Civilization

"Cage of Flames!" - Nina

Instead of a projective attack, my strongest skill, without awakening, was also a crowd control skill, creating a simple cage around Smile. The instant the cage forms around him, various skills also connect with the immobile monster, creating a large explosion that sends the black soil flying in several directions.

"Awakening!" - Sylvia

"Unseal. Zeus's Lighting Bolt."  - Devel

"Act 1 - Dance in the Midnight Sky." - Helioc

Dashing right after the explosion, Sylvia, Devel, and Helioc unleash their skills. Gaining the power of Ares, Sylvia taps into her dormant powers as she goes through a small transformation. Her long silky black hair with blue highlights, magically turns auburn red, fluttering in the wind. 2 raging rubies replace her serene sapphire eyes, as the symbol for Ares appears on her forehead, burning brightly as a flame of similar color to her hair covers the symbol. With each step, her body flares up, covering itself like a coat of armor.

Adjacent to her, Devel's blade becomes a complete lightning bolt, as the bright blue shine illuminates one side of the battlefield. Disappearing from his position, Devel travels faster than my own eyes could see, reappearing as his Lightning Bolt collides with the handle of Smile's weapon.

Unable to understand how he was blocked, I see Devel's surprised expression, as he sends a flurry of attacks, each one creating more and more blue sparks off the obsidian handle. Assisting him from the shadows, Helioc's fog-like body wraps close to Smile's backside as several lightning-fast slashes appear. However, to Helioc's dismay, Smile casually lets go of one of his hands from his weapon, using it to expertly block each of his attacks

"With both of your hands busy with their attacks, how do you expect to block mine? Blazing Straight!" - Sylvia

The previous energy that was gathering around Sylvia, congeals on her right fist, burning bright like the sun as she punches forth, aiming for the monster's exposed chest. Instead of aiming for the face, where the monster could narrowly dodge the attack by moving its head, Sylvia decides to aim for the largest target.

"Like this, hehehe~ Separate!" - Smile

Right before Sylvia's fist could land on Smile's chest, his head, arms, and legs, disconnect from his torso. As if someone had chopped him up into several pieces, separating at the major joints. Punching the chest, Sylvia sends it flying straight to the stone pillar behind it, knocking it down much like how Devel knocked down the first one, but she was still in a state of shock.

Laughing at his own body being sent into a pillar, Smile's head floats in the sky, reconnecting slowly with his arms and legs to form something that looked like a mummified octopus. Still being able to hold onto his hammer with just one arm, despite not having a body, sends a chill down my spine as I start to understand how strong this monster was… Pain was probably non-existent to the monster, no, in fact, it probably enjoys it.

"My, oh my. That was EXHILARATING! Lighting fast attacks here and there, dodges back and forth. UNBELIEVABLE! Hehehe! But poor little humans… Not one of them landed. OH, NO WAIT! One did. HAHAHAHA!" - Smile

Curling its left index finger, Smile's chest lifts from the rubble, moving faster than Sylvia and the others could react toward Smile. His 'octopus' form separates, reconnecting with his chest as he completes a small dance on the spot, chuckling to himself the whole time. Without a moment to lose, Devel dashes forward, attacking the defenseless Smile, only for Smile to separate his body vertically in half, dodging the attack.

"What the…" - Devel

"Hehehe~ Not so fast~ You can't attack someone when they are dancing. That's BAAAAAD etiquette. Didn't your mother tell you that? Oh, unless… No mum? Aww~ Smile is sorry for you. NOT! HAHAHAHA!" - Smile

"Hrmp, ASKKNALL!" - Devel

Changing his approach of attack, Devel claps his hands together, releasing a wave of electrical energy. Small zaps of electricity run across Smile's body, as the monster momentarily stops mid-movement. Taking advantage of this, many of the archers and mages let loose another wave of attacks, as Helioc somersaults over Devel's body, using his shoulders as a stepping stone.

"Act 2 - Piercing the Moon's Reflection." - Helioc

However, his attack was obstructed as Smile breaks free of the paralyzing effect of Devel's attack. Grabbing the knife, mid-skill, Smile gazes deep into Helioc's eyes, through the bandages. Licking Helioc's cheek, Smile's whole body trembles in excitement, as he lets out a scream of pleasure, tossing Helioc to the side.

