Defense Specialization and the Depths of the Abyss

Having completed various side explorations and advanced through the Eighth Floor, Maple and Sally embarked on the final challenge of the Eighth Floor.

Ahead of them lay the deepest part of the underwater ruins, accessible only with a key item—the emblem. In this area, enemy attack patterns became more varied, with increased firepower and frequency of attacks.

Without Maple’s “Self-Offering Love,” it would be difficult for Sally to survive, let alone Kanade. From this point onward, Maple’s offensive power, and more importantly, her defensive capabilities, would be essential.

The three members of “Maple Tree”—Maple, Sally, and Kanade—gathered at their guild home and began their journey toward the final underwater dungeon.

“Looks like Maple and Sally are all set,” Kanade observed.

“Yep! All my skills are ready to go!” Maple confirmed enthusiastically.

“Same here. I’m ready to go all out anytime. How about you, Kanade?” Sally asked.

“My grimoire is somewhat prepared. I’ve managed to draw a few invincibility skills and prepared some high-power magic. It’s not as perfect as before the event, but… don’t worry, I won’t drag you two down,” Kanade replied with modesty, despite having more spells at his disposal than an average mage. Though he was downplaying it, his output was more than enough as a member of “Maple Tree”.

—

The area they reached was a deep, dark abyss devoid of any structures. This was where the final dungeon of the Eighth Floor awaited them. The first task was to dive straight down to reach it. Donning their diving suits, the trio began their descent toward the unseen depths below.

“‘Self-Offering Love’! ‘Afterglow of Salvation’!” Maple activated dual defensive fields. As they descended, the nature of the enemies changed. The most troublesome for them were the schools of small, aggressive fish that attacked periodically during the first half of their journey. These fish were ferocious and had high attack power, capable of dragging their prey along while continuously attacking them.

Sally and Kanade wouldn’t be able to withstand the fish’s onslaught, and their large numbers made it difficult to avoid them. The trio planned to push through by combining Maple’s “Self-Offering Love” with Sally’s “Thread User” to prevent Maple from being carried away.

“They’re coming!” Maple warned.

“Sally, please!” she called out.

“Leave it to me,” Sally responded.

The effective range of “Self-Offering Love” was cylindrical. Sally swiftly dove deeper, extending a thread to Maple while avoiding the incoming fish swarm.

Moments later, Maple was engulfed by the school of fish, tossed around like she was in a blender. However, the thread Sally had extended from below prevented her from being swept away.

“‘Lightning Bolt’!” Kanade’s spell sent an electric shock through the water, frying the small fish. Despite their numbers, the fish had low HP, and those hit by Kanade’s attack quickly dissolved into light.

“Sally, keep pulling Maple down. I’ll handle the ones that come our way,” Kanade instructed.

“Got it. Maple, I’m pulling you down!” Sally said.

“Okay! I’m good to go anytime!” Maple replied cheerfully.

For a while, the best course of action was for Maple to act as bait. Kanade and Sally continued to eliminate any approaching monsters, diving deeper into the darkening waters where light barely reached.

Eventually, they managed to escape the territory of the small fish. Sally reeled in Maple, who had been shaken by the swarm, bringing her back to them.

“And there we go. Thanks for the hard work, Maple,” Sally said.

“Thanks to you, we got through that easily. Though I’m sure it was rough for Maple,” Kanade added.

“Not at all! It felt like I was in an aquarium!” Maple responded, unfazed.

“Oh, like those sardine schools,” Sally said with a chuckle.

“You’re really tough, Maple. But seeing you like this, it seems like we don’t need to worry,” Kanade remarked.

“Leave it to me! I’m still full of energy!” Maple assured them.

“Good. The real challenge starts here. Let’s stay focused,” Sally reminded them.

“Yeah!” Maple agreed as the trio continued to sink deeper into the abyss. The fish approaching them now were larger and faster, though fewer in number. This time, it was Sally’s turn to take action.

“‘Triple Slash’!” Sally’s slashes left the fish reeling, and Kanade finished them off with a lightning strike. The three were more than capable of handling mere fish, dispatching them efficiently with their high-powered skills.

“Great job, both of you!” Kanade praised.

“Well, this much is easy,” Sally said confidently.

“For now, leave the attacks to us. I’d like to save the ‘Helping Hand’ and ‘Machine God’ weapons for later,” Kanade suggested.

Though they weren’t in short supply, the weapons created by the “Helping Hand” and “Machine God” were limited. If they could manage with regenerating MP and reusable skills, it was better not to use the weapons unnecessarily.

In the pitch-dark water, where light from the surface no longer reached, the three turned on their lights and continued their descent.

“Sally, it’s okay if you can’t, but do you think you could sense anything nearby?” Kanade asked.

“I can. You don’t need to use any skills,” Sally reassured him.

“Thanks. It’s a bit strange, though.”

For Sally, sensing approaching monsters without skills had become second nature. However, even top players would struggle to match her precision.

“…Coming from the back right!” Sally warned.

“‘Hydro Laser’!” Kanade fired a water laser straight into the darkness, piercing a fish that had been charging toward them with its mouth wide open, scattering damage effects instead of blood.

“Wow, your accuracy is amazing!” Maple exclaimed.

“Well, you know… ‘Double Slash’!” Sally quipped, swiftly finishing off the fish with her dagger.

“Thanks to Sally, this place is manageable!” Maple said.

“Yeah. I prepared a detection spell in my grimoire, but I guess I won’t need it, which is a relief. Spells like that are rare and hard to pull, so it’s better to save it if possible,” Kanade explained.

The strength of Kanade lay in the variety of spells he could draw upon. The more he could conserve, the better off they would be in situations where Sally wasn’t around.

