Chapter 48

The battle against the higher-level Orc General had already become one-sided.

Unlike before, it was now in the form of us being overwhelmingly dominated.

Fumiki repeatedly launched lightning attacks at the Orc General.

However, even after receiving these attacks, the Orc General's charge did not stop.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! What's going on! Why isn't my lightning attack doing any damage!"

Fumiki was confused by the unprecedented situation where his attacks had no effect on the enemy.

However, to be precise, the attacks were actually causing damage.

Fumiki, in his confusion, failed to recognize this fact.

Fumiki was not the only one in a state of confusion.

Sakura and the others were also losing their will to fight, realizing that their unique skills were ineffective.

They were beginning to think that no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't win.

Zero could only watch from the outside.

If he joined the battle now, he would only be a hindrance.

(How could this party be so fragile?)

Zero muttered this to himself.

Fumiki and the others had believed that by maximizing their unique skills, they could fight on equal or better terms with higher-level opponents.

However, this was not entirely accurate.

The enemies they had fought were not actually higher-level for them.

They were just lower-level opponents that could be defeated with unique skills.

For Fumiki and the others, the Orc General was truly the first higher-level opponent they had ever faced.

Having never experienced the threat of imminent death, they did not know how to deal with it.

Finally, the moment when the precarious balance was about to collapse arrived.

Like the knight before, the Orc General suddenly changed its target to Fumiki.

"What—"

Faced with the approaching powerful enemy, Fumiki could not move a single step.

"Danger!"

Seeing this, Zero immediately ran forward.

He knew he couldn't do much against such a massive body with his magic sword.

Just as the Orc General was about to bring down its iron axe on Fumiki, Zero pushed him out of the way.

Immediately after, the iron axe struck the ground next to Zero.

"Ugh..."

Zero felt a strong impact on his body.

The ground, shattered by the iron axe, turned into fragments that hit Zero directly.

The impact sent Zero flying, and he bounced several times on the ground before finally coming to a stop against the wall of the boss room.

(Wh-what...? My body... won't move...)

For some reason, his body wouldn't obey his commands.

He could barely move his fingertips, and nothing more.

He could see red mixed in his vision, indicating where the blood was flowing from.

In front of him, his HP, which had dropped below 10%, was displayed, decreasing slightly every second.

With his vision blurring, Zero watched the ongoing battle.

However, it was only for a moment.

The first to lose his composure was Fumiki.

Seeing the bloodied and fallen Zero, he realized the impending death and screamed.

"U-uhhhhhh!"

Without thinking, Fumiki ran to the door of the boss room and repeatedly pounded on it with his fists.

"Hey! What are you doing! There's someone there, right? Help us quickly! That's your job, isn't it!"

Fumiki had forgotten that the door would not open until the boss battle was over and that he had left the B-rank party behind.

In the heat of battle, such behavior only created an opening.

The Orc General, who had stopped behind Fumiki, raised its iron axe high.

"I won't die—"

—And then, Fumiki's body was easily cut in two.

"Shin? No way..."

"Is he... dead...?"

"..."

Seeing Fumiki's death, Sakura and the others wore expressions of despair.

In such a state, they had no chance of fighting the Orc General effectively.

"No!"

"Stop it!"

"Ugh!"

The Orc General's rampage continued.

About two minutes after Fumiki's death, the rest of the party, except for Zero, were easily killed by the Orc General.

The Orc General killed the fourth and final member, Sakura, glanced at the fallen Zero, and then turned away, putting some distance between them.

It was unclear whether the Orc General thought Zero was already dead or that it was unnecessary to finish him off, but this gave Zero a bit more time.

However, his HP, which was decreasing every second, would soon run out.

However, there was an existence that would not even allow this brief respite.

After the Orc General's awakening, a knight who had been waiting in the corner of the room slowly approached Zero with a long sword in hand.

(Is this... the end?)

Zero's gaze was fixed on the door of the boss room.

The door remained firmly closed, showing no sign of opening.

No one was coming to help.

Where did we go wrong?

Joining King of Unique?

Failing to stop Fumiki and the others from challenging the boss?

Stepping into the boss room with them?

No matter how much he thought about it, there was no answer.

Of course not. This was all over, and thinking about it was futile.

So he thought:

At least let the sacrifice be only those who made foolish choices.

If I die, that door will open.

Then, the B-rank party will surely defeat the Orc General.

With that wish, Zero closed his eyes quietly in front of the knight raising his long sword—

—Clank.

The sound of something hard hitting the ground echoed.

(Huh...? It doesn't hurt...)

He only heard the sound, but the pain never came.

Tentatively, Zero opened his eyes—

"I'm sorry, I kept you waiting."

—He heard the voice and saw the back of the person.

"Wh-what—"

The scene before him was unbelievable.

The person standing there was someone who shouldn't have been there.

The knight's helmet lay on the ground.

The knight's body fell with a loud thud.

The man holding the silver long sword that had likely bisected the knight was someone Zero knew—Amoto Rin.