"Now, would be a good time to support, SanShiGo!" - Devel

"Alright, alright, relax. I got it. Summon! PanPan!" - SanShiGo

Taking out a book from inside his robe, SanShiGo flicks to the first page. Biting his thumb, he lets a drop of blood drip onto the page, as a holy white light, shines out of the book, engulfing SanShiGo's face. Below him, a blood-red magic circle appears, runes of unknown origin rotate along the edges of the circle as a gigantic panda emerges. Standing on top of its back, SanShiGo, gazes below, looking at the monster with contempt.

"PanPan, squash the disgusting mummy." - SanShiGo

The panda's eyes, flash yellow as it moves quickly toward Smile. Watching the approaching beast, Smile's grin widens even further as he lets go of his weapon, spreading his arms wide as if waiting for a hug. Leaping away, Devel and Helioc retreat to the side, as the panda moves quicker than expected. Despite its ginormous size, the panda was charging at Smile faster than any creature I had seen before.

Half expecting Smile to just stand there and take the hit, and half expecting the monster t dodge at the last minute, I decided to take action first. Glancing at Sabrina, who happened to catch a glimpse of my movement, turning her head toward my direction.

"Attack it with a skill that doesn't require travel time, now! Ignite!"  Nina

"Incinerate!" - Sabrina

Both the monster's legs burst into flames as Sabrina and my skills activate, but as if not noticing the flames at all, Smile's grin widens even further as the panda's paw rises to the sky. Smashing down with the might of the mountain, the panda's paw creates a small crater on the ground, sending tremors all around, and making some of the archers topple over.

"IT'S NOT OVER!" - Devel

"Well, shit. Who would have thought? Sorry, PanPan but I have to move." - SanShiGo

Cursing under his breath, SanShiGo quickly turns away, jumping off the panda in a hurry. Chuckling could be heard softly underneath the panda's paw, like a broken record, causing everyone to tense up, preparing themselves for the worst. Bursting out the other side of the panda's paw, a black fist emerges, cracking its disfigured fingers repeatedly, slowly fixing itself to its original appearance.

"Don't move, PanPan!" - SanShiGo

Acknowledging the order from its master, the panda softly cries on the soft as the hand slowly caresses the bloodied fur. Forming a peace sign, Smile's fingers start to move around in a circle tracing the small hole its fist made, dancing along the edge with its fingers. Like a baby, giggling at the mere enjoyment of moving around, Smile's laughter echoes in our ears, like a broken recorder. The sound sticks to the inside of our ears unable to escape and unwilling to move.

Sweat trickles down the side of my cheek, as the intense atmosphere rises with every single movement Smile makes. Judging by the small interaction between the monster and us, we could see a very clear distinction of strength. Not only have none of our attacks even fazed the monster, but it has been able to keep up with Devel and Helioc's lightning-fast attacks.

Furthermore, its separation ability allows it to dodge most attacks, with the least amount of effort. Wait a minute, what if that is its weakness? The moment it separates, all the different parts are far from each other to an extent. Even though it could reconnect, there was a period in time, for a couple of seconds when the body parts were separated and unmoving. The chest itself wasn't able to move until the fingers commanded it to return. Does that mean it can't reconnect by itself?

What are the limits of this reconnection? Is there a restriction on the distance? Restriction on the number of separated body parts? What can be separated and what can't be separated? My brain starts to move at lightning speeds once these questions start to appear in my mind. I wasn't 100% sure, but then again, no one is 100% sure on these things, since everything requires a bit of trial and error, but maybe, just maybe there was a way to beat Smile.

Glancing around, I notice that SanShiGo was running toward us, away from the battle. Smirking, I ditch the protection of my group and dash toward SanShiGo, catching him off guard.

"Wow, wow, wow. Sorry, but I can't do much if my summon is already out." - SanShiGo

"I don't care. You need to go back." - Nina

"I ain't going back if all that is going to happen is me dying." - SanShiGo

"Don't worry, you won't die. You just need to relay a message to me. I think I have figured out a way for us to beat the monster." - Nina

"Oh… Tell me more of this plan." - SanShiGo