Defense specialization and counterattack.
The distance at which the Shin group can detect Maple and her companions. That is also the distance at which Maple and her companions can detect the Shin group.
"Maple! Shin is coming!"
"Haku, keep going as planned! Maple, don’t worry!"
"Mai, Yui! Leave the defense to us—do it!"
"【Throne of the Heavenly King】! 【Residual Light of Salvation】! 【Full Armament Deployment】!"
Responding to Kasumi and Sally’s words, Maple activates her skill. She places the throne upon Shiroppu’s back, then sets it atop Haku’s head, sitting upon it as she deploys a damage-cutting field and a vast array of weapons.
Above Haku’s raised head. At this altitude, with unobstructed lines of fire, nothing blocks Maple’s shots.
"【Threadweaver】!"
Sally binds all their feet with threads. Evasion becomes difficult, but the value of this tactic remains sufficient.
【Crack Sword】! Wen, 【Wind God】!
【Attack Initiated】!
Haku, let’s go!
The sword and wind blades come flying toward the easily targeted 【Maple Tree】, along with the creature. Kasumi watches, then gives Haku orders.
Taking advantage of Sally’s threads binding his body, Haku twists quickly, shifts his head position, and evades the attack.
“【Throw】!”
Indeed… incredible… a mobile artillery piece of a magnitude never seen before!
Shiroppu marvels at the attack’s precision.
Iron spheres launched. Followed by gunfire. The flexibility to fire from any angle, exploiting Haku’s massive frame. Evading with mobility far surpassing Shiroppu’s, even when targeted. His height makes close combat impossible from the start.
The best way to disable it is to bring down Haku, the pedestal supporting it. Yet even that is no simple task, given its massive frame, high HP, and defense from 【Hardening】.
Worse still, the creatures born from Maple swarm at its feet.
“Ugh… there’s nothing for it—gotta give up! Wilbert! Please!”
As planned, dealing with the creatures is necessary. Syin chooses to eliminate threats in order of ease, avoiding attacks while moving through the air, slicing open the creatures from above.
【Tightening】【Long Range】【Area Expansion】… That alone should obscure the view! 【Annihilation Arrow】!
Wilbert’s arrow glows crimson-red, trailing a similar effect, streaking through the air at high speed.
The high-velocity arrow, piercing all in a straight line, annihilates the creature it strikes and continues on, felling the player behind it as well.
Though it dealt significant damage in one blow to Maple and her allies, who should have had the advantage in numbers, the assault does not cease.
Maple and her allies know the enemy is strong. Under Pain’s command, they accept casualties as expected. They came here to win.
“Mr. Marks! Activate the trap! Our allies are about to engage!”
“[Trap Activation]!”
Some traps activate not only when stepped on. In sync with Marks’s skill, certain traps within range activate, the ground rising, and pillars of stone and wood, reaching nearly as high as Hak’s, emerge one after another, hindering the creatures’ movement.
“[Trick Shot][Rain of Arrows]!”
“[Crack Sword]!”
Arrows that continue to leap through the enemy ranks are followed by a rain of arrows and swords from above, reducing the number of monsters that halt in place. Even so, the creatures break through the pillars and slip between them, swallowing player after player who fall behind, vanishing into the swirling dust.
“[Healing Light]! [Fountain of Healing]!”
Mizari deploys a healing field simply by remaining at the front line, using her recovery abilities in sequence to maintain her HP as high as possible. She is not skilled in offense, but her defense is strong.
As [Empire of the Flame Emperor] fights with persistent resolve, a violent surge of light races across the ground.
“[Judgment Holy Sword]!”
“[Whirlwind Multi-Slash]!”
“[Multiple Fire Bombs]!”
“[Earth Wave]!”
As the monsters advance, Pain and the others cut down the player. Though Mizari’s healing is powerful, the burst damage from heavy blows that outpace her recovery does not allow for prolonged endurance.
“Maple, leave this to me!”
“Sally! What about Pain?”
“No, this is our chance… I’m going to Shin! So Iz and Kanade, keep attacking the ground—fine!”
“Got it. We’ll keep the magic book intact as planned.”
“Be careful. Don’t push yourself.”
Explosive attacks that hit indiscriminately could catch Sally too. Only Sally stands a chance of dying in one strike, so as long as she remains on the ground, continued attacks remain possible.
Deciding to move, Sally immediately extends her thread, using the pillar created by Markus to launch toward Shin.
“Ah! So you’re ready!? I’ve always thought we’d get along!”
That’s true. But I can’t let them have their way either!
