The Laughing Swordsman

After hearing Hex declare his victory so confidently, Layla puffed up her cheeks with dissatisfaction.

"No! I will win, I always win!"

She charged over to Noctis, flailing her balled fists in the air.

As for Noctis, he was trying to think of a way to deal with this strange shadow attached to him.

Beads of sweat formed on his forehead once he heard Layla approaching as well.

"...So it has come to this."

The strange pressure released from Noctis died down, becoming as gentle as a feather.

Then, it exploded out with renewed intensity. It nearly resembled the gaze of a dragon.

Small black flames began flickering above Noctis' armor and hammer. They blended in with the color of his apparel, making it a little hard to notice.

Suddenly, a wave of black flames burst from Noctis.

The shadow screeched. It disconnected itself from Noctis before retreating back into Hex's shadow while batting away the flames.

As for Layla, she let out a yelp. Her eyes closed while her arms blocked her face.

The wave of black flames passed through Layla, but didn't seem to accomplish anything. A few tiny fires had appeared on Layla's clothes, but they were put out the next second.

Layla raised her fists in the air and shook them.

"That was weird! I don't like it!"

Hex pouted.

"Why you hurt Blackie!"

The shadow, or Blackie, partially materialized above the ground with a small frown. Hex used his sleeve to give Blackie some pats on the head.

"There, there Blackie. Me fight big human now!"

Blackie gave a small nod before merging with Hex's shadow. An eerie smile formed in his shadow.

As for Noctis, he no longer bothered talking. Although he did not believe he would lose, dropping his guard was not a pastime for him.

Noctis decided to go for Hex, since Layla probably wasn't going down any time soon.

His head turned to his new target. Then, he charged forwards like a ghost.

Hex was not intimidated. In fact, he also charged forwards, raising his sleeve. A dark green mist coalesced above it.

Noctis felt some apprehension, but swung his hammer anyway, aiming the flat part at Hex.

A deep boom resounded along with a muted explosion.

As they collided, a giant wave of dark green energy exploded out from Hex's sleeve, while a small wave of black flame exploded from the hammer.

Noctis stumbled a few steps backward, but kept a steady grip on his mace.

As for Hex, he flew backward, like a feather that was blown away. Upon landing, Hex pouted.

"Owie, ow, ow, ow!"

Hex vigorously shook his sleeve that hit with the hammer.

"It hurts! So painful!"

Noctis' eyes narrowed. It took him a second to realize, but there was a hairline crack in his hammer.

This was the first time his weapon was damaged in a fight.

Layla saw Hex and Noctis fighting with a pout. She assumed that they began playing without her.

With a yowl, she pounced forward. Her hands were outstretched and took on the position of a claw.

Noctis immediately noticed as he had been paying attention to Layla, despite not directly looking at her. He promptly spun around, counterattacking with the flat side of his hammer.

The hammer threaded the needle between Layla's arms, then hit her in the chin. A small smile appeared on Noctis' face.

But in the next moment, it became a frown.

Layla wrapped her arms around the head of the hammer. Although she was struck by the hammer, it hardly seemed to affect her.

Noctis clenched the hilt tightly. Black flames emitted from the hammer, raging on violently.

...But they didn't do anything to Layla.

Noctis then tried to swing his mace around in an attempt to fling Layla off. To his surprise, it felt heavy to him, making his movements sluggish.

As for Layla, she simply giggled.

"Wah!~"

Noctis slammed the hammer on the floor in front of him, then raised it up to slam it on the floor behind him.

However, Layla stubbornly remained like a cat that refused to leave a blanket.

Noctis cursed under his breath. He was at a loss.

He never considered that someone could fight like this.

As for Hex, a dark green mist circulated around him, almost like a tornado. He dashed forward, with his arms spread out. The dark green mist coalesced into large opaque claws that resembled Blackie's claws.

Noctis turned his head to Hex. While one hand was swinging the hammer around, he sent a punch towards Hex with the other.

A faint glow emitted from Hex's claws while a violent torrent of black flame gathered around Noctis' fist.

Another explosion rang out.

A shockwave of dark green mist and black flame shot out from the point of impact, melting the surface layer of stone.

Hex's claws shattered, but he used the recoil to fly out of range. As for Noctis, he slid a meter or so backward, but was relatively unharmed.

Unfortunately, another hairline crack appeared in his armor, right above the knuckle.

Before Noctis could ruminate on it, Layla scaled down the hammer. Her legs wrapped around the handle while she swung her claws at Noctis.

There was a cheeky smile on her face.

"Don't forget about me!"

Layla's first strike landed squarely on Noctis' shoulder, letting out a metallic clang. Noctis grimaced while keeping a tight hold on his hammer.

Layla was currently attached to his hammer. As such, once she hit his shoulder, he was shoved backward, while Layla also recoiled backward. However, since Layla was attached to the hammer, Noctis had to suffer the full recoil force if he wanted to keep the hammer in his hand.

Layla raised her other claw and swiped down again, but this time Noctis had the time to respond with his fist.

A deep bang resounded throughout the air, covering up the light clink that rang out.

A small frown emerged on Noctis' face.

"This is unfortunate..."

His eyes narrowed.

"How did things come to this already?"