The Laughing Swordsman

Talon closed his eyes and let the words pass through.

"Lord..."

He felt a swirling sense of despair creeping into his heart as he asked.

Would he be rejected once more?

Would the strongest within the empire be polite?

Or would the strongest within the empire be slighted by his request and kill him on the spot?

"...there are intruders in the empire..."

Talon couldn\'t help but think of his little sister. She held a special place in his heart over his parents. This was because their parents were rather strict. They spent the majority of the time lecturing on how to become either a better maid or a stronger guard.

It got to the point that Talon felt his parents were more like machines, programmed to issue him and his sister tasks to complete. 

In fact, it was hard for Talon to even register them as living beings. At one point, he believed that they were pretending to breathe just to appear more life-like.

They were simply too... emotionless.

However, it was different when it came to his sister, Lena.

Their parents started to train them ever since they were very young. Lena was forced to learn etiquette as well as learning how to pick up on the emotions of others. As for Talon, he went through various exercise routines and was routinely whipped.

Because of the nature of this training, Lena was fairly cultured, while Talon was rather timid and fearful. This made for a rather strange looking brother and sister pair. 

Lena was as gentle as a flower, but had maturity and confidence. As for Talon, was built so burly, it was as though he was a sculpted statue. Yet, he was more timid than the gentle flower.

When it came down to it, Lena was the one that comforted Talon when he felt things were getting too tough. She always had such a gentle smile that seemed to wash away the pain.

And so, Talon had formed a strong reliance on her over time. It wasn\'t so bad that he needed to be next to her all the time, but he would only feel reassured if Lean was unharmed.

That\'s why...

"May I request for your help?"

...Talon was so desperate.

Though he was not weak all things considered, the gap between him and the top was simply too far.

Although Talon couldn\'t truly tell how far this gap really was, he knew that it was significant enough to make him powerless before it.

And so, if none of the giants were willing to come help, he believed his sister\'s transformation would be set in stone.

Talon remained there, kneeling for a few more minutes. He was slowly beginning to realize what was happening.

The strongest within the empire did not bother with him, not even willing to acknowledge his existence.

As though Talon was just a piece of dust.

He expected this.

Ever since the very start.

But now that it was laid out in front of him...

A soft patter echoed throughout the hallway.

There was a tiny wet stain on the ground below Talon\'s face.

He was crying.

Two thin trails of tears fell down from his face and merged together at his chin, falling onto the stone floor.

Talon slammed his head against the ground as an ugly frown appeared on his face.

"Dammit all..."

He clenched his trembling fists.

"How did it come to this so quickly?."

...

Falk had lost most of his rationality. At best, he could be seen as a relatively intelligent beast. However, the regenerative powers, as well as the increase in strength, were dramatic.

Falk ended up abandoning his shield altogether, showing he couldn\'t even distinguish that it was something other than a piece of rubble. However, it would be more of a hindrance in his case.

After all, there was little need to protect himself with his new regeneration capabilities.

There was hardly anything left to protect, anyway.

Hex was still in a rage over his yellow crystal. He charged towards the nearest person to him, which just so happened to be Apollo.

As for Apollo, he was still locked onto Willow. It was as though she was the only thing in his sight.

Willow immediately flew away, prompting Apollo to chase after her and cause Hex to follow indirectly.

Falk\'s vision was blurry, making it hard to tell people apart. However, even if he could, it was questionable as to whether he would use that information. Falk made out a vague figure and leaped towards it on all fours, like an animal.

The ground underneath him caved in with a bang, shooting him forward. The force behind his leap was great, no doubt. However, there was one small caveat.

Falk was leaping towards Layla, who was more than happy to reciprocate many times over.

There was a bright smile on her face.

"Friend!"

Layla didn\'t try to dodge, letting Falk easily close in. He raised his hand and swiped forward, trying to tear out his adversary\'s eyes.

Unfortunately, as Falk swiped, Layla took a step forward. In less than a heartbeat, her claw tore through the air, reaching his chest.

A crisp bang resounded throughout the empire.

Before Falk\'s hand even got close to Layla, his chest was hit. The bones around his torso had all shattered into pieces. As for the bones in his torso itself, nearly all of them were missing. In fact, most of the flesh and organs were missing as well.

Falk blasted backward. His head and limbs were only attached by thin strips of flesh.

Layla clapped with excitement.

"Wow, friend can fly!"

Before Falk even hit the ground, a layer of muscle wrapped around the thin strips of flesh keeping his body together.

With a smack, he hit the ground. Behind him was a fragment of ground about ten meters high, meaning there was no longer a path to retreat.

However, it wasn\'t like Falk was going to retreat in the first place.