The Laughing Swordsman

Falk suddenly found him surrounded on all sides.

Willow was leading Apollo over to Falk. Although she had no intention of attacking Falk directly, that didn't mean she wouldn't use Apollo.

As for Layla, she was giggling mischievously. Her tail swayed, causing the bell attached to let out soft jingles. She had a claw raised, prepared to attack Falk.

As for Hex, he was angry at the entire group. However, Falk just so happened to be the one at the front. As such, Hex gathered dark green mist in preparation to attack him.

Falk leisurely picked up his shield, as though he wasn't being attacked from three sides at once. His breathing was ragged and heavy. The sudden transformation clearly wasn't something easy for his mind to bear.

In fact, Falk could hardly process the situation he was in. If his instincts couldn't pick up on the threats around him, he wouldn't have even realized his perilous situation in the first place. As of now, he had to make a choice.

Falk could only hold his shield in one direction.

So which direction should he choose?

Falk's mind was muddled, but countless thoughts flashed by in just a second. It was almost like a raging fire began to burn down a murky swamp.

Falk's eyes narrowed.

The girl with a tail was strong, but he believed he could handle most physical attacks even before the transformation. Now that he had taken in a demon's genes, he was even more so.

As for the woman in the black dress, she hadn't attacked him this entire time. Instead, she would lure the boy to attack and amplify his strike. By redirecting the attack, it would come straight for Falk.

However, the boy didn't seem to use magic much. At most, there was lightning improving his acceleration. However, it was a physical attack in the end. Using the same logic Falk used with Layla, he dismissed Apollo.

That left the strange... thing. It clearly had some magical skills, as it suddenly appeared before him. And now, it was gathering dark green mist for some sort of spell.

Falk had no idea what that spell was or how bad it could possibly be. As such, he settled on blocking Hex.

Layla's shoulder muscles tightened, slowly bringing her claw forward. Then, that tightness traveled down her arms, accelerating her claw further. Once it reached her fingers, it snapped out.

Willow was standing behind Falk. Apollo charged after her and traced a horizontal arc with his bokken. Suddenly, Willow's pitch black sword flashed.

She traced the flat side of Apollo's bokken with her blade, pushing it towards her own neck. But right when Willow was about to be decapitated, she disappeared. In the end, Apollo's bokken was tracing an arc towards Falk's neck.

As for Hex, the dark green rapidly condensed around him. He held his sleeves in front of him and let it become a small dark green ball. Suddenly, it shot outwards as a dark green wave of energy, shaped like a wide cone.

First, Hex's wave of green energy hit Falk's shield. Like water, the waves of energy spilled out to the sides of Falk. Other than a pain in his wrists, he was unharmed.

However, then came Apollo's bokken. It traced a horizontal arc in the air before slashing into Falk's neck. Falk responded by tightening the muscles around his neck, forcefully stopping it from going any further. It was as though a lumberjack used an axe to cut down a large tree. While the ax pierced into the bark, to actually cut the tree, countless swings were needed.

Finally, there was the shock wave emanating from Layla's claw. It traveled rapidly before colliding with Falk. He was immediately blown off his feet, launching into the sky. As for Apollo, he recoiled as well, but only from the remnants of the shockwave.

Falk's limbs bent in the wrong direction as he coughed up blood.

In reality, although Falk forced himself to think in a muddled state, his judgment was still heavily impaired.

The moment he picked up his shield, he saw the possibility of blocking someone's attack. From there, his mind remained hardwired to think in this direction.

However, Falk could've chosen a halfway point in between two of the threats and dashed in that direction. From there, he could hold his shield behind him and block the majority of whatever came after him.

Although the attacks were fast, so was Falk. Ever since his armor fell off, his speed increased tremendously. There was no need to be at the epicenter of the attacks and face them head on.

However, Falk was unable to realize all of these things. Although Apollo's bokken did not pierce too far in his neck on its own, Layla's shockwave forced Falk into it. As such, his neck was cut through by nearly two-thirds.

For any normal human, this was fatal.

However, Falk already discarded his chances of being a normal human. Black flesh immediately grew from his neck, forcefully connecting it together. Then his limbs twisted back in the correct direction with frightening snapping sounds.

Falk landed on his knees and one hand. His other hand held up the shield above his body.

Falk's eyes glazed over and a faint growl came from deep in his lungs.

It was as though he became a beast.

Falk's judgment was already impaired before, but as of now...

It would be a miracle if a coherent thought passed through his mind.

...

Talon rushed down several steps in a hurry. His footfalls made countless tapping sounds, almost like the pitter patter of rain.

Talon's breaths were ragged. It was clear he had traversed countless steps by now without break.

Talon stopped in front of a wooden door and got on both knees humbly.

"Lord, there are intruders in the empire. May I request for your help?"

It was as though he became a different person, from laid back to extremely formal.

As for the response....