Ludwig sprinted through the dome, dodging around any attack that was emerged from the walls, ground, or ceiling of the dome, he leapt into the air attempting to land a slash on Roland, only for the slash to be shielded by multiple layers of a white material that resembled a large femur. Roland simply looked up at Ludwig, giving him an indifferent glare.
"You appear to be bored, let me assist with that." A spike shot out of the femur that blocked Ludwig's blow, fortunately Ludwig narrowly tilted his head away from it, but it still grazed his cheek. He saw Roland reach over and grab the blade of Ludwig's sword, Ludwig by instinct retreated back, watching as the man with the hatchet charged toward Roland from behind.
A pallid spike ripped through the ground, blasting the man to the walls of the dome. Luckily the man managed to block it with his hatchet, however there seemed to be a noticeable dent in the axe head, with some sparks flying out as if a device inside was damaged.
The man mustered all his strength to break the pallid spike, attempting to charge at him again, until Roland said some sort of chant.
"Singing Children."
10 figures emerged from the ground at an instant around the man in a circle, all the figures appeared to be civilians from all parts of the world. They wore clothes that made them indistinguishable from normal civilians, some wore researcher coats similar to Roland', however they all had something in common, which was they were all holding hands in unison, with an inhuman smile on their faces.
They began skipping around while holding their hands, singing an unfamiliar lullaby. Everyone in the dome watched in confusion, including the man holding the hatchet.
"Is this some sort of illusion?" The man questioned before attempting to get out of the circle. Then, another figure emerged from the ground in the center with the man, she wore nothing for a blink of an eye before being clothed in a researcher coat, with a name tag on her chest, labelled as;
"Cylee"
The man attempted to stay away from her, however the circle of singing figures began closing together, squeezing themselves together as everyone once again witnessed as the "Cylee" embraced the man in a gentle manner.
Followed up with the whole circle exploding into a mound akin to a pincushion with pallid spikes erupting around like needles. The mound proceeded to melt into the ground, leaving no trace of what had transpired except for the hatchet that was left alone.
Ludwig gripped his sword, preparing to charge at him again, until he realized the blade where Roland had grabbed was now turning into flesh, and upon his realization the whole blade began to transform, which isn't the best term, as if the whole blade was being rewritten into human remains.
"Took your time to notice… And to think there are 3 other Truth Seekers here aside from Satoya." Roland muttered to himself, he then nodded in amusement.
"Satoya, do you believe all of this is worthy of pleasing the Sanguine Light." He asked Satoya curiously. Satoya was with the rest of the Satoya Gang, being shielded by a wall of thick ice who was being held up by Juliet.
"What's the deal with him and you?!" Edward demanded, he looked up at Satoya with a worried and furious gaze. Satoya himself was silent, he couldn't muster the courage to speak the truth, yet he also understood that he won't be able to explain the whole detail to them without wasting more time. He knew Roland was planning for other things, but instead of acting upon them, he was simply being patient.
"Laughing Children." He chanted again, this time whatever occurred was different.
As only 7 figures emerged around Roland. Those 7 figures were wearing researcher coats, with a name tag being visible on all of them. Their names were; Cylee, Julius, Yurina, Abel, Ray, Maverick, and Loretta. Satoya stumbled back with a gasp, causing the others to grow more stressed out due to them discovering a sort of relation between whatever those figures are resembling and Satoya.
With a snap of a finger, the 7 figures began running rampant, moving at an unnatural speed around. They giggled and laughed with an uncontrollable volume, and sounded more sinister than a normal laugh. 3 of them surrounded the wall of ice, while 4 of them started chasing Ludwig as he sprinted as fast he could toward the wall of ice. He then made the decision to wave his hand to open a Starlit Gate. Suddenly an arm emerged from the ground, touching the gate, and unexpectedly, it turned the portal into an oval shaped thing of bone that fell flat on the ground.
"Please refrain from leaving, if you all would prefer to leave, simply kill me." Roland said in a polite tone.
Ludwig's face became heavily concerned, likely the first time everyone saw him in a state of concern at a level like this. The 4 figures enclosed around him, however fortunately a wall of ice froze them letting him retreat to the group as the wall of ice opened and closed upon him entering.
"What the hell do we do? We are fighting a fucking Cataclysm, we are genuinely dead!" Kohayuki asked only to see the frozen figures erupt in pallid spikes.
