She did not cry. Even when her country fell to ruin, even when her continent collapsed, even when her sister was dragged away by the Demon Lord, and even when the emperor and empress committed suicide.

As the crown princess and the last surviving member of the Empire, she stood tall until the end.

[I’ll come back to reclaim what is mine!]

[My lovely Crown Princess, what a shame it is to have you leave. I will await the day I see you again.]

The Demon Lord had a sly expression on his face as he whispered to the girl in my embrace. Then he turned to me and said,

[Savior, Hero. For what reason have you arrived at this fallen world?]

[Ugh, you have a severe case of eighth-grader syndrome. I’m just here to save my friend.]

[…I won’t kill you now because-]

[Because you can’t, idiot. I’m leaving. Next time I see you, the first thing I’ll do is punch you in the face. Return!]

[How arrogant, Human.]

At my command, the surroundings shone with a brilliant light and a door appeared in midair. I opened the door and stuck my middle finger out at the Demon Lord who was trying to look cool until the end.

[If you don’t like it, why don’t you come over to my world!?]

*

“…Again,” I mumbled.

It was another unpleasant morning. Was it because I only said I’d go easy this time and really didn’t?

My entire body felt out of sorts and I had a splitting headache. I sat down cross-legged on my bed and initiated the Peruta Circuit. Whenever my body felt out of balance, Peruta told me to use the Peruta Circuit to rebalance it.

Mana normally circulated in my body. It had an intense power but was also extremely pure and dynamic in movement.. Once I began to circulate it, it moved mostly by itself.

By circulating the mana inside of me and absorbing external energy, I purified the force within me and spit out the impurities that accumulated before.

[Kyaa, cool prince!]

[The mana is so bright. I’m being sucked in~]

[Someone hold him!]

I knocked on my ear a few times and stretched. It was the weekend so I headed to the dungeon right after breakfast. I was planning on challenging the Dark Ratman with only two people today, and my partner was none other than Shina.

I asked her, “Are you sure? You left your party members behind. Plus, it’s dangerous.”

She shrugged, “It’s fine. We’ve only been making small bits of progress on the 17th floor. Plus, all the party members are busy today.”

Shina answered as if she had it prepared beforehand. She held a round shield in one hand, and a longsword on the other. As expected of a party leader, her equipment looked to be of good quality.

Her role was to be a tank today. I ended up choosing her because she had a steady personality and had the sense to dodge the Dark Ratman’s skill during her first fight. She was the best choice for a partner.

“To be honest, I’m slightly worried, but I know I’ll be fine with you, oppa!”

I reassured her, “Yep. Like I said, you just have to delay the Dark Ratman for a little.”

“Got it. Take good care of me!”

From time to time, we exchanged messages with each other, so we became close enough for her to call me oppa. She was usually mature, but she also knew how to spoil herself and act affectionately. Overall, she was quite likable, but she naturally wasn’t a match for my sister Yua!

With the boss fight in front of us, she put on her Lightning Resistant Robe. I had my Wraith Queen Set on as well.

Although Orc Lord’s Warcry was a fantastic skill, the magical defense wasn’t very good. Even if I could ignore the Dark Ratman’s attack, just a single dark lightning would kill me. As such, wearing the Orc Lord’s set wasn’t particularly useful for the 15th Floor Master fight.

On the other hand, the Wraith Queen Set allowed me to use Vengeful Spirit’s Wail, which had the effect of inflicting confusion and fear on surrounding enemies. With it, I could take care of all the ratmen minions while the Dark Ratman was stupefied.

Thus, whenever I fought the Dark Ratman, I took off the Orc Lord Set I liked and wore the Wraith Queen Set which I still felt awkward in. The set was also a very light armor, which made me shiver every time as it didn’t feel right.

However, Shina was more interested in the aesthetics of the Wraith Queen Set.

“Wow, you look so cool, oppa!” she exclaimed.

“M-Mm?”

“Hee hee, it goes well with your handsome face. Like royalty.”

I stammered, “R-Royalty…you’re flattering me too much.”

With how much other people always called me Crown Prince, it would be bad if I confused myself for an actual royalty. With a bitter smile, I held up the Orc Lord’s Glaive.

“Alright, you can flatter me after the fight.”

“Got it! Let’s go!”

We stood side by side and kicked the door open. Inside, there were forty ratmen and the Dark Ratman. Nothing had changed since the last time I was there.

I shouted at the top of my lungs.

“COME FIGHT ME!”

[You used the skill ‘Provoke’! You gained the attention of nearby enemies!]

“Squeak!”

“Gwak gwak! Kill him!”

“Human male!”

Watching a bunch of rats running towards you was always an unpleasant feeling. While I gripped my spear tightly and prepared to use Heroic Strike, I yelled toward Shina.

“Take care of the Dark Ratman!”

“Yes!”

The Dark Ratman was among the ratmen running toward me, and Shina rushed toward it to take the aggro. Sure enough, the Dark Ratman changed target immediately, swiping at her with its claws.