“One on the left! Two coming from directly behind!” Sally announced.

“I’ll take care of the ones behind,” Kanade said.

“Maple, let’s handle the one on the left together!” Sally instructed.

“Got it!” Maple agreed.

“‘Tornado’! ‘Spark’!”

“‘Ancient Weapon’!”

“‘Triple Slash’!”

Just as Sally had predicted, the monsters emerged from the darkness and were swiftly dealt with by the trio’s coordinated attacks. With such perfect responses, the monsters’ strategy of ambushing them in the darkness was rendered useless.

But the three knew that their real goal wasn’t to fight these lesser monsters. They were closing in on the first major hurdle.

“Stop! …We’ve got something big here. A mid-boss,” Sally warned.

“…Okay! I’ll go all out!” Maple responded, readying herself.

“Leave the handling to you, Sally,” Kanade said.

“Roger that.”

In the darkness below, two blue lights glimmered. As the creature spotted the trio, more blue lights began to appear, forming a circle around them. The lights were the edges of the creature’s suckers, and the ten tentacles that extended from the abyss belonged to a massive squid—a Kraken.

“Just like the giant octopus we fought before! Let’s take it down!” Maple shouted.

“Hmm? If I remember correctly, that octopus…,” Kanade began.

“Is the one that turned into Maple’s current tentacles,” Sally finished.

“Both arms as tentacles… That’s a bit scary,” Kanade said, imagining the possibility that Maple might gain new tentacle arms if they defeated this Kraken.

The three faced the Kraken, which barred their way into the ruins.

“‘Tornado’!”

“‘Ancient Weapon’!”

Maple and Kanade unleashed their attacks on the Kraken’s main body. Their continuous long-range assaults gradually chipped away at the Kraken’s HP. However, the creature’s immense durability matched its size, and it began to retaliate.

The Kraken’s primary weapons were its tentacles.

The positions of the tentacles could be tracked by the glowing suckers. As the Kraken prepared to crush them with its tentacles, Sally swiftly intercepted with her dagger, delivering a powerful blow.

While attacking the tentacles didn’t reduce the Kraken’s HP, it would interrupt the attack if hit with a strong enough close-range strike. The tentacles had high attack power and a defense-piercing effect; even Maple would need to use “Stout Guardian” after being hit twice.

Sally’s role was crucial in keeping the fight under control by continuously interrupting the tentacles.

“‘Super Speed’!”

Sally accelerated, anticipating the Kraken’s moves, and slashed at the tentacles, disrupting their attacks. The damage boost from “Sword Dance” enhanced her strikes, allowing her to single-handedly manage the Kraken’s tentacles.

“You two keep attacking without worrying about me!” Sally called out.

For Maple and Kanade, attacking with close-range weapons was impractical. They focused on their respective roles, and Sally fulfilled hers with precision.

“‘Chain Bomb’, ‘Light of Annihilation’, ‘Tartarus Magic Bullet’!”

Kanade unleashed powerful attacks from his grimoire. The “Chain Bomb” exploded on impact, dealing additional damage with each successive hit. The “Light of Annihilation” and “Tartarus Magic Bullet” inflicted significant damage while lowering the Kraken’s defenses—perfect for boosting Maple’s damage.

“‘Barrel Deployment’, ‘Commence Attack’! ‘Ancient Weapon’, ‘Oozing Chaos’!”

Bullets and energy blasts rained down on the Kraken. Despite the darkness, the Kraken’s massive size made it an easy target. The damage boost from Kanade’s spells synergized well with Maple’s barrage of attacks.

With every hit, explosions erupted, sending damage effects flying from the Kraken. Desperate, the Kraken attempted to crush Maple with its tentacles, but Sally’s swift strikes kept the creature’s attacks at bay.

As the Kraken’s situation grew dire, it began to twist its body in the dark depths, creating a massive whirlpool that threatened to pull the trio down into the abyss. However, Maple’s “Self-Offering Love” protected Kanade and Sally within its cylindrical range, leaving only Maple vulnerable to the pull.

“‘Pierce Guard’! Keep going… How about this!” Maple continued her assault even as she was drawn closer to the Kraken. Tentacles lashed out to crush her, but she blocked them with “Pierce Guard,” accumulating more damage on the Kraken.

As she was pulled closer to the Kraken, Maple prepared for close combat, which was her specialty. Moreover, she had another objective in mind.

“Got it!”

Whenever Maple approached a large monster, she always searched for its mouth—a potential entry point into its body.

“Take this! …‘Poison Dragon’!”

Maple thrust her arm, holding a dagger, deep into the Kraken’s mouth and unleashed a full-powered “Poison Dragon,” flooding the creature’s insides with a potent toxin. While “Poison Dragon” couldn’t be used in open water due to its diffusion, injecting it directly into the Kraken’s body allowed for effective use.

“Inventory… check!”

Maple retrieved a super-durable iron ball from her inventory, meant for Mai and Yui, and inserted it into the Kraken’s mouth. This turned the Kraken’s body into a sealed container for the poison, effectively trapping it inside.

With the Kraken writhing in agony, its whirlpool ceased, and Maple floated back up to rejoin Sally and Kanade.

“Welcome back, Maple,” Sally greeted her.

“Wow, that’s a lot of damage. What did you do?” Kanade asked, amazed.

“I filled it with poison!” Maple answered brightly.

“…Ah,” Sally and Kanade replied in unison, realizing the horror of what the Kraken was enduring.

Inside the Kraken’s body, the “Poison Dragon” raged uncontrollably. Unlike parasites or viruses, this was a direct injection of pure poison.

With this relentless assault and continued bombardment from above, even the highly durable Kraken couldn’t withstand the onslaught.