Chapter 437

Chapter 437

Defense Specialization and Pursuit Battle 2

In the aftermath of Payne’s light, the surroundings were enveloped in a gentle light, and the players that were almost wiped out returned to their respective places.

“Marx, what about the trap!?”

“Uuh, most of them were blown away by Payne…”

Due to Shin’s good judgment, the front line didn’t collapse. In spite of that, Payne’s attack broke the pillars that blocked the monsters, worsening the avalanche. Even though Wilbert had cut down their number, the absence of Shin had slowed the place. If the vanguard failed to stop the attack, the rearguards would be sitting ducks to monsters.

In other words, if things went as they were, it wouldn’t bode well for them.

“Wilbert, do you have any idea…? What can we do other than stalling for time?”

Therefore, to stop the progress of the enemy, they activated the remaining traps to conjure water currents and gusts.

“I’m sorry! One-vs-many is Lily’s expertise!”

Doing what he could, Wilbert single-mindedly shot arrows. Even while reducing the number of monsters, if there was a player who made even the slightest mistake in positioning, he’d shoot their hearts and annihilate them, slowing down Maple and the enemy forces.

However, that did almost next to nothing. Slowly but surely, the wave of monsters mercilessly gobbled up those who couldn’t be saved by healing magic.

From the enemy’s point of view, it was a nightmare, but from the ally’s point of view, the monsters were reliable companions.

Now that Shin was gone, the monsters and Maple’s powerful support artillery from the sky was giving a major advantage to the Congregations of Holy Sword troops that fought on the ground.

“Payne!”

“Did you decide to come down?”

“Oh, Sally! You did a great job! Amazing!”

“I was merely lucky. Besides, I doubt I can rely on the same trick twice. But in this case, it only has to work once, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Thanks to that, everything is a lot easier now! Though, Wilbert is still the same…”

While using the monsters as meat shields, they’d try to slay the other players.

Using either vine, fire, ice, or wind. Afterwards, they managed to pass the riddle of traps. At last, the main fortress—Night Castle—came into view.

Just a bit more—just a bit more to victory.

For a moment, the sky shone, causing Dred—who was fighting alongside Shadow and Sally, to look up. He had a foreboding feeling—almost akin to an omen—and that alone was enough.

A second later—the sky flashed, and a massive thunder struck the area.

“Velvet…!”

“Shadow, [Shadow World]!”

After being the first one to sense it, he sheltered the nearby players in the shadows and blended in with the hordes of monsters.

Upon noticing Velvet’s deployment in war, Maple also collected monsters and piled them up to block attacks from above.

“Knots, [Sonar]! Are they descending!?”

Immediately after sensing a presence, Frederica poised her wand.

“Hinata must be there! We can slow down!”

“That’s right!”

Velvet, accompanied by Hinata, ran through the air with more freedom than Sally, and just before they could hit the ground, they abruptly changed directions and rushed towards the five.

“Hinata! I leave it to you!”

“[Isolated Area]!”

A purple aura overflowed around Hinata, expanding all at once.

“…!”

“W-we are being pushed out!?”

The purple light spread like a dome. Due to Hinata’s gravity control, the surrounding beings were pushed out one after another. As the name suggested, the dome made by distorting gravity repelled outside interference. Conversely, those who were inside also couldn’t interfere with those outside.

To make sure, Dred fired a spell to the purple wall. After seeing that it bounced off, he turned to look at Velvet.

“I see… A deathmatch with the same number…”

“That’s right! You’re quite sharp!”

“Drag, we have no choice but to do it.”

“…Yeah, how amazing! Wow, this space, not even that thunder can pass it! We can do anything!”

“That’s right.”

It was their third meeting. The fact that Frederica, Payne, and Sally were kicked out, singling out the two, must’ve meant that Velvet and Hinata chose them after careful consideration. It was as if they were sure of their victory.

“Don’t think you can win that easily.”

“Of course! I’ll do my best!”

Although the thunderstorms were blocked by gravity walls, it didn’t mean she couldn’t use lighting. Clenching her fists, Velvet dashed off, causing a violent thunderstorm.

“[Grand Armor]! [Stone Skin]!”

To keep up with Velvet, Drag clad himself in rock armor and charged forward with amplified defense power.

