A dagger drove home, turning another player into many motes of light.
Three hours had passed since sunset.
Maple Tree had no problem keeping their orbs safe and earned points from each of
them.
It wasn't long before Sally slipped out again, racing across the map once more.
In a short while, she'd stolen two more orbs.
And killed countless players.
She'd just taken out another.
"Whew, nine o'clock? I wonder how many more orbs I can get before dawn?"
She checked her map.
It was positively bristling with information: locations of weapon repair items,
landmarks, guild size, and defenses, as well as core roster size, paths that enemy
scouts often took, good locations for ambushes, etc.
The event had been going for nine hours now.
The info she'd gathered was helping her slip through the gaps in the other guilds'
defenses.
The reason Sally was going all out on day one was because she wanted to snatch as
many orbs as possible while easy foes were still around. In the second half of the
event, contests over orbs would get far more intense.
By the final day, it was entirely possible all small guilds would be eliminated,
meaning their orbs would no longer be up for grabs.
"Getting an early lead and keeping it is the only way to win."
That was why Sally never stopped running.
She was more than ready for any challenge or threat.
"Next is… Yeah, it's gotta be them."
She was off again.
By this point, alliances were forming, and scouts she'd killed were spreading word
about her.
Back at the Maple Tree headquarters, the twins were talking.
"Mai, we still can't dodge normal attacks at all."
"True. But we're most familiar with daggers, so I feel like we should be able to dodge
those at least once."
They'd been training with Sally, so they'd seen her weapon in action more than any
other. Plus, it was certainly easier to tell where an attack was coming from with a
dagger compared with other kinds of weapons.
But that was only relatively speaking—they were pretty far from reliably dodging
anything.
"That's why I was wondering if there's a strategy that can take advantage of our
strengths."
During the full-team fight, Yui had seen everyone putting their unique talents on
display, and it had inspired her to see if there was anything else they could try.
Everyone else would likely say they were plenty unique already, but at their age, they
wanted to find something all their own that could help everyone out.
"Hmm, I get that."
"And so I thought of this one thing…," Yui whispered in Mai's ear.
Her idea made Mai's eyes go wide—but it did seem like something they could pull
off. They looked at each other and grinned.
"That sounds amazing! I love it!"
"Right? If we can pull it off with the right timing…"
"Exactly!"
They started discussing the finer details of their scheme.
Kanade, Maple, and Chrome were watching from across the room.
"I think I'm gonna make a scouting run," Kanade said. "I'll be back in say… two
hours?"
"Yeah? Fine by me." Maple nodded immediately.
They had plenty of defenders. And as long as he came back on time, it wouldn't
impact their sleep rotation.
She had no reason to say no.
It was Kanade's first time outside the base since the event began, and he first
checked his map.
"If Sally's info is right, I should head this way."
Kanade was half scouting, half hoping to collect some orbs himself.
Sally had shared her information-overload map with him following the all-hands
battle, and he remembered every single detail.
"She's pushing herself. I gotta do what I can to help."
Even Sally couldn't keep that up indefinitely. Kanade felt the best way to give her
time to rest was if he could snag some orbs himself.
He headed toward his chosen target and hid in the trees, having spotted the orb
glittering in the dark once he arrived.
"A midsize guild calls for…"
He used his Sorcerer's Stacks skill to call up his bookshelves and pored over his
grimoire collection, ultimately selecting two.
"I should be able to get back faster than I thought. Giant's Arm!"
In response to his call, one of the grimoires flew up, transforming his right arm.
For a short time, his arm would be long and thick.
It was hard to control and didn't last long—definitely not designed for detail work.
But…
It was more than enough to grab an orb off a pedestal seven yards away.
"Flare Impetus."
Flames shot from his feet, and he headed back home, orb in hand.
"A-after that guy!! Noooow!"
The shouts in his wake soon faded. He ran between trees and rocks, quickly gaining
ground.
An attack too unexpected for anyone to react in time had allowed him to bring
treasure back to the forbidden realms.
"I hope this eases her burden."
Knowing full well Sally was still out there running her feet off, Kanade made it back
home safely.
While Kanade was swiping that orb, Sally was, once again, attacking a small guild
under cover of darkness.
"Oboro, it's go time."
With her fox around her neck, she quietly moved closer.
This base was outdoors and using a number of torches or similar items to keep
things bright; their light could be spotted from miles away.
This made them an obvious target, but they had to keep it bright because of players
like Sally.
And Sally could tell more players were patrolling or standing on lookout.
"They've got… fifteen."
She could probably take them all out, but she preferred to avoid combat.
