CHAPTER 5 BATTLE OF TEARS
A short while before Loki Familia reunited with Aiz.
“—Things have taken quite the interesting twist, I see.”
Thanatos turned toward the new voice, still in the mural-lined room Lefiya and Filvis had left not long ago, and confirmed its owner.
“Ishtar…yes?”
Her copper skin was laid bare to reveal much of her ample chest and supple limbs, and she was every bit the renowned enchantress who’d stolen the glances of so many. Kiseru pipe in hand, the Goddess of Beauty Ishtar narrowed her eyes in Thanatos’s direction.
“And what a surprise this is, my dear sponsor. Welcome to the grand halls of Knossos!…Or so I’d like to say, but you don’t seem in the mood for pleasantries, hmm? Coming here of your own volition as you have.”
“A little too late for that, isn’t it? Just how many times do you think I’ve been to this rat’s nest now? You’re a difficult god to find, do you know that? We’ve been looking for some time,” Ishtar replied, clearly no stranger to Knossos’s tunnels. Behind her stood one of her human followers, as well as their masked guide.
The two familias, Ishtar Familia and the Evils’ Remnants, were closely entwined. Though to be truthful, Ishtar Familia consisted of no one but Ishtar and a few others.
The completion of Knossos required considerable materials and funds, something that the Evils—Barca and the other Daedalus descendants included—didn’t have. This was why they’d forged their contract with Nj?r?r to benefit from Meren’s black-market dealings.
But that was only one of their plans, and their dealings with Ishtar were another. What with the brothels of Orario’s Pleasure Quarter under her command, Ishtar’s familia possessed easily the greatest source of funds in all of Orario, at least after Orario’s largest and second-largest familias—Loki’s and Freya’s, respectively. Unlike the high-risk, high-return Dungeon familias, she incurred almost no costs or losses, making it more of a no-risk, high-return venture and the source of her power.
“Well, you’ve found me! And for what purpose, may I ask?”
After all, Ishtar wasn’t helping the Evils for the hell of it. She wanted something in return, as well.
Namely—
“The Bull of Heaven I’m to receive. I would like to see its power.”
—the powerful being the Evils and the creatures were hiding.
“The time has almost come for me to have my revenge on Freya. Once I’ve gotten my hands on that rabbit, my bait, I’ll need to strike within only a few days’ time. I may need to lure her brats here…and before that happens, I want to be completely sure of its strength.”
“…Erm, well…”
As a wicked grin unbefitting a Goddess of Beauty crossed Ishtar’s face, Thanatos started hemming and hawing.
“You are aware of what’s going on in your own labyrinth, aren’t you? You know that Loki Familia is wandering its halls? I can think of no better opportunity to test its strength.”
“It’s just…You know, Ishtar? Loki Familia doesn’t even have a key. They’re just about done as it is, even without pulling the age-old final boss to bring them down. Quite the opposite, in fact, it would only create more chaos for us…” Thanatos tried to explain.
“Like I care about any of that,” Ishtar answered curtly. “Just how much money do you think I’ve showered you with these past five years, hmm?”
“Fine, fine…” Thanatos put up his hands in defeat as she removed her kiseru pipe from between her lips and let out a puff of purple smoke. “I get it. I’ll do it. Anything for my dear sponsor.”
“Good.” Ishtar narrowed her eyes in apparent satisfaction before turning on her heel. “Take me somewhere where I’ll be able to watch.” She and her attendant made their way back and out of the hall, followed shortly by the masked figure.
Watching this, one of Thanatos’s followers came up beside him. “Wh-what should we do, Lord Thanatos? That creature woman gave us strict orders not to use it yet…”
“Guess we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Ishtar’s been good to us, after all. If we upset her now, who knows what’ll happen.”
Remembering the beautiful goddess’s fickle temper, Thanatos replied with a shrug before slowly smiling.
“And honestly—I kinda wanna see it, too. Just how strong is this trump card of Enyo’s, I wonder?”
The robed follower shuddered and gulped at the god’s dark smile.
