The Tomb of Faith
"Could it be... that because of my inadequacy, you are trying to learn necromancy yourself, Boss? I knew it. I am so sorry. Just as you thought, I am useless to this dungeon."
Charlotte was highly capable. Even putting aside my personal bias, she was objectively an incredibly competent subordinate. Guarding a Rank 2 dungeon was no easy task.
Though she did push my buttons back then.
Aside from taking out a private loan without my permission, Charlotte had gone above and beyond her duties. It was pitying to see her chip away at her own self-esteem, completely unaware of her own worth.
*Thump.*
"Ow."
I tapped the crown of Charlotte's head with the corner of the book. She looked up at me, rubbing her head. It was only a light tap, but the sharp corner must have stung.
"It's yours."
"...Pardon?"
"The Necronomicon. I went through the trouble of getting it to give to you, Charlotte."
"...Pardon?"
Did time just loop? She repeated the exact same expression and reaction. Grabbing the dazed Charlotte's wrist, I placed the grimoire directly into her hands. Her pupils dilated to their absolute limit as she stared up at me, making the magic circles in her eyes stand out even more clearly. Now empty-handed, I patted her on the shoulder.
"Don't even think about refusing. As I said, I went through a great deal of trouble to secure this for you."
"Uh, this... No, how could..."
She stammered like a broken machine. After a series of incoherent, sputtering sounds, a proper sentence finally escaped her lips.
"How... how could you bestow such a grace upon me?"
"I am giving it to you because it is you. It is a fitting gift for my hardworking deputy, and I do not regret it in the slightest."
You need to get stronger so our dungeon's defenses are reinforced, which in turn keeps me alive.
Not to mention the Imperial Subjugation Headquarters, there were also the other bosses of the 72 Dungeons. Even Balutak might challenge my authority one day. Charlotte was my first line of defense against all those impending storms.
"Focus on your studies for the time being."
Work hard for a while. I evolved you into a Demone, and now I've given you an S+-grade black magic grimoire. I've done everything I can. Let's just break through to Level 90, Charlotte. No more, no less.
"B-But... how could I possibly deserve this..."
The usually machine-like Charlotte was completely malfunctioning. Fidgeting nervously, her fingers gingerly traced the cover of the book. Then, she suddenly hid her face behind it. The book wasn't even that large, but because her face was so small, it covered her entirely. It was obvious she was trying to hide her expression, but her level indicator had already betrayed her inner thoughts.
Wow, that is incredibly dark.
It was a deep, vivid hot pink, reminiscent of the color that flashed when Rosesha proposed to me. It couldn't possibly get any darker than this. I had unintentionally broken Charlotte's affection record. To me, it was just assigning a task to a subordinate, but to her, did it look like I was flirting?
Why are there so many bone-lovers in this world?
In my past life, I couldn't attract a single woman to save my life, but ever since I became a Death Knight, I was suddenly drowning in them. The only problem was that my suitors were a homicidal witch and a Succubus Queen whose default setting was literally screwing men to death. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I was an impotent undead.
My level had shot up to 73 in an instant. If I let go of the Holy Sword, my level would drop back down to 59. That was my actual, raw level. The experience points gained from killing Wilhelm had only raised my level by 15.
That's surprisingly stingy.
I expected at least 20 levels since he was a Hero, but I guess I set my hopes too high. Still, there was no need to be disappointed. The greatest harvest was the Holy Sword itself, and looking at my status window, the level boost from the weapon was far more significant. Level 59 unequipped. Level 73 equipped. To think a single weapon could make such a massive difference—it truly lived up to its name as a Holy Sword.
At first, I wondered why my level was only 73 when I was wielding an EX-grade item like Calandas's nemesis sword. But what was the point of a good weapon if it was just all show and no substance? In hindsight, 73 was actually quite generous. The awakened Holy Sword only possessed two functions: attack power and healing. Suppose I had to fight Charlotte before her evolution using only the Holy Sword. If she bombarded me with long-range magic, I, with no defensive options or mobility, would be game over before I could even get close. Even if I fought Balutak, who was at the same level, I doubted I could win. I'd probably get instantly killed before I could even register his speed. As long as my base stats remained in the 50s, I had no way to handle attacks from high-level opponents in the 70s and above.
I cast a sidelong glance at Isabella, who was currently playing patty-cake with Balutak. Sensing my gaze, Isabella turned her head toward me. Our eyes locked for a brief moment.
"Uh... did I do something wrong?"
"No."
"Oh, okay. Hehe."
Isabella went right back to clapping hands with Balutak, grinning like an idiot. Well, at least I can still beat you. I had officially passed the title of the weakest member of the dungeon over to her.
Still, a Holy Sword.
It still felt surreal that the awakened Holy Sword was in my hands. But this was no time to celebrate. What did it mean to kill Wilhelm and seize the Holy Sword? The Imperial Subjugation Headquarters and the Holy Church would undoubtedly hunt me down with bloodshot eyes. And even if I somehow managed to protect the sword, its awakened weight meant I had also inherited Wilhelm's task—the divine revelation.
To stop Calandas.
The very man who would eventually plunge humanity into the abyss of extinction. If that bastard destroyed the Empire, my life would be next on the chopping block. Once Calandas consumed all of humanity and turned them into the undead, what would his next target be? None other than the 7 Abyssal Palaces. In fact, the game developers had officially confirmed this in a Q&A.