This was mostly to avoid unwarranted attention, but there was also a part of her that
was aware active combat would wear her out faster.
When the lookout turned his back, Sally broke into a run.
"Superspeed!"
She was definitely getting tired, but she could still compensate by concentrating
harder.
She made a beeline for the orb, cutting down anyone who stood in her way and
defending herself with magic.
She'd been making these runs all day, polishing her motions until no wasted actions
remained. Sally had always been good. Now it would take more than unremarkably
strong players to impede her progress.
"Leap!"
She kicked off the ground, hand shooting straight to the orb.
Once she was sure it was in her inventory, she bounded over the pedestal and kept
running without slowing down.
She couldn't risk stopping.
Including her latest orb, she had three on her.
There was a perpetual risk of her pursuers catching up.
"Phew… next!"
She needed to get as many orbs as possible, as fast as possible.
Sally wasn't stopping, and nobody could stop her.
"Oboro, Fox Fire!"
A few members of that last guild were giving chase, but her pet's flames made them
flinch back, increasing her lead.
Slower players were usually stuck on guard duty. That was why Maple was guarding
Maple Tree's base.
So once she had the orb, a player like Sally was in the wind.
Keep chasers from catching up, lose them in the darkness, and while they were
checking the orb's location on their maps, get far enough away that they would never
catch her.
And if they were still on her heels, she could bait them into fighting another guild
again.
"Where to go next?… Hmm?"
She caught a glimpse of torchlight out of the corner of her eye.
There wasn't a single visible guard. A very short-staffed guild, perhaps?
"That looks like a chance…!"
She changed course, aiming for their orb.
Well aware this could be a trap, she swiftly closed in—and was genuinely surprised
to find that she didn't bump into anyone.
"…Did a stolen orb just respawn? The terrain says they're midsize, so…"
If their members started flooding back, it could spell trouble, so Sally made herself
scarce.
Maple Tree was busy defending the orb Kanade had swiped.
"Crystal Wall!"
Since Maple could get hit without taking damage, she really hadn't found much use
for this skill before, but it was really pulling its weight in this event.
Throwing up an obstacle and stopping foes in their tracks made them sitting ducks
for her team's attacks. This thinned their numbers to the point where the frontliners—immortal thanks to Martyr's Devotion—could take them all down.
Maple's support was unbeatable. Mai and Yui were getting hit plenty, and even
Chrome often found himself surrounded.
But instead of crumbling, the melee fighters stood their ground, focusing on damage
over evasion, and quickly dispatched the attackers. While Maple Tree members
almost never needed to dodge, their assailants couldn't afford to let a single blow
connect or they'd be done for.
The resulting imbalance was devastating. The defense could throw out so much
more damage.
If you couldn't beat Maple, then defeat was inevitable.
"Whew, looks like we're done for now."
"Yes… looks like…"
"I'm so tired…"
"The first day's almost over. Should we start taking turns to sleep?"
Chrome had his menu open, and it was indeed almost midnight.
Everyone readily agreed to his suggestion.
Sally, Iz, and Kasumi were all out hunting, so they'd take their turn resting later;
given the numbers, it made sense to have two members taking brief naps at a time.
"Mai and Yui, you wanna go first? It's probably best if I stay here."
"Mm… I can cover while you're out, Maple," Kanade said. "I've got some AOE support,
too. But for now, I agree—you two can go first."
The twins had the least experience fighting other players and were the defense
team's core DPS, so they were already at the peak of fatigue.
They could definitely use a break.
"Okay, go catch some z's! Don't worry, defense is kinda my thing."
The twins came off the front line to sleep.
"Iz and Kasumi will be back soon enough."
That would give them more defensive options. This was undoubtedly the best time
for Mai and Yui to get some rest.
"It's only gonna get rougher from here on out."
At this hour, every guild had fewer defenders.
Whether they chose to take advantage of that and focus on attacking or lock down
their defenses would depend on their guild's size and their current point count.
Maple Tree needed to keep growing their score while also never letting their defense
slacken—with only eight members total.
"Gotta hang in there. I have to protect everyone so we can survive till day five. We can
do this."
Maple braced herself for whatever the rest of the night had in store for them.
One AM.
After the full team battle at the base, Sally had been snatching orbs without stop,
never once heading home.
She had amassed quite a bit. Her inventory was currently stuffed with ten orbs.
That alone was unprecedented, but since orb acquisition wasn't her only goal,
heading back had not been an option.
And this secondary goal was almost complete. Sally was leaning against a tree,
looking tired. Oboro pressed up against her feet, appearing concerned, and she
managed a weak smile, then knelt down to rub its head.
