A hardcovered book with gold embossing. Titleless and tinged with with a sickly yellow color all over its cover, it was unmistakably a grimoire. The sapphire sphere broke apart entirely as the book dropped softly onto Morgan's waiting hands. The appearance of this book chilled the onlookers to the bone, it's power radiating from under it's unassuming covers.
"Will you hand it over?" Olivia asked gently.
"...I'll have to refuse." Morgan replied simply and firmly.
"...Yeah, I figured." Olivia sighed as she floated away and back down onto the ground, "Then I'll just have to-"
"W-Wait wait wait wait wait!" Helena cried, "Someone wanna explain the goddamn river thing?!"
Olivia sighed, "Seawood always had a river. It was simply co-opted as a breeding ground for the flesh mobs. Once the majority of the townfolks were taken over, knowledge about the river was suppressed and the legend was made to cover it up."
"Huh." Helena blinked, "You know, I kind of forgot about that legend."
"And that's why we had to pick up the slack." Olivia scowled, "Now if you'll excuse me-"
Olivia's confrontation with Morgan was stalled once again when Roland ran up and swung a sword at her, Olivia blocking his attack with only her tail.
"Really?" Olivia scowled at the white knight.
"Get him out here." Roland growled.
"Seriously? Roko's kind of tired now after he-oh?"
Olivia stopped as a lone human emerged from her shadow, glowing crown atop his head and carrying a sword in his hand already.
"Leave him to me." Roko sighed.
"You sure? I figured the amp side effects would still be hitting you hard."
"Nothing that will debuff me enough to lose to goddamn Roland of all people." Roko scoffed.
"If you're sure." Olivia scoffed, "I assume you don't want me to interfere with your little duel then?"
"Eh, I wouldn't count it out." Roko smirked, "This match doesn't nearly mean as much to me as it does to him."
"Keep talking." Roland scowled, "I'll kill you if it's the last thing I'll do."
"I'll believe it when I see it."
As Olivia slowly melted back into Roko's shadow, Morgan slowly took a step back to quickly retreat only for a fellow demon to jump up from the ground all the way to roof from behind her and grab onto her body, restraining her arms and holding her in place.
"Got her boss!"
"Ah! Good work, Jordan!" the demon's boss grinned and gave a thumbs up, "Don't let that traitorous witch escape!"
"Ha! Child's play!"
"Hah..." Morgan sighed, "You always did excel at stealing credit, Jordan."
"W-What does that mean!" The demon known as Jordan scowled, "I'll have you know, I-"
But before he could continue, the grimoire glowed and a blob of flesh shot out from between it's pages to latch onto Jordan's face. The demon let go of Morgan immediately to try and rip off the parasite but it was clear he wouldn't succeed.
"Dammit! Damn you Morgan!" the demon leader roared as he lead his men to attack Morgan again before she could escape.
"Huh?!" Helena's head turned between the ongoing conflict between Morgan and Roland, unsure of which to pay attention to, "Wait, what do we-"
"We can't let the demons get their hands on the grimoire!" Momo scowled, "I'm heading in!"
"R-Right!" Helena gulped, "Roland?"
"You handle it. I'm handling this." Roland announced.
"Ahaha...figures..." Helena said nervously.
"Don't worry, we still have Mikado." Kaguya smiled as she refilled Calcify.
"Where is Mikado then?"
"Mikado!"
From the rubble of a nearby roof, Kaguya's knight jumped out and back in front of her, looking not too damaged from getting kicked by Morgan.
"Oh snap. Where was he this whole time?" Helena frowned.
"He, or rather, we were waiting for a good opening to sneak in a good attack." Kaguya replied.
"Mikado was? In that rubble?"
"It's our MO."
"O...kay?" Helena shrugged before turning to Roland, "Roland! ...Do your best!"
"I won't even need to use my best to beat this faker!"
Roko didn't even deign that with a response.
For a split second before Olivia fully disappeared into Roko's shadow, she and Morgan locked eyes for a moment. And in one wordless moment, Olivia conveyed her thoughts to her childhood friend.
"Don't go losing now."
Blade came after blade. Exspecular and Grievegrave. Roko's nameless sword. Despite Roland's best efforts, Roko was able to effortlessly deflect and escape Roland's very enthusiastic assault. To Roko, his failure to actually land a hit on him should only prove the gap between him and Roland. Meanwhile, Roland saw Roko continually giving up ground after ground to escape his blade as genuine progress. Eventually he will be cornered and Roland will land a decisive hit on him. Was what he was thinking probably. It was written all over Roland's face, frankly.
"I don't even know what I did to make you hate me this much." Roko muttered.
"You're evil! That's all the excuse I need!" Roland sneered, swinging blade after blade at Roko.
"All you needed was an excuse to try and kill me huh?" Roko scoffed.
"And what's wrong with that?! If it wasn't for you, I'd have lived a perfect life! Me with all these women! And with all the respect I deserve!"