Thus his acolytes set about their task in a flurry of activity.
Releasing the monster from the chains that bound it.
“You fools! Is this nothing but a game to you…?!” Levis shouted indignantly from the pile of rubble.
One corner of the room had been completely inundated with the broken remains of the maze wall. Piles upon piles of stone and adamantite lay strewn about, completely blocking off the way to Aiz and her companions.
It didn’t take long for Levis to realize it was Thanatos and his crew who had released the monster, and the revelation brought with it considerable exasperation.
“My voice isn’t reaching it…Is Aria’s wind blocking it?” Levis extended a hand in the direction the monster had chased Aiz’s group before clenching into a fist. “If this keeps up, then the others, too…Dammit. I’ll need to check on them.”
With that, she put the room behind her.
“Don’t go getting devoured on me, Aria…It will make retrieving your body…difficult.”
“Miss Filvis, what was that noise just now…?”
“…I don’t know. But it sounded close.”
Lefiya and Filvis were running down the labyrinth’s tunnels themselves. Though they’d lost their guide when Aiz’s wind had come to an abrupt stop, this new sound farther down the passage spurred them on in another direction.
It didn’t take them long to reach the end of the hall, and soon their companions, including a certain golden-haired, golden-eyed swordswoman, entered their field of vision.
“Miss Aiz!” Lefiya called out, bubbling up with relief and joy. But her solace soon changed to suspicion when not one of her companions turned around at their approach.
Her doubt lasted no more than a few seconds.
Because as she followed everyone’s line of sight, she saw the sinister monstrosity of a creature that had captured her companions’ attention, and she came to a stop herself.
“Th-that thing…Is it the same as the…fifty-ninth floor…?!”
Protruding from the forehead of the colossal ox was a decidedly female-shaped form; its small, two-meder stature contrasted oddly with the behemoth below.
Its short emerald hair and similarly green skin, its richly colored dress, and the eerie smile on features beautiful enough for a goddess turned the sea of Lefiya’s memories into a storm.
It was a demi-spirit, the same as the one they’d desperately fought against in the Unknown Frontier of the fifty-ninth floor.
“?Aaaahh.”
It was then that the demi-spirit moved.
It was also when Lefiya realized she’d chosen a terribly unfortunate time to reconvene with her companions.
Without any explanation, the creature entered full attack mode.
“?Nnn!”
It started with a simple attack.
But that simple attack brought with it unimaginable weight and destructive power.
Aiz and the others quickly jumped out of the way, evading it with every bit of speed and strength they had left, but the spirit merely gave chase with little regard for the devastation it was wreaking on the labyrinth walls in its rampage.
“N-no way!”
“It’s ripping through the adamantite like paper…!”
As Lefiya yelped in shock, Filvis responded with similar awe. The rest of the group landed right next to the two elves’ feet at that moment, in an equal state of stunned silence. Not even Gareth, confident as he was in his strength, could make a dent in those walls without considerable time and effort, and in a single swing of its limbs, this thing was felling the massive adamantite barriers like they were nothing but building blocks.
Not a single member of Loki Familia uttered a sound as they stared at the gaping new hole in the maze’s walls.
“…’Tis a different beast from what we found on the fifty-ninth floor—built for sheer power,” Gareth murmured as he readjusted his helm.
Each one of its powerful strikes was a veritable killing blow, making the beast a power type, through and through.
“What’s the plan here, huh? Fight that thing? Or get the hell outta here?” Bete hissed.
“You even have to ask?! We run! The captain needs to be healed, pronto!” Tione snarled back.
“Yeah, but you know that thing’s just gonna follow us, right?” Tiona interjected, uncharacteristically subdued.
“…I’ll act as bait.”
“Oh no you won’t!”
Aiz started to offer an idea, but Tiona immediately shot it down.
In front of the smoking hole in front of them, they saw the giant outline of the beast slowly retreat from the room. Sweat ran down their temples.
“We still don’t even know the way to the exit…” Raul muttered, face pale.
