Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 241
Defense Specialization and the Tower's 8th Floor 3
"Let's bring their number down first."
"Okay! Let's try that."
Both of them bit into the fruits that allowed them to see the invisible monsters. And then Maple unleashed a barrage of bullets towards the closest chameleons.
However, the chameleons quickly moved behind the trees and dodged the attack, as if they had been expecting this.
"Hmph. It's no good then."
"So they can avoid attacks like that. We might have to use area attacks then."
As soon as the firing stopped, the chameleons crawled back into view and started to attack them from afar.
"Woah! They're spitting poison now."
"While we're immune as long as you're protecting us…this stuff is dangerous because it remains on the ground."
"Do we have to kill them one at a time like the first one?"
"That's going to be hard. But I guess we have no choice. It will probably take longer to search for the real one."
"Yes… Area attacks…ah!"
"What's wrong?"
"What about 'Paralyze Shout'?"
This was a powerful skill of Maple's that paralyzed enemies within a wide perimeter.
"But they might be immune to it… Hmm, but it's worth a try!"
"Alright. Let's move to where there are more of them… Sally, hang on!"
Maple held Sally tightly. And then, just like before, she blasted off into the sky.
And when they arrived in a place where there were three chameleons, she activated the skill.
"'Paralyze Shout'!"
There was an effect that looked like an explosion of electricity, and then two of the three chameleons fell to the ground.
Maple and Sally did not miss the opportunity, and they finished them off with magic and bullets.
But instead of turning into light and disappearing like most monsters, they swayed and faded away.
"Yes, there must be a real one among them after all."
"Hmm. But it seems the attack doesn't always work."
"It works well enough. Things will be a lot easier now."
"Ehehe. I'm happy to be of use!"
"Haha, of course, you are."
While they had taken down two chameleons, it seemed like nothing had changed within the forest. As Sally had predicted, it seemed like they would have to take down the main one.
"Alright! Onto the next one! Whaa!?"
"Maple?!"
Just as Maple was getting excited, something that was invisible slammed into her, and she went flying into the air.
As they were connected by a web, Sally got pulled off of her feet as well. Since they had both bitten into the fruit, neither were able to see the monsters that they could usually see.
"Ugghh… Argh! I hate being taken by surprise…"
"I-I want to get off this floor as soon as possible…"
You could never get used to being attacked by invisible monsters. However, it was clear what they needed to do. They just needed to kill every chameleon that appeared before them.
"I think we can use the paralysis items that Izu gave us. I'll scatter them around. You concentrate on flying, Maple."
Paralysis Shout could not be activated with Maple's usual MP. She had depleted one of the effects of her skills in exchange for the MP.
It would affect the number of times she could use Hydra.
"Yes, I want to get to the top of the tower today! I have to save it."
"Yes. But…depending on how things go, we may have to prepare before getting to the 10th floor."
"Oh, right. The 10th floor is supposed to be really hard."
"And I don't want to lose."
"Okay. Well, let's hurry up and get through this floor then!"
Maple accelerated while Sally was in charge of steering them away from the trees. Sally would also bite into fruits regularly and guide Maple to where the chameleons were. As they moved so quickly, it was hard for the enemy to land any attacks once they were flying.
And like that, the number of chameleons dwindled. At the same time, the icon for the fruits showed that they only had 10 left.
"Th-the real one still hasn't appeared yet."
"Where can it be… Maple! On both sides!"
"Huh? Where-where!?"
As Sally was currently under the effect of the fruit that let you know the location of the chameleons for 10 seconds, she saw the icons appear where there was nothing.
And so she took out two fruits that would undo the effect and shoved one into Maple's mouth.
And then, one chameleon that was not invisible appeared before Maple.
"It's definitely this one!"
"But, it-it's running away!"
"Leave it to me. We'll catch up!"
As she was unable to stop suddenly, Maple slammed into a tree in order to forcefully land.
Sally then disconnected the web and then charged towards the chameleon.
"Super Acceleration! I won't let you go! Leap!"
The chameleon tried to use its tongue to move to another tree, but Sally jumped on it and stabbed her daggers into its back. It let out a single cry before becoming very still. Then there was a pop as it disappeared.
"Sa-Sally! Are you okay?"
The bushes rustled loudly as Maple made her way towards Sally. At the same time, the trees began to sway, then, as if they had a will of their own, they began to move apart. A path had now been made in the forest.
At the far end, there was a pillar of light. There would no doubt be a magic circle at the bottom of it.
"I…was able to take it down."
"I knew you would! It surprised me…but it wasn't too hard after all."
"Yeah. It's because of your defense, Maple. Also, it was pretty straightforward."
"Okay, let's go to the next one then!"
"Yes, let's do that."
And so the two of them walked to the magic circle and stepped on it at the same time.
They wondered about the next boss and what they would see on the way.
The sight that greeted them was a sky full of stars.
However, there was one thing that was bad about all of this. They were both up in the sky, and they were currently falling.
"Uh…?"
"Huh…?"
They looked at each other.
"AHHHH!?"
"AHHHH!?"