Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka Gaiden – Sword Oratoria - Volume 3 - Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 A HIDEOUS BEAUTY 

This could very well be the most uncomfortable party of all time. 
Lefiya thought. Aloud, she said, “…Wh-what wonderful weather we’re having today.” 
“You ever see the weather on the eighteenth floor change?” 
“……” 
With a strained smile, the elf forced herself to make small talk, but Bete shot it down instantly. Even Filvis, a mere step away, didn’t even dignify it with a response. 
“Ugh…” The tension in the air made Lefiya moan and clench her stomach. 
They had reached the safe zone on floor eighteen. The group had departed from Twilight Manor in order to catch up with Aiz. Thanks to their incredibly rapid pace, they had reached this point in only a matter of hours. 
After dashing out of the tunnel that connected the seventeenth and eighteenth floors, they were already well into the forest that covered the southern area. Their gait slowed to a power walk with a few breaks here and there. With a top-class adventurer like Bete leading the party, it took a great deal of pleading from Lefiya to slow down at all—earning her one hell of a snarl from the werewolf at the same time. 
Surrounded by the cooling presence of trees, the gentle sound of running water, and the soft blue light shining through the canopy overhead, Lefiya was reminded of her elven homeland every time she visited the eighteenth floor. However, even the memories of that pristine forest couldn’t sooth her current discomfort. 
Lefiya was extremely aware that she wasn’t very good in these kinds of situations. The trip had been unforgiving on many levels—Bete hadn’t displayed even the slightest sign of friendliness, and Filvis’s stone-cold silence showed no signs of cracking. And she was stuck right between them, utterly useless. 
The party had been suffocating in this unbearable atmosphere from the very start. 
Although it could all just be in my head… 
She had no idea that lack of conversation could make her feel so lonely. Lefiya was so used to Tiona constantly talking to everyone about anything at all that she felt like something was missing without her around. What she wouldn’t give to hear that Amazon’s carefree voice right about now! 
Her heart heavy, she glanced over to the side. 
She saw silky black hair and eyes like scarlet gems—elegant and dignified, the beautiful elf was most likely older than Lefiya. Her long, pointed ears were proof of her heritage. 
Miss Filvis, was it…? 
The elven adventurer who came with them on their journey to find Aiz had maintained a stout wall between herself and the other party members…although that could be considered normal behavior, since she belonged to another familia. 
Filvis never initiated any interaction, maintaining her distance and shunning any attempts at conversation. Lefiya had tried to call out to her many times but was met with no success, as Filvis ignored her completely. At this point, she was afraid the other elf despised her. 
Elves tended to give off the impression of being cold and aloof. 
But… 
On their way here, Filvis had protected Lefiya without a second thought. Their fast pace hadn’t allowed the time for the magic user to cast her spells, so she had been forced to fight monsters physically with her staff, something she had yet to master. She had been on the brink of being overwhelmed many times, but Filvis had stepped in more than once to take the brunt of the attack and kept her safe. Almost like she was taking care of her. 
This elf was not a bad person. Of that she was sure. 
“M-Miss Filvis, thank you so much for your assistance earlier!” 
Lefiya made up her mind to try one more time. 
Their journey was far from over, and they couldn’t simply overpower monsters with brute force on the deeper floors. There might come a time when teamwork would be required to survive. 
Above all, Filvis was her kin. Elves always looked out for their own. It was Lefiya’s urge to establish this bond that led her to continue her attempts to engage her in conversation. 
“You stopped that Minotaur’s advance…To be honest, I have quite a great deal of trouble dealing with them…” 
“……” 
“Do you fight on the front lines, Miss Filvis? You use both sword and staff, right?” 
“……” 
“Are you, perhaps, a magic swordsman? I-i-if so, I hold you in even higher esteem!” 
“……” 
“Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha…Wh-what do you do in your free time?” 
Lefiya’s voice grew more and more strained with each passing moment as she tried harder than ever. Unfortunately, she received only the same silence in response. Filvis kept walking, her eyes glued to the path ahead. 
Lefiya’s spirit was on the verge of crumbling, but she had seen the fortitude of the other girls firsthand for so long that she urged herself to keep going. Don’t give up! This is nothing, don’t be discouraged! Finding strength, she tried topic after topic. 
“Give it a rest already, would you? I’ve had enough of your yakkin’.” Bete snorted before continuing. “We can cut her loose the moment she’s useless. What’s the point in trying to break the ice?” 
Filvis’s eyes flashed at the werewolf’s unnecessarily loud remark. 
“Uuuuuoh…” Lefiya moaned again, on the verge of tears as the mood took a turn for the worse. 
Most likely, it was Bete’s propensity to stir up fights that kept ruining the atmosphere. 
“I, too, have no interest in becoming anything more than a reluctant acquaintance of yours, lowly werewolf.” 
“So you can talk, devious elf. Now you can sing monsters to their grave with your Magic.” 
Verbal jabs cut through the air of the crystal-filled forest. Even the distant howls of monsters didn’t slow them down. 
All this negative energy was taking its toll on Lefiya as Filvis quickened her pace. Not wanting to waste any time, she found the quickest path to the Central Tree’s roots, which led to the nineteenth floor below. 
“Oi, moron! We ain’t got a clue where Aiz is headed. Rivira should be our first stop.” 
Bete called out to Filvis, insisting that gathering information took priority, but she didn’t turn around. Getting fed up, he reached out and grabbed the back of Filvis’s collar. 
She whipped around in a flash, drawing her sword and swinging it forcefully. 
“—Don’t you dare touch me!!” 
A high-pitched, metallic clang echoed through the forest. 
Time stood still as the tip of Filvis’s blade came to a stop—directly in front of Lefiya, who was frozen in place. 
Bete had easily deflected the blow with the gauntlet strapped to his arm. 
“Ahn?” 
The metal armor still rang from the impact, just as Bete’s eyes reflected his growing bloodthirst. The tattoo on his cheek warped as he seethed at the sudden attack. 
One wrong move and blood would be shed—but Lefiya quickly intervened. 
“M-Mr. Bete, please stay your hand!” 
Arms opened wide, Lefiya stood with her back to Filvis and desperately tried to make Bete understand why she had reacted that way. 
“It is elven custom to not allow members of other races to touch our skin! This was…how should I explain…a reflex!” 
It was part of elven culture and their way of life. To be more precise, they didn’t allow others to touch their skin without consent. 
This custom was believed to have originated from their exceptionally high level of pride as a race. However, how strictly this was observed varied by region or sometimes by whether the individual doubted its necessity, meaning that not all elves had the same reaction to physical contact. 
Lefiya’s birthplace was located deep in a forest often frequented by travelers, so she grew up without this custom being part of her daily life. Compared to other elves, she’d had more contact with members of other races as a child. Consequently, she carried little to no prejudice against the outside world. On the contrary, she wanted to see it all with her own eyes. 
It took a few long minutes, but Lefiya managed to convince Bete. 
Of course, she thought drawing a sword was an overreaction, without question. But that didn’t stop her from desperately defending Filvis. 
“Keh,” Bete spat, though his rage had subsided before the efforts of his familia member. “Even so, that’s goin’ too far. Ain’t it just something wrong with her?” 
Bete berated Filvis for her reaction that was out of hand, even for elves, then turned his back on the two and set off westward, toward Rivira. 
“……” 
The forest went quiet, as if it agreed with the young man’s words hanging in the air around them. As Lefiya turned uneasily to look at the other girl, Filvis clamped her mouth shut and fixed her gaze firmly on the ground. 
 
The three adventurers entered the town of Rivira. 
Adventurers gathered at this small town, built on the front lines of Dungeon exploration, for all sorts of reasons. But this party had come for a singular purpose: to figure out Aiz’s destination. The letter she had sent home stated only that she had accepted a quest on the twenty-fourth floor, and it contained no details. 
Loki had inferred the quest was to investigate the source of the unusual number of monsters. That was their only lead, so the three split up to question as many people as possible and gather information quickly. 
“Sword Princess? Yeah, I saw her.” 
“Y-you did?!” 
“Pretty damn sure. She was walking with this group of weird-looking guys in hoods. A whole mess of them, really.” 
Lefiya had stopped to talk with a small exchange shop’s Amazonian proprietress. She confirmed that not only had Aiz visited the town, but she was also working with an unidentified party. 
Meanwhile, Filvis made her way through the rows of shops and talked with merchants. 
“Did you recognize anyone with the Sword Princess?” 
“Ehhh, didn’t exactly get a good look. Shady-looking guys are nothing new here, and I didn’t think it was worth checking into.” 
“How about their crest? They must’ve purchased something during their time here.” 
“The Sword Princess bought everything—using Loki Familia’s emblem, no less.” 
The only valuable piece of information she learned was how Aiz’s group had been careful to leave no money trail, yet everything she heard brought them a step closer to learning the identity of the mysterious group. Aiz had flashed her identification to purchase several items while completing other transactions by bartering with magic stones and other items. 
“Any idea where the monsters are spilling over from?” 
“Y-yeah. They’re definitely showing up on the main route that cuts through the twenty-fourth floor…But there’re too many to tell from what direction…” 
“Thanks for the useless tidbit, bub.” 
“S-sorry to disappoint…” 
Bete kicked in the front doors of a bar. He set to work right away and began interrogating terrified patrons about the monsters that had appeared in the city aboveground. 
One adventurer suggested that if they went to the source of the outbreak, they could meet Aiz and the unknown group there. Unfortunately, the monsters were so numerous and pass parades so frequent that it was impossible to discern their origin. It was so bad that even Level Three adventurers were desperately fleeing. Over half the patrons of the bar confirmed that they were waiting for the Guild to dispatch an extermination team before venturing back down. 
“Of course now is when there’s no high-level parties coming through here,” said several frustrated voices of adventurers from around the bar. Overhearing them, Bete began to curse so hard it almost made him vomit. He roared that if they couldn’t do anything but rely on someone else, they should hang up their armor and stop being adventurers already. 