As Drag’s great ax swung horizontally, Dred lowered himself and tried to slip underneath his attack and close the distance.

“…!”

“[Purple Lightning]!”

However, when Dred readied his dagger, Velvet slid to the right, but not before releasing an electric shock that fended Dred off.

“[Gravity Control], huh… Slippery.”

Velvet, who was slightly floating from the ground, returned to the ground and took a stance. By manipulating gravity, Hinata was able to move on the ground, making the impossible possible.

Seeing that, Drag whispered to Dred.

“There’s too much difference in mobility. It’s difficult to land a hit, but I can create an opening.”

“Then, I’ll do a follow-up. Shadow, [Flock of Shadow]!”

Dred summoned the shadow wolf to provoke Velvet.

“[Roar of Thunder]!”

Instead of a thunderstorm, Velvet conjured a pillar-shaped electric shock and scorched the wolf.

“[Heavy Charge]! [Earth Wave]!”

However, Drag suddenly closed in, broke through the electric shock, and exploded the undulating ground.

“[Ice Wall]! [Frozen Earth]!”

“That won’t work!”

Since the ice would affect those on the ground, as long as one wasn’t on the ground, there was no problem.

Drag leaped for a moment, leaving the area of effect, before smashing the ice wall.

“[Electric Accel]! [Heavy Double Strikes]!”

Drag received Velvet’s accelerated blow using his body, and grabbed her hand while taking damage. After all, the short range was the biggest weakness of fist players.

“Got you! [Grand Lance]!”

“[Northern Light]!”

Drag’s rock spear clashed against Velvet’s gigantic thunderbolt.

When the lightning subsided, Dred quickly erased the distance, seizing the opportunity to attack while she was still caught by Drag.

“[Cocytus]!”

“Shadow, [Shadow Dive]!”

To avoid the crowd control, Dred concealed himself. Even Hinata’s cold air failed to reach the ground.

“Velvet…!”

“[Electric Discharge]!”

“Guh, it really hurts!”

Despite suffering a lot of damage, Drag didn’t intend to release her. While the dazzling lightning dealt damage, Drag was a full-fledged vanguard with high physical defense, so he didn’t fall down.

As he squinted due to the intense light, Drag noticed that Velvet’s restricted hand was emitting a blue light. Rather than an electric shock, it was more of an aura.

In the next moment, she easily shook off his hand, before landing a powerful jab at him.

“Ugh! Hey, Dred, this is bad!”

“…!”

Traversing through the electric air in the air, Velvet sprinted, leaving a tail of blue aura behind her, and closed in on Dred.

“What just…!?”

“They have more tricks up their sleeves!”

“[Top Speed]! [Godspeed]!”

Dred managed to intercept her high-speed blow with his dagger. However, with each blow, Dred started to lag behind despite having doubled his speed.

“[Brainfreeze]!”

Despite the brief period, Hinata’s skill sealed his [Godspeed], preventing further acceleration. That single moment proved to be fatal, and Velvet’s fist connected to him, chipping away Dred’s HP.

“[Rush]!”

“Velvet, behind you!”

From behind, Drag also rushed in, about to blow her away in a single hit. But Velvet managed to avoid it, intending to finish Drag off as well.

“As expected, I can’t catch up with you.”

Velvet, the fastest player, nimbly avoided his attack, about to perform a counterattack.

Still, just before he disappeared, Drag made eye contact.

—To dodge Drag’s ax and counter it. As Velvet moved, Dred thrusted his danger towards her back.

“…!”

An odd evasion. Beyond the dagger, Velvet had executed a high jump, as if doing a handstand in the air. Utterly defying gravity, even if it was the result of gravity control, the behavior was still beyond the realm of senses. After twisting her body, Velvet swung her leg down towards his shoulder.

“The letter, did you return it…?”

“…? I had a lot of fun!”

Leaving a blue trail, her right leg hit Dred’s shoulder, blowing away his remaining HP.

Just like that, the aura surrounding Velvet disappeared, and the purple dome that enveloped the four also disappeared.

“Ueh—! Even though I lost—!?”

“Sally.”

“Understood.”

Prompted by Payne, the two kicked off the ground and accelerated, charging towards Velvet.

