Defense Specialization and Daily Life 12.

Eight people moving — more than anticipated.

Sō, taking the form of Maple, receives the roaring black flames.

The cooldown is long. Not possible twice per battle. Yet in a game where skills are crucial, few abilities are this powerful.

"We’ll keep him occupied. Stay back."

"Thank you, Kanade!"

While Sō maintains the use of Love That Offers the Body, they escape from the burning ground.

Kanade fires spell after spell from the magic circle. Sō fires the Machine God and the Ancient Weapon. Everything else — the Poison Dragon, the Seeping Chaos — is directed at the King. No point holding back. Once the Mimicry breaks, none of it will work anyway.

Damage is accrued despite the barrier. No pursuit is allowed. Sou’s mimicry has broken, yet its purpose was fulfilled.

“Is there nothing convenient in the spellbook? How shall we defend?”

“Prioritize Mai and Yui. Can you endure with damage reduction?”

“Yeah. Understood.”

With Kasumi, Izumi, and Kanade, defense can be raised and damage reduction activated. There is a chance to withstand.

If perfect defense is unattainable, switch to maintaining the line with recovery included.

“Switch to plan if things go wrong—use the remaining skills in order.”

“Got it.”

A wide-scale attack like that earlier cannot be blocked without proper means.

Our reserves of trump cards are limited. Their use must be judged carefully.

“Then first—Residual Light of Salvation!”

White feathers extend from Maple’s back. Unused until now, they remain intact—damage cut unspent.

For Crom and the others, who fight ready to endure harm, this buff that raises endurance is invaluable.

Resetting, the second round begins. The King descends with long spears forged of flame in both hands, closing in on Maple and the others.

“[Ten-Edge: Diamond]!”

To hold the backline, Maple and Crom must retreat.

It falls to Kasumi to step forward and block the King’s charge.

Receiving Maple’s buff and her own damage cut, Kasumi engages the King in close combat head-on.

“Haa!”

The King wields two spears. Kasumi, three blades.

With her free-moving demon blade, she parries the flaming spears, minimizing damage, and returns each strike with [Warrior’s Arm].

Even match. No—slightly in the king’s favor. Damage reduction applies, but Kasumi is at a disadvantage.

The king is boss. Status and HP dwarf the player’s by orders of magnitude. He is wreathed in continuous flame damage, and possesses a barrier that nullifies harm. A one-on-one damage exchange is impossible.

“Fei [Item Augment]!”

“Heal [Heal]!”

A green mist spreads across the area with a sharp chime. Sustained healing from Iz’s item and Kanade’s healing magic restore Kasumi’s vitality to a safe threshold.

Then, light flares beneath the feet of the eight.

The wide area clearly indicates the next target. Crom judges it impossible to block. He makes eye contact not with Maple, but with Sally.

“[Cannonwater]!”

A torrent surges backward, instantly sweeping Kasumi and all others engaged in combat away.

The column of fire piercing the sky narrowly missed the eight.

Still, the king’s pursuit does not cease.

Flames descend from above like spears. The ground begins to glow in scattered points—few in number, but enough to suggest multiple columns of fire soon to erupt.

“Getting serious now…!”

Maple feels the true strength of her defense and the combo with Love That Offers the Body in moments like this.

Still, there is no such thing as being unprepared.

With their movements restricted thus far, reaching a position where they can defeat the boss while protecting Kanade, Izu, Mai, and Yui is difficult.

Using Izu’s barricade, Maple and Sally fortify their defense together. Without mobility and vulnerable to a single fatal strike, they can do no more than hold the line.

“Sally, can you do something about this!? It’s getting tough!”

“Leave it to me. I can dodge something like this.”

“Do your best, Sally!”

The density of the attacks is too great to entrust to anyone but the two with high AGI.

Maple and the others endure, hoping the attack pattern will shift if their HP is reduced.

If the assault grows more severe, there is nothing to do but brace for it.

Without a one-hit kill from Mai and Yui, there is no way to defeat the king other than standing firm against his full force.

Sally steps forward with Kasumi, trusting Maple and Crom’s defense.

“Take the damage!”

“Affirmative!”

Sally transforms her weapon into a bow and darts through the sky, piercing the king.

Her evasion remains unchanged. She moves at the same speed as the king, peeling away the barrier.

