Maple and Sally's winter break came to an end, and before long, they were halfway
through January.
It was the moment Sally had been waiting for—the launch of the fifth stratum.
On the day in question, Sally might have been the first to arrive at their Guild Home,
but every other member soon joined her.
"Oh, everyone's here!"
She hadn't expected that and was as delighted as she was surprised.
"Mm? Wait, but not Maple?" Chrome asked.
"Yeah, Maple…," Sally said sheepishly. "She's got the flu. Again. Happens every year."
"O-oh. Then do we want to save it for a later date?" he suggested.
They discussed it but concluded that Maple could easily get through it by pairing up
with whoever happened to be around, so they should forge ahead while everyone else
was present.
No one objected.
Frankly, odds were Maple could solo the boss.
And so Maple Tree headed into the dungeon leading to the fifth stratum without her.
The seven of them were making short work of the monsters on the way to the
dungeon.
Chrome pulled the aggro while Mai and Yui hit back hard. That was all it took. Chrome
made sure nothing even came close to attacking the twins. Maple tended to
overshadow him, but he was a top-class great shielder in his own right.
The main effect of Maple's absence was that the party's top speed was whatever the
twins' Agility-free builds could manage. But otherwise, they made for a very solid
party.
"Oh, there it is!" Chrome said, warding off a monster blow. He pointed at a cave
yawning open up ahead.
"Let's beat this thing," Kanade said, bookshelves dancing overhead.
"Can't wait!"
They plunged straight into the dungeon itself.
The interior was filled with monsters that either nullified or resisted physical damage.
If they were only resistant, the twins could still one-shot them, but if they completely
canceled it out, that wouldn't fly. And there were a great deal of wisps and spectral
monsters, which had a negative impact on Sally's performance. This meant Kanade
and Kasumi were up, and they took point as Maple Tree traversed the dungeon.
Iz didn't really fight much, but she'd done her fair share of exploring on the fourth
stratum and had learned a few tricks to deal with this kind of foe.
Chrome, too, had fought endless wisps; it was easy for him to anticipate their flames
and block them, buying time for Kanade to take them out.
If he took damage, Iz's items could easily fix that.
And the trash mobs that only resisted were never a threat in the first place.
This team could easily steamroll a dungeon full of monsters even without Maple.
They reached the boss door without breaking a sweat.
"Should I?" Sally asked, jerking her thumb at the door. Everyone nodded, bracing for
the impending battle.
As the doors swung open, everyone leaped in.
Deep inside the room was a nine-tailed fox sporting sleek yellow fur, each of its tails
swaying.
"Stick to the plan!" Sally yelled, and the party scattered.
Sally shot forward and hung left while Kasumi and Kanade weaved right.
The other three stayed by the door, safely behind Chrome.
As they ran, Sally and Kasumi both used the items Iz had given them—yellow crystals,
which they crushed with their hands. This made their weapons crackle with yellow
light.
The crystals had applied a paralysis effect to their weapons—a highly effective tactic
against quick enemies like this fox.
"Eyes on me!" Sally yelled, slashing its foreleg and drawing its aggro. It predictably
came after her, biting, slashing, and using its tails in an attempt to sweep her feet out
from under her, but she made excellent use of her new Ice Pillar to avoid those attacks
and hit back with counters.
And while she dodged this flurry, Kasumi and Kanade could do whatever they wanted.
"Paralyze Bomb!"
"Fourth Blade: Whirlwind!"
Kanade's spell and Kasumi's four-hit combo also had paralysis effects.
Sally kept laying on the damage, keeping the heat off them. When all was said and
done, the fox was designed to be weak to paralysis, so it didn't take long for it to lock
up.
"Paralysis active!"
It would be a lot harder to inflict the status effect a second time, so this was their one
shot.
But with Mai and Yui on their side, one shot was all they needed.
Chrome had kept their ultimate weapon safe from any stray shock waves, but now
they came running out, headed right at the fox.
Each step they took was like a countdown to the boss's death.
""Double Stamp!""
Their hammers swung, each delivering two titanic blows that ignored all future boss
phases, sounding the funeral bells.
With the twins on their team, they could invalidate all the design team's efforts. And if
their absent guild master were here, they could watch all phases play out without
them mattering at all.
A few days after everyone else made it to the fifth stratum, Maple arrived at the fourth
stratum Guild Home and found only Sally there.
"Everyone's upstairs?"
