Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka Gaiden – Sword Oratoria - Volume 12 - Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 A HEROES’ CHORUS 

In Knossos, there were eight main battlefields, ignoring localized conflicts with monsters. 
The six halls where each squad was fighting a demi-spirit. 
The chamber where Lefiya and her reinforcements were facing Filvis. 
And one other. 
“Raaaaaah!” 
“!” 
That was the cavern where Levis and Aiz’s death match was unfolding. 
Crashing against each other were the creature with corrupted flesh armor covering her body and the swordsman veiled in a jet-black storm. The chamber that had become their battlefield had been torn, smashed to pieces. On one side, there was human strength. On the other, shock waves encased in a black current of air caused by the silver sword. Strands of blood-colored hair whipped around, and a few long golden locks zipped through the air, severed by a slash. 
There was a boom, sparks flying where their swords crossed. They both used the opposing force to leap back. The fierce storm of wind allowed Aiz to steady herself and land easily on the floor. The winds could hardly be called “breezes” anymore. Meanwhile, Levis left tracks carved into the floor as she stopped her momentum using only her brute force. 
With an opening between them, they glared at each other without letting down their guards. 
“Damn adventurers…You had this much strength hidden in reserve?” Levis muttered in annoyance. 
For a while now, stone fragments from the ceiling had been crumbling down to the floor from the aftershocks from the battle occurring on the floor above. Those were not the tremors from a rampage by the spirits. The thundering, repeated shouts from adventurers indicated that much. The labyrinth trembled with their brave roars, and those tremors even reached Aiz and Levis on the twelfth floor. 
“In every era, Orario is still Orario, huh?” Levis said as she suddenly looked up. She was looking toward the shaft they had fallen down. The hole that Aiz had excavated using her wind was slowly being repaired as the green flesh gradually tried to cover it. Levis stared into the hole, measuring the depth they had fallen before turning back to Aiz. 
“But…this is the end,” she murmured. 
Aiz’s brow furrowed in confusion at those words. That profound statement aroused suspicion in her mind. 
“You are lucky, Aria…that we fell all the way to here,” she muttered emotionlessly as steam caused by her regeneration rose from her body. 
 
“They’ve rallied, huh…?” Loki murmured. 
The adventurers’ roars were audible. Their brave cries from her oculus spoke to the increasing morale. The crystal itself was trembling from their shouts. 
There were no foregone conclusions on the battlefield, of course, but it was safe to say that with this situation, the adventurers had managed to fight to get them the advantage in this battle. Loki sensed that Finn’s plan was succeeding and they had taken the upper hand. 
“Sounds like the board’s been flipped on you, Dionysus.” Looking up, Loki shot daggers at him with her eyes. 
They had thrown in all of Orario’s forces for this decisive battle: all the notable upper-level factions and even some borrowed help from Meren. Even if there were six demi-spirits, as long as they could mobilize their forces, they would be able to break through. 
That was what it meant to be an adventurer. That was Orario. It was the promised land that gave birth to heroes. With the fate of the world on the line, it was the mortal realm’s final stronghold that had defeated destruction an untold number of times. 
“………” Dionysus looked down. 
His crazed laughter from a moment before had fallen silent, and he accepted Loki’s words and gaze silently. The torches’ light caused his shadow to flicker on the floor. 
“Dionysus, your plan—” 
—ends here , Loki was about to say. 
“Hee-hee…Hee-hee-hee…” 
The impulse that the god had been desperately trying to hold back crossed his lips. 
“Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee…! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” 
Dionysus laughed—chortling and guffawing at her. 
 
At that moment, Finn shifted to a lengthier analysis. 
 What comes next? 
Thanks to the reinforcements from Freya Familia and the proposal from Lilly, he had gained a little bit of leeway. Instead of using every last one of his resources to command the forces, he finally had a little time to think. 
Of course, he still had things to do, but compared to his former responsibilities, it was like night and day. He could leave the command of the first squad to Shakti and the front lines to Allen. 
With the reinforcements from Ottar and the likes, we’ve basically turned things around. The creatures are still a problem, but at this rate, we should be able to suppress the six demi-spirits. 
Legions of adventurers had gathered in Knossos by this point. It could even be called overkill. On the boards where the enemy resistance was particularly intense, he could throw in some of the surplus forces from Hestia Familia and other groups. The reserve forces were rescuing the hostages. Antianeira and the other reinforcements had been sent to Bete’s group. The course of the battle was clearly trending in their direction. 
Finn was doing everything in his power to eliminate any sources of uncertainty. He was nipping every last bud of a potential counterattack by the enemy before it could sprout. 
But this is going too well. 
Premonition flashed through Finn’s mind. A hunch that it would not end like this. That Enyo would not let it end in this way. 
As the adventurers’ morale rose and they started to see a light at the end of the tunnel, Finn alone was not basking in premature elation. The victory was tilting toward them, but he would not allow himself to mistake that for an omen of a win. 
I had this same feeling during the first assault. We pushed Knossos right to the brink, but that was precisely when the board was flipped on us. 
That was when a blade from outside the board had cut it in two. While Finn was sitting in a chair moving pieces around the board, Enyo had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and thrust a sword through the board, taking the match that Finn had been close to winning and rendering it meaningless. 
This bore a striking resemblance to how things were going now. 
I won’t make the same mistake twice. From what we experienced last time, I can be sure that Enyo is not even fighting on the same field as us. 
The activation of the spirits’ spell and their attempt to prevent it. 
The former meant their loss; the latter secured their victory. Was their battle really that simple? The doubts swirling in Finn’s head could be summed up in that single question. As he listened to the voices of each squad fighting the good fight on all battlefields, he considered the situations and possibilities, given his understanding of Enyo from the previous battle. 
Enyo doesn’t care about a tactical victory or even a strategic one. That’s not how gods play. They don’t care about losing the battle or the war; they only care about the results. As long as he gets the desired goal, he doesn’t give a damn about how he achieves it. He doesn’t have any sense of standards or chivalry or aesthetics. He doesn’t have even the slightest respect for his enemies. Enyo definitely has that sword in hand, waiting for the right time to slice the board in half— 
Was that Finn’s pessimism? It was not. His thumb was aching. Finn’s intuition was alerting him to danger, a warning in the form of an ache like never before. It was shouting at him not to misread the flow of battle this time, screaming that he had to defeat the deity. 
Enyo is intelligent and crafty. A merciless, inhuman god. That’s for certain. But at the same time, there is a part of him that seeks amusements like Loki! 
Searching for the culprit. Challenging the other gods. Misdirecting Demeter. Carrying out his plan was absolute, but it was clear that he wanted to enjoy the struggles of those investigating the incident and the thrill of the chase. 
On top of that, he loves the cries of defeated enemies! He wants to enjoy the orgia as our hope withers away and we fall into the pits of despair! 
He created a profile of Enyo in his mind. With a taunting grin floating in the darkness in front of him, Finn’s thoughts accelerated. 
Everything Enyo has done has a meaning! Is some kind of hint! 
He reflected on every incident leading up to that battle. 
The female form that appeared at the safe point on the fiftieth floor: That was almost certainly the work of the corrupted spirit. 
The man-eating flowers at Monsterphilia: That was part of the enemy’s plan that had misfired when it coincided with Freya’s game. 
The conflict with the creatures on the eighteenth floor surrounding the crystal orb fetus: That was a complete irregular, thinking back on the details of it. 
The twenty-fourth-floor pantry: That was the first hint at the enemy’s goal. 
The battle in the unexplored territory on the fifty-ninth floor— 
 The fifty-ninth floor… 
At that time, those words set off sparks in Finn’s mind. 
That was the first time that we confirmed the existence of a demi-spirit, but why was it there? Was it a threat? Was it part of the plan? Was it a reward from a god for those who cleared the challenge? 
But that chain of questions led to a paradox. 
We wouldn’t have even known about the existence of demi-spirits. If we hadn’t seen that giant thing with our own eyes, we would have been too slow in responding, and this ritual would have been completed. Orario would have been destroyed for sure. 
Which led to a suspicion. 
In fact, my theory only shifted to thinking that the spirits would carry out the destruction because we experienced the menace of that demi-spirit— 
And made him come to a certain conclusion . 
 In other words, he was manipulating my thought process. 
The world around him split open. A flash of light bolted through his mind, dyeing everything white. Finn’s head jerked up. 
The simultaneous attack on the six demi-spirits in six locations that they had been forced into. The situation where they would be inevitably forced to concentrate all of Orario’s strongest forces. All the noteworthy forces protecting Orario were currently gathered in Knossos. 
“—It can’t be!” 
The enemy’s true aim wasn’t the destruction of the city but— 
 
“Hurry! Free all the hostages while the captain’s group is still fighting!” Raul called out to the party of adventurers he was leading. 
Footsteps thundered as they rushed through the passages coated in green flesh. Their current location was still the eleventh floor of Knossos. 
They were searching for hostages. They had discovered several clusters of Demeter Familia members. Other groups had split off from Raul’s squad as well, both people to help carry the hostages and guards to protect them. Because of that, his team was down to just ten people. 
We’ll have to head out to the Dungeon ourselves when we find another group of hostages…! he thought. 
“What?” 
That was when he heard an ominous sound. 
“R-Raul…” 
“This is…” 
“…” 
Judging from the other familia members’ reactions, he immediately realized it was not just his imagination. Raul fell silent for a moment, gazing down at the map in his hand. It was the copy of the blueprints of Knossos that he had referenced while running around before, eyes bloodshot as he looked for spaces that might have hidden rooms. This time, he was looking for something else, but — 
He turned around. The mapper Rakuta also had a copy and seemed to recognize Raul’s fear. She shook her head, flustered, indicating there weren’t any giant spaces hidden in the surrounding area. 
Even with that confirmation from her, a cold sweat trickled down his back. Raul did not have transcendental intuition like Finn. But when stretched to their limits, even an ordinary person like Raul could experience a vague apprehension that was difficult to put into words. 
“…Let’s go.” 
He could not verbalize it, but for some reason, it miraculously appeared in his mind. Raul pointed in the direction of the sound he was hearing. They had no choice but to go there. The others in the group did not even remember to respond as they followed his lead. 
A mysterious bass echoed. It sounded almost like the labyrinth itself was making the noise. And it was getting louder—growing stronger. 
As they approached the source of the sound, rounding corners in the narrow passages, the sound’s resonance gradually increased. They started to hear a hair-raising pitch. It could have been created by a being who had crawled its way up from the depths of hell. Despite that, it was now clearly audible without having to strain their ears. The members of the party were still silent. Their lips started to quiver as they desperately tried to keep calm. 
Standing at the head of the party, Raul gradually turned paler as he advanced. 
“? ” 
And then he saw it. 
“Velgas!” 
Bache’s poison fist hit the spirit’s tentacle. The enchantment concentrated into one point. In the blink of an eye, the mortal poison rotted the green flesh, turning it a blackish purple. The demi-spirit screamed as it detached the tentacle. 
Without a moment’s delay, Tione and Argana thread through the gap that this created and cut into the spirit’s body. The twin Kukri knives sliced its arm, and bare hands coiled around the body like a snake to snap it. And then Tiona slammed Urga home. 
“Just a little more!” Tiona said, licking her lips. 
“It’s really hard to get to the magic stone!” Tione responded. 
“But it’s at death’s door! Ha-ha-ha-ha, I’m going to kill it!” Argana boasted boldly. 
The spirit had desperately flailed its tentacles, pushing them back, but they could feel the damage they were doing. And as Argana had said, the demi-spirit had already been deeply wounded. The number of tentacles had dropped dramatically. Bache’s group was intercepting and severing many of them. Others had been rotted off, falling prey to her mortal poison. And its invincible regeneration had slowed dramatically as it finally reached the limits of its magic. The demi-spirit writhed in agony as it regenerated its arm. Its chant had been paused long ago. 
The situation has completely turned around…Is that the power of Telskyura…? No, of the Amazons, including Tiona? Amid wondered. 
Even in the healer’s eyes, the flow of the battle had become clear. In addition to over fifty Amazons holding the line, there was support from the back lines by mages from Loki Familia and Ganesha Familia . And more than anything, the assault and disruptions caused by four Level 6s. With Finn’s commands to top it all off, even a demi-spirit would be on the verge of collapse. 
At this rate… 
Amid started to be sure of their victory… 
“What?” 
Tiona, Tione, and the rest murmured at the scene that unfolded before their eyes. 
“Hey, Gareth…What is that?” Tsubaki asked, dumbfounded. 
“Like I know!” Gareth roared back. 
The third squad. 
In another location altogether, the adventurers were seeing the same thing as the fourth squad. 
“Is that like the recovery from before?” 
“No, something is different about it.” 
“Its body is swelling.” 
“Something…weird is happening.” 
Carrying the spirit flags that they had forcibly taken from Hephaistos Familia , the prum brothers’ eyes narrowed as the Gullivars glared at it from behind their helmets. 
“Gh…!” 
The spirit’s figure was clearly transforming with a burble. It was becoming more hideous, more repulsive. 
Mikoto Yamato was gripped by terror, unable to speak. 
“Come on…I’m seriously gonna run out of Mind here.” 
In the second squad, Welf’s eyes narrowed as the strain started to get to him. He had done more than his share, repeated uses of his anti-magic fire, and indiscriminately fired his magic sword. 
The demi-spirit was giving off steam—more than it had spouted when it was regenerating itself all the times before. The steam was superheated, causing the temperature of the entire chamber to increase, as if the demi-spirit was turning into a volcano. 
“Watch for the magic’s element and prepare the resistance to it…Try to calculate the timing to nullify it. That isn’t just flesh anymore…It’s a shell steeped in magic.” 
“…” 
Hedin muttered to himself as he observed the change while firing off a super-short cast spell with lightning speed. Hegni held his black sword silently as he looked up at it. 
Ganesha Familia ’s force, led by Ilta, watched in shock at the change. 
“Damn monster! Masquerading as a spirit…We managed to drive it this far into the corner, and it has another trick up its sleeve? Don’t screw with us!” Riveria accidentally voiced her thoughts. 
She had expressed what the adventurers were feeling as they paled at the transformation occurring before their eyes. 
“A-Aki…!” 
“…!!” 
In the fifth squad, Aki gritted her teeth unconsciously. 
As it gave off steam, the demi-spirit’s transforming body turned black. As its darkened skin cracked, a red light shone out from inside it. The crimson lines spreading over its body looked like they were infecting the spirit itself. It swelled, turning black. It was consumed by pure power. 
“This is…” 
Even Ottar could not help gazing in wonder. 
The blackened, contaminated spirit raised a repulsive cry as it was born right in front of the adventurers’ eyes. 
“Aaaah…? Aaaaaah…?! ” 
Raul struggled to keep his head on his shoulders as he saw the being in front of him. 
A big chamber on the eleventh floor. 
Technically, it was not actually a chamber. It was a series of spaces forcibly created by breaking through walls, joining together dozens of rooms and passages. 
A giant body was enshrined there. It was so big that it could not be contained except in a giant new chamber that did not exist on the map. 
“A…a dragon?!” Rakuta cried out. 
Its body was modeled on a dragon species. It had three pairs of wings; crooked claws that looked like they had been carved from a rugged mountain ridge; an enormous torso that was covered in scales, of course; and the head of a devilish dragon. 
It was linked to the labyrinth that had become an altar, just like the demi-spirits. 
It was giving off an ominous red light. The surrounding green flesh seemed to pulse, as if resonating with the heartbeat of the extraordinary dragon. 
Its entire body was pitch-black. It was covered in sinister red lines that looked like blood vessels. Beneath its giant dragon head, a demi-spirit was embedded in its chest. The spirit’s upper body with arms spread looked like it had been crucified. It had been assimilated as a magic stone. Its face was not visible. Everything above its mouth had been eaten away by the dragon’s body, making it faceless. 
The spirit was no longer the parasite. It looked as if it had been entirely consumed. 
The monster’s imposing appearance was so horrific that Raul was convinced the black dragon slumbering at the ends of the earth could not possibly be more repulsive than it. 
“No way…No. Way. No way?! Captain! The six rings shouldn’t be our real goal!” 
Its appearance was more than imposing. Those who saw it were immediately convinced that it was Enyo’s actual trump card. 
Even they could clearly tell that it was absorbing an enormous power from the magic circle expanding on the ceiling above it. 
Raul shouted, the blood draining from his face, as he completely lost his cool. 
“The enemy’s real goal is this—an explosion!” 
The woman embedded in the dragon’s chest sighed. Her body writhed in an enchanted ecstasy as all the power gathered throughout the labyrinth concentrated into it. The dragon’s pulse beating around them was quickening, as if warning that critical mass was near. 
The spirit did not even bother trying to attack Raul’s party appearing before it. No, it was not even paying them any heed, as if they were just ants crawling around beneath it. It did not care about their presence as it awaited the brutal destruction to come. 
“At this rate…?!” 
The adventurers would all be wiped out. 
 
