Chapter 30: Arrows of Longing for the Other Shore

"Sakimi..."

"My name is Beatrice."

No. She was wrong. She looked exactly like Sakimi. But what happened to her?

It seemed that Marigold wondered the same thing.

"What did they do to you, Sakimi?" Marigold asked.

Sakimi—no, Beatrice—got up and slammed her palms on the table.

"My name is Beatrice! If you don't want to die, then call me by my true name!"

If I didn't want to die, huh? I could have easily defeated her, but I wanted answers. And so, I conceded.

"Fine," I said. "Beatrice, what happened to you?"

"It's simple. I was born anew!"

The girl spun in a circle like a diva under dozens of dazzling lights.

"Archdemon Enzo, in all his majesty has shed my previous skin and turned me into a higher being. The more humans I devour, the stronger I become! Now that you're here, I can finally eat you for myself!"

That bastard Enzo. I'll kill him!

With a snap of her fingers, Beatrice materialized her magic staff.

No. I have to stop calling her Beatrice. It's Sakimi. She's still in there somewhere. I just have to turn her back into a human!

Before I knew it, the building exploded, sending me flying into the air. I landed on my feet next to Marigold, who had protected herself with enchanted vambraces that projected a magical barrier. Those must be new items.

Unfortunately, the villager who guided Marigold and I had been reduced to a charred bag of flesh.

"We can't kill Sakimi!" I said to Marigold.

"I know. But how are we going to defeat her?"

"I'll have to beat her half to death."

Was it terrible to say that I'd beat up a young girl? Possibly, but at this point, I didn't care. Sakimi was a demon, and I needed to subdue her until I could figure out what to do next.

I burst forward like a bullet, flying straight for Sakimi, who threw blue fireballs. Now that she was a demon, she was proficient in both fire and ice magic.

As I sprinted, I sliced the projectiles, finally getting within melee range. Before I could land a slash, Sakimi made a sweeping motion with her staff, coating my entire body in ice.

Just as I shattered myself free, a meteor fell from the sky, crushing me on the ground. Even though my health was still at ninety-three percent, I couldn't move the boulder.

"Leviathan Piercer!" Marigold yelled, firing a golden arrow that raced through the air like a laser beam.

The projectile went straight through the meteor, blowing it to bits, but once the arrow got within five feet of Sakimi, it immediately halted.

Sakimi's telekinesis had become so powerful and precise that it could stop one of the strongest arrows in the game. She then spun the projectile 180 degrees and sent it flying right back at Marigold, who protected herself with her magic shield.

Even though the Leviathan Piercer bounced off the barrier, it left a huge crack from the impact. It didn't seem like the magic shield would last against many more attacks.

Once again, I charged straight for Sakimi, and I activated Angelic Blaze. Due to my immense speed, I was able to run behind the wave of magic, using it as a free approach option.

Surprisingly, Sakimi chose to stand her ground and create an ice wall to absorb my Angelic Blaze. In response, I activated Lightbringer and punched the wall with all my might, instantly destroying it, but Sakimi was no longer behind the barrier. Instead, she was on top of me, preparing to cast another spell.

I braced myself for impact, but luckily, Marigold backed me up from range, using arrows to hit Sakimi out of the air.

"You nuisance!" Sakimi said. Then, she slammed her staff into the ground and yelled, "I summon you, Goliath Blizzardwalker!

The skies became grey as a snowstorm swirled into a massive vortex. The ice solidified, slowly creating a humanoid form. After a few seconds, the storm dissipated, revealing a hulking yeti that was coated in icicle spikes. Its face had no eyes, but it had a single unicorn horn and two saber teeth.

"I'll handle that!" Marigold said. "You take care of Sakimi!"

I nodded my head.

"I told you that my name is BEATRICE!"

Without warning, the demon girl cast Glaciate, instantly freezing everything in the surrounding area.

This included the entire village.

For a moment, everything was silent.

Sakimi had just killed dozens of people in one fell swoop. I only survived because of my armor, but it seemed that Marigold was almost at her limit, with half of her body frozen. The Blizzardwalker could easily flatten her with one hammer arm.

Marigold turned to me and muttered, "Help..."

My special attack was fully charged, so I could use it to land a massive blow on Sakimi's HP.

