The Laughing Swordsman

The old man glared at Hex. Although a smile rested on his face, it was clear he was pissed off. The old man tightened the grip on his cane, making the old and wrinkly skin on the back of his hand stretch out. He had large blue veins that squirmed around, almost like they were joining in the rage of the old man.

"I am not helpless just because I have been weakened!"

Suddenly, the old man flicked his cane upwards, pointing it at Hex. The guise of frailty was completely dropped. He stood up straight, clearly not needing the cane. 

In a certain sense, it was a ridiculous looking scene. If he were in the middle of a city, just barely limping forward with a cane, his actions would draw many looks.

However, the results of his actions would draw even more looks.

The old man's pupils constricted ever so slightly, while an invisible force shot towards Hex. As though expecting this, Blackie's foot shot out, pressing hard into the ground and launching Hex to the side.

A clear whoosh sound filled the air.

The force shot past Hex, forcing the trees on the ground to the side. A few seconds after, a massive wave of wind rebounded, blowing aside snow while causing both Hex's and the old man's clothes to flap wildly.

Hex immediately gathered some green and purple mist and raised his sleeve, pointing it towards the old man. However, the old man wasn't just going to stand there and take it.

He pointed his cane towards Hex once more, but this time his figure distorted, like paint being swirled around. Then, he disappeared altogether.

Hex immediately stopped gathering mist and vanished as well.

The old man reappeared right next to where Hex had gone missing and was in the middle of swinging his cane horizontally.

Before his swing even finished, a wave of force shot out, pushing up snow and trees like they were a tidal wave.

Hex reappeared a few meters back once more.

This time, he only gathered a little bit of mist, making a translucent green claw form above his sleeve in just a few seconds.

The old man broke out into a sprint, reaching out with his bare hand.

Hex returned in kind with his dark green claw.

A clear bang rang out.

Hex's claw immediately shattered, while he himself was launched backwards. As for the old man, he was unscathed. It was quite the strange scene, seeing an aged and wrinkly hand repel glowing claws that were several times its size.

The old man showed off overbearing strength despite openly revealing he had been weakened. As for Hex, he was also slightly tired because prior to this fight, he had combined with Blackie.

Not to mention, he did not hold back when he slashed the ground out of frustration. It was probably what let the old man find him in the first place.

Blackie's claw shot out towards the ground, digging deep into the ground and slowing down Hex until he was no longer speeding through the air.

Although Hex had no clear injuries, he still pouted.

"Me no like."

Hex gathered large amounts of dark green mist, letting it seep into his body. As for the old man, he responded by slamming the end of his cane on the ground.

An unassuming light thump rang out.

Then, a long fissure appeared, starting from the cane and passing through Hex's location. 

The ground had split apart.

Two massive chunks of earth burst out of the ground and folded, attempting to crush Hex. However, he did not even pause to stop gathering dark green mist.

For a moment, it seemed Hex was doomed.

The area around Hex rapidly darkened as the massive chunks of earth blocked out the sun. Yet, before they could crush Hex like a bug, two massive black claws shot out from his sides, over five meters in length.

A boom resounded.

Cracks snaked across the massive chunks of earth, originating from where the black hand had slammed against them.

A bit of snow and dirt trickled down, landing onto Hex's hood. Despite all that happened around him, he continued staring forward, right at the old man.

Hex leisurely raised his sleeve which had a tiny dark green ball of energy right on top.

A clear explosion reverberated.

The two massive chunks of earth around Hex were blown away, while a thin line of green mist shot towards the old man. It was like a bullet, but far faster.

The old man's eyes narrowed.

He whipped with his cane, tracing an arc towards the sky. It was as though he was the commander of a legion and was giving the signal for his army to attack.

The line of green mist stopped less than a meter away from the old man before exploding into an overpowering amount of green energy. However, there seemed to be an invisible barrier in front of the old man, preventing any of the energy from coming too close.

The energy itself was quite dense, thus was able to obscure Hex's figure.

Suddenly, the energy vanished as quickly as it appeared, revealing Hex swinging a dark green claw towards the old man.

As his claw closed it, it suddenly slowed to a stop before it could touch the old man. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, the old man reached out with his hand.

However, before he could reach Hex, a massive claw shot out from his shadow, attempting to grab his body.

The old man turned his head ever so slightly, able to see the claw in the very corner of his vision. He gave up on his original attack and slammed his cane down towards the claw. Yet, the black claw dissipated into black mist before the cane reached it, causing it to slam down onto the ground.

The old man shifted his attention back to Hex, who held a large ball of condensed purple and green energy.

Hex had an empty look in his eyes.

"Bye bye."