Defense specialization and the deep sea floor.
Exploration on detours has been conducted. Progress on the eighth layer area advances. Maple and Sally set out toward the final conquest of the eighth layer area.
Deeper still within the underwater ruins. An area accessible only with the emblem, the prerequisite item, as a key. Enemy attack patterns grow diverse. Firepower and number of attacks increase.
Without Maple’s Love That Offers the Body, Sally might manage, but Kanade’s survival becomes unlikely.
From here, Maple’s offensive power is obvious. Yet her defensive capabilities will also be essential in her positioning.
Maple, Sally, and Kanade gather at the guild home. They begin their movement toward the final underwater ruin, a long dungeon.
“Maple and Sally seem ready.”
“Yeah! I can use all my skills!”
“Same here. Ready to give full effort anytime. Kanade?”
The grimoire is prepared to a degree. I’ve drawn a few invincible skills, and I’ve got high-damage spells ready. Not quite as complete as before the event, but don’t worry—neither of us will slow you down.
It has a limit: only one use. The grimoire isn’t fully replenished. Still, Kanade’s arsenal exceeds that of an average mage. She speaks humbly, but her output as a member of the 【Maple Tree】 is sufficient.
Maple and the others arrive at a deep underwater zone, devoid of any structures. The final dungeon of the eighth layer lies beneath this abyss. They must descend straight down, toward the unseen seabed. Dressed in diving suits, the three begin their descent into the distant depths.
【Love That Offers the Body!】 【Residual Light of Salvation!】
Maple deploys a double-layered defensive field first. As they descend deeper into the water, the nature of the threat shifts. For Maple and her companions, the first obstacle is a swarm of fish that attacks periodically—halfway along their path. Aggressive. High in offensive capability. If swallowed by the swarm, they would be carried along, assaulted without pause.
The others cannot withstand it. The swarm is large. The area it covers is wide. The three intend to combine 【Love That Offers the Body】 with 【Threadweaver】 to hold Maple in place and force a breakthrough.
“Here it comes!”
“Sally, please!”
“Leave it to me.”
The effect of 【Love That Offers the Body】 is cylindrical in shape. Sally surges forward, diving deep, veering off the swarm’s trajectory, and extends a thread toward Maple.
Immediately, Maple is swallowed by the swarm, tossed violently as if shredded in a mill, yet Sally’s thread, extended from below, prevents her from being flung far.
“【Lightning Bolt】!”
Kanade’s lightning spreads through the water, scorching the school of small fish. The numerous, low-Hit-Point fish vanish one by one, consumed by the attack, dissolving into light.
“Sally, pull Maple down and follow. I’ll clear the way as we go.”
“Mm, leave it to me. Maple! I’m pulling you!”
“Yesss! I’m ready anytime!”
For now, it is best for Maple to remain as bait. Kanade and Sally move forward through the deepening darkness, thinning the monsters without interference, their progress steady in the growing shadow where light no longer reaches.
As they moved, Maple broke free from the territory of the small fish surrounding her. Shaken by the shoal, she was drawn back toward Sally and the others.
"Hey. Good work, Maple."
"Thanks to you taking the lead, we made progress easily. I imagine it was tough for you, though."
"No way. It felt like I was trapped inside an aquarium tank!"
"Yeah, those sardine swarms, huh."
"Ha. Tough little thing. But judging by that, we probably don’t need to worry about you."
"Leave it to me! I’m still full of energy!"
"Then it’s settled. From here on, it’s serious. Let’s tighten our focus."
"Yessir!"
The three sank slowly deeper. The fish approaching from around them grew larger, faster, but fewer in number.
That meant it was Sally’s turn.
"【Triple Slash】!"
"【Lightning Bolt】!"
Crom's strike made the fish flinch. Kanade followed with a lightning blast. None of the three intended to struggle against mere fish. They dispatched each approaching target in turn, starting with the strongest, using high-powered skills.
"Nice work, both of you!"
"Y-yeah, this is nothing."
"Let me handle the attacks for now. I'd like to save the weapons the Machine God creates."
The output isn't negligible, though it is cautious. The Machine God's weapons are limited. If they can manage with recovered MP and reusable skills, there's no reason to waste them.
They moved deeper into the dark water. Light from the surface reached no farther. The three switched on their lights and continued diving.
"Sally, if it's too much, it's okay. Can you sense their presence?"
"I can. Keep your skill ready."
"Good. Actually, this is odd—"
For Sally, sensing a monster’s approach without skill was second nature. Yet even the top-tier players rarely managed such perception.
……Coming from the right rear!
Hydro Laser!
Trusting Sally’s detection without hesitation, Kanade unleashed a water laser. Piercing the darkness, the spell flew straight, cleaving the approaching fish from head to tail. Instead of blood, torrents of damage effects burst forth.
Oh— impressive precision…!
Mm. Double Slash!
Swiftly closing in, Sally drove her dagger into the fish’s gill, then struck repeatedly, severing its head.
Sally’s timing saved us here.
Mm. I had prepared a detection spell from the grimoire, but it seems unnecessary. It would be good to save it. There aren’t many varieties of magic, so choosing one is difficult.
The draw from the Divine Archive selects randomly from all skills. Detection skills are rarer than mere attack skills, as they have fewer similar counterparts.