“Yeah, and if that thing keeps up its rampage, it might even destroy our only way out…Ha-ha…ha-ha-ha…” Narfi added with a dull laugh.
“I’m sorry, but I’ll have to pass on being buried alive!” Aki affirmed, pressing at the wounds on her arms with a grimace.
Seeing the hope dwindling in her companions, Lefiya leaned forward. “I—I have found the exit! I can guide you there!”
That was when the other familia members finally noticed her and looked in her direction. A moment later, she was greeted with a chorus of heys. Among them, Tione’s “You’re the bomb, Lefiya!!” was particularly prominent.
“Then all we’ve got left is that great big thing over there…” Raul posed, and as if on cue, the demi-spirit in question reappeared in the room. Ever so slowly, it turned around, the bovine eyes of its lower half and crescent-shaped eyes of its female upper half both falling on Aiz and the rest of the group.
They needed to make a decision.
A single strong voice to tell them what to do. Or perhaps a choice that didn’t shy away from sacrifices.
Second by second, their precious time began to tick away.
And at long last, the uncertain eyes of everyone in the group settled on one individual.
Their prum captain, currently hoisted on the back of one of their female members.
“…Ngh.”
Near death, Finn scrunched up his face.
Had the loss of blood muddled his thoughts? Or was even Finn Deimne, of all people, hesitating to relay the necessary order?
In that moment of their commander’s indecision—another voice rang true.
“Let it out, Finn.”
It was Gareth.
“Woulda been commonplace but a short time ago,” the dwarf continued, readying his ax as he took his place beside Finn. “Who is it who’s always been the one to cover yer arses, aye?” His lips turned up in a smile beneath his beard.
The expression brought the inklings of a grin to Finn’s lips, as well.
“…I leave the back line in…your capable hands, Gareth.”
“Roger that!”
And with one final ferocious grin, Gareth was racing toward the colossal fiend at breakneck speed. As all eyes followed his departure, Raul, too, frowned at the sight of the dwarf’s shrinking back—before issuing a command of his own in place of Finn:
“All troops—retreat! Get the hell out of here! Lefiya, you’re in the lead!”
“R-roger!…Miss Filvis!”
“…Right. Let’s go.”
Loki Familia was off in a flash. With Lefiya and Filvis taking point, the whole group sprinted toward the nearest tunnel.
However, it was then that the previously silent Amazonian twins turned toward their companions.
“…Like hell I’m gonna let Gareth be the only cool one. Gotta earn my praise from the captain, after all!”
“Me neither! Me neither!”
The two belligerent twins ran off after the lone dwarf. Neither one was known for following orders, and they weren’t going to leave Gareth behind.
“Bete, Aiz…you need to…protect everyone else…”
“…Hmph!”
The werewolf’s tail had begun to wag in anticipation of following them, but at Finn’s orders, Bete simply grunted disapprovingly. Both he and Aiz gave Gareth and the two sisters one last look as they made their way out of the room.
“Tiona, Tione…Gareth…” Aiz murmured.
Don’t lose.
Heartbroken, entrusting the fate of the party to her friends at the rear, Aiz fled.
“Is it really all right, Tione? Leavin’ Finn’s side an’ all?” Gareth asked as the two Amazons ran to join him.
“If anyone’s gonna be looking after the captain’s rear, it’s me! That’s who it belongs to, after all!”
“Since when did this become about butts?”
At Tione’s indignant shout, Tiona looked on in half-lidded incredulity. It could very well be the last time they would be able to crack jokes in that one-hundred-meder-square room as they held their weapons—ax, Kukri knives, and Urga, respectively—at the ready.
“…Aaahh.”
But the jokes stopped there.
In front of them, the titanic mammoth moved.
KA-PHWOOM. The dull crack thundered around them like someone had just smacked the earth with a giant hammer—the thing had taken a step forward. And it was headed straight for the tunnel where Aiz and the rest of the group had just departed.
“What do we do, then, huh?” Tiona posed, her skin still slick with sweat from the poison vermis toxins.
