The Laughing Swordsman

Chapter 159 - Collateral Damage

Falk noticed that Willow was diving towards him, but from what he saw, it didn't seem intentional. After all, she was just going straight, so it was probably a coincidence.

Probably.

Falk did not let down his guard, though. He raised his shield and braced for a possible impact. However, Willow simply remained in front of him, harmlessly.

This strengthened Falk's belief that Willow was an ally. After all, she didn't even attack while right next to him.

Falk slowly moved his shield to the side, letting him see Willow. She wasn't looking at him, making Falk drop his guard.

Suddenly, his face twitched.

Willow disappeared.

And in her place was Apollo, charging forward at full speed. He pointed his bokken forwards as though he was using a rapier.

Falk had already cast his shield to the side and had no time to bring it in front of him. After all, Apollo was approaching as though he was a lightning bolt itself.

A thundering crash resounded.

Although Apollo used a bokken, it was as though he had a sledgehammer and swung it without mercy. Falk shot backward like a sandbag while a spider web crack formed on his armor. A grimace formed on his face. It was clear that hit did a number on him.

Falk slammed his feet into the ground, skidding across before slamming against a fragment of ground that had risen a few meters in the sky. He was buried a meter or so inside the fragment of ground, but burst out of it moments later.

Falk's mind felt a little hazy, but he quickly regained his bearings. He held the side of his head and frowned.

Did that woman in the black dress intentionally do that?

Was she the one that led the boy to him?

Falk shook his head.

...That was probably jumping to conclusions.

What was that woman supposed to do? Not dodge the attack?

Falk sighed and blamed himself for being complacent. While still believing Willow was his ally, he charged back in with his eyes set on Apollo. 

In the end, Falk had fallen to confirmation bias. The bias where one would unconsciously take in evidence that supports one's original opinion, but discard the evidence that didn't.

Falk dashed forwards and leaped towards Apollo, who was taking to the air to chase after Willow. As for Willow, she twisted her sword elusively and dashed towards Apollo.

Falk tried to bash Apollo with his shield, but did not expect Willow to charge instead of run. As such, he would be unable to make it before they clashed.

A metallic ringing resounded. One that made those that heard it strangely uncomfortable.

Willow's pitch black sword collided with Apollo's, but slid across it. Like flowing water, Willow passed right by Apollo. By now, Falk was right next to them.

As for Apollo, he attempted to strike Willow, but his bokken was twisted in a strange way. In the end, his bokken thrust towards Falk, who was right next to him. It was as though Apollo intended on hitting Falk this entire time.

The sudden turn of events happened in a flash. Falk was caught unprepared, unable to raise his shield in time.

A thundering boom echoed.

Apollo's swing already had great strength on its own, but was amplified further by Willow. As such, when it hit Falk's shoulder, it directly split apart his shoulder guard.

Falk shot towards the ground like a bullet. A loud crash resounded as he formed a miniature crater in the ground. Although some doubts about Willow appeared in Falk's mind, he still believed they were on the same side.

After all, Willow still didn't attack him from their exchange.

And so, while Apollo chased after Willow, Falk chased after Apollo. Then, Willow would always find ways to seamlessly redirect Apollo's strikes to Falk.

This created quite the peculiar situation. Apollo tried to kill Willow, Willow tried to kill Falk, and Falk tried to kill Apollo.

Oddryl was confused too.

From within the watchtower, Oddryl watched Falk who was engaged in a battle with the two others. His brows furrowed.

"...What the hell is Falk doing?"

From an outside perspective, it looked like Falk was just charging in recklessly. In the end, he would be bashed by Apollo while Willow would coast by.

In other words, Falk looked like an idiot.

Oddryl sighed helplessly.

"At this rate, you will be defeated. You can not blame me for this, Falk."

Suddenly, countless houses turned their heads towards the group of three while the light began to brighten rapidly.

Falk was able to notice this easily, he was no stranger to Oddryl's attack. However, once Falk realized what Oddryl intended to do, he panicked.

Why was Oddryl resorting to this already?

Couldn't he see that the situation was under control?

Unfortunately, Falk did not have any way to contact Oddryl and Oddryl had no intention of communicating with him.

As such, Falk was rather helpless in this situation. He broke off from the other two who were fighting, and ran away as fast as he could.

Falk's heavy steps cracked the ground. He abruptly leaped, to get on top of a rising fragment of ground. After landing, he cast his eyes upwards...

Only to see Willow heading towards him, with Apollo following from behind. Willow's eyes were closed and her expression was tranquil, almost like she was sleeping.

Then, she suddenly disappeared, leaving Apollo to charge towards Falk. It was at this moment Falk finally realized that Willow was leading Apollo towards him. With a frown, he lifted up his shield to block Apollo's attack.

A deafening bang resounded.

Apollo was knocked back while Falk took a few steps backward.

Although Falk came out unscathed, there was a nasty frown on his face. After all, the houses already dimmed, signaling the coming of disaster.

Falk could not distance himself.

A small frown appeared on his face.

"Well... shit."

Countless beams of light shot towards their location. Oddryl used over fifty houses for this attack when he usually used ten.

....Even if Willow and Apollo flew up, they would be caught in the explosion.