"Really? Not a single hint of shame in your mind?"
"I could've had it all! But with you in the way?! I'll never achieve what I want!"
"Which is?"
"Corrisa's pu-I mean never you mind!"
"And you're supposed to be the good guy?"
"I'll never forgive you!"
"I don't want your forgiveness. If one of us has to go, I'd be fine if it was me. But not before I make sure you don't terrorize anyone ever again."
Roland's next attack was blocked by Roko's sword again but this time he had gone high, forcing Roko's arm to go high to block it. And this time, Roland's second sword had already draw around the front of his chest with Roko up against a guardwall. When Roko moved to try and block this attack as well, Roland, in a clever move for once, used his sword guard to block his movement. With no sword to protect against the attack, Roko would've gotten slashed. If not for his shadow spitting out a second sword. Right into Roko's waiting hand. Surprising Roland with a second blade of his own, Roko slashed out with both his swords to push Roland back.
"...If you want to learn your own swordstyle, that's fine." Roko scoffed, "But not before I prove my own methods since you won't do it yourself."
Roland scowled and rushed towards Roko. Roko charged back, deflecting Roland's first swings off to the sides before pushing forward. And in an instant, all their positions had been exchanged. Roko was pushing Roland back, more and more. Roland tried to put up some sort of counterattack, but Roko had become a dense ball of blades. Each sword whipping around to knock into Roland's preventing him from bringing his swords together to even try to attack. In essence, Roko had gained full control of the space in front of Roland, deflecting any attempt to invade it while being in perfect position to land tangential attacks on Roland's body. This wasn't a fight anymore, it was a lesson. If Roko attempted to land a true finishing attack on Roland, he would end up opening up this space to be successfully invaded. Instead, his swords kept dancing, never opening a guard, never truly killing but grinding each and every one of Roland's efforts down systematically.
Something that Roko could not achieve alone. All Roland would have to do was to stop attacking. Without any attacks to busy himself from defending against, Roko would be tempted into launching that unraveling final attack. But Roland wouldn't stop. His pride wouldn't let him. Instead, he was forced to dodge to the side, escaping Roko's blades entirely as he knelt there, tired but not as exhausted as Roko's whole maneuver had costed him. It was one thing to be able to put his ideas into practice but Roko was still far from being as athletic as he needed to more easily pull off his ideas. Roland might've been able to last longer or even force a more powerful yet safe attack. But he's chosen to go down a different path.
"Hah...hah..." Roland scowled as he took a moment to collect himself.
He could see Roko wasn't in the best shape. But this swordplay… it was insulting how good he was for being a nerd. For a failed mage, he sure things he knows his way around a sword now. No, that demon must be making up the difference. Even if he hasn't chosen to make her interfere yet, aside from that second sword, she must be supporting him with reinforcement and armament magic.
"Cheater..." Roland scowled.
"Ask Momo for help if you think I'm cheating." Roko sneered, "It'll just make things easier for me."
"As if you're fighting fair already!"
"As fair as it is against you anyway. It's hard to come down to so low a level."
"Oh that is IT!"
Roland lunged in with his sword again only for Roko to begin with his swordplay again.
"He's doing surprisingly well." Helena remarked from afar.
"Hm?" Corissa blinked, "Were you watching?"
"Yep." Helena replied, her eyes still trained on the fight with Morgan, "Just through one of my second eyes."
"Well, I don't blame you. Roko is doing surprisingly well." Corissa remarked.
"Yeah but we all knew Roko was gonna slay out there." Helena chuckled, "Roko doing good? What else is new? No, I gotta give reps to my boy, Roland."
"Really? Rare reps for Roland?" Corissa raised an eyebrow.
"My man's fighting the fight of his life. I gotta support him."
"So you want him to win?"
"HELL NO. Did you hear the things he was saying about us? Trash tier human being. Hope he loses."
"I...thought you were supporting him?"
"Corissa, you know how when you were a kid and your stupid ass, dumb ass friend says he will go do something stupid like he's going to go fight a teacher? And you know there's no way he'll win and like you don't want him to actually win but like...he's your friend so you feel like you gotta cheer him on because that's what friends are for?"
"...No? I didn't...really get the chance to go to school like normal people."
"Oh...my bad."
…
Roland was starting to do better. His solution of shifting to a side stance, so that there was no longer any enclosed space in front of his body in which Roko could dominate worked stupidly well. It did mean that Roko only had one sword to deal with since he only had to deal with one side now. But it also meant that Roland could bring in the second sword at any point to disrupt his attacks. A possibility that Roko could not ignore. And in addition to this, Roland was using the more deft Exspecular to poke and parry Roko while keeping the heavier Grievegrave in reserve to attack and disrupt. It seems like he had actually taken SOME of Roko's teachings to heart, even if it wasn't entirely what Roko had in mind.
