Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka Gaiden – Sword Oratoria - Volume 12 - Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 FINAL WAR II 

Starting with the strongest, the reinforcements were dispatched into Knossos. Inspired battle cries echoed in the skies over Orario. 
However, just as they moved belowground, something suddenly appeared, as if taking their place, as if waiting for them. 
“A-aaaaaack?!” 
Aboveground. 
As the spirit’s great ritual began to take shape and the red light rose, peals of cries started to fill the air. A swarm of man-eating flowers tore through the cobblestones and emerged from the sewers. 
Their hideous jaws were dripping mucus, and their flower petals opened as tentacles undulated. 
“Is that some new kind of monster?! Wait, isn’t that what came out at Monsterphilia?!” 
Absorbing some of the surging magic from the demi-spirits to destruct, the man-eating plants started rampaging. It was the work of Enyo, a trick to amuse himself as a prelude to the feast of frenzy to come. 
“What the hell is this weird red light?!” 
“The tremors aren’t dying down…!” 
“What’s going on?!” 
The appearance of monsters everywhere in the city was the final straw that caused the residents to lose control. All who had been cowering in fear of this clearly abnormal situation finally fell into frenzied panic. 
The scene fit for a mad feast spread to every inch of the city. Residents and merchants who had no real power screamed in fright, scrambling desperately for their lives. As the tears of children resounded, adventurers rushed out to deal with the monsters. 
“Aaaaaaah?!” 
“Th-they’re really strong!” 
But the man-eating flowers had a potential that surpassed the great majority of adventurers. Blunt-force attacks did not work, and they reacted to magic, turning to crush any mages who attempted to cast a spell. Even upper-tier adventurers were cornered into defensive positions in the face of unknowns that did not appear anywhere in the Dungeon. 
The strongest adventurers who formed the core of the city had all gone to support the battle in Knossos, meaning they were no longer aboveground. The city would have to pacify the current situation with only the forces still on the surface. 
The bulk of the response came from Ganesha Familia ’s reserves. They quickly came to the aid of the citizens, but the rampaging monsters were menacing. With bad reports cropping up from everywhere without any ready solutions, the panic started to accelerate. 
“Oi! Come here, you monsters!” 
All of a sudden, dozens of fishermen appeared. 
“Don’t push yourself too hard, Rod!” 
“I’ll be fine, Nj? r?r! I’ve seen enough of them to last a lifetime, but I know how they work because of that!” 
It was Nj ? r?r Familia . 
Kali Familia had been staying in Meren, and when they had moved out, the fishermen had rushed to Orario in its hour of crisis. Their captain, Rod, smiled at his patron god’s warning. 
“This is the leftover magic-stone dust from Borg’s father! We’ll use it all up here!” 
Rod and his men were hauling big bags over their shoulders. The bags were filled with crushed magic-stone powder that could be used to lure the violas. It was an item that Nj? r?r and Borg had created to protect the coasts near Meren and served as proof of their sins. The fishermen vigorously powdered their surroundings, causing the swarm of man-eating flowers to stop attacking the fleeing people and redirect their attention toward them. 
“Wh-why do I have to do this?!” 
“Oh, piss off, Rubart! Just do your job and lure them to the upper-tier adventurers!” 
Rubart had changed jobs from head of the Guild branch to fisherman. He whimpered as Rod took the initiative and started leading the monsters. 
“This is bad, Bors!” 
“Damn it! I come up for the first time in forever, and this is what I have to deal with? I saw enough of these ugly pieces of shit in Rivira!” 
In the city’s northwest quadrant, Bors Elder happened to be aboveground for once, cursing up a storm. It reminded him too much of a certain nightmare: when he had gotten mixed up in the incident with a crystal orb fetus that had nearly destroyed Rivira. This whole situation was rearing its ugly head again. As his henchmen turned pale, Bors stared at the violas and then charged into battle, annoyed. 
“Shit! Fighting with cheap weapons isn’t gonna work! The blade will give out first!” 
Unfortunately, the violas boasted tough skin that not only resisted bludgeoning but even caused nicks in swords and axes that tried to slice through it. Considering their own safety, they were getting ready to run away. 
“Use this.” 
“Are y-you…Old Man Goibniu?!” 
A short old god stopped the ruffians. It was Goibniu, God of the Forge. 
“I’m opening my familia’s stockpile. Take our weapons and fight.” 
Judging it the right thing to do, the smiths of Goibniu Familia were calling out to the adventurers, bringing weapons to those who were on the front lines. 
The offer had reached the ears of Bors’s group as they were being pushed back by the monsters. Stunned by the proposal, they turned around and leaped at the treasure. 
“T-top-tier gear made by Goibniu Familia …!” 
“This is stuff that we’d never hoped to get our hands on!” 
“Hot damn! I’m so happy! I’m so glad to be alive!” 
As a weapon maniac, Bors was moved to tears, and the rest of his henchmen went from terror to excitement. They cried out in joy as they started to push back the swarm of monsters, their new weapons capable of slicing through the enemies’ tentacles and hardened skin. 
“I had anticipated the worst case, but…it really did turn out as Loki said.” 
Elsewhere, in the city’s northeast Industrial District. 
Witnessing the excitement of adventurers, Hephaistos, Goibniu’s fellow Goddess of the Forge, watched on, her uncovered left eye narrowing sharply. 
“Tsubaki and the other high smiths are with Loki’s kids. I know it’s a heavy load, but I’m counting on you.” 
““Yes, ma’am!”” the lower-level smiths shouted in response. 
“Focus on fighting with the magic swords! Leave the front lines to the adventurers!” 
The smiths roared at their patron goddess’s instructions. Turning the passion that they put into their forge into a burning battle spirit, they unleashed a barrage of attacks using Hephaistos Familia ’s prided magic swords. Hephaistos assumed command, and they showered the monsters with a storm of flames and lightning in an area that had been evacuated of civilians. 
Swinging around the high smiths’ works, the craftsmen rose to the challenge in the city’s moment of need. 
“Work together with the mages, fools! Those plants are reacting to magic! Draw them away from the residents and annihilate them!” 
Even the members of the Guild were doing what they could. And at the center of it all, his earnest voice ragged from all the yelling, was the head of the Guild, Royman. 
“What?! Weren’t you the one always talking about how the use of magic in the city was prohibited due to its potential dangers…?” 
“There’s no time to argue semantics! Look around you! Take a good look at this situation! Tulle! See to it that every familia works together! Frot is useless!” 
“Y-yes, sir!” 
“What did I do?!” Misha Frot yelled in tears as her fellow receptionist—a half-elf—headed out. 
Royman continued to fire off instructions. 
He was the only one in the Guild at the moment who had a firm grasp of the situation, and he looked extremely pale. He could not stop sweating as all his worries snowballed out of control. If he could, he would have liked to gulp down his stomach medicine like a cold beer and tell himself it was all a dream as he hid under the covers. But he continued to stay there because he understood that there was no one other than him who could give the right instructions in the current situation. 
“Frot, go to the Benevolent Mistress! Even you can handle asking them to help out!” 
“What?! A bar?! Guild Chief, did you forget that in the confusion—?” 
“Just go already!” 
“Y-yes, sir?!” she yelped back. 
He had no more concerns about appearances. He was dredging up all the top-tier adventurers who were in his memory —trying to secure their locations and abilities—and making a mental list of anyone who could be useful in their forces. 
“Have Takemikazuchi and Miach and Dellingr Familias move to the east of the city!” 
Whether they were lower-tier or a mid-level faction, he set all of them to work. He even mobilized the powerful familias that had been given the mission to clear out the green flesh, sending them out again to pacify the monsters. 
“Grrr, Finn! You bastard! Saying you’d leave what happens to me after you left…! You knew it would end up like this!” 
Royman was the head of the Guild. Selfish and devoted, the man would use anything in his power. The Guild’s Pig. 
“If you can’t save everything in the city, there’ll be hell to pay!” 
However, his feelings for Orario were genuine and stronger than anyone’s. If they were not, Ouranos would never have given him the most powerful position with all the responsibility it entailed. In terms of a familia, he would be the captain. 
Royman channeled his chronic stomach pain into an explosive shout. 
“Protect the city, adventurers! Protect my—protect our Orario!” 
As the sweaty Pig sent orders, even his fellow elves who held him in contempt chose to obey him. 
“A battle involving all of Orario…It’s been a while,” Freya commented. 
“Yes, ever since the conflict with the Evils,” Ganesha responded. 
Upon sending out their followers, the two deities watched as people flowed into Central Park. Most of the deities in the city were entertaining themselves in their own ways, not wanting to be late to this party. They all realized the fate of the mortal realm rested on the conditions surrounding this battle. 
“This has really turned into something crazy…Did all my actions to try to help my sea play a part in causing this?” Nj? r?r murmured, his voice tinged with regret as he looked on. 
“We’ll take care of things up here! So make sure you win this, Loki!” 
 
“ ? !” 
It was a rush of combat boots. The adventurers advanced, roaring through the Dungeon and from the entrance at the Labyrinth District, pouring into Knossos. There was nothing to get in their way. 
They raced through the ninth floor and the tenth floor that the vanguard of Loki Familia had cleared out, charging straight to the chambers where the demi-spirits waited. 
It had all been for this: Finn’s obstinate insistence on damaging the spirit altar—the labyrinth’s defense mechanism—and getting Fels to cut off the supply line of magic with their tricks. All of it. 
“The following forces must reach the demi-spirits without taking damage.” 
Before the start of the second assault, this was the plan that Finn had designed at the strategy meeting. With a single battle to determine the fate of Orario, it would have been nonsensical not to send in all the city’s major forces. Now that they had directly felt the menace of Enyo, it was essential that they forget any personal holdbacks and work together as a team, including Freya Familia . 
“I expect resistance from Knossos, now that it’s been transformed into an altar. It will exceed anything we can imagine. We will secure the route to the target and use the strength of the following forces to finish it.” 
Loki Familia and Ganesha Familia , Hephaistos Familia and Dian Cecht Familia , their forces were actually just the vanguard. 
Their job would be to charge into enemy territory, gather information, open the way, and make sure the following forces could reach the target unharmed. Finn had immediately concluded that cooperation with Freya Familia would be impossible, so he had designed a two-stage attack instead. He had tried his best to convince Freya about the necessity of a united front, but he had also discarded any possibility of true cooperation between their forces. He was not some simple idealist; he was a shrewd and shameless hypocrite. 
“Advance!” 
Fels had stealthily covered most of the passages on the tenth floor. The mage in the black robe was currently using an oculus to share the optimal routes to the forces aboveground, allowing the reinforcements from the Labyrinth District and the Dungeon to reach the six chambers as quickly as possible regardless of the entrance they used. 
The counter magic that had jeopardized the lives of Loki Familia and the rest of the vanguard squads had ground down to a halt. In the chambers, the defense mechanism had been crushed. With Fels’s help, the source pipe of magic was still being restored, which was why the spirit altar was forced to allow the new intruders to pass by untouched. 
Their efforts to open the way had a definite return on investment. The labyrinth was not searching for enemies or launching counterattacks. The follow-up squads were able to race through the passages without any difficulty. And amid the reinforcements, the first ones to land on the stage of the decisive battle was the other familia said to be the city’s strongest. 
There was an explosion of magic and the flash of a blade severing through a tentacle. It was a brave charge by the reinforcements whose arrival rescued Loki Familia from their pinch. 
“Freya Familia !” 
As the spirit altar continued to sing its terrific song, the appearance of the new forces was met with equal parts joy and shock from Loki Familia . 
The reinforcements were a party composed mostly of fairies. And among the new arrivals, a white elf and a dark elf stepped forward, the ones who had just unleashed the simultaneous attack using magic and weapons. 
“It’s been a while, noble lady.” 
“You’re…” 
Riveria’s second squad. 
The two elves did not kneel before Riveria, who was using her barrier in a one-sided defensive war, but they paid their respects nonetheless. 
“While we normally feud in such an unsightly way, at a time like this, let’s fight together.” 
“Hildsleif Hedin Selrand…” 
“I have sworn my loyalty to Lady Freya, but just for now, allow me to become your right hand.” 
