Chapter 4: Charlotte and the Irregular Boss △

We arrived at the fourth floor.

The structure of floors with an area boss is fixed; descending the stairs leads to a single, straight path.

Along this path, no monsters appear—it leads straight to the large room where the boss awaits.

Since monsters from other floors cannot enter the floor with the area boss, it also serves as an emergency refuge. It is one of the few safe zones within the dungeon.

Walking along the single path, we reached a spot with massive double doors.

If one touches both doors simultaneously, the enormous doors—which otherwise would not move—open on their own. Among adventurers, it is customary for one representative to stand directly in front of the doors and open them.

This time, I was to teach him how to open them and have the man actually do it.

He didn’t seem to fully trust me, so he had me demonstrate opening and closing the doors once before letting him try.

We looked into the darkness beyond the doors he opened and discussed our next steps.

"Once we go through, the area boss will appear, right?"

"Y-yes."

"Will you come along?"

It was a natural question. Honestly, I wanted to stay here. I wanted to stay, but I had to go.

"The thing is… unless everyone on this floor passes through the doors, the area boss won’t appear…"

"Annoying. Then stay on the upper floor, just until I step in."

Also a natural thought. He probably didn’t want to fight while being slowed down by a liability.

But there was a reason even that wasn’t possible.

"While someone is challenging the area boss, no one can enter the floor. The stairs get sealed…"

Ah, yes. This was one of the troublesome rules. While someone is challenging a floor boss, even the safe point in front of the boss becomes inaccessible. The stairs leading down to the floor are sealed.

If I were to go back to the third floor now, I’d have to survive there alone until he returned. I didn’t have the confidence to pull that off.

"Well, fine. Having a handicap isn’t so bad."

Perhaps having given up, he sighed and allowed me to come along. That was a relief. Maybe the tearful pleading had worked. My appearance wasn’t completely useless after all.

"Let’s go. Don’t leave my side."
"Yes."

The man swung his sword, checking the feel of it, then proceeded beyond the doors. I followed behind him into the boss room.

As we entered, the entrance behind us gradually closed.

The single line of light illuminating the room narrowed and eventually disappeared. Darkness filled the vast room. The doors had fully closed.

For a few seconds, we couldn’t see a thing—complete darkness. Then, along the walls, pale blue flames ignited, faintly lighting the room.

In the center of the room stood a presence that hadn’t been there moments before.

"...What’s that?"
"It’s the Skeleton General."

The area boss of this floor—the Skeleton General. It wore tarnished gold armor marked by battle scars and carried a straight sword at its waist. In its left hand, it held a massive flag taller than itself, the aged fabric fluttering despite the absence of wind.

True to the catacomb dungeon theme, it was an undead-type area boss. Its strength lay not in individual combat, but in commanding a group.

In other words, this boss fight would be a battle against a horde.

As the Skeleton General raised its flag high, skeleton soldiers crawled up from the ground.

"So that’s the kind of monster it is."

The Skeleton General’s power lay in its endlessly spawning skeleton army—a saturating attack.

At the same time, this was why the area boss was considered weak. Adventurers who challenge area bosses aren’t going to struggle against mere skeletons. No matter how many insignificant skeletons appear, they are swept aside.

As a boss relying on numbers, the Skeleton General’s individual ability was only slightly stronger than a regular skeleton.

A boss that could be defeated by someone capable of exterminating skeletons one after another—that was the expectation.

"...Looks like it might be tougher than expected."
"N-no! That’s wrong! I didn’t know anything like this!"

The Skeleton General let out a particularly loud roar.

Among the regular skeletons appeared skeleton warriors equipped with axes and shields. Not only that, a few skeleton knights appeared, clad in armor and wielding sword and shield. Knights are said to be individually stronger than a general in raw combat ability.

I hadn’t heard of a case like this in the tavern information! This boss was supposed to just summon skeletons. Special skeletons popping up on floors after breaking the floor boss? That shouldn’t be possible!

"Be careful! Those armed skeletons are completely different from the ones on the previous floor!"
"I don’t care. I can tell by looking—stop babbling, it’s annoying."

Even though I wanted to convey the abnormality, he wouldn’t understand.

I couldn’t retreat from the boss room myself—the doors could only be opened by the person who first opened them.

This time, that person was him. Unless he touched the door with the intent to retreat, it wouldn’t open.

"If it ends at this level, it just means I was only ever that strong from the start."

"That… I get dragged into this too—!"

My scream vanished somewhere. A voice that reached no one was as good as silent.

While scattering the attacking horde of skeletons, the man clashed swords with the skeleton warriors.

