The Laughing Swordsman

Chapter 311 – Far Away

Serosh, Lucifer, and Maya were floating on a large chunk of earth, shooting through the air.

Serosh pointed in a certain direction.

"It should be over there, but higher up."

Maya was taking in several deep breaths, one after another.

"Apollo… is there?"

Lucifer shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, if that was where the statue was, he shouldn't be far."

It took some time, but they eventually came across the toxic wasteland. The ground was extremely dirty and several large creatures filled the place, making it look rather noticeable. However, that was not what everybody was focusing on.

Maya's eyes were widened all the way.

"What the-"

Serosh sucked in a cold breath.

"My word…"

Lucifer simply blinked a few times.

"Ah, I guess he got to it."

They were all looking at a giant island floating in the middle of the air that was tilted all the way horizontally. Though it wasn't very easy to tell, they could see all of the people falling off as tiny little specs. Along with that, they were given a topographical view of the entire city.

It was a pretty fascinating sight. The only problem was all the death and destruction that came with it.

It was fairly easy to see a giant wind elemental in the center because of the raging winds that appeared around it.

Maya pointed anxiously.

"Is Apollo on that island?"

Serosh furrowed his brows.

"He should be, yes."

Maya's demonic features suddenly began sprouting out of her body.

"W-We have to save him! Go please, go faster, go!"

Lucifer raised his hand.

"Don't worry so much about it. If he got up there in the first place, it is very likely for him to have some sort of flying ability. The only exception is if someone personally tossed him up there, but that is unlikely."

Though that is what actually happened.

Maya calmed down a little bit.

"O-Ok… then hurry up and go! What if he goes somewhere else!"

Lucifer smirked.

"Got it. Speeding things up a tad."

Suddenly, the platform of earth shot forth at staggeringly high speeds. Serosh couldn't help but take a few steps back while Maya directly fell onto her back.

Serosh's eyebrow twitched as he felt the winds batter against him.

"A warning would have been appreciated!"

As for Maya, she couldn't even talk as the wind made it too hard to breathe.

Lucifer simply smiled.

"Haha, this is how one should be living! Straight through the violent gales of life!"

Serosh furrowed his brows.

"Weren't you just maintaining a wind barrier before? Why did you bring it down after speeding things up?"

Lucifer coughed.

"It is called living life, young one."

The corner of Serosh's lip twitched.

"I am over three hundred years old…"

Lucifer laughed.

"Yes, young."

Serosh was looking at Lucifer, but eventually decided just to face forwards.

"…Maybe it was a bad idea to join this strange man."

"I heard that!"

Though they were traveling quite fast, the floating city was also very far away. As such, by the time they were halfway there, the elemental was already killed and the city began tilting back to its proper direction.

As they were getting closer, Serosh couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

"Wait…"

He took a few steps forward on the earth platform and even leaned forwards.

"That's…"

Lucifer laughed.

"Azazel. He seems to have succeeded."

Serosh's eyes widened.

"…One of the six-horned demons."

He then turned to me.

"How did you come across the name Azazel?"

Lucifer shrugged his shoulders.

"Just uh… met him once. Then we got along pretty well."

Serosh blinked a few times, clearly in disbelief.

Before he could work up the courage to ask another question, they had reached the center of the city, where Mark was.

Or rather, Azazel. He currently looked rather unassuming, with his eyes closed and rags over his body. Along with the long yellow hair, the only thing that gave him away as something more was the fact he was hovering in the middle of the air.

Lucifer rolled his eyes the moment he was near.

"Did you really have to kill so many people?"

Azazel shrugged his shoulders.

"My first priority was the wind elemental. Not to mention, even if left alone, those people would simply kill each other."

Lucifer raised an eyebrow.

"Alright. But those people don't sound the most reliable, now do they?"

Azazel nodded.

"Yes, but they are malleable. So long as you say that you are an angel, they will listen to anything you have to say."

Lucifer laughed.

"That is convenient."

Serosh furrowed his brows. He couldn't believe that one of the highest ranking demons was so chummy with… a human?

Though he was definitely intimidated by the status of a six-horned demon, the burning curiosity was simply too much for him.

"How… How is a human so friendly with a high-ranking demon?"

Azazel looked at Serosh, then turned back to Lucifer.

"Is this the companion you were talking about?"

Lucifer nodded.

"Yes, yes. However, it would be a waste of time to talk about how we met. Instead, we should focus on-"

"Apollo!"

Maya coughed and hacked violently. She had not taken a breath for quite some time, thus writhed on the ground for a little while as she recovered herself. However, she was still focused on one thing.

"W-Where is Apollo?"

Azazel placed the tip of his finger on his chin.

"Apollo? Is that the boy with short yellow hair, blue eyes, and a wooden sword that is perpetually within his hand?"

Maya nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, yeah! That is him!"

Lucifer chuckled.

"Ah, you already know him? That's great! Where is he?"

The corner of Azazel's lip twitched.

"Well, you see…"

Maya's eyes were bloodshot. She could tell that everyone here was far stronger than her, but didn't care about that right now.

"What? Tell me now!"

Azazel coughed.

"…I may have sent him far away. As in, extremely far away."

Lucifer blinked a few times.

"….Huh."