Defense specialization versus counterfeit battle.
"【Poison Dragon (Hydra)】!"
A poison dragon is unleashed from the new moon.
Yet it was not aimed at the counterfeit Sally.
The poison dragon bursts from the tip of the sword pointed at the ground, splattering with wet sounds, scattering around Maple.
Step on just one of them, and the real Sally would fall in a single strike.
To approach Maple, standing at the heart of the sea of poison, would require exposing a gap larger than ever before.
The counterfeit Sally, keeping distance to dodge the poison dragons, charges forward.
Maple watches her form closely.
And realizes.
The fact that she approaches, avoiding poison.
"You don't have 【Poison Immunity】, do you?"
As the counterfeit Sally leaps in with 【Leap】, Maple drives the large shield into her.
It strikes the body—yet there is no resistance.
"【Mirage】!?"
【Defense Break】
The fake Sally slices through Maple’s torso with a clean, open cut. She kicks Maple into the air with 【Leap】, then vanishes beyond the range of the poison sea.
【Venom Cutter】
The fake Sally dodges Maple’s attack with ease. Yet, as she does, Maple feels a dissonance.
So that’s it… I can’t just copy Sally directly, can I?
The fake Sally is faster than the real Sally.
Her evasion is equally sharp.
But it is only speed.
There is no counterattack from the razor’s edge of evasion that Sally would make.
Sally would dodge every strike and close in without pause.
The fake Sally evades only by speed. She does not combine evasion with offense.
Still… she’ll never be hit anyway… 【Meditation】
The ground around Maple rises as if ignoring her muttering.
Columns of earth extend upward, blurring the view.
They become precious footing for the fake Sally.
“Hmm, magic surpasses Sally’s.”
“【Defense Break】”
She turns the great shield toward the source of the voice.
Even if it is 【Mirage】, it matters not.
HP remains.
As expected, it was an illusion made of 【Mirage】. Maple’s back is torn open.
She swings the shield behind her—only air is cut.
“Can’t help it… let’s endure.”
From the crescent moon, a magic circle unfolds.
The fake Sally sees it and retreats.
At this distance, no attack will land.
“Fine. Let’s wait it out.”
Maple whispers quietly.
“【Venom Capsule】”
A purple sphere, about two meters in diameter. Maple sinks into it, deep and slow.
「【Meditation】」
The HP bar of the fake Sally slowly regains its strength.
Yet the fake Sally wields only a dagger.
To strike at Maple within that poisonous sphere would mean bathing in poison.
And the ground is already flooded with poison.
Maple’s surroundings are the highest-tier danger zone.
A hellish area that drowns all who approach in poison.
The fake Sally has 【High Poison Resistance】—but not 【Poison Immunity】.
The poison of the 【Poison Dragon】 cannot be fully nullified.
「【Cyclone Cutter】」
A higher-level 【Wind Magic】 than the one Sally wields.
Whirling wind appears around Maple, attempting to cut through the poison barrier.
Yet the gap between 【Wind Magic】 and 【Poison Dragon】 is too great.
The surface cracks with a wet, splattering sound—slightly chipped—but the wind does not reach Maple.
【Venom Capsule】
The capsule enclosing Maple expands further, its diameter reaching four meters.
The thickness of the poison barrier increases accordingly.
An overwhelming wall of poison—impassable for the fake Sally, whose attacks are numerous but weak.
"I'll wait patiently until your MP runs out."
When the fake Sally’s MP depletes, her boasted number of attacks will falter.
That will make breaching the poison barrier even harder.
【Venom Capsule】 consumes twenty MP per use.
【Gluttony】 can convert nothing remaining into MP.
Thus, her MP reserves are already exhausted.
The daily five uses of zero-MP are gone.
Maple waits quietly for her MP to recover automatically.
The fake Sally hurls spells at the poison barrier.
This scene persists for a long time.
【Venom Capsule】
Maple’s merciless reinforcement of the barrier.
The capsule expands to six meters in diameter and thickens.
Maple’s aim is singular.
“If direct assault fails… submerge the entire room within the capsule and crush her.”
A battle of endurance.
Maple intends to drive the false Sally to the very edge, cornering her completely.
In a place with no escape, the false Sally’s famed speed means nothing.
Meanwhile, Sally struggles to advance.
Her defense is overwhelming.
Add to that the deadly precision of attacks that end with a single careless motion.
“The only relief is that she’s even dumber than the real Maple…”
The false Maple’s attacks are entirely one-dimensional—solely 【Venom Dragon】.
Worse, unlike Maple, she does not refrain from using her great shield when employing weak strikes.
Thus, the false Maple’s 【Malicious Feast】 has already been exhausted.
The problem lies with that 【Venom Dragon】.
The false Maple possessed a skill Maple did not have.
When that skill activated, the lingering poison after firing the 【Venom Dragon】 gathered entirely upon Maple, instantly triggering a second 【Venom Dragon】 blast.
A relentless sequence of attacks with no delay.
Sally had believed defeating the false Maple required exhausting all skills with cooldowns. The fact that the 【Venom Dragon】 remained usable had been unexpected.
—Well, at least she’s not using something like 【Paralyze Shout】. That’d be troublesome.
Sally still evaded the three-headed Venom Dragon while considering a counter against the false Maple.
—Ah… what now. No effective strike available…
Avoiding the 【Venom Dragon】 was simple for Sally. She could think while doing it, no problem.
She tried attacking with 【Defense Break】, but the skill appeared to be recovery—like 【Meditation】—and was healing the target.
An inconvenient skill remains…
The poison dragon lunges while she speaks.
Dodging with light, quick steps, she thinks of Maple.
Is Maple fighting the false version of herself? Has she already won?
Sally believed that if it were Maple, she would manage.
Sally herself had no effective counter against the false Maple. It was impossible for the false one to defeat the real Maple.
Sally had been saved countless times by Maple’s abilities. That was why she thought it so strongly.
Well… let’s try various things. Perhaps one way to break through will appear.
Sally steadies her resolve. She recalls her skill set. She formulates a strategy.
She cannot win now.
But what if she grows?
What if she gains new skills?
Sally cannot reduce the false Maple’s HP. The false Maple’s pattern does not change.
A simple enemy, striking the poison dragon without pause.
The unchanging false Maple.
The Sally who still holds the possibility of change.
Sally chose to bet on that possibility.
"Beating the false Maple is shameful. I won't let that happen. Let's start with this skill."
Sally advances toward Maple, glowing with effect.
The prolonged battle begins.