Chapter 57: I Can Beat Them Too

Desmond previously thought he understood Arthur's combat prowess, but at this moment, he was still deeply shocked by the scene before him.

The tables and chairs in the tavern had been caught in the crossfire of the fight and were now in a complete mess.

As for Arthur, the center of the battle, he took out a piece of trash with every punch; within a few breaths, the twenty men Cleos had brought were all on the ground, rolling back and forth and crying out.

Desmond even saw a few followers skip the process of being punched; seeing the situation was bad, they simply fell to the ground and groaned.

"Seven Hells!" Patrick exclaimed loudly, "I didn't even get a chance to strike."

He had also risen to meet the enemy, hoping to display his own skills in front of Arthur, but he hadn't expected that he wouldn't even touch an opponent's body.

Not many of the twenty-plus opponents carried weapons, and it stood to reason that most were just thugs, hooligans, or the like; the few who did carry swords were also taken down by Arthur immediately.

One sword's blade even had a fist-shaped dent smashed into it by Arthur's fist.

Patrick looked at that fist print and clicked his tongue in wonder.

Arthur felt his companion's gaze upon him, so he shook his hand and said with a hint of a smile, "That hurts!"

In truth, it didn't hurt much; perhaps due to the Ironflesh skill, the pain was greatly reduced as long as the collision didn't draw blood.

After giving the people on the ground a few hard kicks to ensure they wouldn't rise up for a sneak attack from behind, Arthur looked at the few Gold Cloaks slowly pacing over.

The captain in the lead was suddenly glad he had moved slowly, otherwise he and his subordinates would be lying on the ground right now too.

This person's strength was just too formidable!

"We are here to mediate and break up the fight." The captain hurriedly waved his hands, denying any association with Cleos's group first.

Only then did he pretend to be righteous and say, "Lord Cleos, this behavior of ordering people to be beaten is against the laws of King Robert. I suggest you go to the Red Keep's Throne Room immediately and confess to the King or the Hand."

The implication behind his words was for Cleos to run away quickly.

Otherwise, he would likely receive a beating just like his drunken cousin.

He turned his head, only to see Cleos with a vacant gaze and his mouth wide open, looking as if he had seen a White Walker.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible." Cleos muttered incessantly, "Even The Mountain could never take down so many people this quickly."

"How could The Mountain compare to me?" Arthur preened a little, then strode forward to stand beside Cleos and his cousin.

These two were so deeply shocked by Arthur's prowess that they couldn't even form the thought of running away.

In fact, their legs had already begun to tremble, only they hadn't realized it yet due to their fear.

Arthur grabbed one man by the neck with each hand and, with a violent heave, slammed both their heads onto the table nearby.

"Sir, don't hit them anymore; this is the Queen's cousin," a bystander warned.

"Exactly, Cersei's cousin isn't someone a backwater minor noble like you can beat."

"Take your win and run, don't get arrested by the Gold Cloaks."

Arthur glared fiercely at these gossiping bystanders, "Even if he were the King of Heaven himself, if he fell into my hands, I could still beat him, let alone just a relative of the Queen."

"Well said, beat them." Patrick cheered on his idol from the side.

Yes, from this moment on, he decided to change his idol from the Sword of the Morning Arthur Dayne to Arthur Bracken.

The Sword of the Morning only existed in legends, but Bracken was a feat seen with one's own eyes.

Arthur turned his head and ignored the bystanders.

"Let's start with you; if your hands weren't so itchy, touching that girl and then acting so lewdly that I couldn't stand it, would I have had to teach you a lesson?"

Arthur pressed Cleos's cousin's head onto the table and slammed it down hard a dozen times, only stopping when he felt he had vented his anger.

"And you, you came up and tried to extort one thousand Gold Dragons, did you think I couldn't tell? If I don't teach you a lesson, do you think I'm easy to bully?"

Arthur hated extortionists the most; after giving Cleos the same treatment as his cousin, he finally let them both go.

Their foreheads were already bleeding, and after being released, they slumped onto the ground.

They dared not leave, nor could they leave.

Because their legs were already shaking from fear to the point where they couldn't stand.

The Gold Cloak captain watched this scene in extreme embarrassment; by duty, he should have intervened, but having just witnessed this man's combat power, he didn't dare get too close to him.

Just as he was in this awkward spot, he caught a glimpse of his superior arriving outside the tavern with a large group of Gold Cloaks.

"What do we do next?" Patrick asked excitedly.

"We leave, of course." Arthur waved his hand, signaling his companions to slip away quickly.

But they were immediately blocked at the door by the arriving Gold Cloaks.

"How dare you fight and beat people in King's Landing!" The leader shouted first to establish his authority.

Only then did he see the Purple Field Silver Eagle embroidery on Patrick's collar.

"Oh, so it's the young lord from Seagard; you aren't hurt, are you?" He immediately became amiable.

Patrick was still young and didn't know how to handle this, so he lifted his arrogant chin and remained silent.

Desmond, being more mature, immediately stepped forward to explain.

Seeing this scene, the lead Gold Cloak also caught sight of the Queen's cousin Cleos slumped on the ground, and then seeing the embarrassed expression of his own captain, he immediately understood the gist of it.

It must have been two groups of nobles fighting, and the subordinates hadn't dared to intervene.

His eyes darted, and he immediately had a way to handle it.

Let King Robert make the judgment.

Unlike the madness of the late King Aerys II, King Robert was an extremely peaceful ruler.

Even the noble families who had been his enemies during the Usurper's War were allowed to keep their lands as long as they swore fealty to him.

At most, it was just a reduction of fiefs or a demotion of titles.

This was also the reason he had quickly established a unified kingdom across the Seven Kingdoms.

The lead Gold Cloak first smoothed things over, "Your subordinates are truly capable; they actually took down opponents several times their number."

He said this toward Patrick, completely failing to see that Arthur was the core of this group.

"This matter has caused quite a stir, and I dare not make a ruling; why don't we move to the Red Keep and go to the Throne Room to let the King decide?"

Although his tone was one of suggestion, he had already ordered his men to help those who had fallen to the ground to their feet, arrest the tavern couple and the little girl, and surround Arthur and the others.

It seemed that not going to the Red Keep was not an option after all.

Patrick looked at Arthur, and only after receiving his idol's consent did he nod, signaling his agreement to go to the Red Keep to await the King's judgment.

The group then headed toward the Throne Room.

Idlers, wandering warriors, and minor nobles who heard the news gradually joined in.

By the time they reached the gates of the Red Keep, several hundred people had gathered.

The Throne Room is the hall where the symbol of the King of Westeros—the Iron Throne—is located.

Because it is a place for the King to hear the grievances of his subjects and announce judgments, the Throne Room is sometimes open to commoners.

Thus, the Gold Cloaks, Arthur and the other involved parties, and the hundreds of commoners and nobles who were watching all surged inside.

PS: Seeking recommendation votes and monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)