Defense specialization and the sixth day of events.
Fifty chapters. Well done.
After a while, the two rise.
The destination of their teleportation via the magic circle was atop that cliff.
Turning back, they see the ruin.
The deep chasm piercing through the sea has vanished.
"Is this completion?"
"Probably... we were short on medals."
"Ah, right... two more."
They slept for quite some time. It is now nine o'clock in the morning of the sixth day.
"Remaining dungeons not yet cleared... likely high difficulty. Or ones never even discovered."
"Right... then we should start walking soon."
Maple begins to move forward.
But.
"Uh. That's true. Maple, you've used up today's skill points, haven't you?"
"Wha...? Oh! Right!"
The battle against the squid occurred after midnight.
Neither the [Evil Feast] nor the [Poison Dragon (Hydra)] can be used properly past the sixth day.
One of Maple’s weaknesses is this poor fuel efficiency.
A battle immediately after crossing the day boundary severely limits Maple’s actions for the entire day.
“Still, the player will manage somehow… We’ll worry about the dungeon when we find it.”
Had Maple not given her full effort, the outcome of the fight against the squid might have been different.
There is no use in lamenting what has already happened.
“For now, let’s head along the coast. It’s still going.”
The two left the ruins behind and moved forward.
“Once we collect two more medals, shall we focus on raising Oboro and Shiroppu?”
“Sounds good!”
Maple and Sally have fought only strong enemies, so they’ve had no chance to train the two others.
They remain at low levels.
“Dungeons… once cleared, they can’t be entered again, right?”
"Kanade said something like that, didn't she?"
They assumed, rightly, that the sea dungeon no longer existed.
To the left, the sea. To the right, the forest stretched on without change.
"This might require targeting players directly."
"Mmm... there's no choice."
Maple was not inclined toward PK, but in an environment of hunt or be hunted, she accepted it as necessity.
The players she had met before had mostly tried to defeat her and her companions.
She had come to believe that was the norm.
"Then... let's enter the forest. Maple? Do you see that mountain?"
"Hmm? Yes, I do."
"Let's go that way. Places like that, visible from afar, should draw players."
Sally pointed to a different mountain, not the one they had climbed on the second day.
A place like that, with terrain that stands out, would likely have been cleared already if a dungeon existed there.
"Then… shall we go?"
The two moved toward the mountain.
Three hours after deciding their course.
They stood within a cave halfway up the mountain.
They had spotted several players in the distance, but fled at full speed before they could close in.
Sally abandoned pursuit. She would not leave Maple, whose strength had dropped to its limit, behind.
"So… Maple, stay hidden here?"
"Understood! Sorry about that!"
"Never mind. You did well in the squid battle."
Sally activated the blue panel. She handed the ring she wore to Maple.
It was the ring that connected her to Shiroppu.
"HP will drop, but I’ll leave Shiroppu as guard too?"
Maple removed the Toughness Ring. She slipped on the ring and summoned Shiroppu and the shadow.
Then… I’m off!
Do your best!
Sally exits the cave.
Shiroppu and the shadow possess performance comparable to average players.
Adequate for the role of escort.
If Maple falls, all the medals earned so far will be lost.
The burden is great… Yes!
Though the Boss Room is absent, this cave was once a dungeon. It is spacious.
The structure resembles an ant nest within a mountain.
Maple is located at the deepest part of the cave.
[Venom Capsule]!
To prevent accidental detonation, Maple recalls Shiroppu and the shadow, then spreads the poison capsule.
This ability functions even in Maple’s base state.
Until Sally returns… I must survive.
Maple’s poison gradually erodes the narrow passages of the cave.
The dungeon becomes overtaken by a toxic swamp.
It was as though Maple had become the dungeon’s new boss.
“Come on—no one come on—!”
Maple unfolded her capsule.
As Maple released her poison, Sally stepped outside the cavern.
“If it’s just me… many players should be able to defeat her.”
Maple’s form was known to many players.
Those fleeing recognized her distinctive gear and fled.
All understood Maple’s danger.
But Sally was different.
Sally was unknown.
Sally possessed an abnormal ability on par with Maple’s, and was more aggressive.
Few knew this.
And Sally had nothing left to lose.
She had entrusted all her medals to Maple.
“Long time… perhaps I’ll let loose for once?”
For Sally, fighting alongside Maple was enjoyable. Yet combat alone held its own distinct appeal.
Sally descended the hillside.
The hour was still midday. Visibility was clear.
"Ah! There you are."
She found two women walking through the forest. They had been scanning their surroundings. They noticed Sally’s approach.
"Let's go!"
"Got it!"
Each carried a one-handed sword and a spear.
The one with the sword also bore a shield.
"【Gale Thrust】!"
The player wielding the sword anticipated Sally’s response to the thrusting spear and moved to counter.
If Sally had a dagger, she would likely dodge—then strike at her imbalance.
That had been the plan.
A typical player would step back or sidestep to avoid.
The female wielding the one-handed sword advanced with a dash, anticipating retreat this time.
That would have been optimal—easier to respond if she sidestepped.
If she were typical.
“Huh!?”
Sally’s evasion was different.
She twisted her body, barely avoiding the spear, then surged forward. The dagger closed on the exposed flank of the spear user.
“Double Slash!”
Red particles scattered. The woman barely survived.
She yanked the spear back and swept it horizontally.
“Impossible!?”
Sally had avoided the spear by leaning backward. The speed of her reaction stopped the woman’s thoughts.
“Yes, it’s over.”
Sally’s dagger finally reduced the woman’s HP bar to zero.
“Power Blade!”
A swift vertical slash approached from behind Sally.
This is it.
The woman thought so.
“………!”
As if eyes had grown in the back of her head.
Sally twisted her body halfway.
The blade, aimed at Sally’s center, passed mere inches away—seeming to avoid her of its own accord.
“Slash!”
Sally slipped past the woman, her sword slicing through the air.
The woman felt a deep unease.
Every attack she made only worsened her own position.
“…Damn…”
“Wind Cutter!”
She had been calculating how to land a hit on Sally, eyes locked on her—she had not expected a magical attack from the opponent.
Only sheer panic before such an abnormal foe.
“Damn!”
The woman dodged sideways.
Even as she lost her balance, she realized—this was exactly what they had intended to do to her earlier.
“Goodbye.”
A common player could not hope to defeat an aberrant one in direct confrontation.
No miracle occurred this time.
"Then, no medal..."
Sally began to walk, searching for her next target.
By chance, many players had been in this area on the sixth day.
After the event, each of them began to speak in turn.
Said one: "Vanished like a phantom."
Said another: "The sword avoided it."
Said a third: "Truly a shadow."
The beginning of the massacre—what would later be known as the Nightmare of the Sixth Day—had just begun.