18 Round Three

"Oh, now you're approaching me?" The air grew cold once again as the knight bore his fangs along with his skin now looking as if those noctems had melded into his body. "The woman with her vile trickery is down, one of your boys had his arm broken, the shielder that had protected you is dead, and now, you still want to fight?"

"Well, I can't shove it up your ass without getting closer…" Roland as he pointed his beaten blade towards him.

"Oho…" The knight's grin widened. "Then come as much closer as you like."

Charles helped himself up and saw Roland slowly raising his blade with a smile. Roland pointed it at the skies, summoning a crackle in the air followed by a quick flash of light so bright that by the time he regained his vision, they were already standing in front of each other.

A moment of silence had passed and without him taking his eyes off of his, the knight stepped forward and brought his weapon down towards Roland who reacted just in time to raise his guard.

But to his surprise, his weapon was caught by Roland's who just held his with one hand. Now confused, the knight stepped back and attacked once again with all of his might but just like what happened earlier, Roland just deflected his strike along with a self-conceited grin.

"What? Where did you get all this strength?"

"One hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, one hundred squats, and ten-kilometer run every single da-" Roland now grasped his sword with both of his hands to take his stance and as he tilted his head, he followed, "Of course, it's magic dumbass."

"Damn… you…" The knight now with his voice sounding breathy and brittle, looked at his trembling hand as he tried his best to make a fist. "I'm going to beat you, I'm going to pound you to the ground so hard and I'm not going to stop until you're begging me to."

"Woah, I don't swing that way but hey, let me guess what this feeling is…" Roland kicked the ground and dashed towards him with a smile. The knight raised his guard as a response, and to that, Roland twisted his body and used his momentum to break right through and throw him down to the ground.

"What is happening…" The knight coughed as he wiped the dirt off of his face.

"Not gonna lie, I didn't think that I was this weak." Roland stepped to his side and kicked him. "This feeling should be rage, and how does it feel to be beaten by the likes of me?"

"Damn you all…." The knight rolled away and stood on his feet with a heavy breath, there was a flame flickering in his eyes as his murderous smile grew wider. "I'll crush you!"

Three more shadows dashed into his body as he stood there, growling and gritting his teeth. Roland readied himself and when the knight launched himself forward with his fist aiming to bash his face in, Roland stepped to his side to dodge the blow as he sank his sword through his chest.

Roland kept his hands firmly at the hilt of his blade as the knight struggled to breathe and when he felt that the knight shifted his weight onto his, he whispered, "Nope, it doesn't work like that, sorry."

"I didn't know that you were this strong," the knight replied with a dejected grin before throwing up a mouthful of blood on Roland's shoulder that cradled his chin.

"No, I was this weak." Roland sighed as pulled out his blade, leaving the knight to fall onto his knees with his vision fading along with his breath. "I'm an incompetent mage and a sub-standard knight to boot. One spell and I get my nerves barbecued and the other spell was an utter incomplete garbage that makes others around me as strong as me, which isn't much. But I am pretty good at surpassing myself though…"

"I see," the knight whispered as he raised his head to face him. "And with that, the voice inside my head is telling me that my mission has been fulfilled and my wish would now be granted."

"What?"

"A day coming forth with the sun turning black, demons would then emerge and ravage the people of this land… you saw it too didn't you?"

"Nope." Roland knitted his brows and pointed his sword at his forehead.

"The sun, now as bright as always, a place full of debris and a silhouette of a man facing it with a sword in hand. I think I can figure out why you're here…"

Roland's eye twitched. "How… I punched a hole through your chest, how can you still talk?!"

"Nay, in the end, I'm probably kept alive for the sake of conveying this message. If you're here- no, how's our fellowship? Are we still going strong?"

"Fellowship? What are you talking about? I'm just here to deliver a letter, who the hell are you?"

The knight retracted his face as if he had lost his spirit. "I was one of the priestesses that saw that dream as it poses a great threat to us… but the people panicked and soon enough, it got to our leader and he told them that they were going to sacrifice us to appease the gods…"

"You?" Roland frowned and after a moment, he ran his palm through his face with a long disappointed sigh. "A priestess? Really?"

"I am a woman, I don't even know who's body is this or memories are these. Maybe we experienced the same thing, or maybe it's just a part of my wish. I really liked them, you know, I wanted to become one, I think but in the end, I couldn't even think of a knightly name fit for this body, but I guess now, my wish… it's time for my wish to be granted at the very least… or was it like that?"

"Wish?"

The knight looked away. "They said that it would be a waste to just throw me away into the flames and so, though it was still bitter, the honor of being a pure sacrificial lamb was still taken away from me. Maybe that's why I got so angry when someone... nevermind... I want you to cut off my head… please."

"Isn't it like, humiliating to get decapitated?" Roland asked as he stepped to his side.

"To spread thy name, to mutilate the strong, to let the privilege of choice be given to the weak-" He bit his lip and looked at him in silence. "I'm sorry what?"

"What? You… you're making it hard for me to do this. You've killed everyone in the vanguard, you almost killed us, and now you're asking to be decapitated? Is this it, is this all I'm gonna get, your goddamn life story?" Roland protested.

"I'm really sorry for what I did mister, I guess getting stabbed in the chest cleared my head a little. But I should make it clear that he is coming, he's coming to those who've seen it and he can't be stopped."

"Motherfu-" Roland bit his lip as he held his sword on both hands and raised it over at the back of the knight's neck. "You know what? Yeah, thanks for the info so lower your head and make it easier for me will you? And one last thing, what's your name… Let me remember it."

"Oh." He smiled at Roland and this time, Roland felt something in his heart that is both warm and queer. "It's Tiffany."