The Laughing Swordsman

Talon was at a loss. He had never expected that someone would actually do something like this.

...To voluntarily walk forward and be pierced by a blade.

Talon was not a stranger to fighting like this, because he himself went half suicidal in his own fights. That was part of the reason he was able to win so many battles and rise to his position.

More than strength, he had cruelty.

However, this was the first time Talon saw someone even crueler to themselves than him. In fact, he never saw anybody fight in this way before. Normally, people used techniques for more elusive footwork and versatile strikes.

As such, Talon adapted to fighting against that.

That meant when Apollo slowly began approaching him... he hesitated.

And for that tiny moment of hesitation, Talon paid a price.

Without warning, Apollo's free hand shot out and grabbed onto Talon's head. Before Talon could react, his head was slammed downwards.

A clear bang rang out alongside a cracking sound.

Talon's head was bashed against the blade of his own scissors. It was not enough to disorient him, but his skull was cracked nonetheless. Black flesh quickly seeped into the cracks of his skull before mending it.

Talon immediately resisted, trying to pull his head out of Apollo's grasp, but not too much success. The reason he didn't want to use his hands was that they were holding onto the scissors.

If Talon let go, then all the effort he put into trapping Apollo's bokken would be for nothing. But if he didn't let go, Apollo was just going to continue trying to bash his head on the blade of his scissors.

Once again, Talon hesitated.

That moment was enough for Apollo to take Talon by surprise, suddenly increasing his strength and bashing Talon's head on the blade of his scissors.

A frightening cracking sound rang out.

Talon's skull had cracked once more. Blood poured from his forehead, some of which fell into his empty eye socket. He was damaged pretty badly, to say the least. But instead of hampering him, it would be more accurate to call it a wake up call.

One that told him to stop thinking, and just fight.

The outer layer of Talon's face had molted, turning into a layer of black flesh. Because of that, Apollo lost his grip, with only some black flesh to prove he was holding on before.

Talon retreated a few steps and pulled out his scissors from Apollo's chest. He opened them all the way and twirled them.

One of the blades headed towards Apollo's neck, while the other went for his thigh. Talon closed the scissors as they traveled, making a rather strange trajectory.

Apollo ducked under the blade, letting it pass over his head. He thrust his bokken towards Talon's neck, giggling sadistically as he did so.

As for Talon, his eyes widened in shock.

But there was no time to ruminate about it.

Talon whipped his head back, but didn't forget to forcefully close his scissors.

Several cracks rang out.

Apollo hit Talon squarely on the chin, while Talon cut through Apollo's thigh and shoulder.

Talon's head snapped back, along with his body. He felt his consciousness blur while the cracks that just mended reopened. To make things worse, they spread even further.

As for Apollo, the layer of bone covering his shoulder was smashed apart, while a long gash formed on his thigh. All things considered, this wasn't too much damage to him.

In fact, it was already healing right now.

Talon slammed onto the ground and got the wind knocked out of him. However, he wasted no time in standing back up. He hurriedly forced the black flesh to mend the cracks in his skull.

A frown formed on his face as he wondered how high of a chance he had to win this fight.

After Talon cut off his old eye, he actually forgot about the black flesh entirely. After all, his mind was preoccupied with other things at the time.

As Talon ran down the hallway, he suddenly remembered it. This made him panic a little, making him wonder if he let the black flesh take over his body due to his negligence.

Yet, when he checked on it, it was lying dormant in his heart.

The black flesh retracted the hold it had on the other parts of his body, before lying there stationary.

Originally, Talon felt uncomfortable with it being there, so he tried to force it out. But before he could even try shifting his organs around manually, the black flesh moved on its own, as though willed to.

It exited out of his chest, before falling into Talon's hand.

This confused Talon, but he didn't question it. For a second, he had the intention of crushing the ball of black flesh by squeezing it like a stress ball, but gave up on that notion.

After all, it was now fully subdued by him.

And so, Talon reinserted the black flesh into his heart, and let it seep into his blood. That was what produced the exaggerated veins passing through his body.

That was clearly the correct decision, as it had already saved his life. Without the black flesh, Apollo would've shattered Talon's skull, and there was not much living to do after that.

However, while the black flesh did considerably strengthen him, the gap between their power was quite large.

Before Talon could think of anything else, Apollo dashed forward.

Talon's eyes narrowed.

He took on a stance, no longer caring about the difference in strength. Talon had defeated those that were far stronger before.

In just a moment, Apollo was in range. His bokken flashed.

Suddenly, Talon's pupils dilated.

He twisted his scissors, letting the bokken travel down the edge. But before the bokken reached him, he opened up the scissors.

Apollo's bokken smashed hard against the triangular handle, before being deflected to the side.

Talon suffered recoil, but just grit his teeth.

He closed his scissors, then thrust it towards Apollo's unguarded stomach.