Defense specialization and breaking limits.
Sally felt her senses sharper than ever before.
As her focus deepened with each moment of combat, her perception grew ever more acute.
A voice, that of a commander, reached her ears.
“Frederica…”
The voice was unmistakably Frederica’s.
Thus, these players were members of the Gathering Holy Sword.
With that realization, Sally began to weave her path to survival.
“Attack Guidance!”
Sally dodged the first magical assault.
The front-line player shifted position instantly, advancing without pause.
The information was complete.
To survive, Sally must maintain control from behind.
Without the ability to manipulate the enemy’s actions, death awaited in the next instant.
“Thank you, Frederica.”
She spoke softly to the one whose form remained unseen, and sidestepped the advancing player’s attack.
“[Attack Guidance]!”
The words caused the players’ movements to lose sharpness.
Unexpectedness bred hesitation and urgency, slowing their motions.
They had not yet realized Sally’s strength would not be broken in two strikes.
Only that without skill support meant Sally must evade every incoming attack by herself.
“Amazing… it’s completely different now.”
Sally was startled by the shift in her own perception.
The world she had once focused on felt sluggish, as if time itself had slowed.
The fear sense she had never mastered through practice now worked.
Better than Dread, by far.
The danger of the near future was grasped as if it had already happened.
The awakening beyond limits had lifted Sally far above the rest, for a moment.
"Can't hit me! Damn it!"
"I won't lose. I won't lose...!"
Sally’s attacks struck true. All attacks aimed at Sally missed.
By the time Frederica began to feel unease toward the repeated use of [Attack Guidance], twenty players had already fallen to Sally.
And Frederica reached the answer.
"Is it not a skill...?"
Even if it were, the conclusion remained—nothing could be done.
No way to respond.
Slowly, the terrifying truth that it was not a skill began to sink in for every player.
Yet that did not mean anything could be changed.
"Here it comes!"
Sally saw the sword swung down with force and dodged it.
Not merely dodged.
She evaded at the very edge, turning the motion into a lethal counter.
"Now!"
A magical assault strikes toward Sally, yet she had sensed its timing, faintly.
“[Back Throw]”
She sheathes her weapon, seizes the player, and hurls them into the air.
The magic raining from above is blocked by the thrown player, reaching only Sally’s position.
No friendly fire—no damage to the player—but the dagger beneath Sally is another matter.
“Monsters…!?!”
Whether to count the seventy still standing, or the thirty already down, mattered little. One truth remained: Sally had broken the hearts of many players, alone.
“Hinata, [Shadow Clone]”
Sally has no room for hesitation.
She must keep producing the unexpected, the unthinkable, to freeze the enemy’s mind.
“Survive… Crush them!!”
The shadow clones sprinting around Sally do not survive long, unlike Sally herself. Yet each one manages to take down at least one enemy.
In that time, Sally strives to break through the encirclement to stay alive.
At that moment.
“Got it!!”
A single sword pierces Sally from behind.
A cheer rises at the final blow.
“No, not yet.”
The illusion created by [Mirage] dissolves into the air.
Unexpected attacks come one after another.
Frederica, who had initially watched with calm detachment, now joins the fight. Sally has become a true threat.
Only the Sally who has broken through her limits and awakened could have lasted this long.
To surround Sally, one must reach her limit. To defeat Sally, one must not push her beyond it.
“[Multi-Flame Rounds]!”
Frederica stares at Sally, as if seeing something beyond belief.
Not a single strike lands.
A shift of mere millimeters would make it hit, yet that millimeter feels infinitely far.
This is bad...!
Even Sally cannot sustain such an impossible attack, so the rate at which players fall slows, yet she is still being overwhelmed.
The terrain rich in obstacles, chosen by Frederica for concealment, now works in Sally’s favor.
Damn... the pursuer has caught up.
A player chasing Sally joins the encirclement as a third force.
Sally senses it, darts aside to evade Frederica’s spell.
It’s okay... can still...?
It happens suddenly.
Her movement halts. Her legs collapse with a thud.
[WATER WALL]!!
She barely rolls aside from the incoming fireball, yet in the next instant, Sally falls, surrounded completely, no gap left unguarded.
She could not strike immediately. Her caution stemmed from Sally’s unexpected actions.
It is all the more so, given that it is being done to her.
Sally moved beyond her limits.
Such things cannot last long.
Sally watched Frederica approach, erecting a barrier around everyone, and whispered quietly.
This time, I will not lose.
[Multiple Flame Shot]
The detonation echoed as Frederica chanted.
It was not Frederica's magic.
The sky burns with flame, a trail of smoke streaming behind something hurtling down like a meteor at high speed.
It fell between Frederica and Sally.
The flare of the fireball instantly filled the sight of all.
When the light had settled, the girl in black armor, wings of white, rose slowly.
I will not allow it. Absolutely not.
Maple was.