Defense specialization and third floor of the tower.

Maple, having grasped the situation, stepped back sharply and returned toward Sally.

"Wha—? Wha—?"

"That's right! Maple, check your skills!"

Sally called out to the flustered Maple, who checked her abilities and found all of them restored.

"Wha—? I— I have them! Defense has returned too!"

"Wha—? U— um… No, calm down… just… calm down…"

Sally spoke to herself, took a slow breath, and nodded slightly, concluding it was simple.

"Terrain that deals fixed damage… perhaps. Damage isn't extreme. I should've thought of this earlier—on the volcanic map…"

"Damage is around twenty. Sally… you'll need to dodge?"

"That's right… it'll hurt. But look, Maple."

Sally pointed ahead. There, where Maple had taken damage moments before, the ground remained marked.

There, the cracked ground pulsed faintly red before erupting with lava.

A clear warning.

"Ah… I see. If I’d noticed that, I could’ve dodged it!"

"Better keep an eye on the walls too. Then there’s the matter of what kind of monster will emerge."

Maple listened, then suddenly wore a pained expression, as if recalling something.

"Damage… I took damage… After all that effort to beat the boss…"

"Hmm… then how about we count the terrain as out of play? Heh, see? It’s clearly not an enemy."

Sally smiled faintly, offering a suggestion with a hint of cunning. Maple closed her eyes, tilting her head as she pondered.

"Then… no damage from terrain! No damage from monsters either— I’ll push through from here! Yes, I’ll watch the ground carefully too!"

Maple changed into her black gear, her expression sharp with resolve.

"Right then, let's go. No monsters around, it seems."

"Good visibility. That’s favorable."

"I’ll handle the watch. I won’t miss anything."

The two stepped forward once more into the third layer.

Maple inspected the ground more carefully than usual, so Sally took care to scan the surroundings thoroughly.

Three paths lay ahead. All looked identical—rock walls, unbroken.

"Maple, what now?"

"...The middle path should let us check left and right later. Middle it is."

"Then we’ll go that way."

As Maple raised her shield, Sally kept watch from within the range of her Cover.

They advanced, sidestepping molten rock from below, and emerged once more into an open space.

"Maple, stop. Something’s here."

—Hmm... Ah, really! The lava flowing from the wall makes it hard to see... Different from the burning bird I saw on the first floor.

Maple squints, hand pressed to her forehead. Before her, a bird-shaped monster about a meter long hovers, dripping molten rock like thick syrup.

The creature seems to rise from the lava streaming down the wall. Cutting its root directly is difficult.

—The lava the bird drops might cause fixed damage. Avoid it.

—Got it. Then we do this!

Maple raises her shield above her head, forming a canopy.

After speaking, they agree to test their strategy in combat. They wait for the moment, then leap forward.

—[Ice Spike]... Hmm!?

Sally, aiming to strike above the flying bird as usual, halts mid-motion, her foot frozen in place.

The ice pillar dissolved in an instant, its effect lost.

Ice does not work… then water?

Sally directs water magic precisely at the monster. The lava hardens instantly, turning black. The flying bird, unable to fly, falls directly before Maple.

Water weakens it… but we cannot use water. —[Full Armor Deployment][Attack Initiated]!

Bullets fire from the gun barrel planted in the ground. The bird, no more than a common monster, cannot withstand the barrage and vanishes.

Keep going—upward!

Maple aims upward and fires. The bullet strikes the flying bird, pierces through, and continues onward.

Ah… that didn’t work?

Water-based attacks seem necessary. I’ll handle the fall!

Okay, please!

Once they hit the ground, they would not be able to fly again.

A monster of a different kind than those on the second floor—just the right level to help them understand its nature.