✦ ✦ ✦
The tenth event had compressed time to allow for a massive war between two opposing factions. Maple Tree teamed up with Pain’s guild, the Order of the Holy Sword, for an intense fight against the allied forces of Flame Empire, Thunder Storm, and Rapid Fire.
For a long while they flexed at each other, picked off opponents here and there, stared each other down—and when the fighting finally started, both sides lost a lot of players. Shin, Misery, Dread, and Drag were all eliminated. These losses forced both sides to rework their plans as the first day drew to a close.
Everyone wanted time to rest and recover that night—which made it the perfect opportunity for sneak attacks.
Thunder Storm and Rapid Fire led a blitz attack, laying a trap to take Maple out while her skill Indomitable Guardian was still on cooldown. They were one step away from success—but Sally had sworn to keep Maple safe no matter what, and she stood in their way. The events of that night may well have decided the outcome of the war. Maple’s side decided to use her lack of Indomitable Guardian as bait, luring out their enemy. This cost Maple’s side dearly, but it paid off—they got rid of Marx, a key figure in their foe’s defenses. Meanwhile, Maple and Sally’s flawless combo play proved a match for Velvet and her partner, Hinata, when they eliminated the pair.
Advantages began to stack up, bringing the victory closer, yet the outcome never appeared predictable. Mii and Velvet abandoned their defenses, turned the tables, and launched an assault on their opponent’s castle. The match became a race—and it came down to the wire. Either side could have reached its opponent’s throne room first. But Maple Tree’s members bought just enough time. Maple’s Dark Rebirth transformed her allied players into monsters, helping her side break through the lines and reach the throne room first. The fighting was fierce—but the victory belonged to Maple and her allies.
✦ ✦ ✦
The tenth event had been a hard-fought battle, but a week after it ended, NewWorld Online had settled back into a relaxing routine.
Some players threw themselves back into ninth-stratum quests, while others kicked back, exploring like sightseers.
And there were those who were specifically chasing skills they’d found themselves lacking during the previous event.
In other words, normal play resumed.
At the Maple Tree Guild Home, Iz handed a mountain of white dishes over to Maple, who moved to set the table.
“Party time!”
“This took longer than I thought.”
“Yeah…but that’s understandable.”
There were good reasons they hadn’t thrown this party sooner.
As Maple Tree’s members filed in, two of those reasons poked their heads in the door—Velvet and Hinata.
“Yo, what up?!”
“We’re here.”
“Oh, already?”
“Hmm? Are we, like, first?”
“Yep! I’m sure the others will be here soon!”
Maple escorted the arrivals to their chairs and waited for the other invited guests.
This was why they’d delayed the party. If they wanted Thunder Storm, Rapid Fire, Flame Empire, and the Order’s members to attend—well, they’d had to find a date that worked for everyone.
It was a stroke of luck that scheduling had only taken a week.
The door opened again, and in came Rapid Fire’s leaders.
“Hi, thanks for having us.”
“That was one intense event. Well played, everyone.”
“Have a seat anywhere you like!”
“Sounds good.”
Lily and Will moved over toward Velvet, and they all got to talking. They’d been in opposite castles at the event’s end, so they had plenty to share about those final moments.
Then eight more guests entered—the leaders of the Order and Flame Empire, respectively. The Order had been on Maple Tree’s side. They would have loved to invite the whole guild to this party, but there was a limit to how many people could fit inside Maple Tree’s Guild Home. They had limited themselves to the players on their friends lists.
Representing their guilds, Pain and Mii stepped forward.
“Maple, you made this victory possible. I’m glad we were allies.”
“We’ll win the next one! No matter what format it is.”
“Everyone’s motivated!”
Maple greeted them cheerfully, led them to their seats, and then Iz started bringing food to the table. The event was the main topic—everyone had thoughts and opinions they wanted to express.
“Still—this is quite a guest list.”
“Yeah, though I do get why.”