“A seventh one?!” Loki shouted in rage. 
“Exactly right! That is what I actually prepared to enact my orgia !” Dionysus boomed, reveling in the act of announcing his secret. Brushing away his hair with one hand, he arched his back to look up to the heavens. The shadow extending from him on the floor reached to the walls, dancing like a devil. 
“Come, Loki! Did you really think I would just make an enemy of Orario without any thought at all?” 
“What…?!” 
“I’m sure I know more about all of you than anyone else in the world. Yes! That is precisely why I would call myself the city destroyer. I fully acknowledge the strength of those adventurers—who have the capacity to be heroes! I understand them to an annoying degree! A detestable one! But that’s why I would have a trump card ready, obviously!” 
As Loki stood there on guard, Dionysus’s body twisted as he laughed, looking down on her perceived superiority. 
“I left hints, Loki!” His scorn was almost palpable, and a smirk spread across his face. “Your follower saw it, right? My collection? The mural of the spirits’ spell of six rings?” 
“!” 
“Because of that, you invaded Knossos! Realizing my plan, you poured all your forces into the labyrinth! Exactly as I intended! ” Dionysus raised his hands as if singing. 
“You thought, and you thought, and you thought! The target was the six bodies that made up the circle! You fixated on that! But wasn’t there something more wicked than the spirits on that mural?!” 
“…?!” 
“A symbol of darkness that would destroy the mortal world! An abominable evil dragon!” 
Nidhogg. The dragon that had thrust the mortal realm into the depths of despair in the Ancient Times. That was the true hint that Dionysus had provided them. 
“What kind of logic would lead me to use the spirit ritual that sealed away the destruction? Isn’t that obviously wrong? My plan will be carried out by the dragon, a symbol of the destruction of the mortal world!” 
The dragon at the center of the mural was the seventh demi-spirit. It was the trump card that was the crux of Dionysus’s plan. 
 And I wonder if Enyo wants to eventually become that dragon. 
The words of a certain God of Death crossed Loki’s mind. 
“Was it because of Ishtar?! When you first entered Knossos, the heavenly bull left a strong impression on you! You thought there were seven demi-spirits hidden away in Knossos, including that bull!” 
It was just as Dionysus said. 
Aiz had seen the giant flasks deep in Knossos. There were seven installations for nurturing the crystal orb fetuses. After defeating the heavenly bull, Loki Familia had calculated back that there were six demi-spirits. 
As if it was all the height of amusement, Dionysus’s face twisted into a sad smile. 
“Of course not! What fool would give Freya one of the carefully nurtured cornerstones of this plan?! I gave her the crystal orb fetus that was one of the rejects! A defective one!” 
The gears were spinning in Loki’s head. She finally reached the same conclusion as Finn, getting there even faster than he did. 
The spell of six rings was a lure. It was the reason he had used an exaggerated bait to lure them into Knossos— 
“Planning to destroy the city was to throw us off your trail? Your real goal was…!” 
“Exactly right—the adventurers!” Dionysus admitted. “Even if I blew Orario away, Babel and all, as long as the adventurers were still alive, they would eventually construct another lid! Zeus and Hera Familias were decimated fifteen years ago, and yet those with hero potential were quick to resolve the Dark Ages! Even if the city was destroyed, they would undoubtedly display their tenacity like little pests!” 
“…!” 
“But what if all the adventurers driving the current age were to disappear? There would be an unstoppable reversion! No one would be able to strike back against the monsters pushing out of the Dungeon, and I would be assured a long orgia !” 
That was Dionysus’s true aim. The destruction of the chosen adventurers. The loss of those with the potential to be heroes would bring a wave of chaos to the mortal realm, snuffing out the seeds of revival and restoration. The reconstruction of the final fortress on the mortal realm would be a long time coming. In fact, it might not ever come again. 
All that to see the dream of an eternal orgia . 
“In the worst case, I wouldn’t even really mind if Ouranos managed to get away. The annihilation of those who would bear the next age on their shoulders is the true key to the destruction of the mortal realm! Oddly enough, Zeus and Hera’s defeat at the hands of the black dragon proved that for me!” 
By no means had Dionysus underestimated the adventurers, the beings worthy of hero-dom. In fact, he had judged them to be the ultimate obstacle to the success of his scenario, refining his plans with them in mind. 
He had caused Loki Familia to fight the demi-spirit on the fifty-ninth floor during their expedition. He had used them, the city’s strongest faction, as witnesses to testify to its menace. He had led them on to think that the demi-spirits he had brought into Knossos had to be exterminated, inviting the adventurers in. 
It was all for the sake of this day: to summon every last crumb of Orario’s principal forces into Knossos. 
“If I had not let on to anything and just activated the spell of six rings, the key familias would have been able to escape during its interminable cast time. At best, a bunch of innocent children—unworthy to be considered fighters—would have been the only ones wiped out.” 
“Ngh…! You piece of scum!” 
“Heh-heh-heh…I wouldn’t have complained if I had managed to shave off a few of your children and destroy your familia during the other two attacks on Knossos…but my Filvis did some unacceptable things. But it’s fine. I forgive her. Because this way, I get to see your pained expression, Loki.” 
Dionysus started walking, glancing at Loki as he approached one of the murals. 
“The seventh demi-spirit is named Nidhogg, of course. The being that that crystal orb fetus was attached to is an infant dragon. A nameless dragon that Levis and the others captured and brought up from the deep floors. It has the same origin as the ancient monster of lore.” 
The final spirit had been granted the name of the dragon that had destroyed cities and killed heroes. Dionysus’s eyes narrowed as he lovingly caressed the image of the great spirits and evil dragon. 
“It’s a calamitous bomb that absorbed the magic of the six spirits. It will blow up everything above it. Into smithereens…It isn’t as powerful as the six-rings spell, but it will be more than enough to eradicate the adventurers and deal a fatal blow to Orario!” 
The seventh spirit was on the eleventh floor. 
Nidhogg would unleash its enormous energy upward, taking out all the forces above it. At the very least, every one of the adventurers currently fighting the demi-spirits would be obliterated. 
The area below Nidhogg, below the eleventh floor, was the safe zone. Dionysus intended to live on comfortably and watch over the wild and frenzied feast of madness that would consume the mortal realm. 
“Loki, it’s been fifteen years!” Dionysus announced loudly. “This has been in the making for fifteen years—since Zeus and Hera’s downfall!” 
Six years ago, the foundation of the plan had taken shape, as Loki had deduced before, but Dionysus’s intrigue had been going on for more than twice that length of time as he worked out the details of his plan. 
“At that point, the forces had the potential to become an obstacle to my plan—you, Freya, Ganesha, and Hephaistos. Those four large factions. Astrea had the potential to become a menace as well, but after her and Rudra’s followers went and killed each other, she became a nonproblem.” 
“…!!” 
“In terms of battle strength, the remaining points of concern were Ishtar’s and Ouranos’s personal forces, which had to be hidden somewhere! Aside from those six groups, no one could get in my way!” 
At the point when he had contacted the corrupted spirit six years ago, Dionysus had judged that no other forces could threaten his plan. Because of that, he had concentrated on dealing with those six forces in some form or another. 
Loki Familia , Freya Familia , Ganesha Familia , Hephaistos Familia , and Ouranos’s personal forces, the Xenos. 
It was unexpected that Kali Familia had joined the fray, but he had considered the possibility of Ishtar Familia turning against him before the Evils had won her over. The hole left by the absence of Ishtar was filled by Kali. That was all. 
And to deal with those six forces, he had prepared the spirits’ six rings to keep the true goal, Nidhogg, hidden by his bluff. 
“With the activation of Nidhogg, the other six bodies should be transforming now. Their job isn’t to activate the ritual anymore. They are transforming to exterminate all the adventurers!” 
Loki Familia had been underground from the start, but now Freya Familia ’s members were all fighting against the six demi-spirits with the other reinforcements. 
The nameless dragon had gotten some strength from Nidhogg, which then flowed to the spirits, enhancing them as if it were a Monster Rex. It had been designed that way. The ritual had been modified so that that would be the result. 
Even if it was Finn’s crew, they would not be able to crush the enhanced spirits quickly. And if they abandoned the field to go take out Nidhogg, the spirits would just continue the six-rings spell and turn the city to ash. There was no escaping the fated destruction. 
“There is nothing left that can stop Nidhogg! Ask for reinforcements from aboveground? That’s hopeless! There’s no one left who can save you! Because you were the only threat to begin with!” 
Dionysus’s voice took an operatic twist as Loki clenched her fists. 
But she understood what he was saying. Dionysus was sure that even if they had seen through the fact that there was a seventh demi-spirit, it would still have been impossible for them to stop his plan. 
If they stopped the ritual, the bombs would go off, and if they defused the bomb, the ritual would complete and the spell would go off. The magnificent two-stage scheme had been perfectly calculated to exhaust all of Orario’s forces. 
“It’s my victory, Loki! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” 
Enyo was drunk on victory as his laughter resounded through the labyrinth. 
 
“Captain! The enemy’s on the eleventh floor! There’s a seventh spirit!” Raul called out urgently from the oculus. 
Finn had come to that conclusion even before he received Raul’s report. 
We were forced into this hellhole to deal with the six rings of the spirits. We were dragged onto this battlefield. 
He had correctly interpreted Enyo’s insidious will, realizing that the battle on the fifty-ninth floor had been foreshadowing this. Obviously, Enyo would have gladly finished off Loki Familia then and there, but letting the familia defeat the demi-spirit was necessary to lead to the next best result. 
Gathering all the adventurers who have the potential to become a threat…That’s his real goal! 
Around the same time that Loki was probing Dionysus’s divine will, Finn realized himself that Enyo’s real aim was the adventurers themselves. That realization was accompanied by a horrible shudder. 
“Tch, quit thrashing!” 
“Is its strength increasing?!” 
Looking up, Finn saw a different battle unfolding. Allen and Freya Familia and Shakti and Ganesha Familia were continuing to attack, but the blackened demi-spirit was rampaging without any concern for what was happening around it. 
Even when it took damage, it continued to swing its tentacles all around. It did not recoil, regardless of the blasts of magic targeted toward it. Its blackened skin resembled dragon scales, blocking any incoming attacks. And just when it seemed to have transformed into a bundle of destruction threatening all the adventurers near it, without any heed to Allen’s attacks, it suddenly started a staticky chant and fired off a spell. The power behind the spell had dropped noticeably, but the chaos caused by its total lack of control turned it into a destructive storm. 
The bit of power that had flowed into the demi-spirit from the seventh spirit had stimulated it, allowing it to complete its final transformation. 
“All squads! Does anyone have any forces to spare?!” 
“No! We’ve got our hands full dealing with the transformed spirit!” 
“Even if we gather all the reserve forces, the quality and quantity is…” 
He called into the oculus, clinging to a last shred of hope, but cold reality was the only response. 
A crack formed in Finn’s metaphorical mask as his face twisted at the responses from Fels and Lilly. There was no force that could meet his call. 
 
It was the same for Aiz, who was engaged in single combat. 
““? Gh!”” 
The two of them roared as they clashed and crashed into each other. Aiz was cloaked in a black wind and Levis met her attacks with her monstrous strength. The armor of flesh covering the right half of Levis’s body undulated, pushing aside Aiz’s full-bodied attack from the front, seemingly provoking an increase in the creature’s power. 
Shock and fury. Fighting spirit and murderous intent. The two women’s emotions blended for a split second. 
Aiz’s momentum was not slowed by the deflection, accelerating even faster, using the current of air to unleash a spinning slash. It was an attack carried out without any preparation and without anything held back for the next attack. It surpassed Levis’s response speed, but she absorbed the blow with her right arm that had reflexively readied itself, clad in a gauntlet of crimson flesh. 
Her arm was half-severed by the slash, but the momentum of the blade was completely halted. The flesh armor expanded like an amoeba consuming its prey, trying to swallow the sword and Aiz’s body, but a blast of wind exploded out from Desperate as soon as she chanted “Nizelle,” and she was able to escape. 
It seemed like a space had opened up between them, but in the very next moment, she dashed forward so fast that her body seemed to blur and swung her sword, crossing blades with Levis. 
“Your armor…!” 
“Don’t give me any crap about fairness. As far as I’m concerned, the same goes for your wind!” 
Levis’s flesh armor could withstand a slash powered by the strongest Skill. At this point in time, it was arguably the strongest armor in existence in the mortal realm. It was an armor of red flesh forged in the spirit’s magic. And in addition to its defensive power, it provided its host with an unexpected superhuman strength—the finest armor for both offense and defense. 
Cloaked by wind, Aiz clashed with Levis. 
Each attack added to the next, creating a brutal shock wave powerful enough to leave a second-tier adventurer unable to continue. When their blades crossed, the air around them vibrated, and the green flesh clinging to the floors and walls near them peeled off as if crying out in anguish. Their attacks easily cracked the adamantite that was laid bare. 
In truth, Airiel was faster and stronger with the synergy from the effect of Avenger. But even when Aiz managed to get behind Levis with her insane speed, the giant eye in the right shoulder of the creature’s armor quivered, reacting to her movements and allowing Levis to counterattack from her blind spot almost automatically. 
Aiz looked irritated as Levis blocked the blow with her red sword without even turning around. 
“Wind!” 
She increased the output of her wind again. Using the greater force and acceleration, her series of slashes finally surpassed the creature’s ability to defend. 
“Guh?!” 
The sword encased in a black wind cut off several pieces of the flesh armor. 
“—Come to me!” 
But the labyrinth responded to Levis’s call. From the walls, ceiling, and floor, the green flesh oozed out, clinging to the right side of her body and turning crimson—transforming into a new corrupted armor. Her broken sword grew anew from the floor. The moment she drew it, she cut in toward Aiz, accompanied by a gust of wind of her own. 
“…Gh!” 
Aiz’s face twisted. The enemy had an infinite supply of equipment. Having received the divine protection of the altar—and the demi-spirits that had become the labyrinth—there would be no outlasting Levis. Aiz would run out of strength before the creature who had abandoned her humanity. 
It was one girl versus an entire labyrinth. As demonstrated by the history of Orario, the only thing that waited was victory for the labyrinth. How could a single adventurer win against a dungeon, the world itself? 
“—Haaaaaaah!” 
Cast aside your doubt. Raise a battle cry. Subsume yourself in your fighting spirit. 
Throw away all room for thought. Just stand and fight. 
Without even the time to breathe, the sword of wind and corrupted blade performed a rondo accompanied by thunderous clashes. The preposterous series of blows sent tremors through the entire chamber. 
It had become a battle between two inhuman creatures. 
On the one side, a spirit of deadly wind engaged in a wild hunt, paired with a black wind that surpassed human understanding. On the other was an unsightly undead ruler clad in an armor of flesh, similar to those spoken of in legends. Raging wind and undulating flesh clashed ruthlessly, trying to destroy each other, summoning one battle cry after the other. 
 I can’t win. 
Aiz understood that from their intense mortal combat. 
At this rate, I can’t overcome her. At this rate, I can’t finish her. 
The enemy was a genuinely indestructible monster. Her strongest enemy. And desiring the most fitting battle for their final confrontation, Levis consumed even more flesh, becoming even stronger. 
My powers!! 
It’s not enough. It won’t be enough! It’s really not enough!!! I need more! More! 
The desire to win called forth her will to fight, which ascended to a murderous intent. The outline of the monster reflected in her eyes started to morph into the silhouette of a dragon. Her instincts howled and her spirit raged as she tried to draw out even more power. 
Linked with Avenger, Airiel grew more and more violent. One by one, she removed her restraints. The black flame burning her back flared with ecstasy. Her will was gradually consumed by the hellfire she had resisted. The intense battle had robbed Aiz of everything she had held back, and her body and soul began their descent into darkness. 
“Gh!” 
She faced her blackened urges and accelerated. Her body cried out. Her flesh and bones creaked. Her nerves were on the verge of burning out. But she ignored all of that and moved to kill the monster before her eyes. There were more black sparks emanating from her golden eyes. The original Aiz was being revived, the one who had been called the Doll Princess and War Princess. Her bloodlust was as potent now as it had been in the past, threatening to claim Levis’s life. 
“…Ha-ha!” 
As Aiz slashed, cloaked in the whipping wind, Levis unconsciously started to laugh as she tore through her own limits. The hidden cost of that forbidden armor was that it was puncturing her internal organs. Her flesh exploded, and blood vessels popped as an unsightly amount of blood burst out from her skin. The magic stone at her core was heating up as if on the verge of burning out. However, she still attempted to meet Aiz’s challenge and kill her, as if she considered this damage trivial. 
““ ? Gh!!”” 
Their roars overlapped. They were determined to kill no matter what it entailed. 
Crack. Aiz’s Desperate split. 
Even her Durandal sword, which was supposed to be unbreakable , could not endure the power of her black wind. But Aiz did not notice the damage to her weapon as she continued rushing down the path to self-destruction. Her trusted blade’s warning fell on deaf ears. The pleading cries of her other half were not enough to stop her. 
Her demise was quietly approaching her. 
 
