Defense-oriented, flailing desperately.

Weapons all turn toward Mii with a sharp clang.

"【Attack Initiated】!"

"【Blazing Flame】!"

Laser beams and bullets fired in succession from Maple.

Mii instinctively defends, dragging Markus and Mizari behind a tree where Maple’s attacks cannot reach.

Yet if Maple’s attacks cannot reach, neither can Mii’s.

Markus’s traps meant for binding prove useless without pursuit.

"Markus, what do you think?"

"Impossible… that’s impossible…"

"I agree… I believe that was her ultimate move. Simply seeing it is fortunate enough."

Hearing both opinions, Mii speaks with a hint of frustration.

"...No choice. We’ve lost. But we won’t go down without a fight."

Mii pulls out a blue panel and sends a quick message to the guild members.

"Shall we go?"

"Yes."

Mii turns to leave with Mizari and Markus.

A sudden explosion, vastly louder than anything Mii has heard, stops her mid-motion. She turns toward the sound.

"Found you!"

There, just beyond reach, is Maple, her broken weapons scattered at her feet.

Before Mii can unleash her [Inferno], Maple’s left arm—now a sword—pierces Mizari.

"Kk…!"

"[Blade Deployment]"

From Maple’s left arm, more weapons unfold, one after another, piercing Mizari again and again.

Before Mii can regain her composure, Maple turns Mizari into light.

"[Inferno]!"

Mii pushes Maple back, grabs Markus’s hand, and flees using [Flare Acceleration].

But Maple overtakes Mii’s sprinting speed and closes in.

Maple drives the blade into Markus’s back, still fueled by her self-destruct momentum.

Like Mizari, the pursuing blade pierces through arm and leg.

“Ah…”

Markus looks down at the large sword protruding from his chest, closes his eyes, and fades.

“Gh… MP…!”

Mii’s stamina is as poor as Maple’s.

Having used [Flare Acceleration] continuously and cast several powerful techniques, Mii has no potions left in her [Item Pouch].

Magic remains—just one more use.

“…[Self-Destruct]!”

Mii abruptly shifts from fleeing to closing in on Maple, slipping behind her and pressing close.

Flames envelop Mii’s body.

“Wha…? Taking me down with her…!?”

Maple spoke, and Mii’s body erupted into a column of flame, consuming Maple as well.

No other viable magic remained.

As Mii faded away, she heard one final sound.

“Explosive type power… should be fine!”

Maple’s merciless declaration.

When the flames ceased, only Maple stood alone.

“VIT value, skills included… barely five digits now… definitely fine!”

Maple dismounted the weapon, lowering Shiroppu—carrying Yui and Mai—slowly to the ground, then stepped onto it.

“Should’ve just stayed up here, with all these traps.”

“Recover the orb. Then onward.”

“Yeah. Didn’t plan to use it… got caught. Again.”

When Maple and the others reached the base in the Kingdom of the Flame Emperor, there was neither the orb nor a single player present.

“Huh?”

“W-What’s going on here?”

……The orb taken away?”

If the orb had been stolen, it would never return as long as the thief did not bring it back to the base.

Mizari’s frantic efforts were designed to waste Maple’s time as much as possible, while avoiding the worst outcome.

“W-What should we do!? We were supposed to take the orb if we could… ugh…”

“Um… I have an idea…”

“What?”

Maple listened to Yui’s words.

“Since there are many guilds nearby, we could search for the person with the orb by defeating them one by one…”

……Yeah, let’s do that!”

The number of guilds suddenly attacked due to Mizari’s actions was six.

A most unfortunate turn of fate.

"Then let's get going right away!"

At the guild that attacked, Maple and her companions did nothing more than walk straight ahead, as if breaking through a training ground, to reach the orb.

Countless players were scattered along the way. Players who tried to block Yui and Mai’s attacks were obliterated, their shields vanishing entirely.

Maple’s group secured the orb, but thanks to the swift evacuation of the Flame Emperor’s Kingdom, they ultimately escaped.

"If we hide for a while, Maple will secure the area around our base."

Mii, revived, spoke to the guild members, considering Maple’s actions.

While shifting the burden of clearing the throng of players onto Maple, they suffered losses only at the points near their own orb and adjacent orbs.

Painful… yet there is benefit. Knowing what Maple must not touch is useful…

Mii’s group focused solely on seizing the orb until Maple departed, meaning a powerful guild would launch a full assault.

The environment shifted again as night fell on the second day.