In Maple’s guise, Sou soaked the raging black inferno.
A skill with a cooldown so long that it could never be used twice in the same fight—but even in a game this focused on skill, few were as powerful.
“We’ll keep her busy while you back off.”
“Thanks, Kanade!”
While Martyr’s Devotion was still active, they escaped the damage dealt by the burning floor.
Kanade cast a flurry of spells while Sou used Machine God, Ancient Weapon, Hydra, and Saturating Chaos—everything it had on hand. Once Mimic ran out, the slime would lose access to all those skills. No use leaving them untapped.
Even with the boss’s barriers, damage was mounting, and Sou wasn’t letting her fire back. Sou’s Mimic soon ran out, but it had sure played its part to the fullest.
“Don’t really have any handy grimoires. Ideas on defenses?”
“Twins are our priority. Will damage reduction be enough?”
“Hmm, let’s see.”
Kasumi, Iz, and Kanade had a shot at enduring attacks if they upped their defenses and reduced damage taken.
If they couldn’t avoid damage altogether, then they’d have to switch to a healing-based approach.
“First up, run through the other skills we had planned.”
“Yup, yup.”
That massive AOE was not something they could block via any normal means.
But any such means were inherently limited. It was best to be selective about when they used those moves.
“Let’s go with Glow of Deliverance!”
Four white wings appeared on Maple’s back. This was a damage-reduction move, so she hadn’t led with it, and it had escaped that initial skill cancel.
Half their party was now fighting on the assumption they’d take damage. Any buffs that would make them more durable were very welcome.
They were now ready for round two. The king was holding long fire spears in both hands, rapidly dropping toward Maple Tree.
“Tenth Blade: Diamond!”
To protect the back line, Maple and Chrome had to back away.
That meant Kasumi had to stay out in front, stopping the boss’s charge.
She fought the king head-on, Maple’s buff bolstering her own damage reduction.
“Hahh!”
The king had two spears, and Kasumi had three katanas.
She was in control of the blighted blade, so she parried the spears with that, minimizing the damage she took and letting Armored Arms handle the offense. It was an even match. No—the king still had a slight advantage. Even with damage reduction, Kasumi was losing ground.
The king was a boss. She had stats and HP far beyond what any player could obtain and was wreathed in fires that did DoT damage—and she had barriers that negated attacks. One-on-one, this was hardly an even exchange of blows.
“Fey, Item Boost!”
“Heal!”
There was a cracking sound, and a green mist spread out. Iz’s item provided healing over time, and Kanade’s spell put Kasumi’s health back in the safety margin.
But then the floor lit up beneath the guild’s feet.
This light covered a huge area. It clearly indicated where the next attack would land.
Chrome made a snap decision. He would not be able to handle that. He turned not to Maple, but to Sally.
“Flash Spout!”
A torrent of water toward the rear washed Kasumi out of the fight—and the others with her.
A moment later, a column of fire descended from the sky, just barely missing them.
But the king’s assault was not yet done.
More flaming spears from the heavens. Their landing points were glowing warnings—they were smaller than the first barrage, but there were clearly more to come.
“She means business…!”
It was a sharp reminder of just how powerful Maple’s defense combined with Martyr’s Devotion really was.
But there was no use crying over what they didn’t have.
With their movements so limited, keeping Kanade, Iz, Mai, and Yui safe while maneuvering them into position to attack the boss would be very difficult.
Iz could lay down barriers and team up with Maple to tank a lot, but with no agility to speak of, and each of these blows obviously fatal, defending would be all they could do.
“Sally, can you chip away a bit? This is rough!”
“I’m on it! I can dodge through this.”
“Go get her, Sally!”
With attacks coming so fast and furious, they had to rely on the agile duo.
The rest would hunker down and try to survive, hoping the attack pattern would change once the HP dropped into another stage.
And if that just made the attacks more intense…well, they’d have to steel themselves.
Since the twins couldn’t one-shot this boss, the only path to victory was through the boss’s flurry.
Trusting Maple and Chrome to keep the others safe, Sally and Kasumi darted in.
“You’re on damage!”
“Got it!”
Sally shifted her weapon to a bow again, darting across the air and peppering the king with arrows.
Her evasion undiminished, she matched the boss’s speeds and peeled away the barriers.
With her new unique series equipment, Sally now had nonmagical ranged attacks—and her technical proficiency was so high, she could adapt to any situation.
When dodging wasn’t an option, she’d switch her weapon to a great shield and block the attack.
The more aggro Sally drew, the easier the others had it. Of course, her HP was so low, a single hit would down her—but everyone had faith in Sally’s skills.
“First Blade: Heat Haze. Third Blade: Blue Moon!”
Kasumi matched Sally’s play. No matter how fast the boss reacted, if she was in Kasumi’s range, there was no escaping her teleport.
Warp into the air, jam an attack home, and as the boss flew toward Sally, Kasumi changed directions with a jump, landing a second strike on the king’s back.
The boss flew up, away from her—and Kasumi fell away, her mobility options exhausted.
“Use this, Kasumi!”
“Thanks! Fourth Blade: Whirlwind!”
And yet they both still had options. Sally’s One Step in the Grave let her make platforms in midair, and Kasumi landed on one, using Leap to get back up after the boss, their combo letting her slip through the barriers and do even more damage.
“Waterway! Ice Pillar!”
Sally swam through the water path after Kasumi’s leap, her webs spinning out of the water to nab Kasumi.
Kasumi was out of jumping skills—but Sally’s webs put her where she needed to be.
Yanked up before the boss’s eyes, Kasumi raised her katana.
Damage reduction had let her brute-force her way through the raining fires. Now she merely needed to land a big move.
The barriers popped up again. Kasumi grimaced.
But even as the barriers spawned, an arrow flew in, shattering them instantly—uncanny timing.
“The rest is yours.”
“Final Blade: Misty Moon.”
Sally knew exactly how long the barriers took to respond, and she downed that final defense with zero lag. Kasumi ignored the damage from the fire shroud, her hair turned white—and she slammed home a twelve-hit combo.