White skin and long golden hair. A white elf adventurer like Riveria. He adjusted his glasses, speaking dispassionately. At first glance, he might be thought as dainty, but that would be a mistake. He was holding a twin-bladed rhomphaia taller than his height. It was a first-tier piece of equipment that increased magic power and a weapon that could cut through any enemy. 
“We’re before royalty. Say something, Hegni.” 
“……………” 
With dark skin and silver hair that almost looked lavender, he was wearing black clothes and a black mantle, wielding a sinister black longsword. 
He was a dark elf, a rare sight in the current era where white elves were thriving. Despite his partner’s nudge, he remained silent. His sharp eyes of a warrior flared, his irises twitching at a speed that only Hedin could understand. The white elf sighed in annoyance. 
“You ceremonious prick…” he muttered. 
“Dáinsleif Hegni Ragnar…The black and white knights.” 
The two were first-tier elf adventurers, one piece of Freya Familia ’s strongest force. Riveria’s eyes narrowed at the appearance of the pair who were known as the most brutal magic swordsmen. 
“…Buy me some time. I’ll finish things up with my magic.” 
““Understood.”” 
There was no need for unnecessary words. She left the front lines to the brave warriors who were the pride of their race, and the two knights responded in unison to the high elf’s edict as they dashed off. 
One was Concurrent Casting while the other slashed into the hideous pillar with a gust of wind. 
A thunderclap went off, and a cosmic slash carved a path like a black shooting star. 
Slipping through the altar’s full bombardment, their magic canceled each other out, and the dark elf’s slash burned through the tentacle. 
For the second squad that hadn’t been able to land a finishing blow without Aiz, this violent attack did the trick—and then some. The battle was almost one-sided as the two magic swordsmen caused the enemy to cry out in agony. They were just too strong. 
Paying no heed to the shocked looks from Loki Familia and Ilta, the rest of the fairies from Freya Familia followed the high elf’s instructions and started to fight. 
Flowers of magic bloomed. They fired off barrages that did not pale in comparison to the spirit altar’s counterattack. Ignoring the chain of explosions that illuminated their faces, the black and white knights proceeded to trample over the demi-spirit without waiting for Riveria’s magic. 
“I never would have imagined fighting shoulder to shoulder with our bitter enemies.” 
“We’re quadruplets, which means all annoyances are quartered. Forgive and forget.” 
“And to see a filthy dwarf when we were done running? It’s not just unforgiveable: It’s unforgettable.” 
“At least it isn’t that shameless hero who acts a symbol for all prums.” 
The same voice represented the opinions of four different people. The small warriors appeared before the third squad. 
“If it isn’t the only prums who are more impudent than Finn! Of course you’d be the ones to come here!” Gareth groaned at the four prum brothers who had led the reinforcements for his squad. 
Sword, hammer, spear, and ax. Those four weapons were clearly oversize for their height, repelling the magic circle’s light. Their childish bodies were covered in a sand-colored armor, and their faces were covered by matching full-face helms. The four of them almost looked like armored toy soldiers, but there was no one who dared look down on them. 
Bringar. The Four Knights of the Golden Flame. They were prums like Finn and little monsters who had climbed all the way to the rank of first-tier adventurers. As heroic figures, the Gullivar brothers were rightly feared. 
“As usual, there’s no telling you apart. Maybe I should try seeing which of you feels the best to cuddle? And then I could compare to Finn to see who feels the best of all!” 
“Don’t touch me, half. Stay away.” 
“Oh, don’t make me laugh. Who’d want to get hugged by you? You’ve been singed by the forge! I would never want to be sandwiched between your giant chest!” 
“Hey! Don’t come for Lady Freya like that! Beg her for forgiveness.” 
“Quit it! I don’t want to spend even more time cleaning myself.” 
“Ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha! Hey, Gareth! Can I slice up these little assholes?!” Tsubaki asked. 
“Quit screwing around! This isn’t the time or place for that crap!” 
Even Tsubaki got offended, laughing out loud as the four prums insulted and expressed their utter distaste for her. Gareth shouted, reminding them it was still a battlefield as the spirit altar launched a barrage, seemingly in agreement with him. 
The prums quickly evaded it along with Gareth and Tsubaki, and their four pairs of eyes stared down the enemy, chattering among one another. 
“That, huh?” 
“That’s it.” 
“Pretty disgusting.” 
“So what do we do?” 
“““Eliminate it, obviously.””” 
“Then let’s go.” 
Their little dialogue sounded almost like someone talking to themselves, expressing an uninterrupted stream of consciousness. Following the declaration of the eldest brother, Alfrik Gullivar, Dvalinn, Berling, and Grer moved forward. Realizing the purpose of the spirit flags, they quickly stole all the flags that Tsubaki and Loki Familia were holding and charged. In the blink of an eye, flames, lightning, blizzards, and flashes of light were raining down on them, but they were all nullified by the matching spirit flags. 
Alfrik knocked away the flames, Dvalinn knocked down the lightning, Berling mowed down the blizzards, and Grer shifted the path of the rays of light. And repeat. An unending series of teamwork. Those four small frames nullified the tremendous storm of magic blasts by working as one. Their charge did not lose any speed, splitting the battlefield in half while basically laughing at Loki Familia , who’d faced major trouble trying to fend them off. 
“ ? ?!” 
Three weapons were thrown at their respective targets. The sword, spear, and ax pierced the spirit altar’s giant face, causing it to let out an earsplitting scream as a full swing of the hammer slammed into the bridge of its nose. 
That was the end. That attack shattered the nose and smashed the entire face, along with the magic stone, effectively silencing the spirit altar. That was the result of the greatest teamwork in all Orario. 
“You’re kidding…They already managed to shut it up…” said Sharon, a second-tier adventurer from Loki Familia . 
“It pains me to say it, but…they’re really strong,” Tsubaki admitted. 
“There’s no use trying to measure their strength. When you put all four of them together, their teamwork is multiplicative—not additive,” Gareth responded, readjusting his helmet. 
Even though Gareth’s squad had already taken out two of the faces on the spirit altar, the prums were the real deal. It was not an exaggeration to say they could beat any first-tier adventurer if the four of them fought together. 
“All that’s left is the main body! Show your backbones!” Gareth roared. 
In response, the adventurers in the vanguard strained their voices and moved to attack the demi-spirit’s main body with Freya Familia ’s reinforcements. 
“Shall I lend a hand, Tiona?” 
The spirit’s attack was pushing the fourth squad to the brink of destruction. And amid that, a group of powerful Amazons saved the adventurers. 
“Bache?!” 
When the Amazon appeared, Tiona doubted her eyes. The strong-looking figure standing before her resembled someone in her memories. Bache Kalif had been her teacher and mentor, training her when she was still young and weak. 
“What is this?! Weak! You’ve gotten weak!” 
“Argana…!” 
Tione had the same reaction. 
Telskyura’s strongest warrior clamped on to the enemy’s tentacle with both hands like the fangs of a snake, tearing it off. Tione held her wounded arm and looked in shock at Argana Kalif, with whom she’d had a death battle in Meren. 
“You…It can’t be…Did you all come to help us…?” 
They were reinforcements who even Finn had not anticipated. Kali Familia had joined the fray at Hermes’s request. They roared as if praising the hot-blooded battle that Tione’s squad was locked in. 
A helping hand had come to the rescue from her hated homeland, channeling the warriors’ reliable battle cries. Right now, Tione could not figure out the feeling welling up in her chest, at a loss for words. 
“—What about Finn?! Tione! Where is Finn?!” 
“—What?!” 
She was taken aback by Argana, whose cheeks were flushed and whose face had become markedly more feminine. 
“The strong man who defeated me! I was asking the location of my husband—the one who conquered me!” 
And on hearing her say it again, the temperature of the air around Tione dropped to absolute zero. Amazons fell in love with powerful males. Argana had lost to Finn once, and she was no exception to that. She forgot all about being a brutal warrior, totally in heat. 
“The captain isn’t yours! He’s mine! ” 
“You’ve got it all wrong, Tione! Finn is my male!” 
Tione roared with rage, forgetting the situation. Argana was obviously passionate, which could be felt even through her stilted Koine. 
As the two girls butted heads, the spirit altar fired off another blast, without any care for their coarse argument. The two of them leaped away from the blast like feral beasts. To the spirit’s misfortune, their dangerous glares redirected toward it. 
“How about this? Whoever defeats that thing can be Finn’s woman! The victor can have Finn to herself!” 
“Bring it on! I’ll be the one to claim the captain’s fidelity!” 
Argana’s face transformed into that of the strongest warrior, and Tione swelled with determination, totally forgetting about her wounds. They looked exactly like teacher and student as they stood shoulder to shoulder before charging at the demi-spirit. As if in sync, the rest of the warriors of Telskyura unleashed a full-out attack. 
Even the spirit was overwhelmed by the otherworldly intensity. In another location, a certain prum hero felt a mysterious chill. 
“Since when did the holy ground of Amazons turn into the cradle of perverts…?” grumbled Olba, an exhausted Level-3 animal person from Loki Familia . 
“With their squabble, the enemy has shifted its focus away from the healers…! Now we can regroup!” Amid said as Olba provided a shoulder for her to lean on, her robes scorched. She carried out her recovery magic to heal herself. 
“…Whoa, they’re putting the pressure on the spirit!” 
“Argana has changed…to a scary degree…” 
As their older sisters composed a serenade of blows that overpowered the enemy, their little sisters had a distant look. 
However, that was just a brief moment. Bache faced Tiona as if collecting herself. 
“I lost to you once. I’ll sacrifice my life…the one I should have lost that day…for you.” There were traces of a smile hidden behind the veil covering her face. “I’ve come to help, Tiona.” 
At those words, Tiona broke into a sunny grin. 
“Thank you, Bache!” 
“…To think you’d be the one to come here,” Finn said as his eyes narrowed. 
“Put a sock in it, shrimp. I just came to the place that was left. That’s all.” 
A single cat person appeared at the first squad. The swift adventurer coolly berated Finn. He had not brought any other familia members. Well, he had just been so fast that he had left them behind. 
He wore black battle clothes with shoulder armor on just his left shoulder. There was a flowing mantle attached to that shoulder. In his hands was a long silver spear. The first-tier adventurer with the second name of Vana Freya, Freya Familia ’s second-in-command. 
Allen Fromel tossed down the map of Knossos that Ganesha Familia had provided and glanced at Finn. 
“More importantly, what’s with this predicament?” 
“What? The enemy’s attacks were more powerful than anticipated. Our squad has taken casualties.” 
“You piss me off. To think she would praise you when you look so damn unsightly.” 
He spat venom. It was a bit too callous to be called jealousy, disappointed in the state of Finn’s squad that was beaten-up and battered. But it was also a window, a glimpse into his respect for his goddess. 
While he did not deign to hide his annoyance, he muttered to Finn as they passed each other. 
“I’ll finish that ugly piece of shit. You’ve got a mountain of other shit to deal with, so get to it, asshole.” 
“…Yeah, I think I will.” 
Allen did not give Finn a second look as he glared forward. There were countless magic circles forming in the air. Even now, the demi-spirit still continued its chant. The spirit body on the upper part of the pillar looked pleased as it lorded over Allen and the rest of the adventurers. 
“Just singing that grating shit.” The ears at the top of Allen’s head twitched. And then the light of the magic circles’ barrage went off. 
“—Just die.” 
A tremendous boom rang out. It was the sound of him kicking off the ground. The green flesh covering the floor blew away like gravel. He dashed at high speed, taking a wide angle toward the pillar. Only Finn and Shakti were able to keep track of him as he closed in on the spirit’s face. 
“Glegh—” burbled the flesh as it was pierced, instead of the chant. 
The movements were instantaneous. None of the adventurers would have objected if this was described as teleportation. 
Allen dashed—leaping, maneuvering through the air, leaving the oncoming magic behind, slipping through the gap between magic circles, and jabbing his spear into the spirit’s mouth . 
“Quit regaling us with that awful singing voice, you ugly thing.” 
