They’re trying to pin us down and thin our numbers. Even if it takes a while, I think you should end this.
✦ ✦ ✦
The long chant to use Daybreak served as a countdown to the end of the fight. Mai, Yui, and Kanade could not defend against it.
And if they moved out of range of the skill, Flame Empire could go help their allies.
Mii had Ignis drop her next to Marx.
“You’re in, Mii?”
“That’s the idea.”
“I’ll cover you until then. I can keep the twins at bay.”
“Understood.”
Marx activated the One Night Fort underfoot, keeping Mii safe; once he was sure she’d started working on Daybreak he stepped out in front.
“Installation: Flower Cavalry. Installation: Water Army.”
He summoned knights made of vines and infantry made of water, sending them at the whirling hammers of death.
“Can’t have you running wild.”
“We’re not…”
“…stopping!”
“Remote Installation: Wind Blades. Remote Installation: Fire Blades.”
No matter how weak the attack was, the twins and Kanade had to react to it. That was their weakness. They were far easier to get past than Martyr’s Devotion.
“Clear, Vanish.”
The wind and fire blades spewing from Marx’s traps, as well as the troops he’d summoned, all disappeared.
Baffled by this, an Order great shielder paused—just as a vine lance pierced through his shoulder. Red sparks flew.
“……!”
“Back down!”
““Okay!””
The enemy was invisible. Since it was a very basic skill, any contact would end the effect, but it still made guarding the twins infinitely harder.
“I don’t just twiddle my thumbs at the back of the crowd. Spring All Traps.”
From the ground and the air sprang troops made from every element, with every last one of them a foe Mai and Yui could not afford to ignore.
“Clear, Colorless World.”
The myriad summons turned colorless, melting into the air. Not good. The great shielders soaked the fire and wind blades’ stabbing attacks as they hustled the twins toward the center of the pack, forming a wall around them in the hopes of preventing any attacks from getting through.
Marx’s skills were really turning up the pressure on the twins and seemed poised to turn this battle on its head.
But from the rear, magic circles appeared, as plentiful as the troops that had been summoned. Flying machines showed up, each bristling with gun barrels. The sheer quantity of lasers unleashed was every bit as intense as Maple’s Machine God barrage, forcing the invisible soldiers to reveal themselves.
“Urgh, there they go.”
✦ ✦ ✦
✦ ✦ ✦
If Marx had time to prep, so did Iz.
And given enough time, Iz was a threat far greater than any crafter should be.
“How are items matching my spells?!”
“Good thing I set this up!”
“Appreciated, but holy moly!”
“Yes, I agree.”
Marx was not exactly going all out. He knew if he could just fend the twins off for a few minutes, Mii would end the fight.
Thunder Storm and Rapid Fire guild members were on the same page; as long as they won in the end, they didn’t mind a few losses.
“Mai, Yui!” Kanade called.
The twins hadn’t advanced very far—they were still mowing down the front lines.
“Kanade!”
“I don’t think we’re…”
…gonna make it in time.
Before she could even finish, a sun appeared in the night sky.
Mii hovered at the center. Marx had bought her enough time to generate the all-consuming fires.
“Daybreak!”
Pulsing white fires surrounded her, mere seconds from release.
As everyone tried to get out of its range, Marx held up a hand to the twins on the front line.
“You’re not going anywhere! Holy Chains!”
Chains shot out of a white magic circle, binding Mai and Yui to the spot. The effect lasted only three seconds—three whole seconds.
All he had to do was prevent them from escaping Mii’s fire.
“Raging Inferno!”
Billowing flames made the ground itself do damage as everything in sight turned red. Mai and Yui looked back at Kanade, nodding emphatically.
“Flight!”
Trusting the look in their eyes, Kanade evacuated to the air above.
✦ ✦ ✦
Left behind, the chains released Mai and Yui just as the flames were right before them.
But they’d been well aware there was no escaping this.
Which left them with one option.
“Go for it, Mai!”
“Titan’s Lot!”
Mai slammed five hammers into the fire. If her STR was higher, it would null and reflect the damage. With Daybreak invalidating the ‘null’ part, what did that leave?
✦ ✦ ✦
A sacrificial counter.
Fires consuming everything—but Mai sent a section of the wave back the other way.
“Shit! Clear, Existence Lapse!”
Like Oboro’s Spirited Away, this removed Marx from the map long enough for the wave of flames to pass him by.
And when he emerged from the inferno, he saw infinite scattering lights, left by the sheer quantity of players who’d been unable to escape the counter.
Only a few of their back line had survived.
Still…
“Seriously…?”
Mai and Yui’s counter had even worked on raid bosses.
But beyond the fire—there was no sign of them.
They’d known this attempt would kill them.
And the damage it had done was prodigious.
✦ ✦ ✦
They’d only returned a portion of the flames, but that still hit a wide area and caught everyone by surprise.
With no time to retreat, the line collapsed.
Marx looked ahead and saw Kanade coming in for a landing on a giant boulder, avoiding contact with the burning ground.
“We’re still going?” Marx wondered aloud.
The twins had only turned back some of the flames, so the losses on the other side were even greater. They should not be able to keep fighting.
Her attack complete, Mii landed next to him.
“Thanks, Mii.”
“I see Kanade’s covering the retreat?”
“Looks like it.”
The flames started to die down, but Mii showed no mercy, generating more with both hands. Kanade opened a grimoire.
“Smog.”
Black smoke spread, obscuring everything it touched.
This was no debuff; it merely obstructed their vision.
“Tornado!”
Someone nearby cast a wind spell that swiftly pushed the smoke away.
Everyone had assumed this had been to cover his escape, but when the smoke cleared, Kanade was standing on a thick vine, facing Mii and Marx.
““……!””
An unexpected choice that glued their eyes to him.
“Look up!” someone yelled.
Mii’s head snapped up just as a figure in white dropped toward her.
In free fall and with hammer raised—it was unmistakably Yui.
“Blue Fire!”
“Titan’s Lot!”
Yui batted away the blue flames.
Mai alone had handled Raging Inferno. She’d swung only five of her hammers—the remaining one had launched Yui skyward.
Yui was slightly better at this sort of Maple-esque move.
As the flames came back at her, Mii rolled away, scrambling to escape.
Kanade had stayed behind, out front, for one reason alone—to ensure Yui landed safely.
“Hyah!”
She touched down with a boom—and slammed her hammer Mii’s way.
She was too close, and the formation too scattered. No dodging it, and no chance of help.
Realizing this, Marx threw a charm at Mii.
“Swap!”
As the charm wrapped Mii in watery robes, Marx used a skill to swap the locations of two traps. The trap around Mii took her with it, moving her to the back lines—and out of harm’s way.
“Uh…the rest is in your hands.”
But he’d only had time to do that once.
The hammer found a new target. And Marx couldn’t withstand the blow.
It was over in an instant. With a crack, the mighty blow turned Marx into light.
And as the hammer shattered Marx, Kanade opened a grimoire.
“Flash Spout! Let’s bail, Yui!”
“Okay!”
The water swept Yui up, with Kanade catching her as he ran for it. This was why he’d put so many points in AGI.
“Let’s hope the other fights are over!”
Their losses were huge. He was out of grimoires to keep Yui safe, and could not pin down Flame Empire any longer. Concerned about the rest of the war, Kanade hurried to rejoin Iz and Frederica.