“Gh…!” 
The sounds of countless battles poured out from the oculi. Everyone had their hands full with their current battles, roaring in desperation. 
Finn thought he could hear Enyo’s laughter. On every board, they were lacking the decisive firepower to break through, running out of options. Even if Finn used his head or played his cards, the current situation was just one step ahead of his reach. 
It had been fifteen years in the planning. That span of time was an overwhelming difference in prebattle preparedness, the difference between victory and defeat. 
He felt uneasy. A warning of defeat and destruction sent shivers down his spine. 
“—Shakti, take command!” 
“Finn?!” 
“Cynthia, come here!” 
“Y-yes, sir!” 
Finn immediately dashed away from that battlefield. Leaving the first squad and the demi-spirit to Allen and Shakti, he took as little forces as possible and headed for Raul on the eleventh floor. 
 This is hopeless. What am I doing? I won’t make it in time. 
The voice in his head told him the cruel answer. It was too far from the first squad’s battlefield to the stairs to the next floor. He would not be able to reach Nidhogg before the timer finished counting down. The warning ache in his thumb might as well have been meaningless pain at that point. Every fiber of Finn Deimne was screaming the word defeat . 
“—Shut up already!” 
However, Finn’s feet did not stop. He had no intention of ever stopping. Honorable resignation could eat shit. There was no way he would just applaud Enyo and acknowledge defeat graciously. Even if it looked shameful, he would never resign. Faced with an unavoidable checkmate, Finn refused to give up and continued to look for moves. 
He would never give up. He would never stop struggling. He would try every path on the way until the end to create even a single glimmer of hope out of their hopeless situation. 
Because he was an adventurer—he would greedily, desperately cling to life with no concern for appearances. 
We can’t hope for more reinforcements from aboveground! And there’s no point hoping for the appearance of a convenient third party out of thin air! Praying to the gods? Yeah, right! We’re here to beat one of them! 
As he sprinted down the passage, he redirected every ounce of energy into his thoughts. He examined every possibility, as many choices as there were stars in the sky; scrutinized them; studied them from every possible angle; and groped for the one move on the board that would resolve everything. 
In his head, time compressed, and Finn plumbed the limits of what could be achieved in a single moment of time. 
Don’t stop thinking! Move! Move! Move! 
Split up the forces. Gather a few troops from all six squads and send them to the eleventh floor. 
—No good. It would take too long. The bomb would go off before we could gather enough strength. 
Send in Fels and all the other forces in reserve. If they could just delay the activation of the bomb… 
 They can’t. Nidhogg’s strength is unprecedented. A superficial force will just be wiped out. 
 And if Fels and Lilliluka have to join the fray along with me, the command center will be broken. 
An infinite loop of trial and error, a flash of static, alerts blaring over each other. All his nerves were moving as one. His brain started to overheat. His thoughts still did not slow, even as his head started to burn red as shrill alarm bells continued to ring. 
Currently, everything was going according to Enyo’s plan. In that case, they just had to do something that Enyo had not accounted for. Use everything. Put everything in. Bet with everything. Overcome the divine will of a deusdea and stop the ache throbbing in his thumb. 
Isn’t there anything?! Do I—do we have anything left?! 
In the depths of his thoughts, he was sitting by himself at an enormous round table in the darkness. 
There was a single giant board composed of eight different boards. Pieces were scattered all around, trying to take down the six black queens and the rest of the enemy pawns. There was no one across from Finn. Just an empty seat. 
Laughing ominously, Enyo had approached from somewhere outside the board and lobbed a bomb in the form of a ninth board, looking to turn all of Finn’s pieces to ash. 
It was a deadlock that was impossible to break. There was no move that could reach the ninth board from his position. 
Motionlessly staring down at the board, Finn changed tack. If Enyo had already accounted for all the pieces on the board, he had no choice but to fight back with a piece that Enyo had not foreseen: something that was currently on the board, outside the realm of Enyo’s considerations. A piece that fell outside the god’s field of view. 
Enyo’s plan had been envisioned fifteen years ago. The preparations had begun six years ago. All that time had been spent calculating. Finn needed to hit the god with an unknown that would render all that time meaningless. Something beyond his predictions. Something of the mortal realm that could surprise even a deity— 
“? ” 
In that instant, Finn’s vision lit up. 
Amid those boards and those pieces. Amid infinite choice. Amid all that, he reached his hand out to a single piece that was hidden, buried, yet shining with a faint light like a glittering star. 
Finn grabbed that single piece that the god had not seen—that the god could not see—a piece that was visible only to Finn. The moment he touched that piece, his body jolted and his slowed internal clock sprang back to normal. 
“—Rei!” 
In the next moment, Finn looked up and took out an oculus. It had taken him less than a second in real time to reach his decision, shouting into the crystal. 
“Lend me your strength!” 
 
