Defense specialization and the final stretch.

The two confirmed their gear and supplies, then stepped outside to sit on the cloud bench.

"‘Rain-Repelling Helm’..."

"Would’ve been nice to have grabbed it earlier. Wonder if there’s another downpour ahead?"

A helm that prevents rain from touching the wearer, regardless of how hard it falls, yet its utility is quite limited.

"Still… if it’s for sale now, there must be some use for it."

"Memorize it for when the time comes!"

"That sounds right."

The boss of the fifth-floor area has its quirks, but is not beyond defeat.

"The road ahead looks long."

"Different from the other zones, here we simply ascend through the clouds. That’s clear enough. And that means it’ll likely be a long stretch."

The fifth-floor area does not allow mid-journey entry. They must fight through to the end together.

The fourth-floor area will likely see everyone regrouping again soon. That will be the time to check progress.

The sixth- and eighth-floor areas are advancing too.

From what Crom said, it seems they’re making good progress. Maybe that one will come first… Still, we must go there ourselves.

When that time comes, I’ll put it back inside. Just stay calm.

Yes, perhaps that’s best…

【Brutality】 also has the ability to transport allies. Barely. It deviates from its intended use, but the certainty of blocking vision and storing it within Maple’s defensive barrier wall could be powerful. Yes—especially for Sally, heading toward the sixth-floor area.

What now?

Hmm. If we go only partway, we’ll end up back at the Town. It’ll probably take a long time to reach the next Town.

That’s right. There will likely be puzzles along the way. And a boss, too.

Then this far, I suppose.

Yeah. If we can progress one floor per quest, that’d be ideal. If we have time, we could go as far as the next Town.

Let’s do that!

Hmm, okay. Today’s enough.

See you in the game!

Before that, we’ll meet in real life.

That’s right. See you tomorrow, then!

Yeah, see you tomorrow.

That’s all for today. The two wave goodbye with smiles and log out, returning to the real world.

Elsewhere, in the Eighth Layer area’s Guild Home. The three who have just arrived via teleport are Crom, Mai, and Yui, currently engaged in clearing the Sixth Layer area.

"Welcome back. How did it go over there?"

Kanade greets them, spreading a large map across the desk.

"Hey. With Mai and Yui helping, there’s no enemy we can’t defeat. Thanks to that, we’re pushing through the quests quickly."

"How about you, Kanade?"

We couldn’t contribute much strength here…

Things are going smoothly on this side too. Still, combat seems inevitable. I’ll call on Maple and Sally. They’d enjoy clearing every area. Though, the sixth layer might be an exception?

Is there a puzzle element here?

Yes. I’ve written it out clearly for them. In short, we must decipher the script and traverse the sunken ruins in the correct order.

Luck won’t help much here…

That’s right. Even with Maple’s luck, it would be difficult.

That’s…

It seems extremely hard.

Even inside the ruins, we’ll need to interpret the script. I’ll come along. The rest depends on the two of them.

Was it the fifth layer where Maple and Sally were?

After assisting Miss Kasumi… they should be in the Cloud Maze.

Then it’s a matter of progressing from the area reached before the final battle, in order.

Yeah. We’re getting to the final stretch now.

Heh. There are still enemies to defeat, so it’s up to all of us to see it through.

Still, Kanade does not doubt the victory of the Maple Tree.

Despite the small number, the Maple Tree moves forward at full speed toward the goal of defeating the Demon King—Maple and Sally’s objective.