Holy War (3)
They say a tiger leaves its hide when it dies, and a man leaves his name. My hundred thousand won left behind zeros and ones.
Eleven skills in total — that was the glorious last stand of my hundred thousand won. Fortunately, the new skills I'd bought proved their worth so thoroughly that the money didn't feel wasted at all.
——————!!!
Every time the Frost Dragon reared back for a basic attack, I slammed Lightning Strike straight into its skull.
— KRA-KOOM!
— KWA-BANG!
The thing tried to throw a punch and got lightning-fried for its trouble, reeling so hard it couldn't even think straight. Its HP dropped a satisfying chunk, too. The second I saw it wind up for another basic, I spammed Lightning Strike again.
— KWA-KWA-BANG!
— Beep — bee-beep.
"Ah. Cooldown."
I'd gotten so carried away mashing it that the cooldown had already kicked in. In the split second I spent checking the timer, the Frost Dragon gathered fire into its chest and prepared an attack.
——————!!!
———KRAAAAAASH!!
A colossal breath of flame swallowed the entire screen. Kenis's HP plummeted like a freefall.
"Wh—what?! I barely even chipped its health bar — are you kidding me!!"
In a panic, I started mashing every skill I could reach.
Sanctuary Declaration
Slightly restores HP of all allies in the area.
Slightly increases Defense.
Luckily, the right skill fired off, and its effect bloomed across the screen. Golden ripples spread outward as Kenis's health slowly climbed back up. One crisis averted — for now.
"This is supposed to be a Stage 1 boss?"
The specs were hard to believe for a first-stage boss. A massive health pool, stun-afflicted basic attacks, and an AoE like this? Had they designed this thing as a newbie weed-whacker?
Having survived the turn thanks to Sanctuary Declaration, Kenis drew her sword and charged the Frost Dragon. This was the burst window.
I immediately stacked buff skills on her.
"Use this one too — uh… and this one."
Feeble Flame
Adds Fire attribute to attacks.
Gentle Breeze
Increases Critical Hit Rate and Movement Speed for a set duration.
Flames whooshed to life along Kenis's blade, and wind-sigils bloomed beneath her feet. Cheap skills, but the effects looked surprisingly flashy.
"Chaaaaa!"
"Whoa. This game has voice acting?"
Her voice was better than I'd expected. If they went to the trouble of dubbing it, why were there no illustrations?
While I was distracted, Kenis leapt high with her sword raised. And the Frost Dragon — as if taking a single basic hit was somehow too much to ask — started winding up another AoE.
——————!!!
———KRAAAAAAASH!!
Blue fire engulfed both Kenis and the screen. Her health bar drained at a terrifying speed.
"Are you serious right now? What is this difficulty?"
I activated the insurance skill I'd brought along just in case. I'd packed it thinking, surely not — I never expected to need it this fast.
Young Phoenix Feather
Nullifies fatal damage once.
Next attack is guaranteed to hit.
Kenis's HP emptied to a single hair-thin line. She punched through the flames, soared upward, and landed a hit on the Frost Dragon.
——————!!!
Fatal Blow!
"Whoa — it actually crit?"
Nearly half the Frost Dragon's remaining health vanished in a single stroke. The critical-hit lottery boosted by Gentle Breeze had paid out.
"This difficulty is completely unhinged. What kind of Stage 1 boss is this?"
This wasn't a gatekeeper — this was a boss designed to grind newbies into paste. Still, we'd somehow managed to kill it. That was something.
…Something felt wrong.
The Frost Dragon, drained of every last drop of HP, did not fall. And Kenis — who should have had a sliver of health left — was the one lying on the ground.
"Huh? What is this?"
— Crrrk-crack
With a bone-chilling sound, the Frost Dragon unfurled its folded wings and rose into the sky. Its empty HP bar was already full again.
——————!!!
The Frost Dragon roared down at the fallen Kenis.
"You've got to be kidding me. Phase two? On a Stage 1 boss?"
A blue mark appeared above Kenis's head. I pressed it, and a message window popped up.
Curse of the Frost Dragon
"What the hell is this?! You can't just dump a name on me and leave!"
