Once the light around them faded, they could see clearly again.
Maple raised her great shield, wary of surprise attacks. But the powerful opening
attack they'd feared never arrived.
In fact, there were no signs of any monsters.
The girls scanned their surroundings cautiously.
They found themselves in a large circular space.
There were glowing blue crystals set in the walls and no ceiling at all.
Snow was falling.
"Chrome's party… is already gone."
"Probably respawned at their starting point. But… that fast?"
Wariness rising, Sally searched for clues.
On the far wall was an extra-large crystal formation—and a giant bird's nest on top of
it.
The nest was unoccupied—for now. The silence was heavy.
"Okay… I think I get it. The boss here's gonna be a giant bird. Oceanic may not help
much…"
Oceanic was one of Sally's skills. It lowered enemy AGI, but since the effect spread
outward from her feet, it was unlikely to hit a flying enemy.
"What do we do? Approach the nest?"
"…Carefully. It'll most likely show itself the moment we do."
Watching each other's backs, they inched toward the nest.
And when they were five yards from it…
A deafening roar exploded overhead, and something plunged down out of the sky.
The girls had been expecting this and were able—barely—to leap backward, out of the
way.
A jagged pillar of ice smashed into the spot they had been standing in just moments
earlier.
It was followed by a monstrous bird with wings the color of snow.
There was a piercing gleam in its eyes, every bit as sharp as its beak and talons. Its
entire form radiated power.
Diplomacy was clearly not an option.
The fight had already begun.
Magic circles appeared on either side of the bird.
These launched so many ice chunks that nothing could be seen behind the incoming
fusillade.
"Cover!"
Maple lowered her shield and planted herself in front of Sally.
If she blocked this volley the normal way, she'd lose all uses of Devour at once.
"Good! It's not piercing!"
Any chunks that hit Maple's body were rendered powerless.
This bird seemed to be a good deal smarter than your average monster. It quickly
realized the attack wasn't working, merged the magic circles together, and fired the
same massive ice spike it had used to open the fight.
What it gained in power, it lost in coverage.
Sally spotted an opening and darted out.
"Maple!"
"Cover Move!"
Maple forcibly caught up with Sally when she was a few yards from the bird.
They were only a couple of steps away when it let out an earsplitting shriek.
A white magic circle appeared, covering the entire floor.
"Crap…!"
There was a rumble, and massive spikes of ice shot out of the ground, each over a yard
tall.
They covered every inch of the ground… except the area around Maple.
The cloud of snow and ice scattered—revealing Maple, with her shield pointed at the
ground.
"... Whew, glad you thought of that, Maple!"
"Only six Devour left!"
"Roger that!"
Sally kicked off a spike, leaping toward the bird.
The footholds were so bad, she couldn't afford to stop for even a second.
The bird tried to slash her with its claws, moving every bit as fast as she was.
"Superspeed!"
The bird took a moment to react to her sudden acceleration. And in the dizzying chaos
of battle, that proved fatal.
"Cover Move!"
Maple closed the distance instantly, putting her great shield between Sally and the
talons—and swallowing up the bird's entire leg.
The monster raised a howl of pain and anger.
And that gave Maple time to attack again.
"Hydra!"
A three-headed dragon swallowed the giant bird.
Maple landed on the poison-coated ice spikes below while Sally leaped away,
observing the results.
The bird let out a wave of extreme cold that froze the poison coating it.
Then that frozen poison shattered, scattering the glittering shards onto the ground.
"That only took out ten percent of its HP?!"
"You're kidding!"
They'd been expecting Maple's attacks to end this fight quickly, but this thing was
clearly a damage sponge.
While they gaped, the ice spikes around the bird lifted off the ground, breaking and
gathering together…
And a few seconds later, the ice missiles shot forward.
"Cover Move! Cover!"
Maple jumped in front of Sally, lowering her shield and taking the hits head-on.
Red damage effects sprayed all over her.
"Agh! It's getting through! Meditation!"