Leaving the now depressed atmosphere of the bar behind, Bete proceeded to the next one. 
“So then, no one was able to find anything concrete…” muttered Lefiya after the three of them convened in the town square sometime later. 
They shared everything they learned but were no closer to discovering where Aiz had gone than when they first started. Many had seen the Sword Princess pass through. She was a famous first-class adventurer, after all, and easily recognizable. Unfortunately, no one they spoke with could say any more than that. 
On the other hand, they learned that the mysterious group had purchased several spare weapons and a large amount of potions. They were preparing for a long, drawn-out battle, most likely with an overwhelming number of monsters. There was no mistake. All of them were going to investigate the Irregular on the twenty-fourth floor. 
They had left the town only hours before, so there was a good chance the small party could catch up with them—if only they could pin down the mysterious group’s destination. 
“If only we had just a little more information…” 
Lefiya stood next to Bete and Filvis, scanning the area. 
The three of them stood in the middle of town, a place known as Crystal Square. Its name came from the twin white and blue crystals in its center, and it was also famous for the large sand dial that showed the remaining amount of “daylight” left on the eighteenth floor. Quite a bit of sand had already built up in the bottom half. There were still a few broken signs and some jagged wood scattered about, leftovers from the flower-monster attack. Other than that, Crystal Square looked much as it always did. 
The myriad crystals that covered this level’s ceiling shone brightly overhead, illuminating adventurers as they came in and out of the square. 
“You talk to the big buffoon yet?” 
Eh? Lefiya turned around, caught off guard by Bete’s question. Confused and unsure of who he meant by “the big buffoon,” the elf listened to his somewhat reluctant explanation. 
“You know, the guy who’s always walking around like he owns the place? The big buffoon with the eye patch?” 
“Ahh.” Lefiya nodded, getting the hint. 
“You bet I saw her. Sword Princess paid me a visit.” 
The three of them went to the proprietor of the largest Exchange shop in Rivira, Bors Elder. 
With a body built like a mountain, the patch over his left eye gave him a sinister appearance. Adventurers are outlaws—that was his motto, and he looked the part. At Level Three, he also had the strength and skill to go with it. 
As the man who topped Rivira’s hierarchy, his information network spread far and wide. The three adventurers counted on it when they decided to speak with him. 
Bors was sitting in a chair outside his Exchange shop when they arrived, busily sharpening and maintaining several axes and clubs. 
“Asked me to hold some armor for her. ‘Don’t let it outta your sight,’ she says. That’s an odd warning, if ya ask me.” 
“Armor…?” 
There was a facility in Rivira where adventurers could temporarily store weapons and other equipment. This service allowed them to reduce their cargo by leaving spares in town that they could pick up on the way back. 
As the owner of the only such facility, Bors was raking in the cash. There was a cave just visible behind his shop, and even from a distance, the adventurers could see a great deal of ominous-looking sickles and large destructive bows piled up inside. 
“Yeah, have a look.” 
Lefiya tilted her head as Bors pulled out the item Aiz had entrusted to him. 
It was an emerald vambrace, its surface marred with deep gouges. 
While it was pretty to look at, this vambrace was not a piece of equipment top-class adventurers would use. In Lefiya’s eyes, its properties were far too weak, more befitting a lower-class adventurer. 
Why would Aiz be carrying something like this…? Lefiya pondered the question as she looked up from the piece of equipment. 
“If I may ask, did Miss Aiz say anything while she was here? We are trying to find her, and any detailed information you can provide would be greatly appreciated…” 
“Ohhh? Ya want to know where the Sword Princess went, do ya?” The human stood up from his chair and looked down at Lefiya, placing a hand thoughtfully on his boulder-like chin. A small grin appeared as he laughed to himself, like he knew something they didn’t. “Maybe my memory might work better if I heard the clink of a few valis?” 
“……” 
Lefiya took a small step back, surprised by the man’s poorly veiled demand for compensation. 
“—Out with it, meathead.” 
“Ah, sorry, sorry. I’ll talk, just let me go!” 
Bors immediately dropped the act as soon as Bete took a fistful of his collar and pulled his face in uncomfortably close. 
As a bead of sweat rolled down Lefiya’s neck at the abrupt shift in the power balance, the large man proceeded to reveal everything. 
“Sword Princess and those hooded folks with her bought a lot of trap items for diversions and several sets of camouflage.” 
“Trap items? The ones that attract monsters…? In that case, there could be only one place Miss Aiz and her companions would go…” 
“The pantry, eh?” 
Bete finished Lefiya’s train of thought. 
Trap items triggered a monster’s instincts to feed and drew them to one spot. Camouflage was designed to help adventurers blend in with the environs of a specific floor and hide users from nearby enemies. Both items were often used during ventures to a pantry—naturally occurring fertile spaces inside the Dungeon that provided monsters with sustenance. These two items helped the party avoid fighting large swarms of monsters all at once. 
The group already knew the floor where Aiz was headed. Now Lefiya and her allies knew their exact destination. 
“We’re done here,” Filvis said and walked away from the shop without another word. Bete also turned to leave. 
Finally free of the werewolf’s grip, Bors rubbed the back of his neck with one of his large hands and muttered, “Damn that cur,” under his breath. “All puffed up, thinkin’ he’s all that. Outta all of Loki Familia, that werewolf pisses me off the most. Say, Thousand Elf, I’ll make it worth your time if ya slug ’im for me.” 
“That is impossible…” 
Bors leaned in close to whisper in her ear, but Lefiya flat-out rejected his offer. 
She could only imagine the repercussions of doing so. Her life itself would be in danger. 
“Oh, and by the way…” 
Bors stood back up, looking past Lefiya. 
In fact, his eyes were focused on the person beyond Bete—the elf, Filvis. 
“Are you working with the Banshee?” 
“Eh?” 
Lefiya turned to him. Bors cocked an eyebrow as if to say, You don’t know? 
“Banshee…Is that Miss Filvis’s title?” 
“Nah…That’s just what we call her. That elf’s title is something else.” 
A completely different nickname that adventurers had decided among themselves. Even the word Banshee had an ominous ring to it. 
Lefiya took a moment to steady her beating heart and worked up the courage to ask a question. “Did something happen to Miss Filvis…?” 
Bors glanced in the other elf’s direction one more time before returning his attention to Lefiya and started talking about the girl’s past. 
“Every party that’s worked with that elf…they’re all dead as dead can be.” 
“?!” 
“She’s always the only survivor. It doesn’t matter if they were part of her familia or not, they all died.” 
The shock was so great Lefiya felt as though a bird of prey had snatched her heart out with its talons. While she stood speechless, Bete’s wolf ears twitched to the side, and he came to a stop. 
“Ever heard of the ‘Twenty-Seventh-Floor Nightmare’? Happened about six years ago now.” 
“I-I’m aware of the stories…A great deal of adventurers lost their lives that day.” 
“That they did. It was back when the Evils were still around. The last of ’em lured a bunch of strong parties into a deathtrap.” 
The Evils. Although they had been wiped out by the time Lefiya joined Loki Familia, she’d heard them come up in conversation many times. 
Apparently they despised peace and order. They were led by a group of malevolent deities, radicals, and extremists. Their only mission was to destroy the Guild. They wiped out many familias in the pursuit of this goal, earning the title “Evils.” 
Some said that of all the atrocities the Evils committed, the Nightmare was by far the most devastating. It had started when they leaked information about strange occurrences in the Dungeon, prompting a large crowd of adventurers to gather in a specific point on the twenty-seventh floor. 
Then the ambushers sacrificed themselves to draw an overwhelming number of monsters into the area using pass parades. Monsters from across the floor, including the floor boss, joined the chaotic massacre, where it was impossible to tell friend from foe. 
The sight was hellish—rivers of blood, an ocean of dark flames, and a mountain of mangled humanoid bodies, as well as bestial corpses, greeted adventurers who arrived too late. Many said that the remaining monsters feasted on the dead. However, the fact that stories existed at all meant there were enough survivors for rumors. 
Influential familias on both sides, whether allied with the Guild or the Evils, suffered such horrific losses that the incident was still well-known as “the Nightmare.” 
“Filvis Challia was one of the few to make it out alive.” 
Bors said it while casting his gaze at the elf, who stood off by herself in the distant town square. 
“She came back here to Rivira looking like she ran for dear life the whole way…Her face was like a corpse’s.” 
He narrowed his eyes as if remembering what he saw that day. 
“I’ve seen people who’ve lost their friends, who’ve lost one body part or another…I’ve seen all kinds, but never a face that awful.” 
Torn clothing, bloodstained black hair. 
Lightless eyes. 
No one dared approach her as she dragged her body along. 
As if searching for her dead comrades. As if searching for a way to join them in death. 
Like she could only keep drifting around Rivira. 
“But yeah, ever since that day, every party she’s joined has bit the dust sooner or later. It’s like she’s been cursed or something.” 
“……!” 
“As adventurers, we know our time could come at any moment. When you gotta go, you go…Luck ain’t got nothin’ to do with it. But word travels fast. Fight alongside that elf and you’ll die. Everybody knows.” 
Once Filvis returned to the Dungeon as an adventurer, she became connected to a string of misfortunes and earned a reputation. One party made a poor decision; an Irregular caught another party off guard; another had crumbled from within. 
All these parties had only two things in common: Filvis was a member each time, and they had all been wiped out. She was the only survivor. 
“And the rest is what I already told you. Some guys call ’er by that nickname, and many avoid her like the plague.” 
The party-killing elf—Banshee. 
The mournful wails of this fairy had continued since the day of the Nightmare, guiding more victims to an early death. 
Adventurers had come to hate and despise the seemingly possessed girl. Even the members of her own Dionysus Familia kept a good distance from their leader. 
Filvis Challia stood out among her community for all the wrong reasons. Therefore, she had become known as a strictly solo adventurer in Rivira and aboveground. 
“I doubt it’s a reputation she likes havin’…Just…keep your guard up.” 