"Yup. Need any help? I don't have much time today, so if I'm coming, we should make
it quick."
She definitely seemed like she was in a hurry, so Maple decided to appreciate the
thought and let her log out.
"Oh, before you go—how was it? Strong, or…?"
"Uh… well, definitely one of the strongest enemies on this floor."
"Really?! Um, but you soloed it, right?"
"...? No, all seven of us went. But I'm sure you can manage on your own."
"Oh yeah? You can all work together now?"
Maple beamed, looking immensely pleased by that.
"Yeah? Sure. Sorry I'm not helping today. If I didn't have prior plans…"
"Don't worry about it! I'll be fine. You said I would be! And I'm sure I will be, too."
Maple said her good-byes and headed out.
"She just had to go the moment she got over the flu, huh? Hmm. Either way, I gotta
run!"
Sally logged out, not wanting to miss her real-world plans.
Maple ran straight for her destination. Everyone was ahead of her now, and she was
eager to catch up.
"It's showtime!"
She took a deep breath and stepped into the boss room.
"Hellooo?"
"Oh…? I did not expect a human," the tall white-clad ruler said.
Maple was here to face the strongest foe.
"Heh-heh-heh! You're gonna let me reach the fifth stratum!" she declared.
She followed him onto the circle, into the battle zone.
"Shall we begin, human?" the ruler said. In his right hand was a naginata over two
yards long.
"Don't be too hard, please! Full Deploy! Predators!"
There was a clang, and an instant later, Maple's body was bristling with artillery.
She had a shield on her left and a massive machine sword on her right, completely
hiding her body from view.
"Commence Assault!"
A barrage of cannon fire and lasers filled the air.
The volume of fire was so high that she only had to aim in a general direction.
Unfortunately, the ruler deflected every bullet with his blade, cutting them right out
of the air.
But since Maple's attacks never slowed for a second, he also couldn't attack her.
"You fight like Sally! Syrup, Giganticize!"
She had her pet float up above, and she and her monsters moved closer to the ruler.
This decreased the interval between each fired round, but still, the ruler remained
unharmed.
"Syrup, Spirit Cannon!"
A beam of light shot down from above—and the ruler dodged it.
"Urgh… Hydra!"
Poison surged out of her, bearing down on her foe.
In response, the ruler spun his naginata so fast that it sent all the poison spraying away
harmlessly.
But an instant later, Maple rocketed in, her all-consuming shield and dully gleaming
sword both thrust forward, turning herself into a living bullet.
But this also provided a momentary lapse in the cover fire.
"Farewell, human!"
The ruler's reaction took advantage of the lull. His naginata sliced into Maple's
weapons before sending her and her monsters flying.
The shield and sword undoubtedly made contact with the ruler's body, but they left
nothing more than a flesh wound.
"Yikes! Whoa! Whoa!"
Maple bounced across the ground a few times, clanking loudly, and scrambled to her
feet.
And found the ruler right on top of her.
"Saturating Chaos!"
The monster lunged at the ruler, but he neatly dodged it.
However, her Predators were right behind, and their mouths closed around both his
arms.
This seemingly did nothing to slow his naginata; his counterattack cut through them
both.
Maple came charging in through the shower of damage sparks, swinging her great
shield and slamming into the ruler's right side with Devour.
"You got my Predators, but I can't tell if that was piercing damage!"
If she used Martyr's Devotion, she'd lose a lot of HP. If piercing damage high enough to
take down both Predators hit her then, there was a good chance she'd die instantly.
Better safe than sorry.
Maple was definitely getting better at gaming in general. She understood that she
could and should use different tactics when fighting on her own versus when she was
working with other guild members. She redeployed the damaged weapons and took
aim at the ruler.
"Commence Assault!"
As her barrage resumed, she caught her breath.
"He's got a lot of attacks, but I still haven't taken damage, so if I keep this up, I should
be okay, I think."
Maple was so ludicrously strong, it was hard to tell which of them was the boss.
He was still batting aside everything she fired at him, but she could see his HP bar, and
the hits she'd landed had whittled him down a bit, with maybe 80 percent remaining.
"Once more…!"
But as she took a step forward, the ruler changed his attack pattern.
He made a leap that took him well outside the barrage's range. Five yards high, he
soared, purple flames fanning out around him.
"Eep?!"
Maple quickly tried to turn, but the flames shot forward first.
"Allow me to reciprocate," the ruler said.
Every skill she'd used was being reproduced with fire.