“Well, it’s certainly not an enemy we can take head-on, especially in our condition…” Tione replied, still inflicted herself with wounds from the assassins’ cursed weapons. Though the cuts were light, they wouldn’t heal. “We should aim at its magic stone. Try to take it out in a single hit.”
It had taken a full party and considerable time to defeat the demi-spirit last time. With only three of them now, and at less than optimal strength, they were going to have some trouble holding this thing back.
“Aye, that’ll work…but let’s consider the basics for a moment, hmm? What’s the theory on givin’ big lugs what for, lassies?”
“Aim for the feet.”
“Drop it to the ground!”
“Let’s get on with it, then! One hit to blow that beastie to kingdom come! And don’t let it hit ye, either!”
In spite of everything, the adventurers were not to be daunted, for they knew all too well that pessimism was the worst toxin of all.
Gareth raised his ax, still in his half-charred armor from the earlier wave of flames. “Give everything ye got to stop that thing’s feet! No lettin’ it get to our chums now. Off we go!”
With that, the dwarf kicked off the ground, the signal for the battle to start.
“It gets away from us and we’ve already lost! Tiona, stop it in its tracks!”
“Roger that!”
“And Tione—you use yer magic to bind its legs!”
“Magic’s not exactly my strong suit, but…I’ll do what I can do!”
Gareth and Tiona ran straight at the creature, as Tione leaped off to the side, momentarily distancing herself from the battle proper. Immediately, she began casting a spell.
“Aria…Aria!”
The demi-spirit, on the other hand, went into a maddened rush, crying out in excited fervor. Its feet thundered toward them along the stone-covered adamantite floor and created tremors that echoed up and throughout the entire maze.
““Ngh!!””
Gareth and Tiona quickly split to the left and right, dodging the incoming bull.
But the creature itself wasn’t the only thing they had to worry about—its charge created massive blasts of air that pummeled their bodies as they raced past.
“It’s…pretty fast when it wants to be!”
“Yer tellin’ me!”
The two had fallen with their hands to the stone floor because of the vibration. The demi-spirit, meanwhile, simply continued on toward the exit.
Once that thing started running, there was no way they could stop it.
Watching the enormous bull’s mad dash, Gareth let out a howl. “Tione! It’s makin’ to leave!”
Across the room, the Amazon was weaving her song.
“Desire, submersed in the sea of my heart; thirst, borne from the seas of my heart—the time has come,” she chanted, carefully forming the less familiar spell so as not to miss a syllable.
She had never studied the ways of the mage, so no magic circle formed beneath her feet to accompany her powerful incantation echoing off the walls. She turned her attention to the demi-spirit racing across her field of vision, assuming a battle stance. “Take shape, bare your fangs, and become the serpent. Free yourself of the sea, cross the rising knolls, and engulf the world. Time is yours for the taking. Halt fate’s ticking seconds, and banish it to the void!”
A glimmering light materialized in Tione’s hand as she completed the spell, magic taking shape in the form of a bluish-purple whip of light.
“Restrict Iorum!”
It flew straight at the beast.
It struck with the speed of a snake, a predator devouring its prey, and wrapped itself firmly around the bull’s right hind leg.
“?!”
Almost immediately, the demi-spirit’s body stiffened.
“Holy cow! I got it!”
Tione’s spell, Restrict Iorum.
As a restrictive magic that bound its victims in a whip of light, it had a set chance of rooting enemies to the spot. Its whip could even be used as an ordinary weapon if the necessity arose, and its hit rate was dependent on Tione’s magic stat. Not being a mage, Tione had never trained her magic, but her high level made for a high magic power all the same. In her own words, it would probably hit “one for ten on a floor boss.”
Celebrating her good luck at having pulled off a hit on her first try, Tione took control of the whiplike reins.
“Hngh…?”
The restrained demi-spirit pushed against the powerful inertia holding its body.
The female upper half was shocked to find itself at a halt against its will, and as the bovine lower half pitched forward, its powerful front legs dug into the ground to keep itself from falling over.
