The Laughing Swordsman

The beams of light all shot towards a spot in the air, right above Apollo, Willow, and Falk. Though this was a rather precarious situation, Apollo and Willow didn't seem to notice it. One laughed madly with widened eyes while the other was silent with closed eyes.

The two of them continued to clash with each other, but were unable to truly harm one another.

As for Falk... he raised his shield above him, but did so with trepidation. It was as though Falk could already foresee the consequences he would have to face.

He peeked out from behind the shield.

The beams of light were only a few meters away from colliding. At that moment...

"Waaaaaaah!~"

A blurry purple figure leaped towards the epicenter of the soon-to-be explosion.

It was Layla. With a cheerful smile on her face, she pulled back her hand. It tensed into a claw before rapidly accelerating forward.

Falk's eyes bulged out from their sockets.

"Who the fu-"

He was interrupted by a booming thunderclap.

The beams of light that were just moments away from exploding, distorted. As though they were actually wet noodles, the beams of light flew in the direction Layla swiped.

Which just so happened to be on the way to the watchtower.

An earth-shattering explosion ensued.

The beams of light collided halfway through before exploding out into a cone, rushing directly towards the center of the city.

From within the watchtower, Oddryl watched on with his jaw dropped to the floor. Never in his many years of living and planning did he think something like this could happen.

As for Kylan... he was resting inside of a two-legged house. That house had been running towards the center of the city, but suddenly stopped.

Kylan was sitting on a small wooden chair, next to a window. Feeling the house suddenly stop moving, he furrowed his brows. With a bit of effort, he moved his pained body over to the window and peeked out.

The energy from the massive explosion was right outside.

"...Huh."

In mere moments, Kylan was swallowed up by the explosion. The house he was in disintegrated from the explosion, along with him.

Right before the explosion was about to rampage through the center of the city, Oddryl regained his bearings. He raised his hand and clenched his fist.

Suddenly, a translucent yellow dome wrapped itself around the entire city. The explosion violently collided with the yellow dome, then splashed outwards as though it were a plume of smoke.

The yellow dome shook fiercely and even cracked, but it held in place.

Oddryl relaxed his fist and let out a sigh of relief.

"...I need to be more thoroughly prepared."

The corner of his eyelid twitched.

"Though it will not be easy to prepare for things like that."

Oddryl slowly sat back in his chair with a solemn expression.

"Now even Kylan has fallen. How did the situation spiral out of control so fast?"

He narrowed his eyes.

"...I never thought we would have to use 'that' so soon."

Oddryl furrowed his brows before shaking his head.

"No, that is unnecessary. The top five giants have yet to show their faces."

A bitter sigh escaped Oddryl.

"...Hopefully their gratitude to the empire is enough for them to defend it."

Talon had been sitting on a chair next to Oddryl. One of his hands casually held onto the hilt of his purple scissors while the blade rested on the floor. As for Talon's other hand, it rubbed against his eyelids as though he was trying to stay awake.

"What are you mumbling to yourself anyway, old man?"

Oddryl laughed bitterly.

"It appears I've made many miscalculations."

Talon tilted his head to the side.

"Is that what all those explosions are about?"

Oddryl shrugged his shoulders.

"More or less..."

Talon waved his hand dismissively.

"The situation will be handled anyway, right? I mean, some of the twenty-five giants are just too damn scary."

Oddryl narrowed his eyes.

"Unfortunately, it seems the intruders match that strength."

Talon furrowed his brows.

"Is it the newly crowned? Did he luck out and get some super powerful ability?"

Oddryl shook his head. In his mind, he still believed Hex was the strongest. However, it seemed his ability to instill fear in others was limited, else he would've used it already.

But that didn't change how much of a monster Layla was. If Oddryl didn't stabilize the ground at the center of the city, it would've split apart while the buildings would have collapsed.

Not to mention, that was just the aftereffect of Layla jumping and landing back down.

Oddryl rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

"There is one... with terrifying physical prowess?"

Talon raised an eyebrow.

"Do they have some special magic enhanced by their physical prowess?"

Oddryl shook his head.

"No."

Talon laughed, losing his serious expression.

"Oh, come on. How much of a threat can someone with only muscle be? Even the demons aren't muscle-headed enough to present a threat to us by brute strength alone."

Oddryl sighed helplessly.

"There will always be those that defy the limits incomprehensibly."

Talon rolled his eyes.

"Alright. So how much can this person do?"

Oddryl clasped his hands together.

"My dome will only last a few hits."

Talon raised an eyebrow.

"Never thought I would be the one to say this, but you gotta give yourself more credit."

Oddryl smiled bitterly.

"If anything, I'm giving myself too much credit. In fact, it may not even last one more hit."

Talon opened his mouth to rebut, but Oddryl raised a hand, signaling him to stop.

"Enough talking. Call on the top five."

Talon's eyebrow twitched. He tightened the grip on his scissors. 

"Seriously?"

Oddryl nodded.

"Hurry."

It was only now that Talon realized Oddryl wasn't joking. An awkward smile emerged on his face.

"But, the last time I called on them..."

Oddryl's eyebrow twitched.

"Just try once more."

His eyes narrowed.

"If they don't come, we will be forced to use that."

With that, Talon gave Oddryl one last look.

Then ran out.