Bors rolled his shoulders before going back into his shop. 
Lefiya was left speechless. She and Bete, who had heard most of the story, stared at Filvis even though she didn’t return the gesture. Standing close to the railing at the edge of the square overlooking a cliff, her gemlike red eyes focused on something off in the distance. 
Lefiya was deep in contemplation. Just how much has she suffered since she lost her friends during the Nightmare? 
Bors said she had looked like a dead-eyed corpse. 
Her pride as an elf would have compounded the pain—by not dying alongside her friends and surviving alone, every breath Filvis took would be more shameful than the last. Could there be any escape from such despair? 
As another elf, Lefiya envisioned what it would be like to be in Filvis’s shoes. Her body trembled as her sympathy rose. 
—Don’t you dare touch me!! 
Is her violent overreaction a result of fearing the misfortune that follows her? 
Did this series of events force her to isolate herself, physically and mentally? 
Unable to save so many, being the one who led so many to die, she might very well have done this to herself. 
Lefiya knew that these were only guesses, but even so, the idea weighed heavily on her heart. 
She couldn’t help but picture Filvis’s face when she had resembled a soulless husk, when even her own familia put distance between themselves and her. Lefiya’s chest tightened as she hurried to catch up with Bete, who was already walking toward the town square. 
The two of them approached the waiting elf. Filvis slowly turned in their direction. 
Now aware of her past, Lefiya had no idea what to say. 
With Lefiya unsure how to proceed, Bete took a step forward with a smirk on his lips. 
“I ain’t got details, but I know you’ve left allies to die and live on in shame. Such a disgrace.” He drily chuckled in her face as Lefiya continued to watch, stunned. “Why the hell are you still an adventurer? You would’ve been so much better off if you’d just died along with them.” 
“Mr. Bete!!” 
His words were intended to open old wounds. It enraged Lefiya that Bete showed no mercy to those weaker than himself even at times like this…But Filvis said nothing. 
Slowly but surely, the apprehensive front that she had kept during their constant quarreling thus far disappeared, replaced by a small smile. 
“It’s just as you say.” 
It was a smile of self-deprecation that twisted the beautiful face that wore it, to the point it bordered on self-mutilation. 
“By not perishing along with my familia on that day, I feel shame with every breath I take. I am a disgrace.” 
Filvis didn’t deny that she had abandoned her allies to their fate. 
Bete and Lefiya stood completely still as Filvis turned the rest of the way to face them before continuing. 
“The rumors have reached you, I suppose? What say you? Shall we part ways? I could very well be the reason you die.” 
In response to the voice laced with self-hatred… 
Bete frowned and clicked his tongue. 
“People thinkin’ like that pisses me the hell off.” 
And with those words of disdain, he turned and strode out of the square. He left the elves behind, seemingly abandoning them. 
Lefiya and Filvis were alone. 
The noise of other adventurers going about their business enveloped them. Someone was playing a stringed instrument, its melodies blending with the various lively conversations drifting around the town. Lights from the crystals above glistened on their golden-yellow and silky black hair. 
The two shared a heavy silence, cut off from their bustling surroundings. 
Lefiya still couldn’t find the words…Filvis avoided making eye contact but opened her mouth to speak. 
“Lefiya Viridis…trying to empathize with me would be a mistake. Stay away.” 
The shock of hearing Filvis say her name for the first time made Lefiya’s shoulders tremble. 
The one who had gone out of her way to protect her since they began this journey issued her a warning. With her next words, Filvis attempted to shut out her kindness completely. 
“I am unclean.” A weak smile appeared on her lips as if she was all too aware of the truth. “I do not want to sully my own kin.” 
Lefiya’s eyes widened as Filvis explained. 
It was a declaration unbecoming of an elf. Her words hanging in the air, Filvis immediately turned to leave. 
The cold shoulder should have been the last nail in the coffin, solidifying her rejection of Lefiya’s kindness. The younger elf stood in stunned silence for a moment—then her eyes flooded with determination. 
She reached out, fully aware of what might happen, and grabbed Filvis by the wrist. 
“You are not unclean!!” 
Now it was Filvis’s turn to be shocked. 
Looking over her shoulder, she stared directly into Lefiya’s deep blue eyes. Her words had stunned Filvis but…after a moment, she knocked away the young girl’s hand. 
Lefiya stepped back, clutching her wrist and seeming flustered. 
As though surprised at herself for taking so long to break away, Filvis looked down and stared for a while at her hand that Lefiya had grabbed. 
“You are far more beautiful and kind than I will ever be!” Lefiya pressed. 
It wasn’t empathy or an attempt to cheer her up, nor was Lefiya trying to make herself feel better. She spoke sincerely. 
The word unclean had triggered the reaction. Everything Filvis had said to Lefiya up until this point was for the younger elf’s own good, and she couldn’t stand to see her insulted, even if those insults came from Filvis’s own lips. Elven pride was rooted deeply in the two girls’ hearts, as was the kinship they felt with members of their race. A connection that could not be put into words was forming. 
Most of all, she couldn’t stand back and let the girl before her lock herself away. 
As Lefiya made her feelings plain in no uncertain terms, Filvis eyed her in dismay. 
She responded with a hint of anger. 
“How could you possibly know? Do not speak of things you don’t understand! We only just met.” 
“Gah…” Lefiya couldn’t string words together in the face of Filvis’s sound argument. 
To lose now would be…Lefiya blurted out the first rebuttal that came to mind. 
“I-I’ll find many examples during our time together!!” 
“……” 
“……” 
Her words blindsided Filvis. 
Lefiya was still frozen in the same pose as when she spoke. 
The reckless response of her kin left Filvis feeling like her efforts were pointless…“Heh.” The sound slipped out of her after a few moments. 
She quickly covered her mouth with her fingers in an attempt to hide her laughter, but it was useless. 
“Heh-heh.” Giving up, she let her lips grow into a smile as she pointed out the flaws in Lefiya’s logic. 
“Think about what you just said. That wasn’t an answer.” 
“Ahh…” 
Lefiya blushed as she acknowledged Filvis’s point. 
Seeing her reaction, the older elf fought harder to contain her laughter, shoulders shaking. A soft giggle like the chirping of small birds escaped from her dainty lips. 

This could very well be… 
…the first time that she, a loathed adventurer, had laughed in a very long time. 
Lefiya’s face burned with embarrassment, but she couldn’t help but smile upon seeing Filvis’s expression. 
I cannot explain it, but… 
There were things that could be understood only between kin. The person standing in front of her was a proud elf with a beautiful spirit. Through their brief interaction, Lefiya was certain of it. 
“…You are a bizarre elf,” Filvis quietly remarked, her expression no longer tense. 
Her demeanor was ever so slightly less thorny, and Lefiya couldn’t have been happier. 
The two young women made eye contact underneath the blue underground “sky.” 
“Hey, you elven slackers! Move your asses!” 
—And got scolded for it. 
The two turned in the direction of the yell and, sure enough, Bete was waiting for them at the edge of the town square. 
Lefiya and Filvis exchanged another glance and nodded to each other before rushing to join him. 
The three adventurers left Rivira together, just as they had come. 
 
The silver saber Desperate whistled through the air. 
“ROOoo—!” 
It connected at an angle with the bladelike antlers of a deer monster—a swordstag—and cut straight into the creature’s head. 
The monster bucked its hind legs before collapsing to the Dungeon floor with a loud thud. 
“Whoaaa. I knew you were strong, but…wow!” 
Lulune observed Aiz’s instant victory and was impressed. 
Her target had fallen, but Aiz didn’t let her guard down. Scanning the area for more threats, she glanced over her shoulder at her allies. Her new temporary party had already finished cleaning up the last of the wave of monsters they encountered. 
The walls surrounding them were covered in tree bark, and patches of glowing blue moss lit their way. As monsters that had gotten stronger with each passing floor fell in their wake, Aiz and the members of Hermes Familia arrived on the twenty-fourth floor. 
This floor was very close to being considered one of the lower levels of the Dungeon. While it lacked the intersections and twisting paths of the upper levels and the rest of the middle levels, it was much larger than any previous floors. In fact, the hallways and rooms were so wide, the sixteen-adventurer party could fight freely without feeling confined. 
At the same time, the monster numbers and encounter frequency also increased. However, Lulune and the rest of Hermes Familia hardly broke a sweat as they systematically eliminated their targets. 
“Lulune…your familia is quite strong as well…” 
“You don’t have to be so reserved. We’re practically the same age, you know?” 
Explaining that she was eighteen, Lulune said she wanted to keep things casual. 
Aiz nodded in understanding while party leader Asfi issued orders from the front of the formation. “Advance,” she commanded. 
It took a few moments for the group to form, and then they pushed forward as a unit. 
“Well, we’re not hiding our Levels just so we can show off, you know. Of course I’m pretty good, but Asfi and the crew can fight as well as some of the best.” 
At their position in the middle of the formation, Aiz and Lulune were close enough to continue their conversation while they advanced. 
Aiz had already known going in, but Lulune’s acrobatic fighting style and knife skills were impressive. As a thief, she did not exactly enjoy engaging in intense, pitched battles. But when push came to shove, she assisted her allies with disruptive guerrilla tactics, aiming for monster limbs and landing one attack at a time. 
All individually strong, exponentially stronger with well-organized teamwork… 
When it came to Hermes Familia, it was difficult to point out any flaws. Even the supporters with backpacks strapped to their shoulders could hold their own. 
A war tiger wielding both large shield and greatsword, prums with perfectly timed spells, elves with a wide array of short bows and hand axes at their disposal…They executed different formations and tactics in battle after battle on their way to this floor. The first time Aiz saw any action at all was downing that swordstag earlier, proof of Hermes Familia’s skill in combat. 
Their teamwork reflected their leader’s personality. Each part of their battle line—vanguard, center, and rear guard—had a specific role to play. Asfi took charge of the middle ranks herself, making it particularly fearsome. With jack-of-all-trades fighters like Lulune, they were extremely capable in coordinating attacks as well as quickly responding to the ever-changing tides of combat. With a solid and dependable center anchoring their party, the adventurers on the front and rear lines could focus on giving their all. 
