The Laughing Swordsman

When Apollo appeared in the blue world, there was a smile on his face. Then, realization struck him.

Apollo's eyes widened in fear.

"Wait, wait, wait!"

Layla smiled blissfully.

"Waaaaaah!~"

"AHHHHHHHHHHH."

And so, the pair traversed the sky at speeds that nobody in their right mind would go.

The trauma of this blue world grew stronger in Apollo.

...

Otis the second was on his knees after reaching the second step.

His father's words echoed in his head.

"The second step is where the pressure suddenly kicks up! This is the beginning of the real test, so don't let your guard down!"

He saw his father point towards a large piece of parchment affixed to the wall. There were ink drawings of various skeletal hounds. Annotations and circles littered the page, however, a select few were highlighted.

"Remember the weaknesses! They will be crucial in disabling them!"

Otis' eyes flashed open.

At first, he was still bleeding, but a wave of red energy coalesced around him.

The bleeding stopped. This was not because of any healing, but an increase in constitution.

By overcoming the first step, he was given a small gift.

Otis observed the platform around him while holding his head in pain.

The sound of bones clattering echoed throughout the room. The source was three skeletal hounds, dashing over to him.

They moved with surprising amounts of agility despite their lack of muscles.

Their appearance was similar to the previous skeletons, cracked and stained.

However, there were slight differences between the three. One had a larger skull along with longer fangs. Another one had two bony tails swaying in the air as opposed to one. The last one's bones had a distinct difference in color, deep red.

The hound with two tails was faster than the rest. It was the first to reach Otis, forcing him to fight.

Otis' eyes narrowed.

The weakness for this hound was the leg!

His mind gathered mana to conjure a new spell.

The hound with two tails pounced, jaws open. It was about to take a bite from Otis' neck.

Suddenly, a set of vines shot out from Otis' hand, wrapping around the hound's front legs.

With a crack, the hound's legs broke off. It fell to the floor and slid powerlessly. It still extended its head, snapping its jaws towards Otis in futility.

Unless Otis became an idiot, the hound was now harmless.

The red hound was faster than the one with the enlarged skull, however, it did not charge in.

Instead, it circled Otis from roughly three meters away.

Otis' eyes narrowed.

The weakness of this hound was the front of its rib cage. However, from his angle, it would be hard to hit.

He frowned.

"The smartest hound."

The hound with an enlarged skull clumsily dashed towards Otis, prompting him to shift his attention to it.

Otis took a deep breath.

This one had a weak spine. Its head would directly fall off from a little pressure to the back of the neck.

Since the red hound was ignoring him for now, he decided to do the same. His mind gathered mana for another spell. Otis made a plan. He was going to hold the hound's jaw shut with his vines and pull out the spine with his other hand.

However, he was too naive.

Would the red hound really wait for him to be finished with the other hound before attacking?

Of course not.

The red hound dashed towards Otis, timing its attack to coincide with the other hound.

A grimace formed on Otis' face. How did he get into this situation?

The red hound's jaws opened, revealing a set of black teeth. This made Otis recall a memory.

His father pressed his finger firmly against one of the diagrams.

"Whatever you do, do not get bitten by the flame hound! The poison laced within its teeth will kill you in less than a second!"

Otis grit his teeth and redirected his spell towards the red hound.

A set of vines grew from his palms and wrapped around the red hound's jaw, forcing it shut.

However, that meant the hound with an enlarged skull could attack freely.

It lunged towards Otis, aiming for his neck. Otis promptly raised his arm to protect his vitals.

Otis' eyes widened.

There was a horrifying crunch.

The hound with an enlarged skull directly split his forearm in two.

Otis cried out in pain. His vision blurred and his consciousness flickered. Otis was in a precarious situation. His right hand was preoccupied with the vine spell while he could no longer move his left arm.

Otis couldn't use his arms to attack anymore.

How was he going to hit their weak points?

Not to mention, whether or not he could even stay conscious was questionable.

The red hound continued to struggle against the vines while the hound with an enlarged skull crushed his forearm further.

A vacant expression was on Otis' face. The trial was harder than anything he had ever imagined.

Otis smiled bitterly.

"Why... am I so weak?"

A vision flashed into his mind.

He was holding his dying father.

Otis could see the pain in his father's eyes.

"You... stupid child."

Tears formed at the edge of Otis' eyes.

His father pushed him forward.

"You must... live."

Otis grit his teeth.

There was a forlorn smile on his father's face.

"Sorry. Your father... can't accompany you anymore."

Otis screamed in anger as tears fell down his face.

He remembered why he came down here in the first place.

To get revenge.

Otis would not let himself stop here.

No, he couldn't stop here.

Before the head of that assassin rolled before his feet, he would not stop marching.

A raging fire spun in his heart while his mind went numb.

A horrible pain filled his chest.

Yet, instead of fighting it, he welcomed it.

Otis' eyes were bloodshot.

"Remember... Otis the second has yet to cut off your head, so how could he fall here!"

His chest burst open.

Countless vines grew Otis' heart.