The message window tossed out the bare title and vanished. Frustrated, I jabbed through the skill window, but only five skills were available — and every single one was on cooldown.
"No — this is driving me insane."
In a panic, I hit pause. The screen froze in grayscale. Should I force-quit? Kill the app right now?
My finger hovered over the phone's power button, trembling. If I shut it down like this, what happens to my character? Does she die and disappear?
"Ugh — seriously."
I raked my fingers through my hair in frustration. What kind of game even works like this?
"Fine. I'm turning it off."
If I left it running, Kenis dying and vanishing was a certainty. Force-closing might let me escape without anything happening.
I moved to force-quit — and right then—
Ding-dong—
A Hero-rank Adventurer has visited the inn!
A push notification chimed.
"…Where the hell am I?"
Friga slowly surveyed her surroundings. A fireplace crackled and popped. Warm dishes sat laid out for someone. Wooden tables and chairs stood in neat rows, and a massive axe hung on one wall. At a glance, it was a cozy inn.
"What is this? Hey — is anyone here?"
Friga remembered her final moment. The Frost Dragon's enormous tail had smashed into her, and after that—
…What happened next?
She couldn't remember. Friga carefully retraced the memory that had been snipped clean, as if cut with scissors.
— Throb
"Ugh."
She clutched her head and staggered. The pulsing ache seemed to reject the memory of that instant. She stumbled without meaning to and caught herself on the edge of the table.
She took a moment to steady her breathing and calm her body.
An unfamiliar place. A severed memory. An empty inn with no one in sight.
Hoo—
Friga exhaled a long breath and dropped heavily into a chair.
"…Just where is this?"
As she slowly looked around, her eyes landed on the massive axe. Hung on one wall, its vicious edge gleamed in a way that clashed completely with the inn's warm atmosphere.
— Gulp
Friga's eyes lit up as she slowly traced the axe from tip to haft.
Mysterious golden characters glowed along the slender pillar of its handle, and the twin blades were honed so sharp they looked ready to cut just from being stared at.
"…Looking won't hurt, right?"
Friga shot up from her seat and approached the axe.
Up close, it towered over her. The blade alone was wide enough to completely hide her torso. Along the broad face of the enormous axe-head, an intricate golden engraving sprawled.
"That's… a dragon."
A man bringing an axe down on a savage dragon. The craftsmanship was so fine that the man's muscles seemed ready to flex and swing at any second.
"…Just once. Holding it once should be fine, right?"
Friga scanned the room left and right, swallowing hard, and slowly reached for the axe.
The moment her hand touched the haft—
"Ah—!"
Friga felt the gaze of a transcendent being looking down at her.
Her heart hammered, pounding violently against her ribs.
Beyond the thin wall of reality, a presence that surpassed humanity was watching her.
A colossal giant of light.
Its mere existence shook the soul.
Friga clenched her teeth against that gaze that seemed to pierce straight through her spirit, and desperately steadied her breathing.
"Hoo—! Hah—!"
Her trembling legs demanded she kneel before that great presence. Something in her skull screamed at her not to defy instinct — to praise it.
So Friga held on even harder.
If that being was a god, she would not kneel.
"Hah… hoo…"
As Friga fought to control her breath, a vast resonance rolled through her.
"Fear not."
A sound that rang through the soul and carved itself into instinct. Friga felt her spirit thrash like it had been caught in a storm.
"H-holy shit… so it really is a god…?"
Friga's trembling eyes slowly swept the floor. Countless emotions rose, sank, and rose again.
Memories she had never spoken of to anyone surfaced.
Fingertips going cold. Tears streaming down. The eyes that had looked at her growing dull and cloudy.
Hot blood pouring from a body turning cold.
Claws bursting from a back.
Mother.
Friga shook her head roughly, as if trying to fling the rising memories away.
"I can see your wounds."
"Bound by the chains of the past — whom do you resent?"
"Ugh… uhh…!! Why!! Why are you making me remember this again!!"
Friga dropped to her knees on the floor, clutching her head in agony.
"Do you resent the god who stayed silent when you prayed?"
"Do you resent the wolves that killed your mother?"
"Do you resent the foolish child you once were?"
She resented all of them.
The young self who had snuck out of the castle without a word.
