When the star shot by, Thunder Storm knew there was a fight brewing behind them.
“There goes our backup!”
“And we’re not letting you go to the rescue.”
Sally hefted her daggers. No more incoming arrows from Wilbert meant she was free to attack.
“Ah-ha-ha! But that makes it simple. We just gotta take you both out, and go flank ’em!”
“Quite.”
Thunder Storm had their plan…
And neither side was backing down.
“We’re not going down that easy.”
“Neither are we!”
✦ ✦ ✦
Maple’s side had successfully aligned the fights the way they’d planned. Once Ray took off, those left behind remained on standby in case anything went wrong.
“Nothing yet…but I bet it won’t stay that way…”
The Order members were spread out, using detection skills to keep tabs on things. And they soon sent word that made her scowl.
“Ugh, Flame Empire is coming!”
Thunder Storm and Rapid Fire had been working closely all event long—but it made total sense they’d call in the third major guild for this battle.
“Ah. So they did send word.”
“In which case…”
“Mai.”
“Yeah, we’re up!”
“Come on, everybody! That’s why we’re here!”
“““Yeah!”””
Frederica, Kanade, and Iz set about buffing everyone’s speed.
This was why they’d been on standby. They were soon headed out to prevent Flame Empire from tipping the balance of either battle.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Multi-Hasten!”
Between Frederica’s spells and Iz’s items, their forces moved out quickly.
Their goal was to block Flame Empire’s arrival before the worst could happen.
And to that end, some losses were acceptable.
“We’re working hard, so you’d better deliver!” Frederica muttered, eyeing the distant lightning as she ran. That was her way of praying for Maple and Sally’s victory.
The scouts who dotted the map allowed them to detect Flame Empire’s approach ahead of time and be in position to intercept them.
“Be ready for anything!”
“Yep. Stick to the plan.”
They’d been forced to cover a lot of ground, which limited the player count. That left them a bit shy of the forces they needed to stop Flame Empire.
But where there’s a will, there’s a way. Maple Tree had weapons that could turn the tide of any battle.
“You two ready?”
““We are!””
Mai and Yui were aboard Tsukimi and Yukimi, and each girl was wielding six hammers.
These twins could upend any situation.
“We’ll back you up. Don’t worry about what happens to us.”
“Good luck!”
Mai and Yui did not need to chisel away at HP pools. The events earlier in the day had proven their side’s best option was to keep the twins alive.
“Mm-hmm! But that means you’re our only offense.”
“We’ve got this!”
“We’ll do our best!”
The twins were the core of this plan. Their unparalleled pulverizing power would make up for their side’s lack of numbers.
“Can you help me set up barricades?”
“Okay. Let’s hurry, they’re close. Hey, give us a hand!”
“Coming!”
A sloppy defense would soon crumble before Mii’s flames and her guild’s numbers.
But if they bunkered down too hard behind Iz’s walls, the opponent would march right on by.
With this operation, that alone was unacceptable. Which meant they had to engage, even if it meant their deaths.
Even if they wiped out here, as long as they took out enough of the enemy to stop their advance, that was satisfactory. Naturally, victory was preferable.
“You two go straight for Mii. Keep attacking even if it seems dangerous.”
““Right.””
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe. For once, I’ll use everything I’ve got.”
Kanade gestured to the shelves behind him, packed full of grimoires.
“Please!”
“We’ll hit hard enough to make up for it!”
“There we go. That’s the spirit!”
With the minimum number of barricades down, they were ready to do battle. At the front stood Mai and Yui, along with a number of Order members positioned to back them up. Toward the rear were Iz, Kanade, Frederica, and a row of Order great shielders who stood poised to defend them.
“What about Daybreak?”
“Hmm, not really something we can do anything about.”
“We just need to get her before it goes off. Easier said than done, though…”
“It does have a long windup, so let’s hope the twins can get there first.”
Invulnerability skills did not seem to stop Mii’s ultimate attack—if she used it, they had no way of saving Mai and Yui.
Their only option was to get in there while she was chanting the spell, while Mii herself could not fight back.
✦ ✦ ✦
They didn’t have to wait long. Ahead, they spotted lights in the darkness.
The glow came from lanterns and skill effects. Their opponent’s numbers were far greater than their own. It was a massive army formed from members of all three enemy guilds.