With an ordinary great shielder, this skill would have resulted in a close-quarters
counter—but with Maple, the flames shot out from afar and scorched the earth,
blinding her.
Waves of heat, exploding firebolts, and dragons made of fire all came rushing in.
"Augh! Wh-what's going on?!"
Maple didn't have any attacks with a piercing effect, so she wasn't taking damage, but
as the inferno rose higher than her head, she also couldn't see much of anything.
"F-for now, I'll just…"
She aimed her weapons down, using the self-destruct to propel herself above the
ruler's flames, and headed to where Syrup waited.
"Martyr's Devotion!"
Angel wings unfurled through the tangle of weapons, and Maple's hair turned golden.
She chugged a potion to restore the lost HP.
"Syrup!" she yelled, landing so hard it almost seemed like she might crack its shell.
The intense heat seared them both, but Martyr's Devotion kept Syrup safe from harm.
After a short while, the flames on the ground died out enough that she was able to
locate the ruler.
"He's copying me…?"
None of the skills Maple knew would actually work on her.
So as long as he was only mimicking her skills, she was completely safe.
"I think I'll just stay up here until this is over."
She plonked herself down on Syrup's back, ignoring the scalding heat.
When the fires were finally gone, she released Martyr's Devotion and jumped back
down.
"Commence Assault!"
She began her barrage again, forcing the ruler back on the defensive as she steadily
closed in on him.
Sword and shield high, she charged in a third time. They swept past each other. Maple's
weapons and armor crumbled, but Devour chewed another chunk off the ruler.
But the damage she was taking was only to her weaponry.
And when her armor broke, it reformed. When her weapons broke, she redeployed.
"Okay, as long as I can keep this up!"
Maple righted herself and was about to turn toward him…
…until her eyes spotted a naginata hurtling at her, glowing red.
"Wah!"
She threw up her shield, but the naginata spun, striking her from a new angle.
The sideways sweep hit her hard and sent her flying.
"Urgh… unh! Commence Assault!"
When she stopped tumbling, she got to one knee, trying to keep him away.
Red sparks were shooting out of her side.
"Argh, piercing… potion! Potion!"
Scrambling, she pulled a potion out of her inventory and used it.
She'd been just below half health, but a single potion fully restored it.
A decently strong potion could easily refill HP to max when it was as low as Maple's.
"Hmm… he blocks all ranged attacks. What else can I do?"
Maple didn't really have many close-range attacks. Atrocity was certainly the most
effective of these, but otherwise, she only had Devour, launching herself into the fray,
and the Predators.
"Hmm… oh! Let's go with that."
Like before, she fired herself at him.
Once again, they shot past each other, with the same result.
"But now…!"
With an extra-big bang, Maple rocketed skyward.
A moment later, the ruler's naginata caught only air, and Maple landed safely on
Syrup's back, high above.
"Whew. Thanks, Syrup! You're a lifesaver."
She gave her pet a pat on the shell and then hopped back down.
The instant she landed, she charged at the boss again, not letting him start any other
attack routines.
Each time she charged, she took refuge on Syrup before coming back down for more.
Looping this let her chip away at the boss's health without taking any damage.
Maple's barrage had kept the boss preoccupied to begin with, and by using herself as
a cannonball, she could instantly become mobile in three dimensions in a way no other
player could manage. The ruler had no way of defending against that.
His HP kept going down. Bit by bit.
She managed to get through half his total pool without letting him strike back.
"...!"
After yet another charge, she glanced down from Syrup's back and noticed a change.
"Most impressive, human!" the ruler bellowed as a swirling vortex of light appeared
around him.
A wind picked up close to the ground. Maple could hear it begin howling.
This clear shift made her brace her shield, watching closely from above.
"Let's see how you handle this!"
The ruler began running—straight into the air above.
The light became a tail, trailing after him as he quickly closed the distance.
"You're kidding?!"
His naginata was wreathed in light, too. That was the telltale red glow of a piercing
attack. Maple knew she was in trouble.
"Syrup! Rest!"
Syrup vanished back into her ring.
And without the flying support, she succumbed to gravity, dropping like a stone.
"Commence Assault!"
Firing to keep her distance, Maple headed back to ground level. Floating just above it,
the ruler gave chase.
"Um… argh…! Oh, I know!"
She didn't need to change directions, so she opened her inventory mid-flight.
"There!"
Glowing objects rained down in her wake.