Cover Move's side effect meant piercing damage was doubled. Each shot that hit her
was taking 10 percent off Maple's health bar. It was dropping fast.
"Heal!"
Their strategy for unavoidable piercing damage was to have Maple activate Meditation
and recover over time, while Sally stood behind her casting Heal as fast as she could.
The best they could do was keep this up until the volley slowed down.
The barrage lasted a good twenty seconds.
When the ice stopped pounding around them, the surrounding area was torn to pieces.
"Time to move!"
"Yup!"
They ran off in opposite directions.
The bird targeted Sally and hurtled after her.
"Focus!" she yelled, whipping her mind into action. Her eyes locked on the boss.
There were ice chunks flying alongside it.
But because the bird was flying with them, the gaps were much wider.
And at max focus, Sally could slip in between those.
"Leap!"
Timing her jump flawlessly, she sailed over the top of the bird.
"Slash!"
And as she passed over it, she sliced its back—not forgetting to use her Affliction skill
to apply a paralysis effect.
The more paralysis she stacked on it, the more openings to attack they'd have.
The actual damage she'd done was so small, it wasn't even visible to the naked eye,
but that didn't mean it was nothing.
The bird wheeled around, spread its wings, and flapped them hard.
The resulting gale violently uprooted the remaining spikes, creating a hail of ice that
was hard to predict.
Sally used Leap again, throwing herself sideways, out of the gale's path.
"Hydra!" Maple yelled. With Sally out of the way, the dragon had a clear path to the
bird again.
Since it had just finished furiously flapping, the bird was unable to react to Maple's
attack in time.
One of the three dragon heads struck home.
"Wind Cutter! Fire Ball!"
Sally was throwing out attacks every chance she got, just trying to chip away whatever
health she could.
Once again, the poison froze and was shaken off.
The bird must have registered Hydra as a serious threat, because this time it charged
at Maple.
But the ice chunks couldn't damage her, so that posed no problem.
She didn't even try to dodge.
The bird swung its talons at Maple, attempting to rip her in two.
Maple raised her great shield, trying to swallow the bird whole.
The bird reeled backward, spewing damage effects everywhere.
Seizing the chance, Maple swung her shield again.
There were red sparks skittering off her body, too.
The bird's damage output was so high that even without a piercing effect, it could
overwhelm Maple's 1,000+ points of Vitality.
But it was obvious at a glance which side had come out worse from the exchange.
The HP bar floating over the bird was down to 70 percent.
"Leap!"
As the bird staggered back, Sally vaulted onto its back again.
"Oceanic!"
A burst of water spread out across the bird's back.
The bird's body was drenched.
It let out a roar and thrashed wildly, but Sally had already leaped away.
The boss was moving noticeably slower.
"Hydra!"
And at this range, without its full speed, there was no way it could dodge.
Its health took another solid hit.
"Double Slash! Fire Ball!"
Maple was wrecking its HP from up close.
Meanwhile, Sally was mounting hit-and-run attacks, stacking paralysis effects whenever
she could.
And Maple's great shield swallowed another chunk of bird boss.
The bird's talons had Maple down to half health, but that was far from fatal.
But when the bird's HP hit the halfway point…
It suddenly backed away, sinking its talons deep into the ground.
Its beak yawned open, and the magic circle it revealed was twice Maple's height.
Both knew instantly—this was bad.
"Cover Move! Cover!"
Just as the words left Maple's lips…
Silver laser beams blanketed everything in sight.
Several seconds later, the blinding light faded.
The terrain around them was in ruins. A testament to the sheer power of the laser
beam attack.
Maple was standing at the center of those ruins, shield held high.
This stalwart defense had allowed Sally to escape the lasers of death.
Sally used Heal to replenish Maple's HP.
Still taking cover in Maple's shadow, she drank a potion, recharging her MP.
"One more Devour."
"Yeah, I know."
There was no way to withstand those lasers without Devour.
