Wondering what the next floor and boss would have in store for them, they found
themselves beneath a starry sky.
Only one problem—they were in that sky, in an active free fall.
"Um…?"
"Huh…?"
They glanced at each other. It was a long way to the ground below.
""What the—?!""
They were gaining speed. Sally started yelling.
"Maple! Call Syrup!"
"Oh! Right!"
Maple tried to summon her turtle—but the skill wouldn't activate. Neither would
Sally's Web Spinner.
"W-we can't do anything!"
"This fall is mandatory?!"
There was nothing to do but grin and bear it, but eventually their fall slowed—and
they stopped in midair.
"We're floating?"
"Seems like."
Relaxing a little, they scanned the area. All around them were star-shaped platforms,
each glittering with an internal light.
Their bodies were glowing with a similar light—likely what allowed them to hover.
"Look, Maple. There's a buff on us. Stellar Force? Only lasts two minutes… but if we
stand on one of those star platforms, it'll reup."
Stellar Force
Two-minute duration. While active, players will float in midair.
Will reapply if you stand on a ninth-floor star-shaped platform for twenty seconds.
"So we have to regularly rest to avoid a fall?"
"And our skills are back online. We have to assume this is a combat zone."
"Cool. Syrup, you're back!"
Maple could turn Syrup giant and fly around on him—a big advantage.
And Sally could web herself to Syrup if she needed a quick escape.
As if it had been waiting for the girls to get ready, a change swept over the sky. A
gleaming white star fell slowly from above, stopping in front of them. As they watched
carefully, it burst, light streaming in all directions—and creating paths of little stars.
They went up, down, all around like skipping stones, passing by the platforms that
could reapply Stellar Force. A lot of new paths to follow.
"Looks like we can walk on these!"
"So we don't need to float around?"
"Not right now. We don't wanna fall if Stellar Force wears off, so it'd be a good idea to
keep Syrup hovering nearby."
"You got it!"
Before going anywhere, they had to know if they'd fall through.
Stellar Force wore off soon enough—and they slipped right through the glowing path,
falling.
"Whoops!"
Sally webbed Syrup quickly, pulling them back up. These roads clearly required Stellar
Force.
They went back to the nearest star platform and waited for the buff to reup.
"Looks like we've gotta pick routes that'll get us to another platform in time."
"But even if we don't follow the paths, the buff lets us float."
"Hmm. Mind if we linger a bit longer?"
"Sure. As long as we're here, there's no risk of falling!"
They waited a while at their starting location, and eventually a shower of gleaming
stars came from the back, swallowing up the star paths and leaving nothing behind.
Once again, a single star fell from above, making new paths.
"Time limited?"
"Yeah. And if we're just hovering, we go that much slower. I bet we wouldn't make it."
Syrup flight probably wouldn't get them there, either. But they had a trick that could
get them places far faster.
"Wanna rocket it?"
"Eh-heh-heh. You sure know me."
"I'm down. This Stellar Force stuff makes it easier to adjust trajectory."
Deciding to ignore the paths entirely, they waited for the next cycle—just in case—
then blasted skyward.
"…! These roads go pretty far!"
"Urgh, will I have enough fuel?"
There was a limit to how many weapons Machine God could make. If she kept
destroying them, she'd eventually run out.
Maple blew up another batch of weapons, accelerating again.
Sally was keeping an eye out, and she soon spotted something.
"Maple! Stars are falling on us!"
"We've got Martyr's Devotion! It'll be fine!"
But just to be sure, Maple activated Pierce Guard, too. Belching smoke and fire in their
wake, she tried to outdistance the falling stars, but one hit them, and the knockback
sent her spinning toward the starry path.
"Ugh…"
"Aim for that star platform! We'll need to reup Stellar Force to control your flight."
Sally planned to act as brakes, helping them avoid future star strikes. Once the buff
was active, they took to the skies once more.
They could see a bunch of defensive traps waiting on the starry path, but that wasn't
a problem for them.
Sally had figured out the timing on the falling stars and was dodging smoothly or
making Maple stop. They reached the finish line with plenty of fuel to spare.
The goalpost was a door that sparkled like concentrated moons and stars. It was just
hanging there in the sky, and they could go all around it. Clearly, opening it would lead
them to an entirely different location.
"Come on, come on! That door might vanish on us, too!"
"Yeah, definitely don't wanna have to start over."
Not wanting to accidentally run out of time, they opened the door and entered.
