Defense specialization and third floor tower.

Maple and Sally retreat from the lava-spilling plaza and proceed directly down another passage.

The monsters darting through the plaza do not enter the corridor. A small relief.

"For now, we came this way... but there were others, right?"

"We’ll have to check each one individually. Be careful of the ground, Maple."

"Right, I’m fine! Hmm, it’s a bit of a slope downward."

Sally confirms the ground as Maple speaks. It is indeed slightly lower.

A sense of heading toward a different place than before. The two advance, alert yet tingling with anticipation.

Beyond the passage lies a space dominated by walls and ground made of hardened black lava.

The size remains unchanged. Flames occasionally rise from the ground, small and brief.

This area seems solidified. Easier to walk on. And easier to spot monsters, too.

Nothing here so far… but in moments like this!

Maple looks at Sally, as if she has figured something out.

Yeah, we should assume they’re hiding. Wait—there it is!

The ground heaves. A three-meter-tall rock giant rises.

Black fists, larger than both women, heavy footsteps echoing.

Clearly stronger than the monsters seen earlier.

[Full Armament Deployment][Attack Initiated]!

Maple opens fire. Bullets strike the slow-moving giant. All hit. All rebound.

Ugh… Definitely a golem. Hate those!

Maple narrows her eyes. She withdraws her weapons, halts the gunfire. At once, the giant brings its massive fist down upon the ground.

The dull sound of stone striking stone echoes. Molten rock surges upward from the shattered ground like a wave, rushing toward them.

“Ugh!? H-hey, wait—!”

“Maple, dodge! Here—!”

Sally steps back, creating an ice pillar for precaution.

The ice pillar remains intact, as expected, unlike the area flooded with molten rock.

“Sorry—here we go!”

Sally extends a thread to Maple, then pulls herself up the ice pillar with the other thread.

“Jump, Maple—[Leap]!”

“Huh? W-what… w-whoa!?”

Just before the ice pillar collapses under the molten wave, Sally leaps over the surge, still tethered to Maple, directly at the giant.

“Here—[Defense Break]!”

Sally releases the thread mid-air, spinning as she slices through the giant’s arm and slips behind it.

Maple remains suspended in the air. She understands she will fall straight into the giant’s head.

As she smiles faintly, recalling how such a tactic could be part of their coordinated assault, she remembers it clearly.

“Just like Sally! How’s this for you!”

Maple grips her large shield with both hands, charges forward, and bites the giant’s face with [Evil Feast], rolling to the ground.

“T-tough… gotta get clear before it attacks again…”

Maple lifts her face from the ground, glancing back at the giant as she puts distance between them.

Meanwhile, Sally, still carving at the giant’s legs, returns to Maple’s side.

“It’s slow… but it might still rush us.”

The path forward lies just beyond the giant, visible near the two of them.

"Bring it down!"

Having used her ability once already, Maple watches the giant’s next move with caution.

Sally, observing, times her own ability.

The giant strikes the ground with its fist as before, but no wave of lava comes.

"Maple, below!"

"Wha—?!"

Before Sally can extend her thread to pull Maple clear, stone pillars erupt from beneath their feet, rising too quickly to avoid. Maple is thrust into the air.

"Ugh— stop attacking from the ground! Hnn! Poison Dragon (Hydra)!"

Spinning midair, Maple turns toward the giant and releases the poison dragon as if in retaliation.

The giant punches toward Maple, shattering its own poison mass, only to be met with a perfect counter from 【Bad Feast】.

Maple is thrown back, rolling across the ground, but suffers no damage.

"Nothing to worry about if it's not a piercing attack! 【Seeping Chaos】!"

The creature's mouth, erupting from the armor, seizes the slow-moving giant and inflicts further harm.

"The sea of poison is the real danger... yo, hold on!"

While Maple channels her great technique, Sally darts across the giant's body with threads and 【Ice Pillars】, slashing with precision. The 【Sword Dance】 amplifies the force of her strikes.

"This is it—end of the line!"

The giant disintegrates into light as Sally slices through its neck.

Sally returns to Maple's side, careful to avoid the poison she has released.

"You did well, Sally."

"Mmm, yeah. But... it was slow. Avoiding was probably the right choice. Not even a boss."

"Maybe. Bullets didn't work either."

"Could be it deflects attacks beyond a certain range. Even stronger poison dragons didn't affect it much."

"I see. So that’s how it works."

Maple nods slowly, her head bobbing as she considers the strength of various monsters.

"Then let’s move on, Maple. Don’t want that thing showing up again."

"Agreed, agreed! Wait—just a moment..."

Maple quickly adjusts her inventory, swapping her gear and equipping the 【Hand of Salvation】.

A white hand appears, grasping a shield. She manipulates it, positioning it between two shields, and lifts herself into the air.

"Been getting hit from the ground the whole time. This is better."

"...Okay. Getting used to it now."

Sally narrows her eyes slightly, glancing at the two pale hands.

"Use them? They were meant for you all along. It’s fine."

"Once it fails, I think."

Speaking like that, Sally walks forward into the next path. Maple glides smoothly along beside her, shield pressed close.

As they descend gradually, the change becomes apparent quickly.

"Sally! Sally!"

Maple’s eyes widen as she looks toward Sally.

Sally looks back, startled, then confirms the scene before her again.

"Yeah, that’s right… strange feeling, but yes."

Before them, after walking a short distance, lies a vast, snow-covered floor, white as bone, and a towering wall made of ice.

A world of freezing white.