I’m Telling You, I’m Not a Boss Monster!

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Two heroes were lightly killed, and even the Great Sage was obliterated in a single blow.

Charlotte felt it was the utmost honor to serve him closely.

The sight of the boss collapsed helplessly was beyond strange; I couldn’t believe my eyes.

My eyes widened in shock as they darted back and forth between the boss and Cecilia.

No matter which way I looked, it just didn’t make sense.

“It’s all my fault. My master… he couldn’t bring himself to kill me…”

With every hint of her faltering voice, my confusion grew deeper.

…The boss supposedly didn’t resist on purpose.

Moreover, she called him ‘master.’

Could she really have been his disciple in life…?

No. That’s not what’s important right now.

The boss is dying.

Charlotte shot a glance at Cecilia, her eyes reddening without her realizing it.

She wanted nothing more than to tear her apart right now, but the boss’s well-being took precedence.

Charlotte knelt beside the boss and looked down at him.

His pupils were dim. An Undead’s existence depended on the presence of those eyes.

In them, the lingering light meant his remaining life.

The boss’s eyes were gradually losing their light.

Charlotte bit her lip, desperately trying to stifle the rising anguish.

“If the boss dies, you will die by my hand.”

“I will die. Please, just save my master…”

“You need to take responsibility for your actions and eliminate all the hunters you’ve brought with you. They could interfere.”

“Yes, I will… please, just let him live.”

As soon as the conversation was over, Cecilia dashed into the battlefield.

Her bloodthirsty gaze picked out members of the hunting party.

The vengeance she harbored within her was undiluted; the objective simply changed.

The true culprit that made me kill my master is humanity itself.

In a flash, Cecilia’s feet approached behind the hero Leon.

Slash—

Moonlight flashed like a blade. A silver line was drawn across Leon’s neck.

Swoosh! Blood sprayed out, and his head rolled onto the ground.

As Cecilia’s gaze flickered for a moment, she sought out the hero Astin.

Once again, her figure vanished, and silver followed like a tail.

Swish!

“—!”

Astin couldn’t even utter a scream before his head was severed.

Two sword strikes. Two steps forward. That was all it took to kill two heroes.

They were merely old and weary, and even if it was an ambush, it was almost instantaneous.

“Run! Cecilia is our enemy!”

“Leon! Astin…!”

“Retreat! Retreat!”

The humans realized Cecilia’s intent and shouted.

Even while they panicked, Cecilia charged through them, raining down her strikes.

In the darkness, moonlight swirled and red blood surged.

The moonlight no longer cut down the minions of night; it brutally slaughtered the humans instead.

***

Charlotte, who had glanced at that scene, quickly turned away.

There was no room for distraction.

Now was the time to focus all her attention on the boss.

“…What should I do?”

Trusting solely in necromancy, Cecilia left the boss in Charlotte’s care.

However, even a necromancer couldn’t revive every Undead.

Undead that lacked a bonded soul were not her subjects.

‘Soul Bond.’

A relationship forged through souls, perhaps an even deeper master-servant bond.

The mage holds unconditional control over their minions.

Moreover, if the mage dies, the minions will perish as well.

It was inconceivable for Charlotte to control the boss as a subordinate and something that must not happen.

But, if the mage willingly becomes a servant to another…

Although difficult, it’s not impossible to reverse the master-minion relationship.

Charlotte had seen that content in the Necronomicon and had recalls she had read through intermittently.

She had once wished to swear her soul to him.

Even now, as she hesitated, the light of dawn was fading.

Charlotte quickly smeared the blood flowing from her head in her palm.

With her blood-soaked hand, she grasped the boss’s hand.

A bond forged with a blood pact and a spirit pact.

Despite this being her first attempt, Charlotte recited the oath without hesitation.

“I beg of you, my lord. Please, let your darkness become the curtain in which I shall dwell. If you do so, I will offer both my spirit and my flesh to you. Even if my bones are buried in the earth, should you call for me, I will respond.”

Her tightly closed eyes trembled gently above.

Unknowingly, strength gathered in their grasp.

“I dare to ask you to be my master.”

A remarkably dense dark magic began to rise around Charlotte.

The soul bond offered by the mage as a sacrificial offering.

If magic alone wasn’t enough, it could be possible to use the mage’s body and soul to revive.

As long as the lingering light hadn’t completely gone out, it might still be possible with dark magic alone.

Charlotte looked into his dimming eyes and summoned her dark magic.

A great mass of murky energy enveloped the boss’s body.

Charlotte internally prayed, or rather, made a fervent plea.

An instinctual yearning for him to live. But since he was an Undead, it transformed into a mock prayer.

Charlotte closed her eyes tightly, focusing all her nerves on tuning the dark magic.

She hadn’t been able to help him at all as a subordinate.

If she let it end this way, it would be unbearably tragic and drive her insane.

If he died, no matter what it took, Charlotte would kill Cecilia.

Even if he were revived, she had sworn to kill her.

Finally, when she opened her eyes, the Death Knight’s eyes glimmered with a blue light.

“…Ah.”

Overwhelmed with emotion, Charlotte could only dumbly flap her mouth.

***

…What is this?

The moment I opened my eyes, Charlotte’s tear-stained face flooded into view.

