The creature moved.
Not fast.
Not merely quick.
It vanished.
BOOOOOOM!
The ground exploded where Necrocotta had been standing.
Akari barely had enough time to raise Narukami.
A blur of crimson and bone appeared before her.
Then pain exploded throughout her body.
CRAAAAASH!
Akari was launched across the chamber like a broken doll.
Her body smashed into a stone wall.
The entire wall cracked inward.
Fragments of rock rained onto the floor.
For several seconds she couldn't breathe.
Her vision blurred.
Her ears rang.
The impact had been far stronger than anything the original Terracotta Warden had shown.
A system notification appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
HP: 22%
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Akari's eyes widened.
Twenty-two percent.
One hit.
A single hit.
The boss had removed nearly everything.
"Cough—"
Blood escaped her mouth.
Her arms trembled.
Even Narukami felt heavier.
Far away—
Necrocotta slowly turned.
Its glowing crimson eyes locked onto her.
Then its arms shifted.
The bones making up its forearms separated.
Opened.
Expanded.
Like a grotesque crossbow made from flesh and skeleton.
Memory stared.
"What is it doing...?"
The answer came immediately.
SKREEEEEEEECH!
Dozens of sharpened bone spikes launched forward.
The projectiles screamed through the air.
Akari's instincts erupted.
Move.
MOVE!
She forced her battered body off the wall.
The spikes struck.
BOOOOOOM!
The stone behind her exploded.
One bone spear pierced straight through a massive pillar.
Another completely shattered a boulder.
A third embedded itself several meters into solid rock.
Akari stared.
Cold sweat ran down her neck.
If even one of those had connected—
she would've died instantly.
Necrocotta vanished again.
Memory's eyes widened.
"AKARI!"
The boss wasn't targeting Akari.
It was targeting her.
A crimson blur appeared behind Memory.
The bone blade descended.
Memory froze.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
Then—
CLAAAAANG!
One of her remaining Terracotta Spearmen intercepted the attack.
The summoned warrior exploded instantly.
The second rushed forward.
It lasted less than a second.
Necrocotta sliced straight through its torso.
The summon shattered.
Fragments scattered across the battlefield.
The third and final Terracotta Spearman lunged desperately.
Its spear struck the boss.
The attack did nothing.
Necrocotta slowly looked down at the weapon embedded in its body.
Then at the summon.
Its expressionless face somehow conveyed disgust.
The creature grabbed the Terracotta Spearman by the head.
Memory immediately felt something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The boss's fingers tightened.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Boss Skill: Boneyard Blitz]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
CRACK.
A single bone emerged from the summon's chest.
Then another.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Bones erupted from inside the Terracotta Spearman.
The summon convulsed violently.
Its body became a prison of protruding spikes.
Within seconds—
the entire summon was skewered from the inside.
The Terracotta Spearman shattered.
Dead.
Gone.
Memory stared in horror.
Her summons.
All of them.
Destroyed.
The boss slowly turned toward her.
Nothing stood between them anymore.
No summons.
No walls.
No protection.
Only her.
Necrocotta took one step forward.
Memory stepped backward.
Another step.
Another.
The monster lunged.
Memory screamed.
Water erupted from her palms.
A blast of pressurized water shot forward.
It hit Necrocotta directly.
BOOOOOOM!
The attack actually pushed the creature back.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Enough to create distance.
Unfortunately—
not enough.
Necrocotta immediately rushed forward again.
Its crimson eyes burned with murderous intent.
Memory's legs shook.
She couldn't stop it.
She knew she couldn't.
Then—
lightning flashed.
CRAAAAACK!
Akari appeared.
Narukami collided with the bone blade.
The resulting shockwave blasted both combatants apart.
Akari landed roughly.
Necrocotta landed perfectly.
The difference was obvious.
Akari's condition had deteriorated.
Necrocotta looked untouched.
The boss moved first.
Its blade struck.
Akari tried to block.
BOOOOOOOM!
She failed.
The impact launched her through the air.
Her body tumbled across the ground.
The system notification appeared instantly.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
HP: 5%
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Silence.
Memory froze.
Akari froze.
Five percent.
One more hit.
That was all.
One more hit.
Necrocotta understood.
The creature slowly walked toward Akari.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Like an executioner approaching its victim.
Akari tried to stand.
Her legs refused.
Her body screamed in agony.
Narukami flickered.
Even the divine blade seemed unstable.
Necrocotta raised its arm.
The bone blade reflected crimson light.
It was over.
Then Memory moved.
Water exploded from both of her arms.
Her forearms transformed completely.
Liquid surged outward.
Stretching.
Expanding.
Extending.
Like enormous watery tendrils.
The water wrapped around Necrocotta.
Memory screamed.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Every muscle in her body strained.
Every ounce of mana she possessed surged outward.
The watery arms tightened.
Then—
she pulled.
BOOOOOOOOM!
Necrocotta was ripped off its feet.
The creature smashed into a nearby wall.
The entire chamber shook.
Memory didn't stop.
She slammed more water into the boss.
More.
And more.
And more.
The pressure pinned Necrocotta against solid stone.
The creature struggled.
The wall cracked.
