Maple detonated her weapons, blowing away all of the vines that surrounded her . And like that, she charged towards the rose .

  “‘Predator’!”


  She held her black shield up as the two monsters appeared on either side . And like that, they plummeted towards the rose .

  “Hahh!”


  The shield that swallowed everything tore up the petals . And damage effects that were an even deeper red than the rose began to burst all over it . Predator crushed the thorny vines around them . As nothing was supporting Maple now, she crashed to the ground and rolled away .

  “Well, at least there were no piercing attacks . But, just in case! ‘Quintuple Slash’!”


  Each of her hands slashed with her blades five times in a row . Then she used ‘Pursuing Blade’ for an additional five attacks . These were skills and buffs that anyone would know, but when she was able to chain over twenty attacks together, it became an impressive trump card .

  And as the monster recoiled under the massive amounts of damage that Maple inflicted, Sally pressed in with her follow-attack . And with this tried and proven pattern, she shredded the stem that supported the flower . There was a cracking noise, and the rose monster exploded into light .

  “Good job, Maple . Are you okay?”


  “Yes! There were thorns everywhere, but they didn’t use piercing attacks, thankfully . ”


  “Looks like it . Maybe we could have been more aggressive then . ”


  As Maple was lying on the ground, Sally offered a hand and helped her up . It was as they brushed the dust off of their armor that the other two approached them .

  “Very nice . It was hard to believe, even though I was watching you with my own eyes . Yes, I can now see that your strength has to do with your basic abilities . ”


  Maple’s shooting could be accurate because her ridiculous defense ability allowed her to stay in a single spot, like some kind of fixed artillery . The fact that she didn’t need to move around and dodge enemy attacks was her strength .

  As for Sally, her dodging ability was what allowed her to launch counter attacks .

  Like Lily said, their skills and the way they moved were heavily influenced by those basic abilities .

  “I guess we’ll show you how we fight now . Let’s see…… We’ll give you about as much information as you gave us . ”


  “In other words, show everything you got if you want to see everything we have . ”


  “Well, something like that . I’m always open to knowing more . ”


  Lily had told them before coming here . She didn’t mind showing them everything . If it was true that she could still win, even though they knew about all of her skills, that meant they were the kind of the skills that had no countermeasures . So the more skills that Maple and Sally showed, the more they would be at a disadvantage .

  After thinking about this, Sally still decided that she wanted to see as much as possible . Just like how Lily was good at observing, so was Sally . If someone was hiding a skill, Sally would be able to tell by just reading the atmosphere .

  It was clear what Maple and her weaknesses were . And so she wanted to gain information, as well as to be able to guess at what kind of skills they might have .

  “In any case, we’ll go next, just as we promised . So watch us closely . ”


  “Yes!”


  “.……Hehe . No, it’s nothing . ”


  Maple seemed like she had such a pure interest in seeing how they would fight, and was less interested in this being some kind of transaction . Lily couldn’t help but soften a little by this . She moved ahead of Willbert as they walked, and she whispered .

  “They are certainly explosive . A good duo . ”


  “I agree . Besides, it seems like there is no limit to how many people ‘Dedicated Affection’ can protect . ”


  “Yes . They will be very powerful when they come out as a full guild . I will be the one who takes care of them if that time comes…… . But more importantly, there’s something I’ve been wondering about regarding Sally . ”


  “Her dodging ability?”


  “Yes . For instance, what would happen if you shot at me right now, Will?”


  Willbert seemed like he couldn’t understand what the point of this question was . And so he said that it would bounce off of her and become harmless . Direct attacks towards friends were always nullified upon impact . And so players with long-ranged attacks, like Willbert, had to be careful about where they stood .

  “Exactly . It struck me as I watched them . Maple’s aim could hardly be called ‘accurate . ’ And on top of that, Sally was in front of the monster, just like a wall . So how was she dealing so much damage?”


  “The trajectory of the bullets that hit the monster…… No, is such a thing possible?”


  “Who knows? I couldn’t do it even if I had eyes on the back of my head . Regardless, she was dodging bullets that were coming from behind . And it was a ridiculous curtain of bullets too . Of course, it will depend on how things go…… But you know what I mean?”


  Lily said, and Willbert nodded .

  “Yes . Let’s not use that skill . ”


  “Mmm . Still, with Maple there, it will be hard . I can see us fighting already…… But then again, hitting down targets and rapid fire is our speciality . So let’s show them how it’s done . ”


  “Yes……of course . ”


  While Lily muttered something about being thankful towards Velvet, fighting was hardly the first thing on her mind now . She was thinking of ways to defeat Maple and Sally .