Defense specialization and revenge.

Maple and Mii stood at a measured distance from one another. At the signal to begin, they moved.

The arena was divided for the duel. Only Maple and Mii remained within. To step beyond the boundary meant continuous damage.

The spectators were not excluded. Cameras in the sky recorded their movements, projecting the scene onto monitors. The gallery watched. The duel began.

“[Infernal Flame]!”

“[Barrel Deployment] [Attack Initiated]!”

“[Flare Accelerate]!”

Mii immediately displayed the skill [Infernal Flame], acquired with Maple’s aid. Six black flames rose around Mii. Black fire spread across the ground.

As far as Maple could recall, the black flames the boss had unleashed should have had a fixed damage effect.

Maple chose artillery fire over approaching recklessly. Mii attempted to evade by increasing her movement speed.

“[Ancient Weapon]!”

Maple’s weapon transformed with a metallic clang. Cubes shifted and discharged blue lasers in succession, forcing Mii to dodge.

“Can’t keep running forever!”

Mii changed her angle and charged directly toward Maple. At this range, she would never defeat Maple through long-distance attacks alone.

Mii was a mage. Most of her stored flame magic had a medium-range reach. Those with piercing effects were especially concentrated in short to medium range.

Yet as the distance closed, even with auxiliary support from Flare Acceler, Mi's speed made evasion increasingly difficult.

Then Maple's attack, launched from two weapons, struck Mi directly.

"……!"

But as the bullet hit, one of the six floating flames—protecting Mi—flared violently and vanished, erasing the bullet. The exact effect remained unclear, yet it was undeniable: Maple's attack had been nullified by fire, at a cost.

Six floating flames. That meant Mi was using the five remaining damage resistance effects she had granted herself, aiming to break through this barrage.

"【Seeping Chaos】!"

"【Explosion Flame】!"

Riding the shockwave generated by her own attack, Mi evaded, closing the distance.

Unreachable...! Shiroppu, 【Sinking Earth】!

Maple uses Shiroppu's power to alter the ground, repelling Mii's approach.

A swamp that swallows anything that steps into it becomes Maple's barrier. Even if Mii can activate damage immunity multiple times, immobilizing her allows defeat from above.

The black flames spreading around Mii were meant to trap Maple within their range, but Maple does not allow herself to be drawn in so easily.

"Ignis, 【Gigantification】!"

Judging land travel impossible, Mii mounts Ignis and rises high into the air.

With distance regained, Maple's attacks are easily dodged, but Mii finds no effective strikes either.

Mmm...

Doubt settles in Maple's movements. Though she can access the sky, none of the means available are proper.

Shiroppu hovers by will, or uses the shield of the Saving Hand as a platform, or performs a self-destructive flight orchestrated by the Machine God.

Yet capturing Ignis, who flies at high speed and with perfect control, remains difficult.

The gap between one who forces flight and one who was born to it is too great.

“Poison Dragon! Toxic Fragment!”

If that is the case, the ground belongs to me. Maple creates three poison duplicates and scatters poison across the earth.

Mii naturally possesses immunity to poison, but Maple’s poison is no longer merely poison.

The instant-death effect, cast through the Spell of Venom, revives the significance of the poison swamp.

If Mii chooses the sky, she will never return to the ground. Maple takes root on the earth, fortifies her defense, and opposes Mii.

Thus both women establish their respective domains.

“[Ancient Weapon]! [Attack Initiated]!”

Maple continues her assault on Mii, but the distance remains too great. Her strikes land only in air.

What to do…?

Mii must have a plan.

Among the skills Maple knows, the ones she considers dangerous are [Flame Cell], [Inferno], and [Flame of the Underworld]. She has experienced [Flame Cell] firsthand, but all three, she suspects, inflict constant damage over time.

Mii’s actions remain restrained. She targets Maple’s [Mechanical God] weaponry with long-range magic, but makes no further movement. Nothing changes.