Once inside, the door itself vanished. Before them were a number of star-shaped
platforms arranged in a circle around the sky.
"Something's coming."
"Yup, I see it."
From the glittering night sky came a thick black cylinder, wide enough that the two of
them together could not get their hands around it. It extended two arms, each ten
yards long, with claws.
There was a snap as it freed itself from the sky. Two lights glowed—eyes? They might
be on a face. Below the lights, the creature split, and a cannon boomed.
This was clearly no trash mob, and they were taking it seriously.
"The boss?"
"No doubt!"
Unlike the eighth floor, the boss itself didn't seem to have any weird tricks. There was
a perfectly normal HP bar over its head. The girls braced for a fierce battle.
"First strike!"
"Take us right to the thing!"
There was nothing in the way this time. With Maple's rockets, they didn't even need
Stellar Force. Giving Sally a ride, she had them right before the boss's eyes in one
second flat.
But the boss wasn't about to just take that lying down. It swept an arm, trying to knock
Maple aside.
"Hokay!"
She twisted herself and got her shield up, blocking it. Devour did damage, but she was
still sent flying.
"Major knockback!"
"But not piercing, so we're good!"
They hadn't lost that much ground and were relieved by the lack of damage. They
picked themselves back up.
"Full Deploy! Commence Assault!"
"—Wait!"
"Huh?"
Just as Maple was about to start firing, they stopped glowing—and started falling.
"I've got us!" Sally said, pulling the line connecting her and Maple. She created a
transparent foothold beneath her—at the cost of a stat penalty. She then hopped
across a series of these to the nearest star platform.
"Whew. If that fall was set to instakill, even you'd be a goner. Be careful!"
"M-mm. I guess it was two minutes."
"Incoming!"
"Er, um… oh! Heavy Body!"
Since her STR was less than her VIT, this effectively immobilized her, but for the next
minute, she nulled all knockback.
This skill would allow her to keep Martyr's Devotion in place with no risk of being
knocked away.
"Good thinking!"
"Eh-heh-heh! Mii was nice enough to tell me about it, so I'd better remember to make
good use of it."
"Don't wanna overextend ourselves and get caught by surprise—we'd better watch
and wait. Let's bring Syrup closer to us."
"Gotcha."
"If you're good, I'll go in and attack. I should be able to dodge that, so it's better if it's
aggroed on me."
Maple had been blowing herself up two floors in a row, so she didn't actually have
many guns left. It was best they keep those in case of falls and let Sally take the lead
with airwalking and her webs.
"Careful!"
"Always. Don't fall off!"
"I-I'll do what I can…"
Sally released the lifeweb connecting them and danced off through the air, starting to
get the hang of this kind of movement. The buff's floaty motions weren't that quick, so
she'd have to predict attacks carefully.
"If I keep it on me, Maple should be able to land a Hydra. Oboro! Awaken!"
She called out her pet fox and let it ride her shoulder as she moved in.
"With a target this big… Wind Cutter!"
To get the boss's attention off Maple and onto her, she shot out a quick spell. It hit the
boss and did a tiny scrap of damage.
And the boss swung round, hurling a black blade her way.
"Hngg, a type-matched counter?"
Naturally, an attack that feeble wasn't about to hit her. She made the dodge look
effortless. She hit it with a few more spells, verifying the counter's range.
And got the distinct impression Maple would have to be careful here.
"It's copying all my attacks! They might have knockback added—think before you
shoot!"
"I hear you!"
Since there hadn't been anything to dodge on the floor below, Sally's Sword Dance was
still not up to speed. The boss was an HP sponge, and given how little damage she was
doing, it had plenty of defense, too.
Maple was well aware they'd need her doing damage, too.
"But without anywhere to stand… Hmm. Oh, I know!"
She tapped her palm with her other fist, a brilliant idea in mind.
While Maple was scheming, Sally was chipping away.
When she stuck to ranged attacks, the black frame extended thornlike things along
with the counters, but to her, all that did was power up the Sword Dance buff faster.
"Still, this is a lot of HP. And if I push my luck, I'll miss a dodge… Whoops!"
She wafted herself up above a sideways slash and settled onto a nearby platform.
"Whew… Hmm?"
Before she figured out her next attack, she spotted Syrup on the other side of the boss.
"Whoa, what is that?"
Syrup was floating in a pillar of light, at the center of which was Maple—on her throne.
