Defense specialization and evasion specialization, three.

Maple and Mizari attack each other, aiming for each other’s lives, repeatedly probing and countering.

“[Path of Water]!”

“[Toxic Dragon][Attack Initiated]!”

“[Ice Spikes]!”

“[Paralyze Shout]!”

“……!”

“[Ancient Weapon]!”

It became distinctly harder.

Mizari’s eyes gleamed at Maple’s rapidly growing form, a challenge flickering in her smile.

Not by chance. Something had triggered Maple’s breaking through her shell, closing the distance. She felt it.

Hiding a bullet behind a bullet.

Placing a laser at the escape route to restrict movement.

At critical moments, the [Paralyze Shout] forced Mizari to use an item, leaving her no choice but to choose between dagger parry or item use.

“Ah… ah…!”

This sudden growth, Mizari matched Maple’s words and movements, arriving at a single answer.

Every evasion path had the next attack pre-emptively placed. The second strike, always slightly delayed in timing, flew after the parry.

As if seeing the future, Maple read Mizari’s next move.

All the days prior, the shared experiences since their first meeting—only Mizari’s movements had granted Maple an extraordinary precision in prediction.

Of course, Maple could not explain it with theory.

Still, she understood it vaguely.

She could bet everything on that sense.

The reason Maple could commit fully to that sense was the same source as her absolute trust in Mizari.

The source of that trust was the years spent together, the days lived side by side, the accumulated intuition of Mizari’s next action revealed through what Mizari had taught her.

Maple believed in those days, deep in her heart.

The certainty in her hesitation—no pause, no doubt—matches Maple’s speed to Risa’s.

"【Icicle】!"

In the layered movements, probing Maple’s openings, Yui occasionally found a satisfying answer to the strange thought that had lingered in her mind.

Maple's movements lack the precision and reaction speed of Risa's. Therefore, many coordinated actions have been prepared as set plays.

Even so, on a battlefield that shifts with dizzying speed, unforeseen events and improvisation are required.

At times, Maple has shown remarkable responses and handling.

It follows at a pace matching Risa’s, though it should not respond under normal circumstances.

Cut the necessary skills and counter the enemy with appropriate response.

Looking back, it was always the moment when actions were adjusted to fit Risa.

Ah, I see.

Not an enemy. A ally.

An improvised, rapid coordination responding to Risa’s reaction to the enemy.

A near-precognition intuition, surpassing Maple’s original specifications—available only to Risa.

This foresight cannot be used against Pain, Mii, Velvet, or Lilie.

Yet it becomes possible only with Risa, after all they have built together.

Maple recognizes what has been accumulated, brings it under her control—now blocking Risa’s attack.

“I want to do more…!”

Ah, what a blessed day this is.

Maple has caught up.

She answered my selfishness.

I will not let this end in nonsense.

I will raise my performance further—beyond even Maple’s foresight.

Risa presses hard, charging forward again, ready to drive the 【Armor Through】 into Maple.

“I can… see it… strange feeling…”

Maple understands Risa’s movements with a precision she has never known before. Each feint, each intended strike—she cannot grasp why they unfold as they do, yet she sees only the choices Risa will make, perfectly, unnaturally.

“I could be… like Risa…”

The accumulated experience points have found their meaning here. A pure desire to let Risa enjoy, buried deep in Maple’s unconscious, has overturned her instinctive decision.

It is resignation.

A natural, forward-looking surrender so complete that the one who feels it does not even recognize it as such.

For Maple, the player has always been Risa alone. The elegance of her motions shaped Maple’s entire approach to the game.

Watching across the screen—admiring the display of rare talent, the breathtaking play of exceptional individuals.

Maple became an observer before she could even stand beside Risa’s brilliance.

That was more than enough joy.

She did not wish to cross over. To simply watch was enough.

This was how Maple found pleasure in the game.

It was joyful to see Risa’s delight.

Unaware, she had come to need herself in that joy.

She wished Risa to enjoy.

For that reason, Maple had become the player now.

She had changed into someone who could stand before Risa.