They were outnumbered, but that didn’t matter now. They just had to trust their plan.
“Okay, everyone, let’s go! Multi-Toughen!”
Frederica’s defense buff was the starting gun. Everyone sprang into action. No tricks here—they just deployed the twin annihilators at the fore.
Despite the darkness, the enemy soon spotted them, and spells started flying. Blades of wind, bullets of fire, and—as if that wasn’t enough—a rain of arrows from above.
“Multi-Barrier! Notes, Round!”
““Multi-Cover!””
““Heal!””
The many, many barriers Frederica and her bird put up caught a lot of the projectiles, and those that slipped through were soaked by the tanks. Then the healers topped them up.
Iz and Frederica had buffed their stats in advance, so they could handle a few stray spells—as long as barriers were blocking most of them.
Only Mai and Yui couldn’t afford such stray strikes, but the others kept them safe as they surged forward. Their speed was buffed, so they soon closed the gap.
Then…a phoenix rose from the army ahead, crimson flames tracing its path.
“Scorcher!”
Mii unleashed a wave of fire, trying to halt the twins’ advance.
But Mai and Yui plunged straight into the inferno—confident they’d be kept safe.
“Rift.”
Kanade opened a grimoire, and space itself tore open, swallowing Mii’s flames. It was a spell that ordinarily could only be used once—but Kanade had far more aces on his shelves than any other player would ever own.
Mii’s attack was effortlessly invalidated, so before further flames could arrive, the bear-mounted twins hoisted their hammers high.
““Farshot!””
Shockwaves shot forward.
Every player the shockwaves so much as grazed burst, as if they were balloons stuck with needles.
“Dodge, or go invulnerable!”
The enemy players spread out, keeping their distance from the twins even as they moved to surround them.
Boosting defense and reducing damage meant nothing before the might of these hammers.
“Eruption!”
Again, Mii’s flames roiled in. Spouts of fire burst from the ground, forming into a pillar that threatened to engulf the twins.
“Water God’s Grace!”
Kanade was already in action, surrounding the pair in a cocoon of water. This not only canceled out the fires, keeping them safe, but also allowed them to keep running.
““Double Strike!””
“Spirit Light…huh?!”
“Guardian’s Luster! Seriously?!”
Even the players who had nullified the damage were knocked back, rolling and taking out everyone behind them until their momentum was finally spent. But those were the lucky players—the unlucky ones were sent flying upward, never to be seen again.
““Superspeed!””
Some players accelerated to dodge the hammers and get in close. All they had to do was land a single hit.
““Cover!””
But the Order’s defenders made it in time, and the twins emerged unscathed.
“We can’t have them going down!”
“They’re under our protection.”
“I see.”
With the Order acting, Kanade didn’t need to use a skill. The Flame Empire members had to give up and back off, lest the hammers turn them to dust.
And the unnatural offense meant no close quarters exchange of blows could come to pass.
Mii barked orders to Ignis while dodging the flurry of spells from Frederica’s direction—and changed her own target.
“Pyre!”
Fires burst across the night sky, the sheer scale of the flames swallowing all spells bearing down on Mii herself—and raining down on her enemy’s back lines.
“Multi-Barrier!”
“Fay, Item Boost!”
As Frederica renewed her barriers, Iz used items to lay more barricades and shore up their defenses. Meanwhile, the Order members added even more barriers—and blocked all of Mii’s flames.
“Tanky.”
Dodging spells left and right, Mii dropped back to her formations. Much as she’d have liked to take out their back line and leave their front line exposed, she was not shocked to find the Order far too stable for such a feat. Even if Kanade had been stingy with his grimoires, it would take time to break through their protection.
In which case, Mii had but one choice—set her sights on Mai and Yui, and light them up.
“Flame Empress! Flame Spear!”
“Enhance Function! Spirit Light!”
Two balls of fire shot toward the twins, followed by a giant fiery spear—only for Kanade to null all the damage. With Kanade, there was no telling what skills he might have, which made him tricky to deal with. But attempts to target him would be blocked by all the barriers around Frederica, making it better to aim for the twins and hope the defenders ran out of ways to keep the girls safe.
Or…
“From Marx?”
Mii ran her eyes over the message she’d received.