Defense specialization and evasion specialization, two.

【Brutality】 cannot be defeated by 【Defense Break】 alone. The restriction that only attacks capable of piercing defense are meaningful, which Fuyuka imposes on all enemies, applies equally to Risa.

Risa steps back, speaking to Fuyuka in a quiet voice.

【Armor Through】. A skill that deals damage equal to the enemy’s 【VIT】 value. It is not a piercing attack, so it cannot be blocked by 【Pierce Guard】.

The skill Risa used to defeat the fake was 【Martial Arts】.

It can only be used at zero distance, after she sheathes her weapon, and deals negligible damage to most enemies.

Yet to Fuyuka, it is a fatal weapon.

"One day… when we fight. That secret we kept, the reason I won."

"Uu…."

"Cooldown is short too. Come, let’s continue."

Mizari still seemed somehow lonely. Maple could not bear it, yet did not know how to mend it.

“[Path of Water]!”

Mizari pressed forward again.

Nothing was a problem for her except [Armor Through].

So she must not be allowed to close the distance.

Thinking this, yet knowing that as long as she thought, Mizari would take the initiative.

That was her strength.

Avoiding the flame exhaled from her mouth, Maple swung her arm to block the [Path of Water], then fled to the ground using [Threadweaver].

The wide swing of [Ravage] could not catch Mizari—she outpaced her in thought, outstripped her in speed. Maple was easily struck from behind.

“[Armor Through]”

There was no bluff in Mizari’s words. The cooldown for [Armor Through] was genuinely short. The outer shell of [Ravage] shattered, and Maple was flung to the ground.

“[Cradle of Earth]!”

Maple fell to the ground and burrowed into the earth, avoiding pursuit.

It was also preparation for retaliation.

After a short time underground, Maple burst upward from the soil.

She spread four obsidian wings behind her back, having already deployed the [Annihilation Field] beneath the surface, and confirmed Risha’s position.

“How… wait, what!?”

“Wouldn’t it be better if I let you hit me?”

Risha knew this tactic well.

She had mastered the range of the [Annihilation Field] even more precisely than Maple—naturally, she stood far beyond its reach.

Moreover, Maple’s eyes widened at the sight before her. The [Ice Pillars] arranged around her like a cage would not allow her to move an inch.

Too perfect a countermeasure.

Every one of Maple’s great abilities had been anticipated. She could not even step onto the stage without overcoming them.

Firing skills alone would not suffice. Skill alone could never defeat Risha.

Maple’s thoughts found no path to victory.

The duration of the [Annihilation Field], activated by [Reversal Rebirth], was five minutes. The duration of [Ice Spire] was one minute.

As soon as the encirclement broke, Maple deployed her weapon and flew toward Risha.

[Full Arsenal Deployment] [Attack Initiated]!

The range of the [Annihilation Field] was unusually wide. Even a single instant of containing Risha within it would force her to respond in some way.

[Water Cannon]!

Ugh…!?

A gush of water repelled Maple as she approached. Even so, she pressed forward desperately—only for [Mirage] to outmaneuver her.

How…?

Despite her overwhelming attack range, Maple failed to keep Risha within the [Annihilation Field] for the full five minutes. The field expired. Her wings on her back vanished.

Another weapon was torn from Maple’s hands, again, without her being able to do anything.

First confrontation. The gap becomes clear.

A situation sufficient to warrant surrender. If Maple were as she always is, this would end in Risa’s victory. Yet something coiled within Maple—unclear, unsettled—holding back her surrender.

Risa still does not smile.

She feels unable to return even a fraction of the joy Risa has given.

That is unacceptable.

“[Poison Dragon]! [Toxic Fission]!”

This thought drives Maple to her next move.

[Toxic Fission] is a mass of poison, matching Maple’s own defense. Risa cannot touch it with [Armor Pierce].

She sends the near-impossible-to-destroy clone, alongside [Poison Dragon], toward Risa.

Risa dodges the spreading poison swamp, darting across the dueling arena to its farthest edge.

“[Ice Column]”

“[Attack Initiated]!”

Maple sees Risa extending her ice thread and fires a bullet. It does not take long to realize the shot will not strike Risa effectively.

The bullet rebounds with a high-pitched whine. Those that miss their mark—no matter how close, even by a few centimeters—do not even trigger a defensive reaction.

“[Wave Ride]”

A great wave summoned behind the [Toxic Fission Body] pushes the three toxic masses out of the arena.

“[Ice Column]”

A barricade is swiftly erected, sealing off the retreat route. The area beyond the arena is a damage zone prepared by the system. No matter how high the defense, it matters not.

“This is the best this time.”

Risa does not turn to watch the [Toxic Fission Body] vanish behind her. She deflects Maple’s bullet.

Each known tactic presented is immediately crushed.

If this continues, [Rebirth of Darkness] will be crushed in the same way, using the arena’s advantages.

A sensation like something slowly tightening, yet also testing.

If she cannot create something new, Maple will end here.

Yet, the strategy she has always built and refined through battle—always making it real—has always been...

Yes, the one standing before her. Shiraumi Rissha.

“Uuu… what should I do…”

Maple must now devise a strategy beyond Rissha’s imagination, in this very moment.

If she could.

“Maple, I’m going in again with [Armor Through].”

“…………!”

Rissha’s expression does not change. She has been gazing at the end of this fight with quiet sorrow.