Still, the thought of abandoning Marigold gnawed on my conscience.

I said that I had no obligation to protect her, but...

Dammit!

I ran to Marigold and blocked the Blizzardwalker's attack with my arms, struggling under the weight. By now, Angelic Blaze had finished its cooldown, and I used it to melt the monster's outer ice armor. Then, I slashed its legs ten times within a single second, causing it to fall forward, and finally, I plunged Laevateinn into its heart, landing a killing strike.

Sakimi tried to take advantage of my digression to fire a Frozen Beam at Marigold, by I stepped in the way to block it with my body. I still had eighty-one percent of my health remaining.

"Thanks..." Marigold replied, her voice trembling from the cold.

I handed her a Large Healing Potion to bring her health back up to eight-four percent, and then I helped her break free from the ice.

"Just die already!" Sakimi screamed.

The demon girl levitated in the air as mana condensed in her body, causing her to become like a sun. After a few seconds of charging, Sakimi released all the energy in one blast, using the spell Supernova.

I grabbed Marigold in my arms and flattened ourselves on the ground against the blazing explosion. The spell was so powerful that it took my HP down to thirty percent.

When I looked back at Marigold, her face was still a bit red from the cold. Or, maybe it was a blush. Either way, she seemed to be fine after I gave her the potion.

After the Supernova ended, I gulped down a Large Healing Potion for myself, restoring my health to full.

Then, I activated Silent Sting. After a second, the world almost slowed to a stop.

In the blink of an eye, I ran up to Sakimi and struck her with Laevateinn.

When time returned to normal, the girl coughed up blood from the impact. Before she could cast another spell, I followed with another strike, then a slash, and finally, I grabbed her face and slammed her to the ground.

With her head still in my hand, I charged up Chromius and fired a point-blank energy blast straight into her skull. I did that again, and again, and again. By the fifth time, Sakimi's body stopped struggling, and she became a ragdoll. Finally, I threw her down one more time.

That was when I realized that Sakimi had no health bar. The body disappeared, and I heard an ear-piercing wail behind me.

Shit!

"Ha! You're as incompetent as ever, Ares!" Sakimi said, holding a flaming knife against Marigold's throat. "You didn't even notice when I created a decoy!"

I gritted my teeth.

Sakimi said, "Don't move an inch unless you want to see Marigold die!"

Usually, I wouldn't be worried since normal injuries didn't affect people in this game, but while I was wasting my time on the ragdoll, Sakimi had whittled down Marigold's HP to ten percent.

How long ago did Sakimi create a decoy? Was it after I hit her with Silent Sting? From this range, I couldn't see her health bar clearly, so I couldn't tell.

"That's good," Sakimi cooed. "Now, just stay there as I devour your precious friend!"

"No!" I screamed.

Sakimi opened her fanged mouth, but she paused. Her face was frozen in astonishment while Marigold was muttering something inaudible. I strained my ears, but I couldn't hear anything through the roaring icy winds.

Marigold spoke some more, and Sakimi began crying. Eventually, Sakimi let go of Marigold and fell to her knees.

I ran up to the two girls, finally hearing their conversation. The only thing I heard was "Leviathan Piercer."

Marigold drew her bow and shot the enchanted arrow from five feet away, impaling Sakimi's heart.

After the hit, Sakimi was at two percent HP.

"Marigold," I said. "Do you have rope?"

"Yes. It's with Vortigern."

"Get it for me."

"Alright."

Marigold dashed away to retrieve my requested item.

Meanwhile, I took Sakimi's staff and aimed my sword at her body.

"Don't move," I said.

"I won't."

Her old voice had returned. It was much more soothing than Beatrice's fierce tone.

"What did Marigold say to you?" I asked.

"She asked me...to kill her. She said that she couldn't live in a world where Ayame or Sakimi no longer existed. She said that she didn't want to fight anymore. In fact, she said that she helped drive back the demons in the front lines because she wanted to die, but whenever she was on the verge of death...something kept forcing her to live. She said that she always heard my voice in her head, and that I was always there to keep her going. Even still, she said she couldn't forgive herself. Then, she said that she hated me, and she shot her arrow."

"You keep saying 'she,'" I said. "Why don't you use her name?"

"I forgot who she is."