The Laughing Swordsman

The bokken was stopped in front of the girl's heart.

Willow was holding her knife, which prevented Apollo's bokken from proceeding.

Willow whispered to the girl.

"Run away."

The girl nodded then sprinted off.

Willow frowned when she looked at Apollo.

"Hey, Apollo! You can't attack others like that!"

Apollo began giggling.

"I..."

Willow sighed.

"Let's get some rest, ok?"

Apollo started laughing. His hand was clutching his skull so hard that it began to bleed.

"Will..."

Willow's brows furrowed.

"Apollo?... Hello?"

Apollo stood up. He was looking at the sky with a huge smile on his face.

"Kill..."

The inner corner of Willow's eyebrows turned up.

"Please Apollo... listen to me?"

Apollo's head was tilted upwards, then slowly bent strangely to look at Willow.

"You..."

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Apollo laughed like a madman.

Without warning, his bokken shot out towards Willow.

She was able to block it with ease but frowned.

"Stop Apollo!"

Apollo only laughed harder, swinging his bokken as hard as he could.

Willow pulled out her second knife and blocked the flurry of strikes.

She then gritted her teeth.

"Apollo... why?"

Willow's eyes narrowed.

She could feel her wrists going numb, but that was not what concerned her.

The skin from Apollo's palm and fingers were torn off. His hands were heavily bleeding.

Willow cried out desperately.

"Apollo! Stop, you're hurting yourself!"

Apollo only laughed in return.

"I will kill you..."

His smile grew a little bigger.

"I WILL KILL YOU."

Apollo swung faster.

A snap resounded as Apollo's shoulder dislocated from the excessive force he put on it. He used his free hand to snap it back into place and continued swinging.

A teardrop fell from Willow's eye.

"Apollo! I'm sorry, I'm really sorry for hurting you. Please forgive me..."

The only response was wild laughter.

Willow was having a hard time putting her all into this fight. She felt a pit in her stomach.

Apollo was gradually overwhelming Willow. While Apollo's desire to fight increased, Willow's dwindled.

Abruptly, Apollo's bokken twitched.

Willow's knives were struck. She held them tightly, but they were both knocked aside, leaving her exposed.

Apollo did not let this opportunity slip by, shooting his bokken towards Willow's heart.

Willow clenched her teeth. Her vision was blurry from the tears and she had a frown on her face. The corners of her lips were trembling, while her eyes slowly closed.

As the tears fell from her face, she dissipated into a black mist, leaving Apollo's bokken to hit nothing.

Apollo froze. He spun around, looking left and right.

"...Where did you go?"

His breathing was unsteady.

"Don't run away from me..."

He fell to one knee, while his hand covered his face.

From the cracks of his fingers, his eye was peering through.

He giggled softly to himself.

"...Where did you go?"

He stood up in a hunched-over position and spun in circles. His arms hung limply by his sides as he turned around. At the same time, his neck was twitching, looking left, right, up, and down.

Abruptly, he stood up straight and leaned back ever so slightly.

His head slowly turned upwards and his smile left his face.

Once he was looking up towards the sun, his nose twitched.

"...I can smell you."

In reality, Willow hardly had a smell. However, it seemed fighting against her for so long in that time loop allowed him to distinguish it from the others.

Apollo's head slowly lowered, looking in a certain direction.

"There you are."

Apollo was looking off into the direction that Willow fled.

Currently, Willow has just finished scaling up the tall walls that surrounded the village, nearly ten meters high.

Apollo ran down the streets while giggling with a smile on his face.

The villagers he passed by sighed, believing that he just messed with someone and was fleeing the scene of the crime.

Perhaps if they noticed the blood dripping from his hands, they would've stopped him.

However, they were simply conditioned to believe Apollo would only do harmless pranks all the time.

Apollo's running speed was gradually getting faster. Something in his leg snapped, but that didn't bother him.

Eventually, he navigated his way through the village and reached the wall.

The wall was tall and imposing, but Apollo did not slow his steps. Instead, he sped up.

He began laughing like a maniac.

His hand wrapped tightly around the bokken. He prepared for a stab, pulling his bokken back.

"I won't let you get away."

Apollo's body began heating up while tiny red scars began forming on his shoulder.

Unconcerned about the consequences of his actions, his bokken shot out.

A bang resounded within the village.

Cracks spread all the way to the top of the walls and a rumble echoed throughout the village.

Shattered stones flew from the point of impact, and one of them hit Apollo straight in the face.

His head snapped back and he stumbled a few steps back.

Slowly, his head tilted back.

Apollo was bleeding profusely from his right arm.

His joints were what took the most damage, especially his elbow. His entire arm was trembling, but his hand still held on tightly to his bokken.

Apollo was panting heavily.

He was so dizzy he almost fell down. However, his mind forced itself to work faster, shaking off the disoriented feeling.

Apollo coughed. The dust and debris went into his lungs, causing him to choke. He shook his head, while his eyes peered forward.

Through his blurry vision, he could see the dust clear and a snowy plain appear in front of him. Further ahead was a forest.

It was getting harder for Apollo to discern Willow's smell. He felt like she was slipping away.

Apollo's body was not in a good condition. Even in Apollo's current mental state, he knew that.

However, he gritted his teeth and pushed forwards.

"You... won't get away."

He made his way out of the village, following the smell.

Soon he came across the forest.

Unfortunately, his body shut down once he took a step in the forest. He was forced to lay in the cold snow.

To make things worse, a massive wolf noticed him.