Chapter 343

Uh, th-thank you?

Maple couldnt quite understand what was happening. In the meantime, Velvet changed some of her equipment in front of her. While her clothes were the same, it was now very clear what her weapon was.

It was a pair of giant gauntlets. The steel fists were several times larger than her real hands. As she clutched them, Velvet laughed reassuringly. Pale bolts of lightning were still erupting around her.

Hinata, Ill be expecting your full support!

Ye-yes! Haa Here I go.

Hinata squeezed her doll as if she were gaining courage from doing so, and then she activated her skills as the monsters rushed towards her.

Chain of Stars, Cocytus.

Just as Hinata activated the skills, the monsters that were walking towards her suddenly stopped, as if they had been bound to the ground. Then the white fog that was emitting from Hinata crackled around them, freezing the monsters solid.

Due to these powerful obstructions, the monsters were unable to even touch the pair.

Disaster Spread, Gravity Creak, Weak Ice Statue.

Every time that Hinata said the words, the imprisoned monsters were hit by damage increasing debuffs. These did not do any direct damage to the monsters. However, once the effect started to wear off and the monsters were about to start moving again, Hinata slammed them with more spells that prevented them from moving or attacking.

In that case, who was dealing the damage? It was obvious.

Center of the Storm, Rain of Thunder!

Another bolt of lightning shot out from Velvet, scorching the ground as even more lightning struck from above, hitting all the monsters within a certain area.

As long as they were all bound by Hinata, the monsters could not escape, even though they knew the attack was coming. It wouldnt matter if they were monsters or not.

The boss was the only one to survive, and Velvet walked up to it and raised her fists.

Chain Thunder Attack!

The bosss movements had been sealed completely, and as her fists rammed into him with the sound of splitting air, thunder exploded. It got stronger every time she unleashed it. The bosss body burned, and its HP gauge was blown away.

Oh, woah!! Thats amazing!!

Still in the form of a monster, Maples eyes glimmered in awe as she watched the glorious display of the two killing the enemy. And all four of her arms waved excitedly.

After the three left the dungeon, they sat down in a safe zone where no monsters appeared, and they began to talk.

Miss Velvet. So you werent a magic user after all!

Just call me Velvet. It will be easier for both of us.

Unlike Maples first impression of her, Velvet was now very lively as she smiled. She was much more natural now. And so Maple decided she would act like her usual self as well.

Sorry for hiding stuff from you. The people at the guild wanted me to gather information about strong players.

Is that for when you have to fight other players?

Exactly! In order to gain an advantage I wanted to see you in action.

Uh, I see

Not only had Maple shown off a lot of her skills, but she had even let them find out her weakness during the boss fight.

Of course, thats all very important, but I actually prefer fighting boldly and head on! I mean

While it hadnt seemed like Velvet was intentionally showing off during the boss fight, its not like it would have been such a great problem if Velvet just held back and lost either. So Maple thought that she was likely telling the truth. The sudden danger was just an opportunity, and she always meant to go all out.

The people at the guild keep telling me to hide it more

Well, it really was amazing!

If they fought someone who didnt know anything about them, Hinata would be able to bind their movements before they could take any action, and then Velvet would be able to do whatever she wanted, which included thunder attacks over a wide area and close quarters combat.

There was no doubt that hiding these skills would give them a great advantage.

But if Im going to fight, I want it to be fair! Besides, youre a rival too, Maple.

Velvet said confidently. Then she laughed as if this was a challenge.

But, are you sure? It sounds like the others in your guild wont be very happy

Well, it wasnt a one side thing. Its fine, because I saw your skills as well!

She seemed to think that it was fine, but Maple saw that Hinata was looking at the ground with a conflicted expression. Clearly, this wasnt the first time Velvet had done something like this.

Still, we have other trump cards that we havent shown yet.

Yes, so do I!

What!? You still have more?!

Velvet was quite shocked by this, as all of them could have been someones final trump card, however, it also made her look forward to fighting Maple one day. And so she laughed.

I had wanted to meet you for a while. So Im glad that we finally did.

It really was just a coincidence.

Now that Maple thought back, the lightning had likely been created by Velvet. But since it was on an even bigger scale than what she saw in the dungeons, it was probably true that she still had other skills up her sleeve.

Ah, were you also talking differently so that people didnt recognize you?

Now she knew that Velvet fought with gauntlets, but her clothes had remained the same during combat. Perhaps she had some other main set, just like Maple did.

This is my number one set!

Velvet got it from a bossand now shes practicing being more graceful, to match it better.

Oh, I see

This had no deep meaning, nor was it guild strategy. It was just Velvets personal decision.

Hmm, it really is hard. They say that Im too energetic, normally.

While she had even changed her hair in order to fit her outfit, her fighting style was so different. She was an expert in hand to hand, total annihilation combat. But her true nature always came out immediately. However, she didnt seem to really care about this. Even now, she was sitting cross-legged and laughing with amusement.

Well, thats how it is. I dont know when the next PvP event will happen, but I will fight my hardest when it does.

Yes! Uh, but maybe not your hardest

Ahaha! That, I cannot do.

Uh, well then. I and the others of Maple Tree will do our best!

And so will our guild!

But firstyou have to tell them that Maple saw some of your skills

Hmm. Thats true.

W-was it really okay?

Its okay. Besides, Im the Guild Master, and they all understand me!

Maples eyes widened in surprise when she heard that Velvet was the Guild Master. Then she heard the name of the guild. It was a large guild known as thunder storm, and during the fourth event, they had seen incredible growth and entered the top ten in the rankings. And this pair were the top two in the guild.

I want to play with you again! And when that happens, Ill show you some of my other skills!

Velvets eyes shone as she said this. In the meantime, Hinata whispered into Maples ear.

ActuallyI think its not just about being fair and honest. She just likes showing off her cool skills.

I think I understand that.

The root of Velvets mindset was that she simply wanted to share with others what she felt was fun. And since it was rather similar with Maple, she nodded in agreement at Hinata.

Velvet then suggested that they add each other as friends, and then they got on the horses and returned to the town.

Rivals, huh

Maple thought about how no one like that had appeared in this game since she started. However she imagined that Sally must have been like this for a while.