Pain—pain that had nearly reached the limits of human endurance!
Every bone and every inch of muscle in his body screamed with tearing pain. His overloaded nerves had already transformed those unbearable sensations into numbness, easing the burden on his body so that the suffering host would not pass out on the spot.
Yet even so, Gawain, sprawled across the ground, struggled several times but still could not control his numb limbs.
Just then, clear footsteps approached, and a fair arm lowered before the Sun Knight's eyes.
"How is it? Can you still hold on?"
Gawain glanced up at Samael, then turned his head away in humiliation. Supporting himself with his broken sword, he knelt on one knee toward the second floor.
Though the invincible Sun Knight was unwilling to accept it, he ultimately forced the words through his lips.
"I lost. Please punish me, My King..."
"Samael wins this match."
The observing King of Knights announced the result in a cool, even tone, without the slightest fluctuation. Then she turned to Gawain, her eyes calm and still.
"Sir Gawain, this was merely a fair contest. Victory and defeat carry neither reward nor punishment. Withdraw and rest."
Though he had not been punished, Gawain was still ashamed. Limping toward the Knights of the Round Table's camp, he was only then met by Gareth and Gaheris, who hurried over to support their brother.
Gawain did not refuse his younger siblings' help, but his figure looked somewhat desolate as he walked.
At Mount Basdan, he had lost to Vortigern on the battlefield.
Now, after returning in triumph, he had once again lost in Camelot to some nobody.
Clearly, those two defeats had dealt Gawain a severe blow.
They made him deeply doubt his own abilities, and whether he was qualified to stand