“Ah…Gah…?” 
“Don’t contaminate Milady’s garden.” 
Slamming the bottom of his boots against the spirit’s face, he spun the silver spear that was piercing its mouth. A mix of confusion, shock, and uncertainty went through the spirit altar. Its stagnant golden eyes cried tears of blood. 
“He broke the incantation?!” 
He had closed the distance between them in just an instant. It was an amazing acceleration that sent shudders down the spine of Shakti and the other adventurers. That was Allen Fromel, Level 6, the first-tier adventurer. Not surprisingly, Allen and Bete got along like cats and dogs, and he had another title, Vana Freya—the city’s fastest. There was no comparison. He had the fastest legs of any adventurer. 
Ignoring the spirit altar altogether, Allen had cut off the chant faster than any squad or any adventurer. He spat on the unsightly spirit from his position atop it. 
“—Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!” 
A tentacle whipped out from the female body, but Allen quickly dodged it. However, he did not retreat. He used the wall and pillar and even the enemy’s tentacles to intricately ricochet himself, performing a sonic-speed hit-and-run. The spirit let out a screech that raised their hairs as it was dissected, shredded to pieces in the blink of an eye. 
“Leave the spirit’s main body to him! We’ll take out the pillar!” 
Finn ordered, getting the rest of the adventurers to attack. He did not want to lose to the cat person. The battle had reached a tipping point. 
“It’s…Warlord…” 
The undisputedly strongest person in the city arrived at the chamber housing the spirit. As a fellow animal person, Anakity felt awe more than relief or joy. The boaz warrior wielding his giant black sword had come alone . 
“Out of the way, Alsha. Wounded animals serve no use.” 
Anakity had no time to be honored that the city’s strongest fighter knew her second name as she cleared the path for him. 
Since they had lost half their squad to Ein’s trap, Anakity and the rest of the fifth squad had not been able to deal much damage to the spirit altar. The pillar’s lower part still had all three of its faces intact. On top of that, there should have been counter magic in the passage leading to the chamber. And yet, the boaz warrior had made it there untouched. 
His giant body—made of pure muscle—passed in front of her eyes like a massive boulder as he stood across from the spirit. 
“…Mm?” 
For the first time, the spirit reacted to something. It still continued to sing its song, but even through all the collective efforts of the fifth squad, it had only smiled its sadistic smirk. 
Its body stirred in a way that even it could not comprehend, recognizing that man could not be trifled with, even though he was far away. To an onlooker, it seemed like a giant being overwhelmed by a child. 
A crimson magic circle formed in a flash. Feeling the fluctuating emotions of the main body, the spirit altar prepared an extra-powerful blast. It unleashed a ball of flames charged by a colossal amount of magic power. 
Ottar gripped his black sword in both hands and split that ball in half. 
“? ” 
Anakity, and the other adventurers, and even the spirit froze. The blast exploded behind the warrior as if it had finally remembered its original purpose, forming a tremendous sea of fire. The city’s strongest adventurer advanced with a wall of sparks at his back, and the demi-spirit showed a hint of fear. 
“Begone with you at once. This is the garden where the goddess resides. Any who dare disturb it will not be forgiven.” 
The assault began. Neither tentacles nor magic could stop the man who sauntered closer. After he spoke, he accelerated, rapidly approaching the base of the pillar with a speed unbefitting his hulking body, swinging his black sword vigorously. 
That was all it took for the spirit pillar to tilt. 
“ ? Ghhhh?!” 
Though it did not manage to sever it at its base, he had cut halfway into the giant pillar. 
As the spirit cried out, it prioritized its regeneration, but it was not able to recover its leaning posture. 
With the enemy’s head at a lower position, the dauntlessly valiant warrior did not speak a word as he mercilessly destroyed it. 
“…Captain, Warlord has started fighting by himself…He’s already overpowering it,” Anakity whispered with a trembling voice into her oculus. 
“Of course he is. He’s Ottar.” 
There was a playfully annoying tone to the voice that responded immediately. The prum hero’s joking voice rang out from inside the crystal. Despite being enemies, he trusted Ottar completely. 
“Ghhh… We’re going, too! We’re Loki Familia ! We’re no cowards!” 
“Raaaaaaaaaah!” 
Even covered in wounds from head to foot, Anakity raised her sword with a powerful battle cry. The rest of the familia there rose to their feet and followed her. Ottar gazed at the proud cat person, but he did not question her, allowing her to join the fight. 
The smile had been completely wiped off the demi-spirit’s face. 
 
As the reinforcements arrived at each front, they were able to regroup. The tides were turning in Knossos. 
“Fels! Are there any reinforcements for us?!” Lido shouted into the crystal in his hand. 
As Freya Familia and the other reinforcements reached the squads to save them, there had not been any backup for the Xenos. They had somehow managed to take out two of the faces of the spirit altar, but it was still casting magic in the chamber as it pleased. Even the hardy scales and fur of the Xenos were getting battered. It was just a matter of time before they gave out. 
“You don’t need anything from us.” 
“What?!” Lido went wide-eyed when he heard this cold response from Fels. 
“What do you mean by that, Fels?!” 
“I mean what I said. You don’t need anything from us.” 
There was a hint of anger in the voice of the lizardman warrior, but Fels’s tone was still unchanged. 
There were not many adventurers who would come to help the Xenos, knowing who they were. Even if reinforcements had come, they would not protect the Xenos, leading to both groups getting attacked by the spirit. But Fels’s voice came across as far too aloof. Lido started to suspect it might be because they had run out of reinforcements. 
Lido was about to unleash all the human swears he had at his disposal. 
Thud! Thud! 
Something brushed up against Lido’s eardrums. 
“What?” 
“…Are those…?” 
“…Footsteps…?” 
Something very heavy was sending tremors through the ground as it approached. As Lido and the rest of the Xenos looked around to locate it, suspicion appeared on the demi-spirit’s face. 
“—Seems I made it in time.” 
“Gros?! Where were you?!” 
Gros the gargoyle appeared, flapping his stone wings. His beastly face looked annoyed. 
“You know, I got stuck running errands for Fels. I was the welcoming party.” 
“Welcoming party…?” 
Before Lido could ask for whom, the answer appeared with a loud thump. 
A giant body stepped into the chamber—one made up entirely of chiseled muscle. It could have been a huge hunk of steel. It was wearing an adventurer’s full-plate armor. Due to its muscular build, it looked like it was only light armor. In its hands was an enormous Labrys that was stained bright red from the blood of slaughtered prey. 
Masculine horns and jet-black fur. A human body and a bull’s head. His chest swelled as he unleashed a roaring battle cry. 
“Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” 
The howl caused even his comrades to shrink back as it pealed around the chamber. Ignoring Wiene and the others as they covered their ears, he looked at the demi-spirit, wondering what the hell it was. 
“See? I told you, you don’t need any reinforcements from us.” 
As Lido was overcome with surprise, a voice rang out from the oculus in his hand. The mage’s shameless voice reached his ears. 
“Because the strongest Irregular made it in time.” 
The howl ceased to end. The labyrinth did not stop quaking. With the rest of the Xenos, Lido was frozen in place as that monster’s name crossed his lips. 
“A-Asterios…” 
Just one month prior, the strongest Xenos had cast untold masses of adventurers into the depths of fear—as the black minotaur. He had appeared to reinforce Lido’s group. 
“After going to rescue that brat in the deep levels, Aruru and Helga tracked down Asterios’s location on secret orders from Fels.” 
“Kkkr!” 
“Woof! Woof!” 
The al-miraj next to Gros raised her short, soft arm, and the hellhound barked with pride. Among the group of Xenos who had gone to the thirty-seventh floor for a certain mission, they had continued down even deeper to search for Asterios. Relying on information from a guardian who had come to the Xenos’s hidden village to rest once, they had finally found him, and Gros had gone to meet him and persuade him to join the battle. 
“There’s no sense in letting his strength go to waste. Or, rather, if I had, who knows what Braver would do to me instead,” Fels explained from inside the crystal with a wispy sigh. 
Lido and the rest had still not broken free from their stiffness when Asterios stopped howling and slowly looked forward, fixing his gaze on the spirit pillar standing at the back of the chamber. 
And then his mouth cracked into what seemed to be a smile. He hung his Labrys on his back and planted his fists on the ground, lowering his center of gravity and his head. Before Lido had time to wonder if he was really going to do that, Asterios started running. 
“OOOOOOOOOH!” 
It was a black charge that did not wait for any signal to begin. As the Xenos and even the spirit looked on in shock, he sprinted straight at the spirit altar. 
“Hey, wait, Asterios!” 
But Lido’s warning fell on deaf ears as his giant body accelerated like a cannonball. The demi-spirit’s eyes widened, unable to believe what was happening. The counter magic flared, and a barrage of spells rained down from all around. 
Shots hounded him from every angle: a blast of flame, ice, lightning, earth, light, and dark magics. They tore through the minotaur’s fur, burning muscles, freezing flesh, drawing blood from his stout body. But he did not stop . 
“?!” 
His speed did not drop in the slightest, and the volley could not budge him from his trajectory as he kept charging forward. The demi-spirit’s main body stopped chanting its ritual, feeling a chill at the sight of the minotaur bulldozing across the ground like a meteor, and it switched to its own high-speed cast. 
A magic circle appeared and unleashed a thunder ray. This flash of lightning could erase everything into the distance, but Asterios managed to break through it. 
“? ” 
The immeasurable monster shredded the flood of lightning as he charged through, freezing time for the demi-spirit that should have been just as immeasurable. 
His unbreakable horns were readied. The unmatched strongest charge slammed into the spirit pillar. 
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!” 
There was an explosion that sounded like the world splitting in two. The Xenos were all taken aback. A shock wave rocked the entire chamber and the last remaining face on the spirit altar literally exploded into dust. The spirit pillar whose base had been completely pulverized shook violently as it tilted forward. 
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!” 
The pillar crashed to the ground, accompanied by the spirit’s pained cry. As the second earthquake caused by that shock knocked Wiene and several others into the air, Asterios’s fellow Xenos’s faces looked pale. 
“He broke it…with a damn tackle…” 
It had been a charge without any thought for the damage he had taken himself. A brute-force rush forward without any need for tactics or strategy. The embodiment of power that even Finn had feared had used all his strength and shattered the pillar. 
As if copying his teacher from a previous life, Asterios resolutely tore down the spirit pillar. 
“Hraaaaah.” 
“Aaaaaack?!” 
The green flesh along the floor was shredded, causing smoke to rise in the center of the chamber. As the monster approached, the spirit trembled like a butterfly whose wings had been plucked. The bloody black body had taken serious damage, but his intense hostility had not disappeared from his eyes. 
Asterios had been begged to return from his solo training journey in the deep levels, equipping his Labrys again. Determined to make up for the lost training, he began rampaging like a natural disaster in search of a grand battle that would make his heart beat faster. 
“…Hey, Fels! Bellucchi and his familia are coming here, too, right?” 
“…Yes, according to the report I received,” replied the raspy voice from the crystal. 
After a moment’s silence, the lizardman whispered. 
“…We should probably not tell him that Bellucchi is here…” Lido concluded as he watched the minotaur rampage from afar, accompanied by a series of unbelievably loud booms. 
 
Battle cries began to overlap. Thousands of sword slashes and magic blasts transformed into violent tremors. Even at a great distance, the adventurers’ roars in the battlefield were audible. 
“Aren’t we really out of place here…?!” said Lilliluka Erde, the prum girl, putting her true feelings into words. 
She was moving through the passage of Knossos with the rest of Hestia Familia . Even though they hadn’t reached the battlefield yet, she was already getting cold feet. 
On a certain expedition, they had just experienced the highs of a new adventure. But the signs of a deadly battle were so thick that this exhilaration was immediately dashed. She recognized this was a battlefield beyond human understanding, a battlefield for the chosen ones with the qualifications to be heroes. 
“Quit blabbing and give us our orders, Commander!” 
“Please grant us guidance, Commander.” 
“What should we do, Commander?” 
“Uh, ummm, do your best, Commander Lilly?” 
