Dusk (BL Light Novel)

[“Once more—I shall scatter your final breath and bloom the Flower of Mourning!”]
My sixth sense was as sharp as ever, for all the good it did me. I wanted to cry. The first time, it had a cast bar and wind-up; this time, the Flower of Mourning came with zero cast time. Not funny. If it had shown even a single bar of warning, I would’ve saved my only buff for the last moment. Instead, I wasted it.

As I sighed, the golem didn’t reach with its wrecked right hand—it grabbed me with its intact left one instead. Looked like this time, the roles were reversed, and I’d be the one relying on Retaking to survive.
My HP was slowly ticking down while I was trapped in its grip. If Retaking hadn’t topped me off earlier, I might’ve actually been in danger.
[Party] Retaking: whoa

He was probably just as dazed as I’d been earlier, seeing a mechanic like this for the first time. I knew the feeling, trust me. In my case, the silhouette had been a moth—so I guessed his must be a butterfly. It was just a simple rhythm-timed minigame: hit any key at the right beat. No way Retaking would mess that up. I was ready for a dramatic rescue cutscene.
[Party] Retaking: what happens
[Party] Retaking: if I fail this?

And just like that, my expectations collapsed. No, shattered. My heart skipped a beat.
[Party] Honeybread: are you fcking serious rn
[Party] Honeybread: seriously?

[Party] Retaking: aren’t you curious??
Well I mean… yeah, kinda, but still… I wanted to see him saving me. The guy who always kills me, this time putting in actual effort to save me—it would’ve been a whole-ass character arc. I didn’t even hesitate back there, okay?! I saved him on instinct!
[Party] Honeybread: what if I say no, will you not do it?

Don’t tell me we’re wiping the run now. You’re not about to throw this, right? The golem’s only got 16% HP left. Right?!
I scrambled to figure out how to coax him out of this. If he asked for VC, I was gonna agree on the spot. I was negotiating with my own inner self when the party chat popped again:
[Party] Retaking: oh come on lol

[Party] Retaking: I’m not really gonna fail on purp—alwdsjklh h\\\\
The message was glitchy. Off. Something didn’t feel right. I tilted my camera downward, trying to look at Retaking’s position.
And that’s when I saw it. The black butterfly silhouette broke apart right there—splitting down the middle and crumbling to dust.

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
[Party] Retaking: ..heh
[Party] Honeybread: hey
[Party] Retaking: I, uh… really… really sorry;;

[Party] Honeybread: this is how you “retract” a flag??
The screen shook violently as my body slammed into the ground with the golem’s massive hand.
Retaking, that traitorous rhythm-game-failing bastard, hadn’t stopped the slam. He got flung back, and I—my character—took the full hit and instantly died.

On the shattered garden floor where the golem had pounded me into paste, my corpse and a glowing orb of light lay quietly. Just like the spirit wanted. I’d become the goddamn Seed of the Flower of Mourning.
[Party] Honeybread: <1x Seed of Mourning Flower>
I emote-dropped a fake loot item in chat, lost in despair.

[Party] Retaking: oh… lmaooooo
[Say] Honeybread: hey there?
[Party] Retaking: ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Retaking, half-apologizing and half-laughing, quickly cast to reduce casting time and started using his resurrection spell on me.
The catch? Resurrection takes eight seconds to cast. Even with Concentration, it’s still four. And if the golem hit him during that window, the cast would cancel.
So Retaking was now locked in what we call the “prayer meta”: recasting revive over and over, hoping he wouldn’t get interrupted. Sometimes, if you're lucky and your Focus stat kicks in, you can take a hit from a boss-level enemy without losing cast progress. But it’s all or nothing.

He was frantically juggling healing himself, trying to keep me alive, and dodging the boss. I glanced at his buff window—only four seconds left on Concentration. Two-thirds already used up, and he hadn’t pulled off a single successful revive yet.
I stared at his cast bar in suspense. Please revive me. If you do, I’ll let this go. I really don’t want to wipe.
We were both praying. (At least, if he had a conscience, he’d be praying too.) After topping off his HP just enough to survive two more autos, Retaking waited for the golem to swing and immediately cast resurrect right after the attack landed. That tight of a timing…

Could it really work?
[System] You’ve received the Revive effect from Retaking.
It actually worked—a goddamn miracle!

I hit accept the second the revive prompt appeared and got to my feet. Retaking focused on healing himself. Since the revive animation was a bit long, I mashed A and D repeatedly to speed it up, then charged back in and popped my doping buff.
In Dusk, when you revive with a skill, you don’t generate threat for a short while. Doesn’t matter to healers or DPS, but as a tank, that’s brutal. If I didn’t draw aggro, the golem’s attacks would go straight for Retaking.
I could use my Taunt skill to grab immediate aggro, but that only made me the target temporarily. The actual threat value would reset once the duration ended, and the boss would turn back to whoever had built the most hate—probably Retaking.

The golem’s autos were deadly to him. One regular hit could take off a third of his HP, and if it crit? Game over.
I rushed toward Retaking and placed myself squarely between him and the golem. As the boss swung its arm toward him, I blocked it with my shield and quickly ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) typed:
[Party] Honeybread: behind me

Like a seasoned veteran, Retaking immediately responded—slipping in behind me and sticking close, just far enough to stay safe. Shield Block applies to allies directly behind me, and saving him came first.
I was doing all this for him—and he failed the simplest minigame and got me killed? Just wait. I’m going to roast him for years over this.
Still, I calmly blocked every incoming swing to keep Retaking alive. The damage was cut in half compared to before. He had enough breathing room now to refresh my buffs and throw in a few attacks of his own. Looked like he’d memorized the cone attack timing too—when the golem wound up, he cleanly dodged out of range.

The boss dropped below 10% HP and started casting the tank-buster . This was a targeted skill. If it hit Retaking, he’d die—guaranteed. Fortunately, the timing was perfect. My threat level was finally catching up.
I taunted the boss right as the cast bar appeared, yanked the aggro back, and walked forward to reestablish positioning—Retaking behind the golem, just like at the start. Stability restored.
[“Be crushed! I said be CRUSHED!”]

The voice line this time was much more desperate, like the boss was lashing out in rage. Maybe this one hit harder?
The golem’s arm moved. But unlike last time, it wasn’t winding up one fist—it was gearing up for a double-handed smash. I got the same chill I felt earlier—right before nearly dying.
I quickly popped another defensive cooldown. Right before the strike landed, I typed a short message:

[Party] Honeybread: hlep
The moment I hit Enter, the golem twisted its torso and launched its left fist forward first, accelerating as it came. Even though I timed my Shield Block perfectly, that single tank-buster hit took me down to below 10% HP. Are you serious?! Two cooldowns and a perfect block, and I still lost over 90% of my HP? There’s another tank-buster after this? Is Retaking even capable of saving me right now?
My heart couldn’t take much more of this. I felt completely drained, not even sure what else I could do. But unlike me—staring helplessly at the screen—Retaking didn’t hesitate. He looked at my critically low HP and made a snap decision: he could save this.

He didn’t give up.
And just like that, he started healing—fast.