Those damned werewolves.
And the god who had answered a child's prayer with silence.
"Shit… if you're a god…! Then tell me…"
Friga's trembling voice cracked like a sob.
"That day… the day my mother died!!"
The desperate cry sounded almost like a child's wail.
"Why did the god stay silent!! Why was there no answer no matter how hard I prayed…!!"
Thick tears rolled from Friga's eyes.
"Why did my mother have to die instead of me…!"
She had gripped her fallen mother's blood-slick hand and prayed. She had begged for a miracle. One moment of childish rebellion had exacted a brutal price.
The child had prayed for a single miracle. Prayed and prayed again.
And the god had been silent.
"…"
Friga wiped her tears again and again, glaring up at the sky.
— Shaaaa
A handful of starlight spilled down from the giant of light.
"…! Wh-what is this!"
Startled, Friga flailed her arms, but the starlight only gently wrapped around her.
— "Friga."
"…Huh?"
A familiar woman's voice rose from the glittering starlight. The warm scent of milk. Light brown hair. A voice calling her name.
"M… Mom?"
— "My daughter, Friga. Have you been well?"
The stars of the milky way gathered and cast the shape of a woman. The mother from her memories. Friga's expression went blank and stupid.
She flailed her arms, trying to catch the phantom.
— "You've been through so much, my girl."
"M-Mom!! Mom!!"
Friga wailed like a child, thrashing her arms. Like a child reaching for the moon reflected in a pond, she groped blindly.
But you cannot catch the moon in a pond.
The woman cast in starlight passed right through Friga's arms.
— "My daughter, Friga. Listen carefully — there isn't much time."
"Mom? What do you mean… no time? There's so much I want to tell you, Mom…"
— "I feel the same. But I am only a soul briefly freed from the afterlife by a god's grace. I cannot stay long."
"Mom, I'm really good with an axe now… those werewolves aren't even a match for me… your daughter's grown this much. Mom, just stay a little longer, okay?"
— "My poor girl… I'm sorry. Listen well. That day, when the werewolf pack attacked you… it was no accident."
"What…?"
— "There were those who targeted your father. Men who had joined hands with a demon… they deliberately set the werewolves in motion."
"A demon…"
Friga murmured with vacant eyes. That day — the day the werewolves had fallen on her.
Her mother had taken the claws in her place and died. And all of it had not been an accident, but the work of a demon and heretics?
— Shaaaaaa
— "It wasn't your fault, my child. It was never your fault."
The starlight scattered further, and the woman's form wavered. A slender arm brushed Friga's cheek, as if to wipe away her tears.
— Fwaaah
— "Don't blame yourself. I love you, my daughter…"
The starlight flared bright and dispersed. Tiny falling stars filled the air around Friga, glittering.
"…"
"Do you still resent?"
Friga wiped her tears without a word and stood. Then she gripped the massive axe tight.
The silent god. The foolish child she had been.
She hated all of it.
But she no longer resented it.
— KWAANG!
She slammed the axe haft hard into the floor. Then she grinned.
"You piece-of-shit god. I still hate gods."
"So be it."
"Creep."
"The time has come. Go now to the place where you belong."
"What?"
— Shaaaa
From Friga's toes upward, she began to dissolve into starlight.
"Wh-whoa?! Hey! You can't just—!"
— Fwaaah!
And then Friga vanished, becoming a swarm of stars.
——————!!!
Having driven Friga into the cliff face, the Frost Dragon roared savagely at the remaining holy knights and warriors. Did it already know that no one left could stand against it?
— Thud — thud —
It settled onto the ground and leisurely showed off its stride.
The spark of hope went out, and despair settled over everyone.
— Kwang!
— KWAANG!!
———?
A pounding sound rolled across the clearing. Every eye turned toward the cliff where the strange noise was coming from. The piled stones shifted once—
— KWAAAAAANG!!!
Massive boulders exploded skyward.
Through the raining rubble, Friga walked out.
Not a scratch on her. A massive axe rested across one shoulder.
"Hey — you bag of bones!"
Friga hoisted the axe and grinned wide.
"I'm right here!!"
The Dragon Hunter's Axe caught the sunlight and blazed.