Defense-oriented and safe zone.

Short.

Maple and the others return slowly on Shiroppu to the guild, since Maple cannot use [Brutality] again.

They place all their orbs and enter rest.

One hour passes.

Normally, some guild would have arrived by now, but with the pace accelerating and death count entering dangerous territory, no player would deliberately venture into such a place.

Despite holding numerous orbs, the quietest moment in the entire game unfolds at the [Maple Tree] base.

"Sally? What are you looking at?"

Maple approaches Sally, who holds a blue panel floating in midair.

"Hmm? Ah, well... it's become something extraordinary."

"Extraordinary?"

Maple peers at the panel Sally holds. There, a ranking is displayed.

And in the ranking, what differed from before was the presence of a large guild in total collapse.

"Ah, another one... this might be 【Gathering Holy Sword】 or 【Empire of the Flame Emperor】. Yeah, probably the latter."

"Really?"

"More likely the 【Empire of the Flame Emperor】. It looked near collapse just now. Probably can’t fight for another two days. So... eliminate a rival, then leave the rest to fortune."

Sally could not verify it, but the thought that the 【Empire of the Flame Emperor】 was destroying nearby guilds to prevent further point gains, and trying to keep within the top ten, was accurate.

Still, even if it was to avoid total exhaustion, attacking other guilds—especially large ones—was a heavy burden.

It wouldn’t last long.

This destructive force is incredible... stronger than when Maple fights at full strength.

I can't knock them down unless I hit them just right... but no one stands up to attack, so they don’t come at me at all!

Most players hit by Maple in her [Brutal] state do not die. Only those unlucky enough to be struck directly and then run over consecutively meet death.

But once they are sent flying into the air, composure vanishes.

And while they daze, they are cleanly finished.

The ability to send players bouncing repeatedly is effective at disrupting focus and causing confusion, but it still takes time to eliminate them completely, even with her massive frame.

It’s only because Maple’s surprise factor—her first-encounter lethality—worked so well in this event. The same trick won’t work a month from now.

Miyi clearly avoids Maple’s attacks, pressing her superior firepower without pause.

One could say her firepower vastly exceeds Maple’s.

Now that Maple has learned self-destructive flight by watching her, she could, if pushed, collapse a large guild in a short time.

It would please the 【Maple Tree】 greatly if a large guild were annihilated.

“Nobody can be retrieved… but if we hold this orb this time, top ten is nearly certain.”

“Then is there any need to go outside?”

“Not really.”

Sally says this. Maple smiles faintly and sits.

“This time I tried harder than ever… really tired.”

“Just prepare the crystal barrier and gunfire, in case of worst.”

“Yeah, got it.”

Maple finished speaking. Sally sat down beside her. They remained seated, watching the guild’s fate unfold together.