The Laughing Swordsman

Two figures burst out of a palace wall, scattering debris everywhere.

"HAHAHAHA."

"Waaaaaaaah!~"

It was Apollo and Layla.

Apollo was smashing through buildings in an attempt to get Layla off of him, but not with much success. At best, she was just having more fun because of it.

Layla had both hands raised high in the air, and was cheering with excitement. Her legs casually wrapped around Apollo's waist, but to Apollo, it was tighter than the grip of a dying person.

Although Apollo would shift his body so that Layla would take the brunt of the impact upon crashing through the walls, he was still bruised. Ironically enough, Layla was unscathed, save for some dust on her clothes.

The center of the empire was quite large, enough to make a village on its own. However, despite its size, the population was quite sparse.

The palaces covered large amounts of ground, some covering the land that four normal houses would take up, while others nearly covered fifty.

With each palace having one resident and a few maids and the occasional guard, the low population density was expected.

However, that didn't mean Apollo and Layla hadn't met any along the way. Those people would've been scared to death seeing someone burst through the walls, but they had been transformed into black beings.

Their appearance was rather jarring, as they either had the clothes of a maid or a few pieces of armor that pierced into their skin.

They recklessly charged towards Apollo and Layla, screeching as they did so. Yet, the two of them didn't seem to care.

Apollo ignored every black being for the most part, unless they were directly in his way. In that situation, he would cut them in two, then continue on without looking back.

As for Layla, she continued playing her strange version of whack-a-mole whenever any of the black beings came close, by slapping them. As such, there were certain sections of the wall covered in a bloody paste, the remnants of Layla's work.

Like this, the two of them continued smashing through palaces, while slowly getting closer to the center of the city.

Apollo and Layla burst out of another palace wall before soaring high into the sky. Then, the two of them plummeted downwards, going straight for a rather large palace.

This palace was different not just from its grand size, but how it was decorated. The walls were generously lined with gold, with seemingly inconsistent patterns. 

On top of that, given the fact it was in the very center of the empire, it seemed to have some importance over the other buildings.

Apollo didn't realize this fact, but even if he did, it wouldn't change anything. His current goal was to get Layla off of him by any means possible.

That meant when he saw a roof he could crash into, he plunged down towards it without hesitation.

A thundering bang rang out.

Apollo and Layla burst into the palace, stirring up a large cloud of dust. When it cleared, it revealed a long hallway with floors made of stone. Currently running down this hallway, was Talon.

One of his eyes was missing, still bleeding profusely. That much was clear from the trail of blood behind him.

As for his body, there were countless black veins that bulged from his skin. It almost made him look like a monster, but his back remained straight, showing the control of rationality.

Talon frowned.

"Get out of the way!"

Apollo couldn't care less, and began charging towards Talon. It was as though he did not hear what he said.

Talon held his scissors in front of him while Apollo held out his bokken.

A rather frightening sound of pierced flesh rang out through the room.

Neither Apollo nor Talon held back. They stabbed towards each other without reservation, and without defending.

As such, the two of them pierced the other in the stomach. Their weapons were trembling as they tried to cut through the other's flesh. Blood dripped from the corner of their mouths.

The two of them slowly got closer to each other. Apollo looked at Talon with widened eyes while laughing like a maniac. As for Talon, he had an ugly frown on his face, but his eyes were filled with determination.

They were essentially in an awkward stare off with each other.

The two of them steadily got closer, ready to see this fight till the end.

But out of nowhere, a thundering bang rang out, along with several cracking sounds.

Layla had slapped Talon on the shoulder.

"Hehe, I'm so sneaky!"

As for Talon, he catapulted backward, breaking several bones from Layla's strike. Apollo was similarly pushed back from the recoil, but was not damaged.

The wound in Apollo's stomach rapidly healed over, while a black patch of flesh quickly covered Talon's.

It was as though Talon was commanding the black flesh. And the black flesh would respond obediently, like it was a dog of sorts.

Apollo and Talon charged towards each other once more.

A few moments before they made contact, Talon opened his scissors, treating each blade as a different sword.

A strong metallic screeching sound rang out.

Talon used one of the blades of his scissors to parry against Apollo's bokken, while the other traveled towards Apollo's chest. Talon rapidly closed the scissors, speeding up the strike.

In the end, Apollo's chest was pierced through, while his bokken was caught in between the blades of Talon's scissors.

After being promoted to a giant, this was the way that Talon fought. He was used to fighting other swordsmen, so he would capture their blade before stabbing them with the ends of his scissors.

Talon drove his scissors further in, trying to capitalize on his advantage. After all, most normal people would try to back off upon being stabbed.

However, Apollo was not normal, but rather, the same type of person as Talon.

He walked forward, letting the scissor blade pierce even further into his chest, passing through his bone.

All the while laughing.