"Whew… Maybe it's time I headed back."
She forced herself to run once more.
If she stopped, the players chasing after her would catch up. Being hunted was now a
constant for her.
"...Hmm?"
Sally paused for a moment and hid behind a rock. She focused her mind once more,
taking stock of the players around her.
This was no small party.
There were more than a hundred people.
"I'm surrounded…!"
Exhaustion had affected her enemy-detection skills without her realizing it.
Her foes were spread out, lurking in the shadows—but the way they were moving
made it clear they all knew where she was.
"…One of these orbs belongs to a big guild, huh?"
That would explain it.
Since there was no way to tell which, however, she couldn't dump that orb to make a
getaway.
"They're not just gonna let me slip away."
She quickly popped her map open, checking the position of Maple Tree's members.
Then after sending one quick message, she pulled out five Doping Seeds.
"Right. Gotta make it home somehow."
Even as she spoke, the sky lit up like it was noon.
Someone's spell had installed a miniature sun up above, preventing her from
slipping away under cover of darkness.
The players surrounding her were playing for keeps.
"…They must think they've lucked into a big score," Sally whispered, gulping down
the last of the Doping Seeds as she emerged from her hiding spot.
Her opponents had quit hiding, too, and were already circling her.
They were leaving some gaps, giving themselves room to fight, but making sure to
not present her with any openings she could slip through.
"We've got her cornered! Go!"
They raised a cry, ready to charge—but nobody moved.
"Cornered? Am I?"
Sally's entire demeanor had changed.
This wasn't just focused.
She was radiating pure bloodlust.
One false move and they were dead. That's what the dangerous glint in her eyes and
her unhinged smile said.
Her foes were starting to believe the odds were actually stacked against them.
Sally herself could feel her fatigue vanishing. Surpassing your limits gives you access
to unprecedented power.
Her senses were honed, and her body felt light—
"All right… time to do my best to survive."
Whipping herself up, Sally raised her daggers.
Nobody was coming after them, and Maple was getting bored. Then a message came.
"From Sally? What does it say?"
Just three words.
Might die. Sorry.
Nothing more.
Sally could feel her senses working overtime.
And the more she fought, the more they were picking up.
Her ears caught a certain voice barking orders.
"Frederica…"
Not a voice Sally would ever mistake.
And if Frederica was here, she was obviously fighting the Order of the Holy Sword.
That meant Sally had a solid chance at surviving.
"Attack Lure!"
Sally dodged the first wave of spells. The front line seized the moment and surged
forward.
They all had the same intel.
If Sally was gonna survive this, she had to stealthily guide the battle.
Fail to control the enemy and she was as good as dead.
"Thanks, Frederica."
With a muttered word of gratitude to her unseen foe, Sally dodged the swings of the
front-liners.
"Attack Lure!"
Players in earshot were still attacking, but their blows weren't nearly as strong.
Encountering the unexpected sparks surprise and confusion, which dulls attacks.
They didn't realize yet that Sally's skills had no use limit.
In fact, the "skill" simply didn't exist. Blows kept raining down, but Sally was dodging
them all manually.
"Wow… I can see everything."
The change in perception was astonishing.
Her focus was so intense it made the swords look slow—as if the world was usually
on fast-forward. And the fear radar was working—the same one she'd tried without
success earlier in the day.
Not only was it working, it was far more effective than Dread's.
Her grasp of impending threats was as vivid as if they had already happened.
Pushed beyond her limits, Sally had awakened and was hurtling toward new heights.
"I can't hit her! Dammit!"
"I won't lose. Not here…!"
Every swing Sally took landed. Every swing aimed at her missed.
She used Attack Lure again and again, and by the time Frederica started to sense
something was amiss, Sally had already slain twenty players.
"It's… not a skill?!" Frederica gasped, finally grasping the truth.
But that meant… there was nothing they could do.
Their countermeasures were useless. This horrifying realization began to spread
through the crowd.
Unfortunately, knowing didn't help.
"Rah!"
As a powerful blow hurtled toward her, Sally stepped out of the way—
However, she didn't just dodge.
She evaded it by a hairbreadth and immediately landed a counter.
"Now!"
Spells shot toward her, but she'd instinctively guessed the timing of their attack.
"Shoulder Throw!"
She sheathed her weapons, grabbed a player, and promptly threw them into the air.
The player's body blocked the incoming spells, and not one of them reached Sally.
Since friendly fire was off, their ally took no damage, but on the way down, Sally
mercilessly laid into them.
"Is she even human…?"