Maple’s thoughts turn, but none form an image that reaches Rissha.

“I’m going…!”

Rissha charges straight toward Maple.

A sense that this exchange will be the last of the battle.

No—undeniable fact.

She wants Rissha to smile. That is why she wants to keep fighting. That is why something must reach Rissha.

The thing she trusts most. The thing that shines the brightest within her.

Maple decides to bet everything on that.

…Good.

Maple stops thinking. She gives herself entirely to that thing instead.

One moment. She must block Rissha’s attack.

Then the rest will follow.

Everything has gone exactly as Rissha expected. Not in a good way, but as expected.

Rissha has overextended. She has grown too strong.

Maple sees no future in countering Rissha’s current assault and turning it back.

All existing patterns are already accounted for. There is no value in holding back.

[Hyper Acceleration]

[Primordial Weapon] [Attack Initiated] [Oozing Chaos]!

Risa accelerates straight toward Maple. No chance of evasion, even from behind, when facing an attack that can be countered only by focusing entirely on it during combat.

"Oboro — [Black Smoke] — [Shadow Clone]"

Oboro hides form within smoke, scattering clones in all directions.

At the instant Maple turns attention to Risa’s clone, Risa hurls a crystal high within the smoke.

The crystal falls behind Maple after a set time, emitting a sound: [Armor Pierce].

Less preparation than when used against Frederica, but this move cannot be delayed or altered in timing.

Still, if Risa is certain this will decide the outcome, that is enough.

Risa vanishes via [Instant Shadow], closing in on Maple as the crystal descends behind her.

"[Armor Pierce]!"

Behind Maple, the crystal replays Risa’s voice. A mirage is overlaid upon it, forcing a response. The real Risa vanishes, closing in on Maple.

This will end it.

That was Risa’s intent.

“[Attack Initiated]……!”

“………!”

Risa’s eyes widen. Maple heard the [Armor Pierce] from behind, yet turned not at all—aiming the barrel precisely at Risa, who should not be visible.

The bullet fired by that aim strikes Risa, revealing her position. Maple’s irrational, unforeseen move halts Risa’s victory.

“Hit!”

“How…?”

The decoy does not vocalize its skill.

Maple knows this.

And this method—using the recorded crystal—has never been used before against Frederica. Not even the members of [Maple’s Tree] know it. There is no reason Maple should ignore an attack from behind that turns illusion into reality.

Let alone aiming at Risa, who is entirely invisible.

“I just… feel her there.”

“Then… one more time…!”

Risa begins to run in a circle around Maple.

Keeping distance. Ready to strike at any moment.

“[Ice Spire]! Oblong, [Phantom]!”

The doppelgängers, scattered instantly behind the [Ice Spire], now merge with the mirage. They dissolve again into the air, watching for Maple’s opening.

“[Ancient Weapon]!”

“…!”

Maple raises the firearm once more.

It is one of the places where no doppelgänger exists. At least, from Risa’s perception, no reason to shoot there.

Yet the barrel aligns perfectly with Risa once again.

Through the [Mirage], Risa—invisible—meets Maple’s gaze. From that gaze, Risa reads.

Maple does not fire the gun out of luck. She sees Risa’s position with hyper-precise accuracy, guided by her own logic.

Risa’s form becomes visible once more, emerging from the air as if melting back into reality, having dodged Maple’s laser. Maple lowers the gun, watching Risa’s wide-eyed surprise.

“Amazing. How do you do it?”

Not once, but twice—such precision cannot be coincidence.

More than that, Maple’s movements have clearly changed. It is not a powerful skill that now blocks Risa. Strangely, it is Maple’s technique itself that halts Risa’s victory.

Risa sees the sudden awakening as inexplicable.

“About you, Risa. I’m remembering all the things you taught me.”

“Me…?”

“Yeah. In all sorts of games—do this, and it works. Do that, and you’re strong. I like doing it this way…”

It was not only a matter of *New World Online*. Every day, the two of them gathered at Risa’s home, playing various games.

Maple mostly watched. She played only briefly, never lasting long. She listened to Risa’s expert play and explanations, her eyes bright with wonder.

So it went—how many days, weeks, months, years.

Risa suddenly paused.

The only one who had observed every thought, every move, in all of Risa’s play—Maple.

If Maple, who knew nothing of games, had been a blank canvas, and had copied onto it every habit Risa could not even recognize, every strength, every weakness, every strategy she imagined—

Then perhaps what had taken years to build had, for some reason, finally bloomed now.

“So… I think I understand you, Risa.”

The scent of a master, seeping from Maple.

The future of victory, once so clearly drawn, wavered—just slightly, but undeniably. A smile slipped from Risa without warning.

“Fufu… you know… Maple, I want to play more.”

“Ah!”

“…?”

“You finally smiled!”

Seeing Risa’s smile, Maple exhaled, hand brushing her chest, then returned it with a full, bright smile.

“…But, can I be selfish for a moment?”

“Yeah!”

“I… I want to enjoy this more.”

If it’s to be done, then to the very edge. To the farthest point. Can this change in Maple reach her?

To defeat Maple—she is Risa.

To defeat Risa—she is Maple.

“Yeah, watch me! I think I can do it… like you. Maybe I can, too.”

“Ahaa, said it—don’t let me down, now?”

“I’ll try!”

“Okay.”

They raised their weapons again. The duel resumed, seeking its end.