Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai 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 talk later! 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 space 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 flames 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 to launch 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'!"
Bright lasers 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 players.
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 players that had finally arrived after chasing Sally, ended up returning to their guild, without fully understanding what was happening.
Sally had killed nearly 30 players.
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 collapsed 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?"
"According 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 player was walking slowly through the entrance.
It was Dread.
Maple Tree's location had been identified.
The only reason that the Assembly 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 immediately come 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 slash of his blade.
"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 attacks land, 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 still lacking in experience and skill, but for the first time, they were able to mature while completely 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 slashed 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 too large a gap of what he had built up.
"Bye, bye…!"
"Maple…I'm sorry…"
And Yui too was defeated by Dread's blades.
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 flames, 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.