ã€ŠI hate being in pain, so I think I&#x27;ll make a full defense buildã€‹


 Chapter 0

    Prologue: Defense Specialized and Before that

    ¡¸U?n¡­¡­I haven¡¯t yed a lot of games though?¡¹

    While looking at the game package that her friend Shiromine Risa pushed onto her, Honjou Kaede lets out a sigh.

    ¡¸Risa is always leading me by the nose¡­¡­¡¹

    It can be seen that men and women holding swords and staffs were drawn on the package of New World Online, which was also written with colorful letters.

    It was the VRMMO, a kind of game genre, that has rapid increase on sales recently, and Kaede has the hardware to move this, although it was covered with dust.

    And that hardware also, she was invited by Risa, and it was something she bought during that time.

    ¡¸Ha?¡­¡­it¡¯s not like I can refuse her, right¡­¡­¡¹

    A memo, on Kaede¡¯s hand. This was given to her by Risa, and it was written there what to do to start the game.

    ¡¸If I see those *KiraKira* eyes¡­I can¡¯t say that it¡¯s impossible¡­¡¹

    Risa had already believed that Kaede would start without doubts. Kaede who thought that not starting would be a shame, couldn¡¯t do anything about it.

    ¡¸It can¡¯t be helped¡­! Configuration, I should start huh¡¹

    She swept off the dust, and plugged the hardware.

    It¡¯s not like she hated games.

    ying with her a bit, is just fine.

    She thought of that, and Kaede started the first configuration.

 Chapter 1: Defense Specialized and First Login

    Chapter 1: Defense Specialized and First Login

    Kaede ended the first configurations of New World Online with memo on one of her hand. Thanks to the memo, the configuration was proceeding very quickly.

    ¡¸Fu?¡­¡­it¡¯s okay with this right¡­¡¹

    And then, it became the time to dive into the cyber world. It¡¯s a feeling after a long time. I closed my eyes, and the next time I opened them, it was already the game¡¯s world. Even though I said that, there are still configurations remaining, and it couldn¡¯t be in the middle of a town from the start.

    ¡¸First is¡­¡­name huh?. U?n, choosing Kaede as it is, it¡¯s my real name so it¡¯s somehow¡­what should I do¡­¡¹

    Kaede thought for a while, and after that, she chose Maple as her name, and pushed ept. On the panel that floats in air, the contents that were shown had changes. Next is, looks like it was needed to choose the beginner¡¯s equipment.

    ¡¸Large sword and¡­one-handed sword¡­mace¡­staff¡­u?n¡­I¡¯m not good at moving around you know¡­and also, I don¡¯t want to receive something like an attack¡­then, maybe it¡¯s staff to be a magician huh?¡¹

    Just like that, Kaede was looking at some equipments, but there was one equipment that stopped on her eyes.

    ¡¸Large shield and sword? The attack power is low though, but¡­the defense power is number one huh¡­Eh?! If defense power increases the damage is nullified?!¡¹

    Kaede who was reading the exnation, decided that was it, pickedrge shield and short sword as beginner¡¯s equipment.

    By the way, increasing the defense power and nullifying the attack is only for the very start, and it would be better to increase strength after that, that was the evaluation of that within the game, well, it just means, it was an unpopr equipment.

    In the first ce, there are only a few people who chooses their equipments intentionally, in the assumption that they are going to receive an attack. In addition, even if was impossible with arge shield, if it¡¯s a shield, it is possible to equip a one-handed sword or a mace.

    There are a lot more people who chooses that because it is easier to swing around.

    ¡¸Next is status point huh¡­here is, all defense power, here you go¡¹

    It was what you call a pure build. If you do this with arge shield, your seemingly trash attack power will be more sad, and since you are not cing anything on speed stats, your movement speed could only be how fast you are in reality.

    Who wonders if there is any high-school girls that could win against charging animals in the real world.

    ¡¸Ah?¡­you can¡¯t change height huh¡­I wanted to make my height taller¡­¡¹

    Kaede¡¯s height is about 145 cm. She also has slim figure, and with that lovely appearance and stature, she was secretly being liked at school, but Kaede had no ways of knowing that. Height was herplex, but it seems that changing the body, height, and weight different from the real world originally, you cannot y very well so it couldn¡¯t be helped.

    ¡¸Then, it¡¯s okay with this huh. Yosh!¡¹

    Kaede¡¯s body was enveloped with light.

    The next time she opened her eyes, that was the vibrant castle town¡¯s square.

 Chapter 2: Defense Specialized and First Battle

    Chapter 2: Defense Specialized and First Battle

    ¡¸Here should be¡­uhmm. Status!¡¹

    *Vuon* with the sound of that, a transparent blue panel emerges in front of Kaede.

    Maple

    Lv1

    HP 40/40

    MP 12/12

    ¡¾STR 0¡´£«9¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 100¡´£«28¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 0¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 0¡¿

    ¡¾INT 0¡¿

    Equipments

    Head¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Body¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Right hand¡¾Beginners Short Sword¡¿

    Left Hand¡¾Beginner¡¯s Large Shield¡¿

    Legs¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Shoes¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    essories¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Skill

    None

    ¡¸U?n¡­? VIT is defense power right? If I¡¯m correct. A-re¡­this, I¡¯ve done it?¡¹

    Even Kaede who doesn¡¯t y a lot of games, guessed that having 0¡¯s lined up on your status isn¡¯t good.

    Even if she looked from her life until now, there¡¯s more things that wasn¡¯t good that it was 0.

    What Kaede noticed after checking her statuses one by one, is that her STR could only, somehow, let her hold her weapon, but she had no INT, she had no AGI, and she also didn¡¯t have DEX.

    ¡¸Ahaha¡­I¡¯ve done it?¡­what should I do¡­Risa isn¡¯t here too¡¹

    *UnUn* she was groaning like that, and after a few minutes of thinking, the idea she went up, was to go fight monsters one time for the time being. And if it couldn¡¯t really work, then it cannot be helped. At that time I¡¯ll make it once more, Kaede thought.

    ¡¸Yosh, let¡¯s go out of the town¡­!¡¹

    There was one thing that Kaede thought while going towards outside of the town.

    ¡¸The people nearby¡­¡­so fast?!¡¹

    Here appears the effects of ¡¾AGI 0¡¿ that didn¡¯t show while she was on a stop.

    But, without being discouraged with that, *TekuTeku* she walked towards outside of the town.

    Her goal, first subjugation.

    Even the outside of the town, although not as many as inside, but there were people. If she fought here, there would be at least one who might witness her.

    ¡¸I don¡¯t want to show my uncool side though?¡­I¡¯ll go a little more distant?¡¹

    Just like that, *TekuTeku* Kaede walked to a forest that seemed to have no people in it.

    ¡¸Yosh, it¡¯s okay if it¡¯s here¡­Monster-san, you cane from wherever you want!¡¹

    It is unknown if it reacted to Kaede¡¯s voice, but a White Rabbit with a pointed horn on it appeared from the bushes. The White Rabbit tackles with a good speed. If you ask the question, does Kaede who has only the same speed in real life can dodge a charging rabbit, then the answer is no.

    ¡¸Cho!! Wa! I¡¯m Sorry!!¡¹

    It is unknown on what part she was apologizing for, but when Kaede instinctively said that, herrge shield had shifted strangely. She received the charging attack with a pointed horn to her stomach.

    ¡¸It hurt¡­! ¡­¡­It doesn¡¯t?¡¹

    The rabbit was confused because it didn¡¯t inflict the damage that should¡¯ve been a critical hit.

    ¡¸Ohhhh! Amazing! It doesn¡¯t hurt! As expected of ¡¾VIT 128¡¿! Fufufu¡­¡­how¡¯s that, Usagi-san. How¡¯s my abs?¡¹

    *Ghu* Kaede puts force on her stomach. It¡¯s not like it was muscr. It was rather *PuniPuni*.

    It looks like the rabbit took that thrusted, defenseless stomach that as provocation, and charges once again.

    Kaede received that without using herrge shield.

    The White Rabbit was relentlessly charging again and again, *Fufufu* and Kaede who receives that whileughing.

    If a person who didn¡¯t know what was going on passes by, it was a profound and mysterious situation, so that person would probably write that down on the BBS in an instant.

    That something, that is very doubtful if it should be called as battle,sted for an hour.

    ¡¸Come here,e here?, put a lot more power in it??¡¹

    Kaede was provoking the White Rabbit a lot, but a system sound flowed inside her head.

    ¡ºSkill¡¾Absolute Defense¡¿had been acquired¡»

    ¡¸n? What¡¯s that?¡­Please wait a minute, Usagi-san¡¹

    Kaede left that rabbit charging alone, and checked her skills.

    Skill¡¾Absolute Defense¡¿

    Makes the VIT of the skill¡¯s owner times two. The point needed to increase ¡¾STR¡¿¡¾AGI¡¿¡¾INT¡¿ will be three times of normal.

    Skill Requirement

    Receive attacks continuously for an hour, and not receive damage. And, not afflict damage using magic, or weapons.

    ¡¸n?? Then it means,¡¾VIT 256¡¿?! This, isn¡¯t it a very good skill?!¡­I was only ying with Usagi-san though?¡­¡¹

    Kaede was thinking that she gained this skill very easily, but the VIT wouldn¡¯t be enough for normalrge shield users. Being that said, there isn¡¯t anyone who would make a full build knowing that it would be a trash buildter on. In addition to that, there¡¯s no way, that person who made a full build, would y around for an hour with a White Rabbit.

    It means, it is not said enough that it was a miracle she was able to acquire that skill. And furthermore, the only one that holds that skill right now, is Kaede.

    Although, there¡¯s no way that Kaede herself would know about that.

    ¡¸Yo?sh Usagi-san, I¡¯ve kept you waitin¡­¡­Usagi-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Kyu¡­¡¹

    The White Rabbit injured its body every time it hit the ground after charging. And, a HP Bar-like thing was appearing on the top of its head.

    That, right now, from red gauge, it became zero.

    *Parin* with that sound, the White Rabbit, turns into shining light particles, and disappeared. Without dropping not even one drop item, it disappeared without any trace.

    ¡¸Usagi-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!¡¹

    ¡ºYour level had risen to 2¡»

    ¡¸Usagi-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!¡¹

    The scream of a girl echoed in the woods.

 Chapter 3: Defense Specialized and First Damage

    Chapter 3: Defense Specialized and First Damage

    ¡¸Ha?¡­why did you die by yourself¡­although, I didn¡¯t want to defeat you anymore¡­¡¹

    Kaede was mourning with the death of the White Rabbit, but after a while, she regained herself, and started to check about the level up.

    ¡¸Ah! The point that can changed into status had increased by 5!¡¹

    If she changed these points, she can say goodbye to the zero status safely.

    ¡¸U?n¡­but, even if I increased any other than VIT right now¡­¡¹

    It looks like it cannot be turned back after changing it, so Kaede thought about it very carefully.

    ¡¸Yo?sh¡­I decided! I¡¯ll change it into VIT!¡¹

    After Kaede ced all five points into VIT, and once again, she moved deeper to the forest to find a monster.

    ¡¸Ueee¡­so disgusting¡­¡¹

    Right now, a Huge Caterpir is clinging to Kaede¡¯s heel. Surely, there is no person that wouldn¡¯t think of that as disgusting.

    Kaede took out the short sword from her waist, *ZakuZaku* and stabbed its body. This caterpir has poison, and it pours its poison after biting its opponent, but even if it had bitten Kaede¡¯s body, it couldn¡¯t make a scratch so there¡¯s no way of inflicting poison.

    In addition, it didn¡¯t have loveliness like the White Rabbit.

    It means, she wouldn¡¯t think of anything, even if she defeats it.

    She could only defeat it after stabbing it ten, few times because her STR was so low.

    ¡¸Level, it didn¡¯t go up huh¡­¡¹

    Kaede was at this point, thinking twice if she should go back.

    But, deeper and deeper she goes, and after a while, she wandered into the ce where the strongest monster was in these surrounding area.

    And, that monster¡¯s misfortune, right now, it appeared in front of Kaede.

    It was a bee that flies with noisy feather sounds.

    That, was going towards Kaede.

    ¡¸No way¡­this is the worst¡­¡¹

    Kaede became frightened to that unbelievablerge sting on its back and made a stance with herrge shield.

    But, Kaede who was¡¾AGI 0¡¿couldn¡¯t keep up with its movements.

    It went to her back in an instant, and stinged¡­

    she was not.

    The Giant Bee also seemed it was confused, and tried to sting her neck many times.

    ¡¸Ahaha¡­it¡¯s tickling you know?¡¹

    Kaede who regained herposure, returned to her usual self.

    Even so, the Giant Bee still tried to sting her a few times, but it seems it knew that it had no effect, and started to spray venom.

    ¡¸n¡­¡­¡­?!!¡¹

    Kaede felt like her skin was being burned, a little, but she really felt the pain. It was the same level of pain when entering the bath after having a sunburn.

    When she checked her status, her HP was reduced by 1. It means, Kaede would die if she receives the venom only after 39 times.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­Strategical retreat!¡¹

    Kaede showed her back to the Giant Bee, and ran away. But the big gap on AGI wouldn¡¯t let her do that.

    The Giant Bee sprays venom to her continuously.

    ¡¸Khu¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    At the time when Kaede¡¯s HP was cut in half.

    ¡ºSkill¡¾Poison Resistance (Small)¡¿had been acquired¡»

    After hearing that system sound, Kaede stopped receiving damages. If this was the usual Kaede, she would¡¯ve had joy with it, but it was different this time. She received damage for the first time from the Giant Bee, so she was a little angry.

    ¡¸I can¡¯t, no more¡­¡¹

    *Batari* Kaede copses on the ground, pretends like she wanted to go away from this ce even a little, she crawled.

    Right, it was an act.

    When she did that, the Giant Bee showers her with venom as if it is only a little before it ends. When Kaede gradually slows her movements, it also increased the amount of venom as if it was putting an end to her.

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Poison Resistance (Small)¡¿ had evolved to ¡¾Poison Resistance (Medium)¡¿ ¡»

    *Niyari* Kaede smiled. Right, this was her aim. Countermeasures are perfect with this, since poison was her only concern right now.

    And, Kaede stopped movingpletely, she feigned death. The Giant Bee, wanting to snibble that Kaede, approaches with its head.

    ¡¸Fufu, you fell for it! Giant Beee!!¡¹

    She turned her body around, and stabbed the short sword she had on her hand into its mouth that was widely opened. From the mouth that didn¡¯t have armor, the de that was stabbed made a sound like *GoriGori* and pierced its head.

    *GuiGui* Kaede moved that further and moves it sideways. The HP Gauge that was shown in the top of the Giant Bee¡¯s head was surely being shaved.

    The Giant Bee became mad with anger, and stings her with its sting, but damage couldn¡¯t get through.

    And finally, after the Giant Bee convulsed, it turned into light and disappears.

    *Poto* and it dropped a silver ring on the ground.

    ¡¸Fufufu¡­it¡¯s my victory!¡¹

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Giant Killing (OomonoKurai)¡¿ had been acquired. Your level had risen to 8¡»

    After Kaede picked up the ring, she checked the skill and ring she gained this time.

    Ring of the Forest Queen Bee¡¾Rare¡¿

    ¡¾VIT +6¡¿

    Auto Recovery: Recovers 10% of maximum health every 10 minutes.

    ¡¸Ohhhh! This is amazing. HP Recovery! It says rare, it means I was lucky huh?¡¹

    To Kaede who had only basic stats on MP, and haven¡¯t learned magic, HP Recovery is very valuable. And the ¡¾VIT +6¡¿ that was with is was inlyrge. Because Kaede who have ¡¾Absolute Defense¡¿ it would mean that it would be VIT +12.

    She wore that after removing the glove that she was wearing in the first ce. The glove wasn¡¯t an essory, it was just only a fashion item, so she wore it again above the ring.

    ¡¸It was written in the memo that valuable items or skills shouldn¡¯t be said or shown to other people right¡¹

    Risa wrote about the countermeasures for PKs. Even so, there wouldn¡¯t be many PKers appearing, that could kill the Kaede right now.

    ¡¸Lastly, skill huh¡­¡¹

    ¡¾Poison Resistance (Medium) ¡¿

    Nullifies strong poison.

    Skill Requirement

    Receive strong poison 40 times.

    ¡¸It doesn¡¯t felt that strong though?¡­maybe VIT also reduces the damage for poison huh¡­¡¹

    In fact, that was correct. The damage that she should¡¯ve received was being reduced.

    Even so, because she didn¡¯t have resistance against poison attack, she received 1 damage.

    ¡¸Then, next!¡¹

    ¡¾Giant Killing (OomonoKurai) ¡¿

    During times when you have more than four stats, other than HP/MP, lower than the battle opponent, stats other than HP/MP will be doubled.

    Skill Requirement

    If a yer, who have more than four stats, other than HP/MP, lower than half of the battle opponent¡¯s stats, should subjugate the targeted monster alone.

    ¡¸It¡¯s because four of my stats are at zero¡­a-re? Then, most of the battles, my status will always be doubled? That means¡­VIT is four times totally!¡¹

    As Kaede had said, most of her stats were zero, so the effect would be VIT times two.

    In addition, she gained status points after raising her level.

    ¡¸A-re? I only gained 15 status points¡­¡­maybe I can only get it in multiples of two¡¹

    Kaede, this time, ced all of it into VIT without hesitation.

    Even if she thought about the ¡¾Giant Killing (OomonoKurai)¡¿ , this was for best.

    Right now, Kaede¡¯s VIT stat is 616.

    ¡¸n?¡­I somehow got tired. I should stop it here and call it a day huh. I got more into it than I thought¡¹

    Kaede went out of the forest, and when she returned to town, she logged out, and returned to the real world.

 Chapter 4: Defence Specialized and Concentration

    Chapter 4: Defence Specialized and Concentration

    ¡¸Yo?sh! Let¡¯s also do our best today!¡¹

    Continuing from yesterday, Kaede logged in to New World Online.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go to the forest today too?! I also want new skills¡¹

    Kaede wasn¡¯t the type who is engrossed on levelling up, but still, she is attracted by the exciting feeling that you get when you gain a new skill. Like filling a bookshelf with books, it is a moment of fun.

    ¡¸I should get skills that will raise VIT mostly right!¡¹

    And, with Kaede¡¯s usual slow walking pace, *TekuTeku* she went towards outside of the town.

    ¡¸I wonder what should I try?¡­¡¹

    She thought like that, and the first thing that came to her mind was sensory awareness. If you can be aware of the enemy¡¯s presence from the start, there shouldn¡¯t be a more convenient thing than that.

    ¡¸Yo?sh! I¡¯m going to do it?!¡¹

    Kaede ced herrge shield on the ground, closed her eyes, and searched for presences.

    Actually, this approach.

    Is wrong, big time.

    The real approach is written on the conqueror¡¯s bulletin board, hit the unseen enemy with an attack using bow and arrows or throwing stones as if you know that it is there.

    It was like that, although it seems that there is a hole in the system. In the first ce, if Kaede acquires it in this approach, Kaede would be able to use Sensory Awareness in the real world.

    Kaede wasn¡¯t that kind of superman.

    And Kaede who doesn¡¯t know about that closed her eyes and concentrated mindlessly.

    She just did that, after three hours.

    To Kaede¡¯s ears who had just exerted patience for unknown reasons, a system message had arrived.

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Meditation¡¿ had been acquired¡»

    ¡¸A-re, ¡¾Meditation¡¿ ? It wasn¡¯t Sensory Awareness¡­I see, that¡¯s too bad¡­¡¹

    Just like that, when she tried to stand up, she noticed that her body was heavy. She opened both of her eyes, and when she checked her body, from centipedes and caterpirs that are small fries, to wolves that were a bit stronger, they clinging to Kaede¡¯s defenceless trying to attack it.

    ¡¸Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!!!¡¹

    With a scream, *ZakkuZakku* she defeated the centipedes and wolves by stabbing them with her short sword, to the ¡¾STR 9¡¿ Kaede, it was very difficult. The enemies couldn¡¯t be defeated at all. But, they are too weak and cannot wound Kaede¡¯s body, so she can stab the de to her body without worries.

    But, seemingly caught by Kaede¡¯s scream, monsters wereing out one next to the other from the back.

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Provoke¡¿ had been acquired¡»

    She is happy because of the new skill, but first she needed to escape this crisis.

    And finally.

    ¡ºYour level had risen to 11¡»

    ¡¸Fu?¡­it was a difficult fight¡­well then, let¡¯s check the skill?!¡¹

    ¡¾Meditations¡¿

    If used, 1% of maximum HP will recover in 10 seconds. Duration of effect is 10 minutes. No MP consumption.

    While in ¡¾Meditation¡¿ you cannot take any attack movements.

    Skill Requirement

    Not lose concentration while in all kinds of pain and meditate for three hours.

    ¡¸It¡¯s not like I was meditating though?¡­well, strong skills are wee you know!¡¹

    Next, she also checks the provoke.

    ¡¾Provoke¡¿

    Draws the monster¡¯s attention into one point.

    Skill Requirement.

    Steal more than 10 monsters¡¯ attention at once.

    ¡¸This would also be nice during levelling up¡¹

    The original way, of being used by a person with highest defence powers in the party to tank, it was a skilled used in parties, but Kaede didn¡¯t look at it like that. For the reason, her AGI was so low, that even if she tries to catch up with monsters during grinding, she couldn¡¯t catch up to them. And the only person who had that kinds of worries, even in all of the yers, is Kaede.

    Anyways, with this, she would be able to raise her level any time.

    ¡¸The only left is to ce the status points to VIT¡­n? There are 10 status points!¡¹

    Right, you can receive twice the usual status points given at the multiples of tens. This was created that way, but to Kaede, it was an unexpected gift, and she was somehow happy with it.

    Maple

    Lv11

    HP 40/40

    MP 12/12

    ¡¾STR 0¡´£«9¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 130¡´£«34¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 0¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 0¡¿

    ¡¾INT 0¡¿

    Equipments

    Head¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Body¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Right hand¡¾Beginners Short Sword¡¿

    Left Hand¡¾Beginner¡¯s Large Shield¡¿

    Legs¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Shoes¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    essories¡¾Ring of the Forest Queen Bee¡¿

    ¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    ¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Skill

    ¡¾Absolute Defense¡¿¡¾Giant Killing (OomonoKurai)¡¿¡¾Poison Resistance (Medium¡¿¡¾Meditation¡¿¡¾Provoke¡¿

    Kaede confirmed her statusstly, nodded very satisfied and logged out.

    Meanwhile, in a certain inte bulletin board.

    ¡¾NWO¡¿I saw a ¡°bad¡±rge shield user

    Name : Nameless Large Sword User

    This is bad

    Name : Nameless Spear User

    >1

    kwsk

    Name : Nameless Magician

    How ¡°bad¡± is it

    Name : Nameless Large Swordsman

    Dunno. it was for some reason sitting while being surrounded by tens of Big Centipedes and Caterpirs.

    Name : Nameless Spearman

    Ha? wtf.

    you¡¯d die by that, lol. even if you equiprge shield.

    Name : Nameless Archer

    >1

    with strong equips? what about there

    Name : Nameless Large Swordsman

    >6

    it looked like it was beginner¡¯s equips

    just thinking of it makes my hair stand.

    I wonder how you can be calm being surrounded by caterpirs and centipedes.

    Name : Nameless Magician

    I can only say¡­¡­probably nullifies the attack if not dying by that¡­

    Name : Nameless Spearman

    you can do that?

    Name : Nameless Archer

    >9

    if I¡¯m correct, someone tested VIT full build. it probably had endured the attack of White Rabbits

    Name : Nameless Spearman

    trash build

    Nameless Large Shield User

    I probably know who¡¯s that

    Name : Nameless Large Swordsman

    >12

    kwsk

    Name : Nameless Large Shield User

    I dunno the ign but it¡¯s a bishoujo not reaching 150 cm

    from her walking speed, her AGI is almost zero

    btw, if I do the same thing, I¡¯ll melt in an instant

    Name : Nameless Magician

    really full build? well, but might find hidden skills or something

    Name : Nameless Spearman

    Ah?something like that you say, I mean a girl, and a bishoujo on top of that

    Name : Nameless Archer

    Hou, that¡¯s where you look huh

    I second you

    Name : Nameless Large Swordsman

    n? well, can only find informationter huh

    if she bes a top yer, her name should probably be showing somewhere

    Name : Nameless Large Shield User

    if I find something, I¡¯ll post it

    Name : Nameless Magician

    Thank you very much for the information provided!! (Salutes)

    Just like that, in ces where Kaede doesn¡¯t know about, Kaede became a topic for a while.

 Chapter 5: Defence Specialized and First Intermingling

    Chapter 5: Defence Specialized and First Intermingling

    ¡¸I also came today huh?¡­¡¹

    With this, it¡¯s the third day of consecutive login. Although saying that it was for ying with Risa, but she got hooked to the hilt.

    The feeling of sess at the time she gained a skill, and the feeling of sess of increasing defense powers made her addicted, and before she noticed she turned on the hardware.

    And Risa at the time, she was told by her parents to study so she couldn¡¯t y.

    ¡¸Fufufu?¡­I¡¯ll just enjoy by myself you know¡¹

    Just like that, Kaede was about to walk, but she had an idea when she looked around.

    ¡¸I¡­I¡¯m still on beginner¡¯s equipment!¡¹

    Shield that has no decoration at all and very weak-looking short sword

    that it was it. When she looked around, there are high-level yers here and there, and those people are wearing good equipments with decorations.

    *KyoroKyoro* she looked around for those kind of people for a while, and saw a man who had equipped a coolrge shield.

    *ToteTote* Kaede approached that man and called out to him.

    ¡¸Uhm?where should I go to get that kind of cool shield?¡¹

    ¡¸n? eh? m-me?¡¹

    The man was surprised because he was suddenly had been called out to.

    ¡¸Yes! Thatrge shield, it¡¯s cool right!¡¹

    ¡¸Y-Yeah. Well, thanks¡­¡­this is, an order-made you know. You can pay money to a nonbat ss user and make it for you¡¹

    ¡¸Mumumu¡­I see¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Let me think¡­you want me to introduce someone? As the kinship as samerge shield user¡¹

    ¡¸!! Please do!¡¹

    ¡¸Well then,e with me¡¹

    There exists the possibility of this being a fraud, but Kaede was only thinking about therge shield right now, so she wasn¡¯t able to think about that at all.

    It was lucky for Kaede that this man was really only being a friendly man.

    Because.

    ¡¸No way¡­to think she will talk to me¡­¡­I should write this on the bulletin boardster¡¹

    Right, this man was the Nameless Large Shield User from some bulletin board.

    After walking for a while, they entered one store.

    Inside, a woman was working ahead of the counter.

    ¡¸Ara, wee, Crom¡¹ What happened? The maintenance of the shield is still early though?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, I just saw a newrge shield user so¡­I took her impulsively¡¹

    And from behind of Crom who said that, Kaede shows her appearance.

    ¡¸Ara, what a cute girl¡­¡­Crom, did you bring this girl with you impulsively? Should I report this to the police?¡¹

    Saying that, the store owner woman emerges a blue panel in mid-air.

    ¡¸W-Wait a minute! That, what can I say, it¡¯s just an analogy!!¡¹

    ¡¸Fufu¡­I know. Just joking¡¹

    ¡¸Ha?¡­that¡¯s too bad for the heart so stop that¡¹

    Crom said that, *Ho* and let out a sigh.

    ¡¸You also, you shouldn¡¯te with a suspicious person like that you know?¡¹

    ¡¸Au?¡­I understand¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m not suspicious!?¡¹

    ¡¸Fufu, well, chatting is enough with this, then, what¡¯s the real talk?¡¹

    ¡¸This girl was saying that she wanted a coolrge shield, so I thought I should just let you see her face¡¹

    ¡¸I see now. My name is Izu. Like you can see, a nonbat ss, and within that, I specialize on cksmithing. I can also create something like a potion though¡¹

    ¡¸He?¡­you¡¯re amazing desu ne! Ah, uhm, I am called Maple!¡¹

    It was her first intermingling inside the game, so although Kaede was nervous, she was able to say her name without biting her tongue.

    ¡¸Maple-chan huh. Why did you choose therge shield?¡¹

    ¡¸Uhmm¡­I don¡¯t like painful things, so I thought I¡¯d increase my defense powers desu¡¹

    ¡¸n?¡­I see, I see. Then VIT specialized equipments would be good¡­but¡­budget, you don¡¯t have right¡¹

    Kaede checks her budget. Because she hadn¡¯t bought anything so her money was still 3000G, the default money.

    ¡¸W-Would three thousand gold be enough?¡¹

    Kaede asked to be sure.

    ¡¸Fufu¡­it¡¯s not enough with that. At least around one million gold is needed¡¹

    To Kaede right now, it was a dizzying amount.

    ¡¸Ugugu¡­¡­being fashionable will be postponed for a while huh?¡¹

    ¡¸There is also the way of entering dungeons you know? There are a lot of treasures in dungeons. Also as a way of collecting money, you can go for once you know? Well, I don¡¯t know if there is a powerfulrge shield though¡¹

    After that, she registered friends with Crom and Izu, to be able to contact them anytime.

    To the friendly two, *Pecori* she bowed her head and left the store.

    Kaede for the meantime, decided two things, to collect money and go to the dungeon.

    ¡¸I want a cool equipment?!¡¹

    241 Name: Nameless Large Shield User

    I encountered therge shield girl, I mean, I registered friends with her lol

    242 Name: Nameless Spearman

    Ha?

    243 Name: Nameless Archer

    How?

    244 Name: Nameless Large Shield User

    When I logged in, she was like *KyoroKyoro* a lot, and when I thought that our sights met, she runs towards to me and talked to me lol

    245 Name: Nameless Large Swordsman

    246 Name: Nameless Magician

    >244

    then? what happened?

    247 Name: Nameless Large Shield User

    I was told coolrge shield

    when I told her I¡¯ll introduce her to a nonbat ss user she followed from behind

    her AGI was too low and she took a hard time following me so I stopped a few times for her

    248 Name: Nameless Spearman

    >247

    how high is your AGI

    249 Name: Nameless Large Shield User

    wait a sec I¡¯ll summarize it now

    here it is

    Her name is Maple

    She had not entered any party

    The reason she choserge shield was because she didn¡¯t like painful things so she increased her defense powers

    A very honest and active-type girl

    Overall Evaluation

    She was a very good girl

    Ah?watch and take care of her?

    Lastly, I am thinking of exchanging information about Maple-chan with you guys so I¡¯ll show my information

    For the mean time, I¡¯m ying using the name Crom

    Then, my AGI is 20

    I want to register friends with you guys so I¡¯ll be happy if those who cane would go to the front of the za¡¯s fountain at around 22pm

    250 Name: Nameless Spearman

    thanks for the info, I mean, aren¡¯t you Crom!

    Aren¡¯t youpletely a top yer!!

    251 Name: Nameless Magician

    you¡¯re too famous I¡¯m too scared lol

    252 Name: Nameless Archer

    Yossha, then I¡¯ll go at that time lol

    I mean, Maple-chan, being left behind by AGI20, maybe she really is full build

    253 Name: Nameless Large Swordsman

    then, from now on also, is the n warmly watch and protect Maple-chan, alright??

    254 Name: Nameless Spearman

    I agree?!

    255 Name: Nameless Archer

    I agree?!

    256 Name: Nameless Magician

    I agree?!

    257 Name: Nameless Large Shield User

    I agree?!

    Of course, there¡¯s no way that Kaede would know about this bulletin board.

 Chapter 6: Defense Specialized and Dungeon Attack

    Chapter 6: Defense Specialized and Dungeon Attack

    ¡¸Exploring a dungeon huh?I feel like my adventure had begun!¡¹

    Using the only three thousand gold, she bought potion to be sure.

    HP is only 40 so even the lowest kind of potion is enough.

    There is the ring of the giant bee and there is also ¡¾Meditation¡¿.

    She finished preparing and went to the dungeon. Her aim was the ¡¾Maze of the Poison Dragon¡¿ that was written in the information bulletin board.

    ¡¸I have ¡¾Poison Resistance (Medium)¡¿ so it is alright!¡¹

    Dungeon, here Ie, with that feeling she jumped outside of the town.

    *TekuTeku* she walked towards the opposite direction of the forest. If this weren¡¯t a game, Kaede who was only holding arge shield and short sword can only be seen as an elementary school student.

    She was attacked by a few monsters on the way, but they did no damage so without defeating them, she ignored them.

    The monsters in this area seem to be more intelligent than the monsters in the forest, so went they understood that the attack wouldn¡¯t go through, they went away.

    There was no witnesses so Kaede¡¯s abnormal defense power wasn¡¯t found out.

    When Kaede was walking like that, the trees around had gradually withered and she noticed that thendscape was bing deserted.

    She also saw swamps that sound *PokoPoko* on their ground.

    She walked like that by ten minutes.

    She saw that there was one part of the ground was opened wide like a mouth.

    ¡¸Is that it huh?¡¹

    Kaede entered inside, the inside had a taller ceiling that she thought, so she could properly make a stance with herrge shield.

    When she enters further, slimes with poisonous hues and lizards was crawling from the walls and the ground and charges an attack.

    ¡¸Ei!! ya!!¡¹

    She stabbed the de to the slime but she couldn¡¯t aim its core that was moves around in its body like it was drifting so she couldn¡¯t deal damage. But, the slime¡¯s tackle also, doesn¡¯t deal damage.

    ¡¸Mu¡­¡­this had be myst will. Eat this! Large Shield Preeeeess!!¡¹

    Together with therge shield she fell over the slime and covered all its body. There wasn¡¯t a skill or anything so power couldn¡¯t be expected, and it¡¯s an attack that makes a lot of chances because of falling down on enemy lines.

    But, that wasn¡¯t relevant to Kaede who only receives no damage to normal attacks or venom.

    Shield attack had very little damage, but it seems it was enough to destroy the slime¡¯s core.

    ¡¸Yo?sh! Let¡¯s go further more?!¡¹

    Finding out how to deal with the slime, Kaede went further and further to the back. By the way, Kaede gave up on defeating the lizards. Her AGI was not enough, and before she attack, *SuruSuru* it ran away and because she couldn¡¯t hit it.

    Wondering how many times it had been, she falls to the ground with the shield. At that time.

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Shield Attack¡¿ had been acquired¡»

    Kaede immediately read the skill¡¯s exnation. She guessed the contents of it from its name, but to be sure.

    ¡¾Shield Attack¡¿

    Attack using a shield. Power is dependent to STR. Knockback effect (Small).

    Skill Requirement

    Using shield attack, deal end damage to monsters 15 times.

    ¡¸It doesn¡¯t seem very useful¡­but knockback looks strong!¡¹

    While she moved further and further inside, there was like a violet flower that released a very clear poisonous-like mist, and spits poison.

    Like fishes that were swimming on poison swamps.

    And while getting past those, she reached the deepest area.

    In front of her, a door three times higher than Kaede¡¯s height.

    She put force to that double door to open it.

    *GiGiGi* while sounding like its oil had dried, the door openedpletely, and the inside of the room became clear.

    There was poison swamps here and there, and was full of light violet liquid.

    At the same time that Kaede entered that room carefully.

    Behind her, the door closed with momentum.

    ¡¸Hyan!?¡¹

    As if to erase that short scream, a dragon that has its body melted in some parts appeared from the poison swamp.

    ¡¸T-This is the Poison Dragon?!¡¹

    Without caring about Kaede¡¯s distress, a very deep violet breath was shot.

    Kaede herself was almost without scratch, but her equipments couldn¡¯t go that way.

    ¡¸T-Therge shield and short sword¡­¡­¡¹

    Corroded to tatters and broke down, those wouldn¡¯t mean anything as an equipment anymore. Fortunately, the ring that she was wearing under her glove was fine.

    And on this instance.

    Kaede¡¯srge shield¡¾VIT 28¡¿ is quadrupled by the effect of ¡¾Absolute Defense¡¿ and ¡¾Giant Killing (OomonoKurai)¡¿. It means it dropped by 112.

    With that, the damage from the breath shot by the Poison Dragon passed through further.

    Every time she receives is it was 3 damage. Kaede¡¯s HP had been reduced by 1 by the first breath shot.

    It means, if it goes like this, she would surely be killed within 13 shots.

    ¡¸Fu?¡­¡­concentrate! ¡¾Meditation¡¿!!¡¹

    Kaede closed her eyes and heightens her concentration.

    This time, it would be a ¡¾Meditation¡¿ while pain is going through her body. ¡¾Meditation¡¿ wouldn¡¯t show its effects if concentration isn¡¯t heightened.

    The ring and ¡¾Meditation¡¿, and the potion that she bought with all her money. Using all of that, her only chance of winning is to get the higher ¡¾Poison Resistance¡¿.

    While she uses ¡¾Meditation¡¿, the fear had gradually disappeared. Just as if Kaede¡¯s body was melting, she stopped feeling anything.

    Just like that she continuously endured, and by the time her HP is under 20% left, she drank the potion.

    She repeated that.

    The amount of recovery couldn¡¯t catch up. Is it the potion running out, or will she gain the resistance.

    It is whichever was faster.

    After she endured for a while, a voice echoed in her head.

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Poison Resistance (Medium)¡¿ had evolved to ¡¾Poison Resistance (Large)¡¿¡»

    With that voice that she was wishing for, but Kaede was not d.

    The pain of her skin being burned still remains.

    Her resistance is still not enough.

    It is unknown whether the resistance will grow further, but Kaede could only bet on that.

    By the time that thest potion bottle was emptied.

    ¡¸Haha¡­¡­I did it¡­¡­¡¹

    What echoed to Kaede¡¯s head was the skill acquisition of ¡¾Poison Nullification¡¿.

    If it was right now, the breath that fell to her felt good.

    But, she couldn¡¯t help it just resting. While recovering her HP, Kaede thought.

    Right. In this time that her weapon is destroyed. What should she do to defeat the dragon, it was about that. The dragon¡¯s attack was no damage. Kaede¡¯s attack was also no damage.

    It won¡¯t get anywhere.

    In addition, she could only kill it or die to get out of this room. This is was a happening that the developer did not expect.

    ¡¸Ugugu¡­well, let¡¯s try a lot of things! Tomorrow is rest day too!¡¹

    Right, fortunately, it is still rest day for the students tomorrow. She can take a lot of time slowly.

    This and that, Kaede thought and tried, and finally, she did a specific move.

    ¡¸Dragon¡¯s meat, looks tender and juicy¡­maybe I could eat it with ¡¾Poison Nullification¡¿!¡¹

    While being exploited to its breath, she approached the body of the Poison Dragon.

    And. Kaede ced her palms together.

    ¡¸¡­¡­Itadakimasu¡¹

    Chomps at its back.

 Chapter 7: Defense Specialized and Poison Dragon Battle

    Chapter 7: Defense Specialized and Poison Dragon Battle

    ¡¸Uu¡­¡­it¡¯s not that tasty¡¹

    Kaede frowned her face.

    After observing it for a while, she found out that the part she chomped off would not grow back. But, the principle is unknown but if it was only stripped off, the meat that fell returns to its ce like a video yed backwards.

    ¡¸I have to eat it after all huh?¡­¡¹

    The meat of the Poison Dragon had a small bitter taste, and Kaede recalled green pepper with it, which she didn¡¯t like.

    Even so, she cannot get out of this room, so she pinched her nose, and while swelling tears on her ears, she ate it. The only ally for Kaede was that in this game, satiety doesn¡¯t exist. Even if she can taste it, her tummy would not be full.

    ¡¸*MoguMogu*¡­Ah! Poison Dragon-san¡­thank you for throwing a breath out. *MoguMogu*¡­the bitter taste that was green pepper-like disappeared, so it helps?¡­¡¹

    Just like that, she moved forward to eating the torso part. And there result of eating like that for five hours. The torso part became only its bones. Next is the tail, Kaede thought, but when she was sliding down to its tail, *PoroPoro* the Poison Dragon¡¯s bones copsed and shattered, and the Poison Dragon had stopped its movement.

    At the same time, behind the Poison Dragon, a magic circle shining with light and arge treasure box appeared.

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Hydra Eater (DokuryuuKurai)¡¿had been acquired. Together with this ¡¾Poison Nullification¡¿ had evolved to ¡¾Hydra (Dokuryuu¡¿¡»

    ¡ºYour level had risen to 18¡»

    Kaede first ced her 20 status points to VIT as usual.

    With this, the basic stats of VIT had be 150.

    ¡¸Yosh¡­my defense had hardened again!¡¹

    Continuing, she checked her skill. Even Kaede didn¡¯t think that there would be a skill like ¡¾Hydra Eater (DokuruuKurai)¡¿.

    ¡¾Hydra Eater (DokuruuKurai)¡¿

    Nullifies poison, paralyze.

    Skill Requirement

    Defeat the Poison Dragon with HP Drain.

    It looks like eating is treated as HP drain. Although it¡¯s doubtful that a yer other than Kaede would do that.

    It is true that her HP had recovered for a small amount.

    It was clear that it was not the normal way to get it. The difficulty taking it using the normal way is lowerpared to that. Who would want to purposely eat the rotting meat of the Poison Dragon.

    ¡¾Hydra (Dokuryuu)¡¿

    Be able to use the powers of the Poison Dragon as you will.

    By consuming MP, Poison Magic can be used.

    Skill Requirement

    Defeat the Poison Dragon with HP Drain with Poison Nullification acquired.

    Seeing this, Kaede trembled.

    ¡¸I-It¡¯s my first proper way to attack! Plus, it¡¯s poison so it has perfectpatibility!¡¹

    After hitting it, she only need to endure after that, it can make use of Kaede¡¯s VIT to the fullest.

    ¡¸But, the problem is MP huh?¡­but I want to increase VIT?¡­¡¹

    *UnUn* Kaede was groaning like that, she remembered the existence of the treasure box, and paused her thinking.

    It was quiterge. It was a rectangr with 3 meters in width, 1 meter in length, and 2 meters en height.

    To her first treasure box, *Gokuri* Kaede swallowed her saliva. With nervous and excitement, her heart beats get loud.

    Slowly raised the cover, and checked what¡¯s inside.

    ¡¸Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!¡¹

    To Kaede¡¯s excitement, she shouted with a loud voice.

    What inside was arge shield with ck as a base and decorated with a vivid red decor.

    Reflecting a dull shine, an armor that has roses carved on it that doesn¡¯t stand out too much but properly shows its presence, it was clear that it matched therge shield earlier.

    And, a jet-ck short sword that has a calm feeling with it and a sheath that has beautiful shining gaid in it.

    ¡¸Mou!¡­this is the best! So cool!¡¹

    Taking that, one by one she looked at the exnation.

    ¡¾Unique Series¡¿

    Sent to the person who broke through the dungeon by defeating the boss alone and the first time as a one of a kind equipment only for the dungeon capturer.

    ©`©`Limited to one per dungeon.

    The person who acquired this equipment will not be able to trade it.

    ¡ºMirror of the Dark Night (Yamiyo no Utsushi)¡»

    ¡¾VIT +20¡¿

    ¡¾Destruction Growth¡¿

    Skill slot ©`

    ¡ºArmor of ck Roses (Kurobara no Yoroi)¡»

    ¡¾VIT +25¡¿

    ¡¾Destruction Growth¡¿

    Skill slot ©`

    ¡ºNew Moon (Shingetsu)¡»

    ¡¾VIT +15¡¿

    ¡¾Destruction Growth¡¿

    Skill slot ©`

    It was exactly Kaede¡¯s exclusive equipment. Even the short sword has VIT boost, it was equipment that will not disy full potential if other yers use it.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s look at skill slot and ¡¾Destruction Growth¡¿ after I go back?!¡¹

    After Kaede carefully ced the three equipments to her inventory, she was enveloped by the light from the magic circle, and from the dungeon, she was teleported to the town.

    When Kaede returned, she swiftly moved away, and using her remaining money, with only one day, she borrowed a room in an inn.

    In this game, sleep can also be taken so there are facilities like the inn, but Kaede¡¯s aim this time was not to stay in it.

    ¡¸First is checking huh¡¹

    ¡¾Destruction Growth¡¿

    As this equipment is destroyed, it will be more powerful after being destroyed and return to its former shape. Repair is done instantly so there is no effect in stats during breakage.

    Skill slot

    In exchange of the yer¡¯s skill, it can be infused to the weapon. Skills that are infused by this cannot be acquired again.

    The skill that is infused can be used five times a day without MP consumption.

    Subsequent use will consume MP that is required normally.

    Slots will be released every 15 levels.

    ¡¸Fufu!¡­very cool! and strong!¡¹

    Kaede who had checked that slots were added infused ¡¾Hydra (Dokuryuu)¡¿ to the short sword ¡ºNew Moon (Shingetsu)¡» without hesitation. With this, her problem with MP consumption was resolved.

    ¡¸And then, what everyone has been waiting for?Equip!¡¹

    Kaede equipped all of the equipments and confirmed how it looked in a mirror.

    ¡¸Ohhhhhhhhh!! I¡¯m so cool!¡¹

    Just like that, with also the reason to be used to that equipment, she posed in front of the mirror for about an hour.

    ¡¸Fufufu¡­and then, outside, here Ie!¡¹

    It was just like wearing her best clothes to go outside, Kaede was quite nervous.

    As expected, that equipment that emits an overwhelming presence gathered the attention of many people.

    It had bete in the night, but she wanted to go for a hunt once more, so she ces her foot towards outside of the town.

 Chapter 8: Defense Specialized and Secret Training

    Chapter 8: Defense Specialized and Secret Training

    d in jet-ck equipment, sitting on the edge of the fountain, Kaede was troubled.

    Her level won¡¯t go up that easy.

    Right now, Kaede¡¯s level is 18, and the top-level right now is 48 they said. Kaede had no interest in this game in the first ce so she had beente to start. If it continues like this, the level gap will only open.

    Well then, the reason for Kaede not having an easy way to level up was her AGI was so low, that she couldn¡¯t go to the ces where strong monsters are in a short time.

    ¡¸U?n¡­¡¹

    She was staring at the information bulletin board thinking if there was a skill that would be useful.

    The reason why she is thinking about it seriously right now was because of the announcement the game staff about an event.

    Right, after one week, an event will start. The event¡¯s contents is point valued battle royale. Every participants will fight for the number of defeated yers and death count.

    Also, points will be received with dealt damage, and damage not received.

    And to the top ten, limited event items will be sent.

    ¡¸Limited, only called by that I want it already¡­¡­!¡¹

    Kaede was the type of person that buys merchandize, even if it was useless, if there was a limited edition written on it.

    That¡¯s why, she is thinking of ways to deal with the level gap.

    ¡¸Uu?¡­¡­for the mean time, let¡¯s go!¡¹

    Kaede stopped staring at the bulletin boards, and walked towards the north.

    Right, Kaede didn¡¯t knew.

    How abnormal her defense powers was.

    ¡¸Tomorrow is rest day too¡­I¡¯ll sleep outdoors and get a skill!¡¹

    In Kaede¡¯s inventory, a sleeping back was in. With the money she finally earned by selling loots she was able to buy it.

    Her equipments were grand, but she had no money.

    And, she arrived at the north forest.

    Staying here for the night, one of the prey that she targeted is Explosion Ladybug, adybug that self-destructs as attack.

    And, another is a monster that is familiar in many games, it¡¯s goblin.

    ¡¸Yosh¡­¡¾Provoke¡¿!¡¹

    From Kaede¡¯s body a circr light was released, and monsters wereing. Kaede only took within those, goblins as the opponent. The number of goblins are five. Other monsters than that, she didn¡¯t care because even if she was attacked it was no damage.

    The goblin shes at Kaede using its rusty sword. But, even if Kaede is ¡¾AGI 0¡¿, it¡¯s not like she cannot use the shield that wasrger than her to attacks that were done head on.

    *Ghiri* she stopped it, and blocked it away. It was in, but she repeated that. Five Goblins. The efficiency was five times.

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Knowledge of Large Shield I¡¿ had been acquired¡»

    Because that was a basic skill that was written in the information bulletin boards, Kaede also acquired it.

    It reduces the damage received from the enemy by 1 when arge shield is equipped. Instead of increasing her VIT, she ns to take every damage reduction skill to increase her defence power.

    ¡¸¡¾Provoke¡¿!¡¹

    With adding goblins to a total of ten and make them hit her, the efficiency was raised further.

    The ¡¾Knowledge of Large Shield I¡¿ grew to ¡¾Knowledge of Large Shield IV¡¿ in only few hours, and reduces damage by 4 right now.

    In addition, she also got the skill ¡¾Body Maniption¡¿ and ¡¾Attack Diversion¡¿ Their effects were both reduction of damage received by 1.

    ¡¸This much is good huh¡¹

    And using ¡¾Shield Attack¡¿ she crushed the goblin that was doing it¡¯s best right now.

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Abominable (Gokuaku Hid¨­¡¿ had been acquired¡»

    At this time, Kaede gained a skill that she wasn¡¯t expecting.

    Kaede¡¯s y style waspletely different to other yers, she endured and endured with long periods of time, so she gains skills that are not easily obtained by other yers.

    ¡¾Abominable (Gokuaku Hid¨­¡¿

    Every time an attack was received from an opponent intentionally, ¡¾VIT +1¡¿

    But skill effects will only be avable one day starting from the activation of the skill.

    Limit is ¡¾VIT +25¡¿

    Skill Requirement

    Intentionally receive attacks from opponent that can be defeated continuously and exceed an amount of time.

    And, not receive death penalty until skill requirement is met.

    ¡¸What a happy miscalction!¡¹

    She endured that she almost danced, and went deeper to the forest.

    Right, in the first time since Kaede started this game.

    She is going to find for unconfirmed skills.

    The Explosion Ladybug, as its name says, is adybug that explodes, and its size is around double of a normaldybug. Experience gained is very bad, takes a lot time to encounter since it¡¯s deep in the forest, and it is hard to dodge it since its body is small and the damage is also huge. That¡¯s why, Kaede could monopolize the hunting grounds that are unused by herself.

    When Kaede reached their spawning ce, she used ¡¾Provoke¡¿ to call thedybugs. Because they are not hunted at all, there were a huge amount ofdybugs that flew, but to that, Kaede only took out the de of Shingetsu a little from its sheath.

    ¡¸¡¾Paralyze Shout¡¿¡¹

    Although it was called shout, a silent, but a clear sound, *Kin* echoed.

    The skill that in infused to Shingetsu is originally the Poison Dragon¡¯s, and the names were almost the same with the dragon.

    It means, its sound just needed to echo, that¡¯s why Kaede used the sound *Kin* thates out when sheathing it as a trigger.

    The reason is, it¡¯s very cool.

    Kaede looked at thedybugs that fell to the ground randomly very content.

    And, Kaede squatted, closed her eyes.

    And started eating thedybugs one by one.

    ¡¸Ah!¡­it¡¯s like the candy that was cracking and popping! Its nothing when I close my eyes huh. I mean, I already eat the Poison Dragon, being intimidated with just this¡­¡­¡¹

    It¡¯s not like Kaede had not thought about anything since she¡¯s doing this.

    It was proven that Kaede¡¯s idea was right at the time after she ate 50dybugs.

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Bizarre Eater (Akujiki) ¡¿ had been acquired¡»

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Bomb Eater (BakudanKurai)¡¿ had been acquired¡»

    ¡¸Then¡­it¡¯s okay if I stopped eating right¡¹

    Kaede checked the skills that she gained.

    ¡¾Bizarre Eater (Akujiki)¡¿

    A skill that changes everything that was devoured as power.

    Will devour even magic, and can change it to the user¡¯s MP. When the magic powers overflows, will be stored inside the body as magic crystal.

    Skill Requirement

    Oral ingestion of a certain amount of lethal substances.

    ¡¾Bomb Eater (BakudanKurai)¡¿

    Reduces explosive-type damage by 50.

    Skill Requirement

    Defeat Explosion Ladybug with HP Drain.

    ¡¸It¡¯s a good skill!! Ha? There was a good reason I did my best eating?¡¹

    Kaede infused ¡¾Bizarre Eater (Akujiki)¡¿ to ¡ºMirror of the Dark Night (Yamiyo no Utsushi)¡».

    ¡¾Bizarre Eater (Akujiki)¡¿ is a passive skill so the use limit had nothing to do with it. In addition, with eating the magic attack and the direct attack dealt with weapons, it canpletely nullify it.

    ¡¸And it would change to magic crystals and I can release a big magic with ¡ºNew Moon (Shingetsu)¡»! Fuhehe¡­so cool¡­¡¹

    *Ba*, she drew out Shingetsu, thrust it forward and made a pose. Her image training was perfectly perfect.

    ¡¸I was searching for explosion magicing here but¡­Kekka Alright huh!¡¹

    After that, she only needs to raise her level until the limit.

    Who knows what will be of Kaede¡¯s first event.

 Chapter 9: Defense Specialized and Event Start

    Chapter 9: Defense Specialized and Event Start

    For thest status check, she releases the blue colored panel.

    Maple

    Lv20

    HP 40/40

    MP 12/12

    ¡¾STR 0¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 160¡´£«66¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 0¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 0¡¿

    ¡¾INT 0¡¿

    Equipments

    Head¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Body¡¾Armor of ck Roses (Kurobara no Yoroi)¡¿

    Right hand¡¾Shingetsu¡¿

    Left Hand¡¾Mirror of the Dark Night (Yamiyo no Utsushi)¡¿

    Legs¡¾Armor of ck Roses (Kurobara no Yoroi)¡¿

    Shoes¡¾Armor of ck Roses (Kurobara no Yoroi)¡¿

    essories¡¾Ring of the Forest Queen Bee¡¿

    Skill

    ¡¾Absolute Defense¡¿¡¾Giant Killing (OomonoKurai)¡¿¡¾Hydra Eater (DokuruuKurai)¡¿¡¾Bomb Eater (BakudanKurai)¡¿¡¾Meditation¡¿¡¾Provoke¡¿¡¾Abominable (Gokuaku Hid¨­¡¿¡¾Knowledge of Large Shield IV¡¿¡¾Body Maniption¡¿¡¾Attack Diversion¡¿ ¡¾Shield Attack¡¿

    ¡¸Yosh! Everything¡¯s prepared. I hope I don¡¯t receive damage?¡­¡¹

    The times that she received damage was so few, she still not used to the feeling of receiving damage.

    And, it would be her first pvp. She¡¯s not to be med being nervous.

    After waiting for a while on the first za, participants continuously gathered.

    In addition, a gigantic screen appeared in the sky. With that, they should be showing interesting yers. That will be watched by nonbat users and yers that had not participated.

    ¡¸Well then, the first event! Battle Royale will be started!¡¹

    From here and there, the noise like Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!! echoed. Kaede also raised her fist up although she was shy, and shouted.

    There flows an announce with loud volume.

    ¡¸Well then, the rules will be exined once more! The time limit is three hours. The stage will be a newly created event map!

    The number of yers defeated and the times being defeated, damage dealt and damage received. Using this criteria points will beputed, and will be ranked! Furthermore, event items will be sent to the top ten yers! Please do your best!!¡¹

    After saying that, the countdown before the teleportation was shown on the screen, and when it became zero, Kaede was enveloped by light and teleported.

    ¡¸n¡­where is this?¡¹

    Kaede noticed that the blinding light had disappeared and opened her eyes slowly.

    It looks like she was in the center of the za of a crumbling ruins.

    There was no one around when she looked with a glimpse.

    ¡¸Even if I move, I¡¯ll be caught by someone¡­let¡¯s just wait here!¡¹

    Kaede sat on a decentlyrge brick stone, and waited for other yers to attack.

    After waiting while she was drawing on the ground with a stick, sounds were heard from here and there.

    ¡¸You¡¯vee!¡¹

    She thought and raised her head, it was toote and the sword that was swung was already in attacking distance.

    ¡¸I got you!¡¹

    If it was the Kaede before, she couldn¡¯t block that, but the Kaede right now has ¡¾Knowledge of Large Shield IV¡¿ with her. Her body moved more smoothly than before, and received the sword with herrge shield.

    Devoured, and erased it.

    ¡¸Ha? U-uwaaaaaaaaaaaa!!¡¹

    The man who had attack, because his sword wasn¡¯t bounced by the shield, just like that, starting from his arm that held the sword, he plunged and when half of his body was devoured, he became light particles and disappeared. Now that he lost his main weapon, he couldn¡¯t return to the battlefield anymore, and can only be an observer.

    And, with his life, a beautiful red crystal emerged in the shield as decor.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s continue drawing!¡¹

    Just like that, Kaede showed her defenseless look and drew in the ground.

    Right, Kaede who was having fun drawing was really defenseless. It¡¯s not like she was doing that on purpose, but the result was, she caught a party of three this time.

    Making a party is not against the rules. It is probably the result of wanting to make one of the party members on the top ten.

    The male swordsman ran. It was a straightforward dash. But still, to Kaede who was ¡¾AGI 0¡¿ it was quite quick.

    But, the speed of emptying the distance of 10 meters is too different to the speed of Kaede making sheathing sound with Shingetsu.

    ¡¸¡ºParalyze Shout¡»¡¹

    *Kin* with a very good sound, the three yers copsed suddenly.

    *Parin* with that sound, the red crystal on therge shield shattered. Kaede took therge shield and stood up.

    ¡¸Mufu?¡­It¡¯s my victory!¡¹

    This time, she pushed herrge shield to their head to not destroy their main weapon. The next instance, the swordsman yer became light particles and disappeared.

    The other two who was copsed was defeated the same way.

    Three new crystals emerges from therge shield.

    ¡¸Large shield is¡­stronger than I thought!¡¹

    There¡¯s no way you can call this as a bad equip, Kaede nodded with that once, and went back to her ce again.

    That kind of monsterrge shield user is only you.

    A person who could have said that, did not exist on that ce.

 Chapter 10: Defense Specialized and Event Results

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu Chapter 10

    Defense Specialization and Secret Training

    Dressed in jet-ck gear, Kaede sat on the edge of the fountain, concerned.

    She was having trouble raising her level.

    At the moment, Kaede¡¯s level was 18, and apparently, the current highest level was 48. Kaede had no interest in this game at first, so she waste to join. At this rate, the level gap would only widen.

    The reason why Kaede couldn¡¯t level up was because she didn¡¯t have enough AGI to go to ces where there were enemies powerful enough to raise her level.

    ¡¸Hmmm¡­¡¹

    She was looking over the information forum to try and figure out if she could get some useful skills.

    The reason she was thinking about it as seriously as ever was because of the event announcement the developers had made yesterday.

    That¡¯s right, in a week an event would start. The event would be a point-based battle royale. All participants wouldpete against each other based on how many other yers they killed and how many times they died.

    Also, apparently points would be awarded for damage taken and damage done.

    The top ten yers would be awarded special limitedmemorative items.

    ¡¸¡°Limited edition¡± makes me want to get it¡­ yup!¡¹

    Kaede was the type of person who would buy something she knew to be andmine if it had ¡°limited edition¡± written on it.

    This was why she was thinking of a way to ovee the difference in levels.

    ¡¸Uuh¡­ let¡¯s go with this for now!¡¹

    Kaede pried her eyes off the forum and started walking north.

    Right, Kaede had no idea¡­

    how crazy her defense was.

    ¡¸Tomorrow is a holiday¡­ I¡¯ll stay overnight and dig for skills!¡¹

    There was a sleeping bag in Kaede¡¯s inventory. She was finally able to buy it with the money she had saved up from selling materials.

    Her equipment was gorgeous, but she was broke.

    And so she came to the northern forest.

    One of the prey she was after was an Explosion Ladybug, a kind ofdybug that attacked by exploding itself.

    Another monster she was looking for was one familiar to us from various games, the goblin.

    ¡¸Alright¡­ ¡¾Provocation¡¿!¡¹

    Light radiated from Kaede¡¯s body in a circr pattern, and monsters came closer. Kaede took on only the goblins among them. There were five goblins. The other monsters attacked but did no damage, so she left them alone.

    A goblin shed at Kaede with its shoddy sword. However, even though Kaede had ¡¾AGI 0¡¿, it wasn¡¯t like she couldn¡¯t block a head-on sh with a shieldrger than her.

    She firmly blocked and parried it. It was simple, but it had to be done over and over again. There were five goblins. Thus, efficiency was five times higher.

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Great Shield Mastery I¡¿ has been acquired¡»

    This was a basic skill that was written about on the forum; Kaede had already done her homework on it.

    It cut damage from enemies by 1% when you had a great shield equipped. Instead of just increasing VIT, she was going to improve her defense by getting every damage reduction skill she could find.

    ¡¸¡¾Provocation¡¿!¡¹

    She got more goblins to hit her, ten in all, making things even more efficient.

    In a few hours, ¡¾Great Shield Mastery I¡¿ grew to ¡¾Great Shield Mastery IV¡¿, which cut damage by 4%.

    In addition, she also acquired ¡¾Body Management¡¿ and ¡¾Attack Deflection¡¿ skills. Both of these effects cut damage by 1%.

    TL note: ¡¾Body Management¡¿ = Tai sabaki

    ¡¸I guess that¡¯s about it, then.¡¹

    Then, using ¡¾Shield Attack¡¿ she crushed the goblins, still trying their best.

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Inhumane¡¿ has been acquired¡»

    This time, Kaede got a skill that she hadn¡¯t expected.

    Kaede¡¯s y style waspletely different from that of other yers: she spent a lot of time enduring, and so she got all kinds of skills that other yers wouldn¡¯t be able to so easily obtain.

    ¡¾Inhumane¡¿

    Every time you take an attack from an opponent you gain ¡¾VIT +1¡¿.

    However, the effectsts only for one day after the skill is activated.

    The upper limit on VIT gain is ¡¾VIT +25¡¿.

    Acquisition Conditions

    Intentionally take attacks from an opponent you can defeat for longer than a set amount of time.

    In addition, you must not have received a penalty for death before then.

    ¡¸What a great miscalction!¡¹

    Holding back the urge to prance about, Kaede went deeper into the forest.

    Yes, for the first time since Kaede started ying this game¡­

    she was going to find undiscovered skills.

    As the name suggested, the Explosion Ladybug was adybug that exploded; its size was about twice that of a normaldybug. It didn¡¯t give you much XP, it was deep in the forest, so you had to put in a lot of effort to get to it, it was hard to evade because of its small size, and it did a lot of damage. Therefore, Kaede was able to monopolize this hunting ground since it was unused.

    When Kaede arrived in its habitat, she used ¡¾Provocation¡¿ to lure thedybugs. Because they were barely ever hunted, thedybugs were flying inrge numbers. To deal with them, Kaede pulled her New Moon out of its sheath just a little.

    ¡¸¡¾Paralyze Shout¡¿¡¹

    It was too quiet to be called a shout, but a distinct <i>shinnk</i> resounded through the air.

    The skills that were infused into New Moon were originally those of the Poison Dragon, so most of the techniques were named after what the dragon had done.

    In short, making a resounding sound was all that was needed, so Kaede used the high pitched <i>shinnk</i> sheathing sound as the trigger.

    Why? Because it was cool.

    Kaede watched with satisfaction as thedybugs bumped into the ground one after another.

    Then Kaede crouched down and closed her eyes.

    And started eating thedybugs, one by one.

    ¡¸Ah!¡­ It¡¯s like that crackling candy! It doesn¡¯t seem too bad if you close your eyes. I mean, I¡¯ve already eaten the Poison Dragon, so I think this much is fine¡­¡¹

    It wasn¡¯t like Kaede was doing this for no reason at all.

    Kaede¡¯s idea was proved correct when she ate about 50dybugs.

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Eating Inedibles¡¿ has been acquired.¡»

    TL note: ¡¾™Ê³¡¿ is the name, which literally means ¡°eating things that one generally avoids eating¡±.

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Bomb Eater¡¿ has been acquired.¡»

    ¡¸Right¡­ it should be fine to stop eating here.¡¹

    Kaede checked her newly acquired skills.

    ¡¾Eating Inedibles¡¿

    The power to consume any living thing and turn it into nourishment.

    Can eat up even magic and convert it into your MP. If the magic power goes over your capacity, it will be stored in your body as magic crystals.

    Acquisition Conditions

    Ingest a certain amount of a lethal deleterious substance orally.

    ¡¾Bomb Eater¡¿

    Reduces explosion damage by 50%.

    Acquisition Conditions

    Defeat an Explosion Ladybug with HP Drain.

    ¡¸Great skills! Phew¡­ Eating them was worth all the effort!¡¹

    Kaede infused ¡ºReplica of the Dark Night¡» with ¡¾Eating Inedibles¡¿.

    ¡¾Eating Inedibles¡¿ was constantly active, so there was no limit to the number of times it could be used. Furthermore, it could be used to eat magic attacks and the weapons of those who attacked directly and have been blocked,pletely neutralizing them.

    ¡¸Now I can turn things into magic crystals and use ¡ºNew Moon¡» to cast a huge spell! Hehehe¡­ cool¡­¡¹

    <i>*Fwip*</i> She pulled out New Moon, thrust it forward and struck a pose. The image training was beyond perfect.

    ¡¸I actually came here to look for explosion type magic¡­ but I guess this is alright too!¡¹

    All that was left was to raise her level until the veryst minute.

    What will Kaede¡¯s first event really be like?

 Chapter 11: Defense Specialized and Status Discussion

    Chapter 11: Defense Specialized and Status Discussion

    ¡¾NMO¡¿ The mystery of Maple-chan ¡¾Discussion¡¿

    1 Name: Nameless Spearman

    I made the thread, there

    2 Name: Nameless Large Sword User

    Yeah

    The agenda is about our Maple-chan

    3 Name : Nameless Magic User

    honestly, I think she¡¯s worse than Pain

    why that #3?

    4 Name : Nameless Spear User

    because she was drawing in the start at the ruins

    5 Name : Nameless Bow User

    she was too cute lol

    6 Name: Nameless Large Shield User

    I start to get worried if that is really arge shield

    Ah! btw I¡¯m #9

    7 Name : Nameless Spear User

    As expected

    how can you do that using arge shield

    (Looking away from Maple-chan)

    8 Name : Nameless Large Sword User

    Well then, this is the summary of Maple-chan this time

    First Event

    Maple #3

    Death Count 0

    Damage Received 0

    Number Defeated 2028

    Her equipments are the mysteriousrge shield that devoured enemies, the ridiculous short sword that releases status debuff, and a dark armor.

    The dark armor doesn¡¯t seem to exhibit ridiculous specs.

    She had ridiculous defense powers, could receive concentrated attack from 40 magic users.

    9 Name : Nameless Magic User

    how much I look at it, I can only say crazy

    10 Name: Nameless Large Shield User

    Large Shield ¡ú well, there might be that kind of equipment¡­un

    Short Sword ¡ú well, there might be one

    Maple-chan herself ¡ú Ha?

    The number one mystery is her stats and skill build

    Maple-chan, how high is your VIT¡­

    11 Name : Nameless Large Sword User

    she¡¯s really a walking fortress you know

    A WALKING FORTRESS

    12 Name : Nameless Bow User

    it looked like she received it with only her VIT stats right?

    I mean, isn¡¯t there someone who has an idea on what skill Maple-chan have?

    like the time when she received the magic attack, she was shining brightly, so it¡¯s sure that she used some kind of skill

    13 Name: Nameless Large Shield User

    Status debuff ¡ú idk

    defense power + ¡ú if there was a skill that makes it that hard I got it

    Large Shield ¡ú dunno

    14 Name : Nameless Magic User

    >13

    this

    it is unknown what skill Maple-chan have but she probably got the basic ones

    but Maple-chan¡¯s unique skill is really unknown

    15 Name : Nameless Bow User

    maybe the strongest 1v1?

    16 Name : Nameless Magic User

    that¡¯s probably true

    something must be done with that AoE status debuff or else its impossible to win

    she was saying lethal poison so probably high-level magic

    there¡¯s a question there, what happened to her MP?

    using that magic so lightly, and she¡¯s probably VIT full build right?

    MP isn¡¯t enough right, normally

    17 Name : Nameless Large Sword User

    that is?¡­therge shield is probably used as a tank

    like charging what it eat as magic power

    18 Name : Nameless Spear User

    then, that red crystal is probably that

    I¡¯m sure that it shattered when she used magic

    19 Name : Nameless Large Sword User

    It means, Maple-chan is

    She herself have a ridiculous high defense and makes all kinds of damage to zero

    and trying to strip that armor, attacks and yers are changed to MP

    be crushed with status debuff

    That means like that huh

    20 Name : Nameless Spear User

    wtf is thatst boss

    21 Name : Nameless Bow User

    yeah¡­freaking devilish?

    22 Name: Nameless Large Shield User

    but it is said that she might have a skill still hidden

    its unknown because there¡¯s no one who dealt damage to her, but her HP might recover

    23 Name : Nameless Magic User

    wasn¡¯t it promised from a long time ago that the HP of thest boss won¡¯t recover right!!?

    24 Name : Nameless Large Sword User

    when I wrote that, I had a weirdugh

    in addition, she had just started ying

    a very huge OP rookie

    25 Name : Nameless Magic User

    in the next event, the armor also has ridiculous specs!

    see that

    26 Name : Nameless Bow User

    in reality, she¡¯s already a top yer right?¡­

    that¡¯s too OP

    she¡¯s cute and she¡¯s strong, she¡¯s the best huh

    27 Name : Nameless Spear User

    let¡¯s watch and protect her yo

    even if her stats are highest level, the yer is a beginner

    28 Name : Nameless Large Sword User

    I agree

    I¡¯ll count on you guys with individual investigation from now on too yo

    29 Name : Nameless Bow User

    ROGER!!

    30 Name : Nameless Magic User

    ROGER!!

    31 Name : Nameless Spear User

    ROGER!!

    32 Name: Nameless Large Shield User

    ROGER!!

 Chapter 12: Defense Specialized and Material Collection

    Chapter 12: Defense Specialized and Material Collection

    The next day of the first event. Kaede was taking notes in front of the BBS.

    To take the task of taking damage reduction skills once again, she is recording all the damage reduction skills that have been found until now, and their skill requirements.

    And right now, it had been just three months since the New World Online was released. Together with that, there will be arge-scale update tomorrow. A few skills and items will be added. That also made the inte on fire, but that was not the highlight.

    The highlight was, the yers that had defeated the dungeon boss on the north end of the map, will be able to move forward from there towards the new map that is added in the update.

    Of course, even it was challenged by solo or by party, there is no problem.

    In simple words, the yers that cleared the first stage will be able to go to the next stage.

    Kaede also, was thinking of going there after she gained skills.

    ¡¸Today will be¡­let¡¯s go acquire ¡¾Large Defense¡¿!¡¹

    Kaede eagerly said that, but she found one problem. The Mirror of the Dark Night has the deadly skill that devours everything it touches. Because of that, she wouldn¡¯t be able to receive attacks that are needed for the skill requirement of ¡¾Large Defense¡¿. After all, before she could receive it they will be erased.

    ¡¸U?n¡­but I think I don¡¯t need it if I have thisrge shield though?¡­no, but still?¡­ I want to have a lot of skills?¡­¡¹

    Kaede who was thinking for a while, she started walking as if she had an idea.

    ¡¸I wonder if it would go well?¡¹

    Saying that, she went towards the Izu¡¯s store that she was taken by Crom before.

    ¡¸Ara! Wee. You surely had be famous huh?¡­when you came here, you only had beginner¡¯s equipments though?¡¹

    ¡¸Thank you very much! And then¡­there¡¯s something I want to talk today¡­although it¡¯s okay if it was impossible¡­¡­¡¹

    Saying that as prelude, Kaede started talking about it. And Izu who heard what Kaede was saying until she ended, started reciting it as to check.

    asdsa

    ¡¸You want an equipments that with its specs not considered, you want it white and detailed. And to make that, how much will it take¡­huh. Let me think¡­if there are some materials that you will have that can be used, probably about one million gold for one set. Depending on the materials you bring, the specs will get higher though¡¹

    The Mirror of the Dark Night is arge shield for battle that is not suitable for taking skills.

    Because of that, Kaede decided to have arge shield that is for skill taking, but she wanted to consider how it looks. That¡¯s why she didn¡¯t think think of buying cheap shields. Now that she had gathered attention, she wanted to be fashionable.

    That¡¯s why she wanted to have aplete set of equipments.

    After the jet-ck equipment, next is pure-white equipment.

    *Mufufu* Kaedeughed. Inside her head, she imagined herself being d in those equipments.

    ¡¸I understand! I wille and bring the money and the materials!!¡¹

    Just like that, Kaede jumped out of the store.

    To find out where to get the materials needed for the equipments that she wanted for herself, Kaede came back to the information bulletin boards.

    First of all, a pure-white material that have a certain hardness is needed. Kaede picked up two materials that are fit for that from the BBS.

    The first one is White Crystal. But, Kaede knew that she couldn¡¯t mine it with her ¡¾DEX 0¡¿.

    That¡¯s why, Kaede decided to go for the other one.

    The location is the wide undergroundke south from the town. It is being told that thiske has some kind of secret, but suspicious things like that hadn¡¯t been found.

    Her target in there is a fish that swims with a group, that has snow-white hard scales. One of them is a blue-colored leader that is almost transparent in water.

    ¡¸There was that kind of story in elementary school right?! That¡¯s nostalgic!¡¹

    After buying new fishing tools, Kaede eagerly started walking towards the undergroundke.

    ¡¸Well then¡­Fishing, Let¡¯s go!¡¹

    *Pochan* with the sound of that, that was the start signal for fishing. After that, she should only wait silently until the prey get caught.

    And, after 20 minutes.

    ¡¸I-It hooked!¡¹

    Kaede puts strength and pulled the fishing rod. The sshing waters echoed through the silent undergroundke.

    And, finally caught a pure-white fish, and it *PichiPichi* flopped behind Kaede.

    After leaving it like that for a while, leaving about a one 5 cm scale, it became light and disappeared.

    The original scale was smaller, but it¡¯s she thought about it as the game¡¯s setting and put it in her inventory. She still needs to fish a lot, but Kaede has school tomorrow.

    ¡¸To think, that it would take this much time¡­gugugu¡­after fishing thest two, I¡¯ll just have to go back for today huh¡­¡¹

    Fishing was set to be relevant to the DEX and AGI status, so Kaede¡¯s efficiency is the lowest. If it was a nonbat yer¡¯s status, they probably can fish one every minute.

    It couldn¡¯t be helped, so Kaede ended it there and logged out.

    She couldn¡¯t neglect the real life just for the sake a game.

    ¡¸Fuu¡­I¡¯ll end it here today! I have to prepare for tomorrow!¡¹

    Kaede turned off the hardware, and stuffed her bag ording to tomorrow¡¯s schedule.

    ¡¸Well then¡­¡­good night¡¹

    Afterying in bed after a few minutes, *Su?Su?* Kaede started to sound asleep.

    She is surely seeing a good dream.

 Chapter 13: Defense Specialized and A Friend

    Chapter 13: Defense Specialized and A Friend

    ¡¸Well then¡­I¡¯m going!¡¹

    She wore her uniform and went to school.

    In these few days, the sunlight had gone stronger, and the warm sunshine feels good. It can be said that spring has finallye.

    Kaede¡¯s seat was by the window so if she let her guard down she might fall asleep. If it goes like this, Risa who was two seats apart will be on a sleeping course in the afternoon ss.

    And, while thinking of that, she was walking on the road to school. Kaede¡¯s house is near the school, so shee to school by walk. That distance, it is only a five minute walk.

    Pleasant wind was blowing, and it is not a bother to walk.

    Because she didn¡¯t suffer from hay fever, Kaede liked to walk during this season.

    ¡¸Yosh! Let¡¯s also do our best today?¡¹

    Passing through the school gates, went towards her ssroom, and she arrived to her seat. After this, she would have started reading books, but when she started New World Online, it was the time to think about skills. If there was this kind of skill, what are the requirements to get it, just thinking about things like that, she was having fun.

    ¡¸I wonder what you are grinning at?!¡¹

    *Supako©`n* a tsukkomi to Kaede¡¯s head.

    The tsukkomi was mostly Risa.

    ¡¸I-It¡¯s nothing at all!¡¹

    ¡¸Really?? Oh, that¡¯s right. I didn¡¯te for that today, ehem¡­¡­fufu¡­by the way, Kaede-kun. I have a very important announcement today¡¹

    Saying that, Riza bended her waist and swiftly approached her face. Clearing her throat, and went on her way of saying it, to Risa who made a mystery character, Kaede also went with that.

    ¡¸Mumu!¡­What is it, Risa-kun. Your tension is high today ne¡¹

    ¡¸Right, that¡¯s right, you wouldn¡¯t believe it! It was because the permission to y the game, I got it today!!¡¹

    *PachiPachi* Kaede pped lightly.

    She probably did her best on studying, Kaede knew how happy she was. And only seeing her expression, Kaede also became happy.

    ¡¸With that, the game that I only pushed on to Kaede, I can finally y if from today?¡¹

    ¡¸Then, we can be in a party right!¡¹

    ¡¸Un, yeah yeah. Party huh¡­¡­I mean, did Kaede already started ying?!!¡¹

    It looks like Risa was surprised, and said that in a loud voice.

    By the way, these two goes to school early so there are only the two of them in the ssroom. They didn¡¯t need to care about the surroundings.

    ¡¸E¡­Ehehe¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That Kaede, that Kaede that reluctantly ys with me on the game that I pushed on her¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You knew you were pushing them on me?!¡¹

    ¡¸Iya?I¡¯m so happy?¡­I thought that ying together was impossible, but to think Kaede was willing to y¡­¡¹

    And then, Risa continued the talk.

    ¡¸Up to what level did you raise it? Or did you only made an ount?¡¹

    ¡¸E?to?¡­uhmm¡­t-to level 20¡¹

    Risa was astonished in an instant, but as soon as she understood what Kaede said, she started grinning.

    ¡¸Ohhhh?¡­it looks like Kaede was more addicted than I had expected¡¹

    ¡¸Muu?¡­¡¹

    Kaede was ring at Risa while blushing. Risa was stillughing merrily, but it¡¯s not like she had a bad intention, so Kaede didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡¸Ahaha, sorry sorry, it¡¯s just a joke, but, if you had levelled it that much, then your character build has been decided right?¡¹

    ¡¸Un! I¡¯m a full defense buildrge shield user you know! And then?¡­if it¡¯s Risa then I can tell huh?¡¹

    Kaede talked everything about her skills and status to Risa.

    ¡¸What¡¯s with that monster character! As expected of Kaede, the direction of the y is too different¡¹

    ¡¸Eh!¡­Really?!¡¹

    ¡¸Un, I mean, what you got in that different direction is too OP. Ah?¡­it would be hard to catch up to Kaede with this huh¡­¡¹

    ¡¸B-But, if you do the same thing¡­¡¹

    When Kaede said that, Risa crossed her arms in front of her chest, making a cross sign, and shook her head.

    ¡¸Kaede is Kaede. I am me. I don¡¯t mean to brush off the skills that Kaede told me as a friend! Well¡­I¡¯ll use it as a hint on getting strong skills though. Let¡¯s keep that as it couldn¡¯t be helped¡¹

    ¡¸Then, what will Risa do?¡¹

    ¡¸Kaede is a tank defense specialized, so I thought that a magician would be good, but if I paired with Kaede with that on a party, that¡¯s too normal. And, I won¡¯t be needed if I chose that¡¹

    Mu?, groaning like that while thinking, Risa probably had an idea, and she grinned.

    ¡¸Yosh! I decided! I will¡­be a ¡ºDodge Shield¡»¡¹

    ¡¸Dodge¡­Shield?¡¹

    ¡¸Un! I¡¯ll make the enemy¡¯s attack focus on me, and I¡¯ll nullify their attacks by dodging¡¹

    ¡¸Ohhhh!! So cool!¡­¡­but, if it¡¯s shield, I can do it?¡¹

    Kaede thought about that question and said it. Right, it cannot be helped if shield sses gathers.

    ¡¸A party with Kaede, whatever fight it is, no damage! We¡¯re always unscathed! How is that? Isn¡¯t that cool?¡¹

    Hearing those words, Kaede imagined that scene, and *BunBun* swung her head vertically. She was so excited even her arms are *BunBun* being swung.

    ¡¸I want to make a party with that concept so I will aim for the dodge shield!¡¹

    ¡¸Do your best! I¡¯ll just increase my defense powers right!¡¹

    And, with promising to y together tonight, the two¡¯s conversation ended. Risa also went back to her seat.

    ¡¸Dodge Shield¡­the difficulty is the highest level? But, that¡¯s why I get fired up¡­!¡¹

    She mumbled that with a small voice, so it didn¡¯t reach Kaede¡¯s ears.

    It was probably the nature of a gamer.

    Risa tend to prefer selecting achievement requirements that are difficult.

    What Risa said earlier, to achieve an undefeatable unscathed party, the first prerequisite is for Risa to continuously dodge enemy attacks.

    Magic that are shot tens of times.

    High speedbination attack.

    Dodging those with a very fine line and defeating the enemy, just imagining doing that.

    ¡¸I get shivers in my spine¡­!!¡¹

    Risa couldn¡¯t help but pray for today¡¯s ss to end very quickly.

 Chapter 14: Defense Specialized and Fishing Day

    Chapter 14: Defense Specialized and Fishing Day

    ¡¸Ohh! The town looks like this?!¡¹

    Risa looked around, and raised a voice happily. Looking at Risa to herself at the start of the game, she thought about it nostalgically.

    ¡¸Kaede¡¯s¡­oh-to¡­¡­that¡¯s dangerous. The difference between the looks of Maple¡¯s equipment are too high it feels bad¡¹

    Risa rephrased it to her yer name and talked.

    Kaede also need to be careful to not call Risa by Risa.

    ¡¸Ahaha, well you only have beginner¡¯s equipments¡¹

    Risa and Kaede immediately registered as friends, and when they made a party, she showed Kaede her status.

    Sally

    Lv1

    HP 32/32

    MP 25/25

    ¡¾STR 10¡´£«11¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 0¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 55¡´£«5¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 25¡¿

    ¡¾INT 10¡¿

    Equipments

    Head¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Body¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Right hand¡¾Beginners Short Sword¡¿

    Left Hand¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Legs¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Shoes¡¾Beginner¡¯s Magic Shoes¡¿

    essories¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    ¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    ¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Skill

    None

    ¡¸You raised many kinds of status huh¡¹

    ¡¸This is normal you know! ¡­I didn¡¯t raise VIT,MP, and HP for the mean time right now¡¹

    ¡¸Why?¡¹

    ¡¸Dodging everything, if it was no damage, HP and VIT isn¡¯t needed right! I¡¯m still not sure if I¡¯m going to use magic¡­so MP and INT is okay if its low for now. STR is because I want to use some weapons¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re thinking a lot huh?¡¹

    Because Kaede only needed to raise her VIT after levelling up, so she doesn¡¯t need to think about anything.

    ¡¸Fufufu¡­there are a lot of things needed to be thought aboutpared to a person who has no damage from attacks. Now that I think about it¡­wasn¡¯t the 3rd prize an equipment?¡¹

    Risa was curious because they were still the equipments that she had heard.

    ¡¸That wasmemoration medal. I was expecting that it might¡¯ve been an equipment though?¡¹

    ¡¸Well¡­it¡¯s not sure that it would still be like that the next event?¡­¡­oh-to, then? ¡­where are we going right now?¡¹

    When Kaede said that the destination was to the undergroundke, *FumuFumu* Risa nodded. Looks like she has an idea.

    ¡¸If it¡¯s that, leave it to me! I have a great idea¡­¡¹

    Kaede listened to her honestly.

    Risa was sprinting towards the undergroundke. Even inside the game, moving a lot will make the brain tired and the movement dulls, but this has individual differences with yers.

    Depending on how good the brain works, differences between reaction and stamina will have effects on yer skills.

    The reason why Risa can run this much was because she was used to VR.

    And Kaede at that time.

    She was clinging on Risa¡¯s back.

    She removed all her usual heavy equipments, so there might be more people who wouldn¡¯t know it was Maple.

    STR stats are not relevant on equipping armors, but

    if it was carrying, STR is needed the more armor there is.

    That is the reason that she removed her equipments.

    ¡¸Three wolf-type monsters ahead! Maple!¡¹

    ¡¸I understa?nd?!¡¹

    Saying that, Risa put Kaede down and took a distance.

    Risa who has high AGI carry Kaede and runs to the undergroundke, and if there is an enemy encounter she puts down Kaede to fight them, with that division of roles, they arrived at the undergroundke one fifth of the time it would take for Kaede to go alone.

    ¡¸Ohhhhh! It was very fast!!¡¹

    Kaede, re-equipping, said that.

    Risa was proud because she was useful immediately.

    ¡¸Fufufu¡­kneel before me?!¡¹

    ¡¸Ha,ha©`! Sally-sama?!¡¹

    With the farce moderately, the two started fishing. Risa also bought her fishing rod, so they lined and waited together after hanging a thread towards theke.

    And an hour after they started fishing.

    ¡¸I-It¡¯s finally the third one!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, it got hooked again!¡¹

    The fishing result was, 3 fishes for Kaede.

    And 12 fishes for Risa.

    ¡¸Thanks toing here on level 1, just killing the fished fishes, my level went up¡¹

    In fact, Risa¡¯s level rose to 6.

    In addition.

    ¡¸¡¾Fishing¡¿skill get?! ¡­my first skill is ¡¾Fishing¡¿huh¡­I can¡¯t say that Maple is weird huh?¡¹

    ¡¾Fishing¡¿skill requirement needs more than 20 DEX so it a skill Kaede wouldn¡¯t have forever.

    ¡¸Won¡¯t Sally use the status points?¡¹

    ¡¸I will do that after taking a few skills. Fighting style can be decided by skills¡­so I thought I should keep the status points. I can fight decently with base stats too¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re good? you advanced yer?!¡¹

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s true I yed a lot of games¡¹

    After saying that, they continued fishing for another hour.

    Kaede¡¯s fishing result hadn¡¯t changed.

    But Risa who gained the skill ¡¾Fishing¡¿ her fishing results became 20 fishes.

    ¡¸How is it? Is it enough?¡¹

    ¡¸U?nst hour¡­is it okay?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s okay?! But, I want to test something¡­so instead of fishing, can I go hunt by diving?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s okay, but can you do something like that?!¡¹

    ¡¸I think it¡¯s possible. I mean, it is Maple who was testing ridiculous things up until now you know? I think that if it¡¯s with my AGI, I could probably kill at least one fish in a school? Since, I¡¯m good in swimming¡¹

    After saying that, Risa jumped to the undergroundke.

    ¡¸Then, do your best?!¡¹

    ¡¸Un! I¡¯ll go hunt a lot?¡¹

    After saying that, Risa dove. And just like that, Risa who swam around the undergroundke returned after an hour. She was breathing heavily, but you wouldn¡¯t think that she was sprinting earlier with her stamina that was left.

    ¡¸After getting ¡¾Swimming I¡¿ and ¡¾Diving I¡¿, it got easier!¡¹

    After saying that, Risa took out 80 pure-white scales from her inventory.

    ¡¸C-Can I have this?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t need it too¡­in exchange, you should help me the next time¡¹

    ¡¸Then, with that! I promise I¡¯ll help you¡¹

    Kaede thankfully ced the 80 pieces of scales to her inventory. And there, Risa started talking with a serious face.

    ¡¸Ne?¡­Maple. If I was correct, wasn¡¯t the dungeon found right now only two?¡¹

    ¡¸Uhmm¡­Un, that¡¯s right¡¹

    ¡¸At the bottom of the undergroundke, there was a small side hole¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­! That is!¡¹

    Risa who couldn¡¯t hide her excitement nodded.

    ¡¸It might be a dungeon¡¯s entrance¡­but¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Un¡­I can¡¯t go right¡¹

    With Kaede¡¯s status, she wouldn¡¯t be able to dive decently. If she drowns, its her first death.

    ¡¸That¡¯s why, I¡¯m thinking of capturing it carefully. I might also get a unique series just like Maple¡­that¡¯s why¡­¡¹

    When Kaede understood what Risa was trying to say, she said, interrupting her.

    ¡¸Un, I¡¯ll help you toe to the undergroundke! I can return the debt instantly!¡¹

    ¡¸I thought that you would tell that! As expected of Maple!¡¹

    ¡¸Ehehe?it¡¯s not that much?!¡¹

    They only needed to logout to return, so to increase the level of ¡¾Swimming¡¿ and ¡¾Diving¡¿ Risa once again, started swimming.

 Chapter 15: Defense Specialized and Underground Lake Capture

    Chapter 15: Defense Specialized and Underground Lake Capture

    532 Name: Nameless Large Shield User

    did everyone already went to second stage? I entered the second stage safely

    533 Name : Nameless Spear User

    Yeah

    I just won earlier and entered second stage

    534 Name : Nameless Large Sword User

    I also safely won

    535 Name : Nameless Magic User

    I also

    I won

    I did it

    536 Name : Nameless Bow User

    somehow, I also reached second stage

    537 Name : Nameless Spear User

    a-re? aren¡¯t we pretty strong

    538 Name : Nameless Large Sword User

    when I was raising my level so that I can follow Maple-chan when she goes to the second stage¡­

    I arrived the front lines

    539 Name : Nameless Bow User

    the same happened to me

    539 Name: Nameless Large Shield User

    and Maple-chan though

    it looks like she¡¯s not yet on second stage

    I mean, it shows that she¡¯s in a party in my friend list though

    540 Name : Nameless Bow User

    I saw probably saw that

    541 Name : Nameless Magic User

    >540

    give us more details with that

    542 Name : Nameless Bow User

    I dunno the name but she¡¯s wearing beginner equips so I think it¡¯s a friend irl

    543 Name : Nameless Large Sword User

    what¡¯s her weapon?

    544 Name : Nameless Bow User

    it was short sword yo

    545 Name : Nameless Magic User

    that¡¯s surprising

    I was thinking it was a magician or an archer

    546 Name : Nameless Spear User

    same

    547 Name: Nameless Large Shield User

    well, that formation isn¡¯t good fighting with a pair

    but¡­it¡¯s Maple-chan¡¯s friend right

    who knows if she really is a normal beginner

    maybe she is also the same ¡°beginner¡± type as Maple-chan

    548 Name : Nameless Magic User

    that¡¯s possible

    548 Name : Nameless Bow User

    Maple-chan¡¸Full build is strong you know!¡¹

    Friend¡¸Really?! Then I¡¯ll do that!¡¹

    this

    549 Name : Nameless Large Sword User

    a party with two Maple-chans huh

    there¡¯s nothing that can be done with that

    550 Name : Nameless Spear User

    hey guys, calm down

    it¡¯s a short sword user you know

    550 Name : Nameless Magic User

    ahh that¡¯s right

    somehow, I instinctively imaged arge shield

    551 Name: Nameless Large Shield User

    if it¡¯s short sword, then AGI specialized?

    552 Name : Nameless Bow User

    but, that doesn¡¯t seem very strong

    553 Name : Nameless Large Sword User

    well, no defense powers so it ends with one hit right

    on top of that, zero fire power

    554 Name : Nameless Spear User

    well, she will probably show that by herself soon

    when¡¯s the next event again?

    555 Name: Nameless Large Shield User

    about a month from now, it looks like their going to elerate game time from real life

    then, even is for two hours, and because of the time eleration, they said participation and leaving isn¡¯t allowed

    it looks like the game management shortened the span time of the previous event

    556 Name : Nameless Magic User

    game management, superpetent

    557 Name : Nameless Spear User

    if it¡¯s still a month, she probably would train

    and y style will show too

    we can determine with that

    558 Name : Nameless Large Sword User

    ah?next event,e faster?

    I¡¯m so curious about that girl¡¯s skills?

    Not having any clues of that conversation being held.

    Kaede and Risa was spending their time fishing and swimming at the undergroundke. Even that is said, Kaede sometimes goes outside andys around, and do the strange movement of using ¡¾Provoke¡¿ and be attacked by monsters.

    She was thinking of taking the damage reduction skills after her new shield is made so she was looking for a new skill.

    By the way, today, it was already two weeks since Risa had started.

    It¡¯s not like the two are logging in at the same time.

    Risa also ys in different times, and gains a lot of skills that are very easy to take other than ¡¾Swimming I¡¿ and ¡¾Diving I¡¿.

    While the two of them are steadily readying up for the event, they are staying the undergroundke that might have a dungeon in the bottom of it.

    ¡¸Puhaa¡­! Ha?¡­Ha?¡­how long did I dove?¡¹

    Risa raised up to the water surface and asked Kaede the time.

    ¡¸I-It¡¯s amazing! 40 minutes!¡¹

    ¡¸Having the ¡¾Swimming X¡¿ and ¡¾Diving X¡¿ means¡­this is my current maximum limit¡­so if I don¡¯t reach one way within 20 minutes I¡¯ll drown huh¡­¡¹

    ¡¸How about I¡¯ll send a message using the friend chat after 20 had passed? The notice sound echoes inside the head so I think you¡¯ll notice¡¹

    ¡¸Nice idea, Maple! Then¡­can I count you on it?¡¹

    ¡¸Leave it to me! Enjoy diving?!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll be going!¡¹

    Risa dove in the water with amazing speed and entered the side hole.

    As expected that hole goes through its back, and it stretches deeper and deeper, and Risa was swimming there as if she was a mermaid.

    But, seeing that the roads are branching, Risa stopped her movements. It was because she was thinking that it was a one way path to its deepest part.

    Risa was thinking that it was going to be hard, but going left and right, she was mapping on her head.

    After moving forward for a while, the notice from Kaede reached her head.

    Because monsters didn¡¯t appear on the way, without irregrities, she was able to go back to where Kaede was.

    ¡¸Ha?¡­Ha?¡­¡¹

    ¡¸How was it?¡¹

    ¡¸There were a lot of branching paths¡­so I¡¯ll end it for today afterst one. Since I don¡¯t know how deep it is¡¹

    ¡¸Then, I¡¯ll notify you again okay¡¹

    Risa once again went to the bottom. Last time, she was able to go to the maze up to the middle, so she was moved there in the fastest way.

    One more time, she checks every possibility and went deeper and deeper.

    And just like that, at the same time the notification from Kaede came.

    Risa saw arge pure-white door ahead of the passage.

    Yosh, she made a small guts pose, and returned the way she came from. Risa needed to be fully prepared so that she wouldn¡¯t let away the unique series.

    ¡¸The boss room! I found it!¡­ha?¡­ha?¡­¡¹

    As soon as she emerges, she said that and did a high-touch with Kaede. The only thing left is whether she could win safely.

    ¡¸I will charge to the boss room after taking a small break! Since, I had found it. What will Kaede do?¡¹

    ¡¸I think, I should logout soon for today¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­I¡¯m sorry making you go with me¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t mind at all! Do your best and win¡¹

    ¡¸Un!¡¹

    After saying that, Kaede was enveloped with light, logged out and disappeared.

    The silence made Risa¡¯s concentration higher.

    ¡¸What should I do with the status¡­¡¹

    Sally

    Lv12

    HP 32/32

    MP 25/25¡´£«10¡µ

    ¡¾STR 10¡´£«11¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 0¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 55¡´£«5¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 25¡¿

    ¡¾INT 10¡¿

    Equipments

    Head¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Body¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Right hand¡¾Beginners Short Sword¡¿

    Left Hand¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Legs¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Shoes¡¾Beginner¡¯s Magic Shoes¡¿

    essories¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    ¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    ¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Skill

    ¡¾Status Debuff Attack II¡¿¡¾sh¡¿¡¾Double sh¡¿¡¾Gale sh (HayateGiri)¡¿¡¾Muscle Strengthening (Small)¡¿

    ¡¾Consecutive Attack Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾Double Attack¡¿¡¾Powered Attack¡¿¡¾Switch Attack¡¿¡¾Body Arts I¡¿

    ¡¾Knowledge of Short Swords II¡¿

    ¡¾Fire Magic I¡¿¡¾Water Magic I¡¿¡¾Wind Magic I¡¿

    ¡¾Earth Magic I¡¿¡¾Dark Magic I¡¿¡¾Light Magic I¡¿

    ¡¾Fire Ball¡¿¡¾Water Ball¡¿

    ¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿¡¾Thunder Cutter¡¿

    ¡¾Dark Ball¡¿¡¾Refresh¡¿

    ¡¾MP Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾MP Cut (Small)¡¿

    ¡¾MP Recovery Speed Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾Knowledge of Magic II¡¿

    ¡¾Fishing¡¿¡¾Swimming X¡¿¡¾Diving X¡¿¡¾Cooking I¡¿

    ¡¾Mining Speed Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾Sensory Blocking II¡¿

    ¡¾Sensory Awareness II¡¿¡¾Stealth Move I¡¿¡¾Leap I¡¿

    ¡¾Poison Resistance (Small)¡¿

    ¡¸The 35 status points, I won¡¯t ce them yet¡­¡­I¡¯ll win by dodging¡¹

    The ridiculous skill set was what Risa collected by cutting off her sleep.

    About MP, there was 7 MP consume cut.

    Recovery speed +50%. MP +10

    In strength

    STR +50%

    When consecutive attacks, the power increase is maximum STR +100%.

    ¡¸Yosh! Let¡¯s go!¡¹

    After Risa made her strategic n, she returned quickly to therge pure-white door.

    The door opened slowly. Inside was a spherical room, and half of it was submerged in water.

    The most happy thing for Risa, was there was oxygen. With this, she didn¡¯t need to prepare for a quick fight to end.

    ¡¸Puha¡­well then?¡­Come!¡¹

    Risa¡¯s eyes were dyed with serious color. And as if to answer that, a light concentrated and made a shape, and a giant pure-white fish appeared.

    The giant fish uses its giant body for a charge attack.

    Risapletely saw through that with its movements, twisted her body to dodge it in a fine line, and while passing through she used her red shining short sword to cut through the scales and meat a little.

    ¡¸¡¾sh¡¿!¡¹

    Under the red light, what dyed the de with a poisonous violet was ¡¾Status Debuff Attack II¡¿

    That will fill the body of the giant fish with poison.

    It was only a little damage, but the giant fish¡¯s HP was surely being shaved slowly.

    The giant fish turned around, and charged again.

    Risa dodged that the same way, and shaved its body.

    ¡¸¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿!¡¹

    A few red damage effects shone in the water. The magic that has the strongest power Risa had, has enough powers to slightly damage its scales.

    With the charge that was done repeatedly, Risa couldn¡¯t be injured.

    And the giant fish¡¯s HP bar had been reduced to 80%.

    In this time, Risa heightened her concentration, and focused on the giant fish¡¯s movements.

    The charge that was repeated the same might¡¯ve looked the same for normal yers looked very different to Risa. It was clearly, slower.

    The giant fish stopped the charge in the middle of it, and released a AOE attack to its front using its tail.

    But, that also didn¡¯t reached Risa.

    Risa had predicted the timing of the movement pattern changing by looking at the reduction of the enemy¡¯s HP bar on the top of its head.

    She saw through the AOE attack precisely from its body length, and by stepping back once, the tail fin passes by in front of her. And she cuts through that tail fin with a skill.

    ¡¸¡¾Double sh¡¿!¡¹

    Risa who didn¡¯t receive an attack from the giant fish until now has her consecutive attack damage up on its maximum.

    Deeper until now, the red effect entered the giant fish¡¯s tail fin twice.

    And at the same time. It¡¯s movement were slowed by the paralyze poison poured to the enemy by the ¡¾Status Debuff Attack II¡¿.

    ¡¸¡¾Power Attack¡¿!¡¹

    To the giant fish that dulled its movements, the short sword was stabbed to its hilt. Risa quickly pulled it away and took distance. The giant fish¡¯s HP was cut to 50%.

    It was the time its movement pattern changes.

    In the both sides of the giant fish¡¯s body, a white magic circle emerges and bubbles emerges from that.

    ¡¸¡¾Water Ball¡¿!¡¹

    When Risa hit the bubbles with magic, the bubbles exploded with loud sounds. That bubble couldn¡¯t be touched.

    While running away from the giant fish, Risa made the bubble explode with water magic and made an escape path.

    Risa who was running around noticed that the giant fish¡¯s movement pattern was to run after her where she had gone through just like a tracking type.

    If it was like that, she thought.

    While running away she turned back and made the bubbles explode using water magic. Risa adjusted her body through that instant opening.

    ¡¸¡¾Power Attack¡¿!¡¹

    The red effect remained one a one straight line on the giant fish¡¯s back.

    The giant fish that was deeply cut from its head to its tail lost 20% of its HP bar. And turning back just like that she cut the tail fin with de a few more times.

    In that instant when it turned back to run after Risa. The barrage of bubbles that couldn¡¯t follow the speed of its body became thin.

    And Risa wouldn¡¯t let that go away.

    ¡¸¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿!¡¹

    The des of winds that passed through the bubbles made a deep wound on the giant fish¡¯s head. And finally, the giant fish¡¯s HP Bar was cut to %20 and was dyed red.

    And at the same time. The magic circle on the side of the giant fish disappeared, and the room was submerged in water.

    A magic circle that spawns exploding bubbles appeared on the walls in all sides.

    *Kapa* the giant fish opened itsrge mouth. From inside of its mouth a magic circle that shines stronger than the bubble magic circle.

    Risa¡¯s sensor from all the games that she yed made her body move instinctively.

    Soon after, a high-speed waterser was shot straight where Risa was before.

    Risa got anxious. To dodge that the next time, luck will be needed.

    And the bubbles were catching up.

    This is bad. This is bad.

    The anxiety stops her thinking.

    It should be calm at times like these.

    Risa said to herself. Calming her anxious heart and focused deeply.

    Just as if time had stopped.

    The bubbles, theser, and even the giant fish¡¯s movement.

    Slow, it had be slower.

    The dangerous ce, the safe ce, she knew it as if they were in the palm of her hands.

    The subtle movement of the enemy¡¯s body, its sight.

    She predicted where will be theser shot.

    She predicted where the barrage of bubbles would go next where it would be dangerous with the position of the bubbles right now, and she went earlier to make an escape route. Comparing it with her experience before, create the next, next move for the most efficient path to survive.

    That can already be called future prediction.

    Overwhelming yer skill that was almost a cheat.

    ¡¸¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿¡¹

    The magic that was silently shot, got through the bubble curtain beautifully and hit the giant fish every time.

    And finally.

    The giant fish¡¯s HP bar became empty.

 Chapter 16: Defense Specialized and New Knowledge

    Chapter 16: Defense Specialized and New Knowledge

    After the water that have umted disappearedpletely, arge treasure box appeared in the middle.

    Rather than being happy first, Risaid down in the ground faced up.

    ¡¸Ah?¡­concentrating seriously is tiring after all¡­¡¹

    Notification of level up and skill acquisition echoes, but as if to say checking that is forter, Risa continued toy down.

    If possible, she didn¡¯t want to enter that mode, but even if it was Risa that barrage and high-speedser was too hard.

    Afterying back for a while, Risa returned her tension to normal, and went towards the treasure box.

    ¡¸Here Ie, Open!!¡¹

    She quickly opened the cover with both hands.

    What¡¯s inside was a muffler with a vivid blue base just like the sea, and to its end there was white that reminiscences bubbles.

    A thick coat that a little darker color on the white fur on its neck line, and top and bottom garment that matches that.

    And two daggers that were dark blue as if it was the deep-sea where light does not reach, and a dark blue belt that can sheath those with.

    Risa checked the specs of all equipments.

    ¡ºMuffler of the Surface Water (Minamo no Mafura)¡»

    ¡¾AGI +10¡¿¡¾MP +10¡¿

    Skill¡¾Mirage (Shinkir¨­)¡¿

    ¡¾Indestructible¡¿

    ¡ºCoat of the Ocean (Taikai no K¨­to)¡»

    ¡¾AGI +30¡¿¡¾MP +15¡¿

    Skill¡¾Ocean (Taikai)¡¿

    ¡¾Indestructible¡¿

    ¡ºLeggings of the Ocean¡»

    ¡¾AGI +20¡¿¡¾MP +10¡¿

    ¡¾Indestructible¡¿

    ¡ºDagger of the Deep Sea (Shinkai no Dag¨¡)¡»

    ¡¾STR +20¡¿¡¾DEX + 10¡¿

    ¡¾Indestructible¡¿

    ¡ºDagger of the Bottom of the Water (Minasoko no Dag¨¡)¡»

    ¡¾INT +20¡¿¡¾DEX +10¡¿

    ¡¾Indestructible¡¿

    ¡¸This is¡­maybe the way I took skills had an effect? Fufufu¡­equipments that I like. I have more equipments than Kaede¡­but I don¡¯t have ¡¾Destruction Growth¡¿ and skill slots huh¡¹

    Equipped them with the equipment window, and cheerfully made a turn. As a belt equipment, it a part of the leggings, and did not fill a slot on the essories.

    Different to Kaede¡¯s time, wearing unique skills that have a big increase in status, Risa left the cave.

    While thinking of checking the skills tomorrow with Kaede. She was that tired.

    The next day.

    ¡¸Ohh?! You became cool!¡¹

    ¡¸I know right?! I didn¡¯t get shoes so I bought ck boots¡­with this, the uniform appearance is perfect!¡¹

    And, the two checked the skills that they gained one by one.

    First was the skill that was with the equipment.

    After that, the two new skills acquired will be checked. But even that said, one of them was a skill even Kaede knew.

    ¡¾Mirage (Shinkir¨­)¡¿

    When activated, the opponent¡¯s visual information on coordinates and the true coordinates can be distorted.

    Target is everyone excluding the user.

    Can be used 10 times a day.

    The effect duration is 5 seconds. Also, if an attack was received by the vision ¡¾Mirage (Shinkir¨­)¡¿ created, the effect of ¡¾Mirage (Shinkir¨­)¡¿ will be lost.

    ¡¾Ocean (Taikai)¡¿

    When touching monsters, yers, water that reduces AGI by 20 will be spread thinly on the ground in a circle around the user. Cannot be used in air.

    Area of effect is fixed at a 10 meter radius.

    Only the user will be excluded to that effect.

    Can be used 3 times a day. Has a 10 second effect duration.

    ¡¾Jack of All Trades¡¿

    Damage dealt reduced 30%. 10 MP consumption cut.

    ¡¾AGI +10¡¿¡¾DEX +10¡¿

    Skill Requirements

    10 Weapon?Attack skills acquired

    10 Magic?MP skills acquired

    10 different skills acquired

    Within that, more than 10 skills are in their lowest level.

    Afterpleting these requirements, attack a monster.

    Thest one is ¡¾Giant Kill (OomonoKurai)¡¿.

    ¡¸Oh?¡­I see I see. If I got ¡¾Jack of All Trades¡¿ before that giant fish it would¡¯ve been bad¡¹

    After that, *U?n* Risa groaned.

    ¡¸I didn¡¯t need ¡¾Giant Kill (OomonoKurai)¡¿ I think?¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?! Why?!¡¹

    ¡¸Well if it was Maple it would¡¯ve been useful¡­but I¡¯m not a full build so depending on the opponent, the AGI raises or not raises, that would make my senses weird you know¡¹

    When the status suddenly increases regardless her intention, the sense for dodging would be distorted so it would be troublesome for Risa¡¯s y style.

    ¡¸Ah?I see¡­¡¹

    ¡¸This would be ¡¾Discard¡¿ huh¡­¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s that?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?¡¹

    The two of them looked at each other.

    ¡¸¡¾Discard¡¿skills¡­that was possible¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m rather surprised that you didn¡¯t know thought? Well, but to regain the skills are used with ¡¾Discard¡¿a special facility will be needed and 500k gold is needed to be paid, so it¡¯s really only for the time it¡¯s not needed¡¹

    After saying that, Risa ¡¾Discard¡¿ the ¡¾Giant Kill (OomonoKurai)¡¿.

    Her level that was 12 raised to 15.

    There is already 40 status points with this, but it looks like Risa won¡¯t use it yet.

    ¡¸Yosh, it¡¯s enough with this I think! Also, that¡¯s right! What happened to Maple¡¯s equipment?¡¹

    ¡¸n?I don¡¯t have gold so I asked for arge shield for the mean time. Short sword and armor will be postponed¡¹

    ¡¸I see! Event is close too¡­I want to gather more skills a bit?¡¹

    ¡¸If it¡¯s that¡­you want to go to the second stage?¡­what do you want to do? Probably, there¡¯s unique series there though¡­¡¹

    The requirement to go to the second stage is breaking through a¡ºDungeon¡». Equipments would probably be gained in solo breakthrough.

    ¡¸U?n¡­I think I¡¯m fine with it?¡­I also like the equipments right now¡¹

    ¡¸If Sally was fine with it, then I¡¯m fine too. I can gain arge shield normally too¡¹

    The two went towards the dungeon that goes through the second stage. The way of moving is the same as the time with the undergroundke.

    ¡¸It¡¯s fast as I¡¯ve thought?!¡¹

    ¡¸Grab on firmly?¡¹

    Their destination is the north.

    With this pace, it shouldn¡¯t take too much time.

 Chapter 17: Defense Specialized and Stage Capture

    Chapter 17: Defense Specialized and Stage Capture

    ¡¸Arrived!¡¹

    ¡¸Yo?sh, let¡¯s enter right away!¡¹

    In front, there is the entrance of the stone ruins.

    If the information was correct, this should be the dungeon connecting to the second stage.

    Kaede, in the lead, walked in the path. Just by holding the Mirror of the Dark Night while walking, the defense is perfect.

    After walking just like that, they encountered a monster.

    What appeared in front of them was a boar that was a little huge.

    ¡¸¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿!¡¹

    Risa took the first move and shot magic. But that only decreased its health bar by 20%

    ¡¸Mu¡­the power was decreased a lot. This is, I think I should raise my status debuff skill huh?¡¹

    While she was saying that, the boar regains its posture and charged again. It was colliding towards Kaede with a lot of momentum.

    It was devoured by therge shield.

    ¡¸n?¡­can I count on you during fights with the boar?¡¹

    ¡¸Okay?!¡¹

    Because the path was narrow, the boar charging was suicidal.

    The boars that doesn¡¯t know about Kaede¡¯srge shield jumps in by themselves.

    While going through left and right of the forks, they were slowly moving deeper.

    ¡¸Oh! A different one came!¡¹

    When they entered a corner, what appeared in front of them was a bear.

    The beat would also jump in just the same, so Kaede made a stance with her shield. But, though.

    When the bear swung its huge arm strongly, w shaped white effects flew.

    That was devoured and disappeared because of therge shield, but it was enough to make Kaede surprised.

    ¡¸I-I was surprised¡¹

    ¡¸To think that it would attack in long-range. In addition, its blocking the way while taking distance¡¹

    The bear that had aplicated movement patternpared to the boar, is probably a monster of a higher rank than the boar.

    ¡¸I will try to defeat it. Take a straight stance and make therge shield stand¡¹

    Kaede dropped therge shield to the ground by herself.

    It looked like that.

    That was the same with Kaede and the bear, and the bear thought that it was a chance, it charges.

    Kaede also, if there wasn¡¯t the touch of therge shield in her hand, she would probably reached down to the ground.

    At the same time the bear reached where therge shield was in the first ce, it¡¯s body disappeared.

    And, as if nothing has happened, in the ce where there shouldn¡¯t be anything, therge shield appeared. Therge shield that fell on the ground also disappears.

    ¡¸The test of ¡¾Mirage¡¿is a sess, I think?¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Mirage¡¿huh?! I, when therge shield suddenly fell to the ground, I was really surprised¡¹

    ¡¸This time I tried it as a test, but there is limit on its use and I want to save it for the boss, that¡¯s why I¡¯ll count on you during the fights for a while!¡¹

    ¡¸Un! Leave it to me!¡¹

    Kaede and Risa once again moved deeper to the back. The dungeon looks like it wasn¡¯t that deep, and with only about 10 fights with the monsters, they were able to reach the boss room.

    They opened therge door and entered.

    A wide room with a high ceiling continues to the back, and in the deepest part, arge tree was standing.

    After a second after the two entered the room, the door behind them closed with a sound.

    And.

    *MekiMeki* therge tree changed its shape with that sound, and became a giant deer.

    The horns that therge tree had changed to had a lush vivid green leaves, and bright red apples also grew.

    After it shook its body made with trees, it stamped the ground and res at the two.

    ¡¸It¡¯sing!¡¹

    ¡¸Okay?!¡¹

    Where the deer was standing, a green colored magic circle appeared and started shining.

    It was the start of the battle.

    When the deer stamps the ground, the magic circle shines, and giant vines appeared by piercing from the ground, and attacks Kaede and Risa.

    ¡¸Yo! to¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Haha! You¡¯re too slow!¡¹

    Kaede¡¯srge shield received the vines head on and devoured them. Risa, with her impressive dodging skills, she evades the attacking barrage of vines easily.

    The main fire power was Kaede¡¯s Shingetsu.

    Kaede, as if to counter, she released the dragon made with poison.

    That devoured the vines, melted and erases them, and pressed into the deer.

    But, the poison dragon was blocked by a shining green wall in front of the deer and disappeared.

    ¡¸Eh?!¡¹

    ¡¸Probably, it¡¯s that magic circle! The damage won¡¯t get through!¡¹

    The deer once again stretches its vine and attacks. The silver lining was that itself was no problem for the two.

    The two endured like that for a while, but Risa who thought it had no ends suggested.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll go inspect for a bit, so can you tank for a while?¡¹

    ¡¸I got it!¡­¡¾Provoke¡¿!¡¹

    The destination of the vines clearly changed to Kaede. In that chance, Risa went to do tests.

    After attacking it continuously with magic and making its wall appear, Risa finally noticed something.

    ¡¸Damage goes through to its horns! ¡­also, it looks like the wall was supported by the apples!¡¹

    Risa pointed at the shining apples within the tree leaves. When the wall was activated the apples were clearly shining red.

    ¡¸Then¡­leave it to me! I will make them blow away altogether!¡¹

    ¡¸Un, I¡¯m counting on you!¡¹

    Kaede thrusts Shingetsu. The poison dragon that appeared again, this time without being blocked by the wall, devoured all of the tree leaves and melted them.

    ¡¸¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿!¡¹

    This time, without being blocked by the wall, the attack reached the deer properly. The red damage effects appeared.

    ¡¸Yosh! It got through!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m going with a huge one!¡¹

    *ParinParin* the crystals that emerges from therge shield shattered with that sound, and a giant purple magic circle formed from Shingetsu at the same time. That increased its light for a while, became a poison dragon with three heads, and attacked the deer.

    The deer¡¯s body melts, and the red effect flows continuously. It was surely a deadly damage.

    But, the green magic circle that the deer was standing noticeably shone brighter and healed its wounds. When the HP bar recovered to 20%, the poison status debuff was cleared, and the magic circle, as if it was done with its work, faded and disappeared.

    ¡¸That one earlier, can you shoot it again?!¡¹

    ¡¸I can, but it would take for a while!¡¹

    While consulting, there was no way the deer would wait for them, and the deer that changes its movement pattern attacked with des of wind and vines that got one size bigger.

    In addition.

    ¡¸Uwaaaaaa!!¡¹

    The ground suddenly raised and attacked the two from the ground. Risa precisely sensed that and dodged it but Kaede was thrown to the air.

    It was no damage, but when Kaede hit the ground, she received the status debuff ¡¾Stun¡¿ and couldn¡¯t get up. Normally, she wouldn¡¯t have chance to survive, but after that, even receiving the des of wind, seeing that her HP Bar was not reduced, she probably would endure it until she stands up.

    But, it was sure that the activation for Kaede¡¯s skill would be dyed.

    ¡¸It can¡¯t be helped¡­it¡¯s a pain though¡­¡¹

    Risa held daggers with both of her hands, and ran.

    Regardless of her words, her expression was very happy.

    ¡¸I should do(kill) it huh¡¹

    Completely seeing through the enemy¡¯s attack.

    To Risa on her concentrated state, attacks this much was almost nothing. Tracing the narrow paths surely, and when she approached where the deer was standing with ¡¾Leap I¡¿ she jumped to the front of the deer.

    That was the only safe point on the battlefield that has nonstop des of winds.

    ¡¸I know that it¡¯s safe her you know?¡­ ¡¾Double sh¡¿!¡¹

    Spinning her body, with the daggers in her both hands, she released a four consecutive attacks.

    By holding two weapons, she could release twice the attacks with one. Each one of the attack damage would fallpared with only one, but it overwhelms with the number of attacks.

    And Risa, with her face just like that, runs towards its back.

    ¡¸¡¾Power sh¡¿!¡¹

    A two consecutive attacks that shed through the nape of its neck from its forehead.

    In addition, she burned its back with Fire Magic.

    des of wind flew towards Risa who was running around its back.

    But, it was easy to dodge.

    ¡¸n? This wasn¡¯t a safe spot huh¡¹

    *HyunHyun* she moved while she dodging the flying des of wind. Finding chances and when finally its HP Bar was erased with consecutive attacks.

    ¡¸nn!¡­¡­t-that¡¯s right! I have to fight¡­¡¹

    Kaede finally stood up and looked at the deer.

    Although, she could only look at the deer that became light and disappeared in front of her face.

    ¡¸Ehhhhhhhhhhh!?¡¹

    ¡¸I ended it while you¡¯re asleep¡¹

    Risa returned and said that.

    To Kaede, it became a somewhat unconvincing dungeon capture.

    But anyways, the two were able to get the rights to move to the second stage.

 Chapter 18: Defense Specialized and Maintenance

    Chapter 18: Defense Specialized and Maintenance

    ¡¸Auu?¡­¡¹

    Kaede and Risa started their activities in a new base town in the second stage, but Kaede was groaning with a dark face.

    ¡¸U?nn¡­ I also didn¡¯t think that there would be a maintenance two weeks before the event. In addition¡­¡¹

    Right, the two logged in immediately as soon as the maintenance ended¡­¡­but they were stunned by the contents of the maintenance.

    Mainly, Kaede.

    The contents of the maintenance were about nerfing of some skills and buffing the AI of the field monsters.

    The targeted skill name, in the settings of the game, was not cleared, so only those who have them knew it.

    And, there was also one thing that changed.

    That is.

    The implementation of defense ignoring attack skills, and the reduction of pain.

    There are three to five kinds of skill per weapon

    And its power was very decent

    The problem was the skills.

    ¡¸Ugugu¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Well¡­ that happens all the time for somebody who stands out¡¹

    Don¡¯t mind it, Risa tapped her shoulder.

    There are mainly two adjustments rted to Kaede.

    But, Risa said that thinking about it with a roundabout way, it was three of them.

    First, in skill fixes, ¡¾Bizzare Eater(Akujiki)¡¿ was fixed.

    After the fixes of ¡¾Bizarre Eater(Akujiki¡¿ its abilities was limited uses of 10 times per day, and the MP that will be absorbed will be doubled.

    It hadn¡¯t changed that it was a passive skill, so after receiving attacks ten times with therge shield, the Mirror of the Dark Night will return to a normalrge shield. The MP that can be absorbed became double so it can somehow be a magic power tank, but it hasn¡¯t changed that it was nerfed.

    Next, the buffs of monsters, they are now able to attack from behind, in some cases, they are now able to run away.

    This is for stopping Kaede, Risa told Kaede. To Kaede who doesn¡¯t seem to understand, Risa exined in details.

    ¡¸Because¡­if the AI is buffed, the origin of Maple¡¯s ¡¾Absolute defense¡¿, the loophole of the white rabbit couldn¡¯t be used again right? The white rabbit with buffed AI wouldn¡¯t charge for one hour¡­ and maybe it was also an unexpected way of taking that for the GMs?¡¹

    In this maintenance, it prevented the urrence of an irregr called Kaede, but ording to Risa, they couldn¡¯t do a maintenance that was clearly aimed to reduce Kaede¡¯s specs.

    ¡¸For example¡­ deleting the ¡¾Absolute Defense¡¿. That wouldn¡¯t happen I think.

    ¡¸Probably though¡­ some of the powerful skills that the top yers was also nerfed, I think. And it means, one of those is Maple¡¯s ¡¾Abominable¡¿¡¹

    ¡¸n?¡­ well, I also think it can¡¯t be helped. ¡¾Abominable¡¿ is very powerful after all. But¡­ that fix, huh?¡­¡¹

    Figuring out what Kaede wanted to tell, Risa continued to talk.

    ¡¸With this, Maple will now also receive damage right huh¡­¡­ that adjustment is probably countermeasures against Maple?¡¹

    ¡¸Ugugugugu¡­¡¹

    Maple¡¯s endurance was clearly off the bnce, so the management side¡¯sst resort was only to implement this fix.

    ¡¸Well, ignore defense attack is a verymon skill, it was until now that it was very few¡¹

    When Risa said that, Kaede stuck together her hands and talked apologetically.

    ¡¸Ah?¡­ I¡¯m sorry! I stopped being invincible¡­ with this, we can¡¯t be an invincible party¡­ although you became a dodge shield¡¹

    Saying that, Kaede apologized to Risa. The two¡¯s ideals were a party that both of them has no damage. If it was like this, they can¡¯t do it.

    ¡¸That cannot be helped. And, you are now able to receive damage¡­ but it¡¯s not like you¡¯re going to receive no damage anymore at all¡­¡­ ¡°Although the damage effects are being grinded, she wouldn¡¯t die even after grinding this much!¡±, that would emphasize the feeling of invulnerability. If you just smile fearlessly, you¡¯re still going to be so cool!¡¹

    Kaede imagined that with an opponent, their only hope was they were able to deal damage, and whileughing like *Fufufu*while receiving their desperate attacks, defeat them when they are exhausted.

    ¡¸Oh?¡­¡­ it is certainly nice¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re making a dark smile you know?¡¹

    ¡¸Wawa! Y-You didn¡¯t see that right now! You did not!¡¹

    Saying that, *BunBun* she swung her arms. Risa continued whileughing pleasantly.

    ¡¸n?¡­ but if it¡¯s like that, I need to increase my HP. Being damaged with defense ignorance is not good¡­¡­¡­ is the pain okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Well¡­ it¡¯s not that, painful though? It¡¯s nothing muchpared to real life¡­ in addition, the pain is being reduced too, so¡¹

    ¡¸I should do my best to get better yer skills and block attacks as many as I can¡­¡­ and also recovery type skills and equipments, maybe I also need the MP and HP types huh?¡¹

    If she had those, in the end, it would be like she was invulnerable after all, Risa said.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll help you gather equipments! Also, I¡¯ll find skills that looks good¡¹

    ¡¸I-Is it okay?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s the game I invited to, if I can y together with Maple, I¡¯ll do that at least you know? I mean, you want to go right now?¡¹

    ¡¸Thank you!¡¹

    ¡¸Well, there are also times when I need help, so¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Un! At that time, I¡¯ll do my best!¡¹

    Kaede answered with a wide smile.

    ¡¸Well then¡­ let¡¯s first acquire skills that can raise HP. That¡¯s the most important one. I know a little too, and after that huh. The event¡¯s also near, let¡¯s hurry!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh?!¡¹

    The two jumped into the field.

    To acquire new skills, cover Maple¡¯s weaknesses, and leave good results in the second event.

    They are going to do what they can today.

 Chapter 19: Defense Specialized and Under Preparation

    Chapter 19: Defense Specialized and Under Preparation

    It has been a week after she started gathering skills with Risa.

    It means, at the time where there is only one week left before the event, Kaede logged in alone and was searching for skills.

    ¡¸I noticed it first after being said, but¡­ the skills that a person that uses arge shield in a party, I don¡¯t have all of them¡¹

    Risa told her that the skill tree of therge shield that is for defense power and about defense is very abundant, and she was basically trying to acquire those skills when she logged in alone since they couldn¡¯t log in at the same time.

    By the way, she already gathered some skills that she wanted for mostly HP strengthening and MP strengthening together with Risa.

    Kaede, while checking her status, searches for skills that she probably needs.

    Maple

    Lv24

    HP 40/40¡´£«60¡µ

    MP 12/12 ¡´£«10¡µ

    ¡¾STR 0¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 170¡´£«66¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 0¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 0¡¿

    ¡¾INT 0¡¿

    Equipments

    Head¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Body¡¾Armor of ck Roses¡¿

    Right hand¡¾Shingetsu : Hydra(Poison Dragon)¡¿

    Left Hand¡¾Mirror of the Dark Night : Bizarre Eater(Akujiki)¡¿

    Legs¡¾Armor of ck Roses¡¿

    Shoes¡¾Armor of ck Roses¡¿

    essories¡¾Ring of the Forest Queen Bee¡¿

    ¡¾Toughness Ring¡¿

    Skill

    ¡¾Absolute Defense¡¿¡¾Giant Killing (OomonoKurai)¡¿¡¾Hydra Eater (DokuruuKurai)¡¿¡¾Bomb Eater (BakudanKurai)¡¿¡¾Meditation¡¿¡¾Provoke¡¿¡¾Abominable (Gokuaku Hid¨­¡¿¡¾Knowledge of Large Shield IV¡¿¡¾Body Maniption¡¿¡¾Attack Diversion¡¿ ¡¾Shield Attack¡¿

    ¡¾HP Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾MP Strengthening (Small)¡¿

    She acquired the skill ¡¾HP Strengthening (Small)¡¿and¡¾MP Strengthening (Small)¡¿, increased her HP by 30 and MP by 10.

    In addition, thanks to the Toughness Ring that Risa gave, her HP increased by 30 in addition.

    It would seem like it was very little, but for the meantime, Kaede¡¯s HP was raised to double with that.

    Risa said that she was going to quickly acquire the ignore defense attack before the event.

    The reason is, to measure roughly the damage to Kaede. Because they couldn¡¯t afford on testing it without practice.

    ¡¸I gained a lot, so, I need to have skills that would be useful¡­¡¹

    And just like that, Kaede puts an eye on one skill.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move I¡¿and¡¾Cover¡¿¡­ therge shield¡¯s basic skill huh?¡­ although I didn¡¯t have it¡¹

    The skill used to protect party members, an exclusive skill for therge shield. A skill that can be said, all yers using therge shield and that is in a party have.

    Kaede also, since she is in a party now, was now interested in the skills that she thought she wouldn¡¯t need when she saw it before.

    ¡¾Cover Move I¡¿

    Ignoring the AGI stat, will be able to move to the party member within the radius of 5 meters.

    After use, damage received will be doubled for 30 seconds.

    Can be used maximum 10 times.

    The maximum times usable will recover every hour.

    Skill Requirement

    To be purchased from the Skill Shop.

    ¡¾Cover¡¿

    Cover the party member besides the user from attacks.

    When used, VIT would be increased by 10.

    Skill Requirement.

    To be purchased from the Skill Shop.

    Skill Shop is, the NPC shop that is selling the basic skills for the different types of equipment.

    Other than¡¾Cover Move I¡¿and¡¾Cover¡¿, ¡¾sh¡¿and¡¾Double sh¡¿can be bought there.

    From the lots of gold that she was able to have from selling the white scales obtained from the undergroundke, she could easily buy at least two.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go buy it!¡¹

    Kaede walked towards the NPC shop.

    With this, she thought that it was needed because she might be able to save Risa when she¡¯s in a pinch.

    Kaede left the store while holding a bag in one hand after buying the skill. Inside the bag, was two scrolls that have the skills in it.

    After Kaede sat down on a bench, *GasaGasa* she took it out and spread it while making that sound.

    And together with that, the letters that were written shines with light, and as if to match the dissipating light, the scroll crumbles down, bes a light and disappears.

    ¡ºSkill ¡¾Cover Move I¡¿ has been acquired¡»

    ¡¸Ohh??! So pretty!¡¹

    Kaede took out the ¡¾Cover¡¿scroll, and spread it out very quickly.

    That released the same light, crumbles, and disappeared together with the light.

    ¡¸Ahh?¡­ it has ended already. Do I still have some skills that I need¡­¡­¡¹

    She had researched about the skills that she needed to get right now so there wouldn¡¯t be something like that.

    ¡¸Well, whatever¡­¡­ I might need to increase it again someday¡­ rather than that, maybe I should go and get better yer skills as Sally said!¡¹

    After saying that, she went towards the second stage¡¯s field very eagerly.

    ¡¸Uu?¡­ it¡¯s slow. It¡¯s very slow. My walking speed, was it really this slow¡­¡­¡¹

    Being told by Risa, the ce where she came to was a desert. And after walking a while there, she stopped. Risa told Kaede that the ce she is right now is the best ce in the desert.

    ¡¸n?¡­¡­ I can¡¯t see any enemies though?¡­¡­¡­ Uwaah!?¡¹

    From the impact from behind, Kaede almost fell forward.

    Damage was of course zero, so there wasn¡¯t any danger of dying.

    ¡¸W-What is it!! Hey, is that it!¡¹

    Kaede saw the Pillbug type monster that seems to have tackled her from behind rolled around.

    After rolling for a while, it returned from its round body, and crawls down beneath the desert sand.

    ¡¸I see¡­ practice defending with that huh?¡¹

    Kaede changed herrge shield to a pure white shield.

    The pure whiterge shield that seemed like the fresh snow, was sprinkled by blue jewels in some parts.

    The name of therge shield is ¡¾Snow White¡¿, and it was arge shield made by Izu.

    ¡¾Snow White¡¿

    ¡¾VIT£«40¡¿

    Compared to the Mirror of the Dark Night, it was simple and didn¡¯t even have a skill, but its VIT increase was higher than the Mirror of the Dark Night right now.

    From this, you can really see how good Izu¡¯s skills are. It is the best nonbat yers that are supporting the top yers in the front lines.

    ¡¸Yosh¡­ let¡¯s do our best!¡¹

    After saying that, to the back of the head of Kaede who was making a stance with therge shield, the pill bug hits.

    ¡¸Uwah! W-Wait a second, hey!¡¹

    It is not like the monsters would wait for her, and another one hits Kaede who was shouting.

    ¡¸Ugh!¡­¡­ I-I¡¯m going to get angry!¡¹

    Stands up, made a stance with therge shield, and focused her ears.

    Risa said, it is important to find the enemy from the sounds thate from the enemy¡¯s movements.

    ¡¸n?¡­¡­ here!¡¹

    Kaede adjusts therge shield to her right. And at the same time, *Gatsun* the pill bug that jumped out hits therge shield and was reflected.

    ¡¸Yosh!¡­¡­ Kyaa!¡¹

    From behind Kaede who was content being able to block it, another pill bug hits her.

    ¡¸I-I see. It¡¯s not only one. It¡¯s very hard huh?¡¹

    After that, for two hours fighting, the maximum that she was able to block was about 40%.

    From what Risa had said, if she was able to block all of them, she would probably not receive the ignore defense attack for most of the time.

    ¡¸40% huh?¡­¡­ well, I did my best with that huh?, really, how can Risa dodge that much¡­¡¹

    While her friend that seemed like the enemy attacks were the one who dodgedes to her mind, she logged out for the day.

    Back in the in a little time, the time when Risa logged in alone.

    ¡¸Yosh, it¡¯s about time I used my status points. I already decided my n. n?¡­ it¡¯s better having a lot of ways to attack¡­ so 15 to STR and 20 to AGI, and the left to the INT¡­ with this, I¡¯ve used all of them!¡¹

    Sally

    Lv18

    HP 32/32

    MP 25/25¡´£«35¡µ

    ¡¾STR 25¡´£«20¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 0¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 75¡´£«68¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 25¡´£«20¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾INT 25¡´£«20¡µ¡¿

    Equipments

    Head¡¾Muffler of the Surface Water (Minamo no Mafura) : Mirage(Shinkir¨­)¡¿

    Body¡¾Coat of the Ocean (Taikai no K¨­to) : Ocean(Taikai)¡¿

    Right Hand¡¾Dagger of the Deep Sea (Shinkai no Dag¨¡)¡¿

    Left Hand¡¾Dagger of the Bottom of the Water (Minasoko no Dag¨¡)¡¿

    Legs¡¾Leggings of the Ocean¡¿

    Shoes¡¾ck Boots¡¿

    essories¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Skill

    ¡¾Status Debuff Attack III¡¿¡¾sh¡¿¡¾Double sh¡¿¡¾Gale sh (HayateGiri)¡¿¡¾Muscle Strengthening (Small)¡¿

    ¡¾Consecutive Attack Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾Double Attack¡¿¡¾Powered Attack¡¿¡¾Switch Attack¡¿¡¾Body Arts I¡¿

    ¡¾Knowledge of Short Swords II¡¿¡¾Jack of All Trades¡¿¡¾Divine Break¡¿

    ¡¾Fire Magic I¡¿¡¾Water Magic II¡¿¡¾Wind Magic II¡¿

    ¡¾Earth Magic I¡¿¡¾Dark Magic I¡¿¡¾Light Magic II¡¿

    ¡¾Fire Ball¡¿¡¾Water Ball¡¿

    ¡¾Water Wall¡¿

    ¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿¡¾Wind Wall¡¿

    ¡¾Thunder Cutter¡¿

    ¡¾Dark Ball¡¿

    ¡¾Refresh¡¿¡¾Heal¡¿

    ¡¾MP Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾MP Cut (Small)¡¿

    ¡¾MP Recovery Speed Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾Knowledge of Magic II¡¿

    ¡¾Fishing¡¿¡¾Swimming X¡¿¡¾Diving X¡¿¡¾Cooking I¡¿

    ¡¾Mining Speed Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾Sensory Blocking II¡¿

    ¡¾Sensory Awareness II¡¿¡¾Stealth Move I¡¿¡¾Leap I¡¿

    ¡¾Poison Resistance (Small)¡¿

    ¡¸After raising the Light Magic to II, I am now able to use¡¾Heal¡¿¡­ and after raising the¡¾Status Debuff Attack III¡¿it¡¯s now easier to ce status debuff¡­ I also got an ignore defense attack, it feels like good on attack and support¡¹

    After saying that, Risa closed her status and went towards the field. Her destination is far within the deep forest that is a little far.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll acquire a cool skill and keep it a secret to Maple, I will surprise her?!¡¹

    Risa is trying to capture one of the events with the NPCs that is currently being generated at all times in the game.

    There is a small house far within the forest, and seeding an event there, she could obtain¡¾Super eleration¡¿.

    ¡¸The requirement to breakthrough is¡¾AGI 70¡¿, so it¡¯s good that I made it enough!¡¹

    Risa, in Risa¡¯s way, was strengthening herself towards the first event with Kaede.

 Chapter 20: Defense Specialized and Friend Strengthening

    <strong>Chapter 20: Defense Specialized and Friend Strengthening </strong>

    ¡¸Yosh, I¡¯ve arrived!¡¹

    Risa arrived at a small house inside the forest. It was a log house.

    Right beside the house, there was a water wheel that was slowly turning to the flow of a clear river.

    In front of the house were a small field and some unchopped firewood that was probably left there are after chopping firewood.

    The sounds of the small birds echo pleasantly.

    Risa approached the house, ¡°KonKon¡± she knocked the door and waited.

    After a while, the door opens from inside.

    Who came out, was white long beard man using a staff.

    ¡¸For someone toe here, how rare¡­¡­ for the meantime,e inside. In these ces, there are a lot of dangerous monsters¡¹

    The old man said that and let Risa enter the house. Risa obediently entered the house.

    If the AGI stat is low, the old man will not be in his house, and the event will not ur.

    Inside the house, there was only a few furniture.

    If asked which one was the most interesting, on the top of the shelf around the ends, there was an old small sword that was emitting a very certain presence.

    After that, Risa without saying anything, sat in the chair that was near to the table.

    The old man ced a teacup with tea in front of that Risa.

    ¡¸You should drink, your body should get rxed a little¡¹

    ¡¸Uhm¡­ thank you very much. Itadakimasu¡¹

    Risa drank the tea. As the old man had said, her body really got rxed a little.

    Precisely, her MP was fully recovered.

    It is unknown since her HP was full, but in the information, it is said that it would recover.

    ¡¸Fumu¡­¡­ you should rest for a while. I will go to draw ¡¾Magic Power Water¡¿¡¹

    ¡¾Magic Power Water¡¿is the water that is drawn up from the springs that recover magic powers. And the ce of that springs can be heard from the NPC in the town of the second stage.

    It was about 30 minutes far away in her current position.

    Right here, Risa started to talk as if she was waiting for that.

    ¡¸Yes, then, I will go draw it instead¡¹

    ¡¸n, really?¡­ I¡¯ll leave it to you here huh¡­¡­ recently, the condition of my feet had worsened¡¹

    When the old man said that, he gave Risa a ss bottle.

    A blue colored monitor appeared in front of Risa.

    It was stating, Yes, No.

    Risa pushed the Yes, and epted the quest.

    The¡¾Magic Power Water¡¿was immediately checked by the nonbat yers as soon as they get to the second stage, but they couldn¡¯t draw it up from the spring whatever they did.

    They were able to drink it in that ce and recover MP, but it is impossible to bring it back currently.

    The only way it could be drawn up, was using the ss bottle that is passed during this event.

    But, that also disappears from the inventory after drawing it up after an hour.

    It means, it was a spot that was prepared for this event.

    ¡¸Well then, I¡¯ll go now!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡¯ll count on you¡¹

    And, Risa jumped out of the log house towards the springs.

    The monsters that are inhabiting around here are mostly 3 types.

    The first one is the Big Spider.

    As its name is, it was arge spider. Its size is about 1 meter and it¡¯s spider thread attack that binds the target is very troublesome.

    The second one is the Sleep Beetle.

    It is a beetle that has status debuff attacks that make its target asleep. Its size is only a little bigger than the normal beetle, so it is a scary monster that is easy to be overlooked and receive a surprise attack from.

    The third one is the treant.

    It is mimicking a tree, and is good at surprise attacks.

    But, it has a characteristic that it is the only one tree that has a red fruit inside this forest.

    Knowing that beforehand, the chance to avoid it will surely go up. But, even without that, the attack range of the branches and roots is long, and there are a lot of yers that are blocked on all sides and loses.

    Risa is running through the forest.

    As she has preliminarily investigated, there are not one monster appearing.

    And, she properly arrived at the springs for about 30 minutes.

    ¡¸It¡¯s beautiful¡­¡­¡¹

    The waters that are clear as it can be was shining faintly and shimmers to the surrounding trees and flowers.

    To that fantastic spectacle, Risa stopped her feet for a while and viewed the springs.

    And, after she drank the spring waters to recover her MP, she heightened her concentration.

    ¡¸It¡¯s from here¡­ huh¡¹

    Risa drew the water to the ss bottle, and put it in her inventory. The time limit is one hour.

    If she cannot reach the log house within the time limit, the event will end as a failure.

    And, the monsters that did not show up at all when she got here, flows out from the forest as if they were waiting for this moment.

    ¡¸I should go¡­¡¹

    Risa looked back, and jumped to the forest and ran. The unpleasant sounds of the spiders echo.

    The event really starts from here.

    The path that took 30 minutes without monsters, return from there with monsters within an hour.

    To obtain¡¾Super eleration¡¿, she must go through this test.

    *HyunHyun* the threads of the spiders sounded while they shot from the top of the trees. If these hits, she would be bound and it would be the end.

    ¡¸Yo, tto! ¡­¡­!! ¡¾Mirage¡¿!¡¹

    Risa runs through, and to her body, a ton of Sleep Beetles hit.

    But that got squashed and distorts its shape, and melts in the air.

    While ncing at that, Risa broke through the swarm of the Sleep Beetle.

    ¡¸That¡¯s bad, that¡¯s bad¡­ tto!¡¹

    From Risa¡¯s feet, sharp tree roots reached out.

    With Risa¡¯s status, she would surely die with one hit.

    While Risa was dodging the tree roots, she checked the surrounding.

    There were three trees that have red fruits with it. It was no doubt treants.

    ¡¸¡¾Fire Ball¡¿!¡¹

    The zing ball of fire hits the slow moving treant, and burns violently its trunk.

    The treant¡¯s angry voice echoes throughout the forest.

    ¡¸This is¡­!! That might¡¯ve been a miss¡­¡¹

    Risa had caught on the monsters that were approaching, attracted by the treant¡¯s voice using¡¾Sensory Awareness II¡¿.

    ¡¸¡¾Mirage¡¿!¡¹

    Risa made a phantom of herself run towards the direction of the springs.

    The beetles got easily lured by that, but that wasn¡¯t the case with the spiders. They probably have some kind of skill, they were moving towards Risa¡¯s direction.

    ¡¸It wasn¡¯t effective! ¡¾sh¡¿!¡¹

    While dodging the spider threads, two consecutive attacks.

    Their HP bar surely was reduced, but there¡¯s still 70% of it. She had no time at all to defeat that.

    ¡¸Damn it!¡­¡­ the treant is also too annoying¡­!¡¹

    In addition to the enormous number of enemies, they were moving as if each of them different purposes.

    On top of that, the spider¡¯s AGI was quite high. It wasn¡¯t that much different with Risa.

    In the first ce, that was natural since it was a quest made for AGI Specialized to challenge it.

    ¡¸¡¾Ocean¡¿!¡¹

    From Risa¡¯s feet, water thinly spread. The spiders that were chasing her plunged into that and decelerates.

    ¡¸¡¾sh¡¿!¡­ ¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿!¡¹

    shing through the roots and branches of the treant, Risa continued to move forward.

    The distance between the spiders gradually opened.

    But it also wears out Risa¡¯s nerves.

    She would be caught if she stops running, but this is inside the forest.

    The trees that were crowded, the bushes beneath the feet, and there might be mud somewhere.

    If she was caught on her footsteps, the situation would only be the worst.

    Risa heard a flying sound with her ear, and turned around.

    ¡¸Beetles again?!¡­¡­ no way¡¹

    The monsters that inhabit this forest are ¡°mostly¡± three types.

    Right, there was another type of monster that was rare to encounter.

    Approaching from behind, was a giant dragonfly.

    And its name, Wind Dragonfly.

    Its namees from the way it flies at high speed as if there were no trees at all, while elerating with wind magic.

    ¡¸That¡¯s too unlucky!¡­¡­ damn it¡­! ¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿!¡¹

    She threatened, shooting des of wind to her back.

    In this situation, there was no time to fight. She should do something and run away somehow. Even now, their distance was gradually closing up.

    Highly mixed wind magic passes through Risa with sounds of cutting wind. While dodging the wind magic using the trees as a shield, she spreads out the ¡¾Ocean¡¿and checks the spiders.

    She diverts the Sleep Beetle that flies from the side with ¡¾Mirage¡¿. Just like that, while she was running, she was once again surrounded by monsters.

    Impatience appears in Risa.

    ¡¸Spidersing from the front¡­ treant from the left. I¡¯ll go left!¡¹

    Using¡¾Sensory Awareness II¡¿at its fullest, she gained the information the most she could get, and chooses the best route.

    To the direction where there are more trees, to where it is hard for the dragonfly to fly. Three treants in front of her. Of course, there was no time to make an opponent of them.

    ¡¸¡¾Mirage¡¿!¡¹

    The treant easily fell for it, and pierces out tens of its sharp branches towards Risa¡¯s phantom.

    The treant, seemed to have felt it clearly, it was having a creepyughter triumphantly.

    ¡¸Thank you! You really saved me!¡¹

    Risa, with relief, mumbles.

    What it pierced through wasn¡¯t Risa.

    It was the wing of the Wind Dragonfly, one of it.

    Even if it was the Wind Dragonfly, it couldn¡¯tpletely dodge the unexpected attack.

    The Wind Dragonfly that had its wing broken drops its speed.

    The distance with Risa opens up.

    *GachiGachi* the Wind Dragonfly shot wind magic to Risa while sounding creepily, but that kind of desperate attack had no way of reaching Risa.

    ¡¸Ha?¡­ha?¡­ Arrival!! Ha?! Seriously, maybe this is the most exhausting ever¡­¡¹

    There was the log house in front of Risa.

    She took 52 minutes, and reached it just below.

    Risa opened the door of the log house.

    ¡¸I have returned!¡¹

    ¡¸Ohh! I have been waiting for you, thank goodness that you¡¯re fine, thank goodness¡­¡¹

    Risa who broke through tens of deadly situation made a subtle face, but the old man did not care about that and continued to talk.

    ¡¸Fumu¡­ I have to give my gratitude¡­ let me see,e here for a second¡¹

    After saying that, the old man brought out one scroll from the drawers.

    ¡¸You can learn the skill¡¾Super eleration¡¿with it. It should help you somehow¡­ you don¡¯t need abstain¡¹

    After saying that, the old man¡¯s appearance blurs and disappeared.

    ¡¸It is something I don¡¯t need¡¹

    A voice came from behind Risa, Risa turns back in a hurry.

    There was the old man, smiling happily as if a boy who has seeded his prank.

    ¡¸Fufu¡­ you should devote to your training¡¹

    ¡¸Y-Yes!¡¹

    She instinctively replied, and Risa left the log house.

    Gaining a new power.

 Chapter 21: Defense Specialized and Second Event

    Chapter 21: Defense Specialized and Second Event

    Risa and Kaede were in the town of the second stage.

    Because today was the day for the second event, their fighting spirits were perfect, they also did all they could do to prepare.

    And right now, the announcement from the administration came.

    ¡¸This time¡¯s event will be an exploration type! The highlight is the 300 pieces of silver medal scattered in the field after teleporting! Gathering 10 pieces of these will make it into a gold medal, and you are able to exchange the gold medal to skills or equipments when the event is over!¡¹

    The announcement flows like that and the status window opens by itself, and shows the gold and silver medal.

    Within those, Kaede was familiar of the gold medal.

    It was the gold medal that Kaede received as amemorative gift for thest event.

    ¡¸The yers in the top ten of thest event already have 1 gold medal each! You can defeat and steal it from them, or you can ignore and do your best on exploring!¡¹

    Some essories such as luxurious rings and bracelets, weapons likerge swords and bows are shown one next to the other in the window, every one of them is sleeping somewhere in the field that they were about to go.

    Of course, there was alsorge shields.

    ¡¸Even if you die, you will only drop medals! Your equipments would not drop so please do not worry! The only time that the medal would drop is when you are defeated by a yer. Please do not worry, and do your best exploring! After death, you will respawn at the initial point that you are going to be teleported!¡¹

    For the meantime, it was a relief.

    If the equipments wouldn¡¯t be stolen, it would be at ease to some extent.

    They could do their best on exploration.

    ¡¸This time¡¯s event willst one week in game time, the time that would pass outside the game would only be two hours since we will be elerating the time! There are some spots inside the field that monsters would note inside so please take advantage of it!¡¹

    It means, even after sleeping and spending time inside the game for one week, it would only pass two hours in reality.

    ¡¸How can I say this, that¡¯s a strange feeling¡¹

    ¡¸They said, once you log out you¡¯re not able to join the event again, that¡¯s why, we can¡¯t log out if we want to join the event until the end. After that¡­ they said that party members will teleport on the same ce¡¹

    Risa and Kaede heard the exnation, saw it in the status window, and after discussing, decided to try to not log out.

    ¡¸Medal enough for two, I hope we get it¡¹

    ¡¸Un, let¡¯s do our best!¡¹

    The body of the two became light, and disappeared from the town of the second stage.

    ¡¸n¡­¡­ we¡¯re here?¡¹

    ¡¸Looks like we¡¯ve arrived¡¹

    The feeling of earth that is sensed from the feet.

    The two was in the middle of an open grasnd.

    You can see inds floating in the sky as if gravity had no effect on them, and you can also see mountainous areas far away. And in the wide open sky, you can see the appearance of dragons flying elegantly.

    The field that the administration prepared this time, was a very rich and natural, utopia for monsters.

    It was a fantastic world that was as if taken out from anybody¡¯s fantasy world dream.

    ¡¸Ohh?! Beautiful!¡¹

    ¡¸Amazing¡­ it¡¯s so beautiful shiver came down on my spine¡¹

    The two were walking on the grasnd while talking, and even though they walked for 20 minutes, they didn¡¯t encounter other yers. Thinking that Kaede immediately had an opponentst time, maybe this time, the stage that was set this time might possibly very wide.

    ¡¸Will we be able to find a medal?¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Who knows? Well, let¡¯s do it slowly? There¡¯s still a lot of time¡¹

    The two was talking like that, but they a goblin pushing aside the small grass on their right. It looks like it has targeted the two, and chases after them even though they went left.

    ¡¸If the opponent is only a goblin¡­ Snow White is good enough huh¡¹

    Kaede reequipped herrge shield. Because she could not be wasting ¡¾Akujiki¡¿.

    ¡¸Can I use this equips for a while? I¡¯ll just change it to the Mirror of the Dark Night in case of anything¡¹

    ¡¸Okay?! I¡¯m counting on you. This time, I¡¯ll defeat them okay?¡¹

    Risa approached the goblin very quickly and swings her dagger. The goblin tried to receive it with the club in its hands, but there was no way that the weapon with bad quality could stop Risa¡¯s dagger.

    *Supa*, the club was cut off together with the very deep red line in the goblin¡¯s body.

    And, the first attacker easily became light and disappeared.

    ¡¸Oh?! You¡¯re really fast!¡¹

    ¡¸Fufufu? thanks! I wonder if this is the area for weak monsters?¡­ there might not be any medals¡¹

    ¡¸n?¡­ maybe so. I think that the medals are in a ce more difficult to see¡¹

    It looks like Risa agrees on Kaede¡¯s opinion and for the meantime, searched around caves or forests, terrains that seem to have a lot of monsters.

    And walking about an hour after that.

    ¡¸Right, Grasnds! Left, Grasnds! Behind, Grasnds! In front, Grasnds!¡¹

    Risa couldn¡¯t help but be shouting. Wherever you look, it was all grasnds. It was definitely grasnds up to the horizon.

    ¡¸It¡¯s too wide?¡­ for a while now, only goblinse out¡­ see, it came again¡­¡¹

    As Kaede had said, the goblin was walking while dragging a rabbit that it probably caught as prey. It doesn¡¯t seem to have noticed Kaede and Risa, *GugyaGugya* it wasughing happily with an annoying voice.

    And while Kaede and Risa were looking at the goblin, it ¡°walked¡± into the ground.

    ¡¸¡¸¡­¡­eh?¡¹¡¹

    The two was astonished and petrified, but when they regained their senses, they quickly moved to the ce where the goblin disappeared.

    ¡¸T-There¡¯s nothing?¡¹

    ¡¸No¡­ there¡¯s definitely something! There should be!¡¹

    Risa had some kind of idea, and shot the space around there with¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿.

    It cuts through the distorted space, and that scene returned to its normal state.

    In the two¡¯s feet, there was a staircase leading to the underground.

    ¡¸A skill like¡¾Mirage¡¿¡­ it was hiding the entrance with that. Maybe, there¡¯s another entrance. This grasnd, are wide after all¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You want to enter?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course! a cave that is hidden very carefully¡­ there should be one or two medals for sure!¡¹

    ¡¸Yo?sh! Then, let¡¯s go!¡¹

    The two entered inside the cave.

    ¡¸Yo¡­tto!¡¹

    Risa shes through the goblin¡¯s face with her dagger.

    It was not like the monsters inside were especially strong, so they were defeated easily with Risa¡¯s attacks.

    The path was wide enough for the two to walk side by side, so she is free to swing around her weapon.

    ¡¸Another branched road¡­¡¹

    Kaede whispered.

    As Kaede had said, this cave had quite a lot of branched road. It was stretching to a lot of paths just like the ant¡¯sir, and there were also a lot of dead ends and small rooms.

    ¡¸Which way should we go¡­ Maple, what do you think?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­then, to the right! It is going down to the right, so I think that if there was a boss it would be in a deep ce!¡¹

    ¡¸Okay?, then right it is¡¹

    The two moves ahead of the path. And entered a littlerger room.

    That time.

    A roar echoes through, and the ground trembles.

    The two felt instinctively. That this was the boss¡¯s roar.

    And with that, footsteps and metal sounds approached the two. And with it, unpleasant cries.

    ¡¸The boss might¡¯vemanded something, the goblins are gathering!¡¹

    ¡¸What should we do?¡¹

    To Kaede¡¯s question, Risa said while making a stance with her weapon.

    ¡¸This room is only connected to two ces, I¡¯ll leave the other one to you!¡¹

    ¡¸Okay?! Leave it to me!¡¹

    Kaede still doesn¡¯t exchange herrge shield.

    She was thinking of saving it for the boss.

    Kaede drew Shingetsu.

    It was the start of the fight.

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra(Poison Dragon)¡¿¡¹

    She attacked full force from the start. Because the more she increased the number she attacked, the more that Kaede loses her attack power. If it was possible, she wanted to clean it up with one shot.

    The Poison Dragon that was shot towards the goblins rushing inside the room, was stopped by shining barriers in front of the goblins.

    In the back of the passage.

    There were three goblins that were taking a stance with their staff in the back of the horde of the goblins.

    That is probably, the magic of those three.

    But, it seems like that was their trump card, the three was breathing with their shoulders.

    Kaede¡¯s attack was just that strong.

    In regardless of that, the damage dealt by the Poison Dragon was not only that.

    Even if it was blocked, the poison itself that was scattered around wouldn¡¯t disappear.

    The goblins that touched that poison agonized, copsed, became a light and disappear.

    Even so.

    The goblins stepped on their allies that copsed before they disappear, and came across the sea of poison.

    They couldn¡¯t go against themand from the boss.

    They were just, moving towards the enemy in front of them.

    ¡¸¡¾Shield Attack¡¿!¡¹

    Kaede¡¯s attack had almost no damage directly, but it pushes the goblins to the sea of poison with the knockback effect.

    Kaede only repeated that, and the number of goblins was decreasing. The three goblins that would¡¯ve originally support them with magic was already exhausted.

    ¡¸¡¾Shield Attack¡¿! It¡¯s the end, with this!!¡¹

    When thest goblin sank thest time. It looks like Risa also had ended fighting and went towards Kaede.

    And, she noticed the magician goblins and started to attack with magic.

    ¡¸¡¾Fire Ball¡¿! And, ¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿!¡¹

    It looks like it didn¡¯t have any defense, the magician goblins were defeated easily.

    ¡¸Good work, Sally!¡¹

    ¡¸You too, Maple. That being said, you really did it very shy?¡¹

    Risa was looking at the sea of poison with surprise and astonishment.

    ¡¸Ehehe¡­ rather than that, let¡¯s go! There is surely a boss in here!¡¹

    While making a shyugh, Kaede changed the topic.

    ¡¸I guess so, let¡¯s go! ¡­yo!!¡¹

    Risa jumped over the goblin that was agonizing in the sea of poison. Kaede of course, walked over it. Her poison resistance was perfect.

    ¡¸If I was to touch it, I¡¯m out with one shot¡¹

    She wouldn¡¯t receive damage from friendly fire magic, but the effects that it does is different.

    It means that if a branch burned by an ally by Fire Ball was touched, there would be damage.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll be careful okay¡¹

    ¡¸Please do¡¹

    The two went deeper and deeper to the cave.

    The final battle, is very near.

 Chapter 22: Defense Specialized and Boss Extermination

    Chapter 22: Defense Specialized and Boss Extermination

    ¡¸Boss room-like room, I found it!¡¹

    In front of them was a door that didn¡¯t exist until now.

    Opening the wooden door which was about 5 meters, they entered.

    Inside was wide, and dim.

    It was about 10 meters to the ceiling, and looking around, the width is about the same.

    And the depth was about twice, and a huge throne was ced in the deepest.

    And, on that, a giant goblin that has a hideous face was sitting.

    It was sitting, so its size was not clear, but it was about asrge as the door earlier. It was about three times of the normal goblin.

    The goblin noticed the two, and roars.

    To its tremendous volume, the two scowls.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s defeat it already! It¡¯s too noisy!¡¹

    ¡¸I agree, let¡¯s go!¡¹

    Risa nodded.

    Kaede changed herrge shield to the Mirror of the Dark Night, for the final battle.

    The distance to the goblin was about 20 meters.

    Risa closes that distance with her top speed.

    But, the goblin did not see that off.

    Beside the throne, it took a giant saber that was ced in it and stood up, it was drawn violently while moving forward.

    The impending deadly de together with its tremendous sword pressure.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿! ¡¾Cover¡¿!¡¹

    Risa didn¡¯t knew if she could dodge it. Because Kaede received the saber that was twice her height with herrge shield without being intimidated, and erased it. The enemy¡¯s main weapon with overwhelming destructive powers was removed from the start of the fight.

    The saber became light and disappeared.

    ¡¸Nice! Yosh¡­¡­!!¡¹

    Risa approached the boss further, and from this, Kaede¡¯s movements were unexpected for Risa, and maybe even to the goblin.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¹

    To Risa who was running, Kaede was able to keep up by suddenly elerating. The attack from the goblin hasn¡¯te.

    Risa, while being surprised, approached the boss.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¹

    Kaede forcefully keeps up with Risa. With this, the two of them arrived in front of the goblin together.

    The goblin swings down its muscr arm together with a roaring sound.

    But that attack did not hit Risa.

    With her proud dodging skills, she did not receive the simple attacks of the goblin. Risa, just like that, jumps up and aimed at the goblin¡¯s stomach.

    When Risa¡¯s dagger was at the distance when it can reach the goblin¡¯s body.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¹

    Risa made a wryugh because of the way she uses Cover Move was already ridiculous it could be called its name.

    Kaede was now close to the goblin, and entered the distance where therge shield can reach.

    After Risa dealt an attack, she left that ce.

    Kaede twists her body and swings therge shield.

    ¡¸How?is?it!! This power!¡¹

    A shy damage effect the width of therge shield was ground on the goblin¡¯s abdomen, and its HP bar was reduced by 30 percent.

    And as if it provoked the anger of the goblin, it hit Kaede and fell to the ground.

    ¡¸Fufufu¡­ two times damage? Two times zero is zero!!¡¹

    The two times damage received demerit of the ¡¾Cover Move¡¿became nothing in front of the erratic defense powers of Kaede. But that being said, her armor wasn¡¯t like that, and it had cracks and crumbled.

    ¡¸Ue!?¡¹

    Kaede was surprised, but when the armor shines faintly, it immediately

    came back to its former shape.

    ¡¸Ah!! I see,¡¾Destruction Growth¡¿!¡¹

    The destroyed equipments would grow more robust and solid.

    Risa called out to Kaede.

    ¡¸Can you do it one more time?!¡¹

    ¡¸Of course!¡¹

    Kaede stood up, and looked at Risa¡¯s movements.

    And, the instance that Risa was about to be hit by the goblin¡¯s fist.

    ¡¸¡¾Move Cover¡¿! ¡¾Cover¡¿!¡¹

    She stood in between the fist and Risa and adjusts herrge shield.

    That hand was devoured to from its fist, became light and disappeared. It was swung down in full force to catch Risa who was quickly so its momentum wouldn¡¯t stop.

    The HP bar decreases tremendously again.

    There was only remaining 40% left.

    Kaede draws out Shingetsu.

    ¡¸I should at least do something right! ¡¾Super eleration¡¿!¡¹

    Risa¡¯s body blurred, and elerates.

    Risa moves behind the goblin in high speed.

    ¡¸¡¾Double sh¡¿! ¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿! ¡¾Powered Attack¡¿! ¡¾Double sh¡¿!¡¹

    Combined with the speed of the ¡¾Super eleration¡¿, it was hit with high speed consecutive attacks. Even doing all of that, the gauge only fell by 15% so it was really clear how ridiculous Kaede¡¯srge shield was.

    After being attack by this much, the goblin couldn¡¯t help itself to face Risa¡¯s direction.

    As the goblin turns around, as if to ovep the red damage effects, golden effects envelopes its arm and punches.

    That attack didn¡¯t hit Risa but the ground it hit was caved..

    ¡¸Its power is rising, but¡­ it¡¯s too slow!¡¹

    Risa moves away from the goblin, and the goblin tries to chase Risa with blood-shot eyes.

    ¡¸Is it okay? Chasing after me? I¡¯m sure¡­ that one¡¯s scarier?¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra(Poison Dragon)¡¿!¡¹

    Kaede¡¯s voice calls out a three-headed poison dragon.

    The goblin that left behind the huge threat trying to chase after Risa received the attacks of the Poison Dragon from behind.

    In addition to the huge damage of the Poison Dragon, the top level poison damage.

    Even so, the goblin was somehow standing, probably because of its pride as a boss.

    But that couldn¡¯tst long, and its huge body changed into shining lights and explodes.

    ¡¸Good job?!¡¹

    ¡¸You too¡­ and? what was that weird movement?¡¹

    ¡¸Weird movement, oh you mean¡¾Cover Move¡¿? That¡¯s great right! It had moved as I¡¯ve thought so I was able to use it for attacking!¡¹

    ¡¸The only one who can live using it like that, and be able to deal decent damage, is Maple alone you know¡­¡­¡¹

    In reality, if arge shield user was to copy that, he would probably sink after receiving two times the damage.

    In addition, the only person who have that ridiculous attack power is about Kaede alone.

    If it was only fire power needed, it doesn¡¯t need to be arge shield.

    ¡¸Sally was also so fast! Thatst one!¡¹

    ¡¸Well, it increases AGI by 50, so. I can¡¯t use it because of its 30 minutes cooldown, but¡­ it¡¯s enough I guess¡¹

    ¡¸But, I can only use ¡¾Akujiki¡¿7 times left¡­ I tried to not use it that much in the short term decisive battle¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Well, the Maple right now has bad fuel efficiency huh. This time¡¯s skill acquisition, let¡¯s get good ones!¡¹

    ¡¸Un, I guess so!¡¹

    After saying that, the two went towards the throne where the goblin was sitting on.

    There wasn¡¯t much decorations but it was a huge treasure box.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll open it?¡¹

    ¡¸Okay?! Open it!¡¹

    Risa opened the treasure box.

    Inside was, a saber that looks just like the one that the goblin had.

    And, two pieces of silver medals shining.

    ¡¸We did it! It¡¯s a medal!¡¹

    ¡¸In addition, two of them, it¡¯s two of them!¡¹

    The two didn¡¯t care about the saber and was crazed about the medal. In the first ce, the two cannot equip the saber, so it was natural that they weren¡¯t interested.

    ¡¸If there is two medals per dungeon, then¡­ there is 150 dungeons¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸The difficulty might be different? Having a stronger boss for example! Other than that¡­ something like, it is hidden but it has no boss¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, I see, there¡¯s something like that huh¡¹

    Risa stopped thinking of it, took the saber and looked at its specs.

    ¡¾Saber of the Goblin King¡¿

    ¡¾STR +75¡¿

    ¡¾Damage eleration¡¿

    ¡¸Uuo?¡­ that¡¯s a pretty brain muscle weapon?¡­¡¹

    ¡¸How does it look?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s easy to get destroyed so it¡¯s not for long fights, but it has STR+75¡¹

    ¡¸We can¡¯t equip it right?¡¹

    ¡¸Un¡¹

    ¡¸The equipment¡¯s a miss huh?¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Do you want to search for the next dungeon? There¡¯s a magic circle in the back of the throne, I think we can go outside when we stand on it¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­if it¡¯s only one, maybe we can do it today? I also think that the skills can take it!¡¹

    After discussing, the two stood on the magic circle.

    Thinking of Kaede¡¯s¡¾Akujiki¡¿, it would be better using all of it in a day¡¯s exploration.

    It couldn¡¯t be carried over tomorrow, so the number that they can capture would decrease.

    And when the light disappeared, they were at the grasnd earlier.

    ¡¸I forgot¡­¡­ for the meantime, we should start from getting out of the grasnds¡­¡¹

    ¡¸W-Where do you think we should go?¡¹

    ¡¸Forward! Probably that is the best way. It shouldn¡¯t be all grasnds up until the tall mountains that we saw on the start¡¹

    ¡¸Well, that is true!¡¹

    The two started walking towards the mountainous terrain.

 Chapter 23: Defense Specialized and Exploration Resume

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu Chapter 23

    Defense Specialization and the Second Event

    Risa and Kaede were in the secondyer town.

    Today was the day of the second event, so they were in high spirits, having done all they could to prepare.

    At this point, an announcement from the devs came in.

    ¡¸This event is an exploratory one! The centerpiece of this event is the 300 silver medals scattered throughout the field to which you will be transferred! Collect ten of these for a gold medal, and after the event you can exchange the gold medals for skills and equipment!¡¹

    That¡¯s what the announcement said, and the status screen opened by itself, disying gold and silver medals.

    Among them, Kaede recognized the gold medal.

    The gold medal was the one Kaede had gotten as thememorative item from thest event.

    ¡¸The top ten finishers in thest event already have one gold medal! You can defeat them and take it, or you can explore without paying them any mind!¡¹

    Images of several luxurious rings, bracelets, and other essories, as well as great swords, bows, and other weapons, were disyed one after another, all lying somewhere in the field they were going to go to.

    Of course, there were great shields too.

    ¡¸If you die, you¡¯ll only drop medals! Don¡¯t worry, no equipment will be dropped! The only time you drop medals is when you are defeated by another yer. Please explore without worry! When you die, you will respawn at your initial transfer point!¡¹

    For the time being, it was a relief.

    If your equipment couldn¡¯t be taken away from you, you could probably take it easy to some extent.

    You could put your all into exploring.

    ¡¸The length in the game is one week, and the length out of the game is only two hours because of time eleration! There are several monster-free spots in the field, so by all means, make use of them!¡¹

    In other words, you could spend a week staying in the game, but in real life only two hours would pass.

    ¡¸It feels kind of strange, doesn¡¯t it?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve heard that once you log out, you can¡¯t rejoin the event, so you can¡¯t log out if you want to finish it. Also¡­ all party members will be transferred to the same ce.¡¹

    Risa and Kaede listened to the exnation and watched it y on the status screens, and after discussing it, decided not to log out.

    ¡¸I hope we get enough medals for both of us.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, let¡¯s do our best!¡¹

    The bodies of the two turned into light and disappeared from the secondyer town.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­ are we there?¡¹

    ¡¸Looks like we are.¡¹

    They felt solid ground under their feet.

    The two were in the middle of an open grasnd.

    They could see inds floating in the sky, unaffected by gravity, and also a mountainous region in the distance. They also saw dragons flying gracefully in the vast, clear sky.

    The field prepared by the devs this time was rich in nature, heaven on earth for monsters.

    It was a magical world straight out of a fantasy from everyone¡¯s dreams.

    ¡¸Ohh! Beautiful!¡¹

    ¡¸Wonderful¡­ it¡¯s so beautiful it sends shivers down my spine.¡¹

    The two walked through the grasnd chatting for about twenty minutes, but they didn¡¯t run into any other yers. Considering the fact that Kaede had met anopponent right awayst time, this time the stage was probably much bigger.

    ¡¸I wonder if we¡¯ll find medals or something¡­¡¹

    ¡¸You know what? I say we take it slow. I mean, there¡¯s still time.¡¹

    The two of them were talking about such things, when they saw a goblin running through the short grass to their right. It seemed to be targeting the two of them, and even though they tried to swerve left, it was still chasing after them.

    ¡¸If it¡¯s a goblin we¡¯re dealing with¡­ maybe Snow White will do.¡¹

    Kaede swapped out her great shield. She couldn¡¯t afford to waste ¡¾Eating Inedibles¡¿.

    ¡¸Is it alright if I use this equipment for the time being? I¡¯ll switch to Replica of the Dark Night if I have to.¡¹

    ¡¸O-okay! I¡¯m counting on you. Let me take it down this time, alright?¡¹

    Risa swiftly approached the goblin and swung out her daggers. The goblin tried to use the club in his hand to block it, but the crude weapon was not enough to block Risa¡¯s daggers.

    The club was shed off and a red streak cut deep into the goblin¡¯s body.

    The first attacker just turned into light and disappeared.

    ¡¸Ah! You¡¯re so fast!¡¹

    ¡¸Hmhmhmm, thanks! Do you think this is a weak monster area? ¡­there might not be any medals here.¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­ maybe. I think the medals would be hidden somewhere more obscure.¡¹

    Risa seemed to agree with Kaede, so they decided to look around for caves, forests, and other types of terrain that might have a lot of monsters.

    And an hour of walkingter¡­

    ¡¸Right, grasnd! Left, grasnd! Behind, grasnd! Ahead, grasnd!¡¹

    Risa shouted in desperation. Everywhere she looked, there was nothing but grasnd. The grasnd stretched all the way to the horizon.

    ¡¸It¡¯s too bi-ig¡­ I¡¯ve been seeing only goblins since a while ago¡­ Here is another one¡­¡¹

    As Kaede said, a goblin was walking along, dragging a rabbit that was probably its prey. The goblin probably didn¡¯t notice Kaede and Risa, and was cackling happily in a grating voice.

    TL note: the actual words used are ¡°—÷ß_¡±, which map to something like ¡°Kaede¡¯s group¡±/¡±Kaede and the others¡±, but that doesn¡¯t flow very well most of the time, so what it is actually going to trante to will change depending on context

    As Kaede and Risa looked on, the goblin ¡¾walked¡¿ under the ground just like that.

    ¡¸¡¸¡­eh?¡¹¡¹

    The two of them stood there dumbfounded, but then came to their senses and rushed towards the ce where the goblin had disappeared.

    ¡¸N-nothing?¡¹

    ¡¸No¡­ there¡¯s definitely something! There has to be!¡¹

    Risa had a sh of inspiration and shot a ¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿ into the area.

    It cut through the distorted space and returned the scene to normal.

    There was a staircase leading underground beneath their feet.

    ¡¸A skill like ¡¾Mirage¡¿¡­ is what the entrance was hidden by. Maybe there are other entrances like that. This grasnd is huge, you know¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Should we go in?¡¹

    ¡¸Of course! If this cave was hidden so carefully¡­ then surely there¡¯s a medal or two in it!¡¹

    ¡¸All right! Then, let¡¯s go!¡¹

    The two entered the cave.

    ¡¸Heigh¡­ ho!¡¹

    Risa¡¯s dagger cut through the goblin¡¯s face.

    It was not like the monsters inside were particrly strong either, so they were easily defeated by Risa¡¯s attacks.

    The path was wide enough for the two to walk side by side, so she didn¡¯t have any trouble swinging her weapon around.

    ¡¸Another fork in the road¡­¡¹

    Kaede muttered.

    As Kaede said, this cave had very many forks. It was like an ant nest, with many paths stretching out, many dead ends and small rooms.

    ¡¸Which way should we go¡­ Maple, what do you think?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­right it is! The path on the right is leading down, and if there is a boss in here, I think it must be deep down!¡¹

    ¡¸Okay, let¡¯s take the right then.¡¹

    The two made their way down the road. And then they entered a slightlyrger room.

    At that point.

    A roar rang out and the ground rumbled.

    The two had an inkling. This was the roar of the boss.

    Along with that, the two heard the sounds of footsteps and metallic nging approaching. And an unpleasant cry.

    ¡¸Maybe the boss has given some orders, the goblins are gathering!¡¹

    ¡¸What should we do?¡¹

    Risa replied to Kaede¡¯s question while readying her weapon.

    ¡¸There are only two paths that are connected to this room, I¡¯ll leave one of them to you!¡¹

    ¡¸O-okay! I got it!¡¹

    Kaede had yet to switch the great shield.

    She was thinking of saving it for the boss.

    Kaede drew out New Moon.

    This was the start of the battle.

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra¡¿¡¹

    From the start, she attacked with full force. This was because Kaede¡¯s attacking ability would diminish as she increased the number of attacks. If possible, she would prefer to get rid of them in one shot.

    The poison dragon, shot at the goblins surging into the room, was stopped by a glowing barrier before the goblins¡¯ eyes.

    At the far end of the passage.

    There were three goblins with their hats pulled over their eyes at the far end of the crowd of goblins, holding their wands at the ready.

    It was probably the magic of those three.

    However, it seemed to be theirst resort, as all three of them were breathing heavily with their shoulders bobbing up and down.

    Kaede¡¯s attack was just that powerful.

    Moreover, that wasn¡¯t the only damage the poison dragon caused.

    Even if it was blocked, the poison itself, which was scattered around the area, would not disappear.

    The goblins that came into contact with that poison would fall down in agony, bing light and disappearing into a mist.

    Even so.

    Before their fallenrades disappeared, the goblins used their bodies as stepping stones to cross the sea of poison.

    They couldn¡¯t go against the boss¡¯s orders.

    They were just going towards the enemy in front of them.

    ¡¸¡¾Shield Attack¡¿!¡¹

    Kaede¡¯s attack did almost no direct damage, but its knockback effect sent the goblin into the sea of poison.

    As Kaede simply repeated that, the number of goblins decreased. Those three goblins, which would normally be supporting them with magic, were already out of gas.

    ¡¸¡¾Shield Attack¡¿! And that¡¯s it!¡¹

    Just when thest goblin was sunk. Risa also seemed to have just finished the battle and headed towards Kaede.

    Then, she noticed the magician goblins andunched a magic attack.

    ¡¸¡¾Fire Ball¡¿! And also, ¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿!¡¹

    The magician goblins were defeated easily as they didn¡¯t seem to have any defenses.

    ¡¸Good job, Sally!¡¹

    ¡¸Good job, Maple. Well, you did it in a shy way, huh?¡¹

    Risa looked at the sea of poison with a mixture of surprise and astonishment.

    ¡¸Ehehe¡­ it doesn¡¯t matter, let¡¯s go! I bet the boss is in here!¡¹

    Kaede changed the subject with an embarrassed smile.

    ¡¸Sure, let¡¯s go! ¡­<i>hop</i>!¡¹

    Risa jumped over the sea of poison that the goblins suffered in. Kaede, of course, walked across. Her poison resistance was perfect.

    ¡¸If I were to touch it, I¡¯d be out in one hit.¡¹

    You didn¡¯t take damage from your allies¡¯ magic, but it was a different story with the effects it caused.

    In other words, if you grabbed a branch that had been burned by an ally¡¯s Fire Ball, you would take damage.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll be careful with that.¡¹

    ¡¸Please be.¡¹

    The two headed deeper and deeper into the cave.

    The final battle was right around the corner.

 Chapter 24: Defense Specialized and Underground Exploration

    Chapter 24: Defense Specialized and Underground Exploration

    The two were walking one step at a time, and cautiously went lower and lower.

    The voice was getting louder and louder. Kaede was in front to prepare for a surprise attack while going down the stairs, then saw a door ahead.

    Kaede ced her hand on the door knob.

    ¡¸¡­¡­it isn¡¯t locked. I¡¯m going to open it¡¹

    ¡¸Okay?. Yosh,e!¡¹

    Kaede made a stance with herrge shield while opening the door. Because the door was opened, the voice could be heard clearer.

    ¡¸It hurts¡­¡­it hurts¡­¡­¡­ahhh¡­ah¡¹

    Kaede showed her face from therge shield, and peeked inside.

    Inside the room, was a candle melted to half ced in the middle of the ground.

    And what it shimmers was, a bloody man that was tied to a chair.

    ¡¸He doesn¡¯t seem to have hostility¡­¡­? But he isn¡¯t a yer either¡¹

    Following Kaede, Risa carefully showed her face from Kaede¡¯s back. And she scowled with his painful appearance.

    ¡¸What should we do?¡¹

    ¡¸n?¡­ he¡¯s saying that it hurts, so¡­ I want to cure him?¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I have¡¾Heal¡¿though? You want me to try?¡¹

    ¡¸Un¡­ please!¡¹

    Their n was decided and Risa used¡¾Heal¡¿.

    A kind light enveloped the man, and his wounds healed a little bit. It was still too far away from aplete cure.

    ¡¸One more time!¡¾Heal¡¿!¡¹

    Risa, while checking how the healing of the wounds, used¡¾Heal¡¿repeatedly.

    After using the two MP Potion that she brought, the man¡¯s wounds finally healedpletely.

    The two made a very content smile.

    ¡¸Thank¡­¡­you¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    The man with his wounds healed smiled pleasantly, and slowly, his body changed into a white light, gradually dissipates, and finally disappeared.

    ¡¸Did he went to heaven¡­¡­it means?¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that the case? Probably, he isn¡¯t living at all at the first ce, though¡­¡­n?¡¹

    Risa saw that there was something left in the chair that the man was sitting on. Inside this dark dim room, it was receiving light from the candle, and shines faintly.

    Risa picked that up.

    ¡¸This is¡­¡­a ring?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh?! I wonder if it¡¯s that man¡¯s thanks?¡¹

    Risa checked the specs of that deep ck ring.

    ¡¾Ring of Life¡¿

    ¡¾HP£«100¡¿

    ¡¸n?¡­ probably the upgraded version of Maple¡¯s Toughness Ring? The requirements to get it was simple so there wouldn¡¯t be that great of an equipment huh¡­¡¹

    After saying that, Risa gave the ring to Kaede.

    ¡¸Maple should get it. There¡¯s nothing much for me increasing my HP¡¹

    ¡¸Eh!¡­¡­but, is it okay? It might be an event-only item you know?¡¹

    ¡¸If you really, don¡¯t like to have it for free, then I¡¯ll put it on your tab. Maple would also probably get equipments that you don¡¯t need too, so, if you¡¯re like it that way¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I got it! At that time, I¡¯ll give it to Sally then! ¡­¡­then, let¡¯s equip this thankfully, there¡­¡¹

    With this, Kaede¡¯s HP from 100, became double, 200.

    It had finally be a reliable count, it could be said.

    At the same time, her essories slot was full, so it would be going to be hard to increase her HP from now on.

    ¡¸Then, let¡¯s go to sleep again¡­¡¹

    ¡¸The event in this forest, I wonder if it¡¯s only this?¡¹

    ¡¸n?¡­ I wonder? There might be at least another one, but¡­ the time period probably has something to do with it. This also, it seems like it¡¯s an event that appeared at 12¡¹

    Other than that, the time of appearance of the ghosts is most probably also was because of the time period of the event, so, they had the conclusion that they needed to explore around here for a few days to have a proper result.

    ¡¸Then, the n tomorrow is to get through this forest¡¹

    ¡¸Un, let¡¯s do that¡¹

    For Risa, this forest was not a ce that she wanted to stay for a long time.

    When the two came out of the underground, they returned the furniture to its original position, and when to their first n of sleeping alternately.

    ¡¸Then, good night, Maple¡¹

    ¡¸Good night?! I¡¯ll keep a tight watch so sleep without worries!¡¹

    ¡¸Fufu¡­ thanks¡¹

    And just like that, while alternating the lookout, the night had passed.

    The second day.

    ¡¸Yosh, let¡¯s also do our best today!¡¹

    ¡¸Oo?!¡¹

    After the two ate a light breakfast, they moved ahead from the deserted house towards outside the forest.

    To decrease the time spent, it was the usual style of Risa carrying Kaede.

    From time to time, Risa climbs a tree and checks the direction of the mountainous area, and running just like that for an hour.

    They finally saw the end of the forest.

    ¡¸Yosh! We got through!¡¹

    ¡¸n?! It¡¯s been a while where it¡¯s bright, so it¡¯s blinding¡­¡¹

    Kaede re-equipped and stretched,

    In front of them, barrennds with only a few grass growing spread ahead. And that continuous up to the mountainous areas.

    ¡¸This change of environment, if it¡¯s not a game, it¡¯s impossible right?¡¹

    ¡¸Not knowing of what sceneryes next is really exciting right!¡¹

    The two chatted while advancing through the barrennds. It was a terrain that was easy to know if there was a monster getting closer, so it was easy to scout.

    That is why, they were able to see the silhouette that was most probably yers from far away.

    ¡¸Maple. There¡¯s someone¡¹

    ¡¸Which equipment should I use? Is it better to have¡¾Akujiki¡¿?¡¹

    ¡¸I think that you shouldn¡¯t use¡¾Akujiki¡¿yet, if it was a battle in an instant¡­ it¡¯s better to charge using¡¾Cover Move¡¿¡­ other than that¡­¡¹

    Risa told Kaede with a small voice the other tactic.

    ¡¸I understood¡¹

    The two advanced while strengthening their cautiousness. Since Kaede was 3rd in thest event, most of the yers should know her face.

    With some people, there is the possibility that they would attack to steal the medal.

    And after advancing just like that, their side had also noticed of the two, stopped and started to discuss.

    And without holding their weapons, the three moved towards the two.

    All of the three yers were male, and they were a sided party with arge sword, short sword, and one-handed sword.

    When they reached the distance where their voices could be heard, the three of them started to talk.

    ¡¸I can¡¯t believe it?, when I thought that it¡¯s the first time to see a person¡­ I didn¡¯t think that it would be a ranker fromst time¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I was really terrified¡­ we don¡¯t have the will to fight so please let us go¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸We¡¯re just going to climb mountains from now?¡­ so we don¡¯t want to waste skills¡¹

    ¡¸I see?. We¡¯re also just about to climb mountains. I¡¯m sure that there¡¯s something in that mountain¡­¡­¡¹

    With what Kaede said, it looks like the three had the same opinion, and asked if they coulde with along.

    ¡¸What do you think, Sally?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­isn¡¯t it alright?¡¹

    Just like this, the five of them advanced towards the mountain.

    ¡¸Then, I¡¯ll go in front¡­ so Maple should stand in from of the three, just like protecting them¡¹

    ¡¸Okay?! I¡¯ll protect you whatever monster woulde!¡¹

    Kaede made a strong post with herrge shield.

    ¡¸You look really reliable¡¹

    ¡¸Really true¡¹

    Behind them, they started to walk while hearing the three whispering with themselves.

    On the way, they encountered monsters for a few times, but without Maple needing to protect, Risa defeated it.

    And, their already near their destination.

    ¡¸Yosh, let¡¯s do our best a little more!¡¹

    Kaede made a big stretch.

    In that instant.

    ¡¸Attack now!¡¾Amor Crush¡¿!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Defense Break¡¿!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Ignoring de¡¿!¡¹

    The three who was behind Kaede attacked at once.

    Defense ignoring skills, loomed to Kaede.

    As if they were checking for a chance for Kaede, theirbination was really smooth.

    It can be said that there was no better surprise attack than that.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¹

    But, their deadly des would not reach Kaede.

    The other tactic that Risa told, was for Kaede show the three people who went with them a chance purposely, and to show what the three people really wanted.

    Risa had guessed that there was a high possibility that they were going to attack if they asked for apaniment.

    As long as Risa was nearby, Kaede had the fastest way to dodge.

    She didn¡¯t say that she was sure that it would be safe, but Kaede agreed to Risa¡¯s suggestion.

    And she was being careful of the three.

    The men didn¡¯t notice that Kaede and Risa were observing them.

    They were to focused on aiming for their prey, so their head couldn¡¯t turn enough to think that they might be also aimed at.

    ¡¸What!?¡¹

    The men were surprised that their surprise attack ended with a failure, and stopped at their feet.

    They had probably an absolute confidence.

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra(Poison Dragon)¡¿!¡¹

    The Poison Dragon that was released as a counterattack devoured the three without mercy, and their HPs had been scraped off.

    ¡¸To think that they¡¯re really going to attack¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Well, there¡¯s a reason for Maple to be targeted, so¡­ it¡¯s good that we had caution right?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s because I was able to activate¡¾Cover Move¡¿immediately! If I didn¡¯t have that, it might¡¯ve been dangerous¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Other than that¡­ is there a medal? They might¡¯ve dropped it¡¹

    Being told by Risa, Kaede advanced to the sea of poison. She searched around where the three copsed, but there was no medal dropped.

    ¡¸It means not to aim for getting rich quickly huh¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s really true¡¹

    In this event, Kaede and Risa¡¯s first PvP ended with a victory.

    ¡¸Then, once again¡­ let¡¯s go climb the mountain!¡¹

    ¡¸Oo?!¡¹

    The two, once again, started to walk towards the mountain.

 Chapter 25: Defense Specialized and Climbing Mountain

    Chapter 25: Defense Specialized and Climbing Mountain

    The slope of the ground appeared.

    It looks like they¡¯re starting to enter the mountainous area.

    ¡¸This mountain, other yers should probably be moving towards it, so we should not let them go ahead of us¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, let¡¯s hurry as much as possible¡¹

    The two climbed the mountain very quickly. The mountain that the two were climbing right now was the tallest. Right now, there weren¡¯t any other yers around.

    Although, there is the possibility that they are climbing from another direction.

    ¡¸Maple! Monsters areing!¡¹

    ¡¸I got it!¡¹

    She exchanged herrge shield to Snow White.

    Assuming that there is a boss monster, she is nning to save¡¾Akujiki¡¿.

    Very different with the sea of trees, there was a lot of monsters, so their battle count is increasing.

    ¡¸Oh! I leveled up. I¡¯m 19 with this! Status is¡­ I¡¯ll put it all to AGI¡¹

    There are big boulders here and there, and monsters suddenly jumps out from there so it was a situation they couldn¡¯t let their cautious down.

    By one of them being always cautious of the surroundings alternately, they prepared for surprise attacks.

    Because bird-type monsters attacks from the sky from time to time, they could only deal with it with magic, and their MP was taken away.

    Thend monsters were wolf-types, they attack with quick movements.

    ¡¸The ground is also really bad, so it¡¯s hard to do it?¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s hurry up and climb!¡¹

    Two and a half hours of advancing while defeating monsters.

    There was also snow that have started to stack on the ground. *ZakuZaku*, they walked forward will making that sound.

    ¡¸Pretty much, we¡¯ve advanced¡¹

    ¡¸Un, probably only another hour before the peak?¡¹

    Risa looked up to the peak.

    Because of that, she was able to notice monster ahead.

    About twenty meters ahead, there was a monkey that had a white fur covering its whole body.

    That monkey charged down while kicking off the snow.

    ¡¸It¡¯sing!¡¹

    ¡¸Un!¡¹

    The two braces themselves.

    Near the monkey, two bluish white magic circles emerged.

    There was a difference point with the monsters until now and the monkey.

    That is right, it could use magic.

    ¡¸¡¾Cove¡¿!¡¹

    Kaede instinctively covered Risa.

    Kaede felt from therge shield continuous blows.

    It was a continuous attack with ice gravels like a machine gun.

    When the monkey approached with that, it made the magic circle disappear and enveloping a white shine to its fist, it punched.

    This time there was a heavier blow that runs to therge shield.

    ¡¸Sally!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Double sh¡¿!¡¹

    While Kaede was getting the attention of the monkey, Risa slips beside the monkey, and shes at it from behind.

    The monkey scream, but without copsing, it turned to Risa with anger in its eyes, and swings its fist.

    The snow on the ground was a hindrance so it was hard to move, but Risa dodged with no problem.

    ¡¸¡¾Powered Attack¡¿!¡¹

    The two consecutive attack counter cuts the monkey¡¯s stomach deep, but it still wouldn¡¯t copse.

    *Gapa*, from its opened mouth, a white shining magic circle can be seen.

    ¡¸¡¾Super eleration¡¿!¡¹

    Risa draws one of her trump cards with an instinctive decision.

    Arge number of sharp ice pierced the ce where Risa was an instant ago.

    ¡¸¡¾sh¡¿!¡¹

    The counter after evading the breath of ice, finally sinks the monkey.

    The monkey¡¯s body became light and disappeared.

    ¡¸Fu?¡­ I used¡¾Super eleration¡¿huh¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸After all, maybe I should participate too¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, Maple should just prepare for the boss. I will be able to use¡¾Super eleration¡¿again, so¡­ leave on the way to me!¡¹

    ¡¸n?¡­ I got it. But, if it bes dangerous I¡¯ll¡¾Cover¡¿you okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks! That¡¯d be helping¡¹

    The two once again advanced to the ice mountain. The monkey seemed to be something like a mid-boss, they did not encounter it again.

    Instead, the monsters that appears was a mole that was moving through the snow with zigzag while raising a cloud of snow, and a while armadillo that rolls while taking the snow with it.

    ¡¸We should be careful with the mole, but¡­ the armadillo just continues to roll after dodging it so it¡¯s very easy right¡¹

    ¡¸I think that it would be instant death if the armadillo hits though¡­ well, if it was Maple maybe it could be endured¡¹

    While talking about that, they climb up.

    And, they finally reached the mountain peak.

    The mountain peak was shaped as a clean round, and there was a shrine made of stone at the center.

    There is a white shining magic circle in front of the shrine, and it was shining as if to lure the two.

    It was a teleportation magic circle that they saw many times.

    When the two started to get close to the magic circle.

    From the opposite side of where the two climbed from, a party of four climbed up.

    It was a party of arge sword,rge shield, and two magicians.

    They also noticed Kaede and Risa and looked towards the two.

    Risa prepared for a PvP, but that didn¡¯t happen.

    ¡¸Ah!¡­ Crom-san!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh? ¡­¡­Maple huh¡­ I didn¡¯t think I¡¯ll meet you here¡­¡­uhh, we don¡¯t want to fight. I don¡¯t even think we¡¯d win¡¹

    Crom said that and took away his weapons and the rest also followed, and raised both of their hands.

    ¡¸I also don¡¯t want to fight. ¡­¡­it¡¯s okay right, Risa?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I guess so. We also don¡¯t want to be exhausted, so¡­ it should be good to be cautious at least, but¡­ probably it¡¯s okay¡­ I think?¡¹

    Because it could be hardly said that it would be absolutely fine, Risa continued to talk without letting her guard down.

    ¡¸And then¡­ what should we do with this shrine? Both of us can¡¯t receive the rewards right?¡¹

    What Risa said was reasonable, since it would be either Crom or Kaede who enters first, if they were able to sessfully capture it, the rewards might disappear.

    Kaede thought of it for a while, then started talking.

    ¡¸n?¡­¡­¡­ Sally. Can we give it to Crom-san and the rest?¡¹

    To Kaede who told that apologetically, Risa was surprised, then answered while making a pleasant smile.

    ¡¸¡­¡­if Maple is good with that, I¡¯m okay with everything you know? But, you shouldn¡¯t regret it! Promise me that okay¡¹

    ¡¸Un¡­¡­I got it! ¡­¡­then, please go on first!¡¹

    Kaede told towards Crom and the rest.

    ¡¸I-Is it okay? In this case, it¡¯s normal for it to be first one¡¯s first though¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s okay! You should hurry up and go before I change my mind you know?¡¹

    After Kaede said that, Crom said thanks and stood on the magic circle and disappeared.

    The two were left behind on the mountain peak.

    ¡¸You¡¯re really fine with that?¡¹

    ¡¸Un¡­ if it became a battle here and we used our skills, it would be bad after all if it became a battle after teleporting, so¡­ most of all, I didn¡¯t want to fight with a friend too¡¹

    ¡¸Un! If you¡¯re not regretting it then its fine¡­¡­right now, I wonder if they¡¯re in a battle?¡¹

    Risa said while looking at the magic circle that had lost its shine.

    ¡¸Maybe¡¹

    ¡¸What should we do? You want to go down? That or, if they¡¯re fighting they might lose, so¡­ since we even saved our skills, you want to wait?¡¹

    When Risa suggested that.

    The magic circle regains it shine again.

    It was the sign that it was possible to enter again.

    ¡¸¡¸Eh?!¡¹¡¹

    The two were surprised.

    It hasn¡¯t been a minute since Crom and the rest entered.

    It was an unexpected speed.

    ¡¸W-What does this mean?!¡¹

    To Kaede who was confused, Risa started to talk what she had thought.

    ¡¸For start, there are two things that I had thought of. One, the possibility that it ended very quickly since it was only needed to collect the medals or equipments after teleporting. The other one is¡­

    Risa stopped her words there once, and whispered with a very unpleasant air what she didn¡¯t want to happen in reality.

    ¡¸The possibility that they were defeated by a very strong monster without being able to do anything¡¹

    ¡¸That is¡­¡¹

    ¡¸If I were to choose, it is thetter¡­¡­I think. The reason why the magic circle is still lighting is because it can be challenged again, I think. Then¡­ what inside, should not be an equipment¡­¡­probably¡¹

    Fortunately, there was no sign of any other yers climbing. The two checked each other¡¯s status and decided to make a strategy before challenging.

    ¡¸It¡¯s only about, my armor became¡¾VIT +40¡¿because of¡¾Destruction Growth¡¿, and my HP increased. Skills are perfectly reserved¡¹

    ¡¸I also didn¡¯t change a lot. ¡¾Super eleration¡¿had recovered too, and there is still¡¾Mirage¡¿remaining¡¹

    Maple

    Lv24

    HP 40/40¡´£«160¡µ

    MP 12/12 ¡´£«10¡µ

    ¡¾STR 0¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 170¡´£«81¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 0¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 0¡¿

    ¡¾INT 0¡¿

    Equipments

    Head¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Body¡¾Armor of ck Roses¡¿

    Right hand¡¾Shingetsu : Hydra(Poison Dragon)¡¿

    Left Hand¡¾Mirror of the Dark Night : Bizarre Eater(Akujiki)¡¿

    Legs¡¾Armor of ck Roses¡¿

    Shoes¡¾Armor of ck Roses¡¿

    essories¡¾Ring of the Forest Queen Bee¡¿

    ¡¾Toughness Ring¡¿

    ¡¾Ring of Life¡¿

    Skill

    ¡¾Absolute Defense¡¿¡¾Giant Killing (OomonoKurai)¡¿¡¾Hydra Eater (DokuruuKurai)¡¿¡¾Bomb Eater (BakudanKurai)¡¿¡¾Meditation¡¿¡¾Provoke¡¿¡¾Abominable (Gokuaku Hid¨­¡¿¡¾Knowledge of Large Shield IV¡¿¡¾Body Maniption¡¿¡¾Attack Diversion¡¿ ¡¾Shield Attack¡¿

    ¡¾HP Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾MP Strengthening (Small)¡¿

    ¡¾Cover Move I¡¿¡¾Cover¡¿

    Sally

    Lv19

    HP 32/32

    MP 25/25¡´£«35¡µ

    ¡¾STR 25¡´£«20¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 0¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 80¡´£«68¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 25¡´£«20¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾INT 25¡´£«20¡µ¡¿

    Equipments

    Head¡¾Muffler of the Surface Water (Minamo no Mafura) : Mirage(Shinkir¨­)¡¿

    Body¡¾Coat of the Ocean (Taikai no K¨­to) : Ocean(Taikai)¡¿

    Right Hand¡¾Dagger of the Deep Sea (Shinkai no Dag¨¡)¡¿

    Left Hand¡¾Dagger of the Bottom of the Water (Minasoko no Dag¨¡)¡¿

    Legs¡¾Leggings of the Ocean¡¿

    Shoes¡¾ck Boots¡¿

    essories¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Skill

    ¡¾Status Debuff Attack III¡¿¡¾sh¡¿¡¾Double sh¡¿¡¾Gale sh (HayateGiri)¡¿¡¾Muscle Strengthening (Small)¡¿

    ¡¾Consecutive Attack Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾Double Attack¡¿¡¾Powered Attack¡¿¡¾Switch Attack¡¿¡¾Body Arts I¡¿

    ¡¾Knowledge of Short Swords II¡¿¡¾Jack of All Trades¡¿¡¾Divine Break¡¿¡¾Super eleration¡¿

    ¡¾Fire Magic I¡¿¡¾Water Magic II¡¿¡¾Wind Magic II¡¿

    ¡¾Earth Magic I¡¿¡¾Dark Magic I¡¿¡¾Light Magic II¡¿

    ¡¾Fire Ball¡¿¡¾Water Ball¡¿

    ¡¾Water Wall¡¿

    ¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿¡¾Wind Wall¡¿

    ¡¾Thunder Cutter¡¿

    ¡¾Dark Ball¡¿

    ¡¾Refresh¡¿¡¾Heal¡¿

    ¡¾MP Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾MP Cut (Small)¡¿

    ¡¾MP Recovery Speed Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾Knowledge of Magic II¡¿

    ¡¾Fishing¡¿¡¾Swimming X¡¿¡¾Diving X¡¿¡¾Cooking I¡¿

    ¡¾Mining Speed Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾Sensory Blocking II¡¿

    ¡¾Sensory Awareness II¡¿¡¾Stealth Move I¡¿¡¾Leap I¡¿

    ¡¾Poison Resistance (Small)¡¿

    ¡¸For start, as soon as we entered, I will ready myrge shield so hide behind me¡¹

    ¡¸Understood. And then, after that¡­¡¹

    The two discussed after that for about twenty minutes, then stood up and walked towards the magic circle.

    ¡¸Yosh! Let¡¯s go¡¹

    ¡¸Un!¡¹

    And, the two¡¯s appearance became light and disappeared.

 Chapter 26: Defense Specialized and Teleport Destination

    Chapter 26: Defense Specialized and Teleport Destination

    The light that covered the two¡¯s sight disappeared.

    And at the same time, Kaede readied herrge shield to be alert for the pre-emptive attack, but the powerful attack that they were fearing of did note.

    All the more so, there was no monster anywhere.

    The two continued to be on alert while confirming the surroundings.

    In there, was a very wide circr space.

    The walls were covered by blue shining crystals, and the ceiling was open.

    From the sky, snow was falling.

    And, one part of the crystal on the wall ahead was protruding, on it was a huge bird¡¯s nest.

    But, it seems that the nest¡¯s owner was not there at the moment.

    ¡¸Okay?¡­¡­ I got it. A bird-type boss would absolutelye. Maybe I can¡¯t use¡¾Ocean¡¿¡¹

    ¡¸What should we do? You want to approach the bird¡¯s nest?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­but carefully. Probably, it woulde when we approached¡¹

    The two, while on alert, advances towards the bird¡¯s nest.

    There were only five meters left before the bird¡¯s nest.

    At that instant, together with a roaring sound, something was shot at high speed towards the hall from high up in the sky.

    But, the two who was on alert could barely jump back and was able to dodge.

    Those were sharp-edged ice.

    And following that, a monster bird that has feathers white as snow swoops.

    ring eyes, sharp beaks, and talons, bearing the dignity of strong beings, the monster bird descended to the hall.

    The path of reconciliation does not exist from the start.

    It was the start of the battle.

    The monster bird emerges a magic circle on its sides.

    From there, ice shards that were shot, covering almost all of their sight.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover¡¿!¡¹

    Kaede lowers herrge shield and stood in front of Risa.

    If she received these shards, it was because that the number of uses of¡¾Akujiki¡¿would disappear in an instant.

    ¡¸Yosh! It isn¡¯t piercing!¡¹

    Kaede received those shards with her body, and nullified it.

    It seems that the monster bird was more intelligent than normal monsters, after it understood that its attack wouldn¡¯t go through, itbined the magic circles into one, and shot ice that was the same with what it shot from the sky.

    In exchange for power, a chance appeared.

    Risa jumped into that chance.

    ¡¸Maple!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¹

    Forcefully catching up to Risa, there was only a distance of three meters between the monster bird.

    When it was only one step before the monster bird, the monster bird raised harsh cries.

    The white magic circle, spreads out the whole floors of the hall.

    ¡¸This is bad¡­¡­!¡¹

    With explosive sounds, piercing through the hall¡¯s floor,rge thorns of ice grew. It reached one meter in height covering all of the floor.

    But, in the exception of Kaede¡¯s surroundings.

    Within the snow clouds were fluttering down, Kaede adjusted herrge shield towards the floor.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­I¡¯m saved! Nice, Maple!¡¹

    ¡¸There¡¯s only 6 times left of¡¾Akujiki¡¿okay!¡¹

    ¡¸Okay?!¡¹

    Risa kicked the thorns of ice and approaches the monster bird as if to jump.

    Because the footings were bad, she was not able to stop somewhere.

    The monster bird tries to capture Risa with its talons, its speeds was even equal to that of Risa¡¯s.

    ¡¸¡¾Super eleration¡¿!¡¹

    The sudden eleration made the monster bird reactte for an instant. And, in this rapid changing battle situation, that was a fatal mistake.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¹

    Therge shield that Kaede swung who closed the distance in an instant, devoured its talons together with its feet that were used to attack Risa.

    The monster bird cries in a loud voice because of its anger and pain.

    But, that movement only opens a chance.

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra(Poison Dragon)¡¿¡¹

    The three-headed poison dragon devours the monster bird.

    Kaedended on the top of the melted ice that was melted by the poison that fell, and Risa looked at it from a ce a little far away.

    An unbelievable cold air was emitted from the monster bird, and the poison that covered the monster bird was frozen.

    And, *Parin*, together with that high-pitch sound, it shatters and fell down with a glittering shine.

    ¡¸It¡¯s HP Bar was only decreased by 10%?!¡¹

    ¡¸No way¡­!¡¹

    For the two who had nned to finish it quickly with Kaede¡¯s fast attack, its HP amount was higher than expected.

    Without minding the two who were surprised, the thorns of ice that grew around the monster bird broke and gathered.

    And after a few instances, it was shot as a bullet.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿! ¡¾Cover¡¿!¡¹

    Kaede who moved in front of Risa lowered herrge shield and received the deadly bullets.

    Red effects were emitted from her body.

    ¡¸Kuu!¡­ it¡¯s piercing!¡¾Meditation¡¿!¡¹

    Because of the¡¾Cover Move¡¿¡¯s demerit, the damage would be doubled if it goes through. With each attack, Kaede¡¯s HP Bar was definitely decreasing.

    ¡¸¡¾Heal¡¿!¡¹

    The method that they took when there is a piercing attack that could not be helped with was, Kaede would¡¾Meditate¡¿and Risa would repeatedly use¡¾Heal¡¿from behind.

    With this, she can endure until there¡¯s a chance.

    Twenty seconds of endurance.

    The blizzard of ice had stopped, and the rugged grounds only remains.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go!¡¹

    ¡¸Un!¡¹

    The two ran in opposite directions.

    It was Risa which the monster bird targeted. The monster bird charged with fierce speeds.

    ¡¸Concentrate!¡¹

    Saying cheers to herself, she fixed her eyes on the monster bird.

    Together with it charging, shards of ice flew.

    But, because it was while it was charging, so there were many open holes within those shards.

    If it was Risa, it was easy for her to dodge them.

    ¡¸¡¾Leap¡¿!¡¹

    Risa saw through the monster bird¡¯s charge, and jumps over its body at thest minute.

    ¡¸¡¾sh¡¿!¡¹

    In that chance, using¡¾Status Debuff Attack¡¿, she did not forget to inject paralysis poison while shing through it.

    It is because if this paralysis poison piles up stacks, it might create a fatal chance.

    The decrease of its HP bar was very little it couldn¡¯t be seen in it, but its not like it was not decreasing.

    The monster bird turns around, spread its wings and fluttered.

    With storm winds, the ice shards on the ground were caught up and closed in irregrly.

    Risa jumped sidewards with leap to escape the range of the storm winds.

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra(Poison Dragon)¡¿¡¹

    Waiting for Risa to get through, the poison dragon closed in to the monster bird.

    The monster bird that was targeted after it fluttered, was not able to face Kaede¡¯s attack with a perfect condition.

    One of the three heads of the poison dragon hit its body.

    ¡¸¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿¡¾Fire Ball¡¿!¡¹

    If there was a chance, Risa also changes to the offense. They need to umte as much damage as possible.

    The poison that entangled it once again became ice and was shook off.

    Probably feeling that the poison dragon was a threat, the monster bird charged to Kaede.

    Because shards of ice do not have an effect to Kaede, there should be no problem with this movement.

    It¡¯s charged closed into Kaede who didn¡¯t even seem to dodge.

    Its talons, was swung intended to tear apart Kaede¡¯s body.

    Therge shield, was swung devouring the body of the monster bird.

    The monster bird bent backwards while scattering shy damage effects.

    Kaede swings again herrge shield in pursuit of a chance.

    From Kaede¡¯s body also, there was a small red damage effects scattering.

    The monster birds¡¯ attack was able to deal even a damage to Kaede who had more than 1000 VIT without using piercing skills.

    But, it was clear to anyone which one paid a greater sacrifice.

    The HP Bar on the top of the monster bird¡¯s hear was decreased to only 70%.

    ¡¸¡¾Leap¡¿!¡¹

    There was no way that Risa would let that chance escape, and jumped to the back of the monster bird that was stunned by Kaede¡¯s attack.

    ¡¸¡¾Ocean!¡¿¡¹

    The monster bird¡¯s back as its center, water had spread.

    That steeped the monster bird in an instant.

    When the monster bird starts to go on a rampage with its angry voice, Risa had already jumped off.

    The monster bird¡¯s speed fell.

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra(Poison Dragon¡¿!¡¹

    There was no way for the monster bird that had its speed falling to dodge that attack.

    Its HP decreased furthermore.

    ¡¸¡¾Double sh¡¿!¡¾Fire Ball¡¿!¡¹

    Kaede grinds the monster bird in-fight.

    Risa checks for chances while injecting paralysis poison by hit-and-away.

    And there, Kaede¡¯srge shield once again devoured the monster bird.

    The monster bird¡¯s talons also had ground Kaede¡¯s HP bar to half, but it wasn¡¯t enough to be fatal.

    The monster bird¡¯s HP bar was cut in half.

    At that time.

    The monster bird took distance from the two, and pierced its talons to the ground very deeply.

    Its beaks were greatly opened, and a magic circle that was about double Kaede and Risa¡¯s size spread.

    The two instinctively sensed the danger after that.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¾Cover¡¿!¡¹

    The next instant that Kaede shouted.

    The two¡¯s sight were coveredpletely by a silvery-whiteser.

    Chapter end

 Chapter 27: Defense Specialized and Conclusion

    Chapter 27: Defense Specialized and Conclusion

    After a few seconds, the silvery-white fades and dissipates.

    The ground was battered and gouged by theser, and it really teaches theser¡¯s strength.

    On that battered ground, Kaede had stood while holding herrge shield.

    Risa also was able to escape theser with sure death because of that solid protection.

    Risa recovers Kaede¡¯s HP with¡¾Heal¡¿.

    While hiding behind Kaede, she recovers her MP by drinking MP potion.

    ¡¸¡¾Akujiki¡¿, there¡¯s only one left¡¹

    ¡¸Un, I know¡¹

    To stop thatser, she could only cut her¡¾Akujiki¡¿.

    Although they were able to survive, it was in exchange for her precious damage source.

    The battle situation is getting worse.

    ¡¸If theser woulde again,¡¾Cover Move¡¿with full force. Don¡¯t get too far away¡¹

    After Risa said very quickly, and ran towards the monster bird.

    Kaede followed Risa and approached the monster bird.

    While Risa was taking the monster bird¡¯s attention, she is nning to hit it with¡¾Hydra(Poison Dragon)¡¿.

    The monster bird violently pulled out its talon from the ground, and shot shards of ice while flying up.

    Its target was Risa.

    Risa knew about it.

    That if the shards of ice that Kaede was able to receive easily hits her, it was the end for her.

    Just like the time she fought with the giant fish, her concentration heightens to its limits.

    The feeling of the shards of ices gradually getting slower, she was getting able to see slight gaps.

    Risa twisted her body and dodged.

    At times, bending, at times, leaping, and at times, blocking down those shards, she closed in to the bosom of the monster bird.

    ¡¸¡¾Double sh¡¿!¡¹

    While Risa was dodging its talons and shards, she doesn¡¯t weaken her offense that is done with skills mixed.

    The monster bird¡¯s talons closed in to take Risa¡¯s life, but they were dodged by Risa by paper¡¯s width.

    The more the monster bird attacks, the more its feet get shed.

    ¡¸¡¾sh¡¿!¡¹

    Small wounds that are continuously dealt.

    The paralysis poison that gets stacked and piled up ties up the monster bird¡¯s body.

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra(Poison Dragon¡¿!¡¹

    That gap that Risa made while risking her life on it, there was no way for Kaede to let it get away.

    The paralyzed monster bird that moves slowly cannot dodge the Poison Dragon.

    For Kaede to be able to hit her huge skill, Risa supports with her full force.

    And, Kaede answered to that properly.

    The monster bird¡¯s HP became 40% and a few.

    ¡¸¡¾Venom Cutter¡¿!¡¹

    Kaede continued to attack. That that was shot from the magic circle in her sword¡¯s tip, was far inferior to¡¾Hydra(Poison Dragon)¡¿but it certainly deals damage.

    Risa also continues to shoot magic to deal more damage.

    When the monster bird¡¯s HP cuts 40%, the paralysis got cleared.

    It targeted Kaede, and shots barrage of shards and strong winds.

    Because these attacks doesn¡¯t go through Kaede, she lowers herrge shield to save her precious¡¾Akujiki¡¿.

    While Kaede was receiving the shards attack, Risa was able to attack safely, so it can be said as a chance.

    With Risa¡¯s rush, the HP decreased to 35%.

    But, for Risa to release firepower, the MP consumed was severe.

    If she wouldn¡¯t manage it properly, she wouldn¡¯t be able to attack with full power at the best time.

    The instance its HP was 35%.

    The monster bird stopped its storm attack, and flew to the sky.

    Kaede and Risa felt a bad feeling at the same time, and gathered in the middle.

    The monster bird that flew up the sky where snow was falling, its white shining wings was dyed to jet ck that would even swallow darkness.

    At the same time, the monster bird¡¯s HP started to decrease gradually, and when it became 10%, it stopped decreasing.

    The monster bird raised a cry that made the atmosphere tremble.

    ¡¸It¡¯sing!¡¹

    ¡¸I got it!¡¹

    To be ready for anything that woulde, Kaede had the resolution of using thest¡¾Akujiki¡¿and made a stance with herrge shield.

    The jet ck monster bird folded its wings and charged.

    Even leaving behind its sound, it collided with Kaede¡¯srge shield.

    Thest¡¾Akujiki¡¿took half of its HP bar, but there, the strongestrge shield that protects Kaede lost its effect.

    The monster bird¡¯s talon attacked Kaede at high speed.

    Therge shield that she held broke.

    Her armor was torn into pieces.

    And her HP Bar was grinded to below 10%

    ¡¸u, a¡­¡­!¡¹

    To the too much of a damage, Kaede groaned. A ck light overflows from the monster bird¡¯s beaks.

    ¡¸Maple!¡¹

    Risa jumped.

    Kaede¡¯s best salvation, was that Risa did not stop thinking.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿!!¡¹

    Using all her will power, Kaede¡¯s body moved towards where Risa was, and dodged theser that followed at the nick of time.

    The monster bird charged to pursue.

    Unreasonable and violent speed that even Risa¡¯s forecast couldn¡¯t catch up.

    The instant before that attack pierced through Risa.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover¡¿!¡¹

    Kaede stood between the monster bird and Risa.

    Although her HP Bar was only 10%, Kaede chose to make the most probably herst movement for this fight to protect Risa.

    It¡¯s just that, she wanted to do that.

    The monster bird¡¯s talon crushed herrge shield and armor that got more sturdy with¡¾Destruction Growth¡¿, and tore Maple¡¯s body.

    A tremendous amount of damage effects scattered.

    But still, Kaede didn¡¯t copse.

    Only one millimeter of her HP bar remained, and a white effect covered her body.

    ¡¸¡¾Leap¡¿!¡¹

    That monster bird¡¯s talon that was swung, Risa understood that that was thest chance in an instant, how Kaede was able to endure it or anything, she stopped thinking about Kaede and jumped towards the monster bird.

    Kaede followed that with high speed.

    In the short sword that she was holding, a violet colored magic circle shines.

    After the monster bird swung its talon, it lost its bnce. It, wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge.

    Risa became sure of victory.

    But, in the instance when the monster bird¡¯s eyes shined suspiciously and a jet ck magic circle was created between the two, she understood that that was false.

    An expression that could be taken as surprise and impatience emerges to the two¡¯s faces, but they could not move any longer in the air.

    Jet ck magic bullets that were shot before the Poison Dragon.

    The monster bird¡¯sst trump card flew while swallowing the two.

    The two got swallowed, and their appearance disappeared fleetingly.

    That¡¯s right, just like.

    It was an illusion in a dream.

    ¡¸How was my trump card?¡¹

    One instant after the magic bullets goes through, the space blurred and Risa appeared.

    Thest of thest.

    For this one instant, ¡¾Mirage¡¿that she did not show.

    And the monster bird that saw that for the first time was not able to see through the illusion.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¹

    The real Kaede came close to Risa.

    It was a zero range attack where the time for the monster bird to dodge does not exist.

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra(Poison Dragon¡¿!¡¹

    Devoured by the Poison Dragon.

    It raised a cry that echoed for long.

    The monster bird already had its body sunken in the ground.

    The white light that overflows from the monster bird was shining as if you bless the two.

    ¡¸We did it¡­¡­we won¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m tired¡­ I want to sleep¡¹

    While copsing in the battered hall, the two whispered.

    ¡¸That¡¯s right. What was that Maple¡¯s skill? The one that endured thest attack¡¹

    ¡¸Wait a minute okay¡­ it¡¯s the skill called¡¾Unyielding Guardian¡¿, it¡¯s arge shield exclusive skill that can be taken when covering an ally when HP is below 10%. Only once every day, it would endure any attack with 1 HP, it says¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, I see. That kind of skill huh¡­¡­I only raised my level by the way¡­ I mean, Maple¡¯s HP is only 1 right now?! ¡¾Heal¡¿!¡¹

    A warm light enveloped Kaede, and recovers her HP.

    With this, she wouldn¡¯t die from something sudden.

    The two stood up and started exploring.

    ¡¸The monster bird is in the sea of poison, so exploration, I¡¯m counting on you¡¹

    ¡¸What would Sally do?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll go look at the bird¡¯s nest¡¹

    The two separated and starts their own exploration.

    A treasure box did not appear, so there should be a reward that has the same worth somewhere.

    Kaede advanced in the sea of poison while sshing, and went towards where the monster bird was.

    ¡¸Ah!! Materials are dropped!¡¹

    What was dropped, were four ck talons that even pierced through Kaede, and three pieces of white feathers.

    It could be guessed that all of them were high-graded materials.

    ¡¸Maple?! Come here for a bit?!¡¹

    Risa shouted from inside the huge bird¡¯s nest.

    Kaede ran with a trot, and asked Risa from below.

    ¡¸Should I go up?¡¹

    ¡¸Un! Come with¡¾Cover Move¡¿¡¹

    ¡¸Okay?! ¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¹

    Kicking the wall and jumping, when Kaede reached where Risa was, what she saw were two eggs, and five medals.

    ¡¸This¡­ the monster bird¡¯s?¡¹

    ¡¸No, the size and colors are different¡­ maybe it picked it up from somewhere¡­¡­ I can¡¯t tell what egg is it from¡¹

    ¡¸Will we also take this back?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right. There¡¯s an indication of whether it is going to be ced in the inventory or not, so¡­ which one do you like better?¡¹

    ¡¸Can I choose first?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s okay?! Please do what you like¡¹

    One was an egg with a deep green shell. The other one was an egg with a faint violet color.

    ¡¸Then¡­¡­I like green so this one!¡¹

    ¡¸Then, this one¡¯s mine¡¹

    The two checked the egg¡¯s information.

    ¡¾Monster Egg¡¿

    Will hatch if incubated.

    ¡¸There¡¯s only few information¡¹

    ¡¸I agree. I¡¯d hate it if a monster would only hatch, but¡­ maybe we¡¯ll be able to tame it?¡­¡¹

    In this game, there is no summoners or tamers to the possibility is low, but thinking of the monster bird¡¯s subjugation difficulty, it might be a special reward.

    The two, for the meantime, decided to bring the egg with them.

    The materials are two talons each for the two, and in return of being able to choose the egg first, Risa took two feathers.

    The two went out of the nest, and walked towards the magic circle.

    ¡¸There¡¯s three magic circles?¡¹

    As Kaede has said, there were three magic circles that appeared.

    It should be proper to think that they are connected topletely different ces.

    ¡¸Sally, which one should it be?¡¹

    ¡¸There¡¯s also no¡¾Akujiki¡¿, so a ce where few battles would be good¡­¡¹

    Risa walked around while thinking for a while, and stopped in front of one of the magic circles.

    ¡¸This one!¡¹

    ¡¸Okay?! Then, let¡¯s go!¡¹

    The two entered the magic circle, became light and disappeared.

    What remained was the battered ground, the proof that a fierce battle happened here.

 Chapter 28

    CHAPTER 28: DEFENSE SPECIALIZED AND MIDNIGHT EXPLORATION

    The two¡¯s appearance emerged from the magic circle.

    Even though she had no¡¾Akujiki¡¿, Maple was making a stance with herrge shield for surprise attacks.

    ¡¸It looks okay¡­¡­huh?¡¹

    The two confirmed the surroundings.

    Surrounding them were ruins that had spread. There was plenty of marks of buildings being destroyed.

    Guessing from the mountainous area¡¯s position, it looks like their location is on the opposite location of their starting point.

    ¡¸For the mean time, we got to a good direction huh?¡¹

    ¡¸But, somebody might¡¯ve already explored it¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s only the second day¡­ the hidden ones shouldn¡¯t be found yet¡­ here, there¡¯s probably nothing. It¡¯s right in front of the magic circle after all¡¹

    Nevertheless, there¡¯s no way that the management would ce a medal right in front of the destination point.

    While searching for a safe ce, the two walked around the ruins, they decided to at least search too.

    ¡¸¡­ there¡¯s three yers. What do think?¡¹

    ¡¸If possible, I don¡¯t want to fight¡­¡­there¡¯s no¡¾Akujiki¡¿too¡­ it¡¯s bad if we lost¡¹

    ¡¸I got it. The, let¡¯s go here¡¹

    The two passed through the ruins, and entered inside the forest quietly.

    The monsters that wereing out were spiders and owls.

    If you look at them after the monster bird, whatever monster it is, it looks like a small fry.

    Their movements are slow, they also have no attack powers, and their HP is low too.

    ¡¸Easy win, easy win¡¹

    They moved forward inside the forest. What they are searching for is a ce that they can spend the night. They took plenty of time climbing, so the sun is already setting.

    The two continued to explore the forest while defeating monsters.

    ¡¸Muu¡­¡­there¡¯s nothing?¡­¡¹

    As Maple had said, surrounding them was only a forest that was spreading, and there seems to be no special buildings or caves.

    ¡¸For the meantime, let¡¯s climb on top of a higher tree. I think it¡¯s better than being on the ground¡¹

    Sally chose a tree that only had branches in high ces and jumped using¡¾Leap¡¿.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¹

    Maple followed her and reached the top of the tree.

    There would probably no yers that would prefer climbing one without branches on the lower ces appearing.

    The two rested their backs on the trunk of the tree and took a breath.

    After doing that, the fatigue from the battle against the monster birds suddenly came.

    ¡¸Sally¡­ after 12, ¡¾Akujiki¡¿would recover though. What do you think?¡¹

    It means, what Maple wants to say is, after taking a break for a while until 12, if she would like to explore in the middle of the night or not.

    There was also the thing with the jungle in the other day, so there should be and event that is set to appear by during time periods.

    The two¡¯s goal is 20 medals.

    For that, they need to test many things, and there is a need for them to explore the ces that they can explore.

    On top of that, they need to find it before other yers.

    Rushing to explore during thest stage of the event is not good.

    ¡¸If it¡¯s good with Maple¡¹

    ¡¸Un, then¡­ let¡¯s continue exploring after 12 had passed!¡¹

    The two decided to use the status point that they gained from leveling up.

    ¡¸Let me see?¡­ AGI and STR huh?¡¹

    ¡¸One vote for VIT!¡¹

    Maple

    HP 40/40¡´£«160¡µ

    MP 12/12 ¡´£«10¡µ

    ¡¾STR 0¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 175¡´£«141¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 0¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 0¡¿

    ¡¾INT 0¡¿

    Equipments

    Head¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Body¡¾Armor of ck Roses¡¿

    Right hand¡¾Shingetsu : Hydra(Poison Dragon)¡¿

    Left Hand¡¾Mirror of the Dark Night : Bizarre Eater(Akujiki)¡¿

    Legs¡¾Armor of ck Roses¡¿

    Shoes¡¾Armor of ck Roses¡¿

    essories¡¾Ring of the Forest Queen Bee¡¿

    ¡¾Toughness Ring¡¿

    ¡¾Ring of Life¡¿

    Skill

    ¡¾Absolute Defense¡¿¡¾Giant Killing (OomonoKurai)¡¿¡¾Hydra Eater (DokuryuuKurai)¡¿¡¾Bomb Eater (BakudanKurai)¡¿¡¾Meditation¡¿¡¾Provoke¡¿¡¾Abominable (Gokuaku Hid¨­¡¿¡¾Knowledge of Large Shield IV¡¿¡¾Body Maniption¡¿¡¾Attack Diversion¡¿ ¡¾Shield Attack¡¿

    ¡¾HP Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾MP Strengthening (Small)¡¿

    ¡¾Cover Move I¡¿¡¾Cover¡¿

    ¡¾Unyielding Guardian¡¿

    Sally

    Lv21

    HP 32/32

    MP 25/25¡´£«35¡µ

    ¡¾STR 30¡´£«20¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 0¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 85¡´£«68¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 25¡´£«20¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾INT 25¡´£«20¡µ¡¿

    Equipments

    Head¡¾Muffler of the Surface Water (Minamo no Mafura) : Mirage(Shinkir¨­)¡¿

    Body¡¾Coat of the Ocean (Taikai no K¨­to) : Ocean(Taikai)¡¿

    Right Hand¡¾Dagger of the Deep Sea (Shinkai no Dag¨¡)¡¿

    Left Hand¡¾Dagger of the Bottom of the Water (Minasoko no Dag¨¡)¡¿

    Legs¡¾Leggings of the Ocean¡¿

    Shoes¡¾ck Boots¡¿

    essories¡¾©`©`©`¡¿

    Skill

    ¡¾Status Debuff Attack III¡¿¡¾sh¡¿¡¾Double sh¡¿¡¾Gale sh (HayateGiri)¡¿¡¾Muscle Strengthening (Small)¡¿

    ¡¾Consecutive Attack Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾Double Attack¡¿¡¾Powered Attack¡¿¡¾Switch Attack¡¿¡¾Body Arts I¡¿

    ¡¾Knowledge of Short Swords II¡¿¡¾Jack of All Trades¡¿¡¾Divine Break¡¿¡¾Super eleration¡¿

    ¡¾Fire Magic I¡¿¡¾Water Magic II¡¿¡¾Wind Magic II¡¿

    ¡¾Earth Magic I¡¿¡¾Dark Magic I¡¿¡¾Light Magic II¡¿

    ¡¾Fire Ball¡¿¡¾Water Ball¡¿

    ¡¾Water Wall¡¿

    ¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿¡¾Wind Wall¡¿

    ¡¾Sand Cutter¡¿

    ¡¾Dark Ball¡¿

    ¡¾Refresh¡¿¡¾Heal¡¿

    ¡¾MP Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾MP Cut (Small)¡¿

    ¡¾MP Recovery Speed Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾Knowledge of Magic II¡¿

    ¡¾Fishing¡¿¡¾Swimming X¡¿¡¾Diving X¡¿¡¾Cooking I¡¿

    ¡¾Mining Speed Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾Sensory Blocking II¡¿

    ¡¾Sensory Awareness II¡¿¡¾Stealth Move I¡¿¡¾Leap I¡¿

    ¡¾Poison Resistance (Small)¡¿

    In Maple¡¯s status¡¾VIT+5¡¿and¡¾Destruction Growth¡¿, with both of those it¡¯s ¡¾VIT +60¡¿.

    ¡¾Unyielding Guardian¡¿ is added in her skills.

    In Sally¡¯s status its ¡¾AGI +5¡¿and¡¾STR +5¡¿

    Maple ate the food that she received from Sally.

    They needed to rest their body before 12.

    In the middle of the night where even the sounds of the monsters moving got quiet, the to climbed down from the tree.

    Since¡¾Akujiki¡¿had also recovered, their battle preparations are perfect.

    And with that, Maple changed her shield to Snow White. It¡¯s to avoid wasting them.

    ¡¸The forest, or the ruins. Which one?¡¹

    ¡¸U?n¡­ the forest! There were also yers in the ruins earlier so it probably got explored¡¹

    ¡¸Un. The forest then¡¹

    The two advanced deeper and deeper into the forest.

    From time to time, owls were charging without sounds, but Sally easily dodged with her own dodging skills, and Maple was ignoring them since there would be no damage after all.

    And, after an hour and a half walking around the forest.

    ¡¸Ne?, Sally? There¡­ isn¡¯t it shining?¡¹

    Being told by Maple, Sally looked at it carefully.

    As Maple had said, far ahead of them, she saw a faint light.

    ¡¸It might be a yer, so¡­ cautiously¡¹

    ¡¸I got it¡¹

    The two hold their breaths and approached.

    In Sally¡¯s case, she even made sure and used¡¾Sensory Blocking¡¿.

    ¡¸This is¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­bamboo?¡¹

    What was there, was a bamboo forest.

    And one part of one of them was shining faintly.

    ¡¸W-What do you think¡­? Should we split it into two¡¹

    Maple asked Sally.

    ¡¸If there was a person inside, it would be very troublesome though¡­¡­¡¹

    Bamboo that shines in the middle.

    Whoever it is, they should imagine Kaguya-Hime. In fact, Sally was also like that.

    ¡¸But¡­ there might be a medal¡­ there is also medals that can be gained from exploring right?¡¹

    After the two talked for a while, in the end, they decided to split it into two.

    Sally swung her dagger.

    *Supa*, the bamboo got cut and increased its shine.

    Nothing that they feared of had happened.

    What¡¯s inside, was one medal that was shining with a silver color

    ¡¸Yay! Nothing troublesome happened, and we also get a medal!¡¹

    ¡¸Yosh! With this, only 12 pieces left!¡¹

    The two got happy, but it was wrong that there wasn¡¯t a troublesome thing.

    *GasaGasa*, after the bushes around sounded, rabbits that had long horns jumped out one next to the other.

    ¡¸Is it the moon¡¯s Usagi-san?¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe¡­¡­that horn, it might be piercing damage. Be careful¡¹

    ¡¸Understood!¡¹

    The two prepared for battle.

    Maple,pared to the time when she just started the game, she really became like a normal yer.

    Even that is said, it is only about the things other than her status.

    Comparing something like a rabbit to the monster bird, it¡¯s only very cute.

    The two started the battle against the rabbits that had jumped towards them.

    After a while when the battle had finished, the ce where the bamboo forest was changed to a sea of poison, and the bamboos that grew straight upwards were cut in the middle, it was that kind of a terrible situation.

    Each one of the rabbits wasn¡¯t that much, but their numbers were tremendous.

    ¡¸T-There¡¯s too many¡­¡¹

    ¡¸A hundred?¡­ two hundred? I¡¯m tired¡­¡¹

    Defeating all the rabbits that were jumping within the bamboo forest as if it was their own garden took them plenty of difficulties.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s rest on the top of some tree¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Un¡­ I agree¡¹

    In exchange for one medal, they got really exhausted.

    The third day of the event, it had just started

 Chapter 29

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu Chapter 29

    Defense Specialization and the Ending

    After a few seconds, the silvery white light faded and disappeared.

    The ground had been razed by theser, showing how powerful thatser was just now.

    Kaede was standing on the razed ground with her great shield held up.

    Thanks to her adamant protection, Risa was also able to survive the deadlyser.

    Risa restored Kaede¡¯s HP with ¡¾Heal¡¿.

    While hiding behind Kaede, she drank an MP potion to recover her MP.

    ¡¸Only one more use of ¡¾Eating Inedibles¡¿ left.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I understand.¡¹

    If she wanted to stop thatser, she had no choice other than to use up her ¡¾Eating Inedibles¡¿ skill.

    Even though they were able to survive, it was in exchange for a valuable damage source.

    The battle situation was getting worse.

    ¡¸If it looks like theser is going toe again, ¡¾Cover Move¡¿ with all your might. Don¡¯t get too far away.¡¹

    Risa said quickly and ran off towards the monster bird.

    Kaede followed Risa and approached the monster bird as well.

    She was nning to hit it with ¡¾Hydra¡¿ when the monster bird would be distracted by Risa.

    The monster bird pulled out its ws violently from the ground and then lightly flew up and shot out ice shards.

    Its target was Risa.

    Risa knew it.

    If the ice shards Kaede easily stopped were to so much as lightly touch her body, it would be the end for her.

    Just like when she fought the giant fish, she heightened her concentration to the extreme.

    The feeling of the shards gradually slowing down, the slightest gap bing visible.

    Risa twisted her body and dodged.

    Sometimes she bent, sometimes she leapt, sometimes she struck down the shards with her weapon, getting closer to the breast of the monster bird.

    ¡¸¡¾Double sh¡¿!¡¹

    Avoiding the shards and ws, Risa chopped it up, interweaving her skills and not letting up.

    The ws of the monster bird closed in on Risa to take her life, but she dodged everything by a hair¡¯s breadth.

    The more the monster bird attacked, the more its legs were shed at.

    ¡¸¡¾sh¡¿!¡¹

    The small wounds that she continuously inflicted.

    The paralysis poison that she continuously injected piled up and finally bound the body of the monster bird.

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra¡¿!¡¹

    There was no way Kaede could miss the opening that Risa had created risking her life.

    The slow-moving paralyzed monster bird could not dodge the poison dragon.

    In order to make sure that Kaede¡¯s big move hit the target, Risa did her best to support her.

    And Kaede responded appropriately.

    The monster bird¡¯s HP bar had a little over 40% left.

    ¡¸¡¾Venom Cutter¡¿!¡¹

    Kaede continued to attack. This one wasunched from the magic circle at the tip of the sword, and although it was no match for ¡¾Hydra¡¿, it did deal solid damage.

    Risa also continued to hit repeatedly with her magic to get as much damage in as possible.

    When the monster bird¡¯s HP fell below 40%, the paralysis was cleared and the monster bird regained its freedom.

    It targeted Kaede and unleashed a storm and a barrage of shards.

    Since this attack wouldn¡¯t get through Kaede¡¯s defense, she lowered her great shield in order to preserve her all-important ¡¾Eating Inedibles¡¿ uses.

    This was a chance for Risa to attack safely as long as the shard attack wasing at Kaede.

    With Risa¡¯s rush, its HP was reduced to 35%.

    However, dishing out firepower consumed a lot of Risa¡¯s MP.

    If she failed to manage it well, she would not be able to attack with full force at a critical moment.

    The moment its HP dropped to 35%.

    The monster bird stopped its storm attack and flew into the sky.

    Kaede and Risa simultaneously had a bad feeling and grouped up in the center.

    The monster bird soared into the snowy sky, and its glistening white wings turned into a jet ck color that seemed to absorb even the darkness.

    At the same time, the monster bird¡¯s HP gauge was gradually shrinking, and when there was only 10% left, it stopped.

    The monster bird let out a cry that made the air tremble.

    ¡¸It¡¯sing!¡¹

    ¡¸Got it!¡¹

    In order to be ready for whatever woulde, Kaede held up her great shield, ready to throw away even thest ¡¾Eating Inedibles¡¿ use.

    The jet-ck monster bird folded its wings and charged forward.

    It collided with Kaede¡¯s great shield, outrunning even the sound.

    Thest ¡¾Eating Inedibles¡¿ use took half of its HP bar with it, but that was where the strongest great shield protecting Kaede lost its power.

    The ws of the monster bird attacked Kaede at high speed.

    The great shield she held up was shattered.

    Her armor was torn to pieces.

    And her HP bar was cut down to less than 10%.

    ¡¸U-ah¡­¡¹

    Kaede groaned at the excessive damage. ck light flooded from the monster bird¡¯s mouth.

    ¡¸Maple!¡¹

    Risa jumped.

    The biggest saving grace for Kaede was that Risa didn¡¯t stop thinking.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¹

    Kaede¡¯s body moved towards Risa at high speed as she screamed with all her energy, dodging theser that followed in the nick of time.

    The monster bird charged in for the chase.

    Violently and at an unreasonable speed even Risa¡¯s prediction skills couldn¡¯t keep up with.

    The instant before that attack pierced through Risa.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover¡¿!¡¹

    Kaede stood between the monster bird and Risa.

    Despite her HP bar being at a mere 10%, Kaede made a choice to protect Risa with what would be herst action of this fight.

    Just because she wanted to do so.

    The monster bird¡¯s ws shattered the great shield and armor that had be stronger due to ¡¾Destruction Growth¡¿ and tore through Kaede¡¯s body.

    A tremendous amount of damage effects flew out.

    Even so, Kaede did not fall.

    Only one millimeter of her HP bar remained, and she stood with a white effect covering her body.

    ¡¸¡¾Leap¡¿!¡¹

    Realizing that this moment when the monster bird swung its ws out was thest chance, Risa stopped all thoughts about Kaede, like how she was able to withstand this, and jumped towards the monster bird.

    Kaede followed at high speed to catch up with her.

    A purple magic circle shed on the dagger she held up.

    The monster bird lost its stance as soon as it swung its ws out. Now it wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge.

    Risa became sure of victory.

    However, the moment the monster bird¡¯s eyes glowed suspiciously and a jet ck magic circle unfolded between the two, she realized that it was a ruse.

    An expression that could be taken as both impatience and astonishment appeared on the faces of the two, but they were unable to move in the air.

    Jet ck magic bullets shot out before the poison dragon could be.

    Thest trump card of the monster bird flew by, swallowing the two.

    The figures of the two who were swallowed up disappeared momentarily.

    That¡¯s right, exactly like that.

    Like a dream or an illusion.

    ¡¸How was the ace up my sleeve?¡¹

    A moment after the magic bullets passed by, an empty space was blurred and Risa appeared afterwards.

    Thest thing.

    The ¡¾Mirage¡¿ she kept undisyed for this one moment.

    Seeing it for the first time, the monster bird was unable to see through the illusion.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¹

    The real Kaede approached Risa.

    A zero-range attack where there was no time for the monster bird to dodge.

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra¡¿!¡¹

    Devoured by the poison dragon.

    It let out a longsting cry.

    The monster bird finally plunged its body into the ground.

    The white light that flooded out of the monster bird shone as if to bless them.

    ¡¸We did it¡­ we won¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m spent¡­ I need to sleep.¡¹

    The two of them muttered as they copsed onto the battered hall¡¯s floor.

    ¡¸Oh yeah. Maple, what was that skill of yours? The one that let you survive thest attack.¡¹

    ¡¸Wait just a moment¡­ it¡¯s a skill called ¡¾Indomitable Guardian¡¿, ¡°a great shield exclusive skill that can be acquired by defending an ally when your HP is below 10%. Lets you survive any attack at 1 HP once a day,¡± it says.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, I see. So that¡¯s what the skill was¡­ I only leveled up, I guess¡­ and more importantly, your HP is 1 right now, Maple!? ¡¾Heal¡¿!¡¹

    A warm light enveloped Kaede and restored her HP.

    With this, she wouldn¡¯t die by some chance.

    The two stood up and started to explore.

    ¡¸The monster bird is in the middle of a sea of poison, so you¡¯ll have to search around there, please.¡¹

    ¡¸Sally, what about you?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m going to check the bird¡¯s nest.¡¹

    The two split up and began their own explorations.

    Since no treasure chest appeared, there must have been an appropriate reward somewhere else.

    Kaede sshed through the sea of poison to the ce where the monster bird was.

    ¡¸Ah! It left some materials!¡¹

    What had dropped were fourrge ck ws that had pierced Kaede, of all people, and three pure white wings.

    Naturally, all of them were top-grade materials.

    ¡¸Maple! Come here for a bit!¡¹

    Risa shouted from inside the huge bird¡¯s nest.

    Kaede asked Risa from below as she trotted around.

    ¡¸Should I go up?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes! Come here with ¡¾Cover Move¡¿.¡¹

    ¡¸O-okay! ¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¹

    Kaede kicked the wall, jumped, and reached Risa, and what she saw were two eggs and five medals.

    ¡¸Are these¡­ from the monster bird?¡¹

    ¡¸No, they are different sizes and colors¡­ maybe it picked them up from somewhere¡­ I don¡¯t even know what kind of eggs they are.¡¹

    ¡¸Can we take these with us?¡¹

    ¡¸Looks like it. I got the message asking if I want to put it away in my inventory and¡­ which one do you want?¡¹

    ¡¸Is it okay for me to choose first?¡¹

    ¡¸All good! Take your pick.¡¹

    One was an egg with a deep green shell. The other was a light purple egg.

    ¡¸Well¡­ I like green, so this one!¡¹

    ¡¸Then, I guess I¡¯ll take this one.¡¹

    The two checked the information about the eggs.

    ¡¾Monster Egg¡¿

    Will hatch when warmed up.

    ¡¸Not much information.¡¹

    ¡¸I think so too. I¡¯d hate it if a monster just hatched¡­ but maybe we can tame it¡­¡¹

    It was unlikely since there were no summoners or tamers in this game, but considering the difficulty of defeating the monster bird, it could be a special reward.

    For now, the two decided to take the eggs with them.

    The materials were two ws for both of them, and Risa got two feathers in return for letting Kaede choose the egg first.

    The two got out of the nest and walked to the magic circle.

    ¡¸There are three magic circles, huh?¡¹

    As Kaede said, there were three magic circles that appeared.

    It was reasonable to assume that they were all connected to different ces.

    ¡¸Sally, which one is best?¡¹

    ¡¸With no ¡¾Eating Inedibles¡¿ uses left, it¡¯d be nice to go somewhere where there¡¯s less fighting¡­¡¹

    Risa walked around for a while, troubled, and stopped in front of one of the magic circles.

    ¡¸This one!¡¹

    ¡¸O-okay! Then let¡¯s go!¡¹

    The two entered the magic circle and disappeared into light.

    All that remained was a battered space, a testament to the fierce battle here.

 Chapter 30

    CHAPTER 30 ¨C DEFENSE SPECIALIZED AND VALLEY EXPLORATION

    ¡¸Well then, first is the egg huh?¡¹

    Sitting on the edge of the rock wall, Sally said while taking out the egg from her inventory.

    ¡¸Doesn¡¯t this, disappear or something if it wasn¡¯t put away?¡¹

    Maple asked Sally.

    Items like equipments or potion, they disappear after two hours of being left alone after taking out of the inventory.

    ¡¸I wonder?¡­ to be sure, let¡¯s put it inside once before two hours passes¡¹

    There was no way they could lose the eggs that they might never obtain again.

    ¡¸Un, let¡¯s do that¡¹

    ¡¸This, how will we warm it?¡¹

    ¡¸n?¡­with our skin after all?¡¹

    Maple removed her armor andrge shield, and hugged the dark green egg gently.

    ¡¸I wonder what wille out?¡¹

    She stroked the egg¡¯s surface with a smile, as if she couldn¡¯t wait for it to get born.

    Sally also warms the egg like Maple.

    ¡¸What¡¯s important is love! It is love!¡¹

    ¡¸Well, that¡¯s true¡¹

    The two made their n for exploration while stroking their own eggs.

    ¡¸First, let¡¯s go by the river to explore. If there, we can return to our base after all¡¹

    Within the terribly thick fog where they cannot see ahead properly, they would get lost if they didn¡¯t have something like andmark.

    It was already a field that has a lot of surprise attacks, so if they were to lose the ce where they can take their breaks, they would gradually lose their concentration, and receive attacks directly.

    Attacks that doesn¡¯t mean much to Maple, but it wasn¡¯t like that for Sally.

    Sally who only had a few HP might get defeated with one attack.

    Dodging uses a lot of concentration.

    The fatigue from it is immeasurable.

    ¡¸Okay?! Along the river it is¡¹

    They warmed the egg for an hour after that, but in the end, it didn¡¯t hatch this time.

    The two returned the eggs to their inventory, and went out to explore.

    ¡¸Yo?sh! Let¡¯s go find medals!¡¹

    ¡¸Oo?!¡¹

    The two who had started exploring cheerfully walked towards the upper stream of the river.

    Sally says.

    ¡¸I think that there¡¯s a lot of times where there are things in the ces where the flows of these kinds of ces start¡¹

    Maple also thought that that might be true. Because she thought that if she would ce something, she would put it in a ce that has a meaning.

    It would be great if there were starting points and ends.

    ¡¸I¡¯m looking forward what¡¯s there?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not like there would be absolutely something there so mind that okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Un! I got it¡¹

    Because they were advancing to the upper stream, the rocks started to gradually increase, and it changes to an area that is hard to walk on.

    ¡¸Maple?, climb up using¡¾Cover Move¡¿?!¡¹

    ¡¸Understood! ¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¹

    In ces where it was difficult to climb, they got through it by Sally going first, and Maple followed using¡¾Cover Move¡¿.

    Advancing just like that for an hour.

    Because their base was ced near the upper streams, the two were able to reach there faster than expected.

    The thing that was there was a clear spring that has a diameter of three meters.

    That which had a beautiful circr shape, gave the two mystical, as their first impression.

    The thick fog also was an element that gave off a mystical atmosphere.

    ¡¸It seems¡­very deep¡¹

    Sally whispered while taking a peak in the spring.

    The size of the spring wasn¡¯t that much, but it looks like it was decently deep.

    ¡¸You want to try and dive?¡¹

    ¡¸I think that it¡¯s worth trying I think that there are only a few yers who have ¡¾Diving¡¿and¡¾Swimming¡¿¡­they might¡¯ve let it pass after going here¡¹

    Unfortunately, Maple isn¡¯t able to dive, so she decided to wait for Sally¡¯s return.

    ¡¸Be careful?!¡¹

    ¡¸Un, I¡¯m going?!¡¹

    Sally entered the spring, and dove at once.

    She advanced deeper and deeper into the waters where light didn¡¯t reach.

    And after ten minutes of swimming. She found a tattered treasure box that sank on the bottom of the spring.

    While being cautious of traps, Sally carefully opened the treasure box.

    What¡¯s inside was a silver colored wand. There were red and blue jewels engraved on its tip.

    After she had thest check that there were no medals, Sally floated towards the water surface.

    ¡¸Ha?! Yo! Tto!¡¹

    *PashaPasha*, while making water sounds, Sally went up from the spring.

    ¡¸How was it?¡¹

    ¡¸A miss. Only a wand was inside¡¹

    ¡¸Uu?¡­I see?¡­¡­the abilities are?¡¹

    ¡¸Wait a minute¡­¡­¡­it only has¡¾Water Magic Strengthening¡¿and¡¾Fire Magic Strengthening¡¿¡¹

    ¡¸For the meantime, we don¡¯t need it huh¡¹

    ¡¸Well, yeah. What do you think? You want to go explore somewhere else?¡¹

    ¡¸U?n¡­then, let¡¯s do it like checking the nearby while returning to the base¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go with that then. It¡¯s a valley this big, it isn¡¯t strange that there¡¯s at least one more¡¹

    The two carefully checked while going to the path to their base.

    Along the way, they had explored on both sides of the river to the distance that they wouldn¡¯t lose sight of the river, but in the end, they weren¡¯t able to find something.

    And, while this and that happened, they had returned to the rift that was their base.

    ¡¸What do you think? I think that going to the lower streams are good too, but¡­it¡¯s a little hard¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s see?¡­¡­then what about concentrating on warming the eggs for today?¡¹

    Sally seems to be exhausted after being cautious inside the thick fog, and exploring with¡¾Diving¡¿, so she epted Maple¡¯s suggestion.

    ¡¸Egg, egg¡­there it is¡¹

    ¡¸Yo, tto¡¹

    The two took out their eggs from their inventory, and stroked it while hugging it.

    ¡¸Ah?¡­it¡¯s smooth and feels good to touch?¡­¡¹

    Sally whispered while leaning against the rocks.

    Maple thought that she wanted to stroke it as long as she could because of its texture that was like a well-made porcin.

    ¡¸It wouldn¡¯t hatch?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, it isn¡¯t something that would hatch that quickly right¡¹

    Three hours of repeatedly cing the eggs to their inventory from time to time, and warming it.

    The two stroked their own eggs while chatting.

    ¡¸What do you think would be born?¡¹

    ¡¸Mine is violet and Maple¡¯s is green right?¡­n?¡­¡­wouldn¡¯t something like a herbivore animal get born from Maple¡¯s? Something like a deer¡¹

    ¡¸Deer¡­from an egg?¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t it possible since its a monster? I really don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to be born?¡¹

    It was as Sally had said, anything could be born from an egg as long as it had been set since it was a game world.

    ¡¸I hope that it¡¯s a cute one?¡­¡¹

    Maple thought of several animals, she thought a lot of cute creatures. She also thought as much of the uncute creatures though.

    In particr, she wanted to refrain from some insects.

    ¡¸I wonder what would be born with mine?¡¹

    The color of Sally¡¯s egg was purple.

    Maple imagined creatures that might be born from that egg.

    ¡¸Violet, violet¡­¡­n?¡­? ¡­¡­¡­poison dragon?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah?¡­that is, I want to refrain from that?¡¹

    In the case where a poison dragon was born, if they were to fight together, Sally¡¯s surroundings would be sunk into a poison sea for sure.

    If that happens, it will be a situation where Sally wouldn¡¯t be able to move around.

    ¡¸Poison dragon¡­poison dragon huh?¡­if possible, I want something more peaceful?¡¹

    The two imagined what was inside the egg.

    This is good, I don¡¯t want this, while chatting with each other cheerfully, they warmed the egg with love.

    Even though they were saying this and that, the two thought that they would treat the monster that would be born kindly whatever it was.

    Did those feelings reach it.

    *Bishi*, the egg the two have cracked.

    ¡¸¡¸Uwa!?!¡¹¡¹

    ¡¸W-W-W-W-What should we do?!¡¹

    ¡¸F-F-F-For the meantime, leave it on the floor!!¡¹

    After the two had ced the egg to a steady ground, they stared at the eggs as if toy down.

    And atst, the egg broke.

    The appearance of two monsters emerged from inside.

 Chapter 31

    CHAPTER 31 ¨C DEFENSE SPECIALIZED AND WHAT¡¯S INSIDE THE EGG

    ¡¸Ohh?!¡¹

    ¡¸It got born?!¡¹

    The two smiled happily.

    The one that came out from the deep green egg was a tortoise just a littlerger than the egg.

    Its body has the same deep green color as the egg and its movements are calm.

    The one that came out from the purple egg was a fox that has snow-like white fur.

    After stretching for a few times as if to check its body, the fox started to watch its own magic that was purple mes flying around it.

    ¡¸Ohh?¡­fox from an egg huh?¡­¡­that¡¯s surprising¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s a monster so that probably doesn¡¯t concern it¡¹

    When the two was talking to their selves, the tortoise approached Maple, and the fox approached Sally.

    The two cautiously patted their monsters, and the two monsters closed their eyes as if they felt good about it.

    And at the same time, the egg started to faintly shine.

    Its brightness gradually got stronger, and the eggs changed to a purple ring and a green ring.

    The two reached out their hands to pick that up.

    ¡¸The item name is¡­¡­¡¾Bridge of Bonds¡¿. It says¡­¡­equipping this makes it possible to fight together with monsters!¡­ I can¡¯t leave this away anymore?¡¹

    Sally¡¯s exnation is the most important ability of the ring. Maple used her own eyes to check that ability.

    ¡¾Bridge of Bonds¡¿

    While equipped, possible to fight along with monsters.

    Possible monsters to fight with is one with each ring.

    After the monster dies, it would return inside the ring and enter sleep, it cannot be called out for a day.

    Seeing that they won¡¯t disappear immediately after dying made the two relieved.

    If the settings were like that, they can¡¯t bring them to battle without caution.

    ¡¸Mu?¡­ a ring huh?. My equipment slots are full, so I should probably take off¡¾Forest Queen Bee¡¯s Ring¡¿. I can also regenerate Hp with¡¾Meditation¡¿after all¡¹

    When the two equipped their rings, the two monsters happily rubbed themselves to them.

    ¡¸Ahaha, it¡¯s ticklish?!¡¹

    ¡¸n?¡­¡­mofumofu?¡­¡­¡¹

    And just like that, the two yed around, but then, Sally noticed something.

    ¡¸I¡¯m able to see this child¡¯s status¡¹

    It¡¯s probably the effect of the ring, under their own status, there¡¯s another status.

    The two checked that.

    No Name

    Lv1

    HP 250/250

    MP 30/30

    ¡¾STR 30¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 150¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 150¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 10¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 10¡¿

    Skill

    ¡¾Bite¡¿

    No Name

    Lv1

    HP 80/80

    MP 120/120

    ¡¾STR 10¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 15¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 70¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 75¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 75¡¿

    Skill

    ¡¾Fox Fire¡¿

    The top one¡¯s the tortoise¡¯s, and the lower is the fox¡¯s status.

    Just like a monster¡¯s offspring, their status was quite decent even though they were just born.

    ¡¸No name, that means¡­ we should give them names!¡¹

    ¡¸I see, well, I guess so¡¹

    The two carefully thought of names.

    While they were thinking for a while, the monsters yed with themselves.

    It looks like the monsters get along.

    ¡¸Yo?sh, I decided¡¹

    ¡¸Un, I also did!¡¹

    The two thought of the names, and approached their own monsters.

    The two kneeled down, matching their eyes with the monsters.

    ¡¸tortoise-san¡¯s name is Syrup! Mufufu¡­bined with me, it¡¯s Maple Syrup!¡¹

    Maple felt very good for no particr reasons.

    Did the tortoise like its name, it rubbed its body against her.

    One girl and one monster were happily ying around.

    ¡¸Then¡­ how about Oboro? You don¡¯t like it?¡¹

    Sally said to the fox as if to ask.

    It looks like the fox was satisfied, *Pyon* it jumped and hugged Sally as if to roll around her neck.

    Sally¡¯s neck was very warm with her muffler and fox.

    While the time was passing with a peaceful atmosphere.

    Maple suddenly shouted.

    There¡¯s a blue panel that shows the status in front of her.

    ¡¸A-A-re?! M-Maybe¡­¡¹

    ¡¸n? What happened?¡¹

    Sally thought about it strange and approached, and took a peek at the panel.

    ¡¸Eh?! Ah! D-Don¡¯t look!¡¹

    ¡¸n?¡­ ahh, I see¡­¡­¡¹

    It was only about five seconds that Sally was able to look at the panel, but she understood what Maple was thinking about.

    The thing that Maple opened was Syrup¡¯s status, and because she was focused on one part of it, Sally who was very good at her perception knew what Maple didn¡¯t want her to see.

    ¡¸Maple¡­ to think that your status is lower than a tortoise¡¹

    ¡¸Ughu!!!¡¹

    Syrup has¡¾AGI 15¡¿and Maple has¡¾AGI 0¡¿

    ¡¸Tortoise and Maple huh?¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Don¡¯t say it like the hare and the tortoise!! I can win if we did a race! The length of our feet is different!¡¹

    ¡¸Then¡­ you want to try?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh!¡­¡­¡­¡­I-I think I¡¯ll hold back from it?. Ahahaha¡­¡­¡¹

    She might not regain herself if she lost.

    If that happens, she might throw away her full defense build and put¡¾AGI¡¿to her status.

    Maple felt like that.

    She thought that there¡¯s no need to go on her ways to do that.

    But if you say that she ran away from it, then that¡¯s all about i.

    ¡¸Their status, I wonder if it¡¯s affected by their parents somehow? Both Maple and Syrup is defense specialized, and Oboro has a high speed too¡¹

    ¡¸It might be so¡¹

    The two continued to look at the two monsters¡¯ status.

    ¡¸They can¡¯t equip equipments, but¡­ their levels can be raised huh?¡¹

    ¡¸I wonder if they would get status points when their level goes up? Or is it that, their status raises on its own?¡¹

    Information about those isn¡¯t avable in the ring¡¯s exnation so they didn¡¯t know.

    ¡¸For the meantime, you want to raise their levels?¡¹

    ¡¸U?n¡­¡­ it would feel bad if they got killed¡­¡­¡¹

    Sally said while touching the fox that moved from her neck to her head.

    ¡¸Then, how about I go catch some monsters?¡¹

    ¡¸Good idea¡­ is it? For the meantime, let¡¯s raise their levels like that¡¹

    Maple said to Syrup ¡°Wait a minute okay¡±, patted it and went to go catch some monsters outside the rift.

    And after ten minutes.

    Maple returned with bats in both of her hands.

    It was probably paralyzed, the bats couldn¡¯t move at all.

    Maple ced those on the ground.

    ¡¸Uhmm¡­¡­ Syrup! ¡¾Bite¡¿!¡¹

    ¡¸Oboro!¡¾Fox Fire¡¿!¡¹

    Syrup bit off the body of the bat.

    Oboro burned the bat with purple mes.

    The red effects lit the rift, and the bat became light and disappeared.

    ¡¸Ah?¡­ their level didn¡¯t go up¡¹

    ¡¸My side too¡¹

    ¡¸Probably¡­ their children of quite strong monsters. That¡¯s why, the experience points they need is probably high?¡¹

    If they defeat bats, level 1 yers will surely raise their levels.

    ¡¸Probably need some more?¡¹

    ¡¸Can I ask you for it? I don¡¯t have skills that can catch them¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Un! It¡¯s what they say the right ce for the right people! But, while I¡¯m not around, I¡¯m counting on you to take care of Syrup okay?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll protect them very well!¡¹

    Hearing Sally¡¯s reply, Maple went outside once again.

    It was twenty minutester when Maple returned.

    She returned hugging a total of eight bats.

    ¡¸How can I say this, the feeling of a parent bird¡¹

    ¡¸The things that we¡¯re doing is the same with bird parents after all¡¹

    *DosaDosa*, she dropped the bats to the ground.

    Syrup and Oboro defeated four each, and the two monsters¡¯ level raised up to 2.

    Syrup

    Lv2

    HP 300/300

    MP 30/30

    ¡¾STR 35¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 180¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 15¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 10¡¿

    ¡¾INT 20¡¿

    Skill

    ¡¾Bite¡¿¡¾Shell Protect¡¿

    Oboro (–V ¨C vague)

    Lv2

    HP 85/85

    MP 130/130

    ¡¾STR 15¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 15¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 85¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 80¡¿

    ¡¾INT 95¡¿

    Skill

    ¡¾Fox Fire¡¿¡¾Fire Pir¡¿

    ¡¸It looks like their status goes up by themselves¡¹

    ¡¸It seems so. I mean, they rose quite well¡¹

    For the two monsters that seem to have a bright future, Maple went out to hunt after that for a few times.

    However, because there were only a few monsters nearby, their levels did not go up.

 Chapter 32

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu Chapter 32

    Defense Specialization and Exploring the Valley

    ¡¸Well then, we¡¯ll start with the eggs, shall we?¡¹

    Sally said as she sat down in the crevice in the rock wall and took the eggs out of her inventory.

    ¡¸Won¡¯t these disappear if they aren¡¯t stored?¡¹

    Maple asked Sally.

    Equipment, potions and other items disappeared if you took them out of your inventory and left them for two hours.

    ¡¸Who knows? ¡­Let¡¯s put them away once before two hours are up, just in case.¡¹

    They would probably never be able to get their hands on these eggs again, so they couldn¡¯t afford to lose them.

    ¡¸Sure, let¡¯s do that.¡¹

    ¡¸Now, how do you warm it up?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm¡­ with your skin, I guess?¡¹

    Maple unequipped her armor and great shield and gently lifted the dark green egg into her embrace.

    ¡¸What do you think will be born?¡¹

    She patted the surface of the egg with a smile, as if she couldn¡¯t wait for it to hatch.

    Sally did the same as Maple and warmed the egg.

    ¡¸What¡¯s important is love! Love!¡¹

    ¡¸Well, that¡¯s for sure.¡¹

    The two each patted their eggs and made ns for the future exploration.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s look around along the river first. Then we cane back to our base.¡¹

    The fog was so thick that they couldn¡¯t even see what was in front of them, and without anyndmarks, they were sure to get lost.

    In a field where there were so many opportunities for surprise attacks, if they lost a ce where they could rest, they would eventually lose their concentration and actually take an attack.

    Although these attacks would not be a big deal to Maple, that was not the case for Sally.

    Sally, with her low HP, could be downed by a single hit.

    It took her a lot of concentration to evade attacks.

    The fatigue from that was immeasurable.

    ¡¸O-okay! Along the river it is.¡¹

    They warmed the eggs for the next hour or so, but in the end, they didn¡¯t hatch this time.

    The two put the eggs away into their inventories and decided to go exploring.

    ¡¸Alright! Let¡¯s go and find medals!¡¹

    ¡¸Mhm!¡¹

    They began their search in high spirits and walked upstream.

    As Sally had said:

    ¡¸I think these things often have stuff where they start to flow.¡¹

    Maple agreed that it was definitely possible. Because she thought that if she were to set something up, it would be in a ce that had some significance.

    The beginning or end point of something was just right for it.

    ¡¸I can¡¯t wait to see what¡¯s there.¡¹

    ¡¸Just be aware that it¡¯s not like something is there for sure, okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Yup! I understand.¡¹

    As they were heading upstream, the terrain gradually began to be more and more rocky and difficult to walk on.

    ¡¸Ma-aple! Use ¡¾Cover Move¡¿ ande u-up!¡¹

    ¡¸Got it! ¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¹

    With Sally leading the way and Maple using ¡¾Cover Move¡¿, Maple was able to get over any elevations that were difficult for her to climb.

    It took them an hour to advance like that.

    Perhaps because the base was already located upstream, the two were able to reach it earlier than they had expected.

    At that ce was a crystal clear spring about three meters in diameter.

    Its beautiful circr shape made the spring seem mysterious to the two at first.

    The thick fog was also one of the elements that created the mysterious atmosphere.

    ¡¸It seems rather¡­ deep.¡¹

    Sally looked into the spring and muttered to herself.

    The spring wasn¡¯t very wide, but it seemed to be decently deep.

    ¡¸Do you want to try and dive in?¡¹

    ¡¸I think it¡¯s worth a try. I don¡¯t think many yers have ¡¾Diving¡¿ and ¡¾Swimming¡¿, so¡­ there might be some things they missed when they came here.¡¹

    Unfortunately, Maple couldn¡¯t dive, so she decided to stay and wait for Sally¡¯s return.

    ¡¸Take care!¡¹

    ¡¸Yep, I¡¯m off!¡¹

    Sally entered the spring and dove in right away.

    She pushed on deeper and deeper into the quiet waters where no light could reach.

    And after 10 minutes of swimming. She found a tattered treasure chest sunken at the bottom of the spring.

    Wary of traps, Sally carefully opened the treasure chest.

    What was inside was a silver staff. Its tip was fitted with a red and blue gemstone.

    After finishing the final check to make sure there were no medals or other items, Sally surfaced.

    ¡¸<i>Huff!</i> Ha, ho!¡¹

    Sally emerged from the spring with a <i>ssh</i>.

    ¡¸How did it go?¡¹

    ¡¸Fail. Only thing inside was a staff.¡¹

    ¡¸Uh¡­ I see¡­ how strong is it?¡¹

    ¡¸Wait a moment¡­ It only has ¡¾Water Magic Strengthening¡¿ and ¡¾Fire Magic Strengthening¡¿.¡¹

    ¡¸We don¡¯t need it for now.¡¹

    ¡¸Well, yeah. What should we do? Do you still want to explore somewhere else?¡¹

    ¡¸Mmm¡­ well, let¡¯s go back to the base and see what¡¯s nearby.¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go with that then. It¡¯s such a big valley, it would make sense for something else to be in it.¡¹

    The two carefully made their way to the base.

    On the way, they explored both sides of the river enough not to lose sight of it, but in the end, they couldn¡¯t find anything.

    And while doing so, they returned to the location of the crevice where they had made their base.

    ¡¸What do we do now? I suppose we could try heading downstream, but¡­ it would be a bit of a challenge.¡¹

    ¡¸Well¡­ then how about we just focus on hatching the eggs today?¡¹

    Sally seemed to be quite a bit fatigued from always being totally on guard in the thick fog and from searching with ¡¾Diving¡¿, so she epted Maple¡¯s suggestion.

    ¡¸Egg, egg and¡­ there it is.¡¹

    ¡¸Ht, ta!¡¹

    They both pulled their eggs out of their inventories and patted them in their embrace.

    ¡¸Ahhhh¡­ it¡¯s so smooth and nice to touch¡­¡¹

    Sally murmured as she leaned against the rock face.

    The feel of fine porcin made Maple want to pet it forever.

    ¡¸It just wouldn¡¯t ha-atch¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s not like it¡¯s going to hatch that quickly, is it?¡¹

    For three hours, they repeatedly put the eggs in their inventories, took them out and warmed them up.

    The two patted their eggs as they chatted.

    ¡¸What do you think will be born?¡¹

    ¡¸Mine is purple and Maple¡¯s is green¡­ hmmm¡­ I guess some herbivore will be born from Maple¡¯s, right? Like a deer.¡¹

    ¡¸A deer¡­ from an egg?¡¹

    ¡¸Since it¡¯s a monster, why not? I have no idea what¡¯s gonna be born.¡¹

    As Sally said, in a game world, anything could be born from an egg, depending on how it was configured.

    ¡¸Then I hope it¡¯s something cute¡­¡¹

    Maple thought of all sorts of animals, lots of cute creaturesing to her mind. She could think of just as many not-so-cute creatures, though.

    In particr, she wanted to avoid some insects.

    ¡¸I wonder what will be born from mine?¡¹

    Sally¡¯s egg was purple.

    Maple imagined the creature that might be born from the egg.

    ¡¸Purple, purple ¡­hmm? ¡­poison dragon?¡¹

    ¡¸Uhh¡­ I¡¯d rather not.¡¹

    If a poison dragon were to be born, and they started to fight each other, it was certain that the area around Sally would be flooded with a sea of poison.

    In that case, Sally would be stuck in a situation where she would be unable to move.

    ¡¸Poison dragon¡­ poison dragon, huh¡­ I¡¯d prefer something a bit more peaceful if possible.¡¹

    The two thought about what could be inside the eggs.

    They warmed the eggs lovingly as they rambled on about what was good and what they wouldn¡¯t want.

    Despite what they said, they both thought that whatever monster was born, they would be kind to it.

    Did their feelingse through?

    The eggs of the two <i>cracked</i>.

    ¡¸¡¸Eep!?¡¹¡¹

    ¡¸W-w-w-w-what do we do!?¡¹

    ¡¸P-p-p-put it on the ground for now!¡¹

    They put the eggs on the solid ground andy down to look at them.

    And finally, the eggs cracked open.

    Two monster critters appeared from inside.

 Chapter 33

    CHAPTER 33 ¨C DEFENSE SPECIALIZED AND IMITATION BATTLE

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra¡¿!¡¹

    Hydra was shot from Shingetsu.

    However, that is not something aimed towards Fake Sally.

    The poison dragon that flew out from the de pointing towards the ground sshes, and scatters around Maple.

    If she step on even one of those, the original Sally should die with one hit.

    To approach Maple who was currently standing on the middle of the sea of poison, it would need give her a huge opportunity.

    Fake Sally who took distance to evade the poison dragon runs.

    Maple observed that intently.

    And she noticed.

    That in fact, it was approaching while avoiding the poison.

    ¡¸You don¡¯t have¡¾Poison Nullification¡¿huh¡¹

    When Fake Sally used¡¾Leap¡¿to jump, she collides using herrge shield.

    That, it clearly hit her body, however, there was no feeling from it.

    ¡¸¡¾Mirage¡¿?!!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Defense Break¡¿¡¹

    Fake Sally shes through Maple¡¯s torso that was full of openings, kicked Maple¡¯s body while using¡¾Leap¡¿, and went out of the range of the sea of poison.

    ¡¸¡¾Venom Cutter¡¿!!¡¹

    Fake Sally easily dodged Maple¡¯s attack. However, from how it dodges, Maple felt something strange.

    ¡¸I see¡­ it¡¯s not like it is like Sally herself¡¹

    Most probably, Fake Sally is faster that Sally.

    Her ability to dodge is also high.

    However, that is only because it is fast.

    The dodging with skin¡¯s length then counter attack like Sally does, doesn¡¯t exist.

    If it¡¯s Sally, she should¡¯ve been able to approach while dodging all attacks.

    Fake Sally, it is only dodging by relying on its speed, but doesn¡¯t have thebination of attacking and defending while dodging.

    ¡¸Even so, it wouldn¡¯t hit in the end?¡­¡­¡¾Meditation¡¿¡¹

    As if it didn¡¯t care about Maple who whispered that, the ground surrounding Maple raises.

    A few pirs of earth raises making her vision bad.

    And that became Fake Sally¡¯s stepping stone.

    ¡¸U?n, its magic is better than Sally huh¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Defense Break¡¿¡¹

    She turns herrge shield from where the voice came from.

    She didn¡¯t care even if it was a¡¾Mirage¡¿.

    She still have a lot of HP.

    As she expected, that was an illusion made by¡¾Mirage¡¿. Maple¡¯s back was shed.

    She swings herrge shield while turning around but she only hits air.

    ¡¸It can¡¯t be helped¡­¡­let¡¯s go with an attrition war¡¹

    A magic circlees out from Shingetsu.

    Fake Sally saw that and took distance.

    If it takes distance, it wouldn¡¯t receive any attacks.

    ¡¸It¡¯s okay. Let¡¯s test our endurance¡¹

    Maple whispers silently.

    ¡¸¡¾Venom Capsule¡¿¡¹

    A purple-colored sphere that has a diameter of two meters. Maple soaks into there.

    ¡¸¡¾Meditation¡¿¡¹

    The HP Fake Sally took off started to regenerate.

    However, Fake Sally¡¯s weapon are daggers.

    If it attacks Maple, shing through the poisonous sphere, it would be also poisoned.

    On top of that, a sea of poison is spreading on the ground.

    Maple¡¯s surrounding is a top-ss dangerous ce.

    It¡¯s an area of hell that poisons all of those who approach.

    Even if Fake Sally has¡¾Poison Resistance(Large)¡¿, it doesn¡¯t have¡¾Poison Nullification¡¿

    It can¡¯tpletely nullify the poison of¡¾Poison Dragon¡¿.

    ¡¸¡¾Cyclone Cuter¡¿¡¹

    ¡¾Wind Magic¡¿that has a higher level than what Sally has.

    Swirling winds appeared around Maple and tries to break that poison barrier.

    However, the level of¡¾Poison Dragon¡¿and¡¾Wind Magic¡¿is too different.

    Some of it falls and sshes to the ground, but it couldn¡¯t reach Maple.

    ¡¸¡¾Venom Capsule¡¿¡¹

    Answering to that voice, the capsule that envelopes Maple increased to a diameter of four meters.

    The thickness of the poison wall increases.

    For Sally who has a lot of tricks but has low power, it¡¯s a poisonous wall of despair.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll patiently wait until Fake-san¡¯s MP ispletely lost¡¹

    If Fake Sally loses all of her MP, her proud tricks would also decrease.

    With that, it would be more difficult to get through the poison barrier.

    The MP cost of¡¾Venom Capsule¡¿is 20.

    She has nothing to change into MP from¡¾Akujiki¡¿.

    Because of that, she doesn¡¯t have stocks for MP.

    There is also no more five times zero MP activation per day.

    Maple silently waits for the automatic regeneration of her MP.

    Fake Sally shots magic to the poison barrier.

    That scene continuous for a long time.

    ¡¸¡¾Poison Capsule¡¿¡¹

    Maple strengthens the barrier without mercy.

    The capsule increases its thickness to six meters.

    Maple has only one aim.

    ¡¸If I can¡¯t hit it normally¡­¡­I will sink this whole room with the capsule, and defeat it¡¹

    It was an attrition war.

    To grab victory, Maple pushes off Fake Sally to the corner of the roo.

    If there¡¯s no ce she could run to, the speed it was proud of does not have any meaning.

    On the other hand, Sally was taking a hard time attacking.

    After all, it was an overwhelming defense.

    On top of that, attack powers that any careless movements would lead to death.

    ¡¸The only silver lining, is that it¡¯s more stupid than the original Maple huh¡­¡­¡¹

    Fake Maple¡¯s attacks ispletely ¡®defeat using¡¾Poison Dragon¡¿¡¯.

    On top of that, it doesn¡¯t choose not to use therge shield with weak attacks unlike Maple.

    Because of that, Fake Maple had already lost all of its¡¾Akujiki¡¿.

    The problem is, that¡¾Poison Dragon¡¿.

    Fake Maple has skills that Maple doesn¡¯t have.

    If it activates that skill, all of the remaining poison after shooting out¡¾Poison Dragon¡¿would gather to where Fake Maple is, and would be able to immediately shoot¡¾Poison Dragon¡¿again.

    It can continuously attack without cooldowns.

    For Sally to win against Fake Maple, she thought she needed to make it use all of the skill it has that have limitations, so it was outside of her expectations that it wouldn¡¯t not be able to use¡¾Poison Dragon¡¿.

    ¡¸Well, it wouldn¡¯t use something like¡¾Paralyze Shout¡¿, so it might be for the better¡¹

    Right now, Sally is thinking of a way to defeat Fake Maple while dodging the three-headed poison dragon.

    ¡¸Ah?¡­¡­what should I do. I don¡¯t have a decisive blow¡­¡­¡¹

    For Sally, dodging¡¾Poison Dragon¡¿is very easy so there¡¯s no problem thinking about it.

    Sally tried using¡¾Defense Break¡¿to attack, but her attacks were regenerated by the skill that was probably¡¾Meditation¡¿.

    ¡¸It has a troublesome skill that¡¯s left?¡­¡¹

    And while she is saying that, the poison dragon attacks again.

    While dodging nimbly, she thought about Maple.

    ¡¸I wonder if Maple is also fighting against my imitation? Has she already won?¡¹

    Sally thought that if it¡¯s Maple, she should be able to do something about it.

    Right now, Sally herself doesn¡¯t have an attack that can be a decisive blow against Fake Maple, so there¡¯s no way that her fake would be able to defeat the original Maple.

    Because it¡¯s Sally who had been saved a lot of times by Maple¡¯s ability, she strongly believed that.

    ¡¸Well then¡­ let¡¯s try a lot of things. I might be able to at least find one right¡¹

    Sally got resolute, and makes a n while remembering her skills.

    Right now, Sally can¡¯t win.

    But, what if she grows.

    What if she gains a new skill.

    Since Sally can¡¯t bring down Fake Maple¡¯s HP, Fake Maple¡¯s movement pattern doesn¡¯t change.

    As stupid as it is, it¡¯s an easy enemy that is just continuously shooting¡¾Poison Dragon¡¿.

    Fake Maple that does not have any change, and.

    Sally who have the possibility to change.

    Sally decided to bet on that possibility.

    ¡¸Losing to Fake Maple, I¡¯d hate it ¡¯cause it would be frustrating! Let¡¯s go with this skill first¡¹

    While wearing shining effects, Sally attacks Fake Maple.

    On this side too, a very long attrition war starts.

 Chapter 34

    CHAPTER 34 ¨C DEFENSE SPECIALIZED AND IMITATION SUBJUGATION

    Four hours had already passed from the start of the battle, and it is also noontime on the fourth day.

    Maple¡¯s attempt had seeded, and the¡¾Venom Capsule¡¿had already reached the ceiling.

    Also, the wide room, only one quarter of the room was not yet eroded by the capsule.

    ¡¸¡¾Venom Capsule¡¿¡¹

    Together with Maple¡¯s voice, the capsule¡¯s size increases.

    ¡¸Fuu?¡­¡­ just a little bit more¡­¡¹

    Fake Sally is still unscathed.

    However, that doesn¡¯t matter.

    If the capsule fills the room, she would be defeated without being able to recover.

    The biggest problem was that attacks couldn¡¯t hit it.

    The result is already decided.

    Fake Sally doesn¡¯t have the means to break through this situation.

    And, after another hour.

    ¡¸¡¾Venom Capsule¡¿!¡¹

    That was the end of a long fight.

    Fake Sally was engulfed, and disappeared while scattering shy red effects.

    To be sure, Maple got careful about¡¾Mirage¡¿, but Fake Sally didn¡¯t have a ce to go to in this room that is filled with poison.

    And most of all, the medal that fell in the ce where Fake Sally disappeared tells the story.

    Maple released the capsule.

    The capsule broke and a poisonous rain falls and sshes to the ground.

    ¡¸Haa?¡­¡­I¡¯m spent¡¹

    To the different type of fatigue from the battle against the monster bird, Maple sat on the ground.

    ¡¸Thank goodness it¡¯s inside a room¡­¡­I couldn¡¯t have won if it was outside¡­¡­¡¹

    She couldn¡¯t use this tactic if there weren¡¯t a limit on the space of the room.

    If the environment wasn¡¯t her ally, she couldn¡¯t have won.

    ¡¸I should collect the medal and step on the magic circle¡­¡­I wonder what happened to Sally. Is she fighting with my imitation after all?¡¹

    Maple picked up the one medal that fell on the floor.

    ¡¸I wonder if she could win?¡­ if it¡¯s Sally, it would be easy for her to dodge my attacks though¡­¡­¡¹

    While worrying about Sally, Maple stepped onto the magic circle.

    The light fades, and what appeared in front of her was spiral stairs.

    When she looks up, there was light.

    It looks like it is connected to somewhere.

    ¡¸Sally is¡­ she shouldn¡¯t have gone first right¡¹

    Maple stayed there for a while.

    The two had decided to contact each other when they have died.

    Since a message had note from Sally, she knew that she hadn¡¯t lost and returned to their starting ce.

    If that is so, there is only either Sally is still fighting and would teleport anytime soon, or they werepletely separated.

    Separated, meaning, in the case when Sally didn¡¯t fight an imitation.

    Sally might¡¯ve been left behind in the fog and only Maple had fought.

    However, Maple felt that Sally was still fighting.

    ¡¸Sally should¡¯ve been fighting too¡­¡­ I know! Syrup,¡¾Awakening¡¿!¡¹

    The ring shined and Syrup appeared.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s wait while cheering for Sally¡¹

    An hour of staying with Syrup to cheer after Sally while staying in her ce.

    That ce was enveloped by a shining light.

    To be sure, Maple readied her shield and looked what would happen.

    ¡¸Haa?¡­ I won¡­¡­¡¹

    The light fades, and Sally was there.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­you¡¯re the real one¡­¡­right?¡¹

    Sally also noticed Maple with her voice and made a stance.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­let me confirm if you¡¯re the real one¡¹

    ¡¸Alright?¡¹

    Maple looked at Sally doubting, and figured out that Sally fought against Fake Maple.

    If that is so, it is normal for her to confirm so she agreed.

    ¡¸Are you Maple who I saw crying out loud during our sixth year of elementary after getting vinated?¡¹

    ¡¸Wha-W-W-W-W-W-Why do you remember that?!! Forget it!!¡¹

    A way to confirm that Maple didn¡¯t expect.

    Saying something that only the person itself knows.

    It¡¯s logical, but with those embarrassing contents, Maple hides herself behind herrge shield with embarrassment.

    Sally knew that this Maple was the real one, but she thought of teasing her just a little bit.

    She fooled around because she was tired.

    ¡¸Fufufu¡­ you¡¯re the real one! Well, I knew it though¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­wait. Let me confirm it too¡¹

    Maple looked at Sally with serious eyes.

    ¡¸Eh!¡­¡­¡¹

    Maple started to talk without letting Sally say anything.

    ¡¸¡­¡­are you not Sally who couldn¡¯t stand up from fear inside the haunted house during middle school that was taken out through the emergency door by the clerk while crying?¡¹

    ¡¸Y-You don¡¯t need to remember that!¡¹

    ¡¸Are you Sally who had yed games too much that wrote killing moves in your notebook?¡¹

    ¡¸Wait, I¡¯m sorry! Forgive me!!¡¹

    ¡¸I retaliated just a little bit¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­haa?¡­ it was a ho¡¯s nest huh?¡¹

    Anyways, the two was able to safely reunite.

    ¡¸How was it with you, Maple? I fought against Fake Maple¡¹

    ¡¸I was against Fake Sally. I won probably an hour ago.¡¹

    It looks like Sally also got a medal and gave it to Maple

    With this, they have ten of them.

    ¡¸How did you win against Fake Maple?¡¹

    Sally was about to answer that, but she stops midways.

    ¡¸If¡­¡­if there¡¯s a tournament-like event, I don¡¯t want to lose easily against Maple, so can I make it a secret?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s okay! n?¡­¡­then, it¡¯s also a secret how I defeated Fake Sally! I also don¡¯t want to lose after all!¡¹

    Sally says that it was a secret, but she shows her her status.

    ¡¸You can guess with the skills though?!¡¹

    ¡¸I will thankfully look then¡¹

    Maple slowly looked at Sally¡¯s status.

    Sally

    Lv21

    HP 32/32

    MP 25/25¡´£«35¡µ

    ¡¾STR 30¡´£«20¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 0¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 85¡´£«68¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 25¡´£«20¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾INT 25¡´£«20¡µ¡¿

    Equipments

    Head¡¾Muffler of the Surface Water (Minamo no Mafura) : Mirage(Shinkir¨­)¡¿

    Body¡¾Coat of the Ocean (Taikai no K¨­to) : Ocean(Taikai)¡¿

    Right Hand¡¾Dagger of the Deep Sea (Shinkai no Dag¨¡)¡¿

    Left Hand¡¾Dagger of the Bottom of the Water (Minasoko no Dag¨¡)¡¿

    Legs¡¾Leggings of the Ocean¡¿

    Shoes¡¾ck Boots¡¿

    essories¡¾Bridge of Bonds¡¿

    Skill

    ¡¾Status Debuff Attack III¡¿¡¾Consecutive Sword Attacks I¡¿

    ¡¾Gale sh¡¿¡¾Muscle Strengthening (Small)¡¿

    ¡¾Consecutive Attack Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾Double Attack¡¿

    ¡¾Powered Attack¡¿

    ¡¾Switch Attack¡¿¡¾Body Arts V¡¿

    ¡¾Knowledge of Short Swords II¡¿¡¾Jack of All Trades¡¿¡¾Defense Break¡¿¡¾Super eleration¡¿

    ¡¾Fire Magic I¡¿¡¾Water Magic II¡¿¡¾Wind Magic III¡¿

    ¡¾Earth Magic I¡¿¡¾Dark Magic I¡¿¡¾Light Magic II¡¿

    ¡¾Fire Ball¡¿¡¾Water Ball¡¿

    ¡¾Water Wall¡¿

    ¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿¡¾Wind Wall¡¿¡¾Cyclone Cutter¡¿

    ¡¾Sand Cutter¡¿

    ¡¾Dark Ball¡¿

    ¡¾Refresh¡¿¡¾Heal¡¿

    ¡¾MP Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾MP Cut (Small)¡¿

    ¡¾MP Recovery Speed Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾Knowledge of Magic II¡¿

    ¡¾Fishing¡¿¡¾Swimming X¡¿¡¾Diving X¡¿¡¾Cooking I¡¿

    ¡¾Mining Speed Strengthening (Small)¡¿¡¾Sensory Blocking II¡¿

    ¡¾Sensory Awareness II¡¿¡¾Stealth Move I¡¿¡¾Leap I¡¿

    ¡¾Poison Resistance (Small)¡¿

    ¡¸Some of them have changed¡¹

    ¡¸I might use them in the remaining time¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯ve be quite reliable after this short time!¡¹

    ¡¸From now on, we can fight together again¡¹

    Sally smiled happily.

    Maple also returns a smile.

    ¡¸Then, let¡¯s go up stairs¡¹

    ¡¸Alright. I still want medals¡¹

    The two climbed up the spiral stairs towards the light.

    The ce they went up to was the other side of the valley.

    The two were tired after a long fight, but there isn¡¯t a lot of time left, that they could rest for.

    It¡¯s already afternoon of the fourth day.

    The one who gets the medal first is the winner.

    ¡¸We should explore the forest¡¹

    Maple said while looking at the forest that spread in front of them. It is unknown how deep this forest it. It is also unknown if there are dungeon within it.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s cheer up and go!¡¹

    ¡¸Ohh?!¡¹

    The two entered the forest searching for a new dungeon.

 Chapter 35

    CHAPTER 35 ¨C DEFENSE SPECIALIZED AND DESERT EXPLORATION

    Compared to up until now, the scale of the forest was small.

    ¡¸Oh, we¡¯re already out!¡¹

    ¡¸Oh?¡­¡­it¡¯s a desert¡¹

    It was a vast desert that spread in front of the two.

    There was sand while cactus can be seen everywhere.

    There was no appearance of yers.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go¡¹

    ¡¸Alright¡¹

    The two stepped into the desert.

    ¡¸It¡¯s good that we don¡¯t get thirsty¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s true, if that is so, we can¡¯t explore after all¡¹

    Dehydration symptoms don¡¯t exist in this game.

    Just because it¡¯s the desert, it is not like they would receive damage from the temperature.

    But since it is hard to walk on sand, it was difficult to say that it is easy to explore, but the two passed through the sand dunes, and moves forward slowly but surely.

    ¡¸There¡¯s nothing?¡¹

    ¡¸From how it looks that is¡¹

    Because there are many sand dunes, there might be something if they passed through them

    ¡¸For the meantime, let¡¯s move ahead¡¹

    ¡¸Okay¡¹

    They didn¡¯t let out Oboro and Syrup.

    Firstly, even if Syrupes out, it couldn¡¯t climb up through the sand dunes.

    Because on the way, it was pushed back by the breaking sand.

    And looking at Oboro, seeing that it was covered with sand, Sally returned it.

    ording to Sally, she feels bad for it.

    And the two who had climbed over ten sand dunes, they finally saw an oasis.

    ¡¸We finally see it!¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go quick!¡¹

    In the scenery that was full of sand, they could see that greens vibrant and shining.

    The two went to the oasis with light steps.

    ¡¸How is it? Does it connect to a dungeon?¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s split up and search around the corners. It¡¯s not that big so it would finish quickly¡¹

    The two searched all of the corners of the oasis, but they only figured out that there was nothing.

    ¡¸Mu?¡­ there¡¯s nothing¡¹

    ¡¸Unfortunately, it seems so¡¹

    ¡¸You want to take a little break?¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s do that. I¡¯m also a little bit tired¡¹

    Sally took a stretch.

    Both Sally and Maple had already gone through a long battle today.

    They couldn¡¯t be med if they were tired.

    Maple lied down and sloppily looked around.

    ¡¸n?¡­¡­n? Sally! Someone¡¯sing!¡¹

    Maple stood up and readied herrge shield.

    Sally also reacted to that voice, and stared at the yer that was going towards them while holding her dagger.

    ¡¸Ohh¡­ someone¡¯s first huh. On top of that, it¡¯s Maple¡­¡­ my luck isn¡¯t that good¡¹

    The person who came was a girl wearing Japanese clothes.

    She wears a sakura-colored kimono in her upper body.

    Also, a purple hakama.

    And she is equipped with on katana, so it¡¯s easy to figure out her features with a nce.

    ¡¸That person, she¡¯s sixth ranked in thest event¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?! Really¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve checked quite a bit, so I at least know that¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, excuse me while you¡¯re talking, but¡­¡­if it¡¯s alright, can you let me off¡¹

    It looks like this girl doesn¡¯t have the will to fight.

    Although it is unknown if she really feels like that.

    ¡¸¡­¡­what would you do if we say no?¡¹

    ¡¸In that case¡­¡­it can¡¯t be helped. I¡¯ll make sure that I¡¯d take one of you with me¡¹

    The girl said ¡®one of you¡¯, but her consciousness was towards Sally.

    Maple was readying her self so that she could attack or defend anytime.

    ¡¸With that, the one who remained would get all the medals so it¡¯s quite favorable for us¡¹

    Sally whispered.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­ah!¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s do it?¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s do it, huh?¡¹

    The two looked at the girl at the same time.

    ¡¸¡¾Super eleration¡¿!¡¹

    The girl escaped with full power.

    She ran away without looking back as fast as she could.

    ¡¸¡¾Super eleration¡¿!¡¹

    Sally chased after her with full strength.

    She chased after her as if to look at a prey.

    ¡¸W-Wait for me?!¡¹

    Maple chased after them with her full strength.

    She chased after them with the speed of a tortoise.

    ¡¸Why do you have¡¾Super eleration¡¿¡­¡­!!¡¹

    ¡¸Did you look down on me?¡¹

    The two¡¯s super eleration ended. The ce where they are was a valley surrounded by sand dunes. There¡¯s no ce to escape.

    The girl also reluctantly drew her katana.

    In fact, she thought that she could win if the opponent isn¡¯t Maple.

    After all, she was sixth.

    ¡¸¡¾First of the des?Kagerou¡¿¡¹

    The girl¡¯s appearance shook and disappeared.

    And, the next instant, she appeared in front of her.

    The katana that was swung sidewards cuts through Sally¡¯s torso.

    ¡¸Ha¡­?!!¡¹

    The girl was surprised.

    The thing that Sally was disappeared in front of her as if she melted into air.

    ¡¸Everyone, they react like that at first you know¡¹

    Red effects scatters from the girl¡¯s body.

    Because Sally doesn¡¯t have that much attack power, the damage isn¡¯t that big, but she shed through her stomach while passing through her side.

    And, Sally once again took distance.

    ¡¸If you don¡¯t defeat me before Maplees, it looks bad¡¹

    Sally said to the girl.

    ¡¸Ku!¡­¡­¡¾First of the des?Kagerou¡¿¡¹

    The girl once again approached Sally with fast speed.

    And, her katana shes through her just like before.

    ¡¸That, I saw it before¡¹

    It was a strange sight.

    The katana that shes through close distance was dodged by Sally by charging while crouching making it only cut the air.

    Sally continued like that and ran towards the woman¡¯s left side with a low posture.

    ¡¸Gu¡­¡­!¡¹

    Red effects scatter from the woman¡¯s feet.

    ¡¸I didn¡¯t think, that you were this strong¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Well, thanks¡¹

    The two turned around and faced each other.

    Sally didn¡¯t attack from her side.

    It was to aim for when her opponent breaks its posture when she dodges the attacks.

    If she receives a counterattack, it would be over.

    Although, her opponent doesn¡¯t know about that though.

    ¡¸¡­¡­I can only use my whole strength huh¡¹

    The girl who said that with a low voice changed her air.

    No, even her appearance changed.

    Her beautiful ck hair changes to a snow white, and her ck eyes were dyed in scarlet.

    Around the girl, effects with sakura colors just like in her kimono shines.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Sally also stops saying gibberish and heightens her concentration to the limit.

    This is Sally¡¯s best trump card.

    An absolute power that anyone else couldn¡¯t imitate.

    ¡¸¡¾Last of the des?Oborozuki¡¿¡¹

    Invisible consecutive attacks had attacked Sally.

    Because of their speed, the de trembles, as if they disappeared.

    It would be impossible to see those des through vision.

    ¡¸¡­¡­!!¡¹

    The one who whispered softly was the Japanese clothed girl.

    The invisible consecutive attacks couldn¡¯t catch Sally.

    She could only follow the somewhat decided movements until the skill ends when consecutive attack skills are activated.

    ¡°Hit¡±, ¡°Hit¡±, she swings her de while praying.

    Sally had dodged these consecutive attacks.

    The movement of her feet.

    The movement of her eyes.

    The movement of her arms.

    The movement of her shoulders.

    The sound of the de cutting air.

    Using all of that information, she predicted the movement of the de, and dodges within skin length.

    For her opponent, it should be weird as it can be. The attacks she did was being dodged using the least amount of movement right in front of her

    That¡¯s right, it was as if.

    She could see that the des were dodging Sally instead.

    The twelve consecutive attacks that each have killing strength ended.

    After the girl had looked at Sally, she smiled pleasantly and copsed to her back.

    ¡¸I lost. Do it with a single thought¡¹

    The color of her hair and eyes also returned.

    The aura also disappeared.

    ¡¸In my part, it was quite dangerous¡¹

    ¡¸Next time, I¡¯ll make sure I hit you¡¹

    At that time, when Sally was about to swing down her dagger.

    ¡¸AHHHHHHHH!! Wait, I cant stoppppppppppp!!!¡¹

    The two instinctively turned towards the ce where the scream wasing from, and there they saw a ck object rolling down the sand dune while catching up sand.

    ¡¸Eh! Wait! Maple! W-Wait!!¡¹

    That¡¯s right, that object was Maple.

    The only thing that she could be praised for was that she had unequipped herrge shield.

    And, it is already not a situation that she could stop even if she were told to wait.

    Maple flies to were the two was.

    She copsed while catching up sand big time.

    The three of them, it took a long time for them to do something about this situation.

    And, within that nk instant, a change happened beneath their feet.

    ¡¸Ha?!!¡¹

    ¡¸Ku! I can¡¯t escape!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?? Eh??¡¹

    The three reacted in their own ways, and got devoured by quicksand with tremendous speed.

    There was two who was able to fall on their feet after taking their bnce mid air.

    One of them was thrown into the ground while her armor echoed.

    Of course, it¡¯s Maple.

    Fortunately, it was not that high so the damage was zero.

    ¡¸W-What happened?¡¹

    ¡¸A dungeon that reacts with the number of people¡­ I guess?. It suddenly responded when Maple fell after all¡¹

    Looking at Sally who tried to hold her head to think of what to do, everyone noticed.

    To the fact that the three¡¯s hand were connected with a ck chain.

    ¡¸¡¸¡¸Eh?¡¹¡¹¡¹

    Sally¡¯s right hand to the Japanese clothed girl.

    Sally¡¯s left hand to Maple.

    The only hands that were free were the girl¡¯s right hand and Maple¡¯s left hand.

    The length of the change was a meter and a little bit, they shouldn¡¯t be able to move as usual.

    And for the three, it took a little bit of time to understand the situation.

 Chapter 36

    CHAPTER 36 ¨C DEFENSE SPECIALIZED AND UNDER THE QUICKSAND

    ¡¸n?¡­¡­it doesn¡¯t seem that it can be removed¡¹

    *GashaGasha*, Sally tried pulling the chains, but it did not seem that it would get torn off.

    ¡¸There is a button in my hand you know?¡¹

    ¡¸There¡¯s also in mine¡¹

    ¡¸I also have¡­¡­I didn¡¯t notice because of panicking¡¹

    The result of talking with the three of them, they decided to push the one Sally had.

    When the button was pushed, a blue te that is simr to status screen floated in the air.

    ¡¾Chains of Restraint¡¿

    Cursed chains that connect three targets.

    The three targets who is connected has only one destiny, and one death connects to everyone¡¯s death.

    ¡¾Indestructible¡¿

    ¡¸Uwa!¡­ so severe¡¹

    Currently, the one who has the most danger is Sally. Not only it is a situation where she is not able to properly dodge, her HP is also low.

    The same thing was shown even if someone else pushed the button.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll protect you for sure¡¹

    Maple said while readying herrge shield.

    ¡¸Un. I¡¯m counting on you¡¹

    The two nodded at each other.

    It was like their trust can be seen with the naked eye.

    ¡¸I¡¯m really out of ce here. Un¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­a temporary truce then¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, let¡¯s do that. Honestly, I don¡¯t want to fight anymore¡­¡­¡¹

    The japanese clothed girl took a breath, and introduced herself.

    The girl¡¯s name is Kasumi.

    Just like how she appears, she is good at fighting using a katana.

    Since it would be a waste of concentration for the fight that would be hard, she stopped speaking formally.

    ¡¸Then¡­ should we explore for the meantime?¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s do that!¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, that should be good. Nothing will happen if we stay here after all. And also, the chains might get removed after clearing the dungeon¡¹

    The three decided to go down the stairs made of sandstone in front of them.

    ¡¸Depending on the boss, we might be finished¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s just pray that it doesn¡¯t have an area attack¡¹

    Kasumi and Sally went down the stairs while being cautious. Maple was restlessly looking around.

    ¡¸Doesn¡¯t it feel humid?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? Ah?¡­ it might be¡¹

    ¡¸The walls also became a cave¡¯s walls. It was made well up until earlier, but¡­ this is uneven¡¹

    The ce where the stairs connect was a wide space.

    Rocks that can be seen in limestone caves covered the ceiling, and the droplets of water falling down from those echoed.

    The ground made with rocks with blue hues, and the slimy walls don¡¯t look very pretty.

    Because even the floors were slimy, it was hard to walk on it, and it looks like they would have a hard time exploring.

    ¡¸From how it looks, there¡¯s no monsters?¡¹

    ¡¸I, guess so. Doesn¡¯t seem to be any of them?¡¹

    They could not hear any sounds in the wide space other than the water dripping.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s move forward. I don¡¯t know where the goal would be¡­ but it looksplicated¡¹

    There were several forks extending from the from the space they are in right now.

    And each of them has high ceilings. It has the same height with the space right now, about 10 meters.

    ¡¸We need to be careful from surprise

    attacks from above huh¡¹

    ¡¸I also think so. The probability of that is probably hih¡¹

    ¡¸Then, I¡¯ll be ready to block alright!¡¹

    They chose one of the forks, and advanced deeper. After advancing for a while, the three came to a wide space again.

    ¡¸This ce too¡­ there¡¯s nothing¡¹

    ¡¸Does it only makes us cautious? The encounters are too low. For it to be zero¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s an exploration type dungeon, and in exchange for having only a boss monster, it would take long?¡¹

    Maple said what she had in mind, and the two nodded to that possibility.

    ¡¸There¡¯s a lot of forks too¡­¡­it really does seem to take a lot of time¡¹

    The three walked once again.

    To the right, to the left, up and down, they walked around, but they couldn¡¯t find the boss room at all.

    And, they had not encountered any monster even once.

    ¡¸Ah?¡­¡­it¡¯s a dead end¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Fuu?¡­¡­let¡¯s turn back, huh¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­n? Wait, the two of you!¡¹

    Maple stopped the two.

    The ce she pointed at was a small water puddle right next to the dead end¡¯s wall.

    Bubbles were appearing from there. It is something that one would miss if they were not being attentive, but Maple felt the slight difference within this cave that has no change.

    That was also a coincidence, but it was a huge achievement.

    The three approached and looked at it, and in there, one medal was shining with a silver color submerged.

    When Maple picked that up, the bubbles stopped appearing. It¡¯s probably a setting for it to be found.

    ¡¸Uwa¡­ I didn¡¯t notice it at all¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s also the same with me¡¹

    Kasumi said that it is Maple¡¯s since she was the one who found it, and made that stance continuous from here on.

    Meaning, the one who found it shall have the item.

    ¡¸With this, there¡¯s now the possibility that this dungeon doesn¡¯t have a boss¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s true, the possibility of that is now higher¡¹

    ¡¸What do you mean?¡¹

    ¡¸After all, if there¡¯s a boss, they should probably ce the medal there right? It was like that up until now¡¹

    ¡¸I see, now that you said it¡¹

    Because of that, the reason why they found a medal here, means all the same that this dungeon might be more of an exploration type.

    ¡¸We¡¯d need to check carefully the walls and the floor from now on huh¡­ fuu?¡­¡­ so tiresome?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll also do my best to search. I want to at least bring back one after all¡¹

    This time for real, the three turned away from the dead end.

    This cave has many dead ends, and on top of that, the scenery does not change so it is easy to get lost, making the exploration not go well as they have thought.

    ¡¸I¡¯m probably more good at dungeons that can be easily ended with fights?¡¹

    ¡¸Especially in my case!¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, I¡¯m also better at fighting¡¹

    They talked while walking, and the three came to a wide space once again.

    Its structure was as if it was an ant¡¯s next.

    But although that was said, there was not even one ant anywhere.

    ¡¸Ah!! Something¡¯s shining!¡¹

    ¡¸Is it a treasure?¡¹

    ¡¸It might be¡¹

    The three went to the middle of the open space.

    And in there, there was ground that is shining like the milky way. It is very different from the rocks up until now. The three crouched down and observed that which extends as if to divide the room.

    ¡¸It¡¯s beautiful, but¡­ it is not a gemstone. It might be simr to gold sand¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, that¡¯s true. But, it doesn¡¯t seem like we can get it¡¹

    Kasumi tried to do something about it using her katana, but just like when she would attack an indestructible thing, it was deflected.

    If there were able to mine this shining ground that is also quite wide, the three of them would surely get materials for each of them.

    Since it is a huge amount.

    ¡¸U?n¡­¡­ something like it would be able to be taken depending on the time? Just like the time in the bamboo forest¡¹

    ¡¸That possibility is high¡¹

    ¡¸Bamboo forest?¡¹

    Kasumi does not know about the bamboo forest, so Maple exined it.

    ¡¸Limited to night time huh¡­ I didn¡¯t walk during the night so I didn¡¯t notice¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s the time right now?¡¹

    ¡¸Wait a minute¡­¡­it¡¯s five thirty. Even if we were able to get out of this cave, it¡¯s probably already in the evening¡¹

    ¡¸If that is so, we probably need to stay for a night here huh¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s quite hard huh¡¹

    They had not found means for escaping so it could not be helped.

    The three left the space, and went exploring once again.

    They walked while checking the walls or floors, but they had not seen any medal after that once.

    ¡¸n?¡¹

    ¡¸What is it? Sally¡¹

    ¡¸Did you saw something?¡¹

    ¡¸No, right now, I felt like there was a small earthquake¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Really? I didn¡¯t notice it though¡¹

    ¡¸I also didn¡¯t. Is that true?¡¹

    ¡¸U?n¡­¡­ I might be just tired. I fought with Fake Maple today after all¡¹

    ¡¸Fake Maple? What is that?¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, you know, that is©`©`¡¹

    Maple told her about the doppelganger boss.

    Kasumi listened to that very curiously and interestingly.

    ¡¸Well, that is¡­ quite a hard boss fight. Exploring was all I did after all?¡¹

    ¡¸Then, I want to hear about your explorations?!¡¹

    ¡¸Hahaha, alright. Well, let me think¡­ where should I start¡­¡­¡¹

    Circumstantially, the bond between the three who was connected by chains deepened.

    They had gotten along with each other, that even Sally thought of stop defeating Kasumi.

    Six hours has already passed.

    The fifth day is right around the corner.

 Chapter 37

    CHAPTER 37 ¨C DEFENSE SPECIALIZED AND OUTSIDE THE GAME

    This is the real world that is slightly back in time.

    About this room where the ones who managing the game controls each game so that there would be no trouble.

    ¡¸AAAaAAAaaAAHHH!!!¡¾Silver Wing¡¿was done in!!¡¹

    One man shouted.

    Everyone in the room reacted to that voice.

    ¡¸Ha? ¡¾Silver Wing¡¿? That guy wasn¡¯t set to be defeated by yers right?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, we even packed it skills with high killing abilities, it has high HP, high MP, and high status. It¡¯s the lump of our malice¡¹

    ¡¸Who is it? Who had defeated it?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll show the video now¡­¡­¡¹

    When the man operated the machine, the video ys on one monitor.

    Monster bird with white shining wings.

    Against it, a duo of a girl wearing ck armor, and a girl wearing a blue garment.

    ¡¸Maple?! Are you serious?! Oi, oi, ¡¾Silver Wing¡¿is impossible for her right?!¡¹

    ¡¸She should becking mobility! I¡¯d understand if she¡¯s against¡¾Earth Dragon¡¿though¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡°Impossible, impossible¡±, with those words flying back and forth, the battle started.

    ¡¸The shards¡­ well, that¡¯d happen huh¡¹

    ¡¸Such a crazy defense as usual¡¹

    Everyone in the room, they were taking nces at that screen while managing the events.

    After a while, the scene in question yed.

    ¡¸She¡¯s the problem! This blue coat had be Maple¡¯s mobility!¡¹

    It was being shown in the screen Maple moving at high-speed using¡¾Cover Move¡¿.

    It looks like that was out of their expectations.

    Everyone looked at the screen intently.

    ¡¸¡­¡­that girl is¡¾Sally¡¿, ces importance on AGI, and her skillposition is very wide and shallow. The strong abilities she have are only¡¾Mirage¡¿and¡¾Ocean¡¿¡¹

    One man checked Sally¡¯s information and provides it.

    ¡¸Well, it¡¯s normal huh. No, ifpared to Maple, everyone would be normal¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s true¡¹

    In front of everyone who was having a wryugh.

    Sally¡¯s abnormality shows itself.

    ¡¸¡­¡­I¡¯ll take that back. This one¡¯s also awful. Maybe, she¡¯s even worse than Maple¡¹

    ¡¸She has no prediction type skill right?!!¡¹

    ¡¸Y-Yeah. She don¡¯t¡¹

    Sally who was being shown in the video was dodging Silver Wings¡¯ attacks with inhuman evasion ability.

    With those movements that were as if she had really predicted them, voices of surprise were raised from here and there.

    ¡¸How is she dodging that?¡¹

    ¡¸Even if the if the shards are on a stop, it¡¯s difficult to get through there, oi¡¹

    And, everyone in the room watched that fight finish in a daze.

    And there, finally, one of them raised a voice.

    ¡¸This is bad!! Doesn¡¯t this mean they would be able to take¡¾Mythical Beast¡¯s Egg¡¿?!¡¹

    ¡¸What¡¯s inside?!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s fox and tortoise. Well¡­ it¡¯s still better¡¹

    ¡¸What about the bird and wolf?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s in the¡¾Sea Emperor¡¿¡¯s ce. It¡¯s set that that guy wouldn¡¯t leave from there¡­ well, that should be alright¡­¡¹

    After saying that, he leaned his back against the chair as if he was exhausted.

    ¡¸Ah?¡­¡­ impossible?, it¡¯s impossible that that¡¯s even like that after being nerfed?¡¹

    ¡¸Oi, one¡¯s who are free, re-check the medal skills! Re-check if there are skills that can be used strangely!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸Understood!¡¹¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­they should be good enough to be thest boss instead¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh¡­ that might be true¡¹

    Fatigue could be heavily felt from that voice.

    Maple and Sally never knew about this happening.

 Chapter 38

    CHAPTER 38 ¨C DEFENSE SPECIALIZED AND ENCOUNTER

    ¡¸I think that we can¡¯t leave this cave today¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸If so, we need to find a ce to sleep then¡¹

    Adding a safe ce to sleep in the exploration objectives, the three went through right and left through the hallways.

    ¡¸I just wish that we can coincidentally find the exit?¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I also think that¡¯s for the best¡­ I¡¯m already tired for today¡¹

    Maple and Sally were very tired. They even want to stop exploring right away and sleep.

    And, when they saw another wide room through the hallway after numerous times.

    ¡¸E-Earthquake?!¡¹

    ¡¸I can also feel it now!¡¹

    The ground shook so much that they could feel it with their body.

    And, *GuchoGucho*, a disgusting sound could be heard from the wide room ahead.

    While preparing to fight, the three looked at the wide room.

    And from a different path from the three¡¯s path, ¡°that¡± appeared.

    Judging from the height of the ceiling, it has a height of more or less 5 meters, and length of more or less 7 meters.

    A giant snail crawls out to the wide room.

    It seems like it didn¡¯t notice the three, it disappeared into another path.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­this is bad. That thing¡¯s bad¡¹

    ¡¸It didn¡¯t have an HP Bar¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸H-How bad is it?¡¹

    Maple cautiously asked the two who were having a serious face.

    ¡¸Since it has no HP Bar¡­¡­it means, it can¡¯t be defeated¡¹

    ¡¸If we don¡¯t find a safety area and encounter it¡­¡­it¡¯s the end¡¹

    The three¡¯s body is connected by chains.

    They can¡¯t let anyone be a decoy.

    ¡¸For the meantime, let¡¯s leave this ce. Before it returns¡¹

    ¡¸Un, let¡¯s do that¡¹

    ¡¸Then, that way should be good?¡¹

    The three went through a different way from where they came from, and different from the way that the snail came from very quickly.

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­that¡¯s why this dungeon is in this shape¡¹

    Sally whispered.

    This dungeon is like an ant¡¯s nest where there are a lot of extending paths and dead ends.

    And all of the ces have high ceilings, without any unneeded obstacles.

    And, the yers are connected by chains.

    It means, it is made that it would be easy for the snail to move, and hard for the yers to run away.

    ¡¸Maybe, this dungeon¡¯s difficulty would change depending on the time¡¹

    It was as Kasumi has said.

    This dungeon would change into a monster¡¯s nest where the snail lives in after 6 pm.

    And the time which that would end also exists, but the three doesn¡¯t know when.

    And, as the time passes, the sound of the ground shaking bes louder.

    ¡¸I-I wonder if there¡¯s more than one?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­maybe¡¹

    Sally heightened her hearings, and tried to find where the soundes from.

    She can¡¯t hear the *GuchoGucho* sound nearby.

    It seems like it isn¡¯t anywhere near.

    Even so, it is also true that they need to be continuously on guard.

    And that thing, is the reason that reduces Sally¡¯s concentration.

    And when they have advanced through several branching ways, that happened.

    ¡¸¡­¡­!!¡¹

    The instant that they turned to the co

    rner.

    The snail was there.

    ¡¸Run! We¡¯re turning back!¡¹

    Kasumi and Sally started to run, but Maple couldn¡¯t keep up with them.

    ¡¸Oh¡­¡­god!!¡¹

    Faster than Sally pulls up Maple, the snail closed in.

    The snail shook its body while sshing out a liquid that was very sticky.

    ¡¸Ku!!¡¹

    Thanks to therge shield devouring the liquid, Maple was barely able to avoid the liquid.

    ¡¸Sally, we¡¯re running! Use¡¾Super eleration¡¿!¡¹

    ¡¸!! I got it!¡¹

    Thest resort they had decided in the case where they cannot escape by any other means.

    ¡¸¡¸¡¾Super eleration!¡¿¡¹¡¹

    The two¡¯s body elerated.

    Maple¡¯s body was dragged.

    A typical yer would receive damage from this and die.

    If so, they would all die.

    However, Maple is different.

    If it is Maple, she can survive receiving no damage.

    But even so, it isn¡¯t somethingfortable.

    That is why, it is thest resort.

    *GachanGachan!*, the armor sounded.

    Maple instinctively put away her shield, but she couldn¡¯t make it on time to operate to put away her armor.

    ¡¸How is it from behind?!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s alright! It isn¡¯t able to keep up!¡¹

    The three could somehow sessfully run away.

    However, for a while, they can¡¯t use¡¾Super eleration¡¿. They would probably be ready to die when they encounter it while it is on cooldown.

    And in that situation, they started to hear the *GuchoGucho* sound without any time to rest.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ku!¡­ it¡¯s alsoing from a different direction!¡¹

    ¡¸Here!¡¹

    They ran through left and right of the branching paths.

    Maple removed her equipments and was carried by Sally.

    It was their usual style.

    ¡¸As I¡¯ve thought! That snail, it¡¯s reacting to sounds!¡¹

    When the sound of Maple¡¯s armor disappeared, the *GuchoGucho* sound that they could hear started to go away.

    ¡¸How is it? Is it there?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­I think it¡¯s not anywhere nearby, I guess?¡¹

    ¡¸Haa?¡­¡­we¡¯ve escaped¡­¡­¡¹

    The three leaned against the wall.

    It cannot be said that it is said in the middle of a path, but it is many times better than sitting on a dead end.

    ¡¸We should somehow¡­ find the exit¡¹

    ¡¸Un, I guess so¡­¡­¡¹

    Their goal was decided without any need to consult.

    The longer they stay, the more dangerous it will be.

    And for that, they need to find the exit quickly.

    ¡¸It seems like this dungeon doesn¡¯t have a boss¡­¡­we should be content just finding a medal or an equipment just like Maple¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, let¡¯s do that. There is that snail¡­ this dungeon¡¯s concept is probably exploration¡¹

    ¡¸You mean like¡­¡­this whole dungeon is a boss room?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I guess so¡¹

    Finishing their conversation, Sally prepared to depart.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go before we¡¯re found. The entrance is from above¡­¡­so I think that the exit¡¯s below, I guess?¡¹

    ¡¸That might be the case. It isn¡¯t for sure though¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Then, let¡¯s go down. It should be better than going up¡¹

    There were some paths that were slightly going down. They were nning on advancing through those paths as soon as they find one.

    The three went deeper and deeper.

    Along the way, they were able to see the appearance of the snails.

    Seeing them, Sally became sure.

    To the fact that those snails are faster than Maple.

    Meaning, they cannot escape them by running away normally.

    In the case where they meet it in a corner.

    There is a timeg before Sally carries Maple.

    And if they are caught by its sticky liquid in that instant, they would get caught.

    However, Sally would not be able to carry Maple if she was holding herrge shield.

    They wished that they would not encounter it at a very close range.

    ¡¸Fuu?¡­¡­I should concentrate¡­¡­¡¹

    Forcing her tired body, Sally heightened her concentration.

    Sally¡¯s reconnaissance is the three¡¯s lifeline.

    And after advancing very carefully trying to not make any sound, the appearance of the cave started to change.

    ¡¸How pretty¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh¡­that¡¯s true¡¹

    ¡¸I somehow feel a little at ease¡­¡¹

    The violet crystals in the walls were shining.

    Those things here and there could not be gathered, but the three¡¯s third heart became a little healed because of their fantastical light.

    And in addition.

    ¡¸The ceiling¡­became lower?¡¹

    As Sally has said, the ceiling became lower in some ces. It was barely enough height for the snails to pass through.

    ¡¸But¡­¡­the sound of the ground shaking became louder¡¹

    ¡¸Just thinking that the environment changed while their numbers increased, it would be more of an advantage for us¡¹

    The three advanced.

    The three wished to escape from this ce today if possible.

    While praying that they would not hear the *GuchoGucho* sound, they started exploring while being careful of a pincer attack.

 Chapter 39: Defense Specialized and Crystal Cave

    Chapter 39 ¨C Defense Specialized and Crystal Cave

    ¡¸Well then¡­ if there¡¯s a safety area or not¡­¡¹

    Sally whispered.

    Sally realized that she is starting to lose her concentration.

    It is not strange if a fatal mistake would ur anytime.

    And, the meaning of Sally who was in charge of reconnaissance having a mistake means the death of everyone.

    ¡¸I need to do my best¡­¡¹

    *PechiPechi*, she pped her cheeks, tries to regain her spirits and heighten her hearing.

    ¡¸I hear a faint sound from the left. There isn¡¯t any problem to the right¡¹

    The other two tried to hear it, but they couldn¡¯t hear it at all, hidden by the sound of the ground shaking.

    It seems like they could not act as a subst.i.tute for her.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s hurry, it would be bad if it appears on the right¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, I got it¡¹

    ¡¸Un, let¡¯s go!¡¹

    The three of them advanced to the right path with a fast pace.

    The appearance of the snail wasn¡¯t there, and they were able to advance deeper.

    If they had advanced to the left, at that time, they would have been found by the snail.

    Sally¡¯s reconnaissance had barely not lost its effects.

    Advancing for a while, the three ended up in a dead end.

    However, it was notpletely a bad thing.

    ¡¸Something¡¯s there!¡¹

    The ce where Kasumi was pointing at was arge purple crystal.

    And as if it was sealed within it, there was an old key and a cherry blossom shaped earring.

    When the three approached it, that purple crystal had an HP Bar.

    It means, it is possible to destroy it.

    ¡¸It¡¯s likely that we need the key¡­ I think that we should take it¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Un, I think so too¡¹

    ¡¸Then¡­ I¡¯ll do it¡¹

    Kasumi drew her katana and made a stance.

    ¡¸¡¾Fourth of the des?Whirlwind¡¿!¡¹

    She shes twice upwards and twice downwards.

    The high-speed consecutive attacks. .h.i.ts the crystal as if it was sucked into it.

    The crystal was not able to endure those consecutive attacks, *Parin*, it broke together with the sound of a .s.s breaking.

    Kasumi picks up the key and earring that fell to the ground and checked it.

    ¡¸The key¡­¡­it doesn¡¯t have a description. The earring is just an equipment. It doesn¡¯t seem like it has something to do on how to escape from here¡¹

    She said that, and let the other two check it.

    ¡¸Un, it really seems so¡¹

    ¡¸The key¡­ where should we use it?¡¹

    ¡¸Who knows¡­? For the meantime, this earring will be Kasumi¡¯s¡¹

    Sally gave the earring to Kasumi.

    After that, they talked for a while, and the key was also given to Kasumi.

    ¡¸Well then¡­ let¡¯s continue exploring¡¹

    This ce was a dead end, it doesn¡¯t have a ce to runaway to.

    The three moved back to where they came from in a hurry.

    And, what the three found after turning back and continue exploring for a while was a side hole near the ceiling.

    That thing that was in the middle of the pathways was something that they did not see before.

    It was natural for the three to think that there is something inside that.

    ¡¸That, can we enter it?¡¹

    ¡¸U?n¡­¡­I think that we can¡¯t reach it using¡¾Leap¡¿¡­¡¹

    ¡¾Leap¡¿was n

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    ot enough to enter that side hole ced 10 meters from the ground.

    And when the three was thinking, that time.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­wait, be quiet! ¡­it came!¡¹

    Sally had heard the *GuchoGucho* sounds with her ears.

    On top of that, it wasing from both sides.

    ¡¸I was cautious to not get in the middle!¡¹

    They were not caught in the middle not once up until now, the chances of meeting them were slim from the start, and Sally hadpletely read their positions.

    The sounds where the sounds of the ground shaking wereing from, she had guessed their distance from them using that, and she was able to choose the best pathway.

    And right now, that crumbled for the first time.

    She had read wrongly the movement of one snail.

    ¡¸We can only enter through that hole¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸Sally, use¡¾Leap¡¿! I¡¯ll do something about the rest!¡¹

    There was already no time on hearing what Kasumi was nning.

    The snails have appeared from both sides.

    ¡¸¡¾Leap¡¿!¡¹

    Sally prayed that they might have reached it, but it was really not enough, counting the weight of additional two people.

    ¡¸¡¾Third of the des?Lone Moon¡¿!¡¹

    Kasumi¡¯s body elerated mid-air.

    Being supported by the system, Kasumi¡¯s bodyunched upwards.

    Of course, pulling the two with her.

    Kasumi¡¯s body spins once in the air leaving the effect of the sh, and fell while advancing forward.

    That was just exactly where the hole was.

    The three plunged into the hole as if to roll in it. Sally immediately checked the snails below.

    The snails tried to spurt out their sticky liquid, but it seems like it couldn¡¯t reach them.

    ¡¸Doesn¡¯t seem like they have ways toe up¡­ I think¡¹

    Sally was relieved, fell to the ground and leaned her back on the crystal wall.

    ¡¸Haha¡­ thank goodness it worked¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks, Kasumi. We couldn¡¯t reach it with just my¡¾Leap¡¿¡¹

    ¡¸Un! It was amazing!¡¹

    ¡¸The time of getting stiff when Lone Moon misses is very long, you know¡­¡­if we couldn¡¯t reach it, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to move and we¡¯d get defeated by the snails¡­ it was also a gamble for me¡¹

    Her gamble paid off.

    Thanks to that, the three were able to have their long awaited break.

    The hole wasn¡¯trge enough for the snail to enter.

    ¡¸It¡¯s also good to rest, but¡­ would you like to take a nce ahead? There¡¯s no guarantee that there would be no other monsters¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­I guess so. That should be good too. I havepletely thought that there are only snail monsters here¡¹

    ¡¸Un, I also agree with that¡¹

    The three agreed.

    The three stood up, and advanced through the hole.

    The hole was connected to a circr hall.

    It was about 5 meters away from the ground, and the room has six pathways.

    Just looking from far away, one can tell that it was high enough for a snail to pa.s.s through.

    And, about right ahead of the hole the three were in, there was a wall with a door.

    Its size was 2 meters high.

    It wasn¡¯t a giant door for boss rooms up until now.

    ¡¸Is that the exit?¡¹

    ¡¸Wait a second. ¡¾Far Vision¡¿! ¡­¡­¡­there is a keyhole. Most probably, the key earlier should be for that. I¡¯m sure that there¡¯s something in there¡¹

    ¡¸Then¡­¡­you wanna go? There isn¡¯t any sound of snailsing from the paths too¡¹

    ¡¸Really?¡¹

    ¡¸Are you sure?¡¹

    Being told by the two, Sally checked again with her ears.

    She couldn¡¯t hear the soundsing from any pathways.

    She listened carefully for several minutes, but in the end, she couldn¡¯t her the sounds of the snails.

    ¡¸It¡¯s alright. I couldn¡¯t hear anything¡¹

    ¡¸Then¡­¡­let¡¯s go¡¹

    ¡¸Un, let¡¯s do that¡¹

    The three jumped down to the ground.

    Maple and Kasumi trust Sally¡¯s reconnaissance ability.

    Sally have absolute confidence in her own ability.

    And there was no mistake from the answer that she had using that ability.

    There were no snailsing from the pathways, no©`©`there was no monsters at all.

    However, as a conclusion.

    They should have really taken a break in the hole they were before.

    They didn¡¯t notice that their thinking had narrowed.

    That¡¯s right.

    The three did not think that the environment would change as soon as they go down at all.

    The crystal grew at a fast pace, blocking the hole.

    And from all the pathways, they started to hear that sound.

    That disgusting *GuchoGucho* sound.

    ¡¸T-This is bad!¡¹

    ¡¸What should we do!¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s run for it! That¡¯s all we can do!¡¹

    Maple was fully equipped right now.

    However, they have no time to wait for her to remove her equipments. The snails had already started to crawl out of the pathways.

    The distance to the door was 25 meters.

    It was not a significant distance, but the three felt like it was so far away.

 Chapter 40: CHAPTER 40 â€“ DEFENSE SPECIALIZED AND ESCAPE PLAN

    ¡¸¡¸¡¾Super eleration¡¿!¡¹¡¹

    Sally and Kasumi¡¯s body suddenly elerated and approached the door while pulling Maple. Three snails appeared on each side, and two snails appeared diagonally ahead.

    There was no way that those two snails would let the three of them go toward the door, and obstructing their way by scattering their sticky liquid.

    ¡¸Ku¡­! to the left!¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah!¡¹

    Sally and Kasumi instinctively changed their direction to the ce where the ground is okay.

    Maple was being dragged so she is unable to do the same thing, so she took care of the sticky liquid by using¡¾Bizarre Eater(Akujiki)¡¿.

    The snail¡¯s speed is above Maple¡¯s but they far off Sally and Kasumi¡¯s speed.

    As long as they could avoid the sticky liquid, it is very easy to reach the door.

    ¡¸Yosh! Kasumi!¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah! Leave it to me!¡¹

    Kasumi quickly took out the key from her inventory and tried to put it in the lock.

    But at that time.

    ¡¸Uwwa!!¡¹

    *Picha*, with that sound, something reached out from the snail.

    That thing that is best described as tentacles stole the key from her hand.

    After the tentacles had ced the key on top of the its head, it went back inside its body.

    ¡¸W-We need to take it back!¡¹

    ¡¸We can¡¯t reach it with¡¾Leap¡¿¡­!¡¹

    It was a possible height if it was only Sally, but it is impossible with Maple and Kasumi.

    ¡¸We can¡¯t just stay here! It¡¯sing!¡¹

    The snails slowly approached. They would get hit by the sticky liquid if they just stayed there. Also, those tentacles might reach out again.

    ¡¸Kasumi! What about¡¾Lone Moon¡¿?!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s impossible unless there¡¯s a chance! I¡¯ll get defeated while I get stiff!¡¹

    While that happened, the ground gradually got covered by sticky liquid.

    There is not much time left.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­Sally! Let¡¯s charge straight towards the side hole!¡¹

    It was Maple who raised her voice. Sally looked at Maple, and she saw a certain confidence in her eyes.

    ¡¸¡­I got it, let¡¯s try it!¡¹

    She dashed together with Kasumi.

    To return to the side hole, they must pass through the snails.

    The snails have already surrounded the three.

    ¡¸Leave this one to me! ¡¾Sixth of the des?Homura¡¿!¡¹

    The zing de was swung down and the mes broke through the snails.

    There was no damage but she knew that it would have an intimidating effect for an instant. It was only for an instant, but it was enough for this situation.

    After the three had broken through, the snails followed them.

    ¡¸As I¡¯ve thought! Their movements are simple!¡¹

    It was exactly as Maple said.

    The snails followed exactly the route that the three passed through.

    The other two understood without saying what Maple wanted to do after that.

    ¡¸¡¾Leap¡¿!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Third of the des?Lone Moon¡¿!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra¡¿!¡¹

    Each of the three¡¯s skillpleted their own task.

    Maple made the snails flinch, and at that chance, they reached the snail¡¯s shell part thanks to Kasumi and Sally.

    Maple¡¯s skill helped Kasumi pass her time of getting stiff.

    ¡¸If it¡¯s here, there¡¯s no sticky liquid! ¡­also¡¹

    Sally looked ahead and saw the snails approaching, moving simrly.

    One of them has the key on its head.

    By running at a straight line, the snails chasing after them and the door are almost in the same line.

    Luckily, the snail that has the key seemed to bete, and its body is a little on the side.

    ¡¸We¡¯re going to go and get the key without being obstructed by the shell now!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Leap¡¿!¡¹

    Because the position of the shell is higher than its head, they were able to steal the key by jumping down.

    ¡¸Yosh!¡¹

    ¡¸Hurry!¡¹

    However, the state of the ground that theynded on was too bad so the loss of time was inevitable.

    They were able to reach the door but they allowed the snail to give time to reach out its tentacles and scatter sticky liquid.

    Even so.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover¡¿!¡¹

    Maple blocked that using herrge shield.

    Maple who is defending would not allow any attack pass her by.

    ¡¸I won¡¯t let it happen twice!¡¹

    ¡¸Yosh! It opened!¡¹

    When Sally opened the door, they entered the room as if to roll inside.

    The next instant they entered the room, the door disappeared, and the possibility of being attacked by the snail from earlier also disappeared.

    And, at the same time, the chains that bound the three broke into pieces and disappeared.

    That only means that they have cleared the dungeon.

    ¡¸Fu?¡­¡­we survived¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah¡­ I¡¯m tired¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t want to see snails anytime soon¡­¡¹

    There are four treasure boxes in this room, and one magic circle.

    ¡¸The treasure box¡­¡­let¡¯s open it¡¹

    ¡¸Yes! Let¡¯s do that¡¹

    The three of them opened a treasure box each.

    ¡¸It¡¯s a spear here?!¡¹

    ¡¸I got arge shield¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s a staff in mine¡¹

    The three of them took out what¡¯s inside and showed it to each other. The only thing that is useful within the three is therge shield.

    ¡¸Maple, it¡¯s Maple who should get this. There¡¯s nothing that I can use it for¡­¡¹

    Kasumi said and gave therge shield to Maple.

    ¡¸Is it okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, I do not mind¡¹

    Although it is not enough for an exchange, Maple and Sally gave her the spear and the staff.

    ¡¸Fumu¡­¡­it¡¯s a good equipment¡¹

    Kasumi whispered seeing the equipment¡¯s stats.

    It had stats that yers who can equip it would really like.

    ¡¸There¡¯s still one treasure box remaining too¡¹

    Sally went to the remaining treasure box.

    The other to followed her as well, and peeked behind Sally who is opening the box.

    ¡¸n?¡­ three scrolls, that¡¯s it¡¹

    She checked whether there is a medal, and took out the scrolls from the treasure box.

    ¡¸They¡¯re all the same scroll. It can make you learn the¡¾Encourage¡¿skill¡¹

    Sally gave the two scrolls.

    Putting that on their inventories, the work in this room is finished.

    ¡¸Well, let¡¯s go out then?¡¹

    ¡¸Alright¡­ this cave was so troublesome?¡­ I¡¯m tired¡¹

    The three of them entered the magic circle and left the cave.

    The reason why they were able to safely leave this cave was thanks to each of their uniqueness.

    If they were not able to cover their missing parts, the results might have been different.

    The three returned to the desert before.

    ¡¸Haa?¡­ it¡¯s the night sky¡­¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not like we were in there that long though¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, but for some reason, I¡¯m happy¡¹

    The night sky that they were not able to see inside the cave is full of the sense of liberation.

    ¡¸Oh wait¡­ we, we nned on fighting Kasumi but¡­¡­ I don¡¯t feel like fighting anymore¡¹

    Sally did not feel on asking for a fight after cooperating with each other.

    Of course, Maple thinks so as well.

    ¡¸I also don¡¯t feel like fighting¡­ well, I didn¡¯t do so in the first ce¡¹

    ¡¸I know! If it¡¯s like that, let¡¯s register as friends!¡¹

    ¡¸n, I do not mind¡¹

    After finishing registering friends with each other, the three of them lied on the ground and looked up to the sky.

    Whether is it because of their tired or from relief, they thought of being like that for a while.

    ¡¸Kasumi¡­ what are you nning after this?¡¹

    ¡¸Let me see¡­ for the meantime, I think I¡¯ll go on different ways from you two. We registered as friends too, so we can still meet after this event¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s okay to go with us though¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Un, it¡¯s okay!¡¹

    ¡¸Haha¡­ I¡¯m happy, but I¡¯ll refrain from it. If two golden medals are in one ce, the amount of battle will increase too¡¹

    What Kasumi said were right.

    Other yers know that Kasumi and Maple have a golden medal.

    Of course, there are many who targets that.

    The more it is if there was two of them.

    ¡¸I see¡­ it¡¯s too bad, but it can¡¯t be helped huh¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah¡­¡­ yo, tto! I¡¯ll go now¡¹

    Kasumi stood up and brushes of the sand.

    ¡¸Do your best okay!¡¹

    ¡¸The two of you too¡¹

    Kasumi waved her hand to the two onst time, and left them.

    Just like that, the strange cooperative fight closed its curtains.

 Chapter 41: CHAPTER 41 â€“ DEFENSE SPECIALIZED AND THE FIFTH DAY OF THE EVENT

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go too¡¹

    ¡¸I guess so¡¹

    A while after Kasumi left, the two stood up.

    Their goal is to find a ce to sleep tonight.

    ¡¸We must leave the desert first¡­¡¹

    It is very dangerous to sleep in the desert where they do not have anything to protect themselves.

    The two started to walk.

    ¡¸It¡¯s so vast?¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I agree¡­¡­¡¹

    Although they went over and over sand dunes, the same scenery only continues.

    There are huge sand dunes here and there making it hard to see far away so they do not know where to go to leave the desert.

    Also, it was not like there were no monsters.

    Honestly, the two of them were wishing to avoid battles.

    ¡¸You like to rest for a while after going over this sand dune?¡¹

    ¡¸Un, let¡¯s do that¡¹

    They used their hands to climb the steep slope.

    And after that, the scenery there was a little different to that up until now.

    ¡¸There¡¯s no sand dunes?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s so t!¡¹

    It is a desert that has no undtions that have spread ahead of them.

    There is not even one sand dune, and if it was during the night, they must have been able to see far away.

    ¡¸You want to go this side?¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s do that! This one looks easier to walk on¡¹

    With their opinions agreeing, the two of them slid down the dune and started to walk again.

    ¡¸If it was during the day, we might have seen something¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s true. How many days are left in the event again?¡¹

    ¡¸Three days. And our goal is to collect 9 more medals within that¡¹

    ¡¸U?n¡­ isn¡¯t it a little difficult?¡¹

    ¡¸It might be so, if we don¡¯t PK or something¡¹

    ¡¸U?n¡­¡­ I see¡¹

    There was no other way if she insisted, but the difficulty would be the same as finding dungeons because they do not know whether the opponent has a medal or not.

    ¡¸Well, let¡¯s think about that when we meet yers. If they are nning on fighting, we only need to defeat them instead¡¹

    ¡¸Un, I guess so¡¹

    The two continued to walk on the very vast desert.

    It is dark so they cannot see well ahead, but because they started to hear the sounds of shaking leaves, they were able to guess that the end of the desert hase.

    ¡¸We don¡¯t know what kind of monsters are there, so be careful¡¹

    ¡¸Okay?!¡¹

    About 30 minutes advancing inside the dark forest.

    The two found a cave.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go inside. And if it is shallow, let¡¯s us it as a base¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll go first¡¹

    The two thought that it might be a deep cave, but it was only a simple cave extending 5 meters deep.

    The twoid down, finally able to take their rest.

    ¡¸Ah?¡­ I¡¯m so tired today¡¹

    ¡¸Me too¡­¡­¡¹

    The two of them called their own partners.

    There is the reason for removing stress, but it is also because they felt sorry for them, neglecting them because there were no opportunities to call them out.

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry for not letting you go out¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll let you level up seriously after the event ends okay¡¹

    The two said that, and patted their two familiars, making it happy.

    ¡¸How about stopping for today, with the forest exploration as the start tomorrow?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m fine with that¡¹

    They decided to take turns on sleeping, and slept early. They wanted to rest as much as they could in this day.

    Each of them hugged Syrup and Oboro and fell asleep.

    6 o¡¯clock in the next day.

    They are somewhat relieved from their fatigue, and the two¡¯s motivation for exploring returned.

    After finishing a light breakfast, they left the cave and started to explore the forest.

    ¡¸Turn over a new leaf! Let¡¯s go with fighting spirits!¡¹

    ¡¸Ohh?!¡¹

    They have explored forests many times up until now, but this forest was an ordinary forest.

    And the reason for that is, searching for about two hours, they were not able to find anything.

    ¡¸We don¡¯t know the special condition it needs too¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Would you like to, leave this forest now?¡¹

    Sally thought for a while with Maple¡¯s suggestion, and nodded to show affirmation.

    ¡¸Where should we go?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not like we can turn back so, let¡¯s just move ahead. There might be ces that have yet to be explored too¡¹

    The two¡¯s way of exploration is to explore the deep parts, so they do not know whether or not there is something in near the entrance of the forest.

    However, it could be said that that would be wishful.

    Whether it be dungeon or a normal field, important things are hidden in the deep, and with strong monsters protecting them.

    There is no reason to ce medals in treasure box near the entrance.

    And when they approached the entrance of the forest, the two felt something.

    ¡¸The sound of waves?¡¹

    ¡¸Un, I can also hear it¡¹

    They saw the end of the forest, and up ahead, the two sawpletely white sand and a magnificent sea. Various kinds of fishes joyfully swam deep under the clear sea, and there were beautiful corals as if they were flowers blooming, coloring the sea.

    A small ind could be seen far away.

    The light of the sun reflects on the sea surface, it was shining.

    ¡¸Oh?¡­ it¡¯s the sea this time huh?¡­ this field is really wide?¡¹

    ¡¸There¡¯s so many things so it¡¯s fun!¡¹

    Within this 5 days, the two explored many ces like grasnd, forest, snow mountain, and caves.

    But even so, they were able to meet newndscapes so it is very worth exploring.

    The reason why the two were able to meet so many sceneries was mostly because the two of them are eager to explore.

    Every day, the continued to explore for many hours, and as a result, they are able to meet new dungeons andndscapes.

    And it was because the two of them were lucky that the dungeon was yet to be captured.

    ¡¸But¡­ I can¡¯t explore in the sea?¡¹

    ¡¸For the meantime, I¡¯ll go explore underwater okay¡¹

    ¡¸Un, do your best¡¹

    *BashaBasha*, Sally entered the sea and after taking a deep breath, she dives.

    Sally can dive for a maximum of 40 minutes.

    She would not being out for a while.

    ¡¸What should I do while waiting¡­ I can¡¯t fish properly too?¡­ we explored the forest as well¡­ u?n, should I search around whether there is something buried in the sand?¡¹

    Saying that, Maple started to digging sand.

    Changing ces, under the sea, Sally was fascinated by the jewel-like fishes.

    It was such a beautiful sight.

    And because all that she could look at the day before were sticky snails, the more that they looked beautiful.

    However, she cannot be just looking at them. She investigates the spaces between the corals and under the sand in the bottom of the sea.

    It¡¯s a work that will take a considerable amount of time without skills, but with Sally¡¯s skill build, it is possible to do it quickly.

    ¡¸Puha¡­! Yossh, 1 medal get! Are there only a few people who have¡¾Diving¡¿and¡¾Swimming¡¿? It looks like it would be hard to explore in the deep parts¡¹

    There was no need to dive to her limits, so she came up once to take a breath.

    There are several ces in between the corals that continue deep, and the medal from earlier was fount there.

    Sally searched those ces intensively.

    Because it is that kind of ces that has medals or equipments.

    The shallow parts seem to have been already explored, so she searched in the deep parts.

    As a result, she was able to find another medal.

    ¡¸Fuu?¡­¡­ after that is¡­ that ind, I think?¡¹

    Sally swam towards the ind.

    That ind in the distance where it is impossible for Maple toe to is small, and other than the stairs that continue underground in the middle, there was only one coconut tree.

    ¡¸For the meantime¡­ let¡¯s go and check¡¹

    Sally carefully went down the stairs.

    Going down for about a hundred steps, there was an ordinary wooden door.

    It does not look as if it is sealed nor has a lock. There is also no magic circles.

    Sally carefully opened that.

    And, she was surprised to the scenery inside.

    There is a beautiful semicircr dome inside.

    And in the middle.

    There is a familiar old shrine standing silently together with a magic circle.

 Chapter 42: â€“ Defense Specialized and Sea and Sandy Beach

    ¡¸Uwwa¡­ there¡¯s still something like that¡­¡­¡¹

    Sally whispered as she checked the magic circle and the shrine.

    What she points with ¡°that¡± is of course, the monster bird. Honestly, she wanted to avoid fighting at that level of enemy if possible.

    ¡¸For the meantime, I should return and¡­ ask Maple¡¯s opinion¡¹

    Sally walked back to the stairs, and went above the ground.

    Sally have been very focused on her diving exploration that she had never turned around, so here for the first time, she noticed the beach¡¯s situation.

    ¡¸Maple¡­ what are you doing¡­¡­¡¹

    She could tell even from the small ind.

    There was a huge sand castle that easily exceeds Sally¡¯s height created there.

    ¡¸I should¡­ return first¡­¡¹

    *Bashan*, Sally who dove into the sea returned to the beach in a hurry.

    ¡¸Uwa¡­¡­ looking closely, it¡¯s big?¡¹

    It is twice Sally¡¯s height.

    And from inside, she could hear sounds of people having fun.

    When she reached its entrance and peeked from there, there was another person besides Maple.

    Red curly hair and spade-shaped earrings, white fair skin and red eyes the same with the hair color. Height is only a little taller than Maple.

    Other than the earring equipments, all of the other equipments look as basic gear in a nce.

    The characteristic is that, it seem that there is no weapon equipped.

    There is norge shield nor sword or staff.

    From how it looks, there was weapon equipped.

    And that person that Sally have never seen is ying Othello with Maple.

    ¡¸Ah?! No!¡¹

    ¡¸Here, perfect?¡¹

    The board is full of white.

    The color Maple chose is the same color with the equipments that she is proud of.

    In short, ck. Shepletely lost.

    Maple who was frustrated about it noticed Sally and stood up.

    ¡¸Wee back, Sally?!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, ahh, un. That¡¯s good but¡­¡­who?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m Kanade. I yed with Maple from earlier making a castle of sand¡¹

    ¡¸It was really fun right?¡¹

    ¡¸Right?¡¹

    Sally felt somehow that the two of them are simr.

    Their thought patterns must be simr and the two got along with each other instantly.

    ¡¸Is it okay?¡¹

    ¡¸I think it¡¯s fine. Right, Kanade?¡¹

    ¡¸After all, I¡¯m level 5 you know? I¡¯m not bragging but, I¡¯m weak you know?¡¹

    Saying that, Kanade showed the status to Sally.

    Being level 5 was true.

    ¡¸I-Is it okay? Letting me see so easily?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. You¡¯re Sally-san, Maple¡¯s party member right? Then it¡¯s alright!¡¹

    Sally did not know what happened while she was exploring, but it seems that Maple has earned significant trust.

    And it was also the same otherwise.

    Sally also registered as friends with Kanade being pushed by Maple.

    Saying that Maple and Kanade are already registered as friends.

    ¡¸n?¡­¡­ you can just call me Sally. Well, if Maple says that it¡¯s okay, fine then. Also¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Also?¡¹

    ¡¸If you attack us, it seems that I can defeat you easily¡¹

    Saying that, Sally showed her dagger.

    ¡¸I-I¡¯ll swear I won¡¯t do such a thing, un¡¹

    There is also Kanade around, but Sally told Maple about the dungeon from earlier.

    ¡¸Eh?¡­¡­ I don¡¯t wanna go¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I feel the same. But, no one knows what¡¯s inside so¡­ it¡¯s worth entering¡¹

    ¡¸U?n¡­¡­ I see¡¹

    The two thought deeply on what to do, but the one who broke the silence was no other than Kanade.

    ¡¸If so, I¡¯ll take a look for you! The start point only has a distance of 100 meters from here too¡¹

    It was a suggestion with dying as a prerequisite.

    The other two said that it was all right without doing that, but Kanade went quickly.

    *BashaBasha*, swimming until his appearance became small.

    ¡¸There¡¯s the¡¾Swimming I¡¿too¡­ so I think that it¡¯s enough to reach there though¡­¡¹

    ¡¸W-Will it be okay?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know?¡­¡¹

    The two, seeing the appearance of reaching the small ind, thought of something.

    ¡¸What do you think?¡¹

    ¡¸I think that there should be a terrible monster?¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Just like that monster bird from before?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right!¡¹

    However, those were only prediction. Maybe, the destination after teleporting is a room with overflowing treasures.

    ¡¸If they¡¯re treasures, then Kanade would take it huh?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, that¡¯s true¡¹

    There is no choice of not taking it back if one is in front of a treasure.

    And the next teleport destination after that cannot be predicted so they cannot chase.

    ¡¸Ah?, I died, I died¡¹

    At that time, Kanade came out of the forest.

    Without hearing the report, the two understood the abilities of the monster inside.

    It was because the situation is very simr to the time with the monster bird.

    ¡¸I shall start my report, Maple-dono¡¹

    ¡¸Hohou, I¡¯m listening?¡¹

    It was a weird flow, but Sally also does it sometimes so she could not say anything.

    ¡¸The destination after teleporting is underwater. Adding to that, my movements became dull when I was in that water, so I was crushed by a giant squid without being able to do anything¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­then it¡¯s impossible!¡¹

    First, if it is underwater, on top of Maple being unable to participate, if the stage is filled with water just like Sally¡¯s¡¾Ocean¡¿, then Sally¡¯s evasion skills would not be of use.

    They did not need to force themselves to challenge.

    Courage and recklessness are different things.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s give up this time¡¹

    ¡¸I also think so¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s end it here after exploring the sea for a while¡¹

    Sally looked at the sea while stretching.

    There should be some ces that she has yet to explore too.

    ¡¸Want me to help you? I can give you the medals if I find some?¡¹

    It was a no-risk high-return suggestion, but normally, such a good suggestion does not exist.

    ¡¸Kanade, are you serious?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I¡¯m fine as long as I have this¡¹

    Saying that, Kanade took out a Rubik¡¯s cube.

    ¡¸That is?¡¹

    ¡¸This is, my reward from an event you know. There was a magic circle connected to a flying ind flying around the forest behind¡­¡­ though it already disappeared since I cleared it. Anyways, it¡¯s a staff that I got from there¡¹

    ¡¸That rubik¡¯s cube is a staff?!¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right. The teleport destination was an ancient library and¡­ there was a jigsaw puzzle in certain room there. This came out when I finished it. It took me 4 days though¡¹

    The Rubik¡¯s cube floats on top of Kanade¡¯s palm while releasing a faint light.

    ¡¸This adds a skill¡¹

    ¡¸He?¡­ it¡¯s the same with out equipments huh¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s skill name is¡¾Akashic Records¡¿, it¡¯s an interesting skill¡¹

    ¡¸What does it do?¡¹

    Kanade was about to answer Maple¡¯s question, but thought twice.

    ¡¸If there¡¯s a time where we could be party members, I¡¯ll tell you¡¹

    To that mischievous smile, Maple understood that asking furthermore was useless.

    ¡¸n?¡­ party right now is, impossible I think?¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I see?, that¡¯s too bad¡¹

    Kanade smiled joyfully.

    Did not look down at all.

    Kanade is a different kind of yerpared to those that they have met up until now, Kanade is a yer that has an ungraspable unique air.

    ¡¸I want to meet after the event ends too?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s fine though? At that time, let¡¯s y Othello again!¡¹

    ¡¸Un, let¡¯s do that¡¹

    ¡¸The discussion is finished too, so, I¡¯ll go explore okay¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll go too, I think that I would be some help?¡¹

    Sally and Kanade walked towards the sea.

    This time for sure, Maple seriously explored the beach.

    The result, there was nothing.

    The exploration both to the sea and the beach has ended, but they did not find a significant thing.

    If so, it could be said that the two has finished all their tasks in this area.

    They parted ways with Kanade, and searched for a new ce to explore.

    ¡¸Do your best?!¡¹

    ¡¸See youter?!¡¹

    They said goodbyes and left.

    ¡¸What an interesting but mysterious person?¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so? I¡¯m used to looking at Maple after all?¡­¡¹

    ¡¸W-What do you mean by that?!!!¡¹

    For the meantime, the two decided to advance as the coastline goes.

    It was because it is the best judgment where they would not have any ce to get lost into.

 Chapter 43: â€“ Defense Specialized and Coastal Exploration

    Sally and Maple are walking on the coastal line.

    This is the outer circumference of the ind of the event this time.

    This ind is surrounded by the sea.

    And, there are several floating inds in the sky.

    ¡¸There¡¯s a library on one of those huh?¡­ that ce is also a part of the field huh¡¹

    Maple whispered while staring at the sky.

    Although it could be said that they are floating around the ind, the floating ind that is at a distance far away, 6 of them could be seen from their ce. There might be others hiding behind the mountain area where the monster bird was so they cannot tell the specific number.

    In other words, excluding the ind where a library is that Kanade said, there are still five floating inds that could be explored.

    ¡¸Well, it might have already been explored though¡¹

    ¡¸If it¡¯s dungeon clear just by finishing the¡¾Jigsaw Puzzle that can bepleted within four days¡¿¡­ it might end quickly with the two of us!¡¹

    ¡¸Though we don¡¯t know if there¡¯s a simr dungeon¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s true, but¡­ I just thought that there¡¯s also dungeons like that huh?¡¹

    Maple and Sally have only encountered battle-type dungeons, so it seems that Maple wants to go to a dungeon that could be cleared by exploring or solving puzzles.

    ¡¸It depends on our luck whether we¡¯ll find one, I think¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s true¡¹

    While continuing their conversation, the two continued to advance through the coastline.

    A normal forest is only continuing on their side and there was no monster that appears.

    The only change was the battle against the huge crab-type monsters thates out from time to time.

    Other than that, they are just walking.

    And one hour advancing just like that.

    The beach ended and the ground started to have a slope.

    They gradually took distance from the sea and it changes to a cliff.

    ¡¸Maple, don¡¯t fall okay?¡¹

    ¡¸I-It¡¯s alright?!¡¹

    The path is not narrow at all and the other side is just a forest.

    It is not like they are walking as if they were sticking to walls so as long as nothing absurd happens, they would not fall.

    ¡¸Well, Maple won¡¯t die even if she falls though¡¹

    ¡¸But, I can¡¯t climb up¡¹

    Anyways, the only need to not fall.

    Another two hours of walking.

    The forest that continued for a long time on their side disappeared, and ruins made out of old stone bricks with moss appeared to their right.

    It was a terrain that really seemed to have something.

    The stone bricks that have extended from the ruins passed ahead of the two and continued up to the edge of the cliff.

    And there, several stones were standing, surrounding the pedestal in the center.

    ¡¸There¡¯s something right?¡¹

    ¡¸Unless it¡¯s already been explored¡¹

    The two walked towards the ruins.

    They searched each of the tattered buildings but could not find anything.

    But even so, they continued to explore thinking of the possibility of a hidden room, and finally, a change happened to the two¡¯s exploration.

    ¡¸Oh¡­ to¡¹

    When Sally was about toe out of the ruins, she suddenly hid her body.

    Maple also followed Sally.

    There were three yers there.

    Compared to the yers that Maple and Sally have met up until now, they seem to be wearing good equipments.

    Although it cannot bepared to the unique series, their equipment was decently good.

    Their levels must be decent as well.

    They are quite close. Maple and Sally might be found if they make some noise.

    ¡¸What will we do?¡¹

    Maple whispered into Sally¡¯s ear.

    Doing such, they would not be able to hear.

    ¡¸It¡¯s fine to fight them, and it¡¯s fine to not¡­ if we¡¯re going to fight¡­ it¡¯s fine with me alone, and it¡¯s fine to fight together with Maple¡¹

    It looks like the choice where Maple would go by herself does not exist.

    And there, the yers started to say interesting things.

    ¡¸Hey, that book, do you know what it says?¡¹

    ¡¸No, it¡¯s too tattered that only parts could be read¡­ I can tell that it has something to do with water, but the ce of¡¾Ancient Heart¡¿is¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Man, I¡¯ll count on you alright, that book is a special item that drops during death¡­ hurry up and decode it¡¹

    ¡¸I know already¡¹

    Saying that, they walked towards the ce that seems to be their base.

    It looks like they did not notice Maple and Sally.

    They went away.

    ¡¸Maple. I want to defeat those yers¡­ but, they have that book so they¡¯re probably going to focus on running away. That¡¯s why¡­¡¹

    Sally quickly whispered the n to Maple¡¯s ear.

    ¡¸¡­¡­I got it. Is it alright?¡¹

    ¡¸Fufufu, of course!¡¹

    The yers were walking away.

    If they took any more distance, they would lose sight of them.

    Maple and Sally started their n.

    ¡¸Yay?!! It¡¯s the fifth medal?!¡¹

    A girl¡¯s voice echoed in the ruins.

    Hearing that voice, the three yers hide into the shadows while turning around.

    If it were true, they would want to hunt it.

    However, they do not know the strength of their opponent.

    Because of that, they were nning on observing the owner of the voice.

    It was one girl who came out of the shadows while skipping.

    The girl who had a wide smile was equipped with a blue muffler and leggings with a darker color. With her beautiful equipments, there was no doubt that she would gather attention.

    However, when ites to her whole body, it was not like that.

    The other equipments are that of a beginner.

    It is the clothes when one has not equipped anything.

    There is no status bonus at all.

    They also knew that her shoes are that of a beginner.

    ¡¸What do you think?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s obviously beginner equips. She has some good equipments in parts¡­ but she probably just got them from this event. I can still remember when I was a beginner. That randomness of the equips is¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸But¡­ we don¡¯t know whether or not she really has a medal¡¹

    When the yers were continuing to observe her like that, the girl operated her monitor and took out something.

    Those were, 5 medals.

    ¡¸Ufufufu¡­ only half more, only half more?!¡¹

    That must be her daily routine.

    She sat on a broken stone brick and observed the medals one by one, and after gripping it delightfully, she returned them to her inventory.

    ¡¸It¡¯s for sure now. Let¡¯s go¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, let¡¯s crush her¡¹

    When the three jumped out of their covers, the girl was startled and looked towards the three.

    The girl stood up and slowly took distance while she holds her dagger.

    ¡¸W-What is it?¡¹

    ¡¸Sorry okay? We also want medals¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­!!¡¹

    When the girl was about to run away, the three surrounded her to block her escape route.

    The girl seems to have no ways to take care of the yers who were slowly closing in on her, she was looking around with her knees shaking.

    ¡¸Attack!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸Yeah!¡¹¡¹

    The three swung their own weapons.

    There was no way that the dagger that was swung desperately could block that and their weapons sunk into the girl¡¯s body.

    The three of them pictured about the medals.

    However.

    The medals were not there.

    The girl disappeared as if she was an illusion.

    ¡¸¡¸¡¸Ha?¡¹¡¹¡¹

    As if to cover up their surprise, damage effects were raised from one of the yers.

    Twice, thrice.

    He was shed continuously while stunned.

    And that, became a fatal wound.

    ¡¸Sorry okay? I also want the book¡¹

    Saying that, the one who was about to pick up the dropped book was the weak girl that they thought of hunting.

    ¡¸Ha? D-Don¡¯t mess around!¡¹

    To the absurdity of the situation, the yer lost hisposure and shed using his skill, but it was avoided as if it was the sword that dodged.

    The girl is holding a dagger with each hand.

    And using those, she cuts the hand that shed towards her while dodging.

    ¡¸GHUAA?!¡¹

    When he flinched, the girl picked up the book, ced it in her inventory and ran away.

    ¡¸W-Wait!¡¹

    The man who chased after the girl while scattering damage effects,

    In the next instant, he scattered fresh blood-like effects from his abdomen and became a light.

    The girl who was running suddenly disappeared and appeared ying with her dagger in the ce where the man was killed.

    ¡¸It isn¡¯t good to get fooled twice you know?¡¹

    ¡¸Ha? Eh? W-What just¡­¡­¡¹

    The remaining one was whispering something, unable to ept the situation.

    And in that situation, the girl.

    Or rather, Sally, there was no way that she would get defeated.

    ¡¸Byebye¡¹

    After a while, the remaining one became light and disappeared.

    Sally does not know where their starting points are, but she knows that they would not be able to recover the book.

    ¡¸If you can¡¯t win against me¡­ you can¡¯t defeat Maple after all¡¹

    Maple ran towards Sally.

    ¡¸How was it? I did it well right?¡¹

    ¡¸Un! Sally who was a bit different from usual was interesting!¡¹

    ¡¸You don¡¯t need to look at that!¡¹

    ¡¸Ne?, can you say ¡°Yay?!¡± while skipping again!¡¹

    ¡¸I won¡¯t do that! I won¡¯t! Rather than that, let¡¯s check out the loot?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­I¡¯ll let it pass for just now?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­that¡¯s great. ¡­¡­acting differently than usual is really embarrassing?¡¹

    Sally decided that she will not do such thing unless she really needs to.

    The two started to check the things that they got from the battle just now.

 Chapter 44: â€“ Defense Specialized and Ruins Exploration

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu Chapter 44

    Defense Specialization and Sea and Sandy Beach

    ¡¸Woah¡­ there are still things like that¡­¡¹

    Sally muttered as she checked the magic circle and the shrine.

    And by ¡°that¡±, of course, she meant the monster bird. She honestly didn¡¯t want to fight an enemy of that level again.

    ¡¸First of all, let¡¯s go back and¡­ ask Maple¡¯s opinion.¡¹

    Sally went back up the stairs and came out to the surface.

    Sally was so eager to dive to explore until now, she never looked back towards the sandy beach, and it was at this point that she noticed the situation on the beach for the first time.

    ¡¸Maple¡­ what are you doing¡­¡¹

    Even from the small ind, she could see it.

    A sandcastle had been built there that was well over Sally¡¯s height.

    ¡¸First of all¡­ let¡¯s go back¡­¡¹

    <i>*Ssh*</i> Sally jumped into the sea and hurried back to the beach.

    ¡¸Wow¡­ it¡¯s so big up close.¡¹

    About twice as tall as Sally.

    From the inside of it, voices of people chattering loudly could be heard.

    She peeked inside from what was the entrance and saw that there was another person there besides Maple.

    The person had red curly hair, spade-shaped earrings, pale skin, and hair of the same red as hisrge and bright eyes. He was a little taller than Maple.

    Except for the earrings as his head equipment, he was, at a nce, wearing the starting equipment.

    The distinctive thing about him was that he didn¡¯t seem to be equipped with any weapons.

    Neither a great shield, nor a sword or staff.

    No matter how you looked at it, he was empty-handed.

    Such a person, whom Sally had never seen before, was ying Othello with Maple.

    ¡¸A-ah! No, not that!¡¹

    ¡¸Here you go, pe-erfect.¡¹

    The board was all white.

    The color Maple chose was the color of her signature equipment.

    In other words, ck. It was aplete defeat.

    Maple, who looked frustrated, noticed Sally and stood up.

    ¡¸Wee back, Sally!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh, um, yeah. That¡¯s fine, but¡­ who¡¯s this?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m Kanade. Earlier I was ying with Maple, building a sand castle.¡¹

    ¡¸That was fun, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Right.¡¹

    Somehow, Sally had the feeling that the two of them were simr.

    They must have had simr thought patterns, and the two seemed to have instantly hit it off.

    ¡¸Is it safe?¡¹

    ¡¸I think? Right, Kanade?¡¹

    ¡¸After all, I¡¯m only level 5, you know? Not to brag, but I¡¯m weak, see?¡¹

    Saying that, Kanade showed Sally his stats.

    Indeed, he was level 5.

    ¡¸I-is it okay with you? Showing it to me so easily?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s all good. You¡¯re Sally-san, Maple¡¯s party member, right? Then I don¡¯t mind!¡¹

    Sally didn¡¯t know what happened while she was out exploring, but Maple seemed to have gained quite a bit of trust from him.

    And vice versa.

    Sally also registered as a friend with Kanade after Maple pushed her to do so.

    Maple and Kanade had already added each other.

    ¡¸Hmm¡­ just Sally is fine. If Maple says it¡¯s okay, well, that¡¯s fine. Also¡­¡¹

    TL note: they¡¯re talking about dropping the honorific, which signifies a friendlier way of speaking

    ¡¸Also?¡¹

    ¡¸If youe at us now, I can easily take you down.¡¹

    Having said that, Sally held up her daggers.

    ¡¸I-I swear I wouldn¡¯t do such a thing, hum.¡¹

    Although Kanade was also there, Sally told Maple about the dungeon she had seen earlier.

    ¡¸Err¡­ I really don¡¯t want to go there¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I feel the same way about that. Though who knows what¡¯s going on inside¡­ it¡¯s worth going in there.¡¹

    ¡¸Ummm¡­ I see.¡¹

    The two were quietly pondering what to do, but it was Kanade, not either of them, who broke the silence.

    ¡¸If so, I¡¯ll go and check for you! And my starting point is only about a hundred meters from here.¡¹

    It was a suggestion with the assumption that he was going to die.

    The two said it would be okay without that, too, but Kanade jumped off quickly.

    <i>*Ssh-ssh*</i> the figure swimming in the water was getting smaller and smaller.

    ¡¸He had ¡¾Swimming I¡¿, and¡­ I think he can get there, although¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I-is he gonna be okay?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know¡­¡¹

    The two saw him reach the small ind and both wondered what was in there.

    ¡¸What do you think?¡¹

    ¡¸I think there¡¯s a terrible monster in there¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Like that monster bird?¡¹

    ¡¸Exactly!¡¹

    However, this was just a guess. Perhaps the transfer destination was a room overflowing with money and treasures.

    ¡¸If it¡¯s treasures, then Kanade will take them with him, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I guess so.¡¹

    There¡¯s no way one wouldn¡¯t take the treasure with them if it was in front of them.

    And after that, because the transfer destination was unpredictable, they wouldn¡¯t be able to give chase.

    ¡¸Ah, I died, I died.¡¹

    At that time, Kanade came out of the forest.

    The two didn¡¯t need to hear the report to understand the abilities of the monster inside.

    This was because the situation was very simr to that with the monster bird.

    ¡¸I have a report for you, Maple-dono.¡¹

    ¡¸Ho-ho-o, what have you?¡¹

    This gave off a mysterious vibe, but since Sally would asionally act like that herself, she couldn¡¯t say anything when others did.

    ¡¸The transfer destination is underwater. Furthermore, when I was in that water, my movements became slower and I was hopelessly crushed by a giant squid.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­ not possible!¡¹

    Since it was underwater, Maple wouldn¡¯t be able to participate, and if it was filled with water like Sally¡¯s ¡¾Ocean¡¿, Sally¡¯s evasion would be useless.

    They had no point in forcing themselves to challenge it.

    Recklessness and bravery were two different things.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s give it up this time.¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah, that would be better for you.¡¹

    ¡¸I think I¡¯ll do some more ocean exploration and then we¡¯ll be done.¡¹

    Sally stretched and looked at the ocean.

    There were probably a few ces left that hadn¡¯t been explored yet.

    ¡¸Want me to help you? I can give you medals if I find them, okay?¡¹

    It was a no-risk, high-return offer, but there are usually no such too-good-to-be-true offers.

    ¡¸Kanade? Are you serious?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I¡¯m fine as long as I have this.¡¹

    Saying that, Kanade took out a Rubik¡¯s Cube.

    ¡¸What¡¯s this?¡¹

    ¡¸This is my loot from the event. There was a magic circle in the forest behind us that led to a floating ind that was flying around¡­ and I cleared it so it¡¯s gone now. Anyway, I got the staff there.¡¹

    ¡¸That Rubik¡¯s Cube is a staff!?¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah. The transfer destination was an old library¡­ and there was a jigsaw puzzle in one of the rooms. I finished it and it came out. It took me four days to put it together, though.¡¹

    The Rubik¡¯s Cube floated in the palm of Kanade¡¯s hand, emitting a thin white light.

    ¡¸This onees with a skill.¡¹

    ¡¸Heh¡­ it sounds simr to our equipment.¡¹

    ¡¸The name of the skill is ¡¾Akashic Records¡¿, it¡¯s an interesting one.¡¹

    ¡¸What does it do?¡¹

    Kanade was about to answer Maple¡¯s question but then reconsidered and uttered this.

    ¡¸If we ever be party members, I¡¯ll tell you.¡¹

    A mischievous smile made Maple realize that any further pursuit was pointless.

    ¡¸Mmm¡­ I don¡¯t think we can be in a party right now¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I seee, that¡¯s too bad.¡¹

    Kanade smiled merrily.

    That didn¡¯t look like disappointment.

    Kanade was different from any other yer they had ever met, with a unique atmosphere about him that was somehow elusive.

    ¡¸I hope to see you again after the event.¡¹

    ¡¸All<i> ri-ight</i>! Let¡¯s y Othello again then!¡¹

    ¡¸Yep, let¡¯s do that.¡¹

    ¡¸Now that the chat¡¯s settled, I¡¯m off to explore.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯lle with you. I figure that would be of some help, wouldn¡¯t it?¡¹

    Sally and Kanade walked towards the sea.

    Maple decided to explore the sandy beach in earnest this time.

    The result was that there was nothing.

    The sea and the sandy beach explorations were both mostly finished, but nothing of note was found.

    And so, the two were done with all their business in this area.

    They parted ways with Kanade and were once again looking for a new ce to explore.

    ¡¸Do your very best!¡¹

    ¡¸See youter!¡¹

    They said their goodbyes and left.

    ¡¸He was an interesting but strange person!¡¹

    ¡¸Is that so? Maybe I got used to people like that because of Maple¡­¡¹

    ¡¸W-what do you mean by that, hey!?¡¹

    The two decided to follow the coastline for the time being¡­

    Because they judged that it would be best, and also they wouldn¡¯t get lost for no reason.

    TL note: this one is about Kanade¡¯s gender. In this chapter it is mentioned exactly nowhere, which is probably not intentional, as the subject is omitted very often in Japanese when it¡¯s known from context, and the author rified his gender in chapter 1 (which, unless you have Sally-level spoiler-evasion skills or just don¡¯t care, you shouldn¡¯t read before you¡¯ve read all the WN chapters avable). So if you want to correct someone who thinks that Kanade is a girl, don¡¯t refer them to this trantion of this chapter, refer them to the chapter 1 section about Kanade instead.

 Chapter 45: â€“ Defense Specialized and Ancient Heart

    Maple immediately called Sally using the message function.

    Sally rushed up to the huge fountain without a minute passing.

    ¡¸Oh?¡­ it¡¯s shining?¡¹

    ¡¸Un, I thought that there¡¯s something¡¹

    Sally entered the basin and activated¡¾Ocean¡¿.

    ¡¸The light got stronger, but¡­ it looks like there¡¯s no use¡¹

    All of the¡¾Ocean¡¿got sucked in.

    Sally drops her shoulder because there was no advancement again, but Maple seemed to have thought of something and started talking.

    ¡¸What about¡­ the same time? Look! There are four fountains drawn in the picture too!¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s true¡­ but, it would be impossible to catch up making water. It¡¯s impossible even if¡¾Super eleration¡¿was used¡¹

    ¡¸Since nothing¡¯s gonna change like this¡­ would you like to try?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? What?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s not only Sally who can make¡¾Liquids¡¿¡¹

    Maple said and told Sally about the n she thought of.

    ¡¸Eh!¡­¡­I, see. Un¡­ that¡¯s right. Let¡¯s just try¡¹

    Sally activated¡¾Ocean¡¿in the basin once again.

    But a moment before that, Maple shouted.

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra¡¿!¡¹

    That is right, poison is also liquid.

    And this Poison Dragon has three heads.

    Each of them shot towards the small fountains that the basin itself was sunk.

    On top of not knowing whether it should be at the same time, the two girls do not know whether it must absolutely be water as well.

    However, even so, they still had to test it.

    The reason for that has something to do with the time that this event urs.

    The time is almost 12 midnight.

    Since they do not know when the lights shining would end, the next one will be the sixth day¡¯s night.

    They could not afford to wait that long.

    Maple¡¯s n was full of holes, but it would seem that God was their ally this time.

    ¡¸Uwwa?!¡¹

    ¡¸So bright¡­!!¡¹

    A shing light reached out from the three fountains to the huge fountain.

    The huge fountain¡¯s light became stronger and stronger, and its red crystal flew up to the sky.

    That crystal gathered moonlight, and when its light increased, it showered a red light and broke.

    ¡¸n¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸W-What happens?¡¹

    The two girls carefully looked around but suddenly, a huge explosive sound echoed behind them.

    The two turned around while getting surprised at the sound that echoed throughout the silent ruins.

    ¡¸W-What is it?!¡¹

    ¡¸There¡­!¡¹

    The former main street that extended from the square with the huge fountain.

    That continued to the cliff.

    In there, there are a shrine and stone pierced to it.

    However, what could be seen from far away was a white, shining something.

    The sound from earlier included the sound that the shrine and stone getting destroyed.

    The two girls approached to check that white shine, and found a magic circle that they so for many times in this event.

    The two girls checked the ce where the stone was pierced before, carefully not to step on the magic circle, but noticed something.

    ¡¸Uwa¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸T-This is¡­¡­¡¹

    It is true that the sound of the stone getting destroyed was included in the explosive sound from before.

    However, it was only included.

    The explosive sound¡¯s identity was.

    It was the sound when an abysmal hole that tore the sea to connect to the dark deep sea had opened.

    ¡¸There¡¯s something down there, right¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Well, that should be the case. Maple, you want to jump down?¡¹

    ¡¸N-No way! That¡¯s scary!¡¹

    It is currently midnight.

    The courage to jump into the night sea that was eerie from the start and became a more frightening ce was something that Maple did not have although she might withstand the damage.

    ¡¸If so¡­ we should step inside the magic circle¡­ I think that it¡¯s connected down under that hole too¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s connected to an unexplored somewhere right?¡¹

    ¡¸Un¡¹

    The two girls counted one to two and entered the magic circle at the same time.

    Just like up until now, the two girls¡¯ appearance became light particles and disappeared.

    ¡¸This ce is?¡¹

    ¡¸Sally? It¡¯s too dark I can¡¯t see¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Wait a bit okay?¡¹

    Sally took out a torch from her inventory and lit up their surroundings.

    ¡¸Inside the sea¡­ I think?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­ah!! Look up!¡¹

    Sally followed Maple¡¯s voice and looked up. There is a small starry sky that could be seen there.

    ¡¸There¡¯s no doubt that we¡¯re inside that hole¡¹

    ¡¸The path continues¡¹

    A beautifully made semi-circr passage continues.

    The walls are all sea water.

    Some kind of power had torn the sea and made a path.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s hurry up and pass through? It¡¯s the end if it returns to normal after all¡¹

    ¡¸Un! That¡¯s true¡¹

    They advanced through the undersea tunnel in the darkness with a fast pace.

    It might have been a beautiful scenery in the morning, but there was nothing that could be done because the event was during the night.

    The two seemed to get worried being in the darkness with only a torch is their light, they instinctively held each other¡¯s hand.

    ¡¸Ah!! There¡¯s a light!¡¹

    ¡¸I-It¡¯s true!¡¹

    The two elerates their steps towards the light. The light gradually became bigger, and it had exceeded the two girls¡¯ height when they reached it.

    The source of the light was the sea.

    It was a bright morning sea, as if the time had advanced for only that ce.

    The fishes merrily swam and bubbling sounds could be heard.

    The sea that spread out like it repelled the deep dark sea changed the two girls¡¯ mood after being worried within the darkness.

    And, stairs made of corals were extending from there as if to prate through that sea.

    And up ahead, there is a huge door decorated with corals. There was no doubt that it is the boss room that they have seen many times.

    ¡¸¡¾Cast out that evil¡¿huh¡­¡­are your battle preparations finished?¡¹

    ¡¸Un! I¡¯m ready anytime!¡¹

    Maple made a stance with herrge shield and appealed that she is all ready.

    Sally took a deep breath and opened the door.

    First, she checked what is inside the room with a nce.

    Combat will start the instant they entered the room, so they won¡¯t be able to leave if it does start.

    Being able to check the terrain inside first might enable them to fight in an advantage.

    The room¡¯s condition is a very important thing especially to Sally who is focused on evading.

    ¡¸Maple, it¡¯s a half circr dome inside, and it¡¯s bright. I mean, it¡¯s simr to the ce we are right now¡¹

    ¡¸Hou, hou¡¹

    ¡¸Also¡­ it¡¯s very wide. It has about¡­¡­50-meter diameter. Even the ceiling is high¡¹

    ¡¸If so¡­ maybe the boss is big?¡¹

    It is normal to think that the boss is big because the room is big.

    ¡¸The ground is a dry stone floor for now¡­ and it doesn¡¯t seem that there are traps¡¹

    ¡¸Okay?¡­ well then, let¡¯s go¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s enter!¡¹

    ¡¸Un!¡¹

    The two girls rushed inside the room.

    Maple did not raise herrge shield so that she would not waste any¡¾Akujiki¡¿.

    Just like Sally said, there were no traps, and there were no scattered attacks that would consume¡¾Akujiki¡¿as well.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­! It¡¯sing!¡¹

    ¡¸Un!¡¹

    *Bashan*, a huge sound was made and several tentacles extended from the ceiling.

    The two girls saw those tentacles like that of a squid.

    No, it was really like that.

    A giant squid swimming in the ceiling reached out only its tentacles and attacked.

    ¡¸That dungeon¡¯s?!¡¹

    ¡¸But, we¡¯re not under water you know?!¡¹

    The two girls were surprised but the giant squid attacked.

    The tentacles longer that the two girls¡¯ height was swung towards Maple.

    ¡¸It doesn¡¯t¡­ work!¡¹

    Therge shield devoured the squid¡¯s tentacle, but the squid¡¯s HP Bar that could be seen from afar did not decrease.

    It did not mean that it has a lot of stamina.

    Itpletely did not work.

    ¡¸We might need to attack the main body!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?!!¡¹

    ¡¸This is¡­¡­difficult¡­¡¹

    Sally muttered while taking a nce at the squid swimming on top of them.

    The squid did not mind them, and continued to attack from a safe area.

 Chapter 46: â€“ Defense Specialized and Squid Subjugation

    Thirty minutes have passed since the battle started.

    ¡¸Well¡­ what should we do¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Sally?! Have you thought of something??¡¹

    ¡¸n?¡­ not yet?¡¹

    Sally thought while standing still.

    The reason she can do that is because the attacks have concentrated on Maple who attacked the tentacles first.

    Maple is being tickled by the giant squid¡¯s tentacle attacks.

    ¡¸As usual¡­ what an absurd defense¡­¡­¡¹

    The attacks that would push normal yers to either death or heavy injuries was the same as a rabbit¡¯s tackle for Maple.

    Even now, Maple is being hit by the tentacle attacks and was being thrown around like a ball.

    ¡¸Maple?! I¡¯ll go and swim to take a look at the squid nearby?!¡¹

    ¡¸Un, be careful?!¡¹

    She tried things like Wind Magic, but it was blocked by a thickyer of water and did not reach the squid¡¯s main body.

    There was also the idea of killing it with poison by Maple shooting¡¾Hydra(Poison Dragon)¡¿ into the water, but if that fails, Sally would not be able to enter the water as well, so they left that as thest resort if they cannot do anything anymore.

    Sally quickly entered the water wall. She got on her guard because it might be the same water as her¡¾Ocean¡¿but it was normal water.

    Sally swam towards the squid.

    Of course, it was not like all of the tentacles was attacking Maple.

    There were tentacles remaining that would attack those who approach.

    Of course, it attacked Sally.

    ¡¸Ohh?¡­ as expected of Sally?¡­¡¹

    What Maple who was being thrown around by the tentacles saw when she looked up was Sally¡¯s appearance of approaching the squid¡¯s main body while evading the tentacles as if it was easy.

    ¡¸Oh! It¡¯s HP Bar decreased!¡¹

    It was just that time when Sally¡¯s dagger shes the giant squid¡¯s body while releasing effects.

    Maple was being attacked by the tentacles while that happened, but Maple also started to get leeway from being used to it.

    ¡¸n?? It¡¯s HP is lower than I thought¡­¡¹

    After Sally released five consecutive skill attacks, its HP Bar has already decreased by 10%.

    ¡¸n?!!¡¹

    Maple fell to the ground because the tentacle attacks suddenly stopped.

    The tentacles¡¯ attack target changed to Sally from Maple because she inflicted damage on the main body.

    Sally seemed to have noticed that as well and started to quickly swim back.

    Even if Sally is great at evading, there are super wide ranged attacks that cannot be dodged.

    There would be nothing left of her if all of the wide tentacles attacked her at once.

    ¡¸Puhha¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¾Cover¡¿!¡¹

    Maple did not use¡¾Akushoku¡¿here. She received the tentacle attacks that aimed towards Sally and her armor pounded.

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra¡¿!¡¹

    The eight tentacles that were about to attack them were devoured by the poison dragon.

    There was no need to make a n for the poison dragon to hit the giant squid thatcks speedpared to the monster bird.

    It did not have the speed to dodge it.

    ¡¸Well, it would regenerate though¡¹

    There was no effect on its HP Bar, and its tentacles would regenerate no matter it was destroyed.

    However, it was not like that action waspletely useless.

    By destroying all of those eight tentacles, its target changed to Maple.

    She was thrown around like a ball again.

    ¡¸Sally, I¡¯ll leave it to you!¡¹

    ¡¸Thanks! I¡¯ll count on you!¡¹

    Sally entered the waters again.

    Sally attacks and Maple would receive the enemy¡¯s attacks.

    Each time the attack target shifts to Sally, she would return to Maple and make it so that the attack target would return to Maple.

    They decided to repeat that, at least until the pattern changes.

    It looks very simple, but it is impossible to endure the eight tentacles¡¯ concentrated attacks if it was not Maple.

    If it is not someone like Sally who have¡¾Diving¡¿and¡¾Swimming¡¿, it would be difficult to approach the squid, and it would be hard to deal damage.

    It is because the two girl¡¯s abilities were good against the giant squid that they could be at an advantage.

    However, they were unable to continue that until the end.

    When Sally damaged it until there was 70% left, its movement pattern changed.

    Magic circles appeared around the squid and fishes came out of there one next to the other.

    They were monsters without a doubt.

    The fishes approached the directions that each of the two girls was in.

    The tentacles that attacked Maple changed its target again and returned to the waters.

    ¡¸¡­¡­they¡¯re swimming in air¡¹

    The ce where Maple was in was not underwater, but the fishes plunged out of the water without care, and swam in the air with blue effects.

    It was a fantastic scene, but the fishes are monsters. There was no time to be moved.

    The fishes tackled from each direction.

    ¡¸n?¡­¡¾Paralyze Shaft¡¿!¡¹

    *Kin*, a clear sound echoed and the fishes lost their abilities to move their bodies and fell to the ground.

    The giant squid and the fishes in the water were outside of range so they were not paralyzed.

    ¡¸As I¡¯ve thought, this is convenient!¡¹

    ¡¸Haa?¡­¡­! I finally got away¡¹

    *BashaBashaBasha*, Sally went out of the water while making sounds.

    Of course, the remaining fishes and tentacles followed after Sally.

    But even so, the reason why Sally could dere that she had got away is because Maple is there.

    Maple is near, that means it is an absolute safe area.

    ¡¸Maple!¡¹

    ¡¸Okay?!¡¹

    Maple drew out Shingetsu that she just sheathed earlier.

    A purple magic circle came out of its de.

    It is Maple¡¯s strongest attack that she had activated many times, as well as her favorite.

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra¡¿!¡¹

    That melted all of the fishes that went towards them, devoured even the tentacles that followed, and.

    It plunged into the water.

    ¡¸¡¸Ah!¡¹¡¹

    The poison dragon that jumped into the water gradually melted its body into the water.

    It should be not their imagination that the water became slightly purple colored.

    It is unknown what would happen if Sally entered there.

    ¡¸H-H-H-Hey, what will we do?!¡¹

    ¡¸W-W-W-What will we do?¡¹

    ¡¸T-That¡¯s right! The squid! The squid¡¯s HP Bar!¡¹

    They stared intently, but its HP Bar did not seem to decrease.

    The melted tentacles started to get revived as well.

    The paralyzed fishes also started to float up with blue effects.

    New fishes were added as well.

    ¡¸F-For the meantime, run around, Sally!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll defeat the fishes while I¡¯m at it too!¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯m really sorry!¡¹

    The overflowing fishes.

    The eight tentacles that attacked.

    It looks like the fishes did not only have tackles as attacks, they started to scatter water with the same color of the blue effects.

    ¡¸Maple! It might have the same effects of my¡¾Ocean¡¿!¡¹

    ¡¸I-I already got wet! ¡­my movements gets slow¡­¡­or not?¡¹

    ¡¸I-I see, you have¡¾AGI 0¡¿so there¡¯s nothing left to decrease huh! No, if so, there¡¯s also the possibility that it¡¯s just water¡­ I-I don¡¯t know anymore!¡¹

    Because of Maple¡¯s simple miss, their stable cycle copsed without a trace, and there were poison liquid and unknown fluids on the ground. The fishes flying around and the tentacles that swayed around.

    Maple who was being thrown around.

    Within that situation, the two girls panicked screaming ¡°wa?, wa?!¡± while they thought of their next n.

 Chapter 47: â€“ Defense Specialized and Squid Subjugation 2

    ¡¸I know already, it¡¯s that! If ites to this, let¡¯s attack the water with more poison!¡¹

    ¡¸Then¡­ I¡¯ll,¡¾Akushoku¡¿the tentacles?!¡¹

    ¡¸Do it!¡¹

    Maple¡¯s¡¾Akushoku¡¿devoured the tentacles.

    And every time, red crystals appeared.

    This is herst MP charge.

    And for Sally, she had already regained herposure, and started to think of the fishes that appeared infinitely as just experience points after she got used to them.

    They only give small experience points, but they only have a small HP so it was easy for Sally to hunt them.

    On top of that, it connects to not letting the fishes get on Maple¡¯s way.

    ¡¸I should leave it to Maple and do what I can¡¹

    Sally ran around as usual and fought against the fishes with hit and away.

    Sally left all of it to Maple.

    And that Maple.

    ¡¸Well?¡­ I hope it goes well?¡­¡¹

    Maple approached the wall of water.

    The tentacles have just been erased earlier, so there is an absolute time of peace for a moment.

    The fishes did not care and continued to attack Maple.

    ¡¸Oh?¡­ they look cute when closer!¡¹

    Maple reached out her hand towards the fish and that fish tackled towards that hand repeatedly.

    Because of Maple¡¯s smile, the scene of her being attacked by a monster changed to a scene of her ying with a fish.

    ¡¸It¡¯s better if you get away you know??¡¹

    Maple stabbed Shingetsu towards the wall of water.

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra¡¿!¡¹

    The poison dragon that was not aimed at anything jumped into the water.

    Of course, it melted in the water and was unable to deal direct damage to the squid.

    ¡¸The beautiful sea?, to a poisonous sea?!¡¹

    The area of the sea is quite vast and she still needs to shoot a lot of them.

    However, the water is gradually turning purple. The color is darker than before.

    ¡¸I should get away from the wall so that it can¡¯t shoot me tentacles¡¹

    Even the water that the fishes scattered, it surpassed the poison that Maple herself created and return to the middle.

    She needs a little more time to use¡¾Hydra¡¿.

    And before that, the tentacles would regenerate as well.

    Sally has not attacked the squid at all since earlier, so of course, all of it would go towards Maple.

    ¡¸Whatever¡­ do what you want!¡¹

    Mapleid down on the ground.

    She thought that it is useless to resist since she is not able to run away and would be yed like a ball again.

    ¡¸Oh?!¡¹

    After she hadid down, the tentacles pped her from above.

    Unlike when she was standing, she was not being bounced around.

    ¡¸This is good! So good!¡¹

    ¡¸Uwwa¡­ she¡¯s doing something again¡­¡¹

    Sally is also pulling the fishes behind her to a marathon, so it was something simr.

    ¡¸¡¾Hydra¡¿!¡¹

    After a while, Maple stood up and shot into the water. And, sheid down once again.

    She found out that she would not be thrown around by the tentacles while lying down, so sheid down on a ce where she only needs to reach out Shingetsu to the water wall.

    And just like that, Maple nned on waiting until the next time.

    But a certain change happened.

    That was the same with Sally

    ¡¸¡¸n?!¡¹¡¹

    They saw the squid¡¯s HP decreasing for a bit.

    It was a small change might have been a misjudgment, but they were able to see the instant when the HP Bar decreased.

    ¡¸It decreased a little!¡¹

    ¡¸Un, it looks like so. But¡­¡¹

    The time until it decreased again after it decreased once was very long.

    It was five minutes. On top of that, its HP only decreased by 1mm.

    Waiting for it to lose all of its HP like this would be very difficult.

    It means, the poison is still too weak.

    However, just knowing that it works is a good harvest.

    ¡¸Do your best!¡¹

    ¡¸Un! I¡¯ll do my best!¡¹

    After that, the reduction of its HP bar elerated after a few¡¾Hydra¡¿s were shot.

    They seeded in removing 10% of its HP after an hour has passed.

    The squid has still 60% remaining on its HP Bar.

    If this goes on, it will take them 6 hours.

    ¡¸¡¾Poison Lance¡¿!¡¹

    Maple has no bullets left for¡¾Hydra¡¿, so she shot a different skill thinking it might add to it even a little.

    ¡¸Running for six hours is a little¡­¡¹

    ¡¸What should we do¡­¡¹

    They thought and thought of it, but there were no means that could change the current situation instantly.

    And just like that, one hour has passed again. The squid¡¯s HP decreased to 50%.

    ¡¸Uwwa?!¡¹

    Maple wasying down beside the wall of water, so she understood instantly.

    She found out that the area of the water has spread.

    The walls and ceiling are approaching.

    And when it stopped expanding, there are only half remaining of the space where the two are currently in.

    Additionally, the squid started to spit out squid ink.

    Because of that, they cannot see the squid¡¯s appearance.

    It will have been a very troublesome attack if they have tried to clear it straightforwardly.

    After all, it was already difficult to move in the water, and the vision would be stolen on top of that.

    However, it had nothing to do to the two who were doing something far away from a straightforward way.

    ¡¸Maple! How many¡¾Akushoku¡¿do you still have?¡¹

    ¡¸Only one!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­reserve it!¡¹

    ¡¸Got it!¡¹

    Maple did not understand what Sally is nning, but she decided to reserve it, and continued to receive the attacks.

    Because the water has approached, the speed that the fishes entered elerated.

    It means that it would be more difficult for Sally to run away.

    ¡¸¡¾Provoke¡¿!¡¹

    It was a good n for Maple to receive them because it was difficult for Sally to run away.

    She would lose everything if she dies just for experience points.

    ¡¸Thanks!¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s nothing much!¡¹

    It seems that the squid ink was not being released continuously, and just like Maple¡¯s poison, it spread and started to dilute.

    It looks like there was no second squid ink attack, it only returned to swimming elegantly.

    ¡¸There huh¡­ I think it barely reaches¡­? Yosh! Maple!¡¹

    Sally called Maple.

    Of course, Maple stood up and approached her.

    ¡¸What will we do?!¡¹

    ¡¸Follow me! ¡¾Leap¡¿!¡¹

    Although she leaped towards the squid that became nearer, shecked 15 meters.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¹

    Maple followed her just as she was told.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go!¡¾Shoulder Throw¡¿!¡¹

    Sally grabbed Maple and threw her towards the water¡¯s surface.

    ¡¸Ueeeee?!!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Impact Fist¡¿!¡¹

    A bullet of air was released from Sally¡¯s fist and broke the water surface while pushing Maple.

    Maple who was thrown straight towards the squid swung her shield.

    Its HP Bar decreased suddenly.

    ¡¸This is Maple Cannon!¡¹

    ¡¸H-Hey, what about mynding?!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­I didn¡¯t think of it¡¹

    It was just a little ahead in the future when

 Chapter 48: â€“ Defense Specialized and Squid Subjugation 3

    ¡¸My attack was <i>that</i>, so¡­¡¹

    Sally muttered whilending down.

    Maple fell to her side.

    She did not receive any damage although she fell 25 meters high.

    What an amazing vitality.

    On the other hand, the squid¡¯s HP and defense are rtively lower.

    That is proven because even Sally¡¯s attacks are able to wither it down.

    It was not strange at all for that giant squid to lose 20% of its HP after receiving an attack from Maple.

    ¡¸With this, we shortened it to three hours¡¹

    ¡¸But there¡¯s still 3 hours?¡­¡¹

    Maple does not have¡¾Akushoku¡¿anymore. They cannot do the same thing again.

    ¡¸Ah, it spat out squid ink again¡¹

    ¡¸The sea, it was beautiful, but now¡­¡­¡¹

    There was nothing that remained from the beautiful blue sea that is now full of squid ink and poison.

    ¡¸Well then, I¡¯ll run again okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Un. ¡¾Provoke¡¿!¡¹

    Maple pulled the fishes.

    It is possible to dissipate the water that was scattered by the fishes using me-type attacks, so Sally ran around while making the least needed path she needs.

    ¡¸It¡¯s amazing you can run that much?¡­¡¹

    It is possible to lessen the fatigue in-game by getting used to VR games.

    One needs to get used to ying for long periods of time to not get tired running around.

    That is something that a skill cannot cover.

    And after two hours of waiting.

    There is only 10% left of the squid¡¯s HP.

    ¡¸A-re? The fishes¡­¡¹

    The fishes lost the blue effect that they were d within and withered in an instant after losing their moisture.

    The effect that disappeared floated up and got absorbed by the squid¡¯s body.

    ¡¸Something¡¯sing!¡¹

    ¡¸I got it!¡¹

    Maple raises herrge shield.

    Since there are no stacks left of the¡¾Akushoku¡¿, she is finally able to use it as a proper shield.

    The giant squid shook once, and jumped out of the water while being enveloped by the same blue effects that the fishes had.

    That strong blue light firmly supports its giant body.

    ¡¸It¡¯sing!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿!¡¾Cover¡¿!¡¹

    It was the same time that Maple shouted and the squid charged.

    Sally was able to dodge while Maple who used¡¾Cover¡¿to be sure got thrown back after receiving the attack.

    The squid that jumped out of the water entered the other side of the wall of water.

    Maple¡¯s HP Bar was decreased by 40%.

    The damage she receives was doubled because of¡¾Cover Move¡¿/

    This is only the second time Sally saw an opponent that was able to get through Maple¡¯s armored defense.

    ¡¸It powered up¡­?!¡¹

    Sally used¡¾Heal¡¿on Maple and followed the giant squid with her eyes.

    It was also a chance to attack because it would get near them.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll dodge¡­ and sh!¡¹

    Sally pumped herself up, but the squid¡¯s target was Maple.

    ¡¸¡¾Super eleration¡¿!¡¹

    Sally targeted the squid that targeted Maple.

    She swung her dagger while she received speed reduction.

    ¡¸¡¾Triple sh¡¿!¡¹

    Sally passed through under while releasing six consecutive attacks.

    ¡¸¡¾Poison Lance¡¿¡¹

    Maple¡¯s poisonousnce stabs into the squid¡¯s head.

    Maple also received damage from its charge, but the squid also received huge damages.

    It jumped into the water again.

    ¡¸We¡¯ll defeat it in the next one!¡¹

    ¡¸Just a little bit more! Let¡¯s do our best!¡¹

    The two followed the squid¡¯s movements while getting ready for its charge.

    It is to make something out of the valuable chance.

    And while that happened, the squid was about to jump out.

    ¡¸It¡¯sing!¡¹

    ¡¸Un!¡¹

    When the two girls raised their weapons.

    The squid¡¯s HP Bar which was infested with poison finally disappeared.

    ¡¸¡¸eh?¡¹¡¹

    The squid¡¯s body became light and dissipated.

    The soiled water was purified.

    Its shine sparkled like sun rays that reached the waters and gradually disappeared.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­for real?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­I get that feeling¡¹

    The two won in an unconvincing manner.

    However, a win is a win.

    A deep blue magic circle in front of them.

    ¡¸You want to get it?¡¹

    ¡¸What about the reward?¡¹

    ¡¸n?¡­ there might be something, so, I¡¯ll go search the waters okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Please do!¡¹

    Sally entered the waters.

    It is possible to explore thoroughly since the poison disappeared.

    ¡¸I would¡¯ve sent Syrup too if she was a sea turtle?¡¹

    Maple watched Sally swim around, but Sally returned after a while.

    ¡¸There was one squid tentacle¡¹

    ¡¸What about a medal?¡¹

    ¡¸U?n¡­ I think that there was none. I searched properly around the corals too¡­ most of all, I don¡¯t think that the rewards would be ced in a ce that is hard to tell¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s true¡­¡¹

    The two girls stepped into the magic circle although disappointed that there were no medals.

    The two of them who thought that they would return to the top of the cliff did not expect that they would be teleported underwater.

    ¡¸I-I can¡¯t breathe! W-What should we do?!¡¹

    ¡¸n, n? Maple! You can breathe!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?! Ah, a-re? It¡¯s true¡­¡¹

    She can also say her words properly.

    It looks like there was no possibility of drowning although there was the feeling of water.

    ¡¸What a mysterious ce¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Is this the¡¾peaceful sea¡¿?¡¹

    Just like Sally has said, the ce where the two girls are was a silent sea.

    It was a blue sea that if the two of them did not say anything, they could hear the bubbles in intervals.

    It seems like they are in the bottom of the sea, as well as near the water surface.

    In that space where calming blue has ruled, where one might fall asleep anytime, there was a blue treasure box that seemed to be enveloped by corals.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll open it okay?¡¹

    There was two medals and two scrolls inside.

    Maple kept the medal.

    Sally took the scroll and looked at its information.

    ¡¸What¡¯s the skill name?¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Ancient Sea¡¿, it can be learned if you have water-type skills¡­ it looks like you can summon the fishes enveloped by blue light from earlier¡¹

    What Sally meant by the fishes earlier were the fishes that they saw schools of when they fought against the squid.

    Sally read it, and found out that there was really¡¾Decrease 10 AGI¡¿ability included with those water.

    It is a skill that Maple has no use of, but Sally would be able to increase the range of strategies she could take with it.

    ¡¸Ah?¡­ is¡¾Hydra¡¿no good?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, I think that that¡¯s not water-type¡¹

    ¡¸I guessed so¡¹

    Although they tried to be sure, Maple was unable to learn it.

    Maple decided to leave it aside for now and put the scroll into her inventory.

    The two girlsid around after closing the treasure box.

    They are very tired after the long fight and the ruins exploration on the fifth day.

    The fifth day started with meeting Kanade.

    The two girls really felt that today was a day full of happenings.

    ¡¸It might be okay taking it slow for one day¡¹

    ¡¸Ahaha¡­ that¡¯s true¡¹

    The two girls decided to sleep while thinking that it might be possible to take some leisure time if they have enough medals.

    It was a good ce to sleep as well.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s rest¡­ for a bit¡¹

    ¡¸I agree¡­¡¹

    The peaceful sea that enveloped the two girls was the mostfortable bed that they had up until now.

 Chapter 49: â€“ Defense Specialized and The Sixth Day of the Event

    The two girls stood up after a while.

    They stepped into the magic circle and teleported to the top of the cliff.

    They saw the ruins when they turned around.

    The deep hole that seemed to pierce through the sea already disappeared.

    ¡¸With this, the capture¡¯s finished right?¡¹

    ¡¸Probably¡­ we don¡¯t have enough medals though¡¹

    ¡¸Ah?, I see¡­ two more¡¹

    The two girls have slept for quite long, and it is currently 9 am of the sixth day.

    ¡¸Dungeons that have not yet been captured¡­ it would be either it has very high difficulty¡­ or haven¡¯t found yet¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­ then, we should start walking right away¡¹

    Maple was about to walk forward.

    However.

    ¡¸Un. About that? Maple doesn¡¯t have¡¾skills for today¡¿right?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?!¡­¡­ah! That¡¯s right!¡¹

    They have fought the squid after midnight.

    Both¡¾Akushoku¡¿and¡¾Hydra¡¿cannot be used anymore on the sixth day.

    One of Maple¡¯s weaknesses is that she has a lot of cooldowns.

    Fights soon after the day have passed would greatly limit Maple¡¯s movement in that day.

    ¡¸Well, I¡¯ll do something about yers too, so¡­ we should just think about it when we find a dungeon¡¹

    The battle against the squid might have resulted in a different way without Maple fighting with all of her strength.

    It was something done so there was nothing that they could do.

    ¡¸For the mean time, let¡¯s trace the coastline. It still continues after all¡¹

    The two girls left the ruins and advanced.

    ¡¸After we get two medals, would you like to raise Oboro and Syrup?¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, that sounds good!¡¹

    Maple and Sally had fought only strong enemies, so they were unable to raise their two pets.

    Because of that, their level is still low.

    ¡¸Dungeons¡­ we can¡¯t enter it again after it¡¯s captured once right?¡¹

    ¡¸Kanade was saying something like that¡¹

    The two girls believe that there was no more sea dungeon.

    It has not changed that the sea is to the left, and the forest only continues to the right.

    ¡¸This, maybe we should start seriously targeting other yers¡¹

    ¡¸Mu?¡­ it can¡¯t be helped huh¡¹

    Maple was not very assertive towards PK, but she decided to reason it out, that it cannot be helped in a hunt or be hunted environment.

    The two girls have met many yers who tried to defeat them.

    Because of that, she guessed that it was amon way of thinking.

    ¡¸If so¡­ let¡¯s enter the forest. Maple? Can you see that mountain?¡¹

    ¡¸n?? I can see it¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go there. I think that yers would gather in a ce that stands out like that¡¹

    What Sally pointed at was a different mountain from the mountain terrain that they climbed on the second day.

    It looked like there might be a dungeon there, but it also looks like it would be easily captured since it is a terrain that stands out.

    ¡¸Well then¡­ let¡¯s go¡¹

    The two girls walked towards the mountain.

    After three hours since the girls decided their objective.

    They were inside a cave that can be found half way of the mountain.

    Although they were able to see several yers from far away, they ran away from the girls at maximum speed.

    ¡°If I would need to leave Maple whose fighting power had decreased to the lowest extreme, then¡­¡­¡±, Sally thought and gave up chasing those yers.

    ¡¸And so¡­ can Maple stay here and hide?¡¹

    ¡¸Understood! Sorry?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay! You did great during the squid battle too¡¹

    Sally operated the blue panel and hands the ring that she equipped to Maple.

    It was the ring that connects her with Oboro.

    ¡¸Your HP would go down but¡­ I¡¯ll leave Oboro as your bodyguard too okay?¡¹

    Maple removed her Toughness Ring and called out Syrup and Oboro after wearing the ring.

    ¡¸Well then¡­ I¡¯ll go now!¡¹

    ¡¸Do your best!¡¹

    Sally left the cave.

    Both Syrup and Oboro has abilities equal to normal yers.

    Abilities that should be enough for a certain level of guarding.

    If Maple gets defeated, the medal that they gathered up to now will disappear.

    ¡¸The responsibility is huge¡­¡­ I know!¡¹

    Although there was no boss room, was this a dungeon before? The cave was very wide.

    It was a cave that was simr to an ant¡¯s nest.

    Maple is in the deepest part of that cave.

    ¡¸¡¾Venom Capsule¡¿!¡¹

    She unsummoned Oboro and Syrup to prevent self-destruction and spread the poisonous capsule.

    It was an ability that Maple can use even in a normal state.

    ¡¸Until Sally returns¡­ I must live¡¹

    Maple¡¯s poison fills the narrow path of the cave at a regr interval.

    The dungeon was started to get covered by a poisonous swamp gimmick.

    That scene was as if Maple turned to the new boss of this dungeon.

    ¡¸Don¡¯te?! Don¡¯te anybody?!¡¹

    Maple expands the capsule.

    While Maple was releasing poison, Sally was outside the cave.

    ¡¸If it¡¯s only me¡­ there should be lots of yers that would think they could defeat me¡¹

    Many yers know of Maple¡¯s appearance.

    The yers who ran away saw Maple¡¯s unique equipments and ran away.

    They all understood Maple¡¯s danger.

    However, it is different for Sally.

    Sally waspletely unknown.

    Sally has the same level of abnormal ability as Maple, and more aggressive than Maple.

    There was almost no one who knows that.

    And, right now, Sally does not have anything to lose.

    Maple is keeping all of the medals.

    ¡¸It looks like¡­¡­ I can go on a rampage after a long time?¡¹

    For Sally, fighting with Maple is fun, but there is a different charm with fighting alone.

    Sally runs down the mountain.

    The time is still in the afternoon and visibility is also good.

    ¡¸Oh! There they are¡¹

    Sally found a two female pair walking in the forest. They were being vignt of the surroundings and noticed Sally¡¯s approach.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go!¡¹

    ¡¸Okay?!¡¹

    They were equipped with a one-handed sword and a spear.

    The one-handed sword was also equipped with a shield.

    ¡¸¡¾Gale Thrust¡¿!¡¹

    The yer equipped with a one-handed sword had entered her next movement while calcting Sally¡¯s reaction towards the spear that thrust forward.

    She seemed to be dagger-equipped so hitting her after she lost her bnce should be good.

    She probably nned it that way.

    If it were a normal yer, they would have pulled back or dodged to the sides.

    The one-handed sword woman expected that her opponent this time would fall back and zeroed the distance dashing.

    By doing that, she would also be able to react if the opponent dodges to the side.

    That is, if Sally was normal.

    ¡¸Eh?!¡¹

    Sally¡¯s evasion is different.

    She twisted her body and advanced while barely avoiding the spear. Her dagger draws near to the spearwoman that waspletely caught off guard.

    ¡¸¡¾Double sh¡¿!¡¹

    Red effects scattered but the woman somehow survives.

    She instinctively pulled back her spear then swung it horizontally.

    ¡¸No way?!¡¹

    Sally dodged that spear by bending backwards. The woman¡¯s thought process stopped after seeing that inhuman reaction speed.

    ¡¸Okay, it¡¯s the end¡¹

    Sally¡¯s dagger zeroed that woman¡¯s HP Bar this time for sure.

    ¡¸¡¾Power de¡¿!¡¹

    A quick vertical cut approaches from behind Sally.

    ¡°I got her.¡±

    The woman thought.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­!!¡¹

    It was as if she had eyes on her back.

    Sally turns her body sideways.

    Just because of that, the sword that aimed towards Sally passed through as if it was the one that dodged Sally.

    ¡¸¡¾sh¡¿!¡¹

    Sally crosses with the woman while cutting her nk.

    The woman felt it was very eerie.

    She would get more disadvantaged the more she attacked.

    ¡¸Ku¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿!¡¹

    Sally¡¯s magic attack caught the woman who was trying to think of ways of how tond an attack on Sally off guard.

    She was just that panicking against an abnormal opponent.

    ¡¸Ku!!¡¹

    The woman dodged to the side.

    And then, the woman noticed while she loses her bnce that it was as if her n earlier was happening only to her.

    ¡¸Goodbye¡¹

    It is very difficult for a normal yer to win a head-on battle against a yer defiesmon sense.

    This time, a miracle did not happen.

    ¡¸Well then, there¡¯s¡­ no medal huh¡¹

    Sally started to walk, searching for her next prey.

    Coincidentally, there were many yers around here on the sixth day.

    And those yers started rumors after the event ended.

    They said, ¡¾she disappears like a phantom¡¿.

    They said, ¡¾the sword dodges on its own¡¿.

    They said, ¡¾it¡¯s a ghost¡¿

    The massacre that will be called ¡¾the nightmare in the sixth-day¡¿ter on has just started.

 Chapter 50: â€“ Defense Specialized and Event and Mid-Boss

    ¡¸Well¡­¡­ I should go back¡­¡¹

    Sally muttered within the fluttering red effects and yer dying effects.

    If the attacking effects in this game were gushing out blood, her beautiful blue equipments were probably dyed with red.

    The massacre act that was doubted as a randomly appearing cleaner-type boss after the event has ended.

    It is because Sally has found two medals.

    ¡¸As I¡¯ve thought; there are only a few people who have them¡­ I guess we were just lucky¡¹

    Evening is nearing.

    It has been five hours of moving and fighting.

    From far away, the mountain where Maple is could be seen, illuminated by the setting sun.

    That is probably already 10 kilometers away.

    Sally has defeated more than a hundred yers.

    But even so, she only obtained two medals.

    Just like Sally has said, the two girls were lucky.

    They have the strength to clear the dungeons that have yet to be found, and that was what separated them from other yers.

    ¡¸I should take it back properly¡¹

    Sally started to run.

    The yers that she met along the way turned into light and dissipated, but that was something inevitable.

    ¡¸Yosh! I¡¯m here!¡¹

    Sally immediately entered the cave.

    She remembers the way, so she hurried to where Maple is, but stopped halfway.

    ¡¸Uwwa¡­¡­¡¹

    A wall of poison was made in the passage that connects to where Maple is.

    Even if it were destroyed, those who destroyed it wouldn¡¯t be able to advance, since the floor and wall would only be full of poison.

    ¡¸Maple huh¡­ I should send her a message¡­¡¹

    After a while since she sent a message to Maple, Maple passed through the wall of poison.

    ¡¸I got the medals¡¹

    ¡¸Ohh! Amazing!¡¹

    Sally passed the medals to Maple.

    With this, the two of them has 20 medals.

    They only need to protect them.

    ¡¸What would you like to do? I think it¡¯s good to raise our two pets too¡¹

    ¡¸Ah! I know! I wanted to say something about that!¡¹

    ¡¸What?¡¹

    ¡¸Follow me!¡¹

    ¡¸No¡­ that¡¯s impossible though¡­¡¹

    Passing through a passage full of poison was something impossible for Sally.

    ¡¸n?¡­ then, ride my shield?¡¹

    Maple deactivated the Poison Capsule making the wall of poison disappear, then ced herrge shield on the ground.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll get on, but what will you do?¡¹

    Sally got on therge shield. It was just like riding a sled.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll do my best to push¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll do my best to push¡¹

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t that too hard?¡¹

    ¡¸I can do it!¡¹

    Maple did her best to push.

    She stopped after therge shield moved for about 50cm.

    ¡¸¡­¡­I can¡¯t¡¹

    ¡¸Un, I thought so. And then? What did you want to say again? I want to hear that first¡¹

    ¡¸Ahh, e?to¡­ there¡¯s a room in another dead end different to where I was earlier, and a 20cm sized ant monster came out from there, but they¡¯re weak, so I thought they¡¯re just enough for Syrup and Oboro!¡¹

    The two girls have not explored the cave properly, so they did not notice at first.

    Maple had been bored, so she was able to find it when she went for a walk after she finished applying poison.

    ¡¸Is it continuous?¡¹

    Sally asked.

    She thought that it might be a good ce to level up their pets if monsters would spawn endlessly.

    ¡¸There¡¯s 3 monsters appearing every 10 minutes!¡¹

    ¡¸If so¡­ I¡¯m sorry, but can Maple do it herself? I don¡¯t feel I can get there¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I got it! I¡¯ll do my best okay!¡¹

    Sally got off therge shield and Maple re-equipped it and went deeper into the cave.

    ¡¸U?n, I don¡¯t have anything to do¡¹

    For the meantime, Sally decided to go back.

    It was not like the whole cave was covered with poison, but at least a third of it was.

    After going towards the entrance for a bit, Sally sat down when she reached a hall.

    It is a square room with 20 meters on each side, and the walls are also decorated.

    Sally thought that it might be originally a mid-boss room.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll protect Maple¡¹

    This is not a dungeon where one can use a magic circle to teleport.

    Since the dungeon was already cleared, there was fewer monsters spawning.

    Just like Maple has said, there are only a few ces where there are still monsters.

    Although, Sally only knew about a few ces.

    If so, what would Sally protect Maple from?

    That is, she would protect her from yers.

    Right now, there are only a few dungeons remaining. If yers found a dungeon-looking ce, there is no doubt that they would enter to look for medals.

    ¡¸It¡¯ll be the end if there¡¯s someone who has¡¾Poison Nullification¡¿after all¡¹

    Right now, Maple cannot defeat yers who have¡¾Poison Nullification¡¿.

    Since Sally does not have anything else to do, she thought of protecting Maple to be sure.

    ¡¸This ce is also¡­ a dungeon-like ce too¡­¡¹

    There is Maple as the boss, Sally as the mid-boss, and there is a whopping reward of 20 medals.

    There are almost no monsters as well.

    It is a very alluring dungeon.

    ¡¸I need to protect this ce until the sixth day ends¡­¡­¡¹

    If they reached the 7th day, the cooldowns that weaken Maple would disappear.

    As long as Sally endure up to that, Maple would revive.

    ¡¸Thinking of that¡­ it¡¯s like Maple is a Demon God waiting for revival or something¡­¡­¡¹

    Sally thought that since there are many yers around this area, the exploration of the other side of the mountainous region must have mostly ended.

    ¡¸I wonder if they¡¯de here if they finish exploring over there?¡¹

    Sally waited for a while, and she heard someone talking from the passage ahead.

    ¡¸There¡¯s something!¡¹

    It was a four-man group holding their weapons that entered the hall.

    Sally quickly checked their weapons.

    Spear, Large Shield, Staff, Large Sword.

    They are probably a regr party, their party bnce is quite good.

    ¡¸Why have youe here?¡¹

    ¡¸You¡¯re¡­ a yer¡­ right?¡¹

    They couldn¡¯t be med to have doubts, seeing a well-equipped girl staying in a really boss room-looking ce.

    Her HP Bar can be seen, but that is no different from a monster.

    If Sally says she¡¯s a monster, then Sally is a monster.

    ¡¸Fight?¡¹

    Even if Sally reveals that she is a yer, they will fight still, since they need to get her medals. And even if Sally says she does not have any, they would not believe her.

    Also, if these four who are nning to explore deeper were ignored, they would reach the poison passage that Maple made.

    There is no doubt that they would think that this is an un-cleared dungeon if they saw that.

    It would be the end if they were able to pass through the poison passage.

    Defeating them is the safest.

    If so, it would be more interesting acting like a monster, or at least, that was Sally thought.

    To do that, she answered with a fixed sentence.

    ¡¸It looks like¡­ we¡¯d hit the jackpot!¡¹

    The party of fourpletely thought that Sally is a mid-boss, and believed that this was a dungeon that was yet to be explored.

    ¡¸I just hope it¡¯ll be a good fight¡¹

    Fishes d with blue light appeared around Sally.

    The reason why Sally acted like a monster.

    It was because she was still excited after finishing a massacre.

    She could not help but want to fight a little more.

    If they think that she is a monster, they will battle without a doubt. Her opponent would show their best as well.

    Since she would need to defeat them in the end, she wanted to do it in a fun way.

    For Sally, having fun is what a game is all about.

    ¡¸Fufufu¡­ this is really fun¡¹

    ¡¸Be careful! Let¡¯s go!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸¡¸Yeah!¡¹¡¹¡¹

    For people ying games, there is no doubt that they are asking for pleasure different from reality.

    Both Sally and the group of four yers were not an exception.

    Changing ces, Maple lied around in a room and cheered after Syrup and Oboro.

    ¡¸¡¾Bite¡¿! Go?! Do your best! ¡¾Fox Fire¡¿!¡¹

    Sally smiled pleasantly seeing the ants getting defeated.

    ¡¸That¡¯s great?! That¡¯s great! Do your best to level up okay!¡¹

    Maple stood up and patted the two.

    It would be a scene of a girl being friends with animals if Maple were not wearing full equips.

    That was amonly seen scene in the real world.

    Maple waspletely clueless that Sally was fighting.

    Maybe, Maple was a type of yer that is an exception.

 Chapter 51: â€“ Defense Specialized and Event Finished

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu Chapter 51

    Defense Specialization and the Sixth Day of the Event

    After a while, the two got up.

    The ce where they were transferred by the magic circle was on top of that cliff.

    Looking back, they could see the ruins.

    The deep hole that pierced the sea was gone.

    ¡¸So, I guess we¡¯ve cleared it?¡¹

    ¡¸Looks like it¡­ though we didn¡¯t get enough medals.¡¹

    ¡¸Oh yeah¡­ two to go.¡¹

    The two had slept for quite a while, and it was now 9 am on the sixth day.

    ¡¸The dungeons that haven¡¯t been cleared yet¡­ must be either very difficult or¡­ not even discovered.¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­ then we should start walking right away.¡¹

    Maple was about to walk off.

    However¡­

    ¡¸Yep. But you know what? Maple doesn¡¯t have any more ¡¾skills for today¡¿, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh¡ª? ¡­ah¡ª! That¡¯s true!¡¹

    The battle with the squid took cete at night, past twelve o¡¯clock.

    Neither ¡¾Eating Inedibles¡¿ nor ¡¾Hydra¡¿ could be properly utilized on the sixth day anymore.

    One of Maple¡¯s weaknesses was this poor fuel efficiency.

    Fighting right after a day ended would greatly restrict Maple¡¯s actions for the day.

    ¡¸Well, yers, I can take care of them, and¡­ we can figure things out after we find a dungeon.¡¹

    Had it not been for Maple giving it her all, the oue of the battle with the squid would have been different, on the other hand.

    There was no point in talking about the had-beens.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go along the coast for now. It is still stretching on.¡¹

    The two left the ruins and moved on.

    ¡¸After we get the two remaining medals, how about we train Oboro and Syrup?¡¹

    ¡¸I like the sound of that!¡¹

    Because Maple and Sally were fighting only strong enemies, they weren¡¯t able to raise the two critters.

    Therefore, their levels were still low.

    ¡¸Dungeons¡­ once they are cleared, you can¡¯t enter them, right?¡¹

    ¡¸Kanade said something like that, didn¡¯t he?¡¹

    The two of them would naturally not be able to enter the sea dungeon any more.

    On the left was the sea. On the right, there was nothing unusual, just a forest that stretched on and on.

    ¡¸I say we have to target the yers in earnest.¡¹

    ¡¸Mmm¡­ it can¡¯t be helped, I guess.¡¹

    Maple was not very positive about yer killing, but in this hunt-or-be-hunted environment, she could see that it was inevitable.

    Among the yers they had encountered so far, there were many who wanted to take Maple and Sally down as well.

    For that reason, she thought this way of thinking was the norm.

    ¡¸If so¡­ let¡¯s go into the forest. Maple? Do you see that mountain?¡¹

    ¡¸Hmm? I can see it.¡¹

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go over there. I think a prominent ce like that would attract a lot of yers.¡¹

    What Sally pointed at was another mountain in a slightly different location than the mountainous area they had climbed on the second day.

    A dungeon was likely to be there, though due to the conspicuous terrain, even if it was there, it was likely to have been cleared.

    ¡¸Well then¡­ let¡¯s go.¡¹

    The two headed for the mountain.

    It was three hours after they had decided on a n.

    The two were in a cave halfway up the mountain.

    Although they were able to see several yers from far away, those yers ran away full speed.

    Sally gave up chasing them, knowing better than to leave Maple, whose fighting ability had been reduced to the limit.

    ¡¸That¡¯s why¡­ you are hiding here, Maple, okay?¡¹

    ¡¸Got it! Sorry, I guess?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine! You did a great job in the squid battle.¡¹

    Sally navigated the blue panel and handed Maple the ring she had equipped.

    It was a ring to connect with Oboro.

    ¡¸My HP will go down, but¡­ Oboro will be staying with me as a bodyguard, huh?¡¹

    Maple took off her Toughness Ring, put the ring on and summoned Syrup and Oboro.

    ¡¸Well then¡­ I¡¯m off!¡¹

    ¡¸Good luck!¡¹

    Sally left the cave.

    Syrup and Oboro had about as much power as average yers.

    They were capable of serving as guards to some extent.

    If Maple got defeated, the medals they¡¯d earned so far would be lost.

    ¡¸It¡¯s a big responsibility¡­ yes!¡¹

    Although there was no boss room, this cave had probably originally been a dungeon, so it wasrge.

    The cave was structured like an ant nest inside a mountain.

    Maple was at the far end of that cave.

    ¡¸¡¾Venom Capsule¡¿!¡¹

    To prevent friendly fire, she put Oboro and Syrup back in their rings and unfolded the poison capsule.

    This was an ability that Maple could use even in her bare-bones state.

    ¡¸Until Sallyes back¡­ I have to stay alive.¡¹

    Maple¡¯s poison encroached on the narrow cave passageways at regr intervals.

    The dungeon became covered with poison bog that <i>actually</i> poisoned the yer on touch.

    It was as if Maple had be the new boss of this dungeon.

    ¡¸Do-on¡¯te! No-o onee!¡¹

    Maple erged the capsule.

    By the time Maple was releasing the poison, Sally hade out of the cave.

    ¡¸If it¡¯s just me¡­ there must be a lot of yers who think they can take me down.¡¹

    Maple¡¯s appearance was known to many yers.

    The yers who fled did so because they saw Maple¡¯s distinctive equipment.

    Everyone understood the danger of Maple.

    However, it was different for Sally.

    Sally was not yet known for anything.

    Sally had the same level of abnormal ability as Maple and was more belligerent than her.

    Almost no one knew that.

    And Sally had nothing to lose at the moment.

    She had left all the medals in Maple¡¯s care.

    ¡¸It¡¯s been a while¡­ time for an all-out rampage, huh?¡¹

    For Sally, fighting with Maple was fun, but fighting alone had a different charm.

    Sally ran down the mountain.

    The time of day was still early afternoon and visibility was good.

    ¡¸Oh! There¡¯s someone.¡¹

    Sally spotted a pair of women walking through the forest. The two were watching their surroundings and noticed Sally¡¯s approach just at that moment.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s do this!¡¹

    ¡¸O-okay!¡¹

    One was equipped with a one-handed sword and the other with a spear.

    The one with the one-handed sword was also equipped with a shield.

    ¡¸¡¾Gale Thrust¡¿!¡¹

    The yer with the one-handed sword was anticipating Sally¡¯s reaction to the spear thrust toward her and made her next move.

    Since she was equipped with daggers, she would probably evade the attack, and the yer would strike her when she was off-bnce.

    Maybe that was the n.

    A normal yer would either back away or avoid to the side.

    The woman with the one-handed sword was dashing to close the distance, expecting her to back away this time.

    This was probably the best thing to do, as it would have made it easier to handle a sideways dodge.

    If Sally was normal, that is.

    ¡¸Eh¡ª!?¡¹

    Sally¡¯s evasion was different.

    She twisted her body to narrowly evade the spear and move forward. The dagger closed in on the spearwoman, who was full of openings.

    ¡¸¡¾Double sh¡¿!¡¹

    Red effects flew around, but the woman managed to survive.

    She quickly pulled back her spear and swung it sideways in a sweeping motion.

    ¡¸Seriously!?¡¹

    Sally evaded that spear by bending backwards. It was a reaction so fast it was hard to believe she was human, and the woman froze in shock.

    ¡¸And that¡¯s done.¡¹

    Sally¡¯s dagger brought the woman¡¯s HP bar to zero this time.

    ¡¸¡¾Power de¡¿!¡¹

    A quick vertical cut came from behind Sally.

    <i>Gotcha.</i>

    The woman thought.

    ¡¸¡­¡ª!!¡¹

    It was as if she had eyes on her back.

    Sally put her body into a hanmi stance.

    TL note: stance with legs in an L-shape, with one leg bent in front and other extended behind

    With that, the sword, aimed at the center of Sally¡¯s body, passed just barely by her as if it were avoiding her entirely on its own.

    ¡¸¡¾sh¡¿!¡¹

    Slipping by the woman¡¯s side, Sally shed at her.

    The woman felt creeped out.

    The more she attacked, the worse her situation became.

    ¡¸Kuh¡ª¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿!¡¹

    She was staring at Sally, thinking about how she could make her attack hit, and she had no idea that her opponent was going to attack her with magic.

    That was how panicked she was in front of the unusual opponent.

    ¡¸Kuh¡ª!¡¹

    The women avoided it by jumping sideways.

    That was exactly what they had tried to set up in the first ce; the women realized it as she lost her bnce.

    ¡¸Farewell.¡¹

    It was tough for the average yer to win a head-on fight against a yer who was this off-the-rails.

    This time, no miracle happened.

    ¡¸Well, no medals¡­ <i>sigh</i>.¡¹

    Sally walked off in search of her next prey.

    Coincidentally, many yers were in the area on the sixth day.

    Those yers all began telling their stories after the event.

    They said, ¡¾It disappears like a phantom¡¿.

    They said, ¡¾The sword itself is dodging¡¿.

    They said, ¡¾Surely it¡¯s a vision¡¿.

    The beginning of the massacre was at this very moment, giving rise to the event dubbed ¡¾The Nightmare of the Sixth Day¡¿.

 Chapter 52: â€“ Defense Specialized and Skill Selection

    The event ended and they were returned to their original location.

    The elerated time returned to its original flow as well.

    An announcement was broadcasted by the management and exchanging skills and medals would be 30 minutes from now, so they were told to transfer the medals they possess if needed.

    Maple had already given Sally her medals so there was no problem.

    ¡¸I wonder what kind of skill there is?¡¹

    ¡¸Who knows? We can only wait and look¡­¡­¡¹

    And after 30 minutes.

    The management broadcasted an announce once again and told the yers that they would be transported individually to a specialized room. It was also said that they cannot consult with others, so the individuals must choose the skill that they think they need.

    And, finally, those ones who possess more than ten medals were enveloped by light and disappeared.

    Maple¡¯s vision is currently filled by the same blue color as the status te.

    One panel is floating in the middle of the exitless room that Maple is currently in.

    Maple approached that and found skill names aligned in it.

    It could be operated to show the detailed exnations of each skill.

    ¡¸E?to¡­ there¡¯s about, a hundred?¡¹

    Combat-type skill, production-type skill, status increasing-type skill, and other skills that do not belong among them.

    Those were aligned in order.

    ¡¸There doesn¡¯t seem to be a time limit, so¡­ I should take my time and decide!¡¹

    Maple has to types of skill that she can choose. Maple does not need skills that are tantly attack-types so she ignored them.

    They are the skills like¡¾Divine Swordsmanship¡¿or¡¾Dragonic Spear¡¿whose effects are obvious from their names.

    And if you mention production-type skills, Maple¡¯s DEX is too low so it would only be a waste.

    With those in mind, the skills that Maple could choose is limited.

    It could be said that among those who possess medals, Maple is the yer who has the most number of skills that would prove useless even if she learned them.

    With that reason, the time that she would be hesitating is reduced ordingly.

    ¡¸¡¾All Resist¡¿¡­ no,¡¾Fortress¡¿looks good too?¡­ even choosing¡¾Magic Powers Increment¡¿is quite, as well¡­¡¹

    Maple took her time choosing which one she should choose.

    ¡¸n? ¡­¡­¡­nn??¡¹

    Maple¡¯s eyesnded on a certain skill.

    She took her time staring at that skill¡¯s exnation that a hole was almost opened.

    ¡¸T-This! This should be the first one!¡¹

    A eureka shed in Maple¡¯s head.

    She abided that and chose that skill.

    ¡¸Thest one, I wonder which I should choose¡­¡¹

    Maple started to select a skill once again. She is nning to decide immediately if a eureka like earlier appears.

    ¡¸Which? should? I? choose?? n?¡­¡¹

    Maple did not found a skill that lit a light bulb, so after some deep thoughts, she learned¡¾Fortress¡¿.

    ¡¾Fortress¡¿is a skill that multiplies VIT by 1.5x.

    Its activation requirement does not have a demerit as well, making it a skill that is worth the precious medals.

    Maple possesses a skill that is equal to that, but that is because Maple is a little, no, quite far away from the norm.

    Anyways, after finishing choosing her skills, Maple was once again enveloped by the light and disappeared.

 Chapter 53: Defense specialization and sighting information

    <strong>Defense specialization and sighting information</strong>

    One day after the event is over.

    The usual people gather at the BB. [TN : BB means Bulletin Board for anyone that don¡¯t know]

    542 Name: Anonymous shield user

    Finally The event has ended.

    It¡¯s packed with speaking, too <em>(TN: not sure about this line anyone have a sugestion Ô’¤¹¤³¤È¤âœºÝd¤À¤¾)</em>

    543 Name: Anonymous Largesword user

    Atst It finished.

    That was long

    544 Name: Anonymous Spear user

    It was only two hours In RW. [TN : RW means Real World if this strange should i change it back]

    It¡¯s a strange feeling.

    545 Name: Anonymous shield user

    Da yo na<sup>¨C <em>(TN : I leave this line to your imagination, but i want to know using the romaji japan or english better)</em></sup>

    546 Name: Anonymous Largesword user

    Does anyone have ten medals?

    I can¡¯t get it.

    547 Name: Anonymous wizard

    Impossible

    Dungeon is pretty cool

    how should I put it seven days of exploring are pretty tiresome

    548 Name: Anonymous Spear user

    Indeed

    549 Name: Anonymous Largesword user

    I climbed the highest mountain but when I got there. There was nothing

    550 Name: Anonymous Shield user

    Say If the top of that mountain a circr mountain?

    Was there a shrine?

    551 Name: Anonymous Largesword user

    It indeed circural

    Do you know something?

    552 Name: Anonymous Spear user

    I Don¡¯t mind hearing about it

    553 Name: Anonymous wizard

    I want to hear about it

    554 Name: Anonymous Shield user

    Yoshi

    It will be a bit longer but I will exin

    I also climbed that mountain

    So there was a magic circle in front of the shrine at the summit

    Then I using the magic circle and getting transferred to a ce with big bird-shaped monster and get a beating

    As Tank I was knock outst merely to be defeat crushingly? <em>(TN : not sure about this one so i make it as logic as possible but i apreciating a help so here the raw¤Ç¤«¤¤øBÐÍ¥â¥ó¥¹¥¿©`¤Ë¥Ü¥³¥Ü¥³¤Ë¤µ¤ì¤¿</em>

    <em>ÍêÄw¤Ê¤­¤Þ¤Ç¤Ëßµ¤­¢¤µ¤ì¤¿¤ó¤À)</em>

    The other party members died just by hitting one of the ice gravels that filled the field of vision

    Seriously the firepower is absurd

    So when you arrive at the summit there is nothing, that mean someone has defeated it

    555 Name: Anonymous Largesword user

    Wha..?

    That unreasonable ?.

    If the enemy¡¯s HP is 1 or so, then maybe¡­ you know

    556 Name: Anonymous Spear user

    Who can endure if it is impossible for chrome ¡­

    No, There is .

    557 Name: Anonymous wizard

    Am I the only one who think about it

    558 Name: Anonymous Shield user

    The story has not ended yet

    At that time there was another party at the summit

    It was Maple and her friends, if i am not wrong the yer name should be Sally

    Sally-chan is a cute girl with the whole body of blue equipment

    So, if the magic circle were gone

    There a high Posibility the two captured it

    I guess they are going after us

    559 Name: Anonymous Largesword user

    Oh it may have been the two of them knocked down

    Maple pushing

    Or that Sally? Is it a mimicry?

    Which is it? <em>(TN : Same again not sure about this too¤â¤·¤ì¤ó¤Ê</em>

    <em>¥á¥¤¥×¥ë¤Î¤´¤êÑº¤·</em>

    <em>¤â¤·¤¯¤Ï¤½¤Î¥µ¥ê©`¤Á¤ã¤ó£¿¤â»¯Îï¤¸¤ß¤Æ¤ë¤«</em>

    <em>¤É¤Ã¤Á¤«¤Ê£¿ I stil hoping a helping hand here)</em>

    560 Name: Anonymous Archer

    A bitte

    Instead I brought two interesting information

    561 Name: Anonymous Shield user

    What kind of information is it?

    562 Name: Anonymous wizard

    Comfortable

    Surprising

    563 Name: Anonymous Archer

    The first one

    It seems there was a ce where a tragedy urred on the sixth day of the event

    A wandering monster of a human type who wrapped herself in blue clothing?

    Or a yer?

    In any case it seems that it does not seem to be using skills and everyone gets killed as it approaches avoiding all attacks

    Suddenly disappearing It is said that the sword avoids it

    There is so many victim

    He seems to have been a middle boss in a nearby cave thereafter

    Incidentally there were also writes saying poison dragons jumped out of the cave

    564 Name: Anonymous Shield user

    I see

    Well blue clothes

    a poisonous dragon.

    I think i have heard of it.

    565 Name: Anonymous Largesword user

    It is definite whether the poisonous dragon is like Maple-chan.

    I wonder if there are two of us like that

    So what is that?

    Is the blue clothes Sally?

    567 Name: Anonymous wizard

    The possibility of Sally is likely to be high

    Sally is also going to be bad

    It is not like people trying to break off the sword being swung down

    568 Name: Anonymous Spear user

    It is not a medal skill in the event

    Either an unknown acquisition skills

    Or there is a possibility of pure PS

    If thetter is true

    569 Name: Anonymous Shield user

    I remembered with a medal skill choice

    Skills that seems to be based on Maple¡¯s super high defense were in it

    ¡¾Fortress¡¿

    Skill that VIT bes 1.5 times

    There is a high possibility that I have more than one of these

    I think that defense power is not one

    It¡¯s about 1.5 times faster to do it from my VIT value

    570 Name: Anonymous wizard

    Maybe Maple-chan might have taken it

    Or rather Maple-chan would take it

    I do not have a medal.

    soo,It will still be hard?

    580 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Back to the information the second.

    I saw Maple and Sally after the event in a popr desert

    Maple-chan who show herself after a long absence

    Flew around on the back of the flying turtle around the sky, and creating rain of poison

    581 Name: Anonymous wizard

    Wait my brain can¡¯t handle it

    582 Name: Anonymous Shield user

    There shouldn¡¯t have such a skill

    In the first ce skill like that never existed.

    Wonder if it was not there.

    Mouwakakekaran <em>(TN : This line writed in katakana so im not so sure what the meaning)</em>

    583 Name: Anonymous Largesword user

    Seriously, How many medal did he get?

    What is the phenomenon like?

    584 Name: Anonymous Archer

    I don¡¯t know

    but the problem is?

    The turtle

    flying

    and, the Poison rain

    These three thing

    well,The poison rain is [The usual] but the remaining two are the problem

    What the hell happened during the event

    585 Name: Anonymous Spear user

    there¡¯s nothing like Taming, Right?

    No

    is those an items somewhere during the event?

    586 Name: Anonymous Shield user

    Maple-chan has been called by two names

    The First one are¡¾Fortress (Y¨­sai) ¡¿That pretty much true

    the second name is.

    ¡¾Floating fortress (Fuy¨± y¨­sai) ¡¿

    587 Name: Anonymous Wizard

    she will fly upward obliquely if I take my eyes off a bit.

    I would like to see his skill column and equipment column

    Seriously, he became a¡¾Floating Fortress¡¿

    Maybe there¡¯s a time limit or something

    588 Name: Anonymous Largesword user

    Sally is also important watching over

    People and things gathered around Maple have a tendency to change in general

    589 Name: Anonymous Archer

    I already think Sally is not an ordinary yer

    I want to fight him once

    It may be an AGI skill that avoiding attack

    I won¡¯t know unless I try it

    590 Name: Anonymous Shield user

    Let¡¯s try it soon

    I already friends registered with Maple chan

    At that time I will see Sally¡¯s ability too

    591 Name: Anonymous Spear user

    I¡¯m expecting a good report

    592 Name: Anonymous Largesword user

    I¡¯m expecting you.

 Chapter 54: Defense specialization and skill contents.

    <strong>Defense specialization and skill contents.</strong>

    ¡¸What kind of skill did Sally choose? ¡¹

    The two who finished selecting the medal skills were sitting on the bench of the second town.

    ¡¸Hmm ¡­ I got lost a lot, but I made it to a ¡¾Addition de¡¿(Tsui ha)¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Addition de¡¿(Tsui ha)¡¹ [TN : the skill namee form ×·ÈÐ. ×·(Tsui) : Additional

    and ÈÐ(Ha) : de if anyone have another the please tell me i am open for any opinion]

    Maple, who does not even see the content of offensive skill, so she do not know what kind of skill it is.

    ¡¸Etto ¡­ it a Skill that triggers additional attack of one third the weapon power when the attack seeds¡¹

    ¡¸Etto¡­¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸It doubles the number of attack. Because I am a dual-sword, [double sh] will be eight consecutive shots¡¹

    ¡¸Sugo ~tsu!¡¹ [TN : want me to put ¡°Thats great¡± or just stay like this]

    ¡¸Well, they have a [poor dexterity] There are also two swords have less damage per stroke, so I still can not do a full-scale operation yet¡¹ [TN : I am not sure about this line but, so what no one read this anyway]

    Sally tends to prefer attack methods with a lot of hands and fast attack methods.

    Maple tends to increase durability.

    ¡¸So, What kind of skills did Maple chose?¡¹

    ¡¸I don¡¯t know if I can use it properly¡¹

    ¡¸Huh?¡¹

    Sally did not quite understand what Maple says.

    Why would it be possible to choose a skills that she don¡¯t know well for why?

    ¡¸Well then let¡¯s go to the desert. I would like to try it out of sight.¡¹

    ¡¸U,..un. I understood¡¹

    I did not have a surprise at what kind of skills Maple chose.

    ¡¸Yo ? shi, Let¡¯s go Syrup.¡¹

    Maple called Syrup

    ¡¸Syrup! ¡¾Huge¡¿!¡¹

    In response to Maple¡¯s voice Syrup¡¯s body is enveloped in light and grows.

    When his first height was around 3 meters.

    Now It¡¯s about 5 meters and a half.

    This is the skill that Syrup gained after level up on the sixth day of the event.

    ¡¾Huge¡¿

    Doubles the HP.

    After be huge and double the HP Syrup be more susceptible to damage.so, it was a skill that can¡¯t be effectively used in current slow syrups.

    ¡¸Please go well, please go well¡¹ [TN: thank for the suggestion in thement]

    Maple closes his eyes and prays while holding hands.

    Maple who had been doing it for a while shouted and opened his eyes.

    ¡¸¡¾Nenriki (Psychokinesis)¡¿¡¹

    When she say that, Syrup body began to floating.

    The giant did not feel any weight and stopped as it floated about 10 meters form ground.

    ¡¸E ~e¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Yatta! Yatta! It worked.¡¹

    Maple who jumped and excited about her sess.

    On the other hand, Sally, who is silent under the battle stage against the monster birds, is stunned.

    She know from what happened, her mind stopped thinking in this mysterious situation.

    Maple chose his skills by an intuition.

    It was something Sally could not do.

    That¡¯s why ¡¾something she do not know well¡¿ is born.

    The performance of the other skills chosen by Maple did not look like something that maple will chooses.

    ¡¾Nenriki (Psychokinesis)¡¿

    You can float a monster.

    Sess rate of skill changes ording to resistance probability set for each monster.

    Once failed, one hour can not be reused for the target monster.

    It does not act on other than monsters.

    Consumption of MP at the time of skill use varies with resistance probability.

    After,looking at maple skill sally showing his confusion.

    From this skill exnation, she could not understand why maple takes this skill at all.

    As Sally¡¯s saw, this was to detain enemy monsters, but it was confirmed that the enemies could not be restrained but consumption seemed to be big.

    ¡¸Why did you take that skill?¡¹

    ¡¸Because I thought that I could fly with syrup¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, Hai.¡¹ [TN: I leave this line to your imagination if you already learn japan you know ¡°Hai¡± has many meaning]

    There is no good reason there.

    I think Maple just wants to have fun. she takes the skills for what she wants to do.

    And as I mentioned earlier, maple intuition sometimes causes too a heinous phenomenon.

    ¡¸Ne~e Maple? ¡­ Syrup? Until when it stay flying?¡¹

    ¡¸eh? ¡­¡­that? Is true¡¹

    Maple looks at his MP, but it is not decreasing at all

    ¡¸¡­¡­. No way!¡¹

    ¡¸what? Did you understand something?¡¹

    ¡¸Syrup is not an ordinary monster. Thank too bond created by¡¾Bridge of bond¡¿syrup has been connected to maple ¡¹ <em>[TN: maybe it connect a little bit,but we dont sure</em>

    ¡¸Yup! that¡¯s right¡¹

    Maple naturally still wears the ring.

    ¡¸¡¾Bridge of bond¡¿It is? If the monster is tied by bond ¡­ ¡­ How about the resistance probability ¡­ how much percent is it?¡¹

    What Sally wants to say is that the syrup that is tied to Maple by ¡¾Bridging of the Bond¡¿ [resist].

    If the resistance probability is 0%, how much is the MP consumption ?

    Sally came through because this skill had no exnation about it.

    There was no need to throw away medals and go to bet on Sally <em>[TN: This line too. maybe it author naration or something like that because i can¡¯t connect it to the story(my friend suggestion) (</em><em>¤³¤Î¥¹¥­¥ë¤Ï¤½¤ÎÞx¤ê¤ÎÕhÃ÷¤¬Ÿo¤«¤Ã¤¿¤¿¤á¥µ¥ê©`¤Ï¥¹¥ë©`¤·¤¿¤Î¤À¡£</em>

    <em>¥µ¥ê©`¤Ë¤Ï¥á¥À¥ë¤òÍ¶¤²’Î¤Æ¤ÆÙ€¤±¤Ë³ö¤ë±ØÒª¤Ê¤É¤Ê¤«¤Ã¤¿¡£)]</em>

    ¡¸In other words, it seems like you can fly for a long time with syrup, do not you?¡¹

    ¡¸Well, that¡¯s right¡¹

    ¡¸Well fine things are fine. syrup! Come back!¡¹

    Maple recalls syrup

    ¡¸I am gonna ride on your back.¡¹

    Responding to that syrup gripped Maple¡¯s head gently and threw it to the top of his shell.

    ¡¸Yo~tsu!¡¹

    Maple falls over with Gashan sound on the shell. The widened shell is alsofortable to ride.

    Maple raises altitude to seventh meter and looks around.

    ¡¸Maple! A group of Dung beetles ising!¡¹

    Maple who heard sally screaming look around his surrounding

    and she see the dust generated when the dung beetle moves around.

    ¡¸Sally! Get away!¡¹

    Sally realized that Maple started something, and escaped with [super eleration].

    It was because she had no idea what to do.

    ¡¸¡¾Acid Rain¡¿!¡¹

    Maple thrust shingetsu at the new moon in the sky.

    A mass of purple water of 15 centimeters in diameter jumped out of the magic circle, the water spreads randomly at a position about five meters away from Maple.

    ¡¸Yay!Rainy Rainy¡¹

    The rain that maple gave down stopped the movement of the beetle, every time it hit.

    the quick movement of the beetle can¡¯t be undone, as their only fate to be destroyed by the poison rain.

    Two people were watching such a spectacle from afar.

    One is Sally.

    The other person was a man with a bow

    ¡¸¡¸Wow¡­¡­¡¹¡¹

    Those who saw the mysterious behavior of Maple seemed to be highly punctuated and their vocabry be poor.

    A littleter.

    At the moment when the number selected during the skill selection disyed on the monitor became zero, they leaned back on the backrest and reclined.

    in the room of the management.

    The color of fatigue appears outstandingly on the face of everyone.

    It seems like everyone gonna pass out right now.

    ¡¸Ushi,all the skill has been selected.¡¹

    ¡¸Well ¡­ the second event got me ¡­ It was good that a bug did not ur¡¹

    ¡¸Ha~a ¡­ that¡¯s right! She is? What skill did maple choose?¡¹

    ¡¸If it is Maple, maybe[Fortress] or somethind aroud it. Right ¡­? I think like that ¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, taking ¡¾Fortress¡¿. no problem. Defense power and something is already crazy so if going to increase it from here ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Psycho ¡­ kine, cis?¡¹

    ¡¸I have a bad feeling¡¹

    ¡¸Me too¡¹

    ¡¸Find Maple! Make it to the monitor!¡¹

    Maple is immediately disyed on the monitor.

    Maple ¡­

    ..Was flying around on a huge turtle and casting a poisonous rain

    ¡¸¡¸¡­¡­ This is Bad¡¹¡¹ <em>[TN: Thank for the sugestion <strong>Alice ugterdoll</strong>]</em>

    ¡¸I told you to check the skills! right? I told it!¡¹

    ¡¸I did it! But, as Maple does not take that skill, that adjustment is okay with that adjustment ¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸Say it in a sense of perseverance! !¡¹¡¹

    ¡¸Maple will alwaye with anything! That is [normal] ¡¹

    ¡¸Uwa ¨¡ ¨¡! Uwa a ¨¡!¡¹ <em>[TN: Rest in Peace the management of the Game team]</em>

    Can¡¯t, tolerate with the shock the image showing and together with tiredness several people stunned and getting knocked out.

    Then, as soon as the picture of the monitor was erased along with giving up, everyone¡¯s energy has run out.

 Chapter 55: Defense specialization and loot.

    <strong>Defense specialization and loot.</strong>

    Contents fluent.

    Excuse me.

    ¡¸Yo ? shi, finally finished! ¡¹

    Maple lowers syrup altitude.

    She was trying to get off while slowly clinging to syrup feet, but of course it slipped down.

    After returning syrup to the ring, maple headed to sally.

    ¡¸Tadaima ? !¡¹

    ¡¸Sometimes Maple changing to something that I can¡¯t understand ¡¹

    ¡¸really ? ¡¹

    ¡¸yeah¡¹

    What they got in the second event is a big shield and scroll.

    That was acquired in the cave where the snail was.

    Because they had forgotten to confirm it, they decided to check the item now.

    Depending on the item performance maple can evolve further.

    ¡¸First is the scrolls¡¹

    It the scroll that let you learns skill ¡¾Encouragement¡¿.

    Sally and Kasumi possess this.

    ¡¾Encouragement¡¿

    Raise your party member ¡®s [STR] [AGI] who was within 15 meters in radius by 20% for one minute.

    There is no effect to the user.

    ¡¸It¡¯s for parties ¡­ is it meaningless if I use it? ¡¹

    It is pointless even if Sally raises the status of Maple.

    No matter how many percent zero is raised, it is zero.

    if [VIT] rised, it will be different, but these skill still not be necessary for the two of them.

    even so, Sally still learned the skill.

    and, naturally Maple learn the skill to.

    ¡¸Well then, next is the Great shield¡¹

    The Great shield exchanged by handing a staff and a spear to Kasumi, the shield was made of purple crystal.

    Maple reminds vividly of the cave full of snails by looking at the shield.

    ¡¸It was such an obstacle right? ¡¹

    ¡¸That right ¡­ I would like to go again if there is no snail. ¡¹

    Maple confirms the capability of the Great shield.

    ¡ºMass of the Violet Crystal¡»(TN:I don¡¯t get a got name for this one the raw say ×Ï¾§‰K and I check the romaji it show me ¡°Murasaki Akira Katamari¡± so Any suggestion for the name)

    ¡¾VIT + 30¡¿

    ¡¾Crystal wall (Suish¨­ kabe)¡¿

    Maple checks the skills.

    The value of this Great shield depends on this skill because the rise value of ¡¾VIT¡¿ is lower than the¡¾white snow¡¿.

    ¡¾Crystal wall (Suish¨­ kabe)¡¿

    Make the wall with HP the same value as the HP of the yer who activated the skill within 5 meters in radius.

    After use, it is five minutes to be reusable.

    ¡¸Oh ¡­ I do not seem to be able to use it like that¡¹

    If it was the same as the value of [VIT], it would have been horrible.

    Every five minutes obstacles with the same defensive power as Maple will spring up to protect Maple.

    ¡¸If maple¡¯s HP is high it may have been quite usable. ¡¹

    By one status point to HP, HP will increase by 20. The same is true for MP.

    Therefore, if you acquire the skill of proportion recovery like [meditation] by adding the skill point to HP rather than¡¾VIT¡¿it will make viability higher.

    That¡¯s the reason¡¾VIT¡¿ getting outspokenly.

    Only after going like Maple the damage reduction of ¡¾VIT¡¿ bes a thing.

    ¡¸Should I try it outter? ¡¹

    Maple puts the Great shields into her inventory.

    Because Maple had¡¾Crystal wall (Suish¨­ kabe)¡¿, I thought that it would not be never used at all.

    ¡¸Because Maple¡¯s big shield is enough ¡­ ¡¹

    Sally¡¯s saying that, of course, ¡¾Mirror of the Dark Night (Yamiyo no Utsushi) ¡¿.

    There will not be such a Great shield above that.

    ¡¸That remind me ¡­ my level has rised¡¹

    ¡¸Me,too. I was killing the fish while Maple was ying with the squid¡¹

    Maple

    Lv29

    HP 40/40¡´£«160¡µ

    MP 12/12 ¡´£«10¡µ

    ¡¾STR 0¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 180¡´£«141¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 0¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 0¡¿

    ¡¾INT 0¡¿

    Equipment

    Head ¡¾nk¡¿

    Body ¡¾Armor of ck Roses (Kurobara no Yoroi)¡¿

    Right hand ¡¾New Moon (Shingetsu): Hydra (Dokuryuu)¡¿

    Left hand ¡¾Mirror of the Dark Night (Yamiyo no Utsushi): Bizarre Eater (Akujiki)¡¿

    Foot ¡¾ck rose nose¡¿

    Shoes ¡¾ck rose nose¡¿

    essories ¡¾Bridge of bonds¡¿

    ¡¾Toughness ring¡¿

    ¡¾Ring of life¡¿

    skill

    ¡¾Absolute Defense¡¿ ¡¾Giant Killing (OomonoKurai)¡¿ ¡¾Hydra Eater (DokuryuuKurai)¡¿ ¡¾Bomb Eater (BakudanKurai)¡¿ ¡¾Meditation¡¿ ¡¾Provoke¡¿ ¡¾Abominable (Gokuaku Hid¨­)¡¿ ¡¾Knowledge of Great Shield IV¡¿ ¡¾Body handling¡¿ ¡¾Attack diversion¡¿ ¡¾Shield Attack¡¿

    ¡¾HP Enhancement (Small)¡¿ ¡¾MP Enhancement (Small)¡¿

    ¡¾Cover Move I¡¿ ¡¾Cover¡¿

    ¡¾The indomitable guardian¡¿

    ¡¾Psychokinesis¡¿

    ¡¾Fortress¡¿ ¡¾Encouragement¡¿

    Sally

    Lv24

    HP 32/32

    MP 45/45¡´£«35¡µ

    ¡¾STR 30¡´£«20¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾VIT 0¡¿

    ¡¾AGI 85¡´£«68¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾DEX 25¡´£«20¡µ¡¿

    ¡¾INT 30¡´£«20¡µ¡¿

    Equipment

    Head ¡¾Muffler of the Surface Water (Minamo no Mafura): Mirage (Shinkir¨­)¡¿

    Body ¡¾Coat of the Ocean (Taikai no K¨­to): Ocean (Taikai)¡¿

    Right hand ¡¾Dagger of the Deep Sea (Shinkai no Dag¨¡)¡¿

    Left hand ¡¾Dagger of the Bottom of the Water (Minasoko no Dag¨¡)¡¿

    Legs ¡¾Leggings of the Ocean¡¿

    Shoes ¡¾ck Boots¡¿

    essories ¡¾Bridge of bonds¡¿

    ¡¾nk¡¿

    ¡¾nk¡¿

    skill

    ¡¾Status Abnormal Attack ¢ó¡¿ ¡¾Sword Fencing II¡¿

    ¡¾Gale sh¡¿ ¡¾Muscle strengthening (small)¡¿

    ¡¾Small Strengthening¡¿ ¡¾Down Attack¡¿

    ¡¾Power Attack¡¿

    ¡¾Switch Attack¡¿ ¡¾Taijutsu V¡¿

    ¡¾Knowledge of Daggers II¡¿ ¡¾Dexterity¡¿ ¡¾Defense Break¡¿ ¡¾Super eleration¡¿ ¡¾Ancient Sea¡¿

    ¡¾Addition de¡¿ ¡¾Encouragement¡¿

    ¡¾Fire Magic I¡¿ ¡¾Water Magic II¡¿ ¡¾Wind Magic III¡¿

    ¡¾Earth Magic I¡¿ ¡¾Dark Magic I¡¿ ¡¾Light Magic II¡¿

    ¡¾Fire Ball¡¿ ¡¾Water Ball¡¿

    ¡¾Water Wall¡¿

    ¡¾Wind Cutter¡¿ ¡¾Wind Wall¡¿ ¡¾Cyclone Cutter¡¿

    ¡¾Sand Cutter¡¿

    ¡¾Dark Ball¡¿

    ¡¾Refresh¡¿ ¡¾Heal¡¿

    ¡¾MP enhancement (small)¡¿ ¡¾MP cut small¡¿

    ¡¾MP Recovery Speed Enhancement (small)¡¿ ¡¾Knowledge of Magic II¡¿

    ¡¾Fishing¡¿ ¡¾Swimming X¡¿ ¡¾Diving X¡¿ ¡¾Cooking I¡¿

    ¡¾Speed Enhancement (small)¡¿ ¡¾Hiding Presence II¡¿

    ¡¾Sense Presence II¡¿ ¡¾stealthy steps¡¿¡¾Leap III¡¿

    ¡¾Poison resistance (small)¡¿

    ¡¸Almost reaching level 30 ¡¹

    ¡¸I tried quite well but I still can¡¯t look the difference¡¹

    ¡¸How many people are at the highest level now? ¡¹

    ¡¸I think 61 before the event? Was it? Level 100 is the limit now, but maybe the maximum will be released if someone reaches it¡¹

    ¡¸61! What? U wa~a¡­ suggoi¡­! It seems impossible for us right now¡¹

    ¡¸Because those people are in a different dimension ¡­ no ¡­ ¡­ Maple is another dimension, ¡¹

    Sally who say that don¡¯t know that she getting certified outside on the.

    Unlike the previous event, the picture has not publification yet so it has not be famous so far, but it is only a matter of time.

    until she joining the existence of another dimension.

    ¡¸Tomorrow is a school ¡­ It feel like a long time ago¡¹

    ¡¸S¨­da ne. We shall Log out earlier today?¡¹

    ¡¸Un! Let¡¯s do it¡¹

    They logged out respectively.

    The sight is enveloped by light

    Kaede who returned to the real world confirmed the time.

    ¡¸¡­ ¡­ Seriously only two hours has passed ¡­ ¡¹

    She realize again by looking at the clock in the real world.

    In the seventh day during the event, if she close her eyes and think abou it, it floats clearly in the head of Kaede.

    There were also a lot of serious fights, but it remained memorable mote than that she had a good time with Risa.

    ¡¸I wonder if there is an event like that again ¡­ I wish I could stay with Kasumi and Kanade this time ¡­ ¡¹

    Kaede was immersed in his thought for a while, but switching to prepare for tomorrow and move on to study.

    ¡¸Is Risa studying properly? ¡­ I¡¯m about to sleep ¡­ ¡¹

    Kaede also realized before saying that she should study properly before being banned.

    ¡¸True ¡­ has gotten into trouble¡¹

    The idea of ying a game with Risa was simr to Risa before Kaede started the game.

    It is likely to interact with my best friend.

    ¡°If it is now ¡­ maybe I understand a little feeling of Lisa that I invited so much¡±

    When I met again tomorrow, Kaede decided to talk about various things started to concentrate on my studies.<hr>

    Author note

    the real storyes in next time

    I checked it quite well, but there is a possibility that the status somewhere is wrong.

    I think probably not ¡­

    Trantor note

    i have the same opinion as the author

 Chapter 56: Defense specialization and major failure

    <strong>Defense specialization and major failure</strong>

    next morning.

    Kaede wake up from the bed.

    ¡°I am getting excited and could not sleep well ¡­ ¡±

    Kaede was unable to get a good sleep for the first time.

    Kaede started walking towards school when she finished dressing up.

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty hot today,¡±

    Kaede advanced the way to school in a hurry to avoid the heat.

    As she enters the ssroom, Risa is already there.

    Since they are going to school early as usual, there are only two people in the ssroom.

    ¡°Good morning Kaede¡±

    ¡°Good Morning Risa!¡±

    Kaede approached Liza after putting her luggage in her seat.

    ¡°I manage toe to school somehow, it don¡¯t feel like seven day has passed!¡±

    ¡± Indeed. well, that will happen if you stay inside for seven days ¡­ Oh yeah, Kaede should be careful to.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What?¡±

    Even if she has been told to be careful, Kaede did not know what to watch out for.

    ¡°In game you always guarded against monster and yer all the time, right? That might be a habit in real world¡±

    Risa says that in case if a habit of maple or sallye out when they are out of control.

    ¡°But, I have yed quite long already, but i still haven¡¯t ever done that?¡±

    ¡°Well, just in case, Kaede had never logged in for seven days in a row.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true ¡­ un, got it! I am gonna be careful for it.¡±

    While talking about that, Chirahora and other studentse into the ssroom.

    Kaede cut back the story and returned to his seat five minutes before the ss started.

    The way home on that day.

    Kaede arrived at his room with unsteady step and fill his face with a pillow.

    ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯d like to say that I did not have today Good¡±

    Kaede looks back on the day today.

    First Period

    ¡°¡­¡­ Su~u¡­ su~u¡±

    Kaede who was unable to sleep well yesterday was falling asleep unusually.

    As her seat close to the window, the moderately sunny environment also increased the drowsiness.

    And those who rarely fall asleep are still acting as usual.

    Risa is a human being of that type.

    A girl in the seat next to Kaede is told by the teacher and wake Maple form her drowsiness.

    ¡± N ¡­ n?¡­ Fu ~a¡­ is it time to change lookout? ¡­ Are? ¡±

    While stretching out and saying it in a loud voice.

    The ssroomughed at Kaede¡¯s remarks.

    Then, Kaede remembered where he is now, but it was alreadyte.

    ¡°That¡¯s way I told you to be careful.¡±

    Risa murmured with a low voice as she saw Kaede.

    ¡± concentrate on the lesson¡±

    ¡°Ye¡­ Ye¡­s, sorry¡±

    This is one of them.

    Next was a break time after the third Period.

    A corridor on the way home from the toilet to the ssroom.

    There were many people going out from the ss,So the corridor full of student.

    At that time, it happened that the girls walking behind Kaede collided when passing with other students, dropping the textbooks and pencil case that they had in their hands.

    Of course, when it falls to the ground, there is a sound.

    ¡°¡­ !¡±

    Kaede decides to turn neatly and thrusts his left hand and brings his right hand to his waist.

    It was a move that has been repeatedly practiced repeatedly by Risa.

    If this was the right ce it would have been a perfect reaction.

    But neither big shield nor dagger is here.

    ¡°E¡­? e..?¡±

    The girls studded hard by looking at Kaede who suddenly posed in front of her.

    When Kaede slowly pulled his arm, he fell awkwardly with an awkward smile and quickly left the spot.

    At this point Kaede¡¯s mental is already drenched.

    If anyone makes a big mistake in front of people , anyone will tension down.

    Kaede will pay attention to his actions not to fail anymore.

    However, if something happen twice it will happen again.

    It ismon to fail as much as you think if you try not to fail.

    After lunch, physical education.

    It¡¯s Dodgeball at the gym.

    Kaede and Risa are on the same team.

    At this point the annihtion of Kaede¡¯s team has ceased.

    Whatever you do your best does not match Risa.

    Although the opposing team is obsessively targeting Risa, it does not hit.

    Unlike in the game, there is no need to avoid it in a moment, so she can evade it.

    ¡°As amazing as ever ¡­¡±

    If she stopped watching Lisa at this point, the biggest failure this time could have never urred.

    ¡°¡­ ¡­ Kaede!¡±

    If the opponent team who aimed at Risa suddenly changed the aim, the probability of being caught will rise.

    It was Kaede who was aimed this time.

    Because Kaede was watching Risa, Her responds was dyed.

    When Kaede saw the ball in response to Risa¡¯s voice, the ball was already flying straight towards Her.

    If it was a former Kaede, it would be crouchingly squatting and jumping sideways.

    However, the way Kaede avoiding something that flew at her way recently was not the case.

    ¡°¡¾Cover mo ¡­ ¡­ ah!¡±

    Although she noticed it at the moment, and closed her mouth with both hands, but in that state she could not avoiding the ball.

    Face-safe was not applied.

    ¡°Kaede! Are you alright?¡±

    ¡°I am okay¡­¡±

    For Kaede, there was no problem except for suddenly shouting something.

    Because the girls here were not ying NewWorld Online except Risa, it was happiness in unfortunate event that no one understand what Kaede said.

    ¡°I need to take a break for a while ¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine¡±

    Kaede was able to drop in with his back on the wall.

    This is all today¡¯s mistake.

    ¡°¡­ ¡­ I should stop ying the game for a while¡±

    For three days straight, Kaede never logged in just in case.

    Did the resulte out or did the matter has been decided?

    Three dayster, Kaede will not fail at all.

    This ¡°Three Days¡± Kaede has not got any information about NewWorld Online.

    Risa also took a lot of attention.

 Chapter 57: Defense specialization and new elements.

    <strong>Defense specialization and new elements.</strong>

    Maple logs in after three days and waits for Sally at the open space.

    After waiting for a while Sallyes.

    [Sorry, did you wait?]

    [No, I have not waited so long, what are we going to do today?]

    [U ? n ¡­ Thats right, how much maple know about these three days?]

    [E? ¡­ I don¡¯t know anything at all, I made it so that I could freed from the game influnce.]

    Maple does not know what happened in this game in thest three days.

    Not only not log in to the game, she even shut down the game information.

    [Then, I will exin it one by one]

    [Un, please.]

    [First of all, the big shield has a newly added skill, it was a skill to resist pration attacks] <em><strong>(TN: Game Management has Dug their own Graveyard)</strong></em>

    [Oh!]

    Maple was very happy hearing it.

    ording to Sally, the method to obtain it was informed by the operation.

    Maple decide to look at the skillter, and Sally speaks the continuation.

    [That¡¯s why this is important, but before that maple after the event done ¡­ a new element was added]

    [New element?]

    [A golden insect called¡¾light insects (Pikach¨±)¡¿came out somewhere in the field]

    ording to Sally, various kinds of insects appear in the field, and when it¡¯s defeated it will definitely drop ¡¾proof of light insects (pikach¨± no akashi)¡¿. <strong><em>(TN: A Pikachu has appeared. no its not my doing i just write the romaji that goggle-sensei show)</em></strong>

    [What do you use that for?]

    [It is necessary to buy the new element¡¾guild home¡¿]

    [Guild ¡­ home?]

    [There are lots of buildings that you can¡¯t enter in this town right?]

    [Yup]

    Just looking around the map they are many building.

    But, You can¡¯t enter most of this building .

    Except for the NPC shops and cksmiths that yers borrow by paying money to NPC.

    [You can buy one for one proof, the rank of the guild home that you can buy depending on the type of insect you have]

    [Fumufumu, Now I understand]

    Sally talks about the benefits of status improvement as a good thing of [guild home], then begins to talk about the number of ¡®insects¡¯.

    [There are limits to the number of the¡¾light insects (Pikach¨±)¡¿¡­ there are only a same number of buildings avable]

    [E e!?]

    [The operation seems to gradually increase the number of buildings little by little]

    But that does not lead to an increase in the number of current ¡¾light insects (Pikach¨±)¡¿.

    in other words, it won¡¯tpesate for any insect that maple missed.

    [the¡­ Then, We must hurry up and search for it!]

    For Maple who want to experience ¡¾guild home¡¿.

    If she can¡¯t acquire the certificate this time, she don¡¯t know when the next will be.

    And, she could not waited it forever.

    [Maple]

    [Wh¡­What?]

    Sally maniptes the blue screen and take out something from her inventory.

    [I already have it, I think that Maple want it.]

    [Oh ¡­ Oh! Thank you!]

    [But ¡­ this can only get the right to buy ¡¾guild home¡¿and you need money to buy it.]

    [That ¡­ how much?]

    [5 million gold]

    [5 ¡­ !?]

    Maple confirms his money.

    Maple did not need money, so she did not save for it.

    Therefore, the possession money of Maple had only a little as 50,000 gold.

    [Well ¡­ let¡¯s make money today, I want ¡¾guild home¡¿as soon as possible]

    Then Maple tries to walk out of town

    [Maple]

    [What?]

    Sally approaches maple while showing her status screen.

    Point a part of it partly and show it to Maple.

    In Sally¡¯s possession money column there are five, one zero with six zeros.

    [I have already prepared this]

    [that¡¯s amazing! Sally is amazing!]

    [Hehe ¡­ ¡­ more praise me more]

    There was nothing outrageous to earned this amount of money, it just collecting and selling drop items with full power for three days repeatedly.

    After being praised for Maple for a while, Sally speaks.

    Sally says to head towards the house that can be bought by Maple and Maple agrees with it.

    Maple also began walking along following Sally who knew the ce.

    [Money, can i return it this time?]

    [Well ¡­ well you don¡¯t need to return it so much. If you really want to return something, just find something suitable to me?]

    [I understood, I gonna search it!]

    [Anytime it¡¯s okay]

    Sally stops his foot when walking near the edge of the town.

    It would be inconvenient to use central za and NPC shops.

    [It should be around here?]

    [You walked a lot,]

    [The proof that I got is low in rank ¡­ you can buy a guild home in the center of the town if the proof of a better rank is avable]

    [Just getting it is enough!]

    Maple did not care about the size of ¡¾guild home¡¿ etc.

    ording to Maple¡¯s personality, thought, it was normal to think so.

    While walking for a while Maple found a ¡¾guild home¡¿.

    [Here ¡­ Should be fine]

    The back of a road with no traffic.

    A quietly existing [guild home] had a hideout atmosphere.

    [Surely, I hear that they like maple.]

    [Is it OK here?]

    [Yeah, it¡¯s okay,]

    Then Sally took out the¡¾proof of light insects (pikach¨± no akashi)¡¿and pressed it against the door.

    The white glow filled the alley and the door slowly opened.

    The two go inside.

    [Oh ¡­ quite wide]

    When inside they confirmed the interiors at once, wooden furniture of calm color at the center.

    In the back of the room, a blue panel was fitted in the wall, and so they could register the guild member by entering the information there.

    Because Sally gave the guild master position to Maple Maple is a guild master.

    Sally declined the guild master to say that she will stop this time.

    [This is still the lowest ss guild but ¡­ you can still register up to 50 people,]

    [Its two stories, but ¡­ how much can fit?]

    [Well, it may not befortable because it has a limit value ¡­ who shall we invite? If we not hurry everyone will enter another guild?]

    [¡­ ¡­ Shall I ask Kasumi and Kanade!]

    [I thought about it too, I think it¡¯s good.]

    Maple sends a message to them.

    Replyes from two people in a few minutes.

    Fortunately neither of them belonged to the guild.

    And they are happy for Maple invitation.

    [Yatta! Sally! I am gonna going to the square for a while!]

    [Take care]

    Maple opened the door swiftly and ran away. <strong><em>(TN: with 0 Agility)</em></strong>

    Maple arrives at the square.

    They were sitting on the edge of the fountain in the center, but when they noticed Maple they came closer.

    Maple talks about Kanade and Kasumi introduced them.

    [Thank you for both of you! I¡¯m d you epted it]

    [I am d you invited me, too]

    [Oh, thanks]

    while thanking both of them and walking together.

    At that time.

    [Wha ¡­]

    When Maple was staring at the person in peace, the other side came near and noticed it.

    [Oh, it¡¯s been a while after the event]

    [Chrome-san! It¡¯s been a long time.]

    That person was chrome.

    The person that Maple meet at the top of a snowy mountain.

    [How was the event for Maple? You also entered the snowy mountain after us, right?]

    That is, of course, the dwelling ce of the monster.

    [It was strong, but, I managed to win]

    He was expecting that Maple has been defeated it, but he was more surprised by actually hearing it from the person¡¯s mouth.

    Well, I guess she defeated ¡¾that¡¿.

    [Well, with that strength you can join any guild you want ¡­ Well ¡­ There are ces that have some conditions too ¡­]

    [Guild ¡­ ¡­ That¡¯s right! Would you like to join my guild too, if you don¡¯t have any n yet?]

    Chrome had a party at the 2nd event, so Maple thought it was impossible.

    Therefore, she didn¡¯t send a message, but she thought that she would talk to him if she meet him.

    [Is it okay? If Maple is good, I am willing to enter ¡­]

    Chrome said that thest party for the event was only once at that time.

    In other words, chrome is free now.

    With that, Maple took Chrome and four people headed to [Guild Home].

    [I¡¯m home!]

    [Wee back, are you brought Chrome too?]

    [I meet him by chance and ask him to join!]

    [Well, let¡¯s register all of them]

    Three newly people finish inputting their name to the blue panel at the back of the room.

    [By the way ¡­ Have you decide the Guild name?.]

    [Maple decides, because she is the Guild Master]

    [I think that is good as well]

    [Yes, I agree.]

    Maple tries to think from four people.

    After a while Maple entered the Guild name in the panel.

    ¡¾Maple Tree¡¿

    This guild named by Maple acts as a small guild.

    Andter it will be called ¡¾Outer Devil¡¯s¡¿ or ¡¾Makai¡¿, but that is still ahead.

    Author note

    The guild system.

    Real money seems to be moving.

    please Don¡¯t mind it.

    Please. Please.

 Chapter 58: Defense specialization and production materials

    <strong>Defense specialization and production materials</strong>

    Maple flies past the fields on the back of syrup.

    We are going to faraway ce and it much faster than walking,so it can be helped.

    ¡¸Kanade! Best regards for today¡¹

    ¡¸Leave it to me!¡¹

    The reason why she riding with Kanade today is for gathering materials.

    The next day, after cofirming the guild formation the new guild finally started.

    Today, they are going to the mine to stock up material for the workshop inside ¡¾Guild Home¡¿.

    The other three people, Sally, Chrome, and Kasumi are heading to different ces to collect wood and drop items.

    Because Kanade poured all her ability for production, Battle was cleared by Maple.

    Originally,Kanade not good at exercising, so she can¡¯t fight properly.

    Instead, the level of production skills is high.

    Weapons, cloth products, essories, furniture.

    Everything is possible.

    ¡¸Because I can have an escort,can I go ¡¾Mining¡¿! ¡¹

    Since Kanade had ¡¾Mining V¡¿, she decided to head to the mine.

    to excavate an ore.

    Because the golem alsoes out on the mine, golem material collection is Maple job.

    ¡¸This time ¡¾ God Archive (Akashic Records )¡¿was helpful¡¹

    Kanade exins this skill to all guild members.

    ¡¾ God Archive (Akashic Records )¡¿

    Acquire a total of nine skills, randomly from production skills,bat skills, and other skills, three each at a time.

    Skill level is medium or fixed.

    Acquisition skill disappears after one day of use.

    Skills already acquired are not chosen.

    ¡¸Weapons skills other than canes are useless, so it will be up to you whether you will be able to fight or not.¡¹

    When Kanade level up, she got enough strength to fight even without this skill, But, this skill has a secret value.

    It is the key to creating a new strategy.

    Kanade can use different skills every day.

    Sometimes, It exerts a terrible effect.

    ¡¸I can see it!¡¹

    ¡¸y¨­shi! ik¨­!(Let¡¯s go!)¡¹

    Even though magic and arrow flew several time on their way, every time it happen Maple took care of it by jumped in to the front of the yer.

    The reason why the attack stopped was not because Maple¡¯s attention was working but it was because they surprised at maple that suddenly appeared, but such thing was unknown to Maple.

    ¡¸Because we are going to the mine interior,please stay close with me¡¹

    ¡¸ry¨­kai! (Roger!) ¡¹

    They advance in the cave which continues into the mine.

    Although there are no beautiful crystals like in the snail cave, but you can find the ore exposed in many ces, so Kanade will use ¡¾Mining¡¿as soon as she finds it.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s keep going!( dondon ik¨­!)¡¹

    ¡¸Un, let¡¯s do that¡¹

    As syrup is put back in the ring, Maple only protecting Kanade.

    Since golem did not use big shields and ¡¾poison dragon (hydra)¡¿, she was able to beat them with a weak poison attack.

    While collect the golem¡¯s drop items as well.

    There are various types of ores in this mine, but high-quality ores don¡¯te out so often.

    ¡¸Iron ore, ash crystal, stones ¡­¡¹

    The sound of Kanade Pickaxe echoes.

    Every time an ore is obtained, nothing noteworthy to mention.

    The two advanced steadily down the division road and finished mining from the mining point at the far end.

    ¡¸Well¡­ let¡¯s just focus on quantity than quality!¡¹

    Says Maple.

    ¡¸No ¡­ if it like this ¡­¡¹

    It seemed that Kanade could not approve of drift.

    Ore is better than quantity.

    ¡¸A, how about the way back? ¡­.. Will we able toe out properly?.¡¹

    ¡¸I remember everything if it¡¯s a way back so it¡¯s okay?¡¹

    ¡¸o £¡not bad, then ¡­ please give me a guide¡¹

    Kanade went on without any hesitation in the cave with many divisions, and she was able to go outside without mistaking the way.

    Sally were in the forest.

    Here is the main battle, collecting drop items.

    ¡¸Aren¡¯t Sally-chan really amazing?¡¹

    Chrome mocks.

    Before Chrome¡¯s eyes there is a sally that attacking enemy while avoiding.

    Although it seems like some attack will hit her, it does not hit even once.

    ¡¸O ¡­ amazing ¡­ Aura¡¹

    It¡¯s Sally that mutters.

    A pale aura overflows from Sally ¡®s body.

    Sally defeated the monster for Maple and sold the drop item and prepared arge amount of gold.

    At that time the level rose.

    And she got a skill.

    ¡¾Sword Dance (ken no mai)¡¿

    Every time you attack, STR rise 1%

    Up to 100%

    Rising value disappears when damaged.

    The acquisition condition was no damage until reaching level 25.

    A pale aura is due to this skill.

