Chapter 84

Three-day weekend!

"Thank you for coming. I am Hash, one of the twelve knights who serve Lady Siren."

"Thank you for your courtesy. I am Sukuna."

"Indeed, Sukuna... I see, a strong name you bear. And the proof of being an enemy to my lord, shining on your chest. I am grateful to be able to battle a warrior as strong as you."

The Star Dust Labyrinth, fourth loop. After encountering Mirage, Mirage, and Mirage, I finally met a new boss.

Hash, who introduced himself, was a knight clad in copper armor, about a size smaller than Mirage but still much larger than us.

He held a one-handed sword and a round shield, suggesting he was more of a finesse fighter compared to the power type Mirage.

His voice was muffled by the armor, making it hard to tell if he was male or female. If his voice was as gruff as Mirage's, it would have been easier to tell.

As I watched Nana exchange polite greetings with Hash from behind, I pondered the word "Siren" for the fourth time today.

The knights of Siren. From the information on the strategy boards, I learned that this is the general term for bosses like Mirage and Hash.

There are at least nine of them. It seems there is some bias in their appearance depending on the server, and in our Server IV, Mirage appears slightly more often. I got three in a row, though.

To be honest, Mirage is a good match for us, so it's not a problem. However, if there are nine of them, I would like to meet five on the first day.

Hash, whom I finally encountered on the fourth try, seemed to be a courteous knight and did not attack immediately like Mirage.

Regardless of who Siren is, it's clear that these knights serve her.

From Hash's reaction to Nana's "Proof of a Named Solo Slayer," it seems that Siren is an enemy of the creator god.

According to the flavor text Nana told me, that accessory is granted by the creator god.

Incidentally, my "Proof of a Named Slayer" is a drop item and not granted by the creator god.

In that sense, it seems to have a different value from Nana's. In fact, Hash did not react to my proof.

Currently, Nana is the only player who has the "Proof of a Named Solo Slayer," and mini-events related to it often occur, but it's hard to gauge the value of this item in the context of the world.

"Interesting observations."

"Why are those two having a greeting contest?"

"LOL"

"How long are they going to keep this up?"

"They're bowing to each other."

"LOL"

As I expanded my thoughts based on Hash's words, I noticed the comments from the listeners.

When I glanced at Nana, she and Hash were bowing to each other. Aren't they just chatting? They're supposed to be boss monsters, right?

"Nana, is it time?"

"Oh, yeah. Let's go."

"Hehe, indeed. Then, let's begin with honor!"

Nana drew her Shadowstitch, and Hash readied his sword. The atmosphere suddenly turned serious, and I felt a bit uneasy as I stepped back.

My status is pure magic, which is almost the opposite of Nana's.

Of course, my physical stats are extremely low, and my job has additional negative modifiers.

I shouldn't engage in close combat with melee monsters.

So, as usual, I stayed in the back. Nana is the frontliner, and I can focus on support.

"Ha!"

"Yah!"

Nana blocked the one-handed sword with Shadowstitch, absorbing the impact with a surprisingly quiet sound. She then slipped into Hash's guard and raised Shadowstitch.

"Ugh!"

A quick upward strike. The round shield, designed to work with a one-handed sword, is weak against such attacks.

Hash gave up on guarding with his shield and dodged backward, but Nana, who had jumped up, brought down her sword on the off-balance Hash.

The guard was insufficient due to the unstable stance, or perhaps because of the weight of Shadowstitch, and Hash's defense crumbled.

"Where... Gah!?"

While Hash's guard was completely broken, Nana had already moved behind him and swung Shadowstitch.

As a pure knight, Hash seemed unaccustomed to attacks from behind, and Nana took advantage of his hesitation to strike his soft side.

"Don't underestimate me!"

Nana dodged the sword slash by jumping backward and then, while landing, rushed at Hash in a low stance.

A frontal charge. This is probably the easiest attack for a shield-wielding one-handed swordsman like Hash to handle.

Nana, who should have known this, deliberately charged in. As Hash tightened his guard, Nana's hand holding Shadowstitch wavered just before their weapons crossed.

Just before the sword and the metal rod crossed, Hash's sword trajectory slightly deviated. The two weapons, which should have clashed head-on, ended with the sword being deflected by the metal rod.

Seizing the opportunity, Nana unleashed a flurry of attacks, preventing Hash from guarding.

After dealing significant damage to Hash, Nana dodged a wildly swung sword and stepped back.

As I cast a spell with one hand while watching Nana's performance, something suddenly stabbed into the ground at my feet.

With a hard thud, a slightly deformed iron block rolled on the ground.

Seeing this, I finally understood what Nana had been doing.

"I see, you threw an iron ball."

I had been wondering why Hash's sword trajectory changed so dramatically, but it was simply because Nana had interfered.

Thus, the clash that should have been evenly matched tipped in Nana's favor.

Since Nana was swinging both hands at the moment of impact, she likely didn't hit the sword directly but instead bounced the iron ball off the ground at least once to buy time to switch hands.

Or, she might have bounced it off the ceiling twice or pre-thrown it. This room is open, but the ceiling isn't as high as in the plains level, so it's not impossible.

I don't know the details, but either way, it's an incredible feat of precision.

Recently, Nana's abnormal throwing ability has gradually become known, but the level of her throwing skills is becoming increasingly inhuman, and I can't help but laugh.

"Oryah!"

"Too sweet!"

Despite this, Hash responded to Nana's movements and skillfully used his shield and sword to parry her attacks. Since he stopped attacking, it seemed he took little damage.

He is likely more skilled at defense than offense. As a loop boss, he is a troublesome type that takes a lot of time to defeat.

"Well, my job is to break that defense."

Since the start of the battle, I haven't just been watching Nana.

I spent a long minute casting a high-level area spell with a total of 15 verses, using only one hand.

As I prepared to cast the spell, I raised my staff.

"Nana! Get out of the way!"

"Got it!"

"Thunderstorm!!"

The storm of lightning engulfed Hash, who was focused on battling Nana.

Although Hash quickly raised his shield upon hearing my incantation, it was a poor choice against this spell. This is not a simple area spell that can be blocked by a round shield.

"Thunderstorm."

Compared to other lightning spells, it lacks speed and directionality but is a composite attribute spell with wind properties.

It consumes a lot of MP and cannot be used frequently, but its power and range far exceed those of the high-level spell Lightning Barrage. While Lightning Barrage has the advantage in speed, rate of fire, and efficiency, it's a matter of using them appropriately.

This is a spell I could only use after surpassing level 60. However, I didn't learn it upon leveling up; I just reached the required skill proficiency at that level.

"Wow..."

"Hehe, isn't it? I finally reached the proficiency level to cast a satisfying spell."

The scene was so shocking that I opened my mouth in surprise.

Hash's HP was reduced by about 20%, and combined with Nana's damage, it was already down to half.

In that sense, Nana is often thought to have better damage efficiency, but it's only because she recklessly dives into the fray and forces damage.

"Grr... Impressive, but this is where it ends!"

Hash's HP bar, like Mirage's, has two segments. As the last segment was reached, Hash announced with a slightly tense tone and purged his full-body armor.

"Oh..."

"Wow..."

"It's a robot!"

"It's a robot."

"Cute girl...?"

"But it doesn't have a human face."

Under the armor that flew off was, simply put, a female-shaped robot.

While the body shape is female, the face is completely robotic, and the eyes are shining brightly. Hmm, this...

"Since I have shown my true form, I will not let you leave alive!"

"Who's not going to leave alive?"

"Nana..."

It's good to have a good attitude, but that line is completely on the side of the villain.

Mirage is human. Hash is a robot.