It created an opening that the other first-tier adventurers didn’t miss.
“Huurraaagh!!”
“Hwuogh!!”
Tiona and Gareth veered toward the creature’s backside, tearing into its legs.
“Th-this thing’s hard as a rock! What the hell? It cracked my Urga!”
Each adventurer had taken one of the beast’s hind legs, but the assault rewarded them with nothing but shock. Just as Tiona had so boisterously shouted, a clean crack had formed in her Urga, and the blade of Gareth’s ax was now missing a sizable chunk.
Not only was the spirit’s skin remarkably thick, it boasted a granitic solidity easily as strong as adamantite’s.
“That hurts.”
But Tiona and Gareth weren’t the two strongest warriors of Loki Familia for nothing.
And despite their own casualties, their blows had left wounds in the brute’s rigid skin that were now gushing blood.
“Like as not, our weapons’ll knuckle under before us!”
“Whatcha think we should do, then?”
“The only thing we can—smash it while we’ve weapons left to smash with!”
The two kicked off the floor for a second lunge at the spirit. In a violent flurry of heated blows, they lambasted the thing’s legs again and again.
“…You want to play with me?” The spirit’s languid golden eyes turned toward them. It cocked its head to the side with a laugh, almost like an elephant observing a swarm of mice. “Then—let’s play.”
In a flash, it pulled itself free of Tione’s binding whip, turning its hulking body to face Gareth and Tiona head-on.
“A-already…?!” Tione lamented. The spirit’s magic power was simply too great, allowing it to break through her restraints in the blink of an eye. Hoping to halt the thing’s movements for even a moment more, Tione yanked back on her whip—
But then.
“Ngh?!”
It was Tione who ended up getting pulled forward when the bull stomped its leg with such force that it sent her tumbling to the floor.
“Oh sh—!”
The thunderous crack shook the very walls.
The mice managed to escape the elephant, but the tromp of its mighty foot still sent them flying.
And the adamantite floor was once again split, a smoking pile of rubble.
“Ha-ha…HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!”
The nightmarish rodeo had begun.
Stomping and spinning, it moved. That was it. And that was all it had to do to have the battle-hardened first-tier adventurers reeling. The earthquakes it created sent them to their knees, and the shock waves from its footsteps pummeled the dwarf’s armor and the Amazons’ copper skin. Even the spirit’s forked tail contributed to the punishing onslaught, flailing from its hindquarters like a bladed whip.
“Huuuuuaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggh!” The maddened bull gave a great roar that joined with the sweetly sadistic laughter of its upper half. Its two entities bearing their own separate desires and inclinations, the demi-spirit rampaged, attacking not only its prey but the labyrinth itself.
“An absolute frenzy if I’ve ever seen one…! Ye don’t think it was a power bull that thing parasitized, do ye?”
“Never seen one that big before! This thing’s crazy!”
Unable to withstand the onslaught any further, Gareth and Tiona put distance between themselves and the beast. Tione, meanwhile, was furiously attempting to pull her whip back in her direction, though her efforts were currently going unrewarded.
The creature’s body itself, seemingly limitless in its potential, was proving to be its best weapon.
“Seems our choice has been made for us, aye? We shatter that stone!” Gareth shouted, already preparing for the monumental task.
“This goddamn cow…!” And with that, Tione flew into an all-out frenzy. Unable to take the way the spirit was flinging her around however it pleased, she completely ignored Gareth’s suggestion in favor of attack mode. She didn’t even release the grip of her Restrict Iorum from the spirit’s leg; instead, she swung in a wide circle around the demi-spirit, using its body as a fulcrum.
“?” The demi-spirit glanced down curiously at the whip now encircling all four of its legs, though this new development didn’t seem to hinder its spree of destruction.
Tione, on the other hand, was moving at an incredible speed, launching herself forward and off the ground as she came flying toward the beast—and the center of her circle—with the force of a whirlwind.
“You’re gonna stop all that racket—before I make you!!”
