First tightened his grip on his warhammer with tense fingers and steel-like determination. His eyes were dark and muddy, almost as if there was nobody looking through it, and focused his attention elsewhere, pushing Bian into and behind him using the giant earthen arms as she used the other to push the dangerous man away with all the strength that he could swear.
It caused him great pain to exert this much power, both mental and physical, putting him on sanity's edge, almost taking over his burning mind. The tactile feeling of integumentary sensations became less defined as he gripped the handle of his hammer even tighter, chasing after the feeling.
There was blood pouring out of his mouth as he gritted his teeth and said, his voice grating and strained:
"Leave my friend alone, monster. You're worse than the beasts outside of this city's walls."
A voice echoed, belligerently mocking:
"Is that so? Come and kill me then."
The man's very existence was the epitome of mocking, grating, and aggressive. It was as if it had been crafted exactly for the purpose of mocking all that it speaks to, seeding frustration and deep malevolence in their heads to heighten suspicion. It was both a curse and a blessing.
First raised his warhammer, or rather, his staff, his strike clunking heavily onto the ground in a large burst of earth mana, sending multiple signals in multiple different locations around the monstrous man.
In a burst of explosive power, the hand holding the green-eyed man shattered, sending earth flying, but not fast enough so to deal any damage to First's thick skin.
…Only to be met with dozens of earthen javelins, each over a meter long.
"Volley, set."
The man lowered his body, ready to fight.
First yelled:
"Fire!"
With a burst of earth mana, the earthen javelins erupted, flying fast and soaring deadly to its target… the monster in a man's clothing, all of them aimed at his arms and legs, with some few hidden ones aimed for the dire appendages and critical organs.
The man, not missing a beat, lowered his body… and prepared to dodge them all.
First scowled even deeper.
'Is… is he crazy? Or is he just mocking me? That monster! Who does he think he is?!'
◇◆◇◆◇
Closing his eyes, Harita felt for the space around him, eliminating his senses for just a brief moment. His hearing seemingly dissipated as the world disappeared from his vision, his consciousness sinking deeper and deeper into himself.
One…
Two…
Three…
'Now!'
Twisting his lean and practiced body, Harita willed his muscles to move precisely, not wasting a single motion as he leaned back, an earthen power whistling past his face by a hair's breadth, flying past him and crashing onto another earthen spear, completely destroying despite being made from the same material and enhanced by the same magic.
The burly man, it seemed, was a far less adventurer than he thought, the cool air and dismissive attitude nothing more than a cold facade.
But that did not make him weak.
Harita felt his body grow weak and rigid from overexertion, the dozens of earthen javelins threatening to end him at a moment's notice.
Nevertheless, he would prevail. Not because of any stupid promise or nonsensical desire to win and kill his enemies… but because he had made an Oath. One he had to keep at all costs, despite himself.
Feeling the world grow still and silent, Harita opened his eyes, unveiling the world and allowing his senses to return back to him tiredly. When he came to, his breathing was rather ragged, but not exaggeratedly so. It wasn't enough to put him down.
…But apparently enough so to fill the burly man with sudden hope and hopeful resoluteness, the light in his eyes returning.
As well as his companion.
Finally snapping out of her hazy stupor. Bian blinked, her eyes focusing and her face naturally scowling.
As if she had just born witness to something deeply offensive and disgusting.
The gigantic earthen hand holding her lithe body crumbled the very next moment, putting a bitter taste to the burly man's tongue. One that Harita immediately put together as him being disappointed by her escape, or rather his own ineptness at not keeping the spell just a second longer.
Despite the direness of the current situation, Harita immediately put one and two together.
'That woman is strong, unnaturally so. Even with all my advantages, I was only able to damage her arm.'
Even if he was debilitated by his most recent his battle, he was still leagues above anybody in this city. Harita suspected that there was only about a handful of people even remotely close to matching him in terms of magic, experience, an insight, especially pure combative prowess.
Then the earth around her flew, passing by him like a hazy dream.
Even his sense of touch had been dampened to such an extreme that, even with his augmented body, he barely felt the wind on his cheeks and his feet touch the ground.
Bian's eyes were blazing with recognizable fury and unbridled wrath.
"He's coming!"
Harita squared his shoulders, ducked down, and dashed forward. Silent Reverie was in his grasp, ready to cut down all in his way.
The blue blade of the watersteel dagger drew a beautiful blue arc, like a flowing river in the enchanted lands of fey and fairies alike.
His eyes were trained on the two uncustomary bandits and their every movement, his other senses watching his immediate surroundings. Now that he knew that the burly man could manipulate earth-related materials, there was a dire need to watch his every step and every move to make sure not to fall into a pestilent, earthen trap.
His steps were a hazy blur as he burst forth like an arrow let loose, brandishing his dagger.
Harita's eyes widened.
"…What?"
A terrible, amazing, and powerful force was gathering at his very feet the moment he was within range of the burly man.
The mesomorphic man's arms were outstretched as blood dripped from his bitten lips, his eyes wide-open in concentration as he muttered in a low voice what Harita uncovered as the chant of an earth-element spell, ready to burst forth at his command.
'Shit!'
Harita immediately bolstered his physical augmentation to a point of near exhaustion as the mental strain of the spell placed him at the edge of his sanity. A searing pain was boring at the center of his head, like a drill to his skull and into his brain.
With a push of magical power, he willed the external augmentation to extend beyond him, creating a barrier of powerful force.
…Only to be surprised again by the lithe figure of an agile woman passing through it before the barrier can fully form.
He gritted his teeth.
'Dammit. Is she trying to kill herself?!'
Bian dismissed her silver rapier, grabbed his shirt, and smashed her head into his.
Harita had no choice but to take the blow, lest the barrier disappear, leaving him vulnerable. And her.
Her eyes were alit with indignation and fury, her voice ragged and gasping as she grinned madly:
"If I'm going down, I'm taking your sorry ass with me."
Her tone heavily indicated that she was not lying.
He didn't have any more time and leeway to continue with this.
Harita closed his eyes and prepared for the worst, sensing the magical force below him bubbling up, ready to destroy him. Both of them, if it comes to it.
'At least let me keep my other arm.'
The burly man yelled furiously:
"Shatter Stone: Destructive Folley!"