"Roko! I will kill you if it's the last thing I-"
Roland's warcry was cut short when Roko's armament shot out from around his arm to smash into his face.
"You know, you're handling fighting your friends pretty well." Olivia remarked.
"Well, I do know their weaknesses." Roko replied as he used his other hand to clash blades with Varis.
"Oh yeah? What's Varis' weakness then?"
"He can't talk."
"Hm. What about Roland?"
"Everything."
"I was hoping for something more specific."
"Himself."
"Damn, does this guy have ANY allies at this point?"
"He has me!"
Helena's drone suddenly popped out of the ground and wrapped itself around Roko arms and legs before resting on his shoulder.
"Hey Roko. What's up?" Helena asked nonchalantly.
"Helena, you know your drone trails don't actually have any mass so they can't actually restrain me, right?"
"Oh, I know. It just makes it easier to talk to you."
"You going to try and talk me down now?" Roko scowled as he deflected Varis away from him, "I'll tell you now, it's pointless."
"Oh, I know." Helena replied, "But there's nothing else I can do."
"What about your ice spells?"
"You can hack those."
"It's true." Olivia remarked, "I have the spell seal ready."
"See?"
"Well, can you shut up?" Roko scowled, "I'm trying to fight Varis here."
"What about-"
"I'm back you bastard! Now taste the blade of-"
Roko snapped his fingers and summoned a blunt spire of earth to smash directly between Roland's legs, dropping him to the ground once again.
"When did you see earth magic?" Helena asked.
"Melia."
"Oh yeah, that'd do it."
Varis' blade ground against Roko's, the sparks lighting his blade in a great inferno as he pushed Roko back and swung his blade up to prepare for an enormous slash down. Roko called on Olivia to surround his blade with water and clashed with Varis, the two elements releasing an enormous burst of steam that clouded them. With their forms obscured no one could tell what was happening until Roko burst out of the cloud, flying over the heads of the possessed populace, heading towards Haddock who was doing his best to slowly back out. He noticed Roko flying towards him and moved to call for someone to intercept him but before he knew it, Roko was rolling forward in mid-air, just in time as Varis appeared behind him and slashed, unleashing a burst of lightning that blasted down on the monsters below them and narrowly missing Roko's head by inches. As the lightning reflected off Roko's armament magic, he was already rolling back to face Varis upside down in mid-air.
"Go back to protecting your princess." Roko scowled before he unleashed a giant burst of air to blast Varis all the way back to the entrance where he slammed into the wall. With him gone, Roko rolled back to land on his feet and go back to chasing Haddock.
"And now we go to our specialist, Momo for her commentary. Momo?"
"Well, Helena, I think this is a perfect example of why Roko is such a deadly adversary." Momo reported, "Using Varis' own technique to create a cover to escape a troublesome fight and refocus on their real target is exactly the kind of optimal planning you'd expect from Roko. What sets him apart is how much foresight he has afterwards. Naturally, Roko knew that even if you blind someone like Varis, he still has a swordstyle to rely on."
"That Inga Oudan style right?"
"Precisely. Those attacks change fate to make it so that you get attacked no matter where you are so long as the user knows your general location. Roko knew he'd use this technique and countered it perfectly. Not just dodging the attack but doing so in a perfect way to counterattack and send Varis flying back! This is what Roko can do with the power now at his disposal."
"You're just commentating on my fight now?!" Roko snapped at Momo and Helena who had managed to set up a small pile of furniture so the monster couldn't reach them while also setting up a commentary table on top where Momo could sit and Helena's drone to float behind.
"Naturally." Momo replied, "The only thing I like more than fighting is watching you fight."
"I thought you'd be trying to attack me!"
"I'm very tempted to, don't get me wrong. But observing a fight between you and Varis? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity."
"I can't believe I was worried about you." Roko scowled.
"Well now you have to worry about m-"
Roko blasted Roland's foot out from underneath him with lightning magic so that he'd trip and fall flat on his face.
"Oh damn!" Helena cried without a hint of worry, "Roland, you still got your leg?"
"Yeah." Roland moaned, "My armor protected me."
"I think Roko just went easy on you."
"Bullshit!"
"Well, to be fair, Varis probably did go easy on Roko." Momo remarked, "Inga Oudan attacks are meant to rewrite fate so they always hit so if Roko managed to dodge Varis' attack, he was probably going easy on him."
