I was a Nerfed Hero in Another World

"Probably we can't…. but we have nothing to lose if we try," I answered, while looking at the remnants filling the air.

The unique thing that dark element had was its ability to leave the mana in the atmosphere. If these obsidian specks of dust continued stuffing the air, other players who could not use dark magic would have trouble casting spells. However, the mage who could control dark magic would have the opposite effects.

Since the shadowy spells contained intricate ruins, they overshadowed the remaining elements besides light and its same component.

However, we did not have Merleen with us to conjure both elements. Considering that she was the only one who could produce the two spells, we had no other choice but to improvise.

"Can you stall for time? I kinda need two minutes to collect the dark shards surrounding us," I instructed Green. "The spell won't work if I have to fight while gathering the energy…. But I don't know if this would work, okay?"

Green, with a baffled expression, gave me a nod. "You heard them, team. Fight the king and protect Arthur!"

As soon as he announced the command, Green and his group moved in different directions. Some of them, who had protective spells, stayed beside me while the rest of them fought the tyrant ruler.

I had a simple plan. After collecting the dark energy within a minute, I would use energy and convert it to my own. However, that process would also take another minute, which would make my body vulnerable. Some people might consider two minutes as brief seconds of the clock.

But in this heated battle, every moment counts, especially when the king hates our asses.

Within a few seconds, other elite guards finally arrived and defended the king. Like any other boss fight in a game, Green dealt with these small fries. After defeating them, that would be the time to reach the leader of our enemies. As soon as the king could move freely, he launched another spell, with a different ability.

According to my system, the spell that the king conjured fused the dark energy remnants in the atmosphere. That same energy also fused with his arcane, generating scattered shadow particles around us. Since the crowned king also knew my motivations, he planned on using the shards as his weapon. The energy he left from his earlier attacks would amplify them using his own magic, resulting in the total destruction of anything before him.

If that could happen, there would be no dark energy left for me to use and convert as my own magic power. I had no idea if these remnants would be enough for me to use against the king. And now that the crown schemed to use this spell, our chances of winning became slim.

But Green and the mercenaries refused to lose this battle. The assassins and thieves went to the flank and disrupted the king's flow of arcane. The elite guards did not have time to react, thanks to Green's plants grabbing their feet.

When the king lost his focus, the dark energy from his hands reverted to its original form. It only showed that the magic that the king conjured vanished, making him create another set of magic circles again.

Those events happened within thirty seconds. We only needed one and a half minutes before converting the energy into my power source.

It was a battle against time, as Green used his bastard sword to slam the enemies away. He knew that killing these soldiers would mean ending another one's life. Although it did not matter to them, it mattered to me.

If these mercenaries wanted to work together, they needed to abide by my rules. We did not trade lives. If there was a way to save everyone, I would always choose that.

Using the dregs of these obsidian arcane, I gathered all the remnants inside the room within sixty seconds. After collecting the dark energy, I transferred the tainted mana inside my veins, which was also a thing inside Magique.

However, there was a twist when using this conversion.

The game developers included converting mana from the surroundings as a feature inside the game. But when it got first released, the scavengers had the upper hand and collected these remnants, eventually making them into gemstones. And since I hardly needed boosters before, I did not pay attention to these little gimmicks, not until now.

Making gemstones had similar procedures to what I was doing right now. Those scavengers first made this process, and I was the one applying it. However, that was not all. Because of my lack of information, collecting and converting magical remnants became an arduous task for me. It only became worse when I had to use the dark energy of the king without using any staff I collected from the past.

Merleen could have effortlessly done this part, since she was a mage. Those wizards could see through these elements without focusing on their surroundings. It was also the reason wizards could use multiple elements at once during battles. Although the magical power would be lesser than the original spell, it was still enough to cause some problems against enemies.

But I was a knight for Pete's sake! If I did not have this knowledge, we would have been crisped into nothingness even before this shit show started.

Within the last few moments, the king made a desperate move and launched beads of shadow balls in my direction. Although these were smaller versions compared to what we witnessed before, these spells still packed a punch.

The mages beside me cast their abilities in the shadows. But because of the unique elements it contained, their spells never broke through the shadow balls. Green and I were powerful enough to shatter these attacks, but not the mages at my side.

And that became our utmost problem.

Luckily I finally converted the dark magic into my mana and absorbed every shadow surrounding this room. A screen emerged at my fore, telling me I had unlocked two abilities and a title during this fight.

[Congratulations, Arthur! You've learned the basics of converting surrounding mana as your own. By doing this process you could manipulate mana using the arcane surrounding you without spending any magic. However, you also need to focus on your surroundings while performing this ability.

[Congratulations, Arthur! You've unlocked the shadow element! Although weak, your character can control the dark magic. But because of your class, the system would limit the set of spells you could learn. (Current availability: Maging enhancement)]

[Congratulations, Arthur! You became a magical swordsman! Magical Swordsman is an extended class of your "knight class". You could also add skills in your sword, body, attacks and defences.]

All these benefits rushed towards me as if I hit the jackpot. As soon as I got all of these, I had an inkling feeling I would rekt this king's ass before he could even spit magic.

The magical boost immediately activated on my sword and my body. Since I gathered enough shadowy particles, there was enough for me to make my move. I could attack the dark energy and the king with my Clarent. If only I could close the gap between the two of us, this battle would finally end!

Well, that should have been the plan.

I brought my confidence with me and charged straight to the whirling shadowy balls, only to get hit by some of them from behind. Thanks to my Clarent's buff, the attack did not kill me. However, when I turned around, those balls kept coming onward without a moment's rest.

"Where do these shadow balls come from?!" I asked,

But the more I struggled to find them, the less time I could react. After thirty of them hitting my body, I finally slammed myself against a wall, with my shadowy armour wearing off from me.

The shadowy ball found its way at the eight mercenaries and hit them as I did. But compared to my magical defences and my Clarent, those mercenaries flew at opposite sides, nearly killing them in one shot. Green, who had planted as armour, was the only man who stood on his ground.

[Warning! Because you used all your mana gathering the dark energies, you could only use one spell!] My system warned me.

The cooldown of my ability was around two hours, compared to the six hours gap I had before. But even with that upgrade, it was still not enough to fight this king head-on, despite my darkened power riling inside of me.

"One spell….and I have to make it count," I mumbled, while clenching my fist into a ball.

If there was one thing I knew, this fight was not my battle. Although I wanted to save this village, this town was not mine alone.

"Green, take fast!" I shouted, and rested my hand on his shoulder.

Green summoned his plant and amplified it by magic. He already knew what I planned to do with him, considering the magic circle twirling around my hands.

[Warning! You have already drained all your mana! Cooldown: 2 hours] my system announced, but it was all worth it in the end.