(Rin PoV)
『Well done arriving. I am one of the Twelve knights serving Siren-sama. Hash is the name 』
「Oh, how polite. I’m Sukuna」
『Sukuna….I see. It seems like I’m greeted by such a strong enemy. And that shine on your chest, the proof of my master’s bitter enemy. To battle such a strong warrior is an honor. 』
Stardust Labyrinth, fourth run. Up until now, it was Mirage, Mirage, Mirage and finally, we have a new boss.
The one who called himself Hash, is a bit smaller than Mirage, but as a knight clad in bronze armor, is bigger than us.
Armed with a one-hand sword and round shield, compared to the power type Mirage, I’m guessing that he’s a finesse type.
It might be due to the armor, but the voice is so vague. Whether Hash is a man or woman is unknown, though if the voice was deeper than Mirage’s, it would be easier to identify.
While looking at Hash from behind Sukuna’s polite greeting, I thought about the name 「Siren」, this is the fourth time hearing that today.
Knight of Siren. From the information gathered from the boards, it’s a general term for the labyrinth bosses, including Mirage and Hash.
There seems to be at least nine of them. Their appearances seem to be biased toward each server to a certain degree. In Server IV, Mirage has a slightly higher probability of appearing, though ironically we’ve encountered him three times in a row.
Frankly, we have a good affinity with Mirage, so I don’t really mind, but I would like to meet at least five out of nine during the first day.
For our 4th run, Hash who feels like a rather well mannered knight has appeared. He didn’t come out attacking right away.
Putting aside who Siren actually is. “My Master’s bitter enemy”, observing the reaction to the 《The Proof of the Named Solo Subjugator》that Nana is wearing, Siren is at minimum, an entity hostile towards the God of Creation.
From the contents of the flavor text Nana mentioned to me, the proof is something that is bestowed by the God of Creation.
By the way, the one that I have is 《The Proof of the Named Subjugator》. It is just a drop item, it’s not something the God of Creation has given to me.
It appears that the value is highly different from the proof that Nana has. Hash didn’t react towards my proof.
I’m guessing that among the players, Nana is the only one who has《The Proof of the Named Solo Subjugator》 . A lot of mini events targeting that proof frequently happens, but with how this world regards it, I still can’t estimate how valuable it is.
Solo Named, besides Aria the Red Wolf, no one has discovered a link to that preset condition.
Alongside the named raid, which still hasn’t been revealed, the time to reconsider the special meaning might have come.
「The theory sure is making progress」
『Why are those two having a greeting battle』
『It’s kinda… lol』
『Just how long are they gonna continue that』
『They are bowing』
『Lmao』
While I was expanding the theory from Hash’s words, the comments of the watchers caught my eyes.
Returning my attention to Nana, for some reason the two of them are bowing towards each other. No wait, aren’t they having a chat with each other? Is he not a boss monster?
「Nana, can you start soon?」
「Ah yeah. Then let’s do it」
『Fufu, you’re right. Well then once again, Let us en garde fair and square!』
Nana drew out her Kagenui and Hash readied his sword. These two who were just having a chat suddenly let out a serious air around them. I didn’t feel like saying anything and stepped a bit backwards.
My status build focuses on pure magic. You can say that it’s almost Nana’s polar opposite.
So obviously, my physical statuses are extremely low, and considering my job, they have a negative correction.
There is no mistake to say that my build is extremely disadvantaged at close range.
That’s why I’m always stationed as the rear guard. With Nana as a vanguard I can relax and focus on support.
『Haaa!』
「Yo-!」
Tracing the one-hand sword swung with a yell, Nana directly received the hit with Kagenui.
Nana received the attack with a sound that makes you think as if the shock was absorbed. She smoothly slipped towards his chest and raised Kagenui overhead.
『Kku!』
An attack from below to overhead, released as if jumping. The round shield best paired with a one-hand sword is weak against sudden attacks from below.
Hash gave up on a shield defense and evaded by moving backwards, but Nana who was raised in the air by her previous attack, swung down towards Hash who had his posture broken.
Was it because he wasn’t able to gather enough resistance from an unstable posture or maybe it was because of Kagenui’s heaviness, he anti-climatically got slammed.
『Just where-…Guaah!?』
With his guard completely broken, Hash lost sight of Nana. She had already moved behind his back and swung Kagenui.
It might be because he’s an honest knight, but it seems that he isn’t used to attacks from behind. While Hash was faltering, Nana struck a blow aiming at the soft sides.
