Defense-oriented and unconventional tactics.
After parting ways with the others, Sally moved swiftly through trees, thickets, and rock shadows, concealing herself while checking the positions of the other guilds.
Sally had found five guilds, having traveled a considerable distance.
Among them were not only the smallest guild, but also one resembling a medium-sized group.
After noting their locations on her map, Sally left the area without being seen.
"Medium-sized guild—center of the ruin... orb area has a ceiling, but no walls... yes."
Closing her map, Sally leaned against a tree trunk and let her thoughts drift.
The earlier battle had barely kept consumption under control and secured victory, but she did not believe she would succeed so easily again.
She also noticed, during her reconnaissance, that the field contained almost no items.
Only one item was present—equipment with durability restored specifically for this field.
Potion crafting becomes impossible once materials are exhausted.
—Intense battles are unfolding across the field… by the fifth day, MP potions may reach their limit?
MP potions deplete far more rapidly than HP potions.
By the fifth day, magical support might grow weak.
—Hmm… but if we don’t secure resources early, we’ll never catch up.
—Considering what happened earlier, Maple is essential for a frontal assault. That’s impossible. Then, what can we do now…
Sally gathered her thoughts. She pulled her robe tight over her body, leapt from tree to tree, and moved toward the player.
After some time searching, she located a trio.
From above, she heard voices. They seemed to be a reconnaissance unit.
After confirming the trio carried staff, greatsword, and shield with one-handed sword, Sally stepped back from the spot and descended silently to the ground. She moved past the group, brushing through the undergrowth, making noise as she went.
A sharp tongue-click added to express her irritation at having found them.
Three against one, even if they were a reconnaissance unit.
And if they clearly disliked their presence, it was no surprise they would attack.
Sally glanced sideways, and a spell flew toward her. Then, charging as if to follow up, the greatsword thrust forward with force.
Sally dodged the spell, then sidestepped the charge, her balance faltering.
As if waiting for that moment, she deflected the one-handed sword attack with her dagger, rolled aside to avoid the next three wind blades flying in sequence.
“[Leap]!”
Sally reestablished her stance, dagger in both hands, inching backward while keeping distance with her skill.
The three confirmed their opponent was retreating and immediately pursued.
“[Leap]!”
“[Heavy Charge]!”
The greatsword charged straight ahead. The one-handed sword leapt to position behind Sally, cutting off her escape. Magical support continued without pause.
The opponent was completely on the defensive.
Sally seemed close to being finished with one final push.
Just as the opponent began to suspect she had overestimated her advantage, Sally rolled through the dirt and fled into the woods at full speed.
Due to the terrain, the three failed to reacquire her and gave up.
“Let’s go. Leave her.”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
Having shaken off her pursuers, Sally began searching for the player again, to repeat the same maneuver.
Sally’s purpose was singular: to maximize the effect of Sword Dance.
Twenty minutes later. Sally had succeeded in raising Sword Dance to its maximum potential, as planned.
“Ready. Hinata, let’s go.”
Sally pressed Hinata against her neck and moved toward one of the medium-sized guilds she had located.
……Good. Orb confirmed.
Both medium-sized guilds were visible from outside. Obstacles were present in moderate numbers, and combined with defensive players, the difficulty of the assault was substantial.
Sally had found two medium-sized guilds.
She arrived at one of them.
As expected of a medium-sized guild, players were scattered throughout.
“Phew… Yes. I can do this. I can.”
Sally slapped her cheeks, focused, and plunged into the medium-sized guild through the weakest point in the security.
“Intruder! One!”
The sentry spots her. Defenders turn in unison toward Sally.
“[Leap]!”
Sally leaps, veers diagonally left.
“Encircle!”
A segment of the defense shifts toward the intruder, executing a flawless pincer maneuver.
Yet the figure dissolves like mist into the air.
Commands to reacquire the intruder follow, faces stunned.
The intruder appears now on the right.
The second line moves to intercept.
They strike with perfect coordination—again, a crushing defeat.
But once more, the form vanishes into mist.
Sally, with Hinata, uses two [Mirage] illusions to shift their focus. The defense’s gap widens. The truth is simple: she advances straight ahead. Still, they yield the path to the orb of their own accord.
“[Super Acceleration]!”
Too late to react. Time has already passed.
Sally, with a final push, claimed the orb without felling a single opponent.
Yet escaping from here is no easier.
“[Slash]!”
The follow-up attack from her skill and the twin daggers cut through them effortlessly, unable to contain the situation.
Sally’s daggers, pushed to their limit, inflict considerable pain.
While [Super Acceleration] remains, she slashes indiscriminately, forcing a path open.
Thanks to prior preparation, Sally managed to disrupt her stance through damage.
Understanding that fighting head-on would be difficult against these opponents, Sally devised a single, bold tactic to steal the orb.
Her strength suited the plan.
The strategy succeeded only because information was still lacking and defenses still weak—only on the first day.
“[Water Wall]!”
A wall of water rose, delaying the magical attack. At last, Sally veered off course and escaped through the weakened section of the encirclement.
"Not getting caught here. Good... coming...!"
The defenders would not remain silent after having their orb stolen.
They had committed many to the assault, yet forty remained.
No orb to protect. All of them would pursue Sally.
Sally fled.
Toward another mid-sized guild.
She ran, keeping pace just beyond reach, never too far. At last, the mid-sized guild came into view.
The defense line braced, seeing Sally at the head of a host.
Those chasing Sally believed the guild to be hers. They turned toward attack.
Though misaligned, they came to battle.
Sally’s aim is to seize the orb amid the chaos of fratricidal combat. She brought her forces for this purpose.
"Oboro, Instant Shadow."
The battle begins. In the instant Sally’s presence vanishes from all sight.
With Oboro’s skill, Sally disappears completely for one second.
Then, she remains hidden in the underbrush, watching.
The two sides appear nearly equal. Sally’s forces, fighting to reclaim the orb, press forward with full effort—slightly gaining ground.
In the melee, no one has time to track where Sally has vanished.
Because her pursuers attacked from one direction, the defense of the orb has become unbalanced.
Sally moves cautiously through the ruins, her target set.
……Jump! Double Slash!
From the flank of the five defenders, she leaps suddenly—striking before they can react.
Sword Dance proves effective once more.
Yes!
She catches the orb in her hand—slays the survivor with her trademark evasion and counter—then hastens toward the perfect safe zone: [Maple's Tree].
Back there… Maple awaits. Bring it back… and it ends.
The chaos will not end soon.
No reconciliation. Few enough to split off as pursuers.
For Sally, escape was effortless.