“Oh, ‘Commander this’ and ‘Commander that’! You only call me that when it’s convenient for you! And, Bell! Don’t force yourself to say something! You’re bad at it!” She blew up in a fit of rage at her comrades, who were pulling her foot. 
Asfi could not help giving some advice. 
“First of all, let’s link up with one of the squads. There’s no point in moving around aimlessly.” 
It was a reasonable suggestion, but…for some reason, Lilly could not really picture it happening. All the strongest factions from Loki Familia on down had gathered in Knossos. She was still dubious even now, wondering what they could accomplish in there. Of course, she was super interested in a battle with the fate of the city on the line. But even for her, it was hard to imagine what more could be done. In fact, it would be hard for most any normal person to figure out what the best steps were in that situation. 
“Lilliluka Erde!” 
“—Fels!” 
At that moment, the mage in the black robe ran to them from the other end of the passage. 
“When I first heard it, I thought I was imagining things…but Hestia Familia has really come.” 
“If Orario’s going to be blown away without a good fight, we don’t have much of a choice! It doesn’t matter if it’s a good idea for us to come or not! More importantly, what’s the situation?! What’s happening?!” Lilly snapped back. 
Slightly taken aback by her menacing glare, Fels responded quickly. 
“Thanks to the wave of reinforcements, we finally have the upper hand. But a single mistake and the situation could go south in an instant.” 
“What…? But this is all Finn. Isn’t he the one in command of this operation?” 
Lilly was shaken by Fels’s tense mood and the implied warning that their victory was not a foregone conclusion. 
Lilliluka Erde had been viewing things optimistically. She had assumed that because the hero of the prums was in command, his forces would be in an advantageous position from start to finish. 
“Braver is currently in control of all the battlefields with the demi-spirits—the targets. Six battlefields, six fronts. While he fights on his own front. Even he doesn’t have any room to breathe in this situation.” 
“Six fronts?!” 
He was dealing with six different battlefields. That caused Lilly’s face to twitch. Directing troops across five battlefields spread around the labyrinth while physically fighting on his own battlefield? Was there no limit to the absurdities he could pull off? 
Lilly had recently taken the position of commander herself. Obviously, she knew this feat was crazy talk. She almost doubted her own ears, barely believing this stunt was even possible, trembling with fear just imagining it. But at the same time, she finally understood that this situation was precarious: The alliance must have had its back against the wall if Finn had been forced into taking this absurd position. 
“Fels! The enemy’s attack has intensified at the second and third squads! Can you move now?!” 
One of Fels’s crystals lit up with an intense message. Lilly jolted. It was Finn. 
“I don’t want to move the reserves! Now that the labyrinth’s counter magic has been silenced, I want Raul’s forces to focus on saving the hostages and clearing up the remaining concerns there! It can be from the wave of reinforcements! I don’t care who—!” 
As Finn’s powerful voice rang out from the crystal, they could hear a hair-raising battle thundering in the background—an otherworldly explosion and what sounded like the screams of adventurers. On top of that, the booming voice of what could only feasibly be an impossibly large monster. The sounds in the background caused Hestia Familia and even Asfi to gasp. 
Lilly started turning pale and tried to back away by herself, but— 
“Mr. Finn! Is there anything we can do?!” 
A single boy courageously stepped up. 
“That voice…Is that you, Bell Cranell? Why are you—? No, am I right to assume this is Hermes’s doing?” 
Lilly’s face twitched. She’d had no time to stop him. His rubellite eyes were burning. 
That was right. Bell Cranell was that kind of boy. He was not the sort of person to stay quiet when the city was in danger. He was not the type of adventurer who would run away. 
If anyone, even a complete unknown stranger, was asking for help, he would step in to the fray to save them. It did not matter who. The boy had always yearned to be a hero, and he had become one of the people running headlong down the path to becoming one. 
Even if he had not realized it himself yet, after he had made it through the Xenos incident, Bell had become the newest adventurer at the bottom of that list of chosen people Lilly had imagined earlier. 
This is bad! This is really bad! 
Finn had definitely seen through Bell’s nature. With Bell at his disposal, the boy would surely be worked to the bone. Lilly’s crush was going to be thrown into the danger zone with all the other first-tier adventurers! That would be bad! She didn’t want that! But there would be no stopping Bell! Damn it! 
Her thoughts ran wild like a tsunami. Her chestnut pupils narrowed and darted chaotically as she glanced around. In her head, the doomsday meteor had basically slammed into a swarm of Lillys running in terror while a fiery inferno of flames raged. 
Before Finn could say anything, the strategic girl was cornered into a decision and immediately opened her mouth. 
“—Give me two fronts !” 
Lilly chose an unbelievable move. While Bell, Fels, Asfi, the rest of Hestia Familia , and even Finn were shocked, she requested a transfer of command. 
“I’ll take command of them in your stead ! Let me shoulder some of your burden!” 
It was absurd. Entirely impossible. Even as she was saying it, Lilly could not help those thoughts welling up in her mind. Even if it was to protect Bell, a supporter commanding a battlefield filled with first-tier adventurers? It was hysterical. She was laughing at herself. To think she could somehow take on some of the burden for Braver of all people. How misguided could she be? If the adventurers had been there, there would have been no end to the shouts telling her to know her place. Those thoughts were also crossing her mind. She understood the absurdity of her request better than anyone. What she had said was a delusion. 
But…! 
Could she really deny there wasn’t a small part of her that was frustrated when she had heard he was handling six different battlefields? Did the sparks flaring in her heart not exist? Did she really have no reason to say it other than to cover for Bell? 
Her worry for Bell and a small sense of pride, combined with the impending doom for the city, transformed into duty to help the heroes and exploded. It was very unlike her. 
She was still new to it, but Lilly had stood in the same commander’s position as Finn, and she did not want him to take her Bell—or for Bell to go off without her. 
“You’re…Is that Lilliluka Erde?” 
“I’ve learned from you, and I’ve been training as a commander! Let me take one or two squads! I can imitate you if that’s all!” 
There was no going back now. She could not take back what had been said anymore, so Lilly cast aside the regret, moved her face closer to the oculus as if to bite deep into Braver on the other end, and let the big talk flow. As a storm of uncontrollable emotions overtook her, she pushed forward impulsively, adding even more false bravado to what could already be called “irresponsible boasting.” 
“But just two fronts, okay?! And the simpler ones! I definitely can’t do more than that!” 
“Do you want to help or don’t you, Li’l E?!” 
Lilliluka Erde had to be desperate if it had gotten bad enough that Welf was talking sense into her. In truth, she was asking for too much responsibility. As basically secondary commanders, Fels and Asfi were about to put a stop to her recklessness. 
“All right, I’ll trust you.” 
A voice came back through the oculus with a prompt decision. Before Lilly even had time to voice her surprise, Finn was handing down his decision. 
“I’ll give you some squads! Take command of two fronts in my stead!” boldly proclaimed the voice, startling Asfi and the rest. Even Lilly was frozen as Fels’s flustered voice flared. 
“Wait, Braver! Do you understand the situation right now?! Lilliluka Erde’s quick wit is certainly valuable, but in this situation…!” 
“Tell me, Fels, could you say what she said?! Or you, Perseus?! Could you actually tell me to give you command in this situation?!” 
Fels and Asfi were hard-pressed to respond. Finn continued, exhilaration audible in his voice. 
“My fellow prum has demonstrated her bravery! There’s no reason not to welcome her support!” 
For a second, they could almost see a smile on Braver’s lips in the light shining within the oculus. Was it a smile of delight or exaltation? 
“I’ll leave you command of the second and third squads! Riveria and Gareth will be able to smooth over a few rough spots for you! Don’t be scared to command them as you see fit! And don’t you dare mistake cowardice for discretion!” 
Of course, Finn would not go along with Lilly’s suggestion in the heat of the moment without any plan at all. He knew her abilities well from what she had shown during the skirmish on Daedalus Street. From observing her movements on the board when they had been enemies, he had judged that she was sufficient to be trusted. 
Finn Deimne trusted Lilliluka Erde. 
“I wish you a luck greater than anyone’s! Brave prum, take my breath away!” 
A chill ran up Lilly’s spine. For some reason, she had goose bumps. She felt the trust of the hero who boldly inspired all the armies, and her heart started racing. 
 There’s no backing out now! 
 I can’t get away! 
 Now I’ll have to actually direct adventurers far stronger than I am! 
A pandemonium of cries rang out in her head. Her back started to bend as her head tried to tell her it was impossible, but amid the crushing pressure, a different feeling took root in her heart. A desire to meet Finn’s expectations. He was not the one she loved, but as a member of the prum race, she wanted to live up to his trust in her. 
“—Please tell me the makeup of the second and third squads!” 
“Eh, ah, okay!” 
“Tell me everything we know about the enemy, too! Starting with its means of attack! As precise as possible!” 
Immediately after, Lilly had transformed, ordering them in a strong tone that caused Asfi to follow her lead reflexively. The image of her even caused Fels to break out of his frozen state, drop what he was doing, and help her. In addition to his map that covered all of Knossos, he provided oculi connected to both squads. 
The rest of Hestia Familia glanced at one another and smiled. They knew that once she had made up her mind, Lilliluka Erde was strong. 
“Your scars are mine. My scars are mine.” 
As Lilly was hammering all the information about the sprawling battlefield into her head, she chanted. Closing her eyes and singing her spell, her voice and body transformed. 
“What…? Finn Deimne?!” 
Asfi was amazed to see the prum hero appear before her eyes. Using transformation magic, Lilly had copied everything about Finn. Opening her eyes, she responded to the confused gazes. 
“If those fighting realized that command had shifted from Finn to me, it would just cause confusion. No one there knows who I am—obviously, they wouldn’t listen to me.” 
“!” 
“So I’ll transform into Finn and take over command with none the wiser.” 
Fels and Asfi were taken aback by her explanation. 
The number of people with oculi was limited, but it was possible for people nearby to hear the voice coming from the crystal. All the more when she would have to shout over the explosions and yelling crisscrossing around the battlefield on the other end. Because of that, she had become Finn. 
At the same time, Fels and Asfi realized that the reason Finn had been able to yield command to her was because he knew of her transformation magic. 
Lilliluka Erde was the only one who could take Finn Deimne’s place. 
“Haruhime, cast Level Boost. Use Concatenated Casting, please.” 
“Y-yes!” 
“Bell, prepare for hit-and-run assaults. Welf and Mikoto, ready equipment for facing a super-large-class monster. Once Haruhime’s magic is finished, I’ll be using the three of you out there—separately .” 
“Got it, Lilly!” 
“All right!” 
“Leave it to me!” 
A switch flipped in Lilly when she completed her transformation. There was a tremor of tension in their movements as Haruhime and the others obeyed the instructions delivered with a different voice and gaze. 
“Wait, Lilliluka Erde! You aren’t going to move them as a familia but individually? Bell Cranell aside—he’s Level Four, after all—Ignis and Eternal Shadow are…!” 
“Other than Bell, everyone in Hestia Familia is extremely unbalanced. In localized…No, perhaps it would be better to say that they will absolutely hit specific openings that will be very effective. 
“Of course, I’ll see to it that they get sufficient back-line support, too,” she added as she responded to Asfi’s concerns. Her voice was the same as Finn’s, but the tone was totally different, flustering Asfi. At the same time, her resolute stance was reminiscent of the real Braver. 
Taking the oculi that had been provided to her, she daringly transformed one corner of the passage into a temporary command post as she looked down at the map spread out on the floor. 

“Counting the skirmishes on Daedalus Street, this is the second time that we’re using oculi to command forces, huh…?” she murmured as she held the crystal magic item in her right hand. She had experienced it once before during that mission. Bring it , Lilly thought as she licked her lips. 
“I’ll show you I can do it…!” 
The time had come for her to repay the debt she owed the hero of the prums—the one from when she’d been had during that incident with the Xenos. 
 
“I’m sending reinforcements for the second and third squads now! Continue the front line’s attack while gathering forces in the mid lines!” 
Two people felt something out of place when they heard Finn’s voice calling from the oculus. 
