The Laughing Swordsman

Apollo turned towards Layla.

"I've accepted the mission."

There was an eerie smile on his face, while his eyes were opened just a little too much. It was as though Apollo was a mountain, having overbearing strength, but also a strange calm.

As for Layla, her tail swayed enthusiastically.

"Ooh! What is it? There is playing, right? There must be playing!"

Apollo shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, the mission doesn't need me to play."

His head slowly tilted to the side.

"But that doesn't mean we can't play."

Layla raised both hands in the air and cheered.

"Yay! Let's go now! Where do we go?"

Apollo cracked his neck.

"Just follow me."

He stepped into the shadow world. After doing a quick scan of his surroundings, he saw a red line of mist.

With that, Apollo took a few steps forward and left the shadow world. There was a huge mound of snow to his left along with scattered trees that were broken into several pieces.

It was the aftermath of their spar earlier.

Layla appeared next to Apollo moments later. She clasped her hands together while her tail swayed eagerly.

"Can I fly with friend?"

Apollo figured out what she meant almost immediately. Layla wanted to have a piggy back ride as he flew through the air.

  Apollo blinked a few times.

"No."

Layla flailed her limbs in the air.

"Ehhhh? Why not?"

Apollo stared at her blankly.

"No."

Layla pouted.

"Pleaseeee?"

"No."

Layla pressed the tips of her fingers together.

"Pleaseeeeeee?"

This time, Apollo did not respond. He simply began walking towards the direction he remembered the line of red mist was in.

A small frown formed on Layla's face.

"Mmm..."

She didn't plan on taking no as an answer.

"Nyah!"

Without warning, Layla lunged towards Apollo and wrapped her legs around his waist. Apollo immediately freaked out, squirming around.

"Gah, get off me!"

Layla giggled.

"No!"

Apollo's lip twitched.

"...You have to get off once we get there!"

Layla nodded.

"Ok!"

With a sigh, Apollo leaped into the air, scattering some snow. Arcs of lightning gathered on his body as he began to fly.

And so, Apollo headed towards Evermore city, leaving a trail of lightning and with Layla on his back.

...

"Wahaha!"

Layla raised both hands in the air, enjoying the wind brushing past her face. As for Apollo, he furrowed his brows.

Although Apollo was flying fairly fast, they had not come upon any sort of city for quite a while. There was only snow, trees, and more snow.

Just when Apollo wanted to go into the shadow world and check if he was going in the right direction...

"Wah! What is that over there?"

Apollo looked over, expecting to see the city.

In just a moment, he could feel several emotions come over him. However, they all merged together to form one.

Rage.

It was unassuming, as though it became a hot stove countertop. Although there was no clear indication of its temperature, it was searing hot.

Yet, as soon as that emotion came over him, it began to seep out, like a balloon gradually losing its air.

Apollo blinked a few times.

"...What?"

Layla bobbed her head a few times.

"Is this the place? Will there be friends to play with?"

Apollo did not respond.

Instead, he shot towards the ground, landing with a deep thud. After the snow scattered, Apollo took a deep breath.

"Let me check something."

Layla got off of him and watched curiously.

"Ok!"

Apollo stepped into the shadow world. He scanned his surroundings until his eyes landed on the line of red mist.

...Which cut off just a few meters ahead of him.

After Apollo stared at the line of red mist for a few more seconds, he stepped back into the real world, forced to accept the reality presented before him.

Layla turned to him.

"Um"

She blinked a few times, trying to come up with the words to say.

"There don't seem to be many friends here."

Apollo slowly nodded.

"Yeah..."

He began walking forward, but did so slowly.

Like there was no reason to hurry.

After all, what was left of Evermore city...

Was a wasteland.

A massive crater had formed from the center of where the city used to be. The entirety of the crater consisted of black ash.

Apollo paused when he reached the edge of the crater.

...Where did the city go?

There was a strange sense of melancholy that coursed through him. It was like he was about to scratch a sneaky itch on his back after many troubles, but before he could scratch, it went away.

All of his aspirations to massacre the city couldn't come to fruition. Not because he was too weak, or that the people were too strong.

But because they were already dead.

Apollo took a step forward into the crater while Layla just watched him. His foot sank into the black ash with a squelching sound. It was wet.

The ash was still emitting a fairly intense heat, almost like it would never disappear. Like the terrifying force that had befallen this city refused to stop, even when its target was already destroyed.

Any snow that touched the ash melted to water, giving it the wetness it had.

Apollo continued to walk through the swamp-like ash. The farms were nowhere to be seen while the towering walls had crumbled completely. The only trace left of them were tiny burnt stone fragments littered among the ash.

As Apollo continued to walk further inside the crater, it gradually became hotter and the ash became drier.

After Apollo made it closer to the middle of the crater, faint steam began to rise from the dried ash.

...Falk's house should've been somewhere around here.

Apollo continued walking further, almost at the epicenter of the crater. There was a mini crater of ash that glowed with a dull red at its edges, and bright orange at its center.

Apollo crouched down to pick up some of the red ash, which began to sizzle in his hand.

"....Maya?"