Defense specialization and orb defense.

Apologies for the delayed post.

When Sally had escaped to a safe distance, she sent a message to all guild members simultaneously.

It stated that she had secured the orb and requested they retrieve it at the entrance.

Entering deep into their own lines risked the entrance being blocked by pursuers.

If that occurred, stealing the orb again would become impossible.

The greatest opportunity was on day one.

For Sally, victory meant she could not afford to let it pass unnoticed.

"Good, I see it!"

Crom waved from the direction of her own forces.

Sally approached him and handed over two orbs.

"Amazing... in such a short time..."

"I’ll handle the defense. I’ll earn it by day one."

"Got it—leave it to me!"

Three guilds lost their orbs due to the Maple Tree. Their orbs appear on the map as markers for each guild member.

All markers are in the same location.

Either cooperate on the fly, crush one another before reclaiming the orbs, or abandon the recovery and attack other guilds alongside the now-useless defensive forces.

No matter the path, chaos on the first day seemed unavoidable.

"Then, let's go!"

Sally returned to the battlefield without pause. She had to, or she would fall behind the larger guilds.

Still finding guilds remaining, she now moved to snatch their orbs.

Crom carried the orbs back to Maple and the others, placing them within their own ranks.

"Still, Sally’s amazing!"

"Yeah, saying you ‘snatched’ them so easily... not something anyone can do."

Discussing Sally while assigning defensive roles.

The team is decided: Kanade, Yui, Mai, and Maple.

"We'll stay deep inside for now."

"If it gets dangerous... it won't."

"Right. Once we've held, the three of us will go out for scouting and thinning."

The three— including Iz, now combat-capable— are to form the scouting unit.

"Then I'll modify my large shield to use Crystal Wall."

Maple has no intention of attacking. She will focus solely on obstruction via Crystal Wall.

"We'll keep the great mace as a single unit."

The ace is meant to be hidden.

They wait, poised, for fifteen minutes.

One after another, hostile players charge in.

At the front of the avalanche from a mid-sized guild, faces twisted with fury, stand four defenders.

They had planned to bring down the advancing players with a frontal assault by the magic unit, as scheduled. The frontal attack succeeded.

But after the flames faded, four figures walked forward unharmed, and a single player’s back flared with radiant angelic wings.

It was natural to target the player who had blocked the magic assault. It was not unreasonable to delay the two wielding great hammers.

“【Crystal Wall】!”

The players who had been dashing forward collided abruptly with a sudden wall of crystal and staggered.

And that was fatal.

““【Double Stamp】!””

The thunderous impact of armor shattered with each strike. Players fell with every blow.

The damage effects, spraying like fresh blood, forced them to reconsider.

Those two were worse than they had thought.

Double Stamp is a common skill. The damage it inflicts is ordinarily bearable.

Magic attacks struck again. No damage was taken.

Players who failed to evade fell one by one, fading out.

The overwhelming numerical advantage remained unchanged.

They did not retreat.

The large mallet wielders moved slowly. The glowing ground near the feathered ones suggested their skill range. The room’s size allowed for flanking. They decided to surround.

"Everyone! Flank them! Take down the feathered one first!"

A second voice, distinct and urgent, cut through from four directions.

"Both of you! Use it!"

"Affirmative!"

They did not know what "it" referred to.

In that moment, the two wielding the large mallets stepped forward in perfect alignment, evenly spaced.

"Cover Move... Cover Move!"

The field indicating effect range shifts position in an instant.

Not once, but twice.

Then, light blooms across the ground—reaching even the rear line.

That means only one thing: those two are coming.

"This—! H-hold! Get back!"

As he tried to confirm the distance from the dangerous pair, he noticed bookshelves floating around the player who stood quietly at the very back, as if untouched.

"【Shadow Stitch】"

The quiet whisper carries power to bind all enemies in place for three seconds.

"W-what…!? N-no, can't move—!"

Despair strikes them both at last.

The massive mallets shatter the 【Magic Barrier】 and continue unrelenting, crushing the player.

Three seconds passed. The rear guard was shattered. The commander fell. The vanguard, ahead, found its retreat blocked.

In mere minutes, reduced to only four, they understood.

The orb was abandoned. Attacking another guild would be far better.

Thus, 【Maple Tree】 had, by design, driven others to destruction, achieving both goals—securing their own safety and weakening the enemy—by the very start of the first day.

And Sally, the one who had brought the orb here to create this situation, stood gazing at a small guild visible below the cliffside.