There was the sound of clashing and movement of multiple people, alongside bullets being fired. A putrid smell unlike anything scented before constantly lingered in the air. The scent was indescribable, merely a scent that can make anyone vomit if they breathe too hard.
Another sound of gunfire rang out, following with a rather serious voice speaking through what is assumed to be a communication device, unfortunately there was too much of a static sound that muffled the voice. The static sound overpowered the voice, and a click sound followed, ending the static noise.
"Shit." He heard an unfamiliar individual speak in annoyance.
Satoya slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he witnessed was several people in dark vests with a Compass Treaty badge attempting to engage an assault on a single man that stood in what he considered to be the middle. That man was none other than Roland, however he seemed to pay no mind to what was going on, his focus was on nothing but the small shard he was holding. It was the same shard that he saw Roland grabbing and inspecting before, and he couldn't understand what made him so distracted on it.
At last, he shattered the shard in his hand, and a wave of distorting visuals flashed for a split second, and the pieces of the shard dissipated into the air.
"To think there was a Truth Seeker with a Verity this terrifying.." The same unfamiliar man spoke. He was holding a hatchet that was covered in water, even dripping onto the morbidly fleshy floor.
"He isn't a Truth Seeker.." Ludwig answered, which surprised Satoya even more. If Ludwig, Isaac and Rayna are here, does that mean the rest are? And to answer that question, he saw them grouped up across him, surrounded by a wall of ice. In the front was Juliet, the same person who effortlessly killed the Sanguinist he fought and incapacitated Roland now holding her rapier out while holding her hand out as if she was trying to protect his friends.
"Then what is it? It is completely impossible for someone to possess this type of ability without a Verity."
"I am unable to deduce.. I sense no influx coming from him." Ludwig said in disappointment, and he turned back to Satoya. "Juliet Cerulea told me you were already engaging with this man. Who is he? Why were there Sanguinists aiding him?"
Satoya was unsure whether or not he should answer Ludwig's question. He was more or less concerned about what Roland would do. He still looked back at Roland's statement regarding what he'll try out due to curiosity. Before Satoya answered the man with the hatchet sprinted toward Roland, while pressing his finger against his face, presumably ordering through communications.
"Engage."
The dark vest wearing soldiers immediately began firing once again at Roland, only for a wall of flesh to emerge and shield the firing. The man with the hatchet reached Roland, leaping in the air, and swung down at Roland. A large splash of water erupted, with the man retreating back with the hatchet's edge being damaged.
"A wall of flesh? Yet I was unable to hack through with that? This Merit Revelator was the newest Huangfun model!"
Roland finally made a move. However that move wasn't directly combat oriented, it was him turning to face Satoya with a calm look. He raised his hand toward a group of soldiers who were reloading, several stakes of what appeared to be sharpened bones impaled them through their chest.
Satoya got up, and as soon as he had gotten up, he realized he was covered in a red liquid, which smelled heavily of iron. "All I remember was him being frozen, then everything became like flesh." He recalled. Ludwig faced back at him, while keeping his sword poised toward Roland in preparation for any attack.
"I was conversing with Edward and Johnathan, before I noticed the surroundings rapidly being reduced to this, then I was suffocating in a cocoon of sorts, managing to free myself by cutting it open." Ludwig responded.
Then, a muffled screaming was heard, from one of the walls of the fleshy dome. After that, an fist tore out, a fist with brass knuckles, then finally a man ripping himself out of the cocoon aggressively. He appeared to be missing an arm, not in the fashion that it was sliced off, but as if it melted off, his clothes were also mostly corroded, with what's left being a half corroded pink buttoned shirt.
Ludwig quickly shifted his blade at the man, however kept switching his target between Roland and the man. Fortunately, the one the man was seemingly intent on killing was Roland. For what reason? He couldn't understand.
In one moment, he was standing with his brass knuckled fist by his side, then in another moment, Satoya saw him rocket at Roland, then he saw Roland's head being practically obliterated by the impact of the man's punch. He heard Edward's voice yell out in surprise, "Enforcer Barstadus?! I thought he was frozen solid?!"
Enforcer Barstadus stood before Roland, who was completely limp, with no signs of life. It was obvious though, the Enforcer punched him in the face with such force he essentially discombobulated the whole face, some bits of what Satoya assumed to be his brain was splattered on the ground, with even his teeth scattered as well.
"F-fucking bastard… I don't know what the fuck you did, but my arm is all fucked, I saw the necklace of one of the Juries I came here with mixed with that cocoon.. I don't even know if you even did all of this.. But the moment I get out of here, I will inform Executioner Ignatius of your actions, and make sure he—"
Behind him, in exactly the center of the dome, was a mound of flesh and nerves molding upwards, the mold was chaotic initially, until an humanoid man was molded, then skin grew over the mold.
Satoya believed he was the only one who knew Roland wouldn't die that easily, yet he was still baffled by the sight. He watched as several appendages of bones protruded from the ground, wrapping around the figure of a man, then it thinned and threaded into a researcher's coat, the exact same as Roland's but completely clean.
This went on for almost a minute, until finally, another man stood in the center, his gaze shifted down at the corpse. "Quite peculiar, an God-like ability like this surely will cause an Ancient Crucible to intervene, much like the Cataclysm of the 5th and 6th.." He looked up at Satoya, contorting his lips into a smile that instantly told Satoya without even having to explicitly tell him.. It was indeed Roland.
Enforcer Barstadus turned around, attempting to land another blow; however Roland quickly spun, grabbing the Enforcer by the head. Without a moment's notice, Satoya and everyone else watched as the Enforcer's head exploded, however that wasn't the best way to explain it, it more or less splattered as soon as Roland's hand grabbed his head.
Roland began wiping the leftover of the Enforcer's head on his researcher coat, before gently stuffing his hands into his pockets. He then looked around before letting out a small sigh.
"To do the bare minimum, I guess I'll have to properly introduce myself.. I am nothing but a scurrying insect compared to the great Cataclysms of the past, for instance Ebenezer nor Takeru Oshima.."
He closed his eyes solemnly, continuing with his small speech.
"I am Saeonius Roland, Cataclysm of the 8th Disaster, and nothing more."