Defense specialization and first floor three.

Defeat monsters, advance. Defeat monsters, advance.

Maple and Sally reached the Boss Room through this method.

They had not taken damage, but the repeated battles had exhausted their [Bad Eating].

"First floor is probably about this. Didn’t see any piercing attacks."

"Thankfully. Hope there aren’t any on the second floor…"

Maple murmured.

For Maple, the presence or absence of piercing attacks drastically changed the difficulty.

With low HP, she could not endure continuous piercing attacks.

"Then, let’s quickly defeat the boss and move to the second floor."

"Sure. We’ve done enough. Today’s enough, right?"

"Right. Let’s do that."

Declaring they would quickly defeat the boss, the two opened the door to the Boss Room and entered.

Rough stone walls. Cracked ground.

Sand shifted in patches. Only a few spots allowed steady footing.

"...Sally."

"Uh-huh. Probably from below."

As Sally spoke, a dragon with sandy scales erupted from the ground, kicking up sand.

Red eyes locked onto the two. A moment later, a thunderous roar filled the chamber.

"Maple!"

"【Attack Initiated】!"

No need for words. As Sally charged, Maple opened fire.

Bullets and lasers streaked toward the dragon.

The dragon roared. Transparent crystals spread across its body. All attacks rebounded.

"...! 【Hyper Acceleration】!"

Sally deflected Maple’s rebounding bullets with her dagger, sidestepped the laser with a smooth motion, and returned within the range of Maple’s Love That Offers the Body.

“Sorry, Sally!”

“No, it’s fine. Maple, just watch for now.”

“Yeah, I understand.”

Maple stepped before Sally, forming a perfect defensive posture with her great shield and Love That Offers the Body.

Area-wide piercing attacks could not be fully absorbed by Love That Offers the Body, so the great shield had to be held firm.

The two stood still, watching. The dragon suddenly plunged into the sand.

“Down alert! Maple!”

“Then—! 【Cannon Port Deployment】!"

With a clatter, Maple’s weapons deployed in mass. She pulled Sally close, then launched upward into the ceiling, leaving behind a burst of smoke.

The dragon attacked from directly beneath the two, but Maple and Sally were already too high. Dust and rocks rained down from above.

Still so reckless... but nice one!

We're getting out of here!

They were tossed by the blast. Landing properly was impossible.

Maple fell to the ground, Sally on top, her back hitting the earth. Even weapons that had escaped self-destruction were shattered.

How to attack... huh?

Sally noticed a black rock rolling on the ground. It had been dislodged when the dragon raised the sand.

Before Sally could gather her thoughts, Maple shouted.

Sally! Something's coming! —Pierce Guard!

The dragon's mouth expelled a gout of sand, drowning out Maple's voice.

The breath blast struck the two hidden behind the shield, knocking them hard, sending them rolling across the ground.

Thanks to Maple’s instant activation of Piercing Guard, the breath—originally a piercing attack—lost its force and was absorbed by Maple.

“Sorry, I let my guard down!”

“It’s fine!”

Their voices were cut short by the dragon’s roar.

At the same moment, the black rock lying on the ground exploded with a loud crack.

“Maple! That! That rock—we can use it to attack!”

“……?”

“Stuff it in the mouth during the breath! If external attacks are repelled, it should work!”

“Got it!”

They surged forward, no longer on the defensive.

Waiting for the dragon to release another rock, they moved.

“I’ll draw its attention—Maple, get ready to throw the rock!”

“Roger!”

Sally steps beyond the range of Love That Offers the Body and charges the dragon.

They were repelled, yet the attention seemed drawn away. The dragon attacked with claws and tail.

Sally could not be struck by a wide swing, now that she moved through the air.

Alright... here comes the breath!

Sally calls out to Maple, who gathers stones from behind.

Yet it did not go as easily as that—the dragon altered its breath attack, sweeping it sideways.

“Fh!”

Sally dodged the breath that shifted sideways through the air, as if no trouble would come from focused attention.

When the roar and rush of sand faded, Sally looked back to confirm Maple’s position—Maple flew past her side.

“Eh?”

Maple carried the rocks, hooked onto the weapon, and blew the scattered sand away.

She dove into the dragon’s gaping maw without hesitation.

“Fufufu… Now it’s our turn. 【Full Armed Deployment】!”

The rocks Maple tossed into the mouth detonated one after another, yet the damage did not touch her. The dragon tried to crush her with its jaws, but the rocks were a lesser evil.

The weapon could be destroyed, but its fangs could not reach Maple’s health.

“【Poison Dragon (Hydra)】! 【Attack Initiated】!”

Maple deployed her weapons directly into the mouth, hooking them in place. The dragon’s maw filled with guns, lasers, and streams of deadly poison.

No matter how it writhed, the dragon could not expel her.

Explosions rocked the chamber again and again, yet Maple did not vanish.

The HP bar diminished with each passing moment.

“Nnnn… Don’t struggle… waa!?!”

The dragon attempted to burrow into the earth, still holding Maple in its mouth, but as its head sank into the sand, its body was pierced through and torn free by the monster’s maw.

And then, too swiftly.

The dragon dissolved into sand, scattering like dust.

Sally ran to the spot where the shifting sand had been, searching for Maple.

There, at the center of the sand, Maple’s head emerged, eyes meeting Sally’s.

…Shall I pull?

Please—do it!

Sally’s final task in this level had become rescuing Maple.