I’d successfully evaded the first blow, but the boss wasn’t looking to fail a second time. As soon as I ducked behind a pillar, it leaped into the air and took a second swing, channeling its momentum into a horizontal sweep. I managed to change directions in time by kicking off the pillar, which then took the demon’s attack and shattered into dust.
“Damn, it’s strong...” I let out a dry laugh as I observed my opponent’s strength.
If I’d hesitated for even a moment, I would’ve been dead meat. This battle was so fierce that I wouldn’t have been surprised to go down in the blink of an eye. However, I’d already eluded three blows. In the past, that would’ve taken absolutely everything I had. I’d definitely grown since those days.
“Next up!”
I started running at the demon. In order to distract it from Miya and her party, I had no choice but to press the offensive. I gasped when I saw what it had in store for me—three flurries of rapid thrusts. Just as I thought I’d evaded them, the demon drew its sword back to strike again and took a firm step forward. A downward swing followed, locked on to a certain figure...
“Phantom!”
That shadowy figure, however, had no physical form. The demon merely slashed through empty air. I immediately entered a Sinking Walk stance to duck below the following sweep. As I was playing the various cards in my hand, the demon was gradually learning how to react to my arts.
I evaded an attack from a crouched stance next. I’d now used every evasive art in my repertoire except Stream. It was too risky. Stream required getting close to the enemy’s attack, which would mean entering the range of the sword’s shock wave. It was also dangerous to keep using the same arts. I couldn’t imagine the boss falling for the same tricks twice.
“No choice, I guess... Blackslide!”
This one wasn’t an evasive art. It was a maneuver art used to get behind an enemy with an impossible-to-predict trajectory. And once I was behind the boss, there was only one thing to do.
“Spell Shot!”
I used up my last bullet. There was no time to be shy about resources. The blast opened a hole in the demon’s chest so large that I could peer through it into the darkness of floor 21 on the other side.
“It’d be too easy if that was it...”
The demon began chanting a spell, and the wound wriggled closed with magical energy. A hole like that would’ve spelled instant death for a person, but apparently demons weren’t fazed by having their hearts blown out. This revelation was enough to make anyone despair.
The demon flapped its wings as it healed, lowering its center of gravity and leaping up into the air in one bound. A rapid, furious swoop followed. It threw itself at me with far more power than before. Even if I used Shadow Runner and Withdraw together, evading this would be difficult. And even if I got out of the way, it would leave Miya and the others exposed... But everything was fine. It was still too early to give up.
“The rest is up to you!” I called into the darkness.
An answer came in the form of a brandished sword. “Flash Draw!” Blade clashed against blade, the demonic one aglow with a sinister spell and the cursed one alight with a wicked fire.
“Sorry for the wait,” announced our party leader.
After he deflected the demon’s attack, they both took their distance from one another. Locking blades was a good taste of their strength, so they each eyed the other carefully now. Force braced himself for the demon’s next move.
“Seriously, how slow can you be?” I asked.
“Shut it. We hurried as fast as we could,” he snapped back.
“You barely made it in time!”
“It is what it is, man. We had to move at Neme’s pace. There’s no way of knowing what monsters might be around, so we couldn’t just leave her behind.”
“I guess you’re right...”
“Anyways, I knew you’d be able to handle yourself. I had faith in you.”
“Not sure if I’m happy to hear that.”
“You lived up to it. You should be proud.”
After saying that, Force briefly cast a glance over his shoulder. Everyone else had arrived—Erin, Roslia, Neme, Sofie, and Limuna, who had been guiding them in the lead.
“Princess Leyfa?!” Sofie spotted the heavily wounded Leyfa and ran straight for her. “Your leg! Are you okay?!”
“Do I look okay to you?” Leyfa sighed tiredly. “Why did you even come here?”
“That’s... I came to save you.”
“I’m asking why. You have more reason to scorn me than to save me. You no longer serve me, after all.”
“I...”
“So what are you doing? Why would you save someone like me?”
“Isn’t it obvious...?” Sofie raised her head. Tears fell from the corners of her eyes. “Because you saved me, Princess Leyfa. When I was all alone. When everyone else discarded me. You were the only one. The only one who reached out to me when my mother and father died.”
“That wasn’t my intention—”
“I don’t care what you intended! If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be alive right now! So I decided I’d repay you with my life. Isn’t that reason enough?!”
“But I cast you aside.”
“That doesn’t matter... Even if you didn’t need my help, I’d do everything I could to save you. That’s what I decided.”