Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 500
Defense Specialization and the Distorted Space
When the light faded and all the machines stopped working, Maple and the others found themselves in a completely different space.
“Wow… I wonder what’s going on?”
“I think it’ll be dangerous if we fall from here…”
Maple and her friends were in a dark space resembling outer space. It was unclear how far the area expanded, but there were no ceilings or floors, just rocks and the remains of buildings that could be used as footholds.
When they looked down from the edge of the scaffolding they were currently on, all they could see was a pitch-black abyss.
“Yup. If you fall from a certain height, you’ll die instantly. If that happens, I don’t know how far away the respawn point is.” (Iz)
“I understand. I’ll be careful.” (Sally)
“Maple, be careful as well. We can’t do anything without your defense.” (Iz)
“Yes!” (Maple)
“I think the two of you already know, but there was a boss that Mai and Yui fought together that could manipulate gravity, right?” (Iz)
“I was there.” (Sally)
“Uhm, wasn’t that the boss who gave us the [Magic of the Demon King]?” (Maple)
“Similarly, in some places, the direction of gravity changes, so keep your eyes open.” (Iz)
“Understood.”
“I’ll be careful.”
Unlike before, they had a flying machine, so it was more flexible. However, if the device crashed and fell in an unintended direction, a technical error may occur.
Thanking everyone for sharing information in advance, the two decided to proceed carefully and looked around once again, looking for a route.
“I’ve already reached the boss before, so I’ll lead the way. Can the two of you help me deal with the monsters? Of course, I can play a more active role in providing fire support this time around.”
Iz restored the flying machine to its original size and sat in the pilot’s seat, moving some weapons while broadcasting to the two outside through a speaker.
“Leave it to me!”
“Please give me directions. All that’s left to know is the location of the area where the direction of gravity changes, along with information about the enemy.”
“I’ll be sure to share it. I put it together in advance.”
Iz sent the materials she’d compiled in a message and shared information.
Since nobody could conquer that dungeon so far, the actions of the enemies and bosses along the way were probably intense. Moreover, the environment itself was also disadvantageous for battle.
“Let’s prepare ourselves.”
“Got it.”
The two drilled the shared information into their heads before facing monsters. They started moving in pursuit of Iz’s flying machine that was moving ahead.
Since they’d been informed by Iz beforehand, they were unperturbed by sudden changes in gravity.
While keeping their eyes open for hidden secrets, the two took advantage of their enhanced flying machines to leap across platforms of varying heights.
“It should be around here… Here they come—!”
Hearing those words, the two brandished their weapons. Just like last time, monsters spawned in the space where Iz and the others met. Just as the dark abyss appeared to be distorted in three places, a monster emerged from the darkness.
Its body was transparent like glass, showing the machinery inside that generated power and made noise. The long-bodied mechanical fish swam freely through the air, just like Maple and the others. Occasionally, it’d vanish into the darkness, as if fleeing into the gap between dimensions. In truth, it was closing the distance and surrounding the three of them.
Once it got close to a certain distance, it suddenly increased its diving frequency and movement speed, switching into battle mode.
As the mechanical fish swum, small, glittering gears were scattered along its path. In the next moment, the gears suddenly accelerated, flying at Maple and the others like bullets.
Maple, who knew from prior knowledge she received from Iz that each of them had a Defense-Piercing Effect, didn’t use [Loving Sacrifice] and instead set up the pure white shield that she’d equipped.
Since Maple couldn’t receive it directly with her body, she needed to hold up a shield, but she still wanted to preserve her [Evil Eater].
The trajectory of the flying gears was only a straight line, and even if they were coming at the two, there was still a certain distance away. Maple shouldn’t have any difficulty defending against them.
—However.
Like the mechanical fish, the flying gears disappeared into the gap between dimensions, scattering in all directions as they were fired at different intervals.
Maple checked her surroundings to eliminate any blind spots, calculate the order in which the bullets will hit, and shoot them down in order.
By doing so, they wouldn’t suffer from any damage, but it wasn’t that easy.
“It’ll be fine.”
“[Provocation]!”
Clinging tightly to Maple was their last stronghold, for she was the strongest, impregnable shield.
Maple ended up aggravating more attacks than she could handle. In that case, they only had to protect the front.
Sally’s dagger clanked as it seamlessly knocked down the gears that were approaching from multiple directions.
Thanks to Iz, Sally knew the details of the attack in advance. Sally was capable of dodging and shooting down even the first attack she saw. Even more so if the enemy had revealed its target. No matter how complicated the trajectory became, it wouldn’t stand a chance against Sally.
“[Expand: Right Hand]!”
Maple unleashed a counterattack, leaving Sally to protect her. However, not only was the enemy’s defense strong, Maple and her friends were also maintaining a safe distance. Before the bullets could land, the mechanical fish had already dived into the dimensional gap.
Nevertheless, the fact remained that Maple, who could perform continuous, long-distance attacks, could easily trigger enemy evasion.
“I knew it. Now that it has come to this…!”
They needed a long-range attack with a small delay before impact. Under normal circumstances, it would’ve been difficult for Iz, but not when the flying armored car, which had been modified over and over again, was around.
After quickly locking into the mechanical fish that had reappeared again, Iz pulled the large level with a bang.
The attached huge cannon emitted red light. The flames that burst from there were directional, attacking the fish in a straight line as it swam away.
As it illuminated the darkness in the distance, the flames had proven to be as powerful as the magic wielded by a wizard, dealing great damage.
“Amazing!”
“I wonder just how much you modified it…”
Judging from the range and firepower, they could no longer see the cannon as a mere attachment.
“Uh, now isn’t the time to worry about that…!” (Iz)
“I leave it to you, Sally!” (Maple)
“Don’t worry, I won’t make a mistake.” (Sally)
The key to that defense was Sally. It may sound strange considering her status and skills, but the only reason the front remained stable was because of Sally.
