The Laughing Swordsman

Apollo began laughing harder and harder.

He tried so hard to use his advantages in an attempt to outsmart Otis, but in the end, this was his state. Although Apollo was able to injure Otis, the following counterattack made him suffer so much.

Apollo looked at the black flame match in his hands. It was nearly at the end of its life, perhaps still able to provide a minute or two of stealth. However, Apollo simply dropped it, letting it fall to the floor.

Although it could continue to obscure his figure, it was only so useful when the purple mist would reveal his location.

Vines and wooden spikes immediately shot towards his location, prompting Apollo to streak through the air, leaving trails of lightning in his wake.

Whenever any vines got close, they would disappear in the next instant. They were simply too weak, meaning that even Apollo's casual strike caused them to snap.

In Apollo's eyes, he saw several stars fill up a dark night. And by cutting those stars, he slashed the vines.

As for the wooden spikes, he couldn't just casually bat them away. Red scars snaked across Apollo's arms while his body rapidly heated up. His hand clenched tightly onto his bokken before snapping out towards a wooden spike.

A clear bang rang out. A large portion of the wooden spike directly cracked off while the rest of it recoiled violently. As for Apollo, he was thrown back by the recoil force, allowing him to dodge another wooden spike.

Apollo found himself needing to deal with vines, then the need to deal with wooden spikes. This meant he had to rapidly transition between swinging rapidly and using heavy handed strikes.

During this time, he snuck a hand into his pouch containing one-week food pellets and pulled out three, which he directly tossed into his mouth. Without even chewing, he swallowed all the food pellets.

By the time they fell down, his stomach regenerated. Then, they touched his stomach acid and dissolved instantly. With that, his frightening wound rapidly regenerated while his broken knees mended.

In just a few seconds, he was as good as new.

Apollo continued pushing his body to its limits. However, he wasn't used to suddenly transitioning between strikes with full power and maximum speed. As such, he was occasionally late to the change.

And paid the price.

After cutting through ten vines that attempted to bind him, his bokken snapped out to the wooden spike behind him. Yet, it didn't hold enough power.

And so, the wooden spike knocked Apollo's bokken to the side and slammed into his back.

Frightening cracking sounds rang out.

Apollo's spine cracked dangerously. However, it mended soon after.

Apollo rapidly slashed the vines around him before sending his bokken out towards a wooden spike. With a snap, it was blown away and landed with a crash.

Then, vines show out towards him.

Apollo attempted to slash them, but was too slow, only able to cut through one of the vines. They bound his limbs from all directions.

It was as though Apollo was a puppet with way too many strings attached.

He struggled fiercely, straining the vines. It would only take a few seconds for him to break out. Yet, it was a few seconds too long.

A wooden spike shot out towards Apollo, directly piercing through his chest.

Without mercy, another shot out towards him while he was still bound by the vines. Apollo's eyes widened further, matching the severity of the situation.

With all his strength, he pulled against the vines. However, it wasn't for the sake of breaking free, but moving his body.

The wooden spike rammed against Apollo's feet, but before it could do further damage, he disappeared entirely. Right when Apollo reappeared, his heart hastily regenerated, while his other organs and rib cage followed soon after.

However, before he could get used to his healed body, several vines and wooden spikes shot towards him once more, attempting to claim his life.

At this time, Otis was feeling confident.

Having one of his arms crippled was a surprise, since he found his body had been unnaturally hard after he had passed some of the trials in his attempt to inherit his family's legacy.

Even when a burly man slashed at him with a sword at full strength, it only just barely broke through the surface of his skin.

In reality, while Otis failed in inheriting the legacy, the powers he had gained by passing the trials were still quite fearsome.

While Apollo got the upper hand earlier, that was using the fact he was practically invisible. As of now, Apollo was out in the open and even if he could become invisible once more, the purple mist in the air would reveal him.

Put simply, Apollo's situation didn't look the best. Yet, that didn't get him down. As the vines and wooden spikes approached, he straightened out his free hand like a sword.

Arcs of lightning rapidly gathered around his body as red scars snaked across his body. Then, he moved both his hands and bokken.

The vines were slashed through easily while the wooden spikes were blown away.

Otis furrowed his brows.

He couldn't comprehend how Apollo was faring better despite being visible.

Apollo flew through the forest, tearing up anything that came for him including the surrounding terrain. Trees creaked before falling while cut and burnt leaves filled the air.

Apollo no longer bothered hiding. There were definitely merits to it, which he recognized. However, with the advantages, came their downfalls.

Apollo had to hold onto the match with his hand. If he put it in his pocket, the match would be ineffective. However, giving up his hand was essentially relinquishing an additional sword.

When he originally saw a set of stars before him, he used both hands to cut through him. Naturally, using only one would be more difficult.

The foliage was thick, but Apollo cut his way through, one swing at a time.