The Laughing Swordsman

Apollo flashed.

He descended like a lightning bolt, cutting through the ice giant's body as though it was butter.

Apollo crashed onto the ground. The ground beneath him cracked and the snow scattered in the air.

The ice giant was split into two halves. The two parts slowly fell to the side. A thundering boom reverberated throughout the village as they hit the ground.

All the others had their jaws dropped. Especially Ela.

Apollo turned around to look at his work.

But...

There was a strange translucent wave of mana emanating from where the ice giant once stood.

Whatever the wave passed by would immediately freeze over like it was sent to the ice age.

Apollo's eyebrow twitched.

Then the wave passed him.

Apollo's overheated body immediately froze over.

It was as though death himself touched him.

His body became rigid.

He could no longer move his limbs.

His blood slowed to a stop.

His heart could no longer beat.

The cold pricked into his mind like pins and needles.

But his thoughts did not stop.

Like an open faucet, memories poured back into his mind.

The reason he was here and his detest for this world came back to him.

If nothing else, his hatred was a raging fire.

The cold would not put that out.

Apollo tried to grit his teeth, but couldn't because his jaw was locked in place.

He forced himself to think of anything he could.

It was the only thing he could do to fight off the cold.

He came here to kill Otis Everfield.

The reason why was to rise in ranks.

Rising in ranks would give him a chance for revenge.

Then...

He had to destroy this world.

To shut down its tranny.

His thoughts continued to trail off.

They became chaotic. He thought about the cake he was given and how it tasted. He promised himself that he was going to eat some more of whatever Ned and his friends made.

Then he went into his past memories.

He thought of the battle he just fought.

He thought of how Karn was executed.

He thought of how he made a promise to Karn but ended up running away before fulfilling it.

The memories became miserable.

Why couldn't he live a simple life?

One without all this fighting and hatred.

A vision flashed. It was when Willow was relentlessly raining down strikes on him.

Apollo remembered how much he laughed and how much his head hurt.

Then his vision flashed again.

He was back in his room.

The lights were off. The only thing that let Apollo see was the faint moonlight coming from the window.

Apollo's father, Henry, knocked on the door.

"Apollo? Are you awake?"

As for Apollo, he was crouched down behind the door.

His mouth was sealed shut. He was trying as hard as he could to stay silent.

Apollo's body was frail and skinny.

He was trembling ever so slightly.

Henry tried to open the door, wiggling the handle.

"I know you're there! Do you think I'm stupid?"

His hand was holding on tightly to the doorknob. The skin covering that hand was a mix of white and bright red. It was a testament to how tightly he was holding onto it.

Apollo's eyes were filled with fear.

They were bloodshot and fighting to stay open.

Henry put both his hands and the handle and twisted it violently.

Apollo's hand immediately held even tighter. The bones on his arm were visible because of how much stress it was under.

The skin on the back of his hand tore open and blood trickled down to his wrist.

Henry furrowed his brows.

"What is this Apollo? I'm still your father, are you unable to even recognize that?"

He proceeded to bang loudly on the door like a barbarian.

Through it all, Apollo remained silent.

he hadn't slept for quite some time now. As such, his eyelids got dangerously close to falling down for good.

His eyes closed.

Then, they flew open.

...His eyelids were growing heavy the very next second.

He forcefully blinked.

Yet, despite his best efforts, his eyelashes trembled.

And he fell asleep.

...

Apollo's mind heated up like a torrent of fire.

He remembered why he was so insistent on snapping the neck of fate itself.

A clear crack came from Apollo's jaw.

His lips parted. Wind whistled out of the gap.

His mouth regained feeling. Then, a muffled chuckle rang out.

Suddenly, a wide smile broke out on Apollo's face.

He laughed like he was screaming out at the world.

His body gradually came back under his control.

Apollo's eyes widened dangerously. Almost as though he had already seen everything for what it was.

His hand clutched his skull as he fell to one knee.

He continued laughing with no intention to stop.

Apollo sucked in ragged breaths in between his laughs. He sounded like he was in pain.

Apollo curled up into a ball, but his muffled laughter continued to seep out.

Ela was dragging her wounded body towards Apollo.

She initially wanted to commend him but hesitated when she saw the state he was in.

"...Are you ok?"

Apollo did not respond, continuing with his zeal.

His laughs sounded like cries of pain and agony.

Ela slowly made her way over.

Her injuries were worsening by the second, but she did not seem to notice.

Instead, she sighed.

Ela crouched over and lightly patted Apollo's back.

She did not understand what made him like this but did not need to understand.

Apollo's laughs grew faint.

Then, he fell silent.

He remained curled up and refused to move from his position.

Ela looked off into the snowy sky.

She was reminded of her own experiences. They definitely contained less laughter but contained the same despair.

"...Thanks for protecting the village."

Apollo did not react.

Ela was not perturbed and continued patting Apollo.

"You saved my life as well. Are there any valuables you want? You deserve them."

Apollo did not even flinch.

Ela smiled bitterly.

She decided to remain silent.

Ela continued patting Apollo as blood poured from her wounds.

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