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

Defense Specialization and the Decisive War (3)

After [Formation Change], Lily and the others, who’d make some distance, headed for the royal castle.

At the backline, Velvet was running while firing thunderbolts from time to time to check for pursuers.

At the same time, she was also carrying Lily, who was so exhausted to the point she couldn’t fight.

“Hey, are you really okay!? You’ll be fine, won’t you!?”

“I will…”

Even though it was only briefly, the use of [Authority/Transcendence] lifted the restriction, and endless information ran amok in her head, making her mind go haywire.

“As I thought, it’s beyond me…”

If it was a secluded, empty place, the outcome might be different. However, they were unlikely to find such a place from now on.

“Will they come after us?”

“With Will gone, we have next to no possibility for preemptive attack. Most likely, they’ll come. Have you made up your mind?”

“I intend to do so from the start!”

“If you put it like that, it’s as if you have no intention of winning from the start…”

“I-it’s not like that?”

“Alright, then. I can only buy us time.”

Lily couldn’t gain advantage when fighting against extraordinary player. For example, someone like Payne, who could defeat the summoned soldiers in a single blow.

Even so, because of the fact that she had to deal with it, she managed to maintain the frontline all by herself.

That was also the reason why Wilbert sacrificed himself. He’d passed the stage where he could shift the tide of battle by sniping one or two players.

“What about Mii?”

“Ready whenever you are!”

“Velvet, any problem?”

“There’s none, obviously!”

“Okay… Let’s have the final match.”

After Lily had finally recovered, a cloud of sand erupted from behind her as the earth rumbled. In front of her, stood a tall, white outer wall that protected the town.

***

Led by the [Congregations of the Holy Swords], the guild masters of several large guilds worked closely together, and the march progressed without a hitch. They finally caught sight of the enemy group retreating with Lily’s skill. Some of the enemy players remained in town.

Attack the remaining enemy players before they could regroup—

—such intention was shared by all guild masters.

“Attack! After me!”

Payne quickly communicated with the guild masters and gave orders.

The vanguards charged in, their roars filling the air, sounding as ferocious as the allied monsters.

“[Tornado]!”

“[Tidal Wave]!”

Even among the basic spells, strong ones were unleashed one after another to hinder the approach.

However, the vanguards prevailed. They intercepted the attack using their shields, took cover behind a barrier, and gradually closed in on them.

“Good luck everyone!”

Maple rallied the players who started running at the center of the group. Of course, she didn’t just cheer for them. The luminous ground was proof that the protection of the [Afterglow of Salvation] was working. Thus, they were granted intense damage reduction and boosted healing effects.

“[Rain of Lightning]!”

From the front, along with thunder, lightning bolts cascaded, connecting heaven and earth. Healing magic rapidly flew to keep up with the lightning that occurred at a rapid interval.

As long as it wasn’t a one-hit kill, the healer would ensure their safety given that their MP was still available.

“As expected, the backline is tightly protected!”

Spells successively flew one after another, but they deviated before Chrome could block them.

Chrome, who stood in the rear to protect Yui, Izu, and Kanade, confirmed that the current position was out of range of all attacks, and prepared for unforeseeable circumstances.

But when he thought about the previous battle, Chrome sensed that something was amiss.

“Where did Mii go…?”

After all, among the barrage of spells, there was no Mii’s flame. At first, Chrome expected it to be a surprise attack, so he began to look around.

Then, he found the person he was looking for.

In the sky.

Something flew at a distance away, leaving a blazing red trail—

—Yes, it was none other than Ignis.

“Payne!”

“I really didn’t think they’d actually do it…!”

A message arrived at Payne at the same time as Chrome’s voice. Mii, who entrusted the frontline to others, took her guild members to launch an attack on the royal castle.

“It’s fine! Press on!”

“Don’t panic!”

Each guild master calmed the guild members.

It wasn’t like they didn’t expect it. However, every guild master simply dismissed it because it was a cowardly thing to do.

Nevertheless, if their base was captured, the battle would be lost.

The players saw Mii’s absence as an advantage, and decided to press on because they thought the battle was in their favor.

In the midst of this, Lily, who managed to slip through the gate and jumped into town spoke to Velvet.

“I'll leave it to you!”

“I know! Leave it to me!”

They were prepared. With this, they could finally reverse the situation and come up with a plan to turn things around.

Sparks ran through the ground around Velvet.

Be it [Northern Light], or [Thor’s Hammer], both had massive destructive power that was made evident by the battle so far. Because they simply couldn’t ignore it, the vanguards hesitated a bit.

“Now, it’s my turn! [Lightning’s Path]!”

A series of strong thunderclaps. The lightning strikes that rained down one after another even passed the place where Maple and the others were, moving farther and farther away as if crossing the field.

High-speed movement to move to a designated point marked in advance. Back then, Velvet and the others used it to escape from town, but this time she used it to attack.

Velvet abandoned the defense of her base and went for Mii’s army.

If they fought fairly, the difference in strength would only widen. In truth, it was difficult to hold out until that point. Thus, she bet everything on this moment when Maple’s defensive strength was weak.

“[Full Army Sortie]!”

Lily, who got on the flying machine from the outer wall, activated her skill.

From the beginning, she was prepared to lose. Because she’d chosen skills for base defense instead of teamfights, soldiers sprang out one after another from town towards the outer wall.

Wilbert sacrificed his life precisely because Lily was indispensable to this operation.

“I’m good at buying time! Why don’t you enjoy your time here?”

The base of Maple and others was too far away. As a result, they had no choice but to take advantage of the enemy’s strategy to determine which side would attack first.

If the strategy failed, there wouldn’t be another one. Enemy players riding taming monsters rushed out of the town, flying towards the sky with the intention of taking out fragile allied players.

Thus, Maple’s final battle began. Their objectives: To foil the enemy’s plan, and attain their own victory.