Chapter 416

Defense Specialization and the Tenth Event

When the light that had enveloped Maple and the others faded away, they were no longer in the Guild Home, but in the town’s central square.

Even so, this place actually wasn’t the same location in the 9th floor, but a field made as a duplicate of the original place, made especially for this event. Similarly, the other players who were teleported here also looked around, showing various reactions of joy and disappointment as each of them verified who they had been allied with.

Maple and the others had chosen the country of Fire and Wasteland. Though flames danced as a decoration even in town, they were blown away as a black shadow descended from the sky.

“Oh, you’ve gathered quite a lot. I welcome you all!”

The king of this country, who was characterized by having the wings and tail of a dragon, was floating in midair with an intrepid smile.

“You all know the rules, right? Our soldiers are also in town. Use whatever resources you have available. Even if you’re just a traveler, fight bravely.”

The two countries weren’t that far away from one another for any player with a high AGI stat. Any side that let their guard down in the slightest would be risking a swift invasion.

“Of course, I will also take part in the battlefield. So make sure to keep an eye on the sky to make sure you don’t get swept by my attacks.”

Saying so, the king began to float up as his body was enveloped in a dark light. After a while, the light bursted out, revealing a huge black dragon that quickly flew up into the sky.

Immediately after that, a display indicating the start of the event appeared in the sky, and players were finally able to act freely. As each guild had their own strategy, some players rushed out of the town’s walls, while others went inside the castle.

“We can’t just stay here, so let’s go take a look around.”

“Yeah!”

At Sally’s suggestion, Maple gathered the members of “Maple Tree” and decided to take them all away from the noise of the central square for a moment so that they could talk calmly again. However, before Maple herself started walking, she looked around for a certain player.

It seemed that Payne was doing the same thing, so they immediately found each other.

After giving instructions to his guild’s members, Payne spoke to Frederica, who then ran towards Maple’s group.

“Looks like we’re on the same side. I’ll be the contact point between you and my guild. Let’s do this~”

“Yeah! We’re counting on you!”

“I feel pretty safe knowing that things like ‘Dedicated Affection’ also affect members of the same faction even if they are not in the same party.”

Since Frederica could communicate with her guild in a more flexible way thanks to her monster companion Knots’ skills, she would be acting as a liaison between “Maple Tree” and “Congregation of Holy Swords” during the event.

After Frederica joined Maple’s party, they all left the central square.

Then, after they were fairly away from all the noise, Frederica was the first to speak.

“Well, what is ‘Maple Tree’ going to do?”

“First, we’re going to wait and see! …Right?”

“Right, Maple.”

“Whaaat? You’re not going to launch yourselves headfirst into battle…?”

“A passive approach is more suitable for Maple. And with this event’s rules, it’s better for us to be where the most people are.”

Since “Dedicated Affection” works on all players in the allied faction, it would be most effective for Maple to be where most of the players are, and where most battles are likely to take place.

“Besides, we want to see how the other side will react in the early stages of this event. I’m sure Payne has also considered that, hasn’t he?”

Frederica nodded in response to Chrome’s question.

The winning condition for this event was to sit in the throne of the opposing side’s castle. That was the thing they had to watch out for above all else.

“There are monster companions that can fly, and we can also use items in this event.”

By using an item that would temporarily allow them to use certain monster companions, any player would be able to fly straight to their opponent’s castle, ignoring all defensive outer walls.

And if the enemy forces were to be allowed to gather there, a single mistake in the defense would spell that side’s instant defeat.

“As far as I could see from the square, it looks like that defensive guild isn’t going to be on our side.”

“Yeah, I haven’t seen any member of the ‘Kingdom of the Flame Emperor’ guild anywhere…”

“They’re probably on the enemy’s side.”

Maple and the others had guessed that the “Kingdom of the Flame Emperor” guild led by Mii wouldn’t choose the country of Water and Nature, as that would make the monsters they would have to attack a poor match for them, but it seemed that their guess had missed the mark.

