Defense specialization and second floor of the tower.

This time it's brief.

Maple and Sally burst from the room, hurriedly closing the door and leaning against it.

— Phew... at least this calms things down for now.

— H-How do we proceed, Sally?

— How do we proceed?...Maple, what skill was taken?

Without knowing that first, Sally asks Maple.

Maple checks her skills. The following are missing: 【Machine God】【Leaking Chaos】【Throne of the Heavenly King】【Hundred Ghosts at Night】.

— 【Leaking Chaos】... all of them, including 【Brutality】, are gone.

— W-What... even equipment doesn't matter... and only the strongest effects were lost. Is there a time limit?

— Doesn't seem so....Will this ever come back?

Maple looks at Sally, her expression uneasy.

Defeat the boss… or exit this level. Well, I suppose I’ll return once the event ends…

To abandon the conquest of this tower was something neither of them could accept.

Hmm... there are ways, but... what to do...

"Wait, will it sort itself out?"

Maple looks toward Sally, surprise in her expression.

Well, I don’t think there’ll be no damage, but pushing Maple’s Love That Offers the Body onto someone… If a mere boss used it, that’d be suicide… I don’t know if she’d actually use it though.

"Besides, if Sally gets that Absolute Defense, it'll be a problem!"

That’s the thing... Maple without her defense is truly...

Maple, her defense stripped away, is no longer anything but a woman.

Unable to attack or defend—thinking this, Sally suddenly wondered what to do.

...Maple, [VIT] how many? Skillless.

“Eh? Ah… um…? Now that you mention it, I haven’t been paying attention lately. Um…?”

Maple pulls out a blue panel and checks the current 【VIT】 value.

“Hmm… about two thousand and a bit?”

“Mm…”

Sally closes her eyes and swallows the words.

“Ah, should I say the exact number?”

“No… it’s not an error… not really…”

Sally understands then that Maple need not worry.

Maple lacks a skill that pierces defense, so merely taking from her continuously cannot bring her down.

“Then, Maple, protect me. That shot makes it impossible otherwise…”

“Yeah, I’ve got you! What now?”

“Let’s wait slowly. Until that boss draws 【Love That Offers the Body】 by misfortune.”

Sally concluded that the boss’s original defense was not high, given that the Double Slash had inflicted considerable damage.

And if that were the case, she reasoned, even if the boss had lost access to Absolute Defense or Fortress, they could still manage.

“Okay! Then we strike all at once!”

Maple thrust her fist forward, her expression resolute, as if to return the blow.

“Yeah. There will be several tricky moments. We should discuss tactics. This place is safe.”

Sally reminded Maple that the boss might still take other actions, urging caution.

“Then we’ll plan various strategies before moving.”

Thus, the two began crafting a precise plan to ensure victory.