Death Knight, You’re Mine

It dodges.

He must have known too.

It attacked, but I was ready to dodge and avoided the [Execution Sword].

However, the gap was insufficient, like the moment he was trapped in ice.

The [Execution Sword] took the [Death Knight]’s entire left arm.

[Dark Sword].

“..!”

While its left arm was flying away.

The [Death Knight] thrust the [Dark Sword] at me.

I raised my left arm to guard,

And though I guarded, the tip of the sword pierced through my forearm and dug right in front of my eyes.

But it stopped.

“….”

Amel didn’t counterattack.

There was no need to.

The [Death Knight] was finished.

Anti-Magic Power was a fatal attack to the [Death Knight], and the [Execution Sword], which was the culmination of it, was like a deadly poison.

The severed section of the left arm fizzled and evaporated into black particles.

“….”

“….”

The [Death Knight] collapsed from its charging stance and knelt.

A bronze-colored power enveloped the kneeling [Death Knight]’s body.

Power of Ownership.

It devoured all the ownership of the [Death Knight], who had admitted defeat,

And it became Amel’s possession.

The thumb of the bronze hand.

It tingled.

It felt like an invisible leash was being held in my hand.

Actually, rather than the sense of accomplishment from owning the [Death Knight],

I clenched my fist.

I won.

That fact was the most satisfying.

“….”

Amel planted the [Black Sword] on the ground and pulled out the [Dark Sword] stuck in her left forearm.

Just by holding it, I knew.

This is a good sword.

I held the [Dark Sword] straight and tapped the [Death Knight]’s shoulder once.

‘(Out of the blue. What’s with the sudden knighting ceremony?)’

Win cautiously said, knowing it was all over.

A knighting ceremony.

That kind of scene.

It looked like it wanted me to do just that, kneeling like that.

The [Death Knight] raised both hands and returned the [Dark Sword] to its owner.

I withdrew the Anti-Magic Power that was eating away at the [Death Knight]’s left arm and grabbed the [Death Knight]’s helmet with both hands.

When I took off the helmet, silver hair fell softly.

A dark-skinned Elf.

Its eyes blinked.

Beautiful silver.

It was pretty, like a game character.

After the battle,

I met Jang Yu-ha.

People were gathered, and the emblems they wore looked familiar.

Jang Yu-ha waved her hand, calling out, “Over here~!”

There were people gathered like representatives of each Clan.

“They want to participate in the Raid.”

“Raid?”

“Yes.”

“….”

Amel simulated the situation when she would fight the [Dream].

The [Dream] used tentacles.

It used [Ancient Nightmare] as subordinates.

It even summoned shadow monsters.

There were many mobs, and to deal with the [Dream], the mobs were a hindrance.

Before standing in front of the Clan representatives, I first listened to a brief explanation from Jang Yu-ha, and as I listened, I realized she was very good at understanding people.

Anyway, the Clan representatives gathered in one place to take down the [Death Knight] and divide the loot.

But because Amel preempted the [Death Knight], the plan was disrupted.

But when the Raid was mentioned, they wanted to participate.

In summary,

Let’s negotiate.

I don’t know much about negotiation.

I don’t even know how to do it.

I left it to Jang Yu-ha.

Amel stood by her side, only answering with agreement and a few opinions.

Whether to involve the Clans in the Raid or not.

Whether to release the combat footage against the [Dream] or not.

When to schedule the Raid.

Jang Yu-ha became her voice and negotiated with the Clan representatives.

Maybe it was because I wasn’t very interested. Even though the conversation progressed easily, I didn’t remember much.

And,

“Then we’ll decide to start the Raid in two weeks.”

The negotiation ended.

Two weeks later.

That was the time when other Clans could gather the most forces and also the day when schedules least overlapped.

After the negotiation ended,

The atmosphere subsided.

The Clan representatives dispersed.

The Clan members also dispersed.

One person remained.

Jang Yu-ha remained.

“But did you defeat the Death Knight?”

“Yes. I took care of it.”

“It must be over level 70, and you took it down solo?”

“Is it only 70?”

“Only 70? That’s the minimum. A Sword Master starts at 60, so it’s amazing.”

“….”

I’ve never met a Sword Master, so.

The [Death Knight] is level 70, and the Sword Master is level 60. My expectations for Sword Masters are diminishing.