『Do not look down on me!』
Slashing his sword as he turned around, Nana evaded by jumping backwards. She landed with a low posture and dashed towards Hash.
A frontal assault. Towards someone like Hash, a swordsman equipped with a one hand sword and shield, it should be the easiest form of attack to deal with.
Nana, who fully understood that, rushed in as Hash hardened his defense from the attacks. Just before crossing into attack range, the hand not holding Kagenui blurred.
As the sword and metal club clashed, the trajectory of Hash’s sword slightly warped. The two weapons that should have clashed head to head, resulted in the sword getting pushed away by the metal club.
Not missing the opening, Nana rained blows on Hash, not allowing him to defend.
After dealing a huge amount of damage to Hash, Nana evaded backwards from the sword swung to mow down everything in desperation.
I was writing magic with one hand and looking at Nana’s cool figure when suddenly, something slammed near my feet.
“GANN!” something hit the ground with a hard sound. What rolled out was a steel ball, slightly warped.
When I saw it, I finally understood what Nana did.
「I see, so she threw a steel ball」
I was wondering, just how did the trajectory of Hash’s sword get changed, but it seems that it was just Sukuna putting in some obstruction.
That’s why the clash that should have originally been equal, tilted in Nana’s favor.
Since she swung with both of her hands, Nana most likely didn’t aim the steel ball at the sword. To make enough time to wield her weapon with both hands, she should have ricochet the steel ball on the ground at least once.
Or maybe, she ricocheted twice with the ceiling, or she had launched it beforehand towards the ceiling. This room is spacious, it’s not like the ceiling is as high as the plains floor, so it should be possible to do something like that.
I don’t understand it well, but either way it’s a throw with unbelievable precision.
Recently, Nana’s abnormal throwing skills are gradually getting spread around, the level of this girl’s throwing skill is advancing toward an inhuman level, all I can do is laugh.
A throw that was done in a blindspot, if you mix it up in a melee battle then it’s most likely something intolerable.
「Oryaa!」
『Naive!』
Even so Hash is still dealing with Nana’s attacks, he skillfully deals with all of her attacks. It seems that he has stopped going on the offense, it looks like he isn’t doing any damage.
In the first place, he is probably the type that is better with defense than offense. A troublesome enemy as a boss in runs, a boss that takes a lot of time to defeat.
「Well, it’s my job to break through that」
Since the battle began, it’s not like I was only looking at Nana.
Though I had only been drawing with one hand, it took a minute to knit it together, a complete fifteen section chant, an advanced level area magic.
The moment I released the magic, I pushed my staff forward.
「Nana! Evade!」
「Uui!」
「《Thunder Storm》!!」
A storm of thunder was released and swallowed Hash whose focus was on fighting Nana.
Hash readied his shield as he heard my voice, but it’s ineffective against this magic. After all, this is not a third rate area magic that you defend against with something like a round shield.
《Thunder Storm》.
Compared to the other lightning magic, it lacks speed and precision, but in exchange it is a composite attribute magic that also mixes in the wind attribute.
It costs a lot of MP, so you can’t fire it repeatedly, but it highly exceeds both in power and area of effect compared to the advanced level magic, Lightning Ballista. For speed, rapid recast and mana consumption, the Ballista has a higher strategic value. I just need to use this properly.
This is a magic available only after your level exceeds 60. It not only has a level requirement but also a skill mastery requirement.
「Awesome…..」
「Fufu, I know right? I have finally raised my skill mastery to the point where I can fire a magic that feels good to use」
It appears that it’s a shocking enough scene for her to hang her mouth open in awe.
It’s taken around 20% of Hash’s total HP, and adding in Nana’s damage, Hash’s HP has already been reduced by a half.
Though looking at it, you might think that Nana has better damage efficiency, but from how she jumps in close without considering the danger and how she unreasonably forces damage through, Nana is just crazy.
『Gununu…..Well done, however the real thing begins now!』
Hash’s HP gauge is just like Mirage’s, the same as 2 bars. Since it reached the last bar, declaring with an air of being cornered, Hash purged his armor.
「Oh my….」
「Ooh….」
『It’s a robo!』
『Rather than robo』
『A cute girl…?』
『She doesn’t have a human’s face』
From the insides of the purged armor was, to be frank, it’s a female type robot.
Its figure is just a female form, its face is completely robotic, and its eyes are shining on and off, hmm she is.
『Since I have shown you my true form, I can no longer leave you alive!』
「I wonder who is it who can’t leave alive~」
「Nana….」
I know that it’s good to go with the flow, but aren’t those words completely villainous?