They still had seventy players—but put another way, they'd already lost thirty. The
fact that the outcome of this battle was even in question proved Sally had already
broken their spirit, all on her own.
"Oboro, Shadow Clone."
This was no time to keep tricks up her sleeve.
Sally's survival depended on constant surprises and keeping her foes secondguessing themselves.
"I'm gonna survive… and take you all out!"
Unlike the real Sally, her clones were soon taken out. But each took at least one foe
down with them.
And Sally herself was trying to break out of the center.
But then—
"Gotcha!"
A sword stabbed her in the back.
A cheer went up from the crowd.
"Nope, not yet."
The Mirage-generated fake dissolved.
There was no end to the shocking surprises.
Frederica had started out confidently barking orders from the back, but Sally was too
great a threat for that—she was now in the fray herself.
If Sally hadn't limit broken herself, she'd have been dead long ago.
Surrounding Sally forced her to confront her own limits—defeating her required
they prevent Sally from surpassing them.
"Multi-Firebolt!"
Frederica was watching Sally with disbelief.
Literally nothing had hit her yet.
They were missing by a fraction of an inch—but that tiny distance seemed
insurmountable.
"We're in trouble…!"
Since Sally was prioritizing survival, she wasn't eliminating players very quickly, but
she was still taking out a lot.
Frederica had chosen a location with plenty of cover as it was the ideal place to set
up an ambush. But now the terrain was helping Sally stay alive.
"Tsk… More enemies catching up?"
Members of other guilds were chasing down the orbs she held, joining the
encirclement. Even as she realized this, Sally had to keep moving, dodging
Frederica's bombardment.
"I'm good. I can still do… this?"
Out of nowhere—
Her feet stopped. She fell to her knees.
"Water Wall!"
She managed to roll out of the path of the oncoming firebolts, but a moment later,
she was surrounded.
This was a group of very cautious players. Wary of some new trick, they did not
immediately attack.
She'd already pulled tricks like that repeatedly.
But she'd also been moving beyond her limits for some time now.
That wasn't something anyone could keep up for long.
Frederica placed barriers on everyone. Watching them step closer, Sally whispered,
"You won't get me twice."
"Multi-Firebolt."
At Frederica's chant—everything exploded.
But it wasn't because of Frederica's spell.
Flames arced through the sky, trailing smoke—like a meteor hurtling toward them.
It landed between Frederica and Sally.
And then the glare of the firebolts blinded everyone.
When the dazzle died down, a girl with white wings and black armor stood before
them.
"You can't have her," Maple said. "Not on my watch."
Maple summoned Syrup, barking an order.
"Rampart!"
Walls rose out of the ground, obscuring Sally and Maple from view.
The barriers towered so high Frederica's team could not hope to scale them.
"Maple… how…?"
It was too great a distance for her to have ridden Syrup.
Sally had known she'd never make it in time—that was why she hadn't asked for
help.
"I'll explain later! I left Mai and Yui on their own, so we gotta head back quick! Grab
hold!"
"O-okay…" Sally forced herself to her feet and put her arms around Maple.
Maple secured Sally, holding her tight, and got ready to make their escape.
"Deploy Artillery."
Weapons sprouted from every inch of Maple, filling the interior of the ramparts.
And every barrel was pointed down.
"Here we go!"
"What?! Y-you've gotta be kidding me!"
Heedless of Sally's panic, every weapon fired, belching fire and smoke.
It was basically self-destruct.
But Maple could soak all the damage.
Scrapping her top-tier weapons in the ensuing explosion, she launched herself into
the skies above.
Without the leg stabilizers, the recoil would send her flying. That much force would
normally kill any player. But since Maple was immune to it, the move turned her into
a rocket.
When she reached the peak of her trajectory, she started shouting skill names.
"Full Deploy! Commence Assault! Hydra!"
Laser after laser fired at the ground below. Like an endless meteor shower, hundreds
of shots gouged the earth, scorching the players unlucky enough to get hit.
And these were followed by a three-headed dragon that turned the area into a lake of
poison.
Few people with Frederica had Poison Nullification. They hadn't planned on fighting
Maple, so most hadn't equipped their anti-Maple gear.
They proved no match for Hydra.
Just as they had Sally cornered, they were sent back to their guild, not even sure
what had happened.
Sally had killed thirty.
And Maple had killed far more than that.
Had it not been for that carpet-bombing from above, they surely wouldn't have lost
that many.
"That's for going after Sally!"
With another blast of flame, she flew back toward the Maple Tree base.
"Ughh… What was thaaat?!"
Frederica had thrown out every defense she had, and she had Poison Nullification, so
she'd managed to survive. Barely. Sitting in a lake of poison.