    When against Sally. (TN: not sure ¥µ¥ê©`¤òÏàÊÖ¤Ë¤¹¤ëˆöºÏ here the raw)

    She have to attack in order to beat it, but it will be disadvantageous if she attack.

    ¡¸I can¡¯t do maple with this¡¹

    ¡¸E¡­ how much is maple¡¯s VIT value?¡¹

    ¡¸Should i ask Maple? I think she will tell me?¡¹

    While saying so, Sally nced at Chrome.

    Chrome¡¯s battle would be a steady if it represents in a single word.

    Take the attack with a big shield and damage it by cutting with a dagger.

    How he use big shields is good,and ying the attack properly.

    Furthermore, he stood while checking the state of the game so as not to be surrounded.

    ¡¸Is that the original way to use shield¡¹

    ¡¸Yeah¡­¡¹

    There was no shy move like Maple, but PS definitely exceeded Maple.

    As Maple does not need to take attacks with a shield like Chrome, how she use the big shields is not good.

    The body is harder than the big shield.

    Rather, there are many people who are pulling big shields to leave bad snacks.

    ¡¸This guild is a minority ¡¾normally¡¿that is..¡¹

    Maple, Sally, Kanade are abnormal frames.

    Kasumi, Chrome is a normal frame.

    it sticking one foot into an abnormal frame in terms of production.

    Chrome also finished the battle safely and three people arrive on the way back.

    ¡¸Me too¡­.. would I be abnormal in this guild?¡¹

    ¡¸Am I supposed to be that way?¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe it will tint into maple colors¡¹

    It is a subtle ce whether to be obediently pleased.

    This time it is the number that is exerting power using the materials that each brought back.

    The two pairs meet outside the town, and went in together.

    It is a conspicuous five persons.

    Maple is quite obvious.

    Chrome and Kasumi are the winners of the first event. Equipment is also luxurious and eye-catching.

    Several people reflexively withdraw their weapons when looking at Sally.

    Kanade copsed and assembled with Rushikashaba at high speed with Rashikashube repeatedly to kill time. (TN: i don¡¯t get this line right. cause i don¡¯t know any right word to describe it so Anyone want to check it for me)

    It would be unavoidable that there were those who followed the five people heading to the edge of the town.

 Chapter 59

    <b>Defensespecialization and quest</b>

    Author Note:

    For the sake of good end(a.k.a Cliff Hanger) this time will be short

    ___________________________________

    The Day after material gathering, Maple was walking around in town alone at the2nd stage because the other members are unable to match her logintime today. Because of that she has no choice but to go solo.

    During the 2<sup>nd</sup> event,Maple didn¡¯t have the chance to explore the 2<sup>nd</sup> town properly. Soshe is thinking of exploring this town to some extent today. ¡¸It¡¯s not good to force them to apany me ne~¡¹Besides that, Maple also wants toleisurely explore alone.Her First goal is to search for Sally¡¯sequipment.

    Next is to search for a skill or equipment that will make her stronger.

    Maple still doesn¡¯t have headequipment so her target is something for her head.Maple talked with the NPC that shesees, one after another.But with her status, she was notable to trigger any event.It is the case where event requires statusother than VIT.For example in Sally¡¯s ¡¾Super eleration(ch¨­kasoku)¡¿, even if she talks with the key NPCfor that event, nothing will happen. ¡¸Maybe I should try to go and see the edge of town¡¹Leaving from the town¡¯s center, thenumber of people who walk around decreases.There are buildings that can be seenas¡¾Guild Home¡¿,because of that Maple can¡¯t go inside.She tried to go around the back alleys andwas able to find few buildings that she can enter but they are just emptyhouses. ¡¸Oo! I can go in here too¡¹Maple made a cracking sound on thedoor when she opens it.Inside the room, there is a girllying on a tattered bed being taken care of by a woman who looks like hermother.

    ¡¸ara?Okyaku-san(a guest)? pardon me¡¹

    ¡¸A-, don¡¯t worry (TLN: ie mean no but i can¡¯t find good one totrante it)¡¹¡¸Are you okay?¡­.Sorry, It¡¯s painful right?¡¹(TLN: I don¡¯t know who talk here)Because Maple is getting awkwardwith the atmosphere, she tried to get out silently but,The woman after taking care of herdaughter goes to Maple¡¯s ce.

    ¡¸Ano¡­ Are you a Kishi-sama?(a Knight)¡¹

    ¡¸e(Thinking for a while)? U-un, Wa- what about it?¡¹If you look at Maple¡¯s Equipment,instead of a magic user or a swordsman, being called a Knight actually fits herappearance.¡¸Kishi-sama(knight)! Please! Help My Daughter! I can¡¯t giveanything back but¡­ Please, please¡­.just please¡¹In front of Maple¡¯s eye, a Bluecolor panel is floating.Quest¡¾Benevolence Knight (Hakuai no Kishi)¡¿Under these words, there is a Yes andNo being disyed as well.

    Maple press ¡°yes¡± once.

    Because Maple is being asked forhelp, she can¡¯t press ¡°no¡±.Even if there is nopensation, she doesn¡¯t mind.¡¸Th-thank you very much! We need my daughter¡¯s medicine¡­but it looks I can¡¯t go alone¡­ I will guide you so please take me with you.¡¹¡¸¡­.Understood! I will protect you!¡¹The woman approach Maple.Above the woman¡¯s head a HP Bar isfloating. It seems like if the quest is not properly handled, the quest can¡¯tbe repeated.And here Blue monitor/windowsappear, the details of the quest are exined in there.Maple made sure to carefully readthe details and the quest goal.The Goal is to make sure that thewoman is alive till they arrived at the destined ce.There no time limit.¡¸For now, isn¡¯t it fine to take her outside?¡¹When Maple steps outside of thehouse the woman began to talk.¡¸We will go to the¡¾Tree of Life¡¿,from here go straight to the east¡¹¡¸Okay¡¹Maple called out Syrup and likealways she got on its back.Because the woman had a setting thatshe must stand within 2 meter radius with Maple as the center, when Maple goton Syrup back, using Syrup¡¯s leg as a foothold the woman jump following Maple.¡¸Aren¡¯t you actually strong? You¡¯re more powerful than meisn¡¯t it?¡¹¡¸We aim for the east¡¹¡¸a, yes¡­.¡¾Psychokinesis (Nenriki)¡¿!¡¹Like always Syrup is floating and they smoothlyfly heading east.

 Chapter 60

    <b>Defense specialization and quest 2</b>

    ¡¸Now that we can see the forest, There¡¯s the Entrance, go infrom there¡¹

    ¡¸This, Can¡¯t we just go flying?¡¹

    Maple get off in front of the forestand called back syrup into the ring.¡¸Saa, Let¡¯s Hurry up!¡¹¡¸Un(yes)! This way is good right?¡¹There was a small path in front ofthem.Because the woman points at that path, there should be nomistake.Maple goes deeper and deeper.Because the woman is always at the rangeof¡¾Cover¡¿, protecting her will be easy.Originally there should be battlesbefore they can reach the forest, but because Maple has her own special way,she was able to avoid that.Of course, that way is Syrup.¡¸¡¾Paralyze Shout¡¿!¡¹Because Maple¡¯s attack doesn¡¯t affectthe woman, even if Maple is surrounded, she just needs to use this skillcalmly.¡¸For now its okay not to beat them right?¡¹But Maple is different from otheryers, she is slow.And it increases the chance of beingattacked.Guided by the woman, when theyarrive at the middle of the forest, her skill ¡°Bizarre Eater (akujiki)¡±already run out of use.¡¸Let¡¯s change to crystal shield¡¹Changing equipment with a shieldthat emits purple color, Maple followed the woman.¡¸That¡¯s! That¡¯s the ¡¾Tree of Life¡¿!¡¹The tree that the woman came over towas only half asrge as the surrounding trees¡¸Nanka(It Looks), different from what I thought¡¹What Maple imagined was a huge treethat emits holy light ¡¸ThisLeaf work well for illness¡¹ Woman takes several leavesfrom branches and shows it to Maple.¡¸hee¡­. Is that so. Is it okay if I take some too?¡¹Maple tried to take some but wasblocked by an invisible wall. She can¡¯t go near the tree.It looks like yers can onlycollect it as a limited event item.¡¸It¡¯s okay now¡¹¡¸Jaa(Then), Let¡¯s go back¡¹Maple summons Syrup and make him fly.After that she uses ¡°Kyodai-ka/Erge¡± because there is not enough space down there.¡¸Syrup Please!¡¹Syrup¡¯s altitude is higher than theusual.Maple thinks of what to do for amoment but she came up with a good idea.It¡¯s not climbing the tree.

    Of course, it¡¯s not a jump too.

    ¡¸¡¾Crystal wall¡¿!¡¹From Maple Feet Purple Crystalextend and bounce maple up.

    Of course it¡¯s not how this skill is originally used

    ¡¸Syrup!¡¹Bounced up Maple was bit by Syrupfrom head till around her shoulder.If other people see this, it willbe a shocking spectacle for sure.Doesn¡¯t matter how you see it,Flying Turtle that eats people can only can be seen in paintings.And like that Maple was thrown away intoSyrup¡¯s back and got in ce.¡¸A¡­. What should I do with her¡­?¡¹When Maple wants to check the woman NPCunder her, she just jumped from up the tree and fly to Syrup¡¯s foot.¡¸EEEEE!?¡¹¡¸Let¡¯s go. My daughter¡¯s already waiting¡¹¡¸Ye-yes¡¹Maple Fly up to the sky.That time Maple muttered whatesinside her mind¡¸This person can absolutely go alone¡­.¡¹It can¡¯t be helped if you think withthat woman¡¯s power, she can go to the forest normallyAnd After that when they flew outfrom the forest.¡¸Haa¡­. Haa¡­. Thank you for protecting me. If it¡¯s likebefore, I must be already done for¡­¡¹¡¸Ee!? W-What are you talking about so suddenly?¡¹Maple didn¡¯t do anything special.She just fly in the sky.Nope, just flying in the sky is alreadycounted as abnormal.Originally, stronger monsters willbe their opponents. Large Shield Equipment withck of Attack power will beeasily defeated.The woman words, can be heard afteroveing that.Because Maple just goes through itwithout encountering any, it became a weird.¡¸Kishi-sama(knight) you sure are gentle¡¹¡¸Ee¡­to¡­.Somehow, I¡¯m sorry¡¹Maple somehow feels sorry but shedoesn¡¯t say anything.Because Maple can¡¯t bear theatmosphere, she hurry up to go back to the town¡¸Yoshi! Arrive!¡¹Maple Get down from Syrup in frontof the town, and unsummon syrup back to the ring.Next aim is this woman¡¯s house.¡¸Thank you very much! I will go first¡¹The woman hurried up and run towardsher home.Maple speed can¡¯t follow her.¡¸¡­.Let¡¯s go slowly¡¹Since the event will not continuetill Maple arrives in there, it¡¯s not like everything will be done before that.This is how the setting is set up.After walking for a while, Maplearrives at the woman house.When Maple opened the door, thewoman was just about to let the girl drink something.A Dark Deep Green Liquid is in acontainer.For Maple, just from seeing it, itlooks bitter and makes her doesn¡¯t want to drink it. The girl who drank it alsomakes a stiffed face.¡¸¡­.Dou?(how?)¡¹¡¸Kehoo,kehoo¡­..Un¡­ I feel much better¡­.. gohoo,Gohoo¡¹(cough voice)¡¸What a terrible cough¡­! aaa! What should I do!¡¹The woman Mourn/grief/sorrow (EDN: can¡¯tfind good one)That time, in front of maple a blue windowappear.Quest¡¾Benevolence knight (Hakuai no Kishi) 2¡¿A new quest skill urred.Of course Maple epts it.¡¸Kishi-sama(knight), do you still want to help me?¡¹¡¸e,un¡­as expected I can¡¯t leave it alone.¡¹Even now the girl is still coughingnon-stop, it looks her condition is getting worse.¡¸Then ¡­ please take me to the ¡¾fountain of demons¡¿the ce is northwest after you go out from the town!¡¹¡¸un, Understood¡¹After saying that the woman go out firstto the town.¡¸N?¡­I acquired a skill¡¹¡¾Benevolence knight (Hakuai no Kishi)¡¿Even though the name is already ather skill column, it doesn¡¯t have any effect. What in there is just the name ofthe skill.¡¸Nn? There¡¯s no effect?¡­. is it because the event is notdone yet?¡¹

    If it¡¯s like that, then Maple right now can¡¯t just drop the quest.

    Maple goes out to the town.¡¸It¡¯s to the Northwest!¡¹¡¸Ookee. Northwest dane (right)¡¹It¡¯s already be natural forMaple to use Syrup and fly and head toward northwest.Surrounding yers too are notsurprised, as the number of people who saw it and the people who hear therumors about Maple already increased.Oh, it¡¯s just Maple like always.It became that kind of way of thinkingWhen you alwayse across withunnatural things, it will be a natural one.Maybe the day where all yers willthink something like, ¡°aa today, Maple is flying in the sky huu¡±, is not that faraway.¡¸It will not end with the 2nd right¡­. there must be a third¡­¡¹Maple mutteredBecause it felt like it will be a half-heartedquest if it ends at number 2. And the content of the quest doesn¡¯t change atall. It doesn¡¯t seem it will end with this one.¡¸Aa!?¡¾Bizarre Eater (Akujiki)¡¿still not recovered!¡¹Maple noticed something while at Syrup¡¯sback.It will probably be dangerous ifshe needs to fight.¡¸uun¡­. If it doesn¡¯t look good, we can just go and retreat.¡¹It will be meaningless if the womandies.For now Maple will just go toward theirdestination and after that she will check from sky the situation around thefountain before going down.

 Chapter 61

    <b>Defense specialization and quest 3</b>

    While flying,Maple saw the fountain below her.This time, the woman didn¡¯t say anything, so she came to the location straight fromthe top.

    The fountain that she saw is surrounded by rocks and most of those rocks arestanding tall.

    ¡¸For now, let¡¯s go down near it¡¹

    After dropping off near it, she called Syrup back into the ring and head forthe fountain with the woman.

    There seemed tobe no monsters around the fountain, so we arrived at the fountain without anytrouble. The woman looked back to Maple after she collects the fountain water.¡¸Kishi-sama(Knight)! Thank you very much!¡¹¡¸No.., I am not doing anything praiseworthy¡­¡¹¡¸Let¡¯s hurry home!¡¹¡¸A , un. That¡¯sright.¡¹We go back to thespot where we got off from Syrup. Maple then summons Syrup and starts to flywith it.They returnedsafely back to town and the woman gave her daughter the water.

    Maple is just standing there watching them.

    ¡¸How do you feel?¡¹¡¸D- Don¡¯t worry,I¡¯m fine¡¹

    although the girl says so, heplexion is bad and her body is slightly trembling.

    She didn¡¯t seem to be OK.

    Naturally, the next quest appears before Maple.

    Quest¡¾Benevolence knight (Hakuai no Kishi) 3¡¿¡¸Un, Like Ithought¡¹The next questurs as Maple expected.

    Maple tries to check the skill¡¾Benevolence knight (Hakuai no Kishi)¡¿,but the skill is still disyed only as aname. So, she decided to take the quest.

    ¡¸Kishi-sama(Knight)! Thank you very much!¡¹¡¸It¡¯s alright,it¡¯s alright¡¹¡¸There is a hugetown far away from here and I¡¯ve heard rumors that there are rings to heal yourbody just by putting it in ¡­ ¡­ I¡¯m sorry for asking again, could you bringme there?¡¹¡¸Huge ¡­ Town,maybe the first town?¡¹ The first town when Maple startsthis game.

    It was the only huge town in Maple¡¯s mind.

    ¡¸That means(ttekoto wa) ¡­ The ring is maybe that¡­¡¹

    Maple takes one ring out of herinventory.

    A Rare drop that Maple got in the first stage.

    The¡¾Ring of the Forest Queen Bee¡¿.

    ¡¸Knight!( Kishi-sama!) You brought it! Oh, How can I show you mygratitude ¡­¡¹

    ¡¸A ¡­ this is OK¡¹

    Maple thinks of giving away the ringwhich has not been equipped recently to thedy.

    The Ring is a rare drop, she didn¡¯t know when she can get it again.

    Maple gives thedy the ring that she has.

    ¡¸I give it to you ¡­¡¹

    The Lady puts the ring on her daughter.

    Then a questclear notification shows in front of Maple. That proves that the ring is thecorrect item.

    ¡¸U,gu~¡­ ga,¡¹

    ¡¸¡­are you fine? ¡­is there any pain?¡¹

    ¡¸Gu~¡­¡­!¡¹

    The girl had a distorted face becauseof the pain, then suddenly she jumped out of bed, opened the door roughly andran outside the house.

    ¡¸Wa, wait!( Ma, matte!)¡¹

    Thedy alsochase her.

    A notice of new quest appears infront of the Maple who was left by the mother and daughter.

    Quest¡¾Benevolence Knight (Hakuai no kishi) 4¡¿

    Maplenaturally takes it.

    ¡¸For the time being¡­ Let¡¯s chase after them¡¹

    ¡¸There! (Ita!)¡¹

    When she got out of town, Maple sawthe woman sitting down.

    When Maple approaches, the woman starts talking.

    ¡¸¨±~¡­Knight (kishi-sama)¡­! My daughter¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Where did she go? Isshe Safe?!¡¹

    ¡¸My daughter goes to the ¡¾Temple of Evesting (tokoyamino shinden)¡¿ .. It isdangerous there!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I will takeher back!¡¹

    ¡¸I will guide you there¡­! This is to savemy daughter ¡­¡¹

    Maple wanted to go alone but sinceshe can¡¯t refuse thedy, Maple decided to take her.

    Following the Lady guidance, she came further to the cein northwest, passing the fountain that they were at earlier. There, was an old temple that lookslike it will copse anytime.

    There is no doubt that this is the¡¾Temple of Evesting (tokoyami no shinden)¡¿.

    Maple enters the temple afterreturning Syrup to the ring.

    The daughter was at the very deep of this simple structure with only one hallsurrounded by walls and ceiling. Thedy is about to run over there, but ajet-ck fog blows out from the daughter¡¯s body.

    The fog attacked thedy while ithad a humanoid shape.

    ¡¸¡¾Cover Move¡¿! ¡¾Cover¡¿!¡¹

    It was confirmed at the first questthat¡¾Cover Move¡¿and ¡¾Cover¡¿is can be used for thedy.

    Maple suspends the fog attack with her shield when she moved between the two.

    ¡¸¡­¡­! ¡¾Bizarre Eater(Akujiki)¡¿ga~ ¡­!

    Maple had forgotten that ¡¾Bizarre Eater(Akujiki)¡¿ has notrecovered because quests have progressed so well.

    The fog shapedhumanoid whose attack was prevented keeps his distance from Maple.

    ¡¸¡¾Poisonous Dragon (hydra)¡¿I never think about using it¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Gugi¡­gagagaga¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ That is notgood, is it?¡¹

    Maple regarded the humanoid whoraises a creepy voice despite having no mouth as a monster.

    ¡¸Gigigi¡­¡­!¡¹

    ¡¸¡¾Cover¡¿!¡¹

    The jumping movement of the enemy ismonotonous, so she defend against it securely.

    However, Maple has limited means of attack. Since she cannot defeat it rightaway, she carefully observes the timing of using her skills. Naturally, thebattle was prolonged.

    Then when Maple was enduring for awhile, the humanoid suddenly began to cry scratching his head.

    ¡¸Gugaaaaa¡­aa ~aa a! !¡¹As there were noparts on its face there was no facial expression, but it seemed to be sufferingfrom pain. The humanoid¡¯s arm change shape to something like a spear.

    ¡¸!! ¡¾Cover¡¿¡¹

    Although she quickly move to protectthedy, she was only able to sparingly defend against it. The sharp attack onboth arms was apparently a defense pration attack.

    ¡¸Ku u¡­¡­u!¡¹It was impossible to Parry botharm¡¯s attacks with a big shield.

    Maple ¡®s HP is being scraped away, but Maple did not stop using ¡¾Cover¡¿.

    It was obvious that thedy is in danger if she got hit by it.

    ¡¸Gugaaaaa!Gaga¡­ guga¡­¡¹

    ¡¸E¡­¡­?¡¹

    The humanoid shape fog that attackedMaple suddenly stopped attacking and took distance from Maple.

    ¡¸Gugi¡­gugu¡­¡¹

    the humanoid shape fog who stuck tothe ground with his head gradually blurred and eventually disappeared.

    ¡¸I, I was saved ¡­¡­.?¡¹

    Maple ¡®s HP bar has around 20%remaining. She was aiming for a counter ¨C clock counter, but it would have beendangerous if the battle continued.

    ¡¸Is that ¡­ The workof the¡¾Demonic HolyWater¡¿¡¹

    ¡¸Is that ¡­ from thefountain before?¡¹

    ¡¸Maybe my daughter is¡­ being possessed bya Devil¡¹

    This happened because Maple was notattacked at ¡¾BenevolenceKnight (Hakuai no kishi) 2¡¿, so she sessfully cleared it.

    If that woman oryer can go back to town without dying, that quest will be sessful. If youdie, the quest will fail.

    In either case the quest will moveto the next stage.

    However, it is difficult for yers withrge shield equipment to fightagainst the fog humanoid without clearing the Fountain Quest.

    ¡¸A ¡­ Quest Clear¡­¡¹

    although I cleared the currentquest, no new quest urred.

    and, the Skill is still the same.

    ¡¸Let¡¯s go to mydaughter!¡¹

    ¡¸A,un. That right (S¨­da ne)!¡¹

    Maple and thedy rush to the girl.

    The girl was asleep as if he was dead. It does not respond at all even if shewas rocked to wake up.

    ¡¸For the time being¡­ let¡¯s take her home¡¹

    Thedy lifther daughter and left the temple.

    At the same time a blue panppears in front of Maple.

    ¡¾Benevolence Knight (Hakuai nokishi) 5es up¡£

    Again, ¡¾Benevolence Knight (Hakuai no kishi) ¡¿ Damage to mothers in Quests 1 to 4 is lower than the reference value.

    Extra Quest ¡¾Dedicated Charity(Misasagu jiai)¡¿urred.

    Please choose either route.

    ¡¸Nn?¡¹

    Maple tilt hisneck in an unexpected situation.

 Chapter 62

    <b>Defense specializationand skill acquisition</b>.

    Afterchoosing the extra quest route, Maple went out of the temple to look for thdy but thedy was nowhere to be found.¡¸they seem to have go home first ¡­?¡¹

    After exploring around the templefor a while, Maple also head back to town with Syrup.

    Upon arriving, Mapleheaded for thedy¡¯s house immediately.

    ¡¸¡­ ¡­ How is itgoing?¡¹Mapleopens the door of thedy¡¯s house quietly.

    The girl was asleep.

    The hurt expression that she had so far disappeared, it was a calm sleepingface.

    ¡¸Knight(Kishi-sama) ¡­¡­ My daughter ¡­¡­ My daughter won¡¯t wake up ¡­¡­¡¹

    Maple approached the girl to check the situation, butit showed that the girl was not breathing.

    ¡¸Er, ¡­ No way? Huh?¡¹

    ¡¸I ¡­ I¡¯m buying an apple for my daughter ¡­ Becausemy daughter likes apples ¡­¡­¡¹

    Thedy went out as she said so, with a gauntlyfootsteps.

    she did not seem to be in a normal state as she won¡¯t ept the currentsituation.

    ¡¸E¡­e!?, the quest has advanced!¡¹

    Maple has confirmed the current quest that she had,but noticed that the girl¡¯s body began to shine lightly.

    Maple stands right next to the girl.

    Maple checks the girl and was observing as to what was going on.

    ¡¸Letters ¡­¡­ of light?¡¹

    Yellow light overflowing from the girl formed lettersin the air.

    ¡¸Three dayster ¡­ ¡¾A corrupted church¡¿?¡¹

    After Maple took a little look at the letters, thelight overflowing from the girl faded away and disappeared.

    ¡¸I wonder if Ishould go there ¡­? But where is that ce ¡­.. There was a library in thistown ¡­ Shall I look it up in there?¡¹

    Maple went out outside, and as if torece her thedy came back.

    Maplecame to the library as intended.

    ¡¸Well ¡­ There is a map, right?¡¹

    Maple looks for books with maps on the secondyer.

    Althoughshe found some map, there was nothing written in detail.

    At most it is enough to learn the terrain.

    ¡¸U ? n ¡­ it was different from what I thought ¡­ ¡­¡¹

    As there is still much time left for the quest, Mapledecided to stop the game here and cut out the investigation for today.

    Next day.

    Maple came out of the library after investigating.

    ¡¸Wasit on the history shelf?¡­ I must have missed it¡­¡­¡¹

    Maple discovered some note writtenabout the church in the corner of the book about the history in this game.

    ¡¸Three dayster ¡­ I do not know what¡¯sin there, I guess I should buy some potion¡¹

    Maple was gettingready for anything that gonna happen three dayter.

    ¡¸It isfortablethanks to Syrup!¡¹

    Maple praise Syrup while headingsouth.

    She get off from syrup at the entrance of the forest which spread to the south,and goes into the forest.

    ¡¸I can afford it if there is no one to protect¡¹

    asionally appearing monsters hit herarmor and make a Gashan Gashan noise.

    But, they cannot damage Maple.

    It was nothing new for Maple

    However, Maple did not use Syrup and she wasincredibly slow so it took about two hours to get to the church.

    ¡¸Ha~a ¡­ I have not walkedtely ¡­¡¹

    Maple was tired and thought that she shouldwalk to explore asionally.

    In front of Maple there was a ruffledchurch atst.

    ¡¸Yoshi,Let¡¯s enter it!¡¹

    The door has already gone away, andthe interior has been eroded by ivy and vegetation.

    Maple walks in the center of the room where the chair is lining up.

    On the front wall there is arge cross which is tilted, and even if it is oldit still exists.

    Maple noticed something shining sparkling on the floor beneath it.

    ¡¸this¡­¡­?¡¹

    The identity of the light was asmall bottle of glowing gas.

    Maple looks at the information of the vial.

    ¡¾Archangels¡¯fragments¡¿

    ¡¸It is somewhatamazing ¡­ ¡­ (Na, nandakasugo-s¨­)¡¹

    Maple took it as an important itemand headed for the girl as soon as possible.

    Maplegently opens the door of thedy¡¯s house and enters inside.¡¸Knight(Kishi-sama) ¡­ What¡¯s happen?¡¹

    ¡¸There is something Iwant to try for a bit¡¹

    Maple standing right next to thesleeping girl, took out the small bottle from the inventory and opened the lid.

    At that moment, the girl¡¯s body starts to shine dazzlingly.

    ¡¸Uwa!?¡¹

    ¡¸Knight(Kishi-sama)! What¡¯s happening!¡¹

    ¡¸E,i, I can¡¯t see it! ?¡¹

    The glow that overflowed from thegirl formed a beautiful woman shape this time the same manner as when the lightshaped the letters before.

    While staring at thedy where Maple is standing she began to speak.

    ¡¸Thank you. Iwas about to take away this child¡¯s life¡¹

    ¡¸Wa,ha~a¡­so, that was happening?¡¹

    ¡¸To you, a part of my strength ¡­ withthis I can finally return home¡­¡¹

    In the end the light rushed toheaven and disappeared.

    At the sametime the girl wake up.

    ¡¸What ¡­ Mother(Ok¨¡-san) ¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸A,a¡­¡­ ¨¡aa!¡¹

    Thedy hugs the girl.

    The girl seemed have no idea on what is happening.

    ¡¸I wonder if it is a ime asion¡­?¡¹

    Although the way it ended was notunderstood by Maple, she was convinced because the disy of Quest Clear wasout.

    Maple gently got out and confirmedthe skills she got.

    ¡¸¡¾Dedicated charity(Mi sasagujiai)¡¿ ¡­ uwa ¡­¡­ Whatis this¡¹

    Maple murmurs while checking thedetails of the skill.

    And she thought of something and started running toward the guild home.

    ¡¸Izu-san!¡¹

    ¡¸¡­What¡¯s wrong? Why areyou in such a hurry¡¹

    ¡¸I want you to make a set of equipment, but¡­ can you do it?¡¹

    ¡¸Well ¡­ I can do it but I want to knowwhat kind of equipment it is ¡­ is there something wrong?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Because I do not understand it well,will youe with me for a while?¡¹

    ¡¸Seriously ¡­ Whathappened ¡­?¡¹

    Maple headed for the field with Izu.

    And Maple used the new skills.

    Five days fromthat day.

    When Izu logged in she thought about the equipment at the workshop and keptmaking prototypes until she was satisfied.

    ¡¸Not like this ¡­ Equipment suitable for ¡¾Ale¡¿ is not like this ¡­!¡¹

    such voice wasechoing in the workshop.

    (TN: Don¡¯t ask me what Ale mean i don¡¯t know myself it just the raw only give ¥¢¥ì this (Are) in katakana)

 Chapter 63: 131 Name: Anonymous Magic User

    Defense Specialization and Dedicated Affection.

    Five days had now passed since Maple asked Izu to make a full set of gear for her.

    Just as Maple finished logging in and appeared in the guild home, Izu came walking out of her workshop.

    ¡°Maple, your gear¡­it¡¯s ready.¡±

    ¡°Really!¡±

    ¡°Yes. Here, I¡¯ll show it you.¡±

    So saying, Izu pulled out a full set of white armor, arge shield, a short sword and a tinum tiara.

    Each piece of gear was set with precious blue stones in different ces.

    Overall, it had the look of a holy knight, minus the tiara.

    ¡°Have I be a knight now?¡±

    Maple put on all of the new gear and then checked her stats.

    (Arcangel Tiara X)

    HP + 250

    (Archangel White Shield IX)

    HP + 300

    (Archangel Holy Sword VIII)

    HP + 200

    (Archangel Holy Armor IX)

    HP + 350

    ¡°What are these numbers like X and IX¡­?¡±

    Maple asked.

    ¡°Those are numbers you get from the<em><i> ¡®reinforcement</i></em>¡® which can only be used with gear made with the<em><i> ¡®forging¡¯ </i></em>skill. Gear made with <em><i>¡®forging¡¯</i></em> cannot use skills like other gear used in other events, so it¡¯s a merit that makes up for it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see¡­¡±

    ¡°The sess rate of <em><i>¡®reinforcement¡¯</i></em> changes depending on the<em><i> ¡®forging¡¯</i></em> skill¡­ It takes a lot of luck to reach the biggest number that is X.¡±

    Izu had somehow made a top-ss set of armor withoutpromising.

    After that, she spilled that it was two levels stronger than the set she had made for Chrome, but Maple was too busy checking her gear to notice her say this.

    As Maple continued with her inspection, the rest of the remaining four guild members arrived at the guild home.

    ¡°Hm? ¡­Oh! So that¡¯s the gear Izu has been making. It really suits you. It makes me want some new gear too¡­¡±

    ¡°It makes me scared just thinking of what caused Maple to want new gear¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s it¡­¡±

    ¡°Maple, you look really good in white!¡±

    Chrome, Sally, Kasumi, and Kaede all said.

    ¡°So¡­ Do you all want to go and fight? I¡¯ll exin just why I had a new set of gear made on the way.¡±

    Everyone agreed, as long as they could see the reason behind all of this.

    Even Izu said she would go, as she wanted to see the gear do ¡®it.¡¯

    ¡°Is this a good spot?¡±

    Maple put everyone on board the Syrup and flew towards an area that was known to have monsters inrge packs.

    ¡°Well¡­here I go<em><i>! ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±</i></em>

    A red damage effect burst from Maple¡¯s body.

    As soon as it cleared, a circr area around Maple that was ten meters in diameter began to glow.

    And that wasn¡¯t the only thing that happened.

    Two wings that were pure white grew from Maple¡¯s back and a white, glowing ring appeared above her head.

    Her hair had turned into a brilliant gold, her eyes were now a deep blue.

    ¡°WHA¡­?¡±

    ¡°I was surprised too, at first.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­ My appearance changes¡­ Ah, heree some monsters.¡±

    For a moment the other four were too stunned to move, but then they realized that anything could happen when it came to Maple, and so they changed their mode of thinking.

    They had gotten quite used to her by now.

    <strong><b>131 Name: Anonymous Magic User</b></strong>

    Please

    <strong><b>132 Name: Anonymous Great Shield User</b></strong>

    Okay

    First, about Sally

    Sally is a PS non-human

    From what I saw, she doesn¡¯t seem to be using any skills

    She fought with quite a lot of monsters, but I didn¡¯t see her taking any damage

    Also, there was some kind aura added

    <strong><b>133 Name: Anonymous Bow User</b></strong>

    I guess that thing for the event will be Sally after all

    <strong><b>134 Name: Anonymous Great Sword User</b></strong>

    She¡¯s even evolved

    An aura he says

    <strong><b>135 Name: Anonymous Spear User</b></strong>

    Hmph

    Sally does seem like she¡¯d have some unknown skills

    But not as much as Maple

    <strong><b>136 Name: Anonymous Great Shield User</b></strong>

    Next, about Maple

    For the past few days, Maple has been off somewhere all alone

    And when she got back

    <strong><b>137 Name: Anonymous Great Sword User</b></strong>

    Hurry up

    <strong><b>138 Name: Anonymous Spear User</b></strong>

    Hurry

    <strong><b>139 Name: Anonymous Magic User</b></strong>

    What happened?

    <strong><b>140 Name: Anonymous Great Shield User</b></strong>

    She was an angel

    <strong><b>141 Name: Anonymous Bow User</b></strong>

    We already know that Maple is an angel

    <strong><b>142 Name: Anonymous Magic User</b></strong>

    You¡¯rete with that one

    <strong><b>143 Name: Anonymous Great Sword User</b></strong>

    Maple is always angelic, right?

    <strong><b>144 Name: Anonymous Spear User</b></strong>

    Of course, she is

    <strong><b>145 Name: Anonymous Great Shield User</b></strong>

    Ah, well, alright

    I will rephrase that

    Maple returned with a skill that gave her an angel¡¯s halo, wings and blonde hair and blue eyes.

    <strong><b>146 Name: Anonymous Spear User</b></strong>

    Wha

    <strong><b>147 Name: Anonymous Magic User</b></strong>

    This is what happens when you leave her alone

    <strong><b>148 Name: Anonymous Great Sword User</b></strong>

    Why? Where did she get such a skill?

    <strong><b>149 Name: Anonymous Great Shield User</b></strong>

    I don¡¯t know

    The skill name is<em><i> ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯</i></em>

    It apparently has a skill that uses your HP to constantly<em><i> ¡®cover¡¯</i></em> your party members

    When Maple uses this

    All the party members within the circle will be invincible unless she is defeated

    <strong><b>150 Name: Anonymous Great Sword User</b></strong>

    So she finally got her second form

    She should be thest boss, don¡¯t you think?

    <strong><b>151 Name: Anonymous Spear User</b></strong>

    A scene of hell will seem lukewarm

    If you leave her alone

    Eventually, it will happen

    She will return with a third form

    Definitely

    <strong><b>152 Name: Anonymous Great Shield User</b></strong>

    On top of that, I found out that Maple still has over 1,000 VIT when she removes all of her gear

    <strong><b>153 Name: Anonymous Bow User</b></strong>

    I don¡¯t even understand anymore

    <strong><b>154 Name: Anonymous Spear User</b></strong>

    1,000 without gear is crazy

    Is her body made of steel?

    Is she an orichalcum?

    <strong><b>155 Name: Anonymous Great Sword User</b></strong>

    But, it hasn¡¯t even been that long since Maple first started

    We weren¡¯t even at the second level when rumors about Maple started to surface

    There must be something on the first level

    <strong><b>156 Name: Anonymous Great Shield User</b></strong>

    I thought so too

    But if that were the case, then there would have been a second and third Maple by now

    <strong><b>157 Name: Anonymous Magic User</b></strong>

    That¡¯s just it

    I don¡¯t know why Maple is the only one who can do it

    After that, everyone thought long and hard about it. But they could not discover the reason that Maple was able to gain those skills.

    ¡°Everyone! You will be able to block any attack now!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it¡­ The others won¡¯t know how, yet¡­¡±

    Izu said as she started to walk towards the monsters herself. A blow struck her body.

    However, her HP did not move an inch.

    ¡°Huh? What does this mean?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Maple¡¯s skill¡­ Apparently, everyone who is in this circle will constantly have <em><i>¡®cover¡¯</i></em> activated for them¡­¡±

    ¡°Though it will cost you a little HP at first.¡±

    Izu had made the set of gear to offset the HP cost.

    Just like <em><i>¡®Hidora¡¯, ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ </i></em>was a skill that came with several other skills. This meant that even now, there were other skills that Maple hadn¡¯t shown yet.

    And she had to pay the cost of each of those with HP.

    Maple¡¯s previous set of gear did not have enough HP to offset the cost of all of them.

    Furthermore, the new gear waspletely forwardpatible with <em><i>¡®Phnthropy Knight¡¯</i></em>.

    The extra quests were not just for show.

    ¡°¡­So in other words, everyone had the same defensive capabilities as Maple¡­ Woah..¡±

    As long as they were in the area, no one could hurt the other members unless they defeated Maple first.

    But it would be incredibly difficult to defeat Maple.

    It won¡¯t even be a fair fight unless you could do piercing attacks repeatedly on everyone.

    And you would have to actually be hitting all of your targets.

    There was no way you could hit Sally, and Chrome would block the attack with his great shield, and Kasumi was great at evading.

    Kaede was the only fighter who could possibly be hit.

    ¡°But Maple, you changed your gear, right? Are you sure that you have enough defensive power to nullify attacks towards us¡­?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Even if I wasn¡¯t wearing anything, my vitality is over 1,000!¡±

    ¡°Haha¡­1,000?¡±

    Kasumi and Chrome thought that this was so crazy that they could onlyugh.

    The two of them decided that they would just stop trying to think about it.

    As they rode Syrup on their way back, Chrome began to talk.

    ¡°I, I¡¯ve been talking about Maple and Sally on the message boards, do you think that I should stop?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ I don¡¯t really mind. Everything that I¡¯ve told you can be told to anyone else.¡±

    ¡°I agree with Sally, after all¡­¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t change what we do just because someone knows about it.¡±

    Even if Chrome shared what he knew on the message boards, Sally¡¯s ability to evade wouldn¡¯t be affected, neither would Maple¡¯s defenses.

    Chrome didn¡¯t know how to acquire the skills, so he couldn¡¯t write anything too important.

    It was not a big issue for either of them.

    <strong><b>126 Name: Anonymous Shield User</b></strong>

    Hey

    <strong><b>127 Name: Anonymous Spear User</b></strong>

    Yo

    So you joined Maple¡¯s guild¡­

    I hate you! I¡¯m so jealous!

    <strong><b>128 Name: Anonymous Great Sword User</b></strong>

    That¡¯s so nice

    I asked Sally to help me get close, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to happen

    <strong><b>129 Name: Anonymous Bow User</b></strong>

    Give us information

    You must have something

    But I won¡¯t ask for anything that you aren¡¯t supposed to say

    <strong><b>130 Name: Anonymous Spear User</b></strong>

    It¡¯s probably harder to give information now that they work together

    Just tell us what you can

 Chapter 64

    Defense Specialization and Assistance

    Stories focusing on Maple alone wille some other time.

    Though, it will probably be after the eventual third level.

    The day after Maple showed the other guild members her angel-like appearance and overwhelming power.

    Chrome and Izu were talking in the hall right in front of the entrance to the guild home.

    ¡°Maple just keeps getting stronger, huh.¡±

    ¡°Really. I never get bored watching her.¡±

    ¡°But¡­you know¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m an inferior version of Maple, right!?¡±

    ¡°¡­Well, I suppose so.¡±

    It was true that Chrome was below Maple in terms of both firepower and defense.

    The only thing that he could say that he bested her with was PS.

    ¡°I need to find the meaning for my existence in this guild¡­!¡±

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t me you for feeling that way.¡±

    As the two of them talked, the doors of the guild home opened and Maple walked in.

    ¡°Speak of the devil.¡±

    ¡°Were you talking about something?¡±

    ¡°Yes, kind of.¡±

    ¡°I want to acquire some powerful skills like you, Maple.¡±

    Chrome added that he wanted to have different skills than the ones Maple had. Maple smiled and cheered him on.

    Chrome asked Maple for some advice on gaining powerful skills, but Maple just replied that she got most of them from randomly looking around. So her advice was not of much use.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ I can¡¯t really help you today, but¡­ That¡¯s it! You can borrow Syrup! I¡¯m sure it will be of some help¡­¡±

    Maple said as she controlled the blue panel and removed the ring. She took the ring from her inventory and handed it over to Chrome.

    ¡°Are¡­you sure? This is your important gear. What if I never return it?¡±

    ¡°Are you not going to return it?¡±

    ¡°No, I would never do such a thing.¡±

    Chrome denied strongly.

    Chrome had no intention of doing such a thing.

    ¡°Then it¡¯s fine!¡±

    Maple said with a big smile.

    Chrome then repeated to Maple that she shouldn¡¯t lend important things so easily, even to guild members.

    But Maple said that she just really wanted to help Chrome out, so Chrome carefully epted the ring and left the guild home.

    As Chrome walked in the field, he thought of what Maple had done a moment ago.

    ¡°Maybe I should ask Sally to warn her againter¡­¡±

    Chrome was very happy that she put so much trust in him, but felt like it was a little too much trust. And so he decided to ask Maple¡¯s friend, Sally, to repeat the same thing to her.

    ¡°¡­You have to be careful so you don¡¯t get tricked by bad people.¡±

    Maple was enjoying the game, but she stillcked experience.

    She still did not know that much about happiness or sadness.

    She hasn¡¯t truly felt the presence of bad yers yet.

    Keeping away yers that would try to exploit Maple¡¯sck of experience was one of the few things that Chrome could do, that Maple could not.

    ¡°And I want her to be able to enjoy the game.¡±

    Chrome continued to move westward in the field.

    ¡°Well, as long as I¡¯m borrowing it, I might as well use it. It would be rude to Maple if I didn¡¯t.¡±

    Chrome called for Syrup, but instead of making it bigger, he had it walk alongside him.

    This was because he could not make it fly like Maple, so he felt there was no use for it to be so big.

    The only yers that were allowed inside of this dungeon were yers like Chrome, who had died and resurrected over 1,000 times.

    Chrome is so overprotective.

    ¡°Oh¡­another monster.¡±

    Chrome unsheathed his shortsword and held his great shield in front of him.

    Three boar-type monsters had appeared.

    And Chrome only had one great shield to go against them.

    Of course, this meant that he would be directly hit if they all attacked at once.

    ¡°Grr¡­Maple would have gotten through this without taking any damage!¡±

    He shed at the monster who rammed into him and moved out of the way with a backstep.

    A red effect flew through the air.

    The boars attacked him, but they bounced off his great shield.

    <em><i>¡°¡®Pierce¡¯!¡±</i></em>

    Chrome activated the skill and released a sharp thrust.

    His short sword hit the boar that had bounced off his shield, taking away its HP.

    Furthermore, Chrome¡¯s own HP was recovering as this happened.

    Chrome used a great shield which was not the greatest for an offensive stance, but it was not by chance that he ranked number 9 in the first event.

    Chrome had one skill that the average yer did not have.

    <em><i>¡®Battle Healing.¡¯</i></em>

    While inbat, his HP would recover 1% every 10 seconds.

    With this skill, high defensive capabilities and his persistence to fight, Chrome was able to ce 9th.

    Chrome looked weak if you viewed Maple as the standard, but if the average yer was the standard, then Chrome was still quite formidable.

    All the yers who made it into the top 10 at the event had some kind of strong skill.

    But Maple¡¯s skill was especially strong among them, which made her stick out the most.

    Chrome allowed Syrup to attack as well so they could share the experience points. Then they continued on to the west.

    Chrome arrived at a western wastnd.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t explored this area yet, so let¡¯s start from here.¡±

    As Chrome continued to search the wastnd, he found a small, old-looking tombstone.

    Any yer would have inspected further if they found something this special, and Chrome was no different.

    And so Chrome walked towards the tombstone. He was not able to do anything when the ground disappeared beneath his feet while he was one step in front of the tombstone, and so he fell into the pit.

    Chrome picked himself off of the ground.

    There was an endless tunnel leading out in front of him.

    ¡°Huh¡­? Is this a hidden dungeon?¡±

    Chrome looked around and saw that Syrup had followed him down here.

    ¡°Really¡­ I think some spirit could be haunting Maple?¡±

    Chrome started to feel like anything that involved Maple had a tendency to turn very strange.

    However, it was very much Chrome¡¯s actions that got him in this pit, not any mysterious influence of Maple.

    Sally, Maple, Kasumi, Kaede, even Izu, they all had something that no one else had.

    Even Chrome had something that no one else did.

    That was his overwhelming number of deaths.

    He had died so many times trying to master the great shield. Because of his low firepower, he could not deal with the monsters quickly enough and would be surrounded.

    It took him a long time to be adept with the great shield.

    And that meant that his death count increased.

    Even then, Chrome continued to train.

    He made up for hisck of talent with time and effort.

    <em><i>¡®Battle Healing¡¯</i></em> was something he just happened to acquire during his many deaths.

    All his skills, all his techniques were earned through death.

    This dungeon¡¯s name was ¡®Grave of Ghosts.¡¯

    Maple and Sally would not have been allowed to enter this dungeon.

 Chapter 67

    <strong><b>Chapter 6</b></strong><strong><b>7</b></strong><strong><b>: A Specialisation in Defence; Growth of a Follower Spirit</b></strong>

    Chrome proceeded further into the hole, going deeper and deeper. Syrup walked by his side, matching his steps.

    ¡°Guess I might as well check deeper. It¡¯s not like it matters if I die.¡±

    Chrome focused his attention towards the surrounding walls. The hole itself was in terrible shape, on the brink of crumbling to pieces. All the more evidence that it hadn¡¯t been formed through human interference.

    ¡°We¡¯re under a tomb. You think there might be undead?¡±

    Chrome, at the very least, expected as much. His predictions were proven to be remarkably on point as he ventured a bit further, as the very instant he moved to enter a new area a group of skeletons began to crawl out of the earth. They wielded a wide array of batterednces and old, rusty swords, none of them giving the impression that they were particrly powerful. They utilised amon strategy that saw constant use by the monstrous riff-raff; overwhelming the enemy and dulling their responsive faculties.

    Syrup assisted Chrome against the onught, noticeably lightening his burden, and Chrome finally managed to cull the skeletons down to theirst numbers.

    ¡°Would you look at that, Syrup? Your level went up.¡±

    Chrome offered Syrup a potion meant to countermeasure the loss of HP, and took the chance to look over what new skills hispanion had acquired.

    ¡°So you learned <strong><b>Cover</b></strong>, huh? Looks pretty simr to the Great Shield skill.¡±

    Maple was usually averse to the idea of involving Syrup in battle, which, in turn, hadn¡¯t resulted in much opportunity that would contribute to a higher level. Acting in tandem with Chrome, however, had made it all the more simple to do just that. By the time Syrup went back under Maple¡¯s care, thetter would undoubtedly bear witness to a whole new slew of skills, and the former would be much stronger than before.

    ¡°You know, I do owe her one for letting me take you along. Might as well level you up.¡±

    Chrome, nowpletely devoted to Syrup¡¯s support, went even further down the path. He allowed Syrup tond the final blow on whatever monsters came to block their path, and gradually, the creature began to evolve its capabilities even further.

    ¡°Hm? Did you get another one?¡±

    Once the two had gone through a good number of encounters, Chrome decided to inspect Syrup and found that it had gained two more skills.

    <strong><b>Mother Nature: </b></strong>Gives the power to raise the earth and allow vines and shrubbery to sprout. Can be used as both offence and defence.

    <strong><b>Spirit Cannon:</b></strong> Can only be utilised when erged. Ranged attack. Fires straight ahead.

    ¡°Who knows, you might even be stronger than me now. Oh, boy¡­ What I wouldn¡¯t do to have a partner of my own.¡±

    They moved on, encountering even more foes along the way until Chrome finally reached the furthest, deepest area. He was met with an enormous gate, one that likely served as the entrance to some boss room.

    ¡°The dungeon took a while to get through, but the monsters haven¡¯t been worth talking about so far¡­ Can we do this?¡±

    Chrome, havinge to the conclusion that he wasn¡¯t dealing with some incredibly taxing high-difficulty dungeon, entered the room. He noted that it was ratherrge, just the right size to contain Syrup¡¯s form upon turning into a giant.

    Chrome and Syrup had barely set a foot into the room when a skeletal pile at its very end began rising at a sluggish pace. It was quite different from the skeletons they had encountered thus far. The ornamented armour it wore and the longsword it wielded had, though splendid and extravagant, clearly sumbed to the wear of time. A pair of blue-white mes, almost akin to wandering human souls, glowed brightly in sockets that should have been void of anything.

    ¡°Phew¡­ This is the first time I take on a boss solo. Oh, right¡­ I¡¯m not alone, am I?¡±

    Chrome allowed Syrup to assume titanic size, then barked an order, mind set on taking first blood.

    <strong><b>¡°Mother Nature!¡±</b></strong>

    Astonishingly thick vines stretched out from the earth surrounding Syrup and charged towards the boss, but everyst one of them found its path obstructed by some glowing wall of bluish white that encapsted the boss in its entirety.

    ¡°We have to find a way to break through that before we do anything else.¡±

    Chrome rushed in the boss¡¯s immediate direction, leaving Syrup behind to guard his rear. The boss returned Chrome¡¯s sentiment, drawing closer towards him.

    <strong><b>¡°Shield Attack!¡±</b></strong>

    Chrome¡¯s attack, though it had been stopped dead by the boss creature¡¯s defensive walls, had served a purpose. He had meant to test whether inflicting direct damage would be sufficient to shatter the defences.

    ¡°Yoh¡­!¡±

    His greatshield repelled theshing longsword, and he further shed in an attempt to damage the protective field. However, seeing as how this wasn¡¯t usually work meant to be undertaken by someone in the shield ss, he found great difficulty in breaking through. It was also worth considering that Chrome¡¯s equipment, if exposed to more damage than it could handle, mightpletely break on him, and if the weight behind the boss creature¡¯s assault was any indication, then he had to avoid any prolonged, extended exchanges at all costs.

    Chrome, his instincts screaming at him that thing were bound to go South, altered his position and made sure that Syrup and the boss were connected by a straight line before he screamed.

    ¡°Syrup! <strong><b>Spirit Cannon!</b></strong>¡±

    A pure whiteser beam shot from Syrup¡¯s maw. Chrome, having had the foresight to test it once on their path already, already had a clear grasp of the timing and range behind the attack. He jumped aside, sessful in his evasion.

    ¡°How¡¯d ya like that?!¡±

    When the light vanished, a shattering noise made itself known. The barrier had been destroyed. That wasn¡¯t to say that allplications had been put aside, of course. The boss, its bones ttering against each other, impaled the ground beneath with its longsword, and skeletons began bursting en masse from the corners of the rectangr room.

    Had Chrome been on his own, he would have, in all likelihood, fallen prey to the overwhelming hordes. But as it so happened, he was with Syrup. Leaving most of the skeletons to Syrup¡¯s mercy, Chrome was perfectly capable of giving the boss his undivided attention. While he made a note to keep an eye on Syrup¡¯s HP levels, he nevertheless managed to inflict damage upon the boss. With Syrup¡¯s asional assisting manoeuvre, the damage was made only greater.

    As long as he could avoid being hit by the boss itself, then he could stand to make it through whatever the mob skeletons could dish out if he relied on his <strong><b>Battle Healing</b></strong>. He just had to wait for the right opportunity to deal with them, and strike whenever the boss grew morex in its own attacks. With his penchant for standing steady, Chrome had given himself the upper hand.

    <strong><b>¡°Shield Attack!¡±</b></strong>

    It was simple enough for his hit to make contact, especially since the boss had no shield of its own ¨C a fact that Chrome considered to be a true blessing. He seized the moment as the boss recoiled from the sheer force, dealing another blow.

    ¡°Guess it just doesn¡¯t have that much HP¡­ Hup!¡±

    Well aware that focusing purely on the offensive could result in being on the receiving end of a powerful counter, Chrome made a moderate effort to stave off its attacks. Still, he had managed to bring down the boss¡¯s health to nearly half of what it had been. He had Syrup to thank for that. As it turned out, Syrup¡¯s <strong><b>Mother Nature</b></strong> made for quite the formidable well of potential damage. When it came to mind that Syrup was the one dealing with all the swarming skeletons, it became all the more apparent just how distant victory would have been if not for the being¡¯s presence.

    ¡°Seriously though, I¡¯ve gotta thank Maple for thister¡­! <strong><b>zing sh!</b></strong>¡±

    His shortde, now draped in a shroud of fire made a diagonal sh across the boss¡¯s body. He had finally managed to whittle down its HP to exactly half of its total.

    The skeleton moved to its original location, calling for the swarming skeletons. The skeletons crumbled away where they stood, and pure ck spirit-like things left them and wandered towards the boss. The skeletons that had been crawling out from the corners joined them in their cessation.

    An aura spilled out of the boss in waves, ck as tar, and birthed the form of an enormous skeletal entity. In one hand, it wielded a sword so great in length that it could easily span at least a third of the room they were in, and in the other, it clutched an axe.

    ¡°Your other form, huh? Well, guess what? Maple¡¯s way more terrifying than that. I think you could stand to learn from her example, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Chrome prepared his greatshield, undistracted by his own speech. His fight against the boss had finally entered its second phase.

 Chapter 68: A Specialisation in Defence; Joining the Team?

    <strong><b>Chapter 68: A Specialisation in Defence; Joining the Team?</b></strong>

    <em><i>Author¡¯s Note: I kept this one short, since it leaves off at a pretty good spot. Also retouched the chapter a little; noticed an awful, awful mistake on my part.</i></em>

    ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with!¡±

    Chrome advanced, his shield held aloft. He ducked and weaved through the path of the de as it descended, opting out of using his shield to knock it away. The axe swooped his way immediately after, and he changed tactics by catching its bash with his greatshield. Though the blow itself had been circumvented, the pure force of the impact had not.

    ¡°Kuh¡­!¡±

    Chrome appraised the state of his greatshield. He couldn¡¯t go about things the same way Maple and Sally did; overuse would burden his shield until it fell to bits. As things were, there still wasn¡¯t enough to fret over, but there was a great likelihood of his greatshield being reduced to pieces if he had to keep blocking all the heavy attacks that came for him. Chrome decided to pull back temporarily, retreating to a spot where attacks had a hard time reaching.

    <strong><b>¡°Spirit Cannon!¡±</b></strong>

    Fully conscious that no attacks would have enough range to make it all the way to where Syrup was, Chrome bombarded the boss with Syrup¡¯sser-beam. In a more unfortunate turn of events, the boss crossed his de and axe in protection, and the beam bounced off of them in its entirety.

    ¡°Guess getting close is my only chance¡­!¡±

    Now all the more certain that no long-range bombardment would be of use, Chrome resorted to approaching the boss once again.

    <strong><b>¡°Mother Nature!¡±</b></strong>

    The boss crossed his de over his axe once again, his intent to avoid the vines that had shot from Syrup¡¯s direction bearing grand results. Now, however, he had no way of defending against Chrome as he charged in beneath the crossed weapons. Chrome¡¯s proximity to the boss could only grow from there.

    <strong><b>¡°zing sh!¡±</b></strong>

    As Chrome tore away at his opponent with a sh of his de, the boss responded in kind and swung his longsword back towards Chrome. He had forgotten, however, that Chrome was still in possession of his greatshield. The attack made no contact with him. With the ever-looming prospective danger of the pitch-coloured skeleton swinging away at him the minute Syrup¡¯s <strong><b>Mother Nature</b></strong> lost its hold, he could not allow himself the leisure of pulling punches inbat.

    <strong><b>¡°Thrust!¡±</b></strong>

    The shortsword pierced through the boss monster¡¯s protective garb, and its HP was further drained until only a fifth of it remained.

    That was when it happened. That was when a Stygian thorn burst forth, extending from the boss creature. Acting purely on his instinct, Chrome raised his shield to protect himself. A sweep of the longsword followed the thorn, and the shield finally shattered, the noise it made an echo.

    ¡°Come on, Izu¡¯s gonna get so mad at me!¡±

    The thorn disappeared after a single hit, and Chrome shed away in the vain hope of dealing just a little bit of damage.

    That was when the effects of <strong><b>Mother Nature </b></strong>chose to subside. Chrome, now left without his greatshield, could now dodge neither sword nor axe as they came from both ways. He could only move as if to intercept the sword, and made to sh away at the boss. Both his shortsword and the boss monster¡¯s longsword connected with their respective targets, both sides reducing the HP-value of the other. The very next moment, something powerful made an impact against his back, blowing away his set of armour as well the contents of his HP bar.

    Still, Chrome did not fall.

    His <strong><b>Indomitable Guardian </b></strong>had left him with just a single point in HP, and nothing more.

    <strong><b>¡°zing sh!¡±</b></strong>

    Chrome swiped away with his shortsword, putting as much strength behind the blow as he could muster.

    Despite his efforts, the enemy boss had a full tenth of his health left. The sword and axe danced towards Chrome yet again. Even if he were to use his <strong><b>Battle Healing</b></strong>, there was no way his HP would recover in time.

    <strong><b>¡°Light of Spirit!¡±</b></strong>

    That was Chrome¡¯s chosen medal skill. His ace in the hole to end all aces; his absolutely final resort. A holy light shone down upon Chrome. For the next ten seconds, any and all damage would bepletely negated.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? I¡¯m not dying, not yet!¡±

    He cast aside even the barest notion of defence and dived straight in, charging with all his might. The boss stabbed at him just as he did so, but try as it might, it had absolutely no way of whittling down that final, lone point of HP. Chrome¡¯s shortsword shed away, the angle of its strike nted, running directly through the boss¡¯s face. Almost immediately, the bluish light that roamed in the boss¡¯s sockets was extinguished.

    Both the boss and the ck skeleton turned into light, both disappearing into nothing.

    ¡°Haah¡­ That was tough¡­ Should¡¯ve known shields are just good for guard duty.¡±

    Chrome let himself fall onto his rear, and in front of him appeared a magic circled and arge coffin. He wasted no time, jumping out of the way and calling for Syrup toe to him.

    ¡°If it¡¯s a monster, do me a favour and watch my back¡­ Better take a potion.¡±

    While Chrome upied himself with healing back his lost health, the door to the coffin slowly opened.

    Insidey a skeleton, its frame enveloped by a set of reddish-ck armour. It didn¡¯t appear too keen on rising from its slumber, either.

    ¡°Huh? I-Is this a reward?¡±

    Slowly, carefully, daintily, Chrome rested his hand on the set of armour and stowed it away in his inventory space.

    ¡°Unique¡­ Series? What¡¯s this¡­¡±

    <strong><b>Bloodied Skull:</b></strong>

    <em><i>¨C Soul Eater</i></em>

    <em><i>¨C Indestructible</i></em>

    <em><i>¨C VIT + 25</i></em>

    <strong><b>Bloodied White Armour:</b></strong>

    <em><i>¨C Dead or Alive</i></em>

    <em><i>¨C Indestructible</i></em>

    <em><i>¨C VIT + 25; HP + 100</i></em>

    <strong><b>Decapitator:</b></strong>

    <em><i>¨C Life Eater</i></em>

    <em><i>¨C Indestructible</i></em>

    <em><i>¨C STR + 30</i></em>

    <strong><b>Barrier of the Vengeful Spirit</b></strong>

    <em><i>¨C Soul-Sucking</i></em>

    <em><i>¨C Indestructible</i></em>

    <em><i>¨C VTI + 20; HP + 100</i></em>

    ¡°That¡¯s strong¡­ They¡¯re all perfect, if you wanna ignore the cursed names and how they look like¡­ Also, no shortsword? That really doesn¡¯t look like a sword to me, more like a hatchet.¡±

    Even as he spoke, Chrome was already in the process of donning the entire set of armour. The bloodied jaw of a skeleton covered the lower half of his face. The armour, which had, at some point in time, been entirely white if the description was to be believed. The hatchet, whose size was a mite above average and whose bloodied appearance matched its name quite well. The greatshield, which had been inscribed with the image of a skeleton.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just check my skills¡­ and go home, I guess.¡±

    <strong><b>Soul Eater:</b></strong> Ten percent of your HP is recovered for every monster or yer you defeat.

    <strong><b>Dead or Alive:</b></strong> When your HP reaches zero, you have a 50% chance of making it out alive with 1 HP left.

    <strong><b>Life Eater:</b></strong> For every amount of damage dealt, your HP will be recovered by a third of the damage value.

    <strong><b>Soul-Sucking:</b></strong> When damage is dealt by means of an attack, 3% of your total health is recovered.

    Once he¡¯d taken his time looking over his new skills, Chrome called Syrup back into the ring and stepped into the magic circle, leaving the dungeon behind for good.

 Chapter 69: .

    Chapter 69 Fur Cut

    A few days after Chrome had gone into the uninhabited area.

    A small maintenance was carried out and a new skill <em><i>Shear </i></em>was added.

    Shear was a skill to shave wool, just like the name suggests.

    Along with that, sheep now appear in a certain area.

    ording to Izu, it is apparently quite good as a material, so she wants us to get it when we are free.

    Maple and Kasumi, who were just free, went to search a section of grasnd for it.

    ¡°We came ¡¯cause we were free but¡­ We only know <em><i>Shear</i></em>, will we be okay?¡±

    ¡°Not us, only you have it¡­¡±

    There¡¯s no way Maple, who has poured her everything into defensive skills would be good at <em><i>Shear</i></em><strong><b>.</b></strong>

    Maple was in charge of slowing the target down using <em><i>Paralyze Shout</i></em>.

    As the sheep¡¯s HPs is quite low to begin with, that ability is needed to stop them without decreasing their HP further.

    Maple was perfect for the role.

    ¡°Don¡¯t see any sheep with wool-¡±

    ¡°Right¡­ The other yers also probably came to gather wool.¡±

    Although they had already seen sheep which had <em><i>Shear </i></em>used on them, they couldn¡¯t find any normal ones.

    And after 30 whole minutes of searching,

    ¡°Found them!¡±

    There were three sheep in the direction Kasumi pointed.

    ¡°<em><i>Paralyze Shout</i></em>!¡±

    Maple went to paralyze them immediately but because the other two were out of range, only one got paralyzed.

    By the time the two of them got close to the paralyzed sheep, the other two ran off.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get one for now, <em><i>Shear</i></em>.¡±

    As Kasumi used the skill, the sheep¡¯s wool disappeared cleanly and 1 item called sheep wool was added to the inventory.

    ¡°This is definitely not enough¡­¡±

    ¡°Yea¡­ probably.¡±

    Even if they were to go back with just one bundle wool, it probably won¡¯t be enough to make anything.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ If it¡¯s just me, I can probably catch up to the sheep which escaped. And as for skills to limit their movement¡­ well it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t have any. I will be back.¡±

    ¡°Alright! Got it.

    And so, Kasumi went running after the sheep.

    There, only a paralyzed, trimmed sheep and Kasumi remained.

    Kasumi chased after one sheep.

    ¡°<em><i>Super eleration</i></em>!¡±

    Using her <em><i>Super eleration</i></em>, she chased at a speed with which she could catch up.

    It would be difficult to use <em><i>Shear</i></em> if their movements aren¡¯t limited.

    ¡°Well, for what it counts¡­ <em><i>Shear</i></em>!¡±

    Kasumi tried using <em><i>Shear</i></em>while running as she had nothing to lose.

    As Kasumi used the skill while running parallel to it, it¡¯s wool was shaved off cleanly.

    Kasumi stopped in her tracks.

    ¡°Even if I don¡¯t suppress their movements, it works if I am just within range. As it¡¯s a game, that is.¡±

    She confirmed that the amount of wool had certainly increased when she checked her inventory.

    The other sheep went running in the other way and couldn¡¯t be found.

    Maple won¡¯t be losing a fight with monsters easily so Kasumi could go back without worrying.

    And Kasumi returned to Maple but there was a mysterious, pure white globe enshrined there.

    ¡°Wha?¡±

    Kasumi drew her de and cautiously approached the sphere.

    ¡°This is¡­ wool?¡±

    After touching the sphere, Kasumi confirmed that it was indeed wool.

    ¡°<em><i>Shear</i></em>!¡±

    And so, Kasumi tried activating her skill on it.

    It also worked perfectly on the sphere and it turned into 10 wool bundles in Kasumi¡¯s inventory.

    And at the same time, with a loud sound, Maple fell to the ground.

    ¡°Maple? ¡­ You were inside that?¡±

    ¡°Well, I was inside that¡­ or should I say I was that itself¡­¡±

    ¡°W-what do you mean?¡±

    ¡°¡­.Just a sudden impulse.¡±

    Maple didn¡¯t talk about the details.

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t really understand what¡¯s going on but¡­ I guess not asking further would be better.¡±

    Kasumi read the atmosphere and pursue the subject.

    ¡°I am now able to make wool for 24 hours so I will leave the shearing to you.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah, leave it to me.¡±

    The two got on Syrup and were returning to the guild home.

    On the way, Maple reaffirmed her ability.

    <em><i>Sheep Eater</i></em><strong><b>.</b></strong>

    After returning to the guild home, Kasumi sat down on a table and talked with Chrome.

    The topic was Maple and wool.

    ¡°It seems that while I was away for just a bit, she acquired a new skill.¡±

    ¡°If I were to quote one of my acquaintances¡­ stuff like that happens immediately when you look away.¡±

    Chrome added that he was already used to it.

    ¡°¡­You got used to it?¡±

    ¡°I also have my feet way deep in that side, after all¡­¡±

    Chrome said while looking at his equipments.

    Chrome was not different from the normal people.

    ¡°Then, what would it take to surprise you?¡±

    Chrome pondered for a while.

    After a bit, Chrome started talking.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ If she were to float up in the air, turn into a cloud and start dropping lightning, I might be surprised.¡±

    Chrome said jokingly.

    ¡°Hahaha! That surely won¡¯t happen.¡±

    ¡°Yea, I also think so. Oh, right. A message came from the management, did you see?¡±

    It seems Kasumi didn¡¯t know since she shook her head sideways.

    Chrome summed up the contents of the message.

    ¡°The third event. Two weekster.¡±

    ¡°They are making it quite a continuation¡­ Well? What will it be about?¡±

    ¡°Limited-time monsters will appear and we will have to gather the items they drop. There are also guild and individual rewards depending on the number of items picked up.¡±

    ording to Chrome, the number of items required for guild rewards will differ depending on the size of the guild.

    Maple¡¯s guild is quite small so the required number will also be less.

    And a ranking for individuals on which the rewards will depend.

    Moreover, you can¡¯t transfer the item.

    That was because it will not add to the inventory, it will just be counted as a number.

    ¡°¡­Hmm, it might be tough this time.¡±

    ¡°¡­Right.¡±

    The two were talking about Maple.

    Maple has had her achievements in the events up till now but those were based on strength, not time.

    It would be impossible to enter the higher ranks this time no matter what.

    ¡°I have also been doing it for a while but¡­ there¡¯s always someone above you.¡±

    <strong><b>Author note:</b></strong>

    <em><i>A sudden fur cutting y. </i></em>

    <em><i>But it is actually quite important.</i></em>

 Chapter 70

    Defense Specialization and the Current Status

    A chapter about learning skills and future directions.

    One day, Izu and Kanade were talking inside of the Guild Home.

    ¡°Generally, it seems that we will be relegated to supporting roles for those four.¡±

    Izu as nonbat support.

    Kanade would be an important rear guard.

    ¡°I tried learning offensive magic as well¡­ But it¡¯s not likely that they will need my help. So I tried switching direction a little.¡±

    Because the four advance guards would end up defeating monsters before Kanade even had a chance to attack, Kanade ultimately did little but use status raising skills or recovery magic on hisrades.

    ¡°I¡¯m the only one who uses a staff, and there are skills that I can get that no one else can.¡±

    Kanade was capable of learning a much broader range of magic than Sally.

    That was what made Kanade unique within the guild.

    ¡°Those four will just deal with everything by themselves once I¡¯ve buffed them up.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. They really count on you¡­ Ahh, also, your equipment is ready now.¡±

    Izu tells him that this was the reason that she had called him today.

    Kanade had only bought small additions since his very first set of equipment. His overall appearance had barely changed since the 2nd event.

    Izu passed over the equipment that she had made for him.

    There was a red hat that was the same color as his hair.

    The rest of the equipment came in mainly ck and red, though they looked more like normal clothing than equipment.

    These also used Maple¡¯s sheep wool as part of its materials.

    Every piece of equipment had ¡®INT¡¯ and ¡®MP¡¯ raising effects, which meant that Kanade would be greatly strengthened just by wearing them.

    ¡°Armor doesn¡¯t really suit me after all.¡±

    Kanade put on the equipment he received and left the guild home.

    Today, he would go out in order to learn ¡®Magical Barrier.¡¯

    Currently, Kanade was learning more and more skills faster than anyone else in the guild.

    Unless Kanade was defeated, the support and healing would never stop.

    However, depending on the situation, you would likely have to defeat Maple in her Archangel form in order to get to Kanade.

    And Maple¡¯s ¡®VIT¡¯ would be strengthened by Kanade.

    Maple¡¯s depleted HP would also recover.

    It would not be long before avoiding a battle with Maple and the others became the norm.

    No, perhaps it already was the norm.

    In a different location. The edge of level two.

    Sally was in a certain forest.

    ¡°Fu¡­ I haven¡¯t received any damage yet¡­ But I should probably make preparations for when I do.¡±

    Sally had already learned several skills within the past few days.

    But even then, she still did not have nearly enough to reach what was her ideal.

    ¡°I also need to raise Oboro¡¯s level too.¡±

    Monsters kept appearing one after another as she walked through the forest.

    This time Sally put more emphasis on evading. She would hurt the monsters a little and then allow Oboro to do the rest so it could raise its level.

    After fighting like this for a while, Oboro¡¯s level increased.

    ¡°Fu¡­I should check it out. Oh?¡±

    Sally checked Oboro¡¯s skill level and then patted it happily.

    ¡°Well¡­I may not need to prepare for receiving any damage after all.¡±

    Saying this, Sally stopped looking at Oboro¡¯s level and returned to the town.

    Chrome was in the level two desert.

    ¡°This is crazy. I don¡¯t feel like I could die.¡±

    He blocked the monster¡¯s attack with his great shield and shed at it with his Japanese hatchet.

    That alone caused his HP to go way up, but he also had ¡®Battle Healing¡¯ which healed him too.

    On top of that, he could just use ¡®Light of Spirit¡¯ if he started to run out of HP.

    Chrome cut down thest of the monsters he was fighting and put his weapons away.

 Chapter 71

    Defense Specialization and the Third Event

    Maple logged in and appeared in the guild home.

    Sally, Kanade, and Izu were already inside.

    ¡°So the event has started!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only been five hours, but isn¡¯t it amazing? The top yers are already in the 5-digits. Also, Chrome and Kasumi have already gone hunting.¡±

    ¡°Woah¡­ Everyone¡¯s amazing, huh¡­¡±

    The four that were left there were still at 0 points. Izu intended to only do a little during this event before stopping.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any attack skills, but I have a little ¡®STR¡¯.¡±

    Depending on the type of enemies, there was the possibility of defeating them with a smithing hammer.

    Of course, her ¡®STR¡¯ was higher than Maple¡¯s.

    ¡°We should go too.¡±

    ¡°I suppose.¡±

    The three of them tried to leave Izu there and go, but she called after them.

    Izu handed over some gear to Sally and Maple.

    ¡°I made this out of the sheep¡¯s wool. Apparently, the item drop rate will increase depending on the amount of sheep¡¯s wool used.¡±

    They had been able to acquire quite a lot of sheep¡¯s wool, thanks to Maple.

    Kanade¡¯s gear was already using plenty of wool, so there was no need to change it.

    The gear that Izu handed over to Sally was the exact same as her current gear, only it waspletely white.

    Maple¡¯s gear was very sheep-like in appearance.

    The entire set was pure white and all of it was covered in fluffy wool.

    ¡°It would be quite impossible to make armor out of wool, after all.¡±

    The great shield and Japanese short sword had to be ck due to attack power. This did not really match with the rest of the adorable look, but it could not be helped.

    Izu didn¡¯t say it, but the only reason why the gear came out looking like this, was because Izu wanted to see a fluffy looking Maple.

    Even if armor was impossible, she could have made normal looking clothes.

    This was just the result of her personal tastes.

    The three finally left the guild home and all headed off in their separate directions.

    It would only be harder to gain points if they stayed together, and this was the best method considering the points they would need for guild rewards and personal rewards.

    Maple was on the move as she rode Syrup and looked at the blue panel, inspecting the required points for different rewards.

    Visuals of the actual monsters also appeared on the screen. This one was a red cow.

    ¡°My speed of mobility is not a good match for this event¡­¡±

    Even if she was riding Syrup, it was still not even close to Sally¡¯s.

    Maple decided that she would just enjoy the event and collect enough points to receive the personal rewards that she wanted.

    ¡°I need more points to get that one skill.¡±

    Maple looked at a certain skill before closing the panel and looking downwards. She saw that there just happened to be a red cow right there.

    ¡°¡®Hidora¡¯!¡±

    Maple unleashed the Hidora from Syrup and checked her points.

    The points had been added exactly.

    There was no need to actually check if the monster was dead or alive.

    That was how strong it was.

    However, there was one condition in using this power.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ So there will be enemies with ¡®Poison Immunity¡¯ter on¡­¡±

    Maple¡¯s options for attacks would be incredibly limited should an enemy with ¡®Poison Immunity¡¯ appear.

    In fact, it would be better for her to run in such a case.

    Furthermore, Maple had used poison and paralysis so many times in her attacks, that every yer now knew of them. That was also a problem.

    Eventually, there would be another event where yers fight against each other, and by then many would have acquired ¡®Poison Resistance¡¯.

    Taking measures against Maple had already be a normal thing for stronger yers.

    There were even yers who would be able to beat her if they made the necessary preparations.

 Chapter 72

    Defense Specialization and Derailment

    Maple was enjoying her aerial stroll when she suddenly heard the sound of her message alert ringing.

    ¡°Hmm¡­? Who could it be?¡±

    She checked to see who the sender was and saw that three messages in total had arrived.

    They were from Chrome, Kasumi, and Izu respectively.

    The contents were all simr as if this had been nned.

    All of them were basically about how they would do their best in the event.

    ¡°I¡¯m killing every cow that I find¡­but I guess I don¡¯t have enough speed.¡±

    Maple replied to each one, saying she would do her best as well, and then continued to fly in the air.

    ¡°They¡¯re supposed to be around areas other than the ins as well, maybe I¡¯ll check out those mountains over there.¡±

    Maple started in the direction of some far away mountains.

    The reason that the three had sent messages to Maple, was because they had realized something.

    It was that they had left Maple to her own devices.

    And so they had warned her not to stick her head into anything strange, and to do her best for this current event.

    They knew that something would happen the moment they took their eyes off her.

    And not necessarily something good.

    And so the three had wanted to restrain her in this roundabout way.

    After flying for a while, Maple finally reached the mountains.

    ¡°Seems like no one is around here.¡±

    It was a steep mountain covered with trees, with only a few cows.

    Like management had said, while the cows would spawn, they were still limited to certain spaces.

    As it were, it would not be very efficient even if no other yers showed up.

    However, Maple had already been topped bypeting yers and had the worst efficiency to begin with, so this was a step up.

    ¡°Fighting alone in this area might just be the perfect thing for me.¡±

    She returned Syrup to her ring and started to climb the mountain alone, all the while killing any cows she spotted.

    Maple was also wearing her sheep¡¯s wool gear, so she was in a much better condition than other yers who didn¡¯t have that gear.

    ¡°I wonder if Kasumi and Sally will be in the top yers?¡±

    Those two had the highest mobility among the members of Maple Tree.

    Both of them even had the sheep¡¯s wool gear, so they should easily be able to hunt two or three times faster than Maple.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just take my time. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be in time for the skill anyway!¡±

    As she said this, the rock under Maple¡¯s foot moved.

    ¡°Ah!?¡±

    Maplepletely lost her bnce and only barely grabbed onto a tree.

    ¡°Ah¡­ Oh, no¡­¡±

    However, that onlysted for a few seconds.

    In that instant, Maple tried to think of something she could do but was not quick enough as she rolled down the steep slope.

    Maple¡¯s body hit into something and she stopped.

    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing I put so much into ¡®VIT¡¯¡­ I need to be more careful¡­¡±

    Had she not put so much into VIT, then she would probably have been forcefully sent back to town right about now.

    However, she had lost ¡®Bizzare Eater¡¯ when she was rolling.

    ¡°Ah¡­ Oh, well. I think I¡¯ll hunt just a little more and then go home¡­hm?¡±

    Maple stood up and looked at her surrounding, she then realized that she crashed into a huge tree.

    ¡°Woah¡­ It¡¯s big¡­.ah.¡±

    Maple realized something as she inspected therge tree.

    At the base of the tree was a huge hole that was in the shape of her great shield.

    It was clear that it had be a victim of thest ¡®Bizzare Eater.¡¯

    ¡°I-I¡¯m so sorry!¡±

    Maple looked inside of the hole and saw that there was a smaller hole separate from the one that she had made inside. It was justrge enough for her to fit her head through, and inside of it Maple found one rusted cogwheel.

    She looked upwards inside of the hole and saw a faint light.

    There was a long, narrow hole going through the inside of the tree. The gear must havee through it and fallen down here.

    Maple picked up the gear.

    ¡°Item name¡­ ¡®Forgotten Dream¡¯?¡±

    It had no skills and was not equippable.

    There was no effect or description either.

    Maple could not think of any use for it aside from a decoration for the guild home.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just take it back with me for now. Also¡­maybe I can heal this tree?¡±

    Maple switched to her white gear and drank a potion to restore her HP.

    ¡°Good! ¡°Light of Affection¡¯!¡±

    An intense damage effect danced around Maple.

    In the same instant, light poured out from Maple¡¯s hands and enveloped the huge tree.

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s no use. And this was my best method of healing.¡±

    There were several healing skills among the skills contained in ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯

    But none of those skills had the ability to heal yourself.

    ¡°Truly¡­I am so sorry!¡±

    Maple lowered her head again before leaving the scene.

    And so, ultimately, the messages from Chrome and the others had ended up with little to no meaning.

    ¡°First, I need to get out of this forest and ride Syrup back home.¡±

    Mapple returned her gear back to normal and started to walk.

    After that, she encountered several cows, which she quickly dispatched with her short sword as she exited the forest.

    During this time, Chrome was also walking around and killing cows, when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

    ¡°¡­I had a bad feeling just now.¡±

    Chrome¡¯s sixth sense had detected something.

    He was on the alert, his great shield and Japanese hatchet were held ready, but nothing attacked him.

    ¡°¡­Was it just me?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t just him, but Chrome did not realize that he had sensed something that had happened in a far-off location.

 Chapter 73: Defense Specialization and Big Derailment

    Chapter 73 Defense Specialization and Big Derailment

    The time period for the third event was one week.

    By the fifth day, Maple had acquired the skill she was wanted.

    ¡°Alright!! I got ¡®Counter¡¯!¡±

    Many people were probably afraid that Maple would acquire this skill.

    However, they couldn¡¯t do anything to stop it from happening.

    Maple was slowly but surely getting rid of her weaknesses.

    However, the poison which was the best means of offense due to all the counterns was also starting to lose its effect.

    In the case of Maple, this ¡®Counter¡¯ ability is quite the enhancement.

    And so, with this Maple had achieved her goals.

    Now that she wasn¡¯t going to gain much even if she aimed even higher, she stopped going all out when searching for cows.

    Another reason was that she didn¡¯t quite feel like doing it either.

    Maple was almost done searching for cows.

    This would lead to Maple taking course of her own action.

    yers who woulde to know of this will probably realize that going all out to search for cows is actually good.

    They might try to surround Maple.

    However, at present, there were no yers around Maple.

    ¡°Syrup? Where shall we go now?¡±

    She asked, even though there would be no response.

    She didn¡¯t have a particr objective now.

    She didn¡¯tpletely stop searching as there would also be guild rewards but it felt like it would suffice alone from Sally, Kasumi and Chrome¡¯s earnings.

    ¡°I wonder if there¡¯s something¡­ something like a really big cow¡­¡±

    Beneath her, the forest spread wide.

    She stopped searching from the sky and jumped down.

    ¡°This is¡­ the part of the forest where I acquired the fragment of the archangel¡­ or is it? I don¡¯t remember that clearly.¡±

    Sally could quite easily memorize the map.

    She was also probably somewhat used to it.

    Although Maple joined a group of strong yers, her hours yed itself was that of a beginner.

    As this was also not a good ce to search for cows, it was quiet here.

    The stuff Maple was doing were also quite dull, like defeating cows when they asionally appear.

    And while she was wandering around doing that, she reached a ce where she recognized a building.

    ¡°It¡¯s that church.¡±

    Maple entered the church which she didn¡¯t explore that much thest time.

    As she had immediately left after acquiring the fragment of the archangel before, she decided to search every nook and cranny of the ce this time.

    ¡°Everything looks so worn-out¡­ I wonder if they have any books lying around.¡±

    Maple searched for a book which might provide some hints like it did on the second event.

    She searched everywhere around the ce but couldn¡¯t produce much of a result.

    ¡°All that¡¯s left is¡­ that ce.¡±

    The ce Maple headed towards was the point where the fragment was lying.

    There, in ce of the small bottle, something was written on the floor with small red letters.

    She couldn¡¯t read what it said while standing so she sprawled and read while following it with her finger.

    ¡°Ummm¡­ ¡®Summon¡¯?¡±

    The moment Maple muttered the word.

    The church¡¯s floor started glowing red.

    The radiance just got stronger and stronger, dyeing everything in red.

    ¡°Eh¡­Wha?!¡±

    Maple reflexively attempted to run away from the ce but before she could, her vision was also covered in red.

    After a while, the light died down and Maple opened her eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh-ehh?¡±

    In front of her eyes was a ce just like the church but everything was gray.

    It was a weird ce.

    ¡°Where¡­¡­ is this ce?¡±

    She had to consider going back if this event were tost long.

    She could just logout in that case but she didn¡¯t know if she coulde back here if she did.

    She had to proceed carefully.

    Maple went outside the church for the time being.

    ¡°Uwaa¡­ everything¡¯s in ruin¡­¡±

    The grey world was also the same outside.

    The fresh and green forest had disappeared and a vast, graynd had taken its ce.

    Debris was floating here and there, as if time itself had stopped.

    ¡°Sally will surely not like this ce¡­¡±

    Maple walked around the wastnd.

    It wasn¡¯t as if she had a destination.

    Maple had found one thing which was not grey in this grey world.

    Maple headed towards it.

    Maple had reached the ce where the not-grey object was.

    It was a pitch ck sphere.

    As if reacting to Maple getting close to it, the ck sphere started bulging.

    And before long, the sphere burst open and something dropped outside along with charcoal.

    A tail protruded from beneath the battered robe.

    There was a rounded horn on its head like a sheep.

    And it started talking while looking down.

    ¡°Food hase, eh?¡±

    rmed by that statement, Maple brought out her big shield.

    It looked up towards Maple and realized something.

    ¡°Ah? You are from that time? The one mixed with angel¡¯s strength¡­ this one is lucky¡­!

    My status as a demon will rise after I eat you. I was done in at the sanctuary but I can go all out here!¡±

    Saying that, the demon roared.

    No doubt that there¡¯s no path of reconciling here.

    She had to fight.

    Before even getting scared or starting to fight, Maple recalled something the demon had said.

    ¡°Eat? ¡­Shall I do that too?¡±

    Maple entered battle stance after spouting something disturbing.

    After being derailed from the third event, further abnormalities lied ahead.

 Chapter 74: Defense Specialization and Demon Battle

    Chapter 74 Defense Specialization and Demon Battle

    The demon charged towards Maple and punched her with intense momentum.

    Maple took the blow without being able to react.

    ¡°Alright! No damage!¡±

    But the demon¡¯s attack was unable to hurt Maple¡¯s body.

    However.

    ¡°Mm?¡±

    Dark red chains twined around Maple¡¯s body. It was easy to realize that it was due to the demon¡¯s attack.

    ¡°What is this¡­?¡±

    And while Maple was wondering what it was, the demon came attacking once again.

    Maple had also received this head on without being able to dodge.

    ¡°The chains are increasing¡­!¡±

    Maple judged the chains to not be good and so she decided on keeping away from the demon¡¯s attacks for the time being.

    ¡°<em><i>Hair Growth</i></em>!¡±

    Pure white ball of hair appeared on the middle of the wastnd.

    Maple shut herself in the wool and checked the chains while avoiding the demon¡¯s attacks.

    ¡°Mmm¡­ <em><i>Binding Spell</i></em>¡­. That¡¯s the first time I have heard of that state.¡±

    Maple confirmed the details of her condition.

    <em><i>Binding spell</i></em> could be used on someone 5 times at most and after using 5 times, their abilities would decrease by 25%.

    ¡°So since I took two hits, mine has decreased 10% eh?¡±

    <em><i>Binding Spell</i></em>sted 2 minutes for each stage and so Maple would be stuck like that for 4 minutes.

    ¡°Then I guess I will stay here.¡±

    Maple waited inside the wool for the chains to disappear and then after they disappeared, she peeked from the top of the wool and called Syrup to fly into the sky as always.

    ¡°<em><i>Erge</i></em>!¡±

    After going up for about 10 meters, she looked down diagonally.

    And then, after confirming that the demon was still punching the wool, Maple shouted out hermand to Syrup.

    ¡°<em><i>Soul Cannon</i></em>!¡±

    Reacting to Maple¡¯s voice, a very thickser was shot from high above.

    It was an one-sided attack, where she was outside the opponent¡¯s range.

    Theser spread light to all of the wastnd and engulfed the demon.

    ¡°Mmm, tough, eh¡­ Only a part of it has been shaved off.¡±

    Seems like the demon wasn¡¯t lying about going all-out here, as it kept attacking Maple in defiance of the damage.

    After shutting herself in the wool again, Maple started thinking.

    ¡°Should I just put out my hand and use <em><i>Hydra</i></em>? But it doesn¡¯t seem like poison would affect demons.¡±

    If it became a poisonous, wool sphere, Syrup wouldn¡¯t be able to carry it and so they would be trapped there.

    To avoid that, her usage of poison must be very careful.

    Maple brought out her head and Shingetsu and waited for the demon.

    And although the demon kept attacking Maple¡¯s head, Maple¡¯s head even flicks off swords.

    There was no way a mere fist would be effective.

    ¡°<em><i>Hydra</i></em>!¡±

    The poisonous dragon shot out from Shingetsu engulfed the demon and blew it away.

    ¡°It seems like poison doesn¡¯t work, as I thought.¡±

    There was no extra damage from the poison but there was damage from the poison dragon.

    It is much better than not using it at all.

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave it to Syrup!¡±

    Having received the <em><i>Binding Spell</i></em> again, Maple returned inside the wool, just in case.

    Using <em><i>Spirit Canno</i></em>¡® every few minutes, the demon¡¯s HP bar finally went under half.

    ¡°<em><i>Spirit Cannon</i></em>!¡±

    Syrup¡¯s Spirit Cannon engulfed the demon again.

    ¡°Gghh¡­So annoying! Crush! I will crush you!¡±

    A ck light covered the demon¡¯s body and it started to expand, changing shape.

    Its limbs erged and muscles bulged.

    Its neck stretched and its face disappeared, leaving a big open mouth from which saliva kept dripping.

    The ugly demon screamed.

    ¡°D-disgusting!¡±

    Even Maple didn¡¯t seem to have a liking for monster-like monsters.

    ¡°Gegegeeh! Agaa!¡±

    It spit out pitch ck mes from its mouth.

    It covered Maple and burned the wool.

    ¡°Ehh?! This wool can burn?!¡±

    It was wool so it is extremely normal for it to be burn. No matter how strong the defensive skills are, it doesn¡¯t change the wool¡¯s natural property.

    The wall of wool protecting Maple disappeared and she fell to the ground.

    The demon approached closer with its mouth open wide.

    Maple immediately tried to run away but didn¡¯t make it.

    ¡°Ah-¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­¡±

    Maple was eaten up with a single bite.

    The big shield and short sword fell in ce.

    ¡°Gihigihihihi!¡±

    The demonughed happily in a creepy voice.

    Maple, being swallowed whole, was moving through narrow ces.

    ¡°Uuu¡­ so-narrow! Uwaah?!¡±

    Suddenly her foothold disappeared and she fell into some sort of liquid.

    Maple grabbed something which was floating to not get wet.

    ¡°Uwaa¡­ this is inside the stomach or something? ¡­¡­Ahh my armor is melting!?¡±

    Maple panicked but after a while, when she noticed that she didn¡¯t melt, she calmed down and looked around her surrounding.

    ¡°Yep¡­ no ways to attack. Ah, or maybe there is.¡±

    Maple muttered.

    This boss was made in such a way that it swallowing its enemies whole would be most damaging.

    They would keep taking damage even after being swallowed. Moreover, they would be dropped in a pool of deadly poison at the end.

    And on top of that, with time, the stomach also starts to contract so even if you¡¯re able to survive the pool of poison, you will ultimately be crushed to death.

    Normally, the slow, big shield users must dodge this.

    But Maple broke through that from the front with her super defense and <em><i>Poison Immune</i></em> skill.

    She didn¡¯t even receive the damage which would kill three people wielding big shields and the pool she dropped to felt like lukewarm water.

    At this point, it was like a somewhat cool bath.

    On top of that, at this point where being alive itself isn¡¯t expected, Maple had gotten stronger after having her armor melted.

    ¡°I was eaten but¡­ I can get out if I defeat this thing, right?¡±

    Saying that, Maple swam towards a wriggling wall of meat.

 Chapter 75

    One hour had passed since Maple was eaten.

    The devil¡¯s HP bar was continuing to decrease.

    In reaction, it¡¯s pattern of movement began to change. It struck out in varied attacks, but the enemy herself was nowhere in sight.

    The enemy was inside its body.

    ¡°I wonder how much¡­uumph¡­oomph¡­it¡¯s HP has decreased now?¡±

    Maple mumbled as she tore at the walls of flesh with her teeth.

    This was because the Archangel short sword that Izu had made for her, had lost so much of its durability to the poison, that she gave up using it to attack.

    She had also returned Syrup into her ring, so this was the only method of attack left to her.

    ¡°It¡¯s really going wild out there¡­¡±

    Maple would sometimes be thrown from the wall or washed away, but it¡¯s HP was definitely getting chipped away.

    And after another hour.

    Maple finally ate through the entirety of the devil¡¯s life.

    In the same instant, the devil¡¯s body turned into light and then exploded. Maple fell to the floor.

    ¡°Woah¡­phew, it¡¯s finally over.¡±

    A notice arrived just as she picked up the great shield and short sword.

    ¡°I thought it was because of ¡®Devil Eater¡¯¡­but it was because of ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ huh.¡±

    This skill had certain requirements rted to ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯

    In any case, Maple had got her hands on a new skill.

    And this was a skill that could be a new way to attack.

    ¡°¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯¡­This is¡­ Hmmm¡­ Oh, I see, I see. This is a simr skill to ¡®Poison Dragon.''¡±

    This skill had three other skills inside of it.

    Maple inspected this skill and then set it into her armor without hesitation.

    ¡°Well then¡­ I should get back and test it out.¡±

    Maple¡¯s vision was already enveloped in a red glow as she muttered this. By the time the light disappeared, she was already back inside of the church.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t use MP so I might as well try it out now! Umm¡­ ¡®Predator¡¯!¡±

    Just as she shouted the word, the area around Maple¡¯s feet was covered in a pitch-ck light. And from that ckness, two ck things came stretching out.

    They were 3 meters long.

    Appearance-wise, they resembled the devil she had just fought after it had transformed.

    They had big mouths in the front, but unlike the devil, neither had any arms or legs. They looked very much like snakes, and they wereing straight out of the ground.

    ¡°¡­Can you move?¡±

    Maple tried moving forward, the ck light on the ground followed with the two snakes in it.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go!¡±

    Maple left the church.

    And so it was that two newborn devils left the old church building.

    As Maple was walking, there was one thing that she was soon able to realize.

    ¡°Oh! They automatically defeat any nearby monsters for you!¡±

    The two devils that were on either side of Maple, would bite and crush any enemies within their reach.

    On top of that, they had their own HP, Attack Power and Defense Power independent of Maple, and their firepower and speed were more than enough.

    Furthermore, their attacks had a ¡®Binding¡¯ effect.

    ¡°Well then, I think I¡¯ll try a skill that uses MP next¡­ ¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯!¡±

    Once Maple used the skill, a ck light began to ooze out of her. This was followed by the two devils on her sides bing gigantic. They shot out to the front like ¡®Hydras¡¯.

    If she ever had to fight against another yer, and that miserable yer was dealt such an attack, the yer would end up witnessing a 2-meter wide mouth closing in on them.

    The range was also more than enough.

    ¡°Thest one¡­ I think I¡¯ll save it for next time. Okay then, ¡®Seal.''¡±

    She said the word to seal the ¡®Predators,¡¯ sending the two eye-catching creatures back into the shadows. And instead of testing out the final skill, Maple decided to walk inside of the forest.

    ¡°The third event¡­what should I do¡­maybe I¡¯ve had enough¡­¡±

    Because Maple had lost a lot of her interest in the third event, she ultimately did not hunt any more cows before the time was up.

    After that, the third event ended peacefully, without Maple doing anything in particr.

    And after the third event was finished, everyone gathered together at the guild home.

    ¡°Hahh¡­ I¡¯m tired.¡±

    Sally leaned all of her weight on the backrest of her chair. She must have been incredibly tired because she looked drained of all energy.

    ¡°Ahh¡­me too.¡±

    Kasumi¡¯s arms and head rested on the table.

    Sally and Kasumi had killed an especially high number of cows, so their fatigue was strong.

    After that was Chrome, then Kanade.

    Maple wasn¡¯t tired at all.

    With the exception of Izu, Maple would rank the lowest in terms of kill count. Towards the end, all she did was y around with ¡®Predator¡¯ in the forest where no one could see her. So it was no wonder that she was not tired.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t do much this time, Maple.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t really feel like it¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, it can¡¯t be helped. It was a really hard event for yers like us.¡±

    As Chrome said, it was a difficult event for people with low ¡®AGI.¡¯

    Even more so for someone like Maple.

    ¡°But, as far as guild rewards went, we went to the highest point, you know.¡±

    Kanade was right, the four others had covered for where Maple fell short, and together they had reached the highest reward.

    ¡°It¡¯s already arrived here at the guild home.¡±

    So saying, Izu took out the reward.

    It was the stuffed head of a cow that you could mount on your wall.

    As far as effects went, it raised the ¡®STR¡¯ of all members of ¡®Maple Tree¡¯ up by 3%.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be more effective as we get stronger then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true.

    ¡°It¡¯s pointless for me¡­no, wait, it¡¯s not!¡±

    As soon as Maple said this, the faces of everyone except for Kanade changed.

    Considering Maple¡¯s ¡®STR,¡¯ it was strange to think there was any point in it.

    And so the four of them all thought the same thing.

    ¡°Maple¡­did you go somewhere during the event?¡±

    ¡°I was on the secondyer? ¡­I think.¡±

    Maple wasn¡¯t sure if she should call that ash-colored world part of the secondyer.

    She told them this, and Sally and Kasumi put their hands to their forehead in exasperation.

    Chrome and Izumi had also thought that it was unstoppable.

    ¡°¡­The thirdyer will be added eventually, after all. If possible, could you show it to us when we enter the dungeon when the timees?¡±

    By now everyone had realized that Maple had done something.

    And it smelled of a rather dangerous skill.

    Well, they were in fact, right.

    However, the incredibly dangerous skill was not ¡®Predator¡¯ or ¡®Oozing Chaos,¡¯ but thest skill that Maple had not used back there.

    There were now three days left until the thirdyer would be added.

 Chapter 76

    Defense Specialization and Savagery

    After a short while since the day the thirdyer was added, Maple and the others arrived at the dungeon that led to the thirdyer.

    It was a party of six including Izu.

    The maximum size of a single party was eight, so it was possible for all current members to form a single party.

    Though, with this lineup, they could probably storm through just about any dungeon.

    In fact, it would have been more than enough with just Sally, Chrome and Kasumi, with Kanade as support.

    As they made their way through, Maple did not participate in the fighting at all, and only concentrated on protecting Ize.

    ¡°Great, let¡¯s go to the boss room, then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s clean this up quickly.¡±

    ¡°Yes, quickly.¡±

    So saying, Kasumi opened the doors and everyone went inside.

    And then the boss appeared in the back of the room.

    The boss had the appearance of a tree, and its trunk had a face on it.

    Maple andpany had broken through the firstyer before, so they wondered if this boss also had some kind of fruit hanging from it, but could not see anything like it.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go first. ¡®Provoke¡¯!¡±

    Maple headed straight for the boss.

    The boss began to attack Maple with its stretched out roots and branches, but they had no effect on her.

    And while it moved futilely like that, Maple reached its base.

    ¡°¡®Predator¡¯ ¡®Hydra¡¯ ¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯!¡±

    The monsters showed themselves from around Maple. The hydra spread its pollution all over the roots, and then the roots were eaten by the monsters that sprung out afterward.

    It¡¯s HP bar was decreasing rapidly.

    But the two monsters would not stop attacking.

    The tree boss was now visibly furious, it began tounch its attacks at the two monsters.

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    Maple¡¯s HP started to drop just as angel wings sprouted behind her back. What she had done was to receive the damage that should have gone to the monsters and make it harmless.

    Then Maple quickly took out a potion to recover her HP.

    The five others watched all of this from a corner of the room.

    ¡°What is that? No matter how one might deny it, she¡¯s practically a monster now¡­ That¡¯s what I think.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­it does seem like it¡­¡±

    ¡°How does she have new equipment every time we see her¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m relieved that nothing¡¯s changed with her.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I don¡¯t care anymore as long she¡¯s an ally¡­an ally¡­¡±

    Such were the things that the five members talked about, as they tried to ept this new evolution of Maple.

    However, Maple still had one skill left to show.

    Maple had been meaning to test this skill here, so she couldn¡¯t finish the fight before using it.

    ¡°Okay¡­ ¡®Savagery.''¡±

    Maple muttered quietly, then a ck light began to envelop her body.

    It turned into a column of ck light that stretch up towards the ceiling before turning into a monster that resembled the two who were next to Maple.

    The only difference was that this one had several arms and legs.

    And the two monsters next to Maple had now vanished.

    The new monster charged at the boss tree and grabbed it, then unleashed a torrent of fire from its mouth.

    The mes were very effective on the tree, now it was using its roots, branches and even magic to attack the monster.

    However, not only was the boss tree unable to defeat the monster, it was not even able to deal it a single scratch.

    The monster¡¯s ws cleaved into the trunk, its kicks caused the wood to cave in, and it bit into the tree with a mouth that took up its entire face.

    The two creatures fought like this for some time, but eventually, the boss tree could not take it anymore, and copsed to the ground.

    The monster was now walking heavily in the direction of Sally and the others.

    They stared cautiously as the monster opened its gigantic mouth.

    ¡°Argggh¡­this thing is difficult to control!¡±

    The monster said. Everyone stood still and stupefied.

    ¡°Ma¡­Maple?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you couldn¡¯t tell?¡±

    There was noise mixed in with the distorted monster¡¯s voice, but it was apparently Maple.

    While everyone else was bewildered, Sally asked Maple if should return to her real form.

    ¡°Hmm¡­wait a sec.¡±

    She said, and then a few secondster, the monster¡¯s stomach tore open and Maple came tumbling out.

    Once she was out of the monster, its body crumbled and then disappeared.

    The five other members approached her.

    ¡°I¡¯d be pretty happy for an exnation, or whatever you can provide¡­¡±

    For once it seemed that Maple had exceeded what Sally was usually able to tolerate.

    ¡°Um¡­what it does is, in exchange for your gear¡¯s effects being taken away, your ¡®STR¡¯ and ¡®AGI¡¯ are increased fifty times and your HP bes 1,000. And even if you run out of HP, you just return to your normal form¡­¡±

    The demerit was that the ability boosts from your gear and your skills would be unusable and that it only worked once a day.

    With this skill, Maple now had an emergency escape if she were ever close to death.

    ¡°Ahh¡­so you finally decided to stop being human, huh.¡±

    ¡°Oh, she has. There is no doubt about it.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t just a figure of speech, Maple had really found a way to be an actual monster.

    ¡°It¡¯s so hard to control¡­it¡¯s like, I don¡¯t know. Being inside of a huge mascot costume?¡±

    Apparently, Maple was not able to control it in a precise fashion.

    ¡°Well¡­the one before this was also quite strange.¡±

    Sally had already been feeling this was getting out of hand when she saw the two snakes grow out of the ground.

    ¡°Even I know that this isn¡¯t really normal¡­¡±

    ¡°Mmm¡­ It¡¯s faster than riding on Syrup, though¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you should use it for transportation.¡±

    It was no longer just a young girl dragging monsters behind her, the scene would be that of a hideous monster suddenly roaming about on the field.

    ¡°I¡¯ll practice up in the mountains so I can use it better inbat, okay.¡±

    ¡°I bet anyone who sees that will misunderstand¡­¡±

    Though, there was no helping it since she had already got the skill.

    Maple was already walking towards the thirdyer now, and the other went after her.

    The thirdyer¡¯s town was covered by a cloudy sky and was a town of machines and tools.

    There was one thing that the members of Maple Tree realized when they reached it.

    It was a very obvious difference, something that anyone would have noticed.

    ¡°Everyone¡¯s flying, huh.¡±

    Like Maple said, almost all of the yers here were using various machines to fly in the sky.

    ¡°Is it some kind of item?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ Isn¡¯t it those things?¡±

    What Sally was pointing at were a variety of machines that could be bought with gold. As they watched, one yer bought a machine with blue lights on it, before using that machine to shoot up into the sky.

    ¡°This looks like it will be an interestingyer.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. I suppose we¡¯ll also fly in the sky and explore.¡±

    Now that the members of Maple Tree knew what was the norm here, they set off for the guild home, which existed on everyyer, including this one.

 Chapter 77

    Defense Specialization and an Invitation

    The six of them entered the thirdyer guild home and inspected the rooms and interiors.

    After they had spent some time grasping the format of the ce, they all gathered together in arge room.

    ¡°Ah, Maple! There was something that I wanted to talk to you about.¡±

    ¡°What is it, Chrome?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a message that just arrived from management. It says that there will be abat event soon between guilds. So we need to prepare. And the thing is¡­¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°There will be time eleration. If you consider the possibility that some guild members may not be able to attend on the day of the event¡­ I think it might be best to increase our members.¡±

    What Chrome was saying was right. Currently, ¡®Maple Tree¡¯ consisted of six members including Izu, who did not fight.

    It would be very difficult topete if one member couldn¡¯t participate.

    ¡°Hmm¡­that is true. Yes, I think that is a good idea.¡±

    Maple agreed with Chrome¡¯s suggestion.

    It was easy for Maple to understand the harmful effects of not having enough people.

    ¡°I could call over some of my friends¡­ But it¡¯s better to leave it to the guild master.¡±

    Some of his friends included the people from the message boards who were following Maple from behind the scenes, but Chrome wasn¡¯t a guild master and would not force any decisions.

    ¡°Well, then why don¡¯t youe with me tomorrow and we can go scouting?¡±

    Sally said as she lightly pped Maple¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Mmm¡­ Yes! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Maple and Sally decided to go out and look for new members on the following day.

    The next day, the two were walking in the town in hopes of finding new personnel.

    ¡°How should we search?¡±

    ¡°We should check the message board first. They had invitations to guilds or postings for parties and those sort of things.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go there then.¡±

    Maple followed behind Sally as they made their way over to where the message board was.

    Once they reached the ce, Maple began to skim through the contents. As she looked through thetest items, she saw that there were lots of urrences of the words, ¡®Offense Specialization Wanted¡¯ and ¡®Poison Resistance Required.¡¯

    ¡°I guess offense specialization is really popr now. It¡¯s so fun after all!¡±

    ¡°¡­Well, yeah.¡±

    Sally was looking through the message board as well, but they knew that the kind of person that they would immediately ept into their party wouldn¡¯t be out here posting ads in the first ce.

    ¡°Mmmm¡­maybe this won¡¯t work. There are only low-level yers from the firstyer on here.¡±

    Sally said as she finally looked away. Maple also stopped searching.

    ¡°Then why don¡¯t we try going to the firstyer? What do you think¡­¡±

    Sally thought the likelihood of finding someone in the firstyer was very low, but she knew that they had to do something in order to gain something.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go. It¡¯s better than staying here.¡±

    It hadn¡¯t been long since they arrived on the thirdyer, but now the two of them were going back down to the first.

    Maple and Sally were now in the town on the firstyer, which they hadn¡¯t been to in quite a while. Maple realized something as they walked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­but doesn¡¯t it seem like a lot of people here are walking slowly?¡±

    Just like Maple said, there were yers all over the ce who seemed to be very slow on their feet.

    ¡°That¡¯s because of your impact. Now a lot of people are putting their points into one ce.¡±

    ¡°What? Is that true?¡±

    ¡°And a lot of them ultimately give up on that save data.¡±

    Sally was fully aware of the current situation.

    Of course, Maple was not, and so she was shocked at hearing this.

    ¡°What!? But why?¡±

    ¡°They can¡¯t even evade attacks, but their HP is low, there are other reasons as well¡­ But the biggest reason is that people were reminded about how such yers cannot do anything, and it¡¯s be difficult for them to join guilds or parties. It¡¯s also less fun.¡±

    The reality was that the Maple was the only powerful yer who survived with all of her points in one ce.

    As it was impossible to replicate what Maple did, none of the increasing numbers of yers who imitated her were ever able to catch up.

    ¡°Oh, I feel a little bad for them now¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Everyone looks up to someone who is strong. It just didn¡¯t quite go as nned for them this time.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ I guess it can¡¯t be helped.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ We should just leave a wanted ad on the message board, just in case.¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do that.¡±

    Sally was more fit to write such things, so it was her that went off to the message board.

    Now that she was alone, Maple decided to sit on an empty bench and wait for Sally to return.

    ¡°Ahh¡­ So it was my influence¡­¡±

    Maple was a little troubled about this thing with the other yers.

    And so she had be sensitive to certain words that were rted to that matter.

    ¡°Uhh¡­ I was rejected by another party¡­ Maybe it really wasn¡¯t a good idea to put all my points into one ce¡­¡±

    ¡°Cheer up older sister! ¡­It hasn¡¯t been that long since you started. You can start over again?¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    Maple turned in the direction of the voices.

    She then stood up and approached the two girls who were still talking together.

    ¡°Hello! Um¡­could I talk to you for a second?¡±

    Maple said and the two turned around at the same time.

    The two girls were the exact same height with the same faces and the same weapons. Anyone who looked at them would think that they were twins.

    The only difference was that the one who was encouraging had white hair and the one who was being encouraged had ck hair.

    The yer with white hair answered Maple.

    ¡°Uh¡­wha, what is it?¡±

    ¡°Um, ummm¡­¡±

    Maple stumbled over her words. She didn¡¯t have the most solid reason for approaching them in the first ce. She had just wanted to stop a yer who was regretting their decision to dump all their points into a single skill.

    ¡°We are in a hurry here¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, uhhh¡­ right, I know! My party, no, guild! Will you join my guild!?¡±

    ¡°¡­What? Oh, we¡¯re very grateful¡­but aren¡¯t you a high-level yer? Judging by your equipment¡­ Are you sure?¡±

    The girl had thought that since they were wearing beginner¡¯s equipment, they would not work well together.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine! I am the guild master! And we have plenty of empty slots.¡±

    Maple was allowed to decide on new members by herself.

    And there was no one in Maple Tree who wouldin about bringing these two in.

    ¡°I¡¯m back, Maple¡­ Who are these people?¡±

    ¡°Ah, hey, Sally! These are the people that I¡¯ve scouted!¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ If you¡¯re okay with it, then so am I. Also, no decision that you¡¯ve made on your own has ever had normal results.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­really?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Well then, let¡¯s go to theyer one guild home. We can talk there.¡±

    ¡°Okay. You two, will youe with us?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yes.¡±

    ¡°Uh, yes.¡±

    The two quickly followed after Maple and Sally who was already walking away.

    It was like a saving hand hade down from heaven to help these two who were about to quit.

    An encounter with the sole person who had been sessful with putting all her points into one skill.

    Author:

    Well, yeah. Of course, people would copy her.

 Chapter 78

    Defense Specialization and Demolishing a Boss

    The four of them entered the firstyer guild home and sat down facing each other so they could talk.

    Sally had run back to erase her posting on the message board beforeing to the guild home, so they would not be taking in anyone else.

    These kinds of talks were usually handled by Sally. She would ask them questions and receive information about them.

    The white-haired yer¡¯s name was Yui and the ck-haired yer¡¯s name was Mai.

    They were both level 4 and neither had a single skill.

    Their weapons were giant sledgehammers that were at least 1.5 x their height.

    ¡°So¡­ you two put all your points into one ce?¡±

    Maple asked them.

    ¡°Yes. Both I and my sister put them into ¡®STR.''¡±

    The reason that these two put everything into ¡®STR¡¯ was that they were physically weak andcked muscles in reality. And so they wanted to move around as much as they could inside of the game.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ That¡¯s kind of simr to you, isn¡¯t it Maple?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­I guess.¡±

    Just like these two, Maple was not fixated on what would be advantageous within the game.

    That was why they did not recognize Maple, they had not put all their points into one ce because they wanted to be like her.

    ¡°So Maple¡­ You are also like us?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am. I put everything into ¡®VIT¡¯!¡±

    The two were very surprised by this.

    Because they had never seen anyone who had done this sessfully.

    ¡°Well¡­I¡¯m not sure that Maple is¡­the best example¡­¡±

    Perhaps Maple secretly agreed, because she did not deny it.

    ¡°What do you think? Sally? Can I bring them in?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I think so¡­ There won¡¯t be any demerits to their ¡®STR¡¯ build as long as you are there¡­ There shouldn¡¯t a problem once they can bring their level up within the month, anyway.¡±

    With Sally¡¯s approval, it was decided that Yui and Mai would join as members.

    Maple registered both of them and so they were now a part of Maple Tree.

    Now that this was done, they wanted to broaden the two girls¡¯ range of movement to include the thirdyer, which is where Maple Tree was now active.

    ¡°Are you free today?¡±

    ¡°Uh, um, yes. I am. You¡¯re free too, aren¡¯t you, sister?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am free as well.¡±

    ¡°Thene with me and Maple and we can head to the thirdyer together.¡±

    ¡°WHAAA!?¡±

    ¡°WHAAA!?¡±

    The two reacted with surprise, but Maple and Sally were already on their way out of the town.

    Once they were outside of the town, Sally turned around and looked towards Maple.

    ¡°Maple. The usual.¡±

    Following her request, Maple called out Syrup, much to the surprise of the two girls. Then they got on its back and flew up into the sky.

    ¡°Don¡¯t fall off.¡±

    Maple warned them, but the two were so shocked that they were unable to react to anything she said.

    ¡°They are still very early in the game¡­ It will take a while for them to get used to this.¡±

    Getting used to Maple that is. It was the first thing that every new member of Maple Tree needed to do.

    The four quickly moved on to the boss room in the secondyer and opened the doors to go inside.

    ¡°Uhhh¡­ If we die, please forgive us.¡±

    Mai groaned. It was clear that she did not want to be a burden to the others.

    ¡°Ah¡­that won¡¯t happen.¡±

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    Maple shouted. Her hair then changed color and angel wings sprouted from her back.

    The two girls froze, their thought process hadpleted halted.

    They were no longer able toprehend what was happening.

    ¡°I¡¯ll deal with this. You sit down and watch.¡±

    ¡°Understood! Do your best!¡±

    Maple said and then took the two girls to a corner of the room.

    ¡°¡­! Are you sure!? Sally is going to fight by herself! But, that¡¯s a boss, right?¡±

    Yui asked as she got closer to Maple.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. After all, I¡¯ve never once seen Sally take any damage.¡±

    ¡°¡­.What?¡±

    ¡°¡­.What?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s starting now.¡±

    Sally had called out Oboro in the direction that Maple was pointing. She was now running directly towards the deer.

    There was no chance that the same attacks would be effective on Sally. She twisted her body and lowered her head as she dodged the deer¡¯s attacks and bridged the gap between them.

    ¡°Oboro! ¡®Shadow Clone¡¯!¡±

    As Sally shouted this, she split into five versions of herself. Each Sally ran separately from each other and charged at the deer.

    Even Maple was surprised by this.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that Oboro was capable of doing that now¡­¡±

    ¡°Sa-Sally is so amazing! How, how is she even dodging that!? And now she¡¯s cloned herself!¡±

    Yui was very excited as she talked to Maple.

    ¡°Who knows¡­? Even I have no idea¡­¡±

    Even as they talked like this, the attack boost aura that surrounded Sally was getting bigger and bigger.

    She was attacking with magic and daggers, in addition to the mes of Oboro. It only took a little longer than ten minutes for the deer to fall.

    Now that the fight was over, the three of them ran up to Sally.

    ¡°Oboro¡¯s advanced quite a lot, huh.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s hurry up and take care of the secondyer boss.¡±

    The four of them quickly entered the secondyer and went straight to the dungeon.

    ¡°I won¡¯t be fighting this time.¡±

    ¡°Mm. Okay.¡±

    It was decided that Maple would fight the secondyer¡¯s boss by herself.

    Yui and Mai looked worried when Sally dered this.

    It was not surprising. Maple¡¯s equipment was arge shield, and they had heard from her that she had put everything into ¡®VIT.¡¯

    They understood the defense capabilities of ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ but they still had not seen anything that would suggest Maple was strong in terms ofbat.

    Oblivious to their feelings on the matter, Maple opened the doors to the boss room and casually walked inside.

    ¡°Sally, don¡¯t you think that you should go and help her¡­¡±

    ¡°I, I agree.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. What a refreshing reaction.¡±

    This might just have been the first time Sally saw another yer be worried about Maple.

    That was how famous Maple was. Mainly as a threat.

    ¡°Did you think my fighting was amazing?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­y-yes.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­y-yes.¡±

    Inhuman ability to evade. Powerful skills.

    The battle with the deer was so amazing, that if it was viewed by 100 people, all of them would agree.

    ¡°In just a moment you two are going to see a fight that will seem ridiculous and should not be possible in this world.¡±

    Sally told them to concentrate hard on what they were about to see. Then she herself looked towards the walking Maple.

    These two did now know it yet, but they would in just a few dozen seconds.

    ¡°Sally did tell me to show them everything¡­ Syrup!¡±

    Maple called Syrup out and blew it up to a gigantic size before making it float in the air.

    All the while, she was being attacked by the boss but received zero damage.

    ¡°¡®Hydra¡¯, ¡®Oozing Chaos,¡¯ Syrup ¡®Soul Canon¡¯!¡±

    The three-headed hydra, the monster¡¯s mouth, and the shining beam all smashed into the Tree Boss.

    While the boss was recoiling, Maple had now reached it. She pulled out her great shield, even as she continued to nullify all damage.

    ¡®Bizarre Eater¡¯ gouged at its trunk. The bosses HP was falling rapidly by the onrush of special attacks.

    But even then, Maple¡¯s attacks would not stop.

    ¡°¡®Predator¡¯! ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    Two monsters appeared beside Maple and immediately bit into the boss.

    Angel wings sprouted from Maple¡¯s back, protecting the monsters.

    The boss let out a great cry and thrashed with its branches and fired magic attacks at Maple and the monsters, but all of it was meaningless.

    ¡°¡®Savagery¡¯!¡±

    A ck pir of light rose from Maple before materializing into a giant monster.

    It spat fire, it ground with its teeth, it tore with its ws, until the boss was in tatters.

    It was a one-sided assault. It was no longer easy to tell just which of them was the boss.

    ¡°Hahh¡­ It¡¯s done, it¡¯s done.¡±

    ¡°Maple. You can return to your original form now.¡±

    ¡°Ahh. Sorry, sorry.¡±

    Maple popped out of the monster¡¯s stomach and then it disappeared.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go to the thirdyer now!¡±

    ¡°Yes, lets.¡±

    Maple began to walk on ahead as soon as Sally replied.

    Sally looked towards Yui and Mai and said:

    ¡°She¡¯s the strongest in our party. See? I bet I look pretty normal now, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Both of them were unable to process what they had just witnessed and could only stand there with vacant expressions.

    ¡°But you two and Maple have something inmon. So may you two will one day¡­be just like her.¡±

    Sally suggested as she took Yui and Mai¡¯s hands and led them towards the thirdyer.

    Please understand that Yui and Mai are twins in the real world, so their names can be confusing. Yes.

 Chapter 79

    Defense Specialization and Grinding

    Once they reached the thirdyer, Maple introduced Yui and Mai to the rest of the guild.

    After they had greeted each other, Izu went back to her workshop to create equipment for Yui and Mai.

    Then Yui and Mai decided that they would log out for the day.

    ¡°Both of your levels have gone up a little, but you two still have a ways to go¡­ Hmm¡­ Maple, when will be the next time you three can log in at the same time?¡±

    The three of them talked about this so they could match their schedules.

    ¡°Maple. Lend me your ear for a second.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, what is it?¡±

    Sally began to talk close to Maple¡¯s ear.

    ¡°¡­Okay!¡±

    ¡°Great, I¡¯ll make preparations then.¡±

    ¡°Alright, got it.¡±

    The two looked a little puzzled by this exchange as they called it a day.

    The three of them gathered together on ater date as they had nned.

    Sally then gave Yui and Mai an item each.

    ¡°Here, this is for you.¡±

    What Sally handed over to Yui and Mai wererge helmets that covered their entire face.

    ¡°Follow Maple¡¯s orders when you use it.¡±

    They nodded in unison.

    ¡°Okay then, will you follow me?¡±

    ¡°Ye-yes!¡±

    ¡°Ye-yes!¡±

    Maple and the two sisters left the guild home. Sally was left behind, but she too had much to do and couldn¡¯t immediately log out.

    ¡°Are you going too, Chrome?¡±

    It was likely for a different reason than Maple, but Chrome was leaving the guild at the same time, so Sally called after him.

    ¡°Yeah. Kasumi¡¯s already left.¡±

    The current season was summer. During this period, all monster¡¯s dropped the item ¡®Watermelon¡¯ at a very low rate.

    If you collected these, you could raise the guild¡¯s support functions.

    In other words, a status up.

    ¡°As I¡¯ve sent Maple off to help those two gain some levels, we should concentrate on strengthening the guild.¡±

    ¡°I wonder how they will be when they return¡­ It¡¯s not like they are going to pick up a ¡®Unique Series,¡¯ right?¡±

    ¡°Well, they are just leveling up for now. I told them to go to the firstyer where they won¡¯t be seen by others¡­¡±

    There was a reason that Sally did not want them to be seen.

    When she told it to Chrome, he chuckled and agreed with her.

    Maple arrived in an area in the firstyer that hardly had any other yers in it.

    It was right in front of the dungeon where Maple had once fought the Hydra.

    ¡°Are we going to invade this dungeon?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we are. Can you two put those helmets on now?¡±

    The two sisters put them on as she asked.

    Now their faces were covered, making them unidentifiable.

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    Angel wings sprouted from Maple¡¯s body and the color of her hair changed as she emitted a godly glow.

    As they had seen this transformation before, they were less surprised and now able to appreciate the beauty.

    ¡°¡®Savagery''¡±

    But that awested only a second.

    Now Maple had turned into a hideous beast. The only thing that remained was the effect of ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯ Even the wings were gone.

    ¡°Ride on top of me! Oh, and hit the boss at least once.¡±

    Unlike Maple, these two had a lot of strength. They got onto her back and held tight.

    ¡°Oh, also, I will act like a monster if somebody sees us. So keep that in mind.¡±

    The reason that their identity was being hidden was so that no one would know which guild they were from, which meant no one would know it was Maple. Everything would be recognized as just this monster, and would not be connected to her.

    They needed to hide this trump card until the guild tournament.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Guga, gegega!¡±

    Said Maple as she jumped into the cave.

    That degree of acting was not really needed, but she still felt like doing it.

    They killed all the monsters they met along the way, then opened the doors to the boss room and walked straight towards the Hydra.

    The pitiful Hydra met the same fate as it didst time, as it was torn to shreds.

    As Yui and Mai had both hit it at least once before it died, they both gained experience from it.

    What happened after this was the most important.

    Unlike before, Maple could now see two different magical circles in her vision.

    One led to the town, the other took you back to the entrance of the dungeon.

    Sally had told her that during the second invasion, a magical circle would be added to take you to the dungeon¡¯s entrance.

    Maple chose to go back to the entrance.

    The boss would regenerate as soon as you left.

    Yes, their objective today was to grind the Hydra.

    The Hydra¡¯s dungeon was almost ridiculously difficultpared to the firstyer.

    Also, since it was quite far from the town and because there were more yers who specialized in one stat, it was a very unpopr location.

    On top of that, the Hydra dungeon was quite short.

    All of this made it very convenient for Maple.

    They could rampage through the dungeon and tear into and rip the Hydra to shreds.

    Yui and Mai¡¯s level increased rapidly.

    Maple could not get lost as she had memorized the route, and there was nothing in the dungeon that was the same level as her that could stop her.

    Maple was able to run through the dungeon at just a little over three minutes each time.

    As she continued to repeat these rounds, she looked at the time and a certain emotion grew within her.

    Yes.

    She wanted to make it under three minutes.

    There was no real reason for it. It was just the fact that if she could scrape off a few seconds, she could get it into the two minutes range.

    As she repeated the same thing over and over again, she had found a new way to enjoy it.

    Move tighter through corners, kill monsters in advance with fire so she didn¡¯t touch them and lose speed.

    Open the boss doors as quickly as possible and kill the monster with everything she had.

    As she concentrated on these things and made several more rounds, Maple was finally able to bring the time down to the two minutes range.

    But even then, she felt like she could do it even faster.

    Particrly the killing of the Hydra.

    She had decided that she could shorten the time if she allowed Yui and Mai to go all out in the attack.

    And after executing this several times.

    When Yui and Mai had increased their attack power through leveling up, Maple was able to get it down to two minutes and thirty seconds.

    ¡°Awesome!!¡±

    Maple said in a voice that was distorted with noise.

    There was no reward for this, but she felt a great sense of fulfillment regardless.

    ¡°Maple! Maple!¡±

    ¡°Maple! Maple!¡±

    ¡°Hm? What?¡±

    ¡°This¡­¡±

    ¡°This¡­¡±

    The two sisters were showing their statuses, so Maple took a look.

    There were no holes where their eyes were, but apparently, they could still see through.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ ¡®King of Destruction¡¯? And ¡®Invader¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Uhh¡­ ¡®Invader¡¯ is given when you kill a certain number of bosses within a time limit. You need a lot of ¡®STR¡¯ to aplish this. ¡®King of Destruction¡¯ is for the clear time. You need a lot of ¡®STR¡¯ for this as well.¡±

    While Maple was using ¡®Savagery¡¯ to raise her status, it was not her real status, so there was zero possibility of her acquiring it.

    After that, Yui and Mai gave her a more in-depth exnation which allowed Maple to realize one thing.

    ¡®Invader¡¯ was essentially the STR version of ¡®Complete Defense.¡¯

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I doubt Kasumi would need it, neither would Chrome. Sally wouldn¡¯t like the demerits as well.¡±

    The other members may have been on the offensive, but they still cared about their other stats. It was unlikely that they would want a skill that would limit their growth.

    ¡°¡®King of Destruction¡¯ sounds¡­interesting.¡±

    It was a skill that allowed you to dual wield a weapon that you would normally only be able to carry one of.

    In other words, they could dual wield two hammers as if they were twin des.

    ¡°Let¡¯s grind a little more before going back.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    The two returned from Maple¡¯s training, now several times stronger than they used to be. But the other guild members just nodded as if this was the most obvious thing.

 Chapter 80

    Defense Specialization and Apprentice Training

    Author: It¡¯s the 80th chapter.

    After thoroughly beating up the Hydra and returning to the guild home on the thirdyer, Yui and Mai found themselves with Sally the next day in a certain facility.

    It was a veryrge room that was called the ¡®Training Room.¡¯ This facility was open to people who reached the thirdyer and could be essed through a magic circle.

    Here you could use skills without your HP draining to 0, but you would not be able to acquire any new ones.

    First of all, Izu still hadn¡¯t been able to make satisfactory equipment for the two sisters, so they had to use two spare giant hammers for now. Each of them was now waiting with the hammers in their hands.

    ¡°In this ¡®Training Room,¡¯ you will be able to train without anyone seeing you.¡±

    ¡°What are we going to do?¡±

    ¡°You want to be able to use those hammers decently, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    The two had be much stronger now and had fought with two weapons in the firstyer, but as they had not raised their AGI at all, they could not evade attacks as they should.

    While they may have acquired the power to deal a one-hit kill, it did not change the fact that they had the HP to be one shotted as well.

    ¡°I will teach you how to evade attacks. And how to use two weapons. To be frank, as part of the guild, we want you to be able to evade piercing attacks.¡±

    If they were able to do that, then they would be able to fight alongside Maple.

    ¡°But, but we aren¡¯t as fast as you, Sally¡­¡±

    What Yui was saying was true. There was a huge gap between their and Sally¡¯s AGI.

    Of course, it would be hard for them to evade.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. I do think that it is difficult to evade an attack when you don¡¯t even know which side it is going toe from. But¡­with skills, you are just tracing the fixed movements. So it should be possible to avoid attacks by the millimeter.¡±

    ¡°Th-that¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°Th-that¡¯s¡­¡±

    Yui and Mai thought.

    That¡¯s easy to say but hard to do.

    If it was that easy, then everyone could evade any skill.

    ¡°Well, maybe that is going too far. But¡­ ¡®Piercing Attack Skills¡¯ are different.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ How is it different?¡±

    ¡°Among all the skills that I know of, ¡®Piercing Attack Skills¡¯ are the only ones that have a short ¡®windup.''¡±

    ording to Sally, other skills activate as soon as you finish saying their name, but skills with piercing abilities have a brief dy that you need to watch out for.

    After exining this to them, Sally took out two sheets of paper from her inventory.

    ¡°These are the names of all kinds of ¡®Piercing Attack Skills¡¯ that I¡¯ve gone around collecting. I want you two to memorize all them in one month.¡±

    ¡°Ye-yes!¡±

    ¡°Ye-yes!¡±

    If you used the small amount of time it took for the piercing skill to activate, and also knew the names of all the skills, then it would be easier to move first and evade the attack.

    ¡°But¡­even that is still not enough.¡±

    ¡°Is, is that so?¡±

    Mai asked with a concerned expression. Sally then took out one of the wooden items that were lined in her inventory and answered:

    ¡°This is a spear-like staff that Izu made. I¡¯m going to be using this¡­for some hands-on practice.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­? I thought you could only use skills for short swords¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes. Movement and speed. I learned all of it and I practiced¡­ And eventually, I was able to do it.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­?¡±

    What Sally did was almost inhuman. But this reality was already so abnormal as to hardly be believable.

    ¡°The two of you said while on your way here, that you would ¡®do anything¡¯ to be of use. Didn¡¯t you? So¡­ Do your best until you can evade the attacks, okay?¡±

    Maple was Yui and Mai¡¯s first teacher, and Maple had imparted her abnormalities to them, now Sally was their second teacher and she was trying to impart the ability to evade attacks.

    During this time, Maple was wandering around inside of the guild.

    ¡°Kasumi! Where is Sally?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s at the ¡®Training Room¡¯ with Yui and Mai. Do you have business with her?¡±

    Kasumi answered. She was sitting on the opposite side of the table with Chrome.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I wanted to go look around the thirdyer with her¡­ Well, nevermind then.¡±

    Upon saying this, Maple went out into the thirdyer¡¯s town.

    After seeing her leave, Kasumi and Chrome began to talk again.

    ¡°My instincts tell me that Maple will upgrade something again and return.¡±

    ¡°Are your instincts¡­good?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ It just seems like she bes stronger every time you look away. Yui and Mai are like that too.¡±

    ¡°They are¡­ Now that I think of it¡­ Have you seen Kanade recently?¡±

    Kasumi and Chrome had noticed that Kanade was spending less and less time at the guild in the past few days.

    ¡°Hm? Ah, I heard that she is absorbed by the books in the library in the secondyer. Though, she was like that when our base was there as well¡­¡±

    ording to Izu, she would sometimes visit it and read books.

    ¡°I just don¡¯t know where most of our members are going, to get stronger¡­¡±

    Kasumi said and then looked hard at Chrome.

    No, more urately, she was looking hard at Chrome¡¯s equipment.

    Chrome too had gotten stronger in some ce that Kasumi was not aware of.

    While she didn¡¯t say anything, Kasumi was just a little bit jealous.

    ¡°Maybe if you put all those wishes into Maple, you will be stronger? I¡¯m kind of serious.¡±

    ¡°¡­You should think about it even more seriously.¡±

    As Chrome and Kasumi were talking like this, Kanade was flipping through the pages of a book in the library. A ce where some secondyer yers never once stepped foot in.

    She finished reading the book, that was not in Japanese, then shut it closed.

    ¡°¡­I see. Yes, that makes sense.¡±

    Kanade picked up the Rubik¡¯s cube that was on the table and stared at it in her hands for a while. Then she put the book away, stood up and mumbled.

    ¡°So¡­there are two left.¡±

    Kanade left the library and continued to walk in the secondyer.

 Chapter 81

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 81

    Defense Specialization and Supporting Role

    Kanade reached the end of the secondyer by himself.

    While he usually used most of his MP for support magic when fighting alongside other guild members, he was also capable of some offensive magic for when he had to fight alone.

    Furthermore, while it was slightly reliant on luck, he could also use ¡®Akashic Records¡¯ to give his attacks more weight.

    And so he was able to move around by himself without any problem.

    ¡°My luck with skills is pretty great today.¡±

    Just like Kanade said, he was able to get a powerful magical skill with ¡®Akashic Records¡¯ today.

    Kanade dug through the sand so he could see the surface of the stone pavement.

    He had been able to locate this spot through information he had found in the library.

    ¡°Oomph¡­¡±

    When Kanade put a hand on the stone pavement, it disappeared and was reced by stairs that led down into the underground.

    Kande went down the stairs.

    Once he had reached the bottom of the narrow stairway, there was nothing but an incredibly ancient-looking door.

    When Kanade opened the door, he was greeted to a vast library.

    It looked very simr to the library in the floating city, which was the only ce that Kanade had beaten during the second event.

    ¡°Well now, ording to my spection, it will be down¡­here.¡±

    There was an old desk that was covered in white puzzle pieces.

    A milk puzzle.

    Kanade gathered them together in a pile.

    There was a frame to fit the pieces inside, and there were letters written on the frame.

    The trial of the gods.

    It was just like the time he had acquired ¡®Akashic Records¡¯ at the floating ind.

    ¡°This time it¡¯s¡­3,000, huh. That is a lot less thanst time.¡±

    Kanade sat down in the chair and spread the pieces out. He scanned them all before he started to connect the pieces from the corners.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ This one goes here. This one is¡­here.¡±

    Kanade put the pieces together one after another.

    It was almost as if he already knew the answer.

    And after working on the puzzle for thirty minutes, he stopped his hands and moved back into the chair.

    ¡°Ahh¡­this is tiring. My head is starting to hurt¡­¡±

    Kanade¡¯s powers were suited for learning things.

    In other words, he had a high, perhaps too high, ability to remember things.

    Normally these pieces would all look the same, but once Kanade had seen them all, they were all distinct to him.

    And of course, that meant he knew which piece should be connected with which piece.

    The shape of the piece, the cement.

    He remembered all of it.

    However, it also required Kanade to reach the limits of concentration for him to be able to retain all of this information.

    And he was only able to do this for ten minutes at the most.

    Kanade already had an excellent memory to begin with, but that would not be enough toplete this puzzle.

    And so he had no choice but to rest quietly for now.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like I can take out the remaining books either¡­ Hmm¡­ It would be troublesome if anyone besides me were toe here.¡±

    What was different fromst time was that he wasn¡¯t affected by time eleration.

    It would take quite some time for him to finish it, but it wasn¡¯t as if he could just stay here and sleep either.

    ¡°I think I might just make it in time¡­But I will just have toe backter if I can¡¯t.¡±

    Kanade had a break for thirty minutes before going back to working on the puzzle.

    And so as he continued to alternate between resting and concentrating, and the pieces started toe together.

    And finally, Kanade was able to put the final piece into ce.

    In the next instant. The white frame of the puzzle emitted a bright light, and a Rubik¡¯s cube appeared in the center. It rotated slowly as it hung in the air.

    ¡°Well then¡­¡±

    When Kanade took it into his hands, it turned into several different lights and then they were sucked into his pockets.

    ¡°Ohh¡­Holding it makes it absorb into you.¡±

    Kanade checked his own equipment to confirm.

    And then he saw that the Rubik¡¯s cube had been added as a new skill.

    ¡®Magic Record¡¯

    You can save magic and skills that use MP as ¡®magic books¡¯ in a special ¡®bookshelf.¡¯

    The saved magic and skills will not be usable until you use the ¡®magic books.¡¯

    You need twice as much MP to create the ¡®magic book.¡¯

    ¡°I see¡­I will try it when I get back then¡­no, I won¡¯t do it today¡­I¡¯m too tired.¡±

    Kanade climbed the stairs as he remembered the book he had read.

    ¡°Just one more¡­it¡¯s not on the secondyer. The thirdyer¡­? Or maybe the¡­firstyer? No, but where is it?¡±

    He would get thatst remaining one. It was one of the few things that Kanade felt any determination for.

    In the real world, the fact that Kanade had acquired this skill was also rted to management.

    Their attention was first directed towards Maple Tree, and also the people who had been sessful in the first and second events.

    ¡°It seems that Kanade has cleared ¡®Our silly prank part 20¡¯!?¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. That guy even did the one on the floating ind¡­¡±

    ¡°Maple Tree is full of people who have beaten these pranks.¡±

    Chrome and Sally with the unique series.

    Kanade with the library system.

    The neers Yui and Mai had their STR increase skill.

    Maple had various ones.

    Almost all of Maple¡¯s skills were a joke.

    ¡°Hmm¡­anything else?¡±

    ¡°We are looking at the people in and around the top 10 of the first event. Especially Maple¡­and several others that are close. The newly joined yers are also moving just as we expected.¡±

    ¡°Depending on the event, we may have to iste the top 20 somehow?¡±

    ¡°Ahh, that might be.¡±

    That was all that they said, as they looked back at the monitors.

 Chapter 82

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 82

    Defense Specialization and Conversation

    Kanade had decided that he would not be testing his new skill today, but ultimately, he was not able to fight his curiosity.

    He headed for a secluded area as soon as he left the library.

    ¡°I have Destruction Canon with me anyway¡­ ¡®Magic Record¡¯!¡±

    Kanade shouted, a light appeared in the sky and gathered together to form five different cube-shaped bookshelves.

    They all floated in the air and seemed to be able to go through each other.

    At the same time, a blue colored panel appeared in front of him. It showed a list of MP using skills that Kanade could currently use.

    ¡°For ones with multiple magic spells, like ¡®Fire Magic¡¯ you can choose by magic, and ones that do not, you can choose by skills¡­¡±

    For now, Kanade tried selecting ¡®Destruction Canon.¡¯ A thirty-minute timer appeared inside of the panel, and the creation of the ¡®Magic Record¡¯ started.

    He replenished his MP with items and continued to turn ¡®Fireball¡¯ into a ¡®Magic Record.¡¯

    This too also took thirty minutes.

    And so these abilities were momentarily unusable to Kanade.

    ¡°So everything takes thirty minutes¡­I have to do these in advance then.¡±

    Kanade passed the time by reading some books.

    When thirty minutes had passed, strings of light gathered together on the panel, and two books took shape.

    Kanade tried touching them, and then they floated upward and went inside of the bookshelf.

    ¡°Hm¡­Fireball!¡±

    Kanade chanted, and at the same time, the red Magic Record flew out of the shelf and opened. And a Fireball shot from it.

    And then the Magic Record disappeared.

    ¡°I guess it is possible to attack without cost if you pay it in advance¡­ The only thing left to do is to see if I can store the ¡®Akashic Records¡¯ skill¡­ I wonder if there is a limit to how much can be stored?¡±

    Kanade had tested what he had wanted to test, and so he logged out.

    The next day, he checked ¡®Magic Record¡¯ on the field and saw that there was one book still in there. And so it was confirmed that he could store the ¡®Akashic Record¡¯ skill.

    And through this, Kanade was able to store all kinds of skills that used MP.

    ¡°Huh¡­I guess I will store them little by little. Eventually, there will be more magic than anyone could ever guess.¡±

    Kanade said before activating ¡®Akashic Record¡¯ once again.

    ¡°My luck is pretty good¡­hehehe.¡±

    Thirty minutester, another ck book was added to the bookshelf.

    During this time, Maple was about to start exploring the town on the thirdyer by herself.

    Chrome and Kasumi were collecting ¡®watermelons¡¯, Yui and Mai and Sally were practicing.

    Izu was making equipment, and Kanade had not been seen at the guild.

    If that was the case, then she had no choice but to go out by herself.

    ¡°I think I will go and see those machines!¡±

    Maple headed for the NPC store and looked at the machines that many other yers used to fly in the sky.

    There were machines that could carry multiple people, and also ones that just one person wore on their back.

    But those ones were quite expensive.

    ¡°Hmm¡­They are quite pricey for a necessary item¡­ A little too¡­no, it¡¯s way too expensive.¡±

    Maple never really made an effort to make money, so she was always poor.

    And so she came to a single conclusion.

    ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t get one. I have Syrup anyway!¡±

    Yes, Maple was capable of flying without those machines.

    It was not as if she absolutely needed them.

    However, she was still curious about new things, and so she stared at them for a while.

    And that is when she realized something.

    ¡°There are no screws on these machines. It is very futuristic!¡±

    As Maple said, there wasn¡¯t a single screw in any of them, and they were very light.

    Light for Maple was incredibly light.

    She stared at them for some time before moving off in a different direction.

    As she walked with no real destination, Maple found an old NPC who had fallen near a corner of the road.

    ¡°Um¡­are you alright!¡±

    Maple tapped the old person, and then the old person started to mumble.

    ¡°Can you give me some water¡­and food if possible¡­¡±

    There was no way that Maple could say no to the weakened voice, and so she took out the items from her inventory and handed them over.

    The old person epted them and the food and drink were gone in no time.

    ¡°Ahh¡­thank you. Now let me see, I shall tell you something to show my gratitude.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Oh, okay.¡±

    Maple sat down and listened to the story.

    ¡°There is a great building in the middle of this town, is there not? There is a ¡®Machine God¡¯ in there. The flying machines are made by this ¡®Machine God.''¡±

    ¡°¡®Machine God¡¯¡­you say. Hmm.¡±

    ¡°No one knows how this God creates these machines. Though some did try breaking and checking the insides¡­ But there is nothing inside, no screws, gears or springs.¡±

    ¡°Huh!? That¡¯s kind of scary¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, it ismon knowledge around here. It¡¯s what I say next that is important.¡±

    Maple waited patiently with much interest.

    ¡°The thing is, that machine god is the ¡®second one.''¡±

    ¡°Second one¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes. This town used to have lots of normal machines. The ¡®first one¡¯ gave us people who knew nothing of machines, hopes, and dreams.¡±

    Like the old man said, giving machines to people who had no concept of them must have felt like a miracle.

    ¡°But then¡­one day, it happened when I had been away from the town. There was a bright pale light that burst into the town!¡±

    ¡°A-and then what!?¡±

    Maple urged him to continue.

    ¡°I returned in a panic. I thought that something had happened. And then¡­The town was overflowing with new machines, and everyone had lost their memory of the ¡®first one.¡¯ And all of the old machines were no longer in the town.¡±

    ¡°Did the light make them lose their memory? Is that why you still remember it? Because you were far away?¡±

    ¡°This is the end of the story. We are the only people who know of the ¡®first one.''¡±

    ¡°Thank you for this valuable story!¡±

    Maple said with gratitude. The old person walked down the road and eventually out of sight.

    ¡°I wonder if the ¡®second one¡¯ didn¡¯t like the ¡®first one¡¯? ¡­It¡¯s not a quest or anything, when will this story help me?¡±

    Maple pushed the story to the back of her mind and continued to walk through the town.

 Chapter 83

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 83

    Defense Specialization and the Bottom of the Cliff

    As Maple walked around the town, it was unsurprisingly the machines made by the ¡®second one¡¯ which kept catching her eyes.

    If anything, there was little else here that looked interesting.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Maybe I will go exploring in the field as well then.¡±

    There was lots of variety in the terrain, with ces that formed cliffs and numerous mountains that even reached the clouds.

    It was as if those who could not fly had no right to explore this field.

    ¡°Syrup! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Maple used her usual method to fly in the sky.

    The only thing that was unusual here was that there were other people flying in the sky as well.

    ¡°The secondyer is the best for a stroll. Yes.¡±

    The most motivated yers had already discovered a dungeon and were headed towards it now.

    Maple was only following after them, she didn¡¯t even know that they had found a dungeon.

    ¡°Is there something there?¡±

    Yes, she did not know anything.

    Just why they were crossing deep, deep canyons full of mist and heading for the mountain up ahead.

    Sometimes there would be strong gusts of wind that assaulted them from the side.

    ¡°Whaa! Ahh!¡±

    There was no way that Maple could hold on to Syrup with STR 0.

    And while the other yers were strapped to their flying machines, Maple was just riding on top of Syrup.

    And so when the wind blew and she lost her bnce, it was Maple alone that fell upside down and dropped into the canyon.

    ¡°AAaaaaaaa!? Sy-syrup! Syrup!!¡±

    She could not see the ground. She did not even know if there was a ground.

    Even Maple knew that falling from such a height would not be painless.

    She called out desperately for Syrup, but it was not possible for it to catch up with her.

    ¡°Savagery!¡±

    The only thing that was in Maple¡¯s favor now, was that the thick mist covered her as she transformed.

    Now, no matter how much damage she received, it would have no effect on her body directly.

    Far below, Maple moved inside of the thick mist. Her appearance was still that of a monster.

    ¡°Ah, huh? I didn¡¯t receive any damage?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t because she had high defense power that she didn¡¯t receive any damage.

    It was because the settings here had not included it, to begin with.

    Maple returned to her normal form and started to walk through the fog.

    ¡°Hm? This¡­¡±

    She felt her foot hit against something and bent down to pick it up.

    It was a broken machine.

    Or the remains of a machine that was made from many different parts.

    Maple decided to check her blue panel for the name of this area.

    ¡°This is the¡­ ¡®Dream Cemetery¡¯? I wonder if it is rted to what the old man said?¡±

    There were many clues that were difficult to find.

    And the secondyer had parts that were difficult to find.

    There were special requirements in order toe here.

    Maple had sted through all of these by coincidence, and so arrived here.

    ¡°Alright¡­I better move carefully.¡±

    Maple went walking through the spaces between the piles of machinery.

    ¡°The mist is¡­thinning out?¡±

    She walked towards the area where it was thinner, and finally reached the end.

    A clearing that was surrounded by a mountain of broken machines, with blue lights that danced like fireflies.

    And in the corner was a man, sitting against the rubble.

    His body was a machine.

    But he looked too human to be a machine.

    But then again, he also looked too machine to be human.

    There was no light in his eyes, half of his arm was missing on one side, and there was a gaping hole in his chest.

    ¡°Ahh!?¡±

    What jumped out of Maple¡¯s inventory without her order, was the gear that she had found by ident.

    It bounced out towards the man and was sucked into the hollow in his chest.

    Nothing happened for a while, and so Maple cautiously came closer to the man.

    ¡°Are, are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Gg..gaa¡­¡±

    The man started to talk just as Maple had let her guard down. She was so surprised that she hid behind her shield.

    ¡°I AM THE KING¡­KING OF MACHINES¡­THE PRODUCT OF GREAT WISDOM AND DISTANT DREAMS¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I AM THE KING¡­THE OLD KING¡­HE WHO WAS REMOVED¡­¡±

    Maple listened to the man quietly.

    ¡°I AM¡­WHAT AM¡­I¡­¡±

    His voice grew smaller and eventually, he stopped talking.

    ¡°Is, is he broken¡­?¡±

    As Maple worried about him, the dancing blue lights started to surround the man.

    They were sucked into the hole in his chest, filling it with light.

    ¡°Ggg¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, good¡­ So you aren¡¯t broken!¡±

    Maple was happy at first but quickly realized that something was wrong.

    ¡°I AM¡­KING OF TRASH¡­THE KING WHO SLEEPS IN GARBAGE¡­DREAMS AND MIRACLES¡­ALL ARE TRASH.¡±

    The man said, and then his body transformed.

    The nearby garbage was sucked into his chest, he turned them into weapons that he stuck onto his body.

    Swords, guns, armor, they were created one after another.

    ¡°YOU TOO¡­I WILL TURN YOU INTO TRASH.¡±

    ¡°¡­I will return you back to normal!¡±

    Maple held her great shield and pulled out her shortsword.

    She had an idea of what had caused him to go mad.

    The blue lights. The lights of the machines from the ¡®second one.¡¯

    ¡°I will only attack that part!¡±

    Just as Maple decided this, her vision was filled with bluish-white bullets.

 Chapter 84

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 84

    Defense Specialization and Session

    Because of the power of Maple¡¯s great shield, the bullets were temporarily sucked into it. However, she lost Bizzare Eater in the process, and so was thrown into the wall right after.

    ¡°Ahh¡­! Was I knocked back!?¡±

    The bluish-white bullets had a powerful knockback ability, and as Maple was not fast enough to dodge them, she was pushed into the pile of rubble.

    However, it was not powerful enough to puncture her armor, and she was only pushed back.

    ¡°Ahh¡­I can¡¯t move¡­¡±

    The sensation of being hit by the bullets was no more than a minor irritation, but the knockback ability prevented her from moving.

    ¡°Hydra!¡±

    First, Maple tried unleashing Hydra on the machine god, but venom was not effective on machines. The only damage it did was from the Hydra directly, and there was no additional damage from the poison.

    ¡°Agh¡­what should I do¡­¡±

    She had already lost Bizarre Eater, and she had used Savagery when she fell down here.

    Syrup was not included with Maple¡¯s other skills and had not been hurt when falling down here. It was now inside of her ring.

    But it would only be a victim to the bullets if she took it out carelessly.

    The only options for an attack that she had left, were Hydra, the result of Bizzare Eater and Predator and Oozing Chaos.

    Maple had incredibly strong defense and instant firepower, but she had one clear weakness that could not be changed.

    It was efficiency.

    Maple¡¯s skills depended on the 0 MP consumption of her equipment, and that had its limits.

    Maple¡¯s power was not something that could be maintained for long. With every skill that she used, her attacks would grow weaker.

    Once she had used all of her skills, Maple would not be able to defeat the monster. However, the monster would not be able to defeat Maple either.

    And Predator would not work here as it did against the Hydra.

    A rusted machine could not be eaten.

    She knew this very well.

    ¡°Dedicated Affection!¡±

    She wasn¡¯t too sure about piercing attacks, but Maple decided to rely on Predator and Syrups attacks.

    As Hydra¡¯s effects were minimal, Maple decided to change her equipment.

    The tiara appeared on her head, and the pure white short sword in her hand. Then she used a potion to replenish her HP.

    Now her HP was 650.

    While her defense capabilities were now lowered, the bullets still felt like she was being massaged.

    ¡°Good¡­Predator!¡±

    Maple called out the twin monsters and Syrup, then took in a deep breath and concentrated.

    ¡°Syrup! Mother Nature!¡±

    Hearing Maple¡¯s voice, Syrup caused vines to jump out of the ground and push up the terrain.

    The obstacle that had suddenly appeared now blocked the bullets from reaching Maple.

    In that instant, Maple rushed towards the machine god with all of the speed that she could muster.

    Now that Syrup had fulfilled its purpose, it was returned to its original size.

    However, before Maple was able to arrive at her target, more bullets attacked her.

    ¡°Fuu!¡±

    Being immune to poison wasn¡¯t the only reason for Maple changing her equipment.

    One of the skills of ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯

    A great skill that used 600 HP.

    ¡°AEGIS!¡±

    A dome of light surrounded Maple and the monsters, and for a few dozen seconds, all attacks would be ineffective on them.

    She was able to get close with ¡®Mother Nature¡¯ and closer again with this skill, and yet she was still too far to reach her target.

    The closer she got, the harder the attacks became. The attacks were what she needed to stop first.

    The twin monsters bought Maple some time by eating the projectiles that came towards her.

    These projectiles were supplied by the mountains of garbage around them, but nevertheless, there would be a dy in restocking them.

    ¡°Cover Move!¡±

    As the projectiles were destroyed in front of her, Maple only had to chase after Syrup, which had been returned to its original size as it flew in front of her.

    Then Maple dismissed the monsters and thrust her hand into the hole in the machine gods chest, which was full with a blue light.

    ¡°It¡¯s this light that is bad!¡±

    As if hugging the machine god, Maple thrust her hand deep inside of it.

    It was in order to return it to sanity while leaving as much of its body intact as possible.

    ¡°Oozing Chaos!¡±

    The monster that shot from Maple¡¯s hand pierced through the chest and came out the other side.

    In a way, this was the right move. In another way, it was the wrong one.

    It would not be possible to return him to sanity by attacking him there. However, as it was his ¡®weakness,¡¯ it was possible to deal immense damage there. And as a result, a change came over the machine god.

    ¡°GG¡­KAHA¡­¡­.I WILL BE GONE¡­BUT¡­¡±

    Maple perked up her ears so she would not miss a single word that the machine god said.

    ¡°¡­NOW THAT MY CONSCIOUS HAS RETURNED FOR A MOMENT¡­I ENTRUST TO YOU¡­BRAVE ONE¡­¡±

    So saying, the machine god began to collect the blue light in its chest once again.

    ¡°¡­WITH¡­MY¡­POWER¡­KILL¡­WHAT WAS¡­ONCE¡­ME¡­¡±

    And with this, the machine god threw the old gear at Maple.

    It was absorbed into her body and disappeared.

    ¡°¡­ALLOW ME TO¡­SLEEP¡­¡±

    And then the machine god changed again.

    Its body was enveloped in a pale light as it gathered equipment from the ¡®second one¡¯ towards itself and rose into the sky. Then it shot down blue bullets towards Maple.

    Maple had no choice but to block them like before.

    ¡°GIVE AWAY YOUR POWER¡­WHAT A WASTE¡­¡±

    She heard the machine¡¯s voice from above.

    From the words, she realized that it must be the voice of the ¡®second one.¡¯

    The machine had been hijacked and was now moving against its will.

    ¡°¡­Machine God¡­¡±

    The skill that Maple had received. The power of the former god. It was a simple power, there was nothing mysterious about it at all.

    Maple changed her equipment.

    Just in case, she removed the tiara and Bridge of Bonds and returned her short sword as well.

    ¡°Machine God!¡±

    As Maple shouted this, a certain image appeared in her head.

    Maple selected the armor, great shield, and short sword.

    While the second god could make machines out of nothing, the first needed the materials.

    In other words.

    It was a power that destroyed equipment and gave birth to weapons.

    Of course, the stronger the materials, the more powerful the weapons that could be created.

    ¡°Deploy All Weapons.¡±

    Maple said quietly. And a ck set of armor began to form around her.

    After that, numerous armaments that were as ck as the night continued to be developed.

    A gun noisily expanded from her shield arm, a giant canon grew out from her back like the branch of a tree as it pointed to the sky.

    ck des came out of her sword arm, and even her legs and thighs were strengthened by machines.

    There were small gears that spun along her torso, and there were intricate gears and wires covering the right side of her face that went down to her neck.

    ¡°Wa-wah!? What, what is this!?¡±

    Maple looked at the weapons on her in surprise. But then she remembered what she had to do.

    ¡°I need to defeat it¡­Provoke!¡±

    Maple put Bridge of Bonds back on and called Syrup. The vines and boulders that came out of the ground swallowed up both Maple and the floating second god and covered them with severalyers.

    As Maple was attacking it, the second god was surrounded by the vines, which pushed it even closer to Maple.

    ¡°¡­Now¡­you cannot escape me.¡±

    Maple had inherited the powers of the first, so in other words, she was the third.

    The newly born machine god positioned all of her weapons at the second.

    ¡°Commence Attack.¡±

    With an explosion, all of the weapons spouted fire at once.

    While all of them may have looked like equipment, they were not.

    They were skills whose power had been enhanced for a price.

    In other words, this had nothing to do with Maple¡¯s STR numbers.

    Each individual attack was not that powerful, and so this attack relied on the rapidity of the sessive attacks.

    Yes, at least for now.

    Just as the cage of vines were blown away, the blue light that surrounded the first god disappeared.

    The first god was carried by the machine that was Maple and slowlyid to rest.

    Once Maplended on the ground, she quietly leaned him against his other machines.

    ¡°¡­Good.¡±

    Now that she had confirmed that the blue light waspletely gone, she looked back at him a few times as she left the scene.

    While Maple mournfully made her way back up.

    Four yers were having a discussion in a room of a certain guild.

    One was ¡®Holy Sword¡¯ Pain.

    One was ¡®God Speed¡¯ Dread.

    One was Frederica.

    One was the fifth in the first event.

    ¡®Ground Splitter¡¯ Drag.

    They were all talking together.

    About the others in the top 10 that they could not convince to join them.

    And also about a certain guild that they were concerned by, Maple Tree.

 Chapter 85

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 85

    Defense Specialization and a Crafting Role

    ¡°Now, about the Guild Versus event¡­ There are two guilds that we should be worried about. ¡®Ifrit¡¯s Country,¡¯ the huge guild whose members havee in at 4th, 7th, 8th and 10th during the first event. And the small guild, ¡®Maple Tree¡¯ whose members havee in at 3rd, 6th, and 9th.¡±

    Pain thought that if there were any guilds with yers that could change the tide of battle, it was these two guilds.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Maple Tree have that kid in blue who everyone was talking about during the second event? That was pretty crazy.¡±

    Frederica said.

    But they weren¡¯t too clear on just how crazy, because they had very little information on Maple Tree, to begin with.

    They had especially little information about Maple and Kanade.

    They knew nothing about Yui and Mai.

    Not even their existence.

    ¡°It depends on the event itself, but we could just crush them with resources? At worst, Pain will do something about it¡­¡±

    Like Dread was saying, there was a big difference in number between their guild of four, and Maple Tree.

    It there was one thing that smaller guilds had as an advantage, it was material superiority.

    ¡°Our guild is made up of strong people. There is no problem. We all have poison resistance, and those who could manage it have even acquired paralysis resistance as well. I think the guild we need to be wary of is Ifrit¡¯s Country, no?¡±

    Drag suggested.

    ¡°Besides, with our guild, we have the crafters go out to the dungeon and make our equipment.¡±

    This dungeon that Frederica was talking about, was the second dungeon on the thirdyer. And while only crafters could enter it, you could acquire materials that allowed you to make equipment with added skills for the first time.

    And so they had made several rounds and prepared tons of equipment with high resistance.

    ¡°Maple, was it? Her methods of attack are status ailments and a shield I think? But she is slow? It¡¯s hard to believe, but she apparently put all of her points into defense¡­I think we should be able to contain her.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ For now, you should gather information, Frederica. We need to know more about Maple Tree.¡±

    ¡°You worry too much, Pain. Not that I care!¡±

    Frederica said as she left the room, staff in hand.

    Dread and Drag followed after her.

    Pain remained and mumbled.

    ¡°¡­There is nothing scarier than the unknown. There is too little information on Maple Tree.¡±

    They did not know the power of Chrome¡¯s equipment.

    They did not know Kanade¡¯s magic.

    They had never experienced Sally¡¯s ability to evade.

    They did not know Yui and Mai¡¯s ability to destroy.

    And more than anything¡­

    Most of their members believed that Maple fought her enemies with poison and her shield.

    They did not know about the angel or monsters or machine god or Syrup, or the light rays.

    Pain alone felt that there must be something more to it, but there was nothing to support this suspicion.

    As Pain was busy being cautious about Maple Tree, Izu was sitting in a chair at the guild home. Her long blue hair went down to her waist, as she fidgeted ufortably.

    Izu had heard stories about this new dungeon.

    Izu rarely went out, but now she felt apulsion to leave.

    ¡°Oh¡­I wish I could borrow them from Maple or Sally¡­¡±

    By borrow, she was, of course, talking about Syrup and Oboro.

    With those two, she would be a lot safer wandering in the dungeons.

    As a death penalty, you would not only lose gold and some items, but your stats would also be lowered for a limited time.

    She really wanted to avoid that.

    However, the two were nowhere near the guild at this time.

    And so she waited here for five minutes.

    That was all the time it took to reach the limits of her patience. She took what she could in terms ofbat items and collecting items and put them into her inventory before flying out the door.

    And then after she flew with her machine for about five minutes.

    Izu jumped into the dungeon.

    ¡°Now¡­let¡¯s do some mining.¡±

    Izu gathered ore and crystals at an incredible rate.

    Crafting jobs did not allow you to learn weapon skills or anybat magic. But they had exclusive skills of their own.

    It was skills like Smithing and Synthesizing.

    However, those could only be used at the workshop.

    An exception was Synthesize, which you could do anywhere as long as you were level V. But you still needed the materials, and there were often time restraints in ce.

    For instance, one important means of attack for a crafter was bombs, but they could only be made at the workshop, and only five could be carried at once.

    As for potions, they could only make the second weakest ones.

    Furthermore, any damage they dealt with weapons would be decreased, which was an annoying demerit.

    On the other hands, they would receive experience points for creating equipment with the Smithing skill.

    In other words,bat was incredibly tough for them.

    So crafters were people who were so engrossed in their work, that this did not bother them.

    And Izu was no different.

    If anything, she was at the top of the crafting world.

    Every since release, she had mined ore in order to raise different skills rted to crafting. Smithing, Sewing, Cultivation, Synthesis, she would often do this into thete hours of the night.

    The time spent turned into her strength, and now she was second to none in her craft.

    But on the other hand, her ¡®Throwing¡¯ skill was very low in level. And it was an importantbat skill for crafters.

    It was a skill that increased the damage of attacks such as the throwing of knives and items.

    Izu had only focused on collecting items, and so her Throwing skill was very low.

    ¡°Oh, there is a fishing spot over here.¡±

    Izu pulled out a fishing rod and started to fish.

    And the fish that she caught dropped materials that she had never seen before.

    Izu¡¯s fishing rod was handmade.

    The materials here allowed you to attach skills to equipment, but that was specifically for ¡®equipment.¡¯

    Thought, there were a few items that allowed this previously.

    Izu¡¯s pickaxe and fishing rod had better drop rates for rare items now, and they were more durable and faster. These were made through the immense amount of materials and time that Izu had spent, and it was where she was ahead of the others.

    Once Izu was finished fishing, she continued to go further into the dungeon.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen any monsters yet. Not that I¡¯mining.¡±

    It wouldn¡¯t make sense to have monsters that Crafters couldn¡¯t beat since it was a dungeon that only they could enter.

    As an extension of this, monsters only appeared in designated spots.

    It was also possible to avoid fighting anything including the boss monster.

    Along the way, Izu encountered a monster with crystals on its back, but she avoided it.

    The reason was that she already had information about the boss.

    As soon as you entered the boss room, a teleport circle would appear near you. And so it was possible to escape without fighting it. Izu was after the crystals that covered the boss, and she knew that she could collect them with a pickaxe.

    And so she wanted to save the pickaxe for this purpose.

    She continued to collect materials while avoiding the weak enemies until she reached the boss room and opened the doors.

    The room was covered in beautiful, shining, white crystals.

    And in the far back of the room, a giant lizard covered in crystals of the same color was slowly standing up.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to take some of your back crystals¡­okay?¡±

    Izu said as she brandished her pickaxe.

 Chapter 86

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 86

    Defense Specialization and Offensive Supporter

    ¡°Ah¡­haa!¡±

    Izu easily dodged the charging lizard and swung the pickaxe down into it, before stepping away once again.

    Maple was about the only one who didn¡¯t bother dodging attacks, and while she was a crafter, Izu had a decent amount of AGI.

    And so it was easy to move out of the way of the slow lizard.

    When Izu looked at the lizard, she saw that its HP had decreased.

    ¡°Just as I had heard¡­I wonder if my pickaxe willst long enough?¡±

    Izu¡¯s pickaxe was her masterpiece, made with time and luck.

    She calcted her chances of being able to break all the crystals and decided that it was possible.

    However, the lizards would be faster as it shed more and more crystals.

    She wasn¡¯t sure if she could deal with that.

    ¡°If only I could evade attacks like Sally!¡±

    She dodged the lizard attacks and collected the broken off crystals. Rinse and repeat.

    After a while, the lizard¡¯s movements started to change. It would run on the walls, stick to the ceiling and jump down and attack her with the crystals on its back.

    ¡°Oh? ¡­You¡¯re going to poke into the ground like this? Don¡¯t mind if I do then¡­¡±

    The lizard¡¯s crystals stabbed into the ground when it dropped. It would take a while for its to get back on its feet.

    In the mean times, Izu swung her pickaxe at it and threw bombs on its exposed stomach.

    However, she could not deal it any damage with bombs.

    ¡°Oh my. Throwing bombs on your soft parts still doesn¡¯t deal any damage, huh?¡±

    She had heard that it was immune to such attacks, but she didn¡¯t know how far this had been tested. She wanted to end the fight as soon as possible, but things would not be so convenient.

    Izu continued to rapidly swing her pickaxe.

    A pickaxe of inferior quality would have been broken by now, but Izu¡¯s pickaxe still had three-quarters of its durability left.

    Izu waited for the right timing when the lizard¡¯s back would be stuck into the ground, to attack. Whenever it got back up, she would run away from it.

    This was how you normally evaded attacks.

    Sally, on the other hand, would always evade at thest possible second and move in for a counter attack. To be honest, it was not normal at all.

    ¡°I hope that I can make auto HP regeneration armor for Maple¡­oomph!¡±

    Another crystal broke off with a snap and fell into Izu¡¯s hands.

    As this continued, the lizard became even faster. Izu was no longer able to avoid its attacks, and she was thrown into the air.

    ¡°Tsk¡­I won¡¯t survive another hit.¡±

    Izu¡¯s essories space was full because of the Item Pouch.

    The Item Pouch had a feature that allowed you to store potions and other items for over two hours. And Izu had stuffed hers with potions.

    However, as it was just a pouch, you could only fit five items in there.

    Still, it had merit, as it allowed her to heal faster.

    ¡°Hahh¡­once, no¡­twice¡­I¡¯ll need to do Simple Repair.¡±

    Izu thought as she looked at her pickaxes durability and the lizard¡¯s HP.

    This Simple Repair was a skill that allowed you to recover a little bit of durability.

    While it was just a little, Izu¡¯s pickaxe was durable, to begin with, and it was much more effective on something of this quality.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it when it stabs into the ground again.¡±

    Every time she was hit, she had to use one of her homemade potions to survive.

    And then she would go back to hitting with her pickaxe whenever she saw an opening.

    After a little while, the lizard got stuck in the ground again, just as she had anticipated.

    ¡°Simple Repair.¡±

    She recovered some of her pickaxes durability and struck the lizard.

    This cycle repeated again, and then after that, she focused on attacking it and chipping away at its HP.

    Izu¡¯s calctions were not wrong. Looking at the lizard¡¯s HP and the pickaxes durability, it was clear that the lizard¡¯s HP would be the first to deplete.

    ¡°A few more rounds¡­! I won¡¯t let my guard down.¡±

    Izu dered, and she continued to fight without taking any risks.

    She used potions without reserve, and cut into flesh and tore out bones.

    And then the lizard finally crumbled to the ground.

    ¡°Hah¡­ha¡­! It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve done this alone¡­I¡¯m really not cut out forbat¡­It was a good thing that I chose this job¡­¡±

    Izu said as she checked her inventory. She had collected quite a lot of crystals thanks to her trusty pickaxe.

    The pickaxe itself barely had any durability left, but this was all with her calctions, so it was no problem.

    ¡°Hahh¡­This should be enough since its just our guild. I better go back now¡­huh?¡±

    She was just about to step on the magic teleport circle when she saw a treasure chest nearby.

    Izu cautiously approached it. She squatted down and tapped its surface.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t hear any information about this¡­but I might as well try opening it.¡±

    Izu slowly opened the treasure chest. What she found inside was an old, brown long coat that was charred in several ces,rge goggles, and dark brown boots.

    Izu tossed them into her inventory and checked to see what they were.

    ¡°I see¡­It¡¯s because of this that those three don¡¯te to get things fixed.¡±

    ¡®Alchemist Goggles¡¯

    DEX + 30

    Demonic Alchemy

    Indestructible

    ¡®Alchemist Longcoat¡¯

    DEX + 20

    AGI + 20

    Magic Workshop

    Indestructible

    ¡®Alchemist Boots¡¯

    DEX + 10

    AGI + 15

    New Frontier

    Indestructible

    ¡®Demonic Alchemy¡¯

    Can trade for certain materials.

    ¡®Magic Workshop¡¯

    Can use the workshop in different ces.

    ¡®New Frontier¡¯

    Can create new items.

    Izu quickly put all this on and stepped onto the magic circle.

    With this, Izu was now able to create gunpowder and herbs with the gold that she could store without limit.

    She could also create more difficult items now as well.

    In other words, she would be able to create an unlimited number of bombs and ¡®Throw¡¯ them. Something that was hardly normal for someone with a crafting job.

 Chapter 87: Defense Specialization and Information Gathering

    Itai no Wa

    Chapter 87 Defense Specialization and Information Gathering

    While Izu was fighting the frog, Maple had returned to the guild home.

    ¡°Mmm¡­ I have returned but¡­ there¡¯s nothing to do so I guess I will go for a skywalk¡­¡±

    As Maple was wondering what to do next, Sally came from the entrance, followeed by Yui and Mai.

    ¡°Ah! Would you three like to go on a skywalk with me? How about it?¡±

    ¡°Right¡­ Yea, let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°¡±We¡¯lle along too!¡±¡±

    As all three of them agreed, they went outside together.

    As Yui and Mai decided to get on Syrup¡¯s back, Sally also did the same. It seems like Yui and Mai like Syrup more than machines.

    ¡°Did everyone get on? Alright, let¡¯s go!¡±

    After confirming that everyone was on, Maple lifted off the ground with Syrup.

    ¡°Where did you go, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ At God¡¯s ce.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Ehh¡­?¡±¡±¡±

    As her answer had far crossed what they could possibly imagine, their thoughts froze for a moment.

    And among the 3, Sally was the first to speak again.

    ¡°Hey¡­ what did you acquire there?¡±

    Sally muttered and Maple answered after thinking a while.

    ¡°Mmm, it would stand out too much if I use it in its whole so I will show you just a bit. [Deploy-left hand].¡±

    If she destroys her equipment once, she can produce a fixed number of weapons.

    Maple deployed a few guns from her left hand.

    ¡°Uwwaa¡­ eh?¡±

    ¡°I can shoot it! I won¡¯t shoot it, though.¡±

    ¡°Th-that¡¯s amazing¡­¡±

    Maple put in the guns before other yers saw.

    ¡°I will be counting on you during guild fights then.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me! I will also work hard during the 3rd time event! Let¡¯s work hard, Yui and Mai!¡±

    ¡°¡±Y-yes!¡±¡±

    ¡°Well, you two are working with Maple, after all. I guess you would want some [devoting affection].¡±

    ¡°Monsters burst and scatter with just a touch of their attacks, was it?¡±

    ¡°Yes! We are also practicing two-handed moves!¡±

    Not using the half-baked attacks they were using up till now, their attacks now literally kill the opponent if it hits.

    By just swinging around big mallet, all the monsters around get beaten up.

    ¡°Mm¡­¡­ Maple, there¡¯s ake underneath.¡±

    ¡°Oho¡­ wanna go check it out?¡±

    As Yui and Mai agreed, she lowered the altitude and got off beside theke.

    The four of them sat down and sshed the water. If this was real, it probably would have felt nice, touching the cool water.

    ¡°I wonder how the guild fights will be¡­¡±

    ¡°Judging from the fact that there¡¯s time eleration, the time period for the event will probably be more than a day¡­¡­ now then.¡±

    Saying that, Sally slowly stood up.

    ¡°Is something the matter?¡±

    ¡°Something wrong?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. There¡¯s just a yer following us.¡±

    Sally went walking towards a boulder behind them and looked into its shadow. A blonde, ponytailed yer was hiding there. It was Fredrica.

    ¡°Ah¡­ so you found out¡­¡±

    ¡°Following us? For what?¡±

    Maple asked looking puzzled.

    Yui and Mai also looked like they didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Well, probably to gather information for the guild fights. We have low members in our guild so much less information leaks out.¡±

    Naturally, if members were to increase, it would be hard to manage the information. There¡¯s no mistake that in guilds with many members, it is verymon of someone to just leak information about the guild easily.

    ¡°And so, I have something to discuss with you, as you were following us.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what is it?¡±

    ¡°[Congregate Holy Sword], eh¡­ If you have info on the [me Emperor¡¯s Country], would you tell us?¡±

    Sally said in a low voice after getting close.

    [Congregate Holy Sword] was Pain¡¯s guild. It is also the guild Fredrica belongs to. Fredrica slowly backed off.

    ¡°Wh-why must I tell you even if I did?¡±

    ¡°If you were to tell us, I will let you have a [duel] with me. You want info on me too, don¡¯t you? You can gather all you want during the fight, and¡­ if you can beat me, I will tell you any one thing about myself.¡±

    Hearing that, Fredrica started to think for a while.

    [Duel] is a PvP battle with determined rules.

    Just as Sally said, information about her was uncertain and vague.

    And considering that, Fredrica judged that she shouldn¡¯t let go of this opportunity if she can gather information about her in a direct fight.

    Besides, if Fredrica gives them the information on [me Emperor¡¯s Country], the chances of [Maple Tree] and [me Emperor¡¯s Country] fighting each other rise.

    If that happens, these two dangerous guilds can be weakened at once.

    If she just gives them the info, she will have achieved her objective for now.

    It wouldn¡¯t be a problem even if Sally took the info and declined to [duel].

    ¡°Yeah, I will ept! I don¡¯t know about any other guild so I will tell you about [me Emperor¡¯s Country].¡±

    Fredrica told Sally everything she knew about [me Emperor¡¯s Country] without lying. After all, she needs them to properly drain each other.

    And among that info, something very important lied, as well.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ [Trapper], eh¡­ I didn¡¯t know about that yer.¡±

    ¡°Then, as promised, let¡¯s do this.¡±

    Fredrica said that, thinking she wouldn¡¯t ept either way.

    She thought it would be best for Sally to just run away here.

    ¡°Yes, I sent the request.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡­. Ah, ahh, yes.¡±

    Fredrica epted the request in confusion.

    The rules were to move to a different ce and fight till HP reaches zero.

    Both of them disappeared as they stepped into the magic circle which appeared in front of them.

    And of course, Maple, being left behind, was surprised.

    ¡°T-they went somewhere?!¡±

    ¡°Maple-san! T-that¡¯s probably a duel! There¡¯s a system like that, I think.¡±

    ¡°I-is that so?¡±

    ording to Yui, they will return after the fight ends so the 3 of them decided to fish while they waited.

    The two had teleported to a perfectly level arena. Fredrica, who had hardly ever been there, started talking.

    ¡°You are going to tell me anything about yourself if I win, was it?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I am not lying, you know?¡±

    Fredrica looked into Sally¡¯s eyes. It didn¡¯t seem like she was lying.

    Not being able to understand what Sally was nning with this, Fredrica just casually tried to gather info on Sally while not using her full ability.

    She had thought that if she can defeat her like that, then she will.

    ¡°We will start, after 10 seconds.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    And exactly after 10 seconds, the duel begun.

 Chapter 88: Defense Specialization and Probing

    Chapter 88 Defense Specialization and Probing

    One minute after the duel between Sally and Fredrica began.

    Fredrica was constantly using magic, while observing Sally.

    ¡°¡­ Mmm, it certainly doesn¡¯t hit, huh¡­¡±

    Fredrica couldn¡¯t hit a single one of those.

    However, she also didn¡¯t think that she can¡¯t hit it.

    Sally was dodging with big movements which left several areas risky and so Fredrica judged that she couldn¡¯t also shift to attack because of that.

    ¡°¡­.I guess I will defeat her after observing a bit more.¡±

    As she thought, Sally¡¯s evasive abilities are certainly amazing.

    None of her attacks or magded on Sally.

    But Fredrica still wasn¡¯t giving her all.

    ¡°[Multiple Fire Bullets]!¡±

    Along with Fredrica¡¯s voice, arge quantity of magic circles surrounded her and fire bullets were shot at Sally one after another.

    ording to Fredrica¡¯s predictions, this should have been enough to beat Sally.

    ¡°[Attack Lure]!¡±

    Fredrica could hear it clearly.

    And then, the moment she said it, Sally¡¯s movements changedpletely.

    It even looked as if the bullets were avoiding Sally.

    As if there was something there, protecting Sally, the bullets passed her millimeters apart.

    Her weird, big movements from before had disappeared and before Fredrica realized, Sally had gotten in front of her and was drawing her dagger.

    ¡°[Multiple Barrier]!¡±

    Multiple, golden, magic circles appeared in front of Fredrica and stopped Sally¡¯s dagger.

    One-two-three-the barriers kept getting broken one after another and before she realized, the dagger had crossed the fifth barrier.

    To avoid counterattacks, Sally retreated and created some distance between them.

    ¡°I ended up using it but¡­ I got to see [Multiple Barrier] so I guess I will let it pass¡­¡±

    Fredrica was undoubtedly strong.

    She had confidence in her strength.

    And because of that, from her experience she thought of what Sally said, ¡®Attack Lure¡¯, as a skill.

    Moreover, it was also natural for her toe to the conclusion that such a skill would have a long cooldown time.

    Fredrica also noted to herself that she should be careful of that abnormally strong dagger.

    However, Fredrica still hadn¡¯t noticed.

    That the skill [Attack Lure] doesn¡¯t actually exist.

    The fact that that is a lie.

    Sally just observed and dodged.

    That was all there was to it.

    ¡°[Multiple Water Bullets]!¡±

    Fredrica¡¯s next attack was using water bullets.

    Sally barely dodged all of them running around, even using [Super eleration].

    Seeing Sally even roll over the ground to dodge thest one, Fredrica was convinced.

    She was convinced of the fact that there¡¯s a cooldown time to [Attack Lure] and that it is was at least a few minutes.

    The seed of falsehood Sally nted in Fredrica slowly grew.

    ¡°[Multiple Stone Bullets]!¡±

    Fredrica had thought she would end it with this and go back after hearing something.

    And then, running out of breath, Sally had just lost bnce and was in no position to dodge the stone bullets.

    ¡°Alright, I win-¡±

    Just as Fredrica rxed, she could hear Sally¡¯s words.

    ¡°[Stream de]!¡±

    Fredrica just stared as Sally repelled all of the stone bullets with her two daggers.

    Seeing this andparing it with the time she used water bullets, Fredrica understood that that skill can only be used on physical things.

    Although, that was also a meaninglessprehension.

    And while she was thinking that, Sally had finished repelling all of the bullets and was nearing Fredrica.

    ¡°Okayy! I [surrender]!¡±

    ¡°Eh? ¡­Ah, alright.¡±

    A word appeared in front of Sally indicating the end of the duel and they were returned to the original location.

    ¡°See yater~¡±

    Fredrica waved farewell to Sally and disappeared.

    And after going a bit far, she started talking to herself.

    ¡°Ah, I messed up by using [Multiple Barrier]¡­ But, if I were to fight anymore than that, she would have found out about me too¡­ Yep, I think it was best to stop it there.¡±

    Fredrica waspletely thinking that she was able to draw out information from Sally.

    She thought she had gotten the upper hand.

    She didn¡¯t realize who was the hunted mouse until the end.

    Seeing Fredrica¡¯s back while she went away, Sally muttered,

    ¡°If you¡¯re stronger than the opponent, it is quite easy to act weaker, you know?¡±

    Sally didn¡¯t overlook how Fredrica reacted and got on alert when she had first said [Congregate Holy Sword].

    On top of that, since Fredrica spoke to Sally about the [me Emperor¡¯s Country], that just confirmed that she was from [Congregate Holy Sword].

    After all, if she did what she did, the [Congregate Holy Sword] would profit.

    Sally was also thinking of making them crush each other so it was easy for her to guess what Fredrica was thinking.

    ¡°Wrong information is much more scarier than no information¡­¡±

    Sally got to know about Fredrica¡¯s magic¡¯s speciality, about how she has a lot of MP and that her defensive abilities are strong.

    And Fredica got to know that Sally could use the skills [Attack Lure] and [Stream de].

    Or rather, she was led to believe.

    That¡¯s right, being too proud of her strength, Fredrica misjudged Sally¡¯s true strength as she acted weak-which ultimately ended with Fredrica going back with false information.

    Fredrica was surely strong but Sally was even stronger.

    ¡°Arrogance clouds the eyes¡­ ah, how scary.¡±

    Saying that, Sally returned to Maple and the others.

 Chapter 89

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 89

    Defense Specialization and Event Notification

    ¡°I¡¯m back.¡±

    ¡°Oh, wee back! Is everything alright?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it went well, and she¡¯s gone now. Maybe I¡¯ll do some fishing too.¡±

    The four of them lined up with their fishing lines in the water.

    It couldn¡¯t be helped that Sally¡¯s fishing pole was the only one that caught fish at an rming rate.

    ¡°Now that I think of it, you haven¡¯t seen Yui and Mai fight, now that they are stronger, have you Maple? Oh¡­I caught another one!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Are you prepared for the tournament then?¡±

    Yui and Mai replied by saying that they just needed to be able to dual-wield a little bit better, and then they would be perfect.

    Currently, the two of them were like a dilutedbination of Maple and Sally¡¯s abilitiesbined, and in certain situations, they would be able to beat and crush everything.

    ¡°Do you want to watch them fight? We can go somewhere that is out of sight.¡±

    ¡°We want to show you too!¡± ¡°We want to show you too!¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go to a secluded forest then. I think there may be fewer people if we go in the direction that is opposite of the dungeon?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do that.¡±

    The four of them got on top of Syrup and floated off to go deep into the forest, where no one else was.

    ¡°We have arrived!¡±

    Maple and the othersnded in a small clearing in the middle of the forest.

    It was wide enough for the two to be able to swing around their great hammers.

    ¡°Now then, we¡¯ll step back a little and watch you two.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    And then, little by little, monsters started to appear from the surrounding bushes.

    Yui and Mai didn¡¯t use any skills, they just swung the weapons in their hands.

    The four great hammers would cause instant death to any approaching monsters.

    Some monsters were quick enough to avoid Yui¡¯s first attack, but Mai¡¯s blow caught them in the chest, and they exploded.

    Whenever Mai was open, Yui would cover her. The great hammers had a far reach. Sally had taught them well, and since they were already well synchronized from the beginning, they were even more vastly improved now.

    And now there were no monsters who would attack them after taking damage.

    It was very good for your mentality to be able to kill enemies with one shot.

    It was about killing before you are killed.

    ¡°That is insane attack power¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how other people see your defense power, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­I see.¡±

    As they talked like this, monsters were flying through the air.

    And after they had had their fill of watching the two fight, they went back on top of Syrup and flew back into the air.

    As soon as they were all in the sky again, they all received messages at the same time.

    It was a message from management and was about the event.

    All four of them looked through it.

    ¡°Time eleration¡­ It¡¯s just like before, there¡¯s no partic.i.p.ating midway or discontinuing.¡±

    ¡°A period of 5 days huh¡­ It¡¯s gotten a little shorter then.¡±

    And here was where things got important.

    The next thing that was written was the contents of the event.

    You were to protect your guilds¡­o¡­b..that you have been a.s.signed. And steal other guilds¡¯ orbs.

    You will gain 1 point for every 6 hours that you keep your own orb.

    Smaller guilds would receive 2 points.

    You would receive 2 points for stealing another guild¡¯s¡­o¡­b..and keeping it for 3 hours. The guild who lost their orb would also lose 1 point.

    If a guild has their orb stolen by a smaller guild, then they would lose 3 points.

    If a guild has their orb stolen by a medium sized guild, they would lose 2 points.

    Other guilds¡¯ orbs will return to their original ce, as soon as the points have been processed.

    If the orb is retrieved within 3 hours, no points will be given or deducted.

    It is possible for guild members to see the position of their orb and other members on the map inside of their panel.

    Stolen orbs will appear in the items section.

    Smaller guilds are easier to protect.

    yers that are not part of a guild can apply to partic.i.p.ate, and they will be separated into temporary guilds.

    On the number of deaths:

    1 time. Status -5%

    2 times. An additional Status -10%

    3 times. An additional Status -15%

    4 times. An additional Status -20%

    5 times. Retire.

    Your status would be -50% on the fourth death.

    No orbs would appear in guilds that have been wiped out.

    You can only steal an orb from the same guild once a day.

    Those were the general rules.

    ¡°I see¡­so it¡¯s over in 5 deaths. Well, things would get pretty bad after around 3 deaths, I think?¡±

    Given that Maple Tree had few members, they couldn¡¯t sacrifice anyone.

    Therger guilds, on the other hand, would have a sort of violence that didn¡¯t fear death.

    ¡°In that case, we would want to put people in charge of defense¡­but that won¡¯t be easy¡­Hmmm, but if we could go on the offense and¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the hardest part?¡±

    ¡°First, we just don¡¯t have enough people to send out to attack. It¡¯s the same with the defenses¡­also, well, this might be the biggest problem, but it¡¯s bound to take a toll on us. People will constantly be attacking, including ambushes at night. The problem about having fewer numbers is that you barely get to rest.¡±

    The effect on their fighting force every time that Maple slept, would be devastating.

    As long as Maple was there, they would easily be able to protect any orb that they brought back.

    ¡°I see¡­unlike thest time with the time eleration, people will be attacking us. So it will be nonstop fighting.¡±

    They wouldn¡¯t be able to rest if they had to keep fighting, which would affect their ability to make decisions. And for Sally, it would directly affect her ability to dodge attacks.

    Furthermore, there were problems for Maple as well.

    ¡°The weakening of Maple¡¯s ¡®Bizzare Eater¡¯ will surely get out within 5 days¡­and others will find out that she has used all of her skills, and that most of her skills have limited use.¡±

    If Maple had to fight the entire day, she would without a doubt, be unable to use her major skills.

    In other words, the end of the day would be the most dangerous time.

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡±

    ¡°It all depends on how far we can hide Maple¡¯s abilities¡­I think.¡±

    There were several decisive factors to Maple¡¯s skills, and no one knew about them yet.

    If they could hide them for as long as they could, then the other guilds won¡¯t be able to deal with them in time. That would be their aim.

    ¡°So Maple, Yui, and Mai will be in charge of defenses. It¡¯s decided. Since he¡¯s not good at moving around¡­maybe Kanade could be added as well.¡±

    ¡°Well, maybe we can go back and discuss the details?¡±

    Yui and Mai agreed.

    This was their first time eleration event. Maple and Sally gave them an overview as they headed back to Maple Tree.

 Chapter 90

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 90

    Defense Specialization and Final Adjustments

    Now that they knew the date and contents of the event, the members of Maple Tree discussed it and began to make preparations for the event.

    Luckily, it was a date that allowed all the members to partic.i.p.ate, so they a.s.signed roles to everyone.

    Maple, Yui, Mai, and Izu would guard the home base.

    Sally, Chrome, and Kasumi would go on the offensive.

    And Kanade would go back and forth depending on the need.

    Chrome and Kasumi would fight monsters and collect dropped items.

    This was to increase Izu¡¯s stock of gold and also to sharpen their senses.

    Sally left the guild, saying that she was going to practice evading.

    Yui and Mai went to the secondyer, so they can practice synchronizing while also staying out of sight.

    Kanade was asked by Izu to go out into the field and collect materials in order to make the best quality potions.

    And since the guild members told Maple to go out and freely explore, she decided to wander around on the thirdyer and pick up items.

    Sally was alone as she went out to the secondyer and into an area with lots of monsters.

    There, she evaded attacks nonstop. This did not change even after the blue aura around her reached its maximum size.

    Sally was trying to lengthen the amount of time she could concentrate, as she continued to make precise movements.

    Thankfully, Sally was a high school student in the middle of summer vacation, so she was able to y for long hours.

    ¡°¡­Hah!¡±

    Her dagger held a shocking degree of power as it carved away the monster¡¯s HP, but they kepting, one after another.

    Sally continued to move, intent on reaching the goal that she had set for herself.

    ¡°¡­Hmm, I think I¡¯ll stay up all night.¡±

    Sally would continue for as long as she could.

    Yui and Mai were fighting on the secondyer.

    Now that the n for the event was decided, the two were excited to be given important roles to help Maple save her energy.

    Izu had given them new equipment too, so each had two great hammers that were the same color as their hair, and their outfits were pure white and jet ck to match.

    Their essories were two rings and a choker.

    Bother were to raise their STR, ultimately raising their attacks to the absolute limit.

    Currently, the two were moving to protect each other, but with Maple¡¯s support, they would be able to focus on attacking, and create a real scene of carnage.

    As no one knew Yui and Mai¡¯s statuses, there were apparently some who thought they could block their attacks with a shield.

    While it depended on the shield¡¯s strength, it was likely that they would be blown to shreds.

    If that happened, it would be hard for those enemies to stay calm.

    And before they could understand what was happening, they would be hit, and it would all be over.

    ¡°¡®Double Impact¡¯!¡±

    It waspletely overkill to attack in quick session with a skill.

    Both had acquired a number of skills recently.

    And ¡®Throw¡¯ was among them.

    And Izu had given both of them some iron b.a.l.l.s the size of basketb.a.l.l.s to put in their inventory.

    Though, they did not use the b.a.l.l.s this time.

    As they had told her to do whatever she wanted, Maple had Hydra destroy some weapons while she raised Syrup¡¯s level.

    Once she had destroyed all of the armaments, she would be able to activate ¡®Machine G.o.d¡¯ once again.

    Which meant her defense power would go up.

    Maple decided to make this her daily ch.o.r.e until the event.

    ¡°Ah! Syrup, your level has gone up!¡±

    Maple patted Syrup on the head and smiled.

    ¡°There is a new skill. ¡®Rampart¡¯?¡±

    ¡®Rampart¡¯ was a skill that continued to create breakable walls around the person who had Bridge of Bonds equipped for 30 seconds after activating.

    Maple tried using it as a test, and a high wall immediately appeared around her with a 2-meter radius.

    It looked like it would be hard for her to attack like this, but at least it would be the same for her opponent.

    From the enemy¡¯s point of view, it would look like she was in an egg.

    No matter what came out of it, it would be monstrous.

    ¡°I wonder what kind of skill Oboro is going to learn¡­there¡¯s still time to grow, right?¡±

    Once Maple was finished having Hydra destroy the armaments, she went off to buy the scroll for the skill that she had been putting off.

    The skill was ¡®Pierce Guard.¡¯

    In other words, it was a defense measure against piercing attacks to her shield.

    With this skill, she would be able to nullify the effects of piercing attacks.

    Maple had been too busy to be able to acquire it up until now, but she had not forgotten about it.

    Strengthening of the guild was finished in time, and Kanade¡¯s books of magic only increased.

    Izu was able to collect a satisfactory amount of gold, and she was able to make more than enough items with New Frontier.

    Though she was tired, Sally continued to work, until everything was perfect by the time they were making final adjustments.

    Chrome and Kasumi had raised the guilds abilities to its highest, Maple¡¯s defenses were stronger, and Yui and Mai now had more firepower.

    And now that they were all finished with what they needed to do within the preparation period, the event finally arrived.

    This time, they would partic.i.p.ate as a group of 8.

    ¡°Our goal is the top!¡±

    ¡°No objections!¡±

    Maple and Sally had built this guild, and this was their first group fight.

    They were eager to show the precision of a smaller team, as the eight of them were enveloped in a light and were teleported to the battlefield.

 Chapter 91

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 91

    Defense Specialization and the Fourth Event

    When the light faded, what the eight of them saw was a shiny green orb on top of a pedestal. They immediately knew that this was to be their base.

    It was a wide room with three hallways leading out.

    Sally and Kasumi quickly went towards the two paths behind the pedestal. They returned after a little exploring.

    ¡°This one was a dead end with some water. We could rest there.¡±

    ¡°There was nothing through this one. Well, you might be able to lie down.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean the remaining one will take us to the surface? This ce will be easy to protect then.¡±

    If there was only one way in, they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about being ambushed.

    ¡°Okay, then we¡¯ll go out to attack.¡±

    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll move as nned.¡±

    As if not wanting to waste any time, the attack team trio flew out of the home base.

    The remaining members put on the robes that Izu had given them. Izu put her on hers as well, and they all sat down.

    This material didn¡¯t have any defensive properties, its only purpose was to hide them.

    Of course, this would be very effective on any unlucky yers who came from afar and did not realize that Maple was here.

    Maple was a symbol of danger, after all.

    It would be easier for them to attack an enemy if they didn¡¯t expect such a danger.

    ¡°We¡¯ll have Yui and Mai kill anyone whoes.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. For now, let¡¯s just wait for those three toe back with an orb.¡±

    The five of them watched the entrance as they waited, so as to not deplete any of their energy.

    ¡°If we do see an enemy, it¡¯s alright to kill them without asking any questions, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s fine¡­ Let¡¯s do a little exploration first. We¡¯ll start by eliminating any danger that is close by.¡±

    Sally said as they made their way into the forest. Then she heard the voices other yers.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go and beat them up a little and lead them back here.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be waiting in the bushes here.¡±

    Everyone waited in position as Sally skillfully jumped onto the branches of the trees, and headed for where the voices wereing from.

    The voices that Sally heard wereing from a group of five. They too hade out looking for orbs and had lost no time in leaving their home base.

    ¡°I think there should at least be one nearby¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s not rush this.¡±

    They said as they walked. It was just as thest person in the group had passed the tree that she was in.

    Sally¡¯s legs wrapped around the branches as she swung upside down and showed herself. And in one quick motion, used her daggers to cut the person¡¯s throat.

    ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!?¡±

    Sally¡¯s merciless attacks continued.

    The guy screamed with confusion before turning into light. The other four turned around, only to be assaulted by des of wind.

    The situation had changed in a sh, and the four enemies looked stunned.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Sally dashed away from the scene.

    ¡°He-hey! Wait!¡±

    Confusion spread among them, and they could do little but chase after the person who had attacked them.

    It was just when they thought that they could catch up with Sally.

    A sword and a billhook swung out from behind some bushes and dealt a lethal blow to the guy in the lead.

    ¡°Oh¡­no!¡±

    They realized that it was a trap, but it was toote.

    The third was shed by Kasumi.

    ¡°Retreat¡­ah!¡±

    A girl yer tried to escape, but Sally sent a fireball into her back, and she lost her bnce.

    ¡°Ooomph!¡±

    There was no way that she could dodge Chrome as he swung down on her.

    ¡°¡­Good.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go then.¡±

    They purposely allowed one yer to escape.

    That yer would have no chance trying to defeat other guilds alone, so they would have to return to the home base.

    However, it might have been better for that yer to go down quietly.

    Because the alternative was inviting some ogres into your house.

    The two opened the map and checked Sally¡¯s position.

    Yes, all they had to do was to follow Sally¡¯s icon on the map, as she secretly chased after the yer they had allowed to escape.

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re finally here.¡±

    Sally called to them from on top of a tree.

    ¡°Is it that cave over there?¡±

    Kasumi asked her, and Sally nodded.

    There was an entrance a little ways ahead, that was slightly hidden by some trees.

    ¡°Yes. They must be a smaller guild like us. But I don¡¯t know how many are in there.¡±

    If they wanted to, Maple Tree could amodate up to 50 members, so even smaller guilds could have much more than them.

    It was really just that Maple Tree was ridiculously small.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go in the lead, as we nned. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll go well.¡±

    Chrome said, as he walked in front of them and entered into the cave.

    After walking a little, they saw a pedestal with an orb on top of it.

    Also, they could hear a yer talking about a crazy encounter to an excited group of about 30 people.

    As some yers were looking at the entrance, they immediately noticed the intruders.

    ¡°Everyone, draw your weapons!¡±

    A guy who was likely the guild master gave the order, and everyone pulled out their weapons.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go, eh?¡±

    Chrome went first, with Sally and Kasumi following close behind.

    The advance guard charged first, the whole group of them shed at Chrome at once.

    Chrome could not escape taking damage from it, and since they were a group, someone was always guarding while the others were attacking.

    The advance guard tried to move back when they finally noticed his HP was recovering every time that it went down, but Sally and Kasumi immediately moved to the offensive.

    Magic came flying, which was easy enough for Sally to evade, and Kasumi covered for Chrome.

    Sally and Kasumi continued to carve away at the wave of enemies. Chrome took the opportunity of this distraction, to go in for the attack.

    The enemies could not heal in time under these concentrated assaults, and one by one, they fell.

    ¡°How, how is this happening?!¡±

    ¡°The shield-bearer has been paralyzed! Charge!¡±

    Perhaps this was their final desperate attempt, as Chrome had taken too many status affecting hits, he had be paralyzed. And he was no longer able to fight quickly.

    And now he would not be able to heal in time.

    Seeing that his movements had be sluggish, eight of them surrounded him, and they chipped away at his health with magic attacks.

    However, it only ended in a close call.

    A red skull floated behind Chrome, and his HP depletion stopped at 1 HP.

    Chrome should have died. But due to Chrome¡¯s equipment, he was able to revive again and again.

    If his luck was good, he could revive an infinite number of times.

    ¡°Ah, I must be lucky today?¡±

    ¡°¡®Heal¡¯!¡±

    Sally healed him with magic, and enough time had passed to cure his paralysis.

    With their final attempt ending in failure, the remaining enemies were crushed by Chrome, who had now regained his total strength.

    ¡°My previous equipment wouldn¡¯t have withstood that. It¡¯s probably only Maple who could be surrounded like that and be able to stand it¡­¡±

    Chrome was also at the top level, but he was not so strong that he could take being paralyzed and then surrounded by people pounding away at his HP.

    It was all he could do to make it stop before death.

    In the end, it was Kasumi who killed the most yers. She had the highest attack power and mobility in the group.

    As Chrome was so visibly overpowered, the enemy yers had flocked to him like ants to sugar, which caused Chrome¡¯s HP to decline to the lowest. But it was also necessary to make a few risky moves in order to reserve energy.

    This was only the first day, and they had decided to avoid using certain skills.

    They were at least confident that they would not die, and so Chrome didn¡¯t use skills that were guaranteed to protect him.

    ¡°Now, to grab the orb¡­ Kasumi, could you take this with you and return to the base? I want to explore this ce a little. If the rest are like this, there may be more guilds nearby than we thought.¡±

    Sally decided to stay in order to find out how many guilds were in the area, Chrome and Kasumi would take their prize back to the base.

    While Kasumi and Chrome were making their way back, invaders(victims) were trying to enter the base.

    ¡°Five! We can do this!¡±

    The group of 8 people shouted as they excitedly charged towards Maple and the others. They were met by iron balls being thrown at them, like in a snow fight.

    ¡°Oomph!¡±

    Their cute voices echoed as they threw the metal balls. They came at the invading yers with a thunderous noise.

    Those that raised their shields found that the onught of iron balls destroyed their entire shields.

    Those who tried blocking them with their swords, found their swords bend and explode.

    Those who tried to turn around and escape felt despair descend upon them, as the exit was so far. They felt the impact on their backs before disappearing out the exit.

    They escaped in tatters, however, they were still able to return to their guild with a warning that no one should even get close to this guild.

    And that in itself was quite an achievement.

 Chapter 92

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 92

    Defense Specialization and a Cunning Scheme

    After separating from the two, Sally moved around, hiding up in trees and in bushes and behind rocks as she searched the area for the other guilds.

    Sally had found 5 guilds in all, after moving quite far.

    And not all of them were small guilds, there were some that were medium sized.

    Sally noted all of this with the locations on her map and then left the area, making sure that no one saw her.

    ¡°The medium-sized guild is inside the ruins¡­ There is a ceiling over the orb, but no walls¡­hmm.¡±

    Sally closed her map and leaned against the trunk of a tree in order to think.

    They had achieved victory in thest fight while using as little energy as possible. But there was no guarantee that things would go smoothly next time.

    Furthermore, while Sally was exploring, she realized that there was hardly any items to be found.

    The only thing she found were items that recovered equipment durability, which was made specifically for this map.

    That meant that they wouldn¡¯t be able to make potions once they ran out of the ingredients.

    ¡°Harsh battles are being waged all over the ce¡­Will we even have any MP potions left by the fifth day?¡±

    MP potions depleted much faster than HP potions.

    It was possible that support with magic would be more difficult by the fifth day.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ But we won¡¯t be able to catch up if we don¡¯t rack up points early on.¡±

    ¡°¡­Considering all that, we would need Maple to attack head-on, but that¡¯s not possible¡­so, what we can do now is¡­¡±

    Sally gathered her thoughts before covering herself with the robe. She jumped up to the top of the tree and continued to look for other yers.

    Sally continued to explore for a while, when she came upon a trio of yers.

    As she listened to them for a while from on top of the tree, she learned that they were on a reconnaissance mission.

    Their weapons were a staff, greatsword and one-handed sword plus shield. Sally moved away and silently climbed down to the ground. She was careful to get on bushes and make sounds as she approached them.

    She even added an annoyed ¡®tsk¡¯ to express her emotion at being caught.

    While they may have just been scouting, it was three against one.

    And as she looked like she really didn¡¯t care to fight, it was obvious that these three would go in for an attack.

    Sally was looking hesitantly over her shoulder when a magic attack came flying. As if a continuation of the attack, the greatsword wielder charged at her at top speed.

    Sally dodged the magic and avoided the charge, but still lost her bnce.

    As if he were waiting for this opportunity, the guy with the sword and shield jumped at her. Sally blocked his attack with her dagger, then she quickly rolled out of the way of the three shots of wind magic that came hurtling towards her.

    ¡°¡®Leap¡¯!¡±

    Sally created some distance by using the skill, which allowed her to recover. She held her two daggers in front of her and slowly moved back.

    The enemies saw that she was ready to retreat, and they quickly pushed forward.

    ¡°¡®Leap¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Heavy Charge¡¯!¡±

    The yer with the greatsword charged forward, the yer with the one-handed sword jumped andnded behind Sally in order to block her escape. They were both continually supported by magic.

    They were pushing without consideration for anything else.

    They were so sure that Sally was close to being defeated.

    It was just when they started to get suspicious at her ability to dodge every attack. Sally, who was covered in dirt from so much rolling, darted out into the forest once again.

    Part of it was due to the terrain, but the trio was not able to find her again, and so they gave up.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. Ignore that one.¡±

    ¡°Ahh, yeah.¡±

    Now that Sally had shaken off her pursuers, she went looking for more yers to repeat this process.

    Sally¡¯s purpose was to aplish one thing, which was to raise the effects of ¡®Sword Dance¡¯ to its limits.

    And after twenty minutes. Sally seeded in raising ¡®Sword Dance¡¯ to the highest level.

    ¡°Preparationsplete. Oboro, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Sally stuck Oboro to her neck, then she headed to one of the guilds that she had found.

    ¡°¡­Okay, found the orb.¡±

    Both of the medium-sized guilds had orbs that could be spotted from outside. However, there were plenty of obstacles there as well, and since there were yers defending the area, it would be quite hard to get through.

    Sally had found two medium-sized guilds.

    And she had arrived at one of those two.

    And since it was a medium-sized guild, it was crawling with yers.

    ¡°Hahh¡­ Okay, I can do this!¡±

    Sally pped her cheeks to concentrate, then broke into the guild from an area that was the least protected.

    ¡°Intruder! She¡¯s alone!¡±

    A guard saw her, and the yers who protected the orb immediately moved towards her.

    ¡°¡®Leap¡¯!¡±

    Sally used Leap to move diagonally to the left.

    ¡°Surround her!¡±

    Some of the guards ran towards her in order to surround her. And they sessfully fell on her with their weapons.

    But, she seemed to disappear into thin air.

    The shocked faces stared in disbelief. Someone shouted that they found her again.

    The intruder had somehow appeared on the right side this time.

    A second team moved towards her.

    They too were perfectly coordinated and were able to surround her and pound her with their weapons.

    But she had disappeared again.

    Sally had used Mirage twice with Oboro to distract them, making an opening in their defenses. In reality, she had only run straight ahead, but they had made a clear path to the orb by themselves.

    ¡°¡®Super eleration¡¯!¡±

    It was toote when they realized what had happened.

    Due to Sally¡¯s final push, she was able to snatch the orb without killing a single yer.

    However, escaping this ce was no easy task.

    ¡°¡®sh¡¯!¡±

    She pressed in with attack skills and an assault with her two daggers. The enemy still had notpletely grasped the situation, and they easily fell.

    Sally had raised the firepower of her daggers to their limits, and their bite hurt bad.

    She cut through as many yers as she could before the effects of Super eleration wore off, making a path in front of her.

    Thanks to preparing for this fight, was able to break their formation by damaging them.

    Sally had understood that it would be very tough if she tried fighting them head on, and so she devised a one-time scheme to steal the orb instead.

    And Sally¡¯s powers were a good match for it.

    It was a cunning scheme that worked because this was still the first day, and most guildscked information.

    ¡°¡®Water Wall¡¯!¡±

    She created a wall of water to block the magic attacks, and finally, Sally was able to burst through a weakened point in their line of defense and escape.

    ¡°I won¡¯t be able to take orbs from here after this. Ah¡­here theye¡­!¡±

    They had seen the orb snatched away right before their eyes, and they would not allow her to escape.

    They had assigned most of their members to the offensive, but there was still around forty of them.

    And now there was no orb to protect. All of them chased after Sally.

    Sally ran.

    She ran to the other medium-sized guild.

    She ran so that they could not catch up with her, but also not too fast that they would lose her. She ran until she could see the other guild.

    They saw Sally and what they assumed was the rest of her team, and the guild prepared from arge-scale attack.

    The yers that were chasing Sally assumed that she was running back to her own guild, and they went in for the attack.

    While both sides had it wrong, they had decided to fight against each other.

    Sally¡¯s aim was to swipe the orb amidst the chaos of them shing. That is why she had pulled them together.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Quick Shadow¡¯¡±

    It was when the fight began, and everyone¡¯s attention moved away from Sally.

    Sally used Oboro¡¯s skill to disappear for just one second.

    And she hid in some bushes and watched the scene.

    Both sides seemed to be pretty evenly matched. The yers that Sally had led here were fighting their hardest in order to retrieve their stolen orb.

    There was no time for them to see where Sally had appeared at.

    As Sally¡¯s pursuers hade from one direction, the yers protecting the orb were all facing in that direction.

    Sally slowly made her way through the ruins, moving towards her target.

    ¡°¡­ ¡®Leap¡¯! ¡®Double sh¡¯!¡±

    She jumped out towards five guards and shed at them before they could react.

    ¡®Sword Dance¡¯ was very useful here.

    ¡°Good!¡±

    The orb was now in her hand, and she adeptly dodged and countered the oing attacks, and killed the rest of the guards. She would now return to Maple Tree, the perfect safe area.

    ¡°Maple will be there when I return! It¡¯s over if I can¡­take it back!¡±

    It would take a while for the continuing battle to end.

    There would be no peace between these two sides. And they could not spare many yers to chase after her.

    It was the easiest thing for Sally to escape.

 Chapter 93

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 93

    Defense Specialization and Protecting the Orb

    After Sally had run away, she sent a message to all the other guild members at once. She told them that she had taken another orb and that she wanted someone to receive it near the entrance.

    She didn¡¯t want to take the risk of allowing her pursuers to block the entrance if she went inside. Because if that happened, she wouldn¡¯t be able to go out and take other orbs.

    The first day held the most opportunities.

    And Sally wasn¡¯t about to allow this chance at victory to slip past them.

    ¡°Yes, I see it now!¡±

    Sally headed straight towards their base, where Chrome now stood and waved at her.

    Sally handed him the orb as soon as she reached him.

    ¡°Wow¡­in such a short amount of time¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­I¡¯m going to do as much as I can on the first day, so you guys protect the orbs.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, leave it to us!¡±

    Three guilds had already lost their orbs to Maple Tree. And all of them knew the position of their orbs, as it was on their maps.

    And those orbs were all in the same ce.

    Would they cooperate with each other? Or they might crush each other before retrieving their orbs. Or they may even give up on their orb, and attack other guilds since they now had nothing to protect.

    Whichever way it went, this first day was guaranteed to be chaotic.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m off!¡±

    Sally didn¡¯t even enter their base for a little rest. She went straight back into the battlefield. She had to do this, or therger guilds would increase their lead.

    There were still guilds left that she had found, so she headed to the next base to take their orbs.

    Chrome took the orb and went back to Maple and the others, and ced it with the rest.

    ¡°Woah, Sally is so amazing!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, she made it sound so easy¡­but it¡¯s not something that just anyone can do.¡±

    They talked about Sally and decided which members would be a.s.signed to defense.

    They decided on Kanade, Yui, Mai, and Maple.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be in the far back for now.¡±

    ¡°If things get dangerous¡­oh, they won¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the three of us will go out scouting and cut down some enemies.¡±

    As Izu could now engage inbat, she would be included in the reconnaissance team.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll change my great shield so I can use ¡®Crystal Wall.''¡±

    As Maple didn¡¯t n on using any attacks, she decided to use Crystal Wall, which was more fitting for obstructing.

    ¡°We will fight with just one hammer.¡±

    It was better to hide your trump card.

    And so they waited like this for 15 minutes.

    Murderous yers came in, one after another.

    Demonic faces from a medium-sized guild rushed into theirir and saw the four members ready to defend.

    The intruders thought to use magic attacks to destroy them before they bridged the gap, and they seeded in their attack.

    However, once the explosive mes dissipated, what they saw were four people walking towards them,pletely unharmed. And one of the yers had bright, shining angel wings on her back.

    It was not surprising that the intruder¡¯s attacks focused on her, as she was likely the one who had blocked the magic attacks. And so it was understandable that they didn¡¯t pay as much attention to the two members who wielded great hammers.

    ¡°Crystal Wall!¡±

    The charging intruders crashed into the wall of crystal that had suddenly appeared.

    And that left a deadly opening.

    ¡°Double Stamp!¡± ¡°Double Stamp!¡±

    The thunderous sound of something pounding on armor echoed, 1 yer died with every swing.

    The damage effects sttered like fresh blood, and the intruders understood their mistake.

    Those two were the more dangerous.

    ¡®Double Stamp¡¯ was amon skill, and was usually not something that was hard to withstand.

    More magic attacks came, but they continued to be useless.

    In the meantime, the intruders who could not dodge the attacks in time were crushed.

    Still, they had a huge advantage in terms of numbers.

    And they refused to retreat.

    As the great hammers were rather slow, and the fact that these two did not move outside of the area of effect of the angel¡¯s skill, and considering too the size of the room, they decided that it was possible to move around them.

    ¡°Everyone! Go around! We¡¯ll defeat the winged yer first!¡±

    As if following that order, another voice rose from the direction of the four defenders.

    ¡°You two! Do it!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Yes!¡±

    The intruders did not know what they meant.

    Then the two great hammer wielders started to run straight towards them.

    ¡°¡®Cover Move¡¯! ¡­ ¡®Cover Move¡¯!¡±

    In a second, the ground that showed the area of effect changed positions.

    And not just once, but twice.

    And they noticed it, the part of the ground that was shining was now at their rear guard.

    In other words, that is where those two would be.

    ¡°That¡­Ah! Re-retreat!¡±

    They shouted as they tried to see where the dangerous pair were. Then they noticed a yer who was quietly waiting in the far back. Shelves of books were now floating around him.

    ¡°¡®Shadow St.i.tching.''¡±

    He whispered quietly, and those words had the power to sew every enemy in the room to the floor for 3 seconds.

    ¡°Wha¡­!? I can¡¯t moooove!¡±

    They panicked and tried to move their feet, and then the two embodiments of despair reached them.

    The swinging great hammers shattered their magic walls and turned the yers into dust.

    Those three seconds seemed like an eternity. And when it was finished, their rearguard was annihted, theirmander killed, and the advance guard had no way to escape.

    They then realized that these four yers had destroyed them in a matter of minutes.

    It would have been so much better for them to give up on their orb and attack a different guild.

    And just like that, Maple Tree was able to turn other guilds against each other. Making their base safe, while also cutting away at their enemy¡¯s forces. They had quickly aplished two goals on the first day.

    As for Sally, who had taken the orb in order to set up this situation, she was now looking at a small guild that was underneath a cliff.

 Chapter 94

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 94

    Defense Specialization and the Reconnaissance Team

    ¡°Hmm¡­this one looks like it only has a few members.¡±

    Sally looked down from the shadows of the cliff and saw that there were only 5 yers here currently.

    Unless they had someone like Maple, it was not possible for just one person to defend.

    Usually, you would a.s.sign a lot more people to defend your base, and since they were not doing that, Sally could guess that they were a simr size to Maple Tree.

    ¡°Alright¡­Let¡¯s beat them.¡±

    Sally slipped out of the shadows and moved, all the while keeping herself hidden.

    Approaching a base inrge numbers was bound to get you spotted, but she was alone and could stay hidden if she was careful.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Quick Shadow.''¡±

    When there was nowhere left for Sally to hide, she disappeared and in a second, hid in the bushes near the guild.

    She pressed her ear against the wall and listened. It seemed that the yers had not noticed her yet.

    When Sally had observed them from afar, she saw that they were not always looking up, only one of them was. The others walked around and checked the narrow paths for any intruders.

    ¡°Now¡­here we go.¡±

    Sally quietly moved out of the bushes and approached the yer who was on watch near the cliffs.

    Sally was more than capable of killing the guard without allowing him to scream, but she purposely dyed her attack.

    ¡°ambush!!¡±

    The yer screamed before falling down and dying.

    As it was the yer who watched from above that screamed, the remaining four all came closer and looked up.

    They were close to the bushes that Sally was hiding in once again.

    The four yers¡¯ attention was focused above them, and it took a second for them to notice Sally dashing forward in a low crouch and shing at them.

    As their level and equipment were far lower than Sally¡¯s, they were unable to retaliate, except for thest person who was able to block her attack just once before falling.

    ¡°This is going well, I didn¡¯t even have to show any skills¡­ And it won¡¯t be too much trouble if I get chased by this guild. I think I¡¯ll do one more.¡±

    Sally s.n.a.t.c.hed their orb and took the narrow path back to the top of the cliff.

    She checked her map and thought for a few minutes.

    As she had just taken an orb, the other yers of this guild would know her location, so it was dangerous to stay here for too long.

    ¡°The next one is also small¡­ No, this one looks dangerous. Hmm¡­ Maybe I should go and search a little farther out? I would like to know where therger guilds are located as well.¡±

    Sally decided what she would do and then ran in the direction that she had not explored yet.

    Maple and the others fulfilled their role as defenders brilliantly.

    The only important skill that Maple had shown was ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ and no one had been able to tell that this skill was weak to piercing attacks.

    After beating all of the yers into a pulp, Yui and Mai sat down next to Maple.

    ¡°Ahh¡­ha¡­.I¡¯m tired¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­haa¡­yeah¡­tired.¡±

    As Yui and Mai had been in charge of all of the attacking and moving around, their fatigue was severe.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think anyone wille knocking here for a while. There is no way that they woulde back for more after being beaten so badly.¡±

    It was just as Kanade said, the other guild had already given up on retrieving their orbpletely.

    It was unthinkable to die twice when the first day had only just begun.

    ¡°The other three are out scouting, and Sally¡­is very far away, huh¡­¡±

    Maple muttered as she looked at her map.

    Sally¡¯s icon was moving farther and farther away from the guild.

    Maple closed her map and sighed.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get some rest. It¡¯s not like we can go out and attack others. We¡¯ll leave that to the other four members.¡±

    Three out of four of the Maple Tree members that Maple put her hopes in, who also acted as breaks and guardians, were now scouting the area as nned.

    ¡°This thing is really useful.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it? ¡®Doping Seed¡¯ is so strong.¡±

    ¡®Doping Seed¡¯ was an item that Izu could make with ¡®New Frontier.¡¯ It allowed you to raise a single stat by 10% at the cost of lowering another stat by 10%.

    You could use up to 5 at once, and its effectssted for an ample ten minutes.

    However, you only knew which statuses it would affect after making them, so she had to use an enormous amount of materials to get the ones that they wanted.

    Izu had acquired the materials in exchange for gold and was able to prepare the necessary seeds for the guild members.

    Izu had given Sally 10 Doping Seeds that raised AGI and lowered VIT.

    Chome was given seeds that raised VIT or STR and lowed DEX.

    Kasumi¡¯s seeds raised STR and lowered INT.

    Kanade¡¯s raised INT and lowered STR.

    As Maple, Yui and Mai were not affected much by lowered stats, Izu was able to give them the leftovers, which made her job easier.

    The amount gold that Izu had used to make all of these seeds was enough to create two guilds.

    ¡°Hehe¡­I expect you to make up for all the gold spent on these.¡±

    ¡°Of course. Leave it to us.¡±

    Kasumi found some yers through Far Vision, and so the trio went out to defeat the group of yers.

 Chapter 95

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 95

    Defense Specialization and Two Enemies

    While Kasumi and the others were exploring, Frederica and Drag from a.s.sembly of Holy des were in charge of defending their guild, which was far away from Maple Tree.

    ¡°Ahhh! I want to go out and attack!¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. We¡¯re too slow on our feet.¡±

    As Drag said, both of them had not put much into their AGI.

    Which meant that they would not be a.s.signed to any scouting parties, where AGI was important.

    Frederica sat on top of arge rock and swung her legs with a bored expression.

    The a.s.sembly of Holy des was arge guild, and so their orb was in a ce that was difficult to defend.

    It was a rocky area surrounded in t terrain. The rocks made it difficult to see peopleing, and there were so many ces an intruder coulde from.

    There was also no ceiling above the orb, so it was possible that someone could ambush them by jumping off from the taller rocks.

    However, there were also a few caves nearby, and while they could not hide the orb there, they could at least use them to rest in.

    As the two waited there, they received news from another guild member about an enemy attack.

    The atmosphere changed immediately, excitement now filled the air.

    ¡°How many?¡±

    ¡°Nearly 40! The same number that we have for defense!¡±

    ¡°In that case, we should probably go. Pain was very insistent on minimizing any casualties.¡±

    ¡°True¡­ Let¡¯s go and crush them then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Oh, that¡¯s right¡­all of you can stand back. We¡¯ll handle this.¡±

    ¡°Whwhat? Just you two?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s no big deal.¡±

    The messenger was sure that they were being arrogant, but no one could withstand their aura of dominance, and so he backed away.

    The two moved to the forefront, and as was reported, they could see 40 yersing right at them.

    ¡°Our scouts are very impressive.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Drag held his battle axe as he looked at the enemy, and just as they came within range, he swung downward.

    However, Drag¡¯s range was very differentpared with the range of most battle axe users.

    ¡°¡®Ground Splitter¡¯!¡±

    It reached 20 meters in both directions.

    The attack left cracks that went 50 cm deep into the ground, stopping the enemy in their tracks.

    If they continued to run, their feet would get stuck in the crack and they would lose their bnce.

    And this attack was especially effective when Drag fought alongside Frederica.

    ¡°¡®Multi-Fire Bullets¡¯!¡±

    Magic circles appeared all around Frederica, and theyunched numerous fire bullets into the air.

    And they flew into the targeted yers whose feet were trapped in the ground.

    The special ability that Frederica had was ¡®Multi-chant.¡¯

    It was practically a cheat skill, that allowed her to use a magic attack numerous times for just three times the MP. And as was shown during her battle with Sally, she could use Multi-Obstacle, giving her very high defense.

    ¡°¡±Heavy Charge¡¯!¡±

    Drag charged forward as Frederica attacked with magic.

    Drag¡¯s savage axe came out of the ground and mmed into the yers who managed to escape the tear in the ground.

    ¡°Aghhh!! ¡®Burn Axe¡¯!¡±

    Drag¡¯s axe erupted into me as he swung wildly. He no longer cared about defense, which left many openings. Still, his attacks. .h.i.t hard.

    It would be hard for anyone to attack him as long as he continued to destroy anyone who got near.

    Sometimes offense is the best defense.

    However, they were against 40 yers this time.

    It could not be helped that he was eventually surrounded and attacked.

    Still, Drag did not allow himself to focus on anything but attacking.

    This meant that attacks that used skills started to fly at him in rapid session.

    ¡°¡®Multi-Obstacle¡¯! ¡®Multi-Water Wall¡¯!¡±

    But Frederica continued to create barriers to protect him, and the attacks lost their power, leaving Drag¡¯s HPpletely undiminished.

    Drag knew that Frederica would protect him, and so there was no need for him to change his focus.

    ¡°¡®Grand Lance¡¯!¡±

    Drag mmed his weapon into the ground, causing six spears of stone to sprout from the ground around him.

    The yers who were pierced by this attack squirmed and wriggled in an attempt to escape, but Frederica¡¯s magic came quickly, killing them one by one.

    ¡°Is that all you got!? Ha!¡±

    ¡°¡®Cover¡¯!¡±

    A great shield wielder blocked Drag¡¯s battle axe, but when Drag¡¯s swing bounced off the shield, the enemies behind it went flying back and hit the ground.

    This was another of Drag¡¯s traits.

    It was the ¡®Knockback¡¯ effect.

    You would get blown off your feet if you blocked Drag¡¯s attack, and you would receive great damage if you were hit directly.

    ¡°¡®Heavy Charge¡¯!¡±

    The axe came back, mercilessly taking away their HP.

    Once you fell, Drag would be able to hit you directly, the following impact would not allow you to recover, and you would die.

    Offensive power was the rule of thend.

    However, it would mean nothing if the environment did not allow you to use it.

    In that sense, Frederica was a master.s.s rear guard, as she continued to support him andunch her own attacks.

    ¡°¡®Multi-Light Canon''¡±

    Four separate circles of light appeared around Frederica. Secondster,sers shot out and surrounded the yers.

    They tried to retaliate with their own skills, but they were not effective, as they were unable to get close enough to Frederica.

    They could not show their backs to Drag in an attempt to attack Frederica.

    Because that would mean death.

    The reason that they knew that they couldn¡¯t turn their backs on this one yer, was because Drag was very famous.

    In most cases, yers were unable to use 100% of their power in a fight, once it bes clear that their opponent is better than them.

    ¡°¡®Water Wall¡¯!¡±

    Some of them had already retreated, and only about 10 yers remained. And they too ran away at top speed the moment that they saw their chance.

    Drag tried to chase after them, but he quickly realized that they were faster than him, and so he returned to Frederica.

    ¡°Hah¡­that was fun.¡±

    ¡°You are as brutal as ever! So rough! You¡¯re always charging forward!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, sorry. But wasn¡¯t I useful?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes. You are easy to predict, which make it easier to support you.¡±

    These two who had insisted that they would handle the enemies on their own did have a certain pride that came from being strong.

    But the truly strong operated at a different level.

    And they would win, and rise to the top.

    ¡°You¡¯re like that too Frederica. Howe you don¡¯t run out of MP? Huh?¡±

    ¡°Hehe! That¡¯s a secret!¡±

    Frederica said as she returned to where their orb was.

    Drag followed after her.

    ¡°But those guys sure were stupid. Why would they attack us, of all guilds?¡±

    ¡°We were in the cave until a moment ago. They probably didn¡¯t think we were around.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. What awful luck they have.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    The two returned to the other guild members, who felt both respect and a little jealousy towards them. They surrounded the orb and started to talk again.

 Chapter 96

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 96

    Defense Specialization and the Two Simr People

    As Frederica and Drag were protecting the a.s.sembly of Holy des¡¯ orb, that meant that Dread and Pain were out stealing orbs from other guilds.

    Dread had a team of 30 members with him, and they had already seeded in taking two orbs.

    As Dread was not very good with wide-ranged attacks, they had suffered a few casualties, but things were still going very well.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do one more¡­though, I¡¯m getting quite tired.¡±

    He said as he looked in the direction they would be heading in.

    Then he caught sight of one yer who was quietly standing there.

    Dread felt a chill go down his spine, and he could not exin why.

    ¡°¡­All of you, there¡¯s been a change in ns. Take the orbs and go back to the base. Now, hurry.¡±

    The other yers looked taken aback by this sudden order, but they saw that there was something different about Dread, and so they did as he said.

    Once they were all gone, the person who wore a robe, came closer to him.

    Dread unsheathed his two swords and called out.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ You¡¯re a strong one, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Maybe?¡±

    ¡°¡­I believe my instincts on this one. And I¡¯ve always won until now. So¡­¡±

    Dread sighed, he concentrated hard and muttered:

    ¡°While it is annoying to have to do¡­ I better crush you here and now.¡±

    ¡°I too¡­did not expect to meet you here.¡±

    So saying, the figure in the robe, who was Sally, pulled out her two daggers.

    Dread looked at her weapons and squinted.

    ¡°¡­Tsk. This will be worse than what her report suggested.¡±

    He cursed. Sally did not miss it.

    Now she was sure about what she would do, and she moved closer to Dread.

    These two monsters had only met by ident, and now they would fight.

    Neither Dread nor Sally used attack skills.

    It was because the activation of skills with a set path would create holes in their defenses.

    After all, it was unthinkable for someone who fought with two short swords to not be able to dodge attacks.

    Dread blocked Sally¡¯s attacks, and Sally easily dodged Dread¡¯s attacks.

    As Dread¡¯s movements were quicker, he was able to hit more times, preventing Sally from retaliating.

    ¡°¡®Super eleration¡¯!¡±

    It was Dread who did it first.

    Now that his attacks wereing at an elerated speed, Sally found herself dodging toote for a second, and Dread pressed in.

    However, just as Dread¡¯s sword was about to thrust in, he changed his movement and jumped back.

    ¡°¡­instinct¡­huh¡­¡±

    ¡°I would be dead if I ever doubt it.¡±

    It was nothing more than instinct that caused Dread to retreat.

    Sally saw a much different style of evading than her own.

    Dread now maintained a distance between them as he stared at her.

    ¡°Because I strongly believe that I have to defeat you here¡­ ¡®G.o.d Speed¡¯!¡±

    This skill¡¯s name was also one of the names that Dread was known by, and as the name implied, it granted him the speed of a G.o.d.

    This power was set with the belief that the speed of a G.o.d should not be something that a human can process, and so he became invisible for 10 seconds.

    ¡°¡­Huh¡­¡±

    Due to her information gathering, Sally was aware of this skill.

    There was one reason that Dread did not keep this skill hidden.

    It was because, just knowing about a skill, did not mean you could do anything about it.

    With the exception of a handful of yers, no one could deal with this skill.

    However, Sally was among that handful.

    ¡°¡®Running Water¡¯!¡±

    Sally used the current of sound and wind to find the invisible Dread. Then she purposely left openings in her defenses, inviting him to attack.

    Then she shouted the name of a certain skill as she cleanly blocked his short sword.

    ¡°¡®Leap¡¯!¡±

    She leaped back in order to gain some distance, which allowed her some time to consider the direction of her next attack. However, Dread was still not visible to her.

    ¡°¡­Did he leave? Well, at least I was able to show ¡®Running Water.¡¯ That¡¯s good.¡±

    Sally was sure that Frederica and Dread were from the same guild, and so she was satisfied to have been able to gain some more reliable information.

    ¡°¡­But it looks like it will be really hard to have your attacksnd on him.¡±

    Sally thought that she would try and practice Dread¡¯s methods of using fear and instincts as sensors in order to avoid attacks. Then she went out to search for the next guild.

    Dread chased after the other members who returned first and thought about what had happened.

    ¡°¡®Running Water¡¯¡­ Even without it, her ability to evade was impressive¡­ Also, that feeling I got¡­¡±

    There were only two other yers in this game that had made Dread feel such a chill upon seeing them.

    One was Pain. The other was Maple.

    ¡°If she was equal to those two¡­does that mean I barely survived?¡±

    Sally still had hidden powers, she had not gone all out in that fight.

    That was the only exnation for what he felt.

    But after thinking this, Dread grew tired of it all.

    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Pain about it when I return. I¡¯m not good at thinking about such things.¡±

    The two had met by coincidence and parted ways with something important acquired.

    Dread had heard about Sally from Frederica, and now he felt something disturbing.

    Sally had seeded in making herself look stronger with the use of Running Water, but more than that¡­

    She had found out a way to improve her evasion abilities even more.

 Chapter 97

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 97

    Defense Specialization and Orb Collecting

    After having that experience which would lead to further growth, Sally crushed a small, little-known guild.

    It was after defeating the guild under the cliff that Sally encountered Dread, but she had also stolen yet another orb before then.

    In other words, Sally presently had three orbs.

    Now that she had three, it was time to return to Maple Tree.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s almost time to receive points for the first orb we took.¡±

    A number of battles had urred since the start of the event.

    As was to be expected, therger guilds had aplished the most, and the medium guilds also retaliated with their own strategies.

    But with one exception, the smaller guilds were doing quite badly.

    The starting time was set to noon within the time elerated field.

    The sun would start setting soon.

    It was harder to see in the dark, which meant that the other guilds would probably attack each other even harder.

    And of course, Sally¡¯s own attacks would be more bold, as she was able to hide in the dark.

    ¡°I better get back.¡±

    As Sally rushed back to the base, Maple and the others were defeating yers who stepped foot into their cave.

    As there were only three yers invading, Yui and Mai only needed to throw some iron b.a.l.l.s at them.

    ¡°Maple! We got a new skill!¡± ¡°Maple! We got a new skill!¡±

    ¡°What! That¡¯s amazing!¡±

    It seemed like Yui and Maple had no intention of hiding their skills from Maple, and they told her the requirements and effects of it.

    The skill was called ¡®Flying Attack¡¯, and the requirement for getting it was that you had to kill someone with ¡®Throw.¡¯

    As for the effect, it was just as the name implied. An attack would fly out when you swung your weapon.

    Swinging a sword would result in a shing attack, hitting with a hammer would cause a circr shock attack to fly forward.

    It wasn¡¯t as strong as a normal attack but was still a one-shot kill in the hands of Yui and Mai.

    ¡°Are you going to use it in the next fight?¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t. Sally told us that we should hide our trump card. We¡¯re going to test it a little in the back, and that is all.¡±

    ¡°Okay, you guys can go and do that then.¡±

    Yui and Mai left the orb to go and test the new skill, before quicklying back.

    It was clear how much they wanted to be of use, and there was a strong enthusiasm in their eyes.

    ¡°Sally, Chrome and the others seem to be returning.¡±

    Kanade said as he looked at his map.

    Kanade had restricted the use of his magical books to ¡®Shadow St.i.tching.¡¯ Maple would only use ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ mainly for support, in preparation for the night.

    This was all possible because Yui and Mai were working hard.

    However, they were also starting to be tired.

    Considering that they had to sit down and rest every time they finished defeating the intruders, they were probably close to reaching their limit.

    ¡°Sally wille back soon, so will Chrome. You two should get some rest. You¡¯re tired, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    The two of them were honest enough to agree, and they headed towards the back.

    Enthusiasm wasn¡¯t enough to keep the body moving.

    It was sometimes necessary to rest.

    ¡°What about you, Kanade?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve barely moved around.¡±

    As Maple and Kanade talked for a while, Chrome returned.

    ¡°Kasumi and Izu are currently attacking a small guild.¡±

    ¡°Will they be okay¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Izu is endlessly making bombs, and Kasumi is rolling them into the cave. It will all be over soon.¡±

    No one but Izu could have used such a strategy. And even if another yer could do the same thing and tried it on them with Maple in the cave, the result would just be loud noises, and Maple would remain unhurt.

    ¡°And so I returned to help defend.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good¡­Since Yui and Mai are quite tired now.¡±

    The two yers who were the strongest and second strongest shield bearers respectively, would now be defending.

    Even if it was just them here, they would be incredibly difficult to kill.

    It was because their guild wasn¡¯t worried about defense, that they could focus on attacking. That was why Kasumi and Izu had the option of taking their time in order to destroy another guild.

    ¡°Here, keep them rolling.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Leave it to me.¡±

    Large bombs.

    Other yers could only create them at a workshop, but Izu could make them anywhere.

    The materials could be made from gold.

    And as they had collected as much gold as possible, they had plenty left even after she had made a ton ofrge bombs.

    Kasumi continued to throw the bombs into the entrance, which happened to nt downwards.

    The bombs rolled down the incline and after a short dy, exploded noisily.

    The cries that had once been so loud, grew smaller and smaller.

    ¡°¡­Are we done?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go in. I¡¯ll walk in front of you.¡±

    Kasumi held her sword as if to protect Izu, as they walked down into the cave.

    They entered into the room where the orb was located. The floor was covered in ck spots where the bombs had exploded.

    The final surviving enemy was still standing on wobbly feet and holding a sword.

    ¡°¡®First of the des. Kagerou''¡±

    The yer ran forward but was struck down by Kasumi who used a skill to teleport right in front of the yer.

    ¡°Hah¡­Sally really is the exception.¡±

    Sally was able to dodge this attack while crouching, but no matter how many times Kasumi tried, she was unable to dodge this attack and counter in the way that Sally did.

    It was Chrome and Kasumi¡¯s characteristic to be able to reliably kill enemies.

    Kasumi was the closest to being normal within Maple Tree, and she was dependable because she didn¡¯t use any odd schemes.

    She would always win against beatable enemies.

    This was because no one had ever found her weakness.

    This made things a lot morefortable for Izu and Chrome.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯tfortable from the point of view of her enemies, as she was still ridiculously strong.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s take the orb and leave. It will be annoying if they revive.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Kasumi put the orb away and they decided to return to the guild.

    They decided to bring every orb back to the base after getting it, therefore avoiding any possible idents.

 Chapter 98

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 98

    Defense Specialization and Ifrit¡¯s Country

    Currently, it was therge guilds and one special small guild that were fighting for the top spot. And among therger guilds, a.s.sembly of des and Ifrit¡¯s Country were doing especially well.

    Maple Tree was hot on their heels.

    Ifrit¡¯s Country was protecting their orb in a gra.s.sy field which had a few trees. The two that were there were Marx, who was also known as ¡®Trapper¡¯ and came in at 8th in the first event, and Misery, also known as ¡®Saint¡¯ who came in at 10th.

    Misery was a specialist when it came to healing in a wide range, but she was also good at area attacks.

    She could heal and destroy at will.

    Trapper had hidden his ability to use traps during the first event, but Frederica had just happened to catch this information when he was talking to other guild members.

    This was one of the demerits of being in a guild with many members.

    You could not ce a door on someone¡¯s mouth.

    Marx¡¯s other name was Trapper, and his specialty was using magic that created traps.

    And there was a wide range of traps he could make, such as creating a smokescreen or a pir of mes.

    These traps would trigger if anyone who was not on their side, in other words, not a member of their guild, entered the area.

    As it was necessary to set them up in advance, he was not fit for attacking, and so he was a.s.signed to the defense team.

    me Emperor, who was 4th and Destructor, who was in 7th were both out and attacking.

    ¡°I wonder if it will be alright¡­what if they get through my traps?¡±

    ¡°It should be fine. And even if they do get through, we have so many reliable members on our side.¡±

    The other guild members who overheard them gave them a look that said, ¡®No, you guys are the ones who are reliable.¡¯

    ¡°I¡¯m worried¡­they will be so angry if our orb gets taken¡­¡±

    Marx said as he wandered around the orb. In spite of his worry, his traps were actually highly effective.

    The traps were invisible until they were activated, and once they were, it was toote to avoid them.

    Not only that, but he had set arge number of them, and in good ces, which resulted in them catching many yers.

    Whenever pirs of fire rose or they heard an explosion, they could tell that a yer wasing from that direction, which made defending the base easier.

    ¡°See, the attackers are in tatters once again. Your traps are working.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Well, that¡¯s a relief then.¡±

    The injured yers were quickly killed by the other guild members, who were also backed by Misery and her healing spells.

    Once that was finished, Marx would take some guards with him and go back and set up new traps.

    ¡°Uh¡­maybe around here. Hmm¡­and one over here¡­?¡±

    He mumbled as he cautiously ced the traps in different locations. Seeing this, the other guild member wondered at just how he was able to defeat yers so sessfully.

    It looked like he wasn¡¯t even sure what he was doing, yet yers would step on his traps to the point where it was entertaining to watch.

    In a word, it was probably a natural talent.

    Just like how Sally was good at evading, and how Maple seemed to just find things, and how Dread could sense fear.

    Most of the people at the top had something that was hard for others to understand.

    Marx¡¯s ability to set up traps was simr to all of those, a kind of intuition.

    Yes, he could just feel it.

    Once Marx had finished resetting the traps, he returned to where the orb was.

    There were fewer yers who would challenge them now, and Marx could finally sigh and rx a little.

    ¡°Someone¡¯sing here!¡±

    Marx jumped up at Misery¡¯s voice. He looked in the direction that she was pointing, and saw that pirs of fire and explosions were erupting in session.

    ¡°I will go and look!¡±

    Misery left Marx, who was frantically considering what to do, and took five guild members with her to the scene.

    When they arrived, all they saw was a lone figure who wore a robe.

    For a second, Misery could hardly believe what her eyes were seeing.

    Once the person stepped on a trap, they smoothly dodged it as if they knew it was a trap all along.

    ¡°Hmm¡­the fear sensor. I want it to be more urate but¡­maybe it is too hard for me.¡±

    The figure in the robe mumbled, then walked away from the scene.

    ¡°¡­That was a close one.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Seriously¡­where did that monstere from? Was it a skill? Or just an ability¡­¡±

    She was thankful that the stranger had left them. When she returned, Marx was so worried about what had happened, that she had to stay with him as he reset all of the traps once again.

    ¡°Maybe around here¡­no, they might get through again¡­ohh¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. That yer was just avoiding the right course.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡±

    As they talked, they were informed that pirs of fire had started to erupt in the opposite direction, and yers were being killed. And so Marx calmed down a little and continued to set the traps.

    After some time had pa.s.sed, me Emperor took 20 guild members and attempted to destroy another guild that they had discovered.

    And Sally, who kept telling herself she needed to go back to the base, was watching this unfold.

 Chapter 99

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 99

    Defense Specialization and the me Empress

    The woman called me Empress.

    Mi walked in front of the group as she approached the enemy yers who held swords.

    ¡°Move. Your life will be spared if you do.¡±

    The air was tense and electric as Mi¡¯s clear voice rang.

    However, this was not a proposition that these protectors of the orb could swallow.

    ¡°Kill them!¡±

    The front guard charged towards Mi.

    Mi¡¯s weapon was a staff.

    She was dressed in a red, impressionable red mantle, but her defenses were weak, as was usual for the rear guard.

    ¡°¡®me Empress.''¡±

    She mumbled the words softly, and two b.a.l.l.s of fire that were 1 meter across appeared around her.

    The two b.a.l.l.s of fire moved in sync with her arms, and the enemy was no match for their power.

    Mi was in the forefront because that was the position that allowed her power to be the most effective.

    As all could see, she burned her enemies with super firepower.

    ¡°How foolish. How very foolish.¡±

    There was something charismatic about the way she so easily disposed of her enemies.

    ¡°¡®Eruption.''¡±

    The ground exploded, and pirs of fire shot up.

    Mi could freely control the mes, and her attacks were usually shy.

    It made her power very memorable and caused the enemy to shrink back.

    ¡°Explosive me.''¡±

    Next, low damage but high knockback explosive wind a.s.saulted the few who had withstood her attacks and came closer.

    It showed a tremendous difference in strength.

    However, this method of attack was not the most efficient.

    The shier magic attacks consumed a lot of energy.

    Due to this, the 20 yers behind her all carried as many MP potions as they possibly could. In other words, they were her supply unit.

    ¡°Ha¡­is that all? It¡¯s over.¡±

    The b.a.l.l.s of fire disappeared when she had finished burning herst victim.

    ¡°Here is an MP potion.¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    Mi received the MP potion and recovered her MP with a sigh.

    ¡°Take their orb.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mi closed her eyes and basked in the sense of aplishment.

    However, that was a terrible mistake.

    ¡°GAAAHHH!?¡±

    When Mi opened her eyes, the yer who had tried to take the orb had disappeared into light, and a robed yer was running away with the orb.

    ¡°What! ¡­That one is strong. I can¡­tell. Take the orbs back to our base. It¡¯s possible that we might be annihted!¡±

    Themand from their charismatic leader had the right effect, and they returned with their orbs. Mi decided to follow the robed figure.

    ¡°¡®re el¡¯!¡±

    Mi chased after the robed figure as mes exploded around them, but it did not take long for her topletely lose sight of the thief.

    The reason was that the robed figure, who happened to be Sally, had used ¡®Quick Shadow¡¯ just as she turned a corner.

    Sally had left the area while Mi was trying to find the person she was chasing and had disappeared.

    Mi did not understand what had happened and continued to look until she sat down in frustration.

    ¡°Ahhh¡­I messed up¡­I¡¯m so sorry, everyone¡­¡±

    The Mi that sat there now, seemedpletely different than the Mi from a moment ago.

    Her charisma seemed to be gone, and all that was visible was a weak person who felt bad about her mistakes.

    ¡°Oh, I shouldn¡¯t have built up this character¡­¡±

    Yes, Mi had been just acting until now.

    She had acquired a very powerful skill, and with every word she spoke, she continued to gain attention, which made her embarra.s.sed to show her true self. Mi had decided to y up a character, but she now regretted that decision.

    The sense of aplishment that Mi had felt earlier was actually about not having her true self exposed.

    ¡°Ohhh¡­this is the worst¡­d.a.m.n it. Maybe I¡¯ll crush a random guild before going back.

    She just wanted tosh out at someone.

    However, Mi did have the power to put this into action.

    And she had just happened to find a certain medium sized guild when she was searching for Sally. And this guild had a manageable number of people guarding it.

    ¡°I need to take at least one back with me¡­ Really, that robed person. I¡¯ll burn her the next time we meet.¡±

    And so Mi attacked the medium-sized guild with explosive mes, columns of fire, fireb.a.l.l.s and even a special paralysis trap that she had got from Marx. And with that, she crushed a guild all by herself.

    This was possible because Mi was so exceptional with anything rted to fire, which was not something that most people could im. In fact, there were those in the top 10 of the first event who could not do what she did.

    The only ones who could do it with any reliability were Pain and Maple.

    Mi put the orb away, and returned to her guild, as mes erupted all around her.

    ¡°Wee back, Mi.¡±

    Marx stopped walking anxiously around their orb when he noticed that Mi had returned.

    He had heard from the others that she had been out in order to retrieve the orb, and so he asked her about it.

    ¡°I got a new orb. I wasn¡¯t able to get the other one back. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    The other guild members could never get used to the fact that she was able to destroy other guilds by herself, and waves of surprise erupted around them.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be leaving again soon. Be prepared.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Yes!¡±

    They replied enthusiastically, but deep down, Mi did not feel like going out again.

    This time, Sally decided that she would finally return to Maple Tree.

    If the orbs she had were stolen, that other guild would get so many points from it. And she did not want to risk that.

    ¡°Thatst one was very lucky for me.¡±

    Mi had looked away just at the right time, and she was able to take advantage of the moment.

    ¡°I need to do as much as I can on the first day¡­¡±

    In order to achieve victory alongside Maple, Sally intended to work to her absolute limits.

 Chapter 100

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 100

    Defense Specialization and Full Member

    Just as she had decided, Sally returned to Maple Tree.

    ¡°I¡¯m back!¡±

    Sally came back just as Yui and Mai were picking up the metal b.a.l.l.s.

    Maple was about to help, but then realized that she wouldn¡¯t be of any use, and so she gave up.

    They were so heavy that Kasumi could barely pick them up, so there was no way that Maple would be able to.

    ¡°Oh! Wee back, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Here are 4 orbs!¡±

    ¡°Woah!¡± ¡°Woah!¡± ¡°Woah!¡±

    The trio all raised their voices in surprise.

    If they could protect these, they would receive so many points.

    Chrome and Kanade came out from the back when they heard the loud apuse.

    After that, Kasumi and Izu returned from their second scouting mission.

    They had taken 8 orbs in all.

    And they already seeded in guarding 3 of them until they disappeared after giving them points.

    One was the orb that Sally, Kasumi, and Chrome had taken together, and two were from medium-sized guilds that Sally had robbed through a cunning scheme.

    Now they had orbs that Kasumi and Izu had brought back, and orbs that Sally had brought back.

    They needed to protect these five orbs now, which meant that they could not let their guard down.

    However, the orbs were being protected by the strongest shield in the game.

    Even if there were yers that could get through, they could easily handle it without too much effort.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right! I generally just the took the orbs and ran, so some guilds will probablye to retrieve their orbs. Though, they¡¯re all small guilds.¡±

    ¡°Really, no matter how many times I hear it, I find it hard to believe¡­¡±

    Kanade muttered.

    ¡°Ah, speak of the devil.¡±

    Chrome pulled out his weapon and looked at the entrance. yers were pouring in now, and their numbers showed clearly that this was not just a single small guild.

    As the smaller guilds were having a hard time, they had quickly formed an alliance.

    This situation meant that there were no merits to betraying each other until the end, and so they would use each other until they knew whether or not they could take the orbs back.

    The yers that burst into the cave saw that there were 6 orbs.

    And only 8 yers protecting them.

    Such a quickly formed alliance would not be very well organized, but they had 50 yers in all. It was a tremendous difference in numbers.

    Furthermore, their morale was at its peak now that they saw what was essentially a mountain of treasure. Some of them were already cooly nning on defeating their allies, once the enemy was gone.

    Ah, how lucky they all were.

    It was possible that they could s.n.a.t.c.h 6 orbs after just killing 8 yers.

    They would never have such a great opportunity ever again.

    They all shouted and charged forward.

    Magic flew through the air, dust rose.

    Bloodshot eyes looked at the 8 yers, who were strangely rxed.

    ¡°Is this the first time that all 8 of us are fighting?¡±

    ¡°I think it is the first time that all of us are part of the battle. Especially with Izu.¡±

    ¡°Maple, do the usual.¡±

    That was all Chrome needed to say, and everyone knew what he meant.

    In the first ce, Maple really only had one role when it came to this event.

    ¡°Understood! ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Yes, ¡®Heal.''¡±

    Kanade immediately healed Maple as her HP had gone down. They left no openings.

    Maple started to walk forward now, and the others followed her.

    The two groups crashed into each other, and their weapons shed.

    Yui and Mai were repeatedly hit by attacks that came from all over the ce, but neither of them would fall.

    ¡°¡®Double Stamp¡¯!¡± ¡°¡®Double Stamp¡¯!¡±

    With a thunderous noise, yers flew into the air. The yers that now moved away from Yui and Mai were met by a billhook and sword.

    ¡°Hahh!¡±

    ¡°Oomph!¡±

    The yers who endured and dodged those attacks and tried to go for the orbs first were the smart ones.

    They escaped the area of ground that was shining, as they hurried to the orbs. But a rain of bombs fell on top of them.

    ¡°Oh, how naughty of you. Trying to just go for the orbs.¡±

    With Izu and Maple there, they were no different than the other fighters.

    They were a huge threat.

    And any that managed to force their way past them were invited to Kanade¡¯s library.

    ¡°¡®Paralyze Laser.''¡±

    Kanade unleashed a low power, high paralysis-rateser that spread throughout the air in an evenyer. Its added effect was powerful, which made up for the fact that it had a limited range.

    Still, there was also a yer here to finish their work, even if Kanade didn¡¯t kill them.

    ¡°Ggg..gaah!:

    ¡°Dd.a.m.n it!¡±

    The yers who were hit by thezers groaned as they tried to escape, but their movements were sluggish.

    ¡°Goodbye then.¡±

    The culprit who had stolen their orbs.

    Kanade stopped the movements of the yers, and Sally sent them back to their guilds.

    As this was happening, yers who were in the advance guard were falling one after another.

    Before they knew it, the alliance army was destroyed, and those who had lost heart were running for their lives.

    However, there were still a few who continued to fight back.

    ¡°¡®Leap¡¯!¡±

    There was a yer who had slipped through Chrome and Kasumi and jumped forward, seeming to have no intention of surviving.

    And then he swung his sword at the yer who had supported the frontlines and had the wings of an angel.

    ¡°¡®Defense Break¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Pierce Guard.''¡±

    As if smashing with both the words and the sword, thest strike took all his remaining strength, but the cruel deration robbed it of all power, and his attack merely bounced right off.

    He sensed the presence of two great hammers at his back, and thest thing he saw was a yer whose hood was so deep, that he could not see her face.

    ¡°Maple¡­ We made a mistake.¡±

    He whispered in despair before the great hammer mmed into his body.

    None of the final remaining yers were able to touch the orbs.

    It was aplete defeat for them.

    Oh, and yet they were all so lucky.

    They had been the first people in history to see this team of 8 in action. They had experienced it.

    Surely, this would be something that they could boast of when the event was over.

    They had experienced a battle with the most ferocious party within the game.

    Eventually, the sky became full of darkness, and the first night arrived. A night to be full of raids and a.s.sa.s.sinations.

 Chapter 101

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 101

    Defense Specialization and Night

    With the stab of a dagger, another yer disappeared into a burst of light.

    Three hours had pa.s.sed since the sun had set.

    Maple and the others were able to protect their orbs, and increase their number of points.

    Sally had quickly removed herself from the defense team and was already back in the field.

    She had taken two orbs within thest three hours.

    She had no idea how many yers she had killed.

    She had just now killed another yer.

    ¡°Phew, it¡¯s 9 o¡¯clock already¡­ How many more orbs will I be able to get by tomorrow morning¡­¡±

    Sally inspected her map.

    There was an insane amount of notes written on it.

    The contents included locations for weapon repairing items, terrain, guild information such as defenses and number of members, routes that reconnaissance teams often pa.s.sed, and ces that ambushes would be the most likely.

    9 hours had psed since the start of the event.

    Running around on the map had allowed her to gain all of this information, and she was now using it to exploit the other guilds¡¯ weaknesses.

    The reason that Sally was working so hard with all of her strength from the first day, was because she wanted to get as many orbs as she could while the weaker guilds still remained.

    The fight to take other orbs would be much more heated in the second half of the event.

    It was very possible that the smaller guilds would bepletely gone by the final day.

    If that happened, she wouldn¡¯t be able to take their orbs.

    ¡°The only way to win is to run far ahead¡­¡±

    And so Sally continued to run.

    Even if she knew that it was dangerous and she was pushing herself too hard.

    ¡°Next¡­yes, I¡¯ll do this ce.¡±

    Sally began to run again.

    While this was happening, other alliances were forming. And their reconnaissance teams that Sally had defeated were spreading the news about her.

    Back at the Maple Tree base, Yui and Mai were talking.

    ¡°Hey, Mai. We really can¡¯t dodge normal attacks, huh?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ But if it¡¯s something I¡¯m used to seeing, like a short sword, I might be able to dodge it at least once?¡±

    As Sally¡¯s weapon was the short sword, they had seen it in action the most during their training.

    And so it was easier to read the movementspared to other weapons.

    Still, that was only inparison, and it was not as if they could reliably dodge attacks.

    ¡°And so I¡¯ve been thinking. There must be a strategy that uses our uniqueness to the fullest.¡±

    When they had all fought together, Yui was able to see how each member had their own unique traits that were useful. And so she was now curious to see if there was anything that she could do.

    That being said, both of them already appeared to be very unique to everyone else, but they were the age where they really wanted to grow and be of use to others.

    ¡°Hmm, I see.¡±

    ¡°And so there is one thing that I thought of¡­¡±

    Yui talked quietly into Mai¡¯s ear.

    It was so oundish that her eyes widened, but it was also the kind of strategy that might be possible because it was them. They looked at each other and burst intoughter.

    ¡°Yes! I think that¡¯s great!¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it! I would be so happy if it worked at an important moment.¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡±

    The two of them began to talk about the smaller details of their n.

    Kanade, Maple, and Chrome watched them from a little ways away as they talked.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to go do some scouting. I think it will take around 2 hours.¡±

    ¡°Really? Okay.¡±

    Maple allowed Kanade to leave.

    Their defense force was more than enough. If he wasing back in 2 hours, then he would be in time to trade ces so the others could sleep.

    She had no reason to stop him.

    Kanade left the guild for the first time and checked his map as he started to walk.

    ¡°ording to the information I got from Sally, it should be in this direction.¡±

    Kanade had gone out partially with the intention of scouting, and partially with the intention of s.n.a.t.c.hing an orb.

    His map was overflowing with notes that Sally had added. She had shown it to them after they all fought together, and so it was saved on his map.

    ¡°I think she¡¯s pushing herself too far. I have to help her.¡±

    It was not as if Sally could move endlessly.

    It was necessary for Kanade to go out and take some orbs so that she could have time to rest.

    Kanade walked in the direction of his destination, and then he saw the glimmer of an orb through the gaps in the forest trees.

    ¡°The medium-sized guild¡­there it is.¡±

    Kanade closely examined the bookshelves for one to use. He ultimately chose two magical books.

    ¡°I might be able to return earlier than I thought¡­ Now¡­ ¡®Giant¡¯s Arm.¡¯

    Kanade shouted, and a single volume came flying out.

    Its effect was the changing of his right arm.

    The magic caused your arm to lengthen and thicken for a short time.

    Controlling it was not easy, and as the effect onlysted for a short time, you could not do much with it.

    However.

    He could grab the orb that was 7 meters away, and throw it back at his feet.

    ¡°¡®re el.''¡±

    Kanade elerated along with the explosion. He rushed back to the guild, an orb safely in his hand.

    ¡°Chchase him!! Immediately!¡±

    The shouts from behind Kanade quickly faded into nothing.

    The attack had been so sudden, that their response had been dyed. They had allowed him to run away with their treasure.

    ¡°I hope that this will help her at least a little.¡±

    Kanade was still thinking of Sally, who was probably running even now, as he ran back to Maple Tree.

 Chapter 102

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 102

    Defense Specialization and Towards Tomorrow

    While Kanade was stealing the orb, Sally continued to attack other guilds under the cover of night.

    ¡°Oboro, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Sally said as she quietly snuck closer to the small guild.

    Most of the guilds that were located outdoors used items such as torches to maintain some light, and so they were easy to spot from afar.

    And while the light made them an easier target, it was because of yers like Sally that made it necessary for them to keep the lights on.

    Even Sally felt that there were more yers roaming around now that it was night time.

    ¡°There are¡­15 of them.¡±

    It was possible for her to kill all of them, but Sally wanted to avoid fighting.

    Sally had decided on this because it would draw less attention, but deep down inside, she also felt the weight of fatigue, which made her less enthusiastic to fight.

    Sally waited for the moment the guard turned around, then she dashed forward.

    ¡°Super eleration!¡±

    Her tired legs moved as she made a beeline towards the orb.

    She cut everything that came in her way and obstructed them with magic.

    The movements which she had repeated in numerous ambushes in one day, were now refined, without a single wasted move. Sally was already powerful to begin with, and yers that were merely strong could no longer stop her.

    ¡°¡®Leap¡¯!¡±

    She kicked the dirt as her hand stretched out to the orb.

    As soon as she saw that it had appeared in her inventory, she lept right off of the pedestal and ran.

    Sally could not stop.

    Because currently, she had 3 orbs in her inventory including the one she just stole.

    There was a constant danger that someone would be chasing after her.

    ¡°Ahh¡­! Next!¡±

    She needed to get as many as possible.

    Sally would not stop, and no one could make her.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Fox Fire¡¯!¡±

    Sally used Oboro¡¯s mes to stop her pursuers, and increase the distance between them.

    The yers who defended the guilds were typically slow on their feet.

    That was also why Maple was part of the defense team in Maple Tree.

    This meant that it was ultimately easy for yers like Sally to escape, once they had taken the orb.

    You just had to stop your pursuers in their tracks, vanish into the shadows, and escape their attack range as they fumble to find your position again on their maps.

    And if they continue to chase you after that, you just had to lead them to some other random guild.

    ¡°Next¡­the next one¡­hmm?¡±

    An area that was brightly lit with torches appeared in the corner of Sally¡¯s vision.

    There wasn¡¯t even a single yer defending it from what she could see, meaning it must be a smaller guild.

    ¡°I can do this¡­!¡±

    Sally changed direction and moved to take their orb.

    She was cautious of the possibility of it being a trap but still approached it with great speed. However, not a single yer appeared.

    ¡°¡­Maybe their stolen orb had just regenerated? Judging by the terrain, this is likely a medium-sized guild.¡±

    Things would get difficult if the yers returned, so Sally quickly left the area.

    During this time, Maple was defending the orb that Kanade had brought back with him.

    ¡°¡®Crystal Wall¡¯!¡±

    Before, she had only used it to help her jump onto Syrup¡¯s back, but ¡®Crystal Wall¡¯ was being put to wonderful use during this event.

    They would hit the enemy as they stopped in front of the obstacle that suddenly appeared in front of them. She would do this repeatedly in order to decrease the enemies number. After that, Maple would push forward at the surviving advance guard.

    Maple¡¯s support was stronger than anything. Yui and Mai had been hit repeatedly, and Chrome was always surrounded.

    And yet, their defenses could not be breached. The enemy started to attack without bothering to dodge, and so they died.

    As for Maple and the others, they rarely dodged attacks either. But the enemy side would die if they didn¡¯t dodge.

    That was the main difference between them.

    Maple Tree had much more time to spend on attacking.

    As the enemy could not kill Maple, they were obviously defeated.

    ¡°Phew¡­it¡¯s done.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­it is¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so tired¡­¡±

    ¡°The first day is almost over. Should we take turns sleeping?¡±

    Everyone agreed to Chrome¡¯s proposition.

    As Sally, Izu and Kasumi were currently outside, they could not be part of the rotation. And so they decided that it would be best to allow 2 people to rest at a time for a short while.

    ¡°Should we start with Yui and Mai? I think that generally, I should be here, right?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­I¡¯ll be guarding when you aren¡¯t here, Maple. I can do area support as well. Also, I don¡¯t mind resting after those two.¡±

    Yui and Mai were at peek exhaustion.

    It was necessary for them to rest soon.

    ¡°Alright, you two should get some rest.¡±

    They decided on the time and sent the two of them away.

    ¡°Izu and Kasumi should being back soon as well.¡±

    It would be even easier to defend when they returned, so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem if Yui and Mai were resting.

    ¡°It¡¯s from here on out that things will get tough.¡±

    It was the time where the number of defenders decreased.

    Whether you would use this opportunity to go on the attack, or decide to secure your base, it depended on how many members you had and your current points.

    Maple Tree had acquired lots of points, but they also had to seed in protecting their base, which could be troublesome.

    And they were only 8 members.

    ¡°We¡¯ll do our best. We must protect everyone in order to survive until the 5th day. Yes, yes.¡±

    Maple had a renewed conviction as the night fell upon them.

 Chapter 103

    Defense Specialization and Something Unexpected.

    1 AM midnight.

    Sally was so focused on taking orbs that she did not return to the base even once.

    She gained a lot from this. Sally had 10 orbs in her inventory. That was astonishing in itself, but collecting orbs wasn¡¯t Sallys only goal. And so she could not return just yet. However, she was close to achieving her goal.

    ¡°Phew¡­I should go back soon.¡±

    Sally was exhausted but continued to run. Her pursuers would appear as soon as she stopped. It had been like this for a while.

    ¡°¡­Hm?¡±

    Sally stopped and hid in the shadow of a rock. She concentrated again and sensed the presence of other yers.

    And it wasn¡¯t just 10 or 20 of them.

    Much more.

    Yes, over 100.

    ¡°I¡¯m surrounded¡­!¡±

    She was so tired that she hadn¡¯t realized that her scouting abilities were not as sharp now.

    It was clear that the numerous yers hiding in a wide area around her knew exactly where she was.

    ¡°¡­One of these orbs was connected to arge guild¡­!¡±

    Sally reached this conclusion.

    However, she did not know which one it was, so she could not throw it out and run.

    ¡°¡­They are not going to let me get away with it.¡±

    Sally quickly used the control panel to see the positions of the other Maple Tree members. Then she sent them all a message before taking out 5 doping seeds.

    ¡°¡­I¡¯ll get back no matter what.¡±

    Sally said with determination. Then the area around her turned bright like it was midday.

    Someone had used magic to create a small sun in the sky. Now she would not be able to escape in the shadows. It was clear that they were prepared to defeat her after trapping her.

    ¡°¡­Quite lucky for them to have caught arge prey in their trap.¡±

    Sally swallowed all of the doping seeds and stepped out from behind the rock. One by one, the yers that surrounded her came out from their hiding ces. They were separated just enough to make it easier to fight, but not enough for her to slip through.

    ¡°Good, we have her! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The yers raised their voices and tried to charge, but they suddenly stopped in their tracks.

    ¡°Have her? Are you sure?¡±

    It was because Sally suddenly appeared differently. It wasn¡¯t just a look of intense concentration. Sally was emitting a clear murderous will.

    Take one step and you are dead. Her re said this and more as her mouth twisted into a smile.

    Sally had such a strong presence that they began to feel that they had arge disadvantage.

    As for Sally herself, she was exhausted to the bone.

    But there was a source of strength that she had ess to when she had exceeded her limit.

    Her senses were sharper than ever now, her body became lighter.

    ¡°I¡­will survive this.¡±

    With renewed inspiration, Sally readied her daggers.

    As no one would attack them, Maple had nothing to do when the message arrived.

    ¡°From Sally? What could it be?¡±

    The message was a single line.

    I might die. Sorry.

    That was all that was written.

 Chapter 104

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 104

    Defense Specialization and Breaking Barriers

    Sally could feel that her senses were sharper than usual.

    And those senses became even sharper as she became absorbed inbat.

    It was then that Sally heard the voice of someone who must have been amander.

    ¡°Frederica¡­¡±

    The familiar voice was from Frederica, she had no doubt about it.

    In other words, these yers were from the a.s.sembly of Holy des.

    Sally started to think of ways toe out of this situation alive.

    ¡°¡®Attack Guidance¡¯!¡±

    Sally dodged the first magic attack.

    Then the yers in the front suddenly changed their movements and began to advance.

    It seemed like they all had information about her.

    In order to survive, it was necessary for Sally to continue to take the initiative.

    She had to be able to control their actions, or she would die in an instant.

    ¡°Thank you, Frederica.¡±

    She said quietly, though she still couldn¡¯t see her. Sally continued to dodge the attacks of the oing yers.

    ¡°¡®Attack Guidance¡¯!¡±

    Hearing those words caused the yers to be slower.

    It was so unexpected that it caused them to hesitate and panic, making their movements sluggish.

    And they had not realized that her power was not finished after two attacks.

    However, because she had no support skills, Sally had to dodge all of the oing attacks by herself.

    ¡°Amazing¡­everything looks different.¡±

    Sally was surprised at the change in her awareness.

    It was as if the world she was seeing through heavy concentration was now sped up, and the swords that attacked her were slow.

    And she could now use the fear sensor, which she had not been able to before, no matter how much she trained.

    And she could use it much better than Dread.

    She was able to understand all of the danger that approached her as if they were things that happened in the past.

    This awakening that urred when she pa.s.sed her limits had temporarily pushed Sally to new heights.

    ¡°I can¡¯t hit her!! d.a.m.n it!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t lose. I won¡¯t lose¡­!¡±

    All of Sally¡¯s attacksnded, on all of the attacks towards her missed their mark.

    By the time that Frederica started to feel suspicious over the fact that she had used ¡®Attack Guidance¡¯ so repeatedly, Sally had already killed 20 yers.

    And then Frederica found the answer.

    ¡°It¡¯s not¡­a skill?¡±

    But even if that were the case, the only thing that would remain was the fact that there was nothing that she could do about it.

    It just meant that she would not be able to deal with it.

    Gradually, the rest of the yers came to this horrifying realization as well.

    However, there was nothing that they could do.

    ¡°ARGH!!¡±

    Sally saw that angrily swung sworde down, and she dodged it.

    And it wasn¡¯t just a dodge.

    She dodged it at thest possible moment and connected it to a deadly counter attack.

    ¡°Now!¡±

    Magic attacks a.s.saulted Sally, but she already had an idea of the timing that they woulde.

    ¡°¡®Shoulder Throw.''¡±

    She put away her weapons and grabbed a yer before hurling him into the air.

    The magic attacks that were raining from the sky were blocked by the thrown yer, leaving the area where Sally stoodpletely safe.

    As there was no friendly fire, the yer did not take any damage, but that didn¡¯t mean that Sally didn¡¯t have daggers pointed up for when the yer fell back down.

    ¡°What kind of monster¡­!?¡±

    There were still nearly 70 yers left, which meant that nearly 30 had been killed.

    The fact that was the most certain, was that Sally had done this all by herself, which caused many of the other yers to lose heart.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Shadow Clone.''¡±

    Sally could not be stingy when it came to using what was in her a.r.s.enal.

    She had to constantly think of new, unexpected ways to stop her enemies from being able to think.

    ¡°I will survive¡­and crush you!!¡±

    Sally¡¯s clones ran through the field, but unlike the original, they were quickly killed. But still, for every clone that went down, they dragged an enemy down with them.

    And in the meantime, Sally was trying to break through their walls in order to survive.

    Just then.

    ¡°I got you!!¡±

    A single sword stabbed into Sally¡¯s back.

    Cheers rose from the yers at the first blow that had actuallynded.

    ¡°Nope. Not yet.¡±

    The illusion that had been made with ¡®Mirage¡¯ disappeared into thin air.

    Everything she did was unexpected.

    She was a big enough threat, that even Frederica, who had only been calling out orders at first, had to enter the fight.

    In fact, had Sally not been awakened through breaking through her limits, this fight would have been long over.

    It was necessary for Sally to exceed her limits in order for her to break through their trap, and there was a need for the enemy to prevent Sally from exceeding her limits.

    ¡°¡®Multi-Fire Bullets!''¡±

    Frederica looked at Sally as if she could not believe what she was seeing.

    Not even one hit couldnd on her.

    If only she would be off by a few millimeters, she could hit her, but even those few millimeters seemed so far away.

    ¡°This is crazy¡­!¡±

    Even Sally could not risk dealing any reckless attacks, which meant that the rate that yers died was slow, but they were still being killed all the same.

    Frederica had chosen this spot as there were many obstacles to hide behind, but now it was all to Sally¡¯s advantage in her bid to survive.

    ¡°Tsk¡­my pursuers have caught up with me.¡±

    The yers that had been chasing Sally joined the fray as a third party.

    Sally was aware of this as she dodged Frederica¡¯s magic attacks.

    ¡°Fine. I can still¡­?¡±

    It happened suddenly.

    Her legs stopped moving, and suddenly, her knees buckled and fell to the ground.

    ¡°¡®Water Wall¡¯!!¡±

    Sally had somehow dodged all of the falling fire bullets but then copsed right after them. The enemy surrounded her cautiously, but securely.

    The only reason that they did not attack her immediately, was because they were afraid that she would do something unexpected again.

    Especially as she had already killed so many of them.

    Sally was moving past what should have been possible.

    It was not something that couldst for long.

    Sally saw Frederica and the others make a tight circle around her, and she muttered quietly.

    ¡°I won¡¯t lose the next time.¡±

    ¡°¡®Multi-Fire Bullets.''¡±

    Frederica chanted, and an explosive sound erupted.

    But it wasn¡¯t from Frederica¡¯s magic.

    The sky filled with mes, and something fell at a tremendous speed, a tail of smoke streaked behind it like aet.

    It fell between Frederica and Sally.

    In the next instant, the light of the fire bullets blinded everyone who was watching.

    When the light faded, the person who slowly stood up was a girl with white wings and ck armor.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you. Never.¡±

    It was Maple.

 Chapter 105

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 105

    Defense Specialization and A Little Growth

    Maple called for Syrup and quickly ordered:

    ¡°¡®Rampart¡¯!¡±

    Maple and Sally were now hidden by the walls that shot out of the ground.

    It was unlikely that Frederica and the others would be able to get past the walls that stretched high into the sky.

    ¡°Maple¡­how did you¡­?¡±

    It was too far a distance for her to have flown here with Syrup.

    Sally had sent that message because there was no way they would make it in time.

    ¡°We¡¯ll talkter! I have to return quickly. Only Yui and Mai are left at the base! Hold onto me, okay?¡±

    ¡°Uh, okay.¡±

    Sally stood up on shaky legs and grabbed onto Maple as if hugging her.

    Maple held onto Sally with both hands as she began to prepare for their escape.

    ¡°¡®Deploy Barrels.''¡±

    Weapons began to grow out from Maple¡¯s entire body and fill the remaining s.p.a.ce within ¡®Rampart.¡¯

    And all of the barrels were pointed downward.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Huh? Are-are, you kidding!¡±

    As if ignoring Sally¡¯s protest, smoke and mes erupted around them.

    It was practically self-destruction.

    However, Maple could endure it.

    Maple used all of her advanced weaponry without restraint as it shot her into the sky at an incredible speed.

    If she didn¡¯t have weapons on her feet, she just needed to use the kickback tounch herself into the air.

    Normally, this kickback was not something that anyone could survive.

    But it was not a problem for Maple, and so she was able to fly high into the sky like a rocket.

    Maple called out the names of her other skills before they reached the highest point.

    ¡°¡®Deploy All Weapons¡¯! ¡®Commence Attack¡¯! ¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    Brightsers fired off into the ground, one after another.

    More than one hundred shots were fired, and they hit the ground like shooting stars, burning the yers.

    As if chasing them, the three-headed Hydra came down and covered the ground in a sea of poison.

    Hardly anyone in Frederica¡¯s team had Poison Immunity. They had not intended on fighting against Maple, and so their equipment was not something that would help them deal with her.

    Their current equipment would not allow them to stop the Hydra.

    The yers that had finally arrived after chasing Sally, ended up returning to their guild, without fully understanding what was happening.

    Sally had killed nearly 30 yers.

    But the number that was killed in this fight far exceeded even that.

    And this was only possible due to the wide-range attacks from the sky.

    ¡°That¡¯s for Sally!¡±

    Maple¡¯s cannons fired off once again, this time blowing herself back in the direction of Maple Tree.

    ¡°Ughhh¡­what was that¡­¡±

    Frederica copsed in the sea of poison. Using all of her defensive capabilities and having Poison Immunity had somehow allowed her to survive.

    ¡°But don¡¯t you think that this is the end of it¡­!¡±

    Frederica was left in tatters, but she was feeling optimistic already.

    If it worked, even this disaster could easily be written off.

    On the other hand, if it didn¡¯t, she would not be able to retaliate no matter what Pain said to her.

    ¡°Please, Dread. Do it¡­¡±

    Yui and Mai were standing in front of the orb together.

    ¡°Do you think Maple got there in time?¡±

    ¡°ording to the map, she is in the same location as Sally. She must have made it.¡±

    ¡°But how did she get there?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ But I think she¡¯ll be back soon.¡±

    However, neither of them knew if she really would be back soon.

    ¡°Yui, I prepared just in case¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes. But¡­ Do you think we should go and wake up Kanade and Chrome¡­? That would be safer, right?¡±

    They decided to be safe.

    However, luck was not on their side.

    ¡°! Yui, enemies!¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    They both picked up their great hammers.

    A single yer was walking slowly through the entrance.

    It was Dread.

    Maple Tree¡¯s location had been identified.

    The only reason that the a.s.sembly of Swords had not touched them, was because they had determined that Maple was too dangerous.

    But now that she was gone, and Dread was close, there was no question about whether or not he would make a move.

    ¡°Hahh¡­Frederica handles people so roughly. But, Maple really isn¡¯t there? In that case¡­I can do this.¡±

    Dread grumbled as he read the message from Frederica. And then he had immediatelye here.

    He would have a few minutes before Maple returned.

    But those minutes would be too long for Yui and Mai.

    ¡°Mai! Let¡¯s do this!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Hah¡­I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    Dread dashed forward and started to close the gap between them.

    Seeing this, Mai swung her great hammer downward.

    It didn¡¯t matter that they were still not close enough.

    ¡°¡®Flying Attack¡¯!¡±

    The skill caused Yui¡¯s great hammer to glow, and a shock wave exploded out from around it.

    It was a deadly attack.

    ¡°Hah!!¡±

    But Dread was able to dodge it.

    He dodged the attack and continued to run closer.

    ¡°¡®Double Stamp¡¯!¡±

    He dodged Yui¡¯s attack, then targeted Mai with a sh of his de.

    ¡°Mai!¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m fine!¡±

    It was only by coincidence that Mai had been able to escape Dread¡¯s attack.

    As he used short swords like Sally, her body had learned those movements the most, and so she had moved away before she even had time to think.

    However, it was unlikely that she would be able to dodge it again.

    Dread had learned some things about Yui and Mai¡¯s attack ability today.

    And so he was careful to not let any of their attacksnd, which resulted in Mai being able to survive for now.

    ¡°Mai! Move away!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Mai dashed over to the wall.

    However, Dread was much faster.

    He would quickly catch up to her.

    ¡°How slow.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­! Ahhh!!¡±

    Dread¡¯s short swords were about to cut her.

    In that instant.

    Mai threw the weapon that she was holding in Dread¡¯s direction.

    ¡°Wha!?¡±

    It was a desperate move that even Dread had not been expecting.

    Mai smiled when she saw how shocked he was.

    ¡°As if that would hit me!¡±

    Still, Dread was able to twist his body and dodge it. And just as he swung his short swords to attack the now defenseless Mai, he felt an eerie sensation and jumped back.

    Immediately after, a shock wave hit the area he was in and destroyed it.

    ¡°The other one¡­! Huh?¡±

    What Dread saw was two great hammers that shone through a skill.

    One of them was the hammer that had been thrown at him a moment ago.

    ¡°Could it¡­gah?!¡±

    A second shock wave came, and Dread was thrown into the wall.

    Mai had not been equipped with a great hammer.

    She had only been carrying the great hammer that Yui was equipped with.

    She had only thrown it in order to return it to Yui.

    Throwing it back to Yui caused it to activate a second skill that exceeded anything that he could have predicted.

    This was a trump card that only these two could use.

    ¡°We¡¯re still half-fledged.¡±

    ¡°But together.¡±

    ¡°We can beat you.¡±

    ¡°We can beat you.¡±

    Both of them were stillcking in experience and skill, but for the first time, they were able to mature whilepletely on their own. It was a big, big step for them.

    However, it was still not enough.

    ¡°Really, you are all so gross and annoying.¡±

    ¡°How!?¡±

    ¡°How!?¡±

    ¡°You first!¡±

    Dread¡¯s short sword shed into Mai.

    There was no way that she could withstand the attack.

    Dread only had 1 HP left.

    It was clear that he had not been able to withstand it, but that there was a skill involved.

    It was a difference of time spent in the game.

    There was toorge a gap of what he had built up.

    ¡°Bye, bye¡­!¡±

    ¡°Maple¡­I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±

    And Yui too was defeated by Dread¡¯s des.

    Dread put away his short swords and took out a potion to recover his HP.

    ¡°Hah¡­how annoying. This guild is really something.¡±

    Now that his HP was recovered, Dread muttered to himself as he walked towards the orb.

    ¡°It looks like I¡¯m the winner of this one¡­!?¡±

    All he had to do was to take the orb, however, his time was up.

    With an explosion of mes, Maple shot into the room with Sally.

    ¡°¡­I have to apologize to Yui and Mai.¡±

    ¡°Frederica¡­! I hate you!¡±

    Dread had won the round.

    However, he had lost the fight.

    Yui and Mai had fought to give her this invaluable time.

    And Maple was not about to let it go to waste.

 Chapter 106

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 106

    Defense Specialization and Release

    On their way back to the base, Maple talked to Sally about a certain thing.

    It was about how between now and the second day, she would reveal a certain skill.

    She chose a skill that was easy to use and that depleted the least amount of energy.

    Maple activated that skill as soon as she faced off against Dread.

    ¡°¡®Predator¡¯!¡±

    Two hideous monsters appeared from the ground.

    There was no way that Dread could have predicted this, as it had never been shown publicly before.

    ¡°What!? What is that!!¡±

    ¡°Syrup, ¡®Mother Nature¡¯!¡±

    Along with Maple¡¯s order, vines grew from the ground and surrounded Dread and Maple.

    The vines made multipleyers of wall, making the s.p.a.ce inside tighter and tighter.

    Dread tried to cut at the vines and escape, but it was clear that he would not be able to do it in time.

    He stopped attacking the vines and turned around to face Maple.

    ¡°¡­Okay. You got me this time. Next time, I¡¯ll be ready for you¡­got it?¡±

    Maple had ambushed him immediately after he had finished his fight with Yui and Mai. There was no way that he could get ready in time.

    And so Maple was able to trap him.

    It was only a coincidence that the situation had been an advantage to Maple, but that didn¡¯t mean it would be the same next time.

    Normally, he would have very likely escaped.

    ¡°I¡¯ll fight you off as many times as you like!¡±

    ¡®Predator¡¯ approached Dread.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back. Next time, I¡¯ll hunt you for real, Maple¡­!¡±

    Those were his final words as he turned into light and disappeared.

    He had the most ferocious of smiles before dying. As if he had a n. Maple saw it clearly.

    Maple had Syrup deactivate ¡®Mother Nature¡¯ and then returned to where Sally was.

    Maple and Dread had been isted by ¡®Mother Nature.¡¯

    She walked up to Sally and pulled her cheeks hard.

    ¡°You¡¯re pushing yourself too much.¡±

    ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll have to apologize to Yui and Mai when they return.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    After a while, Yui and Mai resp.a.w.ned.

    Maple and Sally quickly apologized, but neither Yui or Mai seemed to care all that much.

    If anything, they were both overjoyed that they had helped in protecting the orb from a strong enemy until Maple returned.

    ¡°Let¡¯s set all of the orbs out for now.¡±

    10 orbs rolled out of Sally¡¯s inventory.

    ¡°Sally, why did you work so hard? You know that you could havee back sooner?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­it¡¯s because of¡­uh, could you call Kanade for now?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s almost time to trade ces, so I¡¯ll go and call him!¡±

    Mai said as she ran to the back. She returned with Kanade.

    ¡°Kanade, could you learn all of this.¡±

    Sally said as she showed him her map.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­amazing.¡±

    What all of them saw was a map of the great field, and it was filled with all kinds of information.

    This map that she had created through 12 hours of running had the positions and sizes of all of the guilds written on it.

    ¡°I¡­I am at my limit¡­Kanade, could you copy this onto Maple¡¯s map?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, sure. I already memorized it.¡±

    Unsurprisingly, Kanade was able to use his super memorization ability to clear even difficult problems.

    ¡°Thank you¡­Maple, let¡¯s go with n B.¡±

    n B was their n of action if their advance guard was destroyed.

    Being in the actual event proved that things often turned out different than what you expected, and so they decided to start this early.

    n B.

    Another name for it was the Maple Unleashed n.

    She would be free from having to defend the base, and they would unleash her into the outside world.

    They already knew the positions of almost all of the guilds, thanks to Sally.

    And now, the real monster would be paying them a visit.

    ¡°Call me if things get dangerous back here. I¡¯lle flying back.¡±

    ¡°Is there a limit to how many times you can do it?¡±

    Maple calcted the depletion rate.

    ¡°It depends on the distance¡­ If it¡¯s the same as when I rescued you, I guess I can make two round trips¡­?¡±

    She had to destroy weapons in order to fly, so it was not as if she could keep doing it.

    On top of that, if she used them all in order to move, then she wouldn¡¯t be able to use them to attack.

    She had to be careful.

    ¡°I¡¯ll collect the farthest orbs first ande flying back.¡±

    Thanks to Sally¡¯s map, there was no need to search for the guilds. Maple could reach them by the quickest route possible.

    It would save a lot of time.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­going to rest a little.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll take care of it from here.¡±

    From Sally to Maple.

    Now, everything was ready here.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll set out tomorrow morning.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll copy the map as quickly as possible.¡±

    Kanade began to write the information onto Maple¡¯s map.

    The next morning.

    The members of a certain medium-sized guild stretched as they greeted the morning.

    ¡°Hah¡­it¡¯s finally morning.¡±

    ¡°It will be so much easier now without the night ambushes.¡±

    ¡°¡­Ambush! A single enemy!¡±

    The report of an attack cut through the quiet morning air.

    Everyone lookedzily in that direction when they heard it was just one person, but they quickly froze up with fear.

    She didn¡¯t even try to hide herself, this young girl in jet ck armor.

    This incarnation of the irrational.

    This symbol of death.

    This embodiment of madness.

    Yes, this person who walked towards them without a thought towards defense, was Maple.

    ¡°Le-let¡¯s do this! Protect!¡±

    ¡°Yes!!¡±

    ¡°Yes!!¡±

    ¡°Yes!!¡±

    Just as they gave a spirited shout.

    Maple went into battle mode.

    ¡°¡®Predator.''¡±

    It was her only method of attack that she had revealed.

    But it was more than enough to break their spirits.

    With every step that she took, the yers were eaten and scattered.

    It was pure violence that crushed them head-on.

    They knew their enemy¡¯s position, the method of attack and had a good idea of her stats.

    Still, they could not stop her.

    With every step that Maple took, unavoidable death followed.

    There wasn¡¯t even a shred of hope left for them.

    For this targeted guild, death was certain.

 Chapter 107

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 107

    Defense Specialization and Destructor

    It wasn¡¯t until morning that Maple started to move.

    This was because she could not leave the guild until they had protected all 10 of the orbs that Sally had collected.

    Sally was sleeping in the back as if she was dead, and she was not likely to wake up any time soon.

    Kanade had copied the information on Sally¡¯s map to everyone else¡¯s.

    Furthermore, they did not have to search for repair items, thanks to Izu.

    Which meant that they had very little reason to go outside.

    There were only a few guilds that would attack Maple Tree just because Maple was not there, and so the members of Maple Tree quickly started to feel bored.

    ¡°What should we do? Maybe we could send just one person outside? You know, to cut down the number of yers out there.¡±

    It was Kasumi who reacted to this idea that Chrome had.

    ¡°Hmm¡­I will go. I think that Izu¡¯s bombs and Yui and Mai are more than enough to protect this ce.¡±

    So saying, Kasumi started to walk towards the exit.

    ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself too hard.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I won¡¯t do so much that I¡¯ll get killed.¡±

    Kasumi answered Chrome, before disappearing out the exit.

    Kasumi had spent much of the first day with Izu.

    These two generally needed help from the terrain in order to steal orbs, so they were more fit for eliminating the number ofpet.i.tors.

    You didn¡¯t have to worry about equipment durability if Izu was with you, so she had made several rounds at night where she killed random yers.

    Even if Maple wasn¡¯t there, Maple Tree would not allow any a.s.sant to walk away safely.

    Anyone who had died to them once was sure to avoid their base after that.

    Another reason that fewer yers were attacking Maple Tree now, was that Kasumi and Izu were increasing the number of deaths for other yers in the area.

    It was something that slowly but surely had an effect.

    And so she decided to focus on killing other yers today as well.

    ¡°Now¡­I guess I should go in the opposite direction as Maple.¡±

    It was senseless to look for unharmed yers in the direction that Maple went through.

    ¡°Alright, this way.¡±

    Kasumi decided to go inside the forest, where there would be many ces to hide.

    It would be useful not only for hiding but it was also a ce where many other yers went, so she came here often.

    ¡°Yes¡­there¡¯s one.¡±

    Kasumi found a yer and immediately shed at the yer¡¯s back.

    ¡°You¡¯re not very cautious.¡±

    The yer noticed her and shed back with his sword.

    However, Kasumi parried the attack and countered.

    It was a move that she had repeated many times, and it was especially useful for this event.

    Kasumi killed three yers before continuing her walk.

    She exited the forest after walking for some time and ran into another yer.

    ¡°¡­Oh, now there¡¯s a familiar face.¡±

    ¡°¡­I¡¯m leaving.¡±

    Kasumi tried to slip away, but the other yer didn¡¯t seem like he wanted her to.

    ¡°I was going to invite you into our guild.¡±

    ¡°Sorry about that. But Maple asked first.¡±

    Every guild needed valuable personnel.

    It wasn¡¯t just Maple Tree that had had eyes on Kasumi and Chrome.

    The man who now stood in front of Kasumi mumbled in regret and stared at her.

    ¡°I lost in the first event, you know¡­so I intend to win this one.¡±

    So saying, he pulled out his sword and shield. He was Shin, also known as Destructor.

    Kasumi had fought him directly during the first event, and she had won.

    ¡°Hah¡­I¡¯m going to kill you!¡±

    Kasumi also unsheathed her de.

    With a name like Destructor, it was obvious that he had a unique ability.

    ¡°¡®Destructor¡¯!¡±

    With this cry, his sword crumbled into pieces and floated up into the air.

    They turned into 10 separate swords that were miniature duplicates of the original.

    He had a shield in one hand, and 10 swords in the air.

    Fighting while controlling all of those swords was his ¡®Destructor¡¯ style.

    ¡°Haah!!¡±

    Shin¡¯s swords shot towards Kasumi one after another.

    ¡°Hhh!¡±

    Kasumi let out a short breath as she did her best to strike the swords out of the air, parry and focus on defending herself.

    However, Kasumi didn¡¯t have the same dodging ability as Sally, and she could not avoid taking damage.

    But she could bear it.

    Another thing that made her different from Sally, was her high HP.

    She could continue to fight, as long as she avoided the swords that aimed for the center of her body.

    ¡°¡®First of the des. Kagerou¡¯!¡±

    She teleported in front of Shin and shed at him.

    But her attack was blocked by his shield.

    ¡°As always¡­that is quite the skill. I wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with it without this shield.¡±

    ¡°Hah¡­there are some people who can dodge it!¡±

    She swung back at him again.

    However, this attack was also blocked, and then Sally felt a sword flying at her back, and so she retreated.

    As they had fought each other before, they knew a little about each other. And they were currently unable to find an unguarded moment or deal a definitive blow.

    But also, quite a lot of time had pa.s.sed since the first event.

    And it was not as if both had been staying in stasis, they had grown in some ways.

    Both of them knew, that it was the one who would somehow push through, that would end up surviving this encounter.

 Chapter 108

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 108

    Defense Specialization and Progress

    Kasumi was waiting for a chance that would allow her to go out on the attack.

    As Shin was using a shield, there was a possibility that he would be able to block ¡®Last of the des. Oborozuki,¡¯ which she had unleashed during thest event.

    Your stats would drop dramatically after this skill was activated, and some skills would be unusable.

    But in exchange, she would deal more damage and be faster.

    It was a special move that you could only use during one-on-one fights.

    In fact, she would have used it right now if Shin had not been carrying a shield.

    ¡°Hah¡­! Ffff..!¡±

    Kasumi twisted her body and escaped the swords that flew at her.

    The reason that Kasumi was unable to get close to Shin, was because of this difference in reach. On top of that, he was much better at controlling his swords then he was before.

    Kasumi felt that things would slowly get worse for her, and so she decided to act while she could.

    ¡°¡®Fourth of the des. Whirlwind¡¯!¡±

    It was a session of 4 high-speed attacks. Shin blocked every one with his shield.

    He retaliated by sending his swords at her, but she could endure the slight HP loss.

    ¡®Destructor¡¯ was more about numbers than dealing heavier hits.

    As long as all of the swords did not get a clean hit at once, she could survive it.

    ¡°¡®Seventh of the des. Crush¡¯!¡±

    It was a downward cut that had a heavy knockback effect.

    Shin blocked this too and retreated back.

    This skill¡¯s real ability was to deal heavy damage on both parties equipment.

    Of course, the damage to your enemy would be greater, but the damage it did to your own weapon was also bad.

    And so Kasumi decided that in order to win, her biggest priority would be to destroy Shin¡¯s shield before her HP ran out.

    ¡°Your attack power has gone up¡­more than I thought!!¡±

    Shin called his swords back in order to restrain Kasumi, and stop her from pushing even further.

    And then.

    ¡°¡®Destructor¡¯!¡±

    The second skill was activated.

    It was a new skill that Kasumi didn¡¯t know about.

    Shin¡¯s sword became even smaller and separated into 20.

    He was going to use this for a wide range surface attack.

    Kasumi had not expected a wall of swords toe at her from the front, and she could not help being hit by many of them.

    While each individual sword did low damage, she didn¡¯t have time to heal, and her HP was already at its limit.

    ¡°¡­It can¡¯t be helped, I guess.¡±

    Kasumi said as she released the tension from her body.

    ¡°Victory will be mine this time!¡±

    Another attack that was the same as thest wasing towards her.

    ¡°de of Beginning. Hollow.¡±

    Kasumi¡¯s hair turned white, and her eyes unleashed a scarlet glow.

    Shin looked at her and immediately became cautious.

    It was because she had looked like this thest time they had fought.

    As Shin watched her with suspicion, she vanished.

    ¡°¡­! Where are you!?¡±

    ¡°Right here.¡±

    Her voice came from behind him.

    And before he could turn to look around, two arms had sprouted from his chest.

    More urately, Kasumi¡¯s arms had pierced through his back.

    ¡°¡­d.a.m.n it. I lost.¡±

    Those were Shin¡¯sst words as he turned to light and disappeared.

    ¡°¡­This time it is a tie, no, I lost.¡±

    Kasumi mumbled to herself.

    This skill had a price, just like Last of the des.

    And it wasn¡¯t lowered stats.

    Yes, what it did, was to greatly reduce the durability of your equipment.

    And as Kasumi¡¯s equipment had already endured so much, they were all destroyed, leaving only her essories. Of course, she also lost her sword.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t realize it would all break like this¡­I went a little too far¡­¡±

    It would be dangerous if she encountered other yers in this state.

    And so Kasumi hurriedly equipped her spare weapon and used Super eleration to return to the guild.

    ¡°Hahhh¡­I really liked that sword.¡±

    Kasumi was very discouraged to have lost her beloved de.

    It took five minutes for her spirits to rise rapidly again after she returned to the guild, and it was decided that Izu would make a new sword for her.

    While Kasumi had ended her fight with Shin, Maple was walking around and wreaking havoc.

    ¡°Next¡­here!¡±

    Maple had gotten bored of walking, and so she decided to fly on Syrup¡¯s back.

    Of course, this drew a lot of attention.

    When she got close to the guild, she could hear voices shouting from the ground.

    ¡°¡®Acid Rain.''¡±

    Acidic rain that melted yers fell to the ground.

    ¡°RAIN POUR!¡±

    After watching it rain for a while and seeing that there were fewer yers, Maple dropped down to the ground.

    ¡°¡®Predator.''¡±

    The already damaged yers fell with every attack from the monsters.

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll take your orb.¡±

    Maple checked the location of her next target and left the destroyed guild behind her.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯d like to run with ¡®Savagery,¡¯ but it¡¯s still too early¡­ If only I could borrow Sally¡¯s speed.¡±

    Maple could not do anything so convenient, though.

    At best, she could have Sally carry her and run.

    But Sally was sleeping, and she had no idea when she would be waking up again.

    ¡°I guess riding on Syrup is the fastest way for now.¡±

    Maple didn¡¯t care if she drew attention, for now, all she needed to do was to move forward.

 Chapter 109

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 109

    Defense Specialization and Prison

    Maple was riding Syrup and flying in the air by herself.

    ¡°No one is following me. Sally said that she had so much trouble because people were always after her.¡±

    This was because Sally stole orbs, while Maple crushed the guilds head-on and then took the orb afterward.

    And there was no one stupid enough to chase after Maple once that had happened.

    Yes, she had crushed 6 guilds already.

    ¡°I gathered this many orbs. I have plenty of time left to get the rest!¡±

    Mapley down on top of Syrup¡¯s sh.e.l.l. Then she started to hear the sounds of shing swordsing from below.

    Maple crawled over to the edge and looked down. A number of guilds were fighting over an orb.

    These guilds had lost their orbs from someone strong, and now they were gathered here.

    ¡°It looks like they are fighting¡­ah! That orb. It is the orb that I was supposed to get next!¡±

    Most people would have left it, once they saw that the orb was in a battlefield where magic flew and swords shed.

    Sally would have left it alone.

    However, Maple jumped into the center of it without a moment¡¯s hesitation.

    The disaster that fell from heavennded in the middle of the battlefield, and then stood up with her monsters.

    ¡°That orb is mine!¡±

    It had not happened yet.

    But the possibility of those words bing reality was incredibly high.

    ¡°¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    The current of poison that was unleashed bounced off of the ground and rained on top of them.

    With Maple in the center, the fountain rained its powerful poison over unlucky yers, and they were swallowed up by it.

    This poison also prevented the yers from getting any closer to Maple.

    Being able to take such unpredictable actions so that the other yer wouldn¡¯t be able to think, was one of Maple¡¯s strengths.

    Who would fight while thinking of the possibility of Maple falling from the sky?

    However, when Maple looked to the pedestal, the orb was no longer there.

    Someone who was quick to adjust had seen their chance and taken it.

    But Maple had no idea who that was.

    ¡°Huh? ¡­What should I do¡­ That¡¯s it! Syrup, ¡®Mother Nature¡¯!¡±

    Maple was currently in a t area with a moderate amount of trees growing.

    Maple immediately had the area surrounded by vines as she looked around her.

    She had guessed that the yer who had taken the orb was still close by, and so she created a prison of vines in order to capture them.

    ¡°Sally¡¯s memo¡­ ¡®If you can¡¯t get the orb, go for extinction.¡¯ Understood!¡±

    If she didn¡¯t know who had the orb, she just needed to kill them all.

    It wasn¡¯t an easy thing to do, but Maple could still do it if she used all of her strength.

    However, the current Maple had some limitations put on her, and she could not use everything she had.

    And so she had no choice but to drown the area with poison and limit the area that yers could stand so she could round them up.

    But now the yers had stopped fighting each other and were working together in order to survive. And Maple was so slow on her feet that she was unable to catch a single yer.

    ¡°Oh¡­this is impossible! Syrup!¡±

    Maple made the order, and she was encased inside of the vines.

    She was inside of a sphere made of vines that was suspended right over the prison.

    ¡°¡®Deploy Barrels.''¡±

    Weapons extended from Maple¡¯s body, just like that time when she saved Sally.

    But this time she was much more thorough.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack.''¡±

    Were there any yers here that could dodge the barrage ofsers, while avoiding the poison on the ground that limited their movement? No.

    One after another, the yers fell by what was at their feet, or what fell on their heads.

    The sea of poison had been a failure at first, but now it was showing just how potent it was.

    ¡°Maybe¡­I¡¯ll drop down again.¡±

    Maple returned to the ground and was looking for any survivors when she found the orb floating in the poison.

    ¡°Ah! I got it. Yes¡­¡±

    Maple picked up the orb and deactivated the prison before riding Syrup back into the sky.

    ¡°I think it may be time to stop using ¡®Hydra¡¯¡­ But it¡¯s too early to show the machine form. But I can¡¯t keep doing the same thing¡­hmm¡­¡±

    It was still midday of the second day.

    While it was for a different reason, Maple could not stay out for the entire day and invade other bases.

    ¡°One more¡­or maybe two more? Yes, I¡¯ll do that.¡±

    She decided on her next target, and she would return as soon as that was finished.

    The members who were defending Maple Tree had absolutely nothing to do.

    They currently only had their own orb, so no one came to take theirs back.

    Furthermore, hardly anyone would attack them since the first day.

    Sally was still sleeping, and Izu was making a sword for Kasumi.

    Kasumi seemed anxious about her sword, and she continued to pace back and forth next to Izu.

    This would actually be the best time if any guild wanted to attack Maple Tree, but they had made such a strong impact on the first day, that not even scouts were sent to check on them.

 Chapter 110

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 110

    Defense Specialization and Attack Preparations

    Past midday of the second event.

    Sally slowly got up in the back of Maple Tree.

    ¡°¡­I wonder how Maple is doing.¡±

    Sally opened her map to check Maple¡¯s position. She saw that Maple was starting to move towards Maple Tree.

    ¡°I should go soon.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t back to full strength, but she couldn¡¯t sleep forever either.

    Sally got up and went to the room with the orb.

    As Sally returned to the defense team, she saw that the orb was still there.

    She sighed with relief as she stretched and walked over to the other members.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re up now. What will you do? Are you going out again?¡±

    Sally answered Chrome¡¯s question by saying she had no intention of doing so.

    As she had not recoveredpletely, she was worried that she would not be able to dodge all of the attacks.

    Additionally, she presumed that many of the guilds would now be better equipped to handle ambushes, as it was now the second day.

    It was likely that she would be killed if her ambushes failed, and so Sally had decided that if she were to go out, it would be during the night.

    And then Sally asked about one thing that was bothering her.

    ¡°Kasumi¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­she¡¯s been like that ever since her new sword was made.¡±

    Both of them looked at Kasumi.

    Her expression was so happy as her eyes went back and forth from the de to the sheath.

    ¡°Hahh¡­so good¡­¡±

    Kasumi was not likely to return to their world for quite some time.

    ¡°I heard that Kasumi defeated ¡®Destructor¡¯¡­I wonder just how many top .s.s yers will die during the second half¡­¡±

    ¡°Thest day should be crazy¡­I¡¯m sure that they will survive.¡±

    Both Dread and Shin had died because they fought against another strong yer.

    But as long as that did not happen, the strong would probably be able to survive.

    As they talked about this, Maple returned.

    ¡°I¡¯m back! I¡¯ve got 9 orbs with me!¡±

    ¡°Woah¡­ Really, I just don¡¯t understand how you do it¡­¡±

    That was what Sally thought as she saw that Maple had brought back the same number of orbs as her, but was still full of energy.

    ¡°It was all thanks to your map, Sally. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to find the guilds without it¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. I¡¯m d it helped.¡±

    Maple set the orbs on the pedestal and decided to stay at the base for now.

    Part of it was because she had less skill uses left, but it was also because of the small chance that all of the guilds woulde and attack at once in order to retrieve their orbs.

    Most yers would not risk such an attack again, but there was no harm in ying it safe.

    ¡°Also¡­from what I saw from the sky, there are all kinds of battles happening around the ce. I bet there are many people who have died multiple times.¡±

    ¡°It sounds pretty crazy. Well, they probably had their orb taken by arge guild. So they just gave up and attack random ces.¡±

    ¡°I agree with Chrome. It¡¯s good that the number of yers is going down.¡±

    The tide of chaos that was created by wild yers like Sally on the first day had not ended yet.

    If anything, it had be worse.

    ¡°Yui and Mai are strong with defense, and this terrain is on our side.¡±

    Currently, Yui and Mai were ying catch ball with the iron ball.

    The two of them were the type of yers that could not be sent out to fight, and so they were always a.s.signed to defense roles. This meant that they were currently quite bored.

    ¡°Once we are finished defending these orbs¡­It would be nice to have Yui and Mai do something.¡±

    ¡°Hm? But Sally, they already are?¡±

    ¡°Ah, um. I mean outside.¡±

    Chrome was about to say something about their mobility, but Sally addressed Maple first.

    ¡°Maple, it would be too hard for you to go out and attack again, right?¡±

    Sally was asking in terms of depletion of skills.

    She had been sleeping until a short while ago, but she already had a grasp on Maple¡¯s situation. This was because they had been together for such a long time.

    ¡°Hmm¡­yes¡­oh, that¡¯s right!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it will be easier on you if you take those two with you¡­ Plus, it doesn¡¯t seem like we need that many people protecting the base anymore.¡±

    And they would be able to return quickly if Maple was with them.

    Maple was essential for defending and attacking.

    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll finish guarding these orbs. Then I¡¯ll take those two and make another round.¡±

    ¡°How about your physical energy? Working for too long can¡­¡±

    As Sally had known what it was like to not be able to move, she didn¡¯t want Maple to push herself too hard.

    ¡°I¡¯m much stronger now! Also, meditation! And I won¡¯t even be walking.¡±

    There was no point in running around like Sally, so it was harder for Maple to get tired when she was just leisurely moving in the sky.

    ¡°Okay, then you do that.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    3 hourster, Maple returned to the battlefield with two of the strongest fighters with her.

    Yui and Mai would cover Maple¡¯s weaknesses, and Maple would cover Yui and Mai¡¯s weaknesses.

    This trio who had twisted stats would miraculously make the perfect team, turning out even more vicious than ever.

 Chapter 111

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 111

    Defense Specialization and Raid

    By the midway point into the second day, there was a big discrepancy in the number of points that guilds had.

    Among them, it was Maple Tree, Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom, and a.s.sembly of Holy des that took the lead.

    Everyone felt the anomaly that was this single small guild among the others.

    Of course, even those in Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom were cautious of Maple Tree.

    Marx would even change the kinds of traps he set whenever there was news from the scouts that Maple was in the area.

    ¡°Still¡­Maple¡­I really hope that she does note here¡­¡±

    ¡°Indeed. I agree with you. Shin was already killed. It would be nice if that guild just stayed out of our way¡­¡±

    Marx and Misery would not do well against Maple.

    Neither of them had anything that would help them deal with her, and so it would be almost impossible for them to defeat her alone.

    Shin had gone straight out again, and so he was not here.

    Mi was also out.

    As they talked about this, a yer ran up to them with a panicked expression.

    ¡°Marx! ¡­A turtle is flying towards us!¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­? Ah¡­¡±

    ¡°So¡­what should we do?¡±

    There was only one flying turtle in this world.

    And that meant that the most dangerous person was approaching.

    ¡°Misery¡­call Mi¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes. I will do that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to buy you time¡­thankfully, the traps have been set.¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go then.¡±

    They took a yer with piercing skills with them as they hurried in the direction of the turtle.

    When they arrived at the ce that they would attack, they saw a shadow approaching them from the distant sky.

    As they stared upwards, that figure became bigger and bigger.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Mi¡­?¡±

    ¡°She said she woulde quickly.¡±

    ¡°Alright¡­I¡¯ll buy her 10 minutes. But if it takes any longer¡­¡±

    If Mi¡¯s arrival took any longer than that, the possibility that they would fail to defend their base would increase considerably.

    ¡°I will support you.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­let¡¯s shoot it out of the sky first. With bows and magic.¡±

    And so the two prepared, but just as the turtle would have entered into their firing range, it disappeared.

    And then they saw three figures fall from the sky.

    The three yers who fell were very slow on their feet. And each of them had an abnormality.

    One of them had monsters on either side.

    The other two were dual-wielding ridiculouslyrge hammers.

    It was very convenient for Marx that they would not be flying in the air, but somehow they had appeared much less intimidating when up there.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­I, I just need to buy some time.¡±

    Marx had no intention of trying to win.

    It was just about enduring it.

    He knew that that was all he could do now.

 Chapter 112

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 112

    Defense Specialization and Invasion

    As Maple was walking straight towards them, she stepped on one trap after another.

    However, none of them were the least bit effective.

    They did trigger, but they were nullified by her overwhelming defense power.

    ¡°They really¡­don¡¯t work¡­¡±

    Marx had wasted enough traps to kill dozens of people. He was at a loss for words.

    However, Marx did have some traps prepared that were specially chosen for Maple.

    ¡°Got you¡­!¡±

    As Maple stepped on that trap, nts started to grow all around her.

    The nts wrapped around her arms and legs and prevented her from walking.

    Traps like this that hindered your movement were more effective on someone like Maple, whose mobility was alreadycking.

    It would require quite a bit of damage to destroy them, but Marx had judged by looking at his own skills, that Maple too must have some kind of limitation.

    He didn¡¯t think she could so easily use heavy skills over and over again. And if she happened to use them here, it would be easier for Mi to fight herter on.

    Marx had already epted the fact that he would likely die here. And so he didn¡¯t care if Maple used her skills on him.

    ¡°Huh¡­?¡±

    However, he had not expected that Yui and Mai would obliterate the powerful nts in just one hit.

    ¡°Huh¡­? Are you serious?¡±

    More and more traps activated, Maple took the damage, Yui and Mai destroyed her bindings and they continued, little by little, without getting hurt.

    ¡°Misery!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Under Misery¡¯smand, a volley of magic with piercing effects shot at Maple and the others.

    But magic attacks from that distance would not easily deal a lethal blow.

    Still, it forced them to try and evade the attacks. And that would buy them more time.

    Maple and the others could not move forward like they wanted to.

    She would step into a trap every time she tried to dodge the magic attacks, and with Maple, the damage she took when the piercing attacks coincided with her being bound by the nts, was tremendous.

    Their invasion would have been much easier if Maple was able to escape the nts by herself.

    ¡°Sally¡¯s advice¡­yes.¡±

    Maple took in a deep breath and called out the name of a skill so that Marx could hear it. And then she continued in a quieter voice that he couldn¡¯t hear.

    ¡°¡®Weapon Growth¡¯!¡­¡±

    The arm that was holding a shortsword became covered in metal, and then it turned into the shape of a sword that was as long as Maple was tall.

    Sally¡¯s advice.

    If she ever became desperate, she should disguise ¡®Machine G.o.d¡¯ and hide the main gunfire ability.

    She swung her sword arm around and shredded the nts that held her.

    Maple always managed to get out of any predicament, which made her the most dangerous enemy.

    ¡°Here we go!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    With every step, a trap was triggered. Walls shot out of the ground, the floor crumbled, magic rained from the sky.

    And yet the three did not stop.

    Yui and Mai¡¯s power blew those obstacles away with a single hit. And even the traps that Marx had believed would be the most effective on Maple, ended up being useless.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped¡­everyone, go back.¡±

    Marx told all of the other yers except for Misery to return to their base.

    ¡°You know the risk, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    Even if the enemy had gotten through the traps, the biggest defensive battle started from here on.

    The two of them.

    They were thest defense that could do anything about the current situation.

    Both Marx and Misery specialized in magic attacks.

    And as they had noticed the protective field around Maple¡¯s angel wings, they shot out their piercing attacks outside of that range.

    The lightly glowing ground from Maple¡¯s skill was also the boundary of Yui and Mai¡¯s attacks. It would be very dangerous to enter it.

    As for Yui and Mai, they could not go anywhere with traps where Maple¡¯s power would fall short. Maple was now using ¡®Meditation¡¯ in order to heal, and she left the attacking to the other two.

    ¡°¡®Flying Attack¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Flying Attack¡¯!¡±

    Yui and Mai had a ranged attack.

    And this one dealt incredible damage.

    However, this too did not hit their targets because of the distance.

    If this continued, both sides would just be hitting each other back and forth without having much effect.

    However, this stalemate would onlyst until Maple was finished with her meditation.

    And it had just finished now.

    ¡°¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    The Hydra was unleashed so suddenly, that it blocked Marx from escaping.

    It had the power to take everything with a single hit.

    Between Maple and Marx, it was Maple who was able to show her true power.

    Traps were Marx¡¯s main area of expertise, and Maple¡¯s victory had already been decided the moment she got through them.

    ¡°! ¡®Resurrect¡¯!¡±

    Misery sent out a white light that surrounded Marx just as his body began to dissipate.

    This was because Misery was a ¡®Saintess.¡¯

    You had to match it with the exact moment after death in order for the skill to activate right, but it was a skill that let you resurrect someonepletely.

    ¡°¡®Remote Location. Rock Wall¡¯! ¡®Remote Location. Wind de¡¯!¡±

    The resurrected Marx quickly scattered traps everywhere to stop Maple and the others¡¯ movements.

    But they had changed their target to Misery, as it had been obvious that he had set those traps in antic.i.p.ation of them striking him again.

    ¡°Tsk¡­!¡±

    He could not use ¡®Resurrect.¡¯

    And too much of him would get depleted in trying to keep Misery alive.

    It would be better to just die.

    Healing magic was not going to be much use with Yui and Mai, who tended to kill everything with one shot.

    Misery covered her eyes as a shock wave erupted after another magic wall was destroyed.

    ¡°It looks like I¡¯ll die first¡­¡±

    Misery had given up now as she approached Yui and Mai.

    She would get as close as she could, to ensure that she would hit them.

    ¡°Why are you giving up?¡±

    However, someone hade to stop her.

    The person was covered in explosive mes that scattered around her. It was Mi.

 Chapter 113

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 113

    Defense Specialization and a Disadvantage

    Mi immediately used ¡®me Empress¡¯ and then ¡®Explosive mes,¡¯ sending an explosive wind at the oing Yui and Mai.

    However, the knockback effect only worked on Maple, so the attacks would not directly lead to stopping those two.

    But still, changing Maple¡¯s position meant changing the area of invincibility as well.

    Now Yui and Mai would not be able to move forward in the field that Marx had covered inndmines, and they had no choice but to move back.

    The familiar method of defense that Mi had used brought about the best results for them.

    ¡°¡®Explosive mes¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Co-, ¡®Cover Move¡¯!¡±

    Mi sent Maple flying back, and then Maple moved towards Yui and Mai who were running towards her.

    ¡°Yui, Mai, over here!¡±

    Maple called for Syrup and put the two on it¡¯s back so they could escape into the sky.

    This was because there was a possibility that she wouldn¡¯t be able to protect them here, when there was someone who could use powerful knockbacks.

    ¡°¡®me Spear¡¯ ¡®re el¡¯!¡±

    Mi started to alternate between midrange attacks with ¡®me Empress¡¯ and close range attacks with the me spear in her hand and eleration.

    Maple was swinging her left arm, which was now a sword, but she could not keep up with the elerated Mi.

    Even ¡®Predator¡¯ was unable to catch Mi.

    ¡°So even ¡®me Empress¡¯ is no use¡­!¡±

    However, Mi was unable to deal any damage either.

    Mi had a.s.sumed that her firepower at its strongest would be enough, but that was not the case.

    ¡°Misery! Marx!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°¡®Explosive mes¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Woah! Ahh!¡±

    Misery¡¯s piercing attack came for Maple as soon as she was knocked back by Mi.

    On top of that, Marx¡¯s traps caught her arms and legs.

    ¡°Mmm¡­¡±

    Maple swung her sword arm and cut the nts that held her so she could escape. Then she used her great shield to block the piercing attacks.

    With her sword that was the size of a greatsword and a great shield, there were too many things that made it difficult tond a hit on Maple.

    Furthermore, the fact that the enemy wanted to avoid entering the attack range of the vicious looking ¡®Predator,¡¯ meant that even with Maple¡¯s slower speed, she had enough time to protect herself.

    But when it came to distances that were out of ¡®Predator¡¯s¡¯ range, Maple¡¯s methods of attack were limited. She could only use the shortsword skill one more time, and so she could not waste it here.

    ¡°What should I do¡­oomph!¡±

    Mi¡¯s repeated knockback attacks pushed her out of her stance.

    Even if they didn¡¯t hit her directly, the knockback effect would apply to her if it hit ¡®Predator.¡¯

    And if there was a trap behind her again, then she would be in trouble.

    ¡°Hmph!¡±

    Mi, Marx, and Misery were all keeping a distance from her. And not only were they much faster than her, but the ground was littered with traps meant to slow her down. The way that these three rankers were fighting her waspletely different from when attacking a monster.

    They never came close to her, but continued to use their mobility to confuse her as they waited for their chance.

    Mi and the others knew that getting in one piercing attack would not mean anything, and so they avoided using them.

    ¡°Misery, I¡¯m going to use it! Adjust the defense power after this!¡±

    ¡°Ye-yes!¡±

    As soon as another of Marx¡¯s traps activated, Mi used another one of her skills.

    ¡°me Prison.''¡±

    ¡°Hm? What¡­!?¡±

    mes erupted in a circle around Maple and stretched up into the sky. She was surrounded in a wall of fire.

    The top was open, but it was incredibly high up.

    She tried hit the wall of fire with her sword, but it did not crumble.

    ¡°What!? I¡¯m taking damage!?¡±

    Maple realized she was taking a fixed amount of damage at regr intervals, regardless of her defense power. And so she sent ¡®Predator¡¯ back and drank a potion as she waited for the skill to finish. However, it seemed to be taking its time.

    The skill was a trump card that Mi could only use once a day. It would not finish so easily.

    ¡°What should I¡­hmmm¡­¡±

    Maple considered her best course of action.

    On the other side, Mi was emptying potion after potion.

    ¡®me Prison¡¯ could be maintained as long as you had MP, and the limit was 10 minutes.

    However, maintaining it for a whole 10 minutes would mean that you had to drink dozens of MP potions.

    Considering the nature of this event, this strategy should have been avoided, but they had little choice since they were up against Maple.

    ¡°So¡­what will happen?¡±

    ¡°It would be nice if she just died like this.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­I don¡¯t think the traps will hold much longer¡­¡±

    As the three strong yers talked like this, a ck ma.s.s shot up into the air with a burst of fire, then fell down outside of the cage.

    They may have been strong, but they had now flipped a switch in Maple that should never be flipped.

    ¡°¡®Deploy All Weapons.''¡±

    Maple transformed in front of all of them. She was covered in shining ck weapons from head to toe, and this appearance gave off an intense sense of being overpowered to any who saw it.

    They had forced Maple into deciding that she could not win like this, shattering one of her shackles and so unleashing a new strength.

    ¡°This time¡­I will be the one attacking!¡±

 Chapter 114

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 114

    Defense Specialization and Futile Resistance

    With a bang, all of her weapons pointed at Mi and the others.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Explosive mes¡¯!¡±

    Maple fired off volleys ofsers and bullets.

    Mi immediately defended. She took Marx and Misery with her and moved behind a tree where Maple¡¯s attacks couldn¡¯t reach them.

    However, if Maple¡¯s attacks couldn¡¯t reach them, then their attacks wouldn¡¯t reach her either.

    Even Marx¡¯s traps were nearly useless now, as there were no follow up attacks when Maple was bound.

    ¡°Marx, what should we do?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible¡­that¡¯s impossible¡­¡±

    ¡°I agree¡­But I think that this is her trump card, so we should be thankful that we were able to see it.¡±

    Mi heard them say this, and started to talk in a frustrated voice.

    ¡°¡­It can¡¯t be helped. We lost. Still, we won¡¯t lose for nothing.¡±

    Mi brought up the blue panel and quickly sent a message out to the other guild members.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mi was about to take Misery and Marx with her and leave.

    However, a sound that was much louder than any of Mi¡¯s explosions caused her to stop and look behind her.

    ¡°Found you!¡±

    Maple was right in front of her, her broken weapons scattered around.

    And before Mi could unleash ¡®Explosive mes,¡¯ Maple¡¯s left arm, which was now a sword, stabbed through her.

    ¡°Kk¡­!¡±

    ¡°¡®Deploy Swords.''¡±

    More and more swords came out of Maple¡¯s left arm, and they all stabbed into Misery.

    Before Misery had time to think about what was happening, Maple turned her into a burst of light.

    ¡°¡®Explosive mes¡¯!¡±

    Mi knocked Maple back, she grabbed Marx¡¯s hand and tried to escape with ¡®re el.¡¯

    However, Maple was faster, and quickly caught up with them.

    She used the momentum from the explosions to thrust her sword into Marx¡¯s back.

    And just like she had done with Misery, multiple swords followed and pierced through his arms and legs.

    ¡°Ahh¡­¡±

    Marx looked down at therge de that pushed out of his chest. His eyes looked down in defeat as his body dissipated.

    ¡°Tsk¡­ My MP¡­!¡±

    Mi was just as inefficient as Maple was.

    She had used ¡®re el¡¯ for so long on top of using several big skills, that she no longer had any potions in her ¡®Item Pouch.¡¯

    She could only use magic one more time.

    ¡°¡­Disintegrate¡¯!¡±

    Instead of running away, Mi turned around to approach Maple, then moved around her to stick to her back.

    And Mi was now covered in mes.

    ¡°Huh¡­! Are you trying to take me with you¡­!?¡±

    Just as Maple said this, Mi¡¯s body unleashed a pir of fire that stretched up into the sky. It burned Maple with her.

    This was thest magic attack that she had that might be effective.

    But Mi heard something just before she disappeared into light.

    ¡°The force of self-destruction¡­I can deal with that!¡±

    It was Maple¡¯s merciless deration.

    When the mes subsided, Maple was the only one there.

    ¡°My VIT is almost 5-digits now with the skills¡­so it was alright after all!¡±

    Maple deactivated all of her weapons, then had Syrupe down slowly to pick her up.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have gone down there if I knew there were going to be so many traps.¡±

    ¡°We need to get the orb and move on to the next one.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I wasn¡¯t nning on using it¡­ Oh, this is annoying.¡±

    When Maple, Yui, and Mai arrived at the base, not only was there no orb, but there was not a single yer in sight.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Wh-what does this mean?¡±

    ¡°¡­They took the orb and ran?¡±

    If Maple had been able to take the orb from them, they would never be able to get it back as long as Maple did not take it back to their base.

    Mi¡¯s futile resistance had been an attempt to make Maple¡¯s actions a waste of time, and also avoid that terrible situation.

    ¡°Wh-what should we do!? We were only supposed to get this¡­o¡­b..if we could¡­oh¡­¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­well, I have an idea.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Maple listened to Yui.

    ¡°There just happens to be a lot of guilds around here, so we can destroy them as we search for the person with the orb¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Hmmm, let¡¯s do that!¡±

    The number of guilds that would be suddenly attacked because of Mi, was 6.

    They would be dragged into the fight.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go then!¡±

    What Maple and the others did at the guilds they attacked, was to simply walk in a straight line towards the orbs.

    The number of yers who died in their path was too many to count, including the number of yers who blocked Yui and Mai¡¯s attacks with their shields and still died.

    Through this, Maple and the others were able to gain more orbs, but whoever was carrying the one from Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom had had a head start, and they seeded in escaping.

    ¡°We just need to hide for a while, then Maple will have to return to her base to ensure that it is safe.¡±

    The now revived Mi said to the other guild members.

    They would allow Maple to take care of the moring yers, and in exchange for safety, they had only lost the point for their own orb and the points for the surrounding orbs.

    ¡°It hurts¡­but there are some merits. We also know now that Maple should not be touched¡­¡±

    Mi and the others would travel far away and focus on gathering orbs until Maple left the area. This meant that one of the strongest guilds would be out attacking at full force.

    On the night of the second day, things began to move again.

 Chapter 115

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 115

    Defense Specialization and Changing Formation

    When the sun came down on the second day, all of the members of Maple Tree were at the base.

    ¡°Maple destroyed almost all of the traps around Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom, and it should take them quite a while to recover¡­but it sucks that they got away with the orb.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Sally. We searched everywhere, but we couldn¡¯t find it.¡±

    ¡°It would be good if they were attacking surrounding guilds¡­but I don¡¯t know.¡±

    The reason that Maple had attacked them was so that Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom would demolish some of the guilds that were above Maple Tree.

    It was necessary to make some of therge guilds run wild in order for Maple Tree to rise.

    This was also because the smaller guilds had been defeated much faster than expected. Most of the fighting was now between medium-sized guilds andrger ones, and using those medium-sized guilds to wreck the field was bing less effective.

    Maple Tree¡¯s goal was to be in the top 10.

    The reward was the same regardless if you were number 1 or 10, so that was their current goal.

    And Maple Tree was number 6 right now.

    But since the rest of the top 10 wererge guilds, they stuck out even more than the number 1 guild.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s pretty obvious. The difference in numbers¡­¡±

    ¡°But we¡¯re still higher than I would have expected. I didn¡¯t honestly think that we would make it this far.¡±

    However, it was clear that even if Sally made a full recovery, it would be very difficult to make their way to the number 1 spot.

    ¡°It¡¯s still just the second day, so it¡¯s not like we don¡¯t have a chance. But¡­I at least don¡¯t want to fall behind any more.¡±

    The members of Maple Tree discussed it, and it was decided that Izu and Kanade would remain while the rest would all go out into the battlefield at night.

    The first team would be Sally, Yui, and Mai.

    The other would be Maple, Kasumi and Chrome.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Goodbye. Kanade and I will be waiting here.¡±

    Sally¡¯s map had been copied for everyone else, and so they nned to attack different guilds and then return.

    Sally¡¯s team were now hiding in the bushes and waiting for their chance to attack.

    While Maple¡¯s team was attacking Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom, Sally had Kasumi sh at her with her sword to test to see how much her dodging ability had dropped.

    The result was that she felt like she was ready to go back into the field, and so she decided to partic.i.p.ate in the attack.

    ¡°Phew¡­alright!¡±

    Sally jumped out of the bushes they were hiding behind, and ran towards the orb.

    ¡°Intruder! Get her!¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­! I can see it!¡±

    Sally dodged the attacks that came at her and cut the yers as she targeted the orb.

    ¡°Surround her! Don¡¯t let her escape!¡±

    The yers were quick to organize, and they moved in to surround her.

    ¡°Something more horrible will happen if you only focus on me¡­¡±

    Just as Sally said this, a yer who was focused on Sally was. .h.i.t by a shock wave that tore him to shreds with one hit.

    The other yers who turned to look were immediately cut open by Sally, forcing them to choose a point of focus.

    Many of the yers were worried about what was in the bushes, but continued to face Sally.

    But that only meant that they would take longer to react to Yui and Mai when they came out of the bushes.

    The iron b.a.l.l.s that Yui and Mai were throwing hit the yers in the back, and they died without ever understanding what was happening.

    This caused the other yers to be incredibly restless.

    Much like Maple, their unknowable attack power had the ability to stop people¡¯s minds from processing what they were seeing.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Shadow Clone¡¯!¡±

    And then something else happened that caught their eye, and they could no longer think rationally.

    Just as they scrambled to do something about Sally¡¯s clones, Yui and Mai came out with their great hammers.

    The great hammers let out a dull ring as theunched several yers into the air at once, turning them into sparkles of light.

    ¡°I-Impossible¡­¡±

    ¡°¡®Double Stamp¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Double Stamp¡¯!¡±

    Yui and Mai stamped out the enemy one after another.

    Of course, if the enemy could only attack Yui and Mai, that would be the end of it. But they were too shocked to do such a thing, and those who weren¡¯t stunned, had their backs towards Sally as they attacked. And Sally was not about to stand and watch, and they died under the painful blows she inflicted.

    It was easy for Sally to be able to tell which yers were trying to fight Yui and Mai.

    Sally was protecting Yui and Mai in a different way than Maple.

    All three of them had starting stats when it came to health, and so they would die in one hit.

    However, they were controlling the battle in order to prevent such a situation from bing possible.

    ¡°Now, to take the orb¡­ Let¡¯s try using more iron b.a.l.l.s next time.¡±

    ¡°Yes!!¡±

    ¡°Yes!!¡±

    And so the three of them walked towards their next destination.

    Kanade and Izu were bored as they waited for the others to return.

    ¡°The guilds around here have given up on attacking us¡­it¡¯s so boring.¡±

    ¡°Maybe a far away guild that doesn¡¯t know about us mighte¡­Oh.¡±

    Speak of the devil. yers were now rushing in through the entrance.

    The yers looked at the two from afar and understood that one was a crafter and the other was the rear guard.

    ¡°We can do this! They don¡¯t have any advance guard!¡±

    yers with swords and shields walked out into the front.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s do this then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Izu had bombs in her hands, Kanade brought out his floating bookshelves.

    The reason that Maple Tree decided to leave these two for the defense was not that they had to in order to prioritize going on the offense.

    It was because Kanade and Izu were more than enough to defend the base.

 Chapter 116

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 116

    Defense Specialization and the Rear Guard

    Izu threw the bombs over the heads of the oing advance guards, and the bombs multiplied by 10x as they came raining down.

    The explosion of mes and shock obscured their vision, and some of them tried to hide behind their shields until it died down.

    However, the multiplying bombs had been nothing more than an illusion by Kanade.

    They had not multiplied, and the extra bombs did no damage.

    So why had they used such magic? The first reason was because of ¡®Akashic Records,¡¯ which he could only use today.

    He didn¡¯t need to save it, because he could turn it into a Magic Record after this.

    The other reason, was to buy some time.

    Once they were able to see again, Kanade had white b.a.l.l.s that were emitting sparks floating in front of him.

    ¡°Good¡­!¡±

    They becamepressed and grew smaller and smaller. The yers sensed the danger once again, and took a defensive stance, just as it exploded with a blinding light.

    The skill that Kanade used was ¡®Destruction Canon.¡¯

    It used a white light to burn everything that was in front of Kanade.

    When the light died down, the frozen yers had been cut into two groups. And there was a clear path between them where there had once been yers.

    ¡°Izu, I don¡¯t want to use the Magic Records too much¡­¡±

    ¡°Alright, if that¡¯s what you want.¡±

    Hearing this, Izu pulled out a bottle of ck liquid from her pouch and handed it to Kanade.

    The item that Izu had given to Kanade was something she was able to make with ¡®New Frontier.¡¯ It raised your MP recovery for a short time to a ridiculous degree.

    Kanade drank the liquid, and just as the enemy yers were collecting themselves, burned them with countless circles of magic light.

    These attacks said one thing.

    Leave us, if you don¡¯t want to die.

    ¡°Tsk¡­Halt! Retreat!¡±

    They held their shields in front of them, not letting their guard down as they walked backwards out of the base. But not before Kanade sent a few of them to their graves with shots of magic.

    The only reason that they were able to retreat, is because they had still been alive when realizing what kind of guild they had attacked.

    It would not have happened if Yui and Mai were there.

    Maple as well.

    ¡°I only have a limited number of strong Magic Records, so I¡¯m d they retreated quickly.¡±

    Kanade turned all of the magic that he got through ¡®Akashic Records¡¯ into Magic Records for saving, but he wouldn¡¯t always get the magic that he wanted. And so there was also some magic that was useless to him.

    Of course, he had some magic like ¡®Destruction Canon,¡¯ but they were few.

    ¡°There is a good chance that ¡®a.s.sembly of Holy des¡¯ wille, and so I have to save the important ones forter.¡±

    This time, the enemy had quickly retreated, but that might not be the case in the future.

    However, it was now the second day, and there were more guilds who could not afford to have their yers killed. And so they were more cautious now, which meant that it was perhaps more likely that the would retreat.

    Maple was riding Syrup and flying in the air. This was the best way to travel when Maple, Kasumi, and Chrome were acting together.

    ¡°Recently, people immediately start to use their piercing skills as soon as they see me¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s no surprise.¡±

    ¡°I would do the same.¡±

    Maple had be known far and wide. It had bemon knowledge that you were supposed to use piercing skills if you saw Maple.

    For Maple, there was no question that things had be much more difficult for herpared to the first event.

    ¡°¡®Pierce Guard¡¯ is not enough if I get surrounded¡­what can I do¡­¡±

    ¡°I think that you just need to scatter poison everywhere to keep them away from you. Though, more people are starting to have resistance to that these day¡­¡±

    They talked about this until they reached the guild that was their destination.

    ¡°I¡¯m jumping down!¡±

    ¡°¡­Ahh¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Fine.¡±

    Chrome and Kasumi both held Maple¡¯s hands as they got ready to jump down.

    They wouldn¡¯t take any damage, thanks to Maple¡¯s skills, but it was a frightening height.

    ¡°You aren¡¯t scared, Maple?¡±

    Kasumi asked her.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do this in real life¡­but it doesn¡¯t hurt at all here!¡±

    Chrome heard this and thought.

    Would it be possible for him to copy Maple¡¯s pattern of movement that led her to acquiring strange skills?

    Perhaps what a person needed in order to acquire skills that were off the beaten path, was to be partially, but naturally ¡®off.¡¯

    Yes, that was what he was thinking.

    The three of them jumped from a height of 10 meters down to the ground.

    ¡°I¡¯m taking the orb!¡±

    With the monsters that grew from the ground, and Chrome and Kasumi protecting her, it was difficult tond a piercing attack on Maple.

    However, the angel wings would not take damage from anything else.

    ¡°Hah¡­ It was a waste of time worrying about it.¡±

    Chrome muttered as he blocked an attack and shed back.

    He was talking about Maple trying to figure out what to do about the piercing attacks.

    It wasn¡¯t a big enough issue to care about.

    After all, Chrome couldn¡¯t even imagine Maple in such a desperate situation where she was surrounded like that.

 Chapter 117

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 117

    Defense Specialization and the Second Step

    While not to the extent of Sally, Kasumi and Chrome were still able to dodge and block attacks. And so the fight ended with a minimal burden ced on Maple.

    When the fight was over, they quickly got back on top of Syrup and rode off to get their next orb. After some time, they arrived in the spot just above the guild that they were targeting.

    ¡°Ahh¡­this ce doesn¡¯t seem to have an orb.¡±

    Maple looked down to check the pedestal and saw that there was no orb on top of it.

    There were also no yers nearby, which meant the orb had either been taken, or the guild had been destroyed.

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go to the next one then.¡±

    And so they flew through the air and checked three different guilds.

    And not once were they able to spot an orb.

    Not only that, but since Syrup was not particrly fast, they were spending a lot of time traveling.

    Moving without a reward made their fatigue grow faster.

    As they traveled, a notification rang to signal that Maple had received a message.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ It¡¯s from Sally.¡±

    Maple read through it. It said that Sally¡¯s team were going to return to the guild and that if Maple¡¯s team was having trouble collecting orbs, that they should return as well.

    Maple ryed the message to Chrome and Kasumi, and they decided to return to the guild.

    There was also only a few hours left before the end of the second day, so it was a good time to return.

    Just as Maple and her teamnded in front of the guild and were about to go inside, they saw that an unknown yer was looking over his shoulder as he ran out of the entrance in a panic.

    The relief on his face when he thought he had escaped, turned into despair when he saw the three people in front of him and understood who they were. In a sh, Chrome and Kasumi¡¯s des cut him at the same time.

    ¡°We¡¯re being attacked!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s hurry!¡±

    Kasumi ran on ahead down the path that led to the orb.

    She held her sword in front of her as she entered the room, and there was Sally and the others.

    Yui and Mai were retrieving the fallen iron b.a.l.l.s, which suggested that they had only just finished beating the enemy back.

    ¡°You¡¯re all safe¡­¡±

    Kasumi sheathed her sword and walked up to the other five.

    Chrome and Maple came after her, and now they were all together.

    The two who were on defense seemed to have depleted a lot of their energy, and they were now sitting on the floor.

    ¡°Ahh, I¡¯m tired¡­ That might have gone really bad without Izu¡¯s items.¡±

    ¡°We used a lot of bombs too¡­ I better make more of them soon.¡±

    Izu was able to use the features of the workshop regardless of where she was.

    As long as they had time to prepare, they would not run out of ammunition.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ We didn¡¯t get attacked so much until now. What happened?¡±

    As Maple pointed out, it had bemon knowledge that Maple Tree was not to be touched. And so it was strange that they had now been attacked in session.

    ¡°Did you collect any orbs, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Ohh¡­not much. A lot of guilds didn¡¯t have any orbs¡­what about you, Sally?¡±

    ¡°It was the same with us too¡­ We could only get 2 orbs.¡±

    They set the orbs in the room for now, and then Maple asked about the message.

    ¡°¡®a.s.sembly of Holy Swords¡¯ will definitely attack us at some point, and I think that it will be during the night. Also, things are moving very quickly, and I don¡¯t think we will survive if keep things stay the same¡­¡±

    Sally opened the screen with the current rankings and scrolled through it.

    Guilds that had been annihted had a mark next to their name, and it wasn¡¯t only small guilds that were disyed there. There was now medium-sized guilds as well.

    There were a few guilds who had gone all out during the first day, and then there were guilds who had lost their orbs, and so gone out on the attack in full force. And this had elerated events.

    There were not many guilds who could sessfully defend without casualties, and the result was that many guilds had to retire before the end of the second day.

    The only guilds that remained now were guilds with lots of members, with a few exceptions.

    And so the likelihood of finding an orb was also going down.

    In fact, the reason that Maple Tree was starting to get attacked now, was because far away guilds that didn¡¯t know about them were traveling all of the way there.

    Now that the rules had changed to necessitate crossing the fields to steal orbs, Yui, Mai, and Maple were at a disadvantage due to their speed.

    It didn¡¯t matter how strong they were, as they could not steal orbs that were not there.

    ¡°I thought it wouldst a little longer¡­ But every guild is so driven¡­ I had thought to gain a lot of points in the beginning, but wasn¡¯t able to.¡±

    The environment was turning into one ofplete domination byrge guilds much faster than Sally had predicted. And it was obvious that things would only get worse.

    ¡°And so, while it is much earlier than what we nned. I think we should move to the next step.¡±

    When everyone agreed to this suggestion, they then confirmed their individual roles.

    Maple remembered what her role was, and called to Sally.

    ¡°So then¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Sally knew what Maple was about to say, and so she continued.

    ¡°We wait for the ¡®a.s.sembly of Holy Swords¡¯¡­I guess.¡±

    Maple heard this and began to carefully check the remaining skills and weapons that she could use.

 Chapter 118

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 118

    Defense Specialization and Visitors

    There were only 10 minutes left of the second day. Maple and the others were just about to decide the order for the midnight defenses, when theirst visitors of the day arrived.

    Maple and the others stopped talking and took out their weapons.

    The people who had arrived were not the kind of people that you could let your guard down with.

    They were 15 yers.

    Not only that, but Pain, Dread, Frederica and Drag were among them.

    There was no reason that they had to attack Maple Tree.

    This attack could be seen as an attempt to get rid of a guild who might threaten their position in the rankings, but still, there was arge gap between the a.s.sembly of Holy des and Maple Tree.

    The reason that they had alle here, with Pain as the leader, was for the simple reason of wanting to fight and be victorious against Maple Tree.

    They wanted to fight with guilds that were equal to them or had the potential to exceed them.

    And so they had waited for all the members to return before attacking.

    However, much to their displeasure, they had to choose a time when Maple was at her weakest, otherwise, the other members of the guild would not have agreed to this almost meaningless attack.

    And that is why they came now, near the end of the day.

    When Maple¡¯s angel wings stretched up into the air, and the beasts were summoned, the battle began.

    ¡°¡®Multi-eleration¡¯!¡±

    Frederica¡¯s magic raised the speed of all of the members of ¡®a.s.sembly of Holy des.¡¯

    Dread, Pain, and Drag all came forward.

    ¡°¡®Flying Attack¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Flying Attack¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Not this time.¡±

    Yui and Mai¡¯s attacks did not hit Dread.

    There was no one less fitting than them to fight Dread head-on.

    In exchange for death, Dread had experienced the abnormalities of Yui and Mai. And he had taken that information back with him to his guild.

    In other words, Yui and Mai¡¯s biggest weapon, which was that they were ¡®unknown,¡¯ was now gone.

    No one was stupid enough to try and block their attacks with a shield now.

    And now Yui and Mai were attacked by Drag who was in the front.

    ¡°¡®Earth Wave¡¯!¡±

    His axe mmed into the ground, sending waves that broke up the floor in ripples that crashed into Yui and Mai.

    They did not take any damage thanks to Maple, but the ¡®Added Knockback¡¯ that was Drag¡¯s unique ability, was a different matter.

    Maple was pushed back, and Yui and Mai were now out of the area of effect for Dedicated Affection.

    And this was no coincidence. As if to prove it, Drag and Dread charged towards Yui and Mai.

    Maple and the others had wreaked havoc during thest two days. Especially in their fight against Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom, Maple, Yui, and Mai had been able to make the most of their abnormal qualities.

    But Maple had not known that a.s.sembly of Holy des was quietly watching that fight from afar.

    And so they knew.

    The weakness of ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯

    Of Maple¡¯s weapons.

    That there was a limit to Maple¡¯s great shield.

    And with this information, they had devised a n to take Maple¡¯s head.

    ¡°¡®Cover Move¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Like h.e.l.l, you will!¡±

    ¡°¡®Magic Wall¡¯!¡±

    Kasumi stopped Dread, and Chrome stopped Drag. Kanade supported them with magic.

    Even if Maple had been pushed back, Chrome and Kasumi were top-level yers.

    They were used to parrying attacks.

    ¡°Maple! You should deactivate it!¡±

    ¡°O-okay! Got it!¡±

    Maple heard Sally¡¯s voice, and deactivated ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯

    Since they knew how to deal with her, it was obvious that piercing attacks woulde at her nonstop.

    In fact, most of the magic that Frederica was using in the back had the ability to pierce through her defenses.

    Those attacks wereing straight at Maple, and while she could block them with her great shield, it would make it difficult for her to move.

    Just as the other four were distracted by Drag and Dread, Pain moved forward in a sh. He immediately targeted Maple and charged at her with his sword and shield.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you go.¡±

    Sally moved in between them, and she focused, intent on not missing what his next action would be.

    ¡°Dread!¡±

    Pain shouted. It was Dread, Drag, and Frederica who responded.

    ¡°¡®G.o.d Speed¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Berserk¡¯!¡±

    With those skills, Dread disappeared, and Drag did not be rigid after using the skill.

    The two had used their powerful trump cards, and now Frederica¡¯s voice rang.

    ¡°¡®Multi-Full Transfer¡¯!¡±

    The magic that was Frederica¡¯s trump card caused all of the effects that were on Dread and Drag to transfer over to Pain. Pain now disappeared, and he was much faster than before.

    ¡°¡®Super eleration.''¡±

    He was even faster now as he dashed pa.s.sed Sally.

    Even if Sally could see where Pain was, she was unable to catch up with him.

    There was too much of a difference in level.

    Pain was twice as highpared to Sally, to begin with, and his original stats were much better.

    If they were actually fighting, she could react and dodge his movements, but there was nothing she could do if he was avoiding her.

    ¡°Where¡­where!?¡±

    Maple held her great shield up as she tried to look for Pain.

    She was sure that the shield which was taller than her would protect her from the front.

    And so it waspletely to her surprise when she heard a voiceing from the other side of the shield.

    ¡°¡®Holy de of Conviction¡¯!¡±

    Pain suddenly appeared with his shining sword, and after a short pause, swung.

    He had four trump cards gathered together within him, and he was determined to take her head.

    ¡°Uhh..ahh¡­¡±

    It was a sensation that was so rare to Maple, and for a moment, she could not think.

    Pain¡¯s sword split the oing monsters and Maple¡¯s great shield into pieces. It even destroyed her armor and cut deep into her body. Maple was thrown into the wall, and her HP dropped to 1.

 Chapter 119

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 119

    Defense Specialization and a Monster

    Maple mmed into the wall with a noise so deafening that all of the members looked and knew that she had taken a lethal blow. And at that moment, they were left open.

    There was shock in all of their eyes, especially Yui and Mai.

    Even Chrome and Kasumi could not remain calm.

    ¡°¡®Power Axe¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Ggg¡­!¡±

    Drag took advantage of Chrome¡¯s opening, and his attack caught Chrome in the chest.

    The multiple support spells that Frederica had been casting from the back had raised Drag¡¯s already high attack power, and it was not something that you could survive if you were hit full on.

    But Indomitable Guardian activated, and Chrome was able to escape death with just 1 HP remaining, but the situation was dire.

    He wanted to go to where Maple was, but Drag would not let him.

    In that case, Chrome decided to focus on stopping them from going to Maple.

    Drag continued to attack Chrome, and was shocked to see that Chrome¡¯s HP was recovering.

    However, his movements were limited, as he had to protect Yui and Mai from the magic attacks that were raining down on them, and it was unlikely that he could continue fighting like this.

    As this was happening, Pain approached maple again.

    Pain had thought of the possibility that Maple would have Indomitable Guardian, but that was not the case.

    ¡°Not just me¡­¡±

    Pain mumbled as he ran.

    The skill ¡®Berserk,¡¯ which he had taken from Drag, erased the temporary ¡®stiffening¡¯ afterward, and so he was able to smoothly move to his next action.

    ¡°¡®ck Smoke¡¯!¡±

    Kanade would not allow him to reach Maple so easily, and he unleashed his magic to block Pain¡¯s view.

    Izu threw some bombs into the smoke, and mes rose along with a roar.

    ¡°¡®Holy de of Exterminating Evil.''¡±

    Pain swung his sword, and the ck smoke dissipated, giving him a clear view of Izu and Kanade.

    He easily cut through the two rear guards and was now only a few steps away from Maple.

    He was a little surprised that Maple¡¯s equipment was regenerating, but he nheless used a piercing skill and dealt the final blow.

    As he was so focused, the scene seemed to y out very slowly to him.

    Maple leaned against the wall, her left arm still spread out. The shield that she carried in that hand now fell away.

    And then he saw what had been hidden behind the great shield. Her left hand had turned into a canon.

    The smoke and explosions that Kanade and Izu had caused had dyed him from realizing what Maple had done.

    ¡°So close¡­!¡±

    As Pain was activating a skill, he could not move out of the way. He had no choice but to finish swinging his sword.

    ¡°¡®Counter¡¯!¡±

    It was the only normal skill that Maple had acquired during the third event.

    It was a skill that took the damage that you just received, and added it to your next attack.

    Before Pain could attack again, a streak ofser fired from the canon and burned his body.

    His strongest attack had backfired.

    ¡°Ggg¡­not yet¡­!¡±

    Pain also had 1 HP left, and he tried to close in on Maple once again.

    ¡°¡®Holy de of Fragmentation¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Savagery¡¯!¡±

    What now appeared in the ck fog was something that had been Maple a moment ago.

    Pain¡¯s eyes widened at the difference in threat level and reach that now existed between them. The monster came at him with its multiple arms.

    ¡°Hey, hey, are you serious¡­!?¡±

    He cut off one arm and blocked the other with his shield.

    He seeded in blocking.

    However, his opponent was not human.

    It¡¯s hideous mouth opened wide now and tore off the upper half of Pain¡¯s body.

    As if that was not enough, it stretched out its remaining limbs towards Dread and Drag.

    ¡°Seriously!? Hey!?¡±

    ¡°Ahh? ¡­It¡¯s still changing¡­?¡±

    The two had confusion and despair written all over their faces as the monster¡¯s mouth spewed a torrent of mes. Dread flinched as his arm was grabbed, and Drag was eaten alive.

    ¡°Well, might as well go peacefully¡­¡±

    Dread quietly closed his eyes with resignation as he was eaten.

    Obviously, the rear guard tried to escape after witnessing this.

    ¡°I am going to run away as well! ¡®Multi-eleration¡¯!!¡±

    As Frederica elerated the remaining yers, what used to be Maple jumped over their heads and stuck to the wall.

    Its head was in front of the exit, and it was dripping saliva.

    They would have to defeat that if they wanted to escape.

    It was as they pondered this reality that they heard a skill being shouted behind them.

    ¡°¡®Flying Attack.''¡±

    ¡°¡®Flying Attack.''¡±

    ¡°! ¡®Multi-Wall¡¯!¡±

    She said without thinking.

    And Frederica immediately regretted it.

    Such defenses were meaningless for stopping Yui and Mai.

    Predictably, all of the walls and Frederica herself, were smashed and vanished into light.

    What had been the decisive factor for victory or defeat, was whether or not they knew about Maple¡¯s ¡®Savagery.¡¯

    Without ¡®Savagery,¡¯ Pain¡¯sst attack would have taken away thest of Maple¡¯s HP, without a doubt.

    If that happened, there was a good chance that the already pressed front guard would have crumbled first.

    Of course, Sally intended on fighting to the end, even if that happened. But the a.s.sembly of Holy des would have the upper hand.

    The remaining yers were also torn to shreds by Maple. Then they just waited for Izu and Kanade to revive as Sally collected the orbs.

    ¡°Now, Maple. We start the second step.¡±

    ¡°Yes! That¡¯s right!¡±

    It was a little past 1 o¡¯clock now. A few hours until morning.

    Within the darkness of the night, lurked a monster.

    It moved around, attacking other guilds, with seven other monsters riding on its back.

 Chapter 120

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 120

    Defense Specialization and Shadow of the Night

    In a certain forest at midnight, arge guild turned on their lights as they defended their base.

    ¡°Guilds are being crushed at a very fast pace¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it won¡¯t be long untilrge guilds are fighting each other. It wouldn¡¯t be strange if it was happening now.¡±

    As the two yers were talking, they heard a rustling in the darkness.

    ¡°¡­Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s see what it is.¡±

    They pulled out their swords and approached the bushes where the sound hade from.

    When they shone a light at the bushes, they saw the head of a monster that had its mouth open wide.

    ¡°¡­Wha?¡±

    ¡°¡­Wha?¡±

    They froze in shock and were eaten in the same instant.

    And that was not the end of it, the monster continued to move forward to the center of the base.

    The yers who saw it were trampled, killed, chewed and burned in its wake.

    Considering that it was arge guild, the number of yers that died were not that many, but the effect that the monster had was to inflict psychological damage and shock, which made it difficult for them to organize.

    Even if they could predict that a swarm of yers would attack them, they could never have predicted that one monster would.

    On top of that, there were seven yers that jumped off of the monsters back, and they killed the yers who ran and screamed in the confusion.

    But the presence of the monster was so overwhelming as it ate and destroyed, that hardly anyone noticed what the seven were doing.

    They were so disturbed, that they did not realize the strength of these seven, and before they knew it, half of the guild had been destroyed.

    ¡°Okay! Next!¡±

    When the monster heard this, it stopped feeding and allowed the seven to ride on its back. Then it left the guild as it tore through the yers in its path.

    ¡°Hmm, we got the orb. Things are going quite well.¡±

    ¡°Where next?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Let¡¯s check out the guild on the left.¡±

    Sally talked to Maple from the back of the monster that was Maple.

    They meant to wreak havoc on all of therger guilds while Maple¡¯sst and strongest abnormality was not yet widely known, and while they were unprepared.

    It would be like a traffic ident for therger guilds, and there was nothing that they could do to stop it.

    They would have no idea what hit them as they lost their orb and half of their yers. And then their target would disappear into the night.

    Maple had sacrificed her humanity for mobility, and in one night, ravaged manyrge guilds.

    One of the strengths of Maple¡¯s monster form was that it took time for people to use piercing skills now, while they would do it immediately otherwise.

    And so Sally would watch to see if the enemy would use such attacks, and gave the order to retreat ordingly.

    And that is how they were able to do so much damage.

    There was one guild whose base was in the ins, and they turned off all their lights in an attempts to stay hidden that night.

    Larger guilds tended to have bases that were the most exposed, and such nds were the hardest to defend.

    ¡°The moonlight is weak¡­ It¡¯s so dark.¡±

    ¡°I thought this during the second event as well, but it¡¯s so hard to move during the night.¡±

    The time pa.s.sed quietly.

    The only sounds that could be heard were the cries of insects, the blowing wind, and the voices of the other guild members talking.

    And so when they did hear something running towards them, it sounded incredibly loud.

    ¡°Lights! Turn on the lights!¡±

    A magical light appeared and shone in the direction of the noise.

    What they saw, was a giant form that they had never seen before during thest two days.

    In exchange for the light they shone, they received a breath of fire. The yers were ovee by shock and confusion.

    For all of the yers there, this was surely the most shocking moment of their lives up until now.

    It was no exaggeration. It was because of that, that they could not react to the monster in front of them.

    ¡°Thanks for the orb.¡±

    The monster ran pa.s.sed them and grabbed the orb in the center.

    ¡°Here¡¯s a bomb in return.¡±

    The seven riders threw their bombs down.

    The monster ran as bombs were ceaselessly thrown off of its back. Iron b.a.l.l.s, shock waves, and magic attacks soon joined the mix.

    Anyone who was. .h.i.t by the few iron b.a.l.l.s or shock waves was very unlucky indeed.

    And like that, without arge scale battle urring, dozens were devoured, and even more were killed by thebo of fire and ammunition. The rest all fled.

    ¡°Tonight¡­ Tonight, we have to kill as many people on first sight as possible.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    They were aiming to take the lead with this n, but they also wanted to quicken theplete destruction of therger guilds.

    In other words, they would elerate the already maddeningly elerated events, and thereby reach theplete destruction ending before the final day.

    And even if they did not aplish that, Sally could tell from what they did tonight, that things would still elerate greatly.

    ¡°Maple, just a little bit more, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I can still do a lot more!¡±

    Maple continued on to the next guild, without ever slowing down.

 Chapter 121

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 121

    Defense Specialization and the Morning of the Third Day

    The march of destruction that continued throughout the night came to an end at 6 o¡¯clock in the morning.

    They put all of the orbs they had collected in ce along with their own orb, and then their current operation wasplete.

    ¡°Hahh¡­ I¡¯m tired! I¡¯ve never run so much before in my life¡­¡±

    Maple mumbled. She was still in her beast form.

    She had hardly taken any damage thanks to Sally¡¯s danger management, but fatigue was another matter.

    Especially since she had never moved so much before. It could not be helped.

    ¡°Can I go and sleep for a while? You can wake me up if anything happens¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it should be fine.¡±

    And so Maple disappeared in the back, without returning to her normal form.

    Obviously, it was too much of a waste to deactivate it before it was destroyed.

    ¡°If arge guildes, we¡¯ll fight just enough so that no one dies, as nned. Is that alright?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s take our orb and go to where Maple is.¡±

    As Maple Tree was categorized as a small guild, there was a high chance thatrge guilds woulde to take back their orbs in order avoid arge deduction of points.

    Currently, Maple Tree had 10 orbs.

    And 7 of those were fromrge guilds.

    If those guilds were toe, there was also a good chance that they would fight each other before entering the base.

    Even if they did decide to unite as one, it would only be temporary. It just meant that they would be fighting a different opponent for the orb.

    And if they didn¡¯te to retrieve their orb, that meant they were out attacking a different guild.

    No matter how those 10 orbs moved, many yers would die somewhere in some fashion.

    And as Maple Tree was trying to speed things up, they wanted a situation where guilds were crushing each other even more than they wanted orbs.

    And so it was not that big of a deal whether their defenses held or not.

    ¡°We can probably be in the top 10 at this rate¡­because we had a good start.¡±

    ¡°So, we¡¯ll aim to hold onto that spot¡­ Now, will theye?¡±

    They all looked cautiously at the entrance as they tried to rid themselves of the exhaustion that had built up over the night.

    When the time was pa.s.sed 7, a group of over 70 yers whose tight defenses were fronted by yers with great shields, marched inside.

    ¡°¡­Did they just finish fighting another guild out there?¡±

    ¡°Ah, maybe. I expected more people as well.¡±

    It didn¡¯t change the fact that there were many of them, but it did seem a little small for arge guild that was attacking.

    As for Maple Tree, Sally, Chrome, and Kasumi stood ready in the front, but left a clear gap for Yui and Mai, who were behind them.

    Izu was between Yui and Mai, and Kanade was in the far back.

    The reason that there was a gap for Yui and Mai, was of course, so they can throw the iron b.a.l.l.s.

    ¡°Oomph!¡±

    ¡°Oomph!¡±

    The enemy¡¯s shields had been through a tough battle already, and they would notst if too many b.a.l.l.s struck them.

    ¡°Here¡¯s more!¡±

    But if they were waiting for Yui and Mai to run out of ammo, they were out of luck. Izu was developing more and more metal b.a.l.l.s right between them.

    Still, with their mighty shields and superior numbers, they pushed forward.

    Yui and Mai¡¯s iron b.a.l.l.s may have caused instant death, but they could not hit everyone at once, and so they were unable to stop the charge.

    And of course, the three that were attacking in the front became the target of magic attacks.

    ¡°¡®Cover Move¡¯!¡±

    Chrome moved in front of the others and blocked the attacks with his shield and body.

    He took tremendous damage from it, but he was able to bear it with his shield and recovery effect skill.

    Chrome would not only heal by just standing there, but there were several other factors that made him hard to kill.

    He did not stick out so much next to Maple, but he was still incredibly dangerous.

    ¡°¡®Land of Ice and Snow.''¡±

    The light blue Magic Record that Kanade used caused the advancing yers to be fixed to the ground as ice formed around their legs.

    They would not be able to move for 5 seconds.

    However, those seconds would feel like forever when Yui and Mai had made you their target.

    One by one, the front guard was crushed. Even if you didn¡¯t die, having your equipment damaged would make this event a lot more difficult for you.

    Their losses increased.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Shadow Clone.''¡±

    Sally attacked randomly with ¡®Shadow Clone.¡¯

    She was not a good match for defensive battles against a horde, and so her strategy here was to offer support while using skills that would confuse the enemy and inflict psychological damage.

    Kasumi, on the other hand, was good for hit and run tactics, where she would strike the shield-bearers after teleporting, and then ¡®Leap¡¯ away.

    All seven of them had their own strengths, and when they were able to demonstrate them, you would need yers of equal ability to go against them. The number of enemies were meaningless.

    You had to exceed a certain threshold in strength to be able to fight them.

    And with all of the noise that the iron b.a.l.l.s were creating, it was only a matter of time before the slumbering boss would awake.

    Slowly, from the back pa.s.sage, lumbered the monster. It red at the intruders as if angry that they had disturbed its sleep.

    ¡°Can you all be quiet! Your dead now! Hmph!¡±

    Those that had crossed that threshold of power were now being supported by a monster that was made through going off of the beaten path. It was of course, quite impossible for the enemy who had not even crossed that threshold, to defeat it.

 Chapter 122

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 122

    Defense Specialization and the Siege

    One hour after the first attack.

    Nearly 200 yers came storming in. Maple Tree had decided to leave all of the orbs except their own, and move to the back of their base.

    ¡°Well, if anyone is going to take them, it should be that kind of guild, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ Okay, now it begins.¡±

    The back room.

    They stood near the sleeping Maple and listened to see if the invaders woulde after them.

    They would just have to wake up Maple if they did, but the invaders seemed to be thankful for their good luck and ended up leaving without bothering them any further.

    Taking Maple Tree¡¯s¡­o¡­b..would mean that Maple Tree would always know your position. They probably did not think it was worth the trouble for a single orb.

    Five minutes after the invaders left, Chrome walked in the lead as they returned to the room with the pedestal in order to reset their orb.

    ¡°Now¡­let¡¯s hope that this causes a fight between tworge guilds¡­¡±

    As Sally mumbled this, Kasumi approached her and showed her the current rankings.

    ¡°Judging by this¡­medium-sized guilds are being crushed left and right. The pace is really picking up.¡±

    Considering the number of guilds that were destroyed, it was clear that there would mostly only berge guilds left by the fourth day.

    ¡°I would have liked to have protected the orbs if we could¡­but that would have been too hard without Maple.¡±

    Even if they couldn¡¯t quickly increase their points, they still had the next part of their n.

    Sally started to walk towards the exit.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to follow the guild that was just here. If it seems like there will be arge-scale battle somewhere¡­then¡­¡±

    Sally looked at Kanade.

    ¡°Yeah, with mine and Sally¡¯s skills.¡±

    ¡°Take Maple with you too.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯m off then.¡±

    So saying, Sally left the base.

    They would wake Maple up in 3 hours, or when Sally contacted them.

    ¡°Well, I doubt any guilds will attack us now. Let¡¯s take it easy.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Yui and Mai also had an important role left to them.

    They would have to rest and prepare for it.

    Sally was able to find the group of nearly 200 yers rather quickly. Large groups could not move as fast. Not only that, but they had to move in a direction that would not affect their advantage of numbers, so they were restricted by terrain as well.

    She had made a guess based on these factors and had been right.

    ¡°They¡­still haven¡¯t shed with any other guilds yet¡­¡±

    Sally observed them from a distance.

    She could not get caught, but she could not lose them either.

    Their position would be known by many otherrge guilds.

    One of those guilds would show up, Sally thought as she watched. Then, two spheres of fire reflected in her eyes.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect this¡­is it a coincidence? ¡­Hmm, we didn¡¯t attack them.¡±

    The mes burned the ground, it rose into the sky as the yers flew and disappeared.

    As magic counter attacks were shot, she saw that there was one yer with overwhelming mobility who was covered in explosive mes.

    ¡°¡®Ifrit¡¯s Kingdome¡¯¡­huh. I see. There are fewer guilds left now, and anyone who wants to enter the top 10 has to attack ¡®Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom¡¯¡­I think? I¡¯m sorry, Maple¡­¡±

    Sally sent a message to Chrome, which meant that they would all have to gather to where she was.

    After easily destroying therge guild, Mi took all of the orbs and returned to their base.

    ¡®Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom¡¯ was currently 5th.

    If the tragedy of the Maple attack had not happened, they might have been higher. Maple had caused Marx to waste so many traps that their defenses were in tatters.

    And many yers had died because of that.

    ¡°It will all be better if we can somehow protect these orbs¡­¡±

    Mi returned to the base so that they would not be taken, and she set them in ce and sighed.

    ¡°Alright¡­I was quite lucky to be able to take them¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know which guilds they are from, but they will likelye to get them back.¡±

    Misery said next to her.

    They didn¡¯t know which guilds and when they woulde, but they would likelye before the orbs turned into points.

    ¡°Ahhh¡­call Shin back as well.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    They would call everyone back in order to defend with their full force.

    Shin came back in time, and as Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom silently waited, reports from their scouts came in.

    All of them were aboutrge guilds advancing towards them.

    The other guilds knew just how powerful Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom was, and so they had held back with the intention of swooping in at the end when things were favorable. This had resulted in severalrge guilds now surrounding Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom.

    ¡°They areing! Everyone, prepare!¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­let¡¯s do our best¡­!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. Mi will do something about this.¡±

    ¡°Leave the healing to me.¡±

    The four of them seemed eager. Just then, Mi received 1 new message.

    It said ¡®Danger, a monster that is likely Maple is approaching.¡¯

    The blood seemed to drain from Mi¡¯s face.

    ¡°Are you kidding¡­I¡¯ve had enough of this¡­no, no, no¡­¡±

    Her true personality jumped out for a second, and the others looked at her in surprise.

    Mi ryed the message to them.

    ¡°This sucks.¡±

    ¡°I¡­even lost to Kasumi¡­I lost!¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes¡­yes¡­¡±

    Marx just rolled onto the floor.

    He was all too aware that his traps would not work against Maple.

    ¡°This sucks.¡±

    As they stood there like that, the otherrge guilds were closing in.

 Chapter 123

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 123

    Defense Specialization and a Feast

    Therge guilds showed themselves one after another as they surrounded ¡®Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom.¡¯

    ¡°¡­It¡¯ll be extinction either way. We might as well take as many of them with us as we can!¡±

    Mi decided as she activated ¡®me Empress.¡¯

    ¡°¡­Yes, let¡¯s do it.¡±

    Marx looked forlorn as he stood up, but he pped his cheeks to bring back his zeal.

    ¡°Now¡­here we go! ¡®re el¡¯!¡±

    With a deafening sound and an explosion of mes, the battle began. A barrage of magic was fired towards the group at Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom all at once. It was an attack from several of therge guilds. And things would not end there.

    ¡°Prayer of the Saintess¡¯!¡±

    Misery¡¯s magic caused light to rain from the sky.

    In exchange for all of your MP, and preventing it from recovering for 3 minutes, this skill gave a high-speed auto-heal effect for a limited time in a super wide area.

    The damage they all took began to heal, which meant that they would not die unless they were hit by every shot.

    Of course, she could not use this in session even if her MP recovered.

    But she still had to use it.

    ¡°Do your best!¡±

    Misery was no longer any use here, and so she had to rely on herrades.

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Shin and Marx went in the opposite direction of Mi. Even if it would make things more difficult, they had to split up.

    ¡°¡®Explosive mes¡¯!¡± Mi extravagantly blew away the oing magic, then rushed towards one enemy group at a speed no one would have expected from a magic user.

    She mmed fireb.a.l.l.s into faces and had explosions of fire tearing out of the ground as she trampled through them.

    However, her MP was also dropping at a ridiculous rate. Even using all of her potions would not be enough to kill all of them.

    ¡°But still¡­!¡±

    She needed to kill as many as she could. It would be to their advantageter on.

    After all, the reality was that they could not escape this, and so they had to fight to as close to their limits as possible.

    And in that reality, the thing they were most afraid of, showed itself.

    In the open ins, a giant monster came running from behind therge guild.

    If they weren¡¯t in the middle of a fight, she would have probably been lying on the ground and looking at the sky with her hand on her forehead.

    ¡°This is¡­no use¡­¡±

    Mi thought, but she was surprised.

    When the monster reached the nks of therge guild, it began to tear up the rear guard and attack the yers.

    She wouldn¡¯t exactly call it reinforcements, but this action did help her in the current situation.

    ¡°We can still do this¡­!¡±

    Mi¡¯s spirits rose once again as she rmenced her attack on therge guild.

    Maple Tree¡¯s aim was to destroy therge guild that surrounded Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom.

    And they were careful to keep the strongest yers in Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom alive as they went about this.

    In other words, Mi, Marx, Misery, and Shin would be kept alive.

    This was because those four would deal a lot of damage to therge guilds.

    Mi did not even try to hinder Maple as she attacked the enemy.

    And Maple did not intervene in Mi¡¯s fight.

    But in a way, they were fighting side-by-side.

    ¡°Now, go to the next!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    The yers on her back dealt damage by throwing bombs. Maple crushed the enemy yers under her feet as she rushed through therge guild.

    ¡°Maple! Over there! They¡¯re in trouble!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    She was already quite ominous in the dark, but Maple in a brightly lit area was also fearsome to see.

    She had such a strong presence that all of the eyes of therge guilds were directed towards her.

    The result of this was that therge guilds did not even stop to talk to one another. They obeyed their instincts and attacked Maple at once.

    This was something that they had to kill now, even if it meant postponing the attack on Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom.

    ¡°Woah¡­they¡¯re alling!¡±

    ¡°Really¡­!? Maple! Protect!¡±

    Sally¡¯s nervous voice reached Maple.

    Maple activated ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ just as a light surrounded them and therge guild they were next to.

    ¡°They got ¡®Savagery¡¯!¡±

    ¡°But everyone is safe! ¡­But¡­¡±

    What Sally had just seen a moment ago was Pain, as he unsheathed his sword in the shadow of a tree.

    In other words, he had heard of this uproar from therge guilds and was watching to see if they could deal a heavy attack.

    He had aimed for a time when many yers were focused on Maple and had been momentarily shocked.

    ¡°Maple! They¡¯reing! So¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes! ¡®Savagery¡¯!¡±

    Even if yesterday¡¯s Savagery was broken, she still had today¡¯s.

    It was the seconding of despair.

    And furthermore.

    ¡°¡®Phantom World!''¡±

    ¡°¡®Phantom World!''¡±

    Kanade and Sally shouted.

    It was a magic that created three clones for 3 minutes.

    This magic was sucked into Maple.

    And there were now 7 monster Maples in all.

    Aside from Pain, Drag and Frederica and Dread had also started to approach them.

    They had stepped out thinking that this was their chance, now that Maple had returned to her normal form.

    ¡°Things get crazier every time I look! ¡®Earth Breaker¡¯!¡±

    Drag was more resigned than surprised at this point, as he shattered the ground.

    Regardless of the form she was in, Maple was dangerous at close-range, and so they had to stop her.

    The holy sword lit up the sky, the earth was broken, fire blew, and the monster ran.

    nts and vines stretched out, and magic covered the sky. Swords danced, illusions confused the people.

    The destruction was repeated, and the dying lights of the yers looked somehow beautiful on the battlefield.

 Chapter 124

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 124

    Defense Specialization and the User of the Holy de

    Due to this sudden h.e.l.lish scene, all of the average yers died in quick session.

    One after another, they fell. When the 3 minutes were up and Maple¡¯s clones disappeared, over half of the yers had disappeared into light.

    However, nearly everyone had thought of using piercing skills on Maple, and the damage had stacked to a point where she was returned to her normal form.

    The monster that loomed over them was now gone, and Maple fell down into the crowd of yers.

    The yers all readied their skills, they would not allow her to act as soon as she touched the ground.

    ¡°¡®Deploy all Weapons¡¯!¡±

    As Maple was still in the air, numerous gun barrels and cannons were pointed towards the ground.

    The ck weapons were developed with loud clicking noises around her.

    ¡°¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯! ¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    That now familiar and most hated mouth appeared and in one swoop, erased all of the yers who were waiting below Maple in order to attack.

    Next, the Hydra covered the ground in poison, allowing Maple to move around with an advantage.

    Of course, yers without sufficient ¡®Poison Resistance¡¯ died right there.

    The monster that had been enveloping Maple was indeed gone.

    However, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Maple herself was a monster in human shape.

    No, she was actually more than that.

    Appearance-wise, she may have looked weaker. But her methods of attack were much more varied, and she was now harder to hit.

    She was a devil with the face of an angel. And that was much more dangerous.

    It could not be helped that the enemy yers saw her in this way.

    As Maplended on the ground, the weapons that she wore began to fire at and burn the yers that surrounded her.

    She was in the center of a powerful sea of poison. You could not go near her without immunity to it, and she was able to block long ranged piercing attacks with her great shield.

    Ultimately, the yers that surrounded Maple gave up. The siege fell apart and they scattered.

    Of course, Maple wasn¡¯t going to let them walk away freely, and with an explosion of mes, she began to fly around the field at an incredible speed.

    The members of ¡®a.s.sembly of Holy des¡¯ had failed in their ambush, but were able to stop any counterattacks with ¡®Earth Breaker.¡¯

    They hade for Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom¡¯s¡­o¡­b.., and so they decided that they might as well crush some of thepet.i.tion that had gathered along the way.

    Pain and Dread were strong enough to fight on their own. Drag and Frederica moved as a team.

    There were two main reasons that they fought while keeping a distance from Maple Tree. It was more efficient for crushing theirrge guild rivals, and because in a most general sense, Maple Tree was dangerous.

    ¡°They¡¯re retreating before they be the targets¡­huh.¡±

    Pain mumbled to himself as he dealt with the yers in front of him.

    For yers that had crossed a certain line like Pain and Maple, fighting against inferior yers was monotonous work.

    Pain imagined what it would be like to fight against Maple. And he imagined what the oue would be.

    And no matter what he did, he did not feel like he would be able to defeat her if both of them were in the best condition.

    ¡°I have to be stronger¡­¡±

    Pain intended on fighting her again. At a time where he had a chance of winning.

    ¡°I should go and look for some new skills¡­¡±

    Pain looked at Maple¡¯s battle frenzy from afar as he cut down yet another yer.

    The three guilds that were considered dangerous by everyone were gathered here.

    The destructive power was hard toprehend.

    Not only that, but all three were making an effort to not interfere with the other, which made things worse.

    Once all of the guilds retreated, battered and wounded, the only yers that remained on the field were the four from Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom and the members of Maple Leaf.

    As Chrome was using ¡®Cover Move¡¯ and ¡®Cover¡¯ to protect Yui, Mai and the others, Kasumi was able to heal them in time even when their HP was low. Sally was also fine.

    And so, of course, was Maple.

    ¡°We would have been done for without the skills¡­¡±

    Chrome was almost surprised that he was still alive.

    His HP had almost dropped to 0 several times, but it always managed to recover, even if it was slow.

    On the other hand, the members of Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom were covered in wounds. They had already used many of their trump cards. And many of their guild members were forced to retire.

    They could not fight against Maple Tree now.

    Mi had decided that this was the case, and so she did not even try to take the orbs that were between them and Maple Tree. Instead, she covered herself in mes.

    What happened next was a ma.s.sive explosion.

    Yes, Mi had used her remaining MP to copy Maple¡¯s self-destruction flight. She took Misery, Shin, and Marx with her for an emergency escape.

    Unlike Maple, she needed Misery to heal her, but she was still sessful.

    The guild members of Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom had reached this consensus.

    They depended on the strongest four to maintain their standing in the rankings.

    And so Maple Tree seeded in taking back the orbs.

 Chapter 125

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 125

    Defense Specialization and a Safe Zone

    As Maple could not use ¡®Savagery¡¯ again, the members of Maple Tree rode on Syrup and slowly made their way back to the base.

    Then they set all of their orbs in ce and everyone rested.

    After one hour of resting.

    Normally, it would not have been strange for some guild to attack them, but the elerated speed at which things were happening had caused yers to enter a danger zone in terms of the number of deaths, and so no one would go out of their way to enter such a deadly area.

    In spite of having so many orbs there, Maple Tree¡¯s base was the quietest ce inside of the game right now.

    ¡°Sally? What are you looking at?¡±

    Maple saw that Sally was looking at the floating blue panel and came closer to see.

    ¡°Hmm? Oh, uh¡­I¡¯m just amazed.¡±

    ¡°Amazed?¡±

    Maple looked at the screen and saw that it was the rankings.

    What was different about it now, was that there wererge guilds that had been annihted

    ¡°Ah, another guild¡­either a.s.sembly of Holy Swords or Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom is running wild. Yes, that¡¯s probably it.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Of those two, I think it would be Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom. They barely just survived a while ago, and I don¡¯t think that they will be able to fight any longer than 2 days. So¡­they are probably getting rid of as many rivals as they can now, and leaving the rest to fate.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t something that Sally could confirm, but she was in fact, correct. Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom was crushing other guilds to prevent others from gaining any more points, and hoping it would be enough to keep them in the top 10.

    Still, Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom was on the brink of ruin. Even if it was to prevent the situation from getting any worse, it would be a huge strain on them to attackrge guilds.

    They would notst for very long.

    ¡°This destructive power is incredible¡­even more than you when you¡¯re at full strength.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t kill yers unless I run over them just right¡­but they don¡¯t stand up again, so I don¡¯t bother!

    Most of the yers who are blown away by Maple while she is using ¡®Savagery¡¯ do not die. The only times they do is if they were unlucky to be trampled twice.

    However, it was hard to stay cool when you are crashed into and are flying in the air.

    It was as they were stunned like this that she would often deal a decisive blow.

    She was good at causing confusion and robbing them of theirposure. But killing everyone would take a bit of time, even with the giant body.

    In the first ce, Maple¡¯s ability to kill on sight had just happened to work quite well during this event, but it was unlikely that it would work the same a monthter.

    Unlike Maple, Mi was simpler. She just had to force her super firepower onto you.

    In terms of firepower, you could say that she was much stronger than Maple.

    And now that she had learned to fly by using an explosion after watching Maple, it was possible for her to destroyrge guilds in a short amount of time.

    The annihtion ofrge guilds was a positive thing for Maple Tree as well.

    ¡°No one ising to take their orbs back¡­I think that if we manage to protect them, our ce in the top 10 is guaranteed.¡±

    ¡°So there is no reason to go out anymore?¡±

    ¡°You could say that.¡±

    Mapleughed and sat down after hearing this.

    ¡°I worked harder this time than I have ever worked before¡­I¡¯m so tired.¡±

    ¡°The only thing to do is prepare ¡®Crystal Wall¡¯ and the guns, just in case.¡±

    ¡°Yes, alright.¡±

    Sally too sat down after Maple answered. And together they looked at what was happening with the other guilds.

 Chapter 126

    Defense Specialization and Spection

    Outside of the game, management was looking at a disy that showed the remaining guilds.

    ¡°This¡­is clearly finished.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    There was a bright 6 on the disy.

    All of the guilds that were shown on the disy now were in the top 10.

    In other words, it had already been confirmed, which guilds would be in the top 10.

    This event had been nned to go on for 5 days but was essentially ended on the morning of the fourth day. They had watched the number of guilds fall on the disy, but now it waspletely still.

    ¡°They are all so murderous, huh!? Hey!?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll edit all of the highlights of this event into a video. I doubt anything interesting will happen from this point.¡±

    The man gave orders to the others, and they began to choose memorable scenes from the massive amount of recorded data.

    ¡°Maple is in nearly half them¡­¡±

    ¡°You want us to take out the memorable scenes without showing her? We¡¯ve already tried doing that quite a bit.¡±

    He said to the man who had mumbled. The man who had mumbled put his hand to his forehead and leaned back into his chair.

    ¡°Well, the reason that this event didn¡¯t go as nned seems to be because of Maple Tree¡¯s meddling¡­¡±

    ¡°Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom is 10th, and they¡¯ve gone extinct, right? I had made predictions about the rankings and¡­they arepletely off.¡±

    Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom took down many of their rivals, but they pushed themselves too hard and went extinct. However, they did seed in keeping their spot in the top 10.

    ¡°If only we could learn to predict Maple¡¯s movements¡­¡±

    It was something that many yers wished.

    It was easier to deal with people when you could n ahead of time.

    ¡°There is no use thinking about the impossible¡­ More importantly, the number of days for the next one¡­we need to reconsider all that.¡±

    ¡°Still, who would have thought that it would elerate to the point that there were 2 whole days left¡­¡±

    Not being able to predict the enthusiasm of the yers was their mistake.

    As the man thought about the next event, a different man seemed to have thought of something, as he raised his voice so the whole room could hear.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s make some guesses! About what Maple is doing now! What do you think? I¡¯ll buy lunch for whoever gets it right.¡±

    Everyone in the room agreed to this.

    Of course, they would, there was no reason not to.

    ¡°We can watch the recorded data from a little while ago. Though, it only shows the area around the orb¡­¡±

    So saying, they prepared to y the footage of Maple Tree on the 4th day.

    ¡°So, it¡¯s possible that she¡¯s not at the base?¡±

    ¡°Why not? It will be hard to find her though¡­but I think she will be in the base¡­¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s start guessing! Raise your hand if you think of something!¡±

    The man who promised to buy lunch gave the signal, and several people raised their hands.

    And they all said their guess in the order that he indicated.

    ¡°She¡¯s ying a board game with the other guild members.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s practicing flying in the sky with the machine god.¡±

    ¡°The twins are juggling her.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s testing to see if she can gain skills by biting weapons made with ¡®Smithing.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Eh? Don¡¯t you think those are a little too normal?¡±

    ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right¡­¡±

    After being told that those were too normal, everyone started to reconsider what they thought Maple would do.

    And their guesses be more and more chaotic.

    ¡°She¡¯s inside the mouth of a giant turtle.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s fighting Sally for some reason.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s biting the turtle.¡±

    They all fired off their guesses.

    And once they werergely exhausted of them, the room fell quiet again and the man who had suggested it all announced that it was finished.

    ¡°Now¡­let¡¯s see.¡±

    ¡°Ahh.¡±

    After a brief pause, the giant monitor showed Maple Tree.

    As for Maple, she waspletely covered in wool, and weapons were sprouting from her body. Yui and Mai were carrying her as they walked around the base.

    After seeing this, they slowly closed the video.

    ¡°Should we put that in as well?¡±

    ¡°¡­Yeah.¡±

    The scene was quietly added to highlight reel. And the rest of the team went about whatever it was they needed to do in order to process seeing something that defied understanding.

 Chapter 127

    Defense Specialization and Connections

    Management had been correct in assuming that it was all over.

    There was no fighting at all from the fourth day on, and the time went by peacefully.

    The rankings didn¡¯t see any shifts and the 5th day ended, and so Maple and the others were teleported back to the normal field.

    A few secondster, a blue panel appeared in front of each yer¡¯s face, and it disyed the final rankings.

    ¡°3rd again!¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, you were 3rd during the first event as well.¡±

    The reward was the same for everyone in the top 10, so they had not been targeting the top spot, but the fact that they had taken so many orbs fromrger guilds had kept their position high.

    After that, the disy showed what the reward would be.

    5 silver medals and one wooden tag. As a guild master, Maple was also gifted an item that raised all of her stats by 5%.

    After putting all of it into her inventory, Maple took out the wooden tag again and looked at it.

    ¡°¡®Permit to Enter. 5.¡¯ ¡­Hmm.¡±

    And under that, was Maple¡¯s own name in small letters.

    It was so that you could not allow other people to borrow it.

    ¡°It looks like it will be useful on the nextyer. Well, that won¡¯t be for a while.¡±

    Sally said as she put away her own tag.

    ¡°In any case¡­that was good work, Maple.¡±

    ¡°You too! Sally!¡±

    They both praised each other for putting up a good fight, and then returned to the guild with the other members.

    Everyone agreed that they should celebrate being in the top 10 with a party, and so it was decided that it would be held in a few days.

    Izu had maxed out the level on her ¡®Cooking¡¯ skill, so her food was delicious.

    However, when they all gathered together, Maple was the only one who had not arrived.

    ¡°She went out, saying that she was going to buy something¡­I should have gone with her¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­She tends to wander off when she is by herself.¡±

    Just as Sally was about to leave to go and find Maple, the doors of the guild swung open, and Maple returned.

    And as always, she had brought something unexpected with her.

    ¡°I¡¯m back!¡±

    ¡°Hey, wee back, Maple. Who are those people that are behind you?¡±

    The people that Sally was looking at, were the 4 from Assembly of Holy des, and the 4 from Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom.

    When she asked this, Maple replied in a cheerful voice.

    ¡°I just met them outside and we started talking, and they added me as a friend, so I invited them? You know¡­uh, so we can connect as yers who are strong? Because I¡¯m a strong person now!¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­uh, yeah¡­¡±

    Maple showed them her friends list, which now disyed the members of Maple Tree, Assembly of Holy des, and Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom.

    As Sally knew Maple quite well, she looked at it as if was somethingpletely different from a friends list.

    She thought that even a demon lord would turn pale and run.

    Izu was quickly making more food in order to amodate the sudden guests.

    As Maple Tree only had 8 members, it wasn¡¯t hard to fit more people into seats if anyone came.

    As they all enjoyed the food and their time together, a notice suddenly arrived from management.

    It contained one video.

    ¡°Let¡¯s put it up on the guild monitor. It looks like everyone got the same video after all.¡±

    Maple stood up and started to push buttons on the guildhouse monitor in order to y the video.

    What appeared on the screen, was this event highlight reel.

    However, most of it involved the actions of the people that were in the room.

    One moment it was Pain, then Mi, then it would change to Sally.

    ¡°Ahh¡­this is that night¡­my failure!¡±

    Frederica shrieked.

    ¡°I would have gotten Frederica too if I was feeling a little better.

    Sally said. Frederica gave her a contemptuous look.

    ¡°It would not have gone so easily for you.¡±

    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you fight me?¡±

    ¡°Sure!? I¡¯ll hit you this time! I will!¡±

    As they talked like this, Maple appeared on the screen next.

    ¡°She¡¯s still in human form.¡±

    ¡°She multiplies into seven right? I know about that.¡±

    Dread and Drag looked on with vacant eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s painful just remembering it.¡±

    The male members all looked at the monitor. All of them except for Chrome had been killed once, so it was not a happy memory.

    Except for Kanade, who blended in with the girls as they looked at the monitor.

    It looked like Marx would take the longest to recover.

    In the end, the footage of Chrome using ¡®Cover Move¡¯ to protect Yui, Mai, Izu, and Kanade, with his abnormal healing ability, was yed. The others seemed to look at him as if to say, ¡®But, I thought that you were supposed to be rtively normal?¡¯

    ¡°I need to catch up with Maple too. I don¡¯t want to be weaker forever.¡±

    ¡°How can you catch up with Maple, when she turns into a ball of wool or a monster the second you look away¡­hahhh.¡±

    Chrome said to the all too eager Pain.

    Maple was on a far away level that surpassed mere ability.

    He didn¡¯t know if it was even possible to catch up.

    A newyer would be added in a month and a half.

    It was clear that their actions there would be the real decisive factor.

 Chapter 128

    Defense Specialization and the Message Board

    780 Name£ºAnonymous Greatshield User

    Hey.

    781 Name£ºAnonymous Spear User

    Hey. I saw the video.

    782 Name£ºAnonymous Bow User

    They called her a walking fortress with inhuman defense, but now she¡¯s a running fortress and nonhuman.

    What can we even do at this point.

    783 Name£ºAnonymous Greatsword User

    She was human only a short while ago¡­

    At least on the outside.

    784 Name£ºAnonymous Greatshield User

    She keeps changing every time you look away.

    785 Name£ºAnonymous Magic User

    I would like her to teach me how to grow so that I can develop weapons or change my body like that.

    786 Name£ºAnonymous Greatshield User

    It¡¯s like the speed of lighting.

    You take your eyes off of her for one day and she has already shed anotheryer.

    787 Name£ºAnonymous Spear User

    Ayer? Hohoho

    788 Name£ºAnonymous Greatsword User

    Shedding her skin and growing. It¡¯s like she is a ss that suddenly evolves. Right?

    789 Name£ºAnonymous Bow User

    Well, no one in Maple Tree is normal.

    I was sure of this after seeing the footage of Chrome.

    790 Name£ºAnonymous Greatshield User

    Really?

    791 Name£ºAnonymous Bow User

    Yeah.

    Chrome was also just wearing human skin. That¡¯s all.

    792 Name£ºAnonymous Greatsword User

    He just looks normal byparison, because Maple is too insane.

    Still, even considering all that, Sally and the twins are also on the strange side.

    793 Name£ºAnonymous Magic User

    I¡¯ve experienced a hit and run by Maple Tree.

    I know what it¡¯s like to suddenly be thrown into the air in the dark.

    794 Name£ºAnonymous Bow User

    And their advance guard throws iron balls at you.

    They were a little simr to Maple.

    Really slow on their feet.

    795 Name£ºAnonymous Spear User

    I bet.

    Well, they at least didn¡¯t seem quite as bad as her.

    796 Name£ºAnonymous Greatshield User

    The gift of Maple¡¯s growth.

    It does it in one day.

    797 Name£ºAnonymous Greatsword User

    Huh?

    The Maple characteristic is contagious?

    798 Name£ºAnonymous Magic User

    Yeah?

    Chrome caught it, that¡¯s why he¡¯s like that.

    799 Name£ºAnonymous Spear User

    Judging by the video, Chrome definitely did.

    I mean, Kasumi is the only one who hasn¡¯t changed her equipment.

    The rear guard is alsopletely strange.

    800 Name£ºAnonymous Greatsword User

    Well, I think they are manageable if you go one on one.

    The ones that you can¡¯t are the dangerous ones.

    801 Name£ºAnonymous Greatshield User

    On a serious note, is there anyone who could beat Sally one on one?

    I tried in the training area of the guild home, but it was no use.

    802 Name£ºAnonymous Bow User

    She dodges right?

    I watched the video, and it¡¯s always so close.

    803 Name£ºAnonymous Greatshield User

    Rumors have been spreading, but they are just rumors.

    You just can¡¯tnd a hit on her.

    804 Name£ºAnonymous Greatsword User

    Rumors about Maple Leaf?

    There are a lot of them. Especially because the video of this event had a huge impact.

    805 Name£ºAnonymous Spear User

    The third day is being called the War of Gods and Demons, or the End of Days.

    806 Name£ºAnonymous Greatshield User

    She multiplied after all.

    Well, that wasn¡¯t something that Maple would have been able to do alone.

    807 Name£ºAnonymous Bow User

    There isn¡¯t much of a difference when 0 hope turns into a pinch of hope.

    808 Name£ºAnonymous Magic User

    I had totally forgotten that Maple even had HP, until that moment when Pain damaged her.

    809 Name£ºAnonymous Spear User

    I mean, why does Maple even have a skill like that?

    Has someone been able to take all of her health before?

    810 Name£ºAnonymous Greatshield User

    There was.

    Though, probably not a person.

    And it wouldn¡¯t happen with the current Maple¡¯s VIT, I think.

    811 Name£ºAnonymous Bow User

    It¡¯s still going up?

    She¡¯s already at a level where it wouldn¡¯t need to go any higher.

    812 Name£ºAnonymous Greatshield User

    I asked her recently, and she said that she was close to five-digits.

    Really, I almost fainted when I heard that.

    813 Name£ºAnonymous Greatsword User

    That¡¯s like 50x my STR.

    How?

    814 Name£ºAnonymous Magic User

    And she said that she didn¡¯t feel like putting points into any other stats anymore.

    815 Name£ºAnonymous Bow User

    At least she¡¯s having fun.

    I mean, if she started putting points into other things, she would be invincible.

    It¡¯s hrious that just being able to run would be a massive upgrade.

    816 Name£ºAnonymous Greatshield User

    I don¡¯t know if Maple thinks about efficiency or not.

    817 Name£ºAnonymous Magic User

    My theory is that she became strong because she doesn¡¯t think so hard.

    818 Name£ºAnonymous Spear User

    You don¡¯t get carried around like a portable shrine while inside of a ball of wool by thinking normally.

    819 Name£ºAnonymous Bow User

    That was the only clip they showed of the 4th day.

    820 Name£ºAnonymous Greatsword User

    One moment I was watching the me Empress in battle, and then it suddenly switched to that. I wasn¡¯t even able to think straight after seeing that.

 Chapter 129

    Defense Specialization and the 4th Layer

    One day in October, a little over a month since the event.

    It was the day that the 4thyer was to be added.

    Risa had invited her to go and check it out, but she would have logged in either way.

    Her vision was filled with light, and when it disappeared, the 3rdyer¡¯s town spread out before her.

    She looked around to see that Sally was waving at her, and so Maple walked up to her.

    ¡°I came. What should we do? Should we go right away?¡±

    ¡°I bet you could take care of the boss on the 3rdyer by yourself¡­yeah, let¡¯s go. You¡¯re curious too, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I am!¡±

    They didn¡¯t try to match their login times, and so the two of them were the only ones who were there from Maple Tree.

    Even if they went now, they would have to go again with everyone elseter and fight the boss all over again.

    But still, their curiosity about the newyer was too strong.

    Without even knowing what the boss was, Maple used ¡®Savagery¡¯ to transform, so she could carry Sally on her back as she ran through the field and towards the dungeon.

    At this point, everyone knew that this monster was Maple, and so none of the yers who flew in the sky tried to attack her.

    However, she still drew a lot of attention.

    They ran over monsters as they made their way through the dungeon. Then they arrived in front of the room and Maple opened the doors to go inside.

    ¡°Sally? We¡¯re here!¡±

    ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s get this thing over with.¡±

    The thing that was inside was a steel golem that was three times their height.

    If golems had a will of their own, this one would have been stunned to see the door open and a monster¡¯s head peeking inside.

    ¡°¡®Phantom World¡¯!¡±

    Even with only Sally, Maple could multiple into 4.

    The four 4 Maples started to attack the golem as if surrounding it.

    As for the golem, it too tried to attack Maple, but of course, she didn¡¯t take any damage.

    Sally saw this with relief and then sat down to pet Oboro on the head.

    However, as Sally was doing this, she heard Maple¡¯s frantic voice.

    ¡°Sally!? What should I do!?¡±

    ¡°Huh!? What!?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t deal any damage to it!?¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    Sally looked at the golem and saw that its HP hadn¡¯t changed at all.

    Management had been thinking.

    A natural way to stop Maple in Savagery form.

    And what they came up with, was not to ce a boss with ridiculous attack power there, but a boss with high defense power and HP.

    Maple¡¯s ultimate enemy was not someone with extreme firepower, but someone with the same traits as her.

    Maple didn¡¯t have any piercing attack skills.

    And as the golem couldn¡¯t deal any damage, this fight couldn¡¯t end.

    It was a way to contain Maple in a one on one fight.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯m going to have to do something about this.¡±

    Realizing what this meant, Sally pulled out her daggers and ran towards the golem.

    And they fought for 30 minutes.

    Partly due to Sally maxing out ¡®Dance of Swords,¡¯ the battle was able to finallye to an end.

    ¡°Hah¡­that was a mistake.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­that was harsh.¡±

    This put a damper on their n to quickly pass this area and go see the 4thyer, but they decided to switch gears and head for it anyway.

    ¡°I wonder what it¡¯s like?¡±

    ¡°Who knows? Look, you can see it now.¡±

    Sally started to run, and Maple chased after her.

    The 4thyer was a town of shadows.

    Stars glimmered in the night sky, and there were two full moons, one red and one blue.

    This town was the biggest of the towns so far, and all of the buildings were wooden and looked traditionally Japanese.

    There were waterways running throughout the town, andnterns quietly illuminated the streets.

    There was an especially tall building in the center of the town, and their hearts were filled with curiosity.

    ¡°Should we explore? Should we?¡±

    ¡°Yes. But let¡¯s go to the guild home first.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right.¡±

    They suppressed their excitement and headed for the guild home.

 Chapter 130

    Defense Specialization and the Town on the 4th Layer

    They located the guild home and made a quick tour of the interior. Then Sally noticed that the other members of Maple Tree had logged in.

    ¡°Sorry, Maple. I¡¯ll go and help them.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go too. Though, I can only help protect with ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯¡±

    The two put off the exploration of the 4thyer and returned once again to the 3rdyer.

    The boss fight ended very quickly with Yui and Mai hammering out normal attacks under the protection of ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯

    Now that they had all arrived in the new town, they decided to explore it separately.

    They would share any information that they gatheredter, and this would allow them to get arger picture of the ce.

    Maple was walking down a street by herself and looking around her.

    As she did this, she saw arge red gate that had a sign with ¡®one¡¯ written in kanji on it.

    Maple tried to go through when she suddenly heard a voice saying that she needed a permit.

    ¡°Mmm¡­I am allowed to pass, right?¡±

    Maple extended a single leg through the gate to confirm that nothing would happen. Then she hopped in all of the way through.

    ¡°Oh right, I do have the permit. How far can I go with it?¡±

    Maple started to walk again.

    You needed a permit to go deeper inside.

    And of course, the deeper you went in, the higher the possibility of finding better equipment and skills.

    There were small boats and rickshaws here where you could pay NPCs to transport you to different ces. Maple went through a gate that had ¡®two¡¯ written on it before deciding to take one of the rickshaws.

    ¡°So fast! And useful!¡±

    It was much faster than Maple was on her feet, and she was able to move towards the center of the town at a great pace.

    When Maple got off of the rickshaw, she was in front of a gate with a ¡®six¡¯ painted on it.

    When she tried to walk through, she was blocked by a wall of light.

    ¡°Ahh¡­I¡¯m still so far away from that tall building¡­ I wonder if you can raise the level on your permit somewhere?¡±

    And so Maple gave up trying to go any further and decided to look at the stores in the area.

    ¡°Hellooo¡­ Woah, there are lots of Japanese clothes!¡±

    There were lots of clothes that were simr to what Kasumi wore.

    ¡°These clothes might be more fitting for this town¡­¡±

    Ultimately, Maple decided to change all of her clothes. She could just change her equipment when she needed to fight, and so she unequipped her shield and sword and switched to full-on tourist mode.

    Maple left the store in a kimono that was mostly purple, to match her skill, ¡®Hydra.¡¯

    ¡°Where should I go next?¡±

    Maple was in a good mood as she started walking.

    The next store that Maple went into was a store that sold household items.

    The clerk NPC was sitting in the back.

    There was arge assortment of items, from pots and hanging scrolls to desks.

    These were items to transform your guild home¡¯s appearance.

    ¡°Maybe they are really good? The price is so high¡­I don¡¯t know.¡±

    She tried to assess the quality of the items, but Maple didn¡¯t have much interest in furniture, to begin with, and so she decided that it could wait, and she left the store.

    But then the old man, who was the store clerk, called after her.

    ¡°Youngdy¡­won¡¯t youe and look at this other pot?¡±

    ¡°Me? ¡­Uh, what should I do¡­¡±

    She did not have much interest at all, but she felt that she would probably wonder about itter, and so she decided to see it now.

    ¡°Come over here¡­¡±

    The store clerk opened a door and invited Maple into an area outside of the main store.

    Maple followed, and what she saw was a small pot with a lid on it, that would fit right on the palm of your hand.

    ¡°This? Hmm¡­I don¡¯t need that.¡±

    As Maple said this, a blue panel appeared in front of her.

    ¡°Hm? A quest!?¡±

    Well, that was a different story.

    Due to her status, there were not many quests for Maple, and so she could not refuse this one.

    And so Maple epted it without even checking the name of it.

    ¡°Well then¡­I guess you will be thest one.¡±

    The clerk removed the lid from the pot, and Maple¡¯s body was sucked inside of it.

    ¡°Huh!? AH!?¡±

    Maple tried to think about what the name of the quest had been, but of course, she was unable to remember the name, ¡®King of the Pot.¡¯

 Chapter 131

    Defense Specialization and Inside of the Pot

    After an instant of weightlessness, Maple fell to the ground on her butt.

    ¡°Owowo! Wh-where am I?¡±

    Maple looked around her.

    She was in a t field and there was a high wall in the distance.

    It was such a wide field, that Maple would never think of walking from one end to the other.

    ¡°¡­Hmm? Something ising?¡±

    Maple put a hand to her forehead and squinted. She saw scorpions with hard-looking purple shells, centipedes and even spiders, who normally didn¡¯t have shells, and they were running towards her.

    They were running at a great speed, bing bigger and bigger by the second.

    ¡°Hmm. I guess I am supposed to kill those things! Alright!¡±

    Maple put a hand on her waist and tried to pull out her sword.

    ¡°Huh!? It¡¯s, it¡¯s not equipped!?¡±

    As Maple had been sucked into the pot while in tourist mode, her sword and shield were still in her inventory.

    ¡°What¡­oh, oh!¡±

    Maple quickly brought the blue panel up and tapped furiously through the menu.

    However, being in a panic caused her to press the wrong buttons, and she wasted time equipping unrted items. This only made her more frantic, and by the time she had all of her equipment and pressed ¡®finish,¡¯ the first scorpion had already reached her and was picking her up with its pincer.

    ¡°Wai-, hey! Wa-wait! Timeout! Timeout!!¡±

    She was being carried and could not move, but none of the attacks dealt her any damage.

    While Maple would not die, her brand new kimono was a different matter.

    ¡°It¡¯s going to rip! Rip!! Ohh¡­Ugaahh!? Don¡¯t drool your poison on me!¡±

    The centipede was now above her and looking down, and a purple liquid was dripping onto her from its mouth. This too had no effect on Maple.

    However, the effect on her equipment was enormous.

    Maple tried to change her equipment again, but the clothes had not been meant for battle to begin with, and it quickly disappeared into light.

    ¡°Ahh¡­¡±

    Maple stopped struggling, her legs dangled, dripping poison as she slowly changed her equipment.

    Now she waspletely in ck. Maple swung her arm as hard as she could, mming the shield into the scorpion¡¯s pincer. And then she was finally able to escape its grip.

    ¡°Ahh¡­there are so many of you.¡±

    Maple mumbled as the centipede¡¯s poison sprayed over her.

    They had gathered around her while she had been captured, and her vision was now full of all kinds of poisonous monsters.

    ¡°I am going to kill all of you.¡±

    Maple called out ¡®Predator¡¯ and activated ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯

    ¡°¡®Deploy all Weapons¡¯!¡±

    With a loud noise, weapons began to grow from Maple¡¯s body.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack.¡¯¡±

    The weapons fired off one after another, but they all bounced off of the hard shells.

    This was because all of the monsters were covered in the purple shell.

    Even the snakes that could curl their bodies were no exception.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard¡­This is not great at all! Really!¡±

    Most of Maple and ¡®Predator¡¯s¡¯ attacks were focused on the scorpion that was in front of her. And after a while, the shell began to crack, exposing the spots inside.

    ¡°It¡¯s not as strong as I expected¡­ ¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯!¡±

    Maple unleashed the monsters¡¯ mouths onto it, and the scorpion vanished with a burst of light.

    She realized that they didn¡¯t have particrly high HP, but they made up for it with numbers.

    ¡®Predator¡¯ was constantly getting hit, and there were bees and moths flying in the air as well.

    It would take a long time to take them all down.

    ¡°I know! ¡­I¡¯ll put ¡®Predator¡¯ away for now¡­¡±

    Maple returned the pair and pointed her barrels towards the ground and fired,unching herself high into the sky.

    ¡°Syrup!¡±

    Maple called Syrup while in the air, making it immediately growrge.

    As she had flown higher, Maple dropped down so that shended right on top of Syrup¡¯s back.

    ¡°Hehe, thank you, Syrup.¡±

    She patted Syrup¡¯s armor before moving close to the neck and giving the order.

    ¡°Hold me in your mouth.¡±

    Quietly, Syrup held Maple up to the knees in a straight line.

    ¡°Alright, alright.¡±

    Maple then made Syrup move from a horizontal position to a vertical one.

    Now Maple was hanging upside-down, and her gun barrels were directed at the ground.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯! Break all of the monster shells!¡±

    A rain ofsers and bullets shot down from the sky.

    ¡°This is like a UFO catcher.¡±

    Maple controlled Syrup as she moved in a circle, making sure that her attacks were spread out and hit all of her targets.

    She could see the ground from this position, and it was easy to spot whether or not the bright purple shells had cracked. And so she continued to fire at them without restraint.

    ¡°The flying monster¡¯s had softer shells that broke easily¡­now I just need to go back to the ground and kill the others!¡±

    She had no more reason to look from above, and so she returned Syrup to her ring and fell,nding with her feet on the ground.

    ¡°I¡¯ll finish you this time¡­prepare yourselves!¡±

    The only reply that Maple received, was their death cries before they disappeared.

 Chapter 132

    Defense Specialization and Report

    Maple¡¯s attacks were very effective on the monsters once they had lost their shells.

    And as the monsters could not damage Maple, the fight ended uneventfully with Maple¡¯s victory.

    ¡°Alright! Thest one!¡±

    Maple fired a bullet into thest monster. Then her vision suddenly turned dark, and before she knew it, she was back in the store.

    ¡°The clerk¡­is not here anymore? Oh!¡±

    A questpletion panel appeared in front of her.

    What Maple received was a new skill.

    ¡°¡®Venom Incantation¡¯? What is that?¡±

    ¡®Venom Incantation¡¯

    Adds 20% instant death effect to poison type skills.

    ¡°Ohhh¡­oh? I see¡­ It seems like it can also override ¡®Poison Immunity.¡¯¡±

    There were more monsters and yers now who had ¡®Poison Immunity¡¯ or ¡®Poison Resistance,¡¯ which made it harder for her to use ¡®Hydra.¡¯ But now she had acquired a means to affect yers with ¡®Poison Immunity¡¯ in a wide range, and not only would she be able to kill them, but this would confuse all of the anti-Maple information that had spread.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to try it out soon¡­but not now¡­¡±

    Maple left the empty store and with a heavy heart, returned to a certain store.

    ¡°Ohh¡­I won¡¯t forgive them.¡±

    Maple grumbled at the monsters in the pot as she bought a new kimono again.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to wear it a lot, so it¡¯s fine!¡±

    Maple insisted to herself that this was a necessary expense, as she walked out into the town once again.

    Everyone did as much exploring as they could, and then several dayster, they all gathered together at the guild.

    And they talked about what they had found.

    ¡°So, what about you, Maple?¡±

    Sally moved the conversation to her.

    ¡°I got an instant death effect and a new kimono!¡±

    ¡°¡­Umm¡­we¡¯ll talk about thatter.¡±

    Sally gathered all of the information together and began to talk.

    What she talked about was the permit.

    You could not explore this town adequately without this permit.

    And it was required that you finish difficult quests in order to raise the rank on these permits.

    Chrome and Kasumi already knew about this, but Maple rarely made an effort to gather this kind of information, and so it was news to her.

    ¡°So does that mean that our permits are really good?¡±

    ¡°Well, I think it gives us quite an advantage.¡±

    There was no doubt about it, as they had skipped a number of steps that other yers would need to take.

    After that, they talked about the different quests they had each discovered, but it seemed like no one else had found the one that Maple hadpleted.

    ¡°Okay, tell me if anything happens!¡±

    So saying, the meeting was over, and everyone left to do what they wanted.

    Kasumi stayed in the guild and shut the door to her room.

    ¡°Hah¡­I¡¯m so happy¡­¡±

    All of the things that were lined up in Kasumi¡¯s room were things that she had bought during thest few days in the 4thyer.

    There was pottery that caught her eye, swords and other items that were not rted to fighting.

    Unlike the real world, you could be a little less mindful of how you spent your money here.

    But even for Kasumi, this was a little excessive.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll go out shopping again! ¡­Hmm, I better make some money first.¡±

    The amount of gold that showed up on the blue panel had dwindled to a worrying degree.

    The things that Kasumi had bought were far from cheap. If anything, they were very expensive.

    Still, it was the most fun that she had ever had.

    ¡°I want to go to the furthest depths before anyone else. Hehe.¡±

    Kasumi said as she looked at her permit with a ¡®six¡¯ on it.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going! Time is precious.¡±

    She stashed the permit into her inventory and flew out of the guild.

 Chapter 133

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 133

    Defense Specialization and a Sword

    Ten days after Maple went inside the pot, Kasumi was in her room and staring at her status and other information that was disyed on the blue panel.

    No, more correctly, she was staring at one specific point on the panel.

    ¡°Tsk¡­¡±

    Kasumi had continued to buy things that had no effect on her abilities, and now she had used up almost all of the money she had saved up until now.

    It had been enough to make 5 Maple Trees.

    The 4thyer was built so that you would get closer to the center every time you went through a gate, and therefore, each new area was a little smaller.

    But they were still pretty big overall.

    However, Kasumi had collected items from all of the antique shops in the area.

    Looking at the items in those stores was a time of supreme bliss for Kasumi.

    Her passion had not only loosened her purse strings, but it had also shed the purse wide open.

    ¡°Alright¡­now I can buy it.¡±

    Kasumi left the guild with the money she had acquired through hunting additional monsters. Then she went past the gate that said ¡®seven¡¯ on it and entered a certain store.

    ¡°Good, good. Thankfully, there is no such issue of someone buying it while you are away.¡±

    It was a feature of games, that what you were staring at in your room, also existed back in the shop.

    She took thest item that she had not been able to put in her room until now, and her financial situation returned to a point where she couldn¡¯t even afford a potion.

    ¡°Thank you for your patronage¡­¡±

    ¡°Hm? Oh, yes.¡±

    Kasumi was a little surprised, as the store owner had never said more than what was necessary to her before.

    ¡°Hmm¡­yes, I will give you this as well.¡±

    So saying, the store owner handed Kasumi an old piece of paper.

    ¡°It¡¯s a map of where my tool shed used to be¡­I am too old to return there¡­But you can take what you like. I think it would be better than having them sleep there forever.¡±

    Kasumi thanked him and left the store as she looked at the map.

    ¡°It¡¯s on¡­the edge of the field? I guess I can go take a look¡­?¡±

    At this point, she had already bought everything that she possibly could in this town.

    And she had no money, so she was not afraid of dying.

    She had no reason to not go.

    She ran through the dark field, asionally checking her map as she came closer and closer to the edge.

    And when she arrived, she was greeted by what looked like an open in with nothing else there.

    ¡°Around here¡­no, further along? ¡­Oh, here!¡±

    Kasumi¡¯s foot hit a handle that was sticking out of the ground.

    She would never have been able to find it in this darkness, had she not had the map telling her the general location.

    Kasumi brushed the dirt away and pulled the handle.

    The lid opened with a burst of dust, and an even darker staircase leading downwards greeted her.

    ¡°¡­I suppose I¡¯ll go then.¡±

    She had bought antern sinceing to this town, and so she pulled it out of her inventory and started to climb down the stairs.

    The red fire of thentern illuminated the area. Kasumi¡¯s footsteps were the only sounds that could be heard.

    When she reached the bottom, there was an iron door in front of her.

    ¡°¡­Alright!¡±

    Kasumi felt a mix of expectation and worry as she opened the door and raised herntern.

    ¡°There¡¯s¡­nothing?¡±

    It was just an empty open area. This was not exactly what you would expect from a storage room.

    ¡°Was there some kind of requirement? ¡­I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Kasumi wasn¡¯t about to give up though, and just then, she heard the sound of something breaking.

    ¡°What? Is there something there?¡±

    Kasumi pulled out her sword and cautiously moved to the back of the room.

    Thentern illuminated the parts that she had not been able to see.

    There, she saw the remnants of several tools.

    A broken sword, a shattered pot, a cracked crystal ball.

    And in the very center, was a light purple sword that was floating in the air.

    Every time that this sword touched something close to it, the sound of something breaking could be heard. It was as if the sword was eating them.

    ¡°¡­Is iting!?¡±

    The sword pointed itself towards her, as if it now realized she was there. And so Kasumi pulled out her own sword.

    It seemed that it had decided that she was an enemy, and it now enveloped itself in a bright purple smoke.

    The sword shuddered for a second, and then the purple fire appeared on the ceiling and floor. Now it was bright enough to see without thentern.

    Kasumi quickly jumped back and put thentern away, but the sword didn¡¯t attack her.

    ¡°It¡¯s noting? ¡­No, I can¡¯t let my guard down.¡±

    Kasumi had a bad feeling about this sword.

    And she was right.

    In the next instant, it started flying at her at an incredible speed.

    ¡°Hhh¡­!¡±

    Kasumi let out a short breath and blocked it. However, as there was no one wielding the sword, it could movepletely freely, and it was hard to read its movements.

    ¡°Good thing¡­I had some practice with Shin¡­! Hah!¡±

    With a loud ng, she blocked the floating sword again.

    Kasumi jumped back again and waited to see how it would move.

    However, as Kasumi kept the sword in her sight without blinking, it suddenly vanished.

    ¡°Wha¡­!? Huh!?¡±

    In the next instant, Kasumi saw that a purple de seemed to have sprouted from the center of her chest.

    And it wasn¡¯t just one de.

    She had been stabbed in the legs, stomach, arms and more.

    This was familiar, no, it was an attack most simr to a skill she had used.

    When Kasumi opened her eyes again, she was in the 4thyer town.

    ¡°¡­Hahh¡­ Hehehe. Interesting¡­ I¡¯ll get you before someone else does! I can¡¯t be losing to some sword!¡±

    With a mixture of anger and enthusiasm, Kasumi began to n her next attack.

 Chapter 134

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 134

    Defense Specialization and a Sword 2

    A few dayster, Kasumi walked over to where the sword was with a familiar air.

    Which was no surprise, as by now Kasumi had challenged the sword over 50 times.

    ¡°¡­Alright, here we go.¡±

    Kasumi walked down the steps and opened the door to meet the sword once again.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Kasumi slowly unsheathed her de. She reminded herself of what her next move would be, as she blocked the sword that came flying towards her.

    The sounds of shing metal rang in the dark room.

    A HP bar hovered above the sword, and Kasumi paid attention to it as they fought.

    ¡°¡®Leap¡¯!¡±

    Once the sword¡¯s HP bar had diminished a little, Kasumi leaped forward.

    In the next instant, the spot where Kasumi had been a second ago was pierced by numerous swords.

    In other words, this sword would do specific actions once its HP reached a certain point.

    And after witnessing it many times, it became easy for her to avoid them.

    ¡°¡®First of the des. Kagerou¡¯!¡±

    She closed in again after having moved back. Kasumi shed at the sword and then took one step to the right. This was because she knew that a sword would shoot out of the ground.

    While fighting the sword, she circled it, slowly taking one step at a time.

    As she moved, swords would thrust out from the ground where she had been, with only a second¡¯s dy.

    It would be fatal if she stopped for a second. Furthermore, the swords that sprouted from the ground would not disappear unless certain conditions were met, so she had to think about where she moved.

    It had taken a long time for Kasumi to figure out how to move in this fight.

    By the time she had made a full circle around it, the HP bar of the sword had dropped to the next level, and it moved to the next phase of the fight.

    The swords in the ground disappeared, and now there was purple fire raining from the ceiling instead.

    If Kasumi got hit by it, her AGI would be 0 for 10 seconds.

    And the sword itself had now switched to flying at an incredible speed, which made it clear that having reduced AGI would make it impossible to dodge its attacks.

    The part that had frustrated Kasumi the most until now, was this fire rain.

    No matter what, she could not dodge itpletely until the sword moved to the next phase.

    And so Kasumi reexamined the skills she had and tried to think of a way to get through this part.

    ¡°¡®Last of the des. Oborozuki.¡¯¡±

    Her conclusion was that she had to kill before she was killed.

    12 high-speed sessive attacks hammered at the sword with ferocity.

    It¡¯s HP bar was dropping at a shocking rate, but still, Kasumi showed no pleasure on her face.

    Those 12 attacks allowed her to skip 3 phases and jump straight to the final one.

    The sword¡¯s HP bars was at one millimeter now, but that was inevitable.

    No matter how much HP you took, it would always have just a little remaining.

    Kasumi¡¯s trump card was Oborozuki, but it also halved her stats for a fixed period and made her other ¡®de¡¯ skills unusable.

    And she had to enter the final phase in that situation.

    Kasumi had not been able to pass this phase and had died dozens of times.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The sword teleported to the back of the room. Its body was now shining brighter than before.

    A wall of fire stretched up to the ceiling as if surrounding her. The walls of fire created a straight path towards the sword.

    It was 10 meters long. And 3 meters wide.

    Kasumi would have to run through here and strike the final blow.

    ¡°Hah!¡±

    She let out a short breath and ran on her now slower feet.

    Not only were numerous swords flying towards her from the front, but the walls of fire were spouting mes from both directions.

    If she stopped for even a second, swords would shoot from the ceiling.

    The 10 meters looked short but seemed so long.

    ¡°Hahh!¡±

    She blocked the flying de with her sword, barely dodged others, and continued forward.

    She had to dodge the fire no matter what, as it would take her AGI. She also had to avoid the swords from the ground, but the flying swords were a different matter.

    As long as she had not been hit until this point, she could survive three hits now.

    Kasumi was now halfway across, and she understood it through all of her senses.

    ¡°¡®Super eleration¡¯!¡±

    She had been saving ¡®Super eleration¡¯ until now, and she used it here to try and get through this area where the attacks came harder.

    Yesterday, Kasumi had taken a break from fighting it, and she had asked Sally and Shin to help her improve her skill in dodging flying swords.

    Perhaps that had proved effective because she could now see the course of the swords more clearly.

    Still, as she was much closer now, she did not have enough time to deal with them, and so she was hit.

    ¡°Go¡­!¡±

    She felt the shock through her whole body as her left shoulder, stomach and left thigh was pierced.

    The painful-looking red effect resembled fresh blood as it sshed.

    But Kasumi did not stop.

    She thrust out her right hand. The sword that she gripped touched the sword that was floating.

    In the same instant, the floating sword lost its brilliance, and it quietly fell to the floor. Then it slid into a sheath that had materialized.

    The fire and des in her body now disappeared. The room returned to its usual darkness.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Kasumi reached out a hand to the fallen sword and picked it up.

    ¡°Hehe¡­ Hahaha! I did it! I did it! I finally did it!¡±

    She could not hold back from expressing her happiness as she inspected the item.

    ¡®Self-devouring Bewitched Sword. Yukari.¡¯

    STR+ 30

    Bewitched Sword

    Self-repair

    Bewitched Sword

    Includes 5 skills that can be used at the cost of HP reduction, MP reduction, Temporary Status reduction, Constant Status reduction, and Physical restrictions respectively.

    Self-repair

    Its durability will recover when it¡¯s sheathed.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll try it out. Now, to go find some easy monsters to kill!¡±

    Kasumi equipped the sword and left the room to go and search for some monsters to test her new sword on.

    After walking for a while, she found an easy monster.

    ¡°Good, good. I think this one had a lot of HP.¡±

    As Kasumi pulled the sword out of the sheath, a purple smoke rose into the air.

    ¡°Oh¡­? Hmm?¡±

    The smoke quickly drifted off with the wind, but Kasumi saw that something was clearly different.

    It was her own clothes.

    Below, she was in a traditional dark purple skirt, and above her chest and arms were bound in a light purple cloth. The bindings around her arms and the sword were letting off a purple smoke.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Kasumi quietly returned the sword to its sheath.

    And then the purple smoke was sucked in, and her clothes returned to normal.

    ¡°I, I guess I¡¯ll get used to it? But still¡­¡±

    She couldn¡¯t just ignore something this advanced.

    Kasumi coughed and with slightly flushed cheeks, unsheathed the sword once again.

    Kasumi decided to use the skill that cost you physical restrictions, as she was the least sure what that meant.

    ¡°¡®Purple Phantom de¡¯!¡±

    With the help of the skill, Kasumi moved towards the monster at an elerated speed.

    Then she cut with the sword in her right hand.

    She let go of the sword with her right hand, and it disappeared and reappeared in her left.

    Then she gripped the sword and shed again before it vanished and materialized in the other hand once again.

    Starting from the right hand, she attacked from both sides. The monster was thrown back as she charged at it with 10 sessive blows.

    Finally, she let go of the de and brought her hands together in front of her chest.

    And threw 10 swords out.

    The des surrounded the monster in the air and stabbed into it all at once.

    It was 20 attacks in all. A monster that merely had high HP could not survive it.

    When the skill was finished, the de returned to Kasumi¡¯s right hand.

    ¡°Good¡­yes.¡±

    It would be perfect if it weren¡¯t for the clothes. Kasumi thought as the purple smoke surrounded her again.

    ¡°Huh¡­oh, it¡¯s gone now. I dropped the sword¡­?¡±

    She reached out to pick it up, but then she noticed that her hand looked terribly small.

    ¡°Hmm¡­?¡±

    Her skirt was kept up through system restrictions, but her bindings around her arms and chest were bing loose. She was now only 120 cm tall.

    ¡°What¡­oh, what?¡±

    She tried picking up the sword, but she couldn¡¯t handle it with just one hand.

    She knew that it would be hard to swing even if she used both hands.

    ¡°This¡­¡±

    As Kasumi tried to understand what was happening, a different monster came near her.

    And the monster was not sensitive to her plight.

    ¡°Oh¡­! Hey, hey, wait! Look how cute I am! I think, anyway! Let me go! Ahh¡­ggg¡­¡±

    Of course, it was not effective, and Kasumi was sent back to the town.

    When she returned, her bindings were tightened again, but her body was still small.

    Kasumi checked her status.

    ¡°10 minutes like this¡­¡±

    She gave up and walked over to a step as she dragged her skirt. And there she sat quietly, eyes shut and ignoring the looks she was getting.

 Chapter 135

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 135

    Defense Specialization and a New Opening

    After acquiring her new sword, Kasumi returned her focus to raising the rank of her entrance permit.

    Another week after that, Maple was in the guild with her face on her desk.

    ¡°Sally¡­my permit rank won¡¯t go up¡­¡±

    Maple said to Sally who was sitting on the other side.

    ¡°Well, it will probably take you a long time.¡±

    This was because, in order for you to increase your rank, you had to run around both inside and outside of the town andplete different errands.

    And these errands ranged from gathering materials to hunting monsters.

    Kasumi¡¯s speed waspletely abnormal, and it typically took yers a long time to do it.

    As Maple had sacrificed all kinds of things in exchange for defensive ability, she was much slower than most people.

    Sally¡¯s permit now read ¡®seven,¡¯ while Maple¡¯s was still the same as when she had received it.

    ¡°I want to go to the center already¡­¡±

    Maple mumbled. Just then, there was a rumbling that could be heard throughout the entire 4thyer.

    ¡°Wh-what?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­huh?¡±

    Both of them received a notice from management at the same time.

    They opened the message to see what it was.

    (As a yer has gone through the ninth gate for the first time, the town has regained its original form. Because of this, quests and items have been added.)

    ¡°Sally! Let¡¯s go and see!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we might as well.¡±

    When the two of them left the guild, there was one thing they saw that was noticeably different.

    ¡°Ohh¡­? What is¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­it looks like¡­an Oni.¡±

    There were NPCs who were not people. Aside from the recognizable Oni, there were all kinds of Yokai and creatures walking in the streets.

    The 4thyer had been a town of Yokai and curses.

    ¡°Sally? Are you okay with this kind of thing?¡±

    Maple pointed at the floating fireball. It was clearly the kind of thing that Sally hated.

    ¡°It¡¯s noting towards me or trying to scare me¡­I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fine if I leave it alone.¡±

    Still, her expression was hardly cheerful now.

    Sally looked cautiously at the balls of fire as she talked with Maple.

    ¡°Do you think it was Kasumi who reached it?¡±

    ¡°She seems to have made so much progress.¡±

    They were thinking about Kasumi, who was not here with them.

    And their guesses were correct.

    Kasumi was sitting down just inside the gate with the ¡®nine¡¯ painted on it.

    The Yokai had appeared the moment she had gone through, and she had been so shocked that she could do nothing but sit and watch.

    Kasumi did not realize what had happened until she read the notice from management.

    ¡°I see¡­oh¡­hmm¡­¡±

    Kasumi stood up and looked at the area she was in.

    ¡°The next gate is quite close.¡±

    There was only one path stretching out from the gate she was at.

    It was a wide street where Yokai walked, and shops lined both sides. When she made her way to the far end, there was a very tall building in front of her.

    The final gate was set just in front of the building¡¯s entrance.

    And next to the gate, was a sign.

    ¡®The person who owns the Red Oni¡¯s horn, the Dragon¡¯s scale, and the Dewdrop of Heaven will be the next lord.¡¯

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen those items for sale¡­ But there are apparently more items out there now, so I should start looking again.¡±

    Kasumi was excited to go and check all the stores again, and also gather information on these three items.

    And it was much the same for other yers as well. The once quiet town was now bustling with exploring yers and Yokai NPCs.

    Maple and Sally also decided to check out the new items, and so they entered a nearby store.

    The once human owner was now a woman with fox ears and a tail.

    ¡°So she was disguised?¡±

    ¡°Looks like it.¡±

    The two of them looked at the new products.

    There were some items that were useful and some that were not. And there were many that they had never seen before.

    ¡°Hey, Maple. Look at this.¡±

    Sally said as showed her a pair of three charms that were tied with a string.

    She had a white one in her left hand and a ck one in her right hand.

    ¡°Do they have different effects?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The ck one will randomly choose a skill and make it unusable for 3 minutes. The white one allows you to choose a skill in advance, and it sacrifices itself if that skill is sealed.¡±

    Sally added that they could be used three times.

    ¡°Hoho¡­I see.¡±

    ¡°But you can only buy them as a set.¡±

    ¡°¡­Well, I think we might as well?¡±

    ¡°I think so too. We might have a chance to use themter.¡±

    It was an item that they had nothing to lose from buying it, and so both of them bought a set.

    ¡°Sally! Sally! Look at this!¡±

    What Maple was looking at were wearable horns and ears.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you try it on?¡±

    Sally suggested when she saw the sign that said you could try them on.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ah! This one then!¡±

    Maple put on some curly horns.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°I thought it would look good for when I turn into a sheep!¡±

    ¡°Hm! Ahh, a sheep¡­right, right. Yeah, I think it looks good on you.¡±

    ¡°Sally, you can wear this one!¡±

    ¡°What? I don¡¯t want¡­¡±

    Maple handed her a set of white fox ears and a tail.

    ¡°Now you can match Oboro!¡±

    ¡°I guess so¡­ Maybe I can put it on when no one is around? ¡­It¡¯s a little embarrassing to put on a tail.¡±

    Sally thought that she wouldn¡¯t mind if it becamemon among other yers as well. Then she and Maple paid at the counter and left the store.

    ¡°I have things to do after this, so I¡¯m logging out for the day¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay! Bye bye, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Yes, bye bye Maple.¡±

    Sally turned into light and disappeared.

    Maple was now left alone and was wondering what to do, when a familiar person appeared in the corner of her vision.

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s Mi. Over there¡­what was over there again?¡±

    Mi had looked around her before entering a narrow road. And since Maple could not remember what was down there, she decided to follow her.

    But she also thought it would be nice to talk to Mi, as they had be friends after thest event.

    As she continued down the path with many turns, she heard Mi¡¯s voice.

    While there was no need to stop, Maple paused and quietly peeked out from the corner.

    ¡°Alright¡­Time to heal up so I can go kill some monsters.¡±

    So saying, Mi brought out the blue panel and started to change her equipment.

    Not only that, but she started using an item to change her appearance as well.

    Her red hair turned white and long. Her clothes were now blue and white. At a nce, you would probably not even recognize her like this.

    It was because her usual red appearance was so striking.

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    Mi opened the door and walked inside.

    ¡°¡­I was probably not supposed to see that? Ohhhh, what should I do!?¡±

    Ultimately, Maple had stalked and spied on her.

    She decided that she would keep quiet about what she had seen, and only tell Mi about it.

    ¡°But for now¡­the store she entered¡­¡±

    She looked at the small sign that read, ¡®Fluffy Fluffy ytime Room.¡¯

    ¡°¡­Okay. Hah¡­¡±

    Maple opened the door and went inside. There she paid the fee at the counter and went into the back.

    The room that she entered was full of fluffy, floating cats.

    And Mi was sitting in the back with the most rxed expression on her face.

    When Mi noticed Maple, she tried to hide behind the cat she was carrying.

    It was clear that her disguise would not be enough to hide from someone she was now quite familiar with.

    Her face was the same, after all.

    Maple approached Mi then, and told her everything, and apologized as she had not meant to spy on her.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. And¡­maybe I did want someone to know. It¡¯s so hard having to act all of the time¡­ Ahaha¡­¡±

    ¡°I really am sorry. If there is anything I can do to make it up to you¡­just tell me!¡±

    ¡°¡­Well, you could help me kill some monsters after this¡­¡±

    Maple readily epted this request, and then the two of them enjoyed the fluffiness for some time.

 Chapter 136

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 136

    Defense Specialization and One Night

    Maple stood next to Mi as she put on her usual red clothes and personality. Then they stepped back out into the town.

    Maple and Mi were forming a party for a day.

    ¡°I¡¯m slow on my feet, so ¡®Savagery¡¯! ¡­I can carry you to where you want to go!¡±

    ¡°¡­C-carry?¡±

    Mi climbed up the frightening leg and onto Maple¡¯s back.

    Mi had not expected to ever ride Maple like this.

    But now she looked towards Maple and told her where she wanted to go.

    ¡°Okay. Here we go!¡±

    The monster that elerated as it dashed through the field was more monstrous than any monster out there.

    After running like this for some time, they arrived at their destination.

    ¡°Ahh¡­oomph. ¡®me Empress¡¯!¡±

    Mi got off of Maple and stretched her limbs before activating her skill.

    As if on cue, monsters started to appear around them.

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯¡±

    Maple¡¯s skill would protect Mipletely.

    This thing that made her enemies tremble, was so reliable that Maple¡¯s allies could forget the concept of dodging and blocking.

    In fact, there was no reason for Mi to defend herself at all.

    Just by having Maple stand next to her, she could concentrate on carving away at the monster¡¯s HP.

    ¡°¡­No wonder no one can beat you.¡±

    After moving around and hunting for a long time, Mi finally grew tired.

    She slumped down by ake that was thest ce they had moved to.

    ¡°Thank you, Maple. Sorry for dragging you along all over the ce¡­¡±

    Mi thanked Maple in her natural tone.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing! But we should stop for today¡­I¡¯m getting sleepy.¡±

    It was currently nighttime in the real world as well. Maple was considering logging out for the day.

    ¡°Thank you so much. I think I¡¯ll log out as well. I got a little more excited than usual, and I¡¯m tired.¡±

    ¡°I know! Why don¡¯t you heal yourself onest time?¡±

    So saying, Maple plopped out of the monster¡¯s stomach.

    Now that she was in human form again, she activated another skill and turned into a ball of wool.

    Mi touched it hesitantly. It was soft and fluffy.

    ¡°Do you want toe inside?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah.¡±

    Mi spread the wool open and climbed inside of it.

    Aforting softness enveloped her body, and she could feel the stress leak away.

    ¡°Ahh¡­it¡¯s nice¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d.¡±

    Mi dove in on top of Maple, and the time passed.

    As they both rxed like that, they felt something pull at the ball of wool.

    ¡°Wh-what?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Both of them poked their heads out at the same time.

    The ball of wool had torn through thews of gravity and was now floating above theke.

    ¡°Maple, wh-what¡¯s happening!?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡±

    The ball of wool moved to the center of theke and then started to rise into the sky.

    ¡°Is this¡­an event?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know? But I can protect us if we fall¡­¡±

    Once they were about 5 meters above theke, the water came up like a pir and surrounded them.

    But that onlysted for a second, and they turned into light. In the next instant, they were in apletely different ce.

    ¡°I, I guess I should get out now?¡±

    Mi pulled herself out of the ball of wool andnded next to it.

    Maple was not able to move like this, and so she had Mi burn all of the wool off so she could stand on the ground.

    No, it was not ground to be precise.

    ¡°Where are we?¡±

    ¡°Maple¡­uh, on top of the clouds?¡±

    What Maple was standing on now was not dirt.

    It was a fluffy and soft cloud.

    ¡°Wow, look at the stars¡­¡±

    After looking at her feet, Maple looked up into the sky.

    The stars shone so brightly from here, it was a scene that took your breath away.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s so pretty. I wonder if there will be a shooting star?¡±

    They gazed up at the night sky for quite some time.

    ¡°¡­What should we do? Should we keep moving? I¡¯m not really sure if we can make it back again¡­¡±

    Mi agreed with Maple¡¯s suggestion, and so the two of them climbed over a wall of clouds and continued forward.

    And after a while, they came to a straight path.

    The cloud path was barely wide enough for them to walk on side by side. And just as they stepped foot on it¡­

    ¡°Hm? Maple! Look up!¡±

    ¡°Up? ¡­ ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    Maple reactivated ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ to protect Mi.

    In the next instant, shining objects began to rain from the sky.

    They fell on Maple as she backed off and moved out of the way.

    And then whatever it was, stopped just like rain.

    The two of them had an idea of what it was that was raining.

    ¡°As you said, Mi, the stars are shooting down tonight¡­¡±

    ¡°But that¡¯s not physically possible¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how much power they have, but it looks like I can take it. So we can keep moving.¡±

    Maple and Mi started to walk forward again.

    The stars bounced off of Maple and fell away.

    ¡°I wonder if Sally would just dodge all of them?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that is possible¡­?¡±

    The stars fell down on them without pause.

    It was not something that you could dodge and move forward.

    As they continued onward, they finally reached the end of the path.

    ¡°Some really big ones are falling now¡­¡±

    ¡°No problem! We¡¯ve arrived!¡±

    At the end of the long path, was a wall of cloud. And in that wall was a hole.

    There was no way they coulde all of this way and not go inside, and so they carefully made their way in.

    The tunnel was not too long, and they quickly came out the other side.

    A glimmering light illuminated the area.

    The quiet light stretched up like a thread.

    It connected the sky to a bowl made of clouds.

    ¡°Woah¡­¡±

    ¡°This¡­¡±

    They approached the vessel and touched the light inside of it.

    There was no sensation of having touched anything, but both of them received an item.

    ¡°¡®Dewdrop of Heaven¡¯?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­know how to use it. But it¡¯s probably good, right? Maybe it¡¯s some kind of material.¡±

    ¡°Mi, do you think that this is the only thing we can get here?¡±

    ¡°I think so. There was only one path leading here, after all.¡±

    Maple agreed, and so they decided to end their exploration here.

    The unexpected adventure had ended, and both of them logged out.

    The next day.

    Maple was talking to Sally about the ¡®Dewdrop from Heaven.¡¯

    ¡°Hmm¡­I think it must be some key item. I think you should hold onto it, in case it¡¯s important.¡±

    ¡°I will. Oh, I better increase the level on my permit soon.¡±

    Thisyer had more things to do than any otheryer before it. There was a new event every day.

    ¡°I need to max mine out soon as well. I¡¯ll be waiting for you in the center.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll catch up to you.¡±

    First, it was Kasumi, and then one by one, the others passed the ninth gate.

    And since one of them made the information public, the final goal of this town had been revealed at the beginning of November.

    Yes, to collect the three items.

    Mi and Maple had already collected one of those items, and so both guilds were able to skip the information gathering, and attempt to get the ¡®Dewdrop of Heaven.¡¯ However, ¡®Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom¡¯ found it difficult to get past the power of the falling stars.

    And so they eventually asked Mi to call Maple, and they were reminded of just how dangerous she was.

    And Maple¡¯s empty pockets were now filled with the reward they had given her in return.

    As for Maple Tree, Maple took Chrome and Kasumi with her once. And Sally went alone, and then they were finished.

    The other four had no intention of going to the final gate, and so their attempt was postponed.

 Chapter 137

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 137

    Defense Specialization and a Duel

    Time passed, and following the Dewdrop of Heaven, other yers began to find out where the remaining two items were through exploration.

    Information had gone out, and so it was not difficult to discover the item locations and what kind of enemies were there.

    There were no rules that it had to be done solo, however, the difficulty was very high, and the reality was that the yers who were able to clear the areas were in the minority.

    ¡°Hmm¡­I don¡¯t have to go now. We can all go some other time. Yes.¡±

    Sally had gathered all the information and decided that it would be too dangerous for her to go alone.

    She was surrounded by reliable friends, so it would be stupid to not rely on their help.

    ¡°Now, I should concentrate on raising the level to my permit.¡±

    Just as Sally was about to leave the guild, the doors opened.

    The person who came in was someone who Sally knew very well.

    ¡°Ah, were you just about to leave?¡±

    It was Frederica.

    She would oftene here to challenge Sally on a duel, lose, ande back again at another time.

    Sally had yet to be defeated, but Frederica was slowly getting closer to almost being able tond a hit.

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m going to kill some mob monsters to raise my permit level.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Since there¡¯s no point in me waiting, so I¡¯ll just help you. We¡¯ll finish it up quickly so we can fight!¡±

    ¡°Okay. Then let¡¯s go hunting.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking of all kinds of tactics myself.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you say that every time?¡±

    ¡°Well, you demolish my new tactics every time, so what am I supposed to do? I just need tond one hit.¡±

    Frederica knew that Sally would fall by one hit.

    And so Sally could not let her guard down.

    Frederica concentrated on trying to think of ways to beat Sally, as they went out into the field together.

    ¡°Magic really is pretty great too.¡±

    As Sally shredded each monster one at a time, Frederica was using her usual barrage of ammunition to deal damage.

    Watching her, she started to feel that she was missing out by not using any magic.

    Currently, Sally only used magic to create walls to block attacks.

    She didn¡¯t have much MP and steered more towards AGI and STR.

    Sally was also putting in more effort into raising her levelpared to Maple, and the gap between them was decreasing.

    Sally was currently level 34.

    ¡°Oh! This is thest one!¡±

    Sally¡¯s attack absorbed into the monster and pushed its HP to 0.

    Sally¡¯s level went up at the same time.

    Now she was at 34.

    ¡°Hmm¡­mmm¡­hehe.¡±

    ¡°Did something interesting happen?¡±

    ¡°Mm, well, I guess? We¡¯re finished here now, so you want to fight?¡±

    Sally changed the subject, and Frederica readily agreed.

    They had experienced the sensation of teleporting many times now. And they were now in a space that was shut off from the rest of the world.

    They set the time for the fight to begin. There was always an atmosphere of excitement and nervousness around them whenever they fought against each other.

    As soon as the fight started, Sally rushed straight towards Frederica.

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    Sally stopped.

    It would have been easy for her to deal with Frederica¡¯s usual attack of bullets, but Frederica¡¯s first move this time was to build severalyers of walls.

    Walls of water and sand came up and surrounded her.

    ¡°¡®Leap¡¯!¡±

    Nothing was actuallying towards her, but Sally leaped forward to the left.

    She had had a bad feeling, as if it were dangerous to stay.

    And so she moved.

    With her quick movements, she slipped out the side of the walls.

    And so Frederica¡¯s attack of wind des that crashed through the walls ended in a failure.

    As Sally had very low defense and HP, such an outrageous attack would have killed her had she been hit.

    ¡°You predicted it again!¡±

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t!¡±

    Sally dashed straight towards Frederica. Frederica quickly moved to her next n.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    It happened suddenly.

    Their voices rose in unison by coincidence.

    Frederica had built more walls, and the walls hade out right at Sally¡¯s toes, and she had gotten momentarily stuck on it.

    And while she changed her route, Sally had lost her bnce.

    ¡°¡®Multi-me Bullets¡¯!¡±

    She did not want to miss this opportunity, and the familiar attack was unleashed before she even had time to think.

    Sally dodged it by rolling out of the way.

    The scene after that looked terribly slow to Frederica.

    Thest me bullet seemed to be getting sucked towards Sally¡¯s shoulder, then it bounced off.

    Her body was there, so it wasn¡¯t ¡®Mirage.¡¯

    Frederica recognized this and then realized that this meant that she had won.

    ¡°Yess!¡±

    She made a fist and shook with joy.

    Frederica was so overjoyed, that she was not being attentive.

    And before she knew it, Sally¡¯s dagger was deep inside of her body.

    ¡°Oh, what?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, your joy is short-lived.¡±

    Frederica¡¯s HP turned to 0 before she could take a defensive position.

    Thest thing that Frederica saw before they teleported back to the field was Sally¡¯s HP bar. It had not gone down even 1 millimeter.

    ¡°Huh? Huh!? How?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to tell you my important secrets. We are enemies after all.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. But, I¡¯ll beat you next time. Remember that.¡±

    Frederica waved bye-bye to Sally and left.

    ¡°¡­That was close, too close. I really can¡¯t let my guard down.¡±

    Sally said as she looked at a certain part of her status.

    ¡®Empty Shell.¡¯

    Nullifies one-shot damage once a day.

    Raises AGI 50% for 1 minute.

    This was a skill that required that you reach level 35 without taking damage in order to attain it.

    Sally¡¯s concentration had been lower than usual because of it.

    Until now, she could not allow the bullets to hit her, and that had raised her concentration.

    ¡°I should practice dodging again, yes. The first damage¡­is something I want to save for ¡®that time.¡¯¡±

    Sally said to herself and promptly left to go attack some monsters.

 Chapter 138

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 138

    Defense Specialization and Dragon ying

    Sally continued her training, and Maple concentrated on finishing quests to raise her permit rank.

    There were many things to do on the 4thyer, and many yers were running across the field.

    The members of Maple Tree were no exception. The yers who moved at the top were especially busy in trying to achieve their goals.

    The time hade within days after Sally had confirmed the information.

    It had been decided that all of the members of Maple Tree would go and kill a dragon.

    Since Maple was going, there was almost no risk of them being bombarded as a group. With the information that Sally had, they would use their skills in order to kill the boss that would drop the ¡®Dragon¡¯s Scale.¡¯

    ¡°ording to the information¡­it spits out electric balls from the air. We should attack with magic and arrows when it flies low. As magic attacks inflict reduced damage, prioritize arrows. Once its HP has fallen under a certain amount, it will start flying just barely above the ground and attack with its ws and breath¡­the ws are its only piercing attack. And then it will return to the sky after a while. Also, it¡¯s not in a dungeon. That¡¯s about it.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re totally going to win this.¡±

    As the enemies winning percentage was directly linked to the number of hits it couldnd on Maple, what Chrome was saying was right.

    ¡°I have the ¡®Dragon yer¡¯ skill, so I¡¯ll attack from the ground.¡±

    Kasumi¡¯s skill was one that increased your damage to dragons.

    ¡°Yui and I will attack the dragon when ites down.¡±

    Yui and Mai would join the ground attack members. Creating a lineup that would ensure that the dragon would not survive aftering down.

    It would have to pass Chrome and Maple and kill Yui and Mai in order to avoid its own death.

    ¡°So Maple and I should attack the dragon while it¡¯s in the air? Neither of us is that good at long-range attacks.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but¡­there is no other way.¡±

    Even if magic attacks did reduced damage, Kanade¡¯s magic was an important source of damage.

    ¡°It might take a long time¡­but I don¡¯t think we will lose.¡±

    Their general direction was decided, and Sally organized it so that they were ready to leave. But then Maple opened her mouth.

    ¡°Hmm¡­I just thought of a n myself. Is that fine?¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    Maple started to talk about this n that she had just thought of.

    The members of Maple Tree were climbing up a mountain in order to reach the magic circle on the top that would take them to the dragon.

    The monsters that attacked them on the way were blocked by Maple¡¯s protection, and the remaining 7 scattered them with their attacks.

    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived!¡±

    ¡°Yes, there is the magic circle.¡±

    It glimmered brightly in front of them.

    They would be teleported to the battlefield immediately if they stepped on it.

    ¡°So, let¡¯s do this ording to Maple¡¯s n.¡±

    Sally said, and then they stepped on the circle and were enveloped by light before disappearing.

    They reappeared in a wilderness that looked much like the ce that Maple had once fought a demon.

    The sky was dark and endless. And they could see a dragon with white scales flying above them.

    Even magic attacks wouldn¡¯t reach it at this distance. The dragon that flew way up high was dropping white balls that crackled with electricity.

    The balls fell straight towards Maple and the others.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s fine!¡±

    ¡°Okay. Now, Maple. Let¡¯s move ording to n.¡±

    ¡°Yes! So, Kasumi?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡±

    They ignored the raining attacks and prepared to take down the dragon.

    Maple deployed her weapons, and Kasumi held onto Maple¡¯s back. Then she used the doping seed she had received from Izu in order to raise her STR.

    Maple looked up to confirm the dragon¡¯s position, then she pointed her canons to the ground.

    ¡°Well, here we go!¡±

    Explosive mes and smoke rushed through the ground, and Maple and Kasumi shot up into the sky.

    They pierced through the falling balls at full speed until they reached the dragon¡¯s mouth.

    Kasumi jumped onto the dragons head, while Maple flew alongside it and activated a skill.

    ¡°¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯! ¡®Hydra.¡¯¡±

    ¡°¡®Last of the des. Oborozuki,¡¯ ¡®Purple Phantom de¡¯¡­!¡±

    Maple¡¯s attacks shot at the flying dragon from the side, Kasumi attacked its back as she ran towards its tail.

    The proper way to fight it would have been to use magic to slowly carve away at its health, but they were able to do it much faster.

    Maple arrived near the tail first, and then she called out Syrup and had it float in the air, then she used another explosion to drop down onto Syrup¡¯s back.

    ¡°Maple! ¡­ ¡®Leap¡¯!¡±

    With purple smoke trailing her, Kasumi practically rolled into her as Maple caught her.

    Apparently, she had not been able to bring her sword, and it fell down to the ground along with the dragon.

    ¡°Hah¡­ Maybe I didn¡¯t even need to use ¡®Purple Phantom de.¡¯¡±

    She had already shown the other guild members what happened when she used it, and so they were not surprised.

    ¡°I¡¯m leaving the rest to all of you!¡±

    Chrome had been blocking the attacks with his shield while Maple was away, but he now lowered it when he saw that the dragon was falling.

    ¡°Here ites!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, we¡¯re prepared!¡±

    Yui and Mai held their great hammers and stood on opposite sides so they could sandwich the dragon when itnded.

    They had used Doping Seeds, and Kanade had supported them with as much STR buffs that he could manage, and Sally had even used the rarely used ¡®Encourage¡¯ skill to increase their damage limit.

    The dragon charged towards them with a roar.

    Its actions were predetermined, and it had no choice but to charge to its death.

    ¡°¡®Flying Attack¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Flying Attack¡¯!¡±

    The four shockwaves from the great hammers caught the dragon in the face and the 80% of its HP that remained vanished.

    ¡°Maple is insane, but those two are also incredible¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    ¡°Did I stack too much support magic¡­? Oh, Maple came down too.¡±

    They killed the boss in less than a minute. And the participants were able to get their Dragon Scales.

    Kasumi fixed her clothes on top of Syrup, then jumped to the ground to pick up her sword. When that was done, they returned to the magic circle to be teleported back to the mountain. And the dragon ying was finished.

    Kasumi was still not used to her shrunken body, and so they all rode on Syrup to go down the mountain.

    ¡°How can you run like that, Maple¡­?¡±

    Kasumi was talking about the non-human form that Maple had.

    ¡°I just can!¡±

    ¡°¡­I see.¡±

    Kasumi mumbled with realization.

    ¡°It takes 10 minutes for you to return to normal right? Why don¡¯t we continue on and go kill the Oni as well?¡±

    As they had finished the fight much sooner than they had nned, Chrome suggested that they use the time to kill the next boss. And everyone agreed.

    ¡°The Oni is on the ground, so we can just have Yui and Mai hammer it to death before it¡¯s movement patterns change¡­ Can you two do it?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll use ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ just in case.¡±

    And so they went off to kill the Oni.

    The Oni was able to show its ferocious face for about 10 seconds before turning into light and disappearing.

 Chapter 139

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 139

    Defense Specialization and the Lord

    Kasumi had seeded in getting all 3 items, and so she separated from the other guild members and went to thest gate.

    ¡°Phew¡­ What will happen now?¡±

    There was no information out there yet.

    Kasumi was the first person to enter the building.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go and see what¡¯s at the top.¡±

    She went down the hallways and up the stairs that were illuminated by purple mes.

    There were no rooms to enter, and she kept her guard up as she went up to the highest floor.

    ¡°Alright¡­there is¡­no one here.¡±

    The only thing in sight at the top was tightly shut sliding doors.

    If there was anything in this building, it would be beyond here.

    Kasumi took in a deep breath and pushed the paper doors open.

    Inside was apletely ordinary room with a tatami mat floor.

    In the far back sat a single Yokai in a white skirt. He had white hair and two horns sprouted from his forehead.

    He looked mostly like an Oni, but was quite different from the giant 4-meter tall Oni that they had instantly killed a short while ago.

    From the information she gathered at the gate, Kasumi assumed that he was the lord of this ce. And she watched his movements carefully.

    ¡°Oh¡­? I did not expect a human toe here.¡±

    The Oni said as he stood up. Then he started to walk towards her.

    He must have been 2-meters tall and had an overwhelming presence.

    ¡°Hmm, you have them. Thene with me.¡±

    The Oni turned his back to her and returned to his spot, where he drew a circle on the ground and then disappeared.

    ¡°I guess I will.¡±

    Kasumi braced herself and stepped into the circle. She arrived in a wilderness that resembled the ce that they had killed the dragon. The Oni was standing a short distance away from her.

    She looked around her but there wasn¡¯t a single tree or boulder in sight.

    ¡°I was considering just stepping aside for you¡­but I changed my mind, human.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Defeat me. If you seed, you will have my seat as lord.¡±

    Kasumi had considered the possibility that she would have to fight, and so she unsheathed her de without showing any surprise.

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s do this, human.¡±

    As soon as his voice reached Kasumi¡¯s ears, a white light sparkled from the Oni¡¯s right hand.

    He was now holding a sword.

    ¡°Let¡¯s!¡±

    Kasumi was inbat mode now, and she dashed towards the Oni.

    In spite of there still being a distance between them, the Oni swung his sword down.

    Kasumi saw that the sword¡¯s de stretched out and reached her before she disappeared.

    She had died because she had stopped for a second.

    When she returned to the town, she first checked to see if the items had not disappeared. Then she decided to check if she would be allowed to challenge him again.

    ¡°Hmm? His attack damage was quite high¡­ Well, I¡¯ll keep trying if I can. I bet I could have dodged that attack just now.¡±

    She had died many times while trying to acquire her demon sword, and so she was quick to switch gears even after being killed.

    1 weekter. Kasumi was sprawled on the desk in the guild home.

    ¡°Sally? What happened to Kasumi?¡±

    ¡°Apparently she can¡¯t kill thest boss no matter what. It¡¯s just a single boss, but very strong. Well, you won¡¯t reach it for a long time¡­but would you like to hear what kind of boss it is?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Tell me!¡±

    Maple said energetically, and so Sally started to tell her.

    ¡°It¡¯s a single enemy that has to be fought solo. And its fighting style apparently changes depending on your job¡­ But no one has been able to defeat it yet. People are saying that there must be a weakness somewhere.¡±

    Sally added that its movement patterns for a few jobs have been made public.

    ¡°Can you go there, Sally?¡±

    ¡°No, not yet.¡±

    Sally¡¯s permit was one rank too low to get there.

    However, it was clear that she would be allowed to challenge it in the very near future.

    ¡°Are you going to fight it too, Sally?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­I¡¯ll fight enemies, even if the chances of winning are slim, but I won¡¯t fight if there is no chance of winning at all.¡±

    Sally was practically saying that she could not win against this boss.

    ¡°It must be super strong if you can¡¯t beat it.¡±

    ¡°I guess. Well, I think that I will challenge it one day¡­ I think if we could fight it together, we would have a chance.¡±

    But there was no point in talking about what couldn¡¯t be done, and so she didn¡¯t continue any further.

    ¡°So that¡¯s why Kasumi is like that.¡±

    Kasumi¡¯s current state was of a tired yer who had been defeated too many times.

    ¡°Yeah. Oh, right. There will be an event soon¡­like the cow hunting one before.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­I¡¯ll quietly stick with raising my permit level.¡±

    Maple had enough things to do as it was, and this was not the kind of event that she wanted to touch right now.

    She would have ¡®Savagery¡¯ from the beginning this time, which would make things easier, but she already had a bias against it.

    Maple decided that she would ignore this event for the most part, and prioritize her current goal.

    ¡°That¡¯s good. There is so much to do in this town, after all.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll focus on my permit during the event period¡­and do some exploring now.¡±

    Maple put the ram horns on her head and changed into her kimono before walking out into the town again.

    ¡°What should I do? Hmm, where to go¡­¡±

    Maple folded her arms and walked around at random.

    As she wandered around and wondered, a certain store that sold equipment caught her eye.

    ¡°Speaking of which¡­I haven¡¯t really gone in any of these stores.¡±

    As Maple had only ever used the Unique Series or equipment made by Izu, she rarely came to ces like this.

    ¡°Helloo¡­¡±

    Maple entered the store and looked at the retail equipment.

    The pretty armor and boldly shaped weapons were definitely striking, but Maple did not find anything that exceeded what she already had.

    ¡°I have plenty of money¡­maybe I should buy something? But maybe it¡¯s better to have it made.¡±

    In the end, she made a round of the entire store without picking anything up and arrived at the counter. There, she noticed that there was a poster on the wall behind the clerk that advertised a bonus for anyone who bought more than 5 items.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll buy something then.¡±

    Maple bought 5 cheap items at random and received a scroll from the clerk.

    ¡°¡®Quick Change¡¯?¡±

    It was a skill that anyone could use, and news of it had already spread to many others.

    Though, the members of Maple Tree were busy and always moving around, and so it had not prated there yet.

    ¡°Quick Change.¡¯

    Change to equipment that has been set. Use it again to change back to your original equipment.

    ¡°I see, I see. So I can set my other equipment¡­!¡±

    Maple left the store with a skill that allowed her to make small adjustments.

 Chapter 140

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 140

    Defense Specialization and Sealing

    After that, Maple wandered around the town for a while, but ended up returning to the guild without buying anything else that was new.

    Yui and Mai immediately reacted when Maple opened the door and entered.

    ¡°Ah! Maple!¡±

    Yui came running towards Maple.

    ¡°What? Did something happen?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s this quest with a monster that we can¡¯t beat¡­could you help us?¡±

    ¡°Please!¡±

    They said in unison and lowered their heads.

    ¡°Yeah, sure! I don¡¯t have anything else to do anyway.¡±

    ¡°Thank you! Chrome and Kanade left together, and we didn¡¯t know what to do¡­¡±

    Aside from them, Izu was the only other person left in the guild.

    And it wasn¡¯t easy for Izu to kill monsters, which made her an unreliable helper.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go then. Will you show me the way?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    They got up on Syrup¡¯s back and moved through the field for 10 minutes.

    Then they arrived at their destination.

    ¡°Um, it¡¯s a monster thates out here and uh, it seems that physical attacks don¡¯t work on it¡­please help us!¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­maybe Hydra would work?¡±

    ¡°I think it will.¡±

    Maple heard what information they had about the monster before bringing Syrup down to the ground and activating ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯ Then she drank a potion and went into a fighting stance.

    ¡°The monster is¡­oh, there it is!¡±

    What Maple was looking at was a shredded robe and a rusted and battered long sword that floated in the air.

    It looked very much like a ghost, and so it was not surprising that physical attacks would not work on it.

    ¡°Alright, Hy-¡­huh? It disappeared.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that monster can disappear¡­ We¡¯re sorry, we didn¡¯t know.¡±

    Yui and Mai had quickly given up after just two tries, and so they didn¡¯t have a good grasp on the monster¡¯s actions.

    Maple, Yui, and Mai were not the types to actively gather information, and so they barely knew anything other than the fact that physical attacks didn¡¯t work.

    ¡°It¡¯s close!?¡±

    The monster had be invisible as it approached her. Maple had not been able to react in time, and the sword hit her as it swung down.

    There was a loud bang and the ground that had been shining returned to normal through ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯

    ¡°Huh? Hey, uh, ¡®Cover¡¯!¡±

    The monster¡¯s next attack was just about to hit Yui, but she was somehow able to stop it by using ¡®Cover,¡¯ which she had not used for a while.

    The monster moved back and then disappeared once again.

    ¡°Dedicated Affection! Huh? It won¡¯t activate? ¡­Oh, it¡¯s been sealed!¡±

    While Maple had bought the charm to resist being sealed while out in town with Sally, she had chosen three skills that raised her defenses.

    She had not included ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ in there.

    ¡°Um¡­I know, ¡®Hair Growth¡¯!¡±

    Maple turned into a hairball. Yui and Mai quickly understood what she was doing, and they took off their weapons and dove inside of her.

    Maple¡¯s head popped out of the front and she turned to talk to Yui and Mai.

    ¡°Alright, can I leave the rest to you two?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    The two moved busily inside of the hairball until they were underneath Maple, who was now on her side. Then they stretched their bodies out and picked Maple up.

    Only their faces stuck out of the hairball.

    ¡°Mai, it¡¯s on the left!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Yui and Mai directed the part where Maple¡¯s head was sticking out towards the left.

    The monster shed towards Yui once again.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Yui and Mai put the hairball down and dove inside once again.

    By doing this, the monster who had targeted Yui ended up only cutting the wool over Maple¡¯s head.

    ¡°¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    Maple¡¯s hand thrust out of the hairball and a torrent of poison shot out at the monster from the short sword that she was holding.

    It caught the monster who was close to them and carved away all of its HP bar.

    Even if the instant kill effect didn¡¯t trigger, it had still been an opponent that they could beat.

    ¡°Phew¡­we did it! Uh, how many do we have to kill?¡±

    ¡°10 of them, please.¡±

    ¡°Alright! Well, let¡¯s continue like this then.¡±

    Maple decided, and so Yui and Mai picked Maple up again and made sure that she was supported properly, and then started walking forward.

    And then they stepped into the puddle of poison in front of them and died.

    ¡°Wah!? Huh, what happened!?¡±

    Maple sshed loudly onto the ground.

    She asked Yui and Mai, but there was no answer.

    ¡°Hm? Ah¡­¡±

    There was a sea of purple on the ground.

    After her bted realization of what had happened, she hurriedly activated ¡®Savagery¡¯ and ran back to pick them up.

    At the same time, Chrome and Kanade were out hunting monsters with Marx and Drag.

    ¡°Ah, you really are a great shield-bearer.¡±

    Drag was the main firepower, while Chrome, Kanade, and Marx acted as support while they hunted.

    ¡°Really? Maple is better with a shield¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a shield¡­not a shield.¡±

    Marx mumbled to himself.

    In Marx¡¯s opinion, Chrome was the best with a great shield.

    ¡°Does Maple¡­have that cement among us as well?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure? Well, Maple isn¡¯t always as insane as she is during events. She¡¯s a shield-bearer, but she leaves a lot of openings. Well, maybe that¡¯s because she doesn¡¯t need to protect.¡±

    Maple could block swords, spears, arrows, and magic with her body.

    She had pursued defense ability more than anyone, which resulted in her needing to defend herself less than anyone.

    ¡°Pain wants to beat Maple, but I¡¯ve given up. Though, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s impossible.¡±

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we start moving¡­? There are no more monsters¡­¡±

    As Marx said, they had hunted all of the monsters in the area. And so the four of them decided to move.

    And just as they started to move to the next point.

    They saw monster Maple running in the corner of their vision at an incredible speed.

    ¡°And you said she wasn¡¯t usually like that¡­¡±

    ¡°I guess I was wrong¡­sorry.¡±

    The four of them stood there for a while as if time had stopped.

 Chapter 141

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 141

    Defense Specialization and the Fifth Event

    On the first week of December, a field exploration event was held as the 5th event. In ordance with the event, snow fell quietly from the sky and the field was covered in a whiteyer.

    ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be like this until the end of December.¡±

    Sally said to Maple as they looked out of the window of the guild home.

    ¡°It¡¯s so nice and pretty¡­and at least it¡¯s not hard to walk in.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Well, I¡¯m going to go kill some random event monsters.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Sally pulled herself away from the window and left the guild home.

    Now that Sally was gone, Maple also moved away.

    ¡°If there are any monsters that offer a lot of points in this event, I might try fighting them.¡±

    There were four types of monsters to kill in this event.

    These four monsters had varying spawn rates and points gained for killing them. The rarest monster gave the most points and there was also a small chance that they would drop rare items. Management had notified everyone of this.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just kill the ones I happen to meet. The weak monsters are too fast and I can¡¯t chase after them¡­¡±

    Maple grumbled to herself as she left the guild home.

    She would only kill the ones she found along the way as she finished quests to raise her permit level.

    Maple opened the door and went out into the town where snow was falling.

    The atmosphere had changed so much with just snow, which made walking quite enjoyable.

    Maple was currently on the gathering quest, ¡®Dregs of the Soul,¡¯ and so she went straight to the western side of the field.

    ¡°I¡¯m here!¡±

    Maple had arrived in an area with scattered abandoned houses. She pulled out her short sword and weapons grew out of her body as she walked. As she did so, she would encounter blue fireballs that floated in the air. And they would drop the items that Maple was collecting.

    ¡°Thanks!¡±

    The fireballs didn¡¯t have much in terms of fighting ability to begin with, and the merciless bullets hit their target one after another, and the battle was over.

    ¡°Phew¡­yes! I¡¯m off to a great start today.¡±

    Not only were these fireballs not the easiest to find, but they also became invisible, simr to the monsters that she had fought with Yui and Mai.

    Maple picked up the dropped item as she thought about her good luck. Then she moved to search for her next prey.

    ¡°Hehe¡­this is going well!¡±

    Maple had been hunting the fireballs for 30 minutes now, and she only needed 1 more in order to finish the ¡®Dregs of the Soul¡¯ quest.

    The fireballs were appearing much more often than they had before, and Maple was in a good mood.

    ¡°Yes! Just one more!¡±

    Maple said excitedly, but the thing about probability is that it converges.

    And for a whole hour and a half, Maple did not see a single fireball.

    She had been raised up and then been thrown down.

    And this was enough to make Maple want to give up her hunting for now and do something to lighten her mood. And so Maple decided to forget about the monsters and enjoy the winter scenery. She leaned back against the trunk of a tree and slumped down.

    ¡°Hahh¡­I¡¯m tired. Mmm¡­thest gate is still so far.¡±

    Maple was reminded of just how crazy Kasumi¡¯s speed was.

    ¡°But the even monsters are everywhere¡­¡±

    Maple pointed her right hand at the white monkey in the distance and fired off a round of bullets.

    ¡°Got it! Yes¡­ha¡­¡±

    Killing one here was not going to affect the rankings in any way.

    It was practically pointless.

    ¡°Alright, alright! I¡¯m going to kill thest one and stop for the day.¡±

    Maple stood up with a renewed resolve and returned to her hunting.

    She squinted and cautiously looked around her as she moved. She had no intention of letting any get away.

    ¡°There!¡±

    Maple did not miss the fireball that appeared in the corner of her vision. She pointed her weapons towards it and unloaded enough bullets to overkill it several times over.

    ¡°Phew¡­it¡¯s finally done.¡±

    Maple gathered the dropped item and then inspected her inventory to make sure that she had enough ¡®Dregs of the Soul.¡¯

    ¡°Yes! Hah¡­this took more time than I thought. And I thought that my luck was good today¡­¡±

    Overall, it had gone well early on. After that, it had been much worse than usual.

    Maple stretched her limbs and then started to leave the area so she could make a report.

    However, probability always converges.

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    Maple heard something heavye down behind her, and she turned around.

    And there she saw a 4-meter tall snowman.

    Its mouth and eyes were made of rocks, and its nose was a carrot.

    Its tree branch arms carried a bag, and there was a red hat on top of its head.

    ¡°OOH!?¡±

    What Maple had encountered was the monster that offered the most points during this event.

 Chapter 142

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 142

    Defense Specialization and Sally

    ¡°Alright, here I go!¡±

    Maple faced the snowman and showered it with bullets.

    The bullets pierced its body one after another, but the HP bar above its head barely moved.

    The snowman showed no signs of being bothered by Maple¡¯s attacks and continued to approach her. Then it swung its bag at her.

    ¡°Woah!? You¡¯re going to attack with that!?¡±

    The attack came from the side that wasn¡¯t shielded, and Maple¡¯s weapons were crushed as she went flying into the air.

    ¡°Maybe only magic works on you? Let me test¡­¡±

    Maple held her shield up and aimed her canons down at an angle before shooting. The explosionunched her towards the snowman.

    Maple gouged out a chunk of its body with the great shield as she shot through it.

    Shended in a random spot and destroyed her weapons before turning around to look at the snowman. Its HP bar had still barely even changed.

    ¡°There really are a lot of different kinds of monsters now¡­ ¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    The snowman was not particrly fast, and so it could not avoid the Hydra. The poison caught it in the chest and sttered.

    ¡°Huh¡­? It-it¡¯s still not going down?¡±

    Not only was it not poisoned, but it¡¯s HP bar had only dropped a little.

    There was no mistake that she would be able to beat it if she continued to chip away at its health like this, but that was terribly inefficient.

    ¡°But it would be a waste to let it go¡­such a waste.¡±

    Maple wondered what she should do as the snowman showered her head with icicles.

    Ultimately, she decided to use Syrup and slowly chip away at its HP.

    ¡°Preparationsplete!¡±

    Maple erged Syrup in the air where it was safe, and have it attack with ¡®Soul Canon.¡¯

    Maple herself nned to use up ¡®Hydra¡¯ and switch to attacking with her guns.

    ¡°Alright, ¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    The Hydra spat out its poison once again, and in the next instant, the Snowman¡¯s HP went to 0.

    ¡°Huh? ¡­What?¡±

    The Snowman turned into specks of light and vanished. And something fell to the ground where it had been.

    ¡°Hm? Mmm¡­ Ah! Instant death!¡±

    It had activated for the first time, and its effect was more than what she could have hoped for.

    And so Maple would not find out during this event, that me type attacks would have made this fight very easy.

    Maple ran towards the item that had dropped onto the snow.

    It was a box in red wrapping paper and a green ribbon.

    Maple picked it up and checked the item name.

    ¡°Present Box¡­I¡¯m supposed to open it during Christmas!¡±

    It was something that couldn¡¯t be used now but would be usable for a few days following Christmas, whatever was in this box.

    ¡°I wonder what it is? Is it something to do with Christmas?¡±

    Since Maple had achieved her original goal, she felt very satisfied as she returned to the town.

    As a strong contrast to Maple, Sally was now zipping through the fields and gaining points by killing monsters.

    Once she finished hunting, Sally put away her weapons and decided to rest.

    ¡°Phew¡­I can¡¯t catch up.¡±

    Sally mumbled.

    She was thinking about the friend who had invited her.

    She was happy that for the first time, Maple was ying a game with her for an extended period, but as a yer, she also didn¡¯t want to lose to her.

    However, in her head, she could not stop thinking of Maple as being unbeatable inbat.

    ¡°How did shee so strong¡­¡±

    She had searched for skills and gathered information in order to catch up with Maple, but nothing was really working.

    ¡°I can¡¯t stay losing¡­ I better continue.¡±

    Sally sent power to her legs and began to run again.

    Due to the power of ¡®Sword Dance,¡¯ which had been maxed out, Sally was able to kill the monsters that gave fewer points without stopping, which was very efficient.

    ¡°I should learn from Maple and raise my defense ability!¡±

    Damage effects danced in the ces Sally dashed through.

    Just like how monsters without piercing attacks were unable to defeat Maple, monsters who couldn¡¯t attack Sally head-on were unable to defeat her.

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have been so hard if she only had high defenses.¡±

    She could fight monsters with simple move sets as she pondered. She was at the top in terms of yer skill, she could not ask for anything more.

    ¡°If only there was a good skill lying around somewhere¡­¡±

    She continued to kill monsters like this for 2 to 3 hours until she saw a giant snowman walking ahead.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a lot of points. Lucky, lucky.¡±

    Sally approached the snowman and activated her magic as she avoided its arm.

    ¡°¡®Fireball¡¯!¡±

    Even if the magic was weak, fire magic would take away a big chunk of its HP.

    Maple¡¯s hard fight looked like a joke inparison. The Snowman died as if melting with just a few hits with ¡®Fireball.¡¯

    ¡°Yes, delicious points!¡±

    Sally wanted to gather enough dropped items before the end of the event, and so she immediately dashed through the field again.

    One reason she was putting so much effort into finding the items, was that she was feeling something like impatience. She wanted to attain some kind of new power.

    It was because they were close that she did not want to lose. That was what Sally thought with determination.

 Chapter 143

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 143

    Defense Specialization and a Present

    Time passed, and it was now shortly after Christmas. In other words, the day that Maple was allowed to open the Present Box.

    Maple and Sally appeared at the guild house at the same time by coincidence.

    ¡°Ah, Sally, it¡¯s been a while¡­wait, not really.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, winter vacation has only just started. Do you want to go somewhere after this?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t think so. Today I¡¯m just going to open the present. Yeah, that¡¯s why I came.¡±

    Maple said as she took the red box out of her inventory.

    ¡°So you got one too. So did I.¡±

    Sally said as she took out a yellow box. It had different wrapping paperpared to Maple¡¯s, but it was also a Present Box that had dropped.

    Sally held the box with both hands and looked at it seriously.

    ¡°Ah¡­that was so hard. I don¡¯t even know how many I killed¡­¡±

    Sally said as she caressed the box affectionately. Maple couldn¡¯t tell her that she had got hers on her first try.

    And so she decided to change the subject before Sally could ask.

    ¡°Yeah, so let¡¯s open these up! I wonder what will be inside?¡±

    They untied the ribbons and picked up the lids at the same time. Both boxes contained a scroll.

    It was an item that gave you a skill.

    ¡°A skill, huh¡­ I wonder what kind?¡±

    Both of them checked the information on the skills from the scrolls.

    ¡®Icicle¡¯

    Consumes 3 MP to create an indestructible icicle. Can create up to 5.

    Lasts for 1 minute.

    ¡®Frozen Earth¡¯

    Freezes yers and monsters that are within 5-meters of you for 3 seconds.

    3 minute cool down.

    The first was from Sally¡¯s scroll.

    Theter was from Maple¡¯s.

    ¡°Sally, this is my skill.¡±

    ¡°This is mine. I guess there are different type¡­ I haven¡¯t used ¡®Ocean¡¯ recently anyway, so maybe I¡¯ll use this instead? Mm, I should manage my MP too¡­¡±

    Sally mumbled as she thought about what she would do.

    It was a skill that would at least offer increased defense abilities if used well.

    ¡°So that means you can just freeze any monsters that look strong! Like this!¡±

    ¡°Well, yes. I think that¡¯s what you do.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Okay! Well, I guess that¡¯s it for this year.¡±

    ¡°Hm? Really?¡±

    Sally asked just as Maple was about to log out.

    ¡°I need to slowly get through my homework, and January will be busy¡­so I might not y for a little while. Sally, you should do your homework too, okay?¡±

    ¡°I already finished it, so I¡¯m going to y.¡±

    Maple was a little exasperated at the discrepancy between the times she was motivated and the times she wasn¡¯t, as she logged out.

    Now that she was alone, Sally continued to make ns for the future.

    ¡°There should be a newyer soon, so maybe I should just rx here¡­ That guy in thest gate still doesn¡¯t have any known weaknesses, so I can¡¯t beat him¡­ Maybe I could explore the machine town again?¡±

    Sally wanted to catch up with Maple while she was absent, but it was unusual for her to go out and explore without a clear vision.

    ¡°But it might be good to do this once in a while. Just like Maple.¡±

    With high hopes for the 5thyer, Sally headed back to the 3rd.

    As for the results, she gained no skills and encountered no events.

    The only thing Sally aplished was finding out how to use ¡®Icicle.¡¯

    However, Sally had be obsessed with how useful ¡®Icicle¡¯ was.

    Before this, she had used a magical disposable wall to block dangerous attacks.

    So something that was guaranteed tost for 1 minute was almost too good to be true.

    Sally did wish that they weren¡¯t transparent, so she would be able to hide behind them, but she was still satisfied.

    Now, Maple and Sally¡¯s winter vacation had ended, and they were more than halfway into January.

    And the 5thyer that Sally had been eagerly waiting for was about to be implemented.

    On the day it was tounch, Sally came to the guild home first, but only waited for a short while before other like-minded members arrived.

    ¡°Ohh, we¡¯re all here now!¡±

    Sally had not imagined that everyone would gather together, and she raised her voice in a mixture of surprise and happiness.

    ¡°Hm? No, Maple isn¡¯t here?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­Maple is¡­¡±

    Chrome had asked, and Sally exined.

    ¡°She got influenza¡­again. She gets it every year.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. What should we do? Should we alle back on a different day?¡±

    Everyone gave their opinion after Chrome¡¯s suggestion, and they all agreed that Maple would be able to get through with just a few members helping herter on, so they should just move forward together now.

    They were all in agreement.

    If anything, Maple would probably be able to beat the boss by herself.

    And so Maple Tree minus Maple set off for the dungeon that led to the 5thyer.

 Chapter 144

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 144

    Defense Specialization and the 5th Layer

    The seven of them tore through the monsters as they made their way to the dungeon.

    Chrome drew all of the attacks towards him, and Yui and Mai hammered the enemies from the sides.

    Aside from the fact that Maple¡¯s absence meant that they moved slowly, their party was perfectlyplete.

    ¡°Oh, I can see it now.¡±

    Chrome pointed at the entrance to a cave up ahead.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s hurry up and go then.¡±

    Kanade said as bookshelves rotated above his head.

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡±

    And so the seven of them quickly went inside of the dungeon.

