The Laughing Swordsman

Black wings suddenly exploded out from Willow's back, the wings of a raven. She suddenly gained a burst of agility and jerked to the side.

Apollo's bokken brushed by her dress, forming a small tear.

Willow had given up on her attack altogether, dashing a few meters away. Once she felt comfortable with the distance between them, she began panting.

Her mind was in pain. She could feel parts of her brain that had been dormant for years, wake up. This part of her brain had shrunk considerably, as its responsibility was controlling wings.

Willow had been wingless until now. As such, she was disoriented by suddenly gaining wings that were nearly as large as her. She could feel a strange tingling sensation spreading across them.

A few drops of amniotic fluid fell from her wings to the floor.

Apollo turned around to face Willow. His head tilted to the side while trembling ever so slightly.

"All you do... is run. I am tired of running."

Willow's panting gradually calmed down. She looked Apollo right in his crazy eyes.

"Then I shall not run anymore. How does that sound?"

Apollo laughed a little too loudly.

"That sounds better..."

Apollo and Willow dashed towards each other. Swinging their swords at one another.

They clashed, then Willow disappeared.

She reappeared behind Apollo, launching a flurry of strikes towards him.

As for Apollo, he was being overwhelmed. Although his speed was still increasing, it was nowhere near what he needed.

For Willow, speed was only a small benefit the wings provided. In reality, the increase in agility was countless times more meaningful. She was able to go full speed in one direction, then suddenly stop before going full speed in another.

Her slashes became even more unpredictable, appearing from every angle. If before she was a rainstorm, now she was a hurricane.

The jet-black sword traced an arc towards Apollo's stomach. He couldn't block it.

There was a layer of bone around his stomach, but it immediately shattered. The shockwave of the vibrating sword rampaged unimpeded within Apollo's body. His eyes rolled back into his head.

Willow retracted her blade. By then, Apollo had fallen to his knees. However, he wasn't the type of person to give up so easily.

He stood up.

Willow sighed. She mumbled under her breath.

"Sorry..."

Her black sword flashed, cutting into his shoulder. It was the shoulder that had been previously smashed by the mace. There was no longer a bone layer protecting it.

As such, a sharp crack rang out. His shoulder bone split into pieces. He could no longer move that arm.

Apollo fell to one knee. He was still laughing, despite his terrible situation. The arm holding his bokken was still fine, so he raised it.

Then, it fell to the ground.

Willow had cut it off.

Apollo slammed his head onto the floor. The sudden loss of his arm was a big blow to his mind. He could no longer feel the bokken in his hand.

Apollo only laughed harder, while his eyes widened like he had no eyelids.

Willow crouched down and gently patted his head.

"I'm really sorry."

Apollo did not respond, unless you count laughing as a response.

Willow gently hugged Apollo.

"I'm sorry for taking your arms, but I will help you with anything you need in the future, ok?"

Apollo violently squirmed in Willow's embrace. In particular, he was scraping something on his belt against the floor.

Willow wiped away some of the blood on Apollo's face.

"We can just take it easy from now on. There is no longer a reason to fight. You can calm down now."

Apollo did not listen to Willow's advice. He kept scraping his belt against the floor.

As for Willow, she looked at Apollo with a bit of guilt, but she did not regret her actions.

She realized what she wanted more than anything. A reason to live her life.

The time she spent with Apollo was short, but it made her feel something she had forgotten long ago.

Willow came to realize that there wasn't going to be an easy way to fix her relationship with Apollo. She wasn't exactly sure why Apollo held so much hatred towards her, but she understood that she had hurt him.

Part of her still thought that she took it too far by taking off his arms. However, Willow really didn't know what else she could do.

She wanted to repair the relationship slowly, but Apollo wouldn't give her the chance to do so. It seemed as if he would fight her as long as he had the ability to do so.

Therefore, Willow took that ability away.

She knew full well that taking his arms away would be a horrible thing to do. The inconvenience would be massive.

Willow gently caressed Apollo's back.

"I may have taken your arms. However, from this point forth, I shall be your arms."

Willow wasn't saying empty words. She truly intended to take care of Apollo. This extended from the smallest little thing, like picking up a rock Apollo wanted to have a closer look at, to the more challenging parts, like using the toilet.

However, Apollo was having none of it. He continued struggling until the very end, slamming his body around on the ground.

Willow didn't seem to mind this fact. She laid her head on Apollo's back, already imagining what their future life would be like.

Willow was a cruel person.

That might've been hard to see, given how she treated Apollo previously, but she was still an assassin. She mercilessly killed more people than she could possibly count.

Innocent or guilty, it didn't matter to her.

Willow herself didn't truly realize how cruel she had truly become.

In fact, she thought what she was doing to Apollo wasn't all that bad, since she would care for him.

However, for all intents and purposes, she did something ruthless. It was a selfish act, one that did not consider the feelings of the other.

....But Apollo would not fall here.