During the sixth event, Maple had spent some time in a jungle where HP recovery was
impossible. She'd met up with Pain, the guild master of the Order of the Holy Sword
and one of the best players in the game. Her defensive skills kept him safe, and
together they conquered the jungle. Maple spent much of this outing in Atrocity form
with Pain on her back, and he looked rather aghast the whole time—but that was his
problem.
While she thoroughly enjoyed herself, Maple had no luck getting the items required to
make a jungle run, and her attention soon shifted to stories Chrome had told her about
the stratum map.
In the course of investigating his findings, she stumbled upon a boss called the King of
Light—who promptly sent her packing. Of course, Maple wasn't one to give up that
easily. She bought a ton of items in preparation to head out and try again.
A few days after her shopping trip, Maple was walking beneath the thunderheads
again.
"Can I win this time? I'm not so sure."
She was feeling a trifle nervous, but her inventory was stuffed full of purchases she'd
acquired just for this battle.
If any of them proved effective, it could be the key that would decide the entire fight.
"Or they could be completely useless. Welp, if I try everything and none of it works, I'll
just have to come up with a new plan!"
Once more, the throne loomed before her.
"Okay! Let's do this!"
As she stepped into range, light appeared above, coalescing into a seated humanoid
form.
A divine glow appeared at ground level, and arrows of light began shooting.
"Those don't bother me!"
This time, Maple wasn't fighting back. She let the arrows hit her as she simply walked
right up to the base of the throne.
Once she reached the King of Light's feet, she opened her inventory, checking the
contents even as more missiles rained down upon her.
"Hmm… let's go one at a time."
Maple pulled a piece of paper out of her inventory and stuck it to the king's feet.
After a burst of red light and a roar, the paper went up in flames.
"Aw, it didn't work! Guess that rules out fire. Next!"
She plastered another piece of paper onto her foe.
Crack. The feet froze.
"Oh, the HP went down a bit! Nice."
Her inventory still open, Maple sat down by the king's feet and busied herself pasting
paper after paper to them.
By diligently freezing the king's toes, she managed to carve off 10 percent of its health.
"Hmm… I'm all out. Guess it's time to try something else."
Maple switched to a new item, and when that ran out, she switched to another. Slowly
but surely, she was grinding away at the boss's health.
As she did, the boss's attacks grew more intense and started applying status effects,
but they all just bounced off Maple, so she paid them no heed.
"Hmm, I've used all the magic attack items. Fire and wind did nothing, so I guess I'll
stow them away. Maybe they'll be useful someday. Hrmm…"
Maple eyed the king's health bar.
She'd certainly made a dent, but it had only dropped to 60 percent at best.
The items she'd used just hadn't done that much damage, so this was no surprise.
It seemed like the only way to do any real damage to the King of Light was to use really
expensive, super-effective items.
"Guess we'll see what this does next!"
Maple pulled out a red rock just small enough to fit in the palm of her hand.
She flung it at the king's feet, and it exploded, doing damage.
"Sweet!"
Maple had arrived at this strategy after overhearing some chatter in town.
This item was quite cheap, and it randomly dealt a fixed amount of damage one to
three times to any target.
The reason she'd been listening in was that the players had been wondering if using
the item might be an effective tactic against her.
They'd eventually concluded that it would be far simpler to use piercing skills, but
Maple didn't know that.
"Don't worry. There's more where that came from!" Maple kept throwing rocks, and
the King of Light's HP was steadily declining.
It certainly was taking a while, but since Maple was the only one doing any damage,
her life wasn't in any danger.
The outcome would hinge on the huge quantity of red stones she had stuffed into her
inventory.
"Finally! Finally! Halfway! Mm?"
Just as Maple's stoning got her to the midpoint of the boss's HP bar, two angels
appeared, one on either side of it.
They fluttered into the air and began shooting arrows at Maple.
"As if that's gonna work—uh, hold on. What the…?"
The arrows were wrapping Maple in golden thread, tying her to the clouds beneath
her feet.
When she tried to move, the threads stretched—and did not break.
"Huh… and I'm losing MP. Whatever! Not my problem!"
This was clearly an ensnaring attack, so it would have reduced her AGI, but no matter
how big the penalty, there was no way to have less than zero. Maple was more or less
totally unaffected.
"Back to work!"
Maple turned back toward the King of Light, stone in hand—
And spotted a halo over its head. And furthermore—giant wings, made of light,
passing right through the back of the throne.
But worst of all (from Maple's point of view) was that his HP was slowly recovering.