    The dungeon was overflowing with monsters that were immune to physical attacks or had strong resistance to physical attacks.

    The ones who merely had resistance could still be one-shotted by Yui and Mai, but the others could not. And so Kanade would have to asionally step to the front and fight as they made their way through the dungeon.

    Aside from Izu who generally did not fight, the others had explored so much of the 4thyer that they were used to fighting monsters with physical resistance.

    Chrome was able to speedily guard the fire attacks of the familiar looking fireball monsters, and Kanade killed them.

    If they took damage, Izu would heal them immediately with items.

    Having some resistance did little to change the fact that they were just mobs.

    And it was no surprise that they were no threat to this party, even with one member missing.

    Their invasion continued, and they soon arrived at the boss room without any trouble.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to open it.¡±

    Sally said as she turned around. The others all nodded silently and readied their weapons.

    In the next instant, the door opened and they rushed inside.

    What they saw in the back of the room was arge nine-tailed fox. It¡¯s glossy yellow tails swayed silently.

    ¡°Everyone, we go as nned!¡±

    Sally ordered, and they all scattered.

    Sally went to the front left, Kasumi and Kanade went to the front right.

    The other four waited near the entrance with Chrome in the front.

    While Sally and Kasumi were running, they used the items that they had been given.

    They crushed the yellow crystals that were in their hands, and then their weapons began to crackle with yellow light.

    This n involved using a temporary paralysis effect on their weapons in order to paralyze the swift fox.

    ¡°Look over here!¡±

    Sally shed at the foxes front legs to get its attention. The fox bit and attacked with its ws. Its tails whipped at her, but Sally used her recently acquired ¡®Icicle¡¯ to avoid the attacks and counter.

    Due to Sally¡¯s efforts, Kasumi and Kanade were able to move freely.

    ¡°¡®Paralyze Bomb¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Fourth of the des. Whirlwind¡¯!¡±

    Kanade¡¯s paralysis magic and Kasumi¡¯s four attacks with a paralysis effect.

    Kasumi was continuing to damage the fox so its attention didn¡¯t divert, and after some time, the fox finally stopped moving, just like they had expected.

    It would be harder for paralysis to work again once it wore off, so this was their one chance.

    Of course, they only needed one chance with Yui and Mai there.

    Chrome had been protecting this ultimate weapon from the shock waves of the attacks, and now they went straight for the fox.

    Their every step was a countdown to death.

    ¡°¡®Double Stamp¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Double Stamp¡¯!¡±

    Their great hammers had a long reach, and the sessive attacks they pounded ignored the foxes second phase and sent it to its grave.

    With these two, it was the norm to ignore everything. But if the guild master who was absent today was here, it would have been the norm for her to slowly crush her enemies one by one.

    A few days passed after they had safely made it to the 5thyer. Maple came to the 4thyer guild home, but only Sally was there.

    ¡°Everyone went to the 5thyer already?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, do you want help? I don¡¯t have much time, but if we hurry¡­¡±

    Maple was considerate of Sally, who was in a rush, and so thanked her but said that she could log out.

    ¡°Oh, onest thing¡­how was it? Was it strong?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Well, I guess it¡¯s stronger than the monsters on this level?¡±

    ¡°Stronger¡­oh, really!? But¡­didn¡¯t you fight it by yourself?¡±

    ¡°¡­? No, all seven of us. Well, I¡¯m sure that you will be able to do it alone¡­¡±

    ¡°I see, I see. You guys can do that now then.¡±

    Maple¡¯s face brightened as if those words had cheered her up.

    ¡°Huh? Yeah. I¡¯m sorry that I can¡¯t go with you. If I was free¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine! It¡¯s fine! I¡¯ll be okay! You said that I can do it. And now is the time that I can finally go.¡±

    And so Maple said goodbye to Sally and left the guild.

    ¡°Did she want to go right after her flu cleared up? Hmm? Oh, well. I better hurry!¡±

    Sally quickly logged out so she would not bete for the matter that waited for her in the real world.

    Maple ran straight towards her destination. Everyone else had gone ahead, and so she was determined to catch up with them.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do this¡­¡±

    Maple took in a deep breath and stepped into the room.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡±

    ¡°Ohh¡­? I did not expect a human toe.¡±

    The person who answered Maple was a tall and white Oni.

    Maple was going to go against the ¡®strongest¡¯ on the 4thyer.

    ¡°Hehehe. I¡¯m going to go to the 5thyer!¡±

    Maple dered energetically to the Oni.

 Chapter 145

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 145

    Defense Specialization the Strongest

    Maple followed the Oni onto the magic circle and was teleported to the battlefield that was prepared.

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s do this, human.¡±

    The Oni said from a short distance away. And then a 2-meter naginata(Japanese halberd) appeared in his hand.

    ¡°Go easy on me¡­ ¡®Deploy all Weapons¡¯! ¡®Predator¡¯!¡±

    With loud noises, a mass of weapons began to grow from Maple¡¯s body.

    She had a shield in her left hand and a giant mechanical sword in her right hand, which she held as if to cover her body.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    The canons and gun barrels around Maple fired off a volley of bullets andsers all at once.

    The mass of ammunition sent at the Oni was so dense that she didn¡¯t even have to aim.

    However, the Oni used his naginata to block all of the bullets that would have hit him, and they fell to the ground.

    But at the same time, Maple did not stop her attacks, and he was unable to do anything but defend himself.

    ¡°That¡¯s something Sally would do¡­ Syrup! ¡®Erge.¡¯¡±

    Maple had Syrup ¡®Erge¡¯ in the air. Then she took the two monsters with her and walked towards the Oni.

    As Maple was now closer, the bullets were reaching their target faster, and yet the Oni was still taking no damage.

    ¡°Syrup, ¡®Soul Canon¡¯!¡±

    Syrup¡¯s attack caused white lights to rain from the sky, but even this the Oni dodged.

    ¡°Ohh¡­ ¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    The poison gushed from Maple and attacked the Oni.

    The Oni spun his naginata round and round, causing the current of poison to fly away from him.

    Right after that, Maple activated an explosion, causing her to shoot forward like a bullet, her shield and gleaming sword held firmly in front of her.

    But this also meant that her attacks had stopped for a brief moment.

    ¡°Get blown away, human!¡±

    The Oni¡¯s reaction was ultra fast. His naginata swung into Maple, destroying her weapons and throwing not just her, but her two monsters to the side.

    When this happened, Maple¡¯s great shield scraped against his body, but it only caused a little bit of damage.

    ¡°Woah! Oomph!¡±

    Maple jumped and rolled loudly on the dirt before she was able to get up again.

    She immediately saw that the Oni wasing for her.

    ¡°¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯!¡±

    The monster¡¯s mouth attacked the approaching Oni, but he dodged it.

    However, the other two mouths from ¡®Predator¡¯ were waiting to follow up on the attack, and they mercilessly tore into both of his arms.

    But the Oni still didn¡¯t stop, his counterattack with the naginata shed at ¡®Predator.¡¯

    A red damage effect came out of them like a fountain. Maple charged through it and bashed her shield into the right side of the Oni, and shot past him.

    ¡°He got ¡®Predator¡¯¡­ But I don¡¯t know that he won¡¯t use piercing attacks.¡±

    She would lose HP if she used ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯ If she got attacked with a piercing attack for two ¡®Predator¡¯ monsters at that moment, there was a possibility that she could die. And so Maple chose the safer option.

    Maple was getting ustomed to this. And the way she fought on her own was bing quite different to when she fought with the other guild members.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Maple started to fire the guns again and sighed.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll use a lot more attacks¡­but I haven¡¯t taken damage yet, so maybe I can just repeat what I¡¯m doing now?¡±

    Maple was exuding such dominance that it was hard to tell which of them was the boss.

    Even now, he was still blocking all of her bullets, but his HP bar had been chipped away to nearly 80% by her attacks.

    ¡°Once more¡­¡±

    Maple started to walk forward again, but then the Oni¡¯s movements suddenly changed.

    He jumped away from the reach of the bullets. He had shot up 5-meters into the air and was then surrounded by purple fire.

    ¡°What!?¡±

    Maple frantically tried to change the angle, but Oni¡¯s mes began to shoot down first.

    ¡°I¡¯ll return all of it.¡±

    It was a counter that involved recreating all of the skills that Maple used with fire.

    Usually, a great shield was just used to block close-range attacks, but this action burned the entire area with fire and made it hard to see.

    A heat ray shot down and fire bullets exploded. The ground was covered in fire.

    ¡°Ugh!? Wh-what¡¯s happening!¡±

    She did not take any damage as there was no piercing ability in the attack, but she could also not see the enemy when she was surrounded by mes that were taller than her.

    ¡°F-for now!¡±

    Maple pointed her weapons at the ground and shot into the air with an explosion of mes.

    She was aiming for Syrup who was floating in the air.

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    Angel wings sprouted from the inside of her weapons and Maple¡¯s hair turned to gold.

    ¡°Syrup!¡±

    Maple jumped onto Syrup¡¯s back with force as if she meant to be impaled. The heat ray followed her.

    But Syrup did not take damage due to ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ and now that the ground was no longer burning, she could finally see the Oni.

    ¡°Counter¡­?¡±

    None of Maple¡¯s own attacks would be effective when used against her.

    Which meant that as long as the Oni was mimicking her attacks, she waspletely safe.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll just wait up here until it¡¯s over!¡±

    As the heat ray continued its assault, Maple sat downfortably on Syrup¡¯s back.

 Chapter 146

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 146

    Defense Specialization and the Strongest 2

    When the blinding furnace abated, Maple deactivated ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ and jumped down to the ground.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Maple began to fire her weapons again.

    And now that the Oni could do nothing but avoid the attacks, she approached him one step at a time.

    ¡°Phew¡­!¡±

    She held her sword and shield up and charged. When they collided, Maple¡¯s weapons and armor were crushed, and the Oni¡¯s body was torn.

    However, the only thing that the Oni really destroyed was the shell that surrounded Maple.

    Not only that, but her armor simply regenerated, and the crushed weapons were reced by new ones.

    ¡°Alright, this is good!¡¯

    Maple said as she got up and looked to see the Oni.

    What she then saw was the Oni, who was positioned to swing downward with his red, glowing naginata.

    ¡°Woah!?¡±

    Maple thrust her shield out just in time as the naginata fell on her.

    The naginata swept at an almost sideways angle, and Maple was sted into the air as if punched.

    ¡°Uhhh..kk¡­ ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Maple kneeled in the ce she had fallen and began to attack, so the Oni could note closer.

    A red damage effect was pouring from the side of her stomach.

    ¡°Uhh, piercing attack¡­potion, potion¡­¡±

    Maple pulled out a potion from her inventory and used it.

    Her HP was slightly below half, but it became full again after one bottle.

    If a potion was good, then Maple only needed one to replenish her low HP.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­it seems like ranged attacks won¡¯t hit him. What should I do?¡±

    Maple didn¡¯t have too many options for close-range attacks. The ones that looked promising were attacks with ¡®Savagery,¡¯ or charging with weapons while using ¡®Bizarre Eater,¡¯ or attacks with ¡®Predator.¡¯

    ¡°Hmm¡­yes! Okay!¡±

    Maple decided to charge as she had a moment ago.

    They hit each other as they crossed paths once again, and Maple took the same damage that she did before.

    ¡°Here, oomph!¡±

    An explosive sound echoed as Maple wasunched into the air.

    The naginata swiped at her but was toote. Maple went up high into the air andnded on Syrup¡¯s back.

    ¡°Phew¡­thank you, Syrup! You saved me!¡±

    Maple patted Syrup and then jumped down to the ground once again.

    Once Maplended on the ground, she immediately started attacking again to prevent the Oni from doing anything else.

    By repeating this, Maple was able to chip away at the Oni¡¯s HP without getting hit.

    The Oni¡¯s actions were limited from the beginning. On top of that, Maple was able to move in all directions in the air much faster than any other yer. So the Oni had no way of breaking through her defenses.

    Maple chipped away. She just kept chipping and chipping his HP.

    Ultimately, she was sessful in getting his HP down to half.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    After numerous charges, Maple flew into the air andnded on Syrup¡¯s back. From there, she noticed that something was changing with the Oni.

    ¡°Human¡­that was impressive!¡±

    As he said this, a white light was creating a whirlwind around him.

    The ground around him began to blow with strong winds, and even Maple could hear the roaring sound from above.

    Maple held her shield up at this obvious difference, and she watched cautiously from Syrup¡¯s back.

    ¡°Now¡­here Ie!¡±

    His voice rang, and at the same time, heunched himself into the air.

    A trail of light followed him as he closed the gap between them.

    ¡°Are you kidding!?¡±

    Maple saw the naginata that was gleaming red and detected danger.

    ¡°Syrup ¡®Dormancy¡¯!¡±

    Maple shouted, and Syrup disappeared into her ring.

    As Maple was on its back, she fell to the ground as gravity would dictate.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Her weapons fired off as she shot towards the ground to escape the Oni.

    The Oni followed her, but Maple could tell that it was still hovering above the ground.

    ¡°Uhh..kk¡­! That¡¯s it!¡±

    Maple flew back into the air to get away from the Oni.

    As she had no need to change direction, she opened her inventory.

    ¡°This!¡±

    Maple took out something that was shining and scattered it like rain.

    These were potions that she had in her inventory.

    ¡°Over here¡­next!¡±

    She changed directions and scattered some more.

    So there were now fallen potions wherever you looked.

    Now she would be able to pick them up wherever she was.

    These wereplete healing points that would remain there for only two hours.

    ¡°Here I go!¡±

    With a renewed resolve, Maple charged towards the Oni.

    ¡°Hah!¡±

    Her body twisted as she mmed her shield and sword into him. In exchange, his naginata hit her left shoulder, and then she was past him.

    ¡°Ouch¡­I need to end this quickly¡­!¡±

    It had been a while since she had been hit.

    Maple had wanted to avoid feeling pain at all cost, but it was at least immediately gone when she picked up a potion off of the ground.

    If her opponent had piercing attacks, she would not want this fight tost for too long.

    ¡°Once more!¡±

    mes burst behind Maple as she rose into the air again.

    The Oni followed her, a cover of light enveloped him.

    The two lights in the air would asionally meet, sh, and red sparks would fly.

    When her weapons were crushed, Maple would roll down to the ground and pick up a potion.

    ¡°Once more¡­?¡±

    Maple had a bad feeling.

    ¡°My weapons¡­won¡¯te out?¡±

    She had been using them and disposing of them every time she went into the air.

    But there was a limit.

    Once the materials were gone, she could not make any more.

    She had used them all by flying and containing his attacks.

    ¡°Eat this, human!¡±

    She could contain him no longer. The Oniunched bullets of fire at her as he approached with his naginata.

    ¡°¡®Savagery¡¯!¡±

    The monster flesh surrounded her body.

    Damage effects shed as the monster¡¯s mouth swallowed the naginata whole.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    Maple¡¯s fangs crushed the Oni¡¯s body.

    Both were taking damage and both were dealing damage.

    When the Oni¡¯s HP was down to 30%, it let out a shockwave, which allowed it to escape Maple¡¯s grip.

    The Oni then backed away and gathered the white lights towards him.

    ¡°It¡¯s not over, human¡­!¡±

    The Oni becamerger then and turned into a Great Oni with long white hair that blew in the wind.

 Chapter 147

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 147

    Defense Specialization the Strongest 3

    The two opposing monsters came close and traded blows.

    Until now it had been about skill, but now it was sheer physical power.

    There was no dodging here. Both sides merely returned one attack for another.

    ¡°I won¡¯t lose!¡±

    Maple spat out a torrent of me at the Oni.

    The Oni¡¯s red glowing fist mmed into Maple¡¯s body.

    And just as the Oni¡¯s HP bar went below 20%.

    ¡°Uh¡­!¡±

    The outeryer that covered Maple crumbled, and she fell to the ground.

    While Maple¡¯s attack power had gone up, it was still no match for the Oni.

    And so it was no surprise that her shell was the first to break after she had received so many piercing attacks.

    ¡°¡®Hydra¡¯! Syrup ¡®Awakening,¡¯ ¡®Erge¡¯!¡±

    Maple called out Syrup once again and contained the Oni with poison as he tried to approach.

    The Oni had stopped trying to dodge now, so while he continued to take damage, he was also hitting with his fists.

    ¡°¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯! ¡­tsk, Syrup! ¡®Mother Nature¡¯!¡±

    She continued to hold him back with a barrage of skills. Then she jumped onto Syrup¡¯s back and flew into the air.

    ¡°I better hurry! Woah!?¡±

    Syrup¡¯s body lurched to the side.

    The Oni¡¯s hand burst through the barricade of vines that Syrup had made, and wind shot out like a bullet at them.

    ¡°Syrup!¡±

    One hit was all that was necessary to take Syrup down, and Maple plunged back to the ground.

    The Oni¡¯s fist thrust into the air under Maple as she fell.

    Her great shield just happened to be positioned so as to block the blow, but she could not stay put when she was in the air.

    Maple was thrown back with a force that was more than a mere knockback. And while she didn¡¯t take any damage, she was never that good with guarding in the first ce.

    She might not be able to block the next one.

    As shey on the ground, she could see the Oni running towards her.

    If he caught up, she would not be able to escape this time.

    Right then, Maple found something on the ground and had an idea.

    ¡°¡®Quick Change¡¯!¡±

    A blue light surrounded Maple and in a sh, her equipment turned into something that was pure white.

    ¡°This¡­!¡±

    Maple picked up one of the potions that she had scattered on the ground without using and quickly healed all of her HP.

    By then, the Oni¡¯s fist was nearly upon her.

    ¡°¡®Aegis¡¯!¡±

    A glimmering red damage effect covered the white light. Maple became covered in a white dome.

    For 10 seconds, she would bepletely invincible.

    Every attack against Maple would be nullified.

    ¡°¡®Quick Change,¡¯ ¡®Acid Rain¡¯!¡±

    She used all the skills that she could muster to their limits in order to deal as much damage as she could.

    The Oni¡¯s HP was now down to 10%, but Maple was frantic as she looked at the drops of poison on her shortsword.

    Maple didn¡¯t have any defense or offense skills she could use once ¡®Aegis¡¯ was over.

    And the Oni¡¯s counterattack would be too fast to allow her enough time to use ¡®Hydra¡¯ once again.

    Maple was starting to think that she wouldn¡¯t survive this. But just then, a skill she had forgotten suddenly appeared in the corner of her mind.

    ¡°That¡¯s it¡­that!¡±

    Just as she remembered, ¡®Aegis¡¯s¡¯ time was up, and the Oni¡¯s attacks started again.

    ¡°¡®Frozen Earth¡¯!¡±

    A life extension. Invaluable three seconds.

    The forgotten skill poured from Maple¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°¡­ ¡®Break Core.¡¯¡±

    A hole opened up where Maple¡¯s heart was, and a small sphere that glowed red shot out of it.

    Once it was nearly 2-meters away from Maple, it stopped.

    5 seconds untilpletion.

    She used ¡®Indomitable Guardian¡¯ to endure thest powerful piercing attack, and then she used one of the potions that were on the ground and chuckled sadly.

    Immediately after, Maple and the Oni rose up into the air around the sphere as if being freed from gravity. And then they began to rotate around the sphere.

    ¡°Mr. Oni¡­I think this is a draw. But! I wille back so I can go to the 5thyer!¡±

    The skill inside of the ¡®Machine God.¡¯

    The only skill that didn¡¯t cost you your equipment.

    Yes, what Maple had forgotten was that this skill was a self-destruct skill in the truest sense.

    It had been written in the description. It nullified all attacks within a set range and then self-destructed. Everyone would be dealt with immense damage. The word ¡®self-destruct¡¯ in the description had been enough to make Maple forget about this skill.

    ¡°Goodbye!¡±

    Maple closed her eyes and waited for the moment to arrive. After a brief moment, an explosion that pierced the sky shot up and incinerated both Maple and the Onipletely.

    ¡°Ahh¡­ Hmph, I was so close.¡±

    Maple mumbled with closed eyes.

    She was so mentally exhausted that she wanted to fall asleep right there. She had not expected to feel this depressed over losing.

    ¡°Fine¡­I¡¯ll log out for today.¡±

    Maple put her hands on the ground and pulled herself up and opened her eyes.

    ¡°Huh? Why?¡±

    She was still in the wilderness that she had fought the Oni in.

    And the thing thaty at her feet, was the Oni himself.

    ¡°Hmmm? Hmm? Why?¡±

    Maple was sure that she had self-destructed. But then she saw that she still had half of her HP bar and wondered.

    ¡°Is it because of my defense ability¡­? Yes¡­yes! Hehe! Defense really is the most important after all!¡±

    Maple was overjoyed that her overwhelming defense ability had saved her. And then she looked at the fallen Oni.

    ¡°Are¡­you okay?¡±

    She knelt down and poked the Oni until he got up and opened his mouth.

 Chapter 148

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 148

    Defense Specialization and the Strongest 4

    ¡°Hahaha¡­! Well done, human.¡±

    The Oni was still sitting down as heughed.

    He brushed the dust off of his body and slowly stood up.

    ¡°Follow me.¡±

    He said and started to walk away. Maple followed him.

    They stepped on the magic circled that he created, and they were teleported back to the room on the 4th floor.

    ¡°Now, human. You can take my ce, as was promised. That is why you came, is it not?¡±

    The Oni¡¯s hands began to glow, and two vermillion cups appeared.

    Then he handed one of them to Maple, and with arge bottle that he had also conjured, he poured a liquid into both of their cups.

    ¡°I never thought that a human would follow me. Humans cannot drink the sake of Yokai. You cannot drink sake¡­but, this will do just as well.¡±

    ¡°Uh, sure!¡±

    Maple and the Oni drained their cups. And then Maple received a notice that she had gained a new skill.

    ¡®You have received the skill, ¡®Pandemonium I.¡¯

    She listened to him talk for a little after that and nodded until he finished.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you have somece to go? But, doe again. You are very wee. Until the timees for me to die¡­I will fight you anytime you want.¡±

    ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t want to fight you anymore. But, yes. I will visit!¡±

    Maple waved a hand at him and left the room. Then she closed the paper doors behind her and stretched.

    ¡°Phew. That hurt¡­uhh, I¡¯m so tired! I don¡¯t want to fight again for a long time¡­¡±

    Maple had taken a lot of damage in this fight, and while she had not been defeated, she was still exhausted.

    She intended to avoid not only difficult fights but fights in general for a while.

    ¡°Oh, right. I need to check the skill. Uh¡­¡±

    ¡®Pandemonium I¡¯

    Call the Red Oni and Blue Oni for 1 minute.

    The Oni¡¯s status depends on your skill level.

    During this time, all of the user¡¯s skills will be ¡®Sealed.¡¯ Your equipment¡¯s skills will not be sealed.

    Maple checked both Oni¡¯s status and realized something.

    ¡°Uh, ah, there is a 1 there. How do I raise it¡­¡±

    Maple had one idea on how to do it.

    The Oni had said ¡®I will fight you anytime you want.¡¯

    Then there could be only one way to raise the skill level.

    Once more, twice more. She would have to beat him again.

    That is what she thought.

    ¡°Ohhh¡­if that¡¯s the case¡­forget it¡­¡±

    She was still in a daze, and the words that spilled out expressed her true feelings. She did not want to fight that Oni ever again.

    Maple left the building and went out into the town and stretched once again.

    Perhaps her mind was able to refresh from this because she suddenly remembered one thing.

    ¡°¡­I¡¯m still not able to go to the nextyer!?¡±

    Maple¡¯s high-pitched scream echoed throughout the town of the 4thyer.

    Maple could not understand why she was still not able to go to the 5thyer, and so she decided to ask some of the yers who were still on the 4thyer.

    ¡°Ah¡­I misunderstood¡­misunderstood¡­¡±

    Maple sat down on a bench and slumped heavily.

    She had finally realized it.

    She did not have to fight the Oni.

    ¡°The 5thyer. What should I do.¡±

    Maple did not feel like fighting anything else today, and so she continued to sit there until she saw a familiar face walking towards her with 5 others.

    ¡°Frederica?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, Maple? What happened?¡±

    As Frederica fought with Sally on a regr basis, she had many opportunities to meet and speak with Maple.

    And so she stopped when she saw Maple.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing. I just noticed you so¡­¡±

    ¡°I see. I and the others are about to head to the dungeon that connects to the 5thyer. But let¡¯s y some timeter.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­really? If so¡­¡±

    Maple slowly stood up and said:

    ¡°Can Ie with you? I¡¯ll protect you guys. Though, that may be all I can do¡­¡±

    Maple told them that she could not use many skills at this time.

    ¡°Hm? Oh¡­sure. We have room for more party members anyway.¡±

    Frederica had no reason to refuse.

    After all, this was like taking a secret boss with you to kill a normal boss.

    It was lucky for them that they were nowpletely sure of their sess.

    ¡°Then I¡¯m going with you!¡±

    And so Maple went with them.

    However, Maple¡¯s speed was that of a turtle, or perhaps even slower.

    ¡°I guess I have no choice but to carry you.¡±

    Frederica cast a buff on herself and picked up Maple, who had white wings sprouting from her back. Then she cast an eleration spell and ran towards the dungeon.

    ¡°Yes, leave the defenses to me¡­I can only protect you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s more than enough.¡±

    Maple¡¯s presence guaranteed that there would be a perfectly safe area.

    And that eliminated any dangers that met them along the way.

    So of course, they were able to reach the boss without a single yer getting killed.

    ¡°Stay close together and move!¡±

    They entered the boss room and walked forward with Maple in the rear.

    Maple¡¯s ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ had been used numerous times during the 4th event, and so many yers knew of its capabilities.

    It would nullify nearly all of the bosses attacks, and so they didn¡¯t need to scatter. They made a straight line towards the boss.

    And then they just chipped and chipped and chipped away at the HP of the big fox. Frederica and the others were also top yers, and so it was unthinkable that they would lose with Maple¡¯s support.

    ¡°It¡¯s faster now!¡±

    Just as Frederica said, the fox had suddenly be faster.

    They could no longer follow it, and their attacks were hitting the air.

    The fox only had 20% of its HP left, but hardly any attacks werending now.

    ¡°Not as fast as Sally, though¡­¡±

    Frederica grumbled as she fired off magic attacks.

    Some of them were hitting their target, but everyone could tell that this was going to take a long time to finish.

    The fox jumped back and Frederica sighed.

    ¡°This is annoying¡­?!¡±

    There was something that she was getting through her continued fights with Sally.

    Something like instinct, that Dread liked to talk about.

    It was a bad feeling that she felt from behind her.

    Just as Frederica turned around.

    ¡°¡®Pandemonium.¡¯¡±

    Maple¡¯s shining blonde hair turned ck again, and her wings disappeared into light.

    What appeared instead were mes.

    Purple mes zed behind Maple¡¯s back.

    And behind her stood two giant Oni.

    It was pandemonium with Maple as the lead. A nightmare parade.

    ¡°Go.¡±

    And with that, the two giant Oni jumped forward with their spiked clubs.

    There was no ce for the fox to run.

    It was big, and so were the Oni who attacked it.

    The Oni were still low in status, and so they could not kill the fox with one hit.

    Still, they hit and hit. The three monsters were so big that the room looked small.

    Frederica and the others watched in awe as red flowers bloomed.

    The damage effects flowed from the fox, like spurts of blood.

    Even if its ability to dodge increased, it had nowhere to go.

    There was no point in trying to dodge attacks when there was no ce to survive.

    The way that Frederica and the others watched the fox slowly fall to its death, seemed almost as if they had achieved enlightenment.

 Chapter 149

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 149

    Defense Specialization and the 5th Layer

    After the foxpletely turned into light and vanished, a path that led to the 5thyer appeared in front of them.

    ¡°Thank you, Frederica. I¡¯ll help you if you ever need it. See youter then¡±

    ¡°¡­Ah, uh, sure.¡±

    Frederica had not quite fullyprehended the situation yet, and could only mumble in reply. But Maple had already left to the 5thyer.

    ¡°Maple, but where? Oh, there¡­¡±

    As Frederica stood motionless in her thoughts, the yer who was next to her started to talk.

    ¡°Where? If we knew where she got that skill¡­¡±

    As his head started to function properly again, a certain possibility had struck him.

    ¡°Hmm, it was probably the white Oni from the 4thyer.¡±

    ¡°Did she find out a way to weaken him¡­?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s Maple¡­¡±

    Frederica thought that Maple would have killed him without weakening him.

    She had no proof of course, but that was how much faith she had in Maple.

    A conviction that Maple was that strong.

    ¡°Finally, in the 5thyer!¡±

    Maple stepped foot onto the 5thyer a littletepared to the rest of Maple Tree.

    The somewhat springy and soft ground was a stainless white.

    This was a country of clouds. A paradise in the sky.

    ¡°It¡¯s softer than my bed at home.¡±

    She enjoyed the sensations under her feet as she made her way to the guild home.

    ¡°So this is the new town, huh.¡±

    Beyond the cloud walls was an almost blindingly white town.

    The walls and roads were white in a way that would have been impossible in real life.

    ¡°Oh? But this isn¡¯t made of clouds?¡±

    Maple touched the walls of a house and felt that it had a smooth texture.

    Unlike the clouds under her feet, this felt like polished stone.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m standing on clouds right now, I bet thisyer has all kinds of different materials.¡±

    As Maple walked, she realized that not everything here was made of clouds. She checked her map several times until she arrived at the guild home.

    Maple opened the white door and went inside.

    ¡°No one¡­is here. Okay, I guess I¡¯ll log out for today. Ahh, I am so tired!¡±

    Maple brought out the blue panel and tapped the logout button.

    She sprawled out on her bed when she returned to reality.

    ¡°Really, I think I might have fought more today than any day ever. But at least I was able to get to the 5thyer¡­I think I¡¯ll rx there for a while.¡±

    And so she slept more deeply that day than usual.

    A few dayster.

    Maple was talking with Sally in the guild home.

    ¡°Ah¡­you went over there¡­¡±

    ¡°Yep. I¡¯ve never been so tired¡­¡±

    ¡°I bet. I thought something wasn¡¯t right.¡±

    ¡°Now that I think of it, yeah.¡±

    And then Maple told her how she went to the 5thyer after defeating the Oni.

    Maple then realized that she had shown Frederica ¡®Pandemonium.¡¯

    ¡°I was so tired that I wasn¡¯t thinking¡­¡±

    Mapleughed apologetically, but Sally told her not to worry about it.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s fine, I guess? I don¡¯t know if anyone is surprised anymore.¡±

    She had assumed that Frederica was at a level where she would know to expect anything, but Frederica was not really at that level yet.

    That was Sally¡¯s view as someone who had just stepped foot in that territory, and Sally was the person who was closest to Maple.

    ¡°I see. Oh, by the way, did you already explore this 5thyer?¡±

    Sally thought about this question for a moment before answering.

    ¡°Not the wholeyer, but a lot of it. There are many vertical areas with stairs and slopes. Also¡­¡±

    ¡°Also?¡±

    ¡°The ground here is very different, and I almost tripped while running.¡±

    ¡°Really? Maybe I should be careful.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a matter of life and death for me¡­¡±

    Having unreliable ground was a bigger problem for Sally than ferocious attacks and going againstrge numbers of enemies.

    She would have to make adjustments, or all of her moves would get messed up.

    ¡°Are you going to go exploring now, Maple?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine for now. I feel like I did a week¡¯s worth of fighting already. So I¡¯ll explore some other time.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­ You should enjoy it at your own pace. It willst longer that way, and I want to y with you more.¡±

    Without a doubt, this feeling that hadn¡¯t changed or wavered in Sally from the beginning was what drove her.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll y and have fun.¡±

    ¡°I hope so. Well then, I¡¯m going to explore a little. Maybe I¡¯ll find a nice view that you¡¯ll like.¡±

    Sally stood up from the chair she was sitting on and smiled at Maple.

    ¡°Oh! How nice!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll explore for you, so look forward to the results, okay?¡±

    ¡°I will! I will!¡±

    ¡°See youter then.¡±

    ¡°Be safe.¡±

    Sally then left and closed the door carefully behind her.

    ¡°Right. So she won¡­¡±

    She leaned back on the door and looked up at the sky.

    The vast blue sky reflected in Sally¡¯s eyes.

    Sally closed her eyes and took in a quiet, deep breath before moving away from the door and walking.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to lose. Yes.¡±

    Sally started to run in order to shorten the distance between them.

    ¡°I¡¯m the one that asked you to y, but I hate losing¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Sally mumbled, even though no one could hear her.

 Chapter 150

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 150

    Defense Specialization and a Thunderhead

    The pure white clouds had bumps and dents all over the ce and were not good for running.

    Even for Sally, it was all she could do to maintain half of her usual speed.

    She would lose her bnce and fall if she ran any faster.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see, there seems to be something up ahead.¡±

    What Sally was looking at was a cloud that stretched up high into the sky.

    This thunderhead cloud had a path underneath it on the ground, that allowed you to go up.

    ¡°Should I go in¡­yes, I will.¡±

    Sally pulled out her daggers and went into the cloud.

    When she went through the narrow entrance, she saw that there were several paths that led out.

    This ce was like a maze, and Sally moved slowly, as she was cautious of an ident.

    ¡°Traps¡­none. Monsters, none. Okay.¡±

    Sally tapped on walls and floors as she walked. Then she ttened herself at the wall of a corner and looked.

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    The thing that was floating in the path around the corner was a gray cloud. It looked like a rain cloud.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Quick Shadow.¡¯¡±

    Sally disappeared and rushed towards the cloud. She used her two daggers to attack it several times.

    The HP bar that floated above the cloud was hacked away, and just as Sally reappeared and the cloud tried to retaliate, its bar waspletely gone.

    ¡°I¡¯m getting to a point where fighting alone is hard without a maxed out ¡®Sword Dance¡¯¡­¡±

    You had to be able to kill enemies quickly, or the number of times you had to dodge attacks would increase.

    And so she needed a decent amount of attack power.

    And she could no longer kill enemies while dashing passed them, even with ¡®Sword Dance¡¯ maxed out. This was because the monsters had caught up with Sally¡¯s status.

    ¡°I want a new skill. Ah.¡±

    As Sally walked down the path, she saw another cloud. This one was releasing electricity.

    ¡°I see¡­ So I guess the other one was attacking with water?¡±

    If the one that she had just killed was a rain cloud, then this one was a thunder cloud.

    ¡°Let me check its attack range first.¡±

    Sally slowly approached the thundercloud but stayed ready to run away at any time.

    Once she reached a certain distance, smaller thunder clouds separated from the main one and scattered.

    ¡°Woah!¡±

    Sally quickly jumped back. Just then, the smaller clouds and the big one shot out bluish-white lightning.

    The bolts of lightning shot through the air before eventually disappearing.

    After witnessing this, Sally used ¡®Leap¡¯ to quickly close the distance, then she used ¡®Double sh¡¯ and normal attacks to kill the cloud.

    ¡°It takes them so long to attack. These thunderclouds are weak.¡±

    Their wind-up was so slow, that she felt that even Maple would be able to avoid their attacks if she knew about them in advance.

    Even though the area of effect was quite wide, they were hardly a threat to Sally.

    Sally chose a slope as the next path and continued onward.

    This was because she thought that the goal would be the top of the thundercloud.

    And she was right.

    ¡°Oh? I¡¯m already there?¡±

    Sally¡¯s vision was filled with the blue sky.

    That meant that she was now outside of the cloud.

    ¡°Oomph!¡±

    Now that she had climbed up the slope, she was on the peak of the cloud.

    ¡°That was really easy.¡±

    She hadn¡¯t encountered many monsters, and the road was not too long.

    And Sally had farmed simr ces to this in other areas when she needed materials.

    Then she noticed that there was a flower with small petals near her feet.

    And when she touched it¡­

    A white ball fell out from the center of the flower.

    Sally picked it up and checked the item name.

    ¡°¡®Bubble that Reaches the Heavens.¡¯¡±

    As it would be rtively easy toe and get another one, Sally decided that she would use the item now.

    The ball that was just as white as the clouds popped, and thenrge bubbles started to rise from the ground around Sally.

    ¡°Can I grab one?¡±

    Sally put her hand on one bubble, and while it resisted the pressure for a second, it immediately popped right after.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just watch while it¡¯s going¡­it¡¯s pretty at least.¡±

    Sally mumbled as she looked at the bubbles that glimmered under the lights in the sky.

    The bubbles stoppeding out of the ground after a minute, and she could no longer see the bubbles that had risen in the sky.

    Sally was a little disappointed that the item had not been useful, but there was nothing she could do.

    ¡°Well, it was easy after all, so it¡¯s no wonder¡­ Oh, but I mighte back a few times to get some for Maple.¡±

    Sally felt that Maple would at least like them, and so she decided that she woulde here for a while.

    Besides, one of her goals was to find different things for Maple.

    And it was not too far from the town, and the enemies were few and pretty weak.

    ¡°Alright, now I¡¯ll go and look for the next promising ce.¡±

    Sally went back into the cloud and went down the slope.

 Chapter 151

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 151

    Defense Specialization and the Area

    As Sally was looking for other promising ces, Chrome and Kasumi were exploring the opposite direction as her.

    Chrome blocked the attacks and Kasumi cut the enemies down.

    And while Chrome would asionally take damage, he was able to quickly recover.

    After they had sessfully finished several fights, Chrome put away his weapon and muttered.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it sure is rxing here.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Ah¡­¡±

    These two were the quietest in all of Maple Tree when fighting together.

    When Izu was there, the battlefield would be full of explosions.

    If Kanade was there, there would be shes of magic and thunder.

    And the other four made it hard to keep your peace of mind.

    And so there was tranquility here.

    ¡°Well, I think it¡¯ll be hard to defeat a dungeon boss if it is just us, so maybe we can just check it out a little?¡±

    ¡°I suppose. If it¡¯s too much, we can call someone ande again.¡±

    While Izu was unique, the others were all strong, so it wouldn¡¯t matter who they called.

    ¡°Sally is apparently exploring the other side today, so I guess we¡¯ll get information from that side as well?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll get something.¡±

    As the two continued to talk and walk, they started to hear the sounds of thunder. And they saw that the sky up ahead was covered in dark clouds.

    Both of them cautiously pulled out their weapons and looked at their surroundings as they moved.

    As they came even closer, they were able to see every detail of the area.

    Here the blue sky was cut off by thick clouds. And pale electric currents were continuously connecting the sky to the ground.

    Lighting crashed all over the ce.

    They didn¡¯t know if there was any regrity to it, or how dangerous it would be if they were hit.

    ¡°Huh¡­this ce is for Maple.¡±

    Chrome concluded quickly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go somewhere else. We can¡¯t go any further here.¡±

    They turned around and left the thunderstorm area.

    After leaving the lightning zone and crossing several upward and downward slopes, they came to an area where the clouds were a slightly lighter color than they were in the lightning area.

    Some of the clouds were drooping so low that it looked like you could touch them. This, along with the undtions of the terrain made it very difficult to see.

    Drops of water that were the size of a softball were slowly falling from the clouds.

    They were nearly floating as if ignoring gravity. And yet they still fell, and when they hit the ground, they slowly separated into eight drops of water and sshed evenly, ending their short journey to the ground as they soaked into the ground.

    ¡°We should avoid those, right?¡±

    ¡°I bet.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t impossible to avoid, but there were a lot falling down. And so they decided to find out what would happen if they were hit.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go. There is a higher chance that I¡¯ll survive if it deals damage.¡±

    Chrome held up his shield and stepped into the area of slow rain. Then the first drop hit him.

    Instantly. A water cannon started to bubble and assemble behind him.

    ¡°Chrome, behind you!¡±

    ¡°Hm? What¡­huh?¡±

    Chrome¡¯s body was moving, but his movements were slow like the drops of rain.

    The cannon was also slow, but as it was right behind him, it was uncertain if he would make it in time.

    As this was happening, another raindrop sshed near him, and one of the drops hit Chrome in the foot.

    And then yet another cannon started to bubble and assemble to his side.

    Chrome was barely able to turn around. If he had been able to move freely, he would probably have put a hand to his forehead and looked up at the sky.

    ¡°Ah, are you serious¡­¡±

    A block of water shot from the cannon and hit Chrome in the shoulder. Then the cannon crumbled and disappeared.

    Its power was much weaker than the standard monsters on thisyer, meaning it dealt very little damage.

    ¡°Oh? I can move now!¡±

    Chrome realized that his body had returned to normal. He twisted and rolled and somehow managed to escape the area of rain.

    Once Chrome had left the area, the other cannon self-destructed with a ssh.

    ¡°So you regain your original speed if those cannons hit you. And a cannon is created every time a drop hits you.¡±

    ¡°Was it really that hard to move?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I just couldn¡¯t. Not even with brute force. The next one would hit you right away.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess we¡¯ll put this ce on hold. Why don¡¯t we go back to the town for now? Whether it¡¯s the thunder or rain, maybe there is something that will help us get through it?¡±

    Chrome agreed with this suggestion, and the two of them decided to quit their exploration and return.

    They killed more monsters on the way and were making good progress when they stopped and looked up at the sky, which had suddenly be dark.

    ¡°That¡¯s no¡­ordinary cloud.¡±

    ¡°I think so too.¡±

    The cloud that was covering the sky cut across the field and moved passed it.

    There was something about it that was simr to the two areas they had discovered that day.

    There was something unique about it.

    Both of them thought that it was some kind of sign for thisyer.

    ¡°But, how do we go there?¡±

    ¡°What about using Syrup?¡±

    ¡°I bet they have some measures in ce to prevent that. It looks like a secret route, after all.¡±

    In any case, there was no way to know now. And so they stopped thinking about it and continued to walk back to the town.

 Chapter 152

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 152

    Defense Specialization and Panic

    When Chrome and Kasumi returned to the guild home, the only one who was there was Maple.

    And since Maple was not currently in a state to want to go exploring, the two of them could not enlist her and go out again.

    ¡°Sally is out exploring somece now.¡±

    ¡°So the other four aren¡¯t here? Okay, so it¡¯ll have to be next time then.¡±

    And so Chrome gave Maple a detailed exnation of what they had discovered.

    ¡°¡­We¡¯ll check it againter.¡±

    Maple put a hand to her mouth and seemed to be thinking. But neither of them could tell what was in her head.

    Perhaps it was nothing, perhaps it was something unpredictable.

    Chrome and Kasumi pushed their thoughts to the back of their minds and waved to Maple as they left the guild home.

    ¡°I wonder what Sally is doing.¡±

    Maple was leaning back in her chair and looking at the ceiling when she received a message.

    Maple started to read it. It was a brief introduction to the next event that would start in February.

    ¡°Explore the jungle, huh? I hope that it¡¯s easy to walk in.¡±

    Maple closed the message and got up from her chair and headed for her room in the guild house.

    ¡°Well, I guess I can just take it easy until the event then.¡±

    Maple muttered as she decided to take a break and rest.

    Sally continued to explore even after leaving the thunderhead. And after running around on the field for much longer than Chrome and Kasumi, she was now slumped against a cloud on the side of the road.

    ¡°So many thunderheads¡­¡±

    As she explored, Sally had discovered may thunderheads with entrances inside of them.

    And she entered every one thinking that there might be something inside. And so Sally now had 8 identical items in her inventory.

    ¡°I won¡¯t run out of bubbles for a while.¡±

    Sally didn¡¯t feel so lucky to acquire them and believed that she had chosen the wrong area to explore. She was just about to switch direction when she stopped.

    ¡°No, maybe that¡¯s enough for today? Hmm¡­¡±

    Getting through those thunderheads meant climbing upwards.

    The others were a lot smaller than the first, but they were still not easy.

    And while she still had plenty of energypared to that time during the 4th event, it was not as if they were in a rush. And so she decided that she could stop for the day.

    ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll stop then?¡±

    What appeared in front of Sally just as she was about to leave, was a thunderhead in the truest sense.

    It slowly passed over Sally¡¯s head.

    ¡°Woah¡­what is that.¡±

    Sally¡¯s eyes chased after it. She knew that she was seeing something amazing. Then she saw something shining in the far away sky.

    ¡°Maybe I can¡­ ¡®Super eleration¡¯!¡±

    Sally passed the floating cloud and went further on.

    When she arrived at her destination, she was sure that her thinking had been correct.

    She was now directly under the thing that was shining.

    The shining bubbles were rising into the sky all around her.

    ¡°Something¡­there must be something.¡±

    Sally began to run through the area with the thunderclouds again. However, she didn¡¯t see any clear differences from before.

    ¡°Maybe that cloud is the time limit! Something, something!¡±

    The thunderhead caught up with Sally before she found anything, and she realized that she would have to give up this time.

    ¡°It¡¯s no use¡­Wooah!¡±

    Just as Sally looked at the ground, something pushed upwards and she was thrown into the air.

    ¡°Oh, oh? Huh?¡±

    Her body was spinning, and when it finally stopped, Sally felt very unsettled at this most unexpected turn of events as she looked around her.

    Sally pped her own cheeks and took in a deep breath to regain her calm.

    ¡°Okay, what can I see¡­¡±

    Sally thought about what it was that hade up under her feet, and then she realized that it was a bubble.

    She had been pulled up by the current and been shot up into the sky.

    ¡°Concentrate¡­don¡¯t panic, be calm¡­¡±

    And so Sally started to walk down the first path that she could see.

 Chapter 155

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 155

    Defense Specialization and the Return

    Days passed after Sally got her new skill, and it became February, the time that the event was to begin.

    Sally, Chrome, and Kasumi immediately decided to participate.

    Even Maple, who had been quietly resting until now, felt motivated to explore, and so she logged in as soon as the event started.

    Just as Maple went into the guild home, Chrome and Kasumi jumped out as if trading ces with her. Maple turned around to see them run off, and then Sally came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

    ¡°You came too then. Are you going to explore now?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s been a while, but I¡¯m going to work hard!¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll give you a quick exnation of the event.¡±

    And so Sally started to give her an outline.

    The first step of this event involved collecting items on the field and using those items to teleport to a different field.

    Not only that, but the part of the field that you would arrive in was chosen at random.

    ¡°And that field is a jungle. ording to management, there will mainly be valuable materials there¡­and maybe some skills?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see, I see.¡±

    ¡°Uh, also there is that thing. You apparently can¡¯t use HP recovery items and skills inside of the jungle. So for you¡­I don¡¯t think you can use ¡®Meditation.¡¯¡±

    And if you wanted to return to the town, you either died or pressed the ¡®Leave Field¡¯ button that now appeared underneath your status.

    ¡°So I guess I shouldn¡¯t use ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ excessively?¡±

    Sally nodded.

    It was too risky to pay the cost with your own HP.

    Additionally, she must avoid getting hit by any piercing attacks. But still, Maple did not need to pay much attention to normal attacks, which made her situation much easier than other yers.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to go gather some items.¡±

    ¡°See youter.¡± Sally ran out of the guild home like Chrome and Kasumi, and went out into the field.

    Maple, on the other hand, walked out leisurely until she reached the field.

    ¡°Now, I should look at the information again¡­¡±

    Thanks to Sally already giving her a brief exnation, Maple was able to understand the contents quickly.

    There was no specific monster to beat this time, and every monster on everyyer could give you the ticket to the jungle.

    And so Maple went out to explore the 5thyer for the first time and kill some monsters.

    Maple stepped onto the soft ground and looked at her surroundings as she walked.

    ¡°Sally said that there were a lot of cloud monsters.¡±

    Maple made her way through the undting field, climbing walls and going down slopes.

    ¡°Hmm, no monsters here. Maybe I should try going back to the 4thyer?¡±

    Maple thought as she put a hand on her chin. But then she saw a thunderhead and got an idea.

    Sally had told her about these clouds that had found while exploring. There were monsters inside of them.

    And since she had used all of the balls that Sally had given her, she thought that it would be a good idea to collect some more as well.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go! Woah, ah!?¡±

    Maple¡¯s foot slipped and she went rolling down a hill and fell t on her face.

    ¡°Uh¡­.it doesn¡¯t hurt¡­but I need to be careful.¡±

    Maple stood up and walked more carefully this time.

    Maple entered the thunderhead and encountered a thundercloud.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t fought for a while!¡±

    Weapons grew noisily out of Maple, and all of them pointed at the small cloud.

    However, before Maple could fire, small clouds came out of the main cloud and started flying towards her.

    ¡°¡­How cute.¡±

    Maple stopped her attack and started to pet the small clouds. They were trying to electrocute her, but the attacks just sent out sparks and did no damage to her at all.

    ¡°But I have to get some items now, so sorry?¡±

    And so Maple approached the main cloud and quickly destroyed it with her shield.

    ¡°Drops¡­.nothing.¡±

    This time, Maple was not able to acquire the necessary item for the event.

    So the only thing she got was one ball that could make bubbles.

    But still, Maple had enjoyed her first expedition in a long while, and she was not bothered that she had not aplished anything.

    It would take two more days before Maple got the item she needed to enter the jungle.

 Chapter 156

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 156

    Defense Specialization and the 6th Event

    While Maple wasn¡¯t immediately able to get the item that she needed to go to the jungle, she did manage to get one while there was still plenty of time left.

    And as she had secured lots of time that allowed her to stay logged in for a while, she decided to finally teleport to the event area.

    ¡°Alright¡­I¡¯m going. Yes. Use!¡±

    Maple used the item, and then a swirl of light appeared around her.

    The light stretched up into the sky and then disappeared.

    When the light disappeared, Maple saw that she was in a quiet jungle. And the only thing she could hear was the leaves blowing in the wind.

    There were also many tall trees, with ivy hanging from them.

    ¡°For now¡­there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything around here?¡±

    Maple couldn¡¯t sense the presence of any monsters or yers.

    And there were many ces one could appear in the event area.

    So it would be difficult for Sally, Chrome, and Kasumi to be able to find out where Maple was.

    ¡°I would like to find at least one thing. Since I came all the way here!¡±

    Maple said with excitement, as she started to walk into the jungle.

    Her eyes darted around as she searched for something interesting, and her eyesnded on a pretty red flower.

    It had five petals that were each the length of Mapple¡¯s arm, and they gave off a sweet scent.

    ¡°Is there something here?¡±

    Maple went closer to inspect the flower.

    As if waiting for Maple to do this, the flower¡¯s stem began to grow, and the petals wrapped around Maple¡¯s upper body.

    At the same time, Maple was forced to drop her shield and short sword.

    From the outside, it would have looked like she was being eaten.

    ¡°Woah! Ah, stop it!¡±

    For Maple, it was more instinct than thinking that led her to il her arms and legs around.

    But the flower would not let go of her. Still, it did not deal any damage to her either.

    ¡°Oh, I know!¡±

    Maple finally remembered that she still had a method of attack, and she started to grow the weapons out of her body.

    The flower was too busy trying to eat Maple, that it did not see the dangering.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    The bullets began to fire, blowing holes through the petals, and Maple was finally released from its grip.

    ¡°Phew¡­that was a surprise.¡±

    Maple picked up her fallen shield and sword when something else happened.

    Just before the battered flower monster disappeared, a sweet smell left it.

    That smell that spread around her was not something for healing.

    ¡°Wh-what!?¡±

    The sounds of the bushes, the sounds of the rustling leaves, the sounds of something heavy moving, the once quiet jungles started to echo with different sounds.

    They were bing louder, as birds, monkeys, moving nts and even giants made rock and covered in moss started to appear as if surrounding Maple.

    ¡°Woah¡­¡±

    Maple looked at them with distaste from a dozen meters away.

    She could tell now, that they had been lured here by the scent of the flower.

    The information about the red flower had already spread to other yers, thanks to the sacrifice of early yers. But Maple was not the type to actively search for that kind of information, and so she had no idea.

    However, the difference with Maple was that she would not so easily allow herself to be sacrificed.

    ¡°It will be hard to fly in the jungle¡­ Ooh, I guess I have to fight!¡±

    Maple decided, even though she didn¡¯t really want to, and entered her fighting stance.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    She wasn¡¯t targeting any specific monster as she unleashed thesers and bullets. The overwhelming volume of ammunition dealt heavy damage to the monsters.

    While Maple¡¯s attacks weren¡¯t as effective as they would have been, due to the trees that blocked her, the monster¡¯s had very little health and fell very quickly.

    But some of the monsters that were quick, were able to hide behind the trees and move closer to Maple.

    ¡°¡®Predator¡¯!¡±

    The two monsters slithered out of the ground and prevented any monsters from getting close to Maple.

    Maple¡¯s defenses were too strong. But the monsters did not understand the futility of attacking her, and so they continued to strike and were ultimately torn to shreds.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t¡­been damaged yet! Great!¡±

    Maple was wary that the giant rock monsters would do some kind of special attack, and so she fired at them while maintaining a distance.

    She didn¡¯t need to concentrate on her back, because her two reliable monsters were protecting her.

    The sounds of the other monsters being in that echoed behind her were proof of that.

    ¡°Okay, just like this¡­!¡±

    Maple fired off at a bird monster that was flying in the air as she continued to fight the ones on the ground.

    Maple was relieved that the fight was going smoothly.

    ¡°This is fine¡­hmm!?¡±

    In Maple¡¯s line of sight, sprouted a red flower, just to the side of a stone giant¡¯s foot.

    Maple frantically stopped attacking, but it was toote. One of hersers caught the flower right in the center.

    ¡°AHHHH!!¡±

    The sweet scent spread out, and the already loud jungle became even more chaotic.

    ¡°Why was it right there! Hmph!¡±

    Maple iled her arms up and down and shouted.

 Chapter 157

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 157

    Defense Specialization and the Elite Corps

    The once peaceful jungle was now echoing with the sounds of multiple battles.

    There were more yers here now, and one of them was Pain.

    ¡°Hah!¡±

    Pain blocked an attack with his shield and cut the monster open with his sword.

    It didn¡¯t take Pain too long to kill all of the monsters that were surrounding him.

    ¡°Good. Now, what do we have here?¡±

    Pain looked through the dropped items but didn¡¯t find anything special.

    Pain had already discovered several moss-covered ruins, but none of them led to him acquiring anything in particr.

    ¡°I have to move carefully.¡±

    Pain¡¯s HP was already down by 30%.

    He hadn¡¯t taken any strong hits, but the sheer number of enemies had very slowly chipped away at him.

    And since he could not heal here, he wanted to avoid getting damaged as much as possible.

    Pain began to walk again, in order to find something new.

    As Pain walked, the faint sounds of a battle reached his ears. He had been in this jungle for a while now but had only heard others fighting a few times.

    He was struggling with his exploration, even though he was using all of the information he had gotten.

    ¡°There may be something. I should just go and check.¡±

    Pain reached the ce where the sounds wereing from. But there were dense and tall bushes, and he could not see what was happening inside.

    However, Pain had a feeling that whatever was happening, was not normal.

    It wasn¡¯t surprising, since this suspicious bush was thicker than any Pain had ever seen before.

    ¡°¡­I should look inside.¡±

    Pain spread the bushes apart and was just about to go inside when the sounds of fighting stopped.

    Instead, the bush started to shake, and he could hear the sound of somethinging closer to him.

    Pain raised his shield and pulled out his sword in preparation to fight. He would fight whatever it was that wasing out of the bushed. The sound became louder, and the tip of something shot out of the bushes.

    ¡°Here ites!¡±

    The face that popped out in front of Pain was familiar. No, it was the face of an unforgettable monster.

    ¡°Hahh¡­I¡¯m tired¡­ Oh, you¡¯re¡­Pain, right?¡±

    It was the head of a monster with no pupils.

    And the voice that came from it was also familiar.

    It was without a doubt, Maple¡¯s voice.

    After meeting, the two walked together for a short while, and then sat down in a small clearing.

    Maple was still in her monster form.

    Since there were limits on healing, she could not discard this valuable outeryer.

    Pain sat down by the root of a tree, and Mapley her long body next to it.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re going to stay like that?¡±

    ¡°¡­? Yes, I guess.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    Pain felt a little ufortable deep down, but if she said she was going to stay like that, then there was nothing he could say.

    The reason that they were together now was simple. They had decided to explore together.

    It was hard to meet others in this wide field. And this chance encounter between two strong yers was an opportunity that neither Maple or Pain was going to ignore.

    Pain suggested this to Maple, and Maple had no reason to refuse him.

    And Maple did not think very deeply about it.

    The only thing that she considered was that having someone with her during an attack like thest one, would make it easier to escape.

    And so this elite corps was born.

 Chapter 158

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 158

    Defense Specialization and Pain

    Maple and Pain continued to explore the dense jungle.

    ¡°Maple¡­¡±

    ¡°Did you say something?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ Nothing.¡±

    Pain looked up at the sky.

    The deep green leaves were covering it, but those leaves moved even when Pain was still.

    This was because Pain was riding on top of monster Maple¡¯s back.

    Maple was moving through the trees, but looked like she was having a hard time.

    ¡°Maple, to the left. There was nothing on the right.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Maple walked in a way that made it look like she would attack at any moment.

    Sometimes she would climb a tree trunk and move from tree to tree.

    Pain was able to hang onto Maple without much trouble, and so Maple¡¯s somewhat strange movements were not an issue.

    And so their exploration continued smoothly.

    ¡°It¡¯s a monster! I will kill it!¡±

    As Maple said, a monster wasing right at them.

    The thing that approached them was a tree-like monster called a treant.

    Pain had seen these monsters before.

    They were the ones that had been able to deal him the little damage that he had taken.

    ¡°Maple, they will attack with moves that pierce you at the feet¡­¡±

    ¡°What? You said what?¡±

    Before Pain could finish talking, the area in front of Maple had turned into a sea of fire.

    As this was a game, the trees did not burn, but it was nothing so mild that the tree-like monsters could survive.

    The treants turned into charcoal and the items dropped on the ground.

    ¡°Uh¡­nevermind. We should pick up the items.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right.¡±

    Maple¡¯s monster hand picked up the items, and they disappeared.

    Pain squinted his eyes and looked up at the sky. The trees were still in the way, and he could not see it.

    They were attacked several times after that, but Maple trampled and blew them all away.

    As he was able to leave all of the fighting to Maple, Pain put his power to a different use.

    ¡°Maple, stop. I can hear something.¡±

    Pain had attention to spare for their surroundings, and so he noticed it easily.

    The thing that he could faintly hear was the buzzing of wings.

    ¡°Should we go?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    As being discreet made no sense for Maple, they moved in the vague direction of the wings. And what they found, was a giant beehive in the top of a tree. There was something that looked like a ck belt flying around it.

    The sounds of wings wereing from that belt, and the two were able to guess what it was that twisted in the sky.

    ¡°I see. Well, what should we do?¡±

    ¡°I can lure them over and protect you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not so easy¡­well, maybe it is¡­¡±

    Pain thought for a second, then decided not to think.

    Maple considered that there was an HP limitation and that her partner was Pain, and decided that she would not use ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going!¡±

    Maple jumped out into the clearing that was right under the beehive. When she was about 4 meters away from the hive, a giant bee appeared in front of her.

    It had a beautiful crown on its head.

    It had the aura of a real queen bee.

    ¡°It looks stronger than the bee I fought a long time ago?¡±

    As Maple wondered about this, the queen bee let out a noise.

    The ck belt, which was a horde of bees, started to shoot down at Maple like a giant arrow.

    The bees were flying at an incredible speed as they crashed into Maple. Of course, all of them bounced off.

    ¡°¡®Provoke¡¯! Come at me!¡±

    The queen bee gave order after order. The bees would attack one point, then surround her, then attack her from the side. But all of the attacks bounced off of Maple, and the dizzy bees could only wait for their next order.

    ¡°¡­ ¡®Holy Rain.¡¯¡¯¡±

    Pain pulled out his sword and mumbled. Then his sword started to glow white.

    Pain swung this sword, and the light shot off as if the covering was being flung forward.

    It stopped at five meters, in other words, above the clearing where Maple was, and then burst into a rain of light.

    It hit the bees that were distracted by Maple and blew them away.

    Pain had just turned into a machine that used area attacks on the bees that were attacking Maple.

    ¡°What am I¡­even doing now¡­¡±

    Pain mumbled as he saw Maple¡¯s monster body repel the bee stings.

    This was not a sight you would see every day.

    And after 20 minutes, nearly all of the bees were dead, and Pain went out into the clearing where Maple was.

    ¡°You¡¯re unharmed¡­of course, you are.¡±

    ¡°Pain, the queen bee ising down!¡±

    Pain and Maple looked up.

    As Maple said, the queen bee was slowly descending.

    ¡°I¡¯ll cut it down in one hit.¡±

    Pain pushed everything to the back of his mind and held his sword ready.

    ¡°Alright, here we go!¡±

    Maple moved her arms and legs and directed her head upwards.

    The queen bee was very brave to descend into thisnd of death, or perhaps she was just very stupid.

 Chapter 159

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 159

    Defense Specialization and the Jungle

    Just as the queen bee descended to the midway point between the beehive and Maple, the hive that was right above the queen started to crumble and fall.

    The queen bee quickly dodged it, and the remains of the hive fell straight towards Maple and Pain.

    ¡°¡®Cover Move,¡¯ ¡®Cover¡¯!¡±

    Maple used the few moves that had been instilled into her body to protect Pain.

    The fallen hive sttered all over them, spilling the honey that was inside all over the ce.

    ¡°Hmm¡­? I, I can¡¯t move.¡±

    The sticky honeypletely prevented Maple from moving. In fact, if Maple had enough STR, she would have been able to escape, but since it was 0, even having Savagery was not enough to get her out.

    The queen bee then stuck on to Maple and tried to bite her and sting her.

    As its HP was full, its movements were still simple. And the only other thing it did was asional wind magic.

    However, none of this did any damage to Maple, and it was all meaningless effort on the queen bee¡¯s part.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it then.¡±

    Pain moved out from under Maple¡¯s huge body and walked on top of the honey as if it were nothing.

    Then he moved away a little and pulled out his sword.

    ¡°¡®Leap¡¯!¡±

    Pain jumped onto Maple¡¯s back and charged towards the back of the queen bee. Now that he was close, the bee changed her target to Pain and started to thrust her poisonous stinger at him.

    However, Pain easily blocked this with his shield, and then he shed at the queen bee after she had lost her bnce.

    ¡°¡®Holy de of Conviction.¡¯¡±

    The shining de swung to the side and cut through the bee¡¯s body.

    Pain¡¯s attack was just as powerful as the one he had unleashed on Maple in the previous event.

    And of course, the bee was unable to survive it, and its body split into two in one hit before disappearing into specks of light.

    At the same time, the honey that had trapped Maple also turned into light and disappeared.

    After the queen bee was gone, a few jars of honey appeared on the ground, along with two crowns.

    Pain checked the effect of the crowns and jars.

    ¡°The honey jars¡­we could sell them to people with cooking skills. The crowns raise your maximum MP by a percentage.¡±

    They split the items and continued to move.

    Maple knew that this crown would not be too useful to her now, but she was satisfied with just looking at the pretty thing.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we try going over there?¡±

    Maple said as she moved her arm up and pointed.

    ¡°Ah, right. This jungle is so big¡­we will probably find something.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go.¡±

    Maple carried Pain as she kept moving through the trees.

    Maple was there. Pain was there.

    But they were not the only ones there.

    To be exact, Sally was also in the jungle. She was in a ce that was far away from Maple, but Sally had no way to find out where Maple was.

    It would be hard to even n a meeting, as there were nondmarks in this field, and it was not something that they cared too much about on this asion.

    And so Sally was running casually through the jungle.

    ¡°I wonder if there is anything here.¡±

    She lightly jumped over a fallen tree, but then she thought she saw something unfamiliar in the corner of her vision and stopped.

    ¡°Hmm? Is that¡­¡±

    Sally squinted and looked.

    She could see something white passed the brilliant greens, but it was too far away for her to be able to tell what it was.

    ¡°Alright, I guess I¡¯ll go.¡±

    Sally pulled out her daggers and moved noisily through the bushes towards it.

    When she got closer, she could see clearly what it was.

    ¡°Ughhh¡­a spider¡¯s nest. I hate fighting against spiders who spin webs.¡±

    Sally scowled, but she did not stop walking. That was how starved she was for new skills.

    ¡°I¡¯ll run away if it seems too dangerous¡­so, where is it?¡±

    Sally got close to the nest and looked around.

    There were webs connecting several trees, and it continued down to the ground. But the spider itself was nowhere in sight.

    Sally also saw cocoons on the ground.

    ¡°It seems like a trap¡­but I guess I could hurry up and just make sure?¡±

    Sally decided on how to act, and mumbled, ¡®alright.¡¯

    ¡°¡®Super eleration¡¯!¡±

    She jumped out from the shadows of the trees and touched the cocoon on the ground.

    ¡°Items, skills¡­no! Kk¡­¡±

    As expected, it was a trap. And Sally had known the possibility.

    But what was unexpected for her was that the webs that spread out from the ground would cover such a wide area that she would not be able to escape, even with Super eleration.

    And so, Sally was strung upside-down in the air by her legs.

    ¡°I think I messed up like this once before¡­! That¡¯s why I hate them¡­damn it.¡±

    A huge spider now appeared in Sally¡¯s upside-down vision.

 Chapter 160

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 160

    Defense Specialization and the Spider¡¯s Thread

    ¡°Ahh! No! No!¡±

    Sally flexed her stomach and tried to move her body.

    While the webs that surrounded her right foot didn¡¯t seem like they woulde off, she had not lost all of her freedom.

    ¡°Maybe I can do this¡­?¡±

    As always, she would do everything that she possibly could instead allowing herself to be easily killed.

    However, she did not have much time to think.

    The spider was climbing up the trunk of the tree from which she was hanging, and it would reach her any second now.

    When something simr had happened to her before, Sally had just died and respawned.

    ¡°Ahh, I can¡¯t¡­think! ¡®Icicle¡¯!¡±

    Numerous icicles shot out of the ground and pierced the spider who had almost reached her.

    ¡°I don¡¯t expect it to do much damage¡­here ites.¡±

    The spider, which was now in her vision, had changed its route and was moving along as it climbed one of the icicles.

    But therge spider was an easy target for Sally now.

    ¡°¡®Fireball,¡¯ ¡®Wind Cutter¡¯!¡±

    The magic that Sally unleashed was weak, but the damage would be effective over time.

    ¡°¡®Mirage.¡¯¡±

    Sally created an illusion of herself in a different direction, and the spider was easily tricked by it.

    When she saw that the spider was moving away, Sally began to hit the webs with magic to see if she could break them.

    However, there were no visible changes to the webs.

    Sally looked down at the HP bar of the spider, who was now chasing the illusion.

    It still had about 85% left.

    ¡°¡­I¡¯ll have to kill it in one hit the next time ites close.¡±

    Sally realized that she would not be able to kill it if she continued to deal damage through ranged attacks. And so she decided to hit it so hard that it would not be able to retaliate.

    ¡°I¡¯ll use a Doping Seed then. I can nullify damage at least one more time. So I may not have to give up.¡±

    Sally¡¯s clone had now been defeated, and the spider was climbing up the tree again.

    Sally quickly pulled out the Doping Seed and popped it into her mouth.

    It raised her STR in exchange for lowered VIT. Sally gripped her daggers and practiced raising her torso a few times, then waited for the spider¡¯s arrival.

    The spider was now right above her, and it started to smoothly climb down the string.

    ¡°¡®Double sh¡¯!¡±

    Sally swung forward and forced her body up and shed at the face of the spider who was right near her knees.

    However, she was attacking from a much too unstable position, and some of her shes missed. And so the spider¡¯s HP still had 20% remaining.

    Of course, it retaliated.

    The spider¡¯s body glowed white for a second, then it¡¯s body burst with webs.

    They floated up in the air around the spider for a second, then they shot towards Sally.

    ¡°Tsk¡­¡±

    While Sally was not able to perfectly dodge all of them, she was able to guard the left side of her body and throw the dagger in her right hand, which ensured that her right hand would stay free.

    ¡°¡®Impact Fist¡¯!¡±

    She unleashed the air bullet that Maple had once used against a giant squid.

    The attacknded on the spider¡¯s face, causing the red damage effect to sprout all over its multiple eyes.

    In return, the spider¡¯s purple webs came back at her.

    And then Sally realized something. Several of her skills had been sealed.

    And it was affecting her gear as well, and she could not call out Oboro.

    This wouldn¡¯t have mattered if the spider was now dead, but it was not.

    ¡°It¡¯s not defeated? Really?¡±

    Only a few millimeters were left of the spider¡¯s HP bar. It would have died with just one more hit of Double sh.

    The spider wrapped Sally up in its webs and crawled up to her neck. It was finally going to attack her.

    ¡°Something¡­¡±

    As Sally tried to think of a way out, the spider¡¯s sharp mandibles bit into her.

    ¡®Empty Shell¡¯ activated, and the damage was erased. However, she had nothing to help her survive the next attack.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Sally twisted her body, and the string swayed.

    The spider¡¯s mandibles came at her again.

    In an instant, the red effect sttered, and the HP turned to 0.

    ¡°Hehe¡­too bad¡­¡±

    Sally muttered.

    And then she opened her mouth andughed.

    All the while, a small eyeball rolled on her tongue.

    The spider turned into grains of light and disappeared.

    When it happened, Sally felt as if her eyes met the eyes of the spider.

    ¡°If you want to hate someone¡­hate Maple.¡±

    The spider¡¯s body copsed and faded away.

    ¡°Haha. Oh, gross.¡±

    A mechanical sounding voice echoed in Sally¡¯s head.

    It was without a doubt, the sound of a newly acquired skill.

 Chapter 161

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 161

    Defense Specialization and the Web User

    Once the battle was over, the webs that bound Sally started to disappear.

    As soon as her upper body was able to move, Sally raised herself up.

    Right after that, the rest of the webs disappeared, and Sally fell to the ground.

    ¡°Mmph¡­!¡±

    She caught her bnce in the air and was able tond nicely on her feet.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure I got a skill from that¡­there it is.¡±

    Sally looked through her stats.

    There was a new skill added called ¡®Web User I.¡¯

    Sally read the exnation.

    ¡®Web User¡¯

    Control spider webs.

    Can be stretched once you reach skill level 5.

    Shooting distance is 5 meters. Can shoot from both hands and feet.

    Use again to deactivate ¡®Web User.¡¯

    ¡°So it wasn¡¯t Eater. Ah¡­but the conditions are the same.¡±

    Sally wanted to reach Maple¡¯s position with methods that were different than what Maple had used.

    And she was quite stubborn about this.

    However, she was also feeling her own limits.

    ¡°Well, I wonder what this ¡®Web User¡¯ is like.¡±

    Just as she said it, she saw that there was a change in her status, that she was still viewing.

    The words, ¡®Web User¡¯ were added right next to her name.

    Sally read the exnations carefully and then thrust out her right hand.

    ¡°¡®Right Hand: Web.¡¯¡±

    A web that was just like the one that had bound her earlier now shot out of her right hand and caught onto a tree that was a short distance away.

    Sally tried to pull it back, but the web would not let go of the tree.

    She thought about this for a while.

    ¡°¡­Maple, I¡¯m going to need your help this one time.¡±

    Sally mumbled. Then she made the web disappear. She continued to walk through the jungle in order to raise her level.

    Sally continued to shoot her webs and make them disappear as she walked in the jungle, then she suddenly stopped.

    ¡°I should raise it to level 5 for now. I can¡¯t really judge this until I can make the webs stretch.¡±

    But Sally felt that it was dangerous to raise your skill level here, and so she decided to leave the jungle.

    Sally¡¯s interest had moved from the jungle to the skill.

    ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t die yet. I better go back.¡±

    And so Sally¡¯s body turned into light, and she vanished from the jungle.

    And like that, Sally returned to the guild home in the 5thyer¡¯s town with one new skill.

    When Sally entered the guild home, Kanade and Chrome were there.

    Both of them talked to Sally. They were about to challenge the jungle themselves.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to go again today¡­The only materials I¡¯ve gathered so far are things that Izu would use.¡±

    ¡°There is something that I want as well. I don¡¯t know if I can get there, but I have to try!¡±

    They both had their reasons, and it was clear that if they seeded, the guild would be that much stronger.

    ¡°Goodbye then. Hope it goes well for you.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll bring something back.¡±

    ¡°Goodbye!¡±

    Both of them waved their hands and went out into the town to make preparations.

    During this time, two members from Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom had also headed out for the jungle.

    They had started to explore the jungle a little earlier than Chrome and Kanade.

    But the fact that the two teleported in front of them as they were exploring, may have had more to do with the system than with luck.

    In any case, Kanade appeared near Marx, and Chrome appeared near Misery.

    yers that used MP like magicians would want to use this opportunity to gain MP Increase skills.

    And since Kanade and Marx had the same goal, they decided to move together.

    And since Chrome didn¡¯t have any specific goal, he decided to pair up with Misery and explore the area.

    And then Maple, who was not really thinking about anything, was running through the jungle with Pain on her back.

 Chapter 162

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 162

    Defense Specialization and the Large Twisted Tree

    As the three groups were gathering towards the MP increase skill, Chrome and Misery were shing with a pack of monsters.

    ¡°Eat this!¡±

    Chrome¡¯s Japanese billhook mmed into a golem.

    Unlike Maple, Chrome had a decent amount of attack power, and so he was able to deal damage to the enemy.

    However, the enemy wasn¡¯t just golems.

    Animal-type monsters like wolves and monkeys would attack whenever they saw that there was an opening.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you!¡±

    Misery¡¯s bullets of light blew away any monsters that tried to get close.

    And so Chrome had enough time to defend himself with his shield.

    The fact that you could not recover health in this area lowered their abilities by several levels.

    Normally, with Misery¡¯s healing magic and Chrome¡¯s self-recovery, they would be an imprable fortress, but that could not happen here.

    And so the two of them had to be extra careful as they made their way forward.

    ¡°Damn it! There¡¯s no end to it!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s run away! I think I have an item that lets you escape¡­here!¡±

    Misery quickly navigated through her inventory and took out a white ball, which she promptly smashed on the ground.

    White smoke rose around them and blocked the monsters¡¯ vision.

    The two of them took advantage of the moment to escape the area.

    ¡°Phew¡­Even with my abilities, it¡¯s getting really tough.¡±

    ¡°Hahh¡­ Me too. It would be easier with an attacker here.¡±

    ¡°If only Maple or Yui and Mai were here.¡±

    ¡°I would feel more confident if Mi or Shin were with me.¡±

    They said as they continued following the route towards the jungle¡¯s center, that they were able to find after repeated exploration.

    During the same time that they were struggling with the monsters, Kanade and Marx were making contact as well.

    ¡°Here theye¡­¡±

    Marx started to walk forward without doing anything in particr.

    Kanade also had his shelves activated next to him but showed no signs of taking any books out.

    Just as the monsters were about to touch them, thick vines shot out of the ground and choked the monsters.

    Several monsters iled their arms and legs above Marx¡¯s head, trying to get free of the vines, but it was no use.

    ¡°Yes, now explode¡­¡±

    A red magic circle appeared around the vines and then exploded into the monsters.

    The monsters were quite damaged now, and Marx finished them off with some magic attacks.

    ¡°Woah, impressive.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s easy once you capture them.¡±

    While Marx didn¡¯t seem too excited, he at least had an expression of satisfaction.

    And in front of Marx now, was a rock golem covered in moss that was several times taller than him.

    It¡¯s shining red eyes looked directly at Marx.

    ¡°Ah, no way¡­there is no way.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, alright. I¡¯ll use stuff that I don¡¯t need first¡­ ¡®Voice of the Reaper.¡¯

    A single ck book slid out from the shelf and floated down.

    The ck cover was covered in droplets of blood, and as the pages flipped, a low sound that shook your very core began to ring.

    After a brief moment, therge golem was covered in a dark shadow, then it turned to grains of light and faded away.

    ¡°Woah. It worked. It has a low chance of doing an instant kill.¡±

    ¡°Do you have high luck¡­?¡±

    ¡°Sort of.¡±

    The two of them continued to walk.

    Compared to Chrome and Misery, the two of them were able to explore at a much faster rate.

    In a different location. The noisiest ce in the jungle.

    She trampled, burned and kicked monsters that were in her path. Any who tried to escape were cut by a shing de.

    It hardly mattered if the monsters were lured to them or avoiding them when it was Maple running wild in the jungle with Pain on her back.

    ¡°Hm? Maple, stop. I saw something.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Okay!¡±

    Maple killed another monster and stopped running.

    A short distance away, they could see trees that were bent in an unnatural fashion. Almost like they had been melted.

    And so they headed in that direction.

    As they got closer to the center of the forest with its twisted trees, they came upon arge tree that was made up of several other thick trees that were entwined.

    There was an entrance near the roots and a staircase that led upwards.

    ¡°Ah, this¡­¡±

    Maplepared the size of the entrance with herself.

    No matter how you looked at it, there was no way that she would fit inside.

    And so Maple had no choice but to deactivate ¡®Savagery.¡¯

    The monster¡¯s stomach tore open, and Maple sttered onto the ground.

    Pain watched this in silence, then he began to check the entrance to see that it was safe.

    ¡°It seems fine.¡±

    ¡°I will walk in the front!¡±

    Maple dered as she raised her great shield. Pain nodded quietly.

    And so the two of them walked carefully up the stairs.

 Chapter 163

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 163

    Defense Specialization and the Silent Forest

    The two of them cautiously climbed the stairs until they arrived safely at the top.

    The branches of the huge tree were spacious enough for both of them to stand on.

    There was also a cool wind that blew here, and the sounds of the rustling leaves echoed around them.

    Inside of this rxing greenery and wind, there was one single magic circle that shone with a green light on one of the branches.

    ¡°Should we go?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, of course.¡±

    Their footsteps echoed as they walked on the tree branch. The magic circle was sparkling invitingly as they approached it.

    When Maple touched it, her body was enveloped in a green light and she disappeared.

    Pain followed after her, and then they both found themselves teleported to a different ce when they opened their eyes.

    Unlike thest ce, they were not in an eerily quiet forest.

    It was dense with trees and bright green leaves.

    Fresh, red fruits glistened in the bushes, and the sky above was blue.

    However, this lively forest had absolutely no sounding from it. Not the twittering of birds or the rustling of leaves. Not even their own footsteps had sound.

    ¡°What is this ce¡­?¡±

    Maple let out what was the only sound to be heard here.

    ¡°MP increase skills, I think? That¡¯s perfect.¡±

    Pain started to exin to Maple what could be gained here.

    ¡°I understand. It¡¯s a good opportunity, so let¡¯s do this!¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Just where in this forest you were supposed to head to, Pain had such information recorded as a memo. And so he checked it repeatedly as they made their way through the forest.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move away from me. Monsters will appear if you go off course.¡±

    And so Maple stayed as close to Pain as possible.

    Pain started to talk about the boss monster that was waiting for them.

    Maple listened to him carefully and prepared so that they would be able to take it down easily.

    Eventually, the two of them were able to reach their destination without attracting a single monster in the forest.

    It was a clearing where the wind and the leaves danced in the air. In the far back, there was a stump that was about 1-meter wide.

    ¡°The boss shoulde now.¡±

    ¡°Huh!? Okay!¡±

    Maple hesitantly held her shield up and unsheathed her sword.

    At the same time, a green light started to take shape above the tree stump. And then a human that was made entirely out of wood appeared as if breaking out of the stump.

    It was a short person that was 160 cm tall, and it wore a hat made of vines and leaves.

    There was also a simple wooden staff in its right hand, which was wrapped in vines and flowers.

    Before the two of them attacked, the boss monster waved its staff. Leaves rose into the air and attacked them.

    Pain easily moved around the leaves and attacked the boss, but Maple could not do the same.

    Even if she knew what would happen, she did not have enough speed to evade the attack.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    The leaves of the trees surrounded Maple.

    Their effect was that they switched your gear with random gear in your inventory, and that state would stay until the end of the battle.

    ¡°¡­Uh?¡±

    The leaves disappeared, and when Maple opened her eyes again, the first thing that she saw was her familiar-looking white armor.

    Unlike Pain, Maple hardly had any gear in her inventory.

    Her essories were a mess, and she had the crown she got in the jungle on her head. The rest was just sub-equipment.

    ¡°Hm, it¡¯s alright!¡±

    Maple unsheathed her short sword and moved close to Pain, who had already started to attack the boss ahead of her.

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    Maple blocked the wind des that were flying towards Pain. They were nullified and unable to hurt Maple.

    If Maple was carrying her shield, then Pain could focus on his role as an attacker.

    Gold hair and blue eyes.

    And since both were wearing pure white armor, they looked just like siblings.

    The merciless knight who was protected by affection used his shining holy de to cut the monster¡¯s four limbs off.

    His attack power was of the highest ss, and it viciously carved off its HP.

    ¡°This should be a short fight!¡±

    Pain swung his sword with all of his might.

    His sword shed through the wooden walls the boss made, and even the armor of vines.

    Maple continued to protect him with her indestructible shield.

    The bosses barrage of wind des and tornadoes of leaves were all blocked and trampled by her.

    The monster was not strong enough to beat these two by itself.

    The boss monster¡¯s body changed into that of a withered tree and crumbled into pieces.

    Pain quickly checked his skills and Maple changed her equipment back to normal.

    Just as she opened her inventory in order to take out a potion to recover her HP, she remembered it.

    ¡°Ahh!! I can¡¯t heal!¡±

    It had be such a habit for her, that she had moved without thinking.

    Maple shouted her mistake to no one in particr. Pain watched her.

    Pain was thinking about how beatable she would seem if you had only seen her as she was now.

 Chapter 164

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 164

    Defense Specialization and Meeting Up

    As Maple had identally used ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ she decided to leave the jungle for now.

    The reason was that she was currently in a state where she could be killed from a single piercing attack.

    Furthermore, she had been fighting in the jungle for quite some time now and was tired.

    Maple told Pain that she was leaving the jungle, then she was surrounded by light and teleported back to the main field.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll go to the next ce. It¡¯s a good thing that I arrived in a ce that was easy to navigate.¡±

    Pain muttered to himself.

    The scenery in the jungle was mostly the same wherever you went, and so it was useful to be close to one of the fewndmarks here.

    Pain was thinking about heading to an area that was a short distance from here, where golems were known to spawn inrge numbers.

    And so he had no business here anymore.

    Pain stepped on the magic circle and returned to the twisted tree.

    ¡°Ah¡­alright. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Pain switched gears and started to walk out again.

    As Pain walked down the stairs, he bumped into some yers who were walking upwards.

    It was Chrome, Misery, Kanade, and Marx.

    The four of them had been walking towards the same destination and happened to meet each other near the base of the tree. And so they had decided to cooperate.

    All four of them noticed Pain.

    When Chrome talked to Pain and found out where he was headed, the four of them talked about it and made a suggestion to Pain.

    They said that if Pain could wait a little while, they woulde and help him.

    The four of them wanted a yer who could unleash a lot of damage.

    ¡°¡­Fine. But what¡¯s your strategy for the boss up there?¡±

    Pain epted their offer and asked them if they were sure they could win this fight.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem. We¡¯ll win.¡±

    Chrome said with finality after answering a few questions.

    Pain looked at them and thought for a little while before saying:

    ¡°I¡¯ll go too. It will be faster that way.¡±

    If he was just going to wait here, then he might as well fight again.

    He hadn¡¯t depleted much energy from the fight anyway, and he had been able to carefully and safely observe the enemy, thanks to having fought it once with Maple.

    There was no reason that he could lose.

    ¡°It will be over quickly with 5 of us.¡±

    Things yed out just like Pain said they would before touching the magic circle.

    Pain was the main attacker and Chrome blocked the boss¡¯s attacks with his great shield.

    Pain calmly repeated the safest actions and achieved a predictable victory.

    Chrome also took no damage in the fight and was able to sessfully fend off all the attacks.

    Though, it was unknown if Pain and Marx were relieved by his movements because they saw him as strong and reliant or some other reason.

    In any case, everyone except for Pain acquired new skills.

    And since they were all able to return to their original ce together, they decided to head for the deeper part of the forest, which was overflowing with golems.

 Chapter 165

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 165

    Defense Specialization and the Golems

    The five of them including Pain walked in a tight group.

    As most of them were rearguards, they could not advance at a fast pace, but their safety was more than guaranteed.

    Pain told Chrome that Maple would have stayed with them if they hade a little earlier.

    ¡°Maple was here?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We were moving together until right before you guys came. Oh, she was so strong. As always.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never fought her directly. But I would like to someday¡­no, it would turn into mudslinging.¡±

    While not as long as Sally, Chrome had been around Maple for a long time as well.

    As someone who was also a shield-bearer, he was starting to be able to establish how to block Maple¡¯s attacks.

    Of course, that didn¡¯t mean he would be able to beat her.

    Chrome held the possibility of surviving a fight against Maple, but he could not defeat her.

    ¡°But if I ever get the opportunity, I¡¯m going all out. I¡¯m not exactly a pushover you know.¡±

    Chrome said as he mmed his right hand into his chest.

    ¡°If Maple remained as she is¡­I feel like I could almost stab her.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really? Well, Maple cannot be contained, so I have no idea what will happen in the future.¡±

    Chrome added that it had always been this way.

    Maple was constantly repeating the cycle of stagnation and then sudden growth.

    Not only that, but there was no one around her, including herself who was able to predict it.

    ¡°Everyone, it¡¯s a golem! Prepare for battle!¡±

    They had continued to talk while being cautious.

    And as they walked like that, they eventually arrived in the area overflowing with golems, which was Pain¡¯s destination.

    There were moss-covered ruins here, and there were more broken pirs and bricks than trees.

    Misery alerted them and cast buffs on Pain and Chrome at the same time.

    ¡°It looks¡­.like I won¡¯t have anything to do this time. I¡¯ll prepare some traps.¡±

    Marx switched from normal road traps to traps forrge monsters that had a high cost.

    As he did this, Pain went ahead and began shing at the arms of the stone golem.

    ¡°It¡¯s easy if its just one!¡±

    Pain twisted his body and avoided being hit by the golem¡¯s fist. Then he used ¡®Leap¡¯ and cut down into the golem¡¯s body.

    For Pain, a golem was not the kind of enemy where he needed to care about defending himself.

    In the end, Pain was able to kill the giant golem all by himself.

    And it didn¡¯t even take one minute.

    Chrome ran up to him as he sheathed his sword.

    ¡°Hey, Pain. Look.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? This¡­¡±

    Pain looked in the direction that Chrome was pointing.

    Broken pirs and the skeleton of moss-covered ruin.

    A golem appeared from its shadow. Not only that. Golems wereing out from all over the ce. They cried as they charged at them.

    It was as if they were blocking the way for anyone trying to go forward.

    As Pain and the others watched, the golems increased to such a number that they covered the entire scene.

    ¡°Pain, what should we do!?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s kill a few and then run through!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Chrome and Pain exchanged words briefly and then unsheathed their weapons.

    Misery cast an AGI increase buff on all of them, and they prepared to make a run for it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stop them with traps on both sides¡­but it won¡¯t hold for long.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll use my magic books for now. Hmmm, something with a piercing ability¡­this one I think.¡±

    Kanade pulled out a book.

    Just as the fight was about to begin, the book emitted a bright light.

    The sound of wind blowing could now be heard above their heads.

    It slowly became louder and blowed in specific directions.

    It was now explosively loud.

    Several spears of air shot out and pierced through the golems.

    Dust rose into the air, and all of them felt the earth tremble under their feet.

    ¡°The damage isn¡¯t as high as it looks, hurry!¡±

    Obeying Kanade¡¯s order, Pain stood in the lead and charged at the golems.

    ¡°You guys¡­don¡¯t move¡­¡±

    A pale light appeared from both sides and flowed to the feet of the golems, limiting their movement.

    Marx¡¯s MP was dwindling rapidly, but Misery quickly made up for it with her own skills.

    It wasn¡¯t just HP that Misery could replenish.

    But since it was limited, she could not use it forever, but it was more than enough to get through this.

    ¡°There¡¯s no end to it! We can¡¯t keep fighting them.¡±

    Chrome shouted as he parried a heavy fist, sending it into the ground.

    There were too many to defeat, and it would be difficult to run through them.

    It was right then.

    A golem¡¯s head blew off in an explosion of mes.

 Chapter 166

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 166

    Defense Specialization and the Moss-Covered Ruin

    Among the golems that surrounded Pain and the others, the golems that were around the outer rim started to explode into mes and vanish in bursts of light.

    Pain and Chrome looked to see what was happening. They saw a lone girl who was using fire to fight the golems. It was Mi.

    The golems were swarming around Mi as well andbined with the golems that were fighting Pain, they made a huge number.

    Mi had also noticed the others from all of the noise. Kanade, Chrome and Pain¡¯s equipment all stuck out from afar, and she knew the other two very well. So Mi was able to grasp the other team¡¯s formation very quickly.

    ¡°You are here, huh.¡±

    Mi burned the golems with a column of fire. It burned not only the golems around her but the golems around Pain as well.

    And while it didn¡¯t kill them, it was effective in pushing them off bnce.

    Pain and the others saw their chance and rushed passed the golems to meet up with Mi.

    Misery and Marx had suggested it, and the others had agreed.

    After seeing Marx and Misery, Mi called out.

    ¡°Misery!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I know!¡±

    Misery didn¡¯t need detailed instructions and acted immediately.

    She gave her extra MP to Mi.

    ¡°Here I go¡­!¡±

    The sound of the golems steps and the shing erased the skill¡¯s name, but what happened next evoked a most powerful skill.

    In an instant, there was a zing wall of fire on both sides of the group. It stretched out in a straight path ahead, separating the golems.

    ¡°¡®Secret Flower.¡¯¡±

    Marx said quietly, and then a thin vine wrapped around everyone that was there, and a white flower bloomed on top.

    This was a skill that could only be used when you were not visible to the monsters, and for a hefty price, it would make you undetectable to monsters for 30 seconds.

    The flower was made to wilt and die when the effect ran out, making it easy to know how long it wouldst.

    ¡°The golems will disappear shortly after losing sight of the yer.¡±

    Mi said, and started to walk down the path of fire.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go too. This wall of fire will notst too long.¡±

    Misery said. Then she caught up with Mi and whispered something in her ear.

    ¡°Why note with us?¡±

    ¡°Can I? ¡­It¡¯s so hard when you are alone¡­¡±

    Mi has loosened up ever since Maple had found out her secret, and she had shortly after exposed her personality to Misery as well.

    And since she found it easy to talk to Misery, it made her time at the guild much more rxing.

    Upon hearing Mi¡¯s words, Misery turned around to talk to Pain and the others.

    ¡°Mi said she¡¯lle with us. We¡¯ll be much stronger!¡±

    Mi had a very serious reputation, and so Misery had an important role and acted as a bridge between them.

    ¡°My magic is unstable, so it would be a great help.¡±

    They had no reason to reject her, and so she was epted. Misery was the only one who noticed how relieved Mi looked.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go then. We don¡¯t have any time, right?¡±

    Chrome said as he began to walk.

    And so they were able to escape the golems before the hiding effect expired.

    Mi was thankful that the jungle was made so it could not burn.

    And so they were all able to continue without anyone dying.

    ¡°I can see it now.¡±

    They had broken through the golems, who were the guardians. And so there would obviously be something up ahead.

    What Pain was pointing at was a rocky ruin covered in moss.

    Towards the back, there was an especiallyrge building that had a strong presence.

    There were no monsters here, and so they easily reached therge building in the back.

    A long, long staircase that led underground now faced the six of them.

    But they had no reason not to descend, and so they started to walk.

    It was all in order to acquire something that was protected here, even though they had no idea what it was.

 Chapter 167

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 167

    Defense Specialization and Inside of the Ruins

    The six of them descended the dark staircase.

    There were turns midway in, and eventually, there was no light from the surface that reached them.

    ¡°I will prepare antern.¡±

    Misery pulled out antern to light the dark steps.

    Just onentern gave off adequate light.

    ¡°Nothing hase out yet¡­¡±

    Chrome kept his great shield up and looked around anxiously. The only thing they could see in the darkness was ash colored walls.

    ¡°¡­! I can see something now¡­I think?¡±

    ¡°Mi?¡±

    Misery nced over to Mi.

    Mi was looking downwards.

    She was shockinglyforted by just having Misery nearby.

    ¡°Uh, yes, I know¡­the stairs end just a little up ahead. And there is a door. We should be careful.¡±

    Mi said, and both of her eyes were glowing red.

    Mi had a night vision skill that allowed her to see things more clearly in the dark.

    Just like Mi said, there was a stone door at the end. That being said, there was only an indented ce to put your hand in and slide the door to the side.

    Chrome put his hand in and pushed with all of his might.

    ¡°Hm? ¡­It¡¯s no use. It won¡¯t open.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it requires more STR. Let me try.¡±

    Pain sheathed his sword and used all of his strength to try and open the door.

    Then they heard the sounds of stone grinding against stone as the door slowly began to open.

    At the same time, a blinding light poured out.

    Whaty beyond the door was randomly positioned paths and stairs that went in every direction, up and down, left and right.

    Furthermore, there were also glowing magic circles everywhere and also a single, mysterious and old-looking lever.

    In a word, it resembled a maze. That was the impression the six of them got as they looked at the scene.

    ¡°Ah¡­where should we start?¡±

    Chrome asked Pain.

    ¡°We have too many options. I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Pain nced to the left and saw 5 or 6 magic circles.

    Nothing could be more tedious.

    ¡°What to do¡­I don¡¯t mind any direction?¡±

    Marx said with an expression that was a diluted version of his reaction upon seeing Maple use Savagery.

    In other words, he was starting to really want to go back. The only reason he did not, was because there were so many members gathered here.

    ¡°We¡¯ll just randomly invade. A few monsters won¡¯t pose much of a problem anyway. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll find an answer by just standing here and thinking.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you are right, Mi. I think we should just try to touch a magic circle or even that lever.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll record the path we take. So at least we won¡¯t get lost or forget where we came from.¡±

    And so they all decided on their direction.

    They would try and pull the lever.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to do it, alright?¡±

    Chrome approached the lever and touched it. He looked back at the others. They all nodded, and so Chrome pulled the lever back.

    In the same instant, the stairs that were all over the ce started to move and shuffle. Walls opened and new paths were created while others disappeared.

    Magic circles faded and reappeared in different locations.

    With just one pull of the level, the entire maze had transformed.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    Marx¡¯s face was now fully what it was when he saw Maple use Savagery.

    Even Chrome, who had been the one to pull the lever looked serious.

    ¡°What do you think, Pain? Do you want to choose the next thing we try?¡±

    ¡°To be honest, this is all very tedious. Haha, what about you, Chrome?¡±

    As the two advance guards asked each other, Kanade spoke up.

    ¡°It looks like the magic circles on all of the stairs and paths have changed¡­but there is one path that didn¡¯t change from before. Why not go there?¡±

    Kanade had memorized the entireyout of the previous scene.

    Even if the others didn¡¯t notice it, it had stuck out like an eyesore to Kanade.

    They had no reason to object to this suggestion.

    And so they all headed in the direction that Kanade indicated.

    At the end of the path that Kanade suggested, there was a simr room and another lever.

    ¡°If this keeps repeating¡­the others might all be traps then.¡±

    ¡°Kanade, we¡¯re counting on you.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    And so the six of them continued on.

    They easily slipped past ferocious monsters and instant death traps.

    All of the traps inside of the ruins were defeated by one yer alone, Kanade.

    The intelligence that protected the ruins were ovee by an even higher intelligence.

    They continued to descend lower and lower. And finally, they reached a room that was clearly different from the others.

    Far back into the room, there was arge coffin that was decorated with gold and jewels. But nothing else. Aside from the dry sand that was scattered over the stone floor, there was nothing unusual about the ground.

    The coffin that wasid down on the ground was 5 meters long. And among the six of them, not one of them thought there was anything good inside of it.

    And their prediction was correct.

    Perhaps it had sensed their presence because the lid made a noise as it began to slide away.

    What came out from the coffin was a skeleton king whose crown still shone brightly.

    The dark pits where his eyes would have been were filled with ck fire.

    ¡°Here ites. Get ready!¡±

    Pain shouted as the skeleton king moved. And so the fight began.

 Chapter 168

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 168

    Defense Specialization and the Skeleton King

    As soon as the fight began, Pain and Mi jumped forward towards the boss.

    Chrome was just about to go after them when a blue me burst from the tip of the staff that the boss was holding.

    At the same time, the floor that had once seemed so normal began to crack, and skeletons wielding weapons began to break out of it.

    The rusted swords and spears they carried were dripping with a ck liquid.

    ¡°Chrome, protect the rear!¡±

    Pain shouted as he shed at the skeletons that blocked him.

    ¡°Sure! ¡®Provoke¡¯!¡±

    Chrome stopped and held his shield up in front of the three rearguards. Skeletons wereing up all over the room now. And he had to prevent them from directly attacking the rearguard.

    And so Chrome protected their backs as balls of fire and screaming wind des flew through the air.

    Kanade used a Magic Record that unleashed area attacks, and Misery attacked with her own magic that had area attacks.

    Marx set out traps to bind the skeletons in order to support Chrome.

    However, because he was using ¡®Provoke,¡¯ the skeletons continued to swarm around him.

    Chrome maneuvered his great shield skillfully as he cut with his Japanese billhook, but then a spear pierced him in the arm.

    And while he quickly blew away the skeleton who had hit him, his arm was spraying red light.

    ¡°The damage itself isn¡¯t too¡­damn it! Are you serious! Be careful everyone, the skeleton¡¯s attacks have an HP reduction effect!¡±

    Even now, Chrome¡¯s HP was slowly going down.

    And while it did stop after several seconds, there was currently no way to deal with it, as it was not poison.

    ¡°It seems that the skeletons spawn endlessly!¡±

    ¡°Then¡­shoot around Mi and Pain. I¡¯ll use traps over here.¡±

    Marx took out some crystals and seeds from his pouch and scattered them on the ground.

    When the crystals exploded on the ground, they let out electric shes of light that stopped the skeletons from moving.

    The seeds sprouted at an incredible speed, and their vines created a thick wall that closed around the skeletons.

    Kanade and Misery saw this and began to use magic to attack ahead of them.

    Pain and Mi were being blocked by more skeletons the closer they got to the boss, but because the support attacks were now stronger, they finally seeded in reaching the boss.

    ¡°Would fire work on it?¡±

    She waved her arm and used ¡®me Empress¡¯ tounch a fireball at the boss. It¡¯s HP visibly decreased.

    However, at the same time as its HP went down, what should have been a fountain of red damage effects was reced with an oozing ck liquid.

    While Mi wasn¡¯t hit directly, a little bit of it sshed onto her.

    ¡°My HP¡¯s dropping¡­!¡±

    As this area did not allow you to recover HP, there was no attack that could be more troublesome than this for Mi.

    ¡°Still, it¡¯s weak. ¡®Holy de of Conviction¡¯!¡±

    Pain shed with his sword, pushing away the staff that the boss tried to use to guard himself. The sword cut deeply into its fleshless chest and up into its face.

    The ck liquid sshed onto Pain, and just as he was about to go in for another attack, the coffin began to overflow with the oozing ck liquid.

    ¡°Tsk, Mi!¡±

    ¡°One more hit!¡±

    Mi made the boss recoil with another fireball to the head before taking a step back along with Pain.

    The skeletons that were rising up around them were attacked by a constant barrage of magic from the rear, allowing them to focus solely on the boss.

    The ck liquid that was oozing from out of the coffin finally stopped once it had covered the ground around the boss.

    This meant that they would have to take some damage in order to get close to him.

    Furthermore, the boss threw his staff towards the ceiling, and the ceiling sucked it in.

    Then a ck glow began to cover the bones of his body.

    When this happened, half of the skeleton soldiers lost their power and disappeared. But in exchange, ck drops of liquid began to rain down from the ceiling.

    The familiar liquid chipped away at their HP.

    ¡°Everyone, to the front! Unite and attack!¡±

    Pain charged again. At the same time, the other four all advanced so that the boss was within range of their attacks.

    However, all of their attacks were greatly weakened due to the ck light that was now covering the boss.

    ¡°Chrome¡­! Can you get close to the boss? It has a strong buff cast on it now¡­I¡¯m going to deactivate it.¡±

    Marx said. A white circle was floating above his right eye like a monocle.

    In other words, he was using it to steal the boss¡¯s data.

    ¡°Are you two alright?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll use defense type Magic Records! It¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    He sounded confident, and so Chrome took Marx and rushed into the skeletons.

    While they took damage, they arrived at the position Marx wanted to be.

    ¡°Good¡­ ¡®Holy Chains¡¯!¡±

    Yellow magic circles started to appear all around the boss¡¯s body. And then white, glowing chains began to grow out of them and wrap around the boss.

    The ck glow around the boss disappeared. Not only that, but he was unable to move for three seconds.

    But three seconds was much too long with Mi and Pain there.

    ¡°Let¡¯s end this!¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    Mi¡¯s fireballs burned its bones, and her pir of fire destroyed the coffin.

    Pain¡¯s holy sword shed into the boss¡¯s face.

    By the time the ck drops had taken all of their HP bars to below 50%, the skeleton king had returned to his slumber.

 Chapter 169

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 169

    Defense Specialization and the Event

    The skeleton king turned into light and disappeared, and only the coffin remained.

    The six of them peered into the coffin and saw that there were six scrolls inside and six familiar looking silver medals.

    There were also rusted swordsying around, but these two were the only items they were able to acquire.

    All six of them took their reward and checked the skills inside of the scrolls.

    ¡®Ghost Mud.¡¯

    For 30 seconds after use, adds a 25% HP loss to the damage that your attacks do.

    Can be used again after 1 minute.

    In other words, it was a skill based off of the ck liquid that had been chipping away at their HP.

    After checking this skill, they started to think about how they could use it.

    Some of them looked at it curiously, and the others seemed very satisfied as they left the dungeon behind them.

    Furthermore, the six of them decided that they would continue to explore the jungle until their HP ran outpletely.

    Several days passed since the 6 of them hadpleted the dungeon that was deep in the jungle.

    Maple was slumped over her desk in the guild home.

    ¡°Ahhhh¡­ughh¡­¡±

    She had left the jungle because her HP was low, but now she was having trouble obtaining the item that would allow her to go back.

    As this urred, she began to lose interest in the jungle itself. And so she ended up just staying alone in the guild home and moaning while the others were out exploring.

    ¡°Who cares about the jungle anyway! I already did plenty of exploring.¡±

    Maple said with a renewed resolve and left the guild home.

    Of course, she was not leaving in order to get the item to return to the jungle.

    ¡°Somewhere I haven¡¯t been to¡­ Ah, that¡¯s it!¡±

    As if remembering something, Maple slowly walked through the field of clouds.

    ¡°Woah¡­it¡¯s amazing.¡±

    What was in front of Maple now, was a great field of clouds and unending lightning.

    Chrome had told her about this ce a short while ago, and she decided toe to pay it a visit as she had nothing better to do.

    ¡°Alright¡­Here I go!¡±

    With high spirits, Maple walked over the sea of clouds.

    As the clouds rumbled loudly, there was no way for Maple to remain safe, and lightning struck down on her in a concentrated assault.

    ¡°Woah! ¡­Oh. Okay! It¡¯s nothing!¡±

    Even if she was hit, Maple¡¯s HP had not even moved a millimeter.

    Not only that, but the paralysis effects also did not work on her.

    ¡°Okay, I better keep moving!¡±

    Maple walked on. She had been struck by lightning dozens of times, but they all bounced off of her without exception.

    ¡°I wonder if I couldn¡¯t dodge them like Sally? ¡­Aghh! No, no. I can¡¯t. Nope.¡±

    She hopped around in an attempt to dodge it, but was immediately struck. Maple froze with shock and realized that it really was no use.

    ¡°Fine. I don¡¯t care¡­ Oomph!¡±

    She said angrily and was immediately struck again as if to remind of her of that reality.

    ¡°Walking. Walking. I¡¯m just walking.¡±

    Even if Maple felt differently, her defense ability was the same. And so Maple continued to walk, all the while getting struck by lightning. And when she got past the area, what awaited her was not more thunderclouds, but a sea of pretty, white clouds.

    ¡°Did I get through it? ¡­I hope there is something here.¡±

    And so Maple looked around curiously as she walked.

    It was after she had walked for some time. Maple saw something standing on top of a white cloud.

    Maple squinted at the thing that was five times taller than her.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ A chair?¡±

    The thing that Maple thought was a chair was the same white as the cloud it was on, but had a brighter shine to it.

    It was a giant throne.

 Chapter 170

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 170

    Defense Specialization the King of Light

    As Maple approached the throne, white light began to gather together on the throne as if in reaction.

    And they quickly took the shape of a human that was big enough to sit on the throne.

    A crown shined on his head, and a beard made of light swayed on his old, wrinkled jaw.

    The clothes that he was wearing were extravagant and worthy of royalty.

    Magic circles started to appear all around the king. The white lights spread out and through the ground.

    And without exchanging a word.

    The magic circlesunched a volley of light arrows at Maple.

    ¡°Alright¡­ ¡®Savagery¡¯!¡±

    The outeryer that surrounded Maple caused the flying arrows to bounce off of her.

    ¡°Here I go!¡±

    Maple started to run.

    Just as Maple had crossed the area around the throne that was covered in white lights, her tough outeryer disappeared as if dissolving.

    ¡°Huh!? Woah!¡±

    Maple was thrown out so suddenly that she went rolling onto the ground.

    When she finally stopped, she looked around and wondered what had happened.

    The arrows were still being fired, and the king still sat on the throne.

    ¡°Fine¡­ ¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    Maple shouted. However, the familiar stream of poison did not materialize from the point of her thrust short sword.

    ¡°Huh? What¡­? ¡®Predator¡¯! ¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯! ¡®Deploy all Weapons¡¯!¡±

    She tried using all of the skills that she relied on, and while she was able to create weapons, all of the others failed to go off.

    The shining ground continued to expand.

    It was a holy field that sealed the evil skills of those who were around.

    So many of Maple¡¯s skills were too dark for this king of light.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Maple tried to attack him with a storm of bullets, cannonballs, andsers, but the light arrows were too numerous, and most of her attacks were knocked out of the air.

    Furthermore, right when she thought her attacks would hit their target, she saw that they didn¡¯t even deal any damage.

    Generally, Maple¡¯s guns were about quantity, rather than the impact of each bullet. And so they were not too effective on people with strong defense.

    As the attack power was fixed, if she continued to use it like this and move forward, it would only be less effective.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ What should I do? I don¡¯t take any damage¡­ But ¡®Bizarre Eater¡¯ hasn¡¯t even activated.¡±

    Maple confirmed that her great shield was blocking all of the arrows, then stood there in bewilderment.

    She couldn¡¯t win or lose in this situation.

    Both sides were just using ranged attacks that were unlimited, and it didn¡¯t seem like anything was going to change.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll try getting closer.¡±

    Maple blocked the oing arrows as she walked towards the motionless king on the throne.

    After a moment, she arrived at its feet.

    ¡°Attacking¡­not likely¡­¡±

    Maple tried poking the toes with her sword, but of course, there was no damage.

    Even if she hit with her shield or called out Syrup and had it attacks, it was all the same.

    Maple stood there for a while before pping her hands and turning her back on the boss.

    ¡°Retreat! Retreat!¡±

    She understood now that there was nothing she could do, and so she returned to the sea of thunderclouds as the arrows shot at her back.

    And so Maple returned to the normal field after getting struck by lightning. Here, she stopped and tried toe up with a breakthrough n.

    ¡°Do I have anything, hmm¡­ Oh, I know! That thing I heard when walking through the town, it should be somewhere!¡±

    Maple remembered something, and so she rode on top of Syrup and slowly flew towards the town.

    ¡°There¡¯s a row of shops, so I¡¯ll start here.¡±

    Maple checked how much money she was carrying, then got off of Syrup right in front of the town.

    ¡°Is it here, is it here¡­ They said it was on the firstyer.¡±

    Maple went through the stores one by one and looked at the products.

    And after an hour of searching.

    Maple had used a lot of her money and bought many items.

    ¡°Okay. I got quite a lot, though I¡¯m not sure if this stuff will be useful¡­ But I¡¯ll give it another try tomorrow!¡±

    Maple checked the items that she had stuffed into her inventory onest time before returning to the real world.

 Chapter 171

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 171

    Defense Specialization and the Item

    After the day of her shopping spree, Maple continued to ignore the jungle and walked through the thunderous sea of clouds.

    ¡°I hope that I can win¡­ But, I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Maple was very worried, but her inventory was full of the items that she had bought.

    If just one of them were effective, then she had a chance of making it.

    ¡°I might have bought a lot of useless things¡­? No, who cares! I¡¯ll just try them all, and if they don¡¯t work, I¡¯ll think again!¡±

    Maple thought as the throne appeared before her again.

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯m going to do it! I¡¯m going to do it!¡±

    Maple stepped out towards the throne, and just like before, a light started to take shape on it.

    The holy light began to shine and spread on the ground, and the arrows started to fire.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to bother with that anymore, alright?¡±

    Maple was not here for another shootout. And so she allowed the arrows to fire and she made a beeline towards the king.

    When she arrived at the feet of the giant king of light, she opened her inventory as the rain of arrows fell on her.

    ¡°Hm¡­ Let¡¯s try one at a time then.¡±

    Maple took out a single sheet of paper and stuck it onto the king¡¯s foot.

    In the next instant, the paper started to glow red, then it burst into mes.

    ¡°Ahh¡­it¡¯s not working? So fire doesn¡¯t affect him. Okay, next one!¡±

    Maple pulled out a simr sheet of paper and stuck it on.

    This time, there was a loud noise as the paper began to freeze.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s HP went down a little! Good¡­¡±

    Maple left her inventory open as she sat down by his feet. Now began the long process of taking each sheet out and sticking it on his foot.

    She continued to attack by freezing him with these sheets, and after a while, she was able to bring his HP down to 90%.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I ran out. I guess I¡¯ll try a different item now.¡±

    And so Maple used a different item, and when that ran out, she used another one. And little by little, the boss¡¯s HP went down.

    Partway into this process, the boss¡¯s attacks became stronger and had added effects. However, Maple continued to block all of them, and so they had no effect on her at all.

    ¡°Ah, I used up all of my magic attack items now¡­ Fire and wind don¡¯t work, so I¡¯ll save these forter¡­ Hmm¡­¡±

    Maple looked at the king of light¡¯s HP gauge.

    It had gone down, but it still had 60% left.

    In the first ce, the items that Maple was using could only deal a small amount of damage, and so it could not be helped.

    These items had not been cheap, and were supposed to be quite effective, and yet they could only do so much damage.

    ¡°Alright, time for this thing!¡±

    The next thing that Maple pulled out was a red stone that fit nicely into the palm of her hand.

    Maple threw it at the giant foot.

    It bounced off after dealing 1 point of damage.

    This was the thing that Maple had heard of while walking in the town.

    It was a cheap item that had the power to deal random damage between 1 and 3.

    Maple had overheard some people talking about whether this item could not be used to defeat her.

    As for that dilemma, they decided that it would be much easier to beat her with piercing skills. But Maple did not hear that part.

    ¡°More¡­I still have plenty more!¡±

    While this was not the conventional way of using it, Maple continued to pull them out and throw them. And like this, the boss¡¯s HP slowly but surely began to drop.

    It was a method that took a long time, but Maple had no other options to deal damage now, and like this, she was the one who had a possibility of winning.

    This would continue until she emptied her inventory of the insane amount of stones she had bought.

    ¡°Oomph! Mmmph! Yes, yes, half! Hm?¡±

    As Maple threw the stones and the boss¡¯s HP dropped to 50%, two angels appeared around it.

    They floated in the air and shot arrows at Maple.

    ¡°It won¡¯t work! Won¡¯t work! Or not? What¡¯s this?¡±

    Maple¡¯s body was being wrapped up by shiny golden threads, and they were connected to the ground.

    Whenever Maple moved, the golden threads only stretched instead of breaking.

    ¡°Hmm, what the¡­ Ah, it¡¯s taking my MP. Well, fine then. That has nothing to do with me.¡±

    As its appearance of binding would suggest, it also sucked away her AGI, but her AGI was a 0 so there was nothing to take. And so this too had no effect on Maple.

    ¡°Okay. One more time then.¡±

    So saying, Maple turned back to the king of light. That¡¯s when she noticed that something had changed.

    There was a glimmering halo above its head, and not only that, she could seerge wings in that back that pierced through the throne.

    But the most terrible change of all was that its HP was slowly recovering.

    ¡°Wha!? Wa-wait!¡±

    Maple quickly started to attack again, but the recovery speed was faster. And before long, it had regained all of the HP that Maple has used so many items to chip away at.

    ¡°That¡¯s not fair. So unfair!¡±

    Maple stabbed into the giant¡¯s foot with her short sword, but it did no damage.

    ¡°Agh¡­.! Ah¡­hmph. Then take this thing I identally bought!¡±

    Maple said as she took out a few dozen weight stones for pickles from her inventory and dropped them on its feet.

    The store that had sold the red damage stones required you to make purchases through a panel disy, and so she had bought these by ident.

    Maple was not able to sell them, and had a faint hope that they would be useful at some point, and had held onto them until now.

    ¡°I¡¯m leaving¡­ Hah¡­uhh¡­¡±

    Maple ignored the golden threads around her and the volley of arrows as she trudged away from the boss.

    ¡°Uhhh¡­ He really made me waste all of that.¡±

    She logged out for the day and rolled around in her room with a much more sulky expression than usual.

    The next day.

    ¡°Woah! So much lightning¡­¡±

    ¡°Uhhhh¡­it really took me by surprise.¡±

    ¡°I was shocked by it too.¡±

    Maple said with a smile. White wings shone on her back.

    ¡°Um¡­wasn¡¯t it today¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it won¡¯t take long. Sorry for asking you two to help¡­¡±

    Maple said apologetically and bowed.

    ¡°No, we just quit the jungle, as the exploration was too harsh for us¡­right? Mai?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It was perfect timing.¡±

    The two of them said that they were returning a debt for when Maple had helped them, and so they went with Maple to her third visit to the throne.

    ¡°I¡¯ll get you this time.¡±

    Maple said as she marched towards the throne.

 Chapter 172

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 172

    Defense Specialization and the Throne

    The result of this was as obvious as anything.

    The white wings ofplete protection were shining as Maple led the other two forward.

    The arrows of light could not stop their advance, and they slowly and surely closed the gap between them and the enemy.

    When they reached the feet of the giant king, Maple told the other two to prepare.

    ¡°Yes, please wait a moment.¡±

    Yui and Mai started to use several items.

    As they did this, their bodies exuded a red aura, which signaled that their attack power was being raised.

    When that waspleted, they equipped their second great hammer, and they were done.

    ¡°Oh, right! ¡®Encourage¡¯!¡±

    Maple had a skill that she acquired during the second event and hardly ever used.

    With this, Yui and Mai¡¯s STR and AGI were temporarily raised 20%.

    With a 20% STR boost, they could expect a damage output that was nothing like what Maple¡¯s had been dealing while she was tossing the red stones.

    With this extra support added, Yui and Mai moved to crush the king.

    ¡°¡®Double Strike¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Double Strike¡¯!¡±

    A thunderous sound echoed with every strike of their hammers. Together, they hit it 8 times, and the boss was no more.

    The light that made up his body dispersed and disappeared.

    It rained down over them as the notice for a new skill arrived.

    ¡°Yes! Hehe! You called two angels on me too, so it¡¯s only fair. Oh, I better check the skill.¡±

    Maple said and checked the skill.

    ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯

    After the skill is activated, it will reduce damage to the person sitting on the throne by 20% until the skill is deactivated or you die. Recover 2% HP every second.

    It also makes ¡®evil¡¯ type skills, including your own unusable within a 30-meter radius.

    ¡°Ah¡­so this was the cause of it.¡±

    Maple was satisfied that she now knew why she had struggled so much.

    This had caused many of her skills to be unusable.

    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll try it out¡­ ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯!¡±

    As Maple said this, lights began to gather behind her, and a throne that was much like the giant one, only this time made for her size, materialized.

    Maple cautiously sat down on it, and then a bright light shot out through the ground and spread outward.

    There was also now a thinyer of light surrounding her body.

    And just like how it was with the king, Maple¡¯s wings went through the back of the throne and shined behind her.

    ¡°Woah¡­it¡¯s nice¡­and pretty.¡±

    Maple had not acquired so many skills that would have to be sealed out of personal taste.

    But as she had many of them, this skill, with its purely beautiful effects, quickly rose as one of Maple¡¯s favorites.

    Even if it dropped her attack ability.

    She smiled as she sat on the throne and waved her feet. Then Yui said,

    ¡°Maple? Uh¡­what is that?¡±

    ¡°Hm, oh? You two didn¡¯t get this skill too?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We got the light arrow skill that the boss was just using. But it has nothing to do with STR, so we probably can¡¯t use it.¡±

    Maple thought a little after hearing this.

    Why had they acquired different skills?

    What she felt was the most likely reason was the skill that she currently had activated, and gave her angel wings. Dedicated Affection.

    ¡°The king had wings part way in¡­so it must be that. But there are no conditions written anywhere.¡±

    Maple got up from her throne and was about to leave with the other two.

    When she did this, the aura of light around her disappeared and the light on the ground also vanished.

    ¡°Oh, right. You have to be sitting down for it to work. Well, let¡¯s just go back now.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­? No, wait a second?¡±

    Just as they started to leave, Maple stopped and cupped her chin in thought.

    After a minute.

    As the lightning fell, something was flying in the air and shining brightly. It was a giant turtle with a throne on its back.

    ¡°Syrup? Is it too heavy?¡±

    Maple asked Syrup.

    The throne that had materialized on top of Syrup, was fixed steadily to its back.

    Currently, she could see that it did not add any weight, as far as stats were concerned.

    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll stay like this with Syrup for a while. Yes, that¡¯s a good idea!¡±

    ¡°Maple, we¡¯re almost out of the lightning area.¡±

    Yui pointed to where white clouds were starting to show.

    ¡°Oh, yeah. What are you going to do after this?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­we were thinking of level grinding a little.¡±

    ording to Mai, they were not yet at the suggested level for thisyer.

    ¡°We cannot survive here unless we can one-shot our enemies.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. I should probably do that too. I haven¡¯t been doing that recently.¡±

    They talked about this as they rode Syrup back to the normal field.

 Chapter 173

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 173

    Defense Specialization and Umbres

    While Maple continued to stay away from the jungle, the event finally finished.

    Ultimately, she had not returned even once.

    Now that the event was over, and everyone was in the mood for a short break, Maple went to the guild home.

    ¡°The event was over before I knew it¡­ But it was such a hassle to get the item to return, so I guess it¡¯s fine.¡±

    As Maple wondered about what she should do next, Sally came in.

    Maple waved a hand and so Sally walked up to her.

    ¡°Hey, Maple. Did you get anything good in the jungle?¡±

    I did okay, Sally added. Her expression suggested that she had acquired something very good.

    ¡°Hmm¡­not really. I quit part way in and just explored thisyer instead.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Well, it does take a lot of preparation¡­ But did you aplish anything here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I did!¡±

    Maple smiled as if to suggest she got something.

    ¡°Oh, what is it?¡±

    ¡°A throne!¡±

    ¡°A throne¡­ Can you say that again?¡±

    ¡°¡­? A throne!¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    That was all Sally said as she sat next to Maple on the sofa.

    Sally had been so busy with the event, and so she had not seen Maple for a while.

    They talked about Maple¡¯s throne and about all the things that Sally had seen in the jungle.

    As they talked like this, they moved on to the next subject, which was about the nextyer.

    ¡°Now that the event is finished, there will probably be a newyer added soon.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. I wonder what it will be this time? I hope that it is pretty.¡±

    Maple thought about the views she hadn¡¯t seen yet.

    It could be a beautiful sea, a serene forest, a lively town.

    ¡°So we should finish what we have left here¡­ Right?¡±

    ¡°What we have left. What¡¯s that, Sally?¡±

    ¡°You know, the ce that you haven¡¯t gone yet. Where the rain is slow. Let¡¯s clear that area first.¡±

    The ce that Sally was talking about was the area that Chrome and Kasumi had discovered.

    ording to Sally, information about how to beat it had already circted, along with what you gained from it.

    ¡°Sally, you haven¡¯t gone to the lightning ce, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m not really drawn to that skill that you told me about anyway.¡±

    ¡°I see. So¡­will youe with me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s get prepared and go to the rain area.¡±

    And so the two of them decided to go to the rain area.

    Just as they reached out for the door in order to leave the guild home, the door opened from the other side.

    ¡°Oh, Maple and Sally. Are you going somewhere?¡±

    Kasumi was standing there.

    She didn¡¯t have any particr purpose but had just stopped by.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to the ce where the rain is really slow. The ce you told me about before!¡±

    ¡°Ah, that ce¡­ Hmm, do you mind if I tag along then?¡±

    Kasumi asked. It seemed like a good opportunity.

    Maple and Sally had no reason to refuse, and so they decided to all go together.

    ¡°Uh, Kasumi. Do you have it?¡±

    ¡°No, not yet. I was so focused on the event.¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    Maple tilted her head as she listened to them talk.

    Sally noticed this and suddenly asked Maple a question.

    ¡°Hey, Maple. What do you use when it¡¯s raining?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­um, an umbre?¡±

    Maple said hesitantly.

    ¡°Yes, bingo! It¡¯s an important item when going to that area.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re going to go and buy umbres now. I know where the store is.¡±

    Kasumi and Sally walked in the lead as if guiding her. Maple followed after them.

    And like that, the three of them arrived at the store that sold umbres.

    There were many umbres packed into the store, and there was a wide variety of types, colors, and sizes.

    ¡°Hmm, which should I choose?¡±

    ¡°All of them have the same effect.¡±

    ¡°Okay, got it.¡±

    Maple said and started to walk around the store. She looked through the umbres and tried to choose one.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll take this one.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nice and simple.¡±

    Kasumi had a dark red, paper umbre. Sally bought an umbre that was the same blue as her clothes.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Maple¡­oh, there she is! Uh, what¡¯s that?¡±

    The umbre that Maple was holding was made up of parts that were all fluffy clouds.

    ¡°It¡¯s a store exclusive!¡±

    ¡°Are you easily swayed by that kind of thing?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­well, maybe. But this works as an umbre, see!¡±

    Maple opened the cloud umbre and twirled it above her head.

    ¡°Well, if they¡¯re selling it, then it must work. There shouldn¡¯t be a problem. I hope.¡±

    Kasumi could never be sure about anything when it came to Maple.

    In any case, all three of them took their new umbres and continued on to the area with the slow rain.

 Chapter 174

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 174

    Defense Specialization and the Rain Area

    While they encountered a number of monsters along the way, they were not the kind to put up a decent fight.

    The trio went straight towards their destination and reached it without a problem.

    ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s raining like it always does. Maple, take out your umbre.¡±

    ¡°Uh, okay.¡±

    Maple took out her cloud umbre from her inventory. The two others also took out theirs.

    ¡°The umbres will protect us from the raining from above. But you have to be careful to avoid the sshes from the ground.¡±

    ¡°Got it! Okay, let¡¯s go then.¡±

    The three of them held their umbres up and slowly stepped foot into the raining area.

    ¡°What a relief. It works.¡±

    Maple said as she listened to the sounds of the drops bouncing over her head. While it didn¡¯t really look like an umbre, it fulfilled its purpose just fine.

    ¡°Well, as long as it¡¯s sold in that store, its effectiveness is assured¡­ Since it¡¯ll take some time to move in here, I think I¡¯ll tell you what I want you to do during the boss fight.¡±

    And so Sally began to exin to Maple what their strategy would be.

    ¡°Hmm, hmm, got it. I can do that!¡±

    After listening to the whole thing, Maple nodded.

    ¡°Perfect timing you two. We just arrived.¡±

    Kasumi said as she folded her umbre.

    Dark clouds still hung over their heads, but the rain had now stopped.

    Maple and Sally folded their umbres and confirmed what they needed to do.

    When they were done, the three of them stepped into the boss area.

    ¡°Here ites. The boss!¡±

    In front of them, water was oozing out of the floor of clouds, and it slowly gathered to take a humanoid shape.

    Inside of its swaying body, there was an even more blue object floating inside.

    This was the boss¡¯s core, and also its weakness.

    Once its body waspletely formed, the cloudy sky began to change.

    ¡°Maple, it¡¯s going to rain again!¡±

    ¡°Yes! As nned!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m counting on you two!¡±

    All three of them moved to fulfill their individual roles.

    As if reacting to this, the boss¡¯s liquid body began to transform, and its arms became swords.

    And then, with a ssh, it started to charge at them.

    But that wasn¡¯t everything, a big drop of water that was at least 1 meter wide was falling from the sky.

    ¡°Now, I¡¯ll use these first. ¡®Ocean¡¯! ¡®Freezing Area¡¯!¡±

    As Kasumi rushed towards the boss, Sally used two of her skills.

    The water that Sally created was immediately frozen, causing the ground to be covered in white, shining coldness.

    ¡°Good¡­ ¡®Web User,¡¯ ¡®Icicle.¡¯¡±

    Sally used two more skills.

    A pir of ice shot out, and as Maple watched, Sally shot out webs from her hands and climbed up at an incredible speed.

    ¡°Woah¡­amazing¡­ Oops, I need to prepare as well. ¡®Deploy all Weapons¡¯!¡±

    Maple directed her weapons to the sky.

    Maple had two jobs.

    The first was to destroy the blocks of water that Sally was freezing in the air. The second was to survive the attacks that woulde, once the boss started to attack her.

    Maple started firing into the air, and she was able to destroy every single block that Sally had frozen.

    They would not fall even when frozen in the air, and so she destroyed them.

    Just like the rain from earlier, this water had a slowdown effect on them.

    And so they wanted to seal it.

    ¡°Sally is amazing, jumping around up there¡­¡±

    Maple muttered.

    She could see Sally way up high, jumping from pir to pir and freezing the water.

    ¡°She looks so cool!¡±

    Maple¡¯s eyes shone as she watched. Pretty things often took a lot of unseen effort, and this was no different with Sally.

    ¡°¡®Right hand: Web¡¯ ¡®Right hand: Contract¡¯ ¡®Left hand: Web¡¯ ¡®Left foot: Web¡¯ ¡®Left hand: Contract¡¯ ¡®Right foot: Web¡¯ ¡®Right Hand: Web¡¯ ¡®Right Hand: Contract¡¯ ¡®Left hand: Web.¡¯¡±

    Sally continued to shout something.

    She would use the skill to shoot a web, sometimes contract and sometimes erase.

    Sally was constantly managing the webs so that there were no mistakes as she moved through the air.

    Sallynded on one ice pir and caught her breath.

    ¡°Phew. That¡¯s the first step finished. Allowing them to drop would have spread the debuff effects¡­which would make things harder.¡±

    After destroying a certain number of water drops, the boss started to undergo a change.

    The core inside of the boss, who was hammering his sword over Maple¡¯s head, began to shift. It slid out of its body and into the floor.

    After that, several clones of the boss, who also had the same core, came out of the cloudy ground.

    With every drop of rain that fell, another appeared, making it hard to attack the cores.

    ¡°Alright, it went pretty well. Now, ¡®Blood de¡¯!¡±

    Kasumi said as if announcing that it was her turn. The sword that was in her hand started to melt into a red liquid.

    At the same time, Kasumi¡¯s HP diminished by half.

    However, it was more than effective, and the de that was made of red liquid began to extend high into the sky and also run along the ground, dying the clouded earth red and attacking every single core.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t know which is the real one, attack them all!¡±

    When the attacks were finished, the de returned to normal.

    This was a skill that she could safely activate because Maple had been distracting the boss.

    ¡°Now, I think we have to repeat this 3 times. This really is a tough boss.¡±

    ¡°Kasumi! Potion!¡±

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    And so they continued to the tense second stage of the final boss of theyer.

 Chapter 175

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.tai to Omoimasu 175

    Defense Specialization and the Rain Area 2

    However, while they were moving on to the second phase, they would basically be repeating the same process.

    Maple aside, Kasumi and Sally had all of the boss¡¯s attack methods during each phase memorized.

    Because of this, they could see just how probably their victory was, once they had gotten through the first phase.

    ¡°It¡¯s falling faster now. Sally is¡­dealing with it.¡±

    The speed at which the drops fell would increase with every phase, and so would the number of them.

    As Maple was practically luring the boss nonstop, Kasumi was able to focus on the sky and was prepared in case Sally couldn¡¯t manage it alone.

    However, Sally was much too quick in destroying the raindrops, and so Kasumi was mostly looking at Sally and not at the sky.

    ¡°Now even Sally has started to fly in the sky¡­well, it isn¡¯t exactlyparable to Maple, though.¡±

    Sally was really just jumping between the pirs of ice, and so she was not flying where there was nothing.

    ¡°I bet Sally could move freely like that in the forest. No, if anything it would increase her mobility.¡±

    As Kasumi was thinking this, the boss¡¯s core started to move again, and this time, a slightlyrger number of clones appears.

    ¡°¡®Blood de¡¯!¡±

    Kasumi sacrificed her HP again as her red de began to spread. And just like thest time, she was able to attack all of the cores.

    ¡°I can still use it. Yes, it¡¯s a lot easier to usepared to ¡®Purple Phantom de.¡¯ Though, it doesn¡¯t deal as much damage¡­¡±

    Just as Kasumi had fulfilled her role, the boss started to move away from Maple and approached Kasumi, who was closer.

    However, since its attacks were slow, it was unable to catch Kasumi, with her high AGI.

    It was so slow, that the only reason it could attack Maple was due to the fact that she wasn¡¯t moving at all.

    ¡°I think it will start using ranged attacks soon.¡±

    Furthermore, they already knew its attack patterns, which meant that it could do nothing to them.

    Ultimately, Saly didn¡¯t allow a single raindrop to fall, and so the field never became advantageous for the boss.

    Additionally, Maple did not run out of bullets and Kasumi was not defeated.

    All of it ended ording to their n.

    The final Blood de sank into the core and caused the boss to melt and crumble.

    ¡°Ahhh, my secret weapon, the throne¡­I wasn¡¯t able to use it.¡±

    Maple said sadly as Sally came down from an ice pir.

    ¡°Hahh¡­ I used this skill in a real fight for the first time. It¡¯s so tiring. I don¡¯t think that it was designed to zip around like that. Oh well.¡±

    She grumbled as she walked up to Maple and stretched out her limbs.

    ¡°You were amazing, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Hmm, really? Thanks. Even with this¡­I can¡¯t exactly fly next to you. But eventually, we will be able to fight in the air together.¡±

    ¡°Hey, you two! It dropped an item!¡±

    Kasumi called them over. They epted the items and looked at them.

    ¡°I see. A crystal that allows you to create the same rain that was falling here¡­and you can make up to three. 1-minute cooldown, huh.¡±

    Sally nodded as she read through it.

    ¡°However, they seem to disappear if they take any damage. I wonder¡­maybe you could use them as a foothold, Sally?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking. I¡¯ll have to test it out.¡±

    Bybining it with Icicle, Sally might be able to stay in the air for much longer.

    That was one of the reasons she hade here.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about¡­ Maybe I¡¯ll use it when someonees right in front of me.¡±

    It would be quite troublesome to have it used just as you got close, but Maple wasn¡¯t sure she would be able to do it quickly enough.

    They had done what they needed to do on thisyer, and so they decided to wait until the next event oryer implementation for the next few days.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do that.¡±

    ¡°¡­ ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯!¡±

    As Maple said this, a white throne appeared behind her.

    ¡°What¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Hm!?¡±

    The two looked at Maple in surprise.

    ¡°Hehe. I wanted to show you two. Were you surprised? Isn¡¯t it pretty!¡±

    Maple said with a smile.

    ¡°Uh¡­it¡¯s pretty, but that¡¯s not why I was surprised.¡±

    ¡°Ahh, but I¡¯m relieved in a way. Seeing that you haven¡¯t changed.¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    Maple could not quite understand what Kasumi meant by that.

 Chapter 176

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 176 Defense Specialization and to the Sixth Layer

    Time passed, and it was now early March.

    In a certain dungeon, a path had been made that led to the nextyer.

    After the first team went through, the members of Maple Tree decided to head to that dungeon as well.

    ¡°Apparently, this next boss is a jellyfish made of clouds. And it¡¯s supposed to use a variety of status effects.¡±

    Kasumi gave a simple exnation of the boss.

    Chrome and Sally listened to her, and then Chrome opened his mouth.

    ¡°Will physical attacks work?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°And¡­Yui and Mai are here today.¡±

    Sally added.

    Chrome heard this and asked another question.

    ¡°Does it have any piercing attacks?¡±

    ¡°No one had confirmed any yet.¡±

    Kasumi said, and Chrome let out a big sigh before saying:

    ¡°We won this.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    Today, everyone was there at the guild home.

    Which meant that it was possible to attack the boss in their best condition.

    It wasn¡¯t pride that made these three sure of their victory, it was just an obvious fact.

    As the three of them talked, the other five came out into the lobby with Izu in the lead.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go then! We¡¯ll finish it quickly and go to the 6thyer.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Should we ride Syrup?¡±

    Everyone agreed to this suggestion, and so all of the members of Maple Tree got onto Syrup¡¯s back and traveled across the sea of clouds.

    ¡°We arrived!¡±

    Maple had Syrupnd on the ground and petted its head before returning it to her ring.

    The entrance of the cloud dungeon stood agape in front of them as if in greeting.

    ¡°Should we go then?¡±

    ¡°Maple will take the lead. Kasumi and I will be in the rear. Well, just in case.¡±

    As Chrome said, they were only being cautious. After all, as he was saying this, Maple had already started to activate ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯

    ¡°Well, maybe a skill deactivation effect wille flying out of nowhere¡­¡±

    Yui and Mai walked in the middle as they went down the narrow corridor.

    Generally, Yui and Mai were protected until they reached the boss fight.

    ¡°Though, I actually think Maple could kill it by herself.¡±

    ¡°I think so too.¡±

    As Kasumi and Chrome said this, Maple¡¯s great shield was swallowing up thunderclouds that were ramming into her.

    ¡°Forward! Keep moving!¡±

    The shield was more than enough protection for them when the path was this narrow.

    If you were in the corridor alone, it would have been filled with poison, and so this was rather mild.

    If there were monsters that could stop Maple¡¯s advance, they would not be ced in the tunnels like the weak monsters.

    As long as Sally continued to tell Maple which way to go, it would be an easy thing for her to reach the boss room.

    Once they opened the door to the boss boss and all of them stepped foot inside, the ceiling of the room, which were made out of clouds, began to swell and expand.

    And then the ceiling tore open and tentacles made of clouds began to stretch out in the shape of a jellyfish.

    ¡°Ohhh, it looks so soft!¡±

    ¡°I bet it¡¯s poisonous. Maple, could you just draw its attention for now?¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Maple started to y excitedly with the jellyfish that approached her.

    As the paralysis effect of the tentacles was not effective on Maple, all it did was feel veryfortable on her skin.

    It didn¡¯t matter if it was hitting her hard, the tentacles seemed to just bounce off of her.

    In the back, the others were just barely within range of Maple¡¯s protection as they buffed Yui and Mai.

    And then after a short while.

    ¡°Alright. Yes! I¡¯m done!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re fine¡­!¡±

    Now that the two were ready, they wielded their two great hammers that were longer than they were tall, and they walked towards the jellyfish.

    ¡°Uh, Mister Jellyfish? Sorry? We have to fight you now.¡±

    Maple noticed that the two wereing towards her, and she let go of the fluffy tentacles with a feeling of remorse, and then moved away.

    ¡°¡®Double Stamp¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Double Stamp¡¯!¡±

    The jellyfish caught the full force of their blows and was thrown into the air. The battered cloud started to fall apart.

    ¡°I felt bad that it didn¡¯t have any physical resistance.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so do I.¡±

    It was mainly them that had buffed Yui and Mai so that they could one-shot it.

    And while Kanade and Izu were one of the reasons that this tragedy urred, they did mean what they said.

    And like that, the 8 of them continued on to the 6thyer without so much as a struggle.

    ¡°I wonder what it will be like, Sally.¡±

    ¡°Who knows? Well, I don¡¯t mind what it is like¡­ But I would be happy if it allowed me to use with my webs.¡±

    And then they saw the exit that would lead to the newyer.

    The scene that spread before them was a vast wilderness and an old headstone.

    The area was dark and shrouded in a little mist. The moonlight that shined down gave it all an eerie glow.

    ¡°Oh¡­?¡±

    Maple was looking at the scene when someone pulled her right hand, and so she turned her head.

    It was Sally, and she appeared to be very pale.

    In other words, this was a typical horror zone. That was what the 6thyer was.

 Chapter 177

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 177 Defense Specialization and the 6th Layer

    As always, the members of Maple Tree decided to head for the guild home first.

    Sally didn¡¯t let go of Maple¡¯s right hand as they walked, and she seemed ufortable as her eyes shifted in every direction for reasons that weren¡¯t rted to exploration.

    While the exterior of the guild home resembled a deserted house, the interior had the same spacious and pleasant rooms that they were used to.

    They all moved out of the lobby in order to check their own rooms and the locations of the facilities. Only Maple and Sally stayed in the lobby.

    ¡°Hah¡­I can finally rx.¡±

    Sally sighed. She controlled her panel until the logout screen was disyed.

    ¡°Well¡­Maple. See you when the 7thyer is ready¡­¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Sally smiled weakly, then disappeared. It was as if she was running away, without waiting for Maple¡¯s reply.

    Actually, running away was exactly what she was doing. But Maple knew Sally well enough to know that there was nothing that could be done.

    ¡°I guess Sally can¡¯t explore thisyer.¡±

    There was something that Sally hated just as much as Maple hated pain.

    ¡°Considering what she said¡­she¡¯s not likely toe back.¡±

    And so Maple gave up and decided to explore the town by herself.

    Maple left the guild home and looked both to her right and left.

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll learn so much about the 6thyer, that I¡¯ll be able to tell Sally everything about it when she returns!¡±

    Maple thought excitedly, as she began to walk down the moonlit street.

    ¡°Woah¡­all these houses are abandoned. Maybe they are normal inside¡­hmm!?¡±

    Sometimes she would walk passed apletely crumbled ruin, and a lukewarm or sometimes cold wind would caress her neck.

    But whenever Maple turned around, there was nothing there.

    ¡°This is why Sally can¡¯t walk here.¡±

    There were also blue will-o¡¯-the-wisps inside some of the windows. And since Sally¡¯s senses were much sharper than Maple¡¯s, she would have noticed them more often.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll just try going into one of the stores!¡±

    Maple said as she entered one dimly lit building.

    While Maple was exploring.

    Risa was rolling around on her bed after having returned to the real world.

    ¡°Ahhh. No. No. Oh, I don¡¯t even care. I¡¯ll level up on a differentyer.¡±

    Risa waszing around as if she had no regrets, but after a while, she started to look up information about the 6thyer.

    And the first thing that she saw was that you could get an MP increase skill.

    ¡°Maybe Kanade will get it¡­ I sort of want it¡­ Wraiths? Skeletons? No, no, no.¡±

    Risa said to herself as she saw what the enemy types were.

    But she continued to look up more information.

    While there wasn¡¯t that much information out there yet, she was able to find out about the things that were easy to acquire.

    These included a skill that gave you resistance to status effects, a skill that had the chance of doubling the effect of some items. An AGI increase skill and an eleration skill.

    And there were also shoes that allowed you to create a transparent foothold in the air.

    ¡°Ahhh¡­oh¡­.mmm¡­hm! Aghh¡­.agaahh¡­!¡±

    She groaned in a hideous voice as her fingers traced the screen. However, the letters on the screen did not change.

    After that, Risa prepared to return to the game, but then she stopped. Then she would try again and then stop. She repeated this several times as she paced back and forth in her room. In the end, she just copsed on her bed and did nothing.

 Chapter 178

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 178 Defense Specialization and the Haunted Mansion

    Some time had passed since they arrived on the 6thyer.

    Maple had logged in today as well.

    She was currently at the guild home because her white equipment had needed some maintenance.

    While Maple was often oblivious, her armor would be damaged.

    Maple received the equipment back from Izu and added the set to the ¡®Quick Change¡¯ bracket.

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯m going to go exploring today as well!¡±

    Just as Maple was about to leave the guild home, the door opened and someone unexpected came through.

    ¡°Huh? Sally?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­Maple.¡±

    ¡°So you came after all?¡±

    Sally then exined to Maple why she hade here.

    The reason was that there were several things that she could not ignore.

    However, she quickly realized that it was impossible her once she went out into the field, and so she came to get someone¡¯s help.

    ¡°Okay, okay. Then, I will help you! I didn¡¯t have anything to do anyway.¡±

    ¡°Thank you¡­so much¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s get going then!¡±

    And so Maple took Sally¡¯s hand and they left the guild home.

    Maple pulled Sally¡¯s hand as they went out into the field. There, she called out Syrup and climbed onto its back. She petted the shell gently and said:

    ¡°Thank you. ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯! ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯!¡±

    The throne then appeared on Syrup¡¯s shell, and Maple sat on it. Sally sat on the shell in front of her and squinted.

    Maple had Syrup float up into the air and wait.

    ¡°Where to, Sally?¡±

    ¡°There is a European-style building west of the town¡­so there.¡±

    ¡°Okay. West.¡±

    Maple had Syrup turn around and head towards the west.

    ¡°Hah¡­it starts from here¡­I hate it¡­¡±

    Sally covered her face with both hands and rolled up into a ball.

    They had been progressing smoothly at first, but then Maple suddenly let out a cry.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    ¡°Huh? What¡­¡±

    Sally looked up when she heard Maple.

    She saw a woman with a pale face floating in front of her.

    The woman stretched out a hand towards Sally.

    ¡°¡­.!!¡±

    ¡°¡®Deploy Barrels¡¯ ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Just as Sally threw herself towards Maple, the bullets hit the ghost and caused it to disperse.

    ¡°That came pretty close.¡±

    ¡°Ah, agh! Tha-that¡¯s too much!¡±

    Sally was still clinging to Maple as she pointed at the empty air.

    ¡°It can¡¯t do anything but touch you, because of the throne. So don¡¯t worry!¡±

    ¡°Ughhh¡­¡±

    ¡°But I didn¡¯t actually kill it. It will be back soon. Oh, two of them this time!¡±

    Two ghosts floated over with voices raised in pained howls.

    ¡°I¡¯ll drive them away!¡±

    Maple left Sally, who had hid her face in a scarf, and shooed away the spirits.

    After a while, a run-down mansion became visible below them.

    Compared to the rest of the area, the mist was especially thick there, and they could not see the entire building clearly.

    ¡°Sally! We arrived. Uh, I think¡­ Can you check?¡±

    ¡°Is there anything there?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, nothing! It¡¯s fine.¡±

    Maple confirmed that there was nothing in the area and ryed this to Sally. And so Sally pulled down her scarf and peered over the edge.

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s fine. This is it. Alright¡­yes! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going down then.¡±

    Maple had Syrup slowly descend. Then she pulled Sally by the hand and they stepped onto the ground.

    Then she made the throne disappear and returned Syrup into her ring.

    This was because an erged Syrup would not be able to move inside of the mansion.

    As they would be exploring, Sally would not be able to keep the scarf wrapped around her face, and so she returned to her usual appearance.

    ¡°If I think that I can¡¯t do it¡­I just have to meditate¡­meditate¡­¡±

    ¡°Sally? Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°¡­I know that it can take more than an hour, and so I will harden my heart!¡±

    Maple remembered that Sally had once prepared herself for a whole hour in order to enter a haunted house, only to run away with tears in her eyes.

    Maple still had her weapons facing out.

    And so, in order to prevent Sally from escaping, she shot through the half-open door by using her self-destruct flight.

    Maple knew enough about Sally to see that using a little force would be good for her.

    ¡°Coming in!¡±

    ¡°Ahhhh!!¡±

    With a thunderous crash, the two of them entered the mansion.

 Chapter 179

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 179 Defense Specialization and the Haunted Mansion 2

    Maple shot into the mansion along with Sally, and then the door shut behind them.

    ¡°Alright, stand up, stand up Sally! Didn¡¯t youe here to get something?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­yes. Maple¡­stay close by, okay?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    Maple took Sally¡¯s hands to help her up, and then she scanned her surroundings.

    It was a fairlyrge mansion, and aside from the entrance that they had juste in from, there were three other doors. In the front and on the right and the left.

    There was also a staircase that led to a second floor with more doors.

    And an old, broken chandelier hung from the ceiling.

    The walls were lined with candle holders. The candles were mostly melted down, and their mes flickered gently.

    ¡°It¡¯s big in here. So, where are we supposed to go?¡±

    Maple asked Sally.

    ¡°Uh¡­huh? ¡­I don¡¯t know yet¡­¡±

    There were many holes in the information she had gathered.

    And it wasn¡¯t so much that the information was not yet avable, but that Sally had not gathered information like she usually did.

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll just have to explore the whole building.¡±

    Maple said. Sally shook her head vigorously.

    ¡°Let¡¯se back after I¡¯ve done more research. Okay? It won¡¯t be very efficient for us to explore now, and the monsters are likely to be strong. There will be plenty of fighting¡­I think we should find out the shortest route first¡­¡±

    Maple narrowed her eyes and stared hard at Sally as she began to rant. Then Sally suddenly stopped.

    ¡°No. Let¡¯s hurry up and get this over with! Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m here with you!¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­¡±

    Maple was there, and she had Dedicated Affection activated constantly, so they were generally protected from all enemies.

    So even if Sally was shaking like a newborn deer, the chances of them being killed were incredibly low.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go by instinct¡­to the right!¡±

    Maple walked over to the door on the right and opened it.

    Dust blew in the air and revealed a long hallway that stretched behind the door.

    Maple put a hand to her ear and listened for any sounds. But she could not hear anything.

    ¡°Yes. There¡¯s nothing here.¡±

    Maple said and started to walk.

    The long hallways had several ces that allowed you to turn to the left.

    Not only that, but there were doors that likely lead to other rooms, meaning that there were many ces to search.

    ¡°Where should we try first¡­woah!¡±

    Maple felt something strange at her feet, and so she looked down.

    What she saw were numerous pale and translucent handsing out of the floor to grab her and Sally¡¯s feet.

    The hands stretched up and grabbed their bodies.

    And then the ghostly woman they saw in the air passed through the walls and came towards them.

    ¡°Ma-ma-ma-mamamamamaple!!¡±

    ¡°Wait a second!¡±

    Maple took out her sword and cut at the hands that grabbed their feet.

    While they could not be killed, they withdrew and vanished.

    Maple also carefully shed at the hands near Sally¡¯s feet, and then she fired her weapons at the ghost woman.

    ¡°Phew. Good! Are you alright now?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­I¡¯m d you¡¯re here, Maple.¡±

    Sally seemed as weak as ever, and her spirit was nearly broken.

    As Sally had said before, it was over once you felt that you could not do it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s explore this ce quickly and leave!¡±

    Just as Maple started to walk again, a dim blue light began to sh.

    Normally, it would have been very easy for Sally to allow Maple to escape and then run away herself.

    The light became bigger, and before they knew it, both of them were teleported away.

    As they were enveloped by light, Sally realized that it was an emergency situation, and her senses informed her of something that she did not want to know.

    It was the sensation of Maple¡¯s hand slipping out of her grasp.

    The light faded, and when Sally opened her eyes, she was in an unfamiliar hallway.

    ¡°Ma-Maple? Where¡­where? Ahh¡­!¡±

    Sally called for Maple in a trembling voice. Just then, something hit her left shoulder from the back.

    Sally shuddered and then froze. Then she looked at her left shoulder.

    There was a thin, white hand that was clearly not part of a living person.

    The hand was connected to an abnormally cold and thin arm that continued to wrap around Sally.

    ¡°Ah¡­.Ah-ah-ah, no¡­AGAHAGAHAHAAGA!!!¡±

    Sally shrieked as she began to run, and she was able to escape the cold embrace.

    She continued to run until she fell into a certain room.

    ¡°Hah, ha, hahh. Lo-Log out¡­¡±

    Just as Sally pulled out the panel in order to log out, red handprints appeared on the panel and banged on it noisily.

    ¡°Ow¡­¡±

    Within her horror, a calm part of Sally¡¯s mind recalled a piece of information.

    There were logout limitations in certain areas. It had something to do with the monsters in the area.

    They depleted your AGI every time they touched you, and when it turned to 0, you would die.

    It was an area that was supposed to be easy to escape if you could move normally.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s chasing me¡­¡±

    It was slow, and if you carefully made your way around the mansion without stopping, then it would not be able to catch you.

    Of course, it was now clear that this was no easy task for Sally.

 Chapter 180

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 180 Defense Specialization and the Haunted Mansion 3

    Just as Sally had been teleported away, Maple also found herself in a different ce.

    ¡°Uhhh¡­Sally?¡±

    Maple looked around her, but she could not see Sally anywhere.

    Maple was currently in a room somewhere.

    There was a closet with no doors and a bed covered in dust. The sheets were torn up and the floorboards were missing in some ces.

    ¡°I have to find her!¡±

    Maple grabbed the doorknob in order to leave, but it only rattled when she tried to turn it, and would not open.

    There was no keyhole, and she could not understand why it wouldn¡¯t open.

    ¡°Mmph¡­Agh! Can I break it? I¡¯ll try.¡±

    Maple said as she aimed her gun barrels at it.

    Just then, she heard something creak behind her, and she turned around to look.

    It was a dark shadow that looked like it was the ckness of night after being solidified.

    ¡°Wait¡­uh, ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯!¡±

    Maple quickly conjured the throne and sat on it.

    ¡°Even if I can¡¯t observe it carefully like Sally usually does, I can do this!¡±

    Maple looked at the actions of the shadow.

    It was human in shape as it stretched a hand out towards her, but nothing happened.

    ¡°In any case¡­it seems fine? Alright. ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    While Maple tried to attack it with bullets, they all went straight through it and hit the wall in the back.

    The shadow continued to approach her and then attacked her directly. But they all bounced off.

    ¡°Hmmm. I guess physical attacks won¡¯t work on it then¡­ Will the door open if I kill it? Hmm¡­ Oh!¡±

    Maple leaned forward and stuck her head into the shadow¡¯s body.

    However, even when she tried moving her mouth, she just went right through it.

    ¡°It really is no use. Hm? Oh, I know!¡±

    Maple remembered something and went into her inventory to take out an item.

    It was the remaining sheets of paper that she used to deal damage to the king of light¡¯s feet.

    As fire and wind attacks did not affect the king, she had plenty of them left.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be scary if it burns, so I¡¯ll use wind¡­there!¡±

    After Maple used the item, a wind blew into the room and cut into the shadow in front of her.

    ¡°Yes, yes. Take another one!¡±

    Maple continued to stick the sheets of paper onto the shadow.

    The ck shadow was only slightly stronger than typical grunts, and it died after only 10 sheets of paper were used.

    As there were few yers who would use these close up without any skills, its firepower was set rtively high.

    When the shadow disappeared, she heard the click of a lock opening behind her.

    ¡°Did it open? But there was no keyhole.¡±

    Maple dismissed the throne and turned the doorknob.

    This time, the door opened smoothly.

    ¡°Yes! I can get out!¡±

    Maple left the room hurriedly so that she would not be trapped in again.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to be careful of the floor as I look for Sally. I don¡¯t want to get teleported again.¡±

    Maple ran down the hallway.

    As for Sally, she was currently shivering under a desk in a room that she had found herself in.

    As she could not leave, there was nothing to do but wait for Maple¡¯s arrival.

    ¡°I-I know¡­a message.¡±

    Sally sent a message to Maple.

    All it said was that she wanted her help, and there was nothing in it to actually improve her situation, but Sally did not realize this.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay here for a while¡­¡±

    And by that, she meant that she would wait until Maple came for her.

    Or in other words, forever if need be.

    However, this room was not made to be so merciful to Sally.

    The door in the room opened with a creaking sound.

    Sally could not see it from under the desk, but there was something walking towards her.

    Hearing this, Sally covered her mouth with both hands to stop her breathing and erase her presence.

    The broken floorboards were squeaking.

    The sounds were slowly getting closer to the desk, until finally, Sally could see the pale feet right in front of her eyes.

    ¡°¡­!!¡±

    Sally prayed that they would pass her, and her prayers were answered. The feet that hardly looked human moved passed her and continued on.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Just as Sally was starting to feel relieved, the alert for a new message rang.

    Maple was kind, and there was no way that she would not reply.

    The footsteps suddenly came back towards her, and it was all that Sally could do to roll out from under the desk and jump out of the room.

    ¡°Maple! Maple! Heeeelp meee!¡±

    She screamed without thinking. And in reply, hands sprouted from the floor and walls and a child ghost that was covered in blood appeared before her.

    ¡°¡®Super eleration¡¯! Super eleration, Super eleration!¡±

    Sally ran like crazy and threw herself into a different room.

    However, she could not avoid the ghosts that were overflowing from that room either.

    Sally was lost, and she found herself going deeper and deeper into the mansion as she ran.

 Chapter 181

    Defense Specialization and the Haunted Mansion 4

    ¡°Sniff¡­snuffle¡­¡±

    Running and running. Moving from room to room.

    Sally did it so many times, and each time there were cold arms that grabbed her.

    The reality was that she could not escape.

    Had the ghosts resembled orcs or goblins, then Sally would have been able to use her abilities to evade them easily.

    But when she was not able to move as always, she was nothing more than slightly faster than the average yer.

    Sally¡¯s AGI had already gone down to 25%.

    And that made her ability to escape even weaker.

    Because of this, Sally found herself getting caught more often.

    After a while, Sally was so dispirited that she locked herself into a closet, closed her eyes and started shaking.

    She sent a message to Maple saying that she was in a closet and that she did not need to reply. She no longer thought for a second that she would survive alone.

    ¡°Maple¡­sniffe¡­¡±

    Sally mumbled to herself as she sniffed, but she heard no answer.

    During this time, there were two things that were slowly approaching Sally.

    One was the ghost who was chasing her, and the other was Maple, who had finally reached the same floor as her.

    Maple had reached here by ident, and she was now checking each of the rooms one by one.

    ¡°Sally, I don¡¯t know where you are. I¡¯m looking at all the rooms¡­ But, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re not dead.¡±

    Maple was sticking the sheets of paper on all of the ghosts she encountered as if they were exorcist charms.

    While she was doing this, a bloody ghost of a child appeared in front of her and slowly came forward.

    ¡°Uh¡­ May your soul rest in peace! Woah!?¡±

    Maple was about to take out the item when a red handprint appeared over the screen.

    ¡°What the¡­ Oh, the item, item.¡±

    Maple regained her calm and took out the item and stuck it onto the child ghost.

    It burned up and quietly disappeared.

    And then Maple started to navigate her inventory in order to prepare the next item.

    And that¡¯s when she noticed that she couldn¡¯t log out anymore.

    ¡°This is what Sally was talking about¡­ That must mean that Sally is close by!¡±

    Maple did a celebratory fist pump.

    ¡°But¡­hmm. I hope she is okay.¡±

    The ghosts here were scarier than any she had seen before, and so she was afraid for Sally.

    ¡°Yes. She¡¯s definitely not okay! I have to find her!¡±

    Maple came to this conclusion after a little thought, and so she held her great shield in front of her and remained cautious, even as she rushed down the hallway.

    ¡°Sally¡­ won¡¯t reply. I bet she¡¯s crying now¡­¡±

    Maple tried to see if she could hear Sally¡¯s crying as she checked every corner of the rooms.

    ¡°Oh, I know! I¡¯ll tell Sally that I¡¯m close by now!¡±

    Maple sent a message to Sally and returned to her search. Sally received the message that Maple had sent.

    Sally read the message and looked as if a ray of hope was shining down on her face.

    ¡°Ah, footsteps¡­! Maple?¡±

    The footsteps stopped in front of the door, and then she heard the door opening. To the right of the opened door was the closet where Sally was hiding.

    ¡°Just a little¡­¡±

    Sally opened the closet door just a little and peeked outside. Strangely, Sally waspletely sure that this time it was Maple who had entered the room. This was a mistake on her part that came from the strong desire to be saved no matter what.

    The arms were long and thin. The skin pale.

    A face she had never seen before with long bangs hanging above pits where eyes should have been. The ck holes were dripping as blood ran through them.

    Sally and the ghost looked at each other.

    They looked at each other.

    ¡°Eeee¡­!¡±

    Sally closed the door in a panic, but then it was slowly reopened from the other side.

    And the dark, dark pits that should have been eyes, looked at Sally through the crack.

    ¡°Ahh¡­¡±

    Sally had no strength left in her. She copsed on the closet floor.

    The door was now open all the way, and the ghost slowly stretched out a hand towards Sally.

    ck shadows oozed around the ghost, and thick blood dripped from its eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±

    ¡°! ¡°Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯!¡±

    Sally could do nothing but apologize now, but just then, someone opened the door and burst inside. It was Maple.

    The field of light spread out until it reached the ghost. And then the eerie dark shadow disappeared in a sh.

    ¡°Sally! Are you okay!?¡±

    ¡°Ohh, ohhhh¡­Maple¡­¡±

    Sally came out of the closet and clutched onto Maple.

    ¡°That¡¯s a relief¡­but, what should we do about that?¡±

    Maple raised her head and saw another ghosting down from above them.

    ¡°It¡¯s really looking at us!¡±

    Maple tried looking away and pushing the ghost¡¯s face with her hands, but it only went through them.

    ¡°Ohh¡­ooo¡­sniff¡­¡±

    ¡°Really, what should I do¡­¡±

    Maple remained on her throne and wondered.

 Chapter 182

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 182

    Defense Specialization and an Extended Battle

    As Maple sat there under the ghosts stare, Sally slowly regained her calm.

    ¡°Maple¡­is it still there?¡±

    Sally asked Maple without raising her face.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s still there.¡±

    ¡°Ugghh¡­why won¡¯t it leave me alone¡­¡±

    While there was still a tremble in her voice, she was starting to seem like the normal Sally now.

    ¡°Are you calm now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m calm. But this is so embarrassing, so don¡¯t look at me¡­¡±

    Of course, Maple had already seen Sally¡¯s crying face very clearly.

    Sally¡¯s ears, which were the only thing visible, were bright red. And so Maple could imagine how much redder her face would be.

    ¡°Okay. But¡­did you want this skill that bad? Really?¡±

    ¡°I currently regret getting myself into this¡­really. I want to punch myself for believing that I might be fine¡­¡±

    ording to Sally, she had been blind by want of the skill.

    ¡°That¡¯s very unusual. You¡¯re always right about everything, Sally.¡±

    ¡°It was something that I wanted so much, that¡¯s why. Now that I¡¯m calm and level headed, I see that I can make do without that skill.¡±

    ¡°But what was this skill that you wanted anyway? I never asked you about it.¡±

    Maple said, and so Sally started to tell her about the skill and items she wanted and about what had happened since she arrived here.

    Maple listened and realized that there was not much that would be useful to her.

    As she didn¡¯t need to go and get things she didn¡¯t need, it would make exploration much more efficient from now on.

    Of course, there was a part of Maple that was enjoying the exploration, so there was no saying that she wouldn¡¯t go.

    She would likely just go anywhere that looked interesting.

    As they talked like this, Maple wished that the ghost would just float off somewhere else, but the ghost would not move at all.

    ¡°It would be bad if I left the throne¡­maybe I could attack it?¡±

    Maple stretched out her hand to use the item. A de of wind cut into the ghost.

    And the ghost stumbled and retreated.

    However, it had no HP bar. And so Maple understood that it did not deal damage and could not be defeated.

    The ghost had covered its face in its hands and wailed, but after a moment, it returned to them and tried to touch them.

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to escape while it¡¯s recoiling¡­Sally, can you do that? It will probably catch up with me.¡±

    Maple suggested that Sally alone could escape.

    ¡°Umm¡­I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    It was clear that it wasn¡¯t solely due to her AGI being 0.

    ¡°What should we do? Huh?¡±

    The ghost who had until now refused to part from them was suddenly moving away and left the room.

    It was so sudden that Maple could do nothing but stare in stunned surprise.

    ¡°It¡¯s our chance! Let¡¯s go, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Huh-huh? Uh, okay!¡±

    Sally was covering her face and hadn¡¯t understood the situation as Maple pulled her hand.

    For the first time ever, the two of them ran at the same speed.

    From behind them, they heard the voice of someone who had been sacrificed to the ghosts in their ce.

    Sally heard the screams of the neers and became red with embarrassment at realizing that she had been acting the same way.

    ¡°Dash!¡±

    Maple took the shortest route back through the hallways that she remembered until finally, they came to a ce where you could log out.

    ¡°Thank you, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe¡­you are wee!¡±

    They were both happy to have returned.

    From behind them, cold arms stretched out and embraced them at the same time.

    ¡°Ahhh¡­.!¡±

    ¡°Oomph!¡±

    Just as both of them froze in shock, they received a notice for the new skill.

    ¡°Uhh¡­ ¡®Connection to the Underworld¡¯? Oh, it¡¯s the skill where it doubles the effect of items.¡±

    Maple said as she looked at the skill.

    Sally had slumped down, but it seemed like she had acquired the same skill as well.

    ording to the skill¡¯s description, it was a mysterious connection to someone who would asionally and slowly lend you a hand from behind.

    ¡°Eww¡­I don¡¯t want that connection.¡±

    ¡°What do you want to do, Sally? I can stick with you if you want to explore some more.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m logging out. I want to leave.¡±

    Sally said immediately.

    ¡°Of course. Uh, bye bye then?¡±

    Maple waved her hand.

    ¡°Thanks for helping me today. I¡¯ll make it up to youter.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. You helped me a lot up until now! I feel like I was finally able to return a bit of the favor.¡±

    Maple said with augh. Sally¡¯s expression brightened a little.

    ¡°Thank you. Well, see you when the 7thyer is ready.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re just saying that.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not returning¡­after this.¡±

    With that said, Sally logged out and left.

    There is a saying about forgetting the heat once it is past your throat.

    In many cases, people tended to repeat their mistakes.

    After returning to the real world, Risa got up from her bed and put the game away.

    ¡°Hmm¡­so sweaty. I need to take a bath¡­ Oh, maybeter! I need to eat first.¡±

    Risa said, and then she opened the door, much more carefully than usual, and went downstairs.

    When she reached the living room, she saw that her mother was in the middle of making dinner.

    ¡°Risa? Dinners not ready yet.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I just came to watch TV.¡±

    Risa said as she turned on the TV and sat down on the sofa.

    However she was not really interested in it, and she was basically just asionally ncing at it.

    As Risa sat in the living room and waited for dinner to be ready, the telephone began to ring.

    Risa turned around and looked towards the phone.

    ¡°Oh¡­yes, this is Shiromine. Yes.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Her mother talked on the phone for quite some time before finally hanging up and turning to Risa.

    ¡°Risa? Something urgent has juste up, and I have to leave. Your father is also going to bete today¡­ You should eat before the food gets cold.¡±

    ¡°Wha¡­uh¡­okay¡­¡±

    Risa said hesitantly. Her mother rushed to her room in order to get ready.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to be back as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°¡­Okay.¡±

    And then her mother left the house.

    It was already dark outside, and the only sound in the house came from the TV.

    ¡°I better eat, then.¡±

    After seeing her mother off, Risa returned to the kitchen to eat.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Risa picked up the TV remote and raised the volume.

    She was sitting on the chair, her feet swaying uneasily and her eyes slightly narrowed.

    Her chopsticks seemed to move slowly.

    ¡°That was good.¡±

    Risa said as she washed the dishes and randomly switched the channels.

    ording to the weather report, it would rain tonight.

    She spent the time like this aimlessly, but no one returned home.

    ¡°I better take a bath¡­but¡­¡±

    For some reason, she was much more nervous than usual.

    Well, she knew the reason.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­a little scared¡­¡±

    And putting it into words made it worse.

    Risa went around and closed all of the doors and curtains so there were no gaps. Then she hugged the cushion on the sofa and curled up.

    ¡°¡­I know!¡±

    She must have had an idea because her face lit up.

    In a different house, Kaede had also logged out and was studying in her room.

    Her phone started to ring.

    ¡°Is it¡­I knew it.¡±

    Kaede picked up her cell phone and saw the name ¡®Risa¡¯ on the disy.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°Ah, Kaede? Are you busy?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­I¡¯m fine now. What is it?¡±

    ¡°I just thought that I really inconvenienced you today. Want to talk for a while?¡±

    Kaede had a vague idea of why Risa was actually calling, but they continued to talk without her bringing it up.

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    As they were talking, Kaede realized that she could hear the sound of water apart from Risa¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Maybe the bathtub or bathroom. She¡¯s such a scaredy cat¡­oh.¡±

    Kaede had identally said what she was thinking out loud.

    Risa could have easily pretended like she didn¡¯t hear it, but she fell silent.

    ¡°Ri-risa?¡±

    There was a short silence and then Risa¡¯s voice could be heard.

    ¡°¡­Kaede, there is no one but me in the house now.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a little¡­lonely, I guess¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°To-to be honest¡­I¡¯m scared¡­can we keep talking?¡±

    There was no way that Kaede would say no, and so they continued to talk.

    As they talked, Kaede remembered that something like this had happened before.

    ¡°Do you remember, when this happened before?¡±

    ¡°Did it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But that time, you weren¡¯t calling while in the bathtub. But I remember being sleep-deprived the next day.¡±

    ¡°Oh, when we were in elementary school? Ohhh¡­I haven¡¯t grown at all then.¡±

    Talking like this made her fears go away a little.

    By the time that she got out of the shower and into her bed, they became more excited in their conversation, and Risa had cheered up quite a lot.

    ¡°Good night, Risa.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you. Good night, Kaede.¡±

    Risa went to bed a few hours earlier than usual.

    She turned the light off and buried her head under the nkets and closed her eyes.

    She could hear the sounds of rain that had started to fall.

    Going to bed early was fine, but it didn¡¯t mean you would fall asleep.

    30 minutes, then an hour psed.

    As time passed, the feeling that had been growing thin started to return.

    ¡°Mmm¡­mmm¡­¡±

    Risa began to move restlessly in her bed. After a while, she made up her mind and grabbed her phone.

    It was obvious who she would call.

    Risa turned the lights back on as she began to talk with Maple, who had been woken up.

    ¡°Ahaha¡­this happened before too!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­really sorry, Kaede¡­¡±

    And so it goes without saying, that Kaede was sleep-deprived the next day.

 Chapter 183

    Defense Specialization and the Search for Shoes

    Several days had passed since Maple and Sally explored the mansion.

    This was a time when Sally had not yet begun to have such stupid thoughts as taking on the 6thyer once again. As for Maple, she was currently rxing in the 6thyer¡¯s guild home.

    ¡°Sally¡¯s leveling up in the 5thyer, Yui and Mai are also exploring a differentyer¡­ What should I do?¡±

    The 6thyer was difficult for Yui and Mai for an entirely different reason then Sally.

    As there were many enemies who nullified physical attacks, their special moves would be pointless even when theynded.

    ¡°Hmm, now that I think of it. One of the things that Sally had wanted was an item¡­¡±

    Maple nodded enthusiastically. She decided that she would spend the day searching for that item.

    ¡°I did promise Sally that if I found any items she would like, that I would give them to her. And I haven¡¯t given her anything yet. So it¡¯s perfect!¡±

    Maple had received HP boosting essories from Sally on top of help collecting materials.

    Sally had also gathered the money used in establishing the guild home.

    So Maple felt like this was a good opportunity to give back to her.

    ¡°Ah, but I don¡¯t think Sally did any research on how to acquire them.¡±

    Sally¡¯s information gathering on this asion was a little questionable to put it lightly. And so Maple decided to go and check the information board that was set up in the town square.

    ¡°Alright. Now that that¡¯s decided, time to go!¡±

    Maple ran excitedly out of the guild home.

    She walked down the great street. There were empty houses to the right and empty houses on the left. Finally, she reached the message board.

    ¡°Woah, there are so many people¡­¡±

    As it was right after the implementation of a newyer, there was arge board with many people in front of it.

    Maple¡¯s small body waded through the waves of people until she was close enough to the message board to read the information.

    ¡°Hmm¡­here it is! This is it!¡±

    Maple carefully took note of the acquisition requirements and spawn location before moving away.

    She waded back through the sea of people. Maple sighed when she finally reached a secluded area.

    ¡°I bet there will be so many people out in the field as well.¡±

    She thought such things as she rode Syrup towards the ce she had looked up.

    ¡°Ahhh, I knew there would be a lot of people here.¡±

    She looked down from up in the sky and saw the blinking of various magic and skill effects all over the area.

    The monsters they were after were a type of ghost monster. Their bodies were entirely white and their bones glimmered.

    These monsters disappeared, then reappeared and attacked. And of course, they were immune to physical attacks.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­this will be hard for me.¡±

    Most of Maple¡¯s skills were wide-range annihtion or up-close attacks. She didn¡¯t have anything that had just the right range for this kind of distance.

    ¡°I wonder if they spawn anywhere else?¡±

    Maple decided to leave this ce and search somewhere else.

    Thankfully, the monsters she was searching for were bright enough that she could see them from the sky, which would make them easier to spot.

    ¡°I¡¯lle back here if I don¡¯t find any. Yes. Okay, Syrup? Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Maple had Syrup turn all the way around and they moved out and out into the huge field. They would fly further away from the town.

    ¡°I hope they are here¡­hmm¡­I¡¯ll search some more.¡±

    Maple was poking her head out from Syrup¡¯s shell and straining her eyes as she looked down.

    After doing this for a while, they started to fly close to a mountain that was covered in a thick mist.

    ¡°I can¡¯t see the ground from here¡­ Maybe I should just check the mountain top? If there is any, it would be there!¡±

    Maple lowered Syrup a little and thennded in a small clearing.

    ¡°Thank you, Syrup!¡±

    Syrup returned to Maple¡¯s ring as she started to climb the mountain.

    After climbing for a while, a ghost monster that was made of clear, red bones appeared before Maple in the mist.

    ¡°That¡¯s not the right one¡­ But I might as well?¡±

    As it was a different monster, she knew that this had little to do with her goal. However, Maple decided that she didn¡¯t mind, and she would try killing it anyway.

    ¡°Alright, ¡®Provoke¡¯! Don¡¯t run away!¡±

    After Maple used ¡®Provoke,¡¯ several other identical looking monsters started to appear in the area.

    ¡°Yes! How lucky!¡±

    As searching for monsters tended to take Maple a lot of time, she was very happy to see theme to her for once.

    ¡°¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    The torrent of poison that she hadn¡¯t been able to use in the haunted mansion.

    The rush of poison that shot out of the magic circle swallowed up the monsters.

    ¡°What!? You¡¯re still alive!?¡±

    Perhaps they had high resistance to poison, because Hydra was unable to one-shot them.

    Maple¡¯s eyes widened at the surprising toughness.

    ck smoke was rising from the backs of the monsters, and they started to take the shape of a skull.

    The ghosts were now letting out a horrible sound, even though they had no voice box.

    ¡°Uh, ohhh¡­this looks dangerous¡­ ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯!¡±

    As if it was an emergency escape, Maple sat down on the throne that appeared behind her.

    It seemed to be effective, because the dangerous-looking attacks were now canceled.

    ¡°Hmm. But I really can¡¯t attack while I¡¯m sitting on this. But it¡¯s so pretty, so I like to use it¡­¡±

    The fact that many of the monsters on the 6thyer were immune to physical attacks was the reason that battles tended to be prolonged.

    ¡°If only I could do this with someone else¡­ If only Sally were here¡­ Hmm.¡±

    Maple thought again of how it would be nice to acquire this item that Sally wanted. It would help cheer her up.

    And so Maple once again began the process of sticking the paper sheets on the monsters.

    ¡°I¡¯ll need to buy some more¡­ Oh, I think they had exorcism tags in the store as well. Maybe I should buy those too?¡±

    Maple muttered to herself as she burned the faces of the ghosts.

 Chapter 184

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 184

    Defense Specialization and the Search for Shoes 2

    ¡°Demolished!¡±

    Once Maple finished demolishing all of the red ghosts, the materials fell to the ground.

    ¡°Hmm¡­no luck there. Well, I don¡¯t even know if these guys drop it¡­¡±

    For Maple, this secluded spot made fighting very easy for her. And it would have been the most convenient thing if the shoes that she wanted would also be dropped.

    However, as there was not much information avable, there was a possibility that she was doing all of this for nothing.

    ¡°But I might get something else that Sally had wanted¡­ And I can give the materials to Izu? She¡¯s always doing maintenance work on my gear!¡±

    Furthermore, Maple herself would gain levels.

    And since Maple had not concentrated any effort into hunting monsters recently, she thought it would be a good thing to do it once in a while.

    Maple continued to sit on her throne and looked around her with the hopes that more of the red ghosts would appear.

    ¡°Ah! There! There! I guess there must be a lot of them?¡±

    The red ghosts were nowing towards Maple and attacking her with magic.

    ¡°So they have normal magic too.¡±

    The red light that wasunched at her hit her in the stomach with a loud crack and then disappeared.

    ¡°Okay! I¡¯m fine! I¡¯m fine! Now keeping closer to me!¡±

    Maple gestured for the red ghosts toe to her. Then she burned them with her items.

    ¡°This really is slow¡­ I¡¯ve been killing things really quickly recently, so it¡¯s been a while since I felt like this.¡±

    However, fighting at such anguid pace was also rxing in a way, and so Maple was able to continue without feeling any stress.

    ¡°Destroyed! Oh, herees the next one.¡±

    Maple smiled and gestured for the next one toe.

    The red ghosts were clearly not human, and they repeated their senseless attacks in an effort to defeat Maple, before disappearing.

    ¡°Oh, I know. I think I had a poison skill with an instant death effect¡­ Oh, here!¡±

    As the effect did not activate very often, Maple had forgotten about that skill.

    It was something she had received after beating all of the poisonous monsters that were inside a jar in the 4thyer.

    ¡®Venom Incantation.¡¯

    Adds 20% instant death effect to poison type skills.

    ¡°Maybe it would faster¡­to aim for an instant kill with a weaker skill? I¡¯m running out of items to attack with, anyway. I guess I will try it then! Uhh¡­ ¡®Venom Cutter¡¯!¡±

    The blob of poison that she unleashed on the multiple red ghostsing towards her was weakpared to Hydra. However, that didn¡¯t mean anything if she was able to get the instant kill effect.

    ¡°They didn¡¯t die this time¡­ And I¡¯ll need to use MP potions for this one¡­ Oh, fighting by yourself is really hard.¡±

    Maple thought back on all of the things that Sally had gathered for her. And she started to think that a pair of shoes was not exactly enough to repay her.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to work hard on thisyer for Sally¡­ Yes, that¡¯s good. She¡¯ll be so happy about this present.¡±

    And so maple continued to use poison until she realized something.

    ¡°¡­Hmmm. They won¡¯t die. Is my luck really that bad? Or does it¡­not work on you guys?¡±

    Maple said as she tried and failed to hit the ribs of the ghost in front of her.

    Maple felt that she was right to have a bad feeling about this, and she tried asking the ghosts in a different voice now, but they did not reply.

    However, Maple realized that there could be a problem that was much more fundamental.

    It was regarding thepatibility of the throne she was sitting on and ¡®Venom Incantation.¡¯

    Now that she thought about it, the words ¡®Venom Incantation¡¯ had an evil ring to it.

    ¡°Oh, this probably won¡¯t work then? Oh, no! It won¡¯t activate! ¡­I guess I¡¯ll have to slowly do it with items¡­ Or should I ask someone to help me?¡±

    Maple continued to fight there until she ran out of items. Once she ran out of items, she ran hurriedly away before more ghosts found her, and then she returned to the clearing.

    ¡°Syrup, I need to go back now!¡±

    Maple decided that she woulde back soon, but for now, she would return to the town.

 Chapter 185

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 185

    Defense Specialization and Anti-monster Supplies

    Maple rode Syrup back to town where shended.

    ¡°Phew¡­ There should definitely be some kind of item that will work against ghosts!¡±

    Maple believed that there would be something other than the tags she had bought before, and so decided to take a walk through the town.

    ¡°Well, I suppose I should check the store with the tags.¡±

    Maple wanted to start by buying those first, and so she entered the store.

    ¡°It should be¡­here it is!¡±

    Maple walked through the store until she found it.

    It was an item that was red sheets of paper with unreadable letters and symbols on it.

    She looked at the item name carefully and made sure that it was used for fighting ghosts. And then she bought as many as she could.

    ¡°Perhaps I should also sell some materials? I¡¯m running out of money, after all.¡±

    As Maple intended to continue shopping at other stores, she needed to secure some more money by selling her extra materials.

    When that was done, she quickly scanned the rest of the store to see if there was anything else she needed, then went out of the building and into therge street.

    Both sides were lined with stores that looked like abandoned houses from the outside.

    ¡°Which ones sell the good stuff?¡±

    Maple looked from left to right and tried to make a decision. It was right then that she saw a familiar face.

    ¡°Ah! Mi!¡±

    Maple waved a hand at her. Mi noticed her and walked towards her.

    When she reached Maple, she whispered to her so that only Maple could hear.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Maple. How are you? Is the exploration going smoothly?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I guess. I¡¯m looking for items that are effective against ghosts right now. My attacks don¡¯t work well on them.¡±

    ¡°Really? In that case, there is a good store here if you go straight and turn on the first corner. I think it was called Salt of Demon Binding? Something like that.¡±

    Maple¡¯s face brightened when Mi told her about this item.

    ¡°Thank you! I¡¯ll check it out!¡±

    ¡°Yes. I hope it is useful.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you again if you want, okay? I promise.¡±

    Mi waved at Maple and continued to walk down the street.

    Once Mi was out of sight, Maple walked in the direction of the store that Mi had told her about.

    After walking for some time, the store appeared in front of her.

    Unlike the others which resembled abandoned houses, this one was a normal store with windows that weren¡¯t broken.

    ¡°Umm¡­Anti-monster Supplies? It¡¯s this ce!¡±

    Maple had found the store, and so she went inside.

    There was everything, from equipment to items.

    Maple went straight to where all of the equipment was disyed.

    ¡°There¡¯s a great shield and short sword! Umm¡­ ¡®Crushing Evil Greatshield¡¯ and ¡®Crushing Evil Short sword.¡¯¡±

    The short sword had an effect where it¡¯s damage was increased against ghost-type monsters.

    Simrly, the great shield was able to reduce damage from ghost-type monsters.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ But this won¡¯t do.¡±

    Maple returned the equipment to the shelf.

    Maple rarely took any damage, to begin with, so the shield was not useful.

    Simrly, Maple would not be dealing much damage with a shortsword in the first ce so any bonus damage would not make much of a difference.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just get the salt for now. That¡¯s what I¡¯ll buy.¡±

    She looked around the store and quickly found the salt.

    Maple bought it and also restocked on the items that allowed her to attack with fire and wind.

    ¡°I guess that¡¯s it? Hm?¡±

    As Maple went around the store onest time to see if she had missed anything, she saw an item in a corner that she had overlooked before.

    ¡°Hmm? A vacuum cleaner?¡±

    The thing in front of her looked like a vacuum cleaner. Maple touched the part that extended out and would suck things in.

    Since it was sold in this store and also had the same red letters carved into it, Maple assumed that it must have some kind of effect.

    ¡°Hmm. Can I use this? ¡­Ah, not this. This will be just like that weight stone for pickles.¡±

    Maple left the vacuum cleaner where it was.

    She left the store and went out into the street.

    ¡°It would be nice if it was as easy as sucking them with vacuum cleaner¡­I wonder if it might work after all?¡±

    While Maple wondered about this, the letters ¡®room item¡¯ that were on the user manual, did not disappear.

 Chapter 186

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 186

    Defense Specialization and Exorcism

    Maple logged out for the day after restocking her supplies.

    And then a few dayster, Maple went to the mountain covered in mist.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this!¡±

    Maple went down to the mountain and began searching for the red ghosts.

    ¡°Ah, there it is.¡±

    Maple went towards the ghost, and once it noticed her, she took out her throne and sat on it. Then she sealed the ghost¡¯s skills.

    ¡°I have proper tags this time, alright? Here you go!¡±

    Maple stuck the paper onto the ghost. Then the red letters started to shine, and the surface of the ghost began to glow white.

    As the light enveloped the body of the ghost, its HP began to slowly dwindle. Then it began to unleash a mournful wail.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s working! Take some of this salt as well!¡±

    Maple sprinkled some salt on it, and it¡¯s HP dropped even further.

    It¡¯s HP eventually dropped to 0, and it rose up into the air and disappeared without even showing a damage effect.

    ¡°Alright, dispellingplete! Materials¡­ Oh, I didn¡¯t receive much? Oh, no¡­it seems like I didn¡¯t get any experience points¡­¡±

    Defeating the ghosts with tags and salt made things go a lot faster, but made it harder in terms of acquiring materials and experience.

    Maple was troubled over which was more important to her, but she could not forget just how easy the job was while using the tags and salt.

    ¡°It just means that I need to kill a lot of them. And they do drop some items, at least.¡±

    Maple said as she threw salt on the ghosts that approached her and dealt damage to them.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just continue like this!¡±

    Maple continued to defeat the ghosts that came to her.

    As it did not take much to defeat a single ghost, her stock of items had barely depleted.

    Maple spent two hours fighting the ghosts until she finally left the mountain.

    ¡°Sally¡¯s gone around hunting monsters many times just to collect items, hasn¡¯t she¡­? It¡¯s really hard.¡±

    However, this was all for Sally¡¯s sake, so Maple was determined to work hard.

    And so she continued to hunt ghosts every day. If this was real life, she would have dispelled every single ghost on the mountain. And it was only when she had done that much, that a pair of shoes dropped down in front of her.

    ¡°OHHHH!! YES!¡±

    Maple picked up the shoes.

    It had reddish ck stains all over it and was cool to the touch.

    In other words, they looked a lot like the boots that Sally was wearing now.

    ¡°The name¡­ ¡®Legs of the Dead¡¯? It¡­it sounds cursed¡­ Are these really safe? But it says that it¡¯s rare, so it must be good.¡±

    Maple inspected the boots carefully, but they did not drip with blood, nor was there a real foot left inside of them.

    ¡°Hmm. I guess I can give them to Sally. Let me just check the skills¡­¡±

    ¡®A Step towards the Underworld.¡¯

    While using this skill, decreases all statuses by 5 points and makes a tform in the air for your feet.

    The status reductionsts for 20 minutes.

    The tforms disappear after 10 seconds.

    ¡°Hmm? This seems a little different. What to do¡­ Maybe I should just show it to Sally.¡±

    Maple put the shoes into her inventory and decided to kill onest ghost before returning for the day.

    ¡°Alright, salt and the tag¡­huh?¡±

    Just as Maple was preparing to dispell the ghost, she realized that this one was acting differently.

    This ghost was emitting a blue glow instead of a red one. Furthermore, it had turned its back to her and was moving away.

    Maple squinted her eyes and saw that the blue ghost had stopped a short way into the distance.

    It almost seemed as if that swaying light was calling to her.

    ¡°I suppose I can go see. Let¡¯s put the throne away. Yes.¡±

    Maple held her shield ready and walked towards the ghost while staying alert.

    When she was close to it, the ghost began to move again as if leading her.

    ¡°It¡¯s going up the mountain¡­I better follow it.¡±

    Maple followed the ghost up the mountain until they reached the peak.

    The mountain peak was covered in mist, and you could not see further than 1 meter ahead of you.

    ¡°Where am I supposed to go? Ah¡­this¡­¡±

    Maple¡¯s foot hit against something, and she looked down to see that it was an old cross made of wood that had been stuck in the ground.

    She could see that there were also remnants of bundles of flowers around her.

    ¡°I-I kicked it! I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Maple closed her eyes and put her hands together.

    As Maple did this, a white hand suddenly shot out of the ground and grabbed her ankle.

    ¡°What!? Wait, wait! Get away!¡±

    But the hand continued to pull her, and she felt as if she were suddenly floating. The ground had disappeared from under her.

    She felt the sensation of falling unendingly, and she could do nothing but close her eyes tightly.

 Chapter 187

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 187

    Defense Specialization and Inside the Darkness

    The feeling of ceaselessly falling stopped after a while and Maplended within apletely dark ce.

    ¡°Wha-what happened¡­?¡±

    As Maple looked around her, she saw that there was a red light shing within the darkness.

    What showed itself as if tearing through the darkness, was a monster that looked like a giant version of all the red ghosts that Maple had killed up until now.

    Only the top half was visible as it jumped out of the crack in space. Its long arms were several times longer than Maple.

    ¡°Wh-wha-what should I do?¡±

    With one look, Maple knew that she would not be able to dispell it.

    However, it did not look like it would leave her alone, and its long arms stretched out to her and tried to grab her.

    ¡°Ohh, huh? It¡¯s slow.¡±

    Maple ran away from it and was able to move out of its reach.

    As Maple had rarely been to outrun anything, she couldn¡¯t help but stop and look back in surprise.

    Once the arms had stretched to their limits, they faded away and the tear in space returned to normal.

    ¡°I have a bad feeling about this¡­ I knew it!¡±

    Maple turned around just as a new tear appeared behind her.

    ¡°Have some salt instead!¡±

    Maple said as she flung salt at the ghost¡¯s body. Then she backed away and checked to see if it did any damage.

    ¡°Yes. It worked!¡±

    It wasn¡¯t as effective as it was with the red ghosts on the mountain, but the HP was decreasing.

    Maple believed she had a chance now, and so she pulled out more items from her inventory and prepared for it to reappear.

    ¡°Alright,e at me. Hmm?¡±

    The space in front of her began to open as she stood ready.

    This time, not only the boss ghost but the red ghosts from the mountain began to slither out.

    And just like with the ghosts from the mountain, these ghosts had dangerous looking skulls floating behind them as they approached her.

    ¡°You guys can stay away. ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯!¡±

    Maple sat on the throne as soon as it appeared, and immediately, the approaching ghosts began to vanish.

    However, this also meant that it was harder for her to avoid the attacks of the boss ghost.

    ¡°I guess this is better than just running away.¡±

    Maple decided that she would not run. Just then, the boss¡¯s hands stretched out and wrapped around Maple.

    ¡°I guess it can¡¯t use any skills? This is my chance!¡±

    The hands were only wrapping around and doing nothing else, so Maple started to deal damage to it by sticking on the tags.

    Maple continued to work at the ghost expertly, but things did not go as well as she expected.

    ¡°Oh¡­oh. It got me.¡±

    The hands that were wrapped around Maple began to squeeze harder.

    ¡°Uh¡­welll¡­Ahh?!¡±

    A shock ran through her body and then her HP began to decrease.

    Maple could see that she was losing HP faster than the speed that the throne was recovering it.

    The ghost continued to slowly squeeze her body. Maple struggled in its grasp and tried to escape, but it was no use.

    And the ghost¡¯s actions didn¡¯t stop there.

    ¡°Hey¡­wait¡­wahhh!¡±

    It picked Maple up and took her up into the air.

    The effects of the throne onlysted while she was on it, and there was nothing she could do now that she was lifted.

    ¡°Ohhh¡­ah¡­ Le-let go of me¡­! I know, ¡®Savagery¡¯!¡±

    While it had torn Maple from her throne, this also meant that it tore her from the restrictions that bound her.

    Maple transformed into a monster within the ghost¡¯s grip, and she was easily able to free herself and move away from it.

    ¡°Ohhh¡­ I haven¡¯t been this scared in a long time¡­I really let my guard down.¡±

    As Maple had not deactivated it, the throne was still on the ground.

    It would continue to be effective once she sat on it.

    ¡°I should check the enemy¡¯s skill while things are still good¡­yes.¡±

    Maple hadn¡¯t received damage like this in a long time, and so she decided to observe the monster carefully.

    As long as the outeryer existed, she would not take any direct damage, and would not feel any pain.

    ¡°Alright, alright. I organized the skills I can use¡­yes, yes. Sally taught me how to deal with these kinds of situations.¡±

    Maple told herself in order to calm her nerves, all the while, she backed away from the monster.

    After fighting for a while, Maple realized that none of her attacks while activating ¡®Savagery¡¯ were dealing any damage, and she scowled.

    ¡°I can beat the small ones by blowing fire on them¡­ Ughhh¡­I don¡¯t want to deactivate it.¡±

    Maple continued to gather information as she thought darkly about the moment when she would be forced to deactivate Savagery.

 Chapter 188

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 188

    Defense Specialization and Inside the Darkness 2

    After a while, Maple stopped and tore through the monster¡¯s skin and fell to the ground. It was more about finally having the resolve to deactivate Savagery than it was about finishing the gathering of information.

    ¡°For now, ¡®Deploy all Weapons¡¯!¡±

    As she was prepared to leave at full power, she called out Syrup and had it erged.

    ¡°Syrup! ¡®Soul Canon¡¯!¡±

    This was an attack method that Maple had thought of as she was running around.

    The light that shot out of Syrup cut through the darkness and sucked up the small ghosts in its path.

    ¡°Okay, I can do this! Thank you, Syrup!¡±

    As there would still be piercing attacks, she was unable to use Dedicated Affection.

    Maple decided to protect Syrup with her shield, like the great shield-wielder bearer that she originally was.

    ¡°Shield, check! Salt, check!¡±

    Maple made sure that she had the items as she flew straight towards the ce that Syrup had opened for her.

    She left a trail of zing fire in the darkness behind her as she sted towards the boss andunched the salt over it beforending.

    ¡°Oomph. It¡¯s so hard tond in the darkness¡­¡±

    Maple then flew towards the throne and fell into it as if she were rolling.

    She had Syrup stand by on her side, and there was no need to worry about the smaller ghosts using any skills.

    ¡°Phew¡­ Syrup¡¯s attack works the best, so I will just have to wait until I can use it again.¡±

    Maple dealt with the small ghosts by using her items.

    And if the boss ever reached out towards her again, she would use an explosion on the throne tounch herself up in the air for an emergency escape.

    ¡°Alright, this is good¡­Syrup!¡±

    As Maple was getting rid of the small ghosts, the boss was attempting to attack Syrup with piercing attacks.

    ¡°Oh, uh. ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    The small ghosts were so numerous that Maple could not leave the throne, but she frantically tried to protect Syrup.

    ¡°Ohh¡­ahhh¡­ ¡®Meditation¡¯!¡±

    As long as she was not lifted from the throne, ¡®Meditation¡¯ and the throne¡¯s recovering effect would be enough.

    In other words, she wouldn¡¯t lose even if Syrup was targeted.

    However, it was a big problem for Maple that recovering like this did damage as well.

    ¡°Ohhh¡­it stings.¡±

    There was a constant pain running through Maple¡¯s body.

    Maple felt like she was being tortured on the throne as she waited for the attacks to stop.

    After a while, the ghost stopped. It then moved away and began to summon more of its underlings.

    ¡°Syrup, are you alright? Uhh¡­what should I do? I don¡¯t think I can endure that again.¡±

    Even if she could endure it ording to the numbers, it was unbearable for her otherwise.

    Things would be very bad if Syrup continued to be targeted. It was as Maple was thinking this that she got a sh of insight.

    However, it could hardly be called insight.

    ¡°¡­I just need to return Syrup to my ring¡­I¡¯m an idiot.¡±

    As soon as Syrup returned to the ring, the pain disappearedpletely.

    There was no need to have Syrup next to her at all times.

    ¡°I just need to call Syrup when it¡¯s safe. Alright, my bad!¡±

    Maple quickly switched gears and looked forward.

    The enemy was still not defeated.

    As long as it could use piercing attacks, she did not have time to think idly.

    ¡°For now, I¡¯ll move away and call Syrup again. It¡¯s too hard without Soul Canon.¡±

    Maple spread out her weapons over the throne and caused an explosion. The weapons were destroyed as sheunched up into the air and put as much space between her and the ghost as she could.

    ¡°Alright, now I¡¯ll bring Syrup out.¡±

    Maple called Syrup out and protected it until it could use ¡®Soul Canon¡¯ again.

    ¡°Syrup ¡®Soul Canon¡¯!¡±

    She attacked whenever Syrup was able to, and when it couldn¡¯t, she carried it after it had shrunken down. When this happened, Maple used Dedicated Affection to protect it from the explosive mes as she flew around and evaded the enemy.

    Maple was able to repeat this over and over again. It was a rare battle where she did not take any damage from the monster she was fighting.

    ¡°I¡¯ve dealt quite a lot of damage¡­?!¡±

    Maple realized here that there was a very visible change urring.

    It had been quite dark up until now, but she was able to see her own body and the boss. It was about the same darkness as a moonlit night.

    However, currently, Maple was unable to see Syrup, who was now erged and nearby, and she could also not see the throne or monster.

    Maple was surrounded in a thick darkness that was no different to when she closed her eyes.

    ¡°Wh-where are you?! Syrup!¡±

    Maple had Syrup return to her ring and then crouched behind her shield as she looked around.

    ¡°Where will ite from? Umm¡­¡±

    Maple squinted, but it didn¡¯t change the fact that it was so dark, she could not even see her hands.

    ¡°I know, antern!¡±

    Maple took out antern from her inventory and tried to light it.

    However, the light was enveloped by darkness, and it disappeared as if something had snuffed out the candle.

 Chapter 189

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 189

    Defense Specialization and Inside the Darkness 3

    ¡°Huh?! I-I can¡¯t see anything!¡±

    Maple tried to use thentern again, but the result was the same.

    ¡°Wh-where? Woah?!¡±

    While Maple looked around frantically, a cold hand grabbed her from the back.

    It had a temporary effect of taking away her STR and AGI. Thankfully, that didn¡¯t mean anything to Maple.

    ¡°Tsk¡­Ughh! I can¡¯t get away¡­¡±

    Of course, not having any STR meant that she could not escape from the ghost¡¯s grasp either.

    For half a minute, the hand slowly rose and lifted Maple up into the air.

    ¡°The damage¡­what?!¡±

    Maple closed her eyes in preparation, but this time, the pain did note.

    Instead, Maple lost all of her HP. Indomitable Guardian activated, and Maple was thrown to the ground.

    While there was no fall damage, Maple would not be able to survive if she took another hit.

    ¡°Uh, what? Oh, wha-what should I¡­!¡±

    While Maple was confused, there was one thing she knew very well. She could not allow herself to be hit again.

    ¡°Thr-throne! Where!?¡±

    Maple ran through the darkness and searched for the throne she had left somewhere.

    It would take some time before she would be able to use it again if she deactivated it, and she wasn¡¯t sure she could survive that long.

    However, Maple was not even thinking that far ahead. She was mostly just running from the present danger.

    And that happened to be a good thing for her.

    ¡°I can¡¯t find it¡­!¡±

    Maple sensed that something wasing up behind her, and so she ran in a zigzag.

    After a while, she began to calm down enough to consider her various options.

    Maple thought of using her self-destruct flight in order to gain some distance, but since she couldn¡¯t even see anything, there was a possibility that she would fly straight into the enemy. And so she gave up that idea as something that should not be tested.

    Currently, she could really do nothing but run, but there were times when she felt a cold wind at her back and she grew pale.

    Maple breathed heavily as she ran. And then she thought of something else and decided to put it into action.

    ¡°Return, Syrup. And¡­good. The Soul Canon is ready! With this¡­I can deactivate the throne as well!¡±

    Maple was now feeling very optimistic about her chances. She started to run again when something got caught around her foot.

    ¡°Huh¡­¡±

    When Maple looked down at her right foot, she saw that a pale hand had stretched out of the ground and was wrapped around her.

    ¡°Ohhh! Let go! Ah¡­¡±

    Cold hands wrapped around Maple¡¯s body.

    The hands were keeping her fixed to the ground, so while she was not lifted this time, death was approaching.

    Almost by instinct, Maple called Syrup, but her mind could not concentrate, and she was unable to give any orders.

    ¡°Uh, uh! Ah, oh, what should I do!¡±

    As she panicked, Maple instinctively did the only thing she could do within the short amount of time she had left.

    ¡°¡®Predator,¡¯ ¡®Oozing Chaos,¡¯ ¡®Pandemonium,¡¯ ¡®Hydra,¡¯ ¡®Soul Canon,¡¯ ¡®Mother Nature¡¯!¡±

    The line of monsters appeared behind Maple¡¯s back. And the two Oni stood up in the darkness.

    Thick vines shot out of the darkness while the Soul Canon fired with a thunderous noise that was followed by the Hydra.

    The fire that the Oni breathed filled the darkness. The roar of the monsters and the sounds of the clubs banging echoed as the vines shot up into the air.

    ¡°Ohhhh!¡±

    Desperately, Maple pulled out the sheets of paper and began to stick them onto the hands around her.

    Maple was filled with the fear that she could be dead in the next moment.

    However, before Maple¡¯s HP could reach 0, there was a cracking sound, and the darkness was filled with a blinding light.

    ¡°Huh¡­?¡±

    It was as if the darkness was being shattered like ss. And the room was filled with more and more light.

    ¡°Hahh¡­ehehe. Thank you.¡±

    Maple was so relieved that she copsed onto her back and looked upward.

    She looked up at the faces that looked down at her and smiled gently.

 Chapter 190

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 190

    Defense Specialization and a Helping Hand

    ¡°For now, I need a potion! Potion!¡±

    Maple sat up and took out a potion from her inventory and drank it down.

    When her HP was fully recovered, she slowly stood up.

    ¡°Phew¡­that was close. But what was that? Instant death?¡±

    Maple stretched her limbs and looked around her.

    No matter where she looked, it was all white. She had no idea howrge the space that she was in was.

    ¡°Something¡­there! Oh, goodbye Oni!¡±

    The monsters began to disappear as their time ran out. Eventually, it was just Syrup and the twin monsters that remained.

    Maple waved at them and walked towards the thing she had found.

    ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve seen this up there before. Just for a second.¡±

    Within the white space, an old crucifix was piercing the ground. And there were wilted flowersid in front of it.

    As Maple squatted and stared, she thought she could hear a faint voice.

    ¡°Thank you¡­good night¡­¡±

    ¡°Who, who are you?!¡±

    Maple quickly raised her head as light floated up and surrounded her.

    The light began to take a shape, and Maple saw that for a second, a woman had appeared in front of her.

    The woman had stretched out a hand towards Maple before disappearing with the light that floated upwards.

    ¡°¡­Was it the ghost? Is she¡­free now? Hmm?¡±

    Maple felt something strange around her neck and so she touched it.

    And then she realized that there was something there.

    ¡°Um, what was this thing again¡­ A locket pendant? Inside is¡­ Hmmm¡­is it from that woman? It¡¯s so old that I can¡¯t tell¡­¡±

    The photo inside was so aged that she could not tell who it was. But Maple thought that she could make out the silhouette of a woman and a field of flowers behind her.

    Maple took the locket off from around her neck and checked to see if there was a name.

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s not an item then. essory¡­ ¡®Helping Hand?¡¯ So it helped me? I don¡¯t even know what happened in the end¡­¡±

    Maple had been more panicked than she had ever been before, and she could not properly remember the events that led to her being safe.

    But there was nothing she could do about that, and so Maple looked at the essory more carefully.

    ¡®Helping Hand.¡¯

    essory.

    Adds two equipment slots to either your right or left hand.

    ¡°Oh! This is perfect for Sally, isn¡¯t it? I even want it a little¡­ But not enough toe again. I don¡¯t even know how you cane here¡­¡±

    Maple had decided that she would give it to Sally.

    And so she wrote her a message so they could meet in the town of the fifthyer.

    Sally replied immediately, and so Maple rushed to the town.

    When she arrived in the guild home of the fifthter, Sally was already there.

    ¡°Sally! I¡¯m sorry for calling you so suddenly.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. What is it? It¡¯s unusual for you to call me like this.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I was in such a hurry because I realized that I was finally able to give something back to you. Here it is!¡±

    Maple said as she took out the shoes and locket pendant from her inventory.

    Sally instinctively felt that they were items from the sixthter, and so she closed her eyes and looked away.

    After a moment, she opened her eyes a crack and looked at the items.

    ¡°Ummm¡­mmm. I-I¡¯m fine, I think. The shoes are a little eerie¡­but there is nothing inside, right?!¡±

    ¡°Huh? Oh, uh. I don¡¯t think there is¡­¡±

    Maple began to squeeze the end of the shoes and saw that nothing happened.

    Sally epted the shoes and locket pendant hesitantly and read their descriptions.

    ¡°They weren¡¯t the shoes I was expecting¡­they¡¯re stronger. And this locket pendant¡­huh¡­oh?¡±

    Sally looked at Maple with a confused expression.

    There were so many questions spinning in her brain that she wanted to ask Maple, but she could not put them into words.

    ¡°It will be pretty hard for me to get them again. Uh, I don¡¯t really know how to get back¡­so, take good care of them!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­yeah. I will. Thank you.¡±

    Sally said with the biggest smile. Maple had nothing left to say.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to go test them.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Have fun!¡±

    Maple waved as Sally left the guild home.

    She was d that Sally was happy, and she sat down on the sofa and swayed side to side in a good mood.

    And then came the next day.

    Sally had given the locket pendant back to Maple.

    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s fine you know? You can keep it?¡±

    Maple thought that Sally was just being modest, but Sally shook her head.

    ¡°Maple¡­I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t use this¡­¡±

    Sally¡¯s voice seemed to fade as she said this. Maple wondered what she meant.

    ¡°Maple, try using it in the field. I¡¯ll be here in the guild home¡­¡±

    So saying, Sally ran towards the back, as if running away from her.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Maple decided she would do as she said. And so she went out into the field and equipped ¡®Helping Hand.¡¯

    ¡°What!?¡±

    Two translucent hands appeared behind her, and then they moved and stopped in front of her.

    ¡°Ah¡­oh¡­I see¡­so¡­she isn¡¯t resting in peace at all!¡±

    In a way, the ¡®Helping Hands¡¯ were quite literally that.

    The hands that floated in front of her that stopped at the wrists. There was no way that Sally would have been able to ept them.

    ¡°These didn¡¯t help Sally at all! If anything¡­Argh!¡±

    Maple felt bad and decided that she would definitely check the effects of items in the future when giving out presents.

 Chapter 191

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 191

    Defense Specialization and Practice

    While she failed in getting Sally a present, Maple could still use it without issue.

    Maple returned her equipment to normal for now and opened her status menu to see her essory slots and to think.

    Maple

    Lv50

    HP 40/40 (+160)

    MP 12/12 (+10)

    STR 0

    VIT 250 (+1755)

    AGI 0

    DEX 0

    INT 0

    Equipment

    Head: Empty

    Body: Armor of ck Roses: Oozing Chaos

    Right Hand: New Moon: Hydra

    Left Hand: Mirror of the Dark Night: Bizzare Eater

    Legs: Armor of ck Roses

    Feet: Armor of ck Roses

    essories: Bridge of Bonds

    Toughness Ring

    Ring of Life

    Skills

    Absolute Defense, Giant Killing, Hydra Eater, Bomb Eater, Meditation, Provoke, Abominable, Knowledge of Great Shield IV, Body handling, Attack diversion, Shield Attack

    HP Enhancement (Small), MP Enhancement (Small)

    Cover Move I, Cover

    The Indomitable Guardian

    Psychokinesis

    Fortress, Encouragement, Sheep Eater, Dedicated Affection, Machine God, Quick Change, Pierce Guard, Counter, Venom Incantation, Frozen Earth, Pandemonium I, Throne of the Heavenly King, Connection to the Underworld

    ¡°Hmmm¡­I¡¯ll have to remove one of the rings in order to equip Helping Hand¡­ I guess as long as it¡¯s not Bridge of Bonds.¡±

    She would not be able to call Syrup if she removed Bridge of Bonds.

    Maple had no intention of allowing that to happen, so it was between Toughness Ring and Ring of Life.

    ¡°In that case¡­Toughness Ring, I guess. My HP will go down 30 points¡­but my defenses will make up for that.¡±

    Maple nodded to herself as she removed the Toughness Ring and returned it to her inventory. Then she equipped Helping Hand in its ce.

    Two pale hands appeared on either side of her and floated in the air.

    Maple checked and saw that she now had two extra equipment slots.

    ¡°For now¡­White Snow and Violet Crystal? It seems like it can¡¯t be equipment used in Quick Change.¡±

    Maple finished equipping them and her VIT went up by 70 points. It would be 6 times as much if it included skills.

    Then Maple saw that the two floating hands were holding shields.

    ¡°Ah! I can move them. But¡­it¡¯s hard.¡±

    Maple imagined in her head that she was moving the hands, and the two hands started to move.

    It was as if she now had two extra hands.

    ¡°I can control ¡®Savagery¡¯ pretty well. But this is a little different, I guess?¡±

    Maple tried moving the shields for a while, but when she tried to move them at the same time, her concentration would move towards a single one, and then the other would stop entirely. It seemed like it would take a while for her to be able to use them well.

    ¡°Well, as long as I can do this movement for now!¡±

    Maple brought the two shield right in front of her and held her own shield up in between them. Now there was a wall of three shields in front of Maple, and she felt that she would be able to block more attacks than ever.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just practice this. Yes!¡±

    Maple stayed there for a while and practiced bringing the shields together.

    ¡°I need to practice with the great shield a little more¡­ Maybe I should ask Chrome for help.¡±

    Maple thought as she returned to the guild home.

    As Maple¡¯s additional shields were through an essory and not a skill, they remained visible even while she was in town.

    Because of this, passersby did double takes and stopped in their tracks with surprise. There were even some who took pictures to take back to their guild.

    However, Maple took no notice of this as she returned to her guild home.

    And Chrome just happened to be there as well.

    ¡°Oh, Ma-¡­ I see.¡±

    Chrome seemed to have sensed something, and he forced a bright smile as he approached Maple.

    Maple was d to see him and ran forward.

    ¡°Chrome! Could you teach me how to improve with the shield?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­I guess, but¡­do you mean how to use those things that are floating?¡±

    ¡°Exactly! I have more hands now, but I can¡¯t use them very well.¡±

    ¡°Well, hands aren¡¯t really meant to increase¡­¡±

    But Chrome said he would do what he could, and he took Maple to the training room in the back.

    Here she showed Throne of the Heavenly King to him as well, and Chrome waspletely overwhelmed.

    They also did a mock battle, but Chrome¡¯s conclusion was that she would be perfectly fine, with or without the extra shields.

    As long as she was sitting on the throne, she would not take much damage aside from the odd piercing attack. Though, having more shields would make it harder for those attacks toe through.

    If she got off of the throne, she would have Savagery, and even if she didn¡¯t she could survive with Indomitable Guardian.

    ¡°Is it possible for me to beat you? Probably not, since you have the throne. But, I wouldn¡¯t say you¡¯re almighty either.¡±

    Chrome decided he would support her in the areas she was stillcking. And with that, he returned to instructing Maple.

 Chapter 192: Defense Specialization and Reaction

    Itai no Wa 192

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Reaction</strong>

    641 Name: Namelessrge shield user

    Yaa.

    642 Name: Nameless spear user

    I can tell what you want to say already.

    643 Name: Nameless archer

    It¡¯s increasing, after all.

    The shields around Maple.. or rather, hands.

    644 Name: Nameless magician

    She¡¯s gonna increase her defense again¡­

    645 Name: Namelessrge shield user

    I havee to state my opinions since I had a mock battle with Maple but¡­ I guess everyone already knows the change, huh?

    Well, I will still say my part.

    646 Name: Namelessrge sword user

    As long as it doesn¡¯t be a hindrance to Maple, alright?

    647 Name: Namelessrge shield user

    Got it

    Well, first of all, as you¡¯ve seen, the hands

    It seems that is also reflecting the number of shields or skills

    She has gotten more like an iron wall but it¡¯s a calction error in numerical values

    More importantly, what¡¯s dangerous is that the number of obstacles before reaching Maple has increased

    And it also seems she can move them

    648 Name: Nameless archer

    That¡¯s sounds like death to an archer

    As I thought, she can control therge shields

    This is gonna make me go crazy

    649 Name: Namelessrge shield user

    Her ¡®guard¡¯ abilities aren¡¯t that high yet since Maple isn¡¯t used to controlling shields but¡­ that¡¯s also a matter of time

    650 Name: Nameless spear user

    It¡¯s hrious how the top ofrge shield users can¡¯t userge shields

    651 Name: Namelessrge shield user

    Well, moving on

    Maple suddenly sat on the throne

    It¡¯s a very pretty chalk throne!

    Really cute too

    652 Name: Nameless magician

    So she has finally be the king in both name and substance, huh?

    653 Name: Nameless archer

    There will be people following her lead

    654 Name: Namelessrge shield user

    A white field deploys around her when she¡¯s sitting on the throne

    And the throne has some sort of sealing effect

    A few of my skills also got sealed

    I think it seals dangerous skills but¡­

    It seems like it also affects Maple herself?

    I am not sure

    Also, auto health regenerationes with it

    655 Name: Namelessrge sword user

    Thatst bit is a little too much for a small addition, don¡¯t ya think?

    She will basically always win if she has an ally sitting next to it

    656 Name: Nameless magician

    Wouldn¡¯t sealing dangerous skill seal almost all of Maple¡¯s skill?

    657 Name: Nameless spear user

    It even seals her skills too, eh

    Isn¡¯t that the most risky for herself?

    658 Name: Nameless archer

    In other words, she gentle when she¡¯s sitting, eh?

    And when the king stands¡­ yikes

    659 Name: Namelessrge sword user

    The more allies she has around her, the stronger her protection abilities with therge shield will be

    If all her guild members are beside her, the throne will literally beplete

    660 Name: Nameless spear user

    Her guards are already too strong

    And if they are in Maple¡¯s protection¡­

    One would have no other choice but to assassinate from stealth

    661 Name: Namelessrge shield user

    I wonder

    I don¡¯t really understand how resistance types work but can someone defeat them before their defenses are strengthened?

    662 Name: Namelessrge sword user

    Expect that of a raid boss or something

    It¡¯s impossible for your general yer

    Also impossible for a high level yer

    And a pro yer won¡¯t go close since they would be able to sense the danger

    Then we have no other choice but to call a boss who can charge in knowing the risks!

    663 Name: Nameless magician

    Well, if that boss beats Maple after going head to head with her, who will then defeat that boss?

    664 Name: Namelessrge shield user

    That¡¯s pretty much it about her changes

    I will go teach Maple how to use arge shield so

    See ya!

    665 Name: Namelessrge sword user

    There he goes to make it even harder!

    666 Name: Nameless spear user

    We can¡¯t do anything that way!

    667 Name: Namelessrge sword user

    Right¡­ yeah¡­.

    After this, the topic became ¡°what kind of a country can be built with Maple as the lord?¡± but that¡¯s another story.

 Chapter 193: Defense Specialization and A Helping Hand

    Itai no Wa 193

    <strong>Defense Specialization and A Helping Hand</strong>

    While routinely learning how to use the broad shield from Chrome, Maple walked around the town on the sixthyer when she got some free time.

    ¡°Mmm, well I did get the item Sally wanted too. What should I do next~?¡±

    After loitering around for a while, Maple came to the conclusion that she didn¡¯t really have to do anything till the next event.

    ¡°It might be good to just rx for a while. After all, fighting against ghosts is a pain.¡±

    While Maple was seating on a bench in the city and was gazing at a white figure flying through the sky, a message popped up.

    ¡°Mm? I wonder who it is¡­ Ah, it¡¯s Mi!¡±

    Maple read through the text.

    Mi texted asking whether Maple would like to go and hunt some monsters now if she had some time on her hands.

    ¡°¡¯I was free anyway, so let¡¯s go¡¯¡­ there we go. The east entrance is the meeting point, alright.¡±

    Maple stood up and started walking towards the east gate.

    When Maple reached the east gate, Mi was already there.

    ¡°Sorry! Did you wait?¡±

    In response, Mi quickly looked around to confirm something and then replied to Maple.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Rather, I am sorry for inviting you so suddenly.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s OK. I didn¡¯t have anything else to do anyway.¡±

    ¡°I see. But really, thanks. Shall we go?¡±

    ¡°Yep!¡±

    Maple followed Mi out of the city.

    After leaving the city, the amount of people around them also decreased quite a lot, and Mi¡¯s expression grew much more rxed.

    ¡°Is it fine if I don¡¯t use ¡®atrocity¡¯? The pace will be really slow but¡­ I don¡¯t really mind, what about you, Mi?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I would like to rx and talk as we go.¡±

    They went towards their destination while chatting about their recent activities.

    About how thest event went to how the enemies in the sixth floor are.

    About how Mi was bad at handling the city¡¯s mood and how she would get along well with Sally.

    While they were talking about such topics, they arrived at their destination.

    ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s a tomb.¡±

    ¡°Right. Human soulse out around here but¡­ they have a skill which increases their fire resistance. And their attacks are quite strong and have an area of effect.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me then! ¡®Dedicated affection¡¯! ¡®Heavenly King¡¯s Throne¡¯.¡±

    Angel-like wings grew from Maple¡¯s back. Her hair turned blonde and her eyes turned blue.

    And just as the halo appeared above her head, a white throne materialized behind her.

    Maple sat straight down and smiled at Mi.

    ¡°Ready whenever you are. Ah, but don¡¯t go too far, alright?¡±

    ¡°Uh? Ah, uh, yeah. Got it.¡±

    Mi had to force herself to look away from Maple and towards the blue human souls.

    ¡°¡¯me empress¡¯!¡±

    Two big fiery spheres appeared around Mi and engulfed the human souls one after the other.

    However, because of the resistance skill, even Mi¡¯s fire couldn¡¯t bring them down at once.

    ¡°As I thought, it¡¯s impossible, eh¡­ I did strengthen it a bit, though!¡±

    Mi swung her arms and threw the fire spheres again and this time arge amount of human souls were engulfed and taken down.

    ¡°¡­..! Ah, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Mi turned around amidst the bursting mes.

    And there, inside the me, Maple sat with full HP even while taking all the attacks herself.

    As long as the impregnable fort is protecting Mi, there¡¯s no way these tiny human souls can beat her.

    ¡°I could take some time then.¡±

    It didn¡¯t take long until Mi took all the human souls down with her hell fire.

    After defeating a few dozen of those souls, Mi got close to Maple, who was still seating on her throne.

    ¡°Thanks, Maple. You saved me.¡±

    ¡°You fine now? That was amazing~! I was in the mes all along~¡­ It was glistening and very pretty.¡±

    ¡°That is¡­ good? Is it good? Well, I do think it¡¯s a sight only you are able to see.¡±

    ¡°Really? Then I guess I am lucky!¡±

    ¡°That might be. Hmm¡­ it would be great if I could thank you somehow¡­ ah! Right.¡±

    Mi looked like she had just remembered something. And then, she started telling Maple about what she remembered.

    ¡°I heard there¡¯s a skill called ¡¯Iron Body¡¯ and ¡®Heavy Body¡¯ at the information dealer in the city. It seems it is rted to the vitality stat. I paid a hefty amount but they didn¡¯t tell me anything other than the fact that it is avable in the south so it must be a great skill but..¡±

    ¡°You can buy information about skills¡­?¡±

    As Maple asked that in wonder, Mi couldn¡¯t help but look amazed as well.

    ¡°You¡­ didn¡¯t know? Well, it does cost a lot. But you can learn about good skills too.¡±

    Saying that, Mi told Maple about the information dealer¡¯s location.

    After writing it down on a memo, Maple properly thanked Mi.

    ¡°Thank you as well. Tell me if something¡¯s up. I will definitelye to your aid!¡±

    ¡°Yep, see youter!¡±

    After parting with Mi, Maple headed south to find the skill Mi was talking about.

 Chapter 194

    Itai no Wa 194

    Defense Specialization and the Mansion

    As Maple was walking towards the south even while bone-hands grabbed her feet from underneath the ground, she spotted a huge mansion equivalent to the haunted mansion they had entered before.

    ¡°Mmm¡­ I want to explore it but I can¡¯t use ¡®atrocity¡¯ indoor¡­ What should I do?¡±

    Although she was hesitated a bit, she decided to enter the mansion at the end.

    ¡°Pardon me~. Ohh, spacious¡­¡±

    A wide entrance expanded in front of her.

    And before that was the staircase going up to the 2nd floor and going down underground.

    There was worn-out portrait of a man hanging on the front wall.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I wonder from where I should start. Underground? It does feel like there would be something underground.¡±

    Maple went down the staircase to underground without exploring the ground floor.

    ¡°I wonder what¡¯s in here~! Uuuuu?!¡±

    And just as Maple was advancing in high spirits, a spear suddenly came thrusting from the side wall, surprising her.

    ¡°Wh-what¡­ Whew. That surprised me¡­¡±

    The spear stopped as soon as it touched Maple¡¯s body and couldn¡¯t go any further.

    ¡°Ah. The step here has sunk a bit. Was that a trap?¡±

    Maple twisted a bit to cross that part and continued moving forward.

    At the end of the stairs lied a long hallway with numerous doors on both sides.

    ¡°Let¡¯s look through all of ¡®em. It¡¯s a bit of a pain, though.¡±

    Maple moved forward to enter the door closest to her.

    And right that moment, her leg broke a tightly drawn string.

    ¡°Mm? Mmm?!¡±

    A thunderous sound reverberated above her head and an unavoidable guillotine¡¯s de came falling on her.

    And the moment it touched Maple¡¯s head, it got smashed to pieces.

    ¡°¡­.? ¡­¡­??¡±

    Maple tried feeling if something happened to her head but there wasn¡¯t even a scratch.

    Just a small impact.

    There were pieces of the de scattered on the floor. Maple crouched and gazed at those broken pieces.

    ¡°I wonder if they had gotten brittle? Hmm, even still,ing underground might have been a bad move. I will keep getting surprised if these stuff keep popping up¡­¡±

    Maple tried looking around to check if something else is suddenly going to pop up but she couldn¡¯t spot anything different.

    ¡°I guess I will go back upstairs for now¡­ Hmm?¡±

    By the time Maple turned around, there was no staircase there¡ªjust an inorganic wall.

    ¡°W-why!?¡±

    Maple thought she could break it and so she tried hitting it with herrge shield but ¡®Akushoku¡¯ didn¡¯t activate and she wasn¡¯t able to break it.

    ¡°¡­I guess I have no choice! Then, let¡¯s go search again. You never know, the skill I am searching for might be here.¡±

    Saying that, Maple stepped forward carelessly once again.

    Just as her right foot stepped on the floor, the floor sank and the walls came closing in.

    ¡°H-hey!¡±

    Although Maple started running right away, since the hallway was very long, she wasn¡¯t able to make and was stuck in between the walls.

    ¡°I will get crushed¡­ or not? But I can¡¯t move¡­ Uughh.¡±

    Maple tried forcibly developing weapons and used ¡®Hydra¡¯ but the walls were still intact.

    Maple was being gently pushed by the walls from both sides for a while but after sometime, the walls started moving back to their original position.

    ¡°What do I do? I feel like there¡¯s some kind of a trap everywhere¡­¡±

    Maple froze in her spot.

    Although, there¡¯s no need for Maple to worried about any kind of trap but of course, she is not aware of that.

    ¡°A way out¡­. Mmm¡­!¡±

    After a while, Maple made a face as if she had just thought of something.

 Chapter 195: Itai no Wa 195

    <strong>Itai no Wa 195</strong>

    ¡°And¡­ there we go. Now, I just need to bring one from above and¡­ it¡¯s done!¡±

    After floating a single big shield in the air by using ¡®Helping Hand¡¯, she skillfully bent her body and threw herself down on the shield.

    And then, she had another big shield float above, keeping her body in between the two shields. She then extended her hand and prepared ¡®Mirror of the Dark Night¡¯ in front of her.

    Maple was interposed between two shields like a bivalve and was floating above the ground by using ¡®Helping Hand¡¯.

    ¡°I did it, it worked! ¡­Now I won¡¯t be stepping onto any traps so it will be fine!¡±

    And like that, Maple advanced forward, avoiding traps.

    And after a while of progressing, Maple spotted a glittering string drawn from one wall to the other.

    ¡°Ah?! Wai¨C¡­!¡±

    Without being able to use ¡®Helping hand¡¯ properly as she panicked, Maple ended up magnificently severing the string with ¡®Akushoku¡¯.

    Although the flying spearsing at her was nothing to Maple, she was annoyed at the fact that she was outwitted.

    ¡°¡¯Hair Growth¡¯!¡±

    The growing hair all three shields around Maple and turned into a giant sphere of hair floating in the air.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t care~. I can¡¯t hear your traps anymore~.¡±

    While being inside the big ball of hair, Maple proceeded through the hallway.

    Although there were traps attacking Maple along the way, Maple knew nothing of it.

    The guillotine, poison darts, spears plunging out from the ceiling or the floor, none of it mattered.

    These traps didn¡¯t require any reaction from Maple at this point.

    ¡°After I hit a wall, I will turn¡­. and start searching from the very end! There should be good stuff at the end. You would hide your important stuff at the very end, after all!¡±

    And like this, the floating sphere of hair wavered all the way to the end, destroying all the traps it triggered along the way.

    And after a while of that.

    ¡°Ah, I hit a wall¡­ can¡¯t go left, eh? Then, right! ¡­.Hmm?¡±

    Having triggered way too many traps, Maple got used to the clunky noise of something activating.

    ¡°I wonder what happened¡­ Ah-!?

    Maple slightly popped her head out of the hairball.

    And then, she realized that she had been trapped in an iron cage.

    ¡°Break down, please!¡±

    Maple pushed on the iron cage with herrge shield.

    As she did that, a hole gaped open in the cage and the cage itself turned to light and disappeared.

    ¡°Well, what do you know, it wasn¡¯t as tough as I thought. But, yeah, I guess I could at least keep my face outside¡­¡±

    After popping her face out of the hairball, Maple continued advancing forward.

    Poison gas came gushing out from the walls and the floors broke down but Maple was doing good as always.

    ¡°Ah, a dead end. I came quite far so this is probably as deep as I can go, right?¡±

    A single door lied in front of Maple.

    Maple, who had decided to start exploring from the very edge, extended her hand to twist the door knob.

    ¡°Ah¡­ it¡¯s stuck¡­ Nnnnn, and I am in!¡±

    Maple forcibly crammed the hairball covering her into the room.

    Then, Maple looked around the vast room.

    There were small candles lined up on the wall at regr intervals, lighting up the room.

    Maple could see worn-out walls and floor and armor and helmets lined up close to the wall.

    The armors were also holding weapons, which still looked usable from afar.

    And there was an even extravagant armor in front, which caught Maple¡¯s eye.

    ¡°Is that it~? I wonder what it is~.¡±

    Maple tried floating there but when she hade half way, she spotted a piece of paper on the floor.

    ¡°Oops¡­ I will just lower my altitude a little¡­¡±

    Maple slowly reduced the altitude, extended her hand to grab the piece of paper, and read the contents of it.

    ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s see, these stuff are like notes, right? Gets stronger depending on the number of traps activated¡­? Uwaah?!¡±

    The moment Maple had read up to that part, several chains slid down from the ceiling and tied her up in an instant.

    Before Maple could even react, the chains twined around her and immobilized her while she was still in the hairball shape.

    Maple tried moving the shields with ¡®Helping hand¡¯ but it just swayed a bit and wasn¡¯t enough to let her escape.

    ¡°W-what do I do¡­.¡±

    While Maple was suspended in the air, about 20 armors in the surrounding slowly started moving.

    The one armor which looked magnificent moved even quicker, as if there was someone inside.

    ¡°Well then, it¡¯s time to make some strategy!¡±

    Maple pulled her head inside the hairball and started sorting out the situation.

 Chapter 196

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 196

    Defense Specialization and the Mansion 3

    ¡°Anyway¡­while I¡¯m being attacked, it seems fine for now. I think I¡¯ll just watch.¡±

    Maple separated the wool and stuck her head out in order to look at her surroundings.

    At the same time, a single sword flew at her.

    And while the sword ended up bouncing off of the wool, it stayed in the air and then flew towards her once again.

    ¡°What!? So no one is throwing it¡­¡±

    Maple now understood that there wouldn¡¯t be any openings once the attacker grew tired. And so she tried to search for something she could use.

    ¡°Hmm. That fancy armor.¡±

    Maple looked at the fancy armor that had initially caught her attention.

    Maple realized that the armor was covered in a pale light and that it was quietly staying there without directly attacking her.

    And then she realized that the flying swords and spears had a simr light around them.

    ¡°I have to defeat that armor! ¡®Deploy all weapons¡¯!¡±

    ck pirs grew out of the wool.

    The numerous limb-like extensions all had guns and canons attached to them.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    As Maple¡¯s guns began to fire, the floating sword and spear began to spin at an incredible speed, blocking the bullets.

    ¡°Wow¡­no, uh, ¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    As if to suggest that she was merely holding back with the previous attack, the Hydra swallowed the sword and charged forward.

    It thrust into the fancy armor in the back. The ground turned into a sea of poison as the Hydra bit into the armor.

    The floating weapons fell to the ground. Now there was nothing that attacked Maple.

    ¡°Oh, the chains came off too. Alright, I don¡¯t need the wool anymore.¡±

    Maple took out the item and set the wool on fire. Then all of the wool that was covering her disappeared.

    Maple slowly regained her posture andnded on the ground.

    ¡°Oomph. Good! I wonder if there is anything here?¡±

    It was just as Maple was about to take a step forward. The pale light started to overflow from the broken armor and fill the air.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    Maple watched this sight without much caution. After a while, the light took a certain shape and even changed in color.

    After the pale light started to fade, what was floating in the air was a young girl.

    Her clothes were a bright green that did not match the atmosphere of the mansion. She had long silver hair and green eyes.

    The girl looked at Maple and chuckled.

    Maple frantically raised her shield. Just then, a hand stretched out from behind her.

    Maple spun around, only to see an identical girl there, this time in a red dress.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t do that. You should throw such a dangerous thing away.¡±

    Maple¡¯s shield and armor came off and started to float in the air. They were enveloped by a thin purple light before disappearing.

    ¡°Do you want to y? Little girl.¡±

    Said the girl in green as she rotated in the air. Then the armor that was covered in a pale light got up noisily and floated in the air.

    ¡°Want to have fun? Little girl.¡±

    Said the girl in red. Then the floor and walls began to twist and crumble, causing the space they were in to be overwritten with chaos.

    Hallways that hadn¡¯t existed now stretched out. Floors, ceilings and doors appeared. The mansion was so far from its original shape now.

    ¡°We¡¯ll count to ten first.¡±

    They both said with augh. Then they turned into a blue and purple light and disappeared through the walls.

    The two of them had not given Maple enough time to react.

    ¡°What?! Huh? What!?¡±

    As Maple turned around frantically, she saw that the armor was approaching her.

    ¡°Uh, oh, I can¡¯t use Hydra. Uh, not Savagery either¡­ Yes, ¡®Deploy all weapons¡¯!¡±

    Maple realized that she could use ¡®Machine God¡¯ to pay the cost in advance.

    Gears and tubes appeared all over her body as weapons began to grow.

    ¡°Good!¡±

    ¡°Ahh. After everything we said. She¡¯s using something dangerous.¡±

    ¡°She is.¡±

    The voices echoed in the room just as she was starting to feel relieved.

    And with that, a blue and purple light surrounded Maple, and her weapons shattered and disappeared.

    ¡°Bad children¡­¡±

    ¡°Should be punished!¡±

    As these voices rang, spears and swords covered in blue light began to appear from the floor and ceiling.

 Chapter 197

    Itai no Wa 197

    Defense Specialization and the Mansion 4

    And so, the swords were flying and towards Maple at high speed.

    ¡°Aaargh!¡±

    Maple managed to cover her face from the swords with her arm.

    ¡°Ugh¡­ Great, I¡¯m all right.¡±

    One after another, Maple repelled all the swords and spears back at the armor with her bare flesh.

    She had blocked all of the attacks with her body, and she didn¡¯t receive any damage.

    ¡°Which was the skill that I could use¡­? ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯?¡±

    As Maple said those words, a white throne appeared behind her.

    Maple sat down and she waited for a little while thinking about how long the throne would take to disappear, but she still could not hear the girls¡¯ voices.

    ¡°I see¡­ So, this wasn¡¯t dangerous. Don¡¯t I have a skill that can deal damage?¡±

    Maple thought that ¡®Pandemonium I¡¯ was going to be useless and didn¡¯t even try using it.

    For Maple, who had lost all means of attack, it was the only thing that she could rely on.

    Maple started to walk while she fending off the swords, with a faint hope that she could use that in a boss fight instead.

    ¡°Ugh¡­ There are too many doors. I¡¯m going to teach that armor a lesson¡­¡°

    Despite being attacked by that armor¡¯s more than ten swords from all directions, she finally reached the door that appeared on the wall.

    ¡°Yes! I did it!¡±

    As soon as Maple opened the door, she immediately closed it and held it tight with both hands.

    However, it wasn¡¯t the fearful armor she was chasing before, so she sat down for a moment and calmed herself down.

    ¡°Whew¡­ well, what should I do? I still have one set of equipment but I don¡¯t want to use it yet.¡±

    Even without her armor, which increases her HP and defense, Maple still had more endurance than she needed.

    An attack that could prate Maple¡¯s four-digit defense, would usually kill any other yer instantly.

    But there¡¯s nothing around that can manage to do that.

    For that reason, Maple didn¡¯t really have to worry about being attacked.

    ¡°All right! I¡¯ll get it back for sure!¡±

    Maple started walking through the corridor feeling enthusiastic.

    Since she didn¡¯t know where her objective was, she couldn¡¯t just pass through the room this time around.

    She had to open all the doors she could find.

    Even though she knew most of them could contain traps.

    ¡°Ah¡­ Excuse me!¡±

    She took a deep breath and entered the room, shrugging as she checked the area.

    When she entered the room, she could see a table about five meters long surrounded by beautiful chairs, with a candlestick on top of it.

    There¡¯s a painting of andscape hanging from the distorted wall.

    ¡°Let me see¡­ Well, the wall seems a little unstable but there¡¯s nothing special here.¡±

    Maple investigated under the table and behind the painting, but it wasn¡¯t any different from her first impression, and she couldn¡¯t find anything.

    ¡°Ok, it looks all right¡­ oh.¡±

    When she finished checking the painting in the middle and turned around, the table, the candlestick and the paintings were covered in a blue light.

    ¡°Hey! Wait¡­!¡±

    But it didn¡¯t turn out the way she wanted, and the chairs went flying towards Maple and hit her body.

    ¡±I was fine even with the swords¡­ But this¡­! There are so many!¡±

    After the chairs had crashed against Maple¡¯s body with a loud crash, they started piling up, so Maple tried to somehow climb over the remaining pile of chairs and paintings.

    But apart from that, at the top of the mountain of chairs and paintings, the lit candlestick burned brightly.

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    Before she could escape, she was caught within terribly strong mes that burst all around her.

    The fire created by the great number of chair legs and the paintings became a pir of fire way taller than Maple.

    And then, after everything had burned out and turned to ashes, Maple was standing there as if nothing happened.

    ¡°Phew¡­ I wasn¡¯t not wearing any armor, so I¡¯m d that my clothes didn¡¯t burn out¡­¡±

    Maple quickly wiped her clothes to remove the soot and walked outside the room.

    As she was leaving, she red firmly at the candlestick which had returned to the table.

    ¡°¡­ You¡¯re such a bad boy, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    She said that with an offended expression on her face. Then she took out some glue from her inventory and smeared it under the candlestick, fixing it back to its original location.

    Maple was thinking that the strong glue she got as a drop from a monster would perfectly bind the candlestick to the desk.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s what you deserve!¡±

    She opened the door with way more energy than when she first came in, and left the room.

 Chapter 198

    Itai no Wa 198

    Defense Specialization and a Meeting

    About two hours have gone by since the fire incident.

    Maple was walking in the corridor while breathing heavily.

    She waspletely dirty, her body covered in dust and soot.

    ¡°Uhh¡­ I don¡¯t want any more pitfalls!¡±

    Maple couldn¡¯t count how many traps she had fallen into during these two hours.

    She was already getting used to being burned a few times, having fallen in some traps and being shed with spears and guillotines by that armor.

    Among them, the trap Maple hates the most is the pitfall.

    She knew she should avoid those holes as much as possible. They have thorns at the bottom, which is usually not a problem for Maple. But those particrly looked like they could break her to pieces.

    In order to be able to pass through the wall full of dangerous thorns, Maple had to throw herself on the floor several times before being able to stand up. But it was tremendously exhausting.

    It was so overwhelmingly difficult to be on the ground for the second time, that the light in Maple¡¯s eyes was quickly disappearing.

    ¡°If Sally was here, she could see where the traps are. But, I can¡¯t do that.¡±

    Maple¡¯s loud footsteps were sinking the floor as she advanced doubtfully.

    ¡°Eek!¡±

    Before Maple could even try to move, something came flying rapidly towards her.

    ¡°Oh, well, it was just a poisoned arrow¡­¡±

    Maple murmured as she held the arrow covered in violet liquid.

    It could seem strange that she was so relieved when she saw that it was a poisoned arrow. But for her, the worst threat right now is pitfalls.

    ¡°Alright¡­ I think I¡¯ve gotten so far inside here, but have I really?¡±

    Not only because the walls and the corridor were distorted but also, even the ceiling had doors, Maple became worried about being captured.

    ¡°Alright, over there!¡±

    Maple followed her instinct and entered through one of the doors.

    Even though Maple lost her armor, she was able to evade the traps thanks to her body. Furthermore, she¡¯s still able to continue evading even more than one hundred the traps if she wants to.

    Despite her slow movement speed, she walked through thatbyrinth at a faster pace than what would allow her to search properly.

    And this went on for several minutes.

    ¡°Ah! That door¡­!¡±

    Upon closer examination, Maple could notice a door in the previous corridor that wasn¡¯t there before.

    That was the door that often leads to a boss in most games.

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s take my equipment back!¡±

    Maple said that and rapidly started running through the corridor.

    All of a sudden a trap was activated, spears and arrows abruptly went flying. For Maple, who was alreadypletely used to that sort of thing, it was no surprise at all.

    ¡°This is nothing, prepare yourselves, you girls! Ha, ha¡­ I won¡¯t let you have it your way!¡±

    As soon as Maple finished saying that so enthusiastically, the floor quickly crumbled under her feet.

    ¡°Eh!? Waah! ¡­Ugh!¡±

    At thest moment, Maple could grab the edge of the floor near the door, but both of her hands were trembling.

    There¡¯s no way she could lift herself up.

    ¡°Uhh, I¡¯m going to fall¡­¡±

    Maple took a nce at the bottom, finding it was full of a glittering green liquid.

    After seeing that, Maple¡¯s face went pale.

    If it was only thorns, she coulde back.

    ¡°Help! Somebody help! Aaahh!¡±

    With her arms at their limits, she called for help as ast-ditch effort, but she still fell to the bottom of the hole.

    Maple, who fell loudly on her back over the green liquid, looked at the now distant ceiling with disappointment.

    ¡°Ah¡­ What should I do? This poison should be all right for now. But it¡¯s so sticky¡­ yuck!¡±

    She got some of that liquid pooled up in her hand, which felt pleasantly cool to the touch.

    The next problem to solve was how to get out of the pitfall.

    ¡°I can¡¯t just log out, havinge this far. I have to think of something.¡±

    Maple closed her eyes and began thinking hard, searching for a solution.

    After a short while of deep consideration, she suddenly opened her eyes as if she had something in mind.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s it! ¡®Deploy all Weapons¡¯!¡±

    Weapons emerged from Maple¡¯s body and then disappear.

    But Maple was actually pleased with the sight rather than disappointed.

    ¡°All right! Here, punish me! Look at this!¡±

    Even though some time passed after she said that, no swords or spears came flying to attack her.

    ¡°Huh? Why? If you don¡¯te and punish me, you¡¯ll be sorry!¡±

    Maple had thought about stabbing the iing swords and spears against the walls of the hole to get herself out of the hole.

    yers only need to simply enter rooms while avoiding traps in order to get close to the goal.

    Still, most of the times they just rush straight ahead without thinking.

    ¡°What should I do? I can¡¯t use ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯ too often¡­¡±

    That¡¯s when the area around the disheartened Maple began to change.

    The thing that Maple thought to be just a sticky green liquid began to move, covering Maple¡¯s body.

    ¡°Oh, a slime? You feel nice and cool. I¡¯m a bit relieved.¡±

    The slime wrapped around Maple in an attempt to dissolve her body.

    ¡°¡­! I got it! Thanks, Mr. Slime!¡±

    The relieved Maple seemed to have been reminded of something, and after taking a deep breath, she spoke the name of a skill.

    Shortly after Maple had fallen into the pitfall, the doors of the boss¡¯ room were thrown open.

    ¡°Ah, there you are. We¡¯ve found you!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You¡¯vee, huh? We¡¯ve found you!¡±

    The twins chuckled as they floated in mid-air, distorting the space around them.

    ¡°Uhh¡­ Give me my equipment back!¡±

    Said Maple,pletely submerged in a floating green sphere.

    ¡°I can do more than just make things float around!¡±

    Then, using ¡®Psychokinesis¡¯, Maple manipted the slime¡¯s shape into a huge shield and a sword.

 Chapter 199: Itai no Wa 199

    <strong>Itai no Wa 199</strong>

    Defense Specialization and the Recovery

    ¡°Hahaha, take this!¡±

    Just as Maple finishes getting ready, the twins sent out more swords and spears towards her.

    She tried to avoid them, but failed to do so as their speed is on apletely different level now.

    The swords and spears pierced into the slime¡¯s body, but quickly dissolved without even scraping the slime¡¯s HP.

    ¡°Oh! You¡¯re amazing, Mr. Slime! In that case¡­¡±

    Maple transformed the slime so that instead of floating inside it, it would cover her body like a mantle, and created a pair of big arms made of slime.

    ¡°Great, they feel like they¡¯re easy to use! Well then¡­¡±

    Maple spread out the slime-arms, and out of the twins that were floating in midair, she closed her grip on the girl dressed in green.

    ¡°Ah¡­ She¡¯s slipped away¡­ I thought I could catch her with Mr. Slime¡¯s help.¡±

    The way the slimes are configured, physical attacks don¡¯t affect them.

    However, the girl dressed in red attacked the slime with fire.

    ¡°Ah! Don¡¯t use fire!¡±

    Noticing that the slime¡¯s HP decreased because of that attack, Maple pulls the slime-made arm back.

    Wrapping it around her body one more time, she settled down for a moment and began to calmly look around the room for something.

    Upon closer examination, Maple noticed that the room looked like a child¡¯s room.

    Although the room was considerablyrge, the fact that it was furnished with a desk, a closet, and othermon furniture, and there were plush dolls and toys all over the ce, made it look more like a child¡¯s room rather than a boss room.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ there are a lot of presents here¡­ Isn¡¯t there something I can use?¡±

    Maple asked that to herself while the slime kept on melting the things that were being thrown at it.

    ¡°Leave the fire attacks to me!¡±

    Maple jumps out of the slime, shaking the fire attack away with her own arm.

    The fire deflected by her arm gets thrown against a present box, setting it on fire.

    ¡°Ohh! Wait, wait!!¡±

    Still, she was relieved to manage to put out the me with her bare hands without a problem.

    And then, Maple found something that didn¡¯t burn inside the present box.

    ¡°Oh! My sword!¡±

    It was part of the equipment that had been stolen from her.

    Realizing that Maple had found her sword, the twins spoke up.

    ¡°Oh, what are we going to do?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t want it anyway, so that¡¯s okay.¡±

    So the twins said that they didn¡¯t want Maple¡¯s sword.

    ¡°Alright¡­ ¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    Maple equipped it immediately and used her ¡®Hydra¡¯.

    The skill activated normally and a three-headed poison dragon appeared, heading for the twins.

    However, the twins disappeared and quickly reappeared in another ce, avoiding the lump of poisonpletely.

    ¡°Ahahaha! So weak!¡±

    ¡°Tsk¡­ Alright! ¡®Deploy All Weapons¡¯!¡±

    Maple produces something like a rifle and shoots at the twins, but the attack has little effect in disrupting them.

    ¡°We¡¯ve already seen that.¡±

    ¡°Right?¡±

    After saying that, the twins looked at each other and chuckled.

    Seeing that, Maple thought about changing her approach.

    ¡°Hmm. The rest of my equipment must be inside one of these present boxes somewhere. For now, let¡¯s hide Mr. Slime somewhere.¡±

    After moving the slime to the edge of the room, she began opening present boxes one after the other, all while still taking spears and swords thrown at her back.

    As swords piled on the ground, and hatchets and spears were pierced on the walls, Maple was finally able to find all of her equipment inside the present boxes.

    ¡°Phew¡­ I¡¯m tired. But the fight will be easier with these.¡±

    Having found her equipment, all that was left to do was to punish those troublesome twins.

    Maple came up with a strategy while looking for her equipment.

    ¡°When fighting against someone who¡¯s good at escaping¡­ you eliminate the means of escape!¡±

    Maple began walking towards the middle of the room with an evil smile on her face.

    ¡°¡¯Dedicated Affection¡¯ ¡®Venom Capsule¡¯¡±

    The angel that appeared in the middle of the room quickly sinks its wings into the poisonous lump.

    It turned into a giant purple sphere that sat eerily on that spot.

    ¡°¡¯Predator¡¯¡±

    Two monsters appeared in front of Maple, who triumphantly stood within the venom capsule.

    ¡°Mr. Slime, youe here as well!¡±

    The slime, who had no choice but to obey, leapt towards Maple and fell between her and the monsters.

    Maple¡¯s n was to protect them while the ¡®Venom Capsule¡¯ was still small.

    ¡°Sally¡¯s fake may have escaped, but don¡¯t think that you two are going to be that lucky!¡±

    The idea was topletely fill the room with poison.

    No matter how well you can move inside this room, it won¡¯t make a difference if everything in the room is dead.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this! I¡¯m great at winning by persistence!¡±

    Saying that, Maple began manipting the slime here and there.

 Chapter 200: Itai no Wa 200

    <strong>Itai no Wa 200</strong>

    Defense Specialization and Pretending Not to Look

    Several hours go by after Maple started to poison the entire room.

    The ¡®Venom Capsule¡¯ that has been protected by ¡®Predator¡¯ and the slime quickly grows to such a size that nothing can be done to stop it.

    Maple returns the ¡®Predator¡¯ as it has fulfilled its role, and so far, everthing goes ording to her n.

    Just like she said a moment ago, she¡¯s good at winning by persistence, and nearly filled the room to the brim with poison. But she¡¯s not getting the results she wants.

    ¡°The poison doesn¡¯t seem to work? Oh¡­¡±

    However, the twins continue to attack with their swords, spears, and fire as if nothing happened, despite beingpletely covered by poison.

    Maple keeps a close watch on the twins, but their movements don¡¯t seem to have gotten any slower.

    As time passes, their attacks begin to shift their target, and are aimed at the slime instead of Maple.

    For better or worse, the slime is still being manipted by Maple, since it¡¯s naturally resistant to poison.

    The twins change their target because far too many of the weapons that they throw are getting destroyed.

    The ¡®Venom Capsule¡¯ that covers the room absorbs the twins¡¯ attacks, preventing them from reaching the slime.

    And the twins¡¯ attacks are not strong enough to damage the ¡®Venom Capsule¡¯ that keeps on growing up to its limits.

    Maple seems to be in a situation in which she cannot be defeated, but at the same time she cannot defeat the enemy.

    ¡°Hmm, what should I do? They keep avoiding my attacks¡­ I wonder if I can hit them if I get really close to them?¡±

    Thinking about trying that approach, Maple pushes her way through the poison and advances upward to the other side of the room.

    Since the entire room is submerged in poison, Maple can move in the air as if she was swimming.

    ¡°Just in case, let¡¯s try many things that they might not escape from!¡±

    Maple takes a handful of tags out of her inventory and spreads them into the sea of poison.

    ¡°I wonder if I can disturb them with exorcism tags¡­ will this work?¡±

    Then, Mapleys arge number of random items to serve as obstacles, and finishes by making the slime grow to its limit, wrapping around the area where the twins are several times.

    ¡°Alright! Well then, please excuse me.¡±

    Maple opens a hole into the slime and gets inside it in order to control it.

    Then, just like that, she gets close to one of the twins, and holds her sword still near her abdomen.

    ¡°Please hit! ¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    The lump of poison that Maple fires runs rampant around the room, which is already nearly full of poison.

    Naturally, it stirs around Maple over and over.

    After a short while, Maple begins to check around the area to make sure that the attack was effective.

    ¡°Did I miss? Where¡­ Ah! Is that¡­?¡±

    On that ce Maple found the twins, pierced by the slime, with many of the items that Maple had scattered embedded in their bodies, and barely surviving.

    ¡°U¡­ ugh¡­?¡±

    For some reason, Maple can only help that something out of ce.

    ¡°A¡­ are you alright?¡±

    As Maple bes anxious and extends her arm to poke one of the twin¡¯s leg, they suddenly begin to speak.

    ¡°Ah¡­ you caught us.¡±

    ¡°You really got us now.¡±

    ¡°Well, ytime is over then.¡±

    Just as they say that, light begins to converge around the twins and they begin to shine brightly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s y again sometime.¡±

    Leaving those words behind, the twins disappear.

    Maple cannot help but stay speechless as she sees that happen.

    ¡°Ah! I see, they didn¡¯t have HP bars, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯ve defeated them¡­ Oh, there¡¯s a treasure chest?¡±

    In short, these twins were just like that snail she had encountered back in a previous event, save for their means of attack.

    That¡¯s a detail that Maple had overlooked, since she was so busy falling into traps and thinking about how to pay those twins back for what they had done.

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    Before heading for the treasure chest, Maple drops to the ground.

    Then, as she cancels the ¡®Venom Capsule¡¯, all of therge items and the low-rank materials suddenly fall to the ground as well.

    ¡°Was I not supposed to do this? ¡­ I¡­ I have to hurry back!¡±

    Maple hurriedly picks up her items and materials, throws them into her inventory, and runs away from the room without checking the contents of the treasure chest.

    Then, on the other side.

    A few dayster, the GMs make some corrections.

    ¡°That Maple! Being like a living bug is good and all, but abusing bugs is not good!¡±

    ¡°Being inside the slime¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s mostly because of how the slime is programmed! Why did you put such a thing inside a random trap?¡±

    ¡°Even if you can attack it, if you can¡¯t slip through it, you¡¯ll be buried.¡±

    ¡°If not for that detail, the Capsule could have been broken as well¡­¡±

    ¡°Calm down. Let¡¯s adjust the Ghost Twins warping¡­ The slime can be left as it is. There¡¯s no problem with the trap itself either, its error cannot be reproduced.¡±

    This is how the voices fly past each other.

    As a result of this, they report that the game will enter a short period of maintenance, during which the area around the slime and some bosses will be corrected.

 Chapter 201

    Itai no Wa 201

    Defense Specialization and Poltergeist

    Maplees out of the mansion, looking back at it as she walks away from it.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like anything bad happened¡­ Whew¡­ Ah! I didn¡¯t find the skills I wanted after all.¡±

    Maple had been looking for the skills ¡®Iron Body¡¯ and ¡®Heavy Body¡¯, which she had heard from Mi, but she couldn¡¯t find them inside that mansion.

    ¡°Bute to think of it, it looks like I did bring something with me¡­ Hmm, where did I put that¡­? Ah, here it is!¡±

    Maple searches her inventory and takes out what she has managed to obtain inside the mansion.

    It is the green clothes worn by one of the twins.

    ¡°¡¯Ghost Girl¡¯s Clothes¡¯? Oh, it¡¯s a piece of equipment. Ah, and it has a skill.¡±

    Maple notices that the clothese with a skill and confirms its effects.

    ¡®Ghost Girl¡¯s Clothes¡¯

    ¡®MP +30¡¯

    ¡®Poltergeist¡¯

    Costs 10 MP to cast. A magical skill that allows the caster to manipte objects at will.

    It allows for control over up to 10rge objects simultaneously.

    The effectsts for 5 minutes.

    However, it can only be used to control objects owned by the caster.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have that much MP so I won¡¯t be using this skill too often. But these clothes look good!¡±

    Maple changes into the ¡®Ghost Girl¡¯s Clothes¡¯.

    Her equipment changes into green western-styled clothes,plete with frills and ribbons that sway gently.

    Then she summons Syrup, and brings it up close to her face.

    ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s the same color as Syrup.¡±

    Maple smiles at Syrup.

    Though it doesn¡¯t go well with Maple performance-wise, she seems delighted with the new equipment.

    ¡°Ah, this one looks good on me!¡±

    Maple decides not to give this to Sally, and to use it herself instead.

    ¡°Hmm, after unequipping the shield¡­ there!¡±

    To rece her unequipped shield, she equips a silver diadem.

    That diadem, which she obtained after the fight against Pain in the jungle, increases her maximum MP by 50 percent.

    ¡°Ah, this feels nice! Now I can fight with equipment that is the same color as Syrup!¡±

    Maple begins to think about what kind of battles could she have now.

    Even though Maple now looks like a poorly equipped young girl, her defense is still the best.

    When ites to how to attack, Maple¡¯s style never changes.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Fighting together with Syrup¡­ Hmm¡­¡±

    Maple had been worried about how to fight, but soon remembers that her equipping her new clothes allow her to use the skill ¡®Poltergeist¡¯.

    ¡°Ah! Can I use ¡®Hydra¡¯ and such skills with these on?¡±

    Maple uses ¡®Hydra¡¯ and then activates ¡®Poltergeist¡¯, and the poisonous lump is surrounded by a blue light and stops in midair.

    ¡°Ah! Umm, so, how do I make it move again?¡±

    When Maple swings her hand down, the poison dragon quickly elerates downwards, hits the ground, and bounces off.

    ¡°Waah! It looks a bit difficult to use it well¡­¡±

    Maple jumps backwards in her surprise.

    After some consideration, Maple believes that she will not be able to use thatbination too often, so she tries ¡®Deploy all Weapons¡¯ instead of ¡®Hydra¡¯.

    ¡°Let¡¯s practice with this.¡±

    Maple practices the skill, but she is only able to operate two objects that were stopped by it at the same time.

    The skill allows for maniption of up to tenrge objects, but it seems that the day when Maple will be able to use this skill perfectly is still far off.

    ¡°It¡¯s easy to manipte them by moving my hand, but still¡­ Okay, I should set some time aside to practice this some more.¡±

    Maple continues her training while sitting on top of Syrup, which has been erged into a gigantic version of itself.

    She maniptes a bullet to make it hit a distant monster, but that doesn¡¯t take her too much effort nor it does too much damage after all.

    Maple continues to practice in order to temper her skill while drinking MP potions one after another.

    Maple is practicing at the edge of the field, but that doesn¡¯t mean that other yers will not appear there.

    Thus, Chrome and Kasumi show up in the area.

    Currently, neither Sally nor Yui nor Mai are in the 6th Layer, so the members that are on the move are biased.

    ¡°Is that Maple?¡±

    Kasumi asks that question as she tries to focus her view to make sure.

    ¡°Yeah, looks like her. Look, there are weapons sprouting from her back, and Syrup is there.¡±

    There¡¯s no doubt that there are no two such yers.

    As Chrome and Kasumi try to approach Maple, trying to call out to her, the weapons on Maple¡¯s back fire off four pale-bluesers into the sky.

    Had it ended there, it would have been the same scene they had seen before, but thesesers are staying in ce without disappearing.

    And then, thesers start swinging around one after another as if they were swords.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The two of them stop in their tracks and look at each other.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go ask her. Are youing too, Kasumi?¡±

    ¡°Oh well, I guess I¡¯ll go too. But what was that?¡±

    They begin to walk towards Maple as if they were getting ready to fight a Boss.

 Chapter 202

    Itai no Wa 202

    Defense Specialization and Poltergeist 2

    Noticing that Chrome and Kasumi are approaching, Maple stops thesers and waves at the two.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such equipment, Maple.¡±

    Says Chrome as she approaches Maple.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! What do you think about this?¡±

    Maple stands on top of Syrup and turns around on the spot.

    Then she delightfully begins to speak, not necessarily starting by the fact that her equipment is the same color as Syrup, or that she had learned to use her new skill.

    ¡°That skill that you mention¡­ is that it?¡±

    Kasumi points at the foursers that extend towards the sky.

    ¡°Yeah! It¡¯s a bit difficult to exin, but¡­ Ahh!?¡±

    Maple tries to find words to exin, but at that moment all thesers are released into the sky with a thunderous sound.

    Five minutes have passed since the skill was activated, so the effect had worn off, and thesers were no longer under her control.

    ¡°Ah¡­ I have to make sure to remember that.¡±

    ¡°You seem to have be more reliable.¡±

    ¡°What about changing equipment, Maple? You have two sets that you can use now.¡±

    As Kasumi asks her that question, Mapleughs cheerfully, as if she had already found the answer.

    ¡°Syrup, wait here for a moment.¡±

    Maple gets off Syrup and begins to walk slowly.

    Kasumi tries to say something to Maple, but at that very moment, the number of weaponsing out of Maple¡¯s back doubles.

    They have seen that many times before, but then Maple jumps into the sky. Leaving an explosion behind, Maple disappears into the sky. Neither Chrome nor Kasumi can see what she¡¯s doing that high up in the sky.

    ¡°Hey! What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think she can hear us¡­¡±

    As Chrome and Kasumi look at each other, the explosion is followed by a rising cloud of dust.

    ¡°Wha¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Aahhh¡­!?¡±

    As the dust swirls about, Maple appears slowly standing up, wearing her usual ck armor.

    Maple¡¯s reasoning is that if there¡¯s no time to change her equipment while on the ground, all she needs to do is temporarily escape somewhere where she can do it easily.

    It¡¯s safe to say that there is nothing that can fly andunch an attack that can defeat Maple that far in the sky.

    Even if she takes off all of her equipment for a moment, if nothing can hit her during that time, she should be all right.

    Wiping off the dust on her, Maple nods with confidence.

    ¡°I can do this during battle, too!¡±

    ¡°I see. I think it could prove to be useful.¡±

    ¡°I think so too.¡±

    ¡°Now¡­ I have to go see Sally!¡±

    While her reasons are partly because they have to discuss about their preparations, she also wants to show Sally her new equipment.

    Maple returns Syrup to her ring, says goodbye to Chrome and Kasumi, and heads for the 5thyer.

    After seeing Maple off, Kasumi whispers to herself.

    ¡°Well, as long as you are reliable as an ally.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Well,sers are not as powerful as that ¡®Hydra¡¯¡­ they¡¯re about half as strong, I¡¯d say.¡±

    At first, the two of them seem worried about the skill that Maple was talking about, but since all of Maple¡¯s projectiles are extremely dangerous, they end up feeling reassured, since anyone that tries to attack her is going to have a hard time.

    Maple arrives at the 5thyer, and sends a message to Sally just like she said she would.

    ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re at the Guild Home? Got it!¡±

    Maple heads cheerfully towards the Guild Home. When she opens the door, Sally greets her with a slightly surprised expression.

    ¡°Oh, I see. That¡¯s what you wanted to show me, Maple.¡±

    Sally quickly realizes why Maple told her that she wanted toe see her so quickly.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! So, how do I look?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good. You usually always wearing that armor¡­ It feels quite fresh. With that diadem on, you almost look like a princess.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, but the royal life doesn¡¯t suit me.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, true. You¡¯re the type of person that would be a nuisance to council members¡±

    ¡°Huh? Is that so?¡±

    They ramble on about many unimportant things before Maple, as if just remembering about it, begins to talk about her equipment¡¯s ability.

    ¡°I can see myself using this equipment.¡±

    Sally nods as Maple finishes her exnation about the equipment¡¯s ability.

    ¡°It¡¯s very good. I might go explore the 6thyer too¡­¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Maple vividly recalls a rather recent memory for a brief moment.

    Then, she stares deeply at Sally.

    ¡°Well, what gives. That might be better¡­ Umm¡­ well¡­¡±

    Sally turns away from Maple as she speaks, but since she expects what¡¯s going to happen if she keeps speaking, she gives up on trying to do things that she cannot do.

    ¡°Never mind, let¡¯s do our best on the 7thyer.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, I can¡¯t wait to go to the 7thyer!¡±

    But the two of them still need to wait before going on an expedition.

    So, they spend some time talking about their experiences on the otheryers.

 Chapter 203: Itai no Wa 203

    <strong>Itai no Wa 203</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the 7th event</strong>

    Although several days have passed since Maple explored the mansion full of traps, she still hasn¡¯t been able to obtain the Skills ¡®Iron Body¡¯ and ¡®Heavy body¡¯ that she wanted.

    Maple sits in the Guild Home, swinging her legs while thinking about that.

    ¡°Hmm, I wonder where I can find them. I think they should be somewhere, but could it be that it¡¯s only for a limited time?¡±

    Maple is deeply submerged in those thoughts when the sound notification of a message interrupted her.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s about the next event. It¡¯s a dungeon capture type.¡±

    Maple reads the information.

    The event is a tower capture for the small minority of yers that have passed tenyers. Medals will be awarded in proportion to the difficulty selected.

    As there is no time limit, it is rmended to take longer to clear in order to advance to the next level.

    ¡°I wonder if everybody is going to participate, even though it¡¯s the hardest event yet¡­ If you go alone, you can get better rewards.¡±

    At the hardest level, if you clear it with other yers, you get five medals per person. Whereas if you clear it solo, you receive ten.

    ¡°And this time I won¡¯t have to fight any other yers¡­ That¡¯s right. Sounds great!¡±

    Like this, Maple can have fun by herself as she pleases.

    This event will start in the beginning of April.

    Looking at the starting date, Maple suddenly realizes something.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a whole year already¡­ It¡¯s unusual that I¡¯m having so much fun. I¡¯m looking forward to the next event!¡±

    Maple is filled with memories, thinking about all the fun things she¡¯s been doing

    There are memories that make her smile just by remembering, and only a few memories about vivid struggles.

    Maple gets lost in her thoughts, but she gradually goes back to concentrate in her search.

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s get a new skill before the next event!¡±

    Maple jumps off her chair with apletely different attitude and leaves for the 6thyer.

    And like that, Maple leaves the Guild Home, but nothing has particrly changed. Maple still doesn¡¯t know where to find the skills she¡¯s looking for.

    ¡°What should I do?¡­ That¡¯s right! I haven¡¯t checked the bulletin boards in a while, I should start looking for info there.¡±

    Maplees up with a good idea and starts walking towards the center of the town.

    She slips through the crowd of yers in order to check the bulletin boards. She finds the information about the two skills she¡¯s looking for so quickly that it almost made no sense how lost she had been until then.

    ¡°I see, I finally found it. Let¡¯s see¡­¡±

    Maple quickly reads the information.

    And so, as she finishes reading, her face goes pale.

    To begin with, both ¡®Iron Body¡¯ and ¡®Heavy Body¡¯ were skills that required MP and STR besides VIT.

    ¡®Iron Body¡¯

    Doubles damage received by Fire and Electric elements.

    Reduces non-magic damage by 30%.

    MP cost: 50.

    The effectsts for 2 minutes.

    Cooldown is 5 minutes.

    Required stats to learn: 50 MP and 80 VIT.

    ¡®Heavy Body¡¯

    Provides immunity to knockbacks.

    Completely restricts movement if STR is lower than VIT.

    MP cost: 10.

    The effectsts for 1 minute.

    Cooldown is 3 minutes.

    Regarding the first one, not only Maple can¡¯t learn it, but its effect is also weak.

    Increasing her MP stat instead of something that lets her take almost no damage is something Maple can¡¯t allow herself to do.

    With the second one, not being able to move is quite a problem.

    ¡°I found where I can get them! Alright, I¡¯ll make a memo. Just in case I can learn them. Still¡­¡±

    Even if she gets ¡®Heavy Body¡¯, it¡¯s not so useful for her.

    Maple leaves the bulletin board and while thinking about what to do with her skills, she starts walking towards the main street.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t cost me anything to get them, and I¡¯ve also done a lot of research! I¡¯ll get ¡®Heavy Body¡¯ just in case and then I¡¯ll see.

    Maple sends several messages, and then heads out to the field in order to get ¡®Heavy Body¡¯.

    She doesn¡¯t have to kill any monsters in the surroundings, as she has learned the exact information about how to obtain it.

    After a little while, Maple obtains the skill without any problems.

    While Maple was leveling up a bit and wearing down her ck armor, some time passes.

    Maple, who logs in day in and day out, opens the Guild Home¡¯s door.

    The door she opened with vigor was the one leading towards the 5thyer.

    And then, behind that door, there was Sally.

    Sally, being a little surprised to see Maple going through the door with such energy, begins to talk.

    ¡°Ah, Maple. The event starts today. What will you do? Solo or with eight people?¡±

    Sally believes she¡¯d do it alone, as there¡¯s no one behind Maple.

    ¡°Neither solo nor with eight!¡±

    ¡°So¡­?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you this time!¡±

    Maple had sent her a message before.

    She wrote that she¡¯d like to participate with Sally if it was possible.

    There¡¯s no member in ¡®Maple Tree¡¯ that wouldn¡¯t go on an expedition with Sally.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we yed together, hasn¡¯t it?¡±

    Maple said that, and Sally, who was inexpressive, immediately smiled.

    ¡°Sounds good! So, what is your objective?¡±

    ¡°Of course, no damage!¡±

    ¡°I have trained my evasion a lot during the 5thyer, so I¡¯m not weak.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m perfectly prepared to protect you!¡±

    With that, they immediately head towards the tower where the event is taking ce.

    And so, they gracefully pick up their pace.

 Chapter 204: Itai no Wa 204

    <strong><b>Itai no Wa 204</b></strong>

    Defense Specialization and the Tower¡¯s First Floor

    Maple and Sally go to the Magic Circle in the center of the town¡¯s za.

    With this Magic Circle, they can teleport to the tower¡¯s front door.

    ¡°Umm¡­ Isn¡¯t this going to be really hard?¡±

    ¡°Of course! I¡¯m all fired up!¡±

    Seeing Maple in such high spirits about it makes Sally start to walk with a little more excitement.

    ¡°He he¡­ Well, here we are! Let¡¯s clear the first floor quickly, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do this!¡±

    Maple replies with enthusiasm after Sally says that with a confident expression on her face.

    The two of them step on the Magic Circle leading to the most difficult tower and disappear in a sh of white light.

    As the light fades, they find themselves in front of a tower so tall that it seems to pierce through the heavens.

    The top part of the floor cannot be seen as it is above the clouds.

    ¡°Looks like this is going to take some time.¡±

    ¡°Right. Judging by its looks, it¡¯s about one-fourth of a usual field¡­ maybe? But there might be transitions and stuff like that along the way.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Ah! Let¡¯s do our best!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but let¡¯s not overdo it.¡±

    The two of them go straight towards the tower¡¯s huge door, open it, and walk inside.

    Inside the tower, they see four passages that could fit one person each, and each passage appears to branch off along their ways.

    The ceiling is about four meters high.

    ¡°Well then¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it looks like a maze. We need to be careful not to get lost.¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­ Okay then, ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    Maple activates her ¡¯Dedicated Affection¡¯ so that she can protect Sally in the unlikely event that they do stray away from each other.

    White wings spread out of Maple¡¯s ck armor¡¯s back.

    After they¡¯re done with their preparations, they begin walking inside the dungeon.

    ¡°By the way, Maple. Aren¡¯t you going to equip those two shields?¡±

    ¡°Huh? I¡¯m still practicing that. I think it¡¯ll still take some time before I¡¯m able to do many things at once like that. Don¡¯t you like it like this, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ well, no, it¡¯s fine¡­ I guess?¡±

    Aside from Sally, Maple has to take care of many other things, like using ¡®Poltergeist¡¯, so she had decided not to equip those for now.

    She believes that if and when she needs to change her equipment, she can change one piece at a time without a problem.

    It¡¯s not like she can¡¯t buy some time doing things like that.

    ¡°I have to get used to it too¡­ Ah!? Hey, Maple! Look out!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    As Maple replies, she steps on a section of the ground with a slightly different color than the rest.

    The spot where Maple stepped on opens with a crack, and she falls down.

    Sally quickly shoots some webbing against the walls down below, preventing Maple from reaching the bottom of the hole.

    ¡°Maple! Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m all right! It¡¯s just a poisonous bog down here!¡±

    Hearing Sally¡¯s voice, Maple replies from below the dark pitfall she had fallen into.

    Shortly after that, a white hand reaches out to Maple and she emerges to the surface, surrounded by two shields.

    ¡°He he! If you have the right equipment, pitfalls are not scary at all!¡±

    ¡°I wish it was safer around here¡­ Let¡¯s be more careful when walking around here.¡±

    Sally narrows her frown and turns away from Maple.

    ¡°¡­ Oh, right! ¡®Hair Growth¡¯!¡±

    Maple turns into a hairball. Her face and angel wings stick out of her white spherical shape.

    ¡°Maple?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have to worry about traps with this, and you don¡¯t have to be afraid, Sally! It¡¯s like killing two birds with one stone! Let¡¯s continue our search like this.¡±

    Maple moves towards Sally, and then Sally enters the hairball.

    ¡°Ready to take off?¡±

    ¡°Ah? Can we really search around the dungeon like this¡­?¡±

    Maple and a confused Sally softly bounce around the maze-like passages.

    ¡°Oh, Maple! There¡¯s a monster there!¡±

    A bird with red wings, about two meters tall, appears as Maple and Sally turn around a corner.

    ¡°He he he¡­e right at me! ¡®Deploy All Weapons¡¯! ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    ck guns and cannons of all sorts sprout from the hairball.

    Maple starts to attack the bird, but even as it gets hit it, it quickly makes its way towards her. The bird changes its shape into a me and tackles Maple at full force.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°Hey! You can¡¯t do that!¡±

    Since the hairball is in midair, it cannot dodge the attack. The bird darts right through it, burning hair away as it goes.

    Since ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ is still active, Sally took no damage, but she can¡¯t go back inside the hairball anymore.

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll fight! Please protect me!¡±

    ¡°Okay! ¡®Provoke¡¯!¡±

    Maple takes up her shield and uses her skill, attracting the attention of the firebird.

    Then, as she takes a blow to her body thanks to her ¡®Bizarre Eater¡¯, Sally gets a direct hit on the bird with a Water spell.

    After that, the bird disys arge red damage effect, and falls to the ground.

    Its fire blows away, and bes a regr red bird once again.

    ¡°I knew it! Water did the trick!¡±

    Sally then continues to attack with her daggers, further damaging the bird.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    Sally gives a signal to Maple.

    ¡°Here¡¯s payback! ¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    A purple stream swallows the red bird whole.

    The insta-kill effect of ¡®Venom Incantation¡¯ activates, and the bird disappears without a trace.

    After the battle ends¡­

    ¡°You can stop using ¡®Helping Hand¡¯¡­ Phew¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, we did great! It might not have been quite the impressive monster, but I¡¯m still d it¡¯s over.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t use ¡®Hair Growth¡¯ anymore¡­¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t do that anymore? Oh well, we¡¯re going to have to get good at seeing through traps then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s give that a shot, shall we?¡±

    And so, Maple steps over several traps as they make their way through the inner part of the floor.

 Chapter 205

    Itai no Wa 205

    Defense Specialization and the Tower¡¯s First Floor 2

    The two of them continue going through several passages searching for the stairs to go to the next floor, and as they go, they feel the strength of some of the most difficult monsters they have ever encountered.

    ¡°How bothersome¡­¡±

    ¡°Right? They are all so strong¡­¡°

    There are many monsters who negate physical attacks, others that negate magical attacks, and others that can only be defeated if certain conditions are met.

    Sally¡¯s ¡®Sword Dance¡¯ has also gone up to the point she is able to fight against monsters that quickly fly against the walls.

    It¡¯s only natural that the monsters are this strong since there are also very strong yers, like Maple.

    A new monster appears in front of them. It looks like a cloud, but with a humanoid shape.

    ¡°Sally! Something¡¯sing!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve never seen this one before. Be careful!¡±

    Maple walks in front of Sally while holding her a big shield up high, and uses ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯.

    Sally¡¯s waiting for the perfect opportunity to jump from behind her.

    The monster seems to have noticed them, as it assumes a battle stance.

    After a moment of silence, the monster¡¯s body shines with a green light, and the passage is filled with wind des.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Maple lowers her shield to retain the effects of ¡®Bizarre Eater¡¯ which had been activated seven times in battle already.

    The first wind de hits Maple¡¯s body with full force.

    She doesn¡¯t receive any damage, but the attack sends her flying.

    ¡°Waah!?¡±

    ¡°Water Wall!¡±

    Sally sees that, and instantly sets up a water wall to gain time, and runs to Maple, who had been knocked away by their opponent¡¯s attack.

    If Maple gets sent flying too far away, she will be outside of the area of effect of ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯.

    There are some attacks that Sally needs to watch out for since not even her can avoid them all.

    ¡°Maple, use ¡®Heavy Body¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right! ¡®Heavy Body¡¯!¡±

    Maple activates the skill after being reminded by Sally.

    With that, Sally reaches Maple, who is now unable to move from where she stands, but on the other hand, she can no longer suffer from knockbacks or be sent flying.

    ¡°All right, don¡¯t get too close now.¡±

    ¡°Direct attacks are no good, I¡¯ll see what to do about that knockback effect.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ ¡®¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯!¡±

    When Maple says that, a white throne appears.

    After her knockback effect wears off, Maple sits on the throne.

    ¡°We should be all right with this!¡±

    Mapleughs as Sally brushes off the knockback effect after receiving an attack.

    ¡°Now we can focus on dealing with that monster. Maple, could you try shooting it?¡±

    ¡°Roger that! ¡®Deploy Guns¡¯!¡±

    Two protrusions emerge from Maple¡¯s shoulders, which be two huge guns that point at the monster.

    They shoot whitesers, brushing away several wind des. But as soon as they are about to hit their target, the monster puts up a wind barrier that makes thesers disappear.

    ¡°Hmm, okay. The barrier only appears in front of it.¡±

    ¡°Can we do something about it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep it distracted, so use that opportunity to open fire.¡±

    Sally puts her daggers away and begins to tie threads to the wall.

    ¡°Can you avoid its attacks, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I know how to deal with those wind des.¡±

    Maple and Sally decide how they¡¯re going to execute their n.

    After that, Sally extends her threads and starts climbing the wall.

    ¡°¡®Ice Pir¡¯! ¡®Fireball¡¯! ¡®Fire Pir¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Commence attack¡¯!¡±

    Sally creates several footholds along the wall. She slips past the monster¡¯s wind des and manages to get close to it.

    Maple also fires off hersers to assist Sally, taking some wind des down as she goes.

    Even though they had been caught off guard by this new monster, they can quickly adapt to the situation ande up with a strategy to defeat it.

    Sally walks along the wall and approaches the monster, now glowing with a blue aura, and shes away at it.

    Sally¡¯s attack is blocked by the wind barrier, but she continues to attack.

    ¡°¡®Ice Pir¡¯! ¡®Right Hand: Thread¡¯! ¡®A Step Towards the Underworld¡¯!¡±

    At that moment, the monster turns towards Sally and sends out more wind des at her.

    Sally extends her threads towards the Ice Pir and creates a foothold using the shoes she got from Maple.

    ¡°Ah! I thought that you wouldn¡¯t turn this way¡­¡±

    As soon as Sally says that, the sound of an explosion resounds in the passage, and fire begins to dance.

    After the smoke clears away, Maple dashes towards the monster.

    There are no massive wind des or powerful barriers to hold Maple back on the monster¡¯spletely exposed back.

    ¡°Eat this! ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Aser shot at zero distance and a big shield that swallows everything that it hits make short work of the monster¡¯s HP.

    ¡°It¡¯s over!¡±

    After pulling her shield back and hitting the monster again with it, the monster disappears into light.

    ¡°Way to go, Maple! Nice attack!¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Sally! Ah, wait a moment.¡±

    Maple returns to the throne and puts away her weapons, which turn to dust as they return to her armor.

    ¡°It didn¡¯t have that much HP, but it felt like a boss. Man, to have this kind of difficult enemies as normal encounters in a dungeon¡¯s first floor¡¯s passages really talks about this ce¡¯s difficulty.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure everyone thinks the same, too¡­¡±

    Sally replies with a big smile on her face.

    ¡°Huh? Ah, anyway, let¡¯s hurry! If more of those monsters show up now, we¡¯ll be in trouble!¡±

    ¡°Hmm, right. Let¡¯s break through quickly.¡±

    The two of them continue their search, exploring the passages so as to avoid encountering monsters, while Sally searches for traps.

 Chapter 206

    Itai no Wa 206

    Defense Specialization and the Tower¡¯s First Floor 3

    After defeating countless monsters so that they could move forward¡­

    Maple and Sally finally reach the Boss room.

    Although she hasn¡¯t sustained any damage, her ¡®Bizarre Eater¡¯ gotpletely used up after their repeated fighting.

    ¡°So that¡¯s how the first floor is, huh? I haven¡¯t seen any monsters do any piercing attacks.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d! I hope that we don¡¯t see those on the second floor either¡­¡±

    For Maple, things get more difficult when there are piercing attacks involved.

    Since her Maximum HP is low, she can¡¯t afford to take too many of those attacks.

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s defeat that Boss quickly and head for the second floor.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve been doing great so far, why stop now?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Let¡¯s do this!¡±

    Dering that they will quickly defeat the Boss, they open the door to the Boss room and waste no time getting in.

    Rugged rock walls and a cracked floor.

    There are some ces in the ground filled with quicksand, making it hard to walk freely in the room.

    ¡°Sally¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s probably going toe from below the ground.¡±

    Just as Sally finishes saying this, the sand on the ground begins to swirl, and a dragon covered in sand-colored scales emerges from the ground.

    Its bright red eyes find Maple and Sally, and a loud roar echoes through the room.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°Commence Attack!¡±

    No one is talking about backing anyone up, as Sally rushes forward and Maple starts shooting.

    Maple¡¯s bullets andsers fly towards the dragon.

    However, the dragon sees the iing attack, and letting out another roar, its body bespletely covered with a transparent crystal, making all attacks bounce back.

    ¡°Ahh! ¡®Super eleration¡¯!¡±

    After speeding up, Sally repelled all of Maple¡¯s deflected bullets using her daggers, gracefully avoided the deflectedsers, and got back within the range of ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯.

    ¡°Sorry, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯s wait and see for now.¡±

    ¡°Okay, got it.¡±

    When Maple stands in front of Sally, together they form a perfect defensive setup thanks to Maple¡¯s big shield and ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯.

    Since Maple¡¯s ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ cannot handle wide-ranged piercing attacks, the big shield must be set up properly.

    As the two of them stand motionlessly assessing the situation, the dragon quickly beneath the sand.

    ¡°Be careful, Maple!¡±

    ¡°Well then! ¡®Deploy Guns!¡±

    Several weapons emerge from Maple, making a loud noise. Then, she holds Sally tight, and shoots herself towards the ceiling, leaving a trail of smoke behind.

    The dragon jumps out of the sand in order to attack them, but cannot reach Maple and Sally¡¯s height. Sand and rocks fall on the ground along with the dragon with each jump.

    ¡°This is so exciting!¡±

    ¡°At this rate, we¡¯ll be separated from each other!¡±

    The st has made them soar into the sky, but it is fundamentally not going to do much for theirnding.

    Maple falls on her back, with Sally falling on top of Maple. The weapons, which had been surviving this suicide attack, finally break apart due to the fall.

    ¡°How can we attack it?¡±

    Sally notices a ck rock rolling on the ground. It must have appeared when the dragon jumped up to attack them a moment ago.

    Maple shouts as Sally tries to put her thoughts in order.

    ¡°Sally! Something¡¯sing! Tsk¡­ ¡®Pierce Guard¡¯!¡±

    The dragon spouts a sand breath attack so as to silence Maple.

    The powerful breath attack knocks them back from behind the shield and makes them roll on the ground.

    Thanks to Maple¡¯s prompt activation of ¡®Pierce Guard¡¯, the breath attack loses its piercing properties and makes it so that Maple can safely take the hit.

    ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t ready for that!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry!¡±

    The dragon¡¯s roar cuts into their conversation.

    At the same time, the ck rock that had rolled onto the ground earlier explodes, making a loud noise.

    ¡°That¡¯s it! Maple! I¡¯m sure you can attack it with one of those rocks!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Throw it into the dragon¡¯s mouth as it about to use its breath attack! If it can deflect attacks from the outside, then maybe¡­!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    They are very enthusiastic about that n, but for now, all they¡¯re doing is gathering their strength to prepare for a counterattack.

    They begin to move as they wait for the dragon to scatter more of those ck rocks.

    ¡°I¡¯ll draw its attention! You take care of the rocks!¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    Sally gets outside of the range of ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ and attacks the dragon.

    Those attacks are reflected, but Sally manages to draw the dragon¡¯s attention and tricks it into attacking her with its ws and tail.

    Sally is running around as if skating in midair, but there¡¯s no guarantee that the dragon will trynd a decisive attack on her.

    ¡°Okay, herees the breath!¡±

    Sally calls out to Maple, who had been collecting rocks behind them.

    However, instead of using its breath attack, the dragon goes for a body m.

    ¡°Ha!¡±

    Sally is so focused that it seems that nothing is really a problem for her, and she easily dodges the dragon¡¯s body m.

    Then, as soon as the torrent of sand and the thunderous roar are over, she turns to check on Maple, who is running towards Sally.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    With her weapons chock full of those ck rocks, Maple arrives, making the sand around her dance and twirl.

    And just as she arrives, she jumps into the dragon¡¯s mouth, which was wide open.

    ¡°Haha! Now it¡¯s our turn to attack! ¡®Deploy All Weapons¡¯!¡±

    Even though Maple shoots the rocks one after another into the dragon¡¯s mouth, exploding on contact, she doesn¡¯t receive any damage. The dragon was trying to bite Maple, but the rocks get in the way.

    And even if some of her weapons get broken, the dragon¡¯s fangs cannot reach Maple.

    ¡°¡¯Hydra¡¯! ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Just like that, Maple extends all of her weapons, stuffing the dragon¡¯s mouth with guns,sers, and a deadly poison.

    No matter how hard the dragon struggles, it can¡¯t spit Maple out.

    Her weapons go off several times, but Maple is still around, even after several explosions.

    Upon closer inspection, her HP seems to have been scraped off a little.

    ¡°Hey! Calm down! Wahh!?¡±

    The dragon tries to hide under the sand while Maple is still in its mouth, but as soon as it thrusts its head towards the sand, a monstrous mouth goes through the dragon¡¯s body.

    Everything happens too fast.

    The dragon turns into sand and disappears.

    Sally runs toward the section of quicksand where the dragon disappeared and begins looking for Maple.

    Then, she finds nothing than Maple¡¯s head looking at her from under the sand.

    ¡°Need some help?¡±

    ¡°Please!¡±

    And so, Sally¡¯sst endeavor on the first floor was rescuing Maple out of the sand.

 Chapter 207

    Defense Specialization and the Tower¡¯s First Floor 4

    During the event, the GMs manage both themon field and, in this case, the event field.

    The sound of constant typing echoes through their room.

    ¡°Even though they¡¯re on the highest level of difficulty, they¡¯re climbing it quite smoothly, huh?¡±

    A man murmurs while staring at a monitor.

    The monitor is showing the current number of yers and the highest floor. The yers at the top at the list are ying on the highest level of difficulty, and are currently on the third floor of the tower.

    ¡°Looks like it. Well, it¡¯s full of troublesome bosses, so the race is far from over.¡±

    The other man replies without looking away from his own monitor, as he had no intention in stopping working even for a moment.

    ¡°Maybe we can kick it up a notch overall¡­ The ones at the second-to-highest level of difficulty are advancing quite fast too.¡±

    The yers are going through the tower faster than anticipated. The reason for this is that the yers who could take on the highest level of difficulty are challenging the second-to-highest level instead.

    ¡°Well, this has only just started. How does it look? Are we looking at some boss room?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look at the highest difficulty. They seem to have just entered the room.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Okay¡­ done. Can you see it?¡±

    ¡°Ngh¡­¡±

    After the man looks at the monitor, he groans as he closes his eyes, then shakes his head, and then opens his eyes slightly.

    What had appeared on the screen was a girl wearing ck armor and another girl in blue clothes.

    In other words, Maple and Sally.

    ¡°N¡­ Ngh¡­ Look.¡±

    The man had been expecting to see a regr yer¡¯s fight, but his wish hadn¡¯te true.

    On the screen, Maple and Sally are being attacked by a dragon.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s tough! Well, we can¡¯t have a boss that can be easily defeated with a bit of firepower, can we?¡±

    ¡°Still, that dragon¡¯s breath attack has a piercing effect, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°There has been a lot of nning poured into its movements too.¡±

    As the conversation goes on, the two yers on the screen are shown to be engulfed by the dragon¡¯s breath attack.

    The man¡¯s expression changes into surprise as he sees that.

    After all, Sally did not take any evasive action.

    ¡°She didn¡¯t dodge it, huh? But she hasn¡¯t taken any damage. She seems to be quite powerful now.¡±

    ¡°She is now, yeah. Sally is quite kind, too. Ah, if only¡­¡±

    The man covers his mouth with his hand and seems to ponder for a while.

    Then, as soon as he opens his eyes wide as if suddenly having realized something, on the screen, Maple jumps into the dragon¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°No! The bomb¡­ Ah!¡±

    A wave of deadly poison overflows from the dragon¡¯s mouth, thensers burst out, andstly the sound of multiple explosions made by the ck rocks. Then, as the dragon digs into the ground, a monstrous mouth goes through the dragon¡¯s body from head to tail.

    ¡°It¡­ It exploded¡­ ¡±

    ¡°That¡­ That mouth¡­¡±

    ¡°What went wrong here?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because it¡¯s opened its mouth¡­.¡±

    The two men are thinking that if the dragon had closed its mouth, it would not be a motionless rock by now.

    Then, they could not help but vaguely thinking that the yer who had defeated the dragon also sort of resembles a motionless rock herself.

    ¡°Why did you have to jump before throwing those rocks? If you hadn¡¯t jumped, the dragon would have beaten you for sure!¡±

    The man spouts out quite an obvious question, but no one answers it.

    ¡°The next boss can¡¯t open its mouth, so it should be okay¡­ something like this can¡¯t happen to it¡­ definitely not¡­¡±

    ¡°Next boss? What have youe up with? What¡¯s it like?¡±

    The seemingly glittering image of Maple, who had wrecked the dragon¡¯s mouth, appears on the screen, and the man¡¯s thoughts vanish without a trace.

    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s show this to the other guyster. Starting from the one who designed this dragon.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ sure.¡±

    The man who had suggested that they should share their tragedy with the others is actually the one who had designed the boss of the secondyer, the one that Maple had blown to bits.

    These men all share amon tragedy.

    ¡°It won¡¯t turn out like this next time!¡±

    ¡°You say that every time!¡±

    The two men then leave the room in order to take a break.

    Later, the man who hade to the room to see the footage of the battle with the dragon he had designed lets out a scream after seeing what had happened.

 Chapter 208

    Defense Specialization and the Tower¡¯s Second Floor

    The next day, the two who had conquered the first floor move towards the second floor.

    Anyone who has cleared the first floor can start straight from the second, without having to go through the first one again.

    The first thing that they see when they set foot on the second floor is a passage whose walls are entirely covered by books.

    The tall bookshelves reach the ceiling, and the passage is about as wide as the ones on the first floor.

    ¡°A library, huh?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what it looks like. Hmm, so there might be many enemies who use magical attacks.¡±

    ¡°This passage is too narrow; I can¡¯t ride on Syrup here¡­¡±

    Just as Maple says, it is often impossible to ride on Syrup while indoors.

    When you¡¯re flying in the sky, you can avoid hitting many things, but such is not the case with this event.

    ¡°Shall we continue by foot, then?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Well, this might take some time¡­¡±

    The two of them begin to walk quickly through the passage.

    Some other passages form a crossroads with this one, and all of them are fashioned in the same way, their wallspletely filled with books as well.

    ¡°Where should we go now, Maple?¡±

    ¡°To the left?¡±

    ¡°All right then, to the left.¡±

    And so, the two of them turn left on the crossroads.

    At that moment, a book suddenly pops out from the shelves and shoots itself towards them.

    ¡°¡­! Whoops!¡±

    With her sharp reflexes, Sally quickly twists her body, dodging the iing flying book. At the same time, she prepares her daggers, ready to counterattack.

    The book does not lose its momentum, even while red damage text floats above it.

    Then it opens itself up, revealing sharp fangs near the edges of its pages, which normally one would not find on a regr book.

    With that same momentum, it bites into Maple¡¯s face.

    ¡°Aah! I can¡¯t see! I can¡¯t see! Sally! Take it off me! Take it off meeee!¡±

    Maple tries to make it fall off her face by violently shaking her head, but the monster¡¯s grip is too strong.

    ¡°Ah, just a moment! ¡®Double sh¡¯!¡±

    Sallyunches a vicious attack, quickly and repeatedly hitting the monster¡¯s weak spots over and over.

    Its HP must be set to be rather low, since the monster quickly falls down and disappears into a sh of light.

    ¡°It took me by surprise¡­ But that¡¯s how the monsters in this floor are. ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. But I don¡¯t know where will theye from next¡­ ¡±

    The fact that she doesn¡¯t know where theye from doesn¡¯t mean that she cannot dodge them, but she is still keeping her eyes peeled around the area.

    However, since there are no signs of any monsters nearby, they start to wonder if they need to pass through certain areas to make monsters appear.

    ¡°Do you need me to use ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Yes, please. Wind magic is a ranged type of attack.¡±

    After asking Maple to use ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯, Sally drinks a potion and fully recovers her HP.

    Then, the two of them continue to go through the bookshelf-ridden passages, full to the brim with books.

    ¡°You know, the book from before wasn¡¯t that strong?¡±

    ¡°How so? Was its attack power rather low? Or¡­¡±

    Even if Maple were to receive a powerful attack, those who see the attack will not be able to judge how strong it actually is.

    When ites to the degree of strength an attack has, one and a thousand are the same to Maple.

    ¡°Don¡¯t these strange books remind you of Kanade?¡±

    ¡°¡­ The boss might be like that. It might have a big array of attacks. ¡±

    ¡°I see. I wonder if there¡¯s anything we could use as information lying around here? There are just so many books¡­¡±

    Maple reaches out for the bookshelf to her left and tries to take out one of the books. However, the book is stuck in ce and won¡¯t budge.

    ¡°It¡¯s no good. It won¡¯t budge,¡±

    ¡°But something like that has to be here somewhere. Back on the first floor, we went straight for the boss without exploring the entire floor first. Well, let¡¯s keep looking!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Just as Maple delivers her cheerful reply, another book flies out from the bookshelves.

    As soon as it reaches the ceiling, it starts letting out lightning bolts.

    The lightning runs through arge area, and shines brightly with a roaring sound as it strikes the floor.

    ¡°What do we do, Sally? Should I shoot it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s too bright.¡±

    After recovering from the attack¡¯s surprise, they discuss what to do next.

    Maple deploys a gun and takes aim.

    The light of the firstser makes the falling lightning disappear, and the nextser pierces through the book, burning it.

    And so once again one of these monsters is brutally defeated by a merciless attack.

    ¡°Ha ha ha! If there are no traps around here, with monsters like these we might be able to do this easily!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re very reliable! Oh, it seems that there are three booksing now.¡±

    From a distance, three books enwrapped in light float towards the two of them. When Sally sees them and calls out to Maple, thetter realizes what to do next.

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    She points her weapons at the other end of the passage.

    If many monsters want to attack Maple, they have no choice but to go through there and get in the range of Maple¡¯s attack.

    Their hunt has just started, but Maple, who can make full use of her abilities, can¡¯t do anything but deal with these small fry for now.

 Chapter 209

    Defense Specialization and the Tower¡¯s Second Floor 2

    Maple and Sally keep going through the huge library.

    The library feels almost like a maze. With the scenery to the left and right looking exactly the same, one cannot really tell if they are making progress or just walking in circles.

    Maple changes her equipment into the green dress that she found at the 6thyer¡¯s mansion simply because she¡¯s feeling like it.

    ¡°Just how big is this ce?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, who knows? We¡¯ve been walking a lot¡­ Ah, here theye again.¡±

    Sally calls out to Maple to warn them of several books that are flying towards them from the other end of the dark corridor.

    Maple gets herself ready, taking aim with her weapons without saying anything. Then¡­

    ¡°Hehe¡­ ¡®Commence Attack!¡¯ ¡®Poltergeist¡¯!¡±

    After Maple says that, theser she had shot changes its trajectory ording to the movements of Maple¡¯s hand, chasing after the book, and causing one of them to catch fire.

    Since this tower is one of the most difficult ces to go, the book does not die so easily from the burns. Out of the manysers that Maple had shot, only one of them manages to reduce the book¡¯s HP.

    These straight corridors, however, are very advantageous for Maple when ites to battle.

    ¡°Oh¡­ you¡¯ve gotten good at this! It feels a bit different¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s easy since I can get them one after the other! It¡¯s like swinging a sword!¡±

    Maple keeps moving her hands as if wielding an invisible sword.

    The HP of the books which were flying towards them in a straight line drops gradually until eventually they turn into light and disappear.

    ¡°Long range attacks are really something, huh?¡±

    ¡°But this attack doesn¡¯t do that much damage and I¡¯m still not good at hitting fast monsters with it.¡±

    ¡°Well, keep practicing with it then. It looks like an attack that you can easily hit monsters with.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ oh, are they all gone now?¡±

    Maple squints while looking hard at the other end of the corridor.

    Sally does the same, and both confirm that there is nothing else there.

    ¡°Okay, perfect.¡±

    ¡°Great, let¡¯s carry on!¡±

    The two of them keep advancing while kicking about any books that appear before them.

    Every time they have to turn at a corner, Sally carefully looks ahead, trying to avoid fighting as much as possible.

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s go. ¡­Maple?¡±

    ¡°So? Do I look smart?¡±

    As Sally turns around, she finds Maple wearing some sses she had taken from her inventory, and is holding a thick book she had picked up from the floor.

    Then, Maple reaches for the bookshelf-like wall and takes one of the books from it.

    ¡°¡­What¡¯s it about?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ Let¡¯s see. Hmm¡­¡±

    Maple mutters to herself while flipping through the book she had pulled from the shelf.

    Sally gets closer to Maple and looks into the book as well.

    ¡°It¡¯spletely white? There¡¯s nothing written in it¡­¡±

    ¡°Shall we write something on it? Ah¡­?¡±

    Just as Maple finishes saying that, the book turns into light and disappears from her hand.

    And after a little while, it reappears in its original position, back in its shelf.

    ¡°We can¡¯t take it home with us¡­ Too bad.¡±

    ¡°If people were able to take these with them, they could be misused. Don¡¯t you think?¡±

    Sally says while and looking closely at Maple.

    Maple realizes the true meaning behind Sally¡¯s words and quickly turns her eyes away.

    ¡°Ah¡­ Umm, well, sometimes things happen. Uhh¡­ I might or might not have wanted to take it with me¡­ ¡±

    ¡°Yeah, right.¡±

    Sally nods, realizing Maple¡¯s actions and their results so far.

    Might or might not want to take it, huh?

    Surely that¡¯s exactly what it is.

    ¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯m sorry! Umm, shall we go on then?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yeah. Sure. There doesn¡¯t seem to be any enemies nearby. But it looks like it gets darker and darker from here on.¡±

    After a brief discussion, they decided that Maple would carry a light.

    If needed, she could also carry more shields and weapons, so she¡¯s the most suitable one to do that job.

    Maple takes herntern out of her inventory and illuminates the corridor.

    ¡°Hey, Sally¡­ don¡¯t you think this light is a little too weak?¡±

    ¡°¡­I wonder if this ce has anything to do with that? I¡¯m not sure, but¡­ ¡®Fireball¡¯!¡±

    The fireball that Sally sends flying towards the other end of the corridor is smaller than usual.

    ¡°Some kinds of magic seem to be weaker here. Things like fire and light¡­ What about your attack skills, Maple?¡±

    Sally suddenly remembers about Maple¡¯s skills.

    Maple¡¯s skills are either light or dark, but Sally doesn¡¯t know for sure because her skill¡¯s attributes cannot be clearly known just by their names.

    ¡°By the way, ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ doesn¡¯t seem to have changed at all, why do you think that is?¡±

    Maple¡¯s ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ doesn¡¯t show any signs of changing, even though it¡¯s been active since before reaching the second floor.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯ll change as we get farther ahead. Let¡¯s keep it active so I don¡¯t receive any damage.¡±

    ¡°Can you do it?¡±

    ¡°Of course. Still, make sure to block any iing ranged attacks with that shield of yours.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    The two of them continue through the dimly lit corridors, being extra careful to avoid danger as much as possible.

 Chapter 210

    Defense Specialization and the Tower¡¯s Second Floor 3

    The two continue walking through the corridor, with Saki at the lead and Maple covering the rear.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing here¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah! Sally!?¡±

    ¡°Maple?¡±

    Maple¡¯s sudden call makes Sally jump and turn on the spot.

    Maple, who was behind Sally, seems to be unable to move because a ck hand-like shadow extending from the ground holds her by her legs and weapons.

    ¡°Are you all right?¡±

    ¡°Ah, I can¡¯t move!?¡±

    ¡°Ah! Sorry!¡±

    At that moment, a book with a great number of fangs appears out of nowhere and attacks them.

    Sally was able to dodge the attack, but since Maple¡¯s movements were restricted, she gets bitten all over her body.

    ¡°Sally! Get it off me! Get it off meeee! My equipment is going to break apart!¡±

    ¡°Wait! I¡¯ll be getting it off now!¡±

    Sally approaches Maple and shes at the book.

    It doesn¡¯t seem to be as durable as the other books, and she¡¯s able to easily get the book to let go of Maple.

    ¡°Now for that ck shadow¡­ Huh? It¡¯s gone¡­¡±

    ¡°My equipment seems to be fine, but I¡¯d better have it fixedter.¡±

    Maple then changes back into her ck armor, since it doesn¡¯t matter how broken and chipped it gets.

    Of course, Maple has taken no damage herself.

    Sally then begins to talk about Maple¡¯s change.

    ¡°Hey, Maple? ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ is gone¡­¡±

    ¡°Huh? What? Why? Hmm¡­ and it seems I can¡¯t use it anymore. At least for the next thirty minutes or so.¡±

    ¡°Has it been sealed off? So that book¡­ was only either targeting your ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ or yourntern¡­¡±

    ¡°But I can turn it off¡­ Ah, I should leave it on anyway, that way we¡¯ll know if it targets me for myntern or anything that emits light!¡±

    ¡°Well, if they¡¯re going after light, I have only the effect of ¡®Sword Dance¡¯. They may be attracted to it, but I feel safe thanks to your defense, Maple. ¡±

    Everything should be okay as long as it¡¯s Maple who they¡¯re targeting.

    Even though the ¡®No Damage¡¯ objective can no longer be achieved, they cannot receive damage right away since they can withstand any attack with Maple¡¯s ¡®Unyielding Guardian¡¯.

    ¡°Hehe! That¡¯s an iron wall for you!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ll watch for piercing attacks, but still, get your ¡®Pierce Guard¡¯ ready just in case.¡±

    ¡°Sure, okay!¡±

    Maple seems to be very confident when ites to carrying a shield.

    ¡°Oh, and it looks like our next enemies are here. Maybe¡­?¡±

    Sally mutters thatst part without much confidence.

    Sally points at the darkness of the other end of the corridor. There¡¯s a human-like shadow standing there.

    A single red eye can be seen from the shadow, facing one of the bookshelves. The shadow ispletely motionless.

    ¡°What do we do, Sally?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to get too close to it, but this is a straight corridor, so maybe we should take a higher path? But at least I¡¯d like to know just what kind of enemy it is.¡±

    ¡°A¡­ higher path?¡±

    ¡°Well, I think that¡¯s a better option than having you go all kamikaze on it. Shall we give it a try?¡±

    Maple takes Sally¡¯s suggestion. If it works, they can avoid the enemypletely.

    ¡°Okay, now just wait a moment.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    Sally begins her preparations by tying a thread around Maple¡¯s waist. Then, she puts on two rings, one to raise her [STR], and the other causes ice pirs to appear.

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Maple is tied to Sally through the thread, so when Sally jumps, Maple is pulled towards her. Sally clings to the ceiling, supporting herself between a wall and the ice pirs.

    The result of that is that Maple is hanging in midair by the thread.

    ¡°Oh¡­ oh!¡±

    Maple is being carried by Sally while swinging in the air.

    Then, while being high off the ground, they go past the monster, and as soon as they get far enough from it, they return to the ground.

    ¡°Well, that turned out better than expected!¡±

    ¡°Amazing! You¡¯re like a ninja!¡±

    ¡°I wonder if we can do that again somewhere else. If you¡¯re okay with that, of course.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be fun! It really feels like something new!¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not as if we could get the chance to do something like this in real life. ¡­That thing really isn¡¯t moving at all, huh?¡±

    Sally looks back towards the monster they had just avoided, and just as she said, it still stands motionless in the same spot.

    She takes a closer look to see if there are any signs of movement¡­

    ¡­ but there¡¯s no visible change.

    ¡°Should we try to get closer? Or even attack it? If we get to a point where we can no longer avoid it by going forward, let¡¯s give that a shot.¡±

    ¡°I see. I¡¯m worried that we might be close to the boss room, but if there¡¯s only one of them I don¡¯t think we should worry too much about boss battles for now.¡±

    Since they don¡¯t know how dangerous it would be to face the monster, they decide to leave it be and continue through the corridor.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s continue, Ma¡­ple?¡±

    ¡°Sally¡­ it¡¯s caught me again!¡±

    The ck hand-like shadow is once again restraining Maple.

    This time, Sally tries to strike down a book thates flying towards Maple before it has a chance to attack her, but it is toote.

    ¡°Wait a moment, Maple!¡±

    ¡°Huh? O¡­ okay!¡±

    Maple replies while trying to take the book off herself with both hands.

    Sally runs towards the motionless monster they just passed through.

    That monster is irradiating a blue light, and its hands extend from the ckened floor.

    ¡°Now that I know what to do, we¡¯ll be okay! ¡®Double sh¡¯!¡±

    As soon as Sally attacks, the monster melts into the floor.

    ¡°Ah! I¡¯m free! Sally, I¡¯m free!¡±

    The ck hand holding Maple turns into mud and disappears as well.

    After that, they take the book off Maple like they¡¯re used to by now.

    When they¡¯re done doing that, Sally starts talking.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think I defeated that monster. It seems to have escaped. It probablyes back out every now and then. It¡¯s possible that it¡¯s just hiding somewhere.¡±

    ¡°Can we do something about it?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ there might be some dead-ends at certain corridors where we might be able to trap it.¡±

    This doesn¡¯t mean that Maple and Sally are going to check every corridor. Some of them might get overlooked.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s inside a boss room?¡±

    ¡°Maybe. If that¡¯s the case, we could be in trouble?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll defeat it with all of our might as soon as we enter!¡±

    ¡°That would be best. Even if it can seal our skills, it won¡¯t matter if we defeat it before it gets the chance to do so.¡±

    Even though they say they have the power to defeat the boss, no one can really say there¡¯s even anything awaiting them there.

    And so, the two start walking again.

 Chapter 211

    Defense Specialization and the Tower¡¯s Second Floor 4

    After that Maple got many of her skills sealed, but finally the two of them reach the boss room.

    A huge door stands before their eyes as usual.

    ¡°We finally did it!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to go check the corridors we haven¡¯t seen yet¡­ but oh well. So, are your skills still sealed, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ looks they¡¯ll be back in 20 minutes or so.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s wait for the seals to wear off. We should be in top condition before going in.¡±

    The two sit in front of the door and spend the time talking.

    And when thest seal on Maple¡¯s skills fades, they rush into the boss room.

    ¡°The atmosphere here is just like outside¡­ ¡°

    Maple looks around her.

    Just like the outside of the boss room, every wall in this spacious room ispletely covered in bookshelves filled to the brim with books.

    Sally is as vignt as she was outside, and notices that a blue magic circle appears floating in midair at the back of the dimly lit room.

    ¡°Watch out Maple! Here ites!¡±

    ¡°Okay! ¡®Deploy All Weapons¡¯!¡±

    The two of them get ready to face the boss that appears in front of them, which is a massive book, several meters tall.

    It slowly descends to the ground, d in the blue light from the magic circle.

    ¡°Victory goes to one who makes the first move! ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    At the same time that Maple shoots her bullets, the huge book in midair begins to flip through its own pages and stops at a page showing a picture of a burning book.

    Then, as depicted on the page, a red book sends itself flying and begins shooting fireballs.

    ¡°Maple! Take care of that one on the right! I¡¯ll deal with this one!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Sally starts running away from Maple¡¯s side and knocks down the book with a magic skill.

    At the same time, the huge book turns over a new page and several humanoid shadows appear around the room.

    A total of 5 of these monsters that can seal away skills have been summoned.

    ¡°Ah! This is bad!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t stop them all¡­!¡±

    ¡°Then, ¡®Hydra¡¯ ¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯!¡±

    Before they could be sealed away, Maple releases ghosts and poisonous dragons, which dart towards the boss.

    At the same time, the boss flips through its pages again and creates a blue barrier in front of itself.

    As a result, the attack hits the blue barrier instead and though it shatters while making a loud noise, the damage from the attack seems to have been greatly reduced by it.

    ¡°Aw, Sally, that didn¡¯t work at all!

    ¡°Seems like powerful attacks are not that effective! Let me give it a shot! ¡®Super eleration¡®!¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll take care of the shadows!¡±

    Sally creates some ice pirs in order to make her way towards the boss while avoiding the sea of poison that Maple has created.

    Maple shoots at the shadow monsters that approach her.

    A fireball from the smaller book hits Maple but doesn¡¯t do anything to her.

    ¡°How about this?¡±

    While Maple takes care of the surrounding monsters, Sally faces the boss and shes at it several times with her daggers.

    The book has no chance to prepare its barrier, and with its defense iplete, takes damage from Sally¡¯s attacks.

    ¡°All right! One more time!¡±

    Then, Sally tries to change her position using her threads, but the book flips through its pages and creates a strong wind with its own breath.

    Sally is forced to extend her threads in order to avoid the attack.

    ¡°That was close¡­ Is that a knockback effect?¡±

    Sally confirms that Maple has been blown far away, hacks away at the boss again, and returns to Maple.

    ¡°Hopefully that¡¯ll stop the wind.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Sally!¡±

    ¡°This is far from over¡­ what¡¯s next?¡±

    Just as they turn to check on the boss, it begins to flip through its pages again.

    Then it stops at apletely white page, with nothing written on it.

    ¡°What? It¡¯s nk¡­¡±

    ¡°Maple! Dodge!¡±

    Though Sally is quick to call out their enemy¡¯s attack, Maple can¡¯t dodge it in time. ck chains climb up from under Maple¡¯s feet, binding her body tightly.

    Thinking that Maple¡¯s skills might get sealed away, she rushes to help Maple before doing anything else.

    ¡°Wait! ¡­Huh? I haven¡¯t been sealed?¡±

    Maple says that while Sally destroys each of the chains.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    =

    ¡°Ah, no! It took them! My skills!¡±

    As she says that, all of Maple¡¯s weapons disappear.

    ¡°¡­Huh?¡±

    The boss starts flipping through its pages again as Sally cuts down thest chain.

    It stops on a page that has several weapons drawn on it.

    ¡°This is bad¡­!¡±

    Sally¡¯s eyes open wide in surprise as several magic circles begin to appear in midair, and from them emerge all sorts of weapons.

    ¡°Ugh¡­ Sorry, Maple! ¡®Right hand: Thread¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Huh? Waaah!?¡±

    Sally attaches a thread to Maple and pulls her out of the boss room.

    Maple bounces on the floor, making loud noises as she is dragged out against her will.

    ¡°¡­We¡¯re falling back for now! Fall back!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I don¡¯t want to be facing any pseudo-Maples as a boss!¡±

    And so, they manage to escape from the boss room before the boss is able to fire the weapons it stole from Maple at them.

 Chapter 212

    Defense Specialization and the Tower¡¯s Second Floor 5

    Maple and Sally rush out of the room, quickly close the door and lean against it.

    ¡°Phew¡­ let¡¯s calm down for now.¡±

    ¡°W¡­ what are we going to do, Sally?¡±

    ¡°What to do¡­ What skills did it take from you, Maple?¡±

    Sally asks Maple that question since there¡¯s no use going back to the boss room without knowing that first.

    Maple checks her skill list and confirms that ¡®Machine God¡¯, ¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯, ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯, and ¡®Pandemonium¡¯ were gone.

    ¡°Everything from ¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯ is gone, including ¡®Savagery¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Huh? So this ignores your equipment¡­ and its effect is so powerful! Is there a time limit?

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like it? Ah¡­ are my skills gone for good?¡±

    Maple looks at Sally, seemingly worried.

    ¡°Maybe when we defeat the boss¡­ or when we leave this floor? I¡¯m not sure. I think everything will be back to normal as soon as the event ends, though¡­¡±

    Which means that they now cannot give up on conquering the tower.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ we should be able to beat this. But what should we do?¡±

    ¡°Umm, somehow¡­?¡±

    Maple looks at Sally, seemingly surprised.

    ¡°Hmm. This might prevent us from getting the ¡®No Damage¡¯ achievement, but¡­ We could make it take your ¡®Dedicated Affection. If such a boss were to use that skill, it would end up killing itself¡­ But I don¡¯t know if this boss would try to use that skill at all.¡±

    ¡°But Sally, if it takes my ¡®Absolute Defense¡¯, we¡¯d be in trouble!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ if it takes away your defense, then you¡­¡±

    Then Maple would be just a regr person.

    Sally believes that if Maple can¡¯t attack nor defend, then she won¡¯t be able to do anything at all.

    ¡°Maple, what¡¯s your [VIT]? Not counting skill bonuses.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Ah, umm¡­? Oh, I haven¡¯t been paying attention to thattely. Let¡¯s see¡­¡±

    Maple opens up a blue panel and checks her [VIT] stat.

    ¡°Hmm. 2,000-ish?¡±

    ¡°T¡­ two¡­ thou¡­¡±

    Sally closes her eyes and swallows the rest of what she was about to say.

    ¡°Oh, sorry! Should I give you the exact number?¡±

    ¡°She didn¡¯t¡­ get the number wrong or anything like that¡­?¡±

    Sally finally understands that if that¡¯s the case, then Maple doesn¡¯t have anything to worry about.

    Maple doesn¡¯t have any defense-piercing skills, so the boss won¡¯t be able to steal such a skill from her in order to defeat her.

    ¡°Well, Maple, you have to protect me. I can¡¯t do anything against your weapons.¡±

    ¡°Sure! But what are we going to do?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll wait patiently for that boss to snatch your ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ away.¡±

    Sally concludes that the boss¡¯s defense is not that high since it took some damage from her ¡®Double sh¡¯.

    So she also sums up that if it were to take Maple¡¯s ¡®Absolute Defense¡¯ and ¡®Fortress¡¯, they¡¯d still be able to manage somehow.

    ¡°All right! And then we beat it down!¡±

    Maple throws her fist forward, showing her motivation to go back in and try again.

    ¡°Yeah. There might some troublesome situations ahead, so let¡¯s n this carefully. We should be okay here for now.¡±

    Sally tells Maple that they shouldn¡¯t be too reckless about this since the boss might have even more tricks up its sleeve.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s try toe up with a good n!¡±

    And so, the two begin to think hard about a fail-proof strategy that would allow them to win the battle.

 Chapter 213: Itai no Wa 213

    <strong><b>Itai no Wa 213</b></strong>

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s Second Floor 6

    Maple and Sally stand up after carefully nning their counter-attack.

    "So after all, it took almost all of my skills, huh?"

    "Your skills are better suited for the boss to use¡­ I''d bepletely done in by them if we hadn''t stopped to think about a countermeasure."

    Sally knows that Maple is heavily impaired because of her missing skills, but still, she cannot afford to get hit.

    She has to think about how exactly Maple is going to attack the boss.

    "Maple, did you unequip your dagger andrge shield?"

    "Yeah, I did! I may be totally useless without my poison resistance¡­"

    Maple had unequipped her ck dagger and her big shield to prevent her poison resistance being snatched by the boss, and in their ce equipped the white dagger andrge shield she received from Izu.

    She keeps her ck armor on though since its skill has already been taken anyway.

    Though her defense is lower than nned, that''s the only way to avoid her ''Venom Incantation'' and ''Hydra'' skills being stolen.

    They didn''t know how effective would ''Bizarre Eater'' be when used against Maple, so they took safety measures.

    "I don''t know what is that boss''s status. Weakened? ¡­ Well, if it''s weakened, then even though Maple''s defenses are lowered, we might be able to do this¡­"

    "That''s right. I hope it''s okay though¡­"

    Maple seems to be a little nervous as she looks towards the boss''s room''s door.

    "Well, Maple¡­ shall we go back in?"

    "¡­ Sure! Let''s go!"

    Maple eggs herself on by pping her cheeks with both hands, and puts up her shield.

    After seeing that, Sally opens the door to the boss''s room, and they go back inside.

    Once inside, they notice that the boss had recovered all of its HP and that it is once again using that fiery book''s spell and summoning those skill-sealing shadows.

    "It doesn''t look like it''s going to start trying to steal your skills just yet. As soon as it steals one of your skills, be sure to let me know, Maple!"

    "Yes! Roger that!

    Sally calls out to Maple to just to confirm, and then start running.

    Maple starts running too, feeling lighter than ever.

    "If you don''t want to change your opening move, fine by me!"

    Sally starts hacking away at the boss''s HP just like before.

    Since there''s not particrly anything she can do except using ''Provoke'' to attract the attention of the fire-breathing book to herself, Maple stays where she can use ''Cover'' on Sally.

    "Oh¡­ I''ll have to use ''Cover Move''! It''s been such a long time since Ist used that skill! It should reach Sally at this distance¡­ or maybe I should get a little closer¡­?"

    Watching Sally deal damage to the boss, Maple carefully adjusts her position so as to not get sealed.

    Sally continues to relentlessly attack the boss and decreasing its HP before losing her focus, and in response, the boss opens itself up to the page where it has all of the skills it has stolen.

    "Maple!"

    "''Cover Move'' ''Cover''!"

    Maple catches up with Sally, who had backed out without noticing the boss''s change.

    Immediately after that, Maple gets a direct hit by a bullet.

    "We should be fine as long as we stay alert!"

    The bullet makes a loud sound as it bounces from Maple''s body.

    "Hmm¡­ maybe? Could it be that it can''t snatch skills away too frequently?"

    Thinking that they should be fine in that case, Sally climbs on Maple''s back and proceeds to advance towards the boss.

    "Oof¡­ you''re so heavy!"

    "I didn''t have time to check this before, but it seems that the small fries are gone for now."

    "Ah, you''re right! That''s great, that''ll make things easier!"

    As they get closer to the boss, it shoots them from above, but Maple puts up her shield like an umbre, protecting Sally from the attack.

    "Only you could take those hits directly with your body, Maple."

    "Hehehe, I''ll be fine as long as it attacks with this kind of power! Also, it can''t take my skills away like this!"

    "Right. If it''s not going to snatch our skills away, we can do attack it quickly."

    "And I''ll go with you!"

    "Please do. Well then¡­ let''s go!"

    Sally quickly jumps off Maple''s back andmences her attack on the boss.

    Although she had said that it would be impossible, Sally sessfully blocks an iing bullet with her daggers as if it were second nature to her, and breaks into a dash.

    Then, Maple follows her so as to keep Sally''s defenses high.

    "''Double sh''!"

    The blue aura of ''Sword Dance'' scatters away, and the boss''s HP gets reduced once again.

    Sally uses several ice pirs to skillfully avoid all iing bullets.

    Maple realizes that she only got this skilled because of her intense training.

    "Ah, Sally!"

    "It''s okay! I noticed!"

    As the boss''s HP is reduced, it begins to use another skill.

    The ground bes ckened, and two shadows emerge from it.

    And then, the skill-stealing chains appear, and restrain Maple before she has a chance to react.

    "Ooh¡­ Just as nned!"

    "Maple! There are ''Predators'' there!"

    Since Maple is bound by the chains, it seems that she has be the boss''s target, and not only bullets areing her way now, but predators, too.

    Then, one of the predators bites Maple''s across the feet and torso with its huge jaws, and the second one bites at Maple''s head.

    Though Maple closes her eyes as a reflex, she reopens them as soon as she realizes that she has taken no damage at all.

    "Oh¡­ so that''s what their jaws look like from the inside! We''ve been fighting together for so long, and yet I didn''t know!"

    Then, Maple informs Sally of the skills she had lost this time.

    "''Venom Incantation'', ''Fortress''¡­ and ''Dedicated Affection''! And ''Absolute Defense'' too, but we should be okay now!"

    Without being able to look at what''s in front of her, Maple shouts out to Sally.

    Sally replies something to her, and then Maple hears the sound of magic activating, and ice pirs extending nearby.

    "I have to escape¡­ umm¡­ okay!"

    Maple opens her inventory, and takes several bombs out one after the other.

    As the bombs fall to the ground, they are struck by iing bullets, creating a chain detonation.

    "How about that? I can attack without skills too!"

    If Maple''s face wasn''t stuck inside a predator''s jaw, you''d see her boastful smirk.

    That chain detonation leads to fire which burns the chains, but the shadows that have been chewing on Maple''s body and head don''t seem to be going anywhere.

    "¡­ Ah¡­ can you leave me alone, please?"

    The shadows do leave, not because of Maple''s plea, but because she''s not longer restrained. Then, they head towards Sally.

    "No! Wait! You can''t do that!"

    After being released, Maple checks her surroundings, and sees that it''s full of small books overflowing with fire, water, wind des and stone bullets flying everywhere.

    And then, white wings extend from the books.

    The boss is also thrashing about, and Maple can''t see where Sally is.

    "Huh!?"

    As Maple looks at the boss thinking that she should better hurry, the HP bar above that can be seen above the boss suddenly drops, and the boss explodes in a burst of light.

    "Huhhhh!?"

    "Ah¡­ I''m tired¡­"

    Sally emerges from within the light, and sits on the ground.

    Seeing that, Maple rushes to her.

    "Did¡­ did we do it?"

    "Looks like it. Somehow the fact that it had your ''Dedicated Affection'' seems to have done the trick. Luckily, the boss had no means to recover its own HP¡­"

    "Aw, I wanted to fight it! I was being bitten so I didn''t even see anything¡­"

    "Since you invited me, I''ve been wanting to be more active than you, to show you what I can do¡­ that kind of stuff. But I didn''t help you when you were being restrained¡­ was I being too selfish?"

    Sally seems very apologetic as she says that.

    Then Maple thinks for a moment, and then lifts up her head as if she hade up with something.

    "Oh, I see, I see! Well, I did my best on the first floor, so let''s see who of us beats the boss at the third floor, okay?"

    Sally seems a little surprised by Maple''s words.

    "¡­ Okay. But I may win."

    "Haha, but if you can''t, I definitely will!"

    Mapleughs with confidence after saying that.

    Seeing that, Sally seems to havee back to normal.

    "¡­ Okay, then I won''t lose! Next time I''ll be a proper support and beat the boss!"

    "Well then! Let''s go to the third floor! Let''s strike while the iron is hot¡­ or not?"

    "That''s just what I was thinking. Let''s go!"

    With Sally''s consent, Maple rushes towards the third floor.

    "All right, let''s take it easy with our next fight."

    Reflecting on what''s happened so far, Sally follows Maple.

    Then, at the third floor, they are greeted by a wide space, spreading out farther than any other room they had seen so far. In there, they see rugged rocky walls and red hotva on the floor.

    "Sally, this ce feelspletely different than the one before."

    "That''s right¡­ It doesn''t seem like there will be many corridors here, but there are some roads we can take."

    "Shall we take a look for now?"

    While Sally is looking around, Maple begins to walk into the room.

    Then,va begins to gush out where Maple had stepped on, burning her feet.

    Maple''s HP is slightly reduced as a result.

    "Ah¡­!"

    And so, the two stopped right in their tracks.

 Chapter 214: Itai no Wa 214

    <strong><b>Itai no Wa 214</b></strong>

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s Third Floor

    Grasping the situation, Maple runs back to Sally.

    "Huh? Huh?"

    "That''s right! Maple, check your skills!"

    Sally calls out to the breathless Maple, who confirms that all of her lost skills had returned.

    "Ah, look at that! My defense is back!"

    "Yeah? Uh¡­ we should take it easy around here¡­"

    Sally tells that to herself, nods and takes a deep breath.

    "Looks like the terrain around here deals fixed damage. It doesn''t seem to deal that much, though. Ah, I should have known, after that time at the volcano map¡­"

    "I''ve been damaged for 20 points. And you Sally¡­ it doesn''t look like you can avoid it, right?"

    "That''s right¡­ it hurts quite a bit. But hey, Maple, look."

    Sally points at the ce in the ground where Maple had taken damage a few moments ago.

    There''s a small red crack there from where theva had emerged.

    It''s a sign that is easy to notice.

    "I see¡­ I can see look for those and avoid them when I see them!"

    "We should be on the lookout for these walls. What kind of monsters are going to appear next?"

    Maple asks that question, then remembers something, and starts looking sad all of a sudden.

    "I¡­ I took damage¡­ Even though I had somehow managed to stay unharmed during the boss battle¡­!"

    "Ah, but¡­ terrain damage doesn''t count, right? Haha, see? It wasn''t from an enemy."

    After Sallyughs it off with her suggestion, Maple closes her eyes and begins to nod frantically.

    "It doesn''t¡­ it doesn''t count! It doesn''t count! I''ll do my best to stay undamaged against monsters! Ah, I''ll be looking at the ground, too!"

    Maple changes into her ck armor and starts to look more motivated.

    "Well then, let''s go! It doesn''t look like there are any monsters around."

    "We should have a good look around!"

    "I''ll stay alert. I won''t miss a thing!"

    The two begin walking on the third floor once again.

    Since Maple is so caught up in looking at the ground, Sally decides to look around them as they go.

    There are three paths ahead of them, and all of them look exactly the same, with their wallspletely covered with rocks.

    "Which way should we go, Maple?"

    "¡­ If we go through the middle path, we may be able to keep an eye on the left and right ones, so let''s take the middle one!"

    "All right, let''s go then."

    As Maple holds her shield up, Sally checks the surroundings from within the area of effect of ''Cover''.

    "Maple, wait. There''s something here."

    "Okay¡­ Oh, you''re right! It''s hard to see with all thisva flowing out of the walls¡­ It''s a bit different from the fire bird we saw on the first floor, right?"

    Maple ces her hand over her forehead and narrows her eyes as if trying to get a better look, and sees a bird-like monster about 3 feet tall, dripping gleamingva as it flies about.

    The monster seems to emerge from theva that pours out from the walls, making it hard to stop them from spawning.

    "It''s possible that theva that monster is dropping inflicts fixed damage, so don''t get hit."

    "Got it. I''ll do this when I see iting!"

    Maple holds her shield over her head like an umbre.

    After their conversation, they decide to fight, so they wait for the perfect opportunity and jump at the monster.

    "''Ice Pir''¡­ Huh!?"

    Sally creates her ice pirs as usual and steps on them in order to put herself at a higher position than the bird, which is flying in the air.

    But the pirs melt away instantly, and their effect is lost.

    "So I can''t use ice¡­ then how about water?"

    Sally uses a water spell and urately hits the monster with it. The monster''sva turns ck almost instantly, and, no longer able to fly, falls right in front of Maple.

    "So they''re weak to water! ¡­ Not that I can use any water spells myself, but¡­ ''Deploy All Weapons'' ''Commence Attack''!"

    Maple aims at the fallen bird and lets loose a barrage of bullets. Such a small fry cannot withstand that kind of attack, so it disappears.

    "Okay, let''s keep it up!"

    Maple aims her weapons up and fires at another fire bird that was flying around, but the bullet pierces through it and flies off into the distance.

    "Huh? It didn''t work?"

    "It seems that you need to weaken them with a water attack first, so leave them to me!"

    "Oh, sure thing!"

    Once the bird is brought down with a water attack, it cannot fly anymore.

    The two of them have just the right level to understand the nature of these monsters, which are so different from the ones found on the second floor.

 Chapter 215: Itai no Wa 215

    <strong><b>Itai no Wa 215</b></strong>

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s Third Floor 2

    After easily dealing with the small fries, the two start looking around once again.

    Lava continues to pour out of the walls like waterfalls, and its brilliant gleam illuminates the walls and the ceiling.

    "This is amazing¡­ If it were real life, this would be so hot that we wouldn''t be able to stay here for too long."

    Maple leans down, looking towards the depths of a sea ofva.

    Though Maple isn''t going to touch theva, she''s very interested in the sight of such hotva and its boiling sound.

    "That''s right¡­ Ah, I see! Would it be a total waste to just focus on going through this tower?"

    And so, while staying on the lookout, Sally imitates Maple and begins to look around, enjoying the kind of scenery she cannot normally see in the real world.

    "What do you think the fourth floor is like?"

    "Who knows? I haven''t seen any info about it¡­ But I hope it''s not full of corridors like it''s been so far. Maybe we can ride on Syrup there, too."

    "Ah, that would be nice! I wouldn''t have to worry about the ground!"

    As opposed to the wide room they were in when they first entered this floor, the corridors are too narrow for the gigantic Syrup to pass through.

    Then, after a short break, more burning birds begin to emerge from theva waterfalls, reminding Maple and Sally that this is a battlefield.

    Maple realizes this, and looking upwards and away from theva, points at the newly spawned birds.

    "Ah, Sally! Here theye again!"

    "Let''s ignore them, Maple!"

    "Eh? Huh!?"

    As she turns towards Sally, Maple sees a monster that looks like a fish, whose burning scales seemed as if molten into liquidva. The monster opens its mouth and seems to be about to shoot out a lump ofva.

    Maple quickly swings her shield forwards and activates ''Bizarre Eater'', swallowing the lump ofva and nullifying the attack.

    Then, the fish-like monster jumps out of the sea ofva, throwing its own over-three-feet-tall body at Maple, and gets swallowed into the shield.

    "Ah! That was close!"

    "I''m sorry, I wasn''t paying attention¡­ That was dangerous¡­"

    "It''s okay. Let''s hurry! Before more of theme!"

    Maple stands up without taking her eyes off the edge of theva sea, and stepping back, she turns towards the next corridor.

    "I see¡­ That shield is really strong, huh?"

    Nowadays, Maple has more means to attack, so she''s not as reliant on ''Bizarre Eater'' as before, but it still remains a good skill that Maple has a great affinity with.

    Sally reaffirms the skill''s strength as she catches up with Maple.

    The two take a deep breath as they jump into a corridor without being noticed by nearby monsters.

    "I knew it, I can''t settle down¡­ I don''t know from which side the monsters are going toe from!"

    Maple says that while looking over her shoulder. Compared to the entrance, there is no ce where monsters can hide within these narrow corridors, so it''s rtively safe.

    "As we go higher up this tower, the monsters and the terrain are going to get more and more troublesome, so you need to be on the lookout for piercing attacks and fixed damage. Ah, some monsters may seal off recovery spells, too¡­"

    Sally informs Maple that there are many things that hinder support yers, too.

    "But if we should be fine as long as we just attack over and over, right? I want to be able to win from a support role, too."

    "Yours is a bit different, Maple¡­"

    "Is that so?"

    The two chat as they continue walking, and carefully check the area when they reach the next room.

    There are certain parts in the room whereva erupts out at rtively short intervals.

    The bright red mes sometimes even reach as high as the ceiling. The two look at each other when they see that happen.

    "Um, Sally? What¡­ what should we do?"

    "Huh? I think there''s no other way around it¡­ we have to be prepared to take some damage. Looks like we''re going to go for a frontal assault!"

    Sally thinks that if Maple uses ''Dedicated Affection'', and they go forward under its protection, they should be able to get to the other side while recovering damage as they go.

    "Maybe there''s another way¡­ ''Water Ball''!"

    Sally uses water magic on the ground, but theva won''t stop gushing out.

    The moment Sally tried using her water magic, Maple had thought that it would do the trick, but seemed disappointed that it didn''t work in the end.

    "Hmm, that didn''t work. Well then, is there any other way through?"

    "Let''s retrace our steps for now. There are many other paths around, so how about we take a closer look elsewhere?"

    "That''s right! Ah, but we''ll have to go back to that other room¡­"

    Maple seems to be in low spirits since now they have to go back even though they went through great troubles to get past unnoticed.

    "This is definitely the worst ce I''ve ever been to."

    "Tsk, tsk¡­ then I''ll get some items ready!"

    Maple takes out some spheres that deal water damage from her inventory and holds them firmly in her hands.

    "You do have quite a lot of items, don''t you¡­?"

    "Hehe, and they doe handy!"

    And so, the two make up their mind and retrace their steps for the time being.

 Chapter 216

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s Third Floor 3

    Maple andpany left theva covered area and decided to head somewhere else. The monsters that had been flying around where the magma had been didn''t seem to be crossing the same way, so they felt safe for the time being.

    "I know we''vee this way now¡­ but there was another path, right?"

    "The only way we can know is to check out each one of them. Be careful with the ground, Maple.''''

    "Got it! Hmm, there''s a bit of a slope here."

    When Maple said that, Sally took a nce at the floor to confirm her words and noticed it was indeed slightly curved downwards.

    Both of them sensed they were entering a whole different ce than before and couldn''t help feeling excited as well as a little bit wary.

    Then, after passing through the corridor, they entered a wide area where the walls and ground were made out of solid ckva.

    It didn''t change much in sizepared to the other one, and every once in a while, a small me woulde flying out from under the floor.

    "This area seems to have solidified? It will be easier to walk like this, and we can also see better when any monster is approaching."

    "Right now, there seems to be no one around¡­ we have to take our chance!"

    At the same moment Maple was about say she understood, she turned to look at Sally.

    "Yeah, we should think of where to hide¡­and just as I''m saying this one shows up!"

    A huge rock giant with a height of around 3 meters rose slowly from the ground.

    With ck fists and feetrger than both of the girls together, the sound of his steps resonated loudly. It looked way strongerpared to the other monsters they had found on their way there.

    "''Deploy All Weapons''! ''Commence attack''!"

    Maple started shooting. The bullets hit the slow-moving giant directly, and she kept going on until there weren''t any left.

    "Ugh¡­ Is it a golem after all? I hate them!"

    Maple narrowed her eyes in annoyance and proceeded to disarm herself and stop shooting. At the same time the giant raised one of its enormous fists and hit the ground.

    The dull sound of rock hitting rock resonated across the room andva suddenly sshed out from under the crushed ground, overflowing in a wave that came their way and threatened to swallow them.

    "Eh!? Wa-wait a second!"

    "Maple, run! If you stay here it will¡­"

    Sally stepped back just in case, and as she did that, she conjured an "Icicle".

    Like Sally expected, the ''Icicle'' she made didn''t melt down as it had previously done in the flowingva area.

    "I''m sorry, here I go!"

    Sally extended a thread towards Maple and she climbed the icicle with the thread firmly held in her other hand as well.

    "It''s time to fly Maple! ''Leap''!"

    "Uh? Wh-what do you mean by that¡­ Waah!?"

    Right before the ''Icicle'' broke down from theva''s impact, Maple and Sally jumped over the wave and straight into the giant''s direction, while still connected by the thread they held.

    "It''s now or never! ''Defense Break''!"

    Sally let go of the thread she had extended to Maple while still in midair and started spinning as she cut the giant''s arm, which then separated from its body.

    Meanwhile, Maple, who was also still midair, realized that if she fell the way she was headed to at the moment, she would collide straight against the giant''s head.

    Maple grinned slightly as she remembered that this was also a way in which they could do a cooperative attack.

    "Just as expected from Sally! Well now, how do you like¡­ this!"

    Maple held arge shield with both of her hands and plunged into the giant''s body while consuming part of it with her ''Bizarre Eater'' ability. She then fell to the ground and rolled.

    "Damn¡­ We have to get away before it attacks again."

    Maple raised her head from the ground, as she kept her sight on the giant while putting some distance between them.

    Meanwhile, Sally cut the giant''s feet and returned to Maple''s side.

    "It moves quite slowly; don''t you think that maybe we could run past him?"

    They had already jumped over the giant and the passage that would take them to the next areaid just ahead of them.

    "I''ll go defeat him!"

    Maple used ''Bizarre Eater'' again while still wary of the giant''s movements.

    Sally observed what she''s doing and timed herself so she would know when to create an ''Icicle'' next.

    The giant hit the ground once again, in the same way as before, but this time no wave ofva came out.

    "Maple, watch your feet!"

    "Eh? Wah!?"

    Before Sally could extend a thread to help Maple, a huge pir of rock suddenly appeared where they stood and Maple, who couldn''t avoid it on time, was sent flying into the air.

    "Come oon, could you stop using ground attacks?! Ugh! ''Hydra''!"

    As if trying to get her revenge on the giant, she let go a "Hydra" attack while spinning and jumping through the air.

    Even though the giant broke though the poisonous cluster with its fist, it still got countered by Maple''s ''Bizarre Eater''. Maple was blown away by the impact and rolled onto the ground, but she took no damage.

    "I''ll be fine as long as it''s not a piercing attack! ''Oozing Chaos''!"

    The mouth of the monster that came out of her armor caught the slow-moving giant and caused even more damage.

    "The sea of poison is more dangerous, but¡­ take this!

    As Maple hit him with her powerful ability, Sally used the threads and the "Icicle" to sh into the giant''s body while running around it. She used ''Sword Dance'' as well, so her attack ended up being quite strong.

    "And we''ll end it with this!"

    When Sally cut the giant''s neck with a dagger its body turned into light and exploded. While taking care of not stepping into the poison Maple had shot out, Sally made her way back to Maple''s side.

    "That was quite tough, right Sally?"

    "Yeah, it was. But¡­its movements were slow, so I think the correct way to deal with it was just to avoid it altogether. Since it wasn''t even a boss."

    "You''re probably right, and the bullets didn''t work either."

    "That could''ve been because it might be immune to long distance attacks. Since other, even more powerful attacks like ''Hydra'' didn''t have much of an effect either."

    "I see. So that kind of thing can happen too, uh?"

    Maple nodded to herself as she thought how many different powerful monsters were out there.

    "Well, let''s keep advancing Maple. I really don''t want to be here if that onees out again."

    "I agree! Ah- wait a second."

    Maple quickly opened her inventory and changed her equipment so she could use "Helping Hand". A white hand appeared, and she made it hold her shield. Then she maneuvered with it for a bit so that two shields could fit into the same space and after that they floated up into the air.

    "Since we keep getting attacked from the ground, I think it will be better if we continue advancing this way!"

    "¡­okaay. I might''ve already gotten used to it though."

    Sally narrowed her eyes a bit and gave a quick look at both white hands to check them out.

    "You don''t want to use them? I got them when I was looking for a lot of different things to help you, so it''s fine you know?"

    "Just not this once, okay?"

    As they kept talking Sally advanced into the next path on foot. Next to her, Maple was gliding along while being held in the middle of both shields.

    They went down the passage little by little, and they immediately noticed a change.

    "Sally! Sally!"

    Maple stared in round-eyed wonder and then turned to look at Sally.

    Sally, who was also surprised, stared in Maple''s direction, and then turned to check the scenery in front of her again.

    "Yeah, that''s right¡­ it feels a little strange though."

    After having made their way down for a while, a white, snow-covered floor spread in front of them, as well as a huge wall made of ice.

    It was a white world that seemed to be frozen.

 Chapter 217: Itai no Wa 217

    <strong><b>Itai no Wa 217</b></strong>

    Defense Specialization and Tower''s 3rd Floor 4

    Theic version has started so submissions are now monthly.

    The two moved along a bend into the ice ridden cave. Hidden behind her shields all the while, Maple looked around, confirming their surroundings.

    "Isn''t it about time you lowered that thing?"

    "Won''t my legs freeze up all of a sudden?

    "They won''t¡­.. I believe"

    With Sally adding that she didn''t know for sure, Maple decided against lowering her shield in the end.

    Moving forward as they were, their ears started to hear the sound of breaking ice.

    "Maple, look up!"

    "Roger!"

    Ice on the ceiling shattered loose, and a snake of ice descended to the ground.

    Ifpared with Maple and Sally, it was big enough to swallow them both in one gulp.

    "For now, I''ll draw its attention!"

    Sally attacked the snake as it came down, running off behind it. Maple, who saw this, took a deep breath and moved to the snake''s nk while it was distracted.

    "Hey I''ming through!"

    While readying the ck shield that consumes everything, she slid forward on the ice and drove it into the snake''s body.

    "And, just in case¡­.. ''Hydra''!"

    A mass of poison unleashed by Maple damaged the snake, and invaded its icy body.

    "It worked! Alright!"

    Maple raised her voice, delighted, as she passed through the poison.

    However, after taking this much damage, the snake''s focus was sure to have shifted from Sally to Maple.

    "Yeah! Come at me! My defense is an iron wall!"

    She was facedown wedged between two great shields, with her ''Bizarre Eater'' shield covering the front opening between her other two shields

    Though her defense was high under normal circumstances, by going so far as to confine herself in aplete shell, it truly was an iron wall.

    However, it seemed the snake wasn''t so simple as to attack head on. It faked her out and quickly slid off sideways beforeing snapping back at Maple from the side.

    "Ah! ''Bizarre Eater'' won''t reach that way¡­.. Ooh, don''t damage my great shield!"

    Maple braced her arms as the snake bore down on her great shield.

    "Uh oh! We better beat it soon, huh!"

    With a leaping sh across the snake''s skull delivered by Sally, the snake became a silhouette of light and then vanished.

    "Thanks Sally!"

    "Nah, that was almost all Maple. As expected, close range poison is sure powerful, huh."

    With that, Sally viewed the scene of the spreading ocean of poison, and spotted something half sunken in the midst of it.

    "Maple, um, it looks like there''s something there"

    "Hmm¡­..? Well, it''s in the middle of the poison so I''ll go take a look for now"

    Taking a breath, Maple moved through the poison, until she came to the object, picking it up.

    It was a softball sized ball of ice. The ice ball glittered as it took in light, shining a hue of aquamarine.

    "Hmm, is it an item?"

    ''10000 year Ice''

    It can be used to harden ''Lava''.

    "Sally! There was something good!"

    "Alright, bring it back"

    "Okay!"

    Maple picked up three ''10000 year Ice'', and cautiously went back to Sally''s location.

    Sally took the ''10000 year Ice'' from Maple, and nodded as if understanding something.

    "If we use this, we can climb over that Lava area but¡­. Which will it be~"

    "Which will what be?"

    "Nah~, I was just wondering if the boss will be fire or ice. If this item exists, I was thinking we might find it in the fire area"

    Sally said this while viewing the glittering ''10000 year Ice'', and a slightly troubled expression formed on Maple''s face.

    "It feels like a waste to use something this pretty¡­..It would''ve been nice if more had fallen"

    Maple looked at the shining ''10000 year Ice'' in Sally''s hand disappointedly.

    If something this pretty ends up being used, it disappears.

    "If that''s the case, shall we try looking for another? The snake wasn''t all that strong after all. If they''re all like that, Maples'' shooting should work on them too"

    If another snake didn''t appear, Sally suggested she''d try her best to get by using only two of the three.

    "Are you sure?"

    "I''m sure. In exchange, protect me well?"

    "Leave it to me! So long¡­ So long as there''s only a little bit of pain."

    "Well, let''s start by thinking of a way to dodgeva"

    Along with finding a means of this, they nned to defeat any number of snakes that appeared while the two searched for spoils, but the only things that showed were two meter tall humanoid ice sculptures or bats that breathed ice.

    That''s when Sally suggested:

    "Wanna call it for today? Maple used up a lot of her skills, and we''ve been going since the start of the 2nd floor."

    "We got some good loot, so it''s not a bad idea!"

    They found an item necessary toplete the tower, and finished the exploration of the ice area.

    Plus, the two came to recognize the high possibility of the boss usingva because the boss room wasn''t anywhere in the frozen area.

    "So, let''s head over to theva next time. With that said, good work!"

    "Yeah, bye bye"

    The two logged out together.

    For them to move forward perfectly prepared, they''ll need to predict the challenging aspects of the boss.

    The back to reality Kaede put away the game, and stretched out on top of her bed.

    "Phew¡­¡­ We''ll have to go and feel out theva area. What''ll I do for the boss¡­.."

    Kaede thought that ''Outrage'' probably wouldn''t work very well, and considered what to do instead.

    "I''ll have Risa do something about it¡­..If I can make Lava harden, I''m sure I can work out something."

    While considering this and that, Kaede went downstairs.

 Chapter 218

    Itai no Wa 218

    Defense Specialization and Tower''s 3rd Floor 5

    On a new day, Maple and Sally had made their way back to the third floor once again. Their skill usage counter and such were reset as well and so they were fully prepared.

    "Alright, we''ll get the boss today~!"

    "Yeah, let''s do that. Although we don''t know if it''s ahead¡­ and the enemies on the third floor are annoying too."

    The two didn''t go looking for the ''Ten thousand year ice'' again and hade straight to the area with gushingva once again.

    Same asst time, the scenery in front of them was teeming withva.

    "Well then, let''s try using it. It''s probably an item for this area as well."

    As Sally used ''Ten thousand year ice'', a blizzard blew beneath her feet and hardenedva to ck ice.

    And with that, the scenery in front of them hadpletely changed into and of ice.

    "Eh¡­¡­ um, It hardened more than I had expected but¡­ let''s hurry, Maple! It would be a pain if they were to melt."

    "Ah, yeah! Right!"

    As if it was just normal for her to do so at this point, Maple moved while being in between two floating shields.

    However, Maple''s speed when doing so wasn''t much different than her walking speed so about half a minute of progressingter, the ice floor started breaking-exposing the gushingva underneath.

    "Maple, let''s go! Get down, get down!"

    "Ah, yeah! Got it!"

    Maple slipped out from between the shields and connected to Sally with the thread and zoomed past theva zone.

    However, as they were doing that, the pir of fire which reached close to the ceiling was back.

    "Uuu¡­ B-''Body lifting affection''!"

    Maple hesitated a bit there but quickly activated ''body lifting affection'' and protected Sally.

    And so she closed her eyes, preparing herself for the damage but what came instead was a feeling of suspension.

    "With this, we can make it past before ites gushing out!"

    "¡­¡­? O-ohhh!"

    ''One Step towards The Underworld'', the skill bestowed on the shoes which Maple had found on the sixthyer and gave it to Sally.

    With that, Sally created numerous foothold in mid-air, making it possible for them to literally leap in to the safe zone.

    "Thanks to you, there''s no fall damage either so it''s all good."

    "Thank you, Sally! Thanks to you, we didn''t get burnt¡­"

    Maple let out a sigh of relief, looking back at theva behind her.

    The two progressed further and found the door to the boss without any hindrance.

    "Oh, it really is here."

    "Just as expected, huh?"

    "There are still routes we haven''t gone through but we used up the ice so¡­"

    "Yea, let''s go! I am fully prepared for this!"

    Saying that, Maple swung her arm in a circle. "Alright, then-" Sally said, opening the door.

    A wide area filled withva awaited them inside the room, leaving them no choice but to be limited to stepping stones.

    "Ugugu¡­ I''m flying, right¡­?"

    Maple said, floating in between two shields.

    The field was hard to work with even for Sally.

    "It''s hard for me too but¡­ the boss¡­ ising!"

    As they were on alert, the ground started shaking and theva at the end of the room began sshing up, creating a form.

    And the form was of a dazzlingly burningva giant.

    "Sally, Sally! It looks really strong, what do we do?!"

    "We probably should have saved some of that ice! But we got no other choice but to fight now! Maple, use it when the boss uses a bigva move!"

    "Leave it to me! I will be watching from above!"

    And like that, Maple kept raising the altitude while still being in between the two shields.

    As the probability ofva type enemies doing fixed damage to Maple is high, it was difficult for her to use ''body lifting affection'' as well.

    "''Icicle''¡­ no good, eh? Okay."

    As Sally confirmed that she couldn''t use ''icicle'', she skillfully made her way through the safe zone, creating a distance between her and the boss.

    "''Ancient Sea''!"

    And like that, with the skill she acquired during the 2nd event, blue glowing fish appeared around her, swimming in the air.

    "''Waterball''!"

    As she did with the small fries along the way, Sally tried using water type attacks first.

    The giant''s movements were slow and because her water attack also reduces the ''agility'' of the enemy, the attack hit the boss easily.

    "My foothold, every time it starts moving¡­ tto, kugh!"

    Every time the giant crawls on the surface, her foothold disappears into theva.

    A new foothold appears after a while but the maintaining that timing was severe.

    And while she was doing that, theva giant raised its arm from theva and tried to smack Sally to the ground.

    "¡­¡­.!"

    Sally created a foothold mid-air and forcibly dodged it.

    However, when the giant''s hand made contact with theva on the ground, a fire pir gushed up, closing in on Sally.

    "I was looking properly, just so you know!"

    Just when the pir was about to make contact with Sally, Maple came down making sure that doesn''t happen.

    Maple, who hade in between Sally and the fire pir, was on top of her tworge shields braced herrge jet ck shield above diagonally and blocked the fire pir.

    "Sally, emergency evacuation! Emergency evacuation!"

    "Y-yea, thanks."

    As Sally jumped on to Maple''srge shield, Maple started ascending like an elevator.

    "Wah, it''s going wild down there."

    Maple saw that theva giant was moving about on theva surface, smacking on it and creating fire pirs here and there.

    "It seems the fire pirs won''t reach us here so let''s have a strategy discussion."

    "Well then, our foothold is a bit unstable too so I will Syrup, alright?"

    Maple summoned Syrup and erged it before carefully moving over.

    "It''s easier to make a strategy after confirming that the enemy can''t do much against flying opponents¡­"

    "Now, now,e over."

    "Nn, then, don''t mind if I do."

    And like that, the two leisurely began the strategy discussion above the burning field.

 Chapter 219

    Itai no Wa 219

    Defense Specialization and Tower''s 3rd Floor 6

    After discussing for a while, they had decided that they would try shooting it with Sally''s water magic from a safe distance in the air.

    As Maple''s shooting didn''t work, they decided to use the same method which they had used on the small fries along the way.

    And just to be safe, Maple also changed to her white gear and after healing up, she started preparing the damage nullify skill ''Aegis'' which was included with ''Body lifting affection''.

    After replenishing her health to max, she informed Sally that her preparations wereplete.

    "Preparation done! Ready whenever you are. Fufu, It has been a while since I have used anything other than ''Body lifting affection''.

    "Alright then, Maple, make yourrge shield float? Yea, like that¡­ all that''s left is-"

    Maple changed the altitudes of the tworge shields and made them float. Sally jumped on to the lower one and tied her legs to the shield to make sure she wouldn''t fall off.

    "There we go, what do you think? Will it be in range?"

    Maple adjusted the height further so that Sally''s magic just barely reaches the giant.

    "I think it should be fine if I just match the giant''s movements. I will back off, if something happens."

    The shield, which was in between Syrup and the one Sally was on, was basically the ry point.

    As there was a limit to how far the shields can be from Maple, they maintained that distance and moved in circles around the floor.

    "Hmmm, as I thought, it''s hard¡­ Sally, how''s it going?"

    "I don''t know if it will actually harden but fix your aim properly to make a direct hit! It is taking damage but¡­"

    "Of course! Here we go¡­ Syrup, you do your best too, alright?"

    Saying that, Maple aimed her gun turrets downward.

    As Sally wasn''t really specialized in magic and was alone on top of that, it did take a while but she was finally able to harden the giant''s body which was made ofva.

    Maple started attacking, taking that as the signal.

    "''Commencing attack''! Syrup, ''Spiritual Cannon''!"

    Rain of beams and cannonballs poured upon it.

    All of them hit the giant and kept scraping away its HP bar.

    "We did it! The guns are working!"

    Just as Maple was getting delighted seeing her attacks having an effect, the giant''s body started glowing red.

    "Ahh, it''s already over. Sally, counting on¡­ you?"

    Just as Maple finished asking Sally to harden theva giant again, me came bursting out of the zing giant''s huge hand. It was heading towards Maple.

    "Maple, defend!"

    "Eh, ah ¡ª ''Aegis''!"

    The light Maple produced expanded in a sh and wrapped up the two of them and Syrup.

    And although lumps ofva also came flying straight at them, it was all nullified by the light.

    The light slowly faded and the two looked towards the giant.

    "Ehh?! Sally, what is that?!"

    At the ce the giant was standing, shining blue lumps were floating a bit above the surface.

    "It isn''t¡­ me? Ice?"

    As if to grant what Sally had just said, ice started spreading throughout the surface with the ice in the center.

    It filled out the entireva floor and even reached the walls to the ceiling and created icicles.

    And then, just like trees grow but at a rapid speed, ice grew from the lump and the giant stood up.

    "It changed forms! But it didn''t recover HP¡­ besides¡­"

    Sally looked towards Maple and grinned.

    "Even I can fight if it''s against ice, Sally!"

    "It weakened up for us."

    "Fufufu, well then, let''smence the attack!"

    And as Maple started her offense, it started inflicting damage unlike the time when it had the fire form.

    However, while they had an advantage against this form, it was not like they could continue one-sided attacks.

    "Alright, let''s get it down at this¡­¡­ eh?"

    As Maple kept attacking facing down, she noticed that a shadow fell on her.

    She quickly looked up and realized a broken icicle was falling right towards her from above.

    "Ah¡­ Saoww-o! Uuu¡­¡­"

    The icicle destroyed Maple''s weapon with a loud noise and Maple took a direct hit to the back when she tried to dodge.

    "Defense pration! Maple, take back Syrup too! These icicles keep on falling!"

    Sally created an ice pir and descended down to the surface.

    After returning Syrup to her ring, Maple also followed Sally to the surface.

    "Changing equipment¡­ alright!"

    "You''ve gotten faster at changing equipment."

    "I practiced! And with this, I am in attack mode!"

    As Maple changed to her ck equipment, she entered battle stance, while staying alert of the icicles.

    Sally also created an ice pir with her ''Ice Pir'' skill.

    And just when the two of them were about to start attacking, a chill went through the surface as it started glowing white and released a wave of ice with a loud noise.

    "Maple, here ites!"

    "''Oozing Chaos'' ''Commence attack''!"

    The monster Maple released collided with the wave of ice and divided it. Even then, a part of the ice made contact with Maple and broke her stance.

    However, it didn''t lead to any damage.

    "I will be fine as long as it''s just a normal attack!"

    In that interval, Sally connected the ice pirs quickly, got on top of the giant''s shoulder, and sliced from its neck to its head.

    She continued her attack, emitting a blue aura, all the while dodging the icicles dexterously in that narrow foothold.

    "Alright. It''s simple as long as it''s not burning."

    "Hm?"

    Maple moved and attacked while evading the icicles and realized that before she knew it, her body was getting frosted.

    She tried brushing them away but wasn''t able to clear all of it.

    "Sally, be careful! Something¡­ something is making it freeze here¡­ or is it?"

    As Maple warned Sally, she realized that it didn''t really affect her much so she continued her attacks.

    "¡­.There are too many things which don''t have any effect on you so it''s hard to understand. I am fine for now, I guess."

    Although the giant''s attacks grew even fiercer and its power also increased as its HP was being depleted, because the enemy wasn''t fast, Sally had the leeway to think about other things even while evading.

    And as they kept umting damage like that, the giant released a conspicuously stronger cold wave.

    "Maple, finish it before it turns back to me!"

    After adding some more intense shooting at the end, Sally jumped off to dodge.

    "Leave it to me, ''Hydra'', ''Oozing Chaos'', ''Atrocity''!"

    As the giant staggered after receiving the attack, Maple charged in her monster form.

    She breathed out me from her mouth to force back the cold wave and started crunching off the giant''s ice body.

    "This is the end!"

    Just as many ice thorns erupted from ground, Mapleunched her final attack while breathing out fire.

    As she did that, the giant''s body started crumbling apart from the ends and finally reached its core, which burst open and dissolved into the air.

    "We won¡­ Mm, I thought we would be safe in the air."

    Still in her monster form, Maple lied down.

    "Good work. Mm, skill acquired?"

    "Ah, me too! Lemme check, lemme check."

    Seeing the unexpected notification, Sally and Maple opened up their status menu to check the skill they had just acquired.

    "Really, how are you checking it like that¡­"

    Sally muttered, staring at Maple in her monster form.

 Chapter 220: Itai no Wa 220

    <strong><b>Itai no Wa 220</b></strong>

    Defense Specialization and a Confirmation of Current Conditions

    The following happened while Maple and Sally werepleting the 3rd floor. It''s a conversation from a ce unknown to them.

    342 Name: Nameless Greatsword User

    How far up the tower has everyone been?

    343 Name: Nameless Greatshield User

    I took my time for a change so I''m about to beat the 2nd floor

    Plus, Maple wasn''t with me likest time

    344 Name: Nameless Magic User

    I defeated the 4th floor boss just a little back

    345 Name:Nameless Spear User

    I''m part way through the 4th myself

    Wait, so Maple isn''t around?

    Well, even without her, you seem like you''ll be able to work through it

    346 Name: Nameless Greatsword User

    Yeah, but she''s like an ultimate weapon or something

    Always demonstrating her ability

    It''s like, for Maple, Bosses aren''t even a challenge.

    347 Name: Nameless Greatshield User

    Yeah, with the two of them, I bet Maple and Sally canplete even the most challenging areas,

    ..

    without trouble.

    348 Name: Nameless Bow User

    Usually, I don''t think it''s so easy for them to win that it''s "without trouble".

    Usually, at least.

    349 Name: Nameless Spear User

    Both their specs have grown rapidly though.

    I mean, I saw Sally gliding through the air like nothing. She''s starting to show a solid mastery of air.

    ¡­

    350 Name: Nameless Greatsword User

    You could feel the murderous intent from above on the 3rd floor.

    Speaking of, it felt like the intent was aimed directly at Maple!

    351 Name: Nameless Greatshield User

    I didn''t see anything other than the posted info. What''s the 3rd floor really like?

    352 Name: Nameless Spear User

    The only bad thing that can happen in the first half is you can slip.

    In the second half, these defense piercing iciclese falling all over the whole area

    but the icicles are slow so you can dodge them.

    Aside from that, you''re also afflicted with a status down effect when you take damage.

    353 Name: Nameless Bow User

    Yeah,pleting the 3rd floor is easy if you can dodge like me

    Plus, I used theva freezing ice item you get halfway through to speed things up.

    354 Name: Nameless Magic User

    That item¡­.. I used it too, didn''t I?

    If you don''t use it, I heard you can get a skill but,

    ..

    I ended up going through as fast as possible..

    355 Name: Nameless Spear User

    There must be other things like that elsewhere too

    We can only guess about it though

    356 Name: Nameless Greatshield User

    So like if you don''t use the bombs on the first floor?

    We might have been able to use a greathammer instead,

    cause it''s base attack destroys protective walls.

    357 Name: Nameless Greatsword User

    You can break walls without any skills!?

    358 Name: Nameless Greatshield User

    Yeah, it''s something I learned from Maple.

    359 Name: Nameless Magic User

    I wanna take sses from her.

    360 Name: Nameless Spear User

    Still, it seems Maple used the bombs,

    and I''m not sure if there was anything on the 2nd floor so that just leaves the skill from the 3rd floor .

    It''s likely to be an ice or fire attack.

    361 Name: Nameless Greatsword User

    Can''t we already breathe fire, though?!

    362 Name: Nameless Bow User

    Well, the skill would useva or ice actually

    Since we can already breathe fire, it wouldn''t be a surprise if we could do the same withva.

    363 Name: Nameless Magic User

    That''s silly

    I mean, there''s no way yers can breathe something like ice orva

    It''ll have us fire it from a weapon or something..

    364 Name: Nameless Greatsword User

    Even I was surprised when I breathe fire like it was nothing

    365 Name: Nameless Greatshield User

    In Maple''s case, she''d probably look like a monster when spitting out fire.

    366 Name: Nameless Magic User

    Hey, don''t treat her like she''s not a yer.

    367 Name: Nameless Greatshield User

    So the two of them are still climbing the tower then?

    I''ll have to try hard to catch up using my shield.

    368 Name: Nameless Spear User

    Even without Maple, you''re strong after all.

    So strong, you''ll be able to go from the bottom boss all the way to thest one.

    369 Name: Nameless Magic User

    Although, I think the 4th floor will be more difficult than the 3rd one for Maple.

    370 Name: Nameless Spear User

    Yeah, that''s probably true.

    371 Name: Nameless Greatshield User

    Really? Was it tough?

    I''m about to go try it out

    During this conversation, Maple and Sally were making their way to the 4th floor.

 Chapter 221: Itai no Wa 221

    <strong><b>Itai no Wa 221</b></strong>

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 4th Floor

    After checking the new skill, the pair headed towards the 4th floor full of energy.

    "Uh, you''re going like that Maple?"

    "Well, ending ''Outrage'' is such a waste so¡­"

    A monstrous looking Maple followed behind Sally as she walked.

    Continuing to chat, they made their way to the back of the boss room and went up the stairs.

    "Oh, right! I have to set the new skill on my greatshield."

    Oh that¡­.. Um, ''Great Eruption'' was it? The MP cost and restricted movement make it a bit difficult to use."

    ''Great Eruption''

    Cost: 50 MP. Takes 3 seconds to cast. Can be used again after 3 minutes. Fires high poweredva. One minute after hitting, creates a damage field that nullifies earth based defense.

    "For you though Maple, I''m sure you can handle staying in one ce while using it. Plus, if we use the damage field smartly, we might be able to fight bosses with really high defense."

    Yeah! Though, I''ll have to be careful not to step in any of theva¡­"

    "Haha, be extra careful when theva first goes flying, kay?"

    Whileughing, Sally remembered something important and turned around to face Maple.

    "¡­..Um, Maple. Just a thought, but maybe it''s better if you don''t set the skill yet?"

    "Oh yeah?"

    "We get a medal once we reach the top of this tower, so I think it''d be better to look at equipping the skill then."

    Upon reaching the top of the tower, they''ll have 10 silver medals. At that time, their may be something more powerful than theva skill worth saving their MP for.

    Since Maple''s equipment skills can''t be changed once added, rushing to equip new skills isn''t always wise.

    "You have enough attack power, right?"

    "My attack and defense are both perfect!"

    "So, let''s put aside the skill for now and head to the next area. Come on, I can see the light from the next floor." At the top of the dimly lit staircase, crashing water and a sprawling forest came into view.

    The staircase to the 4th floor ended behind a waterfall connecting to a vast flowing river. It was a small cave in the side of a vast cliff

    Glimpsing between the waterfall and the cave wall, the sky could be seen shining endlessly upwards, despite the pair technically being inside a tower. Something resembling the ocean was also visible in the distance.

    "Wow! It''s so huge!"

    "Right? Well, to start¡­. Shall we climb down from this cliff?"

    Footing connected the cave to the base of the cliff

    However, the footing was human size only, so Maple was too big to use it in her current state.

    "Maybe you''d be okay just jumping down Maple?"

    "Yeah, it shouldn''t be a problem from this height."

    While Sally made her way down the cliff, Maple jumped out through the waterfall,nding with a loud p at its basin in the river.

    "It''s pretty deep! It''d be bad if I couldn''t swim in this form!"

    "Hmm, it doesn''t look like we can enter the forest anywhere with how dense those trees are¡­ So I guess we have no choice but to head down this river for now. Should we ride on Syrup? It''d be bad if something happened while we were riding down the river though¡­.."

    "I''d have to end ''outrage'' though¡­ That okay?"

    "Oh right. Then never mind, let''s keep going as is!"

    Sally decided it was important to prioritize their attack power.

    Although the 3rd floor ceiling was dangerous with its falling icicles, the floor they were entering had an open sky, so there was no telling what kind of danger it would bring.

    "Okay! Ah, hey Sally, wanna ride on my back? Cause there seems to be monsters in the water¡­"

    "Oh, really?"

    "I''m getting bitten like crazy"

    Saying this, Maple raised one of her six legs out of the water. Countless fish wiggled around. Their teeth sunk into the leg.

    "I''ll let you give me a ride then. Guarding against them in the water would be tough after all."

    "Fuhuhu, let''s head on downstream!"

    With Sally on her back, Maple began heading carefully downstream on all six legs.

 Chapter 222: Itai no Wa 222

    <strong><b>Itai no Wa 222</b></strong>

    <strong><b>Defense Specialization and the Tower''s Fourth Floor 2</b></strong>

    They kept going downstream for a while without fearing anythinging out of the forest to attack them.

    Since Maple was using her ''Dedicated Affection,'' Sally was just chilling while lying down on Maple''s back.

    "Hey Maple, how are things underwater?"

    "Full of fish and other living creatures, I think? I keep scratching into some of those things every now and then¡­"

    Maple tried to join the tips of her two forelegs to apologize every time she gained a little bit of experience for trampling over those little creatures.

    "There might be dangerous creatures underwater, so maybe I could try fishing them out? They might drop rare materials¡­"

    "Fishing? Aw, I''d like to be able to fish for a little bit too¡­"

    "A little bit" may have been a little too optimistic for Maple, who usually cannot catch anything even after fishing for hours.

    "It might be difficult for you to dive underwater with that body. Well, looks like I''m the one for the job¡­ Here goes!"

    Sally cast her fishing line and quietly started to fish. After a short while, she managed to catch a fish unlike any other they had ever seen, but the only special thing about it was that it was a really delicious fish.

    "Hey, Sally¡­ Do you think everyone else in this fourth floor is also swimming now?"

    "Who knows? The water here must be filled with monsters. Other adventurers might not be able to get underwater like you. Though the town shop might be selling boats, so there''s that."

    "A boat, huh? That''d be nice¡­ Hey, Sally! Let''s get on one of those boats!"

    "That sounds nice! Oh¡­? I got something¡­ huh?"

    "What''s wrong, Sally?"

    "It must have been my imagination¡­ No. The current is getting faster!"

    On top of the current getting faster, we started to see big rocks along the stream. If a boat or something like that were to hit one of those¡­

    "Hold tight, Sally! We should be fine even if I were to hit those rocks!"

    "I thought we would be able to avoid them¡­ but oh, well. Here theye!"

    Sally was tied to Maple''s body by a thread so that even if she were to fall, she would not get outside of Dedicated Affection''s area of effect. Both of them are dragged by the current, unable to swim out of it.

    "Okay! I''m okay! How about you, Sally?"

    Thanks to her huge body, Maple could not avoid hitting every rock that got in their way as they went downstream, but fortunately, she was unharmed. She asks Sally how she is as they are both helplessly dragged by the raging stream.

    "Uhh¡­ I think I''m going to get sick¡­ Maple! Look out!"

    "Huh? Ahh! Waaahhh!?"

    Maple ended up hitting several rocks in session, which made her lose her bnce and sink underwater.

    Sally was barely able to untie herself and jump to a nearby rock to avoid sinking along with Maple.

    "That was too close¡­ Maple! Where are you?"

    Using her threads as scaffoldings, Sally jumped from one rock to another looking for Maple.

    However, she was not able to find her, despite her huge body.

    Moreover, as Sally continued to travel through the air from rock to rock, arrows of water were fired at her, as if trying to scare her away.

    "Outta my way!"

    Every time, Sally would twist her body around, avoiding the arrows and safelynding onto the next rock.

    "Those arrows have stopped for now, but I can''t go past here! It seems to be full of monsters¡­ huh?"

    The hurried Sally barely noticed a huge ck lump hitting one of the rocks in the corner of her eye.

    So once again, Sally ran through the air, avoiding the water arrows, and shot one of her threads into the water.

    "Got you¡­ Okay!"

    Of course, she felt a lot of resistance, but Sally fixed her body on the rock she was standing and pulled with all her strength.

    Shortly after, she was able to pull Maple, who was now back into her human form, out of the water.

    "Oof! Are you okay, Maple?"

    "Uhhh¡­ I almost drowned¡­ Thanks, Sally!"

    "So ''Outrage'' wears off the moment you start to suffocate, huh? Oh well, I''m d you''re okay!"

    "I was rolling and rolling around¡­ I didn''t know where I was going¡­ So scary!"

    Still feeling dizzy, Maple clumsily sits on the rock.

    "Let''s take a little break first. That could have ended up badly, we have to think about how are we going to go downstream safely."

    Not only Maple was in no condition to transform again so that Sally could ride her, but there were those water arrows that were shot whenever someone tried to jump on the rocks.

    "Th¡­ That''s right¡­ I could use some rest¡­ It would be nice if we could stop the water current."

    "Like closing a faucet, huh? That would definitely help¡­"

    And so, the two decided to take a rest for a while until Maple had recovered.

 Chapter 223

    Itai no wa iya 223

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s Fourth Floor 3

    And so the two of them fished on top of the crag and rested for a while. Perhaps it was made so that you couldn''t catch monsters, because they didn''t catch any dangerous fish. But Sally was still able to acquire a lot of materials to hand over to Izu.

    As always, Maple was unable to catch anything.

    "Hmph. It''s no good."

    "Well, your status hasn''t changed. So? Do you feel better now? I still think we''ll have to ride on Syrup."

    "If only we had a boat."

    As they had been able to get passed the underwater monsters by having Sally ride on Maple''s back, they did not have a boat.

    And so they would have to leave the tower once in order to test the frontal attack.

    "Uhhh¡­do you think that the water arrows are a piercing attack¡­"

    "It seems pretty likely, as you''re obviously going to fly. And they''re in the shape of an arrow."

    It was hard to believe that there wouldn''t be piercing attacks or anti-flying measures. However, from what Sally had tested, they would crumble and disappear after attacking them with enough power.

    So it was possible to advance through by brute force.

    "I don''t want to use ''Dedicated Affection,'' but I won''t be able to protect Syrup if I don''t¡­"

    "What about riding the shield? But you might get hit if you can''t defend properly. Oh, and they might not be piercing attacks."

    "Let''s do that! And if possible, without getting hit even once¡­"

    "I''ll forcefully make a ce to stand then. Ah, but Maple. You have to attack too, okay?"

    "Leave it to me! Hehe. It''s bullets against arrows!"

    Maple changed her equipment. Her weapons came out, and the two white hands that floated in the air now carried shields.

    "As for footing, maybe Mirror of the Dark Night. That way, we won''t have to worry about it breaking."

    Maple set up ''Mirror of the Dark Night'' on the water''s surface. It had high durability and returned to normal even after being broken. And she stood on top of it next to Sally.

    "And one more¡­behind Sally!"

    Maple sat down on top of the great shield and then held the other great shield in front of her.

    On either side of the great shield, there were gun barrels and cannons pointing towards the water.

    "Oh¡­you''repletely geared up."

    "They can''t bother us if I shoot them all down!"

    "Don''t worry about the ones you miss, I''ll do something."

    "Okay! Then, let''s go!"

    Maple had the shield slide slowly and move away from the rocks.

    At the same time, there were the sounds of sshing, and water arrows began to shoot from the surface. As if to return the favor, Maple''s bullets were unleashed.

    "Go! Go-go-go!"

    "In terms of power, we''re above them!"

    She shot at the monsters in the water as they advanced.

    Sally didn''t have to do anything as they went downstream.

    "This amount of arrows isn''t really a problem!"

    "It would have been different if we were riding Syrup. But, woah! Is it getting a little worse now?"

    Sally answered as she hit down the arrows that started to get past Maple.

    "Maybe? I can hear a lot of sshing near the shield at my feet."

    "Yes¡­ Hmm. Maple! There''s something up ahead!"

    "Alright! I''m going to shoot that too!"

    In the direction that Maple pointed her guns, there were fish that were about 50 cm that were jumping in and out of the water as they approached.

    "¡­Flying fish?"

    "But this is a river. Are they¡­enemies?"

    The fish were adeptly dodging Maple''s bullets and getting closer.

    "I would be able to shoot more if there were no arrows!"

    As Maple said this, a monster jumped out from beneath her. Its de-like fins shone in the light as it attacked her.

    While most of the attacks were blocked by the shield, some of them managed to go through and cut off Maple''s guns and cannons.

    "Ahhhh! M-my weapons!"

    "Maple. Arrows!"

    Just as Maple''s weapons broke, water arrows started to shoot at them again.

    Sally had to do something quickly. And so she attached a web to Maple and then rushed up the sky as if walking up invisible stairs.

    After that, countless new arrows shot upwards as if to follow her.

    "Maple! Do it again! And¡­"

    "I know! ''Hydra''!"

    The clump of poison that Maple unleashed swallowed up all of the small water arrows. Everything from the great shield at her feet to the water around them was covered in poison.

    "Okay. ''Commence Attack''!"

    Just as Sally had nowhere else to stand, the two of them fell towards the great shield.

    Maple destroyed the next volley of water arrows that came with her newly created weapons. Then she picked up Sally andnded on her back on top of the great shield.

    "It''s covered in poison too¡­"

    "I want to rest on a nearby rock again. I''m scared of the poison that is everywhere."

    Sally wanted to recover the stats that she lost by making a ce to stand up in the air.

    "Going down river sure is tough¡­"

    "But we''ve gone quite a distance. Look, the waterfall is far away now."

    "Oh. So are we close to our goal then?"

    "Maybe. Of course, that will mean a boss fight."

    "Ugh. I guess there''s still a lot of work to do."

    Maple smoothly moved the shield towards a nearby boulder that stood there like a checkpoint.

 Chapter 224

    Itai no wa iya 224

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s Fourth Floor 4

    Like this, the two of them traveled from crag to crag and managed to survive the arrows without taking damage. As they went further downstream, the current became gentler and the water arrows stoppeding.

    "Sally! The arrows stopped!"

    "Phew¡­ We can finally rx now. But we still can''t get off of the shield, as there are monsters in the water."

    "Oh, right. Ah, I can see them!"

    You could see the outlines of the fish as they swam in the water.

    It was clear that most of them were monsters.

    Maple continued to make the great shield move forward as she talked to Sally.

    "I never did find out if the water arrows could pierce through my defenses."

    "Hehe. Want to go back and find out?"

    "No! No-no!"

    Maple shook her head ferociously.

    Generally, she did not want to take any damage. And she tried to avoid being attacked by anything that was pointed.

    "Well, the boss might use it too. But, we''ll deal with it when the timees."

    "The boss, huh¡­ Oh, I hope it doesn''t use it."

    "The sea that looked so far away in the beginning now seems pretty close, doesn''t it?"

    "I haven''t been to sea in so long! They''ve been absent on recentyers."

    "That''s true. We should think about ways of fighting a boss that would be in the water as we move."

    Now that they were able to ignore the monsters in the water, the two of them were able to concentrate more as they advanced.

    There were no more forks in the river and the forest soon ended. It was then that the scene in front of them spread wide open.

    It was the sea that spread out before them. There were small, calm waves that glimmered in the sunlight.

    "Sally¡­ Does it seem like there is a boss?"

    "I''m not sure? There''s nowhere to stand¡­ Hmm. I don''t want to fight here¡­"

    Maple agreed with her.

    However, it was always the inconvenient things that seemed to happen. As the two watched the slowly undting waves, there was arge ssh, and then the boss monster appeared.

    It was a sea turtle that was over five meters tall.

    "Oh! A turtle!"

    "I guess that means that we have to fight here then."

    "I wonder if it''s bigger than Syrup¡­"

    Maple said excitedly. She seemed so happy that it was hard to believe she was going to fight a boss.

    "¡­Hey, don''t get attached to it, okay?"

    "I-I''m fine!"

    As they talked, the sea turtle started to move.

    For a second it seemed as if had dived deep into the water, but then a path of water rose out of the sea, allowing the sea turtle to swim freely in the air.

    The flowing water moved behind it as it rose to the sky. Like this, it could move in and out of the water.

    They were so surprised that they couldn''t move. There were now many paths of water in the air. In was an incredibly strange sight.

    "Wow! This is amazing!"

    "It''s not attacking us¡­ I suppose this is how it prepares the field. It sure is pretty¡­"

    "Sally! Sally! Why don''t we try and ride on the turtle''s back?"

    "Huh¡­ Can we? ¡­In the first ce, that thing is a boss!"

    "Just a little! I just want to test it out! I''m sure it will be fun! It should bepletely different from riding Syrup!"

    Maple said to Sally with shining eyes.

    Sally nced over to the turtle. She couldn''t help but want to try it as well.

    "Just a little¡­okay?"

    "Yes! Alright then, ''Dedicated Affection''!"

    Once Maple had finished preparations for protecting Sally, she remembered something and pulled out an item from her inventory.

    "A snorkel?"

    "This thing allows you to stay underwater longer! Hehe. I had forgotten about it¡­"

    "You sure buy a lot of stuff. Alright, leave the rest to me. I''m going to attach us to the shell with my web!"

    "Thank you! I''m going to ride it no matter what!"

    And like that, the battle with the fourth floor boss began.

 Chapter 225

    Itai no wa iya 225

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s Fourth Floor 5

    "So, how do we get on it? It''s flying all over the ce and shooting water at us¡­"

    As soon as the battle began, the sea turtle started to fly around them on the water roads that it had made.

    A blue magic circle shone around its giant body, andrge masses of water were beingunched from it. One of them hit the two, who were moving unsteadily on their shield.

    "There''s no damage, but¡­hmph. Let''s go from the top!"

    Maple called out Syrup. Once Syrup was floating in the air, she controlled the shield so that theynded on Syrup''s shell.

    Sally followed Maple onto the turtle as well. She seemed to calm down now that they had space to stand, and she stretched her limbs.

    "Good! Now I''m ready!"

    "I''m ready to go as well."

    Maple raised Syrup''s altitude, and they traveled over to where the sea turtle and the roads of water were.

    "There''s so much moving water¡­"

    "Maybe we can swim in it? We''d never be able to reach the boss, otherwise."

    "Hmm. Hmm. So, is that why it''s flying around here?"

    "Maybe. Well, let''s get on its back first! Should I attach the web when we get closer?"

    "Yes! If you can, do it when we are right underneath it!"

    They talked in a carefree way as they waited for it to approach. The attacks were continuing, and they usually wouldn''t have had time to be doing this. But as long as they weren''t piercing attacks, they might as well have been nothing for Maple.

    "Good. Now!"

    Sally attached her web onto the shell of the turtle as it swam speedily through the sky. Then she held Maple and they moved from shell to shell.

    When Sally contracted the web, they bothnded on the turtle''s shell with minimum impact.

    "Sess!"

    "It''s movement patterns are still simple, since we haven''t dealt it any damage yet. So riding it is quite easy."

    Sally connected Maple to the shell. Meanwhile, Maple returned Syrup, who was no longer within the boundary of ''Dedicated Affection,'' to her ring.

    Now they could fly around on the boss''s back as much as they wanted to.

    "Syrup doesn''t exactly fly¡­so this is really nice."

    "Well, flying like this isn''t normal, okay? You just like to move around in unconventional ways, Maple."

    "I wish I could fly with these wings¡­"

    Maple said as she touched the angel wings that appeared on her back as an effect of ''Dedicated Affection.''

    "Also¡­this is not asfortable as I was expecting¡­"

    "Yeah¡­ It''s like we''re in the rain."

    Just as before,rge masses of water were raining down and sshing all over them. While there was no damage, it just wasn''t a very cozy situation.

    And while Maple had put on the snorkel before the boss fight started, they were not underwater, so it waspletely pointless.

    "Hmm. Do I have something¡­ Ah! What about this?"

    Maple rummaged through her inventory and took our a parasol and beach chairs.

    "¡­You sure have some interesting things. Maybe that''s why you alwaysin about not having any money¡­"

    "They''ll go flying off if I just put them down, so can you fix them to the shell?"

    "Uh, okay."

    And so they started to build their base on the boss''s back.

    As therge parasol protected them from the masses of falling water, they seeded in stay decently dry after that.

    Then they sat down in their chairs and watched the hazy horizon in the distance.

    "The sea is so beautiful¡­"

    "I doubt that there are sunsets here, but I wish I could see it."

    "Yes! Let''s go to the sea again in the nextyer too!"

    They sat there for a while as if to rest their tired bodies after going down the river. But then, the parasol snapped loudly over their heads, as if to signal the end of their time of rxation.

    As they were being attacked the whole time, the item could not withstand the damage, even if Maple herself could.

    "Maple. Something is strange! It''s going down to the sea!"

    "Huh!? Bu-but we haven''t even done anything yet!"

    And like that, the sea turtle descended towards the water. While Sally may have been fine, Maple would notst long, even with the help of items.

    As Sally was thinking about getting off and floating in the air, the boss rushed towards the water''s surface.

    But before the two could worry about holding their breath, the sea turtle stopped near the center where the roads wereing out of the water.

    "Phew¡­ Wh-what was that?"

    "Maybe it automaticallyes down from the sky after a certain amount of time¡­?"

    As they wondered about this, a giant wave erupted around the boss, and from the water roads came currents of water that werepletely ignoring thews of gravity.

    Though they were fixed to the shell by the webs, it did not feel very nice to be hit by waves of water.

    "I guess it doesn''t like that we''re rxing on its back¡­"

    "Grrr¡­ Well, since we''re here¡­"

    Maple said as she took out a surfboard from her inventory. She had never used this item before.

    "What? You can use that?"

    "It''s making these nice big waves just for us!"

    Maple thanked the turtle as she patted its shell.

    "I''ll attach a lifeline to you then."

    As the web was a fixed length, she would not go out of the boundary of Dedicated Affection.

    "Thank you!"

    "Oh, Maple. We''re still going to fight the boss after this, alright? So don''t get too tired out there!"

    "I-I''ll be fine!"

    "Okay then. I''m going to rest a little."

    Sallyy down on the shell and rubbed its smooth surface.

    "It''s nice and cool¡­"

    As she rested, she could hear the sound of the waves and Maple sinking beneath the sea.

 Chapter 226

    Itai no wa iya 226

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s Fourth Floor 6

    Quite some time passed after that, and the boss''s movement patterns changed again. This time, it started flying around in the air.

    However, this wasn''t due to time passing. It was because it had less HP now.

    "Oh, the neck is weaker than the shell."

    "''Oozing Chaos''¡­"

    As Sally was attacking it with her short sword, Mapley tiredly on its back as sheunched her own attacks.

    Sally could hear the endless gunshots and sshing poisoning from behind her.

    "Oh, I told you to reserve your energy."

    "Uh¡­sorry. I couldn''t help it."

    She had yed and romped as she moved her body, perhaps more than she had ever done before. And Maple enjoyed every minute of it. Of course, she was exhausted by the time Sally pulled her back.

    Maple had a satisfied look on her face when she was pulled up. And that was when she finally remembered the boss fight.

    "I''m not going to wait for you to recover, okay?"

    "Yeah. But it''s so cool on this shell. I feel rxed already¡­"

    "¡­This really doesn''t feel like a boss fight."

    "Ehehe. But I know all about turtle shells!"

    "Well, it hasn''t used any piercing attacks yet, so I think we should be fine as long as we have a ce to stand and breathe."

    "''Hydra''!"

    Every time Maple added a powerful attack, the monster''s HP plummetted and a red damage effect sprayed from the area.

    The attacks that came towards them were blocked by Sally''s webs, and as long as Maple was sitting down, the other attacks were meaningless.

    "Ah, Maple. The sea is starting to grow more violent."

    "It is! It would have been very bad if we weren''t riding on the turtle!"

    They asionally checked the scene down below as they attacked and braved the masses of water that assaulted them.

    "Sally. Now the boss is shooting out some kind of beam!"

    "Syrup does it too. Maybe it''s standard?"

    "I guess they all have beams then¡­hmm? Ah, Sally! It doesn''t work anymore!"

    Things had been going smoothly up until now as they chipped away at its health, but now the turtle''s shell and skin had hardened. And their attacks were useless.

    Perhaps it had changed again? And so they searched for a different spot to attack.

    "The sea is going crazy too. A boat would sink down there."

    "Woah¡­ It definitely wouldn''t have been possible to fight in that. It''s a good thing we came up here."

    Water was rising up from the sea like spears now. Everything down there would get stabbed.

    "Well, it''s certainly not a front attack¡­oomph!"

    "What should we do, Sally?"

    "If the top is no good, then maybe it''s the bottom!"

    Sally waited for the next mass of water to pass them by, then she cut the web that held Maple. They both jumped off the shell together, but this time she shot a web towards the turtle''s stomach.

    "There. We''re held in ce now!"

    "Oh! We''re like live sharksuckers!"

    "Hmm. That''s true."

    The two were now stuck on the stomach-side, which hadn''t hardened yet. They watched the raging waves and the sky and flew in the air with the turtle.

    "I never saw what the view was like from Syrup''s stomach¡­"

    "We should have moved down here while it was still pretty."

    As Maple''s gunshots echoed, pirs of water shot out around the sea turtle and stretched up high into the air.

    Neither of them stopped their attacks. They stuck to the turtle as it flew higher. And just as they were so high they could see how far the sea went¡­

    The water below them returned to its calm and beautiful blue color.

    "Wow! Hey, Sally! It''s back to normal¡­?"

    At the same time. There was a snap and the sea turtle started to turn into light.

    In other words, there was nothing supporting them anymore.

    "Sally, hold on!"

    "Yes. Thank you!"

    After a second of weightlessness, both of them plunged upsidedown towards the surface of the sea.

    Maple held onto Sally so she would stay within the protection of ''Dedicated Affection.'' And then she positioned herself like she always did after jumping off of Syrup as shended in the water.

    After a huge ssh, the two resurfaced and held onto the floating great shield as the waves pushed them about.

    "Phew¡­ It''s finished?"

    "It looks like it. It was easy because it couldn''t hurt me. The entrance to the next ce is open, so let''s keep going."

    "What about resting¡­"

    "Didn''t you have plenty?"

    "Hehe. Yeah! I did!"

    They hadn''t been nervous at all during the boss fight, and the battle was easily won. And so in a way, they were refreshed in both body and mind.

    "Alright, onto the fifth floor! I wonder what it''s like?"

    "I can''t wait!"

    They continued on to the ind that had just appeared. And then they got on top of the magic circle on the ground.

    After a moment, their vision was filled with light and then the world of the fifth floory before them.

    As for this ce that they had teleported to, it was covered in gray shadows and had old tombstones that emitted a pale glow. That''s all there was in this vast wastnd.

    "Ma-Maple¡­let''s get some rest, okay?"

    "¡­Uh, yeah. You''re right."

    All their enthusiasm was drained from their bodies. Sally looked around ufortably. Maple decided that they should leave the tower for now.

 Chapter 227

    Itai no wa Iya 227

    Defense Specialization and Escape

    They both returned to the fifth floor on the following day.

    This was because Sally would not be able to walk, and so it was necessary to be able to use ''Savagery'' in order to get through the tower.

    They first prepared on the small ind on the fourth floor and then teleported to the fifth.

    "Alright! Let''s just rush right through this!"

    "Please do it quickly¡­"

    Maple had turned into a monster with angel wings, and on her back, was a wooden box that was fixed to her with rope.

    Sally had rolled up into a ball inside of this box, which was made so she could not see what was happening outside.

    Just as Maple took one step forward, ghosts starteding out of the gravestones that glowed with pale blue light.

    "Woah! They''reing out already!"

    "Yo-you don''t have to tell me!"

    And so Maple rushed passed the ghosts and into the wastnd.

    Arms that were made of rotten flesh and bones woulde out of the ground in an attempt to stop her, but Maple crushed and trampled over them as she ran.

    "Woah¡­ There are even more ghosts now¡­I should burn them!"

    Maple was able to damage them by breathing fire, but it didn''t kill them. Instead, they retaliated.

    As Maple was caught by surprise, she was hit by the ck mist that came from the ghosts.

    "There''s¡­no damage! Alright, bye-bye then!"

    When Maple realized that they weren''t a threat to her, she ignored them and continued to run.

    However, somehow, she didn''t seem to have as much strength anymore. And the distance between them started to shrink.

    "¡­Huh? Ah! My status!"

    She usually didn''t care about any drops in STR or AGI, but it was quite different when she was using Savagery.

    While a drop in VIT was meaningless, Maple was no longer able to shake off the ghosts.

    Just then, one of the ghosts slipped into the wooden box.

    "Ahhhhh! Wha-¡­.why!"

    "Sorry! I''ll get away!"

    Even while Maple was being attacked by the ghosts, she breathed fire on them and continued to run.

    Just because her status dropped a little, it didn''t mean she would take any damage.

    However, the rope was different. After all, it was only an item.

    "Ah¡­"

    Maple suddenly felt her back be lighter as the wooden box fell loudly to the ground.

    "Hey, wa¡­.WAHHHH?!"

    Maple had tried to pick the box off of the ground, but then the rotten hands reached out and grabbed her tightly.

    "Ugghhhh¡­they won''t let go¡­!"

    Suddenly, there was a cracking sound as the ground split open. And then Maple fell into the fissure in the ground.

    Now the field was silent, and only the wooden box remained there.

    "Ma-Maple¡­? Hey¡­?"

    Sally became scared. She could no longer stand the silence, and so she opened the wooden lid just a little so she could peek out. ck, empty eye-sockets were what greeted her.

    "Waaah?!"

    Sally jumped back, causing the lid to fall off and her to roll out onto the ground.

    The scene that Sally was now forced to face, was that of a field covered in writhing hands and a group of ghosts.

    "Ohhhh¡­Why! Why!"

    Her eyes were full of tears as she ran. She didn''t want to be in that ce. That was the only reason.

    "We ran from the sixthyer and came here! Why!"

    Sally even forgot to use her skill as she ran. She had only one goal after she escaped the monsters.

    "Logout! Logouuuuttt!"

    As she was running more desperately than usual, she hadpletely forgotten about Maple.

 Chapter 228

    Itai no wa iya 228

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 5th Floor

    After being separated, Maple realized that Sally had logged out, and so she left the tower without deactivating Savagery. And then she waited for Sally.

    After some time, Sally returned with a very embarrassed expression.

    "Next time, we''ll make sure that it won''t fall off. Okay?"

    "Yeah¡­"

    As they climbed the steps of the fifth floor, the other members of Maple Tree were also working on the fifth floor.

    Generally, they all protected Mai and Yui. Their strategy was to apply a lot of buffs on them when they stopped moving, and then they would unleash them. It seemed to be working for now.

    However, there were monsters on the fifth floor that even these two couldn''t defeat.

    "There they are, physical immunity! Kasumi! Kanade!"

    The semi-transparent ghosts that rushed towards them were immune to all physical attacks.

    As Yui and Mai were not used tobat yet, it was difficult for them to even hit their targets. And so they had to trade ces.

    "Yeah, leave it to me! ''Arm of the Warrior''!"

    Kasumi activated the demon sword skill she had acquired on the fourth floor. Just then, two armored arms that held swords appeared on both sides of Kasumi.

    The one on the right was covered in purple mes and moved in sync with Kasumi''s de. It also dealt fire damage.

    And while it caused all of your stats to drop by 20%, its abilities more than made up for that. And so Kasumi cut through the ghosts one after another.

    "I wish I could do that. I''ll just have to use random magic¡­"

    As the other two used their different attribute attacks, Chrome continued to protect Mai and Yui.

    While they could take damage, unlike Maple, he would not allow it to happen.

    "As far as recovery goes, I won''t lose!"

    As Izu was also using recovery items on him, Chrome''s HP would repeatedly go down and then fully recover again.

    "Hmm. It should be soon. Kasumi! It''sing from the ground!"

    "Yeah, I know. No problem."

    The same fissure that had swallowed up Maple now appeared. But as none of them were being held down, they were all able to avoid it.

    Chrome and Kasumi had enough STR to tear away from the hands in the ground, while Izu and Kanade were fast enough to dodge them. As for Mai and Yui, there was no point in even trying to restrain them.

    So it wasn''t hard for them to avoid the crack in the ground.

    "The underground route is a real pain. It''s also easier for me to defend on the surface¡­so let''s keep avoiding it."

    "Yes! Uhhh¡­but please help us on the way there."

    "I hear that normal attacks are effective on the boss. You two should save your energy for it."

    "Leave the boss to us!"

    "Yes, very good. Maybe I''ll prepare some magic to improve the environment for us."

    Mai and Yui held their great hammers tightly and Kanade thought back on the magic book he had saved.

    After that, they got passed the monsters that continually tried to drag them underground. The six of them were making very good progress.

    "I wonder what Maple is doing."

    "The fifth floor seems like a bad fit for her."

    "Doesn''t it mostly depend on Sally? I hope they''re doing well¡­"

    They said as they thought back on how Sally had been in the sixthyer. It was then that things started to change.

    "Hmm. Look, the mist is getting thicker. We''re in the next district."

    Like Kasumi said, they were starting to get surrounded in a white mist. Almost immediately, they could only see a few meters ahead of them.

    "I didn''t expect to be able to see so little¡­"

    "We have to be careful as we move forward. There still isn''t much information about this section."

    Kasumi took the lead. She was followed by Kanade, Izu, Chrome and then Mai and Yui as they advanced in the quiet mist.

    "It feels creepy once it gets this quiet, doesn''t it Chrome¡­Chrome?"

    Izu thought it was strange that he didn''t answer, and she turned around. But the three people who should have been there were gone.

    "Kanade! Kasumi! ¡­Huh?"

    She looked back ahead, but the two others had now disappeared.

    "I knew it¡­there are still more traps."

    She merely thought it was unfortunate that they had been split up as she opened her map, however, their positions were not on it.

    This is going to be annoying. She thought as she continued to walk in order to gain information.

 Chapter 229

    Itai no wa Iya 229

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 5th Floor 2

    After Izu sent messages to the others and understood their situation, everyone shared what they knew and they decided to continue exploring until one of them fell.

    "Still, I would like to avoidbat¡­"

    While she was capable of fighting, reaching the halfway point of thetest event usually meant that swinging a small hammer was no longer going to cut it.

    However, that didn''t mean the enemy were going to take it easy on her, and numerous zombies appeared from the ground surrounding her.

    "So many¡­uhh¡­I won''t be able to make up for the lost materials."

    Izu made her decision and then began to craft bombs in ''Magic Workshop.''

    "Effect enhancing crystal and¡­how about a me thrower!"

    As she was able to convert money into materials and craft items wherever she wanted, it would be very difficult for Izu to run out of attacking items.

    "I saved so much anyway¡­ahh, my money is disappearing too¡­"

    mes and explosive winds shed in the thick mist. And it was there that Izu threw bombs with a vacant look on her face.

    Just as Izu had found herself alone, Mai and Yui were also separated from the others within the mist.

    "Wh-what should we do! Chrome has disappeared somewhere!"

    Chrome had been with them just a second ago, but he had vanished in the blink of an eye. The two of them had frantically tried to chase after him, but it was no use.

    "For now¡­let''s just try to survive, okay? I''m sure we''ll unite with them again."

    As the two of them stood there worriedly, Izu''s message arrived.

    "It''s a message from Izu¡­uhh¡­Yui! Watch for enemies."

    "Okay, leave it to me!"

    Mai sent a message back to Izu and theymunicated back and forth and shared information.

    "Yui, uh¡­ Kanade and Kasumi are together and it seems like Chrome is with Izu. She says this might be some kind of trap."

    "What are we supposed to do?"

    "We''re supposed to keep going until someone falls. So we should head for the exit? ¡­In any case, let''s look for the others."

    Now that Chrome was not around to protect them, they would have to protect themselves.

    They used the items that Izu gave them, which added a temporary fire effect to their weapons. Then they raised their STR with Doping Seeds so that they could kill monsters with a single hit.

    And with that, they stuck their backs together and held their great hammers.

    "You watch my back, sister!"

    "Yes¡­I''ll do my best."

    The two of them held their great hammers up so that they could swing them at any moment. And like that, the slowly moved through the mist.

    "Yui, watch your feet too."

    "I know. But there''s nothing you can do if they suddenlye out."

    If they wanted to survive, they could not let the enemy get the upper hand. If they had to dodge even one attack, it would ruin their formation.

    "Hmm¡­ Ah! Sister, I just thought of something!"

    "¡­Wh-what?"

    Mai looked at Yui''s confident expression. And while she was a little worried about what this idea would be, she wanted to hear it.

    At the same time, unlike the worried Yui and Mai, Kanade and Kasumi were easily mowing down the monsters as they advanced.

    "Thanks to the enemying in such numbers, my left arm has something to do!"

    While Kasumi was swinging her katana, the armored arm was swinging a giant sword.

    Even the left arm, which didn''t have any attributes, was still capable of cutting normal monsters.

    "Leave defense to me. You have more than enough hands anyway, Kasumi."

    Kanade slowed down the monsters by order of priority and at the same time, concentrated on healing and protecting Kasumi.

    These two had been assigned the roles of attackers on the fifth floor. And so being surrounded by some monsters was not really a big deal.

    Kanade''s response capabilities were among the best in Maple Tree. And Kasumi was a stable attacker who could fight for long stretches.

    And so they had the power to trample over enemies like ghosts and zombies, as the only thing impressive about them was their number.

    "Use wide-area magic if they keep increasing."

    "Okay. Hehe. Hmm¡­ Which should I use¡­"

    Kanade looked at the books on the floating shelf and smiled.

    "Use something that won''t affect me too."

    "Of course! I wouldn''t use anything like that."

    Kanade answered as he looked at a book with a ck cover that sat in the corner of one shelf.

    "That''s fine then. I don''t even know where we are supposed to go, but I think we should keep searching until a new messagees in."

    "I suppose so. I do hope that everyone is okay."

    "From the looks of things, it won''t be easy for Chrome if he''s by himself¡­but he probably won''t die¡­"

    Kasumi said as she cut down undead monsters one after another.

    And just as Kasumi had predicted, Chrome was having a difficult time against the zombies.

    "Ahh! This is so troublesome! They keeping!"

    He blocked the attacks with his great shield and had to cut them down one by one with his billhook. But he would quickly get surrounded and then have to escape.

    "The only saving grace is that they''re not too fast¡­"

    While Chrome was struggling, he was still very far from dying.

    "I can still heal in time. So, what to do¡­"

    No matter how much they chipped away at his health, he was able to recover. And so he killed them one by one and pressed on.

    In fact, he looked much more like an undead monster than any of the zombies.

    "I want to meet up with them soon¡­ And I''m worried about those two."

    Chrome thought anxiously about Mai and Yui as he cut through the necks of the approaching monsters.

    At the same time, his depleted HP healedpletely.

    As Chrome had damage immunity and could even revive, it was nearly impossible for these weak monsters to bring him down.

    "¡­I guess I''m not too bad after all?"

    Chrome was reminded of his own capabilities and that Maple''s fighting style was different from a shield-wielder.

    And like that, they all used their strengths to press forward and get through the hordes of monsters.

 Chapter 230

    Itai no wa iya 230

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 5th Floor 3

    The four groups advanced through the thick mist.

    As for who escaped it first, it was Kasumi and Kanade.

    "We''re finally out."

    "You didn''t have to use magic in the end."

    Kanade only needed to heal and support Kasumi, as she killed the monsters at an incredible speed.

    The monsters went down so quickly that he didn''t need to use any wide-area attacks.

    "It''s because my attack ability was strengthened quite a bit. The status reduction is pretty bad¡­but having more hands allows for a greater variation in strategy."

    At Maple Tree, the most important thing was raising attack ability.

    It should be obvious, given that there were no yers or monsters that had ever gone passed Maple''s iron defense and killed one of the guild members.

    "And even if it wasn''t, I''m pretty sure I would manage just fine¡­ So, what should we do? It looks like no one has been killed yet."

    "We should wait then. Maybe they''ll alle out here."

    "That''s true. Hmm. There are no more monstersing out."

    After the two of them waited there for some time, they heard a giant explosion echo within the mist.

    And then, Izu came rolling out. She was carrying bombs under her arms and panting while drinking an HP recovery potion.

    "Haahh¡­haaa¡­. So, I got out then¡­"

    "You''re alright! Amazing!"

    "But I lost a lot of materials and gold¡­ Ahhh. I won''t be able to make new items for a while¡­"

    Izu sat down on the ground and red angrily at the thick mist behind her.

    She had been spreading bombs and attack items while she ran. And when she ran out of materials, she converted her gold. The sheer amount of items used allowed her to blow away the monsters.

    "Well, your safety is the most important thing. And I''ll help you find more materials. Your items have helped me out a lot anyway."

    "It makes me very happy to hear you say that¡­"

    "Uh, Kasumi. It looks like someone else ising."

    Kanade looked towards the mist just as he heard the sound of cutting wind.

    And then, four red masses tore out from the thick fog.

    "Mai! Yui!"

    "Yay! We finally got out of the fog! Woah!"

    "Hey, Yui, Ahh!"

    The two of them hade out with their backs together and their arms spread open as they rotated. But they were so surprised to see the other three that they fell t on their faces.

    In order to automatically kill any monsters that approached them, they had advanced by spinning like a typhoon, with their great hammers extended.

    Since they couldn''t react in time and attack, they used this power move that allowed them to constantly spam their one-hit-kill attack.

    "Are you alright? Both of you?"

    "Uhh¡­ I feel dizzy¡­"

    "Izu¡­I think I may have pushed myself too hard."

    At least the violent wind that Mai and Yui had created had been strong enough to blow every monster away, and none of them ever got close.

    "So, it''s just Chrome now. Well, I''m sure he will be fine."

    "Yes. He''s certifiably stubborn."

    When Mai and Yui were fully recovered. A veryte Chrome finally came out of the thick mist.

    "Hahhh¡­ I''m thest one then."

    "See. He''s in perfectly good shape."

    "And his health is full too."

    "Uh, well¡­ I was constantly surrounded but somehow got out. And if I couldn''t get out, then I just killed them. So my level went up a little."

    In the first ce, Chrome always found it a little excessive how the members of Maple Tree were able to so easily beatrge groups of enemies on their own.

    Even Izu, who wasn''t really suited forbat, had broken through. So Chrome wasn''t wrong about their annihtion ability.

    This was even more obvious given the fact that they had faced muchrger guilds during the fourth event.

    "I think you''re plenty excessive too, just in a different direction, Chrome."

    "Yes. You were able to break through even after being surrounded."

    And so the trap that separated the group had not been much of an obstacle after all. Now that the six were reunited, they decided to continue.

    "There is a monster that uses instant kill magic up ahead. So let''s take these."

    Izu said as she handed everyone a ring that had a red gemstone set into it.

    "It''s a ''Decoy Ring.'' It will protect you from instant kills three times."

    "¡­You had such an item?"

    Chrome had never seen it before.

    "It''s a new item I made with the materials that the zombies dropped. Hehe. I took it in exchange for everything I lost while making the bombs."

    Through the use of New Frontier, Izu was able to make items that were usually not possible. And among the numerous options, she chose to make equipment and items with the best abilities.

    "This will make things a lot easier."

    "Yes. And I can save the resistance enchantment books."

    "Alright, let''s go then. Traps that separate us aren''t that bad, but if it attacks our feet, I won''t be able to protect everyone. So be careful."

    They were wary of traps that there was no information about. And just like before, Kasumi and Kanade took the lead and dealt with the monsters.

    Mai and Yui were behind Chrome along with Izu.

    "Kasumi has gotten stronger again. She must have cut a lot of monsters in that mist."

    As monsters would not get close to Chrome, he could only watch Kasumi''s movements as he protected Mai and Yui.

    "The boss fight will being up soon. Are you two ready?"

    "We''re ready! Ah, uh¡­the fire item you gave us was really useful, Izu!"

    "I saw that you were using it when you came out. That attack method was¡­a little surprising."

    The reason Izu said ''a little'' after seeing them spinning around with great hammers was because she was getting used to this kind that thing.

    As they talked like that, they continued to make their way through the fifth floor.

    Ultimately, while they did not breeze through it as easily as Maple and Sally, the monsters were not much of a burden for the members of Maple Tree.

 Chapter 231

    Itai no wa iya 231

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 5th Floor 4

    The sixth of them continued on after that. And they soon arrived in front of the boss area without any trouble.

    "Apparently, there are no monsters in this area."

    "Then we should prepare. Kasumi and I will keep our guard up as we wait."

    "Yeah, that''s a good idea."

    While Chrome and Kasumi watched behind them, Kanade and Izu cast buffs on May and Yui.

    "This and this and also, drink this."

    "Mmm¡­glug¡­"

    "Ahh¡­good!"

    Drinking numerous potions and pills, and getting buffs from Kanade was a ritual they performed before every boss fight.

    Once they were done, there were auras of various colors shining around them.

    "We''re ready when you are!"

    "We''re ready when you are!"

    "Alright, then let''s go. I''ll take the lead."

    The two raised their glimmering great hammers. That was the signal for all six of them to charge into the boss area.

    Just like the previous area, it was a wastnd that was covered in a thick mist. As there were no notable obstructions, it meant that they would have to face the boss head-on.

    It was then that the boss detected them and stepped forward. It was a headless knight.

    Blue mes erupted over the stump of its neck. It wore rusted armor and held arge sword as it rode on its zombie horse.

    The horse neighed loudly and then charged forward.

    "Let''s go, sister!"

    "Yes¡­!"

    "I''ll make an opening for you! Hahhh!"

    Chrome used his great shield to block the boss''s sword and make an opening.

    And as the boss got closer, the four great hammers that glimmered as brightly as its fire-head came crashing mercilessly down.

    "Double Strike!"

    "Double Strike!"

    There was a thunderous echo of the armor being hit, and the HP bar diminished dramatically. The boss swung its sword again, but Chrome easily blocked it.

    "Here goes the new item¡­!"

    Izu jumped out and ced the item on the ground near the horse. It immediately exploded loudly and then a bolt of lightning hit the ground.

    This item was able to stop the boss''s movements for several seconds. And the effect of that was massive for Maple Tree.

    "Yui! One more time!"

    "Okay!"

    It was Kasumi''s job to help whenever Chrome wasn''t able to make it in time, but that was not necessary here. Because the boss was beaten to a pulp by the pair until it exploded into nothing.

    "Phew¡­ It''s like a different game. Though, not quite in the same way as Maple."

    Kasumi said. She hadn''t really had anything to do, but Yui and Mai were very happy to have been of use.

    "I know."

    Agreed Chrome. All he had done was block two attacks.

    "Well, protecting them is important. If they won easily, that means we did our jobs right."

    As Chrome and Kasumi were strong against swarms of enemies, they usually did most of their work while on the move. On the other hand, Mai and Yui were practically specialized for boss fights.

    "I''m going to make the items I had to use, so give me a minute."

    Izu opened up her workshop and remade the important buff items, MP potions, and bombs.

    As she could create items from gold and use the workshop in any ce, they never had to return due to ack of items.

    Before battle, during battle, and after battle. Wherever you looked, they were distinct from other guilds.

    And like that, they continued onward in order to trample over the boss on the next floor.

    "I hope Maple is making steady progress."

    "Of course, she is. In the first ce, I don''t want to go up against something that was able to stop Maple."

    "That''s true¡­"

    Shortly after the sixth of them left the easy 5th floor boss behind them, Maple could be seen fighting it herself.

    She had activated Savagery and had turned into a monster. She was now biting the zombie horse and trying to tear it apart.

    The boss area was filled with pale mes and overflowing with zombies. The knight on top of the horse was swinging two swords.

    The scene felt like hell itself. However, Sally was nowhere to be seen.

    Maple kicked, rammed and crushed the zombies as she opened a path through them.

    Her HP had not gone down at all. But the boss was slowly approaching its death.

    "Alright! Now, it''s done!"

    She trampled over it from the front onest time. And with that, Maple achieved victory before it was able to change its movement patterns.

    "Uhhh¡­the way to the sixthyer is¡­over there!"

    Maple stomped towards the teleportation circle and moved on top of it. The 5th floor soon disappeared, and she came out into a ce that was surrounded by rough walls like a cave.

    "Alright¡­it should be fine now. You cane out, Sally!"

    Maple said as she opened her mouth. There was a wet st as Sally rolled out.

    "Ugghhh¡­I think I might be sick¡­"

    Sally was quite dizzy and had to lie down on the ground.

    Yes, Sally had been in Maple''s mouth this whole time. And Maple had been running around very quickly.

    Maple returned to human form and then approached Sally with a smug expression.

    "But, at least you didn''t have to look at anything, right?"

    "I suppose. Yes, that was good."

    Sally saw Maple''s expression andughed a little as she picked herself up.

    In other words, if she couldn''t be protected while staying close to Maple, she needed to get closer. And so she was put away inside of Maple''s body.

    "Though, it wasn''t the prettiest sight either¡­ I guess that''s what it feels like to be eaten."

    "Ah, right. I was eaten once too! I was so surprised¡­"

    "In any case, now I can fight again¡­I think. The 6th floor is fine, isn''t it?"

    Sally looked worried as she gazed at the cave that stretched out in front of them.

    And then a golem with a body that shone like a diamond suddenly appeared.

    "Yes¡­it''s just a normal monster¡­"

    "Hehe. Now you can make up for the 5th floor!"

    "Leave it to me! I''ll do enough that you can take a break, Maple!"

    And like that, Maple and the reinvigorated Sally moved to conquer the 6th floor.

 Chapter 232

    Itai no wa iya 232

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 6th Floor

    After killing the monster in front of them, the pair picked up the materials and sighed.

    "Uhh¡­the defense¡­"

    "Hahh¡­it was so tough¡­"

    The cave monster that hade out was a golem with a diamond body. And none of Maple''s attacks had any effect on it. The only way they could defeat it was to use Sally''s defense piercing skill.

    However, it was also not able to do anything about Maple''s defenses through Dedicated Affection.

    "Well, it couldn''t get through your defenses. So we won''t lose at least. But I think we better ignore those guys."

    It would take too much time to fight them. Even if the materials were valuable, gathering them was far from efficient, and so they had no reason to fight them.

    "I hope the boss isn''t like that."

    "If it is, I''ll take care of it. After all, I promised to make up for the 5th floor."

    "Yes. Leave the defenses to me!"

    They continued on until the path split into two.

    And then, as if they were waiting for their arrival, humanoid monsters that were made of shining ore stepped forward from one of them.

    There were three of them. They held spears and shields as they marched forward.

    "We might be able to go around them¡­what do you think?"

    "Let''s avoid them! Avoid! I bet they have strong defense ability!!"

    And so Maple pushed Sally towards the path to the side.

    "I don''t think you''re fast enough to escape them¡­but at least they don''t seem to be chasing us."

    "What a relief. That''s good."

    "Let''s see how far we can go then. Of course, while avoidingbat."

    "Okay! I hope there won''t be too many monsters¡­"

    However, Maple''s wish did note true. Every time they hit a fork in the road, there would always be monsters in one direction.

    "Do you think the one with the monsters is the right one? Hmm. I don''t know."

    "What should we do? Should we try fighting just once and go in that direction?"

    "Don''t worry, it''s all on the map. Besides, we''ll probably get lost no matter which way we go. We should just keep going until we hit a dead end. Then we can go back."

    "Oh, okay!"

    They chose to take the route that avoidedbat. After continuing for some time, they reached arge room.

    "It doesn''t seem¡­like a boss room?"

    "I don''t think it is. There''s another tunnel in the back. Still, I think something mighte out, so be careful."

    "Yes. Stay behind me, Sally."

    And then, just as Maple took one step into the room, there was a cracking sound, and then a wall that was made of the same ore as the monsters came down and blocked their path.

    At the same time, the same ore started popping out of the ground all over the room. They were giving birth to numerous monsters all at once.

    "Woah! Monster house!"

    "What? What!?"

    "This isn''t good! We have to fight them one at a time¡­!"

    Some of the monsters they had never seen before. Sally was worried about piercing attacks, and so she pulled the hesitant Maple by the hand and they retreated into a small part of the path that was left.

    "Uh, it''s better if the attacks don''t reach us!"

    "That''s preferable, but¡­"

    And then Maple suddenly had an idea. Sheep wool suddenly started to grow from her body. It filled up the little alcove they were in, just like a wall.

    Then Maple stuck her head out in order to talk to Sally, who was between the sheep wall and the ore wall.

    "They''re really poking me back there, but I''m fine!"

    "Phew¡­ Okay. Then things might be easy. I''m going inside now, Maple. It will take a while, but I''ll deal with them one at a time."

    "By all means. Have a good time!"

    "Yes-yes. Excuse me."

    Sally said as she pushed her way into the wool. Then she poked her head out of the other side and began to defeat the monsters she had never seen before.

    Once you were rid of the possibility of piercing attacks, there was nothing to be afraid of.

    "It won''t get burned unless you''re against humans. This really is strong."

    "It''s my fluffy iron wall guard!"

    "That''s¡­not a contradiction, huh."

    They talked together while defeating the enemies. It was one of those unique battles that only urred when you were with Maple.

 Chapter 233

    Itai no wa iya 233

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 6th Floor 2

    For a while after that, the sounds of Sally''s dagger hitting something hard echoed throughout the room. But then it started to die down. Eventually, all of the initial monsters were dead.

    "Phew. Now for the throwaway match."

    "Oh, it''s finished then?"

    "Only the monsters without piercing attacks are left. It will be annoying¡­but the path is still blocked behind us. Ooomph! Ah¡­"

    Sally pulled herself out of the wool and swung her daggers around as if enjoying the freedom of movement.

    "You can do it, Sally! Though, I can''t see you¡­"

    It seemed like Maple was now changing positions inside of the wool. But as long as she had Dedicated Affection activated, she was doing enough work.

    Maple heard the sounds of many monsters being killed by the time she was able to stick her head out again.

    And just as Sally had said, it was like a throwaway match, and all of the remaining monsters were easily killed.

    "Nice, Sally!"

    "Hmm. I''m d I was able to be useful so quickly. And I got a lot of materials as well¡­ And look, the wall isn''t blocking the way anymore."

    "What should we do, Sally? Go back?"

    "We came all of the way here. Let''s go see what''s up ahead. There may be something interesting."

    They talked about it and decided to go forward while Maple kept the wool on.

    This was due to the possibility that they could step into another room that was a monster house.

    "¡­I suppose I''ll have to roll you."

    "Ready when you are!"

    And so Sally thrust her hands into the wool and started to slowly roll Maple down the passage.

    Ultimately, there were no more split passages. What they found at the end was a small altar with a treasure chest on top.

    "What do you think, Maple?"

    "It-it seems kind of suspicious¡­ But I don''t want to go back without opening it."

    "Yes. Well, let''s just do it then!"

    And so both of them stretched out their hands and opened the lid in one quick motion.

    There was no trap. They both sighed and then peered inside. There were two scrolls that would give you skills.

    "They seem to be the same. Alright, here''s yours, Maple."

    "Yay! I wonder what kind of skill it is?"

    [Crystalize]

    AGI is reduced by 50% for 1 minute in exchange for immunity from bad statuses.

    3 minute cooling time.

    Requires 100+ VIT.

    "I think I''ll give mine to Chrome. I''ll never be able to use it myself."

    Sally''s VIT was still at a 0. And as she had no intention of ever raising it, 100 seemed infinitely far away.

    "Well, I''m going to use mine right now!"

    Maple opened the scroll and acquired the ''Crystalize'' skill.

    "There are no monsters around here, so why don''t you try it once before a real fight?"

    "I''ll do that! Okay, ''Crystalize''!"

    And then Maple was enveloped in light. She was then coated in what looked like the same ore as the previous monsters.

    "My skin seems to have changed? But I can still move. It feels weird¡­"

    "That is strange¡­ But this is coated too."

    Sally said as she banged on the wool. A metallic sound rang. It also felt like a block of stone.

    "Do you think I will get stuck if I put my face inside?"

    "What!? Th-this is a little scary¡­ Huh? M-my arms are stuck. I can''t pull them back in¡­?"

    "Huh¡­?"

    Maple wiggled around, but her torso, which was sticking out, was also covered in wool. And it echoed when you knocked on it.

    "Well, its main effect is to make you immune to bad statuses, so this wouldn''t happen usually."

    Sally saw that Maple was half sticking out of what looked like a huge block of ore, and she shook her head.

    "Ohh¡­the things I have to think about keep increasing¡­"

    "That''s what makes it interesting."

    Maple muttered that she wasn''t sure she would be able to make use of it. And then they waited for the effects to go away. She had acquired a number of skills and items in this tower, and just needed time to test them out.

    "And there will be skills that we can trade medals for once we clear the tower. Though, I don''t know if it will be the same lineup as before."

    "Oh! That''s right. Hmm¡­ I should probably put some thought into which skills I take."

    "Why not just take the ones you want? You know, go by instinct. As long as you don''t choose something really weird, it should be useful."

    Besides, there was no point in thinking about it too much now, Sally added. Maple nodded in agreement.

    As they talked, the effects of Crystalize finally wore off, and they continued their exploration.

    "I guess we have to go in the direction of the spear-wielding soldiers now."

    "Spears¡­ I don''t like it. They look like they''ll use piercing attacks¡­"

    "Then let''s continue like this. You know, until those shields trap us."

    "Uh, really? ¡­What about the white arms?"

    "They''re not as bad inparison¡­"

    After having such a horrible time on the fifth floor, Sally was able to think that those hands weren''t so bad, since they didn''t move towards her or try to scare her.

    "Okay! Then just let me change my equipment and¡­ Alright, let''s go!"

    Sally rode on top of the floating ball of wool and watched up ahead. As long as there was no fire around them, the ball of wool could float around the dungeon.

 Chapter 234

    Itai no wa iya 234

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 6th Floor 3

    Some time had now passed since theypleted the first monster house, and Sally now looked very tired as she rested limply on top of the ball of wool.

    "I don''t want to go in any more big rooms¡­"

    "Yes¡­ There are too many monsters¡­"

    Every time they entered arge room in order to advance, the passages would be blocked and the room would overflow with monsters.

    As all of the monsters came head-on with physical attacks, neither of them were close to losing. However, the enemies had such high defense ability that it was taking Maple and Sally a long time to deal with them.

    "But I''m not getting attacked at all, because of you, Sally! Thank you!"

    "Hehe. I''m d to hear it."

    And so Sally pressed on and pushed her head out of the wool.

    "I hope the boss is not going to be like this too¡­"

    "Ugh¡­ I hope its a weak boss."

    In any case, it was also clear that there were no monsters in the tunnels that could defeat them. And while it took a while, they eventually reached the boss room.

    "What do you think, Sally? Should we go right in?"

    Maple stuck her head out of the wool and asked Sally.

    "There''s a good possibility that your attacks won''t be effective. And we''ll be in trouble if the weaker monsters show up as well, if we go in like this."

    And so they brought Syrup and Oboro into their n and made sure they had their items before finally charging into the boss room.

    "Okay! Let''s go in then!"

    They opened the door and went inside. There was arge, dome-shaped room, and inside stood a man of about 170 centimeters who held arge staff and wore a hat and coat like a magician. As soon as he saw them enter, he tapped his staff onto the floor, summoning crystal-covered monsters from the ground.

    "Woah! Here theye, Sally!"

    "Maple, let''s watch from above, just like we nned!"

    "Okay. Syrup, ''Huge''! ''Psychokinesis''!"

    Maple had Syrup float up in the air. While Sally was still inside the ball of wool, she used Web User to connect it to Syrup''s stomach.

    By using Maple''s aerial escape methods, a giant ball of wool that was attached to a turtle was now flying in a circle near the dome''s ceiling.

    And then they looked down to see what was happening.

    "Woah¡­there are more than I thought there would be."

    "Oomph! Agh, that''s crazy¡­"

    The ground was overflowing with soldiers that were covered in crystal armor. Even as they watched, the magician boss was summoning more and more of them.

    "The boss itself seems to have low defense and HP¡­"

    "It''s my turn then! Oops, better be careful about getting the poison on me¡­ ''Hydra''!"

    Maple thrust out her arm that was holding the short sword. The boss''s eyes turned towards the torrent of poisoning towards him, and he brought up a barrier.

    While the poison broke through the barrier, it still took a second to do so, and the boss was able to escape.

    Maple tried it again a few times, but the results were the same.

    "Uhh¡­ What should we do, Sally? I can''t hit him."

    "But at least we know one thing. He doesn''t move that much and he is slow. I think I might be able to hit him if I tried."

    "Oh! Good!"

    "First of all, we need to make him stop summoning them¡­ Then I suppose we''ll have to go back and forth. I hope we can deal a lot of damage¡­"

    Maple looked at Sally, who was deep in thought, and she too tried to think of something.

    Maple must have thought of something quickly, because she then looked at Sally with a look that suggested she had an idea.

    "¡­Did you think of a brilliant n?"

    "I think it is!"

    And so Maple whispered it into Sally''s ear.

    Sally''s eyes widened with surprise, but then she nodded and said that it was worth trying out.

    "Okay. Leave preparations for the retreat to me."

    "Thank you, Sally! I knew I could count on you!"

    "Besides, I want to see how practical it is."

    "Good. Then let''s do it!"

    And so Maple had Syrup move until it was right above the boss. Then Sally disconnected the web from Syrup.

    The boss tried to move away from the ball of wool that dropped straight down towards it, but Sally shot webs towards the ground to adjust their trajectory. And just as theynded right next to the boss, Maple activated her skill.

    "''Frozen Earth''!"

    There were sounds of cracking as the area around them started to freeze. Both the boss and the soldiers stopped moving.

    And so Sally shot out her webs again so that the ball of wool shot out towards the boss.

    "Sally! Help!"

    "Oomph. Okay!"

    Maple and Sally spread the wool apart and stretched out their hands. Then they pulled the now immobile boss''s torso into the wool.

    "''Crystalize''!"

    With the boss''s torso still inside, the surface of the wool hardened, so that its body was now trapped inside the ball of wool.

    While they could hear the nking of attacksing from the outside, none of them reached Sally or Maple.

    "Hehehe. It worked! Wee!"

    "Thanks. I don''t know what will happen¡­ So, 1 minute then."

    Sally and Maple met inside of the wool. They quickly went into their inventories and took out the items.

    It was the bombs that Izu had made.

    Then they buried them inside of the wool. These were items that prioritized lethality instead of a wide area of effect.

    "Oh, Sally. I think it will be loud, so here are some earplugs."

    "Thank you. I guess it''s almost time then."

    "Yes. All-out attack!"

    Sally was the only one that was being protected by ''Dedicated Affection.'' With Maple''s voice as the ignition, the boss area was filled with an explosive sound that shook the ground, just as pirs of fire and damage effects burst into the air.

    Fire,sers, bullets, ice, wind des, rocks. Everything was flying out of the ball of wool.

    Of course, the wool was also burned up. But at the same time, the boss was turned into ash and disappeared.

    And when the boss disappeared, so did the soldiers it had summoned.

    "It did seem to have low defense ability¡­"

    "But Izu''s items sure were strong."

    "Well, yeah¡­ If you''re hit by that many items at once¡­right? I almost feel sorry for it."

    "It''s survival of the fittest in this world! And we won the day."

    Luckily for the other bosses, Maple could only use ''Hair Growth'' once a day. And so the next boss would not have to be subjected to this attack that resembled self-destruction.

    "Should we go to the next one then?"

    "Of course!"

    And so they talked about getting through the next area quickly as they headed towards the 7th floor.

 Chapter 235

    Itai no wa iya 235

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 7th Floor

    "This ce¡­"

    "Another crazy location¡­"

    What was waiting for them on the 7th floor was a world of white. Not only was there snow up to their knees, but there was also a snowstorm raging. Furthermore, they were currently standing on the edge of a cliff.

    They both gulped. It was hard to believe that they were inside of a tower.

    Parts of their equipment was starting to freeze and the ice sparkled in the light.

    "What should we do, Sally? It doesn''t seem like there are any monsters here right now."

    "We''re on top of a cliff¡­ I guess¡­we should go down?"

    As it was hard to see anything because of the snowstorm, they decided to explore the area around them while being careful where they put their feet. They discovered that there was a path that would lead them toward the bottom of the cliff, and all other directions led to a dead end.

    "So I guess we have to go down there then. But¡­"

    "Ughhh. The wind is so strong!"

    Not only could they barely see, but their feet were buried in the snow. And with such strong wind, it would be hard to move down such a narrow path along the cliff. After all, Maple had trouble even on ordinary maps.

    "That being said, we have no choice but to go down. What should we do?"

    "Maybe we can get down easily if I call Syrup?"

    And so Maple tried to call Syrup, but for some reason, there was no answer.

    "Huh? Hmm. It doesn''t work. I wonder why?"

    Sally saw Maple''s reaction and then checked her status.

    She then saw that some of her skills and abilities had been sealed.

    "''Indestructible'' and the status boost is still there, but I can''t use Mirage anymore. Maybe it''s like that for you too, Maple?"

    "Oh¡­ Oh, no¡­ Still, it really feels like we made it to the 7th floor now!"

    "Oh, yeah. You seem really excited."

    Maple no longer felt too discouraged whenever the restrictions became heavier. As long as she didn''t receive any painful damage, there was no need to be pessimistic.

    "So, should we just go down properly?"

    But Sally seemed to have had an idea, and she looked at Maple with a smile.

    "Ehehe. Don''t you think there''s a shortcut?"

    "Hmm, right. I thought you would say that."

    They stood near the edge of the cliff that led to the path that would take them down.

    While they couldn''t see their destination when they looked down, Maple was sure she could jump down if she wanted to.

    In other words, the shortcut was a freefall that relied on Maple''s defense ability.

    "I can go with you as long as Dedicated Affection isn''t sealed too. Besides, the proper route would be really hard for you, wouldn''t it, Maple?"

    "Alright, let''s get ready then! Make sure you''re tightly secure, okay? It will be horrible if you go flying away¡­"

    "Okay. And I''ll have some items prepared just in case."

    She left one hand free for Web User and held the items in her other hand. Then she stuck her back to Maple''s and tied a rope around them.

    "While this is inside of a game¡­ It''s strange that we now think of throwing ourselves off of cliffs. This all your fault, you know?"

    "Ahaha¡­ Maybe we can go down normally when the weather clears up¡­"

    "Should we then?"

    "Okay! ¡­One, two¡­three!"

    They took in a deep breath and then waved their arms as they lept out into the air.

    And so they tore through the snowstorm and fell feet first towards a floor that they couldn''t see.

    "Uuuhhh¡­the wind is so loud!"

    "It¡­is!"

    The snowstorm grew weaker the farther they dropped until they could vaguely see the ground through the powdery snow.

    What soon came into full view, was something that looked like it would easily pierce through their defenses. And packed with sharp icicles that stretched towards the sky.

    "What!? No-no-no-no. Not that!"

    "We jumped onto a mountain of spikes¡­!?"

    Sally used the item in her hand as soon as she saw it. It was the item she got on the 5th floor where it rained. Arge globe of water popped out below them and floated in the air.

    "''Water Wall,'' ''Freezing Area''!"

    Therge amount of water from the skill and item was then instantly frozen through Sally''s skill. But its floating properties still remained. Maple and Sally crashed loudly into the block of ice and smashed it. However, they managed to slow down a little.

    "We can''t stoppletely¡­"

    Sally made another sphere of water and froze it. Then she attached her web to it and used it to forcefullyunch themselves towards the cliff.

    While there were sharp icicles near the cliff as well, it was better than the ground below them.

    "Maple. Your shield!"

    "Uh, ah. Right!"

    Maple held her shield up just as they crashed. The icicles that she wasn''t able to block scratched Maple, and damage effects flew.

    "Ugghh¡­"

    "''Heal.'' We should rest a little on this path here."

    Sally healed Maple''s wound and they both sat down. Maple rubbed at the spot where the ice had scratched her. Then she looked down at the icy thorns and her face grew pale.

    "I-I guess it really is bad to cheat¡­"

    "Yeah¡­ No more jumping down into things we can''t see."

    Still, they had been able to bypass most of the trip down and were now quite close to the bottom.

    "Phew¡­ My heart nearly stopped back there."

    "It''s a good thing that we didn''t go bungee jumping without a rope¡­"

    They talked a little until they had calmed their nerves. Then they slowly and carefully made their way down.

 Chapter 236

    Itai no wa iya 236

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 7th Floor 2

    They untied the rope that held them together and continued on. There was only a short distance left for them on the proper route.

    As they had skipped the area where it looked like something would happen, it was a rtively easy climb downward.

    In front of them, they could see the spikes that they had almost been pierced by. The spikes were taller than they were and spread out like a forest.

    "¡­Is it that way? Can we go there?"

    The snow had died down as well, and Sally could see clearly enough to make a narrow road between the thorns of ice.

    "We won''t get stabbed from the side. So that''s good."

    And so they made their way through the forest of spikes. As they walked, the forest suddenly opened up into a round clearing that was covered in snow.

    "A boss?"

    "It doesn''t seem like it''s here¡­ Oh, is iting now?"

    They could hear the loud cracking of ice. And then a giant ball that was covered in thorns rolled out towards them.

    And then it opened up.

    The boss that had appeared was a white hedgehog that looked like it was made of snow. Its needles were made of ice.

    "It''s so cute! But¡­but, it''s so cute!"

    "It will be bad if it rolls towards us like that¡­"

    But they had just seen it roll at such a speed that was shocking, considering its size and the fact it had sharp spikes on its back.

    It was making it pretty obvious that it could pierce through their defenses. And so they could not allow themselves to be hit by it.

    As they thought this, the boss rolled up into a ball and then charged towards them.

    "Maple, the shield!"

    "Got it!"

    Maple moved in front of Sally and tried to use her shield to block the attack. However, it was moving so fast that they were pushed back and blown off of their feet.

    "Ahh¡­ouch¡­"

    Maple stood up and brushed the snow off. A red damage effect was bursting from her shoulder.

    Sally immediately healed Maple and started to think of a new n.

    "''Heal''!"

    "Wh-what should we do?"

    "¡­Hmm? Maple, look!"

    Sally was pointing at the boss''s back. Two of the ice thons had broken off.

    Without those spikes, Maple wouldn''t have to be scared of any piercing attacks.

    "Let''s try it out. If we can break them while attacking and still defending, we should be able to defeat it."

    "Yes, I''ll try! ''Deploy all Weapons''!"

    The weapons expanded and Maple fired at the boss, which started to roll towards them again.

    And while it did no damage to the boss''s body, it was able to break some of the ice thorns.

    "It''sing!"

    "''Cover Move''!"

    Maple continued firing until thest possible second. Then she chased after the retreating Sally at a highspeed and dodged the attack.

    "Ehehe. It''s been a while since I dodged something like that."

    "If you get hit now, the damage will be doubled. So be careful, okay?"

    "Ah! That''s right. I can''t get hit¡­"

    "¡­It seems like there is no point in attacking while it''s rolling."

    "You''re right! They didn''t break."

    "In any case, let''s keep trying until we can damage it. It does seem like there''s been a change."

    "Yes! It''s not scary if you can dodge the attack!"

    "Since things are stable, I''ll leave the attacking to you."

    "That''s fine! Then you can distract it!"

    Maple would attack, then Sally would distract it so that Maple could escape from the charge. They repeated this until all of the needles on its back were gone.

    And then, just as they were ready for it toe at them again, the boss hedgehog slipped on the snow and fell on its back.

    It iled its legs wildly in the air.

    "That''s our chance!"

    "Tsk. But it''s kind of far away!"

    "Sally! Hold on!"

    "Huh? Ah, okay!"

    Maple directed her weapons to the ground and fired. The explosionunched her straight towards the boss.

    Shended on its open stomach and thenughed happily.

    "''Fireball,'' ''Triple sh''! Yes, it''s getting damaged!"

    "Uhh¡­an attack skill that I can use¡­ Ah, ''Pandemonium''!"

    Two giant onis appeared on both sides of the struggling hedgehog, and they began to bash it with their giant clubs. It was taking damage.

    "Thi-this looks weird¡­"

    "It''s not doing as much damage as I thought¡­ Huh!?"

    "Maybe it has strong resistance. Let''s move back!"

    The boss finally regained its posture and threw Maple off. Sally caught her and moved away from the boss.

    As there was a damage reduction to all attacks with the exception of fire attacks, they had not delt that much damage overall.

    "Hmm¡­ah! You two don''t need to attack anymore!"

    The onis were chasing the boss as it started to dig in the snow, but they weren''t doing any damage. After a short while, the boss reappeared with a newyer of spikes on its back. And so the onis started to bash it again with their clubs.

    However, before they were able to break all of the thorns, the boss charged straight into them, and they both disappeared.

    "Ah!"

    "Maybe its attack power went up! Maple, you better avoid being hit!"

    "Uh, yes! I definitely don''t want to that¡­"

    This would still take a lot of time. The key to winning here would be how long they could keep up their concentration.

 Chapter 237

    Itai no wa iya 237

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 7th Floor 3

    Dodge the charge, attack a little and then move away. They repeated this many times and chipped away at the boss''s health.

    As Maple could not use most of her powerful attack skills, and there were only two of them fighting, it was taking a long time.

    However, this was not an enemy that could damage them as long as they were careful.

    "Dodge¡­and attack!"

    "Yes. It''s below 50% now!"

    The color of the HP bar changed. Now that they were finally here, they concentrated even harder.

    It would all be for nothing if they lost here.

    As the two watched, the hedgehog started to dig into the snow until they could no longer see it.

    "Maple! Let''s move away for now!"

    "Got it!"

    Sally activated ''Icicle,'' and then shot a web towards it in order to move away from the ground quickly.

    Right after that, thorns of ice shot out from the ground in random locations and tried to pierce them.

    "Tha-that was close¡­"

    "We''ll have to be careful every time it goes under. Or does anything simr."

    "I see. I see."

    "It''sing out again. Let''s go back down!"

    "Okay!"

    Once the ice thorns were gone, the boss returned to the surface.

    The two waited for it to charge again, and then they tried to dodge it by moving to the side.

    However, there was yet another change in the pattern. And the boss changed its course and advanced in the same direction that they were moving.

    "What!? Co- ''Cover''!"

    Sally quickly activated the skill just as the ice thorns bashed into Maple''s great shield. And while the thorns shattered noisily, it did not kill the momentum and they went sliding across the ground.

    "Uggghhh¡­my head¡­"

    The damage effect appeared over Maple''s head as she patted it and looked back in the direction she hade.

    She could always heal as long as she was alive, but it was still painful.

    "Thank you, Maple. Sorry. I''ll let you escape it next time."

    "Yes. Thank you!"

    When the boss charged at them again, they jumped back in order to dodge it. And just like before, the boss followed them.

    "''Leap''! Oomph!"

    Sally used ''Leap'' and then shot out a web towards Maple in order to pull her out of the boss''s trajectory.

    The boss did not turn again. And so they watched as it continued to go straight and then fall over.

    "It would probably ve very bad if you got hit while using ''Cover Move.''"

    She normally didn''t even think about the doubled damage, but it could not be ignored when dealing with an enemy that used defense piercing attacks. It would be fatal to someone like Maple, who had low HP.

    "Do you think it will turn again when its HP gets even lower?"

    "Maybe. We''ll have to be more careful."

    For people who could escape to the air with their skills, the thorns from the ground were not much of a threat. And so they repeated the same process and continued to damage it.

    They also used the fire buff items that Izu had given them. And so they were able to chip away at the boss''s HP at a rate that made it hard to believe that their skills were being restricted.

    "Let''s jump on now!"

    "Okay. It''s attack time!"

    Fire spread from their weapons and skills as they attacked the boss that was now on its back. Finally, its HP dropped below 20%.

    However, right when it seemed like they almost had it, it sank back into the ground again.

    "Alright, let''s escape for now!"

    "Yeah. Its movements might change again. Be careful."

    Both of them stuck closely to the icicle as they waited to see what it would do next.

    Just like before, it was shooting numerous ice thorns out of the ground. But not only that, the hedgehog rolled up into a ball in the center of the field and began to spin at an incredible speed while shooting out thorns from its back.

    "Oh, no!"

    "''Cover''!"

    She could hear the sounds of ice smashing against her shield. They kepting, and it was all she could do to block all of them.

    "Woah¡­it''s really strong!"

    "Make sure you don''t get scratched by any of them!"

    They stayed there and endured the situation until the boss ran out of thorns. Then it tried to dive back into the snow. However, they would not allow it to do so.

    "We''re pretty good with ranged attacks too, you know!"

    "It''s so troublesome, so we won''t allow you to go down any more!"

    As there were no signs that the ground attacks would stop, Maple had Sally secure her to where she was as she began to attack withsers and bullets. Sally used magic and items and supported Maple.

    As they were able to use fire attacks, which were its weakness, its HP continued to drop.

    And then, just before it tried to dive into the ground again, the HP went to 0.

    "Yay!"

    "Yes! Nice guarding. Thank you."

    "No, it was all because of your ''Icicle,'' Sally. I would have died from those thorns in the ground without them."

    "Hehe. We both did our part. It was a lot easier because of you, Maple. In fact, we clearly skipped a lot of this dungeon¡­"

    "Oh, right. That''s how we got here."

    "Of course, we should look down next time, if we want to avoid being skewered."

    "Ahaha¡­ I''ll be careful."

    With three floors left, they decided to return for the day. They had used a lot of items, and Maple could no longer use some of her skills, including ''Machine God.'' And so they returned to the guild home in order to rest and regain their fighting ability, and also ask Chrome and the others about how much progress they had made.

 Chapter 238

    Defense Specialization and Progress

    Maple and Sally returned to the guild home just as Chrome and the others hade back to rest. It was perfect timing, and Maple ran up to them excitedly.

    "Oh, are you guys finished for the day too?"

    "Yes! We can barely use any of our skills now, so we''re taking a break."

    "How far were you two able to go?"

    "We just finished the 7th floor!"

    They epted drinks from Izu and then sat down on the chairs.

    Chrome and the others had apparently cleared the 9th floor.

    "Woah! That''s amazing!''

    "Yes, we need to hurry up and catch up with you guys."

    "I won''t say anything and ruin the fun for you two, but the boss on the 10th floor is really strong."

    "We came back because we lost to it. As I''m sure you''ll meet it soon, be careful."

    They looked very surprised when they heard this. This boss must be incredibly powerful if it beat all six of them together.

    "Best of luck¡­to you two!"

    "We''ll do our best to defeat it as well!"

    "Well, we were still mostly observing it, so I didn''t even use my magic books. But yes, it is definitely strong."

    They said that there were still items and tactics that they hadn''t used yet. But that didn''t change the fact that it was a very powerful enemy.

    "¡­Th-that sounds amazing. I''m getting nervous."

    "Maple, it''s way too early for that. We still have to clear the 8th and 9th floors."

    "That''s right! We best be prepared before leaving."

    "Let me know if you''ve run out of any items. By the way, I made some new items out of materials from the tower, soe take a look when you have time."

    "Thank you!"

    "Yes, that will help. We have to use a lot of items to raise our firepower when it''s just the two of us¡­"

    Because Maple''s firepower was usually the same, she could deal damage without relying on STR, but that also meant it was hard to deal more damage than she was already doing.

    This meant that Sally''s firepower became more important the stronger the bosses became.

    "We have three attackers inparison. However, I''m really starting to appreciate getting healed."

    "You''re used to having Maple around."

    "At least boss fights are quite easy, thanks to Mai and Yui being with us."

    "I''m d to be of help!"

    "We were able to do pretty well this time¡­"

    They smiled and seemed to be very happy about their achievements. Maple saw this and was once again very happy that she invited them into the guild.

    After that, they talked about the bosses that gave them the most trouble whileing here.

    "The book boss was really bad."

    "Yeah. It took away my sword skill and Chrome''s revive skill¡­"

    "And Yui and Mai''s attack power went way down."

    Aside from Maple, there were others in the guild who had very powerful skills. And sometimes, when they were taken away, their strategies would crumble.

    "Ahh. It was so terrible¡­ It took away almost all of my skills."

    "Still, you won by blocking all of the attacks, and forcing ''Dedicated Affection'' on it to widen the target, right?"

    "You''re as crazy ever, aren''t you?"

    Maple seemed like she had a thing or two to say in answer to Kanade. And she waved her arms as she said,

    "But Sally was amazing too! When I was being bitten by ''Predator,'' she avoided the attacks from ''Machine God'' and defeated it!"

    "It had been a while since I had to fight a boss without ''Dedicated Affection,'' and it was pretty fun."

    "So you can even dodge the ''Machine God'' bullets¡­"

    "That is one thing that no one can copy."

    The conversation slowly moved to the fact that there were not many floors that Maple and Sally cleared through normal means. Of course, Maple and Sally argued by saying it wasn''t normal that the group of six were able to defeat those bosses so easily.

    "I hope we can all explore together again once this event is over!"

    "Yes, that will be nice. We better finish this 10th floor in order to do that."

    "We''ll figure out a better n so we can clear it too. In fact, we''ll be waiting for you outside of the tower."

    "Don''t be so sure! We''ll try really hard so we can catch up to you!"

    After promising to go exploring together when the event was finished, they continued to talk excitedly about all of the things that had happened during it.

 Chapter 239

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 239

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 8th Floor

    The next day, the two of them prepared, just as they said they would. It was time to finally step foot into the 8th floor.

    "I wonder what it''ll be like?"

    "I guess we''ll find out."

    They stood side by side and took a step forward. Then the 7th floor''s magic circle teleported them to the 8th floor.

    As the light surrounding them started to fade, the saw that they were surrounded by a thick forest.

    It reminded them of the jungles of a previous event. There were no clear roads here. In front of them and behind them, it was the same forest that spread out.

    "Uhh¡­which way should we go?"

    "The direction we were facing when we teleported¡­maybe?"

    Neither of them was very confident. But there was no point in standing around. And so they started to walk forward.

    Then it happened.

    "!?"

    "Sally!?"

    She could see the effect of ''Empty Shell'' being activated from Sally. That was proof that Sally had been hit with an attack that would put her HP below 0.

    Sally spun around. Her two daggers were unsheathed and she looked sharply towards the trees.

    "De-, ''Dedicated Affection''!"

    While a littlete, Maple created the protective field around Sally.

    For a while, the two of them stood back to back and watched their surroundings. But there was no follow-up attack.

    Sally put away her daggers and sighed.

    "Hahh¡­ Thank you, Maple."

    "Never mind that. Are you okay?"

    "I think so¡­ Ahh. I couldn''t even sense anything."

    "Was it a trap?"

    "I don''t know. It''s too early to say. But I don''t think I could have dodged that attack¡­"

    "Yes, leave it to me! I''ll protect you!"

    As long as Dedicated Affection was activated, Sally would be fine, even if the attack came again.

    She barely thought about it as most attacks could be easily dodged, but Sally would actually die if she was hit by an attack twice.

    "Still, I don''t like how one-sided this is. Let''s find out who is doing this."

    "I''ll be on the lookout too!"

    Maple said as she developed her weapons so that she could attack at a moment''s notice. As they advanced like this, monkey monsters started to throw explosive fruits at them, and roots popped out of the ground. However, they were all powerless against Maple.

    "It would be a lot easier to explore without these monsters here¡­"

    As Sally was much more cautious than usual, they were unable to rx. And since the monsters were all attacking from far away, they could not hit them back.

    "The monsters keep running away."

    "Yeah¡­that''s true. And I don''t get any experience. Hmm. It''s annoying that I can''t go and cut them."

    They didn''t know what the boss was yet, and had no reason to attack for now. So they ignored the enemies and searched for the boss room.

    And then, the two of them discovered an old stone monument that was covered in vines.

    "Ah, Sally! There''s something here."

    "There''s no magic circle, so it''s probably not for a boss room. But I guess we should take a look."

    As they got closer to it, they saw that there were words written on it.

    "A path shall appear before the person who defeats the cunning lord of the forest."

    "Is that the boss?"

    "Probably."

    "Then we better defeat it¡­!?"

    As they were talking, Maple suddenly shot forward and her face smashed into the stone monument.

    Someone had attacked her from behind.

    Sally quickly looked behind her and saw that there was a giant chameleon stuck to a tree. Its tongue now retracted into its mouth and then it turned invisible.

    "That thing¡­!"

    "Agh. What? Did you see something?"

    "Yes. A chameleon. It''s probably the thing that first attacked me. Also, this is just a guess, but I think we''re already in the boss room. Or maybe the entire field is the boss room?"

    "So, does that mean we have to chase after it?"

    "Probably. But! It turned invisible. This is going to be very hard¡­ That attack seemed like it was only an introduction."

    With so many trees around them, the effectiveness of Maple''s ranged weapons were halved. Sally was also unable to sense the chameleon''s presence, which meant she couldn''t dodge its attacks. So she could not use her speed to scout the area as usual.

    "Now, let''s go chase after it."

    "We''ll have to test different things! ¡­Zzz."

    Maple said excitedly, and then immediately closed her eyes and leaned against the stone monument as she fell asleep.

    "¡­Maple? ¡­Ah, ''Sleep''!"

    It was a powerful status effect that was deactivated when you took damage, but made you immobile for 20 seconds.

    It was probably an effect of the previous attack that they hadn''t been able to see.

    And then, as if they had been waiting for this to happen, the monster monkeys started to throw the explosive fruits down on their heads.

    "Cunning¡­huh. It''s a good thing we have Dedicated Affection¡­"

    However, Maple wouldn''t take any damage like this. That meant ''Sleep'' would not be deactivated.

    "I guess I''ll just wait."

    Sally watched Maple sleepfortably and tried to think of a way to catch the chameleon.

 Chapter 240

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 240

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 8th Floor 2

    "Mm¡­uh, huh?"

    Maple slowly got up after 20 seconds and looked around in a panic.

    "Morning. It didn''t attack us again after you fell asleep."

    "I see. And Dedicated Affection is still activated¡­that''s good."

    "But¡­ It''s going to take a long time to catch a monster that uses ''Sleep'' attacks and can turn invisible."

    "What about using the item that Izu gave us?"

    Among the items they had received from her, there was one that made you temporarily immune to Sleep, but it didn''tst long. Also, they had only a few of them.

    So not only did they have to be careful when using them, but they didn''t know when the monster would attack.

    "We won''t even know how much HP it has unless we can get closer to it."

    "That''s true! Alright, let''s go and find it¡­!?"

    Once again, Maple was caught off guard as something mmed into her back. However, this time Maple was notunched forward into the air. Instead, she was pulled back.

    "Whaat!?"

    "This-this is bad! ''Super eleration''!"

    Maple had been pulled so far away that Sally couldn''t reach her with Web User anymore. And so she elerated in order to catch up.

    Tree roots attacked her from behind, and exploding fruits were thrown at her.

    "Ah! Woah! That was¡­close¡­"

    She rolled back into the protection range of ''Dedicated Affection,'' which was constantly moving away from her. Then she sighed in relief that she was still alive.

    "Uhhh. What a shock¡­"

    Maple wasn''t so much released from the thing that was pulling her, but thrown. She crashed and rolled noisily on the ground.

    Sally had reached Maple by now, and she used Web User to connect their bodies.

    "Connect the lifeline¡­hah¡­ I nearly had a heart attack¡­."

    "Yeah. You can''t tell when it''ll attack¡­"

    "Hmm. But it does seem to attack from the back each time. So at least we''ll know which direction it''lle from."

    But they had only been attacked 3 times. And obviously, it was always advantageous to attack from the back, so they couldn''t jump to any conclusions yet.

    "I''ll try shooting in its direction if it attacks again. Maybe I''ll be able to hit it!"

    "Yes. That would really help."

    As neither of them was able to detect it, they had to wait for the monster to attack first. Then they could act.

    And so the two of them waited for a while for the monster to reappear.

    "¡­It''s sure taking its time."

    "There''s no point in being careful. We won''t know either way."

    "Yes. Oh, by the way¡­!? Ah, Commence Attack!"

    It seemed that she had noticed something while talking, and so Maple fired off a round of bullets straight ahead.

    While her attacks were shredding up the trees and bushes, there were no damage effectsing out at all.

    Instead, colorful fruits fell down from the trees.

    "Ugghhh¡­ It sticks to your face."

    Maple said as she wiped her face with both hands. Sally took out a towel from her inventory and handed it to Maple.

    "It shoulde off after a while. But it''s still gross."

    "Yeah. Thank you."

    "So, while you didn''t hit it, something did fall down. We should go see what it is."

    "It might be materials or an item! Oh, I should change my equipment¡­ Maybe I should use Helping Hand to increase the number of shields."

    "That would be good! We don''t know where the attacks wille from."

    Maple wiped her face clean and changed her equipment. Then the two of them cautiously made their way towards the foot of the fallen tree.

    "Materials?"

    "No, it looks like items that are exclusive to this floor. There are three types."

    One item allowed you to see invisible monsters in exchange for making previously visible monsters invisible. The second item made you temporarily immune to status effects. And thest allowed you to see the chameleon''s current position for 10 seconds.

    "Ohh! We can beat it with these!"

    "True. We should explore the forest a little and try to get more."

    "Yes, let''s do that!"

    They were fine with getting attacked every now and then, since they were gathering the items in order to kill the boss properly afterward. They focused on getting the ones that told them the boss''s location, so they would be able to attack it.

    "Okay. Now we can fight back."

    "Alright, let''s go then!"

    Maple bit into the fruit, then she grabbed Sally tightly and set off the explosion, which sent her shooting through the trees.

    Maple shot towards their target and Sally used her webs to adjust the direction.

    They decided that they wouldn''t try and track it slowly. Instead, they would attack it straight on.

    "Sally! To the right!"

    "Okay!"

    She forced them to turn while in the air. And then Maple elerated once again by sting her weapons.

    "We''re close!"

    "Got it!"

    It was here that Sally bit into the fruit that would allow her to see the boss. She disconnected the web from Maple and jumped to a tree.

    In response, the chameleon stretched out its tongue towards her, but she was able to dodge it.

    "It''s easy if you can see it."

    While she knew it was risky, she used ''Leap'' to bridge the gap between them and then used her momentum to sh deeply at its face and tail beforending on the ground where Maple was.

    The chameleon became visible for a second as it thrashed about. Then it quickly disappeared into the trees.

    "Sally! The chameleon''s HP was at 50%!"

    "I see. So it''s pretty weak when fighting it like this."

    Sally bit into another fruit and returned her vision back to normal. Then she stretched her limbs.

    "Hmm. Maybe it''ll be dead after just one more attack."

    "Then we''ll have to find it again."

    Of course, things rarely happened the same way twice. And before they knew it, multiple chameleons had appeared around them as they moved about.

    Then they all disappeared, as if they had only meant to show that something had changed.

    "Do we¡­have to kill all of them?"

    "Maybe only one of them is the real one?"

    "Uhh. I hope there is a way to tell them apart¡­"

    "Maybe looking at the HP bar. But I doubt it¡­"

    They braced themselves for what promised to be a tough fight.

 Chapter 241

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 241

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 8th Floor 3

    "Let''s bring their number down first."

    "Okay! Let''s try that."

    Both of them bit into the fruits that allowed them to see the invisible monsters. And then Maple unleashed a barrage of bullets towards the closest chameleons.

    However, the chameleons quickly moved behind the trees and dodged the attack, as if they had been expecting this.

    "Hmph. It''s no good then."

    "So they can avoid attacks like that. We might have to use area attacks then."

    As soon as the firing stopped, the chameleons crawled back into view and started to attack them from afar.

    "Woah! They''re spitting poison now."

    "While we''re immune as long as you''re protecting us¡­this stuff is dangerous because it remains on the ground."

    "Do we have to kill them one at a time like the first one?"

    "That''s going to be hard. But I guess we have no choice. It will probably take longer to search for the real one."

    "Yes¡­ Area attacks¡­ah!"

    "What''s wrong?"

    "What about ''Paralyze Shout''?"

    This was a powerful skill of Maple''s that paralyzed enemies within a wide perimeter.

    "But they might be immune to it¡­ Hmm, but it''s worth a try!"

    "Alright. Let''s move to where there are more of them¡­ Sally, hang on!"

    Maple held Sally tightly. And then, just like before, she sted off into the sky.

    And when they arrived in a ce where there were three chameleons, she activated the skill.

    "''Paralyze Shout''!"

    There was an effect that looked like an explosion of electricity, and then two of the three chameleons fell to the ground.

    Maple and Sally did not miss the opportunity, and they finished them off with magic and bullets.

    But instead of turning into light and disappearing like most monsters, they swayed and faded away.

    "Yes, there must be a real one among them after all."

    "Hmm. But it seems the attack doesn''t always work."

    "It works well enough. Things will be a lot easier now."

    "Ehehe. I''m happy to be of use!"

    "Haha, of course, you are."

    While they had taken down two chameleons, it seemed like nothing had changed within the forest. As Sally had predicted, it seemed like they would have to take down the main one.

    "Alright! Onto the next one! Whaa!?"

    "Maple?!"

    Just as Maple was getting excited, something that was invisible mmed into her, and she went flying into the air.

    As they were connected by a web, Sally got pulled off of her feet as well. Since they had both bitten into the fruit, neither were able to see the monsters that they could usually see.

    "Ugghh¡­ Argh! I hate being taken by surprise¡­"

    "I-I want to get off this floor as soon as possible¡­"

    You could never get used to being attacked by invisible monsters. However, it was clear what they needed to do. They just needed to kill every chameleon that appeared before them.

    "I think we can use the paralysis items that Izu gave us. I''ll scatter them around. You concentrate on flying, Maple."

    Paralysis Shout could not be activated with Maple''s usual MP. She had depleted one of the effects of her skills in exchange for the MP.

    It would affect the number of times she could use Hydra.

    "Yes, I want to get to the top of the tower today! I have to save it."

    "Yes. But¡­depending on how things go, we may have to prepare before getting to the 10th floor."

    "Oh, right. The 10th floor is supposed to be really hard."

    "And I don''t want to lose."

    "Okay. Well, let''s hurry up and get through this floor then!"

    Maple elerated while Sally was in charge of steering them away from the trees. Sally would also bite into fruits regrly and guide Maple to where the chameleons were. As they moved so quickly, it was hard for the enemy tond any attacks once they were flying.

    And like that, the number of chameleons dwindled. At the same time, the icon for the fruits showed that they only had 10 left.

    "Th-the real one still hasn''t appeared yet."

    "Where can it be¡­ Maple! On both sides!"

    "Huh? Where-where!?"

    As Sally was currently under the effect of the fruit that let you know the location of the chameleons for 10 seconds, she saw the icons appear where there was nothing.

    And so she took out two fruits that would undo the effect and shoved one into Maple''s mouth.

    And then, one chameleon that was not invisible appeared before Maple.

    "It''s definitely this one!"

    "But, it-it''s running away!"

    "Leave it to me. We''ll catch up!"

    As she was unable to stop suddenly, Maple mmed into a tree in order to forcefullynd.

    Sally then disconnected the web and then charged towards the chameleon.

    "Super eleration! I won''t let you go! Leap!"

    The chameleon tried to use its tongue to move to another tree, but Sally jumped on it and stabbed her daggers into its back. It let out a single cry before bing very still. Then there was a pop as it disappeared.

    "Sa-Sally! Are you okay?"

    The bushes rustled loudly as Maple made her way towards Sally. At the same time, the trees began to sway, then, as if they had a will of their own, they began to move apart. A path had now been made in the forest.

    At the far end, there was a pir of light. There would no doubt be a magic circle at the bottom of it.

    "I¡­was able to take it down."

    "I knew you would! It surprised me¡­but it wasn''t too hard after all."

    "Yeah. It''s because of your defense, Maple. Also, it was pretty straightforward."

    "Okay, let''s go to the next one then!"

    "Yes, let''s do that."

    And so the two of them walked to the magic circle and stepped on it at the same time.

    They wondered about the next boss and what they would see on the way.

    The sight that greeted them was a sky full of stars.

    However, there was one thing that was bad about all of this. They were both up in the sky, and they were currently falling.

    "Uh¡­?"

    "Huh¡­?"

    They looked at each other.

    "AHHHH!?"

    "AHHHH!?"

 Chapter 242

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 242

    Defense Specialization and the 9th Tower

    "Maple, call out Syrup!"

    "Okay, got it!"

    But when Maple tried to call Syrup, the skill would not activate. Simrly, Sally was not able to activate ''Web User.''

    "I-I can''t do anything!"

    "So, we have to fall¡­?"

    And so the two braced themselves for a roughnding. However, they started to slow down after a while, until they stoppedpletely in the air.

    "We''re floating?"

    "It looks like it."

    Once they were calm, they looked at their surroundings. There were several star-shaped tforms in the air that shone brightly.

    Their own bodies were shining as well, and it seemed to be the reason that they could float in the air.

    "Look, Maple. I have a buff. It''s called ''Power of the Star.'' It looks like it onlysts for 2 minutes, though¡­ We have to step on one of those star-shaped tforms in order to be able to float for an additional 20 seconds."

    "So, we have to take breaks in order to not fall down!"

    "It seems like we can use our skills again now. So that means we''ve entered the battlefield as well."

    "That''s a relief. I''m counting on you again, Syrup."

    Maple made Syrup erge, giving them the advantage of free movement.

    Sally would also be able to shoot her webs at Syrup for an emergency escape.

    And then, as if it was waiting for the two to finish preparing, the sky started to change.

    "Something ising."

    "Yes, it''s fine."

    As the stars glimmered in the night sky, a ck pir that was so wide that both of them wouldn''t have been able to wrap their arms around it began to descend. And then two arms that were at least 10 meters long and had ws, sprouted from the pir. Then the top part disconnected from the sky, and two lights appeared like eyes where the face should be. A hole opened below the eyes and roared loudly.

    This was clearly no throwaway monster. Maple and Sally immediately felt nervous.

    "¡­Is that a boss?"

    "Probably! Maybe everything after the 8th floor is a boss fight."

    But unlike the boss on the 8th floor, this one didn''t seem to have any special gimmick. And the HP bar was disyed above its head. And so the two of them held their weapons ready for what seemed like a traditional fight.

    "We should act first!"

    "Let''s go straight to the boss!"

    Unlike the 8th floor, there was nothing to block their vision. Maple sted off as if to say that she didn''t require the ''Power of the Star.'' And she carried Sally until they were right in front of the boss.

    However, the boss had its eyes on them as well. And it swung its great arm towards Maple.

    "Oomph!"

    Maple twisted away and then used her great shield, which had ''Bizzare Eater'' in order to block the arm and deal damage. However, she was thrown into the air.

    "There''s Knock-back too!"

    "It doesn''t pierce through my defenses, so it''s fine!"

    While they hadn''t gotten that close, they were relieved to see that they had taken no damage. And so they recovered their position.

    "Alright, ''Deploy all Weapons''! ''Commence Attack''!"

    "Hey, wait!"

    "Huh?"

    Just as Maple started firing her guns, the light that enveloped them disappeared, and they started to fall towards the ground.

    "Leave it to me!"

    Sally pulled the web that was attached to Maple. Then she sacrificed her status in order to make a transparent foothold beneath her. She hopped around on them until she reached the closest star-shaped tform.

    "Phew¡­ I think even you would have died instantly, Maple. Be careful."

    "Uh, yeah. I forgot that it was for 2 minutes."

    "It''sing again!"

    "Uh! Uh! Ah! ''Heavy Body''!"

    As her STR was lower than her VIT, she would not be able to move. But in exchange, she would be immune to Knock-back for 1 minute.

    With this, she wouldn''t be forcefully blown away, and Dedicated Affection would protect them.

    "Nice!"

    "Ehehe. Mi told me about it! So I might as well make the most of it!"

    "It won''t be any good if we just attack it randomly and it does something unpredictable. We should watch it for a while. Bring Syrup a little closer."

    "Got it."

    "Maple. If you''re fine on your own, then I think I''ll attack it from a different direction. I know that I can dodge it and it might be better to have it target me."

    As they had continued from the 8th floor, Maple had already used her weapons multiple times, so there was not much left. Because of this, it was decided that she keep them just in case they fell again. And so Sally would focus on attacking with webs and air walking.

    "Be careful!"

    "Yeah. And don''t you fall down, okay?"

    "I-I''ll do my best!"

    Sally disconnected the web and then rose into the air to get her bearings.

    She was slower when moving in the air, and it was necessary to read the enemy''s attacks with precision.

    "If I distract it, Maple should be able to get to it with Hydra¡­ Oboro! ''Awaken.''"

    Sally had Oboro sit on her shoulder and then she moved towards the boss.

    "With a target this big¡­ ''Wind Cutter''!"

    First, she unleashed some magic in order to direct its attention away from Maple. It hit the boss and carved away a little bit of its HP.

    At the same time, the boss moved its body. And with that, ck des flew towards Sally.

    "Uhh¡­ It uses the same type to counter, huh."

    Of course, such an attack had no chance of hitting Sally, and she dodged it easily. Sally unleashed magic a few more times until she was sure that this was its way of countering.

    At the same time, she saw that it was no longer attacking Maple.

    "The enemy copies your attacks! And there may be Knock-back, so think about your timing when you hit it!"

    "Okay!"

    As for Sally''s Sword Dance, she hadn''t had to dodge much on the 8th floor, so its effects were still weak.

    The boss also had a lot of HP left, which suggested that it had very strong defenses.

    Maple would understand more than anyone that she had to get in some attacks as well.

    "It''s hard with nowhere to stand¡­ Hmm, I know!"

    Maple was wondering if she couldn''t think of a good idea before the next attack, when she suddenly pped her hands as if to suggest such an idea had juste to her.

 Chapter 243

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 243

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 9th Floor 2

    While Maple was thinking, Sally was chipping away at the boss''s HP bar.

    When she attacked at close range, the boss reacted by having what looked like thorns stretch out of its body. But all it did was help strengthen Sally''s Sword Dance buff.

    "Still, that''s a lot of HP¡­ And even I won''t be able to dodge it if I get much closer¡­ooomph!"

    She rose in the air as one of the arms thrashed in her direction. Then shended on a nearby tform.

    "Hmmm¡­huh?"

    As she was considering where to attack next, she saw that Syrup was on the other side of the boss.

    "Woah. What is that?"

    A white pir wasing out of Syrup and stretching towards the ground. And on top, Maple was sitting on a throne.

    Great shields floated on both sides of Maple, and Mirror of the Dark Night was ready in front of her.

    And from in between, a giant gun turret extended out, and Maple was aiming it confidently at the boss as she wore her crown and green clothes.

    "''Commence Attack,'' ''Poltergeist,'' Syrup ''Spirit Cannon''!"

    The four turrets that extended from between the great shields and theser from Syrup''s mouth were unleashed all at once. The boss''s body began to burn. Then Maple waved theser around and chased after the boss as it tried to escape.

    Of course, it countered the attack as well. And as Maple was moving slowly in the air, she could not dodge it.

    Five cksers attacked Maple, and they crushed her turrets.

    While there was no damage, the weapons were destroyed, and she didn''t have many left.

    "Hmph¡­ ''Poltergeist'' will be kind of meaningless¡­"

    Maple waited for the boss to target Sally again, and then she moved closer to the boss as if she didn''t need to care about Knock-back anymore. Then she stood up from her throne and struck the boss with Mirror of the Dark Night.

    Red damage effects bloomed, and while the enemy countered, she braved them with Heavy Body, which she could still use.

    And then she had Syrup move away.

    "Now it''ll be fine even if I can''t move!"

    "That''s a really bold attack!"

    Sally shouted as she bounced around from tform to tform below Maple, and dodged the swinging arms. Maple thought for a second before making Syrup move again and then stopped right above Sally.

    "Dedicated Affection protects you from above and below! So I''ll protect you from above!"

    "That''s great! Thanks!"

    Now, even if Sally did get hit, Maple would protect her.

    Furthermore, Maple was surrounded by three shields and the throne, so she did not get hit by the follow-up attacks. And she even had Damage Cut and Heal activated.

    All she needed to do now was take out Izu''s special potions andy them by her feet. Her perfect defense posture was nowplete

    "I just need to remember to use Pierce Guard¡­also Meditation!"

    Maple could use a lot more skills now, which meant she had more to think about. While she thought about how it was hard for her to get ustomed to them, she listened to the sounds of Sally fighting while using all kinds of skills below her.

    "Hmm. I can hardly use any attack skills while sitting down¡­hyah!"

    Maple picked up the paralysis item that Izu had given her, and threw it between the shields.

    As she no longer cared about being hit, Maple was so close that it was impossible to miss her target. The sound of electricity crackled as the yellow effect spread out.

    "It looks effective! Then¡­Ahh!"

    Maple starting pulling out more from her inventory andunched them into the air. All the while, the giant arms whacked at her from the side.

    While each individual item''s effects were weak, it was a different story when you could ignore all attacks and throw them one after another.

    "Good! It''s paralyzed!"

    "Thank you. Now I can go in and attack!"

    Sally didn''t miss her chance. She used a Doping Seed to raise her STR, and then started to carve away at the boss''s HP, before it countered with a paralysis attack.

    And just like that, when the HP was at 70%, the paralysis effect wore off, and the boss opened its mouth and roared.

    "I''m going to fall back!"

    "Okay. I''ll follow you!"

    They moved in the air as if connected until Sallynded on a tform that was some distance away.

    The boss was still roaring, and something in the air was changing.

    Severalets with fiery tails started to fall from the sky. They crashed into the star-shaped tforms and destroyed them.

    "Agh¡­I hate this¡­"

    "What are you going to do, Sally? Want a ride?"

    Maple asked as she lowered Syrup until they were right next to Sally.

    "Take me over there, where there are still more tforms. I should be safe if I stay close to you."

    "Got it! Alright, let''s hurry up before we get attacked!"

    "Yes. Still, it really is tough¡­ I had thought I did a lot of damage."

    "Yeah."

    The two of them rushed to get around it before the roaring stopped.

 Chapter 244

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 244

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 9th Floor 3

    "I''ll stay above you again."

    "Yeah, thanks."

    Maple let Sally down onto a tform and then slowly floated upward.

    The roaring had stopped now, and the boss''s ws reached out to sh at her. Sally easily dodged the attack and cut at its arm at the same time.

    "The number of counters seems to have increased¡­!"

    Sally sensed a presenceing from behind her, and so she immediately elerated forward.

    At the same instant, the space behind her tore open and ck thorns reached out for her.

    "I suppose I should be thankful they aren''t invisible¡­ Well, I can still dodge these!"

    Sally rushed up to the boss and started attacking it with her daggers.

    In response, severalrge magic circles opened up around the boss. One of them was positioned right below Sally.

    "Such a wide area¡­!"

    "It''s fine! Keep attacking!"

    Came Maple''s voice as Sally was about to run before it activated.

    She prepared Pierce Guard so she could use it at any moment, while also moving so that Sally would be in the area of effect for Dedicated Affection again.

    "Nice! Like this¡­"

    ck currents shot out of the magic circles. While it was clear that these were powerful attacks, they were not attacks that could hurt Maple, since she had now used Pierce Guard to be immune to piercing attacks.

    Sally left the defending to Maple as she jumped out of the ck stream and pulled out her daggers.

    "Good!"

    She easily slid past the counterattack, strengthening the Sword Dance buff and elerating the damage. By being aggressive with her attacks, she made it counter more often, which turned into her strength.

    As they were able to survive it, the ck streams that shot into the air was a good thing for them.

    She attacked ferociously whenever there was arge opening, hitting it multiple times and then retreating before the Power of the Star ran out.

    "I''ll start too¡­ ''Commence Attack''! Syrup ''Spirit Canon''!"

    Maple unleased theser from up above and had Syrup inflict additional damage.

    Of course, the enemy countered. But this time, she moved her great shields so that her weapons would not be destroyed.

    It would be much better for the attacks to hit Maple directly.

    "Good. Let''s keep going!"

    Maple stood up from her throne, which deactivated the skill restriction that would be on her as long as she was sitting.

    "''Oozing Chaos''! ''Hydra''!"

    In exchange for the damage cut and the healing benefit, her lowered attack ability was returned to normal.

    The poison and monster mouths attacked the boss, causing its HP gauge to dwindle.

    "Yes, it''s working! Wait¡­ahhhhh?!"

    If Maple was going to deal such strong attacks, then this would, of course, result in simr attacksing her way.

    As she was still not used to it, Maple wasn''t able to activate Heavy Body in time, and so the ck blob smashed into her andunched her into the air.

    And since she had been on Syrup all of this time, she did not have the Power of the Star buff on her.

    "Uh¡­!"

    "Hah! That was close."

    "Sally!"

    Sally had seen that Dedicated Affection was moving away, and so she used Super eleration to follow after Maple and catch her. Then she put her down on a nearby tform.

    "Thank you. You saved me."

    "You need to get back up onto Syrup. I''ll try and distract the boss. So go back without using any weapons."

    "Okay!"

    "Alright, Oboro ''Shadow Clone''!"

    Just as she promised, and with the help of Oboro, Sally attacked even harder than before.

    Sally had split into five clones and each was moving towards the boss.

    The arms shed and the cksers flew. There were even sudden attacks from behind her, but she dodged all of them.

    After Sally had delt more damage and the boss''s attention moved away from her, Maple was able to float up with the Power of the Star, and return to where Syrup was.

    "''Heavy Body'' and ''Pierce Guard'' and ''Crystallize''¡­uh¡­ I''ll have to ask Sally about how she''s able to use skills so smoothly¡­ But for now, ''Deploy all Weapons,'' ''Commence Attack''!"

    Maple still wasn''t used to some of her skills. But these were the ones she knew best, and so she unleashed the powerful attacks onto the boss.

 Chapter 245

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 245

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 9th Floor 4

    While the boss had an incredible amount of HP, all of its counter and area attacks could be dealt with. And without any decisive moves avable to it, it was no surprise that it started to lose the advantage.

    The effect of Sally''s Sword Dance had also reached its height, and so the only thing left was for her to attack aggressively now.

    "Just¡­thirty percent left!"

    "''Hydra''!"

    Maple''s continued attacks and Sally''s status effect including attacks finally poisoned the boss, and its HP decreased even faster.

