Defense specialization and fifth floor of the tower.

The six continued their advance. They reached the area just before the boss chamber with ease.

"Monsters don’t seem to appear around here."

"Then let’s prepare. I’ll keep watch with Kasumi."

"Right. That’ll work."

Behind Crom and Kasumi, who kept watch, Kanade and Izu applied buffs to Mai and Yui one after another.

"Drink this, and this, and this too."

"Nh… gurk… gulp…"

"Hah… alright! Got it!"

The sight of the two drinking various pills and potions, receiving buffs from Kanade, had become a routine before facing the boss.

Auras of different colors rose from the bodies of the two, now fully prepared.

"Ready anytime!"

"Good. Then let’s go. I’ll lead."

As the two raised their two great hammers, blazing with light, the six entered the boss chamber.

The area was a wasteland wrapped in thick fog, just like the passage they had just come through. There were no obstacles. They would face the boss head-on.

Sensing the six, the boss—the headless knight—slowly emerged from beyond the fog.

Blue flames spilled from the neck, where a head should be. The knight wore ancient armor and wielded a large sword, riding a zombie horse.

The horse let out a deep, echoing whinny and charged toward the six.

"Here we go, sister!"

"Y-yes...!"

"Creating an opening—now! Here!"

Crom raised his great shield, blocking the boss’s sword and deflecting it, creating a gap.

The boss advanced. Four massive hammers, glowing with a light rivaling the head’s flames, struck without mercy.

"【Double Strike】!"

The thunder of armor being struck echoes. The HP bar diminishes with brutal speed. The boss lifts the sword again. Crom deflects it precisely.

"Here—new item...!"

Iz suddenly leaps forward. Places an item on the ground near the horse. It explodes with a sharp crack. Lightning forks across the earth.

For just a few seconds, the boss’s movement halts. For Maple, this item delivers an effect beyond measure.

"Yui! One more time!"

"Got it!"

Kasumi, who was meant to cover if Crom failed, does not act. The boss is pounded to pieces by the two. Explodes.

"Phew... different kind of game from Maple."

Kasumi, idle and unneeded, watches the two celebrate their success. Says this.

"Understood."

Crom, too, had thought the same after deflecting the enemy’s attacks twice.

“Still, must hold firm. If we won easily, then our work was done.”

Crom and Kasumi, unbroken in one-on-many combat, saw more action on the journey. Mai and Yui, by contrast, specialized in boss battles.

“Wait a moment. I’ll remake the lost items.”

Iz deploys the Workshop. Reconstructs valuable buff items, MP potions, bombs.

Capable of producing items from gold, and able to set up the Workshop anywhere, shortages rarely force a retreat.

Before battle, during battle, after battle. A feature unseen in any other guild.

Thus, the six press forward, ready to crush the boss of the next floor.

“Maple is doing well, I hope.”

I wouldn’t want to face someone who completely pins down Maple, that’s for sure.

That’s right...

A short time after the six easily defeated the boss of the fifth floor, Maple’s form appeared, fighting a boss in the same manner.

Maple, having activated [Brutality], transformed into a monstrous shape, lunging at the zombie horse and tearing it apart.

The boss area overflowed with pale blue flames and rising zombies. The knight atop the horse swung two swords in wide arcs.

There was no sign of Sally in that place, which resembled hell itself.

She kicked aside zombies, crushed them with body blows, clearing a path.

Maple’s HP showed no reduction. The boss inched closer to death.

Yes! That’s it—finished!

Without any change in her pattern, she charged forward and overwhelmed the boss. Maple claimed victory once more.

"Uh... to get to the sixth floor... that way, right!"

Maple stepped forward with deliberate pace and stepped onto the teleportation rune. The view of the fifth floor faded, replaced by a cavernous space lined with rough, jagged stone.

"Good... I think we're safe now. It's okay, Sally!"

Maple opened her mouth wide, and with a wet slap, Sally tumbled out.

"Ugh... I think I'm dizzy..."

Sally rolled onto her back, dazed, her eyes spinning.

Yes—during the assault on the fifth floor, Sally had been inside Maple’s mouth, moving frantically as Maple sprinted.

Maple returned to her human form and crouched beside Sally, who lay on the ground. She tilted her head, a smug expression on her face.

"But you didn't see anything, did you?"

"Mm. Honestly, that was a relief."

Sally glanced at Maple’s self-satisfied look, then chuckled faintly, pushing herself up.

If she cannot stay within Maple’s protective range, then better to keep her closer—inside, sealed away.

A monstrous version of what had been done with wool.

"Looks quite the sight... but this is what it feels like to be eaten."

"Ah, yes, I was eaten once too! That was a shock."

"In any case, now I can fight again... I think. The sixth floor... it should be fine, right?"

Sally looked at the cavern stretching ahead, her expression uncertain.

From within it emerged a golem, its body glowing like a diamond.

"Thank goodness... just a monster..."

"Heh, push harder than you did on the fifth floor!"

"Leave it to me! I’ll work hard enough that even if Maple rests, it’ll be fine!"

Thus, with Maple restored and Sally regained, they moved on toward the conquest of the sixth floor.