“I looked around as well, but I haven’t seen anyone from ‘Thunder Storm’ or ‘Rapid Shot’ around either.”

“If you say so, Kanade, then they’re definitely not here.”

Kanade, who had an outstanding memory, naturally remembered the face of any player he had seen before, so if he said that he hadn’t seen the members of a guild, it would be safe to assume that that guild was on the opposing side.

Once the top players came flying on Mii’s Ignis, was there going to be any way to stop them? It was difficult to say, which is why Maple’s team had decided to wait and see how things would unfold in the early stages of the event.

“Well, it must be hard for the other side to make the call on when to make drastic moves like those, though.”

“Yeah. So we thought we’d better take it easy, check how things unfold for now and participate in places where we know we can win, or whenever our allies are in danger.”

“Yeah! Let’s do our best!”

[Maple Tree] is small in number, but has outstanding abilities, so they aim to take advantage of the battle situation by participating in small-scale battles in a hit-and-run style.

In this event where they couldn’t afford to get themselves killed, small wins would add up to a greater victory.

Maple and the others went over the map with the information gathered by Sally, and decided to stay on alert for a while to see if the enemy would come from the sky.

And so Maple and the others headed for the top of the outer wall to secure a better spot.

At this distance, Maple would be able to fly straight to the castle by launching herself with a blast from one of her weapons.

There weren’t many tamed monsters faster than this peculiar manner of flight, so as long as the players who were protecting the castle managed to buy a little time, she would make it in time to help stop any assault.

“Come out, Knots.”

After reaching the top of the wall, Frederica looked around and called out Knots.

As expected, it seemed that the enemy players had yet to get close to this town, and the only ones who were actually moving about were the monsters that had just spawned in the field and an allied party led by a Great Shielder that was setting up a defensive formation.

“Knots, ‘Sonar’!”

Knots, who was resting on Frederica’s head, let out a high-pitched voice, and at the same time, a ripple-like effect started to spread around him.

“No signs of the enemy! Well, as expected, there doesn’t seem to be anything to be worried about, right~?”

“Oh, that’s very convenient. A skill that can detect hidden enemies…”

“Huhuhu, the best thing about it is that it lets me see people who had turned themselves invisible. I can even see through your ‘Mirage’, Sally.”

“I really felt that during our duel.”

“But it has a rather big cooldown, so from now on, I’ll only use it if we sense any kind of suspicious movement, okay~?”

After saying that, Frederica turned her attention downward and called out to the players who were setting up the defensive formation.

Frederica’s buffs would actually reach them even from where she was standing, so it was important for them to be aware of that as well. Having the reassurance of being affected by powerful buffs would allow them to make more aggressive plays.

“Let’s stay on guard here for a while, and then we move as planned.”

Chrome and Kasumi nodded in agreement with Sally’s words. Just like they had done in the 4th event, the five of them who were good at being on watch would be in charge of basic defense, and the rest would launch an offensive on the enemy players. Kasumi and Sally made for enough offensive power, and with Chrome, there would be no problem with the defense.

While avoiding full-fledged battles as much as possible, the three of them intended to grasp the enemy’s movements in more detail by taking a close look at their front line.

Since Maple was able to rush to the battlefield by ignoring all terrain and any state of the battlefield thanks to her ability to fly by launching herself with her weapons, she could afford to stay in a more calm location. Being on top of the outer wall would allow her to prepare to blow herself up into the sky without a single worry, but that wouldn’t be possible while in combat.

It would be nice to have Maple on every battlefield in order to have a significant advantage in battle, but that’s impossible, so it was natural to have Maple stay in the most important place.

“Well, let’s go!”

“Be careful. If you get yourself killed, all of this preparation would’ve been for nothing, okay?”

“Yeah, let’s be extra careful not to overextend ourselves.”

“Don’t overdo it, Sally!”

“Yeah, I know. You too, Maple. We’re facing other players this time around. And they will try to exploit your weaknesses.”

“Got it! Be careful!”

Sally gave a small nod that she wouldn’t make the same mistake again, and a brief pause, the three of them departed for the enemy camp.

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