Defense specialization and afterimage.

The darkness enveloping Maple fades. She can see clearly around her now. The land stretches flat, just as it was before she arrived.

Only level ground extends to the horizon. The forest and Town she saw before the transfer have vanished completely. No need to plan a fight based on terrain, it seems.

As she watches, the black stain spreading across Maple’s body shrinks gradually. It coalesces into a human shape before her, a wisp of black mist. From it emerges a man—pale complexion, long white hair, a black sword strapped to his waist.

Maple exhales. She relaxes. The strange being emerging is not one she immediately fears.

“Gathered sacrifices worthy of resurrection. You have labored well.”

“Yes!”

“Now, let us absorb your soul and finally resurrect. You have strong magic energy….”

“Huh?”

Maple blinks, startled, as the man abruptly reverses his stance just after she believes she understands him.

The quest, by its nature, demands the defeat of the boss. There is no path to reconciliation from the beginning.

“Die quietly, if you please!”

“Ugh! [Poison Dragon]!”

She raises her great shield, preparing to activate her skill, as the man draws his sword and advances, his health bar appearing above his head.

The skill activates—but no poison mass forms. It fails.

“Wha—? It disappeared already!”

“There is no way I’d release the shackles.”

Maple pouts, conceding the point, as the man swiftly closes the distance and swings his black blade.

Maple barely manages to bring her great shield into position against Sally’s speed, but the man circles her and strikes down—impact so great from her slender frame it sends her flying.

“Wah—!?”

If the man speaks true, that body is made of rare items, Iz’s powerful weapon, and the souls of defeated monsters—nothing weak about it. Just moments before, she had battered the boss to death with Mai and Yui’s strength. Nothing stronger could exist.

Fortunate, at least, that her defense was not broken. A strike without piercing effect cannot penetrate Maple’s armor. She gains a brief moment to reconfigure her strategy.

“Alright, I’ll do my best…!”

She pushes herself up, muscles tensing with resolve, aware of the guild’s cheers behind her. Her eyes flick to the man, searching for an opening. He does not ease his assault. He closes in swiftly once more after sending Maple flying, slashing with his obsidian blade and sending her skidding across the ground.

“Uuu… don’t—don’t use it!”

Rolling on the dirt, Maple stows her great shield into inventory. In her current state, the only reliable tools are items. The curse of poor consumption is both her strongest offense and her sole defense. Every strike must count. She cannot afford even one wasted blow.

After enduring a series of slashes and being thrown again, she grows accustomed. Thoughts begin to form.

“Need distance… but he’s fast… mmm… mmm…”

By the time Maple rises and steadies her posture, the distance has already closed. Standing and moving normally will not suffice.

Something useful... ah, this will do!

Maple, still airborne, pulls an item from her inventory and presses it against her back. Nothing happens. As the next strike approaches, she does not rise. She lies flat on her back on the ground.

Just before the blade reaches her, a violent explosion erupts beneath her. The force hurls her several meters into the air.

Good!

She falls. Crashes into the ground. Is struck mid-air by the waiting man and sent flying. Yet Maple looks satisfied, as if she has felt the resistance she sought.

Maple used Iz’s specially crafted adhesive bomb. Unlike the usual explosive that detonates upon impact, this one remains inert until a set time after being affixed. It cannot be attached directly to an enemy. Placing it on the field is the standard method. Yet, while it cannot be applied to foes, it can be placed on oneself without issue. There is no reason to do so—normally—but for Maple now, it is a valuable means of transit.

If affixed to any part of the body beforehand, after a set time, she can move at high speed in the exact opposite direction.

“Alright! One more time!”

Maple prepares as before, lies down, and waits for detonation. Moments later, a thunderous blast sends her soaring upward. Without pause, a second explosion, then a third, erupts midair, hurling her higher still.

The sticky bomb does not detonate until its timer reaches zero. There is no chain reaction, so by spacing the placements, one can achieve a second jump, then a third, launching higher still.

This is Maple’s unique method—no need to worry about explosion damage or fall damage. She has succeeded in creating distance.

“Hurry… done!”