Fifteen minutes. 
That was how long the miracle would last. The time limit for the effects of Level Boost. In other words, they had to finish the battle that was about to begin within those fifteen minutes. 
“It’s been a while since I fought with this kind of lineup. Since that tumble with the black minotaur,” Aisha said as she licked her lips. 
“So we’re going to have to slug it out with another Level Seven–class monster, huh…?” Asfi sighed. 
“Yes. It’s fate,” the masked adventurer responded, unruffled as she drew her weapon. 
They were all looking at the true monster in the form of an elf. The creature Filvis watched them cover Lefiya, her green eyes reflecting her despair at the world. 
With her mind made up, Lefiya was no longer troubled. She readied the sword and wand, which had been Filvis’s weapons. 
The air rippled with tension. The final calm before the battle began. It was so tense that Lulune and the others subconsciously paused their movements to aid the adventurers collapsed on the ground. For just a second, there was no sound, as if they had detached from the world. 
“—I beseech the name of Wishe!” 
Lefiya was the first to move. 
“Talaria!” 
She was followed by Asfi. 
The rear guard chanted, which announced the opening of battle. At the same time, she activated the magic item Talaria on both feet. She just barely lifted off the floor, hovering, and then all of a sudden, she flew like a gust of wind without any warning. 
“!” 
To Filvis, who was standing across from her, it seemed as though Asfi had shifted to the side instead of advancing. It was a sidestep that could be accomplished only by flight. With that, she quickly disappeared from Filvis’s line of sight. 
The effects of Talaria were influenced by the user’s Status. For Asfi, her flight was much faster than normal, since she was a pseudo–Level 5 with the Level Boost. 
That sudden unexpected movement caused Filvis to lose sight of Perseus. As that happened, Aisha and the masked adventurer advanced, pressuring the creature. 
“All right, let’s get this started!” 
“Here I come.” 
While Filvis was forced to deal with the two vanguards approaching from the front, Asfi skimmed over the floor, gliding around the room and scooping up the adventurers’ weapons that had fallen to the ground. Then she shot up into the sky like a bird flapping its wings. Making use of her ability to move in all dimensions, she came over Filvis’s head and threw down the weapons in her hands. 
“Hah!” 
Having stolen the high ground after escaping Filvis’s gaze, Asfi’s surprise attack annoyed the creature, interrupting her when she had been just about to hit back at the other two attackers, but she stopped and dodged the attack. 
Sabers and longswords stuck into the floor where Filvis had been standing just a moment before, but Asfi did not stick around to watch, going back to pick up more weapons, fly up, and throw them again. Not just once or twice but multiple times, repeatedly. She retrieved weapons, flew up, and fired them off. 
It would be generous to say that her aim was true. Filvis did not even have to defend herself, easily dodging all of them. She pushed back the persistent efforts of Aisha and the masked adventurer with ease, swinging a single arm as she looked on dubiously. 
“What are you trying to do?…Wait…Is this…?” 
That was when Filvis realized something. In less than ten strafing passes, Filvis had been surrounded by a circle of weapons around ten meders wide. Swords, spears, glaives, halberds, all sorts of weapons were thrust into the ground, forming a circle around her. 
“…Are you trying to make a cage to close me in?” 
It wasn’t even a fence! She snorted in annoyance as she stared at Asfi floating above her head. 
“…I suppose you could call it the foundation for your defeat.” 
Asfi looked stretched thin, tossed about by the newfound power that she was not used to yet from the Level Boost, as the strongest monster looked up at her. She grinned as sweat streamed down her cheeks. 
Immediately after, the masked adventurer kicked the ground. 
“Wsssh!” 
Her dash evoked images of a gale. A high-speed slash caught the enemy off guard. As the attack came in diagonally from behind her, Filvis swung a single arm, judging the entire charade to be utterly pointless. 
“Gh?!” 
The swinging blade shattered tragically. A destruction of weaponry. A complete nullification that would knock down an average adventurer. She lost the excellent blade that she had received from Hermes Familia . 
It spoke clearly to their hopeless difference in strength. However, the masked adventurer was not shaken, nor did she lament the loss. As the shards of metal were still flying through the air, she slipped past Filvis and moved behind her, drawing one of the swords sticking out of the floor . 
In the blink of an eye, she had swung around to unleash another slash at Filvis. 
“What?!” 
Equipping a new weapon, the masked adventurer speedily and decisively moved on to the next attack, surprising Filvis for the first time in the whole battle. The creature reflexively intercepted the sword, breaking the blade again, but the masked adventurer did not hesitate to discard the hilt and draw a glaive from the circle of weapons that was not even a fence for Filvis. As the masked adventurer’s whirlwind charge picked up speed, Filvis was finally too slow to respond. The purple robe she was wearing was cut. 
“I did not make a cage—or a fence. If you must call it something, then I suppose armory will suffice,” Asfi said, adjusting her glasses. 
From them, she could see Filvis was being exposed to a surging series of attacks by the masked adventurer. The thing that Asfi had prioritized at the opening of hostilities was readying the battlefield. 
To best make use of Antianeira Aisha Belka and her peerless strength in hand-to-hand combat and the masked adventurer, a skilled vanguard by the name of Gale Wind, she had set the stage. 
After losing her beloved wooden sword, the masked adventurer kept drawing more weapons from the armory, running riot to her heart’s content. Filvis was experiencing the same precise divine attack that the Sword Princess had faced just one month ago on Daedalus Street. 
“Gaaaah?!” 
As she added more power to her sprint, she kicked up speed and the impact of her attack. Upon seeing the effects of Gale Wind, Filvis lost a shred of her composure. It was imperative that they not miss any slight hint of agitation—to snare her feet. That was the key to toppling her and slaying Goliath. 
“Hey, where are you looking?!” 
“Tch?!” 
As the masked adventurer retreated after landing a blow, Aisha attacked from another angle altogether. The Amazon unleashed her assault with the optimal timing, forcing Filvis to defend with her bare arms. The large pudao slammed into her readied metal gloves, sending sparks flying. The force of the blow caused Filvis’s knee to buckle slightly. 
While the masked adventurer was the embodiment of a raging whirlwind, Aisha Belka was skillful all around. Without spending any time reasoning in her head, she instinctively worked together with the two of them to utilize the results to their utmost limits. Using her warrior’s intuition, she observed the high-speed combat of her Gale Wind, weaving in her own attacks without getting in the way. On top of that, she had filled the gap right when the creature was preparing for a counterattack. Because of Aisha, Filvis could not prepare a response, forced to absorb the onslaught one-sidedly. As the creature gazed in wonder, the gale passed through again, scratching her cheek. 
“Ghhh! Don’t look down on me!” 
Filvis punched in fury. It was a move that betrayed common sense, causing the two attackers to shudder. Even though she hadn’t taken a proper stance, her attack was strong enough to kill with a single hit, speaking to her insane potential. 
And it was aimed at Aisha. 
“Gather, breath of the earth—my name is Alf!” 
But Lefiya rejected that oncoming slaughter with magic. 
“Veil Breath!” 
Right before the attack landed, Aisha, Lyu, Asfi, and Lefiya were covered in a film of jade light. As Aisha looked in wonder, she adopted a defensive stance, almost as if guided by the armor of light. Filvis’s fist rammed into her crossed arms, and she was sent rolling across the floor—but a second later, she stood up. 
“What…?!” 
“…Sheesh, I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes.” 
Aisha grinned mischievously as her arms hung limply, the bones fractured. Filvis’s amazed gaze shifted from the woman standing up to Lefiya at the edge of her periphery, her wand out. 
Veil Breath. Riveria’s forte. Defensive magic. Its effect increased resistance to physical and magical attacks. When Riveria used it, it was enough to protect an adventurer from even a valgang dragon’s big fireballs. With a long cast, Lefiya had prioritized buffing, which was indispensable when dealing with a powerful enemy. 
It was the correct decision as the rear guard. 
“Thanks, Thousand!” Aisha yelled as her fractured bones healed as a side effect of Veil Breath , launching herself back to the battlefield. Watching everything, Lefiya shifted to her next round without pause. 
“Unleashed pillar of light, limbs of the holy tree. You are the master archer.” 
She was composing another spell. Casting it at an impossible speed, it rang out without any hesitation. 
“Loose your arrows, fairy archers. Pierce, arrow of accuracy!” She completed the short cast quickly: “—I beseech the name of Wishe!” 
Lefiya immediately began chanting a new spell as soon as her spell had moved to standby. 
“That’s…” 
Among the adventurers who had distanced themselves to avoid getting wrapped up in the battle, Haruhime was the only one who noticed the oddity and doubted her eyes. 
The magic circle from Lefiya’s first spell shrank, becoming a small ring that wrapped around her left wrist. And while that was happening, she continued the second chant, and a large magic circle expanded at her feet. There were two magic circles active at once. 
That impossible scene caused the renart sorcerer to gaze in wonder. 
“Gah?!” 
“Leon!” 
On the front lines, Filvis launched an intense attack that peeled off one of the allies. The creature hit the masked adventurer’s weapon and arm, moving to follow up the attack. 
“Cannon!” Lefiya paused the second cast she was chanting. “Arcs Ray!” 
The magic circle on her left arm activated and expanded in the palm of her outstretched hand, unleashing a blast with an astonishing output—a large homing ray of light. It was a stupidly powerful spell that would cause significant damage if it hit directly, regardless of their difference in level. With that, Filvis was forced to give up on chasing down Lyu. 
While that was happening, Lefiya picked up the cast that she had cut off partway. 
“My name is Alf ? Luna Aldis!” 
Her completed Summon Burst activated Riveria’s healing magic. 
“?!” 
All were blown away by this: Filvis, who endured the light ray, and Lyu, who was healed, and even Aisha and Asfi. 
“Wait, did she just fire two different spells at once?!” Lulune shouted. 
“No, that isn’t it! She held back the magic and activated it with a time lag…!” Haruhime responded. 
She was the only one who understood the fairy’s trick, upon witnessing it from start to finish while Lulune and the others were moving around, retrieving fallen adventurers. 
All knew of the general idea of holding magic on standby. They understood it was possible not to immediately fire spells once the chant was complete, maintaining the magic circle to fire it at the optimal time. It could be called one of a mage’s key techniques. 
But while it could be used to activate a spell after ascertaining the flow of battle, the downside was that they could not start a new spell when mages held a spell on standby. Starting a new cast canceled the spell on standby. The followers in the present day were not equipped with the circuits to use two different types of magic at once. If they tried to force two spells concurrently, it would simply cause an Ignis Fatuus. Even Riveria, the strongest mage, could not do it. 
However, Lefiya’s new Skill had flipped those rules on its head. Double Cannon. Its effect allowed the expansion of two different types of magic circles. It was a rare Skill, allowing the first magic to be maintained on standby while she shifted to chanting a different spell. The first spell on standby could be activated whenever she wanted using the spell key. 
In other words, Lefiya could construct a new spell while staying capable of firing off a broadside at a moment’s notice. It was effectively manipulating two different spells at once: a dual control that was impossible for any other modern mages. Dual-wielding magic. 
At the same time, this whole thing was ironic. After she’d sobbed tears of grief, finally resolving herself to face a cruel reality, she had developed Double Cannon, as if she was still longing to continue her duet with Filvis. 
To defeat Filvis, Lefiya was using the rare Skill she had attained when she leveled up. 
“Gh…!” 
As a mage on the back lines, she knew Double Cannon wielded a tremendous effect, but it was not all good. Using the Skill drained her Mind, combining two different types of magic, which made it all the worse. 
It feels like my head is splitting in half…! 
And on top of that, there was the difficult task of choosing the right casts. At this moment in time, Lefiya was serving as the rear guard on the battlefield, where it was host to a super-high-speed fight that did not allow even a single second’s wasted time. There was no time for her to abandon a cast and choose a new spell. Once she started chanting, she had no choice but to finish the cast. Lefiya had to guess the next ten moves to choose the right spell to have in her arsenal once she finished casting it. 
Should I choose an attack to deal with Miss Filvis next? Defense? Recovery? Or a Status buff for everyone? 
As she mentally sifted through her myriad of options, asking herself for the correct answer, the voice in her head reached a fever pitch. 
For a regular back-line mage, who was normally expected only to unleash her strongest cannon blast, the combined weight of all the considerations was too much. Lefiya’s head felt like it was being crushed. And Lefiya Viridis, the mage with the name Thousand Elf, had too many options to begin with. But those were liable to cause chaos, which could easily short-circuit her thoughts if she let them. 
“Grrr. Cannon! Wynn Fimbulvetr! ” 
But Lefiya kept choosing the correct answer. When Aisha and Lyu moved to attack, she fired a supporting shot. She correctly timed when the buffs ran out, reapplying them as necessary. And when Filvis went on a raging counterattack, she defended against it by creating a wall of ice that froze everything in sight. 
From the back lines, they could overlook the entire battlefield. That was a crucial ability for a mage—to read the flow of battle. The spirit of the Great Tree helped cover for these gaps in ability when these two conditions were not fully up to the task. 
The method of powerful mental tuning that Riveria had taught her had become a kind of skill. In this extreme situation where a single mistake was not allowed, she faced the pressure placed on her head and cast it aside. 
Lefiya’s mental state had ascended into a higher dimension after reaching Level 4 coming to terms with this new reality and still choosing to fight. 
Her spirit was like a great sacred tree with roots digging deep into the earth. She controlled her heart, overcame her confusion, and continued to read the subtleties of the battle. 
And Lefiya’s chosen spells as the rear guard influenced the vanguard. If she chose a cannon blast, then they could attack resolutely. If she chose a defensive spell, it was a warning of a follow-up attack from the enemy. If she chose recovery, the other two would maintain the front line. 
Mutual understanding between front and back lines gave birth to coordination that was even smoother. 
Perseus, Antianeira, and Gale Wind—adventurers of great renown—were being guided by Lefiya. 
—The rear guard is too strong! 
As Leon engaged in a fierce battle with the powerful creature, she was astonished by the cover fire she was receiving. If there were multiple mages providing support, then it would make sense to her. But could anyone believe that a single person was supporting with attack, defense, and recovery spells all by themselves? 
“Thousand Elf…To think you have grown to this height!” 
The immature mage was nowhere to be found—the one who had been with Bell Cranell when she had saved them. The masked adventurer felt no shame as she complimented her fellow elf with the alias of Thousand Elf. 
“Protect you? Quit joking. This fight has felt unequal so far!” Aisha said, exalted, as she crossed blades with the creature. 
Lefiya never stopped readying the next round even as she held on to a spare spell to fire off whenever she needed it. The elf was currently standing still, devoting herself to the back lines, but if she was ever able to Concurrent Cast and move around at the same time, there would be no touching her. Aisha could see that future potential, and it was a scarily reliable one. 
“I suspect Thousand feels the same about coordinating with us.” 
Swooping into a dive to unleash an attack before circling back around in the air, Asfi, coolheaded, observed the battle with a bird’s-eye view, unlike the other two. She could see that Lefiya’s Double Cannon would have been meaningless if she was facing Filvis by herself. This was the first time that she would have been able to use her Skill to its fullest: when she was working together with the three of them—with a party of skilled front- and midline fighters. Lefiya must have been feeling the same sort of awe toward them that Aisha and Lyu felt about her. 
As all four of their thoughts converged, they glanced at one another. And then they accelerated, charging at Filvis. 
“Gah?!” 
They did not let her recover, continuing to press her before she regained her composure. That was their only chance of winning. All four of them were certain of that as they continued their waves of attacks, gradually cornering Filvis. 
Gale Wind raced, Antianeira danced, Perseus supported, and Thousand Elf sang. Even the inhuman creature was on the back foot when faced with their strongest quartet. 
“Come, reckless conqueror!” 
“Distant forest sky! Infinite stars inlaid upon the eternal night sky!” 
“!” 
All of a sudden, two voices began Concurrent Casting. Skilled at chanting, the Amazon warrior and masked adventurer were gathering an immense amount of magic. 
It was a tactic, a trick they had thought up together. Which would Filvis prioritize stopping? Or would she take the risk and try to crush them both at once? They were forcing Filvis to make a choice, to react. 
“—Tch!” 
The one she chose was Aisha. Because she had to split her focus off chanting, her speed of evasion would have to take a serious hit. With that conclusion, Filvis turned to deal with the woman closest to her. 
“Well done.” 
“? ” 
But Aisha halted her casting without a problem. Her movements regained their brilliance, and, luring Filvis into a certain position, she avoided the creature’s impatient attack to retreat. 
“Wsssh!” 
Just as Aisha slipped away, Asfi lobbed the Burst Oil that landed where she had been standing just moments before. Even a creature would be caught by surprise. She was unable to avoid the item, but the toss had not been aimed at her. Its target was a spot where weapons were sticking out of the ground—the armory that Asfi had prepared. And the weapons sticking out of the ground next to Filvis were not just simple ones— 
—Is that a magic sword?! 
The magic sword with a golden copper sheen reacted when the Burst Oil exploded, setting off a secondary blast. 
“Gah?!” 
A giant explosion went off. Perseus was experienced in reading into the battle to turn things in her favor, and she had hidden her actual move by pretending to set up the armory. 
Filvis stopped moving, wrapped in a swirling explosion. Judging that this would be their first and last opportunity, Lefiya activated the magic she had just finished casting. 
“Fusillade Fallarica!” 
Flame arrows arced through the air. It was an unending barrage targeted at Filvis. 
“Luminous Wind!” 
And the masked adventurer had continued her Concurrent Casting, too, firing off an artillery blast of her own. Giant balls of stardust were cloaked in a green wind. She launched another spell with a wide range like Lefiya’s Fusillade Fallarica . 
“? ?!” 
It was a simultaneous blast from the two Level-5 elves—an unparalleled high-power assault. The twin attacks unleashed a chain of light and flames, forcing Haruhime, Lulune, and the bystanders to brace themselves against the shock wave that it set off. The monster in an elf’s body disappeared, consumed by the bright light of the explosion. 
“…Miss Filvis…” 
As the ferocious sea of flames gave off a veil of smoke, Lefiya pressed her hand to her chest, where she was confronted by a confused mix of emotions. Her whisper was swallowed up by the crackle of the flames. The other three glanced at Lefiya before staring into the heart of the explosion, not letting their guards down. 
It was a combined barrage by two Level-5 elves, inherent magic users. It was an attack powerful enough to take down even a floor boss. That was the greatest firepower that the four of them could bring to bear. 
Even a creature would not be able to brush that off. 
“? ” 
 Just as they became convinced that was the case, a single arm thrust out from behind the smoke. Time froze for the four of them as a giant black magic circle unfolded, like the maw of darkness hinging open. Green eyes gleamed behind the smoke as Filvis mercilessly fired her cannon. 
“Dio Thyrsos.” 
She unleashed a pitch-black bolt of lightning—an attack magic with a spell so short, they didn’t even have time to realize she was casting something. The sound of its blast outdid the combined assault by Lefiya and Gale Wind. 
While everyone was desperately trying to get out of the path of the lightning, unable to say anything, Filvis’s arm tore through the smoke, swinging to the side. The single-target magic should have moved forward only in a straight line, but it was fired in a sweeping arc. 
“?!” 
The bolt turned into a lightning whip that incinerated the entire battlefield. By changing the area of effect from a straight line to a fan, the four of them were placed in the destruction zone. 
It was an absurd use of magic. Because they were caught off guard, the adventurers had no choice but to deal with it head-on. The black gleam of lightning shone on their faces as they took emergency action to evade the oncoming attack. 
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!” 
All of the green flesh in that part of the chamber was burned to ash. The swords and spears stuck out of the ground, and their armory disappeared in the flash of light, too. The crackling tendrils of lightning charred their equipment, their battle clothes, and their skin. The electric shock in the air even reached Lulune, Haruhime, and the other adventurers, causing them to cry out in pain. 
The thunderous boom temporarily deafened everyone in the room. Their field of vision was dyed white. All told, as the electric current dispersed, half of the giant chamber had been charred. 
“A…Asfi?!” 
“Aisha?!” 
As the reverberations finally died down, Lulune and Samira the Amazon cried out at the scene. 
The four of them were still alive. But they were clearly just barely hanging on. They had all been burned seriously, and smoke was rising from their bodies. Asfi was collapsed with Lefiya, as if she had tried to cover her. Everything below her knee on her right leg, including the Talaria, had been charred black. 
Aisha and Leon were charred and collapsed on the ground. The glow from Veil Breath had disappeared, consumed by the black thunder. In truth, that was what had saved them at the last moment. If not for that, they would have been disintegrated without a trace. 
“…Had I not been corrupted, that would have been your victory.” 
As the smoke cleared from the source of the lightning, Filvis appeared, battered but without any major injuries. She had lost her right ear, that long ear that was emblematic of elves, and her face was burned badly enough that red flesh was visible. Her left arm that she had used to protect herself from the fire arrows was still burning. But that was all. As her body gave off steam, her ear and skin were regenerating. The flames burning on her arm were extinguished by the touch of that healing steam. 
Filvis paid no heed to the onlookers consumed with despair, focusing on the four who had damaged her. 
“Ah…?!” 
“Damn monster!” 
She targeted the masked adventurer and Aisha, who were struggling to stand up. Even discounting their wounds, the two of them had no hope of winning without everyone’s teamwork. Filvis’s furious assault left them spitting blood and collapsing to all fours in the blink of an eye. 
“No! Ah…Unleashed pillar of light! ” 
As Asfi struggled to control the spasms and broke out in a cold sweat, Lefiya gritted her teeth and pushed herself to her feet. She muttered a spell to herself, trying to support Aisha and Lyu, who were being cornered. 
“Lefiya…I’ll get to you last.” 
Filvis had sensed the magic and swung her leg, kicking the floor where the green flesh had been burned away, unleashing a blast of rock fragments to disrupt the spell. Rocks the size of a child’s head pummeled Lefiya: her right elbow and thigh, her left armpit and shoulder. When the rock fragments slammed into Lefiya, she coughed up blood and slumped over to her back. Filvis’s green eyes narrowed, looking almost sad as she cast aside her lingering attachment, but the moment she turned back to Lyu and Aisha, her face, that of a merciless monster, continued its rampage. 
“Agh…Gah…Ha…?!” 
As Lefiya breathed in a mix of blood and air and started to cough, Gale Wind fell. 
The fist of an ex-elf mercilessly slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. And then Aisha. The last one left standing, she kept fighting to the end, plastered in blood and sweat, but it was all meaningless before the creature who looked on with Ein’s cruel expression. No extensions were allowed as the sound of the impact of her metal gloves cruelly sliced away at what remained of her life. 
It had not yet been ten minutes since the fight began. The battle had been decided before their fifteen-minute time limit was reached. 
“Don’t you dare, you piece of shit!” 
Samira howled, and the Berbera who had been kept out of the fight on strict orders charged as one. Even if it was utterly reckless, the Amazons chose a savage valor. Aisha cried out for them to stop, but it was too late. 
Filvis mercilessly swung her arm, knocking back all the women charging at her. Some had their arms snapped by that attack, cracks resounding from their spines, and others continued charging despite being filled with intense pain. The creature watched their determination to rescue Aisha with sober eyes and then crushed it with cold fists. 
It was an image of hell as blood splattered and they cried out in pain. No one was left able to move. 
Lulune, Haruhime, and the surviving adventurers had no choice but to watch as the Amazons were brutally murdered and Lefiya, Lyu, Aisha, and Asfi were left groaning in anguish on the ground. It took all they had to stand up to their fear and not flee in terror. Teeth chattering and tears flowing at the scene of destruction, the image of that powerful monster was burned into their eyes. 
At this rate…! 
Coughing over and over, her consciousness dim, Lefiya was filled with unease. If she did not stand up, if she did not persist, if she didn’t do anything, then the winds of victory would not blow over them. Shaking away the image of defeat, the vision of utter destruction, Lefiya scolded her limbs for not heeding her commands. 
“…?” 
While everyone else’s heart was wrenched into two and all were losing their will to fight, Lefiya saw someone hurrying at the edge of her blurred vision, dashing across the chamber. 
“Bete Logaaa!” shouted a little girl. 
Ever since the battle had begun, that was all she’d managed to say. 
“Hey, stand up! Please get up, Bete Loga!” Lena kept calling out to the unresponsive werewolf. 
He was lying on his back, his hair covering his eyes, his wounds refusing to heal. She tried potions and elixirs, but nothing was working. It was as if Filvis’s pitch-black thunder had been accompanied by a curse. Every single means of healing she tried was rejected. 
“If you don’t, everyone will die! Aisha and the other Berbera, too!” 
The scene of her comrades being trampled was unfolding before her eyes. As her comrades collapsed, her tears became unstoppable. Her shuddering, too. She could not contain the fear that was causing her slender limbs to tremble. Lena was being consumed by fear, just like Lulune and the rest of them. 
“Wake up! Get up! Are you really going to just keep sleeping?! That’s so lame! That’s not like you at all!” 
But she kept shouting. Kneeling beside him, grasping his right hand, she kept shouting. Her voice had grown hoarse, and her throat was starting to bleed from all the yelling. Coughing and hacking, she kept pleading with him. She almost looked as if she was praying. 
“…This version of you isn’t strong at all! Y-you’re gonna break the illusion!” 
However, despite all that, the wounded werewolf did not move. Lena’s eyes filled with tears as she peered at his unopened eyes and gazed upon his unresponsive hand that would not squeeze back. She looked determined. 
“You’re always acting tough! Talking crap about how weaklings should just stay in their lane! You can’t lose—obviously! That would be so stupid! Like, really uncool! I misjudged you! You’re just a loser with your tail between your legs!” 
She forced herself to stop crying and insulted him with all her might. She mustered all the scorn and disdain she could in order to set him off. She was obviously forcing herself, as her teary voice and unseemly dripping nose attested. Trying to control her voice that threatened to collapse into a fit of sobs, Lena desperately feigned a scornful sneer. 
“You were the one always telling me not to come, Bete Loga! Right? Then stand up! Win! Show me that arrogant-strongman act and beat the shit out of the enemy!” 
Lena Tully was weak. She was a burden, which was why Bete had tried to keep her away. She could not save her beloved man. Fighting together with him had been impossible from the start, and even just supporting him from the sides was hard enough to make her despair. 
Lena Tully could not protect Bete Loga. 
“If you can’t do that, then you’re just talk! Just like all the other stupid men!” 
But Lena Tully could make Bete Loga mad. 
“With everyone else, Aisha always said you were a pain in the ass and a real nasty wolf! That you only cared about lycans. I was always standing up for you, but I dunno if I can do that anymore!” 
Lena was an expert at pissing off Bete. When she’d leap on him like a puppy, he’d send her flying with a solid jab to the stomach, and when she’d cling to him like a cat in heat, he’d kick her aside, and when she’d get all excited like an innocent girl, he would be there to bring her back to earth with his fists. Her boisterous voice seemed to spur his rage. Her shouts made Bete’s wounds ache. Her very existence was so aggravating to him that Bete would actually call her by name. 
“…Hey, didn’t I fall for a strong guy? Someone coarse and mean who still wanted to save us? Even though he would say the worst things imaginable, he would never, ever abandon us!” 
Tears like jewels splashed onto Bete’s face. 
She had long since been reduced to tears during her attempt to mimic the usual mockery of her beloved wolf. Her face melted into overwhelming emotions. 
“He would totally look down on us and fight even if he was alone, but even then, he’d shrug it off, trying to play it cool like a little kid!” 
The drops became as dense as rain, soaking into the tattoo engraved in his right cheek, penetrating his hidden scars. 
“You would push us away and try to bear all the pain yourself!” 
Twitch. One of the fingers of the hand that Lena was clutching trembled. 
“I don’t want to see you like this! But I can’t protect you, either! I can’t even support you because I worry that you might end up in an even worse situation if I’m there!” 
The wolf’s left hand clenched into a fist, as if filled with irritation. His fangs ground together at her continual tears. 
“I’m so weak. I can’t do anything other than believe in your strength!” 
At that, the wolf’s lips trembled. 
“…—P…” 
That weakling’s tears bothered Bete. 
“…—T up…” 
That pip-squeak’s cries made Bete’s scar ache. 
“…Shut up…” 
That wimp’s tinny howl ignited the flame of Bete’s rage. 
“I’m begging you, Bete Loga!” Lena screamed as she grasped his hand in both of hers. “Don’t lie to me!” 
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrgh, shut up!” 
The wolf’s eyes snapped open. 
“Ah…” 
“Shut your damn trap! You’re really starting to piss me off! Who wants to hear your stupid sobbing?!” 
Lena’s eyes opened wide as Bete crushed Lena’s hand. He had recovered. Peeling himself off the ground, he ripped away the chains of pain that had bound his whole body. 
“I was never planning to let it end like this, and I don’t need a weakling saying shit to get me to move!” 
The manly image of a strong wolf rising brought tears to the weakling’s eyes. 
“Get back, Lena!” 
She struggled to smile as emotion swelled in her chest and then nodded in acknowledgment. 
“Uchide no Kozuchi!” 
“!” 
Another wuss provided a blessing of golden light. 
“Haruhime?!” Lena shouted. 
The renart girl had appeared before Bete. She had been the blurry figure that Lefiya had seen from afar, cutting across the battlefield while avoiding getting wrapped up in the battle. The renart girl granted Bete the final golden foxtail she had left. 
She had been waiting for him to stand back up to pour in all her magic. 
This was the third time she had stood across from Bete. The first time, she had been a coward who could not even fight. During the second meeting, she had appeared before Bete as a weakling who had nonetheless resolved to fight. And now, this was the third time they took each other in. Haruhime was still a wimp, but she faced Bete with an even stronger gaze than before. Her breathing was ragged from the repeated stress and impending Mind Down, and she was struggling desperately not to collapse as she stared into Bete’s eyes and believed. 
“Grrrr!” 
Faith was the most scathing revenge. The weakling he had tormented and insulted did not resent him, continuing to believe that he would stand back up. She had believed in Bete’s revival even more than he had. She had had a stronger determination than he had. 
The wolf was consumed by his rage. His amber eyes became so bloodshot that it looked like a red web was covering them. His anger exploded. He was infuriated with himself for letting howling weaklings set the stage for him. 
What followed went without saying. The animal had long passed his boiling point. He unleashed all his hidden animal instincts, turned the hot blood flowing from his wounds into strength, and raised a powerful howl, swearing to those two girls who had believed in him that he would hunt the creature down. 
“Gh…Gah…?!” 
“This is the end.” 
Filvis stood alone, grasping a single woman’s neck as all the Amazons lay collapsed on the floor around her like gravestones. It was Aisha. The last left standing, she was smeared in blood, and her beautiful figure was battered. Filvis’s slender fingers squeezed tighter, biting into Aisha’s neck as she struggled to breathe, sounding like a broken music box. 
Despite all that, the warrior’s eyes had not lost that determined look, continuing to stare back at the creature looking down on her. 
“…Purge, cleansing lightning.” 
Filvis’s eyes narrowed as she chose to finish her in the cruelest way possible. There was a crackle as she started giving off light. The left hand clamped around Aisha’s neck became electrified. When the magic was cast, everything above Aisha’s neck would be incinerated, instantly transforming the beautiful vixen into a tragic corpse. 
Turning a deaf ear to the soundless and heartbreaking pleas to stop from Lefiya and the others, Filvis was going to make sure that Aisha’s heart would never beat again. 
“ ? Gh?!” 
At that moment, a howl resounded in the chamber, causing everyone’s hairs to stand on end. It was not the cry of a wounded animal. It was the howl of a giant wolf who would devour everything that lay before his eyes. Filvis could feel the bloodlust—a homicidal fury that was intense enough to make the creature’s body sense danger for the first time. 
She immediately spun around just in time to see a wolf, fur matted with blood, already right in front of her, brandishing his fangs. 
“Gaaaaaaaaaaah!” 
Bete’s flying kick used all his strength. Filvis immediately raised an arm to defend, but it was so powerful that it tore through her skin, shattering her bones. She dropped to her knee, letting go of Aisha. Taken by shock, Filvis shook off her confusion and thrust her left arm at the wolf about to sink his teeth into her. 
“Dio Thyrsos!” 
That was what she had finished chanting. She decided to activate it at short range. The result was a destructive blast of thunder that even scorched the air, but Bete knocked her electrified arm up with his own. 
“? ” 
Blown back, the lightning cannon went off with her arm pointed up, blasting through the ceiling, piercing into the upper floor. As the bolt flickered above them, a tremor shook the entire chamber. While the lightning was running wild, the wolf paid it no heed, howling from the very depths of his soul as his clenched fist slammed into Filvis’s stomach. 
“Gaaah?!” 
An instantaneous body blow slammed into her. The light-red roots spread across Filvis’s upper body predicted the blow , swelling, hardening to protect her magic stone. His fist tore into her defenseless side rib, crushing the creature’s internal organs, causing her to cough up blood. 
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!” 
And there was no end in sight. He kept attacking, refusing to let go once he had sunk his fangs into his prey. Peppered with painful blows, the creature did not even have time to stagger back as a raging stream of attacks, punches, knee-ups, elbow jabs, and kicks slammed into her body. The bloody blows landed one after the other, each dealing serious damage. The unending barrage cut off the monster’s consciousness for a few seconds. 
This whole thing should have been impossible. It left Filvis mentally scrambling in confusion until she finally saw it—the beautiful golden light cloaking the rampaging wolf. Level Seven. Level Boost. Having temporarily reached the pinnacle with the help of that most powerful of sorceries, Bete’s strength was finally enough to kill the creature. Using that extreme boost to his advantage, he had locked Filvis in a jail cell—with prison bars of violence—scorching her body like a raging fire. 
“A werewolf…?! Impossible!” 
He should not have been able to stand back up. There was no way he should have been able to return to the battlefield—not after how thoroughly Filvis had destroyed his body before. The mortal wounds she had left on his body should have made it impossible to fight again. And yet— 
Filvis looked uneasy, bewildered, as the wolf covered in wounds howled. 
“I mean, even a bunch of damn wimps managed to raise a cry of their own. What excuse would I have if I couldn’t beat the shit out of you?!!” 
After raising a battle cry befitting one of the strongest warriors, the wolf’s fangs ripped into Filvis again. For the first time that day, Filvis felt a chill run down her spine as the revived wolf started to destroy her, the force of his series of attacks shaving away at her magic reserves. 
The fear of impending death. The absolute and vivid feeling of her life getting chipped away. The creature who should have been a tyrant standing alone was forced to recognize the enemy before her eyes: The wolf she had always scorned in her heart was the most dangerous being she had faced. 
“—Don’t get in my waaay!” 
Her eyes flared as she pushed back his fierce charge. Her metal gloves flashed, causing Bete to cough up blood, landing with a heavy thud on his body encased in golden particles of light. 
“I can’t die! Not now! Not after coming this far!” 
“Gh…?!” 
“Die! Just die already, werewolf!” she barked, derangement seeping into her voice as she unleashed a storm of counterattacks. Her true feelings and her inner violence were being drawn out now that her life was finally being threatened for the first time. She turned her hatred and resentment into power and attacked back, pushing into his body in return. 
Specks of what little blood he had left splattered out, his upper body trembling. Right when it seemed he was on the verge of retreating, Bete’s eyes turned even redder and he kicked the ground and pushed in. 
“Just shut up!” 
It was a headbutt that contained every ounce of his strength. That brutal blow had been unleashed with perfect timing, smashing right into Filvis’s forehead, halting her counteroffensive. 
“You’re the one who’s gonna die!” 
His tightly clenched fist thrust out, landing hard. They traded haphazard blows, leaving both of them drenched in blood. It was a head-on match. Without even considering defense, they howled, using all four limbs to slaughter the enemy in front of their eyes. 
Explosions blasted on both sides: A palm thrust and upper kick clashed. It was a never-ending struggle where as soon as one seemed to get an upper hand, the other countered it. 
Even with Bete’s hacks, Filvis still had the greater potential. The intrinsic strength of a monster would not allow a mere adventurer to have the advantage. Clenched fingers smashed. Bones started to crack. Skin peeled back as the struggle for supremacy continued to unfold. 
But even so, Bete’s howl did not reach its end. 
“Ghhh?!” 
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” 