“?!”
The furious iron fist she slammed into the spirit’s body was not only backed by an enormous centrifugal force but further strengthened by her Berserk skill. And after a resounding thud, even though Tione’s every finger was shattered upon impact, the sheer power behind the strike was enough to send the beast to its knees. It had “hit the spot” in every sense of the phrase.
“Atta girl, lass!” Gareth called out as he and Tiona started at once for the stalled demi-spirit. They pelted the beast’s wounded limbs, paying no heed to the flying chips and pieces of their weapons. And when the spirit lashed out with its tail, Gareth simply severed the forked appendage with his ax, to its stunned dismay.
“…Pierce, spear of lightning! Your envoy beseeches thee, Tonitrus! Incarnate of thunder! Queen of lightning—!”
As the bull’s movements had weakened, its female upper half had suddenly stopped smiling, and the short chant, even shorter and faster than humans could possibly imagine, was complete in an instant.
“THUNDER RAY!”
A magic circle sparked to life in midair, and the spirit thrust its arm in the direction of its incoming assailant—Tiona, flying directly toward its side.
“Show me somethin’ new already!”
But Tiona leaped swiftly over the electrifying magic barrage almost as though she’d been expecting it. She was already well acquainted with the lance of lightning from their battle on the fifty-ninth floor, and sticking her tongue out at it now as she flew past, she continued in her course toward the creature’s body, swiping her Urga up and through it as she slid between its legs. Its blade sliced clean through the knee of its already heavily damaged hind leg.
“??!”
The bull let out a moan of agony, giant globules of spittle flying from its lips, and as it bucked, its upper half joined it with a scream at the unwelcome turn of events.
—Its charges and attacks were a threat to be reckoned with, to be sure. From the perspective of a wall like Gareth, whose duty it was to protect the mages and the rest of the group from its unstoppable advances, it made for nothing short of a nightmare. But that was it.
This was a power-type demi-spirit, unlike the magic-type they’d crossed swords with on the fifty-ninth floor. While its overwhelming destructive power and unadulterated defensive strength were truly awe-inspiring, that was all it had.
It was, quite honestly, boring.
For Loki Familia especially, who’d challenged the unknown of the Dungeon’s depths a hundred times over on their many expeditions, this new enemy before them now was practically docile. Compared to the tentacle-wielding, flower petal–armored demi-spirit they’d taken down on the fifty-ninth floor, this raging bull was entirely more manageable. Its potential was staggering, enough to offset its maladroit attacks, but even as the trio was knocked off their feet, their skin littered with cuts and bruises and blood flowing freely from fresh wounds, they continued all the same, weapons never stopping.
“Huuuuurrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaggghhh!!”
The back line had been left in their capable hands, and their spirit, tenacity, and hearts—constantly focused on their companions up ahead—drove them in their back-and-forth dance of attack and defense.
It was a ferocious contest of endurance, and none of them knew which would fall first—their minds, bodies, and weapons or the creature’s legs. And as the spirit launched a desperate defense of its magic-stone core with what was left of its tail and magic, its upper half—the spirit’s face—grew noticeably harried.
“…!”
It was the demi-spirit that came out on the bottom of the duel.
The last of its tail completely severed, its bovine lower half finally sunk completely to its knees with an earth-shattering rumble.
“Gotcha!”
“Burn in hell, you cow!”
First Tiona, then Tione, then Gareth leaped at the spirit’s upper half, coming at it from three different directions in synchronized coordination. Even if the spirit tried to attack one of them with its magic, the other two would have no problem reaching and smashing its magic-stone core. And that was if the thing even had time to cast one of its short spells to begin with.
At once, the double-bladed sword, Kukri knives, and giant ax descended upon the spirit’s body.
“—Aha.”
But just then.
Sailing toward the spirit’s front, Gareth saw it—the odiously pure smile gracing its face.
“Rage, fury of the skies.”
In that single stanza.
The magic was invoked.
“Caelum Veil.”
A short-chant spell.
