The Laughing Swordsman

Apollo turned his head to the massive lizard.

"What is that?"

The lizard was pitch black, resembling an oversized crocodile. It was roughly thirty meters long. Its yellow eyes were tiny compared to its exaggerated size.

Layla raised her hands and clapped.

"Wow! Another friend!"

The corner of Apollo's lip twitched.

"I don't think this is a friend!"

Layla tilted her head to the side.

"Eh, why not?"

The massive lizard lunged at Apollo.

As Apollo dodged, he turned to Layla.

"Is this your definition of friend?"

Layla giggled.

"He is playing with you! Of course, he is a friend."

The massive lizard opened its jaw and roared.

A wave reverberated.

Apollo's eyes widened and blood seeped out from his nose.

His mind had blanked out for a second.

The roar was an attack itself, not just intimidation.

While Apollo was in a daze, the massive lizard lunged forward.

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

He leaped off the ground, dodging the massive lizard's attack.

Apollo performed a front flip above the massive lizard, flying past it. His bokken flashed while he was in the air.

A large gash appeared across the entire massive lizard. It was as though Apollo's bokken magically grew in length.

The massive lizard roared in pain. It turned around to face Apollo, ignoring the blood pouring out of its body.

It opened its jaws to roar once again.

Apollo giggled. The moment he had a bad feeling, he stepped into his shadow.

After a second or so, he left the shadow world.

He came back to the real world to see the massive lizard lying there awkwardly.

Once the massive lizard caught sight of Apollo, it dashed towards him.

As for Apollo, he laughed.

He fearlessly charged towards the massive lizard.

Its jaws were wide open, wide enough to consume Apollo whole.

However, that did not faze Apollo.

The two were right next to each other. The massive lizard seemed to be the clear winner of this engagement. After all, it seemed like its adversary was about to leap into its mouth.

Then, Apollo flashed.

Like a lightning bolt, he suddenly appeared at the lizard's tail.

The gash on the lizard suddenly exploded, causing the massive lizard to splint in two.

Its blood sprayed up into the air and fell it rain.

Apollo looked up to the sky, basking in the rain. He could not help but laugh.

At the same time, Layla put her hands on her cheeks and smiled.

"Wow! You guys had so much fun!"

She looked at the lizard that was no longer moving.

Then, Layla pouted.

"Aw... he's tired already. You have to let me play with the next friend we find!"

Apollo abruptly sobered up. His brows furrowed as he turned to Layla.

"...How was I playing with that thing?"

Layla raised an eyebrow.

"But you were laughing the whole time! That is what it means to play, silly!"

Apollo felt like his intelligence was declining the more he tried to understand Layla's thinking.

He shook his head.

"Whatever..."

Apollo continued walking forward while Layla followed by skipping.

After just a few steps, the environment began to change.

The trees here were thinner and darker than normal trees. However, what truly set them apart were the unsettling angles they were twisted at.

Their irregular shape made it strange that they were able to remain upright. With how their weights were balanced, it seemed like they could topple over at any moment.

The trees remained perfectly still, which should be normal for trees. However, something about them felt... lively. It was almost like a person pretending to be a statue.

As Apollo and Layla walked forward, they had to climb over branches and trunks. There was hardly any ground that was not covered by some sort of obstacle.

Although Apollo felt this place was unsettling, he did not care much. His gait was calm.

As for Layla, it seemed like this was just her backyard. She happily jumped over branches and vaulted over trunks like this was a playground.

Layla turned her head to the side and giggled.

"Ah, new friend!"

Apollo whipped his head towards the direction Layla was looking, but couldn't see anything.

Apollo furrowed his brows.

"What new friend?"

Layla waved frantically as though she wanted to greet whatever this friend was.

"He's looking right at us! Can't you see?"

Apollo narrowed his eyes, trying to find this 'friend'.

However, he could only make out trees.

Apollo shook his head, chalking it up to Layla's imagination.

He faced forward.

...Then snapped back to the side.

He caught a glimpse of something.

As his head moved, he saw a small black figure perched on a tree.

Yet, when he looked back, it was gone.

Apollo nudged Layla with his elbow.

"Hey, what do you see?"

Layla smiled gleefully.

"A friend!"

Apollo's eyelid twitched.

"What kind of friend?"

Layla hummed.

"Mm... it looks like a cute monkey!"

Apollo rubbed his forefinger and thumb against his chin.

"...Is that so?"

It seemed that these were the shadow monkeys.

And if nothing else, their stealth was no joke.

Apollo tried to turn his head slowly this time.

Then, he stopped.

In the corner of his vision, he could make out a monkey with black fur. It was the shadow monkey as described by the request form.

He could only see the shadow monkeys if they were in his blind spot.

The shadow monkey noticed his gaze and scurried away.

Apollo clicked his tongue.

"...This might be more work than it's worth."

Layla pouted.

"Aw... why did friend leave?"

Apollo turned to stare at Layla.

...Somehow she could see the shadow monkeys.

An idea came to mind.

"Hey, Layla. Why don't you chase after... your friend?"

Layla tilted her head to the side.

"Oh! Yes, tag!"

Layla bolted off to where she last saw the shadow monkey. Apollo followed behind closely.

Layla stopped, prompting Apollo to halt as well.

She held her hands together and swung her tail from side to side.

"Wow! So many friends!"