She was flanked by shields hugging her sides, and Night's Facsimile was pointing dead
ahead.
Large cannons were aimed between the gaps, and Maple herself was wearing a green
dress and crown, looking very confident.
"Commence Assault! Poltergeist! Syrup, Spirit Cannon!"
Lasers fired out of the four cannons surrounding the shields and from Syrup's mouth,
scorching the boss. Maple then swung the lasers, attacking the boss as it tried to
dodge. This provoked a counter, and Maple was moving too slow to dodge.
Five black lasers hit home, shattering her cannons.
She took no damage but lost more of her few remaining weapons.
"Hngg, Poltergeist didn't really do much. That's not worth it if my guns break…"
Maple had been hoping that manipulating the lasers would draw the target away and
result in less breakage, but it hadn't really worked out. The boss soon turned back to
Sally, and since Maple no longer had to worry about knockback, she got up off her
throne and hit it with Night's Facsimile.
Red sparks flew, and it countered, but Heavy Body was still active and negated the
knockback.
She had Syrup fly her away again.
"This way I don't need to go anywhere!"
"Smart!" Sally called, hopping around platforms down below and dodging the boss's
claws.
Maple thought for a minute, then had Syrup hover right over Sally.
"Martyr's Devotion works above and below! I can keep you safe from up here!"
"Rad! Thanks!"
Even if Sally did accidentally take a hit, Maple would null it.
And Maple had three shields surrounding her throne so that no blows could get
through. That throne was reducing damage and healing. She also took out some of Iz's
handmade potions and put them by her feet, ready to defend against anything.
"I've just gotta remember when to use Pierce Guard… and Meditation!"
Maple was learning more and more skills, and that meant more things to remember.
Feeling like she'd never get used to all of them, she heard Sally down below using even
more skills.
"Hngg, but while I'm sitting down, I can't use many attacks. Hyah!"
She picked up one of the paralysis items and threw it out before the gap in her shields.
She'd been flying very close, so that even if it did knock her back, it wouldn't be a
problem. From this range, even Maple couldn't miss, and the item shattered, scattering
a yellow glow.
"It's working! In that case… Hey!"
Maple took a bunch more stuff out of her inventory and started hurling away, as the
boss's big arms hammered on her sides and head.
Each item didn't do a lot, but since she was ignoring threats and attacks and hurling
away, it added up.
"Okay! It's paralyzed!"
"Thanks! Now I can go all out!"
Sally popped a Doping Seed to boost her STR and did as much damage as she could
while the paralysis was blocking that counter.
The status effect wore off as the HP hit 70 percent, and the boss sluggishly started
moving again, howling.
"Dropping back!"
"Okay! I'll stick with you!"
Sally landed on a distant platform, making sure she and Maple were moving together.
The boss was still howling—and the sky began to change.
Shooting stars started falling, trailing tails of fire. They hit the star platforms,
shattering them.
"Ugh, that's just mean…"
"What now, Sally? Hop aboard?"
Maple came down to her level, parking Syrup alongside.
"There're still several platforms on the other side, so just gimme a ride over there. I'm
safe as long as I'm with you."
"Coming right up! Get on before it starts attacking!"
"Mm. Still, this thing's dang tough. I thought we did more than that."
"True."
They made it to the other side before the howling stopped.
"I'll be up above you!"
"You do that."
Maple dropped Sally off and began climbing again.
The howl ended, and the boss slashed at Sally with those claws, but she dodged and
sliced its arm.
"It's upped the number of counters…!"
Sensing danger behind her, she dove forward, speeding up.
Several black thorns split the space she'd just vacated.
"At least they're visible? And I can still evade 'em."
Sally stayed close to the boss, landing dagger strikes.
In response, the boss began deploying huge magic circles—one of them right
underneath her feet.
"Too big…!" Sally said, bracing herself to run.
"Don't worry! Just keep attacking!" Maple cried. She stood poised to use Pierce Guard
and made sure Sally was inside Martyr's Devotion.
"Okay, then…"
Jet-black torrents gushed out of every magic circle. Clearly a powerful attack, but with
Maple's skill negating piercing damage, nothing could hurt them.
Leaving all defense to Maple, Sally simply jumped out of the torrent, her body spinning
into a dagger slash.
"Cool!"
She dodged the counters, and her Sword Dance buff reached the next level, boosting
her damage again.
By aggressively closing in on the offense, she was forcing it to counter and turning all
those counters to her advantage.