They'd survived the attack, but at the cost of using up their main damage dealer.
The scales were tipping against them.
"If it uses those lasers again, Cover Move me," Sally said, talking quickly. "Stay close."
Then she ran off toward the bird. Maple followed closely.
With its attention focused on Sally, she could slip in another Hydra attack.
The bird raked the ground with its talons, fluttered into the air, and started spamming
ice chunks again.
All aimed at Sally.
Maple may have easily blocked these, but Sally knew…
If one so much as nicked her, she was done for.
Like her battle against the giant fish, her concentration went into overdrive.
The chunks seemed to slow—and she could spot the gaps between them now.
Sally's body twisted, slipping between them.
She crouched, jumped, even smashed some with her weapons—until she was right up
against the bird.
"Double Slash!"
She dodged ice chunks and talons, mixing up her skills and stringing attacks together
relentlessly.
The boss tried to use its claws to take her out, but each time, Sally escaped by a
hairbreadth.
And each time it swung, she cut at another spot on its legs.
"Slash!"
Each cut was tiny.
But the more paralysis she stacked, the less the bird could move.
"Hydra!"
Sally had risked her life to create this opportunity, and Maple didn't waste it.
The bird's movements had become far too sluggish to avoid the poison dragon.
Sally had done everything she could to maximize Maple's chances.
And Maple held up her end.
The bird's health bar was now just over 40 percent.
"Venom Cutter!" Maple yelled, attacking again. A magic circle appeared at the tip of
her blade—nowhere near as strong as Hydra, but damage was damage.
Sally was hurling spells at it, too, chipping away.
When the boss's health dipped below 40 percent, the paralysis wore off, and it was
free again.
It targeted Maple this time, spamming the hail-laden gale attack.
This attack couldn't hurt Maple, so she lowered her shield, saving her last Devour.
While the ice was pelting Maple, Sally was free to attack in relative safety.
Her rush took off another 5 percent.
But doing damage at these speeds burned through her MP.
She had to keep a close eye on it or she'd be tapped out right when she needed it most.
The moment the boss hit 35 percent health…
The bird stopped sending out gales and took off.
Both girls figured that meant nothing good. They huddled together in the center of the
room.
Peering up through the falling snow, they could see the bird's glittering white wings
turning black, as if darkness were swallowing them whole.
The bird boss's HP bar started draining—and kept draining, until it had only 10
percent left.
The bird's scream shook the very air.
"Here it comes!"
"I noticed!"
Maple raised her shield, ready to sacrifice her last Devour.
The pitch-black bird folded its wings, diving toward them.
It hit Maple's shield at supersonic speeds.
Her last Devour swallowed half its remaining HP but left Maple's great shield without
its strongest means of protecting her.
A swift strike from the bird's talons…
And the great shield snapped in two.
Her armor had been rent asunder.
Her HP dropped below 10 percent.
"Unh… aghhh…!"
It dealt so much damage, she gasped aloud. Dark light poured from the bird's mouth.
"Maple!"
Sally leaped into the air.
Maple's best chance at survival came because the wheels in Sally's brain never once
stopped turning.
"Cover Move!"
This desperate cry sent her rocketing toward Sally's position, narrowly avoiding the
laser beams.
The bird turned to charge again.
Its speed was downright unreasonable, way beyond even Sally's estimations.
But before the attack hit her…
"Cover!"
Maple stepped between them.
She had less than 10 percent health but chose to protect Sally, knowing full well it
might be the last action she could take.
Maple didn't think about it much. Her body moved on sheer instinct.
Her great shield and armor were stronger now, thanks to Destructive Growth—but
the bird's claws tore through Maple anyway.
Damage effects sprayed everywhere.
But Maple did not die.
When her HP bar had only the slimmest of lines left, a white halo appeared around
her body.
"Leap!"
The claw attack had left the bird's limb fully extended, and Sally knew this was their
last chance. She had no idea how Maple had survived, but she pushed all speculation
out of her mind, throwing herself at the bird.
