Defense Specialization and Beyond the Mist, Part 2.

The mist stole visibility. The poisoned marsh restricted movement. The boss’s pressure bound skill use. Yet Maple’s advance did not cease.

That was to be expected. Though Maple possessed a vast array of skills akin to ultimate techniques, that did not mean she lacked the basic proficiency of a great shield user.

Even without the 【Love That Offers the Body】, her guard with the great shield remained firmly unyielding.

Moreover, Crom—high in endurance and capable of precise skill use even mid-advance—was present.

A frontline great shield user defending an attacker in one-on-one combat was not easily broken. To shatter such a formation, one would need output on the scale of a boss monster.

And now, Maple’s group stood face to face with just that.

Before them loomed a large tombstone. Crom stepped forward, placing a hand upon the weathered stone.

The mournful cry echoes. Pale blue flames begin to leak from the tombstone, spreading fire across the ground, forming a magical sigil.

"Good. As expected. Open it with the item acquired from the quest."

"Thank you, Crom!"

"Ah, we agreed to advance together as a guild. Naturally, it was prepared."

As Kasumi handled the fourth floor area, Crom took the lead on the sixth. The necessary items were secured before Maple and Sally arrived. This division of labor sustains the pace of conquering the 【Maple Tree】.

"Then let's free Sally."

"Opening it, Sally."

Maple retrieves Sally from the box she placed her in before heading to the boss.

Tsukimi and Shiroppu return to their rings. The number of targets to protect is now limited. Only the execution of the plan remains.

"Is Sally alright?"

"Leave it to me. No mistakes...!"

Sally says it as if to steel herself. Not in perfect condition, but there is Maple and Crom to hold the line, no matter what.

"Good. Ready? Let's go!"

Five of them prepare, then transfer. The destination is shrouded in the same thick fog. Visibility is poor, but Maple and the others have confirmed the boss’s presence beforehand. They know the layout of this room.

A dome-shaped chamber, centered on their position. The boss appears above.

The weeping cry they heard before the transfer echoes again. The four, excluding Sally, look upward.

A large shadow beyond the fog. The form is hidden, but the shape is clear—tall limbs, a dress fluttering like wings, and a blue flame clinging to it. A spectral being.

That is the boss appearing in this chamber—the master spirit, a troublesome wraith advancing with debuffs and entangling limbs.

“First comes the flame—do not concern yourself!”

Immediately after Crom spoke, the blue flame enveloping the boss spread outward and rained down upon the ground. It dealt no damage, despite its appearance, but stripped away all active buffs.

This is why Maple had preserved the Love That Offers the Body.

“Provocation!”

Crom drew the boss’s attention. Several reasons existed, but Crom’s role, compared to the others, was to absorb attacks—his ranged attacks were weaker.

With Dead or Alive allowing multiple resurrections, Crom could endure more than Maple, depending on the opponent.

The boss was visible only as a shadow circling high above, yet once it set its target on Crom, it shifted to attack without delay.

Cannot react if unaware...!

In the mist, Crom felt a light source behind him and twisted his body sharply, turning to face it.

There, a translucent arm wrapped in a pale blue flame—like the fire of the underworld—slipped forward silently. Crom, who had known the attack would come from behind, raised his great shield in time to block.

Shield defense won't stop status drain—it's harsh!

This was why Crom bore the burden of defense, beyond his lack of long-range prowess.

Not every attack steals status, but should Mai, Yui, or Maple lose theirs, continuing the fight would become impossible.

I entrust the attack to you!

The moment to strike the boss is limited to when it is attacking. It exists only as a shadow in the air during attacks. Direct strikes with Mai and Yui’s iron spheres, or preemptive assaults via [Flight Strike], are impossible otherwise.

Counter the enemy’s attack. This exchange is unavoidable.

“[Flight Strike]!”

The shockwaves launched by Mai and Yui streaked toward the boss’s hovering shadow, but from the ground, the distance proved too great. They could not be caught before the shadow solidified.

[Path of Water] [Icy Domain]...!

A sharp crack split the air as gushing water froze instantly. Using the flying machine and the platforms it created, Mai and Yui could now close the distance with ease and aim for direct hits.

It’s not visible... Sound, perhaps...!

A cry like the boss’s dying wail. Too precise to be mere instinct. Yet it must be.

Crom, certain he need not worry over Sally, watched Maple, Mai, and Yui as they accepted the next assault, using the platform to launch themselves skyward.

““【Weapon Throw】!””

“【Barrel Deployment】【Attack Initiated】【Oozing Chaos】!”

The attack struck the boss’s form with certainty. Damage effects scattered from the translucent body, but the harm was not great. Still, the HP bar had clearly diminished. No urgency stirred in the three. Instead, they felt the resistance.

“Next one’s coming! All three—scatter! Sally, leave it to me!?”

“……Yes. I’m fine.”

