Civilization

Darkness.

Pitch black.

Emptiness.

Where am I?

What am I?

Who am I?

My body… It's floating.

Or is it my soul?

"I..! W…E…!"

A chilling breeze, one that bites at the bones, washes over me.

The world turns and tumbles.

Spinning around and around.

No, it's not the world.

It's me.

I'm falling.

But to where?

For how long?

It feels never-ending.

Maybe it doesn't end. Maybe I have always been falling.

Down a spiral of never-ending failures only to finally see the light…

And for it disappear from my grasp.

It is a dream, isn't it?

"...AN! A…K …P!"

Being a top 10 player.

Having a loving girlfriend.

Having another girl fall in love with me.

Surrounded by trustworthy friends.

Subordinates who trust me.

Fighting against strong monsters.

Going out to eat.

Living in such a luxurious building.

It is a dream, isn't it?

There is no way, someone like me should be having these things.

Right?

Maybe, if I just close my eyes…

I'll wake up from this dream.

Back to reality.

"IA…! WA… UP!"

Back to that large but empty apartment.

To a job that I need but don't want.

Returning to my skinny and unhealthy self.

Wallowing in regret day by day.

That's where I belong, right?

That's where I have always been.

This whole adventure.

This journey.

It is nothing but a rose-colored lens.

I need to wake up.

To wake up from this dream.

Just close your eyes…

Let nature take its course.

Just close-

"IAN! WAKE UP!" - Kingston

A sharp pain gets sent to my brain from the side of my face, my eyes burst open, and my whole body shivers. Kingston's worried face stares at me, behind me I see the night sky. Strange, why can I see the night sky inside the Glemt? Am I even in the Glemt? Did we escape from Devel? What was that feeling just now? Why did it feel like I was going to disappear if I didn't wake up? What happened?

Thoughts scatter around in my brain, as I glance around, trying to put two and two together. A night sky. Dirt ground. Floating platforms. Vertical and upside platforms. My scattered NPCs, standing on the floating platforms, defying gravity. Floating rocks. The enemy scurried to hold onto the ground or to whatever their feet could touch. Finally, Devel, looking up into the sky, grinning like a child. His sword glowed in the dark, illuminating this place.

Following his line of sight, I see a giant Belial with his eyes closed, his hands close to his chest as a vortex spins in a shape of a sphere. Flames burst out of his body, like the solar flares of the sun, getting absorbed by the vortex and shot out into random directions, indiscriminate of allies and enemies.

"What. What happened? Kingston?" - Ian

"Dude, you cannot collapse like that. For the 10 minutes you have been out, it has been like hell here. The only reason why we haven't all died yet is becasue of Belial's Distortion World but this thing isn't going to last for more than 5 more minutes. We need to do something now or we might never have the chance." - Kingston

"What do mean? What is this place? What happened while I was unconscious? Was I even unconscious? I felt like I was awake…" - Ian

"You were unconscious. What you experienced was a mid-life existential crisis, just amplified a few times. No biggy. Don't worry about it, it's just part of the effect of the skill, no harm done. Everyone experienced something similar, it was just that yours took longer to get out. The only ones that weren't affected were me and Devel for some reason.

That guy just looked at the surroundings change and did nothing but watch and observe, like he was watching a movie. Only recently, when people started to wake up from the skill, did he start to move. Bouncing around this place as if he already knew what to do, like gravity was all part of a game. I felt like I was at a disadvantage, even though I knew gravity was different here.

Nothing fazes this guy. He is an absolute monster, through and through. I doubt Belial can do anything to him unless he was in a more complete form. Right now he isn't even a tenth of the strength he used to possess, or so he says. I'm pretty sure the only way to defeat him is to use the Code of Hammurabi, that counterattack skill is our best shot at defeating him." - Kingston

"The only problem with that is he already knows about it. Travys must have told him that since it was one of the trump cards used to defeat the boss monster on this floor the last time we were here." - Ian

"So what? Give up? No way, man. We are here to kill the Heart. The rest of the people back at the Krepost and even back at HavenFall are waiting for our victorious return. We are meant to come back with victory, just like the people who went to the Tamer Village. I will not accept anything that isn't a win." - Kingston

"Since when have you been so patriotic to HavenFall?" - Ian

"Since now. Nothing wrong with that right?" - Kingston

"Right… But that doesn't mean I know of a way to defeat him. That last skill he used depleted my HP from 90% to 10%. Even without looking at my notifications, I can tell the Hoplite and my spider died during that attack as well. On the contrary, I doubt we have even done 10% of his HP.

When my attack did hit, he deflected it and activated the lightning armor around him. His skills so far show that he has high defense, high offense, both short and long-range attacks as well as a charge skill which accelerates him forward. Thoughts on a strategy to beat that?" - Ian

"I don't know. Isn't that your job? I just swing weapons at the enemy and try to hit them. My job is meant to be the brain-dead job, why are you asking me how to solve this?" - Kingston

"Fine, let me think. How much longer until this skill, Distortion World, finishes?" - Ian

"About 3 minutes why?" - Kingston

"Thinking of a plan just like you said. Luckily for us, he isn't focused on killing us but rather his focus is on Belial. However, Belial is only here for a set amount of time as well. When does his summoning end?" - Ian

"5 minutes. Not long after this skill ends." - Kingston

"Hmm… That should be more than enough. Belial will have no choice but to bait Devel for us since he is about to disappear anyways. We need to attack Devel the moment the skill ends and from two different directions. However, Belial needs to draw his attention and make Devel commit to a big attack. If we get the timing right, Belial will dodge the attack by despawning and we can come in for an attack when Devel is wide open after missing.

However, there is a backup plan if this one fails and that is me using the Code of Hammurabi on that same big attack Devel uses. If I can get off my counter-attack skill on Devel when he uses the big attack then we can defeat him.

If we can get David, Gibing, Gopopo, Stellar, and the Zivotinjas in on the fight as well we might stand more of a chance. David has his huge AoE skill, Gibing has high single target damage, Gopopo can snipe him, Stellar can restrain him and the Zivotinjas can cast a protective shield around us. If we include them in the formula, we will be able to do more damage as well as protect ourselves from Devel's damage.

If we can restrain him and attack with everything we have we should be able to defeat him and at that moment, he will most likely use a big skill to counter us. Giving me the perfect opportunity to use the Code of Hammurabi to counter his attack. If all goes well, we win then and there. The rest of the Bones army can be defeated easily after this, hopefully.

Travys and the others didn't look like they were troubling Howard and the others too much. You were even able to walk away from that battle and come help me. So we just need to deal with Devel to win this battle. Simple enough right?" - Ian

"And if it doesn't work?" - Kingston

"Just commit everything to kill him. Every skill. Every breath. Every swing. Just keep going until you die. Until we die or he dies." - Ian

"I see… Guess we got no choice, huh?" - Kingston

"If we want to kill Devel, we have no choice. It would have been easier if we were stronger not just as individuals but as a whole." - Ian

"Well, we can't do much about that, right? Let's go, Ian. Round 2." - Kingston

"Round 2, it is." - Ian