Chapter 150
"Hanyaa"
A J〇ey Haniwa, its cries muffled as it breathes through a black gas mask like a car's exhaust.
Its Class 4 strength is no joke—even its presence feels overwhelming.
"Alright, let's stick to the plan.""Understood. Then, I'll take the first strike."
With a light step, as if excited by the pressure, one of us moves forward.
"Amina.""Yeah!"
Then, as if battle music had begun playing, Amina sings, buffing us.
Drawn by her song, nearby Haniwa start gathering.
"Ingrid, eliminate the Haniwa. Nell, you're with me—we're backing up Lady Claudia.""Understood!""Leave it to me!"
Leaving Ingrid to guard Amina, Nell and I follow Claudia.
We advance slowly, the enemy doing the same. The moment the distance between us closes to under five meters—
"Hmph.""Hanya!"
We all move at once.
At the same time, Nell and I split left and right, positioning ourselves to flank from behind.
Claudia closes the gap instantly with Thunder Step, striking first—but the J〇ey Haniwa reacts.
As expected, it must have some kind of precognition or supernatural sense.
It counters Claudia's attack with an energy sword, but she ducks under it, stepping deeper to land a solid hit on its abdomen.
A heavy thud echoes as she chains a second and third strike—
"Hanyaaaaa!"
The Haniwa endures the blows with a golem's natural toughness, then swings its energy sword wildly to force Claudia back.
"Nell! Don't clash with that weapon!""I know!"
I shout a reminder as we both strike at the same time.
That energy sword the Haniwa wields is a rare special drop.
Its full name is Majoritic Sword Type-L.
Most just call it the "Haniwa Sword" or "Energy Sword" for short. It's a consumable weapon dropped by golem-types, classified as an ancient armament.
"Hey hey! Your back's wide open!"
I thrust my spear at its exposed rear—
"Hanya!?""Whoops—"
But it reacts, spinning around to deflect my scythe-spear with its sword. I stop my strike mid-motion, making it swing at air.
To make this weapon drop—more precisely, to make it drop in a functional state—we can't let it clash with anything or take hits. We have to defeat it without any of those conditions.
"Severing Axe!"
While the Haniwa's swing whiffs, Nell closes in, slashing its abdomen with a horizontal strike. But golems don't feel pain—they only stagger from raw physical impact.
No pain means no flinching.
Its stats are higher due to its class, but with our EXBP-boosted attacks—
"Hanya!?"
—we can still deal clear damage.
Debuff applied: Defense Down on its flank.
It tries to shake Nell off with another energy sword swing, but the moment its aggro shifts—
"Hah!"
Claudia lands another heavy blow, this time a combo: Crushing Fist into Breaking Kick, stacking more defense down.
Seizing the opening, I dash in.
Haniwa have no necks—their heads and torsos are fused.
Plenty of monsters lack necks: treants are just trees, slimes are… well, slimes. Octopus- and squid-like mollusks don't have them either.
No necks means no "Neck Hunter" skill, you might think.
But you'd be wrong.
I activate Magic Edge, forming a massive blade on my scythe-spear.
"Neck Hunter!"
Then I unleash the skill.
My target isn't the Haniwa's "neck"—
"Perfect!"
—but the base of its wrist, where it grips the energy sword.
A crisp snap echoes as the hand is severed.
The Neck Hunter skill ignores defense on any "neck-certified" body part.
It's a skill that can destroy limbs too. Wrists (tekubi), ankles (ashikubi)—any part with "kubi" (neck) in its name gets bonus damage.
No insta-kill, but it's invaluable for dismembering.
As the energy sword spins through the air, I retreat.
"Power Swing!"
Nell's halberd crashes down in my place, the knockback effect separating the Haniwa from its weapon.
"H-Hanyaaaaaa!!!"
It points at me with its stump as if calling me cheap, but the sword doesn't magically return.
"Eyes on the fight.""Hanya!?"
