The Laughing Swordsman

The yellow dome covering the center of the empire had several cracks across it. As for Apollo, he and his bokken shot forth, almost like the two of them were challenging the yellow dome's authority.

However, this was mostly unintentional on Apollo's part. After all, he was involuntarily flung towards the center of the empire.

Nonetheless, it was him who would pull open the curtains to this violent play.

A thundering boom reverberated through the empire.

Apollo pierced straight through the dome and lost most of his momentum. However, he was still en route to the watchtower.

The sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the empire as cracks spread across the yellow dome, before it crumbled into pieces.

A few moments before Apollo was about to crash into the watchtower, a blurry figure zipped past him.

It was Hex.

He directly crashed into the side of the watchtower, demolishing the wall and tumbling into the very room Oddryl was in.

Apollo crashed down on the floor next to Hex. Stone bricks were scattered about while clouds of dust filled the air.

Apollo and Hex began coughing.

Once the dust settled, it revealed Oddryl. He was staring at them with a bit of incredulity. After a few seconds of shock, Oddryl chuckled.

"Well... it seems the prizes were delivered right to my doorstep."

His eyes narrowed.

"All that's left is to take them."

By the time Apollo and Hex stood up, strands of black flesh burst from the ground and held down their feet. The two of them looked down at their feet in confusion.

Oddryl raised his arm, pointing his forefinger towards them. A bright light flashed on his fingertip, before dimming right after.

Although Apollo and Hex were bound, neither of them freaked out. They casually looked back at Oddryl and were able to guess what he was up to.

Hex raised his sleeves, rapidly gathering dark green mist on top of them. As for Apollo, He swung his bokken, then pressed his thumb against the hilt.

A beam of light shot out from Oddryl's hand. It was just as strong as the beam the houses produced, but had been cast within a second.

Yet, the moment it shot forward, it had been split apart by Apollo's strike. Then, Hex let loose a beam of dark green energy, heading straight for Oddryl.

Apollo cleared the way, while Hex made use of the path created.

The dark green beam traveled quickly, causing Oddryl's pupils to constrict. Moments before it reached him, a wall of stone and black flesh burst from the ground.

The beam hit the wall with a bang, causing cracks to form as well as blood to spill out. However, it stood strong. The wall almost looked like it was living with how the black flesh pulsated, wrapping around the stone like it was moss.

Oddryl chuckled.

"Why do you think I stay here the entire time? It's because every part of this building can be controlled by my will."

He stood up from his chair.

"If you dare fight me here, then..."

Oddryl suddenly stopped talking. He looked off into the sky.

There was a faint sound in the distance that was rapidly getting louder.

"waaaaa..."

Oddryl frowned, looking at a black dot in the distance.

"What the-"

"...AAAAAAAAH!~"

It was Layla.

A thundering bang resounded.

She landed on the floor next to Apollo and Hex. The floor of the watchtower directly collapsed while the roof broke off, almost like a crown falling off someone's head.

The four of them began to free fall.

Before Oddryl hit the ground, some black flesh burst out of the walls and caught him, forming a small platform.

Layla landed easily, like she knew the floor was going to collapse the entire time.

As for Apollo, he didn't have the most finesse, plus his feet were bound by the black flesh. As such, Apollo hit the floor with his back, knocking the wind out of his lungs.

On the other hand, Hex held his hood with both hands, ignoring everything else. In the end, he hit the back of his head with a clear thump.

Hex pouted.

"Ow..."

Oddryl looked at his surroundings, then clicked his tongue.

"...I spent so much time building this too."

The walls of the watchtower had frighteningly large cracks that snaked all the way to the bottom. In the middle of these walls was a lump of pulsating black flesh. They lay there like a monster that hid within the gaps of a house.

Blood was spilling out from the cracks in the walls, evidence that the entity of black flesh had been injured.

A soft sigh escaped Oddryl.

"No matter. Everything can be rebuilt."

As Apollo and Hex got back up to their feet, hands of black flesh burst from the walls and ground.

One black hand appeared right next to Apollo and tried to grab him. However, before it could get close, Apollo's bokken flashed.

The hand was split in half. Black blood sprayed out from its wounds while the hand itself was shaking, as though it was in pain. However, it did not die.

The two halves of the hand reached for Apollo, but were cut by the base by him before they could get started. The two halves fell to the ground lifelessly.

As for the other hands, they shot out from their positions and made their way to the three. Their arms were lanky and had no clear bones from the way they twisted. They almost resembled wet noodles. The only difference being they were far greater a threat than an actual noodle.

Layla raised her hands in the air and cheered.

"Wah, so many friends!"

She pulled back her hand, making it into the shape of a claw.

Hex raised his sleeves and rapidly gathered purple mist.

"Me stronger than you!"

Apollo raised his bokken as a smile spread out across his face.

"HAHAHAHA."

Oddryl raised his forefinger as a smirk appeared on his face.

"And so, it begins."