In the single instant it took the magic to bloom, time seemed to come to a screeching halt.
What formed was a membrane-like film of uncountable bolts of lightning. It surrounded the spirit like electro-charged armor, protecting both its lower and upper halves from attack.
—An enchantment.
Just like Aiz’s Airiel.
The already ridiculously powerful monster had just proven itself again, this time with the almighty blessing of the sky’s fury. It was the being’s trump card, and with this final hand, the puerile smile on its face changed to one of amused chicanery.
“Distel.”
In the next instant, lightning struck.
“??!”
The electrically charged waves surrounding its body shot out in every direction. Trapped in the deadly web of high-voltage currents, Gareth and the others could do nothing but scream in noiseless agony before their bodies were flung through the air in identical arcs. They landed hard on their backs, bodies seared from head to toe.
“?Ahhhh.”
But the real finishing blow had yet to come.
Glimmering gold particles gathering around its battered limbs, the spirit began to restore itself and rose once more to its feet. The current of electricity crackled all the way to its horns as the mighty bull reared up with its head toward the ceiling.
And in its shadow lay the three battered adventurers.
—It couldn’t possibly be.
But it was; its descending hooves spelling almost certain death to Gareth, Tiona, and Tione on the ground.
With a final sadistic smile, its legs came down and, with them, the web of high-voltage current.
“Ruuuuaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!”
The blast was catastrophic.
When the hooves of thunder slammed down into the middle of the room, innumerous shock waves and rippling tremors of electricity assailed the entire perimeter. The wave of high-voltage destruction consumed not only Gareth and the others still on the ground but the entirety of the room itself—the floor, the walls, the ceiling—destroying everything in its path.
The sound was deafening, and their world was painted a brilliant, sizzling white.
Deep cracks formed along the surrounding surfaces, the metal underneath curving and threatening to give at a moment’s notice. The only thing that kept the floor from collapsing beneath them was the layers upon layers of adamantite covering—and its builders’ millennia of deep-rooted delusions.
“Aha—aha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!”
The spirit’s laughter echoed throughout the cavern as the walls of Knossos came down around it.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!”
Ishtar’s gleeful mirth echoed that of the spirit’s as she watched its destruction unfold from the watery film atop the maze’s pedestal.
“How wonderfully droll!! Look at the way it plays with Loki’s brats! Like they’re nothing more than ants! Look, Tammuz! It makes even the floor bosses look like mere playthings!” she cried, like a whore about to climax, to the noiseless young man next to her. Her cheeks were flushed red with excitement at the overwhelming power of the beast in the images.
And now its potential had risen even higher thanks to its enchantment of thunder.
Its enhanced strength, specialized for both offense and defense, was nothing short of heinous.
The Bull of Heaven was truly in a league all its own.
“This will take down Freya!! This is all I need to slaughter her brats right in front of her eyes! I win, Freya! I win!! Ha-ha…ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!” she cackled, practically bent backward in her maniacal laughter.
Meanwhile, Thanatos was having trouble keeping the sneer off his face, a short ways away from Ishtar as he watched her revelry.
“A spectacular display. Frighteningly so. To think you were hiding such a titan, Levis dear,” he murmured to the absent creature woman, lips turning upward in their typical scythe-like smile.
“L-Lord Thanatos! The destruction has sent Lord Barca into a fit…! We can’t calm him down! At this rate, the Sword Princess will get away!”
Its hands, now devoid of strength, fell limply to its sides as its severed head went tumbling through the air, eyes rolled back in its head. Blood erupted from its neck like a gurgling fountain, and below it, its bovine lower half slumped sluggishly to the floor.
When the whip of light snapped back on them, the three adventurers, too, were sent tumbling to the ground.
“…Haa…haa…!!” the dwarf sputtered, rising slowly to his feet as the two Amazonian sisters remained spent and motionless next to him. Still trying to get his breath under control, he turned his feet toward the enormous body of the demi-spirit, twitching and spasming in pain.
“—It’s over.”