Eliminating meaningless movements and placing an emphasis on efficiency might be their doctrine, but above all else, they were strong. 
In terms of their strength as a party, they were on par with top-class adventurers, including Aiz, and as strong as Loki Familia’s core troops, if not stronger. 
Aiz had never paid much attention to Hermes Familia, but now she admired them. 
Especially… 
She looked ahead at the woman with aqua-blue hair and the white cloak over her shoulders. 
Asfi usually issued commands during battle, hardly ever joining the fray. But when she did, the way she wielded her shortsword was a sight to behold. 
Even as the leader of accomplished fighters, her abilities were head and shoulders above the rest. 
“Oh? Asfi caught your eye?” 
“…Lulune, what’s her Level?” Aiz asked quietly, leaning in close. 
“Level Four,” answered Lulune without a second thought. 
It was just as Aiz expected. However, she couldn’t help but feel there was more to it. Asfi’s skill in battle all but confirmed this, and doubtless she was cautious to reveal as little as possible. 
Hermes Familia is much stronger than everyone thinks, she concluded silently. 
Aiz decided to ask Lulune a question or two to figure out the extent. 
“How far below have you gone?” 
“The thirty-seventh. But those monsters are pretty damn strong, so we didn’t make it far.” 
If she recalled correctly, according to Guild announcements, Hermes Familia had reached only the nineteenth floor. Their actual progress was almost double that. Hearing that Hermes Familia had set foot in the Deep Levels was surprising. 
That brought Aiz to her second question, something she was very curious about. 
“It’s amazing you’ve managed to go so deep without other adventurers noticing…” 
A party this large going that far into the Dungeon was sure to attract attention—and expose their secret about hidden Levels. At least, Aiz thought so. 
Lulune grinned proudly and boasted, “Don’t forget, our boss is the Perseus. She can make awesome magic items, and there’s one that prevents anyone else from seeing—” 
“Quit the chatter, Lulune.” 
Asfi cut Lulune off with a sharp warning. Her piercing glare from behind her silver glasses delivered the message loud and clear: Don’t say what can be left unsaid. 
“S-sorry, Asfi.” 
“Good grief…” 
Lulune, who had been giddy with excitement a moment ago, tried to make herself as small as possible. 
Asfi sighed, amazed that a thief could be so careless with sensitive information. She came to Aiz’s side. 
“Sword Princess, I would like your honest opinion about this quest.” 
“…What do you mean?” 
“Lulune has informed me about the attack on Rivira, specifically how it began. A darkly dressed stranger issued a quest involving a mysterious orb…Do you believe this undertaking is dangerous?” 
Asfi hinted that the involvement of Black Robe meant that the unusual monster outbreak could be linked with the orb as well. She wanted to know if this quest could lead to another event like the one that nearly destroyed Rivira. 
Aiz waited briefly before giving an affirmative nod. At the very least, her opinion as an adventurer was that this was not to be taken lightly. 
Asfi did her best to hold back another sigh upon hearing that. 
“Well then, we got pulled into a real mess, didn’t we…?” 
Lulune heard the entire exchange, and her shoulders fell further still. However, Asfi didn’t press the point. As the leader of the group, it was her job to keep everyone unified. 
Hermes Familia used their superb teamwork to quickly dispatch the monsters that sporadically tried to block their path as Aiz and the party progressed through the twenty-fourth floor’s main route. 
The entrance to the nineteenth floor of the Dungeon sat under the massive tree in the middle of the eighteenth floor, the safe point. The area extending from there to the twenty-fourth floor was known as the Colossal Tree Labyrinth. 
The walls and ceiling of the floors were covered in a thick layer of tree bark, and the pattern on the floor made it appear as though they were traveling through a hollowed-out tree trunk. Instead of the phosphorescent light sources that occupied the floors above, the Colossal Tree Labyrinth was lit by soft blue illumination from random patches of wall moss. 
Strange types of leaves, large mushrooms, and flowers with silver sap lined the hallways and rooms that adventurers needed to pass through. Most plants here didn’t exist on the surface. Every location adventurers visited had its own unique combination of colors, some rooms even containing lush flower beds. 
At the same time, the monsters appearing on this floor were much more aggressive than those above, some equivalent to or stronger than Level Two adventurers. More than ever, precise teamwork and cooperation were required to safely pass to the twenty-fourth floor. 
“Oh! Look at that! White Leaves! Asfi, mind if I grab a few?” 
“Leave them. Monsters will ambush you the moment you try to collect any. We can’t waste energy or resources before our quest is completed.” 
“Shops all over the city are running low on them, too. We could’ve made a killing…Such a waste.” 
Lulune had spotted a White Tree as they passed through a hallway and into the back of the room. She immediately moved to collect the leaves, but Asfi stopped her. The chienthrope was reluctant to pass on easy profits, her tail drooping. 
This floor’s plant diversity often provided ingredients desirable to chemists, resulting in many quests being issued for this area. Many of the leaves and roots had healing properties so potent that eating them raw could restore health or cure ailments on the spot. Useful as the main component for healing items, these collectibles were incredibly valuable. Even the luminescent moss growing on the walls could be sold for a decent price aboveground. 
The group spotted an incredibly rare jewel tree—a tree that produced dazzling red and blue gems that could be sold for a great deal of money—sending a wave of excitement through the party. Even Asfi’s eyes lit up. It pained them all to know they had to press forward without collecting a single one. These trees were protected by green dragons, the strongest monsters on the floor and a good match for even Level Four adventurers. As with the Cadmus dragons on the fifty-first floor, it was common for powerful creatures known as treasure keepers to guard rare items. 
Aiz spotted a green dragon sprawled out at the base of the jewel tree. A shot of adrenaline rushed through her when its green eyes met hers. However, she didn’t want to cause problems for her companions and didn’t stop to challenge the beast. 
The green dragon clamped its eyes shut the moment the blond, golden-eyed swordswoman left, its large body stirring repeatedly as if recoiling from fright. 
“…!” 
“Halt the advance.” 
Aiz was the first to pick up on the presence farther down the hallway, but the others weren’t far behind. Asfi immediately threw up her hand, signaling their band to stop. 
Two hallways intersected directly in their path. It was difficult to tell in the soft blue light of the moss, but countless shadows shifted within the darkness. The adventurers needed only a moment to recognize what they were seeing. 
It was a procession of monsters so numerous that it was impossible to tell where one body ended and the next began. The wide passage was completely packed. 
“Ughh…” 
Lulune’s voice trailed off next to Aiz. 
The spectacle of the monsters crowding through the hallway was so overwhelming that the other adventurers reflexively took a step back. The hideous beasts continued endlessly as though from a hidden burrow, and the sight alone was enough to send a chill down anyone’s spine. 
Aiz observed them, thinking that so many monsters concentrated in one place could not be natural. She’d never seen this many together in one area, let alone proceeding down a hallway in a column. 
The group briefly stood in awe before some of the monsters took notice. A few broke away from the stream, others following behind. 
“Asfi, what do we do?” 
“They must be dealt with eventually. We end it here.” 
Lulune’s line of sight was fixed on the oncoming enemies as she addressed Asfi. The leader called out to her company: “Prepare for battle!” 
Each member readied a weapon, and designated adventurers arrived in the front to take their places in the shield wall. 
“Magic users, begin casting. We need to reduce their numbers before first contact—” 
“Wait.” 
Aiz interrupted Asfi in the middle of her orders. 
The blue-haired woman shot an angry glare in her direction, but Aiz calmly said: 
“Leave this to me.” 
“What?” 
Jerking Desperate from its sheath, Aiz charged into the oncoming wave at full speed. 
“H-hey! What are you doing?!” 
Hermes Familia’s preparations suddenly halted as the Sword Princess advanced alone. 
Aiz engaged her first opponents at about the same time Lulune’s screams of disbelief reached her ears. 
One wide swing of her silver saber, and the dying howls of several monsters signaled the beginning of the fray. 
“OOOOOooooo?!” 
The extermination was under way. 
Monsters were eviscerated with every mighty cleave of her blade, many collapsing in lifeless heaps. One slash slew three at once as she dodged another beast’s claws and counterattacked in mid-roll. She sprang up, golden mane splayed out behind her as she cut her attacker down in a flash of light. 
She faced the swarm head-on, meeting claws and fangs with steel. 
With every step forward, the beasts around Aiz vanished—more accurately, they littered the floor with their corpses and small mountains of ash. 
Her saber was like a barrier. Any that entered its range met a merciless fate. Heads, limbs, and chunks of torsos flew in every direction. 
The title “Sword Princess” no longer seemed appropriate. Aiz used pure force to overpower monster attacks and defenses, taking on multiple enemies at once and leaving a path of devastation in her wake. 
The bloodthirsty roars echoing through the hallway only moments before had become howls of terror. 
“……” 
“……” 
“…It would seem we can leave everything to her, no?” 
“…Wanna head home?” 
“You know we can’t do that…” 
As the rest of the party observed her mutely, Asfi mumbled to herself and answered Lulune’s question quietly. She had fought back the urge to nod before rejecting the idea. 
Watching the massacre unfolding before them, the members of Hermes Familia couldn’t help but wonder if their presence was even necessary. 
“!” 
Aiz was vaguely aware of the many stares watching her from far behind, but she wasn’t about to let up. 
While she never allowed a single beast to deliver a clean hit, she did periodically need to go out of her way to block, pushing her body to move even faster. 
If only there were more… 
Despite the monstrous visages reflecting in her golden eyes, she was more focused on the sensations of her own body. 
Aiz was testing herself, seeing what she could do. The ideal way was real combat with monsters. 
She had just leveled up. 
With her new Level Six Status, she needed to experience the dramatic boost in strength and speed firsthand. 