For the first time, Filvis was overwhelmed as the wolf swallowed his pride and mustered every last bit of his strength. Lena supported Haruhime and Lulune and the rest, all standing there in amazement as he demonstrated the persistence and will to overcome granted to the strong. 
“Mr.…Bete…!” 
And that resounding howl reached Lefiya, too. The girl who had just been suffering on the ground gathered her strength and moved her lips. 
“Proud warriors…marksmen of the forest…!” she sang with a quivering voice. To support Bete. To bring victory. To stop Filvis. 
Stand! If you don’t get up…! If you don’t stand on your feet now, when will you?! 
She mentally whipped her body that would not heed her cries. She shook off the pain and everything else, moving to collect on the oath she had sworn to defeat Filvis. 
And at that moment…there was no warning or any advance notice. But something rang out, as if synchronizing with the song composed by the battle of adventurers whose hearts had not given in. 
“? ” 
A certain sound reached Lefiya’s ears. 
 
“This is the end, Loki! Nidhogg is about to activate!” 
The song of destruction became clear as it passed through the floors, closing in. It was a prelude to the destruction of the mortal realm, to the reproduction of the orgia that had consumed the world in the Ancient Times. The ritual to activate the bomb was not even minutes from completion as Dionysus celebrated. 
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I’m the victor! I took the name of Enyo and brought destruction to this aggravating land!” 
Dionysus’s guffaws echoed, filling the chamber. Loki’s teeth ground together. He was celebrating with a wild drunkenness, as if her suffering were the ultimate appetizer to go with his drink. 
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha? …?” 
His laughter suddenly stopped. When she heard it, Loki instinctively looked up. 
“…What’s that?” she whispered. 
Something was trembling, resounding, and certainly ringing . 
Dionysus was frozen, and Loki’s eyes widened. They could both sense it—the same sound that Lefiya had heard. 
Gong. Gooong. 
Its pure timbre was clearer than anything. That magnificent tone was more heroic than anything. That bell’s unceasing ringing thundered through the labyrinth. 
“This is—?” 
“…From the great bell tower?” 
A master smith and great dwarf warrior stopped moving, listening carefully. 
“Where is it coming from…?” 
A high elf mage’s elven ears twitched as she spun a spell. 
“This sound…” 
“It’s so pretty…” 
Amazon twins forgot all about fighting as they listened in delight to it. 
“It can’t be—” 
The strongest Warlord’s eyes opened in shock. 
It reached every corner of the transformed Knossos. It was a soul-stirring melody that reached the adventurers in the large chambers, in the passages, in every place where battles were unfolding. There was no holiness to be found anywhere. And yet that bell resembled a blessing from the heavens, resounding through the ground, repelling the song that would destroy the city, and transforming into a sacred rhythm to purify evil. 
To the adventurers’ ears, it was a battle cry. A shout of encouragement to jolt their spirits. Everyone stopped moving. Everyone listened to that sound. Even the evil spirits were frozen by it, creating a moment’s pause in Knossos. 
Gong. Gooong. 
Like an illusion composed by that bell’s solemn tone, they all recollected a scene from a few minutes in the past. 
“Y-you’re…” 
A single feather fluttered to the ground in front of Raul. It was a golden feather that sparkled as if it had been interwoven with a single thread of hope. High above the adventurers’ heads, a single siren was flapping her brilliant wings and releasing the being she had carried there in her talons. His shoulders free, he landed on the ground after a brief descent. He was equipped with a battered longsword. A black scarf and snow-white hair fluttered. His eyes were tinged with red rubellite. Someone among the frozen adventurers murmured that he looked almost like a hero. 
“Gh…” 
The boy shuddered. Faced with the true dragon monster that appeared only in fairy tales, he showed a glimpse of fear. However, he closed his eyes, and when they opened again, they were more courageous than anyone’s. His gaze housed an understanding of why he had been brought there, of what he needed to do. 
Bell Cranell had made up his mind. 
“Please protect me,” he said as he took the longsword in both hands and held it before him. 
And leaving that to Raul and the rest who were standing there, he activated his trump card—the one shot granted him by his goddess. 
His Skill was triggered by the thing he admired most—Loki Familia , those grand adventurers. 
Braver Finn Deimne. 
Nine Hell Riveria Ljos Alf. 
Elgarm Gareth Landrock. 
Amazon the Slasher Tiona Hyrute. 
Jormungand Tione Hyrute. 
Vanargand Bete Loga. 
Thousand Elf Lefiya Viridis. 
And Sword Princess Aiz Wallenstein. 
Those gallant adventurers had shouldered their pride and duty, continuing to fight the darkness hidden away in the city, unbeknownst to everyone. Borrowing the strength of that unattainable peak for which he desperately longed, the power of the next generation of heroes, he overlapped his purpose with theirs and loaded all of it into that one attack. 
“…!” 
Raul could see it—the torrent of power rushing into his readied blade, the moment that hero’s blow would cut through that pitch-black manifestation of despair. 
“—Protect hiiiiiiiiiiiiim! Protect Rabbit Foot!” 
He was carried along by instinct and impulse. With no concerns for appearances, he fired off a decisive order to everyone there, swearing to protect that boy until the end. And as Raul drew his sword and dashed forward, the rest of the members of Loki Familia raised a battle cry and followed him. 
With the help of the siren who had changed course in midair and switched to a diversionary attack on Nidhogg, they became a lure, a shield, composing chants and risking their lives to create a defensive line. 
Beads of white light gathered together. A bell’s chime transformed into the gong of a grand bell. And that sublime sound resounded across all the battlefields. 
Gong. Gooong. 
“—Go, Bell Cranell!” Finn murmured as he ran through the passage, clutching the oculus in his hand. 
He had given orders for the siren Rei to carry Bell to Nidhogg on the eleventh floor. 
With her ability to freely fly through the air, she could move through Knossos faster than anyone, and with her echolocation, she could locate both Bell and Nidhogg. She alone could carry out all the way to completion the one move that Finn had discovered. She could find the light that Finn had discovered and carry it. Guide it. 
“Enyo, I’m betting it all on that white light.” 
It was an ambush from where Enyo was least expecting it—a blind spot that the god had missed on the board, that he had no way of noticing. 
Because the boy had been nothing more than a pawn. 
He embodied the potential of the mortal realm, an unknown factor with which to smash the god. Something that could betray the predictions of a god. A being who had not been around fifteen years ago or even six years ago. 
It had nothing to do with strategy or predictions. It was just faith—a belief in the adventurer he had seen that day with Aiz, the adventurer who had defeated the minotaur, overcome the impossible, and gained the qualification of a hero. 
It was just a bet, a gamble on that incomplete hero who had rushed headlong faster than anyone, overcoming all kinds of hardships, fueled by his desires. 
“But that’s why it’ll cut all the way through . To defeat a god, there’s no choice but to gamble on the unknown!” 
That was the trump card that Hermes had snuck into Finn’s hands. That was the piece from outside the board that should not have been there on that day. This time, Finn was the one slamming a sword down onto the board from outside as Enyo stood frozen. 
Reflected in the oculus, Nidhogg noticed Bell Cranell and raised a dreadful roar, but its movements were dull. With the ritual progressing this far, it had become little more than a bomb waiting to go off. This was their only chance. He slammed a pawn—a piece that had been promoted to a hero—down onto the ninth board that Enyo had brandished. 
“This is it, Enyo!” 
Your evil and our light. Which will win? 
Finn shouted a declaration of war at Enyo, who had finally been forced to sit in the empty seat on the other end of the board—at Dionysus, whose face had grown pale. 
Gong. Gooong. 
As if synchronizing with Braver’s will, the grand bell rang louder. There was no stopping the sound. It was a signal to everyone, a single blow marshaling all the heroes’ feelings. It was a roar of hope that railed against absurdity. Everyone who could still fight was reinvigorated, drawing swords, raising shields, wielding staffs. 
“It’s Bell! It’s Bell! Everyone!” 
“Wiene…?” 
“Bell is fighting!” 
The dragon girl shouted his name. Her crammed thoughts turned into tears and a smile. 
“Sir Bell!” Mikoto cheered as she looked up. 
“Come on—what are you all doing?! At this rate, my buddy’s gonna take all the good stuff!” Welf broke into a grand smile. 
“Focus on the enemy in front of you! There’s nothing left to fear! He will defeat the seventh!” Lilly proclaimed in Braver’s voice. 
“—Follow the bell of victory!” 
And finally, Finn’s voice overlapped with another version of himself as he ordered an all-out attack. 
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” 
The counterattack began as every adventurer in the labyrinth raised a battle cry. The adventurers embarked on the final clash, guided by the sound of the great belfry. The sound of that bell stirred the hearts of the adventurers and even the monsters. It was the bell ringing in the heroes’ dawn, stirring those who had fallen to stand back up. People who should not have been able to get up again were standing one after the other, wiping away their blood, taking their weapons in hand, and facing off against the spirits trying to destroy the city. 
Everyone reacted, following that grand signal to begin. 
“ ? Gh!” 
And the boy’s cry reached Lefiya. 
This ringing bell is…! 
Lefiya knew it. She had heard the grand bell ringing out when she had fought together with him before. When they had fought together on the eighteenth floor. 
“Master Bell!” 
Even if she had not heard the renart girl’s rejoicing cheer, she would have known. That boy was fighting, too. Ringing the bell that signaled a new dawn, he was preparing to defeat the enemy before him! 
“—Me too!” 
As her fingernails clawed into the ground, Lefiya dragged herself to her feet. The pain tormenting her whole body disappeared. Or, rather, the blaze of emotions swirling in her heart burned it all away. 
I can’t lose. I won’t lose. Absolutely not. Not to that tiny hero in the making. If he can ring a bell to clear away the darkness, then I will sing the song to bring victory. 
“This ain’t the time to be sleeping…!” 
“Yes…!” 
“…Let’s go!” 
Aisha, Asfi, and the masked adventurer all mustered the last of their strength at the sound of the bell. 
“—Gaaaaaah!” 
And Bete, too. Confronted by that magnificent howl from a weakling who had become strong, the bell’s gong stirred a mix of irritation and gratification in him as he rampaged. 
“Why are you standing?! Why are you getting up?! What is this sound?!” 
Filvis alone shuddered, agitated by the sound, getting pushed back as Lefiya and the rest rose to face the final battle. 
Gong. Gooong. 
The sound became clear, causing Dionysus to stand still. 
“What…?” 
A rasping whisper crossed his lips. The torches’ flames flickered at the sound of the great bell. The flickering flames caused the mural of the evil dragon and the spirits to fade in and out of darkness. 
“What is that…?” 
The game board had changed. The adventurers had moved from disadvantage to equal footing. No, beyond that. From the oculus in Loki’s hands, the adventurers’ shouts rang out as they attempted to cut through the cruelty. It was as if they had been revived. 
Time had stopped for Dionysus, and slowly, his body began to tremble in fear. He was assaulted by a premonition that was difficult to bear. It was the harbinger of failure, of his plan falling apart. 
Loki said nothing. Her half-opened eyes just stared at the face of the god whose laughter had died. It was just a belief—faith in the ending of the Oratoria written by her followers. 
“—What is that damn bell?!” 
Dionysus lost his composure and raged at the sound that had caused even a god to shudder. 
 