The monster pushed.
The water trembled.
Memory gritted her teeth.
Blood trickled from her nose.
She could feel her mana disappearing rapidly.
The boss was stronger.
Far stronger.
Yet she refused to let go.
If it escaped—
Akari would die.
They would both die.
Memory screamed.
"AKARI!"
The silver-haired girl looked up.
"FINISH IT!"
The words echoed throughout the chamber.
Memory's watery prison shook violently.
Necrocotta pushed harder.
The wall behind it fractured.
It was breaking free.
Akari understood immediately.
This was their chance.
Their only chance.
She slowly stood.
Her body trembled.
Every muscle hurt.
Every breath hurt.
But she stood.
Narukami glowed brighter.
The divine blade hummed.
Lightning exploded around her.
Purple electricity illuminated the chamber.
A system notification appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Narukami Secret Form: Divine Judgment]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Akari raised the sword.
The divine lightning gathered.
The entire dungeon darkened.
Even Necrocotta paused.
The boss sensed danger.
Real danger.
Memory continued holding it in place.
Her arms shook violently.
"NOW!"
Akari swung.
The world turned white.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Divine lightning descended from the heavens.
A colossal pillar of purple energy engulfed Necrocotta completely.
The creature screamed.
The bone armor shattered.
The flesh vaporized.
The blood evaporated instantly.
For a brief moment—
victory seemed certain.
Then Akari realized something.
The lightning wasn't stopping.
The electricity continued moving.
Flowing.
Traveling.
Through the water.
Through Memory's water.
Akari's eyes widened.
"No."
The realization hit instantly.
"No no no no—"
The lightning surged through the watery restraints.
Directly into Memory.
Memory's eyes widened.
Then she screamed.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The divine lightning engulfed her.
Purple electricity covered her entire body.
Her watery arms acted like conductors.
The attack traveled through everything.
Her arms.
Her torso.
Her legs.
Her entire body.
Akari froze.
The sword slipped slightly from her grip.
"...Memory?"
The lightning finally disappeared.
Silence followed.
Necrocotta was gone.
Completely erased.
Not even ashes remained.
The boss had been annihilated.
Yet nobody celebrated.
Memory stood motionless.
Smoke rose from her body.
Her clothes were burned.
Large sections of skin were blackened.
Burn marks covered both arms.
Her body swayed.
Akari stared.
Unable to breathe.
Unable to move.
Unable to think.
Memory looked at her.
Their eyes met.
For a brief moment—
Memory smiled weakly.
Then—
she collapsed.
"MEMORY!"
Akari sprinted forward.
She caught her before she hit the ground.
Memory was unconscious.
Completely unresponsive.
Bubbles immediately jumped onto her chest.
The little slime trembled violently.
Akari's hands shook.
The battle was over.
They had won.
They had defeated the hidden boss.
They had survived.
Yet none of it mattered.
Because for the first time since entering Evermount—
Akari had landed a perfect hit.
And the person she hit—
was her best friend.
The victorious chamber felt colder than any defeat.
And as Akari stared at Memory's burned body, a terrifying thought entered her mind.
What if she had been too late?
What if Narukami's power had been stronger?
What if that attack had killed her?
For the first time since obtaining the divine blade—
Akari was afraid of her own power.
Silence filled the ruined chamber.
The battle was over.
Necrocotta was gone.
The terrifying monster that had nearly killed both of them had been erased completely from existence by Narukami's divine judgment.
Yet Akari felt no victory.
No relief.
No happiness.
Only fear.
Pure fear.
"Memory..."
Her voice trembled.
Memory lay motionless in her arms.
The pink-haired girl wasn't responding.
Her eyes remained closed.
Her breathing was weak.
Painfully weak.
Akari looked down at the burns covering Memory's body.
The sight made her stomach twist.
Narukami's lightning had destroyed Necrocotta.
But it had also flowed through Memory's water.
The attack had hit her directly.
The same attack that had completely erased a hidden dungeon boss.
And Memory had taken it head-on.
"No..."
Akari's hands shook.
"No no no no..."
She immediately opened her inventory.
Health Potions.
Every single one she had.
She grabbed one.
Then another.
Then another.
Glass shattered against the dungeon floor.
Red liquid poured into Memory's mouth.
System notifications appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Target Healed.
HP Increased.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Akari immediately checked Memory's health bar.
It rose.
Only slightly.
Then it started dropping again.
The burns were still dealing damage.
Her body was still suffering.
Akari's face turned pale.
"No!"
She grabbed another potion.
Then another.
Then another.
The floor around her became covered in empty glass bottles.
Every few seconds she checked the health bar.
Every few seconds it continued falling.
Not quickly.
But steadily.
Like sand slipping through fingers.
Akari felt panic rise inside her chest.
"Please wake up..."
She looked down at her best friend.
Nothing.
No response.
Only weak breathing.
Akari's eyes drifted toward Narukami.
The divine blade rested nearby.
Purple lightning still flickered faintly along its surface.
For the first time—
Akari hated looking at it.
The weapon that had made her stronger.
The weapon she admired.
The weapon she dreamed of mastering.
Now looked like a monster.
Her expression twisted.