    Because of this, its HP bar went below 30%.

    "I think it''s going to change again. Be careful!"

    "Yes!"

    As the two of them braced themselves, two pairs of arms drooped out from under the original pair.

    And then,ets enveloped in ck fire started to rain down from the sky.

    It wasing straight towards Maple and Sally.

    "It''s targeting us this time!"

    "Leave the defenses to me!"

    Maple moved the two great shields to over her head and blocked thergeets.

    "Uh! What!?"

    However, while the burningets did shatter against her shields, the ck fire spread out and covered Maple''s body. It ignored Maple''s defenses and started to damage her. She could feel the piercing pain.

    And while Maple was able to recover through the effect of Throne of the Heavenly King and the use of potions, it was not the kind of attack she wanted to be hit by.

    "So-sorry, Sally! This is an attack I can''t get hit by!"

    "Okay! Things are pretty bad here too!"

    The only time that Sally was able to get close was when all four arms countered at the same time, and she could only use magic that wasn''t as powerful.

    "Phew! Larger bosses are so strong!"

    Still, she looked for opportunities to sh with her daggers while dodging the attacks.

    She could not afford to be hit.

    It seemed that theets would fall, regardless of any damage Sally was inflicting, and they all flew towards Maple. As it was all Maple could do to move out of the way, she was unable to maintain her position above Sally.

    "It''s¡­from below!"

    Sally quickly escaped from the magic circle that appeared beneath her. Then she shed at the boss as she moved behind it. And then, just as she was going to have the Power of the Star buff replenished, a mighty roar echoed around them. And the star-shaped tforms were enveloped in ck fire.

    "What! This is bad¡­"

    "Syrup, ''Mother Nature''!"

    The voice echoed from far away. And then a huge vine stretched towards Sally.

    Sally immediately understood Maple''s intention, and so she dodged the arm that attacked her from behind and then ran up the vine to where Maple was waiting.

    "Thank you. You saved me!"

    "Ehehe. You''re wee!"

    Due to Sally''s HP, she could not take damage while recasting the Power of the Star buff.

    In order to return to Maple, her status would have had to drop to nearly 0 as she made enough footholds in the air.

    "You better use Heavy Body like that too, okay?"

    "It only happened to go well this time because I was looking at you."

    "Well, I''ll be counting on you until the tforms return."

    "Of course! Alright, it would be nice if you can use Heal."

    "Got it. I only ever use it in times like these, anyway."

    As long as Sally was within the effect of Dedicated Affection, and Maple was in good shape, then she was safe.

    And so they waited for a while on top of Syrup. Eventually, the tforms returned to normal.

    "I''ll help you again if it starts shouting, so you can focus on attacking! I can''t use Machine God or Hydra anymore."

    "Leave it to me. It was ridiculous that you were able to attack at all."

    The light enveloped Sally as shended on a tform. Then she turned to the boss.

    "We still have to go to the 10th floor. I want to beat this guy in one try!"

    This was not the kind of opponent she wanted to fight multiple times. And so Sally kicked off of the tform and flew through the air. As Maple was right above her, she would be able to deal damage without worrying about the enemy''s attacks.

    This meant she could use skills that involved attacks in quick session, without having to stop and avoid counter attacks.

    "Doing it like this deals more damage!"

    The boss was huge and its body moved slowly, so it was not able to avoid the rapid attacks of her two daggers.

    And since they did not depend on the tforms, any change in movement patterns was not a big deal.

    "''Triple sh''!"

    "''Oozing Chaos''!"

    Finally, they attacked together, and the boss''s HP went down to 0. And then, the boss''s body turned white, and it disappeared in an explosion of light.

    Maple lowered Syrup so that Sally could get on.

    "Now it''s just the 10th floor that is left!"

    "Good work. Should we end things for the day?"

    "Yeah. I heard it''s really strong¡­ So I''d like to recover my skills."

    "That''s true. Alright, we''ll do that so we can beat it in one try!"

    "Yes! Let''s do that!"

    And so the two decided to head to the final battle once they were in perfect condition.

 Chapter 246

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 246

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 10th Floor

    On the following day, the two of them stood in front of the tower, now that Sally''s Empty Shell and Maple''s Machine God skills were usable again.

    "Let''s finish it today!"

    "Of course. Besides, the event won''tst forever. And I can''t fight it multiple times in one day."

    Most of Maple''s skills had a limited amount of uses per day.

    So she was not fit for fighting a powerful monster over and over again.

    "Alright, let''s go to the 9th floor then!"

    They returned to the 9th floor and found the magic circle. Then they stepped foot into the 10th floor.

    The light faded in front of their eyes, and the scene in front of them became clear. What they saw was a great stone hall with streams of light that shone down. The ceiling was dome-shaped and the field was round. There was no visible path that led elsewhere. In the center of the room, there was a figure in heavy silver armor that glimmered in the light.

    As the head was covered by a helmet, they could not read the person''s facial expression, but it unsheathed its sword and pointed it at them, so there was no mistaking that it was hostile.

    "It''sing."

    "Yes!"

    The boss elerated towards them just as Maple raised her shield.

    Maple frantically held it in front of her, but the boss dodged it and cut down at Maple from the side.

    "Ah!"

    "Maple!"

    Maple went flying loudly into the air and crashed into the wall with an explosion of dust.

    Before Sally could check her HP, the boss started to attack her.

    "Ah¡­oomph!"

    She dodged the attack by a hair''s breadth and then returned with her own attack.

    However, since the boss blocked with its sword as well, she barely did any damage.

    "Tsk¡­!"

    Not to be outdone, Sally blocked the attacks as well, and then jumped back.

    However, the boss would not allow her to create any distance between them. And every time Sally took a step back, the sword came swinging at her.

    "''Cover Move''! ''Cover''!"

    At the same time, Maple moved in. ''Bizzare Eater'' swallowed the sword and gouged out a chunk of its body.

    "Nice!''

    Sally now had an opening, and so she jumped out from behind Maple and shed at its sides with her daggers and then moved towards the boss''s back.

    However, the boss ignored her and moved around Maple''s great shield and began to attack her where she wasn''t protected.

    "''Deploy all Weapons''! ''Commence Attack''!"

    Maple quickly prepared her weapons for a counterattack. And while the boss''s HP fell dramatically, it still did not stop.

    It swung up and down and stabbed. These three attacks in session were able to destroy Maple''s weapons, and graze her. Maple''s HP was greatly reduced.

    "Uuuuuuhh¡­!"

    "Maple, over here¡­!"

    Sally quickly shot a web towards Maple and pulled her away by force.

    The boss''s attacks hit empty space instead. Then it stopped and turned to look at them.

    "''Heal''!"

    "Thank you. Wh-what should we do!?"

    "I''ll do something about the boss''s speed. You make sure it doesn''t hit you!"

    This boss attacked and guarded without giving you an opening, and so there was rarely a time for Sally to retaliate.

    Fighting one-on-one just meant you would slowly grow more and more disadvantaged.

    Maple would have to deal damage to it somehow.

    Sally charged up to the boss and then parried its attack with her daggers.

    "Oboro ''Awakening'' ''Ghost me''! ''Ocean''! ''Ancient Sea''!"

    Pale mes were unleashed from Oboro, and water flowed out from Sally and ate away at the boss.

    Both skills had the ability to lower your enemy''s AGI.

    Not only that, but the fish that came from ''Ancient Sea'' also helped in spreading the water.

    While her movements were slowed, Sally felt that they could now finally fight on equal footing.

    "Tsk!"

    She ducked in order to dodge a swing to the side, but she lost her bnce, and it was then that three sessive attacks were unleashed onto her. Sally''s eyes widened as she tried to retreat, but all three attacks cut into her body.

    However, her body disappeared. And then she reappeared behind the boss.

    "Double sh!"

    She didn''t miss the opportunity she created and attacked with a powerful skill. Then Sally returned to where Maple was.

    "Had I not used ''Mirage''¡­I would have been cut."

    "¡­Uh, I''ll protect you with Dedicated Affection!"

    "But then¡­"

    "It''s fine! I don''t actually want to take any damage¡­ But these are the times that I have to protect you! Besides, I want to win!"

    "You can deactivate it if it gets dangerous, okay?"

    "Got it!"

    Maple activated Dedicated Affection and Throne of the Heavenly King. Then she used Encourage to raise Sally''s status.

    "Maple, you need to save your skills for when its movement patterns change!"

    "You can do it, Sally!"

    "Yes, I got this!"

 Chapter 247

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 247

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 10th Floor 2

    Sally faced the boss again and thrust her daggers out just as it charged at her. If she didn''t try to dodge it, the boss wouldn''t guard, and so her attacks would reach it.

    Sally had decided to give up evading and just deal as much damage as possible.

    "Uuuuh¡­uhh! ''Meditation''!"

    Maple was taking the damage for her, and while Throne of the Heavenly King cut down on some of it, a whole third of Maple''s HP was taken away.

    And so Maple had to maintain her HP by using recovery skills and potions.

    "For all the damage you do, I''m going to bring down your HP!"

    Sally took a step forward as the enemy took one back, and she attacked. As Maple wasn''t being hit directly, she was able to heal in time.

    This was not an enemy you could usually face head-on and sh at, but at least this way, they could deal damage.

    "''Triple sh''!"

    The boss''s attacks tore into Sally, while her own repeated hits caused damage effects to appear all over the boss.

    "In spite of all we''re doing, we''ve only brought it down by 20%!?"

    "I''m fine! I still have lots of potions from Izu!"

    "Tsk¡­but its movements are so simple!"

    Simple attacks in session, fast counterattacks, and circling. There were no gimmicks. It just pushed Sally with brute force.

    Sally didn''t even have time to think about how it''s movement patterns would eventually change.

    "And my firepower is at its highest today!"

    Her daggers were enveloped in the blue aura of ''Sword Dance'' as they shed against the long sword, causing sparks to fly. Sally also used magic, but the boss always dodged it.

    "¡­Maple''s Hydra probably won''t work either."

    Sally thought about how she could do as much damage as possible before the boss changed its movement pattern. Most of Maple''s attacks were single-shot, which meant they wouldn''t be able to do much damage once the boss dodged them.

    Furthermore, if the boss started dealing more damage, their current strategy would no longer work.

    "Phew¡­ Oboro ''Shadow Clone''!"

    Sally''s clones all attacked the boss at once, however, as if reacting to this, the boss''s sword shed. After a whirlsh, all of Sally''s clones were cut down.

    While Sally herself managed to move out of the way, her expression was severe.

    Inside her head, she separated the skills that would be effective and the ones that wouldn''t be, and shebined them with Maple''s and tried to think of a strategy.

    "Alright. Maple! I thought of a way to damage it, so listen! When I''m done, we''re going to chip away at its health until the pattern changes!"

    "Got it!"

    As Sally fought the boss, she told Maple her n. Maple listened and memorized the timing for using the skills.

    "Okay! I''m fine!"

    "In that case, ''Triple sh''!"

    Sally''s daggers carved away its HP. When it was down to 70%, the movement pattern changed.

    It swung its sword in a great arch and then moved away from Sally before putting a hand over the de. Then mes burst out from the sword and burned brightly.

    "Maple, I''m going to observe it for a while, so be prepared to heal me if I need it!"

    "Yes, I''ll do that!"

    The boss swung its sword and then pointed it at Sally. And like that, it charged towards her.

    Sally dodge the mes that shot at her and then blocked the sword with her daggers. It was then that the mes fell over Maple''s armor and reduced her HP.

    "Aghh¡­!"

    "It burns too¡­!"

    Sally stopped blocking the attacks, and instead, dodged them and moved so Maple wouldn''t take any damage.

    As all of its attacks dealt fire damage, dodging them at thest second meant you would be burned by the mes. So unless you kept a distance, it was impossible to fight without taking damage.

    "There are even fewer openings now¡­"

    If she stayed away, then fire des would fly towards her. It was because of this that Maple couldn''t call out Syrup.

    Still, Sally saw that its actual movement hadn''t changed too much, and so she gave the order to Maple.

    "Alright, Maple! I''m going to attack!"

    "Got it!"

    While Sally attacked and attracted the boss''s attention, Maple detonated her weapons and moved in all at once.

    "Frozen Earth''!"

    The ground froze loudly around Maple. It spread to where the boss was standing and stopped its movement for three seconds.

    "''Power Attack''!"

    "''Hydra''! ''Oozing Chaos''! ''Predator''!"

    In those three seconds, they sted it with as many heavy and easily dodged attacks as they could.

    Predator meant that the boss''s status was lowered even further. Still, three seconds was not a long time, and the boss started moving again.

    Just as the two of them tried to move away, the boss thrust its sword into the ground.

    At the same time, a red magic circle appeared around the boss.

    "This is bad¡­!"

    "''Savagery''!"

    Just as Maple shouted, a massive pir of fire shot out of the ground.

 Chapter 248

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 248

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 10th Floor 3

    The mes eventually died down. And while Sally was unhurt, Savagery crumbled right in front of her, and Maple came rolling out.

    Sally picked her up and moved away from the boss.

    It seemed like the boss stayed still for a while after special attacks. However, neither of them was in a position to take advantage of it.

    "Ah, that was close¡­"

    "I''m sorry. I didn''t think it had any hidden moves left."

    "Maybe going in like that was a bad idea? I can''t use Savagery anymore¡­"

    "Deactivate Dedicated Affection. If the area attackse, you''ll die before I can heal you."

    "Okay. You''ll have to dodge them then!"

    "Leave it to me. It''s what I do best."

    Maple brought out her weapons again and raised her shield.

    Sally also held her daggers up and heightened her concentration once again.

    "Let''s go, Maple. ''Phantom World''!"

    "''Commence Attack''!"

    There were now three Maples as the firing began. A tremendous amount of bullets sprayed over the boss.

    As they were keeping a distance from it, its attacks for dealing with clones did not reach them. Instead, the boss created a wall of fire to protect itself from Maple''s attacks.

    "Ohhh, please break!"

    Maple''s prayer was answered, and the wall of fire began to fade, but then as if to dodge the bullets, the boss jumped upwards and flew towards Maple.

    "''Pierce Guard''!"

    In order to do as much damage as possible, Maple pointed the gun barrels upwards and prepared to hit it with ''Bizarre Eater.''

    The mes zed hotter and the sword was now like a giant pir of fire as it cut into Maple''s clones. As the mes were not piercing attacks, she could not stop them, but the damage from the sword was still nullified, and she survived.

    Maple ignored the disappearance of her clones and swung her great shield, gouging out part of its shoulder and body.

    "Once more!"

    Maple swung her shield again, but it was blocked by the fiery de and pushed aside. And then without losing any momentum, the boss charged forward.

    Maple had no way of dealing with it perfectly.

    Still, Mapleughed as if it were all ording to n.

    "Sally!"

    "''Quintuple sh''!"

    Sally had moved away when Maple started firing. She had been using Oboro''s ''Quick Shadow'' to hide. Once she was no longer targeted by the boss, she waited for her chance to attack.

    Sally had used Doping Seeds to the limit, and it was like this that she unleashed the highest session of attacks that she could. With thebined effects of the ''Pursuing de'' skill, the weight of 10 attacks from each hand went into the boss''s defenseless back. And the sword that tried to attack Maple stopped.

    Due to receiving such overwhelming damage, the boss''s movement priorities changed, and it thrust its sword into the ground.

    The magic that caused a massive pir of me to burn them earlier was about to be activated again.

    "''Quick Change''!"

    "''Heal''!"

    "''Aegis''!"

    Maple quickly drank a potion, but as that wasn''t enough, Sally healed her. And then she made a dome of light that would block all damage.

    Powerful moves should be met with powerful moves, and so an instant kill attack had to be met with the ultimate defense.

    A storm of roaring mes zed around them.

    "Our chance!"

    "Yes!"

    This time, they would not let its pause go unpunished. Maple fired her guns and Sally unleashed a barrage of attacks. They took its remaining HP down to 30%.

    Then shock waves erupted, and while neither were injured, both were pushed away.

    Sally immediately returned to Maple and healed her. Then they watched the boss.

    Maple went back to her original equipment and called out Syrup, securing more firepower.

    "It went well!"

    "Don''t get too excited just yet."

    In front of them, the boss made another burst of mes surge from its sword in the ground. And then the ground cracked, and several pirs of fire erupted,pletely changing the field.

    Five swords of fire now hovered behind the boss''s back. They were stronger than the de enveloped by fire.

    "¡­I guess this is where the real battle begins."

    "We won''t lose!"

 Chapter 249

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 249

    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s 10th Floor 4

    Now that the boss had finished changing its form, it prepared to attack. The five swords at its back started to fly towards Maple and Sally at an incredible speed.

    Sally not only dodged them easily, but she pulled Maple out of the way with her web as well.

    "''Cover Move'' is no use. Double damage now would be bad!"

    "Yes, thank you!"

    After they moved out of the way, the swords stopped in the air and then turned towards them again.

    That was when they both realized that five new swords had appeared at the back of the boss, and their eyes widened.

    "There''s more!?"

    "Maple! Let''s finish this quickly!"

    "Y-yes!"

    They knew the situation was only going to get worse, and so they moved in on the boss.

    "''Provoke''! ¡­I''ll stop it somehow! You attack it, Sally!"

    "Okay. I''m counting on you!"

    While the 10 swords flew towards Maple, Sally faced the boss alone.

    "Syrup, ''Rampart''!"

    Several walls came up and surrounded Maple. While they were destroyed on impact, they managed to stop some of the swords.

    She also guarded with the great shield in spite of the depletion from Bizzare Eater, but three of the swords still stabbed into Maple''s body. After being hit directly, Syrup''s HP was reduced to 0, and half of Maple''s HP was taken away.

    "Agghh¡­ Sally, you can do it!"

    "Oboro, ''Shadow Clone''! ''Wind Cutter''!"

    She used magic to force the boss to guard and then used her Shadow Clones to provoke it into attacking.

    "As long as I know your movements¡­!"

    Sally used her clones, which died with one hit, as bait, and closed in on the boss. There was a sh, and the sharpened de cut her into half. Immediately after, her body disappeared and a damage effect appeared on the boss.

    Sally had used Mirage as a second decoy, and she now cut at the boss from behind.

    There were no other decoys to protect her now, and the boss''s ming sword swung towards her.

    "''Super eleration''! I made it!"

    Sally elerated and moved away from the sword while rolling on the ground.

    "''Oozing Chaos''!"

    Maple used a powerful move in order to stop the counterattack towards Sally. And then she started to fire her guns.

    While she managed to hit the boss and its HP dropped, it was not enough to take it down.

    At the same time, five new des appeared in the air.

    "So tough!"

    "Arrgh, we''re so close!"

    They were close, yet so far. And since Maple was taking damage, the situation was bad.

    "Th-this¡­"

    Fiery swords and the boss itself came flying towards Sally. Sally took in the situation calmly.

    No matter how she tried to dodge, two of the swords would hit her.

    "Minimize the damage¡­!"

    As Sally was thinking, something shot out in front of her with the sound of an explosion.

    The swords must have hit it because damage effects burst in the air. She then saw Maple standing there with three great shields.

    "Sally! Heal me!"

    "''Heal''!"

    While she blocked the attacks with her three great shields, the mes still burned Maple. However, thanks to Sally''s healing, she had just a little HP left.

    "''Frozen Earth''!"

    The boss froze just before it could attack Maple.

    Maple checked its remaining HP and saw that it was down to 20% before she activated her skill.

    "''Break Core''!"

    A red sphere shot out of Maple and sparks flew.

    It was a super powerful exploding attack. And it would activate in 5 seconds.

    Upon seeing this, Sally used Icicle and Sand Wall to prevent the boss from escaping.

    Attacks that it usually would have been able to dodge would hit it now.

    "Now I can¡­hit you!"

    Before the boss could move out of the way, Maple''s skill activated, and a pir of light shot up to the ceiling with a roar.

    The boss''s HP dropped dramatically. Maple had 1 HP left thanks to the effect of ''Indomitable Guardian.''

    When the white light faded.

    The boss remained, with just a little HP left.

    "!?"

    As Maple watched in shock, a magic circle that wasrger then previous ones appeared on the ground.

    "Wh-why¡­what?!"

    Maple was no longer able to think. Sally had risen into the air and used her web to pull Maple up.

    Sally quickly threw Maple up into the air and then used ''Impact Fist'' to send her even higher up.

    Immediately after, the mes of hell shot up from underneath them.

    Sally made a tform in the air and kicked off it and plunged towards the fire.

    "¡­!"

    ''Empty Shell'' activated and nullified all damage as Sally elerated even more.

    Before the mes could reach Maple, Sally shot through it and then used her two daggers to cut open the boss''s throat.

    The mes stopped at the same instant. And as they died down, the boss fell to the ground.

    "Thanks to your protection¡­I made it."

    Sally put away her daggers and caught the falling Maple with both arms.

    "¡­Phew."

    "¡­Ehehe."

    "We won!!"

    "We won!!"

    The two of them practically fell as they sat down, exhausted. Then they looked at each other and smiled as they high fived.

 Chapter 250

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 250

    Defense Specialization and After the Conquest

    After they stepped on the magic circle and left the tower, a message appeared from management. It congratted them on finishing the tower and talked about the reward.

    They were given 5 silver medals forpleting the tower.

    "So that''s 10 including the medals from the guild fight."

    "I think I''ll choose now."

    "Yes. Maybe there are different skills this time."

    "Well, I''ll return to the guild when I''m finished choosing."

    "Okay¡­ The 5thyer, right?"

    "¡­Yes."

    They used their 10 medals and were teleported to the skill selection space.

    After some time, Sally returned to the guild home. Maple had already finished and was sitting on the sofa.

    "Hm, so you finished quickly, Maple."

    "I wasn''t sure which to pick at first, so I just went with the obvious one."

    "Well, I already have a fixed direction as well."

    "Ehehe. This is mine!"

    Maple said as she showed her skill to Sally.

    ''Unbreakable Shield.''

    Halves damage for 30 seconds.

    3 minute cool down.

    "I see. You did receive quite a lot of damage during thisst fight."

    "It would have been nice if it blocked all damage¡­"

    "I''ll let you know if I ever find one like that. Mine is ''Water Maniption.'' It''s a skill that lets you control water."

    "Is it different from¡­water magic?"

    "It''s the type where the skill level can be raised, so I thought it might be interesting. Also, I can freeze it to make tforms to stand on."

    "I look forward to seeing what it''s like."

    As they talked the other six guild members came in.

    While they were tired, they looked quite happy. Maple and Sally could understand why.

    "Oh! Maple and Sally! We beat the 10th floor!"

    Chrome said happily.

    "Hehe. So did we."

    "We somehow beat it in one try!"

    "Woah! That''s amazing. It was pretty strong, wasn''t it?"

    "It burned us so much!"

    "So you beat us to it. But we were so close."

    "Did you already decide on your skills?"

    And so the two of them told the others about their skills. As for the other 6, they said that since the 7thyer would be released soon, they would decide after clearing it.

    "Then next time, we''ll all fight together on the 7thyer!"

    "¡­Ma-Maple. I''d like to do it like during the tower¡­"

    She didn''t need to think to know what the 6thyer boss would be like.

    It was not an enemy that Sally could fight.

    "Yes. We can explore again when we reach the 7th floor, okay?"

    "All of us fighting together, huh? That will make things a lot easier."

    "We''ll do our best!"

    "¡­So will I!"

    As everyone had aplished their goal, they would all continue on to the 7thyer next.

    After some time had passed, the day came for maintenance and the implementation of the 7thyer.

    Maple and the others nned to gather together as soon as possible and start work on the dungeon.

    And so the 8 of them gathered in the 6thyer guild home and reviewed the boss''s abilities before heading off to the dungeon.

    "¡­Uh, is Sally really alright?"

    Kasumi asked as she looked towards Sally, who had copsed on the sofa with a scarf wrapped around her head. From between the cracks, she looked at them with an expression that suggested she was dying.

    "She''s usually so strong."

    "We''ll just have to finish this quickly."

    And then they went out into the field.

    Maple immediately activated Savagery.

    "Uh, Sally?"

    "Yes. Thank you¡­"

    The other members saw Maple open her mouth as Sally went inside. The other members couldn''t help but protest.

    But Sally''s resolve was strong.

    "This is still better¡­"

    She said as she settled inside of Maple''s mouth.

    In that case, they should kill the boss as soon as possible, they thought. And so the other 7 rode on Maple''s back as she ran through the field and the dungeon.

    Once they were in front of the boss room, the rest was quite easy.

    "Attacks without attributes don''t work on it, so use these."

    "I got a good buff skill today."

    "We should use items too."

    As was their custom before a fight, Mai and Yui were stacked with buffs. Then they would paralyze the enemy under the protection of Maple''s Dedicated Affection.

    "This will be so easypared to the tower!"

    "We have to finish it quickly for Sally!"

    When they opened the doors to the boss room, a giant ghost was there to greet them.

    Its appearance was most frightening and it was indeed a powerful bosspared to what was out on the ordinary field.

    However, for these eight, or now seven, who had beaten the tower, it was no threat at all.

    "It''s paralyzed!"

    Kasumi''s shes paralyzed it. Then Maple ran towards it with Mai and Yui on her back. Then she put them down.

    "Here we go!"

    "Here we go!"

    Now that it couldn''t move, powerful attacks mmed into it one after another.

    Of course, there was no boss in this area that could withstand such attacks, and after only a minute had passed since they entered the room, the giant ghost exploded.

    "I collected the dropped materials."

    "Then let''s go up¡­ Is Sally really okay?"

    While everyone was worried, Maple stopped right in front of the nextyer and then let Sally out of her mouth and deactivated Savagery.

    "Are you okay?"

    "I''m nevering back here¡­"

    Sally stood up and looked ahead towards the 7thyer with a worried expression.

    "I''m sure it will be different?"

    "Yes¡­alright! Let''s go! Let''s go¡­!"

    Sally made up her mind and they all entered the 7thyer.

    The scene that spread out before them was of a vast, naturalndscape. And a variety of monsters running around.

    This was ayer where monsters lived.

    Some of them were friendly. In other words, the 7thyer was a ce where monsters could join you.

 Chapter 251

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 251

    Defense Specialization and the 7th Layer

    After reaching the 7thyer, Maple and the others rushed to the guild home as if they could not wait to start exploring. After that, they split up and started to explore the town.

    In the center, there was a huge tree that seemed to stretch to the sky. And in the town, there were waterways and intersecting roads paved with stone. If you looked up, you could see wooden bridges that connected the trees in aplex web that included tree houses.

    "Alright! Let''s explore!"

    Maple was full of curiosity as she dashed through the new town. And for a while, she walked down the streets and looked at everything around her. She quickly noticed something that was very different from other towns up until now. All of the NPCs that were stationed here had some kind of animal with them.

    "Oh! It''s just like me and Syrup!"

    And so Maple went around talking to the NPCs and gathered information in different stores before returning to the guild home. When she was back, she saw that the others were there too, after finding out their goal on thisyer.

    "Hey! Everyone! How was it?"

    Maple was having so much fun and could not wait to share it with everyone.

    And so Sally began to tell them the information she had gathered.

    "Wee back. I''m sure you know this by now, Maple, but the 7thyer is a ce where you can get pet monsters like Oboro and Syrup."

    "Yes! Yes! There are apparently all kinds of ways you can make them join you!"

    The information they had gathered was not about any special event. Regardless, they had found out that there were different methods of befriending the monsters. Defeating them or giving them items etcetera.

    "However, it seems like you still have to use ''Bridge of Bonds,'' so I can''t befriend any monsters outside of Oboro."

    "¡­?"

    "Oh, you didn''t know that yet? While implementing the 7thyer, they changed it so that the Bridge of Bonds effect can only be carried once by each person."

    And since Maple and Sally already had the rings for Syrup and Oboro respectively, they could not acquire any more monsters.

    "Oh¡­I see. Hmm. Well, it''s fine because I have Syrup!"

    "So, I guess we can help the others on thisyer?"

    "Yes! Let''s do that!"

    As Maple and Sally already had monster buddies, they decided to offer their help to the other six.

    "That would be great. After all, it will be really hard if defeating a strong monster is one of the conditions for taming."

    "Yeah. Well, I guess we should start exploring around then. Thisyer seems reallyrge."

    They could see that the field stretched out far from the town. There were snowy mountains and steep cliffs, and volcanoes in the distance.

    "Maybe we can mark down the monsters we''d like to befriend and then search for them. I''m not sure what to choose yet¡­"

    "I wonder if there''s a monster that will help me produce items¡­"

    "Let''s do our best too! Mai!"

    "Yes, Yui."

    They all thought about what kind of monster to get. And then started to gather more detailed information about which monsters were in what areas.

 Chapter 252

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 252

    Defense Specialization and Searching for a Buddy

    That being said, the 7thyer had only just been implemented. Maple and the others were in the newest area, and so they had to gather all of the information by themselves.

    "So? Have you decided which monsters you want to befriend?"

    Maple asked Mai and Yui, who were currently looking for information on the message board.

    "Maple! Uh, not yet. We were thinking about looking together."

    "I see. Then I''ll help you two! You know, I can protect you wherever you go!"

    "Thank you. That would be a great help."

    Mai bowed politely. And then Yui bowed as well. Maple would be able to carry them with Savagery or with Syrup, and she could also protect them with Dedicated Affection.

    "Alright, let''s go then! You won''t be able to choose unless you see them for yourself!"

    "Yes!"

    "Yes!"

    And so the three of them headed out to explore. There were lots of monsters on the 7thyer, and some of them could join you if you fulfilled the requirements.

    You could tell if a monster could be befriended by a mark that appeared next to their HP bar.

    Maple activated Dedicated Affection and then went around with Mai and Yui and checked different monsters.

    "Even if you know which one you want, it''s hard if you don''t know how to do it."

    "That''s true¡­and sometimes you''re not allowed to defeat them."

    Mai and Yui were good at destroying monsters, but they had difficulty when they had special requirements thrust upon them. As they specialized in dealing damage, there was a lot of things they couldn''t do.

    "Why don''t we go to the forest over there first? I''m sure there will be animals in there!"

    "Yes! Let''s do that!"

    And so Maple changed directions in ordance with Yui''s suggestion, and they entered the vast forest that was near the town.

    Only a little light leaked through the trees here. It was quite dark and there were a lot of bushes.

    asionally, a monster would jump out and try to attack Maple, but they ignored them. They were searching for monsters to befriend.

    "Ah! There''s one!"

    "Huh!? Where!? Where!?"

    Maple looked to where Yui was pointing and saw that a small bird monster was perched on a tree branch. There was a mark that shone next to its HP bar, which showed that you could befriend it.

    However, before they were able to do anything, the little bird flew off.

    "Ah¡­it''s gone now¡­"

    "Hmm¡­ That''s too bad¡­ Next time, we should have an item prepared!"

    Maple said as she took out an item. The item''s description said that it was bird food that bird monsters were especially fond of. And so they would be prepared next time.

    "Ah, but you are only able to befriend one monster¡­what will you do?"

    "Hmmm. I''d like to decide after seeing more of them!"

    "Me too¡­ It would feel bad to have to let them go after befriending them¡­"

    "Alright, then let''s continue to search!"

    They continued to go deeper and deeper into the forest, in order to find other kinds of monsters. On the way, they saw more birds like the one that flew away, along with wolf-like animals and butterflies, frogs, and lizards.

    "All of them seem to be animals here? I wonder if there are more monster-like creatures."

    "There are different areas, I think¡­ But I think I would prefer a cute animal-type."

    "Me too!"

    "Then maybe this is the best area. Though, we''ve already seen a lot of it¡­"

    Maple was about to ask them if there were any that they particrly liked, when a bear cub rushed past them. There was a trail of light behind it, and there was something about it that was different from the birds and other monsters.

    "Maple!"

    "Yes! Let''s chase after it!"

    The three of them followed the trail of light and moved around through the forest. But as they advanced through the forest without a clear path, the glowing pawprints disappeared, and they lost itpletely.

    "Ohhh¡­no. It seemed like a rare one too."

    "That''s too bad¡­ I hope we can find it again."

    "Maple! Could you please help us search for it a little while longer!"

    It seemed that they had decided who they wanted, and so Maple readily agreed.

    "Of course! And not just one, but we''ll find two of them!"

    Upon hearing Maple say this, Mai and Yui smiled happily.

    "Maybe we should go deeper into the forest? That''s where we first spotted it."

    However, while Maple was very enthusiastic about starting the search, Mai seemed to be thinking about something.

    "Ah¡­but, maybe we''re too slow to be able to catch it¡­"

    "Oh¡­ Yes, it was very fast when running away¡­"

    As the forest was thick with trees and bushes, Maple could not move very fast even when she had Savagery activated. Even though she could mow down yers and monsters, it was difficult to navigate through the trees and chase something.

    "Maybe it would be better to go back once and ask Izu. It will just be sad if it runs away again."

    "Yes, it can''t be helped. But I hope it''s not a firste, first-served situation."

    "I''m sure it will be fine! Also, we can have Sally help us next time! Sally is a lot faster!"

    Maple said to them. And so they returned to the town.

 Chapter 253

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 253

    Defense Specialization and Alone Together

    They returned to the guild home and headed for the workshop. Izu was there and spinning several tools at full speed as she created something.

    Since she looked to be so busy, they weren''t sure if they should talk to her. But Izu must havepleted her work, because she stretched her arms and was just about to walk out of the workshop when she noticed the three of them standing there.

    "Ah, you''re here. I''m so sorry that I didn''t notice¡­ I have so much to do."

    "Uh, are you making a new item?"

    "That''s right, Mai! A lot of new equipment and items have been added on the 7th floor. Items to tame monsters or raise the encounter rate of rare monsters¡­ A lot of it can''t be bought in stores. It''s fun, but also a lot of work."

    Izu then told them confidently that it won''t be too long until she would be able to give them the items and equipment.

    "I see. We juste here to ask if you had an item we can use!"

    Maple said as she exined the situation. And so Izu took our some items and equipment.

    There was a drink that temporarily raised your AGI and an item that you threw at monsters to lower their AGI. She also offered various solutions for them. Of course, everything Izu made was very effective and was guaranteed to make up for Yui and Mai''s slowness.

    "For now, wear these if you want to raise your AGI. No one in our guild ever changes their equipment¡­ But it''s important to make adjustments based on the situation."

    "Thank you!"

    "Thank you!"

    Mai and Yui put them on immediately. And then they walked around the workshop so they could get used to moving faster.

    "Oh, this is good!"

    "However, while you are faster now, I still don''t think you meet the standards of the 7th floor. Let me know if it''s not enough, and I''ll prepare something else."

    Mai and Yui thanked Izu again. They were quite excited and said they were sure to catch it next time. Of course, just catching up probably wasn''t enough to tame it. So they would have to try it as many times as possible.

    "I hope to hear some good news soon."

    "We''ll gather materials for you as well! There''s a lot of new stuff out there!"

    Maple promised. And then the three of them left the workshop. She was just about to message Sally and ask for her help, when Sally walked into the guild home.

    "Ah, Sally! Perfect timing!"

    "Hmm? What is it?"

    "Uh, the thing is¡­"

    Maple told Sally about what had happened in the forest. Sally nodded with a look of interest.

    "I didn''t see anything about it on the information message board, so it might be rare. It will be hard finding it again¡­but I hope you do."

    "Right! So, we want you to help us so we can catch up to it¡­"

    Maple said, but Sally shook her head. She told them that she had to study for an uing test. So she was going to logout.

    "Don''t you have to prepare too, Maple?"

    "Uhhh¡­that''s true. But we''re so close¡­"

    Maple remembered the test and scratched her head. It was now harder to help Mai and Yui. And so she started to wonder what she should do.

    "It''s okay! We have the items from Izu, after all!"

    "Yes¡­ You''ve helped us enough already."

    They said. And so Maple stopped thinking and nodded.

    "Oh, okay! Well, I hope to hear some good news too!"

    "We won''t disappoint you!"

    "I-I''ll do my best!"

    And so Maple said goodbye to them. She and Sally waved their hands and then logged out.

    Now that they were left behind, Yui and Mai looked a little worried. Still, they went out into the field with determined expressions.

    "We''ll find it no matter what!"

    "Yes, let''s do our best."

    That being said, both of them would die in one hit if they were attacked by the monsters on the 7thyer. They knew this well, and so they had no choice but to kill the monsters first.

    And so they activated their new skills as soon as they went out onto the field.

    "Destroy Mode!"

    "Destroy Mode!"

    It was the medal skill they had acquired. Red sparks flew when it was activated, and their bodies and weapons were enveloped in a red aura. An overwhelmingly intimidating aura shone off them as they advanced through the field.

    [Destroy Mode]

    When activated, it increases the hitbox of an attack. Shortens cool-down for skills. Halves VIT. Doubles damage that is taken.

    While that would have usually been a severe demerit, they already died in one hit, so it was the same for them.

    Still, in spite of the fact that the two of them were carrying such deadly hammers, monsters continued to attack them.

    "It''sing, Yui!"

    "Yes! Leave it¡­ahh!"

    The great hammer swung towards the wolf-type monster that jumped towards her. However, it was too high and did not hit the wolf. But the moment that the aura surrounding the weapon touched it, there was arge sound as the monster went flying into the air.

    And then the wolf rolled on the ground and exploded into light.

    "Wow! The hitbox is so big now!"

    "Yes¡­ Now it will be a lot easier to hit things!"

    They said happily. The other yers on the field who were watching them looked horrified. There were no other yers that were as distinct as these two. And now they had witnessed their instant kill attack suddenly having much more range.

    However, both of them were thinking only of the bear cub in the forest. And they took no notice of the looks they were getting.

 Chapter 254

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 254

    Defense Specialization and the Search for the Bear Cub

    And so the two of them entered the forest and started to search for the bear cub. As Maple was not with them, they had to be extra careful about monsters. They could not allow themselves to be attacked.

    "It would probably be best to wait for Maple to return, but I can''t wait that long!"

    Yui''s eyes shone as if she could barely even keep still. Mai nodded.

    "Uhh, it was pretty far in the back, right¡­?"

    "Yes. We have to go deeper."

    As they walked, they suddenly saw a bush shaking up ahead. And so they stuck their backs together and watched.

    It was then that a monster boar flew out from the bushes.

    "Hahhh!"

    "Hahhh!"

    They kept their backs together as they rotated and swung their great hammers. They would not be taking precise aim. Instead, they used the two weapons and their increased hitboxes to create a space thatpletely filled the area the boar was entering.

    As there was nowhere to escape, it would get hit. And what was just as certain, was that it would not survive the power of their attack.

    And so, just like the previous one, the monster exploded into light. And the two of them sighed in relief.

    "Good¡­ It would have taken us a long time to get back here."

    "Huh¡­ I hope we find it soon."

    While there were several close calls, they killed a few more monsters after that. And they finally reached the area that was close to where they found the bear cub.

    "It was somewhere around here¡­"

    "Hmm. Now it just depends on whether it will show up."

    It was while they cautiously searched the ground for it, that it suddenly jumped out of some bushes.

    "Ah!!"

    "Ah!!"

    It happened so quickly. And they did not have enough time to hit it with an AGI lowering item before it ran away again.

    They frantically drank their AGI raising potions and then moved through the bushes as they chased the glimmering star-like trail that it left.

    "Yui! A monster!"

    "Don''t get in our way! ''Flying Attack''!"

    Yui and Mai activated Flying Attack together, and the four shockwaves sted the monster away. Then they hurriedly looked for the trail and continued to rush through the forest. However, they kept getting attacked by monsters and were still unable to catch up to the bear.

    "Oh, it''s going to get away again!"

    "Ah! Yui! Look out!"

    "Huh? Ahhh!?"

    The pressure had made her less watchful, and so she was unable to react in time when the monster came. Its attacknded. And no matter how high their attack ability was, if they took a single hit, it was over.

    "Ah, Yui! Ahhh!"

    Mai was so distracted by what happened to Yui, that she also was not able to react in time. And like that, both of them were sent back to the 7thyer''s town.

    When they opened their eyes, their expressions were filled with regret and disappointment as they slumped down on a bench.

    "Ahh! We couldn''t do it¡­"

    "Should we try again?"

    "Of course! We can''t give up yet! We won''t be able to tame it if we give up so easily!"

    They decided to keep chasing it until some kind of change urred. And so they headed for the forest once again.

    Obviously, it would be smart to wait for Maple, but they also felt that they should get used to the forest in order to make exploration go much smoother.

    Ultimately, they died two more times, and on their third return to the forest, they were unable to find the bear cub at all.

    Time continued to pass as they walked around and searched for it.

    "What happened? It doesn''te out anymore."

    "The ce¡­it should be here."

    And then they thought of something. Maybe it only came out under certain conditions.

    "We could have just been lucky¡­no, I don''t think it''s that¡­ Should we trying back the same time tomorrow?"

    "Let''s do that! If it doesn''te out under the same circumstances tomorrow, then we''ll think of what to do then."

    They had already decided that their goal was to tame the bear cub. So the only thing to do was to keep moving towards it.

    "Should we stop for the day?"

    Mai asked. Yui thought about it before making a suggestion.

    "Why not practice fighting with the monsters in this area? Sally said it was important to get used to these things!"

    "That''s true. Besides, we need to raise our level."

    "Then it''s decided! And we can give the materials we gather to Izu and have her make something!"

    And so the two of them started training in order to get used to the forest monsters, which would help them get the bear cub.

 Chapter 255

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 255

    Defense Specialization and Encounter

    They went to the forest together on the following day as well. And while they were defeated by monsters more than a few times, they were eventually able to arrive in the part of the forest where they had spotted the bear cub.

    "Th-this time¡­it took us a while."

    "Yes. I think we need more practice."

    Still, they felt that it wasn''t too bad, as they at least knew which part of therge forest to start looking in. Not having to walk aimlessly in the forest meant they could minimize the number of encounters, which meant idents would be less likely.

    "Ah! There!"

    "Oh, good¡­"

    The same bear cub they saw yesterday now appeared in front of them. Apparently, it really did depend on the time of day

    And so they chased after it, hoping to catch it this time. Monsters attacked them on the way, but as they had gotten used to fighting them yesterday, they were able to take them down. Like this, they advanced smoothly through the forest, until the paw prints started to lead towards the mountains.

    "We''ve gone pretty far, haven''t we?"

    "Hmm¡­ We''ve never gone so far before."

    Both of them continued down the wild road while following the paw prints and floating stars.

    After a while, they reached a small cave that was in the middle of the mountain.

    "Let''s go in!"

    "Yes¡­!"

    They gripped their great hammers tightly and walked into the cave. The floating stars from the paw prints rose into the air and illuminated the ground and walls.

    Gradually, the path into the cave widened, and the lights became stronger. And when they reached the back of the cave, they were greeted to the sight of a bear cub sleeping in a cradle of stars.

    The ce was like a small bedroom and was filled with blinding light.

    "Agh!"

    "Agh!"

    The bear cub got up as if reacting to their voices. Then it looked at them. In the next instant, the lights in the room became brighter, and then gathered towards the bear.

    In the brief instant that the two had closed their eyes due to the brightness, the bear cub had suddenly grown into a giant bear. And it roared in a low voice.

    Stars were scattered over its body. They illuminated the tips of its ears and fur.

    "It''s kind of like Syrup!?"

    "''Erge''¡­maybe¡­ What should we do!"

    They had thought they might be able to tame it if they caught up. But now there was a very strong-looking monster ring at them.

    They still didn''t have enough items either. As they stood there and wondered how they could make it join them, a blue panel appeared in front of them.

    ''Show your power.''

    Beat the monster in battle in order to make it join you.

    It was treated like a quest and showed them how they could tame the monster.

    Upon seeing this, their expressions brightened. Show their power. That was the thing that they did best.

    "Let''s go!"

    "Yes! Though, I won''t be able to show restraint¡­"

    "We''re sorry!"

    "We''re sorry!"

    In the next instant, a low thud echoed and could even be heard outside of the cave.

    "I-is it alright?"

    "I¡­I don''t know¡­"

    In front of them was the bear that they had defeated in one hit. As they worried that they had used too much power, the walls and floor around them began to shine brightly again.

    And then the bear got up heavily and slowly approached them. Then it rubbed its head against their legs and let out a small cry before turning into light.

    "Uhhh¡­"

    "Wh-what happened?"

    When the light disappeared and they opened their eyes again, there was a single ring on the ground.

    It looked just like the rings that Maple and Sally had.

    "Yay!"

    "Yay!"

    They picked it up and smiled as they high-fived each other. That being said, this was only half of their goal. They needed to acquire two of these. And so their search for buddies had not ended yet.

    "Alright! Let''s do it one more time!"

    "Yes, we made it this far. It should be fine¡­we can do it!"

    It was still hard to get to this point, but the actual fight had been easy. And so they were both eager to continue.

    However, and this was something they would not even realize, the fight to acquire a rare monster was actually very difficult.

    Yes, in other words, just like they always did, they had killed it in one shot before something could be activated.

 Chapter 256

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    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 256

    If you are seeing this, then you dont read it on our website. Please read it at:

    Defense Specialization and Matching

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    Enthusiasm tends to increase after you seed once, and so they continued without losing any momentum and cleared the fight on their second try as well. And like that, they were both able to tame a monster.

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    "Ahh! That was tiring!"

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    "But¡­we were able to do it¡­without any help."

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    They sat down on the sofa in the guild home and looked at ''Bridge of Bonds'' on their fingers while smiling with satisfaction.

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    As they rxed and enjoyed the sense of achievement, Izu came out from the back with an equally satisfied expression.

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    "Ah, you two. How are things going?"

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    "Perfectly! For both of us. Look!"

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    "We tamed them!"

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    They said as they showed her the rings and exined what had happened. Izu nodded happily when they talked about how useful her items and equipment had been. And then she told them that she had something she wanted them to try if they were interested.

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    "I was able to make an item that allows you to change the appearance of your monsters. You know, from what you just told me, it seems like you have the same monster. So why don''t you try it out?"

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    "Yes! I''d like to see it!"

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    "Me¡­too¡­"

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    "It''s decided then. Will you follow me?"

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    Izu took them to the workshop and told them to call out the monsters.

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    "Oh, now that I think about it, I haven''t chosen a name yet."

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    "We were so busy thinking about acquiring them¡­"

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    They decided to pick names after finishing this. And so they called out their monsters. Two adorable bear cubs appeared at their feet. Both of them rubbed against their legs, showing how attached they were.

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    "With this type¡­ Maybe effect coloring and also fur color."

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    "Do you mean we can change it to any color we want?"

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    "Yes. You''ll be fighting together for a long time after this. So it should be something that you like."

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    When the 7thyer was implemented, you could not change the appearance of monsters or activate any skills, but a feature was added that allowed you to walk around with them in the guild home and town.

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    So they would be something important to the yer, instead of being ignored after taming.

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    They thought long and hard about which colors to choose, but in the end, they settled on the same color scheme as themselves.

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    Mai chose shiny ck fur and green for skill effects. Yui chose white for fur like a pr bear and a pink color for effects.

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    "Good! Now, I''m going to name mine Yukimi!"

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    "And mine will be¡­Tsukimi, I think."

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    "I think those are good names. It''s very much like you two."

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    Now that they had finished naming them, they knelt down and petted the bears while calling them by their new names. The bears looked happy as they rubbed against Mai and Yui.

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    "Ehehe¡­ I look forward to working with you."

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    "I''m relying on you, okay!"

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    After petting them for some time, Mai suddenly thought of something.

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    "The others¡­ They haven''t tamed any monsters yet?"

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    "Yes. I''ve shut myself up in the workshop the whole time, and I think Chrome is still undecided. I don''t even know where Kanade is¡­ I think Kasumi went to the 4thyer for a change of pace."

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    "Then, it''s our turn to help you!"

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    "We''ll gather materials and information. Also, I want to raise Tsukimi''s level."

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    "I''m counting on it. The 7thyer is so big, so it''s hard to start from scratch."

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    "We''ll do our best!"

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    "We''ll do our best!"

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    Mai and Yui still had a lot to do. They had to practice doing coordinated attacks with Tsukimi and Yukimi now. However, their eyes were shining and they seemed to be having fun.

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    And during the same time, there was one member who was away from the front lines and on the 4thyer.

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    "Hahh. It would be best if I could take one with me from this floor¡­but it''s not possible."

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    After learning what she could about the 7thyer, Kasumi found that she wasn''t really interested in the monsters on thatyer, and so she hade down to the 4thyer which had the monster town.

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    She had been hoping to be able to tame one of the monsters here, but she wasn''t able to find any with the mark next to their HP.

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    "I guess I''ll wander around a little bit longer before going back¡­"

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    Maybe the monster she was looking for was still here, and she just needed to find it. She would just have to take her time and search.

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    And so Kasumi entered a nearby building in order to replenish her energy.

 Chapter 257

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 257

    Defense Specialization and Addition

    ¡°So¡­ I guess these are the items that were added.¡±

    Every time a new map was added or there was an event, Kasumi woulde to the 4thyer and check to see if there was any new furniture.

    When she did, she would often clear small quests to get the furniture. And it would not be an exaggeration to say that she had explored more of thisyer than anyone else.

    ¡°Maybe I should also check to see if there were any new quests added.¡±

    As the 7thyer had now been implemented, the monsters here would now feel very weak.

    And so as a breather, Kasumi decided to visit a tavern where you could often ept quests.

    The ce was filled with all kinds of monsters, who sat around tables and talked loudly to each other.

    It was all conversations Kasumi had heard before, and the faces were also familiar. However, her eyes suddenly stopped at one table in the corner.

    She saw arge frog sitting there politely.

    ¡°That¡­is an unfamiliar face¡­¡±

    When Kasumi approached the table, a blue panel popped up in front of her and disyed the quest name.

    ¡°¡®Fog Valley in a Faraway Land¡¯? ¡­Was this added recently¡­?¡±

    Kasumi smiled and epted the quest with great expectation.

    And then, the frog in front of her began to talk.

    ¡°Oh, is there something you wanted to ask me?¡±

    ¡°Uh, something like that.¡±

    ¡°Kekeke. Indeed¡­I have something interesting to say¡­though, I don¡¯t know if you will believe it.¡±

    The frog said. And then it began to talk about a valley floor that was filled with fog.

    ¡°They say that there is a monster there. And so I went there to test my own bravery, believing that there was no such monster. However¡­there was. A monster so terrible that you will not be able to move when you see it.¡±

    Kasumi asked the frog to tell her more, but the frog closed its mouth.

    ¡°You n to go there, don¡¯t you? ¡­Kekeke. Don¡¯t go. You won¡¯t be able toe back alive without power. Well¡­as for the rest¡­I¡¯ll tell you if you are strong enough.¡±

    It said, and then the quest description was updated. It told her to defeat specific monsters. And it wasn¡¯t only on the 4thyer. She would have to go to the 5th and 6th as well.

    Kasumi had onlye here for a change of pace, and so she was quite surprised. But in the next instant, she realized that there was no way she wasn¡¯t going to do it. And she flew out of the tavern.

    She had be certain that this was thetest quest, and she was so excited that a smile naturally appeared on her face.

    ¡°Hehe¡­ So, what will it be¡­ Strong or weak¡­¡±

    Kasumi decided to start on the 4thyer as she raised her speed and moved towards the field.

    ¡°First¡­hmm. The small demons of the west.¡±

    The thing that she had to do on the 4thyer, was defeat these small monsters. However, while they were weak when alone, they had a tendency to appear inrge numbers, so you had to be careful when going solo.

    When Kasumi arrived at her destination, the small demons called each other and swarmed around her.

    This time, she had to kill a certain number of them within a time limit after killing the first one.

    Kasumi unsheathed her sword and with a puff of smoke, changed her appearance as she looked at the small demons.

    ¡°¡®Arm of the Warrior¡¯ ¡®Mind¡¯s Eye¡¯!¡±

    Kasumi entered her fighting stance, summoning two arms, and activating the skill she acquired with the medals.

    [Mind¡¯s Eye]

    Effective for 1 minute. 5-minute cooldown.

    It allows you to see the hitboxes of monster attacks and yer skill attacks in advance.

    When using Mind¡¯s Eye, Kasumi saw red lines for where the clubs would swing. In other words, she knew where not to be if she didn¡¯t want to get damaged.

    ¡°I wonder if this how Sally sees things¡­ Blood de!¡±

    While she was surrounded, she could see all the ces that were dangerous. And so she was able to calmly twist her body and dodge attacks. Then she activated Blood de and turned her sword into liquid. She used it as a whip in order to attack the small demons over a wide area.

    The others were automatically cut up by the swords that floated on both sides of her.

    Kasumi hadn¡¯t just used the medal skills to raise her attack ability, she used them to help keep herself stable duringbat.

    Not only could she deal with enemies at close range and middle range, her defense ability had also been raised. And so her abilities while solo was quite high.

    ¡°One minute¡­alright. Mind¡¯s Eye¡¯s effect is gone now.¡±

    There was a sharp metallic sound as she sheathed her swords. And like that, all of the small demons that had swarmed around her turned into light and disappeared.

    ¡°Blood de really is useful. Now, onto the 5thyer.¡±

    Kasumi finished the first requirement easily and now headed for the 5thyer.

 Chapter 258

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 258

    Defense Specialization and Addition 2

    And so Kasumi ran toward the designated area on the 5thyer.

    Her goal here was to acquire material that was in the deepest part of the dungeon.

    "I haven''t been here in a while¡­ Well, let''s clean this up quickly."

    She kicked the ground that was made of clouds and dove into the dungeon. Inside, the walls and floor were made of clouds and were blindingly white. And in the passages, small droplets of water and ice floated in the air.

    There were also bolts of lightning that shed regrly with a deafening crash.

    You would probably take quite a lot of damage if you forced your way through.

    "But I won''t know unless I try¡­ ''Tenth of the de ¨C Adamantine''!"

    Kasumi downed a potion she got from Izu that raised Paralysis resistance and reduced lightning damage. Then she activated her skill, which in exchange for lowered AGI and DEX, raised her status effect resistance and reduced damage.

    "Alright, let''s do this."

    Lightning shed as Kasumi dashed through the passage, but she was able to get through without a problem. She had been especially wary of paralysis, but she was safe. And the doubleyers of damage reduction meant she was able to recover just fine after drinking another potion.

    "¡­!"

    As she drank her potion and continued down the passage, the waterdrops and ice in the air started tobine, and they turned into monsters that were shaped like ice crystals and water drops.

    Just as Kasumi unsheathed her sword in order to defeat them, the monsters let out a high-pitched noise and then stuck together, creating a wall of ice to block her path.

    "So, they''re going to use the environment¡­ I''ll push through! ''Arm of the Warrior'' ''Sixth of the de ¨C Homura.''"

    Kasumi summoned the giant arms on both sides of her, then she enveloped her own de in fire and melted the ice wall as she cut through it.

    The walls were really just monsters that had transformed and had raised durability. So she just needed to hit them with an attack that exceeded that durability, and she could break them.

    After the wall crumbled, she saw that there was another one behind it.

    And then behind her, lightning that was even stronger than before was closing in.

    However, as Kasumi had highbat ability and defenses, she was able to break through the passage head-on, even though she did take damage.

    "Alright. ¡­Hey, I''m not so bad after all."

    Other members of the guild seemed to grow in very distinct ways and were strong when they cast buffs in advance in order to mete out attacks with high attack power.

    And so Kasumi was relieved to see that her attacks were still quite effective.

    When she got through the passage with the lightning, she came out into a wide room that had two passages leading deeper in.

    "That¡­"

    And there was a single small bird that slept on the white cloud floor, as if it were a part of it.

    The wings and white feathers were made of clouds. When Kasumi got closer, the bird didn''t so much as fly, but float away down one of the passages.

    "I need the feather of the parent bird. I guess I should chase it then."

    There were two routes, but Kasumi took the one that the small bird had gone in.

    "Maybe those kinds of monsters¡­can be tamed as well."

    This quest had popped up on the 4thyer, and so Kasumi was reminded that she should check the otheryers regrly as well. It was with such thoughts that she looked down the passage.

    "It looks like a blizzard¡­"

    After seeing this, she nned ahead with items and skills so she could break through it. Kasumi repeated this process several times until she was able to see the color of the sky far away.

    "I got through then. Well, it wasn''t too bad."

    She was satisfied with her ability to adapt to different environments and defeat monsters. And so she climbed up the slope and went outside.

    From this point, the clouds were thin and stretched out like a tree branch, and there was a bird''s nest. And inside the nest, wererge feathers made of clouds, and the small bird.

    "I''m going to take one. This was my reason foring here, after all."

    Kasumi walked on top of the clouds and took one of the feathers. Then she quickly escaped before the parent birds returned.

    "Now, thest one is the big one."

    It was just the 6thyer now. What Kasumi had to do on the 6thyer was defeat a boss-level undead monster.

    "Depletion is quite low. Good, I can just go like this."

    Kasumi had cleared the 4th and 5thyers, and so she moved onto the 6th without losing momentum. The designated location was arge, t field without any obstacles. It was an area that was littered with old swords and armor that were covered in blood. While many thought that something would happen here, but there had yet to be any events.

    "¡­"

    However, now that she had epted the quest, surely something would happen. Kasumi unsheathed her sword and prepared for battle as she walked through the field.

    "¡­Here ites."

    Purple mes that were not hers started bursting out of the ground around her. At the same time, a fog began to fill the area.

    As Kasumi held her sword ready, a headless knight in bloody armor slowly emerged from the fog. It was carrying a straight sword just like her.

    "At least it''s not a big boss! Let''s go! ''Mind''s Eye,'' ''Arms of the Warrior,'' ''First of the de ¨C Kagerou.''"

    Kasumi increased the number of arms by activating Arms of the Warrior. Mind''s Eye would make it easier to move into attacks. And with First of the de, she teleported forward.

    While it was able to block Kasumi''s attack, the two arms at her side cut deeply into its torso and shoulders, carving away its HP.

    "''Fourth of the de ¨C Senpu''!"

    Without losing any speed, Kasumi unleashed a series of attacks, dealing as much damage as possible all at once.

    If the enemy had to use its sword to block the attacks, Kasumi had an advantage, as she had multiple hands.

    However, once the series of attacks were finished, her vision was filled with the attack prediction from Mind''s Eye.

    "''Leap''! ''Third of the de ¨C Kogetsu''!"

    Kasumi quickly jumped up and then used her skill to gain even more speed while in the air.

    Immediately after, the rising purple mes disappeared. Kasumi had been able to escape them, but when shended on the ground again, the headless knight was nowhere to be seen.

    "Hah, I knew it!"

    She spun around and held her sword up just as Mind''s Eye disyed its prediction. Then the headless knight came out of the fog again.

    Kasumi herself had a teleportation skill that allowed her to disappear. And that experience allowed her to predict how it would move in order to deal damage.

    "Block and cut!"

    Kasumi changed tactics and concentrated on guarding against the enemy and leaving the attacks to ''Arms of the Warrior.'' And once the enemy stumbled after the arms attacked it, she would get in one attack and see how it reacted.

    Carefully, one hit at a time. She kept the damage she received at a minimum as she attacked it and pushed its HP towards 0.

    As the headless knight''s HP decreased, its posture began to crumble.

    "''Purple Phantom de''!"

    It was ten sessive attacks as she blew it away. She swung the phantom des in both hands one at a time and racked up damage. All the while, she moved in closer.

    It could not run away and it could not block her as it had lost its bnce. On top of that, ''Arms of the Warrior'' attacked and elerated the damage.

    When the ten sessive attacks were finished, the des that had disappeared suddenly appeared again around the headless knight. And then they all stabbed it at the same time.

    Kasumi had calcted the damage perfectly, and just as the swords impaled it, the headless knight fell to the ground and joined the bloody armor that littered the field.

    At the same time, the fog that covered the area faded, and the fires died down.

    The only thing that remained was a much smaller Kasumi.

    "Hah¡­ This would be such a great skill if this didn''t happen¡­"

    It was because of this demerit that she could only use it as a finisher. Kasumi muttered to herself as she dragged her sword behind her and walked to the forest so that no one would see her. Then she sat down by the roots of a tree.

    "I''ll go and report it once I return to normal. If it is possible to tame a monster here¡­I will have to be a little stronger, maybe."

    Kasumi thought about this buddy she couldn''t see yet and waited for her body to return to normal.

 Chapter 259

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 259

    Defense Specialization and the Valley

    Kasumi rested for a while until her body returned to normal. Then she went to the 4thyer in order to make a report of her sess.

    "Huh¡­ How impressive. Very well. Very well. I will tell you the rest. It happened in a faraway valley¡­ I don''t know how long I searched in order to see if the rumors were true¡­ But before I knew it, there was fog everywhere. And then I saw two red lights inside of it."

    The frog said this much before closing his mouth.

    "What?"

    Kasumi couldn''t help but ask. But the frog justughed quietly and then continued in a very different tone.

    "Hehe. I don''t remember anything else. Before I knew it, I was running away and then found myself at home."

    Upon hearing this, Kasumi''s shoulders drooped in disappointment. It was then that he offered her a piece of paper.

    It was a simple map. And there was a red ''X'' on it that seemed to be her destination.

    "If you must, you can go and confirm it for yourself. However, don''t me me if you die."

    The frog said this and then returned to his drink.

    This time, Kasumi was sure that she would get no more information out of him. And so she started to look at the map in order to find her next destination.

    "Where¡­is this? ¡­Mountains¡­forests¡­and a spring? So, if this mark is the valley¡­"

    Kasumi had the maps of eachyer disyed and thenpared them to the simple map.

    And then she found a location that matched it perfectly.

    "¡­The valley in the 7thyer!"

    However, Kasumi had been there before. And there hadn''t been any monsters that offered a lot of experience, or note-worthy monsters that she could tame. And so she had stopped exploring it and left.

    "Maybe a g has been raised now."

    Things were finally getting started. Kasumi braced herself to return to the frontline, which was the 7thyer.

    As the quest ended on the 7thyer, she had very high expectations.

    And her expectations beat out her fatigue, and Kasumi raced towards the valley on her map immediately.

    "¡­It seems to be the same?"

    The valley was deep and wide. There was also a great forest at the bottom. However, everything looked the same as thest time that Kasumi hade here. There was no thick fog. It was clear and she was able to see all of the trees.

    "Well, I have to go down and see."

    So saying, Kasumi went down the cliff on light feet. She was able to reach the base without any trouble.

    "There are still no monsters here¡­"

    It was almost eerily quiet. Not only could she not sense the presence of any monsters, but she couldn''t even hear the chirping of birds or the rustling of leaves.

    "I guess I should keep searching¡­"

    While the map that the frog had given her told her that the valley was her destination. It didn''t tell her where in the valley to go.

    And so with the information she currently had, she had no choice but to slowlyb through the forest.

    "I hope that something has changed."

    No message had been disyed to indicate that the quest had beenplete, and so there must be something left. However, she was unable to find anything as she walked through the forest. And only the time seemed to pass.

    No matter where she looked, the deep forest continued on. And she was still the only one in it.

    "¡­Did Ie to the wrong ce? Did I miss something¡­?"

    Kasumi continued to search for some time after that, but in spite of her expectations, nothing changed.

    "mm¡­ Maybe I should just call it a day¡­ Huh?"

    It was just as she closed her eyes with a feeling of defeat. She had looked down for a second and then looked up again in order to log out. But when she did, she saw that the forest was suddenly covered in a thick mist.

    "What¡­good! ¡­!?"

    Her happiness did notst for long. Kasumi immediately sensed overwhelming bloodlusting from behind. Her hand went to her sword and she spun around.

    The fog was so thick that you couldn''t even see one step ahead of you. And it was in this fog that two red lights glowed.

    "I can''t move! Paralysis!?"

    The lights wereing closer to her. However, Kasumi''s body would not move.

    And then, Kasumi understood what the lights were. They weren''t just ordinary lights. They were eyes.

    Two glowing red eyes. The slithering echoed in the silent forest. The white scales looked like they were part of the thick fog.

    A snake that was muchrger than Kasumi opened its mouth. And that was thest thing that she saw.

    She closed her eyes with resignation. She waited for a little and then opened them again. As she expected, she was back in the town of the 7thyer.

    "¡­So, it really was a snake. Now, what should I do?"

    It wasn''t fear. She knew for certain it was a status attack that had robbed her of movement. However, there was nothing about it in her log.

    "It wasn''t paralysis? So I can''t do anything about it? How can I test it then¡­"

    Kasumi''s expression darkened. Not only were the conditions to meet it vague, but she would also have to return every time that she failed.

    It was clearly going to be a very difficult challenge.

    "But¡­a white snake, huh¡­? I see. Yes. Good."

    Her expression brightened then. Kasumi nodded with a big smile that suggested she had found something very good.

 Chapter 260

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 260

    Defense Specialization and the Snake

    "I guess I should go and try again. Or I won''t learn anything."

    It didn''t matter how many times she died. She would have to rely on trial and error in order to gather information. Things had happened so quickly the first time, and it had all been so one-sided that she really hadn''t gained much information.

    And so Kasumi descended into the valley once again, and this time, the base was covered in fog immediately.

    "Hah. So it already sees me as an enemy then. ''Mind''s Eye''!"

    Kasumi used Mind''s Eye first and then hid in a nearby bush. It was there that she watched for the enemy.

    And then, she slowly began to hear the sounds of it slithering on the ground and then the attack disys appeared and passed by her.

    "So, it really is attacking where it sees¡­ But its reach is not that far."

    While Mind''s Eye was still in effect, Kasumi avoided entering its vision and moved towards its body.

    "It''s quite big¡­ Well, let''s test this out then."

    Kasumi unsheathed her de and activated Arm of the Warrior and Purple Phantom de. It was the attack that took down the headless knight, Kasumi''s most powerful attack.

    The first attack hit the snake and tore away its scales. The damage effect burst from the wound. However, just as Kasumi thought she had it and continued, the attack with Arm of the Warrior turned white and was then blocked by the scales.

    "What¡­!?"

    As she could not stop the sessive attacks, she had to continue as each one bounced off. In the end, she was left with a shrunken body. Her attacks didn''t work. It didn''t feel like it had high defense ability. It felt like she was attacking something that was indestructible.

    "I guess I''ll just watch¡­"

    It was then that she stopped moving. The fact that she could no longer move on her own was proof that its head was pointing at her now.

    "Do what you want!"

    She saw the shadow of the head approach from behind. And with that, Kasumi was forcefully returned to the 7thyer''s town once again.

    Kasumi sat down on a bench and thought as she waited for her body to return to normal.

    "It wasn''t as if I couldn''t deal any damage at all¡­ So I don''t think it''s impossible for me to defeat it."

    Judging by the circumstances, it was easy to assume that the first attack had damaged it because it had been a surprise. However, none of her attacks did any damage after that, and the alerted snake was able to look at her.

    In that case, it was clearly best not to attack it.

    "The head seems to cause some advanced form of movement prohibition¡­ And not being able to move means a follow-up attack is impossible¡­"

    If the goal wasn''t to destroy the snake, then maybe it meant there was a ce you were supposed to reach by sneaking past it.

    But that would also be incredibly difficult.

    After all, that forest at the bottom of the valley was huge. She knew just how difficult it was to search through it, from her experience before the encounter.

    "Alright, I''ll start by checking out the edges of the valley. At least the early parts of this event were easy."

    Her position would be quite different now that she had to search the valley while staying hidden.

    In Kasumi''s case, using Mind''s Eye would be key. The movement restriction led to a one-hit kill attack, and so being able to see it''s range was something that directly affected whether she lived or died.

    "I think that this is enough for today. I have to restock on items¡­ Also, maybe I should visit the frog again."

    Things had happened. Maybe he would offer her a hint now, Kasumi thought with a nod.

    Quite some time had passed since she had run around on the differentyers and reached the valley. The journey had been more fun than anything up until now, but she was starting to feel tired. And as she had used up a lot of the special potions that Izu had given her in the dungeons, she decided it was a good time to log out.

 Chapter 261

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 261

    Defense Specialization and the Snake 2

    Kasumi restocked her items from Izu and then visited the frog on the following day.

    Apparently, the frog had new dialogue now, as it began to talk.

    "So, you really went. How reckless of you¡­ But I know there is nothing I can say that will stop you, so I''ll give you one piece of advice. Heheheh. I just remembered it. The reason that I was able to escape, was because I was able to hit it on the head. You should aim for the spot between its eyes."

    What valuable information. Kasumi thought as her expression brightened.

    However, she would not be able to attack it once it gazed at her. In that case, this information would only be useful if she was the first to attack.

    "I don''t really want to get close to its face. But I''ll keep that in mind."

    When Kasumi was sure that she would gain no more information, she returned to the 7thyer once again.

    "Now, third times the charm?"

    Kasumi activated Mind''s Eye and confirmed the location of the head. Then she moved through the forest that was thickly covered in fog and was careful not to make any sounds.

    As long as she was far away from the head, she could avoid being killed in one hit.

    "I guess I have to find the goal?"

    Kasumi reached a small river with a weak current, and then slowly made her way upstream.

    Every time that Mind''s Eye deactivated, she would escape into bushes or holes or climb up a tree. And there, she would wait safely until she could use it again.

    And like that, she slowly but surely made her way to the end of the river.

    "¡­! What is that¡­"

    Kasumi looked from behind a tree. What she saw, was numerous snakes of varying sizes slithering around the mouth of a cave as if they were guarding it.

    As for the great white snake, it was coiled up there and covering most of the entrance.

    The river was connected to the cave, suggesting that there was something inside of it.

    Kasumi could see with Mind''s Eye that there were practically no gaps, and the attacks of multiple snakes were disyed in front of her.

    In other words, while they may not all be of equal strength, each snake likely had the ability to rob her of movement.

    "If only I could break through¡­ How can I do that?"

    After a while, the sounds of slithering stopped. And the white snake showed no signs of moving. This meant she would be able to wait and think until Mind''s Eye could be activated again.

    "I can go¡­above it. Yes. Then¡­I better brace myself!"

    Kasumi jumped to the top of a tree and moved the branches so she could look down. Even from above, there were no gaps. It was clear that she would have to make the snake move somehow.

    "Here I go¡­! ''Super elerate,'' ''Leap,'' ''Third of the de ¨C Kogetsu''!"

    Kasumi jumped out of the tree and used her skill to elerate while in the air. Then she swung down with her sword.

    ''Third of the de ¨C Kogetsu'' wasn''t just a skill that allowed you to double jump. It ended with a high-power sh.

    And so Kasumi aimed for the area between the white snake''s eyes and cut deeply. As it wasn''t a sessive attack, she would be free to move. However, the white snake tried to raise its head and look at her before shended on the ground.

    Of course, that meant that the head that was blocking the entrance to the cave would now move.

    "That''s what I''ve been waiting for!"

    Just as she said this, there was a big explosion, and while Kasumi took damage, the st caused her to fly into the cave. She rolled deep into it and was able to escape the eyes of the white snake.

    "Tsk¡­ To think that Maple does this all of the time¡­"

    Kasumi drank a potion to recover her HP, and then she stood up. What she had done was quite simple. Just like Maple exploded her Machine God weapons in order to fly, she had detonated the miniature, high-power bombs that Izu had given her. She was willing to take the damage in order to forcefully change her trajectory.

    "There might have been another way to do it¡­ Hah¡­but I couldn''t wait for the best possible strategy to do this."

    Kasumi remained cautious as she made her way deeper into the cave. She soon discovered the starting point of the gushing river. And there was also a single, small white snake there. The snake had the tamable mark on it. As Kasumi waited to see what it would do, it suddenly slithered towards her and climbed up her body. The snake settled around Kasumi''s neck and stopped moving. Though, its tongue continued to flick around.

    At the same time, as the water bubbled out of the ground, so did a light, and then a ring floated to the surface.

    Kasumi picked it up and gripped it in her hand happily.

    "Your name¡­ Well, wait until we get back to town. As for outside¡­"

    When Kasumi looked outside of the cave, she saw that the thick fog had disappeared, and the snakes were gone. The forest was quiet again.

    "Phew¡­ It will be easy to return now¡­ So, are you going to grow to that size too?"

    Kasumi petted the snake around her neck. And so she felt a mixture of apprehension and expectation regarding the snake''s growth as she returned to the guild home.

 Chapter 262

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 262

    Defense Specialization and the Three

    When Kasumi arrived at the guild with her white snake, she saw that the others were already there. They were currently gathered around Mai and Yui.

    "Ah, Kasumi!"

    "Hmm? Ah, are these your buddies?"

    Mai and Yui walked towards her with their bear cubs. As if it were reacting to this, the white snake started to move around her neck.

    "Oh, so you decided on one too!"

    "Yeah. I named it Haku(white)¡­ Do you think that''s a little too obvious?"

    Kasumi scratched her cheek with a look of embarrassment. She wasn''t good at giving names. But Haku was moving around as if it were very happy.

    "I think it''s great!"

    "Yes¡­it''s perfect!"

    Mai and Yui said. Kasumi looked even more embarrassed now. At the same time, the three who had not tamed any monsters yet, wondered what they should do.

    "Oh. So now it''s just me, Kanade and Izu."

    "That''s true. I''ve finished making a lot of items now, so it might be time for me to leave the workshop."

    "I have to find one soon as well. It''s the whole point of thisyer, after all."

    "I gathered a lot of information¡­I just hope there is something that interests you."

    Sally petted Tsukimi and Yukimi as she shared what information she had been able to gather.

    What monsters were in what area, terrain that looked promising, rare monsters that you could only encounter if the time was right or if you had the right skills. Some of the information had taken her a lot of legwork to gain.

    "Since Maple and I already finished the goal of thisyer, we''re just here to help."

    "Now that I think about it¡­ Maple isn''t here."

    Kasumi looked around the guild home, but Maple was nowhere to be seen.

    "The test is already finished, and she''s apparently logged in¡­"

    Speak of the devil, the saying goes. Just then, the door of the guild home opened and Maple came in.

    As soon as she entered, Tsukimi, Yukimi and Haku''s eyes seemed to shine and they approached her.

    "They''re so cute! You three got monsters?"

    Maple petted all of them affectionately and smiled happily.

    "The guild home is bing more and more lively!"

    "Yes, you''re allowed to bring the monsters out when in the guild home now."

    Sally said. Oboro was at her feet and Syrup was at Maple''s feet. Even though their guild only had eight members, just having monsters running around made the ce much more lively, as Maple said.

    "Oh, that''s right. Since we''re all together now, we were sharing information. Do you have anything, Maple?"

    "Hmm. It''s a little awkward to say¡­ But I can make tentacles now!"

    "You what?"

    The words were so unexpected that Sally asked her to repeat it. And so Maple did so honestly.

    How had this happened? This was ayer where you tamed monsters. Not ayer where you became a monster yourself. Such thoughts were in the minds of everyone present. However, they swallowed their words and decided that it would be quicker to just watch.

    And so they went to the training grounds and the seven of them waited for Maple to show them this new skill.

    "Alright, ''Invitation to the Ocean Floor''!"

    Just as Maple activated the skill, the arm that carried a great shield transformed into what looked like numerous great tentacles that were bluish-ck. The white of her left eye turned ck, and the pupil turned yellow.

    Maple asked them how it looked as she moved her left hand. The tentacles seemed to melt as they separated into what looked like five fingers and then came together as if they were holding something.

    The seven looked at each other and began to whisper.

    "That wouldn''t happen."

    "Yes, you''re right."

    "If I encountered her on the field without knowing, I would have unsheathed my sword."

    It had been a while since the adults in the group had seen someone escape the realm of humans like this, and they forgot to react. Instead, they began to talk to one another. Maple must have realized what they were saying because she started to wave her tentacles and exin.

    "There''s aplicated story behind this¡­ No, it''s not reallyplicated¡­ But I didn''t have a choice!"

    Of course, there was a reason that one of Maple''s arms had be so grotesque.

    It had happened a short while ago.

 Chapter 263

    Defense Specialization and Tentacles

    It happened shortly before Kasumi acquired Haku. Maple had finished her test, and so she logged into the game.

    That being said, as Maple already had a buddy named Syrup, she didn¡¯t have any goal in particr.

    ¡°Where should I go first?¡±

    Maple checked the 7thyer map and started to n. She and Sally had talked about this already. They would focus on gathering information until the next event started or there was a new area that was implemented.

    ¡°It¡¯s the role of the Guild Master to help the guild grow stronger!¡±

    Maple told herself as a way of raising her motivation. If she was being honest, the thing that motivated her the most right now, was her desire to walk around and see what kind of cute monsters the other yers had. But that wasn¡¯t a bad motive, regardless.

    ¡°This kind of reminds me of the second event.¡±

    The 7thyer was simr to the map of the 2nd event. The terrain and environments were vast and varied, and there was arge variety of monsters that inhabited it.

    And so those who wanted ice-type monsters could go to the snowy mountains, and those who wanted a fire-type could go to the volcanic mountains.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ But it will be hard to climb up the mountains¡­¡±

    Maple spent some time muttering to herself and inspecting the map. Finally, she seemed to have made a decision. She nodded and closed the map.

    She looked down as she rode on Syrup and flew through the sky. There were many yers who seemed to have already tamed monsters, as they often had an animal next to them while they fought.

    ¡°They sure are fast! It reminds of when I first met you, Syrup.¡±

    Maple wondered if those who tamed bird monsters would be able to fly.

    ¡°Maybe we will all be able to fly then! Oh, but if other people can fly, we won¡¯t be able to rx up here as much, will we?¡±

    As they flew, she thought back on what it had been like on the 3rdyer, where yers were able to fly with machines. After a while, she arrived at her destination.

    What spread out before Maple now, was a sandy beach and a vast sea. She could see a few inds in the far off distance. The water looked very deep.

    ¡°Wow¡­ I think we may be able to go out farther here than any previous map!¡±

    Maple put on her snorkel and had Syrup float on the way as they moved out to the open sea.

    ¡°It seems like it would be difficult to go by boat¡­but I can go anywhere easily with Syrup!¡±

    As the propulsive force was ¡®Psychokinesis,¡¯ there needed to be obstacles in order to elerate, but at least they could maintain a certain speed, even if the wind and waves were against them.

    Furthermore, it was not physically taxing for Maple. And so it allowed her to explore in a rxing manner.

    ¡°I wonder if there are any fish like that¡­¡±

    Mapley on top of Syrup¡¯s shell and stuck her head into the water in order to see what was below the surface.

    There appeared to be monsters in the water, and as Maple had guessed, some of them had the tamable mark on them.

    ¡°Puha! But I wonder if they can evene out of the water after you tame them¡­?¡±

    She wondered. But then she told herself that they would probably surround themselves in water and swim in the air, much like Sally¡¯s skill, ¡®Ancient Sea.¡¯

    ¡°I bet there are dolphins and whales too! But, they would probably be very rare¡­¡±

    Maple decided that she would look for the rare monsters first. And so she continued to travel over the sea while keeping her head underwater.

    After she had explored for quite some time, Maple decided to take a break. And so they stopped by a small ind that only had a single coconut tree. Then she returned Syrup to her ring.

    ¡°Phew¡­ No dolphins or whales yet¡­¡±

    Maple put her hand on her forehead and looked at the now distant sandy beach. Then shey down, spread-eagled and stretchedfortably.

    ¡°Hmm. What should I do now?¡±

    As she rxed and enjoyed the wind, she heard the sound of sshing, as if something had jumped out of the water close to her.

    ¡°Huh!? There!?¡±

    Maple jumped up hurriedly and turned to where the sound hade from. An ominous-looking ck tentacle was dripping with water as it moved towards her. Obviously, it had no expression, but Maple could still see that it was targeting her.

    ¡°What!? ¡­Hey, w-w-w-wha!¡±

    She immediately tried to run away, but of course, she could not make it in time. The tentacle wrapped tightly around her waist and as she was unable to resist, it raised her into the air.

    ¡°I can be a monster too¡­! Savagery!¡±

    In order to avoid being dragged into the water, Maple activated Savagery as a way of fighting back against the monster. But it was then that she realized something.

    She wasn¡¯t just being dragged towards the water.

    There was something like a ck mist in the beautiful water. And that¡¯s where the tentacle extended out from.

    It was just as she was about to tear away from the tentacle. Time was up. And she fell into the mist and vanishedpletely.

 Chapter 264

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 264

    Defense Specialization and Beyond the Mist

    Just as she felt that she had passed through the darkness, she felt that she was floating for a second, before being thrown onto hard ground.

    "¡­I-I''m fine? That really surprised me¡­"

    She tried to move now that she knew she was okay, but the space was apparently very small. And she couldn''t move well while still in her huge monster form.

    Maple was likely the only one who would have this problem in a ce like this.

    "I guess I have to deactivate it¡­ Uhh, it''s such a waste."

    Maple deactivated her monster form and cut her way out of the stomach. She fell stickily to the ground and peeled herself off of the floor.

    The cold stone surface suggested that she was in a cave. Maple could see that the ck mist that had dragged her down was covering some of the floor and walls.

    "Alright. I better explore this area then!"

    She passed through the gaps in the walls and advanced, but quickly met a dead end.

    "Huh? Already¡­Eee?!?"

    It was just as she was about to turn around. A tentacle stretched out of the mist and grabbed Maple, dragging her back into the mist. And then she was thrown out into an area between rock walls that were a little different in shape.

    "Uhh¡­ What happened?"

    She hadn''t taken any damage, but was just thrown out. Maple decided that she would calm down and try to think. It was not often that she was suddenly grabbed by a tentacle. So it was no wonder that she panicked, but it was important to organize her thoughts and figure out what she could do.

    "Don''t panic! Good!"

    And so Maple inspected the patches of mist. By doing this, she discovered that tentacles came out of all of them. In that case, it was pretty obvious what she needed to do.

    There were several routes she could take. She was able to guess that some would be easy and others would be difficult. Or perhaps only the correct route would allow her to keep going.

    "Hmmm¡­ Kanade is a lot better at figuring these things out. As for something you can tame¡­"

    But Maple didn''t feel like suggesting that Kanade tame these mysterious tentacles. Right now, she had to keep going further and see if there were any better tamable monsters up ahead. And so she braced herself and allowed the tentacles to grab her. However, this turned out to be a miss, and she was just surrounded by a great number of tentacles that thrashed at her. This would have likely meant taking a lot of damage if it were anyone else.

    "Such soft tentacles won''t do anything! ''Deploy all Weapons''!"

    Great numbers should be met with great numbers. The weapons grew out of Maple and showered the tentacles with bullets. They bounced off the walls of the narrow space, dealing damage to the tentacles.

    "Huh. It''s not as effective as I expected¡­ Maybe it''s because they are so slimy?"

    Perhaps the bullets were sliding off of them, because while they did deal some damage, it was a lot less than usual. And so she tried Hydra and Bizarre Eater next. It was a full course of attacks from Maple. Unsurprisingly, the tentacles could not withstand them, and they tore up as they were blown into the air.

    "The tentacles aren''t sharp, so they shouldn''t be able to use piercing attacks. I can still keep going!"

    And like that, Maple continued to advance through the cave. And while she still went down paths that seemed like they were the wrong ones, it didn''t matter at all to Maple. Attacks that were difficult to dodge, powerful attacks, and binding; as long they could not damage Maple, she was able to break through all of them.

    "Phew. I made quite a lot of progress. The area is starting to change¡­"

    What she meant by that, was that she was starting to see traces of death, such as old bones and dried blood.

    "I was also caught and brought down here. So does that mean that I''m going to be eaten?"

    Maybe everything she had encountered on the way was meant to weaken her before the actual feasting began.

    In fact, she used a lot of bullets up until now in order to get rid of the persistent tentacles.

    "But it would be a waste to go back now¡­I''d rather continue while saving my energy."

    Whatever it was that brought her down here and attacked her, it was clearly not a friend. This meant she should expect a battle at the end. And so while Maple rested, she tried to think of a n.

    "Hmm¡­ Nevermind, I''ll think of something if I get caught again! I don''t take any damage anyway!"

    She needed the tentacles toe out first if she wanted to test anything. And so she decided to deal with thatter and continue her journey deeper in.

    However, perhaps she had managed to take the right path this time, because from that point on, she only encountered tentacles that were very easy to get rid of.

    And then, she was finally dragged into the mist by an especiallyrge tentacle. Maple came out on the other end with a wet ssh as shended in arge puddle of water.

    "Woah¡­is this the end of it?"

    Her feet were submerged in ck, murky water, and stone walls surrounded her. As the water was so dark, she couldn''t tell where it would suddenly be deeper.

    As she hesitated, not knowing where to move, a tentacle shot out of the water''s surface with an incredibly loud ssh.

    It was huge and thick, which suggested the rest of the monster''s body must be inside of the water. Maple was so surprised that she took a step back.

    "Ah, now that I think of it¡­!"

    Maple started to run away from the tentacle as she opened her inventory.

    Of course, the thing that she took out was an item that Izu had made. This time, it was something that would allow her to hold her breath for a longer time while underwater.

    "All set! Ready when you are!"

    Maple turned around in order to attack it. But then her vision was filled with the giant tentacle. It was not going to sit and wait to be attacked.

    And just like that, it wrapped around Maple with tremendous strength and raised her into the air.

    The ck water seemed to be getting deeper, and it looked like it was going to drag her into it.

    "!"

    At the same time, she activated ''Bizarre Eater,'' which caused its HP bar to appear in the water. However, it had barely gone down. Regardless, it created an opening, and Maple was able to slip out of the tentacle''s grasp.

    "Ah, that was close¡­woah! So many!"

    There was a ssh and numerous other tentacles shot out in front of Maple''s eyes. They tried to grab her again, but this time she was able to block them with her great shield. But instead of taking damage, the tentacles turned into ck mist and then disappeared.

    "Are they fake!? I see. Of course, they are!"

    Maple was sure that there was no living creature with that many tentacles. However, her relief did notst long. A different tentacle whipped across the ground and mmed into her back. Maple was sent flying into the air.

    "Wah!? Oh, oomph. Good, no damage!"

    She looked confident as she flew in the air and then fell back towards the ground in order tounch a counter-attack. However, the ck mist suddenly spread up into the air, and Maple fell right into it.

    She closed her eyes and braced herself, but there was no pain. She facented on the ground.

    "Okay. Counterattack! Hydra!"

    Maple said as she quickly got back up and thrust her hand out. However, the shortsword that should have been in her hand was not there.

    "Huh?"

    She said dumbly. Then she looked down at her body and saw that the ck armor and great shield were also gone.

    She was back in a very nostalgic beginner state.

    As Maple stood there in confusion, her equipment started falling out of the ck mist.

    "Ah! That''s mine!"

    She had a lot of skills that couldn''t be used without her equipment. As Maple ran around and gathered them, a tentacle grabbed her and pulled her into the water.

    "Ahhhh! There are so many! It''s not fair!"

    And like that, she sank below the surface. She would have been able to free herself if she had a decent amount of STR, but it was not possible for Maple.

    Frantically, she looked up and saw that there were many other tentaclesing out of the mist and waiting, as if to block her from escaping.

    "¡­Mmmm! Mmm¡­mm!"

    As Maple got closer and closer to the bottom, the main body entered her vision.

    Currently, there was no tamable mark next to its HP bar. The monster was a giant octopus that was dozens of meters in size. It had yellow eyes that glowed brightly.

    If this continued, she wouldn''t be able to hold her breath any longer, and she would take damage and die. That being said, it would be difficult for her to return to the surface.

    And so Maple decided on a gamble.

    "''Deploy all Weapons,'' ''Commence Attack''!"

    She unleashed her weapons underwater and detonated them. The explosion burned away the tentacles and freed her.

    And then, the force of the explosion propelled her forward and she shot down towards the floor.

    There were no tentacles on the bottom, and she could move freely. As Maple continued to shoot toward the main body, the octopus moved to eat her.

    As if she had been waiting for this, she developed her weapons once again and detonated them. And like that, she shot into the octopus''s mouth.

    Like a human bullet, she tore open the not yet fully gaping mouth, and then flew into its stomach.

    As there was no water inside, she was able to escape the effects of being underwater.

    "Phew¡­ I''m so d that I know what it''s like to be eaten¡­ This is why Sally always says that it''s important to be prepared."

    Now, she could finallyunch a counterattack. Maple unleashed her weapons again. She was something that no monster should ever let inside of their body.

    As her voice rang, countless bullets began to fly within the octopus''s stomach. At the same time, an overwhelming amount of red damage effects appeared everywhere.

    "Good. The bullets still slide inside here¡­but they''re still hitting something, so it''s fine¡­ Bah?!"

    As Maple continued to shoot as if she had predicted this oue all along, ck mist suddenly appeared inside of the stomach and a giant tentacle mmed into her.

    It was the exact opposite of how she got in. Maple was forced out at a tremendous speed, and she was vomited back into the water.

    Like this, the real battle began. It was Maple, who had previously been prey that was supposed to enter the monster''s stomach, versus the octopus, who now knew better than to let her in.

 Chapter 265: Itai no wa Iya nanode BÅgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 265

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 265</strong>

    Defense Specialization and One Bite

    After being blown out of the octopus¡¯s body, Maple looked up and confirmed that there were still tentacles above her. Then she turned back to the mouth and shot forward like a bullet.

    ¡°I won¡¯t get blown away this time¡­¡±

    When Maple was at the entrance of the stomach, she activated Hair Growth in order to increase her body mass, and then used Crystalize to harden like a rock, and block the passage. It was as if the octopus had swallowed a boulder.

    On the other hand, she herself would not be able to move. But the fact that Maple was now a crystalized ball of wool meant that she would explode.

    And then, in order to push her out, a tentacle came out of the ck mist and pushed Maple¡¯s face, which was sticking out of the wool.

    However, she was stuck and could not be moved. And so Maple¡¯s face continued to be smushed to no avail.

    ¡°You caught me because you wanted to eat me! If you try to get away, then I¡¯ll eat you instead!¡±

    As Maple could not move until the effects of Crystalize ended, she began to bite the tentacle. This was to do as much damage as possible and also for revenge.

    While the ck mist looked terribly ominous, the monster itself was still just an octopus, both inside and outside.

    It tasted rather decentpared to some of the things inside of Maple¡¯s inventory, such as the obviously poisonous fruits, and inedible mushrooms.

    ¡°Chomp¡­ You¡¯re surprisingly good.¡±

    As she continued to bite, the effects of Crystalize finally wore off. At the same time, Maple fired her canons and detonated all of the bombs inside of the wool. She wrecked the inside of its body as much as she could before using the recoil to fly out of the only hole the shockwaves could escape from.

    ¡°Mm!¡±

    Maple held a tentacle in her mouth as she looked up and saw the tentacles take heavy damage and then disappear. Seeing that she had a chance now, she deployed her weapons again and rose to the surface.

    ¡°Puha¡­! Good. Now that I have a chance!¡±

    Maple put on her equipment again and this time prepared so that she wouldn¡¯t be dragged into the water again.

    And then, the recovered octopus jumped out of the water as if tearing its way through the ground. And then it swung its tentacles at her.

    ¡°¡®Frozen Earth!¡¯ ¡®Predator!¡¯ ¡®Hydra!¡¯¡±

    Through activating Frozen Earth, Maple was able to stop the tentacle right before it hit her. At the same time, Maple hit it with a mass of poison, and the two monsters bit into it. She herself joined them as a third mouth.

    The more she chewed, the tastier it became.

    As a different attack, Maple detonated her weapons and raised her great shield as she flew towards the tentacle that started to move again.

    ¡°Ah! It ripped!¡±

    Due to Bizarre Eater, half of the tentacle tore off and fell to the ground. At the same time, the other tentacles all fell down limply in the water. Seeing her chance, Maple raised her great shield and charged forward. One, two, three. Every time Maple¡¯s great shield touched a tentacle, it was torn in half. Maple wasn¡¯t good at making precise maneuvers when flying after an explosion, but she was good at moving in a straight line.

    And so in one move, Maple was able to tear up all of the tentacles that had fallen down. And with that, a giant cloud of ck mist appeared, and the octopus that was at the bottom of the water was teleported to her in its limp state.

    ¡°Yes! Now that I¡­good.¡±

    Maple waddled up to its mouth and inserted her cannon into what she knew was its weak spot. Once again, bullets bounced around inside of its body, elerating the amount of damage that was dealt. At the same time, Maple and Predator tore into its tentacles.

    ¡°Mmmmph¡­mmmgg¡­ I wonder if I can take some of this back with me?¡±

    Maple looked at the HP bar and saw that it was almost empty. Her persistent attack on its innards had been very effective.

    ¡°That¡¯s it! I should end it with¡­¡±

    Maple stopped the firing at thest moment and bit into a tentacle.

    At the same time, the octopus turned into light and disappeared. Only the torn tentacles remained.

    However, ck mist poured out of the tentacles and they shrunk down in size.

    Maple gathered them up and then checked her skills.

    She found that a new one had been added.

    ¡®Invitation to the Ocean Floor.¡¯

    Use tentacles to attack and bind a target while adding the Paralysis status. If the targets STR is lower than your own, you will be able to bind them for a longer time.

    ¡°Great! Ehehe. I better take what I can get! Uhh¡­ ¡®Invitation to the Ocean Floor¡¯!¡±

    While Maple tried to activate the skill, she was unable to as she didn¡¯t have enough MP.

    She wondered what to do and then decided to set it in her great shield¡¯s skill slot.

    As Bizzare Eater didn¡¯t use MP, it wouldn¡¯t be affected when she was out of MP.

    As for STR, there was nothing she could do about that.

    ¡°Alright¡­ Let¡¯s try this again!¡±

    As Maple activated the skill, the arm that held up a great shield transformed into bluish-ck tentacles that were nearly 2 meters in length. This thing that spat out ck mist was clearly not something that had any business being on a human¡¯s arm.

    Furthermore, as she had set it on her great shield, the great shield itself had transformed into the tentacles.

    ¡°Uhhh¡­ Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have eaten it?¡±

    And so in order to test out the skill, Maple stepped on the magic circle that appeared and teleported to the outside.

    She was then returned to the ind where she had first been captured. And so Maple put on the snorkel and pointed her tentacles at the fish in the water.

    ¡°Maybe I can paralyze them?¡±

    As Maple moved her left hand, the tangle of tentacles opened up and wrapped around one of the fish.

    ¡°Yes! I got it!¡±

    As Maple made the tentacles squeeze, the fish vanished as if it had been spirited away.

    She pulled the tentacles back, but the fish was nowhere to be seen.

    Yes, she had set the skill into the great shield. Because of this, these tentacles had the properties of Bizarre Eater, and the paralysis had no time to kick in.

    Whatever she picked up would just disappear as if swallowed. The sight of this was terribly inhuman.

    ¡°Uh, how am I going to exin this to the others¡­?¡±

    Maple wondered if there wasn¡¯t a way to make this seem very mundane and normal. After a while, she decided that she would have to give it to them straight.

 Chapter 266

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 266

    Defense Specialization and the Border Line

    750 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    Has everyone tamed their monsters already?

    751 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    I''m still looking around.

    It would be tragic if I chose carelessly and then found a better er on.

    752 Name: Anonymous Archer

    I found some rare monsters that have pretty easy requirements.

    753 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    There are a lot of animal-types. But I want something like a golem.

    754 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    A few members of my guild have already tamed monsters.

    755 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Did Maple get a second monster?

    756 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    Yes and no.

    757 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    I see¡­ So, what is it?

    758 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    Ominous tentacles.

    759 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    What the hell.

    760 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    Well¡­ She didn''t so much as tame it, as absorb it¡­her arm can turn into a tentacle.

    761 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    Most people wouldn''t do something like that.

    762 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    So, now she has something that is between human and monster form.

    763 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Human form?

    Well, I guess.

    But how much of her is still human¡­?

    764 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    Yeah, she was like something between a human and a monster.

    I''m sure you''ll have a chance to feel its power during a future event.

    765 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    But with Maple''s status, I think I could get away even if I''m caught.

    766 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    Her STR is so low.

    767 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Well, most people would not be able to think if they saw a girl with a tentacle arm. So you''ll definitely get hit by the first attack.

    768 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    I understand. I was like that too.

    769 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    This isn''t an area to absorb monsters, right?

    770 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    I bet she''ll turn into a chimera by the next event.

    771 Name: Anonymous Archer

    I know that this is a town where you can walk around with your monster, but surely they didn''t mean monsters that werest bosses¡­

    772 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    It grew so much without a master, right?

    Is she going to use tentacles as bait now?

    773 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    Maple used the tentacles she brought back to make some takoyaki

    Something ck dide out, but it wasn''t mist!

    774 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    You shouldn''t eat anything so dangerous.

    These five people had no idea that Maple actually ate some of the tentacles while it was still alive.

 Chapter 267

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 267

    Defense Specialization and Pursuit

    A few days after Maple unveiled her tentacles, the three members who had yet to tame a monster were gathered together at the guild home, where they thought about what monsters they wanted to get.

    ¡°Most of my roles include making up for everyone else¡¯s deficiencies. So I¡¯d prefer a jack of all trades, than a monster that specializes in one thing. And I do have an idea of what that could be.¡±

    ¡°I want something that has high recovery. Since we don¡¯t have a healer¡­ Well, I¡¯m on a certain quest right now, so it really depends on the oue.¡±

    ¡°I suppose I should look for a monster that can produce things. Surely there are monsters like that, who are different from thebat ones. You¡¯d think there would be more information about it by now.¡±

    All three of them were hoping to meet a monster that would help them excel in their strengths. That being said, they couldn¡¯t ovep. Also, they would have to fight against other guilds such as Assembly of Holy des and Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom in uing events, so they wanted something with the potential to beat them as well. So it was no wonder that they were having trouble finding partners.

    ¡°But it will be so much easier to move once this is done. Yes, let¡¯s work as if we have to finish it today!¡±

    Chrome said as he stood up. As long as what they were searching for was different, they had to move separately. So it would be a while before all of them could travel together on the 7thyer.

    ¡°See youter. Maybe I should go look around town as well.¡±

    ¡°I might do that too. There might be some quests I can do.¡±

    And so the three of them left the guild home with their own goal in mind.

    ¡°That being said¡­ I have nowhere to go.¡±

    Kanade walked briskly through the huge town. First, he would check to see if any obvious changes hade over the town. Kanade remembered the faces of every NPC he met while exploring. Because of this, he didn¡¯t need to go around and talk to everyone. He already knew which ces had which quests, and where each NPC was. And so he just needed topare that information with what he saw now, and he could quickly notice any NPCs he hadn¡¯t met before.

    So, in a way, he was just doing his regr examination today.

    ¡°¡­Oh?¡±

    It was when Kanade was humming to himself and starting to think that he wouldn¡¯t discover anything today. He saw a single man walking in the corner of his vision.

    He had a normal cape, long sword, buckler, and light armor. He looked like any other NPC.

    However, Kanade had never seen him before. And so in Kanade¡¯s world, this in man looked very strange indeed.

    ¡°Maybe I should follow him? I don¡¯t have anything to do, anyway.¡±

    Kanade decided to stop searching the town and follow the man instead. He didn¡¯t seem to be doing anything. He just kept walking in a circle around the town. However, Kanade continued to smile and follow him without getting bored.

    After some time, the man changed his route a little, and slowly went into an empty alley and then stepped into a house.

    Kanade followed him and opened the door to the house.

    ¡°He¡¯s not here¡­?¡±

    He couldn¡¯t have lost him. That meant the man must have disappeared somehow.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been logging in quite a lot recently¡­ But I thought I was really onto something this time¡­¡±

    There was always a possibility that he had just missed him up until now. After searching the room for quite some time and finding nothing, Kanade sat down in a chair.

    ¡°Phew. I really thought I would find something.¡±

    Then he got up and put his hand on the doorknob as he was about to leave.

    ¡°¡­Still, nothing.¡±

    Kanade muttered as he stepped outside.

    ¡°Just kidding.¡±

    He said as he entered the room once again. There must be a reason that this felt very strange to him.

    And he had no intention of leaving until he found out what the reason for it was.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    As he entered the room, he saw that the interior looked exactly the same. There was a table, chairs, bed, and a bookshelf.

    However, there was no way that he would not notice that one of the books was now in a different position.

    ¡°Is it here?¡±

    When Kanade touched the book, it turned transparent. And then it moved away from him at an incredible speed.

    ¡°I finally found it. So, the libraries in towns really do have useful information.¡±

    The monster that Kanade was searching for. It was a slime that could perfectly mimic the shape of different objects.

    As soon as Kanade saw it, the quest became essible.

    ¡°¡®Copying Mirror,¡¯ huh. Nice.¡±

    Of course, Kanade epted it and then left the house and walked out into the field.

    He already knew where he needed to go. It was a cave with giant crystals that had surfaces that reflected like mirrors. Many people had suggested that there must be something there.

    ¡°Now, I just hope that its abilities are what I¡¯m expecting them to be.¡±

    As he had not been doing much fighting recently, he still had plenty of magic books in storage.

    And so Kanade headed to his destination in order to hurry up and finish the quest.

 Chapter 268

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 268

    Defense Specialization and Two Peas in a Pod

    Once Kanade reached his destination, he brought out his bookshelves so that he could fight at a moment¡¯s notice. At the same time, he looked for the slime. ording to the hint, it should be here.

    ¡°¡­There.¡±

    The mirror-like crystal suddenly lost its shape and transformed into something else. Its once transparent body had color now, and it was very detailed.

    ¡°I see¡­ This might take longer than I thought.¡±

    Kanade muttered to himself. In front of him, was a clone of himself. It was like he was looking into a mirror.

    And just like Kanade, the figure was surrounded by floating shelves that were full of books.

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s fight then.¡±

    So saying, Kanade pulled a book from the shelf. At the same time, the slime also pulled a book from the shelf.

    If the skills they could use were the same, then it would be how they used them that would determine who had the upper hand.

    Kanade had a very urate grasp of the contents of the shelves. He only needed to look at the spine to know what magic, what timing, and the area of effect

    Because of this, Kanade was also able to immediately know how to deal with them, and escape the attacks.

    In a way, it was simr to Kasumi¡¯s Mind¡¯s Eye, and so he had a perfect grasp on where the danger was.

    ¡°¡®Magic Bullet of Fire,¡¯ ¡®Voice of the Dead.¡¯¡±

    The slime that now looked like Kanade took out two books as well and activated them. One was a fireball with a homing feature and the other was a wide-area instant death attack.

    ¡°Ah, ¡®Anti-magic Barrier¡¯! ¡®Cloth of Blessing¡¯!¡±

    As Kanade knew which skills wereing, he raised a barrier that only worked against magic, but that was very powerful, and ayer of light that continued to heal you while also raising your resistance to instant death.

    The roaring mes hit the barrier and exploded. There was a frightening sound and then it all disappeared into the light.

    ¡°You sure like to use the rare stuff¡­I guess I won¡¯t be able to hold back¡­¡±

    Kanade had a huge store of magic, but they were all single-use only.

    And since Kanade had to prepare for the uing event, he couldn¡¯t just use anything he wanted, unlike the slime.

    He would dodge what he could dodge. And if there was something he couldn¡¯t dodge, he would block it with the right defense magic.

    ¡°I guess I should be d that at least it¡¯s not that good at using them? No, I still don¡¯t like it.¡±

    As there would be no end to it if they continued to fling ranged magic at each other from a distance, Kanade moved in order to bridge the gap between them. However, he was assaulted by huge waves, earthquakes, and lightning.

    ¡°¡®Magic Flight,¡¯ ¡®Power Reduction,¡¯ ¡®Anti-Magic¡¯!¡±

    He floated up with Magic Flight and elerated in order to avoid the cracks in the ground. And while he couldn¡¯t avoid being hit by the water and thunder, the twoyers of damage reduction allowed him to survive.

    And as long as he survived, Cloth of Blessing would heal him. As it was a rare skill, it healed at a rapid rate.

    It was just as he forced his way through the great wave that the magic¡¯s effect expired, and Kanade plummeted to the ground.

    At the same time, the slime started to flip through more books.

    A field of flowers spread out on the ground, numerous chains shot down from above, a blizzard started blowing from the front.

    ¡°I wish I could be so free when choosing them. ¡®All Resist,¡¯ ¡®Fire Storm,¡¯ ¡®Summon: Decoy.¡±

    As he continued to move forward, the poisonous flowers on the ground shot out their status affecting pollen, but they were promptly nullified. Then a wave of heat mmed against the blizzard, and the chains changed their targets.

    He was able to deal with every attack. And finally, he closed in on the slime.

    ¡°Yes. Your movements aren¡¯t that perfect.¡±

    Kanade pulled out a few books and immediately moved to the offensive. All of them were attacks of the highest ss and could not be affected by any damage reduction effects. On the other hand, their areas of effect were small, but at this range, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem.

    ¡°¡®Breath of Destruction¡¯ ¡®Divine Punishment,¡¯ ¡®Axe of Gravity¡¯!¡±

    ck mes and what looked like lightning burned the slime as an invisible power mmed it into the ground.

    The barriers that had been activated at the same time were of no use. The slime slowly disappeared, and only a transparent blob that looked like it was asleep, remained.

    ¡°Phew¡­I don¡¯t know why it needed to hide if it can copy things to this level¡­ Now then¡­¡±

    Kanade picked up the core and checked the description.

    It said that by activating 50 types of skills or magic, you could revive and tame it.

    ¡°50 huh? Well, it is supposed to pursue knowledge in order to mimic other creatures.¡±

    This would be possible to do if you collected a lot of skills that were not too important. However, Kanade did not have to go out and learn any new skills.

    ¡°It seems more like a servant than a friend. But I suppose it was like that with Mai and Yui too¡­¡±

    And so Kanade activated 50 of his magic spells on the spot as if it were the simplest thing. While he had to use his magic books, it was a necessary cost.

    And then¡­the small mass started to melt and return to its shape as a slime.

    ¡°A name, hmm¡­ How about ¡®Sou.¡¯ Now, ¡®Mimic.¡¯¡±

    Kanade ordered as he put the ring on his finger. And then Sou turned into the spitting image of Kanade. Of course, just as before, the floating shelves and books were exactly the same.

    They were more simr than Mai and Yui were. In fact, they were exactly the same. And then they both smiled as if they were happy about this sess.

    ¡°Yes, good! ¡­But the power of the skills is halved, huh? Well, it¡¯s still enough. That¡¯s not your strength, anyway.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t as strong as it was when it came out as an enemy, but it still didn¡¯t change the fact that he now had double the amount of books.

    ¡°It just depends on how much I can control it¡­ Hmm. I guess I¡¯ll find out as you grow.¡±

    Kanade chuckled as he thought of the possibilities for new attacks. And then Sou too smiled mischievously.

 Chapter 269

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 269

    Defense Specialization and Going Together

    ¡°Now¡­I wonder if there¡¯s any new information.¡±

    Izu decided to head out and see if there was any new information since she expected most of the town exploration would have ended by now.

    She had mainly just shut herself up in the workshop in order to create new items, so it had been a long time since shest went outside for a reason other than acquiring materials.

    ¡°Uhhh¡­information on monsters¡­¡±

    When Izu checked the information about tamable monsters, she saw that there was a great variety of them. Among the monsters that were easy to tame, the strong ones could often be seen walking around town with their master.

    ¡°Even the ones that aren¡¯t rare monsters are quite strong. I¡¯m sure Sally is checking this out too¡­as for monsters that can help with production¡­¡±

    As she continued to look, she found a monster that had been discovered recently. The requirement for starting the quest was producing a certain amount of a new item. It had been recently discovered by a yer who was like Izu, and had shut themselves up in their workshop all of this time.

    It was suggested that clearing the quest would get you a fairy, but as no one hadpleted it yet, no one knew what kind of abilities it would have.

    ¡°Yes, this is good! I¡¯ll choose this one.¡±

    And so Izu excitedly made her way to the house where she could ept the quest. There was arge chimney on the top and a row of barrels next to the house that looked like they were stuffed with materials. From what Izu could see through the window, the interior was filled with familiar crafting tools.

    ¡°This is the ce. If I¡¯m not wrong, fulfilling the requirements should mean the quest¡­yes!¡±

    As Izu stood in front of the door, a blue panel was disyed in front of her, and the quest appeared.

    ¡°¡®The Three Trials.¡¯ It seems pretty hard¡­¡±

    Izu epted the quest and entered the house. And there in front of her was an old man with a very long, white beard. The house was littered with old tools as if they were proof that the owner had dedicated his entire life to crafting. As Izu looked around the room, the old man started to talk to her.

    ¡°Since you came here, you must want to borrow the power of fairies. Hmm¡­well, it seems you have a reasonable amount of skill. Wait here one moment.¡±

    The old man took out a single sheet of paper from his desk and handed it to Izu.

    There were three item names written on it.

    ¡°Fairies do as they please. If you can get them to help you, you will be able to create something quite wonderful¡­but you must be a worthy master first.¡±

    In other words, she had to prove that her abilities were worthy of the fairy. And so she would have to make these items.

    ¡°This¡­yes. Alright then.¡±

    Izu decided. She would finish making all three of these items before she next visited this house. And so she left.

    She had never made any of these items before. While the recipe was on the paper, the items she needed would have to be made bybining other items. And she knew that she would have to be patient as she worked.

    ¡°The crafting is fine, but¡­this is going be hard.¡±

    There were many items that she needed that came from monsters that looked quite strong. It would be hard for Izu to face them on her own.

    ¡°I might have to ask someone for help.¡±

    She checked which guild members were currently logged in. Then she noticed that Maple and Mi were in the town square while on their way back to the guild home. Then they also noticed that Izu was there, and Maple started waving at her.

    ¡°Hello, Maple. How are things? Is the exploration going well?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Mi invited me to go leveling with her today.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. Then I can¡¯t ask you today¡­¡±

    Maple tilted her head to the side and asked her what had happened. And so Izu told her about the quest that she had just epted.

    Maple looked like she wanted to help her, but the promise she made with Mi was also important.

    Mi listened to all of this from the side and put a hand to her mouth as if she were deep in thought. Once Izu was finished talking about the quest, Mi entered the conversation.

    ¡°I see. Then how about this? I¡¯ll go too. So it will be all three of us. I was nning on leveling up today anyway. And you¡¯re going to a pretty harsh area, right? In that case, it should be pretty promising for leveling up.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure? Mi?¡±

    Maple asked. And Mi winked so that only Maple could see her.

    ¡°Of course. Besides, hehehe¡­ It will allow me to witness the abilities of my rivals.¡±

    And she really did feel that way. But she also wanted to help them and y together.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, will you please help me? Of course, I¡¯ll do everything to support you.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    ¡°Alright, then. Let¡¯s go! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Like that, Izu took the lead, and Maple and Mi followed her. They decided to make their first destination the volcanic mountain, as they had rarely gone there and had few materials.

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty far¡­ Should I use ¡®Savagery¡¯? Or do you want to ride Syrup?¡±

    ¡°It will take up a lot of time if we have to fight on the way¡­yes, it might be best to ride on Syrup.¡±

    As the two talked about this, Mi made a suggestion.

    ¡°I have a better way. Hehehe¡­ Maple, don¡¯t assume that you¡¯re the only one who can fly in the air. ¡®Awakening¡¯!¡±

    Mi said. And then her ring began to glow red, and then a bird with orange feathers and a long tailnded on her arm. Red mes flickered at the ends of its wings, and it was obvious that this was no ordinary bird you might see in the forest.

    ¡°Ohh!! So that¡¯s your buddy, Mi! Ah, so that¡¯s what you wanted to show me today.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­is it¡­a phoenix?¡±

    Maple kept shouting excitedly about how cool it looked. Mi looked rather smug as she made her buddy erge.

    ¡°Ignis, ¡®Erge¡¯!¡±

    As she said this, the bird that she called Ignis blew up into such a size that all three of them could ride on its back.

    ¡°We¡¯ll arrive in no time like this. Now, let¡¯s go!¡±

    Mi said. And then she helped Maple up, as she looked like she was struggling. As Maple got up onto its back, she whispered to Mi.

    ¡°You sure are excited.¡±

    ¡°Oh. I-I couldn¡¯t wait to show it to you! What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s so cool!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Miughed with satisfaction. As they talked, Izu also climbed up, and then with all three of them on top, Ignis flew off in the direction of the volcanic mountain.

 Chapter 270

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 270

    Defense Specialization and Hellfire

    As they neared the top of the volcano, they poked their head out over Ignis and looked down into the mouth of the volcano.

    ¡°In there, huh? That¡¯s where the entrance to the dungeon should be.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, leave it to me. I know this ce quite well. Ignis!¡±

    Mi gave the order, and Ignis started to descend into the mouth. On the way, there were footholds on the side, and then a very narrow entrance.

    ¡°Here it is. Ignis is too big to fit inside. So we¡¯ll have to walk.¡±

    Mi put them down on a tform and then returned Ignis to its original size.

    ¡°Uh, what is it that you need?¡±

    ¡°Various ores and nts that we should find on the way. And also materials from ava dragon.¡±

    ¡°Huh. I didn¡¯t know they had nts here¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s quite unusual. It should be a red nt that would be hard to spot. So be careful when you search for it.¡±

    The three of them walked through the cave in a single line. As Maple had activated Dedicated Affection, they were safe while they explored.

    The inside was like an ants nest, and there were many rooms and narrow passages. And then, in the far back, there was a room full of magma. That was where theva dragon waited.

    ¡°Mi. Aren¡¯t you a bad match for a monster with the fire attribute?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, terrible. However, I¡¯ve grown too. And that¡¯s what I¡¯m going to show you.¡±

    Izu continued to quickly gather the ore and nts. As Maple and Mi had very low skill levels when it came to the gathering or had no skills at all, they were not really able to help Izu acquire the rare materials that she needed.

    Because of this, they decided to focus on protecting her.

    As Izu continued to gather materials, there was the sound of roaring mes, and several giant fireballs appeared. They had wills of their own, and they opened their mouths wide, giving birth to smaller fireballs.

    ¡°Let¡¯s take care of them before they multiply even more. ¡®me Empress¡¯! Ignis, ¡®Linked me¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Yes! ¡®Deploy all weapons¡¯! ¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    Maple started her usual sweeping fire and poison attacks. Next to her, Mi ran forward andunched her fireballs. Maple had fought with Mi several times before, but unlike those times, she got a good view of what Mi was doing. The mes that shot out from Ignis at an equal distance from each other would touch the fireballs that Mi created. Every time this happened an orange aura that looked just like fire would rise from Mi¡¯s body, and her attacks would grow more powerful.

    They did much more damage than Maple¡¯s bullets, and even though she was fighting a monster that should have been a bad fit for her, her mes burned them to death.

    ¡°My firepower is superior! ¡®Heavy Fire¡¯! ¡®Blue Fire¡¯!¡±

    The red and blue mes that reached the ceiling was more than enough to burn up the fireball monsters so that nothing of them remained.

    That being said, it did use up all of her MP. But the monsters had been killed while Maple had barely attacked at all.

    By now, Izu had finished gathering the materials and stared at the scene wide-eyed. Then she rushed towards them.

    ¡°OOHHH! That was amazing!¡±

    ¡°Of course it was. Besides, Maple is supposed to focus on defense, right? Maybe that¡¯s why my firepower is so much higher inparison.¡±

    ¡°Uhh¡­probably. After all, I¡¯ve been using Hydra ever since I started.¡±

    ¡°It really was amazing¡­ Oh, that¡¯s right. Here, use this. It¡¯s my special potion. As a show of gratitude, okay?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Thanks. I¡¯ll take it.¡±

    Mi drank the whole thing and it healed her MP entirely. Not only that, but it increased the speed of her MP¡¯s auto-recovery and also had a temporary magic attack boost.

    Mi checked to see how long the effects wouldst, and then she looked at Izu with an apologetic expression.

    ¡°Hmm. Were you really alright with that? This must have been really expensive. I¡¯ve never seen anything like it.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you? I made it myself. Hehe. I can make plenty more.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Right. You are a member of Maple Tree, after all.¡±

    Mi then recalled the 4th event, where it was said that it was thanks to Izu that Maple Tree never had to worry about supplies.

    ¡°I¡¯m usually just in a supporting role¡­ It feels kind of refreshing to have someone say that to me.¡±

    Usually, there were seven yers who were running around while showing how abnormal they were. However, their items, such as the ridiculously powerful bombs that Maple detonated, they were all made by Izu.

    It seemed like Izu was incapable of fighting, but all she really needed to do was raise the effect of the items and scatter the bombs in the area. That was enough to kill a lot of yers and monsters.

    ¡°Regardless, the rest should be easy. After all, I don¡¯t have to worry about MP or HP depletion now.¡±

    Maple¡¯s area protection meant their HP wouldn¡¯t go down, and Izu¡¯s potion kept her MP up.

    In that case, Mi had no weaknesses at all.

    ¡°We¡¯ll leave the attacking to you, Mi!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. The path to the boss should be very easy.¡±

    As Mi seemed to know the interior of the dungeon quite well, she walked in the lead, and the necessary items were gathered as they made their way to their destination. As Mi had told them in advance, all of the monsters they met on the way used fire attacks. And yet she destroyed them so quickly that no one would ever think that she was a bad match for them.

    And like that, the three of them reached the deepest part of the dungeon. This ce was full of magma that shined like ake. Even the parts that you could walk over had magma bubbling out from underneath.

    ¡°There it is. It¡¯sing!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Mi created fireballs, Maple developed her weapons, and Izu prepared her bombs.

    Just as they all finished with their preparation, the magma rose and burst, and then a ck dragon with bumpy scales that was dripping withva appeared.

    This time, Maple and Izu also rushed forward at the same time that Mi charged on ahead.

    Since they were going against a boss, they needed all the firepower they could spare.

    ¡°I have a new skill too¡­ ¡®Invitation to the Ocean Floor¡¯!¡±

    As she was moving in a straight line, Maple detonated her weapons and flew on ahead of Mi.

    The dragon¡¯s head slowly came out of the surface of the magma, and Maple flew as if she meant to crash right into it. Then Mi saw that Maple¡¯s left army had turned into giant tentacles that unleashed a ck mist, and her eyes widened.

    ¡°AAARRRGGHH!!¡±

    Maple opened the tangle of tentacles so that the five arms looked like a giant open mouth. And then they closed in around the dragon¡¯s head.

    At the same time, countless damage effects appeared within the tentacles, and the dragon¡¯s HP dropped dramatically.

    Maple¡¯s attack power had not changed. However, while it had always been difficult to hit a target multiple times with ¡®Bizarre Eater,¡¯ when she used the tentacles, she was able to activate it 5 times at once, which meant the damage went way up.

    That was much more important than binding or paralysis effects.

    ¡°Maple! Do it again! ¡®Explosive mes¡¯!¡±

    Just as Maple finished her attack and started to fall, Mi used an explosive wind tounch her into the air again.

    Maple regained her posture and then stretched out her tentacles towards the dragon.

    ¡°Grraaaaaaghh!¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t work!¡±

    The dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a torrent of heat, but the tentacles with Bizarre Eater just swallowed it all up and then hugged the dragon¡¯s face once again. At the same time red damage effects appear all over its face.

    ¡°These are better than bombs!¡±

    Izu quickly took the items out of her pouch and threw the bottles close to where Mi was standing.

    When they shattered, several magic circles appeared around Mi. These increased the damage of Mi¡¯s magic attacks.

    ¡°In that case¡­ ¡®Magic Boost,¡¯ ¡®Chain Fire¡¯!¡±

    Once Mi¡¯s magic was raised even further, she used me Empress to create fireballs that sheunched one after another at the dragon¡¯s body. Linked mes already gave the fire a boost, but Chain Fire caused it to do even more damage. The firepower she acquired in exchange for fuel consumption was tremendous, and she dealt damage that was every bit as powerful as Maple¡¯s quintuple Bizarre Eater.

    Even as it took heavy damage, the dragon tried to fight back. But Maple¡¯s Dedicated Affection stopped all of its attacks, and Izu continued to throw MP replenishing potions, which meant Mi could continue her nonstop attacks.

    ¡°This is it!¡±

    Mi was in the center of mes that burned hotter than magma. And she then burned the lord of the volcano as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

 Chapter 271

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 271

    Defense Specialization and Presentation

    Once the battle was over, Izu went to gather the dropped items. In the meantime Mi approached Maple.

    ¡°He-hey! What was that back there!¡±

    ¡°Ehehe. Didn¡¯t I tell you that I wanted to show you something too?¡±

    ¡°Uh, you did say that¡­ But, there is no way that I would have known you would do something like that!¡±

    From Mi¡¯s point of view, she had acquired a new, incredibly high-powered method of attack. In fact, Maple hadn¡¯t done anything that was all that different from before, it was just that it was such a departure visually, and so Mi didn¡¯t realize it.

    ¡°I wanted to test it out on the boss. Maybe it can be my new finisher?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. Ahh, and to think that for a second I was starting to think you were underpowered.¡±

    ¡°Well, you showed me Ignis, so I wanted to show you something as well.¡±

    Maple said and thenughed innocently. Mi couldn¡¯t help butugh as well.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to think of new anti-Maple measures by the next guild war. Both in terms of defense and offense.¡±

    ¡°Hehehe. I ept your challenge! Besides, the others have be really strong too.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t doubt it¡­not now.¡±

    Mi nced towards Izu. She had assumed that Maple Tree didn¡¯t have a powerful buffer, but she knew now that that was not the case at all.

    As they talked about this, Izu finished gathering the materials. And so all three of them decided to leave the dungeon.

    ¡°Where to next?¡±

    ¡°I need the egg of a monster bird that nests on the cliffs, an ice flower from the snowy mountains¡­a coral from the sea, and poison from a scorpion¡­and also some fur¡­¡±

    She started to list all of the items. There were so many that Maple started to feel dizzy as she listened.

    ¡°That sounds really hard¡­what kind of item are you trying to make?¡±

    ¡°None of the three items have any practical use. One is a kind of mixed medicine and then there¡¯s a sword and some clothes.¡±

    All of these would be very difficult to make unless your crafting abilities were very high. As Izu said, the medicine and sword were event-exclusive items, and could not be used for anything else.

    ¡°Well, I guess we have no choice but to patiently gather them. But it won¡¯t be possible to do it in one day.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll help whenever you need me!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you can call me as long as I have the time. Hey, why don¡¯t we go to a ce that would be much easier with Ignis around?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that would be great! Then¡­maybe the cliffs?¡±

    ¡°Alright. Leave it to me.¡±

    Mi gave Ignis the order, and it changed directions and then headed towards the cliffs.

    After that, Izu would take several days to gather the rest of the materials. During that time, there was another member who was traveling around in search of his buddy. Yes, it was Chrome.

    ¡°So, that¡¯s the next ce¡­ Phew, this is going to take a while.¡±

    Chrome said as he spread the map that he had acquired as an item. That being said, it wasn¡¯t just a normal map. It was a treasure map.

    This was the quest that Chrome was currently working on. He had found this map while exploring a dungeon. It was a rare drop, and at this point he had already gone to ten of the ¡®X¡¯ marks that were on the map.

    He had acquired a number of treasures on the way, which were items that could be traded in. However none of them led to a monster that he could tame.

    Eventually, he found himself exploring thick forests and snowy mountains that could be described as uncharted territories. And it became difficult for him to get through these areas in a single day.

    ¡°I think it should end soon¡­¡±

    Chrome¡¯s current destination was a cave by the sea. When Chrome saw that the map was directing him towards the sea, he couldn¡¯t help but think of Maple¡¯s arm.

    ¡°I hope it¡¯s something that¡¯s a little more normal¡­ Here it is.¡±

    The entrance was usually covered by water, and the cave was inhabited by ravenous shark monsters. But depending on the time, the mouth of the cave was revealed.

    Through his explorations, Chrome found out the right time to go, and so he decided to enter it now.

    ¡°It¡¯s difficult to walk in here. And also¡­dark. Oomph!¡±

    Chrome secured some light by attaching antern to his belt. Then he raised his great shield and carefully walked forward. On the way, he saw human bones in tattered clothes. The atmosphere here started to remind him of a certain rocky ce that Maple had once told him about.

    ¡°I won¡¯t be able to tame it if it¡¯s a ghost-type monster. Oh, surely that¡¯s not what it is?¡±

    Chrome held his shield up. Thentern illuminated the area up ahead. And what he saw were skeletons that were armed with rusty axes and sabers. They ttered loudly as they approached.

    ¡°If we¡¯re on a linear path, I¡¯m not afraid of groups of enemies!¡±

    He blocked the attacks with his shield and attacked back. There was no need to kill them with a single hit. He just needed to avoid being hit while using the narrow passage to his advantage.

    ¡°Phew¡­ No bats have appeared yet. Is it mainly skeletons here?¡±

    He still wasn¡¯t sure what kind of dungeon this was. And so Chrome continued his exploration, all the while hoping to find something good.

 Chapter 272

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 272

    Defense Specialization and Armor

    ¡°Damn it¡­how many are there.¡±

    Chrome looked exhausted as he sat down against the rock wall. Just as he had suspected, this dungeon was crawling with armed skeletons and ghost enemies. Individually, they were not too strong, and while he took damage, his healing was able to keep up with them.

    ¡°I considered having Sally help me¡­ But it¡¯s a good thing that I didn¡¯t. Though, I¡¯ve gotten pretty far¡­¡±

    There were forked paths, so he wasn¡¯t too confident that he was going in the right direction. That being said, the paths continued without any dead ends. So he had no reason to turn back.

    ¡°Oh, there theye. Won¡¯t even give me time to rest.¡±

    Chrome said as he got back to his feet. Ghosts with scythes and spear-wielding skeletons had appeared.

    ¡°ARRGHH!! ¡®Revitalize¡¯! ¡®Shield Attack¡¯!¡±

    Chrome blew several skeletons into the air and then shed at them with his billhook. As Chrome attacked, one of the ghosts went around to his back and cut at him. But he ignored it and continued his attacks. ¡®Revitalize¡¯ was the skill that Chrome acquired with his medal. Its effect was simple. It buffed all of his recovery effects, which included ¡®Battle Healing¡¯s¡¯ auto-heal and ¡®Soul-Eater¡¯s¡¯ healing upon getting hit, ¡®Life-Eater¡¯s¡¯ healing upon attacking, and ¡®Soul Sucker¡¯s¡¯ healing upon blocking.

    The result; he could ignore one ghost and attack the monsters in front of him without being killed. He had pursued defense in a very different direction from Maple. And he had an incredible advantage against attacks that tried to slowly chip away at his health.

    Finally, Chrome turned around and mmed the ghost, which was thest survivor, with his shield. His HP healed up all of the way, and then he attacked.

    ¡°Good, that¡¯s thest one! ¡­Phew.¡±

    Silence returned to the caves once again. Chrome put away his billhook and continued down the passage. There were a number of encounters after that, but it was all against the same monsters. And so Chrome dealt with them calmly.

    ¡°This is going to take time¡­but at least it¡¯s stable. It looks like I was right in choosing that skill.¡±

    Chrome was a great shield wielder, and so his attack power was the bare minimum. It was Maple who was strange for being able to deal a lot of damage.

    ¡°¡­Oh, finally an open area. And that¡­¡±

    Perhaps it was once a cove. There was seawater that had collected in the back and drynd in the front. And in the water, there was a mysteriously wrecked ship.

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±

    Chrome seemed to understand. At the same time, purple mes rose noisily above the ship. And then a deep cry could be heard.

    The wrecked ship began to move so that the side was facing thend. Then three nks were extended out and a host of skeletons were sent towards Chrome.

    ¡°A pirate ship¡­or is it more of a ghost ship? Damn it. This is not the kind of enemy to fight when you¡¯re alone!¡±

    That being said, Chrome would not go down easily. He drank one of Izu¡¯s potions that healed you over a period of time and also used a few other buffing items.

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s see who is tougher here!¡±

    Chrome unleashed his billhook and smiled confidently as he raised his great shield. There was a massive roar as the cannons on the ghost ship fired. It signaled the beginning of the battle.

    ¡°¡®Revitalize¡¯! ¡®Guard Aura¡¯!¡±

    Chrome raised his defense and recovery power while blocking the oing cannonballs with his great shield. They exploded into mes and chipped away at Chrome¡¯s HP. It was better than being hit directly, but it was still a lot of damage.

    ¡°Tsk. So I get hurt after all!¡±

    However, there were over thirty skeletons heading towards him right now, and so Battle Healing activated. Furthermore, Izu¡¯s potion healed his HP rapidly.

    ¡°¡®Ghost Mud¡¯!¡±

    Just as he shouted this, ck mud started to pour out of his billhook. He would use skills that had HP losing effects when he attacked. This would help him deal with the monsters quicker.

    Chrome killed the monsters one by one. But as there were so many, he was unable to block the attacks from every side, and so his HP started to decline.

    ¡°Damn it. Those cannons are annoying¡­ggg!¡±

    When Chrome raised his great shield in order to block the cannon attacks, a ghost went around to his back andnded an attack, bringing Chrome¡¯s HP down to 0.

    However, ¡®Dead or Alive¡¯ activated and a skull appeared behind Chrome, bringing him back to life with just 1 HP.

    ¡°I can survive no matter what at least once! Now, give me your HP!¡±

    During his first death, he was always able to use ¡®Dead or Alive¡¯ or ¡®Indomitable Guardian¡¯ in order to survive.

    After that, the best thing for Chrome to do was to be more aggressive and kill enemies in order to recover his HP.

    Since ¡®Dead or Alive¡¯ was activated, he was able to save ¡®Indomitable Guardian¡¯ and fight more boldly.

    As he could survive, he continued to fight the skeletons. However, no matter how many he killed, their numbers did not go down.

    ¡°There¡¯s no end to it! Where¡¯s the boss¡­!¡±

    While there were differences in body and weapons size with the skeletons and ghosts, they still all looked like crew members at best.

    And so Chrome waited for the moment when the reinforcements started to cross the nks, and then used an item to forcefully break away from the enemies that swarmed around him and head towards the ship.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to board your ship before the next wave!¡±

    He blocked and dodged the rain of cannonballs and grabbed the edge of the boat with plenty of HP left. In the next second, he had boarded the ship. There, he saw a skeleton that was dressed in a gorgeous coat and armor. He wore a pirate hat and a very sharp looking saber. Chrome could tell at a nce that this one was different. However, there was no mark that showed that it could be tamed.

    ¡°That¡¯s good. It means I can defeat you without worry! ¡®me sh¡¯!¡±

    Chrome charged and cut with his me enveloped billhook. The boss met him with his own saber, which was covered in purple fire.

    Both of them swung their weapons at each other, but in this race to do the other damage, Chrome had the advantage due to his great shield and HP recovery. He was able to survive withinrge groups of enemies, but his true worth was revealed in one on one fights.

    While he chipped away at the boss¡¯s health, the other skeletons tried to return from the side.

    ¡°I knew you were going to do that.¡±

    As Chrome knew he wouldn¡¯t lose in a one on one fight, it was important to keep the reinforcements away.

    In other words, he had already installed some mines on the nks.

    There was an explosion that was every bit as loud as the cannons, and the skeletons were blown into the air. The ghosts were still floating towards him, but Chrome started to increase the speed of his attacks.

    ¡°¡®Light of the Spirit¡¯!¡±

    He used a skill that made him take 0 damage in order that he could ignore the ghosts at his back. Then he pressed in. The swinging saber bounced off his great shield, and then Chrome¡¯s billhook shed at its neck.

    At the same time, the skeleton crumbled to the ground. The ghosts disappeared. The ominous purple mes faded away, and the cove was silent once again.

    ¡°Phew. That captain wasn¡¯t anything impressive. Now¡­ Surely I¡¯d be right to expect a treasure?¡±

    You could enter the inside of the ship from the deck. And so Chrome checked all of the rooms one by one. Then he discovered a room that held the cargo.

    Everything seemed to be broken, and the boxes were all opened. However, there was one box that was still closed.

    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t sense any monsters.¡±

    Chrome remained cautious as he approached it and then tapped it with his billhook. However, it did not seem like a trap. And so he made up his mind and opened it.

    He discovered that it was filled with an assortment of weapons, armor, and gold coins. Most of it was tradable items, and so Chrome dly put them in his inventory.

    ¡°Oh, what¡¯s this¡­¡±

    He picked up a ring that had been buried with the coins. There was no mistaking it. It was just like the ring he had equipped when borrowing Syrup.

    ¡°I guess I should put it on¡­?¡±

    He thought it was odd that there were no monsters around, but put it on. Then he started to hear a rattling in the room.

    ¡°Wh-what!? Huh?¡±

    The sight in front of Chrome was hard to believe. It was as if he were witnessing a poltergeist. A set of armor was floating in front of him. There were separate pieces for the arms, head and also sword and shield. In other words, it was a monster.

    But it showed no hostility when Chrome tried knocking on it. And when Chrome took a step back, it rattled as it moved to follow him.

    ¡°So, this ring is for you?¡±

    Chrome checked its abilities and saw that its MP and HP were not particrly high. And its status was modest.

    ¡°As for the skills, there¡¯s returning to the ring and¡­ ¡®Armored¡¯?¡±

    And so he tried ordering it to activate. The floating armor and weapons moved so that they became equipped by Chrome, and they strengthened the equipment he was already wearing. His weapon was sharper andrger. His armor and shield were more durable.

    Chrome¡¯s buddy monster was able to fight while being worn by its master.

    ¡°Woah! I see¡­ Well, I can see myself fighting like this a lot¡­ And I¡¯m sure that Sally will be fine.¡±

    And so Chrome decided to call it a day. While he left the dungeon, he tried to think of a name for his armor.

 Chapter 273

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 273

    Defense Specialization and the Spirit

    After some time had passed since Chrome acquired his armor buddy, he came to the guild home to find the other guild members touching and squishing Kanade¡¯s buddy, Sou.

    ¡°Ah, Chrome! Look at this! It¡¯s Kanade¡¯s monster!¡±

    Maple seemed even happier than Kanade as she called to him.

    So, Kanade had befriended a monster as well. Chrome thought as he stared at the slime.

    ¡°A slime, huh? I see.¡±

    ¡°Sou is so interesting. Though, it can¡¯t use its skills when in town.¡±

    One second it was melting all over the floor, and the next it became firm and rolled around.

    Mai and Yui chased after it.

    ¡°It really is lively in here.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that ring. Did you find a buddy too, Chrome?¡±

    Sally asked. Chrome scratched the back of his head.

    ¡°Well, yeah¡­ But it¡¯s quite different than everyone else¡¯s. Alright, Sally! I¡¯m going to give you a fair warning.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what?¡±

    Sally tilted her head as if she had no idea what he was talking about.

    ¡°My buddy is empty armor that can move.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Sally finally understood what he meant. She twitched and froze up.

    ¡°Oh, um. No, I¡¯m fine. Amor is¡­more on the cool side.¡±

    Sally muttered in embarrassment. Chrome realized that the warning probably had the opposite effect, and so he called out the monster.

    ¡°Hey, Necro. Come out!¡±

    The armor that he called Necro looked like it was being moved by invisible strings. It nked loudly as it hovered in the air. However, it really did just look like normal armor and a sword and shield.

    Sally did gasp at first, but then she looked at Necro for a little longer and then sighed as if in relief.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m fine¡­ohhh¡­ But there really are undead ones, aren¡¯t there¡­ohhh¡­¡±

    Sally had been avoiding looking at such information as a way to escape reality. But she knew it was true.

    She could only hope that Frederica, who often came to challenge her, would not go down that route.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a pretty interesting monster as well. Once we all have monsters, I¡¯d like to test some things somewhere¡­¡±

    ¡°We should level up first. My monster is still low level and doesn¡¯t have any skills.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s true. Is Izu the only one left?¡±

    Chrome asked as he scanned the room. However, he was not able to find her.

    ¡°Ah, she¡¯s busy crafting items. She hasn¡¯te out of her workshop for a while.¡±

    ¡°Sally and I helped her gather materials¡­ It was really hard.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Considering how much we gathered¡­¡±

    Chrome looked at their reactions and realized how hard it must have been. He looked at the workshop with a worried expression.

    Just then, the workshop door opened and Izu came out looking very exhausted.

    ¡°He-hey¡­ Are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Ah, Chrome. Wee back. I¡­finally finished up here.¡±

    It must have taken a lot of endurance because she looked like she was about to fall asleep.

    Izu pped her cheeks and stretched her limbs. She needed to go out in order toplete her goal.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to go and submit the items now.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, good luck.¡±

    They all said. Izu smiled back at them and then headed to the house where she needed to take the items.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go inside.¡±

    Izu entered the house and took out the items.

    There was a bottle of sparkling medicine that changed color as time passed, fancy clothes that were decorated with great detail, and a ceremonial sword and sheath that was covered in jewels.

    ¡°Brilliant. With this, you will surely get the help you desire. Now, follow me.¡±

    Izu obeyed the old man and followed him down the stairs to the basement of his house.

    This basement turned out to be an expansive garden that was filled with grass and flowers. And in the center, there was a magic circle that glowed with a pale light.

    ¡°Now, put this on your finger and step onto it. It will change what you can see.¡±

    Izu put on the ring and stepped on the circle just as he instructed. Then a blue light started to shine from the ring andpletely fill up her vision.

    She closed her eyes for an instant and then opened them again. What was floating in front of her, was a white ball of light that had small wings. She wasn¡¯t sure if it was a fairy or a spirit.

    When Izu looked around her, she was a pot filled with water with a blue blob of water inside. At her feet, there were small flying creatures with wings made of leaves and flowers.

    ¡°That¡¯s a spirit. They are usually white like this. However, their power changes depending on their location. So control them while using the terrain and magic to your advantage.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ So it¡¯s close to attribute magic? I guess I¡¯ll have to do a lot of testing.¡±

    Izu named the white light in front of her Fay, and they returned to the guild home together.

 Chapter 274

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 274

    Defense Specialization and Event Information

    As all of the members of Maple Leaf finally chose their buddies, they decided to test their strength next.

    And so Sally carefully selected a dungeon while the others were leveling up.

    ¡°A ce that requires all kinds of abilities will make the weaknesses more apparent¡­so maybe here.¡±

    As she nned their next destination, the doors of the guild home burst open loudly and Frederica stormed in.

    ¡°Ah, there you are! I finally found you!¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s fight. You know, like we always do.¡±

    Sally nced at Frederica¡¯s fingers and saw that she was wearing a ring just like ¡®Bridge of Bonds.¡¯ Sally had been making excuses and walking around the fields, but they had finally bumped into each other again.

    ¡°Uh, well¡­um¡­¡±

    ¡°What? Is something bothering you?¡±

    Frederica said with a mischievous grin. Sally had a bad feeling about it, but Frederica would not back down. As for Sally, she did not want to tell Frederica that she would be too scared to fight her if her monster happened to be an undead.

    But Frederica was in too deep. She already knew where Maple Tree¡¯s training ground was and so she excitedly dragged Sally towards it.

    ¡°Alright. Just as always, okay?¡±

    Sally finished preparing and told Frederica how the fight would go down. It would be the same as always. They would chip away at each others¡¯ HP until someone surrendered.

    ¡°Okay! Hehe. What should I do¡­¡±

    Frederica said indecisively and then enjoyed Sally¡¯s reaction. That¡¯s when the countdown started.

    Sally concentrated more than usual and waited silently for the right time.

    When the count down went to 0, the battle began.

    ¡°¡®Super elerate¡¯! Oboro! ¡®Quick Shadow,¡¯ Shadow Clone¡¯!¡±

    Sally elerated at an incredible rate and then disappeared. When she appeared again, there were five of her. Sally was rarely this serious, and so Frederica was so stunned that she instinctively went on the defensive.

    ¡°Multiple¡­aah!?¡±

    ¡°¡®Iron Water Cannon¡¯! Oboro ¡®Binding Barrier¡¯!¡±

    Out of the five Sallys that were in front of her, one was a ¡®Mirage.¡¯ As it dissipated, a voice rang from behind Frederica, and a strong st of water shot up andunched her into the air. Frederica tried to resist it, but Oboro¡¯s stun skill prevented her from moving.

    ¡°Hey! Wait! Waaait!¡±

    ¡°¡®Quintuple sh¡¯!¡±

    But Frederica¡¯s requests were for nothing, she continued to plummet rapidly without being able to defend herself. And so she was subject to a barrage of attacks until her HP was down to 0. Shended heavily on the ground. When she got up again, she puffed her cheeks angrily.

    ¡°Was it just me, or were you more murderous than usual?¡±

    ¡°¡­I think it¡¯s just you?¡±

    ¡°And I came all this way just to show you my buddy¡­ Ah, that¡¯s right! It doesn¡¯t have to be while we¡¯re fighting. I¡¯ll show you anyway.¡±

    ¡°Uh, um, no¡­wait!¡±

    Now it was Sally¡¯s turn to make useless protests. Just as the ring started to glow and it was apparent that something was going toe out, Sally shut her eyes tightly and covered her ears with her hands. After a brief moment, Frederica pried Sally¡¯s fingers open and forced her to open her eyes.

    Sally then saw Frederica smiling mischievously as a small, yellow bird sat on top of her head.

    ¡°¡­Huh?¡±

    ¡°This is my buddy, Knots. Hehe. What is it? What did you think was going toe out?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­! Phew. Frederica!¡±

    Sally realized that Frederica had done it on purpose from the beginning. But she was so embarrassed that that was all she could muster.

    ¡°You have a surprisingly cute side. Though, you¡¯re almost inhuman duringbat.¡±

    Frederica said. She was still smiling mischievously at Sally.

    ¡°Tsk¡­ I¡¯m going to go just as hard on you next time.¡±

    ¡°I hope you do. It will be all the more satisfying when you lose. Besides, Knots is really strong.¡±

    Just then, there was a beep, and both of them paused in order to check their messages. It contained details of the next event.

    First, there would be a preliminary battle. Points would be calcted based on the survival times of the yers and the number of monsters killed.

    High-ranking yers would be able to enter the main battle area. Those who rank the highest would get better rewards. As the preliminary match was solo, yers who had tamed a monster would have a great advantage.

    ¡°It seems like the first event of the preliminaries will be against monsters¡­ And the main one will have time eleration and be PVE. It will likely be a hard event¡­¡±

    ¡°It sounds like survival. But I would like to get in the top with everyone else in the preliminaries¡­¡±

    After they were finished, Frederica insisted that they fight again. However, she then received another message.

    ¡°Ugh, It¡¯s from Pain.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Did you have ns?¡±

    ¡°He said that I¡¯m not supposed to show you too much. Hmph. How did he know¡­¡±

    ¡°That makes sense. We might bepeting again.¡±

    ¡°Still¡­ He said that I can be the judge of that. So I¡¯ll just do what I want!¡±

    ¡°Haha. Pain sure has his hands full¡­¡±

    They said as they started the second round. Ultimately, they fought five times that day, and Sally won every time. However, Frederica obeyed Pain¡¯s advice, and the little bird called Knots didn¡¯t use any powerful skills.

 Chapter 275

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 275

    Defense Specialization and Exploration

    Some time had now passed since her fights with Frederica, and Sally was now in the guild home with Maple.

    ¡°Frederica didn¡¯t use any of her bird¡¯s skills¡­ But judging by its appearance, I think it specializes in buffs and debuffs.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just spection. You know,pare it to Mai and Yui¡¯s bears. You can tell they arebat types, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. It does seem more like a support monster!¡±

    ¡°Frederica always said so. When all four of them are together, her job is mostly rted to magic.¡±

    ¡°I think a lot will change once people have monsters¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes. They either strengthen what you¡¯re good at or make up for your weaknesses¡­¡±

    They decided that there wasn¡¯t much point in staying here and thinking about it, and so they went outside.

    While they had general information about the field, there were no events that they were desperate to clear.

    And so they looked at all the information that Sally had gathered and tied to decide on where to go.

    ¡°Maple. Is there somece that interests you?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ We already went to the sea and the forest and the volcanic mountain. Hmm. If it¡¯s a ce with nice scenery¡­¡±

    ¡°You sound like a tourist¡­ Hmm. Oh, then why don¡¯t we just explore different ces?¡±

    Sally chuckled as she looked at Maple. Then she closed the information about areas that were good for leveling up or had lots of events.

    ¡°Really!? Yay! The seventhyer has so many nice ces!¡±

    And so Maple showed all of the information she had gathered. Unlike Sally¡¯s information, it was all about where to go to see pretty scenery and cute animals and how to get the most enjoyment out of the fields.

    ¡°I see. But there is a lot of distance between areas, so we¡¯ll need a method of transportation.¡±

    ¡°There are some ces you can¡¯t go to with Savagery¡­ If we¡¯re in a hurry, you can carry me?¡±

    ¡°Well, I thought you would say that. And so I prepared something.¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    Maple tried to guess what she meant as Sally smiled mischievously.

    ¡°Ohh! So fast!¡±

    ¡°Hold on, Maple! Though, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be fine even if you fall!¡±

    After a while, Maple and Sally could be seen riding a horse. She had tamed it on the field and had it kept in a stable in town. As you could not ride them unless your DEX was high enough, Maple had to hold onto Sally as she rode in the back.

    ¡°It¡¯s not as fast if there are two people¡­ But it¡¯s a good horse, and still really fast!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing, Sally! Thank you!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee! Alright, the ground is uneven here, so be careful, okay?¡±

    ¡°I-I won¡¯t fall! Ah, turn right over here!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Sally changed the direction of the horse ording to Maple¡¯s guidance. Like that, they came out into a field that stretched as far as the eye could see. When they looked down from above, they could see a gentle river ran through it and there were many tamable monsters in the area.

    ¡°The monsters here aren¡¯t really hostile, so it¡¯s not good for leveling up. But it¡¯s a good ce to rx.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been here before?¡±

    ¡°No, I just read about it. Of course, everyone ended up getting their monsters while I was gathering information.¡±

    ¡°They were so fast. But I guess it shows how they knew what they wanted.¡±

    The two of them got off of the horse and started to walk in the field. Here, all kinds of animals, such as horses, cows, and water birds lived together.

    ¡°Ohh¡­it¡¯s too bad I can¡¯t take all of them back with me.¡±

    ¡°You would if you could?¡±

    ¡°Okay, maybe not all of them. But I want to take the cute ones.¡±

    You could not have too many cute monsters around you. Maple smiled as she carried Syrup in her arms.

    ¡°Maybe we should search for rare monsters just in case. Apparently, they are in every area¡­¡±

    ¡°Information sure is important!¡±

    ¡°¡­Well, I won¡¯t be attacked in this area. So you can go and y if you want?¡±

    Sally said with a chuckle. Maple looked like she wanted to go running around as soon as possible. And so Mapleughed with an embarrassed expression and then went running off.

    ¡°Mister rabbit! Wait!¡±

    ¡°¡­Oh, she definitely won¡¯t catch up with that one.¡±

    Sally thought as she watched Maple chase after a group of rabbits.

 Chapter 276

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 276

    Defense Specialization and the Prairie

    As for Sally, she stayed for a while and enjoyed watching the monsters and just taking in the scenery.

    Fish were swimming towards the bottom of the clearke, and birds were flying in the sky. However, she saw no signs of any special events.

    ¡°Phew. I guess there¡¯s nothing here. Maybe it¡¯s purely a ce to look for monsters? ¡­Hey! Maple?¡±

    She asked Maple what she was doing now. And while she got a reply, she could no longer see her.

    Thinking this was strange, Sally checked her map and started to walk towards Maple.

    ¡°Ah¡­I see.¡±

    Sally had arrived in a ce where several fluffy balls were lined up in a row. These monsters were known as Ball Sheeps, and as the name implied, their wool made them look like balls. And in the center of the group, was Maple, who was thoroughly buried in her own wool.

    ¡°You blend in with them so well that it took me a second to notice.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe. Right? These guys move around asionally. And when they do, they lift me into the air and take me with them!¡±

    ¡°¡­I think they¡¯re just trambling over you?¡±

    As Maple was gesturing for her toe closer, Sally carefully made her way towards Maple without scaring the Ball Sheeps. Then she entered Maple¡¯s wool.

    She was used to doing this by now.

    Isn¡¯t it great to rx like this sometimes!¡±

    ¡°Hehe. Isn¡¯t this just the norm for you, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Huh? I don¡¯t think that¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°Uh, it looks like it might not be so rxing after all.¡±

    Sally felt that the Ball Sheep were moving, and so she buried herself into Maple¡¯s wool and fixed herself inside with webs so that she wouldn¡¯t fall out.

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯! Just in case.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you.¡±

    Just as they both finished preparing, the herd of sheep began to migrate as they rushed through the prairie.

    However, Maple wasn¡¯t actually running at all, but she was being kicked like a ball, which meant they went flying into the air while spinning rapidly.

    And though they took no damage, rotating like this would inevitably cause dizziness.

    ¡°Hey¡­ Maple! We¡¯re spinning so much¡­¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ It used to be a lot slower¡­¡±

    As for Sally, she would take damage if she disconnected the web too soon and ended up getting thrown out. And so they had no choice but to continue to get kicked around.

    After this had continued for some time, they heard a rustling noise and felt the impact of hitting against something. And then Maple¡¯s ball of wool stopped moving.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never been spun around like that before¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Sorry, I think I¡¯m going to have to rest before getting out.¡±

    ¡°Yes, me too¡­¡±

    They were so dizzy that they no longer knew which way was up and which was down. After resting for a while, they poked their heads out of the wool.

    And then they saw that there was a small spring in front of them and that they were in a dense forest. The area here was thick with bushes, and so they realized that the rustling they had heard was the sound of them forcing their way through it.

    Here, the Ball Sheep were drinking from the stream. Apparently, their migration had ended.

    ¡°Did we travel that far?¡±

    ¡°Well, we rolled for quite a while¡­ Hmm. Yes, we¡¯re no longer in the ins. Still, that seems like more than it should be¡­¡±

    ¡°But it was so big!? Are sheep really that fast¡­¡±

    ording to the map, they had gone through the great ins ande out into a distant forest.

    Even if they were going in a straight line, it seemed like it should have taken longer.

    ¡°Well, since they went through the trouble of bringing us here, why don¡¯t we take a look around?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sure. We can do it while we rest.¡±

    Sally sheered some of Maple¡¯s wool so that it would be easier to move, and then they walked towards the stream.

    ¡°They don¡¯t run away even when you approach them. And it looks like they¡¯re tamable well.¡±

    ¡°Too bad we can¡¯t do that anymore. They¡¯re so cute and fluffy.¡±

    Maple hugged one of the Ball Sheep and relished its softness. As if reacting to her, the Ball Sheep started to shake its round body.

    ¡°Huh!? Wawawawa!¡±

    Maple bounced off of it and lost her bnce. And after taking a step back, she fell loudly into the stream.

    The other Ball Sheep were so surprised that they began to run away. Sally then approached the water and attached a web to Maple in order to fish her out.

    ¡°Are you alright? Maple?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It took me by surprise, but I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Maple thanked her as she was pulled back to drynd. That¡¯s when Sally noticed something.

    ¡°Maple. Did you drop something inside of the water?¡±

    ¡°Huh? I have my great shield¡­short sword¡­hmm. And I have my ring!¡±

    ¡°See. Maple, take a look.¡±

    She looked into the water and saw that there was something shining on the bottom.

    ¡°It¡¯s not so deep, so I can dive down and check it out. Just wait a minute.¡±

    Sally said as she dove into the water. Then she returned with the shiny object in her hand.

    ¡°Oomph! Phew¡­¡±

    ¡°Wee back! Uh¡­is that a gem?¡±

    Sally was holding a sphere in her hand that was made of a white ore. It was smooth and seemed to be glowing.

    ¡°Well, I guess I should check the item description.¡±

    [White Key]

    One of three keys to open a certain door.

    ¡°¡­I wonder where it¡¯s used?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I guess there are probably simr ones to this. See, it says it¡¯s just one key.¡±

    ¡°Huh. It¡¯s going to be hard to find something this small.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to find a hint. This one¡­we kind of stumbled upon it by ident¡­¡±

    They thought back on how they had arrived here. It seemed like Sally had a hunch, and so she searched her memories.

    ¡°¡­There should be a few other types of monsters that migrate. So, maybe we should check them out while we explore?¡±

    ¡°I agree! And if we find another key, it will mean that your guess was right!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. It means we have a new purpose.¡±

    And so the two of them made it their goal to find another gem. And like that, they continued to sightsee and explore.

 Chapter 277: Itai no wa Iya nanode BÅgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 277

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 277</strong>

    Defense Specialization and Searching for the Key

    ¡°First, we have to return to where the horse is.¡±

    ¡°Hehehe. That¡¯s no problem. Watch.¡±

    Sally took out a whistle from her inventory and blew into it. After a while, a horse came out of the bushes.

    ¡°Ohh! Amazing! You can call it with that?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s useful because you can call it no matter where it is.¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t noticed since I¡¯m always flying in the air, but do a lot of people ride them?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a good mode of transportation. There will probably be even more soon.¡±

    The speed and area in which you could run changed depending on the horse, so you had to look for what was best for you.

    ¡°There are monsters that migrate in almost every area. So, where should we go¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, maybe it¡¯s in the sea? We explored it a lot already, so I think it would be easier to narrow it down!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Let¡¯s do that then.¡±

    Sally told Maple to get on the horse, and then they raced through the forest.

    ¡°Wo-won¡¯t we crash into something?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I have a lot of practice!¡±

    It turned out that Maple¡¯s fears were for nothing, and the horse jumped over bushes and moved through trees as naturally as if it were dashing through the ins.

    ¡°We¡¯ll get there in no time!¡±

    ¡°We have to use what we prepared!¡±

    Ultimately, they reached the sea without a single ident.

    ¡°Be careful. There should be an octopus somewhere.¡±

    ¡°The thing that gave you your tentacles, right? How was it?¡±

    ¡°¡­Huh? It was pretty delicious, even though it was raw!¡±

    Maple said. Sally immediately flicked her forehead.

    ¡°Ugh. I was talking about how strong the boss was. You were caught out of nowhere, right? Do you think it would be bad if that happened to me?¡±

    ¡°I think it would be dangerous if it happened in the cave. It¡¯s really narrow¡­¡±

    Maple answered with a hint of embarrassment. Sally wouldn¡¯t get caught by any normal attacks, but it would be a different story if they were talking about the unavoidable ¡®abduct on attack¡¯ gimmick.

    ¡°Alright, we won¡¯t go close to this ind you talked about. Now, will you stay above me and use ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Okay! This time, I¡¯ll ride on Syrup and wait for you!¡±

    Maple put on her snorkel so that she would be able to see Sally. Then she erged Syrup and went out into the sea.

    Once the water below was deep enough, Sally jumped off of Syrup and into the water.

    Maple watched her go and also made sure that Sally stayed within range as she moved Syrup.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Sally checked the range of Maple¡¯s Dedicated Affection, and then searched for the group of fish.

    Corals of all kinds of colors spread out in the sea. And fish that normally wouldn¡¯t be living together were swimming around. There were several gaps in the ground that looked like they led to somece deeper. However, she was not about to go anywhere that was so dark.

    As Sally continued to explore, she discovered a group of tropical fish. And so she used a dolphin kick to move in their direction. Thanks to her high ¡®Swimming¡¯ level, it wasn¡¯t hard for her to catch up to them.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    However, she was so fast that Maple wasn¡¯t able to keep up.

    And while the range was quiterge, it wasn¡¯trge enough to protect something that was actively trying to move away.

    Even now, fish with sharp fangs would ram into her, or corals would elongate as if they had octopus tentacles, and they would try to grab onto her legs.

    Sally decided that it couldn¡¯t be helped, and she elerated her speed in order to shake them off. And then she continued to pursue the fish. As for whatever monsters that caught up with her, she attacked them with wind des.

    Like this, she chased after the tropical fish for some time. At first, they seemed to be swimming in a circle along the same route, but then they started to enter a crack in the coral.

    Sally approached it cautiously and then took out a shlight from her inventory in order to peer inside. But while she could see that there were fish in there, she couldn¡¯t see anything else. As it seemed very deep, she resurfaced once and called to Maple.

    ¡°Sally! Are you okay? Sorry that I couldn¡¯t keep up with you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. It was my fault for moving away.¡±

    Sally held onto Syrup as she exined to Maple what had happened.

    ¡°I see. So, it will be fine if I stay right here?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me! And I¡¯ll prepare potions so it will be fine if you take damage¡­ You can concentrate on exploring without having to worry!¡±

    Maple said this confidently. Well, then. I¡¯ll also not fail to aplish my task. Thought Sally with a fearlessugh. And she returned to the depths of the sea.

 Chapter 278: Itai no wa Iya nanode BÅgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 278

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 278</strong>

    Defense Specialization and Key Information

    And so Sally dove back to the rift in the ground and used one hand to carry a shlight to light her way as she entered it.

    It was only the entrance that was narrow. Inside, there seemed to be a tunnel. Light poured in from the cracks in the coral, making the scales of the tropical fish glimmer beautifully.

    Sally remained cautious of danger as she made her way forward. Eventually, she came to a dead end. And here, there was a stone board that was covered in seaweed and coral.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Sally pointed her shlight at it and pushed away the seaweed and cut off the coral in order to see what was written underneath.

    Once it was cleared, she saved it as an image and then returned to the surface.

    ¡°Pwaah! Maple! I found something.¡±

    ¡°Ohh! How was it?¡±

    As Sally climbed up onto Syrup, Maple approached her as if she couldn¡¯t wait to hear all about it.

    And so Sally showed the image to her. It was a rough map of the seventhyer.

    And there were marks all over the ce.

    ¡°Here it is. It seems quite different from the drop map that Chrome was talking about¡­ I think that it¡¯s definitely not for the same event.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Yes! Oh¡­ But there are so many. And there are only supposed to be three keys¡­¡±

    ¡°But look. There is a mark on the stream we were earlier. So, I think one of these marks is the right one, and the others are hints.¡±

    It was a very simple map, and there were marks in every area. The reality was, that they had to check all of the areas, from the desert to the jungle.

    ¡°Should we go back once? Maybe someone else has more information!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. It seems like events can be triggered in all sorts of ces. So maybe someone at the guild encountered something.¡±

    They both thought it was a better idea to return to the guild, rather than run around blindly through the seventhyer.

    When they opened the doors to the guild home, they saw that Kanade, Mai, and Yui were facing each other around a table and ying a board game.

    ¡°Hmm? Ah, wee back, you two. Do you want to y with us?¡±

    Mai and Yui said as they made their next move. And then they slumped in their chairs as they were defeated.

    ¡°Hmmm. We just came here today to ask if anyone knew anything.¡±

    Maple told the three of them what they had been up to. Kanade nodded a number of times as if to suggest he had a few ideas.

    ¡°In that case, I saw something promising in the town library. Apparently, there used to be several other towns that were quite wealthy. And people back then could understand their monsters much better than they can now¡­ ording to this image, the towns should be around here.¡±

    Kanade pointed at a few marks on the map. One of the ces was where the stream was.

    ¡°Ohhh! Sally! This is very useful information!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m impressed. Aren¡¯t there a lot of books at this library?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Still, I read all of them.¡±

    ¡°A-all of them!?¡±

    ¡°A-all of them!?¡±

    Mai and Yui said in unison. In the meantime, Kanade started setting up the next board game.

    ¡°It¡¯s an interesting ce, and there are a lot of things written that could be hints for events. So you should definitely check it out. Hehe. Though, it will take you a long time.¡±

    After all, Kanade was only able to read all of them because of his ability.

    Feeling the difference in processing ability, Mai and Yui could only slump weakly in their chairs.

    ¡°Sister, I don¡¯t think we can win after all¡­¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah¡­ We never stood a chance.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be waiting for a good report, okay? Also, will you y when youe back?¡±

    ¡°Sure! Once we finish this quest, I¡¯lle back and beat you!¡±

    ¡°But Maple, you haven¡¯t even won once, have you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still fun! Besides, Kanade makes adjustments, just like a game!¡±

    ¡°Huh. He¡¯s like aputer.¡±

    Sally seemed very surprised as she looked at Kanade with suspicion. But he just smiled his usual smile and nodded. Sally was satisfied. She realized that such a thing wasn¡¯t really all that odd when it came to Kanade.

    ¡°I¡¯m at level 1 when I y against you two.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re too strong for a level 1!¡±

    ¡°And you said you can go up to level 10¡­?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha. Well, we better go now! I hope you two can win!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll try!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll try!¡±

    They left the trio, who started ying again. And like that, they returned to the field, this time with concrete information.

 Chapter 279: Itai no wa Iya nanode BÅgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 279

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 279

    Defense Specialization and the Giant Tree

    ¡°So, we arrived, but¡­¡±

    ¡°We have to go up there?¡±

    A giant tree that was so tall it pierced through the clouds was now in front of them. Its giant trunk had vines wrapped around it, and there were ces where the bark was peeled off, which acted as footholds. This meant that there was a climbing route for getting to the top.

    However, if you looked up, you would see that there were violent, monstrous birds that looked much more intimidating than anything that was in the sea.

    ¡°¡­Do we go up normally?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I think that will be difficult.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Then we¡¯ll use brute force.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe. I was waiting for you to say that!¡±

    Maple changed her equipment and had two shields float around her. Then she set up Throne of the Heavenly King on Syrup¡¯s back.

    When Maple had sat down on her throne, she activated Dedicated Affection and developed her weapons. Then she changed the color of her equipment to white and activated the damage immunity skill. And with that, her preparations wereplete.

    ¡°Sally, get on! Get on! Be careful that you don¡¯t fall off, okay?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I can make footholds in the air if I need to.¡±

    Like that, theirbined powers made Syrup a floating fortress that ignored such concerns as footholds as they rose into the air. Just then, three monster birds noticed them and came flying down while shrieking deafeningly.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯! ¡®Pierce Guard¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Binding Barrier¡¯!¡±

    Sally ordered Oboro just as Maple started her attacks. She stopped the monster birds from moving. And while Maple wasn¡¯t the best at aiming, there was no way she could miss them now.

    ¡°Thank you! They¡¯re really hard to hit when they¡¯re flying around!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. Oh, ¡®Cyclone Cutter¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Syrup, ¡®Spirit Cannon¡¯!¡±

    Maple also gave orders to Syrup, and both she and Syrup shot out beams that burned down the monster birds.

    And while the birds continued to attack her stubbornly, Maple had been extra cautious and used Pierce Guard, which meant she took no damage at all.

    Ultimately, these wild birds had no chance against the imprable floating fortress.

    ¡°Alright, we did it!¡±

    ¡°We should be fine if that¡¯s all they got. Let¡¯s keep going until we reach the top.¡±

    As they talked like this, the birds kepting towards them with mouths open wide. But at this point, it was obvious which of them was prey.

    And so Maple and Sally seed in raising their level once and reach the top.

    The leaves were just as impressive as the rest of the giant tree. They were strong enough for two people to stand on them at the same time. And in the center of the tree, was a giant bird¡¯s nest. The two of them approached it without changing anything.

    ¡°Here ites!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Sally got off of Syrup and held her short swords ready as she stood on a leaf. Maple directed her cannons towards the nest.

    And then, feathers that were as long as they were tall began to flutter down. They were soon followed by a monster bird. Its size and overall air reminded them of something.

    ¡°It¡¯s like the one during the second event! It might have simr attacks as well!¡±

    ¡°I see! Well, we better show it how strong we¡¯ve be!¡±

    ¡°Also, look at its head!¡±

    Sally said as she pointed towards the bird¡¯s neck. There was what looked like a cor with a green gemstone in it. There was little doubt that this was the gemstone that they were looking for.

    ¡°We¡¯ll win!¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    They said excitedly. And as the monster bird let out a high-pitched screech, the battle began.

    As long as Maple was using Dedicated Affection, Sally could go all out. She listened to the several gunshotsing from behind her as she activated her skills.

    ¡°¡®Path of Water¡¯! Oboro, ¡®Binding Barrier¡¯!¡±

    She used this skill, which she had acquired through raising the level of her medal skill. And then, a thick, gravity-defying pir of water appeared from where she was standing. It shot upwards diagonally. Sally jumped inside with a loud ssh and elerated as she swam through the water. Then she rotated as she shot out and shed the bird from shoulder to stomach.

    ¡°¡®Inspire¡¯! Syrup, ¡®Mother Nature,¡¯ ¡®Path of Thorns¡¯!¡±

    As Maple¡¯s equipment was for defense, she concentrated on supporting Sally.

    Vines like the ones that were around the trunk began to stretch through the leaves and surround the bird. Then thorns grew out from them, causing damage and paralysis.

    Thebination of Oboro¡¯s stun and Syrup¡¯s paralysis meant that it could no longer move, so they could attack it without worrying about retaliation.

    ¡°¡®Quintuple sh¡¯!¡±

    Sally bit into a Doping Seed and raised her STR to its limits. Then she ran up the foothold that Maple had made with vines, and mmed the enemy¡¯s face with an overwhelmingly powerful series of hits.

    Maple¡¯s bullets were also finding their target and the damage quickly racked up.

    It was here that the paralysis effect finally ended, and the monster bird tried to tear away from the thorns and vines. But Maple would not allow it.

    ¡°Syrup, ¡®Spirit Cannon¡¯! ¡®Petals of Sleep¡¯!¡±

    This time, pink petals scattered around them, and a sweet smell filled the air. At the same time, strength seemed to slowly leave the bird¡¯s body, and it ended up falling asleep.

    Sally stopped attacking for a moment and took out a special bomb that Izu had made.

    ¡°Woah, Syrup became a lot stronger. That¡¯s incredible binding power.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really helpful because I can catch up even though I can¡¯t move or am really slow! Oomph!¡±

    Maple stood up from her throne and changed her equipment to ck as she moved closer.

    The throne¡¯s ability also shackled Maple. The fact that she stood up from it meant that she was going to go on the attack.

    ¡°¡®Deploy all Weapons,¡¯ ¡®Invitation to the Ocean Floor,¡¯ ¡®Predator¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Woah!¡±

    Angel wings grew from her back, her body was surrounded by powerful weapons, monsters appeared on both sides of her, and five tentacles that unleashed a ck mist had reced her left hand.

    Who wouldn¡¯t run away immediately if such a thing came towards them? And while Sally did not run, she was reminded of just how bizarre Maple¡¯s appearance was.

    Maple got as close as she could before covering its face with her tentacles and unleashing her monsters on it. Then came the follow-up attacks.

    ¡°¡®Hydra,¡¯ ¡®Oozing Chaos,¡¯ ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Each attack was ferocious, causing damage effects to fly in the air. At the same time, the bombs that Sally setup began to detonate.

    ¡°Damn¡­¡±

    Sally couldn¡¯t help but mutter honestly. Maple¡¯s tentacles enveloped the bird¡¯s head one more time as its body was covered in thorns and vines. Then the monster bird exploded.

    ¡°Yes! I can still win if I use everything!¡±

    ¡°Haha. That¡¯s great. Look. Let¡¯s pick up the gemstone before we lose it.¡±

    Sally said. And so Maple sshed through the poison as she made her way to the cor. As it was asrge as a h hoop for them, she found it immediately.

    The cor crumbled when she picked it up, and only a green gemstone remained in her hand.

    ¡°Sally! It¡¯s the second key!¡±

    ¡°Yes, good. So, what should we do? Go to the next one?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t use Bizarre Eater anymore¡­ Are you okay, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Of course. You do know that I¡¯m the one that¡¯s supposed to be dealing the damage? I shouldn¡¯t have any trouble, even if we have to fight.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m counting on you too, Oboro!¡±

    Maple said as she patted Oboro on the head.

    ¡°It looks like Syrup got quite a bit stronger. But so has Oboro. I¡¯ll show you just how much.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I look forward to it!¡±

    And like that, they easily defeated the monster bird that held the gemstone. And so the two of them headed to their next destination.

 Chapter 280: Itai no wa Iya nanode BÅgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 280

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 280</strong>

    Defense Specialization and the Floating Stones

    At their next destination. It was an area with strong wind and boulders that were floating due to some hidden power. The floating boulders looked like they had been torn directly from the ground, which resulted in a lot of ces to hide. Furthermore, it seemed like this affected the yers, as their movements were light as if gravity was weaker here.

    ¡°I think it¡¯ll be harder to dodge¡­ Maple, do you mind if I get ustomed to this before we move on?¡±

    ¡°Sure! This ce is amazing. It¡¯s so strange.¡±

    Maple hopped around and then floated downward as if she had closed her wings.

    ¡°This ce isn¡¯t like the previous event, with its ¡®power of the stars.¡¯ So I¡¯ll have to minimize the time I¡¯m floating.¡±

    Sally spent some time checking her movements until she was satisfied. Then they started walking.

    ¡°The wind is so strong. I feel like I¡¯ll get blown away if I¡¯m not walking.¡±

    ¡°Speak of the devil!¡±

    ¡°Huh? What!?¡±

    As the two of them walked, a terrible wind blew, and a giant boulder came flying towards them.

    Here, Sally¡¯s earlier practice came in handy, and she was able to dodge it easily. But Maple did not have a chance.

    The boulder hit her head-on with a loud smash, and she went flying into the air. After bouncing around several times, Maple bumped into a different boulder and fell to the ground.

    ¡°Maple! Yo-you sure flew far¡­¡±

    ¡°Th-that was a surprise¡­ I didn¡¯t think something like that woulde flying out of nowhere.¡±

    Maple picked herself up off of the ground as if nothing had happened. Sally was relieved to see that Maple was the same as always, and she offered her a hand.

    ¡°Well, it seems like they are carried by the wind. So we just need to be careful of the direction that it¡¯s blowing in.¡±

    ¡°Yes, okay! I¡¯m just d that it wasn¡¯t a piercing attack. Now I know it will be fine as long as I use ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll dodge what I can, but having insurance is helpful. Besides, it¡¯s hard to move in this area.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go this way since the wind is blowing from the right!¡±

    ¡°Here ites again. This time its rubble!¡±

    Sally pulled out her two daggers and concentrated. She had dodged rocks like this a number of times before. She blocked the first with a dagger and then twisted away from the next, before jumping out of the way of the others.

    As she did this, the blue aura around her grewrger. Her STR was going up.

    ¡°Phew¡­¡±

    ¡°Wow, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Well, I want to raise all my abilities before reaching the boss. So I really concentrated while doing that.¡±

    Sally seemed like she was already used to the changes to her movement in this area. And so she was able to smoothly dodge the flying rocks and boulders after that. It was a clear difference from Maple, who was being hit loudly by the rocks, one after another.

    ¡°Oh, there are monsters.¡±

    What had appeared in front of them now, was a wolf and an eagle that seemed to be made of shining, white wind.

    Just their eyes were a glowing red, and it was clear that these were no ordinary creatures.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Shadow Clone,¡¯ ¡®Illusion¡¯!¡±

    Sally ordered. At first, she seemed to split into five, but then that doubled.

    Each of them moved to attack the wolf and the eagle, but the two creatures shook their bodies, causing wind des to be unleashed and shred up the clones.

    ¡°I just needed a small opening! ¡®Pinpoint Attack¡¯!¡±

    Sally jumped high and shed down with her daggers at the distracted eagle.

    And in a sh, the eagle dispersed into a mist.

    ¡°So, they areing with numbers then!¡±

    If each individual was weak, that meant they would surely have enough prepared so that they would still be a threat.

    Just as Sally realized this, the wind started to blow all around them. A pack of wolves surrounded them on the ground, and eagles targeted them from the sky.

    ¡°Maple! I¡¯ll leave the wide-area attacks to you!¡±

    ¡°Okay! ¡®Deploy all Weapons¡¯! ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    She shot down the wind des and rocks that were flying in the air as she spun around and attacked everything around her.

    That being said, since there were so many, some of the wind des slipped through.

    ¡°Ouch?! Ah, piercing! Uh, ¡®Pierce Guard¡¯!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll bring their number down too! Oboro, ¡®Cross Fire¡¯!¡±

    The mes that Oboro unleashed exploded loudly as they hit the wolves. Then they spread out to the other wolves that were nearby. And while it was not that strong, it was more than enough to deal with wolves that were made of wind.

    ¡°Thank you! Alright, now this¡­¡±

    Maple changed her equipment to green clothes, and activated ¡®Poltergeist.¡¯ Then she swung theser wildly as if it were a beam saber. Like this, she would be able to kill the enemies in the air, which were difficult for Sally to reach.

    While there were so many, they couldn¡¯t do anything to Maple, once piercing attacks were no longer a problem. And so they were hardly a threat.

    ¡°Phew¡­ While they took me by surprise. They weren¡¯t that strong.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I was able to dodge a lot of them.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right! So Oboro let¡¯s you make even more clones now! It¡¯s amazing that you can make ten!¡±

    ¡°Well, the five I made with Illusion are close to Mirage. And they are just decoys that can¡¯t actually deal any damage.¡±

    ¡°Right. But Shadow Clones can do damage.¡±

    ¡°Well, we should go now. I don¡¯t want to be surrounded again.¡±

    ¡°I agree!¡±

    And so they continued on their way. But this time, just a little faster.

 Chapter 281: Itai no wa Iya nanode BÅgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 281

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 281</strong>

    Defense Specialization and the Floating Stones 2

    They hopped on the floating boulders and cut their way through another wolf ambush. And while giant boulders continued to fly towards them, Maple was always rescued by Sally. Eventually, they arrived at the deepest part of the area.

    Here, there were several boulders floating above t terrain. The wind was blowing like a tornado and in the center, there was a giant that was made entirely of wind.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to kill that in one hit. We better be careful.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Leave it to me!¡±

    Maple pointed her barrels at it. At the same time, the giant also went into a battle stance. The tornado that surrounded it became stronger and the floating boulders began to move.

    ¡°Huh!? But I can¡¯t dodge those!¡±

    There was the sound of metal hitting against something hard, and Maple went flying into the air.

    Of course, more than one boulder assaulted her, and Maple was bounced around like a ping pong ball.

    ¡°Wa-wawawawaaa!¡±

    ¡°Maple! That¡¯s too¡­ I don¡¯t think I can help you¡­ Ah, I have to concentrate!¡±

    Sally lowered her stance and shifted between elerating and stopping. It was all she could do to dodge the boulders as she got closer.

    And as Maple was being blown around the field, Sally could not depend on the effects of Dedicated Affection.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Demon me¡¯! ¡®Fire Child¡¯!¡±

    Sally ordered Oboro. Then blue mes appeared all over her body and increased her damage output. Furthermore, mes stretched out from her daggers, increasing her reach.

    She spun her body and cut through the wind that the giant had unleashed. Then she shed deeply into the giant¡¯s arm without losing momentum.

    As the red damage effects flew, so did the blue mes around her.

    ¡°Oboro¡¯s MP is¡­still fine¡­!?¡±

    Then Sally saw thesers being fired from behind the giant¡¯s back, and she quickly jumped away.

    However, it turned out that it was meant to damage the giant and not Sally. She saw the damage effects rise into the air.

    ¡°Maple? Woah, she¡¯s going crazy¡­¡±

    While Maple was being bounced around by the boulders, she wasn¡¯t taking any damage. And so she utilized this to move at a high speed and then use ¡®Poltergeist¡¯ to randomly unleash hersers and other attacks. asionally, she would make her weapons detonate and bash against the boulders on purpose. This made it difficult for the boss to hit her with its masses of wind.

    ¡°Is it¡­a field gimmick¡­? Well, I should do what I can.¡±

    If Maple currently had its attention while racking up damage, that meant that Sally could use a skill that would usually take too much time.

    Sally moved close to one of its legs and activated the skills.

    ¡°¡®Quintaple sh,¡¯ ¡®Power Attack¡¯!¡±

    There was additional damage from Demon me and the follow-up attack from ¡®Pursuing de,¡¯ and ¡®Sword Dance,¡¯ which affected everything, on top of buffs from items. These resulted in damage that was nearly unbelievableing from daggers.

    When the damage effects died down, one of the giant¡¯s legs disappeared, and it fell to the ground.

    ¡°It¡¯s our chance!¡±

    Sally dodged the flying rocks and moved to the giant¡¯s head, which she shed repeatedly.

    However, a great boulder came flying towards her as if to interrupt her attacks.

    ¡°Oboro! ¡®Spirited Away¡¯!¡±

    Sallymanded, and then she disappeared. It wasn¡¯t like ¡®Quick Shadow,¡¯ which made her invisible. This was a skill that erased your existencepletely for one second.

    And you could not hit what did not exist. And since she used it right before it hit her, the boulder passed through as if nothing had happened.

    ¡°Yes, sess! Oboro, ¡®Binding Barrier¡¯!¡±

    As things were going well, Sally¡¯s attacks elerated even more. Maple was still flying wilding about the field and damaging the giant with hersers. And the result was that the boss could not survive Sally¡¯s attacks.

    There was onest gust of wind, and then the floating rocks became still. At the same time, Maple was tossed to the ground and rolled towards Sally¡¯s feet.

    Obviously, she was unhurt, but she still looked unstable as she wobbled up to Sally.

    ¡°Good work! Oboro sure can do a lot now! Oh¡­ I¡¯m reminded of Mi.¡±

    ¡°Oboro does fire and illusions. And I guess I do water and ice? What do you think? This de when I used Demon me. Isn¡¯t it cool?¡±

    ¡°Yes! You look like a ninja, I think? And that rock went right through you!¡±

    ¡°Thanks to Oboro, I have one more way to get out of nearly impossible situations. Anyway, this is what¡¯s important!¡±

    Sally scooped up the red gemstone from the ground. It had been the giant¡¯s eye.

    ¡°Now we just need to go to the ruins that Kanade told us about.¡±

    ¡°I hope that¡¯s it. Fighting bosses is quite hard¡­¡±

    As there was nothing else for them to gather right now, they decided to head for the ruins. They wouldn¡¯t know if they needed something until they got there.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go! Let¡¯s go! I can¡¯t wait to see what is there!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. Okay, get on the horse again.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Since they had everything they needed, they got on the horse and headed for the ruins.

 Chapter 282: Itai no wa Iya nanode BÅgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 282

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 282</strong>

    Defense Specialization and the Ruins

    They rode on Sally¡¯s horse until they arrived at the ruins. While there were stone paving and the remains of houses, nearly everything had been swallowed up by nature. It was closer to a forest than a ruin.

    ¡°Well, I suppose we should start by searching through the ce.¡±

    ¡°Okay! I hope we find it soon.¡±

    They decided to split up and walk around the area where anything manmade remained. Ultimately, it did not take them long to find what they were looking for.

    ¡°Sally! Over here!¡±

    Maple was standing in an area where stone fragments were scattered everywhere, and there was a single altar standing there.

    There were three dents in it, and they quickly understood what that meant.

    ¡°Should I put them in?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯s fine.¡±

    After Maple put the gems into all three dents, the alter was enveloped in light. At the same time, Syrup and Oboro jumped out of the rings without warning.

    ¡°Syrup?¡±

    ¡°Oboro?¡±

    As they watched uprehendingly, red, green, and white lights spread out at their feet. And then they felt the familiar sensation of being teleported.

    When the lights died down, and they opened their eyes, they saw a town that was overflowing with animals.

    However, there were no people to be seen. It seemed like a ce where only monsters and animals lived together.

    As the two of them watched, Oboro and Syrup started to walk away on their own.

    ¡°Wh-what happened?¡±

    ¡°I guess we should follow them.¡±

    While they had managed to reach this ce, they had no idea what they were supposed to do. In that case, it seemed best to follow Syrup and Oboro, who were acting irregrly.

    As they kept walking, they started to move away from the town. Syrup and Oboro then stopped at a watering-ce made of stone.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. But it seems important?¡±

    ¡°Maybe? It doesn¡¯t seem like ordinary water¡­¡±

    Then Syrup and Oboro turned around to look at them. It looked like they wanted to go inside the water. Maple and Sally had no intention of stopping them. And so they picked them up and slowly let them down into the water.

    ¡°It seems fine? Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to let you go now. It looks shallow enough.¡±

    The two of them let go so the monsters could y in the glowing water. Then the light enveloped them until their bodies were no longer visible.

    ¡°Waa! Was that a bad idea!?¡±

    Maple frantically picked up Syrup again. Sally also moved Oboro away from the shining water.

    They began to panic when it seemed that the light would not fade away, and then there was a sudden sh. And Syrup and Oboro returned to normal.

    ¡°What a relief¡­ Hmm? Syrup?¡±

    ¡°Oboro?¡±

    The pattern on Syrup¡¯s shell was a little different, and grass and flowers were growing on the ground underneath them.

    Oboro¡¯s essories were now fancier, and more than anything, there were now two tails instead of one.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    But Syrup and Oboro were rubbing up against them like they always did. Maple and Sally picked them up and stared into their faces.

    After a while, their brains started working again, and they carefully went over the changes.

    ¡°Syrup looks a little fancier now! And¡­maybe bigger?¡±

    ¡°I see. There¡¯s a new tail¡­will they keep increasing?¡±

    They hugged their monsters that had be even cuter. Just then, a message arrived.

    ¡°Evolution¡­ I see. It looks like they can acquire new skills now.¡±

    ¡°Ohh! Evolution. Evolution¡­ Well, they did fight with us a lot.¡±

    ¡°They started during the second event. So that¡¯s quite a long time.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ve grown so much¡­ Ehehe. I¡¯m so happy.¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s still a long road ahead.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The message said that monsters who gain a lot of experience can evolve. But it didn¡¯t say that it was a one-time thing.¡±

    And then Sally continued. She apparently had an idea about how many tails a fox monster could gain.

    ¡°Though, I doubt it¡¯s one at a time until you reach nine¡­ Oboro. Do you want to evolve to that point?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s something to look forward to! I know, we should tell the others! If we help them, they can get the gemstones really easily!¡±

    ¡°That sounds good. Let¡¯s do that. As they say, strike while the iron is hot.¡±

    And so the two proud owners picked up their monsters and returned to the guild home.

 Chapter 283: Itai no wa Iya nanode BÅgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 283

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 283</strong>

    Defense Specialization and Evolution

    Due to a desire to show the others as soon as possible, they hurried back and burst through the doors of the guild home.

    Inside, Kanade was still ying a board game. Kasumi, Chrome, and Izu were surrounding Yui and Mai.

    ¡°Woah. What happened? You seem more cheerful than usual.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Wee back. Hehe. It looks like I can expect a positive report.¡±

    And so Maple and Sally picked up Syrup and Oboro and thrust them out in front of the others.

    As the other guild members had seen them longer than their own monsters, they noticed the difference immediately.

    ¡°Huh? What happened to them!¡±

    ¡°Hehehe. They evolved! They¡¯re stronger and cuter!¡±

    And then Maple exined the event to the other six members in detail.

    ¡°I see¡­ Evolution, huh. But¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I went to that ce with the floating rocks, but there was no giant there.¡±

    Maple had assumed that everyone would be able to make their monsters evolve too, but it seemed like that wasn¡¯t the case. Even Izu had not heard anything about people fighting on top of a huge tree.

    ¡°Um¡­Maybe it¡¯s affected by their level and how close they are to you? After all, you two have had Syrup and Oboro for a long time¡­¡±

    ¡°That might be true. The books I read were all about how to get the most out of their power. And I think they¡¯re talking about after their general abilities are established.¡±

    Perhaps it should not have been a surprise that you couldn¡¯t make them evolve so soon after taming them.

    ¡°Well, I guess it really is because we spent so much time together then¡­ Ehehe.¡±

    Maple said as she patted Syrup on the head. This was the buddy that would continue to fly around with her on the field for a long time. And so she was incredibly happy about Syrup evolving.

    ¡°Well, now that Maple and Sally¡¯s monsters are stronger, I¡¯m really looking forward to the next event.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. The way we fight will change. So it will be a good opportunity to test things.¡±

    ¡°Oh, the event! Then I¡¯ll have to work hard so Syrup can level up!¡±

    Just evolving would not be enough to make the most of the enhancements. From here, it was about patience and training.

    ¡°We¡¯ve done a lot today already. What will you do, Maple?¡±

    ¡°I-I think I¡¯m going to do just a little more. Maybe Syrup will learn something after gaining one level!¡±

    And in order to do that, she had to return to the field. Maple would run from one interest to the next. And from one fun thing to the next.

    During that time, management was exhausted from preparing numerous monsters and events for the seventhyer. Every area had different monsters and different evolutions. And creating all of that was a lot of work.

    ¡°How many rare monsters have been tamed?¡±

    ¡°Less than 20%. After all, the area is huge. And there are lots of strong monsters that aren¡¯t rare.¡±

    If anything, the rare monsters that had been prepared were rather peaky in terms of features, and so some yers would ignore them even after encountering them.

    ¡°Well, it looks like monsters that can buff you are the most popr. On the other hand, many magic users are taming tanks.¡±

    ¡°What about the important guilds?¡±

    ¡°They have a bunch of rares.¡±

    ¡°Haaa¡­ Well, just being hard to find is¡­ No, they¡¯re choosing them because they¡¯re a good fit.¡±

    Of course, they had checked Assembly of Holy Swords and Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom. And also Maple Tree.

    ¡°They are capturing monsters that are strong¡­and are capable.¡±

    ¡°Maple and Sally even evolved theirs. In spite of there being almost no information about doing that¡­¡±

    They were taking advantage of the fact that they had tamed monsters earlier than the others. And much faster than had been expected.

    ¡°Is her body made of some kind of ma that helps her react to rare events?¡±

    ¡°That may be¡­ I¡¯m really starting to believe it.¡±

    Once things had settled down on the seventhyer, the next event would begin.

    ¡°What will happen during the next event?¡±

    ¡°As the yers are monster-like, we have to send strong monsters for them to sh with.¡±

    They muttered as they ran a final check on the enemies. They had to prepare monsters that were fitting for the highest difficulty.

    ¡°Ah, one more thing. Maple has tentacles now.¡±

    ¡°¡­That¡¯s not something you add at thest moment.¡±

    Such was their conversation as they checked to see that the monsters were not acting in an abnormal way.

 Chapter 284: Itai no wa Iya nanode BÅgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 284

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 284</strong>

    Defense Specialization and the Trio

    Everyone promised that they would unveil their monsters during theing event, and for now, would focus on leveling up. And so that was what Maple and Syrup were currently doing.

    ¡°Hmm! I thought it would be inconvenient to lose ¡®Bizarre Eater,¡¯ but it¡¯s actually not bad.¡±

    Maple said as she swung around the tentacles on her left arm. If you got hit by them, it would cause a state of paralysis. That meant it could be useful by just waving it around.

    As Syrup¡¯s attack power was low, Maple thought of a new leveling up strategy that involved her poisoning a monster after paralyzing it. And when its health became very low, she would stack them up in front of Syrup. Just like a parent bird feeding its children.

    ¡°Syrup! ¡®Spirit Cannon¡¯!¡±

    The HP of the monsters that Maple prepared went down to 0, and Syrup¡¯s experience went up.

    ¡°It¡¯s so much trouble chasing after them¡­ Maybe I should just get caught by the tentacles again! Theye after you by themselves in that cave.¡±

    It was just as she was considering returning to the octopus¡¯sir, that Syrup¡¯s level went up and it learned a new skill.

    ¡°Wow! You evolved and learned another skill! Uh¡­¡±

    Maple checked to see what it was.

    There was a skill that seemed very fitting for Syrup, who used the power of nature.

    ¡°¡®Red Garden¡¯? It sounds pretty good!¡±

    [Red Garden]

    Everything that is within its range will receive an additional 5% damage.

    ¡°Yes! That¡¯s easy to use! Good for you, Syrup!¡±

    Maple showered Syrup with praise while petting it on the head. Usually, having a skill that damaged both friend and foe would be a double-edged sword. But that wasn¡¯t a problem for Maple.

    And as long as she was protecting her friends with ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ this skill was just a buff skill that made them all do 5% more damage. With Maple Tree, Maple often fought in the center of the group, so it would be easier for this buff to be applied to everyone.

    The reason Maple was able to use something like ¡®Cover Move¡¯ so recklessly in spite of the great demerit of taking double the amount of damage, was because of the overwhelming defense ability that prevented her from taking any damage in the first ce.

    ¡°Syrup, ¡®Red Garden¡¯!¡±

    Maple gave the order. And then numerous roses started to grow from the ground. And the area was soon covered in throns. It was no wonder that the skill¡¯s effect was extra damage.

    Furthermore, the garden moved when Syrup did. It was just like Dedicated Affection, only with Sryup in the center instead of Maple.

    ¡°You can make flowers bloom now! Do you want to be able to make other kinds of gardens too?¡±

    Maybe there were other ones that could be used for support. The demerits of this one could be ignored with Dedicated Affection.

    Syrup wasn¡¯t really an attacker, but was good at causing status effects and activating defense skills. Basically, you could tell Syrup was raised by Maple because they were very simr. The only difference was that Syrup never took on monstrous appearances.

    ¡°Alright! Now let¡¯s continue on to our next destination!¡±

    Maple continued to search for monsters and use ¡®Paralyze Shout¡¯ to bind their movements before offering them to Syrup.

    However, doing something like that was bound to draw attention, even if they were in the forest.

    ¡°I thought I heard a lot of noiseing from here. So it¡¯s you, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Woah¡­ You really do have tentacles¡­ But why?¡±

    ¡°I might have attacked you if Mi hadn¡¯t warned me about this. Even a fallen angel doesn¡¯t have tentacles.¡±

    The trio that had emerged rustling from the bushes, was Misery, Marx, and Shin.

    As Maple was acquainted with them, she waved her tentacle arm.

    ¡°Ah! Ifrit¡¯s Kingdom¡­ Is Mi not with you today?¡±

    ¡°She had other business to attend to. Today, we¡¯re focusing on leveling up our monsters.¡±

    ¡°I see..¡±

    Maple nodded. Syrup was at her feet, creating a wide field of roses. As Marx was used to being surprised by Maple, he noticed it immediately.

    ¡°Did something happen¡­to Syrup?¡±

    ¡°Hehe. You can tell? Well, it¡¯s a secret! ¡­At least, I think it is.¡±

    Maple tried to be like Sally, and not easily give away information. However, it seemed a littlete for that, given that she was showing her tentacles and the rose garden.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine. You¡¯re raising its level for the next event, right? I wouldn¡¯t want to meet you in the preliminaries. Maybe I¡¯ll see your new abilities when we cooperate some other time.¡±

    ¡°Mi said that those tentacles are dangerous.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible for them to be anything but dangerous¡­given how they look.¡±

    He hid behind Misery and Shin while staring at the wriggling tentacles.

    ¡°Well, I guess we can at least show them to you. Since you¡¯re a friend to Mi.¡±

    ¡°Yes, why not?¡±

    ¡°If you two are¡­okay¡­deactivate.¡±

    And so the three of them showed Maple their monsters. As Marx gave the order, the air began to distort with color, and then a chameleon that kept changing color appeared on Marx¡¯s head. Shin had an eagle on his shoulder, and Misery had a fluffy white cat with a long tail by her feet.

    ¡°Huh? Huh!? Wow! Where did theye from!?¡±

    It didn¡¯t look like they hade out of any rings. Maple was surprised and confused. Shin was pleased by this reaction andughed.

    ¡°I¡¯m just showing them to you for now. And I¡¯m d I did after seeing your reaction.¡±

    ¡°Hehe. You¡¯ll have to show us the monsters of Maple Tree next time.¡±

    ¡°Bye-bye¡­ I hope that we don¡¯t meet during the next event.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s all do our best during the event!¡±

    As the trio had ns of their own, they waved at the surprised Maple and then left.

    Maple was impressed by the variety of monsters out there. And with that, she continued to feed Syrup.

 Chapter 285: Itai no wa Iya nanode BÅgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 285

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 285</strong>

    Defense Specialization and the 8th Event

    As Maple and the others spent their days leveling up their monsters, the day of the 8th event¡¯s preliminaries finally came.

    This time, they had topete as individuals and not in teams. So the abilities of your monsters would be very important.

    Thepetition would involve the number of monsters you killed and how long you survived.

    So you had to raise your rank by killing as many monsters as possible within the time limit, while also defeating and hindering other yers.

    Of course, you could not focus too much on just one thing.

    If you entered the top, you would be able to fight in a field with better rewards.

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s all get to the main match!¡±

    ¡°Of course. Good luck, Maple. Remember, it¡¯s important to defeat monsters this time.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I can use all of my skills now¡­ I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    As there would be some time between the preliminaries and main battle, she didn¡¯t need to save her skills that had limited uses.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s fight!¡±

    They all repeated after Maple. And then all eight of them were surrounded in light and then teleported to the field.

    When the light faded away, the preliminary field spread out before her.

    Just like during the 1st event, she was in an abandoned building. Maple looked around her but could not see any other yers.

    ¡°Good! I better go and look for more monsters!¡±

    In this battle, the number of monsters you hunted was important. Of course, so was staying alive, but that wasn¡¯t enough to reach the top.

    ¡°Just give me a second, Syrup. ¡®Predator¡¯!¡±

    As she was mostly just fighting alone, she did not need Dedicated Affection this time. And this was a big advantage for Maple.

    ¡°Besides, it would let other yers know where I was.¡±

    ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ caused the ground to glow. And so they would know that she wasing. However, the only person that wouldn¡¯t run away if they knew Maple wasing, were probably her fellow guild members. No one wanted to walk into thend of death.

    And so Maple started to walk around the ruins with the two monsters at her side.

    ¡°Is there anything here¡­ Wa!?¡±

    Just as she turned a corner in therge building, she bumped into a monster.

    When she looked up, she saw arge body and head. Behind it, there was a long tail. It seemed more like a carnivorous dinosaur than a dragon.

    As the dinosaur approached her, it let out a great roar.

    ¡°¡®Paralyze Shout¡¯!¡±

    Intent on making the first move, Maple activated the skill and paralyzed the enemy. Then she made the ¡®Predator¡¯ pair bite into it.

    ¡°It seems strong¡­ I¡¯ll use ¡®Bizarre Eater¡¯ as well!¡±

    And so Maple used her great shield to crush the head of the dinosaur, who had lost its bnce and fallen to the ground.

    And since Predator continued to deal damage by biting it, the dinosaur quickly turned into light and disappeared.

    ¡°Phew¡­ I was surprised because it looked so strong¡­ But it wasn¡¯t anything once you paralyzed it! Good! Now onto the next one!¡±

    As the first one had gone so well, Maple quickly searched for the next one.

    Apparently, there were a great variety of monsters in the area. And Maple encountered both great and small ones.

    However, quite a few of them ran away as soon as they saw her.

    ¡°Hmm. This is going to make things difficult¡­ Is it because I¡¯m too slow? ¡­Hmm?¡±

    It was then that Maple saw a few things in her status that were unfamiliar. There were debuffs that caused monsters to run away and buffs that raised your attack power. But Maple had not done this herself, nor could she remember anyone doing it to her.

    ¡°Huh!? Since when!? ¡­Ummm. Ah! When I killed the monster!?¡±

    When she checked the details of the buffs and debuffs, she saw that they were applied when you killed certain monsters. And since Maple had killed a great variety of monsters, she had been affected by many of them.

    ¡°But I can¡¯t let the monsters get away! Then I won¡¯t be able to kill them¡­!¡±

    Maple wanted to save Savagery, and so she continued to fight the vicious monsters that did not run away. Each monster was quite strong, but it wasn¡¯t like they were made to be anti-Maple, and so they almost never used piercing attacks. This meant they were nothing but convenient monsters that helped her rack up some delicious points.

    After using Predator to wreak havoc on the monsters in the area with the ruins, she moved away, leaving ake of poison through Hydra. She went out of the ruins and to the forest. And then out of the forest and into a prairie.

    ¡°Ohh. I want to hunt more of them¡­ Hmm. Is that¡­¡±

    The thing that caught Maple¡¯s eye was a red flower that had a stem that was taller than her. It looked a lot like a flower she had discovered in the jungle during a different event.

    ¡°And there is a clearing here¡­ Okay! I can do it here!¡±

    Maple approached the big flower and brought out her weapons. And she used her arm, which was now a sword, to cut the stem of the flower. And then she caught the falling flower with both hands. This red flower was really a flower-shaped monster, and the part that had been severed started to heal as roots grew from it and wrapped around Maple.

    ¡°Yes! It went well! Now I just¡­¡±

    As the flower clung to her, Maple headed to the field and then sat down. She was quite far from any hiding ces.

    ¡°Good. Let¡¯s do this! Now¡­¡±

    After talking to the flower, she stabbed one of the petals with her sword.

    A sweet fragrance filled the air. And then she could hear rustling as something approached her from the forest.

    As Maple had intended, the red flower was able to lure in other monsters. That was usually a very dangerous thing, but for Maple, it was just a useful monster attracting tool.

    ¡°Yay! Now hunting will be easy! I better kill them before someone else does!¡±

    And so one after another, Maple killed the goblins that jumped at her and the birds that attacked her from the back with magic.

    In order to save her energy, she let Predator attack the monsters that were nearby, and she focused on using her guns to attack the monsters that were far away.

    ¡°It will be bad if ¡®Predator¡¯ dies¡­ ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯! And Syrup, ¡®Awakening¡¯!¡±

    It was finally Syrup¡¯s turn. Currently, a horde of monsters were biting into Maple and scratching her. However, she ignored them.

    ¡°Syrup! ¡®Mother Nature,¡¯ ¡®Red Garden, ¡®White Garden,¡¯ ¡®Sinking Earth¡¯!¡±

    Maple activated the skills while carrying Syrup.

    With Maple in the center, the ground was bathed in a white light which was soon covered in red and white flowers. It was such a pretty sight. And had Maple not been hounded by monsters, she would have stopped to stare at them.

    However, the effects were not as pretty. The red flowers increased damage, and the white flowers lowered your status.

    Furthermore, monsters that entered the area would be swallowed up by the ground, which had be like quick-sand due to ¡®Sinking Earth.¡¯

    And even if they escaped that face, they would be imprisoned by the vines of ¡®Mother Nature,¡¯ and be food for ¡®Predator.¡¯

    The beautiful, red and white garden that surrounded Maple and Syrup was a ce where death was inescapable once you entered it.

    Maple used her guns to tear up the monsters that were captured by the vines. And once she was done, she poked at the flower that wrapped around her.

    ¡°One more time! Ha!¡±

    Maple made the sweet scent waft through the air again, inviting new monsters to her garden.

    ¡°I wonder what¡¯s happening with the bad effects¡­ Ah, this might mean trouble¡­¡±

    After killing so many monsters, Maple checked her debuffs. She saw that one of them resulted in her position being shown on everyone¡¯s map.

    Not only would many yers be able to steal her prey, but they might even attack her. And so Maple quickly killed the rest of the monsters.

    However, in spite of her fears, no other yers arrived.

    This should have been no surprise. After all, no one would move towards thend of death just because it appeared on their map.

    Even those who were curious enough to go close to the area would have seen the monsters sinking, being impaled by vines, and the pool of poison. And they would know that this was no ce for them.

    ¡°No one ising¡­ In that case. One more time!¡±

    Maple stimted the red flower again, calling in a new horde.

 Chapter 286: Itai no wa Iya nanode BÅgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 286

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 286</strong>

    Defense Specialization and Tsukimi

    ¡°Phew¡­I¡¯m somehow¡­managing. Thank you, Tsukimi.¡±

    Mai was riding on top of Tsukimi, who was now about three meters in size, as they ran through the wilderness.

    She and Yui had always fought side by side and covered for each other. And so she was not used to being on her own. Because of this, she tried to stick to wide and open areas where she couldn¡¯t be ambushed.

    ¡°¡­! Another yer.¡±

    She could see three other yers in the distance. While you could not form parties, if yers from the same guild were lucky enough to bump into each other, it was no surprise that they would cooperate in order to survive until the end.

    Perhaps they knew who she was, because they all held their weapons up and started to move towards her. They did not run away, as it was well known that Mai and Yui could be dealt with as long as you could dodge their attacks.

    ¡°Tsukimi. Here we go¡­! ¡®Power Share,¡¯ ¡®Charge¡¯!¡±

    Once Mai was close enough to the yers, she got off of Tsukimi and gave the order.

    Tsukimi surrounded Mai in a red light, and then the bear started to charge towards the three yers.

    ¡°Tsukimi! ¡®Bright Star¡¯!¡±

    Tsukimi reacted to Mai¡¯s voice, and it¡¯s fur started to glow brightly. And then a light green circle of light spread out around Tsukimi.

    In spite of how pretty it looked, it caused immense damage. And the yer who happened to be close to the center was erased in a sh.

    ¡°Oh! What!?¡±

    ¡°You-you¡¯re kidding!¡±

    ¡°¡®Flying Attack¡¯! Tsukimi, ¡®Tear Apart¡¯!¡±

    They had been more worried about Mai, when Tsukimi suddenly showed such unexpected destructive power, and they were stunned for a second. Mai took advantage of that and went on the attack. The remaining two yers were not able to react in time, and they too vanished into light.

    ¡°Haa¡­ What a relief. Thank you. You sure are strong, Tsukimi.¡±

    Mai patted Tsukimi on the head, and the bear growled happily and lowered its posture. Then Mai got on its back and they continued onward.

    In spite of what Mai said, she had only just gotten Tsukimi recently, and its attack power wasn¡¯t that high. Its STR was higher than anything else, but still not strong enough to kill in one hit.

    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing we have ¡®Power Share¡¯¡­!¡±

    ¡®Power Share¡¯ was a skill that allowed Mai and Tsukimi to share their STR. Normally this would have meant that Tsukimi would have helped raise a yer¡¯s ability, but it was the opposite with Mai and Yui. As they had incredibly high STR, they were the ones raising Tsukimi and Yukimi¡¯s stats. However, that meant that skills that sacrificed strength for a wide area of effect, would now be able to turn into an instant-kill attack that also covered a wide area.

    ¡°I wonder if Yui is still alive¡­ Ah, a message¡­ It¡¯s from Yui!¡±

    Mai made sure that there weren¡¯t any yers or monsters around her, and then she read the message.

    ¡®Mai. I¡¯m somehow managing to survive, but it¡¯s really hard without my big sister. So, I want you to look at the map. Maple¡¯s location should be on it. Can we meet up there?¡¯

    Mai checked the map and saw that Maple¡¯s location was indeed disyed on it. She didn¡¯t understand why, but she would be easy enough to find.

    ¡°Yes. I can do that¡­¡±

    ¡®Yay! Alright, we¡¯ll meet up in front of Maple. Don¡¯t die, okay?¡¯

    She read the reply from Yui and then made Tsukimi run again.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go¡­Tsukimi! ¡®Star Step¡¯!¡±

    Tsukimi¡¯s footprints began to shine brightly, and a light surrounded them both. It was a simple skill that made Tsukimi run faster, which was a huge difference, especiallypared to walking.

    Any monsters they met on the way were trampled and thrown into the air.

    ¡°Tsukimi! ¡®Vertigo¡¯! ¡®Destroy Mode,¡¯ ¡®Double Strike¡¯!¡±

    Tsukimi¡¯s skill caused a momentary stun. And this was lethal when it happened in front of Mai. There was a dull ring as the golems and orcs in front of her were blown away. As they did not take long to annihte a group, May and Yui had killed a very high number of monsters.

    When she had no choice but to run through a forest, Mai would hold onto Tsukimi as it climbed a tree and then jumped from branch to branch.

    It was shocking how something so big could move so lightly. And like that, Mai acquired mobility.

    ¡°Ehe. I¡¯m so d that I got you, Tsukimi¡­¡±

    She thennded on a tree branch that was close to her destination, and it was there that she waited for Yui to contact her. Just then, she saw a white bear that was glowing with a pink light traveling on through the trees just like they had been doing.

    ¡°Yui!¡±

    ¡°Sister! What a relief! How are things going? Were you able to kill a lot of monsters?¡±

    ¡°Yes, thanks to Tsukimi¡­ What about you?¡±

    ¡°Yukimi has been so helpful too! I even beat quite a few yers!¡±

    As they had the same kind of monster and raised them the same way, Yui could do everything that Mai could.

    ¡°Don¡¯t use any of the skills by ident. We¡¯re not allowed to be a party now¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Okay, let¡¯s go to where Maple is. It looks like she is still in the same ce.¡±

    ¡°Does it never disappear from the map¡­? That must be really hard for Maple.¡±

    They continued to move through the tree branches as they got closer. ording to the map, she was in a prairie.

    But they discovered hell.

    There were no traces of any prairie now. The only thing that was there was a vast ocean of purple poison. And from this toxic swamp, bloomed flowers in an eerie assortment of colors.

    As for the monsters that jumped into it, they were clearly different from the ones Mai and Yui had been fighting. They all looked very strong, like giant dinosaurs.

    And all of them were impaled by the sharp vines and rocks that shot out of the ground. Their bodies were then entrapped and repeatedly damaged.

    Poison, sleep, paralysis. And continued damage. These things continued and the bodies piled up.

    It would have been sheer madness had the bodies not disappeared into light.

    ¡°Is-is Maple inside of all that¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡­looks like it. But we can¡¯t get close to it either¡­ Maybe we should just leave her alone¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ I agree¡­ We can ask her about itter.¡±

    They looked away from the scene that was more terrible the longer they watched. And so they climbed back up the tree and searched for a different ce to hunt.

 Chapter 287: Itai no wa Iya nanode BÅgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 287

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 287</strong>

    Defense Specialization and the Explosion

    ¡°Phew. What should I do¡­ I promised Maple that I would get in the top with everyone else¡­¡±

    Izu wondered what to do. While she could deal damage by using powerful bombs, it required some preparation, so it would be very back-breaking to kill enough monsters to enter the top.

    ¡°First, I have to prepare. Alright, this should be a good ce. I just have to send everyone a message¡­¡±

    Unlike Yui and Mai, she decided to hunt monsters in the jungle, which was much deeper than the forest. Here, there were not only a lot of monsters, but yers who came to hunt them. And so Izu prepared to attack while also remaining hidden. As she had warned the other guild members to stay away, she could go all out without having to worry.

    Izu called out Fay, and then took out the bombs from her inventory. Fay was now flying around with wings made of leaves that matched the forest.

    ¡°Fay, ¡®Rage of the Forest, ¡®Item Strengthen, ¡®Spirit Mischief,¡¯ ¡®Recycle¡¯!¡±

    Izu gave the orders, and then Fay floated towards the bombs and covered them with a green aura. After a while, it was absorbed by the bombs, and they started to change shape. She looked at the bombs with a satisfied expression. She already had improved on their power, but now they were even stronger. And through ¡®Spirit Mischief,¡¯ only she and the party members would be able to see where they were ced. Now she just needed to wait for them to be detonated.

    ¡°It bes so thorny¡­ I¡¯ll put it here.¡±

    The bomb looked like a chestnut in its burr. She put them in bushes and in the hollows of trees so that they wouldn¡¯t be triggered too quickly.

    ¡°And now¡­this.¡±

    Izu took out a blue crystal from her pouch and crushed it. And then water started to flow out, and Fay turned into something that looked like liquid.

    ¡°Alright, here goes. Fay, ¡®String Water¡¯!¡±

    Next she had Fay fly around and cover the jungle in thin strings of water that you would only notice if you were very careful. Little by little, the jungle was filled with Izu¡¯s skills and items.

    Fay¡¯s appearance changed every time that Izu crushed a crystal, and various effects were applied to the items.

    Ice, thunder, earth, fire. And as they were all transparent, the jungle still looked the same.

    ¡°Phew¡­ Good, that should do. Thank you, Fay.¡±

    Izu used a rope to escape into a tree and used the same rope to secure herself to it. Then she checked the water strings that Fay had made.

    ¡°Good. And there¡¯s no one in the area¡­ Let¡¯s go¡­! Fay! ¡®Protection of the Fairy¡¯!¡±

    Fay¡¯s skill resulted in greatly reducing damage from items. Izu was extra careful to cover her body in the skill¡¯s effect. And then she crushed a yellow crystal near the water strings.

    An electric current shot through the strings and spread throughout the jungle in a sh.

    Izu closed her eyes and covered her ears. Then the entire jungle was filled with a bright sh as explosive mes spread everywhere.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    The electric current that traveled through the water string detonated the bombs, causing ice des, poison, fire, thunder, wind, and light effects to fly throughout the jungle. This caused massive amounts of damage and status effects.

    Furthermore, Izu¡¯s bombs were no longer finished after exploding. Due to ¡®Recycle,¡¯ there was a 50% chance that the items would return to being ¡®unused.¡¯

    Explosions would erupt where there was nothing, and there was nowhere to escape in the jungle.

    After the sounds of the explosions had died downpletely, Izu looked down at the ground and saw that it was covered in so many things representing various attributes, that it was hard to believe this ce had been a jungle earlier.

    ¡°¡­Uh, did I go too far? Bu-but this is to get into the top!¡±

    As she still had more time, Izu set off for her next destination in order to set up the bombs.

    ¡°What!? ¡­Was that for real¡­?¡±

    Chrome was stunned as he looked at the far away jungle. This was because he understood what the reason for the sudden explosion was.

    ¡°Is that Fay¡¯s power¡­? How scary¡­¡±

    Just as he tried to imagine what the number of yer and monster deaths were, he received a message from Izu.

    ¡°It¡¯s about the next bomb. I¡¯ll have to stay far away from it¡­ There were multiple explosions, and I wouldn¡¯t survive if I identally got caught in it.¡±

    Chrome was wearing Necro, which was a monster that was usually in the shape of a set of armor. The good thing about Necro, was that when Chrome equipped it, some of Necro¡¯s stats would be applied to him.

    While it wasn¡¯t anything shy, it raised Chrome¡¯s chances of survival.

    Chrome had fought with quite a few yers and monsters at this point, but as it was difficult to get his HP down during a one on one battle, he continued to win.

    Just then, a tree monster known as a treant, appeared in front of Chrome. However, unlike the many that Chrome had already killed, this one was huge.

    ¡°Oh! A big one, huh? If I¡¯m not wrong, this one gives you a buff that lets you know the location of other monsters.¡±

    As Chrome¡¯s mobility had not been raised much by his tamed monster, knowing the location of monsters was important.

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go, Necro! ¡®Strong Armor¡¯!¡±

    As Chrome shouted, Necro¡¯s shape started to change. The armor became harder and more durable. And his great shield became bigger and stronger.

    On the other hand, travel speed and attack power would drop a little, but he had acquired incredible defense power.

    Necro¡¯s features involved being able to use different skills depending on its shape. And it¡¯s abilities changed as well.

    ¡°We¡¯ll take it slow¡­until you show an opening!¡±

    Chrome blocked the attack with his great shield and cut back. The treant¡¯s attacks were simple, and it could not break Chrome¡¯s enhanced guard.

    ¡°Necro! ¡®Impact Reflect¡¯!¡±

    He had Necro use a skill on top of it, which meant he could now deal damage when blocking an enemy¡¯s attack. The more the treant attacked, the more unfavorable its situation would be.

    ¡°¡®Shield Attack¡¯ on! Necro, ¡®Attack Armor¡¯!¡±

    After seeing the treant lose its bnce, he ordered Necro to transform again.

    And then, Chrome¡¯s billhook elongated to the size of a longsword, and blue mes erupted from the armor.

    ¡°Necro, ¡®Absorb Lifeforce¡¯!¡±

    And so he gained a new recovery skill through Necro. If Necro was in this form, then he would have twoyers of healing effects when attacking with a short sword.

    So as long as he stayed on the offensive, his HP would not go down.

    ¡°Good. Now to finish you off!¡±

    He swung his longsword and cut deep into the treant and killed it. Then he opened his map to make sure that he had acquired the buff that showed him the location of the other monsters.

    ¡°Yes. Now I can see the monsters on here. Uh¡­ It looks like Maple is quite busy. There must be some reason that she¡¯s staying in the same ce the whole time¡­ I wonder what it is¡­¡±

    Chrome had no idea what was happening with her. However, there were things in this world that were best left to the imagination.

    ¡°Okay. This is our chance to rack up points, Necro. I¡¯m counting on you. I can¡¯t do enough damage alone. ¡®Provoke¡¯!¡±

    Several monsters reacted to Chrome and jumped on him. Treants that were smaller than thest one stretched out their arms towards him. There was a butterfly monster that spread its status affecting scales everywhere, and there were groups of goblins that ambushed him from the bushes.

    ¡°Necro! ¡®Ghost Charge¡¯!¡±

    Chrome ordered, and blue mes started to cover the longsword. As the mes grewrger, Chrome held up his greatshield and blocked the attacks.

    And then, as if it could bear it no longer, a huge burst of fire erupted from the de.

    ¡°Necre! ¡®Burst me¡¯!¡±

    The longer you waited, the more powerful the attack. The pale mes burned everything that was in front of him, dealing great damage to the monsters. Furthermore, ¡®ze¡¯ continued to deal damage, giving Chrome a huge advantage all at once. One by one, the rest of the enemies had thest of their HP taken away.

    ¡°Phew. What a relief. It¡¯s a lot easier to deal with being surrounded now.¡±

    He felt how much easier it was to go solo with Necro around. It was something he had thought during the time he had borrowed Syrup as well. A tamed monster made a big difference.

    ¡°I have to work hard in order to get in the top. Judging by what I saw, Izu seems to be doing very well. I can¡¯t fall behind.¡±

    Chrome praised his armor by knocking on it, just like how Maple and the others petted their monsters. And then he rushed towards the next group of monsters he could see on the map.

 Chapter 288

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 288

    Defense Specialization and Mimicry

    And so the members of Maple Tree steadily increased their number of kills. Unsurprisingly, their tamed monsters brought on big changes to their fighting style. This was especially noticeable in Kanade¡¯s case.

    ¡°While the effects are weaker, unlimited use is great.¡±

    ¡®Mimic¡¯ had a rather long cool-down, but aside from that, the tamed monster and Kanade were a perfect match. No matter how many magic books that Sou used, as long as the original was still on Kanade¡¯s bookshelf, the used magic books would appear on Sou¡¯s shelf again when ¡®Mimic¡¯ was reactivated.

    Because of this,bat was generally left to Sou, as a way of determining its strength. And Kanade mostly wore a robe and hid in the trees or in the shadows.

    So if Sou was attacked, then the real Kanade could help while staying safe at the same time.

    ¡°Sou¡¯s starting to run out of books now¡­ Alright. Sou, ¡®Dormant.¡¯¡±

    As Kanade sensed that someone wasing, he returned Sou back to his ring in order to hide his trump card.

    But when Kanade saw the yers that made their way through the bushes, he chuckled to himself.

    ¡°Ahaha. I have the worst luck.¡±

    It was Dread and Drag. They came with a ck wolf and a stone golem respectively. As both were top ss yers, he did not have a high chance of winning when they had tamed monsters.

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s just one person¡­ Sorry, but we still won¡¯t hold back.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Kanade. Haha! Wonderful!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d be stupid to¡­stick around! ¡®Wood Wall¡¯!¡±

    Kanade created a wall of wood to separate himself from the two as they brandished their weapons. And then he tried to escape. It was just as he thought that he could get away.

    ¡°Earth! ¡®Sand King¡¯!¡±

    He heard Drag order. Kanade looked over his shoulder and saw that in a sh, his wooden wall had turned into sand. And then Dread and his wolf came after him.

    ¡°¡®Firestorm¡¯! ¡®Tornado¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Shadow, ¡®Shadow Dive.¡¯¡±

    A tornado of fire and wind shot out from Kanade¡¯s direction. But before it could reach its target, the fur of the wolf, who was called Shadow, became even darker as both it and Dread seemed to dissolve into the ground. It happened so quickly. And just like that, they were able to dodge the tornado.

    ¡°¡®Super elerate¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Mother Nature¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Earth! ¡®Earth Control¡¯!¡±

    Kanade used a skill that Syrup had in an attempt to stop the elerating Dread, but he missed his target.

    ¡°Arrggh! ¡®Ground Splitter¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Shadow Clone¡¯!¡±

    He could not allow them to stop his movements, and so Kanade activated a cloning skill.

    However¡­

    ¡°Shadow, ¡®Shadow Pack.¡¯¡±

    Clones began to emerge from the shadow of the wolf¡¯s feet. And they far outnumbered Kanade¡¯s clones as they tore through them in seconds.

    And since Kanade couldn¡¯t move due to Drag¡¯s Ground Splitter, he was susceptible to Dread¡¯s short sword.

    ¡°¡®Triple sh¡¯!¡±

    Kanade¡¯s HP and defense ability were not high, and so there was no way for him to endure the attack. And so he turned into light and vanished.

    Once Dread and Drag were sure of it, they put away their weapons.

    ¡°Good. Maple Tree are our rivals, after all. We can¡¯t let them go to the field where it¡¯s easier to acquire medals.¡±

    ¡°¡­It was kind of too easy. I bet he still had powerful skills.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess. But there is no use worrying about that. After all, there was still a death effect.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We have to go and hunt some monsters if we want a high ranking¡­ It¡¯s a waste of time to fixate on yers.¡±

    This time, there wasn¡¯t much merit in actively hunting down other yers. The most important thing was to hunt as many monsters as possible. And so the two of them left the area.

    After a while, a robed yer returned. It was Kanade.

    ¡°Phew¡­ That was close. I didn¡¯t have much of a chance against them. But good work, Sou.¡±

    Kanade came out from behind some bushes and picked up Sou, who was now a slime and about half its usual size.

    ¡°¡®Division¡¯ and ¡®Mimic¡¯¡­ Thanks to them, there were no casualties.¡±

    While the wooden wall was still up, Kanade had used a magic book to disappear and switch ces with Sou, who he had called out. And then he had used ¡®Division¡¯ to make a fake Sou fight in his ce.

    As it was necessary for the main body to be close by, it was a gamble as to whether it would be found. However, it had worked out well.

    ¡°And I was able to see their monsters. So this was a good experience overall. But¡­they sure were strong. I¡¯ll have to discuss it with Sallyter.¡±

    While it had been a short fight, it was clear that this wolf called Shadow and the golem called Earth, had very dangerous abilities. Sou¡¯s magic dealt quite a lot of damage and covered a wide area. He even used some skills that Maple and Sally had. But it hadn¡¯t been enough. In that case, he would have to find a way to deal with them, or he would be in trouble the next time.

    ¡°Now, I hope that my next encounter is with a monster.¡±

    Kanade put the now small Sou on top of his head, and then started to walk in order to search for the next monster.

 Chapter 289

    Chapter 289

    Defense Specialization and the Lord of the Mist<hr>

    To no one¡¯s surprise, there were many yers on the field, and it was very difficult to find a ce where you wouldn¡¯t bump into others . And so a trio that had survived and continued to hunt down monsters at a good pace, now stepped foot into a forest that was covered in a thick mist .

    As they had already killed so many monsters, they decided to move away from the other yers and buy as much time as possible . A misty forest raised the chances of an ambush, so it was not a ce most people would enter willingly . However, they thought that they could use that to their advantage .

    ¡°I think this is a good spot . ¡±

    ¡°Ah, what a relief . It¡¯s a good thing I was able to meet a fellow guild member . ¡±

    There was strength in numbers . Even if they couldn¡¯t form a party, as long as they knew what the other person wanted, they could coordinate, which was a big advantage .

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right . Do you also think¡­ Huh?¡±

    ¡°What is it? ¡­Eh?¡±

    All three of them had entered the forest, but before they knew it, there were only two of them . There was no way that someone would have gone without saying anything, and so they split up and searched the area . But they could not find theirrade . <hr>

    ¡°Hey! He¡¯s not here¡­ You have to be kidding me . ¡±

    And just like that, the second person, who had been there a second ago, also disappeared as thest man shouted into the mist .

    ¡°Wh-what¡­?¡±

    And then he saw two glowing red lights in the mist . And at the same time, the paralysis effect hit him, and he could not move his body .

    ¡°Damn it! This is bad¡­¡±

    He saw that his death was imminent . And he desperately tried to move, but it was useless until the effect ended . The thing that then slithered out of the thick mist, was a giant, white snake .

    As he braced himself, the blow shockingly came from behind .

    In Article

    ¡°¡®sh . ¡¯¡±

    A sword swung through the air and shed right through the man, bringing his HP down to 0 .

    Kasumi made sure that he was dead, and then walked over to the white snake, Haku . She jumped up onto its head and then sat down .

    ¡°It seems like monsters areing out again . Let¡¯s go over there . ¡±

    Haku slithered smoothly between the trees as they patrolled the forest . In fact, the mist that surrounded them was being created by Haku .

    ¡°Ahh¡­Haku . You became big so quickly . I couldn¡¯t have asked for a better ally . ¡±

    When Haku¡¯s level went up, it learned a skill that was much like Syrup¡¯s ¡®Erge,¡¯ only this one was called ¡®Super Erge . ¡¯

    Once she had activated it and used the skill to generate the mist, they were able to just slither around the area and make it their territory .

    And so Kasumi would have Haku paralyze any yers that wandered in, and then she would cut them down . Of course, it was the same with monsters . They would circle the forest and send everyone they found to their graves .

    As she just rode on Haku, it was easy to travel .

    After moving for a while, they found a 5-meter boar, which was consideredrge in this forest, and some yers that were fighting it . As more time passed, more yers started to contact each other and unite .

    ¡°Alright, there they are¡­ Let¡¯s go, Haku!¡±

    She would take the yers along with the boar . And so Kasumi made Haku move faster, and without losing momentum, bite into the boar¡¯s body .

    ¡°¡®Arm of the Warrior,¡¯ ¡®Blood de¡¯!¡±

    It was not able to react in time to the giant snake that burst out from the mist, and then Kasumi¡¯s liquid de sunk deep into its flesh . The yers had lost their bnce when she appeared, and Kasumi shed one of them with her sword . At the same time, each of the swords to her side decapitated another yer .

    ¡°Haku! ¡®Paralysis Poison¡¯! ¡®Fourth of the de ¨C Senpu . ¡¯¡±

    Kasumi turned back to the boar, and mmed its head with a series of attacks while it was still paralyzed .

    Haku didn¡¯t have that many skills yet . Its weapon was its high status and giant body .

    And so Haku wrapped its body around the boar and started to deal damage by strangling it .

    And since the yers had already dealt damage, its HP quickly went down to 0 .

    ¡°Alright . That went well . Ah, this buff allows you to see the position of other yers, huh¡­¡±

    Kasumi got back onto Haku¡¯s head and they moved towards the icon on the map . Defeating any yers that they found would help Maple Tree rise in the rankings .

    ¡°Haha . This is our territory . Everyone who enters must be defeated . Right, Haku?¡±

    The white snake hissed as it slithered through the misty forest . And for some time after, the mist was filled with screams .

 Chapter 290

    Chapter 290

    Defense Specialization and Contact<hr>

    Misery, Marx, and Shin were members of ¡®Kingdom of the me Emperor¡¯, and they had all managed to reunite and hunt together . As they all had maps, they just needed to contact each other and move . So it would have been possible for them to meet Mii . But they decided not to .

    ¡°We¡¯re not a party, after all . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . I won¡¯t survive if I¡¯m caught in Mi¡¯s area attacks¡­¡±

    ¡°She¡­isn¡¯t able to control the amount of fire¡­¡±

    Mi had a powerful attack that burned everything that was around her, but if she did that around them, the trio would turn into fireballs .

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be fine without us . In any case, we need to hunt as many monsters as possible . I¡¯ll take down their HP, so you finish them off . ¡±

    Up until they teamed up, Shin had killed a lot of monsters with ¡®Destructor¡¯ and his tamed monster, ¡®Wen¡¯ the hawk .

    Compared to him, Misery and Marx specialized in healing and traps, which was not very efficient . Just then, a monster appeared in front of him .

    ¡°Yes, leave it to me . ¡±

    ¡°I can support¡­ But don¡¯t step on any of the traps by ident, okay¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well, I can fight while standing in one ce . It will be fine as long as you don¡¯t ce them right at my feet . Here I go! ¡®Destructor¡¯!¡±

    Shin unleashed swords into the charging tiger, and shredded its flesh . <hr>

    ¡°Wen! ¡®Wind God¡¯!¡±

    A powerful wind began to blow around the hawk, it then turned into numerous des of wind, which shot towards the tiger .

    Just by approaching the trio, the tiger was cut by des multiple times until its HP was nearly empty . Even though individual hits were not heavy, with a tamed monster and enough sessive attacks, the oue was very different .

    ¡°¡®Holy Lance¡¯!¡±

    As promised, Misery dealt the finishing blow . And then they moved on to their next target .

    ¡°I¡¯ve always been amazed¡­at how many swords it can shoot out like that¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just experience . One day, it was just able to do it . ¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s that simple, huh?¡±

    ¡°What about your monsters? Has there been any changes since west talked about it?¡±

    ¡°Me? ¡­Clear can¡¯t really do anything too amazing yet . It can disappear like a chameleon¡­ Ah, but recently, it can make me invisible as well¡­¡±

    ¡°My Bell is the same as always . But I do think it¡¯s rare . ¡±

    In Article

    ¡°So it hasn¡¯t learned anything outside of passive skills? Well, that is rare . ¡±

    Misery had a white cat with a long coat that she called Bell . It was learning a lot of passive skills that offered buffs within a small area . They were things like enhanced healing and dealing extra damage .

    However, as the area of effect was small, it wasn¡¯t very practical .

    ¡°It must be ate-bloomer . So I¡¯m going to take good care of it . ¡±

    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re entering the area with the ruins now . It¡¯s usually quite popted with other yers . ¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll set up some traps¡­so they don¡¯t follow us from behind . ¡±

    ¡°Ah, good idea! Thanks . ¡±

    And with that, the trio hunted down monsters while moving into the ruins . As Shin predicted, there were quite a few yers here . But none were a match for the three of them .

    However, after they had hunted for some time, they heard a familiar voice .

    ¡°Hmmm-hmmm-hmmm-hm¡­ Gah! ¡®Kingdom of the me Emperor¡¯¡­!¡±

    ¡°Oh, Frederica . ¡±

    The voice was Frederica¡¯s . Currently, she seemed to be alone . She was holding up her staff defensively while slowly backing away from them . Clearly, a single rear-guard did not stand a chance against three enemies .

    ¡°Ahaha . You know, Payne will be really angry if I die . Won¡¯t you just let me go?¡±

    ¡°Get her!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    ¡°What? But why!? Fine . Knots, ¡®Awakening¡¯!¡±

    A small yellow birdnded on Frederica¡¯s head . She had wanted to get out while using the least amount of skills as possible, but now she was desperate .

    ¡°Wen! ¡®Wind God¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Knots, ¡®Singing Round¡¯! Phew, ¡®Multi-obstacle . ¡¯¡±

    Frederica¡¯s barriers blocked the numerous flying wind des and Shin¡¯s Destructor . And while they shattered upon impact, she realized that there were much more of them than before .

    ¡°I won¡¯t lose in terms of moves, okay? ¡®Multi-fire bullets,¡¯ ¡®Multi-light bullets . ¡¯¡±

    A magic circle appeared, and immediately after, she heard Knots cry, and then the magic circle doubled in size .

    ¡°How¡¯s this? Of course, I¡¯m sure that you won¡¯t die . ¡±

    Countless bullets of light and fire that Frederica and Knots had made began to shoot towards the trio .

    ¡°Leave this to me . ¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­I¡¯ll stop it . ¡±

    Misery made a magical barrier just like Frederica . Marx created one out of stone . It was enough to block the magic that flew towards them . However, Frederica never meant to take them on seriously . And by the time the dust had settled, she was nowhere to be seen .

    ¡°She got away . ¡±

    ¡°I had no idea that she had as many attacks as you, Shin . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . We¡¯ll have to be cautious around her¡­ Ah . ¡±

    ¡°Hmm? What is it, Marx?¡±

    ¡°She got caught . ¡±

    Traps had been set up all around the ruins . And Marx had positioned them so that it would be especially easy to catch anyone who was trying to get away . And his instincts had been right, and there was no way that Frederica wouldn¡¯t get caught in them .

    As she fell, Frederica somehow managed to create a foothold and so she was able to climb out and escape from the pit .

    ¡°Ugh! Tsk . And I had managed to look so cool when escaping . This is the worst¡­ I have to get out of here¡­¡±

    The area around her was covered in traps . She was at a disadvantage . And so Frederica quickly ran away and left the ruins behind her in order to team up with any of the reliable members of the Congregation of the Holy Swords .

 Chapter 291

    Chapter 291

    Defense Specialization and Light and Fire<hr>

    ¡°Now, it seems like the others haven¡¯t been killed yet¡­ I guess they must be doing well . And Maple hasn¡¯t disappeared from the map at all¡­¡±

    Sally stretched her limbs as she saw that there wasn¡¯t much time left on the clock . Many yers had died now, and encounters were bing rare . Of course, that meant that it was easier to hunt monsters .

    ¡°It should be fine as long as I hunt a lot of them¡­ This should have been a good opportunity, but I wasn¡¯t able to see anyone fighting with strong monsters that they tamed . ¡±

    This was an event where there were yers other than those from Congregation of the Holy Swords and Kingdom of the me Emperor that you had to watch out for . Everyone was desperate to survive, and so the rewards would also be different .

    ¡°Oh, Mi is on the map! And there¡¯s not much time left¡­ Maybe I¡¯ll go and look . I can hunt monsters on the way . ¡±

    And so Sally dashed in the direction that Mi was in . Any monsters that were in her path were quickly dispatched with a single hand .

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Binding Barrier¡¯! ¡®Quintuple sh¡¯!¡±

    They couldn¡¯t attack her if they couldn¡¯t move . In that case, she could use her skills to repeatedly deal powerful attacks . They weren¡¯t particrly difficult, with only simple attacks and moderate HP . Which meant they were nothing to Sally .

    ¡°Oomph . Is she over there¡­woah¡­Mi is wreaking havoc as well . ¡±

    The sight she saw was of Mi burning down both monsters and yers . Pirs of fire rose in the wastnd that Mi was standing in, and it was clear to see that a horrible battle had been waged here .

    ¡°So that must be the Ignis that Maple was talking about . I think that I¡¯ll watch them for a while . ¡±

    Sally used her webs to climb up into a tree so that she wouldn¡¯t be ambushed by other yers . Up here, she would notice them as soon as they approached her . <hr>

    ¡°Now, will any yers or monsterse¡­ Hmm?¡±

    As Sally squinted up ahead, she saw a familiar man with white armor and a sword . It was Payne .

    ¡°I knew that I was on everyone¡¯s map, but I didn¡¯t expect you toe . ¡±

    Mi drank down a potion so that she would be ready to fight .

    ¡°Yeah, I already hunted enough monsters . And so I came to check the strength of my rival . Ray, ¡®Awakening . ¡¯¡±

    As Payne said this, a baby dragon with silver scales appeared from his ring . It was about the size of arge bird and it folded its wings as itnded on Payne¡¯s shoulder .

    ¡°What a coincidence . I have also killed enough monsters . ¡±

    Mi said as she called out Ignis and activated ¡®me Empress . ¡¯ At the same time, Payne unsheathed his sword .

    That was the signal .

    ¡°¡®Heavy Fire¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Light of the Holy de¡¯!¡±

    Fire came from Mi¡¯s side, while Payne let out a steam of light . The wastnd roared and thundered .

    In Article

    ¡°Ignis, ¡®Linked me¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Ray, ¡®Protection of the Holy Dragon . ¡¯¡±

    Both of them applied the buffs and then charged forward . Mi had no intention of backing away, and she used ¡®ir el¡¯ to move .

    ¡°¡®Blue me¡¯! ¡®Explosive me¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Holy de of Exterminating Evil¡¯! ¡®Holy Light¡¯!¡±

    Every time they shed, effects scattered violently, and the skills offset each other . And all of them were the kind of high-power skills that could one-shot a whole group .

    When Payne swung his sword, Mi would dodge it and unleash her magic . However, they never hit Payne because he always blocked them andunched a counterattack .

    ¡°Ray, ¡®Erge,¡¯ ¡®Breath of the Holy Dragon . ¡¯¡±

    ¡°Ignist! ¡®Erge,¡¯ ¡®Undying me¡¯!¡±

    The breath that Ray unleashed and the mes from Ignis bounced between them . The ground was torn apart, but so far they seemed to be an even match .

    ¡°I see . That¡¯s a good monster . ¡±

    ¡°Your dragon as well . However¡­ If you¡¯re still hiding your powers, then I¡¯ll incinerate you where you stand . ¡±

    Mi looked like she wasn¡¯t going to hold back at all . She recovered her MP and then gave the order to Ignis .

    ¡°Ignis, ¡®me of the Phoenix,¡¯ ¡®Fire to my body . ¡¯¡±

    The first skill cast a buff on Mi, and then Ignis transformed into a ball of fire . The fire surrounded Mi and began to spread out through the ground .

    ¡°I see . This won¡¯t be easy then . Ray, ¡®Holy Protection . ¡¯¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! ¡®Inferno¡¯!¡±

    As Mi shouted, zing mes were unleashed, and everything that was around Mi was burned away . It was blindingly bright, and yet the light that emitted from Payne was just as bright . They collided and exploded . The destruction on the surrounding forest and fields was immense, and a huge cloud of dust rose into the air .

    When the dust began to settle, Mi stood there, unharmed and with just a little reduced HP . And there was Payne, his armor burnt .

    ¡°Tsk . I was trying to force you to use Ray¡¯s most powerful attack¡­but you got by with damage reduction and the power of the holy sword¡­ What a trickster you are . ¡±

    ¡°Haha . Well, I can¡¯t give you that much information . ¡±

    ¡°You weren¡¯t even trying to defeat me from the beginning¡­ But don¡¯t assume that I¡¯ll return the favor, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sure . If you insist on continuing . ¡±

    Payne held up his sword as if epting her challenge .

    Just as they were about to start round two, the sound of a tree being bent echoed behind them .

    They detected that someone was approaching, and so they agreed on a ceasefire as they looked in that direction . They were greeted by a storm ofsers flying out from the forest .

    ¡°What¡­!? Ray!¡±

    ¡°Tsk . Time to go! Ignis!¡±

    Payne and Mi both jumped on their monsters and got off of the ground .

    After a moment, what emerged from the forest as it tore down trees, was a giant crocodile that was over ten meters long . If there was one strange thing about it, it was that it was shootingsers from its mouth .

    ¡°¡­I¡¯ve lost interest . Payne! We can continue this fight another time . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t mind . Because I got to see ¡®Inferno . ¡¯¡±

    And like that, the fight came to an end without a clear victor, due to an intruder .

    As for Sally, she had witnessed the entire scene .

    ¡°Ah . That¡¯s¡­Maple¡­¡±

    She saw that Maple¡¯s icon was moving quickly on the map . And on closer inspection, the crocodile wasn¡¯t the one who was shooting thesers . There was a ball of wool with a cannon stuck in its mouth .

    ¡°More! More! Let¡¯s run around until the end!¡±

    She heard the familiar voice . Sally watched her go off into the distance with an exasperated expression .

 Chapter 292

    Chapter 292

    Defense Specialization and Inside the Mouth<hr>

    Now that the preliminary was almost over, Maple was starting to get bored of using the red flower in order to lure in monsters . As she had already used up ¡®Hydra,¡¯ ¡®Oozing Chaos,¡¯ ¡®Pandemonium,¡¯ and ¡®Invitation to the Ocean Floor,¡¯ she wasn¡¯t able to kill monsters as quickly as before . So now she had to wait for Predator to kill the monsters as they bit into her .

    ¡°Ah, now that I think about it¡­I haven¡¯t really explored the field at all . ¡±

    The field for the preliminary was very big . She doubted that a map this big would be used this one time . But still, who knew when she would get another chance to look around?

    ¡°Let¡¯s explore a little before it ends! I already killed a lot of monsters, so it should be enough!¡±

    In that case, she needed a method of transportation . There was not much time left . So she would have to be able to move very quickly .

    ¡°Hmm¡­ What should I do? Huh!?¡±<hr>

    While Maple put a hand to her chin and thought with her eyes closed, she was still being attacked by monsters . She felt her body being raised into the air, and she frantically opened her eyes again . That¡¯s when she realized that she was being held in the mouth of a crocodile that was over 10 meters long .

    Normally, Maple would have been thrust deep into its mouth and been crushed . However, Maple¡¯s defenses were stronger than the crocodile¡¯s ability to bite . There was no way that she would take any damage . Since the crocodile had been rude enough to interrupt her thoughts, Maple looked into its mouth in order to get her revenge .

    ¡°Ah, I can¡¯t go inside of its stomach . Ohh¡­¡±

    Maple started pping the insides of its mouth . A monster of this size might be even faster than Savagery . The thought entered her mind .

    ¡°If only there was a way for me to control it . ¡±

    In Article

    Maple moved forward, even as she was being chewed, she poked her head out from between its teeth . And then the crocodile seemed to react to her . Its mouth began to open and close as it ran in that direction .

    ¡°Yes! Wait, that¡¯s the wrong way? Heey! This way!¡±

    In that case, it would be necessary to secure her body so that she wouldn¡¯t move when it chewed . Maple took out some of Izu¡¯s adhesive from her inventory and then activated Hair Growth . Then she added the adhesive to the wool and the crocodile¡¯s mouth .

    ¡°Then I can deactivate Predator so I don¡¯t kill it¡­ And use aser to deal with yers¡­ Now I¡¯m all set!¡±

    Maple chose the crocodile as a temporary method of transportation and her own body as bait in order to control it while rushing through the field . However, once it started running, she realized her fatal error .

    ¡°Ah!! Oh, no! Now I can¡¯t see the scenery!¡±

    She solved one problem but another one appeared . But Maple had no way to stop the crocodile, so she decided to let it run . And instead, she took out some crystals from her inventory . She had bought these some time before, and they were able to record footage .

    ¡°Just a little¡­ggggrr¡­stretch out and¡­got it!¡±

    Maple stuck a few of the crystals on the crocodile¡¯s snout . This way, she would be able to record the footage while it ran . She nodded inside of the crocodile¡¯s mouth as if it was a brilliant n .

    ¡°Mi is on the map! Alright, I should go!¡±

    During this time, many yers were shocked that Maple had suddenly started to move, and they were desperately trying to get out of the way . However, Maple had no way of knowing this .

    ¡°Ah, but I can¡¯t stop¡­ That¡¯s too bad . It¡¯s fast and can take me anywhere, but¡­¡±

    Of course, it had not been designed as a mode of transportation to begin with, so it was rather unreasonable for her toin about it .

    And just like that, Maple trampled over the yers who could not get out of the way in time . The crocodile¡¯s attack power was much too high for the average yer, and they were crushed to death as it rushed through the field .

    ¡°Oh, it should be ending soon . ¡±

    Maple thought about how fast it seemed as she waited to be teleported back . She felt like she was forgetting something, but try as she might, she could not remember what it was . But just when her body started to be covered in light, her expression changed .

    ¡°I was just running with the crocodile in the end¡­ah! The footage! Wait! Wait!¡±

    But she had remembered toote . Maple was teleported away before she could recover the crystal¡¯s on the crocodile¡¯s snout .

 Chapter 293

    Chapter 293

    Defense Specialization and After the Preliminaries<hr>

    851 Name: Anonymous Great Sword Wielder

    Well, the preliminary is over .

    852 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    It will take a while for the results toe out, but no one died in my guild, so I have high hopes .

    853 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    You sure are strong .

    854 Name: Anonymous Magic User

    I was reminded of just how useful tamed monsters are .

    855 Name: Anonymous Great Sword Wielder

    They really are strong . There were a few times that I would have died without my monster .

    856 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Well, strong yers are strong with or without monsters .

    857 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    There were a few ces where no one would go .

    ces that people purposely avoided .

    858 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    That sounds like it might involve one of our members .

    859 Name: Anonymous Great Sword Wielder

    Of course .

    Maple¡¯s position was disyed on the map the whole time, and everyone ignored it .

    That¡¯s no surprise .

    860 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder<hr>

    I went and saw for myself . Only a chosen few could get close to that .

    Most would get caught in it and die .

    861 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    I heard explosions regrly and thought that something crazy was happening .

    I can¡¯t do stuff like that .

    862 Name: Anonymous Magic User

    And I hope you stay that way .

    Don¡¯t turn the field into and of death as if it¡¯s the normal thing to do .

    863 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Yes, stay as you are .

    Don¡¯t change .

    864 Name: Anonymous Great Sword Wielder

    So, anyone who got close to Maple ended up dying, right? What was she doing?

    865 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    It seemed like she was luring in monsters by using herself as bait .

    I saw the monsters rushing out of the forest and being ughtered one after another . It was like a horror movie .

    866 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    So, Maple was using herself as bait for the whole event¡­

    867 Name: Anonymous Magic User

    What do you mean?

    868 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    Near the end, she got inside a ridiculouslyrge crocodile and ran ap around the field .

    She was pretty sad that she couldn¡¯t get the footage of it .

    869 Name: Anonymous Great Sword Wielder

    How the hell did that even happen?

    870 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    I doubt there is any point in asking .

    Is it within the realm of reason?

    871 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Is she even ying the same game as everyone else? I feel like her goal isn¡¯t the same .

    872 Name: Anonymous Magic User

    So that¡¯s what I was trampled by¡­ I was wondering what the hell thatser shooting crocodile was .

    No wonder . Crocodiles don¡¯t even need to usesers .

    872 Name: Anonymous Great Sword Wielder

    I wonder if she¡¯s going to get even stronger .

    She¡¯s always with her tamed monster . I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she learned all of the skills .

    873 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    Syrup has gotten a lot stronger .

    I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to see just how much in the main event .

    874 Name: Anonymous Great Sword Wielder

    So it is getting stronger¡­

    It¡¯s crazy that there isn¡¯t a limit .

    875 Name: Anonymous Magic User

    I guess I¡¯m looking forward to it, even though I¡¯m scared .

    876 Name: Anonymous Archer

    I never stop being scared .

    877 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    It¡¯s not easy to get used to .

    I thought I was used to Maple, and then she whipped out those tentacles .

    Like that, the preliminary ended, and everyone waited for the results to be announced .

    The management room had calmed down now, and they were working on confirming the rankings . It was filled with names that they all recognized .

    ¡°It seems like there were no surprises this time . ¡±

    ¡°Well, stronger yers get stronger monsters . It can¡¯t be helped . Perhaps we should have put more emphasis on PvP . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . We will do that next time . ¡±

    They went over their mistakes while they worked . Once they were done, they moved to observing the movements of yers, as they always did .

    ¡°¡­Hey, did we add any area bosses?¡±

    ¡°No¡­not exactly . ¡±

    ¡°Some yers might think that we did . ¡±

    ¡°A lot of people seem to have gotten caught in them . ¡±

    Mi¡¯s mes, Payne¡¯s torrent of light, Izu¡¯s explosions, Kasumi¡¯s forest of mist, and Maple¡¯s¡­indescribable thing .

    All of them had the atmosphere of an area boss .

    ¡°You could say that the terrain and rules matched theirbat style . Interesting¡­¡±

    ¡°This is serious . ¡±

    ¡°I guess we have to look at each one . We¡¯ll leave the good points and change the bad . ¡±

    And like that, they yed Maples footage first, as if to get the most shocking thing out of the way . They saw that the prairie had changed greatly due to the effect of several skills . It was the ce that Maple had stayed in .

    ¡°That flower¡­ah¡­I see . ¡±

    ¡°Even if her location is exposed, there are no yers that would go to where Maple is . That thing is a monster luring machine . ¡±

    ¡°This is not it . This is not what you¡¯re supposed to¡­¡±

    ¡°I know how you feel . ¡±

    ¡°It was our mistake for letting her learn about it in the junglest time¡­¡±

    However, they continued to watch the footage . And when they saw Maple in the crocodile¡¯s mouth, they became very excited .

    ¡°How does she fit in so snugly?¡±

    ¡°It was a good thing that we erased its stomach . She would have exploded it from the inside . ¡±

    ¡°Yes, we can¡¯t have monsters with insides . ¡±

    They nodded in relief . The incident with the octopus had made them change it . However, a few secondster, the crocodile that they had praised so much was being used as a car .

    ¡°Why doesn¡¯t she get out!¡±

    ¡°I just don¡¯t understand it at all . But I suppose it does move fast . ¡±

    ¡°We should have made the fangs use piercing attacks¡­¡±

    After that, they looked through the other scenes and threw out ideas on adjustments they could make .

    ¡°Now I¡¯m worried for the monsters in the main event¡­¡±

    ¡°I hope they won¡¯t turn into toys¡­ After all, they will be attacking as a party this time . ¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the boss that is supposed to be doing the attacking . ¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re already acting like area bosses . There is basically no difference now . ¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true . ¡±

    They were especially strong with their tamed monsters . However, that just meant they needed to send out monsters that could deal with that . And so they looked at the data for the monsters they had prepared . Their eyes were full of hope and anxiety .

 Chapter 294

    Chapter 294

    Defense Specialization and After the Preliminary 2<hr>

    Some timeter, the results were announced . Every member of Maple Tree had sessfully entered the top of the ranking, which meant that all eight of them would be able to take on the hardest difficulty .

    As they would be able to form a party this time, they would be able to use the power of their tamed monsters to the fullest .

    ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s the same field too . You must be happy about that, Maple . There will be medals as well, so we¡¯ll have to explore every corner of the ce . ¡±

    ¡°I enjoy fighting as much as anyone, but I also want to explore . And there is so much beautiful scenery!¡±

    Maple had forgotten to retrieve the crystals and lost her footage . So she was very excited that another chance to explore had arrived . <hr>

    ¡°Still, I¡¯m so d that all of us were able to get in . ¡±

    ¡°Tsukimi worked really hard!¡±

    ¡°Yukimi too!¡±

    The two said happily as they carried their cubs . All six guild members smiled at this . Both Mai and Yui had been worried that they wouldn¡¯t be able to survive, and so they were especially happy with the results .

    ¡°Well, the tamed monsters are really strong and they help us . But I¡¯m sure they took all of that into consideration when setting the difficulty . ¡±

    Sally said . Chrome and Kasumi nodded .

    ¡°Almost everyone in the top would have tamed a monster . And so we shouldn¡¯t think it will be easy just because we have one . ¡±

    ¡°If anything, it might be too difficult if we haven¡¯t leveled up . ¡±

    ¡°Hmm . I guess we¡¯ll have to keep leveling up then! I need to help Syrup get stronger!¡±

    They still had some time before the main event . However, it seemed like the others could hardly wait . After all, they wanted to show off how amazing their monsters were now .

    It was like boasting about how cute your child was .

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right . I was able to see Dread and Drag¡¯s tamed monsters during the preliminary . ¡±

    And so Kanade told them that Dread had a wolf that controlled shadows, while Drag had a golem that controlled sand and the earth .

    ¡°Uhhh¡­ I don¡¯t like that it can nullify ¡®Mother Nature . ¡¯¡±

    Aside from that, Syrup had a few other skills that affected the ground . It would be very troublesome if all of them could be nullified .

    ¡°We have to be very careful of Dread as well . He¡¯ll likely be invincible when diving in the shadows . And so you will be at a disadvantage if you use powerful attacks without thinking . ¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ We won¡¯t be fighting PvP until the actual event . So I suppose we¡¯ll just have to gather information little by little . ¡±

    Once Kanade had told them what he knew about Congregation of the Holy Swords, Sally told them about the fight between Mi and Payne . That is, until Maple interrupted them .

    Though, Mi often explored with Maple, so she mostly focused on Payne .

    At the very least, they found out that he had a wide area breath attack and the ability to fly . Furthermore, as no monster like that had been witnessed before, it was very likely that it was a rare monster with powerful hidden skills .

    ¡°It¡¯s too bad that, for now, all we can say is that we have to be very careful . Almost all dragons have a breath attack¡­and considering how he talked to Frederica, he must be hiding something . As for Mi, her Inferno skill was very strong . It had a wide area of effect and I think it dealt a lot of damage as well . With something that covers that much space, even I wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid it if I was close by . ¡±

    At this point, it was confirmed that all of their rivals had tamed monsters . That meant they had so many more attack patterns now .

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s do our best in the event and gain lots of medals so we can get stronger! We have to be stronger in order to make up for our inferior numbers . ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true . Each of us needs to be strong . ¡±

    With renewed determination, they continued to strengthen their monsters while waiting for the day of the main battle .

 Chapter 295

    Chapter 295

    Defense Specialization and the Main Battle<hr>

    As Maple and the others spent their days busily raising their monsters¡¯s levels, the day of the main battle finally arrived .

    They discussed their direction onest time and then waited to be teleported to the field .

    The eight of them would be taking on the field with the highest difficulty, and if you survived until the end, you would receive 5 medals .

    ¡°It seems like you can also get other medals by killing monsters on the field . So it would be great if we can collect more than the ones for surviving . Considering how the battle is set up¡­I think we¡¯re supposed to decide if we are going to stick together the entire time or not . ¡±

    Like Sally said, the more of the optional medals you collected, the stronger you would be .

    And these medals you got on the field would go to every party member . In other words, if Maple acquired 1 medal, then each of the other members would also get 1 medal .

    If they all split up and defeated strong monsters, they would be able to acquire a lot of medals . However, there was also a possibility that they could die, and the number of medals they received for surviving would drop .

    ¡°It says that there is a specific time when strong monsterse out . I think we could gain the most by gathering together when that happens, while generally spreading out . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah . Surviving is important . But I want to get as many medals as possible!¡±

    ¡°Well, even if we split up, I think it would best if it was just in half, while considering who works best with who . ¡±

    Kanade suggested, and the others agreed . It was then decided that Maple, Sally, Yui, and Mai would make one team, while Kanade, Izu, Chrome, and Kasumi would make the other team . <hr>

    As it was clear that Maple should be teamed up with the three that could be one-shotted if they were ambushed, they came to this decision in an instant .

    ¡°Let¡¯s do our best during the main fight too!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Yui . ¡±

    ¡°Is it almost time? ¡­Oh, here ites . ¡±

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s all survive until the end!¡±

    Those were Maple¡¯s final words as she raised her fish into the air . The others followed . And like that, the members of Maple Tree were enveloped in light as they were teleported away .

    When the light faded around them, they saw that they were in the same field once again . As for their starting point, it was like a wastnd or desert, where only sand and rocks could be seen .

    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that we have a clear view . There doesn¡¯t seem to be any yers around¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah . However, it seems that we have a visitor already!¡±

    Great waves appeared in the sand, and then gigantic worms that could have swallowed the entire party began to appear before them . Once they detected Maple and the others, they opened their mouths and attacked .

    ¡°Alright! ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    Maple activated the skill in order to protect everyone . As the clouds of dust rose into the air, all of the attacks were neutralized . At the same time, each of them called out their tamed monster and then went out on the attack .

    ¡°There¡¯s no time to put them in ce¡­ Fay, ¡®Item Buff¡¯!¡±

    Izu threw the attack strengthening item onto the ground, and a red light enveloped all of them . Once that was over, Yui and Mai got onto their tamed monsters and jumped out .

    ¡°¡®Power Share¡¯! ¡®Bright Star¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Power Share¡¯! ¡®Bright Star¡¯!¡±

    Mai and Yui gave the order and a spherical effect bounced off of Tsukimi and Yuki . This caused great damage to all of the worms that were close to them .

    However, they still had a lot of HP remaining . But this was no surprise, given that it was the highest difficulty .

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you get away! Kasumi! Sally!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! ¡®Blood de¡¯! Haku, ¡®Super Erge,¡¯ ¡®Paralysis Poison¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Oboro! ¡®Binding Barrier¡¯!¡±

    Haku suddenly grew veryrge next to Kasumi . It quickly wrapped around and strangled the worm while paralyzing it so that it couldn¡¯t move . At the same time, Oboro stopped a different worm from moving .

    ¡°Necro, ¡®Fire of Death¡¯!¡±

    Once they were unable to move, Chrome, who was equipping Necro, began to shoot out mes, elerating the damage .

    It was here that Mai and Yui, along with Tsukimi and Yukimi, began to pommel the worms . This was too much, and the worms were unable to withstand it, and they exploded . The other words seemed to understand that they were at a disadvantage, and they dove back into the sand and escaped .

    Dust filled the air once again . And when it settled, the field was as quiet as it was before .

    ¡°Oohh! Amazing! All of your monsters are so strong!¡±

    ¡°But we weren¡¯t able to kill all of them¡­ Still, it was easy to fight since you were protecting us, Maple . ¡±

    ¡°Monsters other than the ones we were attacking also died . All of the tamed monsters were so strong!¡±

    Yui and Mai said as they looked at the others with awe and respect . Sally, Kasumi and Chrome looked puzzled .

    ¡°Eh? No, I didn¡¯t think it was that impressive . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah, me too . Though, Haku¡¯s attack power was a little high¡­¡±

    ¡°Hehehe¡­ Sou! Over here . ¡±

    Kanadeughed with amusement when he saw how confused they looked . Then he called Sou . What then appeared from the huge shadow of Haku, was Sou, who now had white hair, and had clothes made of a pink mesh with frills and ribbons . In other words, Sou looked exactly like Yui .

    ¡°What!? Me-me!?¡±

    ¡°Yes . I borrowed your attack power for a little while . It really was impressive . ¡±

    Sou had been acting in a state where the appearance and status were reflected by the skill . So if it was mimicking Yui, then it stood to reason that its attack power would be tremendous .

    ¡°Ohh . Kanade¡¯s tamed monster is strong too . That really increases the possibilities in terms of strategy¡­¡±

    ¡°That being said, looks like its time is up . ¡±

    Kanade said . Just then, Sou¡¯s body was enveloped in light, and then it returned to being a transparent slime .

    ¡°It¡¯s over pretty quickly, but the cool down time is long . Still, it¡¯s interesting, isn¡¯t it? It can turn into party members that it memorized in advance . ¡±

    Like this, Kanade¡¯s team had plenty of attack ability . And then the four of them started to look around .

    ¡°Ah! Sally . Are there any medals on the ground?¡±

    ¡°Hmm . Let me see . ¡±

    There was nothing around that looked like a medal . Perhaps it meant that those worms were just stock monsters .

    ¡°We¡¯ll die if we let our guard down . ¡±

    ¡°I suppose this is what the hardest difficulty is going to be like . Alright, let¡¯s look for a ce where we can get our bearings . You can all ride on Haku . ¡±

    And so the rest of them returned their tamed monsters to their rings, and then got on top of Haku¡¯s back . And like that, the snake slithered through the desert .

 Chapter 296

    Chapter 296

    Defense Specialization and the Marsnds<hr>

    The desert was connected directly to a forest . And since there were no monsters around them, they decided that it was a good ce to split up .

    Sally checked her map again and told the others the direction they would take .

    ¡°All of our party members will be disyed on the map . So we can separate here and then regroup shortly before the strong monsterse out . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that sounds fine . We should go to the forest then . Maple¡¯s team can go to the marsnds . ¡±

    ¡°Okay! I¡¯m going to find lots of medals!¡±

    ¡°Oh! And I¡¯m going to find promising monsters and hunt them!¡±

    While Maple waved her hand wildly, they separated from Chrome¡¯s team and started ther search for medals .

    ¡°Alright, since ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ is still activated, let¡¯s go and explore . ¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do that! Are you fine, Mai and Yui?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡±<hr>

    ¡°Let¡¯s go then!¡±

    Now that they had tamed monsters, Mai and Yui could move faster than when they rode on Syrup . Mai and Sally got onto Tsukimi¡¯s back, while Yui and Maple rode on Yukimi . And like that, they dashed through the marsnd .

    ¡°Still, this field really is big . Hmm . Where should we look¡­¡±

    ¡°Hehehe . I thought this might happen¡­ Look at this . ¡±

    Sally said as she sent the other three a message . It was a photo of Sally¡¯s map during the preliminary .

    ¡°Since it¡¯s supposed to be the same map, I marked down some likely ces . I think it could be useful . Of course, I sent it to the other group as well . ¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re amazing, Sally! Uh, we¡¯re currently right here, so¡­¡±

    The three of thempared the image with their current map and found a mark that was close by .

    ¡°Ah! Maple, there is one in this marsnd too!¡±

    ¡°Oh, there is!¡±

    ¡°Yes . So why don¡¯t we go there first? Mai, I¡¯ll give you instructions . ¡±

    ¡°Okay, got it . Tsukimi!¡±

    As they had decided their first destination, the four of them started to move towards it . There were almost no obstacles in their path . It was just water and short nts .

    ¡°It¡¯s in the center, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes . Well, I doubt we will reach it so easily!¡±

    As the four of them walked on, they were suddenly surrounded by dolls made of water and mud that rose from the ground . The things dragged their feet while moving closer and closer to them .

    ¡°Wh-what should we do!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me . Syrup! ¡®Sinking Earth¡¯!¡±

    Maple gave the order . And the ground around Syrup began to change in property . And the dolls that had appeared from it began to sink .

    ¡°Our main objective is to survive¡­Mai, Yui, let¡¯s get out while we can!¡±

    ¡°Yes . They have no magic attacks and they move so slowly¡­ I think they¡¯re the type that are dangerous if they catch you! I¡¯ll create a tform!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    They activated Star Step in order to move faster, and then they used the tform that Sally made in order to jump over the dolls .

    ¡°Let¡¯s continue like this!¡±

    ¡°Since we have to save Maple¡¯s skills for more powerful monsters, we¡¯ll be counting on you, Mai and Yui!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Like this, while Syrup slowed the enemy down, Sally made footholds in the air or created ces for Tsukimi and Yukimi to climb with ¡®Ice Pir . ¡¯ They avoidedbat until they arrived at the mark that Sally had put on the map .

    Here, there was an especiallyrgeke, with a single ind in the center .

    Small pink flowers bloomed on the ind, and the atmosphere was quite different from everywhere else .

    Of course, there were numerous water and mud dolls squirming around theke as well . They were currently scanning the area from afar through Maple¡¯s binocrs .

    ¡°What do you think, Sally? Is it different from before?¡±

    ¡°There weren¡¯t nearly as many monstersst time . But the terrain is the same . ¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­it does look like there would be something here . ¡±

    ¡°What should we do?¡±

    ¡°Hmm . We won¡¯t get any medals if we¡¯re killed from the get go . ¡±

    Even normal monsters were strong on this field . Charging into their of a more powerful boss monster would only increase their chances of dying and losing out on the survival medals .

    ¡°But! We decided to hunt and gather more medals!¡±

    Maple said . And the three nodded, as they felt the same .

    ¡°I think that if we ride the bears, we¡¯ll have to fight until we reach the ind . ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine! It¡¯s times like these that we should rely on Syrup!¡±

    There were other monsters you could ride in Maple Tree . But Syrup was the only one who could fly .

    ¡°Syrup¡¯s not actually supposed to be able to fly¡­ Alright, let¡¯s go from the air then . From what I saw, it seems like we won¡¯t have to worry about being shot out of the air . ¡±

    Once that was settled, Maple called out Syrup and had it erge . Then they got on its back .

    And so they were able to skip the monsters that squirmed on the ground, and arrive on the ind with the flowers .

    ¡°It looks like I can just lower Syrup like this . Let¡¯s go . ¡±

    And so Maple had Syrupnd on the ind . In the same instant, the ind began to glow, and the four of them sensed that they were going to be teleported .

    ¡°It¡¯s fine! We have Dedicated Affection!¡±

    Maple said confidently . It didn¡¯t matter what was on the other side . And like that, the four of them disappeared from the marsnds .

 Chapter 297

    Chapter 297

    Defense Specialization and Right Below<hr>

    ¡°Oomph! We arrived!¡±

    ¡°Underground, huh¡­ We must be right under the ind then . Both the ground and the ceiling are damp and muddy . ¡±

    ¡°It really is¡­ Woah . And there are so many branching paths¡­¡±

    The ce that the four of them arrived waspletely covered in brown and looked like a typical underground dungeon . The starting point was a wide circle, and there were six paths that branched from there . And while all of them were wide, they were very damp, like Sally said . And some even had puddles of water .

    ¡°I bet there will be more of those mud dolls . We might have to defeat them this time!¡±

    ¡°Yes . If ites to that, it would be very helpful if you could one-shot them . ¡±

    ¡°Leave it to us!¡±<hr>

    ¡°Leave it to us!¡±

    While there were many paths, thinking about it would not give them an answer . And so they chose one random one and started to walk .

    ¡°Uhhh . It¡¯s all sticky . ¡±

    ¡°It really is¡­ I¡¯m d that I¡¯m not getting dirty for real . ¡±

    ¡°Oh, here they are!¡±

    As Sally said, dolls were noisilying out of the puddles and mud . However, their movements were slow, which meant that Mai and Yui were able to hit them .

    ¡°Double Strike!¡±

    ¡°Double Strike!¡±

    Before the dolls could do anything, their attacksnded, and the dolls that had been blocking their path sttered wetly as they soiled the ground .

    ¡°Oh! Awesome!¡±

    ¡°¡­No, it¡¯s not finished yet!¡±

    The sttered mud and water did not turn into light and disappear . Instead, they all started to form new dolls . Suddenly, there were twice as many of them, and they swarmed around the group . Mai and Yui were too stunned to move, and they ended up getting attacked .

    ¡°Maple! Are you alright!?¡±

    As both types of dolls were attacking, something must be happening to Maple through Dedicated Affection .

    ¡°Uhh¡­let me see¡­ Hmm¡­¡±

    Sally looked at Maple and then Mai and Yui, who were subject to the sticky attacks, and then she sighed .

    ¡°Ah! I can¡¯t move anymore! Also¡­the timer for when I can use it again won¡¯t move . ¡±

    ¡°So you can¡¯t move and the cooldown clock is frozen¡­ It would not be strange for a party to be annihted from this¡­ They seem to deal decent damage and there are so many of them . ¡±

    ¡°Sally! Ho-how can we defeat them!?¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess we should test several things out¡­¡±

    Maple couldn¡¯t move anymore, that¡¯s all . There was plenty that she could do even when she wasn¡¯t moving . Right now, the only thing they needed was Dedicated Affection .

    And so while Maple bought them time, they tried to think of a way of dealing with the dolls . And they learned that if you used fire attacks on the mud dolls and lightning attacks on the water dolls, you could deal damage and defeat them without causing them to separate . In fact, anything else would just cause them to stter .

    But because they had left the defenses to Maple and spent so much time experimenting, the dolls had multiplied to a ridiculous degree . It was so bad that not only were theypletely blocking the passage, but they went all the way up to the ceiling and some couldn¡¯t even move .

    The dolls would fall down like an avnche, and Mai and Yui had to be careful to not identally attack them .

    ¡°Okay, so we¡¯re finished with that¡­ Let¡¯s deal with all these dolls now¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    ¡°Thi-this really is crazy¡­¡±

    As Maple couldn¡¯t move, they didn¡¯t have the option of going down a different path .

    The day that Maple could move again would nevere unless they killed every one of them .

 Chapter 298

    Chapter 298

    Defense Specialization and Water and Mud<hr>

    ¡°Phew¡­ We finally finished¡­ Good work, Mai and Yui . ¡±

    ¡°Sorry . I wish that I could have helped you¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine! You were protecting us, Maple!¡±

    ¡°You have to save your energy for the boss fight¡­!¡±

    Maple¡¯s skills were very strong, but almost all of them were limited use .

    And that was a big demerit in events like this one, where you had to fight for the entire day . This meant that Mai and Yui had to work harder, as their attack ability did not change .

    ¡°Let¡¯s continue on until we reach the boss! After all, we know how to beat them now!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true . We¡¯ll be expecting a lot from you during the boss fight . Okay, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Yes . I¡¯ll make up for all this time I¡¯ve been saving my energy!¡±

    Now that they knew how to defeat the stock monsters, they could make progress very easily . Of course, it was not supposed to be possible to one-shot these monsters, and they were designed to require the use of many resources, but this was hardly the case for Mai and Yui .

    Mai was put in charge of the mud dolls and Yui the water dolls . And with precision, Sally took down any that they missed . Maple protected them with Dedicated Affection so it wouldn¡¯t matter if they were hit . As all of their attacks were nullified, there was no way for the dolls to stop these four .

    And like that, the team breezed through the area and got closer and closer until they reached what could only have been the boss room .

    ¡°It took us a while, since there were so many, but we¡¯re finally here . ¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re ready!¡±<hr>

    ¡°We¡¯re ready!¡±

    ¡°Alright! I¡¯m going to open it!¡±

    Maple opened the door, and the four of them cautiously stepped into the room . There were puddles of water and mud throughout the room, but the rest of the ground was covered in a yellow and green moss .

    And then two dolls that were about four meters tall rose up in front of them . One was made of mud and had moss and grass growing on it . The other was made of water .

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s continue to use the same attacks we used on the way! We¡¯ll defeat them one by one!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    The three attackers chose the mud doll as their first target, and then approached it with weapons enveloped in fire . In the meantime, Maple attracted the attention of the water doll, allowing the others to concentrate on attacking .

    ¡°Let¡¯s finish it in one try, Mai!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Mai and Yui mmed their burning great hammers into it all at once . Of course, boss monsters were not designed with their attack power in mind . And so just as they had dered, chunks of its HP bar were lost immediately . The mud doll attacked them repeatedly with its slow movements, but Maple¡¯s Dedicated Affection blocked them all . This also meant that the cool down clock for Maple¡¯s skills would be paused, but that was fine .

    ¡°I can¡¯t fall behind!¡±

    Unlike Mai and Yui, Sally dodged attacks in order to enhance the effect of Sword Dance while she cut at the enemy¡¯s legs .

    ¡°One more time!¡±

    ¡°One more time!¡±

    Just as Sally¡¯s attacks had caused it to lose its bnce, Mai and Yui¡¯s great hammers smashed into it . And the mud doll¡¯s HP went straight to 0 .

    ¡°Good!¡±

    ¡°Good!¡±

    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s amazing!¡±

    ¡°¡­Wait . Something is not right!¡±

    Sally said . Just then, bubbles started to burst from inside of the doll . Then it exploded loudly .

    While Mai and Yui were hit by it, they took no damage, thanks to Maple .

    ¡°We¡¯re fine! ¡­Huh!?¡±

    Just as Maple was boasting about nullifying the mud, her HP bar suddenly went down by 20% . She looked around in confusion .

    ¡°Mai! Yui! Your feet!¡±

    ¡°Huh? Ah!¡±

    As the two stood in the puddle of mud, they saw that there were brown seeds next to their feet . And vines were growing from them and wrapping around their legs . Just as Maple¡¯s HP dropped by 20%, Mai and Yui tore away the vines .

    ¡°Maple! Call out Syrup! You two,e over here!¡±

    Sally ordered . And then the three of them dodged the seeds as they made their way over to Syrup and then jumped on its back .

    As the seeds only reacted to people on the ground, they were able to escape the danger, and Maple¡¯s HP recovered as well .

    ¡°Phew¡­ That was a surprise¡­ Uhh, but now we can¡¯t get down¡­¡±

    ¡°Woah¡­ And it seems like the mud doll was able to recover . ¡±

    ¡°But at least we¡¯re safe up here!¡±

    ¡°As we practiced¡­we should be able to attack it from here . ¡±

    The reliable pair dered . And so Maple and Sally decided to let them handle it .

    Just as before, Maple was blocking the mud and water that came flying towards them . While this happened, Mai and Yui took out metal balls from their inventory .

    They had been improved since the 4th event, and were nowrger and had spikes . And so they enveloped them in fire and prepared to throw them .

    ¡°Go!¡±

    ¡°Go!¡±

    Their adorable voices shouted as they unleashed the balls . They shot towards the mud doll¡¯s face at a frightening speed . And like that, the balls erased its recovered HP in a sh before sinking deeply into the ground behind it .

    ¡°Yes! We did it!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because we practiced!¡±

    ¡°Only you two could have practiced like that¡­ Still, that is some impressive control . ¡±

    They had yed catch with iron balls during their free time, and it was clear that it had paid off . The two took aim at their next target . This time, the iron balls cracked with electricity as they shot through the air and pierced the giant¡¯s body .

    ¡°Ohh! Ah, I know! Wouldn¡¯t it do more damage if you hit them with your great hammers?¡±

    ¡°Ahh¡­ That won¡¯t work . ¡±

    ¡°The iron balls just shatter! That¡¯s why we asked Izu to make stronger ones!¡±

    As iron balls were just items, they broke if they took a certain amount of damage . They had tested it out once, and with a horrifying sound, the iron balls had exploded like a ball of snow .

    While the current balls could not be hit, they had various additions made to them .

    ¡°I can¡¯t pass you balls of this size¡­I guess I can¡¯t do anything but watch . ¡±

    ¡°Leave it to us!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to us!¡±

    Every time the iron balls crashed heavily to the ground, a hole opened up inside of the watery body .

    The ground was covered in seeds now, but it didn¡¯t matter to them . The final iron ball shot through the enemy¡¯s head . And like that, both the mud and water dolls were defeated . And all of the seeds disappeared into light .

    Then they heard the notification sound as all the members of Maple Tree were awarded 1 silver medal .

    ¡°Phew . We did it! And we got a medal!¡±

    ¡°Yes, what a relief . But we have to be careful . Syrup couldn¡¯t fly this time either, so it was pretty dangerous . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . And they can revive¡­ They were probably supposed to be even stronger . ¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to avoid entering dungeons that are a bad fit for us . The stock monsters should give us an idea . Oh, we¡¯re being forced out now¡­¡±

    ¡°So, I guess we can¡¯t stay here while it¡¯s safe . ¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go on to the next one!¡±

    As their bodies were enveloped in light, they teleported out of the dungeon like they always did .

 Chapter 299

    Chapter 299

    Defense Specialization and The st<hr>

    ¡°Oh, it looks like Maple¡¯s team got some medals . ¡±

    ¡°There must have been a dungeon in the marsnds . I guess we really should be using Sally¡¯s map . ¡±

    The four of them had headed towards the forest . And for the most part, they continued to move by riding on the head of the erged Haku .

    And when they encountered any monsters, Izu would throw items and Kanade would scatter debuffs . After that, Haku would strangle them to death .

    Chrome and Kasumi were not particrly good with ranged attacks, so they were in charge of getting any monsters that slipped through .

    ¡°While it¡¯s just three days, I¡¯m d that we took time to prepare . ¡±

    All of Izu¡¯s strengths were born through her variety of items . Of course, it meant that every time she ran out of a certain type, there was less that she was able to do .

    Unlike normal crafting jobs, she was able to make items from gold . Furthermore, Izu was able to use the workshop no matter her location, which meant that she could restock on items as long as she had gold .

    And since she had enough gold to build several guild homes, Izu had no weaknesses .

    ¡°Ah, aren¡¯t we about to reach the spot that Sally marked?¡±

    ¡°Alright . Let¡¯s do this!¡±

    As the snake slithered on, they found a tree that had a mark on it that looked like a magic circle .

    ¡°This must be it . But there is nothing else around here¡­¡±

    ¡°Should I touch it? It seems like a magic circle, after all . ¡±

    They all agreed, and so Kasumi had Haku move its head forward so she could touch it . And then just as they expected, the pattern began to shine and they were all teleported away . <hr>

    The ce that they found themselves in was also surrounded by trees . The only difference was a wall on the other side that was made ofrger trees and vines .

    It was quiterge too . And though they all prepared to fight, there didn¡¯t seem to be anything else there .

    ¡°Surely it¡¯s not actually empty?¡±

    ¡°Yes . ¡±

    As they waited cautiously, they suddenly heard the sound of something cutting through the air . Chrome was the first to react .

    ¡°¡®Cover¡¯!¡±

    There was a high-pitched ring as he blocked the projectile that then bounced in the air . Chrome quickly checked to see what it was .

    There were three kunais that were attached to bombs with lit fuses .

    ¡°Tsk . Kanade, do it!¡±

    ¡°Sou, ¡®Target Increase,¡¯ ¡®Light of the Spirit¡¯!¡±

    After mimicking Kanade, Sou took out the magic books and activated the defense skills . After that, there was a thunderous roar as they were ravaged by explosive wind and mes .

    When it died down, their HP was reduced, but they had all survived .

    ¡°When Sou uses them, the damage immunity effect bes a damage reduction effect . But it¡¯s still enough, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah . You saved us . ¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll heal you now . ¡±

    ¡°So, where did the attacke from¡­¡±

    ¡°Since they were attached to kunais, maybe it was a ninja? But with that force, it would be a bad idea to split up and search¡­¡±

    It was hard to imagine that kunais were its only method of attack . And since Kanade and Izu had such low HP, it was possible that they could be one-shotted .

    ¡°Should we keep searching for a while? We should be able to survive if Sou is around to use powerful skills that would usually have a use limit . ¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that then . Now, considering that we can¡¯t see it¡­¡±

    The four decided they had to find it first . However, no matter how much they walked around and searched the forest, they could not find anything . However, they continued to be attacked by projectiles .

    ¡°Hmm¡­ We¡¯re managing to survive because of Kanade¡¯s stock of books¡­ But we still can¡¯t find it . ¡±

    ¡°What should we do? If only I could get close to it . ¡±

    They pondered on this for a while, and then Izu hesitantly opened her mouth .

    ¡°Yes¡­ It¡¯s a bit rough, but I have an idea . ¡±

    ¡°Oh? What is it?¡±

    ¡°This ce seems to have a fixed size¡­so, while it will take a little time to prepare, I could explode everything . ¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Interesting . Well, uh, it¡¯s certainly worth a try . Yes . ¡±

    Chrome looked like he had been bracing himself for these very words toe out of Izu¡¯s mouth . However, he was also certain that there was no point in continuing what they were doing .

    ¡°Just like you did during the preliminary?¡±

    ¡°Yes . However, I was able to make some new items in time . So it will cover the sky as well . ¡±

    Izu said as she took out the item . It was a box with a propeller, that had a stringing out from the bottom . Izu attached a few bombs to it and sent it up into the air . It climbed steadily up until it reached a certain height .

    ¡°It cost a lot to make¡­but I can¡¯t be stingy now . ¡±

    ¡°You sure make some brutal things¡­ How do you activate it?¡±

    ¡°I have an item for that . This will take care of everything above the trees . Now, let¡¯s add the others to the ground and the tree trunks . ¡±

    ¡°Return bombs with bombs, eh? What about us?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave the center as a safety zone . The item will do equal damage to everything, so make sure that you don¡¯t step out of the safety zone . ¡±

    It would be a rain of attacks, immense debuffs, and status effects . There was no insurance that even someone like Chrome could survive it .

    Sou¡¯s magic and Haku¡¯s huge body protected them as she went around and set the items all over the forest .

    ¡°Alright . I¡¯m finished . It will be very bright and very loud . So be careful . ¡±

    Just like during the preliminary, electricity was sent through the strings of water, and then the st echoed around the forest .

    The explosives on the enemy¡¯s kunais seemed very small now . Everything but the safety zone was burned to the ground .

    ¡°It should still be alive!¡±

    ¡°Hmm . It¡¯s ording to the n . ¡®Eye of the Assassin¡¯!¡±

    It was a skill that Kanade could only use today through ¡®Akashic Records . ¡¯ It increased the damage against monsters and yers that had status effects and let you know their position .

    ¡°There it is!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Kasumi!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Chrome equipped Necro in order to enhance his reach . Kasumi called out the arms of the warrior on both sides of her, and they moved in all at once . What they saw was a poisoned, paralyzed, frozen, yet burning shinobi .

    ¡°¡®Last of the des ¨C Oborozuki¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Ghost Mud¡¯! Necro, ¡®Fire of Death¡¯!¡±

    It was easy once they could see it . And after taking damage from both of their attacks, the shinobi¡¯s HP dropped down to 0, and it disappeared .

    ¡°Phew¡­ Good . It wasn¡¯t so bad after all . ¡±

    ¡°Is it really finished?¡±

    ¡°Yeah . Well¡­maybe it wasn¡¯t dead . But it¡¯s basically the same thing . ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a relief . I¡¯m starting to run out of damage reduction skills . ¡±

    It was here that they got the same notification that Maple¡¯s team had, saying that they had acquired some medals .

    ¡°Yes . This is a great result for our first day!¡±

    ¡°We got through several forests, and while this took quite a long time . It seemed really quick . ¡±

    ¡°I guess we can search one or two more before reuniting with the others . Judging by the timer, the strong monsterse out at night . ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right . Haku has made traveling easy, but we have actually traveled quite a distance . ¡±

    They contacted Maple in order to make sure that they didn¡¯t get too far apart . And then the four of them searched for their next dungeon, while also looking for a ce to camp for the night .

 Chapter 300

    Chapter 300

    Defense Specialization and Base Building<hr>

    Some time afterward . After they had finished the dungeon, they flew around to a few of the other locations that Sally had marked . But they were all misses .

    ¡°Phew¡­ It sure is hard to find them¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes . And it¡¯s almost time for the monsters toe out . It might be better to reunite with the others instead of entering another dungeon . ¡±

    They still didn¡¯t know how strong the monsters were, so it was a bad time to take any chances . Getting through dungeons was important, but so were the medals they would acquire through survival .

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to get in contact with Chrome then . ¡±

    While Sally sent the message, they rode on Tsukimi and Yukimi until they reached a clearing . As they didn¡¯t have to fight other yers this time, this would be a good ce . Monsters would not be able to ambush them .

    ¡°Oh, they stopped entering dungeons and are looking for a ce they can turn into a base . Seems like they found a promising cave . ¡±

    ¡°Ohh! Let¡¯s go and meet them then!¡±

    ¡°Now we won¡¯t have to worry during the night!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll send you the location, can you take us there, Mai and Yui?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    They raised Tsukimi and Yukimi¡¯s speed as they rushed through fields and forests in order to reach Chrome and the others .

    While they encountered some monsters on the way, they were no threat to these four, and they were able to unite with the others without trouble .

    ¡°Ah! Over there! Heey!¡±

    Maple shouted as she waved her hands . Chrome and the others noticed them and came running .

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re here . It seems like things went well for you too . ¡±

    Everyone in the guild had earned two silver medals . That meant they just needed to gather three more and survive until the end, and they would reach their goal of getting ten medals .

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right . We found a cave that we can use as our base . It¡¯s over here . ¡±

    Chrome led the others into the cave . It seemed to continue quite far back, and while there were no lights like in the dungeons, there were several interconnecting chambers inside, like an ants nest .

    ¡°It does remind me of a dungeon¡­but I guess it¡¯s empty¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there are quite a few ces like this that resemble dungeons . I think they¡¯re for resting in . ¡±

    ¡°Alright, then we better get this ce ready for the night! We have to make it morefortable!¡±

    The surface of the cave couldn¡¯t be all exposed rock if they wanted to spend the night infort . Some modifications were necessary to keep their morale up . <hr>

    ¡°I have items that won¡¯t disappear even if they are taken out . While I don¡¯t have much furniture, I can make some now . ¡±

    ¡°Hmm . I¡¯m so d you¡¯re here . I should receive some items from Izu and set up defense traps . ¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you!¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have much time . Maple and I can share the load . We have toplete a defense system . ¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    Due to Maple¡¯s nature, Maple Tree was better at protecting, rather than attacking . They needed to ensure that there was only one entrance and use items to their fullest . Like this, an average cave could be turned into a fortress with incredible defense ability .

    Maple also received items from Izu, and started to customize the room .

    ¡°Hmm¡­what should I do¡­ There¡¯s a lot of space, and I need to make it so you can¡¯t pass through here¡­¡±

    And so just like before, Maple used Venom Capsules to fill up the space in the room . And then she waited for the room to be filled with poison .

    ¡°Alright . Hmm . But that¡¯s not enough . It will break if they attack from the passage¡­¡±

    The poison that Maple created caused instant death at a very high rate . So as long as they hit their target, she could kill them in one hit .

    ¡°¡­I know! Uh, the item I got from Izu¡­here!¡±

    Maple moved loudly through the poison and started to set the items .

    These were traps that reacted to attacks by spraying water and throwing the enemy into the air . However, Maple didn¡¯t want to throw monsters into the air, but the poison . Once she was finished installing enough of them, she tried to block the passage so that the poison wouldn¡¯t flow to their side .

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t have any good items for¡­ Ah, that¡¯s right . ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯!¡±

    Maple ced the throne inside of the narrow entrance, and then used pieces of wood to forcefully fill in the gaps andplete the blockade .

    ¡°Alright! This room is finished! Next!¡±

    Maple ran to the next room in order to strengthen their defense . After she had repeated the process in a few rooms, she found Mai and Yui .

    ¡°Are things going well?¡±

    ¡°Ah! Maple!¡±

    ¡°Y-you shouldn¡¯te in¡­!¡±

    ¡°Huh? Wa! Ah?!¡±

    It was just as Maple had taken one step inside . A boulder that was so big that she wouldn¡¯t have been able to wrap her arms around it, suddenly fell from the ceiling andnded on her head . There was a loud bang as it bounced off and rolled onto the ground . As if that was the trigger, more and more boulders began to fall .

    Once it was finished, Mai and Yui hopped around frantically towards Maple, who came out of the rubble unharmed .

    ¡°Th-that was a surprise¡­ I¡¯m sorry! I activated the traps you set up!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay! Besides, I¡¯m just d that you¡¯re okay . ¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you set them up again . But I can¡¯t call Syrup¡­so you can climb on this shield!¡±

    Maple changed her equipment so that she had the three great shields . Mai and Yui picked up the boulders and stood on top of the shields so they could set up the traps again .

    ¡°Uhhh¡­ I¡¯ll have to be careful when checking the other rooms . ¡±

    ¡°You can get through if you walk carefully¡­ So you shouldn¡¯t have any trouble when getting out . ¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see¡­ The same can¡¯t be said for the rooms I did . ¡±

    Apparently, Maple was not very good at setting traps . And she felt a little disappointed as she thought back on the rooms that she had customized .

    There was no question about those rooms being able to defeat intruders, but on the other hand, no guild members would be able to go in .

    ¡°I might have to discuss it with Sally and remake them¡­¡±

    ¡°Wh-what kind of room is it?¡±

    ¡°Ehehe . Well¡­¡±

    And so Maple answered Yui¡¯s question as they finished setting up the traps again . And then they left the room .

    As Mai and Yui¡¯s room was also incredibly lethal, they almost felt sorry for any monster that might go in .

    From there, the three of them set up rock and poison traps in the remaining rooms . Then with satisfied expressions, they returned to the area in the far back . Here, there were now lights and a table . And partitions had also been set up so they had a ce to rest . Perhaps she had even gotten a little ambitious, as Izu had spread out a carpet and was even hanging up some wallpaper .

    Half of the room had not been altered, and it was there that they would drive back any monsters that managed to get past the traps .

    ¡°Wow! It¡¯s so nice now!¡±

    ¡°Ah, wee back . Did you finish setting up the traps then?¡±

    ¡°Yes! All set!¡±

    ¡°We finished everything . ¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re almost finished here too . I think it¡¯ll be a lot morefortable than it was during the 4th event . ¡±

    As a finishing touch, Izu set up a cannon in the area facing the entrance, and then put up a wall so the enemy wouldn¡¯t be able to get in all at once . Then she sighed .

    ¡°That was a lot of work . But it was a good experience . Also, it was really fun . ¡±

    ¡°Th-that¡¯s amazing . You must have used up a lot of materials? We have to gather more¡­¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t use much that was valuable . Still, I¡¯d wee your helpter . ¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll help you whenever you want!¡±

    As the four of them talked like this, the other four finished setting up their traps and returned .

    ¡°Ahh, I finished . However, you¡¯ll have to be very careful when going out . It¡¯s crazy, and a lot of them will kill you if you make a mistake . ¡±

    They were all in agreement about this and nodded . Then Maple suddenly raised her head as if remembering something .

    ¡°Ah! That¡¯s right . What should we do if other yerse in? They¡¯ll trigger the traps!¡±

    ¡°Mmm . Ah, it¡¯s fine . I put up a sign outside . ¡±

    ¡°Huh? Oh, you did? Thank you, Sally! Uhh, what does it say?¡±

    ¡°¡®Maple Tree¡¯s Base ¨C High Quantity of Dangerous Objects . No Guarantee of Survival . ¡¯¡±

    ¡°¡­Well, that¡¯s not wrong . ¡±

    ¡°If anything, you could say that it couldn¡¯t be more correct . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . This ce is covered in traps . ¡±

    After preparing this dungeon full of deadly traps, the time for the appearance of powerful monsters finally came .

    ¡°In any case, let¡¯s get ready to face them . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . We don¡¯t know what kinds of monsters wille out . ¡±

    They hid behind the wall that Izu had built between the areas, and held their weapons ready so that they could attack immediately . As they waited, they heard the sounds of the earth shaking above them, and they knew that something had entered the dungeon .

    ¡°Something is here . ¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m ready to attack . ¡±

    A nervous air filled the room . However, the shaking soon subsided, and no matter how long they waited, nothing appeared .

    ¡°¡­Did they die?¡±

    ¡°Probably¡­ But it will be necessary to confirm the state of the traps . ¡±

    Not only would they be able to find out what kind of powerful monster hade in, but if they had seeded in killing it, it would be necessary to reset the trap .

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with Maple . We¡¯ll be able to run even in the worst case scenario . ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true . And even if you identally trigger a trap, it will be fine if Maple is there . ¡±

    And so the two of them stepped out of the resting area . In the passage leading up to the surface, they found a single monster that had horns like Maple¡¯s Savagery . It looked like a demon without eyes and nose, but had demonic wings and a spear as it flew around, spreading damage effects everywhere . Then it sttered over the floor and disappeared into light .

    ¡°Ahh¡­ It must have been desperately trying to survive . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . Well, that¡¯s our goal as well . ¡±

    While it was hard to tell which of them were the dungeon boss now, this devil had given them some valuable information .

    ¡°I think this means we¡¯recking in anti-aerial measures . ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true . But we can improve the traps now . ¡±

    And so Maple and Sally went around to check the other traps . All of them had been triggered from the entrance onwards . And judging by the immense amount of materials on the ground, they had been monsters that walked on the ground .

    ¡°It¡¯s not that difficult to set them up again . Let¡¯s call the others so we can get to work . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . Oh, that¡¯s right! Mai and Yui can carry therge boulders . We can block off passages and force the monsters to head into traps!¡±

    ¡°That would be great . I want to sleep soundly, so our defenses must be rock steady . ¡±

    They took pictures that would show the situation and then returned to the back .

    Just as night started to fall, they finished resetting the traps and decided to take turns resting .

    ¡°Now, it seems like the strong monsters wille here on their own . So there¡¯s nothing to do but take turns sleeping . ¡±

    ¡°But why don¡¯t we just block the entrance, just in case? It should be easy for Mai and Yui . ¡±

    ¡°Can you, Mai and Yui?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it will be fine!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it will be fine!¡±

    Yui and Mai headed towards the entrance of the area and then blocked it with the same kind ofrge boulders that they had used for the traps .

    ¡°Alright . Now we¡¯ll know if something is trying to force their way in . ¡±

    The monsters would have to break a number of boulders first . So they would have time to react when they heard the sounds of them breaking . You could say that an ambush would be very difficult .

    ¡°Now, there¡¯s nothing to worry about¡­¡±

    ¡°Heey! Sally! Why don¡¯t we y over here?¡±

    Just as Sally sighed in relief, Maple called her from the living space . She had several items in her inventory that would help them kill time . Sally looked at Maple, who smiled and waved her hand like she always did . She smiled just a little in return, and walked towards Maple . And like that, they yed and rested on their first night, just as it got darker and darker outside .

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 Chapter 301

    Chapter 301

    tai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 301<hr>

    A double chapter release because I am that cool . Enjoy . And thanks to the partrons who support this novel and the readers for making this possible . Cheers!

    Defense Specialization and Traps

    While they took turns resting, the members of Maple Tree were far deadlier than the dungeons that management had prepared, and so there were no monsters that were able to reach the pile of rocks above the entrance .

    As they were thest ones to take the watch, Sally and Kasumi went around to wake up the other six .

    ¡°Maple . Get up, it¡¯s morning . ¡±

    ¡°Mmm¡­aahh¡­mmm . Good morning, Sally . Was everything alright?¡±

    ¡°Nothing happened . I heard the sounds of a lot of traps being activated, but nothing got through . ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good . Yes! Let¡¯s do our best today as well!¡±<hr>

    Maple pped her cheeks to wake up and then left the partitioned room . Everyone else was already prepared to go out and explore . Upon seeing this, and since she was the Guild Master of Maple Tree, Maple reminded them of their goal .

    ¡°Just three more medals! We¡¯ll have ten if we survive until the end . So let¡¯s work hard!¡±

    ¡°Alright, then let¡¯s decide where we¡¯ll go today . ¡±

    Sally said as she opened her map . However, it seemed like something was strange, as she kept tapping it with her finger .

    ¡°The map¡­it won¡¯t show up . ¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Ah, mine too . ¡±

    ¡°Same with mine . And it looks like I can¡¯t use the messaging feature either . ¡±

    Not being able to confirm your location and having no means to contact each other was like walking in the dark . It hadn¡¯t been like this on the first day, and they had a bad feeling about it . An air of alertness fell over them .

    ¡°Well, we should all move together for now! It will be a lot of trouble if we get separated . ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true . And we have a goal to reach . However, maybe we should decide on a marker, just in case we do get separated . ¡±

    And so they discussed it until they had a good idea .

    ¡°¡­Alright, that can be the marker . ¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes . ¡±

    ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    As the ce was filled with instant death traps that affected everyone, Maple activated Dedicated Affection, just in case . In the meantime, Mai and Yui gathered their boulders as they headed outside .

    ¡°So, it¡¯ll be all eight of us today . We¡¯ll have no problem winning like this!¡±

    ¡°Yes . Well, we got two medals on the first day already . So we are pretty lucky that we don¡¯t have to split up . ¡±

    They recovered what items they could without activating any of the traps as they headed outside .

    ¡°Oh, I have to deactivate ¡®Venom Capsule¡¯ and recover the throne!¡±

    If there were devil-like monsters, she would need ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King,¡¯ which would allow her to seal their skills . They had to gather what they could and go out in the best condition possible .

    Once they were finished, they all stepped outside . And in spite of it being morning, it was still dim . The sky was dark and without a single star visible .

    ¡°Uhh . I have a bad feeling about this¡­¡±

    ¡°Be careful¡­! Maple!¡±

    Shortly after they had stepped outside, a ck magic circle appeared at their feet . It was just asrge as the range of Maple¡¯s Dedicated Affection, and so it was not possible for them to jump out of it .

    ¡°It¡¯s fine! Just get ready to heal!¡±

    As Maple said this, they were all surrounded in the ck light . Maple held her eyes shut tightly and braced herself to take damage . However, she didn¡¯t feel any impact on her body .

    ¡°¡­Oh, good . I¡¯m fine, everyone! ¡­Everyone¡­?¡±

    Bad feelings were generally had for a reason, and when Maple opened her eyes, there was no one else around her . Not only that, but the base that should have been behind her was also gone . She had no idea where she was .

    And though she checked her map again, her present location was not disyed . And she could not send any messages either .

    This was the kind of worst case scenario she had feared . But then again, it was a relief that it wasn¡¯t somethingpletely unpredictable .

    ¡°All of you better stay alive¡­!¡±

    And Maple had to do what she could . She was d that they had discussed it in advance . And so she began to make preparations .

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 Chapter 302

    Chapter 302

    Defense Specialization and Meeting Up<hr>

    It seemed that they had all been blown away andpletely separated . In the darkness, Sally warily made her way to an open area .

    ¡°So this is why the preliminary was solo¡­ I¡¯m sure Maple will be fine¡­ But I¡¯m worried about Mai and Yui . ¡±

    She hoped that Tsukimi and Yukimi would be able to protect them . It was as Sally was thinking this, that a ck magic circle suddenly appeared in front of her . And from within, a devil-like monster with horns and sharp ws emerged . It pped its wings loudly and flew towards her .

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Binding Barrier¡¯! ¡­It doesn¡¯t work!¡±

    Sally dodged its thrusting arm and shed deeply into its side, before jumping back . The monster let out a chilling cry, and several small ck magic circles appeared on the ground . And from these, smaller demons were summoned .

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Fire Child . ¡¯¡±

    Sally enveloped her weapons in fire in order to increase their reach . Then she turned to the devils with a serious expression .

    ¡°They¡¯re alsoing from behind¡­!¡±

    Perhaps they had been attracted by the sounds of fighting, because she could hear rustlinging from behind her . Sally increased her concentration . She could not be defeated here .

    More than anything, she needed to know how many monsters were there, and so she looked back just for a split second . Even as she fought the devils, she saw the familiar figure behind her .

    ¡°Frederica?!¡±<hr>

    ¡°Ah, so it is you, Sally? What a relief . I was just searching for an advance guard!¡±

    Frederica said as she ran up to Sally and stood so that their backs were stuck together .

    ¡°¡­You could have at least killed them beforeing . Why are you here anyway?¡±

    ¡°Sorry . Well, I¡¯ll tell you the detailster . ¡±

    ¡°Fine . More importantly, we have to clear this area first!¡±

    They decided to cooperate temporarily as they raised their weapons . And just as the devils jumped on them, they attacked .

    ¡°¡®Multi-fire Bullets¡¯! Knots, ¡®Singing Round¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Cross Fire,¡¯ ¡®Shadow Clone¡¯!¡±

    The fire that Frederica shot out was then multiplied by Knots . And Sally also unleashed a chain of fire towards the monsters . The dark field was suddenly bathed in red light .

    ¡°Defenses¡­ I don¡¯t think I need any . ¡®Multi-water Bullets¡¯!¡±

    A few monsters that didn¡¯t even have wide-area attacks were no threat to Sally . Frederica defeated the monsters while also ensuring that Sally could draw out as much firepower as possible .

    She usually used Multi-Obstacle¡¯ on Drag, but if she used it on herself, she could fight while minimizing the damage taken . Frederica did this while repeatedly healing . She would look for an opening and then attack . Then she heard an especially loud voice behind her . Therge devil had just been cut down by Sally .

    ¡°I have to end things here too . Knots, ¡®Amplify¡¯!¡±

    Frederica created a number of fireballs like she always did, and then she used Knots¡¯s skill to make them bigger and stronger .

    ¡°Phew . I stopped them somehow . ¡±

    It burned the remaining monsters . When the two of them erased the mes, darkness fell over the field once again .

    ¡°Haa . Thank you . ¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you would have won if you were alone . ¡±

    ¡°Ahaha! You can tell? Well, it really wasn¡¯t that easy . And Payne and the others are so far away . ¡±

    ¡°Hey, wait . How do you know?¡±

    ¡°Uhh, I have a skill for that . I¡¯m sure you know what I¡¯m talking about . And so I was able to contact them . But they¡¯re so far away . ¡±

    Frederica wanted an ally just in case something happened . As for Sally, she didn¡¯t see any demerits to the alliance, and so she had no reason to refuse .

    ¡°I can¡¯t enter any dungeons until we reunite . And it looks like you want to find the rest of your team . ¡±

    How do you intend on doing that? Frederica asked with augh .

    ¡°You can¡¯t even contact them, right? See, you should just give up on that ande with me . ¡±

    Frederica said as she pointed in the direction that she was headed .

    ¡°Hmm . Well, wait a minute . Ah¡­¡±

    ¡°Huh? Fireworks? Is it an event?¡±

    While it was far away, Sally and Frederica heard the sound and saw the light in the empty sky very clearly .

    ¡°That¡¯s Maple¡¯s mark . So that¡¯s where she is¡­¡±

    ¡°What? You have fireworks¡­¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s just Maple . She put bombs on herself and detonated them . ¡±

    ¡°¡­Huh? ¡­ . ??¡±

    As Frederica tried to digest this, Sally started walking away .

    ¡°Ah! Hey, wait! Wait! It¡¯s in the same direction, so why don¡¯t we go together?¡±

    ¡°Uh, alright . But I might leave you if it gets dangerous . ¡±

    ¡°Damn it¡­ I thought you had no way to meet up with them, and I¡¯d be able to persuade you to team up¡­¡±

    Frederica grumbled about how things never went her way . And like that, Sally headed towards Maple .

    ¡°I don¡¯t have much hope for Drag, but Dred has high scouting ability, so he might have found someone by now . ¡±

    ¡°I suppose you¡¯d want a strong yer as a temporary ally¡­ Well, if you can even find one¡­ Knots seems like it¡¯s aware of a pretty wide area . I guess that means I can¡¯t ambush you anymore . ¡±

    ¡°Noment . Ah, there¡¯s something interesting nearby . Do you want to go and see?¡±

    ¡°That face¡­ It¡¯s a monster, isn¡¯t it? No thanks . ¡±

    ¡°How did you know!¡±

    However, this skill was very useful, and Frederica used Knots¡¯s ability to lead them forward while avoiding monsters .

 Chapter 303

    Chapter 303

    Defense Specialization and Meeting Up 2<hr>

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I moved as nned¡­ I hope someonees soon¡­¡±

    Maple was riding on Syrup¡¯s back in the darkness . They would have just looked like shadows from far away . Every once in a while, she would repeat the act ofunching herself into the air and exploding . After a while, she got bored of just exploding, and so she started to use shiny items that reacted to the explosions, so it would look like fireworks . However, Maple was so worried about the safety of the others, that she couldn¡¯t settle down .

    ¡°Alright, one more time! ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Maple shot off of Syrup¡¯s back and flew high into the air . Then she closed her eyes and covered her ears as she waited for the bombs to go off .

    Because of this, Maple did not notice the devil monster that was flying near her, and she was captured while still in the air .

    ¡°Ahhh!? Oh, you shouldn¡¯t be so close¡­!¡±

    Just then, all of the bombs detonated, and the monster burst into countless pieces and disappeared .

    ¡°Wo-wo-woooah¡­ah¡­Syrup!¡±<hr>

    Maple went flying diagonally, and though she tried to make Syrup move, she hadunched herself into the air using such a reckless method, and there was no way that Syrup could move in time .

    She would fall straight to the ground like this . As she considered just falling or exploding once again so that she could try jumping onto Syrup, she was suddenly caught by something soft that was beneath her .

    ¡°Huh? Uh? What?¡±

    ¡°Are you alright¡­?¡±

    ¡°Damn it, you never fail to surprise me . What are you doing, Maple?¡±

    Maple hadnded on the back of an erged Ignis . Ignis¡¯s master, Mi was there . And so was Mai, for some reason .

    ¡°Mi! And¡­Mai? Why are you two together?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t want to antagonize Maple Tree if I don¡¯t have to . I just happened to find her on the way, so I brought her here . ¡±

    ¡°I see! Thank you!¡±

    ¡°You be careful too, Maple . It seems like the corners of the map are being swallowed up by darkness . And the closer you are to the darkness, the stronger the monsters . Apparently, my party is inside . ¡±

    ¡°Uh, okay! I¡¯ll be careful . Ummm . I¡¯ll have to return the favor somehow . ¡±

    ¡°¡­In that case, there is one request I¡¯d like to make . ¡±

    ¡°What? What? It can be anything!¡±

    Maple said . And so Mi took out a tag from her inventory and showed it to them .

    ¡°I want you to hold onto this . Don¡¯t worry, it will disappear by the time this event ends . ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it? Uh¡­ ¡®Mark Tag¡¯¡­?¡±

    There was no item description, and so they looked at it with puzzled expressions . But Mi did not exin further . She let Mai off of Ignis¡¯s back, and then rose into the sky .

    ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll meet again . I just hope it doesn¡¯t involve a battle over medals . ¡±

    ¡°Yes, see you again! Thank you!¡±

    ¡°Th-thank you so much!¡±

    Mi waved at them and then flew away . As Maple had unexpectedly been able to reunite with Mai, now they just needed to wait for the other six .

    ¡°Now I can protect you . Things are going well! I¡¯m d you got here quickly, since you and Yui have low HP!¡±

    ¡°Yes . It¡¯s quite a relief¡­ It seems like the Kingdom of the me Emperor members are able to contact each other . ¡±

    ¡°Huh, I wish we could do that too¡­ And then I would be able to fly right towards them!¡±

    In any case, since the others weren¡¯t there yet, Maple had to go back to being the marker .

    On the other hand, after leaving Mai with Maple, Mi went flying away with Ignis .

    ¡°Phew . I¡¯m d I was able to get her there . They both seemed really happy . Now, I better hurry!¡±

    Mi took out a crystal from her inventory and crushed it . Marx had given it to her, and it worked with the ¡®Mark Tag¡¯ that his skill had made . It allowed you to see the position of the person with the tag .

    ¡°Gah . Only three of my party members are left¡­ Dungeons will be very hard now¡­ Tsk . This forceful teleportation is taking so many of us out at once . ¡±

    The marker of her closesterade was moving wildly on the map . The person was likely in the middle of a battle . And so Mi rode Ignis towards it as fast as she could .

 Chapter 304

    Chapter 304

    Defense Specialization and Meeting Up 3<hr>

    The map was getting smaller, and since strong yers tended to cooperate when bumping into each other, two such top yers were currently together as they faced a pack of monsters .

    ¡°Tsk! Can¡¯t we do something about their numbers!¡±

    ¡°And this is even with the right attributes¡­!¡±

    Misery and Chrome were currently surrounded by dozens of monsters as they looked for a chance to escape . The two of them had cooperated in the jungle during the previous event, but unlike then, they could now recover their HP . Most of Misery¡¯s MP was used to heal Chrome, and Chrome was continually pushed to the brink of death, only to return . This repeated over and over again .

    ¡°Necro, ¡®Burst me¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Holy Spear¡¯!¡±

    Misery¡¯s magic was supposed to be effective against these devil-like monsters . However, she was a healer and he was a great shield wielder . They did not have enough attack power together .

    ¡°I won¡¯t die! But I can¡¯t kill!¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ It seems like more monsters keep getting summoned¡­¡±<hr>

    Chrome and Misery still had damage reduction skills, damage nullifying skills, and resurrection skills . This toughness, where they coulde back even after falling once or even twice, was something that even Maple Tree would find hard to do .

    Chrome continued to change Necro¡¯s form as he switched between attacking and defense .

    ¡°While we can survive, these things are fast¡­ Misery, can¡¯t you do something!?¡±

    ¡°¡­Hold on there! I have something promising!¡±

    ¡°Okay! I trust you! ¡®Revitalize¡¯! Necro ¡®Ghost Armor ¨C Robust¡¯!¡±

    Chrome changed Necro to a defense specialized form, and blocked all of the attacks . He would buy time, just like Misery had said . As both were good when it came to healing, they could resort to these kinds of tactics in spite of taking damage . Unlike Mi, Chrome had a great shield and did not need to attack . He could make use of his powerful guard and survive while being surrounded by monsters . This tense battle continued for quite some time . And Chrome slowly lost his ability to concentrate as the amount of projectiles increased .

    ¡°I guess it depends on ¡®Dead or Alive . ¡¯ ¡­I hope this help is going to arrive soon!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s fine . I think it¡¯s here now . ¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Ohh!?¡±

    Just as Misery said it, giant balls of fire rained down and enveloped the monsters . The fire that Chrome unleashed with the help of Necro could notpare to this . Chrome had had to slowly chip away at their HP, and now they were being annihted in a sh .

    ¡°Woah¡­amazing¡­¡±

    ¡°Phew . That¡¯s a relief . Thank you, Mi . ¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m d you¡¯re alright, Misery . Hmm . So there¡¯s a Maple Tree member here as well . ¡±

    ¡°Huh? Did you meet someone else?¡±

    ¡°One of the twins . I think it was Mai . But I took her to Maple . ¡±

    ¡°Oh! Thank you . ¡±

    ¡°Mi . What should we do now?¡±

    ¡°Shin and Marx are likely alive . Let¡¯s meet up with them . ¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Then can I go with you?¡±

    Chrome said . The two of them looked puzzled . After all, Chrome¡¯s goal waspletely different from theirs .

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s just that I heard the screams of other yers before meeting up with Misery . And if yers are meeting up like this in such a huge field, I think we¡¯re all being teleported pretty close together . ¡±

    In that case, perhaps members of Maple Tree would be close to Marx or Shin .

    Furthermore, Mi and the others could use a reliable shield bearer . There were plenty of merits for taking him along .

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind . What about you, Misery?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t mind . ¡±

    ¡°Then it¡¯s settled . ¡±

    And so the three of them got onto Ignis¡¯s back and rose into the sky .

    ¡°Are they around here?¡±

    ¡°A little farther . On the other side of the mountain . ¡±

    ¡°Maybe they don¡¯t want us to unite with the others¡­ While the field is shrinking, it¡¯s still pretty big . ¡±

    ¡°Maybe it will change again on the third day . In any case, we have to create our bases before its time for the strong monsters toe out . ¡±

    While the ce was overflowing with devil-like monsters, and they were strong, that didn¡¯t mean they were the enhanced monsters for the second day .

    If they weren¡¯t able to unite with the others soon, the number of casualties would increase .

    ¡°I hope I find one of my friends along the way¡­ Huh?¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°I think one of them might be here . I remember a simr explosion from the first day . ¡±

    Chrome saw the shes of thunder and fire that tore through the darkness in front of them . And he was immediately reminded of a certain crafter who was quite scary when she was angry .

 Chapter 305

    Chapter 305

    Defense Specialization and Meeting Up 4<hr>

    ¡°¡­What should we do?¡±

    ¡°What should we do¡­ We can¡¯t do much if it¡¯s just us two¡­¡±

    Marx and Izu were currently hiding within walls made of rock and vines .

    As both were the kind of yers who couldn¡¯t fight unless they had plenty of time to prepare, they had been running around and trying to survive until they bumped into each other .

    ¡°Marx . How much longer can itst?¡±

    ¡°¡­Considering the amount¡­ Maybe five minutes?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll also make items at full power, so we¡¯ll have to advance while taking turns defending!¡±

    Izu said as she opened her workshop and started to make items . And just like Marx said, the wall was destroyed after five minutes, and the monsters swept in .

    ¡°How about this!¡±

    However, Izu was able to stop the monsters by creating a wall of ice with a crystal that she had made . The two used the opportunity to move and search for better terrain .

    ¡°We¡¯ll do it over here this time . You¡¯ll have to make more items¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes . It can¡¯t be helped . This is going to be very costly for me . ¡±<hr>

    They thought about the gold while they made more traps and items in order to survive .

    ¡°Uhhh . I¡¯m running out¡­ Mi, hurry¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­There¡¯s a cave! Maybe we can fight back from there!¡±

    ¡°Hmm . But it¡¯s pretty far . ¡±

    ¡°I have a way for us to get there in an instant . ¡±

    ¡°Really¡­? That would help¡­huh?

    Izu took out a clump of water from her inventory . It floated in the air around their feet .

    ¡°Fay! ¡®Item Buff . ¡¯¡±

    ¡°Woah, this thing! It¡¯s what Maple always uses!¡±

    ¡°Correct! Now hold on tight!¡±

    ¡°Wo-woah!¡±

    Izu grabbed Marx and stepped on the sphere of water . And just like that, the strengthened water shot out an incredible amount of water all at once, and the two wereunched into the air .

    They shot through the horde of monsters and were able to reach the cave safely .

    However, before they could get ready to face the monsters, the ground at their feet began to glow and envelope them .

    ¡°This¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡­it¡¯s teleportation¡­¡±

    There was nothing that you could do once it was activated, and the two vanished and reappeared in a different location . When the light faded and they opened their eyes, they saw that they were in a passage where the walls were made of stone bricks and the ground was smooth sand . And while there was a wall behind them, the monsters that had been troubling them were nowhere in sight . But there was also a new problem .

    ¡°We¡¯re in a dungeon . ¡±

    ¡°Ju-just us in a dungeon? Oh, no¡­¡±

    They both had supporting roles, and depending on the boss, they might have no chance at all of winning .

    ¡°Mi won¡¯t be able toe here either¡­ Ah, this bad . This is bad . ¡±

    ¡°What should we do? Maybe we should just wait here in the dungeon? Someone else mighte here too . ¡±

    ¡°But strong monsterse out after a certain amount of time has passed¡­ I learned that the hard way on the first day . ¡±

    Marx said this as if he didn¡¯t want to think about it . Izu could tell that he wasn¡¯t lying .

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s troubling . Do you think we have no choice but to fight our way through?¡±

    ¡°Yes . It¡¯s the only way . This is not the time to be saving our strength¡­ Clear ¡®Transparent . ¡¯¡±

    Marx activated the skill of the chameleon on his head . And then the effect covered both Marx and Izu .

    ¡°Now they won¡¯t find us as long as we don¡¯t bump into them¡­ Though, I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t work on the boss . It didn¡¯t work on the monsters outside either . It¡¯s annoying . ¡±

    ¡°I see . It¡¯s a good ability! Especially for a trapper like you . ¡±

    ¡°Re-really?¡±

    After that, they were ignored by the weaker monsters, which allowed them to move through the dungeon while inspecting it .

    ¡°Sand¡­ It reminds me of the ruins in the jungle event . ¡±

    ¡°Oh, that one that Chrome and Kanade went through . Yes, it is simr to that . ¡±

    As they continued, the sand on the ground started to move upwards, and sand monsters that were wiedlingrge spears and wearing armor emerged . As their bodies were made of sand, it dripped down as they moved .

    ¡°It¡¯s fine . It looks like they can¡¯t see us¡­I think . ¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s move to the edge . ¡±

    Izu and Marx pressed against the wall and waited for the sand soldiers to pass through . It seemed like Clear¡¯s ¡®Transparent¡¯ was working well, and they sighed with relief .

    ¡°Phew . I think we might be able to make it till the end like this . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . We can¡¯t do anything unless we get out of here¡­¡±

    And so the two of them continued on their way towards the boss room .

    Thanks to Clear¡¯s power, they were able to reach it without too much trouble . The problem was how to proceed from here .

    ¡°Wh-what should we do? We managed to make it this far¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes . Well, we have no choice but to go and do it . ¡±

    ¡°True¡­¡±

    ¡°Come on, we can do it . Besides, we have plenty of time to prepare before going through this door . Don¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Oh, yeah . ¡±

    Both of them were used to supporting attackers when taking on bosses . It was usually a waste of time to do anything that would increase their own damage output .

    However, things were different now .

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of monster it is, but we need to show it how scary we can be when allowed to prepare . ¡±

 Chapter 306

    Chapter 306

    ¡­Yes, that¡¯s true . Okay . I¡¯m not the same person I was during the 4th event . ¡±<hr>

    And like that, the two of them took their time creating items and preparing skills that were slow to activate . And when they were ready, they opened the door and stepped inside .

    It was arge room, and the ground was all sand that it looked like a desert . And in the far back of the room, was a throne made of rock and sand . And there was the king . He had arger spear than any of the soldiers and wore golden armor under a red cape .

    In spite of them being invisible, the spear tapped the ground the moment that they walked in . And then soldiers started to rise out of the sand .

    ¡°If they are soldiers¡­we are the castle . ¡®Install ¨C One Night Castle¡¯!¡±

    Just as Marx activated the skill,rge walls rose up and surrounded them, forming a fortress .

    Marx activated even more skills, and just like when he defended them against the devil monsters, vine and rocks created a barricade . In the meantime, Izu started setting up cannons in Marx¡¯s fortress .

    ¡°We usually don¡¯t need it because of Maple¡¯s Machine God . But I can use it now!¡±

    ¡°And we have soldiers too . ¡®Remote Install ¨C Water Army,¡¯ ¡®Remote Install ¨C Flower Cavalry . ¡¯¡±

    As they were still just traps, they activated when the monsters got close . They were one time use and the effect didn¡¯tst long . However, since they were against sand soldiers, they were useful in erasing the advantage of numbers .

    ¡°I¡¯m good at defending¡­ You take care of the boss . ¡±

    ¡°Alright . A gift of cannonballs!¡±<hr>

    Izu used Fay to strengthen the balls and the cannons . And then cast ¡®Recycle¡¯ on the balls . Because of this, they would be able to reach the back of the room easily, and be able to denote multiple times . A very rare type of cannonball indeed .

    ¡°All cannons, fire!¡±

    The numerous cannons that lined the fortress fired at once . They flew with precision towards the throne, covering it with explosive mes .

    ¡°Woah¡­ A-are you really a crafter?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah? I can do a little attacking now, that¡¯s all . ¡±

    ¡°A little¡­?¡±

    ¡°This is no time for talking . It¡¯s still quite alive . ¡±

    ¡°¡­Well, it is a boss . But¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, I prepared for that . ¡±

    Izu took out more cannons and bombs from her inventory, while Marx continued to remotely set up traps in order to keep the soldiers away . The bombs knocked them down and pushed the battle line back, increasing the area that Marx filled with traps .

    ¡°Alright¡­ Let¡¯s keep moving closer . ¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m ready . ¡±

    ¡°¡®Change . ¡¯¡±

    While the cool down time was long, it was a skill that changed the position of two traps . The reason that the cool down time was so long, was because this was more than just a useful skill .

    The trap that had pushed through the soldiers and stopped in front of the king . It was obvious which trap it would be traded with .

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re an easy target when you¡¯re this close . ¡±

    Yes, they had traded ces with ¡®One Night Castle . ¡¯ And just like that, the cannons were all directed at the king, and a huge load of bombs rolled down towards the throne .

    The immense amount of traps and the fortress itself now blocked all of the summoned sand soldiers behind them . And so they just unloaded their inventory of bombs over the king as if they meant to empty itpletely .

    ¡°I should at least be able to bind him¡­¡±

    Their base had incredible defenses and was now right in front of it . This was bad formander-type bosses . Marx then bound all four of his limbs, but it still thrust its spear out . However, he was then covered by so many bombs that the explosion reached the ceiling . And with that, he turned into sand and disappeared .

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t as hard as I expected?¡±

    ¡°Really¡­ Maple Tree is weird . Ah, the medal . ¡±

    ¡°Hey, I got one too . In that case, I can spend the second day just trying to reunite with the others and building the base . ¡±

    ¡°Oh, right . I have to meet the others¡­¡±

    It was then that they were surrounded by light and sent back to the field they were in . Of course, this meant that they would be surrounded by monsters again . Or so they thought . But the monsters weren¡¯t there . Instead, they saw Mi holding balls of fire, and Misery, who focused on healing her . Also, there was Chrome, who had likely been surrounded by the monsters a moment ago .

    ¡°Oh, you really are here, Izu . You seem to be okay . ¡±

    ¡°You were fine too, Marx . What a relief . ¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah¡­ A lot happened, but we were fine in the end . I guess?¡±

    ¡°And you also seem to have won a medal¡­?¡±

    ¡°I got the notice too . Does that mean you two did it together?¡±

    ¡°We made a surprisingly good team . ¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­we did . ¡±

    It was a pleasant surprise . And they smiled at the fact that they had acquired the medals . The three had been waiting here for Marx after the Mark Tag had suddenly stopped detecting him in this area .

    ¡°I¡¯m d I was able to find Chrome . Now we can go to Maple . ¡±

    It was here that Chrome exined why he was there to Izu . And so Izu decided to go with them . There was no harm in being with a lot of people .

    ¡°I feel bad for getting a free ride . So you can have some potions . I¡¯m sure Mi knows how special they are . ¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you . We¡¯ll take you to Maple as soon as we find Shin . I don¡¯t mind . ¡±

    ¡°Thank you . It will be a great help . ¡±

    ¡°¡­Hey . Sorry to have to tell you now¡­but what looked like Shin¡¯s tag has just disappeared . ¡±

    ¡°What? I didn¡¯t think he would die so easily¡­¡±

    Mi knew how strong he was and couldn¡¯t help but be suspicious . But if he wasn¡¯t dead, there was only one other exnation .

    ¡°Maybe¡­he entered a dungeon?¡±

    It was something that Marx had just experienced himself . And it turned out that his guess was right .

 Chapter 307

    Chapter 307

    Defense Specialization and Meeting Up 5

    ¡°Hmm . This is bad . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t think the magic circle would be that big . ¡±

    Shin and Kasumi were talking to each other . As Kasumi was searching for other members of Maple Tree while riding on Haku¡¯s back, anyone who saw her would recognize her in an instant . And yet it had been Shin who came, and not any of the members of her guild .

    And then a great wind came and enveloped the forest that the two were in . And everyone who was there was teleported into a dungeon .

    Both of them had also just received a message about acquring a medal . They had a good idea of what that meant .

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why it was activated, but I suppose I should be thankful that there¡¯s enough space for Haku to move in . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . But¡­I can faintly hear screaming . We should be careful . ¡±

    Kasumi walked next to Haku¡¯s huge body so that she could hide behind it if necessary as she moved through the forest . It was dark here as well, and had the kind of eerie atmosphere that made you feel like anything could jump out of the shadows . For a while they heard nothing but asional screams, but then the ground suddenly shook, and they prepared to fight .

    ¡°¡­! Kasumi!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯sing! ¡°Mind¡¯s Eye¡¯!¡±

    Kasumi used the skill in order to predict the enemy¡¯s attack . What she then saw, was that everything around her was red . That¡¯s how big the damage area was .

    ¡°Shin! Over here!¡±

    ¡°Uh, okay!¡±

    Kasumi realized that they would not be able to escape in time, and so she had Haku surround them and then had the scales harden .

    Immediately after, they heard the sounds of something hitting against something that was hard . And the two of them looked up . A giant centipede had bounced off of Haku and was now moving over their heads . Then the ground shook again, and the damage area disappeared . They sighed in relief .

    ¡°Uggh . Its shell looked really hard . Can we defeat something like that?¡±

    ¡°Judging by the screams, other yers are being sent here too . In the first ce, this isn¡¯t something you can defeat alone . ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true . How troublesome . ¡±

    ¡°Still, I think we won¡¯t be able to do anything until we defeat it . We can¡¯t just stay here forever . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah . Alright, let¡¯s kill this centipede! Wen, ¡®Awakening,¡¯ ¡®Destructor¡¯!¡±

    With a burst of effects, Shin¡¯s sword multiplied as they floated in the air . There were more of them now then there had been during the 4th event . It was quite impressive, since he could freely control them .

    ¡°You have more now?¡±

    ¡°Yeah . The number of moves is important with Wen . I¡¯m probably a bad fit for someone like Sally . ¡±

    ¡°I think Sally would look at you cooly and avoid you¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, I agree . But I would still like to fight her one day . ¡±

    ¡°You shoulde to the guild home . Frederica visits us a lot . ¡±

    ¡°Maybe . Anyone who can beat Sally is first-rate! Oh, we should get started then!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do that . ¡±

    Kasumi turned off Haku¡¯s defense and called out ¡®Arm of the Warrior¡¯ on both sides, in preparation forbat . In the meantime, her vision was covered by the damage area once again .

    ¡°It¡¯sing from the front!¡±

    ¡°Okay . Wen, ¡®Wind God¡¯!¡±

    As Kasumi gave the signal, Shin unleashed wind des and ¡®Destructor . ¡¯ They shot towards the giant centipede¡¯s head and body, tearing it up . But it continued to move .

    ¡°Tsk . It¡¯s pretty hard!¡±

    ¡°Haku!¡±

    In order to prevent it from diving again, she had Haku ram it from the side and bite into its body . Kasumi used the opening to jump up onto it and ready her des .

    ¡°¡®Second of the des, Cutting Iron¡¯!¡±

    The des swung down and cut through the centipede¡¯s defenses . Its shell cracked open, creating a deep wound . Clearly this was very effective . Haku continued to strangle it and bite everything from its head to its body .

    ¡°Hey, hey . How strong is that snake?¡±

    ¡°Hehe . I¡¯m quite proud of my buddy . ¡±

    However, just as Kasumi got off of the centipede and tried to return to Shin, the shredded body and head began to thrash around . It tore away from Haku¡¯s grip and dove back into the ground .

    ¡°I thought that it was too early for it to die . I guess this is where the real fight starts?¡±

    ¡°Probably . The effect of Mind¡¯s Eye also ran out . Shin, don¡¯t let your guard down . ¡±

    As the two of them concentrated on the tremors, they sensed that the giant centipede was approaching them again . And they were right . Two centipedes burst from the ground . The only difference was that they were smaller now, and both were whole andpletely healed .

    ¡°Kasumi!¡±

    ¡°I know!¡±

    Without saying another word, they each faced one of the monsters and swung their weapons .

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you go . Wen, ¡®Wind Cage¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Haku, hold it down . ¡±

    Along with the two arms at her sides, Kasumi unsheathed her swords and shed at the monster once again . As for Shin, Wen had the centipede suspended in the air, and he cut through it with his flying swords .

    ¡°It¡¯s not as tough as before . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah . Instead, it seems to be faster . ¡±

    ¡°It split up again . And now we can¡¯t stop them from escaping¡­¡±

    Regardless of Haku¡¯s binding or Wen¡¯s Wing Cage, they were able to escape and then attack again . As this repeated, the number of centipedes increased until there were 16 of them . By the time there were eight, they were able to slip through the attacks and damage Kasumi . This made it harder to face them head on .

    ¡°Tsk . They still hit hard even when they¡¯re small¡­¡±

    ¡°However, they have less HP . It looks like I¡¯ll be able to do more now! Kasumi, you can finish off the ones that I miss!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll leave the rest to you . ¡±

    And so the next attack came, and they were surrounded from all sides .

    ¡°If there are only sixteen, then it¡¯s quite easy!¡±

    Wen¡¯s Wind God created wind des that tore up the centipedes . And those that survived were skewered by the flying swords .

    ¡°You¡¯re out of luck with that HP!¡±

    Ultimately, they could not escape Shin¡¯s attacks, and all 32 and then 64 centipedes were killed without Kasumi having to help .

    ¡°This would be hell without wide-area attacks . ¡±

    ¡°Do you think it will be 128 next?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know . Well, they can¡¯t beat me with numbers . ¡±

    As they said this, the ground shook harder than it ever had before . And then a centipede that was evenrger than the first came out of the ground as its sharp mandibles glimmered .

    Shin had not been expecting this at all, and his reaction was dyed . But Kasumi quickly pointed her sword at it .

    ¡°¡®Purple Phantom de¡¯!¡±

    And then a storm of high-speed attacks were unleashed as if to push the centipede back . The two warrior arms at her side reacted by also swinging with incredible force . The shell of the centipedes head began to crack .

    At the end of the skill, multiple des appeared around the centipede¡¯s head and came together . It was simr to the force of the centipedes that had surrounded them and jumped forward . And just like that, the centipede turned into light and disappeared .

    ¡°Haa¡­ I see . It would exceed a hundred if it doubled again . So they stopped it there¡­ Still, you got really small . ¡±

    ¡°Shut up . I¡¯ll cut you if you keep staring . ¡±

    Kasumi had activated her most powerful skill . However, it had the demerit of making her body shrink . She tried to avoid using it when she could, but this was not a time when she had any choice .

    ¡°Haku, let me ride on you . Tsk¡­it¡¯s too high . ¡±

    ¡°Uh, do you want me to help you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back to normal soon . Stop looking at me as if I¡¯m a child!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha . Kasumi, people from your guild really do have the most interesting skills . ¡±

    Just then, they both got the notification that they acquired the medal . And then they were enveloped by light .

    ¡°I won¡¯t be able to fight until my body returns to normal . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine . I¡¯m sure Mi is heading towards us . And I think your snake could deal with most enemies . ¡±

    Once Kasumi had managed to climb onto Haku, the two of them teleported back to the field .

 Chapter 308

    Chapter 308

    Defense Specialization and Reunion

    While battles were erupting all around them, Maple and Mai were having a peaceful tea party on top of Syrup¡¯s back .

    ¡°Woah! Mai, we got another medal!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­ Do you think everyone is doing it alone¡­?¡±

    ¡°Hmm . It¡¯s strange that no onees . We should be sticking out a lot right now¡­¡±

    Maple didn¡¯t want to waste too many of her weapons, and so changed into her green clothes and used ¡®Poltergeist¡¯ to unleash a thickser beam into the sky .

    Because of this, even from far away you would be able to see a pir of light swinging around in the dark sky .

    ¡°Ah, another monster is flying towards us!¡±

    Of course, since it was aser, it could be a beam saber when swung around . And so the flying devils would have their wings burned, which slowed them down as they flew . Regardless, it was Mai¡¯s turn to act .

    She took out some of the iron balls that were under the table on Syrup¡¯s back, and flicked her wrist as she threw the ball .

    It found its target with precision, as the light of theser reflected off the heads of the devils . And they exploded like popped balloons .

    ¡°Nice throw!¡±

    ¡°Th-thank you . ¡±

    ¡°Hmm . I brought out the table because I thought they would be here by now¡­ They must have been sent very far away . ¡±

    ¡°But at least they seem to be safe . And they¡¯re all very strong . I¡¯m sure they will arrive soon . ¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s not like we know where they are¡­ Ah, do you want more tea?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yes . Thank you . ¡±

    And like that, the two enjoyed their tea party as ifpletely oblivious to the hell down below .

    While the sky was rtively safe, it was hard to even find a ce on the ground that wasn¡¯t covered in monsters . There were times when it felt like you would be safer inside the dungeons . Within all that, Kanade and Yui were the Maple Tree members who were lucky enough to find each other . They had escaped the monsters and made use of their smaller frames to hide in the hollow of a tree . It would be quite difficult for Kanade to protect Yui by himself . And even now, monsters were moving towards the tree they were in .

    ¡°Phew . That was close . I doubt we would have been able to survive if it was just me . ¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re one to talk . Well, we were kind of in trouble too . ¡±

    It was Drag who now stood in front of the tree . As he generally only moved with Frederica, he was not able to live up to his full potential without someone supporting him .

    ¡°Give and take, alright? We can part ways once we get out of this alive . ¡±

    ¡°And Frederica is in the area anyway . Sally is apparently with her, for some strange reason . ¡±

    ¡°You can contact them?¡±

    ¡°Yeah . Sort of . ¡±

    ¡°I think we just need to survive a little longer . If Sally¡¯s with them, we should be able to go to Maple . ¡±

    They weren¡¯t that far from the area with theser . They just needed to survive this wave of monsters .

    ¡°¡®Holy Armor,¡¯ ¡®Holy Enchant . ¡¯¡±

    First, Kanade enveloped Drag¡¯s armor and weapons in light . This would minimize the damage if he was hit, and it would also increase the damage that he dealt .

    ¡°Sou will also use damage reduction skills, so you can fight without worrying . ¡±

    Kanade said as he called out Sou and had it transform into him .

    ¡°Oh, that would be a great help . Earth ¡®Earthquake¡¯!¡±

    The Golem that was next to Drag mmed both arms into the ground . And the area around them began to shake . While this had no effect on the devils in the air, it made the zombies stop in their tracks .

    ¡°¡®Earth Wave¡¯!¡±

    Drag activated the skill and the ground rippled and rose, violently pushing the monsters back .

    Furthermore, as all of Drag¡¯s skills had a knockback effect, the monsters were thrown even farther away . Aside from using knockbacks to break his enemy¡¯s stance, Drag also had many abilities that pushed the enemy away, making it hard for them to get close enough to attack .

    As long as Drag attacked them, the knockback effect would ur, and the enemies were kept at bay .

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing! I would be able to fight a lot more if I could do that¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses . You just need to wait until it¡¯s time for you to use your strength . ¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Oh, ¡®Defense Barrier¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Nice guard! You¡¯re certainly not worse than Frederica!¡±

    ¡°¡­I won¡¯t help you anymore if you keep saying things like that . ¡±

    It was just as Drag said this, that Frederica appeared, pushing her way through the bushes .

    ¡°Oh!? You¡¯re here already . What a relief! That was quick . ¡±

    ¡°Uh, but you just said that you weren¡¯t going to help me anymore¡­ Hmph . ¡®Multi-Barrier¡¯!¡±

 Chapter 309

    Chapter 309

    Now that Frederia was supporting Drag, Sally went to Kanade and Yui .

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to find you two here . Well, I¡¯m d that you¡¯re alright . ¡±

    ¡°We were so close to reaching Maple, but then these monsters appeared . ¡±

    ¡°At first, we were fighting with Drag, but I was in danger and¡­ Oh, right! Sally, could you help Drag?¡±

    While Frederica hade, it was still two against many . And so Yui looked very worried as she watched Drag . Especially since she had not done much but be protected . She had an apologetic expression on her face .

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry . It¡¯s not just Frederica and I that came . ¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°¡®Area Expand,¡¯ ¡®Holy de of Conviction¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Whirlwind sh¡¯!¡±

    They heard a voice from the other side of Drag¡¯s dirt wall, and immediately after, a current of light washed over the field . There were also sounds cracking, and the trio could tell that monsters were being annihted .

    ¡°They¡¯re so much stronger than before¡­ Even without the tamed monsters . I¡¯m so d this event isn¡¯t about PvP . ¡±

    ¡°I expected no less from them . Payne and Dred . ¡±

    It was Payne and Dred that had erased the monsters from the field . They then put their weapons away and started to talk with Drag and Frederica .

    ¡°It¡¯s no use . Nothing from the other party members¡­ Besides, they were great shield wielders and buff-debuffers¡­maybe they were unlucky in terms of where theynded . ¡±

    ¡°I see . What about our base?¡±

    Frederica shook her head at Payne¡¯s question . As Payne¡¯s party had made their base near the edge of the map, it was now overrun by powerful monsters .

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to look for a new ce . How annoying¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, we have no choice . It¡¯s too dangerous to spend the night out in the field . ¡±

    Sally overheard this conversation, and she thought about it a little before walking towards them .

    ¡°Um, there¡¯s something I¡¯d like to negotiate with you . Do you have a minute?¡±

    And then Sally made a certain suggestion .

    ¡°What do you think about this snack? I bought it on the 7thyer . ¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s delicious! I¡¯ll have to tell Yui about itter¡­¡±

    ¡°Hehe . There¡¯s still more . Ah, wait! Something ising!¡±

    Maple saw that something was flying towards them from the darkness . And so she directed her weapons at it so she could burn it with theser if necessary . Mai also picked up an iron ball and looked in the same direction .

    ¡°Huh? That¡­¡±

    As Maple squinted, she saw that it wasn¡¯t a monster, but Ignis and Ray . And on their backs, were the members of the Congregation of Holy Swords, me Emperors, and the remaining members of Maple Tree .

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect us to meet again so soon, Maple . ¡±

    ¡°Mi! Everyone! Payne and¡­ Huh? Did-did something happen?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect us to have the same timing, but apparently Sally and I were thinking the same thing . ¡±

    ¡°It looks like it . ¡±

    In other words, what both of them had suggested was the sharing of their base . Maple Tree¡¯s base was close to the center of the map, and so it wasn¡¯t overflowing with monsters yet .

    And so in exchange for being able to stay there, the others would help defend it .

    ¡°Ohh! That¡¯s great! It will be more fun with all these people . And we¡¯ll be able to kill more monsters!¡±

    Said Maple with a big smile . Then the other member of Maple Tree got onto Syrup, and they flew off towards their base .

    ¡°Hmm . Sally, it was around here, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes . The mountain¡¯s position hasn¡¯t changed . So it should be down here . ¡±

    And so Maple had Syrup slowly descend until theynded on the ground . They searched the area for a while until they found the sign, which led them to the familiar cave .

    ¡°Phew . What a relief . Alright, let¡¯s return once before going out to explore . ¡±

    ¡°But it took us a lot of time to reunite, so depending on management, the monsters might being out soon . ¡±

    In that case, it was best to start work on the base immediately . And so they all went inside . As it would take time to set up the traps again, they did it on the way .

    ¡°Woah¡­ Who thought of this deadly trap¡­¡±

    ¡°Marx . Why don¡¯t you set up traps too?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll ask . Also, I think we should make at least one route where the traps won¡¯t trigger when we go through¡­ After all, it will be over if you step on one by ident . ¡±

    As Maple constantly had Dedicated Affection activated, there was no problem if the members of Maple Tree were in the poison mud, but it was not the same for the other guild members .

    And so Marx joined them in setting traps as they made their way deeper in . Since there were eight more people now, they had to use the space differently .

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this quickly! Everyone, help me, okay? And I mean everyone . ¡±

    Izu ordered as they remade the living area . Since they had already finished setting the traps, they were able to finish building their camp in no time .

 Chapter 310

    Chapter 310

    Defense Specialization and Interception

    The base waspleted just a short time before the strengthened monsters were supposed to appear . While it meant they would have less space to intercept them, Marx¡¯s traps raised the overall quality of the ce .

    ¡°Huh? A screen? Are you going to watch something?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to make it appear on this screen¡­¡±

    Marx said . And then the image appeared on the screen he had set up . It showed every room of the ant¡¯s nest dungeon .

    ¡°Woah! That¡¯s amazing!¡±

    ¡°Ii-it will make it easy to know which traps have to be reset . And we¡¯ll know how strong the monsters are¡­ Later then . ¡±

    Marx told Maple that the fighting would be left to the other guild members, and then he returned to his space that had been partitioned .

    The newly created living space had arge open area in the center, which connected to every guild¡¯s district . This was also where Marx¡¯s screen was set up .

    As it was still Maple Tree¡¯s base, it was only their members who were loud and active . But since she had visited them a lot, Frederica blended in with them quite naturally .

    ¡°I¡¯m so bored . We can¡¯t go into any dungeons¡­ But we also have to keep our guard up¡­¡±

    ¡°I see you¡¯ve made yourself at home¡­ Don¡¯t forget that you still have to help guard the ce, okay?¡±

    ¡°I know, Sally . me Emperor is here too . So we won¡¯t lose . ¡±

    ¡°Sally! It seems like something hase inside!¡±

    And just like that, the image of the invader appeared on Marx¡¯s screen . Their first monster was running on four legs . It looked like Maple¡¯s ¡®Savagery¡¯ but with fewer legs and more eyes . As they watched, more and more of them started entering their base . It was like watching some incredible avnche, and their sheer numbers allowed them to pass through the traps . And while the traps did make their numbers go down, they weren¡¯t killing all of the monsters .

    ¡°Ahh . They will likely reach us at this rate . They must be stronger than the ones we foughtst night . Payne! You¡¯re up!¡±

    As Frederica headed to Congregation of the Holy Swords¡¯s district, Mi came out of the Kingdom of the me Emperor¡¯s district .

    ¡°I¡¯ll go . You can stay behind me . ¡±

    ¡°Mi . Are you sure?¡±

    Maple asked . Miughed confidently .

    ¡°I¡¯m a Guild Master of arge guild too . Besides, aside from Shin, Marx and Misery are usually in the back supporting me . ¡±

    If a horde of monsters with high endurance were going to flood into here, Mi would have the easiest time if she fought by herself .

    ¡°I¡¯lle in if you need help!¡±

    ¡°Yeah . But don¡¯t worry . That won¡¯t be necessary . ¡±

    As Mi said this, Payne arrived and agreed .

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll go too . I swore to do my part, since you allowed us to stay here . ¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes . Then I¡¯ll just cast some buffs on you and you can do the rest . ¡±

    Aside from Frederica; Marx, Misery, and Izu also cast buffs on Payne and Mi . The two were surrounded by numerous auras as they prepared .

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Mi . ¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t hold back this time, Payne . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there are so many¡­ And it¡¯s better to overkill than identally let one escape . ¡±

    Mi and Payne then called out Ignis and Ray . They held their weapons ready as they walked to the interception area .

    There, loud footsteps started to echo, and then a crowd of monsters flooded in from the entrance .

    As soon as the monsters saw them, ck magic circles appeared in front of their eyes . It seemed to be the start of some kind of attack . However, the pair started their own attack before the magic circles could do anything .

 Chapter 311

    Chapter 311

    ¡°Ignis, ¡®me of the Phoenix,¡¯ ¡®Fire to my body . ¡¯¡±

    ¡°Ray, ¡®Torrent of Light,¡¯ ¡®Unleash all Magic . ¡¯¡±

    Mi¡¯s body was surrounded in red fire, and it spread through the ground . Payne¡¯s sword was enveloped in a pale light, and loud sparks could be heard .

    ¡°¡®Murderous Inferno¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Light Sword of the Holy Dragon¡¯!¡±

    The moment that the ck light came out of the monsters¡¯s ck circles, the area was filled with red and white that far surpassed it . The red mes unleashed by Mi turned the whole area into a damage field, burning everything in front of her . The light that Payne created was especially effective on devil monsters . It erased them from existence as if purifying them .

    The mes and light shot through the passages, even blowing away the items that were left there . The entire dungeon was filled with a violent storm . After a while, it finally faded away .

    ¡°Bah . In spite of it being the second day, they weren¡¯t even that strong . ¡±

    ¡°We had an advantage in terms of terrain . It was easy for us to use wide-area attacks on them . ¡±

    ¡°Mi and Payne! That was amazing!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure that they¡¯ll attack again . But it will be easy to take turns fighting, since there are 16 of us . You can call any members of our guild any time . ¡±

    ¡°Same with us . ¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    As Maple continued to gush over how impressed she was, Frederica turned away from the monitor and walked towards them .

    ¡°Hey, Payne! Did you have to blow away Marx¡¯s cameras too?¡±

    Aside from the area near the entrance, nothing else was showing up on the screen now .

    ¡°¡­? Maybe one of the buffs included extended my range, and I didn¡¯t realize¡­ I¡¯m sorry . ¡±

    ¡°Mi too¡­ Those things took me a long time to set up . ¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah . Sorry . ¡±

    As they heard the others talk about the need to reset the traps, Chrome and Kasumi thought about what they had just seen .

    ¡°Are all Guild Masters like that?¡±

    ¡°No, these one-man armies have to be rare . It just so happens that a lot of them are close to us . ¡±

    As they thought about their own Guild Master, they went about resetting the traps in case there was a second attack .

    Maple and Sally took Marx with them, and they reset the items that Payne and Mi had destroyed .

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think we¡¯d be making such a dangerous dungeon like this¡­¡±

    Marx muttered as he set down the items that would allow them to see the rooms .

    ¡°Hmm . Payne and Mi really do a lot of damage . It was more than I had imagined . ¡±

    ¡°It really was crazy . ¡±

    ¡°Though, we might fight them again, so I can¡¯t be too optimistic about it . ¡±

    ¡°Th-that¡¯s right . Yes . ¡±

    The two of them had be so much stronger since the 4th event . And Maple clenched her fists and swore that she would do her best if she had to fight themter on .

    ¡°While they did have all those buffs, I was still surprised . Mi isn¡¯t really the type who you can beat by just being able to do simr attacks¡­or knowing a weakness . ¡±

    Of course, the me Emperors were also looking at the Congregation of Holy Swords . Being able to see the power of their rival was a big deal for all three guilds that were present .

    And gathering the most medals during this event was an important part of being one step ahead of the others .

    However, Mi¡¯s party had already been halved . Their only yer who fought on the frontlines was Shin, which put them in a dangerous position .

    Marx wondered about this as he finished resetting the traps . He was still thinking about it as he returned to the back of the dungeon . The other two followed after him .

 Chapter 312

    Chapter 312

    Defense Specialization and a Change in Direction

    Some time had passed, and after they were attacked several times, they decided that it wasn¡¯t worth the trouble of resetting the traps every time, and so they switched directions . They would immediately crush the monsters as soon as they entered . All of the 16 yers here were so strong that they couldpete for the title of strongest yer in the game, and so there was no problem if they took turns fighting .

    As an example, Yui and Mai would hit the monsters with their great hammers the moment that they stuck their heads out . Those that jumped out too quickly or survived through some skill, would then be subject to Izu¡¯s cannons or Frederica or Mi would shoot them down with long range attacks .

    When they realized that this made things so much easier, the members of mer Emperors and Congregation of Holy Sword started to discuss something in the shared space .

    ¡°Did something happen?¡±

    Once she was sure that no monsters were attacking, Maple went to talk to the other two guilds .

    They were talking about the same thing . They believed that it would be a good idea to go out during the night and finish a dungeon .

    ¡°While tonight¡¯s monsters aren¡¯t exactly weak, they are not so strong that we can¡¯t deal with them . And considering that we were forcefully teleported today, who knows what will happen tomorrow . ¡±

    ¡°Payne is right . The night is supposed to be more dangerous than the day . However, I¡¯m willing to bet that the third day is more dangerous than the second night . ¡±

    ¡°I-I see¡­¡±

    Asrge guilds that fought for the top spot, they would want to get their hands on as many medals they possibly could . And since they now had a decent grasp on how strong the enemy was, they decided that four people would be enough . And they wanted to go out and explore .

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right! Then we¡¯ll help you too!¡±

    Payne and Mi were quite surprised by this . They thought about it for a minute, and then decided that Maple didn¡¯t have any hidden motives, and she was purely suggesting this as a friend .

    ¡°Yeah, it will be a great relief for us if more want to join . Besides, the medals go to everyone . So there are merits for your guild too, Maple¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, you should discuss it with the others . See if they think it¡¯s worth the danger to go out and collect more medals . I¡¯m grateful for the offer, but you¡¯ve done enough for us by letting us stay here . ¡±

    They said that they would be d for Maple Tree¡¯s help . And then they started to think of a strategy for when they did go out .

    And so Maple went and gathered the other members of Maple Tree together and repeated the conversation to them .

    ¡°Well, that might work . We really have no guarantee of what the third day will be like . And it¡¯s true that these current monsters are still manageable . ¡±

    ¡°And we should try and get as many medals as possible . ¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll help too!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll help too!¡±

    ¡°I think it will be fine as long as we can return here by the morning of the third day . ¡±

    ¡°I agree . While Kasumi and Izu acquired some medals, we didn¡¯t do any exploring today . ¡±

    ¡°So we¡¯re all in agreement about it . After all, we may not have time to search for more during the third day . ¡±

    After they all agreed, they decided to split the members of Maple Tree, me Emperors, and Congregation of Holy Swords, and explore the area .

    ¡°I have a map with likely dungeons marked out . You can see it now . ¡±

    ¡°Ahh . You sure are resourceful, Sally . Hmm . So where is it?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so impatient . ¡±

    Sally then sent the map she had made to the others . They would have to use it to decide which direction they would go in .

    ¡°Looking at it like this¡­ ces with special objects seem to be close to the corners of the map . We already checked this area . ¡±

    ¡°They are probably considering what happens after the second day . And given the need to go to the corners where the monsters are stronger, that seems right¡­¡±

    Payne and Mi¡¯s guilds looked over the map and thought about the risks and rewards . It was decided that groups of four would be the most bnced and allow them to cover the most space . And like that, each of the four groups had members from the other guilds, and they searched for dungeons in the north, south, east, and west .

    Mobility, endrance, and attack ability were all considered, and each team would be strong in their own way . And with that, everyone left the base and went out into the field .

 Chapter 313

    Chapter 313

    Defense Specialization and to the East

    The four who went east were Dred, Marx, Mai, and Yui .

    They rode on top of Tsukimi and Yukimi as they dashed through the field .

    ¡°Woah . They really are fast . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . Like this, we might be able to outrun any monsters we encounter¡­¡±

    As they said this, one of the four-legged monsters that had attacked their base, suddenly appeared in front of them . Even Marx¡¯s Clear was not able to erase every single one, and so it now rushed towards the four of them .

    ¡°¡®Power Share,¡¯ ¡®Bright Star¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Power Share,¡¯ ¡®Bright Star¡¯!¡±

    As Tsukimi and Yukimi¡¯s masters had higher attack ability, sharing their STR caused theirs to rise, and they unleashed a spherical light that caused damage .

    The monster in front of them was hit by two of them, and stumbled .

    As it lost its bnce, Tsukimi and Yukimi dashed forward on both sides of it . And just as they were about to pass it by, the two swung their great hammers right into the monster, erasing it with a burst of light .

    ¡°What a horrible hit and run . ¡±

    ¡°It really is incredible, seeing it up close¡­¡±

    The general strategy for these four was to allow Mai and Yui to get close to the monsters in order to destroy them . Furthermore, since Tsukimi and Yukimi were with them, they were guaranteed a decent amount of speed as well . With Marx¡¯s trap setting abilities put into the mix, they didn¡¯t have too much to worry about .

    The four of them looked at the map that Sally had made, and tried to figure out the location of the mark, rtive to Maple Tree¡¯s base .

    ¡°The terrain hasn¡¯t changed, at least . ording to Sally, it should be around¡­here?¡±

    The shadows of the night were so dark and vast that you couldn¡¯t see any stars . But the moon¡¯s reflection could be seen on theke¡¯s surface . And since there was no moon to be seen in the sky, it was clear that there was something very strange about thiske .

    ¡°Should we go?¡±

    ¡°Yeah . We¡¯ll just get attacked by monsters if we stay here looking . Besides, Marx said he finds it easier to work inside of dungeons . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . Clear¡¯s abilities won¡¯t work as well out here¡­¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s get going . Though, we still don¡¯t know if it really is a dungeon . ¡±

    ¡°Understood . Tsukimi!¡±

    Mai and Yui then had Tsukimi and Yukimi run down to the side of theke .

    ¡°For now, let¡¯s try going to the center . ¡±

    ¡°Should we¡­use a boat?¡±

    However, Tsukimi and Yukimi were able to swim, so there was no need for that . But as their feet stretched out towards the water¡¯s surfaces, a most strange thing happened . Their feet did not sink, but stopped perfectly on top of the water . And after that, they were able to walk on it like it was normal ground .

    ¡°This¡­it looks like we were right . ¡±

    The four continued on until they reached the center of theke . And when they arrived, their bodies were enveloped by light .

    ¡°That was pretty quick . Well, just try not to die . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah . ¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    As they waited excitedly, their bodies were coveredpletely, and they were teleported off to the dungeon .

    The ce they came out in had a ground that was covered in water . Even the walls were damp . The overall atmosphere was damp and humid . It was a circr area and it was easy to see that this was the starting point .

    There was only one passage leading away, so they had no choice but to follow it .

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go then . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . Alright, Clear¡­ ¡®Transparent . ¡¯¡±

    ¡°Are we invisible now?¡±

    ¡°Yes . But be careful, it doesn¡¯t work on every monster . ¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I would be able to deal with this during PvP . Even if I knew about it . ¡±

    ¡°¡­Maybe . ¡±

    They cautiously made their way down the passage . Then they saw an eel that was about a meter in length,ing toward them from the other side . It was enveloped in water as it swam through the air . A trail of water was left behind it, and they could hear sparks of electricity as pale light shed .

    And while the four brandished their weapons, the eel had not seen them, and passed them by .

    ¡°Mai!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    The two stepped forward and swung their great hammers as hard as they could .

    The leisurely swimming eel felt the full force of this attack as it was pounded out of the air . There was a loud popping noise as it mmed into the ground and exploded with electricity and light before disappearing .

    ¡°What an extravagant assassination¡­¡±

    ¡°All the better with ¡®Transparent . ¡¯¡±

    As they would be exposed when attacking, he and Izu had had to use it when entering the dungeon . But it had a very different effect for Mai and Yui . For the monsters, it was as if an invisible, instant death attack wasing out of nowhere . And since they died in one hit, there was no fear of getting caught .

    ¡°That¡¯s something that couldn¡¯t be done in our guild . ¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s just a skill for ambushes¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, it seems we¡¯re visible . Can you put it on again!¡±

    ¡°Ah, it seems we¡¯re visible . Can you put it on again!¡±

 Chapter 314

    Chapter 314

    ¡°They mighte out in the boss fight . So we should kill every new monster that we meet along the way . ¡±

    Whether or not they died in one hit from Mai and Yui would greatly affect their strategy . And like that, the four were off to a very good start .

    Marx cast ¡®Transparent¡¯ on them again, and then used a trap skill on May and Yui that would create a barrier when they were attacked by enemies .

    ¡°It was leaking electricity¡­ Even if it can¡¯t see you, it might still attack everything around it . So you should be careful . ¡±

    ¡°Maple¡¯s Dedicated Affection, was it? We don¡¯t have that kind of defense ability . So we¡¯ll have to dodge attacks when we can . ¡±

    And if that failed, Marx¡¯s defense wall would be theirst fortress . Mai and Yui also knew that when they teamed up with someone besides Maple, they needed to have all their attacks hit their targets . So this was a good time to work on their skills .

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep going at this pace then!¡±

    ¡°Remember, we have to be careful, Yui . ¡±

    They said happily . Aside from the electric eel, there were all kinds of fish that swam in the air . And after they had walked for a while, a huge room appeared before them . Here, the ce was filled with fish that swam in the air while leaving a trail of electricity .

    It was easy to imagine what would happen if you attacked one carelessly . They would all turn towards you at once and unleash their attacks .

    ¡°Wha-what should we do¡­ It would be very hard for us to kill them all at once . ¡±

    ¡°I wish we could slip through, but I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s possible . ¡±

    ¡°Oh, well . Shadow, ¡®Awakening . ¡¯¡±

    Dred said . And then the ck wolf was summoned .

    ¡°Marx isn¡¯t the only one who can help you avoid battles . ¡±

    As Dred activated the skill, he told the other three to run straight to the corridor on the opposite side .

    Upon hearing this, May and Yui go on top of Tsukimi and Yukimi . Then they told Dred that they were ready .

    ¡°Let¡¯s go . Shadow, ¡®Shadow World . ¡¯¡±

    And just like that, the ground underneath all four of them turned ck, and their entire bodies sunk into the ground . The other three were stunned for a moment, but then they remembered Dred¡¯s order and began to dash forward . Above them, they could see the semi-transparent ground they had been on earlier . After a while, they were pushed back up, and they got closer to the surface .

    Somehow, the four of them had seeded in reaching the other side without being seen .

    ¡°Haha . That means you would be able to go right through my traps¡­ How could I even deal with such a skill?¡±

    ¡°¡­Hmm . I don¡¯t know . ¡±

    Marx looked quite stunned at this disy of power from a member of the Congregation of Holy des . Mai and Yui could not hide their surprise either .

    ¡°That was amazing! That skill looks like it would have so many uses!¡±

    ¡°You saved us . Thank you . ¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing . I¡¯ll have to show my firepower during the boss fight as well . But still¡­¡±

    Dred scratched his head . Mai and Yui always reacted so honestly to everything, it was hard to imagine they were the same people that were fighting .

    ¡°It¡¯s very¡­Maple Tree¡­I guess¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ I think I know what you¡¯re thinking about . ¡±

    Well, this kind of dungeon crawling was not bad for a change . That is what he thought while looking at their shining eyes . And with that, they headed for the boss room .

    With Clear and Shadow¡¯s ability to avoidbat, and with Mai and Yui¡¯s ability to one-shot monsters when necessary, the four of them were able to reach the boss room without too much trouble .

    ¡°Marx . Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine . ¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re fine too!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re fine too!¡±

    ¡°Alright . Let¡¯s open the door then . ¡±

    Dred was in the lead as they stepped inside . In the back of the room, there was a giant catfish that was nearly 10 meters in size and covered in water . Electricity crackled from its long and thick whiskers .

    The catfish¡¯s HP bar appeared above its head, and at the same time, its body shuddered, sending the water around it flying towards the four intruders . While they were floating in the air, the electricity in the catfish¡¯s whiskers increased in intensity, and the water became electric as well .

    ¡°¡®Remote Set, Earth Wall . ¡¯¡±

    Marx had a bad feeling, and so he created a wall of dirt, blocking the spheres of water from reaching them . Immediately after, there was a loud crash, as thick tendrils of electricity connected the spheres . After a while, they disappeared again .

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry . I¡¯ll make an opening for you . You fight alongside Sally a lot, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re fine!¡±

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re fine!¡±

    Dred was like Sally in terms of speed and weapons . And so it would be easy for Mai and Yui to coordinate with him . They had trained with Sally for quite a long time .

    And so it was not hard for them to see the simrities .

    ¡°Shadow, ¡®Shadow Pack¡¯¡±!

    As Dred started to run forward, he called out several wolves from his shadow . They ran ahead and charged into the catfish that floated slight above the ground . However, before the wolves could deal any damage, they hit the water that enveloped the catfish, and with the buzz of electric shock they vanished .

    ¡°How annoying¡­ I guess I¡¯ll have to use magic then . ¡±

    He would get shocked too if he got too close . But since he had a skill that would allow him to survive with 1 HP, he could test it if he wanted . But it wasn¡¯t worth the risk .

 Chapter 315

    Chapter 315

    As he used magic to attract its attention, he tried to think of how they could beat it, now that it was so much harder for Mai and Yui to attack it . For now, he tried to get it to turn its back on Mai and Yui . Just then, there was a thunderous sound that was as loud as the lightning attack, and something crashed into the catfish¡¯s stomach .

    The catfish staggered greatly . Whatever it was that hit it, now fell on the floor and made the room shake . When Dred looked in the direction that it hade from, he saw that Mai was throwing something, and Yui was hitting it with her great hammer as if they were ying baseball . And while he didn¡¯t see it, Marx was standing near them as well, and looking a little put off by how strong they were .

    Then there was another crash as something came flying . To be precise, this mysterious sphere that was the result ofbining the hardest materials in the game and was able to withstand Mai and Yui¡¯s attacks had only beenpleted on the first night . And luckily, the catfish had moved in order to dodge the second hit, which resulted in the sphere catching it right in the face . The damaged catfish lost its water power and fell down to the ground .

    ¡°Dred! Now!¡±

    ¡°Please do it¡­!¡±

    ¡°What the hell¡­ ¡®Septuple sh¡¯! Shadow, ¡®Shadow Pack . ¡¯¡±

    Deciding to test it, Dred attacked the catfish¡¯s whiskers, which were no longer unleashing electricity .

    They said that there was power in numbers, and the pack of wolves descended on the catfish with rapid and repeated attacks that dealt real damage . During the attack,rge cuts appear on the catfish¡¯s whiskers . While the main body was still alive, Dred was sure that its electric attacks would be weaker now . Just then, the catfish¡¯s body started to crackle with electricity again, and so he moved away .

    ¡°Those two¡­they won¡¯t make it in time, even on their bears . ¡±

    The catfish had not been down for long, and since they had been getting ready to hit it again, they would not make it in time .

    ¡°Mai, Yui! Can you hit it again?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Dred moved to the other side of the catfish so that he wouldn¡¯t be hit identally, and then he concentrated on dodging its attacks . Unlike Sally, he wouldn¡¯t die by taking just a little damage, and so he bought time until it went down again, by making use of the damage reduction effect, and the walls that Marx continued to make .

    ¡°This¡­is getting dangerous . Shadow, ¡®Shadow Wall¡¯!¡±

    He predicted the next attack and kept the damage to a minimum . And when he was attacked by electricity that was too big to dodge, he would escape by using his shadow skill .

    It was thisbination of skill and technique that allowed him to buy time . And then, the catfish was hit by the ball again, and went crashing to the ground .

    ¡°We can reach it this time!¡±

    ¡°We can reach it this time!¡±

    This time, they were ready to rush towards it, and so they jumped on Tsukimi and Yukim¡¯s backs .

    ¡°¡®Double Strike¡¯!!¡±

    ¡°¡®Double Strike¡¯!!¡±

    They jumped off of Tsukimi and Yukimi and unleashed their attack . Unlike their batting attack, which was only effective because of their ridiculous power, their damage output now was what you would expect from a proper attack skill .

    This destructive power came at the expense of everything else, and it was by no means inferior to what Payne or Mi could do .

    After all, ordinary attack skills that anyone could buy on the market would now result in instant-kills .

    However, the catfish managed to survive with just a little HP remaining, and now its body was unleashing more electricity than ever before . But judging by how unnatural its movements were, Dred sensed that something wasing, and so he moved away .

    ¡°It¡¯s still alive!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still alive!?¡±

    ¡°Stand back! I think it¡¯s a gimmick!¡±

    The two got back on Tsukimi and Yukimi, and with Dred, they retreated to where Marx was waiting .

    When the three looked behind them, they saw that the giant catfish had reached the peak of its electrical discharge . Several pirs of light shot up to the ceiling like thunderbolts, and huge chunks of ground were carved out .

    ¡°¡®Remote Set ¨C Earth Wall,¡¯ ¡®Remote Set ¨C Obstacle,¡¯ ¡®Remote Set ¨C Castle Wall¡¯!¡±

    Marx created barriers behind them as they ran, in an attempt to dy the lightning from catching up to them . Like this, they somehow managed to reach Marx . And then Marx created the fortress he had made when he was with Izu .

    ¡°¡®Set ¨C One Night Castle¡¯! It still won¡¯t stop¡­!¡±

    ¡°How long will this hold!?¡±

    ¡°At this pace¡­maybe 30 seconds!¡±

    Everything outside of the fortress was just white light . They had no idea what was happening outside . However, they could not allow themselves to be killed here .

    ¡°Oh, well . It¡¯s just one more hit . If we¡¯re going to die here anyway, I might as well try it . As annoying as it is . ¡±

    As if he had no choice, Dred jumped out of the fortress and into the electricity .

    ¡°¡®Super eleration,¡¯ ¡®Top Speed,¡¯ ¡®Godspeed,¡¯ Shadow, ¡®Shadow Dive¡¯!¡±

    Dred elerated all at once, and then used Shadow¡¯s skill to dive into the shadows . It all happened so quickly . And like that, Dred was able to go through the electricity .

    The giant catfish was on the other side, and while an immense amount of electricity was raining down, it wasn¡¯t necessary to get through it . Instead, he used earth magic to create a stone bullet .

    ¡°Hah . I¡¯m d that it¡¯s not too thick . ¡±

    The stone bullet hit the catfish right between the eyes and pierced through its flesh . And this time, its HP went down to 0 .

    ¡°Hah¡­we somehow did it . ¡±

    ¡°Are you okay, Dred?¡±

    ¡°Mm, yeah . Don¡¯t worry about me . No problem at all . ¡±

    The fight was over, and they all received a medal each . Dred looked at the overjoyed Mai and Yui, and he hoped that the next dungeon would have an easier boss .

 Chapter 316

    Chapter 316

    Defense Specialization and to the West

    The four that went to the west were Payne, Misery, Izu, and Kanade . And their mode of transportation was Ray, who could fly .

    ¡°It seems like Dred¡¯s team have seeded in finishing a dungeon . ¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised . But judging by this speed, Mai and Yui must be doing well . ¡±

    The four were headed to an ind that floated in the sky . There were many floating inds, and most of them were just there for the atmosphere, and could not be entered . However, there was one ind that had a narrow area where you could just barely slip through .

    ¡°It¡¯s very strange that there¡¯s just one . There must be something here . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . But¡­ Ah, I knew they woulde . ¡±

    As you could just barely invade it, it was no surprise that it was at the very edge of the map . And that meant that even from the sky, strong monsters would appear . Just like the four had predicted, devil monsters with bat-like wings and two horns on their heads came flying towards them .

    ¡°I saw these on the ground too . They like to summon their minions . What should we do?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not far from the ind . We should be able to get through if we can distract them for a second . ¡±

    ¡°Fine . It¡¯s settled then . Let¡¯s go, Sou . ¡®Sleeping Bubble,¡¯ ¡®Paralyze Shout . ¡¯¡±

    An electric effect came out from the book, and bubbles that shone like the rainbow blew out . Every skill that Kanade could use, Sou could use as well . And while it didn¡¯t work on all of them, the devils that were affected by the paralysis and sleep began to drop out of the air . And a path to the floating ind was opened before them .

    ¡°Ray, ¡®Shooting Star¡¯!¡±

    A light then enveloped Ray, as they all sat on it, and the tamed monster suddenly flew forward with elerated speed .

    By using a charging skill, they would throw any monster who got in their way into the air, and reach the floating ind at top speed .

    It went better than expected, and they were able to shake off the surrounding monsters as they approached the ind .

    ¡°Leave the enemies behind us to me!¡±

    ¡°You should focus your skills on defeating the monsters that are ahead of us . ¡±

    And so Izu and Misery took on the roles of dealing with the monsters that pursued them . Payne and Kanade dealt with the rest .

    ¡°Good . We can descend now . ¡±

    And like that, they safely arrived on the ind . Payne returned Ray to its original size and then they inspected their surroundings . They hade down on a corner of the ind that had a wide clearing as if it were just begging them toe down here . But the entire ind itself was not thatrge, and you could walk from one corner to the other in a few minutes .

    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to go in this forest up ahead . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . But keep your guard up . ¡±

    Payne took the lead as the four of them entered the forest . Apparently, monsters did not enter this forest, and it was clear that it was quite different from the other ces .

    ¡°Is that a mansion¡­?¡±

    ¡°It looks like it . Should we go inside?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not like we have a choice . ¡±

    And so they opened the front door and walked in . A vast entrance was before them, and in the center, there was arge magic circle that looked like it was drawn with blood . It was hard to look away from it .

    ¡°I see . Well, it¡¯s a good thing they made it easy to find . ¡±

    ¡°I already made preparations for damage nullification in case it is a trap . ¡±

    Their support was ready . They hade all this way toplete dungeons, so there was no way that they would turn back now . However, it turned out that their worries were unfounded, and all four were soon surrounded by that familiar light . They waited for the light to die down and then they opened their eyes . What they saw was a long passage made of stone bricks . Behind them was a wall, which made it easy to know which way they were supposed to go .

    ¡°Well, I guess we better go forward for now . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . And I don¡¯t sense any monsters . ¡±

    Just like before, Payne took the lead as they advanced . Then they came upon a wide open room with three doors . Each door had a different mark on it, a sword, staff, and spear . Clearly, they were supposed to mean something .

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s supposed to tell us what kind of monster is behind it?¡±

    ¡°I think so too . Then we should choose something that would be easy to deal with . ¡±

    And so the four discussed it and decided to choose the door with the sword on it . When they opened it, they came out into an arena without any obstacles . On the other side, there was a monster who wore armor and a helmet and wielded a great sword .

    ¡°So, it really was about the monster . ¡±

 Chapter 317

    Chapter 317

    ¡°Yeah . And if all of them have just one monster, that will make things easier . ¡±

    Indeed, their strategy involved Payne being the main attacker, while the other three did what they were good at, which was casting buffs . They would create a one man army . Everything from status effects, recovery, resurrection, support fire . They would cover him .

    ¡°I can¡¯t lose after receiving this much support . I¡¯ll fulfill my role . ¡±

    Like that, Payne unsheathed his sword and faced the monster . First, he needed to check if his strategy would work . And so the three cast buffs on Payne . None of them affected the enemy, and they wouldn¡¯t exactly be considered rare skills either .

    Once they were finished, Payne dashed forward before the monster could approach him .

    ¡°Ray, ¡®Breath of the Holy Dragon,¡¯ ¡®Holy de of Fragmentation¡¯!¡±

    The blinding breath that Ray unleashed not only damaged the monster, but staggered it .

    Payne rushed towards it all at once and cut deeply into its body with his sword . Then he swung again to the side, this time cutting through its shoulder and reaching its stomach . The monster was also carrying a greatsword that looked like it would deal a lot of damage, and it swung it wildly . However, it was either blocked or dodged . And it was not able to hurt Payne .

    Part of it was because of the buffs, but when it came to pure swordsmanship, this monster was not on the same level as Payne .

    ¡°¡®Holy de of Conviction¡¯!¡±

    As Payne¡¯s voice rang, a light shed from his sword, and when it swung down, it easily separated the monster¡¯s torso from its lower half . And so ultimately, without ever being in danger, and without ever not overwhelming the enemy, Payne¡¯s battle with the warrior had ended .

    ¡°That exceeded my expectations¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m reminded of the boss on the 10th floor of the tower . Just pure strength . ¡±

    ¡°If this is what they are like, then buffs will likely be enough, unless there are a lot of enemies at once . ¡±

    As they thought about his strength, the four of them went through the door that was at the back of the arena . This time, they were greeted by two doors . One had a katana on it and the other a bow .

    ¡°Which should we choose?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go with the katana . It will be easier than someone with a ranged weapon . ¡±

    They decided to choose the katana, and then they went through the door . What they were greeted to, was a simr arena . This one had a single samurai who was sitting down as he waited for them .

    ¡°I see . I¡¯ll attack him while the buffs are still active . Can you support me?¡±

    ¡°Of course . ¡±

    ¡°Whenever you need it . ¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be ready to heal you . ¡±

    Upon hearing this, Payne held a sword in one hand and a shield in the other as he approached the enemy . He made sure to protect himself by holding his shield up as he got close . Just then, and with a speed that even Payne could not follow, the katana was swung, and a damage effect exploded from his arm, where his shield and sword could not cover . Payne flew in the air from the knockback effect . But since Misery immediately healed him, he did not suffer any real damage . However, the two now red at each other .

    ¡°I see . This one really is quite different from thest warrior . ¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s follow the n then . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do that . ¡®Immovable¡¯!¡±

    Payne then used a skill to nullify knockbacks, and then he charged forward . This time, he didn¡¯t bother to raise his shield .

    ¡°Sou, ¡®Cage of Gravity . ¡¯¡±

    ¡°Fay, ¡®Tangled Grass . ¡¯¡±

    Since the enemy just kept his hand on his sword without moving, it was easy to target him with magic . Kanade had Sou set down a field that greatly reduced one¡¯s moving speed, and Izu grew nts that would get in the way of a monster that was trying to move . These measures would prevent the Samurai from escaping, should it try .

    And so Payne closed in the gap between him and the samurai . The samurai repeatedly shed with his katana before returning it to its sheath . And it did this at a speed that the eye could not follow . However, Payne ignored him and raised his sword . Of course, the katana dug deep into his body as it hit him, but Payne continued his attack on the monster .

    ¡°¡®Light of Healing¡¯!¡±

    Payne had the advantage of numbers . And there was no way that he wasn¡¯t going to use it . Even though knockback was now nullified and Payne continued to attack him, the samurai might still have won due to incredible attack speed and overwhelming amount of HP . However, not when Misery was there . Misery¡¯s healing kept Payne from sinking, and he continued to unleash his heavy attacks .

    There was no way for the samurai to win against a yer that was so strong that he could continue to be hit by him .

    ¡°Holy de of Wall Breaking¡¯!¡±

    The sword came down with a sh of light . It stabbed into the samurai¡¯s neck before he could block it . And like that, the enemy disappeared into light .

    These four were already among the strongest in the game . And so there was no way that a single monster could win .

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s keep going . I think there should be more of them next time . ¡±

    And like that, they headed to the next door .

 Chapter 318

    Chapter 318

    Ultimately, Payne was right, and the enemies increased with every room . Two and then three . And then four . Sometimes, the enemy outnumbered them .

    However, it meant absolutely nothing . These enemies would have been perfectly manageable by Payne, while the others focused on buffing him . And a few moreing out now just meant the others could finally make use of their own attack power .

    Bombs rolled all over the room, magic books were pulled out one after another, everyone needed to attack and defend now, and the buffs and healing started to really show their worth . You would have to get past one of the strongest of advance guards to reach the rear guards, who were wreaking havoc in the arena . And that was too tall an order for a monster .

    ¡°Phew . We¡¯re finally at the boss . There were more rooms than I was expecting . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah . I wonder what kind of boss it will be?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine . The road here didn¡¯t really give us any hints . But they were all humanoids, so maybe the boss will be the same . ¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll find out when we enter . Hmm . I hope it¡¯s easy to kill . ¡±

    And so all four of them summoned their tamed monster and then they opened the door and stepped inside .

    The room was shaped like a rectangle, and it extended farthest from the entrance . At the very end, there was a giant, floating stone b that was also rectangr and had no decorations . Just as the door shut behind them, a HP bar appeared above the stone b .

    All four of them looked surprised at this unexpected enemy . In the meantime, the marks they had seen on the doors on their way here, suddenly appeared around the stone b .

    But they were all from the doors that they had not gone through . Judging from the marks, there were sorcerers, archers, gunners, and others with ranged attacks .

    The marks then started to glow, and this was followed by the actual monstersing out .

    ¡°¡­I see . ¡±

    ¡°There are going to be a lot of enemies with ranged attacks . ¡±

    ¡°Then there is only one strategy we can use . ¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll buy you all some time . ¡±

    Kanade stepped in front of the others and took out one book after another .

    ¡°¡®Paralysis Powder,¡¯ ¡®High Waves,¡¯ ¡®Sticky Bullet,¡¯ ¡®Magic Obstruction . ¡¯¡±

    He calmly and quickly chose the most effective ones and activated them . These were not Sou¡¯s, which were slightly weaker . He used his own stored books to paralyze, call out waves with knockback effects, and bound them to the ground . Like this, the few of the advance guards were stopped in their tracks .

    As for the sorcerer in the back, he hindered him by using a skill that would weaken the force and range of his magic .

    ¡°Ahh, that stone b seems to summon them at regr intervals¡­¡±

    He could do nothing about that . And so he kept using more books in order to prevent them from getting close .

    ¡°¡®Large Scale Magic Barrier,¡¯ Sou, ¡®Large Scale Magic Barrier¡¯!¡±

    As he blocked off the advance guard, the number of rear guards only increased . And now there was an immense amount of magic, arrows, and bullets flying towards them . Kanade and Sou created twoyers of barriers in order to stop thempletely .

    At this point, Payne¡¯s skill that took so long to activate, was finally ready .

    ¡°Light Sword of the Holy Dragon¡¯!¡±

    This skill that he had used in Maple Tree¡¯s base in order to drive back the monsters was simply a wide area attack skill with high power . But there was strength in simplicity . This had always been their trump card, and so it was incredibly convenient that the boss monster should summon so many enemies for them at once .

    As the lights and shock waves raged, erasing the monsters from existence, the four of them jumped onto Ray¡¯s back and through the use of ¡®Shooting Star,¡¯ reached the stone b in a sh .

    ¡°We have tounch a counter attack too . ¡±

    The three rear guards took out the bombs they had been given in advance .

    Once Ray charged into the stone b, damaging it, they all unleashed their own attacks . The stone b was good at rapidly summoning, but could do nothing else but moderate magic . And without being able to overwhelm Misery¡¯s healing magic, it could do nothing as its HP started to decrease .

    There was nothing to be done if everything it summoned could be killed with one hit .

    ¡°¡®Holy de of Conviction¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Holy Spear¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Fay, ¡®Item Strengthen,¡¯ ¡®Recycle¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Tornado¡¯!¡±

    The shy attack effect enveloped the stone b . And since it was already being hit by Payne¡¯s powerful area attack, cracks began to loudly appear on its surface . And then it shattered .

    ¡°I guess we had the better strategy?¡±

    ¡°I think we were a good match for it . Even the shape of the room worked in our favor . ¡±

    ¡°I admit, I was a little frantic when I first saw that row of sorcerers and archers, but we ended up winning pretty easily . ¡±

    ¡°Yes, that was amazing . ¡±

    Just then, they heard the notification sound that told them that they had received the medals . However, since they still had more time, the four of them decided to search for another dungeon . Since their powerful skills were reset every day, it made sense to try and use them up before the day ended .

    And like that, the four returned to the mansion .

 Chapter 319

    Chapter 319

    Defense Specialization and to the South

    Drag, Shin, Chrome, and Kasumi were the four that headed to the south . Of course, Kasumi was the one in the team that had a mode of transportation that all four of them could use . Kasumi made Haku ¡®Super Erge,¡¯ and they traveled towards the dessert that Maple Tree had teleported to on the first day .

    The reason for this was that the four had gone around to all of the suspicious spots on Sally¡¯s map, but had found nothing . Even though the spots were all close together on the south side, making exploration easier .

    And since they had now gone to all of the ces with high priority, they decided that it must be somewhere that was hard to find . And so they hade to the wide open dessert .

    ¡°I was thinking this while riding Payne¡¯s dragon as well, but it sure is nice to have a monster that can carry you . ¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mi said the same thing . ¡±

    ¡°Well, having mobility will allow you to get through areas faster¡­ Now, is there anything here¡­¡±

    ¡°There really isn¡¯t . But things seem to be going smoothly for the teams that went in the other directions¡­¡±

    The four of them sat on Haku¡¯s head and scanned the area . They were able to see worms and devils in the distance . It appeared that they were fighting some yers, as they saw explosive magic effects .

    ¡°So there are yers near the edge of the map as well . ¡±

    ¡°We weren¡¯t the only ones who thought toe here then . Well, who wouldn¡¯t think that there must be something in a dessert that¡¯s this big?¡±

    As they continued their search, the weather suddenly took a turn for the worse, and a powerful sand storm began to blow . And while they were wary, the devil monsters that were near the edge of the map did note close to them . Chrome was especially cautious, as he was the shield-bearer . But he could not sense any enemy presencesing near .

    ¡°There must be something¡­Kasumi! Let¡¯s get off for now . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do that . ¡±

    The four of them sensed something and so they got off of Haku, and she returned it to normal size . Then they started exploring on foot .

    ¡°It really is a crazy sandstorm . I can barely see in front of me . ¡±

    ¡°Maybe I should unleash ¡®Destructor¡¯ around us . At least then we¡¯ll know if something ising towards us . ¡±

    And so Shin activated ¡®Destructor,¡¯ causing the multiplied swords to rotate around them in a wide circle . As long as it was a decentlyrge monster, it would get hit, no matter what side it wasing from . So an ambush would be less likely .

    As they walked like this for a while, Shin¡¯s ¡®Destructor¡¯ caught something .

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s hit something¡­ But it doesn¡¯t seem like a monster . ¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s head over to it . I wonder what it could be?¡±

    When they reached it, they found a rocky area that was covered in sand from the sandstorm . But there were cracks between the rocks that looked like they led to an underground chamber .

    ¡°Let¡¯s go then . We finally found something that looks promising . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go . I won¡¯t be able to erge Haku down there, but that can¡¯t be helped . ¡±

    As they moved between boulders and descended, they entered an underground chamber . The sound of falling sand echoed around them . The ground also looked like sand . And while they wouldn¡¯t sink into it, it was still difficult to walk .

    ¡°Woah, it looks like we really found it . Awesome . ¡±

    ¡°Anyway, I think I should go in the lead . ¡±

    ¡°Hmm . Yes, we¡¯ll leave it to you, Chrome . ¡±

    ¡°Now, what will we find¡­¡±

    Chrome moved to the front and took the first step . Just then, the sand in front of him moved, and a single giant scorpion jumped out of the ground . But before the others could reach it with their weapons, it stung Chrome and then returned into the ground .

    At the same time, an effect burst on Chrome, showing that the item he had received from Izu earlier had activated . It took the damage of an instant death attack for you .

    ¡°What? Are you kidding!? That scorpion has an instant death attack!¡±

    ¡°This is bad . We better retreat for now!¡±

    ¡°Then get on these! We¡¯ll move away from the sand . ¡±

    Shin said as he used ¡®Destructor¡¯ to create des that they could ride on . Once they were able to temporarily escape the danger, they held a quick strategy meeting .

    ¡°Shin . I didn¡¯t know you could use that skill like this . ¡±

    Kasumi said as she pointed at the sword .

    ¡°I got the idea while watching Maple . There are a lot of ways to use a flying sword . ¡±

    ¡°But what should we do? We have instant death resistant items from Izu¡­but they¡¯re not something we can keep using on monsters that aren¡¯t even bosses . ¡±

    ¡°No, don¡¯t worry . Just leave it to me . We just need to know the position of the scorpion inside of the sand, right?¡±

    Drag said as he called out Earth . Earth was a Golem that had a lot of skills rted to the ground . And so Drag had a way of dealing with this enemy .

 Chapter 320

    Chapter 320

    ¡°Earth, ¡®Earthquake¡¯!¡±

    As Earth began to make the ground shake, they saw that damage effects wereing out of the sand . That showed that there was something inside .

    ¡°Shin, now! You can go safely if you¡¯re on that sword . ¡±

    ¡°Aye!¡±

    Shin used one of the swords that wasn¡¯t being used as a tform, and sent it into the sand . Then he pulled it back .

    What came out was a skewered, ck scorpion . It thrashed around in order to free itself . But instead, there was a pop, and it faded into light .

    ¡°I guess we were lucky that it had low HP . Still, we¡¯ll have to continue to move on these things as long as there is sand on the ground . ¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped . But this gives me a bad feeling about the boss . ¡±

    If the ordinary enemies were giant scorpions with instant death attacks, they could assume that the boss would be very powerful .

    ¡°Well, at least we have a way of dealing with it . It was also good that it was Chrome who was stung . ¡±

    If it was someone else, they might have died before they knew what hit them . And so they were all reminded of the risk of entering a dungeon . And with that, the fourt of them continued on their way .

    After that, Earth and Drag had to skewer and pull out a number of scorpions so that the other three could kill them and secure a safe path ahead . And then they finally reached an area where the ground wasn¡¯t covered in sand .

    ¡°Haa¡­ What a relief . Things should calm down a little now that we¡¯re here . ¡±

    ¡°Really, those scorpions were annoying . I wouldn¡¯t want to go there again¡­¡±

    ¡°¡®Destroyer¡¯ really saved us . So, do you think we¡¯re about half way through now?¡±

    ¡°Considering that the ground is just rocks here, we¡¯re definitely in a new area . ¡±

    Now they just had to be careful, instead of constantly fearing for their lives . This meant that they could move much faster . And as Chrome led them forward, a new monster appeared before them .

    ¡°Oh, so this one is a snake . It came out of a hole . ¡±

    ¡°I bet it has an instant kill poison attack . Let¡¯s hurry up and kill it . ¡±

    This snake also seemed to have low HP, and so the four of them understood that this dungeon had enemies that tried to ambush you and kill enemies with instant death .

    ¡°This makes me nervous¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d really like to just rush towards the boss, but¡­ What?¡±

    Chrome had just turned a corner, when he noticed that several flowers were growing out from the rock walls . At this point, they were starting to think that anything and everything had instant kill attacks, and so they went past without stimting it or touching it . However, as if to ruin their ns, a snake slithered out of a hole and rubbed against a flower .

    And then a ¡®sound¡¯ like a ringing bell filled the air . It was shockingly loud, and with that, snakes began to slither out of holes all around them .

    ¡°Ah, damn it! And we were so careful not to touch it!¡±

    ¡°Wen, ¡®Wind God¡¯!¡±

    Shin had no choice but to unleash his wind des in order to fight against the wave of snakes that rushed towards them . Of course, this meant stimting the flowers again . But they wouldn¡¯t survive unless they did something about the first wave .

    And then Shin used ¡®Destructor¡¯ to slice up the snakes with spinning des .

    ¡°Attack the ones that get past me! I still can¡¯t control them precisely yet!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll get the ones on this side! ¡®Earth Wave¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Necro, ¡®me of Death¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Blood de¡¯!¡±

    They all used skills that could attack multiple enemies in order to ensure that they weren¡¯t bitten by the snakes . This tactic of standing their ground and not running away proved to be sessful, and they were able to kill all of the snakes .

    This was unlike any other battle, since they could not be hit even once, and so they all sighed in relief when it was over .

    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry on to the boss . The road to it is so tiring . ¡±

    ¡°I agree¡­¡±

    And so they quickly moved on before the flowers could summon another wave .

    Their prayers were answered, and it did not take them long to reach the boss room after that . They just had to deal with a few more snakes before the familiar door came into sight .

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s open it . Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, no problem . ¡±

    ¡°Sure . I¡¯m fully prepared!¡±

    ¡°Ready when you are . ¡±

    As he had everyone¡¯s permission, Chrome jumped into the boss room first . In this room, sand trickled down from the ceiling and created piles all over the room . The entire floor was covered in sand .

    The four of them froze and waited, but since nothing appeared, they became very suspicious .

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing¡­here?¡±

    ¡°No, something is hidden in the sand pile to the back . It¡¯s suspicious as hell . ¡±

    Shin seemed to have found something . And so as if to say he would never go and see it for himself, he sent out a flying sword to go and dig it up . Kasumi watched and used her skill to find out what it was .

 Chapter 321

    Chapter 321

    ¡°Farsight¡¯¡­Human bones? No, there is something¡­ A crystal snake and¡­a scorpion?¡±

    She saw something glimmering inside of the skull, and she realized that it was a crystal snake and a scorpion . At the same moment, the two creatures crawled out of the skull and buried themselves in the sand .

    And with that, familiar-looking snakes and scorpions came crawling out of the piles of sand .

    ¡°Again!¡±

    ¡°Again!¡±

    ¡°Again!¡±

    ¡°Again!¡±

    It was what they had expected, but desperately hoped would not happen . And so all four of them shouted in unison . It was clear that this crystal snake and scorpion were the bosses . However, they would first have to deal with this horde of monsters that had instant kill attacks .

    Everything that they didn¡¯t want to appear in the boss room had appeared . Still, there was nothing for them to do but fight .

    ¡°The scorpions are clearly more dangerous! Shin and I will handle them . Kasumi and Chrome . You two deal with the snakes!¡±

    ¡°Aye!¡±

    ¡°Aye!¡±

    ¡°¡®Earth Wave¡¯! Earth, ¡®Earthquake¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Wen, ¡®Wind God¡¯! ¡®Destructor¡¯!¡±

    Drag caused the ground to shake, dealing damage to the scorpions across a wide area . Furthermore, the knockback effect threw them into the air, while dragging others out of the sand .

    Shin used ¡®Destructor¡¯ to multiply his swords to the limit, and then made them hover just above the ground as they shed through the enemy .

    ¡°¡®me of Death¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Arm of the Warrior¡¯! ¡®Blood de¡¯!¡±

    As for Chrome and Kasumi, Chrome stood one step in the front in order to lure the enemy in . By doing so, they were able to burn all of the monsters at once . Any those that remained were cut down with the liquid katana .

    However, more scorpions and snakes kepting out of the sand . There was no end in sight .

    ¡°We¡¯re using skills to deal with them! If this continues, we¡¯ll be killed by the cooldown time!¡±

    ¡°The two bosses should be somewhere! Those crystal bastards are the boss right! We have to find them!¡±

    Kasumi and Chrome could not spam area attacks . And while Shin could continue to use his flying des, things could easily crumble with one mistake .

    ¡°Tsk . Damn it . I¡¯ll have to use my trump card . Earth, ¡®Raging Earth¡¯!¡±

    Drag ordered, and nearly the entire floor of the room turned a glowing red, and sharp rocks came shooting out . Of course, they skewered the snakes and scorpions as they dragged them out of the sand .

    ¡°There they are! There!¡±

    ¡°Aye . Leave it to me!¡±

    Kasumi moved around in order to find the bosses, and it did not take long . Shin immediately attacked them with his swords .

    ¡°How is it!?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not finished yet . ¡±

    After taking a certain amount of damage, the two monsters dove back into the sand . The four of them waited warily for more snakes and scorpions to flow out, but that did not happen .

    They thought it was very strange . Just then, they noticed that the sand pile towards the back of the room was moving, and so they turned their heads to look at it .

    While they assumed that the avnche of enemies would start at any moment now, instead, the two sand hills began to harden until they formed arge snake and scorpion that were made of sand and were bigger than all four of thembined . On their foreheads, they could see the small crystal bodies were exposed . At the same time, the small snakes and scorpions that covered the ce disappeared .

    So, they could transform . Normally this would have made them worried, however, they happily brandished their weapons as if they had been waiting for this moment .

    ¡°Now we can fight head on . ¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll lure them in . You three get them when there¡¯s an opening . ¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s start with the scorpion . That being said, it¡¯s going to be a nuisance . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah . But I can use ¡®Arms of the Warrior¡¯ to hit it . ¡±

    The two enemies finally looked like real bosses . And while they didn¡¯t have that much HP left, the four of them rushed forward as if the fight had just begun .

    ¡°¡®Provoke¡¯! Necro, ¡®Impact Reflect¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Earth Shatter¡¯!¡±

    Chrome attracted their attention while approaching the sand scorpion . It attacked with pincers and a stinger like an ordinary scorpion, but also summoned sharp thorns from the ground, much like Drag had done before . However, since Chrome was attacking while blocking them, even if the thorns hit him, they could not keep up with the speed of his healing .

    While Chrome distracted the scorpion, Drag shattered the ground around the snake, stopping it from moving .

    As they fought like this, Kasumi and Shin ran past Chrome . They would target what was obviously its weak spot . The exposed main body .

    Shin concentrated all of his swords into one point, and then fired them at a high speed . Kasumi used Arms of the Warrior along with her own swords to attack it .

    There was a loud crack, and all of the swords pierced into the crystal body . And just like that, the newly created body of sand crumbled to the ground .

    ¡°What? That was disappointingly easy . ¡±

    ¡°Alright, next . ¡±

    ¡°Oh, looks like we won¡¯t have to worry about who it targets . ¡±

    And so the three joined Drag, who was already attacking it .

    Ultimately, the oue was not very different from that of the scorpion .

 Chapter 322

    Chapter 322

    Defense Specialization and to the North

    Thest four were Maple, Sally, Mi, and Frederica . And they were headed to the north .

    As for methods of transportation, they had Syrup, Ignis, and Savagery Maple . However, it was Ignis who was fast and least unpredictable .

    ¡°Ah! Another medal! They sure are fast¡­¡±

    ¡°In the first ce, we haven¡¯t even found a dungeon yet . We did clear one area, but it wasn¡¯t the right one . ¡±

    ¡°I was wondering why it was so easy . And then I understood . ¡±

    ¡°Well, I think it was mostly easy because Maple was there . With Dedicated Affection and high defense, we can easily defeat bosses . ¡±

    ¡°Hmm . But it isn¡¯t almighty either¡­ I know after fighting together a few times . ¡±

    Maple¡¯s skills only worked well in certain circumstances . ¡®Machine God¡¯ and ¡®Hydra¡¯ were not good fits when up against monsters with poison resistance or high defense ability . While Maple could deal damage in spite of having put everything into defense, she had no way of raising her damage . Mi had said this about her on the seventhyer . As everyone¡¯s attack ability went up, her damage output would start to be average .

    ¡°In the first ce, it¡¯s not right that you can deal so much damage . ¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true . ¡±

    ¡°Ah, even you, Sally!¡±

    Sallyughed and said that at the end of the day, Maple was a very reliable Guild Master . Without a doubt, it was because Maple constantly had Dedicated Affection activated, that they could talk in such a carefree way right now .

    ¡°So, what should we do? Currently, we¡¯ve seen all of the objects in the north that Sally marked out on her map¡­¡±

    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll just have to go to any location that seems distinctive from the sky . The map itself is quite big, and we haven¡¯t seen the whole thing yet . ¡±

    Sally had been mainly focused on getting points during the preliminary, and she had only marked her map on the way . It wasn¡¯t her main objective .

    ¡°Alright then . We¡¯ll just have to search every area . Hmm . This is going to be tough, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I think so . ¡±

    ¡°Ugh . We really need to hurry up and decide¡­¡±

    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s go down once . You can¡¯t see anything with much detail from the sky . Besides, there won¡¯t be any situations where we identally enter a dungeon either . ¡±

    The others agreed, and so Mi had Ignis descend towards the ground so that they could get off . Immediately, they started to hear the rustling of something approaching them . And what came out was one of those devil monsters that moved on four legs, that were the main monsters of the second night .

    ¡°Ah, it appeared . The Fake Maple . ¡±

    ¡°Huh? Me-me?¡±

    ¡°Well, I can see the resemnce . ¡±

    The monster that Frederica called ¡®Fake Maple,¡¯ tried to sh at Frederica with its ws, but Maple protected her from all of the attacks .

    ¡°Really, it¡¯s so nice to be able to feel safe when outside . ¡±

    As Frederica began to smack the monster¡¯s head with her staff, Mi threw a fireball from the side in order to burn it up .

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we going to explore?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes . I¡¯ll do my best . ¡±

    ¡°Me too . ¡®Deploy all Weapons,¡¯ ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Sally moved away for now and watched, as she did not want to get in their line of fire by ident .

    As long as they didn¡¯t take any damage, it would be a very one-sided fight . That could not be helped .

    Like this, they killed monsters while walking for a while . And then Mi suddenly noticed something .

    ¡°There sure seem to be a lot of monsters in this area . ¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because we¡¯re on the corner of the map?¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes, it does seem like there are a lot . ¡±

    The four of them had already cleared a whole dungeon, and had searched the area around it . Compared to that time, there seemed to be more frequent attacks .

    ¡°Is there something here? ¡­Like a device that creates monsters!¡±

    ¡°I hope not . But I guess we should look around? There isn¡¯t much time left, so this is likely ourst chance . ¡±

    They wanted to return to their base early, considering the possibility of unexpected events . Besides, it would hurt their performance if they had to face the third day without getting to rest . And so it was with all of this considered, that they knew it was nearing the time for them to return .

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go find out why there are so many monsters!¡±

    ¡°Hmm . I hope it doesn¡¯t take long . ¡±

    Mi and Sally did enough damage, and so as long as they were within reach of Dedicated Affection, exploration was easy for them . They killed monsters and walked around in order to search for areas where there were a lot of them . After a while, their suspicion turned into certainty .

    ¡°It¡¯s true! There really are a lot!¡±

    ¡°Yes . There¡¯s something here, no doubt . ¡±

    When they arrived at the spot that was brimming with the most monsters, they saw from between the trees, there was a swirling, purple, circr light that floated in the air like a gate .

    There were not only arge variety of devil monstersing out, but even the dinosaurs and alligators Maple had seen during the preliminary were also appearing .

    ¡°It¡¯s not quite¡­a dungeon, if you ask me . What should we do, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Hmm . Yeah, it doesn¡¯t look like one . ¡±

    ¡°Well, we really don¡¯t know yet . Besides, since Maple is with us, we can go and touch it, right?¡±

    ¡°I think that it¡¯s worth a try . ¡±

    It seemed foolish to just leave without finding out if they were right or wrong .

    ¡°Still, there are a lot of types of monsters . I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if some had piercing attacks . ¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right . Hmm . That means it will be scary unless we do it quickly and then run away¡­maybe we should just fly?¡±

    ¡°On Ignis? But there are so many trees . We¡¯ll probably have to go around¡­I don¡¯t think we can reach it from here . ¡±

    ¡°Maple . Do you mean the other kind of flying?¡±

    ¡°Yes! This!¡±

    Maple said as she patted the giant weapon on her back . Sally didn¡¯t think it was a bad idea, and epted it quickly . Frederica and Mi trusted Sally¡¯s judgement, and so they epted it as well . They just assumed that perhaps it was not so strange for such arge weapon to have flying capabilities as well .

    ¡°If you say you can do it, I don¡¯t mind . ¡±

    ¡°Alright . Then you all have to hold on tight, okay?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Uh, like this?¡±

    ¡°Is this fine?¡±

    The three of them surrounded Maple and held onto her . And then Maple took out a rope from her item box and strapped them to her .

    ¡°Phew¡­good . We¡¯re ready when you are, Maple!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s with that resolve¡­ah!? Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s like during the guild battle where you fell¡­¡±

    Frederica got shbacks of explosions that were impossible during normal flight .

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    ¡°I-is this bad? What!?¡±

    Theser weapons on Maple¡¯s back filled up with energy, and when they were charged to the limit, the weapons exploded . At the same time, the four wereunched into the air like a bullet . They shot past the trees and went straight into the purple light .

    As they had assumed, it was a gate, and they went right through . But thankfully, their momentum died, and theynded gently in front of the gate on the other side .

    ¡°We arrived! Thank you! It was a very short trip!¡±

    ¡°I-I see¡­ I don¡¯t think I like flying this way¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­I¡¯ve never been less jealous of someone¡¯s mobility . ¡±

    ¡°Phew . I¡¯m still not used to it . ¡±

    ¡°Sally¡¯s oddly calm . You¡¯re not surprised at all, are you!¡±

    ¡°This is normal for Maple . ¡±

    That¡¯s not what I mean . Frederica muttered . However, they were through the gate now, and so they switched gears . This was the other side of a mysterious gate that spat out monsters .

    ¡°I don¡¯t see anything in particr yet¡­¡±

    The four of them had been dropped into a wide space with dark purple walls and floor . It seemed like the walls and floor would move asionally, and it was clear that this was no ordinary dungeon .

    ¡°Still, I¡¯m d we didn¡¯t get ambushed by monsters as soon as we got in . ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true . I guess we should explore this ce now . ¡±

    And so the four of them started walking in order to reach the deepest part of the dungeon .

    There were many branching paths . They took right and left turns as they made their way forward . It did not take long for them to be attacked by Fake Maples and the devil monsters with bat wings . It seemed like they had some way of seeing yers that should have been out of their vision, and they kepting even when the group stood still .

    However, these ambushes were futile .

    ¡°There is no way we could lose to these two types when Maple is here . ¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s great for earning experience . So great . ¡±

    ¡°And I don¡¯t have to worry about MP, because Izu gave me so many potions!¡±

    ¡°¡­If these things are in the dungeon, I guess the gate appeared after the second day? It would have attracted a lot of attention if this was around during the preliminary . ¡±

    While Mi wasn¡¯t quite as bad as Maple, she was also terribly inefficient . And so she had to use several potions after killing a number of monsters .

    Sally also cut down monsters as she walked . Because Maple¡¯s abilities were so extreme, she was either able to nullify everything and battles ended quickly, or things became very difficult for her . It tended to be one or the other . This dungeon seemed to be the former . However, there seemed to be more to this dungeon than monsters being set on them . And after traveling for some time, they came upon an open room that was simr to the one they had started in . But these walls were not the same purple walls, as there were now white spots that swelled out .

    ¡°Hmm¡­there are white bumps on the wall . ¡±

    ¡°Should I try shooting them?¡±

    ¡°No, we shouldn¡¯t do that if we don¡¯t know what will happen . ¡±

    ¡°It seems like they¡¯lle to us even if we don¡¯t move . ¡±

    Mi said as she pointed to one of them . If she had to describe it, she would say that it looked like a pupa or a cocoon . It reacted when they had approached . The things tore open and the monsters came out .

    The sheer number of them reminded Maple and Sally of the monster house in the tower . And so they gave orders to Frederica and Mi .

    ¡°We¡¯ll start by killing the ones with pointed weapons or horns!¡±

    ¡°As long as they don¡¯t have defensive piercing attacks, it will be fine!¡±

    ¡°I see . That¡¯s true . Okay . ¡±

    ¡°Now I can go boldly forward . And if I see anything like that, I can target them easily . ¡±

    And so they started with hunting the devil monsters with spears and the ones with sharp fangs and ws . On the other hand, the ones with incredible muscles that looked like power fighters were left forter . As you could not get past Maple with brute force, they had low priority .

    ¡°¡®me Emperor . ¡¯ Ignis, ¡®Chain Fire¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Fire Child,¡¯ ¡®Cross Fire¡¯!¡±

    Their skills caused the fire to spread, and the monsters burned . These were skills with chain damage, which really showed their worth when there were a lot of monsters . And so it was especially effective against hordes like this, that were overflowing in the room .

    ¡°¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Maple really is strong againstrge numbers¡­¡±

    Her defense ability was so high that it shut out anything that didn¡¯t have area attacks and effective hits . And this was made even worse with other yers around . No matter how far Maple went, defense would always be her strongest suit .

    Once they got rid of the monsters that looked like they might have piercing attacks, the rest was easy . Sally killed the rest, as they wanted to save their resources, and Sally could deal a lot of damage without using MP .

    ¡°Phew . All done . ¡±

    ¡°Good work, Sally! There were so many of them, but it seemed like you didn¡¯t have a problem!¡±

    ¡°Yes . It was easy thanks to you, Maple . ¡±

    ¡°Ehehe . Really?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be able to go farther in now . At this rate, we¡¯ll have no trouble getting to the boss . ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true . Now, let¡¯s go . Let¡¯s go . ¡±

    They advanced while making sure to stay within range of Maple¡¯s Dedicated Affection . At this point, the white bumps on the walls were increasing in number, and the monsters were much more numerous than they had been in the beginning .

    ¡°Oh, I know! Might as well use it today¡­ Savagery!¡±

    As the day would be ending soon, Maple activated her skill . Surely it would not be wasted if they were in a dungeon . And through her activation of Savagery, Maple, who had up until now been mostly quietly unleashingsers or deadly poisons, could now join the battle and stand in the front .

    ¡°Ah, the true Maple . ¡±

    ¡°True? Hey, what do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°I felt the same thing when I saw Haku . But size really is important¡­¡±

    Maple opened her giant mouth as she ran down the passages . As the ce had not been built with ¡®Savagery¡¯ in mind, she had to lower her posture as she ran . But it also meant that monsters couldn¡¯t circle around her .

    As Maple opened and closed her mouth, monsters in front of her were torn apart without descriminition . Those that somehow managed to survive started to crawl out of her mouth . But they were then just trampled by Maple¡¯s six legs, and they came out the other side looking like some discarded rags .

    ¡°¡®Multi-Wind de¡¯!¡±

    However, any who survived Maple weren¡¯t going to be shown any mercy . And the three that could use magic were sure to deal the final blow .

    ¡°In this form, it bes a really one-sided fight against the weaker monsters . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ Most yers don¡¯t even have other forms . ¡±

    Maple also breathed fire as they ran over the monsters . And just as they had predicted, the four reached the boss room in little time at all .

    ¡°Our strategies are so different when you¡¯re with other guilds . ¡±

    ¡°Just so you know, we¡¯re only fighting like this because you¡¯re here, Maple . ¡±

    The others in Maple Tree were not like this . Even though some were starting to feel a little simr, they were still not at that level .

    ¡°Can I open it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, go inside . ¡±

    And so Maple pushed the door open with her head and stepped inside . The room was filled with the white bumps that gave birth to monsters . And in the far back, there was a white mass that was farrger than any of the others . It was clearly a cocoon .

    As soon as all four were inside of the room, the giant cocoon was torn open, and a purple light burst out from it . Then out came sharp ws attached to more than a dozen limbs . And then a head with no face . Wings with torn membranes . It looked like a mutated version of the monster that Frederica had called a Fake Maple .

    ¡°It¡¯s the real Fake Maple! Don¡¯t you think so?¡±

    ¡°Stop talking nonsense and fight!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t hold back . ¡±

    ¡°Everyone . It¡¯sing!¡±

    The monster was fully out of its cocoon now as it pped its wings and shed with its ws while moving towards them .

    Whenever the boss threw its arms, they would stretch like rubber, and now they were being flung at them on both sides at a great speed .

    ¡°¡®Multi-Barrier¡¯! Knots, ¡®Singing Round¡¯!¡±

    Frederica created a barrier around her and Mi . Sally would be able to dodge the attack without a doubt, and it was impossible to cover something as big as Maple .

    ¡°Tsk, it¡¯s so strong¡­!?¡±

    The force of the arms was much higher than she had expected . And Frederica¡¯s barrier crumbled down . However, it wasn¡¯t meaningless, as it had dyed the monster¡¯s arrival .

    ¡°¡®re el¡¯!¡±

    Mi elerated all at once and reached Frederica . Then she picked her up and carried her as they escaped the reach of the ws .

    ¡°Nice, Mi!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down, okay?¡±

    As Frederica has guessed, Sally had no problem dodging it . But Maple was too big, and the ws hit her before she could escape .

    Damage effects burst all over Maple, and her skin had as many wounds as there were ws .

    And while it hadn¡¯t resulted in ¡®Savagery¡¯ getting deactivated, it seemed like just a matter of time .

    ¡°Uhhhh . They pierced all my defenses¡­!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get it from above first! Mi, Frederica! ¡®Ice Pir¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Ignis, ¡®Undying me¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes . ¡®Multi-Pressure . ¡¯¡±

    As the boss tried to mete out its attacks, Frederica used magic to slow down its movement .

    From the left came Sally, and from the right was Mi and Ignis . As soon as they were above its head, they began to attack it as if to hammer it into the ground .

    ¡°¡®Quintuple sh¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®me Emperor¡¯!¡±

    Once Sally was above its head, she activated her skill, shing at it from head to back, before rolling away . Mi used Ignis¡¯s mobility to dodge and thenunch a counterattack . After taking damage, the boss was mmed down onto the ground .

    The Maple jumped on it as if she had been waiting for this moment . It was her revenge for earlier . She tore into its arms with her teeth and shredded its wings .

    However, the boss was not going to take this quietly . Its ws cut into Maple, and the purple light rays from its mouth burned her skin .

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    It was like watching cannibal monsters . The other three were stunned at the sight . But they quickly joined Maple . With the support of the other three, Maple was able to deal even more damage . It recoiled when all three attacked, and yet it keeped clutching Maple and showering her with its heat ray .

    As Dedicated Affection was activated, the three were able to join the fight in spite of there being two giant creatures going wild . However, as this was a boss, it tore away Maple¡¯s Savagery before Maple could eat it . And Maple was thrown to the ground .

    All of a sudden, there was a huge size difference between them . And so the boss moved over her as if to crush her with its body . Maple could easily survive something like that, but what was surprising to the others, was the area around the boss¡¯s stomach began to squirm, and then sharp needles appeared .

    ¡°Ah, uh, ¡®Pierce Guard¡¯!¡±

    Maple somehow managed to nullify the piercing attack with the skill that she clearly wasn¡¯t used to using . And right after, the giant body fell on top of her, and the others could no longer see her .

    ¡°Maple? Are you okay!?¡±

    Sally asked, but they could not hear an answer . But after a brief pause, they heard the sounds of a dull ringing from inside of the boss¡¯s body . Then there was a great burst of damage effects as ck fog and five tentacles stretched out of its body .

    ¡°Is it hurting itself to transform?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Maple . ¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­?¡±

    The tentacles moved skillfully, and before they knew it, Maple had pulled herself out of the hole in the boss¡¯s body .

    ¡°Phew . I escaped! Wo-woah! ¡®Cover Move¡¯!¡±

    Maple jumped back in order to gain some distance, as the boss started to get up again . Then she teleported right next to Sally .

    ¡°What do you think? I think I damaged it quite a lot¡­¡±

    ¡°Maybe about halfway¡­ It¡¯s pretty tough . I think that fire attacks aren¡¯t very effective . ¡±

    As Maple¡¯s tentacles had nothing but attack abilities, she returned her left arm to normal in order to deal with the boss¡¯s next attack .

    ¡°I can still use Bizzare Eater!¡±

    Her second day had mostly been spent either in the base, or exploding in order to be a mark for the others .

    And so while she didn¡¯t have much left when it came to ¡®Machine God,¡¯ it was a different story when it came to ¡®Bizzare Eater,¡¯ ¡®Hydra,¡¯ and ¡®Predator . ¡¯ And she had plenty of power left .

    The four of them watched and waited to see how the boss would move next . The boss was flying in the air above its cocoon . It was taking in a purple light that emanated from it .

    ¡°Something ising!¡±

    Once it had taken in enough of the purple light, the same light shone from the boss¡¯s body, and numerous magic circles appeared . And from these, purple fire shot out towards the group .

    ¡°¡®Multi-elerate,¡¯ ¡®Multi-barrier¡¯!¡±

    By raising their movement speed, the three of them tried to dodge the attacks . On the other hand, Maple raised her great shield in order to block them .

    While Bizarre Eater was able to absorb the purple mes, there were so many of them that she was overwhelmed . Maple could do nothing but block as the entire area around her started to burn . And her HP began to chip away .

    ¡°Really!? I hate fire!¡±

    Nothing good happened when fire was involved, or so Maple thought . And she quickly developed her weapons and detonated them in order tounch herself into the air .

    ¡°We can dodge them! You heal yourself while we distract it!¡±

    ¡°Yes! Thank you!¡±

    Sally raised her concentration as she slid past the exploding mes and approached the boss .

    ¡°¡®Path of Water¡¯! ¡®Freezing Area¡¯!¡±

    A pir of water stretched out in front of Sally, and at the same time, a pale, freezing current was unleashed from her body . Everything around Sally began to freeze at a rapid rate . One of Sally¡¯s des was enveloped in fire from Oboro, and the other was covered in ice from ¡®Freezing Area . ¡¯

    As fire and ice flew around her, she freezed the path and charged towards the boss in order to m it into the ground once again .

    ¡°I can move a lot better in the air now! ¡®Icicle¡¯!¡±

    With skills to make footholds in the air and skills that shot webs, she made her way through the boss¡¯s storm of fire with all the agility of someone running on the ground . Using hit and run tactics, she dealt damage to the boss .

    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s looking this way now¡­¡±

    For the moment, Sally was the only one who was attacking, and so the boss turned towards Sally, and all of the mes were directed towards her .

    However, that was what she wanted . Now, she just needed to dodge all of them .

    ¡°Concentrate¡­!¡±

    As it was arge boss, its attacks weren¡¯t very intricate . It was more about burning everything . And so Sally concentrated on staying in the air in order to avoid the fire on the floor .

    Besides, there had been a stronger and more precise boss in this vein during the previous event on the tower¡¯s 10th floor . And so Sally was able to dodge the attacks as if she could predict the future .

    ¡°Frederica, Mi, Maple! Are you finished preparing yet?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯m fine!¡±

    ¡°No problem here . ¡±

    ¡°I finished casting the buffs!¡±

    ¡°In that case, ¡®Super elerate¡¯! Oboro, ¡®Spirited Away¡¯!¡±

    Sally elerated, using Oboro¡¯s skill to disappear as the ws shot towards her back . And then she dashed to where Maple and the others waited .

    Here, the erged Syrup and Iginis stood . Maple had her weapons, and Mi was surrounded in fire .

    ¡°Alright . As a finishing touch, Knots, ¡®Amplify¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Murderous Inferno¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯! ¡®Hydra¡¯! ¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯!¡±

    As Frederica strengthened the force of their skills, the others used their powerful skills, and Syrup and Ignis unleashed fire and light rays .

    They crashed into the purple mes, causing a magnificent disy of effects . However, the power of the buffs that had been cast while Sally distracted the boss had an effect, and the attacks pushed back the mes, destroying the cocoon and causing a huge explosion .

    By the time that the lights faded away, the cocoon was in small pieces, and ck smoke rose from the boss¡¯s body as it sttered on the ground before crumbling away and disappearing .

    ¡°Phew . Yes! We won!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it was a good fight . Thank you, Frederica . ¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s worth casting buffs when you take it down like that!¡±

    ¡°It looks like we got medals too . Now we can go back with smiles on our faces . ¡±

    ¡°Alright, now let¡¯s be careful on our return so that we don¡¯t die!¡±

    They would likely be thest ones to return . But the four believed that the others would make it back safely . It was with such thought that they left the dungeon behind them .

 Chapter 323

    Chapter 323

    Defense Specialization and the Final Day

    When Maple and her team returned to the base, they found that the other twelve had already arrived . They had all made it back safely . Maple waved happily and rushed towards them when they came into view .

    ¡°Good work everyone! Things went so well!¡±

    ¡°Ah, so you did well too . Our dungeon was¡­a little annoying . But we managed . ¡±

    ¡°Our strategy involved buffing Payne most of the time, so it was pretty easy . ¡±

    ¡°Everyone was strong, so we had no trouble!¡±

    ¡°Everyone was strong, so we had no trouble!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great! Ah, thank you for exploring with us today . Thanks to you all, we got so many medals!¡±

    Maple happily thanked ¡®Congregation of Holy Swords¡¯ and ¡®Kingdom of the me Emperors . ¡¯ But Payne and Mi said that it was they who were thankful .

    ¡°We would have been lucky to just get one medal if we went by ourselves . So you really did us a favor . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah . Cooperation isn¡¯t bad after all . ¡±

    They said with smiles . Maple was so happy that she smiled too .

    ¡°Let¡¯s do our best on the third day too!¡±

    ¡°Of course . ¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll do our best to survive until the end . ¡±

    While they were rivals, they were also friends . And so it was only normal for them to root for each other .

    ¡°I¡¯ll take the night¡¯s watch . Think of it as a thank you for the base and the medals . ¡±

    ¡°Me too . We¡¯ll work to make up for the shared space . ¡±

    ¡°Ehehe . Thank you!¡±

    But Maple said that she woulde to help if anything happened, and then she ran to the shared space .

    While they took turns watching for enemies, they were all able to rest quietly . And so they were in good condition on the third day .

    Maple got out of bed and stretched before heading to the next room where Sally was .

    Sally was justing out of her room, and so they bumped into each other .

    ¡°Morning! We¡¯re in the third day now . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . And since we already gathered enough medals, we should focus on survival . ¡±

    ¡°Oh, right! The map and messaging¡­¡±

    ¡°The message feature is still disabled . However, things seem to be a little different with the map . Well, you¡¯ll understand when you see it . ¡±

    When Maple opened the map, she saw that there were numerous blue spots disyed all over it . And there were some red spots as well .

    ¡°What is this? Oh, there¡¯s something written . Uhh, the blue dots are yers and the red ones are special monsters?¡±

    ¡°Yes . So you can team up with others in order to survive . But for them to appear on the map, these monsters must be boss ss . After all, anyone who survived this long would be able to kill normal monsters quite easily . ¡±

    ¡°Hmm . I see . ¡±

    It was unlikely that Maple and the others would leave their base today, unless they absolutely had to . The only thing they could see on the map were the yers, and not which guild they were from . And so it was unlikely that ¡®Congregation of Holy Swords¡¯ or the ¡®me Emperors¡¯ would leave either .

    In other words, they would stay here and prepare to drive any enemies back . They just needed to stick to the strategy that they were the best at .

    ¡°It also bothers me that the third day is shorter than the first and second . I doubt they just made the time that we need to survive shorter and that¡¯s it . ¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Sally . I¡¯m sure we can win if we all fight together!¡±

    ¡°¡­Hehe . I suppose so . There¡¯s no point in overthinking it . ¡±

    It was necessary to have a degree of flexibility in order to adapt to different situations . After some time, the others all got up and came out of their rooms . And then they prepared so that they could fight at a moment¡¯s notice .

    Maple and Sally went to check the screen that Marx had set up .

    As they had gone through the trouble of going outst night, he had set up even more cameras outside, which gave them an expanded view of the area .

    ¡°How useful¡­ I think I might search for a skill like this . ¡±

    ¡°I bet you could make good use out of it, Sally . Ah, there¡¯s a monster . ¡±

    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s noting inside¡­ I guess something is different now?¡±

    Even though it was the third day, it was still dark outside, and the devil monsters were crawling all over the ce . As they sat in the shared space and watched the screen for a while, something very interesting popped up on the screen .

    ¡°Ah, Sally! There!¡±

    ¡°Hmm? It¡¯s the thing from yesterday¡­¡±

    On one of the feeds, they could see that a purple mist had suddenly broken out . And after a few seconds, the familiar gate made of purple light appeared .

    Their eyes were glued to the screen . The Fake Maples were nowing out of it and walking around .

    ¡°Did it move over here then?¡±

    ¡°Maybe¡­or there are more?¡±

    They didn¡¯t know if this one also connected to a dungeon, but Sally thought it was more natural to assume that they were multiplying . The easiest way to raise the difficulty was to change HP and statuses or increase the number of enemies .

    ¡°If they are appearing in other areas too¡­this could be bad . There is a limit to how many we can deal with . ¡±

    Maple and the other would need skills and magic in order to fight so many monsters . Unless they were very powerful ones, they wouldn¡¯t be able to kill monsters in one hit .

    Payne and Mi had trump cards like ¡®Light Sword of the Holy Dragon¡¯ and ¡®Murderous Inferno,¡¯ but they could not be used repeatedly .

    ¡°We might be forced to go out . After all, we won¡¯t be able to do anything if so many monsters attack so that the ce is filled up . But if we¡¯re outside, we could at least run away . ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡±

    However, Sally added that they wouldn¡¯t know until the time came . And so she took out an apple from her inventory .

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s important to be able to adapt . Oh, do you want one too?¡±

    ¡°Yes, thanks! Where did you get them?¡±

    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s just that you¡¯re always bringing food like this . So I thought that I should return the favor once in a while . ¡±

    ¡°Hehe . Then I¡¯ll give you something too . . ¡±

    Like this, they spent their morning peacefully . The other members also had nothing to do until the monsters attacked, and so they all rested .

    However, they were in the middle of an event where the objective was to survive . The monsters were not so kind as to allow them to rx for long .

    The monster ambush was approaching .

 Chapter 324

    Chapter 324

    Defense Specialization and the Great Final Battle

    After some time had passed, the monsters began to move like an avnche . Mi and Payne were staring at the screen now as well, and watched their number increase .

    ¡°This¡­ It might be more dangerous inside of the cave . ¡±

    ¡°Yes, I agree . Besides, I think there¡¯ll be a difference in how long this daysts . ¡±

    ¡°Even now, it takes so many people to deal with them . ¡±

    Mi and Payne had been able to use powerful attacks to wipe out hordes in one go on the second day . But now monsters were apanied by buffs and debuffs . They would have to cooperate and carefully make their way forward if they wanted to survive .

    Sally had been apprehensive about it . Would these two be able to survive the onught?

    ¡°Thankfully, we have a few emergency escape methods . Depending on the situation, we can escape from here . ¡±

    Ignis, Ray, and Syrup could fly . Of course, there were monstersing out of the gate that could fly as well, but it still meant that there would be fewer enemies to deal with .

    ¡°Sally . Let¡¯s discuss it with the others . I think it would be best if all 16 of us stuck together if we wish to survive!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true . Let¡¯s do that then . ¡±

    After they gathered together and discussed what to do, they decided that they would escape the cave after getting through the first wave .

    They would head to the mountain in the center of the map . Once they were near the top, it would be easy to see which monsters wereing . And it would also be easy to escape .

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get this first wave over with and go outside!¡±

    Maple said, and then they waited for the ambush . As there was a set time between attacks Izu started to retrieve all of the items she had used to set up the living space . Once the cave returned to its former, empty state, the awaited ambush finally arrived .

    However, there weren¡¯t as many monsters as they feared . And since they were a group of 16, they were able to annihte all of the enemies without getting hurt .

    ¡°Now¡¯s the time!¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go!¡±

    Those who were the fastest took the lead . The three who were the slowest rode on Tsukimi and Yukimi in order to quickly escape .

    Once they were outside, it was decided that ¡®Congregation of Holy Swords¡¯ would ride on Ray, ¡®me Emperors¡¯ on Ignis, and Maple Tree on Syrup .

    But as Syrup wasn¡¯t originally meant to be able to fly, it was quite slow . Furthermore, unlike Ray and Ignis, Syrup was not able to dodge the attacks of the flying monsters .

    However, as long as Maple was riding Syrup, and as long as they didn¡¯t have piercing attacks, the hordes could be dealt with easily .

    Even if the monsters could get close, they couldn¡¯t hurt them . As they fought the monsters and flew, they saw the mountain ahead of them, where the 8 others were waiting .

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s kill these monsters and go down!¡±

    Maple changed her equipment and activated ¡®Poltergeist . ¡¯ Then she used thesers from her weapons to target each one and burn them out of the air .

    The other members helped her . And once they were finished, Syrup descended on the top of the mountain .

    ¡°Phew . Now we just have to survive here!¡±

    ¡°Yes . We¡¯ll be able to tell if something is wrong immediately if we stay here . And it will also be easier to deal with it . ¡±

    While it was a little dark, they could see the variedndscape around them . Their vision was wide enough that they would be able to notice and tackle anything that appeared .

    ¡°I¡¯ll set up some items in the area . I don¡¯t want them to reach us without a little resistance . ¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go and protect you . ¡±

    ¡°Me too . Then it won¡¯t matter if you¡¯re surrounded . ¡±

    ¡°That will help . Thanks . ¡±

    Chrome and Kasumi apanied Izu as she went to set up some items to intercept the enemy . Marx also went with them and made some preparations of his own .

    There were ces where the paths were narrow or unstable . And it was these ces that they would set up a great amount of traps .

    That meant that the first wave of monsters that came crawling up the hill, would probably end up rolling back down .

    While some of the members made preparations, the other members watched their surroundings from every direction .

    ¡°Nothing here! ¡­? Sally? What is it?¡±

    ¡°Mm . Uh, open up your map . ¡±

    She obeyed Sally and opened her map . What she noticed was that there were fewer yers on the map, and there were more red dots, which represented special monsters .

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s because everyone really is just running away . The red dots aren¡¯t decreasing at all . ¡±

    ¡°Well, you have to survive . ¡±

    ¡°Yes . We haven¡¯t been going out and killing them either . But¡­I have a bad feeling about this . ¡±

    Was it really alright to ignore the special monsters, when they were being pointed out to them on the map? Sally wondered about this, but there was no definite answer based on the information she had .

    ¡°We¡¯ll just have to wait . ¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! If something happens, I¡¯ll protect you!¡±

    Maple said as she raised her shield .

 Chapter 325

    Chapter 325

    Hehe . Thanks . You¡¯re so reliable . ¡±

    As they were on top of the mountain, their strategy would be much the same as when they were in the cave . They would fight the enemy from an advantageous position . Sally decided that there was no point in thinking about special monsters that they couldn¡¯t touch, and so she focused on joining Maple in intercepting the monsters that flew towards them .

    Having such an open view was a great advantage . They could detect monsters in advance and it was easier to react .

    Like this, the 16 of them were able to survive until the final monster strengthening time arrived .

    It would be one hour . This was significantly shorter than previous times, and it made them even more nervous .

    There would be some kind of surprise . And they were right .

    As soon as it started, they saw that purple mes were appearing all over the map and shooting up to the sky .

    Sally quickly checked her map and saw that they aligned with the positions of the special monsters .

    There were dozens of them scattered all over the ce .

    Then the mes gathered in one point and created a giant gate . And from there, a familiar monster appeared .

    ¡°Sally! Doesn¡¯t that look like the thing we defeated!?¡±

    ¡°But the size is iparable!¡±

    It had many arms and shot fire from its wings . It looked a lot like the monster that hade out of the cocoon on the second night . The only difference was that this one looked more full grown . Its limbs and body were thicker . And even from far away on top of the mountain, they could see that the body that was enveloped by fire was huge .

    ¡°Fifty¡­no, a hundred?¡±

    ¡°What? Why does it look stronger than the real one now?¡±

    Mi and Frederica also reacted to the sight . Once its body waspletely out of the gate, it stretched its arms out wide and let out a deafening roar that shook the air .

    At the same time, the body that was surrounded in purple fire underwent a change .

    ¡°Something ising¡­! Above!¡±

    ¡°Huh!? That!?¡±

    From the starless sky, giant balls of purple fire shot down like a meteor shower .

    It seemed like they were targeting ces with yers . And of course, they came down to the mountain as well .

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah!¡±

    If it was the same as the boss on the second day, it would deal damage that Maple¡¯s defenses couldn¡¯t nullify .

    But she and Sally could practically read each other¡¯s minds . Maple immediately knew what Sally was thinking, and changed her equipment ordingly .

    ¡°¡®Heal¡¯!¡±

    She received Sally¡¯s healing as she put on her archangel equipment . Then Maple looked straight at the falling ball of fire .

    ¡°¡®Aegis¡¯!¡±

    Right before the fireballs hit them, a dome of light appeared and nullified all of the damage, protecting Maple and the others from the rain of fire .

    ¡°Earth! ¡®Earth Control¡¯!¡±

    As the ground continued to burn, Drag dealt with it with Aegis, before the effect died down . By returning the burning ground to its original state, he was able to nullify all of the mes .

    ¡°Nice one, Maple!¡±

    ¡°Yes! But¡­¡±

    If the next attack came right away, she would not be able to use the same tactic . From up on the mountain, they could see that the rain of fire was burning the fields . It was clear that this initial attack alone had wiped out a lot of yers off of the map . Even worse, pirs of fire were rising out of the special monsters again . And the giant devils walked around, searching for more yers and spreading their fire .

    ¡°Payne, Maple . We won¡¯t survive an hour of this . I think we should take the risk and hunt down the special monsters . ¡±

    ¡°Ye-yes . I agree!¡±

    ¡°And not just that . I¡¯m pretty sure that it will be difficult to survive this hour if all you do is run . I think you¡¯ll need to take down that giant monster . ¡±

    The giant devil had an HP bar that was disyed . So unlike the snail that had chased Maple around in the second event, this was clearly something that you could defeat .

    ¡°It¡¯s possible . In any case, we have no choice but to move quickly around the field and kill the special monsters . Marx, Misery, Shin!¡±

    Mi called the three of them and they got on top of Ignis . Simrly, Payne called Dred and the others and they got on Ray . As it seemed like the fireballs were targetingrger groups of yers, they decided it would be best to split up here, and focus on taking down the horde of special monsters .

    ¡°We¡¯ll go too . It¡¯s best for those with great mobility to take them down quickly . ¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s survive this and reunite to take down that huge devil!¡±

    And so the eight of them left in order to crush the monsters . Maple Tree also had something they had to do .

    ¡°Wh-what should we do, Sally!?¡±

    ¡°With our speed, it will be difficult to move around on the ground and kill the monsters . And Syrup is too slow¡­ So the only thing we can do is prevent that huge boss from killing other yers . ¡±

    Every time the fire fell, the number of yers went down . That meant it would take even longer to annihte the special monsters . In that case, it would be the most effective if they slowed the boss down and tried to stagger it .

    ¡°You know, we¡¯re better at fighting bosses than running around . ¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s not a bad idea . We can take it down and be the center of attention . ¡±

    ¡°If there¡¯s no point in running around, then we might as well face it with all of our power . ¡±

    If they were going to do it, they had to go all out . Maple nodded firmly and they all got on top of Syrup . Then they flew straight towards the giant devil .

 Chapter 325.2

    Defense Specialization and Under the Sand

    They were now under the sand. There were neat walls and floors made of sandstone. And there were lights installed at equal intervals that showed them that they were currently inside of a building.

    ¡°We should have told you sooner.¡±

    ¡°Ohh, I¡¯m sorry. This is my fault. I¡¯ve fallen into dungeons like this before, so I knew that it could happen.¡±

    During the second event, Maple had also been swallowed up in sand and was dropped into a dungeon with snails. Apparently, certain gimmicks and boss monsters were being recycled. And since they could not return to the field of the second event, it was a perfect gimmick to reuse.

    ¡°We knew that it was here. But we¡¯ve never gone inside¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll get even more experience if we kill the boss¡­I think. So don¡¯t worry. Let¡¯s keep going.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    As Velvet and Hinata had general information about the monsters in this dungeon, they did not feel very nervous as they started to explore.

    ¡°It should just be a lot of golems like the ones we saw up there. So let¡¯s get through it as quickly as possible.¡±

    ording to their information, the goal was below. And so they walked in a straight line towards the lower level. Overall, the dungeon was built like an ants nest, and there were many paths and chambers.

    Maple constantly had Dedicated Affection activated, and she used her weapons to fire at the monsters as soon as they appeared. The other two attacked with magic at the same time, and the monsters were quickly obliterated.

    Like this, they reached the first chamber without any trouble. It was then that three golems that unlike the ones on the surface, were made entirely of sand, rose up.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Maple faced the approaching sand giants and unleashed her bullets and beams. However, they went right through their bodies instead of damaging them.

    ¡°Hmm. I guess it¡¯s no use.¡±

    ¡°It seems like it has to be attacks with attributes.¡±

    In that case, it¡¯s our turn. Velvet and Hinata seemed to say as they prepared their magic. But before they could do anything, the giant bodies crumbled back into loose sand. However, they then reappeared back in their original shape right before their eyes.

    And they all attacked. However, such ambushes were meaningless as long as they stayed within range of Maple¡¯s Dedicated Affection.

    And so while fists of sand were mming down right over Maple¡¯s head, the only thing it caused was a dull ring.

    And since Hinata knew that she was within its range, she abandoned any thoughts of dodging as she damaged the enemy with water and wind magic.

    ¡°Tsk¡­ ¡®Water Spear¡¯!¡±

    Velvet instinctively started to dodge it but then realized that there was no need. She paused mid step and then unleashed her magic. However, this unnecessary movement affected her aim.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine! You two should focus on attacking!¡±

    She reminded them that there was no need to dodge attacks. And so Bizarre Eater would not go to waste, she didn¡¯t hold her shield up, but just used ¡®Provoke¡¯ as she stood there so all of the attacks would be concentrated on her. A fist that was the same size as her continued to pound on her head.

    ¡°Phew. I would probably be hammered into the ground if the floor wasn¡¯t so hard.¡±

    Maple decided to sit down and wait for the other two to finish killing the golems.

    The golems would make sand burst out from the ground or create underlings or barriers of sand. And while it was all quite impressive that they kept changing strategies as they attacked Maple, the worst they could do was bury her in sand. And so without being able to do anything, they were eventually killed by magic.

    ¡°Are-are you okay¡­? You got buried.¡±

    ¡°Well, her HP hasn¡¯t gone down.¡±

    In front of them there was a big mountain of sand and some hair poking out of the top. As there was no more danger in the area, the two started to dig Maple out.

    ¡°Thank you! The monsters¡­¡±

    ¡°Hinata and I destroyed them.¡±

    ¡°Uh, thank you¡­for luring them.¡±

    While the encounter rate was much lower herepared to the surface, they also earned more experience points, so their level grinding was going well as they continued.

    ¡°The monsters should be different once we reach the lower floors.¡±

    ¡°What kind of monsters?¡±

    ¡°Mummies, I think? ¡­You know, those things that are all wrapped up.¡±

    ¡°While we know they¡¯re different, we don¡¯t know all of their attack patterns, so we¡¯ll have to be careful.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    The three of them killed a few more sand golems as they descended. And just like Velvet said, the monsters that came out started to change. Instead of sand golems, the monsters that appeared were humanoid and wrapped up in old bandages. There were eerie red eyes that glowed from between the gaps of their wrappings. And they gave off a very different impression from the power fighters that were the golems.

    ¡°For these kinds of enemies¡­ ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯!¡±

    Maple called out the pure white throne and sat on it. Then she activated a shining field on the ground. Velvet¡¯s eyes widened. She had not expected Maple to have even more rare skills like this.

    ¡°This thing allows me to seal a lot of skills for monsters like zombies and ghosts!¡±

    ¡°I see. That will be useful.¡±

    However, while they had anticipated that these monsters would have some kind of troublesome method of attack, they were currently just trying to bite and scratch Maple.

    ¡°Usually I can move around while on this throne, but there isn¡¯t enough space here¡­¡±

    As she would not be able to use it for a while if she erased it once, it was difficult to use in environments where she couldn¡¯t set it on Syrup¡¯s back.

    ¡°Uhh, I see that it¡¯s very useful¡­ Um, I hope you can use it during the boss fight.¡±

    The boss in this area was a giant mummy that would summon all of the monsters they had seen on the way. If Maple was able to make not just the golems, but also the mummies harmless, they would be able to kill the boss quickly and go back outside. And so Maple quickly activated her skill in order to kill the mummies that were swarming around them.

    ¡°Alright, ¡®Predator¡¯ won¡¯t work, so¡­ ¡®Deploy all Weapons¡¯!¡±

    Maple spread out her weapons and the mummies were blown away by the cannons and they fell to the ground. As their movements were slow, Maple was able to target them easily with her bullets.

    ¡°Hmm. They have a lot of HP, though.¡±

    But she continued to direct her cannons at them and fired at point nk. Even the tough mummies could not survive this, and they fell down and burst into light.

    ¡°Well, at least they¡¯re slow. So it¡¯s easy¡­ah, you¡¯re done.¡±

    They decided to kill the rest that they encountered with gunfire and ranged attacks as they headed to the boss room. While she couldn¡¯t keep using Throne of the Heavenly King, it wasn¡¯t too much trouble when she had Dedicated Affection. Ultimately, the three of them reached the boss room without taking any damage. And here they waited until Maple could use Throne of the Heavenly King again, and then they charged into the room.

 Chapter 326.1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 326

    Defense Specialization and a Rival

    What greeted the trio as they stepped into the boss room, was a mummy that was wrapped up in light purple bandages. And it was about three times their height.

    It also had red eyes that could be seen through the gaps of its wrappings, much like the other mummies. And since the eyes were muchrger, the trio could see the eerie glow even at a distance.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this!¡±

    Maple ran on ahead of the others, and then activated ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯ in the center of the room, so that the boss would be within range of their magic. Then Maple sat on the throne and looked at the boss.

    It was letting out a disturbing moan, and in reply, mummies and golems began to appear from the ground. However, these mummies had a ck aura about them, and the golems were wielding spears made of sand.

    ¡°Uh, now they have spears¡­ Velvet! Could you please kill the golems with spears first.¡±

    Velvet was quick to understand that Maple didn¡¯t like piercing attacks, and she promised to take them down first.

    As Maple was sitting on the throne, some of her powerful skills were sealed. This meant her methods of attack had to change.

    ¡°¡®Provoke¡¯! Syrup, ¡®Red Garden,¡¯ ¡®White Garden,¡¯ ¡®Sinking Earth¡¯!¡±

    The glowing field spread out from around the throne, and then the field was covered in white and red flowers. When the monsters near Maple stepped within reach of the pretty flowers, they sunk into the ground and were assaulted by debuffs.

    ¡°¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    The flowers were not affected by the poison, and they continued to bloom proudly. The purple just made the scene even more colorful as it tore away the HP of the monsters. A ce you should not approach. A forbidden area. The biggest weakness of these monsters was that they did not know this.

    While Maple bound up the monsters surrounding her, Velvet and Hinata mmed the boss and the golems with magic attacks.

    ¡°Yes! This is going well!¡±

    Monsters had attack patterns. And if all of them were ineffective against Maple, it would be a one-sided fight unless they could do something new. And while the boss mummy had buffs that increased its attack power, it was hardly enough, and it seemed like the throne was preventing any of its debuff skills from being activated.

    ¡°To- ¡®Tornado¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Alright, me too!¡±

    Hinata unleashed a tornado that picked up all of the weak monsters, while also dealing great damage to the boss. And with Maple¡¯s weapons now joining in, the boss¡¯s HP went below the halfway point.

    As the three waited to see what would happen next, the boss moaned loudly and the room began to shake. At the same time, a white, cold wind exuded from the boss and blew through the room. It enveloped the three, starting with Maple, resulting in the deactivating of all of their skills and buffs.

    ¡°What!? Are you kidding?!¡±

    Because all of Maple¡¯s skills were very powerful, they had long cooldown times. It was impossible for her to bring back the powerful fields immediately. Not only that, but all of the debuffs from the boss and mummies that the throne had been blocking now suddenly assaulted them. And since Dedicated Affection was no longer enough to protect them, their statuses dropped dramatically.

    That being said, the effect on Maple was still quite low, but the same could not be said for the other two.

    ¡°¡®Provoke¡¯! ¡®Savagery¡¯!¡±

    In order to survive until the debuffs wore off, Maple used ¡®Provoke¡¯ again and then activated Savagery. And with this monster skin, she went wild. The debuffs meant that Maple was doing almost no damage, but it had the merit of preventing her from dying immediately.

    The spears of the golems had piercing attacks, just as she had predicted, and she dodged them as much as possible while blocking the attacks of the boss, so that they would not reach the other two. As the throne was gone, none of the boss¡¯s skills were sealed. And when Maple came close to it, it put both its hands on the ground so that a dark fog-like puddle appeared. The puddle began to spread out ominously, but Maple could do nothing to stop it. It was the same with the other two. They parried the attacks of the monsters and waited for a chance to counter.

    ¡°Uhh, what should I do¡­ Huh?¡±

    Just after the fog spread throughout the entire room, Maple felt the sensation of the floor disappearing beneath her, and she was swallowed up by the ck fog. A secondter, her vision returned, but the boss that should have been right in front of her was now far away. Furthermore, she could see the backs of the other two in front of her.

    ¡°Woah! We traded ces!?¡±

    Velvet and Hinata were now surrounded by the monsters, and Maple was in the back. Preparing monsters, deactivating skill, casting debuffs and messing up your formation. That¡¯s what this boss did.

    ¡°Cover Move¡­doesn¡¯t reach¡­!¡±

    As the debuffs were making her even slower, she could not use Savagery to run, or deactivate it and fly through self-destruction. She would not make it in time.

    Maple ran forward anyway. But then the boss¡¯s fists, which was enveloped in a ck aura, came down over the two as if to make doubly sure that they died. The situation had changed too suddenly for them, and it was clear that they would be hit by the attack.

    That¡¯s when Velvet suddenly took a step forward as if by reflex, and opened up her umbre in order to protect Hinata, as the fists rammed into her.

    ¡°Ha! You¡¯ll have to do more than that! ¡®Second Coming of the Thunder God¡¯!¡±

    Velvet shouted loudly, and with a great roar, a pale blue and thick bolt of lightning shot out. It ran through the ground, burning and binding all the monsters and even the boss.

    As the electricity crackled, Velvet looked at Hinata with an ¡®I shouldn¡¯t have done that¡¯ expression.

    ¡°Let¡¯s escape for now.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes.¡±

    Velvet picked up Hinata and jumped with the thunder. Like that, they easily escaped the circle of monsters, andnded by the shocked Maple.

    ¡°Huh? What?!¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯ll exinter.¡±

    ¡°I think¡­the guys at the guild are going to say that you¡¯re honest to a fault¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, Maple showed us a lot too. And she protected us. It¡¯s our turn now!¡±

 Chapter 326.2

    ¡°Uh, th-thank you?¡±

    Maple couldn¡¯t quite understand what was happening. In the meantime, Velvet changed some of her equipment in front of her. While her clothes were the same, it was now very clear what her weapon was.

    It was a pair of giant gauntlets. The steel fists were several timesrger than her real hands. As she clutched them, Velvetughed reassuringly. Pale bolts of lightning were still erupting around her.

    ¡°Hinata, I¡¯ll be expecting your full support!¡±

    ¡°Ye-yes! Haa¡­ Here I go.¡±

    Hinata squeezed her doll as if she were gaining courage from doing so, and then she activated her skills as the monsters rushed towards her.

    ¡°¡®Chain of Stars,¡¯ ¡®Cocytus.¡¯¡±

    Just as Hinata activated the skills, the monsters that were walking towards her suddenly stopped, as if they had been bound to the ground. Then the white fog that was emitting from Hinata crackled around them, freezing the monsters solid.

    Due to these powerful obstructions, the monsters were unable to even touch the pair.

    ¡°¡®Disaster Spread,¡¯ ¡®Gravity Creak,¡¯ ¡®Weak Ice Statue.¡¯¡±

    Every time that Hinata said the words, the imprisoned monsters were hit by damage increasing debuffs. These did not do any direct damage to the monsters. However, once the effect started to wear off and the monsters were about to start moving again, Hinata mmed them with more spells that prevented them from moving or attacking.

    In that case, who was dealing the damage? It was obvious.

    ¡°¡®Center of the Storm,¡¯ ¡®Rain of Thunder¡¯!¡±

    Another bolt of lightning shot out from Velvet, scorching the ground as even more lightning struck from above, hitting all the monsters within a certain area.

    As long as they were all bound by Hinata, the monsters could not escape, even though they knew the attack wasing. It wouldn¡¯t matter if they were monsters or not.

    The boss was the only one to survive, and Velvet walked up to it and raised her fists.

    ¡°¡®Chain Thunder Attack¡¯!¡±

    The boss¡¯s movements had been sealedpletely, and as her fists rammed into him with the sound of splitting air, thunder exploded. It got stronger every time she unleashed it. The boss¡¯s body burned, and its HP gauge was blown away.

    ¡°Oh, woah!! That¡¯s amazing!!¡±

    Still in the form of a monster, Maple¡¯s eyes glimmered in awe as she watched the glorious disy of the two killing the enemy. And all four of her arms waved excitedly.

    After the three left the dungeon, they sat down in a safe zone where no monsters appeared, and they began to talk.

    ¡°Miss Velvet. So you weren¡¯t a magic user after all!¡±

    ¡°Just call me Velvet. It will be easier for both of us.¡±

    Unlike Maple¡¯s first impression of her, Velvet was now very lively as she smiled. She was much more natural now. And so Maple decided she would act like her usual self as well.

    ¡°Sorry for hiding stuff from you. The people at the guild wanted me to gather information about strong yers.¡±

    ¡°Is that for when you have to fight other yers?¡±

    ¡°Exactly! In order to gain an advantage¡­ I wanted to see you in action.¡±

    ¡°Uh, I see¡­¡±

    Not only had Maple shown off a lot of her skills, but she had even let them find out her weakness during the boss fight.

    ¡°Of course, that¡¯s all very important, but I actually prefer fighting boldly and head on! I mean¡­¡±

    While it hadn¡¯t seemed like Velvet was intentionally showing off during the boss fight, it¡¯s not like it would have been such a great problem if Velvet just held back and lost either. So Maple thought that she was likely telling the truth. The sudden danger was just an opportunity, and she always meant to go all out.

    ¡°The people at the guild keep telling me to hide it more¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, it really was amazing!¡±

    If they fought someone who didn¡¯t know anything about them, Hinata would be able to bind their movements before they could take any action, and then Velvet would be able to do whatever she wanted, which included thunder attacks over a wide area and close quartersbat.

    There was no doubt that hiding these skills would give them a great advantage.

    ¡°But if I¡¯m going to fight, I want it to be fair! Besides, you¡¯re a rival too, Maple.¡±

    Velvet said confidently. Then sheughed as if this was a challenge.

    ¡°But, are you sure? It sounds like the others in your guild won¡¯t be very happy¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, it wasn¡¯t a one side thing. It¡¯s fine, because I saw your skills as well!¡±

    She seemed to think that it was fine, but Maple saw that Hinata was looking at the ground with a conflicted expression. Clearly, this wasn¡¯t the first time Velvet had done something like this.

    ¡°Still, we have other trump cards that we haven¡¯t shown yet.¡±

    ¡°Yes, so do I!¡±

    ¡°What!? You still have more?!¡±

    Velvet was quite shocked by this, as all of them could have been someone¡¯s final trump card, however, it also made her look forward to fighting Maple one day. And so sheughed.

    ¡°I had wanted to meet you for a while. So I¡¯m d that we finally did.¡±

    ¡°It really was just a coincidence.¡±

    Now that Maple thought back, the lightning had likely been created by Velvet. But since it was on an even bigger scale than what she saw in the dungeons, it was probably true that she still had other skills up her sleeve.

    ¡°Ah, were you also talking differently so that people didn¡¯t recognize you?¡±

    Now she knew that Velvet fought with gauntlets, but her clothes had remained the same duringbat. Perhaps she had some other main set, just like Maple did.

    ¡°This is my number one set!¡±

    ¡°Velvet got it from a boss¡­and now she¡¯s practicing being more graceful, to match it better.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see¡­¡±

    This had no deep meaning, nor was it guild strategy. It was just Velvet¡¯s personal decision.

    ¡°Hmm, it really is hard. They say that I¡¯m too energetic, normally.¡±

    While she had even changed her hair in order to fit her outfit, her fighting style was so different. She was an expert in hand to hand, total annihtionbat. But her true nature always came out immediately. However, she didn¡¯t seem to really care about this. Even now, she was sitting cross-legged andughing with amusement.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it is. I don¡¯t know when the next PvP event will happen, but I will fight my hardest when it does.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Uh, but maybe not your hardest¡­¡±

    ¡°Ahaha! That, I cannot do.¡±

    ¡°Uh, well then. I and the others of Maple Tree will do our best!¡±

    ¡°And so will our guild!¡±

    ¡°But first¡­you have to tell them that Maple saw some of your skills¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm. That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°W-was it really okay?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Besides, I¡¯m the Guild Master, and they all understand me!¡±

    Maple¡¯s eyes widened in surprise when she heard that Velvet was the Guild Master. Then she heard the name of the guild. It was arge guild known as ¡®thunder storm,¡¯ and during the fourth event, they had seen incredible growth and entered the top ten in the rankings. And this pair were the top two in the guild.

    ¡°I want to y with you again! And when that happens, I¡¯ll show you some of my other skills!¡±

    Velvet¡¯s eyes shone as she said this. In the meantime, Hinata whispered into Maple¡¯s ear.

    ¡°Actually¡­I think it¡¯s not just about being fair and honest. She just likes showing off her cool skills.¡±

    ¡°I think I understand that.¡±

    The root of Velvet¡¯s mindset was that she simply wanted to share with others what she felt was fun. And since it was rather simr with Maple, she nodded in agreement at Hinata.

    Velvet then suggested that they add each other as friends, and then they got on the horses and returned to the town.

    ¡°Rivals, huh¡­¡±

    Maple thought about how no one like that had appeared in this game since she started. However she imagined that Sally must have been like this for a while.

 Chapter 327.1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 327

    Defense Specialization and the Underground

    The next day, Maple and Sally decided to go sightseeing together again. They were currently talking in a cafe that was in a town with stone buildings, located on the secondyer.

    ¡°Huh, friends.¡±

    ¡°Yes! I just happened to be searching for the next ce to go, and met them by ident!¡±

    These friends that Maple was talking about were Velvet and Hinata.

    ¡°The guild is called ¡®thunder storm,¡¯ and she¡¯s the Guild Master there!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of that guild. They caused quite a scene during the fourth event. I think I remember seeing someone use thunder magic in the highlight reel.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. There was this incredible pir of lightning. It became so bright that you couldn¡¯t see any yers on screen.¡±

    Velvet was likely in the center of that. And if you couldn¡¯t see anyone¡¯s face, then it was no wonder that Maple didn¡¯t recognize her.

    ¡°So she¡¯s that strong. Ah! Also, she was punching down monsters. Just like you Sally!¡±

    Maple made fists and started punching the air.

    ¡°Well, my ¡®Martial Arts¡¯ skill is rted to dodging, and I got it by ident. So it¡¯s a little different.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Maple looked a little disappointed, realizing that she couldn¡¯t copy it. Sally listened to Maple talk about the skills the pair were using, and she nodded.

    ¡°They sound really strong. So, this Hinata kid focuses on casting debuffs, while Velvet deals with the enemy with her incredible firepower¡­¡±

    Both the high power fists and the lightning with wide range had weaknesses. The former had little range, and theter could be nullified with skills, or the enemy could escape the area of effect.

    However, it was a different story when Hinata was next to her.

    ¡°It¡¯s easy to hit opponents with skills if they don¡¯t move. Right, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Yes. But I doubt I could hit you, Sally¡­¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re strong because they can stop someone¡¯s movementspletely and hit them.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes.¡±

    ¡°Well, in other words, I¡¯m not a good match for them.¡±

    At the end of the day, Sally mainly focused on close quarters attacks. That meant she would have to step within range of the lightning attacks and debuffs. And so if she were alone, it would be very tough for her to take on Velvet and Hinata.

    ¡°Well, you said that she likes facing enemies head on. So maybe I can avoid fighting her if I¡¯m careful.¡±

    ¡°She gave me apletely different impression when I first met her, so I was shocked when I talked to her after the dungeon. Do you want to meet them next time, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Yeah, I¡¯m interested. Though, from the sound of it, she¡¯s not the type who likes to go around and gather information. However, information is important.¡±

    There was a limit to how much you could aplish by dodging attacks and relying on your reflexes alone. It was important to know the attack range of a skill as well.

    ¡°Okay, then we¡¯ll go and meet them next time! They¡¯re also a pair, so I want to introduce you!¡±

    ¡°Hehe. Do you mean partners?¡±

    ¡°Yes! That¡¯s right!¡±

    Maple said without hesitation, and Sally couldn¡¯t help but smile. Then she turned to Maple again and answered.

    ¡°¡­In that case, I better not disappoint them, as your partner.¡±

    ¡°Hehehe. I¡¯m counting on you, partner.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Leave it to me, partner.¡±

    After this casual conversation, the two got to the subject for the day. Their ns for seeing the secondyer. Compared to the thirdyer and above, the secondyer was not that different from the previousyer. Both the first two were considered to have very orthodox fields. As Maple had left the information gathering to Sally, she looked very excited as she waited for Sally to speak.

    ¡°So, I found a ce you might be interested in, Maple. That being said, it¡¯s only open for a limited time, so we can head to it at a leisurely pace.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and it¡¯s kind of far away.¡±

    ¡°Oh, then we should buy some lunch boxes to take with us!¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do that.¡±

    Like this, Maple and Sally headed out into the field at night.

    The secondyer was the same as the firstyer, in that there were no enemies that were a threat to them. And so after changing into less recognizable clothing, Sally picked up Maple and ran towards their destination.

    ¡°What kind of ce do you think it is?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s a ce you can only go to at night?¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    Maple had experienced a number of events in the past that had specific time frames. During the second event, there would be different monsters at night, and specific events urred after fighting them. This was simr to that.

    ¡°But, you wouldn¡¯t want to go if there were ghosts.¡±

    ¡°¡­Well, that¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°I think I have an idea?¡±

    But Sally wouldn¡¯t confirm anything until they arrived, and so the two continued to travel through the field. Eventually, Sally stopped in front of the mouth of a cave. There was no lighting from inside, but they could see that the entrance led to a downward slope. Since there was no mountain behind the cave, that meant they would be traveling underground, unless there was a teleportation circle somewhere.

    ¡°Huh? So it¡¯s underground¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Were you not expecting that?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I thought we were going to look at the night sky. You know, like when we ate that food that changes the color of your hair. It was also night time.¡±

    ¡°Hehehe¡­ Well, let¡¯s go then!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take out a light.¡±

    Sally pulled out antern from her inventory in order to light up the cavern as they walked.

    ¡°Also, there will be some monsters, so be careful.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    That being said, it didn¡¯t change the fact that they were at a level that they could just ignore them. And so Maple activated Dedicated Affection.

    ¡°¡­Do we even need thentern now?¡±

    ¡°Maybe not.¡±

    Sally saw that Dedicated Affection caused the ground around them to glow, and so she started to put it away. Maple saw this and thought about it for a moment before making a suggestion.

    ¡°¡­Hey, Sally. What if we didn¡¯t use Dedicated Affection after all?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Well, considering the monsters in this area, I don¡¯t mind at all.¡±

    However, Sally looked like she wasn¡¯t sure why Maple had made this suggestion.

    ¡°You know, our goal this time isn¡¯t to conquer a dungeon, but to find a pretty location. I just thought it kind of ruins the atmosphere!¡±

    ¡°So you want to enjoy it like a real cave explorer?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°In that case¡­sure!¡±

    Sally then took out a number of items from her inventory and lined them up in front of Maple.

    There was a torch, a helmet with a head light, a rope and pickaxe, arge backpack etcetera. All of them had to do with the theme of exploration.

    ¡°I know we don¡¯t need any backpacks since we have inventories, but you know. It¡¯s more atmospheric, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Yes! You¡¯re amazing, Sally!¡±

    She had prepared two of everything, so both of them were able to be fully equipped. The backpack was simr to the pouch that Sally sometimes wore, that allowed you to carry items outside of your inventory. Maple put her rope and pickaxe inside, and then she was finished preparing.

 Chapter 327.2

    ¡°We really do look the part now, don¡¯t we? Well, maybe not our clothes.¡±

    Their clothes for sightseeing on the earlyyers were the same clothes they wore while ying in town. They were just normal clothes.

    ¡°Maybe we can prepare some next time.¡±

    ¡°That might be cool.¡±

    ¡°Uhh, so we should go to the deepest part?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that should do it.¡±

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Maple thrusted the torch up into the air and then marched forward excitedly. As this was the secondyer, there were noplicated gimmicks or powerful monsters. And their exploration continued smoothly. Even Sally¡¯s magic was strong enough on thisyer, and she was able to kill monsters before they could get close.

    ¡°Be careful so you don¡¯t slip.¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll shine the light down here¡­.oh, it keeps going down.¡±

    ¡°I think things should start changing soon? Maple. Try turning off the torch once.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    The two made sure that there were no monsters around before turning off the lights. They were immediately surrounded by darkness, however, when they looked down at the ground, they now saw that it was glowing slightly. It didn¡¯t look like something was releasing the light, but more like some mysterious power was causing the light itself to be suspended there. Maple squatted down and inspected it.

    ¡°Oh, I can see it. So this is the sign?¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ It¡¯s something you could easily miss when exploring.¡±

    ¡°You often miss things even when you think that you¡¯re being thorough. I bet there¡¯s a lot of ces that no one has found yet.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. I guess we¡¯ll have to keep looking then!¡±

    Maple smiled as if to say, ¡®and we¡¯ll do it together!¡¯ Sallyughed and said, ¡®yes, yes.¡¯

    ¡°So you see that there¡¯s a sign, right? Now you just need to find it whenever there¡¯s a branching path.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Now it¡¯s back to the torches!¡±

    As long as they could find the signs, they would not get lost. Like Sally said, they checked every time there was a branching path, and continued to make their way through the cave. The paths gradually became narrower, and there were some ces where they had to duck in order to get through.

    ¡°Phew. We¡¯ve gone pretty far now, haven¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. There should be a crack in the ground up ahead. We just need to go down it and we¡¯ll be there.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Finally! Alright, let¡¯s do it!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m going to use this so you don¡¯t fall¡­well, maybe it¡¯s not necessary, but just in case, okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Maple got on Sally¡¯s back and then Sally secured her with a rope. Then she took out another rope and tied it around a nearby rock and then dropped the other end into the crevice. As she was always jumping off of Syrup and exploding, Maple would have likely been fine if she just jumped down. However, they hade all of this way while relying on torches, and they didn¡¯t want to breeze through thest stretch.

    ¡°Hold on tight.¡±

    ¡°If any monsterse out, I¡¯ll paralyze them!¡±

    ¡°Thanks. Alright, I¡¯m going down!¡±

    Maple held on tight while making sure that she would still be able to use her sword and activate Paralyze Shout if necessary. When Sally saw that she was ready, she pulled the rope taut and put her feet on the wall as she slid downward.

    The surface of the rock was dry, and Sally didn¡¯t need to worry about slipping as she descended. asionally, she would point her headlight down in order to ensure that it was safe. Sometimes bat monsters would fly towards them, but Maple knocked them out of the air with paralysis attacks. And like that, the two seeded in reaching the bottom of the pit. First, they took care of the paralyzed bats, and made sure there were no other monsters nearby. Then they rested.

    ¡°Phew. Good work. I¡¯ll put you down now.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    After killing all of the monsters with magic, Sally put Maple down. Now that they were at the bottom, a narrow tunnel stretched out in front of them. And they could see the glowing marks on the walls and floor.

    ¡°They look like fireflies.¡±

    ¡°They do. We should reach our destination once we get through this tunnel.¡±

    As she said this, Sally turned off her headlight and instructed Maple to do the same. The marks that would lead them were no longer vague. In fact, they offered them enough light to see, and they would have no trouble walking.

    Like this, they walked through the glowing tunnel until they reached the farthest depths of the cave, their destination.

    This chamber was shaped like a dome. And in the air were floating balls of light in various colors. There were even more lights on the ceiling and floor than there had been in the tunnel. And the two felt like they were in aarium as they walked to the center.

    In the center, there was a single pir that connected the ceiling to the floor. And this pir was unleashing an especially strong glow. When the two stepped closer to get a better look, they saw that unlike the other lights, this pir was glowing due to a precious stone.

    ¡°Maple, Why don¡¯t you try taking it?¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­oh! It came off! Uh¡­ ¡®Heavenly Body in your Hand¡¯?¡±

    The sphere that rested in Maple¡¯s palm did not look like it did anything special, but her eyes lit up all the same.

    ¡°Ohhh! It¡¯s so pretty! I¡¯m d we came here!¡±

    ¡°Hehe. Really? That¡¯s good. Apparently, no one knows what these are for yet.¡±

    ¡°Huh.¡±

    ¡°And since it¡¯s kind of hard to get here, they aren¡¯t very popr, even though they are pretty.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so it¡¯s like a hidden location!¡±

    ¡°Exactly. So we can rx here all we want.¡±

    The two sat down in the quiet chamber, and looked up at the ceiling as if it was a night sky. That¡¯s when Maple realized that she had guessed right.

    ¡°Oh, so it is a night sky after all!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. An underground night sky. I did some research, and it¡¯s said that everyyer has a spot that is themed after the night sky.¡±

    ¡°Ohh. Then we should go to all of them!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. As long as you¡¯re having fun, I¡¯ll go exploring with you whenever you want. Besides, maybe there will be something special for people who have seen them all?¡±

    ¡°That would be so cool! But, I don¡¯t care if there isn¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Just getting here was fun enough!¡±

    For Maple, this scenery and the fun they had on the road was a big enough reward. And that was not likely to change.

    ¡°I¡­see. Yes, I think I feel the same.¡±

    ¡°Ah! That¡¯s right, Sally! We only got one suveniir this time. What should we do?¡±

    ¡°¡­You can keep it, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. So you can always look back and remember this.¡±

    ¡°But don¡¯t you want it too, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Hehe. I won¡¯t need that to remember this.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Hey, I¡¯m not that forgetful!¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure!¡±

    The two faced each other, and though it was dim, they could tell that the other wasughing. As the time passed serenely, the two gazed up at the underground night sky, and ate the lunch boxes they had bought.

 Chapter 328.1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 328

    Defense Specialization and ¡®thunder storm.¡¯

    Recently, Maple and Sally had been running around fromyer toyer every day, but on this day, they had an appointment with someone. And so they were waiting in a town on the seventhyer.

    ¡°I think they should be here soon?¡±

    ¡°Hm. It looks like it. Isn¡¯t that them?¡±

    Maple looked to where Sally was pointing and saw that Velvet and Hinata were walking towards them. As they looked just like how Maple had described them, Sally recognized them at once.

    ¡°I¡¯m d we were able to meet again so soon!¡±

    ¡°Uh, this must be Miss Sally¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Nice to meet you.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll save time if we talk while we move!¡±

    ¡°Okay. Are you fine with that, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    And like that, the four went out into the field. Their purpose today was to get to know each other. But that was just on the surface. What they really wanted, was to see each other¡¯s skills andbat abilities. That being said, Sally and Velvet seemed to have different ways of approaching this.

    The four of them continued to talk about inconsequential things for a while as they made their way to an area with the perfect monsters. As Maple was able to ride with Sally today, she didn¡¯t have to worry about transportation. It was as they moved that Velvet suddenly turned to Sally.

    ¡°Oh! I would really like to fight youter on!¡±

    ¡°Me? You sure sound like Frederica¡­ Well, I kind of thought you would ask, based on what Maple told me.¡±

    Velvet¡¯s eyes shone as she waited for an answer. Sally thought about it for a moment.

    ¡°¡­If we do fight, it will have to be after we finish everything we nned to do today.¡±

    ¡°I see! So you want to warm up first by killing a boss!¡±

    ¡°Still, I thought you¡¯d want to fight Maple. Or did you see so much that you¡¯re already satisfied?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, to be honest¡­ I just really want to fight you, Sally.¡±

    Being able to learn about her skills were just a bonus. Just like Maple had said, Velvet had a pure desire to fight strong enemies. As for the reason that she chose Sally instead of Maple, it was because she felt that Sally was more simr to her.

    ¡°You really are just like how Maple described. Well, I do fight human enemies more often than Maple. I¡¯ll beat you if I can. I don¡¯t fight battles that I can¡¯t win. And so I might decline after seeing you in action.¡±

    Sally said and then she chuckled as if she were joking. Velvet replied by saying that you had to be straightforward with everything you do.

    ¡°But I really don¡¯t fight battles that I can¡¯t win. I can¡¯t allow myself to lose.¡±

    ¡°Sally hasn¡¯t taken damage even once!¡±

    ¡°Huh!? Is that true!? Hmm, that makes me want to fight her even more!¡±

    ¡°The-there might be a skill¡­that has a requirement that you don¡¯t die during a PvP duel.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s possible! I feel like pretty much any kind of skill can exist!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. In any case, that¡¯s why I won¡¯t promise that I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ But I¡¯m still looking forward to it!¡±

    And so the four of them went off to kill monsters on the seventhyer.

    The ce that they stopped their horses at was the food of a rocky mountain. In order to reach their destination, they would have to reach the top.

    ¡°There are checkpoints along the way. And you have to get past all of them! And then there¡¯s a boss!¡±

    ¡°So in other words, the event won¡¯t trigger if we use Syrup or some other flying monster.¡±

    ¡°¡­So you know.¡±

    ¡°I did a lot of research as part of a promise with Maple. Though, I doubt we would havee here.¡±

    Maple was the only one who realized that this meant Sally didn¡¯t think it was much of a tourist spot. Regardless, the four of them started to climb up the rocky mountain. The path sometimes led inside of the mountain, but was made so that you would ultimately reach the top. Apparently, the checkpoints were inside.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Maple and Velvet took the lead, while Sally and Hinata followed after them. Inside, there were caves much like the ones they had explored in the past. However, no monsters appeared. And so they arrived at the first checkpoint without any trouble.

    Here, there was a decorated, closed gate that looked much like the entrance to a boss room. You could tell at a nce that this was a checkpoint.

    ¡°We arrived!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s so big¡­ Uh, what are we supposed to do?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re supposed to choose people from your party and you will be able to go through if you beat the monster inside. Also, the monster¡¯s strength changes depending on how many people there are.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°I think that I should go!¡±

    ¡°¡­It sounds like it¡¯s less about being a good fit, and more about you itching for a fight.¡±

    ¡°Obviously!¡±

    As they had avoided any unnecessary fights with monsters along the way, Velvet had too much energy left. And so she set the number of challengers to ¡®1¡¯ and then opened the gate.

    ¡°We are allowed to enter as well¡­ Bu-but we won¡¯t be able to fight.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so we can cheer her on!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    And so Maple and the others followed Velvet through the gate. Up ahead, there was a vast, circr area, and in the center there was a humanoid statue that was about two-meters tall.

    Just as Velvet equipped her gauntlets and clenched her fists while entering a battle stance, there was a low murmur as the stone statue began to move.

    This statue was not holding any weapon, but it was holding its fists up. Its stone body was much tougher than Velvet, and judging by appearances, it did not seem possible for her to win.

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s go! ¡®Second Coming of the Thunder God¡¯!¡±

    With these words, a shocking amount of electricity bounced off of Velvet, momentarily stunning the stone statute that had rushed forward and was about to strike her.

    ¡°¡®Electromaic Jump,¡¯ ¡®Heart Stop¡¯!¡±

    Just as it stopped moving, she leapt forward at a speed that outstripped even Sally. And then she mmed her fists into the statue. At the same time, electricity exploded and stunned the statue just as it was about to move again.

 Chapter 328.2

    328 Part 2

    ¡°¡®Heavy Twin Attacks¡¯!¡±

    As the monster was frozen for a second, she mmed her fists into it one after another. The sheer power that didn¡¯t seem to fit her small frame was enough to send the stone statue flying back with a dull ring.

    ¡°¡®Dash¡¯!¡±

    This time she activated a skill that was used when using your bare fists as weapons. It allowed her to suddenly elerate towards it, returning to close-rangebat, which was her forte. And then pale electricity shot out from her body.

    ¡°¡®Electric Discharge¡¯!¡±

    All the electricity that was stored with every hit taken and given was now unleashed. Over and over again, the statue was burned. Then the electricity around Velvet started to die down, and the stone statue fell to the ground and disappeared into light.

    ¡°Hmmm. That wasn¡¯t much of a fight!¡±

    ¡°Amazing! Unlikest time, you were moving around so fast that it ended in seconds!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been here a couple of times already, so it¡¯s easy to beat it!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nice. It¡¯s so cool to be able to move fast!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Miss Sally?¡±

    As Velvet and Maple talked excitedly, Sally closed her eyes and yed the fight back in her mind. Aside from the electric attacks that Maple had talked about, she was able to see how Velvet fought with her weapons up close. However, there was one thing that bothered her.

    As a fight with your fists meant you had little range, many skills were set to have high damage output. However, even with that considered, Velvet¡¯s fists seemed to pack too much of a punch.

    ¡°There¡¯s a risk¡­but I suppose it can¡¯t be helped.¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°Oh! What did you think about the fight! Did it make you want to challenge me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it did. We should fightter.¡±

    Sally said, and Velvet smiled happily.

    ¡°Well, it would be rude for me to just watch. So I¡¯ll do the next one.¡±

    ¡°Ohh! Good idea!¡±

    ¡°And if you think it will be boring to fight me, we can reconsider.¡±

    Sally said. And then she took the lead as they headed to the next gate.

    Just like the path to the first gate, there were no monsters on the way to the second, and so it was an easy journey.

    ¡°By the way, Velvet. You said that you¡¯ve been here a number of times?¡±

    ¡°This ce allows me to fight one on one over and over! Still, it¡¯s starting to feel less satisfying.¡±

    Every time she found a promising dungeon, Velvet would drag Hinata with her and charge in, looking for powerful monsters to fight. When she and Hinata were together, they could take down almost any boss without much trouble.

    That meant it was hard for Velvet to really enjoy fighting. And since it wasn¡¯t like Hinata could be with her at all times, Velvet hade here to train, hoping that the monsters would feel strong enough if she was alone.

    ¡°I¡¯ve be stronger myself. If I¡¯m with Hinata, we¡¯re unbeatable!¡±

    ¡°And then you found me and Maple. To be your new opponents.¡±

    ¡°I knew you two were strong because of thest event!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. We¡¯ll be your rivals!¡±

    As Sally talked with Velvet, she realized that it was true that she really did only have one face. It was just as Maple had said.

    ¡°Well, you can call her a rival, but Maple doesn¡¯t really do PvP, right?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­I guess. Only if it¡¯s during an event.¡±

    ¡°Well, there it is. I guess you¡¯ll have toe to me if you want to fight?¡±

    There was already a certain yer doing just that, so Sally didn¡¯t care if there was one more.

    ¡°Unlike me, Hinata doesn¡¯t like fighting all of the time, so it would make me really happy to be able to fight you one on one!!

    Hinata was the type of yer who only fought when it was necessary. And so she was very different from Velvet, who was constantly looking for new ces that allowed her to fight in the way that she wanted.

    ¡°It¡¯s a lot of fun being with Velvet¡­ But if someone can keep her entertained¡­then that would make me happy.¡±

    ¡°Sally, that¡¯s a lot of responsibility!¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Well, I think we should find out if I¡¯m up to the task first. The gate is right up ahead.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    And so Sally headed towards the second gate that appeared in front of them.

    ¡°So, are you all fine with me being the only challenger?¡±

    ¡°You can do it, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Uhh¡­ I¡¯ll be cheering you on.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be watching you very closely!¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going then.¡±

    Sally set it so that she was the onlybatant, and then she stepped into the battle area, which was also in the shape of a circle.

    Here, there was a stone statue that carried a stone greatsword that might as well have been a blunt weapon.

    ¡°That¡¯s a power fighter if I¡¯ve ever seen one.¡±

    Sally faced the statue and pulled out her twin daggers.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Fire Child.¡¯¡±

    She used Oboro to envelope herself in fire, and then rushed forward in a straight line, closing the gap between herself and the stone statue. The difference in size was the same as with Velvet, only this time, the stone statue had superior reach. The statue was also the first to attack.

    The great sword cut through the air in a sh. It was so fast that it was hard to believe such speed coulde from a body made of stone. As dust flew in the air, Sally twisted her body so that she barely avoided the sword, and then she shed at it as if to counter.

