The Laughing Swordsman

Willow's eyes squinted due to the bright light shining upon her. She was able to make out a yellow crystal that was in the shape of a rhombus and slowly rotating.

Willow instinctively realized this crystal was some sort of weakness. As such, she slashed it.

Along with the sounds of shattered glass, Willow's blade smashed the crystal into many little pieces.

Willow's jet-black sword flashed once more, tearing the walls of the house apart.

Willow's figure flew out, accompanied by shards of wood in the sky. She cast a glance at Apollo, before dashing towards another nearby house.

As for Hex, purple mist had gathered around him. He looked at one of the houses that began to brighten before shooting out a purple shadow towards it.

The next second, Hex morphed into a small green ball and recklessly approached it. His body smashed through the wall of the house, letting him lay eyes on a yellow crystal. The crystal was particularly bright as it was still gathering energy for an attack.

Hex stared at the yellow crystal curiously. Then out of nowhere, his mouth opened wide, revealing his tiny, but sharp teeth.

Hex lunged forward and chomped down on the yellow crystal, stuffing the majority of it into his mouth. The bright yellow light suddenly dimmed, before disappearing altogether.

Hex began to chew, letting out a satisfying crunch. He swallowed, then licked his lips. It seemed like the crystal was extra tasty to him.

The house abruptly fell down. Causing Hex's body to slam against one of the walls. Blackie appeared from his shadow, before violently slamming down on a nearby wall.

With a crash, a new hole formed.

Hex's figure flew out of that hole. While still in the air, his eyes greedily scanned the houses around him.

Hex wanted to eat more of the yellow crystals.

Layla ran towards an arbitrary house. The light emitted from this house was rapidly brightening, signaling disaster. But to Layla, it was as though the house was inviting her to play.

She dashed towards the house's feet. Her hands reached out, grabbing onto the house's ankles.

Several frightening cracks rang out. Layla directly crushed some bones just by holding onto the house.

The light from the house dimmed while Layla crouched down.

A thundering boom rang out throughout the empire.

Without warning, Layla leaped high into the air. She left a massive crater in her wake and lifted the house up by its legs.

It made one wonder... why was she trying to fly so hard if she could just jump countless meters into the sky?

Layla held the house behind her back to prepare for an overhead swing. She was rapidly approaching another house. That house glanced at her, almost like it was afraid.

The dim light from the house Layla was holding, abruptly began to brighten.

But before it could do anything, Layla acted.

With near impossible speeds, she slammed the house onto the other one. Right before they collided, the light of one house became blinding. The other house stared as though it was deathly afraid.

A thundering explosion reverberated, shaking the air.

Upon collision, the accumulated power in the house exploded out, directly blowing it apart along with the other house.

Layla smiled cheekily.

"Fun with friends!"

And so, a chaotic battle ensued.

Apollo's figure streaked through the sky, leaving behind a trail of lightning. Many houses attempted to grab him, but he slipped past, tearing them into shreds along the way.

His movement was simply too fast for the houses to attack Apollo with a beam of light. As for their physical attacks, Apollo simply slipped past them all. In the end, the houses were helpless before him.

Apollo tore through one house after another. Crystals shattered from his strikes one after another. It was as though Apollo himself was actually a series of thunderbolts, ripping through the sky.

Apollo was laughing the entire time. There was an unhinged look in his eyes, one that called for destruction. His pupils were trembling, almost as though it was eagerly anticipating a masterpiece's climax.

Countless houses collapsed to the ground. They had all fallen by Apollo's blade.

Willow was speeding through the air as well, flapping her raven wings. She furrowed her brows.

"If only my sword wasn't chipped..."

Willow's attacks had lost most of their power. Her current strike could split apart the wall of a house. But if her sword hadn't been chipped, she would've directly torn through the entire thing and shattered the crystal in the process.

It was then she recalled something.

Willow was taken back to the time she carried Apollo, Layla, and Hex through the snow. Her momentum had been disrupted by Layla's violent rocking. It was hard to consider what Layla did to be 'helpful' in any way.

...But she made it helpful.

Willow defied common sense, turning a disadvantage into an advantage. Logically, this was simply too hard to do. After all, Layla's moves were erratic.

The same went for the chip in Willow's blade. After all, it was now irregularly jagged. Compared to the smoothness Willow was used to, it was now rough. It was as though Willow spent her entire life in cleanliness only to fall into a puddle of mud.

The drastic shift shocked her.

But it was then she recalled a line spoken by her old friend.

Her last memory of him was when he was a little boy, with a head of white hair.

Vicar.

...

They were attacking each other with wooden swords. It had been snowing heavily while the ground was frozen over in certain areas. These frozen areas acted like landmines, only revealing their true nature once someone stepped on them.

Whenever Willow's foot landed on the ice, she slipped. If she was attacking, her attack would lose its trajectory. Soon after, Vicar would win that spar.

However, the same was not true for Vicar.

It was as though the ice wasn't his enemy...

....but his ally.