She looked sad and confused, what did gold have to do with any of this, she had done everything she could, perhaps the money she had spent and stored was never really hers to begin with, perhaps she herself was the currency, bought by the kingdom and sold by Mother Fate.
"I..." she started but the words would not come.
She looked back at the fight, faith and mourning were almost synonymous now, if there was no belief in a copper coin then the entire economy would fall, but hope was the only thriving thing left in this dying world, and Arthur had become the symbol of that hope, the embodiment of everything she had thought impossible.
Arthur swung his sword and blue embers started to emit from the blade, the Enlightened adversary was just as quick, moving in between his attacks with practiced ease, he assumed a fighting stance but there was no openings in the enemy from her point of view.
A hand came up in a combat stance.
Arthur yelled, "Tempest of Shadows," his sword pointed toward his enemy, and in the last second he feinted, a technique he had seen Lucid use, and caught the Enlightened with a huge gash across his chest.
"Not too bad," Ling Wei said, inspecting his wound with detached curiosity.
Aurelia from the other said watched it all happen. "Hope," she whispered to herself, "there is always hope for another day."
She started to lose focus, hitting her knees on the deck much more broken than ever before.
Arthur noticed and it cost him, a kick connected to his side and he staggered, assuming a low stance, spreading his feet, adopting a defensive posture as he retreated back, his sword still held firm despite the blood running down his arm.
"Stay back," he yelled at her, "stay back and do not look away, watch what happens to those who stand against the Dao Mandate."
Ling Wei laughed, a dry, hollow sound, "you speak of standing against, but you are already on your knees."
Arthur gritted his teeth and pushed himself up, his legs shaking, his vision swimming, he had faced worse, he had faced Lyssandra and survived. This man was of the same caliber, an Enlightened of the Initiate rank. Though Lyssandra was an Ascendant, he could at least do something. But his wounds were starting to cut deep, and it was common knowledge that an Awakened, no matter how skilled, no matter how much collective faith they possessed. would struggle against an Enlightened.
Yet Arthur knew that wasn't the case. If Mother Alisia was such an incompetent creator, then her blessings had limits, her blessings could be surpassed.
"Go!" he yelled again.
"get to the boat and do not look back."
She looked at him, at the blood soaking through his clothes, at the way his hands trembled around the hilt of his sword, and she made a decision, she would not leave him, she could not abandon hope.
Without much thought she took her satchel and started looking around, the person buried under the planks pleaded with her, "Aurelia, you have done enough, please," they rasped like they were running out of breath. She did not care, her hands searched everywhere for something, an orb with dust particles inside, cosmic debris floating within a glass ball, a Vestige she had kept in her possession, she looked at Arthur with stern determined eyes.
Arthur stopped with one of his feet back, off balance, it was one thing deflecting swords and spears and clubs, but hands and fists and especially feet were different, an arm could change trajectory mid swing and a foot could extend mid kick because of its joints, he had to anticipate and react.
He ducked a fist and stepped back, suddenly he felt an oppressive aura from the fist enveloping his enemy's hand with a faint yellow glow, the man was channeling fate essence into his body to enhance his physical capabilities, it was without a doubt a martial artist, Arthur did not know much about the Shenzhou sects and their ways but this one was clearly using something like the Heavenly Dragon's Breath technique, he was on the ground on his feet when a punch with aura behind it caught him, then another came and shattered the planks, he rolled away, another came from behind, there were many others, six more closed in by now, Arthur turned but it was too late.
A sharp throwing knife lodged in the attacker's eye from where Arthur stood. Ling Wei spoke, "No one shall dare to intervene with my duel," he said coldly, "I will carry his head to the second commander, where is the commander?" he asked a second person who replied, "The first fleet has yet to arrive." Ling Wei tilted his head considering it, with a sigh he turned to Arthur and his fallen comrade.
"You are pretty noble after all," he said after lingering for a moment. Arthur regarded him with an infallible stern look, Ling Wei noticed it was the spirit of a fighter who would not give up no matter the circumstances.
"This one is tenacious," Ling Wei observed, "report to the first commander that the fleet has been almost seized."
Arthur immediately lunged at Ling Wei with his sword held as hard as he could, "Tempest Reckoning!" he announced. It was one of his strongest moves, the move he had used when he first awakened, it was so dangerous that it almost blew away his arm, but in turn it dealt massive damage to the creature he had faced before, this move was not passed down to him but one he had created himself after a long forgotten but agonizing past, it was the move that shared insight toward the way of the world, of Alisia, of the empress, of life itself, a deep burning clarity ignited in his eyes.
Ling Wei saw that and immediately brandished a spectral spear, bracing for impact, everything happened in a single second but it felt slow, Arthur brought down his blade and it shattered the vessel into raindrops, wood flying everywhere, people falling into the water, he had cut the side of the ship in two, if the vessel was beyond damaged then it was surely destroyed by now, it resembled nothing but floating planks and the remnants of what had once been a ship.
Ling Wei took a lot of damage from the attack, his robes shredded, blood pouring from multiple wounds, but he was an Enlightened and he could withstand it, grinning through the blood streaming down his face. Arthur was brought down to his knees as the move had damaged him as well, his arms trembling, his breath ragged.
"After all that," Arthur cursed under his breath.
Ling Wei touched the back of his neck, stretching like it had been a minor inconvenience rather than a near fatal wound. Arthur stood up but it was too late.
"Dragon's Fury!" Ling Wei yelled, while stomping forward gesturing an arm forward ceremonially.
A huge dragon burst from the water line, its massive form erupting from the depths as it opened its jaws wide, it was an ancient mythological dragon, a Vestige probably of the Unearthed class. Arthur braced himself, settling into a defensive stance with his sword, but he was too slow, the dragon bit him and carried him under the water.
Water immediately rushed into his ears, his eyes burned with salt, he could not see well. Strength under water was a whole different thing, movements became slow, strength in general became sluggish, he held the hilt of his sword and drove the blade through the creature's eye. The dragon shook, it was of the Unearthed class, still something he could deal with, he twisted the sword at his hilt and drove it deeper toward its eyes and scales.
It let him go.
But he was running out of time, the desperation to breathe forced his mouth shut as he clamped his jaw, he looked up, the dragon came at him again, biting him and surfacing, throwing him into the air, he could breathe air suddenly, he felt its weight on his skin, the weight of his wet armor and uniform, he could see a bright golden glowing light in the distance, the Enlightened was preparing an attack.
A yellow spear sped through the air toward Arthur, he twisted and made it hit the dragon instead, he hit the water and found himself landing on scattered plank debris.
"Sir knight! Here!" she yelled, it was the girl, she had thrown something, a ball.
Arthur looked up and caught it, a Vestige he could summon through an artifact, something the Latent and unawakened carried as tools to summon creatures, this had to be expensive. He did not say anything, his focus was on the adversary. If he could not beat an Enlightened then how in God's name could he ever stand against the empress throne, how could he prove Elara wrong and help her.
He gripped the orb that looked like a small ball with scattered dust particles that resembled cosmic debris inside it and channeled his fate essence into it, his face immediately twitched in surprise.
'This is a Vestige of the Remembered rank, Chronicled classification,' Arthur did not have the brains for Destinology and fate conjuring in general, but someone like him knew the true worth of this Vestige, it was similar to the same power level as an Enlightened of the Innate rank, which was the adversary he was facing. However Vestiges and relics were always a step below, because an actual Illuminated outmatched them by a bit, but with his experience this was more than capable.