Whenever an adventurer leveled up, their mind and body needed time to adjust. The sudden leap in their abilities could be disorienting. Aiz repeated the same actions over and over to fine-tune her senses and movements, speeding up the process of acclimating to her new body. 
Aiz had rushed to the eighteenth floor after pursuing Bell Cranell. Add in the potency of Hermes Familia’s efficient teamwork, and she had hardly fought all day. This was her chance to cut loose, and she wouldn’t waste it. 
She didn’t use her Magic. 
Aiz piled on kill after kill with pure swordsmanship and physical strength alone. 
“!” 
“GHIII—!” 
Slicing down monster after monster at dizzying speed, Aiz arrived at the end of the hallway, kicked off the wall, and flipped into the air. 
She neatly cleaved the deadly hornet directly above in two. 
Deadly hornets were known for their agility, but this one couldn’t evade her saber. As the bisected corpse hit the ground, Aiz spun and dispatched two swordstags while in the air. The rest of the pack couldn’t even press their chance to attack when she landed because Aiz was already racing out to meet them, ready to strike. 
“GAAAAAaaa!!” 
“SHAA!” 

The remaining monsters began to express their fear as the horde dwindled around them. Amid their fright, three lizardmen equipped with nature weapons—a hardened flower for a shield, its thorny stem acting as a shortsword—came to the fore and challenged Aiz to a duel. The three scaly warriors’ display of courage was cut incredibly short, however, as their flawed swordplay was exposed with three quick flicks of Aiz’s wrist. 
Next in line to stop Aiz’s merciless rampage were several mushroom monsters known as dark fungi. They flooded the air with a highly toxic pollen that was harmful to friend and foe alike—but to no avail. These middle-level monsters didn’t have pollen nearly potent enough to overpower Aiz’s advanced Immunity skill. The poison had no effect. 
Aiz charged straight into the cloud of toxic spores. 
Ignoring the pained cries of lizardmen and swordstags as they fell, she dashed through the poisonous cloud and skewered the dark fungi before finishing off the rest. 
“OOOooooo…” 
In a fierce battle where second-tier adventurers would have lost their lives, Aiz had overpowered her adversaries without taking a scratch. The monsters had never stood a chance. 
The fight drew to a close with the dying rasp of a hobgoblin, a stronger species of goblin often found higher up in the Dungeon. 
The large-category creature slammed down with a dull thud. Only then did Aiz place Desperate back in its sheath. 
The stream of monsters had been completely wiped out in about ten minutes. 
“…So that’s…the Sword Princess?” 
Asfi stood in the middle of the hallway, looking past the mounds of carrion toward the female knight standing at the other end. 
Lulune gulped as her allies watched with awe. The chienthrope narrowed her eyes in a smile at her fellow adventurer’s back. 
“…W-well, that’s the top class for you, strong as hell. Taking down a mob like that with no backup, no wonder everybody’s always scared to death! Ah, need a potion?” 
“No, I’m fine…Thanks.” 
It took Lulune and the rest of Hermes Familia a moment to return to normal, but they greeted the returning Aiz with warm smiles. 
Realizing they had one of the best, most dependable allies in the world, they showered her with compliments and admiration. 
Embarrassed by the sudden praise, Aiz wasn’t sure how to react. However, she had a better sense of the new height she had achieved. Maintaining a similar pace for the same duration at Level Five would have been extremely taxing. But now, she didn’t even need a recovery potion afterward. 
Aiz was fully aware of her improved strength and speed, but it was her newfound endurance that made the largest impression on her. 
“Well, the monsters are all cleaned up, but…what do we do now, Asfi?” 
The hallway had become a morgue, with carcasses strewn as far as the eye could see. They couldn’t just leave all the loot, so the supporters rushed out to collect magic stones and drop items. In the meantime, Lulune wanted to get Asfi’s opinion. 
Aiz stopped flexing her fists and gave her full attention. 
“If we can trust Black Robe, the pantry’s where we need to go. There are three of them on the twenty-fourth floor—to the southwest, to the southeast, and to the north. Where should we start?” 
With a quiet rustling noise, she fumbled with the pouch at her waist and pulled out a sheet. It was a folded map of the twenty-fourth floor. 
Sure enough, three massive areas were marked off—larger than any room on the map—in red ink circles. Aiz approached Lulune and peeked over her shoulder as the chienthrope scanned the map. 
Seeing it drawn out like this, it hit her just how big the floor was. 
Each floor of the Dungeon was larger than the previous one, and the twenty-fourth was at least half the size of Orario. Should they need to visit all three pantries, the sheer number of monsters they would encounter, plus the ground they had to cover, would take its toll. 
The party waited for their leader’s decision. Asfi proposed, “We’ll let the monsters tell us.” 
“Huh?” 
“We should find the source of the outbreak by retracing their steps. If what we’re looking for is in a pantry, all we need to do is reverse the path the monsters took to get here.” 
“I see.” Aiz agreed with Asfi’s logic. 
All their sources of information about the outbreak pointed to a pantry. Rather than investigate all three for irregularities, following the flow would allow them to find their goal by process of elimination. 
Lulune and other members of the party caught on to the idea, exchanging glances and nods. They turned their attention to the remains of the monsters Aiz had wiped out only a few moments ago. 
They’d been pushing one another, momentum carrying the procession forward. The slain monsters at the intersection had come from… 
“…The north, huh?” 
In the soft blue light of the moss on the walls, Lulune whispered as she analyzed the tracks and the heading the corpses faced. She peered farther down the hall in that direction. 
The party set off for the northern pantry as soon as the supporters finished amassing loot. 
“So we’re going to the pantry after all…Just has to be a hotbed for newborn monsters. Any thoughts, Sword Princess?” 
“I’m not sure…but…” 
“But?” 
“It’s…probably not so simple.” 
Lulune and Aiz continued their conversation, occasionally interrupted by Asfi, as the party proceeded down the hallway. 
They knew their choice to head north was correct after encountering more monster ranks traveling through the hallways. Asfi, wanting to conserve Mind, energy, and supplies, asked Aiz to take care of them each time. It went without saying that the Sword Princess did have a limit and accepted potions from a human supporter, periodically resting to recover her strength. 
As they pressed on, the Dungeon’s appearance began to shift. 
The bark walls and ceiling became patchy, revealing rough areas of solid reddish rock. It wasn’t long before their route transitioned into what seemed like a cave. 
This change was proof their destination was close. A pillar of quartz stood deep inside every pantry. Hungry monsters came from far and wide to drink the nutritious fluid that pooled at the base of the pillars. The Dungeon focused on optimizing energy use around the pantries to provide this food, so the surrounding environment reverted to the most basic form. 
What had caused the outbreak? 
What was waiting for them at their destination? 
Anxiety was starting to affect Lulune and the rest of Hermes Familia. Sensing the tension, Aiz stayed on high alert. The monster presence had all but disappeared, making the Dungeon too quiet. Still, the party pressed forward. 
“Wha…?” 
That’s when the adventurers saw it. 
“A-a wall…?” 
“…Is that a plant?” 
Something was blocking their path, a looming barricade large enough to plug the hallway. 
It was an eerie sight, its strange appearance heightened by the squirming, pulsing movements on its surface. They came to a stop in front of the off-putting green-flesh barrier, unable to advance. The rocky walls of the Dungeon abruptly ended where the green monstrosity began. They were two completely different entities. 
It seemed to be alive—plantlike, as someone had whispered earlier. Or maybe a cancerous growth afflicting the Dungeon. 
Asfi had led her allies into the Deep Levels, and Aiz had traveled far deeper than this numerous times, but never had any of them laid eyes on something resembling this. 
The jittery party talked among themselves, unsure of what to make of the thing. 
“…Lulune, are we on the right path?” 
“Th-this is it. I picked a direct path to the pantry straight from the map. This shouldn’t be here…but it is.” 
Lulune quickly pulled out the chart again to check their position after Asfi asked for confirmation. 
As the map carrier, Lulune was the party’s guide. Aiz had been beside her the whole time and could confirm that Lulune had made the correct decision every time they reached a fork in the path. They were exactly where they should be. 
The pantry should be just a little farther down this hallway. 
Aiz stared up at the sinewy bulwark that barred their path. 
“…We’ll check the other routes. Falgar, Thane, make two squads and take the others to investigate. Do not go too far in. Report back the instant you find something.” 
On Asfi’s command, the hulking war tiger and an elven man nodded. Extra maps in hand, they each took five adventurers to form small parties and doubled back on the path. 
After watching them return to the previous fork in the road, Aiz and the remaining members of Hermes Familia again considered the wall. 
The only four adventurers left in this location were Aiz, Lulune, Asfi, and a supporter. No one spoke as they individually investigated their surroundings. 
There was nothing out of the ordinary with the exposed rock wall. It seemed less likely the problem originated with the Dungeon itself and more that the fleshy mass blocking the hallway was separate. Aiz decided to go near Lulune, who was visibly shaken as she paced back and forth. 
The twenty-fourth floor’s hallways were massive. Closing one off completely meant that the wall had a span of at least ten square meders. It also gave off a putrid stench, reminiscent of rotting flesh. 
“Nasty…” 
As a chienthrope, Lulune had to plug her nose to calm her stomach. 
Aiz ventured closer to the repugnant barrier and slowly reached toward it. 
Lulune immediately rushed over to stop her, but Aiz heeded no warnings as her fingers brushed against the wall’s fleshy surface. 
It’s alive… 
She could feel heat and a slight twitch through the palm of her hand. Eyes and ears hyperalert, muscles ready to react to the slightest inkling of danger, Aiz continued to peer at the meaty surface. 
“Asfi, we’re back.” 
“What did you find?” 
Once the other groups of adventurers had returned from scouting, Aiz rejoined Asfi’s group as they put some distance between themselves and the wall. 
From what they’d seen, the other routes into the pantry were also blocked by the same kind of fleshy screen. Most likely, all paths that led into this pantry were now impassible. 
It didn’t take long for Asfi to develop her own theory. 
