Garden Of The Abyss

"Another...human...Troublesome, how troublesome…"

Hearing the unsettling voice, Sirius couldn\'t help but smile as he found the creature within the fog, shifting his course to the complete reverse as he kicked himself off a tree, launching backwards at the speed of a bolt towards the voice.

Differing pressures in the air were both felt and heard, listening to the subtle hisses within the fog-covered winds as he raised his guard for a moment.

With his heightened reaction time, he was able to discern the identity of the projectiles launched at him, taking in the visual stimuli into his azure jewels.

Husks...He wasn\'t lying. Is this thing responsible for making the husks around here?...I doubt it, a high-level of magical knowledge is required, he thought.

Extending two lines of straight, controlled lightning from each hand, he generated blades of the erratic element before cutting apart the incoming flesh cannonballs. Even as he countered the approaching projectiles, his movement wasn\'t halted in the slightest, even using the peculiar footing awarded to his evasion as a place in which to launch forward.

Bouncing from tree to tree rapidly like a pinball, the array of blasts ranging from fits of fog and rotten bodies began to completely miss, flying in directions opposite to his position. From all of the attacks launched, he gathered enough information to pinpoint its location, springing forward once more.

Going by his own evaluation of the territory by his swift movements, he ended up exactly where he wanted to be: behind the enemy, staring right at its back formed of slimy-looking, snow-white skin.

Found you! He smiled.

"Fast...This human is...fast…"

As he closed in on its position with a blade of lightning still extending from his glove, the slow, uncaring words it spoke threw him off for a moment as his instincts sparked.

From the left?...No,  the right? Everywhere! He thought.

From all sides, pillars of fog coalesced as they closed in on his position, spiraling and hurling forward with murderous force.

I was too set on the prize that I wasn\'t looking out for any attacks like this!--It\'s way faster than any of the other attacks...Stronger, too. Bastard, he thought.

The malicious forms of fog neared his body, gaining on him in the moment slowed by his riled up senses. Even still, he smiled--it wasn\'t enough. Waiting until the very last possible moment to dodge, he contorted his body around the incoming strikes as he shifted into a string of lightning, crashing against the tree opposite of his position.

Now brought in front of the monster, he looked upon its terrifying appearance, witnessing its grin carved across its lips as it slowly rose its head to meet his gaze.

"You\'re one ugly bastard, aren\'t you?..."

"Problematic...Fast...Must handle…"

Forcing himself to ignore it\'s daunting words spoken from its grime-covered teeth, Sirius jumped up as the thick, discolored fog emanating directly from the monster\'s pores attempting to compromise his position.

"Handle this!"

Generating an unstable surge of his magenta lightning around his hand, he reared his arm back before launching a bolt like a piston. As fast as the element traveled down, the creature still managed to make the first move as its long, troublesome tail slapped against the soil, bringing its hands up as its claws mirrored each other.

Before the bolt could meet its body, fog shot out from every pore of its body like steam from a train engine, quickly forming a cloud heavier than any other within the reach of the forest.

"Interesting--you\'ve got some tricks, don\'t you?"

Sirius smiled as he brought himself into the free winds above the reach of the pine, watching as the malicious fog scoured heavily through the depths of nature.

"Well, I\'ve got some of my own."

Taking in a deep breath, he hovered above the forest as if standing on solidified air, interlocking his fingers before cracking them.

"All of which stands beneath my own two feet; strike down that which wracks with malevity below heaven. Zeus: Prejudice Smiting!"

Using the tip of his finger as the anchor of this spell, an array of enormous limbs of lightning poured down from the sky, striking down at the mass of the fog repeatedly. Trees were quickly burnt up, splitting up and tumbling if not exploding completely as the volley of magical smites struck down towards the world.

Each time the massive, potent bolts hammered down on the fog-filled forest, a shock wave echoed through its bowels. After a minute of these repeated strikes, a region of the forest could no longer be recognized as such; the oak-formed pillars were disintegrated, the bountiful, green locks of the soil were desolated, left only with hollow dirt.