The angle was so burdensome that I instinctively looked away.

Suddenly, I felt a trembling touch in my grasp.

Wondering what was going on, I realized Charlotte had caught my hand in her own.

Noticing my gaze, Charlotte quickly withdrew her hand.

“Thank goodness… thank goodness…”

She stumbled anxiously, something quite uncharacteristic of her.

I looked at her curiously and glanced around.

From a distance, I saw a silver flash, and memories began to overlap before I lost consciousness.

I was certainly dying after being stabbed by Cecilia.

What happened afterward was unclear, but I seemed to have been revived with Charlotte’s help.

‘If it weren’t for Dual Existence, I would have been dead.’

I wasn’t losing consciousness; rather, I was drifting away into the void.

If it weren’t for Dual Existence, the Moonlight Blade would have killed me.

Regardless, thanks to that, I wondered if the necromancer Charlotte had revived me somehow.

How, I didn’t know, but somehow she did.

After a moment of coming back to my senses, I continued looking around until my gaze landed on Cecilia.

Incredibly, the sight of her slaughtering other humans unfolded before my eyes.

‘…Is my vision messed up?’

The whole sequence of events didn’t match up at all.

Cecilia, who had tried to kill me a moment ago, was suddenly massacring her own.

That question quickly dissipated.

After seeing Isabella, a frantic will spun in my mind.

Before I could gather my thoughts, I had already gripped the Holy Sword and was striding toward her.

“My lord—”

I heard Charlotte’s voice behind me, but there wasn’t enough time to respond.

[Lv. 88]

Fortunately, Isabella had managed to survive.

Her life was hanging by a thread, but I had a way to save her.

Vampires may be minions of the night, but they were not considered Undead.

Meaning the healing power of the Holy Sword applied to her.

The crimson glow of the sword transformed into a pure white light according to my intent.

Pressing the healing Solaria against Isabella, her deep wounds rapidly closed.

The distorted expression on Isabella’s face softened in an instant.

Even in a state of unconsciousness, her life was preserved for now.

“Kiriririk…”

Not too far away, I turned to Balutak, who lay in a deep green pool of blood.

Balutak, with his upper and lower body separated, struggled to raise his head.

The antennas of the insect-like creature trembled weakly.

Balutak’s vitality was as tenacious as a cockroach.

While that fact had been tiresome in the game, it was a godsend now.

I reattached Balutak’s severed upper and lower body and brought the Holy Sword to him.

Not only did the wounds seamlessly integrate, but the severed edges began to seal with light.

In the end, Balutak stood up in perfect condition.

“Kirik! The chief has saved me again! Balutak is loyal to the chief!”

While Isabella was still unconscious from the aftereffects, Balutak looked perfectly fine. He didn’t even seem like someone who had died and come back.

It was clear he had a relatively low level but remained far more resilient than anyone.

I let out a sigh of relief.

“Chief, please save that madman too!”

“…Madman, you say?”

“That madman, I’m talking about! Kirik!”

Balutak pointed at Carleon.

It suddenly dawned on me that Balutak didn’t know enough, despite his ignorance.

The healing power of the Holy Sword would be like pouring salt into the wounds of the Undead Carleon.

Carleon would simply retrieve his physical body, and Roseha would somehow revive him.

The level of damage wasn’t severe enough to worry too much.

“Balutak. Take care of Isabella.”

“Kirik! Got it!”

Flapping his limbs, Balutak flew toward Isabella.

“Boss.”

Before I knew it, Charlotte had closed the distance to me.

Although she called me, her gaze was directed beyond me at Cecilia.

Cecilia, who had been slaughtering the humans, suddenly froze in place, just then.

For some reason, it started when our eyes met.

“Uwaaaah!”

Taking advantage of the moment, the remnants of the hunting party scattered sporadically.

Cecilia walked in the opposite direction as if she didn’t even notice.

That direction was aligned with me.

The minions of the night stood frozen in place.

As Cecilia passed before them, they could only swallow their fear.

Cecilia, drenched in blood, approached me with heavy strides.

Only Charlotte maintained her vigilance, casting a murky magic circle in the air.

I, too, caught sight of Cecilia’s Moonlight Sword. Simultaneously, I tried to step back.

However, as my gaze landed on her head, my movements instinctively halted.

[Lv. 93]

A dark pink, so rich it was distant from red.

I briefly thought it was Charlotte’s level, but it was undoubtedly Cecilia.

‘…Why?’

Instead of feeling at ease, I couldn’t take any action due to the bewilderment.

While I stood there vacant, Cecilia reached me.

Before I could react, she threw herself toward me, collapsing in front of me.

Even now, as I held Cecilia in my arms, I couldn’t discern if this was truly reality.

“Master…”

Her low voice trembled through me.

A strong sense of relying on me came through her entire body.

But wait, what did she just say?

“…Master?”

I involuntarily muttered to myself.

Cecilia looked up at me with wide eyes.

Tears welled in her gaze.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry… Even if it were me, I would have thought the same.”

“…?”

“I understand the feelings of a disciple who tried to kill their master…”

What the hell is she talking about?

“But, please, Master, can you forgive me? I’ve only just gotten to see you… If you push me away now…”

No, seriously! What the hell is she saying?

I’m not your master, dammit!