NOVEL NEXT Chapter 355
Side Story: Experience Boss Battle – 1
“It’s been a while, Commander.”
“How have you been, Laksia?”
“With the Holy Knight Order serving the Holy One, just standing around feels like being pampered. Is there any reason not to be doing well? If anything, it’s too good!”
Laksia added with a light laugh, “But that doesn’t mean I want to be doing poorly.”
Since the last time she had met the Darkest Warrior, Laksia’s face had definitely brightened up quite a bit. One glance was enough to see it.
It had been so long since they last engaged in real combat that even the paperwork they needed to deal with was becoming less and less. Perhaps that was the reason.
The sentiment among the other members seemed to be roughly 80-20. The worried eight were concerned about whether it was alright to be making money while doing nothing, while the laid-back two thought it was fine as long as they performed well when tasked.
I didn’t really feel like commenting. Anyone in my position would have loved money rolling in while doing nothing. Besides, as the commander, if I wasn’t giving them any orders, what could they possibly do? They’d just have to keep defending the sanctuary.
“Is there really nothing to do? Hundreds come visiting every day from the Holy Kingdom.”
“It’s not like the fanatics go crazy every time they hear about the Holy One. Being rude here is, in a way, desecrating the sanctuary, as well as tarnishing the Holy One’s honor. More than ten thousand have come and gone without a single incident. Sometimes I wonder if they’re really human.”
Laksia remarked with disdain as she leaned against the office window, overlooking the sanctuary. Hundreds were orderly kneeling before a life-sized marble statue of the “Holy One,” praying earnestly.
Aside from a few men mixed in, it was an overwhelming display of flesh color. Some weren’t even trying to cover their genitals or rears, fully exposed due to the kneeling and bowing position.
In the past, such exposure would only have been possible for battle nuns or priests, yet due to the recent inflation of divine power and faith, even regular nuns donned such attire, it seemed.
‘As for attire, I don’t feel outdone here either.’
I gazed at Laksia, who was propping her lower chest up with one arm while sipping coffee. With the vice commander in a bunny outfit right beside her, she couldn’t exactly complain about the exposure.
It wasn’t just Laksia, either; the other vice commanders also had stickers on their nipples and genitals. The regular members had even gone to the extent of replacing their outfits with transparent bunny girl attire.
‘Why did I react to the popes wearing white shirts and jeans, but not to this exposure? Am I too accustomed to it now?’
As I engaged in such pointless contemplation over the relationship between exposure and arousal, Laksia set her empty coffee cup down on the desk and asked.
“By the way, what brings you to us?”
“I have something to ask.”
“Something to ask?”
The knights stationed stood frozen, staring blankly at the looming monster before them. Having not experienced real combat for so long, their pristine black armor gleamed brightly in the light.
Helga, who was among the vice commanders, suddenly asked, “Are we supposed to face that thing?”
“That’s right. It shouldn’t be a big deal, right?”
“Just looking at it doesn’t seem like it’s anything small.”
It had a massive build, at least four times that of a regular human, with four arms, each wielding a matching golden greatsword, and adorned in armor lavishly decorated with jewels and gold.
The sight of a monster covered in expensive gems led the regular members to cluster together and murmur.
“Hey, who said they didn’t want to stay in the castle?”
“Why are you looking at me? It’s not me.”
“Do you think they’ll send us back if we say it’s better to stay inside the castle now?”
“Have you ever thought about considering your words before speaking?”
“Wow, how much would just that one sell for?”
“Give up. If it’s too scratched up, they won’t pay top dollar for it. Besides, doesn’t it bother you that you’re getting paid so much?”
Their whispers were almost too quiet to hear, yet they couldn’t escape my ears. Only Laksia, realizing I could hear everything, seemed to panic.
“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything.”
At my words, her face brightened. I didn’t particularly want to blame them for anything. Unless the discipline had been completely shattered, they were good at following orders.
“Alright, then I’ll explain what we’ll be doing from now on, so pay attention.”
As I opened my mouth, the murmurs that had filled the space moments ago vanished entirely. Over a hundred pairs of eyes focused on me.
