I hate being in pain, so I think I'll make a full defense build

335 Part 3

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.