“Push them baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!” 
As if stirred up by the grand bell that continued to ring, every battlefield raged. The adventurers raised their swords, their backs lit by magic being cast behind them as they pushed the blackened demi-spirit to the edge. 
“—Ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” 
“Hegni! Hey, Hegni!…Damn it, snapped, huh?” 
The dark elf exploded into laughter as he kept axing the spirit’s enormous trunk with black flashes like a storm on a dark night. The white elf shook his head at his partner’s excitement and unleashed a white flash of his own with a massive lightning strike. 
“Incinerate, sword of Surtr—My name is Alf!” 
“Fall back, everyone!” 
As the two elven knights pushed back the spirit, a sweet singing voice rang out. Ilta’s order thundered, and when Welf and the adventurers had pulled back from its giant area of effect, Riveria activated her extermination spell. 
“Rea Laevateinn!” 
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH?!” 
The city’s strongest mage scorched the spirit in a towering pillar of hellfire. 
“Bell Cranell?” 
“It’s Bell Cranell.” 
“Really?” 
“He was just a Level One. That’s insane.” 
“““Exactly.””” 
“I don’t want to tell Lady Freya because she’ll just get more obsessed.” 
“““Exactly!””” 
“Quit bitching and move your asses, you damn prums!” 
As the Bringar sprinted by with a frightening speed, dismembering a black tentacle as they passed, Tsubaki’s own sword flashed. She shouted at them, as if their little conversation was getting on her nerves. The Gullivar brothers leaped into the air, throwing their four weapons. Combined with Tsubaki’s quick-draw ability, this attack ripped through the last of the abused and battered petal armor, finally breaking through. 
“Hey, Finn! Riveria! That youngster is really interesting! But we aren’t gonna lose to him, right?!” 
The spirit was dumbfounded, having lost all its defenses. The old dwarf warrior charged, more excited than anyone by the soul-stirring song of the new generation. A fanatical grin covered his face as he took a giant leap and brandished his battle-ax. 
“Rest in pieces!” 
Charged with every bit of strength, the swing caused a flashy explosion of flesh. 
“It’s Argonaut! That’s gotta be Argonaut!” 
“‘Argo-knot’? That story you made me listen to?” 
“That’s the one, Bache! There’s this amazing guy who’s, like, a hero from those epics brought to life!” 
“Argo-knot…Argonaut.” 
As Tiona got excited and forgot the situation, Bache pondered the name. 
“I see…You’re telling me there’s a man like that here?” 
The warrior who had only ever known battle smiled behind her veil. And in the next moment, her eyes flared as she sprinted. Tiona joined her with a smile, accelerating alongside her. 
“Tione, give me some blood!” 
“Just take it already! This isn’t the time for that!” 
Tione shouted as she used her Restrict Iorum to obstruct the spirit’s movements. Argana did as she said and licked her blood, activating her Kalima and increasing her stats. Tione and Argana tugged on either end of a magic whip of light, holding the suffering spirit down, threatening to rip it to pieces as it struggled to break free. While they were doing that, Tiona and Bache dove in. 
“Here we gooooooooooooooo!” 
“Velgas!” 
There was nothing that would not have been killed by the full swing of Urga and Bache’s mortal poison punch. 
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!” 
“Wait, quit it! Stop it, Asterios!” 
“Don’t let him join the boy!” 
“We have to finish this thing first!” 
The minotaur went into a wild rampage on hearing the white battle cry of his ultimate rival, causing mayhem for his enemy and allies. The Xenos desperately pleaded with him, and the single minotaur finally, inevitably turned and faced the spirit with bloodshot eyes. 
“—He’s getting stronger. I will, too. For the sake of our conclusion.” 
The jet-black minotaur spoke in brusque human words for the first time that battle and then smiled. That brutal grin masked an irrepressible hunger, and that glimpse of reasoning was consumed by his battle instincts. His battered body filled with an even greater power, and he aimed another charge at the demi-spirit, whose eyes turned pale. 
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!” 
The second attempt at his strongest charge smashed everything in its path. 
“That bell is pissing me off…” 
While everyone was exalting at the magnificent sound, he alone was not. More annoyed than anyone else, Allen swung his silver spear. 
He refused to acknowledge anyone who was not stronger than him. He would not allow anyone to be faster than him. His desire to fight was so strong that he welcomed anyone who might be able to catch up with him. Allen was the embodiment of the primitive emotions of man. 
He took off, annoyed at himself for being annoyed by that boy. It was his single fastest sprint of the day—a near-infinite acceleration that no one could follow. The chariot became the personification of force as he left afterimages in his tracks, dashing all around, trying to knock down the spirit. 
“Clear the way! He’ll trample you!” 
Without being able to give support or even backup, Shakti could only shout a warning, which the rest of the adventurers heeded as one, retreating. The mantle attached to his shoulder fluttered, about to tear off, as he revealed why he had been given the name Vana Freya. The giant spirit pillar was covered in dozens of ruts of light. 
“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH?!” 
Its body was shredded so badly that its regeneration could not keep up. The spirit groaned as it lost its eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and throat, unable to utter a proper sound anymore. 
As it gave off an earsplitting cry of death, Allen had just one thing to say. 
“Die.” 
He did not hesitate to send the spirit’s head flying and mercilessly crushed its entire chest—and the magic stone along with it. 
“Lady Freya…Your insight was correct,” Ottar acknowledged. “A new hero has been born.” 
His eyes narrowed sharply as the sound of the great bell filled the labyrinth. 
He quietly walked forward, approaching the spirit that had already been turned into a fleshy corpse. Carrying his enormous black sword on his shoulder, the boaz advanced with the air of a king. Anakity and the others gasped and cleared the way, yielding the final blow to him. 
Raising his black sword to the heavens, he slammed it down like a guillotine on the spirit that was at death’s door. 
“This was a good battlefield, giving birth to a full-fledged hero.” 
His praise felt somehow out of place as he finished everything with his absolute power. 
And thus… 
After four minutes on the seventh battlefield, the final proclamation was handed down. One that did not reach the six other battlefields. 
The only ones allowed to see it were a plain, mediocre young man who was nonetheless roaring indomitably. Those comrades who followed him. A single siren flying in the air. And finally, the sinister dragon spirit that was trying to bring about the destruction of everything. 
As the song of destruction approached its critical mass, he was faster. The particles of white light gathered closer. The sword of light was held aloft—a single blow with his whole soul. Everything was riding on it. 
A full charge. As the grand bell rang out, he unleashed that pure-white aurora. 
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” 
It was a heroic battle cry that no one would ever know. A world dyed white. A labyrinth engulfed in tremors. The Hero’s Attack to be recorded in the passage of the Oratoria roared. 
 
It was the melody of a deadly combat. The sounds of a sword fight born of crossed blades. The sounds of destruction and regeneration composed by wind and flesh. And the sounds of screams and shouts rose from both their throats. 
With will and purpose, combativeness and murder roaring together, blending together, rejecting each other. 
It was undoubtedly the harmony of a decisive battle. 
““ ? Gh!”” 
Aiz’s and Levis’s swords clashed. 
Instead of sparks, the shock wave and wind caused their hair to blow back. They were in the eye of the storm for just a second as they glared at each other and reversed their blades. 
They had gone beyond their limits. There was nothing left holding them back. Their bodies were filled with a wild power. It was as if they could accomplish anything, and with that, they dashed beyond the realms of possibility. They were long since past the point where they had time to think. They simply moved as soon as the idea crossed their minds. 
Airiel blew back the corrupted sword, and a swelling flesh armor repelled the blade cloaked in a violent wind. Levis retreated from Aiz’s attack, sacrificing an arm that was sent flying in order to push back, but before the regeneration could make any progress and the flesh fully inched over her skin, she took a powerful blow to the body. 
There was no longer any shock or valor. Pain and hesitation had been cast aside. She was filled with a determination to fight and kill her opponent. Everything was for the sake of becoming a sword with which to slaughter her enemy. 
“—Gh!” 
She sank to her knee. Her arm was on the verge of splitting apart. Even though the pain had long since disappeared, her field of vision narrowed. It was as if she was losing some of her eyesight every time their blades crossed. It had reached the point where she could see only the enemy standing before her, could see only that grotesque black outline—that repulsive monster. 
“Come, Aria! Come again! Give me more! Hit me with that wind, with all that you offer!” 
The black shadow was enthusiastically shouting something, laughing incessantly. 
“After rotting away! Encountering you and this battle have been pure entertainment!” Levis, the illusion of a sinister dragon behind her, caused the flame of Aiz’s rabid obsession to blaze still higher. 
Wild slashes and a ferocious storm of wind. Whenever she swung her sword, it broke the enemy further and the air roared around them, causing everything to tremble. Her own body was being torn apart. 
But that just caused the black flame within to rage more. 
“—Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” 
To kill the enemy in front of her, she let out a battle cry from the pit of her stomach. Even her will to fight took on the form of a blazing black inferno. She could no longer tell where her arm holding the sword ended and the wind began. 
Maybe this was how Father felt that day. And Mother, too…Maybe she had these same thoughts. 
As she tried to justify herself, she continued to transform into a demonic war princess. 
 You’re wrong. 
She heard someone’s voice. 
 You’ve got it wrong. 
It took her a moment to realize it was the voice of her younger self. 
—Father and Mother— 
She could not hear the rest of what she was saying. Static was disrupting the voice. Her eyes were consumed by darkness as she deemed it trivial. Her fragment of consciousness now cut loose, she wandered in the deep sea of roiling flames. 
She had not wanted to become a hero. And she had not wanted to save the world, either. There was just something that she’d wanted to get back, and she’d had to become strong to do it, even if she lost sight of her goal in gaining that strength. She’d had to sacrifice everything of herself to attain that strength. In order to defeat the being before her eyes, she’d had to turn even her hatred into fuel for the fire. 
Every time I fought, I optimized myself. 
Every time I killed, I shaved off a little more excess flesh. 
I lost my expressions. My emotions became more limited. Thanks to my friends, I didn’t become a killing puppet, but this version of me and the me in my heart are entirely different people. This version is a fake, an imaginary “what if” that the real me could never reach. 
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” 
“Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!” 
What reflected in the creature’s eyes was an Aiz who was no more and no less repulsive than Levis herself. She entrusted herself to the pitch-black storm, wielded the murderous blade that had butchered tens of thousands of monsters, and took on the form of death itself. As if she herself were an incomplete spirit, just like the woman who was effectively a tendril of the corrupted spirit. That was the fate that the current Aiz Wallenstein had reached. 
There is no going back. I can’t turn back anymore. I can’t remember anymore. But didn’t you already realize that long ago? 
She did not understand why the Aiz in her heart had a sad look on her face. Consumed by resignation and loneliness, Aiz wandered in that sea of flames, seemingly not realizing anything as she devoted her everything to the battlefield. 
It’s hot— 
The blackened sword of wind and the wicked crimson blade clashed. Her long golden hair was so dirtied by blood that it had lost its golden sheen as it blew in the air. As each second ticked by, she slashed faster, more sharply, more instantaneously, more overwhelmingly. 
It’s scorching— 
No matter how often Levis was painted in blood, she just laughed and kept rising to the challenge. The black wind trembled under a powerful blow. There was a sizzling sound as if the wind was weakened, and then in the next instant, it swirled and regained its strength. 
It’s hot— 
That sound was the sound of her life burning away. The sound of the black flames consuming her life. 
But that’s fine— 
There is no going back. I can’t turn back anymore. I can’t remember those memories. 
I’ll defeat this monster and go beyond this— 
She entrusted all of herself to the black flames that had taken up residence in her. She embraced the hellfire that would turn her body and soul into ash, heading for what lay beyond the darkness— 
Her cry was swallowed up by the black wind that joined her in her descent to hell. 
At that moment, she heard the sound of a giant bell. 
“? ” 
In a world closed off from everything but the enemy before her, it still reached Aiz’s ears. The Aiz in her heart opened her eyes wide and snapped her face up. 
It was the sound of a blessing. The morning bell signaling the dawn. It was a song of recovery. A light appeared beyond the horizon in a world that had been swallowed by an ocean of darkness. It illuminated Aiz’s heart, like the declaration that the sun would rise again—that there was no such thing as a never-ending night. 
 Bell! 
She knew it was his battle cry—from the culmination of all her feelings up until that day. 
The ringing tickled Aiz’s ears, resounded through her whole body, and reached her heart—chipping away at the force of the rampaging black fire. The dark flames that were burning her back—that she had lost all ability to control—were purified by that white light. 
“This is…?!” 
Levis looked irritated as the bell continued to thunder magnificently. 
Aiz’s arms moved as if being led. They traded blows. An evenly matched tremor. Even though the black blaze withered, her wind continued to blow strong. As her Skill fell silent, Airiel increased its output, as if wrapping her in its embrace. 
Each chime of the bell that reached their battlefield shook their bodies. Its sound overlapped with the swords’ melody. 
Remember that sunrise at the top of the wall. 
Remember the image of that pure boy’s advance. 
Remember the smile that crossed my lips reflected in his eyes. 
That had been a remnant of Aiz’s face left over from days past. 
 There is no going back. I can’t turn back anymore. I can’t remember those memories. 
 But is that really true? 
The younger Aiz was smiling with teary eyes as she responded to the grown Aiz’s thoughts. And then, as she rubbed the tears from her smiling cheeks, the young Aiz unraveled and became the wind. 
“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” 
A resolute voice thundered out. A single decisive blow drew near. 
Levis sensed danger as the bell continued to grow stronger and swung her sword, signaling the conclusion of the battle was nigh. The floor shattered as she stepped in, and she sliced even the air as the weapon advanced, slamming into the black storm. 
The next instant, the wind encasing Aiz’s sword and the current covering her entire body burst . 
“What?!” 
After a moment’s struggle, the black storm dispersed . The force field disappeared. Levis’s deadly blow was pushed from its path by the wind, its power and momentum losing their direction as the deadly blow slipped past Aiz’s side. As the corrupted sword grazed by Aiz, her right arm, gauntlet, and shoulder armor were blown away. Slipping past Levis, Aiz felt her eyes go wide, as if her mind were elsewhere. 
Her field of vision had been eaten away by the black blaze, until it suddenly widened again. White feathers seemed to scatter before her, and her monochrome world filled with color. The young Aiz had disappeared, becoming a gentle breeze blowing a tuft of her beautiful golden hair. 
An instantaneous transition. 
“Ghhhh!” 
She stopped right in her tracks, dramatically pulling the brakes . 
The speed that the wind had brought her was canceled out by the gust blowing in the other direction as she moved past Levis. 
Ignoring the cries from her body that she was abusing to its limit, Aiz turned around. Meanwhile, Levis immediately recovered her stance, her eyes focused on the battle drawn out in her head as she took aim and charged—intercepting the attack with her inhuman strength. Even though she was caught off guard, her sword still unfairly moved faster than Aiz’s. 
Faced with that impending blow, Aiz called out the wind’s name, repeating the words whispered in her heart. 
“Tempest!” 
She was clad again in the spirit’s wind—the clear gust that had been purified of all traces of darkness wrapped the girl in an untarnished white. Her sword became like the wind, transforming into a white flash as she drew a golden arc. The bell rang out over them, and the white wind whipped wildly. Levis’s eyes filled with shock, but in the next instant, they widened, brimming with murder. 
Her corrupted sword groaned as it crossed blades with the roaring sword of wind. 
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” 
At the same time as Bell unleashed his Hero’s Attack, the decisive blow was made in their fight. As the grand bell shook the entire battlefield, time stopped for Aiz and Levis, who passed each other again, their swords unmoving from where their completed slashes had stopped. 
In the next moment, one shoulder burst open, sending a set of armor flying as blood spilled forth—it belonged to Aiz. Her body shook violently and sank, but she chewed her lip and stepped forward forcefully, just managing to stay standing. 
Levis’s eyes narrowed coolly. The feedback from the slash assured her that she had surpassed her enemy’s blow— 
“—What?!” 
Her chest was ripped open. There was a track of a single slash running diagonally across her chest. The white flash had cut through the armor of flesh and reached her magic stone, splitting that vibrant, gleaming mass in two. 
“Impossible?!” 
As she looked down at her chest, her right hand instinctively reached up to cover the wound, but it turned to ash. That was the fate of all monsters whose cores had been destroyed. The corrupted sword slipping from her hand and clattering to the floor caused the creature’s eyes to fly open in shock. 
After landing the superspeed slash, Aiz turned around, still clad in the white wind, and resumed her stance. 
As the ends of Levis’s arms and legs crumbled, the creature’s shock was met by Aiz’s piercing gaze. Seeing those golden eyes certain of victory, Levis’s eyes trembled and became bloodshot. 
“Ariaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” 
She swung around, her left hand outstretched, as if reaching for something—but the arm crumbled to ash before Aiz’s eyes. 
The creature’s entire body collapsed, turning into a formless pile of soot. Her shouts, her rage, and her body were all erased. 
With a sandy rush, there was just a big mound of ash and a few fragments of richly colored magic stone. Nothing else remained. There was no swell of victory or regret that this was all over. There was only the faint ringing of the bell and strained breathing. 
As those two sounds echoed ephemerally around the solemn battlefield, the white wind blew between them. It tousled her golden hair, guiding Aiz’s gaze upward. Her eyes narrowed as she listened to the reverberations of the bell that were still audible. 
 
After all the tremors had passed, the adventurers whose bodies had been dyed white slowly opened their eyes. 
“…He…did it…” 
It filled Raul’s vision. The spirit had been entirely obliterated. The last remnants of Nidhogg were disappearing together with fading white light. And the boy was standing there frozen like a statue in the stance of drawing that ultimate blow of light. 
Finally, the sword crumbling away, his arms dropped as he collapsed to the ground, his body and spirit having reached their limits. 
There was a long silence that Raul finally broke with a shout at the top of his lungs. 
“—You did iiiiiiiiiiiiiit! That was fantastic! You were amazing!” 
He and the others cheered as they surrounded the boy. There was no concern for trivial things like being from different familias. Raul ignored Bell’s exhaustion and hugged him, wrapping his arm around the boy’s shoulder like an old friend. And it was the same for everyone else. They ruffled the boy’s white hair as he struggled to smile, sharing the rough sort of praise that was standard for adventurers. In her excitement, Rakuta the hume bunny hugged the siren who had slowly descended to the floor, shocking her. 
As everyone mobbed the boy, Raul looked to the ceiling. 
“He did it, Captain!” he roared. 
 
