Itai no wa Iya 229
Defense Specialization and the Tower's 5th Floor 2
After Izu sent messages to the others and understood their situation, everyone shared what they knew and they decided to continue exploring until one of them fell.
"Still, I would like to avoid combat…"
While she was capable of fighting, reaching the halfway point of the latest event usually meant that swinging a small hammer was no longer going to cut it.
However, that didn't mean the enemy were going to take it easy on her, and numerous zombies appeared from the ground surrounding her.
"So many…uhh…I won't be able to make up for the lost materials."
Izu made her decision and then began to craft bombs in 'Magic Workshop.'
"Effect enhancing crystal and…how about a flame thrower!"
As she was able to convert money into materials and craft items wherever she wanted, it would be very difficult for Izu to run out of attacking items.
"I saved so much anyway…ahh, my money is disappearing too…"
Flames and explosive winds flashed in the thick mist. And it was there that Izu threw bombs with a vacant look on her face.
Just as Izu had found herself alone, Mai and Yui were also separated from the others within the mist.
"Wh-what should we do! Chrome has disappeared somewhere!"
Chrome had been with them just a second ago, but he had vanished in the blink of an eye. The two of them had frantically tried to chase after him, but it was no use.
"For now…let's just try to survive, okay? I'm sure we'll unite with them again."
As the two of them stood there worriedly, Izu's message arrived.
"It's a message from Izu…uhh…Yui! Watch for enemies."
"Okay, leave it to me!"
Mai sent a message back to Izu and they communicated back and forth and shared information.
"Yui, uh… Kanade and Kasumi are together and it seems like Chrome is with Izu. She says this might be some kind of trap."
"What are we supposed to do?"
"We're supposed to keep going until someone falls. So we should head for the exit? …In any case, let's look for the others."
Now that Chrome was not around to protect them, they would have to protect themselves.
They used the items that Izu gave them, which added a temporary fire effect to their weapons. Then they raised their STR with Doping Seeds so that they could kill monsters with a single hit.
And with that, they stuck their backs together and held their great hammers.
"You watch my back, sister!"
"Yes…I'll do my best."
The two of them held their great hammers up so that they could swing them at any moment. And like that, the slowly moved through the mist.
"Yui, watch your feet too."
"I know. But there's nothing you can do if they suddenly come out."
If they wanted to survive, they could not let the enemy get the upper hand. If they had to dodge even one attack, it would ruin their formation.
"Hmm… Ah! Sister, I just thought of something!"
"…Wh-what?"
Mai looked at Yui's confident expression. And while she was a little worried about what this idea would be, she wanted to hear it.
At the same time, unlike the worried Yui and Mai, Kanade and Kasumi were easily mowing down the monsters as they advanced.
"Thanks to the enemy coming in such numbers, my left arm has something to do!"
While Kasumi was swinging her katana, the armored arm was swinging a giant sword.
Even the left arm, which didn't have any attributes, was still capable of cutting normal monsters.
"Leave defense to me. You have more than enough hands anyway, Kasumi."
Kanade slowed down the monsters by order of priority and at the same time, concentrated on healing and protecting Kasumi.
These two had been assigned the roles of attackers on the fifth floor. And so being surrounded by some monsters was not really a big deal.
Kanade's response capabilities were among the best in Maple Tree. And Kasumi was a stable attacker who could fight for long stretches.
And so they had the power to trample over enemies like ghosts and zombies, as the only thing impressive about them was their number.
"Use wide-area magic if they keep increasing."
"Okay. Hehe. Hmm… Which should I use…"
Kanade looked at the books on the floating shelf and smiled.
"Use something that won't affect me too."
"Of course! I wouldn't use anything like that."
Kanade answered as he looked at a book with a black cover that sat in the corner of one shelf.
"That's fine then. I don't even know where we are supposed to go, but I think we should keep searching until a new message comes in."
"I suppose so. I do hope that everyone is okay."
"From the looks of things, it won't be easy for Chrome if he's by himself…but he probably won't die…"
Kasumi said as she cut down undead monsters one after another.
And just as Kasumi had predicted, Chrome was having a difficult time against the zombies.
"Ahh! This is so troublesome! They keep coming!"
He blocked the attacks with his great shield and had to cut them down one by one with his billhook. But he would quickly get surrounded and then have to escape.
"The only saving grace is that they're not too fast…"
While Chrome was struggling, he was still very far from dying.
"I can still heal in time. So, what to do…"
No matter how much they chipped away at his health, he was able to recover. And so he killed them one by one and pressed on.
In fact, he looked much more like an undead monster than any of the zombies.
"I want to meet up with them soon… And I'm worried about those two."
Chrome thought anxiously about Mai and Yui as he cut through the necks of the approaching monsters.
At the same time, his depleted HP healed completely.
As Chrome had damage immunity and could even revive, it was nearly impossible for these weak monsters to bring him down.
"…I guess I'm not too bad after all?"
Chrome was reminded of his own capabilities and that Maple's fighting style was different from a shield-wielder.
And like that, they all used their strengths to press forward and get through the hordes of monsters.