Crom cast aside hesitation. He accelerated toward the far edge of the chamber, riding the flight machine into the air.

The pale blue flame spread from the center of the room immediately after. At the same moment as the second buff was removed, white arms emerged from the ground, one after another, forming a smaller dome that split the room’s outer edge from its center.

A cage holding one at its center, refusing to let go. Inside the dome, where fixed-damage attacks flew, only Crom should have been present.

Yes, as it should be.

Crom stands before a cage made of pale arms blurred by thick fog, watching with quiet concern as he waits for the moment of release.

Sally’s way leaves only two outcomes: evade perfectly, or die from a single strike.

There is no relatively stable choice, like enduring unavoidable attacks as Crom does, that allows one to withstand them to a certain extent.

Whether this decision was right or wrong depends on Sally’s next move.

I rely on you…

A skill preserved through success can greatly favor the course ahead.

The sound of the boss’s attack began to reach her, though the inside remained unseen.

In the sealed cage, Sally kept her eyes closed, sensing the surroundings. A dull, pulsing sound in the air—flames drifting through space.

Behind her closed lids, where only darkness should lie, a battlefield formed in sharp relief.

She evaded the flames drifting through the air, one after another. She leapt over the flames sweeping across the ground, thrown from the boss’s phantom limbs.

Guided by the sound of each attack, Sally perceived every motion with flawless precision. She saw the battlefield more clearly than Maple, now shrouded in thick fog.

……I can do this.

To Sally, who had never properly seen the boss’s form, the entity before her was less than a ghost—merely a training dummy, its attacks marked by periodic, predictable strikes.

Closing her eyes, Sally strengthened herself. She did not understand the words, but there was no other way to describe it.

The boss before her was merely a manifestation. No matter how many attacks were delivered, they would not register damage. This cage was designed to inflict numerous debuffs and steal status, forcing separated players to fall one by one—an arena that imposed one-sided disadvantage.

“[Ice Spire]!”

She erected walls. She manipulated aerial machines. Maneuvers so complex they blurred the distinction between up and down. In total darkness, Sally’s movements were flawless. A long, grueling endurance battle. Evading every attack. The cage that had separated Sally and the ghost finally shattered.

“Seriously… she’s doing it…!”

“Sally, leave it to me!”

“Yeah. I’m counting on you.”

“[Ancient Weapon][Attack Initiated]!”

Maple’s outstretched arm transformed into a cannon, its surface crackling with blue sparks, waiting for the moment to release energy.

The collapse of the cage was the precise instant of liberation.

Two colored lasers emerged in midair, piercing the boss. Thanks to Sally’s efforts, they had cleared the critical phase without exhausting any resources. The rare opportunity to attack could not be missed.

As Maple struck, Yui and Mai leapt skyward, extending their reach with [Rescue Hand] and bringing the great mallet down with force.

Damage was reduced, but the power was more than sufficient. Each strike brought the boss closer to death.

"Everyone, come to me!"

At Crom’s call, the four immediately increased the output of their flight machines and flew toward him.

One strike brings back a great technique. The key is timing and when to cut the skill.

Crom fixed his gaze beyond the mist. He focused on nullifying the main attack within the downpour of buff-clearing flames.

Cutting the defensive skill too early would catch him in the buff-clear. He must use the skill swiftly in the gap between the two attacks.

Here…! [Guardian] [Spirit Light]!

A massive block of flame shaped like a skull struck directly upon Crom’s defense.

From the moment of impact, Crom’s status drained at a terrible pace. Yet, by maintaining [Guardian] to protect Maple and the others, and using [Spirit Light] to nullify the damage itself, he succeeded.

This flame could not fully render Crom powerless.

Not drawing status anymore. Now it’s up to you, Maple!

Absorbing the flame, passing the torch here. Above, countless clones emit shrill cries, their effects revealing shockwaves with debuff properties. The boss itself rains down underworld flames like a storm.

It no longer matters.

"Love That Offers the Body!"

Within the thick fog, white wings blaze with light. Crom has absorbed every technique needed to dissolve them.

The moment to inflict fixed damage was already handled by Sally.

A simple debuff cannot pierce this extradimensional defense.

"Let’s go! Mai, Yui!"

"Yesss!"

The tenth layer area has aerial support. The three align their steps, rising straight into the sky, cutting through the fog, closing the distance to the boss.

Maple clearly saw the boss’s form—nothing more than a shadow floating in the sky—and triggered her skill to provoke the boss’s attack.

“[Taunt]!”

Come on, strike me. As Maple held her stance, the quiet, burning arms slid forward.

But just past them, the true death arrived—launching its final swing.

“[Double Impact]!”

The massive mace struck with a thunderous crack, shattering the boss’s translucent body like fragile glass.

With a final burst of damage effects, the boss let out a dying scream, then exploded into fragments, vanishing with a shimmering glow.