If left free in the sky, she would wait for an opening and begin chanting [Flame Prison], encircling Maple. Yet during the fourth event, when she had taken [Flame Prison] head-on, it had been broken through by the self-destructive flight of the [Mechanical God]. Mii should know this as well.

Still, it was Mii who had challenged her to this duel.

Thus, Mii must have some advantage. This situation, which appears at first glance to be a stalemate with no effective counter, might be exactly what Mii intended.

"Something must be done!"

Though the basis was thin, a sense of unease ran through Maple at this eerie balance. She decided to act, guided by the instinct.

"[Rebirth of Darkness] [Ancient Sea] [Predator]!"

Maple spreads darkness, summoning a vast number of aberrations. She casts in both the Toxic Fission and the Predator, twisting the created forms into a single creature, stretching it toward the sky.

"【Great Flame】!"

"【Love That Offers the Body】!"

The dueling space cuts off even the sky—its limits are defined. Mii’s inferno, meant to burn away the approaching aberrations, is shielded by Maple’s 【Love That Offers the Body】.

While Maple’s protection holds, the majority of in-game magic and skills cease to exist.

Even Mii’s high-powered 【Great Flame】 cannot pierce Maple’s defense.

"Ignis! ……【My Body to Flame】!"

Mii accelerates Ignis, creating distance from the approaching aberrations. At the sky’s farthest edge, Ignis transforms into fire, enveloping Mii.

It is like the sun.

"【Inferno】!"

"【Ancient Weapon】!"

Mii's flames spread across the ground, consuming the aberrations. 【Inferno】 inflicted sustained damage. This was the moment—Mii had just used Love That Offers the Body.

Yet Maple knew her skill's weakness. She saw Mii's 【Inferno】 and instantly canceled Love That Offers the Body. She returned Shiroppu to the ring. The motionless Mii stood still. A laser struck her.

"Ugh... hit... but! Ouch...!"

Maple drank Izu's potion. Her HP, being gnawed by 【Inferno】's sustained damage, recovered. She restrained the reawakening Mii, denying approach.

The flames on the ground would fade. The damage would stop. If she kept healing properly, this would not be enough to defeat Maple.

The aberration, lacking Maple’s defense, was consumed entirely by the direct impact of the flames and vanished.

“Good…!”

The Abyss of Rebirth had no material left to draw from. The Predator, the Toxic Fission, and Love That Offers the Body were now on cooldown and unusable.

Yet this was precisely what Maple had intended. It was Maple who had initiated the action. Her aim had been to force Mii to use her skill.

Maple had presented a clear threat and a definite opening, compelling Mii to respond.

Using Love That Offers the Body would expose the player’s weakness. The words from Sally had long been etched into Maple’s mind.

She had not devised a precise plan. But from past experience, she knew that using Love That Offers the Body would trigger a skill.

“Now for the Flame Prison!”

She had played several trump cards, yet still managed to seize the Inferno from Mii. And since every card in Maple’s hand could be considered a trump, she held more skills capable of shifting the situation dramatically than Mii did.

The Flame Prison had already been broken once. Still, Maple pressed her attack without slackening, searching for an opening to press forward.

“Attack initiated!”

The Inferno’s cooldown was long. There was no need to worry about it during this fight. The flames at her feet had subsided. She had not been defeated.

For Mii, the Flame Prison remained her final clear path to victory. She would use it with care.

Maple would not use it in response to her own actions. She would wait, fully prepared, for Mii’s Flame Prison.

If possible, she would avoid the Flame Prison itself. She wanted to seize a perfect advantage.

【Range Expansion】【Eruption】!

Mii moved first.

From beneath Maple’s feet, a torrent of flame erupted skyward, piercing the heavens.

Though Maple herself sustained no damage, the flames destroyed the machinery of the 【Mechanical God】 and stripped away its mobility.

【Explosion Flame】!

The voice came from beyond the flames. A blast of wind from below lifted Maple’s body.

【Ancient Weapon】【Poison Dragon】!

