Chapter 24: Defense Upgrades!

Chapter 24: Defense Upgrades! Arthur Pendragon, a knight in literal shining armor. The sword hanging on his waist, the legendary Excalibur, was sleek and divine-looking. At a glance, it didn’t look like it’d fare well when used to fight, but the power it exuded made even Xu Tao scrunch his brows. He wondered which one was better—the perfectly balanced sword he got through the Lost System or this golden blade of immense power. He was undecided. "I see... So that’s what happened." And whatever the case, for some reason, both Xu Tao and Arthur hit it off quite well. It was just like when he first met Jehanne—nothing but goodwill between the two of them! "Yes, so, I was wondering. If you were to protect that log house, how would you approach it?" Enough that Xu Tao actually asked for his opinions about defenses. "That’s tricky..." Arthur hummed, placing a hand over his short, blonde stubble. "If we have enough serfs available, we can make them dig deep moats around. That way, normal foot soldiers should have a hard time breaking in." "Ah, I had the same thought..." Xu Tao nodded, smiling as someone finally verified his initial plan. "Then, I guess we’ll do just that." Arthur was surprised by his response. "Oh? You have serfs here?" "Nope. I have my own techniques to rely on." But Xu Tao didn’t mean to follow Arthur’s opinion to the letter. He walked back, with Arthur casually following him. Then, they stood about a hundred meters away from the Log House—where a few figures were already going outside. "Then, I’ll start." But Xu Tao didn’t care. He stretched his arms forward, concentrating. Qi gathered to his middle Dantian rapidly, creating a powerful, compressed force. "Let’s see... About three meters wide should do." And after deciding on that, he twisted his arms, as if holding a large, horizontal wheel and rotating it by hand. At the same time, his Qi flooded the surrounding land, digging into the ground and "gripping" the loose soil. "HUP!" As he motioned his arms to continue spinning, the earth moved in concert—spinning up and forming a wall about ten meters tall around. "Phew... That should do it." Xu Tao stopped shortly after, satisfied with his handiwork. Now, around the Log House stood a 200-meter-diameter round wall, towering at five meters and boasting a thickness of two meters—extremely densely packed. It was way smaller in volume compared to the earth that he dug—ten meters deep and three meters wide! "Ohh... Is this magic?" Arthur groaned. "So you’re a wizard like Elder Merlin?" "Magic...?" Xu Tao, of course, hadn’t heard of the term before. But still, he nodded. "Well, it’s probably similar to it, if you say so." "Sir Tao! Are you alright?!" But just then, a voice echoed from within the walled area. It was Jehanne, sounding worried. "Ah, I’m just creating defenses. Nothing’s wrong—" But before he could even finish speaking, the man beside him disappeared in a flash. Arthur ran like a bullet, straight through the thick, dense wall, and stopped before Jehanne, kneeling on one knee. "Oh, my fair lady. I was wondering what kind of angel had that beautiful voice... To think I’d be meeting a goddess in here. This must be God’s guidance." He then carefully picked up Jehanne’s left hand and kissed the back of it gently. "Oh, how wonderful." Jehanne acted as if it was natural, smiling as usual. "You must be sent here by God too, then. Let’s work together from now on, shall we, sir...?" "Ah, how rude of me!" Arthur averted his gaze, his expression warped in phantom pain. "I was too bedazzled by your smile I forgot to introduce myself." He then carefully stood up and bowed down—right arm across his midsection, the other hanging up behind him. "Former King of Camelot, Arthur Pendragon, at your service, my lady. Should danger ever cast its shadow upon you... know that I shall be your unwavering shield." Jehanne nodded, her smile widening further. "I see. Then, I shall introduce myself too. I’m Jehanne, Joan of Arc. My soldiers even call me Saint at times, but nobody ever called me a goddess. Only you." "An honor, my lady!" Arthur groaned, smiling sweetly. "But I merely said what I deem the truth. If you’d like, I’d address you as such whenever it’s relevant?" "Ah, please address me as either Joan or Saint. I’d prefer it that way." "As you wish." "STEP BACK!" But just as the two’s conversation was speeding up, one of the soldiers moved, stabbing his spear forward—straight at Arthur’s face. Xu Tao, watching things unfold from afar, felt it was déjà vu. It was the same soldier who confronted him the previous day—the impulsive knight, Gervais. "Hmm?" But Arthur didn’t even try to dodge, much less block the attack. He just stood there, watching as the spear approached the middle of his eyes... CLANG! Until all of a sudden, his golden sword moved all by itself, flying out of its scabbard and deflecting the spear upward. "Sorry, little brother." Arthur then smiled wryly, winking at the man. "But I’m in the middle of a conversation right now. I’ll talk to you later if you want, is that fine?" "YOU HEATHEN...!" But Gervais wasn’t going to stop at just that. He pulled his spear back, and with a heavy step in, stabbed it forward once more. This time, with perfect stance, perfect power transfer, perfect everything—a model spear thrust. "Brother, it’s futile..." But just as before, the floating, golden sword moved by itself, deflecting the spear away. "Excalibur wouldn’t allow me to die..." he said, voice sounding a little sad. "YOU...!" But when Gervais tried to go for the third thrust, Arthur grabbed his sword’s hilt at long last. The kindness in his eyes disappeared for a moment, as his smile faded completely—replaced by a cold frown. At that moment— "Enough is enough!" A white lance landed on top of the berserk soldier’s head, echoing in a loud clank. It was a sudden, forceful hit, robbing his consciousness at once. His gradually escalating actions finally came to a stop. "Please pardon my soldier, good sir. He’s just a bit of a handful," Jehanne apologized, smiling wryly as she spun her spear flag around. "Thought I already taught him to behave last night... Guess he really does need some serious beating before he learns from his mistakes." With a motion of her chin, she urged the other four to drag Gervais’ unconscious ass away. At that moment, Arthur’s cold expression vanished like a lie, his golden sword slipping back into its hilt. "Ah, I don’t mind at all, my goddess." Arthur waved his hand. "But if he’s too much trouble for you, I can take care of it. Shall I?" "...No need. I can discipline my soldier myself." Jehanne picked up on the minor bloodlust coming from Arthur but didn’t let it faze her. She waved her hands around, dismissing the matter. "Then, I’ll talk to you later!" she said, before running past Arthur—out the hole he made, and toward the man behind. Xu Tao. "Sir Tao, why did you suddenly make a wall and a moat? Are there signs of monsters incoming?" she asked, tone sounding less urgent and more relaxed than any. "If there’s trouble, you should tell me right away! I’ll help in any way I can!" Xu Tao glanced at Jehanne and pondered. Then shrugged. "All right then. I’ll take up your offer." He nodded. "I want to make more fortifications out of wood this time, like spike barriers. I’d need a lot of helping hands to do that. Our time limit is... 45 minutes, to give us five extra minutes of rest afterward." "Let’s get to work then!" Jehanne smiled brightly—brighter than when she greeted Arthur, even. "..." And this short interaction caused a certain someone’s eye to lose its shine. Updated from freewebnov(e)l.com