66 A Gift?

Apollo held his bokken tighter when he heard Layla's words.

He scanned the area around him, checking with his blind spot.

Sure enough, there were countless shadow monkeys perched on the tree branches.

They were looking at Apollo and Layla with hostility.

A small smile appeared on Apollo's face.

"Layla, this is your chance to play with them."

Layla cheered with her arms in the air.

"Yay!"

She dived into the fray, chasing after an arbitrary shadow monkey. The shadow monkey immediately ran away, but Layla was faster.

She easily caught up...

Then waited for the shadow monkey to continue running.

Apollo's eyelid twitched.

"...I should've expected this."

The rest of the shadow monkeys appeared to ignore Layla altogether. Instead, they leaped to Apollo.

Apollo felt a premonition of danger but did not react in time.

His chest was slashed. A shadow monkey ripped two lines deep into his flesh.

Apollo's bokken whipped out, smashing the shadow monkey into a pulp.