Maple opens her inventory and changes her equipment. She still possesses gear with useful passive skills. This is the ornament, the 【Maple Tree】, currently enjoying great success in battle.

A white hand appears in midair, holding a large shield, waiting beneath Maple as she falls, ready to catch her.

【Hand of Salvation】 is a passive skill. Like 【Bad Appetite】, it is one of the few skills remaining to Maple.

Maple hovers in midair, then checks downward. The man raises his sword high, swings it in a single, swift arc.

—Aah!?—

Maple ducks her head as a glowing effect streaks along the path of the blade’s descent. It strikes the shield beneath her—she is unharmed, but would not survive a direct hit. She cannot afford to take the risk.

—Before he strikes, I must—!

Maple pulls another item from her pack. It is another bomb, packed tightly with gunpowder. As always, it is not for attack, but for movement.

It is shaped like a rocket, with a fuse extending outward, designed to launch skyward when ignited. In essence, it can strike monsters high above, yet Maple extracts a quantity of them and wraps them around her body like a belt, securing them tightly with rope.

"Light it!"

She ignites them all at once with a crystal of flame, then waits, straight and still, as they shoot upward.

A moment later, Maple ascends further, trailing thick smoke.

High above, beyond the reach of even slashing attacks, she sits atop a great shield. Whether she could not have reached such height without a skill, or whether such a thing was deemed unnecessary, the attacks from the male fighter cease entirely.

"Counterattack begins!"

Maple finally takes what she needs from her inventory.

It was a rock. Yes, just an ordinary large stone. The kind that Yui and Mai had carried during the base construction in the eighth event—certainly not one capable of flight. When suddenly flung into the air, it obeyed gravity and fell.

“Here it comes!”

The man dodged it with quick reflexes. The massive stone struck the ground hard, embedding itself deep. Not a hit, but ammunition remained in abundance. Not just rocks—iron spheres, ice blocks, anything large and heavy from Iz’s inventory had been stuffed in until full.

“Keep dropping them!”

Today’s weather: rock, then iron sphere, occasionally ice block. As the ground filled with these, the terrain shifted. Maple did not stop, tossing one thing after another down.

No matter how quick the man might be, he took damage bit by bit, forced to dodge while attempting to target Maple, the assault unrelenting. The damage was slight, but real. Each strike brought him one step closer to death.

Maple’s endurance remained as it had been in battle against the poison dragon. She continued dropping objects onto the ground for over an hour. Finally, she reduced his HP by about twenty percent.

“Phew… but it’s getting easier to hit!”

The ground no longer resembled flat earth. It was uneven, unstable beneath her feet. Movement would be severely limited. The man’s rate of being struck rose steadily, as if to confirm it. He could likely be defeated in less than four hours.

But the thought lasted only an instant. Black light enveloped the man’s body. Moments later, light burst from within, and on his back, demonic black wings sprouted.

With a single, sharp flap, he soared into the air. He turned mid-flight and flew straight toward Maple.

“Eh!?!”

Maple, who had merely secured her position by clever use of items, could not follow a foe with flight.

“M-ma—! Ah!?!”

She was easily outmaneuvered, slashed from above and diagonally, plummeting headfirst toward the ground.

A loud impact shook the earth. Dust rose in a cloud. She knew from experience she would not take fall damage. She rose instantly, stumbling forward and running.

“Gotta prepare for the next one!”

If she could fly, attacks by catapult stones would no longer be effective. To reduce the remaining eighty percent of HP, a new strategy was required.

For Maple, lacking any skill, one way to inflict damage on a swift opponent was to secure a favorable position—uninterrupted by interference—so she could repeatedly strike until hit.

The other method was to wait still, patient, as the monster approached.

The man descended at a moderate speed, avoiding a hard landing on the ground, leaving a brief moment before the closest approach.

Entering the repulsion loop again would make escape difficult. This instant could not be missed.

“Yokk—hai!”

Maple presses her back against the rock she dropped, then draws several more from her inventory, arranging them around her to form a barrier. She seals the top with rock as well, leaving only the front open. Maple waits motionless. A place a player would not enter, a monster will rush in.

