Defense Specialization and Light and Fire

  “Now, it seems like the others haven’t been killed yet…… I guess they must be doing well . And Maple hasn’t disappeared from the map at all……”


  Sally stretched her limbs as she saw that there wasn’t much time left on the clock . Many players had died now, and encounters were becoming rare . Of course, that meant that it was easier to hunt monsters .

  “It should be fine as long as I hunt a lot of them…… This should have been a good opportunity, but I wasn’t able to see anyone fighting with strong monsters that they tamed . ”


  This was an event where there were players other than those from Congregation of the Holy Swords and Kingdom of the Flame Emperor that you had to watch out for . Everyone was desperate to survive, and so the rewards would also be different .

  “Oh, Mi is on the map! And there’s not much time left…… Maybe I’ll go and look . I can hunt monsters on the way . ”


  And so Sally dashed in the direction that Mi was in . Any monsters that were in her path were quickly dispatched with a single hand .

  “Oboro, ‘Binding Barrier’! ‘Quintuple Slash’!”


  They couldn’t attack her if they couldn’t move . In that case, she could use her skills to repeatedly deal powerful attacks . They weren’t particularly difficult, with only simple attacks and moderate HP . Which meant they were nothing to Sally .

  “Oomph . Is she over there……woah……Mi is wreaking havoc as well . ”


  The sight she saw was of Mi burning down both monsters and players . Pillars of fire rose in the wasteland that Mi was standing in, and it was clear to see that a horrible battle had been waged here .

  “So that must be the Ignis that Maple was talking about . I think that I’ll watch them for a while . ”


  Sally used her webs to climb up into a tree so that she wouldn’t be ambushed by other players . Up here, she would notice them as soon as they approached her .

  “Now, will any players or monsters come…… Hmm?”


  As Sally squinted up ahead, she saw a familiar man with white armor and a sword . It was Payne .

  “I knew that I was on everyone’s map, but I didn’t expect you to come . ”


  Mi drank down a potion so that she would be ready to fight .

  “Yeah, I already hunted enough monsters . And so I came to check the strength of my rival . Ray, ‘Awakening . ’”


  As Payne said this, a baby dragon with silver scales appeared from his ring . It was about the size of a large bird and it folded its wings as it landed on Payne’s shoulder .

  “What a coincidence . I have also killed enough monsters . ”


  Mi said as she called out Ignis and activated ‘Flame Empress . ’ At the same time, Payne unsheathed his sword .

  That was the signal .

  “‘Heavy Fire’!”


  “‘Light of the Holy Blade’!”


  Fire came from Mi’s side, while Payne let out a steam of light . The wasteland roared and thundered .

  In Article

  “Ignis, ‘Linked Flame’!”


  “Ray, ‘Protection of the Holy Dragon . ’”


  Both of them applied the buffs and then charged forward . Mi had no intention of backing away, and she used ‘Flair Accel’ to move .

  “‘Blue Flame’! ‘Explosive Flame’!”


  “Holy Blade of Exterminating Evil’! ‘Holy Light’!”


  Every time they clashed, effects scattered violently, and the skills offset each other . And all of them were the kind of high-power skills that could one-shot a whole group .

  When Payne swung his sword, Mi would dodge it and unleash her magic . However, they never hit Payne because he always blocked them and launched a counterattack .

  “Ray, ‘Enlarge,’ ‘Breath of the Holy Dragon . ’”


  “Ignist! ‘Enlarge,’ ‘Undying Flame’!”


  The breath that Ray unleashed and the flames from Ignis bounced between them . The ground was torn apart, but so far they seemed to be an even match .

  “I see . That’s a good monster . ”


  “Your dragon as well . However…… If you’re still hiding your powers, then I’ll incinerate you where you stand . ”


  Mi looked like she wasn’t going to hold back at all . She recovered her MP and then gave the order to Ignis .

  “Ignis, ‘Flame of the Phoenix,’ ‘Fire to my body . ’”


  The first skill cast a buff on Mi, and then Ignis transformed into a ball of fire . The fire surrounded Mi and began to spread out through the ground .

  “I see . This won’t be easy then . Ray, ‘Holy Protection . ’”


  “Let’s go! ‘Inferno’!”


  As Mi shouted, blazing flames were unleashed, and everything that was around Mi was burned away . It was blindingly bright, and yet the light that emitted from Payne was just as bright . They collided and exploded . The destruction on the surrounding forest and fields was immense, and a huge cloud of dust rose into the air .

  When the dust began to settle, Mi stood there, unharmed and with just a little reduced HP . And there was Payne, his armor burnt .

  “Tsk . I was trying to force you to use Ray’s most powerful attack……but you got by with damage reduction and the power of the holy sword…… What a trickster you are . ”


  “Haha . Well, I can’t give you that much information . ”


  “You weren’t even trying to defeat me from the beginning…… But don’t assume that I’ll return the favor, okay?”


  “Yeah, sure . If you insist on continuing . ”


  Payne held up his sword as if accepting her challenge .

  Just as they were about to start round two, the sound of a tree being bent echoed behind them .

  They detected that someone was approaching, and so they agreed on a ceasefire as they looked in that direction . They were greeted by a storm of lasers flying out from the forest .

  “What……!? Ray!”


  “Tsk . Time to go! Ignis!”


  Payne and Mi both jumped on their monsters and got off of the ground .

  After a moment, what emerged from the forest as it tore down trees, was a giant crocodile that was over ten meters long . If there was one strange thing about it, it was that it was shooting lasers from its mouth .

  “.……I’ve lost interest . Payne! We can continue this fight another time . ”


  “Yeah, I don’t mind . Because I got to see ‘Inferno . ’”


  And like that, the fight came to an end without a clear victor, due to an intruder .

  As for Sally, she had witnessed the entire scene .

  “Ah . That’s……Maple……”


  She saw that Maple’s icon was moving quickly on the map . And on closer inspection, the crocodile wasn’t the one who was shooting the lasers . There was a ball of wool with a cannon stuck in its mouth .

  “More! More! Let’s run around until the end!”


  She heard the familiar voice . Sally watched her go off into the distance with an exasperated expression .