Defense specialization and strongest two.

The blazing light that illuminated the field fades. Maple releases 【Love That Offers the Body】 and leaps to the ground.

“【Attack Initiated】!”

Maple resumes firing.

She advances step by step toward the demon, now forced to evade her assault.

“Huff…!”

Holding sword and shield, Maple charges three times. The demon and Maple cross. Her weapon and armor shatter. The demon’s body is torn apart.

Yet what the demon destroys is only the shell shielding Maple.

And even so, the broken armor regenerates. The crushed weapon unfolds anew.

“Good—keep going!”

Maple rises, turning toward the demon.

In her eyes, the demon stands just ahead, raising its sickle in a downward arc, red light flaring from its blade.

“Wah!?”

A naginata, angled unexpectedly, strikes Maple suddenly.

Near a horizontal sweep, it strikes Maple and knocks her backward.

“Ugh… c, 【Attack Initiated】!”

Maple kneels at the spot where she stops, pushing the demon back with attacks.

Red damage effects spill from her flank.

“Ugh… piercing attack… potion, potion…”

Maple pulls a potion from her inventory and uses it.

Her HP, reduced to half, regains fully with one potion.

A decent-quality potion can restore Maple’s meager HP completely in moments.

“Hm… ranged attacks seem unreliable… what to do now…”

Maple’s close-range attacks are surprisingly few. The only ones that might prove effective are her strikes with [Brutality], a charge using [Gluttony] or weapons, or an attack from [Predator].

Hmm... yes! Good!

Maple lunged forward once more, just as before.

She crossed paths with the oni, took the same blow, and passed through.

Here! Now!

A particularly large explosion echoed, and Maple was launched into the air.

A moment later, the swung scythe cut through empty space, and Maple landed atop Shiroppu’s back, high above.

Phew... thanks, Shiroppu! That saved me!

Maple stroked Shiroppu’s back, then leapt down to the ground.

As soon as her feet touched the earth, she bound the oni’s movements.

Through repeated actions, Maple managed to reduce the oni’s HP without taking damage.

The oni was already severely restricted in movement. With Maple executing three-dimensional maneuvers at a speed surpassing all other players, there was no way for the oni to break through.

Maple struck. She struck without pause, relentlessly chipping away at the oni’s HP.

Eventually, she succeeded in reducing the oni’s HP to half, securing complete control.

……!

After another lunge, Maple soared into the air. From Shiroppu’s back, she observed the oni’s transformation.

Human… not bad at all!

Around the oni, a white light swirled violently.

Near the ground, wind howled. The storm’s roar reached Maple’s ears.

The clear change prompted Maple to raise her great shield. She remained still atop Shiroppu, watching.

Then… let’s go!

The voice echoed as the demon dashed through the air.

A trail of white light followed, closing the distance between it and Maple.

“Wha—!?”

Maple sensed danger upon seeing the red glow of the sword.

“Shiroppu—【Hibernation】!”

Responding to Maple’s call, Shiroppu vanished into the ring.

Maple, still mounted, fell straight down under gravity.

“【Attack Initiated】!”

She descended toward the ground, distancing herself from the demon by detonation.

The demon pursued, but Maple noticed it hovered slightly above the earth.

“Ugh… kuu…! That’s it!”

Maple flew upward, putting distance between herself and the demon.

No need to change direction. She opened her inventory in that state.

“This one!”

Maple scattered something glowing like rain.

It was a potion she had stored in her inventory.

"Next—this way!"

She pivoted and scattered again.

Potions fell as if from every place.

To allow them to be picked up anywhere.

A full-recovery point that remained for two hours.

"Here I go!"

Maple steeled herself and charged straight at the demon.

"Hey!"

She twisted her body, slamming shield and sword, then slipped away, taking the sickle strike to her left shoulder, rolling toward the ground.

"Quickly... must end this soon...!"

A rare wound.

The pain Maple would have preferred to avoid was gone instantly, erased by the potion she had just picked up.

If the enemy could pierce through, then prolonged combat was never wise.

"One more time!"

Maple soared into the air, wreathed in flame.

The demon raced through the sky, wrapped in light.

Two lights crossed, burst, scattered crimson fire.

Maple rolled across the ground, shattering weapons. She reached, seized a potion.

"One more time...? Uh?"

A wrongness in Maple's movement.

"The weapon... won't come out?"

The weapons she had discarded each time she flew through the air.

They were finite.

Once the material poured into them ran out, she could not summon them again.

She had used them all up with repeated feints and flight.

"Take this, human!"

The demon, no longer feinted, charged forward, firing flame bolts, raising its scythe.

"【Ravage】!"

A monstrous skin wrapped around the human form.

It swallowed the scythe whole, scattering damage effects.

"Got you!"

Maple's fangs shattered the demon's body.

Each took damage, each dealt damage.

When her HP reached thirty percent, a shockwave erupted from the demon. The demon pulled free from Maple.

White light gathered around the demon, which had stepped back.

"Not yet... human...!"

The demon's form expanded. It became a great demon, its pure white hair swaying.