Defense Specialization and Revenge 3

After finishing her duel with Frederica, Sally started running again.
Several forced battle royales had already popped up, and random hot-blooded players kept jumping her for sudden fights. The minutes kept slipping away. There wasn’t much event time left.

She still had one thing left to do.

Just then, a wall of red light rose in front of her—the sign that a battle royale was about to begin, wrapping around her like a cage.

“That was close… I almost got dragged in.”
She didn’t have time to waste. Barely staying outside the edge, Sally thanked her luck and ran along the crimson boundary.

She meant to skirt past and keep going—until one blazing effect made her feet stop.
Even beyond the red barrier, a white pillar of light speared up into the sky, easy to see.

“Velvet…!”
It was surely the glow of 【Aurora】. Running around at random would make finding one person nearly impossible. But there was one player who knew the situation and would help—someone she trusted. Two searching beats one. More eyes are always better.

When the red light finally faded, Sally sprinted toward the last place she’d seen that lightning flash. Velvet wouldn’t fall so easily; after Frederica, she was Sally’s most frequent sparring partner. Sally knew her strength well.

Sally burst through the brush and found Velvet just turning away, fresh from a fight.

“Hey, Sally!”

“Velvet!”
Velvet paused and came closer. Her eyes didn’t hold their usual battle spark—there was worry there, and a hint of concern meant only for Sally.

“Any luck!?”

“No. I haven’t met her yet. Did you see her anywhere?”

“Not me either. Which side were you fighting on?”

“Umm…”
They had a map for the event field. If they’d only just crossed paths now, that let them mark off large routes each had traveled. The blank spaces between—those were their “unexplored” pockets.

Which meant the places they hadn’t overlapped were the places Maple might be.

“Then it’s probably around here.”

“She won’t be zipping all over, and I didn’t see Syrup or 【Machine God】.”
Knowing Maple’s style and mobility, she wouldn’t roam too far. Meeting Velvet narrowed the search a lot.

“I’ll sweep from this direction! Sally, take the other side—if I spot her, I’ll call with lightning!”

“Thank you. That helps a lot.”

“I egged you on, so I’ve got responsibility too! Come on—let’s move!”

“Right.”
They tapped fists and split, each taking one flank of the wide field.

***

After her match with Mii, Maple strolled and, well… kept committing “gentle massacres.”
This event’s rule—resetting all cooldowns after every fight—was simply too good for Maple. Already strong against groups, she decided to make memories and gave no quarter to any challenger who tried a commemorative duel. In short, she had become a roaming raid boss. Honestly, the fact that Mii had lost one-on-one said it all—very few could stand even with Maple.

“Tooo—!”
“Aaaaagh!”
With 【Pierce Guard】 removing even the tiniest risk, Maple’s touch became instant death. Her tentacles hugged another player and crushed them into sparks, sending them back to the viewing area.

***

Up in the spectator stands, people murmured again about how impossible Maple was to beat.

“She starts every time with 【Rebirth in Darkness】 on cooldown reset.”

“Normally I’d wait that out, but today…”

“Whoever beats her becomes a legend! Maybe bigger than the Tenth Floor Demon King clear, honestly.”

“Yeah. I’ve literally never heard of anyone ‘who defeated Maple.’”

“Even Mii couldn’t do it.”

“Only Payne might have a shot…”
The Demon King was already down—rumor even said it had a true form—but no rumor had ever claimed “someone beat Maple.”

“And unless my eyes lied, she’s got something new back there.”

“At that size? No way we mis-saw it.”
Behind Maple stood a huge servant—an abnormal figure with twin greatswords. It slashed anyone who came close and even fired a laser from its mouth. So Maple had a new follower at her back. The spectators tossed around plans that sounded more like prayers.

“First you kill the thing from 【Rebirth in Darkness】, then the thing from 【Predator】, then the things from 【Night Parade of One Hundred Demons】, then the thing from 【Demon Lord】…”

“Kind of feels like the ‘real body’ is on the far side of a mountain.”
Before touching Maple herself, you had to mow down a legion of nightmares. Meanwhile the main body swung two superweapons, whipped insta-kill tentacles, set up damage-cut zones and lingering damage fields, could transform into a monster, and wouldn’t die in one blow.

Say it out loud and it’s obvious: she’s not a one-on-one target. Also… it shows how strong Mii really is.

“You’d need a full party to have a chance.”

“Pretty much.”

“At least we learned her patterns, and that new back-servant won’t surprise-kill us next time. That’s something.”
Not that any of them would get to use this data. Still, the event was a great chance to see real moves and test ideas. After watching Maple for a while, they switched the feed to the next battle and trickled back into the field.

One man glanced back at the monitor before leaving—and noticed something. Onscreen, Payne was dominating the center of a violent battle royale. What hooked him wasn’t Payne, but the backdrop.

“That looks… near Maple.”
If so, they might cross paths. Then again, if no forced fight triggered, nothing might happen at all. Payne and Maple weren’t the type to strike first on sight, and it was possible they’d simply miss each other.

Even so, it felt like something might happen. He stayed, eyes fixed on the screen.

***

After walking a while, Maple decided to rest. On a flat stretch, she leaned against her summoned 【Predator】 and passed the time. She’d already fought more than enough and wasn’t in the mood to go hunt. Still, she wanted to end the last event out here in the field, so she waited for a forced fight to pop.

Time was running down. Maybe one more battle royale at most.
This was a PvP zone, so anyone could jump her—yet even then, she was safe: 【Predator】 would sense attackers first.

Munching a treat Iz gave her, Maple relaxed—until the creature at her back stirred.

“Stop! …Ah!”
She put a hand up to calm 【Predator】 and checked who was approaching.

