By the time Malic and Nikolai caught up with the others, there were already a fair few who were injured or dead—not from their group, but from the others who'd dared to try and hunt a monster without having the requisite skills to fight against them.
Malic didn't know how it was that he adapted to this so quickly, to the vision of human corpses littering the streets wherever he looked, but he supposed that was a testament to human resilience.
He thought back to Nikolai's teasing on his mental stability, and wondered if he was wrong after all.
"You see that?" Nikolai asked him, running by his side all the while.
He had a finger pointed to his own chin, which he then used to gesture to a distant Panthera serpentes.
[ Eagle Eyes Lv. 91 has been activated! ]
With his skill active, Malic looked in the direction Nikolai had pointed him to: right under the monster's open jaw, to a corner of its body where a scale was growing in an opposite direction from the rest.
Nikolai saw him nod in confirmation and went straight to explaining, saying, "The reverse scale, when ripped out, sends the Panthera serpentes into a frenzy before it ultimately dies. I wouldn't recommend this method for any other people since it's such a small target near the monster's mouth, but since it's you..."
"You trust that I'll be fast enough to manage it."
Nikolai smiled in amusement, looking away from him.
"I trust you in general."
Malic wanted to call it blind devotion, this explicit trust Nikolai was showing to him. It was true, however; his speed stats were higher than most anyone else's, and it wasn't a hardship to rip out such a tiny thing to fell a large creature.
"You should keep the reverse scale when you get it," Nikolai said. "I know the mission reward only mentions the heart, but..."
They came to a stop right by the shore, ocean waters lapping at the land with enough force that the waves reached up to their knees.
"It'll be useful later, I'm presuming."
Nikolai smiled, looking for all the world like a teacher pleased with his smart student. "Exactly."
He ended up having more questions than answers with all the information Nikolai was giving him. While it was helpful to know the monster's weakness, the knowledge of said weakness begot the question on why Nikolai even had that specific knowledge, and on an otherwordly creature at that.
Why did he know so much, and why was he helping him? Why couldn't he have done this himself?
He frowned at the thoughts that passed through his head. There was no time for this. He said, "Later, you're going to have to explain to me why you know this."
When he looked over, their gazes met for a flash of a second. Those dark brown eyes were wide in seeming surprise, round and tired at the edges, before quickly darting away from view once more.
Somehow, he felt himself getting irritated. Why couldn't this man just meet his eyes? Was it truly that difficult?
Nikolai didn't seem to sense his frustration, the way he smiled wryly after his sudden avoidance.
He said, still looking away, "Okay."
Just that.
Malic huffed out a breath. In this moment, it didn't matter if this man was nervous around him, or if he had some odd hero worship going on. This sub-mission was infinitely more important, and he could always get his answers later.
Out loud, he said, "Good." At his hip, he pulled his Kampilan out of its sheath and gave it an outward swing with one hand, before raising it to the sky.
[ Dragon-sword's Lightning Attribute has been activated! ]
A flash of lightning broke through dark skies to hit his sword, catching the attention of his team as they were spread out.
In a blink, they came to him.
"Is there a plan, or do we just crush it?"
Rhiannon was the first to speak, a gleam of determination shining bright in her dark eyes. Out of everyone in their group, though the shortest of all the adults, she was often the most eager when it came to fighting. It was almost as if the apocalypse was her own form of freedom, strange as the thought was. "Because I'm game either way."
Ji-yeong, cheery smile and all, patted at her muscular thighs covered by plain pants. It was jarring how self-satisfied her smile seemed to be, given how there were still dead bodies strewn all over the beach or floating in the water. "Same here!"
Kira and Renato, though they didn't say anything, wore equally determined smiles as they waited for his instructions.
These were people he'd known even before the apocalypse. People he'd met at work, going home, or as neighbors. He wasn't a friendly person as he was, but that wasn't a deterrent for him to often see people, or meet them.
Rhiannon could be considered a friend before everything changed. Renato as well. Ji-yeong and Kira were acquaintances at best, just people he met in the neighborhood, but the circumstances forced them to become the group that they were.
These were people who cared for him, and wanted to follow his orders regardless of the fact that he wasn't the oldest.
And Nikolai was someone he'd only met today. A stranger to all of them, someone with an odd timidity despite his confident words. There was even a mysterious air to him, like he knew more than he let on, and Malic wouldn't usually trust such a person because of the risk it posed.
But the world was ending and he couldn't afford to let go of someone who had answers, even if it meant taking the risks that came with it.
"We want to collect the reverse scales on the monster's body while it's alive," he explained. The monsters were still distracted with the other groups, but that wouldn't be for long; he had to make the explanations fast. "It will be useful later. Nikolai is with me, Kira with Renato, Rhiannon with Ji-yeong. Renato, I need you on the ground to pacify the monster while Kira grabs the scale. Ji-yeong, you grab the scale."
No one asked questions in the immediate silence after his words, so he nodded. They were strong, and he trusted them to manage on their own. He said, "Go."
They quickly spread out, leaving him once more with Nikolai—Nikolai, who was looking at him expectantly, as if he were waiting for orders.
"And me?" the man asked.
Malic had already seen his skills from his character profile, but that didn't mean he knew exactly what the man could do. He knew the others personally, knew their strengths and their weaknesses, but Nikolai?
The man was a mystery.
He asked, "What long-range attacks are you capable of?"
"I could cut the thing in half from a distance, but there's a danger that it'll die before you can get the scale. I could freeze it, probably?"
He raised a brow at him. "You're not sure."
"I can freeze it." Nikolai swallowed, Adam's apple visibly bobbing, and added, "The question is, can you trust me to be fast enough?"
"No."
Nikolai didn't frown despite the easy rejection.
In fact, he had smiled.
Malic couldn't help from staring for a moment, confused as he was at the odd reaction. Could it be true, that this man was that mentally unstable? How was he still alive if that were so? Or was it exactly because he's so unwell that he's managed this far?
"That's good," Nikolai said, ignorant to the turmoil Malic was in. "If you trust me, that'd be too much pressure. I'd rather you don't so I can prove you wrong."
His earlier unease easily vanished at those words, and a smirk twitched into existence on his lips before he could stop it. He didn't say anything, but one thought was crystal clear in his head:
'What a petty bastard.'
"Freeze it on my signal," he said, returning to his neutral expression. "Even if you fail, I'll manage."
"I won't."
Oh?
He turned his head away from view, smirking as he looked up at the monster swimming their way.
They'd see if that cockiness was worth its weight soon.
"Get ready," he warned, spreading his legs into a stance, sword in both hands and to the center of him.
[ Danseur's Flight Lv. 93 has been activated! ]
He launched himself upward, feet light in the air as they would be whenever he performed on stage. Back when the world didn't have portals, back when he wasn't the world's hero, and the only monsters one should be wary of were humans themselves.
Once he was high enough, just enough that he might meet the Panthera serpentes' mouth, he yelled,
"Now!"
There was a crackle of what felt and sounded like lightning in the air, making the hairs on his skin rise from down his arms, and up to his nape. It felt like he couldn't help it; that despite the open maw waiting for him to fall forward, something in him needed to look down.
His eyes, against instinct, widened at what he saw.