“It appears that this outbreak is an Irregular…but it didn’t originate from a sudden influx of monsters born from the Dungeon.” 
“Wh-what does that mean?” 
Asfi pushed her glasses up against the bridge of her nose when Lulune asked for clarification. 
“Hungry monsters gather at pantries on their floor. If, for instance, their path was blocked for some reason…what do you think these starving fellows would do then?” 
“Ah…” 
“…Travel to a different pantry.” 
Aiz answered the question in Lulune’s place, and Asfi nodded. 
“The monsters who came to the northern pantry had no choice but to change course and travel south to one of the other pantries. The large flows of monsters that adventurers have encountered over the past few days were not outbreaks but migrations.” 
Asfi concluded that creatures from this floor’s northern half, unable to feed at this pantry, were stampeding southward—directly into the path of unlucky adventurers. 
With these walls blocking the entrances, an extraordinarily large number of hungry creatures had joined the mass migration across every major pathway on the floor, including the ones adventurers normally used. 
The sudden food scarcity was now clearly linked to the outbreak. The party members agreed as Lulune turned around. “Now we know why all the monsters were wandering around…So, what’s on the other side of that wall?” 
The unidentified greenish, plantlike boundary was the cause of everything. 
The Irregular was right in front of them—whatever was on the other side was not normal, that much was certain. 
“…Asfi, what’s your call?” 
“…Do we have any other choice but to go in?” 
Lulune tucked her tail between her legs after asking her question. Asfi answered with a long sigh. 
The chienthrope wasn’t thrilled, either, shoulders drooping as she mumbled under her breath, “Yeah, yeah, I know.” 
“But doesn’t that look kinda like a gate…?” 
She pointed out a spot on the imposing wall that resembled a flower bud with all the petals turned inward. On closer inspection, it looked more like a mouth. 
It was large enough to allow the most fearsome large-category monsters to easily pass through. If an entrance it was, then there was a possibility it would open automatically if they waited long enough, but…their chances were not great. 
“It looks like destroying it is our only option.” 
Asfi took a long look at the opening as well as the rest of the fleshy wall before making her decision. 
“Since it’s probably a plant of some kind, fire magic might do the trick…” 
“Shall I cut it down?” 
“Please don’t say things like that with a straight face, Sword Princess…” 
Aiz had already pulled Desperate halfway out of its sheath. Lulune sent her an astonished glance over her shoulder. 
Asfi took another few moments to consider before saying, “No,” rejecting Aiz’s suggestion. 
“This is an opportunity to collect information. I want to see what we can do if we use our Magic. Merrill.” 
A prum spellcaster came to the front of the party at Asfi’s call. 
Everyone watched as the girl, barely taller than Aiz’s waist, held up a short rod and began her spell. Her pointed hat rocked and swayed. 
The skilled caster chanted as a magic circle appeared and expanded. The prum’s voice was soft as a huge fireball blasted from her rod. 
The mass of flames collided with the sinewy facade in a thunderous roar, igniting the structure. 
An ominous wailing sound similar to a scream filled the air as flaming pieces of the wall scattered. The “gate” was now nothing but a gaping hole, and the mouth of the charred barrier was open. 
Asfi made eye contact with each of her allies, who all nodded back. They lined up and faced the entrance. 
Aiz and Hermes Familia entered. 
“The wall…” 
A strange gushing sound alerted the party that the situation was rapidly developing. Lulune looked over her shoulder and gawked as the structure started healing itself. 
“In no way are we trapped. We simply need to open another hole on the way out.” 
Asfi was quick to put the uneasy minds of her allies at ease and shore up morale. Sure enough, Lulune and the others quickly calmed down. Aiz joined them, everyone scanning their new environment. 
The sides, ceiling, and floor of the interior were the same shade of pale green. They couldn’t help but feel they were walking inside something alive. 
The odor of rotting flesh had grown thicker after they had burned down the door. Aiz walked near the internal walls. 
Desperate in hand, she sliced the green surface open with a quick slash. 
It gave way with almost no resistance. On the other side—reddish rock. The same rock face that should be here on the twenty-fourth floor. 
Something’s covering the Dungeon…? 
Aiz thought it looked as though fleshy wallpaper had been affixed to the labyrinth. 
“What the hell is this?” Lulune mumbled with a hint of disgust as the wall, too, started healing itself. 
Regeneration…Aiz silently watched the fleshy mass exhibit a self-regenerating ability just like the Dungeon’s, and she thought about what it meant. 
“We’re pressing on.” 
The party pushed through the greenish territory at Asfi’s command. 
The putrid, lingering scent took its toll on the animal people in the party. No one could hide their fear at this point. 
A mysterious green space had suddenly appeared in the Dungeon. The fact that this was unexplored territory weighed on them with each heavy step deeper into the ominous atmosphere of this Irregular. 
“Hey, mind if I say something scary? If all these twitching, wiggling bits are the gross guts of some monster…we’re literally walking right into the belly of the beast, right?” 
“Oi!” “Cut it out!” “Keep your thoughts to yourself.” 
Lulune’s terrifying offhand comment stirred up a storm. Everyone agreed on one thing: there was no evidence to support her theory. At the same time, the tension that had been hanging over Hermes Familia suddenly lost its edge. Aiz listened to them bicker and kept her eyes open. She noticed something strange in her peripheral vision. 
Flickering light illuminated the space. 
It was dim, not much stronger than a candle. And climbing the walls and ceiling were wilting flowers. 
Flowers. Vivid red flowers. 
Aiz frowned. 
“A fork in the path…It appears that the maps we have won’t be of much use any longer.” 
They had traveled through the exceptionally dim passageway for several minutes. 
Asfi came to a stop at the intersection. The hallway diverged into four directions: left, right, straight ahead, and up. 
Apparently the green walls created a whole new layout within the Dungeon. Although the outer walls must have butted up against the Dungeon, the inner passages intertwined like plant roots in the ground. Their path was about to become much more complicated. 
Aiz was caught off guard, unsure how to proceed. Asfi, however, addressed their chienthrope. 
“Lulune, make a map.” 
“Gotcha covered.” 
The leader’s voice was calm, cool, and collected. At her behest, Lulune opened her pouch and took out another sheet of paper and a red-feathered pen—the same kind that Aiz carried—and set to work. 
First, she established their entrance point and traced the route taken thus far by using the size of her steps as a reference. She traced the twists and turns of the pathway with astounding accuracy. 
In a word, she was a cartographer. 
Aiz peered over Lulune’s shoulder with visible shock. 
“Amazing…You can draw maps.” 
“Oh? It’s not a big deal. Sure, I’ll take praise from the Sword Princess any day, but…I am a thief, after all.” 
A quiet giggle escaped her lips, and she blushed, but her hands never stopped moving. Aiz acknowledged the girl possessed a skill she did not have while watching her hand-drawn map take shape until it finally reached their current location. 
Map data were available for adventurers to use at the Guild nowadays, so they enjoyed the ability to prowl wherever they wanted in the Dungeon without the fear of getting lost. That was all thanks to the brave people who had been exploring the Dungeon since the Ancient Times. They went into the unknown and put their lives on the line with no prior knowledge, pioneering the main routes through each floor and eventually mapping out every detail. 
Aiz and other adventurers were able to enjoy a wealth of map data only thanks to the hard work of their forebears. As proof, the Sword Princess herself had no clue how to make a map or where to start. She was certain the other adventurers—with the exception of cartographers who went into unexplored areas to collect geography data to sell—didn’t know what went into making maps, either. 
For the first time in her life, the idea of exploring unknown regions made a chill run down her spine. 
She had been so focused on fighting that she had forgotten the true purpose of adventuring. It was her occupation, and yet missing such a key piece of the puzzle gave her pause. 
At the same time, she held a tremendous new respect for Lulune. 
“You’re…very good…” 
“Ah-ha-ha, if you knew how many times Lord Hermes has taken me outside the city into some old ruins or through dark caves, you’d know why. I’m used to this kind of thing.” 
Asfi gave the order, and the party proceeded down the right path. Meanwhile, Lulune busily updated her map as Aiz watched with interest. The chienthrope recounted some of her experiences with her god, grinding her molars at the same time. 
Checking passageways one by one, Aiz and Hermes Familia made their way through the skein of this complicated new labyrinth. 
Despite being fully engrossed in her cartography, Lulune didn’t forget to drop crystal shards she’d collected on the eighteenth floor every so often to mark their path. That way, they would always be able to retrace their steps. 
“I hate to say it…but it looks like the trap items and camouflage we bought in Rivira won’t be much use.” 
“You got a point there…Eh?” 
It went without saying that there were no monsters inside this place, so an unnatural silence hung in the passageways. Just as members of the party were beginning to think they were overdue for a discovery of some kind, they stumbled upon one. 
Unnaturally scattered piles of ash littered the floor right in the middle of an open passage. 
“Dead monsters?” 
“Yes. It appears so.” 
There were no magic stones to be seen in any of the piles of ash, but Asfi was quick to find a drop item. 
“How would that get in here…?” Lulune wondered out loud. 
Asfi answered that question as she drew a shortsword from its sheath. 
“If my theory is correct, a group of monsters capable of penetrating the ‘gate’ made it this far…and were slain by something else.” 
Hearing that, the atmosphere around Hermes Familia drew taut once again. Aiz and others quick to connect the dots were already preparing their weapons as they searched for the slightest sign of trouble. 
Monsters strong enough to tear a hole in the fleshy wall that barred their way to the pantry—were now no more than piles of ash. They had been stopped in their tracks. 
Asfi directed her team to cover the more vulnerable party members in the rear. Everyone’s senses were on high alert, muscles tensed. 
The adventurers focused on every detail around them in the dark openings, the path ahead, and the path behind. As for Aiz… 
…She was the only one to look up. 
“—Above.” 
The sounds of shifting armor and fluttering fabric swept through the party like a wave as Asfi and the others looked toward the ceiling. 