    ¡°No damage. In that case¡­!¡±

    She shot passed the side of the statue and shed at it with her daggers. As damage effects exploded, Sally moved away from it.

    As the STR boost from ¡®Sword Dance¡¯ was still small, she was not dealing maximum damage yet. That being said, Sally¡¯s attack power wasn¡¯t exactly low. The fact that its HP bar had only gone down a little told Sally just how high Velvet¡¯s attack power really was.

    ¡°Phew! Haaa!¡±

    Sally spun around, and as the great sword came swinging at her, she dropped to the ground in order to dodge it. Then she shed at one of its legs and came out behind it.

    No matter how many times it tried, the results were the same. The statue would attack, but the damage effects and fire would being from it and not Sally. Its attacks were giving her openings, and every time it went on the offensive, its HP dwindled.

 Chapter 328.3

    328 Part 3

    Her counter attacks were perfect. Sally didn¡¯t need to use her skills. She tore the stone statue apart by pure technique. Even without shy and powerful skills, you could tell at a nce how amazing it was.

    ¡°This is my first time seeing it in person¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ It doesn¡¯t look like she¡¯s using any debuffs on it. Uhh, Miss Sally really is¡­just dodging.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe. Isn¡¯t she amazing!¡±

    ¡°She is!¡±

    Maple was just as proud as she would have been if they were talking about her. To the side, Velvet stared hard at Sally¡¯s every move. Even she could tell that Sally wasn¡¯t using any special skill that allowed her to dodge like that. And as Sally was currently only relying on basicbat and physical ability, you could not really say that she was going all out yet.

    ¡°Hmm! I¡¯m really looking forward to it!¡±

    Velvet relished the thought of the uing fight as she watched Sally, who never seemed like she was ever in any real danger of being hit.

    In the end, Sally did destroy the stone statue with the great sword. And she was not hit a single time. The only skill she used was Fire Child.

    ¡°Good work, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Oh, thanks.¡±

    ¡°Great job! I¡¯m suddenly¡­much more excited about it!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±

    ¡°I want to watch you fight again and again! I don¡¯t think that statue was strong enough.¡±

    As long as their attacks couldnd, they had the power to easily erase a single yer with low defense ability. However, when it came to yers who could repeatedly use stun attacks or could dodge perfectly, well, it was no wonder that they appeared weak.

    ¡°But the boss is pretty strong, right?¡±

    ¡°Not whenpared to you. So let¡¯s hurry up and get that out of the way so we can get to our main business!¡±

    ¡°At least you¡¯re enthusiastic.¡±

    Velvet talked excitedly, and Sally listened to her as she walked to the next gate. Maple and Hinata watched the two as they followed.

    ¡°They seem to be getting along. Almost like they¡¯re in sync?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re both¡­simr in some ways.¡±

    ¡°I think so too!¡±

    Perhaps the reason they seemed to be getting along so well even though they just met, was because their disposition was very simr.

    ¡°Do you know how many checkpoints there are?¡±

    ¡°Uhh¡­there¡¯s one left. So if you include the boss, there will be two more battles.¡±

    ¡°Thanks! Well, since they already fought, I guess it¡¯s our turn now.¡±

    ¡°Um, I¡¯m not really¡­fit for fighting alone. So either you will have to fight by yourself¡­or team up with me.¡±

    Hinata specialized in debuffs. Even if she could weaken an enemy greatly, she did not have the abilities to defeat thempletely on her own.

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll do it together! And all four of us can fight the boss!¡±

    ¡°O-ok¡­ I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    ¡°Alright, Sally! The two of use will do the next one!¡±

    ¡°I heard you. That poor statue.¡±

    ¡°Huh, what do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Uh, um. I just felt sorry for the statue for a second. Since it has to face you two.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Hinata is really strong!¡±

    ¡°Maple is strong too.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha! I learned that thest time!¡±

    These two had much more obvious advantages and disadvantages than Sally and Velvet. And so unless the next statue was dramatically different, then the result was as good as known.

    They reached the final checkpoint as they neared the top. And just as nned, Maple and Hinata would challenge it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do our best!¡±

    ¡°Ye-yes.¡±

    Maple held her great shield up as if to protect Hinata. Then they entered the room. The battle area was just like the previous one, but unlike before, there were two statues.

    One of them was holding a giant bow that was made of stone, and the other wielded a great hammer.

    ¡°Woah, there are two of them!¡±

    ¡°Uhh, umm¡­ I will stop their movements¡­!¡±

    ¡°You can do it! I¡¯ll use ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    First, Maple activated Dedicated Affection so that the attacks would not reach Hinata. Then she called out Syrup and waited to see how Hinata would move.

    ¡°¡®Cocytus.¡¯¡±

    The cold air that emitted from Hinata spread throughout the circr room in an instant, freezing the movements of the two statues. Maple¡¯s own ¡®Frozen Earth¡¯ did notpare to this skill, which covered the statues in ice. This allowed the two to do whatever they wanted.

    ¡°Syrup, ¡®Erge,¡¯ ¡®White Garden,¡¯ ¡®Red Garden,¡¯ ¡®Sinking Earth¡¯!¡±

    Maple and Hinata got onto Syrup¡¯s back, and with that, they transformed the field into something that would be advantageous to them.

    ¡°¡®Chain of Stars,¡¯ ¡®Disaster Spread,¡¯ ¡®Weak Ice Statue,¡¯ ¡®Gravity Creak.¡¯¡±

    It was the same skills she used when she and Velvet had fought the boss. And like that, the two statues were assaulted by cold winds and gravity attacks, which kept them from moving.

    ¡°More¡­ ¡®Rusting Armor,¡¯ ¡®Footsteps of the Dead.¡¯¡±

    ck mist flowed out of Hinata¡¯s doll and started to cover the ground. As the statues could not move or escape it, they were enveloped, and their defense ability dropped even further. They were bound for a long, long time. Once your movements were stopped, there was no escaping the chain of skills that were activated. They were not permitted to attack even once.

    ¡°Miss Maple¡­ Uh, if you could attack them now.¡±

    ¡°Yes! ¡®Deploy all Weapons,¡¯ ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    After being sunk into the ground, frozen, and crushed by gravity, the two stone statues were then subject to Maple¡¯s guns, and without any way to resist.

    ¡°Woah! That¡¯s so much damage!¡±

    It was much higher than Maple was expecting, and their HP went down rapidly. Amidst the sounds of bullets flying, she could asionally hear Hinata¡¯s voice, which suggested she was still activating skills. As if to prove this, there was a split second where the statues began to move again, but then they were immediately frozen. On top of this, their defense ability continued to drop.

    Even though Maple¡¯s guns weren¡¯t any more powerful than before, the enemies defenses had fallen so low that every single bullet hit with incredible weight.

    ¡°Maple told me about this¡­but it¡¯s more than I imagined.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no way you can get out of that!¡±

    As Velvet and Sally watched, Hinata¡¯s gravity and ice, and Maple¡¯s terrain transformation and status effects made the statues nothing but targets. And the fight continued to be a one-sided affair until it ended.

 Chapter 329

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 329

    Defense Specialization and ¡®thunder storm¡¯ 2.

    As they had passed thest checkpoint, the four of them headed towards the top without resting.

    ¡°So what did you think? Wasn¡¯t Hinata amazing?¡±

    ¡°Yes! It was incredible!¡±

    ¡°Um, uhh, I wasn¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°In fact, Hinata is really the stronger one out of us!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re strong too, Velvet. But I¡¯ve never seen anyone like Hinata before.¡±

    You could not jump within range of Hinata without a good n. Her attacks were harder to avoid than Velvet¡¯s lightning, and once you got hit, you would be subject to a chain of attacks that might prevent you from moving for a long time. It was very dangerous.

    ¡°Me and Hinata are unbeatable when together!¡±

    Velvet said with great confidence. Hinata looked a little embarrassed to be praised so much. However, thest battle had proved that this was no exaggeration.

    ¡°Well, Sally and I are also unbeatable when together!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡±

    ¡°Since you said it so clearly, we¡¯ll have to live up to that expectation.¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s hurry up and get rid of this boss so I can see what Maple¡¯s partner is capable of!¡±

    ¡°You really¡­are looking forward to it, huh?¡±

    She was even more excited now that she had gotten a little preview. Velvet dashed up the slope as if she couldn¡¯t wait a moment longer.

    ¡°Ah, but it will be the first time I¡¯ve fought the boss in a group of four. So it might be stronger than we expect.¡±

    ¡°It should be fine if all four of us do our best. If that¡¯s not enough, the boss must be incredibly¡­¡±

    Everyone present had their own strengths and they were among the strongest. It was clear that most bosses didn¡¯t stand a chance against them.

    ¡°Hinata! I¡¯m counting on you to deal with whatever it is we encounter!¡±

    ¡°Leave the defenses to me!¡±

    ¡°Ye-yes¡­ Thank you¡­¡±

    ¡°The way that I deal damage is quite slow, so I suppose Maple and Velvet should be the main attackers?¡±

    Sally also didn¡¯t know how the boss would react to four challengers, so they would have to be flexible with how they would proceed. But as long as Hinata and Maple were there, they would be guaranteed some time to observe the boss and decide on their approach.

    Regardless, the four of them had been able to arrive at the boss room without any real trouble, and so without hesitation, they opened the door and entered.

    The top of the mountain caved in like a bowl, and it was surrounded by a wall of rock. It was like a giant colosseum. And in the center of this battle area, stood a stone statue that was twice asrge as the earlier ones. It was holding a stone shield and spear and also wore armor.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen it use a spear before! Hinata, give it all you got! ¡®Second Coming of the Thunder God¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­!¡±

    ¡°Alright, me too! ¡®Predator¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Let¡¯s see what it does.¡±

    They all went into their battle stance but ensured that they remained within range of Maple¡¯s Dedicated Affection. And like before, they slowly moved forward while cautious of the statue¡¯s movements.

    ¡°Here ites!¡±

    After they were a certain distance from it, the statue began to move. It thrust its giant spear above its head. As the four of them waited, the stone statue bent its knees and then leapt high into the air.

    ¡°Woah! It jumped!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s going toe down and hit us!¡±

    Even from far away, the spear was shining visibly, and they could see that it was trying to break their formation with its first powerful hit.

    ¡°But, in that case¡­¡±

    ¡°We got this!¡±

    ¡°Uhh, ¡®Melting Wings¡¯¡­!¡±

    As Hinata activated the skill, the statue that was shooting towards them suddenly lost its momentum. And then it fell to the ground.

    ¡°¡®Freezing Earth,¡¯ ¡®Chain of Stars,¡¯ ¡®Disaster Spread.¡¯¡±

    And just like that, Hinata used her skills to bind the statue to the ground. And as always, she began to lower its defense abilities. That¡¯s when Maple directed her guns at it, and Sally and Velvet covered themselves in fire and thunder as they ran.

    ¡°¡®Electromaic Jump¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Path of Water¡¯!¡±

    Sally swam through the water, Velvet left her lightning behind and leapt forward. They bridged the distance in an instant and mmed their attacks into it.

    ¡°¡®Center of the Storm,¡¯ ¡®Rain of Thunder,¡¯ ¡®Field of Lightning¡¯!¡±

    Numerous bolts of lightning crashed around Velvet as she reached its feet. Mercilessly, they burned the stone statue and tore away chunks of its HP.

    ¡°¡®Quintuple sh¡¯!¡±

    The immense amount of damage made it target Velvet next. In that moment, Sally attacked it with her skill. As this did much more damage than her normal attacks, it was more than enough, even when Sword Dance had not buffed herpletely.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack,¡¯ ¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯!¡±

    As she could not use Hydra here, Maple supported them with powerful ranged attack skills from behind. Even the stone shield was not enough to block everything, and damage effects sprouted all over its body.

    ¡®Freezing Earth¡¯ could only stop it from moving away. And so it was able to bend away from certain attacks and thrust its spear towards Velvet, who was currently dealing the most damage.

    ¡°¡®Parry,¡¯ ¡®Heaviest Attack,¡¯ ¡®Chain Thunder Attack¡¯!¡±

    The spear hit and then bounced off of Velvet¡¯s fist, missing her. Maple¡¯s skill ensured that she was protected, and so Velvet used the opportunity to punch the stone statue right in the leg.

    The electricity that erupted simultaneously caused an explosion of damage effects. The rain of thunder bolts continued to fall. In the meantime, Sally continued to unleash her attacks on the other side, and Maple continued her fire.

    The boss took too much damage in a short amount of time, and yet, it was here that it was finally freed from Hinata¡¯s shackles. And so it tried to escape the range of Velvet¡¯s thunder.

    ¡°Me too! One more time!¡±

    Maple made her weapons explode as she flew towards it. Then she rolled on the ground until she reached its feet, and activated a skill. It was a skill that both Maple and Hinata had.

    ¡°¡®Freezing Earth¡¯!¡±

    As Maple shouted, the ground was covered in ice once again, and as the boss took a step back, it was bound to the ground.

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep attacking!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll shred it!¡±

    This was their best chance. The boss had not been able to use the moment to escape, and so its fate would be no different than the checkpoint enemies.

    ¡°Ahh, it¡¯s already over.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t even that hard. Good work, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you too.¡±

    ¡°Uhh¡­after this¡­¡±

    Now that the boss was dead, Velvet turned to Sally. Apparently, Sally hadn¡¯t changed her mind about it either, and she nodded wordlessly. And so Velvet wasted no time in challenging her to a duel.

    ¡°You can do it, Sally!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t lose. Never.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I wanted to hear!¡±

    ¡°Velvet¡­ I¡¯ll be rooting for you.¡±

    ¡°This will be so much more fun than that boss!¡±

    And so Sally epted the challenge, and the two teleported away.

 Chapter 330.1

    330 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 330

    Defense Specialization and ¡®thunder storm¡¯ 3.

    After the two were teleported to abat area, they moved apart while facing each other, and waited for the battle to begin.

    ¡°Heh. I¡¯m ready when you are.¡±

    ¡°The person whose HP hits 0 first loses. You better go all out!¡±

    ¡°Of course, I will. I¡¯m not going to lose because I held back.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s going to start now.¡±

    The countdown began. Velvet held her fists up while Sally held her daggers as they waited. As soon as the signal rang, lightning thundered from Velvet.

    ¡°¡®Second Coming of the Thunder God¡¯!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen you fight before. Let¡¯s do this!¡±

    While the electricity crackled around her, Sally was aware from the battle with the statues, that this itself did not deal any damage. And while she wouldn¡¯t underestimate Velvet, she decided that this skill was more like a switch that allowed her to control thunder. The lightning that enveloped Velvet could not hurt or affect her. So there was no problem.

    ¡°¡®Center of the Storm¡¯!¡±

    Velvet shouted, and tornadoes appeared on every side of her.

    ¡°¡®Ice Pir¡¯! ¡®Right Hand: Web¡¯!¡±

    ¡°This is great!¡±

    Sally used her web to escape to the sky above. Once she saw that the lightning had passed, she quickly moved into action.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®ck Smoke¡¯!¡±

    ck smoke rose around Sally, concealing herpletely. This was followed a momentter by five different Sallys falling down towards Velvet.

    ¡°¡®Stun Spark¡¯!¡±

    An effect that was simr to Maple¡¯s ¡®Paralyze Shout¡¯ bounced off from Velvet, and all of the Sallys fell limply to the ground.

    ¡°¡®Shock Fist¡¯!¡±

    Velvet mmed her fist into the ground, creating shockwaves that hit every one of the Sallys on the ground. One by one they disappeared until there were none left.

    ¡°¡®Pinpoint Attack¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Tsk. I knew something was wrong!¡±

    Velvet felt the de hit the back of her neck, and a chunk of her HP fell away. Then Sally jumped back before the lightning attack could hit her. Considering the amount of damage she took, it was clear that Velvet¡¯s defense ability was not high. Just a single hit from Sally had nearly halved her HP.

    ¡°At least I learned something. One of them looked different when it disappeared!¡±

    ¡°You have a good eye.¡±

    ¡°So do you. Did you really not get hit?¡±

    ¡°I know my own weaknesses. I won¡¯t allow myself to be stunned.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s very smart of you!¡±

    These were not just attacks that she could react to and dodge. And so she had to predict.

    Especially with wide area stun attacks. Sally was always thinking about ways to deal with them. She had to lure her opponent into using such skills. Let Velvet think she had hit all five of them, and use Mirage to move her real body away. Then she would use webs, ¡®Leap¡¯ and ¡®Super elerate¡¯ in order to move behind her all at once.

    ¡°I had a feeling about it before¡­ But it seems like I won¡¯t be able to win with this strategy!¡±

    ¡°Then what are you going to do?¡±

    ¡°Invite you¡­into the storm!¡±

    ¡°I see¡­!¡±

    ¡°¡®Field of Thunder,¡¯ ¡®Rain of Thunder¡¯!¡±

    She wouldn¡¯t think about anything else. She would just burn everything in the area. After all, she just needed to hit Sally once, and it would all be over. All she had to do was fill the area with so much thunder, that it would be impossible for Sally to ambush her. She would drag this out of the realm ofplex tactics and tricks, and to the pure hitting of power against power.

    With Velvet in the center, two skills caused an unending rain of thunder. And it followed Velvet as she moved. She was like a walking storm.

    ¡°What will you do now? ¡®Electromaic Jump¡¯!¡±

    As Velvet jumped closer to her, so did the lightning.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Quick Shadow¡¯!¡¯

    Sally used Oboro¡¯s skill to disappear in a sh. And while Velvet lost her, she escaped the rain of thunder. After she reappeared, she backed away even farther in order to watch her opponent for a while.¡±

    ¡°¡®Northern Light¡¯!¡±

    As if to prevent Sally from escaping any farther, Velvet¡¯s lightning grew stronger. And as she activated the skill, a circle began to glow on the ground around Sally. This was apanied by the appearance of a pir of lightning and a thunderous roar. It was so powerful that Sally would have been turned into ash if she had been hit. However, like the others, it disappeared without hitting anything.

    ¡°Again!?¡±

    Velvet looked around her and saw that Sally was standing out of range of her lightning.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that illusions could be used so well.¡±

    ¡°I happen to have a few skills that are a good match with them. Alright¡­I¡¯m going in now!¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°Of course. The rain of thunder¡­ This time it¡¯s not like a pir.¡±

    Sally said as she lowered her posture and then charged into the rain. Velvet knew that Sally wouldn¡¯t do something so reckless without a n, and so she held her fists ready. She was wary of Sally using Mirage again.

    ¡°Hhuh¡­!¡±

 Chapter 330.2

    330 Part 2

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Something unbelievable than happened in front of Velvet. Sally was dodging the thunder as she ran, doing it while relying purely on reflexes and intuition. Not a single bolt of lightning was able to hit her as she charged through the rain.

    Meet power with power. This was a twisted show of power that looked reckless at first. If you could make the impossible be possible, then you could destroy your opponent¡¯s strategy.

    ¡°Thi-this is crazy!¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t stand a chance¡­unless I could at least do this much!¡±

    ¡°¡®Purple Lightning¡¯!¡±

    The purple lightning suddenly shed out from Velvet¡¯s arm as she thrust it forward. Sally had been dodging the lightning by a hair¡¯s breadth, and this new attack came towards her head-on. Not only was it fast, but it was unleashed with precision. Sally was blocked on all sides and there was nowhere for her to run.

    ¡°Then¡­!¡±

    With all four sides blocked, Sally tried leaping in the air in order to escape the purple lightning. As she was able to create footholds in the air, she should be able to make an escape path for herself.

    ¡°¡®Super elerate,¡¯ ¡®Leap,¡¯ ¡®Chain Thunder Attack¡¯!¡±

    As if she had been waiting for her to do this, Velvet suddenly elerated and then jumped up. No matter how great Sally¡¯s mobility was in the air, it was still inferior to when she was on the ground. Velvet punched with her fists, which were filled with crackling electricity. Sally was unable to stop her, and a heavy jolt ran through her body with a bang.

    ¡°Are you kidding me!?¡±

    The special attack that she had been so sure about ended up being her third failure. Sally¡¯s form shook and then melted into the air. At the same time, Velvet sensed a presence behind her.

    ¡°¡®Electric Discharge¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Super elerate,¡¯ ¡®Leap¡¯!¡±

    An immense amount of electricity was discharged from Velvet, but Sally quickly kicked the air and elerated, allowing her to escape the range of the lightning.

    ¡°A skill that nullifies attacks¡­ You nullified ¡®Purple Lightning¡¯ and then used the illusion to lure me away.¡±

    ¡°Did I? But I finally got you to use the dangerous skills I¡¯ve seen before.¡±

    Judging by the way Velvet¡¯s HP had dropped, Sally would have won the game had she been able to get a hit in. And so it had been necessary for Velvet to use ¡®Electric Discharge,¡¯ a skill that was guaranteed to push Sally away, even in such a disadvantageous position.

    ¡°This is great. It¡¯s so fun!¡±

    ¡°Haha. But I feel like I¡¯m walking on a tightrope. Still, it¡¯s quiet now.¡±

    ¡®Electric Discharge¡¯ meant the rain of thunder had stopped, as did the pale electricity that had enveloped Velvet. While it was a skill that did a lot of damage, it deactivated your other skills. But she had been forced to use it to protect herself.

    ¡°Amazing! You really can dodge. I hope you can teach me to do thatter!¡±

    Velvet said as she raised her fists once again. Her expression was filled with confidence. She did not look like she was having a difficult time.

    ¡°I suppose this means you still have a trump card.¡±

    ¡°I do!¡±

    ¡°Haha. You really are honest.¡±

    Sally herself did not have any trump cards or skills that would turn the tables. She could only slowly but surely walk down the path to victory.

    There were a few attacks she could only avoid by reading Velvet¡¯s movements and making her miss. She would have to figure out what type this trump card of Velvet would be. She could not allow herself to be lured in. Sally was always face to face with death. Even though she had the advantage, it would all be turned on its head if she was hit even once.

    Velvet had lost her lightning, but Sally believed that she truly did have something stronger than the rest. She wasn¡¯t the type to bluff.

    And so Sally carefully kept her distance while waiting for her chance to strike. She wanted to attack before Velvet was able to use ¡®Second Coming of the Thunder God¡¯ once again.

    ¡°I guess she won¡¯t let her guard down¡­ In that case, Oboro, ¡®ck Smoke¡¯!¡±

    As this was just a skill that blocked people¡¯s vision, it could be reactivated quickly. And so Sally used it once again to unsettle her opponent.

    This time only one Sally burst through the ck smoke and rushed towards Velvet.

    Being fooled by Mirage three times in a row caused a dy in Velvet¡¯s reaction. Hesitation leads to openings. It was like Mirage became more effective every time. And even if she did attack, Sally could dodge her. Sally was not the kind of person that couldn¡¯t dodge an attack dealt after a moment of hesitation.

    She weighed going forward and going back on a scale, and decided to go and deal some damage.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Velvet still didn¡¯t move, even though Sally was just a few feet away. And while she was cautious, Sally did not slow her step. That was when Velvet suddenly moved.

    ¡°¡®Thunder Beast¡¯!¡±

    Unlike ¡®Northern Light,¡¯ electricity poured out of Velvet¡¯s body, creating a white pir that shone over the area.

    Sally activated ¡®Mirage¡¯ and then used ¡®Ocean¡¯ and ¡®Ancient Sea¡¯ to alter her AGI and move away. As ¡®Empty Shell¡¯ was a damage nullifying skill that could be used in a final push, it was very valuable now that she couldn¡¯t use ¡®Spirited Away.¡¯ She must under no circumstances use it by ident.

    While she had not expected this to happen, Sally moved away and observed the situation calmly. After the pir of light faded, she saw a giant white tiger that was enveloped in electricity.

    ¡°Hmm. I still can¡¯t hit you¡­¡±

    ¡°I knew you were trying to do something¡­ That being said, I¡¯ve never seen something like this, other than with Maple.¡±

 Chapter 330.3

    330 Part 3

    ¡°What do you think? It¡¯s my turn to go now!¡±

    It was the same size as Maple when she used ¡®Savagery.¡¯ The overwhelming presence had also brought back the lightning. Sally had no idea when the rain would return. However, she wasughing.

    ¡°Yes, I can test it now. That¡¯s a nice skill you have there.¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the one that¡¯s going to attack.¡±

    Sally should have been afraid, but instead, she elerated as she charged towards Velvet. This unexpected reaction caused a dy in Velvet¡¯s first action.

    ¡°¡®Iron Water Cannon¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Wha!?¡±

    As Velvet frantically stepped forward, water burst up where her feetnded. And though she was heavy, it didn¡¯t matter. The upwards pressure caused her to lose her bnce. And in that second where she was unable to use her skill, Sally dove right under her.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Fire Child,¡¯ ¡®Double sh¡¯! ¡®Path of Water,¡¯ ¡®Freezing Area¡¯!¡±

    And like that, she used skills to inflict damage while Velvet was still stunned. And once she had observed that Velvet¡¯s HP had increased, she moved on to the next step. Sally immediately spread water out around Velvet, and then she used cold air to freeze it all at once. Velvet would be trapped for a little longer now.

    ¡°Grr¡­¡±

    ¡°¡®Icicle¡¯! ¡­She is likely not using skills because there are limitations when in that form.¡±

    Normally the five pirs of ice that Sally made would just be ordinary obstacles. But now that Velvet was huge, she could not escape them, as they were ced perfectly in order to hold her in ce.

    ¡°You can¡¯t break Icicle. And that means you can¡¯t escape in that form. That¡¯s the way it works.¡±

    ¡°I never expected to be sealed away like this. I¡¯ve beenpletely defeated.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, I¡¯ll ept that.¡±

    Once she was bound, all Sally needed to do was stand out of reach and spam magic attacks. Like Velvet said, Sally had read all of her movements and trapped her. The fight was already finished.

    After the fight, Velvet and Sally moved on to talking about the fight. And so they were still in the dueling area. Velvet wanted to know how Sally did everything, and she assaulted her with question after question. She was very curious about how things ended the way that they did.

    ¡°Hmm, but it is strange. Even if someone is that sharp, how is it possible to dodge all those attacks? This was your first time seeing ¡®Thunder Beast,¡¯ right?¡±

    ¡°¡­There is a little secret to how I won today.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What-what-what! What is it!¡±

    ¡°Usually it would not have been such a one-sided fight. You¡¯re really strong, Velvet. And I¡¯m not really a good match for yers like you.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. I agree to all of that. It should have been easier for me tond a hit, than it was for you.¡±

    However, the results were quite reversed. This meant Sally was about to say something that was very important.

    ¡°Velvet. You are quite¡­simr.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m simr?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Abnormal states where you can¡¯t be hit by powerful wide area attacks, being strong at very close quarters, long ranged methods of attack. And turning into a beast.¡±

    The answer to this hade out of Sally¡¯s own mouth during the fight, and so Velvet was able to understand.

    ¡°Your danger area is simr to Maple¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ And you¡¯ve observed her very well, so you can naturally detect the danger?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s part of it, yes. But not exactly¡­ Uh, don¡¯t tell Maple that I said this, alright?¡±

    ¡°¡­? Okay.¡±

    Velvet said. And Sally paused for a moment before continuing.

    ¡°I want to fight Maple one day. If anyone should defeat her, it¡¯s me. And if anyone is going to defeat me for the first time, I want it to be her. I think I¡¯ve thought about fighting her more than anyone.¡±

    In other words, she wasn¡¯t just observing her a lot because they were close. More than anyone, she was simting ways to beat her. And all of that had been put into use during her fight with Velvet.

    ¡°Hmm! That¡¯s an unfortunate coincidence for me¡­ So you¡¯re buddies but also rivals?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s just me that thinks that. I don¡¯t think that Maple really cares for that kind of thing. So I don¡¯t know if we¡¯ll ever actually fight. But until the timees, I won¡¯t ever lose, and I¡¯ll protect her.¡±

    ¡°¡­I guess it¡¯s because you don¡¯t want to lose that your movements are so precise.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. Of course, I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t go so well for me the next time.¡±

    ¡°I still have other tricks up my sleeve too. Though, you did beat me this time. Besides, the best way for me to get stronger, is to fight alongside Hinata.¡±

    Perhaps one day, Velvet and Hinata would take on Maple and Sally at the same time.

    ¡°We¡¯ll win. We can¡¯t lose.¡±

    ¡°Same here! I¡¯m d that I was able to learn a lot today.¡±

    ¡°¡­I think I might have said too much.¡±

    Maple had been aware of it herself. There was something about Velvet that was simr to her. After all, Sally was not usually the type to talk so much to others.

    ¡°I¡¯m going back now. Hinata will be waiting for me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    Like Frederica, Velvet promised to fight Sally again. And so Sally had yet another dueling partner.

    ¡°I hope¡­you get to fight her one day.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yeah. Or this will be the closest I get to it.¡±

    And like that, the fight ended and the two came back looking like they had be much closer to each other. Maple and Hinata could not help but be a little puzzled.

 Chapter 331

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 331

    Defense Specialization and the Next Objective

    Now that the duel was over, Velvet had a very satisfied expression as she took the lead during their descent of the mountain.

    ¡°That was great¡­ Thank you, Sally.¡±

    ¡°We just fought. There¡¯s no reason for you to thank me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so d that we met today! I¡¯ll get stronger for the next time that we fight!¡±

    The two versus two battle would be saved for another time. And so they decided to part ways for the day.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. Do you have a second?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Me?¡±

    Before they separated, Velvet called out to Sally. To show her gratitude for such a fun fight, she gave Sally one piece of information.

    ¡°Recently on this map¡­around here, a strong yer is apparently leveling up.¡±

    ¡°Huh. Maybe I should go. There are more ridiculously stronger yers these days.¡±

    ¡°In spite of what you told me, Sally, I¡¯m going to be the first one to defeat you. We¡¯re rivals now!¡±

    Sally couldn¡¯t help but think of another yer who said simr things. However, she was grateful for the information.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare lose to anyone before me!¡±

    ¡°I already told you. If I lose to anyone, it won¡¯t be you, Velvet.¡±

    ¡°That just motivates me even more!¡±

    After receiving the information, they parted ways for the day. Once they had left Velvet and Hinata, Maple and Sally decided to return to the town. They both got onto Sally¡¯s horse and rode like the wind on the road leading to it.

    ¡°Was Velvet strong?¡±

    ¡°She was strong. But there are more and more strong yers now. She gave me information about an interesting yer. Do you want to go?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Since she was so kind to tell us! Maybe we can make more new friends!¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go then. Apparently, they usually go on weekends. Ah, but they might want to be rivals, just like Velvet.¡±

    The amount of people who called themselves Maple¡¯s rivals were increasing. But that was also one way to connect with people.

    ¡°I have to be stronger! I¡¯m the Guild Master, after all!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. I¡¯ll help you.¡±

    ¡°Yes! You¡¯re the most reliable person, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Hehe. Thank you.¡±

    As they talked like this, they reached the town in no time at all.

    623 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    There¡¯s no event and the 8thyer is still far away.

    Not much is happening these days.

    624 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    Well, the 7thyer is huge. I haven¡¯t explored every area yet.

    625 Name: Anonymous Archer

    All of theyers were huge, but the 7thyer beats the others.

    626 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    But you pretty much aplished the goal once you tame a monster.

    627 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    I guess you¡¯re supposed to use this time to raise them.

    628 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    I was reminded of the importance of that in the previous event.

    629 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    I¡¯m just going to focus on leveling up.

    630 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Ah, there he is.

    631 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    How are thingstely?

    632 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    Hmm. Nothing has really happened. In fact, Maple is rarely even in the 7thyer.

    633 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    Oh? Did she find a new dungeon?

    634 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    No, she said she¡¯s sightseeing with Sally.

    635 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    She must be enjoying herself.

    636 Name: Anonymous Archer

    That does sound like her.

    637 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    She never did seem like the type who cared about leveling up and searching for dungeons.

    She was like that since the first event.

    638 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    Like that person who draws pictures.

    639 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    I¡¯m always so busy doing this thing or that thing. So maybe it will be nice to rx for once.

    Perhaps that¡¯s what this time is for.

    640 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    This game does have a lot of tourist spots.

    641 Name: Anonymous Archer

    I¡¯ve barely gone to any of them. It¡¯s a waste now that I think about it.

    642 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    Well, everyone has a different way of enjoying themselves.

    By the way, where did they go?

    643 Name: Anonymous Great Shield User

    From what they told me, it was a floating castle. The one in the sky.

    644 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    That¡¯s not a tourist spot. It¡¯s their of a ridiculously powerful dragon.

    645 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Well, the view is pretty. But you¡¯ll die if you let your guard down.

    646 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    Maple can walk anywhere while enjoying the scenery. I¡¯m a little jealous. The best thing about her is that she is fine even when ambushed.

    647 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    I¡¯m sure they are leisurely sightseeing today as well.

    648 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    And it won¡¯t matter to them if that ce is a death vallery for normal yers¡­

    649 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Defense is important, even for sightseeing these days¡­

    650 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    Well, we can still go to the normal tourist spots. I think I might pay them a visit some time.

    Maple decided to go with Sally to the spot that Velvet had told them during the weekend. In the meantime, she was strolling leisurely in a town on the 7thyer.

    As there were always a lot of people on the newestyer, it was very loud and lively. It was here that Maple sat down on a bench to rest under the shade of a tree, and with ice cream in one hand.

    ¡°It seems like there is a tourist spot on everyyer that is themed after stars, so maybe I should search the 7thyer.¡±

    When she thought about it, nearly all of the good tourist spots she knew of had been rmended by Sally. While there were times that Maple herself had stumbled into them by ident, she had never actually escorted someone else.

    ¡°I should do something in return.¡±

    A nice view for a nice view. Since Sally had told her that there was one on everyyer, Maple thought she would find it first this time, and take Sally to it.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    Maple finished her ice cream and stood up enthusiastically.

    ¡°First, I have to gather information!¡±

    As that was what Sally always did, Maple decided to do the same. However, no likely ces had been discovered on the 7thyer yet.

    ¡°That must mean it¡¯s an event that only urs at night!¡±

    That being said, just because it was stars, it didn¡¯t necessarily mean they were on the surface, just like the one that Sally had shown her. It was possible that it was in a ce where you couldn¡¯t see the sky.

    ¡°I wonder how Sally knew they were on everyyer.¡±

    This seemed to suggest there was information pointing to this conclusion somewhere. Maybe it was a rumor between yers. Or maybe it was something more concrete.

    ¡°Alright! I¡¯ll go to the library.¡±

    If Sally said it, there must be solid evidence. Thinking this, Maple decided to look for hints from NPCs and information that was already avable in the town. And wanting to act immediately, Maple then ran on foot all of the way to the town library.

    While the library was filled with books, not all of them had any meaning. There were many areas that you couldn¡¯t enter, and there were some ces that just had bookshelves as a backdrop for atmospheric purposes. So there were not that many books that you could actually read.

    That being said, she knew that Sally wouldn¡¯t have gone through and read every single book. She either knew which books to look for, or there was a hint somewhere. As she thought about this and searched, she found a corner where the books had a promising theme.

    ¡°Stars and lights¡­ Ah, maybe these ones over here!¡±

    Maple took out a single book from the shelf. It contained stories about stars.

    ¡°Ah, it must be this! Umm¡­theke and moon¡­shadow of evolution¡­hmm. It sounds like the 7thyer!¡±

    She nodded to herself. Judging by what was written, Maple thought it might have something that would make Syrup stronger.

    ¡°Alright! I¡¯m going to go tonight then!¡±

    Just like when she explored the cave with Sally, she changed her equipment, just in case. And since she was going to ake, she brought her snorkel along with a light and rope, so that she would be able to move in the water without having to use ¡®Swim¡¯ or ¡®Dive¡¯ skills.

 Chapter 332

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 332

    Defense Specialization and Re-Exploration

    Night. The time when the stars shine in the sky and the monsters start to change. Maple rode on Syrup and flew in the air.

    ¡°On the 7thyer, I always rode on Sally¡¯s horse. So it¡¯s been a while.¡±

    While the bird monsters around her would attack, she just had to ignore them and they would give up after realizing that they couldn¡¯t do anything to Syrup, thanks to ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯ And so it was aid back journey.

    ¡°Uhh¡­it¡¯s supposed to be ake, so¡­¡±

    Maple had checked in advance, and there were three ces that could be calledkes that were in the area. However, there was no information that told her which of them was the ce she was looking for. And so she would just have to find out herself.

    Thankfully, Maple found flying on Syrup during the night to be very enjoyable. As long as she adjusted the angle so that they would reach the spot by just traveling in a straight line, she could then use ¡®Psychokinesis¡¯ to do the rest. This meant she was mostly free to lie on her back on top of the wide shell, and look up at the stars.

    As the night sky had been made to be beautiful, you could see the stars more clearly than in reality. And so she did not need any tools to enjoy them.

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s go to all of them!¡±

    Maple flew through the sky and went to all threekes. Her conclusion was this. There was nothing to be found in any of them.

    Thekes were pretty, but if there was something notable in such ces, then other yers would have found them already.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I guess it wouldn¡¯t be so easy. Then where can it be¡­¡±

    If what was written in the book really did have meaning, there must be some other ce that had ake.

    ¡°¡­Ah!¡±

    One possibility then urred to Maple. And she got back on Syrup and they flew off.

    The ce that Maple went to, was the night sea. As it wasn¡¯t exactly a great ce to level up, there were no other yers here. The only sounds were the gentle waves that echoed on the beach. Maple flew across the water on Syrup. When they reached a small ind with a single palm tree, she returned Syrup to its ring.

    ¡°Now I just have to wait patiently.¡±

    Maple said as she took out some snacks from her inventory. Then she sat down and leaned against the palm tree and waited.

    ¡°Hehehe¡­ Ah!¡±

    As she rxed and waited, a tentacle that was even darker than the night sea suddenly stretched out and grabbed Maple.

    ¡°Thanks!¡±

    She wasn¡¯t sure if the ce that the tentacle took her would be considered an undergroundke, but she had recalled that ce with lots of water. As she sunk into the water with a ssh, she disappeared into the ck mist within the sea.

    When she opened her eyes again, she was in a cramped space made of damp rock.

    ¡°Good! I was able to return!¡±

    Maple stretched her limbs and then started to walk to the far back. As she already knew how to get through the area, she did not hesitate to get grabbed by the tentacles as she advanced.

    They would sometimes hit or try to strangle her, but she didn¡¯t mind, as she took no damage from them.

    While she had gained a new skill here, you would usually not have acquired that skill in that way, which meant there usually was no reward. And since this dungeon had a very special way of getting in, Maple felt that there must be something else that was hidden.

    ¡°I wonder what it looks like.¡±

    She looked forward to seeing the stars as she was grabbed by another tentacle. However, there was one thing she hadn¡¯t considered. How on earth could a ce where you get grabbed by so many tentacles be considered a tourist spot?

    It was just Maple who could ignore them, but most yers who had normal defense abilities would find it much too dangerous.

    In any case, Maple was able to reach the boss without getting a single scratch.

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    Unlike the previous time, the boss room at night seemed to have more ck water and mist. However, as Maple already knew how to fight it, she brought out her weapons without any fear.

    ¡°I have to get inside its stomach first!¡±

    She knew that she could beat it if she just got into its stomach. And so she put on her snorkel in order to raise her diving ability, and then she jumped into the ck water.

    ¡°Ready, go!¡±

    As she sshed into the water, the tentacles reached out towards her as if in greeting. And then they dragged her to the depths of the pool. This was exactly what Maple had wanted.

    She could not lose to a monster she had already defeated. The octopus¡¯s body was filled with poison, monsters, bullets, and nts before it exploded. Maple detonated her weapons and flew out of the water. Then she rose into the air above the ground.

    ¡°I defeated it, but¡­ Hmm. Nothing happened.¡±

    As it was a hidden ce, Maple had thought that there must be something else. But killing the boss did not trigger anything.

    ¡°Maybe I should search the water more.¡±

    But the water was very ck, and she could not even see the bottom of it. Last time, Maple had been satisfied with just taking an octopus leg and leaving, this time she turned on her headlight and dove into the water. Exploding her weapons was all she needed to reach the bottom all at once. And then she searched for anything that could point her in the right direction.

    It was then that near the center of the floor, she discovered a hole that looked like it would allow her to dive deeper down.

    However, Maple checked the size and realized that she wouldn¡¯t be able use her weapons once inside, and so she returned to the surface.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t even realize there was such a thing¡­ It was right down there¡­¡±

    She decided that she would use an explosion to go down and save as much time as possible. Then she would explore as much as her breath would allow. If that wasn¡¯t enough, she would just give up for now.

    ¡°Sally seemed to have a really hard time leveling up ¡®Swim,¡¯ so I hope it¡¯s not too deep!¡±

    Maple caused another explosion and shot down through the water before plunging straight into the hole. The walls were tight around her, and it was so dark that it seemed like she was closing her eyes. However, she could feel the bubbles rising into her face.

    After this continued for a while, Maples realized that the walls were gone and that she could breathe again.

    The sensation of sinking through empty ckness faded. It seemed like she had reached the bottom. She looked towards the now distant surface of the water. Either the water was clearer here, or her eyes had be ustomed to it, because the water on the other side of the hole looked bright, almost like a foggy moon. However, perhaps it had only looked like that, because Maple was looking for a starry sky.

    ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s not exactly a pretty view¡­ Too bad. I wonder if there is anything here¡­ Ah! That!¡±

    She found something familiar within the darkness. It was a treasure chest that she had missed thest time she was here.

    ¡°Wow! I guess they don¡¯t alwayse out so that they¡¯re easy to find! I¡¯ll have to search more carefully next time¡­¡±

    And so Maple was very happy as she opened the box. Instead of the usual celebratory glow, something dark started to flow out. It seemed like it was what was responsible for all of the darkness. It then enveloped Mapled and eventually started to soak inside of her.

    You have acquired the skill, ¡®Reverse Rebirth.¡¯

    ¡°¡­? ¡­??¡±

    Apparently, it wasn¡¯t something that helped Syrup evolve. The thing that she had missed her first time, was something that many of Maple¡¯s rivals would have wished that she had never found.

 Chapter 333

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 333

    Defense Specialization and ¡®Reverse Rebirth¡¯.

    After escaping from the underground, Maple returned to the night sea and inspected the item she had so unexpectedly acquired.

    [Reverse Rebirth]

    Uses 500 HP.

    Changes the next skill you use into another specific skill. Effective for 5 minutes.

    ¡°If it depletes 500 HP¡­that means it will only work when I¡¯m using Savagery or wearing my white set.¡±

    Maple checked the requirements for activating the skill, and then she changed her equipment and recovered her HP.

    ¡°Alright, ¡®Reverse Rebirth¡¯!¡±

    Just as she said those words, ck mist was unleashed from her body, and red damage effects flew. When Maple checked her status panel, she saw that some of her skills were blinking.

    ¡°¡®Savagery¡¯ and¡­ ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯ and ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯?¡±

    In other words, these three were the only skills that Maple had that were affected by ¡®Reverse Rebirth.¡¯

    ¡°Okay. I guess I¡¯ll test it on ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ because I use it the most!¡±

    She checked the status panel to see what the skill would be called after it changed. And then she said it hesitantly.

    ¡°Umm¡­ ¡®Unreaching Hunger for Affection.¡¯¡±

    Maple dered, and at the same time, instead of the familiar glow, a ck circle of light began to spread around her feet. Then ck wings sprouted from Maple¡¯s back, and above her head, a ck halo appeared.

    ¡°Woah! That¡¯s amazing! This one might go well with my ck armor!¡±

    While it wasn¡¯t exactly the part that most people would have been paying attention to, she eventually did check the effect.

    ¡°Hmm. The damage that the user would have received will be dealt to ally yers and ally monsters who are within range¡­ Uh, it really is reversed.¡±

    Unlike ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ all the other yers would take damage for her while it was in use. ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ was such a powerful skill because Maple didn¡¯t take any damage. And so that meant that ¡®Unreaching Hunger for Affection¡¯ would have very little meaning if she tried to use it.

    It would be good if you were a yer with low defense and high attack ability and needed to survive.

    As it was a skill that meant you would survive as long as at least one of your allies were alive, an attacker would be able to deal the most damage they were capable of.

    ¡°Ah, but maybe I could have ¡®Predator¡¯ protect us!¡±

    While there was an extra step of having to summon ¡®Predator¡¯ and then change her equipment, if she used it well, it could result in a new style of fighting that didn¡¯t involve her constantly protecting the others.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll think of other uses for it!¡±

    Maple was honestly pleased with this acquisition, and was excited to find a real tourist spot next time.

    802 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    Breaking News. Maple has fallen from heaven.

    803 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    ?????

    804 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    She already did a while ago.

    805 Name: Anonymous Archer

    But I heard she wasn¡¯t doing anything recently?

    806 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    I don¡¯t know anything.

    807 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    Well, do you know any other girls who have two familiar monsters on both sides?

    808 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    I doubt it.

    809 Name: Anonymous Archer

    No one else is like that.

    810 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    Anyway, Maple had ck wings growing out of her.

    And the ground around her was glowing with a ck light as well.

    811 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    Maybe she just changed the color of the effect?

    812 Name: Anonymous Archer

    I heard that you could do that with tamed monsters, but no yer has done that before.

    813 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    You¡¯re saying that Maple is a tamed monster¡­?

    814 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    She is a monster

    815 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    Well, some of her is.

    816 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    You can¡¯t deny all of it then. I¡¯m not surprised.

    817 name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    Well, that¡¯s all the information I got. I¡¯m just waiting for someone to be sacrificed.

    818 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    So you¡¯re already certain someone¡¯s going to be sacrificed¡­

 Chapter 334.1

    334 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 334

    Defense Specialization and ¡®Rapid Fire¡¯.

    Without any knowledge of such conversations, Maple and Sally met in the 7thyer town on the weekend, just as they had nned.

    ¡°I see you found another weird skill.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I was so surprised. Maybe there are other things that I missed in all of the ces that I¡¯ve been to.¡±

    ¡°Well, you can¡¯t be sure that you haven¡¯t. It might be worth revisiting ces where bosses didn¡¯t drop anything, or where the boss was really weak.¡±

    As an example, Sally suggested the mountain that they had gone to with Velvet. A likely exnation was that they were just too strong, but she also felt like that for a mountain that was so big, the number of monsters and their cements seemed a little odd.

    ¡°There may be undiscovered things in such ces. Well, they also didn¡¯t really give us any hints.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Exploration sure is deep. Ah, I¡¯ll show you what kind of skill it ister. It¡¯s really difficult to use. But I thought that you might be able to think of something!¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do that. Oh, by the way, Maple¡­you haven¡¯t used the medals from the previous event to get any skills yet? There might be something good there.¡±

    ¡°Yes! I hope I can get a good skill, since I have a new rival.¡±

    ¡°I already chose mine, so I¡¯ll show it to you some other time.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m looking forward to it!¡±

    While Sally had won the duel, the real test would be during a PVP event. And so if she wanted to win, she had to figure out ways of dealing with Hinata.

    ¡°The person we¡¯re about to go and see will be strong as well. So I hope we can see some skills.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s go, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll prepare the horse.¡±

    Maple and Sally ended their conversation and decided to head out. They got on the horse and rode towards their destination.

    ¡°ording to Velvet, we¡¯ll know when we see them. So I guess that means they really stick out.¡±

    ¡°Hehe.¡±

    Like this, the ce that Maple and Sally arrived in was a grassy field where a gentle wind was blowing. This was the ce where birds, small dragons, and flying monsters that were not exactly rare lived. They could see them flying freely in the open sky above the field.

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Thanks.¡±

    There were a lot of monsters, and they were fast. And while it was an easy thing for Sally to dodge all of them, their goal for today was to search for a certain yer. And so it would be best if nothing got in their way.

    ¡°So, we just need to look for someone who seems amazing?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Velvet didn¡¯t give me any details about the way that they looked.¡±

    She supposed that Velvet wanted them to be surprised when they first saw this person. And so they had only been told the ce. However, it would be really difficult to find someone here, where there were many other yers. And so if it was still possible, that meant there must be something to this person that really drew in the eye. Just like when Maple had first met Velvet.

    ¡°Someone who you can tell is strange at a nce. Kind of like you right now, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    In fact, even as they talked, flying monsters were unleashing wind magic and ramming into her. However, all of these attacks just bounced right off of her. Both of them were used to such a sight, but it was definitely not normal for most people.

    In other words, they just had to find someone like that.

    As the two walked through the field, they spotted some yers who looked promising.

    A pair consisting of a tall and slender man and woman. The man had a giant bow that was as tall as he was, and he was dressed like a minstrel. The woman was dressed like a ssical maid and carried a mop. As Sally said, they felt very out of ce at a nce. And so they decided to watch the pair from afar.

    It seemed like the man was mainly in charge ofbat, while the woman in the maid outfit focused on supporting him.

    What was most surprising was the speed and force of the bow. One moment he was aiming at a dragon in the sky. The next, a red damage effect was exploding on the dragon and its HP was 0. After that, he continued to take down monsters with a single hit. It was as if he were merely doing some target practice.

    ¡°Wow! Are bows always like that!?¡±

    ¡°Ahh¡­ Well, we don¡¯t really know any archers, huh? Still, I doubt they are usually like this. Yeah.¡±

    He was hitting each moving target perfectly as if it were the easiest thing in the world. This in itself was abnormal. Just like how Sally survived by dodging, you had to aim before unleashing an arrow. And you would miss if the target moved in an unexpected direction.

    ¡°Force, uracy, rapid-fire speed. I think he¡¯s strong because all of them are at such a high level. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s even using a skill.¡±

    Bows had skills that allowed you to do things that would be impossible in real life. Like unleashing multiple arrows at once, or changing the trajectory of an arrow after shooting it. But if these were just his normal attacks, what kind of hidden power could he have?

    ¡°But well, considering Yui and Mai, there must be some exnation for this ridiculous damage output. I¡¯m guessing that maid is casting some very powerful buffs.¡±

    He was doing damage that was on a simr level to the pair who had put all of their points into STR. There was no way that he wasn¡¯t being affected by some skill.

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    The two were strong. They now understood why Velvet was interested in them.

    After that, he continued to shoot the monsters down without ever missing a single one.

    ¡°And the bow is so cool¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It must be fun to be able to shoot so well.¡±

    As Maple and Sally watched them at a distance, the man appeared to finish. He lowered his bow, and then the two started to walk towards Maple and Sally.

    And it seemed like they weren¡¯t just walking in that direction by coincidence. They stopped in front of Maple and Sally, and the man opened his mouth.

 Chapter 334.2

    334 Part 2

    ¡°Well, well. I was wondering who could be watching us so intently.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be anyone this famous.¡±

    After getting a better look at them, they saw that there was something very soft about the way that the man carried himself. The woman seemed more stern and oozed confidence.

    ¡°You know us?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sort of.¡±

    ¡°Of course. Anyone would recognize you in that armor.¡±

    As they were on the 7thyer, both Maple and Sally were wearing their strongest gear. So just like the pair said, there wouldn¡¯t be many yers who didn¡¯t recognize Maple and Sally.

    ¡°So, Miss Maple and Miss Sally. Are you spying on the enemy? Is that it?¡±

    ¡°Uhh, Velvet said that there were some interesting yers¡­¡±

    Upon hearing the name ¡®Velvet,¡¯ the two nodded with a satisfied expression.

    ¡°So it¡¯s you two. Velvet came here the other day.¡±

    ¡°She said that she had so much fun fighting some strong yers, and that she sent them to us. I had no idea she meant Maple and Sally.¡±

    ¡°You were amazing!¡±

    ¡°I appreciate thepliment.¡±

    ¡°That much is really nothing for Will.¡±

    It was then that the two realized that they had not introduced themselves yet, and so they quickly told them their names. The man was called Willbert and the woman in the maid outfit was called Lily.

    ¡°I¡¯m the Guild Master of ¡®Rapid Fire.¡¯ Well, Will helps me run it.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, I know what you mean.¡±

    Maple pretty much always relied on Sally toe up with strategies. The only thing she really did was add a finishing touch asionally. In fact, Maple hade up with the n to use explosions as a marker during the previous event.

    ¡°Shall we talk a little? I feel like I wasn¡¯tpletely wrong when suggesting you were inspecting the enemy.¡±

    ¡°This is our first time meeting you. And we have a lot of interest in a small guild that is able to do so well in the rankings.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s talk!¡±

    And like that, through Velvet¡¯s introduction, they decided to talk to the ¡®top two¡¯ of Rapid Fire, much like they had with ¡®thunder storm.¡¯

    ¡°The monsters that I killed will start to respawn soon. If we are going to talk, we should go to a safe zone¡­¡±

    ¡°This must be the defense field that I¡¯ve heard about.¡±

    Even as they were watching the pair, Maple had kept Dedicated Affection up in order to protect Sally. Aside from footage of the fourth event, Maple was almost always seen with angel wings when she was inbat, and so there were nearly no yers who fought on the frontlines and yet didn¡¯t know about it.

    ¡°Uhh, it can only protect myrades.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t doubt it. No, it¡¯s not a problem. Will and I aren¡¯t the kind of yers who can be killed by the monsters in this area.¡±

    ¡°So where should we go? We haven¡¯t been here much, and I¡¯m not sure where the safe zone is¡­¡±

    And so Lily walked in the front in order to lead them. And while monsters reacted to this and started to attack her, Willbert¡¯s precise shots prevented them from getting close.

    ¡°If you ever fought them, you¡¯d have to hide behind your shield, Maple.¡±

    Willbert¡¯s shots were powerful and precise. And since Maple¡¯s movements were affected by her incredibly low AGI, Sally knew that moving would be pointless. But that wasn¡¯t everything. She knew that there was a chance he could hit her, if even a part of her head or foot was sticking out from behind the shield.

    ¡°Uhhh¡­ I-I think you¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°I know the basic bow skills. They are able to shoot multiple arrows at once or make them curve.¡±

    ¡°Yes. There is nothing for me to hide. Obviously, I have acquired all the basic skills for an archer.¡±

    ¡°¡­I¡¯m sure you have a lot that are above them, Mister Willbert.¡±

    ¡°Is that what you think? That being said, it sounds like you have some ideas.¡±

    ¡°That speed and force would not be possible without something else.¡±

    ¡°Your powers of observation are admirable.¡±

    ¡°Haha. Will is strong. For instance, I¡¯ve heard rumors about your dodging ability, Sally. However, I¡¯m sure it would be hard even for someone like you to dodge an arrow that is so fast your eye cannot even follow it?¡±

    ¡°¡­Is that what you think?¡±

    ¡°Nicely done. I¡¯m really starting to want to see your power.¡±

    Like Velvet said, these two were very interesting. Lily thought with amusement. Then Maple turned to her.

    ¡°Lily, your clothes sure are nice!¡±

    ¡°This old thing? Well, I¡¯ve had it for so long. Perhaps it¡¯s starting to look good on me.¡±

    Lily twirled her mop yfully as she said this.

    ¡°Lily used to hate it. But well, armor is armor.¡±

    ¡°Exactly! If you only knew what it felt like to finally get something rare, and have it be this thing.¡±

    The overall air they felt from Lily, was of someone who stood above others, not someone who served. She was the Guild Master, after all. In a way, it didn¡¯t really fit her bold personality.

    ¡°But they are first rate as far as equipment goes. These clothes and this mop, which I prefer to call a spear.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a spear!?¡±

    ¡°Yes. But as you might guess, it has very little attack power.¡±

    ¡°¡­That¡¯s uh¡­kind of you to tell us that.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing, really. Besides¡­¡±

    Lily then turned towards Sally with a challenging smile. She had such an air of confidence as she said,

    ¡°I know that even if we told you of every one of our skills, Will and I could still beat you two.¡±

    ¡°I always say this, but she exaggerates.¡±

    ¡°No, no. That is what strength amounts to.¡±

    ¡°¡­I just do what I can.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Will. That is fine. Anyway, that¡¯s the way it is.¡±

    ¡°You and Velvet must be good friends.¡±

    ¡°Velvet is also very confident, and so we see eye to eye on many things. Besides, Velvet and Hinata really are strong.¡±

    ¡°If there ever is another battle with rankings, I think there will be a great shakeup. Oh, the safe zone is over here¡­ But perhaps we didn¡¯t need it.¡±

    Even as they talked, Willbert shot down every monster. And Maple could walk and talk and protect Sally without a problem. So they were practically already within a safe zone.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t say that, Will. It¡¯s much more fun to be able to sit down and rx while you talk.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    And like that, the four went to the safe zone where monsters could not follow them.

 Chapter 335.1

    335 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 335

    Defense Specialization and ¡®Rapid Fire¡¯ 2.

    There was a great tree on the outskirts of the field. And as monsters were not able toe near to it, they would be able to talk very leisurely.

    ¡°We¡¯ve only ever seen you in action during events. But I always wanted to talk to you in person. I¡¯ll have to thank Velvet for thister.¡±

    That being said, Maple and Sally had onlye here because Velvet had told them there would be an interesting yer. They hadn¡¯t expected to sit down and really talk like this. And so they hadn¡¯t prepared any questions.

    ¡°Hmm. Well, then perhaps I can ask you a question first.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    ¡°Will you two tell me what your trump card skills are?¡±

    This was such a straightforward question that both Maple and Sally felt their eyes widen. Upon seeing their expressions, Lily chuckled with amusement and then corrected herself.

    ¡°I was mostly joking. You¡¯d have no reason at all to tell me. But how about this. Why don¡¯t you apany us to a dungeon, just like you did with Velvet?¡±

    Now that was something that could be advantageous to Maple and Sally. They thought back on how strong Velvet and Hinata had been. Congregation of Holy Swords and Kingdom of the me Emperor were not the only guilds they had to be wary of.

    Up until now, the strongest guilds were guilds that had been the quickest in acquiring the unique series, or powerful skills. The number of such guilds increased as time passed, and those two became known as the two strongestrge guilds.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure that you two are curious as well. And we want to see how you change.¡±

    Sally was able to read Lily¡¯s intention by looking at her face. In other words, they wanted to know if the top two of Maple Tree were worth being cautious of, or if they had fallen.

    Sally was sure that Lily would be able to read their movements more urately than Velvet, and she would uncover their hidden skills. Any clumsy attempt to conceal them would have no effect.

    ¡°What should we do, Sally?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not? Besides, I think seeing Willbert use his bow will be very helpful for us in the future.¡±

    Sally was fully aware of how Maple¡¯s skills worked, as well as her own. And she felt that it wouldn¡¯t matter much, as long as they only used skills that Lily was likely to already know about. Obviously, fighting right in front of them meant they might learn about their habits, but it would be to their advantage as long as they concealed their trump cards.

    Aside from that, it was just like Lily said. It wouldn¡¯t matter if they showed skills that they were confident in. Skills that could not be dealt with even if you showed them in advance.

    ¡°Well, I think it will be fine if you fight like you always do, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll do my best then!¡±

    The important skills that supported Maple inbat had stayed mostly the same since the fourth event.

    And while she could do more, thanks to the new skills she acquired, her fighting style generally involved protecting with ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ and using summoning skills and long range attack skills.

    Maple had already attracted a lot of attention during the fourth event. And so if she fought in the same way, she would just be showing the same skills again.

    ¡°So, where should we go? The closest ce to us would be¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go there, Will. There are a lot of monsters. While it¡¯s harder than the arena that Velvet took you, it is quite simr. Now, let¡¯s see you in action.¡±

    Lily suggested it as the perfect ce. And Maple and Sally had no reason to refuse. And so the four of them headed to the nearby dungeon.

    They had no trouble on the way there, and they safely reached the magic circle that would teleport them to the dungeon. And while they were in the center of a green forest, this ce was especially green. Vines covered the trees surrounding the magic circle. It was as if they were sucking in the energy.

    As the four had formed a party, they just needed to step on the circle and they would all be taken to the dungeon.

    ¡°While it looks dangerous, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Just step on.¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes.¡±

    When Maple stepped onto it, all four of them were enveloped in light. When they arrived in the dungeon, they saw that it was a ce where all the walls and floors were made of trees.

    ¡°The monsters here are weak to fire. However, using fire triggers a special debuff within the dungeon.¡±

    These included status drops, reduced damage output, lowered defense etcetera all at once. Thankfully, Maple and Sally did not have to rely on fire when fighting, and so they weren¡¯t really hindered in this dungeon.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s just Oboro¡¯s skill. You should be fine too, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t use fire all that much!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good to know. In any case, I¡¯d like to see what you can do.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    And so, aftering out into what felt like a new part of the area, it was decided that Maple and Sally would be the first to fight. Lily and Will were now protected by Dedicated Affection, and so they could observe them while remaining safe.

 Chapter 335.2

    335 Part 2

    After advancing a little farther, magic circles that resembled the one they had stepped on earlier started to appear on the ground. And then three humanoid monsters that were made of trees appeared. Each of them had unique features. One had veryrge arms, while the others held a sword and bow respectively.

    ¡°Maple. Let¡¯s keep things simple!¡±

    ¡°¡®Deploy all Weapons,¡¯ ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Three enemies were in front of them, and they were in the middle of a passage. So that meant there was only one thing for them to do. Maple created her weapons and aimed them all at the monsters before firing them at once.

    After these obviously weak monsters felt the rain of bullets for a few seconds, they exploded.

    ¡°Nice one, Maple!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    Maple and Sally¡¯s stampede didn¡¯t end there. The passage was soon overflowing with monsters, but they could not get past Maple¡¯s wall of bullets. Lily and Willbert watched this silently from behind and tried to confirm that this lived up to the rumors.

    ¡°What do you think, Will?¡±

    ¡°They really are strong. But I don¡¯t think each individual attack is that powerful.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure they aren¡¯t. Will, that is a weakness you could exploit.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ However, it will also depend on where we fight.¡±

    It was important to be able to see them again. The visual ir didn¡¯t always equal actual strength. Willbert¡¯s bow matched Maple¡¯s guns in terms of speed, but did more damage. And as long as they didn¡¯t attack each other head on, the weight of each of his attacks would mean so much more.

    ¡°That being said, even if we do get a second look, it would be back-breaking work, dealing with this kind of attack. I can¡¯t imagine how surprised people were when the first saw this during the fourth event.¡±

    Even as they talked, Maple tore down the monsters and advanced, step by step. As for the monsters, Maple and her weapons were blocking the passagepletely as she fired at them. And so they had no choice but to be sacrificed when it was their turn.

    Like this, they soon came out to what seemed like the next area. While they had walked through narrow passages between trees up until now, this was an open area.

    The walls looked simr, but there were roses of many colors on the ground, just like with Syrup¡¯s garden skill. And there were thorns spread out as well. This vast space was clearly different from the passages, and even Maple was quick to realize that something was about to happen.

    ¡°A strong monster is about toe out. I think¡­¡±

    ¡°Correct! Here ites!¡±

    The thorns on the ground began to grow thicker as they gathered towards the center of the room. Then an especiallyrge, red rose bloomed. It moved as if it had a will of its own. The vines on either side of itshed out like whips.

    ¡°We can trade ces after this one. You two won¡¯t have a problem defeating it, right?¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    ¡°Maple, you deal with defense. We should be fine, since we know how this dungeon works.¡±

    Their appearance alone seemed like they were inviting you to shoot at them with fire attacks. But as both of them knew better, they did not fall into this trap. And so Sally dashed forward, and the battle began.

    ¡°¡®Oozing Chaos,¡¯ ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    The monster that Maple unleashed crashed into the giant rose that was in the center. She followed this with a storm of bullets. At the same time, she slowly advanced for Sally, so that the rose would be within range of Dedicated Affection. Now that Sally¡¯s safety was secured, she just needed to focus on attacking from the back.

    As for Sally, now that she was protected, she attacked the rose mercilessly so that the rose could not attack Maple, on the off chance that it had piercing attacks.

    ¡°Phew¡­!¡±

    Four thorny whips flew towards Sally. Two were on each side as they moved at an angle. Sally waited until thest possible moment before dodging them. One, two. Even Lily and Will could see that she wasn¡¯t just challenging them for the sake of it from the safety of Dedicated Affection.

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    Just as it had been for Velvet, seeing them fight in person was apletely different matter.

    ¡°What do you think, Will. Could you hit her?¡±

    ¡°Not with an arrow that was just fast. Besides¡­¡±

    Willbert saw that Maple was being strangled in the back by multiple vines, yet seemedpletely unphased. He couldn¡¯t help butugh then.

    ¡°That one as well. A high-power arrow would be pointless.¡±

    ¡°So the rumors are true then.¡±

    When they turned their eyes towards Sally again, she had just dodged the now six vines perfectly, and she wasunching a counterattack. The vines that were still shooting out of the ground and attacking Maple were unable to catch Sally. However, as she was not using any skills, she could only chip away at its HP very slowly.

    Most normal yers would have be frantic after dodging so many attacks, and they would want to finish the fight as soon as possible. The fact that she continued to dodge, even though it looked as risky as walking on a tightrope, was because this was what was normal to her now.

    ¡°Maple! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

 Chapter 335.3

    335 Part 3

    Maple detonated her weapons, blowing away all of the vines that surrounded her. And like that, she charged towards the rose.

    ¡°¡®Predator¡¯!¡±

    She held her ck shield up as the two monsters appeared on either side. And like that, they plummeted towards the rose.

    ¡°Hahh!¡±

    The shield that swallowed everything tore up the petals. And damage effects that were an even deeper red than the rose began to burst all over it. Predator crushed the thorny vines around them. As nothing was supporting Maple now, she crashed to the ground and rolled away.

    ¡°Well, at least there were no piercing attacks. But, just in case! ¡®Quintuple sh¡¯!¡±

    Each of her hands shed with her des five times in a row. Then she used ¡®Pursuing de¡¯ for an additional five attacks. These were skills and buffs that anyone would know, but when she was able to chain over twenty attacks together, it became an impressive trump card.

    And as the monster recoiled under the massive amounts of damage that Maple inflicted, Sally pressed in with her follow-attack. And with this tried and proven pattern, she shredded the stem that supported the flower. There was a cracking noise, and the rose monster exploded into light.

    ¡°Good job, Maple. Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes! There were thorns everywhere, but they didn¡¯t use piercing attacks, thankfully.¡±

    ¡°Looks like it. Maybe we could have been more aggressive then.¡±

    As Maple was lying on the ground, Sally offered a hand and helped her up. It was as they brushed the dust off of their armor that the other two approached them.

    ¡°Very nice. It was hard to believe, even though I was watching you with my own eyes. Yes, I can now see that your strength has to do with your basic abilities.¡±

    Maple¡¯s shooting could be urate because her ridiculous defense ability allowed her to stay in a single spot, like some kind of fixed artillery. The fact that she didn¡¯t need to move around and dodge enemy attacks was her strength.

    As for Sally, her dodging ability was what allowed her tounch counter attacks.

    Like Lily said, their skills and the way they moved were heavily influenced by those basic abilities.

    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll show you how we fight now. Let¡¯s see¡­ We¡¯ll give you about as much information as you gave us.¡±

    ¡°In other words, show everything you got if you want to see everything we have.¡±

    ¡°Well, something like that. I¡¯m always open to knowing more.¡±

    Lily had told them beforeing here. She didn¡¯t mind showing them everything. If it was true that she could still win, even though they knew about all of her skills, that meant they were the kind of the skills that had no countermeasures. So the more skills that Maple and Sally showed, the more they would be at a disadvantage.

    After thinking about this, Sally still decided that she wanted to see as much as possible. Just like how Lily was good at observing, so was Sally. If someone was hiding a skill, Sally would be able to tell by just reading the atmosphere.

    It was clear what Maple and her weaknesses were. And so she wanted to gain information, as well as to be able to guess at what kind of skills they might have.

    ¡°In any case, we¡¯ll go next, just as we promised. So watch us closely.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°¡­Hehe. No, it¡¯s nothing.¡±

    Maple seemed like she had such a pure interest in seeing how they would fight, and was less interested in this being some kind of transaction. Lily couldn¡¯t help but soften a little by this. She moved ahead of Willbert as they walked, and she whispered.

    ¡°They are certainly explosive. A good duo.¡±

    ¡°I agree. Besides, it seems like there is no limit to how many people ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ can protect.¡±

    ¡°Yes. They will be very powerful when theye out as a full guild. I will be the one who takes care of them if that timees¡­. But more importantly, there¡¯s something I¡¯ve been wondering about regarding Sally.¡±

    ¡°Her dodging ability?¡±

    ¡°Yes. For instance, what would happen if you shot at me right now, Will?¡±

    Willbert seemed like he couldn¡¯t understand what the point of this question was. And so he said that it would bounce off of her and be harmless. Direct attacks towards friends were always nullified upon impact. And so yers with long-ranged attacks, like Willbert, had to be careful about where they stood.

    ¡°Exactly. It struck me as I watched them. Maple¡¯s aim could hardly be called ¡®urate.¡¯ And on top of that, Sally was in front of the monster, just like a wall. So how was she dealing so much damage?¡±

    ¡°The trajectory of the bullets that hit the monster¡­ No, is such a thing possible?¡±

    ¡°Who knows? I couldn¡¯t do it even if I had eyes on the back of my head. Regardless, she was dodging bullets that wereing from behind. And it was a ridiculous curtain of bullets too. Of course, it will depend on how things go¡­ But you know what I mean?¡±

    Lily said, and Willbert nodded.

    ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s not use that skill.¡±

    ¡°Mmm. Still, with Maple there, it will be hard. I can see us fighting already¡­ But then again, hitting down targets and rapid fire is our speciality. So let¡¯s show them how it¡¯s done.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­of course.¡±

    While Lily muttered something about being thankful towards Velvet, fighting was hardly the first thing on her mind now. She was thinking of ways to defeat Maple and Sally.

 Chapter 336.1

    336 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 336

    Defense Specialization and ¡®Rapid Fire¡¯ 3.

    After defeating the rose, Maple and Sally walked behind the other two in order to see them fight, just as had been promised.

    That being said, this just involved seeing very weak-looking tree monsters being one-shotted by Willbert, and exploding.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t even feel like a fight. I thought Yui and Mai were the only ones who could give off that vibe¡­¡±

    ¡°He really is one-shotting all of them! I¡¯ve never seen him miss¡­¡±

    ¡°He moves much faster than you, Maple. And bows have a lot of skills that require high DEX, so there is no way that he put everything into STR.¡±

    As for what they could observe now, that they couldn¡¯t when they watched from far away, was that it looked like Lily hadn¡¯t activated any skills yet. So aside from the face that Willbert was shooting the monsters down without using any skills, they did not gain any more information.

    ¡°Hmm. Maybe it¡¯s a passive skill then¡­¡±

    Lily had told them that her maid outfit was very rare. That being said, they didn¡¯t know if she was telling the truth. But there was clearly a reason that she had this equipment instead of more traditional armor and a spear.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s hope there¡¯s a stronger monster, like that rose we just fought.¡±

    The tree monsters were treated like themon enemies they were. They needed someone who could put up an actual fight.

    As Lily twirled her mop around yfully, and Willbert killed the monsters expertly, they came out into another clearing.

    ¡°Will. What was here again?¡±

    ¡°The mushroom. It¡¯s a little dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Then I guess I could help you a little. I did make a promise, after all. And I¡¯m starting to get a little bored.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that would help.¡±

    As the two talked like this, spores started to spray out of the ground, and a giant mushroom grew from the center. After a short dy, several smaller mushrooms sprouted around it. And they charged at the pair with a will of their own.

    ¡°Talent to Serve the King,¡¯ ¡®Strategy Instruction,¡¯ ¡®Suprarational Power.¡¯ Hmm¡­ Ah, ¡®Sage¡¯s Command¡¯! Alright, I think that should do it.¡±

    ¡°¡®Tight Pull,¡¯ ¡®Strongest Shot.¡¯¡±

    As Willbert¡¯s bow was enveloped in a red light, the bow was pulled to its absolute limit before being unleashed. The arrow flew at a speed that the eye could not follow and pierced every one of the mushrooms that were moving in a straight row, before hitting the center of the big mushroom, and carving out a huge hole in it.

    However, this was not enough to kill it. And while numerous damage effects exploded everywhere, it still had a little HP remaining. Immediately after, it recovered about thirty percent of its HP, and then filled the surrounding air with even more spores. There were more than a few dozen mushrooms now.

    ¡°Huh? I thought we killed it in one hitst time.¡±

    ¡°I can handle it if it only has thirty percent of its health left.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll still help you a little. ¡®This Body into Food,¡¯ ¡®Advice.¡¯¡±

    The mushrooms unleashed more of their venomous-looking spores into the air as they approached. And while Lily activated her skills, there was no visible effect.

    ¡°Alright, here goes. ¡®Area Expand,¡¯ ¡®Rain of Arrows.¡¯¡±

    Next, Willbert unleashed his arrow at the sky. And just like the name suggested, a rain of arrows descended in a specific area. ¡®Area Expand¡¯ insured that there was no space between the rain of arrows, and so the mushrooms were pierced one after another. It was the same with therge mushroom as well. And it was destroyed before it really had a chance to do anything.

    ¡°Nice. It¡¯s a great way to take it down.¡±

    ¡°In that case, you should have done more for the first shot¡­¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­don¡¯t be like that.¡±

    Lilyughed it off and then turned to Maple and Sally in order to hear their opinion.

    ¡°It was amazing! I didn¡¯t know that bows were so strong¡­¡±

    ¡°Will is special.¡±

    ¡°¡­The first shot. My guess would be that it¡¯s a passive skill that does more damage the first time that you hit a target.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­¡±

    This was the first time they had seen Willbert shoot a target more than once. While Sally didn¡¯t know about all the buffs, she did know about ¡®Rain of Arrows.¡¯ It was a basic bow skill and since it was a wide-area attack, it did not do that much damage.

    However, she was able to observe thatpared to his first shot, his second one did considerably less damage. And when considering Lily¡¯s buffs and the original power of ¡®Rain of Arrows,¡¯ it seemed that some really big buff was now missing.

    ¡°That¡¯s practically correct! Impressive.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re kidding¡­ Oh, you¡¯re not.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just as I said. And I don¡¯t care if you know.¡±

    ¡°I¡­see¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Alright, as a reward for guessing correctly, we¡¯ll also do the boss fight.¡±

    ¡°Uh, are you sure?¡±

    If they got to watch them take on a boss, they might learn about even more skills. They had no reason to refuse.

 Chapter 336.2

    336 Part 2

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s fine. Though, can I ask you to fight the enemies on the way instead? There will be branching paths from this point on, but if you¡¯re careful when choosing your route, you can avoid ces like this.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ I guess we can.¡±

    Sally was puzzled by this suggestion, but they ultimately decided to ept it. And so the two of them walked in the lead once again. When Willbert and Lily were a good distance behind them, they started to talk to each other.

    ¡°Are you sure about this, Lily?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you? I¡¯m starting to feel bored.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ I know.¡±

    ¡°Besides, we won¡¯t be able to get more information out of them if they just fight normal monsters. I doubt Maple will use any new skills if it¡¯s not necessary. Sally even more so.¡±

    As Lily knew she wouldn¡¯t have anything to do until the boss fight, she asionally gave the two advice on which route to take, but otherwise just yed with her mop.

    Like this, the four of them reached the next boss room without any trouble. And while Maple and Sally couldn¡¯t one-shot every enemy like Willbert, they were able to reliably mow down the enemies with ease. And as always, since these monsters did not have piercing attacks, they didn¡¯t have a chance in a million to begin with.

    ¡°As promised, Will and I will deal with the boss.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Good luck! But if you do need any help¡­¡±

    ¡°Haha! It will be fine. I suggest you concentrate on keeping your eyes peeled.¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    While she didn¡¯t really know what she meant, Maple nodded, and they followed the other two into the boss room. There was a shrine in the far back of the room that was covered in branches with green leaves. And in front of it, there was a child-sized doll that wore clothes made of leaves. It was also carrying a tree branch with a flower on the tip. This was the boss of the dolls and nts they had seen on the way. It was clearly designed to look like a fairy or tree spirit.

    ¡°Ah! I¡¯ve fought a monster that looked just like it before!¡±

    ¡°¡­Was it that one in the jungle? I heard that it was a little different.¡±

    If the attacks were simr, the forced changing of your equipment would be the main thing to expect. However, it was quickly proven that though it was visually simr, it waspletely different inside.

    As its first move, the boss called out on both sides, the same roses that Maple had defeated earlier. Then several magic circles appeared on the ground, and the tree dolls were summoned.

    ¡°Yes. I am impressed every time that I see it.¡±

    ¡°Hey, Lily. They¡¯reing.¡±

    While the monsters were charging towards them, Willbert lowered his bow, and he and Lily said the same skill at the same time.

    ¡°¡®Quick Change.¡¯¡±

    ¡°¡®Quick Change.¡¯¡±

    And their equipment changed simultaneously. As if trading ces with Lily, Willbert was now wearing a butler outfit. As for Lily, instead of her maid outfit, she was now wearing an extravagantly decorated suit of armor. And her mop had turned into a banner with a coat of arms.

    ¡°¡®Chair of Rubbish.¡¯¡±

    Lily dered. And then a chair with a high back rest appeared. It looked like it was made of broken machines. It was simr to Maple¡¯s ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King.¡¯ As it hovered in the air, Lily jumped onto it and turned to the boss who continued to summon more enemies.

    ¡°¡®Lifeless Army,¡¯ ¡®Toy Soldier,¡¯ ¡®Sand Horde,¡¯ ¡®Sage¡¯s Command.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Please do it now, Lily. ¡®Talent to Serve the King,¡¯ ¡®Strategy Instruction,¡¯ ¡®Suprarational Power.¡¯¡±

    As Lily¡¯s voice rang, an army of machines that matched the enemy side suddenly appeared. Maple and Sally could immediately tell whatyer they were from.

    After all, while they were not as strong as Maple¡¯s weapons, they too were equipped with guns and cannons. The rest they could make up with numbers.

    It was then that Willbert used the familiar skills to support her.

    ¡°W-what!?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re switching roles¡­at such a high level.¡±

    Leaving aside how that was even possible, Sally began to sort out this information before her. Willbert was not holding his bow. He was wielding a knife instead. And it did not have the same force. On the other hand, it was now Lily who was the big threat.

    She was calling out soldier after soldier and making them attack with their artillery. She used a number of summoning skills and cast buffs on all of them. The ability to suppress was overwhelming.

    It was clearly not that hard to defeat these soldiers that she summoned, but the speed at which they were reced was incredible. And the monsters that the boss was summoning were pushed back.

    Willbert¡¯s overwhelming quality and Lily¡¯s overwhelming quantity. Their fighting style now involved switching ces and having one person focus on buffs.

    ¡°Phew¡­ There are so many things we¡¯ll have to prepare for.¡±

    ¡°Yes. But I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the Guild Master, after all!¡±

    ¡°Hehe. That¡¯s right.¡±

    They watched this sh of two armies in front of them. The appearance of a new, powerful enemy could not have been more tangible.

 Chapter 337.1

    337 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 337

    Defense Specialization and Looking Back

    Several days had passed after they went dungeon crawling with Lily and Willbert. Maple was walking alone through the 4thyers¡¯s town at night. While she had registered the pair as friends, she had not met them since. They had split up right after defeating the boss, and had not really had any time to talk after that.

    ¡°The next event, huh¡­¡±

    Ultimately, they had crushed the boss with the summoning skills. After seeing that, Sally dered that there was no way they could wing it in a fight against them, and so she used the information they had acquired to try and think of countermeasures. This was all for a future event that hadn¡¯t even been announced yet.

    But as she was sure that it would be useful one day, Sally wanted to get a head start.

    ¡°They are all so amazing¡­ Hmm¡­if I had to fight them, it would definitely be with Sally.¡±

    With the two pairs they had met recently, strength during battle came through a synergistic effect. While Sally was just as strong as them, it would be difficult for them to win without this kind of synergy.

    ¡°I have to see if I can get any good skills with the medals!¡±

    While Maple¡¯s stance had never been about winning no matter what, she always wanted to do her best. And she just happened to never lose.

    That being said, she was not going to use all of her time in order to beat other yers. And so her goal for today was toe to a new cat cafe that had been built on the 4thyer.

    ¡°If it¡¯s any good, I¡¯ll take Sally with me next time!¡±

    Maple thought as she opened the door to the cafe. She saw that towards the back, there was a girl with blue clothes and blue hair who was ying with the cats.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    That was what spilled out of the mouths of Maple and the girl with blue hair, who was Mi, once their eyes met.

    Maple stepped inside and made sure that there were no other yers around before approaching her.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were here, Mi.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I heard about this new ce. But I didn¡¯t think we¡¯d visit it at the same time.¡±

    While it was just a coincidence, the two started to talk about recent events while they yed with the cats.

    ¡°¡®Rapid Fire¡¯ and ¡®thunder storm,¡¯ huh¡­ We¡¯re very cautious of them at our guild too.¡±

    ¡°Well, we were able to meet the top two of both guilds. And they were so strong!¡±

    ¡°Their guild masters have the kind of power to push back, even when you surround them with greater numbers. I bet they will do very well in the uing event.¡±

    There hadn¡¯t been a ranked event in quite a while, so they should fight especially hard during the next one.

    ¡°Yes. They really were strong. I also think they¡¯ll be at the top.¡±

    ¡°¡­You don¡¯t seem to really care about those kinds of things, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t mind as long as it¡¯s fun.¡±

    ¡°Hehehe. If that¡¯s the case, you didn¡¯t have to attack me during the 4th event.¡±

    ¡°Oh, but that time we had all decided to get into the top ten!¡±

    Maple was a little puzzled at her own contradiction, and she wondered why it had been different. She then decided that she must have tried her hardest to reach the top that time, because she wanted to enjoy seeing the others enjoy themselves. And so she did it all for them.

    ¡°It¡¯s so fun being able to fight alongside the others!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nice. So you¡¯ll go all out during the next event, like you¡¯re supposed to, huh? Well, it is a bit like a festival.¡±

    That being said, as the Guild Master of me Emperors, she could not lose to Maple. The others in the guild were also waiting for their chance to get revenge.

    ¡°Things won¡¯t go your way next time! We¡¯ll be the ones to defeat you.¡±

    ¡°Uh, go easy on me¡­¡±

    ¡°I wish that I could.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. Well, then I¡¯ll fight back with my newly acquired skills!¡±

    ¡°What!? Y-you found something new again?¡±

    ¡°I promised Sally that I wouldn¡¯t show anyone¡­but, yes! I found something weird!¡±

    ¡°Haha¡­ Uh, take it easy on us?¡±

    ¡°Hehehe. I wish that I could.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­ Well, I still won¡¯t lose.¡±

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re also my rival, Mi. And now there¡¯s Lily, Velvet and the others.¡±

    ¡°You can call me if you want to cooperate. It will be easier for me to win if I¡¯m with you.¡±

    ¡°Yes! I hope we get to fight together again!¡±

    Like this, they continued to talk while petting the cats.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. Velvet was acting. Just like you, Mi.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Really? I heard about her fighting style, but I¡¯ve never talked to her in person.¡±

    ¡°Though, her reason was a little different than yours¡­¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯d think so¡­ No one is like me¡­¡±

    Unlike Mi, who had gone too far to be able to go back now, it didn¡¯t really matter if people found out that Velvet was acting.

    ¡°When I first met her, she was verydylike¡­ But she changed when fighting. I was so surprised.¡±

    Maple talked about her experience fighting alongside Velvet, and the reason that she was acting. Mi nodded understandingly.

    ¡°I see. But I think I get how she feels. You know, sometimes you feel like you¡¯re being pulled along by your equipment. I don¡¯t know what I would be like now if I had gotten different equipment or skills.¡±

    You could say that acquiring the ¡®me Emperor¡¯ skill and having to get equipment that suited it, had defined what Mi was after that. You weren¡¯t moving a character on screen. When it was you who was fighting, your equipment and skills had a great impact on you.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure that even if you don¡¯t act, you often think certain equipment is better for what you¡¯re doing?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true!¡±

    There were several times where she wore something just because it matched a skill visually, or fitted the atmosphere of her destination. Perhaps putting on an act was just an extension of that.

    ¡°This is a virtual space, so I think that it¡¯s worth doing. Of course¡­you might regret it¡­if you go too far. Uhh.¡±

    In Mi¡¯s case, there would likely never be a day that she could reveal it. And so she seemed like she was a little jealous of Velvet.

 Chapter 337.2

    337 Part 2

    ¡°Would you like to meet Velvet next time? I can introduce you!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯d like to. From what you told me, she sounds like a fun person.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll ask her next time!¡±

    After Maple finished updating Mi on everything, Mi started to talk about what she had been up to. And there seemed to be no end to their conversation.

    In the meantime, Sally was in the guild home, thinking about the two guilds she had made contact with recently.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡±

    How could she win? She thought about the information she had acquired, but none of her conclusions seemed feasible.

    ¡°It will definitely be difficult if I do it alone¡­ But with Maple next to me¡­¡±

    Still, there were too many uncertain elements. And so there were many ways an advantage could be lost. Velvet had dered that she still had trump cards. And who knew how far the hole went when it came to Lily and Willbert.

    As Sally pondered over all of this, the guild home doors swung open, and a familiar face entered.

    ¡°Uhhh. Ah, there you are, Sally!¡±

    ¡°¡­Youe in here like it¡¯s your own guild now. What do you want today, Frederica?¡±

    ¡°The usual. Is something wrong?¡±

    Sally looked at Frederica spin her staff, and she remembered something.

    ¡°Hmm. That¡¯s right. You¡¯re in charge of information, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°¡­Oh, but it¡¯s probably going to be false information.¡±

    ¡°Ah, well, you¡¯re about the only person who can do it right.¡±

    ¡°Well, nevermind. Do you know ¡®Rapid Fire¡¯ and ¡®thunder storm¡¯? I had the chance to team up with them recently.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. I¡¯ll tell you if you beat me in a duel.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a strange thing for someone who¡¯s never won to say¡­but, sure. Let¡¯s do it.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. But I¡¯m going to win this time.¡±

    And so the two relocated in order to fight.

    A few minutester, the two returned. Frederica walked in the lead with a sulky expression. She then copsed onto the sofa and iled her legs around.

    ¡°You seemed like your heart wouldn¡¯t be in it today. I thought I had a chance.¡±

    ¡°Even I can switch once the battle starts.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. You¡¯re like a machine.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. Now, keep your promise.¡±

    ¡°Fine. I hope you crush each other.¡±

    So saying, Frederica checked her memos and told Sally what she knew.

    ¡°That being said, some of this isn¡¯t confirmed. I¡¯ll start with ¡®thunder storm.¡¯ Hinata is in charge of debuffs. Most of them have to do with hindering mobility. However, they are limited, so it¡¯s possible to take advantage of that.¡±

    This meant either deactivating the debuffs or tricking her into using them. So it was harder than she made it sound.

    ¡°You sound confident.¡±

    ¡°I guess. On the other hand, Velvet can bring down lightning for an eternity. And they will keep getting stronger. So she¡¯s good with drawn out battles. She¡¯s usually seen on the 5thyer, but people say that she¡¯s be a shut-in on the 6thyer recently. So maybe something happened. Velvet has rain of thunder, so you should probably be careful?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I was able to dodge it.¡±

    ¡°You can dodge rain? Isn¡¯t that a little ridiculous?¡±

    ¡°My dodging is improving.¡±

    ¡°I know that better than anyone, but¡­ Nevermind. Next¡­¡±

    Frederica went to the next page and started to talk about ¡®Rapid Fire.¡¯

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave out the stuff you already saw. People say that Willbert never misses a target. Of course, it¡¯s not something that¡¯s been proven. Also, Lily is more dangerous as a king than when she¡¯s a maid. They say that there¡¯s a limit to how many she can summon at once.¡±

    But if she just summoned every time they were broken, it could be considered unlimited in a way. However, Sally was more interested in Willbert than the strength of numbers.

    ¡°Never misses¡­ Well, I always thought that such a thing existed.¡±

    It was a skill that Sally couldn¡¯t do anything about. If anything, she should count herself lucky that it was so rare that she hadn¡¯t encountered it up until now.

    ¡°Oh, right. Don¡¯t fight them until I find that skill. After all, we already decided that I¡¯m going to be the first to beat you.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re a bit toote for that. But thanks. I see that you actually do gather information sometimes.¡±

    ¡°¡­I just made a mistake that one time. Honestly.¡±

    While she was quite embarrassed about the time Sally had given her false information, she threatened to do the same to Sally if she teased her too much.

    ¡°I¡¯ll see right through it.¡±

    ¡°Gah. I hate that you probably would do just that. Oh, one more thing. No one has seen the tamed monsters of those four.¡±

    ¡°I see. Thanks. I was actually quite surprised.¡±

    ¡°¡­Maybe I¡¯ll throw you down to the 6thyer¡­¡±

    ¡°S-sorry.¡±

    They joked together. After that, Frederica regained her enthusiasm and challenged Sally a few more times. But the results were the same as always.

    After some time had passed since they met Lily, the day arrived that the date for the 8th event was announced.

    125 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    It¡¯s apletely cooperative event then.

    126 Name: Anonymous Archer

    It¡¯s not as soon as I thought.

    And unlike thest one, there are no PVP elements at all.

    127 Name: Anonymous Great Sword Wielder

    Then the monsters must be very strong.

    yers will form alliances.

    128 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    Well, I guess I can take it easy if there¡¯s no PVP.

    Not that I dislike the more exciting events.

    129 Name: Anonymous Archer

    But then again, we really don¡¯t know much of the details yet.

    All we know is that it will focus on exploration, and that it will affect the 8thyer.

    130 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    I think it will be kind of like the pass for the 4thyer.

    131 Name: Anonymous Great Sword Wielder

    There was something like that, wasn¡¯t there?

    Since it¡¯s cooperative, maybe everyone will get it depending on the results.

    132 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    In any case, it seems like there won¡¯t be time eleration, so we¡¯ll be able to train if we¡¯re not strong enough.

    133 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    Get stronger¡­ Sorry, but I don¡¯t think I can.

    134 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    What happened?

    135 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a tamed monster or a rare event. But there¡¯s this white monster in this secluded valley.

    I wouldn¡¯t call it a shell, but it has something like armor. It just looks ridiculously dangerous.

    136 Name: Anonymous Great Sword Wielder

    Woah, really? I never heard of that.

    137 Name: Anonymous Great Shield Wielder

    That¡¯s nice. Maybe it¡¯s a holy beast or a guardian.

    138 Name: Anonymous Archer

    I think he¡¯s going to beat you to it.

    139 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    I wasn¡¯t prepared at all, and so I ran away the moment that it looked at me.

    I¡¯m nning on going back. Maybe I¡¯ll try fighting it for a while.

    140 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    Good luck!

    141 Name: Anonymous Great Sword Wielder

    You can do it! Be the next Maple!

    142 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    Ahh! I¡¯d be so happy if I could catch up with her. I¡¯m going to go and look for it.

 Chapter 338.1

    338 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 338

    Defense Specialization and the Beast

    At the same time, in the valley that was being discussed in the message boards, a single white beast was moving about and dragging monsters. Apparently, it had no attack ability. It bit into one monster while grabbing another with its ws. And while it seemed to be attacking them viciously, it was dealing no damage.

    However, doing this would obviously make the monsters retaliate. And the goblin who was being bitten somehow managed to stab the attacker¡¯s face with a spear. The white beast¡¯s shell was hard like armor, but it still made a slight scratch and caused some damage. However, every time the spear was thrust, des of light woulde out of the ground, reducing the damage.

    But the goblins were desperate, and they continued to deal what little damage they could. It was then that the goblin who was being bitten suddenly had damage effects burst all over him.

    The swords of light had buffed up its status even more, and it was now able to inflict damage to these goblins who were not wearing armor.

    As death slowly creeped closer to it, the goblins could do nothing. Every time they struggled, the enemy only grew stronger.

    The beast heard the satisfying sounds of the monsters dying and then it nodded happily.

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s test this some more!¡±

    So said Maple, who was inside of the monster. And she went off to find her next victim. Maple had used ¡®Reverse Rebirth¡¯ to acquire this new body, which was called ¡®Heavenly Guardian,¡¯ and she was now running around deep in the mountains in order to learn how to use it.

    The white body was protected by a hard outer shell. And unlike ¡®Savagery,¡¯ there was something about its appearance that gave the impression of something that was holy. The differences were that she only had two arms and two legs now, and she could not breathe fire, and there was no STR boost.

    And due to Maple¡¯s original status, she was not able to deal any damage immediately after transforming. But she gained powerful support abilities in exchange. And so she would be very valuable by just standing there.

    ¡°Creating a field that decreases the amount of damage taken the more it¡¯s received¡­ And your friends who are within the field will get status boosts. I see. Hehehe.¡±

    As she had learned that it went up when you took damage, she had tested the effect with goblins, who had spears that they used for repeated piercing attacks.

    Every time her external HP took damage, just like with Savagery, swords that were made of light would shoot out around Maple, reducing the damage.

    ¡°It¡¯s too bad that it onlysts for five minutes. I hope I can get the real skill one day!¡±

    It was quite possible that the real ¡®opposite¡¯ skill actually existed somewhere. But though there had been stories about a ck monster running around, she hadn¡¯t heard anything about a simr white monster. But if such a skill could be found, she would get it immediately and use it all of the time.

    And so Maple continued to practice for a while with this body that was strangely powerless in spite of its appearance. But five minutes wasn¡¯t long, and she quickly returned to her original form.

    ¡°It¡¯s already finished. Hmm. I didn¡¯t realize Savagery was so useful.¡±

    Just then, she received a message from management. Its contents were of course, about the 8th Event.

    ¡°This time we¡¯re all going to work together¡­ And while there will be a separate field, there¡¯s no time eleration. So I guess it will be simr to the jungle.¡±

    While there might be some kind of requirement to enter, she had no idea what it could be. And so there was nothing she could do but wait for more information to be released.

    ¡°Still, I¡¯m d! I¡¯m good with cooperating!¡±

    After she finished training with her newly acquired body, Maple decided to return to the town.

    Once she was back in the town, Maple met up with Sally and they started to talk about the event.

    ¡°The next event ising up. Though, we still have some time.¡±

    ¡°Yes. And we get to work together!¡±

    ¡°I guess that¡¯s good? I¡¯m still not fully prepared for a PVP event.¡±

    And if the 8thyer was going to be implemented soon, this meant that their time of rxation was almost over.

    ¡°We¡¯ll have a lot to do again.¡±

    ¡°Should we tie any loose ends first?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. I was thinking about that. And so I searched for a tourist spot on the 7thyer that was star themed¡­ But things didn¡¯t really go as nned.¡±

    In other words, the information had led her to a strange skill, which hadn¡¯t really been what Maple was searching for.

    ¡°Well, I have some good news for you, Maple.¡±

    ¡°What! What is it!¡±

    ¡°I just found a hint for the 7thyer.¡±

 Chapter 338.2

    338 Part 2

    ¡°Really!? Ohhh¡­ I was hoping that I would be able to do it this time¡­ I guess I failed¡­¡±

    ¡°That being said, it seems like it won¡¯t be a simple tourist spot either.¡±

    ¡°You mean it will be like the floating castle?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. The nice view is just a bonus. And so there will likely be some very strong monsters.¡±

    Sally said that it would at least be tougher than the ces they went to with Velvet or Lily.

    ¡°That sounds hard¡­ But, I guess it makes it fitting for ourst one!¡±

    ¡°Exactly. And this time it can be during the day or night, so we can go whenever we want.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go now!¡±

    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s decided then. Also, I knew you would say that, so I prepared something. But we have to return to the guild home once.¡±

    ¡°¡­? Uh, okay!¡±

    And so Maple followed after Sally as they headed towards the Guild Home.

    During that time, Izu was moving back and forth between different workshop tools within the Guild Home. She was in the middle of crafting something.

    As the new event had just been announced, the other guild members were all gathered there as well, and they were discussing the current situation.

    ¡°Another event, huh? But my tamed monster is quite strong. I feel fully prepared.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been leveling up as well, but we still don¡¯t know the details about the event. Though, I¡¯m sure that the monsters will be strong¡­¡±

    Chrome and Kasumi had the highest levels in Maple Tree. However, things were a little moreplicated than that. Having a higher level didn¡¯t necessarily mean you had an advantage.

    ¡°Also, there are different ways of cooperating. But if it¡¯s going to allow all eight of us to work together, I don¡¯t see how we could lose¡­¡±

    Kanade said as he moved a piece on the gameboard forward.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    ¡°I won again.¡±

    ¡°Ohh¡­¡±

    ¡°Ohh¡­¡±

    Mai and Yui¡¯s shoulders dropped in disappointment. But they quickly challenged him to another game, and Kanade epted.

    ¡°By the way, have Maple and Sally note in today?¡±

    ¡°Those two should be here soon. I¡¯ve been working on something that Sally requested.¡±

    Izu said as she came out after finishing her work.

    ¡°Sally, eh? That¡¯s unusual. Oh, speak of the devil.¡±

    Just as they were talking, the Guild Home¡¯s doors swung open and Maple and Sally walked in.

    ¡°Sally. I finished the thing that you asked for.¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much.¡±

    And then Izu went into her inventory and gave the item to Sally.

    ¡°Are you two going somewhere now?¡±

    ¡°Sally and I are going to do some final sightseeing before the event!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nice. Have fun. Oh, and it would make me happy if you brought me a souvenir.¡±

    ¡°Okay, leave it to me!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t mind if you find an interesting skill as well.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­ I think Maple already did that¡­¡±

    Sally already knew that Maple had found something. Chrome also just happened to know about it, and he had the same far away expression as Sally.

    ¡°Ah, the fallen angel¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure there¡¯s plenty to discuss, so we¡¯ll do that as we n for the event after they release more information.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right.¡¯

    ¡°Okay, goodbye then!¡±

    Maple and Sally waved at them as they left. Kanade, Mai, and Yui returned to their game. But Izu and Kasumi looked at Chrome with puzzled expressions.

    ¡°Fallen angel? What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I didn¡¯t really see it in person, since Maple¡¯s always out on the field these days¡­ But someone else saw a ck version of ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯¡­¡±

    ¡°That must have been quite the surprise.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t really know what it is, but I doubt it¡¯s weak.¡±

    ¡°People will be cautious even if it is weak. Better safe than sorry.¡±

    While they had no idea how she had acquired it, they more than weed the idea that their Guild Master was getting stronger.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right, Kasumi. There¡¯s something I want to ask you.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You said that you explored the valley when taming Haku, right? Did you happen to see a white monster that wore armor when you were down there?¡±

    ¡°¡­No, I didn¡¯t see anything like that. Maybe it¡¯s a rare monster?¡±

    ¡°It must be, if even you haven¡¯t seen it. It could also be a tamed monster or a rare event.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. if there is such a thing, I wish I could have seen it.¡±

    It would be a while before the two found out that the thing they were talking about was neither a tamed monster or a rare event, but Maple.

 Chapter 339.1

    339 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 339

    Defense Specialization and the Snowy Mountain

    As always, Maple rode on the back of Sally¡¯s horse as they headed to their destination.

    ¡°Sally. Where are we going this time?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. A snowy mountain.¡±

    ¡°We haven¡¯t been to one since the tower.¡±

    During the event where they had to go through a tower, they went down a snow mountain and fought a boss. Of course, going down in this case meant Maple diving from the top and leaving the rest to her defense ability.

    The 7thyer had a number of ces that could be called mountains, such as the mountain with the colosseum at the top, or the volcanic mountain she had gone to with Mi. But the snowy mountain Sally was headed to was taller than the others. The peak was in the clouds, and so you could not even see it.

    ¡°I only found a hint, so I won¡¯t know if it¡¯s right until we get there. And it would be really time-consuming if we took the proper route.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°And so we should have Syrup help us.¡±

    ¡°Okay! It¡¯s been a while.¡±

    ¡°As there are a lot of people on the 7thyer who can fly, it¡¯s no surprise that they tried to fly up instead. Thankfully, the only thing that happens is that powerful monsters attack you.¡±

    Saying they ¡®only attacked you¡¯ might sound a little odd, but such monsters would be easy enough for Maple and Sally to handle.

    ¡°And so we can fly up to the midway point while defeating the monsters.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not going to the top?¡±

    ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s not possible. It¡¯s more like strong yers who can fly are offered a shortcut, that¡¯s all.¡±

    They continued to ride on the horse until the once faraway snowy mountain began to loom over them. It¡¯s height suddenly became very tangible. It was steep, and practically a straight drop in some areas. But ording to Sally, there were areas that you could go inside.

    ¡°I think I understand why they only let you go midway now¡­¡±

    As Maple stood by the foot of the mountain and looked up, she saw the thick clouds. The weather above looked very bad indeed.

    ¡°I bet you would be fine if the only thing that hit us were strong winds that knocked us out of the air. And we can just strap ourselves onto Syrup. But you know¡­what if it¡¯s like that time you stepped onva?¡±

    Lava was the first thing to inflict and damage to Maple in the tower. So you could say it was her most powerful nemesis.

    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be any good¡­yes, yes.¡±

    ¡°And so we can only go halfway. We just need to circle the mountain as the weather starts to worsen. Then we should be able to find a spot to enter from.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Then let¡¯s go!¡±

    Maple put Sally onto Syrup¡¯s back, and they slowly began to rise in the air.

    As Syrup used ¡®Psychokinesis¡¯ to float, they started to see snow falling around them, though they didn¡¯t feel cold.

    At the same time, the monsters that Sally spoke of started toe as well. They were birds made entirely of ice. Three of them appeared on each side and attacked the two as they screeched loudly.

    ¡°We know of a stronger ice bird! ¡®Deploy all Weapons,¡¯ ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Maple spun around as she shot down the birds on both sides. Even though she wasn¡¯t taking precise aim, the onught of bullets andsers was too much for the monsters to dodge, and they shattered into pieces before they could even unleash their ice.

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not over yet!¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    The shattered pieces of ice immediately regenerated in the air and flew towards them, even as the bullets hit them.

    ¡°You have to use fire against these kinds of monsters! Oboro, ¡®Fire Child¡¯!¡±

    As Sally¡¯s body became enveloped in fire, Maple put away her ineffective weapons and decided to let Sally handle this one.

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ ¡®Provoke¡¯!¡±

    Maple lured the monsters towards her in order to make it easier for Sally to attack them. And she also activated Dedicated Affection as a precaution.

    Using ¡®Provoke¡¯ while also standing there without attacking was a good way to have the birds gather around you. And so Maple soon found every part of her body attacked by beaks and the bashing of their wings. They tried to inflict damage with their cold air and ice.

    ¡°Uh, are you alright¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡±

    Sally heard Maple¡¯s voice amongst the dull ring of the attacks. And so she decided to cut them down one by one.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Crossfire,¡¯ ¡®Demon me.¡¯¡±

    She made Oboro use even more fire as they defeated the ice birds. This strategy of just carving the monsters off of Maple was a familiar one to Sally.

    ¡°That¡¯s thest one!¡±

    ¡°Phew¡­thanks.¡±

    ¡°But there are more flying towards us.¡±

    ¡°Ohhh. Uh, you can do it, Sally!¡±

    ¡°I got this! I just have to peel them off of you!¡±

    Even as Maple had birds swarming all over her, Syrup continued to ascend at a leisurely pace. And like this, they flew towards the midway point, just like Sally had said they would.

    The snows grew stronger, and they had now disposed of the ice birds several times. They were suddenly hit by especially strong winds, and they tensed up. It wasn¡¯t their imagination, it was very clear that the weather had worsened considerably.

    ¡°I guess this is the limit¡­¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go around then.¡±

    Maple maintained their current altitude as she made Syrup change directions so that they tightly hugged the walls of the mountain as they circled it. Of course, even now, the monsters were attacking her, so Sally prioritized peeling off the birds near Maple¡¯s face, so that they didn¡¯t crash.

    ¡°There! Oboro, ¡®Crossfire¡¯!¡±

    After finding the entrance, Sally defeated the rest of the monsters all at once with Oboro¡¯s help. Then Maple moved closer to the wall.

    ¡°Okay, hold on.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°¡®Leap¡¯!¡±

    Sally held Maple as she jumped off of Syrup andnded on a foothold that was jutting out from the side of the mountain. There were paths on both sides that led down and up the mountain. Of course, they took the one that led upwards.

    ¡°Thank you, Syrup!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡±

    As they went inside, they saw that the floor and walls were covered in pale, glowing ice. And though everything was frozen, the floor wasn¡¯t slippery, so they could walk freely without worrying about where they stepped. When the environment was this simple, it was obvious what kind of monsters they should expect, and so Maple took out some fire tags so that she would be able to attack as well.

    ¡°I¡¯m getting used to these frozen areas!¡±

 Chapter 339.2

    339 Part 2

    ¡°Right. And we can use items to make up for any deficiencies. Just wait a minute, okay?¡±

    Sally went into her inventory and started to take out the items that Izu had prepared for her.

    One was an overcoat, and the other was a sphere that had red lights inside of it.

    ¡°If you wear this while using the sphere, you can greatly reduce the damage of ice attacks. It also adds ¡®Ice Resistance.¡¯¡±

    Upon hearing this, Maple used them immediately. The overcoat was very thick, and it seemed like just the thing you would use when going to somece cold.

    ¡°It¡¯s not only effective, but fits the atmosphere, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I like it!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to thank Izu when we get back.¡±

    As there were multiple spheres, they didn¡¯t need to worry about running out. There were also other items that Izu had made, but they currently just needed these two.

    As they continued to walk, three balls of ice that were enveloped by a white, shiningyer of cold air came flying towards them from the front.

    They immediately stopped and held their weapons up. As they waited to see what the monsters would do, the blue lights in the ice turned into eyes and mouths. They moved forward with a will of their own.

    Since she was within range of Maple¡¯s ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ Sally stepped forward and quickly shed at the clump of ice. ¡®Fire Child¡¯ caused her daggers to be enveloped in me. The fire slid into the ice and red damage effects exploded.

    Seeing that it was going well, Sally moved forward in order to destroy the remaining monsters. However, she saw that great amounts of blue light were spilling out of the ice monster she had just cut through. And Sally quickly braked before using ¡®Leap¡¯ to return towards Maple.

    Immediately after, there was the sound of exploding ice as the monsters shattered, sending sharp shards flying in every direction. Sally had detected this and was able to dodge the attack in the nick of time. She sighed with relief as she stood up, unscathed.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect them to explode. That was close.¡±

    ¡°But you can fight without worrying! We have ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Yes, thanks. Besides, I¡¯ll be fine now that I¡¯ve seen it once.¡±

    Now that Sally had moved back, the ice block with a face started to exhale a cold mist from its mouth. It moved through the passage, leaving no room to escape. It ended up hitting Maple twice, since this time Sally decided that she would leave it to Maple, instead of trying to dodge it.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like it did anything. I think I¡¯m fine¡­?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. That¡¯s a relief!¡±

    After making sure Maple was okay, Sally quickly moved forward. This ice creature was more of a trap than a monster. In spite of having low HP, it could easily deal a lethal wound to the average yer if they weren¡¯t careful.

    ¡°Oomph!¡±

    Sally slid between the two remaining chunks of ice and rotated quickly, using her daggers to carve the enemy up.

    ¡°And now, ¡®Super elerate¡¯!¡±

    Earlier, Sally had used ¡®Leap¡¯ to move out of their range, but as she could not use it anymore, she elerated in order to get away.

    Sally seemed to slide on the ground as she returned to Maple. Behind her, the remaining blocks of ice exploded with a freezing, white cloud that spread out across the floor.

    ¡°Amazing! That was so clean!¡±

    ¡°Really? Thanks. I had to dodge the explosion just in case. The shards looked really sharp, so it was possible that they had piercing attacks.¡±

    While Sally hadn¡¯t taken any damage, this strategy required that you switch movements with precision. If there was a better way, they might as well do it. And so Maple made a suggestion to Sally.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll try shooting them from far away next time! That way I can slow them down even if they regenerate. And you can attack them with fire magic in the meantime.¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do that. But don¡¯t use it too much.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    In any case, they decided the ice monsters wouldn¡¯t be too much trouble, and so they continued on their way down the frozen path.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Maple. Have you received the medal skill yet?¡±

    ¡°I did! I like the one that you had, so I decided on something that was simr.¡±

    ¡°¡­There was something simr?¡±

    ¡°You know, you have ¡®Water Maniption¡¯! So I got ¡®Earth Maniption¡¯!¡±

    So saying, Maple smiled and thrust her hands forward while making the ¡®peace sign.¡¯

    ¡°Ahh! That¡¯s right. There were different ones. And you chose that attribute?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It seemed like a good fit for Syrup.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nice. You might gain some interesting skills if you level up.¡±

    ¡°What about you?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll show them to you during the next fight.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it!¡±

    After walking a little farther, a bear that was made of ice appeared in front of them. It¡¯s bluish, clear body had wisps of pale, cold air rising from it, just like the previous ice monsters.

    ¡°Ah, perfect timing. Maple, hold your shield up¡­yes, like that.¡±

    ¡°A-are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m going!¡±

    Sally started running towards the bear, leaving Maple, who felt both worried and excited about what was about to happen. Obviously, the bear also reacted to Sally and charged towards her. As Maple watched and wondered what attack skill she would use, Sally activated it in front of her.

    ¡°¡®Change of Attitude.¡¯¡±

    Immediately after, Maple¡¯s vision seemed to shake. Then the ice bear¡¯s ws were right in front of her.

    ¡°What!? Ahh¡­!¡±

    For a moment, she couldn¡¯t think. However, as she was holding up her great shield like Sally had instructed, ¡®Bizarre Eater¡¯ activated on its own, and the ice bear was turned into light and swallowed up before it even had a chance to regenerate. Maple sighed with relief as she turned around. Sally was waving to her with an expression that suggested everything had gone as nned.

    ¡°You! Sally!¡±

    ¡°Ahaha. Sorry, sorry.¡±

    ¡°I was so shocked. It reminded me of when you showed me ¡®Mirage.¡¯¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry that I startled you. It¡¯s a skill that makes you switch ces with an ally. I think that it could be used very well for both attacking and defending.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll use it very well, Sally.¡±

    ¡°Alright, then you should expect it to be a game changer in the future.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Ah, herees another one.¡±

    ¡°Woah¡­ Is this some kind of bear nest¡­?¡±

    As the two talked, another ice bear appeared in the passage. And since their objective here was not to have fun ying with the bears, they wanted to get through this area as quickly as possible.

    ¡°Let¡¯s speed through with ¡®Bizarre Eater¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Agreed. And I¡¯ll make up for it during the boss fight. Besides, I can use fire.¡±

    ¡°Alright, charge!¡±

    At a nce, Maple looked rather cute as she scampered ahead. However, this did not change the fact that the thing she was holding up was a shield that erased everything.

    Ultimately, every time Maple charged, the ice shattered and turned into light.

 Chapter 340.1

    340 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 340

    Defense Specialization and the Snowy Mountain 2

    After a while, the frozen interior of the cave began to be filled with the unending reflections of the pale ice, and it was so blinding that they had to close their eyes.

    ¡°Hah!¡±

    ¡°¡®me Bullet¡¯!¡±

    Maple was currently wearing her green clothes beneath the overcoat. The reason for wearing this was, of course, so she could swing theser beam from ¡®Poltergeist¡¯ like a sword.

    When she swung the thickser beam wildly, left and right, up and down through the narrow passage, she instantly incinerated the monsters that asionally appeared in front of them. Maple just needed to hit them, and as they tried to regenerate, Sally would shoot her me bullets.

    ¡°Hah! Hyaah!¡±

    ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s been a while since I saw this, but it really is ridiculous.¡±

    Sally recalled the time she had fought the fake Maple. Even the fake Maple had only just reused ¡®Hydra,¡¯ and had not been able to control it as freely as this. But she could control things other than Hydra and even change its trajectory now, which would ruin the boss.

    ¡°Oomph! Huh?¡±

    After killing the bears, ice blocks, and the spirits and snowmen that came outter, the beam that shone through the mirror-like passage suddenly hit against a door.

    Maple put away her weapon and changed her equipment.

    ¡°Is it the boss?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It was a lot easier than I expected, thanks to ¡®Poltergeist.¡¯ Our goal is to defeat this thing and reach the top. But, I¡¯m sorry if there¡¯s nothing there, okay?¡±

    ¡°If that happens, we can take the boss materials as a souvenir.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll do that.¡±

    Maple and Sally pushed open the doors together and entered the room. The floor and walls were coated in even thickeryers of ice, and in the back stood a woman with pale skin and blue clothes. There was no expression on her face, and she seemed just like the ice statues they had seen on the way.

    A cold gust of wind blew from the ground as they stepped in, and in a sh, ten of the exploding ice chunks were born.

    ¡°We¡¯ll win!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    And like that, the battle with the ice queen began.

    ¡°¡®Provoke¡¯!¡±

    As soon as the battle began, Maple used ¡®Provoke in order to lure the ice monsters towards her as she and Sally advanced.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Crossing me¡¯!¡±

    Oboro¡¯s skill caused fire to spread to all of the ice monsters that were close together, and pale light poured from them all at once.

    ¡°¡®Pierce Guard¡¯!¡±

    The explosion was incredibly powerful. But even with Sally and Oboro there, it was nothing as long as the defense piercing attacks were eliminated.

    As the ice shattered around them, Sally used the opportunity to rush forward after being defended from the explosion.

    While ¡®Pierce Guard¡¯ was activated, the only way to hurt these two was to have attack ability that exceeded Maple¡¯s defense ability. And these two were not going to let this perfect timing pass them by.

    ¡°¡®Quintuple sh¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Cover Move¡¯! ¡®Predator¡¯!¡±

    Once they saw that the enemy couldn¡¯t break through ¡®Dedicated Affection, they rushed forward to attack. There was no need to reserve your strength during a boss fight, and so they just needed to push with powerful moves.

    Sally¡¯s chain attacks all spread fire that burned the ice-like body. Maple used teleportation to catch up and then p the boss with her great shield. Her summoned monsters followed with their own attacks.

    It was then that the boss¡¯s clear, blue body began to crack and fall to the ground.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°No, I think that it¡¯s¡­¡±

    Sally felt a wind at her back and she swirled around. She saw that a blizzard had erupted behind her, and the boss was taking shape once again inside of it. And then the blizzard moved towards them, along with a rain of hail.

    ¡°¡®Cover¡¯!¡±

    Maple stepped in front of Sally, though she didn¡¯t use her shield, as she wanted to save ¡®Bizarre Eater.¡¯ While she was using ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ if ¡®Cover¡¯ was enough, that would be the better option. It would be impossible for Sally and Oboro to be hit by multiple piercing attacks if she was standing there.

    ¡°Phew, what a relief. It was just a normal blizzard.¡±

    ¡°But your body is frozen.¡±

    Maple¡¯s body was covered in pale ice.

    ¡°¡­Well, I don¡¯t really feel anything?¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a status thing then.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Even something like this will be dangerous if it stacks, so use your shield if you have to!¡±

    After saying this, Sally moved forward once again. As for the previousbo, the boss had just turned into normal ice halfway, and so it didn¡¯t inflict a lethal wound. But it still did quite a lot of damage.

    As Sally moved in, the boss ced her hands on the ground and caused glowing, cold air to shoot out.

    ¡°¡®Icicle¡¯!¡±

    Sally created a pir of ice and then used her webs to escape into the air.

    ¡°Hinata was more dangerous¡­ ¡®me Bullet,¡¯ ¡®Fireball¡¯!¡±

    They were not the most powerful, but she chipped away at the boss¡¯s HP with attacks that targeted its weakness, while staying out of its reach. The boss then summoned more of the monsters they had seen on the way there, but they were all sucked towards Maple, thanks to ¡®Provoke.¡¯ Normally, luring this many monsters towards you was a bad idea, as there would be too many to deal with. Thankfully, Maple didn¡¯t have to do anything.

    ¡°Sally, leave them to me!¡±

    ¡°Thanks!¡±

    Maple could crush this advantage of numbers, and Sally would do what she did best, which was going one on one.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Binding Barrier¡¯!¡±

    She had several patterns. And she tried them in order from best to worst.

    Once Oboro seeded in binding it, Sally moved from one move to the next, as smooth as water.

 Chapter 340.2

    340 Part 2

    ¡°¡®¡®Rapid Current¡¯!¡±

    A vast amount of water pushed Sally forward, elerating her. She kept her distance just enough so that she could easily dodge attacks. And when she saw an opening, sheunched into an attack.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Demon me¡¯! ¡®Iron Water Cannon,¡¯ ¡®Triple sh¡¯!¡±

    Just as the effects of ¡®Binding Barrier¡¯ ended, ¡®Iron Water Cannon¡¯ shot out and prevented the boss from moving. Sally knew very well how powerful it was.

    ¡°I should go back¡­ ¡®Fireball.¡¯¡±

    But first, she unleashed her mes at the boss in the air, and then she stepped back and looked towards Maple. Maple felt that stimting the monsters too much might cause them to start using piercing attacks, and so she just kept still and allowed the ice statues and snow monsters to do as they pleased. The fact that her HP hadn¡¯t gone down showed that she was fine.

    ¡°Maple.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes! ¡®Cover Move¡¯!¡±

    Maple used teleportation to move away from the monsters and to where Sally was standing. Now both of them were in the center of the boss room, right between the boss and the mass of summoned enemies.

    As they both looked cautiously towards the boss, the sounds of cracking ice echoed behind them. When they nced over their shoulders, they saw that the summoned monsters were crumbling. At the same time, the blizzard that surrounded the boss became stronger.

    ¡°Here ites.¡±

    ¡°Yes! ¡®Pierce Guard¡¯!¡±

    Just as Maple activated the piercing nullification as a precaution, they could hear the crackling sounds of ice forming over the floor. And then the entire room was filled with pale, cold wind.

    Once the air cleared, Sally saw that the light by her feet had disappeared. When she turned to Maple, she realized that ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ was deactivated, and her own aura from ¡®Sword Dance¡¯ was also gone.

    Sally thought of the worst case scenario and tried to activate a skill, but before she could say it, the ice crawled up their legs from the ground, binding them in ce.

    The boss had very little HP now, and its attack patterns seemed to have changed. It was now holding a sword made of ice as it dashed towards them while still being enveloped by the blizzard.

    ¡°How many seconds¡­until it deactivates¡­?¡±

    Sally¡¯s mind worked rapidly as she thought about what order she should use her skills if she wanted to survive. That¡¯s when it happened. There was suddenly no sensation in her feet, and her vision turned ck.

    ¡°Did I die¡­?¡±

    It was a sensation that Sally had never felt in the game before, and she considered the possibility. However, she then heard a familiar voice next to her, and she knew that it was not the case.

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re here too, Sally! What a relief¡­¡±

    ¡°Maple!? Uhh¡­where are we?¡±

    ¡°Huh? We¡¯re in the ground.¡±

    ¡°What¡­?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you? I learned a new skill! It¡¯s called ¡®Earth¡¯s Cradle.¡¯ It allows you to hide underground a little beforeing back up.¡±

    ¡°I-is that right? In any case, you saved us.¡±

    ¡°Hehehe. Just you watch.¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    While Sally looked puzzled, Maple began to prepare for something in a rush.

    On the surface, the boss stopped in the middle of the room and waited for them toe out.

    Then Maple¡¯s skill seemed to have reached its limit, and the ground began to shake.

    At the same time, Maple and Sally appeared as if being pushed out from the ground. Yes, along with numerous additions.

    Maple was sitting on her ck throne, along with flower gardens, monsters, muddy ground and flowers that put people to sleep.

    Stationary skills that were activated underground would not stay there when you were pushed back up. They woulde back with you.

    It was like a predator that was quietly waiting for its prey. The ultra danger area appeared out of nowhere. And the boss was forced to start the fight while being right in the middle of it.

    ¡°¡®Invitation to the Ocean Floor.¡¯¡±

    Now that it¡¯s nature had been reversed, the throne no longer sealed things with the evil attribute, and so five tentacles reached out towards the boss, which was now half submerged in the ground. After that, ¡®Bizarre Eater¡¯ swallowed up what remained of its HP.

    The battle ended. Maple put away her tentacles, flower garden, and throne and then sighed with relief.

    ¡°This was my first time doing it with another yer¡­so I was so relieved to see that you were there too.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the one who is relieved. You got a good skill. And I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll only get better.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s pretty hard to raise its level. The cool down time is so long, but that¡¯s all it can do.¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll have to go underground every time it bes usable then. I guess you might scare people if you¡¯re not careful about where you do it. Anyway, we defeated the boss.¡±

    ¡°Finally! So? Where do we go now?¡±

    ¡°Follow me. There should be a path in the back that will let us reach the top.¡±

    After searching every inch of the boss room, they found a gap in the wall just like Sally had said. It looked like it would take them higher. And so they squeezed through the crack and came out at the peak of the mountain.

    ¡°It¡¯s nice and peaceful up here.¡±

    ¡°Woah!¡±

    It was the world above the storm. They could see clouds below them just like at the floating castle. And since it was still midday, the sky above them was an unending blue. This was the highest point in the whole 7thyer.

    Here, they could see very far away.

    ¡°Hmm. Maybe it would have been better toe at night. Besides, it¡¯s too simr to the floating castle¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s so pretty!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, Maple. Didn¡¯t I tell you? It¡¯s the same at night and during the day.¡±

    ¡°¡­? Yeah, you did say that.¡±

    ¡°Sorry if I¡¯m wrong. But I won¡¯t drop you.¡±

    So saying, Sally picked Maple up.

    ¡°Huh? Huh?¡±

    ¡°Here we go! ¡®Leap¡¯!¡±

    Sally kicked off the unstable ground andunched herself up into the air. Then she created a foothold in the sky and jumped even higher.

    ¡°Woah¡­ We really did it.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what¡­huh?¡±

    After Sally had jumped off several footholds, the two suddenly started to float in the air as if they had been freed from gravity. And right above them, they could clearly see a dark blue magic circle hovering in the sky.

    ¡°Haha. If there¡¯s anyone else who would test it without being sure, I¡¯d like to see it.¡±

    ¡°Wawawa!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going.¡±

    And with thosest words, they disappeared. And after a few seconds passed, the dark blue magic circle also melted into the sky.

 Chapter 340.3

    340 Part 3

    Maple slowly opened her eyes again. Her body still felt like it was floating, but she could now see her surroundings clearly. The scene she had seen with Sally when they were underground had looked like a night sky.

    But this was different. It was like she was floating in the middle of the night sky. Well, the real sky wasn¡¯t like this. But she didn¡¯t care about such things now. The lights seemed to fly right in front of her eyes, as if she had cut out the stars as they were seen from the ground, and jumped into them.

    As she basked in the sensation of floating, her back pressed into Sally¡¯s.

    ¡°I¡¯m almost surprised that I was right.¡±

    ¡°You just jumped towards the sky without warning. No one would discover it by ident.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. I bet you would have just exploded your weapons and flew here.¡±

    ¡°Ahahahaha¡­¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re not going to refute that¡­¡±

    Sally looked at Maple over her shoulder as she grabbed one of the lights and then threw it.

    ¡°Hehe. You can make shooting stars here.¡±

    ¡°You can grab them!¡±

    Maple then copied Sally and grabbed one of the lights and tried throwing it.

    ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s like we¡¯re inside a miniature version of space?¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s a good way to put it!¡±

    And so Maple and Sally continued to throw the grains of light as they floated. They then sat together on the moon and gazed at the stars.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. I asked Izu to make some food for us.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, give me a second. That being said¡­¡±

    When Sally took the basket out of her inventory, it started floating up and nearly got away. Maple frantically tried to grab it and nearly flew away herself. But Sally held her and they were eventually able to take out the food and drinks from the basket.

    ¡°Cheers!¡¯

    ¡°Yes, cheers.¡±

    ¡°Mmmm, it¡¯s so good! ¡­There¡¯s something about today that reminds of when I first started this game.¡±

    ¡°Could it be the strong enemy in the snowy mountain or the meal under the night sky? Oh, and also my skill?¡±

    Sally said, and then Maple¡¯s eyes widened.

    ¡°Ehehe. Were you thinking the same thing, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ It feels so nostalgic and I was thinking back.¡±

    ¡°Of course, Izu¡¯s cooking is definitely an improvement.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    Sally held a ss cup in one hand as she used the other to catch and y with a flying star.

    ¡°Oh, next time, I¡¯ll be the one who finds a beautiful location, okay! But since the event is starting, it might take some time.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be waiting.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Keep your expectations high!¡±

    As Sally looked at the sky full of stars, she let go of the light she was holding and drained thest of her drink.

    ¡°I wish this couldst forever.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Yes! It¡¯s so pretty!¡±

    ¡°Hehe¡­ It really is.¡±

    That being said, they could not stay here forever. So once the basket was empty, they decided to get some souvenirs for the other guild members like they had promised, and then return.

    ¡°These will be a good souvenir.¡±

    Sally said as she grabbed a few stars. They then turned into items as they entered a bottle.

    ¡°It¡¯s called ¡®A Pinch of Stardust.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get enough for everyone before we leave! ¡­Or will they disappear?¡±

    ¡°I think it should be fine.¡±

    And so after acquiring souvenirs for the other guild members, they concluded theirst tour before the start of the event.

    After some time passed, the details of the event were revealed.

    This time there wouldn¡¯t be a special field, but everyyer would have monsters added to it for a limited time. And depending on how many you killed, you would gain early ess to certain 8thyer features, and everyone would receive medals.

    Upon seeing these details, Maple Tree were quite relieved, as they realized that there was no need to stress over this event.

    ¡°There aren¡¯t even rankings for the guilds. It¡¯s just about how many monsters each yer can kill.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m quite curious about the materials you can get from these added monsters. As this event is strongly rted to the 8thyer, there might be some really good materials.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nice that we can just hunt them while leveling up. Besides, if we all get medals, everyone will be able to stay motivated.¡±

    ¡°All the recent events had really high difficulty¡­ So it¡¯s nice to have one that is moreid back. And I¡¯ll probably be able to collect more magic books.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do our best, sister!¡±

    ¡°Ye-yes! I want to kill as many as we can. Especially since I learned a new skill¡­¡±

    ¡°I guess I won¡¯t have to figure out how to deal with the other guilds until the next event then¡­ Phew, that¡¯s a relief.¡±

    If she was being honest, Sally would have a lot of trouble if she was thrust into a PVP event at this point. She realized it during the fight in the snowy mountain. Even if she felt like she was fully prepared, there were many ways that everything could fall apart. She had to find some more skills that would help her deal with these problems.

    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll find something on the 8thyer¡­I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been awhile since we had an event like this. But at least I have ¡®Savagery¡¯ now!¡±

    At this point, the yers on the 7thyer were used to seeing Maple running wild while using Savagery. As there was no longer any point in hiding it, it was the perfect skill to make up for herck of mobility, and would allow her to dash through the field and kill monsters.

    ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s all do our best in the event!¡±

    While they were allowed to cooperate, they would not be as efficient if they stayed together while moving. It would be best for everyone to go out on their own and kill any monsters they found. No one in Maple Tree had any objections to this, and so it was decided.

    ¡°Besides, one monster is one monster, so it might be best to go to ayer where there are fewer yers. And like Izu said, maybe it¡¯s the materials that are important.¡±

    As the level of the monsters would be different depending on theyer, it was best to go to the ce that fit you the best.

    ¡°However, I do wonder why the event is so long. Do they just want to give us a lot of time¡­¡±

    Kasumi then paused. Perhaps there was no point in worrying about that.

    But there was something that she was reminded of. It was about what had happened to Maple during the cow hunting event.

    Maple herself, and Mai and Yui, who didn¡¯t know about it, watched the other five with puzzledment as they whispered to each other. Regardless, their morale was quite high.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do your best, Mai and Yui!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°So we can get more medals¡­¡±

    The other members looked like they were both happy and scared as they listened to this. And while they wondered if Maple would go off course, they decided to do some final leveling up before the start of the event.

 Chapter 341.1

    341 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 341

    Defense Specialization and the 9th Event

    Time passed, and then the moment of the 9th event finally arrived. Maple and Sally were at the guild home with the other members, and they went through the details of the event.

    ¡°This time there are no PVP elements at all. All yers will cooperate during the event and see how many of the new monsters they can kill.¡±

    ¡°I see. If we¡¯re all going to cooperate, then we¡¯ll have to do our best for everyone too!¡±

    ¡°Hehe. Just do things at your own pace. There are some people that just go crazy during these kinds of events¡­¡±

    During the 3rd event, which now seemed like a very long time ago, there were a number of guilds who had numbers that were considerably higher than the rest. And since this one had a simr format, they could predict that something simr would happen.

    ¡°Well, leaving all of that aside, you receive a reward every time you hunt down a certain number of monsters. And if you make it to the end, you¡¯ll get an item that will be useful on the 8thyer. And of course, you¡¯ll also receive medals and money¡­¡±

    ¡°Woah! That makes me feel even more motivated!¡±

    ¡°True. And since it¡¯s quite long, and everyyer has these exclusive monsters, I think it will be fine if we just hunt where we want to.¡±

    ¡°And we also know what the hunting goal is. Anyway, I¡¯ll check every day to see what others are hunting.¡±

    ¡°Yes. The goal might be a lot easier than it sounds.¡±

    ¡°I doubt they would have set it to be severe. Regardless, I¡¯m going to focus on the materials that the monsters drop.¡±

    Chrome, Izu, and Kasumi decided that they would keep an eye on other yers while hunting down just enough monsters and gathering items. That¡¯s how they would make their way through the event.

    ¡°Yui. What about us?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Since it¡¯s counted as one monster no matter where you are, I guess we should choose a ce where it will be easy to fight?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. It¡¯s not like our goal is to level up¡­¡±

    As Yui and Mai had such low HP that they could be defeated in one hit no matter where they were, they decided that they would just enjoy this event at their leisure, as there was no need to reallypete.

    ¡°I think I¡¯m going to take it slow as well. Ah, if I have time, I¡¯ll go and watch other yers. Since you seemed to be worried about PVP.¡±

    ¡°¡­! Thank you. That will help.¡±

    ¡°But, uh¡­ Don¡¯t get your hopes up too high.¡±

    Kanade said to Sally with augh. This really wasn¡¯t an event that any of them had to stress over, and so they all just decided to y while moving towards their goal.

    ¡°And we can send reports if we find anything interesting. There are supposed to be different types of monsters, after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes. There may be specific monsters that drop good materials. Then we¡¯ll have to prioritize those.¡±

    Who knew if they would ever see those monsters again once the event ended? And so they wanted to gather what they could first.

    ¡°Alright, so we¡¯ll all notify each other if anything happens!¡±

    Maple said, and they decided that they would all spread out and see if there was a difference in the types of monsters on everyyer.

    As the event itself was quite simple, Maple and Sally headed out for the field once they finished reading the details. Since they were yers who were able to go to the 7thyer, where the monsters were the strongest, they decided to leave the otheryers to the other members, and start hunting on the 7thyer.

    As always, Sally prepared her horse, and Maple rode in the back as they dashed through the field. It did not take them long to see that there were some unfamiliar monsters in the area.

    ¡°They kind of look like the fish that I can summon.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure they are it?¡±

    ¡°Yes. These are the monsters that are exclusive to this event.¡±

    They were a school of fish that now swam in the air, over the usual field. By hunting them, they could really rack up their hunting numbers.

    ¡°It seems like there are different types of monsters. So the stronger ones might drop rarer materials.¡±

    ¡°Then we better hunt as many as we can!¡±

    ¡°That being said, if we¡¯re trying to hunt as many as possible, it might be better to go somewhere where there are fewer yers.¡±

    ¡°Because that¡¯s more efficient, right!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Besides, it seems like they spawn just about anywhere.¡±

    The numbers you were expected to hunt down were quite high. And even though the event was very long, it would still be a lot of work. They would have topete with other yers if they stayed near towns. And so the two decided to move closer to the edge of the map.

    After riding like this for some time, they came out into a wastnd with lots of boulders. It offered a decent view of the area and showed them that there were no special monsters or gimmicks here. That meant it would be a good ce to start hunting. Sally dismounted from her horse and then helped Maple down. Then she made the horse wait nearby.

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s go and find them!¡±

    ¡°We can search the area a little, and if it seems like they are scarce here, we¡¯ll move again.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    But they found the monsters they were searching for very quickly. It was a school of tropical fish that swam in the air and glowed with a pale light. They looked like the fish that Sally could summon with her skill. Obviously, there was no way that such monsters would live in this wastnd, and so they immediately knew it was for the event.

    ¡°So, let¡¯s test them out!¡±

 Chapter 341.2

    341 Part 2

    ¡°Yes! I won¡¯t hold back!¡±

    Sally created clones as she rushed forward. Behind her, Maple developed her weapons. She went all out in her attacks as if she was facing a boss. While these monsters were designed to look like fish, they really were your typical tropical fish. And they did little besidesunching minor water attacks at you.

    It was clear as day what would happen when they faced someone like Sally and Maple. Sally easily dodged all of the water that shot towards her, and Maple erased them by brute force with hersers. In a sh, the fish were all turned into ashes.

    ¡°¡­They¡¯re a lot easier to defeat than I expected. I guess it¡¯s because we have to get a lot of them.¡±

    ¡°Yes. It was so quick!¡±

    In terms of abilities, these two were some of the strongest of the yers that were on the forefront. And so these monsters that were never meant to be strong in the first ce had no chance at all.

    ¡°We won¡¯t have any trouble hunting them down then!¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Let¡¯s keep going so that we don¡¯t fall behind the others!¡±

    Since this first one went so well, they continued to hunt down the other monsters. Maple¡¯s shooting and Sally¡¯s shes made everything so easy. And so they continued to hunt the fish and raise their numbers. However, after a short while, something different suddenly appeared in front of them.

    ¡°Sally. Is that one too?¡±

    ¡°I think so. They did say that there were different types.¡±

    As they watched from the shadows of a rock, they saw a shark that was bigger than both of them, swimming in the air.

    While they had killed several groups of fish now, they had never seen a shark before.

    ¡°Well, we have no reason not to fight it. Besides, it might drop something.¡±

    ¡°Alright, then we should make the first move!¡±

    Maple aimed her cannon from the shadows of a boulder and fired her beam after targeting the shark.

    It went straight towards the shark, hitting it clean in the body. However, it was clearly different from the fish. And while it¡¯s HP did decrease, it did not die. Instead, it opened its mouth wide and charged towards them.

    ¡°One more shot! Wawawa!?¡±

    Just as Maple tried to attack it again, water suddenly shot out of the ground, causing her to lose her bnce and fall. Sally had detected the danger and was about to move away, but she saw Maple and went on the defense instead.

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    When it came to skills that she used many times, Maple had developed a quick reflex, and she instantly reacted in order to protect Sally. Immediately after, Maple wasunched into the air by the geyser from the ground. Sally watched Maple fly into the air after defending her, and then she rushed towards the shark.

    ¡°Now it¡¯s my turn!¡±

    As Sally moved in, the shark opened its mouth wide as if to crush her. Sally easily slid out of its reach and shed deep into its flesh with her des before moving back once again. And like this, when she was about to move to her next attack, she heard a voice from up above.

    ¡°Sally!! Stop the shark¡¯s movements!¡±

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Binding Barrier¡¯!¡±

    Sally immediately reacted to Maple¡¯s voice and stopped the shark¡¯s movements. Maple had gone out of her way to shout this. There must be a good reason for it.

    Immediately after, a deafening exploding sound echoed in the sky, and a ck mass fell down towards the shark¡¯s head. It was Maple, who had used ¡®Machine God¡¯ to turn one of her arms into a huge sword.

    Ultimately, Maple¡¯s sword pierced right into the immobile shark¡¯s head, and cut it off. As the head fell away from the rest of its body, Maple¡¯s sword pierced into the ground as she held there suspended for a second before losing her bnce. The sword then broke, and she rolled onto the floor.

    ¡°A-are you¡­ Yes, of course, you¡¯re fine.¡±

    While Sally was a little surprised by this unexpected attack, she knew from past experience that Maple wouldn¡¯t take any damage from falling from such a height.

    ¡°I just thought that it was a waste that I always fall without doing anything! And it went pretty well!¡±

    ¡°In the first ce, it¡¯s not normal to fall like that.¡±

    This was something that only applied to Maple, who flew in the air by exploding. Falling from a high ce was not something that usually had any merits. Instead of thinking about a good way to fall, you should think about reducing your damage, or think of ways to avoid falling from high ces to begin with.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. Are there any materials¡­¡±

    Maple got up and started looking around. She then found a clump of water that had retained its shape, much like a slime.

    ¡°Is it this?¡±

    ¡°Woah. What kind of material is it?¡±

    Maple picked it up and checked. The description just said that it was water that was filled with magic energy. And while there may have been a special use for it, it was outside of Maple and Sally¡¯s expertise.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I guess we¡¯ll have to ask Izu about it? If it¡¯s important, we¡¯ll want to gather as much as we can.¡±

    It was possible that the sharks were rare, as they did not appear nearly as much as the tropical fish. If it turned out that this item was important, then they would need to shift their focus to hunting sharks.

    ¡°Alright, then let¡¯s go and ask her! Hehe! Time is of the essence!¡±

    ¡°Okay. We¡¯ll do that. It seems like Chrome and the others are out exploring. But Izu can use the workshop no matter where she is.¡±

    And so Sally sent Izu a message, and then the two got back on the horse and started riding.

    ¡°Ah, now that we know that the fish are weak, you should just sh at them as we ride by! Maybe they¡¯ll drop something.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Leave it to me!¡±

    Like this, they racked up more kills as they headed to where Izu and the others were.

 Chapter 342.1

    342 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 342

    Defense Specialization and the 9th Event 2

    During that time, Chrome, Kasumi, and Izu were riding on the erged Haku¡¯s head as they moved around and hunted the event monsters.

    ¡°Oh? Looks like Maple and Sally areing this way. They seem to have already acquired some material drops.¡±

    ¡°Woah, that¡¯s amazing. We¡¯ve been doing nothing but running over tropical fish.¡±

    While they were letting Haku¡¯s giant body do everything as they circled the area and turned fish into roadkill, they had not been rewarded with any dropped materials. Neither had they encountered any other types of monsters. While Izu was able to fight now, she was the type who needed to prepare in advance, and so she had decided that she would be safe with the others for now, as long as they only hunted tropical fish.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like ordinary monsters don¡¯te out now, so I¡¯m still anxious about being alone.¡±

    ¡°But I bet you¡¯d have no trouble now. You can make cannons, right? As long as you can take them out quickly, you should be able to manage it even when solo.¡±

    ¡°Hey, you do realize that items aren¡¯t cheap? They¡¯re not like skills where there is just a short cool-down time.¡±

    Izu answered. But it was true that fighting solo wasn¡¯t impossible for her now. It was clear, since she had challenged the highest difficulty in the previous event.

    ¡°While I was able to rack up a lot of kills, I still feel like it¡¯s not enough.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­right now we¡¯re just running them over. But gathering materials should be easy. And if we really want to meet strong monsters or yers, we won¡¯t have much trouble finding them.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­I suppose.¡±

    If they could take the easy way, they should do just that. And so Kasumi ordered Haku to continue crushing and tearing the fish to death, and their kill count went up.

    Haku slithered in a corner of the field for a while until Maple and Sally finally arrived.

    ¡°Hey!¡±

    ¡°There you are. Haku, stop.¡±

    Kasumi made Haku stop and lower its head to the ground.

    ¡°Are things going well for you two?¡±

    ¡°Yes! We killed a lot of monsters on our way here as we rode on the horse!¡±

    ¡°Things seem to be going well here too.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s hard to mess up when they¡¯re this weak.¡±

    ¡°So, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes! Here you go, Izu.¡±

    Maple gave Izu the clump of water. Acquiring the new item meant that crafting instructions were immediately unlocked for Izu.

    ¡°Uhh¡­I can make an item that allows you to stay underwater longer. It¡¯s a lot stronger than simr items I¡¯ve made before, so I guess it will be easier to explore in the water?¡±

    ¡°I see. There are a lot ofkes and seas¡­¡±

    Maple nodded in agreement. Sally had guessed that the material would make something rted to water, so she wasn¡¯t surprised.

    ¡°And like I said, we don¡¯t know when we¡¯ll be able to gather these materials again. So maybe we should switch to finding monsters outside of tropical fish.¡±

    ¡°Yes. That would really help. Besides, our total kill count has risen steadily.¡±

    As they also had yers that could increase their kill count at a rapid rate, it was no surprise that they were moving steadily towards their goal. And so there would be no problem in making the search for materials their second priority.

    ¡°Besides, Haku can kill monsters even without trying. So we¡¯ll be able to get a decent amount on the way.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell the other three then¡­there. As for us, we¡¯ll continue to go around and search for more sharks.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you can leave this area to us. We have yet to encounter anything that we can¡¯t handle.¡±

    And so Maple and Sally told them to call if they needed help, and then they dashed off on their horse. Kasumi then gave the order to Haku, and they started their search for this shark that Maple had talked about.

    ¡°If this is the difficulty we can expect, we won¡¯t have to use any new skills.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I haven¡¯t used mine yet.¡±

    As the medal skills that Chrome and Kasumi acquired were useful duringbat, there would be no need for them as long as they didn¡¯t find themselves in a vicious battle.

    ¡°I got a skill that sometimes gives me a bonus in the number of items that are crafted, so it¡¯s not rted tobat.¡±

    ¡°Oh, but it will increase our efficiency.¡±

    ¡°Yes. What skills did you two get?¡±

    ¡°Indeed¡­ I hope a good monster wille out so I can show you.¡±

    ¡°¡­? Hehe. It seems like Maple has finally shared some of her luck. Something hase out.¡±

    Kasumi said. A manta ray was flying gracefully up ahead. The three were immediately sure that it was simr to the shark that Maple had talked about. And they would not allow it to get away.

    ¡°Kasumi, head towards it!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Kasumi raised Haku¡¯s speed as they made a beeline towards the manta ray. That¡¯s when the manta ray noticed their approach, and a blurry magic circle appeared in front of its mouth. And then a torrent of water, much like the one that had thrown Maple into the air, was unleashed from it.

    ¡°It¡¯s time to use the thing I was talking about! Leave it to me, ¡®Guardian¡¯!¡±

    Chrome shouted as he raised his shield. And like that, he was able to block all of the water that would have swallowed all three of them up.

    ¡°It protects those around me and reduces damage for a short while after being activated. It even has the bonus of being immune to status effects! Well, I guess you can call it a casual version of ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    Unlike ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ it reduced the damage that you took, which was why it was possible for Chrome to use it, even with his defense ability.

    ¡°Then I better show mine as well. ¡®Arms of the Warrior,¡¯ ¡®Third of the de ¨C Kogetsu.¡¯¡±

    Kasumi used her skill to jump into the air over the manta ray. And then she unleashed a chain of attacks down onto it. At the same time, the two arms at her sides also shed at it, and the manta ray lurched to the side. However, its HP did not drop to 0.

    As Kasumi fell back to the ground, she regained her posture and held her swords up.

    ¡°¡®First of the de ¨C Kagerou¡¯!¡±

    Even as she fell, the skill¡¯s effects allowed her to move in ways that should have been impossible. Kasumi used her skill to teleport right in front of the manta ray¡¯s eyes, and then she shed at it, dealing damage. It was as she started falling again that she activated the newly acquired askill.

    ¡°¡®Battlefield of Carnage.¡¯¡±

    As the skill activated, Kasumi¡¯s body started to glow red. Chrome watched this, all the while using ¡®Provoke¡¯ to lure in the manta ray¡¯s attacks.

    ¡°¡®Third of the de ¨C Kogetsu¡¯!¡±

    Kasumi reactivated the skill she had just used, causing her to rise into the air and elerate in a way that ignored thews of physics. She shed at the manta ray while shooting up into the sky. Of course, that meant she would plummet once again. But the manta ray¡¯s HP was very low now, and Kasumi was confident that she could deal the final blow.

 Chapter 342.2

    342 Part 2

    ¡°¡®First of the de ¨C Kagerou¡¯!¡±

    As if to put an end to the fight before it tried something else, Kasumi teleported again and swung her des. The manta ray had no way of resisting, and it vanished into light. Kasumi caught the clump of water that remained. Then she called Haku andnded gracefully on top of its head.

    ¡°¡­It looked like you changed your job to Acrobat.¡±

    ¡°Hehe. You were really moving like a game character.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It took me a while to get used to moving like that¡­ But the skill that I acquired greatly reduced the cool down time for my skills for a fixed time. The demerit is that if I don¡¯t kill something within that time, all of my skills will go into cool down mode.¡±

    ¡°Ohh¡­ Well, that is difficult to use¡­ But it¡¯s strong enough to make up for it. So all that moving in the air is only possible because of that skill?¡±

    ¡°There are other transport skills that can be used to hop around.¡±

    ¡°Th-there is something suspicious about it¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just d everyone is getting stronger. It makes helping you all feel more rewarding.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Am I being too serious with my choices then?¡±

    ¡°Hehe. I think you¡¯re fine just the way you are, Chrome.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    It was hard to tell if Chrome was satisfied by these answers.

    Maple and Sally were dashing through the field on their horse. Maple was grabbing onto Sally with one hand so that she didn¡¯t fall. Her other hand was carrying a gatling gun, which shot down groups of fish.

    ¡°This is like horseback archery¡­¡±

    ¡°One hundred percent uracy! Not really¡­but I get a few if I shoot a hundred times!¡±

    ¡°Maybe your aim is starting to improve? Though, it¡¯s kind of strange that a shield-wielder is getting better at shooting.¡±

    ¡°Hehe. I¡¯ll be like Wilbert one day!¡±

    ¡°Haha. No, I doubt that is possible. Anyway, as for the ones you missed¡­ ¡®Cyclone Cutter¡¯!¡±

    Sally said. And then the fish that managed to escape Maple¡¯s guns were chopped up by wind des.

    ¡°Yes, got them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡±

    Holding the reins of a horse at this speed while attacking monsters was no easy task. And so Sally had to be careful that they didn¡¯t crash into any obstacles while she attacked. She even made sure that there weren¡¯t any dropped materials they had missed.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make up for what youck. Still, try to improve your aim, okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    They continued to ride like this, and were able to encounter a number ofrge monsters including sharks, manta rays, octopuses and squids. However, all of them attacked with water alone, and were not much of a threat.

    In fact, Sally realized that there was no need to dismount from the horse in order to kill them, and so she just had Maple shoot them continuously as she made the horse run at full speed. Like this, they dodged the attacks while Maple acted as fixed artillery.

    ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s nice when we don¡¯t have to get down.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing. We can dodge them while on the horse.¡±

    ¡°Their attacks are quite simple and easy to read.¡±

    And so they repeated this process of killing them and picking up the dropped items. Whilerge monsters were counted just the same as smaller ones, they discovered that they were guaranteed to acquire the items that Izu wanted, and so they prioritized those monsters so that other yers wouldn¡¯t get to them first.

    ¡°It¡¯s still the first day. It will take some time before we know what ces they spawn the most.¡±

    ¡°Then it will be easier to gather them?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. But then again, there will be more people, which means morepetition, so I can¡¯t be sure.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. Then we better find a ce that no one else goes!¡±

    ¡°That would be best. I guess that¡¯s why we¡¯re running around like this now.¡±

    One of the reasons they had chosen the 7thyer was because they had a perfect method of transportation they could use. Furthermore, the 7thyer wasrger than the others, which made thepetition less fierce, just like Sally had said.

    That being said, anyone could easily get a horse, and so there were obviously other yers who were doing the same thing as Sally.

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Sally. How are you?¡±

    A pair of riders appeared in front of them. It was Frederica and Drag from ¡®Congregation of the Holy Swords.¡¯

    ¡°Mm. We¡¯re doing alright, I guess. We¡¯re just taking our time while searching for a good hunting ground. How about you?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much the same. We hunted some monsters other than fish, but not much.¡±

    Frederica turned to look at Drag, and he started to give his impression.

    ¡°The monsters during thest event were more satisfying to hunt. These new ones barely put up a fight.¡±

    ¡°They are really weak¡­¡±

    It was something that both Maple and Sally had felt as well. The monsters in the previous event had definitely been designed to be on the tougher side, but even without thatparison, these new monsters were very underwhelming in terms of HP and attack patterns.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s something we can all agree on.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. Anyway, we¡¯re going around and trying to find out if there is any hidden element to all of this.¡±

    The Congregation of Holy Swords had many members. If all of them were out hunting, and they didn¡¯t find anything, then there was a good chance that there was something still hidden.

    ¡°Hmm. But we still don¡¯t have any information that we can trade. I¡¯m not lying.¡±

    ¡°I guess you were wrong about this one, Frederica.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Maple and Sally. I was so sure they would find something quickly.¡±

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll contact you if we do find something! Won¡¯t we, Sally?¡±

    ¡°I suppose. Ah, of course, as part of a trade.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have something good prepared for you. Look forward to it, okay? Goodbye then.¡±

    ¡°See youter. Oh, and I¡¯ll be looking forward to fighting you in the future.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t lose!¡±

    ¡°Right. Neither will we.¡±

    Frederica waved a small hand at them and then followed after Drag, who moved on ahead. After a while, they werepletely out of sight.

    ¡°Information, huh¡­ That being said, we really haven¡¯t found any leads.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Maybe we should try exploring a different area?¡±

    ¡°¡­? Do you mean going to a differentyer?¡±

    Maple asked, but Sally shook her head. It seemed like they wouldn¡¯t find anything new even if they continued to run around the field. In that case, perhaps they should move to a different area.

    ¡°A dungeon. Why don¡¯t we try entering a few dungeons?¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see. There might be something different there!¡±

    ¡°Exactly. And one time might not be enough, so we¡¯ll have to try several times.¡±

    ¡°Then it should be a ce where the boss is easy to reach.¡±

    ¡°And if it turns out that there is nothing, we can return to hunting sharks. This event has only just started, so we need to get an idea of how it all works.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Maple and Sally had already finished a number of dungeons on the 7thyer. And so they chose one that would allow them to reach the boss easily, and then they dashed towards it on horseback.

 Chapter 343

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 343

    Defense Specialization and the Search for Change

    When it came to easy dungeons they had been to on the 7thyer, the mid-range boss rush ¡®colosseum¡¯ they had gone to with Velvet seemed like the obvious choice.

    The difficulty shifted depending on the number of people. And since no one could disturb them there, they would be able to win repeatedly without problem as they made their way through.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s try going inside once.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    As Maple and Sally entered the dungeon and crushed one boss after another, they realized that something was different. Last time, there were no monsters along the path between the bosses. But this time they would asionally encounter the tropical fish.

    ¡°I see. So they really just appear everywhere.¡±

    ¡°There was nothing herest time!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. The difference is obvious in ces like this. That being said¡­¡±

    Sally said as she walked forward. She smoothly passed through the group of fish, while simultaneously slicing them up.

    ¡°Hmm. They are just as weak as they are outside.¡±

    ¡°Woah! Good one, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s only special ces that they don¡¯t appear, like boss rooms?¡±

    Maple and Sally continued to inspect the areas carefully for any other changes as they advanced. And after killing the limited monsters, they reached the boss room. When they went inside, they saw a stone statue. Unlike the time that all four of them had gone inside, this one had an axe in each hand.

    ¡°It should be weaker thanst time¡­right?¡±

    ¡°ording to Velvet, anyway. But it could still be a bad fit for us, so be careful!¡±

    They could not allow themselves to lose just because they prioritized the investigation. And so they both raised their weapons and entered a battle stance.

    ¡°It should have wide swings and attack randomly!¡±

    ¡°You can do it!¡±

    Just as Sally rushed forward, Maple developed her weapons and began to fire. As the gap between Sally and boss closed up, the axe to the right began to swing down.

    ¡°That¡¯s nothing! ¡®Super elerate.¡¯¡±

    Sally elerated for a second and then jumped to the side in order to dodge the axe. Dust flew in the air as she leapt again,nding on top of the axe as if it was nothing. Her daggers shredded the stone arm as she dashed up to its shoulder at an incredible speed. She took advantage of therge swings of big monsters and attacked. This was the method that Sally was the best at, and she dealt immense damage all at once. In the meantime, the statue¡¯s left hand shot forward. It threw its axe towards Maple, who continued to fire at it.

    ¡°Wha?!¡±

    She had been so concentrated on firing that she was unable to move in time. The axe smashed right into her, blowing Maple off of her feet. However, the axe too bounced into the air with a loud ring. Maple¡¯s damaged weapons exploded as she rolled onto the ground.

    ¡°¡­How shocking.¡±

    She made sure that everything was fine before brushing the dust off of her body. Maple then brought out her weapons and was about to rmence fire.¡±

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    She detected something in Sally¡¯s voice and immediately stopped firing andunched herself in the air by detonating the weapons instead. The stone statue tried to knock Maple out of the air with its left hand, but as it got close to her, Sally activated her skill.

    ¡°¡®Change of Position¡¯!¡±

    Sally was near the statue¡¯s head, and Maple was in the air. But now their positions had changed. Sally adjusted her posture andnded on the ground, while Maple transformed one arm into a tentacle and swallowed up the statue¡¯s head.

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    She saw the head being held by tentacles and ck mist as red lights burst all over it. And Sally knew that her n had seeded. Maple made use of the distance that Sally had bridged. Once they traded ces, Maple could m the boss with her strongest attack, ¡®Bizarre Eater.¡¯ That meant that as long as Sally could get close, Maple could travel between the two positions without being disturbed, and appear right next to it.

    As Maple continued to squish and swallow the head, thest damage effects burst from it, and then the entire statue disappeared into light.

    Sally caught Maple as she fell from the air and gently but her down on the ground.

    ¡°Good work.¡±

    ¡°Yes! It ended perfectly!¡±

    ¡°¡­Besides, I found something that was a little different.¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    Maple looked at Sally with a puzzled expression. In reply, Sally pointed at the ground around them. There were several puddles of water, and it was clear that they hadn¡¯t been made by Sally.

    ¡°Too bad there weren¡¯t any material drops or special events¡­ But this water here must be rted to the current event.¡±

    The statue hadn¡¯t done anything rted to water, and judging by the types of monsters that were appearing in this event, Sally was likely right.

    ¡°Okay. Then let¡¯s do a few more! And then maybe we¡¯ll get some special materials!¡±

    ¡°Yes. It wasn¡¯t that strong, so we can keep going.¡±

    The two hopped onto the magic circle that had appeared and started the second round.

 Chapter 344.1

    344 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 344

    Defense Specialization and Teamwork

    While Maple and Sally worked on the dungeons, Mai and Yui were on the 5thyer, hunting the event monsters. The field on the 5thyer was quite bright, and most of the monsters were slow and made of clouds. And so they were able to face the event monsters without worrying about being ambushed. They were also quite happy about the experience points they amassed along the way.

    Since Maple and Sally had no trouble taking them down with their attacks, Mai and Yui also had no trouble one-shotting them just like any other enemy.

    In the first ce, the only enemy that could be hit by them and survive, were boss monsters.

    Thanks to Tsukimi and Yukimi, they both had decent moving speed now, and as they traveled around the field, they encountered a shark that flew through the air, just like Maple and Sally had.

    ¡°There¡¯s one! It¡¯s very unusual!¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­! Let¡¯s kill it.¡±

    They gave the order to Tsukimi and Yukimi, and then they approached it from the left and right sides so that they couldn¡¯t be attacked at the same time.

    ¡°¡®Flying Attack¡¯!¡±

    Yui swung her great hammer, unleashing a shockwave that went straight towards the shark. However, the shark swam up into the air, smoothly dodging the attack. Then it unleashed a powerful jet of water towards Mai, who was closer to it.

    ¡°¡®Act of the Giant¡¯!¡±

    In reply, Mai swung her two great hammers wildly instead of dodging. They rammed right into the water that the shark had unleashed. White effects shed around it, and great amounts of water bounced off and hit the shark.

    ¡°Nice one! Yukimi!¡±

    Mai made Yukimi run forward, and as the shark recoiled from the water that came back at it, she mmed her great hammer into its body from below. The shark exploded and died in one hit.

    ¡°Yes! Nice reaction!¡±

    ¡°Really¡­? ¡­That¡¯s good.¡±

    The skill that Mai and Yui had acquired with the medals. It was a skill that if the damage that your opponent¡¯s attack inflicted was under your own STR, you could nullify the damage and make it bounce off. As neither of them had any defense ability, the damage they took would be very great. However, it was still below their attack ability.

    While it wasn¡¯t a perfect counter, it made good use of their abilities and was a good trump card in terms of defense. If they could bounce off the enemy¡¯s trump card, they would be able to turn the tables in an instant.

    In general, they would try to dodge by making use of Tsukimi and Yukimi¡¯s speed, and just when they were about to get hit, they would switch to firing back.

    They already knew that the monsters for this event were unable to mete out attacks that exceeded their STR. As long as they could react in time, they would be able to fight back without issue regardless of the attack.

    The two picked up the dropped materials and then decided to lean against a wall of cloud and rest.

    ¡°I was a little worried when we first chose it¡­ Thankfully, it seems we¡¯ll have no trouble using it.¡±

    ¡°Yes! It will be fine with our attack ability!¡±

    It was the kind of skill that would be very questionable for other yers, but with these two, they could use it to block even the heavy attacks of bosses.

    ¡°We should also think about what to do with our next medals!¡±

    As Maple Tree continued to do very well, both of them received new medals quite regrly. And so they thought that they might as well think about what other skills they wanted.

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ There are so many strong skills.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes! And so, I¡¯ve been thinking¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm. What?¡±

    And so Yui started to exin. Up until now, the two had chosen the same skills. Part of it was because they wanted to match each other, but it was also because they had the same statuses, which meant they werepatible with the same kinds of skills. And so they continued to choose the same skills because it made sense if they wanted to get stronger.

    ¡°Since we fight together more than with anyone else, I thought we should acquire skills that will let us cooperate!¡±

    Individually, theirbat ability was high enough. The fact that they had done so well during the preliminaries of the previous event had boosted their confidence.

    ¡°Yes, that might be a good idea. We will be able to surprise people¡­¡±

    They had been able to get a hit on Dred during the 4th event because they had worked together.

    Since they could already synchronize their attacks so naturally, they would be even stronger if they were able toplement each other.

    ¡°In that case¡­ I would like to be able to support your attacks, Yui.¡±

    ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll focus on attacking!¡±

    With these two, they only needed one attack tond. Now that it was decided, they started their search for a new skill.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been looking at some promising ones, just like Sally!¡±

    ¡°Hehe. Of course, we won¡¯t have the medals for a little longer.¡±

    ¡°We can always search the field instead. Hmm¡­at least until we get the medals?¡±

    ¡°But then¡­ Hehe, we¡¯ll probably just get the same skills.¡±

    However, Yui pointed out that this wasn¡¯t a problem, as it could just be a starting point for their teamwork. After that, they would use the medal skill as a surprise move so that their opponent would not be able to react.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go search for more monsters then!¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do that.¡±

    ¡°Whaaat?!¡±

 Chapter 344.2

    344 Part 2

    ¡°!?¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    Just as they started to get to their feet, they suddenly heard a voiceing from above, and they quickly looked in that direction. They saw a figure dropping down from the clouds above. The two frantically rode Tsukimi and Yukimi below it so they could catch the person in time. However, the form turned up-side-down right before hitting the ground, and froze in the air. It righted itself as if gravity didn¡¯t exist. Shortly after, another figure floated down right next to it.

    ¡°Phew¡­ Ah, that was close.¡±

    ¡°You should be more careful about where you walk¡­¡±

    The two that had fallen from the sky were Velvet and Hinata. Velvet¡¯s fall had been broken by Hinata¡¯s control over gravity. She then looked towards Mai and Yui, who had been about to catch her, and she smiled with a wave of her hand. Then Hinata let her down on the ground.

    Velvetnded heavily and then began to talk with an embarrassed expression.

    ¡°Well¡­ Sorry to scare you by falling so suddenly like that.¡±

    ¡°No, not at all! We¡¯re fine. Uh¡­you are Miss Velvet, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Ah, so Maple told you?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Since this was quite the chance encounter, Mai and Yui decided to talk to them some more. From what they heard from Maple, Velvet and Hinata were a pair who were quite good at cooperating during attacks. Perhaps they had some good ideas that they could use. And so Mai and Yui asked them for some advice. Velvet nodded understandingly.

    ¡°I see. Cooperation.¡±

    ¡°In general¡­it¡¯s easier for me to work when she adapts to my powerful skills.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! In our case, Hinata stops their movements, and I follow along!¡±

    ¡°So¡­you have your own roles?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I suppose you can say that.¡±

    So that was the case, after all. Mai and Yui started to think about what kind of skills they should get.

    ¡°But, you two are different from us! And you will have your own way of fighting!¡±

    In the first ce, not only were Velvet and Hinata¡¯s weapons different, but their fighting style was theplete opposite. And since Yui and Mai were the exact same, the direction they should go in would likely be very different.

    ¡°Hmmm. It¡¯s difficult¡­¡±

    ¡°It really is.¡±

    ¡°I know! You should watch us fight. And then you might get some ideas.¡±

    Velvet also added that she wanted to see Mai and Yui fight. And the two epted the request.

    ¡°Besides, I¡¯ll tell you one way you can greatly increase your kill count!¡±

    ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°All yers can cooperate during this event, and we already gathered a lot of materials. Besides, this is special.¡±

    ¡°I guess¡­maybe you¡¯re right.¡±

    The two were surprised to hear that Velvet and Hinata already had so much materials. After Mai and Yui epted, the four headed to an area where Velvet said they would be able to increase their kill count.

    Tsukimi and Yukimi jumped through the clouds as they ran. As Velvet and Hinata rode with them, the difference in speed that would have existed was no longer an issue.

    ¡°Hmm. This really is nice.¡±

    Velvet felt the wind as she petted Tsukimi¡¯s fur.

    ¡°Miss Velvet¡­ Do you have a tamed monster?¡±

    ¡°Me? Hehehe. It¡¯s a secret!¡±

    ¡°Everyone at our guild wants her to keep it a secret¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Even Sally had told Mai and Yui that no one had ever seen Velvet and Hinata¡¯s monsters. And though they were curious, they didn¡¯t pry any further.

    ¡°So, no one has seen it?¡±

    ¡°That should be the case!¡±

    Dered Velvet. They knew by looking at the other guild members¡¯s monsters, that theirs were especially powerful. And since they had multiple skills, it was a great advantage that others didn¡¯t know about them.

    ¡°Oh, we¡¯re almost there. This was my first time riding on a bear, and I really enjoyed it!¡±

    After a while, a giant hole appeared in the ground made of clouds at their feet. As Mai and Yui stood near the rim and looked inside, they saw white walls and asional footholds. It was evident that you were supposed to slowly descend while jumping from one to another.

    Apparently, there were monsters along the way, and they could see dark thunder clouds and fish monsters near the footholds.

    ¡°There is a dungeon if you go down there.¡±

    But you had to be very careful during the journey down. And so Mai and Yui braced themselves. Not only would it be difficult to fight on such unstable ground, but there were also a lot of monsters here.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go. I¡¯m counting on you, Hinata!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. ¡®Gravity Control.¡¯¡±

    Hinata activated the skill, and all at once, a dark effect surrounded the four, and they floated up into the air.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be able to float while the skill is in effect¡­ But movement will be slow.¡±

    And so they followed after Hinata and Velvet as they descended. Once they were at the halfway point, a voice rang from next to them.

    ¡°Leave this to me! ¡® Second Coming of the Thunder God,¡¯ ¡®Center of the Storm,¡¯ ¡®Rain of Thunder,¡¯ ¡®Field of Thunder¡¯!¡¯

    As Velvet shouted the skills in rapid session, the amount of lightning striking around her increased. Any who were not allies that stepped foot into this area would be instantly burned to a crisp.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go!¡±

    Velvet had moved to the center as if to cover all of the holes with her thunder area. And her next action was to slowly descend.

    ¡°This is also very efficient! Ah, but don¡¯t worry. Of course, this isn¡¯t everything!¡±

    ¡°Do you think¡­we can copy this¡­?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m getting quite worried.¡±

    As Hinata kept all four of them floating in the air, they slowly descended towards the floor while watching the powerful thunder mercilessly, and without prejudice, ughter the surrounding monsters.

 Chapter 344.3

    344 Part 3

    Once they arrived on the ground, the lightning was deactivated, and they gathered up all of the dropped materials. Then they turned towards the passage that led out from there.

    ¡°We can gather quite a bit from justing down! Of course, normally we jump down all at once!¡±

    Even if they were plunging down at an incredible speed, Hinata would be able to stop them before they hit the ground. But passing through so quickly meant that some monsters were able to survive. However, it didn¡¯t really matter, as their goal was to hunt the fish monsters.

    Like this, the two could use their abilities to kill a great number of the event monsters in a short amount of time.

    ¡°We searched a lot for ces that would let us hunt them quickly! And this hole was the best one!¡±

    Usually, they would wait for the monsters to respawn and then fall down again, but this time they kept going deeper in.

    This was because they wanted to show Mai and Yui how they fought. Besides, there was apparently another efficient spot deeper within. And it was that spot that they were headed to, not the boss room.

    ¡°Ah, but we¡¯re not that good at protecting, so you should still be careful!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no one else out there¡­who can protect like Maple.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Velvet and Hinata¡¯s attack ability was superior to their defense ability. They weren¡¯t good with guarding other yers by using skills such as ¡®Cover¡¯ or ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯

    As they walked down the cloud passage, it started to branch out, and several monsters began to appear. But due to the shape of the passages, these weak monsters could do nothing in the face of Velvet¡¯s thick bolts of thunder that filled the area. Neither could they dodge the shock waves that erupted from Mai and Yui¡¯s ¡®Flying Attack,¡¯ and so they turned to ashes in an instant. There really wasn¡¯t much need for teamwork here.

    Like this, they advanced for some time until arge monster appeared in front of them when they turned a corner.

    ¡°Ah! It¡¯s a swordfish! Hinata!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry¡­ ¡®Gravity¡¯s Shackles,¡¯ ¡®Thought Freeze.¡¯¡±

    As Hinata¡¯s voice rang, ck chains stretched out from the ground and bound the swordfish. At the same time, a cold wind rushed from the ground and sealed its skills. Now that the swordfish was helpless, Velvet enveloped herself in lightning and shot towards it. Then her body shrank as she dove underneath.

    ¡°¡®Heavy Twin Attack,¡¯ ¡®Roar of Thunder¡¯!¡±

    The swordfish was smashed by two heavy attacks that were boosted by thunder. Electricity crackled all around it. Immediately after, the ground around Velvet began to shine, and then a pir of thunder shot, piercing and then erasing the swordfish into nothing.

    ¡°Phew¡­ Nice one, Hinata!¡±

    ¡°It did go quite well.¡±

    Mai and Yui thought about the sword fish who had been annihted in an instant without being able to do anything, and they reyed Velvet and Hinata¡¯s brilliant teamwork in their mind.

    ¡°Hehe. How was it?¡±

    ¡°It was amazing! You two were so coordinated!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true, but it¡¯s a little embarrassing hearing you say it. Anyway, you should always talk and decide on what to do in advance.¡±

    Good teamwork like this could only be born with advance preparation. Most of Velvet and Hinata¡¯s moves were effective against both yers and monsters, and they had been used many times. And so there was an incredible smoothness to their actions, and they were quick to make decisions when something had to be done.

    ¡°The swordfish can nullify skills that inflict damage, so I have Hinata stop them for me.¡±

    ¡°Though, I don¡¯t have much else to do¡­¡±

    ¡°Close teamwork¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    Now that they saw the way that Velvet and Hinata fought, they hit the same wall. Yui and Mai could not take on different roles yet, which meant they weren¡¯t ready for this kind of teamwork.

    ¡°It¡¯s important to have someone support you! In fact, as long as Hinata is here, the attacker doesn¡¯t even have to be me!¡±

    But Hinata replied by saying that the matter ofpatibility was more important. The more Mai and Yui thought about it, the more they realized that it was necessary to gain support skills.

    That was really the only conclusion. Mai and Yui pondered on this as they continued to walk through the dungeon. They had a few more opportunities to see Velvet and Hinata¡¯s graceful teamwork before they arrived at their destination. It was a wide room, much like a boss room. However, it seemed to be quite empty.

    ¡°We have to go to the center.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    After they all walked to the center, the color of the floor changed, and numerous monsters started flowing out.

    ¡°It¡¯s a trap that spawns a ton of monsters! ¡­And some of them are the event monsters!¡±

    As it was a trap that filled the room with monsters, it was currently made to have many of the fish monsters as well. As long as you could survive here, it was more efficient than walking around and hunting them down.

    ¡°¡®Cocytus¡¯!¡±

    As soon as the monsters were finished spawning, Hinata froze all of them before they could do anything.

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s smash them with everything we got!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    The battlefield was filled with thunder attacks and the smashing of great hammers that killed in one hit. Of course, it was impossible for any of the enemies to survive until they were defrosted.

    When the battle was over, the four escaped from the dungeon and decided to part ways.

    ¡°I hope you were able to gain something from watching us.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you two will be able to fight in the same way¡­but I hope you find your own style.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much.¡±

    ¡°Get stronger! And then we can fight you one day!¡±

    Velvet wasn¡¯t here just to be nice. If Mai and Yui became stronger, it would make things significantly more entertaining if she had to fight them in the future.

    Mai and Yui waved their hands as the two left. And then they looked at each other.

    ¡°¡­What should we do?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. I guess one of us should support the other, and gain skills ordingly?¡±

    ¡°In order to make use of our strength¡­¡±

    ¡°Something only we can do¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Both of them closed their eyes tightly and thought about it. Then, as if having an idea, they opened their eyes and sent out a message before heading back to the guild home.

 Chapter 345.1

    345 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 345

    Defense Specialization and Excessive Firepower

    What awaited Mai and Yui as they arrived at the guild home, was Maple, who had received their message. She had been with Sally as they repeatedly took down the stone statues, when the message arrived. And so they had stopped for the day and returned to the guild home on the 5thyer.

    ¡°Ah, there you are! So, how are things going?¡±

    ¡°Yes! It¡¯s easy to see the terrain on the 5thyer, and so we can fight quite safely.¡±

    ¡°We were with Miss Velvet and Miss Hinata in a dungeon a short while ago¡­¡±

    ¡°With those two? Well, that¡¯s an unusualbination.¡±

    Sally said with puzzlement. And so Mai and Yui exined to them how it hade about. And they also told them about how they could efficiently hunt the event monsters.

    ¡°I see¡­ I bet we could recreate that. We¡¯ll be able to fall as long as Maple is there. Same with the monster house. Yes, it would be better than walking around on the field. I can¡¯t believe that I didn¡¯t think of that.¡±

    ¡°Alight, then we can all go monster hunting together!¡±

    ¡°Uh, but there is something else that we want your help with!¡±

    Maple had heard that they wanted her help, and judging by what they had been saying, she had assumed that they wanted her to use ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ and take on the defense role.

    ¡°We want your help for¡­¡±

    And then Mai told them the details of why they needed help. After listening to everything she had to say, Maple nodded.

    ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll do it! Leave it to me!¡±

    ¡°¡­Sorry. But I don¡¯t think I can help¡­ Good luck, Maple.¡±

    Sally said very apologetically. And then they decided to separate and return to monster hunting.

    ¡°Yes. Good luck to you too, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Thanks. Alright. I¡¯ll be expecting to hear some good news from you threeter.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Now that they knew what they would do, there was no time to waste. And so the three left the guild home behind them.

    They arrived at their destination. Perhaps it had been set so that not many event monsters spawned there, as there were few yers and fish. On the other hand, there were a lot of ghosts. This was the reason that Sally was unable to cooperate with them.

    ¡°Is this the ce?¡±

    ¡°Yes! It should be!¡±

    The three hade to the 6thyer. And since this was a ce where the event monsters were rare, it was quite clear that their purpose had nothing to do with the event.

    ¡°Doing unrted things during an event isn¡¯t a bad idea!¡±

    In fact, it had been during a simr hunting event that Maple acquired the ability to turn into something that wasn¡¯t human. So there was no need to focus solely on the current event.

    ¡°So I just have to do the same thing asst time and¡­¡±

    Maple put a hand to her mouth and reyed the moment in her head.

    ¡°Yes! Okay, I¡¯ll just do it the same way! And if it doesn¡¯t work, then we¡¯ll try again!¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best so that you two can be stronger! We¡¯ll get ¡®Helping Hand¡¯ no matter what!¡±

    Maple said as she thrust her fist into the air. The other two did the same. Their purpose foring here was to acquire the skill that Maple had, ¡®Helping Hand.¡¯ After watching Velvet and Hinata fight, Mai and Yui thought hard about what would be the best way to make the most of their abilities. And they came to one conclusion.

    And it was not about getting various skills that they didn¡¯t need in order to hit a target, nor was it about getting a slight boost to their mobility. In short, they just needed to increase the number of great hammers. Their hit rate had jumped exponentially when they went from having one hammer to two. In that case, they could expect a simr rise if they went from two to four.

    ¡°First, we have to defeat all of the ghosts in this area. And then a blue ghost wille out. And then we just have to follow it!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°And you have to exorcise them.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­?

    Mai tilted her head. You had to use a special method to defeat them? This was no surprise. After all, Mai and Yui were not the types who used items to slowly make their way through enemies. They just swung their great hammers. And even if there was damage reduction, it was always enough to destroy the monster. And so they knew almost nothing about special items used to fight Undead.

    And so Maple exined it to them as she handed them the tags. She had bought them in bulk, and since there weren¡¯t many ces she could use them, she had plenty left.

    ¡°Last time, I exorcised all of the ghosts around this mountain, and then the blue one came out.¡±

    ¡°The whole mountain¡­that will be very hard.¡±

    Maple herself said that it had taken a very long time. And so Mai and Yui braced themselves for an arduous task.

    ¡°But there are three of us this time, so it won¡¯t be too bad!¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Just wait a second!¡±

    Once they entered a clearing, Maple had Syrup erged and got up onto its back. Then she activated the familiar skill.

    ¡°¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯!¡±

    Mai and Yui were right beneath, and the ground around them glowed from the effects of ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯ and ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯ As long as they stayed within range, they would be perfectly safe.

    ¡°The ghosts won¡¯t be able to do anything as long as ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯ is activated. But I can¡¯t use it and exorcise them at the same time when I¡¯m alone.¡±

 Chapter 345.2

    345 Part 2

    ¡°So that¡¯s what you meant by three people!¡±

    As the erged Syrup could not move inside of the forest, she had to repeatedly take the throne out and put it awayst time, which meant she couldn¡¯t move and instead had to wait until she could use the skill again. However, if she left the exorcising to Mai and Yui, Maple could focus on creating this advantageous field over them from above. This would make things so much faster.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be flying just above the trees, so tell me when you start moving!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Alright! Then let¡¯s begin!¡±

    They all had their roles now. And since they had more people thanst time, things went very smoothly. While Maple¡¯s ¡®evil attribute sealing¡¯ field wasrge, Mai and Yui had plenty of mobility with their tamed monsters, and so they were able to move around swiftly as they exorcised.

    After they had moved around the mountain like this for some time, the blue ghost that Maple had talked about suddenly appeared in front of them.

    ¡°Sister. Is that it?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ Let¡¯s ask Maple, just to be sure.¡±

    The two called towards Maple, and after she made sure that there were no other ghosts nearby, she got up from her throne and jumped off of Syrup.

    ¡°Oomph! Uh, so where is it?¡±

    ¡°Over there!¡±

    ¡°Yes! That should be it! Now we just have to follow!¡±

    As Maple knew that there would be a fight soon enough, she kept Syrup flying in the air as she rode on the back of Yukimi. And like that, they followed after the blue ghost.

    They arrived at the cross at the top of the mountain, just like the previous time, and then they made some preparations and waited for the event.

    ¡°Wha?!¡±

    ¡°Wha?!¡¯

    ¡°Here ites!¡±

    As the three stood in front of the cross, hands started to stretch out from the ground. And the three were dragged intoplete darkness.

    Like this, the three were forcefully thrown into abat arena. And arge red ghost appeared in front of them. It was the same one that Maple had met during her time on the 6thyer. It¡¯s torso wasing out of a dark crack in space, and it had long, dangling arms.

    ¡°It was pretty difficult on my own, but¡­it should be fine with you two! ¡®Inspire¡¯! Syrup, ¡®Red Garden¡¯!¡±

    Maple got onto Syrup and rushed back to the throne. There, she sealed the enemy¡¯s skills and raised the damage that Mai and Yui would inflict. Like this, she waited while perfectly prepared.

    ¡°¡®Destroy Mode¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Destroy Mode¡¯!¡±

    As they had known that a battle awaited them, Mai and Yui had used a great amount of ¡®Doping Seeds¡¯ before entering the area, and so their STR was now raised to the limit. They activated onest skill as a finishing touch, and then used a fire attribute item to make their great hammers burn as the boss slowly moved towards them.

    ¡°Do it!¡±

    ¡°¡®Double Impact¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Double Impact¡¯!¡±

    As the two arms stretched out, their burning great hammers mmed into them. There was an incredible explosion of damage effects. It was as if the red ghost¡¯s body had been torn apart.

    It was evident that this monster had low HP, because Maple had killed it with tags and salt. So, what would happen when these two tackled it at full power?

    As if to overwrite the damage effects, the boss that had once tormented Maple turned into light and vanished in an instant.

    ¡°Woah! That was amazing, Mai and Yui!¡±

    ¡°It went pretty well!¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ I¡¯m relieved!¡±

    As the three celebrated, a single magic circle appeared before them.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Last time, the ce turned white¡­and that¡¯s how I got the pendant¡­¡±

    And so they would not be able to acquire the essory they hade for. Maple thought back on what they might have done differently this time.

    ¡°Uhh¡­ Last time, I was alone, so the battle was very long. I ended up using a lot of skills¡­and tags¡­¡±

    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s it? Perhaps there are requirements in how you defeat the boss!¡±

    They had used many tags to exorcise the ghosts on their way here. So perhaps you had to defeat the boss in the same way.

    ¡°I see! That could be it!¡±

    ¡°So that means¡­we have to leave just enough HP so that we can kill it with the tags¡­¡±

    ¡°Ohh¡­ I hope it only takes one try.¡±

    This time, they had used all of their power and turned the boss into dust in one hit. So now they would have to make adjustments so that it would have some HP left. This was a problem that could only arise with these two, and it was a rather difficult one.

    It was hard to keep track of the other¡¯s position once the boss was allowed to change its pattern. Besides, the boss had attacks that were effective against Maple, so it was possible that it could take them down with a surprise attack. If they wanted to win, it had to be done quickly.

    ¡°Yes! We can just keep trying! It doesn¡¯t matter if we identally kill it, as long as we are safe.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    And so the three of them relied on trial and error as they adjusted their attacks in order to allow the boss to have a little HP remaining.

    They challenged the boss over and over again, slowly adjusting their buffs until they had the right attack power. And they finally seeded in hitting the boss without killing it.

    ¡°Now you can do it!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Mai and Yui began to quickly paste the tags on the boss before it could move to its next action. And like that, the boss¡¯s HP went down to 0 and it vanished. As this was the first time things had gone ording to their expectations, they then waited with excitement to see what would happen next. The ck space they were in began to crumble, and they came out into a pure white area, just like Maple had said.

 Chapter 345.3

    345 Part 3

    ¡°We did it! Sess!¡±

    Maple was so happy that they had been able to recreate her first battle. And she dashed forward towards the cross.

    And then the same effect urred as the time Maple acquired ¡®Helping Hand,¡¯ and before she knew it, a pendant was around her neck.

    ¡°Uh¡­yes! It seems to be the same one!¡±

    Maple said as she took it off and inspected it. Then she handed it to Mai and Yui.

    ¡°Yui should have the first one.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure, Mai?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Hehe. You seemed like you could hardly wait.¡±

    Yui did not object to this, and so she epted ¡®Helping Hand¡¯ and immediately equipped it.

    ¡°Uhh, okay! And then I give them weapons¡­¡±

    Yui equipped the two floating arms with great hammers so that each was holding one.

    The hammers were made of rough crystal, and Yui tried controlling them.

    ¡°Woah! It¡¯s so difficult!¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m not really good at moving them precisely, or while I¡¯m doing something else.¡±

    However, precision was hardly necessary with these two. They just needed to swing the arms randomly and they would hit something. And it would all be over.

    ¡°Alright, now we need to get one for Mai! ¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes! ¡­What is it?¡±

    Maple looked as if she had suddenly remembered something that should have been very obvious. Mai tilted her head in puzzlement.

    ¡°Hmm. Thest time I came here, I was alone and it was such a hard fight that I thought I¡¯d nevere back¡­ And so it didn¡¯t ur to me at all. But what do you think about this?¡±

    Maple made a suggestion and the two nodded as if it made perfect sense.

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s do it then! We still have a ways to go!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    And so the three left the boss room.

    A few dayster.

    Izu was spending her time leisurely in her workshop as she made items from the materials of the event exclusive monsters.

    ¡°Phew. I guess this is it. A lot of the items are rted to underwater exploration. Well, there must be a good reason for it.¡±

    They had bothered to add these new items, so they must have prepared a special use for them as well. That being said, she currently had no idea what that might be. Still, they would probably be useful when exploring the sea andkes.

    ¡°I should be able to leave most of the hunting to the others.¡±

    As she sat and rested in her chair, she suddenly heard voicesing from outside.

    ¡°Miss Izu!¡±

    ¡°Miss Izu!¡±

    ¡°Miss Izu!¡±

    It was Maple, Mai, and Yui who hade to visit her. As they hade in such a rush, Izu assumed that they wanted to ask her a favor.

    ¡°Wh-why are you in such a hurry?¡±

    ¡°We want you to make weapons for Mai and Yui!¡±

    ¡°Weapons? Did the old ones break? I only repaired them just recently, so I thought they wouldst longer¡­ Of course, I would be happy to do it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Could you please make six great hammers for each of us?¡±

    ¡°S-six? For each of you?¡±

    Izu had wondered if they had been fighting with monsters that lowered the durability of the weapons. However, her eyes then widened at the unexpected words.

    ¡°W-wait a minute. I don¡¯t really understand.¡±

    Izu said. And so Maple and the others exined it to her.

    ¡°Hmm. It might be simpler if you just saw it¡­¡±

    Maple said as she looked towards Mai and Yui. And so the two changed their equipment. What then appeared around them, were six white hands.

    Realization seemed to hit Izu as she saw this.

    Yes. One person could equip up to three essories. In that case, they could rece their STR boosting essories and use the slots for ¡®Helping Hand.¡¯ They would still have to switch with their tamed monsters when fighting, but the dream of being able an ¡®instant-kill-level great hammer octo-wielder¡¯ was now possible.

    ¡°I finally understand now¡­ Though, I feel a little light headed. Yes! I will make twelve great hammers for you that are of the highest quality.¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    ¡°And we can go and test them when they are ready!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    What would other yers think when they saw them? Izu wondered to herself.

    335 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    While I¡¯m doing what I can during the event, it¡¯s pretty rxing, as there is no need to rush.

    336 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Whichyer is the most efficient?

    337 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    It¡¯s more about certain spots thenyers.

    There are good spots on everyyer.

    338 Name: Anonymous Archer

    I mostly use ranged attacks, so I have to stay in areas where I won¡¯t be surrounded. And that¡¯s not really efficient¡­

    339 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    Well, everyone is supposed to reach the goal together, so it should be fine.

    340 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    Hey.

    341 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    ¡­I have a bad feeling about this.

    342 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    Same.

    343 Name: Anonymous Archer

    I bet something happened.

    344 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    I saw something crazy.

    345 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    An event monster?

    Or a monster-like yer?

    346 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    A monster-like yer.

    347 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Does their name start with ¡®Ma-¡¯?

    348 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    Maybe partially?

    349 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    ?????

    350 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    To put it inly

    Mai and Yui are now octo-wielding great hammers.

    351 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    ???????????????????????????

    352 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Those words don¡¯t make any sense.

    353 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    I haven¡¯t heard about this. Nothing at all!

    Because I¡¯ve been too busy hunting!

    I better go and see what they¡¯re doing¡­ I did hear that they were with Maple.

    354 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    Were the fish so high in nutrition? Did they get that much experience points¡­

    355 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    Uh, your weapons don¡¯t increase just because you level up!

    356 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    I saw ck and white masses spinning from far away, and when I got closer, they were humans.

    357 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    That¡¯s just excessive firepower.

    What enemy are they even doing this for? Almost everything would be turned into dust in front of them now.

    358 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    They just keep growing¡­ It¡¯s so amazing.

    359 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    Poor bosses.

    360 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Maybe if they dodge¡­

    361 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    It¡¯s massive violence.

    I haven¡¯t seen it and I don¡¯t know how it works. But masses thatrge will already be lethal if they hit you. And now there are eight? What the hell?

    362 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    Eight great hammers lined up as they spin¡­

    And the monsters go ¡®crack-crack.¡¯

    363 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    My brain is melting just thinking about it.

    364 Name: Anonymous Archer

    I wouldn¡¯t call it spinning.

    It¡¯s more like spreading death everywhere.

    365 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    Our main attackers sure are reliable!

    366 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    They were reliable enough before¡­

    Oh¡­damn it¡­

 Chapter 346

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 346

    Defense Specialization and the Trial

    Mai and Yui returned to defeating the event monsters on the 5thyer, while also practicing swinging what were now a total of eight great hammers. In the meantime, Maple exined the matter to Sally.

    ¡°I see¡­ Yes, I think those two should be able to handle them just fine. Though, I wonder how they will be able to answer if someone asks what it is they intend to kill¡­¡±

    Due to Mai and Yui¡¯s statuses, changing weapons for them waspletely different from when Sally or Kasumi changed weapons. As they did not require delicate control over their weapons, they could ignore demerits like handling difficulty, and only feel the merits of having six extra weapons.

    ¡°I guess we won¡¯t have to think about our party¡¯s attack ability anymore. They have more weapons and their STR will likely jump way up¡­¡±

    Up until now, Mai and Yui had made incredible contributions as the ultimate anti-boss weapons, but you could say that they had now been perfected.

    ¡°But if we¡¯re thinking about their movement within a party, we¡¯ll have to buff them up while considering the type of enemies they might struggle against.¡±

    ¡°Hehe.¡±

    ¡°Like enemies that are too fast or stay out of range.¡±

    Sally brought up a few examples, but all of them were rted to attacks. It was no wonder, because when it came to protecting those two, they had Maple. Mai and Yui¡¯s low defense ability could be covered with Maple¡¯s ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ and ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King.¡¯ It was so perfect already, that they could not hope for anything else.

    ¡°It¡¯s like you three already have great chemistry, and this is all just an addedyer of effect.¡±

    If they were to split up in a future PvP event, Sally was sure that these three should be put together again.

    ¡°Do you think there should be cooperative y as well?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Being able to move instantly is a result of lots of practice.¡±

    ¡°And you can do some crazy moves, Sally.¡±

    ¡°I already had a lot of experience with VR. That¡¯s why.¡±

    Of course, there was also the difference in AGI, but there was somethingpletely different about the smoothness of Sally¡¯s movements,pared to the others. There was something at the core there that had nothing to do with her skills.

    ¡°Hehe. Do you want to practice cooperating with me too?¡±

    ¡°Sure! But I¡¯m not sure I can keep up¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t think about it too hard. You know, you can block the attacks that I can¡¯t handle, and I¡¯ll attract the attacks that you can¡¯t take.¡±

    ¡°And we can attempt to get through it without taking any damage!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. You can deal powerful attacks too, Maple. We¡¯ll change roles when necessary. Just trust that your partner will protect you.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Sally would trust Maple¡¯s defense ability, and Maple would trust Sally¡¯s dodging ability. And like that, they would move. This strength could make all the difference in fights that were neck and neck.

    ¡°So, with that being said. Why don¡¯t we go to a dungeon now?¡±

    ¡°Right to cooperative y, eh? Okay!¡±

    ¡°I knew you would say that!¡±

    And like that, the two headed towards the 7thyer, where the monsters were currently the strongest. While both had walked around quite a lot, there were still many ces that they hadn¡¯t visited yet.

    As always, Sally rode on her horse, with Maple riding in the back.

    ¡°Where are we going this time?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s this ce I identally found while you three were on the 6thyer. I explored it a little bit, but it seemed like it would be too hard for me to do alone, and so I turned back.¡±

    Upon hearing that Sally had left due to it feeling too dangerous, Maple braced herself for what would surely be a very tough dungeon.

    ¡°Do you have any information about it?¡±

    ¡°From what I checked, there isn¡¯t any information out there yet. So either no one else has discovered it, or they are keeping it a secret. People would be talking about it if they knew.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll understand when you get there.¡±

    They went through the forest, crossed the wastnds, climbed a mountain, and then arrived at the top of a canyon. When they looked down, they could see that there were steep rock walls on both sides. There were also holes in these walls, and some were connected with stone bridges. Furthermore, vicious-looking bird monsters were letting out terrifying screeches. It was clear that they would interfere if you tried to move down there. Maple could also see that the proper way to get through this dungeon was to move back and forth between both sides of the canyon.

    ¡°I guess we¡¯re supposed to try and reach the very bottom?¡±

    ¡°Yes. And so¡­¡±

    ¡°We jump!¡±

    ¡°Yes, that seems like the fastest way.¡±

    There wasn¡¯t even any need to ride on Syrup and descend slowly. If they wanted to reach the very bottom, they just needed to jump, while Maple kept Sally within range of ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯ Even these monsters would not be able to catch yers who were falling upside down.

    ¡°Well, I actually did test this method of going straight to the bottom.¡±

    ¡°I see. You could get down with webs and footholds, after all!¡±

    Sally¡¯s mobility while in the air was quite high. And while she couldn¡¯t plunge down to the bottom all at once, in a ce like this, where there were walls and tforms, she wouldn¡¯t have too much trouble fighting off the monsters as she made her way down.

    ¡°So¡­I hope it works well¡­ Maple,e over here.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What? What?¡±

    Sally was pointing to a certain spot. There were more bird monsters there, but there were also several stone bridges you could stand on. And while there were differences in height, yers who couldn¡¯t fly would still be able to use them as a shortcut.

    ¡°Over there. If you fulfill the special requirements, a gate will open up.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°If you look down from right above it, you can see that the different bridges form a circle.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right.¡±

    Like Sally said, this inner part that looked like a ring could teleport you away, if you activated it with every type of magic.

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing! How did you notice such a thing?¡±

    ¡°There are so many monsters, and since your footing is unstable, I thought it would be a good ce to practice. And then I discovered the gate by ident.¡±

    This was something that Maple would never be able to copy, and she nodded with admiration towards Sally.

    ¡°The real problem is what lies beyond it.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Maple activated ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ and then held onto Sally as she prepared to jump.

    ¡°Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Go!¡±

    ¡°Go!¡±

    Both of them kicked off the dirt,unching themselves into the canyon.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Sally quickly activated every type of magic. At the same time, a white light appeared in the center of the ring. It enveloped both of them and teleported them to a different area.

 Chapter 347

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 347

    Defense Specialization and the Trial 2

    As soon as they teleported, the momentum at which they fell also changed, and the two found themselves standing on solid ground.

    They were in the center of a circr room. And from the walls, were passages leading out at equal intervals. As Maple looked at her surroundings, the light that had stayed at their feet after the teleportation began to move along the ground. It then pointed to one of the passages.

    ¡°Is it saying that that¡¯s the right one?¡±

    ¡°No, it leads to a magic circle for when you want to leave.¡±

    ¡°Huh? We can leave that easily?¡±

    ¡°Yes. As for why they allow you to leave whenever you want¡­ Here theye!¡±

    Just as Sally said this, monsters of various types began toe out from the other passages. There were some that looked familiar, while others were limited to this event. There was no rule as to what kind of monster would appear.

    ¡°In any case, just keep killing them!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    That was all Sally knew. She wasn¡¯t the best when it came to fighting hordes when alone, and this terrain was not doing her any favors. That was why she had quickly decided to retreat. She needed Maple¡¯s help here, as they made a good team.

    ¡°Prioritize any enemies that look like they¡¯d have piercing attacks!¡±

    ¡°Yes! ¡®Deploy all Weapons¡¯!¡±

    There was only one passage where monsters didn¡¯te out of, and so she kept her back towards it as a guarantee of safety, and started to fire ahead of her. Sally looked at the monsters that were being hit by Maple¡¯s fire, and chose the ones that looked especially dangerous and cut them down.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Fire Child,¡¯ ¡®Crossing me¡¯! ¡®Water Coat¡¯! ¡®Double sh¡¯!¡±

    Sally used Oboro¡¯s skill to envelop herself in fire, allowing her to deal fire damage to the monsters with every attack. Furthermore, she used ¡®Water Maniption¡¯ which adds an automatic pursuit effect with the water. There was also ¡®Pursuing de,¡¯ which meant that one attack from Sally would always be followed by extra damage three times.

    And though each was small, when her twin daggers mmed into an enemy with a chain of attacks, there was nothing they could do to resist. ¡®Double sh¡¯ was just a simple attack, but they were doubles due to her dual-wielding, and this resulted in damage being dealt a total of 16 times. At this point, she was beating out numbers that were so far away from what the skill was supposed to be capable of.

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep going! ¡®Predator,¡¯ ¡®Hydra,¡¯ ¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯!¡±

    As Sally dealt the finishing blow to one monster after another, Maple avoided Sally¡¯s battle area and used long range damage skills to tear the monsters apart. Normally, the yer would be in the center as monsters attacked them from every side, leaving no room to escape. But in order for these monsters to reach Maple, they had to brave a rain of bullets, damage skills, Sally, and two monsters.

    If you wanted to kill Maple, you would have to get past Sally and deal a heavy blow. But it was also impossible to defeat Sally and make a clear path ahead without defeating Maple.

    This was too difficult a demand for monsters whose strength was in their numbers alone.

    The waves of slimes, orcs, goblins and othermon monsters began to thin out. Finally, Sally cut off the head of thest one, and the room was filled with silence.

    ¡°There were so many of them.¡±

    ¡°Some of them were event monsters, so we should pick up the materials.¡±

    Just as the two finished gathering the materials in the room, the ground started to shake, and they stepped away from the passage entrances. Even if they were supposed to go through it, it would be very dangerous to do so while monsters were still being spawned. After a brief wait, hordes of monsters began toe out once again.

    ¡°More! Alright, we¡¯ll do it the same way¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes. I want to defeat a little more and see what happens.¡±

    As if to say it didn¡¯t matter how many monsters were sent to them, the two mowed them down one after another. In fact, their momentum did not slow down at all, and the number of monsters decreased rapidly.

    As Sally was quitefortable now, she had time to think about the monsters and wonder if there wasn¡¯t something different this time. While these monsters were not exactly all the same as the previous wave, they were stillmon monsters.

    And it was clear that this second attempt to reach Maple would be just as unsessful as the first. It was all pointless if they couldn¡¯t get close enough to unleash a piercing attack.

    It just felt like a rey of the first wave. And it wasn¡¯t long before they were all blown away.

    Arge goblin who waste, was thest one to appear from the passage. And Sally was waiting by the entrance and unleashed a chain of attacks on it before it could even raise its sword.

    ¡°Phew. That¡¯s the second wave cleared.¡±

    ¡°I can still go on!¡±

    ¡°Yes. That¡¯s good to know. Things wouldn¡¯t be stable without ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ and the curtain of bullets.¡±

    Sally was only able to deal deadly blows where her daggers could reach. She had already retreated from this dungeon once. And it would be very difficult to break through the frontline now and destroy monsters that shot magic from the back, if she was alone.

    This situation was only working due to Sally¡¯s dodging ability and Maple¡¯s defense ability.

    ¡°If these hordes of monsters just keeping, this would actually be a good ce to rack up kills for the event monsters.¡±

    ¡°Yes, there are quite a lot of them mixed in.¡±

    ¡°If this continues for much longer, we¡¯ll have to slowly make our way down the passage while fighting them.¡±

    ¡°Okay. When that happens, I¡¯ll guard you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thanks.¡±

    They waited, wondering if it would happen again. And then the ground started to shake, as the change urred. Compared to the monsters in the first two waves, the ones that appeared now were clearly different in that there were more machines and golems. It was a big difference. And so Sally immediately started to think.

    ¡°Maybe it matches everyyer¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah! It might be!¡±

    But Sally sounded like she was hoping to be wrong. The first and second waves had monsters from the 1st and 2ndyers, and now the third wave had monsters from the 3rdyer. Yes, the 3rdyer had many of these monsters. They looked quite familiar.

    Both the field and monsters changed dramatically after the first two, and so it had be easier for her to guess.

    However, if this continued, that would mean there was also a wave for the 6thyer.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just take care of these monsters for now! They¡¯re shooting at us too!¡±

    ¡°Yes. I really hope that I¡¯m wrong¡­¡±

    Now that they had spected, they returned to facing the monsters. The 3rdyer monsters, which were machine soldiers and golems, came out of the passages and approached them slowly.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    As Maple fired off her bullets, the metal golems moved in front of the soldiers so that they blocked the bullets. Furthermore, the bullets seemed to be doing nothing to the golems, as their HP was not decreasing at all.

    ¡°Ugh. This is why I hate golems.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not doing any damage either. Should we take them down one by one?¡±

    The soldiers were using their guns to shoot at Maple and Sally, but just like how the golems were blocking Maple¡¯s bullets, the bullets of the machine soldiers also did nothing. And while the golems and machine soldiers were still alive, the other monsters that were not protected were mowed down and killed.

    ¡°Alright. As always, you can leave the hard ones to me. ¡®Defense Break¡¯!¡±

    Even now, Maple didn¡¯t have skills to defend against piercing attacks. And so it was necessary for the attacker she teamed up with to make up for that. In a way, this was exactly how an attacker and a defender should be.

    ¡°And¡­what about this?¡±

    Sally moved between the gaps in the monsters and hit the machine soldiers directly. If Sally went after the golems, the enemies might swarm around Maple. However, they couldn¡¯t be ignored either.

    Besides, as long as Sally stayed within range of ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ there was no way for the golems to hurt her.

    While they were both defenders, the golems were not on the same level as Maple.

    ¡°¡®Rapid Current¡¯!¡±

    As soon as she used the skill, Sally jumped in between the monsters as a powerful torrent of water was unleashed. And while this in itself did no damage, the nearby monsters were pushed away, wreaking havoc on their formation. The machine soldiers were no longer covered by the golems, making them susceptible to Maple¡¯s current of bullets. And like that, they started to disappear into light.

    ¡°¡®Defense Break¡¯! ¡®Triple sh¡¯!¡±

    They would have no trouble fighting the others now. And so for the third time, Maple and Sally annihted the enemy who had superior numbers.

    Once they had cleared the area and high fived each other, the ground began to shake violently.

    ¡°It-it¡¯s the next one already?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s getting faster.¡±

    The thing that then appeared in the passage in front of them was something very familiar to Maple.

    ¡°Ah! Ummm, the Machine God!¡±

    ¡°What!? Re-really?¡±

    Its coloring was different, and given the boss¡¯s characteristics, she guessed that this was just a copy. However, it was the first boss-like monster to appear.

    The other passages were filled with weapons that looked like Maple¡¯sser guns, and they were targeting the pair.

    ¡°I see. So it¡¯s not just the weak monsters. Bosses can also appear here as well¡­¡±

    Sally realized that this dungeon was even harder than she had thought. Still, she seemed to be enjoying herself. This was all because Maple was with her to face this powerful enemy.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s keep going until we clear the area.¡±

    ¡°This is the best part of cooperative y!¡±

    Their opponent was on a different levelpared to the other monsters. And so they braced themselves as they raised their weapons.

 Chapter 348

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 348

    Defense Specialization and the Trial 3

    After entering their battle stance, theser machines unleashed thickser beams at them. And while ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ was activated, there was no harm in avoiding getting hit. And so Sally quickly jumped out andnded in front of the passage that led to the teleportation circle. Maple was in the center of the room, and got hit by so manysers that Sally couldn¡¯t even see her.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes! It destroyed all of my weapons, but I didn¡¯t take any damage! Wha!?¡±

    Maple suddenly shot backwards as she was talking, and Sally had to act quickly in order to catch her. However, Maple¡¯s momentum did not slow down, and both of them went flying into the air.

    ¡°Hey?! There are no walls. We¡¯ll be pushed into the teleportation circle!¡±

    ¡°What!? Uh, um¡­ ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯!¡±

    Maple asionally used the throne as a stopper, and it worked well now. By suddenly appearing as an immovable wall, Maple and Sally had something to crash into. And like that, they avoided being knocked back into the magic circle and being forced to leave the arena.

    ¡°So, now what should we do¡­¡±

    ¡°We got pressed against the wall like thisst time, didn¡¯t we?¡±

    The teleportation circle was behind them, and the passage leading to therge room was ahead. The Machine God was still facing them and shooting bullets with the knockback effect. And so the two were currently being pressed against the wall. If they managed to return to the room, it would likely start shooting itssers again as well.

    ¡°Hmm. And I bet there will be a boss after this¡­ It would be best to get through this by using as little as possible.¡±

    ¡°Well, at least it looks like we have plenty of time to think!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the usual ¡®nning duringbat¡¯ phase.¡±

    This was business as usual, and so Sally started to think about their situation. Thanks to Maple¡¯s defense ability, they had all the time in the world. Being able to have a nning phase in between, so that they could act after this with a united will was in a way, another one of Maple¡¯s hidden strengths.

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯s¡¯ reach extends just slightly past the passage¡­so it¡¯s worth testing.¡±

    ¡°Yes. From what I¡¯ve seen, thesers don¡¯t have a knockback effect, so we should be able to move as long as the Machine God doesn¡¯t hit us with its bullets.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll dodge them and run through the passage. If it goes well, I¡¯ll trade ces by using ¡®Change of Position¡¯ so you won¡¯t have the passage behind you.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    As long as they had ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ failure only meant they would be blown away again. They would not die.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going. ¡®Ice Pir¡¯!¡±

    Sally created an ice pir in front of her to intercept the bullets. This released her from the knockback effect. However, the passage was so narrow. Putting an obstacle there just meant that all the bullets would be concentrated on the sides. So she still couldn¡¯t move. Sally pped one side of her cheek and exhaled deeply.

    ¡°You can do it!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡±

    Sally deactivated ¡®Ice Pir,¡¯ causing the bullets to shoot towards her at a tremendous speed.

    ¡°Hmph¡­!¡±

    Sally exhaled again as she twisted her body in order to dodge the gunfire. It looked like there were no gaps for her to move through, and yet the bullets somehow seemed to be curving away from Sally. Such was the illusion that she created as she rushed through the gaps created by the slight timeg between bullets being fired.

    She used her daggers to block the ones she couldn¡¯t dodge and rushed forward as if there weren¡¯t hundreds of bullets shooting at her.

    ¡°This is nothingpared to Maple¡¯s bullets.¡±

    In the end, she slid on the ground to escape the curtain of gunfire, and then jumped to the side while activating ¡®Change of Position¡¯ in order to trade ces with Maple, allowing her to escape.

    ¡°Ohhh! Amazing! In one try!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll get back to you, but it would help if you attracted its fire for now!¡±

    ¡°Okay! ¡®Provoke¡¯!¡±

    Maple made the gunfire andsers target her and blocked them with her body. She knew that there would be no damage, so it was no problem. And now that Sally was not being targeted, she was able to walk out of the passage.

    ¡°Phew¡­ Escapeplete. Now, it¡¯s time to strike back.¡±

    ¡°Sally! What should I do!¡±

    Maple¡¯s voice was nearly erased by the sounds of heavy gunfire.

    ¡°First, theser machines! They don¡¯t deal any damage, but they¡¯re still a nuisance!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I can barely see anything!¡±

    ¡°As soon as it starts attacking me, you go and hit thesers!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    As long as this incessant barrage of attacks ended, she would be able to develop her weapons again. Even though Maple¡¯s defenses could survive this situation, her weapons could not, which made them useless.

    And so Sally created an Ice Pir in front of Maple, and then began attacking thesers, while also staying in range of Dedicated Affection, just in case.

    ¡°¡®Quintuple sh¡¯!¡±

    Just like how ¡®Double sh¡¯ became a 16-chain attack, ¡®Quintuple sh¡¯ became 40. And while each individual attack didn¡¯t do much damage, she was dealing them in much shorter time than it would usually take to unleash 40 attacks.

    Ultimately, this resulted in tremendous burst damage, and theser device suddenly exploded.

    ¡°What? It was surprisingly weak. Next!¡±

    She realized this would be easier than she thought, and quickly destroyed the second one. It was then that the Machine God seemed to have changed its priorities, as its guns suddenly moved away from Maple and towards Sally.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. It was too much trouble to go around and break every one. This is perfect.¡±

    Sally said as she jumped into the air in order to dodge thesers that were concentrated on the spot she was standing in. She created a tform in the air tond on, and then cut down the barrage of bullets with daggers.

    Sparks flew, and while the sounds of colliding metal echoed in the air, there was not a single damage effect to be seen. She continued to dodge theser and attract the attacks. And like this, Maple was free to develop her weapons.

    ¡°¡®Deploy all Weapons,¡¯ ¡®Commence Fire¡¯!¡±

    Maple directed all of her guns towards theser devices and attacked all at once.

    And while the Machine God was able to prepare multipleser devices, Maple could do the same due to having a power of the same name.

    Maple joining the attack had a big effect, so that even if it was difficult for Sally to participate in the attack, they would be able to defeat the enemy.

    At the same time, the remainingser devices were destroyed, and only the Machine God remained in the room.

    ¡°Maple! Let¡¯s finish this before anything else happens!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    In reaction to the barrels being directed at Maple once again, Sally ran straight up to the machine and unleashed another chain of attacks.

    ¡°¡®Sextuple sh¡¯!¡±

    It was the basic continuous attack skill that she had always used. The motions were simple and there was no added effect. However, this skill was enough for Sally.

    With every attack, fire and water burst out, elerating the damage. However, with so many attacks being unleashed, the gun barrels were bound to turn towards Sally.

    ¡°¡®Cover Move,¡¯ ¡®Heavy Body¡¯!¡±

    Maple already knew what was going to happen, and she used high speed movement toe next to Sally and block the attack with ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯ Furthermore, she used ¡®Heavy Body,¡¯ which she wasn¡¯t too familiar with yet, to nullify the knockback. And while she could no longer move, Sally had gotten as close to the enemy as possible, which meant Maple could still attack it without a problem.

    ¡°¡®Invitation to the Ocean floor¡¯!¡±

    Maple transformed one of her arms into tentacles, which then swallowed up and crushed the Machine God¡¯s body, causing even more damage than Sally¡¯s chain of attacks. As her cannons shot at point nk, opening up holes in it and causing its HP to drop, the Machine God suddenly started to create mass amounts of weapons.

    ¡°Ah, let¡¯s kill it first! ¡®Leap,¡¯ ¡®Pinpoint Attack¡¯!¡±

    Sally jumped up high into the air so that she was right above it. In the air, she adjusted her posture and swung the daggers. From the head down the body, she tore it open. The weapons looked like they were on the verge of breathing fire, but with the death of the Machine God, they could do nothing but crumble away.

    ¡°Nice!¡±

    ¡°Yes. You too, Maple. You can still use Bizarre Eater five times. What about your weapons?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I still have plenty left!¡±

    ¡°Alright. Then let¡¯s return to the center when ¡®Heavy Body¡¯ runs out.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes! But I hope nothinges out until then¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, I have an idea of what wille next. But I¡¯m looking forward to being able to fight alongside you, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do our best!¡±

    ¡°Of course. I won¡¯t lose, no matter whates.¡±

 Chapter 349.1

    349 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 349

    Defense Specialization and the Trial 4

    And like that, the two prepared for the next battle and change. If there was nothing, that was fine as well. However, just as they had been anticipating, the next monster appeared from the passage in front of them.

    ¡°Ugh¡­!¡±

    ¡°Well, can¡¯t say I didn¡¯t expect this.¡±

    What appeared now was the great boss from the 4thyer. The master ogre that had given the ¡®Pandemonium¡¯ skill to Maple. Well, it looked exactly like it, anyway. Only this time it was carrying a sword that was as big as its body.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if this is going to be a powerful boss rush mode, or they¡¯re just calling out bosses that you¡¯ve fought?¡±

    ¡°But this one has a different weapon!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be careful.¡±

    Sally said as she held her daggers ready. Maple returned her tentacle arm back to normal and held her shield up. Upon seeing this, the ogre also held up its sword.

    And in the next instant, it arrived right in front of them through superhuman eleration, and swung its de as if to cut both of them in half.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    ¡°Tsk¡­wah!?¡±

    The dodging ability that was deeply ingrained into Sally allowed her to dodge the de in an instant.

    As Maple was holding her shield to the left, she just happened to seed in guarding. And while ¡®Bizarre Eater¡¯ was activated, it wasn¡¯t enough to destroy the sword. This meant that even though Maple wasn¡¯t cut, the superhuman strength caused her to be lifted off of the ground and thrown against the wall.

    On the other hand, Sally¡¯s instincts immediately told her that this enemy was incredibly powerful. And from her lowered posture, she shot out like a spring and swung her daggers. Unlike with the Machine God, where her attacks prioritized force through skills, these were normal attacks that allowed her to move freely. However, the ogre reacted to them with swift movements.

    ¡°You beat this¡­that¡¯s amazing. And this time we can fight it together.¡±

    Nothing could be more wonderful. The enemy in front of them was strong, and Maple was right next to her. Sally had not been expecting to feel this feeling of tion here. And because of this, her concentration reached new heights.

    The metallic rings of their des echoed. Sally¡¯s attacks were all being blocked, but this was true for the ogre¡¯s attacks as well. However, if this continued, it was Sally, who was human, whose concentration would begin to weaken.

    It was just as Sally thought that she needed something to break the stalemate. Laser suddenly shot out from the dust where Maple had been blown.

    ¡°Sally!¡±

    The ogre reacted to this, blocking theser with a swing of its sword. But Sally understood the reason that her name had been called. And she quickly took a step forward, twisted her body and cut deeply into the ogre¡¯s torso. Even if it meant leaving the space where she would stay safe, she would not miss this chance that Maple had made for her.

    And while she was able to deal damage, the ogre ignored her and started to move towards Maple. Upon seeing this, Sally went around it

    ¡°¡®Super eleration¡¯!¡±

    Just before it could elerate and charge once again, Sally arrived in front of its path and blocked its sword with her two daggers at a speed that the eye couldn¡¯t follow.

    ¡°Where are you going? I¡¯m your opponent.¡±

    As Maple was not good at dealing with this kind of speed, it was Sally¡¯s role to take on these attacks. And since ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ was still activated, they could avoid any unexpected idents. Now she just needed to avoid getting hit by piercing attacks.

    ¡°Maple. I can break it if you make an opening for me!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Maple wasn¡¯t alone this time. And with such a reliable partner, there was so much more that she could do now.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    As soon as it reacted to Maple¡¯s attack, Sally stepped forward and cut at it. If she was dyed even a little when changing her posture, she would not be able to deal with the counterattack. But she would not make such mistakes with how concentrated she was now.

    ¡°It¡¯s reasonably strong. But I don¡¯t think we can lose to it.¡±

    Unlike the 4thyer where you had to challenge it alone, they were able to focus on their own roles. And while the ogre¡¯s movements greatly exceeded those of normal yers, the same could be said for Sally. Not once would they allow it to get close to Maple, who shot at it from the back. It would be kept in one ce. This too, was an inhuman task.

    And like this, they repeated the simple yet difficult chain of attacks as the ogre¡¯s HP dwindled. Then it took a backstep to create some distance, and pure mes started to shoot around it. At the same time, a great dog that was made of purple fire appeared in the back of the passage, and it came out to stand next to the ogre.

    Sally stepped back as well in order to question Maple.

    ¡°Was this thing here thest time you fought it?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t. It did use fire, but it wasn¡¯t really like this. And the fire didn¡¯t hurt me, but its attacks were piercing attacks.¡±

    As Maple had been blown away as soon as the battle started, they had not been able to discuss anything. But now that the attacks had stopped for a moment, they were able to talk.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try and keep it in one ce. Maple, you block its fire attacks with ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯ I¡¯m sure they¡¯re all area attacks anyway.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°¡®Sword Dance¡¯ is now stacked to the limit, so I¡¯ll be able to deal some damage.¡±

    ¡°If something happens, leave the defenses to me!¡±

    They nodded at each other and then faced the ogre once again.

    The ogre too had a dog by its side, and it was the start of a 2 vs 2 battle that was very different from what Mapple experienced on the 4thyer. There was no advantage of numbers now. And so they would have to push a little more carefully.

    As they red at each other and waited to see who would move first, the ogre broke the silence by sending the fire dog out.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    As it was rushing straight towards them, Maple unleashed her gunfire as if she had nowhere else to run. However, this dog was made of fire. And so all of Maple¡¯s attacks went right through it without dealing any damage.

 Chapter 349.2

    349 Part 2

    ¡°¡®Iron Water Cannon¡¯!¡±

    In reply, Sally sent out torrents of water from the ground, but the beast dodged them with quick movements and then roared loudly. Just then, the ground underneath the two of them started to shine red.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine! ¡®Unbreakable Shield¡¯!¡±

    Maple shouted, and then a pir of fire rose up and enveloped them. Maple knew from experience that fire tended to deal a kind of continuous damage, rather than piercing attacks, and so she activated a damage reduction skill as a precaution. However, in the end, neither of them took any damage. Even ¡®Bizarre Eater¡¯ did not activate, and so there was nothing to worry about.

    ¡°What a relief!¡±

    ¡°Yes. If that¡¯s all it is, then we can just ignore it.¡±

    After the two talked for a while in the fire, they took a step forward. At the same time, a sword shot through the fire, which had been obscuring their vision.

    Sally reacted reflexively to the sudden attack by hitting the de from the side, pushing its trajectory a little. However, it still cut through Maple¡¯s shoulder and a damage effect burst out. ¡®Unbreakable Shield¡¯ was currently activated and adding a powerful damage reduction effect, and yet nearly 60% of Maple¡¯s HP just vanished. Sally immediately made the decision to retreat.

    ¡°¡®Rapid Current¡¯!¡±

    Sally picked up Maple and tore through the wall of fire. She tried to ride the current and move away on the water. However, the ogre seemed like it had no intention of letting them get away. Both it and the fire dog chased after them.

    ¡°Maple! Dive down!¡±

    ¡°¡®Earth¡¯s Cradle¡¯!¡±

    In order to get their bearings, Maple used her skill to dive into the ground with Sally.

    ¡°Phew¡­ ¡®Heal.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Thanks. Uhh¡­it really is strong.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. I think it¡¯s just a little too hard to have to dodge its fire attacks the whole time. So I¡¯ll need you to protect me with ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes.¡±

    ¡°And then I will guard against all of the piercing attacks in the front. I¡¯ll be your shield, Maple.¡±

    By nullifying the attacks that the other found difficult to deal with, they would be able to gain the advantage. While Sally focused on defense, Maple would have to be relied on to attack.

    ¡°But it blocks my guns with its sword¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. There will be openings. Besides, it won¡¯t be able to guard at point nk, will it?¡±

    If shooting from far away allowed it to block with its sword, you just needed to push the barrels into its body when firing. Sally knew all too well that were attacks that were physically impossible to dodge.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry and just attack. I won¡¯t let it hit you.¡±

    ¡°Okay! I can leave it to you then?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Both of them were a sword and both were a shield. Now that they had confirmed their direction once again, their time ran out and they were returned to the surface. When they came up, a sword shed at them as if it had been waiting all along. Sally guarded against it and then unleashed a chain of attacks from the side. However, they were all blocked with precision.

    ¡°It won¡¯t let me get in a single hit.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s time for a counterattack!¡±

    As Sally and the ogre pressed each other with their des, Maple turned her arm into a cannon and pushed it into the ogre¡¯s stomach. And like that, the point nk firing began. She could feel that it was doing something as damage effects burst in the air. She seeded in dealing a painful blow. The ogre jumped back, but instead ofunching a followup attack, it had its dog create another pir of fire to swallow them up.

    ¡°That won¡¯t work this time.¡±

    It didn¡¯t matter if it covered the moment of the attack. And it was with total confidence that Sally held up her daggers. And then just like before, a sword came shooting through the mes. Sally swung upwards, hitting the de from below and changing its trajectory. Immediately after, her eyes shifted. What she saw was the ogre as it jumped towards them, and its other hand that was wielding a second sword.

    ¡°Still¡­!¡±

    Sally blocked the heavy blow and forced herself to recover her posture. Then she crossed her daggers above her head to block the sword that swung down. However, blocking a sword with two daggers put her at a disadvantage.

    ¡°¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯!¡±

    When one side is struggling, the other breaks through. Maple purposely unleashed a long range attack and forced the ogre to guard. In the meantime, Sally regained her footing and rushed past the ogre, hitting it while making her way around to its back. As they had been fighting for a while, the ogre¡¯s HP was not very high. A few more heavy blows would be enough to take it down.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    Sally turned around as she moved and her eyes met Maple¡¯s. Maple knew in an instant what Sally wanted, and she acted immediately.

    ¡°¡®Cover Move¡¯!¡±

    Maple moved towards Sally at a high speed. What was different from ¡®Change of Position,¡¯ was that it wasn¡¯t teleportation between two points. It was just high speed movement.

    In other words, you had a brief moment to act while it was happening.

    ¡°Haaah!¡±

    And just as Maple zoomed by the side of the ogre, she held her shield and smashed it into its body. Of course, this activated ¡®Bizarre Eater,¡¯ and an overwhelming amount of damage effects exploded in the air. It would one-shot weaker monsters and deal mortal wounds towards boss monsters. And yet, this ogre was still standing. In fact, now that Maple had lost her bnce from shield-bashing it, it held its swords and was about to swing towards her.

    ¡°If we can¡¯t beat you with strength, then we¡¯ll beat you with speed.¡±

    The moment it turned. The moment that the ogre could not do anything else. As if toying with it, Sally slipped passed it again and came out near its back.

    ¡°¡®Change of Position¡¯!¡±

    In an instant, Maple and Sally switched ces, and an unprotected back was in front of Maple, and the two swords came down on Sally.

    ¡°One more time!¡±

    This time her shield swallowed up its body, just as Sally blocked the heavy blows. She felt the weight disappear just as quickly.

    ¡°It looks like we had better teamwork.¡±

    Sally muttered with satisfaction as the fire disappeared around them.

 Chapter 350

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 350

    Defense Specialization and the Trial 5

    ¡°Yay! We won!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it went well.¡±

    ¡°It really is different when it¡¯s the two of us! It was so much harder when I fought it on the 4thyer.¡±

    Back then, she had only been able to defeat it after using up all of her skills and then self-destructing through ¡®Break Core.¡¯ But this time, not only did she have ¡®Unbreakable Guardian¡¯ left, but ¡®Savagery¡¯ and ¡®Bizarre Eater¡¯ remained as well. Obviously, this wasn¡¯t the same ce, and it wasn¡¯t the exact same boss, but it was still clear that these were the results of the two working together.

    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear you say that. And as always, Maple, you really saved me with ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe. You¡¯re wee.¡±

    ¡°I doubt there will be an enemy that is stronger than that¡­¡±

    ¡°Will something elsee out?¡±

    As they waited for their next opponent, arge angel with six wings came out of the passage in front of them. And then smaller angels with two wings and bows came out of the other passages.

    ¡°Do you know them, Maple?¡±

    ¡°They look simr to the enemies in the area where I got the throne¡­but I think they¡¯re different.¡±

    As they talked like this, the angels seemed like they intended on getting in the first attack. They nocked their arrows and the space around the boss began to glow up, and then countless light arrows came down like rain. Normally, this level of hostility in an opening attack would have been quite shocking, but Sally ignored the arrows that were hitting her and looked towards Maple.

    ¡°Uh¡­how are you, Maple?¡±

    ¡°No problem at all!¡±

    ¡°Good. Then I guess I¡¯ll go and kill them one by one.¡±

    ¡°Yes! They might destroy my weapons, so it will really help!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. ¡®Ice Pir¡¯!¡±

    Sally created an ice pir near one of the small angels, and then used her web to move towards it in a sh. Then she kicked off of the pir and cut at the angel while in the air. Her body was spinning as the daggers mmed cleanly into the angel, dealing damage so great that it died in one hit.

    ¡°Oh, they¡¯re weaker than I thought.¡±

    Things were going well as she created another ¡®Ice Pir¡¯ and then jumped on it. And from there, she used the same technique to deal great damage to another angel, killing it. As the fighting had been non-stop since they arrived here, ¡®Sword Dance¡¯s¡¯ attack boost was continuing to rise.

    Normally, it was quite difficult to raise it to its limit, but the damage was all the more high as long as it continued. These angels might have survived Sally¡¯s attacks if this was the first wave.

    Like that, Sally took them out one by one, but then after a moment, she realized that the first angel hade back to life. There was no point in killing them then, and so she gave up.

    For now, they were just shooting reinforced arrows, and so she had wanted to kill them before their pattern changed into something worse. But it would just be a waste of time.

    ¡°Maple. Do the arrows from the small angels deal any damage?¡±

    ¡°No! And there are no strange debuffs either!¡±

    In the first ce, this rain of arrows would have made most normal yers struggle to survive. It just looked like these angels were doing almost nothing, because of Maple¡¯s ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯

    ¡°Then I guess we¡¯ll leave them for now. It should be fine as long as we defeat the boss.¡±

    Sallynded on the ground, and then she and Maple walked together towards the boss so that she would stay within range of ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯ As they got closer, pirs of light rained down as if they were the judgement of the angels. However, they didn¡¯t really do anything notable

    ¡°Things are going really well this time.¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do it then!¡±

    With Maple and Sally, there was always a huge difference depending on how good a match the enemy was for them. If an enemy wanted to fight on their level, they had toe equipped with piercing attacks. That was the basics.

    ¡°¡®Quintuple sh¡¯!¡±

    In that case, Sally felt that she could use the skill without holding back, and so she mmed it with a chain of attacks. As fire and water danced in the air over the storm of des, the boss¡¯s HP started to decrease. However, the calming sound of a harp suddenly echoed around them, and then its HP began to recover.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°Ah, Sally! The other angels are ying their instruments!¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s their fault. What should I do¡­¡±

    It was probably possible to brute force it by doing damage that exceeded their ability to heal, but this was clearly not the orthodox method.

    ¡°You¡¯d be able to shoot them down if the light arrows didn¡¯t destroy your weapons¡­¡±

    When she looked up, the great rain of arrows continued to fall, and it was clear that they would not be running out of ammunition.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah! Sally, how about this then?¡±

    ¡°Tell me.¡±

    Sally listened to her idea and nodded. That just might work. After receiving Sally¡¯s seal of approval, Maple started preparing immediately.

    ¡°Syrup, ¡®Awakening,¡¯ ¡®Erge¡¯! ¡®Psychokinesis¡¯!¡±

    Maple had the erged Syrup float up into the air right above her head. And like this, Syrup blocked all of the light arrows, which meant that Maple¡¯s weapons were no longer destroyed. And while ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ took the hits for Syrup, as this only affected Maple¡¯s body without breaking the weapons, they were able to protect each other like this.

    ¡°I¡¯ll defeat the ones over here, so you do your best as well, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Got it. Leave it to me.¡±

    ¡°Alright, ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Sextuple sh¡¯!¡±

    Just as Maple was weak to piercing attacks, enemies that relied on their healing ability would be very weak when that was taken away. Once this boss¡¯s attacks were nullified and it lost its durability, it had no strengths at all.

    Normally, it would be a dangerous boss that could have its HP healed while unleashing wide area attacks of arrows, hurting numerous opponents simultaneously. But it was a bad match for Maple.

    ¡°¡®Quadruple sh,¡¯ ¡®Triple sh¡¯!¡±

    Sally too wanted to unleash as much firepower as possible, and so she used her attack skills one after another without hesitation. Even Maple might have struggled if she had to fight the healing angels while dealing great damage to the boss at the same time, but there was no problem when she had such a brilliant attacker with her.

    She was a great shield wielder, and so it was best to rely on someone else for attacking. In the first ce, it was already ridiculous that she was able to shoot down all of the angels with long-ranged weapons.

    Now that all of the attack methods of the angels were ineffective, the only thing that could happen was a one-sided massacre.

    They heard the chimes as the enemies turned into light and disappeared. Sally then muttered to herself.

    ¡°I guess you really do need piercing attacks in order to beat Maple.¡±

    ¡°Hehehe. We won without taking any damage this time!¡±

    You had no business even challenging Maple if you didn¡¯t have a strong piercing attack skill. So in a way, these angels really never had a chance.

 Chapter 351.1

    351 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 351

    Defense Specialization and the Trial 6

    After destroying the angels, the two waited to see if anything would change. While there had been multiple fights back to back, things had been going very well up until now, and they both had plenty of resources left. It had mainly been Sally who used her attack skills to defeat the boss, and so Maple had been able to save her skills that had limited uses.

    ¡°We should still be able to win!¡±

    ¡°Yes. I guess the next one will be the 6th¡­¡±

    Sally trailed off as her face became pale. If the pattern proved to be true, Sally had an idea of what the nextyer would be.

    And then as if to show that she was right, what was likely the boss, came out of the passage. It was a skeleton who wore an old crown and clothes that must have once been very beautiful. And it was leading a horde of undead.

    ¡°Ah. Ahhh¡­um¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s retreat for now! Besides, the throne is still there!¡±

    Sally¡¯s reliable aura waspletely gone now, and she was led by the hand like a newborn fawn towards the passage with the magic teleportation circle.

    ¡°I- ¡®Ice Pir¡¯!¡±

    Sally created a row of ice pirs in order to temporarily block the passage. Then she stuck closely to Maple, who was sitting on the throne, and then became very limp.

    ¡°The passage is too narrow to have Syrup ¡®Erge¡¯¡­ And I can¡¯t use ¡®Savagery.¡¯ And undead are likely strong against poison¡­¡±

    And so Maple decided that her only choice was to take advantage of the fact that they were in a narrow passage, and use ¡®Machine God¡¯ to attack them.

    ¡®Ice Pir¡¯ was currently keeping the undead out, but after some time had passed, they would all flow in like an avnche.

    ¡°Syrup, ¡®Red Garden,¡¯ ¡®Sinking Earth¡¯!¡±

    Maple¡¯s gunfire would not be enough to kill them instantly. In that case, she needed to buy time and slow them down before they reached them. Maple used Syrup¡¯s skill to boost the damage that would be dealt, and then changed the ground so it would be difficult for the enemy to advance.

    ¡°Sally. You can unleash your skills randomly! This time you just need to aim straight and you¡¯ll likely hit something!¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­¡±

    Sally wrapped her scarf tightly around her face and leaned against Maple as she sat down. Then she turned to face the room while her eyes were still closed.

    After a while, the ¡®Ice Pirs¡¯ disappeared, and loud groans could be heard as the undead flowed into the passage. The boss in the far back appeared to be casting buffs on the undead. In any case, they had to destroy this wall of death first.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Fire blew from Maple¡¯s weapons, and the undead in the front were blown away. Still, one attack was hardly enough, and the enemy simply walked over the fallen and stepped onto ¡®Sinking Earth¡¯ as they made their way forward.

    ¡°¡®Cyclone Cutter,¡¯ ¡®Fireball¡¯!¡±

    Sally unleashed random magic. But these were some of the weakest you could get, and they were only slightly better than nothing.

    ¡°Hmm. They¡¯re getting close to us.¡±

    ¡°Re-really!?¡±

    ¡°Syrup, ¡®Mother Nature¡¯!¡±

    She used Syrup¡¯s skill to create giant vines, and their pure mass was enough to blow away the undead. As there were so many undead this time, there were no annoying rules, like only being able to damage them with magic, and so she was able to take them down at a fast pace.

    ¡°¡®Rapid Current¡¯! ¡®Iron Water Cannon¡¯!¡±

    Sally too summonedrge amounts of water that,bined with Syrup¡¯s vines, pushed away the undead. If they allowed them to get close enough to grab them, they would not be able to recover, even if they didn¡¯t take any damage.

    ¡°Hmm. I don¡¯t think we¡¯re dealing enough damage.¡±

    As Maple wondered what they should do, she suddenly remembered that there was still another way for Sally to fight.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right! I know a way that you can deal more damage!¡±

    ¡°Huh!? Wh-what is it?!¡±

    Maple then told the n to Sally, who looked like she would not be able to stand, no matter what. Usually it was the exact opposite, but in this situation, Sally¡¯s ability to think had droppedpletely, and she was unable toe up with ns.

    ¡°G-got it. Oboro, ¡®Shadow Clone¡¯!¡±

    Sally activated the skill, and then her clones appeared. As Sally could not control them with her own will, she couldn¡¯t keep them out the whole time, or the enemy would take advantage of ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯s¡¯ weakness. But what was important now was that they weren¡¯t a reflection of Sally¡¯s will.

    The four clones only resembled Sally as they walked towards the undead on light feet and started to attack.

    ¡°Woah! Sally is fighting with monsters¡­¡±

    Regardless of what the real person was doing, the clones continued to attack with a degree of her abilities. Normally the enemy could take advantage of their low durability, especially when they ran too far out to be protected. However, there was currently a great wall of undead that stopped them from leaving ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯s¡¯ range, which meant that as long as Maple was there, they were invincible.

    ¡°You can do it!¡±

 Chapter 351.2

    351 Part 2

    The four Sallys steadily cut down the swarm of undead. As long as they could attack, these undead were nothing to be afraid of.

    ¡°They should be able to defeat them all if there is an actual limit¡­but is there?¡±

    Maple decided to save her ammunition for now and let Sally¡¯s clones do the fighting. As for the real Sally, she would use ¡®Ice Pir,¡¯ ¡®Iron Water Cannon,¡¯ and ¡®Rapid Current¡¯ whenever she could, and slow down the undead.

    In fact, ¡®Water Maniption¡¯ was also a big help here. If used right, the skill was able to help her elerate, and it had a wide enough range to be effective even though she unleashed it with her eyes still closed.

    ¡°Ho-how are things going, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Pretty good! Let¡¯s keep going!¡±

    As Maple cheered them on, the clones took their time and obliterated the undead who greatly outnumbered them. And then finally, Maple had a clear view of whaty ahead.

    The clones ran straight towards the boss, leaving the range of ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯ And right as they were in front of the boss, a ck me was unleashed, killing them instantly.

    ¡°Ah! I could have protected them if they stayed close by¡­ But, thank you! Sally, they did so well!¡±

    ¡°I have mixed feelings about that¡­ So, it¡¯s just the boss now?¡±

    ¡°Yes! So far, it doesn¡¯t seem like there will be any additional monsters.¡±

    As for the boss, since ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯ covered the entire room, it would not be able to use any significant special attacks. And so it was slowly moving towards them so that they would be in range of its fire.

    ¡°The boss ising towards us now. I¡¯ll be able to fight it if it gets close enough¡­¡±

    Maple could not easily get up from the throne. It would all be for nothing if the boss used a skill to summon more undead as soon as she got up.

    And so the smartest thing to do was to stop firing and wait for the boss toe to them.

    As it had already been quite close when it attacked the clones, she was hopeful that it would at leaste into the passage.

    Maple¡¯s guess turned out to be correct, and they could hear the bones rattling as the boss moved. It was just a few steps away from her reach now. She would be able to use ¡®Sinking Earth¡¯ in order to obstruct its movement.

    ¡°Is it here? Is it?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s very close now.¡±

    ¡°Le-let¡¯s hurry up and kill it! ¡®Ice Pir¡¯!¡±

    Sally created ice pirs behind the boss¡¯s back, closing off its escape route. It was here that Maple finally brought out her weapons.

    ¡°Now I¡¯ll be able to hit it without anything getting in the way!¡±

    ¡°Get it before it reaches us¡­¡±

    ¡°Of course! ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Maple¡¯s bullets shot into the boss¡¯s body, and Sally¡¯s magic, which was now useless, went flying off somewhere. And like that, the boss¡¯s HP slowly dropped until its body disappeared into light.

    ¡°You have acquired the skill, ¡®Monster Peak.¡¯¡±

    Came the announcement as soon as the boss was defeated. They waited for a while, but no other monsters came out.

    ¡°It seems to be over?¡±

    ¡°O-over!? But my chance to redeem myself¡­¡±

    Sally had been the one to invite Maple with talk about cooperation. This was not the ending she had envisioned for them.

    She took off the scarf she had wrapped around her face and then looked back and forth between the spot that the boss had been and Maple¡¯s face. It was as if she couldn¡¯t find the right words to say.

    ¡°But you did really well too, Sally! Even in the end you were a help.¡±

    ¡°I wanted to end it with a little more impact¡­¡±

    ¡°Still, it felt like we were helping each other!¡±

    They hade here to test their cooperative power. Thinking about it like that, you could say that Sally had covered all of Maple¡¯s weaknesses, and that Maple had covered all of Sally¡¯s in this fight.

    ¡°Well, I guess that¡¯s true¡­ Uh, so what do you think? Am I good enough to be your partner?¡±

    Sally asked. And so Maple smiled broadly and gave her a thumbs up.

    ¡°Of course! You were so amazing against the ogre, that I wasn¡¯t sure if I was good enough for you!¡±

    ¡°Hehe. If you weren¡¯t good enough, Maple, then no one would be.¡±

    ¡°Huh? I don¡¯t know about that.¡±

    ¡°Yes. ¡­You know, that¡¯s just how strong you are!¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, ah! Now that I think about it, we received a skill.¡±

    ¡°This time, we both got it. Uhh¡­¡±

    [Monster Peak]

    1.5x boost to the status of summoned monsters.

    The short description was both simple and powerful.

    ¡°That¡¯s the 7thyer for you¡­and it¡¯s a passive skill, which is even better.¡±

    ¡°Yes! So Syrup will be even stronger!¡±

    ¡°Judging by the description, it doesn¡¯t only apply to tamed monsters. Maybe that means it includes ¡®Savagery¡¯ as well? That has attack ability too.¡±

    ¡°I see! So everyone gets stronger!¡±

    ¡°While I have a few uses for it, I don¡¯t think it will work with Oboro¡¯s ¡®Shadow Clone.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Because it¡¯s not you who are making them.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. Oh, well. I¡¯ll have to think about it. Anyway, let¡¯s go back now.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    And like that, the two left the dungeon behind them.

 Chapter 352

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 352

    Defense Specialization and Oveing

    After finishing the dungeon with Maple, Sally returned to the guild home and sat deeply on the sofa with her eyes closed. Her face looked very serious and she seemed to be thinking about something.

    ¡°What is it? It¡¯s rare to see you so deeply in thought.¡±

    ¡°Kanade? Ah, well, yes. Sort of¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you thinking about the next PvP battle? You know, since you got your new skills.¡±

    Not just Maple and Sally, but Mai and Yui had also gained new powers. Mai and Yui were happily swinging their eight great hammers on the field today as well. They wanted to get ustomed to their weapons while also increasing their kill count.

    ¡°By the way, how are things going with you and the others?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m saving up on magic books while observing the other guilds. Just like you said, I wasn¡¯t able to find any information about the tamed monsters for those two ¡®thunder storm¡¯ yers.¡±

    Kanade¡¯s battle ability changed through the use of single-use magic books. Aside from them, he didn¡¯t have any special skills, so repeatedly fighting in order to raise his level was not something he was suited for. Because of this, he spent a lot of his time observing other yers.

    ¡°I see. We¡¯d be able to n on how to deal with them if we only knew.¡±

    ¡°But they sure are interesting people. And since their style is so shy, we¡¯ll easily know when they are close by.¡±

    If Velvet and Hinata were around, the area would be filled with lightning, there would be cold winds, and objects would likely be levitating in the air. They stuck just as much as Maple did.

    ¡°I think that I¡¯ll go look at ¡®Rapid Fire¡¯ next.¡±

    ¡°Yes. It would help if you can learn about them.¡±

    ¡°Well, just keep your expectations in check.¡±

    However, even as they talked, it was clear to Kanade that something was bothering Sally. And he wondered what it could be.

    ¡°Hmmm. If you¡¯re troubled over something, why don¡¯t you talk to Maple about it? Anyway, see youter.¡±

    Kanade said with a wave of his hand, and then he left the guild home.

    ¡°Talk to Maple, huh¡­¡±

    Sally thought about it for a moment and then jumped to her feet as if she had made a decision.

    The next day. In the real world after school. As Risa prepared to go home, she closed her eyes and sighed. It was just then that Kaede ran up to her.

    ¡°Risa. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°I was thinking about stopping by at the game store today.¡±

    ¡°Oh! Was a new game released?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it¡­¡±

    Kaede saw how hesitant Risa was, and she tilted her head in puzzlement.

    ¡°Would you minding with me?¡±

    ¡°¡­? Of course, not!¡±

    She saw that Risa was not her usual self, and was a little worried as the two walked to their destination.

    ¡°I¡¯ve gone a few times now, so I know the way!¡±

    ¡°Huh. Well, you should visit sometime. There¡¯s lots of interesting things to see.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha. But I don¡¯t know what is good, so I¡¯ll probably just look.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s one way to enjoy it, you know?¡±

    The packaging was like the face of the game, and just by seeing it and reading the description, you¡¯d know if it interested you or not. And so it was quite fun to just browse the store and look at things that looked good.

    And so they found themselves walking towards the store. However, while Risa would usually quicken her pace when they got closer, her feet seemed to be heavier than usual.

    ¡°Risa. Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yes¡­I¡¯m fine.¡±

    But she didn¡¯t look fine. But even though Kaede suggested that they could go back, Risa stubbornly insisted that they keep going. And so while Kaede was still worried, they entered the game store together.

    ¡°What did you want to see today?¡±

    ¡°Yes, about that¡­¡±

    Risa walked slowly and then stopped in front of a certain shelf.

    ¡°What!?¡±

    Kaede looked towards it in shock. The packaging made it very obvious what kind of games they were. They were horror games.

    ¡°A-are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I-I think that it¡¯s about time I got over it.¡±

    Recently, she had found herself useless during battle, and unable to explore the 6thyer. Even on the otheryers, she had to avoid ces that had such monsters. And so she had decided that she wanted to ovee her fear.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you should do that. You might not be able to sleep at night!¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡±

    There was a difference between a scary area in a normal game and a full on horror game. Someone who ended up so weak in the former would not survive. Kaede had seen Risa make decisions like this in the past during their long friendship, but it was always defeat after defeat.

    ¡°I won¡¯t stop you if you really mean it¡­but¡­ummm¡­¡±

    As they had only been on the 7thter the other day, Maple had guessed that something like this would happen.

    Risa thought about it for a moment and considered different things before making her decision.

    ¡°I-I¡¯ll do it! I already decided that I would do it this time!¡±

    ¡°Do you know which game?¡±

    Kaede asked, and Risa picked up one of the games.

    ¡°V-VR? A-are you sure?¡±

    Seeing things appear on screen was a lot different than going inside and actually experiencing them. But Risa was so adamant about doing it this time. It was like she had be high on the idea, which was almost convincing. However, Kaede had seen her like this before. Clearly, there needed to be some other added element that allowed Rise to maintain that high tension until the very end.

    ¡°And this game can be yed by two people¡­¡±

    ¡°Huh? Ah!? You¡¯re pulling me into this¡­¡±

    ¡°Of-of course, I intend to finish it by myself, okay? But¡­um¡­you¡­know?¡±

    ¡°You¡­ Oh, fine. I do wonder if you can really y until the end.¡±

    ¡°Just between the New World Online events.¡±

    ¡°I hope things go smoothly. It says right here that it¡¯s really scary.¡±

    Kaede didn¡¯t exactly dislike horror, and so she took the package from Risa and read the details on the back.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to buy it now¡­ Phew¡­yes.¡±

    Risa said as she calmed herself down and then marched off to the counter.

    ¡°You can do it!¡±

    ¡°Y-yes.¡±

    She had said that she would finish the game by herself, and so she could no longer suddenly ask for help. And with that, Risa returned with the game in a bag and a renewed eagerness.

    ¡°Let me know when you beat it!¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll just start ying it.¡±

    Even if she didn¡¯t finish the whole game, she should be able to advance a little in the story. And while it was possible for two people to y it, it was mainly a single yer game.

    As they would meet again at school tomorrow, she could tell Kaede about how much progress she made.

    They walked back towards their houses and separated where they always did. After a while, Risa looked at the bag she was carrying and her expression became worried again.

    ¡°I can do it. I can do it¡­ I decided that now is the time to ovee it¡­¡±

    As she had decided to start the game as soon as she got home, she did not rush back like she usually did in order to y a game. If anything, her feet trudged along heavily.

    ¡°I¡¯m back.¡±

    Risa went to her room and put her things away before getting changed. Then she took out the horror game and put it on her desk.

    ¡°I guess¡­I¡¯ll y it after dinner.¡±

    As it was a game that would take some time to finish, Risa decided that she wouldn¡¯t y it yet. First, she would finish whatever she had to finish that day.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that hard once you figure it out.¡±

    As long as she could concentrate, her homework wasn¡¯t very hard, and so Risa went through it very quickly.

    She had an idea about why she was able to concentrate so well, but pretended not to know as the time passed.

    As she finished one thing after another, the sky became dark outside, and she heard a voice from the first floor saying that dinner was ready. As Risa had just finished her work, she left her room and went downstairs.

    After she had eaten and taken a bath, Risa returned to her room. This was the time that she usually yed games. But just as she was about to start ying, she noticed that there was something else in the room.

    ¡°¡­Uh, I will y it¡­I will¡­¡±

    However, she only picked it up to put it back down again. And more time passed without ying it.

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t y it at night¡­ I¡¯ll y it when I get back tomorrow. Yes.¡±

    Risa decided. And with that, she gave up and yed apletely different game.

 Chapter 353.1

    353 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 353

    Defense Specialization and Oveing 2

    The next day, Risa woke up and went to school as she always did. On the way, she saw Kaede and ran up to her.

    ¡°Morning, Kaede.¡±

    ¡°Morning, Risa!¡±

    They chatted on their way to school. It was then that Kaede brought it up.

    ¡°So, did you y the game?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­not yet¡­¡±

    She was busy with her homework. There wasn¡¯t enough time. Risa muttered her excuses and then averted her eyes.

    ¡°¡­Could you y it with me?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I knew that you would say that. Okay. But when?¡±

    If she kept dying it, she would never get to ying the game. Thinking this, Risa decided that she would start ying it on that day.

    ¡°Got it. Then it¡¯s today, after school! ¡­I don¡¯t have to bring anything with me, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I have all the hardware for two people to y.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll be¡­? ¡­looking forward to it!¡±

    As this was one time that Risa¡¯s purpose was unrted to having fun, Kaede felt a little awkward about saying that, even though they would be ying together.

    ¡°But it will also be my first horror game as well. You didn¡¯t have any at your house¡­¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­ And I never suggested that we y them.¡±

    In general, Kaede didn¡¯t go out and buy games herself. And so she only yed games that Risa rmended to her. So it was no wonder that she had never yed a horror game.

    ¡°Are they really that scary?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know? Even I can¡¯t say for sure.¡±

    As it was something that Risa hadn¡¯t actually experienced, she couldn¡¯t theorize like she usually did.

    ¡°Well, I guess we have to y it and find out!¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­I hope it¡¯s enjoyable.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­that¡¯s right.¡±

    And like that, they promised to meet after school as they continued to walk down the street.

    Time passed, and school was over. And as promised, Kaede and Risa went to Risa¡¯s house.

    ¡°I¡¯m back!¡±

    ¡°Thanks for having me.¡±

    They entered the house and quickly went to Risa¡¯s room. After having thought it over, Risa seemed to have a renewed resolve, and bounded up the stairs with great enthusiasm.

    ¡°Just give me a second as I set it up.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes.¡±

    As she waited behind Risa for some time, preparations were finished, and the two VR devices were lined up together. Kaede picked one of them up and then asked Risa to remind her what you were supposed to do in the game.

    ¡°Uhh. You get chased by monsters, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. You¡¯re thrown into an unknown area and have to solve different problems as you make your escape.¡±

    ¡°Hehe. It sounds just like a dungeon.¡±

    ¡°It¡­does? ¡­Well, it might make it easier if I think of it like that.¡±

    There were several small pictures on the back of the package that were scenes from the game, and they showed what looked like a hospital.

    ¡°I thought it would be good if it¡¯s set in a ce that I don¡¯t usually go¡­¡±

    If things went wrong and it made her scared of such ces, it wouldn¡¯t matter as much if it was somewhere she rarely went to. This was a rather pessimistic reason for someone who was trying to ovee something, but it was based on a lesson she had learned after being defeated in the past.

    ¡°So, should we start then? As always, let¡¯s finish the first segment!¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­let¡¯s do it.¡±

    It was the same every time that they yed a game together for the first time. And so the two entered the virtual world with the goal of finishing the first chapter.

    After a while, they opened their eyes. What was in front of them were old chairs and desks, and also a ckboard. It was so dark outside that it looked like the ss of the windows had been painted ck. The entire room was dimly lit by a light source that they couldn¡¯t see. From what Kaede could tell, they seemed to be in a school ssroom, and she was now sitting in a chair.

    ¡°I thought it was supposed to be a hospital?¡±

    ¡°¡­? ¡­??¡±

    Kaede turned to question Risa. However, Risa just tilted her head in puzzlement.

    ¡°I guess we might as well go and explore!¡±

    ¡°Uh, yes. That¡¯s right¡­¡±

    It was a very game-like environment, where items were entuated, making them visible even in the dark. Kaede immediately saw that the paper on her desk was an item, and so she picked it up.

    ¡°Uhh¡­yes, yes. ¡®I appeared here before I knew it and didn¡¯t know how to escape. It¡¯s eerie, but I have no choice but to explore¡­¡¯ Is there someone else here?¡±

    ¡°Maybe¡­¡±

    As the setting was unexpectedly a school, Risa already looked like she wanted to do nothing but escape.

    ¡°Well, I guess we better go and look around!¡±

    ¡°Yes. I hope nothinges out¡­¡±

    While it was still the first chapter; no, because it was the first chapter of a horror game, it was ridiculous to think that nothing woulde out. But Kaede pulled Risa by the hand and led her towards the exit.

    They decided to check their surroundings first, and so they opened the door a little and looked outside. Both sides of the hallway continued into the darkness. But there were no sounds or signs of anyone moving. However, it was too dark to see far ahead, and so they couldn¡¯t be sure.

    ¡°It seems safe enough?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing¡­?¡±

    ¡°I think so¡­ We don¡¯t have any way to make sure.¡±

    Normally, she would have been able to use her ¡®Machine God¡¯ weapons or ¡®Hydra¡¯ to just attack at random, allowing her to check for enemies while obliterating them at the same time. However, she couldn¡¯t do such a frightening thing here.

    ¡°Which way should we go?¡±

    ¡°The one that looks less dangerous¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Then the right side!¡±

    As there was no use in staying cooped up in the ssroom, they went down the ride side that Kaede had chosen. As it was a school, there were other ssrooms. But when they tried to open the doors, most of them seemed to be stuck, and would not budge

 Chapter 353.2

    353 Part 2

    ¡°I wonder if they will openter? Huh?¡±

    Kaede looked through the small ss part of one ssroom door and realized that there was a girl sitting inside at her desk all alone.

    ¡°Hey, hey! Risa! There¡¯s someone inside!¡±

    And so Risa cautiously opened one of her eyes and peered through the small ss window.

    Immediately after, the girl who had her face down suddenly raised her head to look at the two. And in the next instant, she seemed to disappear, only for a hand to bang on the ss window as a scream was unleashed.

    ¡°Wa!?¡±

    ¡°Eeee¡­¡±

    A lifeless, pale face with dark ck eyes was now staring back at them. Risa was now sitting on the floor, and Kaede had to pull her up by the hand so they could get away from this ce.

    ¡°I-I think we should get out of here!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    She pulled the stunned Risa by the hand as they went back the way they hade. And though she looked over her shoulder as they ran, she didn¡¯t see any ghosts following them.

    ¡°Phew¡­we¡¯re safe. What a shock that was.¡±

    While she had been surprised, they had been able to run away from it. And so Kaede sighed with relief.

    ¡°I¡¯m at least fast on my feet here, so I think I¡¯ll be able to run away just fine!¡±

    Kaede was optimistic about any future encounters they might have. On the other hand, Risa looked weak and ready to burst into tears.

    ¡°Uh, what do you want to do?¡±

    ¡°I¡­I¡¯ll keep going!¡±

    Her voice sounded very forced as she said it. Then she stretched her legs, which looked like they were about to copse underneath her, and took in a deep breath to calm herself.

    ¡°I-I decided that I¡¯m going to ovee this!¡±

    She was likely able to recover like this because Kaede was with her. In the first ce, she wouldn¡¯t have even been able to function, let alone recover if she was alone.

    ¡°Okay! Then let¡¯s go left!¡±

    ¡°Y-yes¡­phew¡­okay.¡±

    Kaede pulled her and they went to the left. And like before, they checked every ssroom. They discovered several other tutorial-like memos as well, which told them that they had to escape and how to use items. It was then that they found something very useful.

    ¡°Ah! Risa! Look! Look! shlights!¡±

    Kaede showed her by turning it on, and then Risa tested to see if hers worked as well.

    ¡°Now it will be easier to explore.¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s better if there¡¯s light¡­¡±

    It was just as they were pointing their shlights around the room, that the two sensed somethinging towards them from the hallway, and they quickly turned the shlights off. There was a cardiogram like mark on the top right of their vision, and it swung wider like a sensor when the thing got closer to them.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As the two hid quietly behind the shadows of the teacher¡¯s desk, the cardiogram began to settle again, and then it disappeared entirely.

    ¡°Phew! It looks like we got away! But I guess this means we have to be careful about using the shlights.¡±

    ording to the memos they had found, the ghost they had seen earlier was patrolling the school. And they had to avoid it as they explored and searched for a way to escape. Even though it was very realistic, it was still a game, and so there was a system in ce that allowed you to get away.

    While it was easier to get caught if you turned the light on, there were some items you couldn¡¯t find without it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s search this floor first!¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    ¡°Ahaha. It¡¯s usually the other way around with us.¡±

    Risa was the gaming veteran who always decided what they would do. However, things could not be the same within a horror game. Still, Kaede had watched Risa all of this time, and had absorbed some of her abilities in that regard as well.

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­to be honest, I just don¡¯t have it in me right now¡­¡±

    ¡°Hehe. You should rely on me more often!¡±

    ¡°Yes. Thanks.¡±

    They checked the cardiogram to make sure that there were no ghosts nearby, and then they quietly left the ssroom. After that, they went around and checked the other rooms for an escape route. However, this was arge school with three floors. The only saving grace was that there was an inventory just like in ¡®New World Online,¡¯ so they didn¡¯t have to carry anything as they moved.

    ¡°Risa, over here!¡±

    After exploring for quite some time, Kaede realized that her sensor was detecting something, and she frantically turned off her shlight as the two ducked into the shadows.

    ¡°Did it see us¡­?¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t find us¡­please don¡¯t find us¡­!¡±

    Risa was closing her eyes tightly as if epting her fate. And Kaede watched to see what would happen. After some time, the ghost moved passed them and kept moving on. Kaede sighed with relief.

    ¡°Phew. This really makes me nervous! So this is what a horror game is like!¡±

    ¡°¡­Uuu¡­¡±

    Risa was already exhausted from the repetition of nervousness and relief.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we finish once we reach the next ssroom? We already yed quite a bit, and this school is so big¡­¡±

    They had only explored the second floor, which meant the first and third werepletely untouched. And while their goal had been to clear the first stage, Risa looked like her soul was ready to leave her body, and Kaede could not push her much further.

    ¡°Yes, can we do that? Can we do that?¡±

    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s decided then! The only room left is the art room!¡±

    They waited for the right time to move so that they wouldn¡¯t encounter the ghost, and managed to make their way to the art room safely. Once they were inside, they turned their shlights on to see if there was anything inside.

    ¡°Wow. There are so many canvases.¡±

    ¡°Did you find anything¡­?¡±

    ¡°Statues and canvases and paint¡­ Hmm. Ah!¡±

    ¡°Wh-what!?¡±

    As Risa closed her eyes every time that something happened, Kaede had to lead her by the hand towards the item. It was a key with a tag.

    ¡°Ah, this is an easy clue! Uh¡­the science room?¡±

    The key automatically went into Kaede¡¯s inventory when she picked it up, so it was stored as an item. As this was the only thing they found here, that meant their next destination was the science room.

 Chapter 353.3

    353 Part 3

    ¡°Well, there was no science room on the second floor, so this is a good ce to stop.¡±

    ¡°Then, can we save and quit?¡±

    There were several save points on the map, and since they had saved beforeing to the art room, they decided to save here once again before quitting for the day.

    ¡°Alright, follow me so you don¡¯t trip.¡±

    Risa kept her eyes closed as she grabbed onto Kaede¡¯s offered hand. She felt a great sense of relief over getting through this first part.

    Kaede then started to walk, and so Risa also took a step forward. That¡¯s when something cold enveloped her other hand that was open.

    ¡°Huh¡­?¡±

    Risa turned around without thinking. There was the girl in the school uniform. The cold sensation Risa had felt was her translucent hand.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go¡­please don¡¯t gooooo!¡±

    A ck substance was dripping from the ghost¡¯s eyes as it clutched onto Risa¡¯s hand. This sudden shock seemed to be too much for Risa to handle. And instead of shaking the hand off, she just fell down to the floor.

    ¡°Huh!? Wh-wha-what!? Risa!?¡±

    Kaede suddenly heard the unfamiliar voice as she started walking, and she turned around in order to help Risa. However, it was then that her vision turned ck, and after a short pause, the words ¡®Game Over¡¯ appeared in front of them.

    When their vision returned to normal, their inventory was back to the state it was before they went to the Art Room. It was clear that they had been automatically brought back to the save point.

    As for Risa, she was sitting silently on the ground as if she could no longer stand up. It was clear that she did not have the strength to go back to the art room.

    ¡°Let¡¯s stop then!¡±

    Kaede decided. She then called out the menu and exited the game. And like that, the two returned to the real world.

    Aftering back, Kaede removed the VR headset and thought back on this first VR horror game experience. As it was a VR game, it felt like an extension of a haunted house attraction. So while she had been surprised, she enjoyed the tension while exploring.

    ¡°Risa?¡±

    Kaede took the headgear off for her, which revealed a face that looked exhausted.

    ¡°Kaede¡­¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I give up¡­oveing my fear¡­¡±

    Her eyes were wet and then tears began to fall. Kaede knew this would happen, and so she wasn¡¯t surprised.

    ¡°Oh! I just knew that this would happen! This always happens after you say that you¡¯re going to ovee it.¡±

    ¡°The game¡­you can have it if you want.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. No thanks. I can¡¯t y multiple games at the same time like you can. And it seems like there¡¯s still a lot to do.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ Sorry for putting you through this.¡±

    ¡°No, it was a refreshing experience. But I better go home soon.¡±

    As she had to be careful of ghosts and lead Risa, who was incredibly slow on her feet, and explore simultaneously, quite a lot of time had passed. And it was already dark outside. Kaede picked up her bag and looked around to make sure that she didn¡¯t leave anything.

    ¡°Well, see you tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°See you tomorrow! Ah, that¡¯s right¡­what time should I call you tonight?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Oh¡­¡±

    Kaede knew that Risa would have trouble sleeping that night, so she asked when she should call. What had happened on the 6thyer had happened a few times before, and judging by the way Risa reacted to this game, tonight was unlikely to be an exception.

    Risa realized what Kaede was saying, and she looked embarrassed as she began to mutter. But she was unable to refuse the offer.

    ¡°F-from¡­ten o¡¯clock¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Kaede replied after Risa managad to say the words. She then said goodbye and left. Left alone in her room, Risa sat hunched over her desk and angrily rang her hands through her hair.

    ¡°This is so embarrassing¡­ Oh, you idiot.¡±

    No matter how many times she tried, she always regretted it. And yet she always felt confident before starting, which put her in a worse position.

    ¡°I won¡¯t try anymore! I won¡¯t!¡±

    Risa looked at the horror game box admonishingly as she dered this to herself.

    A few days after Kaede and Risa yed the horror game. It was just at about the halfway point of the long event, and they were already close to the goal in terms of killing event monsters.

    ¡°Oh! It¡¯s going a lot faster than I expected.¡±

    ¡°Yes. And it¡¯s not that difficult to gather materials either. I almost have enough.¡±

    ¡°It seems like we¡¯ll reach the goal without me actually doing much.¡±

    Chrome, Izu, and Kanade checked the kill count, while leaving the rest to therger, more active guilds. At this point, there was no need to really push themselves, as it was clear that they would reach the goal within the time limit.

    ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯ll just continue to observe the other guilds.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Reconnaissance?¡±

    ¡°From what I heard, those two from Rapid Fire seem very interesting. It made me want to take a look.¡±

    ¡°Those two really are strong. It will help during PvP events if we have information on them.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. Alright, I¡¯ll contact you if something happens.¡±

    ¡°Yes. And let me know if you need anything.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Ah, also¡­Sally seemed to be thinking deeply about something thest time I saw her, but I couldn¡¯t really ask too much about it. So you should talk to her if you see her.¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±

    As Kanade could fight quite flexibly with his magic books and Sou¡¯s ¡®Mimic,¡¯ he was able to hold his own on the battlefield, even if his level wasn¡¯t that high. But Kanade was greatly reliant on ¡®Akashic Record¡¯ and its magic books. And so he would not be able to fight on the 7thyer if he couldn¡¯t use them. And so he wanted to know if there were any specific books that he should save.

    Kanade left the guild home in order to once again search for information about Lily and Willbert. A short whileter, Maple and Sally arrived at the guild home.

    ¡°Oh, he just missed them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. He could have talked directly if he waited a little longer.¡±

    ¡°¡­? What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°Well, Kanade said that Sally seemed to be troubled over PvP. And he wanted us to ask her about it.¡±

    ¡°Do you know what they¡¯re talking about, Sally?¡±

    ¡°The day Ist talked to Kanade was¡­AH!!?¡±

    Sally covered her mouth and then coughed to try and cover her outburst.

    ¡°A-are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s nothing. I was actually thinking about something else. Sorry for making you all worry.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­hehe.¡±

    Maple realized what she meant by that, and she nodded to herself. But Sally was looking at her in a way that suggested she didn¡¯t want her to say anything, and so Maple kept her mouth shut.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine then. I won¡¯t pry if it has nothing to do with that.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sorry. I¡¯ll tell Kanade about itter.¡±

    ¡°You should do that.¡±

    After that, they started to talk about what everyone else had been up to. In the meantime, Maple whispered to Sally.

    ¡°Was it the horror game that you were troubled over?¡±

    ¡°Hey! ¡­You don¡¯t have to guess what it was.¡±

    Sally said as she averted her eyes and raised her scarf to cover her mouth.

 Chapter 354.1

    354 Part 1

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 354

    Defense Specialization and Reconnaissance

    Kanade left the guild home and went off to check up on Rapid Fire, just like he said he would. Lily and Wilbert always went to the same ce at the same time in order to hunt monsters and do target practice, so it wasn¡¯t hard to find them, even though there were multiple, hugeyers.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t learned anything new about ¡®thunder storm,¡¯ so it would be nice if I could see something interesting.¡±

    Kanade called out Sou, just in case he was suddenly attacked on the road. And then like Sally, he used a horse to move through the field.

    Sou could mimic him and fight, so he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about depleting his stock of magic books. Because of this, with the exception of important events or boss fights, he would generally rely on Sou duringbat.

    Kanade arrived at the spot that Maple and Sally had gone before in order to see Lily and Willbert. When he was close, he got off of his horse and sat down under a tree so he could watch them through binocrs.

    ¡°Just as I heard, the uracy¡­and force is incredible. Someone like me won¡¯t even be able toe close to them.¡±

    Willburt shot at the flying monsters in the sky, and never missed a single one. His reputation had not been a lie. On top of that, each hit was so powerful that they took down the monsters in a single hit. An average yer would be riddled with holes before they got close to him.

    ¡°You¡¯ll have to force your way closer to him. It will take good Skills and high AGI.¡±

    However, if he tried approaching him from the front, then Willbert would just move back to keep the distance between them. Like Sally said, you only had to look at the exploding monsters to see how strong his attacks were. However, judging by his precise steps and agility while dodging attacks, he was not someone like Yui or Mai, who could only do one thing.

    He had range, attack power, and speed that was well above the average. It was pure strength. And it would not be easy to make that crumble.

    ¡°And Lily is next to him as well¡­ Hmm. There really aren¡¯t any openings.¡±

    The two from Rapid Fire were incredibly strong as individuals, but by having one support the other, they were even more powerful.

    If Willbert was the attacker, he was able to kill in one hit through overwhelming quality. And if Lily was the attacker, she could kill in one hit with overwhelming quantity againstrger numbers. By having one side focus on supporting the other, it would be hard to catch them off guard and find an opening. You could say that all of their abilities were at a high level. This was a very differentbination of characteristicspared to Velvet and Hinata.

    Kanade solved a puzzle that Izu had made with one hand as he called out his tamed monster. And as he watched to see if they would use any skills that he hadn¡¯t seen before, Lily and Willbert suddenly stopped practicing and walked towards him.

    ¡°Ohh! It seems we have yet another interesting spectator.¡±

    ¡°Sorry. Lily wouldn¡¯t listen to me and insisted oning to see you.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m the one who should be sorry for spying on you like this. Still, that¡¯s amazing¡­I thought I was far enough to stay hidden.¡±

    He had been at a far enough distance that it was only through using Izu¡¯s special binocrs that he was able to see them. So it was unlikely that they had spotted him with their naked eyes.

    ¡°Haha. Our Will is quite special.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, I cannot get into any details¡­ But yes, I saw you very clearly.¡±

    Kanade scratched his head awkwardly. So Sally hadn¡¯t been wrong when she said that she sensed something. Willbert was using some kind of skill or item that made his eyesight equal to binocrs made by a crafter of the highest level.

    ¡°Haha. I guess no one will be able to ambush you then.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, exactly. I like this. It¡¯s much better to not have to hide things.¡±

    Lily said with a confident expression. Even though some of Willbert¡¯s abilities were known, it was still rather vague. And so it would be difficult to actually deal with him perfectly. And so she felt that they could easily win without a problem.

    ¡°I was just doing a little reconnaissance. You know, you two are considered to be very important back at our guild.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s kind of embarrassing to hear¡­¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not at all. After all, it¡¯s the truth. Isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure?¡±

    ¡°You can be so dull. This is when you¡¯re supposed to agree with me.¡±

    ¡°Is that right¡­?¡±

    ¡°Oh, we¡¯re getting distracted. So, did you gain any advantageous information?¡±

    ¡°I was really only reminded of how vast your scouting ability is, and how impressive your aim.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, in a way, that¡¯s all there really is. And there isn¡¯t anything you can do about it, is there?¡±

    ¡°I suppose. At least, not if it¡¯s just me.¡±

    ¡°Well, if it takes someone like Will to make you give up, perhaps we shouldn¡¯t underestimate you.¡±

    If Kanade used all of his best bagics books without thinking of saving them, he might actually stand a chance. However, that was only if they didn¡¯t have hidden abilities to turn things around. And so he had said that he¡¯d be at a disadvantage.

    ¡°Of course, you can watch us for as long as you like. That being said, I think that your guild master pretty much saw everything that there was to see.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I heard about it. Well, while I said this was reconnaissance, it was mostly out of personal curiosity. I enjoy watching yers use different kinds of skills.¡±

 Chapter 354.2

    354 Part 2

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°I believe you. I sometimes feel the same way.¡±

    ¡°And so if you¡¯re going to continue, I¡¯ll sit back and watch for a little longer. There¡¯s something very thrilling about watching you shoot down those monsters one after another.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Well, I¡¯m sorry to tell you this, but we¡¯re calling it a day.¡±

    ¡°Haha. There¡¯s no need to apologize. I¡¯m the one who just started watching you without asking. If anything, it would be natural for you to want me to stop.¡±

    In any case, the show was over. And so Kanade decided that he might as well go and watch some other guild.

    Immediately after, he heard the sounds of sshing water nearby, and the three turned to where the sounds wereing from. Ahead of them, water was shooting out from the ground like a fountain. What resulted was toorge to be considered a puddle, as the area it was covering was over 10 meters in diameter.

    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s this? A skill of yours?¡±

    ¡°No, not mine.¡±

    ¡°No one in our guild, including me, has a skill like this.¡±

    There were no other yers in sight. In that case, this could only be some kind of event.

    ¡°Will, has anything like this happened before when we killed all those sharks, octopi and eels?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. And none of the monsters we encountered had moves that were simr to this one.¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s wait a little then. Kanade, it would help if you could stay here too. We don¡¯t know what might happen.¡±

    Lily judged from the size of the spreading water, that something big was about to appear. In that case, they had no reason to allow a potential ally to leave.

    ¡°Alright, sure. This is great. While unexpected, I¡¯vee across something very interesting.¡±

    And so Kanade decided to watch to see what would happen. As the three observed the water carefully, ripples started to spread out from the center, and then with a great ssh, a giant squid shot up into the air.

    ¡°Ohhh! I haven¡¯t seen a giant squid since the second event.¡±

    ¡°Awesome. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening, but this is a big one. Let¡¯s get it, Will!¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not under water, and I¡¯ve gotten a little stronger. It should be a nice challenge.¡±

    During the second event, Kanade had been thrown into the water and immediately killed by a giant squid. And while this wasn¡¯t the same monster, it was still a good opportunity to show his growth.

    And so the three brandished their weapons and then cast buffs on Willbert, who would be the main attacker.

    ¡°¡®Talent to Serve the King,¡¯ ¡®Strategy Instruction,¡¯ ¡®Suprarational Power,¡¯ ¡®Sage¡¯s Command,¡¯ ¡®This Body into Food,¡¯ ¡®Advice¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Sou, ¡®Mimic.¡¯¡±

    The slime that sat on top of Kanade¡¯s head hopped down and transformed into the spitting image of Kanade. Lily watched this with wide, interested eyes.

    ¡°I see. So it¡¯s that kind of monster! I had heard rumors, but it¡¯s so surprising to see it in person.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s quite useful. Especially for someone like me.¡±

    Kanade made Sou take out some magic books and then used ones that raised a person¡¯s damage output. While Sou¡¯s books were not as effective, Kanade had only collected high-quality skills, regardless of how hard they were to acquire, so this still resulted in a massive boost.

    ¡°I¡¯m the only one in ¡®Maple Tree¡¯ that is a proper buffer. So I better do something.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha¡­ Something is an understatement¡­ But thank you. I¡¯ll shoot it down now.¡±

    Will held up his bow and pulled the bowstring to the limit as he took aim.

    ¡°¡®Tight Pull,¡¯ ¡®Extermination Shot.¡¯¡±

    Dark red effects sttered as the arrow shot forward, too fast for the eye to follow. And then it went straight through the squid and disappeared off into the sky. There was an explosion of damage effect then, but the HP bar above its head barely moved.

    ¡°Ohhh¡­I see.¡±

    ¡°Well, this is unexpected. Can you trade ces, Lily?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, leave it to me. However, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that strong¡­¡±

    As Willbert did considerably less damage when he wasn¡¯t able to one shot something, Lily used ¡®Quick Change¡¯ to switch her equipment and be the main attacker.

    Lily immediately summoned a great amount of soldiers and made them attack with their guns. But just like how Wilbert¡¯s attack had done little damage, it was clear that this too was not the most effective method.

    ¡°Herees the counter attack¡­! ¡®Body into a Shield¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Sou! ¡®Target Increase,¡¯ ¡®Light of the Spirit,¡¯ ¡®Guardian Barrier¡¯!¡±

    Tentacles shout out from both sides as if to crush all three of them. Kanade activated damage reduction skills, Lily used all of the soldiers she created to take the damage for them. However, the damage was so powerful in spite of these measures, and in a sh, all of the soldiers were turned into dust.

    ¡°That¡¯s worse than I expected¡­ ¡®Rapid Factory,¡¯ ¡®Reproduction¡¯!¡±

    Skills that Kanade hadn¡¯t heard about from Sally were activated, and at the same time, new soldiers were created just as the old ones were destroyed, creating a wall of defense.

    ¡°Huh. I didn¡¯t know you could summon so many.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I can. You saw Will¡¯s power, didn¡¯t you? This is the bare minimum of what I need to be able to do in order to stand next to him.¡±

    ¡°Haha. I wouldn¡¯t say that. Of course, it doesn¡¯t hurt either.¡±

    ¡°That being said, this really isn¡¯t enough to go on the attack. Will, contact the other guild members. We¡¯ll need reinforcements.¡±

    ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll call anyone who is free.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll call people from my guild as well.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you. Thanks.¡±

    Lily assured them that she could keep the enemy at bay until then, and so she continued to create soldiers and block the attacks of the tentacles.

 Chapter 355

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 355

    Defense Specialization and Reinforcements

    As they were at quite a distance from the town, it would take some time for the reinforcements to arrive.

    ¡°This would be really rough without Sou¡¯s damage reduction. I guess this is where Will and I being buffers who focus on attack ability is not an advantage.¡±

    ¡°Well, my defense ability isn¡¯t that strong either. Also, I won¡¯t be able to block it like this endlessly.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s more than enough. Ah, it looks like we have an unexpected ally, Will.¡±

    She said as a yer who was a short distance away noticed the giant squid and started toe closer. This was some good luck. And so Lily called out to other yers in the area, who were watching hesitantly.

    ¡°It just appeared out of nowhere! But it seems like something you can¡¯t beat with just a few people! So please lend us a hand!¡±

    Even the yers who had be frozen at the sudden appearance of a giant monster they had never seen before, moved to attack at once. And like that, the attacks that had focused on the trio were now spread out. And they seeded in escaping for a moment.

    ¡°Phew. That was close. I was starting to wonder if it would crush us. Thanks for the damage reduction.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But I feel lucky to have been able to see your high defense ability.¡±

    ¡°I can summon this many soldiers. So it¡¯s really nothing.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s important to get a second look. I understand just how high it is now.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°The nearby guild members should be here soon.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll want all the help that we can get. Look, one of the yers who are helping us just got blown away.¡±

    Even when top level yers like Lilly, Kanade, and Willbert were being aided, it was all they could do to focus on defense. So it was no wonder that it was too much for some of these other yers.

    In fact, about a third of the yers who hade to their aid had already fallen prey to the tentacles. And since the squid was hovering above ground, it was difficult for yers who had short-range attacks to fight it.

    ¡°It¡¯s easy for sorcerers to attack it. And you two can shoot from a distance. We should continue to attack it when we can.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it won¡¯t do if the attacks focus on us again. And so we should take things slowly until the others arrive.¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do that.¡±

    And so Lily summoned more soldiers to create a wall in front of them, and they started firing at the squid. Kanade also used the most powerful of Sou¡¯s magic books to continue attacking.

    ¡°Sou, ¡®Mixed Up.¡¯¡±

    Kanade told them that it would now be more difficult for the monster to target them. Lily thanked him and then buffed her own soldiers.

    ¡°More people are gathering as well. If it was only the three of us, then lessening our presence wouldn¡¯t mean anything.¡±

    ¡°Yes, now we should be able to fade in with the others.¡±

    ¡°That being said, it only makes it less likely to target us. It might start targeting us again if we keep attacking it or use ¡®Provoke.¡¯¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±

    As you could continue to attack without really noticing it when it was between yers, you could say that it was more of a PvE skill than a PvP skill.

    Eventually, the guild members of Rapid Fire arrived, and they showed an impressive party y that was different from the random yers that had joined. They were united as they both protected and dealt damage.

    ¡°It looks like they arrived. Things will finally get easier now.¡±

    ¡°But it really does have a lot of HP.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. This is without a doubt tougher than a boss. Unless management made a mistake while adjusting it, this is clearly meant to be fought with arge number of yers.¡±

    Now that the members of Rapid Fire were attracting its attention, it became easier for the solo yers to fight, and the damage started to elerate. As one of therger guilds had called their members at once, many others noticed the movement and came as well. And with so many yers gathered together now, the HP that had seemed so inexhaustible to them before, started to diminish.

    However, there was no way that a monster that was this powerful would end with these tentacle attacks alone. And so its movement patterns started to change.

    The squid floated into the air and then shot out great amounts of ink towards the ground. It spread out like a cloud of dust. And even though they were not under water, it floated in the air and obstructed their vision.

    ¡°This¡­ Lily!¡±

    ¡°I know! ¡®Puppet Rampart¡¯!¡±

    As Lily waved her g, the summoned soldiers crumbled away, and they started to reassemble as a giant wall. Like this, the three were protected from the front, just before being attacked. There was a thunderous roar and a flood of water fell towards them, gouging out chunks of the wall. And while the water pushed away the clouds of ink, it alsopleted its purpose of hiding where the attack hade from.

    ¡°Large area attacks forrge groups. It¡¯s the proper move.¡±

    ¡°This really is troublesome¡­ Judging by the range of the clouds, everyone is being targeted.¡±

    ¡°I wish we could stagger it once so we can regain our footing¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Good. I think we¡¯ll get our opening.¡±

    The two looked at Kanade with puzzled expressions, but Kanade showed them by pointing to it. Right above the giant squid, a giant turtle was hovering while shining a light on the ground. And just in that moment, three figures could be seen jumping off of its back.

    Willbert quickly realized what this meant.

    ¡°That¡¯s Maple. And Mai and Yui? ¡­Huh? And that weapon¡­?¡±

    Willbert saw the three shoot down at a tremendous speed and then m their weapons into the squid with all of the force from their momentum. Maple¡¯s hand had turned into tentacles that she used to tear apart and swallow. And on both sides, Mai and Yui were hitting it with eight hammers.

    These hammers exceeded Willbert¡¯s damage, and had a destructive power that was dozens of times stronger than the average yer. An unbelievable amount of damage effects burst out from the squid as its HP dropped visibly. And like that, the hovering squid was forcefully knocked out of the air as it fell to the ground.

 Chapter 356

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 356

    Defense Specialization and Reinforcements 2

    At the same time, after seeing Maple and the others fall, Sally, Kasumi, Izu, and Chrome made sure that they were in range of Dedicated Affection as they prepared to descend.

    ¡°Eight hammers is crazy. Their attack power is something else.¡±

    ¡°They were properly enhanced, after all. The ¡®STR¡¯ enhancements that can be added to weapons exceed that of esories, especially if you can dual-wield.¡±

    And while it had not been easy, Izu was more than satisfied at her work when she saw how much damage they were doing now. The great hammers had incredibly high STR, as you were really only supposed to be able to wield a single one. And so having eight of them at once was bound to be insane. And in the case of those two, they had skills that doubled the damage on top of that. So this was really not a surprise.

    ¡°Still, it¡¯s amazing. They said they would jump down first and stagger it. But I didn¡¯t think it would actually survive their attack.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m d I was able to witness something like this. There is actually a creature out there that can withstand their attacks.¡±

    They muttered their reactions to the disaster below. And then they jumped down after Maple and the others in order to finish off the giant squid.

    Their attack ability had been boosted to another level, and through the dispatching of Mai and Yui, who were the ultimate special anti-boss weapons, they suddenly had an advantage over the giant squid.

    They fell right on top of the squid that had been mmed to the ground, and while Maple protected them, the two continued to hit it with incredibly powerful normal attacks. Even though it was able to withstand the first attack, there was nothing it could do when it wasn¡¯t even their absolute strongest special attack, but an ordinary attack.

    Furthermore, now that the high power damage unleashing water attack had stopped, the yers that had survived saw this as their chance, and they all rushed forward to attack.

    This was the most obvious chance, and they wanted to make the most of it. And so they all used the most powerful attacks they had. Of course, the ones that stuck out the most and caused thergest damage effects to explode over the fallen squid, were the members of Maple Tree.

    ¡°Yes. All the members of my guild are so reliable.¡±

    And like this, the giant squid that Kanade and the two others encountered was defeated by this one-sided attack, and it burst into light.

    After the battle was won, while the survivors shared their thoughts on what had happened, the members of Maple Tree rushed over to where Kanade was standing.

    ¡°Thanks. And sorry for calling you out of nowhere.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine! But I was so surprised to see something that strong!¡±

    As Kanade and Maple talked, Lily entered the conversation.

    ¡°Speaking of surprises, they have gotten even stronger than the rumors suggested.¡±

    She was looking at Mai and Yui. The sight of them wielding a total of eight hammers was just too strange to imagine.

    ¡°Hehe. The results of special training!¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Hmm. Yes, it must have been very special training indeed.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Even I thought that I must be seeing things when I first saw all eight great hammers.¡±

    Mai and Yui had practiced swinging on the 5thyer in order to get used to the unfamiliar controls. And since most people here stayed on the newest 7thyer, it was their first time seeing the pair.

    This strange sight caused mutterings and howls of surprise to erupt from all around them.

    It was then that they all received a message from management, and it detailed just what this giant squid was.

    ¡°I see¡­ So this is the reason that the event is so long. That exins it.¡±

    ¡°The appearance of giant bosses?¡±

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s like the second part of the event? Hunting down raid bosses. There seem to be other changes as well. But this is the main one.¡±

    Lily quickly read the contents, as did Sally. And then she exined it to Maple.

    For yers that had seeded in killing a certain number of event exclusive monsters before the half-way point, they would be awarded with the goal of having to kill a giant boss monster that appeared on eachyer.

    And as Lily and Willbert had thought, this was not something you were supposed to defeat as a party, but you were supposed to go to certain points on the map at a fixed time, and defeat it with arge number of yers. And since it would disappear after a certain amount of time had passed, it was necessary to move quickly.

    ¡°This also affects the number of medals you¡¯ll receive after the event. Furthermore, there are unique material drops as well.¡±

    ¡°Ohh! Then we¡¯ll have to do our best!¡±

    This first one was special, just like the time that Kasumi had first reached the far back of the town on the 4thyer. As they had just reached the required number of event monster kills, the giant squid had spawned without warning. And so it was also a coincidence that Kanade and the others were there.

    ¡°It would really help if Maple Tree helps with the others. No one else has the attack power to knock something that big out of the air. We¡¯ll need the help of those two.¡±

    Mai and Yui looked a little embarrassed to receive such high praise, but it waspletely deserved. Mai and Yui would be able to contribute the most if they wanted to finish these battles smoothly.

    ¡°Anti-monster¡­ Besides, it should be easier to hit bodies that are that big, making them afortable opponent.¡±

    Like Kanade said, its movements were not that fast, and it could not dodge their attacks.

    In any case, the battle was over for now. And so they would have to wait for the next one.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to be able to see your growth. And so it¡¯s been a productive day. Will, let¡¯s gather the other guild members together and go home.¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do that.¡±

    ¡°Uhh. I hope we meet again during the next boss fight!¡±

    ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s hope so. See you again, Maple Tree.¡±

    Lily said as she and Will left them. It was now the beginning of the second half of an event that had seemed so easy up until now. And like that, Maple and the others had a new challenge to face.

 Chapter 357

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 357

    Defense Specialization and me Thunder

    And so while the second half of the event had begun, Maple found herself on a quiet hill on the 7thyer, taking a nap under the warm sun. While it was true that there were new developments urring in the event, the raid bosses only appeared at times that would be announced beforehand. This was because it would take time to gather together enough people, and so Maple had plenty of free time as she waited. Others were probably using that free time to continue to hunt the exclusive monsters and gather materials. However, ording to Izu, they had enough materials already. And while you could never have too much, there was no need for Maple and the others to go out of their way to hunt.

    ¡°It¡¯s nice to be able to rx¡­ Time eleration events are nice, because we all have to work together, but it keeps us so busy¡­ Don¡¯t you agree, Syrup?¡±

    Maple called out Syrup and poked its head. As this event involved cooperation with all yers, it was the best event for Maple, who wanted to y at her own pace.

    They had already been told when the next boss would appear, and since it wasn¡¯t in a ce that would be difficult to reach, Maple wouldn¡¯t have any trouble getting there on Syrup, even if she didn¡¯t have a horse.

    Then she just needed to protect Mai and Yui like a normal great shield wielder. And so Maple wasn¡¯t worried about not having a clear role.

    But while Maple was rxing, a shadow moved overhead as if something hade up on top of her.

    As she looked up to see what it was, the shadow moved to the side and descended towards the ground.

    ¡°Hey, Maple. How are you? Is the event going well?¡±

    ¡°Mi!¡±

    Mi jumped off of Ignis and sat down next to Maple.

    ¡°Yes! It¡¯s going well. You know the raid boss? I¡¯m just rxing until it spawns.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we already finished this mission to hunt down the exclusive monsters. I guess you already have enough materials as well?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Ehehe. Of course, almost all of it was gathered by the other guild members. Oh, but I did a lot at the monster house!¡±

    It was true that Sally and Kasumi did most of the work. However, when they were all able toe together, they gathered materials at the monster house that Velvet had told them about. And it was during such time that Maple did a lot of work. After all, it was because of Maple that they could be surrounded by monsters and still be fine.

    ¡°My guild was also able to gather a lot. This event hasn¡¯t been the best fit for me, but I can still manage.¡±

    ¡°Ohh! I knew you¡¯d be fine!¡±

    As most of the monsters in this event were rted to water, they weren¡¯t a good fit for Mi, who fought with fire. However, Mi had grown as well, and her firepower had increased. So she was still able to burn the weaker monsters without a problem.

    ¡°Yes. But this event seems like it¡¯s leading into the 8thyer¡­ That makes me think the 8thyer will be rough for me.¡±

    ¡°I think you¡¯re right. It¡¯s going to be rted to water.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how much of a hint these event monsters are, but when even the raid monsters are water types¡­¡±

    ¡°Water types are hard for me too¡­ You know, I can¡¯t even swim. And I don¡¯t think I will ever be able to.¡±

    ¡°So you can¡¯t fight underwater in general? I see. So I should be underwater if I ever have to fight you¡­¡±

    Of course, since Mi couldn¡¯t fight well in water either, it would be defeating the purpose. However it was still true that somehow dragging Maple into the water would make things difficult for her.

    ¡°Oh, but actually, I can use explosions to swim!¡±

    ¡°¡­?? I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s called swimming¡­¡±

    Onnd, sea and sky, Maple had an ability to move by using the power of explosions. It really was strange, now that Mi thought back on it. However, she had experienced the kind of eleration caused by Maple¡¯s explosions first hand.

    ¡°If only you would actually take damage while doing it¡­¡±

    ¡°Hehe. My guard is tough!¡±

    The reason why these explosions were nothing more than a method of transportation, was because of Maple¡¯s defense ability. Mi could do something simr, but it was dangerous if she didn¡¯t have sufficient HP. And so could not do it repeatedly.

    ¡°Well, at least I have Ignis. But you really do need mobility like your explosions in order to get aroundrge bosses like thest one.¡±

    This was why so few yers put their points into one ce. It was harder to seed that way. Mobility, durability, attack ability. There were many problems.

    ¡°I can also attack from above, thanks to Syrup, and Mai and Yui are so amazing as long as I protect them with ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    ¡°I heard about it from the other guild members. Eight great hammers? I bet they could one shot a raid boss!¡±

    ¡°They almost did it when facing the giant squid!¡±

    ¡°Woah, that¡¯s crazy¡­ I¡¯ll have to tell our greatshield-bearer to be careful.¡±

    There was no way that someone could survive against the kind of firepower that nearly crushed a raid boss. You could hold up your shield, but both it and you would be turned into dust.

    And like this, Mi and Maple talked for a while. Just like how Maple was rxing, Mi also didn¡¯t have anything she needed to do in a hurry. And since Mi had decided to participate in the next raid boss, she and Maple decided to head to the location together. It was quite a distance away, and so it would be faster to ride on Ignis, since Syrup had a rather strange way of flying.

    As the two talked about how they would spend the rest of their time, a familiar face passed by. Apparently, the person noticed Maple and Mi as well, and waved at them as she approached.

    ¡°Maple! And Mi!¡±

    ¡°Ah, Velvet!¡±

    She was in her more graceful mode today. This meant that instead of her usual, challenging and lively demeanor, she had a calm and rxed expression. Upon seeing this, Mi coughed once and replied.

    ¡°Mmm hmm¡­ I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve actually met before?¡±

    ¡°Yes. But you are quite famous.¡±

    ¡°So are you. I¡¯ve heard the rumors.¡±

    As Maple knew what was going on behind the scenes for both of them, she watched the two who now had altered personalities with an awkward expression.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re alone today, Velvet.¡±

    ¡°Hinata had business to attend to¡­ I would usually adjust my schedule to fit hers, but I wanted to see the newly unleashed raid boss.¡±

    While she was talking calmly, Maple could tell that deep inside, she was thinking, ¡®It seems strong! So fun! I want to fight it!¡¯ In fact, Velvet wasn¡¯t even doing a good job at hiding her expression, and she smiled happily.

    ¡°But it¡¯s quite far from here, you know?¡±

    While she hade on a horse, the spawn location was a great distance from where they were. Maple wondered why Velvet wouldn¡¯t wait closer to the location so that she didn¡¯t miss it.

    ¡°Hehe. There¡¯s still plenty of time. I received a report from a guild member and thought I might amuse myself by going out to see something.¡±

    ¡°Amusing? I didn¡¯t see anything around here¡­¡±

    Maple thought back on all the exploration she had done, but could not think of anything that was particrly interesting.

    ¡°What about you, Mi?¡±

    ¡°No, I can¡¯t think of anything either.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then do you wanna apany me then?¡±

    Velvet smiled as if to hide the fact that she had shown her true face. Mi had heard about Velvet from Mi, and for a second she thought back on the reason she could no longer go back.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any ns. So I¡¯ll go as long as we¡¯ll still make it in time for the raid boss.¡±

    ¡°Mi doesn¡¯t know about it either, so I¡¯m really curious now!¡±

    ¡°Then it¡¯s decided! Don¡¯t worry, we won¡¯t miss the raid boss! After all, I wanna participate in that too!¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­hehe¡­ I would like to participate in it as well.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Velvet smiled once again. Mi looked at her with jealousy and thought of a future that might have been hers. In any case, they decided to go with Velvet to see this interesting thing. And like that, Maple, Mi, and Velvet followed the navigator as they headed to their destination.

 Chapter 358

    358

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 358

    Defense Specialization and me Thunder 2

    The ce that Velvet took them to after that, was a dungeon that looked just like any other. And while Maple had never gone in herself, she had known of its existence. The entrance was a cave on the surface of the mountain. And it wasn¡¯t a hidden dungeon that had only recently been discovered.

    ¡°Here?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve been through here with the other members of me Emperors. I don¡¯t remember there being anything unusual¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll find out when we get there. However, I did here that there is a little luck involved.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we shouldn¡¯t have any trouble, especially with Maple here.¡±

    ¡°What!? Yo-you think so? Still, I¡¯ll pray!¡±

    And so Maple prayed that things would go well as they entered the dungeon. In general, dungeons that were easy to find or to reach had a tendency to have weak monsters. It could be due to low HP or the amount of skills that they had. In other words, this dungeon shouldn¡¯t have any strong monsters.

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    Once Maple used ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ to protect the two attackers, even slimes and golems, which were strengthened and came in different colors than the ones on otheryers, were suppressed without being able to do anything. And when that happened, the only thing left was for the other two to kill them.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do the ones on the road. There¡¯s no need for us to kill one each. ¡®Blue me¡¯!¡±

    The blue mes that Mi unleashed rushed through the rough, stone walls and ceiling, and burned everything in their path. The cave was filled with a blinding light. But once it faded away, there wasn¡¯t even a trace of the monsters that had been there.

    ¡°Woah! Good one, Mi!¡±

    ¡°That was awe¡­.that was impressive. I would very much like to fight you and the Kingdom of the me Emperors.¡±

    ¡°I hope you do. We are a good guild. Of course, we will not lose to you.¡±

    ¡®The Kingdom of the me Emperors¡¯ had be famous before ¡®thunder storm,¡¯ and so they had many stand out members that Velvet wanted to fight. Had Velvet been in their guild, she would have fought duels with those yers every day.

    ¡°¡­I am also sometimes jealous of you, Velvet.¡±

    ¡°Huh!? Why would you¡­be jealous?¡±

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s a secret. I can¡¯t tell you even if you ask me.¡±

    Mi nced at Velvet¡¯s expression for a second, and then returned to burning the next wave of monsters that arrived.

    ¡°Hmm. Is it rted to PvP or guilds¡­¡±

    As Velvet made guesses that werepletely off base, the three continued to go farther into the dungeon.

    As they advanced, Mi suddenly noticed something and stopped.

    ¡°¡­Was there always so much water in this dungeon?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Really?¡±

    Maple didn¡¯t know, as it was her first time down here. But Mi realized that it didn¡¯t match her own memories. The more they walked, the wetter the walls became. And there were puddles on the ground. The event exclusive monsters had all been burned by Mi before they had a chance to create any water, so they were not the cause of all this.

    ¡°I guess we are lucky. It must be because Maple prayed.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a coincidence! But I¡¯m d things are going well.¡±

    ¡°This moisture¡­ No, something is making this water. So that¡¯s what it is.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re very quick to notice. I wanted to keep it a secret until thest minute¡­ But I guess your instincts are too sharp.¡±

    And then as if she was a magician who was revealing a trick, Velvet exined to them what she hade to see. One of the differences that urred once they entered the second half of the event, was the raid bosses.

    ¡°A hidden element¡­ Well, I don¡¯t really know if it is. But apparently, dungeon bosses are asionally changed.¡±

    ¡°You mean they turn into something like an event exclusive monster?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah! ¡­Yes. However, as for which dungeons, the probability, and materials¡­ No one knows any of that yet.¡±

    She only knew that the boss in this dungeon changed because one of the members from her guild had encountered it by ident. ording to Velvet, it had only been tested a few times, but it seemed that the chances of it happening were quite low.

    ¡°The event will be ending soon. And it¡¯s impossible to check all of the dungeons.¡±

    ¡°There are so many dungeons, and it¡¯s not like it¡¯s guaranteed to happen in all of them.¡±

    So in a way, Maple¡¯s prayer really had worked. They were incredibly lucky to be able to encounter it on their first try.

    ¡°But if stuff like this can happen, it might be good to go to dungeons whenever we have time!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. There might be more to gain in dungeons than there is running around the field and killing monsters.¡±

    ¡°Yes. It would be very strange for it to be hidden away like this, and for nothing to happen.¡±

    They talked while Mi annihted the monsters with one hand. By the time they reached the far back, the puddles of water had grown sorge that they covered the entire ground and sshed loudly under their feet.

    ¡°I wonder what it will look like?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably something based on water or the sea¡­ Maybe arger version of the event monsters?¡±

    ¡°Well then. Let¡¯s open the door to the boss room.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m ready.¡±

    ¡°So am I!¡±

    Mi had finished replenishing her MP, and so Velvet opened the door that led to the boss room.

    What awaited them on the other side of the door, was a huge, floating jellyfish. It was clear that this was not the original boss in this room, and Maple¡¯s eyes shone at the sight of the creature that swam gracefully in the air.

    ¡°It¡¯s flying like it¡¯s floating! And it¡¯s kind of cute too.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s supposed to be pretty strong in spite of its appearance.¡±

    ¡°In that case, I won¡¯t have to hold back¡­ ¡®me Emperor¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Me too. ¡®Second Coming of the Thunder God¡¯!¡±

    Fire and thunder surged out from both sides of Maple. Their attack power was more than enough. In that case, it was important for Maple to prepare to be able to react towards her opponent at a moment¡¯s notice. It would be very troublesome if it had a way to break through ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ and so she didn¡¯t summon anything or create any weapons. Instead, she focused her attention on defending.

    ¡°¡®re el¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Electromaic Jump¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Cover Move¡¯!¡±

    They activated their skills and elerated all at once as they closed in on the jellyfish. In reply, the jellyfish extended its tentacles towards them, but all this meant was that it was moving into dangerous territory on its own ord.

    ¡°¡®Center of the Storm,¡¯ ¡®Field of Thunder,¡¯ ¡®Rain of Thunder¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Hellfire,¡¯ ¡®Burning Heat¡¯!¡±

    Velvet sent out an overwhelming amount of thunder, while Mi unleashed fire that burned everything. And like that, the tentacles were burned up. Both of them were good at area attacks, and so the tentacles that tried to surround them were a good target.

    Maple followed them so that they would stay within range of ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ and then she supported them by using ¡®Oozing Chaos¡¯ to deal extra damage.

    Like this, the tentacles failed to stop them, and the jellyfish ended up allowing the two to get close. This meant that it¡¯s body was within range of Velvet¡¯s unending rain of thunder, and Mi was able to m her fireballs into it.

    As its HP decreased dramatically, the jellyfish extended its tentacles downward, and pierced the flooded ground. Velvet and Mi immediately thought to take advantage of the fact that it could no longer move, and their attacks intensified. However, it was then that the water suddenly increased until it was up to their knees. On top of that. The water itself moved freely and started to take the shape of tentacles. These water tentacles blocked the lightning and fire attacks, absorbing the damage.

    ¡°Now our area attacks are meaningless¡­!¡±

    ¡°Then it¡¯s time to go in with fists!¡±

    Velvet was back to her normal self by this time. There was a sh of light as she leapt into the air. However, now that the tentacles weren¡¯t being burned up, they were able to reach Velvet, and she was captured. As expected from a jellyfish, its poison caused paralysis. She would have been susceptible to its attacks at this point, but Maple didn¡¯t allow it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! There¡¯s no damage. And the poison shouldn¡¯t work!¡±

    ¡°Thanks! In that case, ¡®Purple Lightning¡¯! ¡®Heavy Twin Attack¡¯!¡±

    Velvet¡¯s lightning attack burned away the tentacles. And then she jumped into the air and mmed two heavy attacks into the jellyfish. The attacks were boosted by lightning, which took away even more HP. As for Mi, she continued to keep her distance and use ¡®me Emperor¡¯ tounch fireballs at it. Wide area attacks had proven to be effective. And while it hurt to have them blocked, she still had other skills that could be used to take down the jellyfish.

    On the other hand, the jellyfish also had an attack that could be blocked, much to its detriment. And that was its tentacle attacks. It had been designed to attack with numerous tentacles, and use status effects to ensure that its prey could no longer move.

    However, Maple had destroyed all of that.

    ¡°You can do it, Mi! Velvet!¡±

    Of course, she had no idea about that. And while Maple hardened her defenses, she held her shield up, and intended to activate damage reduction skills.

    She was already sealing the enemy¡¯s attacks at that point, so they would be able to win without her using anything.

    As could be seen, the only way to stop the in-fighter was the tentacles¡¯s status effects. But as they were not effective because of Maple, they just needed to keep hitting it until it was dead.

    Ultimately, the boss¡¯s HP hit 0, and the water tentacles disappeared as the boss turned into light and faded away. The only thing that remained were a few materials and three jellyfish.

    ¡°It was easier than I thought¡­ Ah, oh¡­ It was really because you two were so strong, Maple and Mi.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. This is what happens to bosses who can¡¯t deal with ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ I¡¯ve teamed up with Maple a few times, so I know that all too well.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d I was able to protect you! Uh, so we defeated the boss¡­¡±

    Maple was puzzled over the fact that there were still monsters there, and she started to poke the small jellyfish.

    ¡°Those aren¡¯t monsters. I heard that you can bring them back to your room and disy them.¡±

    You were able to ce them in your guild home or in your room. So they were close to furniture items.

    ¡°Oh. So you can put them in a tank.¡±

    ¡°ording to the report from a guild member, they can fly in the air.¡±

    ¡°They fly! Well, the boss was also floating. And so do the event monsters, now that I think about it.¡±

    While they weren¡¯t tamed monsters, it seemed that being able to take home a miniature version of a boss was one of the hidden secrets of the second half of the event.

    ¡°Alright, so it¡¯s one for each of us?¡±

    They all agreed and decided to take the flying jellyfish home with them.

    ¡°One of our guild members is trying toplete the dungeon multiple times in order to collect them.¡±

    ¡°I see. That¡¯s understandable.¡±

    ¡°Yes! It would be so atmospheric if you had a lot of them!¡±

    Now that they had seeded in defeating the special boss, the three left the dungeon behind them. Velvet seemed like she hadn¡¯t had enough yet, and was excited to face the raid boss, while Mi was thinking about what kind of creature she would want to put in her room. Maple also decided that since these miniature monsters were likely exclusive to this event, she would have to use her spare time to go around to different dungeons.

    A few days after they went to the dungeon. All of the raid bosses that had encountered so far were thoroughly beaten to a pulp.

    ¡°It just reminds you of how strong a lot of yers really are.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. At first I thought it had too much HP, but now it seems like they are barely even a challenge¡­¡±

    Management looked at the abilities of the raid bosses and watched footage of them being destroyed. As yers had not been prepared for the giant squid that signaled the start of the second half of the event, it had been a difficult battle. But the same could not be said for every battle that came after that. After all, they knew the time and ce where the boss would appear. And so a great number of yers would surround the area and simultaneously attack the boss as soon as it appeared.

    The reason that the giant squid had been able to withstand the attacks, was because the fight hadn¡¯t started with it being surrounded and bing the target of concentrated fire.

    ¡°I hope thest boss in the event will put up a better fight.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ If they are killed too easily, they won¡¯t really feel like raid bosses.¡±

    That being said, they could think of a few yers who also yed a big part in why the bosses were being defeated so easily. They were able to move in a way that changed the tide of battle. And even if that weren¡¯t the case, the yers were finding more skills as they went up eachyer, and even though they may not be that amazing when alone, it was quite different when many of them came together in a group.

    ¡°Perhaps we should adjust its HP and defense ability.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ Well¡­the bosses were already set up so that they gradually be stronger. So I guess it won¡¯t be strange.¡±

    As the yers were cooperating to overwhelm these monsters with a lot of HP, they had to maintain a certain standard for the bosses.

    ¡°I actually thought we were going too far with thisst one. But now I¡¯m not sure.¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s wait and see.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure it will put up a good fight¡­¡±

    But they thought about all of the times they had had simr hopes for monsters, and how many times those hopes were dashed. And so it was with both hope and anxiety that management went over the data.

 Chapter 359

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 359

    Defense Specialization and Collecting Miniatures

    As management waited for the appearance of thest raid boss with anticipation, Maple spent her days in rxation. Up until now, she had generally just rested and did nothing, but now that there were clear objectives with the raid bosses and miniature monsters, she enjoyed doing those as well, and using her time effectively. She was currently at the guild home and showing off the miniature monsters she had acquired.

    ¡°This is the first jellyfish that I got. And here is my sea anemone and clownfish. And there¡¯s also a manta ray, shark, and crab!¡±

    Maple said as she lined them up on a desk in the guild home. They looked like incredibly detailed, moving figures, and the top of the desk was now like an aquarium.

    ¡°Woah. You gathered quite a lot. You have more than me.¡±

    Sally also took out the ones that she had. Sally was like Velvet, and had acquired them because she liked the idea of fighting boss monsters that were exclusive to this event. And so she didn¡¯t have as many as Maple, who was actively going around for the purpose of collecting them.

    ¡°They make quite a sight when there are this many.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. yers who like aquariums must be really happy right now.¡±

    ¡°While it would be possible for me to make such figures, it¡¯s so different when they move around like this.¡±

    ¡°Just don¡¯t start forging actual lifeforms¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, I can¡¯t do that yet.¡±

    ¡°The fact that you think you¡¯ll be able to one day is insane.¡±

    A figure that had an animation gimmick was quite different from a miniature-size living creature. And even Izu did not have the ability to produce monsters, which made these things quite special.

    ¡°Well, there are too many to ce inside my room, so I think I¡¯ll leave a few over here.¡±

    ¡°It really adds to the healing atmosphere. Hmm. Maybe I¡¯ll go and search for some as well.¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t know if there are really enough to fill up this shared space. I went around the dungeons myself, and they¡¯re not something that just pop up out of nowhere.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I heard that they are quite rare!¡±

    ¡°They are asionally dropped by raid bosses as well¡­that¡¯s how I got mine.¡±

    Every time a raid boss was killed, the involved yers would receive random materials and items. And sometimes, they would get the miniature monsters. As Mai and Yui were weed as the ultimate weapon against the raid bosses, they often visited the otheryers as well. And so they had more drop items than any of the other members of Maple Tree. Because of this, the odds were in their favor in terms of acquiring them.

    ¡°It seems like the raid bosses are being hunted down smoothly. And we¡¯ll get the reward for the second half of the event, that will be five medals. I wonder if we¡¯ll be able to trade them in for skills for the next event?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. Alright, let¡¯s do our best to defeat thest ones!¡±

    The long 9th event was finally heading towards the final phase. And so Maple and the others were excited to seed in defeating the remaining raid bosses.

    That day, Maple intended on going out into the field again in order to go dungeon crawling.

    ¡°Which one should I go to¡­¡±

    As she did this, she came to the realization that different special bosses could appear in the same dungeon. However, she also felt that there were varying likelihoods for each one. This was why even though she had enough types to cover her desk, the dungeon she had gone to with Velvet had yielded jellyfish two times in a row.

    ¡°I want to collect every type, but I¡¯m not sure if that is possible¡­¡±

    As Maple prefered to find different ones instead of collecting the same thing, she decided to head over to a different dungeon today. And since there would be a need to reach the boss multiple times, it would be best to choose a dungeon that was not too difficult.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ I know! I¡¯ll go to that one!¡±

    Maple decided on her destination, and then used Syrup to fly straight towards it from the town.

    The ce she went to was the colosseum where you had to repeatedly fight the stone statues. She had alreadye here a few times with Sally, and knew how strong the enemies were. And since they would be weaker than they were when with Sally, she felt that she would have no trouble winning. The path was just a straight line forward, and since all the weak monsters here were from the event, it was the perfect ce to go if she was going to fight over and over again.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect toe back here so many times¡­¡±

    Maple had Syrup descend near the entrance, and then she jumped off and went inside.

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ ¡®Predator¡¯!¡±

    Now that she thought of it, ¡®Predator¡¯ was a skill she had acquired a long time ago. And since it did not level up, its attack ability had started to be unsatisfying. But thanks to ¡®Monster Peak,¡¯ it was able to grow into something stronger and deal great damage once again.

    ¡°You can do it!¡±

    Maple took ¡®Predator¡¯ with her as she entered the first room and faced the stone statue. As she didn¡¯t know how powerful the special boss would be, she wanted to save skills that could be saved. Out of all of Maple¡¯s damage skills, the one she could use multiple times without issue was ¡®Predator.¡¯ As long as she wasn¡¯t defeated, she could continue to fight with it no matter how many times it attacked. With ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ and Maple¡¯s defense ability, it was able to do so much more than was originally intended.

    The two monsters bit into the stone statue with the club. And while the stone statue tried to swing its club and hit them, the attacks were all nullified by Maple¡¯s ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯

    ¡°Alright! Now I just have to wait!¡±

    Once she saw that she couldn¡¯t take any damage, Maple used Syrup¡¯s ¡®Red Garden¡¯ in order to boost the damage. After that, she just needed to wait for ¡®Predator¡¯ to kill the stone statue.

    As it had no way to get through to Maple, it didn¡¯t matter how much time it had. It would eventually be eaten to death. Ultimately, as the first stone statue swung its club desperately at ¡®Predator,¡¯ its HP was carved awaypletely, and it exploded.

    ¡°Yes! We got it! You did get stronger! It really is different when your status goes up.¡±

    Maple said as she petted the two monsters. And then she quickly made her way to the next stone statue.

    It was two monsters against one statue. She had the advantage in numbers. And she had no disadvantages. And so the second stone statue was also bitten until it crumbled into nothing.

    However, Maple¡¯s shoulders dropped in disappointment when she reached the boss and realized that it was a miss. Unlike the other times, the walls and ground were not covered in water. It was the same as it was originally. There was no guarantee that the special boss would appear. She just had to try it repeatedly and hope that she got lucky.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get this over with!¡±

    Maple entered the giant colosseum that was the boss room in order to see what the stone statue would be like if she came alone. What she saw was a basic statue with a long sword and shield. Maple sighed with relief.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this! Syrup, ¡®Red Garden,¡¯ ¡®White Garden¡¯!¡±

    Maple used Syrup to create an area that would be advantageous to her. Then she prepared to fight the boss that was running towards her with its sword raised. The giant stone sword came swinging down with all the force necessary to crush Maple. And while it targeted her head with precision, right when the two collided, the de stopped and was not able to cut any deeper. And if the giant weapon was unable to get past her defenses, then it was no better than decoration.

    ¡°And now, ¡®Deploy all Weapons,¡¯ ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    As the weapons would not have been able to survive the sword, she had waited until this moment to create her guns and canons. And then she began firing as a way of supporting ¡®Predator¡¯ and its attacks.

    If the boss blocked her gunfire with its shield, it would be unable to stop ¡®Predator.¡¯ And if it stopped ¡®Predator,¡¯ it would be pierced by her bullets. This was where the true difference between Maple and the boss appeared. One needed to block with a shield and the other did not.

    However, due to how this dungeon was designed, the boss was made for one on one fights. And so it was capable of handling a wide range of situations. And so it blocked the bullets with its shield as it charged towards Maple. If it was charging, it was unlikely to use piercing attacks, and so she continued to fire while having ¡®Predator¡¯ bite into it. And like that, as Maple waited to see how it would swing its sword, a shield was thrust towards her instead.

    ¡°Huh?! ¡­ggg!¡±

    In other words, it was a shield bash. And while Maple did not take any damage, her entire body was hit by the shield. Her weapons crumbled, and a powerful knockback effect sent her flying into the air.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    The knockback effect caused ¡®Predator¡¯ to leave the range of ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯ And so Maple had to run frantically and call ¡®Predator¡¯ back.

    As for the boss, it had unleashed a spin attack with its long sword, which was covered in a red effect. It moved as if trying to cut everything in the area.

    ¡°I made it! ¡®Pierce Guard,¡¯ ¡®Heavy Body¡¯!¡±

    Maple barely managed to cover ¡®Predator¡¯ with ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ once again as she swiftly activated piercing and knockback nullifying skills, which saved them in the end. It seemed like it had been a very powerful attack, but now that she was using a ¡®Pierce Guard,¡¯ she had nothing to fear.

    ¡°Alright! I won¡¯t let my guard down anymore! Let¡¯s finish this!¡±

    Maple developed her weapons once again and sent ¡®Predator¡¯ to attack the boss. And just as she promised, she continued to push the boss. In the end, it did not get another chance tounch a counter attack.

 Chapter 360

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 360

    Defense Specialization and Collecting Miniatures 2

    The stone statue continued to take damage before finally falling to its knees and dying. Now that it was done, Maple was about to head to the teleportation circle, but then she realized that something was strange.

    ¡°Why doesn¡¯t it disappear¡­?¡±

    The stone statue¡¯s HP was at 0 as ity there. However, it showed no signs of turning into light and disappearing. Maple thought this was strange, and so she walked over to it and started tapping on it to see if it was still alive.

    ¡°I think I killed it, but¡­ Huh? Water?¡±

    She heard the sshing of water and looked down at her feet. Water was spread out all around her. Now that she thought about it, this had happened when she was here with Sally. It was as she was thinking this, that water suddenly started to shoot out of the ground around her.

    ¡°Wawawa!?¡±

    Maple jumped back in surprise. Chains rattled as they came out of the water around the stone statue. An anchor was attached to the end of the chain. It wrapped itself tightly around the statue, and then it started to drag it into the water as if there was no floor below it.

    This was so different to anything Maple had seen before, and she gulped as she watched. After a moment, what appeared as if trading ces with the stone statue, was a human in a diving suit, and an old, rusted submarine.

    Maple had fought underwater monsters a number of times before, but never anything like this.

    As she saw an HP bar appear above its head, she immediately went into a battle stance.

    ¡°I hope I can get a miniature of this!¡±

    Maple would be very happy if she could ce a small exploring person in her little sea. That being said, as this enemy was so different, she had no idea what kind of abilities it would have. And so Maple braced herself as she developed her weapons, which were also quite strange in this world of sword and magic.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    As Maple unleashed her bullets, the boss dodged it by sinking into the ground. The water that had spread out also started to sink in, and Maple¡¯s eyes widened with surprise.

    ¡°What!? ¡­Wa!?¡±

    Just as she started to wonder if it had run away, water suddenly burst out from under her feet. Unable to react in time, Maple was bound to the ground by numerous anchors. But since she was able to protect ¡®Predator¡¯ and Syrup with ¡®Dedicated Affection,¡¯ Maple just waited to see what would happen next. The ground under her feet shed white for a second, and then Maple was thrown violently into the air.

    ¡°A-an explosion?¡±

    A giant pir of water hade out, and water sshed around the area like rain. As the boss¡¯s attack was a big one that even destroyed the anchors, Maple was able to free herself. Normally, this attack would have torn her to shreds, but since it only carried her into the air, she was able to recover her bnce quickly. Maple put away ¡®Predator¡¯ and then jumped onto Syrup. If her opponent was going to dive, then she would fly.

    ¡°Ha¡­that was a shock¡­ Still, now there is some distance between us!¡±

    Maple looked down, sure that the anchors would not be able to reach her there. It seemed like the boss rose to the surface at regr intervals, and as the water spread out right before, it was easy to tell where it would appear.

    Just as Maple predicted, the anchors did not stretch out far enough to reach her in the air. And so she was able to avoid being hit by its explosions.

    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll just stay here and chip away at its HP. After all, I won¡¯t be able to dodge its surprise attacks if it goes underground¡­¡±

    Maple brought out her weapons again, as thest ones had been destroyed. Then she unleashed a beam where the boss surfaced. However, it was blocked by a dome of water that was suddenly created out of nowhere. And by the time the mist that rose faded away, the boss had once again escaped into the water.

    ¡°That¡¯s not good¡­I don¡¯t think this will work.¡±

    Maple felt that it was not an effective attack. And since she was in a safe zone, she took the opportunity to consider other ways to deal damage.

    ¡°I have to attack it when ites out¡­hmm¡­¡±

    Judging by the fact that her beams could be blocked, there was no point in repeatedly hitting it with normal attacks. Maple wondered if she didn¡¯t have any skills or items she could use, and then a certain idea came to her.

    ¡°Alright! I can do this!¡±

    She moved to the edge of Syrup so she had a good view of what was below, and then she pointed her short sword towards the ground.

    ¡°¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    The clump of poison she unleashed collided with the ground. And like that, a swamp of poison began to spread out. Maple waited for the end of the cool-down, and then changed her position a little before unleashing ¡®Hydra¡¯ again. Eventually, the entire colosseum was covered in poison. As she watched to see what would happen, water started to spread out from underneath the poison, and then the boss appeared. However, unlike previous times, it was now covered in poison. As the poison chipped away at its HP, the boss sank back into the ground.

    ¡°Yes! It worked!¡±

    While it wasn¡¯t the prettiest sight, she felt that this was the best way to deal damage without being hit by any of its attacks. It would get poisoned every time it rose to the surface, and its HP decreased little by little. It appeared to have no method of retaliating, as Maple was too high in the air. And so all it could do was repeatedly sink and resurface in the poison.

    ¡°Recently, there have been a lot of times where it didn¡¯t work. So I¡¯m d that it worked this time.¡±

    While the damage was not particrly great, Maple was used to waiting. She had no problem when it came to battles of endurance. And this time, it was just as easy as sitting there and waiting.

    ¡°I wonder if I have something good here.¡±

    Maple decided to ignore the boss and look through her inventory for an item that would help her kill the time. There were puzzles, the kind that Kanade was always ying with, objects to look at, and a lot of food. As she always gave her materials to Izu or traded them in for money, half of the items in her inventory were for entertainment purposes.

    Maple took out a few of them and theny in a rxing position on top of Syrup.

    ¡°I guess I should do whatever I can as well. ¡®Acid Rain¡¯!¡±

    She made acid rain from above as a finishing touch. Now that the boss was thoroughly in hell, Maple rxed for real this time.

    Like that, she waited for the boss¡¯s slow demise. When it finally vanished into light, quite a lot of time had passed.

    As for Maple, she was lying on her back ying with an item. It was only when she heard the chime signalling the boss¡¯s death that she realized that the fight was over and sat up.

    ¡°It¡¯s finished! Ah, I wonder where it died?¡±

    Maple had not been thinking about it at all. When she looked down, she saw that there was a puddle where the boss hadst been. And so there was no reason to search through the whole colosseum in order to find the drop items.

    Maple headed towards it on Syrup and then dropped down in order to walk through the poison and see if there was anything to find. After a while, she noticed that there was something shining within the purple swamp. She ran forward and scooped it up. It was not a miniature person or submarine. Instead, it was a strange ck box that fit in the palm of her hand.

    ¡°¡­How do you open this?¡±

    Maple inspected it carefully, but could not figure out how it was supposed to be opened. And there wasn¡¯t even a key hole either.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll just take it back with me then.¡±

    As she just needed to put it in her inventory, there shouldn¡¯t be a problem taking it back, as long as it didn¡¯t cast any strange debuffs on her. And like that, Maple acquired the item called ¡®Lost Legacy.¡¯ She left the dungeon, both praying that she would be able to get the miniature submarine next time, and also trying to think of a way to finish the fight without taking so long.

    Maple had spent her days defeating raid bosses and collecting miniature monsters. However, the long 9th event had finally reached its final day. In other words, it was the day of thest raid boss.

    And so the members of Maple Tree gathered at the guild home in order to prepare and make ns.

    ¡°The bosses seemed to be getting stronger every day. So it¡¯s quite likely that this one will be stronger than all the rest?¡±

    ¡°I think so too. Besides, a lot of yers will gather together if it¡¯s thest one. What kind of monster will be able to go against everyone¡­¡±

    They would have to expect something that could still fight while it was surrounded, and have lots of HP and wide area attacks. That being said, Maple Tree would always use the same strategy.

    ¡°As always, Mai and Yui will attack while the rest of us do everything we can to protect them!¡±

    Realistically speaking, there were no attackers that could deal more damage to a raid boss than these two. Maple and Chrome would focus on defending them while Kanade would use his books to nullify damage, and Izu would help by using items. After that, Kasumi and Sally could work as sub-attackers, whose roles it was to attack and destroy any obstacles so the two had a clear path to the boss.

    Once they got close to the boss, they would be able to continue to unleash their normal attacks that dealt ¡®special attack¡¯ level damage until all of its HP was blown away and it died.

    ¡°We¡¯ll do our best!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll do our best!¡±

    It was a role that only they could fulfil, and so Mai and Yui took it very seriously. As they had participated in raid bosses many times now, they knew that it wasn¡¯t just the members of Maple Tree that relied on them. No ally could be more reliable than they were now.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go then!¡±

    They didn¡¯t want to bete, and so the eight of them got an early start as they headed to the location in order to wait for the raid boss.

 Chapter 361

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 361

    Defense Specialization and the Raid Boss

    As Haku was currently the fastest way for all eight of them to move at the same time, they arrived at the spawn point of the raid boss while riding the white snake that had been erged with ¡®Super Erge.¡¯ Up until now, they had alternated between using Syrup and Haku, depending on the spawn points, and so the other yers immediately knew that Maple Tree had arrived when they saw the white snake.

    Some of the yers were already dering an early victory upon their arrival. However, it was not at all odd for them to think this, when they saw the ridiculous amounts of great hammers floating above the snake¡¯s head.

    They had already seen raid bosses being beaten to a pulp many times over. And so Yui and Mai were recognized as firepower that could be relied on.

    ¡°There are already quite a lot of people here.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I thought we were going to arrive early, but I suppose everyone else was thinking the same thing?¡±

    Since there were so many people there, Haku¡¯s giant body would get in the way. And so Kasumi had Haku stick its head on the ground so that they could all get off, and then she returned the snake to her ring.

    ¡°We still don¡¯t know what kind of boss will appear. So I¡¯ll send Haku back for now.¡±

    Due to Haku¡¯srge size and generally high status, it was able to withstand attacks and unleash counterattacks. But it did not have the kind of mobility required to dodge, so it would be best to wait to see how the raid boss would fight. And even if she couldn¡¯t use Haku, Kasumi had be stronger than before, and would be able to manage just fine.

    Now they just had to mix in with the other yers and wait for the raid boss to appear.

    Most of the other yers were talking to fellow guild members about their strategy, or about how to move in reaction to the monster¡¯s tendencies, but some yers came up to Maple and the others.

    ¡°So you all came! I have high expectations for you today as well!¡±

    ¡°Hello¡­ Velvet wanted toe and talk to you.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Velvet! Yes, we¡¯ll all do our best!¡±

    Maple looked at the guild members and talked about how excited she was.

    ¡°There isn¡¯t much that I can do, so if something happens, I¡¯d be grateful if you could help¡­Velvet.¡±

    Raid bosses usually had a strong resistance to status effects, along with movement and skill sealing effects. If it weren¡¯t the case, even if they weren¡¯t as specialized in it as Hinata, everyone could work together and cast debuffs on the boss until it could no longer move.

    Hinata¡¯s skills became a disadvantage now, and so she did very little whenever she participated in fights with raid bosses.

    ¡°She says that, but I still rely on her all the time. And so please go in on the attack if Hinata seeds in casting something!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    As they continued to talk to Velvet and Hinata,more familiar faces came walking towards them from a different direction.

    ¡°Hey. It¡¯s finally thest raid boss. And it seems like a lot of people gathered together for this one.¡±

    It was Lily and Willbert who hade. This time, Lily was already holding her g, and Willbert was weaning his butler uniform. So that meant that Lily would be the attacker.

    ¡°¡®It seems like a lot of people from ¡®Rapid Fire¡¯ came as well.¡±

    Sally looked in the direction that Lily hade from. She saw the group of guild members huddled together.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s thest one, after all. Besides¡­don¡¯t you just have this feeling that it¡¯s going to be a big one?¡±

    This time, the puddle of water that spread around the spawn point was dozens of meters in diameter. And that was muchrger than previous ones. So it was not odd to assume that what woulde out would also be strong.

    ¡°Yes. We must all stay on our guard.¡±

    ¡°Well, you and your guild have much higher defense ability, Sally. It¡¯s we who have to be careful that we don¡¯t identally get ourselves killed.¡±

    ¡°Of course. However, I¡¯m looking forward to seeing how it will fight against so many yers. Oh, it looks like ¡®Kingdom of the me Emperors¡¯ and ¡®Congregation of Holy Swords¡¯ have arrived.¡±

    They could seerge groups of people moving towards them from afar. And near them were a glowing dragon and a phoenix enveloped in fire. You could tell at a nce which guild it was.

    And so all of the highest level yers on the 7thyer, which would also be considered the strongest, were now present. And then they all waited for the raid boss to appear.

    ¡°Any moment now. Let¡¯s talk afterward if we survive.¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course.¡±

    Lily ended the conversation there and returned to where her guild members were waiting. Velvet and Hinata did the same, and waved their hands as they left.

    ¡°It¡¯s finally starting.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Maple, we¡¯re relying on your defense.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    In order to deal with the first attack, Maple activated ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯ A brief moment after, the water that spread out began to glow, and ripples appeared in the center. And from there, a pir of water burst out, and what came out from the water was muscr and holding a trident. It was a giant that controlled the water that surrounded it. As everyone present felt the difference in level from previous bosses, a giant mass of water appeared above the boss¡¯s head, and from it was summoned hordes of the event monsters they had been hunting up until now.

    At the same time, HP bars appeared over all of their heads, and like that, the battle against the final raid boss began.

 Chapter 362

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 362

    Defense Specialization and the Raid Boss 2

    As soon as it started, the boss thrust its spear towards the sky, causing torrents of water to shoot out around it. The water pushed out in every direction like a tsunami.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°¡®Pierce Guard,¡¯ ¡®Heavy Body¡¯!¡±

    She immediately knew what was needed, and Maple blocked the tsunami in a perfect defense stance. Knockbacks and piercing attacks had been nullified for Maple, while the other seven were able to survive the attacks through ¡®Dedicated Affection.¡¯ However, the same could not be said for the other yers around them.

    Maple was only protecting her own party members, and so those who could not ovee the water were pushed back and drifted away.

    ¡°Everyone! Are you okay!?¡±

    ¡°Thanks to you! Still, that¡¯s pretty rough for a starting attack!¡±

    As the shield-bearers, Maple and Chrome had to escort Mai and Yui to the boss. And while they couldn¡¯t see the boss right now due to the water, it had appeared to be connected to the ground at the waist. And it showed no signs of moving. Instead, the sphere of water above its head was spawning countless monsters which immediately fell upon the yers.

    Even the sphere of water had HP, and you had to destroy it first in order for the yers to have an advantage in numbers. In fact, many of the yers were currently getting back in formation as they prepared to face the onught of monsters headed their way.

    ¡°Hey, hey! There¡¯s no point! You have to destroy that thing first!¡±

    ¡°Even Machine God won¡¯t reach it from here!¡±

    Maple and the others had blocked the tsunami, and yet they were still out of range. The yers that had been washed away were even farther now, and could not reach the boss even with their magic attacks.

    However, there was one yer present who was able to deal damage to the water sphere.

    ¡°Willbert!¡±

    ¡°He can reach it? Wow¡­!¡±

    After Lily¡¯s soldiers had made a wall to block the tsunami, he had quickly changed his equipment and pulled out his bow. His bow had a longer range than Maple¡¯s Machine God, and the arrows glowed red as they flew straight towards the sphere. However, they did much less damage than expected. He would have to unleash dozens of arrows at this rate. But Sally knew that those arrows were powerful enough one-shot a monster, and so she sensed that something was wrong.

    ¡°It might be¡­that long-range attacks are weakened?¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s so high up!¡±

    ¡°Was his name Willbert? From what I heard about his attack power, this shouldn¡¯t be happening¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to interrupt you, but it looks like something else ising!¡±

    The others raised their faces at Kanade¡¯s voice. The boss had thrust its trident into the air again, and this time numerous spears made of water came raining down on them.

    And while the members of Maple Tree were unharmed, they heard other yers shouting that they were piercing attacks. Though the attacks weren¡¯t impossible to dodge, using ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ was still necessary in order to protect Mai and Yui.

    ¡°We¡¯ll just have to deal with each problem one at a time. Maple, we don¡¯t know what might happen, so you and Chrome should focus on defense!¡±

    If they stayed there and focused on defense, they would be able to block the water spears with their great shields. As long as Mai and Yui were protected, there was always a chance to get the upper hand. However, resolving the current situation was also an urgent matter. It would be better for one to move while taking some risks, while the other prioritized safety.

    ¡°Hmm. What about you, Sally?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to destroy the water sphere. And I¡¯lle back if my guess is wrong.¡±

    Sally said as if it was the most obvious thing. Maple smiled back to show that she was counting on her. Only Sally could act so calmly as if there was no problem after seeing the water spears, tsunami, and swarms of monsters.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go with you in case something happens. I should at least be able to offer some support.¡±

    Kasumi decided to go with her. When it came to attack power, Mai and Yui were enough. In that case, Kasumi was the only one who could keep up with Sally, as she had also put points into AGI and acquired high mobility.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go. The other yers have already taken a lot of damage.¡±

    Thanks to Maple, they were able to maintain the same state they were in when the battle began, and so Sally and Kasumi jumped out of ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯s¡¯ range, as if now was the time to act. And like that, they shot out towards the raid boss.

    As Sally and Kasumi dashed ahead, the members of the other guilds seemed toe to the conclusion that there was no point in focusing on the unending swarms of monsters that were being summoned. And so they also moved forward. They would try and get closer to the boss by any means that they were good at.

    ¡°¡®Arm of the Warrior,¡¯ ¡®Blood de¡¯!¡±

    Kasumi turned her de into liquid as she ran and attacked the monsters that got close to her before they could react. Compared to Sally, Kasumi had superior reach in her attacks, and she also had many skills that were highly effective. Sally made up for the difference with her own abilities, but Kasumi¡¯s power really shone during times like these.

    ¡°You can leave the others to me!¡±

    ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll watch to see if it does anything.¡±

    As they ran, the boss thrust its trident into the air again, and a thinyer of water spread out on the ground. After a moment, bubbles started to rise.

    ¡°Kasumi, over here! Follow me closely!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Kasumi had experienced enough to be able to believe in Sally¡¯s decisions. And so she moved behind her without any timeg. Immediately after, water started to shoot out of the ground like geysers. Sally quickly navigated her way through them and moved closer to the boss.

    There was only about ten meters between them and the boss now, however, the actual sphere of water would be dozens of meters above their heads. They would not be able to reach it even if they jumped.

    However, there were other yers who, like Sally and Kasumi, had managed to dodge the monsters and powerful boss attacks as well. And so it was only natural for them to cooperate.

    ¡°Sally! Nice to see you again!¡±

    ¡°Velvet! Hinata!¡±

    Sally wasn¡¯t at all surprised that Velvet had made it this far. But she had not expected Hinata to be there as well. She didn¡¯t know how it was happening, but Hinata was floating in the air and stuck closely to the side of Velvet. That was how she followed her.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve never seen anyone do that before¡­¡±

    ¡°I had Hinatae with me!¡±

    ¡°That must make you feel dizzy¡­ Wait, this is no time for talk.¡±

    Velvet and Hinata¡¯s goal was also to destroy the water sphere. In that case, there was no time to waste.

    ¡°¡®Ice Stairs.¡¯¡±

    Hinata activated the skill, and then a staircase of ice appeared around the boss.

    Now anyone would be able to climb it in order to reach the spot above the boss.

    ¡°Thanks! Kasumi!¡±

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll use it dly.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going too!¡±

    Hinata manipted gravity as she floated behind Velvet, who dashed up the stairs along with Sally and Kasumi. As always, Velvet was unleashing countless bolts of thunder around her, and so the weaker monsters were unable toe close to them. However, they still attacked with their long-range water breath. But since Sally, Kasumi and Velvet all had high mobility, they were able to dodge the breath even when standing on such an unstable tform. And while Hinata did not have the same mobility, her movements werepletely synced with Velvet, so she had no trouble following them.

    ¡°¡®Ice Wall¡¯!¡±

    On top of that, she was able to use ice and weight in order to block the attacks and assist the other three. As other yers climbed from below them, the four reached the water sphere. And while Velvet¡¯s lightning was already hitting it, they barely did any damage.

    ¡°¡®Gravity Control¡¯!¡±

    ¡°For now, ¡®Heavy Twin Attack¡¯!¡±

    Hinata¡¯s skill caused Velvet to float up in the air a little, and now that she was closer to the water sphere, she mmed it with the twin attacks. As she was floating, she was not able to move around as quickly. But it hardly mattered at this distance.

    However, she did less damage than expected. It was a raid boss, and so its HP was set quite high. They now knew that it would take a long time to carve it all away.

    ¡°Ugh. Not quite what I expected¡­¡±

    ¡°What should we do? I don¡¯t know if staying here is such a good idea?¡±

    Currently, Velvet was very close to the water sphere. This meant that both the sphere and boss were in range of her thunder. She was able to do damage to both while simultaneously getting rid of the swarms of monsters below. That was a good thing, but there was a time limit to how long Hinata could use her skills. Both the ice stairs and gravity control would notst forever.

    ¡°Let¡¯s test what we can! Velvet, watch out for the monsters!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Sally said to Velvet before jumping forward. And just like the boss, she created water so that she could swim through the air. This made it more difficult for her to dodge attacks, but Velvet and Hinata knocked away the breath that came flying towards her. Like this, Sally was able to arrive at the spot right above the sphere. She then activated her skill.

    ¡°¡®Freezing Area¡¯!¡±

    Sally unleashed the cold air in the area, freezing the water sphere below her. Unlike skills that created ice, this skill froze objects. And so it was able to turn even the boss¡¯s water sphere into a huge block of ice.

    ¡°How about this! ¡®Quintuple sh¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Vibrating Fist¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Last of the des ¨C Oborozuki¡¯!¡±

    Its properties had changed after being frozen, and it suddenly became easier to damage. And so the skills that the three unleashed did visible damage. If they were able to repeat this a few times, they would surely be able to destroy it.

    ¡°It¡¯s working!¡±

    ¡°No, wait¡­something is¡­ ¡®Mind¡¯s Eye¡¯!¡±

    Kasumi didn¡¯t miss the sh of blue light in the center of the frozen sphere, and she activated the skill that predicted attacks. Immediately after, her vision was filled with red lights that showed the positions of the attacks.

    ¡°This is bad! We have to move away!¡±

    Sally was the first to react, and Velvet jumped back after her. However, there was not much space for them to stand on in the first ce, and so the ice shattered before they could move far away. The sphere returned to its original water form, but it was now enveloped in a spiral of water that moved like des. The four knew that being hit would cause a mortal wound, and so they all prepared to defend themselves.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Spirited Away¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Parry¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Ice Wall¡¯¡­!¡±

    ¡°¡®Third of the de ¨C Kogetsu¡¯!¡±

    They overcame the attack by disappearing from the field, blocking with physical defense, or leaping over it. However, there were so many des that it soon became clear that it would be impossible to avoid every single one.

    As they wondered for a way out of this, fire and light shot out from both sides and momentarily blew away the water des, allowing the four to make an emergency escape.

    Sally and Kasmui raised their heads to see what had happened, and saw the four from Congregation of the Holy Swords.

    ¡°Yoo-hoo! I see that you¡¯re ying on the edge again. Did we save you?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you would be faster than someone who is flying.¡±

    ¡°Well, the sky ended up being filled with summoned monsters. It was so troublesome¡­¡±

    The two were riding on the back of Ray, who was now gigantic. When they looked in the direction that they had been in, they saw Ignis and the members of the Kingdom of the me Emperor. Apparently, Velvet and Hinata had been saved by them.

    ¡°It¡¯s just like the previous event then. I saw you running, but was surprised at how quickly you arrived.¡±

    ¡°You helped us again. Thank you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. However, I hope that you can help us now.¡±

    ¡°By freezing it? I can do that. If I can only get close to it again.¡±

    While Hinata¡¯s tform was now gone, Ray and Ignis were here, so it would be possible to get closer.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll tell the others to attack as well. Knots, ¡®Messenger Pigeon.¡¯¡±

    Frederica sent the small yellow bird on top of her head towards the other members of Congregation of Holy Swords, and then waited for them to approach the boss once again. Mi and the others seemed to be thinking the same thing, and they continued to kill the monsters around them while waiting for the right opportunity.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go!¡±

    Payne signalled to Mi and the others, and then made Ray charge in all at once. Once they were close, Sally froze the sphere of water, and all twelve of them began to attack it. At the same time, the guild members that had been told of the next freezing, and other yers that had been waiting, unleashed their magic and skills, causing the sphere¡¯s HP to drop dramatically. The destruction of the sphere was the first step in this boss fight, and it was now down to a dot. Then the ice returned to water, which suddenly increased and spread out.

    And once again, there was a whirl of water des in the center, and something like a blue core that was protected in water. It was obvious that they were supposed to break it.

    The next great move was likely triggered by the HP loss. Water shot out passed everyone in the area and rose into the sky. At the same time, the boss raised its trident into the air, creating water spears that were more numerous than ever before. Simultaneously, there was a change in the ground, as if to punish yers who were nearby and trying to attack.

    It was an attack that could not be escaped. Its power was unknown, but the area of effect covered everything. Sally¡¯s expression tensed when she saw this. Mi and Payne realized that it would be difficult to escape its range on Ray and Ignis, and so they decided to try and survive by using damage nullifying spells. However, they could only protect their party members and summoned monsters.

    ¡°We won¡¯t be protected¡­!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s going to be backbreaking work, surviving this!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll support you as much as I can!¡±

    ¡°So will we.¡±

    Marx and the others immediately created walls and footholds. And Misery created damage reduction fields. Shin and Mi were ready to knockdown as many as they could. As for the Congregation of Holy Swords, Drag would use boulders, and Dred would use a simr skill to Sally¡¯s and make footholds. Frederica and Payne started to make obstacles.

    Sally was surprised that they were able to offer this much support to yers outside of their party in an instant. And while the three were still at a disadvantage, they shared a look that showed that they were determined to survive this.

    By jumping from tform to tform and on Ignis, they were able to escape the rain of water spears.

    They wished that there was something they could do about the core, but knew that the objective was clearly to survive this part. And so it was with both regret and annoyance that they looked at it.

    Suddenly, they saw a red light shoot through the narrow gaps in the whirl of water des, and pierce the core.

    Sally¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. Half of the water spears in the air vanished then, and they were able to see much more. Sally knew that there was only one person capable of this, but she continued to concentrate. She did not want to get hit right as the situation had started to improve.

    ¡°Bullseye. Good job, Will.¡±

    ¡°Phew¡­ Well, I was able to save face as an archer.¡±

    Willbert let out a deep sigh, and then both he and Lily changed equipment.

    ¡°You did all of this Will. The rest shouldn¡¯t be too hard.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hope so. It¡¯s your turn now.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, leave it to me.¡±

    After changing equipment, Lily created numerous lifeless soldiers. By sacrificing them, many yers were able to prepare to defend themselves. Willbert had fulfilled his role. Now it was Lily¡¯s turn to protect as many of the fighting force as she could.

    ¡°In the end, it¡¯s about numbers. We have so many yers here. Clearly, it makes sense to protect them, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course.¡±

    So saying, Lily created unlimited numbers of soldiers to take the damage from the rain of water spears and geysers. And like that, she protected all of the yers in the area.

 Chapter 363

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 363

    Defense Specialization and the Raid Boss 3

    ¡°Amazing. I thought it would be really tough, but they already destroyed it.¡±

    ¡°And it looks like Sally and the others are fine.¡±

    Izu used her binocrs to observe the area near the giant¡¯s head. They could see the twelve yers who had survived the water spears as they separated once and came back down to the ground.

    Of course, Maple and Sally had also made it just fine, and it was now their turn to head towards the boss and attack.

    ¡°I¡¯ll protect you if you bounce away from a knockback or if you¡¯re about to get hit by a piercing attack. So don¡¯t worry and keep moving forward!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Chrome was also able to use ¡®Multi-Cover¡¯ in order to protect multiple people with his shield. While ¡®Pierce Guard¡¯ was in cool down, Maple would raise her shield, and when a guild member was about to be hit by a piercing attack, Chrome would block it with his shield. Like this, they were able to slowly make their way closer to the boss without Maple taking any damage.

    No other monsters were being summoned now that the water sphere had been destroyed. However, the tsunamis and water pirs were strengthened instead, and the boss now had an added attack in which it swung its giant trident through the air. yers were now dying all over the ce.

    ¡°Herees the water spears! Protect everyone but me, ¡®Angel¡¯s Protection.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Right, ¡®Multi-Cover¡¯!¡±

    Chrome held his shield up and guarded Mai and Yui who were about to be hit. Maple protected Izu by blocking the attack with her shield, and took no damage. Kanade used a skill from Akashic Records to deal with attacks by eliminating them entirely.

    The attacks were quite vicious, and if you weren¡¯t attacking it at long range with magic or bows, then it was by using hit and run tactics with tamed monsters who could fly.

    Sally and the others, including the members of Congregation of Holy Swords and me Emperors, were alternating between being in the air and on the ground as they slowly but surely dealt damage. But since this was a raid boss, it seemed like this wouldn¡¯t be enough to defeat itpletely.

    If they wanted to change this situation, they needed to stop the boss¡¯s attacks so that all the yers could attack it at once. And they needed Mai and Yui to do that.

    However, the boss¡¯s attacks grew more powerful the closer you got to it. The number of spears that rained down increased, and there were fewer gaps between the geysers, as well as stronger currents of water pushing you back.

    ¡°Maple and I can block it so that there¡¯s no damage, but the knockback effect is too strong!¡±

    Maple would not be able to move if she used ¡®Heavy Body,¡¯ and it wasn¡¯t possible to nullify them during cooldown in the first ce. So they were in a bad position when the time between knockbacks became shorter. Currently, they were seeding in getting closer while avoiding taking any damage, so they were careful that they didn¡¯t identally do something that changed things for the worse.

    It was then that they heard a voice from a short distance away.

    ¡°What¡¯s this? You seem to be taking your time.¡±

    ¡°Lily!¡±

    ¡°Let me make a path. Or I won¡¯t know how long I will have to protect you.¡±

    Lily called out even more soldiers and ordered them to take on the damage from the boss¡¯s attacks.

    ¡°Now, will you keep going? It would really help if you could stop this annoying water as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Thank you! Let¡¯s go, everyone!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we should be able to move now. Thank you!¡¯

    Chrome and Maple were guarded by the soldiers as they led the other guild members forward. They were almost within range.

    ¡°Will I be able to join in the attacks soon?¡±

    ¡°Maybe. Let¡¯s wait until they arrive.¡±

    ¡°Ah, in that case, I¡¯ll offer some support fire from the back.¡±

    Like this, Lily and Willbert watched the members of Maple Tree move with the soldiers through the waves, and waited for their chance to attack.

    After oveing numerous attacks and special moves, Maple and the others finally reached the base of the boss. Once they were here, there was only one thing left to do.

    ¡°I¡¯ll quickly cast some buffs!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll use what magic books I have. After all, it will be a lot of trouble if it doesn¡¯t go down.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the rest is up to you two. Get it good!¡±

    ¡°Do your best!¡±

    They used buffs that had onlysted a short time but were very powerful. With each buff, Mai and Yui¡¯s damage increased. By the time that they had cast every possible buff on them, the two were surrounded in numerous auras and looked very intimidating.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Synchronized, the two swung a total of sixteen great hammers all at once.

    ¡°¡®Double Impact¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Double Impact¡¯!¡±

    It was a basic skill that anyone could use. However, the moment that it hit, the water enveloping the boss went flying into the air, and was reced by a shocking amount of damage effects. No matter how many times you saw it, this firepower was nothing less than astonishing. And even this final raid boss¡¯s HP was greatly reduced. It fell down onto one arm. It could do nothing more than support itself with the trident now.

    There could not have been a more obvious signal for the rest of the yers to go in for a counterattack. They had seen this heavy attack before during the fights against the other raid bosses.

    And like that, the yers attacked with a renewed vigor. Maple and the others also moved in as if they wanted to prevent it from getting up again. It was at this point that Sally and Kasumi finally reunited with the others.

    ¡°Maple! I see that it went well!¡±

    ¡°Sally! Kasumi! I¡¯m d that you¡¯re alright!¡±

    ¡°We had some help. What¡¯s the situation?¡±

    ¡°An all out attack!¡±

    Sally and Kasumi nodded and raised their weapons as they faced the boss who was now showing a great opening.

    It was the Kingdom of the me Emperor whounched the first attack on the fallen boss.

    ¡°Haha. What an interesting person.¡±

    ¡°She went away like a storm¡­¡±

    They were thinking about Velvet, who had rushed back to her guild, Hinata still hovering right next to her.

    ¡°I guess they have their own work to do. And this is such a great opportunity. Let¡¯s make sure we don¡¯t waste it!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes! Let¡¯s do this! ¡®Destructor¡¯!¡±

    ¡°There isn¡¯t much that I can do, but¡­ I¡¯ll prepare for when it does get up.¡±

    ¡°Everyone, please head towards it. I will heal or restore you if it attacks back!¡±

    As Shin and Mi were incredibly powerful as individuals, they could battle in small numbers. However, the Kingdom of the me Emperor were good at fighting in formation and in a group. That¡¯s when Misery shone as a healer and Marx as a trapper. And since they were now all in formation right in front of the boss, it would be possible for them to continue attacking even if it got up.

    ¡°Wen, ¡®Wind to the Beyond,¡¯ ¡®Invisible Sword.¡¯¡±

    ¡°me Emperor,¡¯ ¡®Fire God¡¯s me¡¯!¡±

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t as if Shin and Mi couldn¡¯t support the others as well. Shin increased the range of his skills and added a wind de damage effect to all of the attacks of the yers in the area. Mi spread out her mes and boosted the status of everyone around her.

    As Lily said, there was power in numbers.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Mi ordered, and the attacks began, dealing great damage.

    As Kingdom of the me Emperor attacked, Congregation of Holy Swords went in formation on the opposite side and prepared to attack.

    ¡°Looks like everyone¡¯s busy casting buffs?¡±

    ¡°Haha! Unlike most times, we don¡¯t have to think about defense. It makes things easier.¡±

    ¡°I wonder whose fault it is that we have to think about it in the first ce¡±

    ¡°This is not the time! We can¡¯t let it get up again.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s do what we can. Ray, ¡®Protection of the Holy Dragon.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Shadow, ¡®Shadow Pack.¡¯¡±

    ¡°¡®Berserk,¡¯ Earth, ¡®Earth¡¯s Halberd¡¯!¡±

    As everyone used their buffs and called out their tamed monsters, Frederica used Knots¡¯ power and cast buffs on the others and nodded with satisfaction.

    ¡°Now fight as much as you can. If the buff wears off, I¡¯ll cast it again!¡±

    Frederica then tried to sit down and rx as if her role was over, but Drag pulled her up.

    ¡°I want you to join the fight as well.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. You¡¯re so rough with me! Well, since it¡¯s so big, it won¡¯t be able to dodge my attacks. I guess I can use it as target practice then.¡±

    yers would always be able to dodge Frederica¡¯s magic when she fought in duels, but thanks to the buffs and Knots, she was able to unleash more magic at once now. And if she hit her target, the damage would be insane.

    ¡°Payne, I¡¯ll transfer all the buffs to you when the time is right. I¡¯ll be counting on you when that happens.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, got it.¡±

    All the buffs onto one person. This skill¡¯s ability was crazy, and it was stronger the more targets there were. In other words, it was at full spec right now.

    The long sword that unleashes light was swung, and as the light that seemed to extend into the sky cut through the boss, the rest of the guild attacked at once.

    Like this, as the other guilds surrounded the boss and joined in the attack, Maple Tree took position in the front and continued their attacks. And while they had fewer members than the other guilds, Mai and Yui were worth a hundred yers, and they were not losing in terms of damage output.

    ¡°There is no way that we can beat them!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any point inparing.¡±

    As Kasumi and Sally shredded the boss next to Mai and Yui, Maple used her Machine God weapons to attack it with a storm of bullets. Izu had prepared a great amount of bombs, which she was now throwing. And Chrome and Kanade were attacking as well.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not really contributing all that much. But I¡¯m sure you can do more, Kanade?¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you see my look-alike over there? Sou, ¡®Destruction Canon¡¯! Well, I¡¯m still trying to save books. Besides, it¡¯s really nothingpared to the damage that those two are doing.¡±

    ¡°You should just do what you can. Ah, the buff is going to wear off. Chrome, throw me a muscle boost potion.¡±

    ¡°Right!¡±

    And so the eight of them continued to deal damage. But once the boss¡¯s HP seemed like it was just about to be depleted, it got back up and thrust out its trident. Of course, it was targeting Mai and Yui, who had been dealing the most damage.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine! ¡®Act of the Giant¡¯!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine! ¡®Act of the Giant¡¯!¡±

    All sixteen great hammers mmed into the giant trident, and the damage that should have gone to them bounced off towards the boss. The two had already been buffed up to the limit, and so their strength exceeded that of the giant, causing the trident to bounce away. And with that, its low HP went down to a hair¡¯s breadth.

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s all keep pushing!¡±

    Maple continued to use her guns, Sally and Kasumi their des, Chrome and Kanade used what skills they could use, and Izu used bombs and other damage items without restraint.

    ¡°Let¡¯s finish you off!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s finish you off!¡±

    Ultimately, it was when Mai and Yui, the two who had contributed the most in this raid boss fight, who caused the giant to explode into light and disappear after they swung their hammers for the final time.

 Chapter 364

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 364

    Defense Specialization and the 8th Layer

    ¡°Everyone! Good work!¡±

    Once the raid boss battle was over, Maple Tree returned to the guild home in order to celebrate the end of the event and the killing of the boss. As Mai and Yui had done especially well, they were the center of attention and looked embarrassed as they were praised.

    ¡°I was shocked when you two came out with eight of them¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t think there would be an enemy out there that would make those hammers feel less excessive.¡±

    ¡°But we don¡¯t know what will happen in the future¡­ Still, I hope that I never meet such monsters.¡±

    They hoped that the raid boss was the only one that could survive after being hit that many times by the pair.

    ¡°Oh, now that the event is over, it seems like the 8thyer will be opened sometime soon.¡±

    ¡°I see. The 8thyer! Uh, we get 5 medals from this event, right? And something on the 8thyer is going to be opened to us, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. But we won¡¯t know until we go there.¡±

    ¡°I wonder what it¡¯s like?¡±

    ¡°I already have an idea.¡±

    ¡°What? Really!?¡±

    ¡°So do I.¡±

    Maple asked Sally and Kanade to tell her, but they insisted that it was best if she found out for herself.

    ¡°That being said, we still have to get through the dungeon, alright?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. But I don¡¯t know if that means much.¡±

    Izu and Chrome said with a shrug of their shoulders. Then they looked at each other.

    Boss. What kind of boss would there have to be if it was to survive Mai and Yui¡¯s attacks?

    Regardless, the members of Maple Tree were not really worried about the 8thyer dungeon as they waited for it to be implemented.

    Time passed, and when the 8thyer was implemented, the eight of them headed straight for the dungeon. The road there was hard, but Mai and Yui were protected by ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ as they smashed all kinds of monsters into dust until they finally reached the boss room.

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m going to open it then!¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m ready.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I already cast what buffs that I could.¡±

    Mai and Yui were shining with different effects as Maple opened the door. What they saw in front of them was a jelly-like creature, much like a slime. This boss was about what would be expected for the 7thyer, as it could transform into other monsters, simr to Kanade¡¯s tamed monster.

    Human, beast, or more monster-like creatures. Depending on what it became, it would be able to fly in the air or dive into the ground. Its status also changed along with its form. You needed to adjust your fighting style to match its skills, or else it would catch you off guard. You could say it was a flexible, powerful monster that could do many different things.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®High-speed Barrier¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Haku, ¡®Paralysis Poison¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Sou, ¡®Sleeping Bubble.¡¯¡±

    ¡°¡®Paralyze Shout¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Necro, ¡®Weight of Death.¡¯¡±

    They unleashed the status effect skills as soon as they entered the room. As the boss could change into many forms, it also had high resistance. The only thing that was effective was Necro¡¯s slowdown effect. However, being slowed meant that it could not run away. In other words, Mai and Yui, who were the incarnation of destruction, could get close to it.

    ¡°¡®Destroy Mode,¡¯ ¡®Double Strike¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Destroy Mode,¡¯ ¡®Double Strike¡¯!¡±

    There was a loud popping noise as the slime¡¯s transformation was interrupted. The jelly exploded and then vanished.

    ¡°I thought it would at least have some kind of damage reduction status¡­¡±

    ¡°It would have had to nullify itpletely in order to survive.¡±

    ¡°Wow. You two are just as crazy as Maple now.¡±

    ¡°Amazing! And in one hit! ¡­Or is it sixteen?¡±

    ¡°We did it!¡¯

    ¡°Uhh¡­thank you for supporting us.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing if you can beat bosses this smoothly. I almost feel sorry for it¡­¡±

    ¡°That being said, it would have been for nothing if they couldn¡¯t hit it. I suppose they were too forgiving in making a boss that could be slowed down¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll pose a bigger challenge to other yers.¡±

    As Maple, Yui and Mai happily high-fived each other, Kasumi, Chrome and Izu¡¯s thoughts were with the poor boss that had exploded.

    ¡°Ah! That¡¯s right. The 8thyer! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    The three started walking ahead, and the five others ran after them. When all eight were lined up, they stepped foot into the 8thyer.

    ¡°Wow¡­!¡±

    ¡°Is it just as you guessed, Kanade?¡±

    ¡°Uhh, I didn¡¯t think it would be quite to this degree?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, me too. Exploration is going to be back-breaking.¡±

    What spread out before the eight of them was a vast sea. They could see the roofs of sunken buildings, and buildings built on top of them. The process had clearly been repeated many times in this city.

    ¡°Woah¡­ Another amazingyer. But it will be hard to swim here.¡±

    ¡°But it looks quite deep¡­? Surely there will be some kind of item to help us.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. I was able to make items from the materials acquired from exclusive monsters of the 8th event. Items that would aid you during underwater exploration. Maybe it was for this ce?¡±

    The members that were able to swim well or had acquired swimming skills were looking at the water with interest. But after enjoying the view for a moment, the trio in the front, Maple, Mai and Yui, looked uncertain as to what they should do.

    It was no wonder, as none of them could acquire the ¡®Swimming¡¯ or ¡®Diving¡¯ skills due to their status.

    ¡°Wh-wh-wh-wh-what should we do?!¡±

    ¡°What do you think!?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­as of now¡­we¡¯ll have to stay on these buildings that are sticking out of the water¡­¡±

    As the three worried that they wouldn¡¯t be able to explore theyer properly, Sally patted them on the shoulder and told them to calm down.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Don¡¯t worry! A lot of people don¡¯t have ¡®Swimming,¡¯ and so there¡¯s no way that it¡¯s required here. Of course, I¡¯m sure it doesn¡¯t hurt.¡±

    She was assuming that there would be an alternative. Upon hearing this, the three calmed down and decided to try and enjoy thisyer. They had only just entered it, and who knew what they might find? They could not make any judgments so quickly.

    ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s explore every corner of thisyer as welll!¡±

    Maple said as she thrust her fist into the air. The 8thyer was a sunken city. They would soon explore these buildings poking out of the water, and the city that slept far down, in the depth of the sea.

 Chapter 365.1

    <strong><b>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 365</b></strong>

    <strong><b>Defense Specialization and the 8th Layer ¨C 2</b></strong>

    Maple and the others arrived at the 8th Layer¡¯s Guild Home using the bridges that had been built between the buildings that were sticking out of the water. A portion of the Guild Home was underwater, and one could go down some stairs into the lower parts of the building that werepletely submerged.

    ¡°Is it safe to go down here?¡±

    ¡°Well, it <em><i>is </i></em>inside the Guild Home, so I don¡¯t think there would be anything dangerous below¡­ Should we go take a look?¡±

    When Sally, who was good at swimming, tried to go down the stairs, a pop-up window appeared, telling her that she was currently unable to enter.

    ¡°Tsk, I guess that¡¯s a no. So I have to meet certain requirements in order to go down here?¡±

    There were still so many things we didn¡¯t know about, so we had to do some investigating first. Sally reread the message received from the GMs. ording to it, achieving the required cumtive number of defeats in the previous event, would give them everything they needed to explore the 8th Layer.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it has something to do with this, right?¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s take a look around!¡±

    As they would usually do, Maple and everyone spreaded out to take a good look around the sunken city.

    Since most of the city was underwater, there were many NPCs going here and there by boat. Those who were going on foot had to cross the bridges between the buildings.

    This time, Maple decided to go take a look around the sunken city with Sally, so they left the Guild Home and started their search right away.

    ¡°I wonder if we can get inside those submerged buildings¡­¡±

    ¡°You think? They seem to go pretty deep down underwater, though¡­¡±

    The water was transparent enough that it was possible to see quite a bit of the submerged sections of the buildings from above water. As Sally observed, they seemed to go quite deep into the water.

    ¡°Everything seems to be submerged, even outside this city, so there must be a way to go take a look underwater.¡±

    Otherwise, this would be a Layer where one could only explore the few buildings that protrude from the surface of the water. Assuming that wouldn¡¯t be the case, the two walked around the city, and quickly found what they were looking for.

    It was very simr to the NPC that was selling those machines for flying in the air in the 3rd Layer. There were several diving suits lined up as if they were asking you to use them to explore underwater.

    ¡°Should we give it a try?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    As they were looking at the diving suits, the NPC started talking to them.

    ¡°If you¡¯re looking to do an underwater search, look no further! You might be able to go even deeper underwater depending on the treasures you manage to bring out of the water.¡±

    At the same time, a pop-up window with a message from the GMs appeared in front of them.

    It exined that they had added these new diving suits along with the 8th Layer, which would allow yers to explore underwater. The purpose of this Layer is to go deeper underwater and get the gear that sleeps on the bottom of the water by exploring using these diving suits along with the items obtained during the previous event.

    ¡°It looks like the idea is to go underwater and get enhancement parts for the diving suits so that we can then go even deeper underwater and look for rare gear. It also seems that we can use these to get to the underwater section of the Guild Home.¡±

    ¡°Ooh¡­ With water this deep, I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a lot of great stuff to be found underwater!¡±

    ¡°Maybe there¡¯s a sunken ship full of treasure? We have to check it out!¡±

    Or even a water-eroded building that would turn out to be a trace of a former civilization, where there may be many treasures to be found inside, Sally said. Just like back when the 4th Layer was released, getting this much content out must have taken a lot of time and dedication, so it would be a shame not to explore it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get ourselves some diving suits then!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s! Let¡¯s try them in shallow water first.¡±

    ¡°Agreed~!¡±

    Maple and Sally each chose their diving suits and headed for a water-covered field with little foothold.

    After getting Maple and herself on a boat, Sally rowed towards the field.

    The 8th Layer was simr in nature to the 4th Layer in that you couldn¡¯t just do as you pleased unless you first bought a diving suit and then upgraded it. The description of the diving suit showed that whenever you tried to dive below the depth it allowed you to, the time you could be active in the water would begin to decrease rapidly. Therefore, the idea was to start by exploring some shallow areas, salvaging materials to upgrade the suit, and then try deeper spots.

    ¡°It really does feel like the ocean.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and since there¡¯s no foothold, monsters aren¡¯t going to be walking around here. It¡¯s going to be a whole new experience!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not very good at swimming¡­ But I¡¯ll still do my best to find some good items!¡±

    The diving suit and the other underwater exploration items obtained at the previous event were meant as an aid during exploration. Since Maple didn¡¯t have the ¡°Swimming¡± nor ¡°Diving¡± skills, she had both a shorter dive time and inferior mobility underwaterpared to Sally, who had both skills. In order for Maple to be able to explore thoroughly and have a chance at finding items, she had to extend her dive time.

    Since they still didn¡¯t know what awaited them underwater, they didn¡¯t go too far away from the sunken city, instead focusing on finding an area where they could dive using their initial diving suit.

    Once Sally stopped rowing, she put on her diving suit. Although it wasn¡¯t a cosmetic essory, it seemed to overwrite one¡¯s appearance. Sally was now wearing a wetsuit instead of her usual blue clothes.

    Although her underwater movement speed had increased, the amount of time she could stay underwater hadn¡¯t changed much, so it was meant to be used by people who could explore faster like Sally.

    ¡°I look different¡­ But my gear is still the same.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a first! This kind of thing would normally rece your gear¡­¡±

    ¡°Imagine if we were able to take this diving suit out of the 8th Layer? Since it doesn¡¯t change your gear, your stats remain the same. It¡¯d be a real problem if everyone starts walking around wearing this¡­¡±

    If Maple¡¯s usual ck armor appearance were to be reced with this diving suit, her opponents wouldn¡¯t be able to tell what type of skills she could use against them. But since wearing the diving suit was restricted to the 8th Layer, this idea could be nothing more than an expectation for the future.

    At any rate, since they were going to explore underwater, Maple also put on her diving suit. In her case, the suitpletely covered her body like a spacesuit, and even had something that looked like an oxygen cylinder on her back. The only transparent part of her suit was the frontal screen on her diving helmet.

    Unlike Sally¡¯s suit, Maple¡¯s suit allowed for a longer time underwater while at the same time reducing underwater movement speed, so she intended to use it to move slowly underwater while exploring thoroughly.

    ¡°Ooh, yours does look like a typical diving suit.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you should be able to remain underwater for longer with that tank.¡±

    ¡°Alright~ Let¡¯s see how long I can stay underwater!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We go at three?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    <em><i>One, two, three! </i></em>The two plunged into the water at the same time. Water sshed up and arge amount of bubbles passed in front of them. After their view became clear, what spread before them was a world of clear blue water and a group of water-eroded buildings that looked so old that they could be considered to be ruins.

    While many small non-monster fish were swimming around and various aquatic nts were swaying peacefully, there were some monsters here and there. They didn¡¯t seem to be heading towards them at the moment, but they still kept their eyes peeled.

    ¡°So, Maple? How is it?¡±

    ¡°Waaah! Sally!?¡±

    Even though the two were underwater, Maple was able to hear Sally¡¯s voice normally. She hadn¡¯t confirmed it would work both ways, but the 8th Layer¡¯s diving suit seemed special.

    ¡°Since the 8th Layer is basically underwater exploration all over the ce, they made it so that yers wearing diving suits couldmunicate with each other normally. Exploring without being able to talk to each other would be a hassle, after all.¡±

    ¡°Eeh~ So that¡¯s why¡­ Being able to speak to each other underwater has a certain mysterious air¡­¡±

    ¡°Be careful about your timer as we explore. Remember that suit makes you move slower than usual.¡±

    Although they could hear each other¡¯s voices, they were still underwater, so they had to keep moving in order to make the most out of the little time they had.

    ¡°The monsters here don¡¯t seem to be aggressive, so let¡¯s try getting inside buildings for now.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    It would be better to prioritize getting into those ces where they wouldn¡¯te out of the water as quickly. Sally led the way, and went inside one of the submerged buildings, which was an easy thing to do considering that all doors and windows were already gone. The two quickly decided to take a look inside.

    There was no furniture in the room anymore, and instead, it was filled with aquatic nts, small fish, andrge ms.

    ¡°Does it look like there¡¯s treasure lying around here?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re still rather close to the water¡¯s surface. That kind of thing would be much deeper underwater.¡±

    ¡°Ohh~ I can¡¯t wait!¡±

    ¡°Well, we still need to look around for items to enhance our diving suits, so..¡±

    The two of them rummaged through the aquatic nts, looking for anything that could seem useful.

    ¡°Sally, there are some stairs here!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s try taking them downstairs. Looking from outside, it seems there¡¯s a window we can use to get out of hereter.¡±

    The arrangement of stairs, windows, doors, and so on was a little different from that of a normal house because it looked as if the extensions on the building were repeated over and over on the sunken sections. It would be no wonder then that there would be many entrances and stairs since every floor will be the first floor above the ground whenever the water level were to rise.

    Since the room they were in seemed to have been submerged quite recently, there were still rooms under it for them to explore.

    ¡°Yeah! Even if a monster were toe out, we should be fine!¡±

    ¡°¡­But be careful about poison, okay? It looks like it would dissolve easily in the water.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah! I will.¡±

    If poison were to spread in the water like when they defeated the giant squid during the second event, there would be no way to see iting. Monsters and other yers, including Sally, would be randomly poisoned, and if that were to happen now, it could turn into quite the mess since Maple had nothing to heal their poisoning with.

    If anything, it would be better to use something like ¡°Paralyze Shout¡± which had an immediate effect and carried no risk to pollute the water around them.

    They would be okay as long as they were careful about their search. The two kept on looking for anything that could be useful for enhancing their diving suits. Even though they were in their initial states, they seemed tost long enough to allow them to search the entire building. After going down several floors, they found something glittering among the aquatic nts. More than having its own natural light, it seemed that the glittering effect was added so that it was easy to find.

    ¡°Sally, there¡¯s something over there!¡±

    Rather than swimming, Maple walked closer and squeezed through the stretched aquatic nts, and found a shining blue sphere and screws and bolts that looked like mechanical parts.

    ¡°They look like materials of some sort¡­ What could they be?¡±

    ¡°Is that all of them? There was a lump of water among the drops from thest event.¡±

    When Sally handed it to Maple, the two checked the items they had found.

    ¡°Ah, looks like it¡¯s all here.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if they¡¯re shining so that they¡¯re easy to find¡­¡±

    ¡°I know, right? I don¡¯t know yet, but it doesn¡¯t seem that these were shining just because. Finding these is going to be easier than I thought!¡±

    The water level changed every few minutes, which meant that exploring the 8th Layer would take a considerable amount of time. For that reason, they had to increase the suits¡¯ timer and movement speed, so that even Maple could move freely underwater. That being said, the fact that she had no underwater skills had some implications. But at any rate, the two were happy to have found the materials earlier than anticipated. The better the performance of their diving suits, the less the impact of not having underwater skills.

    ¡°At this rate, we should have enough time to go look for another one!¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go on for a little while longer. But we have to be careful not to overdo it and end up drowning.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the 8th Layer seems to be the hardest of them all.¡±

    Before they realized, they were already running out of time, so they had to suspend their search. Thinking about it, Maple¡¯s greatest enemy seemed to be terrain, such asva and huge bodies of water.

 Chapter 366

    <strong><b>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 366</b></strong>

    <strong><b>Defense Specialization and the 8th Layer ¨C 3</b></strong>

    While Maple and Sally were busy exploring the sunken building, Iz and Kasumi were heading somewhere else.

    Needless to say, Sally had the highest skill levels on the ¡°Swimming¡± and ¡°Diving¡± skills of all of ¡°Maple Tree¡±, but Iz was right behind her. And since Kasumi also had a high level on both skills, they said that they could search together at the same pace.

    Chrome, Kanade, Mai, and Yui were also exploring. Since the atmosphere of the field found in the 8th Layer waspletely different from everything they had encountered so far, their less than usual skills became more important.

    Iz chose a diving suit that would allow her to search for a long time so that she could search thoroughly for materials, and Kasumi chose one with excellent mobility, simr to the one Sally had chosen.

    The two of them also got on a boat and headed out to the endless body of water. However, Iz¡¯s boat was special in that it wasn¡¯t for rowing.

    ¡°Is that¡­ Is that an engine?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not exactly that, but something simr. I¡¯ve only been able to use this a few times, but I¡¯m d I decided to make it.¡±

    Since it spewed a stream of water upwards as it roared over the water¡¯s surface, it would be more appropriate to call it a jet ski rather than a boat.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that Maple, Mai, and Yui can¡¯t use it since it has a DEX requirement.¡±

    ¡°The 8th Layer is huge. I thought that by using this I would be able to turn into a pleasant ride, but it seems it won¡¯t be that easy.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try my best to gather as many materials as I can, so we can improve everyone¡¯s performance.¡±

    Since Iz was able to get more materials than the rest, she was nning to devote herself to collecting materials to enhance all of the guild members¡¯ diving suits.

    ¡°That¡¯s going to be a great help.¡±

    ¡°This means that I¡¯ll be counting on you to get the treasure from the deeper sections of the map. I¡¯m counting on you all.¡±

    The monsters found on the shallow parts of the water didn¡¯t seem to be aggressive, but there was no telling what could be lurking in the deepest parts. It was likely that at some point yers would need to be as proficient inbat as they are in gathering materials.

    At that moment, Iz would have some trouble defeating monsters. Although she did have a certain degree ofbat ability, she was more of a crafter than she was a fighter.

    After dashing through the water on her jet ski for a while, they came to a stop.

    The shallows were basically spread out near the city, but there were also lots of shallow parts all over the field. Since they didn¡¯t have to bother exploring near the city, they went to a shallow section where there were no other yers around.

    ¡°We should be able to explore here at our leisure. So we can take as many materials as we can get our hands on.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m counting on you then. I¡¯ll be fighting monsters while you do that. The ones here might be a little stronger than the ones found near the city.¡±

    It was far more efficient for them to have Iz gathering materials, since Kazumi didn¡¯t have the appropriate skills for that task. Kasumi would be acting as Iz¡¯s guard this time.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s jump in!¡±

    ¡°All right.¡±

    After putting on their diving suits, they jumped off the jet ski and into the water. Then, they quickly realized what this shallow area so far from the city actually was.

    ¡°I see¡­ So that¡¯s what this ce was.¡±

    ¡°This used to be a mountain!¡±

    What spread below them was a nted rocky surface. It seemed to be the summit of what once was a mountain, which created a shallow section of the submerged area.

    ¡°We might be able to find a cave or something if we take a closer look at it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. There might even be a dungeon inside. But¡­ I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be too deep of a ce for us right now.¡±

    Regardless of how much they wanted to explore it, they wouldn¡¯t be able to investigate it thoroughly until their diving suits were enhanced to the appropriate level.

    ¡°Still, I¡¯m really looking forward to it! I¡¯m sure everyone else is going to find something useful as well.¡±

    Just like this mountain right under them, there could be other ces that were once t, and ces that were originally underwater even before the flooding. Several dungeons could be sleeping under this endless water source, waiting to be discovered.

    ¡°Exploring new, undiscovered ces is really exciting, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°But if we want toe out on top, we may have no other choice but to work really hard.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, of course. Ah, there¡¯s one ce where we can collect some ore right away.¡±

    Iz took out her pickaxe and pointed at the ce she was talking about for Kasumi to see. They could stay there and chat, but materials wouldn¡¯t collect themselves. There were some gathering points visible on the mountain surface, and some among them were glittering like the one Maple and Sally hade across.

    ¡°I¡¯ll defeat any monsters thate near you, so you can focus on your mining.¡±

    ¡°Thanks! I¡¯ll take you up on your kind offer then.¡±

    As Iz began to swim, somerge fish that were in the area started swimming towards her all at once.

    ¡°Arms of the Warrior!¡±

    Kasumi activated her skill, and the two armored arms holdingrge katanas appeared on each side of her body as usual. Using her momentum and increased underwater speed, she quickly got closer to Iz, and activated her next skill.

    ¡°Blood de!¡±

    In order to attack several monsters, she used her skills to mow down the fish in one go by liquefying her katana.

    ¡°Alright, looks like they will work well underwater.¡±

    Her katana stayed true to its trajectory as expected without dissolving in the water like Maple¡¯s poison, and attacked the swarming fish monsters in a single sh. Since she found that she could fight freely underwater, Kasumi thought of taking advantage of how her weapon behaved in these conditions.

    When shing upwards, the liquefied sword came to a sudden stop at its peak,ing down on its own with the force of a whish. Byunching the attack while standing on the mountain, she wouldn¡¯t be rushed in from her blindspot. Maintaining an advantageous position over the mountain¡¯s surface that could only be kept for a brief moment, Kasumi was able to attack all of the rushing fish without fear of retaliation.

    ¡°Maybe I didn¡¯t need to use Arms of the Warrior after all?¡±

    After confirming that all of the attacking fish were gone and that the area was safe, Kasumi returned to Iz¡¯s side.

    ¡°Thanks, Kasumi. I¡¯m sure my bombs would work underwater, but they might not be as powerful as usual.¡±

    Iz¡¯s main ways of defending herself was through the use of bombs. The fact that they were not as effective as an actual weapon made her want to avoid fighting all the more.

    ¡°You can rest assured that no monsters will be able to dy you for even a second.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so reliable!¡±

    As she said that, Iz hit the gathering point with her pickaxe. Mixed among the ore she was able to collect, she found a special material that could be used to enhance their diving suits. Naturally, mining would be a much better way for Iz to collect those enhancing materials than looking everywhere for scattered glittering items.

    ¡°Amazing¡­ I guess that¡¯s one of the good things about being a specialist.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me. I¡¯ll get plenty of these for everyone!¡±

    The reason why Iz was able to say that with such confidence was that she had taken the time and effort to train her crafting and gathering skills.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go get myself used to moving underwater.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Moving around here ispletely different from what it is above ground.¡±

    The difficult part about fighting underwater is that enemies could attack from every possible direction in all three dimensions. The fish from earlier had simply rushed towards them, but they may be eventually faced with enemies using skills, so Kasumi thought that she should properly get the hang of how to fight underwater.

    ¡°It seems we can both still go for a bit more underwater. Let¡¯s see how deep we can actually reach with these diving suits.¡±

    ¡°Sounds right. We might be able to find something useful quite quickly as well.¡±

    The two of them decided to go a little deeper along the sunken mountain¡¯s surface and continue their search there.

    Without knowing that the Iz and Kasumi were traveling by jet ski, the other four members were exploring close to the city, like Maple and Sally. However, instead of being a ce with many sunken buildings, the area they were in was covered in sandy terrain. Here, too, the slope continued so deep that it became harder to see past a certain point, just like the mountain where Izu and Kasumi were exploring, and yet, it looked a bit more like a mountain slope than a sandy beach.

    ¡°Alright, there¡¯s no way we could get ambushed here.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s gotta be a lot of monsters in such an open area, but we should be able to deal with them if we spread out.¡±

    This team of four included Mai and Yui, who would die in a single blow no matter what they did, and none of them was particrly very good at swimming, so they were basically unfit for underwater exploration. Because of that, they would explore a terrain that was easy enough for them.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be taking the safety measures you¡¯ve mentioned from here on. Alright, let¡¯s dive in!¡±

    ¡°¡±Yeah!¡±¡±

    Since there was no point for any of the four of them to increase their underwater mobility, each of them chose a type of diving suit that extended the time they could remain underwater. After implementing the safety measures that Mai and Yui had mentioned, the four sank underwater.

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m d. I was worried about what we were going to do if we end up making a whirlpool or something like that¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that could happen here. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t even be able to use your weapon.¡±

    That had be Mai and Yui¡¯s basic way to fight while out in the field these days. By using ¡°Helping Hand¡± to add six great hammers and rotate them around their bodies, they can create a whirlwind that turns any monster thates in contact with it into fine dust.

    This isn¡¯t as good to use against yers, but it was tremendously effective against monsters that would just charge at them. Chrome was the only one of the group to realize that the ¡°ck and white tornadoes¡± that yers have been talking about in the forum were actually these two.

    ¡°But you should still probably stay clear of our path so that you don¡¯t get hit.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not like you¡¯ll die if we hit you¡­ But still. We could stillunch you quite a fair distance.¡±

    Even though they wouldn¡¯t be damaged, they would be blown away by the impact for sure. Sally had once suggested using it tounch Maple as if she were a cannonball, but if the others were to be hit, the result would be impossible topare to that.

    In any case, this would ensure their safety. Even so, Chrome and Kanade were on the lookout for monsters that could slip through the twins¡¯ offensive, so they in turn could rest assured that they wouldn¡¯t be unexpectedly hit by any sneaky monster.

    ¡°Should we start looking around? ¡­You two make sure to stay within range of my Cover Move, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡±Yeah, got it!¡±¡±

    Mai and Yui started rotating their hammers and pushing forward, stopping for nothing other than any glittering parts that could appear at their feet. They decided to gather only around a close area so as to not identally hit Chrome or Kanade.

    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s going to be difficult to reach the dungeon for now, so we have to hurry and get lots of parts.¡±

    ¡°So we have to collect lots of them, huh? I don¡¯t dislike this kind of steady work, though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the feeling I get from this.¡±

    Chrome¡¯s quest to obtain his new gear could be considered a steady work that required a lot of collecting, so Kanade¡¯s way of putting it was quite convincing to him. In fact, Chrome seemed to be having fun as he looked for parts.

    ¡°But searching for things underwater isn¡¯t exactly something I do too often. I¡¯ll have to get used to moving around, so it might take a while.¡±

    ¡°We have to follow their example too.¡±

    As he just finished saying that, Kanade saw how innocent monsters were getting dragged into Mai and Yui¡¯s peculiar way to move over the surface of the underwater ground.

    ¡°Well, not exactly like that¡­¡±

    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll most likely have to fight underwater for the next event, so maybe I¡¯ll take the Swimming skill for now¡­¡±

    ¡°That mighte in handy. Though I wonder if we can¡¯t unlock it naturally by exploring this 8th Layer.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that could be the case as well.¡±

    As they searched for materials while chatting, Mai and Yui called out to them.

    ¡°Hey, Chrome! We¡¯d like to go a little further ahead!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve already managed to find a part here¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh! Leave the defense to me then! I¡¯ll keep my eyes peeled out!¡±

    ¡°¡±Thank you!¡±¡±

    Thus Chrome started to get a sense of distance from them, thinking about how ridiculously strong those two had be, and wondering if they really needed his protection at all.

 Chapter 367

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 367</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the 8th Layer ¨C 4</strong>

    In this way, each of them continued their search, and after collecting some parts, they gathered in the Guild Home.

    Maple and Sally arrived first since they had been exploring closest to it, and quickly checked their results with Chrome and the others.

    ¡°Oh, we¡¯ve managed to get quite a few of them! We¡¯ve been exploring the sunken buildings, and we found one of them on almost every building we searched!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, to us here it felt like hunting for seashells on a sandy beach. The fiercepetition makes this feel like a real challenge!¡±

    Since this was simr to the release of the 4th Layer, it seemed that the amount they had collected so far wasn¡¯t enough to allow them to dive to the deeper parts. Like Chrome said, they would have to work steadily in order to make any progress.

    Finally, Iz and Kasumi finally arrived at the front door of the Guild Home riding their extremely conspicuous jet ski.

    ¡°Oh, looks like we¡¯re the slowest of the bunch, huh?¡±

    ¡°A-And you were going so fast, too¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that thing you were riding?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a boat, of course.¡±

    ¡°Just another one of those weird contraptions of yours¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like you have the DEX need to use it, Chrome.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, if I were to get on that boat thing, it¡¯d flip over in an instant.¡±

    ¡°Umm, why don¡¯t we leave it at that¡­? We¡¯ve gathered quite a lot of parts!¡±

    ¡°Wow, you¡¯ve got so many of them!¡±

    Iz then showed the parts she and Kasumi had collected, which was more than what all of the othersbined had gathered.

    ¡°Whoa! That¡¯s Iz for you!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re amazing¡­ If you can gather this many in such a short time¡­¡±

    ¡°We were the only ones out there. It does seem that you can get more parts the farther from the city you explore after all.¡±

    The farther from the city you were, the farther you would be from the Guild Home, and the strongest the monsters would be. With that in mind, it was only natural that there would be more materials to find the more dangerous a spot was.

    ¡°So you were in a shoal far from the coast¡­?¡±

    ¡°More than a shoal, it was like a sunken mountain.¡±

    ¡°So maybe the normal surface of the ground is right at the bottom. In that case, we¡¯re right now at the remaining surfacing mountaintops.¡±

    ¡°Then it makes sense to think that the real treasure would be at the very bottom.¡±

    ¡°If we go look for more parts a couple more times today, I think we should be able to get enough to upgrade one of our diving suits.¡±

    There are several types of enhancements for diving suits to choose from. By increasing its attribute points, one could extend the amount of time allowed underwater while using it. There were also enhancements that allowed the user to dive deeper. Of course, enhancing a diving suit would be most effective when allocating as many parts as possible to a single type of enhancement.

    ¡°Searching the shallows is great and all, but how about we go a little farther away for a change?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ That doesn¡¯t sound too bad.¡±

    When it came to deciding on who to concentrate all their resources on, everyone seemed to share the same idea about who would be the most qualified member of the team to do so, as they all turned towards her at the same time.

    ¡°Me¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I think you¡¯re our best bet, Sally!¡±

    Everyone, including Izu, who had broken the ice with thatment, seemed to have the same opinion, and there were no objections.

    ¡°You have a high ability to explore underwater, and are very strong at individualbat. I¡¯d say you¡¯re more than qualified.¡±

    ¡°¡­Okay. If it¡¯s okay for all of you to use your parts on my diving suit, then I¡¯ll pay you back by searching as much as I can.¡±

    As long as Sally was okay with the idea, it could be said that Maple Tree¡¯s n of action would be decided. If Sally could go explore deeper sections and get more parts there, it would also benefit the rest of the team. After all, the better items were always waiting to be found in more dangerous ces.

    ¡°Ehehe, it¡¯s a great responsibility, right, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me. I¡¯ll make sure that your collective efforts pay off.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t wait to see what¡¯s hidden under the guild home.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We won¡¯t be able to go under its sunken section unless we upgrade our diving suits.¡±

    ¡°This is the first time I can¡¯t enter some part of a guild home!¡±

    ¡°What do you guys think is there¡­?¡±

    Their search on the 8th Layer had only started, and there were so many things they didn¡¯t understand yet. Still, Maple and the others set out to find a yet unseen treasure as soon as possible.

 Chapter 368

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 368</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the 8th Layer ¨C 5</strong>

    A few dayster, they had already gathered all the parts they needed to upgrade Sally¡¯s diving suit as Iz had suggested, and in a single upgrade, they managed to make it so that Sally had no restrictions when diving underwater. After that had been taken care of, Sally immediately headed for the underwater section of the guild home.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go take a look. Since it¡¯s in the city, I don¡¯t think there will be any monsters down there.¡±

    Still, they haven¡¯t seen anything like that before, so it would be better to be on the safe side.

    Sally took a deep breath and went down the stairs leading into the water. What she found was a room that looked simr to the ones she and Maple had been exploring when they were looking for parts, and seemed to be connected to multiple rooms.

    Holding a dagger in one hand, she pressed forward while making sure it was safe, and eventually came across a stone rack with several book-like things lined up on its shelves.

    ¡°Normal books would be ruined underwater¡­ Are these stone tablets?¡±

    The stone tablets were arranged from old to (rtively) new, and they contained information about the 8th Layer¡¯s origins, such as its point in history when the water level started to rise for the first time, and the ce where all that water wasing from.

    ¡°It looks like the water ising from a dungeon. Is this¡­ a symbol?¡±

    Some of the stone tablets were just an enumeration of symbols whose meaning Sally had no way of understanding at the time. However, as she looked through the room, she was able to think of a ce that could be rted to all of that, based on the information she had been gathering so far.

    ¡°I guess that¡¯s it, huh¡­? I can¡¯t seem to be able to go any deeper than this.¡±

    After going down a few stairs, Sally was stopped by entry restrictions once more, so she decided to go back for the time being. It seemed that the underwater section of the guild home was a ce where you could get certain hints ording to one¡¯s progress. Unlike other Layers, It would be too difficult to have to explore the 8th Layer blindly, so hints had been scattered here and there to help yers progress through the Layer.

    Since there were no monsters in the city, Sally was able to return safely to the surface.

    ¡°So, how was it?¡±

    ¡°Instead of books, there were some stone tablets which hinted at the location of a dungeon. There were some things I couldn¡¯t read because they seemed like a bunch of random symbols, but maybe it was some kind of map.¡±

    ¡°I see. We could use those hints to help us find where we should be diving next.¡±

    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to go straight for that dungeon in the deeper parts, huh?¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll share what I found with you and the others as well, Maple.¡±

    Sally sent the photos she took to the other seven and told them about her ns from here on.

    ¡°If I¡¯m understanding this correctly, there should be a dungeon or an event that leads to a rare item one level deeper from here, so I¡¯ll go take a look while getting more parts.¡±

    ¡°Got it! Take care, Sally.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, if it gets too dangerous, I¡¯ll instantly back out. Underwater battles are tough, after all.¡±

    It wouldn¡¯t be long before all guild members would be able to explore as deep as Sally. If it ended up being too dangerous, it would be better to go with the entire team. That way, they wouldn¡¯t have anything to worry about, even if they were toe across a normal boss battle.

    ¡°I hope we can get more parts soon.¡±

    ¡°When that happens, Iz should be the next one. I think we¡¯ll get faster results that way.¡±

    Sally would be on guard duty, so it would be perfectly safe to have Iz¡¯s diving suit upgraded next. By doing that, the team¡¯s ability to collect parts would skyrocket. It wouldn¡¯t be too long before the entire team could explore the bottom of the ocean.

    ¡°I¡¯ll look for parts as well, but I¡¯d also like to take a walk around the city. I¡¯ve been going underwater too much. I¡¯ll let you guys know if I find anything. I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ll be able to fight by myself, after all.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? But if you used one of your spellbooks¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, but I¡¯m trying to save those for now. I might not even find anything to begin with, so don¡¯t keep your hopes up.¡±

    Kanade said that, but more than going for a simple walk, he seemed to have something to think about. Besides, it was unlikely for the prudent Kanade to decide to take on any activity that could prove to be useless to him.

    And like that, they started to explore the deeper sections in order to find rare items and rare skills, all while collecting essential parts to upgrade their diving suits.

 Chapter 369

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 369</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Diving Suits</strong>

    After receiving everyone¡¯s parts and bing able to dive even deeper, Sally started rowing her boat towards the ce she had set her mind on.

    ¡°If only we could both use it, I¡¯d ask Iz to make me one of those jet skis.¡±

    Sally was craving for a little more speed, since traveling by boat was more rxed than the 7th Layer¡¯s horseback riding. Being able to explore at her leisure with Maple was fine, but a jet ski had its charm since being efficient was also important, which made Sally wish they¡¯d both meet the DEX requirement to ride a jet ski.

    ¡°Well, maybe next time.¡±

    At any rate, they were getting close to their destination. Leaving the possibility of using a jet ski for a future exploration, Sally put on her diving suit and quickly jumped into the water.

    Below the surface of the water, there were a series of rocky mountains, revealing andscape that seemed to have once been a mountain ridge. Sally felt as if she was a bird looking down on the mountains from the sky.

    ¡°Woah, this ce is bigger than I thought¡­ It must be somewhere around here, I think¡­¡±

    It was the exact ce the map she found under the guild home indicated. When she arrived at the actual site, Sally felt as if there was something going on with that ce¡¯s terrain.

    ¡°Okay. It¡¯s no use to just stay here and look at the ce. Let¡¯s take a look.¡±

    Looking at the scenery from above, Sally kicked hard on the water and went deeper. There had been no monsters to be found near the surface of the water, but some started to appear as she approached the surface of the mountain.

    ¡°Ah, these ones seem to be aggressive!¡±

    Several sharks were heading towards Sally. Though she had already fought with many sharks that looked like these during the 9th event, those fights had been on the surface, which could be said was the most favorable terrain for Sally.

    This time, however, she couldn¡¯t afford to act rashly, even though she had fought against simr enemies before.

    While she was exploring safely with Maple, Sally could confirm how her skills would change when used underwater. For example, ¡°Icicle¡± is a skill that extends an actual icicle from the surface of the ground, so it couldn¡¯t be used in ces where the ground was so far down below that she couldn¡¯t even see it.

    However, Sally¡¯s strength didn¡¯t depend on her skills, and she was rtively good at underwaterbat, so it would be safe to assume that she would face almost no problems as long as she paid attention to her timer.

    ¡°Hah! Yaah!¡±

    As long as she was careful to avoid the shark¡¯s water breath attack ¨Cwhich was a different color so that yers could easily tell the difference with regr water while underwater¨C she could brush past them with her dagger. Now that she could increase her attack power with ¡°Sword Dance¡±, deal additional damage with ¡°Pursuing de¡±, ¡°Fire Child¡±, and ¡°Water Coat¡±, even a single basic attack had so much destructive power that it couldn¡¯t bepared to the damage she could do during her first underwater battle, back when the game had been just recently released.

    ¡°These may not be the most suitable skills to use here, but it¡¯s pretty effective anyway!¡±

    Fire attacks had been made so that they weren¡¯t as effective underwater, and water attacks wouldn¡¯t work too well against monsters that could use water to attack as well.

    Even so, the reason why it was more effective than expected was that she had maximized the attack boost she could get through ¡°Sword Dance¡±. The increase in attack power was huge, since its trigger conditions were considerably strict.

    Sally swam her way through the sharks, defeating them one after another. As long as they were just using their breath attacks, the fact that Sally was underwater would make no difference. Besides, the dungeon boss she had to fight to get her unique gear was several times much stronger than these monsters.

    ¡°Now for the finisher¡­!¡±

    Afterunching herself like a torpedo, she sliced past thest of the sharks and then came to a sudden stop.

    ¡°Since I¡¯m using ¡®Water Maniption¡¯ while moving underwater, I might be able to move more smoothly than I expected.¡±

    Unlike Maple, Sally¡¯s ¡°Swimming¡± and ¡°Diving¡± skills were maxed out, and that put together with Iz¡¯s support items for underwater movement, plus the bonus from the 8th Layer¡¯s diving suit, made it feel like she had no time limit at all, as opposed to back when she was trying to obtain her unique gear.

    Sally estimated that she wouldn¡¯t drown as long as she headed straight to the surface, and darted towards the mountain¡¯s surface before the monsters she had just defeated began to respawn.

    ¡°Okay. Phew¡­ Let¡¯s see.¡±

    The flora and fauna that must have originally covered these mountains were all but gone, so there were no forests or such that could hide anything. Besides, since she was swimming in a ce that was originally in the middle of the air, it would make more sense to search for caves or pathways.

    ¡°I hope there¡¯s a dungeon or something around here.¡±

    With that, Sally went deeper along the mountain¡¯s surface.

    Sally thoroughly searched behind the shades of rocks, looking for caves or other secret entrances. Since Maple and the others had helped her upgrade her diving suit so quickly, there were no other yers around, so she had to find the ce that would trigger an event all by herself.

    The symbols she had found in the guild home¡¯s basement only pointed to this general area in the mountains, so she didn¡¯t know the exact location. It was still okay for Sally, since she didn¡¯t have to resurface to reset her time as much, but there were still an incredible amount of ces to search.

    ¡°It¡¯s just rocks all around here, I wonder if there¡¯s anything at all?¡±

    As she went on, defeating any monsters that would try to interfere with her search, Sally eventually found a deep crevice halfway down the mountain. When she carefully approached it to see if there was something there, it seemed to continue deeper into the mountain, and Sally thought that she might have finally reached the ce marked by those symbols.

    ¡°Alright, time to resurface for now¡­¡±

    Instead of diving headfirst into the crevice, Sally returned straight to the surface. Her timer would reset instantly the moment she would get out of the water, so she thought abouting back with a full tank, so to speak.

    ¡°Phew¡­ Alright. Let¡¯s try to clear it in one go¡­ Though I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s any point in rushing it.¡±

    There were no yers around so far. If that crevice were to lead to a dungeon, she could be the very first yer to discover it. So she could aim to get her second unique series.

    Without spending too much time taking a deep breath, Sally went back to the water, heading straight for that crevice. Although it was already quite far from the surface of the water, it was bright enough to explore at leisure underwater, and the visibility inside the crevice was also good.

    Sally went deeper, sandwiched between rocky walls on both sides. The water was clear and she couldn¡¯t see any monsters inside, so as long as she was careful, she would be able to find suspicious spots.

    ¡°¡­There¡¯s a lot of them.¡±

    The first thing Sally found was a myriad of holes in the wall, each leading to a different tunnel. Wondering which one of them would lead to the correct path, and intuitively understanding that there would be monsters lurking on the other side, she deepened her focus as she explored around.

    ¡°Has this turned into a fish reef?¡±

    Pulling out her daggers and readying herself for a surprise attack, Sally checked inside the tunnels one by one. Despite her worries, there were no signs of monsters inside them. There were many types of tunnels, some extended to the back for several metres, some woulde to a close dead end, and some of them were quite narrow, while others were wide. Each time Sally reached a dead end, she would turn around and check the nearest unexplored tunnel.

    Since there seemed to be no monsters, checking each tunnel would be something she could do very quickly, and so Sally put all of her efforts into her speed in order to explore them all as fast as possible.

    A little whileter¡­

    When Sally was about to check inside one of those tunnels, she saw a blue lighting straight from ahead, and a few seconds after quickly moving to the side, something that looked like a shark¡¯s breath attack went past her.

    ¡°What? That was almost a bit too easy¡­¡±

    Seeing how this tunnel had shown a different reaction from the others, and realizing that this one had to be the tunnel she had been looking for, Sally once again looked into the tunnel.

    ¡°Maybe it wasn¡¯t a monster? Or did it retreat to the back?

    There were no signs of movement in the clear water. However, there was no doubt that there was something hostile inside, so she proceeded inside while thinking about having Oboro use his ¡°Spirited Away¡±.

    Then, as she swam forward, searching for indications of sharks or any other monster, she came across something unexpected.

    ¡°Is this¡­ a machine? Looks like something that¡¯s operated by magic¡­¡±

    What protruded from the wall looked a bit like a gun that was shining with a faint blue light. Sally thought it could be some kind of trap set there to catch an unsuspecting intruder, as she could still see traces of the light breath-like attack that had been fired from it.

    ¡°There¡¯s some really cool stuff down here. Too bad I have this diving suit¡­ I can¡¯t take this gun thing with me.¡±

    Sally started to think that maybe the treasure that was sleeping inside this mountain wasn¡¯t just all gold and silver. It wouldn¡¯t be strange that everything that used to be in this area before it became submerged still remained there, the same way the surfacing city on this 8th Layer was built on top of the old townscape.

    Excited, Sally went deeper into the tunnel. Then, another blue light appeared ahead, except this time, multiple light bullets wereing at Sally at a high speed.

    However, as long as there was enough room to dodge and she could see where they wereing from, there was no way they would actually hit Sally. The fact that she was underwater made no difference.

    Quickly repositioning herself, Sally twisted her body to avoid the iing light bullets. Contrary to her expectations, there were no signs of any monsters, and as the barrage of bullets went on, she wondered if there wouldn¡¯t be a different kind of danger waiting ahead. Then, as she pressed ahead, the narrow tunnel led to arger area, and Sally realized that this ce looked like an ant¡¯s nest-like dungeon built to show that it had been captured several times before it was flooded.

    ¡°¡­Is this all junk?¡±

    In a vast room that was filled up with water up to the ceiling, there was a huge pile of tattered mechanical partspletely covering what would be its floor. Although there were some parts for upgrading diving suits to be found among all of that wreckage, most of it was basically a huge immovable object.

    Wanting to take back with her as much as she could since she had plenty of time to move around underwater, Sally searched all over the ce through the rusted mechanical parts so as to not miss any usable materials or gear, and then moved on towards the next passage.

    This ce, which Sally had originally thought was a fish reef, seemed to have been ¨Ceither as a warehouse or as a dumpster¨C a ce where many man-made objects had been piled up. As Sally moved, some of the still unbroken machines reacted, lighting up and shooting light bullets at her.

    Sally kept on collecting diving suit parts she would find scattered here and there, thinking that these machines could be the reason behind theck of living creatures in the area.

    Since this ce was one step deeper than what could be explored with an unupgraded diving suit, the amount of parts that could be gathered in it was considerably high, so it could be said it was worth exploring this mountain even for the parts alone. There didn¡¯t seem to be any monsters around, and the only pressure came from those machines¡¯ light bullets, which weren¡¯t too intense anyway. Exploring this ce wasn¡¯t too big of a deal for Sally, who didn¡¯t have to worry too much about her underwater timer.

    However, this was a dungeon, so the moment she were to find a boss room, things would be different, and she would have to step up her game so that she could defeat it in one go.

    Yet this was exactly what Sally was hoping for. All she wanted was to get new skills and new gear, not a ce where she could just rx while collecting parts.

    ¡°I hope this ce doesn¡¯t let me down¡­!¡±

    Hoping to find a boss room soon, Sally kept swimming towards the deepest parts of this cave while avoiding the light bullets the machines would fire at her every now and then.

 Chapter 370

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 370</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Underwater Battle</strong>

    As she went even deeper, she found even more submerged broken machinery, and was attacked by unbroken machines more frequently as well.

    Sally was able to dodge them tightly, but as she did, she came across something a little different from those light bullets. It was a faint light that seemed to be floating lightly in the water. As she slowly approached it, wondering what it could be, the faint light slowly warped into the shape of arge fish, which then rushed toward Sally.

    ¡°Wind Cutter!¡±

    Although the spell managed to stop its advance, the de of the wind passed through the fish¡¯s transparent body, which seemed to be made of light. Sally hurriedly tried to dodge its eventual second rush, and sure enough, the fish charged at her once again. This time, Sally tried to swim past it and sh at it with one of her daggers, but she felt no resistance or collision at all, almost as if the dagger had just passed through water. And of course, there was no damage effect either.

    Sally would have been able to attack it to see if it really was a monster if it had any kind of stamina or defense, but it seemed that she couldn¡¯t attack it at all. As a result of thinking about what happened while avoiding a series of rushes by the light fish, she came to one conclusion.

    ¡°Do I have to keep dodging this guy until I find something¡­?¡±

    For the time being, all she could do was keep dodging it, so she had to keep moving while trying to find a way to do something about it. However,pared to the monsters in the 8th Layer, it wasn¡¯t doing anything except charging at Sally, so it seemed that all she was supposed to do was to just dodge it.

    In fact, even without Sally¡¯s evasiveness, most yers who have advanced the game to this point should be able to handle such an attack.

    ¡°If things are getting like this already, it shouldn¡¯t be long before the boss makes an appearance.¡±

    Sally swam steadily while avoiding the light fish. Instead of stopping to dodge, she simply kept on pressing forward, dodging with minimum movements so that she wasted almost no time doing so, treating her pursuer as if it didn¡¯t exist.

    This could very well be something that only Sally would be able to pull off.

    This tunnel in particr seemed to be special with its traps that attacked automatically and unattackable fish made of light. Rather than being made as a dungeon, it seemed more like a ce where things were abandoned underwater, and Sally started to feel that the further that she went, the less chances for a boss to appear.

    ¡°Whoa, they¡¯re multiplying¡­¡±

    As the incorporeal fish that continued to rush at her started to seem to not be just one fish, Sally could see another shape made of light forming itself, and soon enough there were two more fish chasing after her.

    ¡°If they¡¯re starting to increase in numbers, there must be something around here that turns them off!¡±

    They were too persistent to be just normal monsters, so Sally assumed that one of the machines must be creating and controlling them, but she had no idea how to make them stop. There was no point in worrying about something she didn¡¯t quite understand, so she had no choice but to keep avoiding their attacks. She would avoid their linear attacks by making good use of her eleration and deceleration. Taking advantage of being underwater, the fact that she could move in three dimensions to avoid attacks made her feel more like an actual fish than those light fishes.

    She kept going up and down repeatedly, checking for broken machinery at the bottom of thatrge area, searching for upgrade parts for diving suits like before, and trying to find out how to deal with the light fish, but there were no clues to be found.

    ¡°Okay, looks like I have no choice.¡±

    Preparing herself to dodge all the way until she reached the deepest part of this cave, Sally sped up through the water.

    A whileter, Sally was swimming around the cave, followed by arge number of light fish. It was no longer a ce that allowed for a rxed exploration, and instead it was more of a race against an incorporeal school of fish.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how many of them there are anymore¡­!¡±

    Sally had looked all over the ce for a way to eliminate them while their numbers were small, but she couldn¡¯t find anything that would help. Her diving suit had an enhanced underwater movement capability, and although she had been able to dodge those light fish so far, it was something only Sally would have been able to pull off.

    However, the situation had taken a turn for the worse, as Sally couldn¡¯t keep her focus going on forever. Besides, since she can¡¯t really repel them with her daggers, her ways to dodge their attacks were limited, which only made things more difficult for her.

    ¡°There¡¯s a gap there¡­ Now!¡±

    As the school of incorporeal light fish surrounded her in arge circle to prepare for a rush from all angles, Sally twisted her body and slipped through the gap they had created, and dashed through the tunnel with that momentum. The tunnel was so narrow that she couldn¡¯t afford to stop pressing forward, or it would be impossible to avoid her pursuers¡¯ attacks.

    Then, as she kept on swimming at high speed, she could see arge amount of light bullets flying towards her from the back of the tunnel. The bullets blocked the path ahead almost perfectly, with only the small gap created by the difference in the time each of them had been fired. Even so, Sally kept pressing forward without slowing down in the slightest.

    ¡°Phew¡­!¡±

    Sharpening her senses to the point that everything around her had slowed down, she weaved her way perfectly through the gaps between the bullets, which didn¡¯t allow for the slightest miscalction. Dozens of light bullets went past her, as if they weren¡¯t trying to hit Sally to begin with At this rate, Sally would be able to dodge all of them as she swam through the tunnel. She couldn¡¯t afford to give her first damage to one of those stray bullets.

    ¡°Okay, looks like I¡¯m clear!¡±

    Aftering through the other side of the tunnel, the barrage of light bullets subsided, and Sally was finally able to see a door several meters taller than her.

    At the same time, the school of fish that had been persistently chasing after her vanished in an instant, and silence came to the water. Before Sally was a door that indicated that the next room would be the boss room, which meant that this was the innermost part of this cave.

    ¡°Can I make this¡­? Yeah.¡±

    After making sure she had enough underwater time to fight, she decided to take on the boss without going back to the surface first.

    ¡°I think I¡¯m already stronger than when I fought my first underwater battle, though.¡±

    Sally closed her eyes and started to focus, wondering what would be waiting for her on the other side, and then slowly approached the door and took a look inside.

    The room was spherical andpletely submerged in water, and just like before, arge number of old parts and machines of unknown use were piled up at the bottom. However, there didn¡¯t seem to be any signs of a boss anywhere.

    ¡°Guess I won¡¯t know unless I go in¡­¡±

    The moment Sally entered the room, taking care not to be caught by a surprise attack, something that looked like a monitor leaning on a pile of junk started to emit a faint light. Just as Sally noticed it and prepared herself, a light bullet shooter like the ones she had seen earlier emerged from the pile of broken machinery, pushing scraps aside.

    However, that didn¡¯t seem to be the biggest concern at the moment, as a strong light started to shine in the center of the room, forming a shape. Once the light subsided, Sally braced herself as she saw a monster with a halberd ¨Cits upper half that of a man, its lower half that of a fish¨C materialize itself, along with the boss¡¯ HP bar being disyed.

    ¡°What an impressive defense system! It can create an entity all by itself!¡±

    She hade this far, but this was the critical moment. Sally absolutely couldn¡¯t lose here, both for the sake of her new equipment and for her most important purpose.

    Noticing Sally had taken out her weapons, the boss also took a firm grasp on his halberd, shaking it in a circr motion and causing more incorporeal fish to appear along the line it drew in the water. In addition, the shooter had started to glow.

    As Sally tried to guess what would happen next, a school of fish and an array of light bullets were unleashed against her.

    ¡°I¡¯m quite familiar with those!¡±

    Sally quickly moved out of the way, avoiding everything. Although the light bullets and fish had been tremendously fast, they moved in a straight line, so it was easy to predict where they were going to hit.

    Since the room was quite spacious, Sally almost wouldn¡¯t have to worry about being hit as long as she kept moving around at a reasonable speed.

    What she really had to be careful about was when she had to stop avoiding in order to attack, and the moment the boss himself made a move.

    Sally believed this boss shared some attack patterns with other bosses she had fought in the past.

    She had plenty of time. The most important thing was to identify the enemy¡¯s attacks and look for opportunities to counterattack without taking damage.

    While avoiding the flurry of attacks, she kept an eye on the boss, which then started to move, raising his halberd and immediately bringing it down. This time, unlike before, it didn¡¯t seem to be summoning anything, but a hunch made Sally intuitively move out of the way. Something had approached with great force as if grabbing the edge of Sally¡¯s scarf.

    ¡°A water current¡­ I need to keep this in mind.¡±

    The boss could manipte the flow of water. She didn¡¯t know how long it wouldst, but a stream of water strong enough to easily gulp down a single person had been brought forth, traveling across the spherical boss room. Naturally, there was no way to tell if Sally would be safe if she were to be sucked up by one of those streams. It was hard to see, and since Sally was in a situation in which she had to swim at high speed in order to dodge those light bullets, she had no other choice but to try to remember the stream¡¯s trajectory.

    ¡°Water Coat!¡±

    Sally made a mental image of the boss room, constantly updating the position of the water stream, and after mapping out a safe route, she sped up and approached the boss.

    Since that water stream restricted her movements and she didn¡¯t know how long it wouldst, Sally could no longer afford to take her time to observe the boss¡¯ movements.

    She slipped past the flurry of light bullets, sneaking through the rushing school of fish, and finally repelled the boss¡¯ halberd ¨Cwhich he had only pushed out as a means to block Sally¡¯s attack¨C using the momentum to sh deeply at his shoulder.

    With so many things flying around for her to dodge, Sally¡¯s ¡°Sword Dance¡± was quickly able to increase her attack power to the max. The blow was much heavier than it seemed, and the boss¡¯ HP bar was visibly reduced.

    ¡°Looks like I¡¯m causing some damage¡­!¡±

    A new stream of water was called forth to chase after Sally, but she promptly avoided it by twisting her body and sneaking into the boss¡¯ lower side. As she did that, more incorporeal fish started to appear.

    ¡°Yeah, now I¡¯m really motivated!¡±

    As Sally deepened her focus, she calmly managed being constantly attacked by arge number of flying objects. Sally¡¯s evasion technique was high from the beginning, but it has been further refined as the battle progressed.

    All she had to do was avoid everything the boss threw at her, and weave her way through any gaps he created to attack him.

    It was the same hit-and-run strategy as her previous underwater battles, but her proficiency with offensive and defensive maneuvers, plus the damage she was being able to deal to this boss, was far beyondparison.

    ¡°Huh¡­ Yaah!¡±

    She would avoid attacksing from all directions in three dimensions, and then sh at the boss. The boss was slower than Sally, so he was unable to reach her with his halberd. He had the advantage of both the numbers and the environment, but even then it was still him the one who was being pushed to a corner.

    Although the boss¡¯ side kept increasing its numbers, Sally would keep slipping through the gaps in his defense as long as there was any space left for her to move around.

    The fact that she couldn¡¯t use skills and had to rely on basic attacks to dealrge amounts of damage was also reducing Sally¡¯s already low chances.

    As the battle unfolded, several water currents were stretched out across the room forming a mesh of sorts, and the myriad of incorporeal fish and light bullets, unaffected by the water current because they were all part of the boss¡¯ offensive, constantly harassed Sally. The situation was only getting worse, but Sally¡¯s focus hadn¡¯t been broken yet.

    ¡°One more¡­!¡±

    Taking advantage of the boss¡¯ carelessness, Sally slipped through a gap created in the water stream mesh, heading for the boss in the center of the room once more. She didn¡¯t use any skills, and moved smoothly and without leaving no openings. Unable to respond to Sally¡¯s offensive, the boss took several serious hits in a row.

    Then, as the boss¡¯ HP had been reduced to less than half, Sally distanced herself from the boss while staying alert for his next move. From this point on, the boss would most likely change his attack pattern.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    As Sally expected, the boss¡¯s movements had indeed changed. Light gathered in the boss¡¯ free hand, and a new halberd materialized in it. A mass of light began to flow along the water stream as well. This revealed the location of the water stream, but it also soon proved to not be a good thing.

    The mass of light suddenly jumped out of the stream while Sally was observing. She was able to dodge it by twisting her body, but its attack didn¡¯t seem to end there, as it went back inside another water stream and continued to move from there.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s no good¡­!¡±

    The mass of light kept moving inside the water stream mesh, shooting itself towards Sally at irregr intervals. Unlike the light bullets fired from the wall shooters, this was more of a mobile turret that could attack from various positions as it moved inside the water streams. Sally had to use even more of her senses to be able to dodge it.

    However, Sally felt relieved to know that she had taken the right decisions when she made her upgrades.

    If she hadn¡¯t been able to dodge its attacks or parry its halberds, nothing she had tried to do to attack the boss would have worked. And Sally was confident she could do both things very well.

    Sally sped up once again, heading for the boss. She had to sneak through the eye-of-a-needle gap created between the light bulletsing from the left and right and the school of light fish from the front.

    ¡°I¡¯m quite familiar with bullet hells, you know?¡±

    As Sallyined to no one in particr, she slipped past a gap in the school of light fish. Not even the slightest mistake would be tolerated when it came to body control, but for Sally, it¡¯s always been a battle with Maple to avoid being hit by a bullet hell. Now that she was able to avoid even bullets from behind, she wouldn¡¯t make the mistake of trying to tackle a boss head on.

    For Sally, those gaps that were once too small for her were now safe paths that she could take with confidence.

    ¡°You can do that as many times as you want, it won¡¯t make a difference.¡±

    As Sally got closer to the boss, she quickly stopped, barely avoiding the two halberds that had been swung at her, and took advantage of the fact that she was underwater to pierce the boss¡¯s chest with three-dimensional movements.

    It made little sense that an enemy that wasn¡¯t able to hit her with a bullet hell even once had tried to attack her with two halberds.

    Sally had a ce she wanted to be. There was a level of strength she wanted to have. The battles that would make the best of her focus, which had been raised past its limits, were now far more inevitable than ever.

    Until its HP bar was emptied, she would go straight at her target over and over again, just like that boss was doing. All she had to do was be more precise and more lethal than her target.

    ¡°Gear and Skills. Hand them over.¡±

    Through the bullet hell that had turned into a rain of light, the blue shadow remained true to her goal and reached the boss, splitting his body in half with her final blow.

 Chapter 371: I hate being in pain, so I think Iâ€™ll make a full defense build.

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 371</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Second One</strong>

    The boss turned into light and vanished, the water stream and the school of light fish disappeared, and the shooter no longer fired light bullets. Sally rxed the tension from her shoulders, and when she returned to her normal state of focus, she finally felt relieved that the battle was over.

    Sally still had some time left underwater, so after calming down, she looked around for a bit, and noticed that the monitor she had seen activating itself when she first entered the boss room had its screen lit once again.

    She wondered if another monster would appear, but it seemed to be a needless worry, as the light from the monitor gathered and caused a treasure chest to appear.

    ¡°Oh, you can make all sorts of stuff appear, huh? How about a couple more of those chests¡­? No? Okay¡­¡±

    Sally approached the monitor and tapped on it, but its screen was nowpletely dark and didn¡¯t respond at all. Although there had been a boss in this room, one could think that this machine had been the one thing responsible for its appearance.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see, then. Oh, there¡¯s some good stuff in here!¡±

    When Sally opened the treasure chest, she saw that it had what she was hoping for.

    One single-edged dagger that wasrger than the ones Sally was using, a hooded grey coat with several pockets and belts, a simple choker, and a pair of sturdy-looking shorts. The characteristic feature of this gear was that it was garnished with yellow polygons that emitted light. This seemed to be evidence that they were of the same origin as that boss.

    ¡°Well, what are they like?¡±

    Filled with expectation, Sally quickly checked the gear¡¯s abilities.

    <Fake Coat>

    AGI +30, DEX +25

    -Indestructible

    [Camouge]

    You can change the name and appearance of skills, magic and equipment. However, this doesn¡¯t change their actual effects and abilities.

    <Shapeless de>

    STR +50, AGI +20

    -Indestructible

    [Protean]

    You can change a weapon¡¯s type. It will still be treated as a dagger for handling purposes, and will bepatible with dagger-type skills.

    <Incorporeal Impersonator>

    DEX +20, INT +30, MP +50

    -Indestructible

    [Hologram]

    You can activate any skill or spell you see being used within a fixed amount of time as if they were your own. However, they will cause no effect other than their corresponding visual effects.

    <Reality Garment>

    AGI +40, STR +30, DEX +20

    -Indestructible

    [Reversal of Lies]

    Select one skill that cannot deal damage, such as [Hologram]. The selected skill will do damage, but in return, you won¡¯t be able to deal damage with any other attack for the duration of this skill. Effective time: 15 seconds. Cooldown: 30 minutes.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a nice increase in stats. The skills are¡­ interesting.¡±

    Sally checked the skills once again. Though this gear has some stat increases simr to those of her unique set, and they all have skills, Sally wasn¡¯t entirely sure that equipping most of them would be an immediate upgrade for her. That ¡°Reversal of Lies¡± skill looked like something that could be used to deal some serious damage, but due to its huge cooldown, she wouldn¡¯t be able to use it more than once per battle. Also, judging by the skill¡¯s description, it looked that support skills that wouldn¡¯t originally do any damage were out of its scope.

    Still, there were some interesting uses that came to mind. Sally thought about what it would be to expand the range of skills she could use by simply looking at Kanade.

    If used properly, it could turn the situation of a battle upside down.

    ¡°It depends on how you use it. I should give it a try.¡±

    It was the kind of skill that required the user to be creative with it in order for it to be of any use. It was a little different from naturally strong skills like Maple¡¯s, which only require her to activate them.

    At any rate, Sally was eager to try her new gear and its skills.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s try the weapon first.¡±

    When Sally activated ¡°Protean¡±, the dagger she was holding in her hand started to turn into light, and rematerialized after a brief moment. Now instead of a dagger, it looked like a spear as long as her height.

    ¡°I see¡­ It might be useful to use other weapons for Mai and Yui.¡±

    Sally changed the dagger into various weapons. Great sword, ax, bow, and shield, each weapon had a different reach and felt different on her hand. However, Sally kept on flipping through weapons with an intrigued look on her face. If this skill allowed her to change weapons during battle, and also allowed to use each weapon to its fullest, it could be a big threat.

    That would mean that Sally would have even more things to train and perfect, which would make her very happy.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try the rest once I¡¯ve returned to the guild home. It¡¯s important to see how these look to the others as well.¡±

    After changing back to her original unique set, Sally left the dungeon and returned to the surface without taking a break.

    When she returned to the guild home, Maple was there, handing over some parts to Iz.

    ¡°Ah, Sally! Wee back. Were you able to explore the deeper parts? How was it?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, it was great. First, here are the parts.¡±

    Sally then handed Iz the parts she had collected in the area that was one step deeper than the one the rest of the team had ess to.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s going to be a nice addition to our progress. I have to work hard as well so we can get enough parts for everyone.¡±

    It was a considerablyrge amount of parts, considering she had collected them all by herself, so it was clear that they all had to head for the deeper parts as soon as possible so they could collect more parts faster.

    ¡°There should be plenty more in that dungeon, so we would do well to go check it outter.¡±

    ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll tell the others.¡±

    ¡°So you went into the dungeon? How was it?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, didn¡¯t I say that already? It was great. Look¡­¡±

    Sally quickly changed into her new gear and turned around on the spot, showing it to both of them.

    ¡°Oh! It feelspletely different! It looks so cool!¡±

    ¡°Nice! Do they have any skills?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, they do. I came back because I wanted to try their skills. So I¡¯m d you¡¯re here! Maple, I have a favor to ask.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    Sally walked to the training center with Maple and Iz, telling them that she wanted to try her new skills and that there were important things she needed to exin to the others.

    ¡°I was thinking that your skills are rather straightforward, right, Maple?¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m intrigued.¡±

    Then, as they arrived at the training center, Sally quickly talked to Maple about her request.

    ¡°Okay, let me stay a little father¡­ Maple, could you use your ¡®Hydra¡¯?¡±

    ¡°S-Sure! Umm¡­ ¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    As Maple released her skills towards the wall, the usual torrent of poison transformed the area into a poison swamp.

    ¡°Is this okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, now just hold out your shield and face this way.¡±

    ¡°¡­? Okay, sure.¡±

    Iz stood there watching, wondering what would happen. Maple did as Sally said, and held up her shield.

    ¡°Here Ie. ¡®Hydra¡¯!¡±

    Arge purple magic circle was formed matching the words that no one would have expected Sally to say.

    To Maple and Iz¡¯s surprise, a torrent of poison that was exactly the same as the one before rushed toward Maple. It headed for Maple¡¯s shield, and it would have normally been sucked into ¡°Devour¡± but it simply phased through the shield.

    ¡°Whoa!? ¡­Huh?¡±

    Maple was surprised, but the lump of poison phased through her body as well and sshed onto the ground.

    Baffled, she tilted her head and looked at Sally,pletely unsure of what was going on, and Sally herself was impressed to see how it actually turned out.

    ¡°It¡¯s a skill that imitates the looks of any other skill, as long as I see it being used within a certain time frame. It¡¯spletely fake, so it won¡¯t do any damage.¡±

    This didn¡¯t mean that it could only look like it¡¯s hitting the target while doing no damage at all, since just like those fish in the dungeon, the ¡°Hologram¡± skill could produce something that could deal damage while being effectively impossible to touch. Iz also tried touching the poison swamp produced by Sally¡¯s skill, but her fingers merely touched the ground. However, just by looking at it, there was no way to tell it was any different from the poison swamp that Maple could create.

    ¡°Ehh~ It really looks just like the ones I make!¡±

    ¡°Looks like I can confuse my opponents with this. Looks like this set is meant to be used in PvP, huh? I don¡¯t think it would be as effective on monsters.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think monsters could get confused or scared with these tricks. But still¡­ It seems difficult to use. Though I¡¯m sure you can use it well, Sally.¡±

    ¡°I can also use this set to materialize the skills I copy, so that they do damage as well. But it has a very high cooldown, so I won¡¯t be able to use it more than once per battle at most.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s basically like copying the entire skill, huh?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s incredible! So you¡¯ll be able to use my ¡®Hydra¡¯ for real as well?¡±

    ¡°Right, should we give it a try some other time?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah! What else? What else?¡±

    After their first experiment, Maple approached Sally with eyes full of enthusiasm, eager to know what other surprises Sally¡¯s new set had.

    ¡°This weapon is also very interesting. Take a look.¡±

    Sally¡¯s weapon turned into light and then transformed into apletely different weapon.

    ¡°Oh, this one isn¡¯t an illusion!¡±

    ¡°It seems to be able to transform into any other kind of weapon. I gave it a try on the way back, and it seems you can do it in battle, too.¡±

    ¡°You can keep changing it until you find the right weapon for any given battle. Ah¡­ I¡¯d love to be able to make a weapon like that¡­¡±

    It was a characteristic trait of this unique weapon, so if even Iz wasn¡¯t able to make a weapon like it, it would be then safe to assume it cannot be crafted with the current level of smithing present in the game.

    This also meant that this weapon opened the possibility for a battle style that no other yer could imitate or even expect to see others use.

    ¡°I¡¯m nning to not use this unless everyone from the guild is present. The less people that know about it, the better chance I¡¯ll have at catching someone by surprise with it.¡±

    If, during a battle, the dagger she had in her hand suddenly turns into a great sword, it would be very difficult for her opponent to avoid it. It¡¯s hard to react to something so unexpected.

    ¡°And there¡¯s one more thing.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s more!? Whoa! What is it?¡±

    ¡°Here goes¡­ ¡®Camouge¡¯.¡±

    Sally¡¯s clothes were wrapped up in light, then changed to her usual blue coat and muffler.

    ¡°So it¡¯s like ¡®Quick Change¡¯?¡±

    ¡°No, the only thing that changed is my clothes¡¯ appearance. See?¡±

    She then used ¡°Protean¡± to transform her dagger. By doing so, it ended the effects of ¡°Camouge¡± on it, revealing a grey long sword.

    ¡°Oh, my, to think there¡¯s gear that can do that! I want to make something like that myself¡­ I wonder if I¡¯ll ever be able to.¡±

    ¡°And since I can change the appearance of skills and spells, I can do this¡­ ¡®Fire Ball¡¯!¡±

    A green magic circle appeared in Sally¡¯s hand, and the next moment, a de of wind flew towards one of the training center¡¯s training dummies. However, rather than tearing through the dummy, the moment the de touched it, it burst into a ssh of water.

    ¡°???¡±

    Sally then went on to exin what happened, seeing that Maple couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of it.

    ¡°What I did just now was change the name of my ¡®Water Ball¡¯ to ¡®Fire Ball¡± and made it look like a ¡°Wind Cutter.¡±

    Although it was a bit confusing at first, it had always been a ¡°Water Ball¡±, so it was understandable that water had sshed upon impact with the dummy.

    ¡°R-Right¡­¡±

    ¡°I think this can be very advantageous depending on how you use it, but I have to get used to it a little more. I have a few ideas of ??how to use it, but I have to use my head differently than before.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­ I don¡¯t think I could master it myself, but I¡¯m sure you can do it, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me. For now, I¡¯ll just focus on trying several things out with it so I can be ready to use it on my next PvP.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like a n. If there¡¯s anything you need, let me know and I¡¯ll get it ready for you. Keep up the good work with your exploration and battles!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Thus Sally set out to train while using her new abilities while making sure to keep them hidden from other yers.

 Chapter 372: I hate being in pain, so I think Iâ€™ll make a full defense build.

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 372</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Skill Books</strong>

    A whileter, yers had already begun to advance to the deeper underwater areas, and having upgraded their diving suits to the point where they could all explorefortably underwater, all of the members of ¡°Maple Tree¡± were now able to go deeper than before.

    Since Sally¡¯s suit had been upgraded before anyone else¡¯s, it didn¡¯t feel as much of an improvement over what she could already do, but now pretty much every member of the team was in line with her.

    Although the 8th Layer itself was huge, the area where they were allowed to go was severely restricted, so it could be said that this was the crucial moment for them.

    Meanwhile, far from leaving town, Kanade had gone diving under the guild home.

    Since there were no monsters down there, he could explore the ce at leisure, and eventually came across the stone tablets with hints that Sally had found before him.

    ¡°Is it here?¡±

    Sally had shown him a photo, but it wasn¡¯t a particrly difficult ce to get to, so now that his diving suit had been upgraded as well, he decided he would go take a look at the ce with his own eyes.

    What Kanade was after wasn¡¯t the map that Sally had talked about, but the stone tablet with those strange symbols. He picked up one stone tablet after another and checked them all.

    ¡°Yeah, now that I¡¯ve taken a good look, there¡¯s no doubt about it. This definitely looks like a hint of some sort.¡±

    What Sally could only see as mysterious symbols, Kanade could identify as letters of some kind of alphabet. One of the many hidden elements scattered throughout the game, just like the many others he had already found. Kanade, who had gone to the library and stuffed his nose into book after book, knew that there was anothernguage that he couldn¡¯t normally read, just like these symbols.

    ¡°Hmm~ I was wondering if that hadn¡¯t been a waste of time, but it looks like there was something useful there after all.¡±

    However, this was the first time he had been able to get such a direct hint. While other yers had been out on the field, Kanade had been exploring the town, and more specifically, the library. It was easy to encounter events that require you to use your head because they tend to be far from the events that make you run around the field and dungeons.

    ¡°Is this a Box of Wisdom? Took you long enough, huh? Hehe, if it doesn¡¯t work, then I¡¯d better give it to someone else.¡±

    After reading it out loud so as to confirm what he was reading, Kanade nimbly swam back to the surface. With a clear destination seemingly set in his mind, he took a boat and rowed out to the field.

    After rowing quietly for a while, Kanade checked the underwater area by looking through the transparent water to confirm he was at the right spot. The ce looked just like a town, filled with buildings that had been built on top of each other. He could see monsters from the other side of the paneless windows and the doorless entranceways, and searching through all of those buildings seemed to be a daunting task.

    ¡°Hmm, there¡¯s quite a lot of monsters.¡±

    Wondering what to do, Kanade recalled the spellbooks he currently had. If he were to use them in tandem with Sou, their effects would be reduced by half, but he wouldn¡¯t lose the spellbooks after using them. So as long as he was fighting only small fry, he could do whatever he wanted to a certain extent.

    However, even though he had been able to make use of this hint thanks to him shutting himself inside the library, he hadn¡¯t actually earned any experience during that time, so his level was actually lower than normal level yers in the 8th Layer would have by now. For that reason, he feared he would have to make full use of ¡°Akashic Records¡± and ¡°Magic Record¡± in order to be able to fight.

    ¡°This would be much easier if I could wipe them all out with an insta-kill¡­ Yeah, I¡¯ll be in big trouble if I can¡¯t beat these guys, so let¡¯s keep things simple.¡±

    ¥«¥Ê¥Ç¤Ï×÷‘é¤ò›Q¤á¤ë¤È¡¢\¤Ã¤Æ¤¤¤ë¥Ü©`¥È¤ò¤·¤Þ¤Ã¤Æ¤½¤Î¤Þ¤Þ¥É¥Ü¥ó¤È×ÅË®¤·Ç±Ë®¤ËÒÆ¤ë¡£

    After choosing his strategy, he jumped out from the boat into the water and started diving.

    ¡°Sou, ¡®Mimic¡¯ ¡®Interception Magic¡¯!¡±

    After transforming into Kanade, Sou deployed four magic circles around him, which followed his every move and fired light bullets at any approaching monster as he dived deeper. Although this skill, which has excellent power and rate of fire, could be easily avoided, it was fundamentally strong against monstersing straight at him, and is great for dealing with arge number of enemies. Since it was an automatic interception system that didn¡¯t require any operation, it could be said that the fact that Sou could use it was quite advantageous.

    ¡°It seems to be quite narrow inside, I wonder if there are only a few monsters there? ¡®Lightning Javelin!¡±

    He dealt with the monsters that managed to slip through Sou¡¯s defenses and focused on him by using one of the daily skills granted to him by ¡°Akashic Records¡± Lightning ran through the water and gathered in Kanade¡¯s hand, taking the shape of a javelin. After throwing it at a monster and hitting it directly, the lightning damaged not only it, but every other monster around it.

    ¡°Nice. Should I turn this into a spellbook?¡±

    It was a simple and easy-to-use skill with few disadvantages, so it wouldn¡¯t hurt to keep it. He was able to store the skills he obtained via his ¡°Akashic Records¡± in a special, floating bookshelf. But even after being stored as a spellbook, he would only be able to use said skills once. This was why having Sou ¨Cwho could easily use those skills without using up the spellbooks¨C as hispanion was so important for him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it if and when I have to use it again.¡±

    After dealing with the monsters, Kanade approached the window of the tallest building, and entered through it after checking his remaining underwater time. Kanade¡¯s underwater activity time wasn¡¯t particrly long. He couldn¡¯t allow himself to drown in the middle of his search through this tall building.

    ¡°I¡¯ll resurface as many times as I have to. I¡¯m hoping to see something interesting¡­¡±

    If what was waiting for him ahead was what he expected it to be, Kanade believed he could afford to spend as much time as necessary.

    Thinking that he might being down here and going back to the surface for a while depending on how much progress he managed to make, Kanade decided to go down inside the building, since there were only a few monsters inside.

    Although the building was quite tall, the interior itself was not soplicated. Each building seemed to have a simple design, with either a staircase or adder leading down, so it was rather easy to reach the deeper parts of each building.

    Trying to not overlook anything, but still rather hurriedly, Kanade checked the inside of each room while paying attention to his remaining time, and as he went down, the feeling about one particr room began to change after he had made a certain amount of progress.

    ¡°Uh-oh, looks like something¡¯s about to happen.¡±

    The same letters as those written on the stone tablets that made Kanadee to this ce could be seen here and there on the walls and floor. While checking for traps, Kanade approached them and started deciphering them.

    ¡°I see¡­ So it was an easter egg after all. Just like before¡­¡±

    The reason why he had never seen anyone else taking up abat style based on spellbooks was because, like many skills in this game, spellbooks were difficult to find by just searching normally.

    And Kanade¡¯s reason foring to this ce was exactly rted to spellbooks.

    The ¡°hint¡± that led Kanade here was telling him that there was something here that could effectively enhance his ¡°Akashic Records¡±, just like when he got his ¡°Magical Record¡± before.

    Kanade made sure once again that he had not misinterpreted the hints he found in those symbols and proceeded to the next room.

    It looked like an ordinary submerged empty room with no furniture at all, but Kanade confidently touched one of the walls and activated a spell.

    ¡°Now, ¡®Lightning Javelin¡¯!¡±

    The released electric shock spread all over the wall. Kanade stood there watching, and after a brief moment, a blue spider web-like pattern started to glow on the wall, and then it split into left and right halves, slowly opening like a door.

    ¡°Alright. Looks like there¡¯s something after all.¡±

    The convoluted hint had led him to a mechanism that would otherwise go unnoticed through normal gamey. Convinced that it was meant to hide something, Kanade went through the opened wall.

    ¡°The next one¡­ it¡¯s here, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    To Kanade¡¯s eyes, the answers were written directly over the wall as clear as day. Now that he was past the barrier of deciphering them, it wasn¡¯t so difficult to interpret the hints. He advanced without hesitation through this hidden route, which involved opening more walls, floors, and ceilings inside this stone building.

    Kanade carved the exact directions he had taken toe this far inside his head. He wanted to make sure that, even if it turned out that he wouldn¡¯t be able to bring the reward back with him this time, he would be able toe here again without any problems.

    After a while, Kanade calcted the distance he had traversed from what he had been able to see from the surface earlier and the room he was currently in, and as he arrived at what he estimated to be the deepest part of the building, a door with a slightly different feeling appeared before him.

    Unlike the weathered building that surrounded it, the door looked particrly clean and somewhat otherworldly.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s see. There doesn¡¯t seem to be a boss here¡­¡±

    The door slowly opened as he approached it with caution. On the other side, he could see several illuminated bookcases standing next to each. As he carefully entered the room, Kanade realized that it was isted from the outside water, as if there was a barrier preventing the water froming into the room.

    ¡°I see, so I won¡¯t have to worry about that anymore. I¡¯ll be able to stay here for as long as I want.¡±

    Kanade looked around the room checking for traps, and then stood in front of a table that was in the middle of the room.

    Arge number of puzzle pieces were scattered all over the table. The curious Kanade naturally picked up one of those pieces.

    Perhaps he would get some kind of reward for solving it. Kanade was thankful that this room wasn¡¯t underwater. He imagined that he would have had to go to the surface and back to this room again several times, but without any timer to worry about, he could simply concentrate on solving the puzzle.

    After a short breath, Kanade sat by the table and stared earnestly at the puzzle piece. By looking at each of the pieces and studying the pattern they followed, he should be able to see which piece fits perfectly with each other.

    Kanade ran through the puzzle with a dexterity that could not be imitated no matter how much one would try to, simr to Sally¡¯s evasive skills.

    ¡°Are there any more hints here?¡±

    The walls of the room were covered with bookcases, with books filling each of them to the brim. Since they had piqued his interest, Kanade put the puzzle piece back on the table, took a book from one of the bookcases, and flipped through its pages.

    ¡°Hmm, this adds more detail to the story of the 8th Layer I found in the guild home¡¯s basement¡­¡±

    Though the settings of the 8th Layer were written there, Kanade couldn¡¯t find anything that would directly hint to a dungeon, or anything that used the symbols that only he could read for that matter. However, there was enough information there for him to be able to make a small prediction about the monsters and dungeons that would likely appear in the future.

    Since everything he read would be firmly recorded in his head, it would be quite easy for Kanade to recall this informationter.

    Besides, it was much harder to get back to this room, so he thought it would be better to check every book and try to store as much knowledge as possible while he could.

    ¡°Too bad, looks like getting the next one isn¡¯t going to be that easy¡­¡±

    After reading through all of the books in a couple of dozen minutes, Kanade went back to the puzzle. In such a silent room, the only sound that could be heard was that of the pieces clicking into each other as the puzzle frame started to get filled with white pieces.

    ¡°I already got the hang of this thing.¡±

    Since the pieces werepletely white, he wouldn¡¯t have the pleasure of seeing apleted picture, so the puzzle was actually a bit boring to finish.

    He wasn¡¯t nning toplete it this steadily, but Kanade didn¡¯t seem to be ying by his usual rules.

    True to his statement of ¡°having gotten the hang of it¡±, after being focused on it for a short while, Kanade had finished thepletely white puzzle incredibly quickly.

    ¡°Phew¡­ Now what?¡±

    Of course, there had been no mistake in the way he had slotted the pieces in, so the puzzle started to glow faintly in front of the expectant Kanade, and a Rubik¡¯s cube simr to that Kanade had appeared on top of it.

    ¡°Yeah, just as expected. Great!¡±

    When Kanade picked it up, it merged with his ¡°Akashic Records¡±, bing a single thing, just like when he had obtained his ¡°Magical Record¡±. He looked at the result, checking his staff to see what was the new skill that he had acquired.

    [Skill Record]

    You can save skills that <em>don¡¯t </em>use MP as ¡°skill books¡± in your personal bookcase. The saved skills be unusable until their corresponding ¡°skill book¡± is expended.

    In short, it was now possible for him to save any skills that were outside of the scope of ¡°Magical Record¡±, so with enough time and spadework, he should be able to exhibit an unparalleled strength.

    ¡°Now I have something really good to report to everyone. I wonder what they¡¯re up to?¡±

    Kanade left the room, thinking about the other guild members who were probably out there on the field. Since he was now more interested in his often-unpredictable guild members than in generally-predictable items, he seemed to be looking forward to learning if the other guild members had found anything interesting.

 Chapter 373

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 373</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Skill Books ¨C 2</strong>

    When Kanade returned to the guild home, he found Maple and Sally were already there talking.

    ¡°Ah, Kanade! Were you searching somewhere?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, though I¡¯ve already finished.¡±

    After saying that, he told them about his newly acquired ¡°Skill Record¡±.

    ¡°So now you can save any kind of skill, huh? ¡­Even those found on weapons you don¡¯t own?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t make that work. No, how should I put it¡­ I can make a spellbook out of those skills, and I can still consume the spellbooks, but there¡¯s no effect after that¡­¡±

    Sally seemed to think it was a shame that it didn¡¯t matter whether he could save them or not. ording to Kanade, even though the Rubik¡¯s Cube that had added the skill bookcase was now a part of his ¡°Akashic Records¡±, it would only be able to do so with staff-rted skills. It would be more correct to say that the Rubik¡¯s Cube was an item that added itself to the skill of his weapon the moment he obtained it. There was no doubt that if it was something he could pass along and share with others, it would be an incredible advantage in battle.

    ¡°Though I don¡¯t know if everyone can clear it. Are you good with puzzles?¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see, that¡¯s right¡­¡±

    Recalling that those skills weren¡¯t obtained after defeating a boss, Sally thought that it would be undoubtedly harder for her to get them. No matter how good she was inbat, she would be unable to obtain the ¡°Skill Record¡±. Sally wasn¡¯t particrly bad at puzzles, but she couldn¡¯t keep up the pace with apletely white puzzle. Besides, she would need to have Kanade¡¯s ¡°Akashic Records¡± ¨Cwhich was essentially a skill meant for mages¨C in order to use ¡°Skill Record¡± to its full potential.

    ¡°I could solve it for you, though.¡±

    ¡°No no, that¡¯s something I have to do for myself.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, alright, alright.¡±

    ¡°Hey, did you happen to find that by chance?¡±

    ¡°Nope. There was another hint in the guild home¡¯s basement¡­ I hadn¡¯t learned of it until I went to the library in this Layer, though.¡±

    Kanade then told them about the characters he had found, and both Sally and Maple were surprised to learn that such a thing was in the game.

    ¡°From now on, if you find any symbols, please take a picture of it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Oh, I wonder if there are any symbols in those ces we¡¯ve already explored?¡±

    ¡°Well, you two have explored much more than I have, so you might have alreadye across some of them.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll make sure not to miss them anymore from now on!¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, so would you like to learn to read these symbols? If you look at them as letters, you really can¡¯t miss them.¡±

    In response to his standpoint that the symboles weren¡¯t thatplex, Maple and Sally showed their willingness to learn them.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start from the easy ones. Just being able to read a few of them will make a big difference.¡±

    ¡°¡­When you said that these symbols aren¡¯t thatplex, you meant by your standards, right, Kanade?¡±

    ¡°Huh!? These are really difficult¡­¡±

    ¡°Are they really?¡±

    Laughing mischievously, Kanade taught Maple and Sally what he had learned so far.

    After that, the two stayed in the guild home learning the symbol¡¯snguage from Kanade, but after a while, they decided to stop for the day.

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯m starting to get something?¡±

    ¡°What you¡¯ve taught us, at least.¡±

    ¡°Well, everything is in order in each Layer¡¯s library, so if you¡¯re feeling like it, please do your best to learn them.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t until he had arrived at the 8th Layer that he had the chance to find characters as actual hints, and there could be other ces with writings using these characters to be found in this Layer.

    It wouldn¡¯t hurt them to learn how to read those symbols.

    ¡°If you find something like that, you can send me a message. I should be able to tell you if it¡¯s useful.¡±

    ¡°Really? Thanks!¡±

    ¡°Wait, so then why do we have to bother learning all this¡­?¡±

    ¡°Because learning new stuff is fun?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t deny that, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s not good exp, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. I don¡¯t think I earned a lot of exp points.¡±

    Of course, some games had created anguage of their own, but not many games required yers to be deciphering thosenguages. Especially the kind of games that were heavily oriented towards action that Sally liked to y.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll look around the city again. It seems that even the city is worth checking this time around.¡±

    ¡°There may be more hints like the ones in the guild home¡¯s basement!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll let you know if I find anything as well. Some ces may be too hard for me to explore by myself.¡±

    ¡°Sure, let us know and I¡¯ll lend you a hand.¡±

    ¡°Me too!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to hearing some interesting stories from you two as well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, leave it to us! We¡¯ll look around all sorts of ces!¡±

    Having heard that, Kanade nodded with a slight smile on his face, and headed out into the city.

    Meanwhile, at the guild home¡­

    ¡°So, what should we do? Where do we start searching?¡±

    ¡°Kanade said this as well¡­ I feel like going somewhere we haven¡¯t been yet.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s take a look at the map. It¡¯s hard toe up with a good spot just by looking at the scenery outside.¡±

    Not only was thendscape in the 8th Layer rather unchanging, but there was also a limit to the amount of time they could spend in the water.

    ¡°Are there any good spots?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Our search as a team hasn¡¯t progressed much since we¡¯ve all been busy getting parts, so there¡¯s not much information.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s been rough. I¡¯ve just recently upgraded my diving suit, too¡­¡±

    ¡°But there are some interesting ces.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a normal dungeon, but it¡¯s in a ce where you go through a building that feels like some kind of underwater temple.¡±

    ¡°Oh~! That sounds amazing!¡±

    ¡°The monsters there seem to be quite strong, so I was thinking about going there with you, Maple.¡±

    After saying that, Sally spun her new dagger in her hand. Maple was the one she always teamed up with when fighting monsters. It wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea to try her new skills while fighting with her as a party.

    ¡°Those skills seem hard to use¡­¡±

    ¡°You just fight as usual, Maple! I¡¯ll match what you do. After all, there¡¯s only so much I¡¯ll be able to try fighting with monsters.¡±

    Monsters couldn¡¯t overthink things so much that they ended up misreading their opponents. In turn, Maple could take advantage of that, but not everything works well all the time.

    ¡°Okay~! Let¡¯s go~!¡±

    ¡°I know where it is, so let¡¯s ride on <em>that</em>!¡±

    ¡°¡­! On <em>that</em>!? Yeah!¡±

    Together with a cheerful, sparkly-eyed Maple, Sally left the guild home, heading towards the border between the field and the city, and took the jet ski out of her inventory.

    Of course, the jet ski that Iz had made for them gradually stabilized after making a loud noise as it collided with the water. After getting in first, Sally held out her hand to help Maple onto the rear seat.

    ¡°Ok, hold on tight!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I can¡¯t normally get on this, so I¡¯m looking forward to it!¡±

    Maple had no way to handle the jet ski due to her absoluteck of any DEX at all, but Sally was a different story.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    After making sure Maple was holding tight onto her so that she couldn¡¯t fall off, Sally stepped on the gas.

    ¡°Wooh~! It¡¯s fast, so faaast!¡±

    ¡°Being able to move quickly over the surface of the water is huge, huh? I really have to thank Iz for this.¡±

    And so, leaving a spray of water behind them, they headed for their destination: the underwater temple.

 Chapter 374

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 374</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Underwater Temple</strong>

    After riding over the water for a while, Sally took a quick look at the map and stopped the jet ski at a seemingly open spot.

    ¡°Is it here?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s a magic circle at the end of the dive, but it seems that what¡¯s past it isn¡¯t actually underwater, it will not be underwater, so you won¡¯t have to worry about your timer.¡±

    Because of their extreme builds, neither Maple, Mai, nor Yui were able to learn the ¡°Swimming¡± and ¡°Diving¡± skills, so even in this 8th Layer, their underwater abilities wouldn¡¯t get stronger than what their diving suits allowed them to do.

    For that reason, capturing an underwater dungeon would be very difficult for them. So it was a blessing that the actual ce they were heading for wasn¡¯t underwater.

    ¡°Howe it¡¯s not underwater? That¡¯s a bit strange.¡±

    ¡°Think of it like the room that Kanade told us about? He said it was isted from the outside, as if a barrier was preventing the water from entering the room. The path to get there is underwater, though.¡±

    ¡°I should be okay as long as we hurry.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go, then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    They put on their diving suits and jumped into the water.

    ¡°Have you already been here before, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, more or less. But this ce is so huge that it made me wonder if I hadn¡¯t overlooked anything during my search. But now you¡¯re here too, Maple! There don¡¯t seem to be any piercing attacks to worry about either!¡±

    Sally pointed at a school of small fish that seemed to be swimming towards them. With that single piece of information, Maple nodded as if replying that she wanted to do it too. Maple was better than Sally when it came to dealing with multiple monsters, as long as they weren¡¯t able to use any piercing attacks.

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    Light overflew into the water, and white wings extended from Maple¡¯s back. The school of fish rushed into a thin column-shaped barrier that surrounded Maple and Sally, yet neither of the girls took any damage.

    ¡°Thanks, Maple. Not all of them are going to be monsters all the time, but there are still quite a few around here.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d~ ¡­Waah, it looks really nice from here¡­¡±

    Actually, the fish were attacking them violently, but thanks to Maple, it felt as if they were staring at a school of fish constantly swimming in an aquarium.

    The school of fish that surrounded them was reflecting the sunlight on their scales, and since it was a considerablerge school, the whole scene looked like a giant pir of light stretching to the bottom of the water.

    ¡°Only you can go through this barrier, right, Maple? Since there was no damage, could we leave this here? It looks so pretty, too¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I wonder if I can grab one of those fish¡­?¡±

    ¡°With your stats? I wonder if they¡¯ll make any difference?¡±

    Maple tried to reach out to the school of fish that was spinning around them, but the fish were too slippery for her, as they would pop out of her grasp and sink to the bottom of the water.

    ¡°Aw, looks like I can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ve gotten quite deep¡­¡±

    Almost at the same time as Sally said that, the school of fish scattered and returned to the surface of the water, perhaps because they had wandered outside of their range of action.

    ¡°Ah! So they¡¯re going back now.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be able to see something like this by myself.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe~ You seem d to have brought me along.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, this was no coincidence. So, there it is¡­¡±

    ¡°The underwater temple!¡±

    Sally headed towards a copsed building at the bottom of the water while leading Maple by the hand so that she wouldn¡¯tg behind her. As they swam through the wreckage of the former townscape, they came across the remains of a temple with thick yet tattered pirs. Though it had already been inhabited by fish and shellfish, they could still see the light emitted by the magic circle leaking through the gaps between the fallen pirs.

    ¡°Is this it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, looks like it.¡±

    ¡°There was no way to notice this ce was there from the surface.¡±

    ¡°It would be a good idea to start using unusual terrain as reference when exploring from now on. If there are no hints after a while, we should still dive for a while, since we might find something interesting, just like this magic circle.¡±

    Even though the magic circle wasn¡¯t visible from the surface, it was easy to find as soon as one dived deeper into the submerged townscape. Since the water surface was located where the middle of the air would be in the previous Layers, it was important to actually dive underwater and search every now and then, just as Sally said.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been rambling on here long enough. Let¡¯s jump in! There¡¯s a gap up ahead we can use.¡±

    ¡°Can we actually enter through there!?¡±

    The two passed through a gap between the fallen pirs and headed for the magic circle up ahead. Fortunately, since they were underwater, it was easy to maneuver up and down, and even Maple didn¡¯t have a hard time oveing any obstacles.

    ¡°Okay, we go in on three!¡±

    ¡°Sure. Go ahead then.¡±

    ¡°Alright, one, two, three!¡±

    The moment they put their feet on the magic circle, their bodies were wrapped in light as usual, and the two were teleported inside the temple.

    Once the light subsided and the scenery around her became visible, Maple checked the surroundings.

    The two of them found themselves in arge space that seemed to have been built using pale blue bricks. There were holes in the walls at various locations that looked like tunnels leading to different rooms, and staircases and waterways stretched around all over the ce. Finding the correct path to take seemed to be quite the daunting task.

    After taking off their diving suits, they started to talk about which way to go next.

    ¡°What should we do? Do you know which way to go, Sally?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t know that much about this ce. Though I do know a few things.¡±

    ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s split and search!¡±

    ¡°Sure thing. So, which way will you go?¡±

    The tunnels coiled all over the ce, so there were many routes to choose from. Furthermore, both of them had ways to move around in the air, enabling them to bypass most obstacles, so their options were endless.

    However, they had decided not to move in the air by using Syrup or Sally¡¯s threads this time around. Since, at first nce, the way around this dungeon was difficult to understand, they could end up taking some weird shortcuts and easily missing things they would need to either activate or interact with in order to proceed. And if that happened, they would have no choice but to return to the entrance and explore the dungeon properly, so it was better to just do that from the beginning instead.

    Having settled on that, the two started by walking on a straight path.

    ¡°So, are the monsters here strong?¡±

    ¡°It seems that the monsters here have high stats and have no weak spots¡­ And speak of the devil, here theye.¡±

    A blue magic circle appeared on the floor up ahead in the tunnel, and a water pir sprung forth from it. Pushing their way through the water pir, several inorganic stone pieces began to link with each other through water, eventually taking the shape of two golems.

    ¡°So this is where the temple¡¯s guards show up, huh?¡±

    ¡°Oh, so they¡¯re protecting this ce?

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s give this a try. ¡®Quick change¡¯.¡±

    Using the skill she had learned, her usual blue gear changed into her new gray with yellow polygons unique set.

    ¡°Leave the defense to me! Go ahead and try out several things!¡±

    Maple held up her shield and activated ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±, ready to support Sally.

    ¡°Alright, here Ie.¡±

    ¡°Herees the support fire! ¡®Deploy All Weapons¡¯!¡±

    After confirming that Maple had deployed her armament, Sally quickly rushed to battle. In response to that, the golems had closed in as well. Taking advantage of their special trait, which was that the stone pieces they were made of were linked to each other with water, they bent both of their arms like a whip andshed them out with great force.

    ¡°Woah! Their arms stretch!?¡±

    ¡°No problem!¡±

    Their reach overwhelmingly surpassed Sally, plus they were two attacks she had to dodge at the same time. She repelled the first attack with a quick swing of her dagger, and then transformed it into a long pike, which she thrusted into the ground and used to pole vault,unching herself onto the air once again. Then, she transformed her weapon back into a dagger so that she could repel the second golem¡¯s attack.

    ¡°Ooh~!¡±

    As Sallynded amidst Maple¡¯s joyful cheering from the rear, she found herself having to deal with yet another arm attack by one of the golems.

    ¡°Phew¡­!¡±

    She also had Maple¡¯s defense. But just to test her new gear as much as possible, Sally transformed her weapon into a greatsword, which she used to smash the golem¡¯s arm, and then turned it into a great shield to parry its next attack before turning it back into a dagger and taking a step forward.

    ¡°Haah!¡±

    With the help of Maple¡¯s covering fire, Sally slipped through the golem¡¯s arms and shed away.

    The golems¡¯ attacks, which couldn¡¯t be parried well with a dagger, could be safely dealt with with a greatsword or great shield.

    When Sally slipped behind the golem, she spun her body and, using that momentum,unched a side sweep with a greatsword to then back step for distance.

    The greatsword had much longer reach than a dagger, allowing Sally to attack both golems at the same time.

    As a result of the two flinching golems being stuck between Maple and Sally, one started to attack Maple and the other one turned to Sally.

    As they were wondering why the golem¡¯s cores were shining blue, they shot a stream of water that looked like aser from it.

    ¡°Waah!? I-It¡¯s okay! It did nothing to me!¡±

    Maple was watching Sally¡¯s movements, so she couldn¡¯t react and had to take the hit directly with her torso, though she received no damage. Instead, theser Maple fired in return reduced the golem to ashes. On the other hand, Sally had also seeded in dodging without having to rely on Maple¡¯s ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±, and then closed the distance with her opponent.

    ¡°Maple! Please deploy your left hand!¡±

    ¡°Got it! ¡®Deploy ¨C Left Hand!¡±

    Seeing Maple activate her skill, Sally jumped into the air with a ¡°Leap¡±, taking advantage of the momentum gained when avoiding the golem¡¯s waterser, getting just above the golem, and thrusted her left arm in its direction.

    ¡°¡®Deploy ¨C Left Hand¡¯¡±

    Following Sally¡¯s words, the choker on her neck began to glow, and a huge ck barrel simr to Maple¡¯s appeared on Sally¡¯s left hand.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯ ¡®Reversal of Lies¡¯!¡±

    After charging up for a few seconds, Sally fired a crimsonser, which engulfed and disintegrated the remaining golem.

    Having be a reality, the attack ¨Cwhose power Sally knew all too well¨C took care of all the HP it had had left after being reduced by Maple¡¯s artillery. Sally had been on the spot when calcting how much damage her attack would do, since it was a skill she had seen Maple use several times.

    Sallynded on the tunnel as the golem vanished without a trace, and the weapon on her left hand, having finished its role, turned into yellow polygons and disappeared.

    As Sally sighed in relief that everything had gone well, Maple rushed towards her.

    ¡°Sally~! That was amazing~!¡±

    ¡°I know, right? ¡­Or that¡¯s what I¡¯d like to say, but this was the first time I was able to fight like this.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! You did really well changing weapons and using them too!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve used several kinds of weapons in other games I¡¯ve yed. I¡¯ve also done some training in this game with Mai and Yui¡¯s help.¡±

    Sally made it sound as if it was an easy thing to do, but it really wasn¡¯t. In fact, even Maple still had a lot to learn with her Great Shield. Of course, even when narrowing down to a single weapon, it would take lots of time to be able to use it well.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to keep these weapon transformations a secret until my next PvP. I bet it¡¯ll be quite surprising to see a dagger suddenly turning into something with a much longer reach, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I think so too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I have to get as much practice as possible, since big weapons tend to leave big openings.¡±

    Since the weapon still takes her dagger handling value into consideration even when transformed, there was no way she could learn special skills for each type of weapon to help cover for their weaknesses. So Sally had no other choice but learn how to use each weapon well and adapt to their faults while avoiding her own ability to use a dagger to unleash a flurry of attacks or take advantage of its versatility for defense to be stale.

    ¡°My ¡®Reversal of Lies¡¯ has a fairly long cooldown time, so it will take some time before I can try to use it again. But as you¡¯ve just seen, it was just as if the skill I copied from you had been the real deal.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But was it okay to just use my Left Hand? Wouldn¡¯t you do more damage if you used my ¡®Deploy All Weapons¡¯?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m way more fragile than you, and using it would make it more difficult for me to move in the case of a counterattack. It would be too dangerous for me to use ¡®Deploy All Weapons¡¯. It would be too hard for me to twist and dodge with it.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re right.¡±

    The reason why Maple was able tounch a barrage of attacks with her artillery while standing upright was thanks to her defensive abilities. In Sally¡¯s case, being unable to move or dodge while unleashing the same kind of offensive would more often than not result in her dying the moment a single spell is used as a counterattack against her.

    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll try to use Left Hand more from now on.¡±

    ¡°That would help a lot. After all, I can use ¡®Hologram¡¯ on skills only if I¡¯ve seen them being used by someone else within a certain time frame.¡±

    ¡°Okay~! Let¡¯s carry on, then~!¡±

    The two of them had just started exploring the temple, and were already setting out towards its inner part.

 Chapter 375

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 375</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Underwater Temple ¨C 2</strong>

    The two went deeper into the temple while listening to the sound of flowing water. During battle, Maple was in charge of defense and Sally would fight in close quarters. Although her stats had been raised by her new unique set, there was no big change in the damage she was able to deal to monsters considering the skills she had obtained.

    ¡°Amazing, Sally! You really can handle lots of different weapons really well!¡±

    ¡°I wonder if this is all about stacking up abilities¡­ Though I think each person has their own way of fighting. If there¡¯s a ystyle you¡¯re really good at, then you should stick to it, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    Sally knew what she was really good at, which is why she had picked a battle style that she knew would suit her, but Maple was a different story.

    Fortunately, in this game, one could fight using their own real abilities and the strength of their skills. So Maple would rely on thetter when fighting.

    ¡°Your skills are stronger than mine, and you¡¯re also very good at one-on-one battles, Maple. You also make the best of your abilities.¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah!¡±

    ¡°There are plenty of things only you can do, Maple. Though I think you already know that.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe~ I¡¯m really proud of my defensive abilities!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Make sure to keep polishing them, okay?¡±

    Having made her Defense stat as high as possible really helped Maple¡¯s own battle style. It influenced her attack, her defense, and how unharmed she would be by the bacsh of an explosion.

    Her battle style was something that could not be replicated by those with a ¡°normal¡± distribution of stats.

    ¡°You too, Sally. Keep trying that set as much as you like! Those golems are no problem for us!¡±

    ¡°Theirsers won¡¯t work against us, too¡­¡±

    They went through the dungeon while talking. With Maple by her side, Sally could easily avoid being one shotted, so there was no need to be extra careful in the dungeon.

    Then, as carried on while cutting down every golem that appeared before them, they eventually reached a spot where a wide water current blocked the way ahead. It was also quite deep, and it looked like it could easily drag them down the moment they set a foot in it.

    ¡°What should we do, Maple? We may be able to find something around here that will clear this off¡­¡±

    ¡°You think?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It seems that the passage carries on over that way too, so it¡¯s very likely there¡¯s some kind of mechanism there.¡±

    Looking around to see if there was anything like that nearby, Maple noticed that there were three protrusions on the wall and touched them lightly.

    ¡°¡­! Looks like these can be pushed, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Nice! But how should we go about it?¡±

    Sally could feel that all three could be pushed in. However, she had no idea if there was any specific order to do so.

    ¡°M-Maybe there was a hint somewhere along the way?¡±

    ¡°I wonder if we haven¡¯t alreadye across some kind of hint¡­ This ce is huge, and it seems we¡¯re supposed to advance by choosing from several pathways, so if we were to look for something like that, we would need to check other paths we haven¡¯t chosen yet.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re probably right.¡±

    ¡°Should we go take a look around?¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s retrace our steps for a bit.¡±

    ¡°There might be some treasure at the end of those other paths too!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I haven¡¯t checked those paths either¡­ It would be nice to find something useful.¡±

    Agreeing that there were times that called for a thorough search, they went back the way they came.

    ¡°Come to think of it, you used to go back and search other ces in other games just like this.¡±

    ¡°Well, paths that don¡¯t take you to the end often have treasure chests and other items in them, so when I find a path that seems to be the one to reach the goal, I often wonder if I should leave it forter¡­¡±

    It was perfectly fine to forego searching for items for the sake of advancing through a dungeon, but the possibility of leaving something useful behind would still weigh on Sally¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Of course, searching everywhere before advancing is also okay.¡±

    That just added to Sally¡¯s goals. When only looking for the item at the end, she would try to get the shortest route possible to the dungeon¡¯s end, and not knowing where things were would allow her to enjoy the exploration itself.

    ¡°This is more or less your first capture, right, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. The first time I actually investigated anything about items and events was back when we were in the 6th Layer¡­ I think?¡±

    ¡°Ah, I remember about that¡­¡±

    During Sally¡¯s absence, Maple had to find out what kind of item she could give to Sally. But even without that reason, the fact that Sally -who would always take the initiative to look things up- wasn¡¯t around was enough for Maple to take it upon herself to do her own research.

    ¡°But searching about all that stuff was really fun! And learning that there were events like that, and that I was doing what you normally do¡­¡±

    ¡°d to hear that. You should always look up things you¡¯re interested in. Otherwise, you may never find out more about it.¡±

    ¡°But I couldn¡¯t find that Floating Castle! The people who did find it are really something else¡­¡±

    ¡°Still, I think you¡¯re just as good as any of them¡­¡±

    Recalling the strange skill group that resided in her body, she stares at Maple as to how many strange ces she has stepped into.

    She stared at Maple, recalling the bizarre skills that resided in her, and the many strange ces she had set foot into.

    ¡°Ehehe~ Well, I¡¯ve been lucky.¡±

    ¡°Being able to enjoy yourself to that extent¡­ Yeah, that¡¯s just the best.¡±

    After walking while chatting for some time, Maple and Sally eventually reached something that looked like a mural. As they approached it, they noticed it depicted something resembling the water current they hade across earlier along with the same kind of golems they had encountered so far.

    ¡°Is this it?¡±

    ¡°Maybe. Look, those button-like things are highlighted in red.¡±

    The mural is divided into different scenes, ending with one depicting the water current stopping after pushing the protrusions in the proper order.

    ¡°So we should try pressing them in this order?¡±

    ¡°Looks like it. Let¡¯s give it a try.¡±

    ¡°Okay~!¡±

    With their new information, they went back to the wall and pushed the button-like protrusions in the order shown in the mural. Then, they heard a loud noise as the water current in front of them came to a halt, opening the path ahead. Only a hole remained in the wall where water had been spouting non-stop up until a while ago.

    ¡°Ooh~ ! It really did stop, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, looks like we were right on the money.¡±

    ¡°Do you think there could be something on the other side of that hole?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Oh¡­ But can we go through it?¡±

    In response to Sally¡¯s question, Maple took a step inside the hole.

    ¡°Yeah, looks like we can!¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Okay then, we might as well give it a try.¡±

    It certainly looked like the kind of hole that would have something hidden behind it. Sally quickly followed Maple inside.

    ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll find something here?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, though¡­ this ce doesn¡¯t seem to be just some random tunnel.¡±

    Maple¡¯s eyes gleamed with anticipation of the treasure that could be waiting for them in there.Then, after a while, they heard an earth tremor echoing inside the hole.

    ¡°Whoa, is it a m-monster!?¡±

    ¡°¡­! No, that¡¯s not it¡­!¡±

    That ce wasn¡¯t a monster¡¯sir, but a water tunnel. So it was easy to know the true nature of that thunderous roar.

    ¡°W-Water!?¡±

    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s only stopped for a moment! ¡®Icicle¡¯ ¡®Right hand ¨C Thread¡¯ ¡®Super eleration¡¯!¡±

    Sally quickly created an icicle to block the surge of iing water,tched a thread onto Maple and dragged her along as she set out to flee the area using her enhanced speed.

    Looking back, she then saw with surprise the icicle exploding as she ran at full speed.

    ¡°Maple, get ready to use ¡®Atrocity¡¯! I don¡¯t know how much damage this water could cause!¡±

    ¡°O-Okay!¡±

    Sally ran towards the exit, believing that Maple would somehow be able to nt herself to soak the worst of the damage using her ¡®Indomitable Guardian¡¯, but soon realized that she wouldn¡¯t make out despite being tied to Sally by one of her threads.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°¡®Atrocity¡¯! ¡®Unbreakable Shield¡¯!¡±

    Realizing what Sally wanted her to do, Maple immediately activated ¡®Atrocity¡¯ along with a damage-reduction skill. Right after Sally jumped out of the hole, a tremendous amount of water blew Maple away, and the two were sent flying over passage.

    Rather than a piercing attack, it was terrain damage, which was affected by her damage-reduction skill, meaning Maple only received a few scratches. Sally, who had been protected by her, also got only a few scratches after being sent flying by the surging water. The two then fell at the base of a waterfall.

    After a violent ssh, the two of them turned up at the surface of the water near the waterfall.

    ¡°Phew, that was close¡­ But we did it somehow.¡±

    ¡°Aw¡­ Sorry, Sally¡­ I didn¡¯t think things would end up like this¡­¡±

    ¡°These things are bound to happen at some point. But we got out of it in one piece.¡±

    They figured they could just head back to the passage. They had been able to explore that much so far, so they wouldn¡¯t let that little setback get in the way of their fun.

    ¡°Well, if there¡¯s anywhere you¡¯d like to go, let me know. I¡¯ll go with you. And if things get rough, I¡¯ll be counting on you to protect me.¡±

    Seeing an unusual smile draw itself on Sally¡¯s face, Maple softened her expression.

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    Then, as she started to move, she noticed something was amiss.

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°M-My shield! It¡¯s gone! I must have let go of it when we fell!¡±

    ¡°Huh? So maybe it fell to the bottom of the waterfallke?¡±

    ¡°A-Ah! Maybe!¡±

    Maple hurriedly dipped her face into the water, and was about to dive all the way to the bottom of the waterfallke to look for it, but Sally calmly offered a different solution.

    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t unequipped by an event or anything like that, then you just probably dropped it. You should be able to retrieve it by managing your inventory.¡±

    ¡°Ah! I see! Good idea, Sally!¡±

    Then, Maple did as suggested by Sally, and after managing her inventory, her jet-ck shield safely returned to Maple¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Looks like it worked.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m d it did¡­ I figured I¡¯d have to dive to the bottom since I thought I had seen it shining down there.¡±

    ¡°Shining¡­?¡±

    A bit intrigued by Maple¡¯s words, Sally dipped her face into the water just like Maple had a moment ago and looked towards the bottom of the waterfallke. She thought to herself, ¡°Would that jet-ck shield really shine so much underwater?¡±

    ¡°Sally?¡±

    ¡°¡­Maple, it¡¯s still shining.¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s still something down there¡­ Maybe.¡±

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    ¡°Looks like this was a blessing in disguise. So, what do you think? Should we go check it out?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Okay. Then let¡¯s put on our diving suits.¡±

    ¡°Yeah~!¡±

    With a renewed feeling of anticipation caused by their unexpected discovery, the two of them started diving to the bottom of the waterfallke.

 Chapter 376: I hate being in pain, so I think Iâ€™ll make a full defense build.

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 376</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Underwater Temple 3</strong>

    The waterfallke was actually quite deep, and although it was hard to notice when looking at it from the surface of the water, diving into the water would clearly reveal that there was something shining down there.

    ¡°Let¡¯s make a beeline for the bottom.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    As usual, Maple activated ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ so that their safety was guaranteed. Taking her by the hand so that she wouldn¡¯tg behind her, Sally dived straight to the bottom of the waterfallke.

    However, there were no monsters down there, so they were able to safely reach the bottom, where they found four huge holes -one in each cardinal direction- and arge, pale pearl-colored scale that was about as big as Maple or Sally.

    ¡°Is this what was shining?¡±

    ¡°Probably, judging from its position. I¡¯ve never heard about or seen anything like this, though.¡±

    It was at the bottom of the waterfallke, right in the middle of the underwater temple. Not only would not many yers be able to survive being blown away like Maple, but they would also need to reach the temple safely, press the buttons in the correct order, and jump into the waterfallke when the passage opened in front of them.

    Not many yers had been able to reach this ce, so it was possible that no one had found anything like this scale.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t a normal route, is it?¡±

    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be. There has been no need for us to use our diving suits so far in the dungeon.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look deeper inside!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, at least for as long as we can breathe. I have no idea what could be waiting ahead of us.¡±

    The four holes around them looked exactly the same, so they randomly chose one and went through it.

    ¡°That was one big scale, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°There might be some huge monster ahead. Maybe even a hidden boss¡­¡±

    There were scales at the entrance, so it wouldn¡¯t be strange to see some huge monster swimming around in thisrge area, like the snails during the second event.

    ¡°We need to be careful as we go, but we must also hurry!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll run out of time before I do. So be careful of your surroundings.¡±

    Maple continued to deploy her ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± while being as vignt as ever, and Sally went a little ahead of her to make sure that there wasn¡¯t anything dangerous lurking around.

    After going that way for a while, they came across the severely worn-down ruins of a building that looked more like an actual underwater temple.

    ¡°Maybe this is the real underwater temple?¡±

    ¡°Well, it <em>is </em>underwater after all!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, though it looks like it¡¯s seen better days.¡±

    Rather than being naturally weathered and broken due to water erosion, the building looked more like it had been destroyed by somethingrge enough as it forced its way inside.

    ¡°Those walls look pretty sturdy to me, so whatever that managed to trample them over must be pretty strong.¡±

    ¡°I hope it¡¯s not as strong as Mai and Yui.¡±

    Some still unseen culprit had swam around in convoluted ways inside this new underwater temple, causing the unchanging passageway before them to split into the left and right among the debris.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Which way should we go?¡±

    ¡°This ce is huge, so there must be something we can use as andmark¡­ Something like this!¡±

    Sally, who was a little ahead, stopped swimming and called out to Maple. She then pointed her at another white scale, which was shining just like the one at the entrance.

    ¡°Oh~! It¡¯s like it¡¯s leading us in!¡±

    ¡°It muste and go around this ce regrly. Let¡¯s take a closer look.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! There don¡¯t seem to be any monsters here, though.¡±

    Just like Maple said, there were no signs of fish-like monsters or the golems they had been facing so far.

    The fact that some of the debris from the ruined building was the only thing that was moving, almost as if to make that shining scale easier to notice, made the whole scene look a bit creepy.

    ¡°Being able to focus on our search is ideal, but¡­ There¡¯s nothing special about this ce.¡±

    The only peculiar thing there was those scales. They were as tall as Maple or Sally, and were shining brightly amidst the area¡¯s dim light, making it impossible to miss them.

    ¡°How¡¯s your timer, Maple?¡±

    ¡°All good here! The diving suit is in top condition as well!¡±

    ¡°Should we press forward¡­? If something were to happen, we should be able to tell by the changes in the passageway¡¯s atmosphere. Be mindful of your remaining oxygen.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    They didn¡¯t know if there would be any rooms in there where they could get out of the water to reset their oxygen timers. And if there were no obstacles along the way, then it wouldn¡¯t be strange to think that whatever was waiting for them deeper inside the temple was considerably strong.

    Besides, endurance battles, which were Maple¡¯s forte, would be quite difficult in this environment. So, as Sally said, they had no time to waste.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be on the lookout for any details. I should be able to tell if something is out of ce as we go.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have expected any less from you, Sally!¡±

    There could be another hidden entrance like the one that had led them here somewhere ahead.

    With that thought in mind, the two headed deep inside the temple, towards whatever was waiting for them there.

    As they proceeded, they began to follow a trail of more of those scales, which had been irregrly left behind along the way, with some of them piercing the floor while others were lodged into the walls. The farther they went, the dim water gradually became darker and their visibility only worsened.

    The two had been wearing headlights for some time, and the detailed exploration was being handled by Sally. Maple was mostly focusing on staying on guard.

    ¡°Ah! Here¡¯s another one of those scales!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that we can see them easily even when it¡¯s so dark down here. It¡¯s not like I can¡¯t see anything, but the fact that there may be something lurking in the dark makes me be extra careful.¡±

    Maple was a little ahead, but as Sally quickly caught up with her while checking for any special hints on the scales, they suddenly felt a tremor, as if something was being dragged along the ground.

