344 Part 2

“!?”

“!?”

Just as they started to get to their feet, they suddenly heard a voice coming from above, and they quickly looked in that direction. They saw a figure dropping down from the clouds above. The two frantically rode Tsukimi and Yukimi below it so they could catch the person in time. However, the form turned up-side-down right before hitting the ground, and froze in the air. It righted itself as if gravity didn’t exist. Shortly after, another figure floated down right next to it.

“Phew… Ah, that was close.”

“You should be more careful about where you walk…”

The two that had fallen from the sky were Velvet and Hinata. Velvet’s fall had been broken by Hinata’s control over gravity. She then looked towards Mai and Yui, who had been about to catch her, and she smiled with a wave of her hand. Then Hinata let her down on the ground.

Velvet landed heavily and then began to talk with an embarrassed expression.

“Well… Sorry to scare you by falling so suddenly like that.”

“No, not at all! We’re fine. Uh…you are Miss Velvet, aren’t you?”

“Ah, so Maple told you?”

“Yes.”

Since this was quite the chance encounter, Mai and Yui decided to talk to them some more. From what they heard from Maple, Velvet and Hinata were a pair who were quite good at cooperating during attacks. Perhaps they had some good ideas that they could use. And so Mai and Yui asked them for some advice. Velvet nodded understandingly.

“I see. Cooperation.”

“In general…it’s easier for me to work when she adapts to my powerful skills.”

“That’s right! In our case, Hinata stops their movements, and I follow along!”

“So…you have your own roles?”

“Uh, I suppose you can say that.”

So that was the case, after all. Mai and Yui started to think about what kind of skills they should get.

“But, you two are different from us! And you will have your own way of fighting!”

In the first place, not only were Velvet and Hinata’s weapons different, but their fighting style was the complete opposite. And since Yui and Mai were the exact same, the direction they should go in would likely be very different.

“Hmmm. It’s difficult…”

“It really is.”

“I know! You should watch us fight. And then you might get some ideas.”

Velvet also added that she wanted to see Mai and Yui fight. And the two accepted the request.

“Besides, I’ll tell you one way you can greatly increase your kill count!”

“Uh, I don’t…”

“All players can cooperate during this event, and we already gathered a lot of materials. Besides, this is special.”

“I guess…maybe you’re right.”

The two were surprised to hear that Velvet and Hinata already had so much materials. After Mai and Yui accepted, the four headed to an area where Velvet said they would be able to increase their kill count.

Tsukimi and Yukimi jumped through the clouds as they ran. As Velvet and Hinata rode with them, the difference in speed that would have existed was no longer an issue.

“Hmm. This really is nice.”

Velvet felt the wind as she petted Tsukimi’s fur.

“Miss Velvet… Do you have a tamed monster?”

“Me? Hehehe. It’s a secret!”

“Everyone at our guild wants her to keep it a secret… I’m sorry.”

Even Sally had told Mai and Yui that no one had ever seen Velvet and Hinata’s monsters. And though they were curious, they didn’t pry any further.

“So, no one has seen it?”

“That should be the case!”

Declared Velvet. They knew by looking at the other guild members’s monsters, that theirs were especially powerful. And since they had multiple skills, it was a great advantage that others didn’t know about them.

“Oh, we’re almost there. This was my first time riding on a bear, and I really enjoyed it!”

After a while, a giant hole appeared in the ground made of clouds at their feet. As Mai and Yui stood near the rim and looked inside, they saw white walls and occasional footholds. It was evident that you were supposed to slowly descend while jumping from one to another.

Apparently, there were monsters along the way, and they could see dark thunder clouds and fish monsters near the footholds.

“There is a dungeon if you go down there.”

But you had to be very careful during the journey down. And so Mai and Yui braced themselves. Not only would it be difficult to fight on such unstable ground, but there were also a lot of monsters here.

“Alright, let’s go. I’m counting on you, Hinata!”

“Don’t worry. ‘Gravity Control.’”

Hinata activated the skill, and all at once, a dark effect surrounded the four, and they floated up into the air.

“You’ll be able to float while the skill is in effect… But movement will be slow.”

And so they followed after Hinata and Velvet as they descended. Once they were at the halfway point, a voice rang from next to them.

“Leave this to me! ‘ Second Coming of the Thunder God,’ ‘Center of the Storm,’ ‘Rain of Thunder,’ ‘Field of Thunder’!’

As Velvet shouted the skills in rapid succession, the amount of lightning striking around her increased. Any who were not allies that stepped foot into this area would be instantly burned to a crisp.

“Okay, let’s go!”

Velvet had moved to the center as if to cover all of the holes with her thunder area. And her next action was to slowly descend.

“This is also very efficient! Ah, but don’t worry. Of course, this isn’t everything!”

“Do you think…we can copy this…?”

“I’m getting quite worried.”

As Hinata kept all four of them floating in the air, they slowly descended towards the floor while watching the powerful thunder mercilessly, and without prejudice, slaughter the surrounding monsters.