Finn? 
His direction has changed. 
Riveria and Gareth. The two had known Finn longest. They immediately realized that this was a fake. But it was not just that—they realized that whoever was behind it was a commander without much experience who had a skilled ability to envision the battlefield, even if it was no match for the real Finn’s skill. 
“What’s that, Finn? Changing course now? Got more wily tricks up your sleeve, huh?” 
The third squad. 
Gareth grinned into the crystal as he endured the enemy’s barrage, playing up the act. 
“…Yeah, Gareth. I’m sure you’re used to it by now! Since it’s a wily trick by none other than Finn Deimne!” 
The person at the other end was clever. They had recognized the implicit question in his response and conveyed that everything was happening according to Finn’s plan—all while keeping the rest of the squad from noticing to avoid any confusion. In that case, Gareth would not say anything, either. He decided to work with the fake Finn, since that was what the real Finn wanted. 
“Listen, Finn! Right now, Freya Familia is attacking something fierce, but we’re missing a decisive finisher! And those guys are just moving around willy-nilly, so there isn’t any real coordination!” 
For the fake Finn’s sake, Gareth summed up the battle conditions. They had shifted toward a siege of the actual target. With the spirit altar silenced, the demi-spirit had temporarily paused its chant, halting the ritual while it finally joined the battle in its own right. 
“Flash, rays of light. Tear through the darkness. Your envoy beseeches thee, Lux. Incarnate of light. Queen of luminosity—” 
It could fire only a single spell at once, but its blasts were utterly menacing. The magic that the demi-spirit’s main body used was incomparable in power to the spirit altar. After successfully recycling part of the defense mechanism’s ability, there was no end to the magic circles fixed in the air next to it, firing off rays of light, a torrent of destruction that reshaped the field of battle with each blow. 
Because of that, the battlefield was in an appalling state, even after receiving backup from Freya Familia . Because they made no effort to coordinate, it might be better to call their addition “harmful.” Either way, they were attacking all out. And because of that, Gareth had been forced to the back lines to work as a defensive tank. They had achieved a position of superiority, but that had distorted their fighting style. 
“I’d like to join the front, too, but I can’t move until we can do something about the enemy’s blasts!” 
The demi-spirit had an impregnable defense in addition to its extraordinary firepower. It was making use of its strong petal armor that had caused Loki Familia heartache during the fight on the fifty-ninth floor. It was intercepting all attacks from weapons, magic, and everything in between and beyond. Even the Bringar were left frustrated. 
They just could not manage to break through the enemy’s defense. 
“—Perfect timing. Gareth, you and Cyclops should prepare to move up to the front lines.” 
“What?” 
“Reinforcements are coming your way. Use them as a shield!” 
The voice in the crystal had the ring of a commander who was able to see the board’s movement clearly, precisely perceiving what was happening. Before Gareth had time to ask what the voice was talking about, the aforementioned reinforcement appeared. 
“—Descend from the heavens, seize the earth—!” 
A Far-East human girl dashed into the chamber while Concurrent Casting, cowering at the rays of light. 
“Shinbu Tousei!” 
“Stop the mages’ fire! Let Eternal Shadow go first!” yelled the crystal, reaching the other members of the squad and the single reinforcement. With a Level Boost spell, Mikoto Yamato was now Level 3, unleashing her magic as ordered. 
“Futsu no Mitama!” 
At the same time, the enemy’s cannon exploded. 
“Light Burst.” 
The adventurers’ faces were illuminated by the onrushing blast of light. However, a gravity barrier appeared in the spirit’s magic’s path, intercepting it. 
“?!” 
The barrier’s sudden appearance surprised the adventurers and the demi-spirit. It was not clear whether the blast had actually hit the barrier, but the spirit’s wave of light crashed into the ground and exploded before reaching the adventurers. 
The gravitational force is so powerful, it can even bend light. With Mikoto’s Status, nullifying the spirit’s magic was impossible, but she could just use the unique property of gravity to change the spell’s path, causing it to explode harmlessly into the ground. Right now, there was a gravitational field between the demi-spirit and the adventurers, a giant shield. 
With the spirit altar gone, the enemy could no longer unleash attacks from all angles inside the chamber. The mouth of the enemy’s cannon was fixed in place. Because of that, it was near impossible for it to override the barrier that Mikoto had erected and actually target the adventurers. If the barrage could come from only the front, her Futsu no Mitama could stop all its spells in their tracks. 
“I’m still inadequate, but…this is the battlefield’s watershed. I shall become a shield to protect everyone from the enemy’s light!” 
Mikoto was sweating as she maintained the powerful gravitational field, boasting in front of adventurers stronger than she was. Gareth grinned as she displayed a spirit to fill the role of a tank, not even losing to a gallant dwarf. 
“Eternal Shadow! Can you hold out ten—no, five minutes?!” 
“I’ll definitely do it!” 
“Nice response! Let’s go, Tsubaki!” 
“Aye!” 
Freed from their defensive position by Mikoto, Gareth and the others collectively threw down their shields and equipped their big weapons. Their target was the enemy’s main body, where Freya Familia was even now attacking at close range. 
“Back lines, shift behind the gravitational barrier! Frontline fighters, leave all the protection to Eternal Shadow and move up!” 
Understanding the commander’s goal, the adventurers obeyed with perfect coordination. The vanguard raced off, and each party scattered. And the commander’s voice did not stop there. 
“The enemy will lose its temper eventually and switch to a long-cast wide-range destruction spell. Aim for that!” 
“I don’t need you to tell me that!” Gareth roared back at Lilly, whose read of the situation resembled Finn’s. It was almost annoying. Gareth led the forces across the battlefield. 
“The dirty dwarf is coming.” 
“But it’s good timing.” 
“Let’s use it.” 
“He can open a hole in the enemy’s defense.” 
As Gareth’s group pushed up from behind, the Bringar’s hive mind activated. 
They would use the dwarf’s destructive power to blow open the petal armor. The prum quadruplets saw Gareth and his forces as a battering ram to break through the enemy’s defenses. 
With Mikoto’s gravitational barrier, Lilly’s command had taken control of the entire battlefield. The third squad took the support from Hestia Familia and used it to obliterate the enemy’s armor. 
“It’s way bigger than I was expecting…!” 
A single reinforcement appeared at the second squad. Welf Crozzo hid his shudder behind a smile as he laid eyes on a monster bigger than any he had ever seen before. The demi-spirit was more imposing than he had expected. 
“Riveria, protect him! Don’t let him get hurt!” 
“…Understood, Finn. But if he’s our backup…” 
Riveria acknowledged the instructions from the fake Finn, but she did not hide her doubt. 
“Ignis from Hestia Familia ? What’s the meaning of this?” 
Freya Familia , including Hedin, and even Loki Familia all shared their doubts. They knew the firepower of Crozzo’s Magic Swords, but the speed with which they hit their usage limits meant that they would be of almost no use in a prolonged battle with a superlarge monster. 
“Tsubaki is fighting, and all those guys from way back are in combat, too…So I’ve gotta do my best, or I won’t be able to face Lady Hephaistos!” 
With his great sword and magic swords on his back, Welf did not run or hide as their dubious looks zeroed in on him. Thinking of the Goddess of the Forge with crimson eyes and hair, he ran forward empty-handed. 
“Riveria, protect Ignis!” 
“…Ilta! Take care of him!” 
Riveria called out, conveying “Finn’s” instructions. The Amazon and others from Ganesha Familia took up formation around him as he moved. Welf made no effort to dodge or defend against the rain of attacks from the enemy’s tentacles as the stout first-tier adventurers used their weapons to deflect them and change their course. Welf looked like he might be knocked back by the force of the jarring clashes in front of him, but he just squinted and pushed forward. It was a do-or-die approach to get into range to fire. Welf perfectly understood his role without Lilly telling him. His ability would be most effective against an enormous monster chanting magic. 
“Pierce, spear of lightning. Your envoy beseeches thee, Tonitrus. Incarnate of thunder! Queen of lightning ? ” 
And the moment swiftly came. The demi-spirit was casting at a high speed. Combined with the short-spell cast, the adventurers would not be able to immediately defend against it. Loki Familia and Freya Familia prepared for the enemy’s blast in frustration, but Welf continued moving forward by himself. 
“Blasphemous burn.” 
The blacksmith had been waiting for that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and his super-short cast was faster than the spirit’s high-speed casting. 
“Will-o-Wisp!” 
Starting at Welf’s hand, a heat haze seemed to shimmer in the air. The moment it touched the enemy’s magic circle, an enormous explosion went off. 
“Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!” 
“What?!” 
He had caused an explosion while the monster was trying to fire its magic and stopped the blast from going off. An Ignis Fatuus. And it did not stop with just that. All the magic circles around the demi-spirit went off in a chain of explosions. 
Above the adventurers’ heads, a deafening series of fiery explosions bloomed in the air. 
“Th-the demi-spirit…” 
The demi-spirit’s main body looked like a disaster zone from the explosion from Ignis Fatuus that had gone off right in front of its face. Half of its face had been blown away, and its eyes the size of a human’s head were hanging out of their sockets. The giant pillar had been hit by the shock wave at point-blank range, and the damage it had taken was commensurate. 
“The bigger the spark, the bigger the fireworks!” 
Welf brushed away a cold sweat at the blast that had been bigger than expected, a fearless grin pasted across his face. 
Anti-magic fire. His ability could force an Ignis Fatuus to occur. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call it a magic killer. That was Welf’s rare Skill, which could turn the tables on enemies’ magic and force them to self-destruct. 
“One of the Crozzos…Utterly incompatible with us elves,” Hedin murmured, gazing in wonder as he adjusted his glasses once the shock wave passed. 
It could ignite magic and cause it to self-destruct. That was difficult to swallow for a mage. And it was more effective on magic users like elves. 
Half the fairies in the chamber paled as they imagined having to face off against Welf. The other half had mixed feelings, because as a race, they had a deep connection with the Crozzos. But they all recognized Welf’s utility in battle. 
“Riveria, if you’re interested, feel free to use him as you please. I’m willing to bet he’ll be able to completely seal the enemy.” 
“…Yes, I’ll have him do just that!” 
Riveria praised the trump card from Hestia Familia in her mind. 
As far as the battle against the spirits was concerned, there was nothing more menacing than Welf. Given that the scale and force of the anti-magic fire was proportional to the enemy’s magic, the demi-spirit was like a powder keg that could go off at any time, especially with its abundance of magic. Its destructive ability had rebounded back at itself. 
As a part of Crozzo, Welf had descended from spirits himself. With the help of the Level Boost magic, he was currently maintaining a pseudo–Level 3, more than capable of becoming an effective force. 
“I got more to come!” 
As the demi-spirit cried out in anguish, Welf drew his magic sword. He swung the crimson longsword without any reservations. 
“Kazukiiiiii!” 
An enormous crimson lotus started to bloom. The current of the flames was like a giant waterfall, flowing in reverse as it delivered a follow-up attack to the suffering demi-spirit. 
It was an unbreakable magic sword that blew away the adventurers’ concerns. Equipped with something as absurd as an everlasting magic sword, Welf continued to unleash roaring red flames. 
Their eyes reflecting the fire, the elves mustered themselves, not wanting to lose. Riveria’s voice rang out, the black-and-white fairies cut in sharply, and the rest of the fairies immediately joined the fray. The alternating blasts of the magic sword and magic impediment hit the spirit hard. 
 
“Run! Ruuuuuuuuun!” 
In a place far from the six chambers, the reserve forces of the second squad were sprinting, rushing through the labyrinth. Raul’s shout guided the mixed force of Loki Familia and Ganesha Familia members. 
“With the enemy confused, this is our only chance! Hurry!” 
The location was the eleventh floor, one floor below the primary battlefields. With all its energy concentrated on the floor above them, the vegetation filling the labyrinth seemed to have rotted away, turned into a treacherous path. 
Shaking off their disgust, Raul’s squad advanced toward one of their targets. They followed the directions of Rakuta, who had a blueprint of Knossos. Plus, they could rely on the ears and noses of the animal people accompanying them. When they removed the green flesh covering the corner, they discovered a hidden door and pried open the thick stone entrance. 
