The Prologue’s Secret Boss

“After all my efforts to separate you all, you came back together like the annoying pests you are,” Florathea muttered, staring down at everyone with a look of pure disgust.

“Look who’s talking!” I spat back, pointing at her. “Give back Lora her body! It doesn’t belong to you!”

The goddess winced and cupped her ears. “Keep your obnoxious voice down,” she hissed. “Your voice, your appearance, your very presence still pains me to the very core, even in a different body!”

I tossed my friends a confused glance. “Did I really yell that loudly?” I asked.

“Nah man, I’m pretty sure you weren't loud enough, actually,” said Dahlian.

A laser abruptly shot past me from behind, forcing me to duck and cover my head. I glanced over my shoulder, gawking at the queen who wore a vicious glare.

“If you’re in that much pain, then allow me to help you… by ending your life,” she snarled.

Damn! Was she always this scary?! I’ve never seen that look before! I glanced at the rest of my friends, who also stared at her in disbelief, probably thinking the same as well.

Florathea scoffed and expanded her wings. “Try and kill me. If you even can,” she sneered. “Your father, husband, and son all failed to defeat me and died like pitiful worms, so what makes you think you can achieve anyth—”

Another laser pierced the air, thicker and faster than the last. The queen roared in agony, tainting the battle scene crimson with her wrath alone. Florathea erected a wall from the earth and blocked the strike, followed by massive spikes that began to spread in our direction.

“Everyone scatter!” Morienelle shouted.

All of us, even Sugar Plum, jumped away as the spikes invaded our spot, and of course, my glitches kicked in. I zoomed around the battle scene, leaving glitchy clones with each teleportation.

The goddess flinched and widened her eyes at the bizarre spectacle, and I used this opportunity to swing diagonally and thrust my sword forward. All my clones mimicked me and shot out their blades toward the goddess like an inward dome.

Florathea clicked her tongue and shielded herself with thick layers of tree bark, collecting a whole bunch of swords on its surface.

I swiftly landed back on my feet and sprinted toward the shield, glitchy matter trailing off my body. I balled a fist and swung, phasing through the barrier and meeting Lora’s—no, the goddess’s gaze.

Florathea threw me a look like I did something illegal before scowling and batting me back out with a swipe of her wings. She blew up her barrier and shot out sharp fragments of the tree bark, but I easily parried those in my way with my counter shield.

Silvestine dropped her jaw and pointed at me. “See?! What did I tell you guys?! That’s the freakiest swordplay I’ve ever seen!”

“Wowee!” said Entrophys, clapping his claws. “What unique powers! Why fight when we can just watch him go crazy?”

“Mm, if I were still my old self, I would honestly agree with that statement,” said Sloane, combing his hair back. “But I made him a promise.”

That said, Sloane summoned Citrine and grew massive vines from its trunk, all shooting high up before curving down toward the goddess. Dahlian happened to snatch one of those vines and raised himself high before joining in the dive with a lightning fist.

Florathea expanded her wings and leaped away from the crash site. She raised an arm, cast a swirling orb of wisps, and threw it down at the ground beneath her feet.

The earth rumbled like drumbeats, almost like announcing an incoming parade, though the parade in question was anything but fun.

"You've gotta be kidding me," I muttered.

Monsters made of soil, trees, and grass emerged from the surface, all in various shapes and sizes. Some had humanoid features, whereas others were pure, unintelligible abominations. A giant one in particular roared so loudly it almost knocked my breath.

“Ugh, of course. Adds incoming!” I shouted.

“Adds?” Dahlian tilted his head.

Whoops, slip of the gaming tongue. “Er, I meant additional enemies incoming!”

“Oh, yeah, we see ‘em!”

More and more minions dug out of the earth like worms to rain, multiplying at a terrifyingly rapid rate.

Morienelle cast a magic rune under her feet and summoned various dolls in different clothes beside her. She surged forth, followed by her own small army of her creations.

