The Laughing Swordsman

Seconds after Apollo landed, his head snapped towards Willow. A malevolent gleam flashed by his eyes.

"HAHAHA."

To Falk's surprise, Apollo did not even hesitate to swing at Willow. As for Willow, a small frown appeared on her face. However, she easily dodged Apollo's attack by briefly disappearing altogether.

Willow reappeared a few meters away, prompting Apollo to get up and charge towards her. Willow took to the skies, while Apollo followed after her, leaving trails of lightning in his wake.

Falk stared at this scene, speechless for a few moments.

"...It's like that kid is some rabid animal."

Apollo relentlessly chased after Willow. Even though Willow had wings, Apollo's ability to fly was faster. And so, he easily caught up with Willow and slashed at her. 

...But Willow easily dodged to the side.

Apollo was definitely faster than Willow, but he was more like a drag racer. His top speeds surpassed the others, but he had huge difficulty in turning. As for Willow, her speeds may not be the highest, but her agility was frightening.

She could go top speed in one direction before going top speed in the other direction. As such, it wasn't too hard for her to dodge Apollo's attacks.

Falk raised his shield but was at a loss.

Who was an enemy, and who was an ally?

Was he supposed to help that woman in a black dress?

Or was she an enemy as well?

In the end, Falk was unable to decide on what to do. As such, he just stood there awkwardly.

As time passed, Apollo accelerated to new heights in speed. It was so fast, that it even brought a bit of trouble for Willow with her agility.

Apollo let out a grating laugh. He placed his free hand on the flat side of his bokken. Then, it snapped out when he was just a meter or so away from Willow. Unfortunately, she dashed to the side easily and dodged the attack.

Apollo traveled in a circular arc, getting closer to Willow once again. But this time, he began his slash while being several meters away. Then, his thumb pressed against the hilt of his bokken.

This was not the first time Willow had seen Apollo use this attack. As such, she knew how fast it was.

Before Apollo even finished his attack, Willow disappeared.

A crackle of thunder rang out.

The air was torn apart in place of Willow. She had dodged again, but was forced to use more cards than she would've liked. The moment Willow reappeared, Apollo was already dashing towards her while letting out laughs that were just a bit too loud.

Willow was beginning to feel overwhelmed. Apollo was slowly reversing his disadvantageous situation through brute force, by going even faster.

Willow dodged one of Apollo's attacks, then disappeared to dodge the next. However, right when she reappeared, Apollo was right next to her, as though he expected her to be there all along.

An uncomfortable humming sound came from Willow's sword. Apollo's bokken and Willow's jet-black sword flashed.

An ear-piercing grating sound rang out.

Both Apollo and Willow were thrown back. However, Apollo did not waste a second before charging towards Willow once again.

Falk frowned. He noticed that the tables were turning, meaning Willow might be overwhelmed.

He pondered to himself.

The boy was clearly an enemy. After all, he tried to kill one of the twenty-five giants, Kylan.

The woman in a black dress had an unknown position, but was fighting against the boy. At the very least, she was an enemy of the enemy.

Falk narrowed his eyes. 

He didn't have to guarantee the woman's life, but taking off the pressure for her would mean the boy would have to face more.

And so, Falk decided to act.

He wouldn't have made this decision if Willow held the advantage, but he saw no reason why he couldn't take some of the burden off of her if she was going to lose.

Falk leaped upward, skyrocketing in between the two of them. Apollo didn't even seem to notice him. All of his attention was on Willow. As for Willow, she immediately noticed Falk. Her brows furrowed because the situation was gradually spiraling out of control.

Falk tried to bash Apollo with his shield as he rose upwards, but Apollo responded by flying underneath him, like he was just some debris.

Willow dodged Apollo's attack like always, but couldn't understand what Falk's goal was. This unstable factor meant she had to pay more attention to it, making her cut even more close calls with Apollo's strikes.

Falk leaped into the air once more in an attempt to disrupt Apollo. However, Apollo just went around him and slashed at Willow.

As for Willow, she dodged to the side, but split some of her attention on looking at Falk.

Suddenly, she snapped her head to the side, just barely dodging Apollo's blade of wind. A few strands of her hair were cut off. A deep frown appeared on Willow's face as her eyes followed the hairs that were attached to her just moments ago.

If she was any slower, it would've been her head instead of her hair.

Despite everything, Willow was more intent on fighting Falk than Apollo. She simply saw Falk as more of an enemy. 

Willow furrowed her brows.

How could she attack Falk reliably in such a chaotic situation?

Willow suddenly widened her eyes.

Wait... chaotic.

The answer was so obvious.

She slowly let her eyelids fall, while her sword began to let out a faint humming sound. Apollo rapidly approached Willow and traced a horizontal arc in the air.

As for Willow, she responded by diving headfirst towards Apollo. She retracted her wings close to her body and twirled like she was a rotating bullet.

Apollo's bokken was just about to hit Willow, but she turned at the perfect moment, letting the sword glide past her back.. She continued moving forward, on her way to Falk.