“!” 
On the other side of the door were several men and women lying on the floor as if they had exhausted all their energy. Raul lifted one of them and checked for a pulse. The body was completely dry, almost like a desiccated mummy, but there was just the faintest sound of a heartbeat. 
Raul took out his oculus and shouted, “They’re alive, Captain! The hostages are safe!” 
“Gaaaaaaaah!” 
Holding out her staff, Elfie Collette continued to stream out fire magic. Her reserve force was currently on the ninth floor. 
Trusting Elfie’s assurance of all she’d seen, the group of adventurers and mages had burned the green flesh obstructing their path and headed to the designated location. 
“We’re here! This is the place!” 
Upon scorching the flesh, they had stumbled upon a familiar passage. The gap in the wall had been completely sealed. Splitting up, they examined everything in the surroundings before discovering a hidden door—just like Raul’s squad. 
“Are you okay?!” 
There was no source of light at all in the hidden room where they were cowering in tattered clothes. Elfie rushed to one of the girls, who was little more than skin and bones. 
“Ugh…?” 
Her bloodshot eyes that she barely managed to open were a testament to the negligence. Her voice was hoarse, whispering with her cracked lips, like a zombie in the rumors that the gods found so funny. Staying in the darkness for this long must have messed with her psyche, because her fingernails were bloody, ground down from clawing at the wall. Heavy chains were clamped around her arms and legs. She had been the mysterious eye that Elfie had seen through the crack in the wall during the first assault. 
“Is Lady…D-Demete…?” 
As Elfie watched, her opened eyes filled with tears. Her wispy voice was desperately trying to confirm the safety of their patron goddess. 
They were part of Demeter Familia . They were the goddess’s followers who had been caught by Enyo, left suffering in confinement. There was no trace left of their beauty in their current condition, emaciated. 
“Gh… I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” 
Elfie blamed herself for not noticing the voice begging for help, turning her back on them during the first assault. She tightly hugged Persephone, who had been trapped in the darkness all this time. 
Early on, they had decided on the plan to rescue the hostages. As soon as Loki had figured out Dionysus’s true identity and Demeter’s situation, Finn had baked it into the scheme for the second assault himself. They wanted to save the members of Demeter Familia to cut off the opportunity for any devilish hostage tactics by Enyo. To avoid the repetition of a tragedy—like what had happened with Dionysus Familia . 
“Rei, please!” shouted Alicia. 
“Leave it to me. Cover your ears!” 
Following the elf’s instructions, Rei the siren tried to echolocate them. After indulging Loki, she had linked up with the reserve forces as planned. Her echolocation was perfect for searching out hidden rooms. As long as there was the tiniest of air vents, it would seek the location of the hostages. With the help of a Xenos, the Fairy Force members who had rampaged through Knossos were racing around saving people. 
“Hurry up and carry Demeter Familia out of here! Perform first aid as necessary! Save the full treatments for once they’re out!” 
And the final member of Loki Familia ’s second-string forces, Cruz the chienthrope. They were on the tenth floor. The captured members of Demeter Familia had even been kept on the same floor as where the demi-spirits were concealed. 
Because Fels had destroyed the supply lines providing magic to the altar, the green flesh had slowed its regeneration. Before it could finish recovering, they were carrying hostages out from their prison, hauling them away. 
The mastermind must have intended on using them as spares—in the case that magic ran out. There were many people held captive on the tenth floor—those who had been cruelly killed to demonstrate a point to Demeter. 
Cruz had a hard time maintaining his cool at the sight of Enyo’s ruthlessness. 
“Cruz!” 
“!” 
Because of that, he was slow to notice his surroundings. Narfi’s warning alerted him to the gang of monsters approaching from down the hall. Because it could no longer activate its counter magic, the labyrinth had summoned a swarm of violas and vargs: All had gnarled green flesh eating away at their bodies, creating a muddy green cloak. It was as if the altar had spat out the things that it had swallowed. The rampaging shouts were more intense than before, and it was clear that their bodies had been enhanced. 
This is bad! 
The bulk of the squad had their hands full, carrying hostages who could not move themselves, and the fiendish monsters closing in had both quality and quantity to their advantage. Intercepting was hopeless, and even successfully running away was unlikely. 
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!” 
“Gh?!” 
As the monsters approached, screeching, howling, Cruz and Narfi readied their weapons to act as a physical wall to protect the rest of the squad. 
“? ” 
A sudden flash entered Cruz’s field of vision. A white shadow appeared without warning from one of the labyrinth’s side paths, slicing off the head of the leading viola. Leaving the frozen adventurers and monsters in the dust, it spun, and a black arc followed the white flash, bisecting three approaching vargs. 
The absurdly fast shadow did not stop there. The flash was too fast for their eyes as it entered the swarm of monsters from the front and laid waste to them. Even when the violas finally started to counterattack, it slipped close to them and gouged them with a jet-black knife. 
And then there was a Firebolt . Using a quick attack, the enemy’s body exploded from the inside. 
“?!” 
The flaming lightning flowing into the viola’s long body turned it into a red lotus, and the explosion knocked the monsters behind it backward. As the explosion and an accompanying flash of light went off in front of them, Cruz and the others immediately covered their eyes. 
In a moment, the dust settled. Inside the flying sparks, they saw his back as a young boy stood there. 
“…R—” Upon seeing the white hair swaying in the light of the flames, Narfi choked out, “Rabbit Foot…” 
“…Bell Cranell…?” Cruz said, which reached the back of the boy clad in light armor. The boy with white hair glanced around at the reserve squad carrying injured people and then charged into the main force of monsters letting out enraged howls. 
“Wha—?! Wait! Don’t—?!” 
The reckless charge drew blows from all the violas’ tentacles. Narfi immediately tried to stop him. But it was useless. 
Even though he seemed to have nowhere to escape, Bell managed to dodge all the tentacles. Cutting through the bare minimum of tentacles, he slipped through a gap scarcely large enough for a single person. Lowering his body to the ground like an animal, he approached with a counter. 
From the moment he engaged with the swarm, it was a lopsided rampage. 
His jet-black knife and shining white long knife were not very reliable when dealing with a large-class monster as an opponent, yet they created a storm of lacerations that sliced everything in half. 
Because the range of his knife did not go far, it could not cut all the way through a viola’s body with one attack, but he simply added two or three more gashes to finish his prey. A moment later, he was sending another monster’s unsightly jaw flying along with the rest of its head. There was no time wasted on the smaller vargs. They were dashed from this world in the blink of an eye. Many tried to spit out acid from midrange, but he quickly undid the scarf around his neck and lashed out with it like a whip, mowing them all down at once. 
“…Miss Aiz…?” 
For some reason, Bell’s combat style reminded Narfi of the Sword Princess. As Loki Familia and Ganesha Familia stood in place, he was locked in solo combat, demonstrating his speed. 
“Hah!” Bell himself was using all he had to protect the reserve forces as he scattered the swarm of monsters without any fear. 
That had been Lilly’s order. 
The battles against the demi-spirits required extreme impact and firepower, which meant she would not be able to fully make use of Bell’s strong points. If he used his Skill, he would certainly be able to contribute, but Lilly did not want to discount the rabbit’s advantage…At least, that was what she’d said to them. The truth was, she wanted to protect Bell. His left arm was still severely injured. If Bell was sent to a battlefield with a boss during his recovery, he would definitely do something that could not be undone. In fact, if Amid knew that he was taking part in the battle at all, she would explode in rage. After all, she was in charge of his full recovery. 
For those reasons, he was raiding—as a one-man light cavalry reinforcing the reserve squads, who were running around freeing hostages. 
And just as she planned, Bell was flourishing on his own. The vibrantly colored monsters were no match for his growth. Though the enemies’ potential power exceeded Level 4, he was cutting through them like a seasoned adventurer who had descended to the deep levels by himself. 
He was incredible—almost too strong. In fact, Cruz and the rest of Loki Familia ’s second string had just heard about the new level, and they could not help but feel like he was already racing ahead at the forefront of all Level 4s. 
“…I think I might finally understand how Lefiya feels,” Cruz said. 
As he watched the boy before him, he remembered her irritability whenever she heard reports about him. 
The battle was already over. 
“Are you all right?” Bell asked after rushing over to them, brushing off his scarf like nothing had happened. 
“Ah, y-yes! Thank you very much…” Narfi responded. 
“…Um, sorry, but do you think I could borrow a bigger sword?” 
“Huh?” She was flustered as she looked at the boy’s back. 
“With all that I have equipped, it’s a little hard to fight those monsters.” 
At times, the rescue squad had carried out the role of the emergency reserve forces, which was why they had supporters carrying gear and items. While Bell spoke with Cruz and Narfi, his eyes drifted behind them to a girl, who had larger weapons attached to her backpack. 
“I’ll hold off all the monsters,” he declared, which sounded like neither bravado nor a lie. 
It was just a simple statement, which triggered a feeling of déjà vu for Loki Familia . He was reminiscent of Aiz and the other first-tier adventurers. They immediately nodded and answered his request. 
“Carmillia! Give Rabbit Foot a longsword!” 
“O-okay!” 
“…” 
As Narfi and the rest readied themselves, Bell observed the squad. Or, rather, he looked at the state of the hostages. They were all weakened. It was clear that they had not been given much to eat or drink for a long time. And several had their tendons cut in all four limbs to prevent them from moving freely. 
Bell balled his hand into a fist. A wave of disgust and fear crashed over him, but those emotions were immediately followed by a blazing anger. 
A desire to protect the city and to help his idol: He had joined the assault on Knossos with vague motivations, but now his feelings had taken on a more concrete form. 
His left arm was already starting to ache, warning him that he was reaching his limit. He had started to bleed inside the support covering his arm. However, even at the cost of blood, he had to keep fighting. 
He was determined not to allow evil to win. 
And as if manifesting those feelings, his clenched fist started to chime. 
“Rabbit Foot! Here’s a longsword. Will this work?” 
“…Thank you. Go on ahead.” 
Taking the sword from Cruz, Bell’s eyes were already focused on a new swarm of monsters coming from a side path. Cruz’s brow furrowed as he looked back at Bell. 
“I’ll leave this to you,” he said apologetically, and then he left. 
Attaching the sword belt and sheathed longsword to his back, Bell held out his right hand, which had a white light gathering around it. Targeting the swarm of monsters approaching with hideous roars, he responded with his own roar of “Firebolt!” 
 
“We’ve taken out sixty percent of the enemy’s tentacles! I count thirty-seven left!” 
“The demi-spirit is still continuing its cast!” 
There was no end to the voices from the battlefield pouring out of the crystals. Estimating the scenes described through the oculi, Lilly continued to give orders in Finn’s voice. 
“Bring up the parties from the middle lines! Two parties! No! Three of them! Use them to cycle the front lines back for a bit so that they can recover with the healers!” 
“Now’d be a good time for that, Finn! Of course you’d notice that! But three won’t be enough! I’m bringing up four!” 
“Leave the front lines to Freya Familia ! Loki Familia , start casting! And Ganesha Familia ’s middle-line party needs to protect them! Riveria, use your judgment for when to fire the spells!” 
“Understood. But that will be hard to do without some disruption. I’ll lead a party as a feint and leave the signal to you, Finn!” 
Commanding large forces was something that Lilliluka Erde had never done before. For her first time, she found herself on a stage of this caliber, suddenly ordering two different fronts. Put bluntly, she was in over her head. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she looked like she was about to start smoking out of her ears at any moment. But with support from Gareth and Riveria, she was somehow managing to hold on. 
Fels and Asfi were watching from the side with indescribable looks on their faces as they eyed her ghastly expression—one that the real Braver would never have shown. 
“You’re amazing, Lilly…” whispered Haruhime, the renart girl, as she watched everything play out. 
She had been left behind because she could not be sent out. It was too dangerous on a battlefield with extreme volleys of magic all around. Even the shock waves from impacts would be enough to kill a Level 1. Haruhime was biting her lip at her own powerlessness, just like she had during the battle in Meren before. 
