Trellise’s side quest was designed in a rather cruel way.
The aim was to defeat Allaryx, but doing so on the first try was practically impossible. There were no petty tricks, impossible-to-dodge attacks, or skills involved.
In the words of the lead developer, Allaryx was "impossibly strong."
He said in an unreleased interview that if someone could "defeat him in the first try, a great tragedy would be avoidable."
But that was asking for the impossible.
- This is going hard!
- The best boss theme by a margin.
"Time to beat you down," Noala announced.
But none of that happened.
On the contrary, he found himself on the defensive.
Allaryx was overwhelming him with nothing but subpar stabs and sweeps. It was as if he were playing with a child out of boredom.
Throughout the battle, he would randomly switch his patterns and fighting style.
Sometimes, he was fluid. Sometimes, he was strong. Sometimes, he tried to bait Noala by intentionally slowing down his offense.
- His skill animations are so cool.
- Allaryx looks the coolest out of all the bosses. End it already, Noala.
But the streamer couldn’t do anything but get his behind kicked repeatedly.
It grew so monotonous that even Allaryx found the sequence a waste of time. He stopped his attacks and gave out a shrill screech.
The skill name appeared on the screen, and Noa found himself unable to move.
He was a knight, and the knight class was built with strong defensive stats and skills. It had the best survival kit and resistance against debuffs out of any class.
"Seriously? I have seventy percent resistance against stun, goddamnit."
He chugged a potion, which allowed him to move. Unfortunately, he was left staggered, lowering his defenses.
He looked for a cure, but he hadn’t packed any.
Grasping the opportunity, Allaryx rushed at him and swung his glaive with fearsome accuracy.
It sent Noa flying towards the wall on the far side. He was slammed into the protruding rock formation.
One third of his massive health pool was gone.
Noala paused the game.
His sleepiness had completely vanished. His head was as clear as it could possibly get.
- He is wiping the floor with you.
- This is why I told you to read about him!
"Okay, let’s just calm the nerves."
The pause function of Heresy of the Fallen World was different than most other games. It was introduced as an inherent ability of Noa.
It was the ability to halt the flow of time.
He couldn’t move while time was paused, of course. But his mental abilities did continue, providing him with an advantage against his enemies.
It allowed him to plan his next moves.
"Okay, just breathe and—"
Suddenly, the screen turned red, and the space was cleaved in two by Allaryx’s glaive.
"What?" Noala yelled. "I didn’t even press anything!"
Noa’s left arm flew into the air, and a spray of blood colored the water red.
"I lost an arm? How? This has never happened before. You can lose body parts? How? Why? What?"
Noala hastily paused again and put the controller down, afraid his shaky fingers might turn off the paused screen again.
The glaive, once again, tore through time and space.
Unable to protest, Noa was sliced from groin to head, from one side to another.
He was slain in just two clean hits, as evident by the upturned cross engraved by Allaryx’s strikes on the wall.
Noala’s sleep was vaporized.
Celli had been streaming for a week.
Partially because of Averie, she had managed to gain a small audience.
She was more of a casual gamer. She liked to read the lore and smell the roses. But she found it entertaining to play the game alongside an audience.
Today, too, Celli was streaming alone.
She was happy with the nature of the people pouring in. They weren’t fanatics like Averie’s fanbase.
They were, in the most pleasant term, normal.
"It feels nice to talk about something I enjoy with people of similar hobbies," she said.
- Why did you even become friends with that fiend?
- You should stay away from that demon.
Celli giggled. "Mr. Auclair isn’t that bad. He is just... unique."
Even Lucifer would have shed a tear at the good character of the girl.
The Warden of Hell had nothing better to do than watch a Japanese girl stream a game his old friend acted in.
"To call him unique," — He sniffled — "she has a kind soul."
Even he was incapable of calling his friend anything but the worst of profanities, and half the Hell agreed.
But unlike others, Celli was truly thankful to Averie.
Even though her leg had stunted her ability to enjoy adventurous activities, she could now enjoy gaming with others.
After losing her leg, daily activities seemed like the biggest challenge ahead.
But that wasn’t true. She became proficient enough that the challenges of daily life stopped bothering her long ago.
It was the sudden and continuous onslaught of loneliness that remained her true challenge.
Isolation was a word that encapsulated Celli’s condition after the accident.
Creating music provided her with solace.
But now that she had a way to connect with people on a much personal level than a concert, it felt like every day was brighter than the one before.
It felt like all the things she had lost were returning.
It wasn’t a big change, nor was it something she would shed tears over. Nonetheless, this was something exciting in her mundane life.
And surprisingly, people loved her for being genuine.
- Do you prefer coffee or tea?
"It depends on the day."
Coffee in hand, she was reading the chat while the game was paused, when a comment caught her attention.
- You’ve got to see this! Quick! Pull up Noala’s stream!
A member of her audience was going wild in chat.
- This boss, you’ve got to see him!
She clicked on the link.
The first thing she heard was the scream of a man in misery.
The second thing she heard was a piece she had written after meeting Averie for the first time.
She was about to witness for whom her efforts were applied.