The Laughing Swordsman

Apollo looked at the dead high-level toxic creature next to him, then to Layla who was bashfully touching the tips of her fingers together. He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh.

"...We need to find another one now."

Layla's tail swayed slowly.

"Um, sorry friend."

Apollo blinked a few times.

Although Layla definitely pissed him off, there was also the consideration that she was the one that found the high-level toxic being in the first place. On top of that, if it wasn't for her, it would've escaped after digging underground.

Apollo shook his head helplessly.

"Whatever. Can you see another one?"

Layla's furry ears twitched.

She spun around, doing a quick scan of the area.

"Oh, I see one there!"

Apollo nodded.

"Lead the way please."

At that moment, a little insect had caught up to them after running as fast as it could. Upon seeing the two, it felt relieved.

Then, Layla bolted off.

The insect felt shock, but was still reassured by the fact Apollo was still-

...Nevermind, Apollo left too.

The insect stood there for a moment, at a loss.

It angrily stamped the ground as tiny tears formed at the edges of the insect's eye. Then, it began to chase after the two once more, despite its aggrieved feelings.

This time, it took a decent amount of time for Apollo and Layla to reach their new target.

They soon found themselves before a high-level toxic creature. Except this time, instead of the human variation, this was the dog variation.

This creature resembled a dog, but had eight legs, making it something like a spider dog. It was also three meters tall like the humanoid version. However, because most of its length came from how wide it was, this creature was larger than the humanoid version.

The skin of this creature was a deep black. While the dog itself did not appear to have eyes, it was somehow able to sense the two as they approached.

Like the last high-level toxic creature, the first thing it chose to do was flee. What was noticeably strange looking was the fact the creature didn't have to turn around to flee. This seemed to be because of its eight legs that let it run in any direction. So while it was scampering away, its body was positioned horizontally.

Compared to the humanoid variation, the spider plus dog variation was much faster. In fact, at the current speed Apollo and Layla were going at, they would be unable to catch up.

However, it wasn't like they couldn't speed up.

Arcs of lightning danced across Apollo's body. Then, trails of lightning appeared behind him as he ran. As for Layla, she moved her feet a little slower, but each time she pushed off the ground, large amounts of soil got lifted up into the air while she herself shot forwards.

They were much faster than the creature, about to catch up in just a few seconds.

The creature seemed to realize this as it stopped running. Then, the creature jumped towards them, but towards the side so that it wouldn't collide with them. 

It landed to the side of them. Then, the creature extended its head out a few meters. Its neck stretched out while the jaws of the dog began to rapidly expand until they became wide enough to swallow the both of them whole.

It was a rather surprising sight, but it wasn't much more than that.

Apollo's bokken flashed, tearing the creature's jaw in two. The cut continued past to the neck, essentially giving the creature two heads and necks.

It was at this moment Apollo realized he was rather reckless and might've killed it. However, he was just overthinking it. The two separate halves of the jaws recoiled from the force of Apollo's strike, but both of them were still fine and lunged towards Apollo.

But that was when Layla sent out a slap.

With a smack, the two necks were sent to the side, extending to their limits before snapping off.

What remained of the creature was just its body, which immediately began to run away once more.

However, it couldn't outrun them before and wouldn't be able to now.

Apollo turned his head to the side to glare at Layla.

"No killing!"

Layla nodded sheepishly.

"No killing!"

Apollo and Layla bolted forth. If the creature still had its head, it would probably be whimpering in despair.

Layla grabbed onto one of the creature's legs, forcing it to stop. The rest of the seven legs continued to perform the running motion, but only dug holes into the ground.

Apollo's bokken flashed several times, cutting off all of the creature's limbs one by one. With that, the body fell down, unable to move.

Apollo sighed.

"It looks like we completed the mission."

Layla nodded.

"Yeah!"

Apollo stared at the creature for a few moments. Although he and Layla were able to take care of it relatively easily, they were definitely not weak.

Yet, the creatures they encountered so far all decided to run. They even seemed to have adaptations to run away. The human variation had a digging ability and camouflage while the dog spider variation was able to run in all directions without the need to turn.

...They adapted features as though they were prey.

That implied that they had predators that completely overwhelmed them. The only versions that survived were those that found a way to hide or run away.

Whatever those predators were, they were probably far stronger.

Apollo shook his head.

He had to first turn in his request before the creature bled out or something.

Apollo heaved, picking it up with both the flat side of his bokken and his other arm. Then, he stepped into the shadow world.

Layla did the same soon after.

That was the moment when the insect had finally caught up. Yet, right when it did.

They disappeared.

The insect was about to have a breakdown.