With her new unique series, Sally has gained ranged attacks beyond magic. Her skill alone makes her combat style truly fluid and ever-changing.

When evasion is difficult, the weapon can shift into a great shield to block attacks.

Targeting Sally makes the others easier to defeat. Her health remains fragile—one strike could fall her—but her reliability is absolute.

“[First Cut: Mirage] [Third Cut: Lone Moon]!”

Kasumi lunges forward in sync with Sally. No matter how fast one moves, as long as within range, escape from Kasumi’s instant teleport is impossible.

Transferring through the air, forcing a violent twist into the attack, the king flies toward Sally—then redirects mid-leap, delivering a blow to the back.

Rising again into the sky, maintaining distance, Kasumi nonetheless falls—she cannot fly freely, no matter how she wishes.

“Kasumi, use it!”

“Got it! [Fourth Cut: Cyclone]!”

Still. There is still something the two can do. Kasumi lands on the platform generated in midair by Sally’s [Step to the Underworld]. She ascends again through [Leap], chasing the boss directly. A series of strikes pierces through the barrier’s defense, inflicting damage.

[Path of Water] [Ice Column]

Sally catches up to Kasumi, who leaps through the water she has extended into the sky. From the water, she emerges and extends a thread toward Kasumi.

If Kasumi has no more leaps left, Sally will pull her up with the thread.

Kasumi is yanked upward, moving directly before the king. She assumes her stance, blade ready.

She breaks through the torrent of flames, forced by damage cut. Only the final technique remains.

Then, as she sees the barrier re-form, Kasumi’s brow tightens slightly.

Yet—almost at the same moment the barrier reappears, a single arrow flies from behind, as if predicted, shattering the barrier.

"Leave the rest to me."

"【Final Blade • Hazy Moon】"

The last barrier, shattered without delay by Sally, who had already precisely calculated the time it would take to reform. Unmoved by the flames dancing around her, Kasumi struck twelve consecutive blows, her white hair streaming in the wind.

Each strike heavy, sharp. Chipping away at the King’s HP despite the searing heat of the royal flame.

At the instant the twelfth strike ended. Sally created a foothold in midair once more, guiding Kasumi to land. Kasumi leapt a fraction higher, taking position above the King’s weakened side.

"【Seventh Blade • Shatter】!"

The blade swung down with force, striking the King’s shoulder, sending him flying toward the ground. It was a distance secured for recovery, and also a setup for the main attacker, long awaited.

“Sky, I’m counting on you!”

“We’ve got this side!”

The rain of fire descending from above was shielded by Kanade’s barrier and Iz’s item. The flames directed straight ahead were absorbed by Maple and Crom.

The distance they had steadily closed while drawing the enemy’s attention was precisely for this moment.

““【Aerial Strike】!””

No escape from the wide-area shockwave. Twelve strikes from Kasumi, sixteen from Mai and Yui.

The overwhelming barrage cut deeply into the King’s HP. He was sent flying once more, crashing into the wall.

Maple and the others confirmed the King still had HP remaining.

“…Now then. Let’s finish this. Worth expanding the range, wasn’t it?”

The king’s voice echoes strangely. A massive black dragon’s head breaches the wall of flame. Immediately after, a clawed foot emerges, then a sturdy wing. The king, fully transformed into a dragon, lifts his great body into the air, exploiting the expanded space.

A roar shakes the air. The already generated Ice Pillars and placed barricades shatter.

Inside the wide-open mouth. The flames spilling out—everyone understands what comes next.

“Please, Maple!”

“Quick Change!”

““Heal!””

Maple dons pure white armor through equipment change. Sally and Kanade restore the increased HP instantly as the king’s scorching breath threatens to turn the entire front into an ocean of flame.

Beyond a certain threshold. Power too great for ordinary means to resist.

Against such force, only force beyond reason can respond.

A final weapon beyond ordinary constraints exists here as well.

"【Aegis】!"

The overflowing light forms a dome around the eight, absorbing the scorching flames.

A wide-ranging invincibility effect. With the strongest defense imaginable, Maple nullifies the King's ultimate strike. The battle has reached its final stage. There is no room for error against an opponent who will not allow it.

"Concentrating now, Maple."

"Uh-huh."

One final push. Facing the King, now transformed into a dragon, the eight reposition their weapons.