“Well done, Raul!” Upon hearing the cheers coming through the oculus, Finn smiled in praise. “And you too, Bell Cranell!” 
He clenched his fist as tightly as he could, squeezing out every last bit of joy and excitement. In the wide passage he had stopped in, he forgot his usual leader’s facade for a brief moment and let the plain smile of just another adventurer cross his lips. 
Finn had found the move to finally stop Enyo’s plan. 
“Captain!” 
A second later, Alicia’s group, which Rei had left on Finn’s order, rounded the corner. Quickly regaining his composure, Finn had more orders ready. 
“We’ve confirmed the defeat of all seven spirits! Riveria, Gareth, gather everyone who can still fight and have them head for the remaining enemies. Reinforce our allies who are still fighting!” he shouted into the oculus. 
“Understood.” 
“I’d like to ask you to let us rest, but I guess there’s no other choice!” 
“We’re going to head for Loki!” Finn said, turning to Alicia’s group. 
““Yes, sir!”” 
As their response came in unison, he turned and started running, taking the lead. 
The battle was not over yet. The finale was still to come. 
 
“…Im…possible…” Dionysus barely managed to murmur. 
The battle cries from the crystal, the sound of that bell, and the tremors shaking the labyrinth had all passed. 
The appointed time approached, but his plan for great destruction would not happen, and it took all Dionysus had not to fall to the ground as that fact staggered him. 
The song of self-destruction that Nidhogg was chanting had been stopped. That meant that his plan—that Enyo’s plan—had failed. 
“…You lost, Dionysus,” Loki said. She stood there, facing the god who was completely stupefied. “Your plan was perfect. But Finn’s crew still stopped it.” 
“…Gh?!” 
“While you were laughing to yourself outside the game board, those children kept struggling. And because of that, they were able to draw victory from the jaws of defeat. The cause of your defeat was fitting for your deific pride and the arrogance of omniscience.” 
The adventurers’ struggles. The familia myth that had even conquered a god’s divine will. Loki’s lips curled up. From the very depths of her heart, she was exhilarated by what she had witnessed. 
“That…and an unknown factor that they had hidden up their sleeves.” 
Dionysus’s plan had been founded on a calculation of the strength of various factions from fifteen years ago. And it had been broken by just a single adventurer—a single ray of white light. That boy had appeared in Orario only six months ago . In just that short period of time, he had raced down the path of the hero. Dionysus would never have guessed that he would keep running with a wholehearted aspiration in his heart and grow into an existence that could threaten Enyo. That was not something anyone, even a god, could have predicted. That was the potential of children. 
“You lost to the mortal realm’s potential for growth.” 
Dionysus’s face twitched as she explained the cause of his defeat. The difficult and determined struggle of heroes and the existence of a heretical one had crushed his perfect plan. 
“…Damn iiit!” Dionysus suddenly roared. 
His pride crushed, he seemingly lost it, exposing a disgraceful side of himself. His eyes flared and his hair was a mess as his sweet mask was warped by anger and hatred. 
Dionysus flew into a rage. He seemed to be running his hand through his hair when all of a sudden, he drew a gleaming dagger. It was a blade with grape designs on the hilt—the one he had used to send Penia back to the heavens. 
“Die, Lokiii!” 
His mad actions were spurred by the undying lust and obsession with which he had pursued his orgia . If he could send Loki back, her familia members would be robbed of their Statuses. Then he could send in monsters to deal with them. But more importantly, if he could just survive, there was still hope—a wish that he could draw up a new plan for a feast of frenzy. 
A sinister grin appeared on his face as he readied his dagger and charged Loki, but she just quietly watched him. Right as he got in range, she tossed the ash she had secretly been holding in her hand. 
“Ugh?!” 
It was ash she had picked up from the monsters’ corpses she had come across along the way there. He hesitated as his eyes filled with soot, and Loki was able to avoid him with ease. As he passed, she held out her leg, sending him tumbling to the ground in an unsightly heap. 
“GAH…?! That’s dirty, Lokiiiii!” 
Dionysus raged, his eyes shut in pain from the ash, and stood up with a childish shout, swinging his dagger randomly. His desperate thrusts were a far cry from the attacks of Finn and the other adventurers, and Loki was able to weave around them without any trouble as she silently moved behind him. And from there, she kicked upward as hard as she could, right into Dionysus’s crotch. 
“—GAAAH?!” 
Though he might be a god, it was still a critical hit, and her kick drew a deep groan that was even more vulgar than the last as he crumpled to the ground again. His stubbornness was all that kept him from losing his grip on the dagger. Loki did not laugh even though he was ridiculously, wretchedly unsightly. She just continued to unleash a series of kicks. 
“Gh?! GAH?! S-stop! Quit it!” 
“Can you even hear yourself, dumbass?” 
“Ahh! AH?! AAAAAAARGH?!” 
“How oblivious can you be?” 
There was no mercy, no pardon—just cruel, unending punts. 
Covered in shadows cast by the torches, Loki’s face had a cold-blooded intensity to it. The smile she always had for her followers was nowhere to be found. She was revealing the true nature of a deity—just like Dionysus had. 
“I’m Loki . The moment you bothered to call me dirty, you were already beyond saving!” 
She was the greatest trickster in the heavens—the one who brought demise to all creation. She hammered a reminder of why deities feared her into the god trembling on the ground beneath her. 
“Just how many of my children did you steal with that smooth smile of yours? Just how many of my followers did you murder? How stupid can you be?!” 
“Q-quit it! Sto-PPPPTFF ?!” 
“There’s no way I wasn’t gonna settle the debt with the piece of shit who did all that!” 
Loki’s barrage did not let up, even as Dionysus’s fine features became more and more disfigured. Her wide-eyed expression was more sinister than Dionysus’s had been. She had unleashed her true nature, revealing the goddess who had once schemed to kill deities back in the heavens, as she continued to torture him to avenge her followers. 
She transformed into an embodiment of sadism, accompanied by the dull thump of flesh being kicked, the dry snap of bones breaking, and the gargles of a voice being smothered. There was no trace of a loving goddess. She was a full-fledged goddess of destruction. 
“GAH—DAMN IIIIT!” 
As she kept kicking him, Dionysus mustered the last of his strength and swung his blade, rolling away as Loki easily evaded the blow, desperately trying to put some distance between them. Blood trickled down his tortured face as he breathed heavily, and he was covered in wounds. There was no trace left of the princely, noble appearance from before. 
Loki had held back just enough to keep him from being returned to the heavens. Because of that, he could still move, which meant she could keep torturing him. Even in his humiliated state, he still did not try to use his Arcanum to kill Loki, which must have been the last bit of pride he had as a god who had descended to the mortal realm. Or perhaps it was because it was out of his utter devotion to the cause of starting another orgia . 
With his plan, his body, and his composure pulverized, his breathing muffled, Dionysus screamed as if deranged. 
“Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it! You garbage creatures, kill her!” 
“…They aren’t here.” 
“Thanatos?! What are you doing?! Call the Evils’ Remnants or some monsters! I don’t care what you use, but come here already!” 
“They aren’t here, either. Weren’t you the one who cast them aside?” 
He was cornered. Dionysus was backed into a small space, and he did not bother with any kind of explanation or apology. This was the proper fate for a god who had manipulated everything from the shadows. For a god who had discarded everything and everyone after they had served their purpose. 
His face was plastered in blood. He swung his blade over and over, his eyes losing all traces of sanity as he shouted. 
“Filvis! Where are you, Filvissssss?!” 
 