“No one has climbed to the 70th floor solo yet. Considering the difficulty, Americano’s skill is no exaggeration to say it’s the top among the Heroes.”

“That’s not true. There’s Chris and Jua.”

“They’re weak in PvP. Even if they give it their all, they’d lose to the Death Knight. They can defeat large monsters like Elder Treant in one hit, but large and small monsters require completely different strategies.”

Hmm.

I was one-shot by Chris, though.

There was such a thing as compatibility in the world.

“Americano, who can handle both, is really amazing.”

“….”

Jang Yu-ha spread her arms wide and exclaimed.

Then someone came looking for me.

“Can I have a moment?”

“Do you have something left to say?”

Someone approached,

And Jang Yu-ha stood in front of Amel.

How reliable.

It was a Hero from the [Martial Arts Alliance].

Not the representative, though.

It was the man who was standing as his aide.

The [Martial Arts Alliance] Hero’s gaze kept going back and forth to my chest.

Due to the battle with the [Death Knight], the only clothes I had were torn to shreds, so I borrowed a short robe called a cape from Jang Yu-ha.

The cape puffed up stiffly, and the bottom levitated.

Even under the cape, the clothes were torn, revealing bare skin.

The [Martial Arts Alliance] Hero noticed his gaze and blushed, turning his head to the side.

“Ahem. It’s nothing much. I was wondering if there was any friction with our guy.”

“With your Clan member?”

“Yes. He’s a bit young, but he called Americano a Demonic Cultist. It’s probably a misunderstanding, but I wanted to apologize for our guy’s rudeness.”

“…Americano, did you have a fight with a Martial Arts Alliance Clan member?”

Jang Yu-ha asked that.

A Clan member of the [Martial Arts Alliance].

“Was it during Gospel?”

“No. It’s Dwarfneer.”

“Hmm…”

I don’t remember.

Rather, I was the one who suffered damage, so why should I make an effort to recall?

“If you want to apologize, have him come and apologize in person. I’ll be waiting.”

“Thank you.”

The [Martial Arts Alliance] Hero left.

And immediately came back.

I know who it is just by looking at his face.

It was him.

That whatchamacallit.

The kid who appeared at the end while fighting the Demonic Cultists.

I remembered accidentally meeting him once more in the Alley Dungeon.

I don’t know his name.

He looks like a high school student.

He looks quite sharp like this.

The [Martial Arts Alliance] Hero grabbed the boy’s head and bowed deeply.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m, sorry.”

“Yes, I forgive you.”

He was a guy who gave a slight taste in the midst of boring enemies.

“More than that, it was you?”

“Ugh…”

“I thought you were a Demonic Cultist.”

I turned my gaze to the [Martial Arts Alliance] Hero.

“Raise him well. He’s the guy who almost stabbed me in the stomach with a knife. Someday, that fact will be something to be proud of, you know?”

I put my hand on the boy’s head and scratched it roughly, filled with the humiliation of almost being attacked.

His name is Kangsu,

He seems to have a good head on his shoulders.

Two weeks.

More time has been created.

‘Raid, huh.’

I left Gospel to custom-make equipment, but things seem to have gotten unnecessarily big.

It’s not bad, but,

Something remains stuck.

What is the identity of this lump?

I could tell what it was soon.

Frustration.

Suffocation.

Unpleasantness.

First of all, the source of this unpleasantness was due to recent events.

I went back over each one.

Starting from the Bronze Golem, Henya’s recruitment competition, the Undead, the Duel Arena… is it okay up to here? The problem was after that.

As I recalled, I felt confident.

[Ancient Nightmare].

[Dream World].

It’s tricky.

If it were the Tower of Trials, I would climb the Tower and fight monsters.

That’s it.

It was simple.

But the [Dream World] had tricky conditions, like meeting the [Succubus Queen], creating the Alley Dungeon, and this and that.

From the moment I got involved with others, I had a vaguely awkward feeling.

What kind of feeling is this?

I felt like I knew, but I didn’t.

Meeting an opponent who could communicate as an enemy was also not good, and [Succubus Queen Nanos] was quite like that in that respect.

What is it?

This unpleasantness.

This frustration.

While pondering the source, I suddenly thought, could it be this?

‘Is it because I didn’t kill them?’

