The Laughing Swordsman

As much as Layla looked the part as a little kid, there were definitely some jarring differences between her and the average child.

Other than the ears and tail, the most prominent difference was her overwhelming strength. That strength let her... do something strange.

The surrounding golden pillars twisted into snake heads. They were so life-like, it was hard to believe that they were actually solid gold. The golden snakes bared their fangs and pounced towards Layla.

In just a moment, Layla was surrounded by the gaping jaws of golden snakes in a variety of sizes.

A loud snap reverberated.

The golden snakes bit down hard... only to hit nothing.

Right before they were about to reach Layla, she suddenly dipped down. The sudden acceleration was one that seemed to defy the laws of physics. Without any propulsion, Layla could dramatically increase her falling speed.

...Or more accurately, she stopped slowing herself down.

Layla plunged towards the ground like a bullet.

A deafening bang resounded as a crater formed in the ground. Layla was standing in the middle.

Her head perked up so that she could look at Kylan.

Layla's tail swayed around enthusiastically. As for Kylan, a deep frown was plastered on his face.

Layla flashed a cheeky smile before crouching down.

"I've played many times..."

Then, leaped into the air.

"...but I always win!"

Layla tore through the air with her hands raised like claws. The overwhelming speed caused her long purple hair to whip around violently. Despite the innocent smile on Layla's face, Kylan could only see a monster.

Kylan didn't have the time to hesitate. In just a moment, Layla would reach him.

As such, he flicked his golden staff to the sky, leaving a faint arc of gold in the air. Right when Layla was about to reach him, the golden pillar beneath Kylan distorted.

The gold morphed and rose as though Kylan willed up a tidal wave with his staff. Layla crashed into this tidal wave of gold headfirst. Countless cracks spread throughout the body of the golden pillar. However, they mended in just a few moments.

Layla rebounded off the golden pillar. She tightly shut her eyes and covered her face.

"Wah! What just happened?"

Layla plunged downwards at unnatural speeds once again. As for Kylan, he descended within the golden pillar as though it was an elevator. Despite escaping unscathed, there was still a frown plastered across his face.

Kylan mumbled under his breath.

"Physical fighters..."

He let out a soft sigh.

"This is not my specialty."

Kylan clicked his tongue and looked towards the center of the empire.

"...What is taking you so long, Falk?"

Although Layla jumped high in the air, it only took her a few seconds to slam back down once again.

Once the dust cleared, it revealed Layla, who had puffed up her cheeks. She was looking at the golden pillar with annoyance while flailing her arms around in the air.

"That's no fair! Why are you so high in the air?"

Layla turned her head to the side and crossed her arms. She shut her eyes, with her cheeks still puffed up. She let out a high-pitched snort with a tinge of annoyance.

"Hmph! Since you play unfairly, it's only right that I can too!"

Layla crouched down on the ground, but did so a little differently. She got down on one knee while her other leg stretched out behind her. Then, she placed her hands on the floor while her back hunched forward.

It was the position professional racers took before the start of the race.

A few strands of Layla's hair fell off her shoulders, then gently touched the ground. A dangerous gleam flashed by Layla's eyes.

During this time, Apollo was regenerating his body. He had to remain on the floor for quite a while, since the muscles in his legs needed to regenerate before he could stand.

Although it wasn't instant, he healed quite fast. As such, it didn't take too long for him to get back on his feet. His hands slowly regenerated, one growing fingers and one reattaching to his wrist.

Willow shredded a house into pieces. Then, her eyes narrowed. She scanned the area around her. By now, the houses weren't as pervasive as their numbers had dwindled down. There were still countless houses spread across the empire, but they needed some time to get near Willow.

She had broken out of her trance earlier because of Apollo's outburst of lightning.

And now, Willow had a desire to rush over and help Apollo...

...but she felt afraid.

Willow didn't know why exactly, but she kept distancing herself. Despite that, she would still frequently look in Apollo's direction, even if she couldn't see him.

As for Hex, he was sitting cross-legged on top of Blackie. There were a few yellow crystals in his lap as well as one in each hand.

Hex leisurely ate the yellow crystals at his own pace as Blackie went on a rampage. It was as though he was on a vacation.

In the watchtower, Oddryl had sat back down. One of his legs laid overtop the other, like how an arrogant prince would sit on a throne.

Oddryl's excitement had died down by now. Instead, he was focusing his attention on minimizing the losses for his houses.

He hardly paid attention to Kylan. This was because even if Kylan was in trouble, his beams of light would be deflected by the gold.

As for Kylan, he was surrounded by gold. He had strong confidence in the durability of the gold he controlled, and rightfully so. As such, he was pondering on how to defeat Layla.

His head was tilted a few degrees downwards while the tips of his thumb and forefinger rubbed against his chin.

Nobody was aware of the sudden change in Layla.

But was as though the air around her got heavier.

Layla's fingers dug a little into the ground, cracking the cobblestone path. Her tail swayed leisurely, like it was underwater.

Suddenly, a sneaky smile appeared on Layla's face.

"Hehe."