The Laughing Swordsman

A thundering boom resounded throughout the wasteland once more.

Apollo brought his bokken down on the already critically injured king-level toxic creature. The fact it was still alive despite taking on Apollo's full power strike spoke of its tenacity. However, facing another strike, it was not so lucky.

Even more brown blood splashed into the air along with charred flesh.

The king-level toxic creature split in two entirely, without even knowing what attacked it. What remained of the two halves was little, consisting mostly of charred flesh.

They slammed into the ground, no longer moving. However, something inside continued to squirm. Suddenly, the outer skin of the two halves burst, each revealing a relatively large worm-like creature with arms and legs.

They could be compared to an oversized lizard, but instead of having a head, they had a jaw filled with teeth.

As for the king-level toxic creature, it was dead. However, the things inside it weren't. These things acted as parasites, constantly draining at their host's vitality. In reality, the king-level toxic creature had been weakened considerably.

This combined with the fact the creature could not see Apollo, it was essentially a helpless baby.

The two parasitic creatures looked around before locking onto Layla. They pounced towards her, trying to consume anything they could now that their previous host died.

Thought that probably wasn't the best decision.

Layla tilted her head to the side and pulled back her hand.

When the two parasitic creatures were right in front of Layla, she acted.

Two large bangs rang out.

Layla directly slapped the creatures, causing them to explode into a combination of brown and red blood.

Apollo sighed.

"That was easy enough."

He looked at the black flame match which was nearing the end of its life.

"Maybe I should get another one of these sometime."

Apollo began descending, wanting to claim his rewards for completing the request. Yet as he did, Layla cried out.

"Ah, new friend! Wait, don't go so fast!"

Apollo couldn't see what was happening, but assumed some other creature appeared. However, a very human voice rang out.

"Shut up and get away from me!"

It was the voice of a young boy.

Layla giggled.

"Don't be shy! It's very fun to play with friends, just try it!"

The young boy audibly growled.

"I don't have time to waste on some little girl, I'm finally so close! You better leave me alone if you know what's good for you!"

Layla hummed teasingly.

"Hehe, don't be scared, I will show friend!"

The boy seemed distressed.

"I don't need you to show me anything! If you mess this opportunity up for me I swear I'll-"

He was cut off by a loud smack. It seemed that Layla had hit him.

"Hehe, I win again!"

The boy seemed angry.

"Why you!"

Apollo couldn't help his curiosity and held onto the match with the corner of his clothes. His vision was restored and saw a boy standing on a massive mushroom trying to wrestle off Layla, but not with much success.

The boy had short brain hair and was wearing the clothes of nobility, though they were quite dirty. The thing that made him stand out was that while he had one normal hazelnut eye, the other was a little different. The sclera was pink, while the pupil was a deep red.

There was a big frown on the boy's face.

"Get off of me, damn you!"

Layla had a bright smile on her face as she grabbed the end of the boy's sleeve.

"Have some fun first!"

Apollo blinked a few times. He was a bit confused on how a kid got all the way out here.

Not to say that he and Layla weren't kids, but they were different.

Layla turned to Apollo and waved.

"Friend, help me!"

The boy turned to look at Apollo as well. However, once he did, his eyes widened considerably.

"...You."

Because the boy was Otis.

"You bastard!"

And Apollo was the one who killed his father.

Otis furrowed his brows and pointed at him.

"I've finally found you!"

Apollo blinked a few times.

"Huh? Who are you?"

Layla gasped.

"Friends already know each other?"

Otis grit his teeth.

"I am Otis the second! I told you to remember me, this day is your last!"

Apollo scratched the side of his head.

"...Still have no idea who you are."

Otis' face twitched. A nasty frown formed on his face.

"No matter. Whether you remember or not, you will pay with your life!"

Suddenly, several wooden spikes burst out of the ground under Apollo's feet. He immediately took to the air, dodging them.

Layla curiously stared at Otis, then raised both hands in the air.

"Yay, playing with friends!"

As for Otis, he leaped off the giant mushroom and was caught by a tree that burst out of the ground. Several large trees and foliage rapidly grew, rapidly changing the terrain from a toxic wasteland into a lush green forest.

Apollo looked down at a wooden spike that was growing right below him. The speed at which it grew was not enough to catch up to him. However, several vines shot out from the tree, immediately wrapping themselves around Apollo's feet.

Seeing this, he slashed the vines below him, disconnecting them.

In that time, a massive wooden spike grew out of the forest and launched towards him, aiming straight for his heart. Apollo tried to fly out of the way, but it followed him like a tracker.

In the end, he was forced to parry.

Apollo slashed with his bokken, but only tore through part of the wooden spike. It continued to grow and push towards him.

Apollo continued to slash, but with more force this time.

The wooden spike broke apart faster than it grew, unable to harm him anymore. However, Otis wasn't done with just one wooden spike.

Several more wooden spikes launched towards him.

Apollo furrowed his brows.

It seemed things were getting out of hand.

...

At roughly the same time, Willow was having her own set of troubles.

A ragged breath steadily filled the forest every few moments along with the crunching sound of snow. It was Willow, barely holding on as she traversed the snow. She had her hands covering her various injuries in an attempt to slow the bleeding, however, the effectiveness of that was proving to be limited.

The longer she traveled down this way, the more memories of the past appeared. She had participated in a war.

It was a war between her species, those with black hair, and her childhood friend's species, those with white hair. After being captured as a slave, Willow ended up spending many grueling months in a prison. It was a miserable experience as she was not able to clean herself properly, nor was she given a reasonable amount of food to eat.

As Willow began thinking this was going to be the end, something eventually changed. There was a prison riot. One of those with black hair was able to free themselves and began to free many others. When a man suddenly approached her cell and directly broke the metal lock of her cage, Willow felt a strange feeling bubble up within her after so long.

Grievance.

Why was she forced to endure this for so long?

Willow didn't understand why those with white hair had done this, but she wasn't going to sit back and take it. A sudden turning point occurred. While the people with white hair had attacked the others, they did not kill anybody directly.

Instead, they arrested them.

As such, it allowed Willow to join several others in freeing her kind, before starting a revolution. It immediately became a bloody battle, as the hatred of those with black hair could not be quenched. The same went for Willow.

In her eyes, those with black hair were her allies and those with white hair were her enemies. It was a simple as that, no more explanation was needed.

Within this war, Willow found herself cold, unable to wear the best clothing for the situation. There were no longer many houses people could take residence in, not destroyed ones anyway. On top of that, Willow was starved and injured.

Naturally, she couldn't help but be reminded of the past in this condition.

Her thoughts back then became the thoughts now. Almost like her younger self was overlapping with her current one.

Endure.

Endure so that in the future, revenge can be taken.