Saikō no Chitsujo

Chapter 8: Part II

Esdeath glanced at him, a chuckle escaping her. "Forgive me, but I didn't think the prestigious Arata-san was capable of such flattery."

Shrugging, his brows creased. "Whoever his opponents are, they seemed to be fairly skilled, skilled enough to be troublesome."
"Could Hijiri be among..." A loud explosion startled the two, screams and a stampede separating them. Arata summoned the winds, hovering in the air, while Esdeath stomped, a pillar of ice raising her above the crowd.
"There seem to be two groups responsible for this. I trust you to handle the other group while I rescue our colleague." Arata stated, Esdeath nodding in reply.

The armor-clad man tightened his grip on his large mallet, breathing heavily. He resumed his battle stance, his full plated armor glinting in the sunlight. The man was much larger than the two opponents before him, he held up a large mallet with two square flat surfaces, gold runes ran down both sides of the mallet and they seemed to glow brighter the tighter he clutched it. His body armor was bulky and gray in color, making his large figure all the more intimidating. The top of his helmet was curved and covered his entire face, leaving but two slits which bright gold orbs glowed from within.

But even in the face of one as intimidating as the Order of Terra; Roland, his foes showed no fear. He couldn't tell who they were, only that they were fairly strong, strong enough that he wouldn't win against them if he continued to hold back. But Roland knew better, that should he fight to defeat his enemies swiftly, the people in the town, who he had sworn to protect would not survive the shockwave of his attacks. He cursed the fact that he lacked the precision that the Order of Flames and Storm possessed.

Another problem was the attributes of his opponents, they were highly proficient imperial arms users and they used elements that seemed to be the perfect counter for his abilities while also fighting in such an evasive and agile manner that he who made such large and powerful movements couldn't land proper hits. The slippery bastards fought like they'd known his fighting style beforehand.

Doubt had begun to grow in the wandering knight's mind. He was a member of the Supreme Order and a soldier, the only battle he had ever lost was against the hot-headed Order of Flames but he understood that, after all not only was he the most proficient in using his ability alongside the Order of Storm, Hijiri was also a very powerful all-rounder.
But the group before him was different, they were not overwhelmingly powerful, but they were like cunning snakes.
Slamming his mallet on the ground, four earthen golems rose. There was no way Roland was letting a group as dangerous as them go free and he had no plans to fall there. He clenched his jaw and lunged, the ground caving beneath his feet.
The duo before him sprinted forward, one of the two clasping his palms together instantly white arcs of lightning surrounded it.

Shinen no Hebi. The sound of crashing water caught Roland's attention as he spun to his right, swinging his hammer to obliterate most of the pressurized water, a small portion colliding with him.
That was supposed to destroy it all?! What?! He glanced at his mallet, glowering as a cluster of faint threads wove around the handle, their ends leading into the surrounding trees.

An imperial arm?! An explosion knocked him back, the lightning user on the spot Roland was a moment ago.
Roland sighed in annoyance, dropping his crossed arms which had used to guard his face. He dusted off some soot on his smoking armor, two of his adversaries dashing out of the tree lines to him.

Huh? Was that lightning- Thunder rumbled in the cloudy sky, blood and a decapitated head flying through the air in a graceful arc, the ground rumbling afterwards as the faint sound of bones snapping and being crushed was heard by everyone in the clearing.

"Roland-san, it has been a while. I do hope I am not late." Arata asked, the occasional branch of blue lightning running through his scythe.
"A-Arata-sama?! What are you doing here?" Roland asked, earnestly surprised.
"Let us handle these terrorists first, then we shall have a lengthy discussion." Arata spun his scythe skillfully, holding it horizontally, the end just at his back.