    ¡°¡­Did you feel that?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It wasn¡¯t our imagination.¡±

    It was more as if something had moved underground. And it was heading somewhere not far from where Maple and Sally were.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to see anything down here, so be careful. You can cancel your ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ as well.¡±

    ¡°Okay! You let me know if anything happens as well, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Sure thing. You can count on me.¡±

    Though it was very difficult to see anything around them, the two, who were more vignt about any signs of the enemy, realized that the tunnel-like passage hade to an end and they were now in arge area.

    ¡°Whoa¡­ It¡¯s so dark here.¡±

    ¡°¡­But there¡¯s something here.¡±

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    Following Sally¡¯s gaze, Maple also looked down. Perhaps in response to that, Maple noticed that arge ck shadow moved along with the soIn response, Maple also found that arge ck shadow moved as another tremor echoed at the darkness of the bottom of the water.

    Something started to shine faintly at the bottom of the water as Maple and Sally wondered what was drawing near, and its light gradually revealed its source¡¯s true form.

    Its scales were shining just like the others they had found along the way. However, these ones hadn¡¯t fallen out, but instead were part of a bigger mass of light that had started to move at the bottom of the water.

    Its entire body was covered with dimly shining scales, it looked like a mix of a fish and a dragon, and was tens of meters long. Its arms and legs were small and had regressed into something that closely resembled fins, and it had several tentacles and whisker-looking appendages. While its glowing body illuminated the darkness, it whirled up arge amount of sand from the bottom of the area as it started to rise from it.

    ¡°It¡¯s huge!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what it¡¯s going to do, so be careful!¡±

    As the two of them prepared to fight, the boss quickly ascended carrying with him a strong water current. After seeing such tremendous speed, which was unthinkable for a monster of that size, Sally immediately thrust herself away.

    ¡°¡®Super eleration¡¯!¡±

    ¡°C-¡¯Cover Move¡¯!¡±

    Although she had avoided getting hit directly by having her skill pull her towards the elerated Sally, the flow caused by the boss¡¯ movement pushed them even farther away.

    As the boss was now above them, they saw arge tail fin turning around them.

    ¡°It¡¯s faster than I thought! Can you dodge it, Maple?¡±

    ¡°It might be a bit difficult if it¡¯s going to be like that all the time¡­¡±

    With Maple¡¯s current movement speed, it would be impossible for her to swim out of the way of something that fast. If it weren¡¯t for Sally being close to her at all times, she wouldn¡¯t be able to keep on dodging it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to block it next time! These rush attacks haven¡¯t had piercing effects so far.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Okay. Let¡¯s split then. You draw it towards you, and I¡¯ll move behind it to attack it.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    If the boss¡¯ rush happened to be a piercing attack, Maple and Sally¡¯s roles would be reversed. After a second rush, Sally kept her distance from Maple in order to catch him off guard from a blind spot.

    ¡°¡®Provocation¡¯!¡±

    Maple caught the boss¡¯ straightforward rush attack with her great shield. However, blocking worked differently underwater.

    ¡°Uwawahh!?¡±

    Her ¡°Bizarre Eater¡± still devoured the boss¡¯ head, causing considerable damage, but without any floor to support her, it failed to stop it in its tracks

    The momentum plunged Maple all the way downwards, and as she crashed into the bottom of the area, a curtain of sand whirled at the point of impact.

    ¡°I have to do something right now! ¡®Water Coat¡¯!¡±

    Sally was worried about what happened to Maple, but she knew that as long as her ¡°Indomitable Guardian¡± was still active, she wouldn¡¯t be killed. So she had to take this chance Maple had created for her. Holding her twin daggers and wearing her blue set, Sally swam along the boss¡¯ long backside, shing and hacking away as she went. Each sessive hit caused additional damage, so even if her blue set had slightly lower stats, she would be able to deal more damage to the boss this way.

    ¡°You¡¯re too big to be trying to make such sharp turns!

    The boss tried to turn around in order to shake Sally off, but since she was swimming around its body at a reasonable distance, it wasn¡¯t able to reach her.

    ¡°¡®Deploy All Weapons¡¯! ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Another cloud of sand whirled up from the bottom as a bullet and aser beam emerged from it towards the boss.

    ¡°Sally! I¡¯m okay!¡±

    Maple¡¯s voice was heard mixed in with the noise from her shooting. Her incredible defense seemed to have repelled the giant boss¡¯ rush without any problems.

    ¡°Great! ¡­Now I can focuspletely on my attacks.¡±

    The boss¡¯ rushing attack would be considerably difficult to deal with for normal parties, since its huge body could allow it to attack everyone at once and cause tremendous damage, but it would be useless if its target had a way to avoid being hit by it head on.

    Sally could safely dodge it. And Maple could block it and prevent all damage from it.

    Rushing, mowing down with its fins, and attacking with its body while constantly moving, were all useless against them. It would be impossible for the boss to defeat Maple and Sally with such straightforward attacks and its fixed movement pattern.

    Its high stats were both no match for Maple¡¯s defense and pointless against Sally, who it couldn¡¯t even touch.

    For all its intimidating presence, the giant, which had been sleeping at the bottom of this area, was unable to damage them, and its HP continued to gradually decrease from Maple and Sally¡¯s offensive.

    ¡°¡®Seeping Chaos¡¯!¡±

    The boss opened itsrge mouth and rushed yet again towards Maple, and crashed head-first into her summoned monster, taking a big hit and stopping in its tracks.

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep on shooting at it!¡±

    As Maple continued to shoot, Sally also attacked the boss as much as she could. However, instead of trying to fight back, it shook them off, reaching a speed that not even Sally could keep up with.

    ¡°Huh? It¡¯s gone?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not running away!¡±

    After ascending for a while, the boss turned his face upside down and towards them, then bent its long whiskers, bringing them in front of its face.

    At a distance where none of the two could get close to it in time, the light that each of its scales had on them started to leave them, starting from its tail all the way to its head, and onto the dim water.

    Far from dissolving into it, the light traveled through the water, gathering at the tips of the boss¡¯ whiskers, making themrger.

    At this point, Maple realized that she had seen something simr to this before, and sensed that something big was about to happen.

    ¡°Is it gonna shoot at us!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s gonna shoot! Get ready!¡±

    ¡°¡®Heavy Body¡¯! ¡®Pierce Guard¡¯!¡±

    After activating her skills, she put up her great shield in front of her. Then as she assumed a defensive stance, a pir of light was brought down upon Maple.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be okay! Stay behind me!¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll leave it to you!¡±

    As Sally hid behind Maple, the light wrapped around both of them. It was a light so bright that everything quickly turned white. Maple¡¯s shield started to swallow that light, but before it waspletely swallowed, it bursted, spreading in all directions.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Maple followed the diffused beams of light, and saw that they headed towards several darkened scales that were stuck into the walls and ground, which absorbed the light and then started to shine as well.

    ¡°I have a bad feeling about this¡­¡±

    Sally¡¯s intuition was correct, and although the beam fired by the boss had been stopped, arge number of scattered scales had be reflectors, causing multiple smaller beams of light to bounce chaotically all over the ce.

    ¡°Sally¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We should be fine as long as it¡¯s only this many. Though we¡¯ll have to be able to dodge them at some point.¡±

    After confirming they were still under the effects of ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±, the beams of light had be so many that they could no longer afford to ignore them.

    The boss had lost its light and turned ck, and wouldn¡¯t be firing anything like that huge beam without recharging first.

    ¡°Just stay on guard for those rush attacks. Don¡¯t get blown away!¡±

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m going to attack now.¡±

    Maple put her back against the wall, taking a position where she can stop a frontal rush attack from the boss, and stabilized the range of ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± so that it wouldn¡¯t be moved. By doing this, Sally could be easily incorporated into her offensive from a safe zone. This position was possible because Maple hadn¡¯t sustained any damage.

    Sally instantly leapt forward to shorten the distance between her and the boss, but naturally, the thin beams of light that were bouncing from one scale to another started to attack her from all directions.

    ¡°I could use some practice¡­ I have to dodge these!¡±

    Since she was underwater, her dodging abilities should feel different than when used on the surface. But for Sally, that difference didn¡¯t exist, and she used sudden stops and sudden bursts of speed to close the gap between her and the boss.

    Avoiding barrage-like attacks was essential for Sally. She absolutely had to face opponents she would originally do poorly against head-on. If she couldn¡¯t do that, she wouldn¡¯t be able to face other yers in battle.

    ¡°¡®Triple sh¡¯!¡±

    She shed through the dim water, and could see the effects of the shing and of damage being dealt.

    After the boss had lost its light and turned ck, it was hard to see it in the darkness of that sunken room, but Sally was moving around with her usual precision.

    ¡°I need to have a bit more leeway¡­!¡±

    Sally still wished to improve, both by avoiding the rays of light from her surroundings and keeping the boss from twisting around and trying to blow her away.

    Still, regardless of Sally¡¯s thoughts, attacking the boss was a different story.

    The battle was all about keeping the boss from touching Sally at this point, regardless of how much room for improvement there was for her, or how much she wanted to perfect her own abilities.

    ¡°Maple! You¡¯re up!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me! ¡®Invitation to the Ocean Floor¡¯!¡±

    Swelling up from Maple¡¯s diving suit, a ck haze darker than the water they were submerged in overflowed, transforming her left arm into tentacles.

    Since the boss didn¡¯t seem to be able to damage Maple even without her shield, all she had to do was to simply wait and eat everything with her devouring arm.

    As the five tentacles opened up, the boss¡¯ head was smashed as it rushed towards Maple. Due to its ability to swallow whatever they touched regardless of force, the tentacles sank into the boss¡¯s head without any resistance, and five major damage visual effects appeared.

    ¡°Waah!? I-It¡¯s not stopping!¡±

    The rush attack didn¡¯t stop even after its head was smashed by Maple, and the boss forced its body onwards in an attempt to crush Maple onto the wall she had leant against.

    As a result, the weapons that she had deployed were shattered, but Maple activated the skill that would allow her to make other attacks during the boss¡¯ approach as she was being squashed against the wall.

    ¡°¡®Predator¡¯! ¡®Seeping Chaos¡¯!¡±

    When the three monsters bit into the boss¡¯ body and the tentacles damaged it, the boss -who had already lost a great deal of HP- shakily moved away from Maple.

    ¡°I can¡¯t use poison¡­ Then, ¡®Deploy Barrels¡¯!¡±

    Poison couldn¡¯t be used underwater since it would affect everyone but her indiscriminately. Because of that, she chose to deploy several barrels from her back instead, and then opened fire with all of them at once in pursuit of the fleeing boss.

    ¡°Sally! You¡¯re up!

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Maple wondered if the boss had realized that continuing to fight her would do it no good, but she also realized that the boss turning towards Sally wasn¡¯t good for them either. While it was busy trying to attack Maple, therge number of bouncing light beams hadn¡¯t been able to reach Sally.

    Neither Sally nor Maple could say for sure how long their defenses wouldst. If neither of them could hit the boss with their skills, the situation would never change.

    ¡°¡®Cyclone Cutter¡¯! ¡®Quintuple sh¡¯!¡±

    She used a derivation of her basic skills instead of going for special skills or daring moves. Still, they were effective at reducing the boss¡¯ HP. Since she knew that the boss had no means to hurt them, there was no need to do anything more for the time being.

    Besides, she could always get some help from Maple if need be.

    ¡°¡®Quick Change¡¯! ¡®Deploy Barrels¡¯!¡±

    Yellow polygons converged on Sally¡¯s back, making several barrels appear just like they had for Maple a moment ago, which then opened fire.

    ¡°¡®Reversal of Lies¡¯¡±

    Her attacks fired from close range pierced through the boss,ing out the other side, before turning into a yellow light and disappearing along with the barrels on Sally¡¯s back, mixing together with the damage effects.

    ¡°If I can¡¯t keep shooting, I have no way to see how strong the skill is¡­ Maple, the rest is up to you!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Seeing arge amount of light beams approaching, Sally turned her weapon into a great shield and moved away from the boss while protecting herself.

    Then, something exploded at the bottom of the room, and taking Sally¡¯s ce, Maple was ejected like a bullet towards the boss while being sttered by the rain of light beams.

    When Maple got really close to the boss¡¯ face, even closer than Sally had been, she put the muzzle of her barrel on what would have been its forehead, and fired aser.

    ¡°Take this!¡±

    As the red light pierced the boss, its body started to shine extremely brightly in its final moments, illuminating the entire area, and as it began to sink to the bottom, the light overflowed from its enormous body, creating a huge explosion.

 Chapter 377: I hate being in pain, so I think Iâ€™ll make a full defense build.

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 377</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Underwater Temple 4</strong>

    ¡°Phew¡­ Good job.¡±

    ¡°Good job, Sally! But I thought that you¡¯d have an easier time fighting under the effects of ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. But if I only keep on dodging, I¡¯ll only start to get dull. Besides, it was the kind of monster that could get a lot of distance from us very quickly and use ranged attacks.¡±

    Since there was a limit to the amount of time they could be active in the water, it was best to defeat it quickly.

    ¡°Everything¡¯s so fast underwater, it¡¯s hard to keep up with monsters like this.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll make sure to take cover behind you whenever things get really dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I¡¯ll be ready and waiting.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a great help. So, I wonder if there¡¯s anything else here? Those scales are shining quite brightly now¡­¡±

    Having taken in the light emitted by the boss as it perished, the scales that had been left behind were shining beautifully white, making the visibility considerably better than ever, even under that dim water.

    As they looked all around for anything they could take with them, they found some white scales piled up in a slightly different shape.

    ¡°Can we take these back with us?¡±

    ¡°Right! Amazing! They¡¯re so big¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, the boss was huge after all.¡±

    ¡°That other time, if they had been this big, I could have gotten a shield made out of them.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve already collected scales before. Though you didn¡¯t seem to do too good at fishing, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Well, I couldn¡¯t dive back then, so I had to try to fish for them¡­ But this time, thanks to this, I¡¯ve been able toe here with you.¡±

    Maple pointed at the tight diving suit that she was wearing.

    ¡°¡­Hehe, our gracious diving suits, right? I didn¡¯t think you would be able to dive into the water like this. If you need these scales, you can have them. Show them to Iz, she might be able to upgrade your white gear with them¡­¡±

    ¡°Is it really okay?¡±

    ¡°I just got this new gear myself, so it¡¯s fine, really.¡±

    Since all of Sally¡¯s gear was part of a unique set, upgrading it was far beyond her reach. Because of that, they decided that Maple would keep the scales in her inventory. As they started to remove the glowing scales, they noticed that something else was shining underneath.

    ¡°Is something there?¡±

    ¡°Looks like it. Let¡¯s take them all out and see.¡±

    When the two put all the scales into Maple¡¯s inventory, the true nature of the shining thing bes clear.

    It was a lump of light. It had no particr substance, and their hands would slip through it when trying to touch it. But even then, it seemed to be an item that they could put into their inventory.

    ¡°What could this be?¡±

    ¡°A rare item, maybe? Looks like there¡¯s only one as well¡­¡±

    ¡°Right! Then, you take it, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Huh, me? I don¡¯t mind having it, but don¡¯t you want it, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Hmph¡­ I¡¯ll feel bad if I just take everything for myself. After all, I¡¯m already taking all of these scales.¡±

    As far as Maple was concerned, Sally didn¡¯t even get that many experience points in this battle. She thought that taking everything for herself wouldn¡¯t be too fair on Sally because of that.

    ¡°¡­Really, I¡¯m perfectly fine with not taking any drops from this fight. But alright, first of all, let¡¯s see what kind of item this is. I¡¯ll think about it if it¡¯s some kind of equipment.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s check it out then.¡±

    Maple put the lump of light into her inventory and checked it from there.

    ¡°Umm¡­ It says it¡¯s called ¡®Heavenly Light¡¯. Makes it feel a bit weird that we found it in the water, though.¡±

    ¡°¡­I see. What about its description?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­ Something about a light from a previous light from the sky? I dunno. Want to take a look?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Sally took a look at the item as well, and found that even though there were some things written in its vor text, nothing indicated that it was either a piece of equipment or something directly rted to a quest.

    ¡°Just checking here, Maple, but you have other weird items like this one, right?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­ Ah, you mean the ¡®Lost Legacy¡¯?¡±

    ¡°That one. Both of these items must be used for something. After all, we only got these from defeating secret bosses, and they look like rare drops, too.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I see.¡±

    ¡°It might be connected to something in this 8th Layer. It might be a good idea to look for whatever that ister.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡±

    ¡°Look, a magic circle appeared, should we use it to get out of here? I don¡¯t think we can stay underwater for much longer.¡±

    ¡°Ah! R-Right! Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go!¡±

    Maple followed Sally into the magic circle, and the two were teleported out of the underwater temple.

    On the way back to the surface, Maple felt like she had forgotten something, and tilted her head a little.

    ¡°Ahh! The rare item we got a while ago! Sally!¡±

    ¡°Aw, looks like I¡¯ve been busted¡­ I still have it on me.¡±

    ¡°Why you¡­¡±

    Seeing Sally take out the ¡®Heavenly Light¡¯ she had skillfully ¡°forgotten to return to Maple¡± from her own inventory caused Maple to puff up her cheeks a little.

    ¡°Sorry, sorry. By the way, should we look for some ce where we could use those two items together? Or maybe you think I don¡¯t have as much luck or intuition as you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing like that! Of course that¡¯s a great idea¡­ But¡­¡±

    She had been doing nothing but get helped by Sally all this time. When Sally realized that¡¯s what Maple was trying to say, she started to talk about Maple¡¯s strong points in a more rxed manner.

    ¡°Look, you¡¯ve gotten yourself quite a nice repertoire of skills, haven¡¯t you, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Thought mostly by chance¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I thought it would be good to go to look for those ces together. We might even find a new skill. There are a lot of strong skills in this game, so I think it would be very valuable for us to do that. Besides, if I were to get a new skill by myself, you wouldn¡¯t be able to use it. But now I can use any skills you learn so I think it¡¯s better that way.¡±

    Now, Sally had the powerful ¡°Reversal of Lies¡± in her repertoire. Therefore, if Maple were to earn a new skill rather than Sally, their overall strength would increase considerably. Since it was used to great effect in the underwater temple, Maple could easily understand Sally¡¯s point.

    ¡°Well, yeah¡­ Maybe you¡¯re right. But why do I get the feeling you¡¯re just trying to talk me into letting you keep that instead~?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, you think so? Don¡¯t worry about that. I¡¯m fine like this¡­ But if it really weighs on your mind so much, maybe you should keep it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s do that.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, here you are.¡±

    The two of them then returned to the Guild Home, determined to find out how to use those two rare items.

 Chapter 378

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 378</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Guesswork</strong>

    Some dayster, Maple and Sally were talking at the guild home. No matter how hard they looked for ways to use those two items, they weren¡¯t too far from where they started.

    As they ced the items on the desk wondering what they should do with them, the other guild members who had been hunting for items today had just returned to the guild home.

    ¡°Oh, you two are back as well. Hmm, what are those?¡±

    Chrome was the first to notice the two items on the desk.

    ¡°These are items that Maple has found, but we don¡¯t know where to use them.¡±

    ¡°Things that Maple has found, huh¡­? So you have looked everywhere but don¡¯t have the slightest idea where they could be used?¡±

    ¡°Right! I can¡¯t dive as freely as you guys, so it¡¯s hard for me to be searching underwater for long periods of time¡­ So we haven¡¯t found anything yet.¡±

    ¡°What are those items called?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­ this one is called ¡®Lost Legacy¡¯, and this shiny one is called ¡®Heavenly Light¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Talk about over-the-top names¡­ But if they are meant to be used somewhere, does that mean that there¡¯s an event rted to them somewhere as well?¡±

    ¡°Does anythinge to mind?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t think I have seen any ce where such amazing-looking items could be used.¡±

    ¡°Then the items¡¯ names are the only hint we have at the moment. There were several references to items in the stone tablets I read, so there might be something about these items there.¡±

    ¡°Really!?¡±

    ¡°You mean those tablets inscribed with that made-upnguage, Kanade¡­? Right, now that you know about these items, there might be some hints there as well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but maybe don¡¯t get your hopes too high? And it could all lead you to some ce so deep underwater that you¡¯d have to fully upgrade your diving suits.¡±

    ¡°Maple Tree¡± was still collecting parts to that end, but it would take a little longer before they were done.

    ¡°Yeah, got it. Alright, tell us something that might be a hint.¡±

    ¡°Okay, so that light over there¡­ It says it came from the sky, but since you found it underwater, that ce must have been some sort of ceiling or skylight before it was all submerged.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s why we found it underwater then?¡±

    ¡°Maybe. So if it used to be a ceiling or skylight in the past, then it would actually be a ce high off the ground, right¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good guess. And this ¡®Lost Legacy¡¯ seems to have something to do with the machines we sometimes see in this Layer.¡±

    ¡°That sounds likely. Does this Layer go as deep underwater as the 3rd Layer?¡±

    Like Chrome said, the monitor and those light bulletunchers that Sally found in the dungeon she had captured could have been the same. Other than that, there were some broken machines that were stuck on rocks and buildings.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. And there¡¯s so much I¡¯ve been able to craft here as well¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm, so a ce where there are a lot of machines¡­ Right?¡±

    ¡°Where could that be¡­? It has to be somewhere we won¡¯t be able to reach until we upgrade our diving suits even further, right?¡±

    ¡°The stone tablets mentioned something about an old civilization, so it might be some ce quite deep underwater.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s some kind of lost civilization, then the item¡¯s name would make a lot of sense. We might not be too far off the mark here.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s look for more parts while we search for this old civilization as well then!¡±

    ¡°W-We¡¯ll do our best¡­!¡±

    ¡°Thanks, everyone! We¡¯ll definitely find something amazing!¡±

    ¡°It sounds a bit scary when you say it, Maple¡­¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Looking back on the things she had been bringing to the table so far, there were many things that fell under the definition of ¡°amazing¡±. Since Maple was their ally, they were certainly d that she was getting stronger, but the items themselves were nothing but outrageous to everyone else.

    As Chrome, Iz, and Kasumi each murmured their reaction, the unaware Maple seemed to have been very motivated after finally having gotten a hint towards her search.

 Chapter 379: I hate being in pain, so I think Iâ€™ll make a full defense build.

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 379</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Treasure Hunting</strong>

    A short whileter, the eight members of ¡°Maple Tree¡± had finally be able to explore every section of the 8th Layer. With that out of the way, their next course of action had been decided.

    ¡°We can finally go wherever we want, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we can finally search everywhere in here.¡°

    They were, of course, going to look for a ce where they could use those two rare items.

    Naturally, they were looking for a ce like that while looking for parts, but they couldn¡¯t find anything like it. Of course, they couldn¡¯t deny that the reason why they hadn¡¯t found it was because it was very well hidden, but they figured that the first thing they should be doing was to go to an unexplored area.

    That way, everything they came across would certainly be unknown.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready when you are!¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s okay with you, we should get going at once. Do you have Iz¡¯s items?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I have lots of things that will help mest longer underwater.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s get going. We might end up having to check every single ce individually, so the more time we have underwater, the better.¡±

    As they walked out of the guild home, Sally got the jet ski ready outside of the city as usual, and helped Maple get on it with her.

    ¡°Hold on tight!¡±

    ¡°Okay~!¡±

    Sally stepped on the gas and instantly elerated the jet ski, and they started dashing over the surface of the water at a great speed.

    ¡°Where should we start?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s check thergest one of the new areas we can go to now. It¡¯s going to be much more difficult to continuously explore small areas that are all scattered about.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Besides, the ce we¡¯re going now is quite high, and I feel it¡¯s the most likely to be our winner.¡±

    ¡°Ohh~! We might end up finding what we¡¯re looking for there!¡±

    ¡°If everyone¡¯s predictions so far are correct, yeah.¡±

    Sally and Maple kept on riding the jet ski for a while, then Sally checked her map and slowed down until she stoppedpletely.

    ¡°Is it down here?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s a little farther ahead, but¡­ you¡¯ll need to see for yourself.¡±

    Sally had her put on her diving suit as Maple wondered what Sally could have meant by that, and they jumped into the water. Down there, they could see the endless water and a tall mountain range. And there was a wild current that surrounded itpletely like a storm.

    The visual effect of the water current was made so that it was easily noticeable, but rather than being there so that they could find a spot where they could slip through, it was more of a sign to prevent them from being swept away and dying.

    ¡°You may be able to survive it, but¡­ If you end up not being able to escape from it, I won¡¯t be able to help you, so be careful.¡±

    ¡°O-Okay. I will.¡±

    Since she already had a recent painful experience underwater, Maple decided she wouldn¡¯t get close to that current, even if she could survive it.

    ¡°So we shouldn¡¯t go that way then.¡±

    ¡°But we <em>are </em>going that way.¡±

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    Sally had just exined how dangerous it was, and even Maple could easily see that it was a ce that was best avoided, so Sally¡¯s words came to her as a shock.

    ¡°Looks like there might be a way we can go through it. Let¡¯s check that current thoroughly.¡±

    ¡°Okay, so you know about this ce, Sally?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t gotten past the current, but I know where the entrance is.¡±

    ¡°Oh~! Just as I would¡¯ve expected of you, Sally!¡±

    As they dived deeper towards the bottom of the endless ocean, they advanced towards the foot of the mountain range. It seemed that the strong water current was not present at the altitude that was originally on ground level, so they were able to approach that ce without any problems.

    ¡°The mountains are so big that there may be some other entrances, but¡­ This is what I know for now.¡±

    In front of them was a cave leading into the mountains. They didn¡¯t know if there would be anywhere in there where they could resurface to refresh their oxygen timers, but as far as they could see from the outside, it waspletely submerged.

    ¡°If things look bad, we¡¯ll get out of here as soon as possible. We need to be very cautious of our timers here.¡±

    ¡°Sure! I just hope we don¡¯t have to stay underwater for too long in there¡­¡±

    Thus the two entered the underwater cave. Since the brightness was adjusted inside, it wasn¡¯t particrly dark, so there was no problem with visibility.

    Since they didn¡¯t know what the dungeon was like or what kind of monsters they would find inside, they simply started to explore inside without using ¡°Dedicated Charity¡± for the time being.

    ¡°Huh? Is something there?¡±

    ¡°There is. Though it¡¯s a bit hard to see.¡±

    Floating in the water were three slime-like monsters whose entire bodies seemed to be made of water. They would have been difficult to find if not for the fact that they had a slightly darker color than the surrounding water, so that their contours could be seen.

    ¡°Well, victory goes to those who make the first move!¡±

    After Maple deployed her weapons, she attacked the monsters with arge volley of bullets all at once.

    It was a barrage that could have easily dealt with a small fry, but this wasn¡¯t the case.

    The slimes, who had entered a battle stance due to the approach of Maple¡¯s bullets, spread their bodies like a thin, catching all of the bullets.

    The bullets stretched the slimes¡¯ bodies with their momentum without piercing through them, and when the stretching reached its limit, they returned to their original position, shooting all of the bullets back like a slingshot.

    ¡°C-¡¯Cover¡¯!¡±

    Maple hid behind her shield and quickly stood in front of Sally in order to block all of the bounced bullets.

    She would be fine even if hit directly by her own attack, but if Sally were to be hit by a single stray bullet, it would be the end of the road for her.

    ¡°Looks like only magic is going to be effective against it.¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­ In that case¡­¡±

    ¡°Times like these make me want to have some sort of poison immunity.¡±

    ¡°I know, right~?¡±

    Maple¡¯s means of attack were ¡°Machine God¡±, ¡°Seeping Chaos¡±, and ¡°Hydra¡±, and from those, only ¡°Hydra¡± could be considered a magical attack. Moreover, it had been proven so far that using poison while underwater would result in a chaotic situation where everyone, including Maple¡¯s teammates, would be affected by the attack.

    Her own ¡°Bizarre Eater¡± could eat up all of her own poison, but there was no telling how long it would take it to swallow up every little remnant of poison, not to mention that it would also eat up every single small fry in the vicinity as well.

    ¡°I could use an item to create a weapon, but Machine God won¡¯t work against this guy¡­ Sally!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, leave it to me.¡±

    Maple didn¡¯t have to force herself to find a solution. Sally was with her, and she had a wide range of skills which allowed her to respond to various situations.

    ¡°I¡¯ll follow you! It doesn¡¯t look like I won¡¯t be able to shoot at it from behind as usual.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡±

    As Sally elerated towards the slimes, Maple followed her closely with her ¡°Cover Move¡±. This would ensure they were well prepared in case something unexpected happened.

    ¡°¡®Cyclone Cutter¡¯!¡±

    After the de of wind swirling on Sally¡¯s hand grew asrge as the three slimes put together, she unleashed it upon them. This time, the attack wasn¡¯t deflected, and it cut through their soft blue bodies, causing considerable damage.

    ¡°They¡¯re more fragile than I thought¡­? Is bouncing bullets back all they can do?¡±

    Even though these were 8th Layer monsters and that Sally hadn¡¯t increased her magical power that much, the slimes¡¯ HP had taken a serious cut by her sub-par magical attack. This caused Sally to think that the slimes¡¯ stats must be pretty low inparison with other monsters in this Layer, and that their only saving grace was their ability to repel projectiles.

    However, this wasn¡¯t their only means to attack, since the three slimes joined forces to form a blue magic circle, from which arge mass of water was unleashed.

    ¡°¡®Cover¡¯!¡±

    As Maple came to the front to receive the attack, the water mass burst at the same time as it came in contact with her, causing an impact.

    The impact was not a big deal for Maple, and she simply waited for Sally¡¯s next move while saving her own ¡°Bizzare Eater¡±.

    ¡°How about this?¡±

    While Maple was blocking the attack, Sally quickly took out a crystal from her inventory and crushed it in her hand, adding a lightning to her weapon, and moved forward again by activating her ¡°Water Coat¡± giving her attacks the water attribute as well.

    ¡°¡®Triple sh¡¯!¡±

    Her attack, which unlike magic, steadily continued to increase in power, burned the slimes¡¯ body with lightning, and the subsequent water-based follow-up attack shaved away their remaining HP.

    ¡°Okay, all done!¡±

    ¡°Easier than expected, huh? But when they bounced my attack back towards us, they seemed to be quite scary¡­¡±

    ¡°We may need to be extra careful if these slimes appear along with other monsters. It looks like if we keep on using these items, we can damage them even with our weapons, so we won¡¯t have to worry too much about them as long as they keeping at us by themselves.¡±

    ¡°Okay, now let¡¯s keep going~!¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ I wonder if rushing forward is the safest way to go?¡±

    ¡°And to think that there would be slimes underwater! I would¡¯ve thought that they would dissolve in the water.¡±

    ¡°Right. Isn¡¯t it a bit unusual for slimes to be underwater after all?¡±

    They had seen many slimes bouncing around on the surface before, and their bodies didn¡¯t seem to be suitable for underwater activities. In fact, these slimes they hade across seemed to have been drifting away in some water current.

    ¡°Maybe they were using some kind of water-based spell to increase their speed in order to move. I don¡¯t think it would be too weird for some monsters to be able to do that.¡±

    ¡°Ah, like when I fly around using my ¡®Machine God¡¯, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ guess? Something like that.¡±

    Though Sally felt there was a big difference in what Maple¡¯s example looked like and the damage that it would normally do to the surroundings, Sally decided not to worry too much about it.

 Chapter 380: I hate being in pain, so I think Iâ€™ll make a full defense build.

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 380</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Hints</strong>

    After going on for a while, several other monsters appeared apart from those slimes. However, they were birds, beasts, all of which made little sense to be found underwater. A trait shared by all of them was that they had a blue gel-like body like the slimes they hade across earlier, probably so that they could stay submerged.

    ¡°Some of these monsters look like others we have seen beforeing to the 8th Layer as well!¡±

    ¡°Saying that they look like other monsters we have seen so far might not be the best way to describe them, but¡­ They do look like they have been put down here for some reason.¡±

    These monsters could move underwater and attack through the use of water magic, but they couldn¡¯t swim as quickly as a fish in order to get closer to Maple and Sally quickly enough.

    Each of those monsters looked like their abilities would be more suitable for fighting above ground, so they were an odd match underwater.

    ¡°At least they don¡¯t seem to be able to move so well underwater.¡±

    ¡°That gives me more time to react as well!¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Compared to Maple, Sally can move extremely fast. It was no wonder that she could swim around underwater faster than the monsters in the 8th Layer.

    Partly because of that, the two were able to advance without having to struggle too much. The monsters were able to use a wide range of powerful water-based magical attacks , but they were renderedpletely useless simply because Maple was there, and the monsters themselves were fragile enough for Sally to be able to defeat on her own without having to worry about getting hit.

    ¡°I¡¯m d I didn¡¯t end uping here alone¡­ I would be in great trouble if I hade all the way here and not be able to defeat any of these monsters without your help.¡±

    ¡°Originally, a shield user would shine the most when tagging along someone else who can deal lots of damage. That¡¯s why solo yers tend to have a harder time than those who work together in a party.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe! I do have a bit of confidence in my own attacks, though!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯ve mastered quite a few useful skills along the road.¡±

    There was no doubt that scattering poison, summoning monsters, and overrunning enemies with arge amount of weapons wasn¡¯t really part of the description of the Great Shield User ss.

    The fact that Maple was able to deal damage was good for the party, but it would be better to be able to fight without having to resort to that.

    ¡°Monsters of a different type maye out as we go through this ce, so I¡¯ll be counting on you!¡±

    ¡°Sure thing! I have enough ammo for anything!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good to know.¡±

    Unlike Maple, Sally¡¯s battle style wasn¡¯t centered around skills that have a limited number of uses, so even after exploring for a while, their battle resources hadn¡¯t decreased at all.

    If a boss with a normal body were to appear, then they would mercilessly use all of the skills they had saved up so far against it.

    After walking down the underwater passage for a while, they came across a wide room that branched into several roads. Although they were extra careful when entering the room, there were no signs of anything that looked like a mid-boss, and it seemed to be more like an easy-to-understand crossroads. Since it seemed that there was still a long way off ahead, Sally thought about checking Maple¡¯s current status.

    ¡°How¡¯s your oxygen?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m good! ¡­?¡±

    ¡°Maple?¡±

    Maple was hitting the chest area in her diving suit as if she was feeling ufortable about something.

    ¡°What is it? There doesn¡¯t seem to be a problem with how much oxygen you have left¡­¡±

    ¡°It feels a bit warm around here¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­Huh? Doesn¡¯t look like it is any kind of status condition, though¡­¡±

    After a bit of thought, Sally shared a possible exnation for Maple¡¯s condition.

    ¡°I was wondering, if you have no particr damage or status condition, and there¡¯s no sign of a monster, what could it be, then? I¡¯m not feeling anything, so it may be a reaction to one of your skills or items, Maple. Something like a hint.¡±

    ¡°Oh~ That could be it!¡±

    ¡°However¡­ I don¡¯t know if that is a good or bad hint.¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°It could be telling you the location of a dangerous room filled with powerful monsters so you can avoid it, or it could be telling you the location of a good item so you can go pick it up.¡±

    They didn¡¯t know if approaching whatever that thing that just happened to Maple was pointing to was a good idea. All they knew for sure was that this was something that had never happened to Maple before.

    ¡°What do you think, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, since this is a hint like you said, if it¡¯s telling us to go check some ce out, why don¡¯t we follow it?¡±

    ¡°Even if there are some really strong monsters waiting for us there?¡±

    ¡°The two of us can take on anything!¡±

    Though Sally was impressed to see Maple dere that so adamantly and with a smiling face, sheughed it off a bit and put a confident expression on her face.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We can defeat anything if we¡¯re together, Maple!¡±

    ¡°Besides, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be such a bad thing to follow this hint. After all, it doesn¡¯t feel that unpleasant to begin with¡­¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I wonder if your intuition is right on the money¡­¡±

    Then, they started swimming once again, trying to head wherever Maple¡¯s reaction would have even the slightest change.

    First of all, they needed to decide which among the many paths that spread before them to follow.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s try each of them one by one. We may get some kind of reaction from one of them.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    After being prompted by Sally, Maple headed through one of the passages for a short while beforeing to a stop, shaking her head as if saying that she didn¡¯t feel anything particrly different about going that way.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel any different here!¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s try the next one.¡±

    Then, as they shuffled through more passages, Maple suddenly stopped in front of one of the tunnels next to a wall and tilted her head to the side.

    ¡°How is it?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I think it feels a little warmer?¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Maybe?¡±

    ¡°Should we try again? How about you go to the passage right next to this one ande back here to see what happens?¡±

    ¡°Ah! That¡¯s a good idea!¡±

    Maple went to the other passage and then came back to the first passage.

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a change!¡±

    ¡°Okay. So we should go this way.¡±

    Whenever Maple felt a change in her reaction, she would also feel that there¡¯s something ahead that isn¡¯t found anywhere else.

    From this point on, it seemed that Maple had to stand in front of a passage and check it before proceeding through it.

    Then, as the two of them walk along the many pathways based on Maple¡¯s sensation, they reach arge room leading to the next set of forked paths. And when Maple tried to feel which way they should go next, something like a crackle or an electric shock of sorts burst in the center of the room.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    ¡°Sally, something¡¯sing!¡±

    ¡°Get ready!¡±

    When Maple took up her shield and weapons and Sally once again clenched her fists around her two daggers, the violent sound and light subsided, and all that was left there was a cube that was suspended in the water without sinking or floating upwards.

    As they looked at it, a crack ran through the cube, which appeared to be made of abination of stones, and it split into several parts, revealing a blue core-like glow within.

    At the same time, an HP bar was disyed over it, and it started to rotate around its core, probably because it was ready for battle.

    ¡°It looks a bit like those golems, right?¡±

    ¡°Like those from before?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it seems to be made from the material.¡±

    Not only it seems to be made of the same kind of stone, but it was also simr in color and in the way it was built, which gave a certain feel of a rtionship between the underwater temple and this ce. If that was the case, it would be highly possible that Maple and Sally¡¯s goal was further ahead.

    ¡°We might be on the right track here.¡±

    ¡°Really!? Alright~ Let¡¯s give this our best shot then!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, this thing has to be protecting something.¡±

    It didn¡¯t seem like it was simply going to be standing guard. The way ahead was now blocked by a stone wall, and several magic circles appeared around the enemy.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready!¡±

    ¡°Good!¡±

    While making sure to be under the effects of ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±, they watched the enemy¡¯s next move. The cube began shifting to the left along with its magic circles.

    ¡°It¡¯s not an attack¡­ There¡¯s no damage!¡±

    ¡°But what¡­ Waaaah!?¡±

    They hadn¡¯t been hit by a lump of water or anything like that; a muchrger change was taking ce throughout the entire room. Due to the effect of the magic circles, a water current was being generated ording to the cube¡¯s rotation, and Maple and Sally were being swept away by it in a set direction without being able to do much about it.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯! Agh! I can¡¯t take aim¡­!¡±

    Although Maple normally attacked with her deployed weapons, she was not familiar with taking aim at enemies while moving since most of her attacks use her defensive power to generate a barrage of bullets while she remains stationary, so she was unable to damage the cube as much.

    ¡°At least even its core can be damaged. I¡¯ll attack as well, so get as much chip damage as possible, Maple!¡±

    ¡°Got it! I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    Because they had encountered nothing but monsters with watery bodies along the way, Sally was d that there was finally an enemy they could attack properly this time. And since Maple still had plenty of ammunition, she was free to try taking a few shots here and there.

    ¡°It¡¯s a strong water current, but¡­!¡±

    Instead of trying to go against the flow, Sally used the current and her own eleration to quickly close the distance between herself and the monster in a circr motion. It responded to this by generating spears made of water from its magic circles, but they didn¡¯t seem to be as quick as Sally¡¯s approach.

    ¡°¡®Triple sh¡¯!¡±

    In an instant, as she dodged the spears, Sally managed tond her skill twice for a total of six deep shes before using the same water current to safely get out of the way.

    ¡°Thanks for the ride!¡±

    ¡°Amazing, Sally! Alright, now¡¯s my turn¡­¡±

    Since Maple wasn¡¯t that skilled at taking aim, Maple created an oversized muzzle to make it easier for her to hit her target, and pointed it at the center of the core.

    However, before she could fire aser from it, several water spears that had been fired at Sally were now approaching Maple, following the water stream.

    It seemed that they had been made to be able to attack any opponent to some extent in the same water stream, but Maple couldn¡¯t reach Sally¡¯s speed in order to dodge them.

    ¡°Waah!? Wait, wait!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll help you!¡±

    Sally quickly got in front of Maple and got her weapons ready to protect her from the water spears.

    ¡°Phew¡­!¡±

    A blue light shed as Sally quickly swung her dagger, and all of the water spears that were headed for Maple were repelled as a result.

    Unlike Maple¡¯s body, her deployed weapons were unable to withstand a direct attack, and it was necessary to protect them.

    ¡°Thanks, Sally! Okay! ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Maple unleashed a huge shining redser towards the core, thinking that a big attack would be able to hit its target even if her aim were to be a bit off. Without being deterred by the water current, theser burned out half of the cube, passing through it and hitting the wall behind it, creating a huge explosion.

    ¡°Aw¡­ I was a bit off after all¡­¡±

    ¡°But it worked just fine. Keep shooting like this! I¡¯ll repel anything thates this way.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Due to how effective Maple¡¯s weapons were, Sally stopped attacking and switched to Maple¡¯s defense.

    It was imperative to the cube to destroy Maple¡¯s deployed weapon, but it was quite difficult to break through Sally¡¯s defensivework. In addition to repelling attacks with her daggers, she was also able to create a wall such as ¡°Water Wall¡± with her magic.

    ¡°Okay¡­ Taking aim!¡±

    ¡°This time, leave the defense to me.¡±

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    As a result, the cube wasn¡¯t able to put a single dent on Maple¡¯s weapon, and was eventually destroyed by a series of crimsonsers.

    When the cube disappeared without a trace, the water current that had affected the entire room stopped, and the water was calm once more.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that tough, huh?¡±

    ¡°Usually I might have had a harder time, but¡­ yeah, it didn¡¯t seem to be particrly strong.¡±

    ¡°Since you protected me, I still have plenty of weapons to use! And I didn¡¯t even have to use my ¡®Bizarre Eater¡¯!¡±

    Sally¡¯s presence was probably the reason why Maple had been able to press on with her attacks while preserving most of her skills. Thanks to her support, she had been able to continuously attack with herser without her weapons being destroyed, keeping her weapon generation to a minimum.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s press forward. You¡¯ll be at the front lines from here on, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Okay~!¡±

    Thus the two of them continued further into the temple.

 Chapter 381

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 381</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Heavenly Light</strong>

    As they kept taking the paths that gave Maple some sort of reaction, they could see clearly that the monsters in the area had definitely changed. Up until that point, most of the monsters seemed to have been made of water, but now most of them were golems made of stone or metal.

    They were dexterous monsters that moved swiftly and were able to attack with great precision even underwater with both magic and physical attacks, but since they had lost the ability to bounce off attacks, it was easy for Maple to defeat them.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    ¡°So they can¡¯t take all those bullets after all, huh¡­?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no water current in these passages, and they¡¯re pretty straightforward, so it¡¯s easy to hit them!¡±

    Even now, the barrage created by Maple¡¯s freely deployed weapons had turned the approaching golems into light.

    Since Maple¡¯s shots dealt fixed damage, it would certainly be insufficient to quickly defeat monsters as they go to newer Layers and the monsters they encounter be stronger, but even so, not many monsters would be able to survive after plunging themselves into such a barrage of shots head on.

    The monsters that they were encountering here weren¡¯t weak, but at the same time didn¡¯t pose a threat to them, so Maple and Sally were able to keep on pressing forward without having to rely on any special measures.

    ¡°Okay! We should be good if we keep this up!¡±

    ¡°¡­Normally, it would¡¯ve been a battle against not only the unfamiliar underwater environment, but also against a wide range of attacks, but with you here, Maple¡­ And since it seemed to be rted to the temple, that cube might have been the main boss of this ce. The boss is not always at the end of an event, after all.¡±

    ¡°I see~¡±

    The two of them started to ascend inside the mountains. They couldn¡¯t know their exact position because they couldn¡¯t see from outside, but they were certain that they were slowly going up.

    In this way, Maple and Sally destroyed all the monsters that appeared in front of them, and when they reached the top of one of the mountains, they stopped to take a look around.

    When viewed from a distance, the visual effect of the water currents would get in the way, preventing them from getting a clear view. Although there was nothing in particr, it was t and wide as if it had been ttened by something that hade crashing from above.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel like a mountaintop, but¡­ It would be impossible to move directly from here to another location, and what about your reactions, Maple? ¡­ Maple!?¡±

    When Sally turned to Maple, she noticed that the area around her chest was shining, and hurried to make sure she was safe.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine! It just started shining all of a sudden¡­¡±

    ¡°That was some reaction, huh? There has to be something around here, let¡¯s try to take a look around here.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Maple started to investigate around the wide summit so as to not overlook anything.

    Sally stuck close behind her, ready for an emergency evacuation in case anything bad happened. She believed that they wouldn¡¯t have much of a problem since there were no signs of enemies nearby, that there would be no problem with no enemy shadow, but the next moment, Maple had suddenly vanished right before her eyes, leaving Sally to wonder about what happened.

    ¡°Huh¡­!?¡±

    There was no magic circle to teleport yers outside of the dungeon, nor were there signs of any kind of monster. They weren¡¯t in a ce where they could have been easily ambushed in the first ce. Sally rushed to check the ce where Maple was heading to, but then, she noticed somethinging out of nowhere out of the corner of her eye, so she immediately stopped and went back to that spot to see what was going on.

    ¡°M-Maple?¡±

    ¡°Ah, Sally! Is everything okay?¡±

    ¡°Y-Yeah. I thought I felt something from over there just a moment ago. But¡­ What happened to you?¡±

    What was before Sally was actually Maple¡¯s seemingly disembodied head, floating in midair. To be more precise, it was the frontal half of her head, making it look like a trophy hanging from a wall, but it was still quite a weird sight to behold.

    ¡°Can youe over here? Umm, let¡¯s see¡­ hand? Okay!¡±

    After saying that, Maple¡¯s arms stretched out of nowhere, just like her face. It didn¡¯t seem to be a fake Maple, like that other time. Maple wouldn¡¯t just try to pull Sally into some dangerous ce without telling her about it first, so she saw no problem in taking her hand.

    ¡°Okay, got it.¡±

    ¡°Ok, keeping towards me!¡±

    After taking a step forward, she could no longer see her leg past her knee, almost as if she had gone through some kind of invisible wall. However, although she sustained no damage and she couldn¡¯t see it, she could feel her foot stepping on the ground.

    As Sally walked forward and slipped through the invisible wall, a dazzling light started to shine down on it. She then reflexively closed her eyes due to the difference of lighting from the water, but soon began to slowly open her eyes to get used to the light.

    ¡°What¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    What was spreading before them was andscape on the surface that they hadn¡¯t seen anywhere in the 8th Layer. The ground was covered with flowers, animals could be seen running around, and the song of birds could be heard in the distance. And most important of all, it wasn¡¯t submerged in water, and when Sally looked up, she could see an unobstructed sky.

    Since they were no longer underwater, and seeing that Maple had already taken off her diving suit, Sally did the same.

    ¡°Is this some kind of isted room? I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve been teleported here, though.¡±

    ¡°It seems to be connected to the outside through that spot we¡¯ve just entered from!¡±

    That could be inferred from the fact that Maple called Sally in with only her face sticking out.

    The animals didn¡¯t seem to be hostile either, and although they were aware of Sally and Maple¡¯s presence, they simply didn¡¯t seem to want to attack them.

    ¡°And that thing over there¡­ is definitely suspicious.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that! It has such a strange shape¡­¡±

    Aside from thendscape and creatures that lived there, which were just like those found on the other Layers, there was one thing there that was impossible to overlook.

    It was arge wooden ship that, though in shambles, certainly was still recognizable as such. There was a big crack on one of its sides, which had beenpletely eroded by nts, and had turned into a habitat for animals, but still made it possible to explore the inside of the ship.

    ¡°Is your light even stronger?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit too dazzling now¡­¡±

    Those changes on Maple and the fact that this ce had apletely different atmosphere were proof enough that they were definitely approaching something, and that they weren¡¯t too far from whatever it was.

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t go back now without exploring that first, let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    They still had plenty of uses left on those skills that had a limited number of uses. Since they had more than enough resources to spare, they really had no reason not to explore the ship, since they wouldn¡¯t be killed unless something extraordinary happened.

    ¡°Where should we enter from?¡±

    ¡°Maybe through a proper door? That crack over there seems like trying to get in from it would be a mistake¡­¡±

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to get on top of it. I could use my threads, but¡­ It¡¯s pretty high, so maybe you can handle this instead?¡±

    ¡°Okay! Wake up, Syrup!¡±

    Maple summoned Syrup, and had him use ¡°Megamorph¡±.

    Since there were no monsters around, there was no need to rush. So they climbed on Syrup¡¯s back and looked over to the ship¡¯s deck, but there didn¡¯t seem to be any monsters there either. Only small animals sleeping on carpets of flowers.

    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s safe to walk on the deck as well.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s descend there slowly then.¡±

    Maple slowly descended to the height of the deck, and when they boarded the ship, she returned Syrup to her ring.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get inside!¡±

    ¡°Yeah~!¡±

    Maple and Sally walked down the stairs leading inside the ship to check things out there. However, the nts that had spread outside the ship were covering its inside as well, and the furniture that had originally been there was no longer visible.

    ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be any monsters here either¡­ But I¡¯ll be on the lookout.¡±

    ¡°Thanks~! I wonder if there¡¯s anything here?¡±

    ¡°If there is, it¡¯s probably going to be in the back. Somewhere that is not directly connected to this room through other rooms or passages.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s.¡±

    Although it was arge ship, the ces that they could actually ess were rather limited, so as long as Maple kept on moving ording to the changes in her reactions, there would be no way to get lost inside.

    And so, they didn¡¯t take too long to reach their destination.

    They had arrived at the relief of a wall ¨Cstill unbroken because it was in the center of the ship¨C which was shining a faint light in response to the lighting out of Maple¡¯s chest.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t feel like we¡¯re going to be facing a boss¡­¡±

    ¡°Can I get closer to it?¡±

    ¡°Sure. I can¡¯t feel any signs of monsters nearby.¡±

    While Sally was watching out for monsters, Maple safely approached the relief, and the moment she touched it, the light emitted from Maple¡¯s body suddenly became stronger and illuminated the interior of the ship.

    Along with that, an earth tremor echoed, and the ship began to shake intensely.

    It didn¡¯t seem to be a natural earthquake affecting the mountains, but rather, it was more like the ship itself was being shaken by a yet unknown force.

    ¡°Waaaah!?¡±

    ¡°Everything¡¯s shaking¡­!?¡±

    Under such an intense light that made it impossible for either of them to see each other, both of them tried to adjust their posture to deal with the shaking, but after a short while, the light subsided and the shaking of the ship had stoppedpletely.

    ¡°I-It¡¯s over?¡±

    ¡°¡­Maybe it can¡¯t be shaken anymore. The ship may have been broken so much that it could be seen from outside.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ That could be it.¡±

    If they had been able to move this ship around and take it home with them, it would have made for a great souvenir, but it didn¡¯t seem like they would be able to do that.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right! Maple, did anything change? The shaking has stopped, but I haven¡¯t heard any announcements¡­¡±

    After being asked to check her items and skills, Maple checked herself once again.

    ¡°The ¡®Heavenly Light¡¯ is gone, and it looks like¡­ Yeah, I have a new skill!¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s what it was. What is it? I¡¯d like to see it, if that¡¯s okay with you.¡±

    Of course, Sally was asking to see if Maple¡¯s new skill was something that could be used right away, and after Maple read its effect and confirming that, just like the item it had generated the skill didn¡¯t seem to be bad news, the skill seemed to be safe to use, she gave it a try.

    ¡°¡®Afterglow of Salvation¡¯!¡±

    When she activated the skill, the light that had been shining from Maple¡¯s chest was reignited. A halo made of light, much shinier than usual, appeared over Maple¡¯s head, her hair turned golden and her eyes turned blue, and a total of four white wings grew on her back. The ground under her feet started to glow. Sally was staring in wonder at the changes in Maple that had been more than anything she had expected, but then she approached Maple to see what it was like.

    ¡°It looks like an evolved form of your ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯?¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s different! Look, ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    With Maple¡¯s second activation, two more wings grew on her back, and another halo of light appeared inside the one she already had.

    ¡°What does it do?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ Allies within range will be more resistant to abnormal conditions, will receive less damage, and will gradually recover HP!¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s like a ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯ that allows you to move around¡­? How can we make it work for me¡­?¡±

    Even with damage reduction, a blow is still a blow to Sally, since there would be no situation where she would remain alive after her HP had been reduced at this point, so recovery effects wouldn¡¯t do much to her.

    Besides, since it was a skill that worked under an area of effect like ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯, Sally, who would often team up with Maple, didn¡¯t really need toe back all the way here to get this.

    ¡°If you weren¡¯t around, Maple, having multiple range reduction skills would be pretty strong, but¡­ It¡¯s a bit overkill.¡±

    It was a fact that because of Maple¡¯s natural defensive power and the effect of ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯, there was little chance for those around her to get hurt at all. Maple, who rarely used damage reduction or recovery skills for reasons different from Sally¡¯s, was in a situation where she basically used ¡®Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯ for nothing more than its sealing effect.

    ¡°But you look amazing! It definitely looks like an upgrade.¡±

    ¡°And I have more wings now!¡±

    ¡°If only you could fly with those¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d be dropping aerial attacks like there¡¯s no tomorrow!¡±

    Maple tried moving the wings on her back, but it didn¡¯t seem like she could use them to fly.

    ¡°At least we got something out of this. Only that skill, right?¡±

    ¡°Umm, there¡¯s also something that I think it¡¯s simr to ¡®Hydra¡¯! And¡­ something called ¡®Reversal Rebirth¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Okay?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s show these to the others! I think it¡¯ll be easier to understand these skills with everyone around!¡±

    With that said, Maple showed Sally the descriptions of her new skills.

    ¡°I see¡­ You may be right about that. Chances are there¡¯ll be lots of people around you when you use that one.¡±

    ¡°I know, right?¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s great. Ah, make sure to put those new wings of yours away. You don¡¯t want to end up wishing you¡¯d saved those up for when it counts.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! It¡¯ll be like some kind of trump card!¡±

    ¡°Right. I see you get what I mean.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe~¡±

    Now that they were done there, they reached out to those guild members who were still logged in at the time, and invited them to go to meet with them at the guild home before returning to the surface.

 Chapter 382

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 382</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Heavenly Light 2</strong>

    When they opened the door to the guild home, they found that the other team members were already there waiting for them.

    ¡°Ah, everyone¡¯s here!¡±

    ¡°We were curious. You¡¯re quick to produce results, you two.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to seeing something interesting.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the training center. I¡¯m assuming this is still a secret to other guilds, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. If we keep it a secret, I¡¯m sure those opponents who see it for the first time will be caught off guard. Besides, even without the skill, Maple won¡¯t be a hindrance in battle.¡±

    ¡°Makes sense. So it¡¯s some really scary skill, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°What kind of skill is it¡­?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t think so. It¡¯s Maple, after all.¡±

    If someone didn¡¯t know what she normally had, anything new wouldn¡¯te as much of a surprise.

    ¡°Haha, you¡¯ll know when you see it!¡±

    The eight of them entered the training center and waited for Maple to activate her new skill.

    ¡°Ah, wait a second~! Umm, before that, let me¡­ okay, ¡®Quick Change¡¯!¡±

    By switching to her white armor, Maple recovered her increased Max HP.

    ¡°Okay, here I go! ¡®Afterglow of Salvation¡¯!¡±

    As Maple activated her skill, the ground around her started to shine, four wings sprouted from her back, and a shinier-than-ever angel¡¯s halo appeared over her head.

    ¡°Whoa! What a beautiful skill.¡±

    ¡°¡­I¡¯ve been wondering what would happen when you activate it.¡±

    ¡°Look at that, and here I was thinking she¡¯d transform into some kind of huge fish or something.¡±

    The six of them were wondering what kind of absurd transformation Maple would undergo, since she had even started to grow tentacles a while ago, but they seemed relieved to see that Maple¡¯s new skill gave her an amazingly beautiful new appearance.

    ¡°If you¡¯re standing within this range, any damage you receive will be reduced, plus you¡¯ll gradually recover HP. It also boosts resistance to abnormal conditions!¡±

    ¡°Since Maple is always using ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯, this effect may not be very useful for her, though.¡±

    Kanade drew the same conclusion as Sally. With ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯, those other than Maple would already be protected from damage and abnormal conditions, so there wasn¡¯t really much of a point having a wide-range version of the essentially the same thing.

    ¡°But Maple seems happy to have earned some new wings, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­Ah, that¡¯s right. Then there¡¯s some merit to it.¡±

    After exining the skill¡¯s effect, she asked everyone to gather around her.

    ¡°Wait, there¡¯s more?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not all you have to show us, right?¡±

    ¡°Look forward to what¡¯sing next! It¡¯s perfectly safe!¡±

    Everyone did as Maple said, and after confirming that they were all within the range of ¡®Afterglow of Salvation¡¯, she activated her next skill.

    ¡°Phew¡­ ¡®Ark¡¯!¡±

    The light that was shining from the ground became stronger, and after a few seconds, the bright light enveloped everyone, and they started to float in midair.

    ¡°Ooh!?¡±

    ¡°Oh, interesting! You can make us float now. I wonder if it¡¯s like when you make Syrup levitate?¡±

    After they were all floating in the air, arge amount of water came crashing down directly below them with tremendous force, filling the training center up. As the training center¡¯s dummies were swept away, the light surrounding the eight people became stronger and everything before them became pure white.

    Immediately after that, just as they were starting to feel that they had been floating in midair for a while, the water was gone, and the eight of them returned to the ground. But instead of returning to the ce where each of them were standing, they had moved next to the wall of the training center.

    ¡°Alright, sess!¡±

    Then, Maple¡¯s wings and halo disappeared, and all other changes were reverted.

    ¡°Looks like it worked.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m really looking forward to using it when we¡¯re all fighting together!¡±

    Maple then exined the skills effect in detail. ¡°Ark¡± could only be used while ¡°Afterglow of Salvation¡± is active. After casting for 5 seconds, everyone affected by ¡°Afterglow of Salvation¡± is lifted from the ground before attacking the area with a tidal wave of water. However, the attack itself was just a bonus, since what interested Maple the most was to use it to move. After the attack is over, the user and all affected allies will be moved to any ce within the range of ¡°Afterglow of Salvation¡±, which is approximately 20 meters.

    Using ¡°Ark¡± cancels the effect of ¡°Afterglow of Salvation¡± afterwards, but that wasn¡¯t a problem for Maple.

    ¡°I see¡­ With a casting speed of 5 seconds, I doubt anyone without Maple¡¯s defense would be able to safely use that skill, though.¡±

    ¡°You can use it to jump from cover to make a surprise attack, you can also use the water as a distraction to get the jump on your enemy during a battle¡­ You can even use it to escape from a battle as well!¡±

    Sadly, this wouldn¡¯t help improve Maple¡¯s ability to move because it had a slow casting time. Still, it was nice to have more options inbat.

    Having arge amount of water drawing their attention while a party member uses that chance to make a surprise attack was a strategy that had a high chance of taking opponents off guard, provided they hadn¡¯t seen it before somewhere else.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll have plenty of chances to use this well if we keep it under wraps. Those who see it for the first time will surely be confused by it.¡±

    ¡°The water deals quite a bit of damage too!¡±

    ¡°Look at those poor training dummies¡­¡±

    Maple saw the water attack as a bonus, since she was more interested in the moving effect, but the raging wave of water was by no means something that should be disregarded. It was powerful enough to damage the training dummies quite a bit, so it would be quite the threat to opponents with low defense.

    ¡°I have another skill to show you, just a moment! ¡®Reversal Rebirth¡¯!¡±

    Maple changed one of her skills into another skill and asked everyone to move away.

    Everyone could guess that the skill Maple would be changing with her ¡°Reversal Rebirth¡± would be ¡°Afterglow of Salvation¡±, so they all took a few steps back. Although the effect on Maple would be small, her change in appearance made it apparent that it corresponded to the skill that was going to be changed. If so, then the skill it was going to be turned into would be appropriate for that change as well.

    ¡°Everyone, please get out of range~!¡±

    ¡°Out of range!? That far away?¡±

    Chrome¡¯s surprise was understandable. The range of ¡°Afterglow of Salvation¡± was about as wide as that of ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±, and if something were to happen within that range that called for them to get out of that range, it would probably be something significantly dangerous.

    ¡°¡®Extermination Field!¡±

    ck wings appeared on Maple¡¯s back, and a dark red colored halo appeared over her head. A ck light changed even the color of her white armor to ck. Dark red sparks crackled, and the ground under her feet turned ck as a dark light started to shine from it. From the skill¡¯s name and visual effect, it was evident that nothing good woulde to those within its area of effect.

    ¡°Maple! What does it do?¡±

    ¡°Umm, anyone who enters this field will take damage, be more susceptible to abnormal conditions, and suffer from reduced recovery effects!¡±

    ording to Maple, ¡°Reversal Rebirth¡± was a skill that changed a skill into another skill that had the exact opposite effect. But the thing that worried Maple the most was that it would affect <em>everyone</em> within range.

    ¡°When you say ¡®anyone¡¯, do you mean teammates as well?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ That¡¯s what it looks like.¡±

    If Sally, Mai, or Yui were to enter the field, they would die instantly. Kanade and Izu would fall to it mere momentster.

    ¡°¡­But it would be nice to see how much damage it actually does. We¡¯re at the training center, after all¡­ Okay, I think I¡¯ll step inside the field.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. If we can see how much damage this does to Chrome, we can estimate how useful it will be inbat.¡±

    Chrome was a top ss Great Shield user, so there was no way he would be killed instantly upon entering the field. Since they were already trying the skill out, it would be a good idea to try that as well.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going in!¡±

    The moment Chrome entered the field, he was engulfed by the dark light, and his HP decreased.

    ¡°The damage it deals doesn¡¯t seem to be influenced by Maple¡¯s attack power, but I can take it no problem¡­¡±

    However, since the field dealt continuous damage and hindered passive recovery, Chrome¡¯s HP was still decreasing as he spoke.

    ¡°¡­I can¡¯t stay here forever, though. It hurts quite a bit.¡±

    ¡°If it can hurt even Chrome, then we can use it in battles. Just activating the skill will make mages and such stay away.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Chrome, there¡¯s something else I¡¯d like to try!¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Oh, sure.¡±

    ¡°Okay, ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    Two white wings grew among Maple¡¯s existing four ck wings, and a new field was deployed on the ground. The dark red sparks were now joined by a soothing light, and Maple once again asked Chrome to enter the field.

    ¡°I wonder if this will work¡­?¡±

    When Chrome reentered the field, the dark red light tried to engulf him once more, but it was intercepted by Maple¡¯s ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±.

    Thanks to that, the damage that was supposed to be dealt to Chrome was redirected at Maple, and since her defense was way higher than Chrome¡¯s, that damage was reduced to zero, effectively protecting her teammate from her own skill.

    Using those two skills in conjunction, Maple could potentially damage everything around her while protecting her friends from harm.

    ¡°Oh, now we¡¯re talking! I bet any of us could enter the field now without being hurt.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll need to incorporate this into our strategy. If we can put Maple in the middle of an enemy team¡¯s row of mages, this could do a lot of damage.¡±

    ¡°I bet getting all of your mages down in one fell swoop is a really scary experience.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s definitely going to be quite a shock.¡±

    Expecting the future growth of Maple, who now had more potential for indiscriminate massacre than ever before, they all decided to keep exploring, looking for more skills as powerful as that in anticipation of their next eventual PvP battle.

    Meanwhile, in the real world¡­ Kaede was still walking towards school on a still rtively cool morning, all while feeling the strong sunlight of the summer.

    ¡°Ah, good morning, Risa.¡±

    ¡°Morning, Kaede. It¡¯s getting warmer, huh~¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, it¡¯s already summer after all~¡±

    Time certainly goes by quickly. It¡¯s been a year and a half since they started ying the game.

    As they went down the road to school while talking, the topic gradually shifted to the usual one: the game.

    ¡°Now we have to do the same for the ¡®Lost Legacy¡¯, huh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ I wonder where we¡¯re supposed to go¡­¡±

    We have no other choice but to look for it patiently, but we¡¯re ahead of other people simply because we¡¯ve got the required item. If we hadn¡¯te across those items, we might have just carried on without ever learning of their existence.

    Based on the name ¡°Lost Legacy¡± the two of them had guessed that it would have something to do with ancient machinery, but those who didn¡¯t have the item to begin with wouldn¡¯t be able to know where to even begin to search.

    ¡°I got it at a 7th Layer event, though¡­¡±

    ¡°I still think it¡¯s meant to be used in the 8th Layer. I feel as if the 7th Layer¡¯sst event was somehow rted to the 8th Layer.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it really yelled ¡®water¡¯ all over the ce, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d the 8th Layer is such a cool and refreshing ce, it¡¯s very summery, you know?¡±

    ¡°The fact that we have 8th Layers is also cool~¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ 8th Layers already!¡±

    ¡°The game hase a long way, huh?¡±

    ¡°Events are being added to the older Layers at the same time as the new Layer, so it would be nice to go back and check those out as well.¡±

    Events were often added on previous Layers as well, just like the one where Kasumi found in the 4th Layer that would allow her to earn her own monsterpanion.

    Of course, most of the new content would be rted to thetest Layer, but there would also be severalpletely new events on the older Layers with each update as well.

    ¡°There are so many things that haven¡¯t been found yet, and there are so many ces to explore¡­ no matter how much time you have in your hands, it never seems to be enough to experience it all.¡±

    You really needed every second you could get to explore while leveling up. Each Layer was huge, so it was easy to expect many more events toe in the future for each of them.

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing to have so much to do~! Phew¡­ I wonder if we¡¯ll have enough time next year as well.¡±

    ¡°Next year¡­ yeah.¡±

    Both of them were still students, and they would have to pay special attention to their studies next year. Kaede had a point, and Risa knew that they would both be expected to study hard, even if their grades don¡¯t drop.

    ¡°¡­Oh well, we have plenty of time before we have to worry about things like that.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    It was still summer. It was still a bit too early to be thinking about next year.

    ¡°Besides, you¡¯ve been studying hard already, right Kaede? So you¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°I think so¡­ Are you going to be fine as well, Risa?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been doing great so far. All I have to do is keep this up.¡±

    ¡°Oh~! Then there¡¯s nothing to worry about!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, see? We can give our undivided attention to the game now.¡±

    The two of them eventually arrived at school while absorbed in their conversation. They entered the ssroom, Kaede cheerfully thinking what kind of event they would encounter next, and Risa looking at Kaede while thinking about the future.

 Chapter 383

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 383</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Crevice</strong>

    Maple and Sally, who had seeded in acquiring new skills, continued to travel through the vast ocean that was the 8th Layer on their jet ski, searching for the next new skill.

    Even though their diving suits werepletely upgraded, allowing them to explore anywhere underwater without restrictions, they had only barely started, and there were many ces that they hadn¡¯t gotten to yet.

    ¡°Of course, we should prioritize some options, but in the end, we¡¯ll just check everywhere~.¡±

    ¡°There are a lot of machines underwater, huh?¡±

    Their next goal was to find a way to use the ¡°Lost Legacy¡±. Judging from its name, the two of them had been searching around both the several pieces of machinery found everywhere underwater, as well in what seemed like the ruins of a former civilization, but they had yet to find any event of dungeon rted to that item.

    ¡°We sure have been to lots of ces, but¡­ it seems to be really hard to find.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯d be nice if we could find it today. This looks like a good ce too.¡±

    Sally urged Maple to look underwater after she stopped the jet ski. After facing 6the water, Maple saw a huge crevice in the ground far below.

    The water was so clear that they could see several monsters swimming around the area even from a distance, but the inside of the crevice was still dark and deep blue, and they couldn¡¯t see what¡¯s inside it.

    ¡°¡­Bwah, Sally~! You want to go down there?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I wanted toe here earlier, but it looks like a ce that will eat through our oxygen timers.¡±

    ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s why we haven¡¯t been there yet.¡±

    As opposed to Sally, it was a difficult ce for Maple, who could only get more activity time through her diving suit, to explore without having fully upgraded her diving suit first.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how far it is to the bottom of that crevice, and I haven¡¯t heard any reports of anything happening down there yet. It¡¯s basically a dark pit, so it¡¯s easy to overlook something, but I can¡¯t even search in here by myself.

    ¡°Oh, it looks like a difficult ce.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯d be nice if we were to find something good down there.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    They prepared Izu¡¯s items, and after putting on their diving suits, they put the jet ski away and jumped into the water.

    ¡°There are a lot of monsters by the entrance, think you can handle them?¡±

    ¡°Sure thing! ¡®Deploy All Weapons¡¯!¡±

    Maple was a better choice than Sally when it came to dealing with a lot of small monsters at once. Maple started to dive down as she deployed her weapons, and when the monsters came within range, she immediately started to attack them.

    The rain of bullets andsers that ripped through the water shot through the monsters before they had a chance to even see Maple as an attack target, causing great damage to them. Although they managed to turn around to fight back against Maple after being attacked, Maple, who had already caught them off guard from above, had an overwhelming advantage.

    Maple¡¯s barrage was more dangerous to the monsters as they grew closer to her, so they were basically jumping to their own deaths, but even if they had stayed where they were, they would have still ended up like Swiss cheese.

    ¡°Like I thought, they were no match for you¡­¡±

    ¡°Something like this is no problem for me! But let¡¯s hurry up ahead!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We can¡¯t afford to waste time here.¡±

    They kept on diving while destroying all monsters on their path, and safely reached the entrance to the crevice. With their current ability, Maple and Sally could fight underwater just as if they were fighting normally on the surface.

    ¡°Whoa¡­ It¡¯s pretty deep.¡±

    Such a thing was unthinkable in the normal underwater field, but the color past the huge crevice at their feet was dark, like a mixture of dark blue paint. Unlike the clear water they had grown used to so far, it was impossible to see beyond it at all. It was even darker than the hidden path they had found in the underwater temple.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. Remember that your oxygen will go down faster than usual here, so be careful.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    After turning their headlights on, they went down the crevice.

    Then, their legs were swallowed by the darkness, and as they felt no ground under their feet, the two of them sank into the dark water.

    ¡°Amazing! Not even at night you get this much darkness.¡±

    ¡°It really is dark down here. We might not be able to notice anything outside of what¡¯s being illuminated by our headlights.¡±

    It was so dark that it would be pretty easy to get separated from each other if they weren¡¯t careful enough.

    ¡°Ah¡­ how about ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    As she activated her skill, white wings appeared on her back, and she began to shine brightly.

    ¡°With this, I can protect you and you won¡¯t lose sight of me that easily!¡±

    ¡°Oh, nice thinking! Two birds with one stone.¡±

    Maple had acted as andmark like this before, but back then, she had been carrying a bomb as she wasunched into the air, so she was being a much saferndmark this time around.

    ¡°We should get our backs against this wall and go alongside it as we advance. That way, we should be able to prevent getting attacked by surprise, since there¡¯s not much light behind our backs.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s do that!¡±

    Though Sally was vignt, being extra careful wouldn¡¯t hurt.

    ¡°The monsters here will be different from outside, so be careful. They might take advantage of the darkness to attack.¡±

    ¡°Okay~! I¡¯ll be sure to attack anything thates our way!¡±

    Since they couldn¡¯t see that well down there, they wouldn¡¯t be able tounch an attack like the one Maple did a while ago, but that was not what Maple and Sally excelled at either way. They weren¡¯t mages, meant to stay in rear guard and attack from a distance. What they were really good at was short-rangebat. Being approached by a monster wasn¡¯t such a bad thing since Maple¡¯s ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± was active as well.

    ¡°It really is pitch dark down here¡­¡±

    ¡°If you enter right from the middle of the crevice, there would be no walls nearby, so it would be really hard to know which way you¡¯re facing.¡±

    ¡°Seems like your battle style might work well here, Sally.¡±

    It would be possible to take advantage of this underwater field to move in three dimensions while attacking monsters non-stop, but in such vast darkness where it was quite difficult to know where one is going, it would be very possible to lose one¡¯s way.

    ¡°As long as we don¡¯te across a boss or some other insanely strong monster, we should fight very conservatively. So¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, leave it to me!¡±

    ¡°Thanks. We should ignore as many monsters as possible. We didn¡¯te here for the experience points anyway.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Oxygen was more valuable than experience points here, so they decided to avoid all unnecessary battles and aim straight for the bottom.

    However, the crevice was considerably deep and wide. Still, the monsters didn¡¯t seem to have been ced that close to the wall, so Maple and Sally were able to dive for a while without encountering anything.

    ¡°Are we really going towards the bottom?¡±

    ¡°I feel like we are, so we should be okay¡­¡±

    It was so dark that it was hard to tell whether they were actually moving at all, but that quickly changed once they started to see a blue light, different from the one emitted from their headlights, suddenly emerge before their eyes.

    ¡°Oh. Looks like we have been going down after all.¡±

    ¡°Is that an item? Or is it an event?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not moving, but¡­ Maple.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Sally approached Maple and told her something, and Maple nodded as if understanding.

    ¡°Right¡­ We need to be careful when we approach that thing!¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a disadvantageous situation, so the best n here is to cover each other¡¯s backs.¡±

    Carefully, the two approached the light together, aware of the possibility of having to retreat if anything happened.

    The moment they reached a distance where they could nearly touch the light, the absolute darkness shook, and the headlights cast light upon sharp fangs.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    As the two of them quickly backed out, the jaws that had opened themselves in an attempt to swallow them snapped shut in the exact position they had been mere moments ago.

    ¡°I knew it, that light was there just to lure us in.¡±

    ¡°Whoa, Sally, you were totally right about it!¡±

    The monster seemed to have been using a skill to mix itself with the darkness, but once it opened its jaw, they could see it properly. The darkness remained the same, but the monster¡¯s outline was clear as it tried to attack.

    ¡°Is it like some kind of anglerfish?¡±

    ¡°That seems to be the motif here. But we saw through its trick, we have it right where we want it.¡±

    Sally elerated through the water, quickly getting next to the monster and turning to its side before shing its big body with her two daggers. As it¡¯s fighting style was simply hiding and waiting for yers to fall into its trap, the anglerfish was sluggish, and couldn¡¯t keep up with Sally¡¯s high mobility at all.

    ¡°¡®Deploy Barrels¡¯! ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    There was no way to escape from Maple¡¯s barrage with such slow movements, so the monster¡¯s body was pierced by each and every shot fired by Maple, causing it to turn into light and disappear before it had any chance to make its next move.

    ¡°Nice, Maple!¡±

    ¡°I can deal with these kinds of monsters no problem!¡±

    ¡°We need to be careful if we keep finding strange things. There might be more mimics like this up ahead. Though I don¡¯t think we will be falling for anything like this again.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, got it.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t stress this enough, these monsters may try to deceive us by looking very simr to other things.¡±

    ¡°Okay~!¡±

    Thus Maple and Sally kept on avoiding unnecessary battles, and kept on diving towards the bottom of the crevice.

 Chapter 384

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 384</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and The Crevice 2</strong>

    After that, they kept on diving for a while, but even though they were taken by surprise by monsters a few times, they were no match for Sally and Maple once they showed themselves.

    Both of them had a high-rank fighting ability, so as long as monsters couldn¡¯t manage to deliver an effective blow in their first attack by taking advantage of the surrounding darkness, they would be quickly defeated like the small fry they were. But that was an impossible task for these monsters, since it was extremely difficult to get a hit that could both damage Maple and avoid Sally¡¯s alertness.

    ¡°Things are going well, but¡­ Hmm.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like we¡¯re going to make it to the bottom, huh?¡±

    ¡°How¡¯s your oxygen?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s going down at a steady rate, but thanks to this diving suit and Izu¡¯s items, I might have enough to reach the bottom!¡±

    ¡°Let me know when you have a little more than half of your gauge left. There might not be a magic circle at the bottom to take us right back to the surface¡­¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    Since they were diving while being cautious, swimming back to the surface would take them less time, but Sally thought that it would be better to be on the safe side and make sure they had time to spare in case anything happened on their way back.

    It had been some time since they entered the crevice. Although they were in pitch-dark water, something that could only be described as a ¡°rock forest¡±, where arge number of tall rocks, became visible under the light of Maple¡¯s ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±.

    ¡°Can you see the bottom?¡±

    ¡°Apart from that wall behind them, I can¡¯t see anything other than water all over the ce!¡±

    Though they couldn¡¯t see the base of thoserge, tall rocks, they had never seen anything like them before. Upon touching them, they seemed to be firmly connected to the ground underneath, and wouldn¡¯t budge an inch. Unless these rocks were floating by some mysterious force, the bottom of the crevice seemed to be close by.

    ¡°¡­! Maple, this way!¡±

    Just as Maple was about to take a breath, thinking that they might be close to the bottom, Sally grabbed her hand and pulled her under the shade of one of the rocks.

    ¡°W-What happened?¡±

    ¡°¡­There¡¯s something there.¡±

    Thinking that ¡°if she says so, then it must be true¡±, Maple quickly cancelled her ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±. There was no way to know if monsters could see them thanks to her skill¡¯s innate light, but she knew that they were better off reducing the chances of being found.

    As the darkness returned, they emerged a little from under the shade of the rock and squinted at the other side of the darkness.

    Beyond the darkness, a pale light rushes across the rocky jungle. In that light, they could see eyes that were moving slowly, perhaps because they hadn¡¯t found any prey¡­ yet.

    A huge something was swimming around that ce. It felt somehow different from a normal monster.

    ¡°That thing¡¯s huge¡­¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like it noticed us, so let¡¯s press on. It doesn¡¯t seem like a monster we need to fight. Rather than a boss, I think it¡¯s more like¡­ do you remember? That snail from the second event.¡±

    ¡°Ah! That unbeatable snail?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    If it were just a strong monster, they could fight it and eventually defeat it, but if it¡¯s an invincible monster, there would be no point fighting it.

    ¡°I could only see the monster for a moment, so maybe that¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t catch a glimpse of its HP bar, but since we don¡¯t have any time to spare, let¡¯s try to avoid fighting it.¡±

    ¡°Sure! Let¡¯s sneak past it!¡±

    ¡°The terrain here also seems to hint that we need to go through here undetected. I¡¯ll be on alert to make sure I know as soon as that thing gets closer to us.¡±

    ¡°Got it, I¡¯m counting on you, then!¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡±

    It was easy to explore stealthily in this ce because the tall rocks provided lots of cover. And since Sally, who could notice an enemy¡¯s approach after seeing them for the first time, had already seen that thing, it was very unlikely that it could get close to them without her knowing.

    With virtually one eye on that huge fish-thing the entire time, they were able to reach the bottom of the crevice after diving for a little while longer. From this point, they would switch to exploration. Still, they didn¡¯t have too much oxygen to spare, so they needed to be aware of their remaining amount at all times.

    ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll be okay down here as well?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll have no other choice but to stick to the walls. Let¡¯s do that.¡±

    The two of them entered the space between two of the tall rocks. Sally remained vignt of monsters, and Maple looked for anything that looked like an item or event trigger while at the same time being ready to jump into the defense at a moment¡¯s notice with her ¡°Cover¡±.

    ¡°¡­There¡¯s a monster to your right.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go this way.¡±

    Even though it was considerably dark there, it wasn¡¯t as confusing as when they were fighting the anglerfish. There were still some slightly noticeable changes here and there that helped them remain aware of their surroundings to some extent. That being said, Maple had no way to detect the presence of monsters like Sally could, so she would have to rely on her for that.

    They were actively avoidingbat, not only because they didn¡¯t know what they would be facing, but also because fighting would slow down their search.

    Besides, there was a chance that they would face some unavoidable battles at some point, so they had to do everything they could to preserve oxygen.

    ¡°Any luck yet, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Nope~ Nothing yet¡­ This ce is so dark and huge, but there has to be something here¡­¡±

    They couldn¡¯t see very far off into the distance, so Maple would only be able to find things in her immediate vicinity.

    ¡°It¡¯s going to be a pain, but we might have no other choice but to go back up for oxygen ande all the way down here again¡­ Several times¡­¡±

    ¡°But it sure does feel like a treasure hunt, huh?¡±

    ¡°¡­Well, you¡¯re right. Yeah. Let¡¯s just do it until we find the treasure. Even though this ce is so huge, there haven¡¯t been any reports about it, so there has to be something worth finding here.¡±

    Even if it wasn¡¯t rted to any events, there was no way there was nothing waiting to be found in this vast darkness.

    Eventually, some other yer would find it and make a post about it, but it was certainly way more entertaining to discover it by themselves. Sally couldn¡¯t help but smile, seeing Maple enjoying herself so much.

    ¡°But we¡¯ll have to go back to the surface in a bit. We might find ourselves having to fight on the way back, and other unexpected things may happen.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. Maybe we¡¯ll have to upgrade our suits even more¡­?¡±

    As Maple¡¯s diving suit was almostpletely upgraded, its performance was close to the highest possible, but there was still room for further enhancements. With her current upgrades, she would have no problem swimming around in a normal underwater field, but in order to be able to dive inside that crevice, she would need to extend her activity time as much as possible.

    They searched for a little longer while minding Maple¡¯s remaining oxygen, but she reached her time limit before finding anything in particr.

    ¡°Aw, shucks.¡±

    ¡°We cane backter. You tend to be really lucky, Maple, so you might be able to find something next time.¡±

    ¡°You think? It¡¯d be nice if we did manage to find something after all this trouble¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go back to the surface¡­ Wait!¡±

    A big shadow appeared from the other side of the rock as they were about to swim back to the surface. Sally hurriedly grabbed Maple by the arm and took her behind one of the tall rocks, but since it was such an open area, she couldn¡¯t hide both Maple and herself well enough, and the giant fish noticed them.

    ¡°Sally, the light in his eyes turned yellow.¡±

    ¡°¡­Is it in Alert Mode? It would be great if it¡¯s the type that doesn¡¯t attack first¡­¡±

    ¡°You mean it¡¯s giving off some kind of warning sign?¡±

    ¡°Something like that. There¡¯s plenty of things like this that represent how dangerous something can be. Things may be pretty nasty if those eyes turn red¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­I see.¡±

    While talking in whispers, the two of them waited to see if the big fish would eventually return to normal and leave, but nothing seemed to indicate that kind of change happening anytime soon. This wait caused the surplus oxygen that Maple had set aside in case of an emergency on their way back to slowly but surely decrease. Taking this into ount made them not so happy about having spent so much time exploring, since the situation was getting worse with every passing second.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to be going anywhere.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have time to challenge that thing to an endurance battle¡­ But how can we either escape or do anything else about that thing¡­?¡±

    Maple and Sally started to think if there were any skills in their arsenal that they could try against the giant fish.

    ¡°Sally!¡±

    ¡°Any ideas?¡±

    ¡°Do you think it¡¯ll give up and leave if it can¡¯t see us anymore?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I can¡¯t say that it won¡¯t, though. But how?¡±

    ¡°Look! Syrup¡¯s ¡®Earth Cradle¡¯!¡±

    Both of them were at the bottom of the crevice. It was a skill Maple never thought she would use in the underwater 8th Layer, but she could use it to sneak into the ground at their feet.

    ¡°We can certainly give that a try. Besides, even if it doesn¡¯t work, we¡¯re not going to lose out on much. It¡¯s not the kind of skill we¡¯d want to save up for our exploration.¡±

    Besides, since they were trying toe up with an escape n, there would be no problem with using up every single skill they had if it helped them seed.

    ¡°Okay! Syrup, ¡®Activate¡¯ ¡®Earth¡¯s Cradle¡¯!¡±

    With Maple¡¯s activation, the two of them concealed themselves under the ground.

    ¡°Do you think it worked?¡±

    ¡°Dunno. But it would be great if it did.¡±

    After a while, the effect of the skill ended and the two were ejected back into the underwater area. Using that momentum, Maple and Sally approached one of the tall rocks and hid behind it in order to see what had happened to the giant fish. The yellow light could still be seen floating in the darkness.

    ¡°Aw, it didn¡¯t work.¡±

    ¡°Looks like some time has passed. How much oxygen do you have, Maple?¡±

    ¡°I had quite a bit left, so¡­ Huh?¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°I have more oxygen than before, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Huh? Really?¡±

    Sally checked Maple¡¯s gauge and confirmed that it had indeed been fully replenished. Seeing that, Maple checked on her own gauge.

    ¡°I¡¯ve recovered too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡±

    ¡°¡­Maybe that ce over there was actually not covered by water?¡±

    Sally thought that it was because they had slipped into the ground. She had never been affected by that skill anywhere but on the surface before, so there was no way she could know for sure. But it was certainly possible.

    ¡°Now we can keep on exploring!¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting this, but turns out it was a blessing in disguise. Let¡¯s check the situation for a bit longer then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Since Maple¡¯s oxygen problem had been resolved, there wouldn¡¯t be a problem with them wanting to stay there for a little while longer.

    With that in mind, they kept a close watch over the giant fish until its eyes finally turned blue, at which point it returned to its usual path.

    ¡°Oh~!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s gone. Phew¡­ looks like it finally gave up.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go explore some more then!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯vepletely replenished our oxygen, and roundtrips to the surface are going to be a hassle. Let¡¯s keep going as far as we can!¡±

    And so, thanks to their unexpected full recovery of oxygen, the two continued their exploration.

    After passing through the rocky forest, hiding behind the rocks at the sandy bottom, they looked out for that giant fish¡¯s approach for a while, but apparently its territory seemed to be up to that rocky area. They waited a bit, but couldn¡¯t see its eyes¡¯ blue light anymore.

    ¡°Phew, it doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯s going toe this way.¡±

    ¡°But what if it sees us from where it is now?¡±

    ¡°Dunno. But I don¡¯t think anything is going to happen. If you¡¯re really interested in that, we can check the forumter. Someone else is going toe here eventually and will probably make a post about it.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Finding things out for yourself is fun, but it¡¯s always interesting to see what kinds of things other people discover as well.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s look for the answer to thatter in the forum then, shall we?¡±

    Whenever Maple looked for information about in-game stuff, it would normally be limited to things like what kind of skills to get and where to find them.

    ¡°There are many ways to enjoy this game.¡±

    ¡°Alright then, how about some lessons from Know-It-All Sally?¡±

    ¡°Well, I like looking for events and dungeons in unexpected ces.¡±

    As the yet unknown threat of the big fish had left for the time being, Sally and Maple began to walk on the sandy soil of the bottom of the crevice, with only their headlights to help them see in the dark waters.

    ¡°Unlike before, this ce is very wide, so it¡¯s gonna be hard to miss anything.¡±

    The environment was very bad for surprise attacks, so Sally could concentrate on searching for events as well. With two pairs of eyes instead of one, it was very unlikely that they could fail to notice anything within the reach of their headlights.

    ¡°Looks like there¡¯s nothing here?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Maybe we overlooked something¡­?¡±

    ¡°Sally?¡±

    Sally felt a slight shaking at her toes and stopped, and Maple, who noticed that only after a short while, turned around.

    ¡°What¡¯s the ma¡­ Waaaah!?¡±

    Immediately after that, the sand at her feet swirled up as if swallowing Maple, and a long-bodied fish simr to a moray eel appeared from the middle left.

    ¡°I thought there was nothing there¡­!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I took no damage!¡±

    ¡°Okay! But more of them areing!¡±

    Sally used Maple¡¯s headlight to locate her, as she was being dragged towards the surface inside the moray eel¡¯s jaws she had been caught inside the moray eel¡¯s jaws, and called out to her in the dark.

    Immediately after that, sand whirled up from several other ces, and arge number of huge moray eels appeared, which would be more than enough to swallow Maple and Sally whole.

    ¡°No way¡­ They¡¯re all so big.¡±

    Sally was quite far apart from Maple, so about half of them headed up while the rest moved towards Sally. She couldn¡¯t figure out exactly how many there were in the dark, but she could tell that they wereing from all directions.

    ¡°Catch me if you can!¡±

    Kicking herself off the ground, Sally quickly began to ascend, fully focused on avoiding the huge jaws of the approaching moray eels. Getting chomped by those jaws would most likely mean instant death, but their bodies were so huge that dodging their attacks also gave her a good chance to deliver a blow of her own.

    ¡°Haah!¡±

    Taking advantage of the fact she could move freely in three dimensions while underwater, she dodged an iing attack and retaliated by shing a single line along its side from its jaw all the way to the tip of its tail with her dagger.

    ¡°That worked pretty well¡­ Next!¡±

    Every time they tried to attack her, Sally would respond by leaving them with two red shing marks along their bodies and the visual effect of dealing damage.

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of them, but I¡¯m not afraid of suchrge monsters relying on their numbers.¡±

    Even if they were to try to take advantage of the darkness, they wouldn¡¯t be able to catch Sally. They would have stood a slightly better chance if they had all tried to attack her at the same time, but the moray eels couldn¡¯t move around that well.

    In the meantime, a massive downpour of crimsonser rained onto the ground, tearing through the darkness.

    ¡°It¡¯s so weird seeing rain falling in the ocean¡­ Even though it¡¯s rainingser beams.¡±

    Having lifted Maple high up above the bottom of the crevice, the moray eel had inadvertently given Maple the advantage of the higher ground. Hersers burned through the moray eel swarming around Maple on their way to the bottom.

    The uninterrupted rain ofsers burned and damaged the moray eels throughout their entire bodies.

    That attack had the capability of dealing such an impressive amount of damage over time that every creature in the vicinity other than her teammate Sally would bepletely decimated by it.

    ¡°I can dodge thesesers, though!¡±

    Maple would certainly be able to single-handedly destroy those moray eels with her ¡°Machine God¡±, but it had a limited amount of uses. It made sense for Sally to contribute to dealing damage, since they didn¡¯t know how much more there was left to explore or what kind of enemies could appearter.

    Nothing good could evere out of running out of ammunition at the wrong time.

    Sally added some more damage of her own, and Maple¡¯s indiscriminate overhead attack would continue to reduce the moray eels¡¯ remaining HP.

    Reducing their numbers took some time, but time wasn¡¯t so much of a problem any more.

    Eventually, the moray eels¡¯ HP bars becamepletely depleted starting from the one who received the most damage from thesers, and its body turned into light and exploded. Since Maple¡¯s attack was evenly affecting the area, the moray eels¡¯ HP bars were all depleted at about the same time, so they all died in an almost perfect unison of lights and explosions.

    The umted light briefly illuminated the area, and Sally could clearly see the lighting from Maple¡¯s headlight slowly descend to the sandy bottom once more.

    ¡°Wee back. That was a great attack.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d I hit that~ I was worried since I couldn¡¯t see that well from up there¡­¡±

    ¡°They were quite big, so they weren¡¯t that hard to miss.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Whoa¡­ but beating them like this sure looks nice, huh?¡±

    Most of the visual effects of the moray eels¡¯ deaths had already disappeared, but since they had been so huge and there had been so many of them, the area was still shining and sparkling.

    ¡°Looks like marine snow.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I think I¡¯ve heard about that!¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s not exactly like this, though.¡±

    ¡°Do you think there¡¯ll be more of these up ahead?¡±

    ¡°Not in the close vicinity at least. They all seemed to appear at about the same time.¡±

    As Sally expected, it seemed that every monster in the area had jumped out for an all out attack. And now that the menacing monsters had beenpletely wiped out, both Maple and her finally seemed to be able to enjoy some peace and quiet, at least for the time being.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel like there¡¯s anything around here anymore, so let¡¯s go a little further ahead.¡±

    ¡°I hope there aren¡¯t any more monsters hiding in the sand.¡±

    ¡°We have no choice but to be very careful while we explore.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s give it our best shot!¡±

    Maple went in front of Sally, checking left and right at every step, looking out for anything that could be lying around.

 Chapter 385

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 385</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and The Crevice 3</strong>

    Maple and Sally kept exploring in the unchanging underwaterndscape for far longer than they had originally expected to, as they had managed to replenish their oxygen without having to resurface.

    ¡°How long have we been down here?¡±

    ¡°Looking at the map, it seems that we¡¯re about to reach the middle of the crevice. We¡¯ve been on an almost straight path, so there are many ces we haven¡¯t checked yet, such as near the walls and everything in between from here to there.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t visible until they dived into the crevice, but the bottom seemed to be made up of several types of terrain, and there were ces with different characteristics, such as the rocky and sandy areas that the two of them had just passed through.

    ¡°The sandy spot seems to be like that main ambush area, so whatever we¡¯re looking for might be somewhere else.¡±

    ¡°Nothing but sand around here, huh?¡±

    ¡°There might be something buried here, but there¡¯s no point trying to dig here.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t a good idea to start digging this whole area without anyndmarks, or anything to prove that there was indeed something buried underground. They could end up wasting a lot of time on a wild goose chase.

    ¡°We should be able to deal with any monster thates our way here!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here quickly. Since we know their patterns, we shouldn¡¯t need to be afraid of getting surprise-attacked from underground, and besides, we¡¯re not here for the drops or the experience points.¡±

    With nothing more to do in the sandy area, the two headed towards the next terrain while repelling every monster that jumped out of the ground at them. Eventually their headlights cast light upon a hard, rocky ground.

    ¡°Rocks again?¡±

    ¡°ording to the map, we haven¡¯t backtracked or anything, so it has to be a new spot. Besides, I can¡¯t see those tall rocks from before.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty difficult to stay hidden in here, and like before, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll find anything here¡­ Unless the difficulty here rises somehow soon¡­¡±

    ¡°Not being able to hide as easily as before makes things harder for us¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s proceed with caution. Our oxygen is going down as we speak.¡±

    ¡°Right! We can¡¯t afford to explore in a rxed manner!¡±

    They couldn¡¯t help but remain overly vignt as they proceeded through that new area. Then, among the rugged rocks, they found something that looked like a worn-out stone brick.

    ¡°Sally, Sally~! What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Looks like there might be something here. Don¡¯t you think exploring this area takes way too much time? Most of the time would be spent on roundtrips to the surface for oxygen¡­¡±

    ¡°I agree!¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know what kind of monsters we¡¯ll face here, so we¡¯d better stick to each other.¡±

    ¡°Sure! I¡¯ll do my best to protect you!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m counting on you.¡±

    As they continued to search for any leads, they found what seemed to be evidence of other people having been there in the past. Though they were tattered, those things showed signs of having been made with sturdy materials, they seemed to have been designed in such a way that made would make it clear to see what they used to be before they became mere traces.

    ¡°There¡¯s more over here, Sally!¡±

    ¡°We seem to be getting closer to the middle of this area.¡±

    Finally, some good news. Maple had been swimming all over the ce, but as she turned her headlight forward, something was revealed in the darkness.

    ¡°It¡¯s a house!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s in shambles¡­ but it¡¯s definitely a building. Is this some kind of town?¡±

    They were at the entrance to what had once been a town. Upon pointing their headlights towards the buildings, they could see that most of them had already copsed, and only a few of them still were in a barely recognizable state. However, the amount of debrisying around evidenced that the town was medium in size.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get in!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It looks like there are no monsters in here.¡±

    They had no reason not to enter the ruined town aftering this far. There could be more enemies lurking underground in the sandy area, ready to jump at them as they proceeded, so Maple and Sally headed into the town while being alert about possible surprise attacks.

    ¡°Are there any buildings we could get in?¡±

    ¡°Any building that seems to be too buried under the rubble to be explored would be our best bet.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m experienced at exploring ancient ruins!¡±

    ¡°Huh? Really?¡±

    ¡°W-Well, we¡¯ve explored our fair share of ruins, haven¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We¡¯ve been exploring even more than usual. We might now be able to tell if there¡¯s something as soon as we set foot into a building.¡±

    Sally left the exploration to Maple, thinking she¡¯d let her conduct her search however she saw fit.

    Motivated, Maple headed towards a nearby building.

    She found herself in the ruins of a now roofless house that had no doors or furniture, but couldn¡¯t find anything inside.

    It could be safely assumed that being submerged under thisrge amount of water for who knows how long had already destroyed everything that could have been found inside.

    ¡°Aw, there was nothing in there.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s check out the next ce.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s keep it up!¡±

    They couldn¡¯t give up after only searching for a little while and not finding anything. The only time it would be okay for them to give up would be after searching and searching and still get nothing out of it.

    Sally followed after the lively Maple to make sure she hadn¡¯t overlooked anything.

    After havinge all the way to the bottom of the crevice, it would be a shame if they had to go back empty-handed.

    Though they had been swimming around for some time, there seemed to be no monsters in the ruined town, so they would be able to search within arger area, increasing their efficiency. Of course, the field of view granted by their headlights and the distance their voices would reach one another didn¡¯t change.

    ¡°Anything yet, Maple?¡±

    ¡°I think I found something here!¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Wait, what? You did!?¡±

    Having been half-expecting Maple to say that she hadn¡¯t found anything as usual, the surprised Sally turned to face the light of Maple¡¯s headlight and quickly headed there.

    ¡°So where is it?¡±

    ¡°Ah, Sally! Here, here!¡±

    ¡°This is¡­ Some kind of stone monument? Doesn¡¯t look like a regr stone to me.¡±

    The rubble of a nearby building had created a slope, and a stone monument as dark as the water surrounding it could be seen among the stones and iron scraps. It somehow seemed as if it didn¡¯t belong there.

    ¡°Something seems to be written here¡­ Let¡¯s see¡­¡±

    ¡°They look like those letters¡­¡±

    Some of the letters engraved in the stone monument seemed to have been damaged by the debris, but still most of them looked simr to the ones that Kanade had taught them about.

    ¡°Can you read these, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Well, no¡­ Only just a bit. But I can¡¯t really understand what it says here.¡±

    ¡°I know Kanade has taught us so much about these characters¡­ but there were so many lessons¡­¡±

    They weren¡¯t slow learners or anything like that, but it was far too much to expect them to learn an entirenguage just like that.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    They looked at each other, and without saying anything, agreed that no one was better suited for the job as Sally opened a message window and started typing.

    After a short while, they received a reply from Kanade.

    <em>¡°It looks like you¡¯ve found something interesting. Sure, I¡¯ll help you out if it¡¯s too hard for you to read something like that. It seems to be chipped here and there, so I had to fill in some nks before I could trante it. There seems to be something in the center of the town. It seems to be important and it is sealed away, and tightly protected. Why don¡¯t you go check it out? I¡¯m looking forward to seeing what you find there.¡±</em>

    ¡°I¡¯m d he replied quickly¡­ So, a seal, huh?¡±

    ¡°So there¡¯s something up ahead?¡±

    Depending on what kind of thing was being sealed away, they might have to fight their way through. In that case, knowing how much oxygen they had left was essential.

    ¡°Can you fight, Maple?¡±

    ¡°I have plenty of skills left that I can use! I think I should have enough oxygen as well!¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s head for the center of the town. Let me send a quick thank-you to Kanade¡­ Done.¡±

    Since their next destination had been decided, they quickly set out for the center of the town. They had also suspended their exploration for the time being.

    Since they had already been close to the center of the town, they arrived at what seemed to be their destination quickly enough.

    ¡°Could that be it?¡±

    ¡°Maybe.¡±

    A building made of ck stone was there. However, it seemed that it had been closed tightly long ago, same as when the stone monument was made. The main entrance had probably copsed when the city waspletely submerged. But there was a tear in the wall where they could slip through and get inside.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to be too big inside judging from the outside. Let¡¯s get inside.¡±

    ¡°The monsters in this area are quiterge, so I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be able to fit inside.¡±

    The two go inside, thinking that there would be nothing in there waiting for them. thinking that they will never be waiting. As expected, there was nothing in particr, and the inside was enshrouded in silence.

    The interior was about 5 by 5 meters, and they couldn¡¯t find anything that looked like a trap.

    Looking around the walls found them nothing but a single pedestal and the characters written on it.

    ¡°¡­Whoa.¡±

    ¡°Ugh, we¡¯re gonna have to ask Kanade again!¡±

    From now on, they would have no choice but to reach out to their teacher, since they wouldn¡¯t be able to decipher those characters on time no matter how much they could have spent taking those special lessons.

    Kanade¡¯s reply came immediately, almost as if he had been expecting them to contact him more than once for help with deciphering those pesky characters.

    ¡°Umm¡­ So we should hit each wall with a spell of its corresponding attribute?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what he said¡­ I¡¯ll do it. You don¡¯t have those kinds of magic skills after all, Maple.¡±

    Maple could only use the poison magic, so she didn¡¯t have the means to solve this riddle. It might have been possible to meet the conditions with items, but since Sally was around, there was no need to worry about that.

    Sally had ess to enough spells to solve it without any problems.

    ¡°¡®Fireball¡¯!¡±

    Sally prepared the spell and shot a fireball at the wall. As soon as it hit the wall, the fireball exploded and disappeared, and a red magic circle appeared on the wall.

    ¡°Oh! Looks like it worked!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Let¡¯s see about the other ones.¡±

    Then, Sally casts her spells on the remaining walls. Thanks to Kanade, they already knew which attribute corresponded to which wall, so there was no need to worry about that.

    Then, as soon as a magic circle emerged on thest walls, the ck pedestal cracked open and split into two while emitting blue light, creating a sphere that seemed to be about to burst from its center. The light continuously burst into flying sparks, which made Maple and Sally feel a strong energying from it, but it seemed that nothing more would happen after that.

    ¡°¡­Nothing happened? Should we try touching it?¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s sparkling quite heavily¡­¡±

    ¡°Activate ¡®Pierce Guard¡¯ just in case. I can recover quickly just in case.¡±

    ¡°Sure! Let¡¯s try that!¡±

    Since her ¡°Stout Guardian¡± passive skill was still active, Maple wouldn¡¯t be defeated no matter how things could get, so at least they would be able to escape to safety.

    Maple activated her skill as suggested by Sally, and tried touching the sphere. Immediately after that, a magic circle of the same color as the sphere was deployed on the ground, and an intense light started to shine at their feet.

    ¡°C-¡¯Cover¡¯!¡±

    At the same time as Maple activated that skill to protect Sally, the two of them were swallowed into the magic circle¡¯s light and disappeared.

 Chapter 386

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 386</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Cube</strong>

    Although it had been a terribly bright light, what happened had been nothing more than an usual teleport, and the two of them were thrown into a ce so dark that they couldn¡¯t see anything at all in there.

    ¡°Phew, I¡¯m d it was just a teleport. It certainly felt like it was going to be something else¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Maybe that¡¯s the usual animation for that ruined town?¡±

    ¡°It made my eyes hurt, though.¡±

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s so dark that I can¡¯t see anything, but it looks like there¡¯s no water here.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re right!¡±

    As she moved her limbs, she didn¡¯t feel the usual resistance of water. And when she tried jumping, she felt the ground below her feet.

    ¡°Let¡¯s take off our diving suits then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, mine does restrict my field of vision a little. Let¡¯s do that.¡±

    After taking off their diving suits, they tried checking the surroundings once again with their headlights.

    ¡°It¡¯s a floor. It seems to be made of the same stones as before.¡±

    ¡°Are we inside some kind of building? I can¡¯t see the sky.¡±

    Though there was air there, they couldn¡¯t see any stars when looking up. Since the floor was artificial, it was more likely that they were inside a building than in a cave.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we walk until we hit a wall? If we do that, we might know how big this ce is!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Let¡¯s do that. Things seem to be pretty quiet for now, so we should try to learn our surroundings before somethinges out.¡±

    Both of them turned around and started walking in a straight line. Since this kind of teleport would usually take them to a ce where they would need to walk forward to face a boss monster, they were nning to go in the opposite direction in order to get as much information as possible before an eventual battle.

    They found themselves before a wall shortly after they had started walking. It was a sturdy wall, made with ck stones, andcked any doors or any way to get to their other side.

    ¡°Looks like we¡¯ve been moved to the edge of a room. So if we turn around and walk towards the center¡­¡±

    ¡°There might be something there?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it feels like a boss might be up ahead.¡±

    ¡°Right! We have to be careful¡­¡±

    It hadn¡¯t attacked them as soon as they appeared in that room, but it was still entirely possible that something was waiting for them to approach. This ce, which seemed to be quiterge, had a simr shape to the boss rooms they had rushed into many times.

    Maple and Sally wanted to be as ready as possible to face whatever that boss could throw at them.

    They walked along the walls to check how big the room was. Eventually, the two of them reached an adjacent wall as their footsteps echoed in the silent darkness, as if it was apletely empty room.

    ¡°Seems to be quite big.¡±

    ¡°Umm, if the room is big, then¡­¡±

    ¡°Then the boss could be quiterge as well.¡±

    Basically, the size of the room usually depended on the size of the boss. If the room were to be too small for a bigger boss, it would hinder its movements, so naturally a big room would mean that the boss itself would be big as well.

    Furthermore, since they were no longer underwater, the boss could be literally anything, so it would be quite difficult for Maple and Sally to predict the boss¡¯ patterns this time around.

    Because of that, their uing battle would be more like a performance done without any prior rehearsal.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s time to turn around!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s be ready for whateveres at us!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    The two walked to the opposite wall, and after seeing that there was nothing on that side either, they went back halfway along the wall and faced to the front.

    ¡°Shall we?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I¡¯m good to go!¡±

    Both of them moved forward while being extremely vignt. Then, the room started to gradually be brighter as if it had reacted to their advance, and the whole picture became clear.

    As expected, they had been walking at the edge of a room with walls that were tens of meters long.

    After crossing halfway to the center, they could see arge amount of things that looked like materials close to the walls, such as crystals, rocks, and nts that they had never seen in the 8th Layer before.

    ¡°Is this some kind of storehouse?¡±

    ¡°It would be a very messy one, but still¡­ That thing over there seems to be the most conspicuous of it all, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    At the point where Maple pointed, there was a huge ck cube. Each of its sides were about 2 square meters.

    It was floating in the air due to an unknown force, and felt oddly different from the other materials that were scattered about the area.

    ¡°It seems a bit simr to that thing we saw underwater earlier, right?¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s a monster of the same type as that, our means of attack will be rather limited. It does look a lot like that other cube monster.¡±

    That other cube had been underwater, and it used the water around it to attack, but this room was not submerged. As they took another step towards the ck cube, wondering what kinds of attacks it would use, there was a reaction from it. An intricate blue line appeared on its surface, and its body split in half just like that sphere that had brought Maple and Sally to this room.

    ¡°Here ites!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    As they readied themselves, wondering what kind of magic it would use, several stone pirs made of the same material as the cube suddenly appeared from the space generated between the cube¡¯s two halves.

    The pirs started to rotate slowly, making a crackling noise and storing energy before releasing it as arge amount of light bullets all at once.

    ¡°Are those g-gatling guns!?¡±

    ¡°¡®Cover¡¯!¡±

    Maple stood in front of Sally with her shield behind her back, and blocked the light bullets with her body. She took no damage from it, but the visual effect of the bullets colliding against her body was so intense that it didn¡¯t let her see anything past her own nose. It had a much higher rate of fire than any of Maple¡¯s weapons, so taking them head on without any means to block damage would have normally turned its target into Swiss cheese.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit different from what we¡¯ve expected, Sally!¡±

    ¡°And here I was thinking it was going to be something more mystical¡­!¡±

    It was unclear whether those light bullets would ever run out since they were different from those fired from an ordinary firearm.

    ¡°¡­I need to look at his shooting pattern a little longer!¡±

    ¡°Sure! I¡¯m not taking any damage, so take as much time as you need!¡±

    After a few minutes of staring at the cube¡¯s light bullets with earnest eyes, Sally nodded slightly as if telling it was alright now.

    ¡°Alright, I can dodge them. I¡¯ll draw its fire so you can shoot back at it when you get the chance.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    If Sally said she could dodge them, Maple had no reason to doubt her. She knew more than anyone else how good Sally¡¯s evasion was.

    ¡°¡®Quick Change¡¯ ¡­ Okay, here I go!¡±

    ¡°Go for it!¡±

    Sally jumped out from behind Maple and approached the cube. Neither of them had attacked yet, so the cube switched targets and started firing at Sally, who hade closer to it.

    Though the light bullets came really close to hitting Sally, they would only go through the space where Sally had been less than a second ago every time, unable to match her speed. She had just dered that she could dodge them, so there was no way she could have been wrong when calcting the difference between the light bullets¡¯ speed and her own.

    ¡°¡®Path of Water¡¯!¡±

    Delivering a direct attack to a target floating in mid-air was much harder than doing so to an underwater target. For that reason, Sally created a water stream and swam through it at high speed to approach the cube.

    If she had no water to move as if she was underwater, she could simply create it.

    ¡°¡®Pinpoint Attack¡¯!¡±

    As she thrusted her dagger forward, the blue line on the cube¡¯s surface blinked and a shield was deployed on its surface.

    ¡°Pierce through it!¡±

    Sally stuck her dagger into the shield while still under the effect of her skill. For a brief moment, the dagger made a clicking sound as it struggled to prate the shield, but it eventually managed to get through, reaching the cube and shaving off a bit of its HP.

    ¡°It¡­ wasn¡¯t trying to block it?¡±

    Sally felt something ufortable, something that she couldn¡¯t quite put into words, but she had no time to stop and try to find out exactly what it was.

    She absolutely had to keep moving in order to dodge the barrage from those gatling guns. She wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge it as calcted if she were to move at anything but her maximum speed for even a second.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    As for Maple, she had just unleashed a barrage of bullets of her own. Although her rate of fire was inferior to the cube¡¯s gatling guns, her attack power was superior. The cube hardly moved, so it took Maple¡¯s onught head on without being able to do much about it.

    Just like Sally¡¯s attack, the bullets made a crackling noise as they pierced through the thin shield, and chipped the cube¡¯s surface.

    ¡°It¡¯s working!¡±

    ¡°It was good damage, but¡­¡±

    Sally noticed something different happening to the cube as Maple fired her volley. Below the cube¡¯s HP bar was a gauge unlike anything she had seen before, which was gradually filling up in response to their attacks.

    ¡°Maple! Can you see that gauge?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­ Yeah! I can see it!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s filling up everytime we damage it! Be careful!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    The only way anyone could be truly careful about it was for them to know what that gauge meant. They had yet to know whether letting that gauge fill up would be a good thing or a bad thing, but since they had to damage the boss enough that its HP is reduced to zero in order to defeat it, it was impossible to fight the boss without letting it fill up.

    In that case, they had no other choice but to take everything that the cube could throw at them head on and still win the battle. Fortunately, their abilities were suitable for such situations.

    Judging by how it looked, though the sturdy cube had been damaged by Maple¡¯s bullets, it still seemed to be far from defeated. Even though it looked simr to the one they had found underwater, that mid-boss and this boss were different.

    ¡°It¡¯s almost halfway full.¡±

    Sally kept on avoiding the cube¡¯s gatling guns and keeping a close eye on its movements to always be ready to dodge, while sticking to her hit-and-run tactics and constantly checking its mysterious gauge, which was currently the thing she was concerned about the most.

    Precisely because she was Sally, she was able to notice that a portion of the gauge had suddenly been depleted even as she attacked among several visual effects clouding her vision.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°¡­! ¡®Cover Move¡¯! ¡®Cover¡¯!¡±

    With just a single word from Sally, Maple rushed towards her as she herself was rushed by shes of light and shockwaves from left and right.

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯!¡±

    Maple instinctively guarded against the unprecedented attack, sticking close to Sally and having the st throw the two of them away from further harm.

    ¡°Oh¡­! Nice! That was a good move!¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, I had to think quickly!¡±

    Looking back at the cube, two smaller cubes are now orbiting around the bigger one¡¯s two halves. There were many stone pirs lined up right in front of the boss, and there also was something that looked like a spiked ball floating around there.

    ¡°Is that a bomb? Like the one just now?.¡±

    Those explosions had a rather wide range, and it would be very risky for Sally to try to dodge them.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll keep you safe!¡±

    ¡°Thanks. Then I¡¯ll keep your weapons safe in return.¡±

    Maple¡¯s ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± was unable to protect her weapons. For that reason, it was amon tactic for them to have Maple defend Sally while Sally in turn became a shield for her weapons.

    ¡°And it keeps getting more and more stuff to attack us with. I think it uses up that gauge that goes up whenever we attack it to summon those things.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right!¡±

    Maple could also grasp the current situation by looking at the cube¡¯s depleted gauge. There was no telling how many more weapons the boss would gain before its HP was reduced to zero.

    In addition to the boss¡¯ high defense, its shield dampened the damage it received and filled up its gauge with every attack. These factors made the boss more durable than anything they could have imagined.

    ¡°This might be a long battle!¡±

    ¡°At least we¡¯re not underwater!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. If this was an underwater battle, we¡¯d probably be toast by now.¡±

    Since it worked in their favor, they didn¡¯t have to worry about it. It was the same for Sally, but Maple found it easier to fight on solid ground.

    ¡°I¡¯ll block anything thates our way, so don¡¯t worry about its attacks!¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to have ess to any piercing attacks yet.¡±

    The battle was still far from over. When they were ready to fight again, both of them started walking toward the boss one more time in order to close the distance they had created.

    With their defense bolstered by ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±, Maple also readied herself to use her ¡°Afterglow of Salvation¡± in case of an emergency evacuation, all while remaining in range so that Sally could safely act while she tanked the gatling guns and the explosions by herself.

    ¡°You keep an eye on that gauge as well, Maple! That way, you should be able to tell as soon as it¡¯s about to get more weapons.¡±

    ¡°Roger that!¡±

    When Maple got within range, she spawned a number of giantser cannons, lowering her center of gravity and pointing the cannons toward the center of the cube. Of course, by doing that, her weapons would be vulnerable to the cube¡¯s gatling guns and bombs, but Sally would be defending them.

    ¡°¡®sh Flood¡¯!¡±

    Sally caused arge amount of water to be spewed from under the ground, using that to drive an iing bomb off, then transformed her weapon into a great shield to block the gatling guns¡¯ barrage.

    ¡°¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Maple¡¯s cannon let loose an intense redser, hitting the cube directly. This was as expected, since it had no actual shield or minion to take the hit for it.

    As a result of Maple¡¯s attack, the boss¡¯ gauge filled up to a certain point before depleting itself once again, generating yet another new weapon for the boss.

    ¡°It¡¯s a long pipe!¡±

    ¡°Is it some kind of artillery weapon¡­? I know I¡¯ve seen something like that before but I don¡¯t know what it is¡­¡±

    As they kept on attacking, wondering what would happen, a thin line of light projected itself from the long pipe and onto Maple¡¯s forehead. It looked like a pointer.

    ¡°That¡¯s a sniper rifle¡­!¡±

    Before Sally could finish talking, a thunderous roar was heard, and a single bullet hit Maple¡¯s forehead at such incredible speed that there was no avoiding it, and was sent flying far away to the back. Her ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± and ¡°Afterglow of Salvation¡± were still in effect, so there had been no visual effect of damage on Maple as the bullet hit her forehead, and taking into ount that since it was a single attack, her ¡°Stout Guardian¡± still remained active as well, so all that was left for her to do was to call out to Sally and focus on the boss ahead of her.

    ¡°Looks like I¡¯m okay, so I¡¯ll resume my assault!¡±

    No matter how good Sally was, it wasn¡¯t an attack she could avoid without paying undivided attention to it. On top of that, whether or not she could defend against it would determine whether or not Sally would be able to keep on moving about and scraping off the boss¡¯ remaining HP as freely as before. But since she still had her ¡°Empty Shell¡± under her sleeve, there was no better time to try that out.

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    Sally confirmed that the pipe above the cube was storing energy and took a step back. At that brief instant, the gatling guns changed their angle in order to chase after Sally. It was a slight gap, and if Sally were to be attacked there, even if she managed to stop the attack somehow, she would have no chance to counterattack.

    The cube would try to fill that gap, and Sally would lure it into doing so. With another thunderous roar, a bullet was fired towards her. However, the red pointer shining on her told her what the bullet¡¯s trajectory would be in advance.

    ¡°Haah!¡±

    The flow of time slowed down almost to the point that it seemed to have stoppedpletely. In this ¡°bullet time¡±, Sally¡¯s gaze firmly grasped the bullet. Half reacting and half predicting, she swung her dagger, hitting the bullet from the side, causing sparks to fly, and deflecting it away from its intended target ¡ª her forehead.

    Sally¡¯s body was also repelled backwards thanks to the knockback caused by blocking the attack with her weapon, but she still managed to adjust her posture in the air andnd safely on the ground.

    With tremendous speed, the bullet quickly made its way through just past the upper left side of Sally¡¯s body, making a loud noise as it crashed into the wall behind her.

    ¡°It worked¡­!¡±

    As soon as the momentary exchange was over and the perception of the flow of time felt returned to normal, the cube¡¯s gatling guns opened fire, and Sally started running once again.

    ¡°Technically I can repel that bullet¡­ But I think that job is better left to Maple, after all.¡±

    Since it would require a lot of concentration on her part, Sally wouldn¡¯t be able to keep doing that for too long. As Sally looked at the gatling guns and then at Maple, she seemed to be safe as expected, and though her weapons had been destroyed, her HP had not decreased at all.

    ¡°Sorry, Sally~! Are you okay!?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You really can brush it off quite easily, huh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to catch the next one!¡±

    Maple had several means to deal with something like that sniper rifle. She could swallow the bullet with her ¡°Evil Eater¡± or take it thanks to her ¡°Heavy Body¡±. These were all far from being the worst tactic against it, since both of them also ensured that Maple wouldn¡¯t take any damage in the first ce.

    ¡°Shoot at it with everything you¡¯ve got. That¡¯s the safest way to get some damage done to it.¡±

    ¡°Okay~ ¡®Deploy All Weapons¡¯! ¡®Seeping Chaos¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Cyclone Cutter¡¯!¡± ¡®Fireball¡¯!¡±

    The boss¡¯ HP took a hit, while it in turn couldn¡¯t do anything to hurt Maple and Sally, who attacked it unterally from behind their multiyered safety. The cube had no actual countermeasures for their attacks.

    Maple and Sally were verypatible with each other, so they could overrun any enemy. That was the main advantage of them having such entric builds.

    ¡°¡­It has two new weapons!¡±

    ¡°Watch out for those!¡±

    One of them was floating directly above Maple and Sally, and the other one was suspended near the boss¡¯ frame. As Maple and Sally wondered what those would do, each of the cube¡¯s new devices fired a thickser that crossed the room from one end to another.

    ¡°Whoa!¡±

    ¡°T-they¡¯re moving! We need to either duck or jump in order to avoid these!¡±

    ¡°B-but that¡¯s easier said than done for me!¡±

    Jumping to dodge the movingsers was something that Sally would be able to do, but Maple was a different story.

    Maple¡¯s jumping abilities were nothing to write home about.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­I see!¡±

    Sally¡¯s suggestion was to try to use her Great Shield to block the gatling guns¡¯ bullets as theser approached her.

    That single move could decide the fate of their long battle.

    After epting Sally¡¯s suggestion, Maple allowed her weapons to explode as theser approached her, using the shockwave from their explosion tounch herself upwards. However, she wasn¡¯t going up vertically, but diagonally forward.

    The cube¡¯s knockback rifle was still charging, and though the gatling guns had destroyed her weapons, there was nothing they could do to stop Maple¡¯s approach.

    ¡°¡®Invitation to the Ocean Floor¡¯!¡±

    Just as she was about tond, Maple turned one of her arms into a tentacle, stretching it out and wrapping it around the cube. Even if its thin shield could mitigate some of it, there were quite a lot of damage effects bursting from the gaps between the parts where the tentaclepletely covered the cube as it squeezed it like a sponge.

    ¡°That seems to have worked! Just a little more¡­ ¡®Deploy Barrels¡¯!¡±

    Maple turned her free hand into a huge barrel before letting loose a powerfulser from it at point-nk range. and theser is emitted at zero distance as it is. The damage effect mixed up with theser¡¯s red light, and the boss¡¯ HP started to decrease at an amazing speed. However, its mysterious gauge also began to increase at the same amazing speed, and the generated impact forced Maple to let go of the cube and sent her flying.

    ¡°Wha-!? No! I was so close! Uwaaah!?¡±

    Just as she fell on the ground, Maple was targeted by both the gatling guns and the rifle. She rolled towards Sally¡¯s position while being engulfed by the burning movingser.

    ¡°¡­You¡¯re okay, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Look at you, replying so cheerfully after all that!¡±

    Maple thought about going for another attack, thinking that she would be able to finish it off after a few more shots, but before the two of them could do anything, arge portion of the boss¡¯ gauge was consumed, and started emitting an unprecedented light.

    When the light subsided, the gatling guns in the center of the cube had disappeared, and had been reced by a huge pipe that was about ten times bigger than them. Though it would have appeared to be nothing more than a stone pir to the untrained eye, Maple and Sally quickly realized that it was a cannon with a tremendous power.

    As soon as it was created, the cube started charging it up, and deployed several shields of light to protect it.

    ¡°What do we do, Sally!?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯d love to defeat it before it gets a chance to shoot that thing! But¡­¡±

    Its power and range were unknown, but there was no doubt that this was the cube¡¯sst trump card.

    It would be better to deliver the final blow to the boss without letting it shoot, but there was no telling how much more resilient it had be.

    There was a risk to both counterattacking as usual and rushing to finish it off.

    ¡°What do you think of this, Sally?¡±

    This time around, it was Maple¡¯s turn to suggest an idea. Upon hearing it from her, Sally nodded in approval.

    ¡°Sounds good. Then we¡¯ll wait for it to shoot. I trust your abilities, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! We¡¯ll be alright!¡±

    Having Maple around meant that it was often better to only attack after having blocked the opponent¡¯s own attack than to try to do something reckless and end up in a position where she can¡¯t protect anyone.

    As long as Maple was able to neutralize anything that was thrown at her without any risk thanks to her defense and her ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±, they should be able to wait without any problems until the time was right for them to attack.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s about to shoot!¡±

    Sally, who was observing the situation, saw the light converging on the weapon became stronger and felt the signs of imminent fire.

    ¡°Just in case¡­ ¡®Pierce Guard¡¯! ¡®Unbreakable Shield¡¯!¡±

    Maple activated those skills in case of a direct hit, cancelled her tentacle hand, and took up her Great Shield once again. Shortly after that, a high-pitched sound was heard indicating that it was ready to fire, and then there was a roaring sound, much louder than ever, and most of the room was covered in an intense white light.

    It had been only a brief moment, and after everything was over, Maple and Sally were no longer on the ground where everything had burned down, only the overflowing water remained. But that didn¡¯t mean that they had been killed, or that the room had copsed and flooded.

    ¡°Excellent timing!¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, it worked like a charm!¡±

    Both of them were right above the boss. By targeting the cube¡¯sser with Maple¡¯s ¡°Ark¡±, they were able to phase through the attack without taking any damage.

    When Maple said ¡°Just in case¡±, she meant in case this strategy failed.

    In exchange for a big final shot, the cube had discarded the gatling guns that had always been targeting either of them, and all of the other weapons it had avable were unable to attack them immediately. This was a great chance for them to attack.

    ¡°Maple, let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Okay~!¡±

    ¡°¡±Deploy Barrels!¡±¡±

    Both of them turned each of their arms into a giantser cannon, pointed directly at the cube underneath. If their opponent was to bring out the big guns, then Sally would use her ¡°Reversal of Lies¡± to do the same.

    ¡°¡±Commence Attack!¡±¡±

    Thesers they fired mixed together, destroying the boss¡¯ shield with as much force as the one fired just a moment ago, burning the cube¡¯s body andpletely stopping its movements.

 Chapter 387

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 387</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Lost Legacy</strong>

    After defeating the boss, Sally grabbed Maple as both of them started to fall to the ground and adjusted her posture before creating a foothold in the air so that they could safelynd on the ground below.

    ¡°Watch your step.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Sally!¡±

    ¡°We did it! But¡­ It¡¯s a little strange, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°Huh? ¡­Ah! The boss is still here!?¡±

    Defeated monsters would normally turn into light and disappear, but the cube simply stopped moving and fell to the ground below, and was currently buried in a pile of various materials.

    ¡°There seem to be many ces we can investigate, so let¡¯s take a look. Coming back here sounds like a lot of trouble¡­ Assuming we can actuallye back here in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    Most ces that are not part of the normal fields had special conditions for entering them. It was alsomon for those special conditions to be impossible to reproduce once they had served their purpose, making it also impossible to return to such ces, so they had to make sure to investigate this area to their hearts¡¯ content before leaving.

    After leaving the cube behind, they started to look around for something they could bring back with them among therge piles of junk scattered all over the ce.

    ¡°Have you found anything, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Nothing! It doesn¡¯t look like there¡¯s anything useful here!¡±

    ¡°All this junk must be here just to set up an atmosphere¡­ It would take us an entire lifetime to leave no stone unturned here¡­¡±

    They did another quick search, but in the end, there didn¡¯t seem to be any items they could take into their inventories. However, that fact meant that it would be safe to once again focus on the boss¡¯ remains.

    ¡°Has it really stopped moving¡­?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to move again, and look, there¡¯s a magic circle near the spot where we first appeared in this room.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. So, there¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡±

    The boss¡¯ remains hadn¡¯t returned to the shape of a cube, but insteady among the rubble split in half.

    ¡°Try taking that thing out. There might be some kind of reaction.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! It¡¯s just like before, huh?¡±

    Maple took out the ¡°Lost Legacy¡± from out of her inventory. The ck, palm-sized cube looked like a miniature version of the boss.

    ¡°Let¡¯s try taking it closer¡­ Waah!?¡±

    As Maple brought the item closer to the boss, a number of blue stripes appeared on the surface of the ¡±Lost Legacy¡± before beginning to rumble heavily on Maple¡¯s hands, causing her to drop it. As Maple reached out to try to pick it up, the giant cube that had been the boss started to make noise in response.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    Sensing an imminent danger, Sally grabbed Maple and had her lie on the ground. The ¡°Lost Legacy¡± rolled between the two halves of the boss¡¯ remains, which in turn started to move towards each other.

    ¡°Thank you, I was about to get crushed in between.¡±

    ¡°We should be careful around these things.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Since they had seen the boss¡¯ remains moving, they could no longer deny the possibility that they could be thrown into another battle. In fact, they had even defeated dungeons with those kinds of bosses in the past.

    However, their fear didn¡¯t seem to have been too necessary, since the rejoined cube halves then started to shrink while emitting a strong light, eventually bing the size of the ¡°Lost Legacy¡± they had swallowed.

    ¡°It absorbed the ¡®Lost Legacy¡¯¡­ Or perhaps the ¡®Lost Legacy¡¯ had absorbed it instead?¡±

    ¡°It feels as if they had fused together.¡±

    ¡°That might be closer to what actually happened.¡±

    After the intense light had subsided, Maple picked it up to see what happened.

    She could see that, although the item¡¯s name didn¡¯t change, a single skill had been added to it, and it had changed its type from a regr item into an essory.

    ¡°Looks like we can equip this!¡±

    ¡°Ooh, nice. There are only a few essory slots in this game, but still¡­ What¡¯s it like?¡±

    Maple opened the description window and read it out loud while also slightly nting it towards Sally so that she could read it as well.

    <Lost Legacy>

    [Ancient Weapon]

    Whenever the owner attacks or is attacked, energy gradually builds up into this item over time.

    You can expend energy stored into this item to change its form and treat it as a weapon.

    If this item does not build energy up for a certain period of time, the energy stored within will start to gradually decrease over time.

    ¡°It¡¯s just like what the boss used to do, right? And using its skill doesn¡¯t need MP, only energy.¡±

    ¡°Should I try it on?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯ll be easier to understand its effects if you use it.¡±

    Maple took off one of her rings and reced it with the new ¡°Lost Legacy¡±. Then, a suspicious ck cube with blue stripes appeared floating near Maple.

    ¡°Try to attack and see what happens.¡±

    ¡°¡®Deploy Barrels¡¯! ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Maple shot a barrage of bullets at nothing in particr, but the cube¡¯s energy gauge didn¡¯t move at all.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Looks like you can¡¯t just attack the air. How about when you get attacked?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s try with a bomb!¡±

    Without any hesitation, Mapleid a few bombs at her feet and set them off. After a brief moment, a huge explosion took ce, and Maple was caught in the st.

    Of course, the only reason she did this was because she knew that she wouldn¡¯t take any damage from it, but the whole thing caused even Sally to flinch for a moment.

    ¡°Sally! It¡¯s filled up quite a bit! But now it¡¯s going down on its own already!¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s intended to be used mainly during battle. Building up energy through your own attacks seems to be the way to go with this. But you don¡¯t have many options to aplish that besides setting up a few bombs in advance¡­¡±

    While it was true that the gauge would build up through received attacks as well, that didn¡¯t seem to be the main way to do that.

    Maple used up the energy stored in the cube and immediately activated its skill.

    ¡°Ancient Weapon!¡±

    The cube that was floating right next to Maple grew to a size of about 2 cubic meters, before splitting in half, then a single gatling gun emerged from it.

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s not shooting?¡±

    ¡°Maybe it works automatically? You¡¯ll need a target.¡±

    ¡°I see. But I¡¯m d to be getting even more new guns!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯d expect a Great Shield user to say, but still¡­¡±

    In the first ce, what was a Great Shield user doing with such an inconceivable amount of guns? She wasn¡¯t a gunslinger, and yet she had too much DPS for a Great Shield user.

    ¡°Well, the important thing is that we managed to get this skill without getting hurt.¡±

    Realizing that it made no sense to question Maple¡¯s ample weaponry, Sally decided to simply be happy about her friend getting stronger. Every skill and piece of equipment they obtained could serve as a catalyst for turning an adverse situation upside down.

    ¡°I should be even more useful to you with this!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d for you. I¡¯m counting on you!¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, yeah, leave it to me~¡±

    After obtaining a new power, the two of them left the boss room.

 Chapter 388

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 388</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Each of Them</strong>

    As the days went by, Maple and Sally kept on enjoying themselves on the 8th Layer, trying out their new skills and equipment.

    ¡°I have to ask Iz to make me a lot of bombs so that I can use ¡®Ancient Weapon¡¯ whenever I want!¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to use something smaller, something that doesn¡¯t, well, explode? I mean, bombs make it harder for us to take a stealthier approach¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, lots of bombs exploding around are sure to give us away¡­ Ah, how about I use some kind of firearm instead? Iz made some cannons for me¡­¡±

    Sure enough, Maple could fill up her gauge simply by standing in front of an unleashed automatic weapon.

    ¡°But how about how something like that is going to look? Well, not that blowing yourself up with bombs is any prettier¡­¡±

    The two of them continued to chat while feeling the sway of a small boat. They had reached a point where they had managed to get all the skills they had been going for, and they had also done quite a bit of exploration in the 8th Layer.

    Since they were at a point where clues and hints would be hard toe by, exploring wasn¡¯t so easy. That¡¯s why, instead of wasting themselves on wild goose chases, they would just take it easy for the time being.

    ¡°Ah, by the way, it looks like some info about the next update came out today.¡±

    ¡°Huh, really!?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Or should I say, it¡¯s about toe out.¡±

    Just as they had started talking about that, they heard a notification sound that indicated they had received a new message, which was from the GMs, and was about the game¡¯s next update.

    ¡°Umm, they¡¯re releasing the 9th Layer! That was quick~¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we started enhancing our diving suits. There are some ces we haven¡¯t been able to explore yet, but a change of scenery would be nice¡­¡±

    They could always return to previous Layers whenever they wanted. The ¡°Hydra¡± and ¡°Evil Eater¡± Maple had obtained in the beginning were still there, so there would surely be other things they could obtain and make good use of even when returning to previous Layers.

    They could simply go wherever they wanted and explore it at their leisure.

    ¡°And there¡¯s more. There¡¯s also something about the next event they¡¯ll do after releasing the 9th Layer.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ Arge-scale PvP between two teams¡­?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s not a lot more info in here, but your new skills shoulde in handy for this event, right?¡±

    ¡°Same goes for you, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I have to keep practicing and developing new ways to catch people off-guard.¡±

    In order for Sally to use her new skills more effectively, she had to anticipate situations and think about their opponents¡¯ movements in advance. That was the hardest part of her skills, in that it wasn¡¯t a matter of simply activating them and letting them do their thing.

    ¡°The dungeon that will be leading to the 9th Layer isn¡¯t too far from here, wanna check it out? We won¡¯t be able to capture it until the next update, though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I want to see what that ce looks like!¡±

    They didn¡¯t know if it would be a ce they could reach simply by diving, just like the ces they had captured thus far. In case they were going to be diving for a long time, they would need to have Iz get some items ready for them.

    Because of the rtively short distance, they kept on going by boat instead of swapping it for the faster jet ski. After reaching their destination, Maple nodded many times as if trying to make sure they were at the right ce.

    Before them loomed a long and wid tower that stretched far to the bottom of the ocean. The top of the building protruded from the surface of the water, and looking at the submerged sections revealed traces of repeated extensions so that their upants could escape the rising water. Naturally, the further down they looked, the more tattered it seemed to have be, and they could also see that it had been subject to a great deal of erosion.

    ¡°Can we go down from here?¡±

    ¡°Looks like it. We won¡¯t be able to enter from the middle, so we might have to enter from the top and work our way down.¡±

    Although the tower itself was in a pretty bad shape, there were no windows orrge holes on it, so trying to use a shortcut to get inside would be pretty difficult.

    ¡°We should be okay if we bring the whole team!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there are many opponents who can beat the eight of us.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because the guys are so strong!¡±

    In fact, it would be harder to find a monster that could defeat Maple and her friends. And even if it were, it would be very unlikely that there would be no way to weaken it. Otherwise, such a monster would be practically unbeatable.

    ¡°I wonder when we¡¯ll be able to capture this ce. Hmm?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Sally? Ah!¡±

    When they looked up at the sky, there were two big shadows. One was that of a dragon that shone white under the sunlight. The other was a phoenix with wings that burned like the sun itself.

    ¡°Mii! Payne!¡±

    ¡°Hello Maple. It¡¯s no coincidence that we meet here. I take it you¡¯vee here after receiving that message from the GMs?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! You too, Mii?¡±

    ¡°Well, something like that. I was already in the neighborhood, so I figured I¡¯de check things out anyway.¡±

    ¡°And Payne as well? You came all this way to take a look at the dungeon?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s going to be a new underwater dungeon that will take some time to be captured. Everyone is going to try to capture this ce, and I think that anyone can understand the strength of a yer who has already explored it.¡±

    Rumors fly fast. Once the dungeon was captured, stories of how it was done would be some of the first topics soon after the 9th Layer¡¯s release. Knowing the dungeon¡¯syout in detail could help an experienced yer know what kind of skills those who had explored it possess, based on the rumors that spread in the forums.

    Being able to anticipate that there might be thingspletely strange to them could drastically change the situation.

    ¡°So you¡¯re basically here to do research for the PvP event, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course. We will be split into teams, and if we end up against each other, I¡¯m going to want my revenge.¡±

    Ever since the 4th event, they had only been fighting together as a team instead of against each other. Maple and Sally had be much stronger since then. But surely Payne had be much stronger as well.

    ¡°W-We¡¯ll do our best!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s put our every effort for both enemies and allies. If we fight with that in mind, this time victory will be ours.¡±

    ¡°Same here. Things had gone pretty badly for us back then, but we won¡¯t let that happen again.¡±

    ¡°We¡­ won¡¯t lose either! We¡¯ll all work really hard!¡±

    After Maple said that, both Mii and Payneughed a little as if they had half expected her to say something like that.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m off. I can¡¯t wait for the next event.¡±

    ¡°See youter, Maple. If we meet on the battlefield, I won¡¯t hold anything back.¡±

    With that, Payne disappeared into the dungeon, while Mii went off to the edge of the field.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We might end up fighting them again.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ve be strong. They seem much more powerful than when west saw them in the 8th event.¡±

    It had been a long time since theyst faced them as enemies. Their level had increased quite a bit, and of course their skills would have also improved. Their tame monsters had also grown quite a lot. They too seemed to have be very powerful as well.

    Things would only get more and more different from what they used to be.

    ¡°We¡¯ll have toe up with a n again. Your skills have also gotten quite a few new skills, Maple. If you use them all well enough, you should be able to turn a battle upside down.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s think together then!¡±

    ¡°Ah? Okay, since you¡¯re the one who uses those skills, maybe we should think about the ones that are easier for you to use.¡±

    As she kept on ying the game, Maple had gradually learned what actions to take and how to move to get better results. And knowing made room for Maple to think.

    ¡°Your idea worked really well back in the ¡®Lost Legacy¡¯ dungeon¡­ So let me know what you think. I wanna hear more good ideas like that one.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, that was just dumb luck.¡±

    She had been lucky enough to be able to perfectly match her ¡°Ark¡± to thatser, despite not knowing anything about its firing rate.

    ¡°When I saw you using your ¡®Spirited Away¡¯ to avoid attacks, I thought I could do something simr with my ¡®Ark¡¯.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you can get the timing correctly, and not by chance, with practice.¡±

    ¡°I guess? Should we give it a try?¡±

    ¡°¡­That¡¯d be a great help. It seems to be really easy to incorporate into any strategy.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, then let¡¯s give it a try!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Sounds good.¡±

    Seeing Maple¡¯s positive approach, Sally happily nodded.

    Then, a few other yers started to appear shortly after Payne and Mii had left. It wasn¡¯t surprising to see yersing to preview the dungeon they were supposed to capture in order to ess the new 9th Layer. That¡¯s why Maple and Sally themselves were there, after all.

    ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll get in the way?¡±

    ¡°I think we¡¯ll be fine, but we¡¯ll also have to watch our mouths.¡±

    Talking about such important things rted to their strategy in a ce like this was like asking everyone to hear you.

    As they started to think about going somewhere else, several familiar faces approached them by boat.

    ¡°Ah, it was really them!¡±

    ¡°Seems you were right. But it¡¯s not like you can actually mistake anyone for someone else, Will.¡±

    The ones that had arrived were the big fish of ¡°Thunder Storm¡± and ¡°Rapid Fire¡±. It seemed that one of Wilbert¡¯s skills allowed him to see and recognize things from a really long distance, much like a scope.

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry. I figured you were around because I heard you talking¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s on! PvP!¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah. Looks like you¡¯ve been waiting for an event like this, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    Velvet nodded energetically in response to Sally¡¯s question.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! I wouldn¡¯t mind having you as a teammate, but I¡¯d prefer it if we were on opposing sides this time!¡±

    The straightforwardness of those words took both Sally and Maple by surprise.

    ¡°¡­At least that¡¯s what I¡¯m feeling right now.¡±

    They didn¡¯t know the exact reason, but if Hinata said so, then it was probably so.

    ¡°And it¡¯s not going to be just during the event! I¡¯ll challenge you to a fight whenever I have the chance to!¡±

    You can have PvP duels anytime by challenging someone to a duel, but the tension in a one-time event and the fun of winning had apletely different feeling to it. Maple couldn¡¯t really understand that difference that much, but Sally could clearly see it.

    ¡°Is that so? Then I guess we¡¯ll have toe up with a strategy to defeat you.¡±

    She had stated that if given the option to choose which side to take during the event, she would definitely go to the side opposing Maple and Sally.It was dered that if there was an option in the camp decision, it would definitely go to the other side. If she wouldn¡¯t be a teammate, then Maple and Sally would have to take more solid measures with her and her team than with Payne and Mii, who haven¡¯t yet stated which side they¡¯d prefer to take.

    ¡°You¡¯re quite enthusiastic about it. Ah, we haven¡¯t decided anything about that yet. For the time being, at least.¡±

    Apparently, Lily and her friends had yet to choose a side.

    ¡°¡­That¡¯s fine too. You don¡¯t have to announce such things like Velvet here¡­¡±

    Hinata nudged on Velvet¡¯s side as her teammates warned her that she was talking too much.

    ¡°Still, we won¡¯t be defeated easily, no matter who our opponent is.¡±

    Wilbert spoke with self-confidence. And he had the ability to back those words up.

    ¡°Sure thing. If we end up being enemies, I hope we have a great fight.¡±

    Quite some time had passed since everyone took part in a full-blown PvP event. Everyone was aware that all other yers had grown, so until the 9th Layer was released and the next event was put in motion, they would all be trying to probe each other.

    ¡°So it¡¯s settled then!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! This time, we have Hinata on our side! There¡¯s no way we can lose!¡±

    A team¡¯s good synergy makes it stronger when fighting in pairs. Maple and the others knew this well, too. Sally had won duels thanks to this too, but she knew that a good synergy wasn¡¯t everything.

    ¡°That¡¯s still a long way off, though. Until then, we all have to improve our skills.¡±

    ording to the event notification, they wouldn¡¯t not known who would be in each team yet. All they could do was to improve their abilities and get information about other yers.

    ¡°Will you be heading inside, Velvet?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! We¡¯ll be going in after this!¡±

    ¡°If we can see others close by fighting as we go, it makes little sense that I refuse to go with her.¡±

    Hinata¡¯s troubled expression seemed to indicate that she knew that Velvet wasn¡¯t trying to do any kind of research, and instead was simply being her usual self, with no signs of stopping.

    ¡°Are you two guysing as well? Let¡¯s set up a party!¡±

    ¡°What do you think, Maple?¡±

    After thinking about what to do for a little while, Maple finally replied.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I was thinking about going in with the rest of our guild¡­ Sorry! Maybe some other time.¡±

    ¡°No biggie! There¡¯s always next time!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Thanks for understanding.¡±

    Just like Payne, the four of them disappeared into the dungeon. After seeing them off, Maple and Sally once again began to row their boat.

    ¡°Everyone seems very eager to take part in the next event.¡±

    ¡°Fighting monsters and exploring sure is fun, but yers want to fight other yers as well.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯re good at that too, Sally.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yeah. I wonder if I like it because I¡¯m good at it.¡±

    As Velvet said, it was an event that allowed yers to fight each other, so winning and losing would really make a difference. It made sense that some yers were motivated.

    ¡°So all we need to do is to explore the new 9th Layer when it opens, and then get ready for the event!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Sally? What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Ah, I was just¡­ thinking of a strategy. But there¡¯s a lot I can¡¯t do without knowing the event¡¯s exact battle format.¡±

    She had just realized that there were still going to be full-scaled PvP events. There was a chance that they would bepeting for some kind of special item like on the 4th event, and it was also possible that it ended up being a battle royale.

    The best way to fight would change depending on what kind of battle it would be.

    ¡°I can¡¯t help worrying about it now, but maybe we should focus on getting to the 9th Layer. You might get stronger before the event even starts, Maple.¡±

    With a new Layeres an abundance of new dungeons and events. And these in turn could allow for growth in apletely new dimension. Of course, it was unlikely. However, the monster that Maple was had been created as a result of a series of unexpected happenings, so Sally couldn¡¯t say that it wasn¡¯t possible.

    ¡°Okay~ I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    ¡°Same here. I have to work hard topletely master my new skills.¡±

    Sally had yet to get fully used to fighting with her new unique set by that time. From this point on, she wouldn¡¯t be facing just monsters, but top-ss yers as well. So far, she had only been using her ability to copy Maple¡¯s skills with her ¡°Reversal of Lies¡± and tried changing her weapon into several other types of weapon. She would have to be able to use all of her skills to the fullest.

    ¡°Shall we head back then?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I¡¯m surprised to see so many people around here~!

    Since they couldn¡¯t capture the dungeon yet, the purpose of their visit was to check how things were in the area, and to judge the dungeon¡¯s size based on its position and outer appearance. And with that purpose fulfilled, Sally began to row once again.

    Since this was a more leisurely trip than when using a jet-ski, Maple took out a fishing rod and cast her line into the water.

    ¡°Hehe, I wonder if you can actually catch something before we¡¯re back?¡±

    ¡°Y-You¡¯ll see! I¡¯ll catch at least one!¡±

    Nothing had changed for Maple¡¯s fishing speed since she started ying the game, so the time it would take for her to actually catch something hadn¡¯t changed at all.

    Sally secretly slowed down a bit as she rowed back to town so that Maple had a better chance at catching a fish.

    Though the trip allowed for some leisurely time, Sally seemed to be immersed in thought.

    ¡°¡­Whenever I have the chance, huh¡­¡±

    She softly repeated Velvet¡¯s words, not for anyone else to listen but herself. Those words were carried away by the gentle breeze and muffled by the sound of the water made as she rowed.

 Chapter 389

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 389</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the 9th Layer</strong>

    Time went by, and the day of the 9th Layer¡¯s release finally arrived. The eight members of Maple Tree had made ns to gather together in order to capture the underwater tower.

    ¡°One of the things we¡¯ve gotten out of this 8th Layer is that we¡¯ve increased our ¡®Swimming¡¯ and ¡®Diving¡¯ levels.¡±

    ¡°I hope we get a chance to make use of that in the 9th Layer as well.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t wanna say goodbye to the underwater experience so soon, huh? Though I wonder if we¡¯ll have toe back here to get materials for making water-attributed stuff¡­¡±

    ¡°Aw, it would¡¯ve been nice if we could have the ¡®Swimming¡¯ skill as well, but¡­¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have the stats required for that¡­¡±

    ¡°But in exchange, you two get to y a really active part of today¡¯s n. I¡¯m counting on you two to defeat anything that gets in our way.¡±

    ¡°¡±Yeah!¡±¡±

    ¡°Okay, full steam ahead then!¡±

    ¡°Come on out, Syrup!¡±

    Syrup was the best choice when it came to having everyone moving together while ignoring terrain.

    After making Syrup go big, everyone got on his back and then Maple had him fly towards the tower.

    ¡°There¡¯s going to be a lot of movement on the surface.¡±

    ¡°Being able to fly like this sure is amazing, huh?¡±

    Since the dungeon and monsters were mainly underwater this time around, there would be no monsters in the sky, so they could fly without having to worry about a single thing.

    Thus the eight of them were able to reach their destination without any trouble.

    After stopping Syrup near the tower¡¯s entrance and having everyone get down from him, he returned to his original size. After all, there was no way he could enter the tower while in his giant state.

    Once they were all ready, they entered the tower while sticking around Maple, who had already activated her ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±. The upper part of the tower was not submerged in water, so furniture and other items still remained rtively intact. They found themselves in a room about a dozen meters wide, with a wooden hatch on the floor leading to the floor below.

    ¡°Was this made to try to block the rising water from getting to this floor?¡±

    ¡°There are no monsters around. It should be safe to go down here.¡±

    The fact that the furniture was still in ce, it was easy to understand that this was the dungeon¡¯s actual entrance.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stand around here just in case!¡±

    Maple stood close to the hatch, directing the pir-like range of her ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± downwards.

    ¡°I¡¯m opening it up.¡±

    When Chrome opened the door, he noticed the floor underneath waspletely pitch ck, partly because there were no windows on it. After casting a light downwards, he found that though it didn¡¯t seem to be submerged in water, something appeared to be moving around.

    ¡°¡­There¡¯s something down there.¡±

    Maple¡¯s defensive aura was wide enough that it reached the floor underneath, but since the only way to get there was through apletely vertical irondder, it would be difficult for all members to get there at the same time.

    ¡°Should I go there with Mai and Yui, or with Kasumi¡­?

    ¡°¡­I have another idea.¡±

    Iz had a mischievous smile on her face. Chrome somehow understood what she was talking about and, thinking it would be his safest bet, refrained from jumping to the floor underneath.

    What happened next was quite intense. Arge number of bombs were dropped onto the floor below from its only upper entrance one after another, and once there were enough bombs in it, a ming crystal was tossed inside before closing the hatch.

    ¡°Cover your ears!¡±

    Immediately after that, a thunderous roar and a violent rumbling came from the floor below. Since the wooden door was an unbreakable object that wouldn¡¯t open by itself, Maple and the others would be fine on the floor they were in, but anything that could have been on the floor below might have not survived such a st.

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s scary how important it is to be at an advantageous position.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just keep pressing on like this. We¡¯ll worry about the underwater section once we¡¯ve reached it.¡±

    Thus they kept going down several floors, indiscriminately obliterating any monsters that were there by filling them up with Iz¡¯s bombs.

    ¡°¡­What¡¯s scary is letting Iz get an advantageous position.¡±

    ¡°Amazing! With this, we¡¯ll reach the lower floors with as much as a scratch on us!¡±

    A good offense tends to be the best defense, so they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about taking damage if they simply kept blowing up everything below them as they went down.

    ¡°¡­Well, time for a change of n. It¡¯s all water from this point on.¡±

    ¡°Oh, then I guess that¡¯s it for my bombs then.¡±

    ¡°At least it¡¯s no longer so dark anymore. I can see some big fish swimming down below.¡±

    ¡°Time for our diving suits, right? We can just go wild on them thanks to Mai and Yui here.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll protect you the moment you get in!¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s give it a shot.¡±

    Just having Maple around would have been enough, but just in case, Chrome got in first, followed by Mai and Yui.

    The moment they jumped into the water, the fish swimming inside reacted by showing their ring sharp fangs and rushint to attack them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry about me, okay? Go, Mai, Yui!¡±

    ¡°¡±¡¯Quick Change¡¯!¡±¡±

    Just as the fish started to gather around Chrono, Mai and Yui, who were slightly behind him, wielded eight hammers each.

    Each one of those hammers were as strong as putting all of Iz¡¯s bombs together.

    They were using basic attacks that consisted of simply swinging their hammers. However, that alone surpassed the destructive power of any special move anyone else on the team could have.

    Anything that came into contact with those swinging hammers would literally explode into pieces and disappear. Their simple violence ran around the room in an instant, returning everything to nothing.

    ¡°Phew¡­ I know that even if you were to hit me with those things, I wouldn¡¯t take any damage since I¡¯m your teammate¡­ But it still sends a shiver down my spine.¡±

    Even though Mai and Yui were actively trying not to hit Chrome, seeing such destruction being unleashed so closely to him was enough to make his body stiffen up reflexively.

    ¡°Way to go~!¡±

    ¡°That did the trick!¡±

    ¡°Thanks for your defense too, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, thanks to the both of you guys, it wasn¡¯t even necessary.¡±

    There was a certain sense of security to knowing that they would be okay even if they were to get attacked by some chance, which allowed them to gopletely on the offensive without having to worry about a thing. Hearing their conversation, Chrome silently nodded, as if agreeing that that is precisely the main role of a Great Shield user.

    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s already over and without incident.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Sally. These small fry are no match for those two when they wield all of their hammers. Also, it¡¯s pretty amazing how my ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ works vertically like this.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    The skill had a wide range, covering up the entire width of the tower, so any monster that wanted to attack them had to pierce through it first. Everyone knew that such a thing was virtually impossible to achieve for most monsters.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s keep going! I¡¯m leaving the offensive to you guys!¡±

    Since the eight of them were there, Maple didn¡¯t have to force herself into attacking. It was important to have a potion on hand in case she suddenly got damaged. The team¡¯s front had no way of copsing unless Maple was defeated.

    They had switched from a strategy centered on Iz to one centered on four attackers, Mai, Yui, Kasumi, and Sally, to proceed further down. Kasumi and Sally were in charge of fast monsters, and Mai and Yui would blow away monsters that seemed to have high HP and defense.

    By having Chrome lure the monsters to himself and use Necro¡¯s skill to lower their AGI stat, they were able to defeat the monsters without any particrplications.

    ¡°Look at them going. Makes me wonder if we should join in the fun.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m d I can actually afford to sit back and chill. I get to save on spellbooks.¡±

    ¡°You keep racking those up. I wonder if you¡¯ll ever run out of those?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I suppose it could happen eventually?¡±

    ¡°Imagine Kanade using up all of his books.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, yeah. But if it turns out I need to use them at some point, I will.¡±

    Maple and Iz couldn¡¯t imagine what kind of opponent would force Kanade to use all of his umted skills on them.

    Then, as the three of them were still talking, Sally popped out from the lower floor.

    ¡°All done. The next floor looks a little deeper, so we¡¯ll all need to be there.¡±

    ¡°Okay~!¡±

    ¡°It feels like we¡¯re just going through a series of floors, right? I¡¯ll get my spellbooks ready just in case.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, please do. I can¡¯t tell for sure since I can¡¯t see this ce from the outside, but I¡¯m sure we¡¯ve been diving a lot, so it wouldn¡¯t be weird to be close to running into this ce¡¯s boss.¡±

    When everyone got together and proceeded to the next floor, they found that it was a huge room that had once been split into several floors, but the floors themselves had caved in, leaving only the outer wall behind all the way to the bottom. Rather than having been eroded by water and copsing, the floors seemed to have been destroyed by something so huge that it had crushed them along the edges of the wall.

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty deep, isn¡¯t it? It¡¯s going to take some effort to get all the way down there.¡±

    ¡°Though we could also say that we can just beeline to the bottom since there are no more floor divisions here.¡±

    ¡°¡­Something¡¯s shining? Guys!?¡±

    While they were discussing what to do next, Sally saw something shining far below, and called everyone¡¯s attention. Then, the moment everyone looked down, three lumps of shining water flew towards them one after another.

    Sally and Kasumi swiftly dodged them, and Chrome blocked one of them with his shield. Iz and Kanade also managed to avoid them, but Mai and Yui, who were slow and had no ¡°Swimming¡± skills, had no means to evade them.

    As the lumps hit them directly, bubbles and a damage visual effect were disyed on each of them. Since they were under the effects of Maple¡¯s ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±, everyone else looked back at Maple.

    ¡°¡­No damage! But, their air¡­!¡±

    Maple confirmed that their remaining oxygen had decreased as a result of the direct hit and exined what happened to the rest of the team.

    ¡°I see¡­ Right, that is one big weakness we all share here¡­!¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s low. Attacking us by depleting our oxygen after a long underwater dungeon¡­¡±

    However, from the different atmosphere and changes in the battle terrain, it was easy to think that that had probably been an attack by the boss.

    Still, the boss itself couldn¡¯t be seen because it was too far down below. All that could be seen were its long-range attacksing from the darkness of the tower¡¯s bottom at high speed.

    ¡°We can block these with our shields just fine! Let¡¯s make a beeline to the bottom while Maple and I at the front. If we waste our time idling here, it¡¯s gonna get rough for Maple!¡±

    ¡°Right. I¡¯ll get some defensive magic ready.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll repel them with my sword as well. I also have my ¡®Mind¡¯s Eye¡¯. I¡¯ll be able to see the range of its attacks.¡±

    ¡°Should I change my weapon into a Great Shield too?¡±

    ¡°Mai, Yui. You two have all of us protecting you. So go give that boss hell!¡±

    ¡°¡±Yes!¡±¡±

    ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s go, everyone!¡±

    Under Maple¡¯smand, the eight of them advanced towards the bottom. With Mai and Yui at the back and Maple and Chrome marching in front, the formation¡¯s defense was solid, and with support from Iz and Kanade, Kasumi and Sally were the first ones to deal with the boss¡¯ frontal attacks.

    Their win condition was to take Mai and Yui to whatever was there at the bottom. There was nothing that those two wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat, provided it was within their attacking range.

    ¡°There¡¯s four shots now!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of this one!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m blocking this one!¡±

    With a swift swing of Kasumi¡¯s sword, the lump of water split into small bubbles and disappeared just before it could hit her. Sally takes safety precautions and turns her weapon into arge shield to catch it. Maple and Chrome each blocked the remaining two shots, so not even a single one of them managed tond a direct hit.

    ¡°¡±Thanks, guys!¡±¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s efficient role-sharing for you!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we have the right people in the right ces. Let¡¯s focus on destroying that boss.¡±

    Kasumi and Sally noticed a slight change in the water as they managed to get past the lumps of water that attacked them one after another.

    ¡°The flow¡­ Kasumi!¡±

    ¡°¡®Mind¡¯s Eye¡¯!¡±

    Kasumi activated her skill in order to turn Sally¡¯s hunch into a certainty. What she saw was a scene that glowed bright red everywhere except near the walls due to the effect of her attack-predicting skill.

    ¡°Get to the walls! Something¡¯sing!¡±

    There would be no mistake in Kasumi¡¯s words whenever she was using her ¡°Mind¡¯s Eye¡±. Anything she could see with it was something that was inevitably going to happen in a few moments.

    Immediately after everyone approached the edge, a huge water current burst upwards from the center of the room. Getting caught in that stream would not only have dealt damage to them, but also returned them to the starting point.

    ¡°It¡¯sing back!¡±

    ¡°Kasumi, can you do that again?¡±

    ¡°¡­Yeah. ¡®Battlefield of Carnage¡¯ ¡®Mind¡¯s Eye¡¯.¡±

    A red aura rose from Kasumi¡¯s body, instantly reducing her skills¡¯ cooldown. This made it possible for her to use her ¡°Mind¡¯s Eye¡± once again in quick session.

    ¡°If this effect expires, I won¡¯t be able to use the skill, but if it helps those two move forward, then that shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±

    Even if the negative effects of ¡°Battlefield of Carnage¡± happened to deprive Kasumi of the use of her skills, it would serve the purpose of protecting Mai and Yui until they reached the boss.

    With her current ability, she was confident that she would still be able to dodge most attacks anyway.

    She was still able topletely avoid even those attacks that had little indication by looking into a certain future. There was no room for mistakes or misreadings because she wouldn¡¯t be dodging simply as a result of her intuition or experience.

    Right after they managed topletely dodge the water stream attack, the effect of ¡°Battlefield of Carnage¡± expired, and Kasumi¡¯s field of view was restored to normal.

    ¡°Time¡¯s up, huh¡­ The rest is up to you guys.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been diving down for quite some time now, we should being across the boss anytime now.¡±

    Right after those words were said, they looked down at the bottom of the tower, and found that there were arge number of blinking lights there sparkling in the darkness, like a starry sky on a moonless night.

    And not a single one of them would not know what that meant.

    ¡°I¡¯ll put up a defensive barrier!¡±

    ¡°Wake up, Sou! ¡®Mimic¡¯! ¡®Guard Magic¡¯!¡±

    Kanade deployed a barrier while having Sou mimic it, and Iz put up an energy barrier that made a crackling noise by tossing one of her crystals ahead.

    The shining dots at the bottom of the tower turned out to be arge amount of water bullets. It was an almost unavoidable barrage that headed towards all eight of them at once. However, they were all blocked by the manyyers of defense,pletely sparing them from being hit directly.

    ¡°¡­I saw it!¡±

    Sally, who was in the forefront, finally caught a glimpse of the boss. Its body was huge, covering almost the entirety of the tower¡¯s girth, and it had many fins and beautifully shining pale blue scales. It was not a fish, but a water dragon.

    When the water dragon noticed that the eight of them were approaching, it began to move, rising at a tremendous speed.

    ¡°¡­! Don¡¯t let it through! If we do, he¡¯ll have the high ground!¡±

    If the water dragon were to dash past them, they would have to go back up while avoiding attacks again. Though that was something that was bound to happen sooner orter, with all eight of them in the battle, perhaps they could create a momentary chance to deal some damage.

    ¡°Sou, ¡®Slow Field¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Necro, ¡®Dead Man¡¯s Weight¡¯!¡±

    Sou distorted the space around them, and Necro¡¯s power caused a huge skull to float behind Chrome for a moment. Put together, both skills would massively slow the water dragon down.

    ¡°¡®Invitation to the Ocean Floor¡¯!¡±

    Maple¡¯s fully stretched tentacle hit the water dragon¡¯s body, causing several damage visual effects to appear. However, that had just been an aftereffect of her ¡°Evil Eater¡±, and not what she was trying to do with her tentacle. The real goal was different.

    A shocking sound echoed as the boss¡¯ body was momentarily paralyzed. Because the water dragon was a boss, the paralysis would onlyst about one second. But for that second, the boss¡¯ movements had stoppedpletely. And there were two girls who had been waiting for that chance all along.

    ¡°¡±¡¯Double Impact¡¯!¡±¡±

    Sixteen sledgehammers relentlessly rushed the water dragon¡¯s body with the full force of Mai and Yui¡¯s tremendous attack power. Other than bosses resistant to physical attacks or raid bosses, there was no withstanding this overwhelming force.

    Sixteen shockwaves rapidly hit the boss¡¯ body, and its HP brought to zero in an instant.

    After defeating the boss and diving deeper down the silent tower, they found a magic circle at the bottom, which would allow them to advance towards the next Layer.

    ¡°Great job, everyone~! Thanks to everyone¡¯s effort, I didn¡¯t end up running out of oxygen!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. You too did a nice job with that paralysis there, Maple.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting that to happen when I threw my tentacle at it, though.¡±

    ¡°Maybe normal monsters get eaten up too quickly before getting a chance of being paralyzed by it.¡±

    ¡°Maybe, yeah¡­¡±

    Since they had cleared the dungeon, they would soon be leaving this underwater world.

    There was also the fact that they were running low on oxygen. Since they couldn¡¯t afford to talk too much in that ce, the eight of them stepped on the magic circle that led to the 9th Layer.

    ¡°I wonder what kind of ce it is!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to exploring it fully!¡±

    Then the eight of them were wrapped in light and disappeared. After a while, when everything stopped being white and their field of vision returned to normal, they felt solid ground at their feet. They then took off their diving clothes and gazed upon the new world before their eyes.

    From the top of the hill they found themselves at, they could clearly see two distinctive areas.

    Water and ice could be seen on one side, and lightning that echoed with mes could be seen on the other side. There was a side where a rich forest could be seen, while the other one was all rocks and hotva all over the ce, each based on an underlying tone of white as if to symbolize light and darkness. There were many contrasting things just by looking at them from where they were.

    Then, a big town was there, which could be seen from either side even when looking at it from a distance.

    ¡°Hoho, I see. I may have understood a little about the uing PvP looking at this conflicting ce.¡±

    ¡°Oh, this makes things easier to understand.¡±

    ¡°Is this going to be a guild-based PvP event? Or an individual one?¡±

    ¡°Which of these sides would you prefer to be on, sis?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s see¡­ I¡¯d feel much safer around lots of greenery¡­¡±

    Each member of ¡°Maple Tree¡± showed their first impressions of the new Layer.

    ¡°What about you, Maple? I think you¡¯d do well at either side. Though this has a certain ¡®light versus darkness¡¯ feel about it, huh?¡±

    If you look only at her skills, Maple would be more suited for the ¡°darkness¡± side. However, she also had a ¡°light¡±ponent to her, which had recently been bolstered in the 8th Layer.

    ¡°Hmph, I can¡¯t tell unless I get a better look at things.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re probably right. And it might be decided for us when the event starts anyway.¡±

    Until then, they simply had to decide which side they would like to explore.

    The green side seems to be very beautiful. However, the volcano area could feature something they had never seen before.

    Such thoughts troubled Maple, but there were merits to both sides.

    ¡°Okay~! Let¡¯s walk around everywhere!¡±

    Maple cheerfully proimed that as she looked upon the new Layer from atop the hill.

    350 Name: Anonymous Spear user

    A PvP event atst~

    351 Name: Anonymous Bow user

    Time to see how much stronger everyone has be

    352 Name: Anonymous Greatsword user

    I don¡¯t know about the details yet, but here¡¯s hoping I don¡¯t get eliminated early

    353 Name: Anonymous Magic user

    I¡¯ve gotten stronger too but that <em>monster</em> of a yer is really scary

    354 Name: Anonymous Great Shield user

    Well, more than a 1 vs 1 thing, this looks like it¡¯s going to be team vs team

    355 Name: Anonymous Magic user

    Yeah but this is one heck of a juggernaut

    356 Name: Anonymous Great Shield user

    Who?

    357 Name: Anonymous Greatsword user

    Oh? Did something happen while you were exploring on the 8th Layer?

    358 Name: Anonymous Great Shield user

    Lots of things, lots of things happened

    359 Name: Anonymous Spear user

    This time I¡¯m gonna get her, I¡¯m gonna get her

    I swear I¡¯m gonna get herrrr

    360 Name: Anonymous Bow user

    There¡¯s no way we such ridiculous things can happen, right?

    There¡¯s no way, right¡­?

    361 Name: Anonymous Magic user

    The PvP event is going to begin soon, so why don¡¯t you see for yourself?

    362 Name: Anonymous Greatsword user

    At least don¡¯t use that Atrocity thing on me

    363 Name: Anonymous Spear user

    What would you do if that tentacle sprouting from her hand were to take over her entire body?

    364 Name: Anonymous Bow user

    We¡¯ve been underwater this entire time so I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she¡¯s gotten even more tentacles

    360 Name: Anonymous Great Shield user

    What do you guys think about Maple?

    366 Name: Anonymous Spear user

    She¡¯s this game¡¯s final boss

    367 Name: Anonymous Bow user

    She¡¯s a mixture between a monster and a girl, with a little bit of angel about her

    ~~and with tentacles~~

    360 Name: Anonymous Greatsword user

    And with a whole bunch of cannons

    369 Name: Anonymous Magic user

    Yeah she¡¯s bad news

    370 Name: Anonymous Great Shield user

    Yeah bad news for whoever gets eaten up by her skills

    371 Name: Anonymous Spear user

    This may sound obvious but please don¡¯t get eaten up

    372 Name: Anonymous Bow user

    But it¡¯s possible that she hasn¡¯t gotten any stronger than before

    373 Name: Anonymous Greatsword user

    That¡¯s some wishful thinking

    She must have gotten some crazy new skill

    374 Name: Anonymous Great Shield user

    Why don¡¯t you see for yourself then?

    370 Name: Anonymous Magic user

    Aren¡¯t you giving yourself away by saying that? Though I do want to see for myself¡­

    yers couldn¡¯t afford to tell how strong they had be until they were matched against each other. Maple included, of course.

    Maple and her friends, and their rivals ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡±, ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡±, ¡°Thunder Storm¡±, and ¡°Rapid Fire¡±, spent their days exploring the 9th Layers, eagerly waiting for the day of the PvP event.

 Chapter 390

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 390</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the 9th Layer ¨C 2</strong>

    The party of eight that arrived on the 9th Layer was at a loss for what to do next, since they had two different roads to choose from in front of them, each leading to a different side of the map.

    One side was rich in nature, and had an area where objects made of water and ice floating against gravity. A town colored in white could be seen behind it.

    The other side was a wide wastnd with lightning bolts filling the sky and mes burning the ground. A town colored in ck could be seen behind it.

    ¡°Which way should we go?¡±

    ¡°Maybe there¡¯s no big difference in their features, but¡­ each of these areas certainly have their own atmosphere, we should probably go to the one we like the most.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s so much we don¡¯t know yet¡­ Will we be prevented from going into either town as soon as we enter the other? Can we visit both towns?¡±

    However, there had been no message from the game admins about having to make a choice. It was unlikely that they would have to choose either town as a base of sorts.

    ¡°Then¡­ Let¡¯s start by exploring that forest!¡±

    Maple pointed to an area with flowing water, a rich forest, and therge ice bridges and stairs in between.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start over there.¡±

    ¡°We might have to explore both sides to get all sorts of materials.¡±

    ¡°Right, it wouldn¡¯t be strange if the materials you could get were different depending on the side you¡¯re on.¡±

    Since the floor was essentially split into two areas, each of which had been made to have a considerable size, there seemed to be many ces in this 9th Layer for them to explore.

    ¡°Great, let¡¯s head there first then!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be running around here, Yui. It¡¯s dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Maple!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! But first, we have to get down from this hill!¡±

    The eight of them began their walk down the hill and into the forest.

    In several ces of the forest, there were streams flowing, and ponds and puddles painted thendscape like light blue specks on a green canvas. The grass was wet as if it had rained recently, and lumps of water floated in the air, which were simr to Sally¡¯s ¡°Path of Water¡±. When seen from afar, they thought these lumps of water were the same type of monsters that the party had already faced in a previousyer, but it wasn¡¯t the case after all.

    ¡°They don¡¯t seem to be monsters. They¡¯re actually part of thendscape, huh?¡±

    ¡°There are some lumps of ice over there as well. I can also see some pirs.¡±

    None of these things seem to denote the presence of monsters anywhere nearby.

    They simply seem to mirror the flowingva, stone spires, and so on found on the opposite side of the 9th Layer.

    ¡°We¡¯re close to the town, should we head there first and set up the Guild Home there?¡±

    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s get to the town first!¡±

    There were no monsters on the road to the town, so the eight were easily able to reach the town they had seen from the top of the hill.

    ¡°I had this feeling when I saw it from the top of the hill, but it does feel a bit different from other towns we¡¯ve seen in the past.¡±

    ¡°What an impressive wall¡­ Hey, Sally, do you think it goes around the whole town?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, maybe. That would make a lot of sense.¡±

    The town was surrounded by tall walls, and encircled by a moat. Now that they had descended from the hill, they could catch a few glimpses of the inside of the town from its entrance beyond the drawbridge across the moat.

    The limits between the town and its surrounding field were much clearer than anything they had seen before.

    As the eight crossed the drawbridge, a faint light was emitted from a crystal that decorated the front entrance. However, it didn¡¯t seem to have done anything in particr other than that, so the party simply proceeded into the town without worrying too much about it.

    After crossing the drawbridge, two NPCs who looked like guards in tight armor on both sides of the entrance called out to the party.

    ¡°Wee, travelers. If you¡¯re looking for an inn, head towards the castle in the center of the town.

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    After giving the guards her energetic reply, Maple was the first to enter the town.

    Unlike the towns that were created ording to the particr theme of each of this game¡¯s many Layers, this castle town, which was one of the two main towns in the 9th Layer, had a castle with white walls in a slightly elevated area in the middle of the town, beyond the townscape decorated with Western-style buildings and water and ice ornaments that floated in the air, retaining their shape with a mysterious force.

    The 8th Layer waspletely submerged, and its town area had a particr architecture, so this town made the party feel like they¡¯vee across a ¡°normal¡± town for the first time in a while.

    ¡°Well, it was presented properly in a quest format. So it seems a little different from other towns we¡¯ve seen before.¡±

    Just like Chrome said, this was part of a quest that everyone had epted, called ¡°Going to the Royal Castle¡±.

    ¡°It feels like some kind of main quest we need toplete in order to proceed, right? Should we ignore any quests that have anything to do with the other side¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well,ing this way does feel like we¡¯re making some progress.¡±

    ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s go to the Guild Home!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Maple!¡±

    Going right behind Maple, who was thinking about advancing with their quest, were Mai and Yui. The other five followed while watching those three so as to not lose sight of them even if they were to randomly run off somewhere.

    ¡°Has the main quest advanced for all of you as well? I wonder how many ramifications wille out of this¡­¡±

    ¡°I have some free time, so I was thinking maybe I¡¯ll go check out the other side. It¡¯ll be easier toe up with a n if we know our way around both sides.¡±

    ¡°Then I guess I¡¯ll do the same. If Maple and the rest continue exploring this area, they should be able to get a good amount of materials from this side. I¡¯d love to get my hands on every kind of material this Layer has to offer as soon as I can.¡±

    ¡°Okay, then if Kanade and Iz can do that, it¡¯ll be a great help. We have to consider the possibility that this entire field could be used for the PvP event.¡±

    ¡°Kasumi and I should go explore around here as well. Our sturdiness is our security. If we happen to need help dealing with any sticky situation, I¡¯m sure everything will be alright if we leave it to those three.¡±

    ¡°To say that it¡¯ll be ¡®alright¡¯ sounds a bit strange for anythinging from those three¡­¡±

    ¡°If we keep enjoying ourselves as usual, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll end up getting good results.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Looking at the three girls in front of them, the other five talk about preparing for the PvP event. Maple and the twins were certainly powerful, but they couldn¡¯t just rely on their raw power. The entire party would need to prepare ordingly in order to get good results.

    Sally, who had never really been the type of person who enjoyed preparing carefully, quickly started getting some tactics ready for the uing event.

 Chapter 391

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 391</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Royal Castle</strong>

    After entering the inn ¨Cthat is, the 9th Layer¡¯s Guild Home¨C, the party headed for the Royal Castle as indicated by the quest they had taken.

    ¡°Hey, Sally, is that the ce?¡±

    ¡°It certainly looks like it.¡±

    What the party of eight that had just left the Guild Home had set their sights on was the big white castle that could be seen clearly from afar.

    There was a wide road leading to it, and not only other yers but also many NPCs were walking on it, giving it the impression of a busy main street.

    ¡°The town itself is quiterge. And here I thought the town in the 4th Layer was big¡­¡±

    ¡°This town seems to berger than that one. It looks like it¡¯s going to take some time to learn our way around here.¡±

    The eight of them looked at the town below while climbing the stairs leading to the Royal Castle. They could see the townscape leading to the side of the high outer walls and some main streets. Walking around them should lead them to the various shops around the town.

    ¡°And we even have the other side left to explore, so maybe we¡¯ll have twice as many ces to visit in this Layer.¡±

    And just as Sally said, something that looked like a castle town could be seen on the other side. Though contrasted in color and theme, both towns seemed to be simr in size and structure.

    ¡°Oh¡­ We¡¯ll have to work together to be able to look around everywhere!¡±

    The field was very wide, but the size of each town seemed to be unprecedented. Field exploration was also important, but their experiences in previous Layers have confirmed that most hints and quests are triggered in towns.

    ¡°I wonder if I¡¯ll be taking care of exploring the town center this time.¡±

    ¡°This time as well as the others.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, you¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°With an area this big, even the moments when we¡¯re not fighting are going to be very entertaining.¡±

    While they continued talking like that, the eight of them finished climbing the stairs leading to the front of the castle that could be seen in the distance. From the open gate, they could see the road leading to the building, and two well-maintained gardens could be seen on each side of that road.

    Two more soldier-looking NPCs were standing at each side of the gate, and approached Maple and the others as they drew near.

    ¡°Wee, travelers. You¡¯vee at a wonderful time.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, what could be going on, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Who knows? Maybe it¡¯s some kind of event?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll show you around. Please follow me.¡±

    One of the soldiers then entered the castle, leading the way. Thinking that they had no choice but to follow him, Maple and the others walked right behind the soldier.

    The inside of the castle looked gorgeous. Its walls, floor and ceiling were beautifully decorated, and there were many corridors offering many ways to go immediately after entering.

    ¡°I wonder if we can actually go through those other corridors?¡±

    ¡°Maybe it depends on how far we¡¯ve progressed with this quest, don¡¯t you think? I don¡¯t think the GMs would make a big quest such as this and not implement something like that into this ce¡­¡±

    As Maple looked around curiously after walking down the corridor and climbing some stairs, the soldier stopped in front of a big door.

    ¡°Please,e through here.¡±

    The soldier pushed the door open, and Maple and the others were finally able to see what was behind it.

    The room was long, and it extended to the back like some kind of boss room, and some strong-looking soldiers were standing in formation on both sides. And at the back was an old man sitting on a throne, with a crown on his head and a shining white beard covering the lower part of his face.

    ¡°A king?¡±

    ¡°Looks like it, doesn¡¯t he? Is it really okay to let someplete strangers into the throne room like this¡­?¡±

    As Maple and Sally talked to one another in whispers, the king called out to them.

    ¡°Wee, travelers. You havee at an auspicious time.¡±

    ¡°I knew it, Sally. Something must be about to happen.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s hear what he has to say.¡±

    ¡°Soon, a festival that will change this year will be held. And you, travelers, will be able to participate in it.¡±

    ¡°I see~¡±

    ¡°That has to be an event, right? Ah, the quest has progressed.¡±

    Just like Sally said, the moment they entered this country of sorts, the quest automatically progressed to the next step, and it became ¡°Choosing a Side¡±.

    Maple also understood that this quest had a time limit, indicated by the start of the next event.

    ¡°We seem to have at least tentatively chosen a side the moment we were exposed to that light. ¡­Of course, we can still change our decision, so we¡¯ll have some time before we have to settle on a side for good.¡±

    Simrly, if they were to enter the country on the other side, they would be exposed to its light at the entrance, and their chosen side would change. ording to the quest, anyone who failed to choose a side by the time limit would be assigned to either side randomly. But even then, the decision to participate in the battle was up to each individual yer.

    ¡°This is to show our power to our people. Every year, we partake on these sieges in this virtual representation of reality through the use of ck magic. I expect you to have the power to represent our country.¡±

    In short, the next event would take ce in this entire field, and the goal of each side would be to take down the opposing side¡¯s castle.

    Given the event¡¯s nature, it allowed for a wide range of strategies, as one could try to win by taking advantage of the terrain, by covert infiltration, and by frontal breakthroughs based on numbers and raw strength.

    Unlike the battles between guilds of previous events, this battle would be of a scale many times bigger than ever. It would be difficult to takemand over members of different guilds. Getting everybody to cooperate wouldn¡¯t be as easy as it sounds.

    The party didn¡¯t know the rules of the event in detail yet, but this made the battle format and final goal clear. yers who do not belong to either camp seem to include yers who have yet to reach the 9th Layer, and reaching this area early was an advantage that allowed yers to get as much information as possible on the terrain and the facilities involved in the event.

    ¡°If anything happens, let ite. I won¡¯t turn away from whatever thates our way.¡±

    After those words from the king, the soldier that had guided the Maple and the others into the throne room promptly escorted them back out of it.

    Then, after closing the door behind him, the soldier spoke to the party.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to rmend you to be on our side. The king of the country across from ours is powerful, but our king is even more powerful than him. Though you may not realize that until you actually see for yourselves.¡±

    It was natural for a soldier to speak well of his country, but even with that subjectivity aside, there was a certain truth to the soldier¡¯s words. His way of speaking suggested that they would be fighting the king of the other country during the attack on his castle.

    ¡°The king is going to be tough, huh¡­¡±

    ¡°That gramps seems to be very strong at the game. I don¡¯t know his fighting style yet, so the soldier¡¯s right I won¡¯t know what I¡¯d be facing until I actually fight him.¡±

    ¡°Looks like it.¡±

    Maple nodded at Sally¡¯s words. Then, while everyone shared their own impressions, Maple and the others eventually had gone all the way back to the entrance.

    ¡°We are preparing for the big battle ahead of us. If you look towards the town as you leave the castle, you should soon see arge building that stands out among all others. If you are willing to help, go there. There should be quite a few requests posted there.¡±

    ¡°Okaaay~!¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s where we should head next, huh?¡±

    ¡°Right. Ah, it looks like the quest has progressed to its next stage as well.¡±

    ¡°If there¡¯s a lot of requests for us to take there, then that¡¯s probably where we make the split.¡±

    ¡°The NPCs seem to be taking part of the battle as well, and if we were to change sides now, we would be making the opposing side stronger, right?¡±

    ¡°Possibly, yeah. But I¡¯d like to take a look at those requests before anything else¡­¡±

    ¡°I hope there are some easy ones for us to take¡­¡±

    ¡°Neither I nor my sister had actually done many quests, to be honest.¡±

    ¡°Well, that shouldn¡¯t be a problem. After all, it¡¯s been all made part of this 9th Layer¡¯s main quest. It¡¯s likely been made to be quite manageable.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°But we¡¯ll still do our best¡­!¡±

    It was quite understandable that Mai and Yui, whose strengths and weaknesses were quite distinct, couldn¡¯t normally clear most side quests that came their way. They had the raw power needed to defeat any number of monsters, but they couldn¡¯t do anything else that required other stats.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s start by heading over there!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Besides, I¡¯m sure there¡¯s plenty of other events aside from this main quest for us to enjoy.¡±

    The castle towns wererge, and the fields were evenrger. Considering the size of the Layers so far, there could be many hidden events waiting to be found somewhere.

    ¡°You¡¯re right! It¡¯s not just quests!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, I hope we can find many interesting things.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! And the building¡­ Oh, is that it?¡±

    Maple pointed to a magnificent building that wasrger and taller than anything around it, and which could be seen from a distance.

    ¡°Looks like it. The quest also marks its destination in that direction, so that has to be it.¡±

    ¡°Alright~ Let¡¯s go, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, but be careful not to fall here.¡±

    Thus Maple and the others quickly went down the long stairs and headed for that building.

 Chapter 392

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 392</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Tunnel</strong>

    After going back the same road they came from, Maple and the others arrived at the front of therge building. It was bigger than arge guild¡¯s Guild House, so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem even if a lot of yers were to gather inside to get the quest.

    ¡°We¡¯reing in~!¡±

    Maple opened the door, and the party could see the inside of the building. The inside was just as spacious as it seemed to be from the outside, and there were several bulletin boards with paste-it-like request forms and some reception counters with NPCs behind them.

    Chairs and tables were also set there so yers could rx before heading for a counter, and there was a signboard on one of the walls at the back of the room indicating the dishes and potions that were being sold.

    There were stairs leading up to the second and third floors, making it look like a huge Guild Home made for all yers.

    ¡°Ooh~! It¡¯s huge~!¡±

    ¡°The shops at the back look like they¡¯ll take in a lot of traffic, so we should be okay as long as we stick to moving around the center of the room.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve got to check out what they¡¯re sellingter too.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Each new Layeres with new items as well, after all.¡±

    ¡°And what about the quests that we can take here¡­?¡±

    Since there are so many yers, they could choose to take quests from either the reception counters and the bulletin boards to avoid getting each of those areas too crowded. Maple and the others decided to check the quests they could ept at the moment.

    The moment they went to one of the bulletin boards, a blue panel appeared in front of them that disyed the names of all avable quests. More details about each quest would be disyed by tapping on each of the quests¡¯ names.

    ¡°Whoa~ There¡¯s a lot of them!¡±

    ¡°With this many quests, I¡¯m sure everyone can choose the type of quest that best suits them. Combat, gathering¡­ There are even quests for transporting supplies.¡±

    ¡°The main quest that has led us to the castle only mentions taking a quest here, so I¡¯m assuming that it doesn¡¯t matter what kind of quest we actually take, right?¡±

    ¡°Right. I¡¯m sure that¡¯s why there are so many different types of quests.¡±

    ¡°Just to confirm that, each of us should take a different type of quest. Since we¡¯re so many, it should help understand more about the quest and its progress. Especially since there may be more quests like these to take on the neighboring region.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s try taking one of these quests then.¡±

    ¡°So, which ones of these can weplete¡­?¡±

    ¡°Have you found anything, sis?¡±

    After checking the contents of each quest, they singled out the ones that seemed achievable for them and epted them ordingly.

    ¡°Alright, should we try taking on these quests until something changes?¡±

    ¡°Looks like these quests can be shared, so if we all take one of these quests, one of us can get it cleared for everyone else.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do our best then~!¡±

    Thus, each of them headed for the location indicated by their respective quests.

    Maple and Sally ¨Cwho epted the same quest¨C came to a high mountain a little away from the town. The mountain was steep, most of the trees had been cut down, and shapes made out of water and ice floated in mid-air against the force of gravity and were connected to each other, forming strange footholds. There were alsorge holes that each made a path leading to the center of the mountain.

    Each of them seemed to be some kind of mining tunnel, as they could see several NPCs roaming around and digging out glittering crystals from within.

    ¡°The 9th Layer seems to be particrly filled with NPCs.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, up until now, we wouldn¡¯t see any NPCs outside of towns!¡±

    There were structures built even outside of the town¡¯s walls. These tunnels were an example of that. Then, as the NPCs moved around restlessly, Maple and Sally noticed that there was an indication of quest progress floating above a big, muscr man that was wearing work clothes and giving instructions to the other NPCs.

    ¡°Should we ask that guy?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s.¡±

    As they approached the big man, he turned around to meet them.

    ¡°Oh! You¡¯re the ones who epted our request, right? Thank you very much. Come this way.¡±

    Then the man had them follow him along the mountain surface for a brief while before stopping, looking up, and pointing at some of the tunnels.

    ¡°Some monsters have settled down in this area. We can¡¯t work properly because there are so many of those ridiculous things. Are you confident in your skills? I¡¯d like you to do something about this.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°The ones inside these tunnels attack with cold air. Be careful not to get yourselves frozen solid.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    With Maple¡¯s cheerful reply, the big man When Maple replies cheerfully, the big man went back to his original ce. It seemed that there were no NPCs around here since there were monsters inside, and the only sounds of work that could be heard were the echoes of distant mining.

    ¡°Well, they seem to be in here, but how should we go about doing this?¡±

    ¡°How about we have Syrup take each of us over there at a time?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, good n. I¡¯m already used to floating around anyway.¡±

    Maple called Syrup and used her ¡°Psychokinesis¡± to have him carry each of them towards the entrance of one of the tunnels.

    ¡°Thank you, Syrup~¡±

    Once both of them arrived at the tunnel¡¯s entrance, Maple recalled Syrup back into her ring. The tunnel wasn¡¯t wide enough for the huge syrup to fit through it.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel like a dungeon, huh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. And it¡¯s so narrow in here¡­ Fighting here won¡¯t be so easy.¡±

    Walking inside the tunnel was rough as well since the terrain was uneven, forcing them to walk side by side. This, in turn, made it so Sally wouldn¡¯t be able to make the most of her fighting style, which benefited from wide spacious areas where her great agility would shine at its brightest.

    ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s my time to shine then!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You got it.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    This quest was simple. All they had to do was defeat a certain number of monsters inside the tunnel, and once they had defeated enough, the quest would be cleared.

    ¡°¡¯Dedicated Affection¡¯ ¡®Deploy Barrels!¡±

    Maple walked forward with a number of muzzles pointing ahead. Since the narrow passage obstructed Sally¡¯s dodging capabilities, she also activated her ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±, so she waspletely ready to attack and defend.

    They continued walking through the tunnel like this for a while, but they encountered no monsters during this time.

    ¡°There don¡¯t seem to be any particr signs of monsters around here.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and I have my eyes set straight ahead! So we¡¯ll be fiiii ¨Cwaaaah!?¡±

    ¡°Maple!?¡±

    Though Maple was on guard as she proceeded through the tunnel, she still stumbled and fell in the most spectacr way right before Sally¡¯s eyes. Still, the fall wasn¡¯t hard enough to destroy her deployed barrels, so Maple quickly took Sally¡¯s hand and got back on her feet before looking around to see what had happened.

    ¡°¡­Looks like I have to be careful not only about what¡¯s ahead of us, but below us as well.¡±

    ¡°¡­? Ah! It¡¯s frozen!¡±

    When she touched the ground at her feet, she felt almost no friction at all, and when seen from an angle, she could see the ground also reflected light to some extent. It was as if they had been walking over a frozenke.

    ¡°We have to be careful not to slip and fall during battle, or we¡¯ll be done for!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! That got me by surprise¡­ I thought I was being attacked from some hidden spot around here.¡±

    Having agreed to be especially wary of the ground at their feet during battle, Maple and Sally continued their exploration of the tunnel, searching for the monsters they were supposed to defeat.

 Chapter 393

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 393</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Tunnel ¨C 2</strong>

    As Maple and Sally proceeded through the tunnel, not only the ground at their feet continued to be frozen, but some icicles began to hang from the ceiling.

    ¡°Something has toe out soon, right?¡±

    ¡°Keep your eyes peeled. And don¡¯t stop paying attention to the ground.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    As they proceeded ahead with caution so as to not slip and fall, a lump of ice that floated in the air appeared before them. There was a HP bar directly above it and a small gust of icy and snowy wind swirled around it, making it look like it was carrying its own pocket snowstorm around. It seemed to have a will of its own, making it look less like an inanimate lump of ice and more like a spirit or a sprite. The intensifying cold air was also causing the icicles that hang from the ceiling to grow, and Maple and Sally concluded that it had to be one of the monsters they were supposed to defeat.

    ¡°Here ites!¡±

    At the same time, the monster seemed to notice them as well, as the wind swirling around it became stronger and covered a wider area. The wind enveloped the icicles on the ceiling, which got hit repeatedly with the wind¡¯s icy shards until they broke off, and then the monster flung them at Maple and Sally.

    ¡°Block them with your shield!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Maple ought to avoid taking attacks from sharp and pointy objects directly with her body as much as possible. There were many skills and special attacks that had armor piercing effects, which could often be identified for their skill names and the means used to perform such attacks.

    After swallowing the icicles with her ¡°Evil Eater¡±, Maple was ready to unleash her counterattack.

    ¡°¡®Deploy All Weapons¡¯! ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Maple deployed arge number of weapons and pointed their muzzles at the Ice Spirit. However, the weapons did not react to her subsequent deration to open fire, and no attack actuallymenced.

    ¡°Huh? ¡­Ah! They¡¯re frozen!¡±

    The weapons¡¯ surface was partially frozen white, and the barrels themselves had been covered on small icicles. They had a skill sealing effect, which prevented Maple¡¯s attack from being executed.

    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll try something before my ¡®Evil Eater¡¯ runs out. It moves around slowly¡­ Or rather, it seems like it doesn¡¯t move at all.¡±

    ¡°Right!¡±

    Carefully walking on the frozen ground, Maple got close to the monster before it could attack them with the new icicles that had already started to grow from the ceiling.

    ¡°If you¡¯re not going to move¡­ Take this!¡±

    Maple took up her shield and tackled the Ice Spirit with it. Since ¡°Evil Eater¡± was still active and it allowed her to swallow even monsters up to a certain size in one gulp, the Ice Spirit vanished instantly into the shield.

    Even though they were in the 9th Layer, this monster was defeated in the same way as the one in Maple¡¯s first quest ever.

    ¡°Nice~ It worked. It would¡¯ve been too risky to let it react and attack us again with those icicles.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! It worked out just fine!¡±

    ¡°I should be able to avoid those icicles. I¡¯ve already gotten used to this slippery frozen floor, so if they keep using that same attack over and over, I should be fine.¡±

    The monster had only thrown icicles at them, which had been easily disposed of with a single attack. The foothold was poor, but the monster couldn¡¯t unleash its attacks in quick session, so even if it seeded in sealing Maple¡¯s weapons, it made no difference to them at all. Since ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± hadn¡¯t been sealed, they were able to carry on without much of a struggle since their defensive capabilities weren¡¯t hampered by the monster¡¯s attacks.

    ¡°Looks like we have to defeat 9 more of these.¡±

    ¡°Where could we find more?¡±

    ¡°The tunnel seems to be a straight road ahead, so we should be able to find some more if we just keep on walking further ahead.¡±

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s go~!

    After sessfully defeating the first monster, Maple and Sally went deeper into the tunnel, hoping to clear their quest.

    As expected, since it was their first quest in the area, they were able to advance through it without much struggle.

    Though her weapons had been sealed, the monsters¡¯ icy wind attacks wouldn¡¯t work on Maple, and she could easily block any iing icicles with her shield. Then, all she needed to do was to get closer to the monsters and just lightly touch them with the shield to get rid of them.

    Though this strategy wasn¡¯t always as easily applicable as it had been when they defeated the first monster, the goal was simply to defeat 10 of these Ice Spirits, and so thest few of them were easily defeated by Sally¡¯s attacks.

    ¡°Phew, that takes care of it.¡±

    Sally stabbed the final Ice Spirit with her dagger, and it fell to the floor where it crumbled on the spot.

    ¡°We¡¯ve cleared the quest, Sally!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still the first quest of this area¡­ I wonder if all of them are going to be this easy?¡±

    ¡°Well, that works for us!¡±

    ¡°This wasn¡¯t a hidden quest or anything. It seems that it was made so that anyone could clear it easily, so they were pulling a few punches with these monsters.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Imagine if each one of these monsters had been as strong as a boss¡­ Like that event at the top floor of that tower¡­¡±

    ¡°That would have been really rough.¡±

    As they progressed through the game, they would face an increasing level of challenge from the monsters they encountered.

    But before getting to the actual challenge, they would need to clear these initial quests.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here. We should get some sort of progress once we exit this tunnel.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    After turning back while remaining cautious not to slip and fall, they finally reached the exit of the mining tunnel, where they once again rode Syrup back to ground level.

    The big man that had escorted them to the entrance of the tunnel was there waiting for them, and greeted them after seeing that they had returned safely.

    ¡°Oh! It looks like you¡¯ve done it! Now we can resume our work up there. Go to the request counter in the castle town to receive your reward. The people in town have been working restlessly for quite some time now, so it would be nice if you could lend them a hand as well!¡±

    ¡°Will do!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to town then. Some of the others may have already finished with their own quests.¡±

    Considering the difficulty level of this quest. it was possible that the other six members of ¡°Maple Tree¡± had already finished their chosen quests without too much of a trouble either. Maple and Sally quickly left the mining area, thinking that the others could even be back at the Guild Home waiting for them already.

 Chapter 394

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 394</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Departure</strong>

    After promptly finishing the quest and returning to the town, the two went over to the request counter in order to report thepletion of the quest.

    As many of the activities on the ninthyer were based here, the ce was bustling with many yers, just as it had been when they left.

    ¡°We¡¯re supposed to make a report, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it looks like it.¡±

    When the two went closer to the counter, it changed from disying the quests, to allowing them to make a report. And once you tapped thepletion button on the blue panel, you would receive the material and gold rewards, as well as bonus experience points.

    ¡°Woah!¡±

    ¡°I knew it wasing, because it was written down when we epted the quest, but I still feel lucky when I actually receive it.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Yes!¡±

    With battles in the mines, you would get materials and experience points normally. And bonuses from quests made it even easier to level up, so you could say that it was well worth epting quests.

    As it was a central element of the ninthyer, it had been made so that yers would naturally decide that epting quests was for their own good.

    ¡°It looks like the others aren¡¯t done.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like we decided to return, so it¡¯s possible they are exploring some more.¡±

    They had only just stepped foot into the ninthyer, and so most of it was an uncharted area. Unlike the eighthyers, there were no notable restrictions in terms of explorable areas, so that you could spend as much time as you wanted just walking around the vast field.

    ¡°What should we do? We can just continue to ept more quests, or we can look for a more rare event.¡±

    While quests gave you a bnced reward based on the time youmited, finding hidden events, items, and dungeons would greatly increase the possibility of sudden growth. That being said, the main objective of the ninthyer was quest progression, and it was to be expected that the slow and steadypletion of quests would lead to more quests being unlocked. And so it would be necessary to set aside some time for that as well.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ What should we do¡­¡±

    As Maple pondered this, the doors to the entrance swung open, and a familiar face entered. And due to the fact that Maple and Sally were wearing equipment that stuck out even in a crowd, the yer noticed them as well.

    ¡°Hey, you two. I see. So Maple Tree is on this side now.¡±

    ¡°Lily!¡±

    ¡°Is Rapid Fire here then?¡±

    ¡°About half of them. Because you won¡¯t know unless you see both.¡±

    Just like Maple Tree had nned, Rapid Fire was also at the stage where they were sending their guild members to each country and gathering information.

    ¡°Besides, it looks like the event will be using a field that is based off of this one.¡±

    As Wilbert said, when it came to fighting, whether or not you had detailed information would be very important. And sincerge scale guilds could send more personnel, they were going to make use of that advantage.

    ¡°Of course. I also think of this as a preparation period.¡±

    Every yer was thinking of the PvP battle ahead, even as they explored the ninthyer.

    ¡°We went to both countries once¡­and I think it¡¯s best if you see both as soon as possible. After all, it will be difficult to decide which country to choose unless you see them for yourself, right?¡±

    This time, the characteristics of the fields in both countries would vary greatly. So while you might hear from other guild members or gather information from message boards, seeing was still believing.

    ¡°And there are quests for each country. It will be difficult to finish the quests on both sides before the event.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    They still didn¡¯t know what awaited them after they finished the quests, but it seemed quite possible that it would be something that would give them an advantage during the event. And so instead of haphazardly trying to do both, it would be better to quickly decide which country you will belong to.

    So in order to do this, Lily and the others had decided to start by checking out both of them.

    ¡°In that case, Sally, maybe we should go over there as well?¡±

    ¡°Sure. We¡¯ll heed the advice of those who went first.¡±

    They had been wondering what to do, but they now had a direction. Of course, this didn¡¯t mean they had decided to stick with one country, but they would at least be acting quickly.

    ¡°It would really help if you can tell me if you find something that could be useful.¡±

    ¡°Hehehe. I can¡¯t tell that to someone who will likely be a rival.¡±

    ¡°Haha. That¡¯s too bad.¡±

    That being said, in the present, they were not exactly on opposing sides. And so if they happened to be in a dungeon together, they would offer each other a hand. That had not changed.

    All it meant was that they were concerned with the uing PvP battle.

    ¡°Well, then. Let¡¯s y as a party again, if the opportunity arises.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    And with those parting words, Willbert and Lily headed towards the back. In a corner of the vast room, some yers had gathered together. And since that was where the two went, it suggested that they were the other members of Rapid Fire. Maple could not tell what they were talking about, but they were probably exchanging information.

    ¡°So, I guess we should depart from this country.¡±

    ¡°I wonder what the other side is like.¡±

    ¡°My impression is that of monsters with high attack ability and a lot of traps¡­¡±

    But this too, they would not know until they actually went there. And so while the two had initially nned to stay longer, for now, they headed in the opposite direction. To the field of fire, thunder and a sprawling wastnd.

 Chapter 395

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 395</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Arrival</strong>

    As the two walked away from the field that was overflowing with ice, water, and green, the grass and flowers at their feet started to disappear, and the vast forest could no longer be seen.

    The borderline of the two fields was like a mixture of wastnds and rich forest. And so when it came to which side had the advantage, it changed depending on where you were.

    And once they had passed that border area, the field on the opposite side spread out in front of them.

    Here, tall boulders stood as if to create a forest of rock, and the gaps between them were filled with sand. Electricity and mes shot from the boulders regrly, creating a distinct atmosphere in the field, much like the water roads and ice crystals on the other side.

    Furthermore, instead of rivers, there were streams of thick runningva that illuminated the area.

    ¡°I guess we shouldn¡¯t be touching that.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Lava will burn.¡±

    Maple could do nothing against something that dealt fixed damage. No matter how high your defense ability was, it meant nothing if that wasn¡¯t taken into ount.

    As they would need to cross the field in order to reach the town, that obviously meant they would encounter monsters along the way. And as the two walked through the rocky area, great lizards that were over a meter long began to slither out from behind the boulders.

    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯ll use this! Deploy All Weapons!¡±

    Maple¡¯s weapons expanded out and indiscriminately scattered bullets in every direction. In general, dodging the bullets was impossible, and it hit the oing lizards one after another and chipped away at their HP. However, as this was still the ninthyer, it was not enough to destroy all of them, and they were soon surrounded by the lizards who then started to spew violent mes from their mouths as a counter attack.

    ¡°I¡¯m retreating for now!¡±

    As Dedicated Affection was not activated, Sally quickly made invisible tforms in the air and escaped into the sky in order to avoid getting hit. As for Maple, both she and the enemy were getting hit as they attacked each other. However, the difference in defense ability was toorge. And though the lizards did have hard scales with impressive defenses, they were still far behind Maple¡¯s body. Even as she stood within the mes, the weapons were remade every time they were destroyed.

    Sally watched this scene afternding a short distance away.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­crazy that she¡¯s fine. But I guess she can handle it.¡±

    Maple¡¯s HP bar had not even budged, and in the meantime, the lizards that had been hit the most began to fall and disappear.

    If you had no real countermeasures, then it didn¡¯t matter how many times you attacked, or how great your numbers were.

    The mes around Maple decreased in size along with the number of lizards, until it finally disappeared entirely.

    ¡°That was a little dangerous.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine if it¡¯s just normal mes!¡±

    ¡°So lizards are fine¡­ But we¡¯ll have to see the other monsters.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°You know. If they are going to use this field as it is for the fight, then it¡¯s possible that the monsters will appear as well, right? So it will be better if there aren¡¯t too many monsters we¡¯re not good at fighting ahead of us.¡±

    ¡°Ohh! That¡¯s true!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want it to be sealed off, but I don¡¯t want there to simply be a lot of aggressive monsters either¡­ Especially if we don¡¯t know how to deal with them.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Hmm. I see¡­¡±

    Maple decided that she would also keep track of what kind of monsters were here. Unlike past times, the content of the next event had been disclosed quite early, and so even during ordinary exploration, you would pay attention to different things more than usual.

    ¡°So, I guess that means we should search for good hiding ces!¡±

    ¡°Yes. It will make it harder to get ambushed and easier to ambush others. Also¡­we won¡¯t have to worry about jumping into a puddle ofva.¡±

    ¡°Now that sounds important!¡±

    In that case, it seemed best to go to the town while observing the monsters for now. And so they decided that they wouldn¡¯t fly in the sky on Syrup, and would instead inspect the terrain as they walked.

    Like this, they arrived at the town before too long, and then they looked back at the monsters they had encountered.

    ¡°Uhh¡­ There was the big cactus that shot its thorns, a big bug that came out of the ground, and fire and thunder versions of that ice block that we fought during the quest!¡±

    ¡°I think it was just the cactus. As far as enemies with piercing ability. But I¡¯ll do some researchter.¡±

    Upon seeing the thorns shoot out, Maple had assumed by their appearance that she could not allow them to hit her, and so she had guarded with her shield. But that also meant that she didn¡¯t know if it was true. If those numerous thorns really were a defense piercing attack, as Indomitable Guardian was weak against multistage hits, Maple¡¯s HP would be in danger if it hit her directly. However, judging by their effects, it seemed like there wouldn¡¯t be a problem with the other monsters, and so she had allowed herself to be hit, and confirmed that they were not piercing attacks.

    Also, and this was something they knew after fighting the great lizards, the monsters that appeared in this field werepletely different.

    ¡°We might have to think about attributes and attack methodpatibility as well.¡±

    ¡°There is so much to think about!¡±

    ¡°Well, there is a lot more that every yer can do now. And I guess that means there is more to consider.¡±

    When your level was still low, and you had few skills, you were limited in terms of options to begin with. So most of the time it would be pointless to even think about it. However, it was no longer the case.

    ¡°Though, these monsters are weak enough that we could just use brute force when the timees. But, you know, just in case.¡±

    While some of the monsters were a little dangerous, they were still the kind of monsters that were always appearing on the field. In general, they were there for yers to defeat for experience points, and so they were not especially strong. It would take boss monster ss enemies to push yers of the ninthyer to the brink.

    ¡°There¡¯s no point in just talking. Let¡¯s go in.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    The two had already reached the town¡¯s entrance. The high wall that surrounded the town, as well as the buildings that could be seen through the gates, had a ck color scheme. And just like the other side had used ice and water decorations, here there was thunder andva around the town.

    Compared to that white country brimming with water and nature, this ce had an ominous and harsh atmosphere that could be felt as the two stepped foot inside.

    The first thing they realized upon entering the town, was that there was no discrepancy between the two countries when it came to facilities. A straight, wide road stretched out from the gates, and familiar NPC shop signs could be seen in practically the same locations.

    If there was one big difference, it was that aside from yers, there were fewer people here.

    That being said, that was only the number of humans. Because many of the NPCs here had beast ears and tails or dragon wings. Features that humans did not have.

    ¡°I see. So this is what this side is like.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s kind of like the fourthyer!¡±

    ¡°It is simr, huh?¡±

    The two looked at the town as they made their way to the castle, just like they had before. The quest they had already epted was automatically put on hold, and the new quest to head towards the castle was started.

    As they had expected, each country had their own quest, and you could not ept both at the same time.

    ¡°Well, I suppose you¡¯re supposed to choose one.¡±

    ¡°It looks like it!¡±

    As the process would be the same here, they just had to go towards the castle, slightly above, in the same way. Which meant going down the main road and up the long flight of steps.

    When they finally arrived in front of the castle, they were greeted by dragonfolk soldiers who were standing there. They looked like the ones they had seen before in the floating castle, where everything, including their faces were that of a reptile.

    So it would be like the other side, and they would be taken to the king for now. As they walked through the castle, the guards would asionally give them some minor information about the king and the country.

    ¡°Our king is very strong. I¡¯m sure she¡¯d be in the throne room at this hour, but¡­be careful that you don¡¯t say anything strange, or she might crush you!¡±

    The dragonfolk guards said with augh.

    ¡°Wh-what kind of person is she¡­¡±

    ¡°Perhaps she is the type to use more force than the other king.¡±

    The other one had an appearance that suggested magicbat rather than a physical fight. But from what they had heard, this one was likely more of an infighter.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then the king from the country of water and nature might be stronger when ites to opposing sides. Though, it¡¯s not yet clear if he¡¯ll help us.¡±

    Considering the number of yers, it could be predicted that there would be multiple shes betweenrge groups all over the ce.

    In that case, no matter how strong you are during close-rangebat, there would be things you couldn¡¯t deal with if you only have one body.

    But with magic, you might be able to cover for those weaknesses.

    ¡°Besides, Kanade has a few magic books that allow attacks with ridiculously long range.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ Not being able to get close can mean trouble, but magic is great because it doesn¡¯t have that problem!¡±

    With Maple, due to her status, there were often times when she couldn¡¯t get close to an enemy, and so she understood well how important range could be.

    Like this, they eventually reached the room the king was in, and just like before, the guards opened the door and they were invited in.

    ¡°It¡¯s so big¡­¡±

    ¡°It really is!¡±

    At a nce, this throne room was at least 1.5 timesrger than the one from the water and nature country. Furthermore, aside from the kingly figure who sat on the throne, there was no one else in the room, which made it look even bigger.

    ¡°King! You have guests! Travelers!¡±

    Said the guards, and then the king got to his feet. And then, the king¡¯s knees bent, and she leapt powerfully into the air, and after closing the gap between them,nded quietly on her feet.

    Now that they had a closer look, they could tell what kind of person this was. She was just a little taller than them, and had ck hair that was slightly longer than Maple¡¯s. And though she was slender in build, what was more notable was the fact she was covered in hard-looking scales, had sharp ws protruding from her hands and feet, and had dragon wings stretching out from her back. And then there was therge tail.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    After looking at them appraisingly for a while, she stepped back with a satisfied expression. And then her tails and wings turned into ck light before disappearing, and her hands and feet transformed into those of humans.

    ¡°Oh? Looks like we have even more weaklings!¡±

    ¡°People aren¡¯t always what they seem. Isn¡¯t that true about you, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Haha! That is true. Travelers. You havee far! I wee you to this country!¡±

    And so once again, the two heard the weing words, and listened to the talk rted to the uing event, and the exnation about which side they would belong to, and about quests.

    ¡°I will have no mercy if you be our enemy. If you don¡¯t want that, then you should join us!¡±

    Said the king after the exnation was done. Clearly, she was very confident in her strength. And then she ordered the guards to escort the two outside.

    On their way out of the audience chamber, the two shared what they had felt during the short visit.

    ¡°¡­I wasn¡¯t expecting that.¡±

    ¡°She does seem really strong!¡±

    ¡°If ites to a fight, we¡¯ll have to take into ount that mobility she showed in the beginning. And she¡¯ll likely be able to fly with those wings¡­ Butpared to the other king, it¡¯s easier to imagine what the fight will be like?¡±

    As expected, this was someone who had the air of a strong physical fighter. And if she had the strength of a dragon, then her attack ability must be very high.

    ¡°Also, humanoid enemies that are fast have the advantage of being a small target.¡±

    ¡°It sounds very persuasive when you say it, Sally.¡±

    At least, it would be back-breaking work for Maple to keep up with that speed.

    ¡°If we¡¯re going to have to fight against a king, I think it will be easier for us to side with this one. Besides, your area magic will be a good fit. You know, because that old man looks like he¡¯ll use magic.¡±

    ¡°I see, I see.¡±

    That being said, this was still all spection at this stage. And so their decision would depend on the information they gathered after this.

    Regardless, they had been able to meet the leaders of both countries, and seen some of the monsters. It was from here that they would start gathering information so they could decide which country they would ultimately join.

    ¡°There is still plenty of time until the event, so let¡¯s take it easy.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    They had only just started exploring the ninthyer. And so it was from this point that things really started.

    With this new piece of information acquired, the two left the castle behind them.

 Chapter 396

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 396</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Camp</strong>

    552 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Pick a camp.

    553 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    Just wait a little longer.

    Though, right now, I don¡¯t think there is a big difference between them.

    554 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    Is that right?

    I¡¯ve only been to one side.

    555 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    At least, when ites to town facilities, they are exactly the same.

    Even if they look different, they made it so that the locations of the shops are pretty much in the same ce.

    556 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    I think it¡¯s better that way.

    If one side was less convenient, then people would lean towards the other side.

    557 Name: Anonymous Archer

    As for me, I chose the one that¡¯s filled with nature.

    It¡¯s simply morefortable than a wastnd.

    I find it calming.

    558 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    You do have a point.

    I suppose that is also important, considering that it will be your base.

    559 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    But unlike that side, the king is a lively, dominant dragondy.

    That¡¯s not something an old man can beat.

    560 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    Hey, the old man is pretty cool too.

    Just in a different way.

    561 Name: Anonymous Archer

    I actually saw someone who changed their country because of that.

    I suppose if that¡¯s what motivates you, then it¡¯s important.

    562 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    ¡®Dragon Girl King.¡¯ That is an advantage in itself.

    Besides, she just looks really strong¡­

    563 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    This is just something I heard from other guild members

    But she apparently has amazing mobility.

    564 Name: Anonymous Archer

    If she¡¯s an enemy, then there is no doubt that I¡¯ll be at a disadvantage with my bow, so I think I¡¯m going to join her side.

    565 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    There is a fear of the unknown when ites to the old man, but people will always prioritize the threat they can see now.

    566 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    Wait, you heard it from your guild members?

    In other words, does that mean your guild master is over there as well?

    567 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    Well, as of now.

    But it seems like it¡¯s just about sightseeing and investigating, so I don¡¯t know what will happen.

    568 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder.

    Yes, the current known threat is always more important than the mysterious opponent.

    569 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    That¡¯s true.

    570 Name: Anonymous Archer

    I guess it¡¯s no time to be worrying about NPCs¡­

    As the Demon King is with one of the kings¡­

    571 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    There are plenty of one man army freaks.

    And they will either be your ally or enemy in the battle, so it might be better to focus on that.

    572 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    Yeah, and we don¡¯t know the details yet.

    It¡¯s possible that the monsters will still be on the event field.

    573 Name: Anonymous Archer

    True.

    In any case, I¡¯ll have some skills with wide area attacks ready.

    574 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    There is a lot of t area around the border, and you won¡¯t be able to get close if there are archers or sorcerers waiting. Having range will definitely be an advantage.

    That¡¯s why you should have wide area attacks.

    575 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    It will be easier to defend the closer you are to the castle. On the other hand, attacking will mean increased depletion, so you¡¯ll have to cooperate with other yers and make formations.

    576 Name: Anonymous Greatshield Wielder

    That would be best.

    Numbers and teamwork will be necessary to win.

    577 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    And yet there is someone in your guild whose existence seems to say that none of that even matters.

    578 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    What she is doing is buffingrades¡­

    Like that angel transformation.

    579 Name: Anonymous Greatsword Wielder

    All that talk of teamwork, when you have the strongest individuals.

    580 Name: Anonymous Archer

    But this one will berger in scalepared to the fourth event.

    And so I think the side with the most cooperation between guilds will win.

    No matter how strong the yers are, you cannot be in two ces at once¡­ And so long as the other side can find an opening¡­

    581 Name: Anonymous Spear Wielder

    It¡¯s quite difficult.

    I don¡¯t know much about the other guildspared to my own.

    582 Name: Anonymous Sorcerer

    So you¡¯ll need to interact with the other guilds, huh¡­

    As much of the information regarding the event had yet to be disclosed, every party had to make preparations based on spection.

    However, there was no doubt that guilds who were able to make the sharper observations and act on them, would have an advantage during the battle.

    And so every yer was trying to gather as much information as they currently could, and find ways to win.

 Chapter 397

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 397</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Frozen Forest</strong>

    After roughly inspecting the two countries, Maple, just as she had already decided in the very beginning, chose to side with the country of water and nature. And so she reentered and changed the mark that showed which camp she belonged to.

    When she hadpared quest notes with all of the other guild members, the conclusion had been that at this point, there was no quest that would be especially difficult. And so Maple Tree decided that aside from the quests, the eight of them would split up and gather as much information as they could before the event.

    For instance, while Izu was gathering materials, she also made records of good gathering spots.

    If this field was going to be used as is, it would surely help if the acquisition of supplies could go smoothly.

    And since Izu had already needed materials from the ninthter, this was killing two birds with one stone for her.

    As for Sally, like she had said while acting with Maple, she was confirming the strength and abilities of monsters, while Chrome and Kasumi explored and looked for terrain that would be advantageous, depending on whether they were attacking or defending.

    Compared to the fourth event, the position of their army was on vast and varied terrain. Obviously, there would be parts that they were not aware of, but they wanted to decrease them as much as possible.

    As for what Guild Master Maple was doing during that time.

    ¡°Hmmm. Free exploration is harder than it sounds.¡±

    There hadn¡¯t been anything in particr that they wanted her to do. And the direction had been that she should explore everything in the way that she wanted to.

    ¡°I should go and check a ce that the others aren¡¯t likely to have seen!¡±

    They regrly shared messages about where they had explored with each other. So as long as she avoided those ces when exploring, she would not have to worry about gathering old information.

    That being said, the guild had not really chosen this direction in the hope that Maple would fill in the holes. It was more out of an expectation for Maple¡¯s tendency towards unpredictable brilliance.

    Of course, they did not say this to Maple, and she had been merely told to explore in the usual way, which was however she wanted.

    ¡°Syrup? Which way?¡±

    She tried asking Syrup, who walked next to her, but obviously, there was no reply.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ Then let¡¯s go this way.¡±

    As they had said she should do whatever she wanted, Maple had epted a few quests at the same time. Her intention was to continue with the ninthyer quests while exploring the surrounding terrain.

    Maple was currently headed towards the frozen forest, which this time, she recognized from afar. The tall trees here were frozenpletely as they glimmered under the sunlight.

    She was in no hurry, and took her time until she reached her destination. The surface of the trees seemed to be covered in thickyers of ice, as if the trees were being preserved in clear ss.

    ¡°It¡¯s so pretty¡­ I wonder why it doesn¡¯t melt?¡±

    She tried hitting it, and a hard knocking sound answered her. Even after touching it, it showed no signs of melting. So they would probably stay like this forever if left alone.

    ¡°All right. Let¡¯s search!¡±

    This time, Maple was on a gathering quest, which was quite unusual for her. The item that she was searching for was the frozen leaf. But it wasn¡¯t like the leaves she could see everywhere, and was supposed to be instantly recognizable.

    Gathering quests were Izu¡¯s territory, but this one had been left, as there was a reason that she couldn¡¯te here alone.

    And thought Maple had heard all about it, she would concentrate on gathering until the problematic phenomenon urred.

    ¡°Where are they?¡±

    As parts of the ground were frozen, she had to be careful so that she didn¡¯t slip while searching.

    Since this was still the first quest, it did not take her too long to find what she was looking for.

    Perhaps it was covered in an extra thickyer of ice, as the leaf was almost blue in color. It definitely stuck out from the rest, and you immediately knew what it was.

    ¡°But it¡¯s quite high up¡­¡±

    There was not enough space to erge Syrup, so Maple switched her shield instead.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since Ist used this.¡±

    It was the shield made of purple crystal that she had acquired during the second event. She activated the apanying skill, and a wall of crystal grew out of the ground.

    While it was a wall, Maple almost always used it to stand on top of.

    And so she climbed up the crystal wall and then stretched out her hand. Then she was able to tear off the leaf with ease.

    ¡°And¡­got it. It¡¯s the one!¡±

    Now she just had to gather the necessary amount and the quest would beplete.

    However, as she continued to gather the leaves like this, the thing that was the reason that Izu couldn¡¯te showed itself with a roar.

    This one was much smaller than the one she had seen at the floating castle, but it was still covered in blue scales, and had sturdy,rge wings that beat in the air. It was without a doubt, a dragon.

    ¡°Woah! It came out!¡±

    But before Maple could do anything, the dragon unleashed its watery breath over the area where she was standing.

    There was so much water that Maple could not see ahead of her. But though she was surprised, she was relieved to see that she had taken no damage.

    ¡°Thank goodness¡­¡±

    However, her relief was short lived, as the dragon unleashed its cold breath again. It drenched both the ground and Maple, and then froze them in a prison of ice. Bizzare Eater prevented her shield from freezing, but it could not swallow all of the ice that enveloped her body.

    ¡°¡­Thi-this is bad!¡±

    Her body seemed to bepletely frozen stiff. And though she could see through the crystal clear ice and was aware of her surroundings, she could not move her limbs at all.

    As Maple tried to think of a way to melt it, she noticed arge shadow had appeared around her.

    It was the follow up attack. A giant block of ice had been created above Maple¡¯s head, and it fell down immediately. As it smashed against the immobile Maple, the mass of ice crushed the ice surrounding her, causing her to fly into the air.

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯m free!¡±

    However, it seemed to have done no damage to her. If anything, she was happy to be free from the icy prison. If this was how the follow up attacks were going to be, then there was no need to figure out a way to melt the ice.

    ¡°Deploy Barrels! Commence Attack!¡±

    Maple deployed her weapons as if tounch a counterattack. The artillery fire shot into the air, but the enemy seemed to have great evasion ability as well, and only some of her attacksnded. And she did not reduce its HP as much as she had thought.

    ¡°This is going to take some time¡­¡±

    Thinking this, Maple gave up, as it was no use, and started walking away. Her purpose for being here was not to fight.

    All the dragon did was cover her in ice, and it was no actual threat to Maple.

    And so the best thing to do was to ignore it. Though, it was not actually something that you were supposed to be able to ignore.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be out as soon as possible!¡±

    Maple promised, as she rushed away in order to gather more frozen leaves.

 Chapter 398

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 398</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the zing Forest</strong>

    For some time after that, Maple continued to be hit by two types of breath to an extent that there was almost no unfrozen ground around her. Still, no matter how many times she was hit, it didn¡¯t change the fact that she was merely being covered in ice.

    And while it did take some time, it was Maple¡¯s strength that she could create battle situations where there was no way that she could lose.

    And so Maple gathered all of the required leaves as she blocked every attack with her body, until finally, with much satisfaction, she was able to leave the frozen forest behind her.

    ¡°Phew. That was tough¡­ But now I can clear it!¡±

    Defeating the dragon was not a requirement for clearing the quest. Apparently, it always appeared in that forest, and so she might have to face it again in a future quest. But she could ignore it for now.

    After exiting the forest, Maple turned around once in order to say goodbye and that she may visit it again.

    But what Maple then witnessed, was not ice and water breath within a freezing forest, but the moment that it all erupted into a violent ze that spread out.

    After a moment, the fires died down, and Maple was surprised to see that the ice surrounding the trees had not melted, but remained.

    ¡°Is there another one here¡­?¡±

    Maple had only encountered the freezing dragon, but it would not be strange if there was also a fire-breathing one here as well. In the first ce, the majority of dragons she had encountered up until now had breathed fire. So types like this one, which breathed ice and water, were quite rare.

    That being said, it was also true that Sally and Izu had given her no information about such a dragon being here.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s something rare!¡±

    Since they had told her that she can explore freely, no one would fault her even if she turned around and went straight back into an area where she had just finished a quest.

    And like that, Maple entered the forest in order to find out what had caused the fire.

    It had spread out for just a brief moment, but on such a great scale. Maple walked around as she wondered what it could have been. But she discovered a yer before discovering any monster.

    ¡°Ah, Mi!¡±

    ¡°Maple! If you¡¯re here too, does that mean you¡¯re on a quest?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Well, I already finished it. But then I saw some amazing fire and came back, thinking it might be something unusual¡­¡±

    ¡°Ahaha! That was me.¡±

    ¡°I should have known. I thought it was some kind of fire breathing dragon.¡±

    The more powerful a yer¡¯s skills were, the more likely it was for them to be able to create phenomenons that were on a scale close to what monsters could achieve. Maple herself was often mistaken for a monster. Though, that was partially because her appearance was exactly that of a monster.

    ¡°As you can see, my firepower has gone up. I think that even in Maple Tree, there isn¡¯t anyone who can hit such a wide area with just one skill?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know all the skills the others have¡­ But I¡¯ve never seen anything like this!¡±

    Izu¡¯s wide area bomb attacks took a lot of time for preparation, and while she would not have been surprised if Kanade had a magic book or two like that, they were generally single-use only.

    This skill had damage that exceeded Maple¡¯s Machine God, and was an area attack that burned a wide area instead of a single spot. There could be no better skill when it came to making use of her own strength.

    ¡°So did you already defeat the dragon?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. It ran away after we attacked each other for a while. I guess I didn¡¯t defeat it but forced it to retreat.¡±

    But thanks to that, she was able to continue the quest freely, and so Mi showed Maple the leaves she had gathered.

    ¡°That¡¯s impressive¡­ I thought defeating it was too much a hassle, and so I left it.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t leaving it more of a hassle?¡±

    ¡°Well, it did freeze me asionally, but then I would be freed again, so I was able to explore!¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s impressive¡­¡±

    If Mi tried to copy her, there was no doubt that she would be forcefully sent back to the town.

    It was best for each person to choose the style that suited them.

    ¡°What are you going to do now, Maple? Since it seems like you finished the quest.¡±

    ¡°I epted a few others, so I¡¯m thinking about going to one of them!¡±

    ¡°Oh? Which one?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    And then Maple told Mi about the quests she was currently epting. In the first ce, the type of quests were limited, and since anyone could ept them easily, it was no surprise that there were some that both Mi and Maple had epted.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, Maple, maybe we can clear a few of them together? I think it will be easier if we¡¯re together.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°All right, then it¡¯s decided! I¡¯ll bring Ignis out, so you can ride on top.¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    And like that, the two flew through the sky towards their next quest.

    ¡°It really is fast!¡±

    ¡°Unlike Syrup, Ignis was set to have the flight ability from the beginning.¡±

    Ignis was a phoenix, and could already fly, unlike Syrup, who had to rely on Maple¡¯s skill in order to float in the air. And since Syrup used such an unorthodox method of flying, it was not possible to fly at this speed.

    ¡°It seems like there are a lot of yers who tamed flying monsters. There was even someone in my guild who wouldn¡¯t settle for anything but a flying monster, and so they hadn¡¯t tamed any until very recently.¡±

    ¡°Being able to fly really is amazing.¡±

    ¡°When ites to battle, having the high ground is quite an advantage, and you have so much more mobility when you can ignore the terrain¡­ So I can understand why they are popr.¡±

    ¡°Besides, you can¡¯t fly around so freely like this back in the real world!¡±

    ¡°Ahaha. That¡¯s true. That would also be part of the appeal.¡±

    Much time had passed since the time it was just Maple alone who flew through the skies. And now, the sky waspletely open to the range of activities of the yers.

    ¡°Also, if you¡¯re attacking a castle, then being able to fly over the walls will be a great advantage, won¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    People like the Kingdom of the me Emperor guild member, who finally tamed a monster, had probably been waiting so they could have an advantage during times like these.

    Indeed, if you could fly in the sky, then the high walls that surrounded the town wouldn¡¯t mean anything. Compared to those who mainly fought on the ground, there were fewer yers and monsters who had the ability to fly. That meant they could attack in ces that were not tightly guarded. And that alone made them a threat.

    ¡°Still, it must have taken a lot of patience. After all, there was one event and eightyers in between.¡±

    ¡°Amazing patience¡­¡±

    ¡°I just hope that it was worth it.¡±

    The two continued to fill each other in on recent events as they made their way to the next destination.

    ¡°Is all of Maple Tree here now?¡±

    ¡°I think so? Though, there may be some people checking out the other side.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯d want to see both sides at least once.¡±

    ¡°What about you, Mi?¡±

    ¡°We still haven¡¯t decided yet. Besides, it seems like this time, guild members will be able to split up.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Of course, it¡¯s not confirmed until there is an announcement. But you remember? Every yer gets a crest when entering the country?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡±

    ¡°If it stays like that, we might be able to be on opposing sides in spite of being in the same guild.¡±

    Mi said that she wanted to allow the guild members to do as they pleased.

    ¡°Of course, I won¡¯t go easy on them if we do be enemies! I¡¯m still the guild master, and will do my best so that I don¡¯t lose.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no worry of that, with how strong you are, Mi.¡±

    ¡°Well, everyone in the guild is strong as well. So I can¡¯t let my guard down¡­ But I suppose Maple Tree will want to stick together?¡±

    ¡°We haven¡¯t even discussed that yet, but I think that¡¯s what will happen!¡±

    ¡°Well, you do make up one perfect party. And you have great teamwork.¡±

    They had advance guards and rear guards, everyone had their own acute abilities and fitted in so that they made up for the deficiencies of others.

    It was hard to think of any merits in splitting up.

    ¡°I wonder which guilds we¡¯ll be teaming up with.¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t know until it starts.¡±

    ¡°I hope we¡¯ll be on the same side as you, Mi!¡±

    ¡°Hehe. Well, you better guess which one I¡¯ll go to then.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    ¡°You do that. Oh, we¡¯re almost there! Hold on tight!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Mi signaled, and then Ignis slowly descended in a spiral towards the ground.

 Chapter 399

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 399</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Fire and Poison</strong>

    The two got off near argeke. While it was surrounded by a forest, it was unmissable if you were looking down from the sky.

    The trees around theke had been brutally fractured at the trunk, andy scattered on the ground. And so even the erged Ignis was able tond directly.

    ¡°Thanks, Ignis.¡±

    ¡°Ko-ko-kaa!¡±

    ¡°This one isn¡¯t a good fit for me, so I thought I should get it out of the way while I¡¯m still with you. Also, I wanted to beat it before I forget the trick to tackling it.¡±

    A short whileter, a monster appeared that exined what Mi meant when she said there was a trick to it. Large ripples spread in the water, and then gravity-defying spheres of water, like the ones seen all over the ninthyer, connected with several pirs in theke, creating numerous roads that stretched out.

    And inside swam fish that were about 50 centimeters long.

    She had fought many monsters like this during thest,st event, as well as on the eighthyer.

    And so she wanted to clear this quest while their speed, and the ways of dealing with them, were still fresh in her mind.

    ¡°Dedicated Affection!¡±

    ¡°Heavy Fire!¡±

    As Maple took care of defense, Mi unleashed a powerful burst of mes from the safety zone. It continued to burn after piercing through the pirs of water, causing great damage to the fish within.

    ¡°Woah!¡±

    ¡°If they are fast, then you just have to defeat them with wide area attacks so they can¡¯t escape, right? Though, the damage is reduced because they¡¯re inside of the water¡­¡±

    While they had been hit with such a heavy attack, this was still the ninthyer. And so the fish still had some HP left, and theyunched a coordinated counterattack by unleashing swirls of water.

    ¡°Heavy Body!¡±

    It had the appearance of an attack that would blow them into the air, and so Maple immediately nullified any knockback as she blocked the great swirls of water.

    And while the attacks were very intimidating, they did not have a piercing effect, and so Maple was left unharmed.

    She was not able to use skills like this instantly, which suggested she had be quite used to ying games.

    ¡°It really is nice when you don¡¯t have to dodge¡­ Blue Fire!¡±

    The water was being unleashed like ultra high-power fixed artillery, and Mi responded with fire. As they fought like this, Maple thought about how different this was from the usual battles.

    Sally would have jumped out and racked up some damage, but now, she could use skills that she normally wouldn¡¯t be able to.

    ¡°All right, Hydra!¡±

    Maple dered loudly, and then a stream of poison was unleashed towards theke. It bathed the pirs and paths of water in purple, causing damage to the fish within. In order to swim inside, it was necessary to keep the water uncontaminated.

    ¡°Woah¡­¡±

    In terms of the results of what they were doing, Mi also was just trying to defeat the monsters. But when it came to using poison in your attacks, there was something extra terrible about it in terms of visuals.

    Their HP dwindled, and when there was only a little left, Mi unleashed a single attack that finished the fish off.

    Once it was inside of the water, it didn¡¯t matter how fast the fish could swim. If their movement was limited to the water, then they could not escape.

    Seen from afar, it would look like a heavy duel where fire, poison, and water flew in all directions, but in reality, it was one-sided devastation.

    As the quest was cleared, the pirs of water that stretched out from theke all disappeared, and theke was silent once again.

    ¡°Phew¡­ Thank you, Maple! Because of you, I only had to attack, which made things a lot easier.¡±

    ¡°I would have also had to wait a long time if I was alone!¡±

    If Maple was alone, she would have likely have had to wait for the poison to run its course and for the fish to die one by one.

    As for Mi, it was difficult to move when the ground was covered in fallen trees. But thanks to Maple, she didn¡¯t have to think about dodging attacks, and so they had reached the end of the battle very easily.

    ¡°It¡¯s quite different when I¡¯m in a party with you, Mi.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Hmm, Kanade¡­uses magic, but that¡¯s a little different, and Sally doesn¡¯t mainly use it¡­ I think you might be right.¡±

    With only eight people in the guild, there were, of course, roles that didn¡¯t exist. There was no magic user in Maple Tree who was able to hit enemies with sheer high firepower.

    Because Mai and Yui were there, Kanade had no reason to pursue special magic attacks.

    Of course, Maple¡¯s presence also likely spurred him in that direction. Instead of aiming to defeat enemies with high power and nothing else, Maple was there to render all attacks meaningless, so there was no need to finish battles quickly. The priority of attack ability was lower than in other guilds.

    ¡°That finished more quickly than I expected.¡±

    ¡°Did you ept a lot of quests, Mi?¡±

    ¡°This is thest of the first ones that came out. Though, I¡¯m sure there will be more. And the next ones will likely be harder, so I might not be able to clear them at the same pace.¡±

    The quests that you were currently allowed to ept were the easiest ones in the ninthyer. But even at this stage, there were already monsters, like that dragon, which had powerful movement-binding attacks, on top of being able to attack from the sky, which was a great advantage. It was clear that the base monsters here were a lot stronger. And if the difficulty level was going to increase, that meant the enemies would also be stronger.

    ¡°So you haven¡¯t finished them all, Maple?¡±

    ¡°I still have a lot left! But everyone in my guild shares information about what kind of quests there are.¡±

    ¡°I see. And I suppose that unless you happen to be very ipatible, members of Maple Tree will have no trouble clearing this difficulty level even when solo.¡±

    ¡°They said we¡¯re gathering information so that we don¡¯t lose to big guilds like Kingdom of the me Emperor.¡±

    ¡°I see. Gathering information is important, and Marx is good at doing that kind of thing¡­¡±

    ¡°He does look like he would be!¡±

    ¡°And he does especially well during events like this one, where there is a base. Though, he doesn¡¯t seem too confident.¡±

    Still, the results of the previous events were proof of his ability. And that was why Mi trusted him.

    ¡°I tend to form a party with Misery, Marx and Shin the most, and I think the four of us will probably be in the same camp during the event. But if we¡¯re not, and they happen to be on your side, then you shouldn¡¯t hesitate to rely on them.¡±

    ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll do that!¡±

    She hadn¡¯t teamed up or fought against them that many times, but Maple was well aware of how strong they were. And if they had polished their skills since then, then they would be even more reliable.

    ¡°While it¡¯s taken some time to reach this point, it really is the final preparation period. I¡¯m sure that you¡­have something hidden up your sleeve, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not supposed to tell you, right!¡±

    ¡°Hehe. Correct. While I¡¯m scared¡­I¡¯ll look forward to it and think of ways of dealing with you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to prepare as well!¡±

    As Maple had always been quick to quit any games that she yed, she hadn¡¯t been able to make rivals and friends. And Mi was one yer she now had that rtionship with. Though, Maple wasn¡¯t used to this. And so she just copied Sally and smiled as if she felt confident.

 Chapter 400

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 400</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Opportunity</strong>

    During the time that Maple and Mi were on the quest, Sally was traveling from corner to corner on the map, while asionally doing quests.

    ¡°We¡¯re given a general map of the area, but¡­ I think I better actually see everything with my own eyes.¡±

    The map contained information such as locations of forests, rivers andkes, as well as details of the terrain that could be understood at a nce, as long as they weren¡¯t hidden areas.

    However, it was also true that the information wasn¡¯t perfect. Even if you knew there was a river there, you wouldn¡¯t know how wide or deep it was, and the entrances for caves, or other terrain that couldn¡¯t be seen from far away were not on the map.

    Furthermore, you couldn¡¯t know any details about the monsters that lived in the area unless you went there yourself.

    And there were some monsters that could be very dangerous if they took you by surprise, such as the freezing dragon that Maple had encountered. So she wanted to make notes of such dangerous ces.

    Especially for people like Izu, Kanade, Yui and Mai, who had low HP and defense ability. It would be best to reduce any chances of idents while exploring.

    ¡°Though, there may not even be monsters on the field during the event.¡±

    She would say it again and again. You could not be too careful. Sally did not want to be taken by surprise due to ack of preparation. After all, her defense stats could be said to be lower than a level 1 yer. So this investigation to reduce idents was for her more than anyone else.

    Now that she could transform her weapon into a shield, as long as she was able to fight at her best, there would be no attacks that she couldn¡¯t deal with. In other words, this investigation was for those times when her concentration started to weaken. Though, even in situations where her concentration was lowered so much that she was unable to reflexively dodge attacks, there would be cases where knowing the attacks beforehand would allow her to prepare quickly and dodge them.

    For Sally, preparing before a fight was a very important thing.

    And so while she continued to level up andplete quests, Sally went around and studied the monsters on the field as well as the terrain.

    ¡°The ones based on fire and thunder really do have a lot of offensive gimmicks.¡±

    If it was water and ice, then she could imagine the kind of attacks and traps that would stop your movement by freezing you, just like what had happened to Maple.

    On the other hand, her impression was that fire and thunder dealt more direct damage.

    In fact, Sally had felt the clear difference in terrain.

    In the country of water and nature, there were areas that released cold air that lowered your AGI, while in the burning wastnd, there were ces where damage inflictingva was constantly flowing.

    The former was terrain that robbed Sally and Kasumi of their strengths, and thetter meant that Maple, Mai and Yui could easily fall prey to fixed damage.

    So in terms of which terrain they would want to invade, or which would be an advantage for them, there were many things to base the decision on, but Sally was reminded of just how importants those points were when choosing a camp.

    And as she continued her investigation, she found another yer who was inspecting the terrain and making a record.

    ¡°It¡¯s unusual to see you out alone.¡±

    ¡°¡­? Oh, it¡¯s you, Ms. Sally. I see that you¡¯re working too¡­¡±

    After being noticed by Sally, Hinata greeted her and bowed her head.

    ¡°Are you also investigating the terrain and monsters?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Velvet doesn¡¯t really like to do things like this¡­ Of-of course, it¡¯s because she is so strong that there isn¡¯t much of a need.¡±

    ¡°That might be true.¡±

    Maple had a lot of ridiculously powerful skills, but Velvet¡¯s had thunder attacks whose power and range matched them. On the other hand, it was also possible for her to infight at a speed that equalled Sally, which showed how high her standard was.

    ¡°But, I think I should still do what I can. Because she can be a little careless¡­¡±

    ¡°While I haven¡¯t known her for long¡­that¡¯s probably true.¡±

    She was usually acting, but was the kind of person to betray herself after every few sentences. And so she was not the kind of person to construct a perfect n and then put it into action without any mistakes.

    ¡°If you prepare so thoroughly, there won¡¯t be any openings, which will make things harder for us.¡±

    ¡°¡­I could say the same thing to you.¡±

    ¡®thunder storm¡¯ had already dered that they would be on the opposing side as Maple. And so the amount of preparation that everyone did would greatly affect the oue of the battle.

    ¡°Though, depending on the timing of deciding the camp, we might end up on the same side.¡±

    ¡°If that happens¡­I¡¯ll be happy to work with you. Though Velvet¡­will likely be very disappointed if that happens. But it won¡¯t change the power of her skills.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯ll be disappointed, huh¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    Sally had been under the impression that she was the type whose performance was affected by how she felt that day. And judging by Hinata¡¯s hesitant response, there was an issue of things unrted to skills, such as precise body movements, which declined during such times.

    ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t want to fight her when she¡¯s at her best.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    For Sally, even if she was fighting alongside the other guild members, Hinata and Velvet would be worthy opponents. Even if she was in peak condition, these two were good at using area attacks that she would have trouble escaping from. It was no wonder, since they had a lot more skills than your average dungeon boss.

    ¡°Though, I¡¯m preparing as well. That being said, you¡¯ve studied our skills as much as you could, I¡¯m sure?¡±

    ¡°¡­Since you¡¯ve been causing such a scene, we¡¯ve done some¡­yes.¡±

    Maple wreaked havoc in the center of battlefields every time there was an event, and there was usually recorded footage of it left in the event highlights. At this point, there would be no yers on the ninthyer who were unaware that Maple was capable of suddenly turning into a gigantic monster, or creating weapons.

    ¡°Being famous sure is hard.¡±

    During thest PvP battle, they had been able to make use of the fact that they still weren¡¯tpletely the center of attention, and had been able to win. But it wouldn¡¯t go like that this time. They had to be aware that all eyes were on them, and that people had designed countermeasures.

    ¡°Butpared to Maple, there isn¡¯t a lot of information about your skills, Sally¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a relief. It means I should do just fine.¡±

    In the first ce, Sally¡¯s dodging ability had reached a level that was supposed to be nearly impossible, and so she didn¡¯t rely on skills as much as others. That was one of the reasons there was little information about her skills.

    ¡°Well, we should all do what we can, so that there will be no regrets.¡±

    ¡°No regrets¡­huh?¡±

    Hinata looked there was something on her mind. And it was probably the reason that she was going around and investigating such small details here. Sally wondered.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    And then Hinata nodded as if deciding something, and then she stopped next to Sally and whispered in her ear. Upon hearing it, Sally¡¯s eyes opened wide for a second, and then she looked at Hinata with a serious expression.

    ¡°¡­I didn¡¯t expect that. She did seem quiet, but strong¡­ Did you hear that from Velvet?¡±

    ¡°Uh, a little, but¡­¡±

    ¡°I thought she would be disappointed?¡±

    ¡°Still, I think that it will push us closer to victory. And she¡¯s regained her form like that plenty of times before¡­ Besides, winning as a guild is one way of giving back to all the members of thunder storm.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°I hope that you will consider it¡­ I don¡¯t think that it¡¯s an entirely bad offer.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You can just send a message if you make a decision. To me or Velvet¡­¡±

    Hinata said with a bow of her head. And then she left. After being left alone, Sally stood there for quite a while.

    ¡°Come and fight on our side¡­huh?¡±

    Currently, Sally had no intention of doing that. However, she could not dere that it would never happen. That suggested that a part of her was conflicted. A real PvP battle had not happened since the 4th event.

    What if the opportunity did note again? Especially within the next half year.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    And so right now, Sally could not find the answer.

 Chapter 401

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 401</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Suggestion</strong>

    Meanwhile, Maple continued to progress through quests with Mi.

    As Mi happened to have some time to kill, she had suggested that she could help Maple finish off the quests quickly. Maple epted this offer gratefully, and this team of overwhelming firepower and overwhelming defense ability traveled around and turned monsters into ash.

    With Ignis¡¯s great mobility, and a high attack ability that would not have been possible if Maple was alone, it became possible for them to finish the remaining quests with ease.

    When all of the quests wereplete, the two returned to the town in order to make a report.

    ¡°That was such an easy trip back!¡±

    ¡°Compared to Syrup, yes. And I think it¡¯s faster than Savagery?¡±

    ¡°I think it is!¡±

    While Savagery was a lot faster than normal Maple, the status boost from that outer skin did not grow, and so it could notpare to the AGI of a bird like Ignis.

    Mi had Ignisnd right by the entrance, and then dismissed him back into her ring, and the two entered the town.

    ¡°Have you seen most of the town already?¡±

    ¡°No, not at all! It¡¯s so big, and there are two of them.¡±

    ¡°There are big cannons on the walls that surround the town. And there were ces aside from the royal castle where soldiers work.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if the cannons will be used?¡±

    ¡°During the event? I do wonder. There were cannon balls, so maybe you can use them if you carry them to the cannons?¡±

    If there was anti-aerial equipment lying around that anyone could use, then flying would not guarantee your safety. You¡¯d have to consider whether or not your tamed monster with flying ability had high enough mobility, or whether you were even ustomed to flying in the air.

    ¡°Kanade is the one looking into this town, so I guess I¡¯ll ask him about itter?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. And you can go and see whatever interests you.¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll do that!¡±

    The two chatted as they walked until they reached the counter. Once they finished reporting thepletion of all the quests they had epted, quests with the next difficulty level were newly added. Not only could they expect the monsters to be stronger, butpared to the initial quests, that mainly took ce in forest and nds, the terrain would now be in mountains, valleys and deep caves, where you wouldn¡¯t have much freedom.

    ¡°It¡¯s going to get a little harder now.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. Uh, what are you going to do now, Mi?¡±

    As there were more yers around them now, Mi was back to being the ¡®me emperor,¡¯ as Maple asked her what her ns were.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to disappoint you. But this is as far as my help extends. I look forward to some cooperation again in the future.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Me too!¡±

    Mi grinned back at the smiling Maple, and then the two separated for the day. While it had been a party that was formed unexpectedly, they were both well aware of the other¡¯s ability, and so they had worked well together.

    Mi epted some new quests for when she had time again, and then left the building to go to her next destination.

    ¡°What should I do¡­¡±

    She could continue some new quests, or go around and look at the town, just as they had been discussing.

    As Maple wondered about this, and based on the fact she hadpleted one group of quests, she decided to change her exploration destination greatly.

    ¡°Yes. Besides, I want to see both sides!¡±

    This time, she wouldn¡¯t just go around and see the town, but start a more thorough exploration of the country of fire and wastnds.

    Currently, Maple Tree was still spending most of its time exploring the country of water and nature. So if Maple started doing quests over there, then she would be the first.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to y a little more today then!¡±

    And like that, Maple canceled her ns to ept quests here, and left the country once again.

    Once she was out of the country, Maple rode on Syrup and traveled leisurely through the sky.

    After leaving the town, the nds continued for quite some time. There were no monsters in the sky and things were going smoothly.

    ¡°When I look at it like this¡­you really can see so far ahead.¡±

    Part of it was because she was flying in the air, but more than anything, it was because of how far the nds extended.

    This kind of terrain would be difficult to attack and also to defend. Strategies that involved surprise attacks and ambushes as a way of starting the battle with an advantage would not work in a ce like this.

    There was no doubt that in front of the towns, it would be a battle of numbers. Then how would it be elsewhere? Maple wondered as she turned to the left and then to the right.

    Once she moved away from the front of the town, the terrain spread out with more variety. From the frozen forest that Maple had gone to, to the area that Sally investigated, where you were hit by debuffs from just walking in. There were areas with their own quirks.

    ¡°If Sally were to n¡­I think she would go in that direction instead of the nds?¡±

    Maple tried to predict how they would invade, based on their tendencies during previous events. Maple was the only one in Maple Tree who could move freely in the sky. And so there were surely things that only she would be able to see.

    ¡°I can¡¯t fly over there, as there are monsters¡­ But flying should be easy over there!¡±

    Had there been anything else she had to be wary of when flying? Maple thought back on all of the times she had flown.

    ¡°¡­That¡¯s right, wind!¡±

    That bitter experience was the time when she was hit by a gust of wind from the side while in the thirdyer, and she had been forcefully blown off of Syrup.

    Not every threat was visible to the eye. And strong winds were a prominent example.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I guess just seeing is not enough. All right!¡±

    She decided that she would actively move while riding Syrup, and fly to the next town. When it came to the sky, Maple intended to help Sally by investigating it on her own.

    Even though she would be moving through the unknown, as long as she had Indomitable Guardian and Savagery left, she would not be defeated, unless something extreme happened.

    And while her low mobility was an issue, it could be said that her other abilities were useful for reducing risks during investigating, and were perfect for first time exploration.

    Once she had added sky exploration to her future ns, Maple had Syrup fly off towards the town.

    After entering the town, Maple immediately went to ept some quests, but then stopped.

    ¡°I wonder if this town also has those cannons that Mi was talking about?¡±

    She doubted that there would be differences with such things, but since she had just decided that she would confirm everything with her eyes, Maple started to walk along the wall that surrounded the town.

    ording to Mi, there should be a staircase somewhere that would allow you to climb up.

    ¡°It seems so hot¡­ Or maybe not?¡±

    She walked for some time and stared at theva that flowed through the town. And then she finally discovered a staircase that jutted out from the side of the wall.

    ¡°There it is!¡±

    Maple climbed the long flight of steps until she reached the top of the wall. There was a passage on top, with the lower part of the crions reaching Maple¡¯s chest. And here, she saw that there were a row of cannons, just like Mi had said.

    ¡°Since there is a hole¡­I guess you can make the tip point out and shoot?¡±

    With both countries, there was nothing but nds in front, so there would be nowhere to hide. And while she didn¡¯t know how much damage these cannons could deal, being in this position was clearly an advantage. Every yer had their own long-range attack, and so if you made use of the crentions and attacked with magic and bows, you could defeat enemies before they even got close to the town.

    Even Maple could just continue to unleash her weapons and poison from this position, and with the added instant death effect of Venom Incantation, she would be able to cause a great deal of damage.

    In the first ce, due to Maple¡¯s characteristics, she was strong against any yer who charged at her head on.

    ¡°Ah! There are cannon balls! ¡­But can we use them?¡±

    After reaching the cannon balls, Maple realized that it was possible to gather them. Obviously, these were to be used with the cannons, and you could carry up to three of them at once.

    And so while you couldn¡¯t fill your inventory with them and spam them like potions, if a team of people worked together to carry them, it would be possible to continue firing.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try shooting one!¡±

    Maple stood in front of the cannon and used the cannon ball. And then it went in automatically and after a thunderous boom, it was fired into the field.

    ¡°Woah¡­ But will I be able to aim with this¡­?¡±

    It would be a PvP battle, so the targets were yers. Compared to the weapons of Machine God, which she normally used, it would be more difficult to aim with precision. And so Maple doubted that she had the skill to hit her targets.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just keep in mind that they are here. Perhaps Izu or Sally can make use of them.¡±

    While there were several other cannons, there was nothing to indicate that there was a difference in power of effect.

    They might be a threat if they all fired them together. But the only way of knowing for sure was to test it when the time came.

    And so Maple decided to leave and return in the direction she hade. However, she then bumped into a yer who wasing up the stairs.

    ¡°Ah! Frederica!¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Ah, hello, Maple. Are you alone today?¡±

    ¡°Everyone is out on the field somewhere¡­ I¡¯m exploring alone right now!¡±

    ¡°I see. It¡¯s unusual to bump into you like this. Because your equipment and skills draw so much attention¡­ What area do you usually explore?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Same as everyone else. I just walk around the field like normal?¡±

    ¡°But I can¡¯t trust what Maple Tree considers to be ¡®normal.¡¯¡±

    ¡°What! That¡¯s not true!¡±

    ¡°Hehehe. I do wonder.¡±

    Just thinking about the numerous and strange skills that Maple Tree had between them made her want to doubt those words.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m in charge of gathering information and logistics support.¡±

    Frederica said as she took in the view from the top of the wall.

    ¡°Buffs¡­will only reach there¡­ We have a lot of members, but staying together might result in being hit by area attacks¡­¡±

    During the battle with the raid boss, Frederica¡¯s unlimited MP and wide area buff skills were a powerful weapon.

    However, she had lower tolerance than heavily armored yers in the advance guard, and so if possible, she would want to support the others from a safe area, like the top of this wall.

    That being said, range was also an issue. And since formation would alsoe into y, she would have to seriously consider the merits and demerits of each location. She wasn¡¯t like Maple, who could be suddenly thrown into the center of a battlefield and still survive.

    ¡°So you¡¯re on this side, Frederica?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Oh, just for now. I haven¡¯t made my decision yet. But what about you, Maple? Are you all here now?¡±

    ¡°I think that I¡¯m the only one here? Everyone split up and went exploring their own way!¡±

    ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have many members in Maple Tree¡­¡±

    The Congregation of Holy Swords had many yers belonging to their guild, so even if they were exploring in the same way, they would have much more information at this point.

    Even Sally, who was good with gathering information, could not do the work of ten people at the same time.

    The discrepancy of numbers could not be filled so easily.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what we¡¯ll decide on in the end¡­ But Payne wants us all to be on the same side.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°It would be easier to win that way, right? Well, I¡¯ll obey whatever the guild master says.¡±

    Apparently, Frederica did not care which side she was on. In that case, she might as well stay with Payne, Drag, and Dred, as it would be a lot easier.

    ¡°I guess I want to stay with the winning horse.¡±

    ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords really are strong¡­¡±

    ¡°Thank you¡­ But even if you have fewer members, they are the rare elite. And so I have a question for the guild master of Maple Tree, who always does so well during events.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s this all of a sudden?¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t youe over to our guild home so we can talk?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Maple was puzzled by this unexpected invitation, but she had no real reason to refuse. And so she epted Frederica¡¯s suggestion and followed after her.

 Chapter 402

    402

    Defense Specialization and Suggestion 2.

    Maple epted Frederica¡¯s suggestion and was heading towards the Congregation of Holy Swords¡¯ guild but her expression looked somewhat stiff.

    ¡°Mm, Maple, did something happen?¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s nothing. I am just a bit nervous¡­¡±

    It would be Maple¡¯s first time going to a different guild¡¯s home. Till now, she had weed Frederica who came by freely and some other yers who had business with Izu but she had yet to go there since she didn¡¯t really have a special reason to.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be nervous. Come on, you should be more sharp as the Maple Tree guild master.¡±

    ¡°Ehh?! L-like this?¡±

    As Maple tried changing her expression to fit the image, Frederica responded with a nod.

    ¡°Yep, yep. It isn¡¯t like we¡¯re nning to do something with you.¡±

    And while doing all that, they had already reached the Congregation of Holy Swords¡¯ guild home. And as one would expect from such a big guild, their guild home wasn¡¯t any less from the quest-epting building on the 9th level. It was fairly lengthy and was four stories tall as a top guild¡¯s home should be.

    ¡°So big¡ª!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, we¡¯ve got quite arge familypared to Maple Tree so the guild home needs to be just as big, right~?¡±

    ¡°This is amazing! It feels like a mansion!¡±

    ¡°I know, right?¡±

    As Frederica showed great satisfaction in response to Maple¡¯s positive reaction, a voice called out to her from behind.

    ¡°Hoh? You look pretty proud of it.¡±

    ¡°I mean, it¡¯s fine, isn¡¯t it, Drag? I am a part of this guild, after all.¡±

    ¡°I guess that¡¯s true. You¡¯ve got quite the rare guest with you today, huh?¡±

    ¡°Ah, right, right. I bumped into her so I decided to bring her here.¡±

    ¡°Which means¡­ is it that?¡±

    ¡°Yep. After all, although he says that, Payne would probably go and oppose some real strong people if he¡¯s left be.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s quite the passionate fellow, that is true.¡±

    And like that, a conversation which Maple had no means toprehend unfolded before her. That said, they couldn¡¯t just stand and talk outside like this so Drag changed the topic.

    ¡°If Frederica¡¯s showing you around then I¡¯ll take my leave here.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°You are free to look around at anything you feel curious about, Maple. You might find things a bit weird, though.¡±

    Any yer would feel so if they¡¯re not affiliated to the guild, even more so for Maple.

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Seeing Maple¡¯s energetic reply, Drag disappeared into the guild home while waving back to them.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go in as well. Just follow me for now, you can look around all you like once we¡¯re done talking too.¡±

    ¡°Got it~!¡±

    And so, Maple had finally taken a step inside the Congregation of Holy Swords¡¯ guild home.

    She restlessly looked around the ce while following Frederica.

    ¡°It¡¯s a guild home at the end of the day so the facilities won¡¯t really differ that much. It¡¯s basically like arger version of Maple Tree.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±

    ¡°The third and fourth floors are all personal rooms for the members so¡­ we could just look around the first and second floor, that alright?¡±

    ¡°Yep, got it!¡±

    At any rate, that is after the business was done. After walking for a while, Frederica stopped in front of a certain door and knocked.

    ¡°I¡¯ming in~.¡±

    ¡°P-pardon the intrusion¡­¡±

    They found Payne inside the room. Payne also looked surprised seeing the unexpected guest.

    ¡°Frederica, what exactly is¡­¡±

    ¡°I will leave it to you, whichever it is. It will be easier for me to go about it if we get this done quickly.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ got it. Maple, please sit down anywhere you feel like.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Maple sat down on the sofa and Frederica and Payne sat on the other side, facing her.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Frederica invited you here all of a sudden. The talk she mentioned is about the next event.¡±

    ¡°Event?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. As it¡¯s about opposing factions, all therge guilds are looking for an opportunity to decide which faction they would stick to.¡±

    Sally was concerned about this as well. The win ratergely depends on the faction and which guilds are in it.

    ¡°Of course, the Congregation of Holy Swords is also secretly inviting people. This is what Frederica wanted to talk about.¡±

    In other words, they wanted to invite Maple Tree to the same faction as them.

    ¡°Us being in the same faction as Mr. Payne¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no room for doubt in regards to Maple Tree¡¯s strength. You guys will be formidable as opponents and reassuring as allies.¡±

    ¡°You say that but perhaps you want us to oppose each other so that you can get that revenge~.¡±

    As Frederica said that, Payne gave a bitterugh with a troubled expression.

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s the perfect opportunity for revenge. After all, we got done in by Maple Tree hard in the 4th event¡­ That being said, I am also the guild master of Congregation of Holy Swords. More than anything, I¡¯d consider leading us to victory first.¡±

    It would appear that Payne was prioritizing the guild¡¯s victory over his own. It also looks like all his guild members would go to a single faction and one wouldn¡¯t expect any less from such arge guild.

    ¡°I really want to win against Sally this time, though~.¡±

    ¡°Haha, I hear you¡¯ve been challenging her to duels everyday regarding that.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a different story. I mean, wouldn¡¯t you wanna win in an official battle?¡±

    ¡°Right. Ah, sorry, we strayed off topic. I am not going to ask you to give me your answer right now. If you decide on joining the same faction as us, it would greatly help if you let us know. Discuss it with your guild members as well.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha~!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re brief as always, huh? Don¡¯t you have anything else to talk about? After all, Maple doesn¡¯t reallye here everyday, you know?¡±

    ¡°I-is that so? I see, something to talk about¡­ eh?¡±

    ¡°Then can I ask something?¡±

    ¡°Mm? Ah, I don¡¯t mind. I will think of something myself too.¡±

    ¡°Man, you two are such hardheads.¡±

    ¡°R-really?¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°It is so!¡±

    With the usual Frederica as the center, the three continued their talk for a while.

 Chapter 403: Defense Specialization and Blue Light

    # Chapter 403 ¨C Defense Specialization and Blue Light

    After a while, when the discussion had settled down, Payne touched upon the main topic once again.

    ¡°I would be grateful if you give the alliance some thought.¡±

    ¡°Got it! I will try and discuss it with the others.¡±

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s go, Maple. If you¡¯d like to see anything, I can guide you.¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    A while after they left the room, Dred came in.

    ¡°That Frederica, I hear she brought Maple here?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. What, are rumors spreading already?¡±

    ¡°That armor does stand out, after all¡­ I heard it from a guild member. Well, what happened? I wanna know.¡±

    ¡°I suggested an alliance with her. That would bring us the closest to victory.¡±

    ¡°¡­That¡¯s unexpected of you. What happened to your revenge?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, Frederica said the same¡­ But the scale of battle is levels apart from the normal yer vs yer events till now. We¡¯re preparing to win with our strength alone as well but¡­ it will be tough. I can¡¯t be stubborn when the guild¡¯s victory stands in bnce.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Payne, you really are a guild master, huh?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I will definitely lead us to victory.¡±

    The guild¡¯s victory. The Congregation of Holy Swords was also preparing towards that goal.

    Days passed and Maple was at her guild home, deep in thought.

    ¡°What should I do¡­¡±

    Maple¡¯s worries¡ªthat is, what should be Maple Tree¡¯s policy for this event.

    The Kingdom of the me Emperor is forming factions upon free will, ording to Mii and the Congregation of Holy Swords is aiming for a unified victory as a guild. They had already received an invitation from the said guild and considering Maple Tree¡¯s members¡¯ individual strength, it wouldn¡¯t be unusual if they were to receive more of these invitations going forward as well.

    She could definitely consult it with her guild members but at the end of the day, Maple will be the one who pulls the trigger.

    ¡°I gotta decide before the event¡­!¡±

    With that frame of mind, Maple left the guild home to make progress in her quest.

    As she was on the opposite side of her other guild members, it was her exploring alone this time as well.

    ¡°Counting on you, Syrup! I gotta look around from the sky as well!¡±

    Maple got on the erged Syrup¡¯s back and flew towards the forest path, which looked like a long ck rug.

    ¡°I can¡¯t really see inside the forest from up top, huh?¡±

    Unlike the forests she had explored uptil now, this one¡¯s branches extended horizontally quite a bit, making it hard to see through the gaps.

    Considering that, it must be as dark as night time inside the forest.

    ¡°Anywhere I cannd¡­?¡±

    The quest¡¯s location was towards the center of the forest but she couldn¡¯t spot an area tond Syrup. She would reach the location if she had just headed straight after entering the forest, however, considering how she was just aiming to clear the quest, that would take too long.

    ¡°I wonder if it¡¯ll be alright if we can just almostnd?¡±

    Maple lowered Syrup¡¯s altitude slowly and tried to stop right on top of the trees before returning him to the ring.

    As her ride had just disappeared like that, Maple started free falling onto the trees and ended up invading in through the prickly and thick ck leaves.

    She rustled through the branches during her fall before colliding into the ground, getting all mushy.

    ¡°Whew¡­ I was able to get through¡­ mm, here we go!¡±

    As Maple stood up and surveyed her surroundings, she found exactly what she had expected¡ªa pitch ck forest. Of course, there was no source of light there and as it was also considerably deep within the forest, one couldn¡¯t even tell if a tree was near unless they touch the trunk.

    ¡°¡¯Self-offering Love¡¯! ¡®Predator¡¯!¡±

    And of course, with the narrow space in consideration, ¡®Predator¡¯ would be the better choice than Machine God as it is more flexible and would automatically attack enemies which aren¡¯t caught by Maple. To protect Predator and to also provide some light, she also deployed Self-offering Love. With that, preparations wereplete.

    The lit-up ground provided much more light than a bed light and lit up the surrounding well.

    With this, she wouldn¡¯t be bumping into tree trunks in the dark.

    ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be anyone around here¡­ I wonder if I should try it out.¡±

    Maple called out the blue panel and changed one piece of equipment. She equipped ¡®Lost Legacy¡¯ instead.

    Along with the equipment change, a blue-ck cube appeared floating beside Maple and followed her around.

    ¡°Alright¡­ I¡¯m ready!¡±

    After a bit of walking, the subjugation target for the quest this time appeared.

    And it had the appearance of shadow itself. The monster resembled a slime and could extend its form freely. The shadow formed a sword with a part of its body and made no waste in rushing Maple with it.

    Maple put up her shield in response as it was charging in from the front but before she realized, she had been surrounded and these attacks appeared from her back as well.

    Maple herself couldn¡¯t keep up with such attacks but the matter is different for Predator. It bit off the shadow¡¯s sword the moment it entered Predator¡¯s territory.

    ¡°Waah?! From the back as well?! ¡­Thanks, I didn¡¯t realize at all.¡±

    Maple reacted a momentter and thanked Predator before focusing in front of her again. As long as the attack in front of her is hostile, such actions are the same as self-destructing.

    Not only did it not reach Maple, it got swallowed instantly and disappeared.

    After a while of suchbat, Maple looked at the Lost Legacy¡¯s energy gauge filling up.

    ¡°Is it okay now? Alright, ¡®Ancient Arms¡¯!¡±

    As Maple called out the skill name, the ck cube which was just floating around until now scattered around into multiple smaller ck cubes.

    After a moment, it started giving off a blue light like a spark and expanded to create a cage with it.

    It pierced through the monsters on its way and spread through them to deal more damage to the surrounding monsters as well.

    ¡°Amazing! They can¡¯te close with this, huh?¡±

    They would have to get through a mesh ofsers just to get close to her. Of course, the monsters weren¡¯t weak, so to say. As such, they wouldn¡¯t go down with just one hit. However, getting hurt just by getting close was definitely a huge disadvantage to the monsters.

    And on top of that, even if they make it past, they would get munched to pieces.

    ¡°Before the effect runs out¡­ ¡®Seeping Chaos¡¯!¡±

    Maple also assisted Predator in offense. As the ancient arm wouldn¡¯t hurt its user, she kept deploying one sided attacks from inside the cage.

    They can¡¯t get close¡ªand even if they do, there¡¯s no point. After all, there¡¯s no way these small fries would have the strength to brush aside such a solidbination of offense and defense.

    ¡°Whoo, I can¡¯t immediately use these if I don¡¯t know how to¡­ so I should try and use them whenever I can, without being spotted.¡±

    The ¡®Ancient Arms¡¯ has multiple other forms apart from thisser cage as well, such as an oppressing gatling gun or a long-ranged sniper.

    As the requirement to use it is energy, which is a special resource, one wouldn¡¯t really be deploying it much if they didn¡¯t decide to as energy keeps depleting with time.

    No matter if her firepower doesn¡¯t increase as much as her other stats from here on, the base power of this is high as it is because it is a rare skill. If Maple can attack precisely, weak monsters wouldn¡¯t have a chance to do anything.

    With that also in mind, Maple decided to only use Predator and Devour this time around.

    Having defeated the surrounding monsters, Maple advanced through the forest. As the quest¡¯s objective this time was to annihte all the monsters of the ck forest, she couldn¡¯t stop at around 10-20.

    ¡°What should I try out next?¡±

    Maple¡¯s skills had increased significantly after the fourth event. That said, as her defense is just too high, the monsters¡¯ attacks just can¡¯t reach her and so they always end up falling first if she just normally attacks. As such, she was able to get by in battles with the skills she used in the fourth event.

    However, the same can¡¯t be said against actual yers. It wasmon knowledge by now how shy Maple¡¯s moves were and her weaknesses.

    As such, her new skills and weapons would be the deciding factor in battles.

    After all, it is hard to perfectly deal with things you are not aware of. To properly master her newly acquired skills and use them effectively on her opponents, she must get used to them.

    Following all the skills derived from Ancient Arms and Reversal Resurrection, Maple was almost reaching her capacity even though she had been taught by Sally.

    ¡°I¡¯ll learn them all, slowly but surely!¡±

    Despite that, Maple being positive and forward facing is a definitive change. For a while after that, the ck forest was filled with blue light and death agony from monsters.

 Chapter 404: Defense Specialization and Blue Light 2.

    # Chapter 404 ¨C Defense Specialization and Blue Light 2.

    The remaining members of Maple Tree, who were in the country on the opposite side of Maple, had finished gathering basic information about the country of Water and Nature and were in discussion to send a portion of their members to the other side.

    ¡°Sally is investigating the monsters so I guess we¡¯ll support investigating thend.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Maple messaged saying that the quest¡¯s feel isn¡¯t too different so it¡¯d probably be a good choice to explore thend.¡±

    ¡°It would be best if we could find an area only we know of. That would work really well for both surprise attacks and retreat.¡±

    ¡°That would surely help a lot.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s get to exploring!¡±

    ¡°To find a hidden area¡­ l-let¡¯s do our best.¡±

    ¡°Considering how it has been till now, hidden areas are not only hidden¡ªthey also have higher level monsters. We gotta be careful when exploring.¡±

    ¡°For now, let¡¯s split up and continue searching and if we feel like we can¡¯t handle it on our own, we call for help. Does that work?¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s good. For starters, we¡¯d be able to conquer almost any area if we proceed with 8 of us. We have to find the area first, though.¡±

    Hidden areas wouldn¡¯t really be *hidden* if they were easy to find. To find such an area, one not only insight and perception, but also a significant amount of luck.

    ¡°If you find any unusual material, I would appreciate it if you could bring back as many as you can.¡±

    ¡°¡­You¡¯ve been indulging in installing stuff in the workshop so much after reaching the 9th floor that it¡¯s rare to see you not working¡­ What exactly are you building?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a secret for now. I¡¯ll probably reveal it when the event is closing in.¡±

    ¡°¡­What could it be?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably something amazing, sis!¡±

    As Izu was making an item that a normal yer couldn¡¯t acquire, even top yers like Chrome or Kasumi had no idea about it.

    However, as her work is almost always useful, they could keep their hopes up and look forward to it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s progress with the quest in our spare time and help out Sally with her information gathering!¡±

    As Chrome revalidated their current objective, everyone there nodded in unison and Maple Tree went forth preparing for the event in their own way.

    623 Name: Nameless Longsword User

    Alliances are slowly forming, huh?

    624 Name: Nameless Spear User

    Some are dering it and some are hiding it but what happens if one side has more yers?

    624 Name: Nameless Magician

    Maybe there¡¯s a limit or the side with less will getpensation?

    624 Name: Nameless Archer

    I mean, we¡¯re making alliances on our own so I feel like there¡¯ll be a limit to the number of yers you can have

    624 Name: Nameless Shielder

    It probably won¡¯t be random but maybe there¡¯ll be a lottery of sorts one side has more

    624 Name: Nameless Longsword User

    Either way, we gotta prepare seriously and make sure we can deal with it

    I think there might be a time-elerating factor considering the scale and feel of the event but it also feels like there may be a limit to how many times you can respawn

    624 Name: Nameless Spear User

    That does seem probable

    If they can use a zombie tactic where they revive no matter how many times you kill them then there won¡¯t be an end to defense or offense

    624 Name: Nameless Archer

    Did you guys progress in the quest?

    624 Name: Nameless Shielder

    Somewhat

    624 Name: Nameless Magician

    You can do the quest anytime you want but the time till the event is limited so¡­

    Figuring out the map first takes priority I guess

    624 Name: Nameless Longsword User

    There are a few dangerous looking areas, after all~

    I feel like it was made that way to be vital during offense or defense

    624 Name: Nameless Magician

    Terrain has been the strongest weapon since ancient times¡­

    624 Name: Nameless Spear User

    There was this forest wheresers were flying by, after all¡­

    624 Name: Nameless Longsword User

    What¡¯s with that weird sounding forest?

    624 Name: Nameless Spear User

    The leaves there are pure ck and there¡¯s almost no light inside

    Bluesers came gushing out from the inside

    624 Name: Nameless Archer

    It wasn¡¯t like that when I went there for a quest, though¡­?

    624 Name: Nameless Longsword User

    Don¡¯t they say that there are strong monsters deep inside the forest?

    624 Name: Nameless Shielder

    I guess there¡¯s something¡­

    624 Name: Nameless Magician

    The monsters there weren¡¯t as strong and I thought it¡¯d be the perfect area for surprise attacks but if there¡¯s unknown beam using beings in there then I might have to reconsider

    624 Name: Nameless Longsword User

    It¡¯ll be hard to utilize that area until we figure out what it is

    We¡¯d know how strong the beams are if they hit the spear user¡­

    624 Name: Nameless Spear User

    No, thank you

    624 Name: Nameless Shielder

    I¡¯m pretty tough so maybe I¡¯ll go look for it

    Surely it won¡¯t one shot me

    624 Name: Nameless Archer

    If it¡¯s one shotting people then only someone like Maple would be able to deal with it

    624 Name: Nameless Longsword User

    If it does no damage to Maple but one shots general tankers then it¡¯ll be over if the Maple Tree confines themselves in there¡­

    624 Name: Nameless Shielder

    That¡¯s true

    The chatters here had no means to know that the one using theser and stopping it was the same person.

 Chapter 405

    Chapter 405 ¨C Defense Specialization and Lightning

    Time passed and all the yers had made significant progress in the quest. However, as there were rails spread out in the area which were easy to spot, most yers neglected exploring areas outside of the quest area despite many yers doing the quest.

    Due to that, when one looked at the whole field, there were more areas left unexplored.

    As such, it would be safe to say that it will take longer for Chrome and the others to find the hidden area they were looking for.

    Amongst all this, Maple was going about it at her own pace, going wherever she wanted whenever she wanted ¡ª in fact, she was currently checking her map just outside the city to decide on her next location.

    Since Sally had her hands full grasping the field and Chrome and the others were busy with exploration, she was on her own today as well.

    That said, she did order independent action as the guild¡¯s policy as well.

    ¡°I wonder where I should go next~.¡±

    While it was mostly for the quest, Maple did fly around the area on the 9th floor for quite a long time and had already explored all the areas that piqued her interest. Of course, she hadn¡¯t done a thorough exploration so there¡¯s always the option of re-exploring an area but if she was to go somewhere, she wanted it to be somece new.

    Unlike previously explored areas, everything about unexplored areas is new. Her exploration in new areas would never go in vain.

    While she was pondering on her next destination, a voice called out to her from behind.

    ¡°Maple~! What are you doing, spacing out over here?¡±

    ¡°Ah, Velvet! Hinata¡¯s not with you today, huh?¡±

    ¡°Hinata went to investigate the field!¡±

    ¡°I see. Same with Sally, then. What about you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not really good at those things so I¡¯m just gonna grind exp. and explore areas!¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, same with me, then.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s why you were looking over the map!¡±

    ¡°Yep. I was deciding on where to go next. Are you going to explore now?¡±

    ¡°That was the n but where were you nning to go?¡±

    Being asked such a question, Maple pointed out the ces she was interested in one by one.

    ¡°Ah, this ce oveps with one of my choices as well! How ¡®bout we go together?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sounds good! You wanna ride Syrup?¡±

    ¡°Fufufu, there¡¯s an even faster way of transport!¡±

    ¡°Really? Is it your tamed monster?¡±

    ¡°Nope, wrong answer!¡±

    Maple formed a party with Velvet as the effect wouldn¡¯t apply otherwise.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! ¡®Electric elerator¡¯!¡±

    Along with Velvet¡¯s deration, electricity started running through the two¡¯s skin. It crackled like lightning and Maple could somewhat understand what kind of an effect it might produce since she saw Mii¡¯s ¡®re elerator¡¯.

    ¡°Now, try running!¡±

    ¡°Okay, here I go.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Maple broke out in a full sprint. Although her speed was less than Velvet, Sally and Kasumi, she easily surpassed yers like Chrome and Kanade who have not really focused on their speed with this speed enhancement.

    ¡°Whoa, amazing! So fast!¡±

    ¡°With this, anyone can be really fast!¡±

    Certainly, this would take them to their destination faster than Syrup.

    ¡°Running to your destination feels nice and fresh!¡±

    ¡°It is quite rare, you know?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Right! Ah, do be careful of the effect running out, though. If you aren¡¯t careful, you might trip and fall due to suddenly slowing down.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Running through the fields, Maple felt like Sally as she made her way towards their objective. Velvet had restrained her speed to not leave Maple behind and the two proceeded towards the location side by side.

    ¡°It kinda feels weird seeing Maple run like this.¡±

    ¡°I have to use ¡®atrocity¡¯ to run fast, after all. I can move fast by exploding arms but that wouldn¡¯t exactly be running fast¡­¡±

    Maple had almost never traveled through the fields on foot. Generally, she rides on top of Syrup or uses the transport Sally manages. ¡®Machine God¡¯ and ¡®Atrocity¡¯ are more battle-limited, when she needs to move quickly.

    As her base ¡®Agility¡¯ is 0, items or skills which increase it by multiplying doesn¡¯t have any effect on her. As ¡®Electric elerator¡¯ raises the base agility stats like ¡®Atrocity¡¯, it is able to increase Maple¡¯s running speed as well.

    She got to find out that Velvet could support her allies with skills like these apart from charging in and attacking with her lightning. Hinata¡¯s support and interference stands out more but Velvet also possesses support skills like so.

    If she has skills which can increase stats other than agility, it would be hard to face her in 1v1s or team battles.

    ¡°Do you have other skills like this as well?¡±

    Unlike Sally, Maple asked her this out of pure curiosity, without thinking much about it.

    ¡°Fuffufu, I can¡¯t go ahead and expose that, now can I~?¡±

    ¡°Ah! Right, that¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°Do find out in the event by all means!¡±

    It appears she does have some sort of skill like that judging from her way of speaking but since Maple hadn¡¯t seen it, she had no idea of what it could be.

    ¡°What about you, don¡¯t you have anything like this, Maple? We have fought together a few times but¡­ I have never seen you use something new, you know?¡±

    While she had seen Maple¡¯s strong skills such as ¡®Devour¡¯ in battle, the normal skills Maple uses have not changed in forever. While that is mostly because she decided not to use them after discussing with Sally, it¡¯s also true that she didn¡¯t need them as the people she partied with were very strong uptil now.

    For example, if she parties with Mii or Velvet, she wouldn¡¯t need to use ¡®Machine God¡¯. After all, the time to beat their opponents wouldn¡¯t really change even if she decides to partake in offense. With stronger damage dealers on her party, Maple¡¯s role as the shielder proves more valuable.

    Self-offering Love suffices most of the time and she doesn¡¯t have to use any new skill.

    ¡°It¡¯s a secret!¡±

    Maple also replied as such and the two kept running towards the destination.

    ¡°Whew, I think this is the first time I ran this much!¡±

    After running for a while, they had reached a roughnd with numerous long and spiky rocks. Some of the boulders and areas on the ground were charred, implying that there¡¯s something here that can pull off an attack of that intensity.

    As Maple peeked inside the area, huge lumps of light came crashing down from the sky, lighting up the surrounding.

    ¡°That surprised me¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s lightning! Since it¡¯s Maple¡­ you won¡¯t get damaged from it, right?¡±

    Velvet was aware of Maple¡¯s extraordinary defense. However, her lightning was so intense that even she couldn¡¯t bepletely sure of Maple going unharmed.

    ¡°I wonder? I can¡¯t really imagine lightning piercing through armor¡­¡±

    She couldn¡¯t tell without trying it out first. Now that she had ¡®Stout Guardian¡¯, she wouldn¡¯t end up identally dying either.

    As a few spiky boulders were acting as a lightning rod, they would have to move while determining safe zones to explore the area properly.

    But of course, that is what one would have to do normally.

    ¡°¡¯Self-offering Affection¡¯!¡±

    Maple used her skill to protect Velvet and went straight into the area after resolving herself. After a while of them moving inside, lightning that turned the whole sky pure white came falling down.

    However, that onlysted for a moment and after the light dispersed, Maple was standing there as if nothing had happened.

    ¡°Safe!¡±

    ¡°As expected! We can walk with ease then.¡±

    As Velvet was also under the effect of Self-offering Affection, she wouldn¡¯t be affected by the lightning either unless Maple gets knocked back a certain distance.

    ¡°There was an area with intense lightning in the 5thyer as well¡­ but it¡¯s even more intense here.¡±

    ¡°I also use lightning but I would probably lose to this, huh?¡±

    If Velvet became able to drop this amount of lightning bolts from the sky, no one could probably close in on her.

    Her abilities hit the target even now and only Sally could probably get close while dodging everything.

    ¡°I would be much stronger if I could consecutivelyunch attacks like this.¡±

    ¡°How about leveling up the skill?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel like it will increase more from here¡­¡±

    Velvet has been fighting with lightning as her core ability for quite a long time now. And considering how she takes on battles intentionally, it wouldn¡¯t be weird if she has already reached the highest level.

    After a while of walking while constantly getting hit by lightning, the target monster for today appeared.

    It was a sphere of about 50 centimeters diameter and discharged electricity every now and then. It looked like fireflies from afar as they floated about around the rocky areas.

    ¡°That¡¯s the one, right?!¡±

    ¡°Alright, ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Maple swiftly deployed her weapons and began shooting at the monster.

    Her attack, which boasts an amazing range and incredible bullet speed, allowed her to make the first move on the monster one-sidedly.

    The monster ended up reactingte and couldn¡¯t get out of Maple¡¯s attack range as it was much slower than it looked.

    As they didn¡¯t look tanky either, Maple was starting to feel confident in being able to defeat these monsters but right then, her bullets collided with the discharging electricity and went straight through it.

    Although it pierced through the monster, it didn¡¯t seem to be dealing much damage. This reminded Maple of simr monsters which nullified her attacks before as well.

    ¡°Uuu, it doesn¡¯t seem to be working¡­¡±

    ¡°Then it¡¯s my turn! I¡¯m not reallypatible with these types but¡­ ¡®Second Coming of the Thunder God¡¯!¡±

    Velvet began discharging electricity herself this time, at a greater momentum than that of the monsters. And it seems the monsters couldn¡¯t just leave her be either as they sent directed lightning bolts straight towards her. She would definitely have a hard time dodging these as they rushed at her with a speed not inferior to Maple¡¯s bullets.

    ¡°I can take that much!¡±

    Maple took on all the lightning and nullified it while standing still. The monsters¡¯ attacks dealt no damage to her.

    After all, considering the super intense lightning from the sky did no damage to her, these monsters¡¯ attacks would literally do nothing.

    ¡°¡¯Field of Lightning!¡±

    With Velvet¡¯s skill, even more lightning came crashing down onto the ground. The monsters couldn¡¯t just ignore it as Velvet was the one creating it.

    ¡°Try and avoid ¡®em if you can!¡±

    Since she was basically hitting electric monsters with more electricity, it wouldn¡¯t affect them much but even then, Velvet kept shaving off their HP with overwhelming electrical output.

    Simr to the time she partied with Mii, Maple¡¯s role as a defensive wall shines the brightest when she¡¯s with someone who uses extreme offensive abilities.

    Although the attacks from the monsters and the environmental damage was not soft by any means, they didn¡¯t really mean much as they did no damage.

    ¡°Do your best, Velvet!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    The damage was umting. As they would surely win if this goes on, Maple just continued to watch over Velvet¡¯s attack without doing anything extra.

    The two kept progressing and swept the lightning area of monsters. After having confirmed that the quest¡¯spletion condition was met, they moved away from there.

    ¡°Even though some of those boulders worked as lightning rods, they still were absurdly loud, after all.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, they made so much noise¡­¡±

    Not only did the lightning in that area easily erase the noise created by the monsters, it also took away their vision with the blinding light and so in reality, it was more annoying than the monsters themselves.

    Even if they were in the safe zones with the lightning rods, they couldn¡¯t even talk properly with all the noise in the background.

    The two went far enough so that the sound of lightning didn¡¯t reach them and sat down on top of a boulder.

    ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be many monsters around this area.¡±

    ¡°Without all that lightning, we can take it easy.¡±

    Monsters wouldn¡¯t really go up the boulder either so they won¡¯t be getting into any battle if they just stayed put.

    ¡°Thank you again for today! That defense sure is something else¡­¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t lose to anyone in defense!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anyone who could beat you in defense either. If there was, they would¡¯ve been popr by now!¡±

    Such abnormality can¡¯t really be hidden well in confrontations. Besides, now that everyone more or less knows about Maple, even if a person like that appears, they would instantly bepared to Maple and it would be a hot topic.

    The fact that such talks didn¡¯te up even after they reached the 9thyer just means that nobody like that exists.

    ¡°I hear your defense was outstanding even in the first even so¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, right¡­ You weren¡¯t there in the first event, were you, Velvet?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! I started right after it ended!¡±

    ¡°About the same time as Sally then! Do you y this type of game often?¡±

    ¡°Hinata does, more than me. I was invited to this one.¡±

    Although she didn¡¯t really speak of any details, it was evident that Hinata and Velvet knew each other in the real world as well.

    ¡°I was invited by Sally too! We¡¯re the same! Or so I¡¯d like to say but I¡¯m still not as used to it as you are¡­¡±

    ¡°I have a long way to go as well!¡±

    ¡°Eh~? Really?¡±

    Velvet¡¯s movements were refined and it didn¡¯t feel like she would be any less than Sally. Her positioning during fights felt way more natural than Maple as well.

    ¡°So Hinata wanted to y games with you too!¡±

    ¡°But the reason she invited me was a bit different this time.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s more of a practice.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    Seeing Maple confused, Velvet cleared her throat and straightened her back sharply.

    ¡°¡­How is it? Don¡¯t I look gentle anddylike?¡±

    As she lightly joined her hands and gave a gentle smile with that, she lookedpletely different from the lively and vigorous Velvet just a while ago. No one could tell that she uses lightning and those fists for fights.

    ¡°Amazing¡­ you¡¯re like apletely different person!¡±

    ¡°Haa, that¡¯s not my natural posture so it¡¯s really tiring.¡±

    ¡°Your usual posture is really nice too, in my opinion.¡±

    ¡°Really? That makes me happy! But it is also true that I have to learn this¡­ After all, I am a daughter of a respected family.¡±

    ¡°Eh?! Really?!¡±

    That would make sense considering the change just a while ago. Although one is more natural than the other, she could tell that she had been using both postures for quite a long time now.

    ¡°Yes. And that¡¯s why Hinata suggested this as a ce for practice.¡±

    If she¡¯s surrounded with people she doesn¡¯t know and if it¡¯s in a game, her changing tones and aura wouldn¡¯t really affect her real life. The perfect ce for practice.

    That said, old habits die hard. Even Maple could tell that the results of her practice hadn¡¯t reached her desired state yet.

    And like that, Velvet and Maple gossiped for a while.

    ¡°Do you y other games too, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Nope, not really. This is the first one I yed for this long.¡±

    ¡°And you are a guild master already! Is this what they call a prodigy?¡±

    ¡°Nothing of the sort~. Sallyes up with the guild strategies and everyone else also thinks about stuff!¡±

    ¡°Having that unity is sure nice! ¡­Mm, then is everyone from Maple Tree going to the same faction?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ I had the opportunity to talk to Mii and Mr. Payne so, I guess it¡¯s still under consideration?¡±

    ¡°You have yet to decide on a faction, then?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°I n on opposing you this time~.¡±

    ¡°Mmm, then maybe I should hide it till the very end and end up as your ally¡­¡±

    It goes without saying but ¡®thunder storm¡¯ is a very strong guild as well. It would be best to keep them as allies.

    ¡°That¡¯s a nice strategy! Did Sally teach you that?¡±

    ¡°She didn¡¯t really say anything specific so I¡¯m just speaking from reference¡­ I saw her doing stuff, after all.¡±

    It would appear Maple was learning a thing or two from Sally, for what it matters. While she can¡¯t really mimic her movement, she can at least try and get close to her line of thought.

    ¡°Are you guys gonna be together as a guild in a faction?¡±

    ¡°I decided to leave all that stuff to everyone else! But I will stick with Hinata, of course!¡±

    Just like how Velvet wants to try fighting against Maple, there are many others who want to try fighting Velvet considering how strong she is.

    It seems she doesn¡¯t mind how things y out in that regard.

    ¡°There would be a lotta different opinions in a big guild, after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! ¡­It¡¯s also one of your responsibilities, you know?¡±

    ¡°I guess that¡¯s true as well.¡±

    Even Maple had a guild ¡ª ¡®Maple Tree¡¯, and while the number of members are low, she did in fact have guild members to think about. There may be a difference in opinions but they have to bounce ideas and unify their way of thinking or stance towards events.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be looking forward to the event!¡±

    ¡°Mmm, be my ally~.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be your enemy~!¡±

    They were wary of each other for now but the final decision was yet toe.

 Chapter 406: â€“ Defense Specialization and Decision

    <strong>Chapter 406 ¨C Defense Specialization and Decision</strong>

    After exploring the 9th floor for a decent amount of time, Maple and the others had a good idea about which areas were better than others.

    As they had also gathered a lot of info, they gathered at the guild home for an interim report.

    To make it convenient and easier, they ced the 9th floor¡¯s map on the center of a big table and surrounded it to fill in their info.

    ¡°Ohh, it¡¯s quite the spectacle now that we¡¯ve gathered it like this.¡±

    The data Sally gathered on the monsters were very detailed ¡ª about their location, hiding spots, their characteristics and the effects they can produce were all listed intricately on the map.

    ¡°I was in charge of materials and Sally was in charge of monsters.¡±

    ¡°Please read it when you get time. It has more info than what¡¯s avable on the and I¡¯ve also tried to write down how we, the Maple Tree, should deal with it as well.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing. Knowing how to deal with it beforehand is huge.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, I¡¯ll take a look at it for now. I am good at memorizing and it¡¯ll probably be better if there¡¯s more people who can ry the information instantly except Sally.¡±

    Given Kanade¡¯s memory, it would take him less than a day to memorize all of this. In fact, he would probably be done even before the meeting is done.

    While the information was listed in a manner easy to understand, they couldn¡¯t really bring it out to check every time during battles. And thus it should be memorized if possible.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s mostly just one line in battle scenarios with Mai and Yui.¡±

    ¡°True.¡±

    Get close and punch. And that¡¯s it. If that doesn¡¯t work, change the attribute and punch.

    If itnds, they win. As that works even with a portion of the bosses, the two don¡¯t really need to think much during battles. Most enemies don¡¯t even get to change into their 2nd form or use a different moveset against them.

    ¡°We need to take a look at it, huh?¡±

    ¡°Right. While they¡¯re weak monsters, it¡¯s not like a punch will do the trick for us.¡±

    They generally tend to go for endurance battles unless a big move is used. They need to be extra careful against monsters which use troublesome abilities.

    While they wereparing and adjusting like that, all of them received a message at the same time.

    ¡°Ah, more info about the next event!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ there¡¯s more details now.¡±

    While the outline of the 10th event was announced, the details were yet to be disclosed. And that was finally done just now with this announcement.

    All of them opened up the message and read it.

    ¡°Divided between countries and battles will take ce between two camps. It seems the country is decided by the one you join the day before the event. It seems people who have yet to reach the 9th floor can also be chosen and the ones not chosen will be distributed among the teams.¡±

    ¡°I see, I see.¡±

    ¡°And it seems the terrain and monsters will stay as is. That¡¯s to be expected. Oh, there¡¯s something interesting here as well.¡±

    ¡°The monsters in your camp won¡¯t attack you, eh? Also, considering how it says the monsters will listen to certainmands depending on the items used on it, does this mean that they¡¯ll be like tamed monsters?¡±

    They hadn¡¯t expected this bit of info. If a camp has more defensive forces other than the yers, it¡¯ll be hard for others to attack just by taking the yer count into ount.

    The effect onlysts for 5 minutes but if one uses the monsters¡¯ abilities well, it will result in a very effective offense and defense.

    And besides, even if the effect runs out, it isn¡¯t like the monsters wille attacking them. They just won¡¯t listen to detailed instructions and so they could still be relied upon.

    As long as one brings them out to the battlefield, the opponents can¡¯t ignore them.

    ¡°It seems you can¡¯t just bring any monster you like, that¡¯s a point to keep in mind.¡±

    There was more info regarding the monsters ¡ª for all yers to safely participate, it seems a portion of the monsters¡¯ abilities would be decreased. Moreover, it looks like there will be areas where yers over a certain level will get a restriction on some abilities ¡ª looks to be dividing areas depending on yer level.

    ¡°Fighting in areas of your yer level sounds good. I¡¯ve leveled up quite a bit so I wonder if I¡¯ll get those restrictions.¡±

    ¡°If yers like Kanade, Mai and Yui get restricted, then most yers whoe to the 9th floor would be restricted as well.¡±

    The three of them possessedbat abilities unbefitting of their level which allowed them to fight but as Sally said, most yers in the 9th floor would have a much higher level.

    And so, if even they get restrictions on their abilities, only low level yers would be able to lead in these areas.

    On top of all this, it seems the monsters will be making an all-out attack on the opponent camp at a fixed interval as well.

    The general strategy would be to take that opportunity tounch a full on attack.

    ¡°It also says that the people of the city will participate in defense!¡±

    ¡°Ohh. If that¡¯s the case then defense will probably be pretty solid. The NPCs will use cannons or the like, right?¡±

    ¡°That said, we don¡¯t know how strong they¡¯ll be as the numbers aren¡¯t made public so we can¡¯t really fully rely on them either.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s true, I guess.¡±

    It¡¯s as Sally said. The NPCs are only meant to be supporting and so one can assume that that alone won¡¯t be enough for a perfect defense.

    ¡°The time period is 3 days in terms of elerated time. That, or until a yer touches the opponent¡¯s throne¡­¡±

    Maple nodded as she read that part. It would appear that an early conclusion was also possible. One could also aim for turning the tables with a single sessful attack as well.

    Moreover, in the case of no yers reaching the throne, the camp with the least casualties would win.

    It would probably be quite essential to strengthen the defense line to block out invasions. Strong enough to stop individually strong yers like Maple, Payne, Mii or Velvet when they try to force their way through.

    However, the next line strictly suppressed them from pulling off such an act.

    ¡°You¡¯re out if you die even once, eh¡­? That¡¯s quite strict.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how much a single person dropping out means, then. After all, it would mean that the enemy¡¯s forces would surely decrease.¡±

    If you are to drop out from a single death, it would prove hard to charge in. It would be crucial to stay alive in the frontlines where it¡¯s extremely easy to get hit.

    If you were to keep failing attacks, you would eventually be at a number disadvantage which would ultimately connect to a loss.

    Of course, despite that, the reversal of tides is surely possible through a sneak attack so one can¡¯t really let their guard down at any time.

    ¡°Ohh? There¡¯s something amazing written as well, have a look, everyone.¡±

    Hearing Chrome say that, Maple started scrolling through the message again. Before she could figure out which part it was, Sally started reading it out loud.

    ¡°Monsters within a certain range of yers will be considered as party members. Is this it?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the one. This, with Maple¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°In the range of ¡¯Self-offering Love¡¯¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    Everyone present there realized how strong that could be. Normally, her ability only applies to the party, but as its range expands, the number of yers who have the same defensive power as Maple will increase.

    And that would make holding a defensive line very easy. Moreover, the fact that Maple¡¯s skill is easy to recognize will be a big plus here. Even without any exnation, many yers know what will happen when Maple turns into an angel.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to make the most of it!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you do that. Or that¡¯s what I wanna say but¡­ we¡¯re talking about the event here but are we going to be in the same camp?¡±

    ¡°Now that you mention it, we didn¡¯t really decide that properly, huh?¡±

    ¡°Right~. I just figured we¡¯d be together.¡±

    ¡°Ms. Maple, what would you like to do?¡±

    ¡°I wanna¡­ ask you guys too.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­ the strategies and everything elsees after that.¡±

    ¡°I see, that¡¯s true. Hmm¡­ I would like to fight alongside you all.¡±

    Everyone nodded as if they knew Maple would say that. And with that, Maple Tree¡¯s course of action had been decided.

    ¡°Is that okay with you, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Me? ¡­Yeah. If it¡¯s okay with Maple, it¡¯s alright with me too.¡±

    ¡°Then the Maple Tree will be in the same camp!¡±

    Now that that¡¯s decided, they can start deciding more specifics about the event ¡ª such as the discussion of fighting together with The Aggregation of Holy Swords and which country they¡¯ll pick.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s decide on the details as well. Mai and Yui will probably be targeted a lot since they¡¯ll be easy to defeat but would prove a big threat as an enemy.¡±

    ¡°I-is that so?¡±

    ¡°Uuuu¡­ will it okay?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll just have to strengthen our defense that much. Our allied yers will also protect you guys, I think. After all, they did see you guys fighting equally with the raid boss during the previous event.

    The two were deemed to be ultimate fighting forces for both allies and enemies, that¡¯s for sure.

    There wasn¡¯t much time remaining till the event. And as always, Maple and the others focused on doing things they could as they prepared for the event.

 Chapter 407

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Insides of a Castle</strong>

    Now that the specifics of the event were published, the yers¡¯ activities had changed. Since there was a need to gather more info about the field and monsters now, more yers could be seen roaming around the area and in turn, the number of yers doing quests had decreased.

    As one would expect, since the event is time gated, preparation for it takes priority over quests which can be taken even after the event.

    Due to that, the number of yers walking around inside the city had also decreased. They had put off deciding on a country forter and were exploring less explored areas to gather more info for their respective guilds such that they do not miss out on anything.

    That said, Maple¡¯s objective hadn¡¯t changed sinceing to the 9th floor and so she had gone out for free exploration today as well.

    And that Maple had made her way to the royal castle today, unrted to her quests.

    ¡°I would have to defend or attack this ce so best to check it out beforehand!¡±

    Since there were no quests which required one to do something at the castle, the only time they would normally visit it would be at the beginning of the floor. And it is exactly as Maple understood it to be ¡ª the battleground for this event would cover the castle as well as the city. It is crucial to know which area leads to where, the narrow and wide spaces, as well as the alleyways and the deadends.

    Putting that aside, she also just purely wanted to walk around the castle.

    As the structure of the city and the castle were simr, it would be enough to just explore one of these.

    Maple was in the country of mes and wastnd where the castles had a dark underlying theme.

    ¡°So wide! You can probably get away with calling it a dungeon¡­¡±

    In fact, the royal castle was made with the event in mind ¡ª having many diverging hallways and stairs, making it just as easy to get lost as it is in dungeons. And at the very end of this lies the royal throne. One would definitely want to memorize the shortest routes when aiming for the throne as getting lost here would result in the enemy defense reinforcements catching up.

    As the route the soldier led her through was the shortest one, Maple had the soldier show her the route once again to record it before walking around the castle.

    ¡°I wonder what¡¯s here? Excuse me¡­¡±

    She went inside to discover that it was a kitchen where the NPCs wearing toques were cooking.

    ¡°I probably shouldn¡¯t enter here¡­?¡±

    That said, this is still just a game. The cooks didn¡¯t really pay any heed to Maple and continued cooking.

    Just when she was looking around the room, wondering if there was anything interesting there, a blue panel appeared in front of her.

    ¡°Wah?! Ummm¡­ Ohh, you can get recovery or status increasing food here if you give them ingredients.¡°

    It would seem the rooms with a purpose have an exnation to them which made it easier for Maple.

    She decided to go in and have something cooked for her. Another blue panel hovered at one corner of the kitchen. It seems one needs to use this one to get their food cooked.

    Maple chose some ingredients she had excess of and left the kitchen with the food.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see what we got.¡±

    She brought out the food she had just received from her inventory. It was a well grilled bone piece with meat.

    ¡°Ohhh! It¡¯s big!¡±

    Normally, it would raise all stats but for Maple it will only raise her VIT. That said, it was still a simple dish made just from monster meat.

    Maple put away the wild dish for the time being and looked forward to eating itter as she continued exploring the castle.

    ¡°The king here eats food like this, huh¡­ I mean, he¡¯s a dragon, after all.¡±

    She went about the castle wondering if there was something more and surprisingly ended up discovering quite a few things. Other than personal rooms, it had several workshops like the one Izu was using. On top of that, there were storehouses for ammunition and weapons as well as food warehouses.

    Among these, there was something that had been mentioned in the recent announcement as well.

    ¡°Ah! This is it! ¡®Mass of mana¡¯¡­ I wonder what it¡¯s made with¡­¡±

    There were soft blue balls stored there and they had the description saying ¡°Event limited item. Used to make use of certain monsters¡±.

    ¡°We can only hold ten at once so I should refill here if I am out!¡±

    Sally had also shared with them that there were several warehouses throughout the city where you can find these. And so, one doesn¡¯t really need toe all the way to the castle for a refill.

    Despite that, she did find out that they would have supplies to necessary items in the field, the town or even the castle, no matter how pushed back they would be.

    They might even be able to turn the tables on attackers during siege with yers like Izu and Marx who have abilities that can fortify an encampment greatly. That¡¯s how strong their defense can be.

    If they fill up their inventory beforehand, they could easily avoid running out of items in the short period of 3 days.

    That said, it¡¯s not like Maple herself thought this far. She would only report what she found during her exploration to the other guild members.

    If she just provides info, yers like Sally who are much more ustomed to the game can adjust ande up with strategies.

    ¡°I wonder what else is there~.¡±

    As Maple opened another big door and peeked inside, she found huge bookshelves packed with books which extended to the very end of the room. There were also stairs on the side which led to the 2nd floor.

    ¡°Wah¡­ I wonder if Kanade could read all of this.¡±

    It would easily take Maple years to even just skim over all these books.

    Putting that aside, the library itself was quite big. The bookshelves were much taller than Maple and there were a huge number of them on both floors.

    Normally, Maple would just take a look inside and head back. However, on the 8th floor, when Kanade was teaching her thenguage, he told her to look at libraries if she gets the chance so Maple decided to go and look inside.

    ¡°I wonder if they have anything interesting.¡±

    A number of aisles were made with bookshelves tall enough to be walls and they extended to the very back. Maple started walking through the aisle, ncing left and right but all the books she saw were thick and looked hard to read.

    ¡°Even reading one would take quite a while¡­¡±

    It all looked the same to Maple as there were no clear differences between the book covers. As she kept advancing through the aisle, she came in contact and crossed through something which touched her body.

    ¡°?¡±

    Maple felt like something got in her face so she tried wiping it off but there was nothing there. Even when she turned around to see what she had just touched, there was nothing to be seen other than the bookshelves she just crossed.

    ¡°Am I imagining things?¡±

    So she thought but she had definitely felt something. Despite that, there was no clear evidence of it in her surroundings so she came to the conclusion that she probably imagined it.

    ¡°Guess I¡¯ll just return after looking at the back! Hmm?¡±

    When she turned to face forward again, there was a staircase leading down just in front of her.

    As there were no decorations around the staircase, one couldn¡¯t really spot it from afar.

    ¡°It¡¯s 3 floors?! Mmm, it really is huge¡­ I must bring Kanade along next time!¡±

    Maple started going down the stairs and decided she would also explore the third floor after she¡¯s done with this.

 Chapter 408

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Symbiosis 408</strong>

    Maple went down the stairs and realized the ambiance down the stairs were very different from the floor above as the stairs were made of stone and weren¡¯t illuminated.

    ¡°I better be careful not to fall¡­ Umm, let¡¯s see, I should prepare a light source¡­¡±

    Maple brought out the light that she had Izu made and turned it on. This light was quite convenient as well ¡ª it was shaped like a ball and would float and follow the user around, lighting up their surroundings. Unlikenterns, one doesn¡¯t need to carry it around and Maple was honestly pretty happy about it.

    The walls around the staircase were also made with simr unrefined stone like the stairs. If one were to suddenly be thrown into a ce like this, they would definitely mistake it for a dungeon.

    However, since it is actually inside the royal castle, it seems monsters wouldn¡¯t being out here. Only Maple¡¯s footsteps resounded in the darkness as she made her way down.

    After going down those stairs for a while, she spotted a door at the end.

    ¡°I wonder if there¡¯s nothing else?¡±

    She checked her surroundings before opening the door but there was no other path or anything of importance. Thinking that the only way forward is the door, Maple grasped the door knob. She slowly turned the knob and the door opened along with it.

    It seemed like people hadn¡¯t entered this area in quite a long time as dust fluttered everywhere when she opened the door.

    ¡°Is this ce not used anymore or something?¡±

    Just like the floor above, it looked like this floor had also been part of the library before as there were bookshelves and a few books left in them.

    She decided to take a quick look around the ce before heading back.

    ¡°Is there even anything here¡­ Hmm, just weird books.¡±

    The shelves were more or less empty and the covers of the books left could be seen easily. These books felt oddly real and she sometimes even felt like they had a pulse. That said, they didn¡¯t really look too well as they had red-brownish stains and so none of them really caught Maple¡¯s attention.

    ¡°¡±The floor above had prettier books so if I really were to read one, I guess I¡¯ll pick from there.¡±

    As many of these books didn¡¯t even have a title and she didn¡¯t know what they were about, she had even more reason not to touch them.

    Just when Maple was about to head back after going through the room, a sound other than her footsteps resounded in the room.

    And it came from behind her ¡ª just beside her ears, to be exact.

    ¡°¡­Hey,e over here.¡±

    ¡°Wah?! Wh-who is it?!¡±

    Maple panickedly turned around after hearing a hoarse man¡¯s voice but there was nothing there. It felt to her as if they were standing right behind her. And even if they were faster than Sally, they shouldn¡¯t be able to disappear from her sight altogether that quick.

    As she didn¡¯t feel any familiarity with the voice, it was probably not a prank by anyone she knew. However, even after looking around the room again, she couldn¡¯t spot anything abnormal.

    That said, she was sure that she hadn¡¯t misheard it and so she decided to walk around the room to determine the source of the voice.

    ¡°Here, here.¡±

    ¡°Wah! Again¡­!¡±

    While she was certainly taken aback by the sudden voice, she decided to follow it for the time being as it didn¡¯t do any harm.

    She found a rack there, about as tall as her chest. A single book wasid on top of the rack and it was sealed with bandages which had red letters on them, as if to stop people from reading it.

    ¡°All you have to do is open it.¡±

    ¡°This? ¡­Ahh, there it goes again, disappearing after saying stuff one-sidedly.¡±

    As there was no reply to her question, she had no choice but to do as it said.

    ¡°Do I just undo this knot?¡±

    As Maple removed the cloth covering the book, intense wind came rushing out of the book and a red effect simr to a magic circle filled the room.

    Realizing that something bad was about to happen, Maple quickly crawled on the floor and closed the book shut and covered it with the cloth again.

    The intense wind suddenly disappeared, returning the room back to silence and indicating her actions were correct.

    ¡°That caught me off guard¡­ what in the world was that?¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the help. I will be borrowing your mana for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Waaawah, who is it, for real?!¡±

    She quickly looked around her again but as expected, there was nobody there other than herself.

    While Maple was troubled with the whole one-sided conversation, the door behind her was mmed open.

    ¡°Waah?! ¡­T-the king?¡±

    And there she was, the dragonkin king of the country, whom she had met at the throne room at first.

    She walked up close to Maple and stared at her.

    ¡°You ¡ª how did you get in here?¡±

    ¡°Umm, by using the stairs¡­¡±

    ¡°Did the one here think you¡¯re its ally and lure you in¡­ hmm?¡±

    The king pinched Maple¡¯s cheeks and pulled on them.

    ¡°Wh-whachu doin¡¯?!¡±

    ¡°For the forbidden book to treat you as its ally¡­ Are you really human? Will something weirde out of you if I tear you open?¡±

    Just as the king released her, Maple panickedly took a few steps back.

    ¡°No, it won¡¯t!¡±

    In reality, it wouldn¡¯t be weird if something weird dide out of her ¡ª something even more monstrous than your usual monster ¡ª but nevertheless, she did still ssify as a human.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine but you¡¯ll be consumed alive if you try to live along with that thing. Think of it as a punishment for entering without permission.¡±

    Saying that, the king joined her hands in front of her chest before slowly separating them ¡ª and upon doing so, red-ck light began appearing and before long, a mirror manifested in the air, which was big enough to reflect Maple¡¯s whole body.

    She instructed her to look at it and so Maple got closer and was shocked to see what it reflected.

    ¡°Wh-what is this¡ª?!¡±

    ¡°Good luck on doing something before that thing consumes you whole!¡±

    As if she had worn face paint, half of Maple¡¯s face was covered in a pitch-ck pattern. And of course, she was unable to rub it off. It also looked as if it was decaying her body like worms do.

    Paying no heed to the perplexed Maple, a quest forciblymenced.

    ¡°¡¯The Taboo¡¯s Lord is¡¯¡­ Uhhh, I¡¯ve never heard of this¡­¡±

    As the quest name didn¡¯t pop up in her conversation with Sally or Mii, Maple had no idea on what to do next.

    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to use magic properly like that! I¡¯ll pick up your bones at least, after you die. It would be troublesome to have it scattered around the ce.¡±

    ¡°Eehhh!?¡±

    And so, Maple checked her skills only to find that all of them were unusable, including her equipment. Her prized defensive skills were still active as they are passive skills but she was nothing but a weird tough ornament like this.

    Judging from the king¡¯s wording, she wouldn¡¯t be freed from this state unless shepletes the quest. But that¡¯s just very troublesome as there¡¯s also an event going on.

    ¡°I better hurry!¡±

    Maple rushed out the royal castle toplete the quest.

    835: Nameless Longsword User

    Hey! That girl is going delinquent, you know?!

    836: Nameless archer

    That¡¯s probably just fashion these days.

    837: Nameless Spear User

    Who?

    838: Nameless Longsword User

    Maple

    839: Nameless Spear User

    Ahh¡­.

    840: Nameless Wizard

    Did she really? While she did look like that, she didn¡¯t really feel different, did she?

    841: Nameless Longsword User

    I saw her in the town and half of her face had like a ck smudge

    842: Nameless Spear User

    Is it a side-effect from a skill?

    There¡¯s a lot thates to mind¡­

    843: Nameless archer

    It could just be fashion, you know!

    844: Nameless Wizard

    She can be a bit off sometimes but I feel like this is in apletely different direction

    845: Namelessrge shield user

    Ooohh, did she do it?

    846: Nameless Spear User

    Guardian¡ª

    This is what happens when you don¡¯t keep an eye on them

    847: Namelessrge shield user

    We were talking about it

    That it¡¯d be best to have her act indepently

    848: Nameless archer

    I request a change in the schooling policy!

    Please!!

    849: Nameless Spear User

    Ahh, she has strayed off

    it is your fault

    850: Namelessrge shield user

    Isn¡¯t it wonderful?

    851: Nameless Wizard

    What are you, a mad scientist?

    852: Namelessrge shield user

    I didn¡¯t really hear what it is so there¡¯s a chance it¡¯s really just fashion

    853: Nameless Spear User

    I mean, sure, there¡¯s that possibility

    They sell face paint in a lotta shops too

    854: Namelessrge shield user

    But it doesn¡¯t feel like that from what I¡¯ve heard, to be honest

    I mean, even if she did apply face paint, it would be more of the¡­ cute kind, you know?

    855: Nameless Spear User

    There we have it

    Ahh she really strayed off the path

    It¡¯s your fault!

    856: Nameless Longsword User

    Don¡¯t make the cute girl go around traveling like that!

    857: Nameless archer

    That said, I¡¯ve never seen a skill that changes one¡¯s appearance forever so there¡¯s a chance it¡¯s not a skill

    858: Namelessrge shield user

    The event is closing in so you¡¯ll have to experience the results in person

    859: Nameless Longsword User

    At least keep an eye on her

    860: Nameless Wizard

    I don¡¯t have good memories of things associated with ck

    861: Nameless Spear User

    Getting stronger just by letting loose is sure easy, huh

    862: Nameless Archer

    That said, the range of skills that Maple can adapt to is actually narrow, so even a good skill might end up failing

    863: Nameless Wizard

    It wouldn¡¯t do much good if it just raises the status percentage, after all

    864: Nameless Longsword User

    We aaaaaaalways say that

    865: Nameless Wizard

    Please forgive me

    866: Nameless Archer

    Everyone! Same faction! Let¡¯s go!

    There is nothing to worry about if you are an ally. In addition, the buffs apply to a wider range of events, so if the skills you get have a buff effect then that¡¯s even better.

    Thus, with renewed resolve, the members of the bulletin board brought this information back to their respective guilds.

 Chapter 409

    Itai no wa Iya 409

    Defense Specialization and Symbiosis 2

    While she was being feared in such a way, Maple herself was frantically headed towards Izu.

    Obviously, the quest that was started by force was rted to something that was sealed in that book that entered her body, and the negative effects from that something was too strong.

    As her MP was being absorbed from within her body, it constantly remained at 0 without recovering, and any skills that were used through dering the skill names, as well as ones attached to equipment were now impossible to use.

    Like this, the tamed monster that was called out through triggering the Awakening skill would note out.

    At the current time, the only attack skill that Maple had that activated automatically while not being affected was Bizarre Eater. But in general, there were no attack skills whose effect activated without a deration.

    ¡°Ms. Izu!¡±

    As she flew into the guild home and called Izu¡¯s name, Izu, who was in her workshop as always, came out to see what had happened.

    ¡°What is it? ¡­Oh, that face¡­¡±

    About half of Maple¡¯s face had turned ck, and it was clear that something had happened to her. Izu recognized it immediately and asked her what should be done.

    ¡°Since you came to see me, is it rted to an item? I could give you a lot of things that remove status effects.¡±

    As Izu was able to craft them at a faster speed than they could be consumed during battle or through transactions with other yers, she had plenty of consumables stocked up in her inventory.

    ¡°I should be fine without them, but¡­ Uh, could you take a look at this?¡±

    Maple said as she showed Izu her current epted quest and the amount of progress she had made.

    ¡°Consumes equipment¡­ I¡¯ve never seen this quest before. Is it different from the quests where you have to deliver them somewhere?¡±

    ¡°There is a part here where the frame is a different color, and I think you¡¯re supposed to put them there.¡±

    Maple opened her inventory and showed the part that she was talking about to Izu. As she exined, there was a ck frame near the bottom of her inventory, and by putting items inside, the amount of progress you made would increase, or that¡¯s what she guessed based on the quest description.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll try giving you something. I have plenty of stuff that I don¡¯t use.¡±

    Izu had a great quantity of equipment that she made stored in her inventory. Things that she was not satisfied with in terms of design, or things that she made a long time ago, and were no longer used because they did not perform at the level that was needed at the front lines these days. There were also things she bought from stores as references, and also things she had been given.

    And so Maple put the equipment from Izu into the designated part of her inventory, and then a window popped up and asked if she would absorb them.

    ¡°Absorb¡­¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s fine to choose ¡®yes¡¯?¡±

    And so Maple tapped the panel and then the equipment she got from Izu disappeared from her inventorypletely. And instead, the quest progression rose a little.

    ¡°It seems like we weren¡¯t wrong about it, but¡­ It¡¯s only moved maybe 1%?¡±

    Under the quest name, there was a yellow bar to make it visually easier to see your progress, but it had moved so slightly that it almost seemed like a mistake.

    ¡°Perhaps it will move more if you use better equipment?¡±

    Izu then started to take out equipment from her inventory so that Maple could test them.

    And her guess turned out to be correct, as high-quality equipment with skills, or equipment that had been strengthened with the cksmith skill made the progress bar move more than before.

    ¡°Well, it absorbs them after all. So of course it would want to absorb something that is better.¡±

    And so Izu looked through her inventory for the next piece of good equipment to use.

    ¡°But¡­are you sure about this? After all, you¡¯ll lose them¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. This is all stuff that I wouldn¡¯t have used anyway. Besides, surely it will be too much for you to do all alone, Maple?¡±

    Judging by how things were going, who knew how much store-bought equipment she would need to use?

    And so there would be nothing more reassuring than Isu¡¯s cooperation.

    ¡°I wanted to go to the dungeons to search for equipment, but the trouble is that I can¡¯t use MP or skills. Only my defense ability was fine.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Then we must solve this issue quickly. But even if that wasn¡¯t the case, I intended to help you until the end.¡±

    ¡°You did?¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. Because I think you¡¯ll end up with at least one new skill before the event. And it helps me when you get stronger, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    This unknown skill that Maple had the possibility of acquiring was worth more than a hundred pieces of equipment in Izu¡¯s inventory. So instead of letting them rot without being used, it was more important to add another skill to their ultimate weapon.

    ¡°Since that¡¯s how things are, you can take as many as you need!¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    And so she continued to absorb the equipment that Izu took out from her inventory.

    ¡°But, while it said that it¡¯s absorbing it, where does it get absorbed?¡±

    ¡°I think that some strange person is inside of my body¡­and they are eating it!¡±

    ¡°Are-are you alright?¡±

    If Maple was right in her expression, and there was something that was eating it, then it had an even stranger diet than Maple, who ate monsters.

    ¡°And while you say that there is someone inside of you, are you fine outside of not being able to use your skills?¡±

    ¡°Everything else seems to be fine!¡±

    When she thought about it, this notion that something mysterious was inside of her was rather horrifying, but Maple didn¡¯t seem to mind as much as Izu thought she would.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine then. So we can continue to make it absorb things until the quest ispleted.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    If they wanted to end it, it was best to do it now instead of drawing it out. Their strategy during the event would be affected by what she acquired from it. And if it was a skill, then Maple would need some time to learn how to use it, and so they wanted to secure that extra time for her.

    Because of this, Izu and Maple were determined to finish the quest right here and now while they still had time.

    True to her word, Izu continued to take out powerful equipment from her inventory. While there was no one to use them, they were still much better than what was sold in stores.

    However, whatever it was that was inside of Maple, ate anything they gave to it, and in the end, it swallowed up more than a hundred pieces of equipment. Still, it was not endless, and the progression bar was now nearing 100%.

    ¡°You really needed a huge quantity. I was shocked.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, you always give me materials. We help each other when in trouble.¡±

    After Maple had absorbed thest piece of equipment, the questpletion notice popped up, and a new quest was disyed.

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    ¡°So it still continues.¡±

    The two checked to see what the quest was about now, and saw that you had to defeat monsters while solo, which would be very difficult for Maple in her current state.

    ¡°If it¡¯s solo,, then I won¡¯t be able to go with you or help you¡­¡±

    While the first quest was meant to take a long time toplete, thanks to Izu, she had been able to finish it at a great speed. As for this quest, it would not be that difficult for the average yer, but Maple was different.

    Maple¡¯s body did not allow her to do basicbat, such as swinging a weapon and dealing damage.

    It would be one thing if they were monsters with no defense ability, like the ones on the firstyer, but against the 9thyer monsters, which had enhanced basic ability and minimum defense ability, she would not be able to damage them at all even if she swung her short sword a hundred times.

    ¡°I can¡¯t call Syrup¡­ And I can¡¯t use Savagery¡­¡±

    ¡°It was quite abnormal that you were able to attack at all up until now, but it is troublesome when things are like this.¡±

    While there had been previous cases where skills were sealed, they had never heard of anything happening on this scale. Izu had also heard of areas that sealed magic, much to the distress of magic users, but it was much worse when it was skills that were affected.

    ¡°In any case, I¡¯ll give you some items. Don¡¯t worry! Even I use these to fight all of the time!¡±

    So saying, Izu then handed her some bombs that she crafted, as well as various attack items from her inventory.

    All of the items had incredible power, so that one might start wondering if Izu was a damage dealer.

    With these, she would be able to defeat enemies even without attack power. Of course,pared to Izu, who could increase the effects with item scaling, they would be slightly less effective when Maple used them, but that problem was solved due to Maple¡¯s high defense ability, which allowed her more time to use as many items as possible.

    ¡°Hehe. This is how much I am expecting a good skill! Besides, I think this quest will continue for a while.¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll finish it before the event!¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the spirit!¡±

    Lastly, Izu told her toe back to replenish her items if she ran out, and then she watched as Maple flew out of the guild home.

    After leaving the town, Maple walked through the field. As she could not ride on Syrup or use Savagery, it would take her a long time to get anywhere, but this could not be helped. Like this, Maple headed towards a nd where numerous monsters lived. Here, there were several areas that were particrly dense with monsters, which made it a favorite of yers who wanted to level up.

    ording to Sally¡¯s research, there were no monsters that were especially strong, as most of them were animal-types that were swift. And there were none that had defense piercing attacks.

    No defense-piercing attacks. This was incredibly important for Maple. Currently, she could not even use Pierce Guard, and had no skills that would allow a counter attack, and so she could not fight against anything that would ignore her strength, which was high defense ability.

    Of course, since there were other yers using this area to level up, when Maple walked past them, they reacted in different ways, such as noting how unusual it was to see Maple walking, or saying she was in her humanoid mode now. However, when these yers finally noticed the change that hade over her, they were shocked.

    ¡°There¡¯s something on her face¡­see.¡±

    ¡°Up until now, her eyes or hair sometimes changed color, but that¡­ What is that curse-like thing?¡±

    At a nce, it looked like something very bad indeed. And so the yers watched as if they expected something to happen. However, none of the horrible things that they imagined ured, and after a while, Maple took her spot in a corner that was secluded from the other yers, and there, she quietly opened up her inventory.

    ¡°This and this¡­¡±

    First, Maple took out a small vial of pink liquid, and then she opened it and scattered the contents around her.

    And then the monsters that were nearby immediately went into an aggressive stance and started to attack Maple.

    ¡°Woah! It¡¯s so effective!¡±

    This was an item that Izu made, and it attracted any monsters that were in the area. Just like during the 8th event, if it was too much trouble to approach monsters yourself, then it was best to have theme towards you. Because there were a lot ofrge bear and wolf-type monsters, she would not be able to stand, and was knocked onto the ground whenever they pounced on her. However, since they had no piercing attacks, she did not take any damage.

    ¡°Also, this one!¡±

    After being mobbed, thest item that Maple took out was arge pot.

    Since there were monsters running around wildly, such a thing would be shattered immediately. However, that was her aim.

    By having it shatter, the liquid inside was scattered extravagantly.

    The slippery substance was a kind of oil that raised the effects of items.

    Now that she was ready, Maple crushed the two crystals she had been holding in both hands, and activated them.

    The mes in her left hand and the thunder in her right hand exploded, and the mes burned through the oil and spread out all at once. The thunder shot out around her like a spider¡¯s web.

    The monsters that were lured towards her took damage from it, but they continued to try to defeat Maple. But all she had to do was wait, and so shey on the ground in a rxed position.

    The yers who were watching from far away were not able to see that Maple had used items to create fire and thunder, and so they buzzed with excitement.

    ¡°Hey, she did something!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nasty¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just as horrifying as the poison¡­¡±

    As none of the yers could urately understand what Maple was doing, they tied it in with the phenomenon of the ckened face, and so it was recognized as some kind of new skill.

    Since this was Maple, everyone thought that it would not be strange for her to have acquired a new skill. That and the fact that the area was rted to fire and thunder, and that it was a time when people were more sensitive to the skills of others, encouraged this train of thought.

    ¡°But it doesn¡¯t seem to be that powerful¡­?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps there is an added effect.¡±

    In fact, they were just normal items, and Maple herself did not know if she would use them in future battles. However, even if it didn¡¯t result in a painful and undodgeable counter attack once you stepped inside, what made the biggest impression was that it would be a way for Maple to protect herself from piercing attacks.

    After that, Maple continued to roll around on the ground and let the power of the items burn away the monsters. In this state, one part of the nds was constantly burning, and while the mes blocked the view, some yers heard that it was Maple, and after observing her, they went on their way while carrying this information.

    But Maple remainedpletely oblivious to this, and just waited for the quest to bepleted.

    ¡°Hmm. I really have no choice but to do it like this.¡±

    She would asionally toss some bombs into the mix in order to raise the number of kills. As long as her only method of attack was items, it was difficult to increase the damage output, and so in general, she just had to wait there leisurely. Still, the strength of Izu¡¯s crafted items greatly reduced the amount of time it would have taken Maple to aplish it by herself.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do a little bit more today!¡±

    As Izu had said before, she wanted to finish the quest before the event. However, it was also unknown how much more there was to do. But if she could hurry, then it was best to do so.

    While Maple was defeating monsters by herself, as if switching ces with her, Chrome and Kasumi entered the guild house.

    ¡°Oh, Izu. Are you taking a break from crafting today?¡±

    ¡°Chrome. I was just talking with Maple a moment ago.¡±

    ¡°With Maple? Oh, I¡¯ve been hearing some rumors about her. Was Maple wearing some kind of face paint when you saw her?¡±

    ¡°Ah, so you already know? That¡¯s what she came to talk to me about.¡±

    ¡°Did something happen? I haven¡¯t heard those details yet.¡±

    ¡°Skill or equipment¡­ I wasn¡¯t able to predict what she would acquire in the end¡­but she turned like that because she epted a quest with multiple stages.¡±

    ¡°Ohh! So that¡¯s why! She really does live up to our expectations!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a strange way to put it, but¡­she really does seem to find such things.¡±

    ¡°But this one seems quite difficult. ording to what I heard from Maple, something got inside of her body, and she can no longer use any skills outside of the passive ones.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ Is it like a curse? That sounds pretty bad.¡±

    ¡°And with Maple¡¯s status, she probably can¡¯t do anything. That¡¯s a terrible restriction for those that put a lot of weight into skills.¡±

    ¡°Well, I helped her, and so the first step is finished.¡±

    ¡°Oh. So it wasn¡¯tbat then.¡±

    ¡°Yes. It was simr to a quest where you just deliver items. The being inside of her body ate a hundred pieces of equipment as if absorbing them. Not only that, but it differentiated between strong and weak equipment. It was quite a picky eater.¡±

    ¡°A hundred, eh? In that case, we should be able to expect a good reward.¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s easy to forget, because Izu can produce so many items, but that would require quite a lot of resources. So, did she then go onto the next step?¡±

    ¡°The next one was a solo monster hunt, so I just handed her some items. After all, she lost her methods of attack.¡±

    ¡°And we can¡¯t help her if it¡¯s solo¡­ In that case, what about gathering materials for the items?¡±

    ¡°That would be helpful. Judging by how things are going, we will probably need a lot. And the event ising right up, so I want to make sure that we won¡¯t run out.¡±

    ¡°In that case, I will help with that. And I¡¯ll tell Maple that she can rely on me if something happens.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. So, can I count on you then?¡±

    ¡°Yes! If Maple gets one more thing to strengthen her, we¡¯ll have a rock solid foundation!¡±

    ¡°And things are going well with learning the map. So the biggest priority now is for Maple to finish the quest.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll exin the current situation to the other four as well. Everyone has their own strength, and it would be best to rely on the right person.¡±

    If they knew of the situation beforehand, it would be easier to move. And now that Maple was being forced to fight solo, it was time to send such messages to the others.

    Finally, as had been their aim, Maple had seeded in finding something, and so it was time to back her up with everything they had.

    ¡°Then I will go at once.¡±

    ¡°Let me go as well. It will be more efficient if we ride on Haku.¡±

    ¡°Good luck. I don¡¯t care about the type, but just gather anything that you can find. No matter what it is, it can be turned into money and converated.¡±

    ¡°You have a skill that can do that, right¡­? Okay. I¡¯ll gather what I can.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    And like that, the two went out into the field in order to help Izu and Maple.

 Chapter 410

    Itai no wa Iya 410

    Defense Specialization and Symbiosis 3

    For the next few days after that, Maple would log into the game, and spend her time in a corner of the nds and create zing fires. But even this was nearing its end.

    Izu would replenish her items, and sometimes Kasumi, Sally, Mai, and Yui would help with transportation as she continued to destroy monsters with items alone. And step by step, she had made steady progress with the quest.

    ¡°Alright! I¡¯m done!¡±

    After Maple had blown up thest monster with a bomb, a window popped up and showed her that the quest had beenpleted.

    ¡°Phew¡­ That took a lot of time¡­¡±

    It really was ridiculous for a yer who usually didn¡¯t use many items to suddenly make them their main weapon. The reason she was able to aplish it at all was because of her defense ability, which did not allow the enemy to attack her, while allowing her to continue fighting until she ran out of items.

    ¡°Is it finished now?¡±

    Maple checked the quest, but unfortunately, it continued from there.

    ¡°Hmph¡­ Uhhh, item gathering, huh.¡±

    There was a row of various items. However, there was quite a discrepancy when it came to difficulty in acquiring them. Some were things like meat from monsters that are found on the 1styer, while others were wings from a dragon or other high-ranking monsters. Furthermore, there were even things like demon hearts, which she had no idea how she was supposed to acquire.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask the others.¡±

    The other members of Maple Tree had fought all kinds of monsters. And rare items tended to leave an impression, so perhaps they might remember finding some of them.

    And so Maple sent a message to the other guild members, and then decided to head back to the guild home.

    Because she was rather far away from the town, and due to not being able to travel any way but on foot, by the time that Maple arrived at the guild home, everyone else was already there.

    ¡°Sorry that I¡¯mte!¡±

    ¡°Have you moved to the next stage of the quest then?¡±

    ¡°Yes! And now it¡¯s telling me to gather all kinds of items!¡±

    ¡°Item gathering¡­ Should I show them as a list?¡±

    ¡°That will make it easier to see!¡±

    And so Sally checked Maple¡¯s quest and then made it so that it appeared on the great guild monitor so that the others could see it.

    ¡°I see¡­ Quite a few of them look familiar. Though, Maple probably already has those ones.¡±

    ¡°Maybe we should mark the ones that we all know about?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Hmm. I doubt I will be very useful here. I don¡¯t have anything rare¡­¡±

    ¡°Me and my sister have the same kinds of things.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Since we¡¯re always exploring together.¡±

    Like this, they all checked their inventory, and took out anything that they had that was on the list.

    All eight of them had explored many areas up until the 9thyer. And so most of the items could be found in someone¡¯s inventory.

    ¡°As for the demon heart¡­ No one has that.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I guess we¡¯ll just have to find a monster that seems likely.¡±

    ¡°Ah! I have it! ¡­But from when?¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s from when you got Savagery, a long time ago? That thing that looked like a fake Maple during the 8th event.¡±

    ¡°You might be right!¡±

    ¡°So you have it after all¡­¡±

    ¡°Maple probably has more strange items than anyone. I only have things that are dropped on normal fields.¡±

    ¡°We must have been able to gather quite a lot, then?¡±

    ¡°Uhh, there are only a few left!¡±

    It seemed that the focus was on finding rather than gathering, and even with the items that they didn¡¯t have, it was clear to them where they could be acquired. And they also knew the reasons that they didn¡¯t have them, which were things like a low drop-rate, or that they were in areas that weren¡¯t worth going to if you cared about getting experience points.

    ¡°Then we should split up and gather them. After all, there was no rule that Maple has to do it by herself.¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    It would be more efficient to split up and gather them if they could. Because there were ces with low drop-rates, where you would have to defeat numerous enemies, and that would be a great waste of time for Maple in her current state.

    Like this, they decided to split up for the item gathering, and everyone went to the location that best suited them.

 Chapter 411

    Itai no wa Iya 411

    Defense Specialization and Item Gathering

    Maple Tree had decided to split up into multiple teams and gather the materials. And the three who headed to the 9thyer were Sally, Kasumi, and Maple.

    Now that Maple was not able to use Dedicated Affection, she would not be able to demonstrate the usual strength that she had when teamed up with Mai and Yui. With this considered, if she wanted a source of damage, then there was no other way but to borrow the help of Sally and Kasumi.

    They were capable of fighting alone, and had powerful attacks on top of high AGI, and they could run and stay close to Maple, which made them a perfect fit. On top of that, they also had methods of transportation, so they were able to make up for several of the strengths that Maple lost.

    Currently, the three were riding on Haku, who had turned into a giant snake through Super Erge, and making their way through the field.

    ¡°It will be fine as long as you maintain a distance, just like we nned, Maple.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll rely on you if anything happens.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    As she could not use Provoke, it would be difficult to attract an enemy¡¯s attention. And it was not realistic for her to use her only attack method, Bizzare Eater, to hit them.

    And so Maple¡¯s role on the field this time would be to move around and shield them, like a rolling, indestructible boulder.

    If the enemy were to target the two behind her, then maybe Bizarre Eater could be used effectively.

    Like this, the three continued to travel for some time until they reached the cave, which was a wide opening in the mountain¡¯s surface. It was not particrly hidden, and seemed very much like an ordinary dungeon.

    ¡°Sally. Is this the right ce?¡±

    ¡°It is.¡±

    ¡°Okay, Haku.¡±

    Kasumi let the other two down on the ground and then returned Haku to his original size. After all, he could not enter the cave if he was that size.

    ¡°Judging by the look of this ce, Haku probably won¡¯t be able to fight outside of the boss room.¡±

    Haku¡¯s abilities revolved around Super Erge, and so he did not have much power when he was in the form of a small white snake. Because of this, he was not suited for fighting in narrow spaces.

    ¡°I doubt we¡¯ll have any trouble outside of the boss battle, so if anything, there isn¡¯t really a problem if that¡¯s the only time he can be big.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is true.¡±

    ¡°Will there be any unusual monsters here?¡±

    ¡°None that are especially rare. It¡¯s like a nest of strengthened goblins. You do know¡­about goblins?¡±

    ¡°Yes! ¡­Strengthened?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The monsters within the dungeon have attack power and speed buffs.¡±

    ¡°Huh. So it doesn¡¯t matter where we are!¡±

    ¡°Yes. I think that because the buff is quite powerful, the number of monsters that spawn is quite limited.¡±

    But while their attack ability was enhanced, there were no changes to their defense ability. And since goblins did not have particrly high endurance to begin with, they could predict that the battles would be short.

    ¡°It would probably be best to save Bizarre Eater for the boss. You can leave everything to us until then.¡±

    After all, that was the reason the two were there in the first ce. And so in order to save Bizarre Eater, just as Kasumi said, Maple removed her great shield and put it into her inventory, and then switched to her great white shield. this way, she wouldn¡¯t use it by ident.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go inside then!¡±

    ¡°What about our formation?¡±

    ¡°We should have Maple in the lead, just in case. After all, the enemy will have high attack ability.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    Even if she couldn¡¯t use any skills, with Maple in the lead, they could avoid a situation where they were suddenly attacked and they were put into a disadvantageous position.

    Furthermore, as it was impossible for Maple to match their normal moving speed, it was best to let Maple walk, and for the two others to match her pace. Like this, the three entered the dungeon with Maple in the lead. And then, they heard a faint sound echoing from the back.

    ¡°¡­Is that a drum?¡±

    ¡°It sounds like it.¡±

    ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s the music that buffs the monsters. And the effect bes stronger the closer you are to the boss room.¡±

    ¡°I see. So the difficulty level will rise.¡±

    It was made so that the strongest were in the back, at the boss room. This allowed you to get used to the enemies by order of strength, making it easy to decide when to retreat, so things would be more manageable.

    ¡°It should be a lot easier than those hidden dungeons you sometimes find. There won¡¯t be any situations where we¡¯re suddenly trapped in.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes! It¡¯s terrible when you suddenly don¡¯t have a way to get back!¡±

    Up until now, Maple had been dragged into many dungeons that didn¡¯t allow you to turn back. Sometimes, she even jumped into them herself, and so she knew first-hand how difficult it was.

    ¡°Though, I don¡¯t think that that is something many experience¡­¡±

    They talked as they continued to go deeper, and then a clearing appeared up ahead. There were also a number of giant goblins withrge swords covered in blood, as well as smaller goblins with bowguns. And behind them, there was a single goblin who wore a crown and was giving them orders.

    It seemed like they were reinforcing the walls of the dungeon, as it looked like they were doing something to the wooden wall after hearing the orders.

    Apparently, the passage was outside of their range, and so they did not jump out or attack. However, there was only one path that led straight out near the back of the room, and so they would have to go through if they wanted to continue.

    ¡°What do you think, Sally?¡±

    ¡°From what I understand about the situation, they shouldn¡¯t have any special attacks. But the bowguns have some strange power that allows them to shoot in rapid session without reloading, and they alsoe down like rain, so everyone but Maple should be careful.

    As for the ones with swords, they obviously have high attack ability, and dangerous sweeping attacks. That leader gives them orders and raises their speed and attack power. Also, try to avoid going close to the walls, because spears will shoot out.¡±

    ¡°Ohhh!¡±

    ¡°I see. As long as we know that, we should be able to get through it with an advantage.¡±

    ¡°Well, I thought that during the event, we might have to escape into some dungeons. Besides, if Maple is with us, we can hold just about any ce. And the monsters will protect us from invaders.¡±

    ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll be careful to not get close to the walls!¡±

    ¡°Do that. Also, it¡¯s hard to get a sense of their speed just by what you¡¯ve heard. So you should expect them to be faster than typical goblins.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±

    Knowing about your opponent was a great weapon. If there was nothing unexpected, then the chances of defeat were greatly reduced.

    ¡°Arm of the Warrior!¡±

    Kasumi used the skill, and now that they were fully prepared, the three stepped into the room. And then, the goblins seemed to notice them, as they immediately went into a fighting stance.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    As if to prove that the person who makes the first move always wins, Sally rushed towards the bowgun goblins, and Kasumi rushed towards the ones with the greatswords. Upon seeing this, the enemy used its superior range to unleash a rain of bolts shot towards Sally.

    As the effects burst, two bolts shot from each goblin with rapid session and tremendous speed.

    ¡°Hyah!¡±

    As she read their trajectory and twisted her body, her two daggers mmed the bolts out of the air.

    But just as Sally continued to move forward and was about to sh one of the goblins, the leader¡¯s voice boomed from the back, and the goblins were enveloped in a red light.

    This caused the goblin to elerate all at once, allowing it to catch up with Sally¡¯s speed and step back and out of her range.

    ¡°Leap!¡±

    Upon seeing this, Sally used a skill to close the gap once again, but her daggers were too short.

    However, just as the de of the swung dagger glimmered in the air, a raging damage effect burst from the goblin¡¯s throat.

    She had transformed her dagger into a longsword, which made up for the distance shecked at the very end.

    After all, there was no rule that said that you could not mix and use two of the unique series at the same time. If anything, it was normal to carry one extra dagger if you were a dual-wielder. If she used Camouge, then she could change the appearance at will, and so no one aside from her would notice that she had chosen from two types of the unique series that she wanted. In fact, aside from the dagger that had suddenly be a longsword, everything else also had the same appearance as her usual blue equipment.

    As she moved close to the goblin who, after taking damage, had been staggered and stopped moving, she returned the long sword into a dagger again, and then unleashed a chain of attacks, dealing great damage.

    However, that was not enough to defeat the goblin, and just as she raised her weapons for a follow-up attack, the other goblins raised their bowguns in the air as if to stop her.

    The bolts were unleashed immediately after, and after spreading out, they began to rain down over Sally¡¯s head. As for the goblin right in front of her, it too raised its battered bowgun and unleashed a bolt as a counterattack.

    As she could not use Cover or Dedicated Affection, there was nothing that Maple could do, and so the rain of bolts pierced through Sally.

    ¡°Sally!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡±

    After the bolts went through her, Sally dispersed as if melting into the air. And then the real Sally showed herself, right behind a goblin¡¯s back.

    Catching it by surprise, she stabbed it in the back and then moved away and towards Maple once again.

    ¡°Hmph! That skill is so shocking!¡±

    ¡°Haha. Sorry, sorry.¡±

    Her head equipment really was a scarf, just as it appeared to be, and she had used Mirage to trick the monsters. At this point, it was impossible to tell if most of the things that Sally used were as real as they looked or not. So in order to not be outwitted, you had to be able read Sally.

    ¡°I had to test it. So it will work against yers too.¡±

    However, it was through making an effort towards believability, and not just using it randomly, that it really showed its power. In order to trick people, you need a certain amount of skill.

    Compared to before, she had to partition more of her thought resources to things outside of dodging as she fought. Against monsters, she had to be able to do this much at least, Sally thought as she rushed forward again.

    As for Kasumi, as the greatswords swung towards her, she used the giant de from Arm of the Warrior to sweep them aside, and keep the giants away with agile movements.

    While not as much as Sally, Kasumi also had high AGI, and a good deal of HP, so it was possible for her to fight with a good sense of stability. And even if she were hit by a few attacks, she was able to heal herself and recover, which set her apart from Sally in a big way.

    ¡°Blood de!¡±

    The de melted into a thick liquid beforeshing out like a whip through the torsos of the greatsword wielding goblins that were within range. But they were tough, and with the help of the leader¡¯s buffs, they continued to move forward with brute force. However, Kasumi was well versed in the art of evading.

    Furthermore, Kasumi also had a powerful backup skill now.

    ¡°Mind¡¯s Eye!¡±

    This skill made the ce where attacks wouldnd visible in red in advance, which allowed her to dodge them at a hair¡¯s breadth, just like Sally.

    She seemed to slide past the greatsword that was swinging down, and then she attacked in turn with Arm of the Warrior, racking up damage.

    ¡°Fifth of the de: Houshin!¡±

    She unleashed a skill that had a continuous stun effect, and then after pausing them for a second, she went in for a followup attack. Even if they elerated through the leader¡¯s support and the dungeon¡¯s buffs, the greatsword goblins were designed mainly with attack power in mind, and they were not quick enough to catch Kasumi.

    ¡°I¡¯ll shred you up now!¡±

    She dodged one of the greatswords that came swinging down and shed at the goblin before moving to face the next one. In the meantime, another greatsword swung down towards her, but she already knew about it through Mind¡¯s Eye.

    ¡°First of the de: Kagerou!¡±

    Through instant teleportation, she closed the gap between them, avoiding the greatsword by getting closer, and then shing it.

    Compared to Sally, Kasumi had a lot of skills that allowed her to cover short distances quickly or teleport. Even if it was difficult to dodge an attack with just yer skills, by adjusting the distance through using dash, she was able to dodge a lot more attacks.

    If she teleported just as the enemy started to attack, as long as it wasn¡¯t an attack that would affect both points, then it would not hit her.

    ¡°Fourth of the des: Whirlwind!¡±

    The attack skills were also very powerful, and she steadily and surely took down the monsters.

    ¡°Amazing! Both of you! You can do it!¡±

    And so the two continued to destroy the goblins as their own leader cheered them on.

    ¡°That¡¯s thest one!¡±

    After annihting all of the goblin followers, and then cutting down the remaining leader, Sally and Kasumi made sure that there were no reinforcements before sighing in relief.

    ¡°Yes, they really were faster than I expected.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. But we¡¯re still at the point where the dungeon buffs shouldn¡¯t be that strong yet, so we¡¯ll have to brace ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Good work! Sorry that I couldn¡¯t do anything.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped, since all of your skills are sealed.¡±

    ¡°Well, you can just take it easy until the boss fight. And I¡¯ll make sure that you get there.¡±

    As she was saving Bizzare Eater, they could try and finish the boss fight quickly. So if anything, the important part was getting there safely.

    ¡°Kasumi, are your skills alright?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s my first time facing them. And I used Mind¡¯s Eye, just in case, but I now have an idea about their movements and speed. So it shouldn¡¯t be a problem even if I don¡¯t have Mind¡¯s Eye.¡±

    While it was already confirmed that the enemy would only get even faster from here, now that she had seen what the base speed was, it would be easier to react from here on out. When it came tobat, it really was important to experience it, and not just acquire information.

    ¡°So, that¡¯s how it will be, Maple. Now let¡¯s hurry up and get to the boss battle.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Thank you! And since I can use items, I¡¯ll use them to raise your attack ability!¡±

    ¡°That would be helpful. Thank you.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t use bombs, as it might hit the others, but there was no danger of that if she was buffing allies or debuffing enemies.

    And so after finishing the first battle with ease, Maple and the others continued to make their way through the dungeon as if speeding through it.

    While Maple was practically just an ornament at that point, the reason that the other two were able to obliterate the goblins by themselves was because both of them were strong yers in their own right.

    In Maple Tree, Maple tended to stick out due to her skills having a lot of impact, but the other members were also incredibly strong as well.

    And so even with some buffs, these monsters that had simple attack patterns to begin with had no chance against them.

    Ultimately, they scattered the herds of goblins head on, and even when the strength of the buffs increased, the trio were able to safely reach the boss.

    The sounds of the drums had be much louder than before, and they could feel that the thing that was affecting the entire dungeon was just up ahead.

    ¡°Maple, how is Bizzare Eater?¡±

    ¡°Fine! I have all of them left!¡±

    ¡°The room will be filled with goblins as well. Should we proceed as nned?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Even if things go wrong, I¡¯ll be able to manage. Well, if Kasumi doesn¡¯t mind.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. Besides, I think that should be the easiest way to do it.¡±

    Maple would wait without changing her shield until she could get close to the boss.

    After all, if she identally used it on one of the goblin followers, then it would defeat the purpose of having saved it all of this time.

    ¡°Can I open it now?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    Now that the three were prepared, they opened the door and stormed inside. It was arge and long room, and in the far back, there was a giant boss-like figure that was hitting a drum. And as if protecting it, there were a variety of goblins, including the bowgun and greatsword wielders they had seen on the way here, as well as ones that rode lizards and wielded spears, and defense types that held shields that stood in the front. All were looking at the trio with hostile res.

    In sync with the echoing sounds of the drum, a red aura rose around the goblins. Their eyes shone sharply, and it looked like they would pounce at any moment.

    The enemy had the numerical advantage, and each goblin had its own role within a perfect formation. Obviously, the strength of the buffs were now at their height.

    Just how would they fight? Both sides seemed to be affected by the excitement of aing battle, and they also started to move at the same time.

    ¡°Haku, Super Erge! Rigidify!¡±

    Haku, who was at Kasumi¡¯s feet, suddenly blew up until it was hundreds of timesrger than its original size, blocking the running goblins with his hard scales. After stopping the first wave, Kasumi had the other two ride on Haku before making him extend his body as if to split the boss room in half.

    Yes, they never meant to bother with fighting the goblins. They were only going to target the boss.

    ¡°I already know. The goblins will disappear after defeating you.¡±

    Sally wasn¡¯t kind enough to let it do what it did best. If she was sure that there was an easier way to win, then it was obvious that she would choose it.

    ¡°Maple, we¡¯re almost there!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Kasumi announced, and so Maple took out her jet ck great shield. It swallowed up everything that it touched, and was currently Maple¡¯s only method of attack. But it could also be said to be the most vicious.

    ¡°Battlefield of Carnage!¡±

    ¡°Water Coat! Oboro, ¡®Fire Child¡¯!¡¯

    Kasumi and Sally also activated their skills and moved to finish the fight quickly.

    Haku bit into the other side, and the path to the boss wasplete. There were no goblins who could stop this quick work.

    ¡°Quintuple sh!¡±

    ¡°¡®First of the de: Kagerou,¡¯ ¡®Third of the de: Kogetsu,¡¯ ¡®First of the de: Kagerou,¡¯ ¡®Third of the de: Kogetsu¡¯!¡±

    Sally unleashed a chain of fire and water attacks, while Kasumi used Battlefield of Carnage, which greatly reduced cool down time, and even in the air, used unrted skills to forcefully move and jump around the boss¡¯s body, and including Arm of the Warrior, dealt great damage.

    Hyah!¡±

    And in that brief moment when the boss¡¯s attention was directed at those two. A small figure jumped off of Haku¡¯s head and towards the boss¡¯s neck.

    That being said, it wasn¡¯t so much a jump, as a body m.

    With her greatshield beneath her. Maple fell as gravity dictated.

    As if to cut the boss¡¯s body in half, an absurd amount of damage effects burst in the air. First the head, chest, stomach, waist; it swallowed everything as she plummeted.

    It all happened in a sh.

    Before it knew what was happening, something had flown towards it, and it was cut in half.

    That was all.

    As the body disappeared into light, the remaining goblins started to scatter and vanish, like little spider children.

    ¡°Good work. That was quick.¡±

    ¡°¡­I suppose you could say that.¡±

    ¡°It went so well!¡±

    ¡°Yes, better than expected. But, I guess that¡¯s what happens when you use Bizzare Eater ten times¡­¡±

    Normally, it was not something to use so casually, but since they only had to clear it once this time, there was no need to be stingy.

    ¡°Oh, Maple. There, there. There¡¯s the drum that you need.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right!¡±

    As it was now dropped as an item, it had shrunken down to human size. She had wanted this drum, which hadplex patterns and was decorated with vines and jewels.

    This drum was called ¡®Madness,¡¯ and if used like the buffs cast on the dungeon, you could raise the STR and AGI of all of your party members. However, there were some demerits now that it was an item. Instead, your VIT, INT, and DEX were lowered.

    ¡°It¡¯s not bad though. Especially for our guild.¡±

    ¡°If Maple is in her best condition, then a little drop in VIT won¡¯t be a problem. So I suppose we could use it when we really want to be aggressive.¡±

    ¡°Since this one is for Maple¡¯s quest, I suppose I¡¯lle back some other time and pick up another one.¡±

    As this item was something Maple needed for her quest, if it was processed in the same way as Izu¡¯s equipment, then it would disappear.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you when you do!¡±

    ¡°Yes. It will be finished in an instant if we do it the same way.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. You can call me as well if you want.¡±

    ¡°This strategy won¡¯t work without you, Kasumi. So we¡¯ll need your help.¡±

    And like this, the three of them aplished their goal, and left the goblin nest behind them.

    As for the remaining five, they headed in the opposite direction. Chrome and the others were right below their destination, where they were searching for an item that Maple needed.

    Still, the five looked up as they wondered what to do.

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s so high up.¡±

    ¡°Is this¡­really the right ce?¡±

    ¡°It is ording to the reports¡­ But we won¡¯t know for sure until we go.¡±

    What was in front of them was the side of a steep cliff. It was so straight that it seemed more like a pir than a mountain. This ce had many thick, pir-like rocks scattered around, but the five only had business with the tallest one, which was so high that it pierced through the clouds.

    ¡°So there is a bird¡¯s nest up there, and we can acquire it by gathering?¡±

    ¡°The Demon Crystal¡­ Did it take it because it¡¯s shiny?¡±

    While they knew it could be acquired, they didn¡¯t have any detailed information, such as the sess rate when it came to gathering.

    The source of the information was NPC rumors, and they weren¡¯t even sure if other yers had really acquired it either.

    ¡°In any case, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to do anything unless Izu goes¡­¡±

    They were certain that it was a rare item, and so it would be best to take Izu, since she had a gathering bonus. However, the problem was how they were going to climb up.

    ¡°These things on the wall¡­ Are they footholds?¡±

    ¡°After circling it, it didn¡¯t look like there was any ce to go inside¡­ So it probably is?¡±

    While the steep cliff looked like a pir, it did not mean that the surface was smooth or polished. If anything, there were small protrusions in the rocky surface, so that you could put your feet on them.

    ¡°If we have to climb, then I won¡¯t be able to go.¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    ¡°Mai and Yui might be able to carry us and climb up, but¡­we¡¯ll need something to do that.¡±

    Around them, some eerie-looking birds were flying around and squawking annoyingly. And it was unlikely that they would ignore them as they climbed.

    And if Mai and Yui fell, the rest of them would plummet to the ground with them. And the only person who might survive a fall like that was Maple.

    ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t sound like anyone has any good ideas¡­so I¡¯ll do something.¡±

    ¡°You can?¡±

    ¡°From today, yes.¡±

    Said Kanade, and then he looked up. And after telling everyone toe close, he activated a skill that he had recently acquired through Akashic Records.

    ¡°Flight.¡±

    The effect of Kanade¡¯s skill made everyone¡¯s body float up into the air.

    ¡°Woah!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡±

    ¡°This just might¡­¡±

    ¡°Sorry to get your hopes up so high, but this only allows you to float straight up.¡±

    ¡°Huh!? It¡¯s true! I can¡¯t move!¡±

    ¡°The effect will wear off soon.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    After a short while, the effect wore off, and they felt themselves being thrown back towards the ground.

    ¡°Wood Wall! ¡­And so I have to make a tform so we don¡¯t fall, see?¡±

    Kanade had instantly made a wall out of thick tree branches, which became a tform that broke their fall.

    ¡°Yo-you¡­that nearly gave me a heart attack¡­¡±

    ¡°I knew there would be something. But¡­that was still a surprise.¡±

    ¡°I calcted it so that there would be a proper tform to our side, so hurry up and move onto it. Next time, you really will fall.¡±

    And so the four of them rushed to the tform that was already there, and then looked for the next one.

    ¡°Every time I can use Flight again, we¡¯ll jump like this. While we cannot move, we can still use things like skills, so I¡¯d like you to deal with those flying birds.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    ¡°It is our role, after all!¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll stand closest to the edge, just in case something happens. I should be able to block anything thates flying.¡±

    ¡°Alright, then let¡¯s continue on like this!¡±

    And so the five floated up along the side of the pir, and slowly made their way towards the top.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be long before they start noticing us¡­ See, here ites!¡±

    The closest of the huge birds that were flying in the sky had suddenly changed its direction, and it was obvious that it was moving towards them. Chrome prepared to meet it, whether it charged or did something else, but what it ended up using was an attack where it beat its wings to unleash numerous wing des.

    ¡°Are you serious! Multi-Cover!¡±

    He hid behind the greatshield to block the attack, and then he waited for the wind to subside. As Chrome was blocking all of the attacks, the wind des did not reach the other, more susceptible four.

    After enduring this for some time, the wind stopped, just for a moment. For the monster, since it was in the more advantageous position, it was merely a short rest. However, immediately after, something bluish-gray pierced through its body, tearing a big hole through it.

    ¡°Oomph!¡±

    ¡°Oomph!¡±

    Of course, it was Mai and Yui as they threw their iron balls. These balls, that they threw with all of their might, were just as strong as some of Kanade¡¯s more powerful magic attacks.

    And since Izu was able to craft a near unlimited amount of them, their attacks did not stop. They were not just being protected, they had been waiting for a chance as they stood behind Chrome.

    The continuous attacks broke through the wings, destroyed the beak, and opened up more holes inside of the monster, until it exploded in the air.

    ¡°Woah! Nice control!¡±

    ¡°That was amazing. I¡¯m pretty sure that I wouldn¡¯t have been able to hit it if I tried throwing them in the same way.¡±

    ¡°It is one of our few ranged attacks, after all!¡±

    ¡°Yes, we practiced a lot.¡±

    It was an especially effective attack againstrge monsters. As an attack from these two would be fatal even if it was just a scratch, it didn¡¯t really matter where they hit. And so it was easier if their target was big.

    ¡°You can go on ahead and just attack them! It will be better if you can knock them down before they can get close!¡±

    ¡°And if something happens, I can use my magic book to make the damage zero, so keep targeting them.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    If they took a lot of damage, then the monsters would recoil. And since both of them were throwing the iron balls, the other person could prepare while the monster recoiled, ensuring that it never had an opening to move.

    ¡°I can use my skill again, so we¡¯re going to float up!¡±

    And so they rose into the air, moved to a stable tform, and then destroyed any monsters that were nearby. After repeating this several times, they started to be able to move before the monsters appeared, and they were eventually able to rise above the clouds without being attacked. And just as the ground was no longer visible, the summit came into view.

    ¡°Are we finally there?¡±

    ¡°It seems like it.¡±

    There were no monsters near the top, and so the five had finally reached the mountain peak.

    While they had been a little skeptical, there indeed was arge bird¡¯s nest there with a single egg, just like the information had said. Judging by the size, it seemed a little toorge for the bird monsters that had been flying around. However, the owner of the nest seemed to be absent.

    And so while considering the possibility of a battle, they slowly approached the nest with Chrome taking the lead. But in spite of their fears, the gathering icon appeared without anything happening.

    ¡°Alright, Izu! This is your moment!¡±

    ¡°Yes, leave it to me.¡±

    Izu switched up her essories so that her chances of acquiring a rare item were raised. She also took a potion and some kind of supplement-like pill, and even broke a few crystals that the other four did not recognize, so that she had an aura of various colors enveloping her.

    ¡°Woah. You don¡¯t look like someone who is just preparing to gather¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, this is like starting a battle for me. Fay. ¡®Fairy Luck.¡¯¡±

    Lastly, she used a skill to raise her chances of acquiring a rare item even more, and then Izu stretched out her hand towards the nest. As you were limited in how many times you could gather, if they didn¡¯t get it this time, then they would have toe againter.

    ¡°Di-did you get it?¡±

    ¡°What happened, Ms. Izu?¡±

    ¡°This is so exciting¡­¡±

    ¡°We can only watch¡­¡±

    ¡°Hehe, don¡¯t worry! I was confident about my gathering ability! See!¡±

    The thing that Izu took out of her inventory and showed to them was a regr octahedron that was a glimmering ck color. It was hard to tell what material it was made from, and it even seemed to be throbbing asionally, which made it quite eerie. But as it was called a ¡®Demon Crystal,¡¯ there was no doubt that it was the item they hade here for.

    ¡°Woah! So you really did get it!¡±

    ¡°Now we¡¯ll be able to tell Maple the good news.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing, Ms. Izu!¡±

    ¡°You really did do it in one shot.¡±

    ¡°I might have wasted some items to do it, but I just couldn¡¯t fail.¡±

    ¡°That thing you used as if it was a potion. Was it actually a really good item¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It is not easy to raise your chances of acquiring a rare item¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you with material gathering next time.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. But well, this is like an investment for me.¡±

    ¡°The scary thing is that we have no idea what the results will be.¡±

    ¡°Personally, I am quite optimistic about it.¡±

    The harder the road was to a new skill, the better the ability. This was something that all five of them knew from experience. After every troublesome material was gathered, the sense of expectation rose.

    ¡°Well, there is no point in sticking around. Let¡¯s go back down.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s be safe and make our way back.¡±

    ¡°We could jump back down like Maple and I could make the damage zero?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, I am not brave enough to do that.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Even if I know that we¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    Kanade put away the magic book that he had taken out, and instead, he called out Sou and showed them two other magic books.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make a slide out of water and ice. And then we can slide back down.¡±

    ¡°I was waiting for such a peaceful method to descend.¡±

    ¡°You can even do something like that!¡±

    ¡°It will be like Ms. Sally.¡±

    ¡°When ites to the number of skills, I won¡¯t lose to the rest of you.¡±

    And so in order to get down, they walked over to the edge. But just as Kanade was about to prepare, arge shadow passed over the mountain peak.

    It was sorge that they thought it was a dragon. But before they even had time to be surprised, a deafening roar shattered the air.

    ¡°Damn it. It¡¯s the parent bird.¡±

    ¡°Haha. We should hurry then. It looks angry.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Kanade¡­!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s going toe down!¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s take our leave. I doubt it wants to talk to us.¡±

    Before it could attack them, he froze the flowing water, and the five of them slid down the frozen spiral that went around the pir, until it took them back to the ground.

 Chapter 412

    Itai no wa Iya 412

    Defense Specialization and the ck Vortex

    Due to being helped by the other guild members, Maple had been able to smoothly gather the items that shecked. And so she seeded in acquiring all of the necessary items, while still having some time left before the event.

    After receiving the final item from Sally, Maple set it within the designated area within her inventory.

    ¡°I hope that this is it¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, since we¡¯ll be running out of time soon.¡±

    If it was a battle with arge boss, then they should be able to manage with Mai and Yui, who were their ultimate weapons. But if there was something like thest item gathering, then they might have to race against time.

    ¡°How is it, Ms. Maple?¡±

    ¡°Did anything¡­change?¡±

    ¡°Wait a second! This is thest one!¡±

    After Maple set thest item in, a window popped up saying that the quest was cleared. But then the next quest appeared after that.

    ¡°Hmph. Looks like there is another one.¡±

    ¡°Really? Hmm, this really is a meaty quest.¡±

    ¡°What do you have to do this time?¡±

    ¡°Uhh¡­ It seems like I have to head to a destination!¡±

    ¡°In that case, it might be close to the end? Hmm. I smell a boss battle¡­¡±

    As Sally said, it was amon pattern for something to be waiting there when you arrived. Of course, this tended to be a boss more than not.

    ¡°Does it look like we can go too? Normally, it would be fine. But if you went alone as you are now¡­¡±

    If she could not use skills, then she would have to attack with items. So if the boss had high defense ability or could heal itself, then it would all be over.

    ¡°Maple?¡±

    ¡°It seems like we can all go together! I¡¯ll show you the map now!¡±

    Maple then brought up the map, which showed the route that they would have to take.

    ¡°Hmm? What is this?¡±

    ¡°Uhh, it¡¯s very¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s so far away!¡±

    The map that Maple showed them had red dots all over the ce that were connected by a line, which showed the ces they needed to go through. And they could see that they would need to travel quite a distance on the field to get from one dot to another. However, there seemed to be multiple routes. Some had you go through all of the dots, while others only went through a few. So the time it would take would depend on which route you chose.

    Apparently, this was a little different than what Chrome and Sally had been expecting, where it was just a short journey to the boss.

    ¡°But in any case, as long as we can go with you, this doesn¡¯t change anything.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    The seven meant to stay with her until the end. There was no doubt that working together would be more efficient than letting Maple go by herself.

    ¡°If everyone is free after this, maybe we can just go now?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. I think that we should hurry up and get it over with.¡±

    ¡°Will you all help me just a little longer?¡±

    Maple asked, and everyone nodded. Now that it was decided, the eight of them quickly moved to the field.

    ¡°Haku, I¡¯m counting on you.¡±

    As always, they rode on Haku as he crossed the field. Sally kept her eyes on the map as they approached their destination.

    ¡°Is it around this area?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Kasumi, you can stop now.¡±

    And so the eight of them got down from Haku, and took in the unique terrain that was in front of them.

    ¡°So, I guess it is this?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a big hole¡­¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t see the bottom¡­ I think we might be able to get down by moving along the side of the cliff.¡±

    What was in front of them was arge and very deep hole. Previously, when they had gone down a vertical hole, Maple had used a brute force method, which meant activating Dedicated Affection and jumping, in order to reach the bottom in an instant. However, she could not do that this time.

    ¡°Kanade. You must have something, right?¡±

    ¡°I do have something. There are a few ways to do it¡­ How do you want to get down?¡±

    ¡°The safest way!¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s what you want, Maple. Then I will prepare something that can do just that.¡±

    And so Kanade suggested a method so that all seven of them could descend without taking any damage, and Maple nodded in agreement.

    ¡°That should be fine!¡±

    ¡°Maple is the reference point¡­¡±

    ¡°But it is safe¡­¡±

    They were all resolved to do it as they stood at the edge. For Maple Tree, this was the way to deal with terrain with differences in elevation.

    ¡°Ready, set, go!¡±

    Maple shouted, and then they all threw themselves off of the cliff. Gravity pulled them down immediately, making them shoot past something unknown on the side of the cliff, which shot fire and wind at them. And like that, they plummeted straight to the ground.

    ¡°Guardian Barrier!¡±

    Kanade shouted the skill name, and then a light appeared and enveloped the bodies of the eight, making themnd on their feet just before hitting the ground.

    There was a shattering sound, and then the light disappeared. It had taken all of the fall damage they would have received and nullified it.

    ¡°Woah. What a way to use it.¡±

    ¡°I have several ways to nullify damage, and I generally don¡¯t use them because we have Maple.¡±

    When alone, Kanade felt that when he was in a dangerous situation, it was better to just die and try again, rather than to waste his magic books. And so he had plenty of them left. And so he didn¡¯t mind using one of them here.

    ¡°However, I¡¯m pretty sure that there is no boss here¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes. But I do know that there is a good gathering spot.¡±

    Sally and Izu were not wrong about the ce. There was ore to be found along the wall, but there was no boss waiting for them.

    ¡°Let¡¯s all look around! There might be something here!¡±

    ¡°True. So, just tell Maple if you find something. Like when we acquired Afterglow of Salvation on the 8thyer, there might be things during the quest that only Maple can detect. So you should be extra attentive when you search, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Since it had been a hassle toe down here, they gathered materials along the way as they went around and searched the bottom of the pit. After doing this for some time, Maple found something and so she called the others.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s this?¡±

    Maple pointed at the wall, where a small, ck vortex had been depicted. It was rotating slowly.

    ¡°But nothing happens?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try touching it.¡±

    As looking at it brought about no change at all, Maple slowly stretched out her hand and touched it. And the ck swirl suddenly spread out over the wall. Then the gaps between the spiral shape closed up, so that the wall was just a pulsating ck.

    ¡°It¡¯s like¡­a gate.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Maple put her hand up to the wall, and then it began to unleash a ck light as if it was activating. However, it seemed like they would have no idea whaty beyond it unless they stepped through.

    ¡°Then we better prepare to meet anything before stepping in.¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll prepare some items!¡±

    It was better to prepare and there be nothing, then to not be prepared and lose.

    Once they were ready to defeat just about any kind of monster, Maple put her hand against the wall.

    And then the ck light flowed out and enveloped all eight of them. At the same time, they felt the floor disappear from beneath, suggesting that they were about to be teleported.

    ¡°It¡¯sing after all!¡±

    ¡°Prepare for battle!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    A momentter, their vision turnedpletely ck, and they were teleported to a dark ce. As the eight of them went into a fighting stance, the torches on both sides of the wall were lit, illuminating the whole room.

    What they saw in the far back was a giant with three heads and six arms. Each of its hands wielded a weapon that it would surely attack with. At a nce, it gave the impression of something that would push with high attack ability and many moves.

    ¡°Six arms, huh¡­ But¡­¡±

    Sally looked behind her. They had two people with eight arms. And now that they had used item buffs, they would have equal attack power as well.

    ¡°I¡¯ll guard you as you get closer! It will help if you could try and attract its attention as much as possible!¡±

    Chrome stood in front of Mai and Yui, while Kasumi and Sally dashed ahead. The enemy had six arms. And their chances of winning would rise if it had fewer arms to target Mai and Yui with.

    ¡°Wind Cutter!¡±

    ¡°Blood de!¡±

    Both of them unleashed their long-range preemptive attacks on the boss, and in reaction, the boss made use of its own reach and attacked them by swinging with its weapons.

    The two of them stayed near the wall, so that the attacks would not reach Mai and Yui. And with their great speed, they dodged the weapons that came swinging down and then moved in to attack.

    ¡°Multi-Cover!¡±

    Chrome blocked the attacks from the remaining arms as he slowly advanced. As no one aside from Kasumi and Sally had dealt any damage, the other arms started to change their target to the two. Of course, this is what Maple Tree had been waiting for.

    ¡°Now! Run!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    While Chrome held up his shield, and Kanade prepared his defense magic, Mai and Yui ran.

    If they could get close enough, and as long as this was a defeatable boss with HP, then it would not be able to stand against them.

    Four of the arms were now targeting Sally and Kasumi, and so Mai and Yui faced the remaining two that shot towards them.

    ¡°If it¡¯s just this much¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re fine!¡±

    The two held their great hammers ready, and then mmed down just as the weapons swung down at them.

    ¡°Act of the Giant!¡±

    ¡°Act of the Giant!¡±

    With their STR that surpassed all manner of things, they drove back the attack of an opponent that was much stronger than them, and caused the damage that they should have taken to bounce back towards the boss.

    And just as it was staggered, they moved in. It was here that the two swung all of their great hammers, which included the six that hovered in the air.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this!¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­!¡±

    ¡°Weapon Throw!¡±

    ¡°Weapon Throw!¡±

    As they shouted the skill name, all of the weapons they were equipped with shone at once. Immediately after, they began to rotate while shooting towards the boss at a high speed.

    A skill where you throw your equipped weapons. Of course, Mai and Yui had eight weapons each, and all of them left their hands and went flying into the air.

    In exchange for being able to attack from a long distance, there was the big demerit of having to throw your own weapon. However, it was apletely different matter when used by these two.

    There was a dull thud and squishing sound as the great hammers started to sink into the boss¡¯s body, causing incredible damage and staggering it.

    It didn¡¯t matter that they had thrown all of their weapons. As long as this one attack was sure to carve out thest bit of the enemy¡¯s life.

    Thest greathammer stabbed into the boss¡¯s face that was turned towards them. And then it tore a hole through it and crashed into the wall behind. The boss¡¯s entire body was enveloped in ck mes as it crumbled to the ground. And then finally, it turned into light and disappeared.

    ¡°I guess we didn¡¯t have to get close to it after all¡­¡±

    ¡°As long as we have substitute weapons, this will be easy.¡±

    ¡°And we won¡¯t have to worry about throwing them if Izu is here.¡±

    Perhaps a day woulde when all of the unused weapons in Izu¡¯s inventory would see the light of day.

    ¡°Amazing! I didn¡¯t know that you had such a skill!¡±

    ¡°Yes! We learned it while using Flying Attack and Throw to defeat monsters!¡±

    ¡°Though, it can¡¯t be adjusted so that you can throw only one¡­¡±

    In the first ce, it was very unusual to be carrying eight weapons, and since that situation had not been considered when making the skill, having multiple weapons did not affect the demerit. If anything, since it increased the damage and widened the area of effect, that meant the enemy had less chance of surviving, so it was best to throw as many as you could.

    Especially in their case, by destroying the enemypletely, they would not be left open afterwards.

    ¡°Though, I doubt that this skill was originally meant to be this strong¡­¡±

    ¡°In any case, now it will increase your options in terms of strategy.¡±

    For Kasumi and Sally, who were dealing with the attacks of the arms right in front of them, it was as if sixteen great hammers had suddenly appeared and sunk into the boss¡¯s body, so it must have been quite a surprise.

    ¡°With Mai and Yui with us, it might not take much time at all, even if we went around to each one.¡±

    ¡°If everyone has time, maybe we should take the longest route then? The quest itself is quite long, and so it will feel better if we don¡¯t leave anything undone.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re fine with that!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I can still fight¡­!¡±

    ¡°If you all agree!¡±

    Normally, it would be quite hard to continue to fight boss battles, but it was no problem for Maple Tree.

    Now that they had decided this, they wanted to move to the next destination quickly. And so they stepped on the magic circle that appeared and were transported back outside.

    ¡°¡­? Maple.¡±

    ¡°What is it, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm. I think that ck stain on your face has gotten bigger¡­¡±

    ¡°It has? I can¡¯t tell because I can¡¯t see it.¡±

    ¡°Well, maybe it¡¯s just me. But perhaps it changes as you advance through the quest, or there is a time limit. So let me see it asionally.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    And like that, the two chased the other six as they went back outside.

    What happened after that could be called a proper stampede. They went to holes just like the first one, which led to dungeons. They would then enter a ce that was the monster nest, and they would obliterate everything inside that moved and then go on to the next one.

    Unless you had some special countermeasure prepared, then there was no way to stop Mai and Yui¡¯s nearly supernaturally strong attacks. And such a thing was too difficult for a field boss.

    In this way, they would defeat what they could and pass through every point on the map while riding on Haku, until they reached the final point.

    ¡°Still, it has spread quite a bit¡­¡±

    The ck stain on Maple¡¯s face had now spread to her back, shoulders and thighs. But judging by her status, there were no status effects or other changes, so they had no idea if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

    ¡°Maple, so nothing is different?¡±

    ¡°Yes! It seems like it¡¯s just my appearance.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s clear that it spreads every time we defeat a boss, but¡­ It makes me think that your condition is getting worse.¡±

    ¡°There are no hints at all, so it¡¯s impossible for us to know anything.¡±

    As they had taken the route that went through all of the points, the results should either be the very best or the very worst.

    In any case, they could not turn back now, and so they had no choice but to finish the quest. However, since there was no problem as long as they didn¡¯t face a monster that had the skill to nullify all of Mai and Yui¡¯s attack, the truth was that Maple Tree were not all that worried about it.

    ¡°ording to the map, we should be there soon¡­¡±

    ¡°But we¡¯re in the middle of nds. Is there really something here?¡±

    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to get off and search.¡±

    If it was the same as every other point, then the ck vortex mark that reacted to Maple should be somewhere in the area. And so Kasumi returned Haku to her ring once, and they all started to search for the mark.

    As it was nd, surely it should not be so well hidden that they couldn¡¯t find it.

    And so after some careful searching, they were able to find the mark that shone from the ground.

    ¡°Oh, there it is, Maple! Over there!¡±

    Maple heard Sally calling, and so she rushed towards the spot. And then the quest waspleted, and a new quest appeared.

    ¡°It seems that I have to fight a boss that¡¯s inside¡­but¡­ Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°What about your skills?¡±

    ¡°It seems like I can¡¯t use them.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s the end of the quest and then a boss fight¡­could this be the final one?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    ¡°No matter what kind of boss it is¡­ We will defeat it!¡±

    Mai and Yui had supported Maple Tree¡¯s brutal advance up until now, and they were excited for the next one. Even if this monster was stronger than the previous ones, it was doubtful that it would be able to take so many hits.

    ¡°Uhh. It seems like I have to go alone.¡±

    ¡°What? So we can¡¯t go with you?¡±

    ¡°It says that it¡¯s only solo¡­ That¡¯s what it means, right, Sally?¡±

    Sally checked the quest that Maple received, and confirmed that it was limited to solo yers.

    ¡°I¡¯ll ask you again. Your skills haven¡¯t returned?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Only the passive skills can be used.¡±

    Skills that had an effect without dering them continued to be activated, and so there was no change to her defense ability. But that was it. Maple had been robbed of nearly all of her attack methods, and so she had not been able to do much on the way here. She mostly just walked around. Because of this, she still had all of Bizarre Eater left, but she wasn¡¯t sure if that alone could beat the boss.

    ¡°In that case, it will have to be defeated with items, but¡­¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t even know what kind of boss it is. So you¡¯ll have to prepare for different possibilities.¡±

    And so the eight of them racked their brains and thought of strategies in order to raise the chances of victory even a little. On top of that, they gave Maple a mountain of items that might be useful. Other than that, they could do nothing but believe in her.

    ¡°I think this will be a very long fight¡­ So I¡¯ll tell you the results on another day!¡±

    If she was going to beat the boss with items, then Maple would have to do what she used to do a long time ago, where she left her defense ability to do the talking as she slowly chipped away at its health. This would be an abnormally long battle of endurance.

    And she would feel bad if they had to wait here for her. Maple then braced herself and touched the vortex by herself.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be expecting to hear good news!¡±

    ¡°I will pray for your victory.¡±

    ¡°Please do your best, Ms. Maple!¡±

    ¡°Please do your best, Ms. Maple!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind if you use all of the items.¡±

    ¡°Hehe. You better bring back an interesting skill.¡±

    ¡°Maple! You can do it¡­ You can win.¡±

    After hearing the words of support from the other seven, Maple nodded firmly before being enveloped in darkness and disappearing.

 Chapter 413

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 413</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Vestiges</strong>

    After the darkness surrounding Maple disappeared, she could see that the area looked just like the ins she was in just a few moments ago.

    There didn¡¯t seem to be anything but an endless in before her. The forests and towns that were visible before teleporting here were nowpletely gone. It seemed that there would be no need to be mindful of the terrain for the uing battle.

    Then, rather than gradually getting smaller, the ck spots that had spread all over Maple¡¯s body instead turned into a ck haze and started taking on the shape of a human before turning into that of a man with long white hair and a ck sword at his waist.

    Maple was relieved to find that what had appeared before her eyes didn¡¯t look like a strong, terrifying monster.

    ¡°Good job collecting enough offerings for my resurrection. Thank you.¡±

    ¡°No problem!¡±

    ¡°Now all that I require in order to fully restore myself, is your soul. Yes¡­ the magical power within your soul will be sufficient.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡±

    Maple was taken aback by the sudden change of attitude of the man after having assumed that he was just a kindhearted NPC that was about to give her a reward forpleting the quest.

    But the quest details had clear instructions: Defeat the boss. So there was no way it would end peacefully just like that from the beginning.

    ¡°You better die quietly!¡±

    ¡°Jeez! <em>¡®Hydra¡¯</em>!¡±

    After seeing the HP bar disyed above the man¡¯s head as he pulled out his sword and started walking towards her, Maple readied herrge shield and tried to activate one of her skills¡­.

    However, she failed to produce any poison.

    ¡°Whaaaa!? But I don¡¯t have those ck spots on me anymoooore!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no reason for me to undo your shackles, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    The man quickly approached Maple, who was puffing out her cheeks, and swung his ck sword at her.

    Although Maple managed to match the swing¡¯s speed ¨Cwhich was close to Sally¡¯s¨C with herrge shield, the blow managed to turn it sideways and hit Maple directly with a downward sh.

    ¡°Waaah!?¡±

    If the man¡¯s words were true, his body would be made of rare items, Iz¡¯s powerful weapons, and the souls of defeated monsters, so there was no way he wasn¡¯t strong. Maple had been able to defeat every boss possible with the help of Mai and Yui just a little while ago, so she didn¡¯t think this man would be any weaker than any of those bosses.

    Luckily, she hadn¡¯t lost any of her defensive power. Therefore, Maple¡¯s armor still was impossible to break through without any attack that didn¡¯t have an armor piercing effect. This gave Maple some time to rethink her strategy.

    ¡°Okay, here goes¡­!¡±

    Since everyone in the guild was rooting for her, she put up all her strength in her legs to quickly get back to her feet while looking at the man to see if there were any openings in his defense. He didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of slowing down his attack, and quickly approached Maple to deliver another blow with his jet-ck sword, which knocked Maple to the ground once again.

    ¡°Ugh! Looks like I can¡¯t use this very well right now!¡±

    Maple put herrge shield back into her inventory while rolling on the ground. Considering she was only able to use items, her ¡®Evil Eater¡¯ was both her strongest attack and her best means of defense. She couldn¡¯t afford to waste a single resource under these circumstances.

    After being shed and blown away a few more times, Maple started to get familiar with the man¡¯s attacks and started thinking.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to keep my distance from him, but¡­ he¡¯s too fast¡­ hmmm.¡±

    Considering that the man was already back onto her and ready to strike by the time Maple got back up from the ground, it was impossible to keep a distance by moving around normally.

    ¡°What can I use¡­ Ah, how about this?¡±

    Maple was once again sent flying by the man¡¯s attack, but this time she had taken out an item from her inventory and pressed it against her back. However, nothing in particr happened this time around, and Maple stayed with her back against the ground instead of trying to get up once again as the man¡¯s next attack was approaching.

    Just before the man¡¯s sword reached her, a shy explosion urred directly below Maple, and the force of the explosion sent Maple several meters off the ground.

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    However, there was nothing more Maple could do after that, and so she fell once again to the ground, where she was shed at by the man who was waiting for her, sending her flying once again. And yet, Maple seemed satisfied with her experiment.

    What Maple had used was one of Iz¡¯s special Sticky Bombs. Unlike regr bombs that can detonate when attacked, Sticky Bombs were an exceptional type of bomb that does not detonate until their timer, which starts only when attached to something, reaches zero. Unfortunately, the way it was designed made it impossible to be attached directly to an enemy, and was intended to be set up on the field, but it was also possible for a yer to attach it to themselves. At first, there would seem to be no point in doing that, but in this situation, Maple realized that she could use these bombs as a means of transportation.

    She would be able to throw herself at high speed into any direction by simply attaching one of those bombs in a part of her body opposite of her intended direction, after its timer reached zero.

    ¡°Alright! One more time!¡±

    Once again, Maple set herself up just like before,ying down on the ground while waiting for the explosion. After a short while, Maple was blown up into the sky. But this time, a second, and then a third explosion urred while she was mid-air, sending Maple further upwards.

    Sticky Bombs will not detonate until the time is up, meaning that there¡¯s no way to trigger a chain explosion just with them. But by starting their timers with a small dy from one another, it is possible to cause a series of explosions while in mid-air. Maple used this theory to simte a triple jump.

    Maple¡¯s case was exceptional in that she didn¡¯t have to worry about being damaged by explosions or falling, but in any case, Sticky Bombs proved to be an effective means to get some distance.

    ¡°Hurry, hurry¡­ All done!¡±

    Maple opened her inventory and quickly changed her equipment. Maple still had some gear on her with useful passive skills. One of them was a certain essory, which was highly acimed by all members of ¡°Maple Tree¡± due to its resourcefulness.

    A white hand appeared in the air, holding arge shield, waiting under the falling Maple to catch her.

    Maple had a strong passive in her ¡°Helping Hand¡±, and her ¡°Evil Eater¡± was one of the few skills she was still able to use.

    Having seeded in keeping herself in mid-air with this strategy, Maple checked below to see how the man would respond. The man then held his sword aloft for a brief moment before bringing it down with full force.

    ¡°Waaaah!?¡±

    Maple withdrew her head in a panic after seeing the shining shockwave-like effect that had been sent flying by the man¡¯s sword. This shockwave hit the shield that Maple was using as a mid-air scaffolding, so it hadn¡¯t connected with Maple. She couldn¡¯t afford to get hit by another one of those, as it would knock her out of her shield and cause her to fall to the ground.

    ¡°Let¡¯s try this before anything else¡­!¡±

    Maple reached for more items out of her inventory. What came out were, once again, things filled with gunpowder. Naturally, these bombs would be good for moving around, and not so much for attacking.

    They had a rocket-like shape with an extended fuse, and looked a bit like fireworks that would shoot up into the sky when ignited. They seemed like they were meant to be used to attack airborne monsters, but what Maple did was wrap them around her body with a rope.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    After igniting all of the fuses at once with the help of the me crystals, she straightened up and waited for the rockets to go off.

    After a little while, Maple was shot up into the sky, leaving arge trail of smoke behind her.

    Maple sat on therge shield as she reached such an altitude that the man¡¯s shockwave shes would not reach her anymore. Whether it was because he felt his own skill wouldn¡¯t reach that high, or because he thought it unnecessary to try to hit her any longer, the man stopped attacking.

    ¡°My turn to counterattack!¡±

    After she was finally done with her preparations, Maple took out another item from her inventory.

    It was a rock. That¡¯s right: an ordinary rock. Naturally, the rocks that Yui and Mai carried during the base creation in the 8th event didn¡¯t have the ability to fly, and shortly after Maple suddenly threw it into the air, it soon fell subject to thews of gravity and came crashing down.

    ¡°Go~!¡±

    The man managed to avoid the fallingrge rock with his agile movements, and so therge rock crashed into the ground and remained there. This one hadn¡¯t hit its mark, but Maple had plenty more ammunition. Not only rocks, but also iron balls, ice blocks, and otherrge and heavy objects that Iz had stuffed into her inventory.

    ¡°They¡¯re just gonna keeping down!¡±

    <em>Today¡¯s weather is rocks and iron balls, with a chance for ice blocks.</em> Maple kept on throwing everything she had at the man, and the ground started getting filled with these things, changing the terrain.

    No matter how fast the man was, he was still trying to dodge and attack Maple at the same time, so he started taking damage little by little by Maple¡¯s seemingly unending barrage of junk. While the damage she was dealing was nothing to write home about, it was still better than dealing no damage at all.

    The tenacity Maple had shown during her fight with the Poison Dragon was still there, and she kept throwing stuff to the ground for over an hour, and finally seeded in cutting the man¡¯s HP by about 20%.

    ¡°Phew¡­ But it¡¯s getting easier!¡±

    There was no trace of the original t terrain anymore, and the difference in elevation generated by Maple¡¯s violent littering was now limiting the man¡¯s movements. As a result, the man was now being hit more frequently now that he wasn¡¯t as able to dodge as before, and at this rate, Maple estimated that she would be able to defeat him in less than four hours.

    However, that thought was short-lived. A dark light enveloped the man¡¯s body, and after a while, the light exploded from within, revealing a pair of demon-like ck wings that had grown from his back.

    With a single p of those wings, the man quickly soared into the air, twisted his body, and flew straight towards Maple.

    ¡°Eeh!?¡±

    Maple, who had only managed to secure this position through her skillful use of items, had no means to keep up with movement of an opponent with the ability to fly freely through the air.

    ¡°W-Wait! Ah!?¡±

    The man easily got himself above Maple before shing downward with his sword, causing her to fall head first toward the ground.

    Her fall caused a loud crashing sound and a cloud of dust to rise up, but since she knew from experience that she wouldn¡¯t take any fall damage, Maple immediately got back on her feet and started running.

    ¡°I have to prepare for my next attack!¡±

    Now that the man could fly, Maple¡¯s n to chip away at his health with a barrage of junk was no longer as effective. She would need a new n if she was to have any chance to shave off the man¡¯s remaining 80% HP.

    Since Maple still had no ess to her offensive skills, one way she could try to deal damage to a quick opponent such as this man would be to secure an advantageous position where she can attack repeatedly and without interruptions until her attacks start to connect.

    And the other effective way to get monsters to approach her was to staypletely still.

    Naturally, the man didn¡¯tnd by crashing violently into the ground. Instead, he descended at a reasonable speed, so there was a little time before he would get closer to Maple.

    It would be very troublesome to try to escape from another one of those loops of getting knocked away repeatedly before she could fully get back up, so she had to be very careful not to miss her chance.

    ¡°Okay¡­ Here goes!¡±

    Maple positioned herself so her back would be covered by the stuff she had thrown earlier, and then quickly took out more rocks from her inventory to cover her sides as well. Then, after doing the same above her head, Maple waited patiently inside her makeshift stone igloo, whose sole entrance was at the front. A yer wouldn¡¯t try to enter such an obvious trap, but a monster such as that man would fly straight in.

    This difference was the advantage that Maple had in this battle.

    Soon enough, the man readied his sword ¨Cwhich shone with a glitter that could be seen even in the dark¨C and quickly rushed in. Even though she wasn¡¯t very good at evading, Maple was no longer a beginner. She now had enough game sense to know the right timing to activate his trap against his reckless opponent.

    Trying to imitate Sally¡¯s movements, Maple shifted her upper body to the side to avoid the man¡¯s thrust, and after regaining her original posture, she threw both of her hands to the front.

    Her jet-ck shield ¨Cwhich also glittered in the dark¨C appeared in front of Maple¡¯s hands, swallowing the man¡¯s head, neck, and even his shoulders whole, inflicting great damage to him. Then, ck light gathered around the man, instantly repairing his body, but it seemed that this hadn¡¯t undone the damage he had sustained.

    ¡°Gwoooh¡­!¡±

    Maple pushed out herrge shield even more, chasing the man who was frightened after finding himself having received arge amount of damage. But precisely because of this damage he had taken, he had also reflexively jumped out of Maple¡¯s reach in order to rebuild his body, so Maple¡¯s attempt at a follow-up attack was unsessful.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you!¡±

    Maple had no need to go to the enemy. All she had to do was to wait for him in the safety of the small shelter she had created, and have her shield take chunks out of his health whenever he came to her.

    That man had to defeat Maple. That¡¯s the way he had been created. The only one with the option to interrupt this battle in any way was Maple. Therefore, he had no choice but to go to Maple, even if it meant stepping directly on her trap.

    And so the man jumps in again. And Maple¡¯s monstrous shield waited for him again, with its mouth wide open. This time, with its fangs¡¯ uracy now increased, the shield managed to take two bites out of the man.

    But looking at how things were progressing, Maple¡¯s face wasn¡¯t exactly happy after all.

    ¡°Seven more times¡­¡±

    Looking at the HP bar above the man after he had once again jumped out of her burrow, Maple realized that even the amount of ¡°Evil Eaters¡± she could use would probably not be enough to take out the rest of the man¡¯s HP

    It was only natural. While her ¡°Evil Eater¡± definitely packed a punch, the enemy she was fighting against had been crushed by rocks and other pieces of junk around a hundred times, and all that did was shave off merely 20% of his considerably high HP.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll save it forter then!¡±

    As a boss monster¡¯s HP gets lower and lower, its attack pattern normally tends to change. Maple figured her remaining uses of ¡°Evil Eater¡± might be better saved for an eventual short, decisive skirmish, so she put her shield away and took out a vial of oil and an ignition crystal.

    In an instant, the surroundings were engulfed in mes, creating a constant damage area around Maple. She looked out through the hole in her burrow, waiting for her enemy toe to her once again, but unlike before, he simply stayed away from it.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Unlike ¡°Evil Eater¡±, the mes had created an area that would constantly damage anyone who entered it. It seemed that the man wouldn¡¯t voluntarily step into a ce where they were guaranteed to receive damage.

    ¡°So mes are no good, huh¡­?¡±

    Maple figured she¡¯d have to use items that wouldn¡¯t deal damage until the very moment they¡¯re activated, like bombs and other items she would normally use that dealt elemental damage when triggered.

    Maple took out a crystal in each hand and waited for the mes to go out.

    After the man sensed that the mes had gone out, he once again threw himself into the burrow¡¯s opening. Thanks to the fact that this entrance was, by chance, quite narrow, it induced the man to try to attack by thrusting his sword into the entrance, which was something that even Maple was able to dodge with rtive ease.

    After dodging the blow, Maple leapt forward and threw her hands forward. The crystals were crushed, and the electricity and mes they produced managed to scrape off some of the man¡¯s HP, but the damage dealt was actually rather lowpared to when she used her ¡°Evil Eater¡± so the man was able to quickly resume his assault.

    ¡°Ah! I¡­ I see¡­!¡±

    Since the thing that had been causing the man to retreat before had been her ¡°Evil Eater¡±, now that she had put away her shield, there was nothing preventing the man to continue to attack any longer, and Maple was hit by the man¡¯s following flurry of shes, mming into the rock behind her.

    ¡°W-Waaah! W-Wait!¡±

    Although the man was relentlessly shing at Maple, she actually received no damage at all from it. All it managed to produce on Maple was the rattling sound of his sword against her armor. However, the resulting intense knockbacks rendered her unable to move her body properly.

    Even therge shield held by her ¡°Helping Hand¡±, which was still active, was really hard to get between Maple and the man, now that he had gotten so close. And so the rocks behind Maple could no longer withstand the shock of the man¡¯s ceaseless barrage of shes transmitted via Maple¡¯s body, causing it to finally give way and copse. Without the wall of rocks¡¯ support, Maple was thrown further backwards.

    Originally, Maple had created this back wall by lining up rocks really close to the edge of this area. Being driven there after the wall had copsed meant that she was now at a dead end.

    Furthermore, the rocks that were used as the roof also lost their support and fell down, enclosing both man and Maple with rocks from all sides, making it impossible for either of them to retreat.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    What had first seemed to be quite a pinch for Maple had suddenly turned into a great opportunity that happened by mere chance.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Take this!¡±

    Despite still being shed at and pressed against the rocks behind her, Maple still managed to open her inventory, taking a huge iron ball from it and lifting it over her head. Since they werepletely blocked by rocks all around them, there was no way for the man to dodge an iron ball of this size when thrown from above.

    The iron ball fell on both Maple and the man, crushing them. This was what Maple aimed for, to slowly deal damage to the man by crushing him under the heavy iron ball. The damage it dealt was rather meager, but as long as the man was being crushed under the iron ball, he would be continuously damaged by it, and Maple estimated that in a few hours, the man¡¯s HP would finally reach zero.

    Of course, there was no way the man would just sit still and wait to be crushed to death, and so he tried to escape.

    Although he was unable to move his body, he managed to shoot a ck shockwave from his sword without moving thanks to his magic abilities, cutting the iron ball in half.

    However, at this very moment, Maple already had her next iron ball ready, so she threw that one as well, crushing them both again and ensuring that this situation would continue.

    Since the enemy was the only one receiving damage through this, Maple would eventually win the battle if this situation continued. It was a rather convoluted way to win a battle, but thanks to it, Maple was steadily heading towards victory.

    A little over an hour passed, and as the man kept on shing through the iron balls and Maple kept on recing them, another problem finally arose.

    Maple had finally run out of items to throw.

    Even though Iz had given her as many items as she could carry, this situation she was in wasn¡¯t something she had nned before entering this area, so she hadn¡¯t expected these items to be so crucial. After all, what kind of yer would actually worry about running out of rocks to crush an opponent to death in the first ce?

    Maple had thought that it would be nice if she could at least pick up the stuff she had thrown so that she could throw it again, but herself being crushed as well under the weight of the iron ball along with the enemy made it impossible to do so.

    And so, two hours went by, and the items Maple had thrown all over the ce started disappearing one by one.

    Although she had already seeded in reducing the man¡¯s HP by about another 20%, he was still far from being defeated. The rocks that were keeping both of them stuck in this situation would soon despawn.

    Maple knew she had to keep scraping off as much of the man¡¯s HP as possible while they were still both trapped under these rocks.

    Using bombs would have dealt more damage to him, but they would also destroy the rocks that imprisoned both, so there was no choice but to leave it to this slow but steady scraping.

    Then again, she had already used up every single one of her other items, and since the rocks that were trapping them both would soon despawn either way, Maple reconsidered, and started throwing medium-sized bombs one after another to destroy therge rock that was now crushing the man. After all, there was no point in beingpletely restricted by these rocks now that she didn¡¯t have anything else to throw at the man. In fact, this would probably be her first andst chance to get some damage done with her bombs.

    The bombs set forth by Maple rolled towards the man, and get caught in the middle of his attempts at clearing away the rock that was crushing him, which in turn activates them and sets them off in a chain reaction.

    Compared to crushing the enemy¡¯s body with rocks and iron balls, which were not originally intended to be used for attacks, these bombs were much more powerful, and since each of them was a direct hit, they alone managed to take another 10% of the man¡¯s HP.

    However, the surrounding walls would be understandably unable to withstand such an explosion, and so therge rocks around both Maple and the man were instantly deleted by it. The first of the rocks that Maple had thrown earlier had also reached their time limit and despawned, so after the explosion was over, the terrain was returned to the nd it was in the beginning.

    The man was now at 50% HP. Now that this battle had reached this milestone, dark light started bursting out from beyond the dust whipped up by the explosion.

    Sensing that something had changed, Maple equipped one of therge shields Iz had given to her ¨Csince she herself could not use them¨C, and then used her ¡°Helping Hand¡± to add two morerge shields to her front and sides to prepare her defenses.

    The man jumped out of the dust cloud, revealing he now had a sword in each hand. Both of them were wrapped in a dark light that flickered like mes, and Maple¡¯s body became stiff as she sensed the danger emanating from his enemy.

    Since his appearance had changed, Maple thought that the man had probably gained some kind of damage boost or additional effect to his attacks.

    She prepared to rush in, but the man suddenly waved his hand, creating a ck magic circle above them, and then the situation changedpletely.

    A jet-ckser was instantly fired from this magic circle, and therge shield that blocked it was dyed ck as a result. To Maple¡¯s surprise, the pitch-ckened shield exploded in a shy way, breaking Maple¡¯s bnce. She managed to keep holding to it thanks to it being actually held by her ¡°Helping Hand¡±, but if she had been holding it with her own hand, she probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to keep holding onto it.

    And then, now that he had a clear opening, the man quickly closed the distance between Maple and himself and unleashed a vicious sh, which finally broke through Maple¡¯s crumbling defensive.

    ¡°Ugh!¡±

    From the shed area, Maple¡¯s gear started getting filled with the same dark light which wouldter trigger another explosion.

    Not only that, but this attack seemed to be set to deal true damage, which ignored gear defense, and so it managed to chip away at Maple¡¯s HP. Among therge shields she had received from Iz, Maple had given priority to equipping the ones that increased HP, so even though the three shields together would keep her from dying for the time being, she couldn¡¯t afford to get hit multiple times by a simr attack.

    While adjusting the position of herrge shields, Maple took out a sticky bomb from her inventory and ced it on her chest.

    After sessfully blocking the next sh, Maple repositioned her body just in time for the bomb to go off, throwing herself backwards at high speed.

    Being too close to the man was now very dangerous. Maple kept her inventory open, and continued to attach sticky bombs to her chest in order to quickly escape from the man¡¯s reach whenever he got to close.

    These bombs didn¡¯t allow for a very dexterous movement, but at least they were great for keeping her distance at regr intervals.

    Besides, attacking with explosions was Maple¡¯s specialty. By keeping her inventory open, she was able to take out the bombs more smoothly, which would in turn allow her to scatter arge amount of bombs at the same time as being sent flying backwards.

    Since the man continued trying to get close to Maple, these explosions kept on chipping away at his HP. Maple figure she had enough bombs left to finish this fight like this, but she was also worried about being able to keep up with the pace. If she were to make a mistake and get hit once again, she would have a very hard time trying to reposition herself, which would cause her next attempt at flying away backwards to fail. And such a mistake would be fatal.

    ¡°Okay, I gotta focus!¡±

    As she took a deep breath, Maple felt as if Sally was somehow standing there with her. Knowing that she couldn¡¯t afford to lose after havinge this far, Maple repositioned her three shields.

 Chapter 414

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 414</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Vestiges ¨C 2</strong>

    Even though Maple had found a potential way out of her sticky situation, it was something she hade up with on the spur of the moment and not a tactic she had practiced, so she still hadn¡¯t fully gotten the hang of throwing bombs at her enemy while going through her inventory. Since all her offensive skills had been sealed away, there wasn¡¯t much else to think about, but Maple was still feeling overwhelmed by the amount of micromanagement needed to pull this off.

    Eventually, Maple found herself unable to go through her inventory in time and ended up attaching a bomb to her chest a little toote, which allowed the man to close the distance between them in an instant.

    ¡°Waah!? W-Wait¡­ Ugh!¡±

    The man was at a clear advantage in such a close range, and several damage VFX appeared as his quick barrage of attacks tore through Maple¡¯s torso.

    ¡°Get away from me!¡±

    Althoughte, Maple¡¯s bomb still went off, and after gaining some distance, she ced one of herrge shields in front of her to at least force her opponent to go around it if he wanted to continue attacking.

    ¡°I gotta use another bomb¡­ and a Potion too¡­¡±

    One by one, Maple continued to use items in order to try to remedy her situation. Luckily for her, the battlefield was t, and it seemed to extend endlessly behind her, so she could continue to retreat as much as she wanted. Maple managed to keep this tactic under control by reducing the number of distractions around her.

    Maple was able to keep the jet-ckser that caused dyed explosions from hitting her body thanks to her ¡°Helping Hand¡±. Having to deal with both theser and the man¡¯s attacks at the same time, all while trying to deal some damage herself, would at times prove to be too much for Maple¡¯s concentration, and she would get hit from time to time.

    However, the one whose attacks were gradually bing less effective was definitely her opponent.

    As long as she didn¡¯t run out of Potions, Maple would be able to restore her HP. But the man had no way to regenerate, and, albeit slowly, his own HP would only keep going down as the battle progressed.

    ¡°Again!¡±

    As the man approached, Maple scattered arge amount of bombs. She didn¡¯t bother thinking what type of bombs they were, and instead focused on making it difficult for the man to avoid them. Once the man entered their area of effect, Maple created a me, causing a chain detonation. The st also engulfed Maple, dealing damage only to her opponent but still blowing her away.

    ¡°Phew¡­ Haah¡­ Alright!¡±

    This wasn¡¯t Maple¡¯s first long battle, but it was the first time she was this busy during a battle, and was clearly showing signs of fatigue.

    But this was only natural. The man¡¯s HP had gone down to 40%, but the battle had gone on for a little over 3 hours.

    Even so, Maple managed to keep her focus and was able to deal a good amount of damage with thatst explosion. But what worried her the most was the amount of sticky bombs left in her inventory. She had been using them generously in order to quickly create distance between herself and her opponent, but once she ran out of them, she would have nothing to rece them with.

    She still had about one third of her original number of sticky bombs. She would definitely run out of them before the battle was over. And Maple feared that the moment she were to slow down, nothing would stop the man from tearing her to shreds with his flurry of shes. Unless¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to use my ¡®Evil Eater¡¯¡­!¡±

    Maple still had 7 of her daily uses of her ¡°Evil Eater¡±. She estimated that if she were to sessfully hit them all, that would be the end of the battle.

    Maple figured that once the man¡¯s HP went down to 30% would be a good time to switch to a more aggressive approach, and continued to use her hit-and-run tactics with her sticky bombs to deal steady damage.

    Normally, 30% HP was the final threshold for boss monsters to change to their final behavioral patterns. After that mark had been passed, it was highly likely that Maple¡¯s ¡°Evil Eater¡± alone would do the rest of the job. If all the man could do against it was to endure it, his remaining HP would go down rather quickly.

    The battle raged on, with the red mes of Maple¡¯s explosions and the man¡¯s jet-ckser both illuminating the battlefield and dealing damage to each other.

    ¡°How about this!¡±

    Maple¡¯s final explosion was the biggest of them all, and as the man was enveloped in its resulting mes, his HP finally reached the mark of 30%.

    And as expected, that mark brought about an undesirable change in the man¡¯s behavior.

    As he jumped up a few meters off the ground, arge magic circle appeared on the ground with him in the center. Seeing this, Maple started running as far away from it as possible.

    As she went on to getting ready for whatever was toe next by recovering her HP with another Potion and recing the batteredrge shield on her ¡°Helping Hand¡± with another one, a ck mud-like substance started to ooze out of the center of the magic circle, spreading through the ground.

    ¡°Like I said¡­ You better die quietly!¡±

    The man pointed his sword at Maple, and at the same time, strange creatures started to appear from this ck mud. They all seemed to look a bit like Maple whenever she used her ¡°Atrocity¡±, but with slight differences. Some of them had wings, others were much more muscr, and others had multiple arms and legs, but what they all had inmon was that they were all d in the same dark light that had proven to be effective in damaging Maple.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Seeing that, Maple hurriedly equipped her ¡°Replica of the Dark Night.¡± She currently didn¡¯t have the power to defend against this and win this drawn-out battle. Up to this point, Maple had managed toe around by using every trick in the book, but there¡¯s only so much she could aplish with mere items. So Maple had no choice but to try to bring down the curtain once and for all with the strongest weapon she currently possessed.

    Luckily, she had kept her distance from the man, and it would still take a short while for those monsters to reach her.

    Maple hurriedly wrapped another one of her rockets around her body and set it off.

    With a loud bang, Maple soared into the sky. She had to do this because the monsters on the ground would have gotten in the way. With this, she could force the man toe to her, just like before.

    The only ones who could chase after Maple now were the few of those monsters who happened to have wings, and the man himself.

    Though the man was naturally faster than his summoned monsters, thetter were closer to begin with, so they would be the ones to get to Maple first.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    With these flying monsters on the way, Maple wouldn¡¯t be able to hit the man directly with herrge shield. However, she couldn¡¯t afford to fall back to the ground, as it was swarmed by the majority of those creatures. Maple realized that, at this point, she had no other choice but to keep going forward with her n.

    After reaching a rtively high altitude thanks to her rocket, Maple finally started her descent.

    Changing the direction of her body, she dove straight into the crowd of monsters, disintegrating one of them with her ¡°Evil Eater¡± before shaking off the rest of the crowd with her momentum.

    She was making a beeline for the man, the boss monster that Maple had no choice but to defeat.

    As the man readied his sword, Maple put herrge shield in front of her. Magic spells and sword attacks alike, no matter what kind of destructive power they had, they would bepletely powerless against thisrge shield.

    And so the sword was swallowed whole into the shield, which continued going forward and connected with the man¡¯s unprotected body.

    Maple was quite familiar with her ¡°Evil Eater¡±. She had already assumed that it would go right through the man¡¯s body, so she used her ¡°Helping Hand¡± to create a scaffolding using the two otherrge shields equipped into its slots, and was able tond on it.

    Though the man would be able to rebuild his body after being swallowed by Maple¡¯s ¡°Evil Eater¡±, he wouldn¡¯t be able to undo the damage already done to him. That was Maple¡¯s advantage.

    ¡°Hiyah!¡±

    Then, after safelynding directly behind the man, Maple started throwing herrge shields at the man from the left and right like a pendulum. And since the man was busy rebuilding his body, he had no means to avoid this flurry of shield bashes.

    After hitting the man with all her remaining uses of ¡°Evil Eater¡±, Maple was amazed to see that he still had a small amount of HP left. Since she had to spend one of her uses of ¡°Evil Eater¡± to reach the man in the first ce, she was one use away from defeating him.

    However, it was just a sliver of HP. A single bomb or just about any other item would be able to deal the final blow.

    However, when Maple took out a bomb, one of the monsters that she had managed to shake off on the way to the man jumped at her, rendering her unable to throw the bomb at the man.

    What¡¯s more, the monster¡¯s dark light, which ignored all defense and dealt fixed damage, managed to scrape off a bit more of Maple¡¯s HP.

    ¡°G¡­ get away from me!¡±

    Maple hugged the bomb she had been nning to throw and curled up in a ball. She had managed to survive so far thanks to therge shield¡¯s passive skill that increased her max HP. Maple once again produced a crystal from her inventory, and activated it in order to get herself away from that critical situation.

    In the meantime, the man seemed to have finished repairing his body, and Maple could see him swooping down on her with wings fully spread,pletely determined to decide the match with his next attack.

    This time, nothing was in the way between that man and herself. But if Maple were to touch the ground, she would have a hard time escaping the monsters that were there waiting for her.

    This one would truly be Maple¡¯sst chance to defeat the man.

    With her eyes fixed on the man¡¯s remaining sword as he dashed towards her at full speed, Maple held a small bomb in her hand. It was one of Iz¡¯s deluxe products. Its explosion radius was small, but in return, it was insanely powerful. All that was left to see was if it would do the trick.

    However, no matter how much she focused, Maple would prove to be unable to dodge the man¡¯s attacks. She didn¡¯t have Sally¡¯s agility.

    Maple had no way to dodge and poke at an opening as swiftly as Sally. But¡­

    As the sword approached, Maple clenched her teeth as she positioned one of herrge shields a little farther behind her at a slight angle so that it would prevent her from falling to the ground.

    Right after that, the man¡¯s sword caught up with Maple, cutting deeply into her body and knocking her against the shield she had just set in mid-air as several shy damage effects appeared..

    This unstable, makeshift wall that Maple had set up in mid air made a muffled sound as it bounced off Maple¡¯s body and caused her to frown painfully.

    Even so, Maple was still firmly facing forward. Right after taking the man¡¯s attack, she managed to kick herself away from therge shield and leapt towards her airborne enemy. Then, right before the man¡¯s follow-up attack, Maple pushed her hand forward.

    Just as Maple cannot do what Sally can do, there were some things only she could aplish.

    One of them was her incredible defensive power, which had helped Maple countless times, even if it meant she would get herself caught in her own attacks from time to time.

    As the man was dashing towards her at full speed, and Maple had used the recoil of her knockback to bounce off the shield and towards the man, the distance between the two of them was reduced to zero in the blink of an eye.

    The man found himself so close to Maple that there would be no way he could get himself away from Maple in time. The next thing he saw was Maple¡¯s small bomb getting way too close to his own face before realizing he was well within its narrow but powerful effective range.

    ¡°Ehehe, how do you like that!¡±

    Coincident with Maple¡¯s proudughing, a thunderous roar echoed throughout the area as the small bomb¡¯s explosion engulfed the two of them, and the shadow of one of disappeared in the light.

    A little whileter, the GM team were in the middle of overseeing the state of the game. They had set it up so that a notification sound would alert them whenever a yer would clear a hidden dungeon and other events. This time, a loud chime signaled the defeat of a boss.

    ¡°Which one was it?¡±

    ¡°It was¡­ ¡®Forbidden Book¡¯¡­¡±

    When the first of them asked the second who did it, an indescribable expression appeared on the second one¡¯s face.

    ¡°¡­Who was it?¡±

    ¡°It was Maple.¡±

    ¡°¡­????¡±

    The first one was totally confused by this. It simply made no sense. After all, he knew everything rted to this boss called ¡°Forbidden Book¡±, and about the quest that leads up to him.

    ¡°I must have heard things wrong. Say it again.¡±

    ¡°¡­It was Maple.¡±

    ¡°¡­How?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t read the logs yet¡­¡±

    ¡°But what about the seal on Maple¡¯s skills?¡±

    ¡°She isn¡¯t a Wizard-type, so it¡¯s Pattern A.¡±

    ¡°Then all but her passive skills should be gone! Sure, she got to keep her defensive power, but how on earth was Maple, of all yers, able to defeat him?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look at the battle from the beginning.¡±

    Everyone in the room stared intently at the projected image, thinking that there must have been some sort of bug in this boss¡¯ code that allowed Maple to take him down despite having no clear means of offense.

    Immediately after the battle began, the boss attacked Maple with a powerful sh. Although she sustained no damage, Maple was thrown into a situation where she could not stand straight before being attacked once again.

    ¡°Of course she would receive no damage at all¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, duh.¡±

    After a while, Maple¡¯s situation changed and she started using bombs. The GM team was impressed to see how she had found a way to keep herself off the ground by a clever use of her ¡°Helping Hand.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see¡­¡±

    ¡°From here, it seems that she¡¯s been throwing rocks at the boss for about an hour.¡±

    ¡°That was well thought¡­ but howe she had so many rocks on her in the first ce?¡±

    ¡°Who knows¡­?¡±

    Even so, after a while, the boss also starts flying in the sky. The GM team knew that the boss wouldn¡¯t let this situation continue for much longer, since he had the tools to retaliate.

    Themotion in the room intensified as they continued to look at the footage.

    ¡°I suppose that, theoretically, something like this is possible.. But still¡­ Sticky bombs¡­?¡±

    ¡°That was actually very clever of Maple¡­ Though I¡¯d never imagined she woulde up with an idea like this.¡±

    ¡°Maybe someone like Sally gave her the idea. That girl is quite a piece of work.¡±

    ¡°Look at Maple go¡­ Her movements are very well executed.¡±

    ¡°The fact that she won¡¯t take damage from the bombs is really huge in this battle. Anyone else trying to do this would bemitting suicide.¡±

    So in the end, the GM team determined that Maple, rather than having found some kind of exploit to cheese her way through the battle, instead had a real battle that took a few hours, arge amount of resources, and a deep understanding of her own strengths.

    ¡°Her passive skill set is really something else, huh?¡±

    ¡°You can say that again.¡±

    ¡°I told you before, haven¡¯t I? Those Skills are¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    <em>¡­the root of all evil.</em> Once again, the GM team was met with the fact that Maple¡¯s unreal defensive power had been the main responsible for her sess so far.

 Chapter 415

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 415</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Determination</strong>

    After several hours of fighting that boss, Maple, who hadpleted her final preparations, arrived at the Congregation of Holy Swords¡¯ Guild Home to have a guild master-to-guild master conversation with Payne.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s join forces. Do you have any preference on which side to pick for the event?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, not really¡­ What about you, Payne?¡±

    ¡°They said that the monsters would remain in the same locations on the field. I think it would be a good idea to see which side has the monsters that are easier for you to defeat, and pick the side opposing that one.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ well, Velvet and the others will be choosing the me side.¡±

    ¡°Velvet?¡­ So, ¡®Thunder Storm¡¯¡­?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s told me that she wanted to stand as a rival to me this time around.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then¡­¡±

    As the two of them were discussing these matters, Frederica, Drag, and Dred were sitting on a sofa just outside that room as they waited for them to finish.

    ¡°So this time we¡¯re fighting alongside Maple, huh?¡±

    ¡°Hey, hey, nothing¡¯s set on stone yet.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s not like that¡¯s bad news for us.¡±

    ¡°Right?¡±

    After a short wait, Maple and Payne came out of the room together.

    ¡°Payne! How did it go?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve agreed to forming an alliance. We¡¯ve also decided which side we¡¯re picking.¡±

    After sharing their results to the rest of his guild members, Payne asked them to keep it a secret from everyone else, and dismissed everyone for the rest of the day.

    After that, Dred, who hade out of the Guild Home to see Maple off, turned to Payne..

    ¡°For the time being, it looks like our fighting power has increased.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I have great expectations from this alliance. Also¡­ those rumored ck stains seem to be gone.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it wasn¡¯t just a rumor, though.¡±

    ¡°There were several different people who imed to have seen it with their own eyes, so I don¡¯t think they could all be wrong.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I think she¡¯s finished some kind of event or special quest. I guess we shouldn¡¯t be surprised if she¡¯s gotten even stronger.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m counting on that. I wouldn¡¯t want it to be too easy should we stand against each other in the future.¡±

    ¡°Hey, hey! I¡¯ll show you that you can count on us too! We¡¯re the ¡®Gathering of Holy Swords¡¯ after all!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! I¡¯m really looking forward to this event!¡±

    Payne hadn¡¯t seen any new moves from Maple after her ¡°Machine God¡± and ¡°Atrocity¡±. But he believed that hiding your most recent skills until the right time is something that everyone ought to do.

    As an ally, he could only hope that those new secret skills would give them the upper hand.

    ¡°Let¡¯s make our final preparations. Things are going to get pretty hectic once the event starts.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s give it our all!¡±

    This would be a PvP event. The ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡± had no intention of losing to anyone. And they would do everything they could to emerge victorious.

    Just like ¡°Gathering of Holy Swords¡± and ¡°Maple Tree¡± were choosing their side, so were the other guilds.

    ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± was also midway through solidifying its strategy based on the information it had gathered so far in order to pick a side.

    ¡°Well, Mii. There¡¯s something interesting here¡­¡±

    ¡°I see. Certainly this is¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, I hadn¡¯t noticed that. Are there others like this one?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve found some others. But I don¡¯t think too many others had noticed this¡­ Maybe I¡¯m the only one.¡±

    Marx then went on to show the rest of the guild certain spots on an open map.

    ¡°Though it¡¯s possible that everyone already knows about this and is just keeping to themselves¡­ But I think it doesn¡¯t hurt to keep these spots in mind.¡±

    ¡°But these are spots you¡¯ve found using your skill, Marx. I haven¡¯t seen anyone else who could use that skill, so you may have the advantage here.¡±

    ¡°You think¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Anyway, let¡¯s share this among ourselves. I wonder if we should share this info with the rest of our faction as well¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ We may have to.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I think that¡¯ll be for the better.¡±

    ¡°Right. Above all, I think it¡¯ll help showing our strengths to others.¡±

    ¡°Everyone seems to be making their guesses already. Once I join one of the factions, I¡¯ll share this info with them. Also, it doesn¡¯t really matter which faction we choose.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but even then, it seems that we¡¯ve kinda already picked a side.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    Apparently, the three of them were nning to join Mii¡¯s side. And so would the guild members. If it doesn¡¯t matter which side they¡¯d end up joining, so long as it was the same as Mii¡¯s.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s do our best to win this!¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°Right!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    They had great confidence in their strengths in teamfights. And, naturally, the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± would be going for a strategy that best suited their preferred ystyle.

    ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± hadn¡¯t bothered itself with trying to form alliances in advance, but there were obviously guilds other than ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡± who had taken such measures.

    Two such guilds were ¡°Thunder Storm¡± and ¡°Rapid Shot¡±.

    ¡°Oooh, it¡¯s very spacious.¡±

    ¡°Well, ¡®Rapid Shot¡¯ is one of this game¡¯srgest guilds¡­ So I think it suits them very well.¡±

    ¡°This way. Come in, both of you.¡±

    Lily took Velvet and Hinata into the room, and they all sat around a table.

    There were only four people in this spacious room. The fourth one was Wilbert, who hade along with Lily.

    ¡°Shall we begin?¡±

    ¡°Haha, why so formal, though? It feels kind of weird now that I think about it. But at the same time, it might be appropriate for this sort of ¡®public rtions¡¯.¡±

    After some idle chat, Lily moved on to the main topic.

    ¡°At the moment, it seems that some guilds have already picked sides for the event. It seems that there is not that much difference in strength between the two sides, though I¡¯m inclined to doubt that.¡±

    In other words, Lily indicated that being able to bring in the most skilled yers ¨Cthe ones that would make the biggest difference in PvP¨C to the same side would be very significant.

    ¡°What do you think? Have you changed your mind?¡±

    ¡°Velvet.¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. Let¡¯s join forces.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s something we¡¯d like very much. With the help of ¡®Thunder Storm¡¯ we¡¯ll all be one step closer to victory already.¡±

    ¡°d to hear that. We were nning to ask you the same thing.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great. Then there¡¯s no more need to prolong this conversation any longer.¡±

    ¡°However¡­ We have one condition.¡±

    ¡°¡­What?¡±

    Although she knew that scheming wasn¡¯t really her forte, Lily turned a bit defensive upon being told that there would be a condition to their arrangement.

    Then Velvet smiled as if she couldn¡¯t hold it any longer, and put her hands on the table as she excitedly leant forward.

    ¡°Let¡¯s pick a side so that we can fight Maple and the others!¡±

    ¡°¡­Haha, it seems I was scared for nothing. Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re already doing our research with that intention in mind. That I can promise to you.¡±

    ¡°Alright, great!¡±

    ¡°Well, this went quite smoothly. That¡¯s great.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the only thing I care about, so¡­ That¡¯s our only special request.¡±

    Then let¡¯s work out the details. We should get the strongest avable yers on our side. They need to be pretty strong, otherwise they could be destroyed in an instant.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll take care of the defense¡­ So please let me know if you have any questions.¡±

    The reason why they preferred to recruit only the strongest yers was because they took pride in their ability to hold their own in a one-vs-many situation. Being able to defend against piercing attacks would give them an edge in this event, where the number of surviving yers in the end was extremely important.

    ¡°So what should I do?¡±

    ¡°Just throw yourself into the enemy line. That¡¯s what you excel at after all, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but even that has to be done with a n in mind!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s think about that too.¡±

    It was very important to know when and where to put one¡¯s chips on the table. Velvet, Hinata, and Wilbert could turn the tide of a battle. Wondering what to do next, Lily tried to imagine how the event would unfold.

    And so, all the yers continued to make their arrangements. The start of the event was approaching day by day, and the day finally arrived. The members of ¡°Maple Tree¡± gathered a few moments before the event started to make their final confirmations.

    ¡°Keep your guard up around here¡­ and then over here. There are troublesome monsters here¡­¡±

    They went over how they were going to move around with Sally as the center of their formation. Since the GMs hadn¡¯t disclosed which guilds were hostile, it was impossible to go outside feelingpletely safe. Still, since everyone had already picked a side, any yer that hadn¡¯t been seen in town before could be treated as enemies.

    ¡°Looks like ¡®Thunder Storm¡¯ is going to be fighting against us this time around. Mai, Yui, you need to be extra careful. You too, Kanade.¡±

    Since all three of them had such low base Defense stats, even a single lightning strike from one of Velvet¡¯s area-of-effect attacks could wipe any of them out in an instant.

    After going over the top threats they needed to watch out for one more time, the countdown for the event¡¯s start had finally started.

    ¡°Everyone! Let¡¯s do our best!¡±

    ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll defend you all!¡±

    ¡°Yes! We¡¯ll do our best!¡±

    ¡°Of course. Let¡¯s be very vignt.¡±

    ¡°This time, I¡¯ll make sure to put on a good show with my magic book.¡±

    ¡°Leave the resupply to me. If things go south, make sure to fall back.¡±

    ¡°If you have any questions, ask me and I¡¯ll answer them.¡±

    Everyone nodded at Maple, and finally the teleportation light surrounded them all. The battlefield for the event was an entirely different instanced area.

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s win this thing, Sally!¡±

    ¡°¡­This time, we¡¯ll win for sure. My mind¡¯s set on that.¡±

    Sally also seemed to be focusing, and Maple followed suit and braced herself.

    Immediately after that, the eight of them were teleported to the instanced area for the event. In this Event Field, the skills of those who had be stronger were about to be put to the test against one another.

 Chapter 416

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 416</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Tenth Event</strong>

    When the light that had enveloped Maple and the others faded away, they were no longer in the Guild Home, but in the town¡¯s central square.

    Even so, this ce actually wasn¡¯t the same location in the 9th floor, but a field made as a duplicate of the original ce, made especially for this event. Simrly, the other yers who were teleported here also looked around, showing various reactions of joy and disappointment as each of them verified who they had been allied with.

    Maple and the others had chosen the country of Fire and Wastnd. Though mes danced as a decoration even in town, they were blown away as a ck shadow descended from the sky.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve gathered quite a lot. I wee you all!¡±

    The king of this country, who was characterized by having the wings and tail of a dragon, was floating in midair with an intrepid smile.

    ¡°You all know the rules, right? Our soldiers are also in town. Use whatever resources you have avable. Even if you¡¯re just a traveler, fight bravely.¡±

    The two countries weren¡¯t that far away from one another for any yer with a high AGI stat. Any side that let their guard down in the slightest would be risking a swift invasion.

    ¡°Of course, I will also take part in the battlefield. So make sure to keep an eye on the sky to make sure you don¡¯t get swept by my attacks.¡±

    Saying so, the king began to float up as his body was enveloped in a dark light. After a while, the light bursted out, revealing a huge ck dragon that quickly flew up into the sky.

    Immediately after that, a disy indicating the start of the event appeared in the sky, and yers were finally able to act freely. As each guild had their own strategy, some yers rushed out of the town¡¯s walls, while others went inside the castle.

    ¡°We can¡¯t just stay here, so let¡¯s go take a look around.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    At Sally¡¯s suggestion, Maple gathered the members of ¡°Maple Tree¡± and decided to take them all away from the noise of the central square for a moment so that they could talk calmly again. However, before Maple herself started walking, she looked around for a certain yer.

    It seemed that Payne was doing the same thing, so they immediately found each other.

    After giving instructions to his guild¡¯s members, Payne spoke to Frederica, who then ran towards Maple¡¯s group.

    ¡°Looks like we¡¯re on the same side. I¡¯ll be the contact point between you and my guild. Let¡¯s do this~¡±

    ¡°Yeah! We¡¯re counting on you!¡±

    ¡°I feel pretty safe knowing that things like ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ also affect members of the same faction even if they are not in the same party.¡±

    Since Frederica couldmunicate with her guild in a more flexible way thanks to her monsterpanion Knots¡¯ skills, she would be acting as a liaison between ¡°Maple Tree¡± and ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡± during the event.

    After Frederica joined Maple¡¯s party, they all left the central square.

    Then, after they were fairly away from all the noise, Frederica was the first to speak.

    ¡°Well, what is ¡®Maple Tree¡¯ going to do?¡±

    ¡°First, we¡¯re going to wait and see! ¡­Right?¡±

    ¡°Right, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Whaaat? You¡¯re not going tounch yourselves headfirst into battle¡­?¡±

    ¡°A passive approach is more suitable for Maple. And with this event¡¯s rules, it¡¯s better for us to be where the most people are.¡±

    Since ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± works on all yers in the allied faction, it would be most effective for Maple to be where most of the yers are, and where most battles are likely to take ce.

    ¡°Besides, we want to see how the other side will react in the early stages of this event. I¡¯m sure Payne has also considered that, hasn¡¯t he?¡±

    Frederica nodded in response to Chrome¡¯s question.

    The winning condition for this event was to sit in the throne of the opposing side¡¯s castle. That was the thing they had to watch out for above all else.

    ¡°There are monsterpanions that can fly, and we can also use items in this event.¡±

    By using an item that would temporarily allow them to use certain monsterpanions, any yer would be able to fly straight to their opponent¡¯s castle, ignoring all defensive outer walls.

    And if the enemy forces were to be allowed to gather there, a single mistake in the defense would spell that side¡¯s instant defeat.

    ¡°As far as I could see from the square, it looks like that defensive guild isn¡¯t going to be on our side.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I haven¡¯t seen any member of the ¡®Kingdom of the me Emperor¡¯ guild anywhere¡­¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re probably on the enemy¡¯s side.¡±

    Maple and the others had guessed that the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± guild led by Mii wouldn¡¯t choose the country of Water and Nature, as that would make the monsters they would have to attack a poor match for them, but it seemed that their guess had missed the mark.

    ¡°I looked around as well, but I haven¡¯t seen anyone from ¡®Thunder Storm¡¯ or ¡®Rapid Shot¡¯ around either.¡±

    ¡°If you say so, Kanade, then they¡¯re definitely not here.¡±

    Kanade, who had an outstanding memory, naturally remembered the face of any yer he had seen before, so if he said that he hadn¡¯t seen the members of a guild, it would be safe to assume that that guild was on the opposing side.

    Once the top yers came flying on Mii¡¯s Ignis, was there going to be any way to stop them? It was difficult to say, which is why Maple¡¯s team had decided to wait and see how things would unfold in the early stages of the event.

    ¡°Well, it must be hard for the other side to make the call on when to make drastic moves like those, though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. So we thought we¡¯d better take it easy, check how things unfold for now and participate in ces where we know we can win, or whenever our allies are in danger.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s do our best!¡±

    [Maple Tree] is small in number, but has outstanding abilities, so they aim to take advantage of the battle situation by participating in small-scale battles in a hit-and-run style.

    In this event where they couldn¡¯t afford to get themselves killed, small wins would add up to a greater victory.

    Maple and the others went over the map with the information gathered by Sally, and decided to stay on alert for a while to see if the enemy woulde from the sky.

    And so Maple and the others headed for the top of the outer wall to secure a better spot.

    At this distance, Maple would be able to fly straight to the castle byunching herself with a st from one of her weapons.

    There weren¡¯t many tamed monsters faster than this peculiar manner of flight, so as long as the yers who were protecting the castle managed to buy a little time, she would make it in time to help stop any assault.

    ¡°Come out, Knots.¡±

    After reaching the top of the wall, Frederica looked around and called out Knots.

    As expected, it seemed that the enemy yers had yet to get close to this town, and the only ones who were actually moving about were the monsters that had just spawned in the field and an allied party led by a Great Shielder that was setting up a defensive formation.

    ¡°Knots, ¡®Sonar¡¯!¡±

    Knots, who was resting on Frederica¡¯s head, let out a high-pitched voice, and at the same time, a ripple-like effect started to spread around him.

    ¡°No signs of the enemy! Well, as expected, there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything to be worried about, right~?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s very convenient. A skill that can detect hidden enemies¡­¡±

    ¡°Huhuhu, the best thing about it is that it lets me see people who had turned themselves invisible. I can even see through your ¡®Mirage¡¯, Sally.¡±

    ¡°I really felt that during our duel.¡±

    ¡°But it has a rather big cooldown, so from now on, I¡¯ll only use it if we sense any kind of suspicious movement, okay~?¡±

    After saying that, Frederica turned her attention downward and called out to the yers who were setting up the defensive formation.

    Frederica¡¯s buffs would actually reach them even from where she was standing, so it was important for them to be aware of that as well. Having the reassurance of being affected by powerful buffs would allow them to make more aggressive ys.

    ¡°Let¡¯s stay on guard here for a while, and then we move as nned.¡±

    Chrome and Kasumi nodded in agreement with Sally¡¯s words. Just like they had done in the 4th event, the five of them who were good at being on watch would be in charge of basic defense, and the rest wouldunch an offensive on the enemy yers. Kasumi and Sally made for enough offensive power, and with Chrome, there would be no problem with the defense.

    While avoiding full-fledged battles as much as possible, the three of them intended to grasp the enemy¡¯s movements in more detail by taking a close look at their front line.

    Since Maple was able to rush to the battlefield by ignoring all terrain and any state of the battlefield thanks to her ability to fly byunching herself with her weapons, she could afford to stay in a more calm location. Being on top of the outer wall would allow her to prepare to blow herself up into the sky without a single worry, but that wouldn¡¯t be possible while inbat.

    It would be nice to have Maple on every battlefield in order to have a significant advantage in battle, but that¡¯s impossible, so it was natural to have Maple stay in the most important ce.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Be careful. If you get yourself killed, all of this preparation would¡¯ve been for nothing, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s be extra careful not to overextend ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know. You too, Maple. We¡¯re facing other yers this time around. And they will try to exploit your weaknesses.¡±

    ¡°Got it! Be careful!¡±

    Sally gave a small nod that she wouldn¡¯t make the same mistake again, and a brief pause, the three of them departed for the enemy camp.

 Chapter 417

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 417</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Camouge</strong>

    Cloaked in robes, the three of them left the town and headed towards the edge of the field and into the densely covered forest so as to avoid walking out in the open.

    Although this would put them at risk of being attacked by surprise by the enemy, it also granted them the ability to do the surprise-attacking themselves.

    In that case, it would be more convenient for Sally and the others, who were acting as a three-man party, to do things this way rather than throwing themselves into the front lines, where they could expect to be facing too many enemies at once.

    Additionally, since the risk of a surprise attack would be much higher for both sides, whether this position was advantageous or not for Sally¡¯s party would be determined by their ability to detect enemies.

    And Sally, who was used to searching for enemies at a level that surpassed anything on par with her own experience level, would make clever use of her skill effects and silent signs to allow for surprise attacks that would be nearly impossible for their enemies to detect.

    Chrome and Kasumi trusted her ability, so even if such a dense forest would otherwise seem like a dangerous ce for either of them to be wandering through, they still moved forward with confidence.

    Besides, even if they were the ones being ambushed by the enemy, they had already devised a strategy for that moment.

    ¡°¡­Someone¡¯s here. Be careful.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    Neither Chrome nor Kasumi could sense anything yet, but if Sally said so, they would go along without making any noise.

    After a little while, they noticed five yers from the enemy side marching in between the rows of trees.

    There were only five of them precisely because they were at the very edge of the map. The enemy was aware that this ce would not be the main battlefield as well.

    Although they were superior in number, they would still be able to take them down in one fell swoop.

    However, a closer examination of the enemy¡¯s lineup brought a slightly grim expression to Sally¡¯s face.

    ¡°Their defense is tight¡­¡±

    The five members of the enemy scout team consisted of two Dagger users and three Great Shielders. Thetter were holding up their shields covering the former as they marched while being vignt.

    Approaching them without being noticed already seemed to be very difficult, let alone managing tounch a preemptive attack in order to defeat them.

    ¡°What should we do? It¡¯s not that I think we can¡¯t beat them, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I should be able to protect you all from the five of them, though¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Let¡¯s keep moving ahead as nned. The enemy seems to be very vignt as well, and we don¡¯t know if there are more enemies following them at a distance.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Then stay behind me.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s keep going without getting ourselves found.¡±

    The three of them closed the distance to a more suitable position while trying not to make any noise.

    The group of five, who hadn¡¯t yet noticed Sally¡¯s party approaching like that, continued to move forward while looking around. Even from their point of view, this forest could no longer be considered to be part of their own territory, and the tension built up as they found themselves in a situation where they could expect an enemy ambush to happen at any time.

    Since they had solidified their defenses with theirrge shields, they were more worried about getting approached by the enemy, since their formation alone already prevented any long-distance magic attacks from posing any danger to them.

    A quiet forest with no enemy yers on sight still felt considerably tense. Then, the silence was suddenly broken by a voice from the side.

    ¡°¡®Holy Sword of Conviction¡¯!¡±

    Startled by the sudden shout, the five of them turned towards its source, scared by the name of the skill it announced. A torrent of light suddenly approached from far away. Even the Great Shielders chose to evade it in a hurry, and fortunately for them, the skill¡¯s aim had been slightly off, so all five of them managed to avoid any damage.

    After the light subsided, they could see a group of four people wearing robes in the distance.

    One of them was swinging down arge blue decorated sword, and it was clear that he had attacked from a position that far exceeded the range of any of the five of them.

    ¡°Oh no, that sword¡­! That Skill!¡±

    Before the trembling five could decide whether to withdraw from this battle or not, one of the four robed figures leaned forward as if about to break into a run.

    ¡°¡®Shinsoku¡¯!¡±

    As they saw that robed figure disappear right they said that, the party of five were finally convinced.

    ¡°It¡¯s the ¡®Congregation of Holy Swords¡¯! Retreat!¡±

    As expected, the five people quickly withdrew before the four robed figures could close the distance. But these four people did not pursue the five, instead opting to make sure that they had fled the area, and the encounter was put to an end there.

    ¡°Phew¡­ I can¡¯t believe that worked.¡±

    ¡°Well, we were pretty far away. And these robes make it difficult for others to see who we are.¡±

    Chrome had a sword that looked just like Payne¡¯s. While being truly impressed with Iz¡¯s technique, Chrome put it away in his inventory.¡±

    ¡°It went pretty well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, even better than expected. ¡®Camouge¡¯ is really powerful¡­¡±

    What had passed for Payne¡¯s ¡°Holy Sword of Conviction¡± had actually been Sally¡¯s ¡°sh Flood¡± after making it look like it had a Light attribute. All Chrome had to do was to imitate Payne¡¯s pose after the fake skill was unleashed.

    For the extra person, Sally changed the effect of ¡°Shadow Clone¡± into ¡°Water Wall¡± and gave it a humanoid shape, and for simting Dred¡¯s ¡°Shinsoku¡±, she changed the name of her own ¡°Super eleration¡± while activating Oboro¡¯s ¡°Quick Shadow¡±.

    ¡°Iz¡¯s voice changing machine came in really handy as well. Though if it hadn¡¯t been for the distance and the fact that we took them by surprise, they would have noticed that the voices were a bit off, as well as our height¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there are many yers that don¡¯t know about ¡®Holy Sword of Conviction¡¯ and ¡®Shinsoku¡¯ at this point in the game.¡±

    Though the party of five could have put their heights and voices into question even though they had been at a distance and covered with robes, those particr Skills were so unique that if anyone saw them being used against them, there would be no more doubts, and they would assume that they were facing none others than Payne and Dred. It was just like Maple¡¯s ¡°Hydra¡± and Mii¡¯s ¡°me Empress¡±.

    Any group of four people, cloaked or not, using such skills, absolutely had to be the ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡±

    ¡°This should be enough to make them think that Payne and his guild are in the area.¡±

    ¡°Well then, shall we withdraw before arge number of reinforcements arrive?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get the ¡®Congregation of Holy Swords¡¯ to do their best.¡±

    ¡°Onto the other side!¡±

    The enemy was probably going to be much more vignt in this area now that ¡°Payne¡¯s guild¡± was seen in the vicinity, so Sally and the others left the area.

    Frederica, who had been searching for enemies on the outer wall of the town, was contacted by Sally, and resolved to leave the outer wall.

    ¡°Well Maple, I leave this in your capable hands~¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I¡¯ll do my best to protect this ce!¡±

    After handing over defense to Maple, Frederica buffed herself and rushed towards the edge of town. There, she met the other members of ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡±, Payne, Drag, and Dred.

    ¡°Ah! You¡¯re here, Frederica!¡±

    ¡°Sally contacted me. I don¡¯t know how she did it, though~¡±

    If Sally¡¯s information was correct, they were supposed to be attacking in the opposite direction of their current position.

    ¡°Well, since we¡¯re on the same side, there¡¯s no point in lying.¡±

    ¡°But how did she do it? Could it be that Skill? Was it her ¡®Shadow Clone¡¯?¡±

    ¡°She hasn¡¯t been able to do that in our previous duel, so it must be a new Skill~.¡±

    They knew about some of Sally¡¯s Skills and what they could do, but they didn¡¯t know everything about them.

    ¡°We can¡¯t be wasting time on idle talk here. Let¡¯s march on quickly. The enemy will surely go to the ce where we were ¡®seen¡¯ soon enough. All we have to do is hit their weakened side while their forces are devoted to a wild goose chase.¡±

    Payne knows how strong he and his guild are and how much of a threat they are to the enemy side. The more the enemy dedicates its forces to try and challenge them, the less forces they would have to defend their base. The more they try to deal with Payne and his guild, the more effective Sally¡¯s trap would be.

    ¡°We move in the shadows and proceed as nned. We have to defeat any yer we meet along the way. We can¡¯t let them know where we truly are.¡±

    Each of the guild members nodded at Payne¡¯s instructions. While skirmishes continued to happen here and there out in the field, the ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡± left town to take the initiative.

 Chapter 418

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 418</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Joining an Army</strong>

    The members of ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡± were the most powerful forces in Maple¡¯s faction. After they left the town, the faction¡¯s power to protect the base was greatly reduced.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do our best to protect this ce!¡±

    ¡°¡±Yes!¡±¡±

    Maple called out to the nearby members of ¡°Maple Tree¡± and turned to face the field. Using the high-performance binocrs that Iz gave her, she stared at the nd in front of her, but she couldn¡¯t see any yers from the opposing side.

    ¡°Well, as expected, they won¡¯t juste guns zing at the front gate, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. So we¡¯re still going to wait and see how things y out for the time being?¡±

    Just like the yers that Sally and the others met out in the forest, no one could afford to make any bold moves, since this event didn¡¯t allow yers to die even once.

    No one was trying to pass through the outer walls¡¯ defenses by simply flying over them in order to head straight to the castle. Even if the enemy could avoid the allied yers on the ground, with so many lookouts on top of the walls, they would be risking getting shot down before they could reach their goal.

    ¡°Unless one of us makes a move, there won¡¯t be anyrge-scale battles.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡±

    If they continued to wait like this, they could expect the first big battle to take ce the moment the ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡± shed with the enemy faction.

    ¡°Though it doesn¡¯t look like everyone else is just going to sit around doing nothing.¡±

    As Kanade peered over the top of the outer wall, he could see several guilds gathering in the distance, as if they were about to start marching.

    ¡°There¡¯s so many people¡­¡±

    ¡°Looks like we¡¯re going to see more activity from now on¡­¡±

    Since several guilds have assembled, the number of yers gathered around was much greater than that of the members of the ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡±. Being that many, any sort of covert action would be much more difficult, and it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if any invasion they couldunch resulted in a fierce battle where both sides would suffer damage.

    ¡°Hmm, Maple. At this point, it might be better if you go with them. I think that would be more effective than waiting here for that number of people toe at us at once.¡±

    Kanade¡¯s suggestion also made sense. The reason Maple was waiting here was to see what the opponent would do in the early stages, and to be the strongest line of defense in the event of an assault.

    However, since not everyone on this side was working on the same idea, it was also necessary to have some degree of flexibility.

    If many yers suddenly were to die here, Maple¡¯s side would be at a huge disadvantage.

    ¡°Sally also said that it would be good to go to a ce with a lot of people and protect it.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if the town will be okay if I go¡­¡±

    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve already made some preparations. They should buy enough time for you to fly back here if things go south.¡±

    After saying that, Kanade picked up a book with a ck cover from his floating bookshelf and smiled confidently.

    ¡°Well, the rest of us will still have to be on guard duty just in case. Mai and Yui are here, so we should be fine.¡±

    ¡°Do your best, Maple!¡±

    ¡°Please be careful¡­!¡±

    ¡°Go, and don¡¯t worry about this ce. This is a good chance for me to show you the power of my items.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Then I¡¯m off!¡±

    After having made up her mind to move to the offensive after being encouraged by her fellow guild members, Maple let out a short sigh and jumped down from the outer wall.

    ¡°With this, the ¡®Congregation of Holy Swords¡¯ should have an easier time moving around, right?¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    If several powerful yers of Maple¡¯s side were to be scattered about in multiple ces, the more difficult it would be for the opposing side to defend against them.

    Switching to an offensive approach had its risks, but it was also true that they wouldn¡¯t be able to win just by defending. And if they were going to attack at some point either way, it would be better for them to be more efficient about it and reduce the number of times they¡¯d take risks.

    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s take a look at the equipment that we can use for defending this ce, and help Iz set up her items.¡±

    ¡°¡±Yes!¡±¡±

    The four saw Maple off as they started to make their preparations.

    In the meantime, Maple, who had just jumped from the top of the high wall,nded on the outer side of it, lifting up a great deal of dust and causing a loud noise. Naturally, this attracted the attention of the multiple allied guilds that had started to march towards the enemy base, who had been on alert for any potential enemy ambushes waiting to happen.

    The allied guild members stopped to wait for Maple, who seemed to be having a hard time catching up with them, and she thanked them for that as she ran towards them.

    ¡°Are you guys leaving now?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yeah. That¡¯s the n.¡±

    ¡°Can I go with you? I¡¯m very confident in my defense!¡±

    After Maple said that, the yers began to murmur to each other. Any yer who was fairly high level and had participated in events up to this point would naturally know about Maple. If so, there wouldn¡¯t be anything more reassuring to her than that.

    ¡°Sure, let¡¯s go. Would you like to take a position in the middle? Ah, you have that ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ Skill, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Would you like me to exin how it works?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, well, if that¡¯s okay with you, it¡¯ll be a great help.¡±

    The allies in this event could be enemies in the future. The man told Maple that she didn¡¯t have to tell them anything she considered unnecessary, but Maple still decided to talk about the weak points of ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± since knowing about them coulde in handyter during this event.

    ¡°I see. So that¡¯s how it was designed¡­ We¡¯ll need to be careful about knockbacks and piercing attacks. I¡¯ll pass this along to the rest of the party, so please stay in the center of our formation so that everyone can be within range.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°By the way¡­ What are those weird ck boxes?¡±

    Wondering about how many more weird things he would have to see during the event, the man pointed at the ck cubes floating around Maple and asked her about them.

    ¡°Ah, this is a new weapon!¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay. Then feel free to use it if you have to.¡±

    Though the number of yers who didn¡¯t know the names and general effects of Maple¡¯s Skills had decreased, there were things that those who had never been in the same party with Maple would never know about. By sharing this information with this party, it would make it easier for Maple to work with them.

    Aftering to the center of the party¡¯s formation as the man ¨Cwho seemed to be the party leader¨C had told her, Maple bowed her head and greeted the yers around her.

    ¡°Thanks for letting me join!¡±

    The rest of the party greeted her back, but they all seemed to be fired up about Maple¡¯s participation, so they were pretty noisy about it.

    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve got even more powerful allies now! Let¡¯s march on!¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Yeaaaahh!!¡±¡±¡±

    Several yers, who were probably the guild masters of various other guilds, took the lead, raising their weapons to the sky and calling out to the rest of the members of their parties in order to raise morale.

    After everyone responded with a war cry of their own, therge army finally began to move¡­

    ¡°Whoa!?¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry!¡±

    And, of course, since therge army started to move with a great deal of energy, Maple, who was in the center of their formation and was unable to keep up with their pace, couldn¡¯t avoid being bumped into by those marching behind her. As expected, even though AGI was rted to movement speed, not many yers were willing topletely ditch it in favor of other stats.

    ¡°S-She¡­ she walks really slow, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°Should we get her into a cart? We¡¯re going to need someone to pull it, but I think it¡¯s worth the effort.¡±

    ¡°Right. Wait here a second, I¡¯ll get one ready.¡±

    ¡°That really helps, thank you¡­¡±

    Thus a small pull cart was brought to ensure that Maple would march at the same speed as the rest of the army.

    ¡°That oughta do it. Be careful not to make her jump too much, okay?¡±

    ¡°Right. We wouldn¡¯t want to just march on recklessly only toter realize we¡¯ve dropped her along the way.¡±

    While keeping Maple¡¯s shorings in mind (which had be more clear after bing their ally), the allied forces continued their march towards the enemy camp.

 Chapter 419

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 419</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Joining an Army 2</strong>

    While this was arge unitpared to the ¡°Maple Tree¡± guild, it was still too early into the event. It had yet to reach the point where every single yer would gather to have an all-out battle, so it was still very risky to march on the nds that spread out in front of the castle. If they were to encounter a small enemy party that was out on reconnaissance, they could possibly defeat them easily due to their difference in numbers, but in the worst case scenario, many yers from the allied forces would be exposing themselves to danger way too soon into the event.

    ¡°If it looks like we¡¯re about to battle, I¡¯ll give you a signal. Please use your ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ when I do.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    Maple was still on the cart in the center. They would try not to use ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± until they¡¯re in a situation where they absolutely need it, since the skill had a very shy visual effect that would give away their position from a distance.

    Currently, Maple and the others were advancing through a wastnd that had no particr terrain effect. After a long while, they finally arrived at a ce where thendscape itself became a weird mix of greenery and a wilderness with huge rock formations,va pools and ice pirs, all at the same time. A rich forest could be seen in the back, and from there on it was clear that it was the enemy territory.

    As the tension increased, they hid behind arge rock ¨Cwhich they had previously scouted¨C and checked the forest side of the terrain.

    There were a few potential hiding spots before they could reach the actual forest. If there were any enemy forces there, waiting with arge army hiding in the forest, the allied forces could be spotted before they could enter the forest. That would be a very disadvantageous situation, so the n was to carefully watch the situation from behind the rock.

    ¡°¡­Found them!¡±

    One of the members of the party, who was staring at the forest through binocrs, finally said those words, further increasing the feeling of tension among the allied forces.

    ¡°So they¡¯re in the forest, right? How many are there?¡±

    ¡°To be clear¡­ it didn¡¯t seem like there were that many just now.¡±

    They had been able to check this one-sidedly because they had been able to secure this vantage position behind the rock, but they still didn¡¯t know the details pertaining to the enemy¡¯s situation. Since the possibility of being found by the enemy increased the further they stepped into their territory, the allied forces couldn¡¯t afford to show themselves carelessly.

    Were they at such a numerical superiority that they could risk charging headfirst into the forest, or should they instead wait behind the rock for the enemy¡¯s advance? Since the event didn¡¯t allow for even a single death for each yer, it was only natural that yers would want to fight as safely as possible, and under the most advantageous circumstances avable to them.

    And since the event was still going to be on for quite some time longer, it was important to win every skirmish without losing a single ally.

    ¡°What should we do¡­ hm?¡±

    Then the party leader realized that they had a beast of a yer by their side, one that hadn¡¯t been part of their original n. He turned around to face this beast, who was still sitting in the cart. Yes, with Maple by their side, the story would change.

    ¡°¡­Let¡¯s rush into the forest. Now¡¯s the best time to have the strongest shield by our side.¡±

    Hearing that, everyone readied their weapons and prepared themselves for the long-awaited chance to battle it out.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go over the strategy one more time!¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes!¡±

    After making sure everyone was on the same page, they set up their formation, and Maple and the others rushed out from behind therge rock.

    *****************

    Meanwhile, not far away from there, inside the forest in the country of Nature and Water, a yer that was on surveince duty saw arge number of yerse out from behind arge rock. He grimaced and turned to hispanions at the back.

    ¡°The enemy is here! There¡¯s quite a lot of them, call for reinforcements!¡±

    Seeing their Great Shielders marching forward to try to block any iing damage, the yer tried to use the terrain to his advantage and prepared to fire an area-of-effect spell to damage the invaders from the cover of the forest.

    However, the opponent seemed to have already foreseen his actions, and suddenly arge amount of white smoke appeared out of nowhere, covering the surroundings.

    ¡°Tch! ¡­Everyone get ready!¡±

    Despite that, he still fired his spell, but it didn¡¯t seem to be enough to stop the iing assault. Their Great Shielders at the frontline rushed in from the curtain of smoke, and several others followed behind them.

    However, even so, the fact that the yers on this side had set up their position in advance still gave them the upper hand. The invaders were surrounded by a barrage of fire and wind spells, instantly increasing their momentum.

    ¡°Defense ready!¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±¡¯Large-scale Magic Barrier¡¯!¡±¡±¡±

    A huge defensive wall rose to protect them, and at the same time, a tremendous amount of me covered the area. Riding the wind, the mes spread like a tornado, oveing the invading vanguard and engulfing all the approaching enemies.

    ¡°How d¡¯ya like that!? Wh¡­!?¡±

    A sword protruding through the wall of me cut deeply into his body. The HP above his attacker¡¯s head hadn¡¯t decreased at all, which meant they must have been under some kind of buff that granted immunity to damage.

    The yer was baffled, after all, the n he had prepared hadn¡¯t worked at all, and as a light started to cover him, he saw all of the enemy yers, including those at the rear guard, rushing into the forest without a single scratch on their bodies.

    And when he died, he finally realized. The shining visual effect that had been partially covered by the fire and smoke. The yer with angel wings, who seemed to have followed the rest of the invaders as if teleporting herself into the fray.

    ¡°M-Maple¡­¡­!¡±

    The surrounding sounds of war cries, shing of swords, and spells being fired,pletely swallowed up the yer¡¯s death throes as he disappeared into the light.

    *****************

    After mowing down the front guard, Maple and the others rushed into the rear guard with the same momentum.

    ¡°Keep pushing forward! Don¡¯t let anyone escape!¡±

    Since their strategy was working well and the smoke continued to hide the fact that Maple was there with them, this was their greatest chance.

    However, the enemy had already prepared an escape route, and the short time the allied party¡¯s front line had gained wasn¡¯t enough to bring things to a close.

    ¡°Tch! An AGI buff?¡±

    ¡°I can go a little further. After all, Maple¡¯s been getting our backs so far!¡±

    Even though it would mean he would get out of Maple¡¯s defense range, one of the members of the allied party wanted to take this chance to cut down a few more of the enemy¡¯s numbers. Thanks to Maple¡¯s protection, the party still had gas to go a little bit further, so a follow-up attack didn¡¯t seem like a bad idea.

    That decision paid off, as the party managed to cut down the slowest yers on the enemy side, and by the time they passed through the forest, they had obtained more than enough results.

    Once they hade out from the other side of the forest, the party headed towards the next area, which had several ice pirs lined up and had a terrain effect that applied an AGI debuff. After confirming that there were no other yers around, they put their weapons away.

    ¡°It¡¯s a waste of time to continue to pursue, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    ¡°¡­Heeeey! Is everyone okay!?¡±

    When they turned around in response to the voiceing from behind, they found Maple, who was having a hard time catching up to the party¡¯s mages, who were at the back of their formation.

    ¡°We¡¯re all good!¡±

    ¡°You were a great help back there.¡±

    ¡°As expected, we were tough beyond belief back there. That Skill of yours is insane.¡±

    The usual restrictions on ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± which made it so that it would only affect party members had been removed, so now it was able to protect anyone within its area of effect.

    As a result, both those who had been the front lines during the attack, who didn¡¯t need to use their own Skills, and those at the rear guard who were protected from the enemy¡¯s mes praised Maple for her resourcefulness. It was a fresh reactionpared to those at ¡°Maple Tree¡±, who were already used to it. The tiny Maple looked up at the leaders of this party and smiled embarrassedly.

    And just as she was about to turn back to her position, Maple¡¯s eyes caught red light falling from the sky like rain.

    ¡°¡­Something ising!¡±

    Everyone looked up at the sky in response to Maple¡¯s voice. Arge amount of arrows wrapped in red light started to pour down from the sky. Trying to get out of range seemed to be too difficult, so the mages started deploying defensive barriers.

    However, these barriers weren¡¯t strong enough, and shattered under the barrage of arrows, which rained down on Maple and the others.

    ¡°Gather around me!¡±

    As everyone got inside the range of Maple¡¯s ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±, she suddenly remembered Sally¡¯s words.

    They were dealing with other yers. And the fact that they hadunched this kind of attack meant that they probably knew that Maple was there with them, and that she would most likely activate her ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± in response. If so, there had to be some kind of reason for the enemy tounch an attack like this, which would normally be repelled by Maple with ease.

    ¡°P¡­ ¡®Pierce Guard¡¯!¡±

    As she had nned with Sally, if something seemed too dangerous, Maple would quickly take countermeasures against piercing attacks just in case.

    *****************

    After having let loose that rain of arrows from his vantage point on top of one of the floating ice pirs nearby, Wilbert reported his results to Lily, who was right next to him.

    ¡°¡­They repelled them.¡±

    ¡°¡®Pierce Guard¡¯ huh? Impressive. I thought we¡¯d get her here for sure¡­ but it seems Sally has been giving her some ideas.¡±

    The fact that she would rely on her ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± to try to block any kind of damage was also one of that Skill¡¯s greatest weaknesses. On its own, that Skill would have been useless against a wide-ranging piercing attack.

    However, they had no intention of easing my attack just yet. The two of them still had an overwhelming range advantage.

    ¡°Will, let¡¯s take them down here. We¡¯re most likely not getting a better chance than this one.¡±

    ¡°Certainly.¡±

    ¡°Most of the members of the unit we managed to form in a hurry don¡¯t know much about Maple other than her being the leader of ¡®Maple Tree¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡¯Fortress Breakthrough¡¯!¡±

    Wilbert drew back his bow and shot an arrow wrapped in reddish-ck light at Maple, who was holding up her shield in the distance.

 Chapter 420

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 420</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Joining an Army 3</strong>

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    The red arrow, which flew at a speed that Maple was unable to react to, barely dodged the Great Shield she had set up in front of her almost as if had had a life of its own, and hit her face directly, causing a tremendouslyrge damage effect that would have instantly depleted Maple¡¯s HP bar if it hadn¡¯t been for her ¡°Stout Guardian¡±. Her low base HP made her terribly vulnerable to any damage that could ignore her high defense.

    If the effect of ¡°Pierce Guard¡± were to wear off, there would be nothing left to protect Maple from a direct hit.

    ¡°Let¡¯s pull back! We don¡¯t know where the enemy is! Deploy a defensive wall! Maple, cancel your skill!¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes!¡±

    Maple ended the effect of her ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± and the rest of the party bolstered their own defenses with other spells and physical Skills.

    ¡°¡±¡¯Magic Barrier¡¯!¡±¡±

    ¡°¡±¡¯Multi-cover¡¯!¡±¡±

    As Maple hastily retreated to the forest, Wilbert continued to fire his arrows one after another in an attempt to defeat Maple. The added piercing effect was only necessary to hit Maple, and the barrage of arrows were taking chunks of everyone¡¯s HP. The rest of the party also headed for the forest, forced to switch to a defensive approach since they were unable to fight back from their position.

    ¡°I¡­! If it¡¯se to this¡­!¡±

    In order to protect everyone, Maple would fight with her newly acquired skills.

    ¡°¡¯Ancient Weapon¡¯!¡±

    The ck cube floating around Maple split into eight pieces which spread out into the air as they released the energy umted by the rain of arrows and the powerful shot that had hit her. Several threads of shining blue light linked each of the pieces, forming a gigantic dazzling barrier just before the next volley of arrows could hit the rest of the party. Sparks flew violently as the barrier stopped every single one of the iing arrows.

    ¡°Oh¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s run! Someone carry Maple! Anyone who still has ¡®Stout Guardian¡¯ active, form a wall!¡±

    The party leader couldn¡¯t afford to lose his greatest asset, so he put even his own body on the line in order to protect Maple, and everyone formed a wall as they all retreated to the forest.

    Seeing this from his vantage point, Wilbert stared at the forest and slowly lowered his bow.

    ¡°My arrows won¡¯t get through all those trees¡­ so they¡¯re out of my reach.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. That energy barrier was a miscalction. So she¡¯s learned a new Skill, hasn¡¯t she?¡±

    There was no doubt that neither of them had seen this Skill before, but Wilbert¡¯s sharp eyes had managed to grasp its source.

    ¡°It seems that the ck cube that was floating around her changed shape as she deployed that barrier, so it¡¯s probably an Equipment Skill.¡±

    ¡°We need to keep her gear in mind then. Anyway, let¡¯s head back. It would¡¯ve been great if we had managed to take her out here, but¡­ Ourck of mobility is a problem.¡±

    They had lost a lot of yers, so from a faction standpoint, this encounter had been a crushing defeat for Wilbert and Lily¡¯s side.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Had we positioned ourselves any closer than this, the enemy could have gotten too close to us instead of choosing to retreat, and that would have put us in a severe disadvantage¡­¡±

    Nheless, there was no doubt that he had made a great disy of his tremendous attack. The two of them climbed down from the ice pir, as they assumed that there would be no more enemiesing this way for a while.

    They had stopped this advance, and the enemy would think twice before trying to go through this area in the future. However, they still had to acknowledge that their side had lost a lot of yers out of this skirmish.

    As a result, Wilbert and Lily returned to the area they had been protecting before, wishing they had actually managed to defeat Maple during that small window of opportunity they had seen.

    A few momentster, Sally and the others had returned to the town¡¯s outer wall, and found Iz by the front gate building some kind of fortification with her items.

    ¡°It¡¯s looking good.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    ¡°It really looks like ast line of defense.¡±

    Therge number of cannons and barricades that had been set up weren¡¯t really items that anyone could use in arge-scale battle like this one, but Iz wasn¡¯t ¡°just anyone¡±. It would be a very bad idea for the enemy to recklessly try to put Iz¡¯s craftsmanship to the test.

    ¡°Ah, Sally, guys! You¡¯re back. I¡¯m d to see you¡¯re all safe.¡±

    ¡°The event just started. And we only went out to wait and see, just like we nned.¡±

    ¡°Let us help you set things up here as well. You never know when the enemy may attack.¡±

    As the three of them decided to help Iz finish her preparations so that everything was ready earlier, the figures of many yersing towards them could be seen in the distance.

    ¡°Oh, is it the enemy¡­?¡±

    While Chrome put himself on guard and pulled out his short sword, Iz took a look in that direction using the binocrs she had taken out from her pouch and then shook her head.

    ¡°They look like the party that went out to explore a bit earlier. Maple should be with them, too.¡±

    ¡°Maple? ¡­Ah, I see. She would¡¯ve been pretty useful to a party as big as that one.¡±

    After a while, Maple came out from among the assembled yers, bowed her head to the group, and came towards Sally and the others.

    ¡°Hey guys~!¡±

    ¡°Hey, Maple. How was it?¡±

    ¡°I think we defeated quite a few of them¡­ But I couldn¡¯t see exactly how many because it was smoke and mes alI over the ce.¡±

    ¡°Haha, looks like you¡¯ve been busy, haven¡¯t you¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well, we managed to not lose anyone from our side. But I had to use up my ¡®Stout Guardian¡¯¡­¡±

    ¡°Did something happen?¡±

    ¡°Um, well¡­¡±

    After Maple finished recounting what had happened, the name of a particr yer came to everyone¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Well, that definitely sounds like Wilbert.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I can¡¯t think of anyone else being capable of shooting arrows at us from outside of our field of view like that.¡±

    ¡°Arrows that can take anyone down in one shoting from farther away than what we can actually see¡­ Walking into enemy territory isn¡¯t going to be an easy task.¡±

    Even though he was a single bow user, his ability to take anyone down safely from a very long distance made him nothing less than a threat. And to top it off, he also had ess to area-of-effect and piercing attacks, so he seemed to have no weaknesses.

    ¡°For now, let¡¯s put Maple¡¯s safety first for the rest of the day. I still don¡¯t know how he does it, but he definitely has some way to see very far ahead, so we need to take care not to enter his range, or we¡¯ll be shot down before we know it.¡±

    Maple didn¡¯t have the stats or yer skills to react to those arrows. The only thing that could help her with that was her ¡®Stout Guardian¡¯ Skill, but she could only use it once per day. Without it, a single arrow from Wilbert could take her out instantly.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Sally¡­ I had to use my ¡®Pierce Guard¡¯ too soon into the event¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it! Besides, I think it was the right call. If that rain of arrows had had a piercing effect, you wouldn¡¯t be here with us now.¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯m d I ended up going with them in the first ce. It would have been very bad for us if Wilbert had turned all of them into pincushions.¡±

    Thinking of what would have happened if there had been no ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± to stop that rain of arrows back then made a chill run down Maple¡¯s spine.

    ¡°Looking at the results alone, everyone survived. You can say this was a big win for us.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Alright! They won¡¯t be getting through my shield next time!¡±

    Now that Maple was full of energy once again, she started setting up items following Izu¡¯s instructions. Sally and the others started to ponder as they saw that.

    ¡°Actually, this looks pretty tough. Even the front liners from the party Maple joined were at risk of being one-shot by those arrows, right?¡±

    ¡°With that overwhelming difference in range, Wilbert can fire his arrows as much as he wants so long as his targets don¡¯t have enough AGI to dodge them. Normally anyone with high HP or DEF would be able to tank them as they get closer to him¡­ but if those arrows can insta-kill¡­¡±

    The unit that Maple had joined had several high-level yers from many different powerful guilds. The fact that not even them would have been able to endure Wilbert¡¯s assault only meant that his offensive power was insanely high.

    ¡°My DEF isn¡¯t particrly high either. It basically depends on whether or not ¡®Dead or Alive¡¯ decides to activate.¡±

    ¡°The same goes for the rest of us. If neither Chrome nor Maple can do it, the rest of us don¡¯t even stand a chance.¡±

    ¡°The worst part of it all is that the enemy¡¯s range is far wider than what we can actually see. So we risk getting in range of his attacks before we even realize where we are.¡±

    Wilbert¡¯s attack consisted of a deadly shot that could be fired from outside anyone¡¯s field of vision. As long as that threat was present, Maple and the others couldn¡¯t risk stepping into enemy lines without first knowing exactly where Wilbert was at all times.

    ¡°Do we have any other choice but to just walk while trying to cut all lines of sight at all times as much as possible? From what Maple told us, it doesn¡¯t seem like the terrain on the field itself can be destroyed.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to think about countermeasures. For the time being, let¡¯s be careful next time we enter the enemy¡¯s camp.¡±

    All of them wanted to fight through to the end, so they couldn¡¯t afford to let themselves get killed this early into the event.

    Their allies were strong, but so were their enemies. The party continued to help Iz build her fortification while enjoying the feeling of tension that was characteristic of the first PvP event in a while.

 Chapter 421

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 421</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Second March</strong>

    Meanwhile, the ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡± was progressing through the deep forest, steadily defeating enemy yers and chipping away at their forces.

    ¡°Knots, ¡®Sonar¡¯¡­ They¡¯re not too many. Six on the left, three on the right.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s start with those six then. Approach quickly and quietly.¡±

    Frederica ran another search on her own using herpanion Knots¡¯ skill.

    Once she had pinpointed their precise location, all that awaited those six was a sudden, dreadful magic attack released from the shadows. The attack had been extremely effective and efficient, as the six yers werepletely crushed in an instant.

    Even those who barely managed to survive were quickly plucked off Payne, Dred, and Drag, who had been already blocking all escape routes.

    There were fewer yers than expected out there, which was probably thanks to Sally¡¯s strategy, and so Payne and the others were able to defeat them all with plenty of time to spare.

    ¡°Looks like they¡¯re really going over there. It¡¯s like the yers are all scattered about.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re gathering somewhere other than here. It¡¯ll be troublesome if theye back. Let¡¯s hurry up and take down as many as we can.¡±

    ¡°Wait a little longer. I¡¯m still casting a spell to shorten Knots¡¯ cooldown.¡±

    Every time Knots¡¯ Skill went up, there would be no signs of other yers within range. Things were going well, but maybe a little too well.

    ¡°I warned those on the other side to be very vignt, but¡­ I¡¯m still a little worried.¡±

    The fact that they hadn¡¯t encountered many enemies so far meant that the enemy side had moved more people to the other side where the ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡± was said to have been seen.

    If so, that other side would be at a considerable disadvantage.

    ¡°We have no choice but to go on like this. If we go back now, this progress would have been for nothing.¡±

    ¡°Right. Besides, ¡°Maple Tree¡± is close to the town as well. They won¡¯t get through them that easily.¡±

    ¡°¡­That¡¯s right. Let¡¯s generate as much advantage as we can on this side.¡±

    ¡°Knots¡¯ skill is up~¡±

    Hearing this, Payne and the others started marching again to find their next target.

    However, Payne had one thing in mind. Even if the enemy had sent people to fight the fake ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡± set up by Sally, the number of yers on this side was still way too small.

    ¡°Could it be that they¡¯re moving arge unit somewhere¡­?¡±

    Their opponents had to be nning something. Since there was no way either side could win unless they attacked, the enemy too would probably turn to the offensive at some point.

    ¡°Frederica. During the battle, give us only the bare minimum buffs. Please prioritize contacting the remaining guild members instead.¡±

    ¡°¡­! OK~¡±

    ¡°On top of that, we¡¯re not going back yet. The moment we get informed that the enemy has been seen, we¡¯re going tounch an all-out offensive.¡±

    ¡°¡­Ah, so we¡¯re going to make them wonder if they should leave this side unattended, huh?¡±

    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s keep them guessing.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s stay until thest minute and then withdraw. I want to deal as much damage as possible.¡±

    Everyone nodded at Payne¡¯s instructions. Thus, the ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡± remained focused and continued their advance.

    After Iz¡¯s items were all set up, the result was arge number of cannons and barricades lined up along the defense line in front of the outer wall.

    ¡°Thanks for your help, everyone. I made this so that it won¡¯t disappear unless it¡¯s destroyed, so it should be active until the end of the event.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing. So how do we use this?¡±

    ¡°Uhuhu, well, we don¡¯t need to wait nearby, and surprisingly enough, there¡¯s no need for cannonballs. It will shoot automatically whenever an enemy enters its range.¡±

    It was basically automatic artillery. The more intense the attack, the better. It was reassuring to know that there were arge number of artillery batteries right in front of the town, which would instantly intercept any enemy that dared approach the town.

    ¡°But if the enemy gets this far, then it means that we¡¯re not looking so good. So it would be best if we don¡¯t end up having to use this.¡±

    If the situation bes a battle in front of the outer wall, then any enemy yer that isn¡¯t stopped right then and there could eventually invade the town. And besides that, there was also the possibility of the enemy flying over both the wall and the barricade¡¯s range in the midst of the confusion during battle.

    Fighting right next to the town carried the risk of being defeated, while fighting far from the town made it more difficult to retreat in case someone would suffer heavy damage.

    It was important to find the right in-between spot that would generate the least disadvantages for them.

    In the meantime, several yers were leaving the town. It seemed that every member of the guilds that had marched with Maple earlier would be ying their part, and those who had their most powerful skills in cooldown had retreated to the town to be reced by those leaving now.

    ¡°Looks like there¡¯s going to be a second march.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re all pretty much unharmed thanks to Maple¡¯s protection, huh. So they¡¯re pretty much ready to go back to the field.¡±

    ¡°Uhh¡­ I might not be able to keep up with them this time.¡±

    A single piercing attack would be enough to kill Maple instantly, so she couldn¡¯t just casually go back to the front lines.

    ¡°Yeah, you should try to avoid fighting as much as possible today, Maple¡­ Huh? A message from Frederica¡­¡±

    As Sally was wondering what to do now after seeing therge army of yers march to the field again, she was notified of a new message.

    It said that there was a possibility that the enemy faction had started to mobilize a lot of yers, and that the ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡± would continue to attack enemy bases until the moment the enemy turned to face them.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do a quick change of ns. It looks like we can¡¯t just wait and see anymore.¡±

    After sharing the content of Frederica¡¯s message, the rest of the party knew what to do.

    ¡°If the enemy has mobilized arge army, they will only have a few ces they can go through toe this way. We may be able to predict these ces by looking at the map.¡±

    As she said that, Kasumi opened the map she had prepared in advance, erged it, and disyed it in mid air.

    This field had a variety of terrains, and many of them would make it very difficult for arge army to pass through. Some of these terrains would deal continuous damage to those walking over it, while others were simply too narrow, so a rough estimation of the enemy¡¯s options could already be done, but with this map, ¡°Maple Tree¡± would be able to make more precise predictions.

    ¡°So it¡¯s actually easier to just advance through the center, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a very wide area, and the terrain there has no strange effects.¡±

    It seemed that therge unit that set out earlier was also nning to advance through the center of the map. If so, a major battle could be expected to happen.

    ¡°Should we go with them? Though we wouldn¡¯t want to make any big moves since without Maple¡­¡±

    ¡°We could support the ¡®Gathering of Holy Swords¡¯ that had taken up the front line, and even assist anyone who might need us around there as well¡­ ¡°

    After the party agreed that this was a good idea, they worked on a course of action, and then decided what each member was going to do. The ones with the lowest mobility in ¡°Maple Tree¡± were Maple, Mai, and Yui. Since they would be resorting to hit-and-run tactics, they needed to be able to avoid being detected as much as possible. To fix their mobility, they could use Syrup, Tsukimi, and Yukimi respectively, and although thesepanions would have to use ¡°Megamorph¡± to make it possible for Maple and the others to ride them, making them stand out more in a crowd, it was still better than Maple using her ¡°Atrocity¡±.

    ¡°Let¡¯s call Kanade so the five of us can go. Though Iz just sent him to the field a moment ago¡­¡±

    ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll be right behind you, Chrome.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, leave the defense to me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll send a message to Kanade. He should still be in town.¡±

    ¡°Then, Mai, Yui and I will stay to take care of things here!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. If anything happens, make sure to rely on nearby allies. Of course, if you really need us, just send us a message and we¡¯ll be back as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Sounds good!¡±

    With this, Maple returned to the defense, recing Kanade who had returned after just having left town a few moments ago.

    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°I hope we can get this done as peacefully as possible¡­ well, maybe that¡¯s just my wishful thinking,huh?¡±

    ¡°Eventually, we¡¯ll have no choice but to fight with everything we¡¯ve got.¡±

    ¡°Anytime is fine by me. My items are ready.¡±

    After making sure they had everything they needed andpleting their preparations, Kanade and Sally, who remembered the map as clearly as if they had it in front of them, went after therge force that had left earlier.