The proximity of Mii’s shout, and the known range of 【Explosion Flame】—gained through years of shared experience—confirmed Mii’s presence at close range. She unleashed attacks in chaotic, indiscriminate bursts across the surrounding area.

Mii possessed limited mobility, yet her stats remained those of a sorceress.

A direct hit from Maple’s attack would not end lightly.

Yet here, Mii’s sense of distance and luck prevailed. She evaded Maple’s attack, obscured by the eruption’s effect, and advanced to her next preparation.

……Accept this, Residual Light of Salvation!

As the eruption’s flames subsided, a prison of fire encased Maple. Mii’s flawless setup had left no room for evasion. Maple’s movement speed could not overcome it.

Residual Light of Salvation—Heavenly Throne—Meditation!

Maple activated Iz’s item, summoning a healing mist, and gripped a potion in one hand, eyes fixed on her HP bar.

Damage reduction layered with recovery. First, confirm the damage from the Flame Prison.

……!

Maple is not the only one who has grown since their last battle.

The power of Mii's Flame Prison had risen dramatically. Damage from the Corpse Mire and the Underworld Flame, combined with the increased potency of magic itself.

Without continuously drinking the potion given by Iz, recovery could not keep pace.

Potions were finite. This balance would inevitably collapse. When it did, Maple would die.

Maple had intended to endure within this space and devise a plan, if possible. But no such luxury was granted.

"Try escaping if you can!"

Amid Mii's voice, Maple quickly assessed her available means of movement.

Only two options were practical. The Ark and self-destruct flight were the only methods that might allow her to escape from here.

Yet the Ark carried risk. Maple had used this skill in large-scale combat. Given that viewing areas existed during past events, and information had been shared by members of the Flame Emperor's Guild who observed from there, the skill’s effects were likely well understood.

Thus, it was unlikely that Mii was unaware of the Ark’s existence. If she had fired at the Flame Prison, it implied, without saying so, that the Ark’s teleportation could not penetrate it.

“Full Armament Deployment! Attack Initiated!”

Maple avoided using the Ark, knowing it would end the effect of the Residual Light of Salvation. She disliked losing one damage reduction. She attempted escape through self-destruct flight, ascending from above.

The exit, however, awaited her in the sky. Mii stood there, ready.

“Burning Flame!”

“Wa—!?”

A violent knockback strikes Maple, slamming her back to the ground. From above Ignis, Mii speaks.

“Different this time. I have Ignis. The sky is no longer Maple’s alone!”

The opening in the previous 【Flame Prison】—Mii uses Ignis’s aid to erase that weakness, sending Maple once more into the cage of flames.

“Not like this…! 【Ruthless】!”

Having attempted self-destruct flight, Maple loses the effects of 【Throne of the Heavenly King】, 【Meditation】, and the healing mist. Her potions are useless. She watches her HP drop rapidly. She wraps herself in 【Ruthless】.

The temporary HP from 【Ruthless】 allows her to endure the fall. But 【Ruthless】 contributes nothing to offense.

If struck against the ground and left to take damage continuously, it would end soon.

Until Maple’s potion runs out, Mii will continue blocking the exit of the 【Flame Prison】 as guard.

The knockback from 【Burning Blast】 must be dealt with somehow. The current situation—wanting to move from here—meets resistance: no knockback while immobilized by 【Heavy Body】, and poor resistance to the effect.

As she falls, Maple’s thoughts turn.

When it seems impossible, she still finds a solution among her limited options.

The figure of Sally—her closest player, her dearest friend—passes before her.

And so, through all that has led to this moment, the combat experience accumulated within Maple sparks a single idea.

Whether she can endure the fall damage without 【Ruthless】 is uncertain. Perhaps, after repeated attempts, Mii will notice something.

If it is to be done, then now. She praises her own mind, which feels unusually clear. Maple bets on her own insight.

The moment the outer shell of 【Ruthless】 burns away, her core bursts free and slams into the ground.

“【Cradle of the Earth】!”

Maple dives into the earth.