And since they could handle them just fine, the gushing torrents were just a perk.
Generating them left it wide open to attack, and Sally could land a full combo and get
back to a star platform before Stellar Force wore off.
"I'd better join in! Commence Assault! Syrup, Spirit Cannon!"
Maple started firing her lasers again, and Syrup's attack added to the damage done.
Counters flew at them, but this time, she was moving her shield to keep her weapons
from breaking. It was far preferable for the blows to hit Maple herself.
"Good, let's keep this up!"
Maple got off her throne, removing the seal on her skills.
"Saturating Chaos! Hydra!"
The throne reduced incoming damage and granted an autoheal effect but locked
access to some of her biggest attacks. A torrent of poison and a monstrous maw hit
the boss, and each knocked out a chunk of HP.
"Yeah, those worked pretty well… Yiiiikes!"
But hitting this boss hard meant those same attacks came back at her.
She hadn't yet made a habit of using it, so the black torrent hit her before she could
get Heavy Body out—and she was thrown skyward.
Since she'd been on Syrup all this time, Stellar Force was no longer active.
"...!"
"Whoa, close one."
"Sally!"
Sally had spotted the light of Martyr's Devotion moving away, busted out Superspeed,
caught up with Maple, and grabbed her as she fell, landing on a platform nearby.
"Thanks, I thought I was done for."
"Let's get you back on Syrup. I'll draw the boss away, so you can hop on board without
using your guns."
"Sure thing!"
"Okay, Oboro! Shadow Clone!"
Good to her word, she used her pet's powers and made her offense even more
relentless.
There were now five Sallys headed toward the boss.
And all of them dodged its arm swings, new black lasers, and even surprise attacks
from behind.
As Sally's damage piled up, it lost interest in Maple, allowing her to use Stellar Force
to hover back up to Syrup.
"Heavy Body, Pierce Guard, Crystallization, and… Hngg, I've gotta talk to Sally about
how to better use skills. For now… Full Deploy! Commence Assault!"
Maple was a long way from fully mastering her range of skills, so she decided to stick
to what she knew.
This boss had a lot of HP, but with its counters and AOEs doing nothing, it was clearly
at a disadvantage.
Sally's Sword Dance was at peak buff, and now they just had to keep up the pressure.
"Only… thirty percent left!"
"Hydra!"
Maple repeated her big attack, and with Sally's affliction effect, the poison status
finally took hold, steadily draining the remaining health.
But even that had only gotten them just below 30 percent.
"Bet it's got a new phase! Watch out!"
"Okay!"
They both braced themselves—and the boss sprouted a second pair of arms.
Meteors began falling, black flames billowing behind.
Aimed directly at the girls.
"Looks like we're the targets!"
"I got us covered!"
Maple moved two shields overhead, and a meteor hit them.
"Gah?!"
The rock itself smashed against her shield, but the flames came around it, coating
Maple herself. It did no damage, but it extended the cooldowns on all Maple's skills.
Since that was how she attacked, this was not good.
"S-sorry, Sally! We can't let these hit us."
"Gotcha… but no time to talk about it!"
With four arms and those counters, Sally could close in only when she was sure she
could dodge it all. This left her peppering it with weaker spells from a safe distance.
"Whew… yeah, size equals strength."
But she still spotted a gap that left her room to dodge, and she cut her way in.
She couldn't let it hit her.
No matter how much damage Sally did, the meteors were still going for Maple, and she
was too busy trying to dodge those to keep herself positioned over Sally.
"Right under me!"
A magic circle spawned beneath her feet, and Sally dove off, slashed the boss in
passing, and was out behind it.
She was headed to reup Stellar Force when it howled again, and the star platforms
were enveloped in black flames.
"—Uh-oh!"
"Syrup, Mother Nature!"
Maple's cry echoed, and massive vines extended in Sally's direction.
Catching her intent, Sally ducked under a swinging arm, then ran up the vine to
Maple's side.
"Thanks, you really saved me that time."
"Eh-heh-heh, you're welcome!"
With Sally's HP, she couldn't afford to soak damage while she waited for Stellar Force
to recharge.
"If you can throw that out on the fly, you oughtta get used to Heavy Body soon enough."
"That only worked out in time because I happened to be looking right at you!"
"Well, I'm here until those platforms go back to normal."
"That's fine! Appreciate it if you could Heal me."
"No prob. Only time I really use that spell…"
Inside the domain of Martyr's Devotion, as long as Maple was safe, so was Sally.
