Lakyus found it rather strange.
From the way Yuri Alpha interacted with Ren Kuroda—the tone of her voice, the subtle deference in her posture—their relationship felt less like that of equals and more like master and servant.
And yet…
The intensity of Yuri's reaction to Gagaran's earlier comment suggested something deeper than mere servitude.
—
As for Yuri herself—
As a battle maid of the Pleiades, she would never dare entertain even the slightest improper thought toward a Supreme Being like Ren.
Which was precisely why Gagaran's earlier remark had struck her as utterly outrageous.
A frog lusting after a swan.
In the eyes of Nazarick's denizens, humans were already considered an inferior species.
And even among humans, someone like Gagaran—so coarse, so rough—fell firmly into the category of utterly unappealing.
And yet…
This woman actually dared to covet the Supreme One of Nazarick?
The sheer audacity of it…
—
"Yuri, don't be fooled by Gagaran's appearance," Lakyus said gently, noticing the tension in the air. "She may look rough, but she's actually quite kind at heart."
"What she said earlier was just her way of easing Ren's nerves. Being suddenly treated like the team's trump card can be… a bit of pressure, after all."
Those words seemed to snap Yuri back to herself.
…I lost control again.
—
"So~," Tia and Tina chimed in together, their eyes sparkling with curiosity as they turned toward Yuri. "Are you and Ren actually a couple?"
"There's just something… kind of interesting about the way you two interact."
They had just defeated the Ironclad Spider, and with a brief lull in the action, the twins' curiosity had clearly gotten the better of them.
"Someone like me… could never be Lord Ren's lover…"
Yuri's usual composure shattered for a moment.
A faint blush spread across her face as she flusteredly waved her hands in denial, her voice uncharacteristically unsteady.
"…'Lord Ren,' huh…?" Lakyus murmured with a knowing smile.
"Sounds like one-sided devotion from a subordinate to her master," the twins added, grinning mischievously.
They weren't unfamiliar with such dynamics.
After all, their own leader Lakyus had a close friend—the Kingdom's Golden Princess—whose relationship with her bodyguard followed a similar pattern.
—
Fortunately, Yuri quickly regained her composure.
Realizing her slip of the tongue, she returned to her usual calm, distant demeanor.
No matter how much Lakyus and the others tried to probe further, she refused to reveal anything else.
These humans are far too cunning…
Yuri narrowed her eyes slightly.
First they try to get close, then they attempt to extract information about Nazarick…
Truly devious.
—
"After the Ironclad Spider, the next enemies we'll face are the Silver Knights—the ones that forced us to retreat before," Lakyus said, shifting the conversation back to business.
"Their armor is made of mithril, giving them extremely high resistance to magic."
"And since they're alchemical constructs, even if you cut off their heads or limbs, they'll keep moving. The only way to stop them is to destroy the core inside—or exhaust their power source."
As they spoke, the group gazed ahead at the silent formation of silver-armored soldiers that had yet to activate.
A heavy tension settled over the room.
Individually, these constructs weren't as strong as the Ironclad Spider—each was only around level twenty-something, roughly equivalent to an orichalcum-ranked adventurer.
But their numbers…
And their fearless, relentless nature…
Those had pushed Blue Rose to the brink more than once.
—
The strongest member of Blue Rose was originally Evileye.
But in this particular battle, magic casters were severely limited.
Mithril armor didn't completely negate magic—but its resistance was high enough that Evileye's effectiveness dropped to roughly the same level as the others.
"Ugh… here we go again with these annoying things," Gagaran muttered, cracking her knuckles.
"That armor's a nightmare—not just for magic, but for us melee fighters too."
"But hey," she added with a grin, "if we clear this floor, just selling all that mithril armor would make us a fortune."
"Mithril's a precious metal, after all. Just how rich were these 'Thirteen Heroes' to build an entire army like this as guards?"
—
Since magic would be less effective here, both Ren and Evileye were positioned toward the rear.
Meanwhile, the rest of Blue Rose—along with Yuri, enhanced by buff magic—charged forward to meet the silver-armored army head-on.
BOOM—!
At the forefront, Gagaran swung her massive warhammer, sending a Silver Knight flying with a single devastating blow.
The mithril armor caved inward instantly under the impact, and the knight's body shot backward like a cannonball, crashing into the wall.
And yet—
Moments later, it rose again.
Though its chest plate was deeply dented, it continued moving as if nothing had happened.
The same held true across the battlefield.
Even Lakyus, wielding her magic sword, required two or three solid strikes to destroy a single knight.
As for Gagaran, Tia, and Tina…
They needed even more.
At first, it was manageable.
But as time dragged on, more and more Silver Knights converged, their numbers swelling into a suffocating tide.
The pressure on the frontline increased sharply.
This was exactly how they had failed before—
Overwhelmed by sheer numbers, exhausted, and eventually forced to retreat.
—
"Fa Jin."
A calm, clear voice rang out from behind them.
And in the next instant—
Lakyus and the others, who had been on the verge of being surrounded, saw something unbelievable.
A refined, glasses-wearing beauty stepped forward—
And with a single palm strike—
She blasted dozens of Silver Knights away, carving open a path through the encirclement.
The mithril armor that had withstood even enchanted blades…
Was torn apart like scrap metal under her strike.
The cores within their bodies shattered instantly, reducing them to lifeless heaps of armor scattered across the floor.
—
"I've heard that top-tier martial artists can train their bodies to rival steel," Lakyus said, awe evident in her voice.
"And that they can use a technique called Fa Jin—a method that bypasses defenses and destroys the enemy from within…"
She looked at Yuri, eyes shining.
"I never imagined Miss Yuri would be such a master of that art!"
—
"In that case," Lakyus continued decisively, "we're changing the plan!"
"Everyone, focus on holding back any Silver Knights approaching Miss Yuri."
"From here on, she'll take the lead in offense."
"With Fa Jin in play…"
She smiled.
"Those mithril armors might as well not exist at all."