Huh?

Oh.

My head clears.

I guessed the right answer.

It was always like this when I guessed the right answer.

My mind clears up.

‘Is it because I didn’t kill them?’

I didn’t kill the [Succubus].

I didn’t kill the [Succubus Queen] either.

I did kill the [Ancient Nightmare]… but they were just mobs, so it didn’t resolve anything.

The [Ancient Nightmare Lord] even cowardly resurrected even after being killed.

When was the last time I finished something cleanly?

Even the [Death Knight] ended without being killed, so the dissatisfaction was still buried deep in my heart.

There’s a feeling of being relieved after fighting to my heart’s content, but I could only end with a feeling of ‘I did it!’ if I killed them.

The sediment of unfulfilled desires remained deep in my heart.

That piled up and gave me a vague unpleasantness.

Kill.

Kill them.

Hmm…

As soon as I realized the cause of the problem, the desire for resolution surged.

‘Kill them, huh.’

Haha.

‘Anyone who hears that would think I’m a murderer.’

‘(But you’re going to kill them, right?)’

‘…Jeez, you startled me.’

‘(Did you forget about me?)’

I had forgotten.

Win revealed her appearance, which was only visible to Amel.

‘(Wow, how can you forget me when you won thanks to me?)’

‘I would have won even without you.’

Win protested, saying that her contribution was quite high this time.

I didn’t particularly want to argue.

It was true that she helped.

Besides, Win was also relieved that she fought properly for the first time.

‘(I’m already thrilled at the thought of fighting like this from now on.)’

‘Well, Magicians are at a disadvantage.’

‘(That’s right! That’s why I was always frustrated! I’ve been thinking a lot about how a Witch can go to the front lines and win!)’

Is this the result of that thinking?

Seal in the Demon King Stone.

Equip to the item.

‘(Someday, the title of the Hero’s item that will save the world isn’t bad either.)’

‘….’

‘(Anyway, my real body is cryogenically preserved, so I can go back anytime. Isn’t this also an experience?)’

The experience was quite unique.

Anyway,

‘(More than that, if you’re frustrated because you haven’t killed anyone, how about resolving your dissatisfaction for a week? You have to keep your condition at its best before the Raid.)’

‘But where? Ah.’

There was the [Duel Arena].

‘(Not there.)’

Win refused.

‘(I like places where I can fight too. You probably can’t take me to the Duel Arena, right?)’

I agreed with that opinion.

I gained a Magic assistant named Win. Since it’s a rare opportunity, it would be good to coordinate while also resolving my desires.

But there’s no Tower in Dwarfneer.

The Fields were all trash, and if I waited until night, I had already tamed the [Death Knight].

If the [Death Knight] is at least level 70, then it has to be a monster of that level to be worth catching.

But if [Death Knight]-level monsters were roaming around normally, it would have been rumored, and if there were many of them, humanity would have gone extinct long ago.

Haa…

‘Not everything is good just because I got stronger.’

‘(That’s a luxurious thought.)’

Win said.

‘(It’s okay.)’

‘What is?’

‘(Did you forget who I am?)’

‘A Witch.’

‘(Yes. I’m a Witch! A genius Witch at that! I, who was even mentioned as an Archwitch Candidate, will solve your worries!)’

Win struck her chest in an exaggerated pose and shouted to leave it to her.

Anyway, as soon as I realized the identity of my frustration, the stress that had been pressing down on me melted away.

What to do was simple.

Nothing had changed in the first place.

Let’s hunt.

Let’s subjugate.

Let’s kill.

What other goal is there in a game other than catching monsters?

And one more thing.

Solo play.

There have been many times recently when I’ve been involved with others.

There were many times when I had to talk.

That was stressful.

It’s always like that when I get involved with others.

Solo play is the best.

But I still can’t perfectly clear the [Dream World] alone.

I feel like I should be able to do that much alone, but I still have a long way to go.

‘Haa…’

It’s so hard to get stronger.

“Unnie, over here!”

Chris greeted me.

She waved her hand and called out.

When I went, it was full of people.

Jua was there.

Cappuccino was there too.

Caramel was there too.

Lilietta was there too.

Nanos was there too.

The six of them were eating dinner? late-night snack? and breakfast at the same time in the first-floor restaurant at night with the lights on.