Balls of blue fire formed from the adventurer girl's spell, suspended in midair. With a flick of her wrist the balls of fire, each the size of Lieren's fist, simultaneously flew towards not at the bandit, but at the spell ha head cast.
The earthen shackles, barely damaged by the steel-plated adventurer, Brad, shattered, sending shards of earth everywhere.
Brad nodded to the female adventurer. "Thanks, Lin." He looked back at the bandit, eyeing him menacingly.
"…?!" The bandit flinched, but maintained his stance.
He's experienced, Lieren thought, remembering the books he read on psychological warfare.
Brad brandished his longsword, holding it with his right hand, freeing up his left.
The bandit eyed this suspiciously, taking a step back while keeping his stance balanced. Suddenly, light filled the bandit's dagger, converging on the edges of it.
An enhancement spell, Lieren noticed. One of the two applications of augmentation. That's most likely just a simple sharpening spell, though I can't really tell much from this distance. Though, it could also be fortification—the other application of augmentation. Maybe the bandit's going for a battle of endurance, though the chances are unlikely. It's hard to think that anybody with that kind of physique and equipment would seek for anything other than a quick fight.
The bandit dashed forward, dagger in hand, eyes focused on Brad.
A loud crash boomed, and before Lieren knew it, the bandit, eyes closed, was thrown to side violently, right where three of it's companions where, fighting another pair of guards.
A lean man stood where the bandit used to be, his left leg outstretched, and his eyes deadly.
Leiren let out a sigh. "Showoff."
Haraki stood perfectly still, then glanced at Lieren and winked. Lieren rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but be impressed. He did, after all, just defeat a bandit instantly, without any help.
The adventurer, Brad, stared intently at Haraki, a tinge of horror and contempt in his eyes. "You are…"
His companion, Lin, couldn't help but be astonished. "What the—"
In the blink of an eye, Haraki was gone again, his figure becoming a blur as he dashed forward, towards another group of bandits fighting mercenaries.
Just as his fist was about to land on one of the bandit's faces, he caught a shimmer of light at the corner of his eye.
Using his enhanced speed and reflexes, Harita swerved to the side, instead pulling on one of the bandits. An arrow, it's tip alight with the glow of mana, sunk deep into the bandit's head, piercing through and out to the other side.
The bandit, late to realize, could barely managed a gasp as his consciousness descended into nothingness. With a thud, Haraki released the bandit, letting him fall to the ground.
Harita extended his left arm. "Night Eater."
The runes on his arm began to glow white, floating off his skin by a couple of centimeters. A ring of white, pure white, replaced Haraki's tattoo.
Space began warping as a sword's spectral figure, materialized before Haraki.
Without a second thought, Haraki grasped it; the blade revealed it's true form, as dark as the night itself. The sword was curved, single-edged, and had a handle long enough to fit both if Haraki's hands perfectly. The blade itself was pitch black, like a starless night. Just like a dream.
The runes on Haraki's arm, suspended in midair — but still in a circle around his wrist — spun clockwise slightly, then stopped.
With a quick sweep, Harita deflected an arrow aimed at him.
Harita cast a lazy gaze to the side, and yelp of surprise resounded from behind an outcropping rock.
Lieren had to strain his eyes to even keep up with Haraki's afterimage.
In flash, the lean man was upon the first archer, his katana bisecting the bandit's hand.
"AAAAAaaaaaaagggggHHHHH!!!" A scream of agony erupted from the man, his exposed veins gushing fresh blood.
Lieren hurled again. This is too much.
Harita, however, did not stop, delivering a kick to the man, knocking him down.
Even the other adventurers and mercenaries looked at him with open contempt.
Another flash passed, and this time, it was a spell. Compressed bullets of wind blasted from one of the bandits' mages. This one seemed to be out of her mind.
"…?!" Harita, surprised despite himself, leaned tilted his head and body, his frame twisting unnaturally.
The spell grazed Haraki's cheek, drawing crimson blood.
Harita clicked his tongue, dashing away in a flash. More spells were coming his way.
Wind bullets, nearly invisible, but very predictable, flew. A couple of other adventurers charged in, taking care of the other bandits, only to be pierced by a stray air bullet.
Okay, I think I've got it now.