 Chapter 422

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 422</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Transport Service </strong>

    After everyone else left, Maple climbed the outer wall, and once she reached the top, she joined Mai and Yui, who were checking the map.

    ¡°Hey, Maple!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d you came back safely.¡±

    ¡°Well, I had to use my ¡®Stout Guardian¡¯, so I¡¯ll be defending the town today!¡±

    ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s what happened¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, our opponents are all quite strong.¡±

    ¡°I hope Sally and the otherse back safely as well¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure Sally and the others are going to be fine!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s believe in them¡­ and wait for them here.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Sally and the others were among this game¡¯s top yers. Maple, Mai, and Yui, who had stayed behind, had to believe in their power and wait for them to return safely.

    ¡°So, how¡¯s this ce been so far? Did anyone attack the town while I was gone?¡±

    ¡°No, nobody came here.¡±

    ¡°It seems that the battles are still happening mostly at the borders of the factions!¡±

    This town, which housed the royal castle, was the furthest point from the enemy camp. Since the number of yers standing in the way was also nothing to sneeze at, it would be considerably difficult to slip through all of them even if they weren¡¯tpletely coordinated.

    ¡°There are several ces in the field that could be used as bases, so it seems that some of the guilds are going to be constantly on the front lines near those ces!¡±

    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s amazing! When did you look this up?¡±

    ¡°Some of the people that left for the field earlier came up with that strategy before leaving¡­¡±

    ¡°Looks like everyone is doing their best after all.¡±

    ¡°To move around looking for advantageous ces¡­ Everyone seemed to be thinking about that.¡±

    ¡°That kind of thing is actually difficult for us, huh?¡±

    Mobility is important in such a huge field. Whether it¡¯s for a quick withdrawal or a follow-up, movement speed is greatly involved in changing battle positions.

    While they were chatting, yers were gathering around the gate leading out of the town, and it looked like they were going to be marching soon. Some of the yers on top of the outer wall seemed to have received a message, since they put away the binocrs they had taken out to look into the distance and were getting ready to move.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. It seems they need urgent help.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s hurry!¡±

    Some of these yers rushed down the stairs, making it apparent that allied forces were in trouble somewhere.

    Battles were taking ce everywhere, and they were gradually getting bigger and bigger.

    ¡°I hope they can make it in time¡­¡±

    ¡°Will everything be okay?¡±

    Seeing Mai and Yui looking a little worried, Maple pped her hands as an idea suddenly came to her.

    ¡°¡­That¡¯s right! Mai, Yui! We can¡¯t really help everyone if we just sit here and wait, so how about we do something? I have an idea¡­¡±

    Maple then exined her idea to Mai and Yui.

    ¡°Eh!?¡±

    ¡°W-What should we do? I mean, we should be able to do <em>that</em>, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Then please! Let¡¯s do it!¡±

    ¡°¡±G-Got it!¡±¡±

    Though Mai and Yui agreed to Maple¡¯s n, they still seemed somewhat uneasy about it. But since they had already decided to go with it, they quickly began their preparations.

    Due to the sudden call for help, soon enough there were several yers rushing to and gathering near the front gates.

    ¡°Okay, so it¡¯s twenty people, right¡­?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s make parties with the fastest out of all of us at the front of the march, and the rest of us will follow them as closely as we can.¡±

    Making more bnced parties would have been more preferable, but since the most important thing was to reach their destination quickly, they simply couldn¡¯t afford that luxury.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hmm?¡±

    ¡°What is that?¡±

    What those two yers found was Mai and Yui, who were holding up a sign so big it would have been very hard to not notice.

    <em>¡°For those who are in a great hurry! We¡¯ll move you to the front line quickly! ***Only for those who really, </em>really<em> want to go to the front line!¡±</em>

    It was right there, written in big letters for everyone to see. The thing those two were wishing for was being offered by that sign. And although they felt a bit uneasy about the text itself and the fact that the two girls that were holding the sign were members of ¡°Maple Tree¡±, they still made up their minds and resolved to call out to them.

    ¡°Um, excuse me¡­¡±

    ¡°If possible, I¡¯d like you to move us to the front line, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    ¡°Um, let¡¯s see, can you tell me where you want to go and how many people are going?¡±

    ¡°Twenty people. And the ce is¡­ here on the map.¡±

    After checking the map, Mai and Yui replied that they could send them to that no problem.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be ready to go as soon as we¡¯re all gathered up.¡±

    ¡°Pleasee to the top of the outer wall!¡±

    After saying that, the two yers quickly ran up the stairs that ran along the outer wall.

    ¡°That turtle¡­ is going to be too slow to take us there, right?¡±

    ¡°What about those two bears? Is that some kind of skill?¡±

    They didn¡¯t know what these girls were nning to do, but they didn¡¯t think they were lying or anything like that. After making sure that all theirpanions had gathered, they all followed Mai and Yui to the top of the outer wall.

    ¡°¡±This way!¡±¡±

    What was waiting for them there was a huge lump of wool with a cannon sticking out like a chimney from the top. After hearing Mai and Yui¡¯s voice, Maple¡¯s head popped out of the mass of wool and called out to the other yers.

    ¡°Come on inside!¡±

    ¡°¡±??????¡±¡±

    Though it all looked quite weird, the truth was that they were in a hurry, so they all ended up nervously getting inside the huge ball of wool.

    After everyone was tightly packed inside along with Maple, she activated her skills in order.

    ¡°¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯! ¡®Crystallize¡¯!¡±

    Angel wings grow from the ball of wool, and its surface hardens as if it were covered in crystal. In other words, the twenty yers inside were now trapped in a crystallized, winged ball of wool.

    ¡°W-Wait, what¡¯s this!?¡±

    ¡°W-What?¡±

    ¡°¡±Here we go~!¡±¡±

    Hearing the voices from outside, one of the yers pushed his way through the wool to see what was going on, and what he could see beyond the transparent shell created by ¡°Crystallize¡± was Mai and Yui holding their sledgehammers aloft.

    ¡°¡±One, two¡­!¡±¡±

    And at ¡°three¡±, the two sledgehammers hit the crystallized ball of wool that Maple had created around herself, andunched it into the air with tremendous force.

    ¡°Whoaaaa!¡±

    ¡°T-This is so messed up!¡±

    The idea behind using ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± was so that the ball of wool wouldn¡¯t turn into an actual cannonball, hurting everyone upon impact with the ground due to the high speed at which it was traveling

    This bizarre means of transportation had been brought about by joint effort of the otherworldly physical strength of the twins, the defensive power to withstand the ball of wool¡¯snding, and the courage of everyone involved to make it happen.

    ¡°Now, ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Maple flew while checking the map, and when they were near their destination, she let out a burst from the gun barrel that was protruding from the ball of wool in such a way that it made it fall to the ground like a meteorite.

    ¡°Here we are~! Good luck out there, everyone!¡±

    After dispelling her ¡°Crystallize¡±, the yers crawled out of the ball of wool. ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± had sessfully prevented all fall damage. Seeing that everyone was outside safely, Maple smirked as she prepared her gun barrel for another flight.

    ¡°A-Ah¡­ T-Thanks. This was a great help.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I hope we can count on you to help us with this again in the future¡­ I guess.¡±

    As the yers seemed to be slightly confused as to how to react to what had just happened ¨Cdespite the fact that this unusual means of transportation had indeed been a great help to them¨C, Maple let out another burst from her gun barrel and soared once again into the sky, making her way back to town.

 Chapter 423

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 423</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Daybreak</strong>

    Sally and the others, who until that point still didn¡¯t know that Maple had stuffed twenty yers into a crystallized ball of wool andunched them into the front lines, caught up with the group of yers that had marched ahead of them and moved through the nearby forest.

    ¡°No signs of the enemy so far.¡±

    ¡°Sally, what do you think?¡±

    ¡°¡­At the very least, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re within fighting range yet.¡±

    ¡°We need to be careful about surprise attacks, too. We¡¯re dealing with enemies that can snipe and insta-kill even Maple, after all.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, though many of those skills can be dealt with as long as we can see theming.¡±

    Kasumi, Iz, and Kanade didn¡¯t have any passive skills that would prevent them from being one-shotted. They would be easy targets for someone like Wilbert.

    That¡¯s why all three of them were walking right behind Chrome through this forest, where it would be difficult for Wilbert to target them in the first ce.

    ¡°If archers are waiting nearby, this ce is going to make it hard for us to get close to them before getting shot from our nks. Looks like there¡¯s going to be more hills ahead, too. Please be alert.¡±

    Chrome intended to do his best to protect them as well, but there was no doubt that stepping into the enemy¡¯s camp like this was a rather disadvantageous situation for them.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be crossing the border between the two territories soon¡­ Sally, any word from the ¡®Congregation of Holy Swords¡¯?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re still moving forward while taking down as many enemies as they can.¡±

    ¡°I wonder from which direction will the troops they mentioned show up first¡­¡±

    If the enemy continued to allow the allied forces to advance, eventually they would have to deal with both Sally¡¯s party and the ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡±.

    ¡°Still, I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about this. Both we and Payne¡¯s group are just walking right into their territory without too much opposition¡­¡±

    Just about when Chrome was about to say ¡°They might be waiting for us,¡± a huge pir of fire rose in front of him. It was clear atst that the allied forces had finally shed with an enemy camp, and who exactly was waiting for them.

    ¡°Stay behind me!¡±

    ¡°If you need my ¡°Mind¡¯s Eye¡±, give me a signal.¡±

    ¡°Okay, time to focus.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s definitely¡­¡±

    ¡°The ¡®Kingdom of the me Emperor¡¯.¡±

    There was some distance between their current position and their own territory. Even if they were to try to withdraw now, they would most likely be pursued and literally burned to the ground by the enemy.

    Therge party that Sally and the others were following was here as well. All of them had marched to this point in order to win and turn the tide of the battle to the allied forces¡¯ advantage.

    Sally and the others jumped into the battlefield as the sky was being scorched by a series of pirs of fire.

    yers from both sides were relentlessly attacking each other on this fiery battlefield. However, it was the allied forces who were being slowly pushed back.

    It was no surprise. The enemy¡¯s side had nothing but t ground with a huge, sturdy-looking fortress that protected the enemy forces, and arge number of barricades that were as big as the one Iz built in front of the allied town¡¯s outer wall. Not only that, the enemy had arge number of summoned soldiers made of sand and water who could respawn as many times as needed after being killed.

    And if you were to stop for a second, you would be attacked by mes, several floating swords, and des of wind from a distance.

    ¡°So it is Mii and the others after all!¡±

    ¡°Kasumi! Let¡¯s reset for a moment!¡±

    ¡°Haku, ¡®Megamorph¡¯!¡±

    Looking at their current situation, Sally told Kasumi that she wanted a moment to reformte her n of action.

    Kasumi replied with a single nod, and had the now giant Haku charge across the battlefield.

    It was a surprise attack that came out of the the forest. The giant white snake that suddenly charged while Sally and the others¡¯ presence was still unknown to the enemy crushed those who were there before they could react,pletely shattering the summoned soldiers, and reducing the HP of several yers from the enemy faction to zero.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    More than being a simple distraction so that Sally could think of something, it ended up being a powerful blow to the enemy that instantly turned the tide of the battle to the favor of the allied forces. However, immediately after that, the yers who had lost their HP revived one after another and got back on their feet, and more summoned soldiers were added to the fray. Seeing this, Sally grimaced, thinking that it would¡¯ve been too easy otherwise.

    ¡°Haku,e back! Sally!¡±

    After recalling Haku ¨Cwho would otherwise be a target sooner thanter¨C Kasumi turned around and looked at Sally. Without thetter having to say anything at all, the five members of ¡°Maple Tree¡± quickly realized what they should do at this point.

    ¡°We need to deal with Misery and Marx!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, otherwise there won¡¯t be an end to this!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll pave the way.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me to restrain their movement!¡±

    The enemy had ess to the strongest Recovery Spells with an incredibly wide area of effect, which could be used over and over again, and arge number of summoned soldiers that could be resummoned as many times as necessary. Not only that, they also had their unending hellish fire and their floating swords that would continuously rain down on the allied yers who were determined to fight. Sally knew that they had to do something about this, and it had to be quick, or their numbers would only keep decreasing.

    Leaving the main battlefield, whererge numbers of yers shed with each other, to their allies, Sally and the others headed in a straight line to the fortress that was located in the center of this battlefield in an attempt to defeat the members of ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡±.

    ¡°That fortress is definitely another one of Marx¡¯s traps, so we should be able to destroy it if we hit it hard enough!¡±

    Although it had high durability, it wasn¡¯t indestructible.

    ¡°Your bombs should do the trick, Iz. After they open a hole on these walls, we¡¯ll get in and drag them out here!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Iz reached for the first set of bombs she could find in her inventory, and then searched for and took out a time bomb to function as their main detonator.

    ¡°¡®sh flood¡¯!¡±

    Iz¡¯s special bombs, which had no problem working even when submerged in water, were swept away by therge water current generated by Sally and slid into the depths of the fortress.

    Soon enough, a violent explosion urred, and while it dealt a lot of damage to the structure, it wasn¡¯t enough topletely destroy it.

    However, this explosion was enough to pressure the enemy into having to deal with it. They couldn¡¯t just ignore it, or they would be letting Sally and the others continue to throw bombs until they eventually demolished the entire fortress.

    ¡°Hey! Do you think you can just waltz in here and do whatever you want!?¡±

    ¡°Shin!¡±

    ¡°¡¯Sup, Kasumi! And all of you guys¡­ Wait, where¡¯s that min-maxing leader of yours?¡±

    Shin was dexterously riding on a bundle of floating swords and flew in front of Sally and the others. Back in the 8th event, he had been seen using his ¡°Split-Sword¡¯ to create a scaffolding, but it seemed that he had be much more proficient with it.

    ¡°Unfortunately, our guild master is in the middle of preparations. We¡¯ll be your opponents this time.¡±

    After Kasumi said that, the monsterpanion Wen appeared behind Shin before unleashing a barrage of wind des, which carried with them most of the floating swords Shin was riding on, leaving behind just enough of them for him to use as footholds, scattering them all over the ce in mid air with Shin at the center of it all.

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying you can beat me without Maple? Well, feel free to try.¡±

    With a number of moves that far exceeded those of Sally and the others, Shin released the intense pressure he had generated up until that point, unleashing his attack onto the five.

    ¡°Wen, ¡®Wind God¡¯! ¡®Invisible Sword¡¯!¡±

    The raging wind des turned towards Sally and the others, carrying the swords split by Shin¡¯s ¡°Split-Sword¡± with them and making them even stronger.

    ¡°Haku, ¡®Harden¡¯!¡±

    Kasumi had Haku stand before them and hardened his body to block the wind des. However, that turned out to not be enough to stop the floating swords, which were being directly controlled by Shin himself.

    ¡°Protect them, Necro! ¡®Strong Armor¡¯! ¡®Multicover¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Tenth Sword ¨C Vajra¡¯!¡±

    Trusting Sally and Kasumi to be able to defend themselves, Chrome set Necro into its defensive form to protect Iz and Kanade.

    While Kasumi cut down as many of the iing floating swords as she could, Sally dashed forward all on her own.

    She twisted her body to dodge the wind des as if it was second nature, and despite Shin¡¯s uracy when controlling his floating swords, it was no match for Sally¡¯s ability to evade. She continued to dash forward with her blue muffler fluttering by the wind as if there was nothing trying to slow her down.

    ¡°Haha! You monster!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have your head on a tter!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see about that!¡±

    As if he had just decided that it was time for him to get serious, Shin made the swords he was using as scaffolding go much faster all of a sudden. This was how far he had honed this Skill alone so far, He had established a bizarre fighting style that used high-speed moving swords both as a foothold and as a means of transportation.

    ¡°How about this!?¡±

    The swords that had been repelled quickly regained momentum and attacked Sally from all directions. It was difficult for Sally to keep up with Shin, who was now gliding through the air as fast as she could move. Sally also continues to evade with her unparalleled skill, but there would surely be some attacks that even she wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid while trying to get closer to Shin.

    Whenever Sally would try to get closer, Shin would fire his swords in a wide arc at her to force her to dodge to the side, giving him enough time to reposition himself. Since Sally couldn¡¯t afford to be hit even once, she had no choice but to dodge.

    ¡°Go, Chrome. I¡¯ll take care of the defense here.¡±

    ¡°¡­! Okay, take care!¡±

    Kanade sent Chrome to support Sally after adding that there would be no end to this situation otherwise.

    ¡°Sou, ¡®Large Magic Barrier¡¯!¡±

    After summoning Sou and having him put up a huge barrier, Kanade pulled out his bookshelf so he could readily use a big spell when needed while also using basic spells to create walls of water and sand to protect both Iz and himself.

    Even though Kanade¡¯s spells were one-time use only, as long as he used his spellbooks, he would have instant ess to a defensive ability that matched even Chrome¡¯s.

    And since Iz figured she had enough time before Shin¡¯s attacks would reach her, she produced another barricade just like the one she had set up in front of the town¡¯s outer wall to bolster her defenses.

    ¡°¡¯Cover Move¡¯ ¡®Cover¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡¯Blood de¡¯!¡±

    Now that Iz and Kanade had seeded in tightening their defenses, Kasumi swung her liquefied sword and continued to knock down the floating swords without needing to worry about protecting them anymore, while Chrome intercepted the swords that were rushing towards Sally.

    As a result, Sally managed to close in on Shin before he could activate his ¡®Split-Sword¡¯ again.

    ¡°¡¯Water Veil¡¯ ¡®Super eleration¡¯! Oboro, ¡®Demon Fire¡¯!¡±

    Sally added the Water-attribute to her attacks, while Oboro¡¯s Skill extended the reach of her daggers.

    With ¡°Super eleration¡±, she was able to surpass Shin¡¯s speed, which was otherwise almost on par with hers, and was finally able to get in attacking range.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Since the speed of the swords created with his ¡°Split-Sword¡± was independent from his own movement speed, Shin realized that he couldn¡¯t escape this, and unleashed the rest of the swords that he had floating around him for defense while holding up his shield.

    However, they were no match for Sally¡¯s speed, who quickly moved to the side while knocking the swords down to avoid the attack.

    ¡°Damn it, I was too careless!¡±

    ¡°Hah!¡±

    Sally¡¯s attack, which was also being boosted by ¡°Sword Dance¡±, cut through Shin¡¯s body, which he couldn¡¯t defend with his shield alone, dealing a lot of damage.

    ¡°Ouch! Are you really a dagger user!?¡±

    Shin aimed at Sally¡¯s back by recalling all of his swords, but she was able to dodge that too by focusing solely on her evasive maneuvers.

    However, with this, Shin had seeded in regaining his distance again.

    ¡°Haah¡­Even though Maple isn¡¯t here, this may be too hard for me alone¡­¡±

    Although Shin was good at dealing with several opponents at the same time, the five members of ¡°Maple Tree¡± standing before him were being quite difficult for him to deal with.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s meet again sometime! I¡¯d like to stay alive, thank you very much!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere, Shin!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we won¡¯t let you escape.¡±

    Just as that exchange ended, a huge fireball suddenly swelled up and rose into the sky.

    This fireball, which wasrger than the fortress itself, broke through the fortress¡¯ roof as it continued to make itself evenrger, until it got to a point where it shone so brilliantly that it looked as if the sun itself had descended in the middle of the battlefield.

    ¡°See ya!¡±

    Shin released all of the swords that he had pulled back right at Sally and the others to buy himself enough time to escape, and then recalled them back once again once he had sessfully escaped.

    Inside the fortress, which had been flooded by Sally¡¯s ¡°sh Flood¡±, Misery and Marx supported the front line while also recovering from the Iz¡¯s bombs.

    ¡°Hah¡­ The traps were all messed up, the walls were destroyed, and that Haku¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it was a lot of trouble. But still¡­¡±

    ¡°Do it, Mii¡­¡±

    Both of them looked up at the sky. There, in the center of the sun that was created in this battlefield, was Mii, with Ignis wrapped around her and making her mes even stronger.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready. Let¡¯s do this, Ignis.¡±

    The moment the mes reached their limit, Mii unleashed her Skill.

    ¡°¡®Daybreak¡¯.¡±

    White begins to mix with the red mes, and as more mes erupted from the fireball, they ran across its surface.

    The effect of those mes was quite straightforward: They would make Mii¡¯s next attack unblockable by damage nullification Skills. Nothing more.

    ¡°¡®Inferno¡¯!¡±

    It was as if she had been waiting for this moment.

    The sun she had created, which was shining brightly in the air, suddenly fell to the ground, bing an unstoppable searing me, scorching everything it touched, engulfing everything on the battlefield and reducing it to ashes.

 Chapter 424

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 424</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Tryouts</strong>

    At around the same time when ¡°Maple Tree¡± joined the fray at the fortress, the ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡±, which was marching a little ahead from there, continued to march towards the enemy¡¯s castle while defeating every yer they encountered.

    ¡°Heey~ Isn¡¯t anyone actually gonnae and try to stop us~?

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing? We get to continue to press forward pretty much for free?¡±

    ¡°Someone will definitelye at us before we reach the castle.¡±

    At this moment, the ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡± was in a rocky area at a much higher altitude than the forest they had juste out of. The special effect of the area was ¡°increased damage taken¡±, which no one wasn¡¯t very excited about, but still wasn¡¯t something that they had to be particrly careful about.

    ¡°Are they now, really~? ¡­!¡±

    Frederica, who had been fiddling with her staff as a way tobat her boredom, quickly found herself looking at several white lights blinking like stars in front of her eyes, and her expression instantly changed to a serious one.

    ¡°Look out, everyone!¡±

    At Payne¡¯s call, everyone hid behind a rock to cut the line of fireing from the front.

    ¡°¡®Anti-arrow Wind Barrier¡¯!¡±

    Frederica prepared for the enemy¡¯s follow-up attack by deploying a wind barrier that could nullify the same type of projectiles that had shown to be so effective earlier. The ¡°Gathering of Holy Swords¡± had ess to skills that could deal with that kind of preemptive long-range attacks.

    ¡°Knots, ¡®Sonar¡¯! ¡­Just ahead of us, on top of that stone pir. Hm? There¡¯s two people there?¡±

    Frederica grasped the positions and numbers of the attacking yers thanks to Knots¡¯ Skill.

    After using ¡°Sonar¡± for a quick survey of the surroundings, Frederica was convinced that there were no enemy yers within range other than the two people she had just detected.

    ¡°Haha, they think that just two yers are enough!?¡±

    ¡°Is it safe to assume that they¡¯re Lily and Wilbert from ¡®Rapid Shot¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Yes. There are no monsterpanions in the area, nor any monster that can be tamed with items during this event.¡±

    Hearing that, the rest of the guild members showed their uneasiness. They clearly outnumbered the enemy ahead of them by arge margin. And more than trying to drive Payne and the others back, the fact that there were only two of them made them think that this was some kind of trap.

    ¡°They must think they have a chance of winning like that¡­ or at the very least, that they can retreat safely.¡±

    Not only Payne and the others, but arge number of allied forces were on the move, and since all of them were stepping into enemy territory, it was only natural to think the enemy would have some kind of retreat route.

    ¡°Let¡¯s show them where our confidencees from. And if they show us any kind of opening, we¡¯ll cut them down on the spot.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll pave the way. Let¡¯s do this the way we nned it¡­¡±

    Dred promptly summoned Shadow, as he was the easiest way to gauge the enemy¡¯s ability to respond.

    ¡°Time to fight, Shadow! ¡®Shadow World¡¯!¡±

    This skill, which allows party members to crawl under the ground and move freely, could target all yers from the same faction within range during this event.

    One by one, all members of ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡± quickly ran through the shadows, safely moving to the nextrge rock that would serve them as shelter.

    Wilbert could be a great archer, but not even he would be able to shoot through the ground. The party arranged their formation so that it would be difficult for an archer to take aim at them without having to be constantly moving from their position, and the moment they would return to the surface behind the safety of a rock, they instantly casted their spells.

    ¡°¡®Multi-Smokescreen¡¯!¡±

    After producing a white smoke that would obstruct only the enemy¡¯s vision,pletely covering the ground, Frederica stuck her head out from behind the rock to check the situation above.

    ¡°Whoa!?¡±

    At that moment, a white light burst in front of her face, indicating that her ¡°Anti-Arrow Wind Barrier¡± had just been triggered, and Frederica hurriedly went back to hiding her entire body behind the rock.

    ¡°He can still see us~? That¡¯s strange¡­¡±

    ¡°I knew it, his eyes are special. I don¡¯t know what kind of Skill it is, but it looks like he knows our position at all times.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s not perfect, huh~¡±

    Although Wilbert¡¯s arrows were as deadly as theye, they can onlye in a straight line from the position where he is shooting them. With the current formation of ¡°Gathering of Holy Swords¡±, if he wanted tounch simultaneous attacks, he would literally have to be in more than one ce at the same time.

    ¡°Knots, ¡®Carrier Pigeon¡¯! Here, give them this, please~!¡±

    With a chirp, Knots went out to deliver the buff of Frederica¡¯s choice to her allies, who had otherwise been out of range. Although it takes time depending on the distance, this will allow everyone to enjoy the benefits of ¡°Anti-Arrow Wind Barrier¡±.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Once their setup wasplete, everyone jumped out from behind the rock and, encouraged by Dred¡¯s warcry, quickly ran forward to close the distance with their attacker.

    Their advance was met by a rain of arrows that indiscriminately fell upon the entire area from the sky.

    It was a really strong attack. However, the ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡± would naturally have an answer for any ranged attack that they knew wasing from above.

    ¡°¡®Large Magic Barrier¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Shadow, ¡®Shadow Dive¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Earth! ¡®Rock Dome¡¯!¡±

    Being highly skilled, each of the members of ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡± would quickly have a response for that rain of arrows, with half of the team conjuring up arge defensive barrier, while Dred and Drag relied on the power of their monsterpanions, which had been trained to that degree of strength in a rather short period of time. In addition, they continued to use Dred¡¯s skill to hide under the ground and even inside the rocks to make the iing arrows even more useless.

    ¡°Earth hase up with a great way to help with the defense, huh~¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m the one giving him instructions! ¡®Earthquake¡¯!¡±

    The moment Drag knew his target would be within range, he mmed the ground, causing a big tremor. The shockwave traveled up through the nearby rock pirs, which made them tremble violently.

    ¡°Hah! Down you go!¡±

    Any yer affected by Drag¡¯s skill will find themselves blown away by its huge knockback effect. This was particrly effective this time as well, since both of his targets were on a tall and narrow surface.

    ¡°Payne! You¡¯re up~!¡±

    The smokescreen created by Frederica was cut open, and the white dragon soared into the sky, charging straight at his targets.

    ¡°¡¯Quick change¡¯!¡±

    Seeing that, Lily and Wilbert quickly switched their equipment while they were in the middle of falling from the rock pir.

    ¡°¡¯Flying Machine¡¯ ¡®Servant¡¯s Chair¡¯¡±

    Lily activated her Skills in quick session, causing arge number of drone-like machines to appear, which then all joined together to form something that resembled a rescue mat in order to catch them and keep them airborne.

    ¡°Ray, ¡®Total Magic Release¡¯ ¡®Torrent of Light¡¯!¡±

    Seeing Payne¡¯s sword had started to emit a tremendous light, Lily also produced arge number of summoned soldiers to prepare the iing blow.

    ¡°¡®Holy Dragon¡¯s Sword of Light¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Puppet Wall¡¯!¡±

    The light that erupted along the arc drawn by the sword¡¯s swing cracked the wall of lifeless soldiers open at a terrifying speed.

    ¡°¡¯Reproduction¡¯ ¡®Repair¡¯!¡±

    Still, the speed at which Lily could recreate it was nothing to sneeze at. She quickly created more soldiers, which threw themselves in front of Lily to create another wall.

    This wall was also promptly destroyed by the torrent of light emitted by Payne¡¯s sword.

    However, it seemed that as long as the two of them were able to keep Payne and the others busy and buy some time for their side would be good enough for them. Once the light subsided, Lily and Wilbert had moved to another nearby pir, and had set several soldiers in a row, all of them pointing firearms at Payne.

    ¡°I see. Formidable.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, it feels really nice to beplimented like that by someone like you, Payne. Don¡¯t you think, Will?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s start over, Lily.¡±

    When Wilbert was about to use a Skill to buff both of them, the ground around the area began to glow red.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    ¡°This is¡­ Will!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯sing from above!¡±

    Payne nced at the sky and found himself looking at a phenomenon that seemed strange even for Lily and Wilbert.

    Arge number of magic circles were floating in the sky, and a huge ck dragon was facing them.

    That¡¯s right, the kings of both countries were also participating in this battle. This wasn¡¯t an attack focused on an area that was upied with yers, but rather, a random attack that could happen anywhere in the entire map. The red glow on the ground that they were looking at was a sign of where the dragon¡¯s attack wouldnd.

    ¡°The king is about to attack this ce! Dred!¡±

    ¡°Shadow, ¡®Unleash the Pack¡¯ ¡®Shadow World¡¯!¡±

    At Dred¡¯smand, arge number of shadowy wolves started running around Shadow. The effect of this Skill was topletely refresh the cooldown of the next Skill Dred mentioned.

    With ¡°Shadow World¡± active once again, everyone was able to dive into the ground one more time to safely escape the area.

    ¡°If only we hadn¡¯t been interrupted by that thing¡­ We¡¯ll get them next time!¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly what I intend to do.¡±

    By staying here, at this rate, the ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords¡±, which had rallied a lot of other guild members, would be suffering a lot of damage just to eliminate two yers. Moreover, there was no telling when Lily and Wilbert¡¯s reinforcements would arrive.

    And Lily and Wilbert had no reason to pursue them if they were to retreat.

    As a result, both parties quickly left the scene before the attack from both the magic circles and the dragon¡¯s breathid waste to it.

    Lily and Wilbert used the drones summoned by ¡°Servant¡¯s chair¡± to escape the area and quickly retreat to their own base.

    ¡°Phew, as expected. Payne will jump in without hesitation as soon as he sees that he can defeat his target, huh?¡±

    ¡°I thought he would be a bit more hesitant¡­ Sorry if I was too rash.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. You did well. Besides¡­¡±

    A little while after their escape, Lily and WIlbert finally saw the figures of two yers running towards them as if they were riding a lightning bolt.

    ¡°Huh? Where¡¯s the ¡®Congregation of Holy Swords¡¯!?¡±

    ¡°¡­Besides, our reinforcements were a littlete.¡±

    The one riding the lightning bolt was Velvet, who had Hinata clinging to her side using her gravity control. Although they were a fighting force that could change the battle situation greatly the moment they arrived, unfortunately for Lily and Wilbert, they were originally too far away for them to get to the battlefield on time.

    ¡°We¡¯ll do our best next time.¡±

    ¡°Ve-Velvet¡­ Can we go a little slower next time¡­? I¡¯m dizzy¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Hop on, you two. It wouldn¡¯t be strange if that breath attack came down here as well.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s stay vignt. Velvet, if you see the ¡®Congregation of Holy Swords¡¯ chasing after us, you know what to do.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Thus the four of them returned to their own camp riding Lily¡¯s special vehicle.

 Chapter 425

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 425</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Tryouts ¨C 2</strong>

    While arge number of attacks rained down from the sky on Payne and the others, Sally and the others were on the main battlefield, going through a simr situation.

    ¡°That was close!¡±

    ¡°Still, we¡¯re all in one piece.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and the ¡®Kingdom of the me Emperor¡¯ shouldn¡¯t being after us either.¡±

    Since the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± had to solidify the fortress¡¯ defenses, it would be difficult for them to give chase or retreat to their town. This would only y in their favor in the long run, but for the time being, it was a blessing for Sally and the others.

    ¡°There¡¯s only a few people left alive, huh¡­?¡±

    As they continued to retreat, Sally counted the yers that were returning to allied territory.

    ¡°I wonder if getting out of here was the correct answer?¡±

    Having seen that ¡°Inferno¡± Skill, Sally knew that it had created an area that dealt continuous damage.

    Luckily for them, Sally¡¯s ¡°sh Flood¡± had already swept them all out of the fortress and taken them towards the edge of the battlefield before they could be in any real danger.

    The five of them got on Haku to avoid the downpour of raining magic.

    ¡°That fireball that wrapped Mii¡­ I¡¯m sure that it has some kind of additional effect.¡±

    ¡°Even those who, like me, have a Skill that reduces damage to zero are going to need a healer¡­ It doesn¡¯t seem like this many deaths were caused only by that Skill¡¯s high firepower¡­¡±

    ¡°So what is it? A Skill sealing effect? Or something that increases damage¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s possible that some other skill was increasing the damage dealt by her ¡®Inferno¡¯¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, it could be anything really, but the important thing is that we don¡¯t let ourselves get hit by that thing, no matter what.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s terrain damage, not even Maple will be able to deal with it. I¡¯ll make sure to warn her about it just in case.¡±

    One thing was certain: that Skill had the power to erase everything in its path without question.

    Next time they met, Mii would most likely be able to fire that thing off at the precise time. For now, all the surviving yers could do was to take this information back home with them.

    ¡°This is so frustrating¡­ Is this how we¡¯re going to lose this thing?¡±

    ¡°We need to regain our footing.¡±

    ¡°We have to pay her back twofold.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Iz wasn¡¯t able to reach the enemy¡¯s camp either¡­ so we should try to trim down their numbers as much as we can whenever we get the chance.¡±

    ¡°Got it. I¡¯m ready to go whenever you guys are.¡±

    Just like Mii had just killed arge number of yers with an unknown Skill, ¡°Maple Tree¡± also had a Skill they hadn¡¯t revealed yet. If they managed to y their cards right, they would be able to obtain great results from it.

    While they continued to retreat, every time they found a surviving ally trying to run back to town, Sally and the others would have them hop onto Haku, thus ensuring their safe return to town.

    Upon reaching the barricade that Iz and the others had set up in front of the town¡¯s outer wall, they noticed that its durability hadn¡¯t decreased at all, so it didn¡¯t seem like it was attacked while they were out.

    Just as they were about to return Haku to Kasumi¡¯s ring after leaving the surviving yers they had brought back to safety, they were greeted by Maple, who was being carried by Mai and Yui ¨Csince she was still in her Wooly¨C after having noticed Haku¡¯s erged body from afar.

    ¡°Wee back, Sally! There was a lot of magic falling from the sky, are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Well, it could¡¯ve gone much worse. ¡­What happened, Maple?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been carrying everyone to the battlefield!¡±

    All five of them were surprised to hear about how Maple had managed to find a way to send other yers quickly to the battlefield,ughing and saying things like ¡°Well, that¡¯s Maple for you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure our friends weren¡¯t expecting that to be their means of transportation¡­¡±

    ¡°Uhuhu, it is really hard to expect something like that, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°With that, we might even be winning somewhere else right now. ¡­Yeah, thanks, Maple. That was a great idea!¡±

    ¡°You think? But it was mostly thanks to Mai and Yui! I wouldn¡¯t have been able to fly like that on my own!¡±

    ¡°Thank you both forunching Maple into the sky¡­ Wow, that sounds like a weird thing to thank someone for. Anyway¡­¡±

    ¡°Y-You¡¯re wee¡­?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d that Maple-san was able tond safely!¡±

    After beingunched by the twins, it was all up to Maple. A clumsy flight could have led them all straight in the middle of the enemy lines, so in that sense, there had been a bit of luck involved in this n. But it ended up saving many allies from the sticky situation they had been in.

    ¡°You were really doing your best over here Maple¡­ I¡¯m sorry to say that it didn¡¯t go so well for us.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    Sally briefly told Maple what happened.

    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ve been in a party with Mii in the past, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen her do anything like that¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. But you should be careful, Maple. There were some other Great Shielders with us who most certainly still hadn¡¯t used up their own ¡®Stout Guardian¡¯ and were still taken down in one shot by Mii¡¯s Skill¡­ So she might have a way to nullify it.¡±

    ¡°Oh no, if I can¡¯t rely on my ¡®Stout Guardian¡¯, I¡¯ll be in great trouble!¡±¡±

    ¡°Precisely. That¡¯s why I think we should strike back while the iron is hot¡­¡±

    The recent battle had created a difference in the number of yers of both factions. The guilds ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± and ¡°Thunder Storm¡± seemed to do very well inrge-scale teamfights, while ¡°Rapid Shot¡± excelled at precise sneak attacks. These guilds had been able to make the best use of their strengths during this event so far.

    The allied forces had to find a way to match that.

    Maple thought for a moment, then nodded as she came up with an answer.

    ¡°In the end, it looks like I¡¯ll have to fight too!¡±

    ¡°But what if a piercing attack hits you¡­?¡±

    Maple¡¯s ¡®Stout Guardian¡¯ was on cooldown. While she would be a very strong asset to the battlefield, going there now entailed a great risk for her.

    ¡°But you can protect me, right, Sally? Look! Just do this thing you do and repel any attacks like you always do!¡±

    Maple swung her arms and pretended to cut through the air with her short sword, just like Sally would.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Sally was taken aback for a moment after seeing Maple so casually cing her absolute trust in her like that, but soon went back to her usual confident expression.

    ¡°Okay. Leave it to me. I¡¯ll repel them all.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I know you can do it!¡±

    Maple¡¯s final shield was none other than Sally. So she made up her mind. She wouldn¡¯t let anything hurt her friend.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s change our approach. Maple, I want to go on the offensive right away.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Any event could unfold faster than expected. Fights were taking ce here and there, and the general situation of the battlefield wasn¡¯t so calm that Maple and the others could continue to just wait and see.

    ¡°Of course we are going too, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Uhuhu, we¡¯ll get them this time.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t be falling behind anymore either.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Mai and Yui¡¯s strength will be a great buff to our forces as well.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±I-I¡¯ll do my best!¡±¡±

    ¡°Whenever you¡¯re ready, Sally!¡±

    This time, all of ¡°Maple Tree¡± would be heading into the fray. There was no doubt that, should they lose this time, the enemy would only be stronger and more difficult to deal withter.

    In order to prevent that from happening, all eight of them went over basic strategies and how to respond in case of an emergency so that there was no way they would make a mistake.

 Chapter 426

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 426</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Annihtion</strong>

    Using Haku or Syrup to move around would be way too conspicuous. Therefore, with the exception of Mai and Yui ¨Cwho could still use Tsukimi and Yukimi¨C the party was using monsters they had tamed temporarily using items that had been specifically provided for this event.

    These ins had several different kinds of monsters that could be ridden, such as horses and cows.

    ¡°We¡¯re about to cross the border, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    After the long travel towards the border was over, the eight of them parted ways with the monsters, and came to an area sandwiched between cliffs, where an icy wind was blowing. This area not only reduced yer movement speed, but also greatly reduced the range for all weapons except for those that were already meant to be used at melee range,

    This is one of the few areas on the map where yers wouldn¡¯t normally want to step into.

    ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be too many people lurking around here¡­¡±

    At melee range, Maple had an advantage thanks to her ¡°Devour¡±. And she wouldn¡¯t need to worry about long-range attacks because of this terrain¡¯s debuff.

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll start by setting things up here first. Fay, ¡®Spirit¡¯s Mischief¡¯!¡±

    After taking out some of her bombs, Iz lined them up in a little dent where one could sit down and rest, and once that was done, she installed a sensor.

    ¡°Ohh, so does that mean the enemy won¡¯t be able to see it?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The previous event went well thanks to this Skill.¡±

    ¡°You mean that one where the forest suddenly started to explode?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. This setup will do just fine here¡­ but once we head deeper into the enemy camp, I¡¯m gonna have to go all out.¡±

    ¡°We have to get deep inside before they notice us.¡±

    Their goal was to slowly and steadilyy down awork of traps as they advanced. The items that Iz made for this event would remain in ce for a longer period of time than normal items, hiding and biding their time. They would then suddenly bare their fangs at the enemy, potentially changing the tide of the battle.

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep going forward. Maple, keep your shield at the ready. Mai, Yui, stay behind Chrome at all times.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°¡±Okay!¡±¡±

    Maple¡¯s ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± would allow the party to easily enter areas that would normally be difficult for ordinary yers to walk through.

    The n was to dodge the enemy¡¯s own security by going through a route that would be tremendously disadvantageous under normal circumstances.

    ¡°The next area will deal damage at regr intervals¡­ Maple, you¡¯re up.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    No one knew that ¡°Maple Tree¡± was marching whileying down explosives.

    Anyone who stepped into this bomb-riddenwork would die. Maple and the others continued to move into enemy territory whileying down more traps.

    Then, as they were moving forward, Sally came to aplete halt right before they all entered an area covered in a thick fog, where monsters would be waiting to attack any yers by surprise.

    ¡°¡­Someone ising!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    No one doubted Sally¡¯s words, even though she was the only one who had sensed anything at all.

    The eight of them quickly hid in the shadows holding their breath and staring at the other side of the mist. Then, after a while, a shadowy figure became slightly visible through the thick fog.

    ¡°Ten people¡­ huh?¡±

    Though the enemy had more numbers, the eight of them were confident that they could take them on now that Maple was with them. Chrome checked to see if there were any other enemies while holding up hisrge shield just in case.

    ¡°¡­Yeah, there¡¯s ten of them. Mai, Yui. Can you go?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we can do this.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Kanade.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    After calling out to Kanade, Sally quickly moved to the execution of their strategy.

    While Maple and the others had grasped the situation in advance, the enemy still hadn¡¯t noticed the presence of ¡°Maple Tree¡±.

    ¡°¡­Do you see anyone out there?¡±

    ¡°This fog is so thick¡­¡±

    ¡°But be careful. They could be hiding somewhere around here.¡±

    The ten yers huddled together and moved while trying to reduce blind spots as much as possible. Their Sorcerers were being shielded from all sides by their Great Shielders.

    With this, they would be able to cast their spells without having to worry about anyone approaching. The ten yers continued to be vignt as they advanced.

    Then, they were instantly wiped out by something invisible. They were given no time to activate any of their Skills. Quicker than their Great Shielders could figure out why their ¡°Stout Guardian¡± was triggered, the ten of them vanished from the field unaware of what had happened to them.

    Seeing that, Maple and the others came out from the shadows.

    ¡°Oh! You two are amazing!¡±

    When Maple called out to the apparent nothingness, Mai and Yui suddenly appeared.

    ¡°It worked!¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m d¡­¡±

    The two of them seemed relieved. At their feet, two Oboros were looking up at the party with a proud expression on their faces.

    ¡°Nice! Well, let¡¯s exchange them back. Here¡¯s Yukimi.¡±

    ¡°Here¡¯s Tsukimi. Be careful not to drop him, ¡®kay?¡±

    Kanade and Sally handed over the ¡°Bridge of Bonds¡± that they had received from Mai and Yui, and then received the ones they had given to them in return.

    ¡°This is a bit of an oversight, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°Certainly. After all, they do let you trade these between yers¡­¡±

    While it was true that each yer could only have one ¡°Bridge of Bonds¡± at all times, they were still allowed to unequip them and give them to other yers so that they could borrow their powers. Of course, this wouldn¡¯t work if there wasn¡¯t some kind of rtionship of trust between the yers involved, but this wasn¡¯t a problem for ¡°Maple Tree¡±.

    ¡°We can trade them againter if we need to use Oboro and Sou for another ¡®Swift Shadow¡¯bo.¡±

    ¡°¡±Sure!¡±¡±

    ¡°Swift Shadow¡± was a Skill with a very short duration. Even if Sally or Kanade were to use it, it would be hard for either of them to change the battle situation significantly before it wore off.

    But Mai and Yui are a different story. With the overwhelming destructive power of turning everything they touch into dust, their 16 Great Hammers can put an end to anything as long as they can get close to their target.

    No one would survive, and no one would know what hit them.

    If someone managed to escape, they wouldn¡¯t be able to inform their guild about exactly how everyone else was killed.

    And if that happened, the enemy then would have toe to this area to investigate. They would need toe to Maple and the others without knowing exactly what they could expect to face.

    ¡°Maple, Time to strike. Swallow them all.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    The more yers thate, the better. They would all add to the pile of corpses.

    The eight of them had set their trap. Nothing would be left behind.

    And it had to be done without the enemy knowing about it. The enemy troops would continue to march forward without them being able to notice that they would be marching to their deaths.

    ¡°We¡¯re waiting here, Iz.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Can you guys help me set things up around here?¡±

    Everything needed to be ready before the enemy yers arrived. The fog covering this ce made it a perfect ce to lie in wait.

    Thus everyone worked together to get everything ready and then waited for the moment when the enemy woulde.

    They stayed still, peeking from behind the rocks. And after a moment of waiting, they could see the shadowy figures of the enemy army approaching beyond the fog.

    They must have taken seriously the fact that ten people died in an instant. Although the fog made it impossible to measure the exact number, the scale of this new party was clearly different from the reconnaissance party they had defeated earlier.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do it, Maple. There seem to be too many of them for Mai and Yui to handle on their own.¡±

    ¡°Sure. I¡¯m ready!¡±

    ¡°Thene with me. Now¡¯s the time¡­¡±

    With Sally in the lead, they quietly move from one shadow to another, consolidating their advantageous position.

    Over there was arge area with fewer obstacles, making it suitable for fighting with arge number of people.

    If the enemy intended to take advantage of their numbers, they would definitely want to enter thisrge area.

    ¡°Hold onto your ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ until the veryst moment.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Phew, it¡¯s a little scary, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Since you decided to do it, why don¡¯t you do it?¡±

    ¡°We too¡­¡±

    ¡°We still have ¡®Giant¡¯s Work¡¯.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll support you all the way until thending.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ready whenever you are.¡±

    After going over the n once again, Sally bound everyone to Maple with her threads.

    Maple pointed one of her arms towards the ground before turning it into a gun barrel, and when she saw yers entering the wide space in front of her one after another, she looked at Sally.

    ¡°Oboro, ¡®Shadow Clone¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡¯Guardian¡¯! ¡±

    At the same time as Chrome used a skill that would allow him to redirect any damage dealt to the other party members towards himself, Maple unleashed a st from her gun barrel,unching her and the rest of the guild members that were tied to her up and forward into the sky.

    ¡°Something ising!¡±

    ¡°From the front¡­ no, from the top!¡±

    Being distracted by the ¡°Shadow Clones¡± that wereing at them from the front, therge party hurriedly tried to use their Skills to deal with Maple, who was now in the middle of falling on top of them.

    ¡°¡®Wide Range¡¯ ¡®Protective Light¡¯.¡±

    Kanade made everyone invincible for a short time, nullifying any iing magical attack as Maple got closer and closer to the ground.

    ¡°Dodge it!¡±

    They didn¡¯t know exactly what wasing down at them thanks to the thick fog. But there was no doubt that it intended to crash right on top of them.

    In response to this, they all cleared out from the center of their formation and readied their weapons in case they needed to attack whatever that was falling from the sky after the impact.

    This thing would have made a thunderous noise as it fell straight into the ground, whipping up a cloud of dust and sand¡­ but suddenly disappeared.

    Not only that, all the yers who were running in had also vanished.

    ¡°They¡¯re gone¡­?¡±

    ¡°Was that an illusion?¡±

    ¡°The enemy has to be preparing their next attack! Watch out!¡±

    Skills that created illusions quickly earned a reputation of being something to watch out for, as they became moremonly used as the Skills yers learned became more diverse. It was only natural to expect the real enemy to be somewhere in the area and to switch to a tight formation with everyone covering each others¡¯ backs in a circle.

    As soon as itnded, the thing disappeared into the ground under the mist and dust. There were simply not enough simr Skills out there for other yers to predict what was going to happen next.

    ¡°Wh-What!?¡±

    ¡°W-We¡¯re sinking..:? Waah!?¡±

    The ground suddenly turned into mud as reddish-ck sparks rushed through the surface, and bluesers surrounded everyone, who found themselves unable to lift even a single foot.

    Without even knowing what was happening, they were subject to abination of a status ailment, a continuous damage effect that constantly drained their HP, and also reduced their movement speed.

    Then, a series of explosions, a huge ivy, and a muddy stream that threw them off bnce.

    All of this happened in just a moment. They hadn¡¯t heard anyone saying the name of a Skill, and no prior effects. All these things suddenly appeared on the spot as if they had been there from the beginning.

    ¡°Run away! Run away now!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t¡­ move my legs¡­!¡±

    Since they didn¡¯t know what hit them, they had no way to respond appropriately to this attack.

    However, this had been too shy for a simple surprise attack. It had to have been staged in advance with considerable preparation. At the very end, they were finally able to recognize the presence at the center of it all.

    A figure was standing on top of a nearby rock as if to avoid the muddy ground, stretching out four ck wings they had never seen before along with its familiar two white wings. It was a monster that emanated a blue and red light that spelled death for anyone who happened to be in its way.

    She had gained the ability to catch her enemies by surprise, and with a devastating power at that. Seeing Maple, who had grown so much since the 4th event, they finally understood that they had been lured into her trap.

    Maple¡¯s ¡°Annihtion Area¡± had literally annihted all of the yers there.

    Thanks to its huge area of effect ¨Cwith the only disadvantage of also being able to affect allies in range¨C and every avable movement speed reduction Skill from every member of ¡°Maple Tree¡± to prevent the enemy from escaping, the enemy had been driven to a corner, where they were too confused about what was happening to be able to react on time.

    ¡°¡¯Earth¡¯s Cradle¡¯ is very strong¡­ I wonder if I should¡¯ve gotten it too.¡±

    ¡°I think it has a lot to do with how well it synergizes with Maple¡¯s other skills¡­ but even if you use it only to quickly get away from somewhere¡­ yeah, it¡¯s pretty powerful.¡±

    When burrowing into the ground with ¡°Earth¡¯s Cradle¡±, any activated Skills and items used woulde into effect aftering out of the ground. This is what Maple and the others had used to create this situation where a lot of things happened at the same time.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure they weren¡¯t expecting all that stuff to happen from just one skill, huh?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Besides, I don¡¯t think anyone has ever seen you use your ¡®Annihtion Area¡¯. Maple.¡±

    When assaulted by several unknown things, it¡¯s important to have enough time to be able toe up with ways to deal with them. Maple¡¯s perfect surprise attack worked because it hadpletely taken away that margin.

    ¡°Alright! Worked like a charm!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. The fact that we were able tond without having to rely on your ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯ was huge. If they knew it was Maple who jumped into the air, everyone would have ran away before we could do anything about it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so strong, Maple¡­¡±

    ¡°We should all remain on guard¡­¡±

    The wise keep away from danger, or so they say. Basically, there was no need for any of them to go out of their way just to fight the enemy.

    They needed to save their Skills for when the time was right, or the next batch of enemies would be abIe to escape their trap.

    ¡°I wonder if they will send in more people after this?¡±

    ¡°¡­Well, I think they will switch to a few of their elite.¡±

    ¡°I think so too. And if they know thating in like they had only resulted in them being taken down one-sidedly, they won¡¯te back in the same way, right?¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s be careful from here on!¡±

    ¡°Yes. We also have the cooldown of Maple¡¯s Skill to consider, and although no one has escaped this time, I think there is a high possibility that they noticed Maple¡¯s presence.¡±

    Although the number of yers with powerful Skills was increasing, there were still a handful of yers with the ability to single-handedly overwhelm the enemy and wreak havoc on the battlefield. Having lost this badly could also lead the enemy to eventually realize who¡¯s behind these powerful attacks.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up and leave Iz¡¯s items here. The truth is that we don¡¯t have Maple¡¯s ¡®Stout Guardian¡¯ for the rest of the day, so I¡¯d like to avoid these 50/50 battles as much as possible.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s move quickly before reinforcements arrive.¡±

    After having annihted the enemy in such a shy way, this operation was no longer covert. Before the next unit arrived, Maple and the others got on on Haku and scattered Iz¡¯s transparent bombs all over the ce.

 Chapter 427

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 427</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Searching for the Enemy</strong>

    The result of that battle reached the enemy faction in the form of a total annihtion of the members they had sent out to investigate.

    It had all happened in a matter of seconds. One after another, but without a pause, everyone had been defeated, as it could be clearly seen by the Guild member list disyed on the blue panel. One by one, each of their statuses were changing to indicate that they were no longer on the field. It was a bizarre and terrifying thing to watch.

    ¡°¡­? Looks like there¡¯s some kind ofmotion over there?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go ask them what¡¯s going on. Please wait here, Velvet.¡±

    Hinata walked over to a group of yers that seemed to be anxious about something, asked them what was going on, and then returned to Velvet.

    And that¡¯s how Velvet learned that arge number of yers that were marching together were suddenly killed by the enemy.

    ¡°This happened on the other side of the map where ¡®Congregation of the Holy Swords¡¯ wasst seen¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I know it¡¯s not impossible for them considering this is Payne and the others we¡¯re talking about, but¡­¡±

    It wasn¡¯t unreasonable to believe that Payne and the others could reach the opposite side of the map very quickly. If they departed immediately after their battle with Lily and Wilbert, it would certainly be possible for them. They had the means to achieve a very high movement speed by gathering a group of fast yers together with Frederica¡¯s buffs.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Though I also feel like that¡¯s not what happened. Let¡¯s ask Lily and Wilbert what they think about this!¡±

    Thinking they would still be in town, Velvet contacted Lily and Wilbert.

    They came over shortly after, and after talking about this with Velvet and Hinata, Lily and Wilbert seemed to feel the same as Velvet.

    ¡°That would mean that the King¡¯s attack didn¡¯t do anything to them, though I believe that the ¡®Congregation of the Holy Swords¡¯ is tough enough to easily move out to attack somewhere else right away after something like that.¡±

    ¡°But everyone died in an instant. That¡¯s what¡¯s been bothering me. ¡®Congregation of the Holy Swords¡¯ is certainly strong, but I think that¡¯s a little different from their fighting style.¡±

    The ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡± had built their reputation through carefully continuing to win their battles by arming themselves with the right buffs and defensive Skills, and the high level of each of their individual members. It was a Guild with a lot of strength in the traditional sense of the word. And that¡¯s why it feels like they have virtually no weaknesses, and that there¡¯s no way to knock them down in an instant. But at the same time, this also means that it would be difficult for them to settle arge-scale battle in an instant as well.

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s more like¡­ Mii¡¯s style, or Velvet¡¯s. More¡­Mie, that¡¯s exactly like Velvet. Either of them would have such ranged firepower and the support they need to pull off something like that¡­ Although I suppose it¡¯s possible that Frederica and Drag took care of those aspects.¡±

    But Lily¡¯s intuition was telling her otherwise.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s ¡®Maple Tree¡¯. I saw Maple produce a weapon I¡¯ve never seen before. What if that gives her even more defensive power than what we knew she had? ¡­What if that gave her a new skill?¡±

    Both were certainly possible. The other three agreed with Lily¡¯s theory. An explosive power that could defeat every other yer in sight before they could even see iting¡­ That sounded a lot more like the style of ¡°Maple Tree¡± rather than that of ¡°Congregation of Holy Swords.¡±

    ¡°I also heard that they were able to dodge Mii¡¯s st with rtive ease, but they sure were quick to counterattack, huh? It looks like we¡¯ll have to fight back even harder.¡±

    Even if you think you have an advantage, showing any gaps to the enemy could give them the chance to turn things around in an instant. So the best answer to that would be to keep on fighting. That was also the most efficient way to deal with this.

    ¡°Having a bit of flexibility will also work in our favor. How about the four of us have a go at them?¡±

    ¡°You got it!¡±

    ¡°As usual, I¡¯m counting on you to put a stop on our enemies¡¯ movement, Hinata.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Certainly.¡±

    ¡°So, where are we going, Lily?¡±

    ¡°Will. Find the yers who are at the core of the enemy front with that ¡®eye¡¯ of yours. The top yer of each Guild should do just fine. We need to eliminate any yer who can change the battle situation before the damage to our side bes too much for us to handle.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I¡¯m getting all pumped up!¡±

    To precisely and properly kill the yers carrying the enemy faction¡­ These four yers could do it.

    Agreeing that not onlyrge-scale battles had the potential to influence the situation of the war between the two factions, the four of them quickly left their town.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s move quickly! ¡®Electric el¡¯!¡±

    Velvet increased everyone¡¯s movement speed, and Wilbert added a buff of his own. Hinata, as usual, floated next to Velvet thanks to her gravity maniption Skill. Velvet kept her eyes on Wilbert, wondering where they should go first.

    ¡°Just as I thought, there¡¯s no one within range yet. The main battlefield is being upied by the ¡®Kingdom of the me Emperor¡¯, so I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to change anytime soon.¡±

    ¡°Then what are we going to do?¡±

    ¡°¡­Right. Well, let¡¯s go take a look at the ce where all those deaths took ce. There¡¯s no way we¡¯re getting ambushed if Will searches for the enemy.¡±

    It was important to confirm whether this unknown enemy ¨Cpresumably ¡°Maple Tree¡±¨C was still in the vicinity. At present, Lily and the others had no idea what the ones responsible for annihting so many of their allies was doing at the moment.

    They had to confirm this quickly if they were to have any hopes to prevent further victims.

    ¡°When we left the town, they did tell us to avoid this area for the time being, didn¡¯t they?¡±

    If the number of enemies was small, once Wilbert found them with his Skill, Hinata would be able to anchor them to the ground, and they would be at the very least able to escape that area unharmed. The four started to move after confirming that they were being as careful about this as possible.

    ¡°Hmm, they managed to get into this ce easily. It doesn¡¯t seem like there were any other yers here at all.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ they could have been using a Skill that makes them invisible or something like that.¡±

    ¡°Dred has shown that he can use his Tamed Monster to make himself and his party disappear, so it¡¯s possible that he used this Skill to break through some blind spot in our surveincework.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s be careful from here on, guys!¡±

    As expected, there were no enemy yers near the town, and the four of them were slowly approaching the area where all those casualties had taken ce.

    They all walked through an area that was scattered with geysers all over, but they hadn¡¯t detected the presence of any enemies thus far.

    ¡°Did they all die inside that fog up ahead¡­?¡±

    ¡°That looks like the perfect ce tounch a surprise attack¡­ Let¡¯s be extra careful.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Please be ready to activate your Skills at any time. I¡¯ll take a look to confirm whether there¡¯s anyone in there or not.¡±

    After saying that, Wilbert turned his attention to the foggy area that could be seen a little further ahead of their position.

    ¡°Whoa, what¡­¡±

    ¡°Did you see anything?¡±

    ¡°¡­there are bombs and other traps scattered all over the ce.¡±

    ¡°I see. So if you step inside without paying attention, you get turned into charcoal in an instant.¡±

    ¡°Are you looking into the fog right now?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Though¡­ there¡¯s something I want to check, so let¡¯s go in there. There are no enemies right now, so just walk behind me and you¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    Wilbert seemed convinced that the ce was filled with traps. Since Velvet was from a different Guild than Wilbert, they were basically rivals. For this reason, she didn¡¯t exactly know how Wilbert¡¯s Skill worked, but the way he had spoken just now made her think that his words hadn¡¯t been an assumption. Instead, he sounded like he was already 100% sure of what he said, as if he had just seen it all with his own eyes.

    ¡°Hmm, but it sure didn¡¯t look like you used any Skills right now¡­¡±

    ¡°How did you do it? Are your eyes really that good?¡±

    ¡°Yep. Being able to avoid traps like this is really helpful.¡±

    Once inside the foggy area, the other three of them followed right behind Wilbert just like he had asked them to, and before long they came to a sudden stop.

    ¡°Look here. This type of bomb won¡¯t explode just by touching it. ¡­Well, here goes.¡±

    ¡°Look at what? There¡¯s nothing here¡­ right?¡±

    Wilbert crouched, picked up something that no one else could see, threw it into the sky, and quickly prepared his bow.

    ¡°Hinata, please be prepared just in case.¡±

    ¡°G-Got it.¡±

    As soon as he heard her reply, Wilbert fired his arrow, which then hit something in mid-air, causing a big explosion that partly blew away the fog in the area.

    ¡°This one doesn¡¯t look like the type that explodes into fire.¡±

    ¡°Whoa, what was that!?¡±

    ¡°This ce is filled with invisible bombs. They also seem to be interconnected, so if you carelessly trigger one of them, this entire area will be blown to pieces¡­¡±

    ¡°Wow¡­ we probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to step in here if you hadn¡¯te along, huh?¡±

    ¡°I suppose so. I don¡¯t know if there is any other way to see through them.¡±

    As long as these bombs didn¡¯t despawn after a certain time had passed since they had been set, or were otherwise removed, this area would remain inessible. If the enemy were to detonate them at the right time, it would cause great damage to this faction.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll clean this ce up! After all, we¡¯vee all the way here already!¡±

    ¡°Haha, that feeling¡­ you¡¯re gonna do it through brute force, huh?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the only way I can do it!¡±

    ¡°Okay. Then let¡¯s step away for now. We don¡¯t wanna get caught up in any explosions.¡±

    Once the four were a little away from the bomb-filled area, Lily and Wilbert changed their equipment and deployed a wall of soldiers. Hinata added an ice wall as well to prepare for the shockwave that would being from the front.

    ¡°Whenever you¡¯re ready.¡±

    ¡°¡¯Second Coming of the Thunder God¡¯!¡±

    As soon as Velvet activated her Skill, lightning started to course through her body, which started to let loose several sparks.

    ¡°¡®Purple Lightning¡¯!¡±

    A purple electric shock ran in a straight line from Velvet¡¯s fist. Immediately after that, it was sucked into the fog, and shortly after, a series of violent, fiery explosions covered everyone¡¯s entire field of vision, engulfing everything in the vicinity in mes.

    ¡°¡®Puppet Wall¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Ice wall¡¯! W-What an incredible power¡­!¡±

    Both of them quickly deployed defensive barriers to shield themselves from the overwhelmingly powerful shockwave and intense mes that wereing at them as a result from this series of explosions, which none of them could believe could have been produced by mere items.

    Had they been inside that foggy area when those bombs detonated, there would have been no way to defend themselves from being caught by those explosionsing from all sides.

    ¡°¡­It looks like it¡¯s finally over.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, all of the bombs seem to have already gone off due to that chain detonation. So I guess it¡¯s safe to walk into the fog now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll send a message to our allies. They need to be aware that they could be facing this kind of trap when stepping into enemy territory. Though I gotta say, these traps are gonna put quite a lot of pressure on our side.¡°

    The fact that Wilbert could be hiding somewhere was already putting enough pressure on Maple¡¯s side to stop their advance to some extent, but these explosions were something that Wilbert¡¯s side had to respect before trying to advance themselves.

    ¡°Will, let¡¯s continue to search for enemies from now on. We¡¯ll keep on advancing until we take the fight to the enemy¡¯s camp.¡±

    ¡°Understand.¡±

    ¡°Finally!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a little nervous¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll start attacking the moment we see a good chance. But feel free to take your time to prepare yourselves for it.¡±

    With the conviction that they were the right people for the job of breaking through this area safely, the four of them, led by Wilbert, proceeded forward while continuing to disarming the bombs set by their enemies.

    Soon they arrived at the terrain that Maple had forced through thanks to her defensive power.

    Although the four of them were excellent in terms of offensive ability, they were no match for Maple in terms of defense. So they had no choice but to circle around any terrain that would require them to have defensive abilities even remotely simr to Maple¡¯s.

    ¡°Because of this harsh terrain, it must be very easy for the enemy to predict where we could being from. Though I don¡¯t think that they have any means to attack us from a distancerger than Will¡¯s range¡­ still. We better be careful. We¡¯ll soon arrive at the enemy camp.¡±

    ¡°Phew¡­ That¡¯s right.¡±

    Velvet was also feeling that the moment for them to finallye face to face with the enemy was finally approaching, and increased her concentration.

    After a while, Wilbert detected that someone had entered his search range.

    ¡°I got something. It¡¯s a long way off, but there¡¯s two people up ahead. They seem to be scouts for some guild.¡±

    ¡°Can you take them down from here?¡±

    ¡°If I could get some buffs¡­¡±

    ¡°Sure. ¡®King¡¯s Helper¡¯s Talent¡¯ ¡®Tactical Guidance¡¯ ¡®Unreasonable Power¡¯ ¡®Wise King¡¯s Command¡¯ ¡®Body Nourishment¡¯ ¡®Advice¡¯.¡±

    Wilbert, whose body was now emitting a bright aura thanks to all of Lily¡¯s buffs, walked a few steps before adjusting his position and readying his bow.

    ¡°¡¯Long Range¡¯ ¡®Maximum Draw¡¯ ¡®Devoted Single Shot¡¯!¡±

    With its extended rage, his deadly arrow flew through the gaps in the trees, leaving behind a red afterimage that followed its path. Wilbert then drew another arrow and shot another one of those at another distant enemy, out of his threepanions¡¯ sight.

    ¡°Phew¡­ Alright. I defeated both of them.¡±

    ¡°Whoa, are you sure?¡±

    It was only natural for Velvet not to immediately believe that someone else had been defeated just like that without her being able to see it with her own eyes.

    ¡°If Will says so, then there¡¯s no mistaking it.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing my opponents can do if I attack them with this¡­¡±

    Though it was hard to believe, ording to Will, he had shot each arrow at the precise moment each of the scouts¡¯ faces had popped out from behind a tree to check the area.

    ¡°If they look squishy enough¡­ and there aren¡¯t too many of them around, then I can defeat them. And if my opponent isn¡¯t squishy enough, then I¡¯ll try to deal as much damage as I can as I secure an escape route.¡±

    ¡°Ah, but we¡¯ll get you covered when that happens!¡±

    ¡°Yes. Exactly.¡±

    After that, Wilbert continued to take down as many enemies only he could see as possible with his one-sided preemptive strikes with an uncanny uracy.

 Chapter 428

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 428</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Overcharge</strong>

    While they were making good progress, after a little while, Wilbert asked the rest of the party to stop walking.

    ¡°Velvet¡­ you¡¯re up.¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    That meant that there was a powerful enemy ahead, one that stood out from other yers.

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep pressing on like always. Please make sure to jump in when the time is right.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    A single one of Velvet¡¯s attacks as follow-up should be enough to do away with any enemy bulky enough to survive one of Wilbert¡¯s arrows.

    Wilbert took up a position on a nearby high-ground location so that there was nothing in the middle of his line of fire. At the same time, Velvet went on ahead, getting as close to the enemy without being noticed as possible.

    The yers that Wilbert sensed up ahead were hiding behind a thick pir among the ruins of some copsed buildings. They were Dred and Drag, who were exploring the area while being as vignt of their surroundings as ever.

    ¡°I hope Frederica is doing well over there.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s the type of girl who can really get things done when she gives it her all, so I don¡¯t think we should be too worried about her. I¡¯m sure we can get a lot of firepower out if each of us goes full-throttle, her over there and us here.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right¡­?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not sure. But I feel like we¡¯re being watched.¡±

    ¡°Whoa¡­ ¡­Okay.¡±

    It was just a hunch with nothing to back it up at the moment. However, Dred¡¯s senses had saved the ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡± many times, so it was well worth following that hunch.

    ¡°Frederica¡¯s Skill is very valuable, but¡­ We should cut it off.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s be careful about it.¡±

    ¡°Shadow, ¡®Chase Prey¡¯.¡±

    Several wolf-shaped shadows appeared one after another from under the feet of Shadow, who was standing next to Dread, and immediately started running.

    Though this Skill had a long cooldown, it was still worth using since it allowed Dred to safely search for enemies in a wide area.

    Shortly after being deployed, one of the shadowy wolves started howling.

    ¡°¡®Second Coming of the Thunder God¡¯! ¡®Field of Lightning¡¯!¡±

    Immediately after that, the area was struck by arge amount of lightning bolts, and the enemy that was hidden revealed herself.

    ¡°Hah¡­ How troublesome¡­¡±

    ¡°Tch, it¡¯s that nasty girl.¡±

    There was only one yer in the entire game capable of doing something like that, and that yer was Velvet.

    ¡°Shadow informed me that there are at least two people within range. So it has to be that other girl that always hangs out with Velvet, that¡­ Hinata. Though all she can do is debuff us.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll let the others know. Well, what do we do now? It doesn¡¯t look like she¡¯s gonna throw herself at us just yet.¡±

    Although her lightning bolts had been quite shy, Velvet didn¡¯t seem anywhere near breaking into a dash towards them, and while recognizing that they too weren¡¯t going to approach her just yet due to her warning shots, Dred and Drag briefly pondered what to do next.

    ¡°¡­Should we try to corral her? Though it seems risky.¡±

    ¡°No, that sounds good! That¡¯s what I was thinking from the beginning. After all, we¡¯ve got ourselves a fine catch!¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­ Alright then. Make sure to get Earth ready to go as well.¡±

    Heeding Dred¡¯s advice, Drag made his preparations before both he and Dred jumped out from behind the pir.

    At that very moment, an arrow came at full speed towards them. It pierced Drag¡¯s body in the blink of an eye, not sparing even a fraction of a second to allow him to have any kind of reaction to it.

    And at the same time. Earth, who had been right next to him, was sent flying, and his HP went all the way down to 1.

    ¡°¡­Ah, so you¡¯vee as well, huh?¡±

    ¡°¡®Earth Breaker¡¯! Earth, ¡®Rock Dome¡¯ ¡®Barricade¡¯ ¡® Repair¡¯!¡±

    Drag interrupted Velvet¡¯s approach with his knockback Skill before having Earth create arge rock wall which would cut off the line of fire.

    ¡°Haha, you were right as usual, Dred!¡±

    ¡°¡­Though I wanted to go away from this ce.¡±

    Due to having used ¡°Substitute¡± on Earth, the monsterpanion was able to take that attack without much of an issue. And although his Skill to survive a lethal hit with 1 HP had been used up in the process, it was much better than dying on the spot.

    ¡°He¡¯s on that hill to the left.. I can¡¯t reach him there¡­ Let¡¯s stick to the walls.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    There was some distance between Wilbert and them. Fortunately for Dred and Drag, there were several ruined buildings all around them. Therefore, the n was to continue to advance using those as barricades in order to deal with their two enemies.

    ¡°You were really quick to respond to that¡­ Amazing! I couldn¡¯t burst in at all!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Now let us return the favor! ¡®Berserk¡¯!¡±

    After buffing himself, Drag charged forward with his greataxe in one hand. The reach of this weapon was overwhelmingly superior. The n was to use this in order to inflict as much damage as possible before ¡°Rapid Shot¡± could make their next move.

    ¡°¡¯Center of the Storm¡¯!¡±

    An electric shock generated around Velvet, sending forth a series of lightning bolts forward to attack the approaching Drag.

    ¡°Earth, ¡®Lightning Rod¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Shadow, ¡®Shadow Pack¡¯!¡±

    However, of course, he wasn¡¯t going to throw himself carelessly at the enemy, nor would he be alone in his charge. The rock pir created by Earth¡¯s Skill would draw in any iing ranged attacks, and the pack of wolves called forth by Dred advanced along Drag.

    The ¡°Lightning Rod¡± would be quickly destroyed by Velvet¡¯s powerful lightning, but it would still buy Drag enough time.

    However, just before Velvet was within Drag¡¯s greataxe attacking range¡­

    ¡°¡¯Cocytus¡¯¡±

    An intense cold blew through, covering the ground with ice, which caught their enemies¡¯ feet, restricting their movement.

    ¡°¡®Electromaic Jump¡¯!¡±

    Then, after Hinata used another debuff to reduce their opponent¡¯s defense to almost zero, Velvet started running.

    ¡°¡®Roar of Thunder¡¯!¡±

    The column of lightning that then generated around Velvet engulfed Drag and the wolves, and illuminated the sky.

    This light eventually subsided and Velvet faced forward.

    ¡°There it is! So that¡¯s the Skill for diving into the ground I¡¯d heard about, huh?¡±

    ¡°¡­Hah, this is tough. She¡¯s incredibly strong.¡±

    ¡°Nice, Dred! Though that¡¯s one use down, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Even if Drag himself couldn¡¯t move, he would be able to avoid Velvet¡¯s attack by simply making him sink into the ground. Then, all that would be left to do was to move away as soon as ¡°Cocytus¡± wore off.

    ¡°That restraining Skill is very strong after all. I¡¯m guessing it has a long cooldown as well, huh? I¡¯ll make you spit it all out.¡±

    ¡°¡­I won¡¯t lose.¡±

    Taking into ount the cooldown of their enemies¡¯ Skills, as well as their own, Drag and Dred switched ces and started to move forward.

    ¡°A rain of arrows ising!¡±

    Drag started remaking his rock walls while calling out to Dred, but thetter had already started running.

    ¡°It¡¯s no big deal.¡±

    Since he used a dagger, Dred had to get really close to Velvet in order to deal any kind of damage to her. Hinata¡¯s defense-reduction debuff was unavoidable, so if he were to get hit, he would die instantly, but that was always the case for Dred. Although he wasn¡¯t as strong as Sally, it was still safe to assume that he wouldn¡¯t get hit easily.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have even bothered to start fighting if I didn¡¯t think I would be able to handle this much¡­!¡±

    Dred dodged both the rain of arrows and Velvet¡¯s barrage of lightning bolts.

    There was a very brief indication of where each lightning would crash onto the ground before they did, so while Dred knew he couldn¡¯t just dash forward and run past everything, he was also confident that he would be able to dodge them all if he gave it his all.

    He simply had to run faster, or he would never catch up with the enemy.

    ¡°¡¯Top Speed¡¯!¡±

    After a sudden burst of eleration, Dred saw an opening and took a bold step forward.

    ¡°¡¯Frozen Earth¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Stance Perk¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Then all you gotta do is step away.¡±

    Dred activated his Skill and quickly fled out of the range of the enemies¡¯ own Skills. It would have been all over for him once his movements were restrained, so he figured his best bet was to try to bait Hinata¡¯s response and force it to go into cooldown.

    ¡°Hmph, that was clever!¡±

    ¡°Thanks. I¡¯m a dagger user, so my dodging has to be top-notch if I don¡¯t want to get killed by literally anything.¡±

    Drag and Dred were both incredibly skilled yers. Hinata and Velvet, on the other hand, had incredibly strong Skills. Though things were going rtively well for both parties, everyone felt like they had been walking on a tightrope.

    ¡°Then¡­ let¡¯s raise it even higher!¡±

    Velvet breathed in and straightened her posture.

    ¡°¡¯Overcharge¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    The yellow jewel on Velvet¡¯s chest suddenly started to generate a strong electric shock. Unusually thick lightning bolts started to rain down on the field, with an increasingly expanding area of effect. The coiling sparks started to be more furious, turning into a bluish-white color and reducing the surroundings to a crisp even more violently than before.

    ¡°With that range, it¡¯s gonna be really hard to dodge those lighting bolts, huh?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Dread decides to withdraw after seeing the incredible power and density of Velvet¡¯s newly created lightning bolts, which looked more like thick pirs made out of sheer electric power that were endlessly falling from the sky.

    Being a very skilled yer wasn¡¯t going to be good enough on its own to deal with such an incredibly violent Skill. This new wide-ranged Skill that Velvet had kept secret up until now was a very poor match for Drag and Dred, who mainly focused on meleebat.

    ¡°Drag, let¡¯s regroup! Shadow, ¡®Shadow World¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Earth! ¡®Earthquake¡¯!¡±

    Since there was a risk that Hinata would use her restraining Skill once again in order to prevent Drag¡¯s advance, he dove into the shadows created by Dred¡¯s monsterpanion so as to quickly put himself away from danger.

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna need Maple to do something about that.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Those pirs of light are stilling after us, though.¡±

    It seemed that there was no way to avoid getting hit by Velvet¡¯s new Skill, simply because it was impossible to move around safely while within range. And when ites to dealing with Velvet, all they really needed to do was to push through and close the distance until they could get her within their attacking range.

    ¡°If theye after us, we¡¯ll corral them as nned. We¡¯ve bought enough time already.¡±

    Learning about the enemy¡¯s new Skills had been good enough for them. Drag and Dred quickly withdrew from the battle so that they wouldn¡¯t fall within the range of Hinata¡¯s restraint Skill, and before ¡®Rapid Shot¡¯ came down from their hideout.

    After chasing them for a while, Velvet canceled her Skill the moment she lost sight of them.

    ¡°I wish I had eyes like Wilbert¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s reunite with Lily-san and the others for now. It¡¯s too dangerous for both of us to keep chasing after them any further.¡±

    The two returned the way they came and joined Lily and Wilbert.

    ¡°They managed to get away.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate, but it can¡¯t be helped. They were being very careful about this fight from the very beginning.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like it was some kind of Skill, but¡­ it seemed that they could somehow tell that even us two were around, despite us being very far away.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a matter of experience. Their attacks were amazing as well. The fact that they retreated tells me that they felt that they were at a disadvantage.¡±

    Wilbert¡¯s presence had posed a threat too big for Drag and Dred to deal with, and made trying to defeat Velvet and Hinata a very difficult endeavor. Therefore, they had decided that it was best to withdraw for the time being.

    ¡°I hope it¡¯s not so easy for them to retreat the next time we fight.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have my lightning ready by then! I want to defeat that monster¡­¡±

    ¡°I see. Will, what about this ce?¡±

    ¡°I think there¡¯s a better ce a little further to the east from here.¡±

    Velvet¡¯s ¡°Overcharge¡± wasn¡¯t a Skill that could be used at any time. As the name suggests, it had to be charged up first.

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna need that Skill. It¡¯s our biggest threat to the enemy right now.¡±

    That Skill had shown to have the power to force even two of the strongest members of ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡± to withdraw from the battle, so they needed to have it ready for the next time they fought. The four of them headed east so that Velvet could start storing the electricity she needed.

 Chapter 429

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 429</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Secret Skill</strong>

    After having sessfully withdrawn safely from the battle and getting closer to the town, Drag and Dred ran into Payne, who was giving instructions to some other fellow guild members.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re back already?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we had an encounter with a few troublesome opponents. We were thinking of calling in reinforcements in order to try to corral them, but they didn¡¯t seem toe after us after all.¡±

    ¡°¡®It was ¡®Rapid Shot¡¯ and ¡®Thunder Storm¡¯. [Rapid Fire] and [Thunder Storm] came. It looked like it was four people in total.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t think that only four of them will risk chasing you into our territory, but let¡¯s be vignt just in case.¡±

    From the fact that the enemy hadn¡¯t pushed themselves into pursuing Dred and Drag, Payne understood that, although they wanted to defeat the enemy in front of them with everything they had, they didn¡¯t intend to risk more than necessary.

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be too strange to think that they could be nning to attack our headquarters, would it?¡±

    ¡°With Velvet¡¯s energy, I would be surprised if they weren¡¯t nning to do something like that!¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ By the way, Velvet has used a Skill I¡¯ve never seen before. We should tell ¡®Maple Tree¡¯ about it, Payne. Sally definitely needs to hear about this.¡±

    ¡°I see. Tell me about it.¡±

    Dred told Payne about Velvet¡¯s ¡°Overcharge¡±. In order to fight against it in the safest possible way, it was necessary to have ess to a Skill that either allowed for a powerful long-range attack, or a defensive ability to leap away from its wide area of effect.

    ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll let ¡®Maple Tree¡¯ know about this then. They should being back soon with Frederica soon enough.¡±

    ¡°Oh, are they done already? It looks like things are going well on their end!¡±

    Frederica and ¡®Maple Tree¡¯ had gone out to set up more bombs in enemy territory. With both Frederica and Sally on board not only would it be easier for them to search for enemies thanks to Knots, but they would also have an easier time doing any kind of covert operations.

    ¡°Yes. There¡¯s something else that¡¯s rted to that. We heard a series of explosions over here as well, but they were smaller and more dispersed than the one we¡¯ve heard before. I wonder if the enemy has already discovered some of the traps Maple and the others had set over there¡­¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, it had to be either Wilbert or Hinata. It¡¯s possible that either of those two have the Skills to suppress the damage taken from bombs.¡±

    It looked like it wasn¡¯t going that well after all. Still, it was worth knowing when something didn¡¯t work as expected.

    ¡°You two need to rest. A big battle ising.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ Resting sounds good. I¡¯mpletely beat.¡±

    With that, Drag and Dred returned to town. After a short while, the eight members of Maple Tree and Frederica returned as well.

    ¡°Hey, Payne! Did anything happen while we were away?¡±

    ¡°No signs of the enemy so far. How did it go?¡±

    ¡°It went well. We also happened toe across some enemies, but we defeated them. Mai and Yui disappeared, and the next moment, all of the enemies were instantly killed, so I wonder if they even know what hit them~¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just d it went well!¡±

    ¡°It was all thanks to Frederica telling us where the enemies were¡­¡±

    The enemy faction still didn¡¯t know about Mai and Yui¡¯s instant-kill strategy that utilizes Oboro and Sou to trick the enemy. After all, the dead don¡¯t speak. If no one survives the attack, there would be no way for the enemy to tell others what had happened.

    ¡°We¡¯ve nted a lot of bombs!¡±

    ¡°I hope they work as intended¡­¡±

    Just as Sally began to talk, a series of immense fire pirs were seen piercing the heavens from the distant other side of the forest. The st that engulfed that area was so big and had so much power that no yer in the vicinity should be able to survive it.

    ¡°¡­Looks like they do, huh?¡±

    ¡°It certainly does. It helps that the resultse out so quickly.¡±

    ¡°We were right to get out of there quickly.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too bad that the bombs will hit friend and foe alike. I know we¡¯ve let everyone else know where we were nting those bombs, but it would be nice if none of our allies were to get caught up in one of those explosions¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We can¡¯t afford to lose anyone.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if the fact that we¡¯ve defeated several people earlier has drawn the next party into our traps?¡±

    None of them knew exactly how much damage had been done to the enemy forces thanks to those bombs, but they could guess that it had been considerable.

    The traps had yielded good results. Thus the next move of ¡°Maple Tree¡± was to go back to town and get some rest like Dred and Drag had done before them. After all, they were exhausted after going to the front lines so many times and putting themselves in a situation where a battle would happen at any time for the day.

    They needed to be in top condition in order to lessen the risk of making a bad call in an important situation.

    ¡°I have an important message from Dred especially for you, Sally.¡±

    ¡°For me? Got it.¡±

    Sally then told Maple and the others to go ahead without her.

    Then, Payne passed along the information he had gotten from Dred.

    ¡°Oh, I see¡­¡±

    ¡°You said that you fought Velvet once, but at that time she must have not unlocked such a Skill yet.¡±

    Back when Sally took the same side as ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡±, she had shared with them the Skills she had seen Velvet use during their previous duel.

    ¡°This Skill must have been some kind of ace up her sleeve she had been saving. I¡¯ll try to be as careful about that Skill as possible. But I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be able to deal with that Skill no matter what I do¡­ I¡¯ll check with Iz from time to time if any of our bombs have been removed so we can all be aware of it as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯ll be a great help. Now, there was another thing. I¡¯d like to hear your opinion on the battle situation so we can better n our next move.¡±

    Sally was acting as the main representative of ¡°Maple Tree¡± during this event. This is why Payne had asked her to stay with him for a moment.

    ¡°¡­I have the impression that we have yet to get an honest-to-goodness, full-fledged battle on our hands. We haven¡¯t gotten too deep into the event yet, so this could be either a good or a bad thing.¡±

    ¡°I think so too. Even Velvet could have caught up with Dred and Drag if they had pushed themselves a bit harder than they did. Deaths are happening on both sides, but the front line has hardly moved from the center of this event field.¡±

    The reason why neither side was pushing was that there hadn¡¯t been any deaths that would give an overwhelming advantage over the difference in numbers so far. The event wasn¡¯t going to be finished any time soon, so there was no reason to be in a hurry, and above all, the fact that yers couldn¡¯t afford to get killed even once led both sides to n their moves with a focus on avoiding major risks before anything else.

    Incidentally, the existence of incredibly powerful Skills such as Mii¡¯s ¡°Daybreak¡± and Maple¡¯s ¡°Annihtion Area¡± had driven many yers from both sides to drop out of the event, but this wasn¡¯t something that would lead either side to victory on its own.

    The sense of the scales not tipping in anyone¡¯s favor was still maintained by the fact that neither faction was particrly one step ahead of the other.

    ¡°It certainly feels like this could be all settled the very moment the right opportunity presents itself to either side¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. A big battle is sure to unfold soon enough. With these many yers participating in the event, people from opposing factions are going toe across each other, and the situation could change greatly at any time because of it.¡±

    At the same time, Payne and Sally remembered that at that time, a forced event in which monsters from both sides of this event area started attacking the camps on their own side could take ce. If either side fails to do something about it, the yers from the other faction could attack and defeat the monsters on the former¡¯s side and continue to advance using that momentum. And if both sides were to leave that threat unchecked, they would all be driven to the fields, where arge-scale conflict will inevitably ur. In that scenario, the first focus for each side would undoubtedly be whether or not they can take an advantage at that moment.

    ¡°The enemy should be attacking from the center, where ¡®Kingdom of the me Emperor¡¯ has built a castle that cannot be easily destroyed. There they remain on the front lines, waiting for the right opportunity to strike.¡±

    ¡°The formation of ¡®Kingdom of the me Emperor¡¯ is very powerful, isn¡¯t it? Our top priority would be to match that strength ourselves¡­¡±

    Sally had no objections to that. There was no way to get anywhere near the enemy frontline from the ground as they moved forward while burning down anything and anyone in their path with Mii at the center of it all.

    Sally¡¯s side had to think about which would be their best course of action. Should they try to deal with it head-on, or should they attack from the sides and maneuver with their troops while applying pressure to them by threatening to aim for their castle?

    ¡°What do you think, Payne?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I think it¡¯s better to take the battle straight to the heart of the problem.¡±

    ¡°¡­I¡¯m a little surprised to hear that.¡±

    ¡°Haha, I bet you are. I can¡¯t imagine what will happen if we just leave ¡®Kingdom of the me Emperor¡¯ and ¡®Thunder Storm¡¯ to their own devices in the center of the battlefield. Things are going to get really rough for us if they manage to break through our lines.¡±

    Payne felt that they had no choice but to deal with the enemy. Though it could be seen as him being too negative about it, he felt that the strength of the group formed by ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± and ¡°Thunder Storm¡± actually surpassed that of this side.

    ¡°However, there is still a high possibility that doing so will put us at a disadvantage. We¡¯re in a bit of a lose-lose situation here.¡±

    Having heard so far, Sally understood what the ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡± wanted from ¡°Maple Tree¡±.

    ¡°There are several ways to turn the tide of battle. When ites to shing with the enemy head on, it¡¯s best to do it while you still have arge number of troops avable¡­ But I think we need to think about our options.¡±

    Sally averted her eyes for a moment as she tried to find the right words to finish her sentence.

    ¡°What¡¯s on your mind? Can you tell me?¡±

    ¡°Can we wait to get into the details about it until we get back to town? It¡¯s a little difficult for me to decide this on my own. After all, your ¡®Congregation of the Holy Swords¡¯ will go back to being our rivals once this event is over.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, it seems to be quite the ace up your sleeve. Of course, I understand.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think the rest of my guild will oppose me sharing this with you, though. But I still need to discuss this with the rest of my team.¡±

    They had to give it their all and win this thing. That was the goal right now, but everyone had to think hard about how much they were willing to concede in order to achieve their victory. With that in mind, Sally took Payne to Maple, who had the ability to turn the tide of this battle.

    The rest of the members of ¡°Maple Tree¡± had already parted ways with Frederica ¨Cwho headed up to the outer wall to search for enemies¨C were resting in an open space in town, just a bit past the main gate, as if they were waiting for Payne and Sally to return after their conversation was over.

    ¡°Ah, Sally! Are you done talking?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. As far as what the two of us had to talk about¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°From this point on, our conversation concerns you, Maple.¡±

    The biggest battle so far was just around the corner. And Sally had an idea of how Maple could contribute to it.

    ¡°I was thinking that you could use <em>that</em>, Maple.¡±

    ¡°¡­! Yeah, <em>that</em>!¡±

    ¡°So, I thought that in order for us to make the best use out of it, we might need everyone to know about it¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay! Besides, it would be risky to use <em>that</em> without properly exining what it does first!¡±

    ¡°Haha, so it¡¯s something that could be dangerous even to allies? ¡­That¡¯s a bit scary.¡±

    Apparently, this ¡°ace up the sleeve¡± wasn¡¯t some new defensive Skill that would protect everyone near Maple. The way Sally and Maple were talking led Payne to believe that this was some kind of indiscriminate wide-range attack instead.

    ¡°<em>That¡­</em>¡±

    ¡°Yeah. If we¡¯re using <em>that</em>, then they definitely need to know about it.¡±

    ¡°Especially since there¡¯s going to be a lot of yers gathered around.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°If we don¡¯t tell them¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Then it¡¯s gonna get very messy, even for us!¡±

    Seeing that even for the members of ¡°Maple Tree¡±, who were most likely already used to seeing Maple¡¯s entricities, had to think of the consequences of using ¡°<em>that</em>¡± before deciding, Payne found himself a little hesitant about whether or not to rely on this ¡°secret weapon¡±. But if it was that good, then it should be fine to use as long as they kept it as safe as possible for everyone.

    ¡°Then please tell me about it if you don¡¯t mind. What¡¯s this ace up your sleeve?¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    After answering cheerfully, Maple shared the details of her Skill with Payne.

    ¡°¡­I see. Now I understand why you all reacted like that.¡±

    The now unusually shaken Payne let out a sigh to calm himself down and considered his strategy based on this new information.

    ¡°First of all, we need to gather people to go to the center of the battlefield. Everyone from both ¡®Congregation of the Holy Swords¡¯ and ¡®Maple Tree¡¯, as well as many yers from other guilds as we can get.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Or rather, we wouldn¡¯t be able to use this Skill properly otherwise¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ That¡¯s right.¡±

    Maple cheerfully agreed to reveal her trump card to all of the yers they managed to gather for this operation. All they had to do was gather the people and tell them.

    ¡°I have some footage of the Skill in action, so I think it¡¯ll be best to y it on the monitor once we¡¯re all together.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you have footage?¡±

    ¡°Back when we started talking about using it during the event, I just thought it would be quicker to exin how the Skill works with footage.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯ll be better if everyone can see for themselves what that Skill can do.¡±

    Payne then said that, while their preparations for strategies to deal with the eventual advance of monsters were still underway, he still wanted to do something about the current situation of this event, where the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± had upied the center of the battlefield.

    ¡°We¡¯ll do our best!¡±

    ¡°Huh? Do you have something in mind, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Yep!¡±

    After seeing Maple¡¯s confident reply, Payne decided to leave the situation with ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± to ¡°Maple Tree¡±, and for him to focus on gathering as many yers as possible using his position as the leader of the ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡±.

    yers would be more inclined to volunteer for this strategy if the leader of this game¡¯s most influential Guild, the ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡± were to be the one asking them. ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡± was better suited for gathering yers than ¡°Maple Tree¡±.

    And so, both Guilds began to carry out their respective tasks to move this strategy forward. They would need to do everything they could in order to give themselves even the slightest advantage when the time for the decisive battle finalles.

 Chapter 430

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 430</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Tactical Weapon.</strong>

    While the ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡± was gathering people, ¡°Maple Tree¡± stepped out into the field.

    Before the time for the big battle in the center of the battlefield came, they had to do something about ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡±, who was pushing up the front with their strong formation.

    In order to try to tip the scales back to a more bnced state, ¡°Maple Tree¡± had decided to put the n they had been preparing into practice.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ Yeah. Looks like our sorcerers can shoot their spells at the castle from the very limits of their range safely.¡±

    Kanade looked into the distant center of the battlefield with his binocrs. The spellcasting range was fixed to some extent, which was already a well-known fact among yers. Even though the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± had a strong recovery and defensive ability thanks to the many obstacles they had set up, if arge group of sorcerers from this side were tounch a barrage from the very limit of their casting range, it would make it difficult for Mii¡¯s side to advance and try to defeat those sorcerers.

    Even so, with Marx¡¯s ¡°Night Castle¡± at the center, and therge rocks and water that surrounded it, serving as a barrier, the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± continued to apply pressure without needing to deal any actual damage, demonstrating how powerful of a Guild it was.

    ¡°Taking any single step further than that would mean getting burned to a crisp by Mii. Seems that they¡¯re doing well.¡±

    ¡°Then, we have to help them out quickly! Mai, Yui?¡±

    ¡°¡±Yes!¡±¡±

    The twins were the key to this strategy. Maple activated her ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± in order to minimize the risk of them being defeated, and they all headed for the designated location she had checked in advance.

    After climbing a mountain and reaching the edge of a cliff at the top, they looked at the battlefield below them. There they could see the center of this event field, and all the spells from Maple¡¯s side¡¯s sorcerers flying toward the castle one after another. Though this spot in particr was out of the regr spellcasting range, so trying to use magic to support the siege from here wouldn¡¯t aplish much.

    But looking at it from another angle, they wouldn¡¯t be able to do much from this spot unless they had some kind of attack with a longer range than that of average spells. And that¡¯s exactly what ¡°Maple Tree¡± had prepared for this asion.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s set things up.¡±

    ¡°Right. I¡¯ll take them out now.¡±

    The things that Iz took out were something that looked like a pair of golf tees. If there was any difference between them and the average golf tee, it would be their size, which was around Maple¡¯s waist.

    After Chrome and Kasumi set them up on the ground and made sure they were stable, they looked at Iz to let her know that they were good to go.

    ¡°You two take it from here, please.¡±

    ¡°¡±Yes!¡±¡±

    The next things that Izu took out were a pair of iron balls, which ¡°Maple Tree¡± was already familiar with. However, although they were a popr type of weapon, they were also a bit different than usual.

    First of all, their size. They were about the size of two Maples lined up vertically, and only Mai and Yui could carry them properly.

    Next was the material they were made of. Iz had made them so that they were as sturdy as an iron ball, but they were actually transparent, as if made of ss, so it was perfectly possible to see through them. It was fairly easy for Iz to manage such changes in appearance.

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    ¡°It seems that the golf tees won¡¯t break under their weight¡­ so it seems to be okay.¡±

    Mai and Yui ced an iron ball on each of the golf tees and then let their sledgehammers rest on the ground as they looked ahead towards their target.

    ¡°¡±One, two¡­!¡±¡±

    At ¡°three¡±, they swung their sledgehammers, hitting each iron ball cleanly and sending them flying up into the air with tremendous force.

    ¡°There they go¡­¡±

    ¡°No one else can do this, only Mai and Yui. So the enemy will not expect it.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re still going~¡±

    The twins incredible physical strength, which was not subject to the constraints of Skill-rted attack range, had produced an unreasonable flight distance. As long as they kept flying towards their destination, they would crash into the ground with their immense power, which was further increased by their momentum.

    ¡°Besides, since they¡¯re transparent, they¡¯re really hard to spot mid-flight. Next is¡­¡±

    ¡°To keep shooting them until they hit their mark.¡±

    ¡°Mai! Yui! Keep at it!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll just keep shooting them¡­!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, no need to worry about a thing. Since we have already alerted our allies about it, none of them should be in danger of getting hit by these iron balls by ident.¡±

    The main goal of this operation was to keep the enemy in check. Even though hitting any given spot with this was considerably hard, all Mai and Yui had to do was to keepunching these iron balls into the sky until the enemy was forced to choose between heading out to take out the sorcerers or stay inside and avoid being hit by these random meteorites.

    A few secondster, transparent spheres too big and hard to be called raindrops started to rain down on the camp of the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± one after another.

    ¡°Oh!? W-What¡¯s going on!?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re under attack¡­ W-What kind of magic Skill is this?¡±

    ¡°Everyone, start deploying barriers! Misery!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Even though Mai and Yui were the ones whounched these huge iron balls, the main force bringing them to the ground was their natural falling and their own weight, so they wouldn¡¯t be strong enough to one-shot yers as strong as any of the main members of the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡±. But even then, any yer getting crushed under one of these iron balls would deal continuous damage until their HP reached zero, and due to their sheer weight, it would be very hard for anyone to escape from them once that happened.

    ¡°Marx!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m checking with the camera¡­ there¡¯s no magic circle or anything, they¡¯re just raining from the sky? What on earth is this¡­?¡±

    ¡°We need to stop this now! Marx, who¡¯s behind this!?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anyone with a Skill like this, at least not that I know of¡­.¡±

    ¡°We can recover from this situation for now, but it¡¯s still a little too overwhelming¡­¡±

    The ¡°Night Castle¡± where the four of them were besieged, as well as the defensive walls set up around it, had a high durability. But if they didn¡¯t do something about those attacks from the sky, even those sturdy defenses would eventually give away, and the enemy could drag them all outside of the castle.

    ¡°What should we do, Mii?¡±

    ¡°¡­Let¡¯s retreat temporarily. It¡¯ll do us no good to stay here and get attacked like this.¡±

    Mii knew that the main goal behind this attack was to drive her and the others out of the castle.

    To retreat at this point would be the same as allowing the enemy to get away with their objective. However, like many other yers, Mii was ying through the event with caution, prioritizing lowering her possibility of death as much as possible, so she wasn¡¯t feeling like overdoing it at this point.

    ¡°Marx, what about that trap?¡±

    ¡°The trap I¡¯ve left behind on our way here is still set. It¡¯s very unlikely that the enemy will trigger it.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Shin, call everyone back.¡±

    ¡°Sure! I¡¯ll give everyone the signal!¡±

    While seeing those two were preparing to retreat, Mii let out a sigh. Misery then approached Mii and started talking in a quiet tone.

    ¡°The only people who can do this are those two.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Mai and Yui, right? With their insanely high STR and their ability to use eight sledgehammers at once, they might be able to attack this position from quite a distance¡­¡±

    If so, then they would be able to outrange any sorcerer or archer. And on top of that, their raw power waspletely out of this world.

    ¡°And I thought that they only specialized in meleebat¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but they can use their insane strength as if they were some sort of fixed artillery battery.¡±

    Those twins had proven to be more flexible than what their stats implied, further adding to the things Mii and the others had to worry about. After finishing their preparations to withdraw, Shin and Marx returned to Mii¡¯s side.

    ¡°Alright, Mii! All of the Guild members have returned to the castle!¡±

    ¡°Everything¡¯s ready on my end as well.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Okay. Let¡¯s retreat for now then! Marx!¡±

    ¡°¡¯Change¡¯¡±

    All of a sudden, the ¡°Night Castle¡± changed ces with a trap that Marx had set a little deeper into their own territory, allowing the entire ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± Guild to be instantly teleported to safety while preserving their impromptu castle as intact as possible.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ it looks like they¡¯ve retreated. Though I don¡¯t think they have noticed our position.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so it worked?¡±

    ¡°Well done, Mai, Yui! That was an incredible attack!¡±¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry we ended up using so many of those iron balls, Iz¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry. They have no other use, after all¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°This is exactly why I made them.¡±

    ¡°This should make things a little more difficult for the enemy. Would you like to shoot a few more of those as a follow-up attack?¡±

    ¡°¡±Sure!¡±¡±

    The idea was to show that they were able to continue to attack in order to discourage the enemy from recklessly trying to regain their position. Assuming that they only continued to keep each other in check, then the side that has the ability to put more pressure on the other will be the one to take the initiative.

    ¡°Should we try that now that we have the chance? I don¡¯t think there will be any problem.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s do it just once, as a review!¡±

    ¡°¡±Got it!¡±¡±

    Following Sally¡¯s suggestion, Maple entered a capsule Iz had prepared, which was fixed in mid-air with support from both sides. It had been prepared in a hurry right after the event started, but there was no problem with its quality precisely because Iz had been the one who made it.

    ¡°Maple? Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    After hearing Maple¡¯s cheerful reply from inside the capsule, Mai stood right to the left of the capsule, while Yui did the same on the right side.

    Maple¡¯s ¡°Wooly¡± could only be used once a day. Therefore, in order for it to be safe for Maple to beunched again like she had done earlier that day, a capsule with a sturdy outer shell and the ability to increase in size would be required.

    ¡°¡±Here we go!¡±¡±

    With their perfect synchronization, the twins readied their sledgehammers as if they were golf clubs before bringing them down at the lower part of the capsule at the same time. A roaring sound of metal hitting metal resounded, and the capsule containing Maple was blown vertically into the sky.

    ¡°There she goes!¡±

    ¡°Even though I know she can endure it, I wanted to hold back.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, well, Maple was the only one who could have taken care of this part of our strategy.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if it went well¡­? She¡¯s noting down.¡±

    The capsule surrounding Maple self-destructed, ejecting Maple even higher up into the air. Maple flew far into the sky, and as she passed through the clouds, she used her ¡°Helping Hand¡± to equip two extra shields, cing each of them under her feet so that they would be temporary footholds so that she wouldn¡¯t start free-falling just yet.

    ¡°So high!¡±

    This was a height that Maple couldn¡¯t reach by sting herself into the sky. Not even Syrup had managed to fly this high either.

    Such a ce could only ever be visited by those with high-altitude flight ability, leaving aside all Skills with a fixed range.

    After confirming that both theunch and her ejection had been sessful, Maple put away the shields at her feet and started falling to the ground at high speed.

    After safely fetching Maple, who had sunk into the ground after her fall, ¡°Maple Tree¡± concluded the operation and returned to town. There, the yers who had already decided to head to the front line with the ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡± had already gathered, and each of their Guildmasters were going over some fundamentals.

    ¡°Payne!¡±

    ¡°Ah, Maple. Looks like it went well. Frederica was very surprised.¡±

    ¡°Anyone would be surprised to see someone fall from the sky like, don¡¯t you think~?¡±

    ¡°Look at all the people that are going to join the fight!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We may lose a few and gain a few more, but either way, this seems to be a pretty solid force.¡±

    ¡°Then we should start talking about the core of the strategy we¡¯vee up with.¡±

    After saying that, Sally prepared the monitor with Iz, and had Maple demonstrate.

    ¡°¡¯Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯! ¡®Afterglow of Salvation¡¯!¡±

    Four white wings grew from Maple¡¯s back, and a white throne appeared behind her. The moment Maple sat on it, twoyers of a glowing white light spread out on the ground, and the yers inside it received damage reduction, increased natural recovery, and other endurance effects. Even without using her ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±, Maple could also be useful by giving out strong buffs that provided twoyers of protection against damage.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can use ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯. Once the enemy switches to piercing attacks, Maple won¡¯t be able to endure them.¡±

    Thebo of ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± and Maple¡¯s defensive power was indeed powerful, but as expected, many yers already knew its strengths, and have already devised countermeasures for it.

    If Maple were to force herself to protect a muchrger number of yers than usual, she could be defeated in an instant.

    ¡°With this, we will be raising everyone¡¯s endurance instead. And these buffs will not disappear unless Maple is defeated.¡±

    By increasing the endurance of everyone instead of protecting them, each of them would have better chances of survival. Although it was rarely used since ¡°Dedicated Affection¡± would normally be the better choice, this time the front line would be supported by powerful damage reduction buffs.

    ¡°This will make the fight easier.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right~¡±

    Once the details of the exact percentage of damage reduction was shared with the other Guilds, they started rebuilding their strategy based on that.

    ¡°So, up to this point, we¡¯ve been talking about the things that we can do to help you all feel safer out there on the battlefield. Now, please look at the monitor. We¡¯d like you to fight while keeping in mind that we will be ¡®deploying¡¯ this, so be prepared.¡±

    Everyone held their breath and looked at the video so as not to give in to the sense of uneasiness generated by the words uttered by Sally, who was one of their allies.

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    It seemed that it was received with considerable shock as most likely none of them had ever seen anything like that before. The subsequent noise from many people talking was proof of that.

    ¡°So, Payne, this is Maple¡¯s new ¡®ace up the sleeve¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡­I understand. I¡¯ll be careful as well.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, that¡¯s amazing, huh? Imagine having to tell your allies to be careful about your own Skill~¡±

    It was decided that a re would be shot up into the sky as a signal before the ¡°deployment¡± so that everyone could prepare in advance for Maple¡¯s new secret weapon, waiting for the uing head-on collision.

    Mai and Yui were sent to the front line from time to time so that they couldunch a moderate barrage of iron balls into the enemy territory to keep the enemy in check, and before long, time came for the monsters to attack all at once as expected.

    During this period, when all the monsters move at once toward the enemy¡¯s camp, there would be a higher chance for the rather bnced state in which both factions were to be broken, so it was no wonder that most yers were feeling a bit nervous about marching out of town.

    ¡°Atst, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s settle things here and now.¡±

    Maple would undoubtedly be an important asset in this battle. The fact that her ¡°Stout Guardian¡± had been used up for the day was concerning, but Sally would cover up for it.

    No matter how difficult that may be.

    Since this had effectively be onerge Guild with ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡± at the helm, ¡°Maple Tree¡± would be able to move freely to some extent.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll leave the front line to you.¡±

    ¡°We will provide logistical support as well. Good luck.¡±

    ¡°¡±We¡¯ll be rooting for you!¡±¡±

    Mai, Yui, Iz, and Chrome would be staying behind. Without Maple¡¯s ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±, it was possible for the first three of them to be caught up in coteral damage, so they would be supporting the battle from the rear while being protected by Chrome. Now that Mai and Yui couldunch a barrage of powerful iron balls from a long distance, they could be a big threat even from the rear.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t use ¡®Dedicated Affection¡¯¡­¡±

    ¡°Haha, it would be helpful if you could destroy the enemy so they can¡¯t reach those of us who are staying on the back.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I will do my best to make something happen!¡±

    ¡°B-But don¡¯t overdo it, okay?¡±

    As each of them started to get fired up, the field finally started to get noisy, and the earth began to tremble, indicating that the stampede of monsters had finally begun.

    ¡°Let¡¯s march to the center!¡±

    In response to Payne¡¯s call, each of the yers from various Guilds started to march in unison and rushed out of town.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go¡­!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Whenever you¡¯re ready!¡±

    ¡°¡±Here we go!¡±¡±

    After quickly entering her capsule while everyone else was marching out of town, Maple was once again sent flying high into the sky thanks to Mai and Yui¡¯s unparalleled physical strength.

    ¡°All set.¡±

    ¡°Kanade, Kasumi. Let¡¯s go with the rest of our forces.¡±

    ¡°Just as nned, right?¡±

    Sally, Kanade, and Kasumi followed the trail of the other yers, who were heading straight for the front lines.

    Dragons and other monsters with the ability to fly were lining up in the sky, while beasts d in mes and thunder ¨Cwhich were the characteristics of this country¨C were rushing out at ground level. When Sally and the others were marching along with them, they saw a ck shadow kicking up dust on the horizon, which made a huge castle appear in the center of the battlefield at a certain distance.

    There was no mistaking it. The ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± was right in front of them.

    ¡°Finally?¡±

    ¡°We have to focus all of our energy.¡±

    ¡°First¡­¡±

    At the very moment when the two armies were just about to collide, and one of the two sides was about to start attacking the other one with magic¡­

    A red and ck spark dashed in a circle behind the enemy lines without a warning, indiscriminately scorching all life within range.

    Its effect, power, and origin were unknown. But seeing how much damage their fragile rear guard had taken managed to shake the enemy to their very core, and the allied forces took this chance to rush in with ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡± at the front.

    ¡°It¡¯s time for our heavenly tactical weapon!¡±

    As Sally drew her weapon, she thought of Maple, whose preemptive attack which had consisted in deploying her ¡°Annihtion Area¡± from far up in the sky had been a tremendous sess.

 Chapter 431

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 431</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Big Battle</strong>

    The ck lightning that engulfed the members of ¡°Rapid Shot¡± that were positioned behind those from ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± forced those hit directly by it to retreat, splitting their formation in two.

    ¡°Will!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay! But¡­ I don¡¯t see anyone.¡±

    ¡°What¡­? Your eyes can¡¯t see whoever¡¯s behind this?¡±

    It was unusual for such an attack to ur from outside of the average spellcasting range, and even more for an enemy to bepletely invisible to Will¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Will, please use my eyes to find them.¡±

    ¡°Understood¡±

    ¡°¡¯Dormant¡¯¡±

    A blue light burst from Lily, and for a moment the entire field was illuminated by a light of the same coloring from above the cloud-covered sky.

    ¡°¡¯Awakening¡¯! So? Any luck?¡±

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s Maple. She¡¯s high up above the clouds.¡±

    Wilbert grimaced as he reported his findings, and Lily quickly began to act in response.

    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    There was only one thing to do about it, which was to have the yers who used tamed monsters with the ability to fly to go up there and shoot Maple down.

    Meanwhile, Maple also quickly sensed the many yers were starting to approach her.

    ¡°Whoa! Have I been discovered already!?¡±

    yers riding dragons and giant birds had started to take off and fly towards her much earlier than Sally had anticipated. It was clear that Maple, who was just riding her shield as if it was a hoverboard, was no match for their mobility, no matter how hard she tried.

    ¡°¡®Deploy Barrel¡¯ ¡®Commence Attack¡¯!¡±

    Therefore, Maple opened fire, thinking that her best option would be to do anything in her power to not let the enemy get close to her. After all, the ¡±Annihtion Area¡± worked very much like her ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±, in that its area of effect was a very tall column with Maple at the center, so it would also scorch everything that woulde flying from below and cause it to drop to the ground.

    But the enemy was still approaching very quickly while dodging her fire. This would only make things harder for Maple, so she was forced to try to make as much distance as possible from each of these severely injured yers.

    ¡°Tch,e on, we can¡¯t let her do whatever she wants up here!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s take her down!¡±

    ¡°Whoa!? This is getting too dangerous!¡±

    Maple managed to throw herself to the ground before the attack from one of the approaching yers could reach her.

    No matter how much mobility the enemy had, they would not be able to catch up with the speed of her free fall, at least not immediately. And it would be even harder for the enemy to do so if they also had to deal with interference.

    ¡°¡¯Commence Attack!¡±

    Maple finished by firing her bullets upwards, shooting through the tamed monsters and forcing all of the yers that were riding them to follow her in the same free fall.

    Many things had gained the ability to fly in one way or another, but the sky itself was inherently dangerous. yers had to be aware of the possibility as well as the risks of losing the ability to fly while in mid-air.

    ¡°Oh!?¡±

    ¡°Damn it¡­!¡±

    ¡°See ya!¡±

    At this rate, there was a risk of damaging her allies as well, so Maple canceled her ¡°Annihtion Area¡± and sted herself in the direction of her faction¡¯s territory. She didn¡¯t particrly have to worry too much about how she wouldnd.

    Then, one of the yers from her own side left their group and jumped into the air before throwing a rope at Maple, who was about to fall on top of her own army, and caught her with it.

    ¡°Hey, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Nice, Maple! That was a great surprise attack.¡±

    ¡°Alright, time to move on to the next step!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m counting on you!¡±

    ¡°¡¯Throne of the Heavenly King¡¯ ¡®Afterglow of Salvation¡¯!¡±

    In contrast to her previous offensive approach, Maple would now turn to buffing every yer in a wide area around her.

    However, both the throne and the angel wings on her back were fairly conspicuous. At this rate, she would be a priority target for the enemy.

    ¡°¡¯Icicle¡¯!¡±

    The throne was surrounded by several pirs of ice that would physically protect Maple and everyone else in her close proximity.

    These ice pirs could not be destroyed by attacks, insteadsting for a set period of time. With this imprable barrier created by Sally, Maple wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything other than keep her buffs active, but the enemy wouldn¡¯t be able to reach her, ensuring that the source of those buffs would be safe.

    ¡°Nothing will get through these icicles, at least for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    ¡°No, thank you, Maple. I¡¯m grateful that all of us managed to make it this far and are now able to fight in this battle.¡±

    After Maple¡¯s side had solidified her defenses, Mai and Yui started shooting giant iron balls one after another with a force that would overshadow that of any cannon into the enemy territory. Their formation was set. They would take whatever the enemy would throw at them and retaliate with the maximum firepower they were able to produce.

    Intense shes of light, and tremendous mes. Several spells raged like a storm from both sides of the battle, and their tremendous power affected the front lines.

    ¡°Velvet!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! When are we going to jump in?¡±

    ¡°It would be helpful if you could go with Mii. The two of you should be able to knock them out in an instant. But before that¡­ Will, let¡¯s go, too.¡±

    Lily produced the same flying device that she had used in her battle with Payne. It looked like a hoverboard, which suspended itself in mid-air through several blue mes that were blowing downwards behind it. Though it was barely big enough for two people to ride on, it had an increased movement speed. Since Lily hadn¡¯t changed her equipment, she couldn¡¯t make arge quantity of them, but as long as Wilbert and herself could ride on one of them, there would be no problem.

    ¡°Hinata, let¡¯s get going!¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­!¡±

    Since she couldn¡¯t risk leaving her friend behind to be an easy target for the enemy, Velvet took Hinata and stepped forward into the front lines. Lily and Wilbert also dashed along with them at a high speed thanks to their hoverboard.

    ¡°¡®Second Coming of the Thunder God¡¯! ¡®Center of the Storm¡¯!¡±

    Thunderp roared at the area where the monsters and the yers were shing with each other.

    One by one, a downpour of lightning bolts annihted all nearby hostile entities. Even monsters d in lightning themselves, which apparently had some degree of resistance to lightning-based attacks, werepletely overwhelmed.

    But there was nothing surprising about that. After all, a white haze had spread throughout the area, and the intense cold it brought had made all defensive stats and elemental resistancepletely nonexistent.

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep going, Hinata!¡±

    ¡°¡­Sorry, but I can¡¯t let you go any further.¡±

    ¡°Haha, let¡¯s have a rematch!¡±

    The ones who had stood in their way were none other than Dred and Drag. Velvet ¨Cwho at this point could be said to be an actual storm on legs¨C would cause tremendous damage to the allied base if left unchecked. Therefore, she had to be stopped right here, at this very moment. There would be no retreating this time. The same would seem to be true for the enemy as well.

    ¡°I won¡¯t lose!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this¡­!¡±

    ¡°Man, this job is a poor match for me.¡±

    ¡°Come on! Fighting stronger opponents is exciting!¡±

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say I sympathize with that¡­¡±

    Dred readied his weapon as he continued to mumble about something. Seeing that only got Drag even more motivation for him to brandish his ax.

    Meanwhile, several yers were passing through the sky at high speed. Just like Maple had done earlier, the enemy had also sent those among them who excelled in area attacks to head for the back line, which was where most of the big damage dealers would be located.

    ¡°There¡¯s no time to be looking away elsewhere¡­! ¡®Electromaic Leap¡¯!¡±

    Velvet rushed in with Hinata, who was floating next to her thanks to her gravity-controlling ability, along with her cold air that lowered the defensive power of those in its area of effect.

    ¡°Earth, ¡®Lightning Rod¡¯! ¡®Heavy Rush¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Ice Wall¡¯!¡±

    As a wall of ice caught the blow from Drag¡¯s ax, Velvet threw a punch at Drag. However, due to the difference in reach, her fist can¡¯t reach him.

    ¡°¡®Aurora¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Stone Skin¡¯ ¡®Grand Armor¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Keep going¡­!¡±

    A pir of lightning broke out around Velvet. Just when she thought it would force Drag to retreat, he powered through it by using an endurance-boosting skill and continued to rush toward her.

    ¡°¡®Burn Ax¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Parry¡¯! ¡®Heavy Double Attack¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Gwaah!?¡±

    Velvet parried the blow from Dred¡¯s ax to the side before retaliating with a strong one-two punch that sent him flying.

    ¡°Oww! That was very powerful!¡±

    ¡°And you sure can take a beating! After all, Hinata¡¯s Skill should be affecting your defense as well¡­¡±

    ¡°This endurance is special.¡±

    The ground under Drag suddenly started shining, restoring his depleted HP. Velvet saw how much damage she had actually managed to deal and understood that Drag had to be under the effect of some kind of buff that massively reduced damage received.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll give you some more! ¡®Field of Lightning¡¯ ¡®Rain of Thunder¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Drag, I¡¯ll need one of your walls.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

    ¡°¡¯Top Speed¡¯!¡±

    Unlike Drag, Dred¡¯s endurance wasn¡¯t enough to allow him to force through such a violent thunderstorm. Instead, he would use his increased speed to instantly close the distance while being shielded by the wall of rock that Drag would create directly above his path.

    ¡°¡¯Gravity Cage¡¯¡±

    ¡°¡­Tch¨C¡±

    The moment he was starting to get closer, Dred felt a sudden drop in speed, and was forced to return the way he came, leaving the crumbling rock wall behind.

    Hinata¡¯s protection was a big problem, as she could wait patiently on the back, waiting for the right moment to intervene.

    Since Velvet¡¯s destructive power was so extraordinary, Hinata¡¯s devotion to defense eliminated even the slightest weak spot.

    ¡°Thanks!¡±

    ¡°We should wait for Mii as nned¡­¡±

    ¡°I-I know!¡±

    While they were doing that, they could hear the sound of a watchtower copsing behind them. Enemy attacks were in full swing.

    ¡°Please, Payne¡­ Get it done before that ¡®Daybreak¡¯es¡­!¡±

    Since they were dealing with Velvet and Hinata, Dred and Drag couldn¡¯t afford to go help the rest of their team. Dred once again readied his dagger as he hoped that Payne, who was the core of this strategy alongside Maple, was doing well on his end.

    As the tower copsed and they all fell along with it, Chrome protected Mai, Yui, and Iz, taking all of the damage her teammates would have taken thanks to his ¡°Guardian¡± Skill, before quickly raising his Great Shield and turned to face the enemy.

    ¡°Haha! Yeah, you can keep those three behind you, I don¡¯t mind at all!¡±

    Chrome looked up to see a te-shaped machine that was floating in the air. Lily was sitting on the machine, while Wilbert was standing at the front edge of it, aiming his bow and arrow at the four of them.

    ¡°If we do that, we don¡¯t know what those two could do in response.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me. I¡¯ll be taking your lives now.¡±

    ¡°¡°Chrome¡­!¡±¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll do something about it!¡±

    That being said, things weren¡¯t looking so good. Taking their movement speed and distance into ount, they probably wouldn¡¯t be able to retreat to the royal castle. The barricade that Iz had set up and Chrome¡¯s Great Shield would be their only defense against Wilbert¡¯s arrows.

    ¡°¡¯Rain of Arrows¡¯¡±

    ¡°¡¯Multi Cover¡¯! ¡®Light of the Spirits¡¯!¡±

    The first Skill was to protect everyone from the pouring rain of arrows, and the second one was to negate any damage taken for a brief moment.

    ¡°Mai, Yui. Listen to me. We can only win this with your attacks. Iz and I will somehow create an opening for you..

    After hearing Chrome¡¯s calm tone of voice, the twins nodded slightly and prepared their eightrge hammers each.

    ¡°Necro! ¡®Weight of Death¡¯! ¡®Burst me¡¯!¡±

    Lily¡¯s flying machine skillfully dodged Chrome¡¯s mes while Wilbert continued to shoot his arrows even as they moved. Though Chrome was borrowing Necro¡¯s ability to attack from a distance, it was certainly not his specialty.

    ¡°¡­Leave it to me!¡±

    Izu took out an iron wall from her inventory and ced it in front of her, somehow preventing Wilbert¡¯s attack.

    ¡°Iz, take care of the defense! We can¡¯t afford to let this fight drag out for too long!¡±

    Every passing second had the risk of a stray arrow knocking out either Mai or Yui, so they had to settle things quickly.

    Even though they would be destroyed in a single blow, now that he knew that Iz¡¯s walls could block Wilbert¡¯s arrows, Chrome had no choice but to leave the defense toe forward.

    ¡°Fay, ¡®Item Enhancement¡¯! Chrome!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Having defended against the first shot, Chrome then managed to endure a direct hit from one of Wilbert¡¯s arrows ¨Cwhich he fired with unparalleled uracy¨C and made direct eye contact with Iz.

    Seeing that, Iz stomped strongly on the ground, and suddenly arge amount of thick water columns appeared around them.

    ¡°Does this mean you¡¯re ready to ept your fate¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t count me out just yet!¡±

    Then Iz crushed the crystal she was holding, and the next moment, a huge ivy Next, when Izu crushed the crystal that she was holding, huge vines that resembled Syrup¡¯s ¡°Thorn Shackles¡± stretched through the water columns, restricting the flying machine¡¯s movement.

    ¡°Now!¡±

    ¡°Go! Get ¡®em!¡±

    ¡°¡±¡¯Weapon Throw¡¯!¡±¡±

    If Wilbert and Lily wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid two iron balls, how would they fare against sixteen sledgehammers? A deadly iron mass with destructive power that surpassed even Wilbert¡¯s arrows flew straight toward the two.

    ¡°¡±¡¯Quick Change¡¯!¡±¡±

    Lily quickly switched equipment with Wilbert, and while feeling certain death approaching in front of her eyes, quickly activated a series of Skills one right after another.

    ¡°¡®Lifeless Army¡¯ ¡®Reproduction¡¯ ¡®Puppet Wall¡¯!¡±

    A swarm of soldiers appeared one after another in front of Lily and Wilbert, intertwining with each other to form a huge wall. While this wall was promptly destroyed by the twins¡¯ flying sledgehammers, Lily and Wilbert prepared their posture in the air on the other side and descended.

    Though he could have used this chance to attack, Wilbert didn¡¯t want to put the time bought by the wall made by Lily to waste.

    ¡°Phew¡­ A mere scratch from those hammers, and we would¡¯ve been done for. You two were already strong enough to defeat a Raid Boss on their own, but you seem to have gotten even stronger. I¡¯ll take care of you. Even with my firepower, I can defeat you all.¡±

    Mai and Yui unequipped their sledgehammers back into their inventories and then re-equipped them, and prepared themselves for the next attack while Iz deployed yet another barricade.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind if you take over for Wilbert, you know? You¡¯ll only make things easier for us.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll see about that. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    When ites to Lily, who could apply pressure with numbers, Chrome broke a sweat as he saw arge number of soldiers popping up in front of him, thinking that might not be able to protect his friends this time.

    But he still had his ¡°Stout Guardian¡± active. As he readied his Great Shield, resolved to do all that he could, two huge shadows rushed in from both of his sides.

    ¡°Haku!¡±

    ¡°Sou!¡±

    ¡°¡°¡®Hardening¡¯!¡±¡±

    Two gigantic white snakes broke in, twisting their bodies as if scooping up the field.

    ¡°You guys made it in time!¡±

    ¡°Looks like we did.¡±

    Kanade and Kasumi rushed over. After taking care of the other ¡°Rapid Shot¡± members, who were trying to reach Lily and Wilbert, in order to prevent their reinforcements from arriving for as long as possible, they rushed to help Chrome and the others, and were fortunately able to reach them in time.

    ¡°Looks like we¡¯ve gotpany, huh?¡±

    ¡°Yes. But this may actually be beneficial for us.¡±

    ¡°As long as we can pull it off¡­¡±

    After saying that, Lily sat down on her ¡°Garbage Chair¡±, and with a single wave of her banner, arge number of soldiers spawned in front of her. It was an instant turnaround in terms of numerical advantage.

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep going. The more of them we draw to us, the easier it¡¯ll be for our allies.¡±

    Their goal was to keep Mai and Yui from resuming their attacks. It wouldn¡¯t be an easy fight by any means, but Lily and Wilbert couldn¡¯t afford to back down.

 Chapter 432

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 432</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Big Battle (2)</strong>

    While battles were getting heated up all over the event field, the main battlefield was still the one at the center. Payne was charging through the enemy frontline, which had been put into a state of disarray thanks to Maple¡¯s preemptive strike. Naturally, the front lines were the most dangerous ce to be in, but if the allied forces could manage to defeat them, it would greatly reduce the enemy¡¯s strength and boost the allies¡¯ morale.

    ¡°¡®Holy de of Conviction¡¯!¡±

    Of course, this was all on an ¡°if¡± basis. He shed away at yer after yer ¨Ceven on top of Misery¡¯s healing¨C and headed for the ¡°Night Castle¡± that could be seen in the back.

    Despite the shy rampage that had taken ce so far, there was no sign that Mii was unleashing her mes any time soon.

    In other words, she had to be preparing to use her ¡°Daybreak¡± Skill again, which she had already used once during this event to great effect. Even if she was just waiting for the right moment, she would eventually have to use it, and the more she waited, the more victims it could potentially im.

    That¡¯s why it was imperative to take care of her before she could use that Skill again.

    ¡°Payne! Wait~! Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re overdoing it!? Ugh¡­ Knots, ¡®Singing Round¡¯¡­ ¡®Multi-Barrier¡¯!¡±

    After buffing everyone in the area to make sure they all had the same buffs, she set up some barriers to help block some attacks. Because Frederica was concerned about the top two members of ¡°Thunder Storm¡±, and Mii had yet to make a move, the defense had made it just in time.

    ¡°Drag, Dread, and ¡®Maple Tree¡¯ are currently keeping them all busy. But if they don¡¯te back soon, we¡¯ll tear this castle apart.¡±

    While receiving the support of magic attacks from yers from other Guilds that were advancing with him, the light from Payne¡¯s holy sword became a solid de of its own, which he used to impale his enemies one after another.

    ¡°Agh,e on! Can¡¯t you just stay still for a minute?¡±

    ¡°Hey, Shin~ Yahoo~ Are you both having a hard time~?¡±

    ¡°You can say that again. Well, as you can imagine, Mii is getting ready for you guys, so I¡¯ll be your chaperone once again.¡±

    Since neither Misery nor Marx had any Skills that would help them stand on the front lines, not even with the help of their tamed monsters, the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± had no choice but to employ Shin¡¯s skillset at times like this. As he spoke, he prepared arge number of des with his ¡°Split-Sword¡± and Wen¡¯s ¡°Wind God¡±.

    ¡°Frederica!¡±

    Payne gave Frederica a short signal. It could mean only one thing.

    ¡°Eh!? You¡­ You¡¯re serious, huh~? Looks like you¡¯re going to apologize to everyer! ¡®Multi-Full Transfer¡¯!¡±

    This skill forced the buffs of all allies within range to be concentrated on Payne. With every buff in the area applied to him, even with those that weren¡¯t particrly useful to him, and even making it so that he had well over the maximum number of buffs any yer could normally have, Payne resumed charge.

    Seeing this, Shin unleashed all of his swords towards Payne, Pain, but they all go straight through him, and he had only lost a sliver of HP from the attack.

    ¡°What!?¡±

    Payne wasn¡¯t thinking about his defense. Having collected all of the buffs that had been applied to hundreds of yers, he was able to take the flying swords head on, recoveringpletely from any damage in an instant thanks to his abnormally powerful damage reduction and HP regeneration buffs.

    ¡°Ray, ¡®Full Magic Release¡¯ ¡®Torrent of Light¡¯!¡±

    There was no way to stop such a monster rushing in with the immense violence he emanated through his absurdly high stats and buffs.

    shing away all the yers who tried to stop him, this unstoppable force approached Shin, who was trying to keep his distance, at a speed that far surpassed his.

    ¡°Whoa whoa, this monster is too much!¡±

    ¡°¡®Holy Dragon¡¯s Light Sword¡¯!¡±

    The light emitted from the sword as it made its arc had multiple bonus effects of increased attack range thanks to the power he had received from hundreds of yers, and it swallowed all yers in a straight line to the very end of it.

    ¡°W-Wow¡­ He feelspletely different from the usual Payne~¡±

    Frederica, who was the one responsible for this, was wide-eyed at the extraordinary destructive power Payne now wielded thanks to her ¡°Multi-Full Transfer¡±.

    However, as the light subsided, she could also see many enemy yers with some HP still remaining. As she began to think that their HP was also starting to recover, arge magic circle appeared far ahead, emitting a golden glow.

    ¡°¡­¡¯Resurrect¡¯, huh?¡±

    ¡°Correct! But, that power is so ridiculously insane! I was actually scared for a second.¡±

    Shin had ced his swords generated with his ¡°Split-Sword¡± at his feet as a scaffolding and evacuated far into the sky so as to avoid Payne¡¯s potential follow-up attack.

    Even so, the damage dealt to the enemy had been enormous. Payne¡¯s otherworldly attack range exceeded that of the area of effect of ¡°Resurrect¡±.

    There was no way to stop him, let alone force him to pull back through ordinary means.

    ¡°We need to do whatever we can to buy ourselves some time! Otherwise, ¡®that¡¯ won¡¯t start!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s tear this ce apart!¡±

    The yers started to rush to the base of the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡±, now that their forces had been significantly reduced by Payne¡¯s attack.

    Even though the enemy¡¯s numbers were decreasing one by one, the attack did not progress as expected. The enemy was sparing no resources. It didn¡¯t even matter if they fell in batIle. Their endurance and defensive Skills were being used left and right, not to win the battle against Payne and his forces, but to buy as much time as possible.

    To be able to break through such defenses by force would definitely require an overwhelming power like Payne¡¯s.

    But just as this side had Payne, the enemy had simrly powerful members. For a guild and for a faction alike, it would be meaningful to throw every single Skill they had at the enemy if only to stop them for a moment. They were prepared to face their fate if it meant helping their side win.

    ¡°We¡¯re counting on you, Mii! Fry them all!¡±

    ¡°Whoa, P-Payne¡­! He¡¯s stilling this way! Are you sure this is okay!?¡±

    ¡°Everyone, solidify your defenses! Tame as many of the nearby monsters as you can as well!¡±

    ¡°¡­Hmm, what¡¯s the n?¡±

    The time limit was known from the beginning. The sun, which had appeared over the castle built by the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡±, was waiting for the right time to let itself fall to the earth.

    Even if the opposing side were to tame every event-only monster that was running about around them and ce them at the front lines so as to make a wall, they wouldn¡¯t be able to stop Mii¡¯s mes.

    ¡°Are you sure that this¡¯ll work? Are you~!?¡±

    ¡°Frederica, prepare for the worst.¡±

    ¡°Argh~!¡±

    Frederica looked back as if she was waiting for something while casting her spells with Knots¡¯ help to restrain the enemy from turning around and thinking that now was their chance to attack.

    There she saw it. A white lightning bolt as thick as a column roared ferociously as it connected the sky and the ground.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you, Mii!¡±

    ¡°That ¡®Lightning Rod¡¯ is no more.¡±

    That lightning pir, which had been created by Velvet¡¯s ¡°Overcharge¡±, was wrapped around her. Drag and Dred, who had been fighting against her, were covered in wounds, although none of them seemed to be fatal. Earth had already been defeated, and Shadow¡¯s evasion Skill had all been used up.

    Velvet and Hinata¡¯s Skills had simply been too much for them to handle.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to think that this is all there is to my ¡®Overcharge¡¯!¡±

    Velvet then raised her hand to the sky, and lightning began to flow from around her and back into the sky, casting a bright light onto the ground below. With that action, Drag and Dred instantly understood what would happen next. Thick thunderclouds were formed in the sky before starting to emit an ominous glow.

    And beyond their field of vision, the sun created by Mii was shining brightly, its mesrger and more furious than ever.

    ¡°We couldn¡¯t stop them¡­¡±

    Dred looked at the castle made by the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡±, which loomed a little farther ahead from Payne¡¯s position, thinking that there was nothing more they could do now.

    The next moment, lightning and fire would fall and spread all over the area at the exact same time.

    ¡°¡¯Thor¡¯s Hammer¡¯!¡±

    ¡°¡®Daybreak¡¯!¡±

    Lightning from the heavens and hellfire from the earth covered the battlefield, incinerating everything in their path as two intense lights filled their field of vision.

    Fire and thunder rushed through the battlefield, covering it for only a brief moment. However, surviving that brief moment seemed like an impossible task.

    Lily and Wilbert, who had sessfully managed to buy enough time, watched the terrifying attack that turned most of the battlefield into scorched earth.

    ¡°Amazing. Those two are at an entirely different level, right? ¡­Will?¡±

    ¡°¡­Lily, prepare for battle.¡±

    Wilbert¡¯s dubious expression hinted at the fact that the enemy might have survived the now subsiding fire and thunder, despite their expectations.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s see¡­ What kind of trick did you use¡­?¡±

    Everyone was holding their breath, wondering what had happened as they watched the receding mes. At that moment, a single voice strangely echoed in the momentary silence.

    ¡°¡¯Darkness of Rebirth¡¯¡±

    Right after that, something ck and sticky like mud spread throughout the ground. Then, strange life forms started to appear one after another as if crawling out of it.

    To some, it felt strangely familiar.

    I felt like something simr to ¡°Atrocity¡±.

 Chapter 433

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 433</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Big Battle (3)</strong>

    In the center of this overflowing deformity, aside from Maple standing alone in the darkness that was spreading from her like mud, Sally left the ce while carrying a screaming Frederica in her arms.

    ¡°Sally! This is really bad for my heart, you know~?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, sorry. But we managed to make it in time, didn¡¯t we?¡±

    They had been able to avoid the enemy¡¯s devastating joint attack because Sally managed to match the transfer timing of her ¡°Ark¡± with the moment Mii and Velvet unleashed said attack.

    The description of Sally¡¯s ¡°Reversal of Lies¡±, which transformed illusions into reality, also mentioned that Skills that cannot deal damage will deal damage, but checking the other factors that could be involved proved to be very fortunate.

    Sally¡¯s ¡°Ark¡± has the ability to attack with water. When she copied the power of ¡°Machine God¡± with her ¡°Reversal of Lies¡±, it not only replicated theser that Maple fired, but also materialized a gun barrel at her side.

    Sally was responsible for the vanguard evacuation that was impossible for Maple to do on her own.

    ¡°Maple managed to do that the moment Mii and Velvetunched their attacks!¡±

    ¡°That was a surprise to me too. That¡¯s probably thanks to Payne¡¯s instructions¡­ Anyway, like I said before, if an ally touches that thing for a certain period of time, they¡¯re out. There will be nothing they can do about it.¡±

    ¡°That thing¡± was the mud-like darkness that spread from Maple. During thest quest they took before the event, Maple was able to obtain the ¡°Darkness of Rebirth¡± Skill from a forbidden book despite her other Skills being sealed. This new Skill indiscriminately swallows any being that had be an ally of the user before being reborn as devilish monstrosities.

    This not can not only affect monsters summoned by Skills, but also tamed monsters, and even yers.

    ¡°That thing is stilling out of her¡­ Did anyone else get swallowed by it?¡±

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know. Didn¡¯t someone say something about remaking the weakened monsters that were evacuating the area?¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­ How does that work?¡±

    The picture painted by this operation, which called into question the sense of ethics, was absolutely terrifying, but its effect was powerful and reassuring. As Maple was rendered unreachable after she activated her new Skill, she was left behind, and the allied forces were able to rebuild their front line with the newly recreated monsters, who had plenty of energy to spare.

    At the edge of darkness that Maple had spread, arge number of yers were bringing their damaged tamed monsters and ced them over the mud-like darkness.

    Each of these tamed monsters sunk into this substance, and after a brief moment, an evil-looking creature emerged from the spot they had sunk into.

    ¡°This feels like we¡¯re dealing with a really dangerous thing¡­¡±

    ¡°T-This is the best we can do right now.¡±

    Convincing themselves that it was necessary to win this battle, the allied yers continued to use this mysterious darkness to transform all monsters.

    Since the area had many fire and thunder attribute monsters, some of the monsters barely survived. As long as they were able to close their eyes to the dubious ethics of this operation, every one of these damaged monsters made for suitable fodder for Maple¡¯s Skill.

    ¡°Alright, keep¡¯eming!¡±

    Although the evasive maneuver using ¡°Ark¡± went well, since many of the monsters in the area hadn¡¯t been tamed yet, ¡°Ark¡± couldn¡¯t affect them, so the majority of them were severely injured.

    ¡°Whoa!? T-That was close¡­!¡±

    ¡°Get off me, stupid thing! Don¡¯t touch me!¡±

    asionally, a yer would inadvertently touch Maple¡¯s unfolding mud-like darkness, and it would try to drag them in without question.

    The darkness will gradually disappear from their bodies if they break off this contact quickly, but it was still a terrifying moment for them.

    ¡°It¡¯s just taking anything and anyone in without asking any questions!¡±¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you see those first guys that got swallowed up by mistake a moment ago!?¡±

    ¡°Whoa, thanks, it almost got me¡­¡±

    Several people were swallowed as the mud-like darkness spread out and were dposed by it before being remade into those evil-looking monsters, who would then go on to attacking other yers. It didn¡¯t matter if any of them had Skills that would help them negate damage or anything like that. Maple¡¯s Skill was essentially an insta-kill effect that only affects allies, the entire dposition and rebuilding process could not be avoided by any other means than breaking off contact with the substance.

    It was even more dangerous than an attack from the enemy.

    As the yers behind Maple continued to supply her with monsters, she kept on producing more of those creatures as she kept on walking forward.

    Unlike the wild monsters found in the enemy¡¯s territory, these creatures born from Maple¡¯s Skill were powerful. They were able to throw out mes much like Maple herself would be whenever she was under the effects of ¡°Atrocity¡±, which would tear and consume yer and monster alike.

    ¡°Please watch your step and keep going!¡±

    Maple called out to those around her. The swarm of monsters she had created was powerful, but since they essentially summoned monsters, they could not be issued detailed instructions. Even so,pared to wild monsters that move basically however they wanted, these creatures could be controlled to some degree, so they were more convenient.

    By obtaining arge number of monsters with this Skill, the yers on the front line had more leeway, and they gradually started to press forward.

    The group of monsters that suddenly appeared was visible even from behind the enemy camp.

    ¡°Some strange creatures are heading this way¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Haha, this has to be a joke, right? What the hell is that?¡±

    Marx and Shin, who were observing the front from the top of the ¡°Night Castle¡±, reported the current situation to Mii and Misery. Using one of his cameras, Marx had Mii and Misery check the battle situation from the monitor inside the castle. They were doing it like this because, like Maple¡¯s ¡°Dedicated Affection¡±, they too could use Skills that affected the surroundings with them in the center, allowing them to participate in the battle even from inside of the castle¡¯s walls.

    Although many of them ended up being caught in Marx¡¯s traps, the army of monsters surged like a wave with its overwhelming numbers.

    As they withdrew from this chaotic battlefield, two shadows jumped down from the ice stairs that reached into the sky, decelerating against gravity in the air andnding right next to Marx.

    ¡°Whoa!?¡±

    ¡°Oh, sorry!¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s Mii¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­Huh? Ah, yeah. She¡¯s inside.¡±

    ¡°Oh, an emergency strategy meeting, huh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Velvet and Hinata then rushed into the castle.

    As they went inside, they found Misery, who was using her Recovery Spells one right after another, and Mii, who was about to go outside.

    ¡°Mii! This looks a bit bad, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know. It seems that Maple is the one behind this.¡±

    Mii didn¡¯t know exactly how it was done, but she could see that it was due to a Skill that summoned arge number of powerful monsters.

    While Mii and Velvet were talking, Lily and Wilbert arrived as well, riding on their flying machine.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here too, Velvet. Looks like we¡¯re all thinking the same thing.¡±

    ¡°It looks like we need to think about dealing with those summoned monsters.¡±

    Using his search ability, Wilbert confirmed that Mii and Velvet¡¯sbination attack did not yield the expected results.

    ¡°The enemy seems to have retaliated with a pretty big move, but I don¡¯t know how long of a cooldown that Skill has. What I do know is that a lot of readings disappeared for a short while before reappearing again.¡±

    ¡°And Velvet has dischargedpletely¡­ So her lightning attacks will be out of the equation for a while.¡±

    Velvet¡¯s ¡°Thor¡¯s Hammer¡± boasted an attack range that surpassed that of Mii, but it wasn¡¯t something that could be unleashed at no cost. And whenever Velvet were to temporarily lose her ability to produce electricity after havingpletely discharged, her threat level would instantly drop as a result.

    ¡°People seem to be panicking a lot after seeing those dreadful monsters. If we can¡¯t get enough of a margin to calm ourselves down, we¡¯ll be at a bit of a disadvantage.¡±

    Even with Misery¡¯s Recovery Spells, there was a huge difference in value between a disposable, easily receable summoned monster and a dead yer.

    The more the fight dragged on, the worse the situation would get.

    ¡°I can¡¯t use my ¡®Daybreak¡¯ for a while either. Of course, we have other powerful Skills, but the enemy isn¡¯t going to just stay put that easily.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Without the strength to defeat that horde of summoned monsters, even if we¡¯re gradually recovering, the situation will only get worse from here on¡­¡±

    With ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡± and ¡°Maple Tree¡± at the top of the list, there were still plenty of powerful yers who still had strength to spare.

    ¡°I want to know what the other Guilds think. If the majority of them think that we¡¯d better withdraw, then we¡¯ll have no choice but to ept the fact that the enemy was well prepared to repel our offensive and retreat.¡±

    Velvet and Mii¡¯s attacks had been so powerful that they alone could have decided the oue of the entire event on their own. But now that they had been used up, and the enemy had found a way to not only endure them but also strike back, the tables had turned. Therefore, Mii and the others had to get enough people to fight off the seemingly endless army of summoned monsters. And if they were to determine that they wouldn¡¯t be able to get that much manpower, then their only option would be to try to keep the enemy at bay and retreat.

    ¡°Marx. Be prepared to retreat at a moment¡¯s notice, focusing on Misery and Shin. If we do have to retreat, it would be best to do it while fighting back as much as possible.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Not all of their allies were on this battlefield. If they could keep on fighting while retreating towards their royal castle, Mii¡¯s side would have the advantage, as their reinforcements would arrive before Maple and the others if they can¡¯t keep up with them.

    ¡°Lily, Hinata. I¡¯m gonna need your help.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°You got this, Hinata!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m counting on you, Lily.¡±

    Leaving both Velvet, who now had limitedbat abilities, and Wilbert, who specialized in one-on-onebat, Mii, Lily and Hinata left the ¡°Night Castle¡±.

    The idea was not only to be able to march to the battlefield with more suitable members, but to reduce the damage they would suffer as a whole if things were to go wrong. If all of them were to head out to battle and even one of them made the slightest mistake, they could all end up being annihted, leaving their faction at an irreversible disadvantage. The eight of them understood that the enemy had ess to a power that was explosive enough to make something like that happen.

    As they kept the worst case scenario in mind, the three of them rode on Ignis¡¯ back and looked at the battlefield from the sky. Summoned monsters crawled out of the circr-shaped, ck-stained ground. And behind it, yers were throwing monsters into the darkness one after another.

    As expected, the three of them managed to grasp a rough idea of how this summoning Skill worked from what they had seen.

    ¡°I see! Hahaha, so that¡¯s how it works¡­¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s simply amazing¡­¡±

    ¡°So, this will be difficult to stop unless we defeat Maple, then.¡±

    Maple¡¯s Skill also had a very shocking appearance, and the three were also able to see that the formation of their own forces was copsing and the yers were already retreating, most likely because they were already losing their fighting spirit.

    Having seen all that, the three concluded that it would be better to retreat rather than do everything in their power to rebuild their formation.

    ¡°Hinata, are you ready?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m good to go. All you have to do is get me closer.¡±

    ¡°We will defend you against any iing attacks. Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    After giving instructions to Ignis, Mii and the others hurried to the front line, where Maple¡¯s summoned monsters were still rampaging.

 Chapter 434

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 434

    Defense Specialization and the Big Battle (4)

    The frontline where Mii was at. The ce where monsters and humans collided, where monsters had a slight advantage.

    ¡°¡ª<em>Damn! </em>There¡¯s no end to them!¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you do something¡ª!?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m doing all I can¡ª!¡±

    The difference in scope due to size difference. The difference between whether or not an attack would be lethal. These worked against the yers, worsening things over time.

    ¡°Good luck¡ª!¡±

    The root cause¡ªMaple, could be seen cheering on the slithering monsters from behind.

    Well, of course. If there were too manyrge monsters crawling around,[Machine God] and [Ancient Weapon] were unlikely to get through them. [Predator] and Syrup would be recreated soon, while [Poison Dragon] would reduce the future destination into a poisonous swamp.

    As a result, Maple could do nothing but rally andmand the swarm of monsters she¡¯d created, also known as her vassals.

    No matter how much they resisted, the surge of monsters would devour the yers in order¡ªstarting from the vanguard. When she tried to push through as nned, Maple sighted a phoenix across the sky, flying towards her.

    ¡°Mii! ¡­[Deploy All Weapons]! [Commence Attack]!¡±

    While monster attacks couldn¡¯t reach the sky, Maple¡¯s line of fire could.

    Apanying Maple¡¯s gunfire, magic rapidly flew from the surroundings. However, with Mii¡¯s proper instructions, Ignis flew through the barrage and closed the distance between Maple and the others.

    ¡°[Ice Wall]!¡±

    ¡°[Puppet Wall]!¡±

    ¡°¡ª<em>Tch! </em>Where are those two!?¡±

    They evaded Ignis. However, just when they thought they¡¯d finally caught it, a wall was deployed to protect Ignis. There was no mistaking it¡ªit was Hinata and Lily.

    Mii forcibly broke through the barrage and approached. It was a countdown until the fire that scorched everything subsided. Giving up on shooting down, she deployed a barrier for self-defense.

    ¡°<em>[Overfreeze]!¡±</em>

    ¡°Hinata!¡±

    In the next moment, instead of me, cold, white, air spread, engulfing the surroundings like smoke. Many casted barriers in anticipation of Mii, so they couldn¡¯t intercept Hinata¡¯s skill in time.

    Maple tried to point her muzzle at Hinata, only to be overtaken by a stronger chill that emanated from her.

    ¡°<em>[Nibelheim: The Land Of Frost]¡­!¡±</em>

    ¡°W-what?! What is this¡­!?¡±

    A high-pitched scream. All of the sudden, Maple found that she couldn¡¯t move an inch. At a closer inspection, the area¡ªalong with everyone else¡ªwere encased in thin ice, ceasing all movements.

    A super-wide area freeze that could withstand lightning strikes from Velvet. Although it didn¡¯t inflict any damage, the intense crowd control stopped the march¡ª<em>literally.</em>

    From Ignis¡¯ back, Hinata called out to Maple, who was rendered immobile.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but you shouldn¡¯t be able to move. Also¡­ if you act too violently, it¡¯ll be troublesome.¡±

    ¡°<em>Uuh¡­ </em>I can¡¯t believe you can do this. <em>Muu¡ª</em> Hinata is so amazing!¡±

    ¡°I think the same of you, Maple¡­¡±

    As she stared at the now frozen and docile monster, Hinata bowed her head. With that as a farewell greeting, Ignis flew higher and withdrew.

    Along with Ignis¡ª<em>fortunately, </em>many yers began to retreat in earnest. After all, they never knew when the ice would thaw, causing the monsters to resume their rampage.

    ¡°Mii, please hurry back. I¡¯ve earned us some times, but my [Overfreeze] is quite simr to Velvet [Overcharge]. While my skill can stop enemies in their tracks, damage can¡¯t pass through the ice¡­¡±

    ¡°Got it, everyone else¡¯s also withdrawing. I¡¯ll follow suit.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s problematic if you can¡¯t deal damage, but it¡¯s certainly the best way to stop them.¡±

    Great skill so far. Of course, it couldn¡¯t be used in a sessive manner¡ªand simr to Velvet, the skill had a major disadvantage in which no other cold air skill could be used. With this, the two [<em>thunderstorms</em>] would need to rest for a while to remove their disadvantages.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to thank you, Lily. If you don¡¯t venture far enough, your allies will freeze, too.¡±

    ¡°No, Mii, you¡¯re simply that good of a rider. I merely created a barrier.¡±

    ¡°We have to hurry. The ice will eventually disappear, but the same can¡¯t be said about the monsters. They¡¯ll soon resume their onught.¡±

    The two nodded in agreement with Mii, who suggested that they had to finish the preparations for the interceptions swiftly, before returning to the direction of [Night Castle].

    After a while, the ice created by Hinata shattered, and everyone was freed from the ice prison.

    ¡°F-f-for the time being, let¡¯s deal with the monsters!¡±

    The ice walls disappeared, and the previously trapped monsters were charging towards them. Maple instructed everyone to deal with them first. By everyone, of course she meant the strange monsters that came out from beneath her feet.

    A monster¡¯s opponent was another monster. Since she had some stray monsters at her behest, shemanded them to charge as well.

    Since she couldn¡¯t move recklessly and let her allies sink into the darkness beneath her feet, Maple was rooted on the spot as she watched yers who brought in weakened monsters to recreate them.

    Then, as she tried to avoid the darkness, a white snake¡ªHaku¡ªapproached her with the members of Maple Tree on his head.

    ¡°Everyone¡ª! Are you alright¡ª!?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but that was kind of close, though¡­¡±¡¯

    ¡°Thanks to Maple¡¯s skill, we can withdraw.¡±

    Lily¡¯s decision to suspend the battle and choose to retreat after seeing [Darkness of Rebirth]¡ªan unknown phenomenon of a tremendous scale, seemed to be correct.

    After all, they got to avoid a life-and-death battle.

    ¡°Sally did well, too!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Thank you, Ark. If not for you, I wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid it.¡±

    Sally copied [Ark] using [Reversal of Lies] and like Maple, teleported with her allies to reduce the damage on the frontline. The strategy itself could be called a sess due to Sally¡¯s high [AGI] and her aerial skill.

    ¡°We¡¯ll also help those behind us. As expected, those who were out of [Ark]¡¯s range were killed, but the main force of the [Congregation of the Holy Swords] remained. They¡¯d like to proceed while keeping the risks in mind.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Then wait here a bit longer!¡±

    Since the enemy had withdrawn, we couldn¡¯t just stop here. The fleeing enemy that was weak to us should be pursued to gain advantage.

    Maple called out to Sally, telling her to tame the wild monsters and throw them into the darkness.

    Apanied by an army of powerful monsters, Maple¡¯s footsteps of destruction marched towards the enemy camp.

 Chapter 435

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 435

    Defense Specialization and Just Before the Rematch

    Since it was a time-elerated event, yers who had withdrawn could watch the game on the avable spectator field exclusive for them.

    If they got bored or satisfied, they could always choose to exit and return to their normal field.

    Various areas of the battlefield were disyed on therge monitor, in which one could watch all the progressing battles¡ªwhich was also an opportunity to gather valuable information. By checking the skill of the winning yer, one could use it in the next interpersonal battle.

    But of course, that was just one of the many reasons. If anything, the ce was bustling with yers who wanted to share their impressions about the event.

    At the same time, many yers were transferred to that area at once. That was the proof that <em>even now, </em>fierce battles were brewing everywhere.

    ¡°<em>Ooh¡ª! </em>Both sides suffered quite a loss.¡±

    ¡°After all, it¡¯d be troublesome if they got attacked alongside the monsters. I went to stop it, only for it to be a huge battle.¡±

    ¡°I saw it. As expected, the main battlefield didn¡¯t disappoint! Even now, it¡¯s still going¡­¡±

    The highlight of the event¡ªthe aforementioned battle was still disyed on arge monitor. By sacrificing something aspensation, ck monsters emerged one after another from the ground as if to upy the screen.

    ¡°Wow¡­ Is that an altar?¡±

    ¡°Is that their doing?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    ¡°I got eaten by one of those things.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that was some tough monster¡­¡±

    ¡°Actually, it belongs to the side with the altar.¡±

    ¡°Eeh¡­?¡±

    To sacrifice an ally. At first, they wondered if that skill was of any use, but upon seeing how it was raging in front of them, they began to think that the skill was formidable.

    ¡°Since Maple has some summoning skills, in the worst-case scenario, she can just use them.¡±

    ¡°It seems that the 9<sup>th</sup> Layer had some skills that were suitable for this event. As such, that skill was probably one of them, considering its strong advantage.¡±

    ¡°I saw it¡ªMaple and Sally had the same skill. As in, the flooding and the teleport¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡­ I thought we¡¯d won, so I let my guard down, and got attacked by Mii¡¯s me from behind as a result. <em>Haa, </em>I screwed up¡­¡±

    ¡°Also, the Maple Tree is growing. Payne is attacking with light magic like a wizard.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯d be nice if there¡¯s a wide range attack. After the event is over, I¡¯ll look for it.¡±

    Even if the weapon was a sword or a spear, as long as there was a method to attack from a longer distance, one would gain an advantage.

    ¡°I hope the rest of the allies win! Please, I want a medal!¡±

    The losing side would also obtain a medal, but the winning side would be rewarded with more. Both camps watched the event field as the battle ensued, wishing for victory.

    With the passage of time, the invasion of the enemy camp by monsters ended, while the hostile monsters disappeared and respawned in their original positions. Atst, peace had returned to thend.

    ¡­Although, that¡¯d be a bit misleading. Around Maple and the others, monsters that had been fed to the darkness were wandering around, waiting for further instructions.

    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re doing great!¡±

    Maple extinguished the [Darkness of Rebirth], after all, if there was nothing to put inside, even if it was deployed, it¡¯d only serve as a hindrance to allies.

    With the release of [Darkness of Rebirth] as a signal, everyone advanced towards the enemy royal castle.

    The monsters created by everyone¡¯s repeated efforts were leading the way. The powerful soldiers, who didn¡¯t mind dying, had no problem being disposable. Their huge bodies would serve as a wall that¡¯d block iing magic attack.

    ¡°Maple! Get on!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Sally called out from above Haku¡¯s head. To keep up with the march, Maple indeed needed a means of transportations.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to settle this match.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Everyone, prepare yourself!¡±

    While anticipating the sess of the monsters running around below, Maple went towards the enemy camp.

    ¡°Will I be frozen again?¡±

    ¡°I think the cooldown for that skill is extensive. Since it took a lot of time to prepare, I¡¯m not sure that skill is ready.¡±

    A non-standard range of effect that can stope everyone in their tracks. If such was the case, it wouldn¡¯t be strange if the skill could only be used once per day.

    ¡°Even though we managed to ovee the opponent¡¯s ns, we were only able to withdraw due to Maple¡¯s peculiarity.¡±

    ¡°However, it doesn¡¯t seem like the enemy has exhausted all of their resources. If we aren¡¯t careful, we might get blindsided.¡±

    Once they arrived at the royal castle, retreat was no longer an option. Besides, there was no doubt that the enemy would try to stop the invasion at all cost. Even more so when the enemy¡¯s leadership had been disturbed.

    When an unexpected event urred and the war situation worsened, it was difficult topletely unify the will to retreat or advance.

    ¡°It¡¯d be best if everything went as we thought it would.¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case.¡±

    ¡°I also doubt it¡­¡±

    ¡°For the sake of the [Congregations of Holy Sword], I want to do my best!¡±

    To lead this invasion to victory¡ªdevour, shred, and trample anything that approached. Maple and the others went to take on a country as if they were a Demon King.

    ¡­At that time, Mii and the others were also preparing to face Maple and the others despite the time crunch.

    ¡°Velvet, Hinata, how long will it take?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m trying!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to make it in time¡­¡±

    Hinata¡¯s ice and Velvet¡¯s thunder were the two necessary powers to win. Since the two of them were unable to use those skills in the previous battle, they hurriedly subjugated the monsters in an attempt to remove the disadvantages.

    ¡°Next. I summon you.¡±

    The mechanical soldiers summoned by Lily applied [Provoke] effect to nearby monsters, causing them toe one after another.

    ¡°I want you to do your best. I have a n, but it won¡¯t work unless the two of you are ready.¡±

    The two <em>thunderstorm </em>were just that significant. Velvet and Hinata understood that, so they tried their best.

    Nevertheless, even if they were in a hurry, there was a high chance that they wouldn¡¯t make it if they were to suffer an attack. For that, the members of the [Kingdom of the me Emperor] gathered at the center of the Night Castle, ready to be defeated.

    ¡°Haha¡­ Good grief, it¡¯s difficult because there are so many things I just have to protect!¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. In the first ce, we aren¡¯t exactly good attackers¡­ Only Mii is different.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do our best. If possible, I want everyone to make it.¡±

    ¡°Well, in other words, I hope they can make it in time. Poor you, Wilbert! This could be the ce to die.¡±

    ¡°With all of you here, I believe it won¡¯t happen. Although the damage output will be much lower without Lily, just being here should be a good check.¡±

    During this event, Wilbert had been rediscovered as a high-threat yer. As such, his presence would definitely instill fear in people.

    ¡°Alright, final confirmation, Marx. Is the trap set?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it has. I¡¯m ready.¡±

    ¡°Misery, what about your skill cooldown!?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem!¡±

    ¡°Alright! If anything happens, I¡¯ll be the first decoy! Since your skills are important, the enemy will definitelye after you!¡±

    Despite being simr with a few other skills, Misery¡¯s wide-range heal and Marx¡¯s traps were different from your usual offensive skills. As such, they became the core of the strategy, hence the need to be protected.

    ¡°¡­It looks like our enemy has arrived. Brace yourself.¡±

    Following Wilbert, who was the first to sense the enemy, Marx also grasped the situation with the installed camera. Reflected there was a wave of jet-ck¡ª

    ¡ªa horde of monsters was surging in like waves.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­<em>Eeh?</em> They¡¯re multiplying.¡±

    Upon seeing that the situation was beyond his expectation, Marx was at a loss for words. Even if he were to flee, he¡¯d inadvertently have to fight those.

    ¡°I¡¯ve contacted Mii to get here as soon as possible. Leave the recovery to me.¡±

    ¡°I leave that to you! Then, let¡¯s go, Wilbert!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do it!¡±

    Shin casted [Split-Sword] for him to ride, along with conjuring a few more swords to guard Wilbert.

    ¡°I¡¯ll shoot anything that flies. I¡¯ll try to take down as much as I can. Please finish them off!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s defeat as many as possible.¡±

    In this way, Wilbert poised his bow atop the Night Castle, while Shin rushed forward on his flying sword to keep the monsters at bay.

 Chapter 436

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 436

    Defense Specialization and Pursuit Battle

    At a distance where Shin and others could be seen¡ª

    ¡ªin other words, they could also see Maple and everyone else.

    ¡°Maple! Shin ising!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll proceed with Haku as nned! Maple, don¡¯t mind us!¡±

    ¡°Mai, Yui! Leave the defense to me! <em>Do it</em>!¡±

    ¡°<em>[Throne of the Heavenly King]! [Afterglow of Salvation]! [Deploy All Weapons]!¡±</em>

    At Kasumi and Sally¡¯s words, Maple activated her skill. Simr to conjuring a throne on Haku¡¯s head, by setting up a throne on Haku¡¯s head, she could deploy a damage-reducing field and vast arrays of weapons.

    Furthermore, if she was perched on Haku¡¯s head, nothing could hinder Maple¡¯s line of fire.

    ¡°[<em>Use Threads</em>]!¡±

    Sally fastened everyone¡¯s legs with some threads. Although it became more difficult to dodge, for the sake of the operation, it was worth it.

    ¡°[<em>Copsing Sword</em>]! Wen¡¯s [<em>Wind God</em>]!¡±

    ¡°[<em>Commence Attack</em>]!¡±

    Since they came with monsters, the Maple Tree was easy to spot. True to that, flying swords and wind des flew their ways. Seeing that, Kasumi immediatelymanded Haku.

    With Sally¡¯s threads holding her body in ce, Kasumi repositioned herself as Haku twisted his body to avoid the attack.

    ¡°¡°[<em>Throw</em>]!¡±¡±

    ¡°I see¡­! It¡¯s a mobile artillery!¡±

    Shin admired the calcted attack.

    Followed by gunfire, an iron ball was released. By taking advantage of Haku¡¯s huge body, it could be fired from anywhere. Moreover, even if Haku was aimed at, with the mobility that far surpassed Syrup¡¯s, he could evade with ease. In the first ce, his height rendered any melee attacks unusable.

    Defeating Haku would be a surefire way to stop the artillery attack, since he basically acted as a pedestal. However, it¡¯d be easier said and done. After all, not only did he have an enormous HP, he also had [<em>Hardening</em>].

    Moreover, there was also the fact that he was surrounded by the monsters Maple created.

    <em>¡°Tch, </em>then I have no choice but to give up! Wilbert, I leave it to you!¡±

    As originally nned, they also had to take care of the monsters. Shin, who decided to prioritize the small fries, flew around so that the attacks of monsters and wizards didn¡¯t reach him. Despite that, he still cut down the enemies from above.

    ¡°¡ª<em>[Full Draw] [Long Range] [Expand Range] </em>¡­That wall makes it difficult to see! <em>[Arrow of Annihtion]</em>!¡±

    Wilbert¡¯s arrow¡ªd in reddish-ck aura¡ªflew at an astonishing speed with a tail of the same color.

    A tremendously powerful arrow that pierced everything in a straight line. It annihted all the monsters on its trajectory with a single blow, and even knocked the yers behind it back.

    With a single blow, Maple and the others¡ªwho should¡¯ve had advantage in numbers¡ªsuffered considerable damage. However, it didn¡¯t quell the invasion.

    Maple and the others were aware of their enemies¡¯ strength. Under Payne¡¯smands, they were prepared to make sacrifices for the sake of winning.

    ¡°Marx! Activate the trap! We¡¯ll soon be engaged!¡±

    ¡°<em>[Trap Activation]</em>!¡±

    Some traps could be triggered without stepping into them. Prompted by Marx¡¯ skill, some traps within the effective range were activated. The ground swelled as rocks and wooden pirs approaching Haku¡¯s height rose one after another, hindering the monsters.

    ¡°<em>[Trick Shot]</em>!<em> [Volley of Arrows]</em>!¡±

    ¡°<em>[Copsing Sword]</em>!¡±

    Without a pause, arrows were exchanged between enemies, followed by a rain of arrows and swords, effectively reducing the number of monsters. Even so, the monsters still managed to destroy the pirs, passed between them, and dragged the yers who failed to keep their distance into the billowing sand smoke.

    ¡°[<em>Healing Light</em>]! [<em>Fountain of Recovery</em>]!¡±

    Misery also summoned a field that provided constant healing to the frontline. Not only that, she also diligently casted her skill to constantly replenish HP. While offense wasn¡¯t her strong suit, she had a high defense.

    Like that, while the Kingdom of the me Emperor fought arduously, a majestic torrent of light ran through the ground.

    ¡°<em>[Holy de of Conviction]</em>!¡±

    ¡°<em>[Fourth of the Swords: Whirlwind]</em>!¡±

    ¡°<em>[Multi-Fire Bullets]</em>!¡±

    <em>¡°[Earth Wave]</em>!¡±

    As the monsters attacked, Payne and the others yed the yers. Despite Misery¡¯s abundance of healing, it couldn¡¯t catch up with the tremendous burst damage, so they couldn¡¯t afford to lower their guard.

    ¡°Maple, leave this to me!¡±

    ¡°Sally! What about Payne¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, this is my chance¡­ I¡¯ll head for Shin! Iz and Kanade, you can focus on the ground!¡±

    ¡°Alright. Then, as nned, I¡¯ll leave as many magic books as possible.¡±

    ¡°Be careful. Don¡¯t overdo it.¡±

    After all, indiscriminate attacks such as bombs could still kill Sally. If Sally wasn¡¯t on the ground, they could direct all their attention to attacking.

    Sally didn¡¯t waste any time to use her thread and use Marx¡¯s generated pirs to head towards Shin.

    ¡°Ooh! Are you sure!? You¡¯ll have to take us both on!¡±

    ¡°I know, but I can¡¯t let you do as you please!¡±

    Sally knew that Shin and Wilbert¡¯sbined technique had defeated more monsters than expected.

    By stopping the two and providing fire support to Maple, Mai, and Yui, she¡¯d be giving the Congregation of Holy Swords a massive advantage.

    For that, she¡¯d have to take out the leader herself.

    ¡°Now, now, I don¡¯t need any handicaps! But, this can be an opportunity for me, too?¡±

    To intercept Sally, Shin recalled many of his swords from the ground. Shin should be aiming to defeat Sally as well, since it¡¯d greatly reduce the opponent¡¯s strength.

    ¡°<em>[Path of Water]</em>! <em>[Water Coat]</em>!¡±

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re good!¡±

    Upon conjuring some water pirs, Sally quickly navigated from pir to pir. Seeing that, Shin maneuvered the sword that was to be his foothold, maintaining his distance while attacking with Wen¡¯s Wind de.

    Sally wielded double daggers. While she could also cast magic, it wasn¡¯t her <em>forte. </em>But as long as she maintained her distance while fighting, she was a force to be reckoned with.

    ¡°You can¡¯t even graze me¡ª!¡±

    ¡°All I need to do is receive your blow¡ª!¡±

    If she could help the Congregations of Holy Sword by minimizing his attack, that¡¯d be good enough for Sally.

    As for the one-on-one duel, if she stayed far enough from Shin, it¡¯d give her a chance to avoid his Wen¡¯s Wind de.

    Under normal circumstances, it¡¯d be impossible to dodge his skill. However, Sally¡¯s extraordinary dodge skill allowed her to urately grasp his window of attack.

    ¡°Actually, the monsters below are bad news. I have to defeat it! Wen¡¯s [<em>Far Wind</em>] [Whirlwind]!¡±

    The swirling wind¡ªwhose range had been expanded by Wen¡¯s skill, continuously attacked Sally. The constant wind de, along with the [Copsing Sword], should¡¯ve ultimately blocked her escape.

    ¡°[<em>Super eleration</em>]! [<em>Leap</em>]!¡±

    Despite this, Sally leaped into the air before she waspletely surrounded.

    ¡°<em>Oboro </em>[<em>Fire Child</em>]!¡±

    With a quick evasive action, Sally avoided the brewing storm and made a foothold in the air before approaching Shin.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you!¡±

    ¡°<em>Oboro </em>[<em>Spirited Away</em>]!¡±

    Not letting her approach, Shin fired his swords forward like a shotgun. In return, Sally slipped through and nullified his attacks using <em>Oboro.</em>

    <em>¡ªA great chance to attack!</em>

    At that moment, Sally caught a red effect at the edge of her vision.

    ¡°¡ª<em>Tch! </em>[<em>Icicle</em>]!¡±

    ¡°As expected, you¡¯re awesome¡­!¡±

    When she closed her distance to Shin, she was caught in someone else¡¯s line of fire. To defend against Wilbert¡¯s deadly arrow, which flew from below, Sally summoned a pir of ice.

    While admiring her wless movements, Shin recalled his swords and held up his shield.

    Now, he¡¯d be able to attack with the swords. As he stared at Sally, expecting any kinds of attacks¡ª

    ¡ªHowever, in the next moment, Shin widened his eyes at Sally¡¯s choice of skill.

    ¡°<em>¡ª[Origin of the Swords: Hollow]</em>¡±

    Sally¡¯s hair was white, while her eyes were dyed red. He couldn¡¯t have misheard that. It was the same skill Kasumi had used to defeat Shin. Was it an illusion, or reality? Before he could ascertain that, Sally vanished.

    ¡°Wen, <em>behind</em>!¡±

    Following the series of changes, Sally had disappeared. Based on that, Shin decided that Sally had indeed used <em>[Origin of the Swords: Hollow</em>], and conjured a storm behind her. Unlike Kasumi, Sally¡¯s HP was thin, so she could still be shredded by a de of wind.

    ¡°I had expected you to react like that, Shin.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡ª!?¡±

    Suddenly, the space in front of him distorted, and Sally appeared at close range, brandishing a dagger.

    Under such a proximity, he¡¯d inadvertently get hit. She¡¯d closed in to him. Intuitively, Shin felt that she could end him right then and there. Nevertheless, the Kingdom of the me Emperor had Misery, who could use [Resurrect].

    As such, he¡¯d immediately revive and counterattack. In such a distance, it should be difficult for Sally to avoid his attack.

    But, just as he prepared to block it, an intense light rose from the ground towards the sky, filling the entirety of his vision.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Shin¡¯s gaze collided with Sally, and he instantly understood her implications.

    If Shin were to use [Resurrect], the rest of the army would be wiped out by Payne¡¯s slightly dyed, yet super wide range attack.

    With such a dy, Shin would be the only one resurrected.

    Upon realizing that he¡¯d been entangled in a way more careful strategy than expected, he shouted.

    ¡°¡ª<em>Misery! </em>Just abandon me!¡±

    ¡°¡­In that case¡ª!¡±

    Sally advanced without hesitation, and quickly shed at his vital point before he could raise his shield.

    Water and me burst where she¡¯d shed, and the increased damage of [Sword Dance] blew away his HP.

    ¡°Aah¡­ I¡¯ve been had.¡±

    As a matter of course, Maple wasn¡¯t the only one who¡¯d gotten stronger. Shin vanished as he begrudged hisck of foresight.

    ¡°<em>Haa, </em>I¡¯ll leave the rest to you!¡±

    In his final moment, as his core turned into light and disappeared, he saw a torrent of brilliant light streaming through the ground. It was the resurrection effect he was familiar with.

 Chapter 437

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 437</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Pursuit Battle 2</strong>

    In the aftermath of Payne¡¯s light, the surroundings were enveloped in a gentle light, and the yers that were almost wiped out returned to their respective ces.

    ¡°Marx, what about the trap!?¡±

    ¡°Uuh, most of them were blown away by Payne¡­¡±

    Due to Shin¡¯s good judgment, the front line didn¡¯t copse. In spite of that, Payne¡¯s attack broke the pirs that blocked the monsters, worsening the avnche. Even though Wilbert had cut down their number, the absence of Shin had slowed the ce. If the vanguard failed to stop the attack, the rearguards would be sitting ducks to monsters.

    In other words, if things went as they were, it wouldn¡¯t bode well for them.

    ¡°Wilbert, do you have any idea¡­? What can we do other than stalling for time?¡±

    Therefore, to stop the progress of the enemy, they activated the remaining traps to conjure water currents and gusts.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! One-vs-many is Lily¡¯s expertise!¡±

    Doing what he could, Wilbert single-mindedly shot arrows. Even while reducing the number of monsters, if there was a yer who made even the slightest mistake in positioning, he¡¯d shoot their hearts and annihte them, slowing down Maple and the enemy forces.

    However, that did almost next to nothing. Slowly but surely, the wave of monsters mercilessly gobbled up those who couldn¡¯t be saved by healing magic.

    From the enemy¡¯s point of view, it was a nightmare, but from the ally¡¯s point of view, the monsters were reliablepanions.

    Now that Shin was gone, the monsters and Maple¡¯s powerful support artillery from the sky was giving a major advantage to the Congregations of Holy Sword troops that fought on the ground.

    ¡°Payne!¡±

    ¡°Did you decide toe down?¡±

    ¡°Oh, Sally! You did a great job! Amazing!¡±

    ¡°I was merely lucky. Besides, I doubt I can rely on the same trick twice. But in this case, it only has to work once, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Thanks to that, everything is a lot easier now! Though, Wilbert is still the same¡­¡±

    While using the monsters as meat shields, they¡¯d try to y the other yers.

    Using either vine, fire, ice, or wind. Afterwards, they managed to pass the riddle of traps. Atst, the main fortress¡ªNight Castle¡ªcame into view.

    Just a bit more¡ª<em>just a bit more </em>to victory.

    For a moment, the sky shone, causing Dred¡ªwho was fighting alongside Shadow and Sally, to look up. He had a foreboding feeling¡ªalmost akin to an omen¡ªand that alone was enough.

    A secondter¡ªthe sky shed, and a massive thunder struck the area.

    ¡°Velvet¡­!¡±

    ¡°Shadow, <em>[Shadow World]</em>!¡±

    After being the first one to sense it, he sheltered the nearby yers in the shadows and blended in with the hordes of monsters.

    Upon noticing Velvet¡¯s deployment in war, Maple also collected monsters and piled them up to block attacks from above.

    ¡°Knots, <em>[Sonar]</em>! Are they descending!?¡±

    Immediately after sensing a presence, Frederica poised her wand.

    ¡°Hinata must be there! We can slow down!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    Velvet, apanied by Hinata, ran through the air with more freedom than Sally, and just before they could hit the ground, they abruptly changed directions and rushed towards the five.

    ¡°Hinata! I leave it to you!¡±

    ¡°<em>[Isted Area]</em>!¡±

    A purple aura overflowed around Hinata, expanding all at once.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    ¡°W-we are being pushed out!?¡±

    The purple light spread like a dome. Due to Hinata¡¯s gravity control, the surrounding beings were pushed out one after another. As the name suggested, the dome made by distorting gravity repelled outside interference. Conversely, those who were inside also couldn¡¯t interfere with those outside.

    To make sure, Dred fired a spell to the purple wall. After seeing that it bounced off, he turned to look at Velvet.

    ¡°I see¡­ A deathmatch with the same number¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! You¡¯re quite sharp!¡±

    ¡°Drag, we have no choice but to do it.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yeah, how amazing! Wow, this space, not even that thunder can pass it! We can do anything!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    It was their third meeting. The fact that Frederica, Payne, and Sally were kicked out, singling out the two, must¡¯ve meant that Velvet and Hinata chose them after careful consideration. It was as if they were sure of their victory.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think you can win that easily.¡±

    ¡°Of course! I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    Although the thunderstorms were blocked by gravity walls, it didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t use lighting. Clenching her fists, Velvet dashed off, causing a violent thunderstorm.

    ¡°[<em>Grand Armor</em>]! [<em>Stone Skin</em>]!¡±

    To keep up with Velvet, Drag d himself in rock armor and charged forward with amplified defense power.

    As Drag¡¯s great ax swung horizontally, Dred lowered himself and tried to slip underneath his attack and close the distance.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    ¡°[<em>Purple Lightning</em>]!¡±

    However, when Dred readied his dagger, Velvet slid to the right, but not before releasing an electric shock that fended Dred off.

    ¡°<em>[Gravity Control], </em>huh¡­ Slippery.¡±

    Velvet, who was slightly floating from the ground, returned to the ground and took a stance. By manipting gravity, Hinata was able to move on the ground, making the <em>impossible possible.</em>

    Seeing that, Drag whispered to Dred.

    ¡°There¡¯s too much difference in mobility. It¡¯s difficult tond a hit, but I can create an opening.¡±

    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll do a follow-up. Shadow, <em>[Flock of Shadow]</em>!¡±

    Dred summoned the shadow wolf to provoke Velvet.

    ¡°[<em>Roar of Thunder</em>]!¡±

    Instead of a thunderstorm, Velvet conjured a pir-shaped electric shock and scorched the wolf.

    ¡°<em>[Heavy Charge]</em>! <em>[Earth Wave]</em>!¡±

    However, Drag suddenly closed in, broke through the electric shock, and exploded the undting ground.

    ¡°[<em>Ice Wall</em>]! [<em>Frozen Earth</em>]!¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t work!¡±

    Since the ice would affect those on the ground, as long as one wasn¡¯t on the ground, there was no problem.

    Drag leaped for a moment, leaving the area of effect, before smashing the ice wall.

    ¡°[<em>Electric el</em>]! <em>[Heavy Double Strikes</em>]!¡±

    Drag received Velvet¡¯s elerated blow using his body, and grabbed her hand while taking damage. After all, the short range was the biggest weakness of fist yers.

    ¡°Got you! [<em>Grand Lance</em>]!¡±

    ¡°[<em>Northern Light</em>]!¡±

    Drag¡¯s rock spear shed against Velvet¡¯s gigantic thunderbolt.

    When the lightning subsided, Dred quickly erased the distance, seizing the opportunity to attack while she was still caught by Drag.

    ¡°[<em>Cocytus</em>]!¡±

    ¡°Shadow, <em>[Shadow Dive</em>]!¡±

    To avoid the crowd control, Dred concealed himself. Even Hinata¡¯s cold air failed to reach the ground.

    ¡°Velvet¡­!¡±

    ¡°[<em>Electric Discharge</em>]!¡±

    ¡°<em>Guh, </em>it really hurts!¡±

    Despite suffering a lot of damage, Drag didn¡¯t intend to release her. While the dazzling lightning dealt damage, Drag was a full-fledged vanguard with high physical defense, so he didn¡¯t fall down.

    As he squinted due to the intense light, Drag noticed that Velvet¡¯s restricted hand was emitting a blue light. Rather than an electric shock, it was more of an aura.

    In the next moment, she easily shook off his hand, beforending a powerful jab at him.

    ¡°<em>Ugh</em>! Hey, Dred, this is bad!¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Traversing through the electric air in the air, Velvet sprinted, leaving a tail of blue aura behind her, and closed in on Dred.

    ¡°<em>What just¡­</em>!?¡±

    ¡°They have more tricks up their sleeves!¡±

    ¡°<em>[Top Speed]</em>! <em>[Godspeed]</em>!¡±

    Dred managed to intercept her high-speed blow with his dagger. However, with each blow, Dred started tog behind despite having doubled his speed.

    ¡°[<em>Brainfreeze</em>]!¡±

    Despite the brief period, Hinata¡¯s skill sealed his [Godspeed], preventing further eleration. That single moment proved to be fatal, and Velvet¡¯s fist connected to him, chipping away Dred¡¯s HP.

    ¡°[<em>Rush</em>]!¡±

    ¡°Velvet, behind you!¡±

    From behind, Drag also rushed in, about to blow her away in a single hit. But Velvet managed to avoid it, intending to finish Drag off as well.

    ¡°As expected, I can¡¯t catch up with you.¡±

    Velvet, the fastest yer, nimbly avoided his attack, about to perform a counterattack.

    Still, just before he disappeared, Drag made eye contact.

    ¡ªTo dodge Drag¡¯s ax and counter it. As Velvet moved, Dred thrusted his danger towards her back.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    An <em>odd </em>evasion. Beyond the dagger, Velvet had executed a high jump, as if doing a handstand in the air. Utterly defying gravity, even if it was the result of gravity control, the behavior was still beyond the realm of senses. After twisting her body, Velvet swung her leg down towards his shoulder.

    ¡°The letter, did you return it¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­? I had a lot of fun!¡±

    Leaving a blue trail, her right leg hit Dred¡¯s shoulder, blowing away his remaining HP.

    Just like that, the aura surrounding Velvet disappeared, and the purple dome that enveloped the four also disappeared.

    ¡°<em>Ueh¡ª! </em>Even though I lost¡ª!?¡±

    ¡°<em>Sally.¡±</em>

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Prompted by Payne, the two kicked off the ground and elerated, charging towards Velvet.

    ¡°[<em>Cage of Gravity</em>]! [<em>Icicle</em>]!¡±

    The strong gravity slowed them down, and during that moment, a thick pir of ice manifested in front of them as if to block their path.

    When they spun around, the two opponents were no longer there. Instead, the ground shook as a giant pir of lights began to rise in the faraway distance. It was safe to say that it wasn¡¯t Velvet¡¯s lightning.

    ¡°<em>This is¡­¡±</em>

    The two, who bypassed the Icicle wall, saw a gigantic, luminous, magic circle expanding on the ground. From there, undead soldiers spawned one after another.

    ¡°If it¡¯s a mass summon, we won¡¯t lose either.¡±

    ¡°Lily, you¡¯rete. When should I activate the trap?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Ignis descended on top of Night Castle as Mii began to exude mes.

    ¡°[<em>All-out Sortie</em>]!¡±

    ¡°<em>[Activate All Traps]</em>!¡±

    At a ce seemingly set up in advance, a huge magic circle was deployed along with a pir of light, from which arge troop emerged. Ignoring the distance, all the traps were activated,pletely changing the situation. The battlefield wasn¡¯t only limited to that ce. Due to Marx and Lily¡¯s careful preparations, the power bnce on the other battlefields had copsed.

    ¡°Velvet seems to have done the trick! Now, let¡¯s fight back!¡±

    Hoisting the mes, Mii raised everyone¡¯s morale. The situation changed rapidly as the spections of many yers intersected. Then, Maple and the others stood at a crossroads to minimize the damage.

    ¡°Payne! Could it be, the light from earlier¡­!¡±

    ¡°It seems so. We have no choice but to spread our forces. Now that the Thunder Storm has disappeared, other battlefields are in danger.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry over there. Leave Maple here.¡±

    Since Maple was themander of the monsters, the strategy would fail if she were to leave.

    ¡°Just how strong is that soldier?¡±

    While watching the soldiers that Frederica had created, Sally quickly informed Maple Tree about her strategy. Then, the artillery support from behind ceased as Maple descended with four white wings on her back.

    ¡°We have to hurry, Maple.¡±

    ¡°I know! What about Dred and the others¡­?¡±

    ¡°The two got caught, didn¡¯t they? Unfortunately, that¡¯s it for them.¡±

    ¡°They didn¡¯t make any blunders. <em>That¡¯s just how strong the enemy is.</em>¡±

    Maple and the others turned to look at the three [me Empire] and [Rapid Fire] in front of them, before reading their weapons.

    The yers gathered. As Maple¡¯s monsters and Lily¡¯s soldiers fought against each other, the four of them advanced towards the Night Castle.

    Other yers¡ªbe it allies or enemies¡ªalso participated in battle while avoiding the center. The reason was simple.

    ¡°<em>[Holy de of Splendor]</em>!¡±

    <em>¡°[me of ughter]</em>!¡±

    If they were to stay at such a ce, they¡¯d get caught up in the battle at the center, which they unlikely would survive.

    In order to not be targeted by piercing attacks, Maple focused on attacking with weapons andmanding monsters without using [Dedicated Affection].

    ¡°Sally, don¡¯t get hit by the [Multi-me Bullets], alright? Knots, [Singing Round]!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m fine¡­¡±

    Sally took advantage of Marx¡¯s stone pirs and her own icicles to bypass the fired magic and counter attacked.

    Frederica and Maple¡¯s attack blew away the emerging soldiers, while Lily and Mii¡¯s attack yed the monsters.

    ¡°Frederica, can we eliminate them by increasing the output?¡±

    ¡°Well, temporarily, but¡­¡±

    Frederica looked at Payne as if asking for confirmation.

    With strong supporters such as Marx and Misery, it was difficult to tell if even one of those five could be defeated.

    ¡°This match¡­ If those soldiers keep emerging, we¡¯ll be at a disadvantage.¡±

    Maple¡¯s monsters were limited and were difficult to regenerate once it was defeated. While the monsters by no means were underperforming, and had ughtered many yers, their numbers were steadily declining.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t believe in [Maple Tree], but I¡¯m also curious about other battlefields.¡±

    ¡°This time, we¡¯ll need good timing to retreat.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Then, leave it to me and Sally! Look, there!¡±

    As she continued to shoot, Maple spoke to Sally, and thetter knew exactly what the former was referring to.

    ¡°Understood, Maple. If necessary, we can make the opportunity here.¡±

    ¡°How reliable. That¡¯ll be a great help.¡±

    ¡°So, what are you going to do?¡±

    ¡°In order to retreat, it¡¯s necessary to inflict a serious blow to the enemy¡ª<em>one that¡¯d make them hesitate to chase after you. </em>I¡¯m going to defeat the two who solidify the enemy¡¯s formation.¡±

    ¡°Got it, tell me when you¡¯re ready.¡±

    The targets were Marx and Misery. In order to defeat the two of them, who had the important role of supporting the enemy¡¯s front line, the four waited for the right timing.

 Chapter 438

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 438</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Relief</strong>

    After hearing the strategy from Sally, Maple Tree split into three groups, and each rushed to the pir of light. Chrome went with Kasumi, Iz with Kanade, and Mai with Yui. While each had its own risks, they¡¯d discussed it beforehand.

    ¡°I¡¯m worried that we¡¯ll fail, but it¡¯s not like we have any other choice¡­!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s be optimistic and hurry!¡±

    It¡¯d be best if everyone could team up together, but Lily and co. had taken measures to prevent exactly that.

    After all, not all situations were geared to their convenience. Thus, they went around the battlefield, helping those in need.

    ¡°Haku, keep going!¡±

    Rushing into the battlefield, they nked the enemy yers, using Haku¡¯s size to damage the enemy minions.

    ¡°¡ª<em>Whoa! </em>W-what is that!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Kasumi¡¯s snake! Be careful!¡±

    Riding Haku across the battlefield, Kasumi was ready to charge at any time. Afterwards, both of them descended to the ground with Chrome.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s join them and take care of the enemy one by one. I¡¯ll take care of the summons. Kasumi, I leave the yer to you¡ª!¡±

    ¡°<em>[Arm of the Warrior]</em>! <em>[Blood de]</em>!¡±

    ¡°[<em>Ghost Armor: Solid</em>]¡±

    Otherwise, the number of enemies wouldn¡¯t go down. Chrome was confident that he could fight against those summons even if he hadn¡¯t received detailed information about them.

    Wearing Necro in a defensive form, Chrome fought alongside anotherrge shield user to tank the damage. Kasumi made Haku¡ªwho¡¯d reinforced his defense with [Hardening]¡ªcharge in, and swung a liquefied sword above Haku¡¯s head.

    ¡°[<em>Mind¡¯s Eye</em>], [<em>Shura¡¯s Battlefield</em>]!¡±

    Along with the alteration of her field of vision, Kasumi could perceive the iing attack. By charging like that, she¡¯d be drawing attention to herself. However, Kasumi¡ªwho knew the direction of the attack¡ªcunningly told Haku where to avoid.

    ¡°[<em>Tornado</em>]!¡±

    ¡°[<em>Expand Range</em>] [<em>me Spear</em>]!¡±

    ¡°[<em>First of the Swords: Heat Haze</em>]!¡±

    Sensing the attack in advance, Kasumi avoided it by teleporting in front of the enemy, before amplifying her next attack with Arm of the Warrior. By applying buffs with items while moving, her next sh could one-hit kill the enemy.

    ¡°¡ª<em>D-damn¡­¡±</em>

    ¡°[<em>First of the Swords: Heat Haze</em>]!¡±

    With so many yers, it was impossible to tell who¡¯d been targeted. Furthermore, Kasumi suddenly appeared in front of them and used <em>Shura¡¯s Battlefield </em>right after the cooldown was finished.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t let your guard down!¡±

    ¡°We have to solidify our defenses! Before that, we¡¯ll have to endure!¡±

    ¡°<em>[Kenzan (Sword Mountain)]</em>!¡±

    After shing someone, Kasumi plunged her sword into the ground.

    Right after that, a red liquid simr to Blood de spread on the ground in a circle, and a multitude of purple swords rose, piercing the surrounding yers.

    The demon sword skill came at a cost. In this case, her status was temporarily reduced.

    ¡°Who¡¯d expect this to happen<em>¡­</em>!<em>¡±</em>

    ¡°The snake ising! Let¡¯s regroup!¡±

    While being tossed about by special mobility that wasn¡¯t only fast, the summons burst into mes.

    ¡°[<em>Burst me</em>] [<em>Provoke</em>]! These guys can¡¯t kill me! So don¡¯t mind me and just focus on the yers!¡±

    ¡°Understood¡ª!¡±

    ¡°What a relief¡ª!¡±

    With the help of Chrome, the vanguard¡ªwho no longer had their hands full¡ªtried to regroup while defending the magician.

    ¡°[<em>Revitalize</em>]! [<em>Damage Reflection</em>]!¡±

    ¡°[<em>Multi Heal</em>]!¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a great help¡ª!¡±

    While properly blocking with a shield, Chrome would maintain his HP with multiple healing skills. Seeing that Chrome was taking charge of the enemy soldiers, a healing spell began to rain on him.

    Indeed, this time, it wasn¡¯t a battle that only involved the Maple Tree. Therefore, their weakness in this battlefield could be covered by one of their many allies.

    ¡°I hope the others are doing well¡­ Not like I have time to mind other things!¡±

    Believing that the rest of the Maple Tree were doing well, Chrome focused on the enemy in front of him.

    ***

    On the other side, Izu and Kanade had arrived at the battlefield.

    ¡°Thank you, Sou. Without you, we wouldn¡¯t have arrived this early.¡±

    Sou¡ªwho¡¯d assumed Haku¡¯s form¡ªremoved the [Mimic] skill and returned to his original form, which was a slime. Despite that, he¡¯d provided Iz and Kanade the mobility theycked.

    Unlike Kasumi and Chrome, it¡¯d be difficult for the two to rampage on the front lines.

    ¡°Let¡¯s raise a defensive wall here first.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we have to counter Marx¡¯s trap.¡±

    Considering that the enemy had a shield, along with an inexhaustible supply of soldiers, the magical damage output would definitely be different. Before anything else, they had to do something about that first.

    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll provide some barricades.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s install a lot of them.¡±

    Kanade and Iz split up and reorganized the battlefield to their advantage. After seeing that, some people came to help them, saying that it was a priority.

    ¡°I¡¯m confident in its durability. Install it where you see fit.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll help!¡±

    After all, if the ce to take shelter was readily avable, they could save their defensive skills.

    ¡°Fay¡ª[<em>Item Enhancement</em>]!¡±

    Iz took out some potions and made Fay enhance them. Of course, it resulted in a powerful buff.

    ¡°[<em>Wide Area Spray</em>]!¡±

    After expanding the area of effect, Iz applied multiple buffs to the entire area. They ranged from stat boosts to damage cuts and continuous healing, and were almost on par with buffs from magic and skills.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help with the defense! [<em>Large Magic Barrier</em>]! [<em>Damage Reduction</em>]!¡±

    Kanade also participated in the defense, giving multiple buffs¡ªsuch as barrier, damage reduction, and continuous regen¡ªimproving everyone¡¯s overall physical condition.

    Once the buff was done, the next step was the debuff, and Iz reloaded the avable canon.

    However, instead of exploding, the cannonball would spread ck fog on impact and apply a debuff that not only increased the damage taken, but also reduced the amount of healing.

    ¡°Kanade, can you stop their movements?¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me¡ª[<em>Gravity Control</em>]!¡±

    Due to the same skill as Hinata, Kanade gently soared and flew up to the front line.

    ¡°[<em>Earth Bind</em>]! [<em>Slow Field</em>]!¡±

    ¡°¡ª<em>Whoaa!? W-what is happening¡ª!?¡±</em>

    ¡°¡ªAah, my legs!¡±

    Voices filled with astonishment and confusion rose from here and there.

    Since Kanade and Iz had quietly joined the rear, the enemy must haven¡¯t been aware that they were there.

    The surprise attack distorted the space, while the earth caught their ankles, stopping the enemy on their tracks.

    A skill that should¡¯ve been used long ago. The fact that it was only used now caused immense confusion in the enemy camp. After all, Kanade had only arrived a while ago.

    Seeing Kanade¡¯s skill effect in the sky, Iz immediately activated the row of cannons.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go¡ª!¡±

    With a bang, several cannonballs hit the enemy camp, and screams erupted. While they¡¯d buffed themselves, the enemy was being debuffed severely. By the time they realized it, there was a big difference in ability. Despite the enemy having infinite resources, Kanade and the others were gaining advantage¡ªthat was what it meant to buff everyone.

    In only five minutes, they had shifted the tide.

    While the other four were contributing, Mai and Yui had also arrived at a certain battlefield.

    It was located in an area filled with destructible rocks that could be used as shields. Despite respawning at regr intervals, the ce would usually be empty if there was a fierce battle. However, it was a different story if the battle was one-sided. If their side were to lose their shield, it¡¯d be difficult to continue the battle.

    Thus, the two called out to the yers who were pushed in by the enemy¡¯s soldiers. As if having their shields destroyed by magic weren¡¯t enough, they also had to suffer through the flurry of magic, and continued to fight bitterly.

    ¡°¡ªEveryone!¡±

    ¡°Is there anything we can do!?¡±

    ¡°¡­Hey!¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯tst like this!¡±

    Multiple guild master-like figures who saw the two quickly unified their intentions, stunning the enemy with their skills so that all the survivors could rush to the two while raising many barriers.

    ¡°May and Yui, can you fight!?¡±

    ¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±

    ¡°At this rate, there¡¯ll be a one-sided massacre. I¡¯ll do my best to support you. Do your best!¡±

    ¡°¡°Understood!¡±¡±

    The two rode Tsukimi and Yukimi, before readying four giant hammers in the air, and one in each hand. Support with iron balls like what they did so far was unlikely to work considering the terrain. Instead, what they needed to ovee this situation was a more direct, massive, and deadly destructive force.

    ¡°¡°[<em>Decisive Battle: Destroy Mode</em>]¡±¡±

    A red aura enveloped the pair of weapons. Then, a batteredrge shield user charged in front of them.

    The attack power of the duo¡ªwho could instant K.O a raid boss¡ªwas like a beacon of hope for everyone. Yes, by that point, everyone had deemed them as worthy, and would readily sacrifice their lives for them.

    ¡°Destroy! Crush it! Don¡¯t let ite near you!¡±

    ¡°[<em>Crimson Wave</em>]!¡±

    ¡°[<em>Tidal Wave</em>]!¡±

    The same went for the enemies. If the sledgehammer were to reach them, all of their efforts would be in vain.

    If it was just the iron balls, then it was alright. However, upon seeing the ¡°weapon¡± swung, along with its actual size, the enemy was seized with dread and soon doubted their chance at victory.

    ¡°¡°[<em>Cover</em>]!¡±¡±

    The iing water and me shots were intercepted¡ªbut therge shield users who were unable to maintain the defense crumbled down before vanishing in order.

    ¡°<em>Charge! Don¡¯t falter!¡±</em>

    ¡°We can¡¯t keep it up for long!¡±

    The two decided to make a bet¡ªeither they managed to overrun the enemies, or they¡¯ll suffer too many casualties on their side.

    ¡°[<em>Invible Barrier</em>]!¡±

    The magic that descended from above was deflected by a barrier as Mai and Yui confronted the army of undead.

    ¡°¡°<em>Hyaaa¡ª!</em>¡±¡±

    The moment the sledgehammer held by Helping Hand was swung. As it left a red trail, all beings in its trajectory were decimated as if to shake off even the umted dust. Even after reducing the soldiers in front of them into light, it still didn¡¯t stop.

    ¡°Are you a monster¡­!?¡±

    ¡°We have to stop it! [<em>Rain of Arrows</em>]!¡±

    ¡°[<em>Continuous Magic</em>]!¡±

    Once again, everyone was reminded of the reason why they weren¡¯t supposed toe into contact, <em>let alone </em>confront the duo. During the operation stage, they¡¯d been sternly warned of the two.

    ¡°[<em>Multi Cover</em>]!¡±

    ¡°¡°[<em>Protection</em>]¡±¡±

    At the same time, it was also the reason why Mai and Yui came in pair. If they were together, someone¡¯d definitely protect them even if Chrome wasn¡¯t there. After all, everyone was aware that keeping them safe would be the equivalent of securing their victory.

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    ¡°Yui, let¡¯s go!¡±

    After breaking through the line of soldiers, the two finally reached the vanguard. In order to score a clean hit, the two descended from Tsukimi and Yukimi¡¯s backs.

    ¡°¡°[<em>Quick Change</em>]!¡±¡±

    When they were in range, they recalled Tsukimi and Yukimi to the ring, adding two more hammers. With that, their weapons became eight.

    ¡°¡°[<em>Double Impact</em>]¡±¡±

    ¡°¡°[<em>Light of the Spirit</em>]¡±¡±

    ¡°¡°[<em>Protective Beam</em>]¡±¡±

    It didn¡¯t matter if the enemy was using a skill or holding a shield. Once the shield was shattered, they¡¯d respond with damage nullification skills, and those who couldn¡¯t will respond with survival skills such as [<em>Indomitable</em> <em>Guardian</em>].

    Those who didn¡¯t would vanish in the blink of an eye, and the sledgehammer would still resume its course, going for the yers who activated their skills.

    ¡°¡ª<em>Uogh, gooh!?</em>¡±

    <em>¡°¡ªWha!?¡±</em>

    What awaited them after nullifying the damage was the same thing that happened when Maple was shot into the sky.

    In other words, they ended up being shot towards the sky. Of course,nding wasn¡¯t guaranteed.

    ¡°<em>H-huh¡­!?¡±</em>

    Upon witnessing that power, the enemy doubted their eyes at the unbelievable phenomenon, fear seizing their hearts. Mai and Yui swung their sledgehammers around¡ªafter all, <em>normal attacks </em>had no cooldown, shouldn¡¯t that be obvious?

    What didn¡¯t make sense was the fact that they had to literally be <em>invincible </em>to survive a normal attack.

    ¡°¡ª<em>Shoot them!</em> Cut them down! We only need to score a single hit!¡±

    ¡°¡ª<em>Defend! </em>The enemy is intensifying their attack!¡±

    Magic flew, only to be blocked by the protective wall and tanks. Meanwhile, the two girls, who didn¡¯tck any defensive resources, spun their sledgehammers as if they were dancing.

    Every time they swung it, people would explode. Every time they tried to intercept; they¡¯d be blown away into the distance. Akin to a merciless storm, it demolished everything on its path.

    ¡ª<em>Charge! Charge!</em>

    With those words, Mai and Yui dedicated their efforts to annihtion.

    At the end of the countless ying of both enemies and allies, only a few yers and a steady stream of soldiers remained.

    Some may have escaped along the way, but no yers remained¡ªat least not those who were <em>moving.</em>

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, this is because you protected us¡ª!¡±

    ¡°If only we could defeat them sooner¡­¡±

    ¡°No, I think this is quite a swift conclusion¡­¡±

    ¡°Haha, we almost got wiped out, though¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s converge somewhere else. I don¡¯t think there¡¯ll be an end to these soldiers. Are you still with us?¡±

    ¡°¡°Of course!¡±¡±

    Since it¡¯d be anticlimactic if they fell due to the summons aftering this far, Mai and Yui moved to another ce while being protected by the surviving yers. In the meantime, the summons kept spawning.

 Chapter 439

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 439</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Pursuit Battle 3</strong>

    Despite having contributed in various ces, the efforts of the [Maple Tree] still wasn¡¯t enough. The scale of the preliminary preparations that Lily and Marx prepared was huge. If they were to take a look at the entire map, they could see that many ces were on the verge of defeat.

    In the main battlefield, a fierce battle was ensuing.

    Most of Marx¡¯s pirs had already been destroyed, and the overflowing wave of monsters trampled the soldiers and yers alike with their enormous bodies. Just then, a wave of mes and bullets eliminated the monsters. In the next moment, the angry masses of soldiers surged toward Payne and others like waves.

    ¡°[Poltergeist]!¡±

    As her [Machine God] fired variousser beams in mid-air, Maple seized them and swung them around as if they were swords in frenzy.

    It didn¡¯t only spell the end for those soldiers, but also the start of the monster avnche.

    ¡°It seems that everyone is doing well!¡±

    ¡°¡­Alright, let¡¯s go!¡±

    Upon hearing the battle report of the Maple Tree from Sally, Payne decided to advance further into the enemy camp.

    If they were to tread on, it¡¯d be impossible to avoid any casualties. At the same time, it¡¯d take more effort and time to withdraw. It¡¯d be nice if they could win, but considering that others were under heavy attack, there was a reason to ept the risk.

    The news that the [Maple Tree] defense was going well was exactly what they¡¯d been waiting for.

    ¡°[Blue me]!¡±

    ¡°[Sweeping Fire]¡±

    Behind the infinite surge of soldiers, Lily summoned an army of armed robots with scattering bullets, while Mii¡¯s me scorched the area.

    As the mes and barrages subsided, Maple and the others went to the offensive.

    ¡°Frederica!¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes! Look, Sally! This is my special skill¡ª<em>[Mana Ocean]</em>!¡±

    A glittering effect danced around Frederica. But when Sally thought that was the extent of it, Frederica pointed her wand forward and activated her spell¡ª

    ¡ªSoon, the reason why she was saving it became apparent.

    ¡°[Super Multi-Fire Bullet]! Knots [Singing Round]!¡±

    A multitude of red magic circles was deployed behind her. Following that, countless fire bullets rained down on the enemy camp, making Maple¡¯s [Machine God] seem like a ripoff of [Multi-Fire Bullet].

    ¡°[Super Multi-Water Bullet] [Super Multi-Wind de]¡±

    ¡°Eh, wait, what¡¯s wrong with your MP¡­?¡±

    When paired with Knots¡¯ skill, it was as if Frederica was unleashing a single magic, yet the damage output was simply <em>ridiculous.</em>

    <em>¡­</em>Even so, Frederica didn¡¯t seem to be running out of MP. Soon, Sally understood that it was due to her aforementioned skill, [Mana Ocean].

    ¡°So, you have to use it sparingly?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Hence why I decided to unleash it here.¡±

    After all, if the skill was readily avable, then Frederica would¡¯ve used it from the start. Apparently, it was a trump card that had to be used with utmost consideration.

    ¡°Everyone! Gather!¡±

    Every time she casted a skill, Frederica immediately made quick work of the enemy¡¯s soldiers. Matching her powerful attack, Maple summoned the remaining monsters and narrowed her focus to [Night Castle].

    ¡°[Awakening]!¡±

    ¡°[Path of Water]!¡±

    Avoiding the enemy-riddled ground, Payne rode on Ray, while Sally swum in the path made of water.

    They were within the enemy¡¯s attack range. Nevertheless, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem to a yer with high [AGI].

    ¡°Ray¡ª[Meteor], [Full Magic Release], [Light Torrent]!¡±

    With the shining Ray, Payne went straight for the [Night Castle]. Aware that the castle also served as a trap, he intended to destroy the castle with his ultimate blow.

    ¡°[Holy Dragon¡¯s de of Light]!¡±

    ¡°[Puppet Wall]!¡±

    The endless wave of soldiers became light, and were rebuilt to stand as a wall in front of the castle.

    However, with the help of Ray, Payne¡¯s blow went through, destroying the Night Castle while also throwing Misery and Marx outside.

    ¡°¡­<em>As if I¡¯ll let you¡ª! </em>Ignis! Wait¡ª!?¡±

    To intercept, Mii chased after Payne, but Sally emerged from the water, wielding a simrly luminous sword.

    ¡°¡ªOne more try, here Ie!¡±

    ¡°What did you say¡ª!?¡±

    Both Mii and Lily widened their eyes in shock. At the same time, Sally¡¯s sword grew even brighter¡ª

    ¡°[Holy Dragon¡¯s de of Light]!¡±

    ¡°[Angel¡¯s Protection]!¡±

    A torrent of brilliance. Seeing exactly the same skill as Payne, Misery used a skill that¡¯d nullify the damage within range. As powerful as it was, the skill also had strict restrictions, making it an ace up her sleeve.

    ¡­Regardless, the light didn¡¯t disappear, but kept going.

    ¡°No way!¡±

    ¡°W-why¡­?¡±

    ¡°Ignis!¡±

    Ignis violently grabbed the bewildered Marx and Misery with its legs, before retreating into the sky while trying to shield them using its body. Sally¡¯s blow hit Ignis, but it soared safely into the sky.

    ¡°It did no damage to Ignis¡­ <em>Is it an illusion!?¡±</em>

    Like Mii, Lily and Wilbert saw no damage and reached a certain conclusion.

    After all, looking back at Sally¡¯s skills, there were several such skills.

    ¡°Marx, Misery, time to counterattack!¡±

    In order to descend to the ground safely, Mii first checked if Payne was going after her.

    ¡°I leave it to you, Maple.¡±

    Coincidentally, the moment Sally uttered those words, Mii noticed <em>its </em>existence.

    At the front.

    Above the giant turtle floating in the sky, Maple had leaned forward and extended her hand¡ª

    ¡ªa gigantic ck cylinder emitting blue sparks floated around the [Machine God]ser weapon as if to reinforce it.

    Not only that, it was facing this way.

    It didn¡¯t take long for Mii to realize that it was a gun.

    ¡°[Ancient Weapon]! [Commence Attack]!¡±

    Along with Maple¡¯s deration, the blue and red spark shone brilliantly, before being unleashed all at once.

    From the previous match, Mii already knew that not just Ignis, but everyone would be swallowed by it.

    ¡°<em>¡ªKuh!</em>¡±

    ¡°They distracted us¡­¡±

    After calmly assessing the situation, Misery made a decision before the worst could happen.

    ¡°Bell, [Awakening]! [Last Prayer]!¡±

    She summoned a tamed monster. Before the event, Bell, who only had passive skills, learned a certain skill for the first time. A skill where Misery and Bell would sacrifice themselves to grant wide area invincibility and recovery.

    It was literally thest prayer.

    Misery wished that she could¡¯ve used it more effectively, but as it was, she had no other choice.

    ¡°Misery!¡±

    ¡°W-wait, but¡­¡±

    She¡¯d already casted the skill. There was no other choice. Although theser swallowed the three, it did no damage. Mii used that chance to escape, while Misery began to vanish.

    ¡°Mii, Marx, please do your best.¡±

    With the defeat of Misery, the enemy had lost a powerful healer, but Maple also lost all her summons. Overall, the enemy still had the advantage due to Lily¡¯s summoned soldiers.

    ¡°The next¡ª¡±

    Mii, who tried to consult with Lily, saw Sally riding on Ray¡¯s back while pointing a huge cannon that looked simr to [Machine God]. Moreover, it was also emitting blue sparks. Upon seeing that, Mii widened her eyes¡ªafter all, it looked exactly the same as Maple¡¯s canon.

    ¡°Frederica!¡±

    ¡°[Multi-Total Teleport]¡±

    A bizarre number of buffs began to converge on Sally¡¯s body as she called out¡ªboosting the attack¡¯s power and range by dozens of times.

    ¡°If you think this is an illusion, why don¡¯t you give it a try!?¡±

    ¡°Lily!¡±

    Wilbert called out to Lily, perhaps to convey a hidden message.

    ¡°If I can do that, then I won¡¯t be having a hard time! My bad, Mii¡ª[Formation Change]!¡±

    ¡°[Ancient Weapon]! [Commence Attack]!¡±

    Unlike Maple¡¯s, which was fired mid-air, the blue light filled the ground before diffusing. It was an illusion. After ¡°blowing up¡± in the empty enemy camp, it eventually disappeared.

    ¡°Let¡¯s switch to defense! We can¡¯t give them any opportunity!¡±

    With that as a signal, Paynemanded everyone to withdraw. After all, by pursuing the enemy, they¡¯d only be putting their own base in unnecessary danger.

    For the time being, the head-on sh that caused equally massive deaths on both sides and the entire battlefield hade to an impasse. The field, where only the remnants of the battle remained, became the silent witness to the intensity of the battle.

    ***

    [Formation Change]¡ªit had a simr effect to Maple¡¯s Ark, in which it¡¯d move the position of the buffed yers within the range. Thus, Lily had shifted many yers to the back.

    ¡°Lily, thanks for your help.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Ah, it¡¯s nothing, I¡¯m sorry for making the call to withdraw on my own.¡±

    ¡°We didn¡¯t know whether or not it was an illusion. Therefore, it¡¯d be safer to just avoid it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯d be nice if Will and I could find a way to ascertain reality before the next full-fledged fight. Sure, it¡¯d mean having to rely on Will¡¯s sight, but it¡¯s much better than making a gamble.¡±

    By ascertaining it themselves, it¡¯d also mean risking death. Therefore, Wilbert was certainly the right person to analyze the illusion and avoid the worst-case scenario.

    ¡°Soon, there¡¯ll be no more soldiers. The same goes for Marx¡¯s traps.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Well, I guess I could re-install some traps where it¡¯s necessary¡­¡±

    Compared to the start of the battle, the number of yers had dwindled. From now on, not onlyrge-scale battles, there¡¯d also be a surge in small-scale battles that involved ambushes and surprise attacks.

    ¡°Night is about to fall. Let¡¯s try to reduce their number.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that. We¡¯ll need Will¡¯s Night Vision.¡±

    ¡°Since Mii stands out too much, she should defend¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­You have a point.¡±

    At night, they¡¯d only draw attention to themselves by using me skill. Even if that wasn¡¯t the case, Mii¡¯s fighting style was also conspicuous. The same could be said about her tamed monster¡ªIgnis, making the two unsuitable for covert operation.

    ¡°Although, it seems like the other side isn¡¯t pursuing us. Did the king¡¯s attack also stop?¡±

    Looking at the magic circle that was deployed in the sky and the tremendous amount of magic cascading from it at a distance, Lily exhaled¡ª

    ¡ªapparently, they made the right call by not pursuing them.

    ¡°Are you tired?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve endured too much damage.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. A single mistake could prove to be fatal.¡±

    She could¡¯ve done a bit better. She had many regrets regarding the previous battle. Still, considering that a vast array of skills was avable in this skill, it was only natural for everyone to have an ace up their sleeve. To be able to foresaw each and every single one of them would be impossible.

    ¡°We have to make sure to not fall for the same trick twice. Oh, did those twoe back?¡±

    In the magical sky, Velvet descended with a sh of thunder. However, she didn¡¯t plummet into the ground, since Hinata was there to slow her fall and ensure hernding.

    ¡°How was it¡ª!?¡±

    ¡°Misery has been defeated. While we¡¯ve defeated a lot of yers, the [Congregation of Holy Sword] and [Maple Tree] remain undefeated.¡±

    ¡°Ugh, is that so?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Velvet. Even though you wanted to participate in the battle¡­¡±

    ¡°No, no, it can¡¯t be helped! As a guild member, one can¡¯t be too selfish!?¡±

    ¡°Well, after that, a lot happened. At that time, I regretted not letting you stay.¡±

    ¡°Eh!? Did something interesting happen while I was gone!?¡±

    ¡°Interesting, huh¡­? I guess that¡¯s one way to see it.¡±

    Hinata smiled wryly at Marx, who overlooked the battle with a bitter look on his face.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be <em>interesting¡­ </em>For Velvet, anyway.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    While talking, the six returned to the royal castle.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. How was the strategy?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s <em>perfect</em>! And while I¡¯m at it, I defeat the enemies along the way!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great. Then, our struggle was worthwhile¡­¡±

    The situation might¡¯ve changed if Velvet and Hinata were present at the battlefield. Nevertheless, the two left because carrying out the strategy was their main priority.

    ¡­Now that the seeds had been sown, all they needed to do was wait for the right timing.

    ¡°Let¡¯s take a break for a while.¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s prepare for the ambush.¡±

    Still, staying on the battlefield for too long was exhausting. Adequate rest was also necessary to maintain performance.

    Thus, the six decided to rx in the castle. Away from the battlefield, the six began to rx¡­

 Chapter 440

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 440</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and When the Night Comes</strong>

    Spectator area. After arge-scale battle was concluded, there were those who were satisfied and returned, and those who felt the need to summarize all the new information. Each of them did their own thing¡ªbut as a whole, there was a calm and rxed air as if they¡¯d passed the climax.

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that Misery didn¡¯t survive¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. But I wish that I could¡¯ve optimized Bell¡¯s skill.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. The opponent was tough.¡±

    ¡°You did a pretty good job. I was lucky that I was able to put a dent on Misery¡¯s total invincibility.¡±

    ¡°Tch, I wanted to stay, too!¡±

    ¡°Still, didn¡¯t Sally do something weird? Not only did she use Maple¡¯s skill, she also used Payne¡¯s and Kasumi¡¯s.¡±

    Shin stared at Drag and Dred, wondering if they knew something because they were from the same faction.

    ¡°Who knows? I haven¡¯t heard anything from Frederica, either. I don¡¯t know the details.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m serious, by the way.¡±

    Apparently, he wasn¡¯t lying. Upon realizing that, Shin deemed it useless to probe. Misery also seemed to be curious because it was her cause of death.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like they changed their equipment¡­ Did they use anything? Or is it some kind of skill?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a Holy Sword skill, right? If she could even use one of Payne¡¯s skills, then she¡¯d be able to use everyone¡¯s skill. Is that really possible?¡±

    ¡°Now that I think about it, it¡¯s somewhat far-fetched¡­ After all, it¡¯s rted to their sses.¡±

    After all, the Holy Sword skill wasn¡¯t ordinary in any means. In fact, the two had even begun to think that it might be a unique one. Besides, the [Machine God], which only Maple could use, and the [Origins of the Swords: Hollow] which only Kasumi could use¡ªwere too rare. Therefore, it was only natural for them to think that there was some kind of trick.

    ¡°¡­Still, if she truly can use all of them, then there¡¯s no defeating her.¡±

    In terms of yer skills, Sally was among the top yers. Even if she didn¡¯t actually possess those skills, she was still a demon on her own. Hence why people felt threatened every time she acquired a powerful move.

    ¡°What will you do after this, Shin?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go watch them, obviously! What about Drag and Dred?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea! Even if we left, there¡¯s not much EXP to get. It¡¯ll be better if we watch!¡±

    Even if they left the time-elerated space, the event would end soon and everyone woulde out. As long as they were still up to it, it¡¯d be better to stay and watch for the sake of information gathering.

    ¡°After all, there are things that can only be understood by watching from outside.¡±

    Drag and Dred decided to remain there.

    ¡°The next battle will be at night.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure the speed-type assassin is still alive. Ugh, if only Dred survived¡­¡±

    ¡°Maybe, [Thunderstorm] defeated us in anticipation of that?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case. They probably didn¡¯t n it that far. Although, Hinata might differ.¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s that.¡±

    Shin smiled wryly and turned his gaze at the strategy meeting of the Kingdom of the me Emperor.

    ¡°As long as Payne wins, I have noints.¡±

    ¡°I want Mii to give her best, too.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go get something to eat and drink. You guys stay and watch!¡±

    ¡°Oh, nice, just when I¡¯m starting to crave for something¡­¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s Frederica, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll have something.¡±

    ¡°Shall we move to a seat with a table?¡±

    ¡°Great idea!¡±

    The four of them moved to a seat with a table. From where they sat, the monitor could still be seen. Just like other yers, they were trying to gather as much information as they could and support their allies.

    Hopefully, the next one to be eliminated wasn¡¯t the main force in their faction. With that in mind, the four of them looked at the monitor while chatting.

    ***

    Upon their return to the royal castle, Maple and the others confirmed the survivors once again.

    Ally that died and had been transferred to the spectator field could be recognized at a nce due to the change in disy.

    ¡°Alright, everyone seems to be alive.¡±

    ¡°What a relief! Since we¡¯re separated like this, anything can happen!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll return once they¡¯re done.¡±

    After a while, six people returned from different directions.

    Not much time had passed, but it was the first time in a while that they¡¯d gathered together. Furthermore, they¡¯d just survived a harsh battle.

    ¡°I¡¯m d. Mai, Yui, you seem to be alright!¡±

    ¡°Everyone did their best to protect us¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, you did great in thest battle. I¡¯m sure everyone thinks the same, hence they protected you!¡±

    ¡°Did Iz and I manage to whittle the enemy¡¯s damage?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Had you not done it discreetly, it¡¯d be a lot more difficult to remove our debuffs.¡±

    While there weren¡¯t many ways to remove enemy buffs, there were a number of ways to remove allies¡¯ debuffs; mostly using light magic.

    Rather than a strategy to overthrow the enemy, the joint effort between Kanade and Iz were centered around hindering their advance.

    ¡°I saw Kasumi jumping around as she pleased¡ªthough, there weren¡¯t that many casualties. I also felt our difference in numbers a bit, as if we¡¯re being pushed back.¡±

    ¡°Once the duration of [Mind¡¯s Eye] is over, I can¡¯t just be reckless. I wish I could¡¯ve attacked a little more boldly¡­¡±

    ¡°No, no, you¡¯re already bold enough¡­¡± Chrome responded, and some people nodded along with him.

    Apparently, the four of them were also able to avoid catastrophic damage on the battlefield. Furthermore, it was also great that the yer who was supposed to die survived.

    ¡°Mai, Yui, where did the two of you go in the previous battle?¡±

    ¡°Judging from what they said, it appears that they went to the frontline.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    ¡°We are¡­¡±

    Mai and Yui told Maple about what happened on their end. To put it simply, the enemy unit was annihted.¡±

    ¡°I-I see, that¡¯s awesome¡­¡±

    ¡°For someone who doesn¡¯t know how to y an iron ball, that¡¯s quite an achievement¡­¡±

    ¡°No, in the first ce, I don¡¯t think an iron ball can be used as a weapon¡­¡±

    ¡°Since we use a sledgehammer all the time, retrieving the iron ball isn¡¯t a problem.¡±

    In their case, offering logistical support should be sufficient. Moreover, both were melee users. Yet somehow, the two managed to deal damage to the enemy with iron balls.

    ¡°Awesome! Good job!¡±

    ¡°I agree. Besides, you did it without any hesitation, too.¡±

    ¡°A-actually, it¡¯s all thanks to those who fought alongside us¡­¡±

    ¡°It motivated me a lot!¡±

    Apparently, the two had met their ideal yers. Both of them seemed to be relieved that they managed to do well. At the same time, they seemed somewhat tired.

    ¡°Let¡¯s rest for now. It might be safer for us to stay near the castle just in case.¡±

    ¡°Oh, sure. After all, the enemy¡¯s aim is the throne. If we reside at the castle, no matter what happen, we¡¯ll be able to join the defense at any time.¡±

    Since no one objected to the suggestion, [Maple Tree] decided to head to the royal castle.

    ¡°We should replenish our inventory. The town is still avable for use. If you need any of the items I made, do let me know.¡±

    ¡°Oh, during the rescue, I used the [Doping Seed] and some potions¡­¡±

    ¡°We have to make sure so that we don¡¯t run out of itter.¡±

    ¡°What about the weapon¡¯s durability? I don¡¯t really care. The others also didn¡¯t seem to mind that one.¡±

    ¡°In that case¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯d like you to repair it just in case!¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    Since Mai and Yui¡¯s weapons were made by Iz, their durability would decrease with frequent usage. The performance of all 16 of their sledgehammers¡ªfully customized by Iz¡ªwere iparable to those sold in stores. Of course, it¡¯d require a lot of time and effort to craft the same thing again. Therefore, they had to take care to not break it.

    While making ns for the future, [Maple Tree] decided to take a temporary truce. During break, they chatted in a friendly atmosphere, shared their feedback on the battle so far, devised a strategy, and shared their inner turmoils.

    Without knowing when they¡¯d return to the battlefield, they took care to not miss anything.

    ¡°I¡¯m worried about you, Maple. <em>Hm¡ª </em>are you resting properly?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Besides, there are ces in the castle that allow you to cook. I can rx there!¡±

    ¡°Are you going to cook something?¡±

    ¡°Yes, for example, this giant b of meat in my inventory!¡±

    ¡°¡­Huh, you¡¯re going to use that?¡±

    Listening to what she was about to cook, Sally widened her eyes, thinking it was rather wild. However, upon recalling the king of that country, it didn¡¯t feel so crazy anymore¡­

    ¡°There are other ingredients as well!¡±

    ¡°Hopefully, you¡¯ll be able toe up with something that beats Iz¡¯s cooking.¡±

    ¡°Eh? I wonder if that¡¯s even possible¡­¡±

    Maple began to look back and wonder.

    ¡ªThus, the eight of them went towards the royal castle.

    ***

    Seeing them off from behind, Frederica spoke to Payne, who¡¯d finished issuing the necessary instructions to the [Congregation of Holy Swords].

    ¡°Since Drag and Dred are gone, we¡¯re going to have to revise some of our strategies.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Still, I can¡¯t help but think about the skill that defeated them¡­¡±

    The two were defeated because they were forcibly isted by Hinata¡¯s skill.

    ¡°It¡¯s safe to assume that Hinata¡¯s the one who decides who to take inside.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure of it. Quite frankly, if I¡¯d been chosen, I¡¯d have a hard time, too.¡±

    To not only be able to freely choose their opponent, but also transfer them on the spot¡ªobviously, that was quite a threat.

    For example, if someone from [Maple Tree] like Iz, Mai, or Yui were kidnapped, they¡¯d be at a huge disadvantage.

    At the same time, they still hadn¡¯t figured out how to counter that skill.

    ¡°Then, we¡¯ll have no choice but to stay away from the enemy.¡±

    ¡°Since both Velvet and Hinata have shy skills, I have no choice but to track them down and deal with them.¡±

    Perhaps, there were ways to counter that skill. But as it was, they had no way of finding out.

    ¡°What should we do tonight? Dred¡ªthe highlight of our strategy¡ªis gone.¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll postpone making a decision until I¡¯ve consulted with [Maple Tree].¡±

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s about time for Sally to go.¡±

    For some yers, the darkness served as a camouge for an easier fight. While the atmosphere of the battle itself would change, but there¡¯s still be a certain number of yers deployed at night. Thus, Sally had to go there so the enemy wouldn¡¯t have the upper hand.

    ¡°Oh, that reminds me¡­ I got a reply from Dred a while back. What do you think, Payne?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look. ¡­That¡¯s right. Should we also show it to Sally?¡±

    ¡°Sally should be able to make use of this! Yes, that¡¯d be a great idea!¡±

    ¡°Then, I entrust this to you.¡±

    Payne checked the content of the message before handing it to Sally with a nod. It seemed that what was written there was useful for Payne, as well.

    ¡°Apparently, everyone has an ace up their sleeves¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems so. We¡¯ve gathered plenty of information. However, when ites to ultimate skill, we can only determine that through battle.¡±

    If anything, that was only natural. After all, everyone only used their trump cards when the going got rough. Under normal circumstances, Frederica would¡¯ve never used [Mana Ocean], either.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been improving my sharpness. Hopefully, we¡¯ll be able to win this.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, don¡¯t be down just because the two were defeated, okay? Everyone has high hopes for Payne.¡±

    There were no doubts that many other guilds rely on him, and not just [Congregation of Holy Swords]. He¡¯d been a formidable man since the first event, so it was natural to rely on him when problems arose.

    ¡°I know. I¡¯ll fulfill your expectations and lead everyone to victory.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah. Keep it up. Then, I¡¯ll go to [Maple Tree].¡±

    ¡°Send me a message if you need anything.¡±

    ¡°Will do.¡±

    After exchanging those words, Frederica headed for the royal castle.

    ¡°Now, what should we do?¡±

    With the defeat of Drag, the skills to intercept the enemy¡¯s approach and attack were greatly reduced. Furthermore, they also lost Dred, along with his useful ability to protect multiple people from attack. It could be said that the risk of fighting against many moving yers had increased.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to admit that rearguard is my weakness.¡±

    Knowing that, he had to either prepare something to rece it, or revise the strategy so they could fight without it. Payne took some time to n their next move.

    The first half of the game started with a search. From the intensifying battle, along with the previous interpersonal battle, each individual had proven their growth. The huge, head-on decisive battle that came then was settled in the form of sharing the pain between the two.

    Despite the increasing number of casualties, the battle wasn¡¯t over. There was no doubt that this battle¡ªwhich had be a melee¡ªwould prove to be a challenge for both sides. Therefore, they needed to get some rest to achieve perfect condition, both mentally and physically.

    Thus, the first night of the event dawned.

    Some yers moved under the cover of the night, while others advanced boldly. Each of them had nned in advance. Hence, that night was a crucial moment for all of them. Which side would be the first to execute it? While there were various strategies, everyone shared the same goal¡ªwhich was victory.

    Darkness engulfed the event field. Unlike during the daytime, different tension drifted across the map. Thus, the offense and defense in the darkness of the night began.

 Chapter 441

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 441</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Weather</strong>

    Arge-scale battle with casualties on both sides. The yers¡ªwho were both physically and mentally exhausted¡ªdidn¡¯t try to force another move. Time passed slowly for a while, and eventually the sun sank below the horizon.

    ¡°Maple, how are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine! I had a good rest!¡±

    After eating the dessert prepared by the chef inside the royal castle, Maple seemed to be ready.

    ¡°I¡¯ll depart at night. I¡¯ve also contacted the [Congregation of Holy Swords].¡±

    ¡°I see! I hope it goes well.¡±

    ¡°We should be difficult to predict. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anyone who can read Maple perfectly.¡±

    At night.

    The time period when ambushes and small-scale battles rose. The focus of that operation seemed to be Maple, instead of Sally. Even though Maple¡¯s shy skillset didn¡¯t seem to be suitable for surprise attacks, it seemed that they¡¯de with some kind of n.

    ¡°We should wait for a while.¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s wait and see.¡±

    With each battle, the number of yers continued to decrease. Furthermore, at night, it became easier to move undercover, making it difficult to notice that the enemy had entered their base.

    If they went to attack the enemy camp, it¡¯d take time to return to their base. If the royal castle was breached when they were on the way to the enemy base, it¡¯d be over.

    While defeating enemy yers, their main objective was on the defense. A bnce of offense and defense was required to survive the night.

    ¡°Even if you have to go outside, you should avoid traveling alone as much as possible.¡±

    ¡°After all, it¡¯s difficult to defend yourself when you¡¯re alone.¡±

    Mai and Yui in particr, were vulnerable to surprise attacks. At the same time, when going out as reinforcements, it was also necessary to exercise caution.

    ¡°Maple! Sally! Please do your best!¡±

    ¡°Still, be careful¡­!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me! Sally is there too, so it should be okay!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be careful! Especially until I can use [Indomitable Guardian]!¡±

    [Maple Tree] was taking a break before deployment. Suddenly, the door to the room where they all resided burst open, and Frederica emerged.

    ¡°Good work. How is it? Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m all set!¡±

    ¡°Then, it¡¯s about time. The sun is going down.¡±

    Maple and Sally said goodbye to the guild members and left the room tounch a surprise attack under cover of darkness.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do our best!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Since Maple is leading, we have to hold our grounds.¡±

    Maple left the royal castle and summoned Syrup. Together, they wrapped Syrup in a huge ck cloth so that neither its limbs nor head were exposed. Afterwards, they hopped onto its back.

    ¡°Let¡¯s fly!¡±

    Along with Maple¡¯s shout, Syrup flew up in the air.

    ¡°What a relief. If I had to fly like Mai and Yui did, I wouldn¡¯t know what to do.¡±

    ¡°No need to rush this time.¡±

    Slowly rising in altitude, Syrup pierced through the clouds and gradually reached the maximum altitude. The sky was dyed in the darkness of the night.

    ¡°Wow, it looks wonderful. Thankfully, I don¡¯t fear the heights¡­¡±

    ¡°Be careful not to fall!¡±

    After all, Maple was the only one who could survive a fall from that height. The three continued to advance through the night sky towards the enemy base. There were nondmarks in the endless sky, but they wouldn¡¯t get lost as long as they had a map.

    ¡°It should be difficult to detect us.¡±

    ¡°We even used this cloth.¡±

    The ck cloth that enveloped Syrup was for concealment purposes. When viewed from far below, it was difficult to spot it due to how well it blended with the night sky.

    Due to the cloudless sky, it became even more difficult to spot them. However, it was just a preliminary preparation.

    For the convenience ofunching a surprise attack, it was necessary for the enemy to not recognize them in the slightest.

    As they went on, Maple and the others sessfully sneaked into the enemy territory.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time, Frederica.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s your turn, Knots!¡±

    After making sure that Knocks was perched on her head, Frederica activated her skill.

    ¡°[Sonar]!¡±

    The skill that spread like a ripple could detect the area around Knots. Simr to Maple¡¯s [Dedicated Affection], it was an excellent skill that had no upper or lower distance limit, so the terrain wouldn¡¯t hinder the search.

    ¡°I saw it.¡±

    ¡°How convenient. How many are there.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, about ten?¡±

    ¡°Maple, let¡¯s try it. We¡¯re going to do an experiment.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Then, I guess it calls for this¡ªKnots, [Volume Up]!¡±

    Along with Frederica¡¯s instruction, Maple received a buff. The effect expanded the range of skills and magic. Frederica watched Maple to see what she was going to do.

    ¡°[Acid Rain]!¡±

    ¡°[Create Water]!¡±

    A purple magic circle manifested overhead, and droplets of venom trickled towards the ground.

    At the same time, Sally¡¯s blue magic circle conjured rain, giving the illusion as if it was just a simple rain¡ªand not <em>acid </em>rain.

    It¡¯d take some time to realize that the ground was covered in poison.

    ¡°¡­Is that it?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Well, it¡¯s an experiment. You¡¯re aware of how lethal your poison is, right? However, if you were to shoot [Poison Dragon] right off the bat, they¡¯ll just find out.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    When Maple said that it was simpler than she thought, Frederica shrugged.

    ¡°I¡¯m still thinking about whether or not I should make it rain on the town.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t that just alert Wilbert?¡±

    Frederica, who chatted carelessly, didn¡¯t know that the rain that soaked the ground could instantly kill anything it touched.

    [Curse of Poison]

    They hoped that the widespread rain of death would bury more yers.

    That night, the weather was rainy, with a chance of poison. There were already casualties in some ces.

    Thus, Maple and the others moved through the enemy base while making it rain.

 Chapter 442

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 442</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Weather (2)</strong>

    Pirs of ice stood side by side, water filling the ground. yers gathered under the cover of darkness. They watched the surroundings¡ªaiming for the enemy camp.

    ¡°There seems to be no one nearby¡­¡±

    ¡°As expected, they wouldn¡¯t have gone this far since it¡¯s a bit risky.¡±

    ¡°Unlike them, we¡¯re going to take that high-risk action.¡±

    They infiltrated the enemy territory for a surprise attack. Thus, they had to sneak around without being noticed.

    ¡°Let¡¯s double check. In case anything happens, retreat before you get surrounded. But if it¡¯s a desperate situation, we¡¯re going to go all-in to achieve a swift victory.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°It should be alright.¡±

    Sharpen their concentration, and boost their morale. Bit by bit, droplets of water fell from the sky, forming ripples in the puddle at their feet.

    ¡°Is it raining?¡±

    ¡°Oh, apparently so. I didn¡¯t notice.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s to be expected.¡±

    A country abundant with nature and water. Streams flowed here and there, while this area itself was rich with water terrain. Therefore, it wouldn¡¯t be that surprising if it were to rain.

    ¡ª<em>Zaa¡­ zaa¡­</em>

    Thus, they let their guard down.

    Their ¡°conviction¡±¡ª<em>to say the least¡ª</em>prevented them from recognizing what was actually happening.

    ¡ªThen, a shrill voice echoed quietly in the darkness.

    ¡°Huh¡­?¡±

    A suspicious yer turned around to assess the situation.

    At the end of the row, they were missing a person.

    ¡°Hey, where did¡ª¡±

    ¡°¡ªN-no way, dead¡­?¡±

    Everyone was wary. If it was a sniper, then they should¡¯ve noticed.

    Amidst themotion, another yer vanished, <em>right in front of them.</em>

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    ¡°R-retreat!¡±

    Something <em>mysterious¡ª</em>with equally unknown mechanics and origin¡ªwas being carried out.

    Upon knowing that, they decided to withdraw.

    ¡°Run! Run!¡±

    ¡°Impossible! Where did ite from!?¡±

    ¡ª<em>Zaa¡­ zaa¡­</em>

    As they ran without looking back, another yer vanished behind them.

    They couldn¡¯t even do anything about it because they didn¡¯t know the source of attack. They just ran away in the rain.

    They were excellent yers. Naturally, they had prepared the perfect countermeasures to fight against Maple. Items were also prepared to nullify paralysis and poison and to resist any skills that lowered resistance.

    However, that very [Poison Nullification] shrouded the fact that [Acid Rain] was dealing damage to them.

    The silent rain of death¡ªwhich not even the perpetrator herself was aware of. Even though Maple knew that she¡¯d used poison, she didn¡¯t know it¡¯d evolved into something so deadly.

    Maple and the others made it rain. The extremely annoying rain clouds sitting in the sky gradually dispersed after they finished spreading the poison.

    ¡°It¡¯s kind of in. I was expecting something shier from you, Maple.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s fine as long as we can defeat them easily. But I wonder if that did the trick?¡±

    ¡°We can only hope¡­¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t look into the future.¡±

    Although it did produce results, it took time to reuse Knots¡¯ [Sonar], so they couldn¡¯t urately grasp the situation.

    ¡°They¡¯ll probably find out, but Maple, would you like to take it up a notch? After that, we can withdraw right away.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I want to see immediate result.¡±

    ¡°Where should we go?¡±

    ¡°When I went out on the field, I made a note of a ce that I could use as a temporary base, so let¡¯s have Frederica search there.¡±

    Since it was more likely for yers to be there, they expected some damage.

    ¡ªAnd so, the three of them headed for an area where the ground was covered in a thinyer of ice.

    It was the perfect ce to take a rest, as it made a sound when you walk on it, alerting the enemy¡¯s approach.

    ¡°Knots¡¯ [Sonar]! Eh¡­ They¡¯re really here.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re lucky. They shouldn¡¯t have picked this ce.¡±

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s do it, Maple!¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s prepare ourselves!¡±

    Saying that, Maple equipped [Helping Hand] and rode on it with two shields as scaffolding.

    ¡°[Commence Attack]!¡±

    ¡°Frederica, can you amplify the size and range?¡±

    ¡°Of course! By that, I mean Knots!¡±

    ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll cling to Maple.¡±

    With the two of them attached to Maple with a string, they could now return. Frederica made a bitter expression.

    ¡°This is kind of weird¡­¡±

    Maple returned Syrup to the ring and lowered her hand.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Uh, alright, alright¡­ <em>Knots!¡±</em>

    Frederica secured the string to her body and clung tightly to Maple while giving instructions to Knots.

    ¡°[Poison Dragon]!¡±

    ¡°Knots [Carrier Pigeon]! [Volume Up]! [Singing Round]! [Amplification]!¡±

    After Knots had buffed Maple, the poisonous dragon that emerged grew in size; submerging the entire area in poison.

    It was too intense to be called rain¡ªand in an instant, it swallowed the yers and pushed them away, as if they were suddenly thrown into the body of a waterfall.

    The extensiveness of the poison swamp made it impossible for anyone to return alive. After all, Maple¡¯s poison was specially made.

    Since the preparations were swiftly performed, leading to a sessful attack, the effect of [Sonar] remained, and Frederica was able to confirm that the number of yers were decreasing.

    ¡°Oh, they didn¡¯t have poison resistance?¡±

    ¡°Alright, time to go!¡±

    ¡°Uwah, does that mean¡ª!?¡±

    ¡°[Loving Sacrifice]!¡±

    Maple protected the two from the explosive mes generated by the suicide bomb and swept them away towards the direction of their own camp at once.

    <em>The altitude is enough.</em>

    They¡¯d be able to earn a considerable distance even while crashing.

    ¡°What about thending!?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no such thing! We¡¯ll just fall on the ground!¡±

    ¡°In the first ce, why would you even consider this as a means of transportation!?¡±

    Frederica¡¯s scream echoed in the sky. Still, at that height, the enemy couldn¡¯t hear them.

    At the same time, a shooting star was seen from a distant enemy camp. No one would¡¯ve guessed that the light across the sky was Maple who¡¯d exploded, burst into mes, and crashed at high speed.

    No one could pursue them. The poison swamp would prove Maple¡¯s involvement, but by that time, she¡¯d already be inside the town.

    In this way, after leaving irrefutable evidence, the three fell towards the town.

 Chapter 443

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 443</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Instant Death</strong>

    At that time, when Maple and the others <em>became </em>the shooting stars while being blissfully unaware of the rain of death at town, the enemy was also taking a break.

    Even so, [Thunder Storm] and [Rapid Fire] were idly spending time together after discussing and nning their next strategy. They were trying to adjust the timing of their next attack.

    ¡°¡­If you¡¯re silent like this, it¡¯s as if you¡¯re a different person.¡±

    Sitting in front of Lily was a calm Velvet. It was difficult to believe that she was the same person who¡¯d rain down lightning on the battlefield and crushed the yers a while ago.

    ¡°Is that so? Hehe, did you pay attention to me?¡±

    ¡°No, actually, it¡¯s the same even when you aren¡¯t silent. It must be that manner of speaking.¡±

    From the casual yet graceful gesture, her prim and proper upbringing could be felt. As such, Lily had to wonder what on earth happened.

    ¡­<em>Just how did this girl be a fighter who fights with her fists?</em>

    ¡°Velvet often does this when she has to calm down.¡±

    ¡°So, basically¡­ We¡¯re waiting for them to make the first move?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think making the first move will benefit us in this one.¡±

    As long as everyone was having a peaceful time, there was no problem. Thus, Lily decided to not probe further and instead enjoyed her tea. Be it in this or the real world, that was how she¡¯d always been.

    ¡°<em>Phew, </em>the sun has already set. I want to set out with Will and head somewhere¡­¡±

    ¡°What about Velvet?¡±

    ¡°As per the original n¡ª¡­¡±

    ¡°¡ªI¡¯ll be on standby, <em>wait! </em>I want toe with you!¡±

    ¡°Oops, that¡¯s the <em>real </em>Velvet, alright¡­¡±

    Lily could only smile wryly. Unlike Lily and Wilbert, who mainly provided logistical support; or Hinata, who entrusted most of the mobility to Velvet with [Gravity Control], Velvet was exhausted after running around all days and facing many tough battles.

    During such a pivotal moment, they mustn¡¯t let anything slow them down.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it kind of noisy outside¡­?¡±

    ¡°Did something happen¡­?¡±

    Wilbert and Hinata heard a panicked voiceing from the other side of the door.

    ¡°Will, let¡¯s go check it out. It might be a surprise attack.¡±

    ¡°Hinata, Hinata¡ª!¡±

    ¡°Yes, but¡­ don¡¯t overdo it.¡±

    When the four of them went out together, they spotted several men. They were in the middle of a conversation with the guild members.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, someone suddenly attacked us outside¡­¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, can we hear it too?¡±

    ¡°Oh, of course¡­!¡±

    After listening to the whole story, they realized that they were in peril.

    ¡°I see. Thank you for the information. We¡¯ll be careful when we go out on the field.¡±

    ¡°No problem. Ah, how terrible¡­¡±

    Saying goodbye to the ragged yers, the four sorted what they had heard.

    ¡°It was probably an attack from underground or from above. What do you think, Lily?¡±

    ¡°I agree. Besides, the sudden rain is suspicious. After all, nothing happened before it rained.¡±

    The obvious change that preceded the deaths was the rain. Of course, what was falling from the sky may not actually be rain.

    ¡°¡ªMoreover! There¡¯s one more thing that bothered me!¡±

    Velvet, who¡¯dpletely switched to battle mode, pointed out another loophole.

    ¡°Even though they were attacked, there was no damage effect! What does that mean?¡±

    <em>No damage effect. Utterly ridiculous.</em>

    For example, let¡¯s say that Wilbert sniped the yer from a long distance. Even if it took out the yer, a violent damage effect should burst upon impact.

    ¡ªunless it was the kind of attack that¡¯d kill a yer in an instant.

    ¡°Then it must be an instant death. It¡¯s pretty rare, and I haven¡¯t seen many yers using it.¡±

    In exchange for the lethal effect, the range of the skill itself was quite limited. At least, based on the skill that Lily had witnessed.

    Nevertheless, since it was an instant death, there wouldn¡¯t be any damage effect.

    ¡°They suffered damage without knowing it. We have to take precautions. Now that it hase to this, it can¡¯t be helped¡­¡±

    Will slightly frowned, and only Lily knew why.

    ¡°Yes, I understand. We¡¯ll need to expand our search area. Just in case, can I ask for your help?¡±

    ¡°Of course. After all, the culprit might be around the corner, lying in wait¡­¡±

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s do it. Let¡¯s go, Will! [Dormant]!¡±

    Lily used her skill, before casting [Awakening] and asking Wilbert.

    ¡°How is it?¡±

    ¡°¡­There¡¯s no problem.¡±

    ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t that the skill you¡¯d use when summoning a tamed monster!?¡±

    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s quite special. It¡¯s my trump card.¡±

    ¡°[Dormant], followed by [Awakening]¡­ Does it lead to some kind of effect?¡±

    In addition to being invisible, the skill seemed to affect Wilbert, instead of Lily. The other couldn¡¯t help but wonder what kind of buff it was.

    Still, in this kind of situation, they couldn¡¯t be lying. Then the search for the enemy must be over.

    ¡°Well, the search is over. Even though I¡¯d like to see your tamed monster¡­¡±

    Velvet and Hinata¡¯s tamed monster was more mysterious than Lily¡¯s. After all, no one had seen it.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get the chance to!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡±

    Now then, Lily and the others figured a n. Since the enemy had set it up, then they had to respond.

    Besides, the number of surviving yers was also important, so they must prevent further casualties.

    ¡ªAs they waited for the next battle, the night deepened.

 Chapter 444

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 444</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Risk</strong>

    With a bang, the ck mass crashed into the ground, and it rolled vigorously while scattering some fragments. Amidst the wreckage, the mass finally lost its momentum and eventually came to a stop while raising a cloud of sand.

    ¡°We have arrived!¡±

    ¡°Somehow, I¡¯m much more tired than during the surprise attack.¡±

    ¡°Well, at the very least, we got home safely.¡±

    The identity of the ck mass was ample. As a matter of course, Maple¡ªwho traveled across the sky as an explosion¡ªhad no pursuers. Afterwards, they managed to crash into the vicinity of their own royal castle.

    ¡°I doubt they¡¯ll be able to follow us.¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    ¡°Should we go back?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s my n. Someday, I¡¯d like to fight together with Maple again¡ªand if possible, with Frederica, too¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m never going home using this kind of method again.¡±

    ¡°But wasn¡¯t Frederica the one who wanted something shy?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve learned that sometimes, simple is best.¡±

    Frederica nodded to herself, deciding to do it peacefully next time. After all, if not for that high-risk <em>shy </em>battle, where the enemy could easily find them, they¡¯d have returned home peacefully with Syrup.

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s head back! It¡¯d be troublesome if they managed to catch up with us!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Never let your guard down.¡±

    The three rushed into town. Maple¡¯s self-destruction skill had also improved in a way that she could now fall near the destination. As a result, it didn¡¯t take long for them to get into town.

    ¡°<em>Phew¡­ </em>Good job. It was nice to be able to soar that high. I wonder if Knots can grow bigger.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine it.¡±

    ¡°I usually have Ray take me for a ride, so that¡¯s fine. When you want to fight more seriously, let me know. I¡¯ll give you as many buffs as you want.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be in line with the [Congregation of Holy Sword] at that time, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. That makes it easier for me too.¡±

    The three of them walked towards the royal castle while confirming whether or not there was any unidentified object in the sky.

    After all, there was no saying the enemy wouldn¡¯t attempt what they did.

    It¡¯d already been confirmed that Velvet, Hinata, Lily, Wilbert, Mii and Marx had flight abilities. As such, there was a chance that they¡¯d be attacked from above.

    At the same time, even if there was only a few of them, those yers could deal a lot of damage over a wide area. Therefore, it wasn¡¯t a matter of <em>whether or not </em>they¡¯d attack from overhead, but about <em>how </em>to intercept it without panicking.

    ¡°Maybe they¡¯ll attack uster during the night.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯d be easy if that¡¯s all it takes.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure. Velvet is the type that can charge at any time.¡±

    The battle continued during the day. At night, the number of resting yers increased. If they didn¡¯t do anything to each other and focus on the defense while remaining in the city, the situation wouldn¡¯t change much.

    However, if there was a guild that noticed the fatigue, low morale, and a decrease in the number of yers, then a big battle might ur once again.

    ¡°If that happens, providing support would be difficult due to the limited vision.¡±

    ¡°You have a point¡­¡±

    ¡°Even so, if they set us up, then we have no choice but to fight. Maple, we should prepare ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I understand!¡±

    If they got set up, they¡¯d have no choice but to fight back. Otherwise, it¡¯d be a one-sided massacre.

    ¡°If so, I¡¯d like toe up with a hypothetical scenario so we can find a way to ovee it. For example, we managed to pull off the previous surprise attack because we had the upper hand, didn¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes.¡±

    ¡°Because of that, I can see why Wilbert is dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Not only that, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s somewhere around here.¡±

    ¡°We have to find a way to defeat him.¡±

    Wilbert was still out there. The pressure was intense. Frederica and others would be killed in an instant if they failed to notice him.

    ¡°Can we pull it off¡­?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think the defense is that strong, so we should just narrow our distance.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s easier said than done.¡±

    Apparently, the enemy¡¯s search ability wasn¡¯t only abnormally wide, but also didn¡¯t have any down time. With that kind of ability, the enemy could easily make the first move, or notice their strategy and withdraw.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try toe up with something. We need a realistic approach.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m counting on you, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡±

    Did Fredericae up with at least one idea? However, from the way Sally responded, it must be a high-risk strategy, hence why she hesitated to carry it out. Maple let it go, thinking that there was no need to dwell on it.

    ¡°If you have a good idea, let me know. Let¡¯s see, something with 80% win rate?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that too much¡­¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°But if it works out, I¡¯ll be happy!¡±

    While encouraging them to do their best, Maple walked a little faster next to them.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Is there a surefire way to win..?¡±

    As Sally walked, she pondered.

    Of course there was none. Just like how the opponent didn¡¯t know the extent of Sally¡¯s illusion skill, there¡¯d be a skill they didn¡¯t understand, either.

    Hence why there was no surefire way to win.

    In the first ce, in order to lead them to their death, the opponent mustn¡¯t retreat and apany them in battle until the end.

    To do so, taking risk was inevitable. At the same time, baiting the enemy into thinking that they¡¯d gain an advantage by fighting now should suffice.

    It seemed that Sally had something in mind. Nevertheless, she was still hesitating.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll think about it, so please give me some time, Maple.¡±

    After saying that to Maple, Sally gazed at the wall behind her once again.

    ¡ªthe target that the enemy wanted to eliminate the most; and who should be targeted.

    Maple without [Indomitable Guardian].

    Their best option would be to stay safe until daylight.

    No matter how strong a yer was, they couldn¡¯t breach into the castle.

    Conversely, even if it was the other way around, Sally couldn¡¯t use Maple as a decoy to carry out a risky strategy.

 Chapter 445

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 445

    Defense Specialization and Detection

    ¡°Maple, take some rest.¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    After sending Maple to the deepest part of the royal castle, Sally closed the door to her room and took a deep breath.

    No matter how powerful the enemy¡¯s attack was, it¡¯d be impossible to destroy the castle and defeat Maple.

    There was still some time before the town became a battlefield.

    The outer wall, the castle town, and the royal castle¡ªeach of them had a durability value.

    At the final battle, the gate, and even the outer wall might be destroyed. Then, the town would be ransacked¡ª

    ¡ªshe just hoped that it¡¯d be their side who did it.

    ¡°It seems to have worked.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Payne.¡±

    Frederica had reported to Payne about the oue of the previous surprise attack.

    ¡°While we didn¡¯t get find out, I¡¯m sure they will figure out who did it¡­¡±

    ¡°I think so. I heard that [Poison Dragon] was used. Only one yer can produce that much poison.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s our next step?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re in a tough ce. Many yers are resting. Battles that involve arge number of yers don¡¯t happen often. Without a doubt, there¡¯ll be many cases where you won¡¯t get results even if youunch an attack.¡±

    Even if they forcibly did it, it¡¯d only add to their fatigue. If the enemy didn¡¯t move, they didn¡¯t need to perform any shy moves.

    Therefore, if they were tounch an attack, it had to be done with a clear purpose.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any skills to detect enemies, either. Therefore, I¡¯ll be needing Frederica.¡±

    Frederica had also participated in many battlefields here and there. Still, she didn¡¯t feel excessively tired and was in the same condition as usual. Nevertheless, she still needed time to rest.

    ¡°If Dred is still here, we¡¯d be able to set up something for the night. As for now¡­ it has be difficult. Shadow¡¯s skills are invaluable. How is [Maple Tree] doing?¡±

    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯d prefer it if we intercept them straight away, but Maple is weak in that field.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to fall down here. I understand. Let¡¯s cut down on the whimsical battles as much as possible. Instead, we shall focus on restricting the enemy¡¯s movement.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a great help.¡±

    If it was the usual Maple, she¡¯d be able to rush into the battlefield with a self-destruct flight using [Machine God]. But without [Indomitable Guardian], the oue of the battle was worrying.

    ¡ªand just like that, when the policy was set, a brilliant light illuminated the ss windows lining the corridor.

    Lightning shed in the distance.

    In that ce, the attributes of the monsters in thend of mes and wastnd were thunder and fire. As if following suit, magma erupted here and there, while lightning was rampant.

    But.

    ¡°Payne.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes, let¡¯s check it out.¡±

    <em>¡ªRestlessness.</em>

    They somehow sensed it had nothing to do with the terrain.

    Perhaps due to the timing, or the direction.

    She couldn¡¯t be sure because she didn¡¯t have full grasp on the terrain. However, if it wasn¡¯t a natural urrence, then it could only mean one thing¡ª

    ¡ªJust like how Maple could conjure a poisonous swamp, there were yers in this game who could conjure lightning.

    ¡°Ray, please.¡±

    Sally and Payne got on Ray¡¯s back and flew towards the sky.

    ¡°Even if it¡¯s indeed the [Thunder Storm], why would they go out of their way to do something so shy?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and they were quick, what on earth¡­?¡±

    ¡°It might be a trap. In the worst case, I¡¯ll have Ray protect me. Safety is important.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    The full extent of Hinata¡¯s [Isted Area] skill that confined Drag and Dred was also unknown. Since they didn¡¯t know who to lock in and how, it was risk mitigation to go with only two people who could take care of themselves in battle and had top-ss strength.

    Both Payne and Sally had skills that could withstand a devastating blow. Therefore, they were allowed one or two blunders.

    It was necessary to reduce risk as much as possible and see how it went. Depending on the situation, there might even be arge group approaching.

    They¡¯d withdraw as soon as they felt in danger.

    With that intention, the two moved in the sky towards the outer wall.

 Chapter 446

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 446</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Restlessness</strong>

    Somewhat further beyond the outer wall, Ray slowly lowered its altitude.

    ¡°Since Hinata can shoot down flying enemies, we must be cautious.¡±

    ¡°If we fall from this height, our movement will be greatly hindered.¡±

    When the two descended to the ground and looked around, only the wastnd spread endlessly beyond their field of vision. While there were sizable boulders here and there to hide, there was no sign of enemies.

    ¡°¡­It doesn¡¯t seem like they¡¯re trying to ambush us.¡±

    ¡°¡ªAnd here I was expecting an arrow or two¡­¡±

    Considering the possibility of [Rapid Fire], Payne and Sally vigntly checked their surroundings.

    In exchange for the range of their skills, Velvet and Hinata had shy effects. If the two charged at them, it¡¯d be apparent from the get go.

    If anything, they should be wary of Wilbert. Due to his search ability, he was adept at surprise attacks. In fact, it wouldn¡¯t be strange if he¡¯d detected them already.

    While keeping an eye on her surroundings, Sally casted [Icicle] at the direction of the enemy¡¯s camp to block their line of fire. After that lightning, everything reverted to normal.

    ¡°¡­There¡¯s no one here.¡±

    ¡°It might be a small group of yers.¡±

    ¡°They might be lurking somewhere. Still, I don¡¯t think we should advance any further.¡±

    ¡°I agree. Let¡¯s check the surroundings of the town before heading back¡­ I have a bad feeling about this.¡±

    <em>Something¡¯s off.</em>

    Nevertheless, it wasn¡¯t like they could head for the enemy camp to assess the situation. At the very least, they¡¯d confirmed that the town wasn¡¯t besieged by arge group of army.

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°I think they¡¯re lurking somewhere. Although, I doubt it¡¯d lead to any confrontation¡­¡±

    Then, was it a payback for what Maple, Frederica, and Sally did? Or were they setting up some kind of trap just like when Iz was dispatched to nt a bomb?

    Regardless, without a proof, it was only a spection.

    ¡°There¡¯s also the possibility that they deliberately conjured that lightning for us to see. Perhaps, they¡¯re nning tounch a surprise attack.¡±

    ¡°That sounds more likely.¡±

    In this environment, thunder and lightning weren¡¯t something that one should be particrly cautious about. Even more so if the yers were indoor and only heard the sounds.

    ¡°Just in case, I¡¯ll stay alert for a while. I¡¯ll contact the guild members and take turns to see how things are going.¡±

    Even if they were close to their base, staying in the enemy¡¯s territory for a long time could be risky. Not only that, there was also an issue with fatigue.

    Thus, they decided to wait for a while and rest if nothing happened.

    Since the town was close by, they could easily divide the number of people.

    ¡°I¡¯ll contact them as well. It¡¯s better to assemble everyone.¡±

    ¡°That helps. I can¡¯t predict the enemy¡¯s movements.¡±

    After giving instructions to their guild member, the two left the ce with vignce to avoid sneak attack.

    Around that time, a message reached the royal castle.

    ¡°Uhm, this is¡­¡±

    ¡°This is quite rming¡­¡±

    After sitting around arge table and eating Iz¡¯s meal, the [Maple Tree]¡ªwho was in the middle of a break¡ªreceived a message from Sally.

    ¡°Sally sure was keen. If it was me, I¡¯d have missed the signs.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°What should we do next?¡±

    ¡°If the enemy is on the way¡­¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t just rely on Payne and the others all the time¡­ That¡¯s right! Let¡¯s join them!¡±

    ¡°Alright, If Maple says so, I have no objections. But we should decide who will go.¡±

    Coming from Chrome, it was quite unusual, so Maple decided to hear him out.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go. I don¡¯t want Maple to force herself. If I¡¯m lucky, it won¡¯t matter how many times I make a blunder.¡±

    Unlike Maple, Chrome couldn¡¯t rush to the front line in case of emergency.

    Which one should be on the battlefield when a battle urs? The answer was obvious.

    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll go with you. When ites to one vs many, Mai and Yui are unlikely to survive without Chrome. Even more so if it¡¯s dark, besides¡­¡±

    Kasumi smiled wryly as she nced at the faces of the members around her.

    ¡°¡ªThe others are simply irreceable.¡±

    Neither Iz¡¯s items nor Kanade¡¯s magic book could be imitated by other yers4. Maple¡¯s masterful armament set was even more so.

    ¡°Our goal is to win as a team. In that case, leave this dangerous role to me. Even if you get captured, you won¡¯t die easily, right?¡±

    ¡°If it gets dangerous, I¡¯ll borrow your strength. First of all, let¡¯s see how it goes.¡±

    ¡°¡­I understand, I leave it to you! Please be careful!¡±

    Maple ced her trust in Chrome and Kasumi. Upon sensing it from her words, the two departed from the castle; fully aware of the risk.

 Chapter 447

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 447

    Defense Specialization and Lightning

    Upon arriving near the outer wall, Chrome and Kasumi found Payne and Sally.

    ¡°You¡¯re fast.¡±

    ¡°I rushed here as fast as I could. What¡¯s the situation?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no movement so far¡­ Which is why it¡¯s unsettling.¡±

    ¡°Moreover, we¡¯re on the outer wall¡­ What if Wilbert sees us? If Haku protects me, I can venture outside, but what do you think?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like we have to force ourselves toe out, do we? If they want to attack, there¡¯s still this wall.¡±

    Chrome hit the outer wall in front of him. The wall was quite sturdy. Even if it was hit by a strong skill, it wouldn¡¯t budge.

    Not only that, if someone was trying to destroy the wall, they¡¯d notice it right away. Even if they rushed here, as long as they watched the enemy¡¯s movements and positioned themselves ordingly, it should be enough.

    ¡°What about you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve also called in reinforcements. They¡¯re yers who¡¯re good at scouting rather than fighting.¡±

    As they spoke, a group of yers riding their respective tamed monsters made their way through town and approached the four of them.

    ¡°Ooh, isn¡¯t that nice? Not only are they agile, they can also hide from the enemy¡¯s radar.¡±

    Unfortunately, at the moment, Necro wasn¡¯t in the form that allowed Chrome to move at high speed even if he summoned him.

    Regardless, he was brimming with expectations.

    ¡°It¡¯s helpful since we can¡¯t detect the enemies by ourselves.¡±

    While Sally¡¯s ability to detect enemies was amazing, but it came from experience instead of authentic detection skill. When they wanted to know certain information, skills like Knots¡¯ [Sonar] won.

    ¡°How prepared. As expected of the [Congregations of Holy Sword].¡±

    Sensing the strength of arge-scale guild, Kasumi, who was on standby, prepared to summon Haku.

    ¡°Payne, let¡¯s begin our search. There¡¯s a possibility that they are on the other side of the wall.¡±

    Since multiple people had the same detection skill, they could take turns searching the area without waiting for the cooldown.

    If they still didn¡¯t manage to find anything, then that was it.

    ¡°Please.¡±

    ¡°[Range Expansion] [Wide Area Detection]!¡±

    While expanding the skill range, the effect burst. In a sh, information of the area was transmitted to the user, and he looked up at the sky in a hurry.

    ¡°Eh¡ª<em>above!?¡±</em>

    At the same time, a brilliant thunder illuminated the sky.

    A pir of lightning descended¡ªconnecting heaven and earth.

    ¡°[Stout Guardian]! [Light of the Spirits]!¡±

    A blinding pir of light enveloped everyone; leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

    Chrome only managed to survive the blow because of his quick reaction. He protected everyone and nullified the damage.

    After the brilliance had subsided, Velvet¡ªd in thunder¡ªdescended alongside Hinata at a distance.

    ¡°Amazing¡ª! As I thought, it isn¡¯t just Maple¡ª!¡±

    ¡°Wow, so they¡¯re going to charge in just like that!¡±

    ¡°Do you think you still have a chance of winning?¡±

    Without giving them any chance to recover from the surprise attack, Velvet and Hinata charged towards them. Taken aback, Chrome and Kasumi readied their weapons.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you get away.¡±

    Payne had the same idea. Without intending to let them escape with their lives, he entered a fighting stance.

    ¡°¡­<em>Get away?</em> I came here to end everything!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t let you escape.¡±

    Apparently, they had no intention of withdrawing. Sally and the others didn¡¯t expect that. Diffusion of cold air and an intensifying thunderstorm signaled the beginning of an inevitable battle.

    ¡°Payne.¡±

    Sally uttered briefly.

    Even Payne knew what she was implying.

    ¡°I know. If they have no intention of backing down, let¡¯s defeat them.¡±

    If they could defeat Velvet and Hinata, they¡¯d gain a massive advantage.

    High risk high return.

    They shall defeat two of the biggest threats here.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! <em>Charge</em>!¡±

    As lightning poured down from the sky, Payne and the others rushed towards Velvet.

 Chapter 448

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 448

    Defense Specialization and Shields

    Payne, Sally, and Kasumi dashed on the streets towards Velvet.

    As the lightning strikes grew more intense and ransacked the surrounding buildings, the three of them rushed towards the [Thunderstorm].

    Despite knowing the danger, that was the only way to defeat Velvet.

    ¡°[Purple Lightning]!¡±

    Electric shock erupted from Velvet¡¯s extended fist, running towards the members of [Congregation of the Holy Swords].

    ¡°¡ª<em>As if I¡¯ll let you! </em>Necro, [Strong Armor]!¡±

    Fearlessly, Chrome stood in the way of the lightning and bravely blocked it with his tower shield, nullifying the attack.

    ¡°Hey, you three, help me out! If it¡¯s just some electric shock, I can protect you!¡±

    ¡°Let me help!¡±

    The three also regained theirposure, each attacking with magic and resuming the enemy search.

    ¡°¡ªThere are no enemy reactions around!¡±

    ¡°Alright, then let¡¯s focus on what¡¯s in front of us!¡±

    Chrome repositioned his shield and fixed his gaze on Velvet and Hinata. If he stayed firm, other yers shoulde through. Due to the strength of Velvet and Hinata, who specialized in one-VS-many situations, it¡¯d be a tough battle.

    ¡°I can¡¯t keep up with those three!¡±

    Ahead, the three rushed towards Velvet¡¯s thunderstorm.

    ¡°[Eight of the Sword: Gale]!¡±

    ¡°[Holy de of Protection]!¡±

    In exchange of a lowered [STR] and [INT], Kasumi elerated towards the thunderstorm. Payne, on the other hand, sacrificed his damage for protection and used a bunch of passive skills to raise his stats. Sally broke through the fierce storm with her sheer evasiveness.

    ¡°Amazing¡ª! ¡­<em>Hinata!</em>¡±

    ¡°¡­[Chain of Stars]!¡±

    ¡°[Holy de of Exterminating Evil]!¡±

    Since Payne made no attempt to dodge, the chain that extended from the ground swiftly restrained him. However, in the next moment, his holy sword severed the chain and immediately cancelled the effect.

    At the same time, Velvet took that opportunity to distance herself.

    ¡°You have to take it seriously, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right¡­¡±

    Targeted restraint was a strong counter for Sally¡ªHinata was aware of that, too.

    Furthermore, Hinata had fully grasped Sally¡¯s range. As such, she could always aim for Sally while reserving said skill. The pressure from the two wasn¡¯t small.

    ¡°Payne!¡±

    ¡°I know!¡±

    Kasumi called out to Payne and the two rushed towards the duo at the same time. It was necessary to block Hinata¡¯s skills and let Sally participate in the battle in earnest.

    ¡°Then I¡¯m going, too! [Super eleration]! [Dash]!¡±

    As Kasumi started running, Velvet made Hinata wait behind her as she elerated forward.

    ¡°[Mind¡¯s Eye]!¡±

    Once Kasumi figured out where the thunder was going to strike, she countered it in an efficient manner.

    ¡°[Delicate Ice Sculpture]! [Crack in Gravity]!¡±

    Hinata used a skill that lowered her defense, but Kasumi didn¡¯t care and shed at Velvet.

    ¡°[Sixth of the Swords: ze]!¡±

    ¡°[Parry] [All-Out Attack]!¡±

    ¡°<em>If it¡¯s only that¡ª!¡±</em>

    Velvet swung her right hand. Using [Mind¡¯s Eye] to evade the blow, Kasumi raised her sword and swung it down at Velvet.

    ¡°¡ªGreat!¡±

    As damage effects appeared on Velvet, Payne closed in. Regaining her stance, Velvet looked forward.

    ¡°Now!¡±

    Chrome¡¯s voice echoed. Along with that, there was a burst of magic.

    ¡°[Ice Wall] [Icicle]!¡±

    Hinata immediately raised some defense. However, despite managing to block the magic, she couldn¡¯t stop Payne.

    ¡°Ray, [Torrent of Light]!¡±

    ¡°[Aurora]!¡±

    Seeing Payne¡¯s holy sword shining brilliantly, Velvet wrapped herself in thunder to intercept his blow. A white pir of lightning rose from the ground and pierced the sky.

    ¡°Do you think that¡¯ll stop me!?¡±

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    ¡°[Holy Dragon¡¯s Light Sword]!¡±

    Seared by the rain of thunder, Payne swung down his holy sword while enduring the damage. A blinding torrent of light cut through the lightning pir and approached Velvet.

    ¡°[Super eleration]! [Electromaic Leap]!¡±

    ¡ªNevertheless¡­

    Velvet pressed on. By elerating and stepping forward, she passed Payne¡¯s blow while also erasing their distance.

    ¡°[sh Flood]!¡±

    ¡°S-Sally!¡±

    Apparently, Sally had expected that.

    Before she could leap, Velvet was hit by the stream of water, which toppled her over. The thunderstorm remained, but it barely did any damage to Payne and Sally.

    ¡°¡°[Super eleration]!¡±¡±

    Payne and Sally elerated to catch up with Velvet.

    They were equal in terms of speed. Despite having distanced herself, Velvet didn¡¯t have enough time to fix her stance.

    Sally and Payne had an unspoken agreement.

    ¡ª<em>Come on, use it.</em>

    ¡°[Cocytus]!¡±

    A gust of white mist. The intense cold froze its surroundings. Seeing that, Payne and Sally immediately distanced themselves. Velvet straightened herself and sighed briefly.

    Although she managed to keep them away, Hinata made a bitter face due to having to use that skill.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Hinata, you saved me!¡±

    Velvet smiled in reassurance.

    However, the area soon grew noisy with resounding footsteps, signaling that the situation had changedpletely.

    They¡¯d fought fiercely. It was only natural for the surrounding yers to catch on and join the fray.

    ¡°Surround them!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    Along with Payne and the yers who¡¯d joined the fight, Chrome also repositioned himself and advanced.

    Since the number of yers had increased so much, he had to take care of the rear guard.

    ¡°I¡¯ll protect you. Focus on the offense!¡±

    One by one. Even if there were some sacrifices, as long as they could defeat those two, it¡¯d be no problem. Such was the consensus of the yers that gathered there.

    ¡°We¡¯re surrounded¡­¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, we are! But that¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m waiting for!¡±

    After dering so, Velvet smiled and took a stance.

    ¡°[Overcharge]!¡±

    Fierce lightning. Immediately after, the spark that ran through the ground knocked the approaching yers.

    Velvet called out to Hinata, who was floating using gravity control.

    ¡°Watch my back!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡±

    ¡°[Roar of Thunder]!¡±

    Along with Velvet¡¯s deration, the enhanced light pir spread, scorching both the yers and the houses.

    Payne and the other avoided it, but the intense thunderstorm grew stronger as if to fend off any yers.

    ¡°[Gravity Enhancement] [Gravity Cage]!¡±

    Hinata scattered powerful movement speed debuffs over a wide area, while Velvet rushed towards Payne and the others at once.

    ¡°[Revitalize] [Guard Aura]! Necro [Weight of Death]!¡±

    ¡°[Chain Thunder Attack]!¡±

    Chrome stepped forward and held up his shield while slowing Velvet¡¯s movement speed.

    He mustn¡¯t let Velvet approach Sally at all cost!

    When Velvet pummeled the shield from the front, a fierce spark scattered, and Chrome was mercilessly struck by thunder.

    ¡°Guh¡­ It¡¯s because of Hinata!¡±

    The damage was beyond imagination. The cold air that filled the area was causing a debuff that not even Chrome¡¯s defensive power could withstand.

    ¡°Chrome!¡±

    Sally tied Chrome using her string and pulled him back, before conjuring a pir of ice to stop Velvet in her tracks.

    ¡°You saved me, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Chrome, what about [Indomitable Guardian]?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just been cut down, but I¡¯m still fine!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s give up on that ce. In the meantime, we wait until her skill wears off¡­¡±

    ¡°Otherwise, she¡¯d have used that skill from the beginning. It¡¯s probably simr to Frederica¡¯s [Ocean of Mana].¡±

    Once [Overcharge] was gone, Velvet should be vulnerable to attack.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you escape!¡±

    Defying gravity, Velvet leaped over the ice pirs. <em>To eliminate Payne and the others. </em>However, as soon as her figure emerged¡ª

    ¡°¡ªNow!¡±

    ¡°¡°[me Cannon]!¡±¡±

    ¡°¡°Don¡¯t hold back!¡±¡±

    ¡°Velvet, get away¡­!¡±

    A long-range attack that solely targeted Velvet. Even if Velvet wanted to chase after Payne and the others, she couldn¡¯t. Attacks from the surrounding yers reminded Velvet where exactly she stood.

    ¡°As expected, this is hard!¡±

    As lightning poured down, Velvet defeated other yers.

    Still, the difference in number remained. After all, those who joined the battlefields still had their invincibility skills, making them sustain less damage. Sensing this, Velvet called out to Hinata.

    ¡°Hinata, please.¡±

    ¡°¡­Understood.¡±

    Velvet stopped defeating the other yers and ran towards the outer wall. Was she retreating? Those who sensed it chased after her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let her escape.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to the outer wall!¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re unlikely to assault the throne!¡±

    Luckily, Velvet was too shy for them to lose sight of. Surely, they¡¯d be able to catch up¡ª

    ¡°¡ª[Ice Castle]!¡±

    Even so, a wall of ice stood in the way as if to hinder the crowds.

    However, multiple attacks brought it down, but it didn¡¯t matter to Velvet.

    ¡°Good job!¡±

    She had managed to buy some time.

    Velvet raised her arms and a tremendous lightning illuminated the sky. The moring roar told them of what was about to happen. But of course, they weren¡¯t going to wait for [Thor¡¯s Hammer] to descend and wipe them out.

    ¡°Shoot her down! Quick, before she can cast it!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you¡­! [Melting Wings]! [Frozen Earth]!¡±

    Payne and the others tried to close in on Velvet, only to be frozen to the ground. Time was running time. It¡¯d take some time to close the distance that¡¯d opened by [Ice Castle].

    However, before the thunder could cascade down the sky, there was a booming sound in front of the castle.

    Sally and the others recognized the sound. Enveloped in scorching ze, the figure with sprouting angelic wings was none other than Maple herself.

    A sudden reinforcement.

    Velvet and the others immediately noticed it.

    ¡°Maple¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you.¡±

    She finally came.

    Velvet muttered with a tired expression.

    Above the sky.

    Wilbert and Lily, d in ck cloaks that concealed their presences, waited patiently on top of the flying machine.

    ¡°Will, don¡¯t miss.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t.¡±

    Wilbert drew his bow. In truth, Velvet couldn¡¯t cast [Thor¡¯s Hammer]. In other words, it was just a feint.

    ¡°As expected, she¡¯s that kind of yer.¡±

    She¡¯d rush in when her allies were in danger. Even if they barely knew each other, Lily could sense Maple¡¯s loyalty towards her allies.

    As such, she¡¯d probablye charging in.

    And when she arrived, they¡¯d shoot her.

    From the beginning, their n was to lure Maple out of the royal castle.

    ¡°It¡¯d be difficult to hold up a shield with that mechanical arm of hers.¡±

    In the night sky, Maple¡¯s zing figure burned bright. As soon as she was within range, Wilbert let go of his bowstring.

    ¡°[Long Range] [Arrow of Annihtion]¡±

    A high-speed arrow flew. There was no [Indomitable Guardian] to stop it. Maple also didn¡¯t have the skill to foresee an attack.

    As of the present, she wasn¡¯t even holding any shield.

    An approaching red sh. When Maple noticed it, it was already toote.

    ¡°Wha¡ª!¡±

    Realizing that there was nothing she could do, Maple closed her eyes.

    There was a clunking sound.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Sally!¡±

    There was no mistaking it¡ªthe blue muffled pping in front of her.

    Sally shielded Maple and took refuge in the shadows to avoid pursuers.

    ¡°Lily!¡±

    ¡°Retrieve those two!¡±

    ¡°What¡­¡±

    Wilbert saw everything.

    The moment when Maple flew into the sky¡ªonly Sally ran towards her.

    Not in response to the arrow, of course. She shouldn¡¯t have been able to predict it.

    Yet, her single move was brimming with resolution.

    They¡¯d forgotten¡ªMaple did have a shield.

 Chapter 449

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 449

    Defense Specialization and Northern Light

    ¡°¡ª<em>No way¡­!?¡±</em>

    Like Wilbert, Hinata also understood that their n had been foiled. Even though their positioning should¡¯ve been a mess, and their movement speed decreased¡­

    Prior to Hinata¡¯s use of skill, Sally¡ªwho¡¯d be immune to all effects due to [Spirited Away]¡ªdashed out of range in an instant.

    Sally didn¡¯t hesitate to abandon her valuable defensive resources, and as a result of her quick-wittedness¡ªthe situation had been reversed in an instant.

    ¡°[Emergency Charging]!¡±

    At Velvet¡¯s voice, the previously stunned Hinata regained her bearings.

    Lightning struck Velvet, and sparks erupted from her body.

    Nevertheless, Velvet was in an emergency. The skill itself was ast-ditch effort to postpone the side effect of [Overcharge], and at the same time, allow Velvet to use lightning skill for a brief period of time.

    ¡°[Electromaic Jump]!¡±

    Velvet leaped at once, leaving a sh of thunder behind. With the help of Hinata¡¯s gravity control, she flew into the sky.

    A flying machine driven by Lily approached the two, leaving a trail of blue mes in the dark sky.

    ¡°Ray, [Dragon Star]!¡±

    Upon witnessing that, Payne jumped on Ray¡¯s back and soared towards the sky at once.

    ¡°Catch them¡ª! Ray, [Breath of the Holy Dragon]¡ª!¡±

    ¡°[Reproduction] [Puppet Wall]!¡±

    Ray¡¯s gleaming breath destroyed the wall made of minions summoned by Lily, who¡¯d switched equipment, and smashed the scaffolding of their transport.

    ¡°Ugh¡­!¡±

    ¡°[Wide Range]! [Holy de of Brilliance]!¡±

    As Lily and Wilbert were thrown into the air, a torrent of light shot towards them.

    ¡ªHowever, just when they were about to get hit¡­

    As if being drawn by a strong force, the two were pulled downward and managed to avoid the attack at thest minute.

    ¡°¡ªI won¡¯t let you!¡±

    Hinata manipted gravity to pull them down, closing the distance between the four of them.

    Lily waved the g in her hand as a tremendous amount of magic began to gather around her.

    ¡°[Formation Change]!¡±

    Immediately after that, the four vanished.

    The skill¡ªwhich was simr to teleportation¡ªignored the terrains and the opposing yers.

    Seeing that, Kasumi and Chrome exchanged nces before charging towards the outer wall.

    Payne also followed suit. Seeing that, the other yers began their pursuit for the four.

    Even if they could teleport, they could only run so far. Not to mention, the three were familiar with Maple¡¯s [Ark]. As such, they could predict the destination of [Formation Change].

    Passing the gate, they began to look around. Kasumi spotted the blue mes that must¡¯ve been emitted by Lily¡¯s flying vehicle.

    ¡°Haku, [Super Giant]!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a ride!¡±

    The two members of [Maple Tree] responded steadfastly. Ray was also gaining speed in midair.

    ¡°We¡¯ll catch up with them!¡±

    ¡°Maple is still faster than that flying machine!¡±

    As the distance decreased, the trail of blue me could be seen changing its angle as the transport descended to the ground.

    Ray also lowered his altitude and approached the four of them.

    ¡°Wow, you guys sure are fast!¡±

    A rematch. Tension filled the air. The silence was broken by the crackling sound of Velvet¡¯s lightning.

    ¡°[Heightened Output]! [Northern Light]!¡±

    An ultra-wide skill. In an instant, Velvet¡¯s surroundings shone brightly.

    It was a lightning skill with enhanced range. With a roar, the white pir that connected Heaven and earth blocked the path of the three.

    ¡ªA few secondster¡­

    After the roar of thunder subsided, and the pir of light disappeared, the four enemies were no longer there.

    ¡°It¡¯s a distraction¡­!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s look for them! I feel like we can no longer use detection. Kasumi, block the escape route!¡±

    Leaving aside Velvet and Hinata, Lily and Wilbert shouldn¡¯t be that far off.

    After all, the distraction onlysted briefly.

    Payne searched from the sky, while Kasumi and Chrome scored the ground while searching for hidden areas.

    Other yers also joined the search. Then, after everyone had thoroughly searched the area¡­

    ¡­They found out that no one was around.

    It was as if the four had vanished into thin air.

    Payne, Chrome, and Kasumi discussed the situation.

    ¡°How is this possible¡­?¡±

    ¡°Did we overlook anything? Or had they simply vanished?¡±

    ¡°I flew around for a bit. If something had flown by, I¡¯d have noticed. I also didn¡¯t see any suspicious effects.¡±

    It must¡¯ve been the light. After the light had subsided, there was no trace of the four. They had no choice but to think so.

    ¡°¡­Assuming it was some kind of powerful retreat method, then I can understand Velvet and Hinata¡¯s unreasonable powerup.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Basically, they¡¯d prepared an escape n¡ªone that¡¯d guarantee them an out even if they¡¯re inside the wall.¡±

    ¡°Seeing that they didn¡¯t immediately use that skill after the operation was foiled, that skill must¡¯ve had some conditions.¡±

    Payne concluded that it was an escape skill of some kind. Chrome and Kasumi shared his view.

    Judging from their series of actions, it¡¯d be more usible for them to prepare some skills rather than scrambling to get away.

    ¡°It seems that we¡¯ve been tricked.¡±

    ¡°Well, it can¡¯t be helped. We are still indebted to Sally.¡±

    ¡°Yes, she had an impressive reaction. Did she foresee everything?¡±

    ¡°Considering our next n, it seems difficult to defeat them without taking some risks.¡±

    The main force was the [Maple Tree], which boasted overwhelming defensive ability, and the [Congregation of Holy Swords], which specialized in groupbat and strengthening each other with buffs. Certainly, many methods could be used to counter the enemy, one of them by receiving the attack. However, by doing so, they¡¯d be giving the enemy an opening.

    If so, they had to devise a strategy. Now that Dred was gone, things had be more difficult for the [Congregation of the Holy Swords]¡ªnevertheless¡­

    While incorporating [Maple Tree] into the strategy, Payne concocted the next n.

 Chapter 450

    <strong>Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 450</strong>

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Devising Strategy</strong>

    After finishing the search for the four enemies, Maple and Sally waited for Payne and the others at the town.

    ¡°How¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t find them.¡±

    ¡°Most likely, they used a skill. They seemed to have nned it from the beginning.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll attack us again. Without [Formation Change], it¡¯d be difficult for them to escape.¡±

    Payne told Sally that he¡¯d like to devise a strategy as well. In order to win, it was important for both guilds to keep each other informed.

    ¡°Right. Chrome, can you bring Maple back with you?¡±

    ¡°Okay, safety first.¡±

    Sally did a great job. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t afford to screw up. Chrome lifted his tower shield. Meanwhile, since her actions had backfired, Maple seemed somewhat dejected.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Sally.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, don¡¯t worry. Let me protect you once in a while.¡±

    Hearing that, Maple regained some of her energy.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do better next time!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit.¡±

    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll withdraw for now. If you need me again, you can contact me.¡±

    Chrome and Kasumi, now joined by Maple, returned to the royal castle while keeping their eye on the outer wall. Payne was left alone with Sally.

    ¡°Can I ask you the details about what happened after you chased them?¡±

    ¡°I meant to inform you from the start.¡±

    When Payne filled Sally in, she nodded while mulling over the past events.

    ¡°It must¡¯ve been a skill of some kind¡­ One that we have no clue of whatsoever at the moment which is somewhat concerning. I think it¡¯s safe to assume that rather than eleration, it¡¯s a teleport skill.¡±

    ¡°I can see why. Still, they managed to escape. This time, it only ended with unteral damage¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­But the same probably won¡¯t happen again. We need toe up with something.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. If they decided tounch a surprise attack every time that skill bes avable again, we¡¯d be in trouble.¡±

    ¡°¡­In other words, we have to defeat those four.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. For that purpose, I¡¯d like an insight from the [Maple Tree].¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Sally pondered the question.

    ¡°I do have an idea, but the risk is high.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps, we roughly have the same idea. Then, let me make a proposal. I¡¯d like to put Maple on the battlefield.¡±

    ¡°So, it hase to this.¡±

    In the previous battle, Wilbert could¡¯ve easily sniped Chrome, Kasumi, and Payne from their blind spots.

    However, Velvet and Hinata prolonged the battle because they wanted to defeat Maple.

    Unless they could create a situation where their targeted yers would have no choice but toe out, they were unlikely to defeat them. Even if they started a raid to root out the four, there was a chance thetter wouldn¡¯t respond.

    In order to lure them out, they needed to prepare an incentive for the opponents. In other words, a ¡°bait.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t say it¡¯s unreasonable, but the risk is high. I¡¯d advise the [Maple Tree] against such a strategy¡­¡±

    ¡°I understand why you¡¯d say that, it¡¯s just¡­¡±

    When she separated her rational thinking and personal emotions, Sally knew the strategy itself was worthwhile.

    ¡°I¡¯m also very much aware that there are no alternatives. I alone won¡¯t be enough to lure those four.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no other yer as vital as Maple.¡±

    The existence of Maple was indispensable for the operation. However, there must be no [Indomitable Guardian]. Over time, the value of this operation will be significantly reduced.

    ¡°Then, please ask Maple for me. It isn¡¯t a decision I can make on my own.¡±

    ¡°If you say so.¡±

    ¡°In the meantime, I¡¯ll prepare myself.¡±

    ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll talk to her.¡±

    ¡°Please do.¡±

    They¡¯d to push themselves to the limit. This time, there was no room for even a mistake.

    ¡°It depends on Maple¡¯s response, but if she agrees, we¡¯ll make a sortie after deciding the details.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    Afterwards, Payne headed for the royal castle to chase after Maple.

    ¡°¡­Since this is Maple we¡¯re talking about, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll agree.¡±

    Sally had a feeling that Maple would ept it.

    Hence why she didn¡¯t evene up with a proposal.

    It wasn¡¯t like Maple was ignorant to the pros and cons of the strategy, but she¡¯d surely understand why defeating the four was of the utmost importance.

    Thus, Maple would probably ept the request at her own risk.

    ¡°¡­I have to focus.¡±

    To deflect all attacks. If she didn¡¯t put her mind to it, it would be useless.

    Thus, Sally went to the training center for warming up.

 Chapter 451

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 451

    Defense Specialization and Devising Strategy (2)

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    ¡°What do you think? Sally would like to hear your thoughts.¡±

    Inside the royal castle. The gist of the operation was surmised by Payne. Maple nodded upon receiving the exnation of the risks she had to take.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it!¡±

    Despite her anxious expression, Maple dered firmly.

    ¡°¡­Understood. Then, I¡¯ll be sure to work out the details of the strategy. Of course, I¡¯ll also make sure that you don¡¯t take any more risks than necessary.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Please inform all members of [Maple Tree] to gather at the royal castle training ground. Sally is waiting for you there.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    Maple went straight to the room where the guild members were waiting.

    ¡°¡ª<em>Everyone!¡±</em>

    ¡°Hey, what happened?¡±

    ¡°You seem to be in good spirits¡­ Or, motivated, to be precise.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll devise a strategy with Payne and make a sortie!¡±

    Upon hearing that, the six got noisy. Everyone had a hunch that the purpose wasn¡¯t simply tounch a surprise attack or to reduce the number of the enemy factions.

    ¡°Have you decided on the details?¡±

    ¡°Well, we¡¯re about to¡­ But it seems that we¡¯ll be attacking either the [Thunderstorm] or [Rapid Fire].¡±

    ¡°Which means, those four¡­¡±

    ¡°Eeh, we¡¯ll attack them¡­?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, sounds difficult¡­¡±

    Mai and Yui weren¡¯t confident because they¡¯d be at a disadvantage. However, it¡¯d be a different story if Maple were to aid them. If anything, the oue of the battle was up to the strategy.

    ¡°Then, it¡¯s time for a strategy meeting. Where¡¯s Payne and the others?¡±

    ¡°Sally is waiting for us at the training ground. Let¡¯s go meet her!¡±

    ¡°Okay. Then, what are we waiting for?¡±

    When Maple brough the guild members to the training grounds, Payne and Sally, who¡¯d arrived much earlier, were sparring intensely.

    Seeing how fast-paced their match was, it was difficult to think that they were simply having a warm-up. Maple was astonished by them.

    ¡°Hey, Maple¡¯s here. Hey, they have arrived!¡±

    At Frederica¡¯s call, the two stopped and put away their weapons.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised. And you were holding back?¡±

    ¡°I was.¡±

    ¡°How reliable.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get too serious and run out of fuel, okay?¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°Alright, then let¡¯s start the meeting.¡±

    Thus, Payne immediately conveyed the outline of the strategy.

    ¡°This time, the enemy is targeting Maple. We have to take advantage of that. In other words, we¡¯ll be using Maple as a decoy to lure them out.¡±

    ¡°Maple, are you alright with this?¡±

    ¡°I am¡ª!¡±

    Maple nodded at once in response to Sally¡¯s question.

    ¡°If we deploy all the members of the [Congregation of Holy Swords], I¡¯m sure the enemy will be intimidated.¡±

    ¡°Then, is it our turn?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Small numbers, yet highbat ability. [Maple Tree] is more suitable for this approach.¡±

    Then, Payne talked about Wilbert.

    ¡°However, if Wilbert finds out about our exact numbers, the enemy is unlikely to engage us in battle. It doesn¡¯t matter if he finds out that we¡¯re trying to lure them out, but I¡¯d like to not intimidate the enemy too much.¡±

    ¡°As in, we¡¯ll make the enemy think that they still have a chance to win and engage us in a fight?¡±

    As a result, only a few people¡ªincluding Maple¡ªwould join the front line. Others would serve as backups just in case.

    ¡°If we seeded in luring those four, Velvet and Hinata are most likely to be in charge of the frontline, with Wilbert and Lily as their vanguards.¡±

    ¡°I agree. I mean, considering their traits and skills, it makes sense¡­¡±

    ¡°Once the battle ensues, we¡¯ll go on to the offensive with the purpose of dividing them. Using Ray, I and the other members will attack [Rapid Fire] and iste [Thunderstorm].¡±

    ¡°Then, what are we going to do with Velvet and Hinata?¡±

    ¡°Those two are somewhat difficult¡­¡±

    Of course, Frederica was referring to Hinata¡¯s [Isted Area].

    Once that skill became avable again, Hinata would use it on the weakest units. If Mai, Yui, Iz, and Frederica were targeted, they¡¯d most likely die.

    ¡°We shall dispatch an equally strong duo to fight the two.¡±

    ¡°Then, it¡¯ll be Maple¡ªwho serves as a decoy¡ªand the other one is¡­ I guess it¡¯s already decided.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    Sally was best-suited to team up with Maple. Moreover, they werepatible in both skills and status. They had great chemistry, to boot.

    No one argued against the decision.

    ¡°That¡¯s the gist of it. Now, let¡¯s work on the details.¡±

    ¡°If it drags on, other members will probably intervene. In order to give advantage to Maple and Sally, we can¡¯t afford to make a mistake in division.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do our best, Yui!¡±

    ¡°Yes, if they get too close, let¡¯s do <em>this</em>¡ª!¡±

    Yui imitated the act of swinging a sledgehammer. Bying up with the most effective division, they¡¯d be able to defeat the opponents.

    Undoubtedly, it was a risky strategy, since it was greatly influenced by the movement of the enemy. Even so, considering the possibility that the enemy mightunch a simr surprise attack on the royal castle, it was necessary for them to make a move.

    The time for execution drew near. Maple and the others continued their discussions so that there wouldn¡¯t be major setbacks when carrying out the strategy.

 Chapter 452

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 452

    Defense Specialization and Devising Strategy (3)

    After they had formted a n, Payne bid farewell to the [Maple Tree].

    ¡°Frederica, I entrust the task of informing those who¡¯re involved to you.¡±

    ¡°Of course! See you, Maple, Sally. I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±

    In order for the [Congregation of the Holy Swords] to avoid Wilbert¡¯s search range, they¡¯d decided to prepare a highly mobile unit and stood by the rear in order to help with withdrawal or anticipate for worst-case scenario.

    Originally, Dred was supposed to assist with the movement, but this time, Frederica¡¯s buff would act as a substitute.

    ¡°Then, we¡¯ll move forward with the strategy.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    After hearing Maple¡¯s reply, the two left the training grounds.

    The remaining [Maple Tree] would also proceed with the preparations to the best of their abilities. For example, some would be in charge of replenishing items.

    ¡°Kanade, can you check for thest time?¡±

    ¡°Of course, Sally. I¡¯ll go check it out.¡±

    ¡°Would you like to spar with Kasumi after that?¡±

    ¡°Sure. That¡¯s the key strategy.¡±

    Once they entered the battlefield, they wouldn¡¯t have time to check inventory in detail. They had to do what they could so they wouldn¡¯t regret itter.

    ¡°Alright, now it¡¯s up to the other party to respond or not.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. But with the right incentive, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll take the bait.¡±

    Maple¡¯s sortie was the result of considering various factors. To force the opponent to make a decision, they¡¯d carry out the n past noon.

    If the opponent missed the opportunity, Maple¡¯s [Indomitable Guardian] would be avable once again. The powerful barrier would undoubtedly stand in their ways. As such, there was almost no reason for the enemy to let this chance slip.

    ¡°¡ªMaple!¡±

    ¡°If it gets dangerous, I¡¯lle to your aid right away!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I¡¯ll do my best to win!¡±

    ¡°Good luck!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll keep our eyes open!¡±

    Nevertheless, there was a limit as to how much they could prepare, since the battle mostly depended on the enemy¡¯s response. Due to not having time to use Iz¡¯s items, Maple didn¡¯t have any special buffs. Even so, she intended to sh with them on an equal footing, and then surpass them.

    ¡­After a while.

    As the time for departure finally approached, Sally finished her own preparations and joined Maple.

    ¡°Maple.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Sally! Let¡¯s do our best!¡±

    ¡°Yes, do you still remember the strategy?¡±

    ¡°I do, don¡¯t worry! Honestly, I¡¯m more worried about Sally¡­¡±

    Maple spoke with a slightly concerned expression. Sally yed a crucial role in the operation, making her irreceable.

    However, upon seeing Maple¡¯s expression, Sally smiled.

    ¡°Like I said, I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    Looking straight into Maple¡¯s eyes, Sally spoke confidently.

    ¡°You can trust me with your life.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I believe in you! I¡¯ll be sure to protect everyone else!¡±

    ¡°Alright, leave it to me.¡±

    Maple reciprocated her trust. When Sally was in danger, Maple would alwayse to her aid¡ªand the same went for the otherwise. She had to believe and depend on the others. Without trust, the operation was bound to fail.

    ¡°Maple, are you ready?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Thus, the two headed for the [Congregation of the Holy Swords], who were waiting in front of the outer wall alongside the members of the [Maple Tree].

    ¡°You¡¯ve finally arrived.¡±

    ¡°It seems like you¡¯re ready. Then let¡¯s depart.¡±

    The strategy would fail if they were to drag it out. Not wanting to waste time, Maple and the others quickly marched towards the enemy camp.

 Chapter 453

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 453

    Defense Specialization and the Calm before the Storm

    At night, when no battle ensued, the field was shrouded in silence.

    In fact, few yers went out, so no wonder it was quiet.

    With his special vision, Wilbert patrolled while looking over the field at night. Next to him was Lily, who served as an escort.

    ¡°I¡¯m d there¡¯s only a few yers. After all, the town is quite far from here.¡±

    ¡°Sorry about what happened this afternoon. I didn¡¯t mean to force your hand.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. At the time, we needed to figure out the source of the red spark.¡±

    In therge-scale battle during the daytime, they managed to minimize the damage by swiftly detecting Maple¡¯s surprise attack. If it had taken longer, the oue of the battle would¡¯ve been very different.

    ¡°We aren¡¯t being pursued by anyone, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. For now, anyway.¡±

    The two were worried that the enemy camp would pursue them. After all, they used such shy means to escape. It wasn¡¯t strange if there were yers who wanted to chase after them.

    However, contrary to expectations, no matter how long they waited, the enemy didn¡¯t show up.

    ¡ªWhen they started to think it was time to return.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    ¡°Did you sense something?¡±

    Just like when he detected Maple during the day, Wilbert¡ªwho was scanning for enemies in a wider range than usual¡ªconfirmed the presence of a yer who¡¯d entered his range of detection.

    They were still far away, though.

    ¡°Maple and Sally are heading this way¡­ As far as I know, there are only two of them.¡±

    ¡°<em>Seriously?¡±</em>

    Lily thought it was preposterous. Although their previous attempt had failed, they had demonstrated to the enemy that they were capable of eliminating Maple at any moment¡ª

    ¡ªand yet, the enemy still sent Maple out. Without [Indomitable Guardian] and proper escorts, to boot.

    ¡­The enemy had to be nning something.

    ¡°Will, are you sure there¡¯s only those two?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I only see two of them.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Then it has to be a trap.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. What should we do?¡±

    On one hand, they could just pretend they didn¡¯t see anything and retreat as nned.

    Undoubtedly, Maple and the others had some sort of goal, but who¡¯d have thought that they¡¯d go straight to the royal castle?

    If they didn¡¯t do anything, it¡¯d surely escte.

    ¡°Can you shoot them?¡±

    ¡°¡­Sure, but we have to wait a bit. However, you can¡¯t expect a clean hit.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure Sally will protect her. This might be a bit extreme, but it looks like it¡¯ll work.¡±

    ¡ªIt was difficult to guarantee a kill. If Will couldn¡¯t do it, then it was impossible for anyone.

    Still, in order to defeat them, they had to take the risk and start a battle¡ªsuch was their decision.

    ¡°Will, just in case, can you check again?¡±

    ¡°I swear there¡¯s no one.¡±

    After some contemtion, Lily nodded slightly.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do it. If they can manage to conceal arge group from Will¡¯s detection, I want to see how they¡¯re doing it.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll contact others. Maybe, they¡¯ll withdraw once the number besrge¡­ Or could it be, that¡¯s what they¡¯re nning?¡±

    ¡°Maybe so.¡±

    Lily contacted her own camp and summoned yers who could assist in the sortie.

    They were also trying to lure the two. In order to ensure that they couldn¡¯t escape, Wilbert and Lily waited patiently.

    ¡°We¡¯ll wait until the others arrive and surround them. That way, they won¡¯t be able to get any reinforcements. However, if the two show any signs of withdrawing, I¡¯llmence an attack.¡±

    For the enemy to deliver such a golden opportunity to their doorstep¡­ While it was quite fishy, they couldn¡¯t afford to miss it.

    ¡°See if you can protect yourself from this.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll continue looking for enemies. I¡¯ll report if I sense more enemies.¡±

    ¡°Alright, please wait for a little longer.¡±

    Both of them were determined. All that was left now was to wait for the battle to begin.

 Chapter 454

    Sorry I published 453 under a different novel.

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 454

    Defense Specialization and the Calm before the Storm (2)

    Maple and Sally walked in the field at night. So far, there was no sign of an enemy yer, but Sally kept a firm grip on a pair of daggers in her hands and was ready to pounce.

    ¡°Is no one there?¡±

    ¡°I wonder? I won¡¯t know from here until we¡¯re ready.¡±

    The two walked on a wastnd with few obstacles. With few ces to hide, there wouldn¡¯t be a sudden wave of enemy yers.

    ¡°It¡¯s almost time, but¡­¡±

    Sally checked the time again. They didn¡¯t have much time left before the date changed. This time, it was a strategy thatrgely depended on the opponent¡¯s response. If they failed to notice that Maple was out and about, the strategy would be for naught.

    But just when they started to think of going back to the base, lightning crackled, tearing the darkness of night asunder.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you toe out!¡±

    Velvet and Hinata appeared in front of them.

    The lightning must¡¯ve been the sign of their will to fight.

    ¡°That should be my line. Even though you scrambled to escape, you still have the power to fight?¡±

    ¡°I still have plenty of stamina!¡±

    Even though she should be exhausted, Velvet still smiled bravely. Rather than being tired, she was looking forward to the uing battle.

    Velvet kicked the ground and elerated at once, closing in on the two.

    ¡°[Northern Light]!¡±

    Velvet exuded fierce sparks of lightning.

    Sally had missed her chance to dodge.

    ¡°[Dedicated Affection]!¡±

    However, Maple was there. With [Dedicated Affection] that ovepped with Velvet¡¯s skill range, Sally could survive even the [Northern Light].

    With this, Sally could also attack. Maple understood her role.

    But in the next moment, a red sh passed through next to Velvet. A high-speed arrow which borrowed the light of [Northern Light].

    Apparently, [Northern Light] was just a distraction to allow Wilbert to shoot.

    ¡°<em>Haa¡ª!¡±</em>

    With a loud bang, Sally cut the arrow down.

    Thanks to [Dedicated Affection], she was also able to attack. Still, their n was to y it safe.

    Even at the moment when the battle was about to begin, Sally¡¯s attention was focused only on those who targeted Maple.

    ¡°Wow, you really knocked that arrow down! Amazing!¡±

    ¡°As I thought, it wasn¡¯t a coincidence¡­¡±

    Because it didn¡¯t go as nned, the two temporarily distanced themselves.

    Sally had guessed it from the moment Velvet appeared. After all, Velvet and Hinata wouldn¡¯t havee here in the first ce if there wasn¡¯t someone who was on the lookout for them.

    As such, there was a high chance that Wilbert was there.

    ¡°Maple, raise your shield!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Sally hid behind Maple and quickly readjusted her inventory tounch the sh bullet she took out.

    It was the signal for decisive action.

    The number of sh bullets would signal Wilbert¡¯s direction.

    Far behind them, Ray¡ªwho¡¯d been buffed by Frederica, Kanade, and Iz¡ªliterally turned into a meteor that flew across the night sky.

    Ray¡¯s movement speed multiplied. Wilbert saw the existence that was approaching them all at once.

    Gleaming in the sky was the light of a holy sword that was as blinding as Velvet¡¯s skill.

    The unleashed torrent of light made its way towards them.

    The two immediately swapped equipment to intercept it.

    ¡°[Puppet Wall]!¡±

    The soldiers summoned by Lily managed to protect the two, but then Payne, Kasumi, and Chromended on the ground.

    ¡°What a way to search for an enemy. If the entire area is blown away, we¡¯ll have no choice but to respond. Did you figure out where I am by looking at my skill?¡±

    Lily readied her weapon while replenishing her broken soldiers.

    ¡°You¡¯re an obstacle.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s fight!¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t get away!¡±

    Even without Ray¡¯s elerated speed, it¡¯d be difficult for the two people who didn¡¯t have high mobility to escape. Even if that wasn¡¯t the case, if the two withdrew here, Velvet and the others would be defeated. As such, they couldn¡¯t do that.

    ¡°Okay, Will, let¡¯s go with [Full Force].¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Both of them also readied their weapons.

    At the same time, more soldiers were summoned and the battle began in earnest.

    A meteor passed overhead. Velvet and the others were also aware of the signs of battle behind them.

    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s going to be difficult to support them.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you.¡±

    Sally poised her weapon. They didn¡¯t need to worry about Wilbert anymore. Now she could go on the offensive.

    ¡°Ahaha! It¡¯s actually very simple! We¡¯ll defeat these two and rush to save the others!¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    Velvet and Hinata also made a decision.

    The two didn¡¯t withdraw.

    ¡°I won¡¯t lose!¡±

    ¡°Me too!¡±

    Maple and the others seeded in luring the enemy into battle as expected. The rest of the people who sent Payne out were waiting in the back just in case.

    ¡°¡­This isn¡¯t good.¡±

    In order to assess the current situation, the members of the [Congregation of the Holy Swords] who¡¯d spread out to check the enemy contacted Frederica, causing her to make a sour face.

    ¡°<em>Haa¡­ </em>Mii and the others are joining the fight!¡±

    Even though they only had eyes for [Thunderstorm] and [Rapid Fire], if the enemy decided to go all out, it only made sense for them to summon [Kingdom of the me Emperor].

    ¡°I see. So, they responded to the call¡­¡±

    ¡°Now that it hase to this¡­¡±

    ¡°Older sister¡­¡±

    ¡°We have to do it!¡±

    ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s go! That¡¯s what we¡¯re set out to do.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    Frederica, Kanade, and Iz amped the movement speed of everyone at once.

    Frederica and the others had been waiting for that exact moment. In order to prevent further intervention from the [Kingdom of the me Emperor], they headed for the battlefield.

 Chapter 455

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 455

    Defense Specialization and the Decisive Battle

    ¡°[Multi-eleration]!¡±

    Afterbining Iz¡¯s items with Frederica¡¯s buffs and raising the movement speed, they started moving as a group.

    The purpose was to prevent the arrival of the [Kingdom of me Emperor].

    For that reason, some sacrifices were eptable.

    ¡°Do your best.¡±

    Looking from afar at the battlefield where lightning fell, everyone continued to move while praying for Maple and Sally¡¯s victory.

    The rapid detection of the enemy reinforcement by a widely dispersed reconnaissance force allowed them to take a preemptive position to block their path.

    ¡°We have to do our best, too.¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s stick to the n.¡±

    Even though they were traveling long distances, only a limited number of yers apanied them. It was difficult to say if they¡¯d prepared enough numbers to intercept the [Kingdom of me Emperor].

    Still, it didn¡¯t mean that all was lost. After all, [Maple Tree] had an ultimate weapon that could turn the tide of battle.

    ¡°Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±

    Mai and Yui rode on Tsukimi and Yukimi¡¯s backs, each equipped with sixrge hammers.

    They were none other than the ultimate weapon.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be sure to support you. No matter what happens to us, you don¡¯t have to worry.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to us!¡±

    With Mai and Yui, they didn¡¯t need to reduce their HP. It¡¯d been proven in the daytime group fight that the best strategy would be for everyone to cover the two.

    ¡°Yes, don¡¯t worry about anything, we leave the offense to you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best¡­!¡±

    The two were the core of the operation. Theck of numbers was offset by their godly damage output.

    ¡°Can you help me set up the defense?¡±

    ¡°Okay, hurry up. They¡¯re almost here. Hey, help me out.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    If they didn¡¯t assume a proper position, they¡¯d only be swallowed by Mii¡¯s me and the wave of the army.

    That said, even if they set up a perfect defense and waited inside the wall that Iz had prepared, they¡¯d just pass by.

    ording to the n, they couldn¡¯t afford to let the [Kingdom of me Emperor] pass by. In that case, they had no choice but to fight to the death.

    Even if they were annihted, as long as the damage was enough to stop the enemy advances, it¡¯d suffice. Of course, if they could win, that¡¯d be the best.

    ¡°You two should aim for Mii. Even if things get dangerous, don¡¯t stop attacking.¡±

    ¡°¡°Got it!¡±¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, today, I¡¯ll use my full power to protect you.¡±

    The bookshelf behind Kanade was stacked with magic tomes.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go on a rampage!¡±

    ¡°Of course, do your best.¡±

    They installed the necessary shield and prepared for the decisive battle. Mai and Yui were at the top. Then, the members of the [Congregation of the Holy Swords] were ced next to them for their safety. Iz, Kanade, and Frederica were at the back. In addition, the rearguard members and therge shield users to protect them had also taken position.

    ¡°What about [Daybreak]?¡±

    ¡°Hm, I guess there¡¯s nothing we can do about that¡­¡±

    ¡°What about dodging before it could hit us? Okay, that sounds difficult¡­¡±

    ¡°It looks like a skill that takes time to prepare, let¡¯s do our best to protect the two.¡±

    Back then, Mii unleashed a skill that ignored even invincibility on them. If she¡¯d used it, it¡¯d be difficult to protect Mai and Yui, who¡¯d be charging at the front line.

    If so, they had no choice but to prevent Mii from using [Daybreak].

    A whileter, in the darkness of night, lights began to appear.

    They came from both skill effects andnterns. The number of enemies was obviouslyrger than them. Not to mention, the army consisted of members from [Thunderstorm], [Rapid Fire], and [Kingdom of the me Emperor].

    However, instead of being intimidated by the number, they chose to believe in their strategy.

    ¡°Okay, everyone, let¡¯s do it! [Multi-Hardening]!¡±

    After Frederica had enhanced their defense power, everyone charged all at once. They didn¡¯t fuss over the trivialities. Instead, they tried to provide the maximum opportunity for the two to go on a rampage.

    Within the darkness, the enemy would quickly notice their presence, and a barrage of magic spells would fly all at once. A de of wind, a bullet of i ire. And then, a flurry of arrows cascaded from the sky.

    ¡°[Multi-Barriers]! Knots, [Round Chorus]!¡±

    ¡°[Multi-Cover]!¡±

    ¡°¡°[Heal]!¡±¡±

    Therge number of barriers that Frederica deployed with Knots absorbed most of them, while the tanks covered them from the remaining attacks while being healed.

    The stats raised by Iz and Frederica¡¯s buffs allowed them to prevail against the stray magic.

    While firmly protecting Mai and Yui, who couldn¡¯t be grazed by anything, they advanced. Perhaps due to the eleration from the buff, the distance between the two armies quickly closed.

    ¡ªBut then, a phoenix soared into the night sky, blowing red mes from within the crowd.

    ¡°[Scorching ze]!¡±

    Mii unleashed a wave of intense mes to obstruct the march.

    Even so, Mai and Yui didn¡¯t let it stop them. They knew everyone got their backs.

    ¡°[Distort]¡±

    After Kanade opened the magic tome, there was a crack in the dimension, and Mii¡¯s me was swallowed. Even though his skill was single-use only, the number of skills that could be said to be Kanade¡¯s trump card was iparable to other yers.

    The attack was easily nullified, and Mai and Yui swung their sledgehammers while still riding on their respective summon before counterattacking.

    ¡°¡°[Aerial Attack]¡±¡±

    Taking advantage of the momentum, they came flying at the enemy, creating a high-speed shock wave.

    Like a balloon pricked with a needle, it annihted the yers it hit.

    ¡°Dodge or cast invincibility!¡±

    The enemy yers began to scatter to keep some distance from Mai and Yui.

    At the same time, they amplified their defense, while also reducing the amount of damage taken.

    Nevertheless, it meant next to nothing to the pair wielding multiple sledgehammers.

    ¡°[Inferno]!¡±

    Mii¡¯s me approached once again¡ªthis time aiming straight for Mai and Yui. Pirs of me rose from the ground, trying to swallow the two.

    ¡°[Blessing of the Water God]!¡±

    Kanade quickly responded and the two were engulfed in a film of water. With the protection that negated the me, the two went on the offense.

    ¡°[Double Strike]!¡±

    ¡°[Light of the Spirit]¡ªHuh!?¡±

    ¡°[Protective Shine]¡ªReally!?¡±

    The yers who attempted to nullify the damage were blown away, bringing the rearguards down with them¡ªand they were considered the lucky ones. God knows where the yers who flew into the sky ended up to.

    ¡°¡°[Super eleration]!¡±¡±

    However, there were those who avoided it by elerating, and charged towards the two. It didn¡¯t matter if it didn¡¯t hit.

    ¡°¡°[Cover]!¡±¡±

    The [Congregation of the Holy Swords] were able to defend them in time, and Mai and Yui continued their attacks.

    ¡°We have to keep these two safe!¡±

    ¡°Let me protect you!¡±

    ¡°I see¡­!¡±

    Not only did the [Congregation of the Holy Swords] nipped their strategy at the bud, Kanade was also readying his skill. If they didn¡¯t regain their distance, they¡¯d be crushed by a sledgehammer. In the end, they gave up and pulled back

    The bizarre difference in offensive power made closebat offense and defense impossible.

    Mii gave instructions to Ignis, avoided the magic that came flying from the ground around Frederica, and switched targets.

    ¡°[Great me]!¡±

    The hellfire that lit up the night sky swallowed the magic aimed at Mii with its overwhelming firepower and rained down on the backline.

    ¡°[Multi-Barriers]!¡±

    ¡°Fei, [Item Enhancement]!¡±

    In line with Frederica¡¯s deployment of the barrier, Iz created a defensive wall with items to further strengthen the defense. The [Congregations of the Holy Swords] also added barriers to prevent Mii¡¯s mes.

    ¡°What a formidable defense¡­¡±

    While avoiding the magic, Mii temporarily withdrew. At first, she intended to burn down all the rearguards and destroy the formation, but as expected of the [Congregation of the Holy Swords], their formation was truly bnced. Even without the help of Kanade¡¯s skill, it¡¯d take considerable effort to break that defense.

    If so, <em>it couldn¡¯t be helped. </em>Thus, Mii took an aim at Mai and Yui, who were the main damage dealer, and shot.

    ¡°[me Emperor]! [me Spear]!¡±

    ¡°[Increase Target]! [Light of the Spirit]!¡±

    The two ming balls shot at Mai and Yui, as well as a gigantic me spear, were blocked by Kanade¡¯s damage nullification. Unlike other yers, Kanade was troublesome because no one knew how many skills he had. Even so, if Kanade was protected by arge number of barriers conjured by Frederica, it¡¯d be better to target Mai and Yui, who could only be protected with a limited number of skills.

    ¡ª<em>Or¡­</em>

    ¡°From Marx?¡±

    Mii looked over the message she received.

    <em>¡°I¡¯m buying us time. Our fighting strength is gradually diminishing, so even if it takes time, I want Mii to make a decision.¡±</em>

    Thus, she started chanting [Daybreak]. It was the countdown to the end of battle. Even Kanade¡¯s defensive skill was no match for this one.

    Afterwards, she could just regroup with Velvet and Hinata.

    Mii gave instructions to Ignis and descended to Marx¡¯s side.

    ¡°Mii, are you sure¡­?¡±

    ¡°I am.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll support you in the meantime and take care of those two.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Marx activated the [Night Castle] installed at his feet, and while covering for Mii, he confirmed that the preparations for [Daybreak] had begun and went forward with it.

    ¡°[Instation: Flower Cavalry] [Instation: Water Cavalry]¡±

    Marx summons a vine cavalryman and a water cavalryman to fend off any approaching yers.

    ¡°I can¡¯t let you do as you please.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t stop¡ª!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you!¡±

    ¡°[Remote Instation: Wind de]! [Remote Instation: me de]!¡±

    The weak points of Mai, Yui, and Kanade were that they had to watch out for the slightest attack. After all,pared to Maple¡¯s [Dedicated Affection], they had a gap.

    ¡°Clear [Vanish]!¡±

    A de of wind and a de of fire generated from Marx¡¯s trap disappeared along with the cavalrymen.

    For some reason, a spear made of ivy suddenly pierced the shoulder of a [Congregation of the Holy Swords]rge shield user. He stopped moving for a moment, and a damage effect popped out.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    ¡°Get down!¡±

    ¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±

    ¡ªIt was [Invisible], a simple and straightforward skill that concealed an object until it touched something. Nevertheless, the escorts of Mai and Yui had difficulty evading them.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t just spend my time doing nothing! [Activate All Traps]!¡±

    Ground. Air. Soldiersposed of various substances sprung up from here and there. All of them were enemies that Mai and Yui couldn¡¯t ignore.

    ¡°Clear [Colorless World].¡±

    All the various soldiers summoned by Marx lost their colors and became one with the air. Mai and Yui were forced to retreat at the center while therge shield users were being skewered. By standing between them and bing a wall, they could protect the two from the attack.

    Marx¡¯s skill had put Mai and Yui under pressure, and it seemed that the tide would turn¡ª

    ¡ªOr so they thought.

    Suddenly, a multitude of magic circles appeared, from which a barrage ofser beams resembling that of Maple¡¯s [Machine God] hit the transparent soldiers, causing them to materialize one after another.

    ¡°Uh, those are¡­?¡±

    If Marx had time to prepare, so was Iz.

    If allowed to make some preparation, Iz would be able to demonstrate power unthinkable for a logistic support.

    ¡°Eh¡­ What¡¯s with those items? They¡¯re almost on the same level as mine!¡±

    ¡°Good thing I have time to prepare!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a great help, but¡­¡±

    ¡°I know¡­¡±

    Marx was holding back. He was trying to keep Mai and Yui busy, perhaps to create an opportunity for Mii.

    Seemingly aware of his intention, the members of [Thunderstorm] and [Rapid Fire] were doing their best to the point of putting their lives on the line.

    ¡°Mai, Yui!¡±

    Kanade called out to the two as they mowed down the enemy.

    ¡°Kanade!¡±

    ¡°Most likely, they are nning to¡ª¡±

    ¡ª<em>it was toote.</em>

    Before he could finish his words, the sun appeared in the night sky.

    Mii was at the center of it. With the time Marcus earned, the fire was ready to scorch everything.

    ¡°[Daybreak]!¡±

    A glowing white me enveloped Mii, waiting for the moment of liberation that¡¯d soon arrive.

    As everyone else scrambled to escape, Marx reached out to Mai and Yui, who were on the frontline.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you get away! [Sacred Chain]!¡±

    A chain extending from the white magic circle restrained Mai and Yui on the spot. The duration was only 3 seconds¡ª

    ¡ªbut as long as they couldn¡¯t run away from Mii¡¯s mes, that alone would suffice.

    ¡°[Inferno]!¡±

    Approaching was a huge wave of me that created a damage zone on the ground. As their vision were covered in red, Mai and Yui turned to Kanade and nodded as if they¡¯d made up their minds.

    ¡°[Flight]!¡±

    Kanade saw it and evacuated to the sky. He believed in their decision.

    When Mai and Yui were freed from the chains, the mes were already upon them.

    Even so, they knew it was inevitable.

    If so, they had to decide.

    ¡°Please, Older Sister!¡±

    ¡°[Giant¡¯s Work]!¡±

    Mai swung five sledgehammers and mmed them into the wave of mes. If the STR exceeded the power of the enemy¡¯s attack, the damage would be nullified and bounced back. As such, what¡¯d happen if it hit a skill that <em>only </em>ignored damage immunity due to [Daybreak]?

    It was ast-ditch counter.

    Fire that swallowed everything. A part of it was pushed back around Mai, and the surge of me was reversed.

    ¡°First of all, Clear [Erase Existence]!¡±

    Just like Oboro¡¯s [Shadow Clone], Marx slipped through the wave of mes by disappearing from the spot.

    Beyond the zing fire that Marx saw¡ªthe me shimmered and danced in the burning field, obliterating many yers who couldn¡¯t escape in time.

    Most of them were incinerated, and only some of the rearguards survived.

    But.

    ¡°Seriously?¡±

    Mai and Yui, who were familiar with the raid boss, counterattacked.

    However, the figures of the two could no longer be seen beyond the wave of mes.

    In other words, they¡¯d sacrificed their lives for that one, final counter.

    The counter that resulted in tremendous damage.

    Although only a part of the damage was reflected, it was still a wide-ranging and unexpected event.

    Evacuation was dyed, and the formation was copsing.

    When Marx looked ahead, Kanade, who¡¯d soared into the air, had justnded on top of a huge rock that¡¯d been generated in order to avoid the charred ground.

    ¡°You still want to fight¡­?¡±

    Marx was in disbelief. Even if they had suffered a lot of casualties, [Maple Tree] still suffered the most damage. As such, they shouldn¡¯t stand a chance.

    After concluding her attack, Mii also rejoined Marx.

    ¡°Mii, thank you.¡±

    ¡°¡­Is Kanade the leader?¡±

    ¡°I think so.¡±

    When the mes on the ground had subsided, Kanade flipped through the magic tome. Mercilessly, Mii ignited mes from her hands.

    ¡°[ck Smoke].¡±

    ck Smoke spread all around.

    It wasn¡¯t a debuff, but a mere distraction.

    ¡°[Tornado]!¡±

    Wind magic shot from somewhere quickly swept away the smoke.

    Kanade had put up a smoke screen and fled¡ªthat was what everyone expected. After the smoke subsided, Kanade created a foothold with thick vines in the air, before closing in on Mii and Marx.

    ¡°¡°¡­!¡±¡±

    At the unexpected move, the two of them turned their gazes to Kanade.

    ¡°Above!¡±

    Someone shouted.

    By the time Mii looked up, the white figure was already approaching.

    Yui, holding a sledgehammer, was descending towards them.

    ¡°[Blue me]!¡±

    ¡°[Giant¡¯s Work]!¡±

    Yui reflected the blue mes.

    Mai was the one who countered [Inferno] using five sledgehammers. Afterwards, she used the remaining ones tounch Yui into the sky.

    Because they could do the same thing, they entrusted themselves to each other.

    Yui was better at ying boldly like Maple.

    While surrounded by the reflected mes, Mii rolled over and somehow managed to leave the spot.

    ¡°[Unbreakable Shield]!¡±

    There was only one reason why Kanade remained and came forward¡ªit was to ensure Yui¡¯snding.

    ¡°Hyaaa¡ª!¡±

    With a booming sound, Mainded on the ground and swung her sledgehammer at Mii.

    ¡ªThis distance, the broken formation¡­

    Mii could no longer avoid it. No one could help her anymore.

    Marx, who stood next to her, saw iting and threw a piece of paper at Mii.

    ¡°[Change]!¡±

    At the same time as the water robe unfolded from the paper enveloped Mii, Marx switched the positions of the two traps with his skill. The trap that wrapped Mii transferred her to the safety zone.

    ¡°¡­I leave the rest to you.¡±

    However, the cooldown was 1 minute.

    The devastating blow of the giant sledgehammer¡ªthere was no way Marx could survive the attack.

    It happened in an instant.

    A deadly blow that didn¡¯t even let him utter a single word reduced Marx into light particles.

    At the same time, Kanade opened the magic tome¡ª

    ¡°[sh Flood]! Run away, Yui!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Kanade caught Yui, who was swept away by the water, and quickly escaped. For times like this, they increased their [AGI].

    ¡°I hope the battle on the other side is over¡­!¡±

    They suffered significant damage here. With no more magic tomes to protect Yui, it became difficult to support her. Worried about the rest of the battlefield, Kanade rushed to Iz and Frederica.

 Chapter 456

    Thank you for yourments

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 456

    Defense Specialization and the Decisive Battle (2)

    It was the second round.

    In the wastnd, Lily and Wilbert confronted Payne, Chrome, and Kasumi.

    After Ray¡¯s rush and Payne¡¯s assault, Lily summoned arge army to make up for the difference in numbers.

    ¡°[Blood Sword]!¡±

    ¡°[Holy Sword of Brilliance]!¡±

    Kasumi liquefied her sword, while a stream of light burst from Payne¡¯s sword. The two easily took down the soldiers summoned by Lily.

    ¡°[Reproduction].¡±

    ¡°[King¡¯s Talent]! [Tactical Guidance]! [Unconceivable Power]!¡±

    However, even after being destroyed, new soldiers immediately entered the fray. Moreover, they were enhanced to protect Lily and Wilbert.

    ¡°[Revitalize]! [Multi-Cover]!¡±

    With Necro equipped, Chrome took charge of blocking the arrows. Although he suffered some damage, it wasn¡¯t enough to defeat Chrome, who excelled at regeneration.

    ¡°If you can reduce it to some extent, there won¡¯t be any problem!¡±

    Although the summoned soldiers weren¡¯t that much of a threat, it was difficult for the three of them. After all, the threecked the area skills to wipe out the enemy all at once.

    ¡°Payne, leave it to me. We can¡¯t defeat him like this.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±

    ¡°[Awakening]!¡±

    Kasumi summoned Haku and immediately made him [Gigantic] before rushing at the soldiers. Its giant body expanded and crushed the soldier.

    ¡°Haha, look at how easily they fell¡­ Somehow, it¡¯s disappointing. They should be stronger than that¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just going to recreate them again, won¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Obviously.¡±

    Lily also created soldier one after another and forced them to fight, but because of Haku, they stood no chance.

    Then, when the wall of soldiers fell, Payne stepped in at once.

    ¡°[Holy Sword of Destruction]!¡±

    ¡°<em>Haa¡­!¡±</em>

    Lily caught Payne¡¯s holy sword with the g in her hand.

    ¡°Time for me to be a spear-user!¡±

    Lily spun her g and turned the ded part at Payne, before delivering a quick thrust at him.

    Although summoning was her forte, it didn¡¯t mean that she couldn¡¯t fight in closebat.

    ¡°[Sand Herd]!¡±

    ¡°As expected, you¡¯re skillful.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that.¡±

    Lily sent the summoned soldiers to Payne¡¯s direction and surrounded him.

    If it was only one, Payne would have the advantage, but the reinforcements that manifested one after another didn¡¯t give him a chance tond a blow on Lily.

    Kasumi shed down the soldiers along with Haku, but they barely made a dent.

    ¡°[Cover]! Necro [Weight of Death]!¡±

    ¡°[Holy de of Conviction]!¡±

    Chrome stepped forward, shielding Payne from the enemy while slowing down Lily¡¯s movement speed.

    When Payne was freed from the soldiers, he shed at Lily at once.

    ¡°[Shield Me]!¡±

    In response, Lily summoned her soldiers to forcibly protect her from Payne¡¯s attack. With the g in her hand, she made the soldiers gather in front of her as she withdrew.

    ¡°Are you okay, Lily?¡±

    ¡°I am, but it¡¯s tough to go up against three people¡­¡±

    Seeing that Wilbert was focused on applying buffs, Payne and the others were convinced that the two¡¯s tactics weren¡¯t some simple, synergy-oriented ones.

    In the current situation, it should be more effective for Wilbert to join in the attack rather than applying buffs. Of course, if he did, it¡¯d be a major disadvantage for the three.

    ¡°Kasumi, I want to push through.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll try to keep up.¡±

    ¡°Leave the defense to me.¡±

    The worst-case scenario would be Wilbert taking over and locking on Kasumi.

    Haku¡¯s HP was also gradually decreasing due to the soldiers, so it¡¯d be best to swiftly conclude the fight.

    The three of them, who briefly shared the strategy, matched the timing and charged at once.

    ¡°[<em>Kenzan</em>]!¡±

    ¡°{Holy de of Fragmentation]!¡±

    As Haku rushed in on the soldiers, the two used their skills to wipe them out. Then, the three jumped into the empty space.

    ¡°Will, let¡¯s do it.¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Wilbert nodded slightly at Lily¡¯s call.

    ¡°[Dormant]!¡±

    The three recognized that chant, and that was why they felt ufortable.

    After all, if she wanted to summon a tamed monster, it should be [Awakening].

    ¡°[Authority: Divine Punishment]!¡±

    ¡°[Mind¡¯s Eye]!¡±

    Kasumi, who judged that Wilbert¡¯s skill wasn¡¯t buff, immediately used [Mind¡¯s Eye].

    The red pirs raining down on the area indicated where the next attack wouldnd. As soon as Kasumi saw then, she quickly recalled Haku to the ring and shouted.

    ¡°Chrome!¡±

    ¡°[Guardian] [Stout Aura]!¡±

    Immediately, damage cascaded on the area where the red pirs of light once were. To avoid them, the three escaped out of range. Upon looking up at the sky, the three soon recognized the source of damage.

    Clouds flowed, and what emerged faintly in the clear night sky were giant eyes and crack-like patterns that spread from them.

    Seeing those eyes looking down on the ground from the distant sky, the three soon understood how Wilbert was able to detect the enemy to such a vast extent.

    ¡°Ooh, you tamed an amazing monster.¡±

    ¡°Ours is a special one. It¡¯s controlled by two people.¡±

    ¡°So, this is where the real thing begins?¡±

    ¡°I see, we can no longer hold back.¡±

    To share the ability of a single tamed monster, Lily and Wilbert used two rings in order to borrow the power of the Celestial Eye.

    The specification of [Dormant] itself was quite special. If either one used it, not only did the ability that was shared flowed into one side, with the ban on said skill removed.

    ¡°Then, from on, we¡¯ll attack together.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s kind of troublesome to be able to see too much¡­ I¡¯d like to settle this as soon as possible.¡±

    Wilbert, now able to see father, deployed a magic circle behind him while frowning at therge amount of information crammed into his head.

    ¡°[Authority: Hellfire]!¡±

    ¡°[Tin Soldier] [Rapid Factory]!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s with those!?¡±

    From Wilbert¡¯s magic circle, attacks with various attributes were unleashed.

    In addition to his ability as a buffer, he could also be considered as a magician. While Wilbert¡¯s threat level jumped at once, Payne and Kasumi made use of the leeway gained from Chrome¡¯s guard to cut through the dancing me and fled.

    ¡°[Range Expansion] [Holy de of Protection]!¡±

    Payne¡¯s area attack mowed down the crowd of soldiers and took down the wall of the army around Lily.

    ¡°[First of the Sword: Heat Haze] [Warrior¡¯s Arm]!¡±

    When the chance presented itself, Kasumi quickly teleported in front of Lily and shed at her with three swords.

    ¡°How fast!¡±

    Lily caught Kasumi¡¯s sword with her g, but the katanas wielded by [Warrior¡¯s Arm] swung from behind and shed at her.

    ¡°[Authority: Regeneration]!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re quite skillful yourself! [Three Swords: <em>Kogetsu</em>]!¡±

    Kasumi once again engaged Lily, who¡¯d been healed by Wilbert. Compared to Lily, who¡¯s fighting style focused on summoning, Kasumi surpassed her in terms of mobility and one-on-one strength.

    ¡°[Reproduction]!¡±

    ¡°Ray, [Holy Dragon¡¯s Breath]!¡±

    As the shining breath blew away the summoned soldiers, Payne charged in at Lily.

    ¡°<em>Haa¡ª!¡±</em>

    Their weapons shed several times. Payne had the upper hand. He managed to create an opening and wounded Lily¡¯s shoulder deeply.

    ¡°[Puppet Wall]!¡±

    To create a distance, Lily tried to conjure another wall, but Payne and Kasumi wouldn¡¯t allow it.

    They broke through the fire and wall conjured by Wilbert, destroyed the new wall, and took another step forward.

    ¡°[Fourth of the Sword: Whirlwind]!¡±

    Unable to endure Kasumi¡¯s rapid consecutive attacks, Lily staggered.

    But when she was about to take another step¡ªa voice resounded from behind her.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bait!¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Depending on the role, there was a difference in speed. Currently, it was a high-speed battle where she didn¡¯t even have time to breathe. Because Lily had retreated, she¡¯d created a gap which the three took advantage of.

    ¡°Will!¡±

    ¡°[Authority: Pressure]!¡±

    ¡°<em>Guh!¡±</em>

    Chrome shouldn¡¯t be able to stop her. After all, it was outside the range of [Cover Mode].

    Still, the momentary hesitation had caused Lily to lower her guard. Kasumi immediately exchanged nces with Payne.

    ¡°[[Quick Change]]!¡±

    At the same time, Lily and Wilbert¡¯s equipment switched. A change in fighting style. The range changed significantly, as the one-shot deadly arrow set the target.

    ¡ª<em>I won¡¯t let you get away. I won¡¯t let you corner me.</em>

    ¡°Take this¡­!¡±

    The fastest shot. A single arrow flew, not letting Kasumi teleport, and pierced the center of her body.

    ¡°<em>Guh¡­!¡±</em>

    It worked.

    A slight relief flowed through Lily and Wilbert. On the brink of death, Kasumi didn¡¯t miss the opportunity.

    ¡°¡­ [Devourer de]!¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°This is¡­!¡±

    As she vanished, several blood-soaked swords appeared on the ground, causing the area to be enveloped in purple mist.

    It was an unremovable longsting debuff that could be released in exchange for part of Kasumi¡¯s stats.

    The skill that could only be used once per day, which required an irreversible price, was at its peak right now. Kasumi had no intention of dying for free. If she could buy victory with some status, then it was worth it.

    ¡°I leave the rest to you.¡±

    In response to Kasumi¡¯s final words, Payne nodded, then gripped his sword again.

    ¡°You did well.¡±

    While this debuff remained, Payne and Chrome couldn¡¯t be dealt with.

    It was thest resort to ensure the sess of the strategy. With this, the two couldn¡¯t help Velvet and Hinata. Realizing that there was nothing they could do if they stayed there, the two make a quick decision.

    ¡°[Dormant]!¡±

    ¡°[Awakening]!¡±

    ¡°Ray, [Full Magic Release] [Torrent of Light]!¡±

    While Payne brandished the radiant holy sword, Wilbert transferred all the power of the Celestial Eye to Lily.

    ¡°[Authority: Transcendence] [Formation Change]!¡±

    ¡°[Wide Range] [Holy Dragon¡¯s Light Sword]!¡±

    The figures of the two disappeared, and a wave of light engulfed them. The momentum never stopped. The stream of light illuminated the dark field.

    ¡°Did we get them¡­?¡±

    It wouldn¡¯t be strange if the skill reached the travel distance of [Formation Change], but there was no way to confirm it.

    ¡°Sorry, I was toote.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s because we went overboard. Our n to maintain the distance and prevent Wilbert from switching equipment failed.¡±

    Once Lily switched her equipment, her defensive ability would drop at once. They were waiting for that exact opportunity. However, the synergy between Lily and Wilbert inbat¡ªincluding equipment swap¡ªsurpassed their vignce.

    ¡°I feel bad for Kasumi. Even after what she did, we still didn¡¯t win.¡±

    ¡°Well, at the very least, Lily and Wilbert couldn¡¯t participate in battle any longer.¡±

    Although Kasumi was defeated, they seeded in removing those two from the battlefield.

    Thus, the fight ended with both sides suffering damage. Chrome and Payne headed for Maple and Sally as reinforcements in order to tilt the battle to their advantage.

 Chapter 457

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 457

    Defense Specialization and the Decisive Battle (3)

    Thunder roared.

    As the series of lightning intensified, Sally advanced towards Velvet, who was floating in the air with Hinata.

    ¡°You can still move? Now that¡¯s a pain!¡±

    ¡°Then you may as well give up.¡±

    ¡°Not happening!¡±

    Sally, who was within the effect range of Maple¡¯s [Dedicated Affection], didn¡¯t need to worry about Velvet¡¯s electric shock or Hinata¡¯s debuff.

    Despite receiving all the attacks from the top-ss duo, Maple remained unscathed and in perfect condition.

    ¡°[Commence Attack]!¡±

    ¡°[Ice Wall]!¡±

    As Maple fired some bullets, Hinata formed a freezing wall to shield Velvet. Sally lunged at Velvet with her dagger, only for Velvet to deflect it with her gauntlet.

    Hinata would counter Maple¡¯s attacks from a distance, while Velvet would engage with Sally.

    It was inevitable. Due to Sally¡¯s relentless assault, Velvet couldn¡¯t afford to be mindful of Maple¡¯s attacks.

    If she didn¡¯t focus on Sally¡¯s blows, she¡¯d be taken out at any moment.

    At the same time, they mustn¡¯t let that one-sided onught go on.

    ¡°[Iceberg]¡±

    ¡°[Purple Lightning]!¡±

    ¡°<em>¡ªWoah! </em>Sally!¡±

    Suddenly, a pir of ice rose from underneath her feet, knocking Maple off. There was no damage, given the purpose was to move Maple.

    Velvet¡¯s aim was Sally, who was no longer in the range of [Dedicated Affection].

    ¡°¡­You¡¯re quick on your feet.¡±

    ¡°I am.¡±

    After the st of thunder subsided, Sally poised her weapon, showing no signs of being affected.

    Even though the range of [Dedicated Affection] rapidly moved backward, Sally quickly reacted and withdrew a few steps to nullify Velvet¡¯s lightning damage.

    ¡°I can¡¯t win at this rate.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    While redeploying the weapon that was broken by the iceberg, Maple stood up, seemingly unaffected as well. Once again, the two were reminded that Maple was the real threat.

    Even without [Indomitable Guardian], they still had to deal with Maple¡¯s defense. Apparently, the thunderstorm that had defeated many yers was powerless against Maple.

    ¡°It¡¯s scary how invincible Sally is right now.¡±

    The current Sally was different from the person they once fought in a duel. When Velvet tried to overtake her from the side and charge towards Maple, Sally urately blocked her path. Somehow, it was more realistic to try to inflict damage on Maple by hitting Sally with a piercing attack rather than slipping past thetter.

    Be it Velvet¡¯s ranged attack or Hinata¡¯s movement debuffs¡ªall manners of skills that would hinder Sally were canceled by Maple.

    To defeat Maple, they¡¯d need to do something about Sally, but to defeat Sally, they¡¯d have to do something to the former.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything you can do, but¡­ If you are not going to do anything, here Ie.¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Sensing that Sally¡¯s aura had changed, Velvet and Hinata also paid close attention to her next move.

    ¡°[Second Coming of the Thunder God] [Rain of Thunder]!¡±

    Explosive thunder engulfed Sally, spreading to the surrounding area as torrents of lightning poured from the sky.

    The two couldn¡¯t mistake those skills, for they were the exact same skills that Velvet used¡ªa skill that put her at the center of battle due to its power and range.

    Velvet instantly dashed out of the range of the thunderstorm. Her eyes went wide at the scenery in front of her.

    ¡°Is this¡­ a copy or something like that?¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you test it out yourself?¡±

    ording to Lily, Sally was capable of using Payne and Maple¡¯s skills.

    Just like how Payne¡¯s skill was merely an illusion, the same might be the case right now.

    ¡°It¡¯s useless to run away, isn¡¯t it!?¡±

    Velvet didn¡¯t have the necessary skill to avoid that thunderstorm. Only the person in front of her, Sally, had such an abnormal evasive power.

    Even so, in order to defeat Maple, Velvet had to brave Sally¡¯s lightning strike.

    ¡°[Elec-el]!¡±

    After making Hinata prepare to heal using [Light Magic], Velvet elerated and leaped into the rain of thunder.

    Although the lightning hit Velvet directly, it passed through her body, before vanishing into the ground.

    ¡°You¡¯re quite daring, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an illusion, after all!¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right!¡±

    While keeping her distance, Sally closed the open blue panel and applied some buffs using an item. Velvet, who no longer needed to worry about the lightning, left Hinata to defend against Maple¡¯s attack as she focused on Sally¡¯s attack.

    As the earth shone with [Dedicated Affection], two shadows collided. Velvet¡¯s gauntlets would intercept Sally¡¯s every attack, scattering sparks as nking metals echoed.

    ¡°[Purple Lightning]!¡±

    An electric shock erupted from Sally¡¯s dagger, filling Velvet¡¯s vision.

    Even the effect was a perfect replica of Velvet¡¯s skill. Velvet evaded while keeping a safe distance.

    ¡°Even if it¡¯s an illusion, it¡¯s still a hassle!¡±

    Sally, who blinded Velvet, immediately changed her direction and chased thetter.

    ¡°[Ice Wall] [Ice Spear]!¡±

    Immediately, a wall made of ice towered to block Maple¡¯s line of fire. At the same time, an icy spear flew towards Sally.

    ¡°[Ice Spear]!¡±

    Sally easily avoided it and shot another ice spear at Velvet.

    However, Velvet was unfazed, and darted straight towards Sally.

    Contrary to her expectation, the spear of ice hit her left shoulder directly and shattered.

    ¡°<em>Wha¡­!?¡±</em>

    Fragments of ice, and a solid damage effect. The shock made her slow down.

    ¡°<em>Oboro </em>[Illusion]¡±

    ¡°¡ª<em>Tch! </em>[Electromaic Leap]!¡±

    Leaving a spark behind, Sally created a clone and set out to chase after Velvet.

    However, Maple wasn¡¯t so dull as to not see that something was off about the wall in front of her.

    ¡°[Commence Attack]!¡±

    She unleashed severalsers, every single one of them closing in on Velvet. Experienced with the weapon, there was no way she could miss.

    ¡°[Gravity Control]!¡±

    Velvet suddenly sprang up as if propelled by something invisible.

    Partly because the aim was urate, jumping was all it took for Velvet to avoid thesers.

    ¡°That¡¯s a great help!¡±

    Velvet ran through the air, dodging Maple¡¯s fires, beforending on the ground.

    Maple was also keeping her distance to steer clear of Velvet¡¯s piercing attack, so it was fortunate for the two that there was a dy in the impact of the attack.

    However, a new problem soon arose.

    ¡°It isn¡¯t an illusion!?¡±

    ¡°Find out for yourself.¡±

    Velvet observed Sally as she approached with her clone, and noticed that the dazzling electric sparks around Sally had begun to generate a simr white mist.

    It was cold. They didn¡¯t know whether or not it was an illusion to trick them.

    ¡°Stay away from the ice for now!¡±

    The damage wasn¡¯t big. After healing her injury using Hinata¡¯s novice healing magic, Velvet once again confronted the unpredictable Sally.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Satisfied with the sess of her first move, Sally focused once again.

    Her equipment, which looked like usual, actually consisted of two unique skills that had the same appearance, only concealed using [Camouge].

    In actuality, what was released was water. By matching the skill¡¯s name and effect to match Hinata¡¯s, and freezing it with [Frozen Earth], she had created a replica. However, since the opponents didn¡¯t know the trick behind it, no wonder they thought that she copied Hinata¡¯s skill.

    ¡°[Wind Cutter]!¡±

    Sally closed the distance while holding back. Unless she was hit by a piercing attack or went out of range of [Dedicated Affection], none of the opponents¡¯ attacks posed a threat.

    Sally prepared her next move, while readying [Reversal of Lies].

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    With a hand sign that had been decided in advance between the two of them, Sally¡¯s intentions were conveyed loud and clear to Maple.

    ¡°[Icicle]!¡±

    While restricting Velvet¡¯s movement with the newly created ice pir, Sally used the thread to propel herself towards Velvet.

    With Sally¡¯s speed, that distance was nothing.

    ¡°[Commence Attack]!¡±

    Maple switched to a turret, and scattered some bullets. Those that flew in Velvet¡¯s trajectory were either blocked by an ice wall, or repelled by gravitational pull. Meanwhile, those that strayed from the trajectory were left alone.

    As Hinata used her skill, Sally leaped towards Velvet.

    ¡°[Double sh]!¡±

    ¡°[Vibrating Fist]!¡±

    Predetermined skill movement. Because of that, an opportunity arose to score a hit on Sally, who was basically untouchable.

    Velvet deflected one of the glowing red daggers, and swung her fist at Sally.

    ¡°[Cancel]¡±

    The moment Sally uttered that, her second dagger deviated from the expected trajectory, and blocked Velvet¡¯s fist.

    Skill cancetion¡ªVelvet had never heard of such a skill.

    Sally took a step forward, and when Velvet tried to intercept it¡ª

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    There was a sensation of damage in her armpit.

    Velvet immediately turned her attention to that direction. A deep scar, as if it was gouged out. The overflowing damage effect told of the power of the attack.

    ¡°[Gravity Control]!¡±

    Hinata maintained her calm and forcibly pulled Velvet backward to rescue her.

    ¡°[Ice Castle] [Heal]!¡±

    With Maple supporting her, even though Sally couldn¡¯t move freely, she still couldn¡¯t get pass physical walls.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Somehow¡­ We¡¯re in trouble!¡±

    Sally was holding back. Despite being aware of that, they were still caught off-guard.

    Sally, blocked by a wall of ice, gave Maple a thumb up.

    They had practiced it before. While it was difficult, Sally had built her confidence and managed to pull it off.

    Sally had two gimmicks.

    To begin with, the [Cancel] skill didn¡¯t exist. She merely imitated [Double sh] using [Camouge]. Since the skill was never activated, it could be interrupted.

    She was merely holding her weapon.

    As for the deep wound she inflicted on Velvet¡ªthe blow that wasn¡¯t anticipated by both Hinata and Velvet¡­.

    It was Maple¡¯s bullet which she concealed using her body until thest minute.

    The moment it entered the range, Sally used [Mirage] to create an illusion as if the bullet flew somewhere else. But in truth, it flew right behind her, and when Sally stepped forward, the bullet pierced Velvet. Just like how she did it with Maple¡¯s shield, Sally had turned the bullet invisible.

    ¡°Next, I won¡¯t hold back!¡±

    The opponents didn¡¯t know how it worked, nor did they have time to figure it out.

    Sally witnessed as Velvet leaped into the air from the ice castle, before making hernding.

    ¡°Amazing! What happened back then?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t tell you.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t see thating at all! It hit me squarely¡­ <em>so¡ª</em>¡±

    As Sally tried to advance, she sensed that Velvet had made her mind and stopped.

    ¡°I won¡¯t respond.¡±

    Even when she tried to figure it out, she still couldn¡¯t keep up with Sally. Even with Hinata around, Velvet understood that she couldn¡¯t outperform Sally¡¯s wits.

    As such, a prolonged battle would just put them in a disadvantage as they¡¯d be exposing themselves to more unidentified attacks. If so, keeping up with their opponent¡¯s movements was thest thing they should do.

    Instead, they had to assert their dominance.

    ¡°[Thirst for the Top]!¡±

    A sudden burst of blue aura. In the next second, Velvet ran past Sally at an inhumane speed.

    Sally couldn¡¯t even react to that speed. Velvet overtook Sally with abnormal eleration.

    ¡°[Super eleration]!¡±

    ¡°[Super eleration]!¡±

    When Sally elerated, Velvet increased her speed again to match her.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    Sally couldn¡¯t catch up. Convinced of that, Sally warned Maple.

    ¡°[Commence Attack]!¡±

    Maple unleashed some bullets, but Velvet avoided them by elerating and bolting through the air with [Gravity Control].

    If she moved around so rapidly, not even Maple¡¯s attacks would hit her.

    ¡°[Cocytus]!¡±

    As long as she had [Dedicated Affection], using it on Sally would only stun Maple.

    Still, what mattered was that it struck Maple.

    ¡°[Fragile Ice Sculpture] [Rusting Armor] [Copse of the Star]¡±

    Debuffs scattered one after another, including one that Maple had seen before. However, Maple had also fought many enemies so far. She was aware of her own weaknesses.

    ¡°[Pierce Guard]!¡±

    Before Hinata could seal her skill with [Brainfreeze], Maple enhanced her resistance to pierce attacks.

    ¡°[Purple Lightning]!¡±

    Velvet also knew the danger of Maple¡¯s shield. She shot a lightning spark at Maple, who was frozen solid, and after seeing that her shield had stopped responding, Velvet charged towards her.

    ¡°[Brainfreeze]!¡±

    ¡°[Awakening of Fighting Spirit] [Explosive Fist]!¡±

    While strengthening the aura around her, Velvet turned around and swung her fist at Maple.

    Maple had used [Pierce Guard]. She didn¡¯t worry about defense, and focused on the iing attack.

    However, Sally interrupted her.

    ¡°[Transformation]¡±

    Maple instantly switched position with Sally, and thetter barely missed Velvet¡¯s fist.

    ¡°[sh Flood]!¡±

    When Velvet staggered at the spouting water, Sally stood in between them to protect Maple.

    ¡°Sa¡­ lly?¡±

    ¡°How did you find out?¡±

    While Maple was dumbfounded, Velvet asked Sally.

    They had switched ces. Even though they had no reason to. In the first ce, just because Velvet disyed some powerful skills of unknown origins, it shouldn¡¯t be enough reason for her to do that.

    <em>Even though the operation is supposed to be a sess¡­</em>

    Velvet skeptically stared at Sally.

    ¡°In our guild, there are people who are knowledgeable about various skills.¡±

    ¡°Is that why?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a piercing attack, right?¡±

    Kanade had perfectly memorized the descriptions, costs, and names of skills he¡¯d seen in the Divine World library. Meanwhile, Sally learned it overtime, and by now, she had everything hammered into her head.

    [Explosive Fist] was certainly among them.

    It was an extremely powerful attack¡ªbut that was it.

    ¡°<em>Aha!</em> I see! But there won¡¯t be next time!¡±

    She might be bluffing. However, Velvet was unlikely to attack mindlessly.

    ¡°Maple, be careful. [Pierce Guard] only prevents piercing attacks.¡±

    Coupled with Hinata¡¯s unparalleled debuff, the destructive power of Velvet¡¯s heavy blow would¡¯ve been beyond imagination.

    Maple also understood what Sally was implying.

    Right now, Velvet could directly break through Maple¡¯s defense. At least, those two seemed to believe that. Looking at the series of movements, it was a logical conclusion.

    ¡°When things get dangerous, I¡¯ll step in. Trust me.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I understand.¡±

    With Maple¡¯s reaction speed, her shield was unlikely to keep up with Velvet¡¯s high-speed attack. Therefore, Maple focused on offense, while Sally turned to defense.

    Maple and Sally stood side by side, pointing their weapon at their opponents so that they wouldn¡¯t be caught by surprise. From here on, the two would keep each other safe while looking for openings.

    The thunderstorm still did no damage. The only thing they had to watch out for was that fist.

    ¡°[Dash]!¡±

    Velvet marched towards them, and easily surpassed Sally, whose [Super eleration] had expired, in speed.

    Her one and only target was Maple.

    ¡°[Commence Attack]!¡±

    To avoid the rain of bullets, Velvet sidestepped before advancing. Velvet¡¯s movement was faster than Maple¡¯s reaction.

    ¡°[Thunder]!¡±

    A pir of lightning engulfed Maple. But rather than to inflict damage, the attack was aimed at her weapon.

    ¡°[Ancient Weapon]!¡±

    Blue spark. The ck cube floating around Maple cracked open, transforming into a cylinder, and began to rotate.

    With high-speed rapid fire, it spewed a flurry of blue glowing bullets at Velvet as she approached!¡±

    ¡°Oops¡ª!¡±

    ¡°[Barrel Deployment]¡±

    Maple redeployed the destroyed weapon and tried tond a hit on Velvet. However, thetter, who¡¯d seen iting, elerated in advance.

    ¡°[Ice Spear]!¡±

    An ice spear flew towards her, and an awful scenario shed across Velvet¡¯s mind.

    When Velvet dodged and escaped from the trajectory, Sally swung her dagger at her.

    ¡°I¡¯m faster!¡±

    As she halted to avoid Sally¡¯s dagger, damage effects burst from her shoulders. Maple was nearby, ready to shoot at any moment. Sally, who was aware of that fact, could erase whatever she liked with [Mirage].

    ¡°¡ª<em>Tch! </em>Again¡­!¡±

    Unidentified attack. However, the two decided to not flinch anymore. After being healed, Velvet dived straight into the battle once again.

    ¡°[Frozen Earth]!¡±

    After Hinata restrained Maple, the two passed next to Sally and closed in on Maple.

    ¡°¡ª<em>Tch!¡±</em>

    ¡°I won¡¯t hold back either.¡±

    A sensation of heavy damage¡ªone unlike never before¡ªstruck Velvet. The scar on her abdomen wasn¡¯t from Maple¡¯s bullets or Lasers.

    ¡°[Seeping Chaos]!¡±

    ¡°[Ice Wall]!¡±

    The moment her focus diverted from Maple¡ªthe released monster¡¯s mouth collided with the ice wall, leading to a massive explosion.

    ¡°[Triple sh]!¡±

    Velvet turned around at Sally¡¯s voice and widened her eyes. There was a reason why Velvet was ruptured and torn.

    Sally held a blue dagger in her hand¡ªand a gray longsword on the other.

    Sally shed at Velvet with the same momentum.

    ¡°You still have some tricks up your sleeve!¡±

    ¡°[Cancel]!¡±

    Of course, Sally, who didn¡¯t activate her skill, lured Velvet to change her movement, and extended her long sword forward.

    ¡°[Transform]¡±

    The longsword then transformed into a spear, and its length pierced Velvet.

    Seeing that Velvet had faltered, Sally reverted her weapon into a blue dagger, before hiding it behind her back and transferring one weapon from one hand to another.

    Now, they wouldn¡¯t know which one was fake anymore.

    ¡°Seriously, where did you learn all those annoying skills?¡±

    Not just the skill effect, even Sally¡¯s weapon and equipment were fake. Now that [Mirage] had changed the skill name every time, only Sally could tell which was which.

    It was as if Velvet was being rebuked for trying to slip past her. Although Velvet¡¯s damage output was high, the battle was still very much under Sally¡¯s control.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    That said, they still had some advantage¡ªnamely the thin sheet of ice. Even so, Sally¡¯s calmness made them hesitate.

    Sally had be so unpredictable¡ªeven though that was supposed to be Maple¡¯s role.

    They could still win this¡ª<em>but¡­</em>

    ¡°[Poison Dragon] [Commence Attack]!¡±

    While Maple was on the offense, Sally collected her thoughts.

    Velvet and Hinata¡¯s skillposition still left Sally anxious.

    Both Velvet and Hinata had two aces. Thunder and martial arts¡ªice and gravity.

    Without a doubt, there were still some skills that the two hadn¡¯t used. Sally could confidently say that because she herself had two unique skills and used them interchangeably. As such, the two probably had multiple unique skills of the same kind. To top it off, unlike Sally and her deceptive element, the two exuded a sense of unity.

    ¡°Is there no choice but to split those two?¡±

    That way, there¡¯d be one less thing to think about. However, she wasn¡¯t optimistic about that, so it¡¯d remain as an option for now.

    ¡°Maple, when the timees, I¡¯ll set it.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    If the skill could be used effortlessly, then Velvet would¡¯ve used it from the beginning. For example, the [Thirst for the Top]. The fact that she didn¡¯t prove that she couldn¡¯t.

    If that was true, the opponent wouldn¡¯t just stay silent and wait. As this was her final moment of truth, Sally opened her inventory and reapplied some buffs to herself.

    ¡°¡­Velvet.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m counting on you!¡±

    Velvet shook off her hesitation and replied.

    She came here knowing the risks. Besides, it¡¯d be better to go all out than doing things half-heartedly.

    ¡°Here Ie!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°[Zero Gravity]!¡±

    ¡°Wow!?¡±

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    Sally, who showed a grim expression, had a foreboding feeling.

    Immediately after Hinata¡¯s purple light filled the area, everything that wasn¡¯t fixed to the ground floated up.

    Flying bullets, poison that soaked into the ground, and even the lightning bolts. As Maple, who¡¯d absorbed the skills meant for Sally, helplessly floated in the air, Velvet swiftly utilized Hinata¡¯s gravity skill to soar through the sky.

    ¡°Hinata!¡±

    ¡°[Commence Attack] ..<em>.Eh!?¡±</em>

    Maple¡¯s eyes widened when she saw that her newly shot bullets were floating aimlessly in the air.

    ¡°[Icicle]! [Thread User]!¡±

    Sally flew towards the sky as well.

    Still, unlike her opponents, who could freely manipte gravity, her mobility was limited.

    ¡°You¡¯re slow!¡±

    ¡°[Fragile Ice Sculpture]! [Rusting Armor]! [Copse of the Star]!¡±

    ¡°Maple, block it!¡±

    ¡°[Atrocity]!¡±

    ¡°[Explosive Fist]!¡±

    Upon hearing Sally¡¯s voice, without hesitation, Maple used [Atrocity]. In the next moment, Velvet¡¯s fist pierced Maple¡¯s monster-like body, and along with tremendous damage effect, her flesh was ruptured as her body was thrown into the ground.

    ¡°[Awakening]! Syrup, [Nature]!¡±

    ¡°[Icicle]!¡±

    Maple cushioned her fall with a vine made of syrup, while Sally conjured an ice pir to shield the two. Afterward, she tied Maple to the ground with a thread so she didn¡¯t fly away.

    Although Maple was stuck, it was much better than floating.

    ¡°I can¡¯t hold back anymore! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Now only Sally could protect maple. On top of that, now that all projectiles had been neutralized, Maple was basically unarmed.

    ¡ªTo ovee Sally¡¯s defense.

    That was theirst and biggest hurdle.

    The battle was nearing its end, Sally advanced to intercept Velvet.

    ¡°[Northern Light]!¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    As Sally activated a skill that she shouldn¡¯t have, Maple and the others hid in the pir of light.

    Regardless of what Sally did, Velvet¡¯s speed was still unmatched. At least, that was how it was supposed to be, but when Velvet rapidly zapped from ce to ce, something invisible shed at her.

    ¡°Again¡­!?¡±

    Passing through Hinata¡¯s ice and gravity defense, Sally somehow managed tond a hit on Velvet over and over again.

    Something hit her arms, and then her legs. Every time she tried to get close to Maple, damage effect would burst somewhere on her body.

    Even so, the two regrouped and waited for an opportunity.

    The moment the [Northern Light] subsided, Sally and Maple were visible once again, and Velvet immediately darted towards her.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you.¡±

    ¡°¡°[Awakening]¡±¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Sally braced herself at Hinata and Velvet¡¯s deration. As she prepared for worst-case scenario, she ransacked her brain for a solution.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bluff, right?¡±

    Sally stepped forward and swung her dagger. In the middle of its trajectory, it morphed into a greatsword, sinking into Velvet.

    ¡°I knew it.¡±

    The damage effect spurted like fresh blood.

    Two people who alternated between two types of powerful skills. Unfortunately, it came with a cost, namely that it filled all the slots for essories.

    The two couldn¡¯t equip [Bridge of Bonds].

    Nevertheless, that fact, which had remained a secret for a long time, dyed Sally¡¯s attack for just a moment¡ª

    ¡ªand that alone was enough.

    The greatsword ruptured her flesh, shattering her bone. While taking damage, Velvet slipped past Sally at maximum speed.

    ¡°[Deploy Barrel] [Commence Attack]!¡±

    ¡°[Iron Will]¡±

    Without Sally, who gave Maple a chance to dodge, Velvet effortlessly bypassed Maple¡¯s barrage of attack using her strong damage cut and Hinata¡¯s defense, although the duration was short.

    ¡°[Purple Lightning]!¡±

    Velvet destroyed Maple¡¯s weapon with lightning before jumping into range.

    ¡°[Ancient Weapon]!¡±

    Maple deployed an indestructible weapon. She extended her right hand, prompting a ck pir, from which sparks were emitted, to rotate.

    ¡°Hinata!¡±

    ¡°[Fragile Ice Sculpture] [Rusting Armor] [Copse of the Star]¡±

    ¡°[Explosive Fist]!¡±

    Before Maple could attack, Velvet¡¯s fist mmed onto her.

    Naturally, she couldn¡¯t avoid it.

    Just as they had expected, the blow broke through Maple¡¯s defense and blew away her HP.

    ¡ªNevertheless.

    Maple¡¯s expression distorted by the damage, but the sparks around her right hand only intensified in glow.

    ¡°[Counter]!¡±

    ¡°¡ª! [Thunder Beast]!¡±

    Blue light overflowed from her right hand. Maple only had 1 HP left, but since she was still alive, she could still move. When Velvet saw that Maple was using her deadly blow, she transformed into a giant white tiger for emergency retreat. However, Maple¡¯s blueser, which reached the far end of the horizon, pierced her, and Velvet was blown away.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    It was an absolute trust. When Sally wordlessly passed by Velvet, that was when Maple knew she¡¯d survive.

    Therefore, neither evasion nor defense was needed¡ªshe only had to attack.

    ¡ªShe only had to entrust herself to Sally¡¯s judgement.

    While pretending to reapply buffs, Sally was actually checking the timer. The n was executed at this specific time, relying on Sally¡¯s precise time management down to the second. Right now, the clock was just a few seconds past twelve.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Next is our turn.¡±

    Sally closed in on Velvet. There was still a difference in speed. Now, it was either to withdraw, or fight back.

    Sally didn¡¯t hesitate. Only onest step remained to this n, and that was to proceed.

    ¡°[Godspeed]!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­!¡±

    Hinata, who tried to stop Sally in her tracks, was astonished. Sally disappeared using Dred¡¯s skill.

    ¡°Velvet!¡±

    The space on the left distorted, and Sally emerged from it. Even if Velvet was suspicious, she couldn¡¯t help but respond.

    ¡°[Ice Spear]!¡±

    When Hinata¡¯s ice spear hit its mark, they both discovered it was an illusion. After all, it was uncharacteristic of Sally.

    The real one was on the right. Sally, who had distracted them with [Mirage], used [Godspeed] to close the distance, and pulled the string extending from her left hand.

    ¡ªConnected to it was Maple who¡¯d madeplete recovery.

    <em>Her chest.</em>

    From behind the remnants of the armor, reddish-ck sphere was crackling and emitting sparks. The light of the [Break Core] intensified, ready to blow the two away.

    ¡°No way¡ª¡±

    ¡°¡ªPlease escape.¡±

    Instantly, Hinata severed the circuit of gravity that connected the two, and jumped in front of Velvet.

    ¡°[Isted Area]!¡±

    The targets were herself and Maple. A purple dome spread out from Hinata, confining them in an isted space so that no one else could interfere.

    ¡°Eeeh!?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, I won¡¯t let you.¡±

    Hinata smiled gently.

    In the next second, the space created by Hinata was swallowed in an explosion.

 Chapter 458

    Thank you for pointing out errors in the

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 458

    Defense Specialization and Omission

    ¡°<em>Gaah! </em>Payne can¡¯t reach that far!?¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped, Payne shines when the enemy is in range. Still, <em>well done.</em>¡±

    In the spectator area, the fierce battles that started almost at the same time would be settled in order, while the fallen yers would be teleported there.

    The frustrated voice belonged to Drag.

    The torrent of light unleashed by Payne was barely enough to capture Lily and Wilbert.

    Drag and Dred, along with Misery and Shin, were watching the battle. At that time, Mai and Kasumi, along with Marx and Hinata approached them.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you two. I had to protect Mii.¡±

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine! I didn¡¯t even see iting!¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s amazing that you jumped to Mii¡¯s defense.¡±

    They were left with no choice but to entrust the rest to others. Surely, Marx protected Mii because he trusted her.

    ¡°Yui, I¡¯m d it went well¡­¡±

    Seeing Marx there without Yui, Mai, who got teleported there, breathed in relief. After all, it proved that the strategy devised by the two went well.

    Although they couldn¡¯t achieve their prime goal¡ªwhich was to take out Mii, they were still able to defeat Marx. As such, they were proud of their achievements.

    ¡°The two of you were splendid back then! You outsmarted them with such a bold move!¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m certain no one else can imitate that.¡±

    ¡°T-thank you very much!¡±

    Only Mai and Yui could shoot yers up into the sky and deflect attacks.

    ¡°In any case, that sure sounds like something Maple would do. Did they inherit her reckless courage? If it¡¯s her, she¡¯d probably be excited with the fireworks or something.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯ll probablye up with something else.¡±

    Dred agreed with Drag¡¯s reasonable conclusion.

    ¡°If possible, I want to avoid that scenario¡­¡±

    ¡°Me, too¡­¡±

    ¡°Still, I didn¡¯t expect that from Kanade.¡±

    While the members of both camps were discussing, Hinata stared nervously at the monitor.

    ¡°Are you worried about Velvet?¡±

    ¡°Kasumi¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    After the battle was over, the monitors disyed small-scale battles which happened here and there, and it was unclear what happened to the follow-up battles.

    ¡°I want to hope for the best, but looking at this situation¡­¡±

    ¡°I hope she¡¯s safely regrouped with Mii¡­¡±

    The fact that Velvet and Mii weren¡¯t transferred there was very telling.

    There was still a bit more time before Velvet¡¯s status enhancement expired.

    Hinata was sure that Sally would rush to help the trapped Maple. As such, she could only hope that Velvet took advantage of their difference in speed to retreat.

    ¡°If Maple and Sally won, that¡¯s alright too. Payne will take my ce.¡±

    A mobile attacker. Each yer had their own specialty, but there were many yers who could act as a substitute due to matching roles.

    Because of that, Kasumi still attacked despite knowing the danger.

    After all, since Maple and Sally were able to defeat Hinata, one of the key yers, her sacrifice wasn¡¯t in vain.

    The two waited for a while, but the next battle didn¡¯t ur. Shin called out to them, wanting to hear their ount of the second battle.

    ¡°Kasumi, did you purposefully hide that debuff?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t like I was hiding it. I just didn¡¯t get the chance to use it.¡±

    ¡°[Maple Tree] doesn¡¯t seem to need debuffs.¡±

    Shin nced at Mai. Even without debuffs, they could still whack the enemy into space, after all.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been outyed by the two of you. Though, I feel sorry for Chrome.¡±

    They never expected that Wilbert possessed a crowd control skill that was as strong as Hinata¡¯s due to his tamed monster.

    If not for that skill, Chrome would¡¯ve been able to catch up with them.

    ¡°It should¡¯ve been my responsibility. If only I had survived.¡±

    If Dred and Shadow had been there, emergency evacuation and other movements could¡¯ve been done more flexibly. Originally, Dred was supposed to maneuver at night. The early exit of such a central figure shifted the direction of the battle.

    ¡°Frederica will scold youter.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped.¡±

    ¡°Hinata and Velvet were also good¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. We did it to win.¡±

    For Hinata and others, the enclosure was done with the purpose of taking out Maple, which in turn would seal the victory once and for all. After all, without Maple, Sally shouldn¡¯t pose a threat. After taking care of her, they¡¯d regroup with the Kingdom of the me Emperor. However, Sally¡¯s performance surpassed Velvet and Hinata¡¯s expectations.

    ¡°Oh, right! What¡¯s with Sally?¡±

    ¡°That was a brilliant move.¡±

    ¡°Really? I missed the show¡­¡±

    ¡°Most of the time, I failed to anticipate her next move.¡±

    Hinata, who faced her, and Shin, who¡¯d been paying close attention to Sally¡¯s battle ever since his defeat, began to discuss her.

    ¡°Dred, what do you think? I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve done one-on-one with her before.¡±

    ¡°Only for a bit, though. During the fourth event. Now, I don¡¯t think I stand any chance.¡±

    Dred answered Drag¡¯s question while slightly shaking his head.

    ¡°Huh, really? I thought Dred would be able to hold his ground to an extent.¡±

    ¡°My agility can¡¯t bepared to hers. Besides, Shadow is also not suited for one-on-onebat.¡±

    Dred said that Payne would be a better match than himself.

    ¡°Come to think of it, Sally was also using [Godspeed].¡±

    ¡°Eh, no way¡­ right?¡±

    Hearing Misery¡¯s words, Marx asked Dred, but thetter only shrugged as if he had no idea.

    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for that, I¡¯d have the option to flee, but¡­¡±

    Instead, Hinata had allowed her to speed up and disappear.

    She assumed that Sally didn¡¯t actually possess that skill, which in turn dyed her decision.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t pay more attention, you¡¯d be dead. Also, how did she transform her weapon? Her skills are too strange!¡±

    ¡°Eeh¡­?¡±

    Marx showed a disgusted expression. It was the same reaction as when he saw Maple¡¯s monstrous transformation.

    Paying close attention to Sally¡¯s attention, they tried to bring back even one piece of information to the Kingdom of the me Emperor. Thus, the three people, led by Shin, stared at the monitor.

    Hinata also decided to watch over the activities of the guild members of [Thunder Storm], and sat down on the nearby chair.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    In the midst of that, Dred let out a sigh, saying that he managed to return the favor to [Thunder Storm].

    Dred didn¡¯t know how to reproduce other skills, but [Godspeed] was genuine.

    A letter Dred sent before he died. It had something to do with Frederica¡¯s skill [Homing Pigeon]. That skill didn¡¯t only deliver buffs, but also skills.

    However, due to its strength, only one person¡¯s skills could be transferred.

    Therefore, it was decided that Dred, who had several highly effective skills, would send them.

    ¡°For the time being, it seems to be useful?¡±

    ¡°You did a good job. Oh, and Knots, too.¡±

    ¡°Frederica will get carried away again.¡±

    ¡°Haha, she definitely would! Although, she works better that way.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    The two continued to watch the game. Despite how the number of influential yers had dropped, the event itself wasn¡¯t over yet.

    Kasumi and Mai decided to stay in their ces.

    From now on, they¡¯d cheer while praying that the next yers who got transferred there weren¡¯t the members of [Maple Tree].

    ¡°As expected of Sally. She performed better than during the warm-up.¡±

    ¡°She was also amazing when she fought alongside Kasumi.¡±

    ¡°Sally is the type to perform better when she can¡¯t afford to lose. But even so¡­¡±

    Although Kasumi and Mai had heard about the effect of the skill and what it could do in advance, they were blown away when she put it into practice.

    After all, it was difficult to gauge the strength of Sally¡¯s new skills without actually seeing them in action.

    However, they were still highly dependent on Sally¡¯s ability in the first ce. Even if the two had the same set of skills, they doubted they¡¯d be able to use it like her.

    ¡°Maple is still there. I believe in her.¡±

    ¡°Me, too¡­! I believe that Yui will do her best for my sake!¡±

    The remaining members of [Maple Tree] were also elite. The yers with whom they could entrust the rest.

    While hoping for a victory for the guild, the two of them also shifted their eyes to the monitor.

 Chapter 459

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 459

    Defense Specialization and Waiting for Morning

    As Maple emerged from inside the purple dome created by Hinata, Sally rushed to her side. After making sure that Velvet was nowhere in sight, she dispelled the illusion of thunderbolt and restored Maple¡¯s HP.

    ¡°Good job, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Thanks! What about Velvet?¡±

    ¡°She seems to have retreated.¡±

    Although Velvet was unlikely to have a hidden skill like [Godspeed] to ensure her escape from a fierce and uncertain battle, Sally couldn¡¯t let her guard down.

    Sally prioritized Maple¡¯s safety.

    ¡°Thank you for your hard work, Sally! You were amazing!¡±

    ¡°Really? Thank you. Maple also didn¡¯t stop attacking back then.¡±

    ¡°Hehehe, I believe in you!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d I delivered.¡±

    The timer couldn¡¯t be checked during battle. Only Sally was capable of calmly counting the time during the penultimate moment.

    Against two opponents who had enough power to defeat them head-on, they used their respective strengths to triumph.

    ¡°<em>Phew, </em>we made the right call by ending it with [Break Core]. Anyone who had never seen it would have a problem avoiding it.¡±

    There weren¡¯t many enemies that Maple tried to defeat by self-destructing with her skill.

    Only the members of [Maple Tree] knew the exact range of the powerful explosion.

    ¡°You did a good job researching it! Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to use it!¡±

    ¡°I agree. Certainly, it¡¯d have been unusable if left as it was.¡±

    For a long time, Maple had apparently misunderstood about [Break Core]. She managed to survive not because of her defensive power, but because of the [Bomb Eater] she¡¯d obtained a long time ago.

    Because of that, she was able to survive even after self-destructing despite receiving defense debuff from Hinata.

    By changing her perception, she was able to choose that grand move for the finishing blow.

    ¡°I¡¯m d it went well¡­ But, I¡¯m a bit tired¡­¡±

    That was another reason why they didn¡¯t pursue Velvet. Sally, who had improved her performance for that battle, was at her limit. Her focus dropped, while her body became sluggish along with her reaction time. She didn¡¯t think she could deliver the same performance again.

    Ray descended from the sky to help the two.

    ¡°Are you two okay!? What happened!?¡±

    ¡°Hinata lost. But I think Velvet has retreated.¡±

    ¡°Kasumi has fallen. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll attack for a while because of the debuff. ¡­I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°They are forced to stop. I want to defeat Velvet once and for all, too.¡±

    Although the majority of the n went without a hitch, Maple¡¯s [Indomitable Guardian] wouldn¡¯t be up for another day.

    It¡¯d have been better if they could defeat Velvet, but that part went awry.

    ¡°Uhm, Sally is reaching her limit¡­¡±

    ¡°Because she has been fighting all day. I know.¡±

    She didn¡¯t have to force herself. Without Hinata, Velvet¡¯s defensive power and mobility should¡¯ve dropped dramatically. Another opportunity would arise.

    ¡°There¡¯s a message¡­ Mai and Gilmen from the [Congregations of Holy Swords] were taken out. However, it seems that they defeated Marx and some other guild members.¡±

    ¡°It would¡¯ve been a disadvantage in terms of numbers, but leaving that aside, the results are great.¡±

    Thus who were up against the [Kingdom of the me Emperor] must¡¯ve had it rough.

    Even so, they managed to prevent the invasion, and the opponent also suffered some damage. Therefore, it could be considered quite a sess.

    ¡°Velvet, Mii, and Lilyare still alive, which is a cause for concern¡­ We shouldunch the next wave of monsters.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also thinking the same.¡±

    They¡¯d add pressure using [Darkness of Rebirth]. Last time, its advance was stopped by Hinata¡¯s [Frost Country], but next time it wouldn¡¯t be the same.

    It was time for another big group battle. In the end, this small-scale battle was part of their ultimate goal, which was to win in arge-scale group battle.

    ¡°Let¡¯s rest. If Wilbert starts sniping Maple again, Sally is probably the only one who can block his shot.¡±

    ¡°Where did thate from? But well, I agree.¡±

    Payne let the three hop on Ray¡¯s back and flew towards the royal castle.

    Thus, the midnight battle came to a wrap.

    ***

    After that, there was no battle, and when the four returned to town, they were greeted by the sight of their respective guild members. Both the members of [Congregations of Holy Sword] and the [Maple Tree] were exhausted.

    ¡°Wee home¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems that you were able to withdraw safely.¡±

    ¡°It was hard, you know! Magic kept flying towards us! Mii is going scorched-earth!¡±

    Mii wouldn¡¯t lose anything by riding Ignis and setting fire to the whole area. If she could increase the death count, then it was worth it.

    ¡°On the way, I tamed a fire-resistance monster and had it serve as a wall.¡±

    ¡°I also lost my invincibility skill when I aided Mai and Yui in escaping.¡±

    Kanadeughed embarrassedly.

    The magic book that backed Kanade¡¯s strength couldn¡¯t be replenished easily, so he couldn¡¯t fight in the same way next time.

    ¡°I lost all my walls and machines, so for the time being I can only use bombs.¡±

    Like Frederica, the members of the [Congregations of Holy Swords] seemed weary. Among them, only Yui was unfazed.

    ¡°It¡¯s because everyone protected me¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s part of the strategy.¡±

    ¡°You deal more damage than all of usbined.¡±

    The tower shield users responded, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, that was the n from the start.¡± <em>To defend the main damage dealer no matter the casualties.</em>

    The strategy had the highest sess rate when Mai and Yui were present.

    ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s rest. I¡¯ll keep an eye on the outside for a while.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s such a hard worker. Hmm, I guess I¡¯ll take your word for it this time.¡±

    Although she looked mostly the same, Frederica certainly seemed tired. After stretching, she returned to the royal castle with her guild members.

    ¡°Let Sally rest too, Maple.¡±

    ¡°I will!¡±

    Sally obediently followed her and decided to take a rest.

    She¡¯d have to keep a close eye on Maple tomorrow as well. In order to fulfill her responsibilities, she¡¯d need to rest.

    Thus, Sally went to sleep with the [Maple Tree]. Upon confirming that neither Mii and Velvet were close, Payne also took a rest in preparation for the battle after the sun rose.

    While Maple and the others were resting, Mii was also taking a break in town after saving Velvet.

    ¡°Had you told everyone, it wouldn¡¯t have ended like this. Is there a need to go this far? What¡¯s with you three?¡±

    Lily and Wilbert were in no condition to fight due to Kasumi¡¯s debuff, while Velvet¡¯s stats were greatly reduced due to the demerit of [Thirst for the Top], and to top it off, she was exhausted.

    Although their strength didn¡¯t only consist of the three, now they¡¯d have to proceed without them.

    ¡°The n was to defeat those three.¡±

    However, Kasumi closed in on them, and because they were preupied with taking her out, they couldn¡¯t leave the range of debuff in time.

    ¡°As expected, I¡¯ll pass tonight. I¡¯m too tired¡­¡±

    ¡°The next big battle will be the turning point. Our debuffs should be gone by then.¡±

    ¡°My status will also return to normal.¡±

    ¡°Then there¡¯s no problem.¡±

    ¡°Then, the real question would be how to defeat them.¡±

    The wave of monsters triggered battles. At that time, the first problem was the existence of Maple.

    Lily and Wilbert were fixated with defeating Maple because they wanted to prevent the invasion born from [Darkness of Rebirth].

    ¡°After my recent battle with her, I¡¯m not very sure.¡±

    ¡°I can see why. If Mii and my attacks are also dodged, then there¡¯s nothing we can do.¡±

    A torrent of light from Payne¡¯s holy sword would ransack the earth. From there, Maple¡¯s monsters would emerge.

    That development was bound to happen. On top of that, the four of them didn¡¯t think they stood a chance.

    Usually, they¡¯d buy time before the enemy could unleash a big move, and defend against powerful blows.

    The defeats of Hinata, Marx, Misery, and Shin¡ªwho were in charge of those¡ªcreated a gaping hole in their strategy.

    ¡°Unfortunately, we have no real solution.¡±

    ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Lily nced at Velvet and Mii, wondering how they were doing.

    ¡°I have one.¡±

    ¡°I also have one.¡±

    ¡°Nice. <em>Very </em>nice.¡±

    Lily listened to the two¡¯s n, trying to make it thest meeting before taking a break.

    After hearing that, Lily and Wilbert nodded in agreement.

    ¡°Sure, then we might be able to reverse this situation. It¡¯s worth trying.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    ¡°I need to make some preparations.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Right now, the enemy is probably on guard, too. If we go out to see someone, we¡¯ll be caught.¡±

    Whatever the n may be, they better start acting on it after their status had reverted to normal. As such, they¡¯d have no choice but to rest for the day.

    ¡°Lily, Wilbert. If you decide to do it, then [Rapid Fire] will probably be the center.¡±

    ¡°I know. It¡¯s my <em>forte.</em>¡±

    Before the monster invasion tomorrow, they decided to share the strategy with as many yers as possible, before going to rest.

    ¡°It¡¯s going to be a tough battle.¡±

    ¡°If there¡¯s a way to win, that¡¯s good enough for me.¡±

    There were several things that must be prepared before the battle. Tomorrow, they¡¯d have to start making preparations early in the morning.

    ¡°As expected, it took thest day of the battle to bring forward that idea.¡±

    The two fell asleep while thinking that tomorrow would be theirst battle.

 Chapter 460

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 460

    Defense Specialization and Waiting for Morning 2

    The next morning, Maple woke up, the sun shining through the window.

    The night went by peacefully without any attack, and the inside of the castle remained quiet.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Maple sat up, before stretching her body. Her stamina had fully recovered, and she was at peak physical condition.

    When Maple got off the bed and opened the door, Sally stood there, about to wake her up.

    ¡°Good morning, Sally!¡±

    <strong>...</strong>

 Chapter 461

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 461

    Defense Specialization and the Decisive War

    While everyone was preparing, time flew, and the surviving yers began to assemble around the outer wall.

    Of course, the six members of [Maple Tree] were also there, waiting to be dispatched.

    ¡°Maple, please get on.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Yui.¡±

    The heavenly weapon that Maple deployedst time was nowhere to be seen. After all, a mere glimpse of it might result in a heightened vignce on the enemy side, especially Wilbert. Afterwards, there was no saying he wouldn¡¯t prepare some kind of counter attack.

    There were few ces to escape in the sky, and in worst-case scenario, help was unlikely to reach her in time. Thus, she decided that it wasn¡¯t worth the risk.

    <strong>...</strong>

 Chapter 462

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 462

    Defense Specialization and the Decisive War (2)

    As Payne and Sally confronted Lily and Wilbert, the main battlefield, where the two armies collided, became a closebat intermingled with monsters.

    ¡°[Inferno]!¡±

    Mii didn¡¯t show any mercy. As she rode Ignis, she flew around at high speed, burning down yers from the sky.

    Because of that, the yers were too distracted to focus on the battle at hand.

    ¡°[Commence Attack]!¡±

    ¡°[Destructive Cannon]!¡±

    ¡°Ignis!¡±

    Naturally, [Maple Tree] jumped to the rescue. With Sally and Payne keeping Wilbert busy, Maple¡ªwhose safety was secured to some extent¡ªemerged from the iron box and began to participate in the attack.

    To restrict Mii¡¯s actions, a barrage of bullets and magic were shot by Maple and Kanade, soaring towards the sky.

    Maple¡¯s bullets, which were scattered to restrict Mii¡¯s movement, had a fairly wide range, and urately interfered with Mii¡¯s aerial fire support.

    ¡°[Inferno]!¡±

    However, Mii¡¯d just find another chance to unleash her attack, while the attacks of Maple and Kanade didn¡¯t deal that much damage.

    Although it was to be expected, the situation was no less frustrating.

    ¡°A message from Wilbert? ¡­<em>I see.</em>¡±

    After checking the message she¡¯d received, Mii withdrew at once, avoiding Maple¡¯s bullets and the pursuit of yers with flying tamed monsters. Afterwards, she sent a message to her guild.

    ¡°[Northern Light]!¡±

    Suddenly, Velvet descended along with a rain of thunder that scorched the yers. Suffice to say, the chains of thunderstorms were much harder to defend against than Mii¡¯s mes.

    If Hinata was still there, Velvet probably wouldn¡¯t hesitate to rush into the enemy camp. But now, that was unlikely, because without [Gravity Control], she couldn¡¯t secure an escape route.

    Above all, they couldn¡¯t let Velvet go. If Velvet wasn¡¯t careful, she¡¯d be hit with a giant iron ball.

    ¡°[Parry]!¡±

    Velvet deflected the exploding iron ball, only to be engulfed in the explosion. She immediately withdrew for recovery.

    ¡°How nimble you are!¡±

    However, herment was drowned out. Four silhouettes were visible at the end. Kanade fired his magic. Maple stood and used her usual weapon as an artillery. Yui also provided fire support with iron balls. Izu shot bombs using the canon she created.

    Although the four of them hadpletely different stats and equipment, all of their ranged attacks were of an extremely high standard.

    Not to mention, they could simply fire from a safe distance, making them a threat. After all, no short-ranged yers couldy a finger on them.

    ¡°Maple, some people are closing in.¡±

    ¡°Understood! [Ancient Weapon]! Syrup [Spirit Cannon]!¡±

    yers flying in the sky on monsters approached them, wanting to make quick work of Maple.

    But then, they weren¡¯t greeted with just a storm of jet-ck bullets, but also light blue bullets fired from the two cylinders that rotated like gatling cannons next to Maple.

    The double, no, tripleyers of bullets acted like a solid wall to block the approaching yers.

    ¡°Now¡ª!¡±

    A roaring sound that couldn¡¯t be thought of as humans. The sphere that Yui hit exploded in the air after flying at high speed, dealing massive damage to the surrounding area.

    However, the ball itself didn¡¯t hit directly, so it didn¡¯t result in instant death. At the same time, the victim was hardly safe, either.

    ¡°Iz, it went well! I can use this!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. We have extraying around, so feel free to use them.¡±

    It was difficult to hit a fast-moving yer with an iron ball, even more so if they were flying around in the sky.

    In that case, although the firepower would drop, it was best to blow it up in order to hit the yer.

    The countermeasure against aerial yers was also perfect. Iz also sparinglyunched bombs at the enemy camp.

    ¡°Hehehe, it¡¯s much better than when I had no choice but to throw it!¡±

    Seeing the rapid, sessive explosions that took ce in the enemy camp, Iz seemed satisfied.

    ***

    Maple and the others, who had higher number, gradually pushed the enemy back. The front line supported by Lily¡¯s summoned soldiers copsed, and arge number of yers rushed in, dividing the enemy. It was almost at the same time that Sally¡¯s battle was concluded.

    ¡°[Authority/ Transcendence] [Formation Change]!¡±

    yers who should¡¯ve been divided and trampled vanished from the spot.

    With [Authority], the movement distance and range of effect were significantly improved, as such, [Formation Change] allowed them to flee in an instant.

    ¡°Let¡¯s head for the royal castle. It¡¯s the only way to win. There¡¯s no reason to withdraw here.¡±

    Sally returned to Maple after parting ways with Payne, who took charge of the frontline.

    ¡°Maple! Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m perfectly fine.¡±

    ¡°Payne and I took care of Wilbert, so it should be pretty safe now.¡±

    ¡°Really? That¡¯s amazing! As expected of Sally!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because no one has figured this out yet. Well, it¡¯s like a trick, but you have to use what you can to win.¡±

    Sally spun the dagger whose appearance had changed due to [Mirage].

    ¡°Maple, please get on!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    In the same way as when she¡¯de this far, Maple rode on Yukimi¡¯s back and followed the march.

    ¡°What about Mii and Velvet?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re still alive, but for some reason, they¡¯re away¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay. If we can beat them, there¡¯ll be a change in the strategy, so I¡¯m just checking. Everyone¡¯s on the watch out for [Daybreak] and [Thor¡¯s Hammer].¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s a heavy responsibility, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    [Ark] could respond torge-scale ranged attacks with few resources.

    Since Sally had already used [Reversal of Lies], Kanade and Sou would assume that role this time.

    If Sou mimicked Maple, they¡¯d be able to use two [Ark] at the same time with a different approach than Sally.

    As the march continued, the effect of the detection skill scattered around.

    In order to watch out for surprise attacks or other flukes, many yersid a security. For better or worse, the [Maple Tree] members had contrasting skillposition, so they couldn¡¯t help with that. To make up for it, they¡¯d properly contribute to the battle.

    The shadow of the royal castle extended in the distance. Since they¡¯dunch an attack on the ce defended by the enemy, a battle would inevitably ur. Everyone felt that the time for a rematch wasn¡¯t too far away.

    Raising their concentration, they subjugated the enemy monsters that stood in their path, and Maple¡¯s army continued to invade without stopping.

 Chapter 463

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 463

    Defense Specialization and the Decisive War (3)

    After [Formation Change], Lily and the others, who¡¯d make some distance, headed for the royal castle.

    At the backline, Velvet was running while firing thunderbolts from time to time to check for pursuers.

    At the same time, she was also carrying Lily, who was so exhausted to the point she couldn¡¯t fight.

    ¡°Hey, are you really okay!? You¡¯ll be fine, won¡¯t you!?¡±

    ¡°I will¡­¡±

    Even though it was only briefly, the use of [Authority/Transcendence] lifted the restriction, and endless information ran amok in her head, making her mind go haywire.

    ¡°As I thought, it¡¯s beyond me¡­¡±

    If it was a secluded, empty ce, the oue might be different. However, they were unlikely to find such a ce from now on.

    ¡°Will theye after us?¡±

    ¡°With Will gone, we have next to no possibility for preemptive attack. Most likely, they¡¯lle. <em>Have you made up your mind?</em>¡±

    ¡°I intend to do so from the start!¡±

    ¡°If you put it like that, it¡¯s as if you have no intention of winning from the start¡­¡±

    ¡°I-it¡¯s not like that?¡±

    ¡°Alright, then. I can only buy us time.¡±

    Lily couldn¡¯t gain advantage when fighting against extraordinary yer. For example, someone like Payne, who could defeat the summoned soldiers in a single blow.

    Even so, because of the fact that she had to deal with it, she managed to maintain the frontline all by herself.

    That was also the reason why Wilbert sacrificed himself. He¡¯d passed the stage where he could shift the tide of battle by sniping one or two yers.

    ¡°What about Mii?¡±

    ¡°Ready whenever you are!¡±

    ¡°Velvet, any problem?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s none, obviously!¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ Let¡¯s have the final match.¡±

    After Lily had finally recovered, a cloud of sand erupted from behind her as the earth rumbled. In front of her, stood a tall, white outer wall that protected the town.

    ***

    Led by the [Congregations of the Holy Swords], the guild masters of severalrge guilds worked closely together, and the march progressed without a hitch. They finally caught sight of the enemy group retreating with Lily¡¯s skill. Some of the enemy yers remained in town.

    Attack the remaining enemy yers before they could regroup¡ª

    ¡ªsuch intention was shared by all guild masters.

    ¡°Attack! After me!¡±

    Payne quicklymunicated with the guild masters and gave orders.

    The vanguards charged in, their roars filling the air, sounding as ferocious as the allied monsters.

    ¡°[Tornado]!¡±

    ¡°[Tidal Wave]!¡±

    Even among the basic spells, strong ones were unleashed one after another to hinder the approach.

    However, the vanguards prevailed. They intercepted the attack using their shields, took cover behind a barrier, and gradually closed in on them.

    ¡°Good luck everyone!¡±

    Maple rallied the yers who started running at the center of the group. Of course, she didn¡¯t just cheer for them. The luminous ground was proof that the protection of the [Afterglow of Salvation] was working. Thus, they were granted intense damage reduction and boosted healing effects.

    ¡°[Rain of Lightning]!¡±

    From the front, along with thunder, lightning bolts cascaded, connecting heaven and earth. Healing magic rapidly flew to keep up with the lightning that urred at a rapid interval.

    As long as it wasn¡¯t a one-hit kill, the healer would ensure their safety given that their MP was still avable.

    ¡°As expected, the backline is tightly protected!¡±

    Spells sessively flew one after another, but they deviated before Chrome could block them.

    Chrome, who stood in the rear to protect Yui, Izu, and Kanade, confirmed that the current position was out of range of all attacks, and prepared for unforeseeable circumstances.

    But when he thought about the previous battle, Chrome sensed that something was amiss.

    ¡°Where did Mii go¡­?¡±

    After all, among the barrage of spells, there was no Mii¡¯s me. At first, Chrome expected it to be a surprise attack, so he began to look around.

    Then, he found the person he was looking for.

    In the sky.

    Something flew at a distance away, leaving a zing red trail¡ª

    ¡ªYes, it was none other than Ignis.

    ¡°Payne!¡±

    ¡°I really didn¡¯t think they¡¯d actually do it¡­!¡±

    A message arrived at Payne at the same time as Chrome¡¯s voice. Mii, who entrusted the frontline to others, took her guild members tounch an attack on the royal castle.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine! Press on!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t panic!¡±

    Each guild master calmed the guild members.

    It wasn¡¯t like they didn¡¯t expect it. However, every guild master simply dismissed it because it was a cowardly thing to do.

    Nevertheless, if their base was captured, the battle would be lost.

    The yers saw Mii¡¯s absence as an advantage, and decided to press on because they thought the battle was in their favor.

    In the midst of this, Lily, who managed to slip through the gate and jumped into town spoke to Velvet.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you!¡±

    ¡°I know! Leave it to me!¡±

    They were prepared. With this, they could finally reverse the situation ande up with a n to turn things around.

    Sparks ran through the ground around Velvet.

    Be it [Northern Light], or [Thor¡¯s Hammer], both had massive destructive power that was made evident by the battle so far. Because they simply couldn¡¯t ignore it, the vanguards hesitated a bit.

    ¡°Now, it¡¯s my turn! [Lightning¡¯s Path]!¡±

    A series of strong thunderps. The lightning strikes that rained down one after another even passed the ce where Maple and the others were, moving farther and farther away as if crossing the field.

    High-speed movement to move to a designated point marked in advance. Back then, Velvet and the others used it to escape from town, but this time she used it to attack.

    Velvet abandoned the defense of her base and went for Mii¡¯s army.

    If they fought fairly, the difference in strength would only widen. In truth, it was difficult to hold out until that point. Thus, she bet everything on this moment when Maple¡¯s defensive strength was weak.

    ¡°[Full Army Sortie]!¡±

    Lily, who got on the flying machine from the outer wall, activated her skill.

    From the beginning, she was prepared to lose. Because she¡¯d chosen skills for base defense instead of teamfights, soldiers sprang out one after another from town towards the outer wall.

    Wilbert sacrificed his life precisely because Lily was indispensable to this operation.

    ¡°I¡¯m good at buying time! Why don¡¯t you enjoy your time here?¡±

    The base of Maple and others was too far away. As a result, they had no choice but to take advantage of the enemy¡¯s strategy to determine which side would attack first.

    If the strategy failed, there wouldn¡¯t be another one. Enemy yers riding taming monsters rushed out of the town, flying towards the sky with the intention of taking out fragile allied yers.

    Thus, Maple¡¯s final battle began. Their objectives: To foil the enemy¡¯s n, and attain their own victory.

 Chapter 464

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 464

    Defense Specialization and the Final Battle

    Around the time when Maple and the others were about to besiege the outer wall, a barrage of spells flew at Mii, who was moving towards the enemy¡¯s royal castle.

    ¡°That¡¯s fast¡­!¡±

    Because not everyone could fly, Mii¡¯s guild members walked by foot to raid the castle.

    Even if she reached the castle first, she¡¯d just run out of strength. Thus, Mii lowered Ignis¡¯ attitude andnded on theva-covered earth, where smoke from the volcano was billowing.

    What awaited them were yers from several guilds. They were probably lying in wait in the unlikely event of a surprise attack.

    Convinced of their advantage in teamfights, they advanced immediately. Some of the yers kept an eye on the enemy¡¯s backline.

    ¡°It turns out that my hunch is right. I wish I was just overthinking¡­¡±

    ¡°Buff, please.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep some distance from Mii. If things get dangerous, I¡¯ll protect Frederica.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay¡­¡±

    Frederica poised her wand. Specializing in long-range attacks, Frederica¡ªwho deftly applied buffs and debuffs, along with recovery and defense¡ªwas the center of the defense force.

    After spreading buffs in session, Frederica casted [Multi-Total Teleport] and left the battlefield immediately. As a result, she was able to take part in this defense. Worried for this exact development, she took some countermeasures.

    ¡°Let me through.¡±

    ¡°My barrier will stop the mes.¡±

    Just like Lily, Frederica¡¯s role was to buy time. If Mii couldn¡¯t reach the royal castle, her efforts so far would be in vain.

    ¡°I got my hands full with Velvet, too¡­!¡±

    After all, Payne sent her a short message saying that Velvet was traveling at high speed.

    First, she had to deal with Mii, who was heading straight for the royal castle.

    ¡°Alright, everyone, let¡¯s do it!¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Yeah!!!¡±¡±¡±

    After dering so, Frederica unleashed her fullbat skills.

    ¡°[Mana Ocean]!¡±

    ¡°[Scorching me]!¡±

    A fierce wave of me surged towards her, threatening to swallow her. In response, instead of the tower-shield users, Frederica was the one who stepped forward.

    ¡°[Super Multi-Barrier]! Knots [Amplification] [Singing Round]!¡±

    A multitude of barriers was deployed.

    If Mii¡¯s fire could break through 10yers of barriers, <em>how about 100 of them?</em>

    After receiving Mii¡¯s me, Frederica¡¯s barrier was very much intact.

    ¡°Good. Look, it¡¯s still good, so just push through!¡±

    ¡°[Super eleration]!¡±

    ¡°[Roar of Battle]!¡±

    Seeing that Frederica had deflected Mii¡¯s attack, everyone advanced. As it was, Frederica could take care of the whole defense just fine.

    ¡°[Rain of Arrows]!¡±

    ¡°Hmph, [Super Multi-Barriers] [Super Multi-me Bullets]!¡±

    After blocking the volley of arrows with barriers after barriers, she rapidly deployed one magic circle after another behind it.

    The me bullets, which had their strength doubled with Knots¡¯ supports, attacked the enemy with a power that could rival Mii¡¯s me.

    Even in closebat, Frederica¡¯s barriers got in the way. Although the activation period of [Mana Ocean] was limited, her infinite MP caused her skills to have no cooldown. It went without saying that the inexhaustible barrier erased the meaning of damage trading.

    ¡°Mii!¡±

    ¡°This is tough!¡±

    ¡°None of my attacks did anything¡­¡±

    Frederica¡¯s magic was originally a one-off skill that fired a tremendous amount of damage.

    This skill was extremely difficult to block, because it was simr to Payne and Sally¡¯sbo, which exploited the gap in damage nullification skill.

    ¡°[Eruption]! We¡¯re moving! Bear with me for a bit!¡±

    ¡°¡®¡°Understood!¡±¡±¡±

    After pushing them away, Mii and the others started to withdraw to recover.

    ¡­<em>As if </em>Frederica and the others would let them.

    ¡°I¡¯m curious about Velvet, though¡­ Any thoughts?¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s bad either way.¡±

    ¡°Your skill also has a time limit, right? Without it, it¡¯ll be difficult to face Mii, no?¡±

    ¡°Okay, got it. Then, let¡¯s go. [Super Multi-eleration]!¡±

    With unified goals, they charged towards Mii together. The rumbling of thunder could be heard from a distance, but they didn¡¯t let it get to them.

    The distance made by the wall of mes was quickly closed by Frederica¡¯s buff.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you escape!¡±

    ¡°¡­I was about to say the same.¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    However, unlike what they previously thought, Mii didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of backing down. Frederica gripped her wand with a sense of unease.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, <em>Marx. </em>No one knows.¡±

    With the volcano in the background, me swirled through Mii¡¯s body. For some reason, rm bells were ring in Frederica¡¯s head.

    ¡°[Inferno]!¡±

    ¡°[Super Multi-Barriers]!¡±

    In order to counter Mii¡¯s me, Frederica deployed yet another instance of barriers. Unexpectedly, the destination of Mii¡¯s me was the ground.

    Mii gripped the bursting me and mmed them into the ground. The mes that were supposed to rampage along the surface of the earth sunk into the ground, and red flowing fissures spread over a wide area.

    Then, a colossal pir of fire rose up towards the sky, dying it red, mercilessly smashing Frederica¡¯s barrier.

    After the pir of fire subsided, Mii manipted the huge, raging me. Like a dragon, it floated in the fire, and at its center was a fireball burning with the intensity of the sun.

    ¡°It took me a long time to get here.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a terrain effect that Marx found. You didn¡¯t know that, did you?¡±

    What set Marx apart from other yers was the way he¡¯d set traps. Apparently, he was also the one who realized the existence of this living me.

    The me began to envelop the weapons of the enemy yers. The zing ground around Mii seemed to tell the extent of the area of influence.

    ¡°<em>Haa¡­ </em>Everyone¡¯s too messed up!¡±

    ¡°Haha,ing from you, Frederica?¡±

    Because of the limited activation period, the [Kingdom of me Emperor] especially chose a country of water and nature to trigger that me attack. It was a shame but they did what they could. No one should be able toin if a me of that degree took down the castle, right?

    ¡°As promised, I¡¯ll push through.¡±

    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t look good, go to Velvet!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Nothing was stupider than burning everyone. First, measure the threat level. While preparing another set of barriers, Frederica pondered about Mii¡¯s next course of action.

    ¡°[me Emperor]!¡±

    Mii spread her arms, manifesting a fireball in each of her palm. The mes undted, and expanded several times, before descending upon Frederica. Her field of vision burned red.

    ¡°[Super Multi-Barriers]! Knots [Amplification]! [Singing Round]!¡±

    Frederica¡¯s role was to stop Mii. She deployed another wave of barriers, and the two meteorite-sized fireballs soon crashed onto them.

    ¡°[Blue me]!¡±

    Blue mes were mixed with red mes, flying after the fireball.

    ¡°Hey, sorry, but please cover for me!¡±

    ¡°[Spirit of Light]! [Cover]!¡±

    ¡°<em>Charge!</em>¡±

    Frederica couldn¡¯t stop it, and the huge fireball burned the surroundings. Taking advantage of that, the [Kingdom of the me Emperor] turned on the offensive, wielding a weapon d in mes, and shed at Frederica.

    ¡°[Cover]!¡±

    ¡°[sh Spear]!¡±

    While protecting Frederica, the allied yers also charged at the approaching enemy. Even so, the me buffpensated for the status advantage Frederica had created, and the resulting match was unlike before.

    ¡°[Super Multi-me Bullets]!¡±

    ¡°[Scorching me]!¡±

    Without losing momentum, Mii¡¯s hellfire swallowed Frederica¡¯s me bullets.

    It was like the volcano itself. The intensity of the raging me was already that of a disaster.

    The tower-shield users used the same [Cover Move] as Maple to move at high speed. Those who could run used [Super eleration] and grabbed Frederica, before retreating.

    ¡°She¡¯s seriously bad news!¡±

    ¡°Frederica, can you do something about it!?¡±

    ¡°No way, no way, no way! You¡¯re just asking for the impossible!¡±

    Stopping here and trying to stop the advance wouldn¡¯t buy much time either. Within a few more battles and defenses, the mes that strengthened the entire [Kingdom of me Emperor] would swallow them whole.

    ¡°Run to town! We still have to watch out for Velvet!¡±

    ¡°I know!¡±

    The enemy¡¯s attack was more severe than they¡¯d expected, and Frederica and the others rushed to the town, promising that they¡¯d never do a high-stake gamble or an assault with the resolve to crush the enemy.

    Apparently, the enemy had been focusing on this one point¡ª<em>theirst chance to win.</em>

    By the time they got back to town, the effects of [Mana Ocean] would probably wear off. She was worried about the defensive strength, but there was nothing she could do about it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just cast some buffs! I¡¯ll do something about it! We have no other choice!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do as you say.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll protect you until all the tower-shield users perish!¡±

    Leaving aside Mii, who was exuding me, Frederica¡¯s buff could be used against the guild members of the [me Emperor] who received the buff.

    ¡°[Super Multi-me Bullets] [Super Multi-Wind des]!¡±

    Frederica, who was carried on a certain yer¡¯s back, turned around and continued to fire a barrage of magic until [Mana Ocean] was worn off.

    The mes used by Mii enhanced firepower, and didn¡¯t increase defensive power. Her research paid off.

    ¡°Ugh, what a huge responsibility.¡±

    ¡°If we manage to protect it, I expect more than praise.¡±

    ¡°They better win!¡±

    Frederica and the others retreated as me pierced the sky. The enemy would never retreat no matter what.

    As long as the throne was safe, it should be fine.

    ***

    Velvet disappeared with some yers, and Lily summoned the soldiers to fill in her ce.

    Even if a horde of them wasid to waste, another would just rece them, hindering Maple¡¯s advance.

    The biggest wall was <em>literally</em> the outer wall that protected the town. Not everyone could leap through it. If they open arge hole by destroying the area round the gate that had low durability, everyone might be able to rush in, but Lily would probably just cover it using her soldiers.

    ¡°[Holy Dragon¡¯s Light Sword]!¡±

    ¡°[Puppet Wall]!¡±

    When Payne attacked the wall, the summoned soldiers blocked it instead.

    Although he could y the soldiers, the wall itself remained intact.

    In order to lower the firepower even a bit, Chrome waited for an opening while protecting Yui and the others from the enemy yers. Some of the enemy were prepared to die, and charged relentlessly at their backline.

    If possible, he wanted to deliver Yui safely to the wall.

    Everyone began to feel a bit impatient. Behind, a tremendous pir of fire pierced the sky. They could tell from a nce¡ª

    ¡ª<em>That¡¯s definitely Mii.</em>

    ¡°Sally, what do you think?¡±

    ¡°It might be a bit bad¡­¡±

    Knowing that the remaining yers, led by Frederica, were in charge of the defense, she couldn¡¯t say that they¡¯d triumph over therge-scale attack of Mii¡¯s me and Velvet.

    ¡°What should I do!? Should I head back!?¡±

    If it was Maple, there was a high chance they¡¯d make it in time by using [Machine God] to fly through the sky, but¡­

    ¡°We have to proceed with the attack. Besides, everyone is supported by damage reduction and equipment.¡±

    ¡°Kanade¡­¡±

    A huge ck cylinder that Maple deployed. Her [Ancient Weapon], which regrly firedsers forward, was indispensable for defeating the summoned soldiers.

    ¡°But, will they be alright?¡±

    ¡°Then, there¡¯s one thing I want to ask you.¡±

    Kanade took out a pure white book from the bookshelf.

    ¡°I can return by myself, but I can¡¯te back.¡±

    In other words, Kanade was asking Maple, the guild master of [Maple Tree].

    <em>¡®If I go back to buy us some time, can you win?¡¯</em>

    ¡°Leave it to me! I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do it. Actually, I¡¯m also worried about them.¡±

    Sally, who¡¯d learned about Kanade¡¯s skill, was also aware of it.

    ¡°As long as we can break down the wall, we can win.¡±

    If an avnche hit the town, their movement wouldn¡¯t be so restricted anymore. The footholds wouldn¡¯t function as well as they did now.

    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll go back too. There has to be a way.¡±

    Chrome couldn¡¯t contribute much to the castle siege. Therefore, given the chance, he¡¯d like to protect the base.

    If they didn¡¯t limit their options, there was always a way.

    ¡°I see, it hase to this, huh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    The six quickly exchanged opinions and called out to the tower-shield users nearby. Having decided how much risk they¡¯d tolerate and what the final operation of the operation would be, the six immediately jumped into action.

    There was no room for hesitation.

    Overseeing the battlefield from above, Lily confirmed some suspicious movements from the [Maple Tree].

    A white magic circle unfolded beneath Kanade, as yers boarded the gigantic ck sphere that Iz had taken out one by one.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±

    Lily couldn¡¯t understand exactly what they were doing, but there was no doubt they were nning something.

    Lily sent her soldiers, and the surrounding yers also joined in and charged.

    ¡°Maple, stop them!¡±

    ¡°Of course! [Predator]!¡±

    Iz was the first to evacuate into the group, while Maple and Sally protected Kanade, who was chanting. Chrome and the others joined onboard while Yui stood in front of them until the preparations were done.

    ¡°[Commence Attack]!¡±

    ¡°Haze [Shadow Clone]!¡±

    ¡°<em>Kuh¡­!¡±</em>

    ¡°Don¡¯t falter!¡±

    [Predator] pounced on the members of [Rapid Fire] who slipped through Maple¡¯s line of fire.

    Even if they escaped halfway, they wouldn¡¯t win. In the first ce, the objective was no longer to escape and survive.

    Be it yers receiving damage, or the crumbling summoned soldiers¡ªall of them were used as shields to rush at Yui and Kanade from all directions.

    If they set up a piercing attack and used [Dedicated Affection], they might be able to take out Maple.

    However, the preparations of Kanade and Yui werepleted just before that.

    ¡°Please win, Maple!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    ¡°[Teleport]!¡±

    Kanade vanished into the light.

    Next to him was Yui, holding up a sledgehammer.

    ¡°Chrome, I leave it to you!¡±

    She swung the sledgehammer right at the sphere prepared by Iz.

    A roar, and then a shock. The sphere carrying the tower-shield users flew through the sky. The pile of buffs that were applied before the decisive action shook off everything and blew Chrome and the others into the sky.

    Soon, all that was left behind was Yui, and yers rushed towards her. Yui couldn¡¯t deal against that many opponents, and if nothing was done, she¡¯d surely be taken out.

    Still, Yui had one responsibility left.

    Tightening her grip around the sledgehammer, Yui turned her attention to the towering wall. Maple and Sally got her back. After weighing the remaining time, they decided to take advantage of a certain idea.

    ¡°[Ancient Weapon]!¡±

    ¡°[sh Flood]!¡±

    With a thud, Maple¡¯s weapon changed form. Maximum firepowermensurate with energy consumption. After Maple blew away the soldiers in front, the water created by Sally toppled them, washing them away.

    Only a brief dy until the next resummoning. However, as of the present, their path was certainly clear.

    ¡°[Weapon Throw]!¡±

    Yui didn¡¯t waste that opportunity, and channeled all her strength into her arms, before releasing eight iron balls along with the sledgehammer held by [Helping Hand].

    Leaving a trail behind, the weapon mmed onto the outer wall in front of them, and at the same time, the des of the enemy reached Yui, who chose to neither evade nor counterattack.

    After that, was a roar that was iparable to when Chrome and the others wereunched into the sky.

    The weapon Yui threw yed the role of a battering ram with power that you wouldn¡¯t expect from a single yer.

    The towering outer wall exploded from the front, and beyond the dancing sand smoke, was a townscape.

    Atst, the chance had arrived for Maple and the others to advance.

    ¡°Do your best!¡±

    A step closer to victory. Seeing her allies defeating the soldiers before rushing into town over the broken outer wall, Yui disappeared in relief.

 Chapter 465

    Views: 97

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 465

    Defense Specialization and the Final Battle (2)

    With the wall torn down, not only yers, but monsters could also enter.

    Atst, the castle was besieged. Lily¡¯s summoned soldiers crowded together on the street that stretched to the royal castle on top of a hill.

    The spawning point was set up in town by [All Army Sortie]. After analyzing their fighting strength and calmly judging that they were likely to lose, the advance preparations certainly dyed the time until defeat.

    The monsters, which weren¡¯t under their control, pushed Maple and the others aside, ran through the alleys, jumped over the rooftops, and rushed towards the royal castle.

    Such monsters were paralyzed here and there, pierced, exploded, and then disappeared.

    ¡°They¡¯re lurking!¡±

    ¡°There are also traps! Be careful!¡±

    Shouts emerged. Surprise attacks that made use of shadows and traps. Compared to the nds whererge-scale battles were fought, the castle town was a terrain where even a small group of people could fight. In order to proceed freely, detailed clearing was necessary, but they had no time for that.

    ¡°Iz!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll break through!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll show you what I can do!¡±

    Iz opened her inventory and pulled out an item. It was a cannon anchored to the ground by multiple stanchions, with its muzzle pointing towards the sky.

    ¡°3¡­2¡­1¡­!¡±

    With a loud boom, the cannon fired,unching a gleaming red cannonball into the sky. It unfurled, and vanished into the light. The cannon itself only had one bullet. After all, it was a luxurious item that took a long time and many materials to make.

    Even if they broke, item shone when they were used. A short time after the explosion, a number of small red glows covered the ground. A wide range and indiscriminate attack. As usual, Iz¡¯s attack was uncontroble.

    ¡°¡°¡°[Large Scale Magic Barrier]!¡±¡±¡±

    When it came to item-derived attacks, there was no distinction between enemy and ally. If they didn¡¯t protect themselves, they¡¯d suffer tremendous damage. Immediately after the barrier was deployed to protect everyone, explosive mes and shock waves followed.

    Traps triggered by impact were triggered, and stealthy yers who didn¡¯t see the attacking suffered from fatal injuries. The horde of monsters was also taken down. Even so, they seeded in setting the castle town on fire and reducing the number of summoned soldiers.

    ¡°As expected of Iz!¡±

    ¡°That helps a lot!¡±

    ¡°Just follow Payne¡¯s lead! There¡¯s not much I can do anymore!¡±

    Rather than worrying about that, they better aim for the royal castle. Maple and Sally rushed down the burning street, heading straight for the royal castle up ahead.

    ***

    Around the time Maple and the others invaded the town, Kanade emerged from the door leading towards the guild home.

    ¡°Is the town still safe¡­?¡±

    [Teleport] allowed the user to warp to the guild home. While he could just go back to town, this time it worked to his advantage.

    Kanade swiftly returned to the town. Upon seeing that the castle town was still very much safe, he sighed in relief. Apparently, Mii and Velvet still hadn¡¯t arrived.

    [Maple Tree] had a guild home near the outer wall. Just as Kanade went to the gate of the outer wall to assess the situation, a yer carrying Frederica appeared. The number of yers seemed to have decreased significantly. Even including the survivors who rushed in afterward, less than a third of the yers who apanied Frederica for defense remained.

    ¡°Frederica! How are you?¡±

    When Kanade approached and called out to her, Frederica¡¯s eyes widened in surprise.

    ¡°Eeh!? Kanade!? What are you doing here!? T-this is bad¡­!¡±

    Before Frederica could finish her sentence, the outer wall glowed red, and mes spewed out as the wall melted like butter.

    ¡°Did we make it in time?¡±

    From the vertical hole that had opened in the wall, Mii could be seen. She lost her vigor at the end when the me that coursed through her body melted the walls. Even so,pared to Maple and the others, it took her less effort to tear down the outer wall.

    From there, one after another, the yers stepped in.

    ¡°All that¡¯s left is to go to the castle!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    Allied force from [Thunderstorm] and [Kingdom of the me Emperor] soon entered. Although the numbers were smaller than Maple and the others, they were still enough to take down the castle.

    ¡°Frederica, stay in the castle.¡±

    ¡°What are you going to do?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll buy as much time as I can.¡±

    Kanade took out a magic book with ck cover from the bookshelf.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll gather the others. Try to win, okay?¡±

    ¡°Haha, who knows.¡±

    Frederica left as the enemy army also finished invading the town and headed towards Kanade.

    Seeing that, Kanade opened the magic book that had been kept on the bookshelf for a long time since the day he got his hands on the [Magic Archive].

    ¡°[Forbidden Magic: Storm of Cmity]¡±

    The sky quickly clouded over, and the clouds that formed swirled. Jet-ck spark that burned ally and enemy alike flowed, destroying the surrounding houses, where ck mes spewed.

    A skill that had never made an appearance before. At the same time, the enemy couldn¡¯t afford to screw up aftering this far. The distance to victory wasn¡¯t so close that they were willing to jump into the obvious threat in front of them.

    ¡°What an interesting magic this is. The more you use skills and magic, the more powerful it bes.¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    The truth was uncertain. Whether it was true or not, Kanade revealed a bookshelf full of magic books behind him, telling the enemy to check for themselves.

    ¡°I won¡¯t hold back.¡±

    A number of magic books popped out from the bookshelf behind Kanade, conjuring a multitude of magic circles.

    ¡°Ugh, [Maple Tree] is just¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a bunch of madmen!¡±

    A curse that spread abnormal conditions from the water that were carried in the raging wind, along with ck fog that brought upon death.

    All of them were trump cards and fodder for the storm overhead. The skill count progressed at a tremendous speed. Soon, the intensifying sparks and burning ck mes were no longer inferior to those wielded by Mii and Velvet.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to push forward!¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t retreat! We¡¯ll win!¡±

    ¡°¡°Yeah!¡±¡±

    From the start, they came here with the intention of ending everything.

    Mii and the others also went with all their might to defeat Kanade, the threat that stood in their path.

    ***

    Maple and the others rushed through the center of the enemy base,pletely entrusting the matter of defense to those who returned.

    ¡°[Water Path]!¡±

    ¡°[Ancient Weapon] [Commence Attack] [Seeping Chaos] [Poison Dragon]!¡±

    Since self-destruction would involve the surroundings, Maple gained altitude through the water path that extended to the sky with Sally¡¯s help. With broadened field of vision, Maple scattered attacks around her.

    Ranged attacks were Maple¡¯s specialty. She painted both sides of the main street with poison, while turning the path forward into scorched earth with attacks centered on two types of firearms.

    Although the sense of stability had increased due to the continuous recovery and damage cut by [Afterglow of Salvation], they were still in the middle of the enemy territory. The magic that poured down took away the lives of allies one by one.

    However, the invasion didn¡¯t stop. Even if only one ally remained, as long as they could reach the throne in the innermost part of the royal castle, it would be fine.

    ¡°Ray!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll fly too! If you can fly, follow us!¡±

    The only way to reach the castle, which was built on a hill, was a long, long staircase. Since the formation had to be vertically long, yers who could fly aimed at the royal castle from the sky.

    When she flew up into the sky and checked the za in front of the entrance of the royal castle, she spotted Lily standing in tow with a horde of soldiers with guns. She stuck her g to the ground.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯ll push you down! [Additional Call]!¡±

    As Payne was on guard, the stairs shone brightly.

    ¡°Uwaah!?¡±

    ¡°Kyaa!¡±

    As they ran up the stairs, a bunch of summoned soldiers emerged from beneath their feet.

    ¡°Woah!¡±

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    Sally quickly rescued Maple with a string, before making a transparent foothold in the air to evacuate. However, they couldn¡¯t save everyone. Soldiers pushed the yers up one after another, causing those who lost their bnce to topple far below.

    One-to-many that made use of the terrain. Precisely because Lily manipted the summoned soldiers, she was able to make an unexpected, momentary gap.

    There was a ttering sound as the soldiers raised their guns all at once.

    ¡°[Prating ammunition loading]!¡±

    ¡°Maple, a piercing attack ising!¡±

    In order to prevent arge number of deaths from falling, Maple tried to activate [Loving Sacrifice].

    If the soldiers fired all at once, there¡¯d be a lot of prating bullets. Thus, Maple thought about timing the [Pierce Guard] and [Dedicated Affection]. Nevertheless, getting the right timing in such aplex situation was harder than it sounded.

    Whether they were aware of Maple¡¯s hesitation, the falling yers called out to her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about us!¡±

    ¡°Let us fall!¡±

    ¡°If we fall¡­¡±

    If they were going to fall to their death anyway, there was only one way to make the most of their lives.

    ¡°¡°Devour us!¡±¡±

    ¡°¡­! Sally!¡±

    ¡°[sh Flood]! [Freezing Earth]!¡±

    Maple instantly understood everyone¡¯s intentions, while Sally understood hers.

    After Sally evacuated those who hadn¡¯t fallen to her scaffold made by freezing the stream of water, Maple activated yet another skill. Instead of [Dedicated Affection], it was¡ª

    ¡°[Darkness of Rebirth]!¡±

    ck. ck mud spread through the ground. With Maple at the center, the darkness seeped through the ground, ignoring altitude, dying the ground far below ck.

    While falling, the ground began to approach the fallen yers who hadn¡¯t fall prey to the bullets.

    What they felt at theirst moment wasn¡¯t the impact of the fall, but a bottomless swamp of darkness that gently took everyone in as they sank forever.

    A hundred or two yers fell. Then, a strange shape crawled out of the ground.

    ¡°Everyone, I beg of you!¡±

    Hearing Maple¡¯s request, deformed creatures that used to be humans climbed the cliff towards the royal castle with their ws.

    Just like that, in front of Lily, the fallen yers rose up once again.

    ¡°Haha, I never thought that I could be a character in a kingdom that¡¯ll be overrun by monsters in my lifetime! Who¡¯d have guessed!¡±

    At the advance of the monsters, Lily retreated to the inside of the castle. Soon, the fence and the fountain at the entrance were destroyed.

    To buy time, she made her way to the throne room.

    Due to their huge size, the monsters sometimes toppled over and fell, but they broke though the walls of the royal castle, the windows, and tore down the castle from the outside.

    mes and ck smoke rose from the castle.

    The end was near.

    Views: 97

 Chapter 466

    Views: 0

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 466

    Defense Specialization and the Final Battle (3)

    In front of the royal castle protected by Kanade. The exploding ck spark reduced all the buildings in the vicinity into rubble, transforming the castle town into a deste wastnd.

    ¡°[Eruption]!¡±

    ¡°[Purple Lightning]!¡±

    ¡°[Super eleration] [Slow Field] [Destruction Cannon]!¡±

    The difference in speed was widened by eleration and deceleration. Kanade dodged Mii and Velvet¡¯s attacks, maintained a distance from the enemy¡¯s vanguard that was trying to weave through the storm of disaster, and swallowed a yer who couldn¡¯t escape with a shining whiteser.

    ¡°You <em>do</em> have everything!¡±

    ¡°Yes, this much is nothing. [Death Scythe]!¡±

    As Kanade dered, a blood-stained scythe was pressed against Velvet¡¯s neck.

    ¡°<em>Tch¡ª!¡±</em>

    ¡°As expected, you have a quick reaction.¡±

    Just before the scythe could decapitate her, Velvet bent her upper body to dodge.

    If it was unpredictable, there was no choice but to avoid it with a quick reaction.

    ¡°Mii, I don¡¯t know if I can hold out any longer¡ª!¡±

    ¡°Velvet, I can try to create a gap for you to slip in, but what do you think?¡±

    After receiving suggestions from their respective guild members, the two decided to take risks and attack.

    Who knew how long Kanade¡¯s jet-ck spark wouldst. Regardless, they didn¡¯t have much time to spare, so they couldn¡¯t be preupied with Kanade forever.

    ¡°[Electric-el]!¡±

    Velvet elerated the allies around her, and several of them charged towards Kanade. In the meantime, Mii rode Ignis and soared into the sky.

    ¡°[Nature]! [Tornado]!¡±

    Kanade restricted their movements with huge vines, before conjuring a tornado. If they stopped, the jet-ck spark would engulf them. However, facing Velvet¡¯s thunderstorms, Kanade had the same risk. Therefore, he tried to stay out of range as much as possible.

    ¡°[Cover Move] [Cover]!¡±

    To shield Velvet, they conjured a gust of wind that swallowed the jet-ck sparks that threatened to swallow her.

    ¡°That was a great help!¡±

    Velvet briefly thanked them and lunged towards Kanade. <em>To defeat Kanade. </em>It was the only thing she could do to repay those who¡¯d protected her.

    ¡°[Dash] [Super eleration]!¡±

    Velvet suddenly elerated and closed in on Kanade, who was within the rain of lightning.

    ¡°[Large Scale Magic Barrier] [Grand Lance]!¡±

    ¡°[Parry]!¡±

    The barrier blocked the lightning, while the rock spear protruding from the ground hindered Velvet¡¯s advance.

    However, Velvet nullified Kanade¡¯s attack with her skill and reached him.

    ¡°[Heaviest Attack]!¡±

    ¡°[Blink]¡±

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    Leaving only his afterimage, Kanade teleported backward.

    As a result, Velvet¡¯s punch didn¡¯tnd, but the other yers casted some spell to stop Kanade in his tracks.

    ¡°¡°¡°[Vermillion Wave]!!!¡±¡±¡±

    Waves of mes¡ªthe casters appeared to be the members of the [Kingdom of the me Emperor]. <em>Has the number of yers decreased by about a third? </em>Still, there were still yers who could wield powerful magic.

    However, even though it was a powerful magic, the distance made it possible for him to dodge.

    After evading, Kanade turned his attention to Velvet¡¯s thunderstorm as the waves of mes lingered.

    ¡°[Roar of Thunder]!¡±

    A pir of lightning spread from Velvet. Due to the rigidity of the skill, it advanced while incinerating everything in its wake¡ªincluding the yers who covered Velvet.

    Velvet and the others were aware that victory came with a cost. The victims were those who decided that they had no choice but to be coteral to ensure that the strategy was sessful.

    ¡°[me Prison]!¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    When Kanade was distracted for a moment, Mii, who didn¡¯t show any signs of movement, casted a gigantic me prison to ensnare him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any invincible skills left¡­¡±

    Kanade¡¯s assertion was correct. Therefore, he also knew that he didn¡¯t have the skills to ovee that situation. As the fire swallowed him whole, Kanade looked at his decreasing HP and smiled.

    ¡°Hm, if I could be as nimble as Sally, I might have won.¡±

    ¡°If there are two people who can do such a thing, it¡¯ll be a serious issue!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Even so, he was able to buy some time. Thus, Kanade disappeared, entrusting the rest to Maple and the others.

    ***

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Velvet took the lead and charged for the royal castle.

    There was no one nearby because Kanade had developed a territory that no one could ever step into.

    ¡°Mii! I want to strike first!¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll burn the yers inside the castle.¡±

    ¡°Leave the frontline to me!¡±

    A yer who realized that Kanade had been defeatedunched a magical attack to send him as far away from the royal castle as possible.

    ¡°[Overcharge]!¡±

    By the time the skill was no longer active, the event would probably be finished. A bolt of lightning shone above Velvet, who¡¯d unleashed her full power, as she waited for the moment to release the mightiness of the thunder god.

    ¡°[Electromaic Leap]!¡±

    She wouldn¡¯t let anyone escape. With that spirit, Velvet leaped forward.

    ¡°[Thor¡¯s Hammer]!¡±

    A pir of lightning that connected Heaven and earth. While using their skills to cover themselves, the members of the [Thunderstorm] charged without hesitation.

    As a guild master, Velvet¡¯s fighting style, which to make the most of it, was ingrained in her body.

    ¡°<em>Oraaaa¡ª!¡±</em>

    ¡°Don¡¯t let any of them escape!¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    ¡°<em>Dammit¡­¡±</em>

    yers who got caught up in lightning were blinded even if they survived. The basic cooperation with Velvet was to quickly enclose the enemy yers and defeat them after their invincibility was gone.

    After the light subsided, no yers were left alive. Originally, it was a skill that was followed by a coordinated attack. Therefore, almost no one stood a chance.

    Besides, if they ran away, they wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up with Velvet and the others, who were aiming for the throne. Even if they returned, defeating a yer who was chasing after them from behind shouldn¡¯t be a problem.

    ¡°As expected of you guys! How dependable!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no time to talk, let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Velvet and the others ascended the stairs and went straight to the throne. Mii, who rode Ignis and reached the top of the hill ahead of her, wrapped herself in the fire of the phoenix.

    ¡°[Immtion] ¡­[Inferno]!¡±

    The surging mes burned out the front of the entrance, melted the door, and filled the inside of the royal castle. There was no escape from Mii¡¯s attack, which plunged all nearby rooms into hellfire. Anyone within range was reduced to ash in an instant.

    Right now, they didn¡¯t even have time to clear the ce.

    ¡°Mii! Let¡¯s head in!¡±

    ¡°Yes! Take the shortest route!¡±

    The structure of the castle was in her head. Run through the corridors, up the stairs, turn around the corners¡ª

    ¡ªAt that moment.

    ¡°[Multi-me Bullets]!¡±

    ¡°[Cover Move] [Cover]!¡±

    ¡°Aah, I wish I could just faint¡­¡±

    Frederica was waiting in a particrly spacious corridor with many passages leading to other rooms on the left and right. The throne room sat right behind her.

    However, she wasn¡¯t just standing there for no reason.

    In front of her, was a huge line of tower shield-wielders, including Chrome.

    ¡°Why are you here!?¡±

    ¡°Haha, it was a pleasant flight.¡±

    The sphere Yui shotnded exactly near the royal castle. After that, they rushed to that ce as Kanade bought some time.

    Thanks to Kanade¡¯s tenacity, they managed to arrive in time.

    ¡°I have no choice but to do it! Necro, [Burst me]!¡±

    ¡°[Multi-me Bullets]! Knots [Amplification] [Round Chorus]!¡±

    ¡°¡°[Cover]¡±¡±

    The enemy¡¯s tower shield-users blocked the mes fired by Chrome and Frederica, and were engulfed in mes.

    There was no space to evade¡ªbut the same went for Chrome and the others.

    ¡°[Purple Lightning]!¡±

    ¡°[Blue me]!¡±

    ¡°¡°[Cover]!¡±¡±

    Fire and thunder ran throughout the entire passage. They had to put their mind into it. In order to buy as much time as possible, they sacrificed one person to save another. While the number of attacks was halved, they managed to protect Frederica, the source of damage, to the fullest.

    ¡°[Electromaic Leap]!¡±

    ¡°¡°[Super-el]!¡±¡±

    ¡°Just be careful when slipping through!¡±

    They fended off the yers who charged forward.

    Chrome stood in front of Velvet while raising his tower shield and holding a dagger.

    ¡°[Heavy Double Strike] [Chain Lightning Strike]!¡±

    ¡°Guh¡­!¡±

    After receiving two consecutive hits with his tower shield, a burst of lightning blew a chunk of Chrome¡¯s HP.

    ¡°¡°[Vermillion Wave]!¡±¡±

    ¡°[Great me]!¡±

    ¡°<em>Chrome!¡±</em>

    ¡°[Spirit of Light] [Cover]!¡±

    Chrome nullified the damage and overcame the wave of mes while protecting Frederica. However, Velvet, who zapped through the mes, threw a sharp hook at the end of his invincibility period.

    ¡°[Multi-Heal]!¡±

    ¡°Heh, it seems that I¡¯m out of luck.¡± (Velvet)

    Chrome made a bitter expression as he deflected Velvet away with his shield. Instead of [Dead or Alive], he resorted to [Indomitable Guardian].

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you down!¡± (Velvet)

    ¡°Necro [Weight of Death]!¡±

    ¡°[Multi-me Bullets] [Multi-Wind des]!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t falter!¡±

    Frederica¡¯s magic reaped the lives of many yers. Even so, the tower shield-users who protected Frederica by casting magic without hesitation were sinking one after another.

    ¡°[Heaviest Attack]! [Electric Discharge]!¡±

    Velvet sidestepped to avoid Chrome¡¯s shield and blew Chrome away with her punch. With magical fire support, all his HP was depleted.

    Chrome hit the wall as he suffered from the consecutive attacks of Velvet¡¯s lightning.

    [Dead or Alive] could only block so much damage. Chrome¡¯s vision began to get darker.

    ¡°<em>Damn, </em>she¡¯s well prepared this time.¡±

    As Chrome disappeared, Mii¡¯s fireball flew towards Frederica.

    ¡°[me Emperor]!¡±

    ¡°M, [Multi-Barriers]!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re mine!¡± (Velvet)

    ¡°Oh no¡­!¡±

    When Frederica focused on blocking Mii¡¯s attacks, Velvet closed the gap and hit her from the side. Due to the impact, Frederica was blown to the side.

    Frederica, who was a pure magician, couldn¡¯t withstand the attack, and fell motionless, her armor lying on top of her.

    With the throne right in front of her, Velvet advanced forward.

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 Chapter 467

    Views: 0

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 467

    Defense Specialization and the End of a Fierce Battle

    And of water and nature, in the innermost part of the crumbling castle. In the throne room, Lily summoned her soldiers to defend herself.

    <em>Mekimeki, bakibaki. </em>Along with a sound that shouldn¡¯t have resounded, the wall copsed, and a strange silhouette emerged from upfront.

    Payne and Sally marched in. There was no way Lily could defeat the iing horde of monsters.

    ¡°[Holy Sword of Conviction]!¡±

    ¡°[Super-el]!¡±

    No more useless exchanges.

    Payne exterminated the summoned soldiers and Sally rushed in.

    ¡°[Reproduction] [Puppet Wall]!¡±

    By creating a physical wall, Lily tried to stall for time.

    ¡°Oboro [Spirited Away]!¡±

    Sally slipped through the wall using Oboro¡¯s skill.

    <em>If only I could make her disappear with this g¡­</em>

    Lily gripped the g in her hand, but knew it was impossible.

    ¡°[Awakening] [Authority: Hellfire]!¡±

    Staggering, Lily filled the narrow space with mes. Even Sally shouldn¡¯t be able to avoid that due to theck of space.

    ¡°[Jump]!¡±

    However, before the mes could swallow her, Sally leaped up.

    Sally jumped over Lily¡¯s head and went straight for the throne.

    ¡°If it¡¯s only that¡­!¡±

    Fire swarmed the entire ce. If the Sally above her head wasn¡¯t real, she should¡¯ve been burned to death.

    Thus, mustering all her strength, Lily thrusted her spear upward.

    ¡°[Transformation]!¡±

    ¡°Wha¡ª!¡±

    Instead, the figure that appeared in front of her¡ªthe figure whose chest was impaled by her spear, was a girl d in ck armor.

    A girl who wouldn¡¯t sustain any damage whatsoever.

    With the momentum of being pierced by a spear, her defensive, soaring body descended into the throne and came to a halt.

    A momentter, the fanfare that resounded at the end of the fierce battle heralded Maple¡¯s victory.

    ¡°Ugh, just one more step!¡±

    Velvet frustratedly knocked at the barrier in front of the throne. Only one more step.

    However, before she could make that step, a barrier suddenly emerged, canceling her jump.

    When Velvet turned around, she saw Frederica rolling on the ground with 1 HP and pointing her staff towards her.

    ¡°How are you still alive?¡±

    ¡°<em>Haa, haa¡­ </em>Maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯m lucky, and it¡¯s all thanks to Chrome.¡±

    ¡°<em>Tch, </em>you¡¯re so stubborn¡­¡±

    On the verge of disappearing, Chrome passed one skill to Frederica with [Homing Pigeon]. It was [Dead or Alive]. As a result, Frederica¡ªwho shouldn¡¯t be able to withstand even one of Velvet¡¯s attacks¡ªdid the impossible.

    To conceal the skill activation effect, Frederica buried herself in her armor. She also relied on luck. That single moment, achieved using everything she had, determined the oue of the battle.

    With the conclusion of the event, everyone was enveloped in light and transferred to the normal field.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity, but it¡¯s a good match. I hope to win next time.¡±

    ¡°Next time, I have to get Dred and Drag to work harder¡­¡±

    ¡°It was fun! I sure wished I had won, though¡­!¡±

    Without giving them a proper chance to converse, the light enveloping the yers intensified, and they vanished from the event area.

    ***

    On the other side, Maple, exhausted from the fierce battle, slowly got up from the throne.

    ¡°It was a good match. You were strong. I feel bad for letting everyone down.¡±

    As the deformed figures disappeared, Lily, spent from using [Authority], spoke to Maple.

    ¡°I was going to use [Dedicated Affection], but they told me to do it this way.¡±

    ¡°Ah, if you had used that skill, I might have won.¡±

    ¡°Maple, nice!¡±

    ¡°It was a good attack. Good game.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Sally! Payne!¡±

    ¡°Maple, you did well!¡±

    ¡°The same goes for you, Iz! You did your best!¡±

    The light grew brighter. As expected, they had to share their impressions elsewhere.

    ¡°Should I practice so that I can use [Authority] well next time¡­?¡±

    ¡°Uuh, at that time, please be my ally.¡±

    ¡°Haha, okay, I will think about it.¡±

    After exchanging afterword with Lily, Maple vision was filled with light.

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 Chapter 468

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    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 468

    Defense Specialization and the Aftermath of the Event

    Maple won one fierce battle after another. A week after the battle ended, it was time to rx in the [New World Online].

    Some wanted to continue the quests and exploration of the 9<sup>th</sup> Floor, while others simply wanted to venture around the map.

    At the same time, there were those who were busy looking for skills they wished they had during the previous event.

    Thus, everyone returned to their daily routine.

    Meanwhile, at [Maple Tree], Maple received a pile of pure white tes from Iz and arranged them on the table.

    ¡°Party, party!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while.¡±

    ¡°I guess it can¡¯t be helped?¡±

    There was a reason why they didn¡¯t do it immediately after the event.

    One of the reasons was because they were waiting for the rest of the [Maple Tree]. At that time, Velvet suddenly showed up at their guild home.

    ¡°Here I am¡ª!¡±

    ¡°Excuse me.¡±

    ¡°Ah! That¡¯s fast!¡±

    ¡°Hmm? It seems that someone¡¯s already here.¡±

    ¡°Yes! The others should be here soon.¡±

    Guiding the pair to a row of chairs, Maple waited for the rest of the invited yers.

    They couldn¡¯t hold a celebration right after the event because they had to match the schedules of the 20 yers from [Rapid Fire], [Thunderstorm], and [Kingdom of the me Emperor].

    Fortunately, they only had to postpone the celebration for a week, which was considered quite early.

    As they did that, the door to the [Maple Tree] opened once again, and two key yers from [Rapid Fire] appeared.

    ¡°Hello, thank you very much for the invitation.¡±

    ¡°The event turned into such a fierce battle. Thank you for your hard work.¡±

    ¡°Please find an empty seat and wait!¡±

    ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ll do that.¡±

    Velvet immediately approached Lily and Wilbert, who were seated, and started talking.

    At the time of the settlement, the two were in separate royal castles. As such, they had much to say about the endgame.

    Afterwards, eight members from [Congregations of the Holy Swords] and [Kingdom of the me Emperor] also came. Originally, Maple had nned to invite everyone who¡¯d formed an alliance with the [Maple Tree], but the guild home couldn¡¯t amodate them. Therefore, this time as well, Maple would invite those she¡¯d added as friends.

    ¡°Maple, thanks to you, we were able to win the event.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t lose next time, no matter what kind of event it is.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll do our best, too!¡±

    As the guild master, Payne and Mii briefly exchanged greetings. After everyone was seated, Iz served the dishes, and as they shared their impressions, everyone excitedly recounted the event.

    ¡°Even so¡­ We¡¯ve invited a bunch of extraordinary faces.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s no denying that¡­¡±

    Chrome and Kasumi muttered as they looked at the gathered yers. Gathered at that ce were the core yers of each guild, along with the guild master who yed the central role during the event.

    Since their goal was to defeat Maple, they were naturally very powerful. As a result of building friendships with yers she interacted with on the battlefield, Maple¡¯s friends had be amazing.

    ¡°I thought Mii and Velvet¡¯s power would be enough to secure victory.¡±

    ¡°Haha, see, Payne didn¡¯t lose.¡±

    Shin shook his head helplessly at Drag, who was so proud of himself for some reason.

    ¡°As expected, [Copsing Sword] is no match for it.¡±

    ¡°The attack from [Multi-Total Teleport] was really dangerous. If my [Resurrect] didn¡¯t activate in time¡­¡±

    ¡°I was blown off because of the damage. It was such a devastating blow¡­¡±

    Shin, who recalled it, nodded deeply. After gathering all the buffs, Payne swung his holy sword without the slightest hesitation. He didn¡¯t even pay the [Copsing Sword] any heed, letting himself suffer its direct hit.

    The light of the holy sword, which was as powerful as Mii¡¯s me and Velvet¡¯s thunder, was more than the [Kingdom of the me Emperor] had expected. The [Multi-Total Teleport] was a special specification for that time only. A whole different level of enhancement that regarded everyone as an ally. The power and range were something that even the user, Frederica, had never seen before.

    ¡°It¡¯d have been different if I¡¯d won at least once¡­ This is really frustrating!¡±

    ¡°It was a close call. If only I could endure it for a few more minutes¡­¡±

    ¡°It was more than enough, Lily.¡±

    ¡°I think Velvet did an amazing job, as well!¡±

    Large-scale group battle during the daytime.

    The battle that continued from the surprise attack at midnight, and the castle siege at the climax.

    They were all important battles that could change the oue had things went differently.

    Maple and the others, who¡¯d built up an advantage over them by a slight margin, managed to secure the victory.

    As they discussed that, Velvet suddenly recalled something and nced at Sally.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! There¡¯s something I¡¯d like to ask Sally!¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°<em>That trick! </em>At the event! How does it work?¡±

    Of course, Velvet was referring to Sally¡¯s tactics. Cancel her skills midway through,unch invisible attacks, and alter the appearances of her weapons. Frankly speaking, she was such a wild card.

    ¡°I got hit by it, too. You also have Kasumi¡¯s skill¡­ What was that about?¡±

    Sally didn¡¯t only defeat Shin, but also created enough opportunity to cause the defeat of both Hinata and Wilbert. Even after watching her from the spectator area, everyone was still confused.

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s a secret.¡±

    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll found out by sparring!¡± (Velvet)

    ¡°Hold on, I already made an appointment with her?¡± (Frederica)

    ¡°What do you think, Will? It¡¯d be helpful if you can look into it.¡± (Lily)

    ¡°It¡¯s worth considering.¡± (Wilbert)

    If they hadn¡¯t cornered Sally in the first ce, she probably wouldn¡¯t resort to a tactic that interweaved truth and falsehood.

    Objectively speaking, Sally¡¯s arrays of skills were severely disadvantageous against Velvet, Frederica, or Wilbert. But Sally made it work.

    ¡°Sally¡­¡±

    ¡°S-she¡¯s so popr!¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, is it about time to add a duel reservation system?¡±

    ¡°I mean, they¡¯re already making some kind of arrangements.¡±

    ¡°Close enough.¡±

    They certainly didn¡¯t want to face off against Sally on the battlefield.

    From what they¡¯d seen in the spectator area, Sally¡¯s vignce was now as good as Maple¡¯s.

    Rather, because Maple was too eye-catching, she was forced toy low. As such, the real threat became apparent in the recent PVP battles.

    Everyone was on the lookout for Maple and her guild. Due to that, they overlooked Sally. Unlike Maple, Sally¡¯s vignce increased during PVPs.

    ¡°Us [Congregations of Holy Swords] must aim higher. The number of guilds who rival us in strength has increased.¡±

    ¡°Aah, it can¡¯t be helped. Guess I¡¯ll have to check them out.¡±

    ¡°The same goes for the [Kingdom of the me Emperor].¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I couldn¡¯t suppress them as per the original n¡­ I have to research other guilds, too¡­¡±

    The event was also fruitful for Payne and Mii as guild masters. Only after actually fighting did they realize that the position had changedpared to the 4<sup>th</sup> event.

    Be it for [Maple Tree], [Rapid Fire], or [Thunderstorm], there were many other guilds that had caught up. Still, they couldn¡¯t afford to lose so easily.

    But that was another story for the future event. Although gathering information was important, right now, the priority was to have fun.

    Afterwards, they had a heated debate. ¡®<em>If I had done this here, I¡¯d have seeded¡ª¡¯, ¡®What¡¯s that skill about?¡¯</em>

    No one could participate on every battlefield. There were many stories of small battles that happened here and there that each of them didn¡¯t know, which made it all the more exciting.

    ¡°How was it? It was the first PVP in a long time.¡±

    ¡°Everyone was strong and it was tough¡­. But I¡¯m d that Sally and everyone at [Maple Tree] helped me!¡±

    From Maple¡¯s expression and words, there were times when she struggled, but it was apparent that she enjoyed it.

    ¡°We were able to win thanks to Maple. Especially the [Darkness of Rebirth].¡±

    ¡°I only did that because everyone told me to.¡±

    ¡°You lived up to my expectations.¡±

    ¡°Nice!¡±

    The victory. And not just that, but the many exchanges leading up to that point were also memorable.

    Sally smiled at Maple, who expressed how much she enjoyed the overall event in general.

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 Chapter 469

    Views: 0

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 469

    Defense Specialization and the Future

    In the end, Sally set up a duel schedule, while Maple looked forward to the next event on the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor. After promising that they¡¯d help each other out, the celebration was concluded.

    ¡°Cleaning up is easy because we can just stow everything in our inventory.¡±

    ¡°I see, something that we can¡¯t do in reality.¡±

    Maple cleaned up the desk and put away all the decorations Sally arranged on the wall.

    The setting panel of the guild allowed them to remove all the chairs with a tap of a finger.

    ¡°It suddenly bes so quiet.¡±

    ¡°Well, a lot of people came. There were four additional ones this time.¡±

    Once the cleanup was finished, the [Maple Tree] began to discuss the uing floor¡ªthe 10<sup>th</sup> Floor.

    ¡°The next event¡­ The 10<sup>th</sup> Floor is up next.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. There are still quests left on the 9<sup>th</sup> Floor, so I have to hurry and read them.¡±

    ¡°After an event, there¡¯s always a new floor. Even though we haven¡¯tpletely explored the 9<sup>th</sup> Floor yet.¡±

    ¡°It gets wider each time. I¡¯m sure the next floor will be even more so.¡±

    ¡°Although, if it¡¯s anything like the 8<sup>th</sup> Floor, it¡¯ll be difficult to explore.¡±

    ¡°Thanks to Tsukimi, it¡¯s be much easier, but¡­¡±

    Rare dungeons for hidden events. Unseen before skills, along with secret items. They were allplicated, and couldn¡¯t be discovered through normal means. No one would be surprised if there were still things left hidden.

    ¡°I¡¯d have to look around in my spare time. I no longer have any trick up my sleeve.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We won¡¯t win using the same trick.¡±

    The all-out battle forced them to use all the skills they¡¯d acquired since the 4<sup>th</sup> event.

    After the event, all the yers were looking to improve. In order to do so, they had to explore.

    Before the next event arrived, they had to level up and collect materials.

    Although skills were important, status shouldn¡¯t be taken lightly, either.

    Everyone nned to undertake a quest. Some would go to uncharted territory, while others would investigate some familiar areas. Even when there were no events, there was no shortage of things to do.

    Then, after discussing the future police a little, some headed for the field, and there were some who went to town. Each resumed their respective game routine.

    ¡°What are you going to do after this, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Maybe I should do some grinding. I¡¯m satisfied with my current skills, so I won¡¯t overdo it. Besides, I got a medal.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right, you got a medal this time, too!¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s the purpose of the event.¡±

    However, the exchange period still hadn¡¯t started.

    Just as she remembered about the medals, a message arrived from the developer.

    ¡°Hey, there¡¯s a message!¡±

    ¡°About the event on the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor? If it¡¯d been a little earlier, we could discuss it with everyone else¡­ All right, let¡¯s see¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a summary about the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor¡­ There¡¯s a characteristic about the floor, and some hints about undiscovered dungeons and events¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty spacious. Also, look here¡­¡±

    Maple looked at the text Sally pointed at. <em>¡®Find the strongest boss and vanquish it.¡¯</em>

    ¡°Is it the usual boss we¡¯d encounter when we want to go to the next floor?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like it. Look, we¡¯re also told to gather hints from the uing quest.¡±

    ¡°The strongest boss¡­ I¡¯m sure it¡¯s strong¡­¡±

    ¡°It hasn¡¯t been found, after all. It seems that the patch is still on the way, but considering this game, we might not be able to find it¡­¡±

    ¡°I have to do my best to find it!¡±

    ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s work together, [Maple Tree].¡±

    ¡°Then, there¡¯d be elements of PVP and PVE in the next event¡­¡±

    ¡°However, there¡¯s barely any details¡­ Is that why we still can¡¯t exchange the medals?¡±

    With the lifting of the restriction on the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor, the exchange of medals would also begin. After all, the exploration of the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor would soon begin. Therefore, if they missed anything during the search, they could supplement it with medals during the exchange period.

    ¡°Looks like it¡¯ll take a while.¡±

    ¡°Seems like it¡­¡±

    It was still far off, yet it was good to have perspective. Now, they¡¯ve determined their next goal.

    ¡°Information willeter. I¡¯m going to grind after this, how about you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ming!¡±

    ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s head out. The best ce¡­ All right, I found it.¡±

    ¡°As expected of Sally!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡±

    The two of them headed for their destination.

    ¡ªAt night, after leveling up with Kaede, Risa, who logged out, stretched and loosened her body.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ It¡¯s so cold.¡±

    Before she knew it, summer had ended, and winter wasing.

    <em>Will there be another event for Christmas? Or the New year?</em>

    Risa stopped her thoughts about the future there.

    ¡°Should I take a bath?¡±

    She¡¯d just warm up and head to bed for today. Thinking that, Risa went down the stairs.

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 Chapter 470

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 470

    Defense Specialization and Daily Life

    After some time, winter began in earnest, and [New World Online] also changed.

    ¡°Snow¡ª!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s snowing!¡±

    Maple and Sally stared at the rain of snow falling from the sky.

    After December, snow started to fall in each area.

    Although it wasn¡¯t arge-scale one, an event was held every season, in which they had to collect and exchange the drop items of monsters.

    Snow graced every floor¡ªfrom the 1<sup>st</sup> to the 9<sup>th</sup>.

    ¡°Seems like it¡¯ll keep snowing until Christmas. Apparently, the surface of the water on the 8<sup>th</sup> Floor is partially frozen.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯ll aid with the exploration?¡±

    ¡°However, it means that you can no longer dive. There are pros and cons.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    ¡ªAt any rate. This time, their goal was to leisurely collect drop items. Time was aplenty. If they log in every day and defeat some monsters, they could easily obtain all the exchange items.

    As expected, there were no medals, and instead, there were potions, materials, golds, and stylish costumes. But apparently, near the end, one would be able to obtain items that could increase status for guild home, so it was worth it.

    But they also had another reason. Maple and Sally went to the field on the 9<sup>th</sup> Floor.

    Although event items could be obtained from any floor, the 9<sup>th</sup> Floor was ideal because the monsters weren¡¯t that difficult, and the field was easy to explore. They could easily level up there.

    As they approached the exit of the town, they saw two people waving at them.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°This way!¡±

    ¡°Y-Yui! Coming right up!¡±

    ¡°Right, Tsukimi!¡±

    ¡°Yukimi!¡±

    ¡°Let me give you a ride.¡±

    Maple and Sally were picked up by Tsukimi and Yukimi, who¡¯d grown into giants, and jumped straight out onto the field.

    ¡°Please go to this ce.¡±

    ¡°I understand!¡±

    The two rallied Yukimi and Tsukimi. Although only two people could ride at the same time, they were much faster than Syrup, whom they forced to fly. Even though normally, Syrup could only walk onnd.

    The four of them arrived at an extremely dangerous area where mes were erupting from all over the ce, creating multiple damage zones both in the air and on the ground.

    ¡°This ce is full of monsters¡­ But you see, you can temporarily extinguish the fire using water magic.¡±

    The three understood what Sally was getting at.

    ¡°It¡¯s my time to shine!¡±

    Maple activated [Helping Hand] and prepared to protect everyone. The falling mes and the burning earth were powerless against Maple¡¯s defensive power.

    ¡°Now, we¡¯ll be fine!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a great help!¡±

    ¡°With this, we can venture inside¡­!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be a different story if the damage is fixed¡­¡±

    If it wasva instead of fire, Maple, who¡¯d experienced the former in the past, would get her hands full.

    As the three of them stepped inside, fireballs spewed from here and there, dyeing their vision red.

    ¡°We¡¯ll cover you, so I leave the rest to you.¡±

    ¡°¡°Of course!¡±¡±

    Mai and Yui returned Tsukimi and Yukimi to their rings, and brandished eight great hammers.

    ¡°[Ocean]!¡±

    ¡°[Provoke]!¡±

    As the water spread under their feet, the mes disappeared, and in an attempt to stop them, the monsters rushed towards Sally.

    From the opposite direction, the monsters aggroed by Maple¡¯s [Provoke] were rushing towards her. At the same time, a mass of irons spun around the four of them.

    The monster charged towards them, but the six sledgehammersid them to waste.

    Due to the effects of the [Decisive Battle], the greatly enhanced giant hammer became an imprable wall that ward off any approaching monsters. In fact, they weren¡¯t even given a chance to fight back. All of them were defeated in an instant.

    ¡°We¡¯re doing great, it seems.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go forward while spinning like this!¡±

    ¡°More areing!¡±

    ¡°I can still conjure more water with my skills, so let¡¯s take care of them. This is a little-known spot, and I believe only Maple can see through it, but still, be careful¡­¡±

    If any yers came into contact with the spinning sledgehammer, they¡¯d surely be bounced off. God knows how far they¡¯d be flown off, but it certainly wouldn¡¯t befortable.

    ¡°Oh, they dropped something!¡±

    Drop items scattered underneath the sledgehammer that¡¯d turned into a crusher.

    A bright red Santa hat.

    No doubt about it, it was a drop item for the new event.

    ¡°I¡¯ll pick them up, so concentrate on taking the monsters out!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll cover you!¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    ¡°Go, go!¡±

    Mai, Yui, and Maple.

    The three of them, who boasted unusual strength in battle against monsters that they weren¡¯t disadvantaged against, could do ultra-high-speed hunting as long as the environment was amodating. It wouldn¡¯t be strange if there were no yers who could top Mai and Yui¡¯s clearing speed. Now, all they had to do was defeat and summon monsters. If no one was around, it¡¯d be perfect.

    It was the perfect hunting ground that met all the conditions. Sally stared at the orbiting sledgehammer as she collected the drops.

    ¡°You¡¯re getting better at it.¡±

    ¡°Do you mean the sledgehammer? Or the [Helping Hand]?¡±

    ¡°Both.¡±

    Maple was scared at first, but as she continued to use [Helping Hand] in her daily routine, she grew ustomed to it. Although she was still hesitant to explore the 6<sup>th</sup> Floor, with [Helping Hand], she might be able to do it.

    ¡°How about you, Sally? I think Sally can use it better!¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll think about it¡­¡±

    ¡°I can teach you anytime!¡±

    ¡°Fufu, thank you.¡±

    As per their goal to collect items, the monsters exploded and the drop items scattered like fountains.

    The two of them watched at Mai and Yui¡¯s stampede, thinking that the two had be the stars again.

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 Chapter 471

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 471

    Defense Specialization and Daily Life (2)

    Maple and the others pulverized a horde of monsters while stirring up mes with the rotating sledgehammer.

    ¡°The firepower is just amazing! I gathered so many in an instant!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s thanks to Maple and Sally!¡±

    ¡°No, because of you, we can gather a lot of drop items.¡±

    No small fry could withstand Mai and Yui¡¯s attacks. Suffice to say, no monsters in that area could stand a chance against them.

    As a result, the hunt progressed very smoothly, and they leveled up. The cooperation between Maple, Mai, and Yui were simply too powerful.

    Until the field turned into a devil¡¯s paradise overrun by such <em>monsters, </em>nothing could stop them in their tracks.

    ¡°Should we call it a day soon?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Although we took a break from time to time, the tiredness is catching up.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s easier now because I don¡¯t have to move, but¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been at it for a long time.¡±

    Because of Sally¡¯s water maniption skills, monsters were constantly being summoned.

    The four of them took out their chairs and rxed, leaving the sledgehammer rotating around them.

    As long as Maple was there, unforeseen circumstances should¡¯ve been avoided.

    Just as the four of them were thinking about calling it a day, Chrome and Kasumi showed up.

    ¡°Oh, are you still here?¡±

    ¡°How¡¯s it going? Are you doing well?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Mai and Yui are amazing!¡±

    When Maple told them the number of drop items they¡¯d obtained, the two widened their eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about it for a long time but¡­ As expected, the destructive power is different because there are eight of them.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t do anyplicated moves, yet¡­¡±

    ¡°But you two are perfect for moving out together!¡±

    ¡°For you two, that would suffice.¡±

    With the two of them together, massive firepower was pretty much guaranteed. Noplicated moves were necessary. As the name suggested, the sledgehammer was arge weapon. The enemy would be having a hard time avoiding one, much else <em>eight </em>of them.

    ¡°Are you two also hunting here? We¡¯re about to wrap it up¡­¡±

    ¡°No, I was just passing by. I thought reaching this ce isn¡¯t a problem when Haku¡¯s around. Besides, I found something interesting, which I¡¯d like to report.¡±

    <em>Something interesting. </em>Kasumi rarely reported such a thing. Up until now, it was usually done by Maple herself, who¡¯d chance upon such oddities.

    ¡°Maple obtained [Darkness of Rebirth] at the teleport destination, right? I found another teleport point.¡±

    ¡°However, the teleport destination seems to berger than I thought. I went to check the ce myself.¡±

    ¡°How was it?¡±

    ording to Kasumi, it was an eerie ce with thick ck vegetation and a haze simr to [Darkness of Rebirth].

    ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll discover something there!¡±

    ¡°It certainly feels like it¡­¡±

    Before the implementation of the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor, Kasumi found it by chance when she was proceeding with the remaining quests on the 9<sup>th</sup> Floor. Because the teleport destination seemed to be quite spacious, she decided to alert everyone in [Maple Tree] so they could clear it.

    ¡°What do you think? Should we go on onest adventure before the arrival of the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s inform Iz and Kanade. If there¡¯s some kind of hidden mechanism, we may need those two.¡±

    ¡°Then, we¡¯d have to match our schedule again.¡±

    ¡°I wonder what kind of monsters are there, Sister¡­¡±

    ¡°I hope they aren¡¯t too nimble¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll cover you. After all, you¡¯re our main attacker.¡±

    ¡°¡°Of course!¡±¡±

    They found a purpose other than the event. Thanks to Mai and Yui, [Maple Tree] had no problem collecting items. Thus, everyone decided to head to that unknown area.

 Chapter 472

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 472

    Defense Specialization and Daily Life (3)

    At ater date, [Maple Tree], who headed out for exploration with everyone as nned, stood in front of a lush, dark, forest.

    ¡°Is this the ce?¡±

    ¡°Strange, I don¡¯t recall ever seeing any teleportation magic circle when I investigated at the time of the event¡­¡±

    No wonder Maple and Sally were puzzled. The 9<sup>th</sup> Floor was disyed on the event field as it was, and they¡¯d researched what kind of terrain effect each area had.

    ¡°Fufufu, Maple¡¯s no longer the only one who encounters new events anymore¡­¡±

    ¡°Apparently, there¡¯s a path. We discovered it by ident.¡±

    If even Sally failed to find it, it was safe to assume that the area couldn¡¯t be reached through normal means.

    They were able to find it because the coincidences aligned.

    ¡°But Kasumi and I have checked it several times, so there¡¯s no doubt about it. C¡¯mon, let¡¯s go, Maple. Please use [Dedicated Affection] since there¡¯s quite a few monsters inside. It¡¯s a bit tough for me to protect four people.¡±

    ¡°Understood! [Dedicated Affection]!¡±

    The ground around Maple shone brightly, illuminating the dark forest.

    It was a useful skill that could also serve as a substitute for lighting.

    ¡°We won¡¯t need antern.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but we¡¯ll stand out.¡±

    Iz decided against equipping antern.

    Iz, who needed to prepare for the attack, and Kanade, who used up all his powerful tomes in the previous event, would support them on the way to the teleport destination.

    If it was attack power, the siblings already had it covered.

    With Mai and Yui as the center, followed by Kasumi and Sally, Maple would cover them as usual. By using Necro, Chrome would be able to deal damage.

    Once they stepped inside, they found themselves in a monster¡¯s den. The monsters who spotted them approached one after another.

    ¡°[Arm of the Warrior]!¡±

    ¡°[Wind Cutter]!¡±

    ¡°¡°[Double Stamp]¡±¡±

    They mowed down the approaching wolves and shed the flying insects. The sledgehammers obliterated the rest.

    ¡°With all of us here, it¡¯s much easier now. I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t take long.¡±

    To look for any kind of signs, Chrome went back and forth, and ck haze began to appear.

    ¡°It¡¯s here! It worked!¡±

    ¡°This seems to be proof that we¡¯re on the right track. Now all we have to do is go to the right direction so that it doesn¡¯t disappear.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like the [Afterglow of Salvation] that I went with Sally!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to keep an eye on change in our surroundings. Sounds rather difficult.¡±

    Round and round in the dark forest. To explore while being constantly attacked by monsters was simply rough.

    However, since [Maple Tree] had assembled, they had an impable defense mechanism. Furthermore, they had twelve iron destroyers to take care of the monsters. In short, they had nothing to worry about.

    They could even have conversations amidst the battle¡­

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s go all the way to the back! Time seems to be of an essence!¡±

    Various conditions, such as time, number of yers, and status were required to trigger an event.

    Although Chrome was simply hazarding a guess, he shouldn¡¯t be that far off.

    Under different circumstances, the event might not start due to the aforementioned reasons. Perhaps, the reason why Kasumi didn¡¯t find anything was because of the time difference.

    In the first ce, everyone¡¯s focus after the implementation of the 9<sup>th</sup> Floor was transfixed towards interpersonal battles rather than searching for rare events.

    As he did so, Chrome¡¯s body gradually became enshrouded in a ck haze, turning him into a ck, round, mass.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I can hardly see anything in front of me¡­¡±

    ¡°But you seem to be fine.¡±

    While Maple was concerned, there shouldn¡¯t be any problem as long as [Dedicated Affection] was there.

    It was different from the investigation stage that was led by Kasumi.

    ¡°Even though the scenery stays the same, I seem to lose my sense of direction.¡±

    ¡°If Kanade had helped, we might be able to find it sooner.¡±

    Despite the unchanging scenery, Kanade would be able to perceive that something was amiss.

    ¡°Fufu, I¡¯m enjoying the sense of discovery.¡±

    ¡°Okay then! ¡­It¡¯s about time.¡±

    Haze emanated from Chrome, who¡¯d turned into a pitch-ck mass, before spreading into the air in front of them like a thin film.

    The haze gradually subsided, and a simr ck forest could be seen in the back. However, it went without saying that it led to a different ce.

    The shade of the castle could be seen in the distance, with an eerie, giant red moon as the backdrop.

    ¡°It¡¯ll close after a while. C¡¯mon, let¡¯s go in!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°My heart is pounding¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do our best, Sister!¡±

    ¡°Will I find a tome in that castle?¡±

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be strange if we were to find rare items.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know what we¡¯re going up against. Be careful.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so excited!¡±

    Regardless of how many times they¡¯d experienced it, venturing into an unknown area always gave them great joy. The eight stepped into the gate that led to another world, thrilled for the skills, items, and equipment they had yet to see.

 Chapter 473

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 473

    Defense Specialization and Daily Life (4)

    The monsters immediately charged towards the eight who¡¯d invaded the secret location. Enshrouded in ck haze, and holding up shields and swords to amplify their defenses, humanoids emerged from the darkness, trying to block their progress.

    ¡°¡°<em><i>Hyaaa¡ª!</i></em>¡±¡±

    Even so, those monsters were nothing but pebbles on the side of the rock. The moment Mai and Yui¡¯s sledgehammers made contact with them, their amplified defenses became meaningless. The monsters, along with their shields, were crushed to dust.

    ¡°Okay, it still works.¡±

    ¡°They keeping, but as long as all it takes is a single blow, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    The strategy devised by [Maple Tree] was divided into several steps.

    The first was to cover the main attackers¡ªMai and Yui¡ªwith everyone buffing them.

    It was a simple, concise, and <em><i>effective </i></em>move. But before anything else, they tried to check if the monsters could withstand their blow.

    If they didn¡¯t, then that was all they needed to worry about.

    ¡°Let¡¯s aim for that castle.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. At this rate, we¡¯ll be able to get there without a hitch.¡±

    ¡°As expected of that devastating blow!¡±

    ¡°After all, the number of hands increased.¡±

    [Helping Hand] was perfect to cover the weaknesses of the two, who couldn¡¯t handle closebat.

    ¡°If it¡¯s just this monster¡­!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    As they spoke, the eight of them steadily approached the castle, ying any approaching monsters.

    However, not all monsters could be fended off. The rotating sledgehammers that enclosed the eight people created gaps between the top and the bottom, and between each of them.

    Although the monsters weren¡¯t as cunning as the yer, sometimes some slipped through.

    ¡°[Double sh]¡±

    ¡°[Burst me]!¡±

    ¡°[Blood Sword]!¡±

    But that was just the first step.

    All the monsters would die once they came into contact with any of the sledgehammers. The [Maple Tree] could only be defeated with a piercing attack.

    Maple also provided a generous cover, and took care of any monster that managed to get past the spinning sledgehammers.

    Ultimately, it was impossible¡ª<em><i>for the monsters, that is.</i></em>

    They were too much of a menace. If anything, the monsters that were ruthlessly blown away were pitiful.

    They were trampled upon, before being mercilessly ughtered. As their rampage went on, the entrance of the castle was right in front of them.

    ¡°Wow, it¡¯s huge¡­¡±

    ¡°Depending on how the inside is, it seems to be quite arge castle. Be careful of traps.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    The road to the castle was the prelude. They should be prepared to ovee anything that came their way.

    ¡°Is this where it all begins? Anyway, the basic strategy won¡¯t change.¡±

    ¡°Besides, we still have a lot of items. We can apply as much buffs as we want.¡±

    ¡°If a strange guy appears, Kasumi, Sally, and I will deal with it. It doesn¡¯t matter as long as the two¡¯s attack gets through.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Let¡¯s switch to fast, long-range attacks here.¡±

    The attacker was ced at the center of the formation. Everyone¡¯s fighting style had strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, it was important to y it to their advantage.

    Complementing each gap and weakness was the key when fighting in a group of eight people.

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s open it!¡±

    After seeing that everyone was nodding, Maple pushed the door, and a red light ran through them, while the door began to open, apanied by a heavy sound.

    Thus, the exploration of the ancient castle, done by [Maple Tree] with the purpose of reaching the innermost part began.

 Chapter 474

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 474

    Defense Specialization and Daily Life (5)

    Upon opening the door, Maple immediately checked the inside. Doors were positioned ahead, as well as left and right. In front of her, there were a pair of gently sloping stairs leading to the second floor. On the second floor, simrly positioned doors could be seen.

    They had no choice but to investigate the six routes in order. Now, it was just a matter of deciding where to begin.

    ¡°Oh? It¡¯s quite spacious.¡±

    ¡°Just like its appearance suggests.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve established that it¡¯s a majestic old castle. It¡¯s going to be a long way.¡±

    ¡°Where shall we go from here?¡±

    ¡°Mai, Yui, Maple. Which one will you choose?¡±

    The exploration could progress without a hitch due to [Dedicated Affection] and the flying sledgehammer.

    Thus, they decided to just follow the three. Besides, they still didn¡¯t know the correct route, anyway. As a result, there was no objection.

    ¡°The middle one might lead to a boss.¡±

    ¡°Then, right or left?¡±

    ¡°If we want to explore every nook and cranny, then we should do that¡­¡±

    ¡°I agree!¡±

    They had painstakingly discovered a hidden map. It¡¯d be a waste if they didn¡¯t search thoroughly.

    In the end, the eight decided to go through the right door on the first floor.

    ***

    When they opened the door and looked for traps, the three saw a monster being illuminated by amp on the wall.

    Like outside, it was enshrouded by ck haze. Its distinctive wide-brimmed hat and long staff suggested that it was a wizard.

    ¡°<em><i>Staff¡­ </i></em>A magic type, I suppose?¡±

    ¡°Long-ranged¡­ Could it be an illusion?¡±

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem to be transparent to me.¡±

    ¡°Mai, Yui, can we leave them to you?¡±

    ¡°¡°Of course!¡±¡±

    Even if it wasn¡¯t an illusion, Mai and Yui were still at a disadvantage. Not only were they short-ranged, it was a battle in an unobstructed hallway. However, it didn¡¯t matter because Maple was there.

    There was no need to fight with iron balls.

    Giving priority to mobility, the twins reduced the number of sledgehammers into two, before climbing onto Tsukimi and Yukimi. They also didn¡¯t forget to bring Maple so they wouldn¡¯t go out of range. Then, the two sped up at once.

    The wizard who saw it casted a ck magic circle, from which jet-ck me erupted. Even though the me hit them squarely, Tsukimi and Yukimi rushed through the me.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Leave the defense to me!¡±

    ¡°¡°Okay!¡±¡¯

    If there was no damage, there was nothing to worry about. Thus, the two arrived in front of the magician who shot mes, and swung their sledgehammers.

    ¡°¡°Huh!?¡±¡±

    The two widened their eyes¡ªafter all, there was no impact.

    Before they knew it, the wizard had vanished, before appearing again some distance away. The wizard had warped a short distance away and dodged their attacks.

    Not only that, the wizard was about to unleash his next attack. When the wizard made a disy of brandishing his staff¡ª

    ¡°¡°Eh!?¡±¡±

    The three were teleported to different positions, just like the wizard himself.

    Certainly, it wasn¡¯t that far. However, the formation change that suddenly urred pushed the two out of the range of [Dedicated Affection].

    ¡°[Cover Move] [Multi-Cover]!¡±

    ¡°¡°Chrome!¡±¡±

    Chrome rushed to catch the approaching mes. With a skill that allowed him to protect multiple people, he firmly intercepted the attacks, not letting the fire reach Mai and Yui.

    ¡°[Blood Sword]!¡±

    Kasumi¡¯s liquid sword flexed like a whip, but the enemy evaded it. At the very least, it put a stop to the surging mes. While healing himself, Chrome stared at the enemy.

    ¡°A tough enemy has appeared!¡±

    ¡°Kanade!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°[Water Ball]!¡±

    ¡°[Tornado]!¡±

    If direct attack didn¡¯t work, then what about magic?

    The raging wind and the mass of water mmed into the magician, shaving a chunk of his HP.

    ¡°We have to make sure that he doesn¡¯t avoid it! <em><i>In that case¡­!¡±</i></em>

    Iz took out some crystals and set them in a small cannon. A few secondster, with a boom, the ejected crystals exploded, sending yellow sparks running through the dark hallway.

    The intense paralyzing attack ceased all the enemy¡¯s movement. The wizard could neither dispel nor warp away.

    ¡°[Tidal Wave]!¡±

    As a counterattack, a powerful water magic was unleashed. The magic could be acquired through basic magic training and was reasonably strong. Giant waves filled the hallway, swallowing the monsters.

    The sound effect that marked the disappearance of monsters echoed along with the sound of undting water. When the water disappeared, only the eight remained.

    ¡°This should be powerful enough.¡±

    ¡°Even among water magic, it¡¯s quite strong and covers a wide area. Wizard sure is reliable at times like this.¡±

    ¡°My books are out of stock, so I¡¯ll have to put up with it and fight seriously.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be great.¡±

    After the event, Kanade¡¯s books were mostly out of stock. As such, the number of trump cards had decreased, but even so, he could still y the role of a wizard.

    He was still dependable. Moreover, Sou¡¯d also y an active role in most important situations.

    ¡°Can it avoid anything but magic? Didn¡¯t he avoid Kasumi¡¯s [Blood Sword]?¡±

    ¡°I can try to look into it¡­ But as long as Kanade can defeat it, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem!¡±

    ¡°Sorry! Mai, Yui, are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Chrome did a good job protecting us.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s my job. I¡¯m prepared to act immediately in an emergency.¡±

    ¡°Good job, Chrome.¡±

    ¡°Two-tiered formation should be difficult to break through, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Let¡¯s defeat the monster with Kanade as the leaad. It¡¯d be great if we don¡¯t have to use books.¡±

    Save where they could, and try to win efficiently and properly. If they could make the most of each other and cover each other¡¯s weaknesses, the enemy shouldn¡¯t be able to get through them.

    If it was only this, they should be able to manage. The eight confidently marched through the dark corridor.