“Mr. Payne!”

“Maple. Not since the Demon King fight.”
Maple dismissed 【Predator】 and stood. If anyone walked up to the most obvious person on the map, they had a reason.

“I was surprised when I heard you’d join PvP.”

“Velvet invited me, said she’d be happy if I came. But…”

“I see. This field is pretty big. It’s normal not to meet. Still… you could try shooting a flare, as a sign.”

“…You’re right! Um, could you step back a bit?”

“Of course.”
Maple had him retreat, then calmly wrapped a line around herself and unfolded her weapons.

“【Commence Attack】!”
She blasted herself sky-high, then used the shield held by 【Helping Hands】 as a stepping stone to climb even higher. Up there, she lit the fuse of what she’d wrapped.

A moment later, a huge bloom burst around her—colorful sparks scattering over the plain. Maple’s specialty: marking her location.

The famous “human firework.” She fell, cratered in dust and thunder, then popped back up like nothing happened. Payne, who’d tracked her descent, walked back over.

“Well… either way, if anyone’s looking, they’ll come.”

“Yes! Ugh, we should’ve settled a signal beforehand…”

“Velvet could have suggested it, but she gets ahead of herself sometimes.”
Maple had no way to know Velvet’s true aim had been different, and a rendezvous plan slipped the net.

“Are you here to duel everyone like Mii?”

“No. Drag and Dread are watching the PvE side. Frederica planned to do PvP.”
They wanted to enjoy the event—but as 【Congregation of Holy Swords】, they also gathered info: check for new top-tier players, and gauge the monsters’ level. It was how they stayed a first-rank guild.

“So… did you come to fight me too?”

“I’m torn. If I fight Maple, I want it to be when you’re at your best. That said…”

“If it’s 【Predator】, it resets at duel start.”

“Not that. If I’m going to face you, I want you and Sally together.”

“With Sally?”

“Yes. I don’t underestimate you two. The more we worked with 【Maple Tree】—as rivals, as allies—the more my view changed. The time I most want to challenge Maple… is when you’re linked with Sally.”
Even if it’s two-on-one, that’s the challenge worth taking. Payne wanted to overcome your strongest shape—and to him, that meant your duo play.

“I’m sorry. I came alone today.”

“Don’t worry. Talking now confirmed it: I’ll wait until you two are together. I can’t say when—but I’ll wait for that chance.”

“Got it.”

“Tell everyone in 【Maple Tree】 this as well: if anything happens, we’ll help—same as always.”

“Yes! And we’ll come running if you need us!”

“That would be great. ‘Small and elite’ might as well be written for your guild.”
Even without Maple and Sally, 【Maple Tree】 was a great ally—and their smaller roster would benefit from teaming with 【Holy Swords】.

They talked a bit about the days ahead. It was important work for Maple as a guild master about to step back. After a useful chat, Payne nodded farewell and moved to leave on Ray.

—

That was when it happened.
Something shot out of the forest at furious speed and tore across the plain toward them.

“…!”
Both drew their weapons—then lowered them at once as they recognized the runner.

“Sally!”

“Hah… hah… Maple, you were here.”
Maple’s signal—well, Maple herself as a firework—hadn’t reached Velvet. But it reached Sally perfectly. It was, after all, the same sign 【Maple Tree】 invented in the 8th event to regroup.

That Maple used it now… and that Sally happened to be in sight of it… all coincidence.

Yet that was enough.
Fate brought them together.

“Yeah! I was talking with Mr. Payne.”

“Are you about to fight?”

“No. We were just saying—if I could, I’d like to challenge both Maple and Sally at once.”

“! Oh—Sally! Since you’re here, why don’t we fight Mr. Payne together?”
Surprised but delighted by Sally’s arrival, Maple clapped as an idea popped.

“Eh?”

“But we can’t form a party now, right?”

“That’s true. But… it’s the last day, and he said he wanted this… so…”

Maple trailed off, and Sally scratched her head. Even now—no, because it was the end—Sally wanted to respect Maple’s wish.

That wish was the very thing that had tugged at Sally’s heart for so long.

“If that’s what Maple wants, then I’m in.”

“What do you think, Mr. Payne?”

“…Objectively, this is system-wise a one-on-one-on-one. You two won’t be in a party. Maple, you understand what that means?”

“Yes!”
If Maple and Sally weren’t in a party, then Maple’s 【Self-Offering Love】 and 【Afterglow of Salvation】 wouldn’t help Sally, and things like 【Machine God】 or 【Annihilation Zone】 would kill her. Payne wanted to fight their teamwork—but like this, it wouldn’t be a true link.

“Sally, are you serious about this?”

“…Yes. We’ll lose some options, but I don’t plan on losing.”

“I don’t know how that’s possible… which is why I want to see what’s behind your confidence. If you both say so, then show me the way you move—an unrepeatable moment I could only see now.”
Two people acting as allies while counted as enemies. It was rarer than fighting their formal duo.

“Understood! Sally!”

“Right. Mr. Payne, give us a minute for a quick plan.”

“Of course. I’ll turn around and set the duel rules. Call me when you’re ready.”
While Payne waited, Maple and Sally huddled.

“So, Maple. Got the ‘perfect plan’?”

“Uh, um…”

“Yeah, I figured.”

“Eh!?”

“…I have one trick. But it’s really a once-only finisher. We can’t miss the timing. Can you do that?”

“…! Yes!”

“Heh. Good. One more thing: can you trust me completely?”

“Of course!”

“I trust you too. Payne is sharp. Above all, don’t let him read our aim.”
Sally smiled, then quietly explained her one-time secret to Maple.