The Laughing Swordsman

After dodging Apollo's strike, Layla violently swiped with her claw, nearly creating a vacuum from how hard she pushed aside the air.

But like a flickering light, Apollo vanished once more.

He reappeared to the side of Layla, whipping his bokken towards her waist.

But with incredible agility, Layla ducked down without even looking. She swept with her legs as she fell, prompting Apollo to hop into the air.

At that moment, Layla pressed her palms against the floor and shot a foot towards Apollo's legs.

He furrowed his brows.

Apollo had tried to step into the shadow world, but found he couldn't do so while in the air. Not wanting to lose just yet, he twisted his body, sticking his abdomen to the sky, while his limbs hung loosely, facing the ground.

It was as though Apollo had become a miniature bridge.

And right through the gap of said bridge, a violent torrent of wind passed.

Layla's foot ended up missing Apollo entirely, but the frightening gales that brushed by created a cold tingling sensation on his back.

But Layla wasn't done just yet.

She twisted her palms, then spun her legs, like they had become helicopter blades. Apollo straightened himself, and pulled his abdomen back, letting Layla's foot skate by.

Another foot was coming right for him, but before it landed, the tip of Apollo's toe touched the ground.

Then, he disappeared.

Upon reappearing, Apollo was already midway through a swing. However, Layla pushed hard against the ground, compressing the dirt underneath.

And twisted out of the way.

However, she did not dodge without retaliating at the same time.

Layla's heel locked on to Apollo's chin, forcing him to disappear once more.

Like that, Apollo kept wildly swinging his bokken, while Layla would twist out of the way. At the same time, Layla's legs whipped around wildly in the air, while Apollo would disappear before any of the hits landed.

As time went on, the rate at which Apollo was vanishing increased. It was incredibly hard to notice given how fast it was already happening, but it was still the case.

The tortoise may not be fast, but it would continue crawling until it finished the race.

Apollo was gradually getting accustomed to breathing in conjunction with stepping into the shadow world. In such a fast paced battle, he was forced to use this technique to its very limits.

If Apollo didn't, he would've lost long ago.

His figure flitted around Layla like a ghost with how much was disappearing. However, his blaring laughter that resounded each time he reappeared gave him away immediately.

It was almost like he was a laughing specter, one that could not help but laugh even as it snuck up on its victims.

Yet, Layla twisted flexibly in ways that didn't even make much sense. It was as though she was a snake, slipping past any blade that came for her.

Apollo continued speeding up even faster, flashing in and out of vision almost like an old photo reel. He appeared in front of Layla, yet would already be behind her.

Like an afterimage, Apollo disappeared after each attack that Layla threw at him and returned one in kind.

It was as though it wasn't just Apollo attacking Layla, but several people all lashing out at the same time. It almost seemed like Layla was surrounded on all ends, cornered on all sides while resisting fiercely until the end.

Keyword being almost.

As much as it looked like Apollo was overwhelming Layla from the outside, it was actually the opposite. Apollo had made far too many close calls, just barely remaining unscathed by both instinct and intuition

On the other hand, it was as though Layla was a magnet being repelled by his bokken. All of Apollo's slashes missed like it was predestined.

This caused him great frustration, which was both hard and easy to see from the increasing volume of laughter.

Apollo traced an elusive arc that snaked through the air. But like flowing water, Layla moved around it and threw a heel towards Apollo's leg.

However, before it hit, he disappeared once more.

Although the battle seemed to be like a stalemate, Apollo was rapidly losing his stamina. Using the footwork of the technique was far more straining than stepping to the side normally.

In fact, the cost of this technique being stamina was rather light considering its effects. However, this small cost was what put Apollo on a timer.

He frantically slashed at Layla. But not only did he miss, he had to lean back to dodge Layla's incoming heel.

Apollo put every shred of focus he had into this fight, both for attacking and dodging. He was held up by a tight wire, but one that could break at any moment. Every window to attack was earned through an unbelievable amount of effort and every dodge was just barely achieved at the very last moment.

Yet, Layla was as carefree as she always was.

In fact, she wasn't even trying that hard.

Although Layla moved at speeds that didn't make sense, it wasn't hard for her to move even faster.

But she just didn't see the need to.

That is, until now.

Layla's leg swept close to the ground before transitioning into an uppercut, lifting up snow into the sky as though it were splashing water.

Right before it landed, Apollo had disappeared.

But before he even reappeared, Layla had already whipped her foot towards the side.

And strangely enough, Apollo appeared right in her trajectory.

Almost like he was trying to get hit.

Suddenly, red scars snaked across Apollo's skin. He whipped his head back with all his strength, letting Layla's toe pass right by his nose.

Then, Apollo disappeared. But instead of reappearing next to Layla, he retreated.

Apollo continued backpedaling until he was quite far away.

His neck twisted dangerously as though he could not contain his frustration.

Apollo had to do something different to win.

And so, he did.