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

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“Wow….”

Isabella gasped in awe.

A pit several kilometers in diameter had formed.

The remnants of condensed mana shimmered above it.

Just moments ago, there had been tens of thousands of undead, but now there wasn’t a trace left.

Even the higher-ups of the decay cave were in a similar state.

Isabella could only agree that the power displayed was remarkable.

Amidst it all, the two of them remained unharmed, thanks to Charlotte, who likely shielded them with a barrier.

“Incredible. The boss’s blessing.”

“…Indeed.”

Even Charlotte, the very source of it, had her eyes wide with surprise. For some reason, she seemed more astonished than Isabella.

Isabella found it absurd. Why was Charlotte the one so shocked when it was her own doing?

Charlotte tightened her grip on her staff.

Isabella recognized it was a good staff, but experiencing its power firsthand truly struck her.

If she were to describe it, the word ‘good’ wouldn’t do it justice.

It was the boundless blessing of the boss. That was the only expression that came to mind.

“Are you saying you can’t live without it now?”

Isabella covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled.

“That’s not the case.”

Charlotte took her response seriously, and Isabella pouted her lips.

It was undoubtedly a magnificent staff, but saying she couldn’t live without it was an exaggeration.

Instead, she grasped tightly onto the bones tucked in her collar.

“I’m already at the point where I can’t live without the boss.”

“….”

With a wistful gaze, it caused a shiver down the spine of anyone watching.

Unable to contain herself, Isabella trembled.

***

Roseha closed her eyes tightly.

She was using the dolls she had deployed across the Empire to assess the situation.

It was a new sensation for her, but sharing senses and linking portals with the dolls was undeniably overpowered.

“Looks like my adjutant is done.”

As expected, this fraudulent item had paid off well.

It was an EX-class item, so it had to deliver.

“How’s the north?”

“We’re still in combat, but there’s nothing to worry about. It looks like it will end smoothly.”

Cecilia and Balutak were specialized for small skirmishes, so time might be slow, but there was no need to fret.

“Strangely, I can’t see Calandas. Just a moment ago, he was with two legions…”

Roseha bit her lip, still keeping her eyes closed.

She had 200 dolls spread throughout the Empire. If she couldn’t find him, he was likely hiding somewhere remote.

Calandas, the mastermind behind the gathering and the legion’s sorcerer.

Whether it was a hundred thousand or a million undead, once he’s dead, everything would end.

“Looks like he’s being cautious.”

The undead legion was connected through a collective consciousness.

If Roseha’s eyes and ears were 200 dolls, Calandas had hundreds of thousands of undead acting as his eyes and ears.

While they used to rampage in all directions, it was clear now that he had picked up on something and was secluded.

In the blink of an eye, four of his legions had been annihilated.

At this point, he should have offered negotiations, yet there was no sign of such.

It seemed he was still intent on dragging the Empire and us into his domain.

What was he scheming? I honestly couldn’t predict his grand design.

“First, we need to head to the center. The western legion has invaded the middle.”

The two legions Calandas commanded in the west had already approached the center.

If the central part was occupied, even if the war ended, humanity would lose its focal point.

Of course, it wouldn’t matter to me if just Calandas was gone and the Empire fell.

However, having ventured into this, I judged it was right to defend the Empire.

The ramifications of humanity’s extinction would be devastating for Roseha.

In truth, the Empire’s survival was necessary not just for others but for myself too.

Although I may seem tough, being human, I wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while if I witnessed humanity’s demise.

Although I was normally unable to sleep, still.

“Calandas comes next, then.”

I would first suppress the center and then capture Calandas.

I wished to subdue him without killing him, but he wouldn’t bend even if it meant his death.

He had already officiated the end and would not pull back now.

If I did end up having to kill him, the repercussions would—

I shook my head, dispelling the unease.

It was arrogance to think about the aftermath of a war that hadn’t even concluded.

Eventually, Roseha opened a portal and stepped inside.

In the altered scenery, we were teleported into the middle of a wheat field.

The black soil spread through the central-western part of the Empire, and it seemed this was the place.

Across the wheat field, a huge army was marching.

As I drew my holy sword, Roseha also gripped her wicked sword, the Wretched Dream.

Once again looking ahead, I still couldn’t see Calandas.

Roseha raised her sword high.

Swish— the blade extended like a whip and easily surpassed ten meters in length.

As I adjusted my grip on the sword, the previously limp blade stood rigid.

“Doesn’t that look like a joke?”

…As expected of the Succubus Queen.

I chose to ignore the remark as if I hadn’t heard it.

The remaining legion leaders must have heard the news of the annihilation of four legions.

Even after confirming our presence, they continued marching without a hint of hesitation.

It seemed they had some confidence in each other.

Suddenly, the entire legion simultaneously halted their advance.

“What’s that?”

Roseha muttered in confusion, and I felt the same way.

A pure white aura emanated from their eyes without restraint.

A faint blue aura glimmered from their mouths while a dark, grim aura wafted from their noses.

Had their life force been drained as well? Their bodies rapidly desiccated.

In the end, they became like charred twigs, shriveled and colorless.

Although they were undead, they were now in worse shape than mere corpses.

