Defense Specialization and Meeting Up

  It seemed that they had all been blown away and completely separated . In the darkness, Sally warily made her way to an open area .

  “So this is why the preliminary was solo…… I’m sure Maple will be fine…… But I’m worried about Mai and Yui . ”


  She hoped that Tsukimi and Yukimi would be able to protect them . It was as Sally was thinking this, that a black magic circle suddenly appeared in front of her . And from within, a devil-like monster with horns and sharp claws emerged . It flapped its wings loudly and flew towards her .

  “Oboro, ‘Binding Barrier’! ……It doesn’t work!”


  Sally dodged its thrusting arm and slashed deeply into its side, before jumping back . The monster let out a chilling cry, and several small black magic circles appeared on the ground . And from these, smaller demons were summoned .

  “Oboro, ‘Fire Child . ’”


  Sally enveloped her weapons in fire in order to increase their reach . Then she turned to the devils with a serious expression .

  “They’re also coming from behind……!”


  Perhaps they had been attracted by the sounds of fighting, because she could hear rustling coming from behind her . Sally increased her concentration . She could not be defeated here .

  More than anything, she needed to know how many monsters were there, and so she looked back just for a split second . Even as she fought the devils, she saw the familiar figure behind her .

  “Frederica?!”


  “Ah, so it is you, Sally? What a relief . I was just searching for an advance guard!”


  Frederica said as she ran up to Sally and stood so that their backs were stuck together .

  “.……You could have at least killed them before coming . Why are you here anyway?”


  “Sorry . Well, I’ll tell you the details later . ”


  “Fine . More importantly, we have to clear this area first!”


  They decided to cooperate temporarily as they raised their weapons . And just as the devils jumped on them, they attacked .

  “‘Multi-fire Bullets’! Knots, ‘Singing Round’!”


  “Oboro, ‘Cross Fire,’ ‘Shadow Clone’!”


  The fire that Frederica shot out was then multiplied by Knots . And Sally also unleashed a chain of fire towards the monsters . The dark field was suddenly bathed in red light .

  “Defenses…… I don’t think I need any . ‘Multi-water Bullets’!”


  A few monsters that didn’t even have wide-area attacks were no threat to Sally . Frederica defeated the monsters while also ensuring that Sally could draw out as much firepower as possible .

  She usually used Multi-Obstacle’ on Drag, but if she used it on herself, she could fight while minimizing the damage taken . Frederica did this while repeatedly healing . She would look for an opening and then attack . Then she heard an especially loud voice behind her . The large devil had just been cut down by Sally .

  “I have to end things here too . Knots, ‘Amplify’!”


  Frederica created a number of fireballs like she always did, and then she used Knots’s skill to make them bigger and stronger .

  “Phew . I stopped them somehow . ”


  It burned the remaining monsters . When the two of them erased the flames, darkness fell over the field once again .

  “Haa . Thank you . ”


  “I’m sure you would have won if you were alone . ”


  “Ahaha! You can tell? Well, it really wasn’t that easy . And Payne and the others are so far away . ”


  “Hey, wait . How do you know?”


  “Uhh, I have a skill for that . I’m sure you know what I’m talking about . And so I was able to contact them . But they’re so far away . ”


  Frederica wanted an ally just in case something happened . As for Sally, she didn’t see any demerits to the alliance, and so she had no reason to refuse .

  “I can’t enter any dungeons until we reunite . And it looks like you want to find the rest of your team . ”


  How do you intend on doing that? Frederica asked with a laugh .

  “You can’t even contact them, right? See, you should just give up on that and come with me . ”


  Frederica said as she pointed in the direction that she was headed .

  “Hmm . Well, wait a minute . Ah……”


  “Huh? Fireworks? Is it an event?”


  While it was far away, Sally and Frederica heard the sound and saw the light in the empty sky very clearly .

  “That’s Maple’s mark . So that’s where she is……”


  “What? You have fireworks……”


  “No, that’s just Maple . She put bombs on herself and detonated them . ”


  “.……Huh? …… . ??”


  As Frederica tried to digest this, Sally started walking away .

  “Ah! Hey, wait! Wait! It’s in the same direction, so why don’t we go together?”


  “Uh, alright . But I might leave you if it gets dangerous . ”


  “Damn it…… I thought you had no way to meet up with them, and I’d be able to persuade you to team up……”


  Frederica grumbled about how things never went her way . And like that, Sally headed towards Maple .

  “I don’t have much hope for Drag, but Dred has high scouting ability, so he might have found someone by now . ”


  “I suppose you’d want a strong player as a temporary ally…… Well, if you can even find one…… Knots seems like it’s aware of a pretty wide area . I guess that means I can’t ambush you anymore . ”


  “No comment . Ah, there’s something interesting nearby . Do you want to go and see?”


  “That face…… It’s a monster, isn’t it? No thanks . ”


  “How did you know!”


  However, this skill was very useful, and Frederica used Knots’s ability to lead them forward while avoiding monsters .