Ch.135[Episode 135] Administrative Defense

“I’ll yield the first strike.”

Trom arrogantly spoke toward Sir Dominic.

The front legs of the spider tank that Sir Dominic was riding began to stomp in place.

This was because Sir Dominic was lost in thought, fiddling with the controls as he tried to understand Trom’s statement.

Why on earth?

Sir Dominic sensed something strange about Trom’s behavior, acting as if he would attack immediately but then yielding the first strike.

There must be something behind this.

Sir Dominic’s instinct whispered to him.

“Master! He’s yielding the first strike, so attack first!”

However, Alice seemed to be so focused on taking the first strike that she failed to catch the strangeness of the situation.

In an instant, Alice loaded an arrow into her crossbow.

“No, Alice! Stop right now!”

Ah. Hime shouted at Alice as she realized something.

But the arrow had already left Alice’s hand and was flying toward Trom.

Tick. The arrow touched Trom’s body.

Without any particular damage, Trom brushed off the spot where the arrow hit and laughed maliciously.

“Uhuhahaha! You fell for it! My Trap!”

Alice finally realized her mistake.

The problem was that she attacked too hastily.

While Alice’s attack would have been powerful enough against ordinary minions, Trom was a boss.

And not just any boss, but a raid boss.

Above all, Alice’s attack gave Trom two advantages.

Namely—

“A-A wall! A barrier has formed to prevent us from entering!”

“Does that mean Sir Dominic and Trom have to fight 1:1?”

That’s right.

The barrier that forms when a boss battle begins.

This was the first thing Trom wanted.

Although Trom once used his talents in the wrong direction, he was a gifted individual smart enough to be a Senator.

He immediately realized that in this situation, Sir Dominic was the obstacle.

Then what if he faced only Sir Dominic?

And what if he dealt with Sir Dominic first?

He was already aware that this would absolutely work to his advantage.

His first plan was to isolate Sir Dominic from his surroundings.

And the second plan, an extension of the first—

“Thank you for attacking first, my lord. I had restrictions.”

That’s right.

Most bosses cannot attack first until aggro is drawn.

Trom was no exception.

“To have a 1:1 like this. I’m overwhelmed with emotion, Sir Dominic.”

Trom burst into a vile laugh, puffing his cheeks at Sir Dominic, and spoke with terrible grammar.

Sir Dominic looked around.

For some reason, Hime was hitting the barrier with her hands and shouting something, and far away, people were waiting for the barrier to open.

But no sound was getting through at all.

Clearly, the barrier had separated the outside from the inside.

“…I’m sorry, Master. I moved too hastily…”

Alice said dejectedly.

“Apologize later. For now, let’s deal with the… boss in front of us.”

Sir Dominic moved the spider tank slightly to the side.

Trom, who was charging with his greatsword, scraped the side of the spider tank as he passed by.

“Ha! You’re agile for a tank, my lord.”

Trom said provocatively with an arrogant expression.

Sir Dominic stuck his head out to carefully examine the side of the spider tank.

There was a deep, thick scratch mark as if made by a giant wolf.

After pondering for a moment, Sir Dominic jumped out of the spider tank.

Then he faced Trom with sword and shield in hand.

“Master?”

Alice looked at Sir Dominic with confusion.

Alice thought that to face Trom, a raid boss, they would need the help of the spider tank.

But Sir Dominic hadn’t jumped out without thinking.

Sir Dominic raised his shield to face level and glared at Trom with sharp eyes.

His sword was ready to swing at any moment, but his arm was slightly relaxed.

Trom mocked Sir Dominic for giving up the advantage of size and mass.

“Are you trying to die quickly and respawn? My lord, you’re too complacent.”

Trom’s wings spread out as he spoke with terrible grammar again, and he rose slightly from the ground.

And Trom took a stance with his greatsword extended forward and flew toward Sir Dominic.

Sir Dominic stared at the greatsword that looked like a dot and counted the timing inwardly.

One. Two. Half!

Clang! Trom lost his balance as the greatsword was deflected.

Sir Dominic had struck the tip of the greatsword with the flat of his sword closest to his hand.

And he thrust his shield toward Trom, who was staggering and losing balance.

The face of the shield struck Trom’s chest, causing him to step back twice.

Lucky. Sir Dominic glared at Trom and said.

“…Ha.”

Trom laughed at what had happened in an instant.

Because Sir Dominic’s skill was impressive? No.