Potions from her inventory.
"Next… this way!"
She changed direction and scattered even more behind her.
So that the ground was blanketed in potions.
This way, she could grab one whenever she needed it.
They would only stay put for two hours, but any one of them could fully restore her
health.
"Here goes!"
Summoning her courage, she turned back toward the ruler.
"Hah!"
She twisted herself, slamming shield and sword home—and soaked a vicious naginata
slash to the shoulder, which sent her tumbling across the ground.
"Ow… can't let this go on for long."
That was her first taste of damage in a long while.
Maple very much preferred not feeling this kind of pain, so she quickly scooped up a
potion and got rid of it.
If her foe was dishing out piercing damage, she wanted to wrap this fight up quick.
"One more time!"
Flames burst from her feet, and she rocketed skyward.
The ruler danced upward, wreathed in light.
Their two lights clashed together, burst, and sent red sparks flying.
Maple crashed to the ground, weapons shattering, and scooped up a potion.
"Another…?"
But something was wrong.
"My weapons… won't deploy?"
She'd been burning through them with each blastoff.
But there was a limit.
If the materials she'd poured into the skill ran out, she wouldn't be able to use them
anymore.
And between her constant fusillades and taking flight multiple times, she had burned
through that stock.
"You're through, human!"
No longer subjected to her barrage, the ruler rushed toward Maple, shooting missiles
of fire and swinging his naginata.
"Atrocity!"
The monster form enveloped her.
Spraying damage effects, the ruler's arm and his naginata were swallowed by her
gaping maw.
"Got him!"
Her claws raked his sides.
Both were taking and dealing damage.
When he hit 30 percent HP remaining, a massive shock wave freed him from Maple's
mandibles.
As the ruler bounded away, the light gathered around him.
"We're not done yet, human!"
Then the ruler expanded, growing bigger and bigger, his white hair streaming freely
behind him.
The two monsters hurtled toward each other, unleashing all their respective might.
If their fight so far had hinged on technique, now it was about brute strength.
Neither side attempted to evade; they simply did their best to match the other, blow
for blow.
"Still here!" Maple yelled, her breath setting the ruler aflame.
His fists were glowing red, slamming into her sides.
And as his HP dropped below 20 percent…
"Urp…!"
The monster skin coating Maple crumbled, ejecting her onto the ground.
Atrocity might have boosted her attack, but it was still no match for the ruler's power.
And his hail of piercing blows had torn her monstrous skin away before she could
down him.
"Hydra! Syrup, Awaken! Giganticize!"
She called her pet out once more and warded off the ruler's approach with a burst of
poison.
Her opponent was no longer dodging; he tanked the damage and still came at her
swinging.
"Saturating Chaos!… Argh, Syrup, Mother Nature!"
Maple was throwing out every skill she could think of to slow him down. Syrup's skill
created massive vines that bought her enough time to scramble up onto the shell and
fly away.
"Gotta hurry… augh?!"
She'd just looked down.
The ruler's fist punched through the vine barrier and then promptly fired a fist-sized
bullet of wind.
"Syrup!"
It struck her pet head-on, one-shotting it and dropping Maple to the ground.
Even as she fell, the ruler thrust his fist toward her.
She just happened to be holding her shield in the right place at the right angle and
blocked the blow—but in midair, she had no way to stand her ground.
This was far beyond ordinary knockback. She was sent flying, though she took no
damage.
Maple was fundamentally skill-reliant and wasn't very good at protecting herself.
There was no guarantee she could block the next attack.
Before she could even get up, she saw the ruler charging her once more.
If he got to her, she had no way of putting distance between them again.
But her eyes caught something on the ground in front of her—which gave her an idea.
"Quick Change!"
Blue light coated her, and in the blink of an eye, her gear was all white.
"Next…"
She scooped up the potions scattered nearby, topping up her increased HP pool.
By that point, the ruler's fist was inches away.
"Aegis!"
White light overwhelmed the red damage sparks, covering her in a dome of light.
Flawless protection would nullify every attack Maple took during the next ten
seconds.
"Come on… go down!"
She threw out every skill she had, trying to rack up the damage.
The ruler's HP was finally down to 10 percent, but even as poison gushed from her
short sword, Maple was starting to panic.
Once Aegis ended, she essentially had no defensive or offensive skills left.
The ruler's flurry of attacks was too fast and would not grant her enough time to use
Hydra again.