“[Cage of Gravity]! [Icicle]!”

The strong gravity slowed them down, and during that moment, a thick pillar of ice manifested in front of them as if to block their path.

When they spun around, the two opponents were no longer there. Instead, the ground shook as a giant pillar of lights began to rise in the faraway distance. It was safe to say that it wasn’t Velvet’s lightning.

“This is…”

The two, who bypassed the Icicle wall, saw a gigantic, luminous, magic circle expanding on the ground. From there, undead soldiers spawned one after another.

“If it’s a mass summon, we won’t lose either.”

“Lily, you’re late. When should I activate the trap?”

“I’m sorry.”

Ignis descended on top of Night Castle as Mii began to exude flames.

“[All-out Sortie]!”

“[Activate All Traps]!”

At a place seemingly set up in advance, a huge magic circle was deployed along with a pillar of light, from which a large troop emerged. Ignoring the distance, all the traps were activated, completely changing the situation. The battlefield wasn’t only limited to that place. Due to Marx and Lily’s careful preparations, the power balance on the other battlefields had collapsed.

“Velvet seems to have done the trick! Now, let’s fight back!”

Hoisting the flames, Mii raised everyone’s morale. The situation changed rapidly as the speculations of many players intersected. Then, Maple and the others stood at a crossroads to minimize the damage.

“Payne! Could it be, the light from earlier…!”

“It seems so. We have no choice but to spread our forces. Now that the Thunder Storm has disappeared, other battlefields are in danger.”

“Let’s hurry over there. Leave Maple here.”

Since Maple was the commander of the monsters, the strategy would fail if she were to leave.

“Just how strong is that soldier?”

While watching the soldiers that Frederica had created, Sally quickly informed Maple Tree about her strategy. Then, the artillery support from behind ceased as Maple descended with four white wings on her back.

“We have to hurry, Maple.”

“I know! What about Dred and the others…?”

“The two got caught, didn’t they? Unfortunately, that’s it for them.”

“They didn’t make any blunders. That’s just how strong the enemy is.”

Maple and the others turned to look at the three [Flame Empire] and [Rapid Fire] in front of them, before reading their weapons.

The players gathered. As Maple’s monsters and Lily’s soldiers fought against each other, the four of them advanced towards the Night Castle.

Other players—be it allies or enemies—also participated in battle while avoiding the center. The reason was simple.

“[Holy Blade of Splendor]!”

“[Flame of Slaughter]!”

If they were to stay at such a place, they’d get caught up in the battle at the center, which they unlikely would survive.

In order to not be targeted by piercing attacks, Maple focused on attacking with weapons and commanding monsters without using [Dedicated Affection].

“Sally, don’t get hit by the [Multi-Flame Bullets], alright? Knots, [Singing Round]!”

“I’m fine, I’m fine…”

Sally took advantage of Marx’s stone pillars and her own icicles to bypass the fired magic and counter attacked.

Frederica and Maple’s attack blew away the emerging soldiers, while Lily and Mii’s attack slayed the monsters.

“Frederica, can we eliminate them by increasing the output?”

“Well, temporarily, but…”

Frederica looked at Payne as if asking for confirmation.

With strong supporters such as Marx and Misery, it was difficult to tell if even one of those five could be defeated.

“This match… If those soldiers keep emerging, we’ll be at a disadvantage.”

Maple’s monsters were limited and were difficult to regenerate once it was defeated. While the monsters by no means were underperforming, and had slaughtered many players, their numbers were steadily declining.

“It’s not that I don’t believe in [Maple Tree], but I’m also curious about other battlefields.”

“This time, we’ll need good timing to retreat.”

“That’s right.”

“Then, leave it to me and Sally! Look, there!”

As she continued to shoot, Maple spoke to Sally, and the latter knew exactly what the former was referring to.

“Understood, Maple. If necessary, we can make the opportunity here.”

“How reliable. That’ll be a great help.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“In order to retreat, it’s necessary to inflict a serious blow to the enemy—one that’d make them hesitate to chase after you. I’m going to defeat the two who solidify the enemy’s formation.”

“Got it, tell me when you’re ready.”

The targets were Marx and Misery. In order to defeat the two of them, who had the important role of supporting the enemy’s front line, the four waited for the right timing.