The days when Risa taught her carefully how to win—those were like high-quality coaching.

That experience, in whatever form, had waited all along for the moment when the observer would abandon her place and step onto the stage.

“Risa, enjoying yourself. Good…!”

She felt there was still more, more yet to be done.

As if the lid of her mind had been lifted, strategies she had never considered before poured forth.

And a powerful skill to fill the gaps still left. Maple possessed the raw output to sustain the fledgling technique, enough to stand evenly matched against Risa.

"Everything except 【Armor Through】—it’s fine...!"

The fact that it was defense-focused was a great advantage for Maple.

It rendered nearly all of Risa’s skills inert, allowing Maple to focus her vigilance solely on 【Armor Through】. As long as Risa did not reach her side, it was enough.

Even a nascent instinct, with this much support, could outstrip Risa at moments.

Risa charged forward. Maple could not simply endure.

She knew well when Risa would laugh, when she seemed more delighted.

"Fu—..."

If she did not attack, she would not become a worthy opponent.

She wanted Risa to enjoy it more.

This battle was one of Risa’s whims—her indulgence.

She was drawn in by the delight in her expression. She loved the glow radiating from her focus.

And in Risa’s eyes, a fierce flame of will took hold.

Risa intensified her concentration, deflecting Maple’s bullets as she closed the distance. The illusions of Mirage meant nothing to Maple now. Risa needed to disrupt her balance with the knockback of [Pistol Water] or [Raging Current], then strike with [Armor Through].

Maple’s attack missed. Risa advanced.

In that moment, Maple released her weapon, sliding smoothly behind her large shield.

Counterattack.

The tactic she had used against Pain during the fourth event.

Risa anticipated the shield’s rear, prepared for the weapon to be readied there. But then—eyes widening—she saw Maple’s great shield explode outward in a straight line.

A momentary shock at the great shield launched like a bullet, but Risa judged the fragments scattering through the air as avoidable. The massive shield, hurtling at high speed, passed mere centimeters from her body.

As usual for Risa.

And as expected by Maple.

“Hinata—!—”

A flash of red light at the edge of vision. Acting on instinct, Risa cried out without thought.

Immediately after, a series of massive explosions erupted. She would have died instantly had she not used Hinata.

“Smoke screen…!”

The explosion came from bombs attached to the shield’s reverse side.

The red light Risa glimpsed was the blinking timers of bombs packed tightly on the shield’s back.

The smoke screen scattered at once, swallowing the view. Amid the fading effect of 【Divine Concealment】, Risa’s ears caught another explosion, masked by the detonations of the bombs.

……!

Cutting through the smoke, Maple flies in, extending a long blade from her single arm—the weapon of the 【Mechanical God】.

High risk. Minimal gain. Not Risa’s idea. This is a plan that seeks only one thing: to inflict even one point of damage.

Thus, this is Maple’s design—now meant to defeat Risa.

Yaaah!

Her eyes drawn to the thrusting sword.

The first time she sees it—this true, earnest gaze directed at an enemy.

A gaze filled with unwavering resolve to strike down Risa. A gaze burning with the will to win.

The moment she has waited for.

The happy memories leading up to this moment—the view she had long abandoned—pressed down on Risa’s feet with years of weight, just enough to halt her step.

“Vuu—wa—ah!?!”

Maple, not thinking of landing, rolled past Risa on the ground.

Risa traced the cut on her cheek as if touching something precious, scattering the 【Empty Cicada】 effect as she turned.

“Maple!”

“…Did I hit you?”

“Yeah. You really improved.”

“Really!?”

“Really. I’m happy. But… hehe, I won’t let you hit me so easily next time.”

She readjusted her two daggers. Seeing Risa, so clearly enjoying herself, even to the eye of any observer, Maple smiled and rose to her feet.

“Alright… I won’t lose, Risa!”

“Won’t lose… huh. Then it’s good it’s like that!”

Even this moment, wished to last forever, has a clear end—event completion.

Time remaining is short. They move toward a conclusion.

First time. Both aiming for victory.