340 Part 2

“‘‘Rapid Current’!”

A vast amount of water pushed Sally forward, accelerating her. She kept her distance just enough so that she could easily dodge attacks. And when she saw an opening, she launched into an attack.

“Oboro, ‘Demon Flame’! ‘Iron Water Cannon,’ ‘Triple Slash’!”

Just as the effects of ‘Binding Barrier’ ended, ‘Iron Water Cannon’ shot out and prevented the boss from moving. Sally knew very well how powerful it was.

“I should go back… ‘Fireball.’”

But first, she unleashed her flames at the boss in the air, and then she stepped back and looked towards Maple. Maple felt that stimulating the monsters too much might cause them to start using piercing attacks, and so she just kept still and allowed the ice statues and snow monsters to do as they pleased. The fact that her HP hadn’t gone down showed that she was fine.

“Maple.”

“Ah, yes! ‘Cover Move’!”

Maple used teleportation to move away from the monsters and to where Sally was standing. Now both of them were in the center of the boss room, right between the boss and the mass of summoned enemies.

As they both looked cautiously towards the boss, the sounds of cracking ice echoed behind them. When they glanced over their shoulders, they saw that the summoned monsters were crumbling. At the same time, the blizzard that surrounded the boss became stronger.

“Here it comes.”

“Yes! ‘Pierce Guard’!”

Just as Maple activated the piercing nullification as a precaution, they could hear the crackling sounds of ice forming over the floor. And then the entire room was filled with pale, cold wind.

Once the air cleared, Sally saw that the light by her feet had disappeared. When she turned to Maple, she realized that ‘Dedicated Affection’ was deactivated, and her own aura from ‘Sword Dance’ was also gone.

Sally thought of the worst case scenario and tried to activate a skill, but before she could say it, the ice crawled up their legs from the ground, binding them in place.

The boss had very little HP now, and its attack patterns seemed to have changed. It was now holding a sword made of ice as it dashed towards them while still being enveloped by the blizzard.

“How many seconds…until it deactivates…?”

Sally’s mind worked rapidly as she thought about what order she should use her skills if she wanted to survive. That’s when it happened. There was suddenly no sensation in her feet, and her vision turned black.

“Did I die…?”

It was a sensation that Sally had never felt in the game before, and she considered the possibility. However, she then heard a familiar voice next to her, and she knew that it was not the case.

“Ah, you’re here too, Sally! What a relief…”

“Maple!? Uhh…where are we?”

“Huh? We’re in the ground.”

“What…?”

“Didn’t I tell you? I learned a new skill! It’s called ‘Earth’s Cradle.’ It allows you to hide underground a little before coming back up.”

“I-is that right? In any case, you saved us.”

“Hehehe. Just you watch.”

“…?”

While Sally looked puzzled, Maple began to prepare for something in a rush.

On the surface, the boss stopped in the middle of the room and waited for them to come out.

Then Maple’s skill seemed to have reached its limit, and the ground began to shake.

At the same time, Maple and Sally appeared as if being pushed out from the ground. Yes, along with numerous additions.

Maple was sitting on her black throne, along with flower gardens, monsters, muddy ground and flowers that put people to sleep.

Stationary skills that were activated underground would not stay there when you were pushed back up. They would come back with you.

It was like a predator that was quietly waiting for its prey. The ultra danger area appeared out of nowhere. And the boss was forced to start the fight while being right in the middle of it.

“‘Invitation to the Ocean Floor.’”

Now that it’s nature had been reversed, the throne no longer sealed things with the evil attribute, and so five tentacles reached out towards the boss, which was now half submerged in the ground. After that, ‘Bizarre Eater’ swallowed up what remained of its HP.

The battle ended. Maple put away her tentacles, flower garden, and throne and then sighed with relief.

“This was my first time doing it with another player…so I was so relieved to see that you were there too.”

“I’m the one who is relieved. You got a good skill. And I’m sure it’ll only get better.”

“But it’s pretty hard to raise its level. The cool down time is so long, but that’s all it can do.”

“Well, you’ll have to go underground every time it becomes usable then. I guess you might scare people if you’re not careful about where you do it. Anyway, we defeated the boss.”

“Finally! So? Where do we go now?”

“Follow me. There should be a path in the back that will let us reach the top.”

After searching every inch of the boss room, they found a gap in the wall just like Sally had said. It looked like it would take them higher. And so they squeezed through the crack and came out at the peak of the mountain.

“It’s nice and peaceful up here.”

“Woah!”

It was the world above the storm. They could see clouds below them just like at the floating castle. And since it was still midday, the sky above them was an unending blue. This was the highest point in the whole 7th layer.

Here, they could see very far away.

“Hmm. Maybe it would have been better to come at night. Besides, it’s too similar to the floating castle… I’m sorry.”

“But it’s so pretty!”

“Hehe, Maple. Didn’t I tell you? It’s the same at night and during the day.”

“…? Yeah, you did say that.”

“Sorry if I’m wrong. But I won’t drop you.”

So saying, Sally picked Maple up.

“Huh? Huh?”

“Here we go! ‘Leap’!”

Sally kicked off the unstable ground and launched herself up into the air. Then she created a foothold in the sky and jumped even higher.

“Woah… We really did it.”

“Wh-what…huh?”

After Sally had jumped off several footholds, the two suddenly started to float in the air as if they had been freed from gravity. And right above them, they could clearly see a dark blue magic circle hovering in the sky.

“Haha. If there’s anyone else who would test it without being sure, I’d like to see it.”

“Wawawa!”

“We’re going.”

And with those last words, they disappeared. And after a few seconds passed, the dark blue magic circle also melted into the sky.