This is Maple’s absolute advantage.

After a moment, a black sword glimmers in the dark, held in the man’s grasp. He charges forward in one swift motion. Even if he is not skilled at evasion, Maple is no novice. She does not miss the timing, waiting with certainty for his strike straight at her front.

Like Sally, she shifts her upper body sideways to dodge the thrust. As she returns, momentum carries her arms forward in a sweeping motion.

A shield of obsidian, glowing in the dark just as before. It cleaves through shoulder, neck, and head, inflicting massive damage. Black light gathers—immediately the man’s body begins to mend—but the damage itself does not vanish.

“Gh—!”

Maple thrust the great shield forward to press the man who flinched from heavy damage, but he stepped back once, regaining his footing, and leapt from Maple’s den, leaving no chance to inflict further harm.

I’ve been waiting all along, you know!

Maple does not need to go out herself. She waits within the depths of the constructed hole. When the target arrives, she takes it—surely.

The man must also defeat Maple. That is simply how it is. Only Maple holds the choice to cease combat. Thus, he must leap in. Even if it is the monster’s lair.

The man leaps again. The monster waits, mouth open in silence. Its sharpened fangs bite through his body twice.

Yet even so, Maple’s expression does not lighten.

"Seven more times…"

Judging from the depletion of the man’s HP bar as he emerges once more from the den, even if all of [Carnivore] lands true, his health will not be reduced to zero.

It is logical, when considered. [Carnivore] does deal significant damage. But if the target has health so great that it withstands a hundred impacts from stone, and only loses twenty percent from each, then the damage will not be enough to finish.

"Save a little more!"

Damage patterns may shift if HP is reduced. If sudden short-term combat becomes necessary, the ability known as [Malevolent Feast] will be required. Maple sheathes her shield and instead draws oil and a crystal for ignition.

Flames engulf the area in an instant. A damage zone forms around Maple. She stares at the hole, waiting, but the man does not leap in as he did before.

“Huh?”

Unlike [Malevolent Feast], the flames already generate a damage zone in place. It seems the man will not step willingly into a location certain to inflict damage.

“Flames won’t work…?”

If damage must be delayed until the very last moment, then explosives or items that activate to inflict elemental damage—like the ones Maple often uses—would be better suited.

Maple grips the crystal in both hands and waits for the flames to die.

As the flames vanish, the man senses it and dives back in again. Thanks to the narrowed entrance, he provokes a thrust attack, allowing Maple to avoid it with steady precision.

Maple sidesteps and lunges forward, thrusting both hands out. The crystal shatters. Electricity and flame erupt from her palms, draining HP, but the damage is low compared to [Carnivore], and the man resumes his assault without pause.

"Ah! S-so that's it!"

It was [Carnivore] holding her back. With the great shield stowed, Maple takes the descending slash full on, slammed into the rock behind her.

"Wah—w-wait!"

The blows land, yet no wound marks Maple. Only the sound of metal scraping against metal echoes. She cannot move her body properly, still reeling from the force of each impact.

The great shield held by her [Rescue Hand] cannot be inserted between them now, so close. As she struggles, the rock behind Maple gives way first, shattering with a loud crack. Without support, Maple is thrown backward.

The wall behind her was originally the outermost layer of stone, piled where Maple had dislodged the rocks. Once one stone breaks, the path becomes a dead end.

The roof stone, now unsupported, collapses as well. Stone walls close in from all sides, trapping Maple and the man, cutting off every escape route.

……!

A situation that would be dire for others is fortune for Maple—by chance, a great opportunity.

“Hmm… eiyah!”

Maple, pressed against the rock behind her by the blade, manages to manipulate her inventory, summoning an iron ball above her head. Stone walls block all sides. Above, a massive iron ball descends. No escape remains.

It falls directly down, crushing Maple and the man. Maple targets crushing. The man feels pressure from the heavy iron ball, slowly taking damage. The damage is barely perceptible—so slight it seems unreal—but over hours, it would accumulate. It would become significant.

Yet the man does not wait to be crushed. He attempts to escape from here.

