The Laughing Swordsman

Falk grew a new body, one composed of tentacles.

That, along with his human face, made him look like a sea creature from some horror movie. His dull expression didn't help, making him look lifeless. It gave off the impression that Falk's head was just moving on some kind of instinct.

That the consciousness was already dead.

Yet... while Falk's eyes were nearly closed, his mouth parted.

"I... a-am... am..."

Falk's head twitched eerily.

"...still y-your.... your..."

His black tendrils gradually raised in the air.

"...father... my d-daughter."

Falk's black tendrils pulled back, getting ready to pounce.

"...Don't be a-afraid... afraid."

Contrary to his words, he did something that was...frightening.

Falk's black tendrils shot out towards the nearby unsuspecting black beings. Screeches of pain and agony filled the air, before suddenly cutting themselves short.

Because they died.

Falk's black tendrils pulled the corpses before shoving them inside the conglomeration of black flesh that he was made of.

The corpses slipped in easily as though his body was slime. In just a few moments, they had been consumed entirely.

Falk's body bulged and burgeoned uncannily, soon reaching a height of three meters.

At this point, the surrounding black beings and reformed black beings noticed something strange was happening. That the one they considered their own did not reciprocate those same feelings.

After coming to this realization, both the black beings and reformed beings ran away.

However, it was already too late.

Countless black tendrils shot out of Falk's body as though they were laser beams. They extended to over twenty meters away from him, thus capturing a large amount of prey.

The black beings could only let out one dying screech before their voice trailed off and their life left their vessel.

As for the reformed black beings, they struggled for longer. Their veins bulged and squirmed violently, the result of whatever toxic substance Falk's black tendrils were able to release.

The reformed black beings each grabbed at the black tendril that pierced through their chest. Then, they were lifted into the air, prompting them to kick aimlessly in an attempt to break free.

But seconds later, they died all the same.

Falk's many black tendrils retrieved the prey before absorbing it into his body. Falk's body expanded once more, becoming six meters tall.

He did not have a proper figure.

Unlike the beings that were at least humanoid, Falk had become a grotesque blob of flesh. It would look like a pile of trash if it wasn't for the unsettling squirming it did.

And on top of this revolting blob was Falk's head.

It was as dull and expressionless as ever, almost like it just couldn't care less about what it had become.

From there, Falk began to move towards new prey.

His method of movement was forcefully dragging himself along. There was a trail of amniotic fluid behind him, only making his progress even more unsettling.

The surrounding back beings and reformed black beings didn't immediately recognize the threat Falk possessed. Though even if they did, it wouldn't change their fate.

Although Falk was forcefully dragging himself along, he had already reached speeds that got quite close to a giant reformed being's. And from there, any black being or reformed black being within fifty meters was pierced by a black tendril.

Screeches filled the air, as though it were a slaughterhouse. Their cries had a monstrous tone. If an average person heard these cries, they would find themselves afraid of what exactly could slaughter monsters like pigs.

It did not take long for a few secondary reformed beings to appear near Falk's vicinity. Before they got within fifty meters of him, they ran away.

But they could only move so fast.

Falk chased after them. It was as though he wanted to prove who was the real monster.

Even as he set his sights on larger prey, he did not let go of a single nearby black being or reformed black being. It was as though a large pack of deer was being chased after by a ferocious lion.

Within the pack were countless baby deer. They were simply unable to move fast enough, thus were mauled by the lion.

However, while the adults survived for now, their time was coming too.

The ground was shifted from the earthquake-like impact of Layla's previous attacks. As such, the secondary reformed beings found themselves scampering up ledges and jumping off miniature cliffs.

As for Falk, he easily clung to the side with his blob-like constitution, allowing him to easily go both up and down.

Eventually, the secondary reformed beings found themselves at a six-meter high ledge, while they themselves were only five meters. They jumped up nonetheless.

But before they could catch the ledge, their bodies had been pierced through.

The secondary reformed beings struggled wildly, even as their body burgeoned and contracted eerily.

This continued on for a few moments. Falk seemed to be getting impatient as he wiggled the secondary reformed beings up and down.

They remained alive.

Without warning, Falk slammed the secondary reformed beings onto the ground.

Cracks formed along the cobblestone path while rocks scattered into the air from the impact.

Falk lifted them up once more and slammed them down onto the floor.

He continued to repeat the process again and again.

A cacophony of bangs and roars filled the air.

Until eventually, they fell silent.

The secondary reformed beings resembled a pile of mush, covered with countless bruises and bleeding cuts.

They were unable to regenerate their wounds, courtesy of the strange toxin Falk injected into them.

With that, Falk's black tendrils dragged the lifeless prey to be consumed once more.

He grew even larger.

By now, he reached a height of fifteen meters.

And all of it was just a disturbing mass of flesh.

Falk set his sights on a few giant reformed beings. They were his prey. After all, he was steadily moving up the food chain.

Falk was determined to continue growing.

Until everything became his prey.