Solo Boss Fight

"If you die here, you die in real life."

"What?" I ask, confused. "What do you—"

"Stay alert."

The Guardian Angel gets ready for another attack. Alice said I will die in real life if I die here. Then that explains why this game is so realistic! Maybe she's bluffing. But I'm not gonna find out. Dodge!

It runs toward us, thrashing its shield and sword. I have to watch the sword and shield if I want to dodge. Then it unexpectedly unleashes a high stomp! It misses me by a mere meter but the blast hurt me. It's finished with its attack as it lets us retreat for a moment. I think that's—

"That's Move Set #3!" Alice informs me.

"I know!" I yell at her. How could she put me through all of this?

"Calm down," she laughs, hitting my back.

"How could you?! I never asked for this!"

"Stop whining and move on, girl."

"I don't know who you really are yet but after this, I'm going to kill you!"

"I'm looking forward to it." Her grin is irritating me so much!

Here it goes again. The Move Set #4 is more like a series of jump attacks. I count it and it jumps eleven times and finishes with a downward slice that creates a huge blast. Move Set #5 is rather simple. It charges to stomp and shoots laser as we retreat. It does that move five times before shooting laser beams across the place as if it's a disco ball. This is the hardest one to dodge. I'm out of breath!

"It's gonna do Move Set #3!" Alice yells from afar. "Pay attention and get ready to attack after it's done!"

It charges at me, thrashing its shield and sword like earlier. It's tiring but I still remember the pattern. Here comes the stomp. I dodge by rolling to the side. Then Alice unleashes a leaping strike using her greatsword. It barely did any damage.

"It's tough!" she figures. "You have to kill it, man!"

That's absurd, so I reason, "If you can't do any damage to it, how much can I do?"

"You're here for that reason! Just do what I say!"

"Screw you! I never asked for any of this!"

She laughs at me from the distance. "Do your best!"

I have no choice. I have to beat this thing if I want to get out. But with what? My fist? I don't even have a big-as-hell weapon like that gremlin! I'm never going back into this game after this. The Guardian Angel is doing Move Set #1. Shoot! I barely remember this!

It slams its shield on the ground and charges. Oh, I remember now! I dodge to the left and then to the right to dodge its downward slice. The next thing it will do is sweep sideways, so I just lie flat on the ground. Right after that attack, I know that I just have to run away as fast as I can. It descends and strikes the floor. I waited until the blast settles before running towards it. I jump high and prepare a flying kick that I think will be useless. It lands on its cheek and it gets staggered. What the hell? That was just a weak kick!

I land on the ground and run away to a safe distance. From here, I see its left metal cheek dented. That's where my kick landed.

"Good job!" Alice praises me from afar. She's sitting on the ground and was watching me all that time.

"What are you doing?! Help me!"

"No, I'll just get in the way." She summons a chair and sits on it with her legs crossed. "I can't deal any damage to it. It's your chance to become the next 'Let me solo her' by defeating that thing."

"What are you talking about? Help me now before the guards get to us!"

"It's fine. No one can enter this place as long as this fight's not over."

Sounds like I don't have any choice, do I? I can't log out, she can't deal damage to this boss, and as she said, I will die in real life if I die here. So, the only thing I can do now is killing that thing. But how long will it take?

The Guardian Angel starts to move. I look at it carefully to figure out what Move Set it will use. It's #2! Ugh. . . not this one! Huge lasers are so hard to dodge! It will shoot three lasers and the last one is gonna be tricky. I dodge the first and then the second, finally, the third. I wait for a moment as it aims at me. This is how it almost tricked me. It seems that it's aiming at me but it's gonna shoot at Alice!

"Alice, look out!" I yell but— "Argh!!!"

Something made of metal hits me and that hits me away from being scorched by the laser beam. Wait. . . that's not how it behaved earlier! I have to remember that the last laser is random. The shield that hit me levitates from the ground and flies back to Alice.

"Watch out next time!" she shouts.

"Shut up!" I roar back at her. I couldn't contain my anger. She just keeps laughing. Ugh! I hate her!

The boss uses Move Set #5. This one is the most tiring. I dodge the charge and stomp. Then it shoots a small laser. It keeps doing this five times. Now, for the hardest part, I have to dodge hundreds of lasers! I'm successful and it takes a while to regain stamina. That's my cue to charge and hit it again. To be safe, I hit its stomach since it is low and gives me enough time to retreat. Its breastplate cracks from my weak punch.

"Nice!" Alice commends from afar.

The fight drags on for longer. I can't wait for it to be over. It becomes repetitive because I have mastered its attack patterns. That is not to say that I'm not scared. Every swing of its sword, every slam of its shield, every stomp of its feet, and every beam of its laser, keeps my heart beating fast. But I feel satisfaction every time I land a hit. I'm angry and it's the only thing I could express my anger on right now. Finally, I stagger it so much that it retreats and its armor starts to crumble. There is no wearer inside it. It's just hollow.

"Alright!" Alice cheers, rising from her seat and grabbing her sword and shield. I sigh in relief, now that it's finally over. "You're a natural! Now, prepare for the second phase."

"What does that mean?"

"It means, more trouble, my friend." She nods, gesturing that I should look behind me.

It's. . . still alive! And transforming into something else! What the hell?!!