The body cannot move, yet through magic, it releases a black blade, slicing through the iron sphere.

Yet at the moment of destruction, Maple aligns the next iron sphere, and together they press it flat.

As long as the enemy takes damage alone, continuing means victory for Maple. Impossibly roundabout, yet Maple advances toward triumph.

After continuing the crushing assault for just over an hour, a new problem arises.

The items used for crushing have finally run out.

Even though she received as many as Iz could spare, they were never intended for this purpose. The need for so many had not been anticipated. Who else, after all, would face the problem of running out of crushing stones?

At least she could retrieve the fallen stone, but Maple herself is crushed, so that is impossible.

As time passes, two hours elapse. The items drawn from her inventory vanish one by one.

She has managed to reduce it by about twenty percent, but still far from destruction. The time for disappearance will come first. The fallen stone will be gone.

Maple decides to cut as much as possible while she still has no place to flee. She does not stop pressing down on the man.

If only she had a bomb. But breaking the surrounding walls would ruin everything. There is nothing to do but rely on this slow, steady cutting.

By the time she had exhausted all suitable items, Maple stood at the edge of her last option. She hurled explosive charges one after another at the massive boulder, the man pressing down upon her. If no more items remained to crush her, then remaining trapped within this enclosed space served no purpose. Rather, this was the first and final chance to inflict damage with explosives.

The bombs rolled out like stones filling the gaps. Triggered by the shockwave of the man’s assault on the boulder, they detonated in sequence.

The explosive force far exceeded that of mere rocks or iron spheres used for crushing. Each strike landed cleanly. HP diminished by another ten percent.

Yet the surrounding walls could not withstand such attacks. The large boulders encircling Maple and her companions shattered cleanly and vanished. The initial boulder dropped from above had also vanished upon reaching its time limit. After the explosions subsided, the plain returned to its original state.

HP at half. A new threshold. From the swirling dust, a black light flared.

Maple sensed a change. She equipped one of the many unused large shields Iz had given her, and brought forward the two additional shields added through 【Rescue Hand】, arranging them into a defensive formation.

A man emerged from the dust, different from before. He wielded a sword in each hand. They shimmered with a black light that danced like flame. Maple stiffened. A sense of danger stirred in her body.

If the damage increased, or additional effects appeared, or the appearance changed, then something must be there.

Maple had braced herself for a charge. But when the man raised his hand, a black magic circle unfolded above, and the situation shifted instantly.

A pitch-black laser struck without pause, staining Maple’s great shield black. As Maple’s eyes widened, the shield, now entirely black, exploded violently, throwing her off balance. She managed to keep hold of it—thanks to the aid of [Rescue Hand]—but if she had held it herself, she would not have been able to retain it.

And without missing the opening, the sword surged forward, closing the distance in an instant, piercing through Maple’s broken defense.

“Uhh!”

From the point of impact, a dark light spread across Maple’s gear, promising an explosion to come.

The damage bypassed her defense entirely, chipping away at Maple’s HP with undeniable precision. She had prioritized equipping the three shields that increased her HP, drawn from the large shield Iz had provided, which kept her well clear of death—yet sustained strikes remained perilous.

Maple adjusted the position of her large shield, then withdrew a sticky bomb from her inventory and affixed it to her chest.

After narrowly parrying the next strike, she steadied her stance and launched herself backward at high speed through the explosion.

It was too dangerous to remain close and endure continuous attacks, as before. Maple left her inventory open, pasting the next bomb to her chest with each detonation.

She could not move with finesse, but she could maintain distance at regular intervals.

Explosive attacks were Maple’s strength, even for her. Keeping her inventory open allowed her to draw bombs more smoothly, and when thrown backward by the blast, she could scatter them widely.

The man pressed forward, wounded by the shockwave. Her bomb supply was sufficient. Only one thing remained: to maintain distance without error. A single misstep, and a barrage would strike. Her balance would fail. Movement by explosion would falter. Death would come swiftly.

“Alright, focus!”

Her deep breath carried a likeness to Sally. There was no choice now. Maple adjusted her three shields once more.