"Corissa wouldn't like it if Roko's head went flying." Helena nodded.
"Your friends sure like talking." Olivia remarked from her own position in the sky.
"You don't even know the half of it." Roko scowled.
"Hm. Hold that thought."
Olivia threw up a barrier where Varis' blade smashed into it with enough force to make even her barrier shudder.
"Damn." Olivia raised an eyebrow, "That's impressive."
"If he's going after you, he's your problem now." Roko called.
"Wow, what a slave driver." Olivia rolled her eyes.
"That's what Alder said too." Helena added.
"That's the demon that's contracted to Alec right?"
"Yep."
"Hm. Roko won't like that."
"I don't. Olivia counterspell her drone."
"WTF man!" Helena cried from behind the chaos as her drone disappeared, "Now I gotta cast a new one!"
"You want me to counterspell that one too?" Olivia asked.
"Just the one is fine." Roko growled.
"Why are you after me?!" Haddock cried as Roko drew closer.
"Information." Roko said.
"I've told you everything I know!"
"You want to say that again?"
"...No."
"Tch. Olivia drop the zone."
"You know this spell isn't cheap, right?" Olivia scowled.
"No."
"...Was that a lie?"
"Yes."
"...Well, at least you appreciate my efforts." Olvia shrugged.
"What's this zone?" Helena asked.
"Never you mind." Roko scowled.
"I will never tell you nothing!" Haddock cried.
"I appreciate you trying to test for a zone with a double negative but saying you won't do an impossibility is not even a lie. Barely qualifies as a statement."
"Shut up!"
"Shut up!"
"Is there an echo in here?" Roko said as he passed his sword to his other hand and blocked a swing from Roland.
"This is my only chance!" Roland cried pushing against Roko's sword with all his strength, "Now that you're evil, this is my only chance to defeat you once and for all!"
"...Hmph." Roko scoffed as he pushed Roland away and finally turned to face him, "Alright then. Take your best shot."
"Ooo, it's finally happening!" Helena squealed, "Specialist Momo, what your interpretation of this match?"
"I don't see a world where Roko loses." Momo chucked.
"Same. But why exactly is this the case?"
"Roland is a very...bodyguard. But without actual discipline and training, he lags far behind even normal Roko. And that's Roko before he made a contract with a demon."
"As Roland's only defender, I must ask, what exactly what makes you say Roland is this weak exactly? Like, what's the determining factor?"
"Well for one, he can't even wield Specular properly so that it releases a trail of light."
"It's EXSPECULAR now!" Roland cried, "And screw you all! I'm going to prove myself in this one fight!"
"I'm glad you're finally putting in effort for once." Roko scoffed, "And only this once apparently."
"Shut up and die already!"
Roland swing his swords at Roko. Blade after blade came for Roko who blocked all of them with relative ease. And as Roko watched, he could only conclude: Roland's fighting was a mess. He had certainly taken to heart that he needed to be aware of his openings. He had finally learned to cover his blind spots but that was almost more due to a change in his style. He kept Roko at bay with Specular, sorry, Exspecular while keeping Grievegrave back both as a defense and storing strength in his second arm so that he can unleash a more powerful strike amidst his quicker attacks. It was pretty close to becoming a style on it's own. Two problems though. Number one, this was far from the fluid attack style that impressed Helena the first time Roland picked up two swords. Number two, Roland was saying he wanted to learn an iaido style instead of EITHER of these styles.
"Good god." Roko sighed to himself.
"What happen?" Olivia asked.
"Read my mind."
"...Damn, you actually keep this guy around?"
"Reluctantly."
"You talking about me?" Roland scowled.
"So what if we were?" Roko smirked, "What are you going to do about it?"
"I'll kill you!"
Roland dove to attack with both his swords, opening himself completely for Roko to slip between his swords and slash into Roland's armor first, knocking him away.
"I meant anything new." Roko scoffed.
"You're the worst thing that has happened in my life." Roland scowled, touching where he had been slashed to make sure he was fine but still too enraged to actually register if he had been wounded or not, "If you never existed..."
"You'd all be dead, yes." Roko nodded.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do!"
Roko sighed and snapped his fingers. Immediately, Roland was hit with an immense gravity that brought him to his knees.