Sally recognized that the monster was falling faster than expected, thanks to the combined attack of Shin and Wilbert.
If she could stop it, and simultaneously provide overhead fire support to Maple, Mai, and Yui, then the Gathering Holy Sword could push through all at once.
That meant she had to go after its neck herself.
Don’t do something like that! But this is also my chance, isn’t it?
Shin pulled most of his swords from the ground and redirected them toward Sally’s position. He too wanted her defeated here. It would drastically reduce enemy strength.
“[Path of Water] [Water Cloak]!”
“Good work!”
Sally darted through the generated water, moving swiftly from pillar to pillar. Shin watched, adjusting the swords serving as his footing, keeping distance, and attacking in rhythm with Wen’s wind blades.
Sally’s weapons are two daggers. She can use magic, but it is not her particular strength. If she maintains precise distance, she will not be easily felled.
"Still, can’t hit anything!"
"I’ll be satisfied just taking on that sword!"
If the sword’s attack slackens, Sally considers it sufficient to aid the Gathering Holy Sword.
And in one-on-one combat, as long as Shin maintains a safe distance, Wen’s wind blades will land with delayed precision.
Normally, such attacks would be impossible to avoid. But Sally’s extraordinary evasion allows her to pierce the thinner barrage’s gaps precisely when closing in.
"Truth is… the thing below is the problem. I’ll take it down! Wen—[Beyond Wind]—[Cyclone]!"
The wind, expanded by Wen’s skill into a vast, swirling vortex, attacks Sally in relentless succession. The following wind blades and the Crack Sword precisely seal off every avenue of escape.
“[Overdrive][Leap]!”
Before she is completely surrounded, Sally leaps skyward with the aid of her skill.
“Haze [Fire Child]!”
Having evaded the approaching gale with swift motion, Sally creates a foothold in midair and closes in on Shin.
“Not today!”
“Haze [Divine Concealment]!”
While Shin launches the swords he left around himself like a shotgun to repel approach, Sally slips through the attack using Haze’s skill, nullifying it. One more step. A rare opening for attack. Yet even now, Sally remains calm, catching sight of a red effect at the edge of her vision.
“—! [Ice Column]!”
“Not bad… you’ve got guts!”
At the instant the line of attack pierced through. Sally deflects Wilbert’s fatal arrow, launched from below, with an ice column.
Surprised by the flawless motion, Shin raises his shield and pulls his sword back.
If he survives this, he can shift to offense with the returned blade. He stares straight at Sally, as if daring her to attack in any way.
Shin’s eyes widen at Sally’s next skill declaration.
“[Shimarinotachi: Void]”
Sally’s hair turns white. Her eyes grow crimson. There is no mistake. No mishearing. It is the same skill that Kasumi once used to defeat Shin. A trap? Or real? The answer remains uncertain. Sally vanishes.
“Wen, behind you!”
Sally vanishes. Shin concludes, based on this, that Sally has used some method of the [Beginning of the Blade: Void]. A gale erupts behind him. Kasumi’s HP is high. Sally’s is not. A grazing wind blade is enough.
“You would react, Shin. I believed you had no choice.”
“Wha—!?”
There. The air shivers. Sally appears, dagger raised, at point-blank range.
A direct hit is unavoidable. She has advanced to this distance in a one-on-one clash. Shin feels it—this attack will surely erase his HP. Yet the [Empire of the Flame Emperor] holds Mizari’s [Resurrect].
Immediate revival. Counterattack. The closer she is, the harder it will be for Sally to evade the next strike.
A swift thought. Then, resolve to accept it. A blinding light rockets upward from the ground, piercing Shin’s vision at impossible speed.
……!
Shin meets Sally’s eyes. Instantly, he understands.
She is saying, silently: If you use Resurrect on me now, let it wait just long enough to cleave the entire army with Pain’s wide-range attack.
There is a delay. One cannot save both.
Shin realizes, with shock, he has been ensnared by a strategy more carefully honed than he imagined. He shouts, loud.
“Mizari! I can be left behind!”
……Then!
Sally does not hesitate. She lunges forward, slashing through Shin’s shield with a swift, precise cut to a vital point.
Water and flame burst where she strikes. The damage from Sword Dance explodes, vaporizing her remaining HP.
"Aa, got it...!"
It was not only Maple who had grown stronger. Shin fades away, regret lingering in the air, unable to decipher Sally's trick.
"Haa, leaving it to you!"
In the final moment, as the core vanishes into light, Shin sees a torrent of blazing radiance racing across the ground—and a resurrection effect, familiar in form.