Defense specialization and rear guard.

The bomb Iz raised toward the advancing front line bloomed tenfold above their heads.

To shield oneself behind a shield and endure the blaze and shock was not unreasonable.

Yet those bombs were nothing but illusions conjured by Kanade.

The number remained unchanged. No additional damage was inflicted.

Why use such a spell? First, it was a skill exclusive to today—the 【Divine Archive (Akashic Record)】.

No need to hold back. It could be transcribed into a spellbook afterward.

The second reason was to buy time.

When their vision returned, Kanade held a white sphere crackling with sparks before her body.

"Good…!"

It compressed further, shrinking relentlessly. At the moment the players sensed danger and adjusted their stances, it detonated in a blinding flash.

The skill Kanade used was 【Breach Cannon】.

It scorched a white line straight ahead of her, burning through the air.

When the light faded, a single path stretched where the frozen players had been—split cleanly in two, now empty.

"Iz, I’d rather not use the spellbook again..."

"I understand. That one."

Hearing this, Iz withdrew a bottle filled with pitch-black liquid from her pouch and handed it to Kanade.

The item Iz passed to Kanade was a newly crafted item from 【New Realm】—a temporary surge in MP recovery speed, extreme in intensity but brief in duration.

Kanade swallowed it. The countless magic circles unfolding anew before the returning players’ eyes burned into their sight.

They whispered, silently.

If you don’t want to die, get back now.

“Gh… Stop! Retreat!”

The magic activated upon several of the players who were retreating, shield raised and defense unbroken, pierced through them and buried them. The retreat was complete.

They had been able to withdraw only because they had not all been killed when it became clear the guild they had assumed to be a decoy was not actually one.

If Yui and Mai had been there, it would not have been so.

Maple would have been no different.

“Good that you withdrew quickly. Powerful grimoires are limited.”

Kanade had converted every spell drawn from the [Divine Archive (Akashic Records)] into a grimoire and stored it. But not every spell drawn matched her intent, so some remained unused.

There are spells like the [Destroyer Cannon], but as Kanade said, they are few.

The [Gathering Holy Sword] is likely to arrive. The important grimoires must be left behind.

They retreated easily this time. But not so next time.

Still, with more guilds now nearing their death limit by the second day, the likelihood of them retreating cautiously has increased significantly.

Maple flew atop Shiroppu. When Kasumi, Crom, and Maple travel together, this is the most synchronized method of movement.

"Everyone uses piercing skills the moment they see me these days..."

"Probably."

"I would do the same."

Maple’s presence is known. Now, using a piercing skill upon seeing Maple has become common knowledge for every player.

The environment had become undeniably more difficult for Maple compared to the first event.

“Just 【Pierce Guard】 won’t be enough if surrounded… there has to be something else…”

“Spreading poison around might make them hesitate to approach, I think. Though resistance is increasing now…”

As they spoke, they neared the target guild.

“Jumping down!”

“…Ah.”

“…Got it.”

Crom and Kasumi each took Maple’s hands and landed on the ground.

She would not take damage from Maple’s skill, but she braced herself at the height.

“Does Maple not feel anything at all?”

Kasumi asked Maple.

“In reality, it’s impossible… but here, it’s absolutely painless!”

Crom thought, hearing this.

He could not imitate Maple’s peculiar behavioral pattern that birthed such a skill.

To acquire a skill that lies beyond the ordinary, one must possess a naturally skewed aspect.

Yes, that was the thought.

The three fell from a height of ten meters toward the ground.

“The orb will be ours!”

Attacking Maple, guarded by Crom and Kasumi, with a piercing skill was difficult against the monsters rising from the earth.

Yet the angel’s wings do not permit any attack other than piercing.

“Hmph… worrying is pointless, isn’t it.”

Crom muttered, blocking the strike with his shield and countering with a slash.

The method Maple had spoken of, on Shiroppu’s back, for countering piercing attacks.

There was no need to concern oneself with such things.

Crom could not imagine a scenario in which Maple would be so tightly surrounded in the first place.