 Chapter 475

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 475

    Defense Specialization and Daily Life (6)

    Maple and the others switch attackers ording to the characteristics of the enemies that stood in their path. Sally and Kasumi were good against nimble opponents; Mai and Yui were good against tough opponents; while Maple, Kanade, and Sally were suitable for attacking from a distance. Iz would take care of everyone¡¯s buffs, while Chrome would intercept and fill in Maple¡¯s gap if the enemy used forced teleport.

    Once they knew what kind of enemy they were dealing with, there was nothing that the [Maple Tree] couldn¡¯t handle.

    Maple and the others continued their search, opening treasure chests several times in a room inside the castle.

    ¡°We did the right thing by saving the best forst!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s full of materials¡­ Maybe we¡¯ll find some skill scrolls soon?¡±

    ¡°Compared to a bunch of equipment, skill scrolls are more useful because someone can learn it.¡±

    The materials were rare, and although the equipment wasn¡¯t as good as the unique series, they were all excellent.

    However, rather than equipment, [Maple Tree] prioritized skill scrolls.

    ¡°It¡¯d be better if we explore the other side as well.¡±

    ¡°I agree. There has to be some kind of reward, so there¡¯s no reason not to go.¡±

    ¡°My skills are still avable!¡±

    At present, Maple had only used [Dedicated Affection]. She had some skills left, along with [Machine God], which could be used only a limited number of times.

    Basically, Mai and Yui, who crushed the enemy with normal attacks, would be leading the way so they wouldn¡¯t have to use valuable skills to break through.

    After all, normal attacks could be used infinitely. Because of that, thebat power of the twin didn¡¯t decline even during consecutive battles.

    ¡°We still have some spaces left, so let¡¯s look around and gather as many items as possible!¡±

    ¡°But if it¡¯s a dead end, we¡¯ll just fight again¡­!¡±

    ¡°How dependable! I¡¯ll do my best, too.¡±

    They wouldn¡¯t have to struggle so hard until the boss battle. Considering the strength of the eight people, that was only natural.

    However, they didn¡¯t let their guard down. After all, it was still a hidden area on the 9<sup>th</sup> Floor, and the enemy¡¯s attack power was correspondingly high. Mai and Yui, as well as Iz and Kanade¡¯s rearguard group, would be fatally wounded with a single blow.

    Even more so if Maple was struck by a piercing attack. Depending on the power, her HP might be greatly shaved off.

    ¡°If an unknown enemy appears, we should wait and see first.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind aggravating them. Even if I unexpectedly take damage, I should be able to withstand at least one blow.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if I get hit a little, too. Leave the reconnaissance to me.¡±

    Once they reaffirmed their strategy, they carefully checked the walls and furniture so as not to miss the hidden treasure chest before leaving the room.

    ***

    The passage turned out to be a dead end. Nevertheless, the eight proceeded to delve deeper.

    If their purpose was to reach the deepest part and defeat the boss, they were already failing. But in a sense, they were also sessful, and Maple was keenly aware of that.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we more likely to find a treasure chest here rather than the main path?¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s quite likely. Judging from the outer appearance of the castle, I¡¯m sure the boss is stationed at the back.¡±

    Even if that weren¡¯t the case, it was unlikely for them to ce the boss at the edge of the dungeon. If anything, the boss room should befit the majestic appearance of the castle.

    ¡°Maple, can¡¯t you locate the treasure chest or something? After all, you have a penchant for finding rare skills.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, that was just a coincidence.¡±

    ¡°Actually, rather than intuition, she seems to have a high affinity with unusual events.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ <em>hmm, </em>let¡¯s take a look at the second-floor next time we return to the entrance!¡±

    ¡°All right, that¡¯s the n.¡±

    At Maple¡¯s suggestion, Sally and everyone else from [Maple Tree] nodded.

    No special gimmicks or traps so far. Nevertheless, some items were required to trigger a boss battle. It was just the norm.

    <em>¡®We overlooked something. Even though the key to the boss room was right there all along¡ª¡¯</em>

    <em>¡ª</em>In order to prevent such a scenario from happening, the eight decided to score the passages one by one.

 Chapter 476

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 476

    Defense Specialization and Daily Life (7)

    ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s a harvest!¡±

    Exploring every nook and cranny was worth it.

    Knowing that they could deal with any monsters, Maple and the others scored all the passages. Afterwards, they returned to the branching point to each passage.

    Although there was no skill scroll, all the treasure chests made up for it. After all, they didn¡¯t only obtain a bunch of materials, equipment, and items that would fetch a good price.

    ¡°We found what we needed.¡±

    ¡°Again, saving it for thest was the right choice.¡±

    They just happened to follow the correct sequence.

    At the end of the passage on the first floor was a key required to unlock the passage on the second floor.

    As for the second floor, neither the left nor the right doors was locked, leaving the one at the middle.

    ¡°It looks like there¡¯s no other ce we can explore¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly!¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go!¡±

    The eight people, led by Maple who still activated [Dedicated Affection], opened the lock and checked the situation ahead.

    A little further down the aisle was a circr room with a door at the back. The room, which had the radius of 10 meter, bore a different atmosphere. Suffice to say, it was different from the passages and small rooms they¡¯d explored so far.

    Standing on the border between the room and the corridor, they scanned it from the ceiling to the floor, but didn¡¯t find anything out of ce.

    ¡°Hmm, looks like it might lead to the boss room, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Because we can see the door right ahead of us, it doesn¡¯t seem to be the deepest part.¡±

    ¡°Still, something mighte out, so be careful.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll probably appear the moment we set foot inside.¡±

    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll set up the cannon here.¡±

    Since there were no signs of the enemy, they could prepare as much as they wanted. a stack of buffs was applied on Mai and Yui, while a row of cannons was lined up with the muzzle pointed at the room.

    If nothing happened, all they had to do was collect them.

    ¡°Time to move!¡±

    With Maple¡¯s shout, everyone entered the room at the same time.

    In the next moment, ck mes were spewed, engulfing the air.

    Right after the mes had subsided, a girl emerged from within¡ªboth her hands and feet covered in ck scales. Her wings and tail had the same color.

    It was the boss of the Land of Fire and Wastnd of the 9<sup>th</sup> Floor.

    ¡°I¡¯ve concealed it thoroughly, so how did you manage toe this far?¡±

    The boss conjured several masses of me in the air, amplified them, and grinned at Maple and the others.

    ¡°An unexpected visitor. I¡¯ll entertain you. Just be careful not to turn into charcoal!¡±

    ¡°Maple, brace yourself!¡±

    ¡°[Pierce Guard] [Afterglow of Salvation]!¡±

    <em>¡°Take this¡ª!¡±</em>

    The sudden attack caught them off-guard.

    The giant ck fireball that filled the room expanded, turning into a pir of fire that reached even the ceiling, swallowing the eight people.

 Chapter 477

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 477

    Defense Specialization and Daily Life (8)

    The raging ck me subsided, and the eight emerged, unscathed.

    Although the passage behind them was blocked by a wall of mes, as expected, the super-wide range ambush that covered the room didn¡¯t even deal true damage.

    ¡°[sh Flood]!¡±

    Sally conjured a torrent to propel Mai and Yui upwards. The target of the twins was, of course, the boss.

    ¡°¡°[Decisive Battle Specifications] [Double Stamp]!¡±¡±

    Sixteen sledgehammers rained towards the boss, but the corresponding me barriers that were deployed in the air blocked them all.

    ¡°¡°Eh!?¡±¡±

    An attack with power so massive, it could effortlessly break through your average defense. The two widened their eyes in shock. After all, their attack had never been repelled before.

    ¡°[Water Path]!¡±

    The moment Mai and Yui¡¯s attack was foiled, Sally jumped into the scattering mes, passing by the two, who were still taken aback. As long as Maple was there, they didn¡¯t need to hold back.

    ¡°[Water Binding] [Double sh]!¡±

    Sally¡¯s dagger, imbued with water effect, shed the boss¡¯ body. A popping damage effect told them that the attack was sessful.

    ¡°Did it work?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not immune to all manners of attacks, at least!¡±

    ¡°In that case¡­¡±

    ¡°There has to be a way!¡±

    They could use the defensive wall as a decoy to allow both Mai and Yui tond their attack. Rather than waiting for the enemy to go through all their skills, it¡¯d be more efficient to deliver a critical blow.

    ¡°All right¡­ [Commence All Attack]!¡±

    Maple deployed her weapon and started firing into the air. Bullets scattered everywhere, but the boss simply avoided them, while also shooting multiple ming spears in return.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let them pass!¡±

    <em>Do not let sharp objects pass. </em>It was the cardinal rule of [Maple Tree]. Chrome stood up to protect Maple with a shield that had been erged by Necro.

    Maple¡¯s weapon wasn¡¯t invincible, either. Unlike Maple, the weapon could break if it sustained enough damage. Not to mention, [Dedicated Affection] had no effect on it, so they had to protect it.

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave the offense to you!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Iz, we won¡¯t let it escape.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll keep an eye on it!¡±

    ¡°[Tornado]!¡±

    ¡°Fei [Item Enhancement]!¡±

    In line with Maple¡¯s barrage, Kanade used area magic to block the escape route, while Iz bombed the area to limit the boss¡¯ movement. Meanwhile, to avoid the attack, Kasumi escaped to the ce where the trajectory was lowered.

    ¡°[Warrior¡¯s Arm] [First Sword: Heat haze]!¡±

    Regardless of the opponent¡¯s speed, Kasumi would teleport in front of the enemy as long as it was within range, making it difficult for it to evade the blow and conjure a fire barrier.

    ¡°Sally, <em>now!¡±</em>

    ¡°[Icicle]!¡±

    A pir of ice sprouting from the ground blocked the boss¡¯s escape. Although the boss counterattacked Kasumi, she was unable to prate Maple¡¯s defensive power.

    ¡°I leave the rest to you!¡±

    The stage had been prepared. Kasumi sidestepped, revealing the twins, who were brandishing their sledgehammers while ring at the boss.

    ¡°¡°[Weapon Throw]!¡±¡±

    Sixteen sledgehammersnded to fill the gaps near the [Icicle]. A blow that was made after all escape routes were blocked by the eight people. The well-prepared coordinated attack reduced the boss¡¯ HP to zero.

    Mai and Yui were happy that the battle was settled perfectly. But then, the pile of sledgehammers tumbled down, and the boss stood up.

    ¡°<em>Impressive¡­ </em>At this rate, the whole ce wille crashing down. I¡¯ll be waiting in the back. Entertain me a bit longer.¡±

    The boss was enveloped in ck mes as she disappeared.

    ¡°Wait, is it a mid-boss?¡±

    ¡°Seems to be it.¡±

    ¡°The boss mentioned a guest¡­¡±

    ¡°Indeed. That¡¯s why she said she¡¯ll be waiting, right?¡±

    ¡°As long as you support me in the same way next time, everything will be okay!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Let¡¯s leave the main work to the two and do the preliminary preparations here.¡±

    ¡°¡°I¡¯ll do my best!¡±¡±

    Before that, <em>explore. </em>There was a door that led to the depths. Although, there was no way it¡¯d lead straight to the boss.

    <em>Don¡¯t focus too much on the boss, lest other monsters defeat you.</em>

    While reminding themselves to focus on what was ahead, the eight opened said door.

 Chapter 478: Defense Specialization and Daily Life â€“ part nine

    Bofuri

    Chapter 478 ¨C Defense Specialization and Daily Life ¨C part nine

    As the eight yers worked together with the attack patterns that they had decided upon in advance, they were able to defeat their enemy by creating an opening that allowed Mai and Yui to deliver their killing blows.

    However, that was just a mid-boss, so they couldn¡¯t rx just yet.

    Nheless, Maple and the others continued onwards after defeating said mid-boss.

    ¡°[Multi-Cover]!¡± Chrome eximed.

    ¡°[Tidal Wave]!¡± Kanade eximed.

    Chrome protected Mai and Yui, while Kanade engulfed the monsters with arge wave, destroying them.

    Just as the battle ended, Maple came running from behind the waves and breathed a sigh of relief, ¡°Thanks for the help!¡±

    ¡°The number of monsters that can use forceful teleportation is increasing, so leave things to me if you end up being separated from us.¡± Chrome told her.

    Even Maple¡¯s [Dedicated Affection] has its limitations, so when she is unable to participate, Chrome ends up being thest line of defense.

    He is a top ssrge shield wielder though, so having him to back Maple up is quite reassuring to the rest of the team.

    Maple is just way too powerful though, so it bes easy to forget that it¡¯s also fairly hard to break through Chrome.

    ¡°Keep up the good work, everyone! We still have plenty of buff items left.¡± Maple said.

    ¡°Okay!¡± Mai and Yui cheerfully replied.

    Even if one breaks through Maple, passes through Chrome, ovees Kanade¡¯s barrier and Izu¡¯s barricade, as well as Kasumi and Sally¡¯s repelling, they would still need to deal with Maple¡¯s [Giant¡¯s Work]¡­

    Pair that up with Mai and Yui¡¯s offensive potential, and it ends up being extremely dangerous for anybody to try passing through [Maple Tree]¡¯s tactics.

    It¡¯s the kind of thing that feels quite hopeless for the monsters.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if monsters can defeat our tactic, but¡­¡± Maple started saying.

    ¡°We have to be careful nheless. Our opponent is a boss after all, and we want to win.¡± Sallyplemented.

    ¡°That¡¯s it. So let¡¯s not get too careless and move forward together, everyone.¡± Maple nodded.

    Like Sally said, the enemy is a boss. And if it¡¯s anything like the event boss, it should be able to fully transform into a ck dragon and use all sorts of wide-range attacks.

    An opponent like that might be able to do all sorts of absurd moves, so they should prepare themselves for anything.

    Perhaps they would be able to win after losing a few party members, which isn¡¯t a particrly umon urrence when ying together as a party, but¡­

    Since they¡¯vee this far, everyone should survive until the end and be able to fully enjoy the joy thates from beating a boss.

    ¡°Considering the small size of the rooms here, it wouldn¡¯t be strange if the boss used the same kind of breath that was used in the event.¡± Maplemented.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if my barriers will be enough in that case¡­¡± Kanade muttered.

    She used a lot of her powerful defensive skills in PvP, so even if she still has a few magic books, they might not be enough.

    ¡°Leave that to me!¡± Maple eximed.

    She¡¯s a clear counter to wide range attacks. Enemy big moves are pointless if they don¡¯t deal piercing or fixed damage.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be ready to recover others as needed. But just in case, shouldn¡¯t we also prepare some fire damage reduction?¡± Kasumi suggested.

    Even if they do take damage, they can still continue the battle for as long as they mitigate the damage enough and recover quickly.

    Maple may have an abnormally high toughness, but what needs to be done to her when she is damaged is no different than what any other yer needs.

    Enemies only have a chance against her if they can bypass her defense, but Maple still has a high level of damage reduction and continuous recovery¡­ It¡¯s just that she doesn¡¯t have many opportunities to show these abilities off.

    Maple nowadays isn¡¯t defined solely by her high defensive stat.

    ¡°I would like to avoid any chance of getting a loss, so Chrome, let¡¯s rehearse what to do when facing an enemy that Maple cannot handle.¡± Sally suggested.

    ¡°Alright. It would be better if it didn¡¯te to that, but as there¡¯s a high possibility of our entire party copsing if the enemynds a single good hit, we should better be careful.¡± Chrome agreed.

    After all, Sally, Yui, Mai, Iz and Kanade are all people who are better suited for the rear guard.

    Kasumi may be a vanguard, but she¡¯s mostly focused on AGI and STR, so the only ones with high defensive stats are Maple and Chrome.

    At the end of the day, the yers of Maple Tree are primarily brittle. Anybody other than Maple and Chrome can be instantly killed if hit by a strong enough attack.

    But Maple and Chrome supplement their weaknesses, which allow the rest of the guild to fully specialize on their strengths. That¡¯s what makes Maple Tree so powerful.

    ¡°If something breaks through our defense, you have to help them even if it ends up putting you in a dangerous situation.

    ¡°We should try nning how to recover from a bad situation if ites to that.¡± Kasumimented.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you, Chrome.¡± Maple told him.

    ¡°It would be ideal if I didn¡¯t have to do anything, but if I¡¯m needed, I¡¯ll be ready for it.¡± Chrome replied.

    Both Maple and Chrome nodded and raised their shields. They were ready to show the full power thates from having tworge shield users in a party.

 Chapter 479: Defense Specialization and Daily Life â€“ part ten

    Bofuri

    Chapter 479 ¨C Defense Specialization and Daily Life ¨C part ten

    If the eight of them work together, no matter how troublesome a monster might be, they won¡¯t be defeated.

    As long as they have a good n, they can handle any number of enemies.

    And so, Maple and her friends smoothly progressed through the castle, until they eventually arrived at arge, luxuriously decorated, door.

    They conquered all the side roads already, so the boss must be waiting behind this door.

    ¡°I guess we¡¯ve arrived?¡± Maplemented.

    ¡°No monsters seem to be spawning¡­¡± Sally said.

    ¡°Then, it¡¯s business as usual.¡± Maple told her friends.

    ¡°Got it. Let¡¯s get everything ready.¡± Kasumi nodded.

    If one is given time to prepare themselves before the boss fight, then one should make full use of that opportunity.

    So, everyone surrounded Mai and Yui, then gave them potions, crushed some crystals, sprinkled powder and burned incense.

    Mai and Yui were strengthened by as many buffs as they could stack, so as to be strong enough to turn a boss into dust after a single swing.

    Everyone had a lot of trust on the twins, especially because of their brilliant track record of quickly killing bosses.

    ¡°Is this all?¡± Mai asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m tired of waiting! Let¡¯s go!¡± Yuiplemented.

    All that¡¯s left, is getting the two of them in range.

    In order to confront the boss with as much time left on the buffs as possible, Maple signaled everyone to rush inside.

    Everyone responded by raising their weapons, so Maple, with a single push, opened therge door in front of them.

    Sitting on top of therge throne, that resided deep within the incredibly tall room, was the ck dragon that they were searching for.

    ¡°You¡¯vee. I believe I don¡¯t need any introduction, do I?¡± The boss stretched out its ck wings and tail, then snapped its fingers.

    A strange sound echoed throughout the room and its walls crumbled apart, further expanding the room¡¯s size.

    However, walls of mes erupted where the stone walls used to be, creating a new division inside the room.

    Just like how the castle¡¯s entrance was hidden, space was manipted here too, this time to make the throne room be much wider than it was supposed to be.

    Now, the vast battlefield that the boss desired waspleted.

    ¡°Let¡¯s start. Try to not die too quickly!¡± The boss roared as it soared high above.

    A ck shockwave was generated with its movement, and it quickly approached Maple and the others.

    Naturally, Maple reacted to that and strengthened her defense, ¡°[Dedicated Affection]!¡±

    The defensive field quickly enveloped everyone, protecting them from the shockwave just before said shockwave arrived.

    And then, [Dedicated Affection] disappeared.

    ¡°Eh!?¡± Maple eximed.

    Moreover, Sally¡¯s [Sabre Dance], as well as all the buffsyered on Mai and Yui had disappeared too.

    By the time they realized that the previous attack had canceled their buffs, the boss had already started throwing a huge fireball at them.

    ¡°Necro, [Strong Armor]! [Stout Guardian]!¡± Chrome immediately reacted to it.

    Maple is no longer the only one in charge of protecting the team. Chrome used these area defense skills that he obtained in exchange for medals, and protected everyone.

    Then, Sally and Kanade used [Heal] to recover the damaged teammates.

    ¡°Maple! The two of us should prioritize the defense by using [Cover] and [Cover Move]! I¡¯ll tell you where you¡¯re needed the most!¡± Chrome eximed.

    ¡°Okay!¡± Maple replied.

    [Dedicated Affection] was on cooldown. [Machine God], [Poison Dragon] and [Predator] were unsuited for the current situation.

    What Maple needed right now was not to deal damage, but to hold the front lines as arge shield user.

    They had other yers that could focus on dealing damage, after all, while Maple and Chrome were the only ones who could handle being attacked.

    ¡°Kasumi, let¡¯s move forward!¡± Sally eximed.

    ¡°Got it! Let¡¯s lighten the burden on them!¡± Kasumi agreed.

    Sally and Kasumi rushed towards the boss.

    If everyone got caught in area attacks, it might be hard for Maple and Chrome to protect everyone.

    So instead, Sally and Kasumi decided to move on their own, as Sally has [Spirited Away] and [Cast-off Shell] to try dodging attacks, while Kasumi could teleport herself with [Mind¡¯s Eye].

    Without [Self-Offering Love], it was just too risky to have everyone stand together in this fight.

    The boss flew at high speed, had its own body covered in mes, and was also constantly throwing fireballs at the two people who were trying to attack it.

    However, both Sally and Kasumi had high AGI, so they were able to dodge each attack.

    That said, the mes bursting from the entire body of the boss were a bit too dangerous, and it was way too risky to assume that this was just a harmless special effect.

    So, neither Sally nor Kasumi could approach carelessly if they wanted to have a chance of winning.

    ¡°[Blood de]!¡± Kasumi eximed.

    ¡°Let me show you the results of my practice! [Water Path]!¡± Sally eximed.

    Kasumi was now wielding a liquid sword as if it was a whip, while Sally transformed her weapon into a bow and started swimming through the waterway she had just created.

    ¡°[Icicle]!¡± Sally eximed.

    She was fighting mid-air using threads, with a bow as her weapon. Sally was freely flying and shooting, just like the boss was.

    She sometimes was fighting upside down, sometimes while falling, other times while rising, and yet she kept on shooting at the boss. It was an amazing performance that made it feel like the bow was actually her main weapon.

    Her attacks were activating a barrier that protected the boss though, just like it happened with the mid-boss. This was the stepping stone that they needed to pass through in order to create an opportunity for Mai and Yui.

    However, the boss wasn¡¯t the only one under attack. While it kept Sally and Kasumi in check, it also fired arge amount of ming spears towards the rear guard.

    ¡°We¡¯ll handle ourselves! Protect the twins!¡± Kanade eximed.

    ¡°Maple, let¡¯s do it!¡± Chrome said.

    ¡°Got it!¡± Maple nodded.

    ¡°[Cover]!¡± Both Maple and Chrome eximed in unison, protecting Mai and Yui from the attack.

    Chrome¡¯s [Multi-Cover] was saved for ater situation, as the twins were already protected by an impregnable defense.

    ¡°[Water Wall]! [Magic Barrier]!¡± Kanade created a wall to protect Iz and himself.

    But the output isn¡¯t strong enough without the use of a spellbook, so several ming spears were passing through the barrier.

    ¡°Iz, now!¡± Kanade eximed.

    ¡°On it! Fay, [Item Enhancement]!¡± Iz eximed.

    The barricade was made stronger with Fay¡¯s power. It took out a thick wall out of Iz¡¯s inventory and immediately ced it in front of them.

    The new wall was able to receive the ming spears just as the water wall had been shattered.

    ¡°Necro, [Weight of Death]!¡± Chrome eximed.

    ¡°Syrup, [Awaken]! [Mother Nature]!¡± Maple followed suit.

    Necro used its debuff to significantly reduce the boss¡¯ movement speed.

    Maple then made use of this opportunity to borrow Syrup¡¯s power and obstruct the boss¡¯ path with giant vines.

    ¡°[sh Flood]! [Frost Domain]!¡± Sally eximed.

    She produced arge amount of water, then instantly froze it with the subsequent skill. Creating an ice bridge that opened a path towards the boss.

    ¡°[Leap]! [First of the Swords: Heat Haze]!¡± Kasumi eximed.

    She jumped onto the bridge, then teleported to put herself right in front of the boss.

    The constant mes that the boss emanated damaged her, but she was able to deliver a blow that destroyed its barrier.

    Now that she was this close to it though, the boss focused its attacks fully on Kasumi.

    With its sharp ws that were covered in mes, the dragon thrusted its arm at a high speed, trying to pierce Kasumi.

    However¡­

    ¡°[Third of the Swords: Lonely Moon]!¡± Kasumi eximed.

    She used this skill to quickly avoid it, making full use of her unique mobility.

    It was different from how Sally moved around though, as Sally had to keep her distance.

    And now, with Kasumi holding the boss¡¯ attention, their main n was set in motion.

    Kanade and Iz used a movement speed buff on the twins, and so their strongest weapon moved forward while being protected by Chrome and Maple.

    Mai and Yui crossed the ice bridge, then swung their sledgehammers.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Mai eximed.

    ¡°Take this!¡± Yui eximed.

    ¡°[Flying Attack]!¡± They said in unison.

    Then, sixteen shockwaves were released all at once.

    The boss had just lost its barrier, so the attacks reached it without anything stopping them.

    Moreover, the boss had its movement speed lowered, so it was unable to dodge it.

    And thus, the boss¡¯ body was sent flying onto the faraway wall.

 Chapter 480: Defense Specialization and Daily Life â€“ part eleven

    Bofuri

    Chapter 480 ¨C Defense Specialization and Daily Life ¨C part eleven

    ¡°We did it!¡± Mai eximed.

    ¡°Aplete victory!¡± Yui eximed.

    Things went on just as they had nned. Each person did their part and created the perfect situation that allowed the main attackers to deliver their finishing blow.

    The twins¡¯ attack is so powerful that most people wouldn¡¯t be able to handle even a single blow.

    And well, never mind all sixteen consecutive attacks.

    The only time Maple ever remembered seeing somebody survive the sixteen attacks was when they were fighting a raid boss that multiple guilds had to work together to defeat.

    However, a ck shadow soared high above, leaving mes on its trails.

    The boss was still alive and well.

    Moreover, its HP had only decreased by a fraction of what they had expected.

    ¡°Eh¡­!?¡± Mai and Yui were both in disbelief.

    ¡°Mai, Yui!¡± Kasumi eximed.

    ¡°Let¡¯s pull back for now!¡± Sally eximed.

    Both picked up the confused twins and immediately jumped away from their current position.

    A moment after that, arge fireball hit the area where the four had been just a second ago.

    ¡°It definitely took damage, but¡­ Does the boss have a shield that scales with its own power or something?¡± Sally mused.

    ¡°It¡¯s possible¡­ The strength of the yers has been steadily rising, so I guess monsters too were made stronger, so as to not let them get one-shotted.¡± Kasumimented.

    While the twins may be the only people who can deal this much damage with normal attacks and basic skills, Velvet¡¯s [Heaviest Attack] paired together with [Super eleration] can also deal plenty of damage.

    Especially if ites after Hinata applies a debuff and Payne uses his [Holy de of Conviction].

    Even if they aren¡¯t as powerful as the twins, the main attackers of other guilds can also deal a lot of damage.

    There is also the tenth flooring up. Enemies there are probably going to be even stronger to counter all the skills that the yers have umted so far.

    Not to mention bosses of hidden areas, those will definitely be even stronger without a doubt.

    ¡°Is this all that you¡¯ve got? I¡¯m gonna win way too easily like this!¡± The boss eximed.

    ¡°It still took damage. Let¡¯s continue with the same strategy!¡± Maple told her team.

    Even if the boss has a strong defense that mitigates Mai and Yui¡¯s damage, the twins are still the ones with the highest firepower within the party.

    And because each of their attacks is so strong, they won¡¯t need to get many attack opportunities in order to kill the boss.

    As such, the number of times they will need to put themselves in risky situations is small. This makes relying on them the optimal strategy even now.

    ¡°Me and Sally will create a chance.¡± Kasumi told them.

    ¡°Make sure to not miss it and hit the boss with all that you¡¯ve got.¡± Sallyplemented.

    ¡°Got it!¡± Mai and Yui eximed.

    Then, Sally and Kasumi jumped towards the boss again, who countered their approach with arge amount of mes.

    ¡°That¡¯s too predictable.¡± Sally said.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already seen that!¡± Kasumi eximed.

    Both Sally and Kasumi flew through the fire rain.

    Even as the boss flew at a high speed, constantly changing its position and shooting fireballs one after another, the two were able to dodge them all and close the distance on the boss.

    Being able to avoid attacks is the lifeline of yers without shields. The more they can avoid attacks without using skills, the more of an advantage they¡¯ll have in a battle.

    And well, both Sally and Kasumi are amazing at dodging blows.

    ¡°[Wind Cutter]! [Fireball]!¡± Sally eximed.

    ¡°[Blood de]!¡± Kasumi eximed.

    Sally used her magic to break the boss¡¯ barrier, and Kasumi made use of the gap to deal damage.

    While Mai and Yui are the main attackers, it¡¯s still important for the other members to deal damage to the boss.

    If they lose concentration and make a mistake, they might end up getting one-shotted by the boss, so in order to avoid this kind of disaster, it¡¯s important to chip away as much HP of the boss as they can.

    Though the boss isn¡¯t sitting still as it takes damage. It too was attacking.

    This time, it threw ming spears towards the rearguard.

    But even if this attack has wide range and high power, Maple and the others were fully prepared for it this time.

    ¡°Use the wall!¡± Iz eximed.

    ¡°Maple, just in case, use [Cover] too!¡± Chrome told her.

    ¡°Got it!¡± Maple replied.

    ¡°[Magic Barrier]!¡± Kanade eximed.

    They quickly set up a barricade while Sally and Kasumi attracted the attention of the boss.

    Differently from thest time, which was an emergency defensive maneuver, the team was already prepared for the attack this time around.

    So, a thick wall was made with multipleyers of defense.

    Combine that with Kanade¡¯s barrier, and the boss¡¯ attack was thoroughly blocked.

    ¡°We can handle this kind of thing on our own. You can go on the offense, Maple!¡± Kanade told her.

    ¡°I¡¯m going too, Sally!¡± Maple immediately took action.

    ¡°Got it!¡± Sally replied.

    ¡°[Deploy Armaments]! [Commence Attack]!¡± Maple eximed.

    It was fine even if she didn¡¯t hit the boss directly. As long as her barrage could restrict the boss¡¯ movement, she¡¯d create an opportunity for the boss¡¯ barrier to be broken.

    While Maple focused on attacking, Iz set up barricades for emergency evacuation and consumed gold to make additional barricades to further enhance their defense.

    For as long as Iz has the time, space and materials, there will be no cooldown on the barricade creation.

    ¡°[Ancient Weapon]!¡± Maple eximed.

    ck cubes floating near Maple started emitting light and spreading bluesers in a mesh pattern that connected the cubes.

    ¡°Maple, make us a scaffolding!¡± Kasumi asked.

    ¡°Syrup, [Nature]!¡± Maple obliged.

    ¡°[Eighth of the Swords: Gale]!¡± Kasumi eximed.

    Once Maple created a path to the boss with the vines, Kasumi immediately used that opportunity to quickly reach the boss.

    ¡°Alright¡­ [Origin of the Swords: Hollow]!¡± Kasumi eximed.

    Now that she was in range, with her hair dyed white, Kasumi used her unique teleportation skill to appear behind the boss, even if there was no foothold there.

    And so, she was easily able to ovee the issue of her small durability and use her sword to destroy the boss¡¯ barrier.

    ¡°[Seventh of the Swords: Crush]!¡± Kasumi eximed.

    The sword hit the boss¡¯ back directly, knocking it towards the ground.

    Maple and the others were just waiting for this opportunity, ¡°That¡¯s what we needed!¡± Maple eximed.

    Mai and Yui readied their weapons, while Chrome and Maple prepared themselves to react to any surprise attack.

    They were close enough now.

    ¡°[Weapon Throw]!¡± The twins eximed.

    The thrown iron lumps engulfed the boss and threw it towards the wall again.

    The tremendous damage was greatly reduced once again, but it was still far more damage than what Kasumi had dealt with her series of attacks.

    Then, while the twins manipted their inventory to retrieve the thrown sledgehammers and re-equip them, the boss spread its wings and flew high up.

    ¡°I guess I was taking this too easy¡­ Let¡¯s be a bit a more serious.¡± The boss said.

    Then, it spread its arms up high, and a gigantic fireball was created above its head.

    The barricades would be unable to prevent this kind of attack from burning everything on the ground.

    ¡°Everyone, gather near! I¡¯ll handle this!¡± Kanade called out to everyone.

    The seven yers stopped trying to solidify their defenses and instead quickly moved close to Kanade.

    A jet-ck sun started falling from the skies.

    You can¡¯t handle this kind of thing without going all out.

    Nheless, ¡°Sou, [Awakening].¡± Kanade calmly called out to Sou.

    By using [Mimic], Sou¡¯s appearance changed to that of Maple.

    And just before the giant fireball was about to connect with them¡­ ¡°Sou, [Dedicated Affection].¡±

    A warm light that absorbed everything enveloped the eight yers.

 Chapter 481: Defense Specialization and Daily Life â€“ part twelve

    Bofuri

    Chapter 481 ¨C Defense Specialization and Daily Life ¨C part twelve

    Sou, in his Maple form, caught the zing ck mes.

    The cooldown of [Mimic] is long and there is no way to use it twice in a single battle, but in a game where skills are as important as this one, there aren¡¯t many abilities that are as powerful as [Mimic].

    ¡°We¡¯ll keep the boss in check from a distance.¡± Kanade said.

    ¡°Thanks, Kanade!¡± Maple replied.

    With the help of Sou¡¯s [Dedicated Affection], everyone was able to escape from the burning ground area.

    Then, Kanade started firing one spell after another, while Sou used [Machine God] and [Ancient Weapon] to attack.

    Furthermore, Sou also shot everything it could at the boss, including [Poison Dragon] and [Seeping Chaos].

    Those skills will be unusable once [Mimic] runs out anyways, so there¡¯s no reason to hold back on using them.

    Even if the attacks were getting blocked by barriers, some damage still got through, and they were also able to stop the boss from delivering any follow up attacks in the meantime.

    Sou¡¯s [Mimic] ended shortly after that, but it was still able to perfectly fulfill its role.

    ¡°Is there anything convenient that you can use in your magic tome? Maybe a good defensive spell?¡± Iz asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll prioritize protecting Mai and Yui. Can you all handle yourselves with some damage reduction?¡± Maple asked back.

    ¡°Alright. You can count on us.¡± Kanade nodded.

    Kasumi, Iz and Kanade should be able to handle some attacks if their defense is raised enough.

    Even if they don¡¯t prevent the damage in its entirety, they should still be able to manage it with recovery spells.

    ¡°If things go wrong, use the remaining skills in the order that we nned.¡± Maple told them.

    ¡°Got it.¡± All three replied.

    An attack that hits a humongous area like thest one cannot be handled without an equally strong defensive skill.

    The number of trump cards that they can use is limited though, so they must be careful with their activations.

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s start with, [Afterglow of Salvation]!¡± Maple eximed.

    Four white wings extended from Maple¡¯s back. It was a defensive skill that wasn¡¯t canceled by the boss at the start of the battle because it wasn¡¯t used in the first ce.

    For Chrome and the others who are going to be fighting with the expectation of taking damage, this kind of buff that increases their durability is quite weed.

    And now, the second round of the fight was restarting.

    The boss held long ming spears in its hands and swooped down while approaching Maple and the others.

    ¡°[Tenth of the Swords: Adamantine]!¡± Kasumi eximed.

    Maple and Chrome had no choice but to step back to protect the rearguard.

    It was Kasumi¡¯s role to go to the vanguard and stop the boss¡¯ charge.

    So, with her own skills and Maple¡¯s buff, she started a close quarters battle with the boss.

    The boss had two spears, while Kasumi had three swords.

    She used her highly mobile Bewitched Sword to handle the ming spears, then used her [Arms of the Warrior] to strike back while minimizing the damage she took.

    It looked like they were evenly matched¡­ But they weren¡¯t. The boss had a slight upper hand. Even with her damage reduction, she was still losing.

    The enemy was a boss after all. Not only does it have stats and HP that are much higher than a yer¡¯s, but it was also surrounded by mes that dealt continuous damage to surrounding yers.

    Moreover, it also had barriers that nullified some of the damage it would take.

    It¡¯s just impossible to beat it in one-on-onebat.

    ¡°Fay, [Item Enhancement]!¡± Iz eximed.

    ¡°[Heal]!¡± Kanade eximed.

    A green mist was spread on the area with a rustling sound.

    Continuous recovery from Iz¡¯s items and Kanade¡¯s spell put Kasumi back to a safe health range.

    However, a light was suddenly emitted below the feet of the eight yers.

    It was obvious that this indicated that an ultra-wide area attack wasing next.

    Chrome immediately realized that it would be impossible to defend against it in time, so he made eye contact with Sally instead of with Maple.

    ¡°[sh Flood]!¡± Sally eximed.

    A torrent instantly appeared near the rear of the team, sweeping everyone who was fighting away from the area.

    A moment after they left it, a pir of fire that rose high up in the skies appeared in that ce, barely missing the eight yers.

    However, the boss¡¯ pursuit wasn¡¯t stopping.

    ming spears started raining down from the skies.

    Moreover, the ground began to emit light in multiple spots.

    The area of those was smaller, so it seemed like the boss was preparing to summon multiple fire pirs at once.

    ¡°You¡¯re really getting serious now¡­!¡± Maple said.

    It¡¯s at times like these that everyone could realize how strong thebo of Maple¡¯s high defensive power and [Dedicated Affection] was.

    However, they couldn¡¯t do anything about not having the skill avable.

    With this many attacks restricting their movements, it was hard to create a situation where they could defeat the boss while also protecting Kanade, Iz, Mai and Yui.

    Maple and Chrome could use Iz¡¯s barricade to solidify their defense, but without mobility they couldn¡¯t create an opportunity to let Mai and Yui deliver a blow that dealt fatal damage. Right now they could only do their best to defend themselves.

    ¡°Sally, can you shave the boss¡¯ HP off somehow? It¡¯s too tough to move like this!¡± Maple asked.

    ¡°You can count on me! I can dodge this much!¡± Sally replied.

    ¡°Good luck, Sally!¡± Maple told her.

    Against this high density of attacks, they had no choice but to leave it up to the two people with high AGI.

    Maple and the others were enduring for now, hoping that a change in the boss¡¯ HP would lead to a change in attack patterns.

    If that lead to the boss getting even more aggressive though, then Maple might get quite angry.

    Nheless, with Mai and Yui unable to one-shot the boss, their only option was to withstand its attacks until they got a chance to deliver massive damage.

    So, Sally trusted Maple and Chrome to take care of the defense, then stepped into the frontlines together with Kasumi.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave the damage to you!¡± Sally eximed.

    ¡°I¡¯m on it!¡± Kasumi replied.

    Sally transformed her weapon into a bow and started shooting at the boss as it flew around in high speed.

    Her evasion was still as good as ever, so she was able to move at a speed that matched the boss¡¯ while also removing its barriers.

    With her new unique items, Sally could now use long-range attacks that didn¡¯t depend on magic. Like this, she was able to create a truly transformative fighting style that easily adapted to any situation. It really showed how skilled she was.

    Even if a difficult to dodge attack got close to her, she could still change her weapon into arge shield to block it.

    And well, the more the boss aimed at Sally, the easier it would be for the other seven to handle the leftover boss attacks.

    Of course, Sally¡¯s HP wasn¡¯trge, so she could be one-shotted by the boss, but everyone had tremendous confidence in Sally and were sure that this kind of thing wouldn¡¯t happen.

    ¡°[First of the Swords: Heat Haze]! [Third of the Swords: Lonely Moon]!¡± Kasumi eximed.

    She jumped to make use of the opportunities that Sally created.

    It didn¡¯t matter how fast the boss was. For as long as it was within her range, she could teleport to it.

    So, she teleported high up in the air and delivered her attack.

    When the boss started flying towards Sally, Kasumi forced it to change directions by delivering a blow at the boss¡¯ back.

    However, as Kasumi couldn¡¯t fly, she would start free falling once she got away from the boss.

    ¡°Kasumi, use this!¡± Sally eximed.

    ¡°You saved me! [Fourth of the Swords: Whirlwind]!¡± Kasumi replied.

    Nheless, with teamwork, the two of them could handle it.

    Kasuminded on the tform that Sally created by using [One Step Towards the Underworld], then rose high up in the air again by using [Leap].

    She chased after the boss and unleashed a series of attacks that pierced its defensive barriers and caused damage.

    ¡°[Water Path]! [Icicle]!¡± Sally eximed.

    Sally then caught up with Kasumi by swimming through the waterway that flew high up in the air.

    After that, she stretched her threads towards Kasumi to help her maneuver.

    Even if Kasumi couldn¡¯t use [Leap], Sally could still pull her with her threads.

    So, Kasumi was quickly moved to the front of the boss again, where she readied her sword.

    They already forcefully broke through the me rain with the help of Maple¡¯s defensive skills, so all that was left was to perform a big move.

    However, Kasumi frowned once she saw the boss¡¯ barrier reappear.

    But as soon as the barrier had reappeared, as if she had predicted this timing, one of Sally¡¯s arrow flew at the boss and broke the barrier.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee, now take care of the rest.¡± Sally told her.

    ¡°[Last of the Swords: Hazy Moon]!¡± Kasumi eximed.

    Making use of the opportunity that Sally created by perfectly predicting when the barrier would respawn, Kasumi moved forward while ignoring the damage caused by the boss¡¯ me aura.

    Kasumi, with her hair dyed white, delivered twelve consecutive attacks at the boss.

    Each sword sh was heavy and sharp. Even if her HP was also being whittled by the boss¡¯ ming spear, she kept on damaging the boss with her attacks.

    As soon as the twelve consecutive attacks ended, Sally one again created a foothold in the air for Kasumi, who immediately used it to jump and position herself diagonally upwards of the boss.

    ¡°[Seventh of the Swords: Crush]!¡± Kasumi eximed.

    Her blownded on the boss¡¯ shoulder and sent it flying towards the ground.

    This not only created enough distance to let her recover, but also created a setup for their main attackers, who had been waiting for this kind of opportunity for quite a while now.

    ¡°I¡¯m counting on you!¡± Kasumi eximed.

    ¡°Our turn now!¡± Mai and Yui replied.

    Kanade¡¯s barricade and Iz¡¯s items blocked the mes that were falling from the skies. Maple and Chrome blocked the mes that the boss shot directly at them.

    The twins had kept close to the boss as it moved around all this time, just waiting for this moment.

    ¡°[Flying Attack]!¡± They eximed in unison.

    Arge area shockwave was unleashed, leaving no way for the boss to escape it.

    Kasumi¡¯s twelve consecutive attacks were quickly followed by the twins¡¯ sixteen consecutive attacks.

    The ferocious series of attacks greatly reduced the boss¡¯ HP and sent it flying past the ming wall.

    Maple and the others confirmed that the boss still had some HP left though.

    ¡°¡­ Time for the final part then. Making this room wider was worthwhile after all.¡± The boss¡¯ voice echoed mysteriously throughout the room.

    Then, a giant ck dragon head came out of the me wall.

    Immediately after that, feet with sharp ws and sturdy wings came next.

    The boss had now taken the form of a giant dragon. It made full use of the expanded room space to soar high in the sky with its huge body.

    Then, its roar shook the air, destroying the [Icicles] that Sally had generated, as well as the barricades that Iz and Kanade had set up.

    The boss opened its giant mouth wide open.

    Everyone saw the mes that were about to overflow from it and immediately understood what was about to happen.

    ¡°Maple, please!¡± Chrome asked her.

    ¡°[Quick Change]!¡± Maple eximed.

    ¡°[Heal]!¡± Sally and Kanade eximed.

    With the equipment change, Maple wore a pure white armor.

    Sally and Kanade immediately recovered her increased HP.

    And then, the boss¡¯ scorching breath was about toe out, threatening to turn the entire room into a sea of fire.

    Destructive power that exceeds a certain threshold cannot be dealt with by ordinary methods.

    One needs to be unreasonable to handle unreasonable things.

    So, Maple used a trump card that was not bound by conventional limitations, ¡°[Aegis]!¡±

    The overflowing light created a dome that enveloped the eight yers and protected them from the scorching mes.

    A wide range invincibility effect. Maple¡¯s most powerful defensive skill nullified the boss¡¯ deadly blow.

    The battle was now at its final stage, and it was clear that this was not an opponent where they could afford making any mistakes against if they wanted to win.

    ¡°Maintain your focus. Don¡¯t get reckless now, Maple.¡± Chrome told her.

    ¡°You can count on me!¡± She replied.

    They just needed one more push. The eight yers readied their weapons as they stared at the boss who had transformed into a giant dragon.

 Chapter 482

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 482

    Defense Specialization and Daily Life (13)

    Maple¡¯s powerful defense skill, [Aegis], managed to deflect the boss¡¯ attack. But in the next moment, the boss transformed into a dragon and soared into the air. Once again, mes spewed from its mouth.

    Considering only [Aegis] could block it, it¡¯d be difficult if the same attack were to be repeated. Although they probably wouldn¡¯t be wiped out, but if they didn¡¯t have enough defense resources to protect Mai and Yui, they¡¯d have to forget about winning.

    In the current situation, where [Dedicated Affection] couldn¡¯t be used, it¡¯d be counterproductive to start a half-hearted endurance battle.

    ¡°It¡¯s [Breath]¡­!¡±

    ¡°We have to do something about it!¡±

    Mai and Yui couldn¡¯t do anything about the torrent of mes that continued to fall. However, they could still do something about the boss¡¯ ultimate skill, [Breath].

    ¡°Okay! Kanade, Iz, lend me your hands!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll stop it to some extent!¡±

    ¡°¡°[Cover]!¡±¡±

    Iz used an item, Kanade blocked the mes using a barrier, while Maple and Chrome used their tower shields to stop the remaining mes. In the next moment, the boss unleashed a deadly fire that scorched everything.

    ¡°Sister¡­!¡±

    ¡°I got it¡­!¡±

    Mai, who was being protected by Chrome, instantly jumped out and brandished 8 sledgehammers.

    Without hesitation, Mai stared at the approaching mes and swung out the sledgehammer she was holding.

    ¡°[Giant¡¯s Work]!¡±

    The sledgehammer collided with the mes. Although the boss¡¯ [Breath] had extremely destructive power, the same went for Mai.

    Speed, endurance, and reflexes. Mai¡¯s sledgehammer, which had sacrificed various other elements to obtain attack power that was unrivaled by other yers, wlessly repelled the surging mes towards the boss.

    ¡°Both of you, follow me!¡±

    Sally tookmand and led Mai and Yui forward. The boss¡¯ attack range continued to expand. Although the shy [Breath] was powerful, the current situation wasn¡¯t all bad.

    ¡°That size. Looks like we don¡¯t need any setup.¡±

    Kasumi dispelled the mes with her [Blood Sword], while sally conjured a wall with magic, securing space, albeit for a moment.

    There was no need for careful and advance preparation like before.

    The size of the enemy had grownrger, and its movement speed had also decreased. If that was the case, the two could easilynd their attacks.

    ¡°¡°[Flying Attack]!¡±¡±

    In fact, the boss only had one more HP left. The aim was a swift conclusion. They had the necessary firepower to achieve that.

    ¡°[Commence Attack] [Ancient Weapon]!¡±

    After using [Aegis] and switching her equipment, Mapleunched an all-out attack using [Ancient Weapon] as well.

    ¡°Maple, lend me that! [Commence Attack]! [Reversal of Lies]!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll help!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll support you!¡±

    Along with Maple, Sally deployed her weapons and the two of them provided cover fire. Next to them, Iz fired bomb while Kanade shot magic amidst maintaining the barrier.

    ¡°[Multi-Cover]!¡±

    As the four dealt damage, Chrome bought time. Even so, the boss¡¯ HP wasn¡¯t depleted. Once again, the boss was about to fire [Breath].

    ¡ªThey had expected that much.

    This time, Yui stood in front of the iing hellfire.

    What Mai could do, Yui could do as well.

    The sess was pretty much guaranteed.

    ¡°[Giant¡¯s Work]!¡±

    This time, the rolling hellfire was repelled by Yui. Ravaged by its own hellfire, the boss lost all its HP. But when they thought they had won, they saw that the boss still had a small chunk of HP left.

    mes erupted from the boss¡¯ mouth and the burning wall behind it as it regained its stance.

    ¡°<em>Uh-oh¡­¡±</em>

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°[Atrocity]!¡±

    At Sally¡¯s voice, Maple transformed and jumped forward. mes engulfed Maple, yet she managed to stop the boss¡¯ mes.

    The seven people behind her escaped, and Maple rushed towards the boss, her entire body covered in mes.

    A preemptive attack by the boss¡¯ mes, followed by its sharp ws. Maple nullified them with her defense and flew at the boss mid-air.

    The mes that burst out of Maple¡¯s mouth burned the boss as the sharp ws shredded its body.

    ¡°How about this!?¡±

    Maple bit the boss¡¯ neck.

    The HP that everyone had shaved off finally became zero, and the boss¡ªwhich had been a dragon¡ªreverted back to human.

    Then, the mes on the wall subsided and the space shrunk to its original size.

    Everything signaled the end of the fierce battle.

 Chapter 483

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 483

    Defense Specialization and a Dream-like Journey

    The boss, who¡¯d reverted to its original form,ughed boisterously as itnded on the ground.

    ¡°Haha, well done! It was fun! This is a symbol of my gratitude. ept it.¡±

    Arge treasure chest appeared at the snap of its finger.

    ¡°Once we¡¯ve both be stronger, let¡¯s have a rematch. Until then, try to conquer more castles like this¡­¡±

    Afterwards, the boss smiled for onest time, as if satisfied, before it went up in mes.

    ¡°Uh-oh¡­ Looks like there¡¯s more toe.¡±

    ¡°A hidden quest inside a hidden quest¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s going to be difficult to find because there aren¡¯t many hints. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen anything like it in the books I¡¯ve read, either.¡±

    ¡°I guess the boss¡¯ throwaway line is all we have right now¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you have any clue what it was about?¡±

    When they thought of hidden areas and castles, they recalled the flying castle that they conquered with Maple before.

    ¡°Come to think of it¡­ The boss of the flying castle was also a dragon!¡±

    ¡°I feel like it¡¯s connected somehow!¡±

    ¡°Does that mean there are other simr bosses¡­? Like, on other floors?¡±

    ¡°In that case, we¡¯ll have to look for it. We coincidentally found this ce. It won¡¯t be easy, but it¡¯ll be nice if there are more hints.¡±

    Thus, it became one of the new goals for [Maple Tree], which would take a long time to achieve.

    ¡°Well, with that said, let¡¯s open the treasure chest! We shall grant the honor to our guild master!¡±

    ¡°All the more reason if the contents are random. I mean, Maple is lucky. Compared to us, she has a better chance of getting something worthwhile.¡±

    ¡°I-I guess so?¡±

    A full-on fierce battle in the innermost part of the hidden area. As a result, everyone had high expectations towards the chest left by such a formidable opponent.

    The eight had agreed. As the representative of [Maple Tree], no one objected to the notion of Maple opening the treasure chest.

    ¡°I-I¡¯ll do it? But don¡¯t expect too much, okay?¡±

    Maple ced her hand on the lid of the treasure chest and slowly opened it.

    ¡°<em>Wow!¡±</em>

    ¡°It¡¯s packed to the brim!¡±

    The first thing that caught her eyes was a pile of gold and silver treasures. <em>A pile of items that could be exchanged for cash. </em>Of course, they were happy, <em>but it¡¯s a hidden area! </em>There had to be more!

    She dismissed the mountain of treasure in search for something better, and dug through the materials and consumable items deep inside, until only two scrolls and a bangle were left.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s enough for everyone¡­¡±

    ¡°A scroll, huh¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a skill!¡±

    ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s read it together!¡±

    Maple picked up the scroll and checked what skill she could learn.

    The skills listed on both scrolls were the same.

    <em>[me Dragon Tempest]</em>

    <em>MP Consumption: 50</em>

    <em>Conjures a spear of me in the air and deals area damage for a certain period of time.</em>

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s <em>a lot </em>of damage.¡±

    ¡°The effect may be simple, but it seems to be powerful regardless of who uses it.¡±

    If they could replicate the boss¡¯ attack, they¡¯d be able to exert significant pressure on any opponent.

    ¡ª<em>But¡­</em>

    ¡°Me and my sister don¡¯t have 50 MP¡­¡±

    ¡°What about the others?¡±

    ¡°My MP also doesn¡¯t reach that level. Ah, but if I set it in my equipment slot, I should be able to use it somehow!¡±

    ¡°<em>¡ª</em>That leaves us with me, Kasumi, Kanade, Iz, and Sally.¡±

    The game was all about skill and magic. Therefore, it was normal to have a minimum amount of MP.

    If it cost 50 MP, no one would be able to use it.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll pass. I was satisfied just by fighting with everyone, and I don¡¯tck AoE skills.¡±

    Kanade said as he mmed the bookshelf floating behind him. Knowing Kanade¡¯s past activities, they knew he was merely speaking the truth.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to pass. Fighting isn¡¯t my main role in battle. I¡¯m just a support.¡±

    ¡°But you can deal damage¡ª<em>oh, well¡­ </em>I know what you mean.¡±

    Mai, Yui, Kanade, and Iz declined, leaving only four people.

    ¡°Hey, Sally, guess what¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­<em>I know.¡±</em>

    ¡°Huh? You do?¡±

    ¡°You want to give it to Kasumi and Chrome, right?¡±

    At Sally¡¯s words, Maple¡¯s eyes widened.

    <em>How did Sally know?</em>

    ¡°I already guessed as much. I was thinking the same thing. After all, those two were the ones who found this ce.¡±

    ¡°¡­Seriously?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it if you could give it to me.¡±

    There was no doubt that it was a valuable item. Nevertheless, Sally and Maple didn¡¯t mind.

    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m looking forward to your performance.¡±

    ¡°Look forward to it!¡±

    Chrome and Kasumi opened the scroll. Thus, the two obtained a new skill, and two powerful area attacks were added to the [Maple Tree].

    Chrome could act as a strong deterrence when approached, while Kasumi could jump into enemy lines and take advantage of her mobility to unleash a devastating blow. The two wouldn¡¯t have any trouble finding a use for [me Dragon Tempest].

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m really grateful for this, but what¡¯s that bangle over there?¡±

    Chrome picked up the bangle and checked the description.

    <em>[Dragon¡¯s Ember]</em>

    <em>MP+30</em>

    <em>Unlock [me Dragon Spear]. Can generate up to two me spears. The spear will disappear after a certain amount of time.</em>

    ¡°Oh, it has a skill¡­¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a rare item. There aren¡¯t many ornaments that can increase your firepower.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh, although, I¡¯m not really surprised¡­¡±

    ¡°After all, we¡¯re already surrounded by strange things¡­¡±

    Six pairs of hands floated in the air, with a ck cube that could transform into a weapon swaying behind them.

    ¡ªNevertheless, the new item remained valuable.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a unique series, so why don¡¯t you give it a try?¡±

    ¡°I wonder if it¡¯s going to float in the air¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m curious about the effect¡­¡±

    ¡°I want to see it!¡±

    ¡°Okay, give me a sec.¡±

    Chrome removed his essory, equipped himself with [Dragon¡¯s Ember], and immediately tried to use the new skill.

    ¡°Woah!?¡±

    Immediately after activating the skill, crimson mes spewed from his dominant hand, transforming into a spear and stayed there.

    When Chrome used the skill again, mes burst from the hand that was holding the tower shield, assuming the shape of a spear.

    ¡°I can wield it, but¡­ Maybe it¡¯s not for me.¡±

    ¡°Does it expand your attack range or something?¡±

    ¡°It might be useful for closebat in emergencies. I¡¯m talking about those types like Velvet, who fights with her fists, or magic users¡­¡±

    If a yer who was already equipped were to use that skill, it¡¯d be difficult to use it properly even if he was a spear-wielder.

    ¡°We already have a lot of weapons¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think two spears would help us much¡­¡±

    After all,pared to the two measly spears, the twin already had two sledgehammers that could be freely swung in the air.

    ¡°That¡¯s not how it¡¯s supposed to be, but in the case of these two¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll pass. I already received the other skill.¡±

    ¡°Same. I don¡¯t think I can use it properly.¡±

    ¡°Me, too. I have Fei. I¡¯m more ustomed to fighting with items.¡±

    ¡ªIn that case, there was only one other candidate.

    ¡°Sally, it¡¯s all yours!¡±

    ¡°Is it all right?¡±

    When Sally asked Maple that, everyone¡ªincluding Maple¡ªnodded in agreement.

    ¡°Well, no matter how you look at it, Sally can probably make the most of it.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s already proven that she can use other weapons as well.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I shall dly receive it. I¡¯ll use it to be even more helpful on our next expedition.¡±

    Sally switched her equipment, sheathed her dagger, and activated the bangle to conjure two ming spears in her hands.

    ¡°To use it, I¡¯ll have to sheath my weapon, I see¡­¡±

    Sally checked the range, confirmed that she could defend against attacks made of mes, and figured the bare minimum necessary to fight as a spear dualist with the new weapon. Fortunately, there didn¡¯t seem to be anything strange about it other than it being made of me, so it wouldn¡¯t take long for Sally to get used to it.

    ¡°It looks like the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor will beunched soon. So, we might as well look for the castle in the hidden area before then.¡±

    ¡°So far, I¡¯ve only heard of the flying castle?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of anything.¡±

    ¡°Take your time. It¡¯s not like the hidden area will escape.¡±

    ¡°<em>Time¡­¡±</em>

    At that word, Maple began to fidget.

    ¡°I was told that it was time to focus on my studies¡­ I¡¯ll still be able to y the 10<sup>th</sup> floor and events, but after that, I might not be able to log in like I do now.¡±

    When Maple said that, everyone realized that <em>now</em> was the time.

    ¡°I see, it¡¯s that time of the year. It can¡¯t be helped. Gaming is important, but so is real life.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Both are important.¡±

    ¡°Then, for the uing 10<sup>th</sup> Floor, let¡¯s all work together and aim to achieve the final goal. It looks like there¡¯ll be a powerful boss.¡±

    ¡°Sounds great!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best¡­!¡±

    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s aim to resolve it quickly. That way, Maple will be able to y until the end.¡±

    Exploring such a vast area might pose a challenge, considering there were only eight of them. Nevertheless, it was a perfect milestone before the 10<sup>th</sup> Floorunch.

    The hardships they experienced along the way would increase their sense of aplishment once they reached their goal.

    ¡°Come to think of it, does that mean Sally won¡¯t have time as well¡­?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, yes¡­¡±

    Sally¡¯s expression matched her words.

    All members of [Maple Tree] were powerful, but Maple and Sally, the co-founders of the guild, were still the central yers.

    The oue of daily exploration and event battles would be greatly different depending on whether they were present or not.

    ¡°Then, is it safe to assume that Sally will be avable until around the same time as Maple?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    ¡ª<em>If so¡­ </em>The objective of the eight had been established. Quick exploration and subjugation of powerful enemies. Afterwards, defeat the strongest boss which awaited at the bottom.

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll be in your care!¡±

    Everyone responded to Maple¡¯s words.

    ¡ªTo do their best to enjoy it to the fullest and avoid ending it half-heartedly.

    ***

    ¡°¡­¡±

    She already knew.

    She was aware of it.

    Yet, she tried to avert her gaze from reality.

    She knew this day would arrive someday.

    Sally briefly closed her eyes.

    The reason why the journey was so thrilling and dream-like was because everything was so much fun.

    <em>I wish it couldst forever¡­</em>

    Sally thought of her impossible wish and smiled somewhat forlornly.

    ¡°¡­All right, Maple. Let¡¯s go and defeat the boss with all our might!¡±

    ¡°Of course! I¡¯m counting on you, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, leave it to me!¡±

    ¡ªEvery journey had an end.

    If there was nothing else she could do, then she hoped that Maple would enjoy it until the end.

    This time, Sally gave Maple a confident smile.

 Chapter 484

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 484

    Defense Specialization and Waiting for the Day to Arrive

    A few months passed, and it was getting colder. Feeling the change of seasons, as Kaede and Risa headed for school, they exhaled. Their exhtions were white.

    ¡°Atst, the day has arrived. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°I think I can y!¡±

    ¡°Good. Then we can all go.¡±

    <em>That¡¯s right.</em>

    The weekend was the scheduledunch date for the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor. If possible, they¡¯d like everyone at [Maple Tree] to make ns and head for the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor together. If they could conquer the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor in one go, they could move on to exploring the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor faster.

    ¡°Has Kaede started studying yet?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh. If the next exam goes well, I¡¯ll probably be fine even if I spend a bit more time ying games!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the day wille when I¡¯ll hear those words from <em>Kaede¡­</em>¡±

    ¡°How about you, Risa? Are you doing well?¡±

    ¡°When I first started, I was forbidden from ying for a bit. But since then, I¡¯ve been improving my grades.¡±

    ¡°Oh! Hahaha, so you can do it if you try.¡±

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t be forbidden from ying now?¡±

    The time when they could y without worrying about various things would be gone for a while. The next few months were more important than ever. They couldn¡¯t skimp on studying¡ªboth for the sake of real life and for the game.

    ¡°How is Risa today?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I want to spend more time ying with you this weekend, and I thought I¡¯d show you my study progress¡­¡±

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s study together tonight.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Don¡¯t get sick over the weekend, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yup, I¡¯ll be careful!¡±

    After such innocent banter, the two rushed to school.

    There was no one in the ssroom yet, so the two of them put down their bags and started chatting.

    ¡°Risa, what¡¯s your n for today?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t scheduled anything at the moment. What about you?¡±

    ¡°Me, too. But thinking that I might get separated from Risa¡­¡±

    They¡¯d been spending time together for a while now. Kaede even felt slightly ufortable when Risa wasn¡¯t by her side.

    ¡°It feels kind of strange. Do you remember the first time we met?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    Seeing Kaede¡¯s cheerful reply, Risa fondly reminisced about those days.

    ¡°I never thought I¡¯d be ying for this long¡­¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, right?¡±

    ¡°Recently, we¡¯ve been together even in games.¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re in a game, you can meet up even if we¡¯re in two different ces.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh, that¡¯s the pros of online games.¡±

    In online games, no distance would separate them. As long as they both logged in around the same time, they could always see each other. It was really convenient.

    ¡°Even if we aren¡¯t always together, we can always meet on weekends.¡±

    ¡°Yup! It¡¯s still a long way off, though¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Kaede, please study hard and do your best to get where you want!¡±

    ¡°Okay! Then don¡¯t forget about tonight¡¯s study session, okay?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    Time flew quickly as they looked forward to their appointment. After school, the twopleted their preparations, and connected via voice call.

    ¡°Let¡¯s study until dinner for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that!¡±

    The two opened their textbooks and began studying.

    ¡°Risa, your grades are getting better and better.¡±

    ¡°I see it as a <em>score attack. </em>I can¡¯t afford to be forbidden from ying right now.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, that does sound like Risa.¡±

    If they were going to do it anyway, they should aim for the best. It could be said that Risa¡¯s belief worked positively.

    Risa¡¯s grades were steadily improving. It was because she didn¡¯t want to waste even a moment of this happy time doing unnecessary things.

    ¡°But I should be fine now.¡±

    ¡°Good luck. After all, once your score goes up, it¡¯s noticeable when it goes down.¡±

    ¡°Maybe so. Well then, I¡¯ll have to try my best.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit.¡±

    Kaede and Risa continued studying for several hours, and when it was almost time for dinner, they took a break and closed their textbooks.

    ¡°I¡¯m tired¡­ But I think I did a decent job!¡±

    ¡°Good job!¡±

    ¡°This weekend, we¡¯re finally going to explore the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor1 I have to enjoy the fruits of my hard work!¡±

    ¡°Nice, I also intend to do so.¡±

    Such words were unexpected from someone like Kaede. After all, she said something that would¡¯ve been unthinkable not too long ago.

    <em>How many games have the two yed?</em>

    One thing was for certain, it was definitely the first time Risa¡¯d seen her having so much fun.

    Risa seemed happy, but also somewhat sad, as she suggested to Kaede.

    ¡°Now that there are ten floors, let¡¯s explore them together.¡±

    ¡°With Risa? ¡­Of course!¡±

    ¡°Discover many hidden areas, defeat powerful bosses, and enjoy the beautifulndscapes¡­¡±

    ¡°I heard that the 10<sup>th</sup> floor is spacious¡­ It seems that there are many different ces!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it, too.¡±

    ¡°As you should!¡±

    It¡¯d be a waste if they didn¡¯t enjoy the game as much as they could.

    ¡ªEven more so when she didn¡¯t know if there¡¯d be next time.

    No, <em>especially </em>because she knew there wouldn¡¯t be next time.

    ¡°¡­We have to enjoy ourselves to the fullest.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, yep. That¡¯s right.¡±

    A voice could be heard calling them from downstairs. Since it was time for dinner, they hung up and left their respective rooms.

    ***

    The day after the study session. As the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor approached, a roar echoed through the [Maple Tree] training grounds.

    ¡°[Purple Lightning]!¡±

    ¡°Oboro [ck Smoke]!¡±

    At the training grounds, Velvet and Sally were in the middle of a duel. As a matter of course, Sally managed to avoid Velvet¡¯s thunderstorm. Sally hid herself behind the smokescreen that spread around Velvet. In the next moment, Sally appeared from right next to Velvet.

    However, Velvet didn¡¯t react. She allowed Sally to close in on her. Even when Sally¡¯s de was about to reach her, Velvet didn¡¯t dodge.

    ¡ªAs a result, the ¡®Sally¡¯ that attacked her suddenly wavered and disappeared at a single touch.

    ¡°As if I¡¯ll fall for the same trick over and over again!¡±

    When the ck smoke cleared, Sally, who¡¯d created a gap, could be seen in the distance.

    ¡°Whenever I can¡¯t tell whether it¡¯s real or not, I¡¯ll counterattack after taking damage!¡±

    ¡°Certainly, that sounds like Velvet.¡±

    Velvet¡¯s skills allowed her to move as fast as Sally, if not more. Moreover, Velvet¡¯s HP and defense were also at a level that enabled her to leap towards the enemy.

    Although Sally used illusions to skillfully trade damage in one direction, the person must be close enough for her to deliver a critical hit with a dagger.

    ¡ª<em>Wait patiently until Sally approaches, and once you¡¯re sure it¡¯s the real thing, start attacking.</em>

    To pierce her flesh and cut her bones. When dealing damage to each other, it was obvious that Sally, who had the lowest HP, would fall first.

    ¡°What do you think!?¡±

    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll do it another way.¡±

    Sally sheathed one of her daggers and used her skill to alter the shape. Suddenly, a bow was in her hand. If she couldn¡¯t get close, then she wouldn¡¯t. Sally had more than one weapons at her disposal.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re going to change everything into a weapon!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. If you¡¯re going to wait, I¡¯ll just shoot you. [Icicle] [Water Path]!¡±

    With Sally¡¯s deration, numerous pirs of ice and streams of water ran manifested in the air.

    ¡°Here Ie!¡±

    Sally stretched a thread from her hand and moved freely around Velvet¡ªleaping into the water, treading on ice, jumping in the air, and roaming on the ground.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    The lightning couldn¡¯t graze Sally. Still, Velvet didn¡¯t want tounch an attack herself. After all, attack movements would create gaps.

    <em>Is that what Sally is aiming for?</em>

    Velvet carefully dodged the flying arrows and magic as much as possible while carefully watching Sally.

    ¡°Ouch¡­!¡±

    Every time Sally avoided the lightning, the aura of [Sword Dance] intensified. Velvet didn¡¯t exactly know what the effect was, but the unusual damage caused by the arrows she asionally received told her that she couldn¡¯t let things continue as they were.

    Sally wouldn¡¯t approach her. Having no choice but to attack Sally, Velvet charged towards her.

    ¡°[Northern Light]!¡±

    If gaps were inevitable, Velvet should aim to lessen them.

    A pir of lightning rose, with the user in the center, and the electric shock hit everything within the area.

    There was no response. However, Velvet also had a n. [Northern Light] was Sally¡¯s weakness. No matter how high her evasion skill was, she couldn¡¯t escape the damage that filled the area in a cylindrical shape. Afterwards, when it was time for cooldown, Sally wouldn¡¯t have any choice but to engage in closebat.

    If Sally was cautious, she was most likely to continue attacking with her bow instead of jumping in. Nevertheless, she¡¯d lost one incentive that could elicit a different action from her opponent.

    ¡ªThen, as the pir of lightning disappeared, Sally transformed her bow into a dagger and leaped in.

    Velvet was taken aback for a moment. It was somewhat unexpected. But then, it urred to her that it might be an illusion, and canceled the skill she was about to cast.

    If it was just one blow, she could withstand that much.

    Velvet kept her eyes peeled until the veryst moment, paying attention to the signs around her.

    In no time at all, Sally was right in front of her. Swinging her dagger, Sally shed Velvet from her chest to her abdomen, and damage effects scattered.

    ¡°¡­!? [Stance Spark] [Purple Lightning]!¡±

    A frontal assault. Velvet was caught off-guard, but quickly regained herposure. While stepping so as not to get too close to Sally, she fired lightning from her fist, along with an electric shock that¡¯d stun her.

    They hit Sally directly¡ª<em>and she dispersed.</em>

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    The next thing that greeted Velvet¡¯s vision were two ming spears and a in great sword that pierced her body from the back, extending from her chest.

    <em>When and at what timing did she switch them?</em>

    As the question remained unanswered, Velvet¡¯s HP was blown away by an attack dealt by three weapons enhanced by [Sword Dance].

    It was simply a duel at the training grounds. If someone was lost, they¡¯d be revived on the spot, with all their skill cooldowns reset.

    ¡°When!? Just how!? When did you switch them!?¡±

    ¡°Of course I can¡¯t tell you. You¡¯ll have to figure that out yourself.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ It¡¯s real until the moment I get attacked, which means¡­¡±

    Sally switched ces with the illusion to avoid [Stance Spark] and [Purple Lightning], then slipped through the thunderstorm to attack Velvet from behind.

    It sounded outrageous no matter what, but Sally made it possible.

    ¡°Also, that magical spear! It was quite powerful!¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    Many things were going on in Velvet¡¯s vision all at once. A curtain of water, a pir of ice, and a clone¡ªso much that she couldn¡¯t keep up.

    That alone conveyed that Sally¡¯s skill was on a whole other level.

    ¡°In the end, there are still a lot of things I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    Sally saw Velvet¡¯s attitude and realized that thetter hadn¡¯t fully grasped who she was.

    From the time of the event, Sally¡¯s been taking advantage of [Reversal of Lies]. By doing so, the illusion created by [Mirage] would deal damage for a short period of time.

    Managing the effect time wasn¡¯t a problem for Sally, who was counting the timer until the date changed during the battle against Velvet and Hinata.

    A trump card that¡¯d been used so skillfully, the truth was hidden beneath lies. Thanks to that, the only people who had urate information about [Reversal of Lies] were the guild members of [Maple Tree].

    Actually, the answer was simple. Immediately after Velvet casted [Northern Light], she switched ces. That was all.

    Yet, because Velvet didn¡¯t know the full extent of her skill, she couldn¡¯t reach that conclusion.

    Unless Sally made the information public, the truth would remain obscure for a while.

    ¡°Still, it¡¯s a good match.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s have Hinata join the duel next time!¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to call Maple, too.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, that sounds like fun!¡±

    Even Sally couldn¡¯t fight if her movement was restricted. With Hinata, Velvet was at full power. Since it¡¯d been some time since the event concluded, it wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea to have a rematch as soon as possible. The n prepared by Maple and Sally were slightly superior, but the battle that night was one that could¡¯ve been won by either side.

    ¡°How¡¯d [Thunder Storm] tackle the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor?¡±

    ¡°It depends but, I n on jumping in as fast as I can!¡±

    Of course, Velvet would bring Hinata with her. With Hinata, she could ignore gravity and roam freely. There was no ce she couldn¡¯t go.

    ¡°If there¡¯s no quest, I wonder if I can go straight to the final boss?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Look, there are a lot of tamed monsters that can fly!¡±

    <em>Fly in the sky.</em>

    The event confirmed that it was a reality. As expected, presently, there were only one person who could ride the turtle. But in addition to Payne and Mii, there were many other riders who could fly in the sky.

    If that was the case, it¡¯d be appropriate to take measures to deal with that.

    ¡°What about you?¡±

    ¡°As you might¡¯ve guessed, I¡¯ll go with Maple. It¡¯s easy to schedule with her.¡±

    ¡°What about the events? You¡¯ll be there, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my intention.¡±

    ¡°¡­But <em>you will, </em>right?¡±

    ¡°Who knows¡­ I wonder what I should do?¡±

    ¡°Eeh!?¡±

    Velvet rolled her eyes. Sally knew what she was getting at.

    <em>¡®You¡¯re going to bring Maple to have a rematch with us, right?¡¯</em>

    ¡°We¡¯ll be getting busier in real life around events, so it¡¯ll be harder to log in.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s all the more reason to¡­!¡±

    ¡°¡­Velvet seems to really like PvP. But how did youe to like it? And why?¡±

    ¡°Huh!? Well, that¡¯s¡­ uhm. I don¡¯t really y games that much, so I guess it means that I¡¯ve always likedpeting.¡±

    ¡°So do I. I¡¯ve always liked that kind of thing. But there are a lot of people who don¡¯t, and I think that¡¯s natural.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°Maple doesn¡¯t hate it, but I don¡¯t think she likes it as much as we do. So¡­ I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s going to be a fun experience for us.¡±

    ¡ªIf this was thest event for the two of them, Sally wanted to leave behind only happy memories for Maple.

    <em>As long as she can enjoy it until the end¡­ Since the moment they met, I¡¯ve been wishing for it. for onest battle.</em>

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it doesn¡¯t happen.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so kind. No¡­ You¡¯re just clumsy.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s still time, so I think you should take your time and decide! Until then, I¡¯ll be your partner!¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that just because Velvet wants to fight?¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s that! Now, it¡¯s time for another round! I¡¯ve learned from our previous duel. It¡¯s time for revenge!¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get my revenge!¡±

    <em>It¡¯s still somewhat a distant dream.</em>

    Although, she¡¯d probably have to decide soon.

    The two opted for another round, and charged towards each other at the start of the duel.

 Chapter 485

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 485

    Defense Specialization and the Tenth Floor

    The long-awaited weekend. It was theunch day of the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor. Atst, the dungeon would lead to said floor. Maple and the others showed up at the guild home one by one.

    ¡°It¡¯s finally here!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s conquer the dungeon right away!¡±

    ¡°As you may expect, we don¡¯t have any information yet. But I think we can do it.¡±

    ¡°I agree. As long as you don¡¯t let your guard down and fight, there won¡¯t be any problems.¡±

    Maple and her friends had just defeated a powerful boss a while ago. As a result, the [Maple Tree]¡¯s confidence in their coordinated attacks increased.

    The skills they¡¯d umted, along with the levels they¡¯d raised up to the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor had allowed them to fight in a variety of ways.

    Kasumi took advantage of her mobility to perform knockback. Sally used water and ice as a means of disruption and scaffolding, while Chrome and Kanade would apply movement speed debuffs.

    Although most of the recent bosses couldn¡¯t be paralyzed, Maple could always support them with abnormal status.

    After that, with the buff applied by Iz, Mai and Yui could leap at the center of the battle with the help of Tsukimi and Yukimi.

    There were many different setups for the main damage dealer(s). They decided to go with the one that had the lowest risk, yet had the highest chance of sess to deal utmost damage.

    ¡°Now that we¡¯re all set, shall we head to the dungeon right away.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve prepared the necessary items. I¡¯m ready to go.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go ride Haku.¡±

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s head out!¡±

    The aim was to conquer the dungeon in one go. If the strategy went well, they¡¯d be able to explore the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor with the remaining time.

    Haku transformed into a giant. Now that they were ready, they set out right away. Maple and the others moved to the field and headed for the dungeon.

    Along the way, they came across no monsters, and the eight of them safely reached the dungeon.

    The entrance of the dungeon was located in an area that had the characteristics of water and nature, along with fire and wastnd, as it was right on the border of both countries.

    <em>Is it once a temple? </em>In some parts, the stone ruins were covered with water, ice, and lush vegetation. In some other parts,va and crackling lightning had made away with the stone pavement.

    Amidst such an area was a magic circle emanating a bluish glow.

    This time, they had to teleport to reach their destination. Because of that, they couldn¡¯t gauge the situation.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what will happen once we go inside, but¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but can you use [Dedicated Affection]?¡±

    They were reminded of the skill cancel and debuffs casted by the previous boss. <em>That boss was a special case. </em>Nevertheless, there was no saying what¡¯d happen. As they¡¯d be stronger, there was no doubt that the monsters had also grown stronger ordingly.

    Without information, it¡¯d be difficult to get an answer.

    The presence or absence of [Dedicated Affection] greatly affected their number of options in battle. As such, it became one of the most crucial skills.

    ¡°Can you save this spot? If we got teleported into a dangerous situation, I¡¯ll buy time with [Stout Guardian]. Use it there if necessary.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°In the worst-case scenario, I¡¯ll also use my spell tome. I have some strong defensive spells left.¡±

    <em>Safety first. </em>The eight shared that sentiment. Thus, Maple and the others stepped towards the magic circle.

    With a thud, Maple and the othersnded in the water. The teleport destination was inside an old white building submerged in water. The water itself reached up to Maple¡¯s chest.

    To provide lighting, there were lights installed on the walls, allowing them to see the high ceilings and spacious aisles.

    ¡°Mai, Yui, are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes, somehow¡­¡±

    ¡°Everything should be fine if you ride Yukimi!¡±

    Since the water level was close to Maple¡¯s chest, Mai and Yui, who were shorter than her, would have drowned if not for the fact that they were riding the tamed monsters.

    ¡°Ugh, this water decreases our [AGI]. By 30%, too. That¡¯s pretty huge.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simr to my [Ocean]¡­¡±

    As long as their bodies were in contact with the water, their movement speed would continue to decrease. While they could use skills to travel on water, but looking at how the dungeon was set up, they thought it¡¯d be easier to ept it rather than to resist.

    If they kept their feet on the ground, their [AGI] would decrease, but at least their footing was stable. Maple and her friends decided to ovee any bad situations by offsetting them with buffs and started wading through the water.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ It looks like a battle is about to break out, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°That, I¡¯m sure. Otherwise, the aisle won¡¯t be this wide.¡±

    ¡°¡ª<em>Hey, you jinxed it!¡±</em>

    At the back of the aisle¡­ A person was gliding along on a shining magic circle so as not to sink into the water. He was holding a long staff with arge blue gemstone embedded on it.

    Above his head was an HP bar. The eight of them readied their weapon as they watched the first monster of that dungeon.

    ¡°There¡¯s only one.¡±

    ¡°It seems that he¡¯s alone.¡±

    There were no vanguard nor other minions. Maple and the others stared intently at the monster¡¯s movements, feeling rather uneasy that there was only one wizard.

    ¡ªImmediately after.

    A magic circle spread underneath their feet.

    The calm surface of water rippled, and multiple streams of water swirled violently like a fierce maelstrom.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°[Dedicated Affection]!¡±

    Sally quickly determined that merely evading the attack wouldn¡¯t do. Almost at the same time as Maple deployed [Dedicated Affection], a tremendous force of water mmed onto them.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    She was swept away. Fully submerged in water, she couldn¡¯t even tell which way was up or down.

    [Dedicated Affection] only protected those within its area. If she was swept away, she wouldn¡¯t be able to protect those who were left behind.

    Maple was panicking, but then she hit something and was stopped in ce. She managed to bring her head to the surface.

    ¡°¡­Haku! Thank you!¡±

    ¡°Good. Were you able to cover everyone somehow.¡±

    ¡°Nice safe, Kasumi. As expected of a 10<sup>th</sup> Floor mob.¡±

    ¡°What do we do now?¡±

    ¡°Without Maple, we would¡¯ve lost¡­¡±

    ¡°This is so tricky¡­¡±

    Although Haku, who¡¯d be super gigantic, had coiled around the eight and protected them from the torrent, a roaring sound echoed from beyond his body. It was as if they were surrounded by waterfalls. Naturally, [Dedicated Affection] applied to Haku as well. Haku took no damage, but the knockback applied by the torrent destroyed their formation. Maple was also cornered against Haku¡¯s body.

    ¡°Hmm, if this knockback persists, it¡¯s going to be difficult for us to advance.¡±

    Their defense was shaky at best, considering that Maple risked of being thrown off whenever she tried to cover someone.

    ¡°I might be able to do something, but the opponent seems to be a mob¡­ I want to use as few resources as possible and find the most practical way to win.¡±

    ¡°I can protect Haku¡­ What do you think of this idea?¡±

    Maple suggested <em>something</em> while being constantly blown away and mmed into Haku¡¯s body.

    ¡°¡­It certainly looks like we¡¯ll be able to win consistently.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s try that this time.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll check the front.¡±

    Iz took out a long tube-like item from her inventory and stretched it out over the coiled Haku. The item allowed her to see what was ahead from the extended tip.

    ¡°I can see it perfectly. Uh-oh, the water shows no signs of stopping¡­¡±

    ¡°Wow, you<em> do </em>have everything.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing much. Just something I created.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯d be helpful if you let me know if you notice any suspicious movements. Haku!¡±

    When Kasumi gave instructions to Haku, his giant body moved with a rumble. Haku remained coiled around them as they slowly approached the monster, akin to a tornado moving forward.

    ¡°With this, we should be able to advance!¡±

    ¡°Haku!¡±

    Kasumi gave instructions to Haku once again. While Haku stretched out his long body to protect the members of the [Maple Tree], he slid through the gaps of the stream and went straight for the wizard.

    <em>Bang. </em>

    Haku maimed the wizard¡¯s torso. Although the wizard¡¯s appearance surprised them, it was simply a rearguard monster that appeared all by itself. If they could get close, they could deal enough damage to defeat it.

    When the wizard was defeated, the raging torrent subsided and the calm surface of the water returned.

    ¡°Fortunately, the passageway is wide. I¡¯ll ask Haku to continue following us.¡±

    ¡°I see. Next time it appears, we can fight it using the same method.¡±

    ¡°It was a great help¡­¡±

    ¡°As expected from Kasumi!¡±

    ¡°Still, that monster was nasty. As if the [AGI]-decreasing water isn¡¯t enough, it tried to knock us back using the torrent. We managed to get by thanks to Maple and Kasumi, but it¡¯d have been a different story if we¡¯d been swallowed by the water.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve memorized its appearance, so be careful when it appears alongside other monsters.¡±

    ¡°Next time, let¡¯s make a pre-emptive attack before we get hit!¡±

    ¡°Sure, that¡¯s a great idea.¡±

    Fortunately, the wizard¡¯s durability was low. With Maple¡¯s [Machine God], the tide should be in their favor.

    ¡°Keep in mind that we¡¯re still at the entrance. Let¡¯s aim for the back while being careful about the remaining monsters.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    After defeating the first monster, Maple and her friends proceeded deeper into the dungeon.

 Chapter 486

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 486

    Defense Specialization and to the Tenth Floor (2)

    A wide, straightforward road went on without any forks. From behind that path, another wizard appeared. To make matters worse, it was apanied by three heavily-armored vanguards; one equipped with a tower shield, while others wieldednces.

    ¡°Maple, do it!¡±

    ¡°Okay, [Deploy Barrel] [Commence Attack]!¡±

    A multitude of guns sprouted from Maple¡¯s back like branches. The muzzles were directed forward. In the next moment, they fired a barrage of shells at the four monsters.

    Had it received a direct impact, the wizard would¡¯ve been reduced to nothing. However, in response to the attack, the three vanguards immediately intervened.

    The intense shing sound of metal echoed, and the cannonballs were blocked by imprable defense.

    The three vanguards were visibly unscathed.

    ¡°It¡¯s not going to be that easy, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    <em>It can¡¯t be helped. </em>Thinking that, Sally sent a quick nce at Kasumi. As another swirling torrent threatened to swallow them whole, Haku turned into a wall to protect the eight.

    Amidst the roaring waves, everyone was able to move freely. Except for Maple, who had to lean on Haku due to the constant knockback.

    They nned to approach the enemy and hunt them down using Haku again. Thus, Iz used her telescope¡ª

    ¡ª<em>At that time.</em>

    Along with the damage effect, Maple¡¯s HP began to decrease rapidly.

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    ¡°¡°[Heal]!¡±¡±

    Sally and Kanade responded. Maple¡¯s HP was restored using magic¡ªbut it soon began to drop again.

    ¡°<em>Tsk, </em>it¡¯s thatnce!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of her! Meanwhile, please think of something!¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­ It¡¯s as if I¡¯m being hit all the time¡­¡±

    Iz took out a bunch of potions from her inventory to heal Maple.

    [Heal], which was among the first few basic skills to be acquired, was about to be redundant. Although Kanade had other recovery magic, that wasn¡¯t his main role. That was where Iz¡¯ powerful items came into y.

    When Iz directly recovered HP using her potion, it also created a continuous recovery area.

    Maple also gave up attacking for the time being and focused on self-healing through [Meditation].

    ¡°Kasumi, keep covering the back, but open the path forward.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    Kasumi smoothly moved Haku, but not without blocking the route to the back to support Maple¡¯s recovery.

    Then, the wall that separated them and the enemy vanished, and the three enemy vanguards rushed in along with the flowing stream of water, brandishing theirnces.

    ¡°Mai, Yui. Focus and deal with them. Maple will protect you.¡±

    ¡°¡°Understood!¡±¡±

    Riding Tsukimi and Yukimi, while being swept by the rushing water, the twins kept an eye for the enemy. They soon caught the sight of the three of them swaying in the torrent.

    ¡°¡°[Flying Attack]!!¡±

    A violent metallic sound mixed with the crashing waves. Even after being hit by the two¡¯s sledgehammers, the three were still alive and well. Based on the twins¡¯ track record of eradicating all sorts of monsters, it was clear that the two didn¡¯tck offensive power. Therefore, the two understood that as long as the enemy was protected by the shield, their damage would be rendered less effective.

    ¡°Older Sister!¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­!¡±

    ¡ª<em>In that case¡­</em>

    The pair of sledgehammers weren¡¯t their only weapons. They swung the rest of their sledgehammers, which were held by [Helping Hand].

    The enemy only had one shield. Suffice to say, it wasn¡¯t enough to block all the iing sledgehammers.

    ¡°¡°<em>Hyaaaaa¡ª!</em>¡±¡±

    The monsters were attacked with sledgehammers from both sides.

    As expected, they weren¡¯t made to withstand the attack. Therefore, if they suffered a direct blow, that¡¯d be the end of them. As the vanguards exploded at the corner of her eye, Sally stepped forward.

    ¡°Time to check out [Wave Ride]!¡±

    [Wave Ride] was a new skill obtained by leveling up [Water Maniption]. The skill, which was abination of [sh Flood] and [Water Path], helped Sally move by riding on the waves it generated while sweeping away anything that stood in her path.

    As she emerged from the tornado-like torrent that obscured her vision, Sally spotted the wizard deep within the maelstrom.

    ¡°[Icicle]!¡±

    She conjured a huge pir of ice behind the wizard, before shooting her thread towards it. The moment she retracted the thread, she darted towards the enemy.

    Even if she couldn¡¯t dodge in a timely manner, there was no problem as long as she was within Maple¡¯s defense range.

    ¡°[Quintuple sh]!¡±

    Before the wizard could attempt anything, Sally already closed in on it. Unable to withstand the flurry of powerful attacks, the wizard disappeared.

    ¡°Thank you, everyone!¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    ¡°Thanks to Maple, I was saved.¡±

    There was no time limit to [Loving Sacrifice]. It was one of the skills that Maple could use wlessly because she could tank all the damage and still not fall.

    Thanks to this, [Maple Tree] could adopt strategies that were unique to them alone.

    ¡°Iz and Kanade will be in charge of recovery. Chrome will take care of the attacks that Maple can¡¯t handle. Mai and Yui will be in the front line, while Kasumi and I will be in the back line.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Now that we know there¡¯ll be a piercing attack, there won¡¯t be an easy victory. To avoid taking unnecessary risks, let¡¯s just have Haku on standby and aim for a swift victory.¡±

    ¡°There might still be additional monsters. Let¡¯s proceed without letting our guard down.¡±

    As Kanade said, there weren¡¯t just two types of enemies. While remaining flexible, they¡¯d also need to utilize skills that could act as a trump card depending on the timing.

    After changing theirposition, Maple and the others were able to fend off the monsters that had returned with more power. They confidently proceeded further into the depths.

 Chapter 487

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 487

    Defense Specialization and to the Tenth Floor (3)

    Whenever Maple was thrown off by the knockback, Haku¡¯d gently catch her, before resuming the battle.

    Against an enemy who built their battles around the unteral destruction of formations at the hands of the wizard¡¯s waves, it could be said that Maple¡¯s ability to tank all damage and maintain her teammates¡¯ positions was an effective counter.

    Maple and the others had figured out the bestposition to win the battle, and were advancing through the dungeon with plenty of time to spare.

    ¡°¡­? The water is getting shallower, huh?¡±

    ¡°It seems so.¡±

    ¡°<em>Phew. </em>Finally, we¡¯re going to have an easier time moving around.¡±

    The dungeon seemed like a waterway at first, but as they progressed further, the water level began to drop. Eventually, the water recededpletely, revealing a dry floor.

    ¡°It feels a bit cramped¡­ Haku will have to transform back.¡±

    Although [Super Erge] was useful, it couldn¡¯t be used everywhere due to limited space. It went without saying that it couldn¡¯t be used indoors.

    ¡°Well, as long as there¡¯s no knockback, it should be fine. In case of an attack, we can just support you.¡±

    ¡°I sure hope there won¡¯t be any attack¡­¡±

    Up until that point, Maple was either rendered immobile and had to lean on Haku, or navigate between battles.

    Nevertheless, she was still of help, and could more or less counter the enemy.

    ¡°Thank you for your defense, Maple. We still have a long way to go, though.¡±

    ¡°I know! I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    ¡°The terrain has changed¡­¡±

    ¡°Will the monsters change too?¡±

    ¡°Possibly. If they are the same, there won¡¯t be a need to change the terrain.¡±

    After a while, they could no longer see the water behind them. Ahead, they could see a faint light at the end of the dimly-lit passage. Maple and the others braced for enemy attack. However, the light didn¡¯t move from its spot¡ª

    ¡ªEventually, its true identity was revealed.

    ¡°Wow¡­ <em>Amazing¡­¡±</em>

    In front of Maple was a hole that led deep to the bottom, with a row of stone pirs as scaffoldings.

    The bottom of the hole was glowing red with magma, making a popping sound. If Maple were to fall into it, she¡¯d surely suffer from some injury.

    There was a certain distance between each stone pir. Although it wasn¡¯t so wide that they couldn¡¯t jump, the foothold itself seemed quite unstable.

    ¡°Continuous damage¡­ But <em>at the very least, </em>we won¡¯t die instantly, right?¡±

    ¡°Want to test it out? I¡¯ll give you a safety rope.¡±

    ¡°No thanks.¡±

    ¡°Even if you did it as a joke, it seems very costly. How are you going to make it back if you fall in there?¡±

    ¡°It seems that we can jump¡­ But I¡¯m afraid of failing, so I¡¯ll create a foothold for us.¡±

    Sally used [Water Path] to connect the scaffolds with water.

    ¡°[Freezing Area].¡±

    A high-pitched sound resounded, and the water froze. A wide ice bridge connected the scaffoldings. The eight of them proceeded, being careful not to slip into the magma.

    ¡°With this, we¡¯re safe!¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ <em>Not really.¡±</em>

    Seeing Sally brandishing her weapon, Maple also looked up to look forward.

    Of course, the magma below wasn¡¯t the only <em>enemy.</em>

    Ahead of them, two wyverns emerged, crackling with electricity. On top of the precarious foothold, an inevitable battle was about to brew.

    ¡°Kasumi, Maple!¡±

    The two who were called by Sally guessed her intentions and stepped forward. The enemy had an advantage over them, which was their ability to fly. To gain the upper hand, even if slightly, theyunched an attack before the enemy could unleash an onught.

    Kasumi and Sally, who could fight in the air, leaped out, followed by Maple, who could cover them with [Dedicated Affection].

    ¡°[sh Flood]!¡±

    Since the effect of [Freezing Area] was still active, the generated water would continue to freeze. Kasumi ran across the pir of ice and jumped.

    The monsters responded to that. The wyvern quickly spewed out mes; the electricity surrounding its body crackled violently, scattering balls of sparks.

    Kasumi didn¡¯t dodge the attack, and approached the enemy as she fell.

    ¡°I¡¯m okay!¡±

    Maple¡¯s voice could be heard from behind. If she survived the attack, there was nothing to worry about.

    ¡°[Arms of the Warrior] [Blood Sword]!¡±

    As the two armored arms attacked the wyvern in front of her, Kasumi¡¯s liquid sword unleashed an attack on all monsters.

    ¡°Necro [Weight of Death]!¡±

    Chrome reduced movement speed to support Kasumi¡¯s attacks.

    ¡°[First of the Swords: Heat Haze]!¡±

    When Kasumi started to fall, she rose again with skill. Moreover, this skill came with the bonus of being able to dash directly in front of the enemy.

    The ability to move in the air, which was based on skills, was something that she¡¯d gotten quite ustomed to. Kasumi also used [Third of the Swords: Lonely Moon] and flew around in the sky multiple times; first to destroy the scattered sparks of electricity, beforending on the back of the remaining wyvern.

    ¡°[Fourth of the Swords: Whirlwind]!¡±

    The rapid shes delivered with the [Arms of the Warrior] found its target, and the wyvern tumbled down. Before it disappeared, Kasumi used its body as a foothold and jumped back,nding on one of the stone pirs.

    ¡°<em>Phew. </em>Seriously, in this kind of ce?¡±

    ¡°Nice. That was pretty easy.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯d be bad if we identally fell down. Let¡¯s be careful.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    Maple and the others joined the two who were in front. The biggest threat here was the terrain itself. As long as they fought calmly and checked their footing, the monsters were manageable.

    ¡°Tread carefully!¡±

    While looking at the stone pirs that continued in front of them, Maple reminded everyone and crossed the ice bridge.

    After that, following Sally, Iz also built a bridge using the boards she¡¯d taken out. Thus, the stability of the scaffolding improved. Thanks to this, Mai and Yui were able to focus on attacking, and passed that area.

    Arge gilded door finally appeared in front of the eight who¡¯d been proceeding with care.

    That was the sign of a boss room. The final boss that stood in the way of reaching the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor.

    ¡°Should we apply some buffs first?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that. Although, if they get dispelled, it can¡¯t be helped.¡±

    ¡°¡°Please give us some buffs!¡±¡±

    After all, items could be replenished again. If their goal was to win, they should prepare themselves.

    Maple kept deploying [Dedicated Affection] along the way, and applied buffs to Mai and Yui. One of the proven strategies of [Maple Tree] was a one-hit kill.

    Maple and the others finished their preparations and went inside to y the boss.

 Chapter 488

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 488

    Defense Specialization and to the Tenth Floor (4)

    Inside the boss room, the path branched into two in the middle. Not <em>physically, </em>but <em>conceptually.</em>

    On the left side was a flowing stream and lush greenery. There were several ice walls lined up as obstacles. On the right side was a barrennd and gushing magma. Several floating yellow crystals could be seen, on which electric shocks would periodically run through.

    At the innermost part of that room, there were two figures standing back to back. A man wearing an ornate white robe was one of them. A long staff embedded with several blue gems could be seen within his hands.

    The other was a giant man over two meters tall with a dragon¡¯s head, scaled limbs, andrge wings. He wore armor and was wielding a greatsword. The weapon, which was as tall as its owner, would crackle with electricity.

    When Maple and the others took another step inside, the two men looked at them, brandishing their weapons.

    Water and magma burst from the ground. The situation in front of them changed drastically.

    A copsing battlefield. The water and magma, which cascaded like a waterfall into the distance, revealed a battlefield made up of numerous stone pirs simr to the previous one.

    Some of the tforms were covered in ice, water, magma, and lightning, making it impossible to use without sustaining damage.

    The wizard pointed his staff at [Maple Tree], who were unsure what strategy to use.

    Five blue magic circles unfolded. Knowing what was going to happen, Sally turned to look at Maple.

    ¡°[Throne of the Heavenly King]!¡±

    A pure white throne materialized on spot.

    From the blue magic circles, five maelstroms unfolded. If they got swept away by it, they¡¯d be plunged into the abyss.

    Sally and Kasumi quickly evaded it, while Chrome blocked it with a shield and nullified the damage. However, not everyone could avoid it.

    ¡°¡­! I¡¯m okay!¡±

    Amidst the roaring waves, Maple screamed. Due to the constant knockback, she could barely move. By using [Throne of the Heavenly King] as a wall, she managed not to get blown away.

    However, if she tried to stand up, she¡¯d most likely slide off the stone pir and wouldn¡¯t be able toe back.

    ¡°If I can¡¯t move¡­ [Ancient Weapon]!¡±

    With a nk, the cube expanded, deformed, and coalesced to form a gigantic cylinder.

    All the damage that everyone suffered was absorbed by Maple, giving her enormous energy to deploy [Ancient Weapon]. Maple, who couldn¡¯t leave her throne, could only turn into a fixed artillery turret.

    Maple fired off blue rays as if to counter the maelstroms. The target was the source of that torrent. However, just before the rays could find their target, a giant white magic circle spread out in front of the wizard. The equally gigantic ice wall proceeded to block the rays.

    ¡°Just keep shooting, Maple! I¡¯m sure he won¡¯t be able to deflect all attacks!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Sally thought to herself. Since Maple couldn¡¯t deliver a decisive blow, the rest of them would have to secure the victory. However, the terrain and raging waves made it difficult for them to do so. [Dedicated Affection] covered a wide area, yet it still couldn¡¯t reach the wizard.

    Therefore, Mai and Yui couldn¡¯t charge towards the enemy.

    <em>What to do¡­? </em>As she wondered, the enemy made a move.

    Next, the dragon warrior jumped into the sky, aiming towards them. He was close-ranged. There was a difference in the amount of free space avable. They were also unlikely to be able to get the upper hand, but it¡¯d certainly be much better if the enemy coulde closer.

    ¡°It¡¯sing towards here!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll prepare the footing!¡±

    Iz took out an iron te and knocked it down, connecting the stone pirs.

    Soon, a breath of mes flew upon them. However, Iz was a member of [Maple Tree], while the iron te was made of high quality material, and thus was resilient. As such, they could get by without any problems.

    ¡°Chrome and I will slow it down!¡±

    ¡°Sally and I will restrict his movements!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Then first, let¡¯s draw him to us! [Provoke]!¡±

    Chrome aggravated the dragon warrior, who was about to rush towards Mai and Yui. The dragon warrior swung his great sword at Chrome, who received the blow.

    ¡°<em>Gah¡­!¡±</em>

    A powerful blow that almost made him hobble to his feet. The special great sword couldn¡¯t be deflected using a shield alone, and the electric shock burst, stunning Maple.

    In turn, [Ancient Weapon] stopped firing.

    A magic circle consisted of two colors¡ªred and white, spread across the ceiling. Just as they thought something bad was going to happen, an endless surge of icicles and magma poured down on them.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tank it. Boss, please! [Stout Guardian] [Spirit of Light]!¡±

    There were two tower shield users. By stacking it on top of Maple¡¯s [Loving Sacrifice], Chrome could focus the damage towards himself, and ovee a wide range of attacks without taking damage.

    After some time, Maple recovered from the stun and fought the wizard again, while Iz worked with Kanade to maintain the foothold.

    Meanwhile, Sally and Kasumi jumped out.

    ¡°I¡¯ll attack from the right.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll charge from the left.¡±

    Kasumi was the first to jump. Leaping off the safe tform, she came face-to-face against the dragon warrior. Since she¡¯d entered his range, he charged towards her.

    When the dragon warrior was distracted by Kasumi, Sally fastened her thread on the ice pir she¡¯d generated and flew behind him.

    ¡°[sh Flood]!¡±

    Destroying formations, creating footholds, and sometimes escaping. Sally¡¯s trademark skill created water flow that swept away the dragon warrior.

    Even so, when he was free, he tried to leap away again. Purple mist soon overflowed.

    ¡°Necro [Weight of Death].¡±

    ¡°[Slow Field]!¡±

    ¡°Now!¡±

    Chrome, Kanade, Iz. The debuffs by the three reduced the dragon warrior¡¯s movement speed.

    It bought enough time for Mai and Yui, who¡¯d positioned themselves beforehand, to charge towards him.

    ¡°¡°[Decisive Battle] [Double Strike]!¡±¡±

    Compared to the twins¡¯ brutal onught, the dragon warrior¡¯s greatsword looked like a toy. As if being swept away by the [sh Flood] wasn¡¯t enough, he was soon propelled in the opposite direction.

    With a bang, the dragon warrior was mmed into the wall right behind the wizard. When they saw that his HP was shaved off, they were convinced they had won.

    However, in the next moment, a white magic circle appeared on said wall. Light enveloped the dragon warrior, restoring half of his HP.

    ¡°¡°Eh!?¡±¡±

    ¡°Does the wizard have resurrection skill¡­ <em>No¡ª¡±</em>

    ¡°Maybe we have to defeat them at the same time.¡±

    ¡°Maybe, but¡­¡±

    As long as they were together, there was a way to win. However, with their current formation, it¡¯d be impossible to defeat the two at the same time.

    First, the wizard was too far away. Moreover, Mai and Yui couldn¡¯t adjust firepower at will. As long as they participate in battle, they¡¯d get hit. In order to defeat both opponents at the same time, the two would have to be separated.

    In that case, the range of Maple¡¯s [Loving Sacrifice] would be an issue. They wouldn¡¯t be able to execute the operation without taking risks.

    ¡°I guess some of us will have to go to the back?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the only way, but who?¡±

    Either Mai, Yui, and Chrome would have to be separated.

    They also had to think about the personnel for generation and setup of scaffolding. If both sides were to have one, it¡¯d leave them with little to no freedom of organization.

    Furthermore, the sense of stability would also be significantly reduced. If they didn¡¯t seed the first time, they¡¯d have to continue fighting separately since regrouping would be difficult.

    ¡ªIf they had no choice but to take a risk, they should choose the one with a higher chance of winning.

    ¡°Sally! What should we do!?¡±

    ¡°Does Maple have any idea?¡±

    ¡°Eh, me¡ª!?¡±

    Maple widened her eyes. She never expected that Sally would ask her instead. Sally had a point, though. As Sally was building a strategy centered around [Dedicated Affection], it was important for her to know about Maple¡¯s intention.

    ¡°If there¡¯s nothing, I guess we¡¯ll all just have to avoid it and wait for the right timing.¡±

    The stream of water was the source of knockback. If everyone could somehow avoid a direct hit, Maple could also make a move.

    However, it¡¯d take a concentrated amount of effort and time.

    ¡°¡­Maybe there¡¯s something we can do!¡±

    Maple seemed to havee up with something.

    ¡°I see¡­ In that case, I¡¯ll draw him here! You guys can go have a nice strategy meeting!¡±

    While Chrome aggroed the dragon warrior, the others quickly figured out Maple¡¯s n. After considering the risks and returns, they decided that it was worth trying.

    After making a decision, they began the necessary arrangements. Kasumi summarized the strategy to Chrome. Upon hearing what it entailed, he smiled wryly.

    Mai and Yui needed to be separated in order to defeat both opponents in one blow.

    Maple couldn¡¯t protect both¡ªso that was where Chrome came into y.

    ¡°[Crystalize]!¡±

    Maple, who¡¯d increased her body mass using [Hair Growth], soon crystalized.

    ¡°Uh-huh, the timing seems fine.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll bring him to you soon!¡±

    The time of execution approached. Maple, whose volume had increased, was somehow stuck on the throne.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time! Mai!¡±

    ¡°¡­Got it!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Fei [Item Enhancement]!¡±

    ¡°[Large-Scale Magic Barrier]!¡±

    Sally saw the opportunity and Mai swung her sledgehammer. At the same time, Iz enhanced the effect of the item and set up a barricade on the surrounding scaffolding, while Kanade deployed a barrier. It stopped the crashing wave for just a moment and spared Maple from being knocked back.

    A crystallized Maple Ball rolled down from the throne, straight towards Mai¡¯s sledgehammer. Mai swung her sledgehammer, sending the crystal ball flying.

    A forced and sudden approach. However, as it was, Maple¡¯d only get bounced back by the water current.

    Thus, Maple used the only countermeasure that could be used in this situation.

    ¡°[Heavy Body]!¡±

    ¡ª<em>Nullify the knockback. </em>With Maple¡¯s current status, that skill would render her immobile, but as long as she was flying towards the enemy, there was no problem.

    The <em>bomb </em>will most assuredlynd.

    An ice wall appeared to hinder Maple. Maple Ball wasn¡¯t the same as iron ball. Even if Mai sent her flying, she wouldn¡¯t cause any damage.

    However, just before she hit the wall, she dispelled the crystallization.

    ¡°¡ªAs expected of Sally!¡±

    <em>Precise timing. </em>The red light grewrger inside the mass of hair. There were no more crystals to get in the way.

    Immediately after, there was a roar. Maple Ball was filled with explosives, causing a huge explosion that engulfed both Maple Ball and the ice wall.

    ¡°[Provoke]!¡±

    Taking that as a signal, Maple and Chrome aggravated their respective enemies. The dragon warrior charged at Chrome, but a pir of ice soon materialized behind him.

    Mai outsmarted the boss.

    ¡°Please take care of the rest!¡±

    Maple stumbled onto a nearby scaffold. Maple¡¯s role was to tear down the ice wall. Although she could deal damage, she was nowhere near as good as Mai. As a matter of course, Maple couldn¡¯t take down both enemies at the same time.

    Explosives weren¡¯t the only thing inside the Maple Ball. There was an attacker who was better than Mai and could carry out extreme strategies.

    Said attacker had bypassed the ice wall, and slipped next to the wizard.

    It was none other than Yui, wielding her sledgehammer.

    ¡°¡°[Double Strike]!¡±¡±

    Even though they were far apart, the twins spontaneously swung their sledgehammers, sending the two bosses flying into the wall.

    Smoke billowed. Bursting mes and water. Seeing that the two bosses had disappeared with a high-pitched noise, everyone smiled at the sess of their operation.

    As soon as the bosses were defeated, the field, which had be too unstable, reverted to its normal state. Sally and the rest joined Maple and Yui, who¡¯d flown away.

    ¡°Nice. It went well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! That¡¯s great!¡±

    ¡°As expected, the offensive power of these two is amazing. Moreover, there¡¯s no damage cap or barrier this time around, unlike when we were fighting the previous boss.¡±

    ¡°The previous boss must¡¯ve been quite special. I still think you need to be careful, though.¡±

    This time, they decided that they could give it a go because the dragon warrior had suffered some damage beforehand. If the wizard had the ability to not receive a set amount of damage at once, their strategy would¡¯ve been foiled.

    Although they were able to win this time, they had to ensure the safety of both Mai and Yui.

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s go to the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor, which I¡¯ve been looking forward to. There¡¯s a road in the back.¡±

    ¡°I wonder what it¡¯s like. It seems quite spacious, though.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it!¡±

    ¡°Okay, everyone, let¡¯s go!¡±

    With Maple in the lead, the eight of them ascended the stairs leading to the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor. After climbing for a while, they saw a bright light pouring from outside.

    Atst, they¡¯d reached the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor.

    Maple and the others took a step towards the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor, their hearts filled with anticipation.

 Chapter 489

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 489

    Defense Specialization and at the Tenth Floor

    Suddenly, the scenery in front of them expanded. Maple and the others found themselves standing on top of a small hill. Then, when they looked around, thendscape of the 10<sup>th</sup> floor jumped into their vision. The first thing that caught their eyes was a steep mountain that pierced the clouds and towers in front of them.

    ¡ªThen, they saw something familiar.

    ¡°Is that the machine from the Third Floor?¡±

    ¡°That cherry tree is from the Fourth Floor. If you look closely, you can even see a Japanese-style tower.¡±

    ¡°Is this above the Fifth Floor? The clouds around that part seem familiar¡­ What do you think?¡±

    So far, they¡¯d seen aprehensive summary of each floor.

    If that was the case, the rest of the floors definitely existed as well. Maple and her friends were currently in an area that seemed to be a basic fantasy world full of nature.

    In other words, they were in the midst of a deeperndscape.

    ¡°It feels kind of nostalgic, Sally.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh, it¡¯s been a while. Let¡¯s make a fresh start and conquer it. Off to the boss we go.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    While Maple and the others were talking, a message arrived. The sender was the management team. The contents were the main objectives of the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor and simple guidelines on how to proceed.

    ¡°Uhm, what else¡­?¡±

    Maple looked over the contents.

    On the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor, a being called the [Demon King] threatened the people. The ultimate goal was to travel to many towns,plete many quests, before finding and defeating the [Demon King].

    ¡°Hm, I see¡­¡±

    There was a particrlyrge town on each floor, so it didn¡¯t really matter where they established their base. Since the message mentioned that there was a vast array of quest routes, it was possible to explore freely.

    ¡°¡®<em>There are more hidden items and skills than in previous floors, so keep your eyes open for them¡­¡¯ </em>Wow!¡±

    ¡°They added more!? That¡¯s amazing! If they went to the trouble of announcing it, it must be true!¡±

    ¡°Perhaps, it¡¯s to prepare us for the 11<sup>th</sup> Floor¡­¡±

    If the yers became stronger, it was expected that the enemies would also grow stronger to some extent. They¡¯d like to participate in as many events as possible.

    ¡°I wonder how many we will miss¡­¡±

    ¡°But if there are many, I¡¯m sure we¡¯lle across at least one.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it!¡±

    ¡°Explorations, bosses, and rare events!¡±

    ¡°For now, let¡¯s move on to the area¡­ But is that okay? Why don¡¯t we go to the guild home first¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay! First of all, let¡¯s take a break. That dungeon was tough!¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Maple and her friends looked at the map as they headed towards a nearbyrge town.

    They walked for a while and arrived at the nearest town.

    There was nothing special about the exterior. In front of them was a road paved with beautiful stones. There were several shops run by NPCs on both sides of the road, with guild homes lined up in the back. The construction of the buildings were mostly Western, simr to what one would see in a fantasy world.

    The interior of the town and the atmosphere of the NPCs were nothing out of the ordinary. Maple and the others felt that they¡¯d been here before. After all, the ambience was close to the starting ce for all yers.

    Yes, they were going to start all over again here.

    ¡°For now, let¡¯s head for the guild home first!¡±

    Mapleid out the n, leading the way while looking at the map. Even though the townscape looked like something they¡¯d seen before, there were many things that stood out to them. Naturally, the things sold on the 1<sup>st</sup> to 10<sup>th</sup> Floors were different. The same went for the quests.

    Even though the floor incorporated elements from each floor, it didn¡¯t mean that it was entirely the same.

    Especially considering that there were secret areas.

    Suppressing their desire to go exploring as soon as possible, Maple and the others quickly headed for the guild home.

    Maple and her friends arrived at the guild home and immediately discussed their future ns.

    ¡°What should we do after this?¡±

    ¡°Maybe we should use this as a base and explore¡­ Or should we unlock other guild homes first?¡±

    Ten expansive floors. There were some towns for each floor, along with guild homes. By using the teleport magic circle, they could travel from one guild home to another, providing easy ess from town to town.

    ¡°I feel like it¡¯d be better to unlock everything. It seems that on the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor, every town has its own sets of events.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, maybe we should split up.¡±

    ¡°Good idea. Let¡¯s start from there.¡±

    Before exploring, theyid the groundworks. Maple¡¯s first goal was to unlock the guild home, but when it came to decide what to do next, Chrome spoke up.

    ¡°Oh, right, I have a suggestion¡­ Well, not really, but something¡¯s been nagging at me.¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    Maple and Sally had no clue what he was referring to, so they waited for Chrome to speak.

    ¡°After the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor and the subsequent events are cleared, it¡¯s going to be difficult to log in for a while, right? In that case, I want to help the two of you clear this floor as much as possible.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, if we¡¯re going to make memories, it¡¯s always better to have fun.¡±

    Leveling up, quests, and conquering dungeons.

    They¡¯d lend a hand if necessary, and make it a priority.

    ¡ªSuch was the offer from Chrome and the others.

    ¡°You¡¯ve helped me a lot during events, and also helped me raise my level every day.¡±

    ¡°It¡­ can¡¯t really be called ¡®repaying the favor¡¯, but I still want to support you!¡±

    ¡°If there¡¯s a tough monster, we¡¯ll help you!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll show you how useful I am¡­!¡±

    Having fun in a game should always be the priority. Hopefully, even when they were away.

    ¡°Thank you! But¡­ I¡¯ve always been helped by all of you¡­¡±

    ¡°Haha, it seems that the feeling is mutual. Well, it¡¯s like a renewed deration of determination.¡±

    ¡°I understand, I¡¯m d.¡±

    Maple and Sally also gratefully epted the offer. In order to enjoy it to the fullest, everyone¡¯s cooperation was necessary. Again, the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor was too vast.

    Nevertheless, the overall goal remained the same. The strongest boss that lurked in that 10<sup>th</sup> Floor¡­ They had to defeat the Demon King. Normally, they¡¯d have to painstakingly explore the map, searching for quests and gathering information, but Chrome and the others said that they¡¯d be proactive in doing so.

    ¡°But the important hints are usually found by Maple¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm, there¡¯s that.¡±

    ¡°Haha, I mean, considering what has happened so far¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that surprising.¡±

    ¡°Maple sure is amazing¡­¡±

    ¡°I-I wonder if it¡¯ll really go well.¡±

    ¡°¡­Ugh, not you too, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, sorry, sorry. So, what do you want to do, Maple?¡±

    They told her that they¡¯d support her with all they had. In front of them was a vast, uncharted field; full of many undiscovered quests and dungeons. There were many ways to y and ces to visit.

    ¡°¡­Well then, Sally. Since everyone has said that, let¡¯s take this opportunity to explore this ce together!¡±

    ¡°Haha, of course. I¡¯m honored to have been chosen. I¡¯ll be Maple¡¯s shield and sword no matter where you go.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, what¡¯s that!? Okay, I¡¯ll be in your care!¡±

    ¡°Yes, leave it to me.¡±

    To enjoy a game however you like. To rx and depend on friends she could rely on.

    ¡ªThus began Maple and Sally¡¯s exploration of the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor.

 Chapter 490

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 490

    Defense Specialization and the Start of Exploration

    Once the important talk was over, they cast aside the sentimental atmosphere and started exploring.

    ¡°I¡¯ll head for the 6<sup>th</sup> Floor Town. Maple and others have problems with that floor, right?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, rather than <em>Maple and others, </em>it¡¯s just Sally?¡±

    ¡°That helps a lot¡­¡±

    ¡°As for me, I¡¯ll go to the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Town. Personally, I¡¯m interested in that floor, so it¡¯s perfect.¡±

    ¡°What about us?¡±

    ¡°What if we stumble into a battle along the way¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you want to ride Tsukimi and Yukimi?¡±

    ¡°We also need someone to provide cover.¡±

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s do that. I guess I¡¯ll head for the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Town for the time being, since it¡¯s nearby. If there¡¯s something like a flying machine, it¡¯ll be easier to move around.¡±

    Chrome would go to the 6<sup>th</sup> Floor Town, Kasumi the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Town, while Kanade and the others would go to the nearby 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Town. They were going to split up.

    ¡°Please call me if you need anything! I¡¯ll fly to you!¡±

    ¡°Of course. Okay, I¡¯ll call you if I get in trouble. In fact, I¡¯m somewhatcking in attack power.¡±

    Maple and Sally sent them off, praying that the search would go smoothly.

    ¡°I¡¯m a bit nervous knowing that they¡¯ll be supporting us with all their might.¡±

    ¡°Just rx. Like Maple said, it¡¯s actually not that different from usual.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh!¡±

    ¡°Then where do we go first?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it matters where we start, we¡¯ll get lost either way.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, the map is so huge.¡±

    The first thing they did was to run out onto the field. There were other options, but after thinking about it, they decided to head to the town first.

    ¡°I think we should start looking for a quest!¡±

    ¡°Good idea. That sounds more productive than wandering aimlessly on the field¡­¡±

    Maple and Sally left the guild home and started walking around town.

    ¡°The townscape feels straight out of a fantasy world. Let¡¯s see, the buildings that stand out¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, what about that thing in the back?¡±

    Maple pointed to a two-story building located at the very end of the main street, with two NPCs equipped with armor and spears standing on either side of the gate. From therge chimney, smoke was billowing into the sky. In that town of houses that could be considered private, that building seemed to have some other function.

    ¡°Shall we go?¡±

    ¡°Yep!¡±

    When the two got to the front of the building, they nced at the NPC who looked like the gatekeeper. Upon seeing that the NPC made no attempt to stop them, they went inside.

    Several NPCs were walking around inside the building, holding stacks of paper with some kind of small letters and maps written on them. They seemed to be having a discussion at arge table in the back.

    As the two approached, the man who was at the center of the conversation turned towards them in response.

    His chainmail made him look sturdier than the soldiers stationed outside. A tower shield and sword were also propped up in the back, seemingly equally powerful. Apparently, the NPCs had also geared up for the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor.

    ¡°Oh, sorry. I was just discussing the invasion of the Demon King¡¯s minions. The monsters have been getting more activetely. Do you need something?¡±

    After saying that, a quest mark appeared above the man¡¯s head.

    ¡°Maple, it looks like we can ept the quest.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nice. We found it right away.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see, the quest is about¡­¡±

    Apparently, there wasn¡¯t just one quest. Some were avable, some weren¡¯t. Prerequisites for unlocking those that weren¡¯t were listed.

    ¡°I see, I see¡­ I guess it won¡¯t work unless you clear the quests in other towns.¡±

    ¡°However, it seems that you can proceed from anywhere. If you proceed to another town, you might be able to skip the earlier quest here.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    For the time being, the two had no ns to go to another town yet, so they decided to undertake what was avable right now.

    ¡°Then¡­ Hmm, I guess I¡¯ll go with this one.¡±

    ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s ept that.¡±

    After the two epted the quest, the man spoke once again.

    ¡°¡ªSo, you¡¯ll lend me your strength? Thanks, you¡¯re a great help. We don¡¯t have enough manpower. That said, they¡¯re powerful. I want you to show us your abilities.¡±

    Based on their experience, more difficult quests seemed to await them after clearing this one.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t be surprised if the <em>easy </em>quest proves to be harder than the 9<sup>th</sup> Floor, so let¡¯s be careful.¡±

    ¡°You have a point. All right, let¡¯s clear it properly!¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    After receiving the quest, the two confirmed their destination and left the building.

    650 Name: Anonymous Wizard

    <em>The 10<sup>th</sup> Floor is too huge¡­</em>

    651 Name: Anonymous Spear-Wielder

    <em>Too wide~</em>

    652 Name: Anonymous Archer

    <em>There¡¯s a lot to do</em>

    653 Name: Anonymous Spear-Wielder

    <em>Are there any towns you¡¯d rmend as a first destination?</em>

    654 Name: Anonymous Wizard

    <em>I¡¯m not too sure, but it¡¯s definitely not the one that resembles 8<sup>th</sup> Floor</em>

    655 Name: Anonymous Archer

    <em>It¡¯s a hassle to dive every time you explore.</em>

    <em>Well, not like I have checked, so maybe it¡¯s different</em>

    656 Name: Anonymous Great Sword-Wielder

    <em>The enemy is strong. Are you leveling up properly?</em>

    657 Name: Anonymous Tower Shield-User

    <em>I guess it¡¯s a turning point</em>

    658 Name: Anonymous Spear-Wielder

    <em>However, it¡¯s helpful to have various means of transportation everywhere. Some of the tamed monsters aren¡¯t suitable for everyone, though.</em>

    659 Name: Anonymous Mage

    <em>This time you can ride not only horses but also dragons. Borrowing them is expensive, though.</em>

    660 Name: Anonymous Archer

    <em>It¡¯s great that anyone can fly. It¡¯s fast</em>

    661 Name: Anonymous Great Sword-Wielder

    <em>Despite that, it feels like there¡¯s no end to the exploration. Plenty of quests. Plenty of events. Plenty of hidden areas.</em>

    662 Name: Anonymous Mage

    <em>They did say that they increased it. So it¡¯s true?</em>

    663 Name: Anonymous Spear-Wielder

    <em>It¡¯s not like the hidden areas are impossible to find. Currently, my NWO doesn¡¯t have any hidden areas.</em>

    664 Name: Anonymous Archer

    <em>Since the map is expanding, the probability of encountering a rare event may not actually be that high.</em>

    665 Name: Anonymous Great Sword-Wielder

    <em>But when you hear that it has increased, don¡¯t you feel excited!? I wish I could find something¡­</em>

    666 Name: Anonymous Tower Shield-User

    <em>It all depends on luck and good intuition. There are quests that are fairly difficult and require amazing skills¡­</em>

    667 Name: Anonymous Spear-Wielder

    <em>Because the characteristics of previous floors are mixed together in some ces, it feels like the hidden areas are everywhere, which overwhelms me.</em>

    668 Name: Anonymous Mage

    <em>I need to get stronger before the event</em>

    669 Name: Anonymous Great Sword-Wielder

    <em>I just have to believe in my luck and move wherever it takes me</em>

    670 Name: Anonymous Spear-Wielder

    <em>Also, everyone who relies on basic crafting jobs for items should also take a look at the shop. Some items look powerful.</em>

    671 Name: Anonymous Archer

    <em>Oh, sure</em>

    672 Name: Anonymous Mage

    <em>It¡¯s useless to just explore. Since there are a lot of towns, there are also a lot of shops.</em>

    673 Name: Anonymous Tower Shield-User

    <em>Speaking of which, there are Traveling Merchant NPCs who¡¯d move around in the field carrying items.</em>

    674 Name: Anonymous Mage

    <em>There are many exploration elements!</em>

    675 Name: Anonymous Spear-Wielder

    <em>It wouldn¡¯t be strange if one of them is connected to the rare event.</em>

    676 Name: Anonymous Mage

    <em>There are so many~! But it¡¯s fun!</em>

    677 Name: Anonymous Great Sword-Wielder

    <em>I know, right~</em>

    These seemed like happy feedback. No doubt, it¡¯d be a long time before the yers ran out of ce to explore.

 Chapter 491

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 491

    Defense Specialization and Poison

    Maple and Sally undertook the quest and headed for the field.

    Along the way, they saw an armored dragon leaving the town, carrying a yer on its back.

    ¡°¡­<em>Tamed Monster?¡±</em>

    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t think so. Want to take a look?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh!¡±

    Before heading out onto the field, the two headed towards the area where the dragon took off.

    Then, they saw several kinds of animals and monsters including armored dragon and a horse that they previously rode.

    ¡°¡­It seems that we¡¯ll have to rent them. The dragons are a little expensive, though.¡±

    ¡°Are there any prerequisites to ride them?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, some stats are a bit necessary. Although, since we¡¯ve reached the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor, the numbers should be doable¡­¡±

    Due to the extreme allocation of skills or stats that Maple had, that demand wasn¡¯t just difficult but outright impossible to meet.

    ¡°Hehe, but it can amodate two people.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡±

    ¡°If you want to ride, I¡¯ll be in front. Your status won¡¯t be a problem, so you can go with either.¡±

    ¡°I guess Syrup is on hiatus.¡±

    Syrup, who was flying in the sky with [Telekinesis], had a fairly slow movement speed. That speed wasn¡¯t sufficient for exploring the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor.

    ¡°It¡¯s just to speed up the exploration outside ofbat. So let¡¯s have Syrup does his best when fighting monsters.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Well, I rode the horse before, so let¡¯s use the dragon!¡±

    ¡°Alright! The dragon should make it easier to fly and explore. Besides, I¡¯ve always been looking forward to this.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    Although the dragon wasn¡¯t cheap by any means, the two of them had been able to save up enough money after exploring so far.

    The two climbed onto the back of a small dragon, and at Sally¡¯s prompt, it flew into the sky.

    ¡°It¡¯s fast!¡±

    ¡°This isn¡¯t even the fastest it can go! Be careful not to fall, okay? I¡¯ll increase speed!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    It wouldn¡¯t be a problem for Maple if she did fall. <em>It¡¯d be a problem </em>if there was someone underneath her.

    As Maple held on tightly, Sally led the dragon towards their destination.

    After flying for a while, the two arrived at their destination, lowered their altitude, and slowlynded.

    ¡°The dragon will fly to your ce at your behest! So let¡¯s just park him somewhere safe.¡±

    ¡°Then we don¡¯t have to worry aboutbat.¡±

    After leaving the dragon somewhere safe, the two headed to the destination specified in the quest.

    A goblin den that had been conquered several times. Monsters waited beyond the unfurling darkness. The objective was to defeat a certain number of monsters. In other words, it was a basic quest that involved subjugating the supposed minions of Demon King to maintain peace.

    ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll have no choice but to delve in.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take the lead!¡±

    The only way to defeat monsters was to enter the enemy¡¯s base. Maple raised her tower shield and began walking in front of Sally as if to protect her.

    Immediately, they saw several goblins in the back.

    ¡°Alright¡­¡±

    ¡°Maple¡ª!¡±

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    Sally suddenly grabbed Maple and pulled her back. In the next moment, a sharp spear jutted out from the wall, crossing right in front of her. It lightly grazed Maple, scattering damage effects.

    When the goblin saw that, itughed and disappeared to the other side of the cave, as if that was its intention all along.

    ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s a trap.¡±

    ¡°Ouch¡­ Thank you, Sally.¡±

    ¡°Although the damage isn¡¯t high, it¡¯s a piercing<em> attack.¡±</em>

    As difficult as it was to believe, Maple¡¯s defense had been breached by a mere trap. Most likely, the trap was designed to kill <em>all </em>yers in one hit.

    ¡°Even if you get hit, I think you¡¯ll be fine as long as you can heal. However, I can¡¯t predict how long the trap will continue to activate.¡±

    There was no saying that defense-pierce arrows wouldn¡¯te flying at them from all directions. If they failed to react in time, they might get wiped out.

    Since they had no choice but to proceed with caution, Sally told Maple to check the floor and walls. After pondering for a while, Maple came up with an alternative strategy.

    ¡°What if we do this instead?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Do you have any ns?¡±

    Maple told Sally the strategy she came up with, and Sally nodded several times as she thought about what she¡¯d just heard.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s bad. There¡¯s no risk, either. So, let¡¯s try it out!¡±

    ¡°<em>Hooray!¡±</em>

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s get ready right away.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Maple stood in front of Sally, pointed the tip of her dagger toward the depths of the den, where she knew the trap was.

    Then, towards the darkness¡ª

    ¡°[Poison Dragon]!¡±

    ¡ªcopious amounts of poisonous fluid oozed out. The purple liquid contaminated the inside of the cave, making a sloshing noise.

    Maple nodded in satisfaction, before lining up as many bombs as she could from her inventory.

    Iz¡¯s special time bomb would explode on its own when the timing was right. Of course, it was a top-tier item with a lot of damage.

    ¡°I¡¯m all set!¡±

    ¡°[sh Flood]!¡±

    Prompted by Maple, Sally summoned a tremendous amount of water that swept away dangerous substances and deadly poison deep into the den.

    ¡°[Poison Dragon]!¡±

    ¡°[sh Flood]!¡±

    Maple readied poison and Sally washed it away. The entrance of the den was the only exit, and the same ce the two had entered to reach that ce.

    There was no scream, but the sound of poisonous current running and the rumbling of the earth from the explosion conveyed the situation inside.

    ¡°Oh! We make progress with the quest!¡±

    ¡°It seems that the n is working.¡±

    Somewhere, a goblin had died. Was it poisoned, drowned, or bombed? By submerging the entire cave in lethal poison diluted with water, the two made progress with the quest without leaving their spot.

    ¡ªWhen they began to suspect that the dungeon was actually an eight-story dungeon¡­

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡±

    ¡°Yay! Quest cleared!¡±

    ¡°<em>That easily¡­? </em>Well done, we won safely.¡±

    Something terrifying had taken ce in the den, but it wasn¡¯t like they¡¯d be delving in anymore, <em>so it didn¡¯t matter. </em>After a while, both water and poison would vanish as their effects expired.

    ¡°It was fun. Shall we go on like this? We¡¯re a great match.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s continue with that quest.¡±

    There were some quests left. They¡¯d clear the game quickly and aim for the final boss of the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor¡ª<em>the Demon King himself. </em>Now that the two of them had annihted monsters without breaking a sweat, they¡¯d be able to fight to the best of their ability next time.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit far, so let¡¯s fly with the dragon.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    With Maple on the back, Sally rode the dragon and soared into the sky once again.

    ¡°It¡¯d be best if we can clear one more quest.¡±

    ¡°Hehehe, leave it to me~¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m counting on you.¡±

    After flying over arge field for a while, they¡¯d soon reach their destination. Due to the dragon¡¯s excellent movement speed and the fact that it could fly, they could just ignore many monsters.

    <em>The dragon sure is amazing¡ª!</em>

    The next ce the two headed for was a destend full of withered trees and flowers.

    ¡°Time tond!¡±

    ¡°Well, based on the name of this quest, I think Maple has an advantage¡­¡±

    They chose that quest mostly because of the name: <em>¡®Eliminate the Source of Poison!¡¯ </em>After all, it was so self-exnatory.

    When it came to poison, Maple was their best bet. <em>After all, </em>Maple herself was poisonous. Despite having acquired many weapons and expanded her tactics, poison was still her forte. Maple couldn¡¯t only apply poison, but was also resistant to it.

    When countered, poison became weak. Here, Maple¡¯sbo of [Poison Immunity] and [Loving Sacrifice] could be used to block it.

    In front of the two, a purple mist erupted from the cracks that riddled the grounds.

    ¡°It must be poisonous.¡±

    ¡°First, can you cast [Loving Sacrifice]?¡±

    ¡°Okay! [Loving Sacrifice]!¡±

    Wings sprouted from Maple¡¯s back as a defensive area was manifested to absorb all attacks.

    No matter how agile Sally was, there was no way she could dodge the purple mist. Therefore, Maple had no choice but to use one of her ultimate skills to deal with it.

    Since they didn¡¯t know the range of the enemy¡¯s attack, it¡¯d be dangerous to assume that they could simply avoid it. Well, Sally might be able to, but the fact that she didn¡¯t push herself too hard in times like this was definitely one of the reasons why she¡¯d been able to sustain no damage so far. As nned, it¡¯d be best for her to rely on Maple¡¯s strength and not push herself too hard.

    ¡°Let¡¯s check it out.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    Maple approached the crack and waited patiently for the purple mist to erupt. When it did, Maple covered her entire body with the mist. After checking the effect, she turned to face Sally, who was watching from behind.

    ¡°Looks like I¡¯ll be fine!¡±

    ¡°Hmm, then you should be careful of monsters.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡±

    After confirming that she was safe, the two slowly stepped into the haze.

    The deeper they went, the more prevalent the cracks were. The mist that spewed around them incessantly robbed them of their visibility. Thanks to Maple, it became a simple nuisance, but yers who were susceptible to poison may not even be able to walk properly.

    ¡°Amazing¡­ It¡¯s as if we¡¯re inside the purple mist¡­¡±

    ¡°I guess the mist can¡¯t be avoided. You made the right call to use that skill.¡±

    Something finally appeared in front of the two as they slowly advanced.

    Encroaching them were four snakes with scales bearing the same color as the mist. The snake itself wasn¡¯t as gigantic as Haku, but its several-meter body was as thick as Maple and Sally¡¯s bodies. The snake could probably wrap around them.

    Once they got entangled, it¡¯d be difficult to break free. The two understood that right away. Wordlessly, they quickly stood back to eliminate any blind spots.

    The purple snake suddenly pounced on the two, who quickly braced for battle using the movements that had been ingrained in them from the many battles they had umted over the years.

    Even if she got hit, Maple would protect her. Knowing that, Sally urately saw through the snake¡¯s attack.

    ¡°[Icicle]!¡±

    She wouldn¡¯t allow Maple to get in a risky situation just because of her.

    Sheunched one snake with a pir of ice, then transformed her weapon into a sledgehammer, mming it onto the head of another snake, knocking it back.

    Behind Sally, who effectively dealt with two snakes, Maple swung herrge shield and instantly wiped out the snake in front of her.

    It was apletely different attack from Sally¡¯s. It was a swift attack using [Evil Eater].

    There was no need for thorough nning orplicated movements. Once they saw through the enemy¡¯s movement, it was over.

    However, Maple couldn¡¯t handle all the enemy as precise as Sally. Despite having yed one snake instantly, the remaining snake jumped from her side and bit Maple¡¯s torso.

    ¡°¡­<em>Ey¡ª!¡±</em>

    To bite meant toe close. [Evil Eater] still had some uses left. Therefore, <em>attack equals death. </em>It took less than a few seconds for the tower shield that was pressed tightly to swallow the snake thanks to [Evil Eater].

    ¡°<em>Phew¡­¡±</em>

    No damage. If they fought at equal distance, Maple would be superior.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of the rest. Save the rest for the boss.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    As long as the two were together, Sally could handle them. Maple was relieved and tried to use [Machine God] to provide support.

    ¡ªAt that moment, a chunk of Maple¡¯s HP was shaved off.

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°[Water Path]!¡±

    When Sally grasped the situation, she wrapped Maple with her thread, before swimming right above her, taking Maple with her.

    ¡°[Leap]!¡±

    Sally created a foothold in the air and used it as a starting point to jump and fly higher into the sky. She broke through the purple haze, and when she could no longer see the snake, she pulled the string that connected Maple to her and carried Maple in her arms as she leaped up.

    ¡°[Heal]!¡±

    ¡°Syrup [Awakening] [Super Erge] [Telekinesis]!¡±

    Maple¡¯s response was also good timing. Understanding Sally¡¯s intentions, she summoned Syrup, and immediately erged him. They eventuallynded on top of his shell.

    Although safetynding was ensured in this way, Maple was confused as to why her HP had decreased.

    ¡°W-where did the damagee from¡­?¡±

    ¡°Calm down. I¡¯ll heal you right away, so let¡¯s check your status.¡±

    Sally took out the potion and asked Maple to confirm the situation in detail.

    ¡°Uhm¡­ Huh? Poison¡­?¡±

    Maple realized that she was poisoned. But she hadn¡¯t been afflicted with poison for a long time! Her eyes widened when she saw that status ailment for the first time in a while.

    ¡°Poison, right? Then, it¡¯s a status ailment.¡±

    Sally took out a certain potion and used it on Maple. The poison was gone almost instantly.

    ¡°¡ª<em>Ah, </em>this might be it! My poison resistance is decreasing!¡±

    It was like a decline in status, which was different from status ailment. Maple¡¯s [Poison Resistance] seemed to be weakening for the next few minutes.

    ¡°I see, I guess the snake¡¯s attack from earlier has a resistance-lowering effect. As a result, you took damage from the poison mist.¡±

    ¡°If so, I mustn¡¯t get hit by the snake again.¡±

    ¡°Right. Either block or dodge it. The monsters are bing more powerful.¡±

    ¡°In that case, even if I¡¯m resistant to it, I may not bepletely safe.¡±

    ¡°You can amplify your resistance with Iz¡¯s items and some buffs.¡±

    Like Maple, many yers had resistance to poison. These days, poison could be dealt with to some extent. In that case, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if a monster that specialized in status ailments and techniques that couldn¡¯t be blocked to appear.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s better to keep that in mind. That way, you won¡¯t have to worry about it when the timees.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s all bad, either.¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°If the enemy <em>can </em>use it, I won¡¯t be surprised if there¡¯s a resistance lowering skill somewhere. Maybe Maple can acquire that skill¡­¡±

    If so, the poison attacks that she¡¯d been using exclusively to grant instant death through [Poisonous Curse, as well as the paralyzing attacks that had powerful binding abilities, would likely regain their original brilliance.

    ¡°That makes sense!¡±

    ¡°Of course, it wouldn¡¯t be strange if other yers use it, so be careful.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Ah, then let¡¯s try and catch that snake!¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°If I eat it, I might obtain a skill!¡±

    ¡°Ah¡ªwell, it¡¯s a snake. Okay, let¡¯s leave one alive and try to catch it.¡±

    <em>Is it okay to eat a snake?</em>

    Although Sally narrowed her eyes somewhat skeptically, she agreed and decided to wait for Maple¡¯s [Poison Resistance] to revert to normal before heading out to capture the snake.

 Chapter 492

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 492

    Defense Specialization and Toxicity (2)

    ¡°Let¡¯s catch one for the time being. It seems that I can survive the poison as long as I¡¯m healed.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ But how do we catch it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit risky to test it amidst the poisonous mist, so I want to bring the snake to the top of Syrup¡­ Well, that sounds impossible¡­¡±

    Most monsters wouldn¡¯t slow down even if they were weakened. As long as they still had HP¡ªeven if it was only 1¡ªthey¡¯d remain aggressive.

    ¡°Do you have any ideas, Sally?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I guess I have¡­¡±

    ¡°Huh!? Let me hear it!¡±

    Maple leaned closer to Sally, eagerly anticipating her next words. Thinking that it couldn¡¯t be helped, Sally decided to tell Maple about the strategy she¡¯de up with.

    ¡°That works!¡±

    ¡°¡­That¡¯s why I hesitated to tell you. It¡¯s a bit dangerous.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. If it gets dangerous, I¡¯ll attack first.¡±

    ¡°¡­I see. Got it. Then, let¡¯s try it. Maple, stand over there.¡±

    Sally helped Maple stand up, stretched a thread from her hand, and entangled Maple with it.

    ¡°When the chance arises, give me the signal.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Sally stood at the edge of Syrup, before slowly lowering Maple towards the ground. The prey was the snake, while the bait was Maple.

    <em>Let¡¯s start fishing!</em>

    The ground was engulfed in a purple mist,  so Sally waited patiently for Maple¡¯s signal.

    ¡ª<em>And then.</em>

    ¡°Sally! <em>Now¡ª</em>!¡±

    At the voice that came from beneath her, Sally reeled the extending stretch. When she was met with heavy resistance, she tacitly understood that they¡¯d caught their prey.

    ¡°Potion, please¡ª!¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay¡ª¡±

    After pulling up Maple for a bit, Sally repeatedly threw healing potions at the end of the thread. The snake had coiled itself around Maple, biting her neck. Unable to move, Maple could only lie on top of Syrup.

    ¡°Can you open your mouth?¡±

    ¡°S-somehow!¡±

    ¡°Then, let me heal you. I¡¯ll also apply a debuff to reduce your defense.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll add some seasonings as well.¡±

    ¡°T-thanks?¡±

    If not for the poisonous mist, even if they could reduce Maple¡¯s resistance, it wouldn¡¯t be as effective. At the same time, whenever Maple suffered some damage from the poison, Sally¡¯d be sure to heal her.

    As long as Maple devoured the snake, she¡¯d continue to sustain damage. Nevertheless, the snake had no means of recovery, and the difference was significant.

    ¡°Let¡¯s change the taste.¡±

    ¡°¡­I feel tingly!¡±

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s probably snake venom.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Maple continued to eat slowly, and finally the snake¡¯s HP was reduced to 0.

    She was enjoying her catch. With a snap, the snake disappeared, and Maple was also released from her restraints.

    ¡°What do you think? How¡¯s your skills?¡±

    ¡°Uhm¡­ I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any change¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s that. There are a lot of monsters out there. If there¡¯s another simr type, it might be a good idea to test it out.¡±

    The resistance debuff skill would greatly expand the range of Maple¡¯s strategies.

    While exploring the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor, they might encounter simr monsters or events.

    Staying optimistic because they had one more thing to look forward to, the two decided to avoid the ground and head deeper into the area.

    ¡°Will something get in our way?¡±

    ¡°Who knows. I hope they¡¯ll overlook us.¡±

    They rode Syrup to reach the source of the poison in the back. Praying that the monsters wouldn¡¯t interfere with them, the two resumed their peaceful journey through the air, praying that no monsters would get in their way.

    This time, there was no interference, and the two safely reached the bottom. On top of Syrup, they scanned the ground.

    ¡°I can¡¯t see anything¡­¡±

    ¡°We have no choice but to get off.¡±

    If they couldn¡¯t see the enemy at all, even the two would get overwhelmed.

    Well, they might be able to pull it off by exhausting Iz¡¯s bombs and the projectiles of [Machine God], but there was no need to invest that much effort and resources.

    ¡°Maple, lower the altitude.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    Unable to check the vicinity, instead of jumping off as usual, they gradually lowered their altitude. After all, there was no saying that they wouldn¡¯t be swarmed by monsters or fall into a hole if they went in blind.

    ¡­Not to mention,st time they did that, they almost got impaled. This time, they had to watch their steps.

    ¡°Is there something here?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t hear anything.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s get off.¡±

    Thus, Syrupnded with a thud. The area was still enveloped in purple haze, but there was no signs of any monsters.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the source of the poison mist?¡±

    ¡°Maple, look over there.¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    Sally pointed to a wide crater in the ground. The width was about the size of two people standing together, with their hands outstretched. When Maple drew closer and peered inside, a powerful surge of purple mist rushed at her.

    ¡°<em>Uwaah!¡±</em>

    ¡°Unless we do something about this poison, we might not be able to proceed.¡±

    ¡°My [Dedicated Affection] is always active!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯d be helpful if you can keep that up.¡±

    Upon closer inspection, they could make out a scaffolding that ran along the edge of the crack. When it came to their destination, they couldn¡¯t ride Syrup. The only option here would be to use the avable scaffolding.

    ¡°There¡¯s no saying we won¡¯t trip and fall, so be careful. Also, if we stray too far away, we might not be able to see each other.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s be careful.¡±

    The two moved towards the bottom of the crater, careful of their steps. When they arrived underground, they discovered that it was filled with poisonous mist, and the sound of poison spewing echoed from everywhere.

    ¡°Be careful.¡±

    ¡°Yep. You never know what¡¯s going toe out.¡±

    When she checked her surroundings with caution, she found out that the ce was fairly spacious. However, the ceilings weren¡¯t very tall and the space was limited. It¡¯d be difficult to fly around as they pleased.

    ¡ª<em>Ssh!</em>

    Drowned by the sound of spewing poison, the two heard the popping sound of viscous liquid and started looking around.

    A dark purple liquid flew through the purple mist The two of them immediately spotted it. <em>It¡¯s definitely a threat. </em>A mass of poison simr to that of Maple¡¯s [Poison Dragon] rained down on the two of them. Sally was the first to react.

    ¡°[sh Flood]!¡±

    After distancing herself, Sally used a powerful stream of water to repel the poison. Maple also rushed next to Sally, holding up her tower shield in the face of an unknown enemy.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°¡­A boss?¡±

    ¡°Maybe.¡±

    They couldn¡¯t decide without seeing the figure first. However, the enemy didn¡¯t seem to be willing to wait, and poisonous chunks started flying at them one after another.

    The firing speed was slow. Sally could easily dodge it, and Maple could<em> somehow, </em>too. Nevertheless, considering that the enemy was a poison-user, directbat wasn¡¯t an option.

    ¡°It stays on the floor!¡±

    ¡°Sally, watch out!¡±

    The moment the poisonous projectiles hit the ground, they formed a poisonous pool. Along with the purple mist thatpromised their vision, the battlefield was advantageous for the enemy.

    Without the protection of [Loving Sacrifice], they wouldn¡¯t even have time to talk.

    ¡°Just try shooting the ones that fly at you!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Maple deployed her weapon and fired a barrage of bullets in the direction of the poisonous liquid. Then, she changed the angle, causing one of the bullets to ricochet from the ceiling to the ground, before hitting something and shaving a chunk of its HP.

    Sensing a response, the two continued to close the distance. Sally, who took the lead while staying within the range of [Dedicated Affection], discovered the true identity of the boss.

    ¡°It seems to be slime¡­!¡±

    Arge, fluid purple body, from which the purple mist continued to leak out. Apparently, the entirety of its body was made of poison. No limbs, no eyes, no mouth. Almost like a<em> living poison.</em>

    ¡°[Cover Move]!¡±

    With Maple catching up, Sally could expand her range of movement.

    The Boss slowly approached. Of course, Sally could handle that with ease. She summoned [Oboro], coated her weapon with fire and water, before driving them into the boss, quickly closing the distance.

    ¡°[Quintuple sh]!¡±

    The des struck deep, leaving deep marks and scattering damage effects. Regardless, even with the additional triple damage dealt by the skill, it wasn¡¯t as hard-hitting as she expected.

    ¡°How difficult¡­ <em>Damage Cut?</em>¡±

    Before the Boss could fight back, Sally temporarily retreated. She narrowed her eyes, watching the Boss¡¯ every move.

    Then, the boss began to <em>swell, </em>and immediately spewed out a toxic gas that was a darker shade of purple than what was filling the area.

    ¡°Sally!¡±

    The rapidly spreading gas was difficult to avoid. Although there was [Dedicated Affection], Maple told Sally to stay close just in case. Then, the gas enveloped them both.

    ¡°Ugh¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Well, I did expect it to take effect!¡±

    An icon appeared, indicating that Maple was poisoned. Once again, she suffered from a reduction in resistance, just like with the snakes on the ground. <em>Unsurprisingly, </em>the Boss could inflict the same status ailment.

    ¡­But this time, they had <em>nowhere</em> to escape.

    ¡°Maple, please recover all your HP.¡±

    ¡°[Throne of the Heavenly King] [Afterglow of Salvation] [Meditation]!¡±

    In addition to Maple¡¯s self-healing ability, the items received from Iz when fighting the boss generated a healing green mist that had a sustained healing effect. The five-fold recovery effect, including the strategically used potions, rapidly restored Maple¡¯s declining HP. After seeing Chrome in action, Maple understood the strength of constant recovery.

    ¡°I think it¡¯ll work if it¡¯s just poison.¡±

    Nevertheless, Maple couldn¡¯t leave the throne. She also couldn¡¯t attack due to [Meditation]. Currently, Maple was akin to a structure that spread absolute protection over her surroundings.

    ¡°I have no choice but to draw the Boss here¡­ But I wonder if it will work?¡±

    The Boss would only shoot poisonous bullets when they were far away and wouldn¡¯t engage in closebat. They didn¡¯t expect the boss to be able to fight an endurance battle in this poison. At the same time, unless one of them¡ª<em>more precisely, Sally and the others¡ª</em>made a move, they¡¯d forever be at an impasse.

    But Sally couldn¡¯t leave Maple¡¯s protection.

    Should she use [sh Flood] to attract the boss? As Sally pondered that, Maple called out to her.

    ¡°Sally! This might be your chance!¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°Looks like the boss has reduced resistance too!¡±

    ¡°¡­! Okay, leave it to me!¡±

    Somehow, her close friend never entertained a single thought of Sally having a difficult time¡ªor <em>losing, </em>for that matter¡ªin this battle. Did Maple believe in her strength? Or was it the belief that they could ovee anything as long as they were together?

    Hoping it was thetter, Sally tweaked her n.

    The snake was simply an appetizer, and now it was time for the main course.

    The Boss might be precisely what they were looking for. Sally began preparing herself to deliver the poisonous mass to Maple.

 Chapter 493

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 493

    Defense Specialization and Division

    ¡°Take¡­ <em>this! </em>¡­Thanks to Iz, we have so many options!¡±

    Sally threw the ball <em>far, </em>far away. Of course, she wasn¡¯t throwing aimlessly. She predicted the Boss¡¯ location based on the angle of the flying poison mass, along with the direction of the firing noise. Afterwards, she threw the ball so that it¡¯d fall behind the Boss.

    Along with a booming sound, the purple mist that engulfed the area wavered slightly.

    After confirming that, Sally stretched out several threads deep inside where she couldn¡¯t see them. Then, the thread tightened. Convinced that she¡¯d seeded, she quickly tugged at the outstretched string.

    She could hear something scraping against the ground. A multitude ofrge spheres emerged, cutting through the mist¡ª

    ¡ªAnd then there was the poisonous figure of the boss, who was dragged forcefully there.

    ¡°Okay, it worked!¡±

    Iz¡¯s special ball. It¡¯d grow in size over time. Originally, it was supposed to be used for attacks, either by throwing it into the air or attaching it to spikes. At first, Sally wasn¡¯t nning on using it. Nevertheless, she managed to put it to good use and dragged the Boss out.

    ¡°[Icicle]!¡±

    She conjured a pir of ice to prevent the Boss from escaping. Thus, the Boss was pinned in front of Maple, who also couldn¡¯t move.

    In no time at all, Maple got caked by the poisonous lumps spewed by the slime. Nevertheless, the attack itself didn¡¯t do any damage, so it didn¡¯t matter.

    ¡°I managed to deliver the Boss to you¡­ But are you really going to proceed with it?¡±

    ¡°It looks soft, so it should be fine!¡±

    ¡°¡­I¡¯m more concerned about the fact that it¡¯s poisonous, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll affect you¡­ All right, I¡¯ll bring it to you.¡±

    ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll do my best to aim my skills!¡±

    Sally further shortened the distance between the Boss and Maple. When she sat down and brought the Boss within the reach of Maple¡¯s mouth, the Boss also began to attack due to the close proximity.

    ¡°Can you breathe!?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not underwater, so it seems okay!¡±

    ¡°Good. Then, I will fight it while sitting¡­ Uh, can you eat it? Oh, you can¡­¡±

    Sally¡¯s question was answered through action. Maple suffered constant small damage effects from the poisonous blobs. HP bar decreased slightly. Nevertheless, she wouldn¡¯t rest until she¡¯d gobbled the entire thing.

    ¡°Take your time.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Although Maple waspletely buried in the poisonous mass, Sally was relieved by the cheerful response she heard and prepared in case something happened.

    Thus, the boss battle. Maple was using [Predator]. As expected, they were at the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor, so it¡¯d take a tremendous amount of time to defeat the Boss using only [Predator]. Regardless, with all the skills that Maple acquired all had a finishing blow that was [Predator], or more precisely, [Drain[, so there was no issue.

    Sally also confirmed this when she obtained [Use Threads].

    ¡°[Double sh]!¡±

    To avoid reducing the Boss¡¯ HP to the point where it changed its behavior pattern, Sally used moderate firepower and reduced the boss¡¯ HP to shorten the time.

    Then, as Maple continued to eat one bite after another, <em>it happened.</em>

    The poisonous blob began to shake. While Sally was on guard, the Boss escaped from her restraints and vanished right in front of her.

    If it was only that, then there was no problem, but¡­

    Sally noted that the range of [Dedicated Affection] was rapidly changing, and took immediate action.

    ¡°[Super eleration]!¡±

    Fortunately, the range of [Dedicated Affection] was wide. If Sally ran as fast as she could in the same direction, she could somehow stay inside. This time, the lighting effects that¡¯d normally served as cosmetic helped her.

    ¡°Maple, are you okay!?¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m fine¡­ It jumped all of a sudden, and I was surprised.¡±

    Once they both breathed a sigh of relief at their safety, the purple mist mysteriously diminished. Although the mist was still poisonous, it wasn¡¯t thick enough to block their vision.

    Then, in their somewhat clearing field of vision, they saw a bunch of poisonous blobs bouncing around.

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    ¡°¡­It has <em>divided</em>!? If we can¡¯t find the main body, we¡¯d suffer from the poison. Even now, the poison is being spread at a rapid rate!¡±

    The ground was so sticky that there was nowhere to step. Naturally, the poisonous attack itself should¡¯ve done damage, and splitting up in the midst of what supposed to be a short, decisive battle was a tricky maneuver.

    ¡°Well, only one has <em>Maple </em>in it. Thanks to you, I was able to figure it out right away.¡±

    ¡°It was just a coincidence, but I¡¯m d.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s defeat it as soon as possible. It¡¯ll be difficult to return to the throne.¡±

    As her recovery speed decreased, Sally decided to support Maple with potions and wait until Maple finished eating.

    ¡°By the way, is it yummy?¡±

    ¡°Not really¡­¡±

    Although it looked like grape jelly, the contents were poisonous. <em>There was no way </em>it¡¯d be delicious.

    ¡°I see. Do your best.¡±

    Due to having umted a series of uncertain sessful experiences, [Predator] had be one of Maple¡¯s choices, and Sally was unsure whether it was a good or bad thing.

    ¡°I hope I can at least get the skill¡­¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    As Sally watched the HP bar gradually decrease, the Boss¡¯ movement all but ceased as it was being eaten away. The battle was slowly but surelying to an end.

    Thest bitepletely depleted the Boss¡¯ HP, and with a crackling sound, the poison mass that had wrapped Maple fell into nothingness.

    ¡°Thank you, Sally! I wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat it without you!¡±

    ¡°Certainly, it might be tricky without a healer. I¡¯m d I was able to help. Oh, the poison mist is fading away¡­¡±

    As soon as the Boss disappeared, the purple mist that had shrouded the area vanished. Maple¡¯s

    ailment was also gone, so they no longer had to worry about getting poisoned.

    ¡°How¡¯s it? Did you get any skill?¡±

    ¡°Ooh, right! I obtained a new skill! But I don¡¯t think it has anything to do with lowering resistance¡­¡±

    ¡°As expected of a Boss! Well, there¡¯s no one around, why don¡¯t you test it out?¡±

    ¡°Shall we try it out? Ah¡­ I don¡¯t have enough MP¡­ Should I put it on my armor?¡±

    ¡°Is it not enough? Well, there¡¯s nothing you <em>can¡¯t </em>do with your equipment.¡±

    ¡°It seems that I can adjust the MP consumption to 100, 200, or 300 when using it.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why don¡¯t you set it at the maximum value? Putting the skill in your equipment will also be a good idea.¡±

    When it came to equipment that could provide 300 MP, a fairly powerful one was needed. If so, it was natural to rely on the best equipment to cover theck of MP.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll use 300 and go all out!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let me see it.¡±

    ¡°[Toxic Meiosis!¡±

    Gradually, the purple venom that swallowed Maple seeped onto the ground, spreading around her.

    Three pirs of poison rose from the toxin pool, making a gurgling sound. Eventually, they changed form, taking after the image of Maple, down to the exact colors.

    ¡°Wow, I can¡¯t tell the difference. I wonder how far it can imitate you?¡±

    ¡°Although they can¡¯t use any skills, their status is the same!¡±

    ¡°Despite the fact that [Absolute Defense] hasn¡¯t been activated, do they inherit your equipment status?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh!¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Even though the clones couldn¡¯t use any skills, Maple had insurmountable defensive power. If the clones inherited the same equipment and basic status as her, no basic attacks would work against them.

    ¡°I can control them to a certain extent. Otherwise, they¡¯ll inflict poison on the opponent.¡±

    ¡°Ah, the skill from earlier¡­¡±

    ¡°After that, they¡¯ll explode if I re-cast the skill!¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°[Toxic Meiosis]!¡±

    When Maple casted the skill again, the three Maple clones exploded with a bang, scattering venom everywhere.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Wow, amazing¡­ They really exploded¡­¡±

    The sight was quite surreal, but Sally epted it for now. Then, she asked Maple about something she was curious about.

    ¡°Say, can you use [Curse of Poison]?¡±

    ¡°It says that I haven¡¯t acquired the skill, though¡­¡±

    ¡°Because Maple can use poison skill, I was wondering about that¡­¡±

    ¡°Certainly¡­¡±

    ¡°If you can, won¡¯t it be powerful? Even if your clones aren¡¯t invincible, they have insanely high defense. You can also rig them to explode if the enemy gets close. Unlike my clone, yours are durable, so they can be used as a shield¡­¡±

    ¡°I see. Maybe it¡¯s a pretty handy skill!¡±

    ¡°We can always learn more about it. Afterwards, you can incorporate them into your strategy.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    Afterpleting the quest and getting solid results, the two escaped from the Boss¡¯ domain, which was engulfed in poison.

    Just as Maple and the others were progressing with their exploration, the other guilds had also decided on strategies and set out to conquer the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor, splitting up their efforts and leaving each area to yers who were suitable for them.

    Of course, some guilds had more progress than the others, and the [Congregation of the Holy Swords] was one of them.

    ¡°As expected, Ray is faster. It¡¯s a rare monster, after all.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t fall. I won¡¯t be able to do anything to help you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Payne, it¡¯s almost time.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Ray, lower the altitude.¡±

    After all, they had Ray, who could amodate up to 4 people on his back with the help of [Erge]. His high-speed flight, which hade in handy many times in interpersonal events, proved to be a great help in the vast 10<sup>th</sup> Floor.

    The four of them alighted from Ray,nding on the ground.

    ¡°We can¡¯t fly from here.¡±

    ¡°It seems that we can¡¯t fly all the way through the sky.¡±

    On the way, they¡¯d encounter some ces in the sky that rendered their flight impossible. Those ces would either be blocked by a strong gust of wind or unbeatable monsters because of quest circumstances.

    ¡°I wish Shadow can be huge, too¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be able to, since [Super Erge] is basically an early skill.¡±

    Under these circumstances, it¡¯d be easier if they could move around with Shadow, but that didn¡¯t seem to be an option. Nevertheless, he had powerful movement skills that were useful during battle, so he was <em>the right person for the right ce.</em>

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s move forward and devise a strategy right away.¡±

    ¡°Let me increase your movement speed¡ª<em>hm?</em>¡±

    As Frederica tried to apply some buffs, a circr, glowing area effect crossing at high speed came into her view.

    She looked up and saw one of the town¡¯s rented dragons flying past. After a short distance, it slowly lowered its altitude and disappeared into the forest, out of sight.

    ¡°Is that¡­ <em>Maple?</em>¡±

    ¡°I guess so. That light must¡¯vee from [Dedicated Affection].¡±

    ¡°Did something happen over there?¡±

    ¡°No. There¡¯s currently no such information.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go check it out. Maybe we¡¯ll find some rare events?¡±

    ¡°Well, the possibility is there.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Then why don¡¯t we head there?¡±

    ¡°Eh, for real?¡±

    Frederica stared in shock, not expecting him toe along.

    ¡°Haha, didn¡¯t Frederica suggest it first? [Maple Tree] is a guild that you <em>want </em>to keep an eye on. Considering how spacious the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor is, it¡¯d be best to check the current situation after we happened toe across each other.¡±

    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s jump on Ray¡¯s back! I¡¯m d we saw them before the [Super Erge] is canceled.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Ray!¡±

    Payne let the three of them ride Ray and flew towards the forest where the light that seemed toe from Maple wasst seen.

    When they got close, Ray began tond, and Frederica jumped off his back. She scanned the surrounding area.

    ¡°Around here, maybe¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°Oh, looks like we aren¡¯t alone.¡±

    Although they couldn¡¯t hear what was going on, they could hear the sounds of battle and someone¡¯s voice a little further ahead. Apparently, Maple and the others hadn¡¯t entered the dungeon yet.

    Led by Frederica, they went to see what was ahead. After hearing a familiar voice from behind the bushes in front of her, Frederica became convinced and stuck her head out of the bushes to see what was going on.

    There were three Maples. They were hugging a grizzly bear tightly. The bear tried to thrash Maples, but there was no damage.

    Then, the bear, who once had a lot of HP, suddenly disappeared as if it had evaporated.

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    Frederica thought that Maple had used Sally¡¯s ability to create a clone of herself, but that didn¡¯t seem to be the case anymore.

    As she stared at the three Maples, wondering if it was a new skill, they suddenly <em>exploded, </em>scattering debris all around.

    ¡°Uwah¡­!¡±

    ¡°Hm? Oh, Frederica!¡±

    ¡°Oh, hey¡­ Hello, you guys¡­¡±

    After what she¡¯d seen, Frederica couldn¡¯t suppress her scream. The two, who noticed her, approached right away.

    A littleter, Payne and the three others also showed up.

    ¡°Forgive Frederica. She saw you flying away, so she followed you thinking that we could talk for a bit.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see!¡±

    ¡°I thought you might have found a rare event. This ce is somewhat removed from the quest area. I see that you came here to test out a new skill.¡±

    ¡°Shall I test it out on Frederica at the uing event?¡±

    ¡°Spare me.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, after what you¡¯ve witnessed, I won¡¯t let you live?¡±

    Despite that, in reality, as long as they didn¡¯t know the details of the skill, it didn¡¯t really matter much. Therefore, safe to say that Sally was joking.

    ¡ª<em>Besides, </em>whether they learned the details behind that skill or not, it wouldn¡¯t change the fact that the skill was <em>troublesome.</em>

    ¡°Well, Frederica ended up peeking at you. I can provide some information if the two of you wish, but what do you think?¡±

    In response to the symbol of apology, the two received some information.

    ¡°As expected, isn¡¯t the strategy for the [Congregation of the Holy Swords] pretty advanced?¡±

    ¡°So-so, I guess. We have a lot of guild members, but we still don¡¯t have enough hands.¡±

    ¡°If you just proceed with the quest, it won¡¯t be that hard. But if you do that, you¡¯ll miss out on too many events.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re growing stronger, too. Let¡¯s have another battle next time.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡±

    ¡°At any rate, there are still many unexplored areas. We also need as many hands as possible. We even formed an alliance, once. It¡¯d be helpful if we can work together.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    ¡°If you are in trouble, please call me. I¡¯ll lend you a hand if you need.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Then why don¡¯t we lend you a hand, too? Originally, I was nning to go exploring for a bit.¡±

    ¡°If Maple is all right with it, then sure. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine! Besides, I think we have the same quest.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a series of battles, so it¡¯d be reassuring if we have the cooperation of the [Congregation of Holy Swords].¡±

    ¡°Yay!<em> Nfufu, </em>now I don¡¯t have to think about defense.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a win-win!¡±

    ¡°If so, let¡¯s hurry. Now that we can focus solely on the offensive, there¡¯s a change of strategy.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s not linger for too long. Shall we head out right away?¡±

    Complete the quest with [Congregation of the Holy Swords]. Supported with Maple¡¯s <em>impable </em>defense, they could focus on unleashing the most devastating attack.

    They unleashed hell on earth. Monsters were blown away with flying skills. Even the <em>Boss </em>wasn¡¯t spared.

    The six were in high spirits. Of course, a boss that could withstand the attack of the six was nonexistent, even in the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor. At the very least, not in the <em>general </em>quest line.

    As for thepletion of the quest, it was no longer a matter of ¡®if¡¯ but ¡®when.¡¯

    Maple and the others were to be reckoned with.

 Chapter 494

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 494

    Defense Specialization and Gathering Magic Power

    Days passed as they kept exploring. The monsters on the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor may be powerful, but they were by no means impossible. After all, Kaede and the others had acquired various skills up until that point. They were able to clear the quests smoothly, without any major setbacks. Eventually, they¡¯d cleared up the majority of the basic quests in the deeper areas.

    Of course, there were also hidden events, but they weren¡¯t directly rted to the Demon King questline, so they were seconded for now.

    The two girls packed their bags, leaving the ssroom to head home again today.

    ¡°What do you think, Kaede? Do you think you can y today?¡±

    ¡°Yep! That¡¯s why I studied beforehand!¡±

    ¡°Ooh, nice¡­¡±

    ¡°How about you, Risa?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think anyone will try to stop me from ying at this point¡­¡±

    ¡°Then we have nothing to worry about!¡±

    ¡°Okay, then. I¡¯ll meet you in-game after we get back. I feel like it¡¯s about time for a powerful boss to show up.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep our spirits up!¡±

    The two quickly arrived home, quickly changed their clothes, and jumped into New World Online.

    When Maple arrived at the guild home, Sally was already waiting for her.

    ¡°Sorry for the wait.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve just arrived.¡±

    Maple ran towards Sally and noticed something at the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor¡¯s guild home.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s all connected now.¡±

    ¡°Looks like it. Thanks to everyone. I¡¯ll thank themter.¡±

    A magic circle that connected each town. Thanks to the fact that they had split up to advance the exploration, they were able to freely travel between all the towns.

    With this, they could finally say that the groundwork for exploring the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor had beenpleted.

    ¡°Well, today I¡¯m going to take on a quest that will hopefully involve a formidable boss.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have all the information yet.¡±

    Judging from the name of the quest they had epted, it was probably a big boss. Butst time they logged in, they didn¡¯t have enough time, so it was postponed until today. Therefore, they didn¡¯t know the details.

    ¡°Since we can explore from any town, we have more freedom. Still, overall, weck information.¡±

    ¡°If the order had been decided, it would be easier to use as a reference, but when ites to the tenth floor¡­¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    ¡°Would you like to ask for help? I feel like doing my best today!¡±

    ¡°I definitely want to win this, so that isn¡¯t necessarily a bad idea. Is there anyone Maple can contact who coulde today?¡±

    Maple was reliable in terms of sending messages to everyone. Maple¡¯s friendships, which had be unusually strong, were naturally filled with powerful people. Maple immediately sent a message and waited for a reply.

    ¡°¡­Here theye!¡±

    ¡°Okay, now I feel confident we can win even if a big boss does show up.¡±

    As the two waited for a while, the magic circle lit up and two yers arrived at the guild home.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°Is the strategy going well?¡±

    ¡°Mai, Yui! Thank you for your help!¡±

    ¡°If you are fighting a boss, leave it to us!¡±

    Maple reached out to Mai and Yui. It¡¯d been a long time since they first met and scouted the twins. As of the present, the two had surpassed the framework of [Maple Tree] and had grown intopletely dependable main attackers, with offensive power that could be said to be at the top of all yers.

    ¡°Is your exploration going well?¡±

    ¡°Right now, we¡¯re exploring the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor with Kanade and Iz¡­!¡±

    ¡°There are some conditions, but if you fulfill them, it seems like you¡¯ll be able to use a flying machine just like in the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor!¡±

    One of the conditions being that the machine could only be used at the 10<sup>th</sup> Floors. Nevertheless, as long as they had a boot-shaped flying machine that could soar freely in the sky, they¡¯d be able to fly around in all directions and fight with a high degree of mobility.

    ¡°Do you know how to get one of those machines?¡±

    ¡°I think we can show you how to get it as soon as possible!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s helpful! Just having one of those shoes is game-changing! I¡¯d like to have it no matter the cost.¡±

    As expected, unexplored ces were full of appeals. No matter how much time they had, it was never enough.

    ¡°I¡¯m doing well here, too! I also acquired skill through exploration!¡±

    ¡°What kind of skills do you have?¡±

    ¡°Creating a poisonous version of myself!¡±

    ¡°¡°??¡±¡±

    ¡°<em>Before </em>exploding it to spread poison!¡±

    ¡°¡°???¡±¡±¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s not wrong, though¡­¡±

    In their heads, an image of Maple splitting herself, before imploding was vividly conjured. They had to wonder if she was referring to a poorly-made, fictitious alien of some kind.

    ¡°I think it¡¯d be faster if you were to see it by yourself. So, pleas help us defeat the boss.¡±

    ¡°O-of course!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll help¡­!¡±

    The twins were still appalled, but they quickly regained theirposure and the four of them went to ept the quest.

    ¡°Oh, but I wonder if the two of you can ept the quest?¡±

    The one that Maple was about to receive this time only appeared after clearing some prerequisites. Suffice to say, Mai and Yui hadn¡¯t cleared them.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Even if I can¡¯t, I will follow and assist you. We can also participate in the Demon King subjugation.¡±

    ¡°Really!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true. So, don¡¯t worry and proceed with your quest.¡±

    Although Sally hadn¡¯t exined anything yet, Maple¡¯s anxiety had been alleviated. Now the four of them could head out to defeat the boss without any worries.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go get the quest!¡±

    Maple went with those three to ept the quest. She headed for the same building where she¡¯d received quests so far. She was so used to the way there, she went straight for her destination without hesitation. As usual, she called out to the knight captain¡ªthe man¡ªwho was in the room.

    ¡°Thank you foring. Thanks to you guys, we were able to sessfully exterminate the threat. You¡¯re really helping us out. That¡¯s why I have a favor to ask of you.¡±

    Then, they were told that the Demon King¡¯s minions¡ªarguably the most powerful yet¡ªwere on a rampage. Their quest was simple¡ª

    ¡ªto vanquish them.

    ¡°They are formidable. We also have investigated and prepared items as countermeasures. There aren¡¯t many, but I want you to take them with you and use them when needed.¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    Maple received some items from the man. There were three ck balls about the size and weight of baseballs in both of her hands.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have another ready in a while. If you¡¯ve used them up, just ask.¡±

    In other words, if they ran out, they could simply replenish it. Sally added that the maximum number would be three.

    ¡°We have to use it sparingly¡­!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s check the effectter!¡±

    ¡°It should be something that is effective against bosses.¡±

    ¡°I believe in your strength. I¡¯ll suppress the rest of the monsters. I won¡¯t let them interfere with your battle.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    The condition forpleting the quest was ying the boss. The unfamiliar words, [Demon King¡¯s Magic Power I], were written on the reward. In any case, Maple and the others epted the quest and left the building, heading towards the field while discussing it.

    ¡°It seems that the [Demon King¡¯s Magic Power] is the key item that will lead to the boss of the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°With this, it¡¯s easy to understand which quest we need to undertake, which is helpful.¡±

    ¡°Will it be possible to obtain items in other areas through the final quest¡­?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure yet. It seems that most people start from this town, and there¡¯s not much information about other areas.¡±

    They could see why anyone would start exploring from this town, as it was close to the exit of the dungeon, which had no other conditions and extended to all ten floors.

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to that¡­ I think riding Tsukimi and Yukimi will be the fastest this time.¡±

    Like Maple, Mai and Yui couldn¡¯t ride dragons because their status was too extreme. Therefore, they had no other choice but to borrow the power of their Tamed Monsters.

    ¡°Tsukimi!¡±

    ¡°Yukimi!¡±

    They made their way through the field on the backs of Tsukimi and Yukimi. Mai and Yui were surrounding themselves with the sledgehammers held by [Helping Hand], causing the monsters that approached them to instantly die and disappear one by one.

    ¡°With this, it looks like we¡¯ll reach the destination in no time.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡±

    ¡°The monsters are being defeated one by one.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my forte!¡±

    There was nothing wrong with those words. Even sturdy monsters couldn¡¯t withstand the blow. The nimble ones could try to dodge the sledgehammers, but could they avoid <em>all </em>of them?

    The monsters on the field, who basically existed to raise their level, were no longer enough to slow them down for even a second.

    Maple and the others had no intention of stopping in such a ce. Their goal was to reach the boss, and that was that. Thus, the four of them ran to the quest destination indicated on the map.

 Chapter 495

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 495

    Defense Specialization and Gathering Magic Power (2)

    Afterying all the monsters that obstructed their path to waste with Mai and Yui¡¯s <em>godly </em>damage, they finally arrived at their destination. A gentle breeze swirled across the grassy ins that expanded in front of them.

    There were neither monsters nor notable buildings. There were no caves or craters in the ground like when they subjugated the poisonous slime, either.

    Looking up, the vast blue sky spread endlessly.

    ¡°Is this the ce?¡±

    ¡°ording to the map, it seems so.¡±

    ¡°<em>But¡­¡±</em>

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing here¡­¡±

    Even though they had reached the destination. As if to prove that, the four of them were swallowed by arge tremor soon after.

    Darkness unfurled in front of them. Seeing a phenomenon simr to the effect of Maple¡¯s [Darkness of Rebirth], the four of them hurriedly distanced themselves and watched.

    <em>Is something about to appear? Or is it some kind of ambush?</em>

    Given that it was rted to the quest, they couldn¡¯t let their guard down.

    ¡°¡­Nothing happens.¡±

    ¡°The darkness no longer spreads.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s something in the middle¡­ Is that a <em>magic circle?</em>¡±

    The overflowing darkness ceased to expand. Other than the flickering around the edges, there were no other movements. At the center was what seemed like a magic circle that emitted a dark, enigmatic glow, luring Maple and the others in.

    ¡°¡­Maple, this will be a great time to use [Dedicated Affection].¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    From here on out, achieving victory wouldn¡¯t be as easy as when they were on the road. Moreover, this time as well, Mai, Yui, and Sally couldn¡¯t afford to take a single hit.

    Maple¡¯s [Dedicated Affection] was a necessary skill inbat.

    ¡°Let¡¯s double check the effects of the item just to be sure.¡±

    The item they received when they epted the quest was a usable item that nullified the boss¡¯ skill effects.

    Three extremely powerful items. That was how they knew the enemy that awaited them wasn¡¯t to be underestimated.

    Sally held two of the items, while the remaining one was with Maple. Sally, who had excellent decision-making skills, was in charge of the items. To diversify the risk, she asked Maple, who was the toughest out of them all, to keep one.

    The four of them braced themselves for the presence of a formidable enemy. No matter how strong the enemy was, they were still powerful. Without being overly afraid, they stepped into the glowing magic circle of darkness, under the protection of Maple¡¯s [Dedicated Affection].

    Epassed by the ck radiance, the four were teleported. As the light subsided, they checked their surroundings, their vision returning.

    The surrounding area was an open grasnd like before. The <em>two </em>differences were that the once clear sky was now overcast with clouds, while the stronger wind gave off an ominous feeling.

    ¡°Something ising.¡±

    Just like when they arrived, darkness spread across the ground. However, they weren¡¯t teleported anywhere. From there, a monster¡ªthe <em>final quest </em>the four of them had received¡ªthe <em>boss</em> that had to be defeated, emerged.

    Thin, jet-ck limbs akin to branches growing from a dead tree moved with a crackling sound. A tattered cloak, stained with dark red blood. Something akin to an animal bone covered his face, acting like a mask. An eerie blue me flickered ominously at the tip of his bone staff. His eyes gleamed menacingly at the four of them.

    The Boss stretched his arm and brandished his staff. At the same time, the engulfing darkness swirled, expanding all at once.

    ¡°S-stay focused!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°¡°Okay!¡±¡±

    The darkness was subsiding. Even without Maple¡¯s [Dedicated Affection], they wouldn¡¯t suffer any damage whatsoever. They knew because of the information they¡¯d gathered in advance.

    Where did the vast grasnds that were spreading around them go? Instead, Maple and the others found themselves inside a deep forest, surrounded by tall trees. The Boss had disappeared, yet rustling sounds which indicated the enemies could be heard around them.

    ¡°A forest, huh? <em>Lucky. </em>Let¡¯s stay in this ce.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    A gimmick where the area was selected from multiple patterns and would switch periodically based on the boss¡¯ skills.

    The items they¡¯d previously received allowed them to skip areas they were ipatible with. Basically, it was akin to redrawing a lottery.

    Nevertheless, Maple¡¯s existence had broadened their options. With Maple around, situations that¡¯d otherwise be hopeless for other yers became nothing. Not to mention, the four were quite lucky to draw the forest first. After all, unlike other areas, the forest had no troublesome terrain effects.

    ck humanoid monsters appeared one after another, surrounding them. It was jet-ck, as if it was darkness given form. Just like the Boss, its eyes were fiery blue. The monster¡¯s slender arms and ws, along with its spindly body gave an impression of a speed-type monster.

    Just as the four had thought, the swarm of monsters dashed towards them, attacking at speeds inconceivable with normal eyes.

    Because they were surrounded, they were bound to be attacked from blind spots. Only Sally was able to react in time, while the remaining three became victims to their ws.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be fine!¡±

    ¡®¡°Thank you, Maple!¡±¡±

    As long as there was no <em>Piercing Attack, </em>there was no need to aim for a short-term, decisive battle or use skills in rapid session. They realized that despite the agility, the monster didn¡¯t have any power or knockback.

    It was a rapid fire that took advantage of numbers, giving the yers no time to catch their breath. As always, it was nothing for Maple. Maple and her friends, now safe, began to look for the missing boss.

    ¡°Where is it?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no end to them. We have to find the Boss.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll thin out the numbers.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯ll make it easier for us to look¡­¡±

    It¡¯d be convenient if the enemy charged towards them. Mai and Yui started spinning a total of 12 sledgehammers, crushing anyone who came close.

    Given that was how they¡¯d grind in the basic field, Mai and Yui were used to that basic movement. Even though it wasn¡¯t an automatic operation, they were able to look for the boss while attacking.

    ¡°¡ª<em>There it is!¡±</em>

    While crushing the monsters around her, Sally spotted the Boss amidst the row of trees.

    ¡°Big Sis!¡±

    ¡°I know¡­!¡±

    Now that the boss had been found, the game was on. Knowing that Maple had their backs, the two paused the spinning sledgehammers and trained their eyes at the Boss.

    Paying no heed to the monsters that were about to pounce on them, the twin fired a shock wave at the Boss.

    ¡°[Flying Attack]!¡±

    All the monsters in front of them shattered like ss. The trees exploded from their trunks and copsed. Caught up in the devastating aftermath, the Boss was crushed to pieces. A perfectly-timed ultimate attack. Still, more than half of the Boss¡¯ HP remained.

    ¡°There isn¡¯t any information, yet. But this one seems impossible to defeat in one hit.¡±

    Even though the number of yers who could do it was increasing, Mai and Yui were the only ones who could defeat a boss with one blow without any setups. Therefore, it was no surprise that no such information was avable.

    A stream of jet-ck darkness swallowed the four, who weren¡¯t able to achieve immediate victory as nned.

    ¡°No damage!¡±

    ¡°Which means¡­¡±

    When they regained their vision, they were inside a pure white, square room. The Boss was also there. Mai and Yui brandished their weapons.

    ¡°Be careful, there hasn¡¯t been any information on this one yet¡­!?¡±

    When the Boss waved his staff, the four floated into the air¡ª

    ¡ªno, they were ¡°<em>falling to the ground.¡±</em>

    Because of the reversed gravity force, Maple and the others were stepping on the ceiling.

    ¡°Wow, wow, wow!?¡±

    ¡°At the very least, [Dedicated Affection] is still working, but¡­!¡±

    Had Maple been the sole focus of the change in gravity, Mai and Yui would¡¯ve been left behind.

    However, they had no time to celebrate, as a multitude of skull-shaped ck beams were fired at the four of them, who were falling.

    Unlike the previous area, the effects linked with attacks were unknown. Sally determined that it was too risky to receive an attack as they weren¡¯t prepared to intercept it.

    ¡°Maple, let me show you something interesting! [Leviathan]!¡±

    A single burst of water, akin to a tornado, was unleashed from Sally¡¯s blue magic circle. The end of the stream formed a dragon¡¯s head, making the undting stream itself seem like a body of a dragon.

    As the water dragon lunged towards the boss, it swallowed the iing attacks and nullified them. Seeing that, the Boss instantly teleported and evaded it, giving the four enough time tond on the ground and recover.

    ¡°Hehe, I can¡¯t lose to Maple¡¯s [Poison Dragon]?¡±

    ¡°Way to go, Sally! Is that part of [Water Maniption]?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    As Sally used it more and more, the skill level had increased, causing her to unlock new ones. Thanks to Sally, they could catch a breath. Deciding to quickly conquer that room and escape, the four of them floated away from each other, before confronting the Boss once again.

    A ck glow radiated from the Boss¡¯ staff.

    They could try to counter it. However, despite their enthusiasm, the reality wasn¡¯t sweet.

    The gravity changed faster than expected, and the three key fighters of the <em>¡°Extreme Swinging Club¡± </em>couldn¡¯t keep up.

    ¡°Uwaaaah!¡±

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t stand still¡­!¡±

    ¡°After the Boss teleports, the gravity will change once hends¡­¡±

    Currently, it was like being ced inside a rolling dice, so it couldn¡¯t even be called a battle.

    Even if Sally, who managed to adapt, were to fire magic, the Boss would simply dodge it by teleporting. As long as Sally was dealing damage against the Boss, they wouldn¡¯t necessarily lose. However, by the time they won, Maple and the others would be too exhausted to continue.

    ¡°Maple, Mai, Yui! Let¡¯s skip this room!¡±

    ¡°U-understood!¡±

    ¡°¡°That¡¯s a relief¡­!¡±¡±

    When Sally used the quest item, the pure white, square room shifted to a different area.

    The next area they arrived at was one with many boulders and blind spots. Sally immediately memorized the ce. Sally, who knew that the concept was simr to the forest, nodded in relief as if she¡¯d hit the nail on the head.

    Meanwhile, Maple called out to her.

    ¡°<em>Salllyyyyyy¡ª!¡±</em>

    ¡­Maple was being gnawed by a giant worm that had leaped out of the ground. While being devoured, she was in a incapacitated state where she couldn¡¯t move or attack. However, as far as <em>Maple </em>was concerned, it wasn¡¯t a huge problem.

    ¡°Sorry, Maple, but please stay like that! Mai, Yui, clean up the surroundings first!¡±

    While Maple herself was being targeted, other yers could move more freely. The reason was because [Dedicated Affection] was a skill that only epted attacks, instead of removing the monster itself from right in front of the user.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°Please wait a moment!¡±

    As Maple was being attacked by the monster, the two quickly carried out a n.

    The deadly sledgehammers began to rotate at high speed as usual. However, their target wasn¡¯t the worm, but the surrounding boulders.

    Every time the sledgehammers came into contact with them, the huge rocks crumbled, as if they were made of Styrofoam. Only the resounding roar and the billowing dust clouds told them that they were truly hitting rocks.

    Within a few minutes, all therge rocks that¡¯d lined up in a row were reduced into pebbles, and the rocky jungle with poor visibility becamepletely barren¡ªlike a grassy in.

    ¡°¡°We¡¯re done here!¡±¡±

    ¡°Nice! Now don¡¯t hold back and help Maple!¡±

    Monsters without special defenses couldn¡¯t survive Mai and Yui¡¯s attacks. When the sledgehammers that had been used to clear thend switched their target to the monster, only death awaited.

    Mai and Yui caught Maple, who¡¯d been freed from her restraints, and checked their surroundings once again.

    The dust cloud caused by smashing the boulders had settled down, and they could see the Boss on the unobstructed battlefield.

    In front of them were wriggling worms. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn¡¯t be able to break through such a formation and close the distance easily.

    ¡°Maple, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Please follow me¡­!¡±

    ¡°Okay! Leave the defense to me!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll stop the movement at the end.¡±

    ¡ªAgain, <em>under normal circumstances.</em>

    Every time Mai and Yui collided with the approaching worms, the worms were obliterated without having a chance to perform a single attack motion.

    A <em>massacre. </em>Their kills increased with each step they took. The rotating sledgehammers served as both their weapon and shield. Whenever a new worm would leap out of the ground, its life would be cut short. Mai and Yui would shine the brightest in a suitable environment.

    With Sally casting spells and Maple countering the Boss¡¯ attacks with gunfire, they were unstoppable.

    ¡°Oboro [Binding Barrier]!¡±

    Sally stopped the Boss for a moment. A single moment was enough. Once the two were within range and ready to attack, everything would be over in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°[Flying Attack]!¡±

    The second direct hit. The Boss¡¯ HP dwindled to half. Judging by the remaining HP, they could defeat the Boss in two more hits. Even though the Boss was designed not to die in a single hit, the fact that it only took them <em>four </em>blows to y it was insane.

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s keep this up, you two!¡±

    ¡°¡°Understood!¡±¡±

    If possible, they had to deliver another blow before the area changed once again. If they could do that, it¡¯d be much easier. If they couldn¡¯t, then that was that.

    ¡°¡­Okay.¡±

    Sally mentally sorted out her remaining skills and the strategies she could devise using them.

    The closer they were to achieving victory, the more careful they had to be so as not to get carried away.

    If anything, Sally¡¯s main role in this party was to assess the situation.

    Sally¡¯s role was to remain calm so that they didn¡¯t lose due to trivial mistakes. While the three of them were in high spirits, Sally was on guard.

    Before her eyes, the world tumbled into the darkness once more, before quickly rebuilding itself.

    The surrounding area was a dazzling red. The four of them werepletely engulfed in the zing mes. Immediately after they saw the damage effects bursting from Maple, they grasped the situation.

    ¡°[Afterglow of Salvation]!¡±

    Maple sustaining damage meant <em>fixed damage. </em>Also, because she was covering multiple people at once, her HP quickly dwindled away. Even with healing from skills, it was unlikely that she¡¯d be able to handle it.

    Using the quest item to teleport would be a great idea. Nobody wanted to fight in mes that dealt fixed damage. Everyone thought so at first.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    As expected, <em>information </em>was the greatest weapon. Sally stared firmly at the ck glow beyond the mes.

    The ck sheen of the Boss¡¯ attire stood out against the all-red background.

    They had information about this particr area. The most important one being that the Boss only moved at regr intervals.

    ¡°[Water Path]!¡±

    ¡°[Deploy All Weapons]!¡±

    Sally fastened her thread to Mai and Yui, before swimming through the pir of water that stretched beyond the air. Meanwhile, Maple was sent flying directly below by the st.

    Maple¡¯s role was to keep the three people within the range of [Dedicated Affection]. As for Sally, her role was to deliver Mai and Yui to the Boss floating in the air.

    While they were tempted to re-draw the lottery, the four of them held back and set up a very short, decisive battle.

    ¡°It¡¯s easy if the boss doesn¡¯t move!¡±

    ¡°Yui!¡±

    Nevertheless, it was difficult for the twin to move because they were being pulled up by Sally¡¯s thread. Since they couldn¡¯t aim and attack urately, the two arranged the twelve floating sledgehammers into a rectangle¡ªthree <em>vertically, </em>and four <em>horizontally.</em>

    ¡°Heave-ho!¡±

    In such a close distance, there was no way they¡¯d miss. Mai and Yui swung the sledgehammers in unison. Like a giant hammer, all twelve sledgehammers mmed into the Boss¡¯ body, throwing him into the ground with a thump.

    ¡°Nice, you two¡ª!¡±

    After Sally hadnded, she untied the thread that connected both Mai and Yui.

    ¡°It worked out!¡±

    ¡°What a relief¡­¡±

    ¡°Thank you! Even though it was tough, it was a one-shot!¡±

    If they hadn¡¯t secured the kill, Maple wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand it, and they¡¯d have to teleport right away. However, Mai and Yui¡¯s wonderful mechanic once again.

    ¡°There are two items left. Let¡¯s calm down and make the final decision.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°¡°Got it!¡±¡±

    It only took one more hit from Mai and Yui to defeat the Boss once and for all. The mes disappeared, and darkness spread all around. Before they knew it, the surrounding area had reverted into the same grasnd as before, with no obstacles in sight.

    Meanwhile, the Boss emerged in front of them, crawling out of the ground. Seeing that, Mai and Yui decided to settle the matter here and immediately swung their sledgehammers. A resounding roar. However, the Boss, who was under the sledgehammers, slipped through and advanced. A magic circle manifested in front of him, from which a shining ckser was unleashed.

    ¡°It¡¯s not working¡­!¡±

    ¡°E-even though it should¡¯ve been a clean hit¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay! We don¡¯t suffer any damage, either!¡±

    ¡°¡°Maple!¡±¡±

    Maple calmed down the two, who were confused. As they did that, the enemies that looked exactly like the Boss appeared around them.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay. Maple is here, so it should be fine. Calm down and look for the main body.¡±

    ¡°¡°Okay!¡±¡±

    Surrounded by invincible enemies, intense magical attacks came one after another from all directions.

    If it was only that, the situation sounded bleak. However, Maple was with them. With her around, all of those issues suddenly disappeared.

    Now they needed to find the Boss among the clones. The clones were invincible and wouldn¡¯t suffer any damage, but it wasn¡¯t all bad.

    ¡°Sis, let¡¯s do the usual!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Leave this to me! [Commence Attack]!¡±

    ¡°[sh Flood]!¡±

    The four of them turned around, attacking in their respective directions. Mai and Yui used sledgehammers, Maple fired her guns, and Sally mixed items with water to attack the ¡°phantom bosses¡± in rapid session.

    This time, rather than power, attack range was what mattered the most. Maple scattered the bullets as much as she could while changing the angle. Suddenly, a damage effect popped out from one of them.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s that one!¡±

    After all, there was no way the main body would be invincible as well. That prediction was right on the mark.

    ¡°[Super eleration]!¡±

    ¡°Both of you, get on!¡±

    Sally elerated at once, disappearing from their sight. Maple, who had Mai and Yui on board her deployed weapon, used [Cover Move] to catch up and took advantage of Sally¡¯s speed to close the distance between them.

    ¡°Mai, Yui! That one! Give it all you got!¡±

    ¡°¡°[Decisive Battle Specification]!¡±¡±

    At Sally¡¯s words, the two wielded their sledgehammers. After passing through many illusions, the two managed to find the main body. The rotating mass of iron¡ª<em>the embodiment of death¡ª</em>made a high-pitched crashing sound, literally smashing the boss into pieces.

    ¡°We got it!¡±

    That sound signified the victory of the four. Mai and Yui smiled in triumph, while Maple and Sally followed suit. They decided to watch as the darkness unfurled, swallowing their surroundingndscape, and returning them to the original one.

    After the boss was defeated, Maple and her friends returned to the original field, and the first thing they saw was a ck mass slowly falling through the air.

    Weh it fell right in front of the four, it stopped and floated there.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you pick it up?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Maple reached for the lump at Sally¡¯s request. As soon as it touched her hand, the ck mass burst. At the same time, a notification that the quest had been cleared could be heard.

    When Maple and Sally checked, they found that it was an item called [Demon King¡¯s Magical Power I]. Based on the item¡¯s description, once they¡¯d collected all the necessary items, the path that led to the Demon King would open.

    ¡°It¡¯s not necessary for everyone in the party to have it. Just a yer who¡¯s in the same party.¡±

    ¡°Then, if we try to look for them together, it might be done in no time!¡±

    ¡°If we¡¯re just going to do it once, the quickest way is to work together with the guild. However, if you want to farm the loots, you¡¯ll have to conquer everything.¡±

    The objective this time was to defeat the Demon King before they got too busy. As Sally said, Maple wasn¡¯t aiming for drop items, so it¡¯d be helpful if everyone could work together in advance.

    ¡°Is this the end of the current town¡¯s quest?¡±

    ¡°It seems so. As I said before, when ites to hidden areas and events, they are endless. So I guess I¡¯ll just put them off for now.¡±

    After all, it was difficult to find something that might not even exist in the first ce. Moreover, Maple didn¡¯t have that much time. It¡¯d be better to proceed with exploring the areas that were necessary for the Demon King¡¯s questline. They hoped that they¡¯d encounter one by sheer luck while at it.

    ¡°Mai, Yui, you were so helpful! Thank you for today!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m happy to be of help!¡±

    ¡°If the timing is right, I¡¯m always eager to help¡­!¡±

    Mai and Yui were very powerful due to the synergy with Maple. If possible, they¡¯d like to borrow the twin¡¯s power for the boss battle.

    ¡°Maple, where are we headed to next?¡±

    ¡°I wonder about it¡­ Maybe we should check the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area? Look, there are shoes that can fly in the sky, right?¡±

    ¡°¡°There is!¡±¡±

    ¡°It might be great for me, too. After all, without those shoes, there¡¯s a limit to how much you can fly.¡±

    Scaffolding generation skills such as [Water Maniption], [Icicle], [Use Threads], and [A Step Towards the Underworld] allowed Sally to perform aerial maneuvers that were normally impossible for yers. Nevertheless, those skills were restricted by cooldown, while [A Step Towards the Underworld] decreased her status when casted. In that respect, the device they used when they were on the third floor didn¡¯t have that. If the degree of freedom in battles significantly changed in the future, it¡¯d be better to tackle this first.

    ¡°The 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area is being conquered by Iz, Kanade, and us!¡±

    ¡°If we listen, we might discover something.¡±

    ¡°Okay! I¡¯m counting on you!¡±

    ¡°¡°Got it!¡±¡±

    Once the next destination was decided, Maple and Sally thanked Mai and Yui once again, and said goodbye.

 Chapter 496

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 496

    Defense Specialization and Matching the Pace

    ¡ªAt ater date, Kaede and Risa were on their way home from school.

    Because Risa¡¯s studies suddenly became hectic, Kaede had been logging in alone. Nevertheless, that day, the two were nning to start exploring the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area together.

    ¡°While Risa was gone, I yed with Frederica and Mii.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d you are enjoying yourself.¡±

    ¡°Yep! We explored together and found some hidden areas.¡±

    ¡°<em>Hee¡­ </em>Nice. What kind of ce is it?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡ª¡±

    As she walked side by side with Risa, Kaede narrated her exploration.

    When their ns didn¡¯t match up, they¡¯d take a detour to unlock secrets in areas they¡¯d explored, or grinded to level up. If they were lucky, it¡¯d lead to the next enhancement.

    ¡°Kaede sure made a lot of friends¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! I was d that everyone was friendly.¡±

    Not only were they friendly, they were also top yers in their own rights. Like Frederica and Mii, whom Kaede had just mentioned, many would be more than willing to lend her a hand.

    ¡°By the way, I¡¯m sorry about this, but I feel like I need to study more than I thought. I can log in today, but halfway through, I might have to let Kaede handle things her way.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    At Kaede¡¯s question, Risa nodded slightly with a dejected look on her face.

    ¡°Handle things <em>my </em>way¡­¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh. As long as you¡¯re having fun, nothing else matters. Isn¡¯t that my original reason for inviting you?¡±

    Risa reminded her of the <em>time limit. </em>However, the exploration progress of the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor was only halfpleted. At this rate, it¡¯d end in an <em>ipletebustion.</em>

    ¡°Then I guess I¡¯ll wait for Risa.¡±

    ¡°Uhm¡­¡±

    ¡°Hehe, didn¡¯t you tell me to handle things my way?¡±

    Risa, who didn¡¯t expect that kind of answer, paused. Kaede took a step forward, then turned around with a smile.

    ¡°Besides, Risa was the one who invited me. So I need you to do it with me until the end, <em>right?</em>¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ You have a point.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh! And if you¡¯re concerned about your studies, let¡¯s study together more often to alleviate those worries!¡±

    ¡°Okay. Then why don¡¯t we put more effort into studying?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be in your care, Risa.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me, Kaede.¡±

    Risa shook her head to drive away unnecessary thoughts. Negative thinking was one of her bad habits.

    ¡®<em>If I¡¯m going to do it anyway, let¡¯s have fun until the end.¡¯ </em>Certainly, she stepped into the 10th Floor with that mindset.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to achieve high scores in the next mock exam, so <em>watch me.</em>¡±

    ¡°Good luck, Risa! Whenever you¡¯re motivated, you can pull off absolutely anything!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯ll do my best with 50% more effort.¡±

    Worrying and overthinking were a waste of time. Today, they¡¯d be conquering the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area.

    Both should be done <em>wlessly. </em>As long as they could pull that off, they didn¡¯t need to think about the details.

    ¡°Well then, after this¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah! [New World Online] time!¡±

    Once the two said their goodbyes, they promised to meet again in game.

    Thus, Maple and Sally quickly went home.

 Chapter 497

    Chapter 497

    Itai no wa Iya nanode Bgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 497

    Defense Specialization and the Third Floor Area

    Maple and Sally made an appointment to log in to [New World Online] and meet at a certain town in the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor. The town, full of machinery, strongly resembled that of the Third Floor.

    Giant gears; mysterious machines roaring everywhere; a mechanical means of transportation avable for all yers, which could soar freely in the sky

    How nostalgic!

    After all, its been so long since west went to the Third Floor. A lot has happened, too.

    Right?

    They had so many happy memories that the two of them started to feel nostalgic about the Third Floor. Maple never thought that shed have so many memories from just ying a game.

    Lets go check out the machine first!

    Thats right. Itll also be useful for exploration.

    Ensuring mobility was their top priority.

    Thus, the two decided to head to a nearby shop to fulfill their main objective ofing to that area.

    Since it was a shop frequented by yers who went to the Third Floor Area, there were many simr shops in the town, so they didnt have trouble finding an empty shop to check out the machine.

    The two of them chose the one that was located at a remote area so they could take their sweet time browsing around. They didnt waste any second to check the lineup of machines.

    A vehicle type that can carry multiple people, a type that can be carried on your back <em>Ah! </em>There it is!

    At the end of Maples line of sight was a boot-type flying machine. ording to not only Sally but also other yers, it was the most popr type, as it allowed both hands to be free and had excellent mobility, to boot.

    Can Maple use this as well?

    Hmm, I tried it after Mai and Yui taught me about it when I was on the Third Floor

    At that time, they were out of luck and had to rely on [Machine God] and Syrups flight ability to explore the Third Floor.

    Despite its poprity, it took time to master since it was difficult to operate.

    Why dont you try again? Ill give you a hand.

    Okay! Ill try it!

    Thats great!

    The two immediately purchased it. Then, along with the purchase, a window showing a quest popped up in front of the two.

    A quest?

    [<em>Flying Machine Improvement n</em>] Its another numbered quest.

    Judging from the reward, it seemed to be a quest to literally improve the flying machine, such as flight time, altitude, and other attachments that could add attributes to weapons.

    It seems that we need toplete this quest to upgrade it to full spec I dont see any issue with the current flight time, but

    After checking the performance of the current flying machines, when it came to sudden changes in direction and three-dimensional movements like Sally did during battle, there seemed to be no problem even if it wasnt upgraded. Nevertheless, longer flight times and buffs while flying were both advantageous and appealing.

    This is a great opportunity! Lets do this!

    Thats what I thought youd say. Moreover, its the most typical element of the Third Floor Area, so this may lead to an item for the Demon King.

    Most likely!

    ording to Mai and the others who came here to explore beforehand, it was still unclear where and how the quest was connected.

    Due to the branching questline, and the fact that many yers were still exploring other areas, the two imagined that itd take time for all yersbined to figure that out.

    As for [Maple Tree], excluding the areas that Mai and others had explored, if the two proceeded with the quest, they should be able to efficiently search for [Demon Kings Magic Power]. Regardless, their first objective was to upgrade the flying machine. The two decided to take one step at the time and immediately left the town.

    Afterwards, Maple and Sally headed straight to the foot of a towering mountain. The cave halfway up the mountain was their destination. They passed through the forest overgrown with trees, climbed the mountain, and found the cave containing rare ore.

    We should start with increasing output!

    Letsplete it quickly.

    Increasing flight speed would be beneficial for both Maple and Sally.

    The two agreed and decided to start with the quest.

    They walked into the forest. Even though it was called a forest, it was still the Third Floor Area. Along the way, they came across gears that were half-buried in the ground. However, they didnt seem to have been illegally dumped, since they continued to rotate.

    There were also dimly-lit lights hanging between the trees, making it look even more different from the forest-like natural environment of the area.

    Given that was the case, of course the monsters that appeared would be different.

    Maple, dont let your guard down.

    Uh-huh!

    As soon as Sally sensed the presence of the enemy, three mechanical humanoid monsters emerged. When the enemy spotted the two girls, two of them zapped through the gaps in the trees, their arms deforming into guns.

    The remaining one activated the booster attached to its legs, elerating at once, readying its sword as it quickly closed the distance.

    Maple, I leave long-ranged ones to you!

    [Dedicated Affection] [Barrel Deployment]!

    Maple responded to Sally by using her skills. She nullified the blue energy bullets fired by the enemy with her impregnable defense, before counterattacking with as many cannonballs as she could.

    [Commence Attack]!

    A multitude ofsers streamed through the forest. No matter how agile the enemy was, maneuvering in the forest was no easy feat. As such, there was no way they could avoid attacks that had no gaps in-between them.

    The reddish-cksers emitted by Maple hit the enemys body squarely and exploded. As the enemy staggered, it fired another round of energy bullets at Maple. However, the difference in their number of attacks and defenses rendered it useless.

    While Maple was dealing against two opponents, Sally, who could move freely, shed against the sword-wielding enemy.

    How fast

    As expected, since they were at the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor, the agile-type enemies were able to keep up with Sallys speed.

    The only reason why Maple was able to dominate the enemy was because she had an <em>insane </em>defense power. On the other hand, someone with normal stats would have problem dealing against the same enemy

    or at least, that was how it was supposed to be.

    With a nk, the enemys sword was repelled, and Sallys dagger dug into his neck.

    Even if their stats were the same, Sallys skill was on another level. Against monsterno, even against other yers, there was an <em>absolute</em> distance between them. A distance that couldnt be narrowed down. A difference that made Sallye out on top.

    Every time they shed at each other, <em>in other words, </em>every time she closed the distance, the enemys wound increased by one.

    Slowly but surely, Sallys enemy was heading towards death.

    As if Ill lose to an enemy of this level.

    Thinking that she shouldnt waste her time with a small fry, Sally dodged the attack, and sent the enemys head flying.

    <em>Whew</em>

    When Sally turned around, she saw that Maple was also receiving bullets from two monsters with her own body, and was just about to blow them up to smithereens.

    It seems that you are doing fine.

    Yeah! No problem!

    Okay. Then lets continue like this. When another wave of monsters appears, well use the same strategy!

    Leave the ranged ones to me!

    As expected, a few small fries were no match for the two.

    After mowing down everything that blocked their path, the two of them steadily made their way towards the middle of the mountain.

    The two of them safely made it halfway up the mountain and stood side-by-side in front of a cave with a wide opening on the mountainside.

    Is this the ce?

    It seems to be the case.

    They double-checked the quests destination on the map, and when they confirmed that it was indeed the cave, they went in, being wary of an ambush.

    Despite being a cave, it was also the ce where one could obtain materials rted to the machines in the Third Floor Area. Some works were done on the ce, with lights ced on the walls at equal intervals. The ground had been leveled to a certain extent, while the footing was stable.

    In other words, it was positioned as a mining site for rare materials in a town that lived with machinery.

    Theres no trap so far.

    The two were careful, but theyd yet stepped on a trap. The monsters were also the same as those that appeared in the forest. Thus, the two reached the bottom without any hitch.

    There, glowing blue ores spiked from all over the walls, floor, and ceiling.

    No doubt, that was what the two were looking for in their current quest.

    Lets finish this quickly!

    It was that kind of quest that everyone went through. The ore could also be collected without special skills or items. When Sally touched it with her bare hand, there was a snapping sound as the blue ore broke from the base, and fell into her hand.

    Lets collect the amount we need.

    I agree!

    After this, the main issue was to upgrade the machine. In order to finish the quest quickly, the two of them collected the ore and quickly left the cave.

    After clearing the quest, the two immediately finished enhancing the flying machine.

    The boot-type flying machine was attached with the blue ore that theyd just collected. The machine started to emit light as the energy got charged.

    That improvement increased flight speed and also led to a substantial increase in flight distance.

    Deciding to proceed with other enhancements, the two went to a ce where there were no people around to practice flying.

    Maybe around here is fine.

    There are no monsters either!

    There were no obstacles and no monsters to get in their way. Here, no matter where Maple fell, shed only tumble to the ground.

    Have you used it before?

    Yes. Mai and Yui taught me. However, I decided to just fly with [Machine God] and stopped practicing.

    Maple was a unique yer who had multiple means of flight from quite early on.

    At the same time, herbat style, which was basically standing up and attacking the enemy, didnt require a high degree of mobility. So, it made sense that the flying machine had less appeal to herpared to other yers.

    However,pared to those days, the enemies had grown stronger. The field also expanded, featuring many gimmicks. Now that there were more demands on her, Maple also had to be able to elerate quickly and move three-dimensionally in battle. If so, the mobility of the flying machine should shine even in Maple.

    Ill try flying around first, so watch and learn.

    After saying that, Sally floated into the air in front of Maple.

    Basically, just move as it is, and feel how its like to glide. Once you get used to it, you can do things like this.

    Sally nimbly flew in the air, performing backflip and repeatedly elerating and stopping suddenly.

    She even casted [Water Maniption] and [Use Threads]. Furthermore, bybining the scaffold generated by [Icicle] and [One Step Towards the Underworld], the air became Sallys domain.

    So, the final goal is something like this.

    I wonder if I will be able to do it?

    Aside from movements involving Skills, the core of the game was mechanical flight.

    If Maple could learn what Sally did, the disadvantage of having a low [AGI] in the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor would disappear almost entirely.

    Ill teach you how to do it.

    Yeah! Ill do my best!

    Sally took Maples hand, and the two of them activated the machine and flew into the air.

    Lets try flying slowly first. Ah, make sure to activate [Loving Sacrifice], okay?

    If they both fell to the ground while holding hands, unlike Maple, who had a body made of steel, Sally would fall apart.

    Ill help steady you, so lets start by gliding quickly to the left. Apply pressure slowly.

    Got it.

    With Sallys help, Maple didnt fall, and slowly slid through the air while holding hands.

    Good, good! Keep it up!

    Thank you for your guidance!

    No problem!

    The two of them held hands and flew through the sky as if they were gliding and dancing. Since they originally chose a ce where there were no yers or monsters, they could practice to their hearts content. By the time Sallys lessons were over, Maple was able to fly decently.

 Chapter 498

    Chapter 498

    Itai no wa Iya nanode Bgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 498

    Defense Specialization and the Third Floor Area (2)

    The two finallypleted their flight practice. Sally watched as Maple flew in the sky and nodded to herself. Although high-speed trajectory inbat was still difficult for Maple, she had mastered all the basics.

    Sally! What do you think?

    Looks good. You learn fast.

    Its because Sally is good at teaching!

    No, Maples approach is good. No matter how difficult it may seem, if you do your best, you will be able to do it.

    Oh You might be right!

    Back then, in the Third Floor, Maple easily threw in the towel. This time, with Sallys enthusiastic guidance, Maple was able to concentrate and practice in an amodating environment. As a result, Maple vastly improved in a short period of time.

    Well start working on more precise movements little by little. As always, you can always watch how I do it.

    Got it!

    Okay. What should we do after this?

    Maples flight practice ended earlier than they expected, so they had plenty of time. There was no harm in continuing to explore a little more.

    Since were already here, lets go to a ce where we can fly.

    Okay. Dont get too carried away, okay?

    Ill do my best!

    Well then, lets proceed to the next quest to check the results of our special training.

    Okay!

    Their next destination was the location indicated by the next quest. epting a new quest, the two activated their enhanced flying machines and soared into the sky.

    Good, you are stable. Just keep flying like that.

    Okay!

    Maple flew a little behind Sally. Unlike before, Maple no longer struggled and could fly without assistance.

    Thinking that it would be good enough for the quest, Sally continued to lead Maple.

    The two of them arrived at a long rift that stretched vertically on the pier. There was almost no proper scaffolding inside, and it was also a bit too narrow to enter by riding a tamed monster. Therefore, it could be inferred that the area required flying machines.

    Its dark.

    It doesnt seem as well-maintained as the previous ce.

    This time, there were no lights installed on the walls inside the rift. Darkness reigned as they delved in further, making it a tricky environment to conquer.

    Maple, can you provide us with light?

    Of course!

    Maple immediately deployed [Loving Sacrifice]. The skill didnt only protect allies, but also emitted light that illuminated the surroundings.

    Normally, the skill was disadvantageous because it alerted others of your location. However, in dark ces, it could serve as a light source that could illuminate a wide area, so they didnt need to hold a torch.

    Equipped with Izs special headlight that allowed them to see far ahead, they were ready to explore the darkness.

    Lets tread slowly. Be careful, a wall might suddenly appear in front of us.

    Maple nodded, and the two of them made full use of their flying machines to delve into the deepest part of the rift.

    We have to fly carefully

    Right Wait, somethingsing.

    Sally listened carefully to detect signs of her enemy.

    A swarm of bats emerged out of the darkness, illuminated by the headlights.

    As Sally readied her weapon, a red beam flickered behind her.

    Nice.

    Sally smiled at Maples quick reaction.

    Using her own device, Maple fired an extremely thickser that swallowed up the bats and filled the rift with a red glow.

    When the light subsided, the quiet darkness had returned, with no sounds of pping wings or screeching to be heard. Once she was sure that nobody was following them, Sally sheathed her weapon and rxed.

    Nice, Maple. With this, we dont need to worry about that monster.

    What were you nning to do?

    I wonder? Well, it seems like we dont have to worry about it. Ill leave them to you.

    Ill take care of it!

    They didnt have to worry about not knowing the enemys attack pattern, because theyd just be reduced to nothingness right away.

    The two of them proceeded deeper into the rift, using theser to burn the bats that asionally flew by.

    Are you getting used to exploring caves like this?

    Hmm I wonder? I guess weve conquered a lot of different caves.

    It was one of the ssic locations where monsters spawned. So, looking back, Maple had many memories of advancing through the cave while defeating enemies. Even if it wasnt a cave, walking down a dungeon with a straight path was a simr experience.

    Im keeping an eye on the front. So far, your reaction is fast.

    Ehehe, is that so?

    Yeah.

    The experience that Maple had umted overtime had made it possible for her to predict more urately where enemies were likely to appear from, or what kind of attack a particr enemy was likely to make.

    Of course, it wasnt wless, and it was limited to simple situations, but Maple was starting to be able toe up with the correct answer without Sally telling her everything.

    I can feel that Ive grown. Hehe, I still need to be stronger. The Demon King sounds pretty tough.

    Its the final boss! He wont be defeated easily like the bats!

    Thats right. We need to grind on the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor to prepare ourselves for the final powerful enemy.

    Then, Sally and I need to keep practicing so we canplement each other even better!

    ! Youre right.

    What did <em>final strong enemy </em>mean? Bosses that theyd encounter along the way, Demon King, other guilds, or

    I have to be stronger as well.

    Eh, I think Sally is strong enough. No, <em>too </em>strong.

    I dont want to lose aftering this far I want to make sure that I regret nothing.

    Maple and Sally had achieved many victories as a duo. Losing just as they were about to leave the game would leave a bad taste in her mouth.

    Maple interpreted Sallys words as it was.

    Certainly, we have to absolutely win! Especially after how much everyone has helped us!

    Thats true.

    At the same time, they shouldnt be overly fixated on the future to the point of losing sight of the monster in front of them, because it could mean defeat. Although the two of them had outstanding strengths, they still had their respective weaknesses.

    Maple and her friends once again braced themselves and went on their way to aplish their quest.

    Inside the rift, the rock surface illuminated by the headlights of [Loving Sacrifice] eventually became damp and reflective. The sound of water that echoed from time to time was probably the sound of trickling droplets.

    It didnt take too long for them to notice an obvious change in their surroundings, along with a glow that <em>didnte </em>from their headpieces.

    Blue light could be seen in the darkness. It was simr to the light emitted by the ore that they obtained from the gathering quest theypleted earlier.

    Its right ahead. We can go diagonally downwards. Slowly lower your altitude.

    Yep!

    Maple and the others adjusted the output so that they wouldnt collide with the wall and descended towards the light.

    As they avoided some of the rocks that got in the way and ventured smoothly into the back, the light became stronger, and theke shone blue. It was an undergroundke.

    A hugeke that glowed blue, like an incorporeal presence swimming in the darkness.

    The twonded right next to it and peered intently into the surface of theke.

    Its shiny. Maybe the stone from earlier is buried at the bottom?

    No, it looks like the water itself is glowing.

    When Sally scooped up the water, it shone mesmerizingly, just like the blueke.

    It was as if the ore from earlier had liquidated into theke. The two were at their destination, which was the deepest part of the rift.

    ording to the quest, weve reached our destination.

    It seems to be the right ce. Look, something ising.

    ?

    In front of Maple and Sally, the water they scooped up started to change shape, making a clicking sound in their palms. However, that was just the <em>aftermath.</em>

    The main body was <em>theke.</em>

    The sound of crashing waves. At the same time, a column of water rose towards the ceiling, defying gravity.

    The pir of water separated from the water surface, eventually forming a glowing blue sphere that floated above theke.

    Itsing. Brace yourself.

    Yeah!

    A HP bar appeared above the water sphere. The journey so far went without a hitch. So when the boss appeared, the two seemed very focused.

    [Water Path]!

    As Sally conjured water in the air and began to secure her footing, the water sphere transformed into a long and lean serpent. Its maw was hanging wide open. Then, flexing its body like a whip, the boss charged at them with great force.

    A mighty blow to the left. Due to its moderate speed, Sally could easily avoid it by passing through the [Water Path] shed created.

    [Wind Cutter]!

    First, to observe the enemy.

    Sally released a de of wind that sliced through the water serpent.

    No damage Then! Maple, aggravate!

    [Aggravate]!

    Sally, followed by Maple, quickly devised a strategy as she swam through the [Water Path] onto theke, passing by her enemy.

    Their aim was the sphere, which gave rise to the water serpent.

    [Double sh]!

    While Maple was drawing attention, Sally closed the distance, elerated her flying machine, and shed at the sphere with sessive attacks.

    Despite the jelly-like sensation, the dagger pierced the glowing water sphere, slightly depleting its HP.

    Is it immune to physical attack?

    Sally tried to follow up with magic as the damage was lower than expected. She fired the wind de again, this time sessfully reducing the enemys HP. Compared to a single blow with her weapon, it was also more effective.

    Due to theck of scaffolds, battling on theke was less stable than onnd. Although it was possible to fight using a flying machine, they still couldnt deal damage even when they got close. If so, it made more sense to defeat them by shooting from a distance.

    It seems that it wont let us!

    Whenever they dealt some damage, an additional torrent of water rushed from the sphere, attacking Sally.

    Deciding that it wasnt a good idea to fight there, Sally evaded the attack. The fluidness of her motion made it as if she wasnt fighting in the air. Then, Sally returned to Maple.

    [Barrel Deployment]! <em>Whoa!?</em>

    Seeing Sallys movements, Maple, who was behind her, also tried to attack the water sphere. Maple boasted stronger firepower and longer range. Thus, Maple deployed several gun barrels at once, ready to shoot. But in the next moment, a massive wave swept her, destroying all the weapons and depriving her of her sight.

    [Loving Sacrifice] also didnt apply to weapons. For Maple, protecting her weapons from enemies was far more difficult than keeping her allies safe.

    Something pulled at Maple, who was unable to move as she was swallowed by the water.

    Sally!

    Are you okay, Maple?

    Thank you!

    Maple was rescued by the thread and was held in Sallys arms, and the two of them concocted a n while dodging the water.

    It might be difficult to rely on Maple to shoot at it.

    Yes, itll just destroy my weapons

    Other than that, <em>hmm</em>

    The enemy was positioned above theke. Although Maple was good at long-rangebat, but with [Machine God] rendered useless, shed only be able to use ranged attacks that involved Sally.

    However, itll take a while for me to sh it to death So, I guess Ill just let Maple do all the hard work.

    How?

    They had just learned that [Machine God] wouldnt work, after all. In that case, wouldnt Maple be unreliable?

    For example

    After hearing Sallys n, Maple thought that it was a viable option and went along with it.

    Then lets go.

    Im always ready!

    Sally wrapped her thread around Maple, who was d in white. Sally grabbed Maples hand, putting her on a lifeline in case of an emergency.

    [Shoulder Throw]!

    [Rebirth]!

    Maple was propelled towards theke by sally. She had no intention of wasting time dealing against the boss. The shortest and fastest way to do it was to focus on the most dangerous enemy.

    [Quick Change] [Annihtion Area]!

    By changing the equipment, Maples defense power was restored to its original level, and four ck wings sprouted on her back.

    There was a crashing sound as shended on the water. The falling reddish ck sparks mixed with the sparklingke surface, scattering light that hurt the eyes.

    If the boss refused to move its main body, they could just throw Maple right below it. Almost the entireke was dominated by Maples [Annihtion Area], whittling down the boss HP.

    Unable to withstand it, the water sphere transformed andunched attacks into the water one after another, to no avail.

    As soon as the water sphere touched the surface of theke, it began to recover its HP.

    At the end of the day, they were still fighting against a boss, after all.

    Even with the presence of [Annihtion Area], the boss HP was gradually recovering.

    Maple, who confirmed the strong recovery from underwater, thought of something good.

    !

    The enemy was soaking in theke to recover. In other words, it was <em>in contact </em>with water.

    <em>In that case</em>

    Maple activated her skill. There was no need to aim this time around.

    She was certain itd hit the boss squarely even if she didnt aim.

    [Toxic Meiosis] [Poison Dragon]!

    The poison that was exuded by Maple instantly eroded the blue glow, contaminating the entire body of water and invading the boss body.

    Sally watched from the edge of theke as the boss HP was whittled down by an unavoidable attack along with [Annihtion Area].

    Now, its just a matter of time.

    There was no need for them to do anything extra. Sally carefully held on to the thread that was connected to Maple, and watched the timer so that she wouldnt run out of breath.

    For several minutes, the boss was damaged by engulfing poison and [Annihtion Area].

    As the boss HP dropped to zero, Sally pulled on the thread. The boss melted away, returning to theke from which it came.

    Almost immediately, Maple, who was pulled up, resurfaced again.

    The duration of [Annihtion Area] ended, while the [Toxic Meiosis] also exploded in the water. Maple, who had reverted into a living being, was safely recovered.

    Thank you for your hard work. It went ording to the n.

    Yeah! I know itd work!

    At the end, the frequency of attacks increased. Not only that, the fact that the boss was stationed on the water made it even more disadvantageous. The boss was probably a test to see how well the yer could fight using the flying machine.

    I see.

    In due course, all yers would have the flying machines. In that case, it wouldnt be strange if the bosses in the Third Floor Area were created with that in mind.

    This time, Maples output exceeded the boss, but lets assume that in the future, itll be more important to be able to fight mid-air.

    Then I need to practice more!

    I agree. As expected, Maple wont be able to avoid an attack like this one.

    It was still a boss in the early stages of the quest. Considering that the bosses would be more severe in the future, it seemed necessary to continue honing their skills in operating flying machines.

    While pondering about the future, the two collected items toplete the quest they came here for.

    A brighter, darker blue liquid was dropped by the boss they defeated earlier. That was the item they needed this time.

    Alright, Ive collected them all!

    Youre getting stronger again. After this, well be able to fly for a longer period of time. Im sure we can train even more.

    Yes!

    This time, just like before, a magic circle appeared to help them return home, allowing them to get out safely on their way back.

    Maple?

    Although they could make their exit right away, when Sally turned around, Maple was standing still, overlooking theke, which was now as clean and sparkling as ever since the poison had been cleansed.

    The first time I went with Sally, didnt we go to an undergroundke as well?

    Thats right, albeit theke didnt shine like this. Wasnt that the ce where I got this equipment?

    True.

    Although its rapidly increasing stats had be obsolete, [Mirage] had contributed to Sallys battles with its unique performance.

    It was an important piece of equipment for Sallyboth sentimentally, and forbat.

    At that time, I improved my [Swimming] and [Diving] skills, though it took quite a while.

    But you did great on the 8<sup>th</sup> Floor!

    Ahaha, I didnt expect such a useful floor toe.

    Sally stared at theke in the same way as Maple.

    Beautiful.

    Uh-huh!

    Maybe its because its on the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor.

    ?

    You know, the same goes for the area itself. The dungeon also seems to stimte memories from the past.

    That may very well be their intention.

    To look back and assess their growth.

    If that was what the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor was like, then Sallys realization may not entirely be wrong.

    Lets reminisce a lot. We have many memories.

    Lets do that!

    They decided to postpone their return and spent some time rxing by the mysteriously shining undergroundke in peace.

 Chapter 499

    Chapter 499

    Itai no wa Iya nanode Bgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 499

    Defense Specialization and the Third Floor Area (3)

    After reminiscing for a while and rxing while gazing at the undergroundke, the two of them were satisfied. When they returned to town, they immediately proceeded with the upgrade.

    With this, two important enhancements had beenpleted. <em>Flight Speed </em>and <em>Flight Time</em>the flying machine had been upgraded by one level.

    Although its only the first level, the flight time has increased considerably.

    The 10<sup>th</sup> Floor is so vast, so its helpful.

    Quests, free explorations As the two of them were thinking about what to do next, they received a message.

    Its from Iz.

    She also forwarded the message to me. She asked us toe if we have time. What do you think?

    Why not? Lets go!

    Okay, Ive just finished my quest. Lets go right away.

    After replying to the message, the two decided to head to where Iz was waiting.

    Taking advantage of the flying machines enhanced flight speed, the two fly towards the center of the town.

    Looking around the town that was stillrgely unexplored, they had high hopes for future <em>tourism.</em>

    The sight ofrge gears meshing together, an elevator-like device that went up the walls of a tall tower, and the townscape, with its height differences due to the presence of flying machines, seemed to be just as rewarding to explore as the other terrains.

    Of course, there were towns other than the one in the Third Floor Area that served as bases.

    <em>There are still many ces to explore.</em>

    After enjoying the view from the skies, the two arrived at the guild home. They had promised to meet Iz there. Soon, they opened the door.

    The first thing that caught their eye was Iz, who was reclining against the back of arge sofa in the guild home, seemingly dead tired

    Iz! Here I am!

    Thank you for your hard work It seems like something happened?

    Yes, thats right.

    Iz filled Maple and Sally in on what happened in the Third Floor Area before they got their hands on [Magic of the Demon King].

    After a while, the four of us, including Mai, Yui, and Kanade, headed to the Third Floor Area, and the content of the quest became clear to an extent.

    Everyone wants a flying machine.

    Apart from the main quest on the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor, the questline in the Third Floor Area would reward the yer with a flying machine, so it was only natural for that particr area to be popr among the yers.

    Ive heard from Mai and Yui that the content of the quest is mostly iplete.

    Thats right. I dont think anyone has cleared it yet.

    ?

    ording to Iz, although there were some difficult quests, they werent something that a yer who was able to smoothly reach the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor couldnt win. Contrary to their imaginations, many of the quests had beenpleted by someone else at least once.

    Amazing! Is that so?

    So its unfinished Does that mean nobody has found the [Magic of the Demon King] yet?

    Thats right. Thats just how it was. The Magic of the Demon King wasnt mentioned in any of the quests theyd taken

    I see. In that case, it wouldnt be strange if there were some undiscovered quests.

    The Third Floor Area had a huge number of quests. Nevertheless, it was a bit jarring that there was no [Magic of the Demon King] to be found there.

    It was precisely because of that belief that many yers, including Iz and the others, went on tob the area in search for unsolved puzzles.

    Then, how did it go?

    I couldnt find anything. In the first ce, if <em>I </em>can find it, someone else wouldve probably discovered it already.

    Apparently, Iz wasnt able to achieve the results shed hoped for through her exploration, but that was only to be expected since no one had a clue.

    <em>Its just</em>

    What is it?

    It isnt the case for Kanade.

    When Iz spoke with a smile, the two waited for the continuation, waiting for a good report.

    [Maple Tree], which consisted of dependable members, was an expert in solving these puzzles. A member with impable memory, who wouldnt forget what they saw. A member with reasoning ability that could decipher the creativenguage of the game. A member who could sense something out of ce, which wouldve normally gone unnoticed.

    Kanade discovered quests that otherwise wouldnt appear in the normal questline, and apparently, they were connected to the next quests So, they cleared some of them.

    The questline that Kanade found was probably connected to the [Magic of the Demon King]. The difficulty level had also increased rapidly. There were quests that couldnt bepleted with a party consisting of Iz, Kanade, Mai, and Yui.

    Ah,e to think of it, what happened to the three of you?

    Mai and Yui were the main attackers that Kanade relied on to solve the puzzle. The three of them were nowhere to be seen at the guild home.

    They are on the Eighth Floor Area Its a ce with underwater exploration. It seems like theres a puzzle-solving element there as well, so I asked them to go there first. (Iz)

    You made the right call. When ites to an unknownnguage, theres nothing we can do. (Sally)

    I have to thank you again! (Maple)

    Thats why Id like to ask the two of you to help me clear the quest. (Iz)

    Of course! (Maple)

    Lets be the first to find the answer before everyone else does. (Sally)

    How reassuring. Im counting on you. (Iz)

    Yes! (Maple & Sally)

    The two girls had a wide range of abilities and were the top two of Maple Tree in both name and reality.

    They had the strength to follow the path that their guild members had paved for them.

    Then I want you to help me right away.

    Let me take care of it!

    Ill take you to the quest location. My flying machine can amodate multiple people.

    Oh, right

    Back in the Third Floor, it was an unpopr type because it made it difficult to use weapons during battle. However, if it was only for moving around, then it wasnt so bad. Iz was also the type of yer that didnt ce emphasis onbat, so her choice made sense.

    Hehe, its a little different from when we were on the Third Floor.

    ?

    Youll understand once you see it.

    Although they still didnt understand exactly what Iz was getting at, the three of them decided to go on the quest as they had decided.

    The two of them left the guild home and immediately saw the flying machine that Iz was using.

    This is my flying machine!

    <em>Ooh!</em>

    Uhm What is this?

    What was in front of them was a <em>foreign object </em>that couldnt be thought of as a flying machine. If anything, it resembled Maples [Machine God]. Arge amount of additional armor made it seem more like an armored car or tank than a normal vehicle. The flying machine had clearly been modified with attachments obtained by clearing many questsincluding multiple cannons,sers, various elemental weapons, and boosters.

    Because of therge body, it can be equipped with many attachments. Ites at the cost of reduced mobility, though

    Advantages not found in boot types. With this, Iz could y a more active role in the fight than usual. At least, the strange-looking armored vehicle in front of them was impressive enough to make them think so.

    Although it seems pretty strong, this alone isnt enough to guarantee that well win, right?

    Thats right. Of course Ill support you.

    Ill do my best!

    No doubt, a powerful enemy was waiting. Maple and Sally boarded the flying machine while listening to information about monsters from Iz.

    While the inside resembled a car, it also had a cockpit. Along with many levers and buttons. A bunch of radar screens were projected in the air, emitting light. However, it was unclear what they were showing.

    Wow, it seemsplicated

    I modified it too much and it ended up like this. But once you learn it, its useful in many situations.

    When Iz pulled the lever and operated a few buttons, there was a startup sound as the machine soared into the air.

    Its a little far, but I dont think itll take long.

    With that said, the flying machine piloted by Iz sped up through the skies at a speed that was iparable to Maples.

    Within a few minutes, Iz had reached her destination and dropped Maple and Sally off, before pressing a few buttons to alight from the flying machine.

    Then, the flying machine carrying the three people suddenly became smaller and floated near Iz.

    I can use this right away whenever we fight.

    As expected, it has been remodeled anew

    Basically that.

    Uhm, what should I do here?

    There were manyrge springs, gears, and things that looked like mechanical parts lying in front of Maple and her friends. At the same time, thepleteck of monsters made it difficult to guess what to do at first nce.

    It looks like something is waiting to happen, <em>but</em>

    Without any clue, its impossible to know what to do.

    Actually, we need to supply the right amount of energy. Kanade found out the detailed numbers and <em>The conditions themselves.</em>

    After saying that, Iz handed over a number of items while giving instructions to the two.

    W-wait, there are so many?

    Uh, yeah, I wonder if I can hold on to these many?

    You might want to put them in a basket. If we put them inside our inventory, they might disappear.

    Lets do just that!

    Certainly, finding these by ident wont help.

    All of the items given to them could be used for elemental attacks. Judging from the amount, if they were to find it by chance, theyd definitely use them up. Perhaps, there were no monsters in the area to make it less likely for that to happen.

    Lets get ready. Kanade was the first to find it.

    Uh-huh!

    Maple and the others quickly finished their preparations, reported to Iz, and waited.

    Fei [String of Water]!

    With Feis skill, a thinyer of water stretched out, connecting the springs and gears like a fuse. It was the preliminary preparation for activating all items at once.

    <em>Ready. </em>Lets go.

    Once triggered, the items would take effect all at once. The electric shock that burst from the yellow crystal crushed in Iz hand ran through the extended string of water, scattering effects everywhere.

    It was followed by a deep bass sound. After a while, the various parts started to move, scattering blue sparks right in front of them, conjuring a magic circle of the same color.

    Itll disappear soon, so hurry up and get on it.

    Yes!

    Understood!

    When they lined up the timing and jumped on top of the magic circle, a crackling, intense light illuminated the area, transporting the three to another location.

 Chapter 500

    Chapter 500

    Itai no wa Iya nanode Bgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 500

    Defense Specialization and the Distorted Space

    When the light faded and all the machines stopped working, Maple and the others found themselves in apletely different space.

    Wow I wonder whats going on?

    I think itll be dangerous if we fall from here

    Maple and her friends were in a dark space resembling outer space. It was unclear how far the area expanded, but there were no ceilings or floors, just rocks and the remains of buildings that could be used as footholds.

    When they looked down from the edge of the scaffolding they were currently on, all they could see was a pitch-ck abyss.

    Yup. If you fall from a certain height, youll die instantly. If that happens, I dont know how far away the respawn point is. (Iz)

    I understand. Ill be careful. (Sally)

    Maple, be careful as well. We cant do anything without your defense. (Iz)

    Yes! (Maple)

    I think the two of you already know, but there was a boss that Mai and Yui fought together that could manipte gravity, right? (Iz)

    I was there. (Sally)

    Uhm, wasnt that the boss who gave us the [Magic of the Demon King]? (Maple)

    Simrly, in some ces, the direction of gravity changes, so keep your eyes open. (Iz)

    Understood.

    Ill be careful.

    Unlike before, they had a flying machine, so it was more flexible. However, if the device crashed and fell in an unintended direction, a technical error may ur.

    Thanking everyone for sharing information in advance, the two decided to proceed carefully and looked around once again, looking for a route.

    Ive already reached the boss before, so Ill lead the way. Can the two of you help me deal with the monsters? Of course, I can y a more active role in providing fire support this time around.

    Iz restored the flying machine to its original size and sat in the pilots seat, moving some weapons while broadcasting to the two outside through a speaker.

    Leave it to me!

    Please give me directions. All thats left to know is the location of the area where the direction of gravity changes, along with information about the enemy.

    Ill be sure to share it. I put it together in advance.

    Iz sent the materials shedpiled in a message and shared information.

    Since nobody could conquer that dungeon so far, the actions of the enemies and bosses along the way were probably intense. Moreover, the environment itself was also disadvantageous for battle.

    Lets prepare ourselves.

    Got it.

    The two drilled the shared information into their heads before facing monsters. They started moving in pursuit of Izs flying machine that was moving ahead.

    Since theyd been informed by Iz beforehand, they were unperturbed by sudden changes in gravity.

    While keeping their eyes open for hidden secrets, the two took advantage of their enhanced flying machines to leap across tforms of varying heights.

    It should be around here <em>Here theye!</em>

    Hearing those words, the two brandished their weapons. Just likest time, monsters spawned in the space where Iz and the others met. Just as the dark abyss appeared to be distorted in three ces, a monster emerged from the darkness.

    Its body was transparent like ss, showing the machinery inside that generated power and made noise. The long-bodied mechanical fish swam freely through the air, just like Maple and the others. asionally, itd vanish into the darkness, as if fleeing into the gap between dimensions. In truth, it was closing the distance and surrounding the three of them.

    Once it got close to a certain distance, it suddenly increased its diving frequency and movement speed, switching into battle mode.

    As the mechanical fish swum, small, glittering gears were scattered along its path. In the next moment, the gears suddenly elerated, flying at Maple and the others like bullets.

    Maple, who knew from prior knowledge she received from Iz that each of them had a <em>Defense-Piercing Effect, </em>didnt use [Loving Sacrifice] and instead set up the pure white shield that shed equipped.

    Since Maple couldnt receive it directly with her body, she needed to hold up a shield, but she still wanted to preserve her [Evil Eater].

    The trajectory of the flying gears was only a straight line, and even if they wereing at the two, there was still a certain distance away. Maple shouldnt have any difficulty defending against them.

    <em>However.</em>

    Like the mechanical fish, the flying gears disappeared into the gap between dimensions, scattering in all directions as they were fired at different intervals.

    Maple checked her surroundings to eliminate any blind spots, calcte the order in which the bullets will hit, and shoot them down in order.

    By doing so, they wouldnt suffer from any damage, but it wasnt that easy.

    Itll be fine.

    [Provocation]!

    Clinging tightly to Maple was theirst stronghold, for she was the strongest, <em>impregnable </em>shield.

    Maple ended up aggravating more attacks than she could handle. In that case, they only had to protect the front.

    Sallys dagger nked as it seamlessly knocked down the gears that were approaching from multiple directions.

    Thanks to Iz, Sally knew the details of the attack in advance. Sally was capable of dodging and shooting down even the first attack she saw. Even more so if the enemy had revealed its target. No matter howplicated the trajectory became, it wouldnt stand a chance against Sally.

    [Expand: Right Hand]!

    Maple unleashed a counterattack, leaving Sally to protect her. However, not only was the enemys defense strong, Maple and her friends were also maintaining a safe distance. Before the bullets couldnd, the mechanical fish had already dived into the dimensional gap.

    Nevertheless, the fact remained that Maple, who could perform continuous, long-distance attacks, could easily trigger enemy evasion.

    I knew it. Now that it hase to this!

    They needed a long-range attack with a small dy before impact. Under normal circumstances, it wouldve been difficult for Iz, but not when the flying armored car, which had been modified over and over again, was around.

    After quickly locking into the mechanical fish that had reappeared again, Iz pulled therge level with a bang.

    The attached huge cannon emitted red light. The mes that burst from there were directional, attacking the fish in a straight line as it swam away.

    As it illuminated the darkness in the distance, the mes had proven to be as powerful as the magic wielded by a wizard, dealing great damage.

    Amazing!

    I wonder just how much you modified it

    Judging from the range and firepower, they could no longer see the cannon as a mere attachment.

    Uh, now isnt the time to worry about that! (Iz)

    I leave it to you, Sally! (Maple)

    Dont worry, I wont make a mistake. (Sally)

    The key to that defense was Sally. It may sound strange considering her status and skills, but the only reason the front remained stable was because of Sally.

    I cant possibly keep up with that

    As expected, Sally could eliminate the damage with an extra-dimensional countermeasure. While checking on Sally in the cockpit, Iz worked together with Maple to defeat the enemy. She waited for the moment when the mechanical fish appeared to load the next bullet.

    Iz!

    Uh-huh, leave it to me!

    The mechanical fish would eject gears while avoiding Maples gears, attacking with abined offense and defense movement. However, since the gears would disappear into the dimensional gap before appearing once again, they werent difficult to repel. Even so, there were probably more than 100 shining gears that continued to scatter.

    On top of that, every single one of them could prate defense and deal significant damage. There was no doubt that the barrage of gears with such considerable pressure was a threat to any yer.

    Alright, just a bit more.

    Thest one!

    Nevertheless, if the enemy was facing an opponent that could shoot them all down, no damage would be caused.

    Akin to a machine, Sally was more precise and urate than even <em>the </em>mechanical fish. Due to Sally, the damage trade that was originally supposed to give the mechanical fish an advantage became meaningless.

    With each and every movement, the barrage of gears became thinner. Of course, if the mechanical fish couldnt even outperform Sally at maximum output, there was no way it could deal damage with less.

    Eventually, the barrage became so sparse that even Maple alone could block it with her shield.

    Then, Izs cannonball sted the mechanical fish from the head upwards, shattering and blowing it away. The first battle ended in aplete victory for Maple and her friends.

    After sessfully defeating the enemy, Iz spoke to the two.

    I know we can do it. But are you okay? I think it was quite a taxing role.

    Its okay. If its only this much, I dont care how many times I have to do it.

    From what shed seen, Iz knew that the battle was far too taxing to be considered <em>only this much. </em>However, Sally didnt seem to be lying or putting up a strong front.

    In other words, Sally had reached a level where she could effortlessly pull it off.

    Sally had also been ying that game for quite some time. Sally, who started off with a high level of skill from the beginning, honed it even further with herbat experience.

    In that case, it wouldnt be surprising if Sally could actually carry out that role until the end.

    I understand. But dont push yourself too hard.

    Yes, save your strength until the boss fight.

    Iz and her friends were able to reach the boss without Maple and Sally. Itd still be a while before their strength was needed. There was no point ining here to help if they ran out of gas before that.

    The group progressed smoothly inside, being considerate of the burden they imposed on Sally.

    As a result, despite Izs concern, Sally was able to fulfill her important role of protecting Maple just as shed promised.

    Right now, they were standing in front of the door leading to the boss.

    The door sat on top of floating rubbles, and behind it was nothing but darkness. Still, without a doubt, it was the boss room that theyd seen many times.

    However, this time, the dungeon wasnt equipped with normal walls and floors, and they could easily imagine that behind that door, an isted space was awaiting them along with the boss.

    Still, I was surprised I know you are amazing, but

    Youre really amazing! How long have you yed?

    Im doing special training every day to be stronger. Also, my duel opponent is the type to attack with moves and ranged attacks, so maybe Im used to it.

    Needless to say, Frederica, followed by Velvet, and asionally Wilbert.

    The very fact that Sally was able to continue winning against these guys showed in how well Sally handled the barrage of bullets.

    Well, first, lets confirm what we already know.

    Uh-huh.

    First of all, they check the enemys attack pattern again before the boss battle. The boss was made of machinery, like the monsters along the way, and looked like arge swan.

    It was a different type from the Silver<em> Wing </em>theyd fought in the past. Although the boss flew gracefully in the sky and didnt engage in close rangebat, it could distort space-time and eject metal feathers from various ces. The unleashed feathers would disappear into the gap between dimensions, before attacking from all directions. Moreover, the feathers could also stop and elerate at will, making it even more difficult to shoot.

    As expected, the boss was on a different level than a small fry monster.

    Now I know why Iz and the others had difficulty defeating it with only the four of them.

    Kanade still needed some time to replenish his magic tomes and get back to the status he had before the interpersonal event. Not like Kanade could conjure magic barriers repeatedly in the first ce, making it difficult to effectively protect Mai and Yui, who couldnt afford to be hit by the attacks.

    However, I dont think a tower shield user is a good fit for the boss, either. Its just that powerful.

    Naturally, just like the mob, the boss could also prate defense. As a result, Maple couldnt take advantage of thepatibility advantage and easily defeat the boss with [Loving Sacrifice].

    Iz has a reliable flying machine, so lets make use of it.

    Okay!

    Izs armored vehicle should be able to withstand it more effectively than Maple, serving as a way around for the defense pration.

    Although Iz would be asked to take charge of enemy attacks as necessary, the basic formation remained the same.

    Either Maple or Iz would cause the enemy to evade, and the other would allow the attack to pass.

    Sally devoted all her efforts to defense and repelling enemy attacks.

    Sally had been the key to the strategy since the beginning of the journey.

    <em>Huff</em>

    Before things got heated up, Sally took a deep breath to increase her concentration.

    Will you be fine?

    Leave it to me. Besides I want to show you something that Ive been practicing.

    Good luck!

    Yes, you too.

    There was no need to doubt Sally, who affirmed it herself. Maple believed in Sally yesterday, today, and tomorrow. If Sally told her to entrust something to her, Maple would do just that and fulfill her own role.

    Lastly, lets just apply the buff before we go in. Raising the status is always important.

    Iz burned a number of incenses to buff the three of them, crushed her crystals, and supplied them potions.

    As multiple glowing auras flickered from everyones bodies, the three of them opened the door in front of them and hurried into the boss room in order to benefit from the effects of the buffs for as long as possible.

 Chapter 501

    Chapter 501

    Itai no wa Iya nanode Bgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 501

    Defense Specialization and the Distorted Space (2)

    The scenery inside wasnt that much different from the outside.

    Neither walls nor floor could be found in the endless space, only a number of scaffoldings.

    It seemed that they were expected to jump across the three-dimensionally arranged scaffoldings using flying machines. Considering that the boss was a bird, the mechanic would probablye to yter.

    First of all, stay on track!

    Got it!

    From within, a giant swan slowly began to emerge from the darkness, light bouncing off its beak and pair of ss eyes. Its metal wings spread open, ready to pounce, giving off a boss-like aura.

    However, instead of standing there and watching as the boss made its entrance, Maple and the others steadily began making preparations.

    Their priority was to expand the scaffolding. They used an item to add a steel te to the edge of the rubble, which was the original scaffolding. By increasing Sallys mobility, theyd be decreasing the difficulty of the battle. As such, they didnt waste the precious opportunity which was the boss entrance.

    [Aggravate]!

    As Maple drew attention, Iz soared away using a flying machine.

    The boss attack range was wide, and staying inside its reach was the same as putting oneself in a disadvantage.

    Maple, I leave the offense to you.

    Leave it to me!

    Maple transformed one of her hands into a weapon. At the same time, the swan made its presence known by pping its wings. Along with a loud metallic clunk, the swan soared across the dark sky.

    [Commence Attack]!

    From Maples hand, a singleser beam was fired. Right when it was about tond, the boss sank into the darkness, leaving behind glowing metal feathers that elerated rapidly towards Maple, before vanishing along the way in the same manner. Soon, many fluctuations appeared in the air around Maple.

    Time to get serious [me Dragon Spear]!

    A pair of zing spears of me were conjured in Sallys hands. Her trusty bleu dagger was tied to the end of the [Use Threads] that was entwined around her wrist.

    A multitude of feathers flew like arrows. Even Sally, who was in charge of keeping Maple safe, would die instantly if she was hit.

    Still, she was undaunted. Sally swung her ming spears, keeping her eyes focused on the attack of her enemy.

    The spears knocked away theunched feathers with a screech. Regardless, it only increased her attack range by a small margin.

    The next feather rushed at Maple from a ce that was unreachable even with both spears.

    Gingin

    Following those noises, sparks scattered in the air.

    Wow

    Okay, I got this.

    With a nk, the fluttering feathers were thwarted and could no longer resume their trajectory. The culprit was none other than a certain dagger tied to a long string. The dagger, swung like a whip, surrealistically repelled the feathers with precision.

    An irregr four-wielding style that Sally had learned. Since the dagger was out of hand, it couldnt be expected to cause any damage, so it was useless for attacking. For defense, on the other hand, it moved as if it was an automatic interception system that was impregnable.

    Which was, again, very surreal.

    After all, it moved as if it was controlled by invisible armsno, as if there were nerves coursing through it. The dagger, which was simply connected by a thread, moved perfectly.

    As if the dagger itself had free willthat was how skillful it was, to the point that itd be much easier to exin it that way.

    The dagger intercepted any attack as if it had eyes on its back, before shooting them down in the proper order without making a single mistake. It was truly a matter of skill.

    Its okay. You just have to believe in me.

    Uh-huh!

    Sallys defense was one that focused on yer skills. Anything within the reach of the thread that wasnt invincible could be shot downan amazing technique that no one could imitate.

    [Water Dragon]! [sh Flood]!

    The heavy stream of water blocked the falling feathers. By mixing and matching skills, the defense became truly imprable.

    [Poison Dragon]!

    Im going in, too!

    Maple constantly firedsers, and when Iz appeared, the two attacked together.

    As expected, Maples strengthy in her array of powerful long-range attacks.

    She initiated the first movesomething that no ordinary tower shield user could pull offand sessfully attacked the boss, shaving its HP.

    However, as expected of the boss, it quickly showed that it was on a different level from the mechanical fish they fought along the way.

    The boss faced the three of them, bending its gigantic metal wings and bringing the tip together above its head. Just as they finished drawing a circr arc, they began to glow brightly.

    Maple!

    [Cover] [Pierce Guard]!

    Sally quickly swapped positions with Maple, while Iz evacuated above.

    The circr wing was a gun muzzle. A momentter, a pure white beam of light engulfed Maple and Sally, along with many of the scaffolds.

    Im okay!

    As expected of Maple.

    As the light subsided, it was revealed that Maple, who stood unharmed, had protected Sally.

    Maple couldnt deal with feathers, yet Sally could. Sally couldnt withstand the ray of light, yet Maple could.

    While the two of them made up for each others weaknesses and survived the boss attacks, Iz, flying freely in the sky, charged up her four weapons.

    Lock on, fire!

    The fired missiles split into small pieces in the air, exploding as they came near the boss. mes spewed at the boss from the front, while pirs of light cascaded from above, exacting vengeance. The pursuing storm swallowed up the boss, threatening to rip off its wings.

    Of course, it was still not enough to y the boss once and for all. Still, to think such massive damage was created by a single production worker

    I wish I can use it more often in the future Well, weve got a long way to go.

    The proud machine, which had undergone countless modifications, showed promising results.

    Iz continued to maneuver while looking for an opportunity to attack again, being careful of her position so as not to get shot.

    With its HP reduced by Iz and Maples attacks, the boss was about tounch its next attack.

    By taking advantage of Mai and Yuis offensive power, Iz and the others were able to gauge its strength. As such, theyd thought of ways to deal with that attack.

    However, itd require an incredible feat of strength.

    Magic circles spawned on all the scaffoldings. As soon as some of them blinked, Maple and Sally jumped straight up.

    Stay calm.

    Im fine!

    Knowing what to expect, the two quickly activated their flying machines. Maples practice from before certainly paid off. Despite the opposing force from below, Maple was able to maintain her bnce and flew through the air.

    Regardless, the flight time of flying machines was limited. They must descend onto the rubble in search of stable footing.

    Maple, this way! [Water Path]!

    Sally tried to pull Maple with her string and used the flow of water to help move her to the tform.

    In response, the boss attacked ruthlessly. Metal feathers scattered once more, resulting in space distortion. Soon, countless feathers flew all around Maple.

    Sally!

    Dont worry.

    For Sally, as long as the flying machine was still working, flying in the air was no different than walking on the ground. Wielding both the me spear and the dagger, Sally flew through the air with agility that surpassed Maple. As Sally spun around her, leaving trail effects of both weapons in the air, Maple was washed away by the water.

    If its only this level, I can still handle it.

    [Commence Attack]!

    Maple shot down the feathers from the front with her own barrage while aiming at the faraway boss.

    Izs cannon fired overhead, further reducing the boss HP.

    The flight time of Izs flying machine was iparably longer than that of Maple. Thanks to that, the three of them werent affected by the gimmick that affected the scaffolding, and the battle progressed smoothly.

    Maple, next time, go to the front!

    Got it!

    Ill follow suit!

    After dealing with the metal wings, they acutely adjusted the position to match the boss that flew around in the sky.

    Iz moved along with the boss, keeping it within range without ceasing fire.

    Although Iz said that there was no problem in continuing, given the fact that the operation hung on Sallys superhuman performance, itd certainly be wise to end the battle as soon as possible.

    [Seeping Chaos]!

    [Leviathan]!

    Aim okay!

    While there were no pure magicians, the long-range attacks of the three umted damage and continued to shave off the boss HP.

    Surprisingly, their damage output increased even more as Sally began to get used to the continuous attacks from the boss wings and started participating in attacks using her skills.

    At this rate, there was a chance of victory, but it seemed that the boss refused to go down so easily at the hands of the three. After the boss HP was reduced to half, its next move was triggered.

    I think something is going to happen.

    Iz!

    Yes, Iming.

    With a loud pping of its wings, along with the echoing metallic nk around it, the boss soared far, far away into the limitless sky. When they saw that the boss was up to something, the three gathered around to watch.

    Now that she still had [Aegis], along with thebo of [Loving Sacrifice] and [Pierce Guard] left, Maple was fully prepared for the ultimate move.

    When the boss stopped moving far up in the sky, a number of circles were formed using the metal feathers. As they lined up in a line, a shining luminosity overflowed.

    It reminded them of the previous intense beam fired by the boss. But this time, it wasnt one or two. More than ten gun muzzles were trained at the three from the sky.

    As always, the scaffolds with magic circles were set up to make the yer lose bnce rose up one by one. They were supposed to leap across them to reach the boss that was waiting at the top.

    It was the final phase. In order to win, they had to break through that final hurdle.

    You have to fly to get within range.

    Lets decide quickly. The boss will probably shoot soon.

    W-what should I do? Should I just fly away?

    The floating scaffoldings werent for crossing, but for getting back on ones feet when they were knocked off or toppled over. Sally and Iz guessed so because it was the Third Floor Area, where flying machines were the main feature.

    Lets get closer at once. If Maple cannd a hit using [Evil Eater], we can finish this before anything else could happen.

    Yes, I agree. Get on top! Ill carry you!

    Ill do my best!

    Iz brought her flying machine close to the two, stowed away the cannon, and put the two on the roof. They could use it as an emergency evacuation, and unlike in the car, Sally could use her irregr four-wielding skills to some extent.

    Lets go! Ill show you how I fly!

    As soon as Iz began maneuvering, a pir of light fell from a ring of gleaming feathers in the sky.

    Intense eleration. Iz activated the booster that shed saved for that exact moment, using her tremendous speed to swerve left and right to avoid the pirs of light.

    Wow, wow, wow!

    Ill fasten you!

    Sally immediately secured Maples body with her strings to prevent her from being blown away. No matter how dexterous Sally was, it was inevitable that the uracy of her parry would drop to some extent. However, Sally quickly grasped the situation. She looked at her surroundings, realizing that the feathers ejected from the distortions of space couldnt keep up with the speed of Izs flying machine, rendering the boss attempts to enclose them unsessful.

    Okay, then!

    Sally extinguished her me spears, calling forth the dagger that was attached to the string on her wrist.

    The only things she needed to repel were the feathers that were fired directly by the boss. In that case, two weapons would suffice.

    It can still elerate!

    A voice echoed from inside the car as the flying machine roared, gaining altitude towards the boss.

    The banging sound was the sound of Sally effortlessly deflecting the metal feathers despite the moving and unstable scaffolding.

    Deploy energy barrier!

    The brilliance that rivaled the boss pirs of light acted as a shield to block the blow that shouldve hit the vehicle body.

    Due to the narrowing distance, it became harder to evade, but Iz used a once-a-day barrier to break through the ever-increasing barrage.

    Hehe, its worth the ride!

    Yeah! [Deploy All Weapons]! [Dedicated Affection]!

    Once they were close enough, Maple hugged Sally and stared at the boss.

    Her fastest flight in a straight line while protecting Sally from her own sts.

    [Commence Attack] [Pierce Guard]!

    Using Izs flying machine as a foothold, Maple flew straight towards the boss. A forceful breakthrough that ignored everything elsesomething that neither Iz nor Sally could do. By nullifying defense pration with [Pierce Guard], she coulde out on top.

    [Quick Change]

    [Heal]

    [Aegis]

    Maple changed to white equipment and healed herself immediately. Right after securing HP, she activated [Aegis] to extend the invincibility period and closed in on the boss.

    When she was close enough to hear the meshing of gears within the boss, Maple attempted a final advance with Sally and the flying machine.

    Stay calm Alright!

    Okay, well done. Leave the surroundings to me!

    Without panicking, Maple opened her inventory and switched her tower shield to [Replica of the Dark Night], from the [Evil Eater] series. Then, with the invincibility still remaining, she mmed the tower shield against the long neck of the swan boss.

    It was a heavier blow, different from the long-range attack that slowly chipped away at something.

    With Sally knocking down the feathers in their surroundings, Maple wouldnt have to absorb any unnecessary things, and the [Evil Eater] would be solely focused on the boss.

    [Commence Attack] [Ancient Weapon] [Seeping Chaos] [Poison Dragon]!

    With a nging sound, two types of weapons, powerful skills, and the most powerful melee attack called [Devour] continued to assail the boss.

    Then, Maples skill tore off the swans head from the middle of its neck, scattering parts around. The metal feathers began to lose their momentum, and the pirs of light died down.

    It was a telltale sign of an ending battle.

    As the parts that made up the boss fell apart and disappeared, the only thing that remained in the air was a ring made of multiple shining metal feathers.

    We managed to defeat it.

    Our first hurdle.

    Good! It went well!

    Right? If I team up with you two, I feel like its an automatic win.

    Maple and Sallys weaknesses were obvious, so unless they were especially targeted, the two often won a battle without taking damage.

    Due to their nature, if they made a mistake, they could be defeated. However, this time, they didnt take any damage, so it was aplete victory.

    But Its actually quite troublesome. So, aside from Kanade and others who are solving the mysteries of the 8th Floor Area, it might be okay to call Kasumi and Chrome for the time being.

    Since Iz was the one who was advancing the quest, the most efficient way would be to proceed with Iz as the lead.

    Even if Maple and Sally did their best from now on, theyd still be behind Iz. For Maple and Sally, who had limited time, that wasnt really a doable method.

    Besides, with that flying machine, Iz, would be able to provide firepower without having to be protected. The range ofbinations and stratagems would increase, making battle easier. No doubt that if Chrome and Kasumi were there at this time, theyd have been able to fight in a different way. The enemys attack pattern was just that intense.

    We havent obtained the [Magic of the Demon King] yet, and I expect there will be more battles in the future.

    Indeed. Since we have a certain goal in mind, it might be smarter to get their cooperation and finish the Third Floor Area.

    The reason why [Maple Tree] continued to split up and explore was because they wanted to collect information from each area.

    If a certain number of yers had gathered, it wasnt a bad idea to switch to moving forward in that area.

    Ill take this. In order to continue to the next quest, I need to proceed with the modifications that I was able to do in the previous quest.

    Feel free to!

    I can help.

    Youre such a lifesaver. Lets keep this up!

    After the three of them finished the fierce battle, they each took care of themselves, and then climbed onto a magic circle that appeared on top of a floating rubble and returned to the original field.

    The three of them, who had returned by teleportation from a ce that could be called another world, took a breather on the spot.

    That concludes it for today.

    Should we call it a day?

    Uh-huh. It was a pretty tough battle, right? I used up a bunch of features in my flying machine.

    Without an energy barrier or a booster for rapid eleration, their ability to intercept would be reduced.

    Since Maple didnt have [Evil Eater], she wouldnt be able to fight using the same method this time. Sally must be exhausted as well.

    Considering these, it was important not to overdo it here. After all, there was no saying that a stronger boss wouldnt appear.

    Itd be great if you could apany me for a while.

    Of course!

    It seems like itd be a good idea to use the free time to upgrade our own flying machines.

    Iz was amazing

    Even if theirs werent as f as Izs, once they witnessed that strength, their way of thinking underwent a change.

    Itd be a waste to only use it for flying this time.

    Thats right. I agree with you.

    While deciding on their next goal, the three of them decided to disband for today.

 Chapter 502

    Chapter 502

    Itai no wa Iya nanode Bgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 502

    Defense Specialization and Extermination

    Itd been a few days since Maple and the others helped Iz. Since it was a hidden quest that was unlocked afterpleting multiple quests, the true quest in the 3rd Floor Area also branched out.

    As theyd discussed, Kasumi and Chrome were called, and they were able to steadily progress through the quest. The progress could be said to be going well.

    By going with five members, their ability to respond would increase. In particr, the addition of another tower shield-user was a huge change, increasing the sense of stability and reducing the burden on Sally when a defense-prating opponent appeared.

    Since they couldnt proceed without Iz, they prioritizedpleting the quests, and the hidden quest branch was finally nearing its end.

    And on days like today, when Iz wasnt avable, theyd split up and continue exploring different areas.

    The [Magic of the Demon King] was still out there. Considering the case where there were twists and turns like in the 3rd Floor Area, unless everyone explored together, even if they had time, it wouldnt be enough.

    Today, the two of them were exploring the 3rd Floor Area while also upgrading the flying machines. After wrapping up their journey, they returned to town.

    Unfortunately, it didnt lead to any hidden skills, but the flying machine was further upgraded; its movement ability and control functions improved.

    I wonder what other areas are like.

    It seems that Kasumi is progressing through the 4th Floor Area quite smoothly. The quest is slightly different, though. Unlike in the 3rd Floor Area, the next quest wont automatically appear after you cleared the prerequisite one.

    Hee Im looking forward to it!

    Chrome is doing his best on the 6th Floor Area I guess we can leave that to him. Apparently, theres a variety of options depending on the number of monsters defeated? Itd be difficult with just Chrome alone, so Mai and Yui also went there.

    Ill go take a look!

    I wonder if I should ask for help?

    The Sixth Floor Area was particrly effective against Sally. It was much more powerful than the hundreds of bullets fired by the boss.

    Isnt Kanade on the 8th Floor Area?

    Yes, but it seems that hes already figured it out quite a bit. Thats why I asked Mai and Yui to head over to Chrome instead.

    Oh, as expected of Kanade!

    As to where we are headed next Hm, what about the 5th Floor Area?

    They wanted to make as much progress as possible in the uncharted areas. Considering the goal of [Maple Tree], obtaining the [Magic of Demon King] wouldnt be a problem as long as there was one yer who could ept the quest.

    Thus, keeping efficiency in mind, their next destination would be an unexplored area.

    Besides there doesnt seem to be a clear division into areas regarding the 2nd, 7th, and the 9th Floor Areas If anything, the more area-like part serves as an introduction to the [Magic of the Demon King].

    All of the areas that Sally listed were areas that had a lot of terraining together to form a rich natural environment, and the main focus was taming monsters and interpersonal battles. The fields themselves didnt have much of a feature.

    Therefore, even among the 10th Floor, there was no ce that could be said to clearly indicate that area. But apparently, it yed a role in connecting the wide field of the 10th Floor.

    There were still many ces to go.

    As the two of them were talking about the past and the future in the middle of town, a familiar person passed by and spoke to them.

    Hey, how is the strategy going?

    Did you juste back to see whats going on?

    Wilbert and Lily arrived. They were the guild masters of [Rapid Fire].

    Its going well! How about Lily and the others?

    Its so-so. Were currently conquering the 3rd Floor Area, but were having a slight issue.

    It seemed that the [Rapid Fire] hadnt chanced upon the secret of the 3rd Floor Area that Kanade had uncovered, and there seemed to be talk about it.

    For the past few days, I heard from Wilbert that there was a clearly extreme aircraft flying in the sky from time to time. I think you probably have a clue.

    Lily must be referring to Izs flying machine. That thing was clearly different from what other yers rode. Naturally, since the number of quests cleared and the number of parts acquired were different, a difference in output was only to be expected.

    You must be onto something.

    As usual, youre keen.

    Of course, I wont force it. However, we have negotiating materials.

    [Rapid Fire] could smoothly conquer the 5th and 6th Floor Areas. In exchange, theyd be able to share information and cooperate in the battle there.

    Of course, if you say its not necessary because you want to figure it out from scratch yourselves, thats also fine. In that case, Ill back off.

    I see

    Hm Maple, what do you want to do?

    Sally asked Maple. Sally also had her own ideas, but she decided to leave it to Maple. Sally wanted the guild master to make a decision that she could ept and have no regrets about.

    Got it! Lets work together!

    I know youd say that. In that case, the various things Ivepiled in advance mighte in handy.

    Really? Thank you!

    Sally smiled and disyed a summary of information that shed prepared to share with the members of the [Maple Tree] who were about to explore.

    Alright, then lets move to a ce where we can talk easily. Theres a store right there.

    Okay!

    Maple was very active in inter-guild exchange. She made a quick decision to form an alliance with the [Congregations of Holy Swords], and even cooperated with [Kingdom of the me Emperor] to clear some contents.

    Maple wasnt the type to strongly reject proposals, and basically preferred cooperation. Lily and the others were also aware of that and were offering negotiations. Besides, it wouldnt be a bad thing for Maple to have more active interactions and attain the opportunity to learn about the knowledge and established rules that she didnt know.

    Maple and her friends entered a nearby caf, sat down, and started talking.

    Ill go first. Wouldnt it be more reassuring that way?

    Thank you.

    After saying that, Lily started talking about the two areas. While Maple knew a lot about the 6th Floor Area courtesy of Chrome, the 5th Floor Area was a mystery to her. Thus, Maple listened attentively, taking notes so that she wouldnt forget.

    As Im sure youve guessed, the essence of the 5th Floor Area was within the cumulonimbus clouds floating in the sky. The town on the ground below can be used as a base, and may already be open to the public. However, no matter how high you fly, you cant get close to the clouds.

    The flying machine from 3rd Floor Area, machines created by tamed monsters, and Lilys skills were rendered useless.

    Syrup and [Machine God] most likely wouldnt fare any better.

    There are some magic circles that lead into those clouds. Let me show you what we found on the map.

    The multiple routes seemed to lead to different locations in the clouds. Each magic circle was guarded by a monster of varying strength. Apparently, the stronger the magic circle that was protected by the monster, the better the teleport destination would be.

    The purpose of the 5th Floor Area is simple. Climb to the top. Your goal is to ovee monsters and various gimmicks along your way to the top.

    The 5th Floor Area wasnt quest-oriented, but rather like a gigantic dungeon among the clouds.

    The monsters that protect the magic circles Well, Im sure [Maple Tree] can handle it just fine. Besides, once you defeat one, you can pass through the rest.

    I see, I see

    After that, Lily continued exining about the clouds. Fortunately, defense pration didnt seem to be prevalent in the area. As long as she dealt with it appropriately, Maple should be able to progress through the dungeon.

    My turn! Lets talk about the 3rd Floor Area!

    Oh, Id be happy if you do that.

    Maple spoke about the 3rd Floor Area and the clue to the hidden quest that she heard about in detail from Iz while ncing at Sallys summary.

    I see, I guess thats why Then

    Yes, thats right. I feel that once you understand that, the quest itself shouldnt be that difficult to clear.

    Thats right. I got it, thank you. Thanks to you, I think we can start conquering the 3rd Floor Area.

    Im d to be of help!

    If you dont explore the 5th Floor Area with the same members, youll start from the position of the yer who has made the least progress. Just be careful of that.

    What should we do, Sally?

    Hmm, I dont mind if we all go together, but there are other areas as well, so its not like we can gather that many

    Even if all eight of them were to enter, there wouldnt be any point if they werent aligned. Besides, it didnt mesh well with the number of people in [Maple Tree], where the strategy tended to be carried out by only a few of them.

    In that case, there was little point in rushing in with everyone.

    Would you like to go there? We can help you reach the top.

    Really!?

    Of course. However, there is one condition.

    After saying that, Lily told them the condition.

    As long as youre alright with that?

    Yes, its alright!

    Okay, lets go right away. Lets strike while the iron is hot.

    Well also teleport from the guild home and head there. The location is as shown on the map. I think itll be closer to go from the town under the clouds.

    The two [Rapid Fire] said goodbye to Maple and the others and returned to the guild home.

    Itd be helpful if they could help us. I think this will help us proceed quickly.

    Right!? We might be able to conquer the 5th Floor Area as well! But is it really okay to make them do that for us?

    Isnt that fine? They were the ones who suggested it.

    I see. Then lets hurry!

    Thats right. Itll be rude to keep them waiting.

    Maple and the others left the caf, flew across the town using their flying machines, returned to the guild home, and then teleported directly to the town right below the 5th Floor Area.

    When they arrived at the location on the map that Wilbert mentioned in advance, Lily and Wilbert were already waiting for them. When they noticed the two, they waved their hands.

    There you are!

    Lets go quickly. Its inside this cave. Theres nothing special along the way, and I already told you about how to deal with the boss.

    The four of them entered the cave that opened into the mountainside with Lily in the lead, equipped with vanguard equipment.

    Although it was called a cave, after going a few meters deep, they immediately reached the end, where only a glowing white magic circle existed.

    This ce exists just for this purpose.

    All four of them stepped into the magic circle. Then, they were teleported inside a dome which walls, floor, and ceiling were made of pure white, fluffy clouds.

    What jumped out from the wall was a white horse about 5 meters long. His mane and tail were made of clouds, while his blue eyes sparkled like the sky between the clouds.

    Maple, shall we do it? Lets begin.

    Understood!

    The boss also seemed to have noticed the four people, and with a loud neigh, mmed his front paws on the floor. All around him, horses made of clouds spawned one after another.

    A battle of quantity with Lilys soldiers No, that wasnt all.

    [Reproduction]

    It wasnt that simple.

    [Darkness of Rebirth]!

    On a floating throne, Maple spread darkness under Lily.

    [Sand Cluster] [Undead Army] [Toy Soldiers]

    Countless minions were summoned by Lily. Arge number of summons was allowed because the individual units werent that strong. Yet, they all sank into darkness. What came out instead was a mighty warriora ck abnormality that was several timesrger.

    The strongest coboration between Maple and Lily. Maple had created weapons that could be produced endlessly.

    ck engulfed the white space. After crushing and swallowing the horses, the bizarre creature rushed towards the boss.

    Kicking the ground, it ran through the air, trying to erase the distance between it and the fleeing white horse. Using the odd shape in front of it as a springboard, it caught up with the boss and dragged it down.

    I know it! Its really refreshing! Haha, I wanted to be on the using side for once.

    At thest event, Lily was in the boss position, after all.

    That I am. I wish I could acquire this skill Maple, how do I get it?

    Oh, I cant tell you!

    Thats wise.

    If Lily got her hands on it, she could start abo by herself, and her threat level would increase significantly. Surely, even Maple was aware of that. Knowing that, Lily asked half-jokingly, staring at the white horse being corroded with satisfaction.

    That was fun.

    As she watched the boss disappear, Lily looked satisfied. Afterwards, Lily and Wilbert left the boss room, saying that they should do it again when they had the chance.

    No wonder the two agreed to help. After all, not only would the battle be over in a sh, they could also have fun while at it.

    Wow, thanks to them, we saved a lot of time!

    Then, once we finish the 3rd Floor Area, should we make this our next destination?

    Sounds like a n.

    Im sure Kanade and others have summoning skills, so it might be a good idea to actively use them when you can.

    It was really strong.

    Infinite generation ofwless variants. Surely, something simr, if not outright the same, could be attempted with [Maple Tree].

    Unexpectedly, they were able to take a step forward in conquering a new area. While feeling grateful for the friendship theyd made, the two left the 5th Floor Area for the time being and left the boss room to finish conquering the 3rd Floor Area.

 Chapter 503

    Chapter 503

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 503

    Defense Specialization and My-Boom

    It took a few days to help Iz clear the quest.

    Iz¡¯s flying machine, whose add-ons were increasing day by day, finally surpassed even Maple¡¯s [Machine God]. A formidable vehicle boasting a vast array of weaponry. Maple, Sally, and Iz swooned when they saw the current vehicle, which no longer retained any semnce of its original form.

    ¡°It has transformed into something awesome.¡±

    ¡°Right? I wish we could take this to other areas as well.¡±

    ¡°<em><i>You can¡¯t?</i></em>¡±

    ¡°The performance won¡¯t be the same.¡±

    Such was the condition of the secret quest in the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area. Apparently, the abilities of the exceptionally powerful add-ons obtained from before would be significantly reduced if they left the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area.

    ¡°I came across a note that said the <em><i>special energy </i></em>of the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area was behind it¡­ In fact, it bes weaker when you move away from town to some extent. That¡¯s why, it¡¯ll be more fun to use it in this location, where it belongs. However, I think it can still serve some purposes.¡±

    Even if the vehicle was weakened to some extent, the long-range attacks of various elements, along with the improved mobility were reassuring for crafters like Iz, who originallycked these abilities and found it difficult to participate in battles in the field or gather materials.

    With that flying machine, Iz could be a force to be reckoned with in the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor Area.

    ¡°Maybe the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area is intended for crafters¡­¡±

    ¡°Could be. I was thrilled when I came across interesting items and materials.¡±

    ¡°¡ªAtst, this day has arrived!¡±

    The upgrade of Iz¡¯s flying machine had progressed to the point where it surpassed [Machine God], which meant that the quest for the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area had finally reached its final phase.

    ¡°¡­ [Magic of the Demon King II]. Atst, we¡¯ve reached the quest.¡±

    ¡°The fact that it¡¯s number II means that there¡¯s no such quest in the 2<sup>nd</sup> Floor Area after all.¡±

    ¡°Surely¡­ It seems like it¡¯s in order.¡±

    ¡°¡ªHere I am!¡±

    ¡°Looks like the exploration is going well.¡±

    ¡°Thanks to those two, it went faster than expected.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve already reached the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best today.¡±

    That day, they were scheduled toplete the final quest in the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area. The members who had split up to other areas gathered together, determined to win.

    ¡°How did it go for you?¡±

    ¡°The 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area? ¡­Well, who¡¯d have thought that I¡¯d end up having fun? As a result, the capture is going well.¡±

    The atmosphere of the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area was exactly like Kasumi¡¯s favorite 4<sup>th</sup> Floor itself. Unlike other areas that had simr environments to each other, only the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area had Japanese-style dungeons and terrains. As a result, Kasumi had a lot of fun with the new update, which hadn¡¯t happened for quite a while.

    ¡°Mai and Yui went to the 6<sup>th</sup> Floor Area. Thanks to them, things became a lot easier.¡±

    ¡°¡°We did our best!¡±¡±

    Since the number of monsters defeated yed an important role, Mai and Yui worked well in that scenario. As a result, Kanade had to explore the 8<sup>th</sup> Floor Area alone, but there didn¡¯t seem to be any issue at the moment.

    ¡°I¡¯ve almost finished solving the riddle. If you want to know the answer, I can tell you. But if not, it might be a good idea to just listen to the hint and give it your best from the beginning.¡±

    As expected, there were very few bosses that Kanade could fight alone. As a result of continuing his underwater exploration while avoiding battles against mobs as much as possible, Kanade seemed to have obtained certain results.

    ¡°Then, we have to check out the 8<sup>th</sup> Floor Area next time!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯ll look forward to that.¡±

    The capture of each area seemed to be progressing without a hitch, and at this rate, it seemed like Maple would be able to collect all the [Magic of the Demon King] while she could still y the game.

    ¡°Is there no information about the boss of the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area yet?¡±

    ¡°Nope. Kanade was the first to discover the secret quest¡­ No, he was probably the first ever yer to do so. Even if that isn¡¯t the case, there¡¯s still no urate information.¡±

    ¡°In that case¡­ I guess we should just go ahead like usual.¡±

    ¡®As usual¡¯, as in apply buffs to Mai and Yui, teleport them in front of the boss, and hit it relentlessly.

    There weren¡¯t many yers who could withstand that, much less a boss. After all, if the boss could withstand <em><i>even</i></em> the attack of the twins, then it¡¯d be safe to assume that many other yers would be powerless against it. As a matter of course, that kind of boss wasn¡¯t popr.

    The strength of an outlier.

    Afterwards, they only had to prepare arge number of backups and crush the enemy with unrivaled strength.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already epted the quest. Let¡¯s get on the flying machine and go right away.¡±

    ¡°I want to quickly clear it the first time. Hehe, Mai, Yui, I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±

    ¡°¡°Okay!¡±¡±

    ¡°C¡¯mon, get on! There¡¯s plenty of room for eight people!¡±

    As she said that, Iz climbed into the cockpit and started clicking the buttons.

    Then, following the noise, thepact size aircraft expanded vertically from the center, bing simr to a limousine.

    ¡°Ooh! You can even do something like this!?¡±

    ¡°Yes, as long as you¡¯re finished with the remodeling. It¡¯s quite convenient as you don¡¯t have to rely on tamed monsters that can carryrge numbers of people.¡±

    Although that long form would be disadvantageous during battle because of the small turning radius, it was perfect for transport.

    The fact that it was a flying machine made it even more convenient because they could preserve Haku and Syrup¡¯s giant form skills.

    Following Iz, Maple and the others boarded the aircraft, and the flying machine slowly lifted up and flew through the sky towards its destination.

    ¡°I went there by myself beforehand, so I had done some research. I was defeated right at the entrance, so it¡¯s only a little bit, so don¡¯t get your hopes up too much, okay?¡±

    If the flying damage sustained too much damage during battle, it¡¯d be destroyed. In case of Iz, since it had undergone countless modifications, if all of the parts broke, repairing them would be a daunting task.

    For that reason, Iz decided not to use the weapons that served them well in the previous battle, and instead used conventional bomb attacks instead.

    ¡°I was teleported through a magic circle, and beyond that¡­ <em><i>A factory? </i></em>A research institute, maybe? At least, that¡¯s how it looked to me. There was a long hallway with pristine gray walls and floors.¡±

    Waiting for Iz, who¡¯d advanced a little further, was a humanoid robot who was not much different in height from Iz. Apparently, instead of facial features, there was a screen on its head, and a twisted expression appeared on it.

    ¡°When it spotted me, it looked so angry. An rm went off, and a swarm of robots emerged from inside. With no way to escape, I was defeated by aser.¡±

    Although Iz¡¯s defensive power wasn¡¯t that high to begin with, from her exnation, the monster could be said to be quite strong.

    ¡°However, there was no defense pration this time. Just to make sure, I switched equipment to change the defense power.¡±

    ¡°That helps a lot!¡±

    ¡°Thanks to you, I have one less thing to worry about.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh!¡±

    While it wasn¡¯t often that mobs had defense-piercing attacks, there was already a precedent in the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area. Through Iz¡¯s careful confirmation, Maple¡¯s [Loving Sacrifice] was found to be effective, which made it a whole lot easier.

    ¡°Still, you have to be careful because I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on in the back.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Iz, who¡¯d been piloting for a while, stopped the flying machine in the middle of a gray floor that was buried in the dirt amidst the wilderness.

    ¡°I guess this is thest ce. At least, that¡¯s what I learned from the library¡­¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯ve epted the quest, there should be a response.¡±

    As they walked with Iz in the lead, the ground reacted, and with slight vibration, part of the floor slid open like a door opening, revealing a staircase leading all the way down to the basement.

    ¡°Shall we enter?¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we make a line that consists of three people? For the time being, Maple, Kasumi, and I will go in.¡± (Chrome)

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°First, [Dedicated Affection]!¡±

    Before she forgot, Maple amplified her defense with [Loving Sacrifice] and lined up tow people who were highly suited to the vanguard just in case.

    Lights that didn¡¯t generate heat were installed at equal intervals on both sides of the walls to ensure brightness. After descending the long stairs for a while, they arrived at the inorganic passageway that Iz had mentioned.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s spacious from here.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Iz mention that there was arge enemy? I guess it¡¯s to amodate that.¡±

    The hall was wide enough for the members of the [Maple Tree] to stretch out their arms and line up side by side. It seemed that there was no need to worry about how to handle weapons and formations during battle.

    However, as Kasumi said, the same went for the enemy.

    ¡°Maple, be careful not to get knocked back. It¡¯s spacious here.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. If I¡¯m not careful, I¡¯d be blown away.¡±

    Maple went inside, keeping in mind the activation of [Heavy Body] and [Throne of the Heavenly King].

    Naturally, there was also the issue with movement speed, along with the effect range of [Loving Sacrifice], so Maple became the prime focus of the movement. After going a little further down the hallway, they encountered three robots. Although it wasn¡¯t possible to see the exact expression, a blue light appeared on the ck background of the screen attached to its face.

    ¡°If it turns red, it means that we¡¯ve been discovered.¡±

    ¡°So, in other words, we¡¯re still out of search range.¡±

    Now they could afford to take some measures, such as pre-emptive strike or preparing for the army after they were spotted.

    ¡°How should we go against it? I guess we can have Mai and Yui defeat them with iron balls.¡±

    Since the three robots were standing a certain distance apart, it was necessary to attack them with three or more iron balls or [Throw Weapon] to take them out all at once.

    Once theyunched an attack, the rm would go off regardless of the distance.

    While the target was small, with the practice that Mai and Yui had undergone, it wasn¡¯t impossible for them to hit it.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be easier if I protect them and break through all at once?¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s that. It can work.¡±

    <em><i>Take measures to be safe.</i></em>

    However, even without considering that, they could already crush everything.

    <em><i>If you¡¯re overwhelmingly strong, you don¡¯t need strategies.</i></em>

    ¡°When arge number of enemies appear, it¡¯d be nice if we can defeat them without being overwhelmed.¡±

    They could have Mai and Yui handle it, but they tried to find a way to make it more automatic and convenient for themselves.

    Maple decided to use a certain tactic she¡¯d just learned.

    ***

    ¡°Oh, that looks delicious.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a Japanese sweet that I bought at the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area. It¡¯s a new product that wasn¡¯t avable on the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I recall seeing fresh fish in the 8<sup>th</sup> Floor Area.¡±

    ¡°There weren¡¯t any in the 6<sup>th</sup> Floor Area¡­¡±

    ¡°Many of the areas weren¡¯t made for sightseeing, after all.¡±

    After Iz had switched her flying machine to limousine mode, they took out souvenirs from each area and arranged them on the table in the center.

    ¡°Iz, how is it going?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem so far.¡±

    ¡°<em><i>Let¡¯s proceed!¡±</i></em>

    All they could see from the cockpit of the slowly moving aircraft was a pitch-ckndscape.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t darkness, but a mountain of bizarre life forms created by the [Darkness of Rebirth].

    After the incident with Lily, it became a powerful and solid strategy for Maple.

    As they watched the debris disappear with a crunch, Maple and Sally returned to their seats, thinking that there was no problem.

    Thus, it became a breakthrough among yers as a new and efficient form of dungeon exploration¡ª

    ¡ª<em><i>As if. </i></em>

 Chapter 504

    Chapter 504

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 504

    Defense Specialization and One Step Ahead

    The march went on, albeit in a not-so-bing way.

    The bizarre variants protected by Maple¡¯s [Loving Sacrifice] continued to mow down the enemy.

    Every time the rm ceased to ring, Maple and her friends realized that all the enemies they were facing had perished.

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m stuck.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Have we arrived?¡±

    In front of their eyes, the cryptic life forms squirmed unnervingly, pressing their bodies against the wall as if they¡¯d lost their way.

    ¡°Please step back for a moment!¡±

    At Maple¡¯smand, the strange creatures moved quickly and retreated to the rear.

    Then, a door showing the boss room appeared. The bizarre life forms had carried Maple and the others all the way to the boss room.

    ¡°<em><i>Sst, </i></em>let¡¯s get off for now.¡±

    ¡°As we should. It¡¯s difficult to maneuver in this form during battle.¡±

    Iznded on the ground and lowered the eight, restoring her flying machine to itspactbat setting.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we head to the front for now? I don¡¯t think the boss will be able to see us.¡±

    No matter how trivial the battle was, not grasping the attack patterns of the boss yielded more cons than pros.

    ¡°Can the bizarre variants go through the door?¡±

    ¡°If we put one at a time, it should work. Let¡¯s put in as many as we can in case we can¡¯t resummon it againter.¡±

    Maple and the others entered first, and then the bizarre life forms.

    After that was decided, buffs were applied to Mai and Yui. This time, they had two <em><i>weapons. </i></em>Mai and Yui¡¯s <em><i>one-hit kill </i></em>route and bizarre swarm route. Maple opened the door with confidence, as both had enough power to win.

    As soon as she stepped in, Maple called in the strange creatures that had been waiting obediently for her. However, midway through, the boss noticed Maple and the others. Soon, the door swung to a close, and only five bizarre creatures could enter.

    <em><i>¡®It can¡¯t be helped if that¡¯s the case,¡¯ </i></em>Maple decided and turned to the front once again to check on the boss.

    The boss bore simr characteristics to the first mob they encountered. An LCD panel was glued to his face, disying a glowing red angry expression. Six long arms extended from its pure white, porcin-like body. Despite having no legs, it floated slightly in mid-air, wobbling slightly from side to side like a flying machine.

    Then, they heard a startup sound, and the conveyor belt installed on the wall behind the boss began to move.

    At the same time, there was a buzzing sound, and a red light that matched the boss¡¯ expression spread throughout the room, enveloping Maple and the others.

    The glow removed Mai and Yui¡¯s buff, along with Maple¡¯s [Loving Sacrifice] and bizarre variants.

    Apparently, the light could dispel sustained effects and active skills.

    ¡­And that was how Maple and the others came to learn that the boss was on a whole different level.

    ¡°This guy¡­!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s proof that the boss is strong. Brace yourself!¡±

    ¡°Maple, please cover me! Chrome, please cover Yui!¡±

    Now that there was no [Dedicated Affection], it was necessary to protect the two of them the traditional way. [Maple Tree] had two tower shield-users. Even though the boss was one step ahead, not all hope was lost.

    ¡°[Afterglow of Salvation]!¡±

    Assuming that there wouldn¡¯t be any counterattacks, Maple deployed damage reduction and continuous recovery buffs.

    With this, the durability of everyone, including Chrome, had been increased.

    Just as their preparations progressed, so did the enemy. What flowed onto the conveyor belt at the back was a pure white weapon that was made of the same material as the boss¡¯ body. Taking advantage of its six arms, the boss picked up two and brandished them towards Maple and the others.

    One was a square box with several holes in it, while the other was a gatling gun no matter how one looked at it.

    The boss fired the gatling gun andunched small missiles from the other box, leaving a trail of smoke.

    The moment they saw this, the two key members of the defense team responded.

    ¡°[Aggravate][Cover]!¡±

    Maple and Chrome drew the enemy¡¯s attention and defended. Although [Evil Eater] was activated, there was no problem because there was no need to worry about firepower this time.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay! Go, Sally!¡±

    ¡°Kasumi! Setup, please!¡±

    Entrusted with the task, Sally and Kasumi leaped out, evading the boss¡¯ attack.

    In response, the boss grabbed two more weapons from the conveyor belt

    One was a shining blue string that stretched towards the ground, while the other was a big bell.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go in first. If it looks safe, jump in.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°[Mind¡¯s Eye]!¡±

    Unlike the first two weapons, the second two were mysterious. Kasumi jumped into range ahead of Sally to see where the boss¡¯ next attack wasing from. After all, Sally couldn¡¯t afford to make a single blunder.

    The bell rang and the hand holding the string moved rapidly.

    When Kasumi used [Mind¡¯s Eye], she saw the red glows that indicated the enemy¡¯s attack. One was crisscrossing the air chaotically, while the other covered most of the ground in a circr pattern.

    ¡°[Tenth Sword: Vajra]!¡±

    Sensing that it¡¯d be difficult to evade due to the range and attack speed, Kasumi prepared for the attack by stacking her own damage reduction on top of Maple¡¯s damage reduction.

    As the blue string stretched with the swing of the boss¡¯ arm, it transformed into a whip that struck Kasumi hard. Meanwhile, the bell targeted several spots on the ground, leading to multiple explosions that engulfed Kasumi and exacerbated the damage.

    ¡°Kasumi!¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    Although her HP had decreased, it didn¡¯t mean that she¡¯d lost the match. Once she¡¯d seen it in action, she could deal with it better next time.

    ¡°[Ancient Weapon]!¡±

    ¡°[Crimson Wave]!¡±

    ¡°Lock on, fire!¡±

    Maple, Kanade, and Iz banded together to provide fire support from the rear, dealing significant damage to the boss.

    Taking advantage of the staggering boss, the two jumped on their feet and rained attacks on the boss all at once.

    ¡°[Quintuple sh]!¡±

    ¡°[Arm of the Warrior] [Third of the Sword: Whirlwind]!¡±

    The two¡¯s sessive attacks wounded the boss severely. The attack power of the two were also top-notch, so the damage couldn¡¯t be ignored. The bell rang again, while the whip was swung.

    Even so, Kasumi¡¯s first experience with the [Mind¡¯s Eye] allowed Sally to avoid the whip and explosion using her natural evasion skill.

    Maple and Chrome aggroed the boss with [Aggravate], while the other four attacked with all their might.

    The twins, who didn¡¯t join and were protected, fell out of the boss¡¯ sight.

    The boss, who wasn¡¯t a yer, failed to recognize the actual threat in the room.

    Chrome and Maple slowly advanced while blocking the attack.

    They¡¯d fought with these two many times before. Everyone already knew the range of their main skills.

    Maple and Chrome sent them a nce, and the twins caught on almost instantly.

    Mai jumped out from behind Maple, brandishing eight sledgehammers. The strongest <em><i>weapon </i></em>that had yed countless monsters and mighty bosses.

    ¡°[Throw Weapon]!¡±

    Facing the threat of certain death at the hands of the eight weapons, the boss immediately put up resistance. With its two free hands, it grabbed two shields from the conveyor belt, and a transparent blue barrier consisting of many connected hexagons unfolded in front of them.

    Soon after that, Mai¡¯s sledgehammernded and destroyed the barrier with a roar. However, the barrier was so amazing, the boss was able to block it without sustaining any damage.

    <em><i>¡ªbut.</i></em>

    The Harbinger of Death consisted of not one, but <em><i>two </i></em>people.

    ¡°[Throw Weapon]!¡±

    Mai and Yui timed their attacks precisely because they didn¡¯t underestimate their enemy.

    Yui¡¯s sledgehammer struck the boss that wasn¡¯t protected by any barrier at the moment.

    The HP bar, which would otherwise be cleanly shaved off, was still intact, albeit it had decreased significantly. Maple and the others surmised that the boss wouldn¡¯t take damage beyond a certain value.

    ¡ªThen again, it was already to be expected. Without being surprised or dismayed, the [Maple Tree] began to finish their work.

    ¡°Get on board!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Both of you,e here!¡±

    Iz¡¯s flying machine, with Kanade on the roof, flew along the ground. Maple and the four others jumped on it as she elerated. Iz went straight for the boss.

    ¡°[Quick Change]!¡±

    ¡°[Heal]!¡±

    ¡°Necro, [Weight of Death]!¡±

    Maple changed to white equipment. Kanade instantly healed and secured the necessary HP. The boss had its movement obstructed, preventing it from fighting back.

    Mai and Yui also retrieved their thrown weapons by disarming and reequipping their equipment with practiced skill.

    <em><i>Ready.</i></em>

    The boss reced his broken and useless shield with a cannon and sword in an attempt to intercept them, but it was toote already.

    ¡°[Aegis]!¡±

    The stronger and the more diverse the attacks of the enemy became, the easier it was to incorporate the reliability of Aegis into their strategy.

    [Aegis] would nullify attacks for a certain period of time. In other words, <em><i>an absolute defense, </i></em>albeit only for a short time.

    ¡­And when it came to burst damage, [Maple Tree] was unrivaled.

    Joining Kasumi and Sally who were already grappling with the boss, Mai and Yui jumped from the flying machine, brandishing their weapons.

    ¡°¡°[Double Impact]!¡±¡±

    An attack that nullified the opponent¡¯s attack and struck them. In order for the boss to win, it¡¯d have to be able to cancel the skill again.

    ***

    The boss exploded, leaving only debris behind. The quest was cleared, allowing Maple and the others to obtain the item they were looking for.

    ¡°We got it, [Magic of the Demon King II]!¡±

    ¡°Oh, this is the second one!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s going well. If we keep up with this ce, we¡¯ll be able to finish it while the two of us can still y.¡±

    ¡°We need to hurry up and collect the rest. If we¡¯re going to fight, I¡¯ll give it my all, but¡­ do you think we can defeat the Demon King in one try?¡±

    During battle, the [Magic of the Demon King] would be consumed. Once they were forced to retreat, they¡¯d have to collect the [Magic of the Demon King] all over again. If they attempted it and lost, they¡¯d lose their chance to win, leaving them with only regret. As such, they should probably proceed with the quest in a calm manner.

    ¡°The Demon King¡­ <em><i>is it?</i></em>¡±

    ¡°It must be quite formidable!¡±

    ¡°As long as we¡¯re together, I think we can win!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I think so too. Let¡¯s hurry up and get the right to challenge it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Another step forward. Looking at the [Magic of the Demon King] they had obtained with satisfaction, Maple and the others finished conquering the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area.

 Chapter 505

    Chapter 505

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 505

    Defense Specialization and Long-Cherished Wish

    After safely conquering the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area, Maple and the others split up into various areas.

    The time when everyone would gather again without fail was during the battle to obtain the next [Magic of the Demon King].

    After sessfullypleting the previous area, Maple and Sally set their sights on the 5<sup>th</sup> Floor Area.

    None of the guild members had made any progress in that certain floor. Not to mention, Lily and Wilbert had just given them the opportunity. By aligning their progress with other areas, they¡¯d be able to collect the [Magic of the Demon King] efficiently.

    In the 5<sup>th</sup> Floor Area, the area would be conquered ording to the slowest yer in the party. For that reason, it was important to be on the same page. As such, the appointment for the next attack would be based on Maple¡¯s schedule.

    Today, Sally used her free time to continue dueling against the two as usual.

    ¡°I¡¯m feeling pretty good today!¡±

    ¡°I wish I could hit more urately¡­¡±

    Not only against Sally, Velvet and Frederica were also having a match at the same time.

    Due to the difference inpatibility, Velvet would win 7 out of the 10 matches, but whether Velvet would get the better of her by engaging in a closebat, or whether Frederica would overwhelm Velvet with a barrage depended on how they were doing that day.

    However, there was only one thing that didn¡¯t change despite the condition¡ªand that was Sally¡¯s victory.

    Sally finished all the matches today, and after taking a breather at the training center, she began to express her thoughts.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t Frederica use her [Mana Ocean]?¡±

    ¡°Hm, I won¡¯t use it.¡±

    ¡°Come to think of it, she¡¯ll be quite a hassle with that skill activated.¡±

    Frederica¡¯s trick that they only witnessed once at thest event. By <em><i>literally </i></em>unleashing an endless and countless barrage of magic one after another, Frederica would probably be able to defeat Velvet. Or even Sally, for that matter.

    The two stared at Frederica, thinking there must be a reason why she wasn¡¯t using it even though she had that much power.

    ¡°Velvet is fine, but if I show it to Sally, she¡¯de up with a counter right away, right? In the future, we might go up against each other, so I¡¯ll save it until that moment.¡±

    The milestone event. PvPpetitions were also listed there. Although it was still unclear as to what form that will take, the fact remained that Frederica could go up against Sally.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you win.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t lose, at least for now.¡±

    ¡°Ugh, and that¡¯s why I especially saved that skill for thest.¡±

    Frederica countered Sally, who confidently exuded pressure, even though she felt somewhat intimidated.

    While watching that, Velvet looked back on today¡¯s duel.

    For better or worse, Frederica was the same as always. Velvet already figured out her tactics to some extent, and unless Frederica used [Mana Ocean], their current status quo wouldn¡¯t change.

    Compared to Frederica, Sally had changed. When they dueled for the first time, Velvet was taken aback by Sally¡¯s skill. But now, Sally¡¯s movements were so precise and wless that Velvet began to suspect that she was cutting corners back then.

    Not only did Sally dodge the thunderstorms like a champ, she could also handle surprise attacks despite being stunned and attack using new devices.

    It was over in a short time. Sally was so wless, Velvet wondered who on earth she was preparing to fight.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    No, Velvet already knew who Sally was nning to fight. However, she couldn¡¯t think of a scenario in which that opponent could deal against <em><i>this </i></em>Sally.

    <em><i>Is there any chance of it being a good fight in the future?</i></em>

    As she was pondering about Sally¡¯s never-ending progress and her ever-honing skills, their gazes collided

    ¡°There¡¯s no point in doing something if you don¡¯t give it your all.¡±

    ¡°¡­You¡¯re right.¡±

    Velvet shook her head slightly, trying to be conscious of her usual attitude, wondering if it was reflected in her expression.

    By not cutting corners, Maple would have no choice but to be her opponent. Unless she overcame all the hardships, Sally¡¯s long-cherished wish wouldn¡¯te true.

    ¡°I understand why you¡¯re hesitating.¡± (Velvet)

    ¡°¡­Yes, thank you.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    <em><i>Time waits for no one. </i></em>The interpersonal battles that many yers were waiting for, each with their own reasons, would eventuallye.

    ***

    421 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Isn¡¯t the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor too wide?

    422 Name: Anonymous Spear-User

    Where are you starting from?

    423 Name: Anonymous Archer

    The 1<sup>st</sup> Floor Area is over, and now I¡¯m heading to the 8<sup>th</sup> Floor Area. I thought I¡¯d start by getting rid of things that I deem troublesome¡­

    424 Name: Anonymous Tower Shield-User

    I heard there¡¯s a riddle that you have to solve there.

    425 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Yes!

    This is really difficult¡­

    There¡¯s almost no walkthrough to be found¡­

    426 Name: Anonymous Great Sword-User

    If you start from the 1<sup>st</sup> Floor Area like my guild, the 8<sup>th</sup> Floor Area would be at the end, so maybe that¡¯s why there aren¡¯t many guides.

    427 Name: Anonymous Tower Shield-User

    I heard things are going well for you.

    428 Name: Anonymous Archer

    S o m e o n e s a v e m e. . .

    429 Name: Anonymous Wizard

    Despite the small number of people, you can conquer pretty much anything.

    430 Name: Anonymous Tower Shield-User

    Because everyone specializes in one trick.

    You can deal explosive damage in a suitable environment.

    431 Name: Anonymous Wizard

    But how often do you find this ¡®suitable environment¡¯, really¡­?

    432 Name: Anonymous Spear-User

    I wonder if it¡¯s viable to specialize in just one trick?

    433 Name: Anonymous Great Sword-User

    Those are valid points.

    Well, if you encounter any problems, just call me and I can provide you with information.

    Although, it¡¯s limited to the ces I¡¯ve conquered!

    434 Name: Anonymous Archer

    That¡¯s more than enough.

    Thank you¡­

    435 Name: Anonymous Wizard

    As expected, it¡¯d be a while before I can find the hidden skills.

    I want to focus on the quest for now.

    436 Name: Anonymous Great Sword-User

    Let¡¯s hope on an idental discovery.

    437 Name: Anonymous Spear-User

    If that¡¯s how easy it is, I¡¯d have a seven-pronged spear that emits fire and ice by now.

    438 Name: Anonymous Wizard

    I know, but I still need to find it.

    439 Name: Anonymous Tower Shield-User

    I should try to look for one, too.

    The disparity is widening.

    440 Name: Anonymous Archer

    It may or may not be suitable for you.

    Even if my magic gets stronger, it doesn¡¯t mesh well.

    441 Name: Anonymous Wizard

    Where¡¯s the LUK status when we need it?

    442 Name: Anonymous Archer

    There isn¡¯t.

    There¡¯s none to begin with.

    443 Name: Anonymous Spear-User

    I¡¯m sure there isn¡¯t.

    444 Name: Anonymous Great Sword User

    I have no choice but to start practicing Feng Shui!

    Let¡¯s form a team that strives to improve your LUK skill!

    445 Name: Anonymous Wizard

    Why don¡¯t we start with the morning fortune telling.

    446 Name: Anonymous Archer

    First, start with the free-to-y luck UP challenge. That¡¯d be wise.

 Chapter 506

    Chapter 506

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 506

    Defense Specialization and Securing HP

    Together, Maple and Sally marched into the clouds, heading for the boss room, where Lily and the others had done their best to carry them.

    Apparently, once they defeated it, they could just pass by. True to Lily¡¯s words, the boss was no longer there.

    ¡°<em><i>Phew, </i></em>we¡¯re finally here!¡±

    ¡°Yep. Since we¡¯re expected to climb up, let¡¯s keep going higher.¡±

    ¡°Agreed!¡±

    The two went straight towards the magic circle that appeared at the back of the room. Once they stepped on it, they should be teleported into the clouds. It was the entrance to a huge dungeon where they must defeat the enemies that stood in their path and advance towards the top.

    As soon as they hoped on, they were engulfed by light, and the next time they could register their surroundings, they were already inside abyrinth made of pure white clouds.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve been in the clouds.¡±

    ¡°As expected, there¡¯s no ce like this unless you go to the 5<sup>th</sup> Floor.¡±

    Just like the 5<sup>th</sup> Floor, the ground sank in, so they walked around and checked their surroundings, being careful not to get caught.

    The two of them were teleported to a vast space. There were five paths leading out from there, and it seemed like they had to take one of them.

    ¡°Which do you prefer?¡±

    ¡°Since we have to reach the top, I think it¡¯s better to go uphill.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Then let¡¯s just take the path that seems to be heading upwards first.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh!¡±

    The two of them stood at the entrance of the passageway and peered inside, choosing the steepest of the five paths.

    Although some of the clouds that stuck out could be used as tforms, they had to essentially scale a vertical wall. The two¡¯s strategy was sessful in that regard.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to fly. Is the operation okay?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine!¡±

    Since they came after clearing the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area first, the height difference wasn¡¯t much of an obstacle.

    Passing through the avable scaffolding, the two flew across the sky and advanced.

    ¡°Ah! Sally, there are some monsters!¡±

    ¡°I saw. Hmm¡­ They don¡¯t seem to be capable of any long-range attacks.¡±

    Sally stopped in midair and gazed at the end of the passage, where multiple monsters could be seen. The monsters, which looked like soldiers walking around, were d in pure white armor that blended into the white clouds in the background.

    The monsters were equipped with spears and swords of the same color, and at first nce, there were no wizards or archers. On a closer inspection, their equipment seemed to be made of clouds, just like the floor and wall.

    As they were observing the monsters they¡¯d probably encounter in the future, they noticed that the monster seemed to sink into the clouds beneath their feet, disappear, and then reappear again, over and over.

    ¡°They¡¯re diving to ambush us.¡±

    ¡°Keep your guard up, even if it may seem like nothing.¡±

    ¡°Should I just fly?¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s safer than staying on the ground. I want to try a pre-emptive attack this time and see what happens.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Maple poised her weapon and with a practiced movement, fired aser towards the ground. Theser spread out to cover the bed of clouds where the soldiers were, damaging them.

    However, whether it was because of their high physical strength or defense power, they took less damage than expected, and seemed to have spotted Maple and the others from the attack. The soldiers turned towards them, brandishing their weapons.

    <em><i>¡°Well¡­!¡±</i></em>

    As the two watched, the soldiers created a path of clouds in the air and quickly ran through it.

    Apparently, the dev also knew that some yers might use flying machines, and added that feature to rule out a one-sided battle.

    ¡°I¡¯ll intercept them. Please back me up.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Sally elerated and advanced forward, attracting the soldiers. Maple generated more guns one after another, continuing her barrage of onught on them.

    Sally evaded Maple¡¯s bullets and joined the fray so as not to hinder the attack on the soldiers.

    In front of them were a spear user and two sword users with long swords. The enemy didn¡¯t move in any notable way, but even when Sally approached, she focused on evading rather than attacking.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Taking advantage of her focus on evasion, Sally evaded the enemy¡¯s attack. The supposedly out of range cloud swords and spear extended from a distance. Matching the force of the thrust, they passed over Maple and hit the wall behind her.

    ¡°That¡¯s some nice weapons.¡±

    Just when Sally thought that the weapons were now elongated, they reverted back to their original length, leaving no room for an opening.

    Sally had missed the chance tond the first hit, and she still didn¡¯t know the extent of the enemy¡¯s attack. That fact weighed heavily on her.

    Even though the range increased, the trajectory remained the same. The slightly faster, yet simple thrusts and sweeps couldn¡¯t reach Sally, who was avoiding Maple¡¯s barrage from behind while at it.

    ¡°It¡¯s not very effective, but¡­ [Water Coat]! Oboro [Fire Child]!¡±

    Using skills, there were three types of follow-up attacks that apanied Sally¡¯s attacks, including [Addition de].

    Once Sally shed with her dagger, water and mes would scatter, dealing four times the normal attack power on the enemy.

    Although Maple¡¯s bullets were rapid and powerful, the stats didn¡¯t increase with leveling up.

    Hence why even if Maple was skilled at it, the firepower wasn¡¯t as it used to be.

    On the other hand, Sally¡¯s attack grew stronger based on her [STR].

    Not only did she increase her [AGI], she also made sure to increase her [STR], further increasing the damage of her [Sword Dance]. Sally¡¯s boosted sessive attacks inflicted serious damage to the monsters on the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor.

    She slipped past the monsters, and each time she did that, a huge damage effect was scattered.

    Wherever it looked like the monsters might survive, a hail of bullets assailed them.

    The firepower was bing insufficient. Having said that, it didn¡¯t mean that the monsters would still be okay after receiving them. It didn¡¯t take long for the two of them to disperse the enemies who wielded clouds as their weapons.

    After waiting for a while, the two confirmed that no additional monsters emerged from the bed of clouds, and thennded.

    ¡°Nice support fire.¡±

    ¡°Sally, too!¡±

    ¡°Looks like we can manage with the small fry monsters. I didn¡¯t expect them to build a tform and have some retractable weapons.¡±

    ¡°Hey, if Sally had a weapon like that, won¡¯t you put it into good use?¡±

    ¡°Thanks to the new unique series, I¡¯m now able to do something simr, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll go that far. It might be a good idea to ask Iz. Apparently, there were new materials in the 3<sup>rd</sup> Floor Area as well.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t I also ask her next time!¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Maple might also have new equipment made for her. Look, we need to make sure we have the best equipment before the final battle, right?¡±

    ¡°Certainly¡­¡±

    Maple already had multiple powerful pieces of equipment, and on top of that, due to skill slots, she basically fought with unique series. It was safe to say that they already had enough equipment. Still, it was certainly better to switch essories and other items to suit the asion.

    ¡°You can increase your HP, or you can add resistance to other status ailments.¡±

    ¡°It sounds like the Demon King is capable of doing something <em><i>amazing.</i></em>¡±

    ¡°True.¡±

    Maple was strong against poison and paralysis, but still couldn¡¯t resist sleep and stun effects. She could boost her resistance with some skills, but if she wanted to be totally sure, it¡¯d be best to prepare her equipment like Sally said.

    Nowadays, they don¡¯t have to worry about gold or materials anymore. In order toe out victorious in the end, Maple reaffirmed her focus to do what she could now.

    Since they came there after getting the flying machines, they could move through the clouds without having to worry about the terrain. After a while, terrain appeared in front of them, and they could no longer fly.

    The ceiling was low, the floor was t, and the end was a narrow passageway that could barely amodate two people walking side by side. It was difficult to tell because it was all white, but there seemed to be a path branching off to the left and right.

    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s going to be a maze.¡±

    ¡°Then I guess we¡¯ll just have to look at them one by one. Oh, maybe I should just walk with my hands on the wall?¡±

    ¡°Enemy will probablye out, so be careful around the turns so that you don¡¯t run straight into them. The ones that came out of the floor like before didn¡¯t have any signs until thest minute.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    They stepped into the maze of clouds with Maple holding a tower shield in front of them.

    ¡°Things would¡¯ve been so much easier if we could fly.¡±

    ¡°As expected, the ceiling is blocking everywhere.¡±

    ¡°Right?¡±

    ¡°Well, there are many people who can fly without a flying machine, so this ceiling is probably to prevent that.¡±

    At that point, they had no choice but to conquer the maze. The two walked forward, keeping an eye out for a surprise attack.

    As they turned back at several dead ends and proceeded through the clouds, where they seemed to lose track of how far they hade. Maple, who was leading the way, noticed that her footing had be a little softer.

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°It feels like the floor has be softer¡­ <em><i>Huh!?</i></em>¡±

    ¡°Maple¡ª!¡±

    The moment Maple took a step and sank into the floor, Sally stretched her thread and caught Maple.

    Maple sank to her abdomen on the floor, but thanks to Sally¡¯s thread, she was able to avoid sinking further.

    ¡°Calm down, and try toe up using the flying machine.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ <em><i>Huff, </i></em>I was surprised.¡±

    Maple was lifted up by the flying machine and slipped out of the floor, and the two looked at where Maple had been stuck.

    ¡°¡°Wow¡­¡±¡±

    They couldn¡¯t help but cry at the sight they saw. Beyond the hole, they could see the ground far beyond. If Maple fell, she¡¯d go straight to the ground.

    ¡°If it were me, would I survive the fall?¡±

    ¡°<em><i>Hmm¡­ </i></em>ording to what I heard, you couldn¡¯t reach this ce by simply flying through the air. And instead of sustaining fall damage, you¡¯ll automatically die if you fall from here.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Make sure you can stop the flying machine quickly, because there will be a reprieve.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Now then, knowing that we can sink into the floor, I¡¯d like to just fly away, but¡­¡±

    Although the flying machine had been upgraded and enhanced, there was a limit to the amount of time they could fly continuously.

    They wanted to avoid the worst-case scenario of being unable to fly when the need arose.

    ¡°Then how about riding on the shield?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nice! Yeah, let¡¯s do that. It¡¯s been a while.¡±

    ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll get ready!¡±

    Maple switched her essories, letting the pair of floating hands hold her shield, setting it parallel to the ground.

    Since Mai and Yui were swinging around the creepy hands all the time, Sally was already used to them.

    ¡°Hop on.¡±

    ¡°Drive well.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    It was one of Maple¡¯s methods of dealing with traps on the ground. This time, riding on a floating shield, the two flew into the depths of the maze once again.

    Then, as they turned a corner, the soldier with the spear from earlier appeared as if crawling out of the ground. This time, the soldierunched a preemptive attack from the other side.

    The cloud spear traveled down a straight trajectory at a speedparable to bullets, and hit Maple square in the forehead.

    The spear shaved off Maple¡¯s HP in an instant, instantly triggering [Indomitable Guardian].

    While Maple was stunned from the unexpected damage, Sally pulled away from Maple to block the enemy¡¯s pursuit.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    ¡°Maple, <em><i>retreat¡ª! </i></em>[Icicle]!¡±

    They were lucky that it was a turning point. After cutting the line of fire with [Icicle], the two of them operated the floating shield before the enemy couldunch an attack, returning to the way they hade.

    ¡°I was surprised¡­ The enemy is really strong¡­¡±

    ¡°It was certainly very powerful, but¡­ <em><i>Hmm,</i></em> okay, while we are at it¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°I guess Maple¡¯s HP is no longer adequate.¡±

    ¡°¡­! I see. Nothing has changed.¡±

    Thanks to the unique series, Maple¡¯s defense power never ceased to increase. However, the same didn¡¯t apply to her HP. When necessary, she¡¯d just equip the <em><i>[Archangel Tiara]</i></em> on the empty headgear or use [Quick Change].

    ¡°I thought everybody was going to take advantage of Maple¡¯s low HP, so I saved that move to outsmart them at some point, but I don¡¯t think we¡¯re going to fight anymore.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes.¡±

    If Maple¡¯s HP were to increase without anyone knowing, they would be able to thwart others¡¯ expectations. They might be able to take advantage of that in interpersonal battles, but it may or may not happen again.

    Maple could just prepare her equipment and increase her HP, but how much time would it take, considering that the final battle would soon be upon them?

    ¡°Let¡¯s have Iz make something that won¡¯t stand out. You should increase your HP so that [Indomitable Guardian] doesn¡¯t activate unexpectedly.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s head back.¡±

    ¡°Sure. We¡¯ll start the operation once the [Indomitable Guardian] is back up.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    <em><i>During an emergency, be careful and don¡¯t force yourself.</i></em>

    As expected, there were quite a few formidable monsters who could retaliate against them. At that point, they had to withdraw even though the enemy was still standing.

    Once they had retreated from the strong foe, which was unusual for the two of them, they went to Iz, the dependable craftsman.

    ¡°Iz¡ª!¡±

    ¡°We need your help!¡±

    When they opened the door to the workshop, Iz, who was waiting, turned around.

    ¡°You were in the 5<sup>th</sup> Floor Area, right¡­? Looks like something happened.¡±

    As soon as the two talked about the situation, Iz realized that they were looking for her.

    ¡°So, you want a HP-specific equipment? But this time it¡¯s not for HP cost, but for everyday use.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I can prepare it. Unlike Unique Series and rare equipment, there are no special skills, but nothing can beat the stat growth after enhancement.¡±

    ¡°Can you please prepare it for me¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the sooner the better, right? I¡¯ll get started on it right away. Can you show me the remaining materials?¡±

    Iz said that if they had good materials, she¡¯d use them to prepare the best equipment. The two of them immediately showed her the contents of their inventory, allowing Iz to choose from the vast array of materials they¡¯d obtained on their adventures so far.

    ¡°As expected, you¡¯ve been adventuring all over the ce and defeating formidable monsters. I think I can prepare it. Give me a few days.¡± [Iz]

    ¡°Really!?¡± [Maple]

    ¡°That helps a lot.¡± [Sally]

    ¡°You can rely on me as much as you want. Aside from items, there are many cases where you don¡¯t need any equipment¡­ My arms are <em><i>tingling</i></em>!¡±

    ¡°There are a lot of people who use the Unique Series. Even if they don¡¯t, they usually have the highest quality product avable.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d they are taking proper care of it, but I also want to make new equipment.¡±

    ¡°¡°Thank you!¡±¡±

    With Iz¡¯s willingness to take on the role, Maple¡¯s HP problem immediately showed signs of being resolved.

    However, it¡¯d be wise to refrain from venturing to the 5<sup>th</sup> Floor Area until they had the equipment.

    ¡°It might be a good idea to spend a few days sightseeing safely. It wouldn¡¯t be strange if there were other simr monsters out there.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. After all, Iz is doing her best to make it for me!¡±

    Of course, Maple could also use [Violence] before the [Indomitable Guardian] could be activated, but there was also a chance that she might be defeated before she could use that skill.

    Maple decided not to push herself too hard and quietly waited for Iz¡¯s equipment in the town.

 Chapter 507

    Chapter 507

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 507

    Defense Specialization and the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area

    One of the options was to wait until the equipment was ready. However, they also wanted to avoid fighting just in case. The two of them hade to a town in the 4<sup>th</sup>  Floor Area, taking the time to check out the base in the area they hadn¡¯t visited yet.

    ¡°Wow, it¡¯s really different from what you see from the outside.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if it¡¯s because of the barrier?¡±

    The sky the two looked up at when they left the Guild Home was a mesmerizing night sky studded with glittering stars.

    It wasn¡¯t always night on the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor, so from a distance, it seemed like a normal field of cherry blossoms.

    However, once they entered the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area, the scenery changed entirely. What they could see from the outside turned out to be transitory. Inside, the two were greeted by a Japanese-style townscape at night, where monsters prowled as if it was another world.

    ¡°It is really amazing.¡±

    ¡°Beautiful, isn¡¯t it? In this game, only this ce and the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor have such scenery.¡±

    As they were enjoying the Japanese-style area that they hadn¡¯t seen in a while, their meeting partner, Kasumi, came over.

    ¡°I heard about it. It¡¯s unusual for the two of you to retreat.¡±

    ¡°I just thought that it¡¯d be better to take on the challenge in our prime.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. You won¡¯t be able to use [Piercing Guard] every time. Since the floor is split into 10 areas, there are more than just piercing attacks to be wary of. I¡¯m starting to see Dispel Buff and Debuffs more often.¡±

    ¡°Is Kasumi¡¯s operation going well?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is. Also, because it¡¯s the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area, I¡¯ve been having a great time.¡±

    ¡°Is the way to progress with the quest also different here?¡±

    ¡°I guess so. While the quest itself does ur, rarely does it continue to the next rted quest after you¡¯ve cleared it.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­ Then what should we do?¡±

    ¡°You umte points by clearing a quest or reaching a specific area. I think the ultimate goal is to umte all of the points.¡±

    Even if the yer already explored a ce, changes in states such as the amount of points, the number and types of areas, and the gold one has would trigger a quest.

    Therefore, the search required a considerable amount of effort.

    However, it didn¡¯t seem to be an issue for Kasumi, who enjoyed the Japanese townscape. Not only did she explore every nook and cranny, she also kept an eye on the changes in the NPC¡¯s reactions depending on the progress of the operation.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about it. While you¡¯re sightseeing, I¡¯d like you two to help me conquer this town. There are some quests that could only bepleted within the town.¡± [Kasumi]

    ¡°Let me take care of that!¡± [Maple]

    ¡°Besides, there¡¯s a possibility that we¡¯ll find another quest if we go there. Look, Iz also told me that they have various materials.¡± [Sally]

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to that as well. There are probably things you can¡¯t find if you¡¯re alone.¡± [Kasumi]

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best!¡± [Maple]

    ¡°I believe in you.¡± [Kasumi]

    By forming a party, they could contribute to thepletion of the quest that their friend epted. The two wanted to avoid fighting as much as possible right now, and were looking to provide help without having to leave town.

    ¡°It¡¯s a simple but somewhat interesting quest. I¡¯m nning on having the two of you do some shopping.. It would probably be faster if I let you take a look.¡±

    First, Kasumi checked the map and entered the store a little further down the road to show them a sample.

    ¡°Excuse me¡­¡±

    ¡°Is this an Antique Shop¡­?¡±

    The two of them followed Kasumi into the store, and what caught their eyes were the ceramics and weapons on disy. Looking around the town, which had a different atmosphere than a normal NPC shop, Kasumi looked at all the items on the shelf and finally picked up a piece of pottery.

    ¡°Hm¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you buying that?¡±

    Maple also checked the pottery, but the exnation column for effects, <em><i>etc. </i></em>were all nk. The item name was [Precious Pottery], so she didn¡¯t know what kind of item it was.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. This time, it¡¯s <em><i>this.</i></em>¡±

    After saying that, Kasumi interacted with the Shopkeeper NPC, and while the two of them were watching, she skillfully haggled and got it at an eptable price.

    ¡°Both of you, <em><i>look.</i></em>¡±

    The true name of the item would be revealed as soon as it entered the yer¡¯s inventory. The [Precious Pottery] had transformed to its proper name, [Demon¡¯s Lantern].

    ¡°Oh, so we have to aim for authentic works, or something like that?¡± [Sally]

    ¡°As expected of you, Sally, you¡¯re quick to understand. Yes, this time, the quest is to find and buy the required number of authentic pieces from the many antique shops in this town.¡± [Kasumi]

    ¡°Hmm, sounds difficult¡­¡± [Maple]

    ¡°I can do it alone, but there are too many of them. It would also be a nice break for the two of you.¡± [Kasumi]

    ¡°Indeed. As Maple said, it seems difficult¡­ Even on the 10<sup>th</sup> Floor, the battles continue¡­¡± [Sally]

    It wasn¡¯t bad to take a break and use their brains to clear a quest. However, if they didn¡¯t know how to tell the difference, it¡¯d be extremely challenging.

    ¡°I havepiled some notes for myself. The characteristics of each piece are listed for every type of authentic piece. Of course, some parts still aren¡¯t perfect, but this should make things a little easier.¡± [Kasumi]

    ¡°I see. Then, might as well¡­¡± [Sally]

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s try it!¡± [Maple]

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you the gold you need. Don¡¯t sweat it, it was given to me when I epted the quest. Besides, it can only be used on the quest.¡± [Kasumi]

    ¡°It seems that we can¡¯t waste it, Sally¡­¡± [Maple]

    ¡°Of course, if you buy a fake, you¡¯ll lose gold. Hehe, you need to look carefully.¡± [Kasumi]

    After saying that, Kasumi shared the memo with the two of them. If they ran out of gold, they¡¯d probably have to pay for it themselves. The two checked Kasumi¡¯s memo because they couldn¡¯t afford to make costly mistakes.

    ¡°Leave it to me¡­ <em><i>Eh?</i></em>¡±

    ¡°There are so many!¡±

    The two of them widened their eyes when they saw the number of pages in the memo they had been sent. It seemed that Kasumi made her current purchase after memorizing all of them. Meanwhile, the two were getting dizzy from looking at the number of characteristics they had to distinguish.

    ¡°Did you buy all of these and identified them?¡± [Sally]

    ¡°No, I borrowed the power of a library that exists in other towns. There was a book that gave tips on how to identify them. Thanks to Kanade, the usefulness of libraries was proven.¡± [Kasumi]

    ¡°I-I¡¯ll do my best!¡± [Maple]

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Even though we¡¯re taking a break, it¡¯s not good to keep making mistakes.¡± [Sally]

    ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to the sess of the two of you. The stores you¡¯re looking for are marked around the town. You can get around easily by using a rickshaw.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just right. I want to read the memo while we¡¯re on the move.¡±

    ¡°Me too! As it is now, I don¡¯t know anything.¡±

    After parting ways with Kasumi, the two began touring Antique Shops in the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area.

 Chapter 508

    Chapter 508

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 508

    Defense Specialization and the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area (2)

    After leaving the store, the two hopped into a nearby rickshaw and moved along the cobblestone path, enjoying the pleasant vibrations.

    ¡°I-I wonder if I¡¯ll be able to tell the differences¡­?¡±

    ¡°Each page contains a different category of items. If it¡¯s about swords, then it¡¯s about swords. The same goes for vases. Maple should start from the front, and I¡¯ll start from the back.¡±

    ¡°So, each of us will be covering half of them!¡±

    ¡°I leave the first half to you.¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯ll leave the second half to you!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, okay. Leave it to me.¡±

    The pictures were neatly attached, making it easy for Maple and the others to understand where to focus their attention.

    As they checked their notes, it appeared that the rickshaw had arrived at their destination. After the two alighted and paid the fare, they opened the door of the store in front of them.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡±

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s quite a lot.¡±

    Compared to the previous store, there were more antiques lined up, albeit they may or may not be the items they needed for the quest.

    Even if they bought everything because they couldn¡¯t tell the difference, they may not attain any results.

    Hence why, they needed to carefully check what they needed byparing it with their notes.

    ¡°For now, I¡¯ll just focus on the weapon, <em><i>simply</i></em> because it¡¯s the one thates to mind first.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, that is so like you, Sally!¡±

    ¡°What about Maple?¡±

    ¡°Should I take a look at the vases first?¡±

    ¡°Apparently, in some cases, you might get two or three hits, so let¡¯s be extra mindful.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    They each opened their notes for confirmation andpared them with the actual object in front of them.

    Maple stood in front of therge vases lined up and carefullypared each one with her notes.

    ¡°Uh, this one¡­ It has no pattern. As for this one¡­ Ah, but the color is a bit different?¡±

    By having references, they didn¡¯t have to gamble by guessing and choosing based on gut instincts.

    After staring at the vase for a while, Maple concluded that it wasn¡¯t what she was looking for, and moved on to the tea set next to her.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ The color, the shape, the size¡­¡±

    While muttering the contents of the memo, Maple checked the tea set, her eyes as wide as saucer so as not to miss anything. Then, she stopped in front of a certain tea set.

    ¡°This¡­ is¡­ <em><i>this is it¡ª! </i></em>Sally¡ª!¡±

    ¡°Oh, did you find one?¡±

    ¡°What do you think¡­?¡±

    As long as they hadn¡¯t purchased it, they could still return it even if they made a mistake. They each carefullypared the characteristics with their notes.

    ¡°It fits¡­ This has to be it!¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s buy this.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s something I¡¯m curious about as well.¡±

    ¡°Eh!? Which one is it? Let¡¯s take a look!¡±

    ¡°Over here!¡±

    Sally led her to a certain spear. They took a closer look at the appearance, trying to decide whether or not it was worth buying.

    ¡°I feel like it fits the bill.¡±

    ¡°Does Maple think so?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh!¡±

    ¡°Good. Then let¡¯s buy this one too. I wonder if there¡¯s a third.¡±

    ¡°Make sure to check everything!¡±

    After looking through all the antiques to make sure they didn¡¯t miss anything, they concluded that only the previous two items matched the notes. Therefore, they decided to purchase just the tea set and the spear.

    ¡°Huh? Where¡¯s the discount?¡±

    ¡°I definitely saw Kasumi getting a discount. I assume it only appears for Kasumi, who is undertaking the quests of the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if we have enough money?¡±

    ¡°I think we¡¯ll be fine as long as we don¡¯t make any mistakes. Look, it¡¯s just a quest after all, so it shouldn¡¯t be impossible to aplish.¡±

    Whatever it was, it was a question that couldn¡¯t be answered right now. The two paid the gold price and purchased the two items, hoping that their judgment was correct.

    ¡°The spear is <em><i>[Narcissus]¡ª! </i></em>This one is <em><i>[Mallow]</i></em>!¡±

    ¡°So, we¡¯re both correct?¡±

    ¡°I think so! Awesome!¡±

    Maple was relieved and smiled at the good start. Apparently, their judgments based on the notes were correct.

    ¡°<em><i>Phew¡­ </i></em>I was a bit nervous back then.¡±

    ¡°True. But don¡¯t you feel more confident now?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep this up!¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s call another rickshaw.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Even during the short waiting period, they checked their notes and memorized the pages they hadn¡¯t yet memorized so that they could make a good purchase at the next store.

    They continued shopping in the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area, visiting all the antique shops Kasumi had entrusted to them. When the two of them came out of thest shop, they checked the items lined up in their inventory.

    They should¡¯ve bought enough unique antiques.

    ¡°We bought quite a lot, didn¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°Yep. The notes were really helpful.¡±

    ¡°Right!? Thanks to that, I didn¡¯t buy a fake product!¡±

    Kasumi¡¯s memo detailed all the characteristics of authentic works that they needed to purchase. Even if they missed out on some authentic pieces, as long as they carefully checked the notes while shopping, they should be less likely to purchase a counterfeit one.

    Since Kasumi had entrusted them with the task, they carefully read the notes and had a discussion before making the purchase, so they avoided buying any counterfeit goods.

    ¡°Should I contact Kasumi and rejoin her?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do just that!¡±

    They decided to meet up in front of the guild home, and each of them flew across the sky on their own flying machine.

 Chapter 509

    Chapter 509

    Itai no wa Iya nanode B¨­gyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 509

    Defense Specialization and the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area (3)

    Maple and her friends met up, showing their results at the Guild Home.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t buy anything wrong!¡±

    ¡°As expected, both of you have keen eyes.¡±

    ¡°Only because of the memo! But it was fun. I didn¡¯t spend much time shopping.¡±

    Not only was Sally able to obtain a <em><i>Unique Series </i></em>of equipment from the beginning, she also seldom used the consumable items sold at stores.

    Moreover, unless she was with Maple, Sally also rarely bought nonbat clothing or interior items. Due to that, she was able to make a refreshing change.

    ¡°Now I canplete the quest. Let¡¯s see¡­ Now I¡¯ve umted a certain number of points again. In the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area, it¡¯s like a pass.¡± (Kasumi)

    ¡°Does that mean you¡¯ve amassed a good number of points?¡± (Maple)

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Although there¡¯s no new areas like the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor that you can explore, the number of quests may increase when that happens.¡± (Kasumi)

    ¡°I see, I see.¡± (Maple)

    ¡°So, the quests will be released ording to your progress.¡± (Sally)

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s how it is. If you have time, I¡¯d like to explore the area with the two of you. We might find something other than the newly generated quests.¡±

    Since the number of people and items affected the urrence of quests, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if there were things that could only be found by going with three members.

    In the first ce, if they could find a quest on their own, they wouldn¡¯t have to meet that day.

    ¡°Sure. Depending on the quest, I might be able to help again.¡± (Sally)

    ¡°Please show us around!¡± (Maple)

    ¡°Leave it to me. There are some interesting shops.¡± (Kasumi)

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡± (Maple)

    They should do what they can while the three of them are still together.

    Thus, the three of them set out into town, sightseeing while looking for the next quest.

    After the three left the Guild Home, Kasumi led the group as they moved through the Japanese townscape.

    ¡°Kasumi, were you surprised when you first arrived? When we went inside, it was already night!¡± (Maple)

    ¡°Yes, I was really surprised. But¡­ I was also thrilled. After all, the enigmatic atmosphere of the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor is further entuated at night.¡± (Kasumi)

    ¡°This isted feeling¡­ It¡¯s like one big dungeon.¡± (Maple)

    ¡°That might not be far from the truth. Okay, let¡¯s start by gathering information.¡±

    Kasumi nced at the two of them and went into a store. When the two of them followed suit, they saw many demons (<em><i>youkai</i></em>) lined up around the table, engaged in chit-chat.

    ¡°Let¡¯s take a seat, too. There¡¯s space in the back.¡±

    At Kasumi¡¯s urging, the three of them sat around a table in the back and looked over the menu ced on the table.

    ¡°After we order, let¡¯s wait for a while. This is one of the spots to gather information. Besides, the rice flour dumplings (<em><i>dango</i></em>) and green tea (<em><i>matcha</i></em>) are delicious.¡± (Kasumi)

    ¡°<em><i>Hee¡­ </i></em>Then let¡¯s do it right away!¡± (Maple)

    ¡°I¡¯ll do the same. At times like this, it¡¯s best to follow the rmendations of those you know.¡±

    Even if they didn¡¯t know how to gather information, they could still look at the menu and order something tasty.

    A little whileter, five skewers with three <em><i>dango </i></em>stuck in each appeared in front of Maple and Sally, ranging from the standard sweet soy sauce ze to slightly unusual ones, on a beautiful vermillion-painted stand.

    While savoring it, the two looked around when the time arrived. Since they were gathering information, there must be something they could do.

    ¡°¡°Ah.¡±¡±

    When they turned around, they saw icons appearing above some of the customers, and they quickly realized that those were NPCs from which they could acquire information.

    ¡°If you order and wait for a while, you¡¯ll be able to gather information. It¡¯s not that particrly difficult to find, but you won¡¯t be able to do it by focusing solely on field strategy.¡± (Kasumi)

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Did you find this ce on your own, Kasumi?¡± (Maple)

    ¡°No, someone else did during their exploration. I managed to use it when the chance arrived, which was a relief.¡± (Kasumi)

    ¡°If it¡¯s me, I¡¯ll totally miss the fact that I need to order on top of looking inside.¡±

    ¡°But for those who like sightseeing¡­ No, someone like <em><i>Maple </i></em>is bound to find this kind of thing rtively easily.¡± (Sally)

    ¡°It looks like we have some new information. I¡¯m going to ask them some questions.¡± (Kasumi)

    ¡°Got it.¡± (Maple)

    ¡°We can just ask Kasumi about itter.¡± (Sally)

    While the two were waiting at their seats, Kasumi spoke to a muscr demon and returned.

    ¡°I heard something interesting, <em><i>but¡­ </i></em>It seems that I¡¯d require your help.¡± (Kasumi)

    ¡°Are we going to fight?¡± (Maple)

    ¡°Got it. But first, we have to wait until Iz is finished with the equipment.¡± (Sally)

    ¡°Where is it going to be?¡± (Maple)

    ¡°It¡¯s another dimension, where the force of gravity is at work. Unlike the one that can change direction, as the two of you have encountered several times, this one disables projectiles. They won¡¯t be able to fly or bounce too far.¡± (Kasumi)

    ¡°<em><i>Ack¡­</i></em>¡± (Maple)

    ¡°T-that seems difficult.¡± (Kasumi)

    ¡°For me and Sally, those conditions aren¡¯tpatible with our fighting style. If possible, I¡¯d like to borrow Maple¡¯s power.¡± (Sally)

    Unlike the two, who relied on mobility as the core of their attack, Maple could fight with a solid stance.

    Although she couldn¡¯t use her specialty long-ranged attacks due to gravity, Kasumi and Sally would be able to join in the attack if they could safely close the distance using [Loving Sacrifice].

    ¡°Of course!¡± (Maple)

    ¡°Thank you. In that case, I¡¯ll make ns for that and go around a few other towns today.¡± (Kasumi)

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if there are more quests.¡± (Maple)

    ¡°That¡¯s just how it is.¡± (Sally)

    They had a good start in finding a new quest, but that was still their first stop of the day. If there was an area that was more difficult than the supergravity area that Kasumi just found, they¡¯d like to prioritizepleting that area. Strolling around town was essential in order to increase their options.

    After enjoying the rest of the dumplings, Maple and her friends set out for another walk.

    ***

    It started off well, stumbling upon quests, but after that, they were unable to find any new quests. Most of the time, they were sightseeing.

    ¡°Do you like it?¡± (Sally)

    ¡°Hehe.¡± (Maple)

    Maple bought ck <em><i>geta </i></em>with a red thong and a purple Japanese umbre. They were enjoying the town to the fullest while equipped with items that resembled the <em><i>Unique Series.</i></em>

    ¡°Our next stop is here. You can look forward to this one.¡±

    What stood out from the building in front of them was the chimney from which the smoke was billowing, and the old tools such as a pickaxe that were propped up next to the entrance. The size and quietness of the building gave apletely different impression from the first ce they went to, whererge customers gathered.

    ¡°Another Item Shop? <em><i>Or¡­</i></em>¡± (Maple)

    ¡°You¡¯ll know it when you see it.¡± (Kasumi)

    When Kasumi opened the door, the scenery inside jumped into view. nking sound echoed as the iron was struck, emitting a red glow as it transformed into a de. An old man hit the iron while wearing a mask.

    ¡°A cksmith?¡± (Maple)

    ¡°Wow, it¡¯s quite different from Iz¡¯s workshop.¡± (Sally)

    ¡°That¡¯s because Iz is versatile.¡± (Kasumi)

    Iz could create items such as potions, cultivate nts such as medicinal herbs, and make not only armor but also clothes like the ones she made for Mai and Yui.

    Inparison, that workshop specialized in cksmithing. Was the one disyed on the wall a finished product? The weapon gleamed brightly, reflecting the zing mes, and was decorated with intricate decorations, disying the skill of the cksmith.

    ¡°Now, wait and see¡­¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­?¡±¡±

    Sensing that Kasumi was anticipating something, they both waited for the reaction of the cksmith¡ªthe only NPC in the room, and was probably the key person.

    After a while, the cksmith finished his work and nced towards them, still wearing his mask.

    ¡°You guys¡­ have something interesting.¡±

    Hearing those words, the three of them stared at each other and nodded slightly, fully expecting that.

    ¡°There¡¯s something I¡¯d like to ask you. I wasn¡¯t sure who to ask, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯re capable enough.¡±

    After the old man said that, an icon suddenly popped up¡ªa sign for them to ept the quest.

    ¡°Of course, I won¡¯t force you to do it. I don¡¯t care who I ask, provided that they can do it for me. If you¡¯re here, you¡¯re here for me, right? Depending on the oue of the request, I may be able to lend a hand or be flexible.¡±

    Even without such conditions, the three of them had already made up their minds.

    <em><i>¡®ept any quests they can.¡¯</i></em>

    ¡ªSuch was the shortcut topleting the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area.

    After the three of them had epted the quest, they could feel the eyes of the old man staring at them from behind the mask.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve received it, I¡¯m looking forward to it. I¡¯m also in a hurry.¡±

    After saying that, the man returned to his cksmith work.

    ¡°What is the quest about?¡± (Maple)

    ¡°It¡¯s most likely going to be a battle.¡± (Kasumi)

    ¡°Then let me help you with that too!¡± (Maple)

    ¡°Thanks, you¡¯re a great help.¡± (Kasumi)

    ¡°We have to work together to reach the Demon King!¡± (Maple)

    ¡°Indeed. Thanks to Kasumi, the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area seems to be progressing well, so it might be a good idea to go there first.¡± (Sally)

    Regardless of anything, the first thing they had to do was receive the equipment that Iz hastily made.

    After Maple and the others left the workshop, they went around the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area and collected as many quests as they could.

    However, in the end, only the first two were likely to involve major battles, so they decided to start by clearing them first.

    ¡°You can call me when the equipment is finished. In the meantime, I¡¯ll handle the small quests I can do by myself.¡± (Kasumi)

    ¡°Got it.¡± (Sally)

    ¡°The equipment is on the way, but if I¡¯m not careful, I won¡¯t be able to fight, so I have to do my best!¡± (Maple)

    ¡°I think a lot will depend on Maple¡¯s approach. There¡¯ll probably be areas that we can¡¯t cover, especially in ces where gravity is strong.¡± (Sally)

    They¡¯d just retreated after suffering a devastating blow in the 5<sup>th</sup> Floor Area. Maple didn¡¯t let her guard down, but as she faced the monsters along the way, Maple didn¡¯t let her guard down and raised her concentration.

    Thanks to Iz working at full speed, the equipment waspleted in just a few days, and a message was delivered to Maple.

    ¡°Iz!¡±

    As soon as they opened the door to the Guild Home, they were greeted by Iz. Glittering silver earrings and a ring were ced on the desk next to her. They were probably the equipment she¡¯d prepared.

    ¡°For the time being, I made the equipment as small as possible so it wouldn¡¯t be noticeable. With this, I don¡¯t think anyone will notice that your HP has increased unless you take damage.¡±

    ¡°Thanks!¡±

    The earrings could be used as head equipment, while the ring could be used as an essory. With that, Maple¡¯s abilities would go up a notch.

    Thanks to Iz¡¯s consideration, the equipment itself was kept small so that it could be used in interpersonal battles.

    [Guardian Knight¡¯s Earrings X]

    HP+300

    [Guardian Knight¡¯s Ring X]

    HP+300

    ¡°Oh, how amazing!¡±

    Although there were no special skills, equipment that were made specifically for HP had a value that exceeded the Unique Series in terms of increased stats, as Iz said.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be happy if this makes exploring even a little bit easier.¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll do my best!¡±

    ¡°Let me know if you need anything else.¡±

    ¡°Will do! I¡¯m going to the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area with Kasumi, so when I obtain the materials, I¡¯ll go to Iz!¡±

    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±

    Maple immediately equipped the new set and decided to head to the 4<sup>th</sup> Floor Area.

 Chapter 510: Defense Specialization and the 4th Floor Area (4)

    Chapter 510: Defense Specialization and the 4th Floor Area (4)

    Bofuri

    Chapter 510 ¨C Defense Specialization and the 4th Floor Area (4)

    Maple hurried to the 4th Floor Area and joined Sally and Kasumi, who were already waiting.

    ¡°Sorry to keep you waiting!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, we were just discussing this area while waiting for you, Kasumi.¡±

    ¡°Is your equipment ready?¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be able to tell just by looking, right? Iz-san made it that way!¡±

    Saying so, Maple revealed her silver earrings and newly acquired ring, poking out her ears.

    ¡°Wow. Now they won¡¯t be hidden in your hair.¡±

    ¡°It looks like everything¡¯s prepared. Shall we head out right away then?¡±

    Apanied by the upgraded Maple, their first destination was an area with stronger gravitational pull. Kasumi activated her flying device after checking the map.

    ¡°We¡¯ll save Haku¡¯s Super Erge for now.¡±

    ¡°Good idea. Depending on the situation ahead, we might need its power.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s fly!¡±

    The trio flew under the sun after leaving the town,nding near their destination after a while.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing¡­ right?¡±

    Before them stretched an expansive grasnd seemingly endless. The breeze was pleasant, and monster-like creatures inspired by herbivores roamed around. However, they didn¡¯t feel the strong gravity they were warned about beforehand.

    ¡°I heard a bit about the 4th Floor Area before Maple arrived. Apparently, they divide the areas differently from magic circles.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be quicker to see than to exin. Please wait a moment.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Kasumi took out a card from her inventory. Holding it up in the air, a purple me erupted, revealing arge red door.

    It delineated a clear boundary, reminiscent of the atmosphere of a boss room door, separating this ce from somewhere else.

    ¡°Most quests in the 4th Floor Area involve traversing sealed alternate realms rted tobat. Shall we enter? Beyond this point should be what we expected.¡±

    Kasumi exined.

    She nced back to ensure everyone was ready. Maple and Sally nodded, indicating they were armed and prepared.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡±

    As Kasumi opened the door, the same purple mes overflowed, enveloping Maple and the others. Before they realized it, the surroundings transformed into a deste night wilderness.

    ¡°Wow¡­ Ah!¡±

    A heavy sound was heard from behind Maple. The imposing red door mmed shut, severing the connection to the original world.

    ¡°To return to the original world through the normal route, we must defeat the boss or return here. Otherwise¡­ you might be forced out through logout or aplete party wipe.¡±

    Kasumi exined.

    ¡°So our goal is to clear it and exit from the deepest part?¡±

    It was natural to prioritizepletion over retreat, and neither Maple nor Sally objected.

    ¡°That seems to be the case. However¡­ it is indeed heavy.¡±

    Sally remarked.

    ¡°Gravity¡­ although it was mentioned, looking at the debuff, it seems to be more about reduced movement speed and forced descent. Kanade and Hinata also had simr magic, so it might operate on the same principle.¡±

    Maple spected.

    There were two types of movement restrictions, revealing a nuanced understanding beyond simply describing it as gravity. Undoubtedly, this field was designed to favor the enemy. Before engaging inbat, they needed to confirm the details.

    ¡°Maple, let¡¯s check. How effective is the Machine God barrage?¡±

    Kasumi inquired.

    ¡°Let me try it out. Stand back a bit¡­ Alright, Deploy Armaments, Commence Attack!¡±

    Maple eximed.

    The projectiles flew with a noise, but upon reaching about a meter, they dropped to the ground and exploded.

    This falls short of even a tenth of its original range. It¡¯s almostparable to Kasumi¡¯s sword.

    ¡°Ah¡­ Let¡¯s hold off on using Poison Dragon for now.¡±

    Maple suggested.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s probably for the best¡­¡±

    Because of its long range, the creation of poison swamps poses no problem.

    But with impacts happening right in front of us, idents could ur unexpectedly.

    ¡°Let me try something too. Path of Water! Ice Pir and Web User I¡±

    The Path of Water that was supposed to stretch into the air couldn¡¯t maintain its shape, falling to the ground as if pulled by strings, making a ssh and bursting away. While the Ice Pir was fine, when attempting to climb them by connecting with web strings, they were quickly severed and dropped to the ground.

    ¡°No good¡­ I guess fighting on the ground is our only option.¡±

    Sally had considered that perhaps if they were tethered together with strings, they wouldn¡¯t necessarily be dropped to the ground. However, if the skill used to keep them airborne was canceled, it would be more straightforward to focus on fighting on the ground than to search for loopholes. After verifying the aspects they were concerned about andpleting their preparations, the three decided to set off, with the door at their backs.

    ¡°Since the flying device seems to work in this environment, it probably means there¡¯s a response to the sky even in just t terrain.¡±

    Kasumi remarked.

    ¡°There are plenty of monsters that can bepletely sealed if you gain air superiority, so it¡¯s unavoidable.¡±

    Maple added.

    ¡°We may face unknown enemies, but there¡¯s nothing we can¡¯t handle. That¡¯s why we¡¯vee prepared.¡±

    Sally said confidently.

    ¡°I¡¯ll handle the defense!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re counting on you. If needed, I can heal right away, so don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Sally assured.

    Fortunately, Heal worked without any issues, as it directly affects the target rather than being a projectile. Since throwing potions in emergencies is difficult, they decided to be cautious by deploying Iz¡¯s special healing mist in advance. With the goal of confirming the enemy¡¯s strength, the trio decided to search for the first monster in this area, likely in the direction they were heading.

    ¡°It seems like we should head¡­ that way, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, probably.¡±

    A purple cross-shaped light shining in the sky like the North Star. Amidst the absence of any otherndmarks, the brilliance seemed to guide the trio forward.

    ¡°With no other markers, let¡¯s give it a shot!¡±

    ¡°In any case, we won¡¯t know until we try moving.¡±

    Sally remarked.

    ¡°With this vastness¡­ should we call Haku? Having the speed boost would make things easier.¡±

    Kasumi suggested.

    Their movement speed had been reduced, and it seemed that even Maple, with an AGI of 0, was affected. Maple¡¯s high-speed movement was due to the recoil from self-explosion, and if she were dropped to the ground, she wouldn¡¯t be able to move forward efficiently. Calling Haku would be a better choice than having Sally and Kasumi carry her on a cart since Haku wouldn¡¯t obstruct their path.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that. Haku, awaken!¡±

    Luckily, they had saved Super Erge. Kasumi summoned Haku and simultaneously erged him, ensuring both a means of transportation and reliable firepower.

    As they began to move, six purple magic circles unfolded around Maple, emitting sparks of lightning with the sound of thunder, and beasts d in purple lightning emerged from each circle.

    These creatures,rger than wolves by more than a size, emitted enough intimidation with just one look.

    ¡°Maple! Kasumi!¡±

    It was difficult to fight on Haku. Understanding Sally¡¯s short call, they jumped off and the beasts charged towards them.

    ¡°They¡¯re fast¡­!¡±

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°Loving Sacrifice! Self-Offering Love!¡±

    ¡°Heal!¡±

    Ignoring the reduced movement speed and forced descent, the creatures closed in, trailing lightning as they bounced around. In response, Maple extended six white wings from her back, deploying a doubleyered defense field.

    Sally used ¡®Loving Sacrifice¡¯ to replenish Maple¡¯s depleted HP, then threw an item to the ground, releasing a green mist with sustained healing effects.

    ¡°Kuh¡­¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re moving aggressively.¡±

    Kasumi and Sally narrowed their eyes at the beast that jumped to gain the upper hand.

    Now that their long-range attacks were sealed, it was difficult to punish the creatures as they jumped around while maintaining an appropriate distance.

    Though they aimed to counter the creatures as they lunged in, the beasts intensified the purple lightning sparking from their fur, roaring as they surged forward.

    Even though they were just monsters on the way, the intense lightning, not inferior to Velvet¡¯s, enveloped the surroundings in purple light, covering the area with the power of six beasts.

    Sally, judging that evasion without skills was impossible, temporarily abandoned evasion altogether to prioritize checking Maple¡¯s condition.

    ¡°We¡¯re okay! It looks like these attacks aren¡¯t piercing!¡±

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s a relief!¡±

    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s attack! Sally, one by one!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    The strongest fortress of Maple Tree withstood the lightning without faltering, protecting the two of them.

    As long as they confirmed that fact, there was nothing to worry about. It was now their turn.

    ¡°First of the Swords: Heat Haze!¡±

    Ignoring factors like movement speed, Kasumi engaged in close-quartersbat using a skill only she could execute. Darting into the creature¡¯s space as itnded, Kasumi dealt significant damage with a sh before twisting her body to circle behind it.

    ¡°Seventh of the Swords: Crush!¡±

    A heavy blow lifted the creature¡¯s body, sending it flying. As it wasn¡¯t affected by forced descent, its trajectory carried it neatly to Sally¡¯s waiting position.

    All the lightning raining down in an attempt to defeat Sally was nullified as Maple shielded her.

    ¡°Fire Ball! Water Wall, Quintuple sh!¡±

    The mes, the water, the damage effects, all scattered within the lightning with equally vivid brilliance.

    Originally a five-hit skill, Sally¡¯s attack turned into ten strikes with her two weapons, each followed by three additional strikes. A total of forty hits. Despite appearing lighter than it actually was, Sally¡¯s dagger sent one of the beasts flying, erased from existence.

    ¡°Keep it up!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s wrap this up quickly.¡±

    ¡°Just hold on a bit longer. Next one¡¯s mine!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    As if to regret not having a means to break through Maple¡¯s defense, the trio systematically dismantled the beasts one by one, eventually breaking through their encirclement.

 Chapter 511: Defense Specialization and the 4th Floor Area (5)

    Chapter 511: Defense Specialization and the 4th Floor Area (5)

    Bofuri

    Chapter 511 ¨C Defense Specialization and the 4th Floor Area (5)

    As the thunder that had been echoing subsided, the two confirmed that they had defeated all six entities and temporarily stowed their weapons.

    ¡°As expected! With these monsters, we¡¯re safe, right?¡±

    ¡°Thanks to Maple¡¯s defense.¡±

    ¡°With this kind of protection, no matter how many times theye out, we can handle it ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Counting on you!¡±

    Kasumi¡¯s instant teleportation skill was exceptionally strong against speed reduction and debuffs to AGI. It was a strength that Sally, who served as a high-speed attacker in a simr manner, did not possess.

    ¡°Get on. Let¡¯s move until more enemies show up.¡±

    Mounting on Haku¡¯s head as he approached the ground smoothly, they resumed their movement.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be long before we reach the Demon King¡¯s Magic in the 4th Floor Area.¡±

    ¡°Going smoothly, huh?¡±

    ¡°You two have been running around the 4th Floor Area while we¡¯ve been tackling the 2nd Floor Area.¡±

    ¡°Thanks to that, it seems like we can progress efficiently. It¡¯s really helpful.¡±

    ¡°From what I heard yesterday, it seems like things are going smoothly in the 6th Floor Area where Chrome is. Of course, unexpected things might happen, but surprisingly, we might have some leeway.¡±

    With the aim of defeating the Demon King by the end of March, there was a time constraint. However, this was the long-awaited final summary of all ten floors. It would feel a bit unsatisfying to rush through it with only conquest in mind.

    ¡°It¡¯s good to explore here and there in your free time. Hehe, the 4th Floor Area is nice.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ When we really start to see the end, should we go around once more before the final push? Who knows, Maple might find some new skill right before the Demon King¡¯s defeat.¡±

    ¡°Do you think she will?¡±

    ¡°Because, well, she¡¯s already started to diverge, so¡­¡±

    ¡°T-That¡¯s true¡­¡±

    They already possess skills sufficient to fight against whatever enemies may appear, but having more wouldn¡¯t hurt. While they were lucky to find the Toxic Division skill, there wouldn¡¯t be many strange skills popping up during the progression of each main area quest.

    ¡°I¡¯m also looking forward to Maple¡¯s yet unseen final evolution.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯d be nice if Sally finds a good skill too.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Well, if it¡¯s an attack skill, she can make use of Reality Inversion, and with that increased freedom, the current situation isn¡¯t bad either.¡±

    For Sally as well, it didn¡¯t matter how many skills she acquired¡ªthey were always wee.

    Rare skills and hidden quests always seemed to be found in remote areas that one might overlook while simply walking. If they kept an eye out for such ces along with their conquest efforts, it would all depend on luck.

    ¡°Oh, they¡¯re back again!¡±

    As they were having that conversation, thunder echoed once more, and the beasts from earlier doubled in number, surrounding the three of them.

    ¡°There are a lot¡­ We can defeat them, but¡­¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t take damage, and can¡¯t Haku help us? We¡¯ll just encircle them round and round!¡±

    ¡°True. We¡¯ve confirmed it¡¯s safe, so let¡¯s go with that.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Maple, draw their attention for a moment!¡±

    ¡°Provocation!¡±

    Twelve beasts surged towards Maple with dazzling electric shocks.

    While the quantity would be a significant threat to a normal shield user, it was no problem for Maple.

    ¡°Haku!¡±

    As enemies leapt at Maple, they were trapped inside coils by the three of them, sealed within.

    They wouldn¡¯t be able to escape from this cage unless they defeated Haku or Kasumi, but Maple prevented that. There was no way out of this prison.

    ¡°Both of you, cover your ears!¡±

    With thatmand, Maple took out an enormous amount of bombs and scattered them at her feet.

    ¡°Great Eruption!¡±

    Nearly a hundred bombs exploded simultaneously within the sealed space, incinerating everything, regardless of friend or foe, in mes.

    However, the tamed monsters under Maple¡¯s protection and the party members escaped unscathed from this ze. Against opponents who posed no threat to Maple, any form ofwlessness was permitted.

    ¡°Is it over?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just pick up the materials. I¡¯ve never seen monsters like these anywhere else.¡±

    ¡°Alright, sess!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s stick to this for the next one too. With Haku encircling them, we can handle it much more easily without using consumable bombs.¡±

    ¡°If we deprive the enemy of their mobility, the debuffs on us be meaningless. If we can keep up this momentum with the bosses as well¡­¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s for sure.¡±

    The monsters along the way wouldn¡¯t be just one type. There were still boss battles toe that could be considered the real deal. They would continue to win easily against opponents they could defeat without letting their guard down, aiming to reach the shining cross-shaped light, maintaining their concentration and efficiency as they drew closer.

 Chapter 512: Defense Specialization and Stun

    Chapter 512: Defense Specialization and Stun

    Bofuri

    Chapter 512 ¨C Defense Specialization and Stun

    After that, several types of enemies appeared. Birds that flew through the sky and attacked from steep dives. Moles that moved underground, attacking from blind spots and not only that, but also sending electric shocks from holes in all directions.

    However, right now, they were being burnt to a crisp in front of us.

    ¡°So strong.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s their fault for not having a way to counter us¡­¡±

    Maple, who had turned the area around her and Haku into a fiery hell with the items she scattered, stood unharmed amidst the burning mes.

    The moles that escaped underground couldn¡¯t flee from this hell, so they used the holes meant for electric shocks to send in explosives, thoroughly exterminating them.

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    ¡°Nice! Haku is really shining too.¡±

    ¡°In narrow dungeons, he has no choice but to stay behind. So, he can make up for it in situations like this.¡±

    ¡°It looks like the enemies here are a good match for us. They seem to rely on quantity and mobility, not on heavy hits.¡±

    ¡°As long as it¡¯s not a piercing attack, we¡¯re fine!¡±

    Maple¡¯s strength ofpletely shutting down favorable matchups remained unchanged.

    ¡°Now then, we¡¯vee quite close¡­ so this is what it¡¯s like.¡±

    The three who had reached the source of the star-like light began to urately grasp what it was they had been seeing from afar.

    A tall rock, the same color as the night sky, with star-like lights scattered across its surface, reaching up or down to the sky. When seen from a distance, it blended with the sky and was indistinguishable, but at the top of the mysterious tower-like rock, the purple glow intensified along with the thunder.

    ¡°That light was lightning itself, huh?¡±

    ¡°Seems like it. Maple, be careful. The boss is probablying soon.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    As they looked up at the sky and cautiously advanced step by step, the lightning twisted around the rock like a spiral staircase and slithered down to the ground.

    The three of them felt a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu from this movement. It didn¡¯t take long for them to realize what it was.

    The lightning changed its texture, transforming into a long body covered with glossy purple scales and a red tongue flicking from its mouth. It eventually became a giant serpent.

    ¡°It¡¯s like a mirror match.¡±

    ¡°This time, unlike when we met Haku, it looks like we can defeat this serpent.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s bigger than Haku and hard to encircle¡­ Maple, watch your distance!¡±

    Sally and Kasumi pointed their weapons at the boss, which raised its head menacingly. From here, the real battle began, and Maple¡¯s backup would be crucial.

    ¡°Leave the attacking to us!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°[Provocation]!¡±

    With Maple in the center, aware of the range of [Loving Sacrifice], the two stepped forward.

    However, due to the debuff, the boss took the first move.

    A loud crackling sound of electricity bursting. The boss elerated rapidly, turning into lightning again, slipping past Sally and Kasumi, andunched an electric attack, stunning Maple, who automatically took the hit, and then closed the distance to strike.

    Arge mouth materialized in front of her. Normally, this would be a range where she could counterattack, but the stun prevented it. She dropped her dagger andrge shield, got bitten, and was held captive while electricity surged through her.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ fine! Be careful!¡±

    Maple, understanding that she was forcibly separated from the other two, called out to them.

    If the proper distance wasn¡¯t maintained, [Loving Sacrifice] wouldn¡¯t be effective.

    The serpent, carrying Maple away, soared into the sky in a circr motion.

    ¡°A body made of lightning, huh¡­!¡±

    ¡°[Mind¡¯s Eye]! Sally, something¡¯sing down!¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Activating [Mind¡¯s Eye] in anticipation of an attack, Kasumi saw a red cylindrical damage zone stretching from the sky to the ground.

    While Sally¡¯s predictions were uncannily urate, Kasumi could now see the answer as clearly as if it wereid out before her.

    For a more certain dodge, Kasumi quicklymunicated a safe position to Sally, who then moved.

    A massive bolt of lightning struck the ground, leaving scorched marks, just momentster.

    ¡°Luckily, Maple is attached to it. Let¡¯s attack as it passes by.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t reach it directly¡­ let¡¯s go with that.¡±

    When attacking the head, they would undoubtedly face an electric counterattack. However, as long as Maple was in its mouth, that moment was undeniably safe.

    Since ranged attacks were out of the question, instead of forcibly rescuing Maple, they aimed to exploit the current situation to chip away at the boss¡¯s HP.

    The enemy¡¯s attacks included wide-area lightning strikes and body ms. Since Kasumi and Sally couldn¡¯t cover for each other effectively, they maintained a distance to avoid being caught in the same area attack and waited for the charge.

    The intensification of the electricity was a sign. With a thunderous roar, the boss elerated rapidly, moving so fast it seemed to teleport, and its head with a gaping mouth rushed towards Sally.

    ¡°I saw thating.¡±

    The clear difference between Maple and Sally was in their evasion ability. Sally dodged the bite and deeply shed the creature¡¯s mouth with her dagger. Electricity tore up the ground, and a powerful spark hit Sally. But this was within the range of [Loving Sacrifice].

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    ¡°Oh. So, this is where it lets go.¡±

    Opening its mouth wide to attack Sally caused it to drop Maple, who tumbled to the ground. With Sally dodging the attack, the serpent,cking a recement target, retreated back into the air.

    Kasumi returned to Maple, who was stunned, and they both weathered the falling lightning.

    ¡°If anyone other than Maple gets caught, we¡¯re in trouble.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Maple probably can¡¯t catch up, and we wouldn¡¯t survive it.¡±

    ¡°The body can¡¯t be damaged. It¡¯s like it¡¯s made of lightning itself.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for confirming. Then we¡¯ll have to go at it slowly. Thanks to Maple, things have gotten a lot easier.¡±

    ¡°¡­Hah!¡±

    ¡°Good morning. Thanks, Maple. Sorry to bother you just after you woke up, but we might need you to take that bite again.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Maple?¡±

    The lightning was nullified by Maple. If there was anything they needed to address, they wanted to do it before the serpent charged again.

    ¡°Do you think you could gain stun resistance?¡±

    ¡°I see?¡±

    This boss on the tenth floor looked formidable. It had just stunned Maple.

    Considering the final boss would likely use a variety of attacks, it was worth testing now. If she gained it, it would eliminate another one of Maple¡¯s weaknesses.

    ¡°Sally and Kasumi, are you okay¡­?¡±

    While Maple was restrained, her position would constantly move, making it hard for them to benefit from [Loving Sacrifice].

    That meant Sally and Kasumi would be constantly exposed to lightning for Maple¡¯s sake.

    ¡°No problem. We should be able to withstand a single hit. If we prepare healing methods, we can buy time.¡±

    Kasumi, being a melee fighter, had ways to mitigate damage and survive closebat.

    Receiving a positive response from Kasumi, Maple turned to Sally.

    ¡°Of course. I can dodge it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    With a smile, they presented Maple to the approaching boss, using the unique tactics of the Maple Tree guild. The two watched as she was carried off into the sky.

 Chapter 513: Defense Specialization and Stun Resistance

    Chapter 513: Defense Specialization and Stun Resistance

    Bofuri

    Chapter 513 ¨C Defense Specialization and Stun Resistance

    As Maple was repeatedly abducted by the boss, as expected, Kasumi and Sally started ying a different game of dodging lightning. Since they didn¡¯t have the luxury of making Haku dodge as well, Kasumi quickly returned him to the ring and focused on evasion.

    ¡°There are ones targeting us directly and ones targeting where we¡¯re dodging to.¡±

    ¡°I know that¡­! But it¡¯s really relentless.¡±

    ¡°Hang in there. I¡¯ve got healing ready.¡±

    Kasumi¡¯s movements weren¡¯t bad, but even with an understanding of the mechanism, it wasn¡¯t possible to dodge perfectly without the support of [Mind¡¯s Eye]. This is why most yers allocated points to HP and the [VIT] stat.

    However, thanks to Sally¡¯s perfect dodging and Maple¡¯s incredible toughness, even though the boss was efficiently attacking all three yers, this peculiar battlefield maintained its bnce without copsing.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this good training? If we lower the boss¡¯s HP, its attacks will be fiercer.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ true!¡±

    Getting used to this now would make dealing with the intense attacks in thetter half somewhat easier.

    After countless cycles of Maple being restrained, falling out of the boss¡¯s mouth, and rolling to the ground, Kasumi, like Sally, had learned to dodge the lightning and was leisurely waiting for Maple to be restrained again.

    Suddenly, a joyous shout came from Maple.

    ¡°I did it! It¡¯splete!¡±

    ¡°Oh, finally?¡±

    ¡°My dodging has gotten pretty good too.¡±

    The words [Stun Immunity] shone brilliantly in Maple¡¯s skill list. The skill, secured after hours of effort, freed Maple from relying on expensive anti-stun items and essories.

    ¡°Now, it¡¯s finally time to counterattack. We¡¯re used to the enemy¡¯s attacks by now. Let¡¯s see their next move.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. And Maple, you might benefit from being caught now! Here ites!¡±

    ¡°Okay! Come at me!¡±

    Maple neither could nor intended to dodge the boss¡¯s attack, which came rushing in with a terrifying speed and electricity. Instead, she spread her arms wide as if inviting the boss to devour her.

    As the boss¡¯s jaws snapped shut, Sally and Kasumi, standing on either side, shed at it, dealing damage.

    With their objective aplished, there was no reason to let the boss go. The same was true for Maple, who was carried off. She was no longer stunned, and she took no damage. Now, Maple was not just unrestrained but could engage in close-quartersbat thanks to her high defense¡ªthis was the worst possible situation for the boss.

    ¡°[Deploy Armaments], [Commence Attack]!¡±

    Her extending weaponry spewed a barrage of bullets into the boss¡¯s mouth. The short one-meter range didn¡¯t matter at this distance.

    A flood of damage effects erupted from the boss¡¯s mouth, resembling a breath of fire. It was clear that even a highly defensively tough boss like the serpent couldn¡¯t withstand this barrage.

    ¡°[Ancient Weapon]!¡±

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s amazing.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s the only one who can get that close.¡±

    The sky lit up with blue and red lights and explosions, like fireworks, mingled with damage effects and retaliatory lightning. However, it was evident that the boss couldn¡¯t counter this onught with its current attack pattern.

    Sally and Kasumi focused on evasion, prioritizing safety and watching the boss¡¯s HP and movements closely. The violent rumbling started after Maple had reduced the boss¡¯s HP to about half during one of her many restraints.

    ¡°Kasumi, look out below!¡±

    Sally and Kasumi, along with Maple, who was falling after being released from her restraint high above, noticed the changes.

    Thick, purple lightning burst from the ground, writhing and surging toward the three of them right after Sally¡¯s warning.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about us!¡±

    ¡°[Eighth of the Swords: Gale]!¡±

    The reactions of the three were different. Maple decided to take the attack to see what would happen, as they had some leeway and could anticipate the next move. Sally was confident she could dodge the big attack. Kasumi, worried that taking damage would limit their future actions, aimed for a precise evasion.

    As a result, their movements functioned as intended, and the thick lightning bolt engulfed only Maple, who was falling.

    With a loud sound, Maple¡¯s vision was filled with purple light, and about one-third of her HP disappeared along with the damage effect.

    ¡°Ouch¡­¡±

    ¡°[Heal]!¡±

    Sally provided immediate healing, catching Maple as she fell to the ground, holding her securely as they moved. Despite the significant damage from the piercing attack, Maple squinted but had a satisfied expression, indicating she felt the equipment was effective.

    ¡°The equipment is working.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! It was definitely worth making it!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep this up and push through the remaining half.¡±

    ¡°Right!¡±

    Since the attack could prate defenses, Sally repositioned Maple on her back and began running again.

    Despite carrying someone and being debuffed, making her movements awkward and unsuited for fighting, Sally¡¯s dodging remained more urate than Kasumi¡¯s, which was impressive.

    ¡°Hats off to you¡­ Sally! Hit it when you get close!¡±

    ¡°Maple, I¡¯m counting on you!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    With her hands upied carrying Maple, Sally focused solely on closing the distance, entrusting the attack to Maple.

    Sallypensated for Maple¡¯sck of mobility, while Maple focused on defense against anything other than piercing attacks.

    By neutralizing most of the attacks and only needing to avoid the new attack, the surging lightning, Kasumi and Sally¡¯s burden was reduced.

    Thanks to Maple not being dragged around by the boss and being under Sally¡¯s control, they regained the protection of [Loving Sacrifice].

    From here, it¡¯s just a matter of swiftly closing in on victory.

    ¡°What about [Devour]?¡±

    ¡°I used it in my mouth.¡±

    ¡°Approach for an attack with [Ancient Weapon], please. [Machine God] is a bit difficult to bnce.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Maple, can you draw its attention?¡±

    ¡°[Provocation]!¡±

    A ck cube floats next to them. To keep the enemy within its range, Sally runs with Maple on her back.

    By having Maple use [Provocation], all the lightninges at them. Sally¡¯s confidence, no, her conviction, is what led to this.

    With the belief that they can dodge it all, Sally decides to shoulder Kasumi¡¯s burden as well.

    ¡°Thank you, [Ninth of the Swords: Demon Strike]!¡±

    With both of them drawing attention, Kasumi ispletely free to increase her damage output by sacrificing HP and ¡°VIT,¡± closing the distance rapidly in anticipation of the boss descending to the ground, starting with [First of the Swords: Heat Haze].

    The boss heads straight for Maple.

    However, there¡¯s one crucial difference now, something absolutely decisive: Sally is literally Maple¡¯s legs.

    With Sally¡¯s wless steps, she narrowly dodges the charge, and just as Kasumi and the boss¡¯s head are about to meet, she positions Maple¡¯s weapon within reach of the boss, trapping it between Kasumi and Maple.

    ¡°Great job, both of you!¡±

    ¡°[Bewitched Sword: Purple]!¡±

    ¡°[Ancient Weapon]!¡±

    A tremendous attack strikes the wide-open mouth from both sides. With a flurry of damage effects, it chips away at the boss¡¯s HP, until finally, with a resounding parry, leaving behind a blinding sh of purple lightning, the boss¡¯s form disappears.

    ¡°We did it!¡±

    ¡°The damage calction was spot on.¡±

    ¡°I could observe Maple¡¯s damage output, so I could calcte with confidence. But¡­ would you mind waiting until I return to my original form? It¡¯s a bit¡­ ufortable to be outside like this.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°Sure! Let¡¯s take it easy!¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    In order to secure the necessary damage to defeat the boss, Kasumi had no choice but to shrink, and until she returned to her normal size, the three of them spent some leisurely time, unwinding from the battle fatigue.

 Chapter 514: Defense Specialization and Refinement

    Chapter 514: Defense Specialization and Refinement

    Bofuri

    Chapter 514 ¨C Defense Specialization and Refinement

    Having sessfully conquered the quest and confirmed the benefits of increasing HP with new equipment.

    It¡¯s a satisfying achievement, but there are still quests remaining.

    ¡°We still have the cksmith¡¯s quest.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the difficulty shouldn¡¯t be that much different.¡±

    In a field where mobility isn¡¯t severely restricted like earlier, there¡¯s hardly anyone these three would lose to if they go all out.

    ¡°But¡­ it¡¯s getting prettyte today. The next battle might offer useful skills too. Maybe it¡¯s better to save it for when we have more time.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, makes sense. We¡¯re not so pressed for time that we can¡¯t wait.¡±

    ¡°Shall we call it a day for now?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do that.¡±

    ¡°See you again! I¡¯ll support you with all my might!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, counting on you.¡±

    With the significant gain of [Stun Resistance] today, Maple decided leveling up is enough for now and logged out, bidding farewell to the two. Left alone, the remaining two took a moment to rest.

    ¡°What about you after this, Kasumi?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any special ns, but I¡¯m also nning to log out soon. Do you need anything?¡±

    ¡°If possible¡­ one more battle.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. I can¡¯t guarantee the opponent, though.¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t be a problem.¡±

    ¡°Haha, understood. Then¡­ let¡¯s head to the training grounds.¡±

    With those words, Kasumi¡¯s demeanor changed. Sharper than in the earlier boss battle, it resembled a killer instinct, evidence that she recognized the opponent she¡¯s about to face is even stronger than the boss.

    At the training grounds, they faced each other, drawing their weapons. As guild members, they knew each other¡¯s tactics and preferences well from their numerous battles and previous PvP encounters.

    Silently, Kasumi observed Sally, who held two daggers poised beyond the tip of her sword. There was no opening, literally none at all. While Kasumi simted her attack strategy in her mind, Sally remained still, as always.

    Though Sally had extended the invitation, it was Kasumi who was the challenger.

    ¡°[Arms of the Warrior], [Battlefield Carnage], [First of the Swords: Heat Haze]!¡±

    Kasumi vanished from sight and reappeared in front of Sally, immediately striking.

    ¡°[Super eleration], [Sword Mountain]!¡±

    Matching Sally¡¯s evasion, Kasumi rapidly closed in, sending a sword flying from under her feet. Kasumi¡¯s skills had significantly shortened cooldowns. She relentlessly unleashed powerful skills, boosting her stats, repeatedly teleporting and attacking Sally.

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    Despite her efforts, Kasumi grimaced at the fact that she couldn¡¯tnd a single blow. She realized she was the one who had been raising Sally¡¯s skill level all along. Attacks that were once deflected with daggers were now effortlessly evaded, leaving only millimeters of space.

    The trajectory and speed of weapons were fixed the moment skills were used. While it was natural for top-tier yers to utilize this information, the perfection of Sally¡¯s movements sent a chill down Kasumi¡¯s spine. It seemed unnecessary to go to such lengths.

    Afterunching a series of attacks, Kasumi dered surrender when the effect of [Battlefield Carnage] wore off.

    It was the usual oue.

    ¡°I mixed in some regr attacks, but¡­ I couldn¡¯tnd a single hit anymore.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. Thanks to you, I¡¯ve improved a lot.¡±

    ¡°If I¡¯ve been of help, then I¡¯m d. I only feel dissatisfied with the activation speed of my skills when facing Sally.¡±

    Skills are activated through vocalization. For example, there¡¯s a slight difference in the timing between announcing [sh] and [First of the Swords: Heat Haze]. While it¡¯s not usually critical, against Sally, the longer the skill deration, the more perfectly she can counter.

    ¡°At this rate, it might be difficult tond hits on the Demon Lord.¡±

    ¡°I wonder. If you cannd hits¡­ Well, yeah. I want you to try.¡±

    ¡°You have quite the confidence. If that¡¯s the case, I might have to go a bit easier on you¡­¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t allow that.¡±

    ¡°I figured as much.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯vee up with many attack patterns during this training. Well¡­ the problem is that it¡¯s hard to tell how effective they¡¯ll be in practice.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. If Ie up with something else, I¡¯ll reach out to you next time.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Just one bout, yet it was a richly fulfilling time for both of them. Sally felt a solid sense of achievement in her growth. Having yed many games before, Sally had never achieved this level of skill improvement in any of them.

    With familiar skill derations, she was confident that as long as there was space to evade, she could dodge attacks by mere millimeters.

    ¡°Phew, let¡¯s tighten up the movements a bit more.¡±

    With a stretch, Sally activated the training ground¡¯s automated attack system, still unsatisfied and eager to sharpen her techniques further.

 Chapter 515: Defense Specialization and Minerals

    Chapter 515: Defense Specialization and Minerals

    Bofuri

    Chapter 515 ¨C Defense Specialization and Minerals

    The next day. The three gathered again in the fourthyer area and flew to the destination of the next quest by flying machine. Since the real challenge begins only after crossing the gateway to the other world, it¡¯s not too difficult to get there.

    Upon safely reaching their destination, theynded with reduced output and summoned the door to enter.

    Having experienced it once yesterday, they entered without fear, and before them spread a wide canyon.

    ¡°Looks like a rapid below.¡±

    ¡°We could probably descend along the cliff edge from here.¡±

    Peering over the edge, they saw swift-flowing water making noise at the bottom of the cliff.

    There¡¯s no guarantee of survival if caught in the flowing water. If it¡¯s designed to kill upon falling, even Maple with overwhelming defense would face the same fate.

    ¡°Can¡¯t we use the flying machine?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem impossible at first nce¡­ but. It feels a bit odd that it¡¯s designed to be so easy to descend using flying machines.¡±

    ¡°I agree. It may not be a trap per se, but I have a feeling there¡¯s some sort of countermeasure waiting.¡±

    Yesterday¡¯s battle was undoubtedly designed with flying machines in mind. While they may not have countermeasures in every area, it¡¯s unsettling to be led down the wrong path by making flying too easy.

    ¡°Should we follow the designated route?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s try that. We have time and flexibility to reconsider our approach.¡±

    ¡°Then this way. Let¡¯s be careful not to fall.¡±

    The narrow path jutting out along the cliffside is only about forty centimeters wide. It¡¯s difficult to fight satisfactorily here. Despite having flying machines, there are concerns about flying, so it¡¯s considered ast resort.

    After a while, the threee across a crack in the cliff, finding a path that seems to lead inside.

    Though not much wider than the cliffside path, it¡¯s a much more stable footing.

    ¡°This way.¡±

    ¡°Good, it seems to be easier to walk for now.¡±

    ¡°Do you think enemies will appear?¡±

    ¡°Most likely. Be ready with your defenses.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s secure some light here.¡±

    With the narrow path and low ceiling, it¡¯s difficult for Sally and Kasumi to utilize their mobility here.

    It¡¯s better to have Maple at the forefront, ready to defend against any sudden attacks.

    Maple firmly holds herrge shield and cautiously peeks around the corner to check ahead.

    ¡°Your experience in the fifthyer area is reallying in handy.¡±

    ¡°It would be quite a hassle if we were suddenly attacked!¡±

    ¡°Good vignce.¡±

    As they continue down the gentle slope, they notice a shimmering orange glow embedded in the wall ahead.

    ¡°I¡¯ll check it out!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, please do.¡±

    Maple, who can touch most things without worry, walks up to the source of the glow. It turns out to be a mineral with flickering light inside. The mineral seems firmly attached to the wall, so it doesn¡¯t look like it would easily fall off.

    As Maple prods it, light spills out from within, and a small me pops out.

    ¡°Whoa!¡±

    Startled, Maple pulls her hand back, but thankfully, she doesn¡¯t seem to have taken any damage, which brings a sigh of relief.

    ¡°It seems to produce mes.¡±

    ¡°It was about getting materials, right? Maybe this is it?¡±

    ¡°We need boss materials. But this seems to be some kind of item rted to attributes.¡±

    ¡°If we can take it back with us, let¡¯s do it!¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s a good idea. Iz-san would probably be delighted.¡±

    The small object in front of them is just an indication of what it might be. As they continue deeper while searching for mining points, the three of them encounter a blinding orange glow that almost overwhelms the light from their ownnterns.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    There are numerousrge ores, much bigger in size and quantitypared to before. They find the mining points they were looking for, and Maple eagerly takes out her pickaxe and walks toward them.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    As Maple approaches the ores, she briefly feels a sense of unease and nces to the side.

    tter, clunk. A hand-sized ore suddenly detaches from the wall, apanied by an HP bar. Before Maple realizes it¡¯s a monster, it falls to the ground, creating sparks upon impact.

    ¡°I-I¡¯ll use [Loving Sacrifice]!¡±

    The sparks ignite, causing all the surrounding ores to erupt in mes. It¡¯s as if a fire dragon has engulfed the entire path they came through, burning everything in its wake.

    ¡°P-Phew, that was close.¡±

    ¡°Are you okay!?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! How about you guys?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re fine. Let¡¯s go now.¡±

    Amidst the crackling of mes, they confirm their safety with raised voices. After the mes subside, Sally and Kasumi make their way to where Maple is.

    ¡°That was surprising¡­ What happened?¡±

    ¡°Um, there was a monster that looked like a small ore, and it seemed to ignite.¡±

    ¡°It seems to chain react. The boss might use something like this too.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a possibility. If it¡¯s the same mechanism, as long as Maple is there, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem, but¡­¡±

    A strong feeling of area-of-effect attack. If they were to be engulfed like before, Kasumi¡¯s [Mind¡¯s Eye] and Sally¡¯s skills wouldn¡¯t be of much help.

    ¡°For now, let¡¯s keep [Loving Sacrifice] as it is. It ignited right in front of us this time, but we can¡¯t rule out the possibility of mes suddenly spewing out from further ahead.¡±

    ¡°Got it! We¡¯ll stay close by.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we can¡¯t afford to burn out before reaching the boss.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s do some mining here. It seems safe as long as Maple is around even if there¡¯s a misfire.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me! First, from here¡­¡±

    As Maple strikes the pickaxe for harvesting, a low, ominous sound and some sort of effect ur at the base of the tool, indicating something is amiss.

    It seems Maple¡¯s stats are insufficient for safely mining this hazardous material. Triggered by the muchrger sparks than before, the area is engulfed in mes. Despite being abat-focused vanguard trio with insufficient stats, Maple manages to protect them all, clearing the issue forcibly and sessfully obtaining a satisfactory amount of ore.

    ¡°That went well!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Well¡­ it went¡­ well. Yeah.¡±

    ¡°The process may not have gone as nned, but it is what it is.¡±

    They pack the ores into their inventory and head deeper into the area. Despite encountering mes several times along the way, there¡¯s no need to worry.

    The next thing the trio encounters is a mineral emitting a blue glow.

    ¡°¡­Is it water, perhaps?¡±

    ¡°It seems watery.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably water.¡±

    Unanimously agreeing that this mineral will release water, Maple and the others contemte what might happen.

    ¡°If it¡¯s just harmless water des or something, that¡¯s fine, but¡­ I hope it doesn¡¯t knock us back into strong currents or try to drown us with water.¡±

    ¡°For now, we can use items to deal with drowning. Luckily, we have plenty left over from the eighth floor.¡±

    ¡°As for knockbacks¡­ I¡¯ll handle it somehow. It would be a waste to ce a throne, and I want to confirm whether there will be knockbacks or not.¡±

    With that, Sally secures herself to the ground with a thread and extends it to Maple.

    ¡°Kasumi, please check.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    As Kasumi, who can move freely, steps into the area filled with the blue glow of the mineral, as expected, small stones roll out, and in an instant, the entire corridor is filled with water.

    ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be any knockback.¡±

    There¡¯s no sensation of Maple being pulled relentlessly from the thread. The water just floods the surroundings without any flow.

    ¡°How is it, Maple?¡±

    While there might be attempts to drown, they seem much weakerpared to the mes earlier.

    Although there¡¯s no damage, Kasumi checks if there¡¯s any impact on Maple, who automatically shields all attacks.

    ¡°Oh! Ah, that might be it!¡±

    ¡°Did you understand something?¡±

    ¡°My HP, MP, and VIT are halved! The effectsts for a while!¡±

    ¡°All stats down by 50%? That¡¯s¡­ Well, Maple, you¡¯re gonna be alright, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I still have about 10,000 VIT! The others were already at zero anyway¡­¡±

    ¡°Then there¡¯s no problem, right? We shouldn¡¯t encounter attacks you can¡¯t withstand.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. We should also be careful not to hit each other. Thanks, Maple. We¡¯ll watch out.¡±

    ¡°After fire, now water. Attributes still exist, but¡­ Well, let¡¯s see.¡±

    ¡°For now, let¡¯s keep moving forward. We don¡¯t know when this water will recede.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true! Our pace hasn¡¯t slowed down, so we should be fine!¡±

    ¡°Alright then, Maple, you lead the way. I¡¯ll sort out the n.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Having navigated through the water gimmick without issue, the trio proceeded deeper into the dungeon.

 Chapter 516: Defense Specialization and Minerals 2

    Chapter 516: Defense Specialization and Minerals 2

    Bofuri

    Chapter 516 ¨C Defense Specialization and Minerals 2

    Deeper and deeper. Despite encountering asional forks in the path and being hit by multiple elemental traps, Maple and her group had made their way to the door indicating the boss room.

    ¡°Should we go over the traps again?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Um¡­¡±

    The fire was an easy-to-understand area attack, while water caused a status debuff. Additionally, there were elemental traps derived from the green and yellow minerals they encountered on the way to the deepest part. The green mineral triggered a gust of wind causing knockback, and the yellow mineral turned the ground into a swamp, immobilizing yers on it.

    Other than the fire, the elemental traps were powerful but almost non-lethal on their own.

    Particrly the earth trap, which was meaningless without monsters nearby. Therefore, the three figured that these traps were just a forewarning and that a battle where they would be effective was imminent.

    There was no mini-boss; they smoothly defeated the moderately spawning small monsters and grasped the traps as they advanced deeper, reaching the door in front of the boss room. This meant that the real battle would surely take ce in the room beyond, a boss fight.

    ¡°[Self-Offering Love] check. [Afterglow of Salvation] check. Equipment check. Just in case, clearing the debuff from the water trap check!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re all set! Ready whenever!¡±

    ¡°Opening it.¡±

    Kasumi opened therge door and leapt into the boss room. Contrary to their expectations, there were no minerals serving as the source of the elemental traps inside. Instead, a giant figure rose in a cloud of dust in the back.

    A golem formed by interconnected giant crystals, each representing the four elements, shimmering inside. Although it didn¡¯t appear agile, and their experience with fighting golems had increased, Maple looked at the boss with a somewhat relieved expression.

    However¡­

    ¡°Wha!?¡±

    The boss jumped. With agility beyond their expectations.

    Although the jump didn¡¯t reach Maple and her team, it quickly closed the distance and mmed into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust that obscured the entire room.

    ¡°Maple, stay calm.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡­?¡±

    At Sally¡¯s voice, Maple regained herposure and stayed alert for the boss charging through the dust cloud.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Because she remained calm and alert, Maple noticed it. A faintly glowing green light on the ground within the dust cloud¡ªit was the starting point for the wind trap.

    ¡°[Heavy Body]!¡±

    Just after Maple activated the knockback nullification, a tremendous windstorm blew through. Enduring the violent wind that swept away the dust storm, Maple managed to open her eyes and saw scattered green minerals on the ground and the boss¡¯s glowing, massive fist rushing towards her.

    Normally, this move would break their formation, followed by a strong assault. As an opening move, it applied more than enough pressure. However, with [Self-offering Love], Maple absorbed all the knockback effect from the wind onto herself, maintaining their formation and firmly blocking the fist with her great shield.

    But she didn¡¯t just block it. The activated [Devour] gnawed through the boss¡¯s fist, dealing a fierce counterattack and reducing the boss¡¯s HP.

    ¡°[Deploy Armaments] [Commence Attack] [Ancient Weapon]!¡±

    She didn¡¯t stop there. The two types of weaponry she deployed instantly roared, and red and bluesers pierced through the boss¡¯s torso.

    Both sides made their best moves, but Maple¡¯s response and output surpassed the boss.

    While the boss¡¯s attention was on Maple, Kasumi and Sally leapt forward.

    Nine times out of ten, that leap and the dust cloud spread the minerals.

    ¡°[Super eleration]!¡±

    The two of them quickly closed the distance on the boss, determined not to let it jump away again so easily. Since Maple could withstand mere fist attacks without wavering, there was no need to worry about that.

    ¡°[Bewitched Sword] [Arms of the Warrior] [Fourth of the Swords: Whirlwind]!¡±

    ¡°Oboro, [Fire Child]! [Water Ball] [Quintuple sh]!¡±

    Getting close, they shed at both legs, causing a tremendous damage effect to burst forth, and both legs shattered, making the boss copse instantly.

    A clear opportunity. The moment everyone surged forward. However, the shattered fragments began to glow even brighter. The boss¡¯s body itself was also mineral, the source of elemental attacks.

    By the time they noticed, the elemental traps of the four attributes had spread around at an incredible speed.

    zing fire, calming water, binding earth, and disruptive wind.

    A fierce counterattack from the boss, using its copse to lure in the yers for a devastating attack.

    Even so¡ª

    ¡°Too bad. We¡¯ve got Maple.¡±

    ¡°They should¡¯ve prepared a new element.¡±

    The six-winged guardian angel absorbing everything from the rear. The powerful traps they showcased along the way were strong but ineffective against Maple.

    ¡°[Ninth of the Swords: Demon Strike] [Fourth of the Swords: Whirlwind]!¡±

    ¡°[Quadruple sh]!¡±

    ¡°[Ancient Weapon] [Seeping Chaos]!¡±

    A counter using the copse as bait. If the counter fails, it¡¯s just a copse. The powerful skills they unleashed in a furious rush shattered the boss¡¯s body into pieces, triggering the next elemental traps. An annoying mechanism where counterattacks were guaranteed upon attacking. However, in front of thewless monster who crushed everything head-on and rendered it powerless, the powerful counterattack couldn¡¯t fully exert its strength and crumbled helplessly.

 Chapter 517: Defense Specialization and Conclusion

    Chapter 517: Defense Specialization and Conclusion

    Bofuri

    Chapter 517 ¨C  Defense Specialization and Conclusion

    After sessfully helping with Kasumi¡¯s quest, the two apanied her as she brought back the particrlyrge mineral dropped by the boss andpleted the quest. The remaining smaller elemental minerals could be used for weak elemental attacks, but they decided to give them to Izu to explore further possibilities. With this, the nned quests werepleted.

    ¡°I might need your help with more quests in the future, but for now¡­ thanks.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee!¡±

    ¡°If anything, we¡¯re the ones getting help from you.¡±

    For their challenge against the Demon King by the deadline, they had received significant support from the members of [Maple Tree].

    ¡°Thanks to you two, the quest was sessfully cleared. As expected.¡±

    ¡°Kasumi, you were amazing too!¡±

    ¡°Haha, next time I¡¯ll show you even more.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re looking forward to it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, count on it.¡±

    With the quest smoothly finished, Kasumi went off to search for the next quest in the town of the fourth floor area.

    The two watched her go, then looked at each other to decide what to do next.

    ¡°What should we do? We could go back to the fifth floor area, or maybe try to find a hidden area¡­ well, that¡¯s an option too.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ well, I think we should head to the fifth floor area. We had new equipment made for it!¡±

    ¡°Okay. Advancing there is our task. If things go well, we might clear all the remaining areas at once.¡±

    ¡°That would set us up perfectly to take on the Demon King!¡±

    ¡°We need to advance for that too.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s head to the town in the fifth floor area¡­ huh?¡±

    ¡°A message.¡±

    Wondering who it could be from, they checked their messages and saw it wasn¡¯t from  [Maple Tree]  guild members but from the administrators.

    ¡°It¡¯s about the concluding event for us.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ Choose between PVP or PVE to participate¡­ hmm. Whoa! Just for participating, you get a gold medal!¡±

    ¡°Wow, they¡¯re really going all out for this milestone event. Generous rewards. It probably means the difficulty of the next area being implemented will skyrocket too.¡±

    Getting a gold medal could potentially allow them to acquire skills that could be core to their build.

    It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that the strength of yers would change significantly before and after this event.

    ¡°PVP is duo¡­ If you form a party, it¡¯s up to two people¡­ The space is partitioned at the start ofbat, and the number of skill uses is restored.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like a duel.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s close. Also, if a certain number of yers gather within a certain range, a limited battle royale can also start.¡±

    ¡°Wow. Is there a ranking or something?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s more like a festival event. There¡¯s no forced retirement, and the participation prize is the gold medal. It¡¯s all about going all out and having fun. Defeated yers are temporarily sent to a losers¡¯ area and can teleport to any location to restart if they still want to fight.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    It¡¯s not about being forced to fight for ranking. Each yer gets a chance to test their current abilities, reassess what they¡¯recking, and think about the skills they want with the gold medal.

    While this aspect is present, it¡¯s mostly a ce to enjoy the battle itself.

    ¡°PVE is straightforward. Show your strength in a field where extremely powerful monsters, which are very difficult to defeat, are rampant.¡±

    ¡°We can form a party of up to eight people for this one.¡±

    ¡°A full party, just like usual. Some of the monsters we see here might show up in the new area too.¡±

    ¡°Sounds likely!¡±

    ¡°Since it says they¡¯re extremely difficult to defeat, these monsters are probably on a different level from the quest bosses. I bet they¡¯ll have piercing attacks, buff nullifications, and constantlyunch area attacks.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, because they clearly say ¡®extremely difficult to defeat¡¯.¡±

    Sally spected that the PVE event might also serve to give the administrators a sense of where yers currently stand. Which bosses can be defeated, and which ones can¡¯t be beaten by anyone?

    With rewards guaranteed, there¡¯s no risk in losing, allowing for multiple attempts, and the high difficulty is stated upfront. This way, any party can enjoy challenging powerful monsters without worry.

    ¡°We have to choose one or the other¡­ What do you think, Maple?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ If it¡¯s eight people, then PVE, right? Everyone can join in! If it¡¯s PVP, then I¡¯d go with Sally.¡±

    ¡°¡­Everyone must have received the message too, so maybe we should ask themter?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Sounds good!¡±

    ¡°In any case, the event is still a bit ahead, so we should focus on defeating the Demon King first.¡±

    ¡°Absolutely! Let¡¯s give it our all before the event! First, to the fifth floor area!¡±

    Saying this, they walked towards the guild home to teleport to the town in the fifth floor area, as they had discussed before receiving the message.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The dreams once seen still remain distant.

    Covering her mouth slightly with her hand, struggling to articte the important words. Sally followed behind, watching the back of the one who had walked ahead.

 Chapter 518: Defense Specialization and Reentry

    Chapter 518: Defense Specialization and Reentry

    Bofuri

    Chapter 518 ¨C Defense Specialization and Reentry

    The ce the two arrived at was within the clouds of the fifth floor area. Though they had been forced to retreat once before from this ce, they had returned after reviewing their equipment and increasing their HP. Now, they could easily withstand the strikes of the extending cloud spears and proceed with their conquest without any problems.

    Clearing away the small fry monsters, the two moved deeper, beyond the point they had turned back fromst time.

    After a while, having navigated through the intricate paths of the cloud, the two came upon a sight: a pure white building made of clouds and other yers.

    ¡°Is this the first intermediate point?¡±

    ¡°Lily did mention it was a long dungeon.¡±

    ¡°It seems we can start from here next time. Look, it¡¯s registered as a teleport destination from the guild home.¡±

    ¡°So, do we head up again towards the next town?¡±

    ¡°Probably. Well, we won¡¯t know for sure until we go, but¡­ it¡¯s bound to be a long journey ahead.¡±

    ¡°We need to stay focused!¡±

    It appeared that the entrance to the next cloudbyrinth was on the opposite side after passing through the town straight ahead.

    As they walked straight down the central path, the two checked the buildings on both sides.

    ¡°It looks like there¡¯s also an equipment and item shop.¡±

    ¡°Oh, should we take a look? They might have some rare items for sale!¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s check it out. We might not get many chances toe back if we move forward.¡±

    Entering the shop that dealt with weapons and armor, they examined the details of the equipment lined up.

    ¡°Cloud weapons¡­ Oh, theye with skills.¡±

    ¡°Those are the ones that extend, right?¡±

    ¡°Seems like it. But there are no daggers¡­ It¡¯s a pretty good weapon, not something you¡¯d expect to find in a regr shop.¡±

    After expanding rapidly, they revert to their original length without any openings. It seemed like it would be a perfect fit for Sally, but since they only sold longswords and spears, there was nothing else they could do but give up on it.

    ¡°Hey, they¡¯ve got cloud armor and shields too!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, their performance seems decent enough. But weapons are still the main focus¡­¡±

    ¡°If the items we saw monsters carrying are avable here, then daggers might show up eventually!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a possibility. Let¡¯s keep our hopes up.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Hey, let¡¯s go check out the items too!¡±

    ¡°Good idea. If this shop¡¯s anything to go by, we might find some good stuff. We haven¡¯t really looked around much, but it might be a good idea to check out the equipment in other towns too.¡±

    Exiting the equipment store, the two entered the adjacent item shop.

    Among the usual lineup of potions and expensive crystals for momentary damage reduction, there were unfamiliar items mixed in.

    ¡°Cloud Sweeper¡¯s Orb¡­? It¡¯s pricey!¡±

    ¡°But it says it can make the cloud monsters around vanish when used!¡±

    ¡°True, we can defeat them without it¡­ Hm¡­ I do have a piercing attack skill, though.¡±

    ¡°Just to be safe, should we each get one? Hehe, we¡¯ve be quite wealthy, haven¡¯t we!¡±

    ¡°Well, it might be worth it. The existence of this item suggests the possibility of being surrounded or something. I¡¯ll buy one too. Having both might provide peace of mind in case one of us gets pinned down.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Then let¡¯s get them!¡±

    Maple and Sally each purchased a Cloud Sweeper¡¯s Orb and carefully stowed it in their inventories before setting foot into the next cloudbyrinth.

    631 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Lately, there¡¯s been an increase in monster sightings¡­

    632 Name: Anonymous Spear User

    Can¡¯t deny that.

    633 Name: Anonymous Mage

    I¡¯ve seen it too. It¡¯s not a glitch or anything abnormal, but¡­

    634 Name: Anonymous Greatsword User

    It¡¯s like a glitch.

    635 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Monsters tend to spawn in the wide areas at the edges of the map.

    636 Name: Anonymous Mage

    They¡¯re probably spawning from [Reverse Rebirth].

    637 Name: Anonymous Spear User

    Made by a certain Shield user¡ªI saw it.

    638 Name: Anonymous Shield User

    Seems to be a recent trend. They say it makes leveling up easier.

    639 Name: Anonymous Greatsword User

    Well, with that kind of strength, it¡¯s basically auto-attacking. And with [Loving Sacrifice] you don¡¯t die¡­

    640 Name: Anonymous Mage

    Localized boom (one person). Althoughe to think of it, I haven¡¯t seen it in the past few days.

    641 Name: Anonymous Shield User

    It seems they¡¯re focusing on exploring each area.

    642 Name: Anonymous Spear User

    But is leveling even necessary to begin with?

    643 Name: Anonymous Mage

    Raising defense stats won¡¯t make much of a difference anymore~

    644 Name: Anonymous Archer

    Well, you see¡­ Yeah.

    645 Name: Anonymous Shield User

    Well, there are quests that have level requirements¡­

    646 Name: Anonymous Spear User

    How about progress with ¡°The Demon King¡±?

    647 Name: Anonymous Shield User

    It¡¯s going smoothly enough. If needed, I¡¯ll share information. I¡¯ve cleared several and haven¡¯t had much trouble progressing through the rest, so there should be answers.

    648 Name: Anonymous Archer

    That¡¯s a relief~ Are you tackling the sixth floor area?

    649 Name: Anonymous Shield User

    Yeah, if it¡¯s there, there¡¯s a lot we can share.

    650 Name: Anonymous Spear User

    It¡¯s all based on our experiences. If we find out anything from our end, we¡¯ll let you know. Undoubtedly, our guild has more members, so if we can solve any weird gimmicks, our progress speed should be faster.

    651 Name: Anonymous Shield User

    That¡¯s a relief~

    652 Name: Anonymous Archer

    It¡¯s a mutual thing, you know.

    653 Name: Anonymous Greatsword User

    I want to quickly finish the main quests and also look for skills.

    654 Name: Anonymous Spear User

    The event details have been announced as well. I want to apply some enhancement patches to myself before then.

    655 Name: Anonymous Mage

    [Seeking] A spell that deals one billion damage in one shot.

    656 Name: Anonymous Spear User

    There¡¯s no such thing. It shouldn¡¯t exist¡­ I hope.

 Chapter 519: Defense Specialization and Reentry 2

    Chapter 519: Defense Specialization and Reentry 2

    Bofuri

    Chapter 519 ¨C Defense Specialization and Reentry 2

    Once again, the two of them stepped into thebyrinth of clouds, pushing through the mist as they advanced.

    ¡°I can¡¯t even swing my weapon here. Maple, watch your step.¡±

    Said Sally.

    ¡°Ugh, feels like being inside a wig when you use [Wooly].¡±

    Maple remarked.

    As they reached a solid white wall, Sally pulled it apart, creating a fissure through which they slipped. Naturally, as soon as they let go, the wall returned to its original state, pressing in on them.

    As Sally pointed out, in this state, they couldn¡¯t swing their weapons properly, and there was barely enough space to react if something suddenly lunged out from the clouds.

    Given the monsters here had previously demonstrated high-powered piercing attacks, while Sally didn¡¯t want to use it proactively, she had already activated [Self-Offering Love].

    In addition, she triggered [Afterglow of Salvation] to mitigate damage,pleting Maple¡¯s transformation into the six-winged guardian angel that had be familiar to them.

    The need to use both abilities underscored the fact that they were facing increasingly formidable foes, a reality that became all too clear to the two of them once more.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing so far, but¡­ huh?¡±

    Sally interrupted herself as a distant rumbling sound echoed through the air. It seemed oddly familiar to Maple. Before she could ponder further, the once-snowy clouds in the distance began to darken as if soaked in ink.

    Before they could fullyprehend what was happening, a deafening roar erupted, and lightning struck down upon Maple and herpanions.

    ¡°Whoa.¡±

    Maple eximed.

    ¡°Seems like thunder¡¯s been quite frequenttely.¡±

    Sally remarked.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Maple agreed.

    Their conversation felt oddly detached from the fact that they were being bombarded by lightning within a thundercloud. It was akin to lounging inside on a stormy day, gazing out the window, for the two of them.

    For Maple, who had resistance to paralysis and stun and could nullify damage, thunder was a wee adversary.

    Thunder attacks often prioritize speed, range, and apanying status effects over defense pration, so there¡¯s usually no need to worry too much about them. If anything, their only downside is that they can be a bit noisy.

    ¡°Feels like we¡¯re being pushed by something from the walls.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, or maybe we¡¯re being enveloped by something!¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    As Maple, who was walking ahead, became covered by the thundercloud, Sally squinted at the spark¡¯s light and noticed several small round eyes among the clouds clinging to Maple. It was safe to assume they were monsters from multiple thunderclouds.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have [Devour] anymore.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but don¡¯t worry about it!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep moving while peeling them off.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for your help.¡±

    Sally swiftly used her dagger to peel off the clouds attacking Maple. Peeling them off meant their demise, but they had to keep moving forward.

    ¡°Maybe it was good timing that Stun doesn¡¯t work anymore. We should thank Kasumi again. That fight with the snakested forever.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. But thanks to that, it seems like she¡¯ll be useful in various situations!¡±

    ¡°Thunder attacks are easy to imagine in the fifth floor area, so there might still be opportunities for them to be effective.¡±

    ¡°I have a feeling about that!¡±

    These monsters were overwhelmingly favorable for Maple. With the confidence gained from not taking damage, they carefully confirmed that their HP wouldn¡¯t decrease before safely navigating through this thundercloud zone.

    ¡°Heh!¡±

    ¡°Heh¡­ Mmm! Finally, we¡¯re out in the open!¡±

    Maple popped out of the thundercloud and rolled down the slope,ing to a stop at the end of the hill.

    ¡°Phew, it¡¯s tough navigating through those difficult spots.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Hehe, I think Maple finds it easier to walk than others, but¡­¡±

    Sally slid down the slope too, surveying their surroundings. The ce they were in formed a circr hall, with three paths extending from it. However, this time, each path had distinct features, and it wasn¡¯t entirely based on luck what awaited them. There was room for choice to pick the best option.

    ¡°This one has a strong wind, huh?¡±

    ¡°This one looks like it¡¯s hailing.¡±

    ¡°And thest one¡¯s heavy rain. So, which one should we choose?¡±

    Just by looking deeper into each passage, the clear differences were apparent. Presumably, the monsters they would encounter would also differ.

    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m not too keen on ice.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I can imagine piercing attacks. Like shooting icicles or something.¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡±

    ¡°So, between the gusty wind and heavy rain, which one do you prefer?¡±

    ¡°¡­Let¡¯s go with the rain! If it¡¯s rain, there won¡¯t be that knockback feeling.¡±

    ¡°We just saw a knockback from wind attacks. Alright, let¡¯s go with that!¡±

    The path they chose was the one with heavy rain. The pathway made of rain clouds was dimly lit, and the waterfall-like rain obscured their vision.

    ¡°Since we¡¯re here, let¡¯s use umbres!¡±

    ¡°The ones we bought in the fifth area, right?¡±

    ¡°Do you still have them?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°Yay!¡±

    Maple opened up a fluffy umbre made entirely of clouds, while Sally took out a blue umbre simr to her equipment. Side by side, they proceeded down the passage.

    ¡°It¡¯s raining harder than during the rainy season.¡±

    ¡°More like a typhoon level. At least there¡¯s no wind.¡±

    Due to the excessive rain and everything being made of gray clouds from the ceiling to the walls and floor, it was difficult to gauge how far the path extended ahead.

    ¡°It seems like the rain won¡¯t affect us much, but it¡¯s likely to be the most conducive condition for attacks due to the limited visibility.¡±

    Maple reached out beyond the umbre to feel the rain hitting her, but there was no effect on her stats or any damage, of course. Assuming enemies might utilize this rain effectively in battle, the path stretched straight ahead, and with Maple firmly holding her shield, frontal attacks could be almost entirely guarded against.

    As expected, a ssh echoed as a water mass collided and burst against Maple¡¯s shield as they advanced.

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    ¡°There seems to be something. Maple, try shooting at it for now.¡±

    ¡°[Deploy Armaments]¡­ [Commence Attack]!¡±

    Blocking the pouring rain, Maple¡¯s crimsonser shot forth towards the end of the passage.

    ¡°¡­Didn¡¯t hit?¡±

    ¡°No response?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Maple¡¯s weapon has quite the range¡­ Hmm, if that¡¯s the case, they¡¯re either evading with a significant long range or through teleportation.¡±

    ¡°Well, as long as we keep our shields up, we should be fine!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true. No need to overthink it.¡±

    For Maple and Sally, who have defeated numerous formidable enemies, being attacked by water projectiles easily blocked by their shields seems rather trivial.

    They decide that if anything shows up, they¡¯ll simply defeat it and continue walking.

    The asional water blobs flying towards them are effortlessly deflected by Maple. Despite progressing smoothly through this cloudbyrinth, they gradually begin to feel a sense of unease.

    ¡°Sally, something feels off¡­ Hmm.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know what you mean. It¡¯s hard to describe, but I sense something¡¯s up.¡±

    It¡¯s merely a feeling of unease. Perhaps it¡¯s the continuous rain and inability to see ahead, but they both start feeling like they¡¯re not moving forward.

    ¡°It¡¯s odd that we¡¯ve been walking straight for so long. Let¡¯s take a careful look around.¡±

    ¡°Good idea! The most suspicious thing might be when those water blobse at us, right?¡±

    ¡°I think you¡¯re onto something. If there¡¯s something here, it might give us a clue.¡±

    Starting with the most suspicious spot, they rush through the rain and stop where Maple was hit by another water blob.

    ¡°Anything around here?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s search!¡±

    To their surprise, they quickly find a small crack hidden by the heavy rain. Maple pulls it open, revealing another path drenched in rainfall, just like the one they¡¯ve been walking on.

    ¡°We¡¯ve probably been going around in circles.¡±

    ¡°We didn¡¯t notice because of the rain¡­¡±

    ¡°Now that we know what to look for, let¡¯s be thorough and check the walls and floor as we go. We got a hint from the water this time, but we can¡¯t count on that next time.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s make sure not to miss anything!¡±

    ¡°The umbre was definitely the right call. It makes it easier to see by blocking the rain.¡±

    ¡°Umbres are essential on rainy days, after all!¡±

    ¡°Heh, I guess so.¡±

    Having solved one mystery, the two moved on to explore the new path amidst the rain. Not only did their umbres help them see better by shielding them from the rain, but they also used Maple¡¯s shield equipped with [Invitation to the Ocean Floor] to clear the rain, making it easier to spot hidden paths. From then on, their progress was smooth sailing after their initial confusion.

    Taking a break in a sheltered alcove seemingly designed for resting, they rxed without any monsters in sight.

    ¡°There might be more water projectiles flying at us, but even if they increase¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be totally fine!¡±

    While this space might have been intended for shelter from the rain, the downpour showed no signs of stopping.

    As they rxed and exchanged trivial conversations, Sally eventually asked Maple about the tenth floor.

    ¡°How do you feel about the tenth floor? Nothing particrly new, but¡­¡±

    ¡°It feels nostalgic¡­ like, I remember this ce¡­¡±

    As Maple reminisced, she suddenly chuckled as if she had realized something.

    ¡°It¡¯s kind of refreshing.¡±

    ¡°¡­Even though it¡¯s nostalgic?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s like a refreshing feeling of nostalgia. I¡¯ve made so many memories in this game.¡±

    For Maple, who had been away from the game before, being able to cherish the happy memories was a refreshing experience in itself.

    ¡°Yeah, it is.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s really great.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d love to hear them. Every memory of Maple¡¯s, as many as possible. I want to share in those ¡®fun times¡¯ too.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really? Hmm¡­ Hehe, Sally, you probably already know everything, though?¡±

    Even now, most of their time together is spent in each other¡¯spany. Sally likely ys a role in many of Maple¡¯s memories.

    ¡°Even so. I want to hear them from your own lips.¡±

    ¡°Sure thing! Well, let¡¯s see¡­¡±

    Maple enthusiastically recounted her memories, often jumping from one topic to another without a clear conclusion. Yet, Sally would asionally interject with questions about specific details, keeping the conversation lively as they delved into each memory together.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 520: Defense Focus and Re-Entry 3

    Chapter 520: Defense Focus and Re-Entry 3

    <strong>Chapter 520: Defense Focus and Re-Entry 3</strong>

    After their break, the two of them returned to the rain, holding umbres and walking for thirty minutes.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    ¡°Oh, we¡¯re through!¡±

    They pushed aside the clouds and found themselves in a wide open space where the rain had stopped. There were a few puddles on the ground, reflecting the light and shining brightly.

    ¡°Maple¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s the boss, right?¡±

    ¡°Probably. Be careful, we don¡¯t know where it¡¯sing from.¡±

    Despite the unusually wide space, there were no monsters in sight. Maple had learned that this usually meant a boss was about to appear. Although ¡¾Self-Offering Love¡¿ was there, they cautiously stepped into the wide area.

    They felt a significant tremor in the ground right after.

    Water suddenly gushed out from the clouds forming the floor. The rainwater that had soaked in surged back, sshing and forming shapes in the air.

    ¡°A frog!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, a frog.¡±

    A transparent frog made entirely of water, at least five meters tall, appeared. As soon as the HP bar showed up above its head, its mouth opened wide, and a transparent tongue shot out with incredible speed.

    Sally calmly dodged the sweeping tongue and closed the distance to the frog.

    Maple, taking advantage of the distance, firmly held herrge shield in its path and blocked the tongue.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    The tongue collided with the shield with a loud p, wrapping around Maple and lifting her up swiftly. It was not just a water attack; it was an actual tongue.

    Maple was swallowed whole and floated inside the transparent body.

    ¡°Maple! Can you attack from inside?¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Maple moved her mouth silently and shook her head vigorously.

    ¡°You can¡¯t use skills or the inventory? Right?¡±

    Sally guessed the situation from Maple¡¯s gestures, and Maple nodded clearly.

    ¡°Hold on! I¡¯ll try some things quickly!¡±

    Avoiding the boss¡¯s attacks nimbly, Sally moved closer while swimming with ¡¾Path of Water¡¿.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    The boss shivered, and sharp water spikes emerged from the ground, targeting the swimming Sally. Sally instantly activated her flying machine, avoiding the spikes and closing in on the boss.

    ¡°¡¾Frozen Domain¡¿!¡±

    Intense cold air burst out from Sally, freezing not only the iing water but also the boss itself.

    ¡°If it¡¯s made of water, this should work! ¡¾Quintuple sh¡¿!¡±

    Sally¡¯s rapid attacks pierced the frozen boss. Cracks formed, and with a sharp sound, the boss shattered, releasing Maple who floated out.

    Sally quickly retrieved Maple with a thread and increased the flying machine¡¯s power to put some distance between them.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Sally! I was almost digested.¡±

    ¡°Wow. That¡¯s scary.¡±

    ¡°But I think we defeated it, right?¡±

    ¡°No, look!¡±

    Sally noticed the boss¡¯s HP gauge was not decreasing. The shattered boss¡¯s body was absorbed back into the clouds, and small frogs made of water began to emerge and hop around.

    ¡°Maple! Use area attacks!¡±

    ¡°Got it! ¡¾Barrel Expansion¡¿¡¾Commence Attack¡¿! ¡¾Ancient Weapon¡¿! ¡¾Seeping Chaos¡¿!¡±

    Maple¡¯s attack covered the entire room without aiming precisely, filling the air with a loud croak.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    ¡°Hit! HP is going down!¡±

    Sally confirmed how to defeat the boss. First, damage the giant form and break it apart, then attack the smaller individual ones. Watching the boss reassemble itsrge body with summoned water, Sally quickly exined the strategy to Maple.

    ¡°Maple, ride on. I¡¯ll dodge everything for you.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Maple put away her shield, deactivated the weapons, and climbed onto Sally¡¯s back.

    Sally expertly dodged the boss¡¯s swinging tongue while Maple attacked to split the boss again. However, they couldn¡¯t use ¡¾Machine God¡¿ or skills that generate poison, and summoning skills could disrupt ¡¾Self-Offering Love¡¿.

    The best option was ¡¾Ancient Weapon¡¿, but it needed to gather energy from attacks or defense.

    There was a problem.

    ¡°Hehe!¡±

    ¡°Anything can be made¡­¡±

    ¡°Iz-san!¡±

    Maple took out a belt with a drill and strapped it around herself.

    ¡°Switch on!¡±

    The drill began spinning, making a grating sound as it tried to drill into Maple, rapidly gathering energy.

    ¡°¡¾Ancient Weapon¡¿!¡±

    The transformed cube became multiple long barrels spinning above Maple¡¯s head. Blue energy bullets fired rapidly, piercing the boss¡¯s body, causing it to copse.

    ¡°¡¾Reversal and Rebirth¡¿¡¾Annihtion Field¡¿!¡±

    ck wings appeared on her back. The newly formed water frogs were incinerated by red-ck sparks.

    With the boss reassembling, Maple¡¯s energy was fully charged.

    ¡°Energy is full!¡±

    ¡°Alright, fire!¡±

    ¡°¡¾Ancient Weapon¡¿!¡±

    With a powerful attack, they destroyed the boss. The boss, without demonic power, couldn¡¯t withstand the overwhelming force.

    Having defeated the rain frog boss, the two proceeded a bit further and reached the second town in the clouds.

    ¡°We¡¯re making progress!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. The journey was easy and we took breaks, so we managed quite well.¡±

    They could continue through the maze, but first, they decided to check the Equipment Shop and Item Shop. They overheard other yers talking.

    ¡°Was your frog small?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it was about 1.7 meters, same as me. Still big though.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it gets bigger if you get lost¡­ mine was like a house.¡±

    ¡°Too big. Scary¡­¡±

    ¡°It seemed rted to the rain, so maybe ignoring that isn¡¯t good.¡±

    They understood it was about the same boss they fought.

    ¡°So that¡¯s what it was¡­¡±

    ¡°Probably the biggest. We got lost and chatted leisurely.¡±

    ¡°Maybe we should hurry next time?¡±

    ¡°But we managed well and can take our time. Getting swallowed was surprising though¡­¡±

    ¡°Maybe¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re strong, Maple. Take it easy. Rushing might backfire.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a mind game.¡±

    ¡°If everyone rushes after hearing this, next time they¡¯ll want to hurry.¡±

    ¡°Hard¡­ but you¡¯re right! If we rush, it won¡¯t be fun.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. I¡¯ll handle any slight increases in difficulty.¡±

    ¡°Counting on you!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I train. Rely on me.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Equipment Shop.¡±

    ¡°Sure! I wonder if they have interesting gear?¡±

    ¡°Hope so!¡±

    Excited about finding unique items, they walked through the town.

 Chapter 521: Defense Focus and the Final Push

    Chapter 521: Defense Focus and the Final Push

    <strong>Chapter 521: Defense Focus and the Final Push</strong>

    After checking their equipment and items, the two of them stepped outside and sat on a cloud bench.

    ¡°¡®Rain Shield Helmet¡¯¡­¡±

    ¡°We could¡¯ve used this earlier when it was pouring, right? Do you think there will be more heavy rain?¡±

    This helmet had the literal effect of making the wearer immune to rain, but its use was quite limited.

    ¡°Well¡­ if they¡¯re selling it now, there must be a use for it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll remember to have it ready just in case!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea.¡±

    The boss of the fifthyer area had some tricky abilities, but it wasn¡¯t unbeatable.

    ¡°It looks like the journey is going to be long.¡±

    ¡°Unlike other areas, here we just keep climbing through the clouds, so it¡¯s straightforward but might take a while.¡±

    In the fifthyer area, they couldn¡¯t ept help from others midway, meaning they had to fight through to the end together.

    ¡°Eventually, we¡¯ll all gather again to clear the fourthyer area and check our progress.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re making progress in the sixth and eighthyer areas too.¡±

    ¡°From what I¡¯ve heard from Chrome, we might finish those first¡­ We really need to go there.¡±

    ¡°When that timees, I¡¯ll carry you safely in my mouth!¡±

    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll take you up on that¡­¡±

    ¡¾Rampage¡¿ had the ability to transport allies. While it wasn¡¯t its primary use, it was still effective in protecting Maple within her defensive barrier, especially useful for Sally heading to the sixthyer area.

    ¡°What¡¯s next?¡±

    ¡°Well, if we continue, we¡¯ll have to start from the town again, and it might take a while to reach the next town.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, with all the gimmicks and bosses along the way.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s stop here for now.¡±

    ¡°Sure, progressing one floor at a time seems good. If we have extra time, we can aim for the next town.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that!¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s call it a day.¡±

    ¡°See you in the game again!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but we¡¯ll meet in real life before that.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. See you tomorrow!¡±

    ¡°See you tomorrow.¡±

    With that, they logged out, returning to the real world with smiles on their faces.

    Meanwhile, at the guild home in the eighthyer area, Chrome, Mai, and Yui, who were working on the sixthyer area, teleported in.

    ¡°Good job, everyone. How¡¯s it going over there?¡±

    Kanade, who greeted them with arge map spread out on the table, asked.

    ¡°Great. With Mai and Yui helping, there¡¯s no enemy we can¡¯t defeat. We¡¯re progressing through the quests quickly.¡±

    ¡°And you, Kanade?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re doing well too. However, there will likely be battles we can¡¯t handle alone, so we might need to call Maple and Sally. They¡¯ll want to enjoy every area. Except for the sixthyer, maybe?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t the sixthyer full of puzzles?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve written down exnations to make it easier for them. Essentially, it¡¯s about deciphering texts and navigating the underwater ruins in the correct order.¡±

    ¡°Relying on luck won¡¯t work?¡±

    ¡°No, even someone as lucky as Maple would struggle.¡±

    ¡°That sounds¡­¡±

    ¡°Very difficult.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll need to decipher texts in the ruins too. I n to join them. The rest is up to them.¡±

    ¡°Maple and Sally are in the fifthyer, right?¡±

    ¡°After helping Kasumi, they went to the Cloud Maze.¡±

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll proceed from the areas closest to the final battle.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s the final push.¡±

    ¡°Although there are still many enemies to defeat, I have no doubt we¡¯ll seed.¡±

    Kanade, despite the challenges, had no doubts about ¡¾Maple Tree¡¿¡¯s sess. With their small numbers, they were racing towards the goal of defeating the Demon King, led by Maple and Sally.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 522: Defense Focus and the Burning Town

    Chapter 522: Defense Focus and the Burning Town

    <strong>Chapter 522: Defense Focus and the Burning Town</strong>

    As each group continued their progress, it was Kasumi who first reached the ¡®Demonic Power of the Demon King¡¯ in the fourthyer area. A message indicated that a quest had appeared with the reward of ¡®Demonic Power III¡¯, and the members of ¡¾Maple Tree¡¿ nned and set a date for the challenge.

    On the day of the challenge, the eight gathered at the guild home to prepare.

    ¡°So, the fourthyer was the first to reach it. We got beaten to it,¡± someone remarked.

    ¡°I had a lot of fun exploring, so I might havepleted more quests in a day,¡± Kasumi replied.

    ¡°The fourthyer suited Kasumi. Her experience with thisyer is invaluable,¡± added another.

    ¡°Is the information already avable?¡± asked a member.

    ¡°Yes. Since we can¡¯tpete with the speed ofrge guilds, we¡¯ll make full use of the information avable online,¡± they decided.

    They didn¡¯t want ¡¾Maple Tree¡¿ to have any failures. To ensure victory, they decided to use all avable information meticulously.

    ¡°Mai and Yui will be the key yers in this attack. Do your best!¡± they encouraged.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Mai and Yui responded enthusiastically.

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s go over the boss information and n our strategy in detail!¡±

    With eight members, they had many options. With Maple and Chrome on defense and Mai and Yui on offense, the other four would support, making the partyplete.

    ¡°Let¡¯s start. The boss¡¯s attack patterns are¡­¡± they began to discuss.

    They devised detailed strategies, including backup ns in case the initial strategy failed. The eight were ready to challenge the final boss of the fourthyer.

    Since Kasumi was the one who could ept the quest, she led the way through the fourthyer town. They reached a prominent tower in the center of town, where the town leader who issued the quests resided.

    ¡°I¡¯ve taken quests here several times, but this will be your first meeting,¡± Kasumi said as they climbed the stairs to the top floor.

    ¡°Are you ready to ept the final quest?¡± a figure in full armor, wielding a grand sword, asked.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll take the quest,¡± Kasumi replied.

    ¡°The mes are powerful, and they will soon overflow. Time is running out.¡±

    ¡°I trust in your past deeds. Bring back good news,¡± the man said as he issued the quest to Kasumi. The quest, named ¡®Cmity¡¯s Calling Hellfire,¡¯ involved exploring an otherworldly realm and defeating a monster infused with demonic power.

    ¡°Alright, it will be a tough battle, even with the information we have,¡± they acknowledged.

    ¡°Let¡¯s stay focused.¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go over the steps one more time.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m getting a bit nervous¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll do our best!¡±

    ¡°Our roles are crucial, so let¡¯s give it our all.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s rely on Iz for transportation. She won¡¯t need to use any special skills.¡±

    ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s do our best!¡±

    To obtain the third ¡®Demonic Power of the Demon King,¡¯ Maple and her friends set off from the town in the fourthyer area.

    epting the quest, they moved through the field and opened arge door behind a wall of purple mes. The otherworldly realm revealed a burning Japanese-style town. Maple and her group stood on a long stone-paved road, looking at a tall, ming tower in the distance.

    ¡°¡¾Self-Sacrificing Love¡¿¡¾Ray of Salvation¡¿!¡± Maple immediately deployed two defensive fields upon entering the otherworldly realm.

    The majority of the enemies¡¯ attacks involved fire, with wide attack ranges. Without ¡¾Self-Sacrificing Love¡¿, Mai and Yui could easily be killed.

    ¡°They¡¯reing!¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Kasumi¡¯s warning made everyone look up. In the night sky, countless ming arrows wereunched at them from the burning town.

    Maple quickly lowered her shield and saved the usage of ¡¾Voracity¡¿, nullifying the damage from the rain of ming arrows. She began walking through the sea of mes as if nothing had happened.

    The relentless rain of arrows and the spreading mes would be difficult for any normal yer to handle. Maple¡¯s presence alone was invaluable.

    ¡°Stay within the range of the shield!¡± Maple instructed.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Mai and Yui responded.

    Stepping out from under the shield¡¯s protection meant instant death from the mes at their feet, so Mai and Yui decided to stay close to Maple.

    Two archer enemies appeared at a distance along the stone-paved road, drawingrge ming bows and firing powerful shots.

    ¡°We got this.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to us!¡±

    Sally and Chrome stepped up. They knew these arrows had a defense-piercing effect, so Maple couldn¡¯t block them.

    Sally deflected the arrows with her daggers, while Chrome blocked them with hisrge shield.

    ¡°We¡¯ll handle this!¡±

    As soon as they focused forward, samurai enemies appeared, surrounding Maple¡¯s group. These samurai had ming bodies and blood-stained swords, with high HP.

    However, their toughness was rtive to normal yers.

    ¡°Take this!¡± Mai and Yui swung theirrge hammers, easily crushing the samurai.

    The samurai could also deal piercing damage upon close contact, making them dangerous. The strength of these monsters was several notches higher than anything they had faced before.

    ¡°Let¡¯s move slowly and carefully.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    With the piercing arrows and the close-range attacks of the samurai, they had to proceed cautiously.

    ¡°Keep your focus,¡± they reminded each other.

    Kasumi used her teleportation skill, ¡¾One Sword?Mirage¡¿, to deal with any enemies that got past Mai and Yui¡¯s hammers.

    They formed a strategy where each member had a role, allowing them to proceed without using irreceable resources.

    This was the optimal solution ¡¾Maple Tree¡¿ had devised to win.

    Without letting their guard down, they steadily made their way towards the distant, ming tower.

    ***

    The closer they got to the boss, the denser the rain of ming arrows became.

    For ¡¾Maple Tree¡¿, this wasn¡¯t a problem, but the increased number of samurai and arrows was challenging.

    ¡°¡¾One Sword?Mirage¡¿!¡±

    ¡°Thanks!¡±

    ¡°Sorry!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll take care of it!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll create a barrier!¡±

    They handled the increased enemies calmly, knowing what to expect.

    ¡°Impressive,¡± Chrome remarked, blocking the defense-piercing arrows with his shield while ncing at Sally, who deftly deflected them with her daggers.

    Initially, they had nned for Maple to block these arrows, but Sally¡¯s confidence and Maple¡¯s trust in her led to Sally being assigned this task.

    Sally deflected the arrows perfectly, making it safer than even Maple could.

    Realizing this, Chrome focused on blocking his share of the arrows. With Sally handling her part wlessly, he couldn¡¯t afford to make any mistakes.

    ¡°Everyone, keep it up!¡±

    Holding a potion ready for emergency healing, Maple also kept ¡¾Ancient Weapon¡¿ at the ready, avoiding the destruction of ¡¾Machine God¡¿ by the fire arrows.

    Maple¡¯s main priority was not dying. If she fell, the rain of fire arrows would be a real threat.

    Understanding her significant role, Maple continued to maintain the protective field for everyone.

    ¡°¡¾Ancient Weapon¡¿!¡±

    As they closed the distance, Maple¡¯s energy stored from the countless fire arrows was unleashed, targeting the distant archers.

    Without anyone to protect them, the archers were quickly overwhelmed by Maple¡¯s sniper rifle sts, allowing the group to move forward more quickly.

    With the most dangerous enemies eliminated, they switched to the Gatling gun for maximum firepower, ensuring no enemies could draw their bows.

    ¡°¡¾Ancient Weapon¡¿!¡±

    Using the infinite energy source of the fire arrows, Maple¡¯s Gatling gun obliterated the stone pavement and the enemies.

    The samurai with high HP couldn¡¯t withstand the continuous barrage and fell, clearing the path for Maple¡¯s group.

    ¡°We¡¯re here!¡±

    ¡°Looks like it. The samurai have disappeared too.¡±

    They had reached the center of the town, where the main roads intersected. The samurai had disappeared, and the rain of fire arrows had stopped for now.

    However, the tall tower indicating the boss¡¯s location was still far away. Despite this, they had a reason to say they had arrived.

    With a loud crash, a burning, crumbling building fell, forming a wall of mes that surrounded them.

    A sufficientbat area had formed, and the sound of galloping hooves was heard.

    ¡°We won¡¯t let you pass!¡±

    Arge horse made of mes and an armored warrior appeared, wielding a long spear with a burning tip, ring at the eight of them.

    This was the gatekeeper before the boss. If they couldn¡¯t pass this, they had no chance of obtaining the ¡®Demonic Power of the Demon King.¡¯

    ¡°Stick to the n!¡±

    Sally called out as sheunched a magic attack at the armored warrior, drawing his attention.

    The spear had a defense-piercing effect, so even within ¡¾Self-Sacrificing Love¡¿, it couldn¡¯t be blocked.

    Sally dodged the rapid three-strike attack, keeping the warrior¡¯s back turned.

    Sally¡¯s role was to create an opening for Mai and Yui, not to deal damage.

    ¡°¡¾Double Impact¡¿!¡±

    Just as Mai and Yui swung their hammers, the horse neighed, and both it and the warrior were engulfed in mes, dodging the attack.

    Realizing the unexpected situation, Mai and Yui adjusted.

    The mes behind them flickered, and the warrior charged again, aiming to trample everyone.

    Chrome reacted first.

    ¡°¡¾Cover Move¡¿¡¾Cover¡¿!¡±

    Using his skills, Chrome blocked the powerful thrust, preventing any damage to his teammates.

    ¡°¡¾Tornado¡¿!¡±

    ¡°¡¾Barrel Expansion¡¿¡¾Commence Attack¡¿!¡±

    Kanade attacked with magic, and Maple withsers, dealing damage but not enough to defeat the warrior. Hemanded his horse to charge again.

    ¡°It didn¡¯t go as nned¡­!¡±

    ¡°Sorry¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll adjust.¡±

    Despite their best efforts, some things were still unknown. The fire attack had not been confirmed under simr conditions.

    With the primary n disrupted, they had to adapt.

    ¡°¡¾Quick Change¡¿!¡±

    Mai and Yui changed their equipment, removing ¡¾Saving Hand¡¿ for minimal gear.

    ¡°Tsukimi¡¾Awakening¡¿¡­!¡±

    ¡°Yukimi!¡¾Awakening¡¿!¡±

    As they prepared, the enemy charged again, engulfed in mes.

    ¡°Interesting use!¡±

    Iz threw a blue-purple potion at Mai and Yui, creating an effect around them.

    ¡°Tsukimi!¡±

    ¡°Yukimi!¡±

    ¡°¡¾Power Share¡¿!¡±

    ¡°¡¾Cover¡¿!¡±

    Chrome blocked the spear again while Mai and Yui, on their tamed monsters, attacked the warrior with their hammers.

    With a loud crash, a massive damage effect appeared on the warrior¡¯s body.

    ¡°We did it!¡±

    ¡°It worked!¡±

    They used a strategy to share stats with their tamed monsters, weakening the enemy and delivering powerful blows. Thisbined with Kasumi and Sally¡¯s follow-up attacks brought the warrior down.

    ¡°¡¾Warrior¡¯s Arm¡¿¡¾Fourth Sword?Whirlwind¡¿!¡±

    ¡°¡¾Quintuple sh¡¿!¡±

    ¡°¡¾Commence Attack¡¿¡¾Ancient Weapon¡¿!¡±

    ¡°¡¾Hydro Laser¡¿!¡±

    Kasumi and Sally¡¯s attacks,bined with Maple and Kanade¡¯ssers, destroyed the warrior and his horse.

    ¡°How¡­ unfortunate¡­¡±

    The warrior fell, and the walls of fire disappeared, revealing the straight stone road ahead.

    ¡°We need to remove the debuffs before proceeding.¡±

    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s return the equipment too.¡±

    After resetting their equipment and removing debuffs, they prepared to move forward again.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go!¡±

    Despite some changes to the n, they defeated the mid-boss. They knew the final boss wouldn¡¯t be easy, so they meticulously prepared for the uing battle, leveraging their unique situation where the fire arrows were nullified.

    With confidence and readiness, Maple and her team advanced toward the final battle.

 Chapter 523: Defense Focus and the Burning Town 2

    Chapter 523: Defense Focus and the Burning Town 2

    <strong>Chapter 523: Defense Focus and the Burning Town 2</strong>

    After defeating the mid-boss, the onught of samurai attacks, archer sniping, and the rain of ming arrows resumed with increased intensity. The arrows now fired in pairs, the number of samurai increased, and their STR and AGI stats were boosted. The damage from the ming arrows was also higher.

    However, Maple and her team were undeterred. They had anticipated these challenges and were prepared to face them head-on. With Mai and Yui¡¯s overwhelming offensive power and Maple¡¯s imprable defense, they crushed the enemies with sheer force, navigating the treacherous fourthyer boss dungeon with determination.

    Eventually, they arrived at a wide, gravel-covered area before a towering, ming structure. This was unmistakably the boss arena. At the top of the tower stood a tall man, cloaked in mes. He leapt down andnded before the eight adventurers.

    The man, moving with surprising agility despite his armor and helmet, conjured red and blue mes from his hands, forming zing swords.

    ¡°My mes have longed for this day¡­ If you interfere, you will die,¡± he dered, stepping forward as the tower behind him copsed, sending a mix of mes and dust into the air.

    This signaled the start of the battle.

    The man dashed forward with incredible speed, but this time Chrome was not the one to intercept.

    ¡°¡¾Dragon me Spear¡¿!¡±

    Sally, wielding two me-spewing spears instead of her usual daggers, met the man¡¯s charge. Their weapons shed, creating fiery explosions amidst the swirling dust. Sally expertly parried the man¡¯s rapid strikes, though he deftly blocked her counters. As expected, the boss¡¯s attacks were all piercing.

    While Chrome¡¯s slower, shield-based defense would be ineffective, Sally¡¯s quick, precise maneuvers kept the boss at bay.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­.¡±

    Despite the boss¡¯s speed and strength, Sally remained focused, perfectly executing her defensive and offensive moves. She waited for the boss to use his powerful but slow, wide-range attack, which created a fiery zone on the ground, as this was her opportunity to strike.

    ¡°Mai!¡± Sally shouted.

    Maple and the others used their flying machines to swiftly reposition themselves, dodging the boss¡¯s mes with perfect timing.

    With the distance closed, Sally diverted the boss¡¯s attention, sliding under his sweeping de and positioning him with his back to Mai. The boss¡¯s momentary distraction allowed Mai tounch a powerful attack, coordinated with a debuff from Iz to avoid over-damaging the boss.

    ¡°Take this!¡±

    Although Mai and Yui¡¯s synchronized attacks were challenging due to the boss¡¯s smaller size, Mai¡¯s single, powerful strike significantly reduced the boss¡¯s HP. This temporary attention shift to Mai was immediately countered by Chrome and Kasumi stepping in to block the boss¡¯s next move.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got this!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to us!¡±

    Sally re-engaged the boss from behind, allowing Mai to retreat safely. The rest of the team, protected by Maple¡¯s shields, maintained control of the battle, waiting for the right moment to strike.

    ¡°Keeping. Focus on me,¡± Sally taunted, using her umted¡¾Sword Dance¡¿stacks to deal significant damage to the boss.

    As the boss prepared another wide-range attack, Chrome, Kanade, Iz, and Maple coordinated their defenses and healing to mitigate the damage.

    ¡°Iing, Chrome!¡±

    ¡°¡¾Multi-Cover¡¿!¡±

    ¡°¡¾Large-Scale Magic Barrier¡¿!¡±

    ¡°¥Õ¥§¥¤¡¾Item Enhancement¡¿!¡±

    Chrome took the brunt of the attack, his multiple defensiveyers and skill buffs absorbing the damage, while the team quickly recovered and prepared for the next phase.

    Sally delivered a series of powerful strikes, her¡¾Water Cloak¡¿¡¾Triple shbo causing the boss to stagger. She then retreated as the boss switched to a new attack pattern, signaling a shift in strategy.

    The boss, now floating and enveloped in mes, summoned massive red and blue swords that began to create fiery zones on the ground.

    ¡°Get on board!¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Iz¡¯s upgraded flying machine, now carrying Mai, Yui, and their tamed creatures Tsukimi and Yukimi, took to the air. Their goal was to maintain an optimal distance for their attacks while avoiding the boss¡¯s fiery des.

    ¡°Time to show my flying skills!¡± Iz maneuvered expertly, evading the mes and keeping the boss within striking distance for Mai and Yui.

    ¡°¡¾Blood de¡¿!¡±

    ¡°¡¾Ancient Weapon¡¿!¡±

    ¡°¡¾Hydro Laser¡¿!¡±

    Theirbined ground attacks forced the boss to parry, opening him up for a direct hit from Mai and Yui¡¯s¡¾Power Share¡¿enhanced strikes, knocking him to the ground.

    As the boss tried to recover, Kasumi and Sally took advantage, dealing rapid, precise blows that further depleted his HP.

    ¡°Nice job, everyone!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve got this!¡±

    Maple, using her¡¾Self-Sacrificing Love¡¿skill, prepared for the boss¡¯s final, desperate attacks.

    With the boss¡¯s HP critically low, he switched to a single, massive sword, readying a devastating final strike. The team coordinated their defense and offense, with Kanade and Sally leading a powerful water-based attack to neutralize the boss¡¯s fiery barrier.

    ¡°Now, Maple!¡±

    ¡°¡¾Barrel Expansion¡¿¡¾Commence Attack¡¿!¡±

    Mapleunched herself directly at the boss, using her shield to absorb and deflect his final blow. The impact,bined with her remaining¡¾Voracity¡¿skill, delivered the finishing blow, depleting the boss¡¯s HP and ending the battle.

    Returning to the fourthyer town, theypleted the quest and sessfully obtained ¡®Demonic Power III.¡¯

    ¡°Whew, we did it. Good job, everyone.¡±

    ¡°The fourthyer boss was tough,¡± Kasumi remarked.

    ¡°Very much so. Our preparations were crucial,¡± added another.

    With the entire team performing their roles wlessly, they overcame the formidable challenges and secured victory.

    ¡°This marks the start of the final stretch,¡± one noted.

    ¡°Let¡¯s continue our efforts in the sixth and eighthyers when we can,¡± suggested another.

    ¡°Maple, ready for the next challenge?¡± Sally asked.

    ¡°Of course! Let¡¯s finish this together.¡±

    With renewed determination, Maple and her team prepared to face the remaining challenges, knowing they were closer than ever to their ultimate goal.

 Chapter 524

    Chapter 524

    Bofuri 524

    <strong>Defense Specialization and the Fifth Floor</strong>

    Having acquired three ¡°Demon King¡¯s Powers,¡± the exploration of the tenthyer by ¡°Maple Tree¡± was nearing its climax. Maple and Sally had ventured into the clouds of the Fifth Floor.

    The Fifth Floor is a grandbyrinth, where progress resumes from the point that matches the slowest yer in the party. If they started together, they must finish together to avoid doubling their efforts.

    Within the Cloud Town, which serves as a checkpoint, Maple and Sally prepared for another dive into the maze.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s do our best! Do you think we can finish this time?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, it might still take a while¡­ it all depends on our pace and resources.¡±

    If they proceed smoothly, it would be possible toplete the Fifth Floor in a single exploration. However, considering the past, the boss would undoubtedly be formidable. Moreover, due to the Great Maze, boss-level monsters frequently appeared on the way.

    Given the limited daily resources, continuous battles with strong foes posed a risk. Winning against these foes wouldn¡¯t be difficult if they were well-prepared. The key was to know when to retreat.

    Deciding not to overexert themselves, they stepped into the cloud maze once again.

    <strong> Encountering the Rain</strong>

    The two were greeted by rain, or rather something that could be described as rain.

    ¡°Whoa¡­¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like something you¡¯d want to be hit by.¡±

    The rain that fell in front of them pierced the ground like spear tips and then burst, absorbed into the floor. Even Maple didn¡¯t think it wise to try and withstand it.

    However, having thoroughly explored Cloud Town, they had obtained items to counter this rain.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this the perfect timing to use it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Equipping their ¡®Rain Avoidance Helmets,¡¯ Maple, who could recover with ¡°Stout Guardian¡± and ¡°Atrocity¡±, stepped into the rain first.

    ¡°Here we go¡­ hey! Oh, it works!¡±

    True to its name, the ¡®Rain Avoidance Helmet¡¯ caused the sharp raindrops falling towards Maple to veer away, embedding themselves in the ground around her.

    ¡°Good thing we bought these. We should keep exploring towns for useful items.¡±

    ¡°Absolutely. There¡¯s a big difference having these makes.¡±

    While shields and barriers were options, the freedom offered by this item was unmatched.

    ¡°Remember, we don¡¯t have Iz-san¡¯s equipment now, so keep an eye on your HP.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Due to equipment constraints, Maple¡¯s HP dropped a bit, but avoiding the rain was crucial. After confirming her safety, Sally also stepped into the rain.

    ¡°Even if it¡¯s not a piercing attack, it¡¯s definitely not just rain¡­ we might face some strong bosses.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be careful. Your predictions are always right, Sally.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s better to be cautious.¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    Using their items to their full advantage, they advanced through the spear-like rain. Then, they saw something different from the moving rain. Stopping, they squinted to get a better look.

    ¡°Uh, what¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Probably a monster¡­ but hard to read its moves.¡±

    At the end of the passage, two floating water masses moved erratically, sometimes spiked like a sea urchin, other times t like a board, bouncing off walls aimlessly.

    The HP bar above indicated they weren¡¯t just amon trap. Without clear weapons, it was hard to predict their attacks.

    ¡°They don¡¯t seem to attack immediately. How about we secure safety and then provoke them?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s do it from a distance as usual!¡±

    ¡°Please.¡±

    Preparing to use ¡°Demon King¡¯s Power¡±, Maple attached a drill to her body, charged energy, and released it.

    ¡°Demon King¡¯s Power!¡±

    The ck cube transformed, emitting blue light, splitting into multiple tubes forming a circle. Bluesers shot forward from the center.

    Maple held her shield ready, Sally focused on observing the enemy. The monsters shattered instantly upon impact.

    But.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    ¡°Whoa!?¡±

    A torrent of sharp rain spikes flew back at them, with water film-like membranes spreading around, enclosing them.

    ¡°That surprised me.¡±

    ¡°They act like traps. They leave nasty effects when they die¡­¡±

    Exploding into spikes caused indiscriminate attacks, while the t shape left immobilizing water membranes. Not monsters they wanted to explode.

    ¡°Should we avoid killing them?¡±

    ¡°They might act like time bombs. Could also forcefully self-destruct if approached.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be a pain.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s test it. We don¡¯t want surprises during a boss fight.¡±

    ¡°Got it! I¡¯ll prepare ¡°Pierce Guard¡± too!¡±

    ¡°I want to see other forms too. Some looked like sticks.¡±

    The maze was a valuable ce for gathering information. Even if it turned out useless in a boss fight, reducing risks was essential.

    With time on their side, they carefully noted enemy behaviors and moved forward.

    <strong> Progressing Through the Labyrinth</strong>

    Understanding the enemy¡¯s behavior, they found the journey rtively calm. The spiky forms were troublesome, causing chain explosions among water masses. But if they handled therge-scale effects carefully, they could manage.

    ¡°Large-scale summoning in a boss room would be a hassle¡­ but there¡¯s no point overthinking it.¡±

    ¡°We have to beat them to pass.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    With rtively mild enemy attacks, they had room for conversation.

    ¡°Maple, where do you want to go after the Fifth Floor?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, the Sixth Floor¡­ maybe?¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because Sally isn¡¯t good with the Sixth Floor, and I want to explore together in the end!¡±

    On the Sixth Floor, even if they went together, Sally might be either in the mouth of ¡°Atrocity¡± or blindfolded on Syrup. That wouldn¡¯t feel like exploring together.

    ¡°And going in order will be a nice review!¡±

    ¡°Coincidentally, the order we got the ¡®Demon King¡¯s Powers¡¯ was the same.¡±

    In the free-choice tenyers, the Fifth Floor next to the Sixth Floor wasn¡¯t intentional, but it brought back vivid memories. It was a fitting order to reminisce.

    ¡°Maple, how are you with all your new skills? Got the hang of them?¡±

    ¡°Not as good as you, Sally. But I¡¯m getting better with frequently used skills.¡±

    From ¡°Poison Dragon¡± and ¡°Devour¡± to ¡°Self-Offering Love¡± and ¡°Machine God¡±, and the recent ¡°Demon King¡¯s Power¡±, Maple was versatile. Skills like ¡°Unbreakable Shield¡± and ¡°Earth¡¯s Cradle¡±, less used due to her high defense, were harder to deploy on the fly.

    ¡°You¡¯re busier than a typical shield user with all those skills.¡±

    It was a point she had to ept due to her versatility.

    ¡°Sally, don¡¯t you want to use my skills?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? With ¡°Reverse Rebirth¡±?¡±

    ¡°No, I mean the Demon King skills. They¡¯re supposed to be really strong, and we know how to get them.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±

    Like helping Mai and Yui get ¡°Helping Hand¡±, if Maple could acquire a skill before a crucial battle, it would be significant. Maple would master it quickly.

    Still, Maple shook her head.

    ¡°Rather than gaining more skills, I think refining my current ones is better. It¡¯s my strongest weapon.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    She smiled at Maple.

    ¡°But the real reason is just that I¡¯m particr about it.¡±

    Maple was right. Increasing skills generally offered morebat options, a benefit not lost on her.

    ¡°Just like you¡¯re focused on defense, I want to challenge with my current weapon. That makes the game more fun.¡±

    ¡°I kind of get it?¡±

    ¡°Really? Seems like you understand, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Then let¡¯s keep it this way!¡±

    ¡°Of course. And we won¡¯t lose. This is about using ¡°Maple Tree¡±¡®s full potential.¡±

    ¡°I trust you, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡±

    How to y and who to y with. Each has their own fun. Embracing their strengths and weaknesses, they nned their strategies as they progressed through the cloud maze.

 Chapter 525

    Chapter 525

    Bofuri 525

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Fifth Floor Part 2</strong>

    As they advanced, besides the water masses acting as traps, cloud soldiers encountered earlier in thebyrinth reappeared, along with mages who attacked with water magic hidden in the rain.

    These, however, were only minimal obstacles meant to form formations. The troublesome spear-like rain was rendered harmless by the ¡®Rain Avoidance Helmet,¡¯ making the density of enemies and the already known paths manageable for the two.

    After breaking through several groups of enemies, a vast space unfolded before them. It was evident that this was the boss room of the cloudbyrinth.

    Though no monsters were visible inside, the rain continued to fall as it had along the way, indicating the necessity of the ¡®Rain Avoidance Helmet.¡¯

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing more we can figure out from here¡­ Maple, are you ready?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯m ready anytime!¡±

    Maple rechecked her equipment and skill cooldowns, signaling her readiness for battle.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    As they leaped into the hall, a rain cloud formed in the center, and a woman carrying arge blue water jug appeared atop it. This figure governed the rain that made it difficult to even stand without proper equipment.

    To signal the start of the battle,rge water masses erupted from the water jug, floating around.

    ¡°Self-Offering Love!¡±

    The floating water masses, as observed earlier, exploded when provoked, causing chain reactions. Maple, fortified with emergency defense skills including ¡°Stout Guardian¡±, served as the final line of defense, deflecting attacks and providing a safe space for Sally to fight freely. If Sally made a mistake, they could recover, showcasing their mutual defensive strategy.

    ¡°I¡¯ll handle the attacks!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    By maintaining a distance from the water masses, they could buy time before the spikes from the chain explosions reached them. Since the boss was floating on the cloud, using Maple¡¯s ¡°Demon King¡¯s Power¡± was more practical than having her charge in.

    Charging energy with the drill attached to her chest, Maple deployed ¡°Demon King¡¯s Power¡± above her head. The mode was set to gatling, targeting only the boss.

    ¡°Demon King¡¯s Power!¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The blue light bullets shot straight at the boss, piercing through the water masses on their way. t water masses generated immobilizing membranes upon contact, but maintaining enough distance kept them outside the membrane¡¯s range.

    The spikes and rod forms were the problem. They responded to Maple¡¯s attacks by countering.

    The spikes that shattered and scattered in all directions hit other water masses, causing greater damage than Maple¡¯s initial shot.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of this.¡±

    Using ¡°Ice Pir¡± and ¡°Water Maniption¡± to block any direct hits from the spikes, Sally focused on the other traps.

    ¡°Maple, over here!¡±

    ¡°Cover Move!¡±

    Maple swiftly moved from the spot. A thick water column shot towards the ceiling immediately after.

    ¡°Thanks!¡±

    ¡°It would be nice if there was a magic circle to give it away, but don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t miss anything.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    The rod-shaped water masses created fixed damage and a knockback effect. Effective against Maple, but without prior signs before activation. This trap was the real issue.

    Despite the rain and iing attacks obscuring vision, Sally precisely tracked the destruction timing of the rod-shaped masses and called out to Maple at the right moments, ensuring their safe avoidance.

    ¡°Now the boss will start attacking too.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    So far, it was just a warm-up. As the boss replenished the destroyed water masses from her water jug and deployed five blue magic circles around her, the two readied themselves.

    <strong> Fierce Combat</strong>

    Having faced water-based attacks multiple times before, they anticipated various behaviors. This time, high-pressure thin watersers connected the ground and magic circles, slicing through the cloud floor. Maple couldn¡¯t avoid them with her speed.

    ¡°Follow me!¡±

    ¡°Cover Move!¡±

    Mastering the ystyle thatplemented Maple¡¯s strengths, Sally swiftly adapted to the increased responsibilities.

    ¡°Oozing Chaos!¡±

    Dodging thesers while attacking the boss required Maple¡¯s full concentration.

    As long as she kept announcing ¡°Cover Move¡±, Maple¡¯s body would move to the safest spot she deemed fit.

    Trusting Maple¡¯s judgment implicitly, Sally focused solely on the boss. Without this focus, the shifting position due to ¡°Cover Move¡± would hinder effective attacks.

    Delegating various necessary decisions allowed Maple to match the pace of this high-speedbat.

    ¡°Great, we¡¯re making progress! Keep it up!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    Using the ¡®Rain Avoidance Helmet¡¯ and their perfect coordination, the boss¡¯s HP dropped below half without achieving the expected impact.

    ¡°Watch out¡­!¡±

    As always, attacks intensified when the HP bar dropped below half. Sally, who was on high alert, quickly noticed the change.

    The water masses, which previously floated idly, now surged towards them. Even though long-range attacks would minimize damage, they needed to handle this new threat.

    ¡°Maple, move back a bit!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Sally knew her weapon¡¯s range down to thest centimeter. By retreating to the maximum range to hit the boss, they gained time to deal with the water mass traps.

    ¡°Poison Dragon!¡±

    ¡°Water Dragon!¡±

    Maple¡¯s wide-area poison attack shattered the iing water masses while attacking the boss. The resulting traps were swept away by Sally¡¯s water maniption.

    ¡°My output has improved.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s push through!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡±

    Despite the rapid session of ¡°Cover Move¡±, Maple took considerable damage. A single prating attack could be fatal.

    Still, they were confident in their strategy and determined to see it through.

    ¡°Demon King¡¯s Power!¡±

    ¡°Demon King¡¯s Power¡±, ¡°Reverse Rebirth!¡±

    Copying Maple¡¯s weapon, Sally attacked simultaneously.

    Focused on evading intense attacks while depleting the boss¡¯s HP, they remained vignt throughout.

    Their relentless assault led to the boss exploding and vanishing into light. The spear-like rain ceased, and the floating water masses disappeared, signaling the end of the battle. They sighed in relief.

    ¡°Thank you, Sally. Was it tough?¡±

    ¡°This was easy. How about you? You moved a lot more than usual.¡±

    ¡°This was easy!¡±

    ¡°Good. Let¡¯s head back to town.¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    Leaving the boss room, they continued their journey towards acquiring more ¡®Demon King¡¯s Powers.¡¯

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 526

    Chapter 526

    526

    <strong>Defense Specialization and Assistance</strong>

    A few days passed, and the exploration continued smoothly. Maple and Sally were exchanging information with the members of the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± at a cafe in town.

    ¡°We¡¯ll probably reach the Demon King first,¡± one of them said confidently.

    ¡°Well, with this many people, we can¡¯t afford tog behind,¡± another added.

    ¡°Yes, the guild members have been working hard,¡± said a third.

    ¡°If there¡¯s anything you want to know, we should be able to help¡­ to some extent.¡±@@novelbin@@

    ¡°You¡¯re fast, too. The ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡± might be challenging soon as well!¡±

    ¡°If it was just a single attempt, we could expedite it, but this time it¡¯s a boss that has been noted to be strong in advance. We¡¯re gathering multiple chances to challenge the ¡®Demon King¡¯s Power¡¯ since a single attempt might be difficult.¡±

    ¡°Gathering information and repeatedly challenging strong bosses is fundamental. ¡°Maple Tree¡± should also consider gathering multiple attempts.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s tough in one go, huh?¡± Maple muttered to herself, but the members of the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± didn¡¯t think it was impossible for them.

    ¡°It¡¯s difficult¡­ normally¡­¡±

    ¡°But¡­ if it¡¯s the members of ¡°Maple Tree¡±, winning in one attempt might be possible.¡±

    ¡°What do you think? It¡¯s definitely tough, but Maple and I n to give it our all.¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re in contact with the ¡°Congregation of the Holy Swords¡±, we might get detailed information soon. It¡¯s definitely a formidable enemy, but we¡¯re rooting for ¡°Maple Tree¡±¡¯s victory.¡±

    With that, Mii made eye contact with Maple, silently encouraging her. Maple nodded back, understanding the gesture, and Mii smiled.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get to the main topic. Encouragement is fine, but we have another matter to discuss today.¡±

    Mii cleared her throat and started discussing the main issue.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t rted to the main quest, but we¡¯ve encountered a strong enemy. While our guild could eventually win with repeated attempts, we¡¯re currently focused on the Demon King challenge and don¡¯t want to allocate too much time and manpower.¡±

    ¡°So if we help¡­¡±

    Before Maple could finish, Mii nodded.

    ¡°With Maple¡¯s defensive capabilities, we can skip the troublesome parts. If you help us, we¡¯ll share some information in return.¡±

    The ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± was ahead in the exploration of the tenthyer. With the flexibility in the exploration order immediately after arriving at the tenthyer, ¡°Maple Tree¡± knew things no one else did. However, as time passed, that advantage diminished.

    Thus, the valuable asset Maple and her team could offer in exchange for information was not more information but the uniquebat assistance they could provide using their specialized skills.

    Maple, with her unique abilities, could counter specific enemy attacks effectively. Nodding enthusiastically at Mii¡¯s proposal, Maple agreed to help.

    ¡°I thought you would say that. Thanks, I appreciate it.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee! Shall we go right away?¡±

    ¡°If you both have the time, we can head out.¡±

    ¡°Maple, I¡¯m ready.¡±

    ¡°Perfect.¡±

    ¡°Then, let me guide you to the ce. We¡¯ll ride on Ignis.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mii.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go then!¡±

    ¡°Yes, we rely on you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll ask about the information you need¡­ I want to summarize it while we travel.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Maple and Sally discussed their needs and conveyed the information to Mii. After settling the bill, they left the cafe and rode on Ignis, who was erged by ¡°Heavenly Guardian¡¯s Flock¡±, to their destination.

    <strong>The Encounter</strong>

    Ignis flew them to an open area in the forest, lined with stone pirs inscribed with fine text.

    ¡°This ce looks ominous.¡±

    ¡°It feels like there¡¯s something here¡­¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    Maple had seen suspicious terrain like this before. It was clear something was key to this ce, but identifying that key was crucial.

    ¡°Maple, activate ¡°Self-Offering Love¡±.¡±

    ¡°¡­! Understood!¡±

    Following Mii¡¯s instructions, Maple activated ¡°Self-Offering Love¡±, indicating that they might soon face a storm of attacks.

    ¡°Is everyone ready?¡±

    Once everyone confirmed their readiness, Mii took out a small vial from her inventory. The ck mes burning within the vial seemed to be the key item. As Mii opened the vial, ck mes erupted from the stone pirs, spreading around and enveloping Maple and the others, reaching up into the sky.

    Despite being surrounded by ck mes, the forest remained intact, making it clear that they were in a different dimension.

    ¡°Maple, are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Impressive as always. The first hurdle is cleared.¡±

    ¡°The entire area is burning. We could force our way through with continuous healing magic, but¡­¡±

    While the area was simr to the dimension where the final boss of the fourthyer was, the damage zone here was extensive and constant, making it impossible to block with shields or barriers. However, Maple¡¯s ability to negate this mechanic significantly lowered the difficulty of the area. This was something even the skilled shield users in the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± couldn¡¯t achieve.

    ¡°We don¡¯t need to worry about traps. And¡­ the light.¡±

    The ck mes, which typically wouldn¡¯t provide illumination, were countered by the glowing ¡°Self-Offering Love¡±, lighting up their surroundings without the need for a handheldntern.

    ¡°The terrain hasn¡¯t changed. We know the path to the deepest part. Stay close to us. Shin, handle scouting and interception.¡±

    ¡°Alright, as usual! ¡°Destructor¡±!¡±

    Shin¡¯s sword split into several pieces, floating in the air, and flew through the mes. This allowed for precise scouting and attacking simultaneously.

    ¡°Once enemies are detected, we¡¯ll take them down from a distance. All enemies are beasts covered in ck mes. Maple, use water, and Sally, use something other than poison.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me!¡±

    They advanced cautiously, intercepting enemies as Shin detected them.

    ¡°¡±Water Dragon¡±!¡±

    ¡°¡±Oozing Chaos¡±!¡±

    ¡°¡±Blue Fire¡±!¡±

    ¡°¡±Remote Location?Wind de¡±!¡±

    ¡°¡±Holy Spear¡±!¡±

    Thanks to Shin¡¯s urate scouting, monsters were destroyed by wide-range attacks before they could even emerge from the mes. The monsters, whose threat level was raised by the constant field damage, couldn¡¯t even show themselves before being eliminated.

    ¡°Looks good so far.¡±

    With no monsters reaching them, Shin continued his scouting.

    ¡°As long as we have Maple¡¯s defense, we¡¯re fine. Mii, have you reached the boss before?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We had to retreat after facing continuous damage greater than that along the way. The enemy is a phoenix enveloped in ck mes.¡±

    ¡°A phoenix, huh¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve guessed it. It¡¯s unlikely you¡¯ll gain ess to this boss.¡±

    The key to entering this area was the me in the vial, and reaching this point required Mii¡¯s tamed monster, Ignis.

    ¡°Other tamed monsters might have simr quests, but finding them is uncertain.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been searching since we learned about this quest, but¡­¡±

    If the numerous members of the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡± couldn¡¯t find another such quest, it was either extremely rare or non-existent.

    ¡°We expect this to lead to a powerful skill or equipment, but it¡¯s unfortunate we won¡¯t have many opportunities to use it against you two.¡±

    While individual PvP opportunities still existed,rge-scale guild battles before Maple and Sally left were unlikely. This meant that Maple and Sally would essentially win and leave undefeated.

    ¡°Maple and I might still participate in events asionally.¡±

    ¡°Ha, we¡¯ll be looking forward to that. We aim to surpass ¡°Maple Tree¡± by then.¡±

    ¡°Maple¡¯s defense is hard to break through even from a distance.¡±

    ¡°And Sally¡¯s evasion¡­ doesn¡¯t seem to get rusty either.¡±

    ¡°What do you think, Sally?¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s an important battle, I¡¯d retrain in a few days.¡±

    ¡°Of course. But we can¡¯t chat for too long! More enemies areing!¡±

    With another perfect interception of detected monsters, Maple and the team continued their advance.

    <strong> Final Approach</strong>

    As they progressed, Maple and Sally noticed changes in their surroundings.

    ¡°The wind¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, but there¡¯s no damage.¡±

    ¡°The firepower has increased, but as expected from Maple.¡±

    ¡°The number of enemies will increase. We¡¯re close to the boss!¡±

    ¡°Maple, let¡¯s deploy ¡°Demon King¡¯s Power¡± too.¡±

    ¡°Right! With all this fire, there¡¯s plenty of energy!¡±

    The entire area burning provided Maple with sufficient energy without needing to use the drill.

    ¡°We¡¯re under attack again! Focus forward!¡±

    ¡°¡±Demon King¡¯s Power¡±!¡±

    The shattered cube transformed into a gatling gun, scattering blue bullets forward. However, a few monsters slipped through the barrage.

    The first monsters they saw were leopards and hawks, rushing at high speed. Their glowing red eyes showed strong hostility as they charged, burning with ck mes.

    ¡°Not on my watch!¡±

    ¡°¡±Inferno¡±!¡±

    ¡°¡±Water Dragon¡±!¡±

    Shin¡¯s sword, used for scouting, was now an attack weapon, piercing through monsters from behind while Mii and Sally intercepted from the front.

    Against the top-tier yers, the monsters, weakened by the nullified field mechanics, stood no chance.

    ¡°Smooth sailing so far. Are we almost there?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ around herest time.¡±

    ¡°Maple, I¡¯ll cast continuous healing spells for added protection.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s avoid using tamed monsters. It would be too taxing on Maple.¡±

    Maple¡¯s ¡°Self-Offering Love¡± attracted all attacks within its range, and targeting multiple allies would overwhelm her defenses.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll attack with ¡°Destructor¡±.¡±

    ¡°Sally, stay within range¡­ though I know you will.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t make a mistake.¡±

    Next was the boss battle, where the ck mes would deal unavoidable damage even to Maple.

    ¡°¡±Afterglow of Salvation¡±.¡±

    White feathers extended from Maple¡¯s back, intensifying the swirling wind. From within the rising ck mes, a high-pitched screech echoed, and a massive phoenix, its body ame, appeared.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Maple quickly realized the change. The wind mixed with mes began to burn her, reducing her HP.

    Absorbing the damage for six people resulted in unprecedented damage levels for Maple, even with ¡°Afterglow of Salvation¡±¡¯s damage reduction.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve got this.¡±

    Misery, holding her staff, reassured Maple.

    ¡°¡±Healing Fountain¡±¡±Healing Light¡±!¡±

    A continuous healing zone at her feet and powerful healing magic instantly restored Maple¡¯s HP.

    ¡°If it¡¯s just one target, my high-healing spells will suffice. I will protect you.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    With Maple absorbing the damage, Misery¡¯s healing was enough. This allowed the remaining four to move freely.

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep attacking. A swift victory is best for them.¡±

    ¡°Agreed. Shin, can you use some ¡°Destructor¡± swords as tforms?¡±

    ¡°Ha, you¡¯re asking for a lot. Well, if it¡¯s Sally, sure. Okay.¡±

    ¡°Not all information isplete. There are still unknowns about the boss, so be careful¡­¡±

    Focused, the four aimed their weapons at the circling boss.

    ¡°Let¡¯s fly!¡±

    Shin no longer needed ¡°Destructor¡± for scouting. Using the swords as tforms, he ascended into the sky, surrounded by swords.

    ¡°I¡¯ll borrow this!¡±

    Sally shot threads to anchor on Shin¡¯s sword, retracting them to elerate andunching herself into the sky with a flying device. Seeing this, the phoenix pped its wings, creating fiery tornadoes.

    Avoiding therge attacks with agility, Shin and Sally closed in on the boss.

    ¡°¡±Quintuple sh¡±!¡±

    ¡°¡±Destructor¡±!¡±

    With Maple handling defense, they could attack aggressively despite the phoenix¡¯s burning body. Shin continued to dodge and attack from a distance.

    However, the phoenix, not just a punching bag, increased its mes and dive-bombed towards the ground.

    Mii and Maple prepared to intercept.

    ¡°¡±Inferno¡±!¡±

    ¡°¡±Barrel Deployment¡±¡±Commence Attack¡±¡±Demon King¡¯s Power¡±!¡±

    A mighty me rivaling the phoenix¡¯s fire and dual-coloredsers from Maple pierced through the attack.

    Yet, it was Marx who remained calm, seeing through the phoenix¡¯s tactics.

    ¡°¡±Holy Chain¡±.¡±

    Chains from a yellow magic circle bound the phoenix, activating a trap ced by Maple.

    ¡°¡±Change¡±!¡±

    Swapping the location of traps, Maple was summoned near the phoenix, ready to strike.

    With the risk of using ¡°Cover Move¡±, the team transported Maple close.

    ¡°¡±Invitation to the Ocean Floor¡±!¡±

    A few seconds of restraint was enough. Maple, with her burst damage tentacles, struck.

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    The phoenix¡¯s wingsshed out, sending Maple back to her team. But in that moment, Maple dealt more damage than all of thembined.

    ¡°Remarkable¡­ as always.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s reliable as an ally.¡±

    ¡°But, we can¡¯t chat. Time to finish this¡­!¡±

    With the phoenix¡¯s HP dwindling, the team pressed on. Maple and Shin dived from above, while Mii, Misery, and Marx attacked from the front.

    ¡°¡±Destructor¡±!¡±

    ¡°¡±Water Dragon¡±!¡±

    ¡°¡±me Empress¡±!¡±

    ¡°¡±Holy Spear¡±!¡±

    ¡°¡±Remote Location?Water Bullet¡±¡­¡±

    Theirbined assault left the phoenix in tatters. However, it began absorbing the ck mes to recover and escape.

    ¡°Maple!¡±

    ¡°Take the shot!¡±

    As the phoenix tried to flee, Maple, slightly dyed from the fall, prepared her weapon. Charging ¡°Demon King¡¯s Power¡± and ¡°Machine God¡± simultaneously, she unleashed a powerfulser.

    ¡°¡±Commence Attack¡±¡±Demon King¡¯s Power¡±!¡±

    Theser pierced the phoenix, ending the battle.

    Victory and Aftermath

    As Maple deactivated her weapons, the ck mes subsided, revealing a return magic circle.

    ¡°Maple, Sally, thank you. You made this much easier.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d. Did you get something useful?¡±

    ¡°¡±Underworld mes¡±.¡±

    Without words, Mii demonstrated, ck mes surrounding her defensively.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°Troublesome if it¡¯s like the earlier mes.¡±

    With fixed damage, it could be effective against Maple. Without a strong healer like Misery, ¡°Maple Tree¡± would struggle.

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame we might not use it against a fully powered ¡°Maple Tree¡±¡­ but it¡¯s good to prepare.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°If we ever need help, we¡¯ll ask. You might see it then.¡±

    ¡°Ha, not that you¡¯d expect it.¡±

    ¡°Well, we might need assistance sometimes.¡±

    ¡°Just call us. We¡¯ll be ready.¡±

    ¡°Looking forward to it!¡±

    ¡°Yes. You helped us a lot! Now we can focus on exploring.¡±

    ¡°Yes. So¡­¡±

    ¡°As promised, we¡¯ll share the information and help when needed.¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    Not only Mii, but the other three also expressed their willingness to cooperate, strengthening the bonds of friendship between Maple and the others once more.

 Chapter 527

    Chapter 527

    527

    Defense Specialization and the Castle in the Clouds

    On another day, Maple and Sally reached the final town in the cloudbyrinth of the Fifth Floor after climbing and exploring extensively.

    While they had avoided delving too deeply into thetest information, trusting third-party sources was limited. However, ording to the NPCs in town, a king resided ahead, and the recent aggression of monsters was likely due to the influence of this king.@@novelbin@@

    It wasn¡¯t hard for the two to imagine that this change in the king was rted to the ¡®Demon King¡¯s Power.¡¯

    ¡°Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°Yep! I¡¯m good to go anytime!¡±

    ¡°Great response. Let¡¯s win this.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    With their items, skills, and equipment all set, they stepped into the final dungeon of the Fifth Floor. Pushing through the cloud walls, they advanced along a narrow, ascending path, squinting as light suddenly flooded their view.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡±

    ¡°Impressive.¡±

    The clear blue sky stretched infinitely above them, and the cloud walls that had enclosed thebyrinth were gone, revealing that they were at the very top of this vast cloud.

    ¡°Do we need to go to that ce?¡±

    ¡°Most likely. There¡¯s even a path leading straight to it.¡±

    Aheady a straight path carved into the cloud floor, leading to an enormous white castle.

    ¡°This might rival the king¡¯s castle in the ninthyer.¡±

    ¡°Looks like it¡¯ll be fun to explore!¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s make this the grand finale of the Fifth Floor!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    As they walked, the distant castle grew even more imposing. The tall, pure white walls before them looked impassable, evoking a sense of solid defense. Their approach triggered movement on the castle walls and at the gate.

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take a closer look.¡±

    Using Iz¡¯s special binocrs, Maple observed the two areas of activity. From the gate emerged soldiers on cloud horses, while gunners on the walls aimed white cannons at them.

    ¡°They¡¯ll probably attack once we get closer.¡±

    ¡°Do we have to break through that gate?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the main route. They might expect us to fly over the gate with our flying machines, but¡­¡±

    Given the prevalence of flying abilities, it was logical that they wouldn¡¯t be allowed to simply fly over. Maple continued to scan the castle.

    ¡°The windows are barred. Looks like there¡¯s an entrance beyond the walls.¡±

    There were no shortcuts to the top floors. The correct approach was to break through the front gate. Maple nced at Sally, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.

    ¡°Hey, Maple.¡±

    ¡°Thinking the same thing?¡±

    ¡°Really!?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, probably. Tell me your n.¡±

    After listening to Maple, Sally nodded with satisfaction.

    ¡°Great idea. Let¡¯s do it.¡±

    ¡°Alright, ¡°Self-Offering Love¡±! ¡°Deploy All Weapons!¡±

    ¡°Climb on!¡±

    ¡°Hold on tight! Here we go!¡±

    Maple adjusted her aim. With Sally on board, their target was not the enemies.

    ¡°Commence Attack!¡°

    With a roar, they shot into the sky, ignoring the cavalry at the gate and flying over the range of the archers towards the castle walls. Cannons swiveled to target Maple, unleashing a barrage of pure white cannonballs.

    Normally, this would be excessively risky, but for Maple and Sally, it was a feasible strategy. Maple demonstrated this by adjusting her angle and diving behind the walls, heading straight into the barrage of cannon fire.

    ¡°Heavy Body¡± ¡°Pierce Guard!¡°

    Negating knockback and nullifying piercing attacks, Maple became an unstoppable projectile,nding in the courtyard before the castle entrance, where soldiers waited.

    Against the rapidly approaching threat, the cloud soldiers quickly mobilized. The immobilized form of Maple seemed like an easy target¡ªif not for the monsters she harbored within.

    ¡°Poison Split Body¡± ¡°Predator¡± ¡°Night Parade of One Hundred Demons!¡°

    Monsters emerged around the fallen Maple, lesser in number but not in quality. And surpassing them was Sally, her dearest friend and the strongest shield turned weapon.

    ¡°I¡¯ll handle this while you rest.¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    ¡°Water Dragon¡± ¡°Wave Ride!¡°

    Sally swept away the approaching enemies with water, decapitating them alongside the summoned monsters. Relieved, Maple waited for ¡°Heavy Body¡± to wear off.

    <strong> Securing the Castle Entrance</strong>

    With the soldiers defeated and silence restored, they checked for reinforcements and sheathed their weapons.

    ¡°Thanks, everyone!¡±

    Maple dismissed her summoned allies and deactivated her skills. To avoid unnecessary risk, she kept ¡°Self-Offering Love¡± inactive, ready to re-engage if needed.

    Taking their time to let cooldowns expire and ensuring everything was ready, they looked towards the castle.

    ¡°Time for another castle siege.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s give it our all!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s clear this final dungeon in one go.¡±

    They passed through the grand doors into the castle. Inside, everything was dazzlingly white, like a scene after fresh snowfall.

    Starting from the main hallway, several side paths branched off, separated by doors. It was clear that one of these paths led to the boss.

    ¡°Which way should we go¡­?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ How about we check the main path first, then explore the side paths?¡±

    ¡°Sounds good! Let¡¯s do that!¡±

    ¡°We might end up exploring everything anyway, but it¡¯s good to see how many paths there are. Plus, we¡¯ll prioritize the stairs leading up over those going down, right?¡±

    ¡°The boss is¡­ probably up?¡±

    ¡°Given the tall central spire, that seems likely.¡±

    ¡°Got it! Up it is!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a guess. We should check the lower floors first to avoid missing any traps. We¡¯re going in blind this time.¡±

    Unlike the fourthyer¡¯s boss fight, they hadn¡¯t gathered detailed information this time. Encouraged by the ¡°Kingdom of the me Emperor¡±, they decided to enjoy the surprise of the unknown.

    ¡°There don¡¯t seem to be any monsters¡­ Let¡¯s decide where to go!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do that.¡±

    As they walked, the sound of their footsteps echoed in the vast, quiet castle. Suddenly, a hum broke the silence as arge magic circle appeared beneath their feet.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    ¡°Cover!¡°

    More reflex than thought, Sally activated her skill to protect Maple. Light from the magic circle turned into pirs, enveloping them both.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!