The Laughing Swordsman

Mark narrowed his eyes.

"You really think I will believe 'heaven's forces' are what keeps this island afloat?"

The council member stiffened up.

"That is simply the truth. Whether you believe it or not will not change that fact."

Mark smiled.

"Oh, really?"

He chuckled.

"Then how about I say the fact you are dead is the truth? Whether you believe it or not will not change that fact."

The council member raised an eyebrow.

"But that is just a falsehood. Surely my lifespan is limited, but as of now I am indeed alive."

Mark put a finger on his chin.

"Are you sure?"

The council member nodded with a bit of confusion.

"Of cour-"

Without warning, he exploded into a mass of blood and flesh that sprayed across the ground, almost like something crushed him into that mess. The other two council members stumbled back in fear, while Hare and the guard tensed up.

As for Apollo, he scratched the side of his head.

"Why didn't you wait for him to finish? How do we know what he was going to say now?"

Mark shrugged his shoulders.

"He wouldn't have said anything meaningful, so that is unnecessary."

Apollo widened his eyes.

"Woah! You already knew what he was going to say?"

Mark laughed.

"Yes, yes. It's called predicting."

The council member with a mustache pointed a trembling finger towards him.

"Y-You killed him! This violates our agreement!"

Mark turned to him and smiled cordially.

"And if you didn't lie and make me upset, I wouldn't have needed to."

The council member furrowed his brows.

"This is prepostur-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he also exploded into mush. The last council member trembled in fear. He fell to his knees and raised his hands.

"D-Don't kill me."

Mark tilted his head to the side.

"Well, you didn't do enough to warrant your death."

The council member let out a sigh of relief.

"T-Thank you."

Mark narrowed his eyes.

"But it would also be inconvenient to leave you alive. After all, you saw me kill the other two council members. This is the only way to cover it up easily."

The man's eyes widened.

"W-Wait!"

Unfortunately, he exploded as well.

Mark turned to Apollo.

"Hey, if anyone asks, you guys were the ones that did this, ok?"

Apollo pressed his lips together.

"We were?"

Mark chuckled.

"Just pretend for me."

Hare and the guard were shaken up. Hare said earlier he would protect Apollo with his life, but now all of his conviction seemed to disappear. As for the guard, he remained silent, too afraid to say anything.

Apollo looked up to Mark with curious eyes, not caring about anything that happened earlier.

"What were you trying to find out from those people?"

Mark cracked his neck.

"I wanted to understand the origin of these winds that keep the island up. However, it seems I was a bit foolish to think such low ranked people would have any idea about it."

Apollo nodded.

"That makes sense."

Mark let out a soft hum.

"Apollo, would you be interested in confusing everyone in this city?"

Apollo tilted his head to the side.

"What do you mean by that?"

Mark rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

"Something like... a pretend fight."

Apollo blinked a few times.

"You mean a spar?"

Mark chuckled.

"Sort of, yes. But more accurately, I would like to put on a small show for the city to watch."

His eyes narrowed.

"Nothing too serious, just enough to make the people a little afraid."

Apollo looked down to the floor and began thinking.

As for Hare and the guard, they both wanted to tell Apollo not to fight with the strange man, but were also far too afraid to say anything with the strange man so close.

And to their dismay, Apollo went against their wishes. He perked up with a bright smile.

"Ok, let's try it!"

Mark nodded.

"Thank you. Let's take this to the air to get the most eyes."

With that, he bent his knees ever so slightly.

Then, soundlessly leaped up into the air like a rocket.

Apollo floated up as well, chasing after Mark and leaving trails of lightning in his wake.

As the two of them soared in the sky, the guard turned to Hare.

"What just happened?"

Hare looked back.

"I... don't know."

Mark paused in the air, waiting for Apollo. The two stared at each other for a moment.

Apollo blinked a few times.

"Do we start now?"

Mark raised a finger up.

"Wait just a second, I need to make sure the people notice."

There were already quite a few eyes in the sky the moment two figures shot up into the sky. Then, several houses were ripped straight out of the ground.

Now, everyone's attention was grabbed, whether they liked it or not.

Those houses soared high into the sky before revolving around Mark. A strong gale of wind blew, causing Mark's long hair to blow in the wind.

"Now we can start."

Apollo dashed forwards.

"Ok!"

Mark started off by throwing several houses straight at Apollo. In response, Apollo swung with both his hand and bokken. Blades of wind shot out, violently ripping through the sky.

Two thundering explosions rang out together.

The blades of wind slammed into a house, smashing it into pieces. The biggest chunk that remained was a section of the wall. However, it was now those pieces that began to fly around in the air.

Apollo scratched the side of his head.

"Hmm..."

Suddenly, large amounts of blue lightning gathered around his body. In a matter of seconds, most of his figure was obscured by that lightning.

Apollo shot forth, ignoring the debris. After all, whenever it got close, the lightning on his body would automatically discharge and turn it to ash.

Right after, two houses shot towards Apollo both from the left and right.

He closed his eyes and rested his hand on the flat side of his bokken. Large amounts of lightning gathered before it snapped out.

Both houses were turned to ash.

But then that ash surrounded Apollo, blocking his vision.

From that ash, came a voice.

"Is that all?"