The Laughing Swordsman

The corner of Apollo's lip twitched.

He really should've accounted for how reckless Layla was. If she wasn't stopped, her strike would've directly obliterated all the two-horned demons, meaning there would be no gemstones to harvest.

There were ten surviving one-horned demons, but most of them were critically injured. As for the two-horned demons, there were only three, just enough for Apollo to complete his request. And for the three-horned demons, only two remained standing.

Layla gave Apollo a strange look.

"Why did friend push me?"

Apollo sighed.

"I still need the gemstones from the two-horned demons for the request."

Layla tilted her head to the side.

"Eh?... So you want to play with them too?"

Apollo's eyelid twitched.

"...Yeah, basically."

Layla nodded.

"Ok, ok! The rest of them will be for you!"

A small smile rested on her face as she stared at Apollo innocently.

As for Apollo, he just sighed.

"Thanks."

Strangely enough, the demons looked afraid. They fidgeted around, unable to hold their weapons with conviction. Though the demons weren't the brightest, they could at least feel fear.

Yet, stranger than the fear they felt, was the fact they didn't run.

The demons remained standing, as though running away was somehow scarier than the threat in front of them. Though that just made things more simple for Apollo.

He directly charged forwards. The corner of his lip turned up on its own.

The one-horned demons were the first ones to try and face Apollo. They definitely seemed more confident because Layla wasn't the one attacking, but most of them were already injured.

Not to mention, Apollo was far stronger than his past self.

Apollo's bokken blurred.

Then blood sprayed into the air.

He let out a flurry of strikes, directly splitting apart each one-horned demon. They didn't even have time to react.

Or even realize they had been cut.

Their bodies collapsed onto the ground, unable to hold the line for even a second.

Apollo stepped over their dead corpses to make his way towards the two-horned demons. Instinctively, he wanted to attack their chests, to make their ribcage cave in. After all, this would instantly kill most of the demons that he had fought before.

However, that would also mean their gemstone would shatter, defeating the whole purpose of this entire fight.

As Apollo was approaching, the two-horned demons each lifted a foot up. Each of their raised feet glowed brightly before slamming down on the ground.

Ice rapidly spread from their feet. After spreading several meters across, ice walls encapsulated Apollo and the two-horned demons within. Six icicles shot towards Apollo, three from the left and three from the right.

This much was hardly a challenge for him, especially considering he went head on against the numerous icicles from a four-horned demon. Apollo decided to try something new.

He dashed towards the left, getting frighteningly close to three of the icicles. His bokken flashed.

Three successive light taps rang out.

Apollo's bokken lightly brushed past each icicle, diverting their trajectory. Moments later, they collided with three other icicles, shattering each other.

Such fine control was rather impressive since each icicle had a sharp tip. If Apollo was even slightly off, they would have slid past each at most. However, the icicles hit each other dead on, ensuring mutual destruction.

Apollo continued unobstructed.

The two-horned demons prepared a swing with their sabers. After all, they could no longer run at this point.

They swung preemptively, so that if Apollo kept running, he would essentially be running into their strikes.

But to Apollo, they were simply far too slow.

His bokken flashed.

Violent clangs rang out.

The three two-horned demons all stumbled backwards, while their sabers recoiled behind them. They had to strain both their arms just to keep holding onto their weapons that almost flew out of their hands.

However, that also meant they did nothing to protect themselves.

Apollo's bokken flashed.

In just a moment, the two-horned demons each lost their limbs. As for their torsos, they smacked onto the ground.

They began bleeding heavily, each of them slowly dying.

At this point, the two three-horned demons directly broke through the ice walls and let out deep roars.

Apollo giggled. He rushed forth partially because he didn't want the gemstones to be destroyed, but also just because he wanted to.

The three-horned demons raised their maces, but Apollo had already reached them before they could swing. His hand rested on the flat side of his bokken.

Then, it snapped out.

The two three-horned demons were blasted backwards. They tumbled in the snow for a few meters or so before hastily standing back up.

As it was a hasty strike, while Apollo had shattered the rib cage of both three-horned demons, he was unable to do the same for the gemstone.

And so, the two three-horned demons were heavily injured, but still alive. Both of them began gathering mana violently, stirring up large gales of wind. Their bodies grew substantially while red veins appeared on their skin.

Apollo patiently waited for them, but they ended up doing something unexpected.

Instead of charging towards him, the two three-horned demons ran towards each other and away from Apollo.

Once they got next to each other, they both turned to face Apollo, maces at the ready.

It was only at this point did Apollo realize a strange large mound of snow behind the two three-horned demons. Instead of attacking, their goal was to get in between Apollo and the mound of snow.

...As though they were protecting it.

As Apollo realized this, a sinister smile formed on his face.

"What is so precious to you that it became more important than your life?"

Without waiting for an answer, he bolted forwards. He raised his bokken and brought it down while he was several meters away.

Then, his thumb pressed down against the hilt.

The crackle of thunder rang out.

One of the three-horned demons helplessly split in two, despite its transformation. As for the other demon, it took a step forward and slammed its mace down.

Apollo's bokken flashed, directly breaking off the three-horned demon's arms.

At that point, the three-horned demon began violently gathered mana, creating a small-scale snowstorm.

....Then stopped.