For some strange reason, the ratmen had a low defense compared to their high attack power. Their defenses against mental attacks were even worse, as evidenced by how easily they fell to a low-level provoke skill. By modifying the trajectory of my spear as I struck, I made sure to include as many ratmen as possible in my upcoming attack.

“Heroic Strike!” I yelled.

Clad in white light, my spear thrust forward and slaughtered about a dozen ratmen in its path. I then wrapped more mana around the spear and began to pierce the other ratmen’s throats.

“Squeeeeek!!”

“Human!”

“Haaap!”

I continually used Provoke, making sure none of the ratmen minions went toward Shina. By piercing the ratmen’s throats one by one, I made sure that they were dead.

“Kyak! It’s using its skill!” she screamed.

“Vengeful Spirit’s Wail!”

[Kiyaaaaaa!]

Although I wanted to save the usage of my Wraith Queen skill since I could only use it once a day, Shina had already been hit by the Dark Ratman’s lightning. If she had dodged the initial lightning, she would have been able to dodge the follow up attacks. But, if she had been hit, she had no choice but to die, unless I used Vengeful Spirit’s Wail.[You used Vengeful Spirit’s Wail! All enemies have become confused! All enemies have become feared!]

“Squeak Squeak! Human, too many humans!”

“Scary, dark scary!”

The surroundings instantly descended into chaos. Some of the ratmen began to fight each other, while others fell and trembled in fear. The Dark Ratman had also canceled his skill and was fighting the nearby ratmen with reddened eyes.

“We don’t have much time. Deal as much damage as you can!” I shouted as I took care of several ratmen with Tempest. Shina seemed to have recovered from the paralysis thanks to her Lightning Resistant Robe as she gasped for air and concentrated mana on her sword. Her mana was the same color as her eyes.

“Take this! Hornet Pierce!”

“Squeeeeek!”

While Shina was attacking the confused Dark Ratman, I continued to take care of the ratmen minions. With them fighting by themselves or trembling in fear, they were completely defenseless. By the time I killed the last ratman, the effect of Vengeful Spirit’s Wail wore off, and the Dark Ratman once again used his skill.

“Gwak gwak, I will cook you until you’re charred black!”

“I think you mean burn, idiot!”

[Dark Ratman uses Dark Thunder Explosion!]

It was here! The moment black lightning began to explode out from his body, Shina and I jumped back. Alright, we dodged it!

“Gwak gwak!”

The Dark Ratman continuously shot out lighting in madness. Of course, we weren’t just watching the fireworks and doing nothing I drank a Mana Potion and prepared my Heroic Strike, while Shina drank a Health Potion.

She let out a sigh, “Whew, this is hard. You’ve always been fighting like this?”

“Yeah, well…It’s coming!”

“Gwak gwak gwak! Humans!”

“Eat this!”

When I saw the Dark Ratman charge toward us the moment his skill ended, I threw my spear forward. An immense feeling of satisfaction arose within me when I sensed all of the contained energy within that throw. At the same time, I had a feeling that my spear would hit exactly where I aimed it.

[Critical Hit!]

“Gwak gwak gwak!”

The Orc Lord’s Glaive skewered the Dark Ratman through the chest, punched through its back, and nailed the screeching boss to the wall. Blood spurted out from the Dark Ratman’s chest as it collapsed on the ground. It was either dead or was on the verge of dying.

“A-Amazing. To pierce through a Floor Master’s defense. Ah…” Shina sputtered.

“Shina! Hurry up!”

“Ah! Yes!”

Shina and I both charged toward the Dark Ratman. Although it twitched its body as if it was unwilling to die, our combined attacks easily finished it off.

“Haaap! Die!”

“Eit!”

“Sq-queeeeeek!”

After hearing the last bloodcurdling shriek as it finally died, Shina and I high-fived. We had succeeded.

[You have consumed a Thunder Crystal. Your resistance to lightning has increased slightly. Your affinity with lightning has increased. Your magic has increased by 5. It looks like taking more will not have any effect.]

“Oh.”

I finished consuming Thunder Crystals to their limit much earlier than I anticipated. I also did not expect that it would increase my magic stat by 5. As I was checking my stats window with a feeling of satisfaction, Shina, who obtained the Dark Ratman’s Leather Boots, looked at me with an apologetic expression.

“Is it really okay, oppa? I hear the Leather Boots are a rare drop.”

“I already have it. I only need two more to complete my set.”

She gasped, “A-Amazing.”

One of the items in the set would come from hunting the Dark Ratman alone, so I really only had one more piece to go. Once I had that one piece…I would solo the Dark Ratman. I still wasn’t confident in my chances, but I had no choice.

Shina smiled, “Good luck, oppa! Although I’m not sure what you’re doing, I know oppa can do anything!”

“Haha, are you trying to cheer me up? Thanks.”

“Call me if you ever need me again. I will always be available!”

“Alright, see you again later.”

I said my goodbye to Shina who was acting cutesy with sparkling eyes.

“Alright, I’ll obtain the last piece of the Dark Ratman Set by the end of the day. Then, I’ll challenge him solo tomorrow,” I murmured, trying to ease my anxiety.