The Laughing Swordsman

Hex's blue eyes and mouth glowed brightly, while his unsettling giggles continued to echo. It was as though he could no longer contain his excitement.

Hex slashed three reformed beings in front of him before sending out a wave of dark green energy that directly exploded a secondary reformed being.

Then, he raised his head to see three giant reformed beings charging towards him.

...There wasn't even a moment of hesitation.

Hex flew up towards the giant reformed beings, fully intent on killing them.

Just a step behind him was Willow.

She had her eyes closed as she twirled and swooped, further mashing the pieces of flesh Hex left behind. It was as though Willow was a professional figure skater that learned how to fly.

After Hex took off, she followed from behind.

A giant reformed being swiped at Hex with its massive claws, but before it could hit, Hex disappeared. He reappeared closer and continued moving forth.

The other two giant reformed beings joined in, trying to slash them with their own respective claws.

Yet, Hex disappeared before it hit each and every time. It was as though three grown men were trying to swat a fly from the air, but were failing to the point it was embarrassing.

As for Willow, she did not directly follow behind Hex. Instead, she soared high into the sky, above the giant reformed beings.

Then... began circling around.

It was as though she was preparing for something.

...Or more accurately, waiting.

As Hex continued disappearing and reappearing, he slowly made his way from one giant reformed being to another. There was no rush, meaning it took quite a while for him to finish.

At the moment Hex reached past the third giant reformed being, Willow suddenly plunged down.

It was as though she became a vulture, swooping down towards a dead animal after circling it for a few moments. The black wings on her back made it look like that even more.

Large amounts of black mist gathered around her, while she began to spin. It did not take long for her to accelerate to exaggerated speeds, as though she became a spinning top.

One of the giant reformed beings immediately noticed her. It tried to swipe, but like Hex, she disappeared.

The only difference was a spinning cloud of black mist was left behind, directly tearing the giant reformed being's arm into ribbons.

She appeared while keeping her initial momentum and continued to swoop around the giant reformed being.

Just the shockwaves she emitted were enough to tear through the giant reformed being's flesh. While it did have extremely strong regenerative powers, Willow was rending it apart too fast for it to keep up.

The giant reformed being anxiously swiped at Willow once more, but she disappeared again. Not without leaving a cloud of black mist, of course.

The giant reformed being's other arm was torn apart viciously, only leaving two stumps. It roared out of anger as the flesh of these stumps began to squirm.

Countless new arms burst out, almost like a swarm of tentacles.

Yet, before they could even reach her, the giant reformed being's body split apart into pieces, along with its new arms. Black tendrils immediately shot out from these pieces of flesh to reconnect them.

Even as the giant reformed being was not finished regenerating, its pieces reached out to Willow.

But she didn't spare a single glance.

It still had all of its attention on Willow. As such, it was unable to realize the threat from the purple lines that were gradually forming in the air.

The ones that Hex left behind.

These purple lines formed just behind Willow, as though she was the one leaving behind.

Seconds after they appeared, they would suddenly expand and glow brightly.

Before exploding.

The giant reformed being that was still in pieces blew up into paste. Willow continued forth towards the second giant reformed being, tearing it to pieces as well.

The giant reformed being tried to fight back, but Willow kept disappearing before any of its attacks landed. It would even be injured heavily from the cloud of black mist Willow left behind, while it was being ripped apart by Willow herself from another side.

Purple lines snaked after Willow as though they were trying to catch up to her.

Seconds after they appeared, they would expand and shine like the birth of a star.

Then... explode.

The massive waves of purple energy rippled out from behind Willow, almost as though she was a rocketship and the explosion was a flaming trail behind her.

The giant reformed being was helpless.

Right after its flesh was torn apart, an explosion would occur right after. There was no time for it to regenerate. The only thing left was to embrace death.

The last giant reformed being was not discouraged, despite how easily his companions were dealt with. It swiped at Willow while letting out a deep roar.

...But despite its courage, there was little a bit of bravery could do against overwhelming power.

The giant reformed being's claw reached for Willow, but it burst into several pieces before it could touch her. Willow slipped past the giant reformed being's claw and slithered down its arm like a ghost.

Everywhere she passed would be torn into pieces.

And right behind her were the purple lines. They followed her path before exploding moments later.

It was as though Willow was a spearhead, leading the charge, while violent explosions followed from behind.

There was a certain beauty to it all. Almost like it was a carefully crafted firework show.

And once all the fireworks disappeared, the giant reformed beings did as well.

But it was still far from the end.

There were simply far too many black beings.

...

Talon's footsteps were loud and sharp. This was despite the fact he was running past black beings that screeched at the top of their lungs.

They didn't seem to notice him, or even care.

And so, Talon ignored them as well.