A magic circle suddenly appeared beneath Haruto—just before he could escape.
"Flame of Hell."
The Orc Boss roared, releasing a surge of pure crimson fire from the circle. But Haruto, using Mind Acceleration, perceived the world in slow motion. He narrowly dodged the flames, landing just outside the blast zone.
"That… was closer than I expected," he muttered, catching his breath.
The Orc Boss smirked.
"So, you can dodge that attack... Looks like I need to take you seriously."
"Rōken no Ryōkai."
A barrier instantly engulfed the battlefield, stretching over a 500-meter radius. The sky dimmed, and the world went silent.
"W-What's happening?" Haruto asked, eyes darting around.
[The boss has created a barrier covering everything within a 500-meter radius. Every living being inside is rendered invisible, undetectable, and unable to exit. Likewise, no one from outside can enter.]
"Why would he go this far…?"
[To kill you.]
The Orc Boss raised a hand and sneered.
"Now… let the battle begin."
Thousands of armed skeletons began crawling out from his shadow—like a flood of death.
"He's summoning undead…" Haruto observed grimly as an iron sword materialized in his hand.
"Let's try to make this somewhat fair. Summon."
[Summons blocked. Due to the Boss's passive: Regnum Meūm, no one but the Boss may summon monsters.]
"Hey—that's unfair!" Haruto shouted, tightening his grip on his sword.
"That's the fun of battle! Hahaha! Kill him, my slaves!"
The skeletons charged. Haruto quickly conjured a Freezing Bomb in his hand and hurled it at the incoming horde. It exploded, freezing many of them solid—but not all. And the Boss stood completely unaffected.
"It's still not enough…"
[Negative Emotion: Nullified.]
"…What's this?"
[You are now immune to negative emotions—fear, panic, despair, etc.]
"...That might actually help." Haruto smirked. He could feel his confidence returning.
Raising his sword, he pointed it directly at the boss. "Alright... let's go all out."
[Virgin Determination: Activated.]
The Orc Boss's grin widened.
"Looks like you're finally enjoying this fight."
"I wasn't… not at first. But now?" Haruto vanished in an instant—moving so fast, the ground where he stood shattered from the force. "Now I can say that I am."
"Protection of H—"
Before the Boss could finish casting, his arm was sliced clean off.
"AAAHHH!"
He dropped to one knee, groaning in agony. Haruto stood before him—his eyes cold, his sword dripping with blood.
"It's over."
Haruto raised his sword to finish the job.
"Lux Caeli!" the boss shouted.
A lightning strike came crashing down on Haruto—but it didn't leave a scratch. He stood firm, completely unfazed.
The Boss's eyes widened with terror. He tried to retreat—but as he turned, Haruto was already standing right behind him.
"P-Please... forgive me! I beg you!" The Boss dropped to his knees and bowed.
"You showed no mercy to those people... And now you expect me to forgive you?" "I-I'm sorry! I swear! I won't kill again!"
Haruto didn't say another word.
He swung his sword.
The Orc Boss's head flew through the air. And just before the light left its eyes, it saw a flashback—of a black figure with glowing red eyes, sitting on a horse.
[Boss Defeated.] [Level Up: +2 Levels.] [Stat Increase: +2 Points.] [Skill Points Gained: +2.]
"Put both points into Defense," Haruto said calmly.
[Understood... Updating Stats…]
Name: Haruto
Level: 22
EXP: 2
HP: 1500 → 1700
STR: 25 → 27
SPD: 23 → 25
DEF: 18 → 22
[Stats Updated.]
[Reward Claimed: Sword of Flame]
[New Abilities Acquired:]
[Shadow Realm:
An infinite shadow dimension connected to your own shadow. Space and time do not exist within it.]
[Resurrection of Loyalty:
Revive a dead being. Upon revival, it automatically forms a Blood Contract with you.
100% chance of success on same or lower level beings. Lower chance on higher-level targets.]
Haruto's eyes lit up.
"Ohhh... I've got my own realm now? That's awesome! And the loyalty resurrection thing sounds super handy. But I don't like that lower chance part…"
[Would you like to use it on the Orc Boss?]
[YES] [NO]
"I can use it… on him? Then yeah. Use it."
Black and blue flames engulfed the Orc Boss's body. A glowing bird-shaped mark appeared on his chest.
The Boss rose—kneeling silently before Haruto.
[Would you like to name your servant?]
"Wait… I get to name him?"
[Yes. He had no name, so now you may choose one.]
"I'm bad at naming things…" Haruto scratched his head. "Hmm... how about... Mercedes?"
[Is that a car name, or a reference to Mercedes from that one game?]
"How the hell do you know about that car?!"
[I told you in the previous chapter—I know everything.]
"…Previous chapter? What do you mean—?"
[Nothing.]
Before Haruto could press the issue, the Orc spoke in a deep voice.
"Thank you… for naming me, Ruler."
"It's fine. Just remember—you're my servant now. Got it?" Haruto's tone turned firm and commanding as his eyes glowed red for a moment.
"I understand."
Mercedes dissolved into shadow, vanishing.
"Huh. How'd he do that?"
[Because of the Shadow Realm. You can store your summons inside it and call them at will.]
"That's amazing…"
Suddenly, Haruto remembered something.
"Wait—the party! They… they died, didn't they?"
[Yes.]
Strangely, Haruto didn't feel a thing.
"…Even though they're gone… I don't feel any emotion."
[That's the Negative Emotion Nullification at work. I mentioned it earlier.]
"…Is it okay if I don't feel sympathy?"
[That's your choice.]
"You're right… I'll just tell the Guild they died because the boss was unexpectedly A-rank… and he could summon undead. That should be believable."
[You're finally using the IQ I gave you.]
"Heh. You could say that."
At the Guild...
Haruto walked into the Guild Hall. It was empty.
The receptionist looked up and smiled.
"Welcome back. Did you finish the quest?"
"Yes, I did."
Her eyes scanned the room, then narrowed.
"…Where are the others?"
"They… didn't make it."
"W-What? They died?" she asked—but she didn't seem overly shocked.
"The boss wasn't B-rank. He was A-rank. And he could summon undead. We got outnumbered. They were all wiped out. I somehow managed to defeat the boss."
"I see…" She placed a pouch on the counter.
"Here—20 silver coins and 2 gold coins."
"Thanks. But... you don't look very surprised that they died."
She sighed.
"Well, adventurers die on quests all the time. It's part of the job. I've seen it happen so often… I've just grown used to it."
"Yeah… I guess that's true. Thanks for the reward. I'll head out now."
"Take care," she said with a small smile, waving him off.
As Haruto walked back to the inn, his mind drifted to the upcoming date with Arthoria but he was feeling something was missing as Samantha cones to his mind for second.
"I can't wait for tomorrow..." he muttered with a smile.
A little while later, he lay on his bed in the inn.
"Man… I'm tired from everything today. System, can you give me the Sword of Flame?"
[Understood.]
The sword materialized in his hand.
"Whoa… it looks incredible." He admired the black flames swirling around the blade, then gave it a swing. "Haha—it's light… and easy to handle."
[Would you like to test it?]
"Where? On who?"
[On yourself.]
"Don't joke like that."
[I'm not.]
"…Okay then. Put it back."
[Understood.]
The sword vanished.Haruto lay back, eyes closing. Sleep took him swiftly.