The Laughing Swordsman

"Waaaaah!~"

Layla was traveling through the air rapidly, as though she were tearing apart the sky itself.

There was a blissful smile on her face, one that lived for embracing the moment. And embrace the moment she did.

Layla was holding two houses, one ankle in each hand. She violently swung them around while in the air, decimating other houses along with the ones she held. Countless crashes resounded around Layla while debris scattered within the air, even more so than the snow.

Like a meteor, Layla slammed into the ground, forming a miniature crater. The only thing left of the two houses she held was a small stub.

Layla tossed the stubs to the side. Her furry ears perked up.

"So much fun with so many friends!"

The houses paid the most attention to Layla, compared to the rest of her companions. In fact, over ten houses were currently facing Layla as the light they emitted rapidly brightened.

Layla curiously looked around herself, noticing that they were focused on her. The light emitted from the houses abruptly dimmed, signaling the start of their attack.

As for Layla, she simply raised her hands high into the air.

"Hi friends!~"

Numerous beams of light shot towards Layla, from nearly every angle.

An earth-shaking explosion ensued.

A ball of light burgeoned violently from Layla's location, scarring the land black everywhere they traveled.

When the light cleared... Layla was nowhere to be seen.

"Waaaaaaah!~"

Because she was thrown high up into the air.

Layla was over fifty meters high up in the air. She flapped her arms as though she was a bird with a bright smile on her face.

"I'm flying!~"

She giggled freely, without the slightest care in the world. Her furry ears twitched.

"I must show all friends this great feeling!"

Layla looked towards the ground. Suddenly, she plummeted towards the ground at terrifying speeds.

A thundering bang resounded throughout the empire while huge clouds of dust filled the air.

The dust cleared to reveal a massive crater... but Layla wasn't there. She had already dashed towards a nearby house.

Before the house could do anything, Layla picked it up by its ankle and sent it flying in the air over eighty meters high. She continued running throughout the empire while throwing all the houses up in the air.

There was a wanderer traversing the outskirts of the empire. He looked to his right to see houses flying in the air, flailing their black limbs around in the sky.

The wanderer blinked a few times.

"What the fu-"

It was a peculiar sight that inspired both fear and...

...confusion.

From within the watchtower, Oddryl furrowed his brows.

"...These fellows are fairly competent. It appears it was a little ambitious to try and handle them all on my own."

He sighed.

"Well... there's always the others."

As though on cue, two people joined the chaotic war.

One of them floated in the air, held up by gales of wind. It was an adult male, with a rather refined look. He had long straight hair that cascaded past his waist. The hair itself was black, but shined with a bright luster from under the sun.

His skin was eerily smooth, as though it wasn't skin, but a porcelain vase. His irises were a sharp hazelnut color, giving him a mature look. He wore a light robe and a thick dark blue cloth tied around his waist.

The man's fingers were thin and slender. It almost appeared feminine, but there was something in the way his fingers curled that appeared a little too sinister to be so.

One of his hands held onto a small white paper fan. The fan was open and held just below the man's lips.

He chuckled softly.

"I never thought someone would be so foolish as to challenge the empire. What say you, Rhea?"

The person standing next to this man, named Rhea, was also young, but a woman. She was standing on a flowing pillar of water that rippled occasionally.

Rhea had long straight black hair like the man, but it only reached past her shoulder blades. Her eyes shone with a deep blue, as though they were a serene pond. She wore a white robe and had a thick white cloth tied around her waist, just like the man. She had a small blue flower perched on her shoulder, an iris.

Like the man, Rhea's skin was eerily smooth. The only difference being her skin was a little more tender and rosy. Her cheeks sunk in ever so slightly, giving her an elegant look and her lips were cherry red.

There was almost something... unsettling about the way she looked. Like a beautiful painting, but something about its overall appearance was off.

Rhea smiled condescendingly.

"Is it really so strange someone would attack the empire? There are an innumerable amount of fools treading the ground, wouldn't you say, Rhys?"

The man, or Rhys, smirked.

"I suppose that is true. Though so many fools with power is quite a rare sight."

Rhea rolled her eyes.

"They may have power, but all of their kind die early due to their witless minds."

Rhys flicked his fan shut with a sigh.

"Why must we be the ones to send them off?"

Rhea raised her hand, pointing her delicate index finger towards Apollo, far off in the distance.

She laughed, sounding beautiful, yet malicious at the same time.

"Is this not our duty as part of the twenty-five giants?"

A ball of water gathered on her finger before shooting outwards. As it traveled, it rapidly increased in size, until it became a tidal wave that reached a height of twenty meters.

Apollo's gaze shifted towards the incoming tidal wave. Without the slightest trace of fear, he bolted towards it with his bokken raised, leaving trails of lightning in his wake.

Rhys leisurely held his fan by his side. He curiously watched Apollo.

"This child seems eager. If only..."

Rhys lifted his paper fan.

"...he understood when to run."

Then swung it as though he was swinging a blade.