The Laughing Swordsman

Falk was nearly three meters tall, giving him quite the intimidating look. He had short black hair and hazelnut eyes that would make him unassuming if it wasn't for his overbearingly large armor.

He was wearing plated armor so thick that it would be larger than a normal person's arm. Along with the fact his body was bulky, this made him look more like a grizzly bear than a human.

However, different from the fur of a grizzly bear, the armor was finely made. There were quite a few parts that stuck out only to give the armor some extra flair, but it looked regal nonetheless.

After a few moments, one of the houses stuck out their hand, letting it remain right beside Falk and Kylan.

Falk gave Kylan one last fleeting look.

"I'll leave you in Oddryl's care."

Kylan nodded.

"Farewell."

Like they had done this multiple times, Falk put Kylan in the house's hand. The house immediately wrapped its hand around Kylan before making a break for it towards the center of the city.

As described by Apollo's request, Kylan was a true mage, stage one. That was the weakest stage of true mages, but they still had tremendous power regardless. However, his power was quite a bit more potent than the normal true mage at stage one.

Rhys and Rhea themselves were also true mages at the first stage. However, if they were to fight Kylan, they would lose miserably. This is because gold naturally suppressed magic, and Kylan could manipulate gold.

If Layla and Apollo had their powers focused on magic, they too would fall helplessly. However, there was one big difference between Kylan and the average true mage.

He could not create gold from mana. That meant his power was heavily based on how much gold he had with him. However, Layla essentially disintegrated the majority of it by crashing her body through it.

In reality, Kylan could still use magic despite his tragic state. He was not a constitution mage that depended on their body to cast, but a collector mage, one that simply gathered mana with their mind.

However, he had little use for that mana, since the majority of his gold was ruined. As such, he was essentially useless in this battle.

By now, Apollo had got back on his feet. The ground underneath him immediately cracked apart before rising into the air. Apollo rose up with it and carried an ominous smile on his face. The aftereffects of Layla's leap were still prevalent in the empire.

As for Layla, she was still skyrocketing into the air at unprecedented speeds. She was waving her limbs around in a panic.

"Wah, wah, wah! Too highhhhh!"

However, she was also rapidly slowing down. As in slowing down unnaturally quickly.

Her momentum quickly tapered off like someone throwing a ball of cotton in the air. But instead of falling down gracefully, Layla plummeted downwards as though she wanted to rip the sky itself into shreds.

As she tore through the air, flames began to rage around Layla's figure. It was as though Layla became a meteor, barreling down towards the earth.

Despite the fact fire was raging across her body, Layla simply pouted as she dove down.

"Don't forget about meeeeee!"

An earthshaking explosion resounded throughout the empire.

Apollo had bent his knees, ready to take on his new adversary. However, right before he could move, the fragment of ground he was on shot high into the air, making him stumble.

As for the ground Falk was standing on, it lowered as though a pit had opened up underneath it. However, a careless smile remained on his face.

Falk crouched down and hunched over. His back had four deep black horns engraved with the pattern of a circle, where the tips of the horns pointed inwards. The engravings were smooth and gleamed with a faint light.

With a grunt, Falk leaped upwards, onto another fragment of ground. The original fragment he was standing on was swallowed up by the earth.

Falk looked at that fragment and chuckled to himself.

"Things seem to be getting out of hand."

He looked up towards Apollo, who was similarly looking at him. Falk's eyes narrowed, but a calm smile remained on his face.

"To calm things down a little, I guess I will start with you."

Apollo leaped off the fragment he was standing on and raised his bokken with both hands. As for Falk, he raised his giant purple shield before shooting upwards.

Despite only having a shield, Falk was not one to sit back and defend. He would rather charge forwards until he bulldozed all his enemies.

Apollo slammed his bokken down. A grating bang rang out.

But Falk did not slow. The corner of Apollo's eyebrow twitched.

A deep thump resounded.

Falk's shield collided into Apollo's body without mercy. The outer layer of bone on Apollo's rib cage shattered, while Apollo himself launched back like the strings keeping him in place were cut loose.

However, Falk wasn't planning on giving Apollo a break, even while he was flying in the air. Falk dashed forward with thundering steps, rapidly catching up.

The air was knocked out of Apollo's lungs, momentarily stopping his laughing. He slowly lifted his head while in the air to see Falk just a few meters away.

Another deep thump resounded.

Apollo coughed up blood before slamming into a fragment of ground that rose high into the air.

Falk mercilessly continued, ready to slam into Apollo once more. But something felt off to him.

...Why did the corner of Apollo's lip turn up?

Suddenly, Apollo burst forth from the fragment of ground. He let out a pervasive laugh as arcs of lightning danced across his body.

Falk did not falter, and continued his initial plan. Operation battering ram.

Apollo thrust his bokken forward like a spear.

With a grating bang, the two of them collided. Falk shot backward, tumbling a few times before regaining his footing. As for Apollo...

He landed next to Willow.

Falk's eyes narrowed.

"The intruder regrouped with his ally."

Then, his eyes widened in shock.

"What the-"