When I opened my eyes again, the world was white. It took a couple of seconds for my pupils to readjust themselves, but when everything became clear, I was miraculously unscathed.
Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same thing for Ayame, who had burn marks on her arms and legs. Even still, she stood steadfast with her staff, holding up a flickering Mana Shield that soon shattered.
"You're welcome," Ayame said.
"Thanks," I replied. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"That was just the first note," Retribution said. "Get ready to dance!"
The little girl strummed another chord, sending a horizontal shockwave of energy. This time, I reacted promptly and ducked. Ayame evaded it as well, and she followed up with an Arcane Missile.
The four shots managed to hit, but it only brought down Retribution's health by four percent. Meanwhile, she continued playing her scythe guitar, plucking a two-octave chromatic scale. For every note she played, a laser beam went flying in our direction, coming from the speakers. I dodged most of the blasts except for the last one, which took my health down to eighty-one percent.
"Arcane Missile!"
Ayame launched her spell again, but she aimed for one of the speakers instead, taking it down to fifty percent hp. She's a genius. That's the key to winning this fight.
A deafening drumbeat started to kick in, and every time the bass hit, each speaker launched a bouncing fireball. Retribution continued her rapid-fire melody, banging her head to the heavy metal. Flashing lights, sounds, and beams of death shot all around me, forcing me to perform ridiculous gymnastics that I never thought were even possible.
This battle was completely unfamiliar to me, so I had to learn it from the ground up. I didn't even have any videos to watch prior to this. I was completely and utterly clueless.
Right now, I was useless in the fight. I couldn't get near, and Ayame was too busy dodging to cast any spells. As the song progressed, more shit kept flying around, to the point where I could barely prevent myself from getting hit. It was a literal bullet hell.
A flaming ball struck my back, taking my health to forty-four percent. Then, a laser beam went through my body, taking my health down to fifteen percent. I used a Medium Healing Potion to bring myself back up to sixty-five, but a wave of energy blasted my face, taking me down to twenty-nine percent.
On the other hand, it looked like Ayame was holding up fine. She had masterful control over her own body, and she temporarily activated a Mana Shield if the bullet-hell became too intense. A force-field spell wouldn't have worked in this situation since all the projectiles would drain the shield's defense much too quickly.
I had to think fast. There wasn't much time to analyze my opponent. The best strategy is probably to use perfect dodges; that would allow me to reach the speakers and stop the flaming balls.
As a laser neared my body, I ducked in the nick of time, initiating the perfect dodge. This bought me about one second, so I sprinted forward. In this period of slowed time, I was also immune to all damage. I took advantage of this to run through the projectiles, and once time resumed again, I repeated the same action. After one more dodge, I made it to the left speaker, and I struck it twice with my sword, destroying it in the process.
"You pest!" Retribution yelled. "Get away!"
She performed a tremolo, sending an undodgeable wave of mana. Ayame was too far to support me, so I had no choice to tank the hit. I was left at nine percent health.
I used another Medium Healing potion and resumed my charge, perfect dodging through the projectiles. My last fight against the katana demon trained me well. Additionally, most of the projectiles weren't moving too fast, so I could react in time to evade them.
When I reached the last remaining speaker, I activated Strengthen and destroyed it in three hits.
Retribution screeched, forcing me to cover my ears. All the projectiles disappeared, and the enemy boss now held her scythe guitar in a fighting stance. She dashed toward me, slashing twice, but I blocked both hits. Still, the force behind the strikes knocked me backward, almost causing me to lose my balance.
"Ensnare!" Ayame said.
The spell barely hindered Retribution, only giving me the chance to land a single hit.
Retribution jumped backward and played a melancholic minor chord, freezing me in place. Next to my health bar, a small lightning bolt icon indicated that I was inflicted with the paralysis debuff.
"Ayame!" I called out.
The mage girl yelled, "Blink!"
It was a spell that allowed her to arrive in front of me in a split second.
"Mana Shield!" Ayame then said, blocking Retribution's dual slice. Unfortunately, the shield shattered after the second hit, and Ayame's knees staggered. She was slowly exhausting herself.
"Arcane missile!"
The blasts of energy homed into Retribution, doing another four percent.
"Arcane missile! Arcane missile!"
The attacks all landed, but they were nothing if not mere scratches. The enemy boss still had eighty-six percent of her health remaining.
Once again, Retribution attacked, but this time, she made a sweeping arc with her scythe, forcing both Ayame and me to retreat backward.