Chrome and Kasumi were looking around, murmuring to each other. Everyone there either led a key guild or was a core member of one.
Anyone seriously gunning for Maple would naturally be among the game’s best players. And since she had a habit of making friends with those she’d fought, Maple’s friends list was made up of heavy hitters.
“I really did think Mii and Velvet would power through.”
“Ha-ha, Pain’s every bit as bad,” Drag said, as if boasting about himself.
Shin shook his head, like it was a lost cause. “Splinter Sword alone wasn’t enough.”
“That attack after Multi-Transfer is legitimately dangerous. If my Resurrect hadn’t gone off in time, we’d have been finished there.”
“Get caught anywhere in its path, and you’re dust. Pure violence.”
Shin winced at the memory. With everyone’s buffs transferred to him, Pain had ignored all the Splinter Swords, unleashing the full might of his holy blade.
The light of that attack had been every bit as powerful as Mii’s fires and Velvet’s lightning; the damage was far greater than Flame Empire had believed possible. But there was a reason for that—the format of the event had allowed an unprecedented number of buff transfers. Normally, there was a much lower cap on a player’s “allies.” Multi-Transfer was Frederica’s skill, but even she’d never seen it do anything like that much damage.
“If we’d just pulled off a win somewhere, it would have changed everything! So damn frustrating!”
“True. It was a very close call. If I could have held out a few minutes longer…”
“You held out long enough, Lily.”
“Velvet’s assault was formidable.”
The daytime clash, the midnight surprise attack, and the final castle siege.
If any one thing had been changed, they might have crowned a different victor.
Maple’s side had seized the advantage by the skin of their teeth and escaped by a hair’s breadth. That’s how narrow a victory it had been.
As they talked, an idea struck Velvet—she wheeled around to face Sally.
“Oh damn! I have, like, so many questions for you, Sally!”
“For me?”
“Your new moves! How do they work?”
Velvet was talking about Sally’s tricky combat strategies—seeming to cancel her skills midaction, unleashing invisible attacks, altering the visible effects, and transforming the very weapons she wielded. It had been some pretty insane stuff.
“You got me good!” Shin said. “You don’t…really have Kasumi’s skill, right?”
These tricks had given Sally enough of an edge to take out Shin, Hinata, and Wilbert—yet even seen up close, and observed from the viewing chamber afterward, they’d remained a mystery.
“Obviously, that’s classified.”
“We’ll have to work it out in combat, then!”
“I’ve got first dibs!” Frederica yelled.
“What say you, Will? Think you can coax it out of her?”
“It’s worth a try.”
Sally wouldn’t even resort to such deceptive techniques unless she was well and truly cornered.
Velvet, Frederica, and Wilbert each had skills that should put Sally at a distinct disadvantage. But turning the tables on their countermeasures was her whole thing.
“Sally…”
“Y-you’re so popular!”
“Ah-ha-ha, maybe I should make a waiting list for duels.”
“People might start sending official challenges.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much what this is.”
“I wouldn’t want to go against her.”
Watching from the observation room, Kasumi and Mai had said as much—Sally was now every bit as dangerous as Maple herself.
In practice, Maple tended to overshadow her friend with sheer spectacle, so Sally was only just starting to make a name for herself.
Everyone in Maple Tree was a threat. Especially Maple. That had been the standard evaluation, but now “especially” applied to Sally as well. Against human opponents, she had none of Maple’s weaknesses and might actually be the more worrisome foe.
“The Order clearly have our work cut out for us. There are more and more guilds out there that are not to be trifled with.”
“Mm-hmm. Gotta scout them out.”
“Same with Flame Empire. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels.”
“True. We couldn’t stave them off as we’d hoped. And there are other guilds worth looking into.”
Pain and Mii were both guild masters, and this event had taught them both a lot. Their guilds’ standings had shifted considerably since the fourth event, and actual PvP made that clearer than ever.