Click, click.

Undead, having lost their life force, collapsed simultaneously.

Tens of thousands fell in an instant.

While it seemed empty and meaningless to die like that, considering the multicolored energies they had left behind, it was far from insignificant.

A sinister force flowed across the ground.

It aggressively swelled in a circular pattern.

Endlessly growing, it soon formed the shape of a magical circle. Yet this size couldn’t simply be viewed as a magical circle.

Its size had expanded beyond the fields, threatening to upend the world.

The energy forming the law had become profoundly thick.

“…Calandas.”

Roseha muttered briefly.

Even I, who had little knowledge of magic, could guess who was behind this.

Only Calandas could dare to wield such a massive spell.

“Anti-Magic Dragon Scales. Dual.”

From the black iron armor, blue scales sprouted in droves.

A translucent barrier was draped over Roseha.

I, too, transformed my mana eater into an anti-magic mode and unfolded the barrier.

Then, I grabbed Roseha’s shoulder and pulled her close beside me.

Roseha looked up at me, bewildered.

She looked puzzled seeing parasitism, but there was no time to explain.

With magic, there should be no impact from any hit.

I was confident I could withstand even ninth-circle annihilation magic multiple times.

In an instant, the magical circle that had been laid on the ground ceased expanding.

Rather, it was shrinking.

The interpretation had been wrong. It wasn’t shrinking; it was condensing.

Gradually decreasing, the magical circle became the size of a single person. Before long, it formed around me.

Even when I retreated, the magical circle pursued me, encasing only me.

There was no way to escape, nor could I find the sorcerer in such a brief moment.

“Ah!”

I pushed Roseha away, trying to prevent her from getting caught up in it.

No matter how powerful the Lich King was, it would be reckless for him to attack me with magic now.

Just as I thought to let him come at me, everything about me felt infinitely distant from the world.

A vague emptiness enveloped my mind and body.

It wasn’t just a void in my senses.

All my senses, including sight, had become empty.

“….”

Unconsciously, I looked around.

An endless expanse of colorless, odorless, and fictitious space unfolded.

I could neither see anything nor hear anything, and I couldn’t feel anything.

***

Barugore vanished.

In his place remained only a pure white crystal, and Roseha’s eyes narrowed upon seeing it.

“…Sealing Array.”

Sealing crystal.

It was undeniable that Calandas had remotely deployed the sealing array.

A large-scale, yet targeting a single entity sealing array.

Not restricting actions or abilities, but sealing the very existence itself.

“So, this was it. This was it.”

Calandas had been extremely wary of Barugore.

He had sacrificed tens of thousands of undead to seal him. Moreover, he poured mana into forming a singular sealing array.

Barugore was the solitary entity of The Seven Lairs.

In essence, one of The Seven Lairs had been sealed.

Roseha tried to grasp the crystal but didn’t budge from her spot.

The shrinking magical array in a large scale. The white crystal refusing to budge.

It was an ancient sealing array, well-known to Roseha.

A magic that could seal any existence.

The essence of magic, even the immortal dragon, Roxanne, could not evade this sealing array.

As definitive as it was certain, it naturally had its flaws.

“It lasts an hour, right?”

Temporary. Just an hour.

Once that hour passed, Barugore would naturally be liberated.

Conversely, an hour would be more than enough for them to surround him and prepare an all-out offensive.

If that were to happen, regardless of how great Barugore was, he would be a threat.

“I knew you would come.”

Roseha turned at the sound of approaching footsteps.

The Arc Lich and a ragtag corpse golem came into view.

The 7th and 8th generals of the decay cave. It was surprising not to see Calandas among them.

An army was advancing from a distance.

I thought they had sacrificed all of them, but perhaps some remained.

They were in a state not even lightly armed.

They were a force that had swelled by raiding cities and villages, not from existing legions.

“Where did Calandas go?”

Had he sealed the most threatening Barugore for an hour, while plotting to kill himself in isolation?

If it was just Calandas and those generals, Roseha would likely focus solely on stalling for time.

“That one shall not come.”

“What a bummer. I might have underestimated again.”

Roseha let out a hollow laugh.

She likely knew I had just taken down both generals. What was she thinking?

However, there was no way he would throw this opportunity away himself.

“The lord is preparing a great cause. He has no time to be concerned with this place.”

“A cause, you say?”

“No need to know. You’ll be dead soon anyway.”

“Ha. Just you guys?”

“Don’t be silly. The lord has ample arrangements in place.”

Thud!

The landing of a giant shook the ground.

The smile vanished from Roseha’s face.

While surveying the battlefield, there was one being she found as concerning as Calandas.

Perhaps it was a being she considered equal to herself; the Bond Dragon.

With murderous intent, brilliant blue eyes fixed on Roseha.

“This is bad.”

The two higher-ups of the decay cave. The Bond Dragon, a boss-level entity of The Seven Lairs.

Before long, the army had reached nearby, surrounding the area.

Roseha’s gaze lingered on the crystal.

By herself, she might last less than an hour before dying.

Yet if she escaped, he might die too.

There was no room for choice.

“…Just an hour.”

She just needed to hold out for an hour.