Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu

Maple slammed into the wall with a noise so deafening that all of the members looked and knew that she had taken a lethal blow. And at that moment, they were left open.

There was shock in all of their eyes, especially Yui and Mai.

Even Chrome and Kasumi could not remain calm.

“‘Power Axe’!”

“Ggg…!”

Drag took advantage of Chrome’s opening, and his attack caught Chrome in the chest.

The multiple support spells that Frederica had been casting from the back had raised Drag’s already high attack power, and it was not something that you could survive if you were hit full on.

But Indomitable Guardian activated, and Chrome was able to escape death with just 1 HP remaining, but the situation was dire.

He wanted to go to where Maple was, but Drag would not let him.

In that case, Chrome decided to focus on stopping them from going to Maple.

Drag continued to attack Chrome, and was shocked to see that Chrome’s HP was recovering.

However, his movements were limited, as he had to protect Yui and Mai from the magic attacks that were raining down on them, and it was unlikely that he could continue fighting like this.

As this was happening, Pain approached maple again.

Pain had thought of the possibility that Maple would have Indomitable Guardian, but that was not the case.

“Not just me…”

Pain mumbled as he ran.

The skill ‘Berserk,’ which he had taken from Drag, erased the temporary ‘stiffening’ afterward, and so he was able to smoothly move to his next action.

“‘Black Smoke’!”

Kanade would not allow him to reach Maple so easily, and he unleashed his magic to block Pain’s view.

Izu threw some bombs into the smoke, and flames rose along with a roar.

“‘Holy Blade of Exterminating Evil.\'”

Pain swung his sword, and the black smoke dissipated, giving him a clear view of Izu and Kanade.

He easily cut through the two rear guards and was now only a few steps away from Maple.

He was a little surprised that Maple’s equipment was regenerating, but he nonetheless used a piercing skill and dealt the final blow.

As he was so focused, the scene seemed to play out very slowly to him.

Maple leaned against the wall, her left arm still spread out. The shield that she carried in that hand now fell away.

And then he saw what had been hidden behind the great shield. Her left hand had turned into a canon.

The smoke and explosions that Kanade and Izu had caused had delayed him from realizing what Maple had done.

“So close…!”

As Pain was activating a skill, he could not move out of the way. He had no choice but to finish swinging his sword.

“‘Counter’!”

It was the only normal skill that Maple had acquired during the third event.

It was a skill that took the damage that you just received, and added it to your next attack.

Before Pain could attack again, a streak of laser fired from the canon and burned his body.

His strongest attack had backfired.

“Ggg…not yet…!”

Pain also had 1 HP left, and he tried to close in on Maple once again.

“‘Holy Blade of Fragmentation’!”

“‘Savagery’!”

What now appeared in the black fog was something that had been Maple a moment ago.

Pain’s eyes widened at the difference in threat level and reach that now existed between them. The monster came at him with its multiple arms.

“Hey, hey, are you serious…!?”

He cut off one arm and blocked the other with his shield.

He succeeded in blocking.

However, his opponent was not human.

It’s hideous mouth opened wide now and tore off the upper half of Pain’s body.

As if that was not enough, it stretched out its remaining limbs towards Dread and Drag.

“Seriously!? Hey!?”

“Ahh? …It’s still changing…?”

The two had confusion and despair written all over their faces as the monster’s mouth spewed a torrent of flames. Dread flinched as his arm was grabbed, and Drag was eaten alive.

“Well, might as well go peacefully…”

Dread quietly closed his eyes with resignation as he was eaten.

Obviously, the rear guard tried to escape after witnessing this.

“I am going to run away as well! ‘Multi-Acceleration’!!”

As Frederica accelerated the remaining players, what used to be Maple jumped over their heads and stuck to the wall.

Its head was in front of the exit, and it was dripping saliva.

They would have to defeat that if they wanted to escape.

It was as they pondered this reality that they heard a skill being shouted behind them.

“‘Flying Attack.\'”

“‘Flying Attack.\'”

“! ‘Multi-Wall’!”

She said without thinking.

And Frederica immediately regretted it.

Such defenses were meaningless for stopping Yui and Mai.

Predictably, all of the walls and Frederica herself, were smashed and vanished into light.

What had been the decisive factor for victory or defeat, was whether or not they knew about Maple’s ‘Savagery.’

Without ‘Savagery,’ Pain’s last attack would have taken away the last of Maple’s HP, without a doubt.

If that happened, there was a good chance that the already pressed front guard would have crumbled first.

Of course, Sally intended on fighting to the end, even if that happened. But the a.s.sembly of Holy Blades would have the upper hand.

The remaining players were also torn to shreds by Maple. Then they just waited for Izu and Kanade to revive as Sally collected the orbs.

“Now, Maple. We start the second step.”

“Yes! That’s right!”

It was a little past 1 o’clock now. A few hours until morning.

Within the darkness of the night, lurked a monster.

It moved around, attacking other guilds, with seven other monsters riding on its back.