“I can’t possibly keep up with that…”
As expected, Sally could eliminate the damage with an extra-dimensional countermeasure. While checking on Sally in the cockpit, Iz worked together with Maple to defeat the enemy. She waited for the moment when the mechanical fish appeared to load the next bullet.
“Iz!”
“Uh-huh, leave it to me!”
The mechanical fish would eject gears while avoiding Maple’s gears, attacking with a combined offense and defense movement. However, since the gears would disappear into the dimensional gap before appearing once again, they weren’t difficult to repel. Even so, there were probably more than 100 shining gears that continued to scatter.
On top of that, every single one of them could penetrate defense and deal significant damage. There was no doubt that the barrage of gears with such considerable pressure was a threat to any player.
“Alright, just a bit more.”
“The last one!”
Nevertheless, if the enemy was facing an opponent that could shoot them all down, no damage would be caused.
Akin to a machine, Sally was more precise and accurate than even the mechanical fish. Due to Sally, the damage trade that was originally supposed to give the mechanical fish an advantage became meaningless.
With each and every movement, the barrage of gears became thinner. Of course, if the mechanical fish couldn’t even outperform Sally at maximum output, there was no way it could deal damage with less.
Eventually, the barrage became so sparse that even Maple alone could block it with her shield.
Then, Iz’s cannonball blasted the mechanical fish from the head upwards, shattering and blowing it away. The first battle ended in a complete victory for Maple and her friends.
After successfully defeating the enemy, Iz spoke to the two.
“I know we can do it. But are you okay? I think it was quite a taxing role.”
“It’s okay. If it’s only this much, I don’t care how many times I have to do it.”
From what she’d seen, Iz knew that the battle was far too taxing to be considered ‘only this much.’ However, Sally didn’t seem to be lying or putting up a strong front.
In other words, Sally had reached a level where she could effortlessly pull it off.
Sally had also been playing that game for quite some time. Sally, who started off with a high level of skill from the beginning, honed it even further with her combat experience.
In that case, it wouldn’t be surprising if Sally could actually carry out that role until the end.
“I understand. But don’t push yourself too hard.”
“Yes, save your strength until the boss fight.”
Iz and her friends were able to reach the boss without Maple and Sally. It’d still be a while before their strength was needed. There was no point in coming here to help if they ran out of gas before that.
The group progressed smoothly inside, being considerate of the burden they imposed on Sally.
As a result, despite Iz’s concern, Sally was able to fulfill her important role of protecting Maple just as she’d promised.
Right now, they were standing in front of the door leading to the boss.
The door sat on top of floating rubbles, and behind it was nothing but darkness. Still, without a doubt, it was the boss room that they’d seen many times.
However, this time, the dungeon wasn’t equipped with normal walls and floors, and they could easily imagine that behind that door, an isolated space was awaiting them along with the boss.
“Still, I was surprised… I know you are amazing, but…”
“You’re really amazing! How long have you played…?”
“I’m doing special training every day to become stronger. Also, my duel opponent is the type to attack with moves and ranged attacks, so maybe I’m used to it.”
Needless to say, Frederica, followed by Velvet, and occasionally Wilbert.
The very fact that Sally was able to continue winning against these guys showed in how well Sally handled the barrage of bullets.
“Well, first, let’s confirm what we already know.”
“Uh-huh.”
First of all, they check the enemy’s attack pattern again before the boss battle. The boss was made of machinery, like the monsters along the way, and looked like a large swan.
It was a different type from the Silver Wing they’d fought in the past. Although the boss flew gracefully in the sky and didn’t engage in close range combat, it could distort space-time and eject metal feathers from various places. The unleashed feathers would disappear into the gap between dimensions, before attacking from all directions. Moreover, the feathers could also stop and accelerate at will, making it even more difficult to shoot.
As expected, the boss was on a different level than a small fry monster.
“Now I know why Iz and the others had difficulty defeating it with only the four of them.”
Kanade still needed some time to replenish his magic tomes and get back to the status he had before the interpersonal event. Not like Kanade could conjure magic barriers repeatedly in the first place, making it difficult to effectively protect Mai and Yui, who couldn’t afford to be hit by the attacks.
“However, I don’t think a tower shield user is a good fit for the boss, either. It’s just that powerful.”
Naturally, just like the mob, the boss could also penetrate defense. As a result, Maple couldn’t take advantage of the compatibility advantage and easily defeat the boss with [Loving Sacrifice].
“Iz has a reliable flying machine, so let’s make use of it.”
“Okay!”
Iz’s armored vehicle should be able to withstand it more effectively than Maple, serving as a way around for the defense penetration.
Although Iz would be asked to take charge of enemy attacks as necessary, the basic formation remained the same.
Either Maple or Iz would cause the enemy to evade, and the other would allow the attack to pass.
Sally devoted all her efforts to defense and repelling enemy attacks.
Sally had been the key to the strategy since the beginning of the journey.
“Huff…”
Before things got heated up, Sally took a deep breath to increase her concentration.
“Will you be fine?”
“Leave it to me. Besides… I want to show you something that I’ve been practicing.”
“Good luck!”
“Yes, you too.”
There was no need to doubt Sally, who affirmed it herself. Maple believed in Sally yesterday, today, and tomorrow. If Sally told her to entrust something to her, Maple would do just that and fulfill her own role.
“Lastly, let’s just apply the buff before we go in. Raising the status is always important.”
Iz burned a number of incenses to buff the three of them, crushed her crystals, and supplied them potions.
As multiple glowing auras flickered from everyone’s bodies, the three of them opened the door in front of them and hurried into the boss room in order to benefit from the effects of the buffs for as long as possible.