Because his pride was hurt by Sir Dominic’s attack? Not that either.

Trom was mocking him.

[Trom(BOSS) 99.98%]

The health meter Trom saw in his eyes.

[Trom(BOSS) 99.99%]

“What can you do, my lord. I didn’t take any damage at all!”

Trom sneered as he saw his health quickly recover.

“IQ 30! IQ 30! You’re incredibly stupid!”

Trom hurled insults at Sir Dominic.

No matter how he looked at it, victory belonged to Trom.

A mere tank couldn’t compare to a raid boss.

His hatred for tanks reared its head.

“Uhuhahaha! I’ll kill you horribly, my lord!”

And Trom tried to charge again with his sword.

But Trom couldn’t move.

“…? What is this?”

Trom kept trying to move his body.

But his body, which had become like stone, refused to move at all.

“As I thought.”

Sir Dominic slowly approached Trom.

Trom rolled his eyes, the only part of him that could move besides his mouth, trying to understand the situation that made no sense to him.

Sir Dominic came right up to Trom’s face.

“It seems you have no status ailment resistance, Sir Trom.”

Sir Dominic said to Trom as he raised his shield.

Sir Dominic remembered when Trom had become a boss, intoxicated by the power of Mountain Bridge Marsh.

And he noticed that, true to his DPS origins, Trom was weak against crowd control skills.

Even after becoming a boss.

At first, it was a fact he had forgotten due to everything that had happened, but the memory came back after seeing Trom.

Sir Dominic struck Trom’s face with the edge of his raised shield.

“Kuk! Wh-What!”

And he raised it again to strike, and struck again.

“Ack! Stop! Stop it!”

Although Trom was a boss, that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel pain.

For a more realistic boss battle, the central system had left bosses with the sense of pain.

That’s why Trom was feeling the full pain of being hit with the shield.

Why on earth do I have to be hit with a shield like this?

Trom thought as he shed tears of indignation.

Sir Dominic silently and persistently attacked Trom’s face with his shield.

In terms of damage calculation, there was no need to hit only the face, but Sir Dominic deliberately targeted only the face to prevent Trom from regaining his senses.

Do you remember when Sir Dominic thought he was lucky earlier?

Right at that moment when Sir Dominic deflected Trom’s attack and landed his shield.

Trom’s fate was already decided there.

As soon as he attacked Trom with his shield, a system window appeared in Sir Dominic’s eyes.

[Critical hit! Boss ‘Trom’ is stunned for 2 seconds!]

[This is PVE status. Stun time is increased by 5 seconds.]

Trom, a boss with no status ailment resistance.

Sir Dominic’s equipment, [T4 Knight Shield] with a 12% chance to stun on shield strike.

The judgment rendered as PVE, not PVP.

Finally, the stun that luckily triggered on the first hit.

All these factors combined to create this… infinite stun state.

Theoretically, about one stun per eight hits.

If he kept hitting for 7 seconds without stopping, there was at least one chance it would trigger.

Sir Dominic continued to hit Trom with the edge of his shield.

He felt no guilt.

Trom had already shown hostility toward Sir Dominic, and above all, he had abandoned his humanity and become a monster.

“Stop! Stop! I surrender, I surrender! My lord! I surrender!”

Trom shouted, but his surrender was not accepted.

This was a boss raid, not a PVP duel.

The choice always belongs to the “person,” not to the monster.

Sir Dominic’s shield moved busily.

He didn’t have to worry about his health dropping.

He was a tank, and also a knight accustomed to handling a shield.

He could do such simple work all day long.

…

[Boss Trom has fallen!]

[‘Sir Dominic’ has successfully completed a solo play against Trom!]

[As promised, the army begins to withdraw.]

[Victory for the Executive branch!]

The continuously appearing system windows were announcing the victory of Sir Dominic and the Executive branch.

However, no one was talking about this honorable and rewarding battle.

No, no one could even think of speaking right now.

[‘Sir Dominic’s’ play will be recorded in the Hall of Fame.]

[Clear time 7 hours 33 minutes 47 seconds 33.]

“…Success.”

Sir Dominic pushed back his sweat-soaked hair as he breathed heavily.

In the distance, the dawn broke, illuminating the battered Sir Dominic and Trom, who had been reduced to minced meat.

There had been several crises along the way, but Sir Dominic had finally achieved this great feat.

He had truly done it all day long.