"I don't have time for this." Roko said, looking down at Roland coldly, "If you really want this to be the last thing you try to do...I can make that come true."
Roko brought his sword up to Roland's neck. He wasn't particularly interested in killing Roland...though it was tempting. But even before Roko could make a decision, Roland somehow reached up, grabbing onto his sword and through immense gravitational pressure, raised his head to look up at Roko with sheer contempt and determination. Looking into these passionate eyes, Roko could see a will that refused to bend to anything. A rage that would tear down the sky. The lust for a justice that would build a throne at the top of the world for him to sit upon. Well, that last one might not have been as respectful as the others but it was enough.
Roko scoffed and pulled his sword back before bashing the side of Roland's head with the butt of his sword. Roland lost his strength immediately and was slammed back down into the earth before Roko motioned for the gravity to be dispelled.
"And there's the match." Momo nodded, "Yep. Just as we figured. There's no way for him to have beaten Roko as he is now."
"Yep yep." Helena's drone nodded.
"You seem oddly satisfied." Momo said, catching on to something in Helena's tone, "What'd you get out of this?"
"Nothing~." Helena smiled, "Darn that evil Roko."
"Hehe."
With Varis being held back by Olivia, Roland dispatched and Mikado defending the backline as always from the monsters, Roko could finally turn his attention to Haddock who had gotten very far away now. Pretty much behind the altar now and hand on the knob to a door leading outside, right to freedom. But even he seemed to be interested in all the in-fighting such that he had paused on the verge of his escape.
"Enjoying the show?" Roko scoffed.
"Well, it is quite fun to see you idiots bumble about." Haddock sneered back, hand on the knob turning to unlatch the door, ready to escape at any moment.
"Did you think escaping outside will be the end of this?" Roko asked, smashing the head of a monster clean off its body with a single backhanded swing of his fist, "Did you think I won't be able to find you?"
"Well, I have a few vacation days built up." Haddock shot back, "I think I'll be gone for a while if you don't mind."
"I do mind. I need you to give me answers."
"All the more reasons to go then, right?"
And with that, Haddock threw the door open to freedom. Only to see his freedom blocked by a dome of water. And in the moment he paused to consider if the water had salt in it, Roko called upon a vacuum spell that pulled Haddock back away from the door and right into his hands.
"Let's go somewhere quiet why don't we?" Roko sneered as he picked up the priest and slammed him into the ground so hard that he broke through the floor and into the basement.
As the dust settled and Roko could hear the gasping for breath amidst moans of pain, Roko released Haddock so he could scurry away in fear.
"Zone." Roko said, calling for Olivia to cast Zone of Truth again, "Talk. Where's the grimoire?"
"I don't...not know where it is not at." Haddock gulped.
Roko summoned a rock from the earth to smash into the wall inches away from Haddock's head.
"No amount of negatives will get you out of this." Roko said coldly, "Now tell me who has it."
"...You will never find it."
"You must be really confident if you can say that under zone." Roko crossed his arms.
"Of course! If you've come to force the answer out of me then you truly don't have any other option!"
Roko remained silent.
"See?! Your silence proves it! You too cannot lie under zone! Which means you truly don't have any other option!"
"Correction." Roko said simply, "I have no better option."
"Ha! Semantics! Your own spell has sealed your fate!"
With a grunt, Haddock lifted the rock that Roko had shot, lifting it's mass with great strength over his head.
"Are you going to throw it?" Roko scoffed, "It won't fly far with your strength."
"Haha. Your helplessness was all I needed to hear. You won't be able to solve anything...without me."
"...You wouldn't."
"...Hey...you damn bastard. I'll be dying first. Let's see you give your best shot."
And before Roko could even finish taking a step forward, Haddock dropped the rock onto his own head, smashing it and dying. Leaving a corpse that could no longer be interrogated.
Roko's outstretched hand closed in an angry, shuddering fist. That he quietly let fall to his side.
"...You could've stopped him."
"Oh. I suppose I could have." Kaguya said as she emerged from the shadows of the basement, "One scratch with Calcify and I could've paralyzed him. But you know, I was too busy watching this all unfold and to be fair, I don't know where you stand right now, Roko."
Roko stood there, unsure of how to respond.
"So tell me Roko. Are you truly evil? Because we still have our doubts on that."
"...What do you think?"
"I don't believe you'd be the type to make a deal with a demon for power." Kaguya replied, "That I know for sure."
