obviously, the weakness of every human was age, and with age came with weaker endurance. Hence, usually, old people used their experience to gain the upper hand in a battle instead of brute force.
However, seeing his attacks only slicing through the empty air, whether it was because of his savage blood or frustration of not touching this old knight, Emery started becoming more aggressive; his mind was being clouded with furious thoughts, and because of that, the veteran knight able to see the openings from his wild attacks, and the Knight of the Anvil had managed to land huge blows onto Emery's body.
Emery winced in pain, feeling the powerful strikes and sharp edge of the old knight's sword. Fortunately, he had cast his [stone skin] spell in the nick of time, so he was able to withstand and not be killed by the old knight's strike. Still, the parts where the old knight had hit began to throb painfully. Emery looked at the wounds and noticed they were dripping blood.
[Nature's Blessing]
Emery used the healing spell to himself and the blood dripping suddenly stopped.
Although the old knight strength was beyond him, but Emery still believed that this old knight would eventually run out of air, he was an old man, after all, so he prepared himself for a battle of attrition and rushed forward once more to attack the old knight with his sharp claws and jet-black dagger. But then, contrary to his expectation, the moment Emery lunged, Sir Bagdemagus suddenly jumped back and shouted, "Emery, this is one of my most amazing fights. However, with that amazing spell of yours, I don't think I can win against you. So, I am sorry that I have to do it this way."
The old knight nodded and when Emery turned his gaze to whom Bagdemagus had nodded to, he saw Keane standing already beside the unconscious Morgana with his sword drawn out.
Emery suddenly regretted how he had been so engrossed in fighting with such aggressiveness against the old knight. Because of his rage, he had failed to notice Bagdemagus' knights advance on the still unconscious Morgana.
The old knight said, "Give up. You know you can't win! It doesn't have to go this way."
Emery let out a steaming breath as he assessed the situation. He wasn't sure if he would be able to get to her in time while the old knight was keeping a close watch at him, running with himself also wasn't an option for that wasn't him for he wouldn't abandon someone without ensuring Morgana would be able to live. That just wasn't him. If he attacked the old knight though, the old knight would most likely issue the order to kill Morgana and that would mean another blood would be on his hands because of his actions.
While Emery was deliberating, the old knight said, "I promise I'll not kill your girl if you listen, so stop resisting your arrest!"
Emery hated this, he was stuck in a hard place and a rock. At moments like this, Emery really wished he had other plans or more spells in his arsenal. If only he had only mastered the [blink] spell, he would be able to help Morgana and this wouldn't have to happen. But he hadn't. It wasn't as simple as he thought. He continued racking his brain to find even a sliver of a way. However, his line of thinking once again disputed for the old knight didn't give him the chance.
"Kill her!" Sir Bagdemagus shouted.
"Stop!" Emery quickly cried out. He dropped the jet-black dagger for he couldn't find any other way. Forced surrender was his only option.
The browned hair Silver Knight, Abner, cautiously walked closer to Emery with his sword raised. However, that precaution didn't seem necessary for Emery because he simply stood there unmoving. Emery was asked to stretch his hands. He complied.
Abner then pulled out a chain that seemed to be made from the same material as the old knight's sword based on its appearance before tying it on his wrists and then hands.
"Don't bother trying to break the chain, Emery. It's a new type of metal called steel from Rome. Its sturdiness and strength couldn't be compared to iron," said the old knight, sheathing back his steel sword on his waist.
Emery stared at the old man as he released his transformation. The last thing he remembered then was some kind of object hitting the back of head, making his vision spin for a moment before everything went blank.
Check out Author's other novel: Doomsday Pillars.
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