Chapter 72: The Winner
A/N: Hey guys,
Here's today's second chapter.
We finished this arc on my pàtreon and would upload the rebellion arc next.
Thanks to everyone who supported me.
You could read up to 15 more advanced chapters on my pàtreon.
https://www.pàtreon.com/Gnanaa
For the next mass release, if we reach 65 pàtreons, I will upload 8 more chapters.
Enjoy.
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Edward's focus was on the two fights next to him. Jon Clinn was able to hold himself very well against Arthur, although Arthur was a little better. As for Jeffry, he struggled a little against Barristan, but he would be able to hold on for a little more. It seemed that Edward had underestimated Barristan and Arthur's abilities. Barristan was an experienced swordsman, while Arthur was brilliant when it came to swordsmanship. Edward thought that his men's level was equal to them in strength, but he was wrong.
But he was sure that with his men's hard work and talent, they would be able to at least tie with Arthur and Barristan by the time of Harrenhal. They were only missing the experience to fight the two men. Barristan had gone through two wars, after all.
It did not take long before Barristan was able to disarm Jeffry. Looking at Ser Barristan, who was almost out of his breath after this hard fight, Edward decided to wait for him to rest a little before they had their duel.
Five minutes passed, and there was still no clear winner between Arthur and Clinn. Edward turned to Barristan, who had been resting all this time.
"Can you keep up? If you can't, I could still wait a little more." Said Edward as he looked at Ser Barristan. He wanted to defeat the man in his full strength. It might be the last time that Edward would fight with honor. Everything after this point would depend on the scheme, as Edward would hide behind the scenes after that. Edward, who was only satisfying his goal to participate in such tournaments, thought it would be his loss if he was in the game of thrones and did not participate in even the tournament that he held.
"Yeah, I can keep on." Said Barristan with a smile as he respected Edward more for waiting for him to catch his breath after he defeated Jeffry.
"We should end it then." Said Edward as he thrust his spear towards Ser Barristan, who used his sword to repel his attack.
Barristan was a perfect swordsman who could swing his sword between his left and right hand at the right moment to make a surprise slash. He would dodge or use his armor to parry Edward's spear.
Barristan was really a seasoned warrior that Edward had to take seriously. Edward and Barristan fought like this for three minutes before Edward saw a flow in Barristan movements. Edward at once used his spear's steel rod to tap on Barristan's chest as hard as he could. Barristan could not manage to keep his balance and fell to the ground.
Barristan dodged Edward's attacks while still on the ground, but it did not take long before Edward could disarm him.
It was a good fight that took a lot of Edward's concentration to observe Barristan's every move.
"It was a good fight, Ser Barristan." Said Edward as he gave his hand to Ser Barristan, helping him to stand.
"Indeed, it was, Lord Baratheon. You are a good fighter as always." Said Barristan with a smile. He enjoyed his fight just now. He fought hard to create a flow in Edward's fighting style so that he could use it, but he ended creating a flow in his own movements.
Edward looked at Arthur, who was still exhausted after his fight with Clinn.
Yeah, Arthur won after nearly twenty minutes of fighting, and he got cuts on his right leg and left arm. It seemed that Clinn was an opponent that was on the same level as Arthur. Arthur only managed to win after Clinn's sword was cut in half after the continuous fight with Arthur.
"Would you be able to fight like that? I do not want to hear the people say that I bullied you." Said Edward with a smile. He was mocking Arthur for getting beaten like this by Clinn while Clinn got out with only a small cut on his side.
"Worry about yourself. I can take you on any time." Said Arthur with an annoyed expression. He knew that he could not defeat Edward like that, nor Arthur was sure he could defeat Edward in the first place. Edward's man gave him a hard time, and Arthur had to go all out and depend on his sword, Dawn, to defeat him. Would he be able to defeat Edward when he had suffered like that at the hands of Edward's man?
Arthur had different thoughts at the moment. He wanted to teach Edward a lesson to make sure that Edward would not look down on everyone again, but what could he do in this situation but fight?
Edward did not wait for him for long and made the first move. He thrust his spear at Arthur's leg.
Arthur, who was having a difficult time already, broke out from his frozen state when he saw Edward's attack, quickly blocking his spear with his two swords. Arthur then countered Edward with a slash from his sword, but Edward avoided the sword and attacked Arthur on the chest with the spear's rod.
Arthur growled and took several steps back. He did not give up, and with Dawn in his main hand, while the other handled backhandedly, he began an attack like a swirl of a tornado.
Edward kept his flashing smile as he dodged Arthur's attacks. With his light armor and nimble movements, he did not find it hard, at all, since Arthur's leg got injured in his fight with Clinn. Edward kept dodging until he saw a chance and attacked Arthur's uninjured leg with his spear resulting in a somewhat deep cut on Arthur's leg. Edward did not stop at that but used the back of his spear to attack Arthur's left hand, disarming his second sword.
At the moment, Arthur was only holding his sword, Dawn, with his two legs injured. It did not take long before Edward was able to disarm Arthur's Dawn, making Arthur fell down in the process.
Arthur grumbled a little as this was not the result he yearned for, but he could not do anything else. He could only stare at Edward's spear pointed at his face.
"I yield." Said Arthur, reluctantly. But what could he do in a situation like this? He got himself already disarmed with a spear pointed towards his head.
"Good fight, Ser Arthur. Although that was not what I expected, it is ok. You couldn't win even if you were uninjured." Said Edward while not forgetting to mock Arthur a little.