The Haniwa freezes in cartoonish surprise—then eats Claudia's full combo.
"Ha… nyaa…"
Its final cry sounds almost regretful before it crumbles to ash.
"A decent warm-up. They're good training partners," Claudia remarks, nodding in satisfaction.
"Drop!""Nice, it actually dropped!"
Even with the conditions met, the drop rate is only 5%. It shouldn't be this easy—yet Nell proudly waves the hilt of an intact energy sword at me.
"This the one?""Yeah, no doubt. Not damaged at all. Mission accomplished."
Majoritic Sword Type-L: A magic weapon that forms a blade from light-attribute energy.
"Quest complete! But there's still plenty left, right?"
Inspecting it confirms it's fully functional, not the broken "relic" version that drops if you overload the Haniwa.
Those are just decorative—unrepairable, useless except as furniture.
But if you fulfill the conditions perfectly, you get the real deal.
Nell's luck is terrifying.
"Let's grab a few more as emergency backups."
Since we're on a roll, why not? It's a strong weapon, even if consumable.
"Same strategy as before!""Got it!""Leave it to us!""I'll attack harder this time.""Support's covered!"
The Majoritic Sword Type-L is an energy sword with a built-in "battery." Probably.
Ancient tech is poorly understood, and energy weapons like this require maxed stats, maxed skills, and multiple crafting-unique skills to replicate.
Even then, you're relying on flavor text for clues. A nightmare for crafters.
"Second one!"
Getting four drops in nine kills is insane. Some casual players never even see this weapon in a full playthrough.
I give Nell a thumbs-up, though I recall players raging when they learned this existed.
You get how rare this is now.
But here's the question: Why is an ancient weapon a consumable?
Couldn't you just recharge it? Or mix in Weakling's Proof to prevent breakage?
Nope.
First, there's no way to recharge it. No "charger" exists in-game.
Even if you tried to make one, you'd need endgame crafting stats, alchemy gear, and materials we don't have.
So, functionally, it's disposable.
At launch, players wasted fortunes trying to replicate this tech. Some went bankrupt, even in-game.
But without solving the energy issue, it stayed consumable. By the time anyone could, better weapons existed.
Weakling's Proof doesn't help either. It prevents breakage but doesn't stop energy depletion. A drained sword is just a hilt.
"Third one!"
Worse, the sword can't be turned off once activated. Why the devs designed it this way is a mystery—and a common complaint.
After nine kills, I'm questioning the 5% drop rate.
Cool looks, decent power, even a beam attack—every boy's dream weapon. But its flaws are glaring.
A "romance" weapon, locked behind hardcore crafting.
"Last one! Perfect timing!""Seriously, how is Nell this lucky?"
With all sets used up, our loot includes four energy swords and a Dungeon Key.
"All magic stones dropped, plus the swords and a key. This haul's worth a fortune.""One might say she's loved by the gods."
Nell just shattered the 5% odds. Again.
And she even snagged a key.
The dungeon it unlocks has Class 4 Haniwa swarms and a stronger boss, but golem boss chests are worth it.
Claudia's not wrong—this luck is divine.
"See? Easy!"
Nell puffs her chest out, but all I can do is applaud.
"Used up all our mod kits. Time to go."
As we pack up, I mention delivering the quest item.
"I'll report to the client when we get back."
"I'll log today's drops.""I'll go grocery shopping.""Ah, I'll come too!""I have church business."
The girls clearly have zero interest in this "romance weapon." So, delivery duty falls to me.
Sigh. The plight of a man's unappreciated dreams.
Activating the return pendulum, we head home.
"Oh, Libera, you're going this way too?""Yeah, same direction."
I'm heading for a backstreet to complete the quest, passing through the market where Amina and Ingrid are going.
"Huh? Why are there so many soldiers?""A roadblock? Did something happen?""..."
The path to my destination is sealed off by troops.