Guided by Aiz’s voice, they spotted in the maddeningly dim light many large slithering bodies. 
The monsters crawling across the ceiling far above their heads had richly colored flower petals, and several were leaking mucus. 
A maw opened to reveal rows of jagged fangs—and the meat-eating plants dropped down a moment later. 
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” 
Roars like broken bells assaulted them from every direction as Asfi shouted: 
“All units, attack!” 
Dodging the falling creatures, Aiz and Hermes Familia charged into battle. 
 
“Levis, we have intruders.” 
A man’s voice sounded in an open chamber bathed in ominous red light. 
“Monsters?” 
“No, adventurers. I knew they’d come,” growled a man dressed in white after the red-haired woman, Levis, asked for confirmation. 
The two of them stood still even though many people dressed in robes hurried about in the vicinity. The people appeared to be concerned about the presence of adventurers, calling out to one another on the verge of panic. 
Levis glanced at them for a moment, unamused. 
“A midsize party…They appear formidable.” 
A bluish white liquid membrane in the shape of the moon covered a nearby flesh wall. The battle between plants and adventurers was reflected in its shiny surface. 
Levis showed no interest in the display—that is, until a beautiful swordswoman with blond hair and golden eyes appeared. Her eyes flared. 
She stood up with a start from her seat on the floor. “That’s Aria.” 
“What?” 
The woman’s whisper got the man’s attention. 
His lips twitched in confusion as he realized that Levis’s green gaze was glued to Aiz. 
“The Sword Princess is Aria…? Impossible.” 
“Oh, she is.” 
The short, red-haired woman stood, acting like a completely different person. Her demeanor itself had become ferocious. 
Like a hunter on the cusp of a kill or a messenger from hell set to unleash a calamity, her overwhelming presence was cold as ice. 
She glared at the girl reflected in the liquid membrane. 
“I’m going. Separate Aria from the rest.” 
“…Fine.” 
But the woman hadn’t waited for a response. She already had her back to him, heading deeper into the chamber. 
Illuminated by the bloodred light, the woman’s ferocious visage melted into the darkness. 
 
A fierce battle raged beneath a bluish white flower blooming on the ceiling. 
The monsters charged into large shields, launching their bodies like battering rams. They hurled their whiplike roots at magic users mid-spell, only to have them swatted away by adventurers in the formation’s center. As the enemies aggressively targeted the casters in the rear of the formation, it took everything Hermes Familia had to hold the monsters at bay. The two sides were evenly matched in a one-step-forward, one-step-back clash of steel and fangs. 
“Lulune, where are their magic stones?” 
Among the party facing an unknown opponent, the first to get a good grasp on the situation was Asfi. 
Fending off multiple enemies with her shortsword, she cut deep into their large bodies whenever possible. 
A series of broken howls drew the attention of the other creatures directly to her. However, none of the monsters could land a hit as Asfi jumped and spun between their attacks as if she were light as a feather, causing them to roar in frustration. 
“Um, should be in their mouths!” 
Lulune fended off her own attackers with a knife not much smaller than her leader’s sword. She hollered the intelligence she had acquired during the attack on Rivira as loud as she could. 
“Their mouths, you say,” said Asfi with her eyes focused on the chin of a nearby monster. She deflected one of the whips with her cloak and produced a vial of dark-red liquid from her belt holster. 
She flung it straight into the monster’s open mouth in one swift motion—BOOM! 
“?ah!” 
The explosion going off in its throat prevented the beast’s scream from ever being heard. Its magic stone caught in the blast, the predator fell to the ground in a heap of ash. 
A special hand grenade that could only be created by an item maker: Burst Oil. Producing it required materials not found inside the city—Asfi had created this potent item using the flower called an obia flare that grew only around the volcanoes on the mainland’s northern regions. One vial, filled with the red liquid that only Asfi could manufacture, was powerful enough to instantly reduce middle-level monsters to smoldering cinders. 
Using the powerful items that she designed specifically for herself, Asfi took down one beast after another. 
Her allies had adjusted to their enemies’ movements and charged as one, slaughtering the plant monsters within their reach. 
“Are you okay?” 
“I-I’m fine!” 
Aiz had fallen back to the rear of the formation to protect the vulnerable magic users. Any enemies drawn in by the presence of magic energy were laid low immediately. 
The prum girl blushed as she looked up at Aiz, but the blond swordswoman was more focused on watching Asfi in combat. 
She’s very strong, Aiz thought as her eyes followed the item maker’s white cloak dance while its owner attacked. She fell back to the rear guard as well after learning the monsters targeted people with high Magic, since there was no reason for her to fight alone in the front. Not only was she responsive to her comrades’ plight, but her ability to calmly assess the battlefield and make quick decisions was also head and shoulders above the rest. Aiz couldn’t help but be reminded of her own commander, Finn, as she watched her work. 
Thanks to the war tiger’s timely cover, Asfi caught the longsword a supporter tossed toward her and jumped into point-blank range of a carnivorous plant. Striking its head, she sent the beast flying backward. 
“Only a few more to clean up…” 
Throwing the longsword back to the supporter, Asfi surveyed the battlefield. 
She saw Lulune deliver the final blow to the last monster. Her knife pierced its magic stone, turning the creature into a small pile of ash. “Whew,” the thief muttered as she retrieved her knife and rejoined the party. 
“If we keep cool during the fight, everything turns out okay, eh?” 
“I was concerned when our attacks weren’t getting through…but yes, I can work with these results.” 
Lulune did not have good memories of the battle of Rivira, but she was able to regain her confidence thanks to having strong allies at her side. Asfi was concerned about expending too much Burst Oil but was satisfied by how the battle turned out. 
The supporters were surprised to see the rich colors of the magic stones but quickly did their jobs and collected the items. The party was on the move once more. 
“You mentioned them before, but I’d like to confirm. That was the ‘new species’…?” 
“Hard as a rock, damn fast…and a whole mess of ’em. They’re seriously a pain.” 
“Sword Princess, if you have any other information pertaining to these unidentified monsters, would you mind telling me what you know?” 
“Understood.” 
Asfi and Lulune had a short conversation before including Aiz and asking her to share information. She started by saying that blunt force had little effect on them. These carnivorous plant monsters had a lower resistance to sharp weapons and pinpoint attacks. 
Next, she confirmed that they responded to Magic and would immediately attack the source. 
The party made sure to stay at full attention, constantly scanning their surroundings even as they listened to Aiz’s soft voice. 
“…One more thing. They might prioritize attacking other monsters.” 
To be more accurate, Aiz had witnessed this behavior only in the caterpillars she had encountered in the Deep Levels. While Loki Familia’s adventurers had been trying to escape from a horde of them on the fifty-first floor, the monsters had ignored them and instead devoured a group of black rhinos that appeared in the hallway. Even now, she could clearly recall every detail. 
Although the same behavior had yet to be confirmed in the flower monsters, the two shared the same type of magic stone. Therefore, Aiz thought it was a good idea to inform her allies. 
“Cannibalistic monsters? That’s pretty rare.” 
Lulune lifted her head from the map she was still sketching. Asfi remained silent but adjusted the silver frame of the glasses on her face. 
She then offered an explanation as to why. 
“There are two main possibilities as to why one monster would attack another.” 
Asfi held up one finger. 
“The first is a sudden fight. Either by accident or coincidence, one beast takes an attack from another and strikes back out of revenge. Some have seen this happen in swarms as well.” 
Aiz nodded in understanding as Asfi held up a second finger. 
“As for the second, some monsters develop a taste for magic stones.” 
The tone of her voice changed as if she was getting into the main point. 
“By devouring the magic stone of another, the abilities of the feeding monster will increase in much the same way we receive a Status update.” 
“Enhanced species…” 
“Indeed. Monsters that consume a large amount of magic stones acquire abilities that are a cut above their original power.” 
Aiz’s quiet voice filled a small pause in Asfi’s explanation. 
Monsters were born with strong instincts similar across every species. One such instinct was a natural aversion to infighting. However, every so often individuals able to transcend those instincts appeared. 
While adventurers gathered excelia to improve their Status, these exceptional monsters adopted a dog-eat-dog policy, consuming others of their kind to strengthen themselves. 
In time, they became enthralled by the powerful sensation that eating a magic stone provided. They ended up wandering the Dungeon, craving the stones that lay inside their bestial kin. The ones that became too strong drew the attention of the Guild, who would issue a bounty. Then extermination squads moved in. 
“The most well-known of these would be the Bloodstained Troll—a truly ferocious beast that slew many adventurers and hotheads who could only think about money. Even the elite parties called in were wiped out.” 
“Oh yeah, I remember that…Took five top-class adventurers to kill that thing, right?” 
“Yes. The fact that Freya Familia was successful in the extermination is still fresh in my memory.” 
It was for Aiz as well. She remembered when stories about the Troll took root in Orario. 
The Bloodstained Troll, a beast that became so powerful that the Guild couldn’t classify its Level, was only an example. Studies found that monsters needed to consume only five magic stones before their increase in power became apparent. 
“So what you’re saying is that this new species goes after other monsters to eat their magic stones?” 
“That’s my theory, yes. It’s appropriate to believe something has driven them to cannibalism. Correct me if I’m wrong, but there was a great difference in strength between individuals during that battle.” 
“Now that you mention it, they were definitely all over the place. Some went down with a flick, but others needed a lot more convincing. But an entire swarm aiming for magic stones? Is that even possible? Monsters born hungry for magic stones? That’s no joke.” 
Aiz listened to Asfi and Lulune’s conversation and thought about everything they had said. 
Asfi’s guess seemed to be the most logical explanation. Thinking back to the flower monsters she fought during the Monsterphilia and in Rivira, there had been quite a few individuals that were stronger than much of those in the ambush they had just defeated. There was so much variation among them that it was impossible to draw any conclusions. 
And there was still one big question remaining: Why didn’t they attack one another? Just as Lulune suggested, it could be that the monsters with the deeply colored magic stones hadn’t developed a taste for them after the fact but hunted them out of innate instinct. 