Roko on the other hand wasn't doing well at least in terms of energy. The few minutes in amp state to craft the earth spell that they needed left him quite fatigued. At least on the mental front. His body was fine but the constant activity was starting to drag it down to the same level as his mentality. What would be his next move? One big final push to seize victory or drag it out, seeking some easier path to victory? ...There was only really one answer. One way to truly humble Roland.
Roko swung both his swords down on Roland, bringing both of Roland's swords out to block him.
"You think you can overpower me now?" Roland sneered, "That's one area you could never beat me in."
"Especially not after your 70 push ups."
"100, thank you very much." Roland continued to sneer, "And I didn't even need it apparently."
"And I still don't need Olivia. So we're still even."
"Heh. Seems like we're at a stalemate."
"So it would seem."
"You wanna end it all right now then?"
"Sure. I don't have the time to waste on you."
"Keep talking big."
With a big push, Roland pushed Roko back into the air where he landed a few feet away.
"I'm sure you've noticed, smart as you are." Roland smirked, "That I showed you how I used to fight. And how I fight now."
"Oh, that's actually perceptive of you." Roko remarked.
"So what's next? How about I show you...how I WILL fight?!"
Roland sheathed both his swords before taking one into his hands, pulling back on his stance, preparing to draw.
"...Ready?" Roland sneered.
"Whenever you're ready." Roko rolled his eyes.
With a handsome smirk, Roland gripped his sword...then made a wild slash...into midair. Without even slashing anything, Roland swung his sword so hard he spun around stood back up. And slowly, dramatically, he began lowering his sword back into its sheath.
"Let it happen, baby." Roland whispered to his sword as he painstakingly completed his first sword draw technique. And once his sword clicked into place into it's sheath...nothing happened.
Roko waited. Nothing happened. So Roko rolled his eyes, tossed one of his swords up so he catch it in a position where he could more easily throw it, handle first into Roland's head.
"OW!" Roland cried as the sword hit him in the head.
"You done?!" Roko snapped, "My turn now!"
With his remaining sword in both of his hands, Roko pulled back and charged, heading right for Roland with swift, powerful steps.
"Wh-wait, waitwaitwaitwaitwa-"
Roland tried to call for a break but it was too late. With both his swords sheathed, there was no stopping the heavy slash that swung upward, breaking right through his precious white armor and sending Roland flying into the air. Roko stood there, mildly fatigued as Roland collapsed onto the ground, safe from any actual injuries due to his chain mail.
"He biffed it." Helena sighed.
"He totally biffed it." Corissa sighed.
"I get the narrative he was trying to spin but trying to use a technique he has not yet learned is top tier stupidity."
"Oh, Momo, you were watching?" Helena said.
"Had to, this shit was peak comedy." Momo replied as she wrestled a possessed demon under her arms.
"Well...I guess...everything we knew was going to happen and wanted to happen...happened." Corissa nodded, "This certainly was...a duel."
"No!" Helena cried, grabbing Corissa by the shoulder and pulling her down to her level, "There's still one more thing we can do!"
"Huh? What?" Corissa yelped, confused.
"Corissa! Promise Roland something!" Helena hissed.
"Huh?!"
"Something! Any kind of award!"
"B-But I thought-"
"Just say anything, Corissa!"
"U-Ummm..." Corissa thought about it for a second before standing back up, "Roland! If you win I'll...uhh...I'll sit on your face!"
"Seriously?" Helena blinked.
"What?!" Corissa yelped, "That was the first thing I thought of!"
"You a freak, Corissa."
"I didn't want to do this in the first place!"
"But look, it's working."
"Huh?" Roko blinked, confused by Corissa's sudden proclamation only to hear movement behind him, "Oh no. No no no no no. COME ON!"
"I AM REVIVED!" Roland declared as he practically floated back up, "And this power! This power that flows through me...is this the legendary super saya-"
"OLIVIA!" Roko snapped, summoning the demon from his shadow.
"Ha! Cast whatever spell you want, villain, I no longer-"
Roland's dramatic speech was cut short by Olivia's fist suddenly impacting his face. And then another one into his face. Fist after fist smashed Roland's face in as Olivia shouted.
"Muda muda muda muda muda!"
The force of Olivia's blows lifted Roland's body into midair.
"Muda muda muda muda muda!"
Roland's handsome, smug visage slowly began cracking under the force of Olivia's attacks.
"Muda muda muda muda muda!"
The punches were now spreading out to also hit Roland square in the stomach and chest.
"Muda muda muda muda muda!"
Olivia just kept punching.
"WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"
Like...7 whole pages worth of punching.
"Muda muda muda muda muda!"
And once she had enough, she let out one last,
"MUDA!"
And punched Roland square off the roof. He fell somewhere that Roko couldn't see. He did not get back up.
"...Did you kill him?" Roko sighed as Olivia floated back to him.
"Nope."
"Shame. Damn shame. I'm taking a nap now."
"Good work out there."
"Well...that was a wash." Helena chortled.