"Huh?! No, stop that!"
Maple quickly started hurling rocks again, but it was recovering health faster than she
could hurt it. She'd used so many items getting the boss's health this low, and it had
just healed right back up.
"Not fair! Is this legal?!"
Maple drew her sword and poked the king's feet with it, but this did no damage.
"Urgh… that blows. Well, I bought these by accident, but let's try them anyway!"
She flipped through her inventory some more and dropped a bunch of fermentation
weights on its toes.
These were sold by the same shop as the red stones, and she'd been so preoccupied
with buying those up that she'd accidentally grabbed a bunch of rocks meant for
making pickles.
Rather than resell them, she'd hung on to them in the faint hope that they might one
day prove useful. This was not that day.
"I'm so done… sigh…"
Still caught in innumerable golden threads while arrows continued raining down
around her, Maple trudged away.
"Ugh, what a waste of money…"
She logged out and spent the rest of the day in bed, looking uncharacteristically cross.
The next day Maple was back—with Mai and Yui in tow.
"Wow, that's a lot of lightning."
"Eek… that one startled me."
"You get used to it!" Maple said, smiling. Glittering wings adorned her back.
"Um, so today…"
"Yeah, it won't take long. Thanks for helping!"
Maple bowed her head.
"No, the jungle's way too big for us, and we keep tripping over stuff, so… we kinda gave
up on it. Right?"
"Yep… Like Yui says, we were actually looking for something else to do!"
The twins insisted this would go toward paying Maple back for the time she'd helped
them with a quest on the fourth stratum, so the trio traveled to the throne together,
ready for attempt number three.
"You're going down this time for sure!" Maple declared, glaring up at the King of Light.
The outcome was all too obvious.
Maple surged forward, the twins kept safe in the embrace of her angel form.
The arrows of light proved no detriment, and they closed in, slowly but surely.
When they reached the king's feet, Maple waved the twins forward.
"Just a second!"
They used a number of items Iz had given them.
These granted them a red aura—a visible sign of their boosted attack.
Then each took out two hammers, and they were ready to go.
"Oh, right! Inspire!"
This was a skill Maple had obtained in the second event but almost never used.
It provided a temporary 20 percent boost to Mai and Yui's STR.
And a 20 percent boost to their STR would give them far more DPS than Maple's redstone tactic could dish out.
Perhaps this last buff was unnecessary, but the twins stepped up, ready to flatten the
king—literally.
""Double Strike!""
With a sound like thunder, each hammer hit twice, and since there were two sets of
them, eight crashes rang out. The boss's HP was instantly reduced to nothing, and only
silence remained.
The king's light scattered, glittering as it faded away.
Some of it fell around them, accompanied by a voice informing them of their new skill.
"Woo! Ha-ha! You summoned two angels last time, so I just did the same thing. Can't
complain about that! Anywho, let's check out this skill."
Maple opened her menu.
Heaven's Throne
While seated on the throne, reduce incoming damage by 20% and heal for 2% HP per
second. Effect lasts until the skill is deactivated or the skill user is incapacitated.
While active, anyone within thirty yards (including the skill user) will be unable to use
any skills with Attribute: Evil. Five-minute cooldown.
"Oh, maybe that's why."
In her first battle, several of Maple's skills had been sealed, giving her a real headache.
Quite a few of Maple's better skills were on the evil side.
"Let's try it out! Heaven's Throne!"
Light appeared right behind Maple, forming a throne just like the King of Light's—only
Maple's size.
She gingerly took a seat, and as she settled down, white light poured out of the ground
around her.
It was faint, but there was also a glow surrounding Maple herself.
Like the king's before her, Maple's wings went right through the back of the throne,
glimmering behind it.
"Wow… nice! And pretty."
For the simple reason that she liked the way it looked, this instantly went to the top of
the list of skills Maple planned to proactively use.
This might put a dent in her offensive potential, but it wasn't like Maple had been
actively seeking out evil skills in the first place.
Maple was sitting on her throne, swinging her legs.
"Um, Maple?" Yui asked. "What is that?"
"Mm? Wait, didn't you get this skill, too?"
"No, we got a skill that lets us summon those arrows of light. But its effectiveness
doesn't scale with STR, so I don't think we'll get much use out of it."
Maple had to think about that one.
Why had they gotten different skills?
The most obvious explanation was Martyr's Devotion—the angelic skill she still had
active.
"The king had wings, too. Maybe that's it?! The description didn't mention anything."