“H-hey! Where is Bete Loooga?!” shouted a girl through Asfi’s oculus. 
“?! Is this channel…? Aisha?!” 
“I can’t find Bete Loga anywhere! He isn’t in any of the squads fighting the spirits! My man is waiting for me—” 
“Don’t go sending off stupid transmissions, you dumbass!” 
“YOW?!” 
There was a loud smack, followed by an annoyed woman’s voice. 
“Asfi, we’re moving down the passage now! It’s taking some time because of the monsters that are coming out, but we can go wherever we’re needed!” 
The transmission had come from the squad of Berbera that Aisha was leading. In the background were battle cries and a frenzied skirmish as they asked for instructions. Fels whispered to Lilly. 
“Lilliluka Erde, where should they—?” 
“I don’t have any capacity to think about that! Please do something about it yourself!” 
“Ah, very well…” 
With this new intensity, she had lost all traces of Finn’s mannerisms, and it overwhelmed Fels. 
“…Then we can have Antianeira’s squad reinforce the fourth squad with the other Amazons—” After thinking about it for a moment, Fels looked down at the map, starting to direct the surplus forces. 
“Wait a minute.” A voice cut in from a different oculus. It was Finn. 
“Can you send any forces we can spare to the members of the fifth squad who were cut off? To Bete’s group?” 
“To Vanargand? What do you mean, Braver?” 
“According to Aki’s report, Bete’s fifth squad was caught in a trap by the masked creature. Our best guess is that she might be the biggest threat in the current situation.” 
“…!” 
“And my thumb is aching. Please send some reinforcements to Bete.” 
Silence settled in their makeshift command post. No one doubted Braver’s foreboding. 
“…Antianeira.” 
“Yeah, I heard. I’ve got a score to settle with that stupid werewolf. Figure out where the trap was triggered and tell us where we need to go.” 
“Hooray! We get to go to Bete Loga!” 
One girl was obviously in high spirits. They could hear them preparing to move from the other side of the crystal. As the Amazons raised their voices and changed course, Aisha had one last thing to say. 
“Is Haruhime there?” 
The voice called out past Fels and the other leaders, aimed at a renart girl. Haruhime’s eyes opened wide. 
“Are you coming?” Aisha asked. 
Direct and to the point. A confirmation without any kind of explanation. Just a simple question that demonstrated her intentions. The weak girl froze in place, and then her lips slowly moved. 
“I—” 
 
The blood flowing from wounds made it seem like an armor of blood. A pained groan escaped the gaps between gnashed teeth that creaked under the pressure. The armor on both his arms was already broken, and he had lost count of the insane attacks that had slammed into his stomach. His blood had turned a darkened red, proving serious internal injuries. There was still blood flowing out of his injured head, matting his gray fur. 
But even still, the wolf raised a ferocious battle cry. 
“Goddamn monster!” 
Bete sprinted. The howl erupted from the pits of his stomach. Flecks of red scattered from his body as he ran, and he bared his fangs at the monster in front of him. 
“Well done. To be able to stand back up before me…” she spat. 
Her dark, muddied green eyes were unmoved. Standing there with composure, Filvis handled Bete’s fierce attack, easily deflecting it. 
The isolated remnants of the fifth squad had been devastated. All around the chamber, adventurers’ broken bodies trembled as they sank into pools of blood. Bete was the only one left putting up any kind of real fight. In fact, the squad had not already been wiped out entirely because Bete had continued fighting Filvis by himself. It was an uneven affair with no hope of winning, but he still kept throwing himself into the fray, bearing the full brunt of her attacks. 
“Mr. Bete…!” 
Lefiya was one of the handful who could force their quivering bodies to stand back up. She brushed aside the oncoming pain from her own wounds, readying herself to chant, looking to support the werewolf who continued to weather the storm of violence by himself. 
“Just quit already, werewolf. Don’t struggle before me anymore.” 
“Gh…?!” 
“The figure of your noble self protecting your comrades is just an annoyance to me now!” 
The monster’s fist clenched with hatred, slipping past Bete’s series of attacks and slamming into his shoulder. The shock of the blow rang through Bete’s lungs, causing him to cough up blood, but she did not stop there. A succession of punches landed on his battered limbs, and unpleasant sounds garbled inside his body. 
Bete was nothing more than a musical instrument for Filvis at this point. She composed a muddled melody of a breaking body to accompany the act of shaving away at his life. Flesh was torn, bones were broken, and he struggled to breathe. 
With Einsel canceled, Filvis’s strength was abnormal. For six years, she had continued working behind the scenes at her patron god’s orders—day in and day out, fighting through two different battlefields with her clone and main body. Because of that, her familiarity with battle and these locations was effectively doubled. That experience was in no way inferior to a first-tier adventurer’s experience. 
Bete had a slight advantage in technique and tactics, but that was all. It was not enough to overcome her edge in potential. 
Her eyes narrowed sharply. Filvis stole Bete’s Dual Roland swords in the blink of an eye and thrust them into both of his thighs. His legs, the source of his mobility, were stolen away from him, but Bete was left standing for only a moment before she unleashed a critical hit. 
“Gaaaaah?!” he groaned. 
A sharper and stronger kick than one from Vanargand himself blasted into the side of his head. Cracks ran through his skull, gushing with blood from his temples, as his brain ricocheted around in its bone cage. It was a decisive blow that severed Bete’s will to fight and his consciousness. His body flew into the distance with the force of a river breaking through its dam. 
“Loose your arrows, fairy archers. Pierce, arrow of accuracy! ? Arcs Ray!” 
Instead of a shriek, Lefiya shouted her chant. 
She unleashed her completed magic with an incomparable amount of Mind poured into it. The spell made full use of her Fairy Cannon Skill. It was the most powerful instantaneous attack that she had in her arsenal. It contained all the firepower she had built up to Level 4. The giant ray of light flew through the chamber. Its tracking ability ensured that it would not miss. 
But Filvis reacted to that ray of light. 
“What?!” 
To Lefiya’s shock, the creature’s brow furrowed just the slightest as she knocked it to the side with a swing of her arm. It was thrown off its path; the ray landed in the corner of the chamber. It was a feat that Levis had achieved in the past, something capable by only creatures. Despite the fact that Arcs Ray was significantly more powerful now, it was still sealed. 
“Tch—!” 
Having finished with Bete, Filvis turned her attack on Lefiya. 
She made a simple move, as if waving a fan, but her arm swung down so fast that it turned into a blur. Her fist slammed into the floor, unleashing a shock wave. That one attack easily broke through all the way to the adamantite floor, causing a disgusting wave as the green flesh clinging to the floor rolled back. 
“?!” 
The wave of green approached Lefiya, rushing forward like a tidal wave. She immediately tried to evade it but did not make it in time as the wave slammed into the right side of her body, bending her back and sending her flying. Fractures ran through her arm and her magic staff, Forest Teardrop, was shattered to pieces. 
She’s too strong! 
Lefiya’s heart beat wildly as she lost her armor, and half her body was racked by intense pain. Filvis left no opening in her attack or her defense. 
“—Raaaaaaaah!” 
At that moment, with both Bete and Lefiya knocked away, the adventurers on the ground leaped to their feet as one, taking advantage of the single moment’s opening that Filvis gave them. They had feigned their inability to move, but they were the members of Ganesha Familia who had been part of the fifth squad. Some of their stomachs were gouged, some were missing limbs, some had lost eyes. They were all bleeding out. There was no helping them anymore. Realizing that, they had prepared a suicide charge. 
Death before surrender. 
Leaving the rest to the mages who wove their spells with tears in their eyes, they would hold down Filvis for a moment so that the oncoming volley could take her out, bringing her down with them. 
Eyes wide, Lefiya cried out in grief but had no time to stop them as they rushed toward her. 
And Filvis reacted. 
“Purge, cleansing lightning.” 
She had chanted emotionlessly. 
“? ” 
Lefiya froze in place. The entire chamber was filled with a brutal magic for an instant. A magic circle appeared, dyed a sinister black instead of pure white. That menacing circle evoked dread in all the mages as Filvis held out her arm and cast the spell. 
“Dio Thyrsos.” 
The creature unleashed a destructive lightning bolt. The atrocious thunder wave rendered the adventurers’ determined suicide charge meaningless as they disappeared in a flash of light. 
“? ?!” 
The charging adventurers and even the mages behind them all vanished. The torrent of lightning swallowed up everything that lay in its path. It slammed into the chamber wall, demolishing it and breaking through with a boom that could rupture eardrums. The roar of the thunder cannon was momentarily deafening, and by the time Lefiya’s ears started to work again…there was nothing left. 
The black crackles of remnant lightning and the tiniest bits of charred ash in the air announced the fate of those adventurers. 
“…No. Way…” 
It was an attack and defense with no openings, a spell that was off the charts. Even though it was an ultrashort-cast spell, its output was a match for the magic of the demi-spirit on the fifty-ninth floor. Or maybe even higher. 
The strongest of all monsters. 
With the full power of the united Filvis and Ein, those who had witnessed it from start to finish began to cry out in fear and despair. 
“Aaaah…Aaaah…?! ” 
They were dead. Without a doubt, they had been killed. The adventurers from Ganesha Familia had been killed by Filvis—their lives stolen without a moment’s hesitation. 
This reality left Lefiya trembling. Nausea pushed at the back of her throat. There was no more denying the reality before her eyes. In every sense of the word, Filvis had flaunted sin, her extraordinary karma, by taking so many lives there. 
With his body obliterated, Bete lay unconscious, and the rest of the members of Loki Familia on the ground turned pale. 
Grief shattered Lefiya’s heart. 
“I knew this would happen…” Filvis said. 
Lefiya was unable to stand. She saw Filvis look up to the ceiling. There was no expression on the face of the monster in the form of a girl. It was as if she were a doll. It was breathtakingly beautiful, chaotic, sad. 
“I knew this was how it would end. I knew it would be like this…And yet you still came here, Lefiya…I made you make that kind of expression.” 
“?!” 
“Starting now…I’m going to have to kill everyone, including you.” 
Her neck shifted, tilting her head. Her green eyes reflected Lefiya’s face. Filvis finally revealed the monster that she had always been keeping inside, starting to talk to herself. 
“Why did you have to come, Lefiya?…Why? Why?! Didn’t I tell you…to get away from Orario? If you had just said yes…Or if you had just stayed a broken doll until it was all over…” 
Her long hair, black as night, trembled, and her dead eyes focused on the wounded elf. Her voice was filled with a mix of emotions—grief, rage, hatred, despair. She was gripping her fists so tightly that chunks of broken flesh were falling to the floor. 
“I didn’t want to kill you…You were the only one I didn’t want to kill…But if you have to die, then at least it will be by my hand…Ah! But wait.” 
It was as if she had had a divine revelation. Letting go of her wrath and anguish, she suddenly smiled faintly. 
“Should I embed a magic stone in you and turn you into the same as me?” 
“Wh—?” 
“Maybe…you can be corrupted, too.” 
Euphoria appeared on Filvis’s face as she paid no heed to Lefiya, who was speechless. 
“Ah, that would be good! You always said those self-important things! You always acted like an innocent child, Lefiya! Oh, Lefiya! You are so beautiful! I was always irritated by you! Your brilliance made me miserable! I can just cast you down into an inescapable despair—where you can suffer like I do!” 
Lefiya gasped. The smile on Filvis’s face was like none Lefiya had seen before. This was the first that she had heard joy in Filvis’s voice. Filvis’s laughter was tinged with dark delight. Exposing her true feelings, she became intoxicated with the sweet destruction of dragging Lefiya down her same path. 
However, she stopped moving. As if resisting that dark desire, she gripped her head with both hands and listlessly shook it from side to side. 
“…No, I can’t. I can’t do that. Lefiya must not be sullied…Lefiya cannot be corrupted…She must not become the same as me.” 
“…Miss…Filvis…” 
“Then I guess there’s nothing else but to kill her…Bury her…Ha-ha-ha, I guess there’s no other choice than killing Lefiya…” 
Drip. Drop. 