"What do you know? All this power and I still can't save one more damn person!"
Kaguya's eyes widened as Roko covered his mouth. Roko didn't know where that outburst came from. Perhaps zone forced it out but Roko didn't even know what lie he was going to say to cause a line like that from escaping.
"Roko?"
"Olivia, we're leaving."
"You sure?" Olivia asked, emerging from Roko's shadow, "You seem upset."
"Why do you care?" Roko scoffed.
"I just figured you could talk to your friends is all."
Now it was Olivia covering her mouth in shock as Kaguya gave her a weird look and Roko glaring madly at her.
"Escape! Now!"
"Yeah okay." Olivia said as she quickly whipped up a portal for them to escape through. Leaving Kaguya with the fractions of truth left behind.
"Dammit!" Roko shoved a collection of books in their library space to the ground as he gritted his teeth in frustration.
"In my defense..." Olivia said as she floated behind him, "You didn't tell me to dispel the zone."
"I know." Roko sighed, doing his best to calm back down, "I mean you should've figured to do so but...it's fine. We'll just never use that spell again."
"Why? I know it's risky but it's our best best to corner Haddock right?"
"You still think Haddock's coming back?"
"Well yeah. He always comes back."
"Well this time he said he wasn't coming back."
"To be fair, you did kind of admit you had no other option other than him."
"No, I said I had no BETTER option other than him."
"Well if we have options then what are we upset about? Let's just use one of those!"
"..."
"...Roko?"
"..."
"Roko is there something you're not telling me?" Olivia frowned, catching onto Roko's silence.
"..."
"Roko."
"..."
"Roko talk to me."
"..."
"Roko, I will look into your mind if you're not going to talk."
Roko sighed, "So...you know how these monsters can change appearances?"
"Yeah. They can forcibly change the physical form of their hosts. That's how 'Haddock' keeps returning."
"And how they rebuild the church so many times."
"Right."
"...What if it wasn't an ability that the monsters had?"
"What?" Olivia frowned, "What do you mean?"
"I've scanned the monsters, Olivia. I know their stats."
"Yeah I figured you'd do that." Olivia shrugged, "I don't see how-" she stopped as she finally realized, "Did you say stats?"
"Yes. Normally, when I scan anything eldritch, I get no information on them. But in this case, I guess since the bond is parasitic, I do get information at least partially. Based off their hosts."
"Okay..." Olivia nodded, following along, "So...what's the big deal? What did you figure out?"
"Did you never find it odd that everybody in this town knows the fire spell?"
"...Now that you mention it..." Olivia mused, "I did notice that all their fire spells are based off the same spell… If I tried to hack all of them it'd only take one seal."
"Right."
"So...what does that mean?"
"If you're asking me, then that means that one person they took over knows a fire spell and that knowledge is being spread across to everyone else."
"Like some sort of hive mind." Olivia gasped, "They do tend to have that kind of ability."
"Right."
"So...what does that mean about their transformations?"
"..."
"...Roko."
"..."
"Roko, you can't just stop now!" Olivia cried, "Why can't you be straight for once?!"
"Why can't you?"
"What are you-"
"Brian."
"Oh we're still on that?!" Olivia rolled her eyes, "I already explained things to him a few days ago! You know that!"
"...Yeah, I guess I should follow your example." Roko sighed.
"Good! Now explain!"
"...So if it's not transformation..."
"What could it be?" Olivia finished, "I guess it could be...some...sort...of..."
…
"Illusion." Roko finished.
"Roko, no."
"I'm not saying anything."
"Roko!" Olivia gasped, "HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD THIS IDEA?"
"Ever since meeting Morgan."
"YOU NEVER TOLD ME?!"
"I needed proof."
"And THAT'S why we've been hounding Haddock?!" Olivia turned around in mid air, unable to believe what was happening, "We could've just gone directly to Morgan!"
"I needed proof."
"Why?!"
"I...didn't want to directly accuse a friend of yours."
"Roko...Roko this is why people don't like you."
"People say that but I never know what they're on about." Roko frowned.
"Roko..." Olivia curled up with his hands covering her face, "No, no this is FINE. We can go confront Morgan and I can prove to you she has not been taken over by a parasite."
"..."
"WHAT?"
"Olivia...the best case scenario is if she hasn't been taken over and just has the grimoire."