Thank you so much! I'm continuing the project after judging is complete!
I need to communicate to the player better that they are completely safe inside the Iron Circle. It blocks all damage. I didn't have time to make a shader that causes the boss / ghosts to be masked out by the circle, so there isn't any indicator to the player that they are safe. I may add a glow or outline around the player to show their invulnerability status.
My current plans for the game involve adding a second character that is a swordman sworn to protect the player. This will allow the player to focus on defense while the swordsman does offense. Special abilities will combo with the other character. The goal would be to make the swordsman feel like an extension of the player.