I hate being in pain, so I think I'll make a full defense build

Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 348

Defense Specialization and the Trial 3

After entering their battle stance, the laser machines unleashed thick laser beams at them. And while ‘Dedicated Affection’ was activated, there was no harm in avoiding getting hit. And so Sally quickly jumped out and landed in front of the passage that led to the teleportation circle. Maple was in the center of the room, and got hit by so many lasers that Sally couldn’t even see her.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes! It destroyed all of my weapons, but I didn’t take any damage! Wha!?”

Maple suddenly shot backwards as she was talking, and Sally had to act quickly in order to catch her. However, Maple’s momentum did not slow down, and both of them went flying into the air.

“Hey?! There are no walls. We’ll be pushed into the teleportation circle!”

“What!? Uh, um… ‘Throne of the Heavenly King’!”

Maple occasionally used the throne as a stopper, and it worked well now. By suddenly appearing as an immovable wall, Maple and Sally had something to crash into. And like that, they avoided being knocked back into the magic circle and being forced to leave the arena.

“So, now what should we do…”

“We got pressed against the wall like this last time, didn’t we?”

The teleportation circle was behind them, and the passage leading to the large room was ahead. The Machine God was still facing them and shooting bullets with the knockback effect. And so the two were currently being pressed against the wall. If they managed to return to the room, it would likely start shooting its lasers again as well.

“Hmm. And I bet there will be a boss after this… It would be best to get through this by using as little as possible.”

“Well, at least it looks like we have plenty of time to think!”

“Yes, it’s the usual ‘planning during combat’ phase.”

This was business as usual, and so Sally started to think about their situation. Thanks to Maple’s defense ability, they had all the time in the world. Being able to have a planning phase in between, so that they could act after this with a united will was in a way, another one of Maple’s hidden strengths.

“‘Dedicated Affection’s’ reach extends just slightly past the passage…so it’s worth testing.”

“Yes. From what I’ve seen, the lasers don’t have a knockback effect, so we should be able to move as long as the Machine God doesn’t hit us with its bullets.”

“Yes, yes.”

“I’ll dodge them and run through the passage. If it goes well, I’ll trade places by using ‘Change of Position’ so you won’t have the passage behind you.”

“Got it!”

As long as they had ‘Dedicated Affection,’ failure only meant they would be blown away again. They would not die.

“Alright, I’m going. ‘Ice Pillar’!”

Sally created an ice pillar in front of her to intercept the bullets. This released her from the knockback effect. However, the passage was so narrow. Putting an obstacle there just meant that all the bullets would be concentrated on the sides. So she still couldn’t move. Sally slapped one side of her cheek and exhaled deeply.

“You can do it!”

“Leave it to me.”

Sally deactivated ‘Ice Pillar,’ causing the bullets to shoot towards her at a tremendous speed.

“Hmph…!”

Sally exhaled again as she twisted her body in order to dodge the gunfire. It looked like there were no gaps for her to move through, and yet the bullets somehow seemed to be curving away from Sally. Such was the illusion that she created as she rushed through the gaps created by the slight time lag between bullets being fired.

She used her daggers to block the ones she couldn’t dodge and rushed forward as if there weren’t hundreds of bullets shooting at her.

“This is nothing compared to Maple’s bullets.”

In the end, she slid on the ground to escape the curtain of gunfire, and then jumped to the side while activating ‘Change of Position’ in order to trade places with Maple, allowing her to escape.

“Ohhh! Amazing! In one try!”

“I’ll get back to you, but it would help if you attracted its fire for now!”

“Okay! ‘Provoke’!”

Maple made the gunfire and lasers target her and blocked them with her body. She knew that there would be no damage, so it was no problem. And now that Sally was not being targeted, she was able to walk out of the passage.

“Phew… Escape complete. Now, it’s time to strike back.”

“Sally! What should I do!”

Maple’s voice was nearly erased by the sounds of heavy gunfire.