So I moved carefully, doing my best not to fall behind his back. Occasionally, a skeleton would leap at me, trying to interfere, but each one was cut down by his hand without fail.

The dry sound of bones rolling across the floor echoed.

I shivered involuntarily at the growing pile of corpses.

This man had not a single flaw. Every enemy that attacked from every direction was handled flawlessly.

I knew only a handful of people capable of such movements. Was he really someone who had just arrived in this town?

Even as I was thinking that, multiple skeleton warriors standing in front of him were being swept away. It was astonishing.

But… why were the skeletons targeting me? I wasn’t even doing anything—no healing magic, just standing there. Did they even have the intelligence to prioritize weaker targets?

"They’re spawning again!"
"They keep coming endlessly. Does it continue until we take down the main body?"

The man seemed to understand the gimmick of this battle. He turned toward the Skeleton General, taking aim.

However, the skeleton knights had formed a protective line around the Skeleton General. Without breaking through that defense, it would be impossible to reach the boss.

"I’ll finish this quickly."

He left me behind and surged toward the Skeleton General in an instant. Immediately, the skeleton knights formed a horizontal wall to block his advance. His strike shattered several knights at once, but it wasn’t enough to clear them all.

"Ooohhhhh!"

The Skeleton General roared in response, facing him. This was a first—usually it would only respond mechanically.

"What’s the matter? If you have complaints, say them, you mere bones!"
"Im… O-ma… M… I-t… Ma-zu…"

It spoke…?

I couldn’t understand what it tried to say, but it had clearly attempted to form words. I’d never heard a monster speak human language before.

Also, how does a skeleton even talk? Where are the vocal organs?!

"Well roared!"

It seemed he understood something. In a single breath, he swept aside the remaining skeleton knights and clashed with the Skeleton General.

The boss parried and deflected his sword with its flag. Their distance widened again.

The Skeleton General drew the sword at its waist, which I had thought was decorative. It prepared to fight, the blade reflecting the room’s flames with a dull gleam.

The man wore an unusually fierce smile.

I couldn’t help but be captivated by the scene. The anticipation of the intense battle about to unfold drew my gaze, completely absorbing me.

—I didn’t even notice the skeletons closing in from behind.

Foolishly, I was trapped, unable to resist.

"Eh, wait, wait, wait!"

The skeletons lifted me and carried me away.

I stole a glance at the man, but he was too focused on the fight with the Skeleton General to notice me.

This was bad. Where were they taking me?

"Help, help me! Help!"

I screamed. The passing scenery confirmed that we were moving deeper into the dungeon.

This was bad. Advancing further meant I would be isolated, as the floor boss’s layer doesn’t require the boss to be defeated.

I would end up stranded in the dungeon’s depths.

"This is bad, help—!"
"—What are you doing?"

By the time I was carried near the back of the boss room, the man had come to my rescue.

The skeletons were annihilated, and I was tossed lightly into the air. He caught me mid-fall with one arm and set me down casually, yet steadily.

That was close. I had almost been dragged into the dungeon’s deeper layers.

"Ah, thank you."
"Don’t interrupt someone in the middle of their flow. Be a proper ‘package’ and stay still."

I realized he hadn’t touched me inappropriately while supporting me.

Maybe he had subtly warned me with that expression… No, he simply had no interest. Not a hint of intention there.

"Well, we’ve been interrupted. Time to reset."

He readjusted his sword toward the Skeleton General.

The Skeleton General was already battered. While I had been playing with the skeletons, an intense battle had been unfolding.

"Oooh! Yog, Mo… Onoreee!"

The boss shouted a voice full of resentment, its hollow eye sockets glaring at us. The sheer intensity made me flinch.

But the man grinned fiercely, delighting in the challenge.

"Respectable resolve, even for an enemy. Let’s finish this before you humiliate yourself further."

He vanished from sight. A moment later, he appeared behind the Skeleton General. How did he close a distance of over five meters in an instant? I couldn’t track him with my eyes.

After a beat, the Skeleton General crumpled from its knees after the man sheathed his sword. Its body collapsed into pieces.

The boss’s skull rolled across the floor. I felt like our eyes met.

"—Me, za-ma."
"…Huh?"

It seemed to say something to me. I couldn’t hear it, but it clearly tried to communicate.

The next moment, its skull was crushed under the man’s foot, reduced to dust. Whatever it tried to say was gone forever.

No, it must have been my imagination. Monsters don’t talk. My ears misheard—it just sounded like words. That’s fine.

"All that’s left is this flag… Not exactly what I was looking for."

He hadn’t heard anything; he was simply scanning for loot.

Despite the irregularities, the boss room’s doors reopened.

The boss fight was over.