The Laughing Swordsman

Talon ran across the cobblestone path of the empire, pushing past the crowd of black beings. Since he was going at a speed he could hardly control, he frequently collided with these black beings with far more strength than a love tap.

Yet, these black beings couldn't care less.

It was as though they were passersby in a crowded city that had long gotten used to the lack of respect some people had, shoving and pushing their way through.

Talon was panting hard. The wind that blew by caused his hair to whip wildly. He was clearly putting his all into running forth.

As for his destination, it was his residence. Part of his promotion to a giant was getting a palace of his own.

Talon actually found it a little inconvenient simply because of the amount of walking he had to do to get from one room to another.

It was especially annoying when he needed to use the washroom.

But the important part was that he had his sister, Lena, assigned as a maid for him. As the only maid for the palace, Lena had to struggle quite a bit to clean the entirety of the palace, even though it was far smaller than most of the palaces.

That meant... she should be there.

Talon furrowed his brows anxiously.

She... she would be there, right?

Back when Talon proclaimed that his sister was still alive in response to Oddryl's taunt, he sounded really confident.

...But he wasn't actually all that confident.

In fact, he was pretty sure Oddryl didn't actually know the condition of his sister, simply because Oddryl wasn't the type to care enough to actually check.

It was pretty much set in stone that Lena also had the strange addition of black flesh, but the question was...

Did Lena become a monster?

Or resist it like him?

Talon still held a little hope in his heart, but as he passed by more black beings, his thoughts were thrown into chaos.

There were so many black beings.

Far too many.

They may be monsters right now, but they were once humans. That much was painfully obvious from their childish appearance, from their immature faces to their small stature.

Every single one of them had once been an innocent kid.

One that could laugh, cry, and care about others.

Talon couldn't see a single survivor, one that was not taken completely by the black flesh.

...So was he some special exception?

With every black being Talon saw, he saw the chances of his sister being fine drop. Talon took a deep breath and clenched his fists.

Well... there was only one way to find out if she was really fine or not.

As Talon continued forth, the density of black beings dropped too. Now, he would only collide with a black being if he was careless.

By the time he reached his palace, there were almost no black beings around him.

It seemed like the black beings were making their way out of the center of the city, attracted to the outskirts of the empire.

Talon pushed through the door and hurriedly scanned the area. There was no sign of his sister in the first room, so he went further.

Talon's palace was only a little over ten meters wide and long. It was definitely bigger than the houses but paled in comparison to the palaces that had over five times the length and width.

Yet, to Talon, it felt like an unending ocean. It was as though he did not see rooms or hallways, but a forest with thick vegetation.

Talon ran down the hallways anxiously.

...What if his sister had already transformed?

Talon slammed open a door, only to find an empty room. He grit his teeth.

What if his sister was attacked by those monsters?

Talon continued running down hallways and slamming open doors. Yet, he was only greeted with an empty room each time.

Another possibility slowly drifted into his mind.

What if his sister... wasn't even here?

For all he knew, she could've transformed into one of the black beings and ran outside.

Or... she was alive, but running for her life.

As Talon kept checking more and more rooms, his pace eventually got slower.

It went from running, to jogging.

Then jogging, to walking.

In the end, it did not take long for him to check all of the rooms except his own. For a moment, Talon stood in front of the door to his room without moving.

He could only nervously grasp the doorknob, without the conviction to push it open.

But... there was nothing he could do about it now.

Talon slowly pushed open the door to his room...

"Brother?"

Lena had been gently dusting a table in Talon's room. Upon hearing the door open, she turned to look at him curiously.

She was just a little bit shorter than Talon, who was already fairly short himself. Her black hair was short and tidy, while her eyes were small and light brown.

Lena had a small face and round chin, making her look smaller than she actually was. Her arms were slim, while her hands were delicate.

As for her fingers, they were thin and pale, moving around with a natural flow.

Lena was wearing a casual white dress, one that wrapped around her waist and a long skirt that nearly reached the floor. It was very clean, and didn't have any patterns on it. A dress from before she came to the center of the empire.

Under normal circumstances, she should've been wearing a maid outfit, but Talon didn't really like it. As such, he just let his sister wear whatever casual wear she had available.

Lena wasn't an outstanding beauty in any sense, but something about her movements and general appearance felt so gentle.

Almost like... a flower.

At first, Talon felt relief.

But then, he noticed something was off.

....Contradictory to her calm appearance, black flesh festered on her body.