Maple warped after her.
A purple magic circle gleamed at the end of her short sword.
That last attack had left the bird off-balance—it had no way to dodge.
Sally was certain they'd won.
But the bird's eyes took on a sinister gleam, and a pitch-black magic circle appeared
between them. Sally realized victory was merely an illusion.
Surprise and fear showed on both girls' faces, but they were in midair, and there was
nothing they could do.
Before Hydra could activate, the bird's spell showered them in magic missiles.
The bird's final trump card swallowed the girls.
Both of them disappeared in the hail of shots.
It was like they'd never been there.
"How d'ya like that trick?"
An instant after the barrage ended, the air shimmered—and Sally appeared.
All this time…
She'd been saving Mirage for this exact moment.
Since she hadn't used it yet, the bird had no way of preparing for it.
"Cover Move!"
The real Maple caught up to Sally.
They were at point-blank range. Too close for the bird to dodge.
"Hydra!"
The poison engulfed it.
Its tail thrashed. It screamed.
And it sank to the ground.
White light poured out of its body, showering over the girls like a blessing from above.
"We did it… we won…"
"I'm so tired… Can I just sleep right here?"
Feeling absolutely ragged, they collapsed to the floor.
"Oh, right. What was that skill? How'd you survive that last attack?"
"Hang on… looks like it's called Indomitable Guardian. Great-shielder skill obtained by
protecting an ally at less than ten percent health. Can only be used once a day but lets
you survive a fatal hit with one HP."
"Oh, makes sense. I've heard of skills like that before. I think all I got was a level-up…
Wait, that means you only have one HP?! Heal!"
Warm light enveloped Maple, and her HP was restored.
Much less risk of surprise death.
They stood up, ready to check for spoils.
"The bird died in a lake of poison, so you'd better do the honors."
"Sure. Where are you going?"
"I'm gonna go check out that nest!"
They split up and headed in opposite directions.
There was no sign of any chests, but there had to be some sort of reward in here.
Maple went sloshing through the poison, searching the ground where the bird had
died.
"Oh! It did drop some materials!" she called.
Four black claws—strong enough they'd even hurt Maple. And three white feathers.
Clearly all top-tier materials.
"Maple! Come here!" Sally called, peering over the edge.
Maple ran up, standing right below the nest.
"Is the coast clear?"
"Yup! Cover Move it."
"Gotcha! Cover Move!"
She kicked the wall, launched herself into the air, and zipped to Sally's side. In the nest
were two eggs and five medals.
"Monster bird eggs?"
"No, they're different colors and sizes. The bird might have stolen them from
somewhere. No telling what'll hatch."
"Should we take them with us?"
"Definitely. It asked if I wanted to stick them in my inventory, so… which one do you
want?"
"You don't mind me picking?"
"Not at all. The choice is yours!"
One egg had a dark-green shell. The other was a light purple.
"Then… I like green better, so I'll take this one!"
"That makes this one mine."
They both checked the eggs' descriptions.
Monster Egg
Will hatch if kept warm.
"Not enough info!"
"I thought the same thing. Why would I wanna hatch a monster? Maybe we can tame
them…?"
This game didn't have summoner or tamer classes, so the odds weren't high, but given
how ridiculously strong the bird boss had been, there was a chance it was a unique
reward.
They decided to keep the eggs and see.
They each took two talons, and since Maple had been given first dibs on the eggs, Sally
got the extra feather.
They hopped down from the nest, heading for the exit circle.
"Wait, there are three of them?"
Like Maple said, there were three magic circles.
It seemed safe to assume each led to a different location.
"Sally, thoughts?"
"You're out of Devour, so I'd rather go someplace combat-free…"
Pondering the problem, Sally paced back and forth a minute. Then she stopped next
to one of the circles.
"Let's pick this one!"
"Cool! Here we go!"
They stepped onto the circle and vanished in a burst of light.
All that remained of their epic battle were the scars on the room itself.