"I'll back you up," Ayame told me. "Mana Infusion!"
Immediately, energy welled up throughout my body. Mana Infusion was a high-level arcane spell that increased speed and attack for ten seconds, making it a go-to spell for players who wanted a boost to their burst damage.
I ran almost as fast as the katana demon, closing the distance between the enemy and me within a split second. I unleashed a flurry of attacks, causing Retribution to flinch. Each of my attacks only nicked her health bar, but the sheer numbers soon added up. I managed to land about thirty slices before Retribution dashed backward to retreat. By now, she was at twenty-one percent health.
On my wrist, the blue circle was pulsating, indicating that I had fully charged my special attack. Mana Infusion was still active, so it should be able to finish off this boss.
Just as I was about to activate Messenger of the Heavens, two massive speakers emerged behind Retribution once again.
"This will be your end!" Retribution said, slamming her guitar into the ground.
Both speakers sent a colossal blood-red laser.
Ayame stepped in, saying, "Unbreakable Aegis!"
A magic barrier, much larger than the Mana Shield, formed, deflecting the beams of death. While Ayame powered the spell, she used her Medium Mana Restoration potion, allowing her to keep the defense active. Even still, cracks were already forming, and it didn't seem like Retribution's attack was going to dissipate. Although Unbreakable Aegis was one of the strongest defense spells, it likely drained almost all of Ayame's remaining mana.
"Ares!" Ayame said. "I don't know how much longer I'll be able to hold on!"
"Hang in there! You can do it!"
But the cracks kept getting larger.
This was no time to hesitate; I have to use my special move before it was too late.
"Messenger of the Heavens!" I said.
A pillar of light descended from the skies, burning Retribution, who wailed in pain. Unfortunately, the attack's radius wasn't large enough to hit the speakers, so they continued shooting the laser beams.
It was a race against time. Soon enough, my attack would kill Retribution, but I don't know if Ayame would be able to hold out that long. I didn't have another Mana Restoration Potion to help her out.
The Unbreakable Aegis was quickly falling apart. Ayame's arms were shaking, and she was struggling to stay on her feet.
"Ares. This is it. I don't think...I can go on any longer."
I could barely hear her over the roaring of the lasers.
"No! You'll be fine!" I said. "Just keep on fighting through!"
"I'm sorry. It was fun...fighting with you...but it looks like it's the end."
"Ayame!" I screamed.
"Tell my family...that I don't regret anything. Tell them that I loved them...and that none of this was your fault."
"Ayame..."
"Keep on living, Ares! Kill the Demon King!"
"Don't die on me!"
Just as Retribution's health dropped to zero, the Unbreakable Aegis broke into a million pieces, and a scintillating light engulfed my entire body.
***
I didn't know how much time had passed when I woke up again, but when I opened my eyes, there was nothing left around me, save for a few pieces of glitter that shimmered in the calm breeze.
Characters and enemies always emitted this same glitter whenever they died.
Then, this means that Ayame is...
...dead.
Wait. She's a companion NPC. When I played the original game, she would always respawn back in Eden whenever her health reached zero.
Ayame would always say a sort of voice line, too, something along the lines of, "I've gotta retreat for now!"
She didn't say anything this time. She simply turned into glitter and dissipated.
That was another difference. Normally, Ayame wouldn't have emitted glitter. She would just disappear from the fight.
Does this mean that Ayame was truly dead? Fully and completely dead?
I shook my head.
No. That's not right. She can't be gone.
Ayame's probably in Eden, worrying about me right now.
Yes. That's it. When I go back to my home city, she'll be right there waiting for me.
Everything is fine. Nobody died.
Please tell me that everything was fine.
Tell me!
I need to know!
Tell me she's not dead! Don't let her life end like this!
She's alive.
I don't have to worry. She's alive.
She's alive.
She's alive.
She's alive.
She's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive she's alive!
That's right! She's alive!
I don't have to worry about anything.
She respawned in Eden, and she's waiting for me to come and pick her up again.
No worries.
There's nothing wrong.
I picked myself up from the ground and walked to the nearby chest. I collected 40,000 Szerath and the Frigid Edge, the prized weapon that I came here to get. Finally, I gained enough experience points to bring me to level fifteen.
I won. It was a tough battle, but I succeeded in the end.
A few seconds later, I was teleported back to the alleyway that I originally entered.
Now, all I had to do was return to Eden and make sure Ayame was alright.