Silvestine, Ashrenne, Sloane, and even Entrophys and the dragon also shifted their focus toward the army, while the rest of us focused on the boss herself.

“Yo!” Dahlian inched toward the giant bull, waving a hand like he was casually meeting him at a cafe. “Can I ask you something real quick?”

Wymond squinted. “Is it that important to ask in the middle of battle?”

“Of course! Do you really know who I am?”

Wymond furrowed his brows. “You came all this way just to ask me that?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmph, how incredibly childish.” He stepped away. “Prove that you’re worthy of my time first.”

“What? How?”

Wymond charged head-on, refusing to waste any more of his time like he said.

With a disappointed sigh, Dahlian cracked his neck, leaned forward, and bolted, sprinting so fast he zoomed past Wymond and delivered a ranged lightning strike on Florathea.

The strike hit her wings, stunning her for only a second. That was all the time the queen needed for her flurry of projectiles to land a hit as well.

Florathea grunted and tried floating higher into the air, but I glitched behind her and swung my blade downward, summoning a fountain of copies upward and redirecting them back down at the goddess with my shield.

She had no choice but to retreat downward, blocking all incoming projectiles with her wings, but the more she used them, the more feathers she lost.

“It’s working! She’s starting to wear out!” said Morienelle.

“Then, that means…!” I hurriedly took a deep breath and hollered, “Loraaa! Can you hear me?! Fight it, Lora!”

Florathea scoffed. “Don’t even bother,” she sneered. “That child is far too deep in her slumber to hear you.”

“I don’t care!” If she said my normal yelling range is too loud before, then that means my loudest voice can definitely reach her! “I’ll scream until your ears burst if I have to!”

“I’ll silence you before you can.”

Leaves sharp as razors soared toward my direction, and I swiftly pulled up my shield in response, deflecting back the leaves. I tried to move my feet, only to find out that a few vines stealthily latched themselves onto my ankles.

“Ugh!” A few leaves snuck up behind me and sliced my shoulders. I bit back a scream. Every breath counted, so I made sure to use them all up for that person.

“Loraaaa!” I screamed. “Hurry and waaaake uuup! Loraaaa!”

Florathea hissed in pain and cupped her ears. “You’re so infuriating! I can’t stand you any longer!”

Thin blades of grass stretched out from the soil and crystallized into sharp swords. With a raise of her hand, the grass swords tore off from their roots and floated in the air, all pointed directly at me.

“I’ve tolerated you parasites for long enough!” Florathea snarled. “Just die already!”

Faster than the blink of an eye, her swords zoomed toward me, and I dodged out of the way, teleporting randomly. Every time I teleported close enough to her, I sliced away even more of her feathers and kept calling out to Lora.

Meanwhile, Wymond and Dahlian snuck up behind her, each delivering painful blows of their own. The queen also shattered plenty of the grass blades and fired back more crystallized pellets of her own.

“Enough!” the goddess shrieked, sending a shock wave that knocked us away.

With a grunt, I landed back on my feet, stumbling a bit, only for a bundle of thick vines to ensnare my body. I cursed under my breath and squirmed around.

“You all genuinely sicken me,” Florathea growled, charging up a ball of energy toward me. “I’ll make sure to wipe out every last one of—”

A punch landed on her jaw and canceled her spell, a punch that came from none other than the eleventh person here, trapped inside her own body.

“What…?” Florathea blinked down at her trembling left arm. “H-how—”

She punched herself again. No, rather, it was…

“L-Lora?” I called out.

“Give… it,” the lady with wings sputtered, her voice weak. “Give it… back. Give back… my body!”

The woman aggressively punched herself again, staggering backward in the process. She grasped her face and wrestled with the other arm, arguing with herself in two different voices.

Meanwhile, Dahlian rushed over and cut me free, giving me a chance to breathe. “Thanks,” I said.

“No problem.” He raised a fist. “Let’s hurry this up and finish this together!”

I grinned and fistbumped with him. “Yeah, let’s do this!”