The Laughing Swordsman

Talon remained there silently, patiently waiting.

Eventually, there was the sound of a deep sigh. An unhurried feminine voice came from behind the doors.

"What makes you think I am so free as to help you?"

Talon furrowed his brows.

"I... I see. Sorry for disturbing you."

An uncomfortable silence descended upon the hallway. Talon got up and hurried off, on his way to the next door.

Although it was only a few minutes, Talon felt like the tapping sounds of his footsteps were echoing on for hours.

Talon stopped in front of a large metal door engraved with the symbol of a black rose. He got on his knees and bowed down.

"Lord, there are intruders in the empire. May I request-"

"No."

Talon was cut off by a deep booming voice. From the tone, it was clear the man couldn't care less about the issue the empire was facing. In fact, Talon could tell there was even a bit of condescension.

As for whether that was directed to him or the empire, he wouldn't know.

Talon balled his hand into a fist.

"I see. Sorry for disturbing you."

He expected to be rejected. However, it was still painful for him to hear.

A disdainful snort came from behind the door before silence descended upon Talon once more.

With a soft sigh, he got up to his feet and ran further down the hallway. The tapping sounds of his footsteps began to resemble a metronome. Ticking over and over, repeating its monotonous tune until the end of time.

Talon didn't know why, but it began to bother him. He ran faster to disrupt the strange feeling, but it only made things worse. It was as though the metronome was only clicking faster.

Talon sped up faster and faster. He was panicking a little too much for just running down a hallway. The stress continued to build up in his mind. Right when Talon felt like he was going to burst, he noticed he made it to the next door.

This one was actually a metal double door, making it much larger than the others. It was coated with a light grey sheen and had intricate black carvings resembling a set of vines.

By now, Talon was panting heavily. He took a few moments to calm down his breathing. Once his body no longer requested for excessive amounts of oxygen, Talon kneeled and bowed down.

"Lord, there are-"

A sharp crack resounded in the hallway.

Talon flinched. 

He looked to his right and saw a bright red scorch mark right next to him. It was in the shape of a cut one would make with a sword. There was a faint sizzling sound as well as some smoke rising from the scorch mark.

Talon hurriedly stood up, not daring to remain a second longer.

"S-Sorry!"

With that, he continued running down the halls, with only two more people left to ask. A seed of hopelessness seeped into Talon's heart. For personal reasons, he hoped one of the top five would answer the call.

That was because...

The empire's last resort would cost him. And it was not something small either. Talon knew that his best chances were with the first, and weakest of the top five.

However, he was rejected.

As Talon went down the hallway, the people he asked became far stronger than the last. As their strength increased, so did their indifference. Ever since he was first rejected, the reality of the situation slowly became clear to him.

It was almost like Talon was haunted by a specter, threatening to crush his heart at any moment.

He lost his initial enthusiasm, going at a pace of a light jog,

Eventually, Talon made it to a massive double door made purely from gold. Countless engravings rested on the door, forming the pattern of two lions. The lions were covered in excessive amounts of armor, standing on their hind legs. With their paws, they seemed to be attacking one another.

Talon solemnly stared at the door for a few moments. After a few moments, he got down on his knees. As Talon lowered his head, he could feel despair swirl within him.

Why was he even trying?

It was futile in the end, Talon knew this for a fact.

So why...

Suddenly, he saw his sister. Unlike Talon's short brown hair, hers was long and smooth. She had eyes clear like the empty sky, as though it gave one permission to be free.

Talon steeled his mind. He opened his mouth, ready to request once more.

But...

Before the words could come out, a relentless pressure exploded out from behind the doors, blasting Talon back.

He crashed into the wall and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Gah!"

After collapsing to the ground, Talon held his chest in pain. Without another word, he stood up and walked further down the hallway.

Talon was no longer in any hurry. He took his time walking down the halls, despite how long they stretched.

Compared to the rest of the doors, this one was much farther away from the rest. It was almost like the halls were endless, magnified by Talon's slow pace.

Yet, for Talon, it was the opposite. It was as though the end was rapidly approaching him. He walked forward slowly, as though by doing so he could delay the pain.

Talon had known about the empire's last resort for a long time. However, he was sure that there would be no need for that. After all, there were so many strong people residing within the empire.

It would be a miracle if someone even dared to attack it!

...Yet, here he was.

Talon began to feel a chill, despite the temperature of the hallway being the same as it had always been. He felt the hallways twist and turn while they were straight.

Far off in the distance, the hallway came to an end. There was a small door at the end.

It was Talon's last hope.