Having donned full plate armor instead of a bunny outfit made me look quite knight-like. When I gathered them at the castle, all I could see were bunny suits, making me wonder what they were doing.
“One vice commander and ten regular members from each unit will charge at that thing. Each group can discuss their strategy. You don’t have to approach it with a mindset to kill. The combat itself holds its own significance.”
One person raised their hand.
“Can we think of it as sparring?”
“Similar. But unlike sparring, if you get hit, it’ll hurt a lot. You won’t die, but you might feel like you’re about to. Don’t worry, as long as you’re still breathing, you’ll be healed perfectly.”
This time, another person raised their hand.
“May I ask how long you plan to do this?”
“Not too long. Each unit will have one round of combat, so don’t worry. Oh, there will be additional rewards based on how many successful attacks you land on it. The more you succeed, the better the rewards, of course all cash rewards, and the amounts will be…”
As soon as I mentioned the substantial sums, a different kind of murmuring spread among them. Suddenly, everyone’s spirit seemed to surge.
“Then prepare as you see fit.”
As expected of a knight order that had once guarded the Empress, they assembled smoothly without me needing to give separate commands. That’s when I heard Eclipse’s soft voice.
“We’re ready, Your Grace. I’ve made slight adjustments to their cognitive abilities, so they won’t be killing the Dark Night Order.”
“Understood. Thank you, Goddess.”
“It’s nothing. I’m just glad I can reference the patterns of the NPCs appearing in the boss battle.”
“You could have simply created humans yourself to conduct experiments without going through all this trouble.”
Just like you always have.
“Then I should be thanking you.”
“……”
Eclipse fell silent.
“The order has been decided, Commander.”
“Alright. Who’s first?”
Laksia approached, stating she had arranged the order. I sent everyone except the eleven designated for the first round to a nearby building.
The knights, amazed by the instantaneous teleportation, seemed to understand my intent and steadily took their seats in the audience.
A large rectangle appeared in the air, displaying the knights’ figures as they approached the boss. Perhaps because it was their first time witnessing magic that projected space itself, the commotion grew even louder.
“Uh, Commander. Is there a separate meaning behind this action?”
Laksia, sitting right next to me, cautiously asked. Not that it held much significance; it was simply my curiosity.
That monster was supposed to be the boss named “Honorable Knight, Keiras,” due to appear in Brightest Darkness 5. It was designed for large-scale raids with up to 11 NPCs fighting together.
Since this setup was quite different from the traditional boss battles seen in the Brightest Darkness series, I had been intrigued to hear that such a boss would be making an appearance.
‘They are the most suitable after all.’
The women close to me were too strong to consider. Even one of them would be able to match the boss in a fair fight, so if eleven joined in, the poor boss would be utterly beaten down.
Not to mention, using NPCs summoned by Eclipse felt spoilerish somehow. That’s why I brought in the Dark Night Order.
Having had my fun, it was time to move a little.
“You can think of this as a test to see how your skills measure up compared to monsters from another world.”
But I couldn’t very well state that outright, so I skipped the sensitive details while avoiding lies.
“……Wait a moment. Did you say another world?”
Laksia’s voice rose.
“Right.”
“How…?”
“Did you forget what I’m called in the Holy Kingdom?”
At my remark, Laksia nodded in understanding.
Once I had brought her to terms, I handed a large cola and a popcorn to each of the knights. Since they had all grown used to my world’s food, the sound of them crunching popcorn began to fill the air.
As the atmosphere felt like a movie theater among the audience, the screen displayed knights in black armor closing in on the boss.
Despite having just been having fun, the skills of those who once served to guard the Empress were still sharp. The weapon of the foremost unit glowed a brilliant blue.
Crash!
Then, in the blink of an eye, the boss swung a full blow and sent the knight flying over ten meters. The impact seemed significant as the knight couldn’t even roll properly and crashed to the floor.
The sound of popcorn chewing faded away.
‘There’s no way they can’t even touch it, right?’
Even if the boss was designed as a low-level monster and had area attacks and knockback effects, surely that wouldn’t happen.