Rain dampened the floor—they were drops of water that fell from Filvis’s eyes, splashing on the stone flooring where the green flesh had been torn away. Filvis was laughing while crying. It was as if her uncontrollable emotions were shattering her personality as she spoke an incoherent soliloquy. 
Acknowledgment and denial. Joy and grief. Acclamation and reproach. A fairy’s pride and a monster’s hatred. It was as if the white Filvis and the black Ein were shouting back and forth at each other. 
Lefiya finally understood something—the reason why Filvis always used her magic and maintained the clone. 
 “Rage, despair, hatred…You hoisted all of that to me. Quit acting like some tragic heroine.” 
 “You pushed all the dirty work onto me.” 
Her heart was already at its limit. If she had not pushed her darkness onto the clone, all her negative emotions, she would not have been able to maintain a soul of any kind. Filvis Challia had been broken long ago. The fact of being a monster was a poison that tormented and ate away at the fairy and was even now killing her. Antinomy, self-contradiction. 
Unable to die, she could do nothing but cling to Dionysus’s sweet talk, becoming a pitiful puppet—a lonely fairy forever tormented by her spiritual disintegration. Ever since that nightmare six years before, Filvis had been wandering, lost in a maze with no exit. Searching for a light that did not exist, she became darkness. 
Lefiya’s teeth grated. Her limp hands slowly turned into fists. 
“…Why are you crying, Lefiya?” 
Her precious friend asked her why there were tears flowing down her cheeks. She marveled at the tears pouring from those blue eyes like a clueless child. 
“Are you scared? Don’t worry. I’ll end it quickly so you don’t feel any pain.” 
Her voice was cold and inhuman, simultaneously conveying mercy and cruelty. Despite the fact that it bore no resemblance to the girl’s voice that had once encouraged her so, it caused even more tears to pour down Lefiya’s cheeks. 
Lefiya Viridis had been clinging to an illusion. Knowing that Filvis was still alive, she had clung to the convenient belief that there could be a do-over somewhere deep in her heart. That even though Filvis had sinned, they could spend their lives atoning for it together. 
But Filvis was crying now. She was suffering more than anyone. In her damning despair, she desperately sought affirmation by worshipping her patron god. She just kept suffering, and her pure heart imposed destruction onto herself. Filvis could not stop anymore—she could not be stopped. Even if she lost Dionysus, she would continue to follow his divine will, martyring herself to destroy Orario. Otherwise, all her sins would be meaningless. That would be the same as denying herself. And even if the corrupted spirit was defeated, she would be destroyed, too, since she was one of its servants. 
The promise of destruction was all that waited at the end of Filvis’s path. The only path to achieving even a fake salvation would be in accomplishing her patron god’s divine will. 
This is the first time… 
Lefiya clenched her fists so hard, they started to tremble. 
This is the first time I’ve ever hated a god like this… 
Her rage seeped out of her fingers, and her heart beat so hard that she was afraid it might explode. 
Now is the time for my choice. I have to answer her—not as some kind of holy saint or even as a hero. But as just one fellow elf. As her friend. 
Or else the city will be destroyed at this rate… 
Strength flowed back into her clenched fist. She looked at the girl who had shouldered many sins, suffering under their weight even now. 
At this rate, Miss Filvis will keep suffering… 
Her battered body swelled with purpose, even though it was covered by wounds and screaming in pain. Finding Filvis’s old gaze in those green eyes, she made up her mind. 
That’s why I…! 
She rose to her feet. Filvis’s eyes widened. 
“—I will defeat you!” 
Lefiya Viridis would surely end up regretting those words and choice. But she didn’t want to forget this remorse as they reached this crossroad. She stood before it and did not look away. 
Lefiya would cry. She would shout. She would bear eternal dismay herself. And she would bear that to save Filvis—before any more sins could corrupt her further. To prevent her from becoming plagued by that paradoxical smile and tears. To return the virtue that she granted me. Lefiya chose the option that would grant Filvis both salvation and destruction. 
“I will defeat you and stop you! I won’t allow your honor to be sullied any more than it already has been!” 
She drew two weapons from her waist to replace her destroyed magic staff, Forest Teardrop—a sword and a wand. The spell blade Tear Pain and the wand Protector’s White Torch. Lefiya would save her with the weapons that Filvis had cast aside. 
“…You’ll defeat me with those weapons? You can’t, Lefiya. That’s impossible.” 
“Ngh…!” 
“Right now, you don’t have anyone with you, not even that werewolf. As you are, you cannot defeat me…” 
Filvis slowly turned, giving off an air of sadness tinged with murder. 
Filvis’s read of the situation was correct, but Lefiya would not go back on her resolution. She readied herself to attack her friend who was pivoting to face her. 
“Bete Logaaa!” 
Someone could not read the vibe. 
“To save her man from his pinch, Lena is making her gallant appearance! Bete Loga, your wifey is here!—Wait! Noooo?! Is Bete Loga dead?!” 
The uproar of a single Amazon stole Lefiya’s and Filvis’s attention. The sweet child somewhere between a young girl and a woman trembled when she found Bete’s battered body, and her excitement transformed into a panicked fear. 
She was the Amazon girl Lena. 
“Shut up, dumbass. Indoor voices.” 
“YOW?!” 
And she had brought reinforcements with her. 
Aisha had hit Lena in the head to shut her up, and the Berbera of ex–Ishtar Familia poured into the chamber. 
“Why did I have to come, too…?” 
Even Asfi had been brought along against her will. As the members of Loki Familia looked on in shock, the reinforcements did not stop there. 
“I brought someone else, too, Asfi!” shouted Lulune the chienthrope, appearing from a different passage, waving her arm. Following behind her was a single elf wearing a hooded long cape. 
“Leon!” 
“I’m sorry for being late, Andromeda. I’m still recovering, but…I’ve come to pay back my debt.” 
Lefiya recognized the adventurer who was equipped with several different blades borrowed from Hermes Familia . 
“And as recompense for my dishonorable dereliction of duty, I will aid you in this fight.” 
She was the masked adventurer who had saved Bell and Lefiya on the eighteenth floor. 
“It’s good that you could make it in time!” 
“I’ll do the best I can. I was filled in on the way, but are there any reinforcements other than me?” 
“Yes, Bell Cranell’s familia has come as well!” 
“? ” 
“Wait, what?! Did she just trip on air?!” 
“Leon?!” 
It was almost a slapstick routine. Lulune had shouted, starting to doubt whether the masked elf was really the rumored bodyguard with skills, and Asfi followed up with her own concerned interjection. 
Time stopped as even Lefiya started to sweat, but the masked adventurer rubbed her nose with one arm and stood up like nothing had happened. 
“Could you not say his name in front of me? It knocks me off my stride.” 
“Did something happen between you…?” 
“I don’t know. There’s just a weird palpitation.” 
Lefiya was taken aback for several reasons as she watched the elf ignore Asfi’s suspicious gaze. 
“Miss Asfi, Miss Lulune…You guys…” 
Lefiya could not hide her surprise. She had fought together with Asfi and Lulune, but there were even some of the odd acquaintances who had been by her side in her journey in life. 
Aisha and the Amazons had tense looks on their faces. 
“We followed the directions and a certain loudmouth raised hell as she tagged along…But what is that?” 
“Could that be…a fellow elf?” 
Aisha and the masked adventurer could not help but shudder as they observed the enemy. Even Asfi was taken aback by Filvis, even though Finn had filled her in earlier. They had all experienced many battles. They could readily recognize the potential hidden in her overpowering presence. Lulune gulped audibly as she looked at Filvis, whose figure could not really be described as that of a person or a monster. 
“Antianeira and Perseus…and Gale Wind? Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Level Fours are virtually meaningless.” Filvis ominously sighed as she glanced at the reinforcements with a look of annoyance. 
Aisha and the others were Level 4s like Lefiya. Even in the Labyrinth City, they were powerful people who were recognized as a cut above the rest. But faced with the current Filvis and seeing that she had defeated Bete, a Level 6, their strength was entirely outclassed. The creature’s words were not hyperbole but a disinterested statement of fact. 
“…It’s true. You’re scary as shit. I hate to admit it, but you probably could kill us easily,” Aisha said, agreeing with Filvis’s claim without taking her eyes off the creature. A bead of sweat trickled down her cheek, but she still grinned boldly. “If we were Level Four, that is.” 
The next instant, the sorceress hidden in the shadows of the Berbera unleashed her magic. 
“Uchide no Kozuchi—Dance!” 
Golden sparks zipped through the air. Haruhime the renart used the sorcery that only she could use. Aisha, the masked adventurer, and Asfi were bestowed with light. 
“This light…!” 
“You’ve experienced it before, right, Gale Wind?” 
“So this is Level Boost…An unfair form of sorcery that brought ecstasy and destruction even upon the goddess Ishtar.” 
Gold particles gathered around them. 
A Level Boost. Loki Familia had encountered that hack-worthy power several times before, during the fights in Meren and on Daedalus Street. As its name implied, it was a sorcery that increased the target’s level by one. Haruhime Sanjouno was the user. The renart who had converted from Ishtar Familia to Hestia Familia grew a tail of light. Her breathing became ragged from the sorcery’s combustion of her stamina, but she desperately tried to regain control of it. 
“My strength is…!” 
And the blessing of the Level Boost was bestowed on Lefiya. Feeling her strength expand as the light touched her, Lefiya shuddered at the power of that broken ability. It was a pseudo-level-up, bestowed on four people at the same time. 
“—Four Level Fives…” 
Even Filvis, the embodiment of an Irregular, could not help but be shocked. 
“Lena, slap Vanargand awake! We’re going to need his strength, too!” Aisha said. 
“O-okay!” Lena nodded. 
“Lulune, you and the rest of the Berbera protect Haruhime Sanjouno, no matter what it takes. You don’t need to bother trying to take part in the attack. When her magic gives out, we lose!” Asfi said. 
“G-got it!” Lulune responded, springing into motion. 
“And, Lefiya Viridis…Please support us. We can’t hold that thing back by ourselves,” Asfi requested as Lulune and the others formed an extensive defensive formation. 
Their factions and allegiances were across the spectrum. They had never even tried to work together before. They were a dream team in every sense of the phrase. 
Should I borrow their strength to challenge Filvis, even though we have no history of working together? Lefiya did not know if that was the right thing to do. With the sense of omnipotence that came from the sudden boost to pseudo–Level 5, she could not judge whether she was excited or agitated. Lefiya was at a loss for how to respond to Asfi’s request. 
“…Thousand Elf. I don’t know the situation between the two of you,” said the elf adventurer who had not addressed her before. Her sky-colored eyes peeked out from behind her mask. “But stopping a fellow elf in this condition should be your duty, regardless of what is required in order to achieve that.” 
“!” 
After hearing that from a fellow elf, Lefiya made her decision. Filling her chest with her purpose, Lefiya responded as a mage. 
“Please protect me!” 
It was a loud voice that filled the battlefield. Wielding the one weapon allowed to her as a mage and clutching her friend’s sword in her other hand, she called out to them. 
“I am a magic user! Protect me, and I’ll save us all!” 
Those were words that Asfi and Lulune had heard once before, during the battle on the twenty-fourth floor—the proclamation she had made when she transformed her resolution into a vow. 
“Because I must stop her!” 
Her gaze sharpened on her greatest enemy, the girl who had once been her friend. Asfi watched Lefiya and Filvis exchange stares and silently adjusted her glasses. 
“…We’ll move following Thousand’s directions. You don’t mind, right? Leon? Aisha?” 
“She’s Lady Riveria’s successor. And more importantly, she has demonstrated an adequately strong motivation. I have no objections.” 
“In the first place, she’s the only one who’ll be in the back lines. We won’t have any time to spare with giving orders.” 
Neither the masked adventurer nor Aisha had any complaints. In fact, they did not even glance at Asfi. Their eyes were glued to the unprecedented monster before them. They readied their weapons and shifted to a battle stance. 
“…Fine, I’ll crush you all at once.” 
Opening her eyes wide, Filvis showed them her intent to kill as she squared off against the adventurers who were cloaked in a blessing of light.