"Did I get it?"

Silence was the only response to his question that fell upon his ears as he gazed down at the result of his efforts. Not even the bones of the forest critters were left, only residual sparks of electricity left over by his spell filled the hollow, charred section of the forest.

What caught his eye that didn\'t before was the condensed ball of fog sheltered at one corner of this now barren section, watching as it began to move.

The fog--it used it as a shield of some sort?...It\'s smart. I still don\'t get it--just what the hell is this thing, and why is it here? If this is really the doing of Belmon, then could this be...

"Damn-- tenacious, aren\'t you?!"

Without further hesitation, the sphere of gyrating fog shot up into the sky, making an effort to circle around to his position before the form of the creature was once more revealed, propelling itself into the air with a stream of its mystical mist.

"Effort...I must...use effort…"

Before it could launch whatever attack it was planning as its maw spread wide enough, dislocating its jaw to do so, a strike of lightning stunned it for a moment. Another came, and another, the repeated strikes all came one after another in a singular moment.

"That hide of yours is tough--but that\'s all you are!"

Breaking the distance between himself and the creature amidst the azure skies, he sent it crashing down with an axe kick to its pecs. Following up with a stream of violet electricity, a groan released from the enigmatic monster\'s maw.

Watching the dust settle, he finally realized why it was that his attacks didn\'t seem to put it down. All of the marks placed on its flesh by the raze of the lightning quickly reverted, as if time itself rewound its wounds back to normal condition.

I see, it\'s regenerating. Annoying, he thought.

"Hurts...It hurts!..."

For the first time, real emotion exuded from its unnatural, booming voice as it clawed at the wretched soil below, its tail slapping against the ground as it cracked the soil.

"Oh?"

"Kill you...Hurt you...I\'ll get...serious."

As it brought its head up to face the man hovering in the sky, its wide grin had now flopped over into an unsettling frown as its teeth rapidly chattered at such a speed it seemed its teeth would shatter from the continued stress.

"I\'m waiting."

It seemed to hear him despite the vast space between them, its teeth continuing to grind and chatter, clicking before it arched its back, shifting its jaw once more as a gathering mist formed in its exposed throat.

"Brahhh!--"

From its bowels, a condensed tunnel of fog unleashed directly towards him with a ferocious speed. He quickly thwarted this attempt at an attack, appearing next to the creature before it could even recognize he had moved.

"Let\'s see how you like this one!"

Snapping his fingers near its ribcage, he unleashed an array of lightning bolts taking the shape of many gauntlets, all thrown against its side as a volley of shock waves unleashed from the impact.

"Grahhh!..."

The full force of the attack tumbled the creature over, seeming to anger it as it threw its fist to the ground in contention.

"Annoying! Annoying!...Little man! Making me work so hard!..."

As it roared out its maledictions to him, he started to put all of the clues together, scanning its appearance with his eyes once more, from its thick, black tail the size of a tree and the pale, bumpy body it possessed.

The uncaring, lazy attitude it constantly whines with...Could it be? He thought.

"You\'re Sloth, aren\'t you?"

Asking this of the belligerent beast, its tantrum fell to a complete halt as its long, sturdy arms fell to its side as it looked at the gray-uniform wearing man with its non-existent eyes.

"Know...me?..."

"I mean, it\'s not hard to put two-and-two together...Not many monsters can take a beating like that and stand up--that type of strength is reserved for the Beasts of Sin. Besides, you\'re lazy as hell."

Explaining his conclusion with a cocky smile, Sirius knew his guess was right as the frown on the beast\'s face rose into a grin once more.

"Ah...That\'s correct...I am...Sloth."

"Well, nice to meet you, Sloth. Today is your lucky day; you\'ve earned the chance to meet the resident loud-mouthed, self-proclaimed big brother of the Outlanders. Sirius Federov, burn the name into your memory, because that\'s the name of the strongest Outlander!"