Defense specialization and demon extermination.

One hour since Maple consumed it.

The demon’s HP bar continued to diminish.

Its attack patterns shifted, diversifying in response, yet the enemy itself was nowhere to be found.

The enemy was within.

“How much… gulp, gurgle… has the HP dropped now?”

Maple murmured, tearing at the flesh wall with her teeth.

The short dagger, crafted by Izu for use against archangels, had lost its durability rapidly due to poison, so she abandoned using it for attacks.

Shiroppu had been returned to her ring, leaving this as her only means of offense.

“It’s writhing terribly….”

Maple was torn away from the flesh wall, carried along, yet steadily chipped away at the HP.

And then another hour passed.

Maple finally devoured the demon’s life entirely.

The demon’s body dissolved into light, exploding outward. Maple fell to the ground.

“Oof… phew, finally over.”

As Maple picked up her great shield and short blade, a notification arrived.

“Thought it might be something like ‘Devourer of Demons,’ but… it’s because of ‘Love That Offers the Body,’ is it?”

This skill required ‘Love That Offers the Body’ as a condition.

In any case, Maple had acquired a new skill.

One that would become a new method of attack.

“‘Oozing Chaos’… this… hmm, I see, I see. This feels similar to the ‘Poison Dragon’ skill.”

The skill contained three distinct abilities within it.

Maple confirmed the skill, then without hesitation, set it into her armor.

“Well then… I’ll test it when we return.”

Maple’s vision filled with crimson light. When the glow faded, she was already back inside the original church.

“I’ll try it without MP! Hmm… 【Predator】!”

Maple shouted. Her feet were swallowed by a pitch-black light. From it, two thick tendrils emerged—black as night.

Three meters long.

They resembled the demon form from earlier, after transformation.

A large mouth at the tip. No limbs. They grew directly from the ground, serpentine in shape.

…Can they move?

As Maple stepped forward, the two tendrils followed, dragging the black light from the ground.

Then, onward.

Maple exited the church.

A demon born from the old church stepped into the world.

Maple realized something midway.

“Oh! So monsters appear, and they’re just defeated on their own?”

The monsters on either side of Maple bite and crush any enemy within reach, without instruction.

They possess separate HP, attack, and defense values. Their firepower and speed were sufficient.

Their attacks carried the effect of 【Binding】.

"Then... let's try a skill using MP... 【Seeping Chaos】!"

When Maple activates the skill, black light seeps from her body, shaping the monsters on either side into massive forms that launch forward like a 【Poison Dragon (Hydra)】.

Should a player be forced to face this in battle, they would see a maw two meters in diameter closing in on them.

Range was adequate.

"The last one... perhaps another time. Then, 【Seal】."

Returning the two who had drawn attention to themselves to the darkness, Maple spoke the words to seal the predator. She then ceased attempting her final skill and walked into the forest.

"Third event... what should I do... maybe it's enough..."

Having lost interest in the third event, Maple did not hunt any new cattle before it concluded.

Afterward, the third event ended quietly, with Maple doing nothing in particular.

Then, all gathered at the guild home.

"Hah... tired."

Sally leaned her full weight against the back of the chair. She seemed utterly drained.

"Yeah... me too."

Kasumi lay face-down on the desk.

Sally and Kasumi had killed the most cattle, and their fatigue was deep.

Next came Crom, then Kanade.

Maple felt no fatigue at all.

Maple was last in kills, save for Iz. She should have been fatigued, having spent the final hours playing with the predator in a secluded part of the forest.

"Maple didn’t do much this time."

"Didn’t feel like it…"

"Still, nothing to be done. It was a tough event for people like us."

As Crom said, events like this were harsh for players with low AGI.

Maple was even more affected.

"But we still reached the highest guild reward."

As Kanade said, the four others had compensated for Maple’s lack, bringing the group to the top tier.

"The reward’s already arrived at the guild home."

Iz said, pulling the reward from her pack.

It was a mounted ox head, designed to be hung on a wall.

Its effect boosted the STR of all members belonging to the Maple Tree faction by three percent.

"Success comes from accumulation."

"Yeah, that's right."

"It means nothing to me... No, wait—it does mean something!"

The moment Maple spoke, the expressions of the other four—excluding Kanade—shifted.

It made sense that it would affect Maple's STR.

Thus, all four arrived at the same thought simultaneously.

"Maple... were you somewhere during this event?"

"I was on the second layer... maybe."

Maple did not know if calling that gray world the "second layer" was correct.

Sally and Kasumi pressed hands to their foreheads, resigned.

Crom and Izu had not been able to stop it.

"...The third layer will be added soon. Show us then, when you've cleared the dungeon."

All of them already sensed that Maple had done something.

Something with the air of a dangerous skill.

It was correct.

Yet the truly dangerous skill was neither 【Predator】 nor 【Chaos Leaking Forth】—it was the one skill Maple had hesitated to use in that moment.

Three-layer expansion loomed, three days away.