Q: If the player fails to stop Calandas's invasion, how does the story progress?
A: Since he turned the entire human race into the undead, he becomes incredibly powerful, right? Having destroyed the Empire and amassed immense power, his next step is world domination. A character like Calandas would definitely turn the 7 Abyssal Palaces into his enemies in order to claim the world as his own.
Whether he succeeded in world domination was unknown, but the mere attempt made it a certainty that my life would be in danger. On top of already being on bad terms with Calandas, he had likely heard the news of my temporary alliance with Rosesha by now. He had undoubtedly marked me as an enemy in his mind. Ah, Wilhelm. You were a good Hero. Now that Wilhelm had tragically passed away, the duty of the Holy Sword fell upon its next owner—me.
First, I needed to see how Calandas would act at the upcoming grand meeting. At the same time, I had to clearly identify which other bosses were aligning themselves with him. As the saying goes, "Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles." To devise a countermeasure, the first step was knowing who the enemy was.
I also need to steadily build alliances.
Keeping a firm alliance with Rosesha in mind, I should also recruit lower-ranking bosses who would become major players in the future. According to the original storyline, Calandas would begin his full-scale movement in a year. But that was only if things went according to the original timeline. Now, Wilhelm was dead. Since the Hero he feared most was gone, Calandas might accelerate his plans. However, what Calandas truly feared wasn't Wilhelm himself, but the Holy Sword. And that Holy Sword hadn't disappeared; it was now in my hands.
Who knows? Maybe he'll be wary of me instead.
A Hero with a Holy Sword versus a Boss of the 7 Abyssal Palaces with a Holy Sword. From Calandas's perspective, the latter would probably be far more terrifying. If he was truly wary of me, he might delay his plans instead of accelerating them. But there was no point in overthinking it now; it wouldn't bring any answers. I would have to subtly test the waters at the grand meeting and observe. For now, monitoring the movements of the Imperial Subjugation Headquarters was a higher priority than Calandas.
...Two days passed after that. Despite the underlying tension, they were peaceful, uneventful days.
"Boss," Charlotte called out while I was idling away the time. Having spent so much time with her, I could now read her emotions even beneath her expressionless face. For some reason, she seemed subtly excited right now.
"I have news. You two, gather around as well. Quickly."
Charlotte summoned the executives while holding a newspaper. I stopped examining the Holy Sword and plopped down on the floor in front of her. Balutak and Isabella, who had been slacking off, came rushing over in a hurry. If the deputy had something to say, they had to listen. Charlotte cleared her throat with a light cough. *Rustle!* Pointing directly at the newspaper's headline, she announced, "The Empire has officially named our dungeon."
"Oh!"
"Kirik?"
Excluding the ancient dungeons that already had established names, the names of newly discovered or updated dungeons were designated by the Imperial Subjugation Headquarters. I remembered reading about this as an easter egg in the game; the bosses of the 72 Dungeons wore these names like badges of honor. The Headquarters actually had a pretty decent sense of naming, and the other bosses appreciated the underlying sense of awe and dread those names carried.
Isabella and Balutak scurried over and poked their heads forward like a pair of meerkats. Looking at the backs of their heads blocking my view of the newspaper, I felt a sudden urge to give them both a good smack.
There really is no turning back now.
It hit me all over again. A mere Death Knight like me had suddenly become a Boss of the 7 Abyssal Palaces. How on earth did I end up in this mess? Sighing wouldn't solve anything, and since I had already crossed the Rubicon, my only choice was to see this through to the end.
"Whoa! The name sounds so cool!"
Isabella made a huge fuss after reading the paper. Balutak also nodded, crossing his arms.
"Kirik. It definitely has a nice ring to it-dak. I like the name-dak."
"Mr. Balutak, can you even read?"
"I cannot-dak."
"Then what do you mean it has a nice ring to it?"
"Kirik. Balutak is smart-dak. I can tell just by looking-dak. Which letters are good and which are bad-dak."
"Wow, that's amazing."
"Isabella-dak. Yours are definitely crappy letters-dak."
"Excuse me?"
Because of these two troublemakers, I couldn't see the newspaper from my angle. I didn't show it to maintain my dignity as the Boss, but honestly, I was the one who wanted to see it most. It was my dungeon; how could I not know its name? I tried to subtly squeeze in between them, but there wasn't a single gap.
"I really, really love this name. It makes me feel like I truly belong here!"
"Are you saying you didn't feel that way before?"
"Huh? N-No! Of course I did, but..."
Hey, move aside. Let me see too!
Fortunately, Charlotte tactfully nudged Isabella out of the way, clearing a spot for me. Ah, as expected, you're the only one who looks out for me. I leaned in close to look at the newspaper headline, letting out a low hum. Meanwhile, the three of them fell silent, their eyes locked onto me. It was nice that they were gauging my reaction as their Boss, but this was a bit too much pressure.
"...I like it," I murmured to myself.
As if they had been waiting for those exact words, the three of them chimed in instantly.
"Right? It's great, isn't it?"
"I am glad it meets your satisfaction, Boss."
"Kirik. It definitely has a nice ring to it-dak. So, how do you read this-dak?"
Coincidentally, the two Heroes who had died in this dungeon were both devout believers who strictly adhered to their commandments and doctrines. Considering that, the name was incredibly fitting.