Arthur stepped toward the center of the mat and gestured for Gwen to come closer.
"Let's start with something interesting."
"Interesting how?" she asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
He gave her a small smile, already settling into a combat stance.
"If you manage to land a single hit on me within the next thirty minutes… I'll do whatever you want for the rest of the day."
Gwen raised a brow, got up from the floor, and crossed her arms.
"Anything?"
"Anything." Arthur confirmed, confident.
She touched her chin in thought, but the mischievous glint in her eyes already betrayed what kind of ideas were forming in her mind.
"Okay… and if I don't manage to?"
"Ah, then the story changes," he replied calmly, almost amused. "You'll have to do everything I want for the rest of the day."
Gwen gave a nervous smile, but didn't back down.
"So basically… either I become the master of the universe for a day, or your personal servant?"
"Something like that," Arthur said, rolling his shoulders, ready for the fight.
She took a deep breath, clapped her hands, and started stretching her arms.
"Alright then, Mr. Demigod… hope you're ready, because I've got a long list of annoying chores lined up for you."
Arthur chuckled and shook his head.
"Thirty minutes. The clock starts… now."
Gwen lunged immediately with a swift kick, only to watch him dodge effortlessly, as if he'd merely stepped aside.
"Okay…" she muttered, narrowing her eyes. "This is going to be harder than I thought."
Arthur's mental clock began ticking.
Not wasting a second, Gwen dashed forward again, her body moving like a blur. Her spider sense made her adapt quickly—she twisted mid-air and unleashed a spinning kick aimed straight at his head.
Arthur simply tilted his head, dodging as casually as if avoiding a falling leaf.
"Beautiful move, darling. But zero precision."
"You won't be laughing for long!" Gwen snapped, firing a web at the ceiling and swinging around to attempt a reverse kick from behind.
'Since when does she have the web shooter on?' Arthur raised an eyebrow.
He lifted his hand, and with the slightest flick of his fingers, a golden chain emerged from a portal behind him, wrapping around her ankle before the strike could land. He twirled her in the air and set her gently back on her feet, as if placing down a doll.
Gwen blinked, stunned.
"You've got to be kidding me! That's cheating! I thought this was supposed to be hand-to-hand combat!"
Arthur smirked, teasing.
"I never said I'd make it easy."
Without missing a beat, she fired two more webs, yanking a sandbag and hurling it at him. Arthur didn't move a muscle—another golden chain appeared and split the bag in half, scattering sand all over the mat.
"Great, now I'm fighting you and the cleanup afterward." Gwen complained, brushing sand off her arms.
She then leapt high, nearly touching the ceiling, and began firing webs in rapid succession, trying to trap him. But each strand was cut or blocked—daggers, swords, even shields manifested from the Gate of Babylon, slicing through the webs with absurd precision.
Arthur arched a brow and said with a mocking tone:
"You still have twenty-eight minutes left. Try not to tire yourself out before then."
Gwen crouched on the floor in a classic spider pose, eyes narrowed.
"Fine… plan B."
She shot webs across the walls and began spinning at high speed, creating a chaotic whirlwind of sticky threads around him.
"Let's see you get out of this, smart guy!"
Arthur snapped his fingers, and dozens of golden blades appeared in a circle behind him, shredding all the webs in fractions of a second, like wet paper.
The gust of wind that followed scattered even more sand across the mat, raising a cloud of dust.
When Gwen stopped, panting, she saw him standing there untouched, still wearing that same calm smile.
"You've got to be kidding me…" she muttered, hands on her knees. "I'm killing myself here, and you look like you just walked out of a spa!"
Arthur crossed his arms.
"It's not about strength, Gwen. It's about calm, technique, and efficiency."
She pointed at him, still catching her breath.
"It's also about you being a first-class cheater!"
Arthur only chuckled.
"Twenty-five minutes."
Gwen threw her hands in the air.
"Okay, fine! If I don't hit you, then you're going to spend the rest of the day calling me 'master,' got it? I'll find a way to win this."
Arthur tilted his head, amused.
"Now I'm curious about your next idea."
He rolled his shoulders and motioned for her to come again.
"Come on, you still have time."
Grinding her teeth, Gwen took a deep breath and charged again. She sprinted across the mat at insane speed, dove forward, rolled, and aimed an uppercut at his chin.
Arthur dodged with a tilt of his neck, as if he'd predicted the move a second before it happened.
"It's no use, Gwen. Your body broadcasts what you're going to do before you even move."
She jumped back, scowling.
"Oh yeah? Let's see if you can predict THIS!"
Gwen vaulted to the ceiling, sticking to it with her hands and feet, then launched herself headfirst down for a surprise aerial kick.
Arthur simply raised a brow and jumped too, sticking to the ceiling as naturally as if it were the floor.
Time seemed to freeze for Gwen.
"…WHAT?!" she shouted, almost losing her grip from sheer shock. "YOU TOO?!"
Arthur smiled, hanging upside down in front of her.
"Surprise."
Her eyes widened.
"You're telling me… you've had spider powers this whole time and never said a word?!"
"Didn't think it was relevant." He shrugged.
"Not relevant?! Arthur, that's like… letting me tell a terrible joke and then revealing you're a professional comedian! That's moral betrayal!"
Arthur simply let go of the ceiling and landed gracefully.
"Focus. Twenty minutes."
Gwen dropped beside him, still fuming.
"No, no, no… you're not just gonna act like that's normal! You could've told me you were in the… the spider club!"
Arthur laughed, shaking his head.
"Spider club? Seriously?"
She pointed at him furiously.
"Don't change the subject!"
Without waiting, Gwen fired webs in every direction, yanking weights, rolled mats, even a wooden training dummy, trying to smash him under the chaos.
Arthur exhaled, lifted his hand, and a semi-transparent barrier formed around him. Everything crashed, bounced off, and fell without leaving so much as a scratch.
"I swear, you are the most irritating man alive." Gwen growled.
Arthur smiled calmly.
"I've heard that before."
The following minutes were pure chaos:
Gwen tried lightning-fast sweeps — Arthur leaped over them as if dancing.
She used her spider strength to hurl a sandbag like a bowling ball — Arthur dodged effortlessly, letting it wreck half the mat.
She even faked a stumble for a surprise strike — but Arthur caught her ankle mid-air and set her gently back down, only saying, "Nice try."
By the last five minutes, Gwen was panting, hair messy, uniform covered in sand and tatami dust.
"Okay… I… admit it…" she gasped, hands on her knees. "You are officially… impossible!"
Arthur stood with arms crossed, not even sweating.
"Thirty minutes."
The final count sounded like a sentence. Gwen dropped onto the mat, arms spread wide.
"Wonderful. Guess I'm your official slave for today. What do you want me to do? Polish your golden swords? Vacuum this filthy mat? Or maybe… cook for you wearing nothing but an apron?"
'Good idea.' Arthur thought.
'…How did she even get to that? Do I look like a pervert?' His eyebrow twitched.
Arthur sighed and extended a hand to help her up.
"Don't worry. I'll think of something… fun."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but accepted his hand.
"If you make me do push-ups until I drop, I swear I'll strangle you with my own web."
Arthur just smirked, and the glint in her eyes made it clear their little game was only just beginning.
---
(End of chapter)
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."