Maple got off her throne, ready to take the twins home.
As she stood up, the glow radiating from her and the ground vanished.
"Oh, right! I have to be sitting. Oh, well! Should we head back?"
""Yep!""
"Hmm? Hang on."
She took one step, then turned back. Maple stroked her jaw, the wheels in her mind
turning.
Sometime later…
A turtle was flying through the lightning, a throne on its back, and a glowing circle on
the ground below.
"Syrup, are you sure it's not too heavy?"
Maple was sitting atop the throne currently situated on her pet's back.
This arrangement didn't seem to bother Syrup in the slightest.
"I think I'm gonna ride Syrup like this from now on. Plus, I can still use Machine God…
Yeah, I like it!"
"Maple, we're almost out of the lightning field," Yui said, pointing at the expanse of
white clouds ahead.
"Looks like it! I'm open to suggestions."
"Um… could we grind some levels?" Mai suggested.
The twins were still underleveled for this stratum.
"It's been hard surviving fights against anything we can't one-shot."
"Hmm. I guess I could use some levels, too. Haven't done much grinding lately."
Even as they spoke, the dazzling circle of light moved along the ground beneath them.
Syrup had carried the throne into the regular part of the map.
And naturally, there were witnesses to this spectacle.
One greatsworder was staring up at it in awe.
"There she goes… and…"
He frowned at the ground below.
"…why is it glowing?"
286 Name: Anonymous Spear Master
Maple's been quiet lately.
287 Name: Anonymous Archer
Other than making the ground freeze.
288 Name: Anonymous Mage
Lots of people can do that.
Why not Maple?
289 Name: Anonymous Greatsworder
She was flying around with a giant white throne on her turtle's back.
Made the ground light up like a disco ball.
290 Name: Anonymous Spear Master
Me and my big mouth.
291 Name: Anonymous Mage
I know people keep saying she's the Demon Lord, but now she's literally got the throne
to go with it.
292 Name: Anonymous Archer
Definitely sounds holy, though.
Goes with the whole angel thing.
293 Name: Anonymous Great Shielder
Wut. This is news to me.
294 Name: Anonymous Greatsworder
Uh, I think she just used a skill while riding the turtle and it gave her a throne, but
what it does, I dunno.
So I tried going under her, but there was no divine retribution for getting too close or
anything.
I was half-expecting to die.
295 Name: Anonymous Spear Master
Shellback thrones are not normal.
Those usually go on the floor.
296 Name: Anonymous Great Shielder
Chances are it's something recovery or defense focused… Don't sound like a big AOE
finisher, at least.
297 Name: Anonymous Mage
I don't want her firing anything that scary sitting down.
Please stahp, Maple.
298 Name: Anonymous Archer
If it's a throne skill, sitting is probably mandatory.
Then again, this is Maple we're talking about. It's not crazy to think she could work
around that somehow.
299 Name: Anonymous Great Shielder
Not like she's highly mobile to begin with.
Meaning it's mostly upside for her.
300 Name: Anonymous Greatsworder
Apparently, she can summon two giant ogres to boot.
Like, several yards tall.
Badass!
301 Name: Anonymous Spear Master
Her army of minions grows larger…
She's definitely the Demon Lord. Tell her to paint the throne black.
302 Name: Anonymous Archer
Sounds OP.
Someone tell me what Maple's confirmed powers are again?
303 Name: Anonymous Mage
Poison. Instadeath shield. Monster summons. Monster transformation. Angel form.
Artillery. Ground freezing (new!). Ogre summons (new!). Thrones (new!).
And still hella tanky.
304 Name: Anonymous Great Shielder
We sure she didn't spawn inside a dungeon?
305 Name: Anonymous Greatsworder
I hope the real last boss is weaker.
306 Name: Anonymous Mage
It better be, or no one'll beat it.
Guess we'll find out about the throne in the next PVP event.
307 Name: Anonymous Spear Master
Gotta bank on Pain's heroism.
308 Name: Anonymous Archer
I got mowed down like a rando villager.
I was guarding an orb and something slunk out of the dark… Still can't believe it was
Maple.
309 Name: Anonymous Great Shielder
She's still human, deep down.
310 Name: Anonymous Spear Master
If that ever changes, she really will become a boss.
311 Name: Anonymous Greatsworder
A raid boss?
Nice to see her still going strong, though.
312 Name: Anonymous Archer
Yeah…
She might be getting stronger even as we speak.
313 Name: Anonymous Mage
Scary yet cute.