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

Defense Specialization and the Tower’s 9th Floor 2

While Maple was thinking, Sally was chipping away at the boss’s HP bar.

When she attacked at close range, the boss reacted by having what looked like thorns stretch out of its body. But all it did was help strengthen Sally’s Sword Dance buff.

"Still, that’s a lot of HP... And even I won’t be able to dodge it if I get much closer...ooomph!"

She rose in the air as one of the arms thrashed in her direction. Then she landed on a nearby platform.

"Hmmm...huh?"

As she was considering where to attack next, she saw that Syrup was on the other side of the boss.

"Woah. What is that?"

A white pillar was coming out of Syrup and stretching towards the ground. And on top, Maple was sitting on a throne.

Great shields floated on both sides of Maple, and Mirror of the Dark Night was ready in front of her.

And from in between, a giant gun turret extended out, and Maple was aiming it confidently at the boss as she wore her crown and green clothes.

"’Commence Attack,’ ’Poltergeist,’ Syrup ’Spirit Cannon’!"

The four turrets that extended from between the great shields and the laser from Syrup’s mouth were unleashed all at once. The boss’s body began to burn. Then Maple waved the laser around and chased after the boss as it tried to escape.

Of course, it countered the attack as well. And as Maple was moving slowly in the air, she could not dodge it.

Five black lasers attacked Maple, and they crushed her turrets.

While there was no damage, the weapons were destroyed, and she didn’t have many left.

"Hmph... ’Poltergeist’ will be kind of meaningless..."

Maple waited for the boss to target Sally again, and then she moved closer to the boss as if she didn’t need to care about Knock-back anymore. Then she stood up from her throne and struck the boss with Mirror of the Dark Night.

Red damage effects bloomed, and while the enemy countered, she braved them with Heavy Body, which she could still use.

And then she had Syrup move away.

"Now it’ll be fine even if I can’t move!"

"That’s a really bold attack!"

Sally shouted as she bounced around from platform to platform below Maple, and dodged the swinging arms. Maple thought for a second before making Syrup move again and then stopped right above Sally.

"Dedicated Affection protects you from above and below! So I’ll protect you from above!"

"That’s great! Thanks!"

Now, even if Sally did get hit, Maple would protect her.

Furthermore, Maple was surrounded by three shields and the throne, so she did not get hit by the follow-up attacks. And she even had Damage Cut and Heal activated.

All she needed to do now was take out Izu’s special potions and lay them by her feet. Her perfect defense posture was now complete

"I just need to remember to use Pierce Guard...also Meditation!"

Maple could use a lot more skills now, which meant she had more to think about. While she thought about how it was hard for her to get accustomed to them, she listened to the sounds of Sally fighting while using all kinds of skills below her.

"Hmm. I can hardly use any attack skills while sitting down...hyah!"

Maple picked up the paralysis item that Izu had given her, and threw it between the shields.

As she no longer cared about being hit, Maple was so close that it was impossible to miss her target. The sound of electricity crackled as the yellow effect spread out.

"It looks effective! Then...Ahh!"

Maple starting pulling out more from her inventory and launched them into the air. All the while, the giant arms whacked at her from the side.

While each individual item’s effects were weak, it was a different story when you could ignore all attacks and throw them one after another.

"Good! It’s paralyzed!"

"Thank you. Now I can go in and attack!"

Sally didn’t miss her chance. She used a Doping Seed to raise her STR, and then started to carve away at the boss’s HP, before it countered with a paralysis attack.

And just like that, when the HP was at 70%, the paralysis effect wore off, and the boss opened its mouth and roared.

"I’m going to fall back!"

"Okay. I’ll follow you!"

They moved in the air as if connected until Sally landed on a platform that was some distance away.

The boss was still roaring, and something in the air was changing.

Several comets with fiery tails started to fall from the sky. They crashed into the star-shaped platforms and destroyed them.

"Agh...I hate this..."

"What are you going to do, Sally? Want a ride?"

Maple asked as she lowered Syrup until they were right next to Sally.

"Take me over there, where there are still more platforms. I should be safe if I stay close to you."

"Got it! Alright, let’s hurry up before we get attacked!"

"Yes. Still, it really is tough... I had thought I did a lot of damage."

"Yeah."

The two of them rushed to get around it before the roaring stopped.