She had no way of surviving this, she thought—but then the name of a skill floated
into her mind. One she'd tucked away in a corner and forgotten all about.
"Oh! There is one left!"
The effects of Aegis ended even as she spoke, and the ruler's next attack bore down
upon her.
"Zone Freeze!"
The skill she'd earned in the last event. It stopped foes around her in their tracks.
An extension of light. Three seconds of pure gold.
Time enough for her to use that forgotten skill.
"Break Core!"
A hole opened up over Maple's heart, and a small sphere emerged, pulsing with a
reddish light.
It stopped in the air two yards from her.
Five more seconds until activation.
Indomitable Guardian kicked in, allowing her to withstand the particularly powerful
final hit of his combo. Maple snatched up another potion, using it. These had really
made all the difference here. But that, too, was bittersweet.
Then—on opposing sides of the sphere, Maple and the ruler were lifted up, as if freed
from the constant pull of gravity. Then they began to orbit.
"Ruler, I'm sure this will count as a draw. But I absolutely have to get to the fifth
stratum, so I will be back!"
This was a Machine God skill.
The only one not fueled by her equipment.
Maple had forgotten it for a reason. This skill was fundamentally a self-destruct
technique.
The skill description had said it would prevent the use of attacks in range and would
deal massive damage to user and target alike. That description—particularly the idea
of self-destructing—had been enough to banish it from Maple's mind.
"Bye!"
Maple closed her eyes, waiting for death's embrace. A moment later, a pillar of flames
pierced the heavens, consuming Maple with it.
"Argh, so frustrating!" Maple muttered, lying flat on the ground with her eyes closed.
She was so worn out that she felt ready to sleep right then and there. Losing bothered
her more than she'd ever expected.
"I'm done! I'm logging out for the day."
She opened her eyes, pushing herself upright.
"Wait… why am I…?"
She was still in the battle zone.
And the ruler she'd been fighting lay sprawled out at her feet.
"Mm-hmm? Hmm. But why?"
She was absolutely certain she'd blown herself up. But for some reason, she still had
half her health left.
"My defense kicked in? Oh. Ohhh! Heh-heh! See? I knew defense is the best!"
Delighted by the fact that her overwhelming tankiness had saved her, she turned to
the defeated ruler.
"Um, are you okay?"
She knelt down, poking him until he sat up.
"Ha-ha-ha! Nicely done, human!" he guffawed.
Dusting himself off, the ruler rose to his feet.
"Come with me," he said as he stalked away. Maple obediently trotted after him.
He stepped onto a new magic circle, and they both were taken back into the highest
room on the fourth stratum.
"Now then, human. As promised, I dub thee my successor. That is your goal here, yes?"
His hands began to glow, and two crimson vessels appeared—shallow cups for
drinking sake.
He handed one to Maple and summoned a large gourd-shaped jug, filling both their
cups.
"I never thought it would be a human. Your kind are unable to consume our liquor, so
this is not real sake, but it will have to do."
"Uh, fine by me!"
They both drank, and Maple acquired a new skill.
"Skill: Pandemonium I acquired."
The ruler spoke a while longer, and Maple made listening noises. Eventually, he
wrapped things up.
"I'm sure you have places to go. But do come again! You are always welcome here. As
long as I still breathe, I would be more than happy to fight you again."
"Um. I definitely don't want to fight, but sure, I'll swing by sometimes!"
She waved and quickly left the room. Once the sliding door was closed, she finally
allowed herself to stretch.
"Whew… Ow. I'm so tired! I've had enough fighting to last me a while."
She'd taken a lot of damage in that battle and was completely exhausted even though
she'd won.
Maple didn't even want to engage in easy combat for a while.
"Oh, right. I should check that skill. Let's see…"
Pandemonium I
For one minute, summon a red and a blue ogre.
The ogres' stats depend on their skill levels.
While active, the user's skills are all sealed. Equipment skills are not affected.
Maple checked both ogres' current stats and then frowned.
"Um, so if it's at level I… how do I raise it?"
She could only think of one way.
The ruler had just said he'd fight her again as long as he still drew breath.
That was clearly it.
She would have to beat him. Again and again.
"Yikes," Maple said. "In that case, I don't care."
The words slipped out unbidden. She definitely had no plans to battle the ruler again
anytime soon.
She left the building and headed back into town.
By that point, her mind had started working again, prompting a vital question.
"Why aren't I on the next stratum?!"
Her yell of horror echoed across the streets around.