The Laughing Swordsman

Apollo dashed towards Willow, swinging his bokken at her.

Willow did not move. Right before the bokken grazed her neck, she disappeared.

A jet-black sword traced an elusive angle towards Apollo's neck. His bokken twisted, reaching the sword in just a moment.

However, it disappeared before he made contact. The black sword suddenly appeared on the opposite side, tracing an arc towards his neck.

Red scars formed on Apollo's skin. His bokken snapped in the opposite direction.

Yet, Willow disappeared once again, while the attack did not.

Although the sword was no longer there, a black mist in the shape of the sword took its place.

Once Apollo's bokken collided with the black mist, he felt a tremor pass through his body. His skin tore off in random locations, but mostly so around his arm.

Before Apollo even blocked the attack, Willow had already swung her blade from a different angle.

By using all of his strength, Apollo was able to twist his bokken fast enough to defend it.

But... like last time, it turned into a black mist. As Apollo attempted to deal with it, Willow had already appeared somewhere else.

Apollo simply laughed harder, despite his unfavorable scenario. He forced his body to move faster, overexerting his muscles and tearing open his skin.

Willow aimed for various vital points with her attacks. Sometimes his heart, sometimes his neck. She would also occasionally try to attack one of Apollo's joints, namely his wrists.

Apollo was able to block everything by the skin of his teeth, but he still suffered the aftereffects of each attack.

The shockwaves.

They rampaged through his body, just a step away from tearing him at the seams.

Willow's attacks didn't use excessive force, but they were relentless. It was like Apollo had to fight off the raindrops in a storm.

The only difference was that each seemingly harmless raindrop would kill him if it landed and would damage his body if it splashed near him.

Apollo didn't have eyes on the back of his head, so half of the time he couldn't see where he was being attacked from. Purely relying on his instincts, he confidently struck out with his sword each time.

Apollo felt as though he was fighting off a hurricane, dancing against its stubborn pull.

By now, Apollo was caked in blood. His body had heated up tremendously, so hot it even caused discomfort for Willow. The blood even fell down from his face, entering his eyes and mouth.

However, Apollo's eyes were as wide as ever, while the blood could only intermittently interrupt his laughs.

Apollo was already moving at a speed that stirred up violent gales of wind around him, but it wasn't enough. He would be hurting Willow more by poking her with a feather then defending against the blades of black mist.

Apollo knew this.

He had to go faster... even faster.

Willow didn't notice it at first, but as time passed, she found Apollo reacted to her strikes faster. He was gradually able to directly meet her attack face to face, even after dealing with the sword made of black mist.

Apollo stood under the rain, dancing like a lunatic. But as foolish as it looked, not a single drop of rain landed on him.

However, this did not come without a cost. His tendons stretched to their limits, threatening to snap at any moment. His bones creaked dangerously, especially the shoulder bone that was damaged earlier by the mace.

His body was still ravaged by the shockwaves from Willow's strikes, but he was able to heal before they got to a dangerous range.

Now, they were evenly matched, to a certain extent.

A small pool of blood formed underneath Apollo's feet, his own blood. His body was already noticeably skinnier than before.

Soon, he would be running off fumes.

Apollo decided to put everything on the line. His laughs became raucous while his swings became even faster.

Willow found herself unable to keep up. She even had to stop her attack a few times so that Apollo's bokken didn't take off her head.

A gleam flashed by Willow's eyes.

She decided to try something else. Her figure appeared a few meters away.

Willow traced an arc in the air as though she was holding a paintbrush and wanted to scatter paint across the canvas.

Then she appeared a few meters to the side, tracing another arc.

Willow had released two shockwaves towards Apollo. Although they wouldn't kill him, they would hurt him if he let them be.

Apollo raised his bokken.

At that moment, Willow appeared right in front of him, tracing a horizontal arc towards his neck.

Apollo's bokken twisted. However, Willow abruptly disappeared before even swinging.

It was a feint.

She appeared behind Apollo, already driving her sword towards his heart.

Yet, Apollo seemed prepared for this. The only strange thing was... he didn't try to block.

Instead, his bokken shot out towards Willow's heart.

Willow could feel her mind speed up, churning out thoughts at unprecedented speeds.

Time seemed to freeze.

In just another moment, their hearts would be pierced by each other's swords.

Willow's life flashed before her eyes.

She saw her memories pass by and she questioned what she wanted to accomplish in her life.

...

"Willow, Willow!"

A boy with a head covered in bright white hair ran over to her. His irises were a bright silver color.

He was wearing a matching white suit, quite fancy, but one that did not restrict his movement. Lined within the suit were golden engravings, making various patterns that vaguely resembled the claws of a beast.

From his appearance, he was at most twelve. There was a wooden sword in his hand.

As for Willow herself, she was also holding onto a wooden sword. Her age was roughly the same as the boy.

Willow's hair was already short before, but it was even more so in this memory. Instead of hazelnut, her irises were nearly black. She wore black rags over her body.

"Ok! Just one more spar, alright?"

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