"We're not letting you get away scot-free…!"
She was in shambles, her ploy completely foiled, but she had one bright idea left.
One that might make up for this unmitigated disaster.
If it didn't pay off, Pain could complain all he liked, and she wouldn't be able to
object.
"Please, Dread! Do something…"
He wasn't even here to hear her plea, but she had to pin her prayers on him.
Mai and Yui were standing before the orbs.
"Do you think Maple made it in time?"
"She and Sally were together on my map, so I think she did!"
"How'd she get there so fast?"
"I dunno. But she said she'd be back soon!"
But they weren't sure how soon that would be.
"Yui, I made sure we were ready."
"Good. But… are you sure we shouldn't wake Kanade and Chrome? It would be
safer…"
They decided to play it safe…
But they weren't given time.
"! Yui! It's the enemy!"
"Huh?!"
The twins raised their hammers.
A single player was walking into the entrance.
Dread.
They'd located Maple Tree's base.
The Order of the Holy Sword hadn't tried anything, because Maple was too
dangerous. But with her gone and Dread lying in wait nearby—why wouldn't he
attack?
"Sigh… Frederica sure knows how to work a man to the bone. Are we sure Maple's
not here? If she really is gone… I got this."
He'd headed straight in the moment he got Frederica's message.
It would only be a matter of minutes before Maple got back, but that was a long time
for Mai and Yui to hold out.
"Yui, we're taking him down!"
"I know!"
They both popped a Doping Seed, boosting their STR still further.
They couldn't afford to lose here.
"Ha… not happening." Dread broke into a dead run, drawing closer with every
second.
Yui swung her hammer down.
He was still a decent distance away, but that didn't matter.
"Farshot!"
The skill made her hammer glow, and a shock wave shot out—one guaranteed to be
fatal.
"Hmph!"
But Dread dodged it.
He did it without even slowing down.
"Double Stamp!"
As he dodged Yui's attack, Dread targeted Mai, swinging his dagger.
"Mai!"
"I-I'm okay!"
It was pure chance she managed to dodge his blow.
He used the same weapon as Sally, and she could recognize that attack motion
anywhere. Her body had instinctively started moving before her conscious mind
even realized it.
But that wouldn't happen twice.
Dread had received a full briefing on the twins' raw DPS output from scout units.
As a result, he was being careful not to get hit and avoiding getting too close. That
was what had allowed Mai to survive.
"Mai! Get back a little!"
"Okay!"
Mai ran toward the wall.
But Dread was far faster. He caught up quick.
"You're slow."
"...! Augh!!"
Dread's dagger swung toward her.
But then— Mai threw her weapon at Dread.
"Huh?!"
He hadn't expected this desperate strategy.
Seeing his surprise, Mai grinned. "That won't hit!"
Again, his body contorted out of the weapon's path. Now Mai was unarmed. His
blade swung toward her again—until a shudder made him leap backward.
An instant later, a shock wave erupted where he'd just been standing.
"The other one…! What?"
He'd turned to see the glow of a skill about to activate—on Yui's second hammer.
The one Mai had thrown.
"Crap… gah?!"
The second shock wave hit him hard, slamming him into the wall.
Mai hadn't been armed with a hammer. She'd merely been holding the hammer Yui
had equipped.
When she'd thrown it, she'd just been giving it back.
Once it was back in her hands, Yui could activate a second—unexpected—skill.
This was one hell of a trick that only the two of them could pull off.
"We're barely half a player on our own—"
"But if we join forces—"
""We can beat any player.""
They might still be lacking in experience and technique, but this was a big step
toward true greatness.
A very big step.
But not far enough.
"Damn, you're all brutal."
""No way?!""
"One down!"
Dread's dagger tore Mai open.
She had no way of withstanding this.
Dread's HP had exactly one point remaining. That wasn't luck. It was clearly the work
of a skill.
This was the advantage of time.
He'd just been playing that much longer than them.
"Bye…!"
"Maple… sorry…"
He'd turned the tables on their secret plan, and his blades took Yui down in short
order.
Dread sheathed his daggers and chugged a potion, restoring his HP.
"Sigh… what a mess. This whole guild's a headache."
When his HP was topped up, he turned toward their orb, muttering, "Looks like I win
this time— Huh?!"
Time ran out before he touched the orb.
There was an explosive roar behind him. Maple had brought Sally back.
"...I'll have to make it up to the twins later."
"Fredericaaaa! You owe me one!"
Dread had won the match but lost the battle.
The twins had bought enough time.
And Maple wasn't about to waste this opportunity.