It was the final battlefield. She was down to her last dregs of strength. She had nothing left to put on the line except her own spirit. Dragging a battle roar out from the pit of her stomach, she turned the pools of spilled blood into strength and devoted everything to her purpose, weaponizing her limbs to defeat the enemy reflected in her eyes. 
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” 
Unleashing a furious shout, Bete and Filvis continued to clash in an unending struggle—punches, kicks, sprays of blood. All could hear the destruction as shock waves and tremors merged into a maelstrom. They paid no heed to victory or defeat, life or death, glory or destruction. Their shadows danced as they stood on the decisive stage, edging toward the brink. 
A single blow from the hungry wolf cloaked in light smashed Filvis’s bones, and a blow from the monster’s unprecedented strength crushed Bete’s flesh. 
He was covered in wounds, yet he never stopped howling: The hunt was not over yet. He broke through his limits and continued to bare his fangs at the enemy before him, using everything in his power to kill her. 
Why—? 
As the intense clashes and the storm of blows consumed all her senses, Filvis murmured that thought in the depths of her heart. She was sure that her attack had landed, certain that it should have been a mortal wound. However, his determination, his murderous intent was unbroken. His howl had only intensified. 
For some reason, her murderous fist that could obliterate a dozen people in a single punch could not kill that single beast. She could only keep asking herself why as she beheld that contradictory scene. 
Why—? Why won’t he fall?! 
As a creature, Filvis was superior from start to finish. But Bete would not fall. He would not break. He would not be destroyed. And not just that, his counterattacks were starting to do lasting damage to Filvis. Every time his sharp kicks landed, they were powerful blows that caused her insides to thump around her body. Her green eyes became bloodshot, stained a red that was reminiscent of her former self. 
Neither Filvis nor Bete could have predicted that they would take each other as far as they had gone, that the incompatible pair would still be there smashing their bodies into each other, chipping each other away. 
“Heed this foolish one’s voice, and once more grant the starfire’s divine protection. Grant the light of compassion to the one who forsook you!” 
“Oh brave warrior! Oh strong hero! Oh covetous, cruel champion! ” 
“Haaaaaah!” 
Three shadows rose again to fight with Bete, offering up their determination to defeat Filvis—chanting, dancing, becoming the wind, threading the needle between his attacks to prevent Filvis from landing a deadly blow. 
The beautiful adventurers flew into Filvis’s line of sight, looking to turn the tide with their divine coordination. 
Why won’t they give up?! 
The masked adventurer and Aisha were Concurrent Casting as they knocked away Filvis’s attack, and Asfi resolutely slashed in with only one Talaria to control herself. Filvis could not understand how they kept fighting with their worn-down bodies. 
How can they stand against despair? How can they struggle against the irrational? How can they stand against me, when I have become degraded to this most hideous monster? 
They were adventurers—those who pushed past adversity, who rejected difficulty, who did not know what it meant to give up. 
Filvis had no more use for that indomitable spirit after becoming a creature, so she had forgotten what it meant to be an adventurer. 
“Unleashed pillar of light, limbs of the holy tree. You are the master archer!” 
And the girl who had been singing louder than anyone. The eyes of her fellow elf had continued to pierce Filvis the entire time. That gaze was sharper than anyone else’s, more direct than anyone else’s. The proud fairy archer had rejected Filvis’s mercy, still crying in her heart for the girl who had no more right to grieve. 
Why, Lefiya?! 
Why won’t you let me kill you? Why won’t you understand? 
Why won’t you understand that trying to defeat me is pointless? 
I must walk down the path of destruction. That’s all I have left. This was my fate ever since my corrupted heart fled from reality and clung to a salvation that was impure. 
If that were not the case, if she really could have stopped, then the mountain of corpses that Filvis had constructed would have been for nothing. All the people she had killed, all that she had stolen, all the countless lives she had ended to make things easier for herself, the sacrifices she had continued to make, it would all become meaningless. That was why Filvis could not stop. There was nothing left that could stop her. 
“Miss Filvis!” 
Don’t look at me. Don’t look at me with those eyes. Don’t call my name! 
In the depths of her heart, Filvis screamed and shook her head, her hair flying wildly as another Filvis scoffed, her face cloaked in Ein’s scornful mask. The girl who hid her rage and her tears in a cloak of darkness raised a battle cry that matched the adventurers’ and completed her transformation into an atrocious monster. In order to push further down the path of destruction, she would brush aside her fellow elf’s arrows, the adventurers’ swords, and the wolf’s fangs. 
“? ” 
That was when Filvis sensed it. The scream of the abominable being connected to her. The reality that Nidhogg had been destroyed by the Hero’s Attack. The sound of her patron god’s plan crumbling. 
Because she was a tendril of the spirit herself, a part of that larger being, there was a resonance, allowing her to notice it first. That realization gave birth to a blank moment in her consciousness. A split second later, the quakes caused by that ultimate attack shook the hall. While the noncombatants struggled to endure the tremors, the wolf, his eyes flashing, did not miss that opening. 
“RAAAAAAH!” 
“GAH?!” 
Bete’s kick landed squarely on Filvis’s body. Bete leaped back himself as the powerful blow sent the creature flying. He glared at Filvis from across the gap that had been opened and broke his one commandment. 
“Chained Fenris, king of wolves!” 
He began to chant a spell. 
It was not just Filvis. Even his allies were taken aback. But he ignored all of that and decisively cast his magic. 
“The first wound: Gelgja, the fetter. The second wound: Gjöll, the cry. The third wound: ?viti, the hammer. The ravenous slaver your only hope, may it form a river, mixing in the tide of blood, to wash away your tears!” 
Bete was filled with a murderous intent, exchanging glances with Lefiya, whose shoulders trembled in surprise. 
He did not have a decisive blow. He could not devour the enemy. At this rate, he would lose. Lena and the others would die. That alone could not be allowed to happen, which was why he unleashed the restrictions he had placed on himself. 
Filvis Challia had cut everything away, choosing isolation, continuing to follow the path of destruction. So Bete would have to cast aside everything as well. His trivial pride. Hs scorn for himself. It was all meaningless in the face of death. 
“Never forget those irreparable wounds. This rage and hatred, your infirmity and incandescence!” 
There was no hesitation as he invoked that curse and fanned the dirty flames. The source of Bete’s strength started to spike in preparation for liberation. 
“—Gh!” 
However, there was no way that the creature would allow that to happen. A werewolf with no training in Concurrent Casting—one who wasn’t even a mage—made a perfect target. Standing up, Filvis indignantly thrust out her arm. 
“Denounce the world! Acknowledge fate! Dry the tears!” 
“Purge, cleansing lightning!” 
Their two spells overlapped, but the super-short spell left Bete’s magic in its dust. As his face twisted, Filvis put her finger on the trigger of her cannon. Dionysus’s plan had failed, but it was not over yet. She would not allow it to end. The magic circle became the size of her body as she prepared to unleash a black ray of lightning. 
“Wsh!” 
“What?!” 
In that instant, Asfi flew in close and unleashed an item that froze Filvis. Her outstretched right arm and the right half of her body and even the magic circle itself were encased in a prison of ice. 
Freeze Oil. A new prototype developed by Perseus. Inspired by Fels, she had managed to complete just one bottle before the final battle. Her trump card. It was a freezing explosive that prevented all movement and even froze magic. 
“May the pain become your fangs, the lament your roar—and your lost companions your strength!” 
The creature was shocked by Perseus’s attack, but the wolf continued to prepare his rampage, taking advantage of the time Asfi had bought for him. Faced with Asfi’s critical hit, Filvis forcefully activated her magic anyway, without any thought to what might happen. 
“Dio Thyrsos!” 
The thunder ray went wild because of the wall of ice blocking the barrel of the cannon. The result was a tremendous explosion similar to what happened when something blocking a barrel caused a catastrophic backfire. The ice shattered into fragments that exploded out, electrified by the magic. Filvis’s body was scorched by the backfire, but her artillery still shot through the air with a thunderous blast. 
“Gah?!” 
“Asfi?!” 
Asfi was knocked away by one of the scattering thunder whips as she looked on in amazement at the creature’s brute force. She fell to the ground, unconscious, as Lulune’s cry was drowned out by the thundering blast shooting forward. 
“Bete Loga?!” 
Lena’s cries scattered into the air as the lightning charged straight at Bete, who was still casting his spell. 
Just as the deadly blow was about to consume the werewolf and everything else, three shadows appeared in the shot’s path. 
“Hell Kaios!” 
“Luminous Wind!” 
Filvis’s eyes widened as she saw the Amazon and elf. Aisha and the masked adventurer had continued their Concurrent Casting, letting loose their magic at the giant ray of lightning. 
“Arcs Ray!” 
And Lefiya, too, wielding Filvis’s wand. A combined blast from three Level 5s slammed into the black lightning. 
“““ ? Gh?!””” 
But resistance was futile. Even as they continued to unleash their magic, their bodies were slowly getting pushed back. The force of the lightning had been significantly lessened by Asfi’s Freeze Oil, but even still, it had an outrageous amount of power behind it. 
Their eyes stretched open as they realized, despite all their combined efforts, they were still being fended off by the black lightning. 
Shock waves ran along the floor, chipping away at the ground as they endured. There were only a few orbs of light and stardust left in reserve after so many had already been fired. And the fairy’s ray of light that tried to stop the lightning was withering, as if groaning under the strain. 
The unending burst of sparks threated to consume them whole and incinerate them. 
“Free yourself of the chains that bind you, and unleash your mad howl! O lineage of enmity, pray use this vessel and devour the moon, drinking greedily from its overflowing cup!” 
“!!” 
However, upon hearing Bete’s chant resounding behind them, the adventurers gritted their teeth. They demonstrated an intent to defend him to the last. They entrusted everything to the roar of the wolf waiting behind them as they poured all the sublimating golden particles they had been granted, all their remaining Mind , and everything else into resisting the lightning. 
Amid all that, Lefiya, who was purely a back-line mage, risked the entire meaning of her existence as she screamed. 
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!” 
She mustered all the magic in herself and all her emotions. The giant ray of light regained its luster. 
And in the next moment, the magics canceled each other out. 
“What?!” 
As the thunder dispersed, Filvis’s magic and the spells of Lefiya, Aisha, and the masked adventurer dispersed. 
Filvis’s demonic lightning that should have been unstoppable had been shaved down by Asfi, stopped by Aisha and the masked adventurer, and finally scattered by Lefiya. The shock wave knocked the three of them back as the fragments of light and lightning disappeared. 
In the split second of calm and quiet, Bete spoke. “Bare your fangs—and devour all.” 
The final line of the chant. Reaching the end of his cast, he called out the name of the spell. 
“Hati.” 
Filvis saw it all. With that quiet declaration, a blinding light was born. Flames erupted from the werewolf’s entire body. And the moment when that inferno trembled, howled, and swelled in the blink of an eye, it flared up into what looked like a giant flaming wolf. 
The gray wolf was cloaked in flames, his eyes brimming with murderous rage. His body slowly fell forward and then disappeared . 
“? ” 
An explosive sprint. A flaming charge that made any distance between them meaningless. That wolf’s dash was faster than anyone. Turning the flames and shock wave into propellant, he ran on four flaming legs, like the embodiment of a hungry wolf, closing in on Filvis in the blink of an eye. 
The entirety of that world-destroying flame enchantment gathered in his right arm. As the creature immediately crossed her arms, the wolf’s fang slammed the blaze into her body. 
“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” 
The chamber became crimson. The flames of demise consumed Filvis and enclosed her in an inferno. The rampaging inferno crackled as her skin and flesh were burned, and even her cries evaporated. But she endured. 
Despite the living hell of raging flames, it was bearable. The creature was certain that with only firepower, she would not be devoured. Her inhuman life force would be able to overcome it. 
She gathered strength into her arm. Once the inferno weakened, the moment the enemy’s fang scattered, she would tear off the wolf’s jaw. 
“Cannon!” Someone shouting a spell key pierced Filvis’s ears. 
Even consumed by that torrent of raging flames, her eyes still froze over as she saw the image of an elf, scolding her trembling legs as she struggled to stand and turning her wand on the creature. 
 No way! 
Bete howled right as Filvis filled with dread. 
“Get her!” 
Lefiya had not missed the signal from Bete and unleashed her barrage with perfect timing. 
“Fusillade Fallarica!” 
Flaming arrows poured down on Filvis, causing Hati ’s inferno to explode. It was a suicide attack. No, it was covering fire and a boost to Hati ’s power. Thanks to the magic and damage drains, Bete’s fangs became infinitely more powerful. The werewolf gritted his teeth and endured the burns, and Filvis was consumed by rage as dozens of flaming projectiles hit her. She was speechless as the flames lapped at her. 
I can’t endure this! This is absurd! I’ll burn! I can’t stand this! If I don’t protect my magic stone—?! 
The roots across her upper body cast aside all other considerations as they tried to protect the creature’s chest. In the next moment, the flames glowed from the inside, swelled, and then lost their form. 
“? ?!” 
There was a violent boom. All the flames that had been poured into her swelled and bloomed into a staggering explosion. 
Bete was blown away, since he was at the center of it all, but even Lena and the noncombatants watching from afar were knocked off their feet. The masked adventurer, Aisha, and Asfi were all blown away. 
A volatile earthquake rattled the chamber. A wave of hot air burned their lungs, filling the hall, carrying a wave of sparks. A sea of flames pooled across the ground. 
Flying through the air, Bete landed on the floor lifelessly. The Level Boost was released, and the werewolf finally reached the limits of his strength—but the monster was still there in the sea of flames, both feet planted on the ground. 
 An immortal. 
 A monster. 
Aisha’s and Asfi’s faces twisted in despair as the creature refused to fall even after Bete’s final attack. Collapsed on the ground, able only to lift their heads, they saw Filvis’s body consumed by flames. Her metal gloves were broken, she had lost several fingers, and her throat had been scorched. Every celch of her body had been badly scorched. The roots on her chest that had barely managed to protect her magic stone had all been burned away. 
“………Gh…Aah…?!” 
Her burned skin was regenerating, like a phoenix rising from the flames, but it was slow. Very slow. She had taken so much damage that even that superregeneration that surpassed human understanding could not immediately heal her. The little magic left in her reserves was all being redirected into recovery. She could not move at all. 
It was clearly a fatal blow. She was cornered. If they could just deal one more blow…But no one could move. No one could stand up. The adventurers had reached the limits of their power, and they had no way to land the finishing blow. 
 Except for her. 
“I beseech the name of Wishe.” 
“? ” Filvis heard it. 
“Ancestors of the forest, proud brethren. Answer my call and descend upon the plains.” 
She could hear that melody, that fairy’s song. 
“Connecting bonds, the pledge of paradise. Turn the wheel and dance.” 
Filvis saw it. 
“Come, ring of fairies.” 
The fairy’s wings spread as she exhorted her staggering legs and stood even though she should not have still been able to get up after all she had been through. 
“Please ? Give me strength.” 
Filvis could see the image of Lefiya preparing a blow that she could not yield to anyone, charging at her. 
“Elf Ring!” 
A dazzling yellow magic circle appeared when she sang the spell’s name. It was her last bit of Mind, her final spell, the last of her willpower. Calling on the vow that she had carved into her heart, she encouraged her body, crossed the sea of flames, and charged at Filvis. 
“—Lefiyaaaa!” Filvis screamed as her eyes flared. She raised her arm even as the very fibers of her muscles audibly tore, holding it out toward the girl. 
 I’ll make it. 
In a haze as her body was racked by pain and destruction, Filvis analyzed the situation. 
 She’s casting a Summon Burst. 
 She could chant anything in the world, and I’ll still finish faster! 
Lefiya was injured, too. She had lost more than 90 percent of her power, and the creature was sure that she would finish her cast faster. 
—I can’t die. I will fulfill Lord Dionysus’s wish! 
In her heart, Ein shouted, declaring her duty—ordering her to destroy her former friend for the sake of her beloved master. 
—This is all that’s left for me and my corrupted soul! 
The white Filvis left in the corner of her heart wailed in lamentation, crying that this was not the end that she had wanted. 
 Why? Why did you appear before me, Lefiya?! 
She sobbed like a toddler. Her memories flashed in her mind, passing through her heart like a glittering wind, sending cracks through her chest. 
 If I had just never met you! 
For Filvis, their meeting had been a promise of loss to come. 
She could do nothing but give up on everything, cursing her corrupted body and heart as she accepted her miserable fate. 
 Then I…Then we could have continued to be cruel Ein! 
For Filvis, Lefiya Viridis was too brilliant. She was so radiant that her broken heart would be stirred up by her. 
It’s scary. It hurts. It’s so painful. 
The spirit’s voice echoed in the back of her mind—the despair and urges that would never disappear. The suffering that she could forget only in those few moments when she was comforted by her god’s hands, when he had wiped away her tears and affirmed her. 
That’s why…! 
“Purge, cleansing lightning!” Filvis shouted with a primal moan, marking their separation. 
She summoned the black lightning that would erase Lefiya and all Filvis’s remaining conflicts. That sinful thunder strike symbolized her current self, a single blow of her original sin, the reason she could no longer save people or protect people, why she could only kill. 
“Dio Thyrsos!” 
Filvis would return everything to ashes to reach a conclusion with her own lingering attachment. 
“Shield me, cleansing chalice!” 
However, as the chant echoed, the pure-white gleam filled her eyes, causing time to stop for Filvis. 
“? ” 
It had been a short spell. The magic circle turned from a bright yellow to a holy white light. It was Filvis’s magic—a barrier spell that protected the user from any obstacle. 
“Dio Grail!” 
The white gleam that unfolded was like a mirror, reflecting Filvis’s heart. 
Aaaah— 
The pure-white shield resisted the corrupted black lightning. 
My magic— 
The noble light symbolized her past self. 
My light— 
Her virtuous soul might have been able to save someone, to protect someone. 
“I’m entrusting you with this spell, Lefiya, so…come back alive,” she had said in return, which had circled back to protect Lefiya. 
The memory of that day disrupted Filvis’s hold of her magic. Her ephemeral lightning could not begin to reach its original power. The thunder exploded and hit the shining barrier. A flash of light went off, followed by an intense whirlwind. Created by the fairies’ resonance, the gust blew away the surrounding sea of flames. The clash lasted for just a moment, letting out a shrill sound like crystal shattering. The black lightning dispersed, and the white shield burst open. The shock wave slammed Filvis backward. 
And there, her eyes opened wide, Filvis saw it: the sprint that had not stopped despite the force of the wind. Filvis’s old sword drawn, Lefiya charging, tears falling from her face as she cried out. A voice that would not become words. 
It was beautiful. Almost like a fairy’s flight. It was a noble, sublime, proud figure, the embodiment of the ideals of their race. 
Filvis had adored the girl’s light. It was one that she had wanted to protect. 
 Nooo! 
Filvis cried. 
—Thank you. 
Filvis smiled. 
As she was torn apart by her two hearts, the beautifully hideous girl accepted that blade. 
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” 
Lefiya screamed. The sword thrust into Filvis’s chest. Cracks ran through the stone, signaling the end of that life that she had never been able to take hold of with her own hand. As Filvis fell backward, carried by the momentum of the blow, Lefiya also collapsed, unable to stop herself. 
As Asfi and the rest looked on in wonder, the battle finally reached an end. 
“…Ahhhhh…Arghhhhhhh…?!” 
The first to make a noise was Filvis. As the cracks spread through the magic stone in her chest, her fingertips turned to ash and drifted to the ground. 
When she realized she had only minutes left to live, she writhed in agony. 
“? ?!” 
Standing up, she extracted the sword from her chest, and she cried out, her face filled with panic. And as she shouted, losing her mind, something incomprehensible was chanted at high speed. Then her heart was split in two, and Filvis collapsed to the ground as a second Filvis remained standing. 
“Lord Dionysus! Lord Dionysuuuuuuuuuus?!” 
Without glancing at Bete or the others who were barely still breathing, she even abandoned the second Filvis. Driven mad, giving off a magic light as she went, Filvis rushed from the battlefield. 
 
“Loki!” 
Footsteps rang out in the pillared chamber on the twelfth floor that housed Loki and Dionysus. Finn’s group rushed in. When they exited the hidden passage, they saw Dionysus, who was still shouting wildly. 
“Where are you, Filvis?! Save me, Filvis! ” 
Finn’s group gathered around Loki to protect her as Dionysus continued to screech the name of his last remaining follower. And then, as if the god’s voice had reached her, Filvis appeared from a passage at the other end of the room. 
“Lord Dionysus!” 
The familia members immediately readied themselves, but Finn and Loki both stopped them. Her body was giving off rays of light. It was like an hourglass breaking the laws of nature and flowing in reverse. Her long black hair was disappearing from its ends. It was clear that she was on borrowed time. Her eyes could see nothing but Dionysus. 
“Lord Dionysus! Lord Dionysus! I…I…!” 
She stumbled weakly and called her patron god’s name like a child as she clung to his chest. As he stood there, unmoving, the last thing to cross Dionysus’s face was a look of resignation. He would not be able to use the strength of his follower to escape. It was a checkmate. 
And then his face twisted dramatically. 
“Tch…Useless.” 
His ugly scorn shocked Filvis. 
“Just how much must you disappoint me before you’re satisfied, Filvis?” 
“Lord…Dionysus…?” 
“How many times did you ignore my orders? How many times did you fail to finish off Loki’s children because you were trying to save Lefiya Viridis?” 
“Ah…Argh…!” 
“That’s what got you cornered, right? If you can’t be of any use now, then what good are you?” 
“Ah…Aaaaah…?! ” 
Every scornful word caused another crack in Filvis’s face. The god’s disappointed voice and contemptuous gaze lashed at her, scoring deep gouges into her heart. 
“A foolish, half-witted follower. What an utter disappointment.” 
Tears fell from Filvis’s eyes. Her face was filled with despair as she was cast aside by the one pillar of support she’d had. 
“Gh…!” 
Upon seeing that, Alicia knit her eyebrows together. She had not had much interaction with Filvis Challia. But to see someone toy with the heart of her fellow elf and cast it away on the whim of a prideful god ignited the same kind of pure rage that Lefiya had felt. Even if he was a god, Alicia was about to leap in and peel him away from Filvis. 
“But—” 
She was stopped where she was standing by Dionysus’s confession. 
“But you are still lovely.” 
“? ” 
Dionysus’s smile was simultaneously unsightly yet somehow entrancing. Filvis, Alicia, the other familia members, and even Finn were frozen. In silence, Loki alone watched, unsurprised as the god’s right hand cupped the fallen elf’s cheek, as if trying to cradle something broken. 
“You’re truly foolish, Filvis. You were my Maenad. I made you cry. I broke you down with my commands…That was more pleasing than anything else…Ah, how I adored you.” 
“Ah. Ahhhh…!” 
“That’s right, the voice of your orgia drove me madder than anything else. In the end, it is my own failure in granting you too much freedom that led to this. Sheesh, how aggravating…” 
Rage. Annoyance. Frustration. And love. He was beautiful despite being stained by blood. His repulsive face bore a smile that was both utterly hideous and beautiful. 
His words and gaze contained no fiction. Even the mortals in the room who could not see through the lies of deities could understand that much. As Filvis was overcome with emotion, her eyes flowed with tears of a different kind. 
“—Be proud, Filvis. My heart is yours.” 
It was a soft voice and a dark smile. He almost seemed to be enjoying himself, as if still searching for the limits of the girl’s joy and sorrow. As if chuckling at himself for becoming captivated by that broken girl. 
It was unsightly, and yet this was an expression of love by a twisted god. 
“You are mine. Yes, I would never let anyone else have you…Even when you return to the heavens, you must stay by my side.” 
“Yes, Lord Dionysus…!” Filvis responded in delight. She trembled in joy that someone was willing to accept her corrupted filth. Embraced by a pitiful happiness, she closed her eyes as Dionysus hugged her tightly to himself. 
He wrapped the beautifully tormented girl in his arms as she seemed to fall asleep, only an arm and shoulder, chest and head remaining. And then, as if his previous disgraceful behavior was a lie, he stroked her beautiful hair while she disappeared into rays of light, and his eyes seemed disconnected from earthly concerns. 
“…It’s my loss, Loki.” 
In a complete reversal, he raised his head, a twisted smile on his face. Knowing that he did not have any chance of winning, or even any way to escape, he resigned. 
“You were strong. You foiled my plan, turning me into a foolish jester! It’s galling! Be proud, great heroes and deities!” 
He freely praised Loki and Braver who had defeated him, the smile of a loser on his face. 
In the next moment, his lips curled gruesomely. 
“But you’ve noticed it, right, Loki? The Dungeon is at its limit !” 
“…” 
“You’ve thwarted my ambitions, but there is no stopping fate! Even without waiting for the promised time, this mortal world will be transformed into a realm of the dead and the orgia of my dreams will come!” 
There was no changing that. 
Dionysus’s words sounded almost prophetic, accompanied by his mad laughter. Then, with the hand that was not wrapped around Filvis’s body, he raised his dagger. 
And then stabbed it down forcefully into his own chest. 
“What?!” 
As Alicia and the others looked on in amazement, he coughed up blood. In the blink of an eye, his body was enveloped by beads of light. 
“I’ll be watching! From the heavens above! Watching the orgia that you perform!” 
His Arcanum activated. The supernatural power activated to prevent a god who had sustained a fatal wound from dying. He hugged Filvis, whose eyes were closed, her body on the verge of disappearing completely. In the next instant, a tremendous flash of light rose into the sky. 
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha !” 
The blinding pillar pierced through the labyrinth and shot into the sky. The god’s return, signaling the end of everything. He had ascended to heaven, bringing Filvis, who had entirely scattered into rays of light, with him. As the god’s laughter slipped into the distant sky and the ground rumbled intensely, dancing beads of light fell on those left behind. 
“…What is this terrible aftertaste? Even though we won…” Alicia murmured as everyone else remained silent. 
Alicia was clenching her fists. 
Loki responded, as if seeing into her heart, “You can’t let it get to you, Alicia. That’s just one aspect of a god’s love. Don’t try to judge it by children’s standards.” 
“…Was Filvis Challia saved?” 
“Of course not. She was ensnared by an awful god, who completely and utterly manipulated and toyed with her.” 
“…” 
“But…if you are asking whether she herself thought she had been saved, then I couldn’t say.” 
Loki looked up as she responded to Alicia. Through the hole Dionysus had made, there was a glimpse of a sparkling sky. A starry night sky. The crimson light covering the ground had disappeared, and it was faint, but the sounds of cheers from the city were audible. A victory song bestowed on the nameless heroes by the people who would never know what had happened. 
“It’s over…” Finn announced. 
“Yeah, it’s over…There’s still a big problem left…but this part has come to an end,” Loki responded. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she gazed at the sky. 
Along with Alicia, the other familia members closed their eyes, some held hands, others raised their weapons, and the rest prayed. 
Looking to the heavens, a goddess whispered, “Leene, you guys…we won.”