“First, the laser machines! They don’t deal any damage, but they’re still a nuisance!”

“Yes, I can barely see anything!”

“As soon as it starts attacking me, you go and hit the lasers!”

“Okay!”

As long as this incessant barrage of attacks ended, she would be able to develop her weapons again. Even though Maple’s defenses could survive this situation, her weapons could not, which made them useless.

And so Sally created an Ice Pillar in front of Maple, and then began attacking the lasers, while also staying in range of Dedicated Affection, just in case.

“‘Quintuple Slash’!”

Just like how ‘Double Slash’ became a 16-chain attack, ‘Quintuple Slash’ became 40. And while each individual attack didn’t do much damage, she was dealing them in much shorter time than it would usually take to unleash 40 attacks.

Ultimately, this resulted in tremendous burst damage, and the laser device suddenly exploded.

“What? It was surprisingly weak. Next!”

She realized this would be easier than she thought, and quickly destroyed the second one. It was then that the Machine God seemed to have changed its priorities, as its guns suddenly moved away from Maple and towards Sally.

“That’s fine. It was too much trouble to go around and break every one. This is perfect.”

Sally said as she jumped into the air in order to dodge the lasers that were concentrated on the spot she was standing in. She created a platform in the air to land on, and then cut down the barrage of bullets with daggers.

Sparks flew, and while the sounds of colliding metal echoed in the air, there was not a single damage effect to be seen. She continued to dodge the laser and attract the attacks. And like this, Maple was free to develop her weapons.

“‘Deploy all Weapons,’ ‘Commence Fire’!”

Maple directed all of her guns towards the laser devices and attacked all at once.

And while the Machine God was able to prepare multiple laser devices, Maple could do the same due to having a power of the same name.

Maple joining the attack had a big effect, so that even if it was difficult for Sally to participate in the attack, they would be able to defeat the enemy.

At the same time, the remaining laser devices were destroyed, and only the Machine God remained in the room.

“Maple! Let’s finish this before anything else happens!”

“Yes!”

In reaction to the barrels being directed at Maple once again, Sally ran straight up to the machine and unleashed another chain of attacks.

“‘Sextuple Slash’!”

It was the basic continuous attack skill that she had always used. The motions were simple and there was no added effect. However, this skill was enough for Sally.

With every attack, fire and water burst out, accelerating the damage. However, with so many attacks being unleashed, the gun barrels were bound to turn towards Sally.

“‘Cover Move,’ ‘Heavy Body’!”

Maple already knew what was going to happen, and she used high speed movement to come next to Sally and block the attack with ‘Dedicated Affection.’ Furthermore, she used ‘Heavy Body,’ which she wasn’t too familiar with yet, to nullify the knockback. And while she could no longer move, Sally had gotten as close to the enemy as possible, which meant Maple could still attack it without a problem.

“‘Invitation to the Ocean floor’!”

Maple transformed one of her arms into tentacles, which then swallowed up and crushed the Machine God’s body, causing even more damage than Sally’s chain of attacks. As her cannons shot at point blank, opening up holes in it and causing its HP to drop, the Machine God suddenly started to create mass amounts of weapons.

“Ah, let’s kill it first! ‘Leap,’ ‘Pinpoint Attack’!”

Sally jumped up high into the air so that she was right above it. In the air, she adjusted her posture and swung the daggers. From the head down the body, she tore it open. The weapons looked like they were on the verge of breathing fire, but with the death of the Machine God, they could do nothing but crumble away.

“Nice!”

“Yes. You too, Maple. You can still use Bizarre Eater five times. What about your weapons?”

“Yes! I still have plenty left!”

“Alright. Then let’s return to the center when ‘Heavy Body’ runs out.”

“Yes, yes! But I hope nothing comes out until then…”

“Well, I have an idea of what will come next. But I’m looking forward to being able to fight alongside you, Maple.”

“Let’s do our best!”

“Of course. I won’t lose, no matter what comes.”