"You are going to answer every question if we leave with our lives." Ludwig said in a serious yet aggravated tone as he held out his hand at Satoya.
"You won't fight, so give me your katana." He demanded.
Satoya slowly offered him his katana only for Ludwig to snatch it from him. He then saw Ludwig unsheathe it before entering a stance that he has never seen him do before.
Is he getting ready to perform some sort of technique?
Satoya asked in his head, he saw the wall of ice in front of Ludwig open. And in a brief second, he heard "Azure Skyline." Followed up with a blur of motion where he saw Ludwig now standing where Roland formerly stood, and Roland now against the walls of the flesh-like dome.
He managed to stand up, putting his hand over his large deep wound. He tilted his head up at Ludwig, "Never thought I'd meet someone utilizing Azure Family Swordsmanship." He remarked. He approached Ludwig calmly, not bothering to heal the gaping wound in his chest.
Finally, Juliet charged from the side, upon the Satoya Gang's surprise, she lunged forward piercing through Roland's skull with her rapier. She screamed, "I'll freeze your blood, god damnit!" The entire body of Roland became white as if he was succumbing to freezing, and then Juliet kicked him back, pulling her rapier out of his skull.
To continue with this nightmare, Roland's body melted into the ground, another body emerged instantaneously, "it would've been smarter if you had done that before, yet you all seem to not understand that I can reconstruct my own body."
"Crying Children." He continued, he thrusted forward his arm, the arm exploded into a monstrous blast of unknown human material, with mouths that made the morbid sound of weeping that enveloped both Ludwig and Juliet. The Satoya Gang saw this in horror, with the wall of ice melting into water.
The blast subsided, with what appeared to be the bodies of Ludwig and Juliet nearly killed, yet alive presumably because of them coughing blood repeatedly. "What are we supposed to do?! HE FUCKING KILLED LUDWIG AND JULIET!" Edward screamed as he slowly backed up, he wasn't even bothering to use his Verity due to the sheer hopelessness he felt. Edward looked to the others, and saw the same reaction.
Roland held his hand out at Satoya, impaling him with several appendages of bones. Satoya stumbled back, collapsing against the wall. His vision began to blur, until all he saw was white.
…
He saw ripples in the water. He couldn't see the sky, he couldn't see what's ahead of him, nor behind him. All he saw was a thick layer of mist that never wavered no matter how much he tried. He was standing in a shallow body of water, and saw only his reflection. He didn't understand what was happening, until he heard someone:
"I am quite the mischievous one, so enjoy this parting gift."
Her voice, it was soothing, she sounded so vaguely familiar as if he knew her so closely.. But that familiarity is so distant, as if that voice was across the world. Although he wanted to remember who that voice was, he woke up.
Satoya stumbled forward, holding his arm, dragging his footsteps as Roland calmly approached, thrusting his arm forward, chanting "Crying Children." For one final time.
As the blast of flesh emerged from Roland's arm. Satoya for a moment, now had faint equations surfaced around him, symbols drifting around, lingering as they dissipated into the air. Satoya slowly held his hand up, with the formulae and symbols channeling into a single point in his palm.
At last, the symbols and equations crystallized into a single point, connecting itself like puzzle pieces until it formed an impenetrable shield.
The blast of flesh subsided, with Roland's eyes widening in fascination equivalent to a child watching something new and interesting for the first time. He saw a shield that rippled in mathematical equations filled with symbols that he had no knowledge of existing. The impenetrable shield shatters, as Satoya falls to his knees. Satoya had no strength anymore, and had to watch as multiple stakes stabbed the throats of everyone else, leaving Satoya to be the last.
The ivory stake stabbed through his chest, pinning him against the wall. Satoya clung onto the stake trying everything he could to get the stake desperately, but nothing worked. Roland approached him completely composed, standing a couple feet before him.
He reached his hand out, speaking even further, "I will ask you once again."
"Will you guide me there?"
"No, he will not be guiding you there, Cataclysm of Old."
As soon as Roland turned around to see who spoke to him, he was split apart instantly by a spear, with its bandages peeling off in a gradual manner. Satoya's vision is fading, he was losing consciousness, and before he blacked out, he simply saw Rin, with his gold and dark purple eyes, gazing down upon the bisected Roland, holding what appears to be a spear made completely out of a bright gold color.