Anger.
Fear.
Guilt.
All mixed together.
"You did this..."
Her voice cracked.
Narukami remained silent.
The blade simply glowed.
Akari stood.
Grabbed the sword.
Then threw it.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
The blade spun through the air.
Before it could hit the ground—
it dissolved into countless particles of purple light.
Returning to her inventory automatically.
The chamber became silent again.
Akari dropped back beside Memory.
Then she broke.
Tears poured from her eyes.
"I'm sorry..."
She gripped Memory's hand.
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
She repeated the words over and over.
Like somehow saying them enough times would make everything okay.
Bubbles bounced beside Memory.
The little slime was crying too.
Tiny droplets leaked from its body.
The normally cheerful creature looked terrified.
Then something happened.
Bubbles climbed onto Memory's chest.
The slime slowly stretched its body.
Expanding.
Covering parts of Memory's torso.
A soft blue glow appeared.
Akari froze.
"...Bubbles?"
The slime continued glowing.
The light became brighter.
Gentle.
Warm.
Comforting.
The burn marks began fading slightly.
Only slightly.
But enough for Akari to notice.
"Bubbles..."
The slime continued.
Without stopping.
Without resting.
Without moving.
It simply remained there.
Healing.
Trying desperately to save its owner.
Hours passed.
The dungeon remained quiet.
No enemies.
No battles.
No monsters.
Only the three of them.
Akari never left Memory's side.
She continued feeding her potions whenever necessary.
Continued checking her health.
Continued praying.
The ruined battlefield gradually darkened as the dungeon entered its nighttime cycle.
Four hours passed.
Then—
Memory's fingers moved.
Akari immediately noticed.
Her head snapped upward.
"Memory?"
The pink-haired girl stirred.
Her eyelashes trembled.
Then slowly—
her eyes opened.
For several seconds she stared blankly at the ceiling.
Confused.
Disoriented.
Alive.
Akari froze.
Then immediately hugged her.
"MEMORY!"
The force nearly pushed Memory back down.
"Ack—"
Akari buried her face into Memory's shoulder.
Tears flooded her eyes again.
"You idiot!"
"You scared me!"
"I thought you were going to die!"
"I'm sorry!"
"I'm sorry!"
"I'm so sorry!"
The words poured out endlessly.
Memory blinked.
Then slowly smiled.
A weak smile.
A tired smile.
But a smile nonetheless.
"Hey..."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Akari looked up.
Tears still streaming down her face.
Memory gently raised a trembling hand.
Then patted her head.
"It wasn't your fault."
Akari immediately shook her head.
"It was!"
"It wasn't."
"It was!"
"It wasn't."
Akari clenched her fists.
"I hit you."
Memory remained quiet for a moment.
Then smiled again.
"You were trying to save me."
Akari looked away.
Unable to respond.
Memory understood.
She knew Akari blamed herself.
Knew she would continue blaming herself.
But she also knew something else.
Akari never meant to hurt her.
Narukami was simply too powerful.
And Akari still hadn't learned how to control it.
"You'll get stronger."
Memory spoke softly.
"And next time you'll control it."
Akari lowered her head.
She didn't want to use Narukami again
Especially what happened to her best friend
The two remained there for several minutes.
Neither spoke.
Simply grateful the other was alive.
Eventually Memory slowly sat up.
Her entire body hurt.
Every movement sent pain through her muscles.
Yet she was alive.
Looking down—
she noticed something surprising.
The burns were gone.
Her skin had recovered completely.
Not a single scar remained.
Only her clothes remained damaged.
Burnt.
Torn.
Covered in holes.
Akari immediately looked toward Bubbles.
The slime had collapsed beside Memory.
Completely exhausted.
The tiny creature was asleep.
Still glowing faintly.
Memory's eyes softened.
"...You healed me."
Bubbles didn't respond.
The little slime simply slept peacefully.
Memory gently picked it up.
Then hugged it carefully.
"Thank you."
The slime wiggled slightly in its sleep.
Akari smiled weakly.
The first genuine smile she had managed since the battle ended.
Eventually both girls stood.
The hidden dungeon had been cleared.
Somewhere deeper inside should be the reward room.
The loot chamber.
The treasure vault.
Slowly—
they began walking.
The ruined battlefield stretched behind them.
A reminder of everything they had survived.
Then suddenly—
a notification appeared before Memory.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
Hidden Boss Cleared.
Special Reward Detected.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Memory blinked.
Then another notification appeared.
This one far larger.
Far rarer.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
New Summon Available
Necrocotta
The Terracotta Fallen Warrior
**Rank: **Legendary
**Type: **Undead / Construct
Would You Like To Tame This Summon?
[YES]
[NO]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Memory stopped walking.
Akari nearly bumped into her.
"Huh?"
Memory stared.
Then rubbed her eyes.
Then stared again.
The notification remained.
Akari leaned closer.
Read the screen.
Then froze.
Both girls looked at each other.
Silence.
Then simultaneously—
"WHAT?!"
Their voices echoed throughout the dungeon.
Because somehow—
after everything that had happened—
Memory had just been offered the opportunity to tame the very monster that nearly killed them.