The Laughing Swordsman

Despite being so much larger than their counterparts, the secondary reformed beings moved incredibly fast. Because of that, Willow quickly found herself in an uncomfortable position.

Willow pointed her pitch black sword towards the three secondary reformed beings. Her blade let out a violent humming sound, one that seemed to tear through the air.

During that time, the secondary reformed beings were already within five meters of Willow.

Then, Willow's blade stopped vibrating.

A violent shockwave rippled through the air, directly exploding one of the secondary reformed beings into a bloody mist, while tearing through the other two, cutting some of their flesh off to ribbons.

Numerous other black beings were caught in the crossfire, similarly exploding into a bloody mist or being torn to ribbons.

Willow sighed softly.

She was lamenting over the fact her sword was chipped because of Layla's... fall. Willow's old way of fighting would cause the black beings to directly explode into a bloody mist, reducing the numbers much more effectively.

It was not like her current way didn't have its advantages. With how violent her shockwaves have become, they became far more suited for dealing with stronger enemies.

This was because her old way of fighting had a very even shockwave while her current one erratically compressed that shockwave. Her current shockwave was almost like a wave that consisted of countless blades.

That was why Willow's enemies were cut to thin strips that resembled ribbons. And also why it was not nearly as thorough when dealing with these black beings.

Willow shook her head, tossing the regretful thoughts out of her head.

There was nothing she could do about it. Not to mention the fact two secondary reformed beings were attacking her right now.

Willow's figure disappeared, and a claw tore through the spot she just was.

Willow reappeared a few meters away only to see another claw coming for her. She just barely brought her sword up to block in time.

A clear bang resounded.

Willow strained her arms to block and hurt her wrists badly. She was blown back like a kite with its strings cut loose.

Willow could feel her bones ache. Blocking that strike added to her accumulated injuries, making her feel a little delirious.

The reason why she couldn't just dodge it like the last one was because she could only vanish so often. Not to mention, it used up a fair amount of stamina to do so.

This disappearance Willow performed was actually a refined way of stepping into the shadow world, making it seem like teleportation. It could be compared to the 'basic shadow step technique' that Apollo almost learned, but couldn't because the demonstration time ran out too quickly.

The main difference between that technique and Willow's was that she did not have to touch solid ground in order to step into the shadow world.

Unfortunately, one of the limitations of the technique was the cooldown period. In order to cast this technique, it required Willow to preemptively gather black mist.

Although Willow could do this quickly, it was not instant. As such, she was forced to block and suffered because of that.

Right after Willow was knocked backward, the two remaining secondary reformed beings charged after her.

If nothing else, blocking that strike launched her quite far away, giving her some time to prepare an attack.

Willow raised her pitch black sword, which began vibrating violently once more. It was as though a beast was roaring.

By the time the two secondary reformed beings were three meters away, Willow's sword suddenly froze.

A violent shockwave exploded forth, directly tearing apart one of the secondary reformed beings and heavily maiming the chest of the other.

But despite suffering injuries from the residual shockwave, it did not inhibit the other secondary reformed being.

It swiped at Willow, tearing through the air.

As for Willow, her figure disappeared.

While the secondary reformed being was still at a loss, Willow reappeared right in front of its face.

The secondary reformed being opened its jaws wide with the intention of roaring. Yet, before it could do so, its head exploded into a bloody mist.

Willow had traced a horizontal arc with her sword, which screeched as though it was grinding against metal. Like that, she released another shockwave that directly blew apart the secondary reformed being's head.

As a result, it stumbled back a few steps and fell to the ground.

Willow looked off in Hex's direction, wanting to hurry back, but before she could find him, her vision went blurry.

By the time Willow came to, she found herself barreling through the air and coughing up a mouthful of blood.

She narrowed her eyes and looked in the direction she came in. The secondary reformed being she thought was dead, was actually standing up. Its head was still gone, while black blood continued to spray out of the wound.

However, it was very much alive.

Black tendrils of flesh wrapped around the wound, stopping the bleeding. It appeared like the head was unnecessary for it to function.

While Willow was still trying to recover herself, the secondary black being had already begun charging towards her.

  Her mind was muddled, which was pretty bad considering the precision her techniques required. 

By the time the secondary reformed being was a few meters away, Willow still couldn't think coherently.

But then, she remembered there was no need to think coherently.

...Because there was order within the chaos.

Willow began closing her eyes, seemingly unconcerned of the secondary reformed being rapidly approaching her.

When it was five meters away, Willow's eyelids drooped, almost like someone falling asleep.

When it was three meters away, her eyes were partially closed.

One meter, just barely open.

Then closed.

The secondary reformed being was right in front of Willow.

Its claw drew an arc towards her, tearing through the air.

But without warning, it exploded into a bloody mist.

While the secondary reformed being was at a loss, its entire body exploded as well.

Willow's eyes closed, but instead of falling asleep...

She was awake.