Harita leaped from his hiding place, and the bandit mage didn't hesitate to fire wind bullets at him.
"What?!" The bandit's wind bullet found no purchase, the target it was aimed for disappearing in a misty wave of mana.
"Got you." Harita muttered beside the bandit, sweeping his katana, drawing blood from the woman's chest.
"No, plea—"
With a loud thud, the woman fell, and Harita tapped the back of his sword on his back.
Harita bent his knees suddenly, practically falling to the ground.
A metallic disk, hollow in the middle, missed him by a hair's breadth.
Harita glanced to the left. Another bandit, holding a chakram on one hand, glared at him with furious eyes.
"You monster!" The bandit yelled. Her voice sounded like it was on the verge of tears.
"Well, you wouldn't be wrong." Harita responded indifferently, wiping his cheek of blood.
The girl, another bandit, threw her other chakram.
Harita easily dodged with a simple step to the side. A cold chill ran down his back as the edges of the woman's face curled up.
He spun quickly.
Loud clang; bright sparks. Just as the chakram, having arced like a boomerang, almost cut into his throat, Harita blocked the projectile with his sword at the last second.
The bandit girl clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Why won't you just die?!"
The girl stretched out both hands, and the chakrams arced through the air gracefully, returning to her hand.
"So, you can only manipulate one at a time, but can return both without any problems. Is that a restriction, perhaps? Or is that just the limit of what you can do? If so, then I only have pity for whoever your employer is." Haraki grinned, spewing poison.
"I—We listen to no one!" The girl shouted, summoning more chakrams.
"Oh, so you can do better." Harita's mind was working as quick as his feet.
'So, she uses materialization. At first, it seemed to just be a simple case of manipulation. I'm glad I followed my instincts. The girl shouldn't have anymore tricks up her sleeves, but it never hurts to be careful. I should assume that she has at least one or two more spells. Well, either way…'
Harita's figure became a blur as he dashed, weaved, and circumvented the girl, appearing behind her.
Half a dozen chakrams flew towards him, but he dodged them with ease, flowing like the unseen wind as he weaved through the bandit girl's spells.
The runes on his hand stroke once, and Harita felt the urge to finish this creeping up on much sooner than he had expected.
The surprise, along with the difficult maneuver he was currently doing, overwhelmed Harita.
Chakram after chakram cut deep gashes across his skin, and Harita was forced on the defensive, using all his mana for fortification instead of enhancement.
The bandit girl laughed manically. "HAHAHAHA. How's that for pitiful, you proud bastard?!" She hollered.
Harita took a deep breath amidst the continuous pain, trying to calm his nerves. It was difficult, especially with the constant cutting and slicing happening.
Harita opened his eyes, trying to fund anything to help. Night Eater disappeared, and the runes on his arm snapped back to his wrist, becoming tattoos once again.
Harita found his eyes drifting, swerving on a small, lanky boy, much younger and naive than himself.
The boy, bearing black hair and blue eyes, looked like the epitome of a weakling, no different than the beggars one would ignore when walking on the streets. However, there was something else, something within the boy.
Harita could feel it. There was…something else. Something beyond the innocent child in front of him. It was…shining, bright and almost blinding—just enough to prove it's presence, it's being. It's there, alive, pulsating, just waiting to be come out.
Harita could see—feel the regal presence within Lieren. Barely, Harita thought, it seems to be…contained. If not for the chakrams, Narita would have already bowed to his feet.
Then, his gaze drifted again. It was the boy, not the thing inside of him, but the actual person, standing there, with a reliant and expectant glint to his eyes.
"Ugh, I look so lame." Harita said to nobody in particular. He closed his eyes, channeling mana to the rune under his eye. A moment later, his right eye began to shed crimson tears.
An intense pressure suddenly befall the battlefield.
"W-What?!" The bandit girl groaned, her face planted to the ground by Harita's magic. "What is this?" The bandit girl's magic chakrams fell to the ground and dematerialized into motes of mana, dissipating into the wind soon after.
Harita pivoted casually to the girl's face, looking down on her from above. Haraki pressed his fingers on the girl's neck, sinking deep into her throat.
"For the King."
With a quick sweep, Haraki, his face a mask of impassivity and indifference, dug into the girl's neck, spraying fresh blood on the ground.