Aiz’s train of thought reached that point before taking a hard detour. 
Those plant monsters are here…That means somewhere up ahead— 
There was a good chance she was here, too. 
A head of short bloodred hair along with the snakelike bodies of the flower monsters came to mind. 
Her left hand tightly clenched into a fist. 
Aiz quietly prepared herself for that encounter. 
“Forking again, haaah…” 
The party came to a stop in front of another intersection. 
Their path split into tunnels going left and right. Lulune turned to Asfi for a decision. 
“Asfi, which way this ti—” 
That’s when they came. 
The sound of massive bodies sliding across the fleshy walls interrupted Lulune in midsentence. The vivid flowery heads of the carnivorous plants appeared on the left and right. 
“Two fronts? You gotta be kidding me…” 
“Worse…they’re behind us, too.” 
“Damn it…!” Lulune yelped shrilly after Aiz pointed out the severity of the situation, her head on a swivel. 
Left, right, and behind. They were trapped in a three-way pincer. The creatures advanced along the floor, walls, and ceiling, and the other members of Hermes Familia watched their approach, frowning at their adversaries. 
The escape routes were cut off. 
“…Sword Princess, can you handle one side by yourself?” 
“Understood.” 
Asfi phrased her order like a request, and Aiz agreed. 
With a top-class adventurer like Aiz holding one flank, Asfi was free to supervise Hermes Familia’s counterattack in the other two directions. 
The party leader’s sharp voice cut through the air as she issued orders. Sixteen adventurers rushed to their positions. 
Eight moved to the back, seven to the right, and Aiz to the left to meet the monsters head-on. 
Then the Sword Princess charged. Desperate drew first blood. 
As if something had expected this turn of events, a large pillar descended straight down from the ceiling directly above her. 
“?!” 
Aiz dove forward out of its path. 
She kicked off the ground and into the air. WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! More gigantic pillars dropped from the ceiling in quick succession. Aiz continued to dodge them one after another until she realized what had happened. 
The left path had been completely cut off. Asfi and her other allies were on the other side. 
“We’re cut off!!” 
She could hear Lulune’s muffled cry from the other side of the thick wall of pillars. 
Aiz’s golden eyes widened. The Dungeon never sprang this kind of trap. This possibility hadn’t crossed her mind. And now she was completely secluded as her allies looked on with similar shock on the other side. 
—I’ve been isolated! 
Aiz was forced to fend off the monsters while still in disbelief. 
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” 
“!” 
Severing their vine whips, Aiz dispatched the five monsters with ease. 
The last of them dissolved into ash behind her as she turned back to the wall, intent on destroying it to reunite with Lulune and the others. 
That is, until the appearance of a murderous presence stayed her hand. 
“……!” 
The overwhelming bloodlust made Aiz’s shoulders tremble. She spun around to face the dark end of the long tunnel. 
She remembered the feeling coming from whatever was in the black shadows at the end of the tunnel, a pressure far too powerful to ignore. 
Aiz steadied herself, knowing full well this wasn’t an opponent she could allow to see her back…She narrowed her eyes after a few moments and started advancing, as if the darkness were drawing her in. 
The light from the flowers growing on the walls flickered, casting shadows across Aiz’s face. 
The sound of her boots echoed, light reflecting off her silver breastplate and spaulders as she advanced down the straight tunnel. 
She didn’t have to go far. 
Slowly, something approached like a mirror image. 
Her opponent emerged from the darkness, matching her step for step. 
“—Never thought you’d come straight to me. Can’t complain, though.” 
The one who greeted her was the redheaded tamer. 
Without any disguise, the woman’s ivory skin and bloodred hair were plainly visible. Her green irises locked onto Aiz. 
—I knew she was here. 
The woman’s icy glare met Aiz’s golden gaze. 
The two women faced each other in the long, fleshy green tunnel. 
“…What are you doing here?” 
“Guess.” 
“This…What is this Dungeon? Did you make it?” 
“You don’t need to know.” 
Neither side blinked, both ready to lash out at any time as Aiz studied her adversary. 
The tamer looked like an experienced bandit or battle-hardened marauder, the gear she wore frayed and damaged. Not only was she not wearing armor, the red-haired woman had no weapons on her person. 
Judging by the way she’d responded, the tamer was not interested in discussion. 
Similar to the last time they met, she spat her answers, keeping them as short as possible. 
“Keep your mouth shut and follow me. There’s someone who wants to meet you. You’re coming along, Aria.” 
Aiz’s gaze sharpened into a glare. 
“I am not Aria.” 
Aiz’s rebuttal only deepened the woman’s frown. 
“Aria is my mother.” 
“Cut the bullshit. Aria has no children. Even so…whether you are Aria or not, it makes no difference.” 
Aiz leaned forward during their brief exchange. 
“How do you know Aria? What do you know about her?” 
“Only her name. ‘Bring me Aria, bring me Aria.’ All I did was obey that annoying voice…and ran into you. That’s it.” 
Even the display of emotion and unusual talkativeness did nothing to sway her. 
Judging by her tone, it pained the red-haired tamer to use more words than necessary. She brought their conversation to a swift end. 
“Enough useless chatter. You’re coming with me.” 
With that, the woman plunged her hand into the floor. 
She bent at her thin waist, large breasts swaying, and a sound like a whirlpool gushed out from beneath. 
She yanked out her hand in a spray of red liquid as a long silver cylinder emerged from the ground in her clutches. 
With a hilt at the end, there was no mistake. It was a longsword. 
—A nature weapon? 
Aiz watched in amazement as the woman drew the sword. The tamer assumed her stance and flicked off the last of the red fluid. 
The weapon looked as though it had been molded from a living creature’s flesh and bones. Its uncanny form lacked a hand guard or any embellishment whatsoever. The crimson blade didn’t even have a cutting edge. An aura pulsed around the weapon, as if a curse would befall anyone struck by it. 
Aiz kept her mouth clamped shut but quietly released needless tension from her body. 
An impending battle was upon the two combatants. Aiz entrusted her fate to Desperate and faced the challenger. 
“Here I come.” 
The woman charged. 
Her short hair lashed around her head like splattering blood as she brought the strange longsword down with all her might. 
Aiz blocked the strike head-on, using Desperate to knock it aside. 
A complex echo bounced through the hallway, an odd mixture of the metallic clang and a dull thud not much different from a punch. The woman continued her assault, using the ferocious strength that had overpowered Aiz during the battle of Rivira. Her weapon whistled through the air in a gaudy display of power that Aiz dodged without difficulty. The blond swordswoman followed it with her own upward cut. 
In a repeat of their previous battle, pure swordsmanship battled against sheer strength in a furious exchange of blows. 
“……?” 
A serious expression appeared on the woman’s face amid the slashes and counterattacks. 
One eyebrow rose as she realized Aiz’s speed continued to increase, her attacks coming faster and faster—when suddenly, both eyes widened. 
She could see only Aiz’s afterimages stepping into close range. A flash of surprise passed over her face an instant before—! 
The sword connected with such force that she lost her balance. 
“Wha?!” 
Aiz didn’t allow her time to recover. Her follow-up attack was already on its way. 
Barely able to keep pace with the incessant slashes, the woman struggled to block or dodge the first strike while the second was on its way. SHING! The last impact sent her reeling. 
Unable to disperse the momentum of a full diagonal slash, her feet tore long gashes in the greenish floor. 
The tamer was stunned when she finally came to a stop. 
Slowly, very slowly, she brought her hand to her breast and trembled as she looked down at the glinting blood on her fingertips. 
There was a shallow cut across her chest. She looked up at Aiz. “You—No way…” Returning a glare as intense as the other girl’s, the tamer’s face melted into a scowl. “You raised your Status…?!” 
The girl standing before her was far more capable than she had been ten days ago. Of that the short-haired woman was now painfully aware. 
A level-up meant a new level of strength attainable only through great accomplishment. 
Aiz had broken free of her former limits after rising to Level Six as a result of her battle with the floor boss Udaeus. 
The girl the tamer had overpowered in the crystal-packed town no longer existed. 
“Gah, such a pain…!!” 
The woman’s voice dripped irritation as she spat the syllables one by one. 
The sheer physical strength that had overwhelmed the girl ten days ago wasn’t good enough anymore. She could hold her own now. 
Aiz softly responded to the woman’s hateful scowl. 
“I just didn’t want to lose to you.” 
The pain of defeat she’d felt under that dark night sky had given Aiz the boost she needed to reach higher. 
Deep down, Aiz hated to lose as much as her friends in Loki Familia did. Harnessing her unbreakable spirit had motivated her to prepare for this moment. Now was her chance for revenge. 
Aiz pointed a blade as sharp as her will toward her opponent. 
“Tsk…” 
The woman clicked her tongue as she brought her longsword back into position. The two glared into each other’s eyes. 
The woman’s usual indifferent expression had been replaced by clear loathing, her gaze bearing down on Aiz like pikes tipped with hatred. The murderous aura that bore down on the blond swordswoman was thicker than ever. 
The two combatants faced each other without a word until the red-haired woman broke the silence. 
“Aren’t you going to use it?” 
The woman wanted to know if Aiz would use her wind. 
Aiz’s Magic—the spell Airiel—was her greatest weapon. It seemed unnatural to not use it. 
“I don’t…need it.” 
Aiz did not mince words. 
Reflecting on her constant use of Airiel in their previous battle, Aiz was determined to return to the fundamentals. A swordswoman needed to win by her skill with a blade. She wanted to win this battle on that alone. 
“—Don’t get cocky!” 
Rage burned in the woman’s eyes. 
The rest of her face was devoid of any expression, her murderous intent overflowing. She raised her weapon into position, cracks forming in the handle. 
Showing more emotion than ever before, she leaped up in a flash. 
Her opponent charged like a missile as Aiz raised her saber, racing out to meet her. 
Silver and crimson blades crossed at breakneck speed. 
Impact.