For a while, they held their ground on Syrup's back. At last the platform fires died
down.
"If you yell, I'll bail you out again. Go hurt this thing! I'm outta Machine God and Hydra,
so…"
"On it. Honestly, as tanky as this thing is, anyone who can hurt it is pretty dangerous."
Sally dropped down to a platform, got her glow again, and headed back into the
breach.
"We've still got one floor left—I don't wanna have to restart this fight!"
Once was plenty. Sally kicked off the platform, dancing through the air.
Maple was holding fast above her, so she could rack up damage without worrying
about the boss's attacks.
With no need to break her flurry to evade, she could make full use of her combo skills.
"That definitely hits harder!"
As fast as her twin daggers hit, this slow, bulky boss could not get away.
And they'd figured out what to do if it removed the platforms—the phase shifts were
no longer fatal.
"Triple Slash!"
"Saturating Chaos!"
Their last attacks struck home, and the boss's HP hit 0. Its body turned white and
exploded into light.
Maple had Syrup drop down so Sally could hop aboard.
"Now we just have the tenth floor!"
"Whew. Wanna call it a day?"
"Yeah, the next one's supposed to be real tough… I'd better have my skills back."
"Yup. Let's just try to take it out on our first attempt!"
"Sure! That sounds fun."
They would be ready to enter the final fight in peak condition.
821 Name: Anonymous Greatsworder
People starting to beat this thing?
I heard the Order already did.
822 Name: Anonymous Spear Master
I'm still stuck on nine.
The gimmick means our front-liners need to secure AGI-boosting gear, so haven't been
able to clear it.
823 Name: Anonymous Mage
You people are burning through stuff. We're still on the sixth-floor boss.
That thing's physical hits are rough.
We almost got it, but…
824 Name: Anonymous Great Shielder
The Order is already through?
I heard they were only running four, so damn.
I'm stuck on the tenth-floor boss.
Anything that can dodge our main DPS leaves us hosed.
825 Name: Anonymous Archer
How are Maple and Sally doing?
826 Name: Anonymous Great Shielder
They only just reached the tenth floor.
But neither of them have taken damage from any monsters so far.
827 Name: Anonymous Greatsworder
So they're still broken as hell.
828 Name: Anonymous Spear Master
Piercing damage not exactly in short supply…
Guess they're playing their cards right.
829 Name: Anonymous Archer
Another of Maple's weaknesses eliminated.
830 Name: Anonymous Great Shielder
She did take some terrain damage.
Got her feet wet while admiring the lava.
831 Name: Anonymous Mage
I hope that part of her never changes.
832 Name: Anonymous Greatsworder
The changes in scenery do keep the tower varied.
If I had the defense to stop and soak it in, I might have more fun with it.
833 Name: Anonymous Spear Master
The terrain is the tower's MVP.
834 Name: Anonymous Archer
They can't exactly put piercing attacks on every boss…
And they wouldn't win anyway.
835 Name: Anonymous Mage
If you wanna beat Maple, prepare a breathtaking view and piercing attacks from below
or behind.
836 Name: Anonymous Spear Master
Won't work if Sally's with her.
837 Name: Anonymous Great Shielder
I think getting anywhere in that tower with a party of two is pretty nuts.
Anyone else would get chewed up and spit out on floor one.
838 Name: Anonymous Archer
They cover each other's deficiencies.
Maple's situational judgment is still a bit wobbly.
But Maple's AOE cover handles anything Sally can't dodge.
839 Name: Anonymous Greatsworder
I doubt Maple could have made it through floor six solo.
Which I guess means there are things she can't do!
840 Name: Anonymous Mage
She seems capable of anything, but her skills are pretty spiky, and there's stuff we can
all do that she can't.
841 Name: Anonymous Great Shielder
But no telling if that'll be true the next time you see her.
842 Name: Anonymous Spear Master
Yup.
843 Name: Anonymous Archer
Anytime I see something wild happening, I'm like, "Is that Maple?"
844 Name: Anonymous Greatsworder
I know!
Sometimes it's a boss instead.
845 Name: Anonymous Great Shielder
She may not even look human.
846 Name: Anonymous Mage
Let's hope they can handle floor ten.
Get themselves some good new skills.
847 Name: Anonymous Greatsword
That tenth floor is brutal.
Blissfully unaware of the forum cheering for them, Maple and Sally headed to the final
floor.