Saving it means we can maintain the option to set up a similar defense even when Sally is not present.
Kanade’s strength lies in the number of cards she holds. The more we can preserve, the better.
One ahead—left! Two behind—right rear!
I’ll handle the rear.
Maple! Take the left together!
Understood!
—Tornado—Spark!
—Ancient Weapon!
—Triple Slash!
As Sally had said, the monster emerged from the darkness, its life scattered by the three attacks. There was no point in closing in from the shadows to strike now.
The three knew this was no battle against trivial foes. They also knew they were nearing the first gate.
"Stop... There. This one’s a mid-boss."
"...! Got it! Going all out!"
"Handle it, Sally."
"Understood."
From deeper within the dark, two points of blue light. Eyes. They shifted, scanning the three. Blue light bloomed around them—pulsing, spreading, forming a circle.
The glow came from the edges of suckers. Ten tentacles extended from far below. A massive squid. A kraken, as they called it.
"Going to take this one down just like that old octopus we fought!"
“Hm? If I recall correctly… that one was…”
“Now a tentacle of Maple’s.”
“Both hands as tentacles… that’s a bit unsettling, isn’t it?”
The squid might transform like that when defeated. If so, then resolve to accept any form the guildmaster might take. The three face the kraken blocking their way into the ruin.
“Tornado!”
“Ancient Weapon!”
Maple and Kanade strike at the core. Sustained long-range attacks are their domain. The kraken’s HP dips slowly, but it withstands the blows with the resilience befitting its massive frame, countering with sweeping strikes.
The kraken’s prey is its tentacles.
The positions of the tentacles surrounding them are marked by glowing suckers. At the moment the tentacles surge forward to crush them, Sally strikes with a sharp, forceful slash from her dagger.
Attacking the tentacles does not reduce the kraken’s HP, but only when a close-combat strike deals high damage can the attack be interrupted.
The tentacles, powerful and capable of piercing defense, would force even Maple to use her 【Unyielding Guardian】 after two hits.
Sally’s ability to prevent this in advance is the key to maintaining favorable conditions.
“【Hyper Acceleration】!”
Sally accelerates, sensing the tentacle’s preparatory motion, and darts through the water, severing the limbs to hinder the attack. The damage boost from 【Sword Dance】 produces sufficient force, and the speed of the tentacles’ response allows one person to maintain stable control.
“Continue attacking without hesitation!”
Close-combat attacks are difficult for Maple and Kanade. Dividing tasks, Sally fulfills her role without fail.
And it was the same for Maple and Kanade.
"【Chain Blast】【Annihilation Light】【Abyssal Magic Bullet】"
Kanade draws her grimoire, launching a powerful attack skill against the kraken. The impact triggers an explosion, and subsequent hits gain an added damage effect—【Chain Blast】.
【Annihilation Light】 and 【Abyssal Magic Bullet】 reduce defense while dealing heavy damage. Each of these skills elevates the damage output of Maple’s attacks.
"【Barrel Deployment】【Attack Initiated】! 【Ancient Weapon】【Oozing Chaos】!"
Shooting down bullets and light projectiles. Though in darkness, the target is clear against the kraken’s massive form. Kanade’s damage boost effect complements Maple’s barrage-style attacks perfectly.
Two types of projectiles fall like rain. Each impact triggers a massive explosion, scattering damage effects from the kraken. Overwhelmed, the kraken twists its tentacles, aiming to crush Maple, but Sally cuts them down, leaving it unable to move properly.
Cornered, the kraken twists its body deep in darkness and begins to spin along the seafloor.
It creates a large vortex, pulling the three toward the bottom. Yet, thanks to Love That Offers the Body, only Maple is drawn in. Kanade and Sally remain protected by the cylindrical area of effect.
“Pierce Guard! More, more… how’s that!?”
Even as she is pulled in, Maple continues her assault. A tentacle that reaches her from behind strikes, but she blocks it with Pierce Guard, accumulating further damage.
Maple is drawn near the kraken. Close combat is her strength. Now, she has another aim.
There it is!
When Maple approaches a large monster, she always seeks the mouth. An entry point to access the interior.
Yei—! ……[Toxic Dragon]!
Maple drives her arm, holding the dagger, deep into the wide mouth, and unleashes full-powered [Toxic Dragon], pumping vast quantities of poison into the body. The [Toxic Dragon], unusable when fired into water, can be deployed directly inside.
Inventory… operation, confirmed!
Maple retrieves the ultra-durable iron ball she stored in her inventory for Mai and Yui. Her hand, already plunged inside, reaches the mouth of the kraken.
The kraken’s body, sealed within a poison-filled vessel with a lid secured for safety, ceases its thrashing and spinning. With the kraken still writhing, Sally activates the machinery of the god-machine, rising through the water where the vortex has vanished, toward Sally and the others.
“Welcome back, Maple.”
“Wow, incredible damage. What did you do?”
“Injected poison into its body!”
“Ah…”
Within the kraken’s body, continuously taking damage, the poison dragon rages. Even parasitic worms or viruses would rarely inflict such direct toxicity.
Something beyond measure has been poured into it. And from above, magic and volleys continue unceasingly.
Against such relentless assault, no matter how great the kraken’s endurance, it cannot withstand the onslaught.