……

Mii watches, calm, raising her staff. Unlike Dread’s summoned monster’s 【Shadow Realm】, 【Cradle of the Earth】 does not move.

Maple emerges exactly where she entered.

Two emergency cards are drawn. Even for Mii, 【Flame Prison】 is the final weapon capable of reaching Maple. She does not intend to let this pass.

“【Attack Initiated】!”

Maple rises from the ground beneath Mii’s feet and detonates directly at her.

Mii sees her form and raises her staff without mercy.

“【Full Armament Deployment】!”

“【Scorching Heat】!”

Mii fires the weapon, confirming Maple’s equipment re-deployment. It does not harm Maple, but melts the device that should provide subsequent thrust, tearing away Maple’s wings.

She presses forward, using her defense to pierce through the flames toward Mii, but Mii has already prepared to knock her down.

"【Blazing Flame】!"

Quick Change!

「……！」

Maple immediately switches her equipment. She brings the hovering shield from [Salvation's Hand] behind her, bracing her body. The future, which should have been nothing but a distant fall to the ground, is rewritten.

A watchful eye on the reactivation of the Machine God's weapons.

Before Maple’s mind could finish its thought, her back erupted in flame. A massive explosion tore through, hurling Maple away.

It was entirely unforeseen.

A sudden acceleration, driven by an unknown force.

“Nn…!? Ignis!”

"【Ancient Weapon】!"

Maple’s declaration, a sudden acceleration like a bullet, caused the ancient weapon to groan and shift, dispersing into fragments. Blue lasers linked them together, capturing Ignis.

“【Call from the Abyss】!”

Before Ignis could flee, Maple struck with full momentum.

The tendrils consumed Ignis, unshielded by the flames of the Underworld, vanishing in an instant.

Even if they both fell to the ground, Maple would survive. Mii stared, eyes wide with shock, noticing fragments falling from Maple’s back.

“Bomb…? That’s right…!”

Like self-destruct flight, a method only Maple could execute. The timed bomb, attached to her back beneath the earth, would not detonate until its time arrived, no matter the impact.

It was Maple’s final method of movement—unused even in large-scale combat against people.

Maple turns in midair, raising two weapons. Mii smiles, satisfied, and shouts.

Fufu, splendid! Maple!

[Ancient Weapon] [Attack Initiated]!

The victor of the duel was decided then—her HP reduced to zero, pierced through the defense of the Abyssal Flame, and struck down by the fall damage.

Miyu, her HP reduced to zero, could have chosen to respawn elsewhere. She returned to the same place to speak briefly with Maple.

…………

Mii exhaled deeply, confirming the spectator cameras had withdrawn after the battle ended.

Lost, then... couldn't read it through.

Mii knew well and guarded against how strong Maple’s skill and status could be, how they might become her own defeat. Forcing powerful skills upon others was Maple’s specialty.

Yet the way Maple broke through Mii’s prison was not through forced skill.

It was the careful adjustment of equipment, the refined manipulation of a large shield, Maple’s unique movement using bombs—each motion precise, layered upon accumulated training, felt in the weight and resistance of the body.

The deviation from Mii’s expectations left her open to attack.

“Wait, that jump back—was that Iz’s bomb?”

“Exactly! A timed explosive attached directly!”

“Ah… not something sold in shops. Unexpected. And Maple’s movements were incredible.”

“Really?!”

“Mm. Soaring upward cleanly from an explosion is difficult enough. I’ve accelerated with my own skill’s blast before, but in a single decisive moment—impossible.”

“I’m glad it worked out so well.”

"Your chance for revenge will have to wait. You're leaving for a while, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"You might not come back—so just train at your own pace and wait patiently."

"Got it!"

"Then, see you later! I'll say that!"

"Yeah, see you later!"

She turned and walked away, then mounted Ignis, who had just revived after the duel, and flew into the sky.

"Phew... that was strong..."

Maple waved at the distant Mii, then resumed walking slowly across the event field.