He was off, sprinting toward the headless, immobile body of his enemy. Snatching up the one-bladed Urga, he launched himself off a nearby pile of rubble into the air.
He came down from on high, directly above the creature’s upper half and the wavering geyser of blood—and delivered the finishing blow.
“RETURN TO THE ASHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!”
The blast came seconds later.
No sooner had his blade shattered the spirit’s magic stone than its gargantuan body mushroomed up in ash. The weapon continued straight through and into the floor underneath, splitting it into giant chunks of stone.
Around him, the ash settled into a fine mist that permeated the air.
And by the time the echoes of the final strike faded into silence, a lone figure was emerging from the fog.
The old dwarven soldier approached the two young Amazons where they still lay. Hauling first one twin, then the other up on each shoulder, he began making his way toward the exit.
“…Gare…th…”
“Hush now, lass. Save the energy for prayers. We’ll need ’em to get the hell outta here before I give out, meself.”
“My…Urga…G-grab it…too…?”
“Out of the question, lass! There’s no use for it!”
“But I’ll…I’ll have to take out a…nother loan! T-Tione, help meeee…”
“You seriously better be…joking…”
“Heh. Least you two won’t be dyin’ anytime soon.”
And with that, the three first-tier adventurers, every one of them a sorry sight to behold, left the hall—and the floating remains of the spirit’s carcass—behind them.
“Dio Thyrsos!”
Spindles of lightning crackled out of Filvis’s wand to incinerate the group of monsters in front of them only a second before the cacophony of footsteps raced down the now-empty passageway toward the surface.
“Aren’t we there yet, Lefiya?” Aki called out, supporting one of her injured companions on her shoulder.
“Not much more! It should be…just a little bit farther…!” Lefiya asserted, feeling a trickle of sweat dribble down her temple, probably due to the anxiety she felt.
The party had just about reached its limit, what with the myriad monster and assassin attacks. The frantic desperation of their relentless pursuit seemed almost like a last-ditch attempt to stop them.
“The doors don’t seem to be closing anymore. A little weird after the way they were constantly opening and closing before…!” Aki noted as she blocked an incoming attack with her buckler.
“Makes it seem like our enemy’s run into somethin’ unplanned, too…Whuuaagh!!” Raul fended off the enemy with his longsword, gasping for air along with his comrade.
True enough, none of the enemies appearing before them seemed to be using one of those “keys,” almost as though they feared losing them more than anything else. The cause of this was completely unknown to Raul, Aki, and the rest—that the demi-spirit was causing massive damage to Knossos, and Barca was subsequently pitching a fit. With the single brain capable of operating Knossos’s doors down for the count, it made their remote control operation essentially impossible.
Those attacking them now were the rest of the Evils, who were doing everything they could to stop Loki Familia from escaping, though they didn’t have the labyrinth’s full blessing.
Mister Gareth and the others still haven’t returned…The marks Filvis and I left still remain, but…!
Again and again, Lefiya glanced behind her with visible apprehension. While Bete and Aiz, at the rear and center of the group, were currently keeping the enemies at bay, how much longer would they last? Every one of them was battle-weary and wounded all over, and their knees threatened to give from the fatigue.
“—! Lefiya!!”
“Huh?!”
The throng of violas appeared without warning from one of the side passages.
Had someone finally opened a nearby door? The massive flowers, exclusively used for traps, came at them, attacking friend and foe alike.
They’re too f?!
There was no time. Not for Lefiya’s Concurrent Casting. Not for Filvis’s barrier spell.
Drawn to Aiz’s wind, the writhing swarm of beasts attacked, and Lefiya squeezed her eyes shut.
“Wynn Fimbulvetr!”
Only the attack never came, thwarted by a sudden blast of zero-degree wind.
The white gale froze the entire mob in its spot.
“What…?”
“Don’t stop, Lefiya!”
It was Riveria.
And she was already preparing her next spell at the end of the tunnel. Lefiya was speechless for a moment, but at Filvis’s urging, she practically tumbled forward, renewing her earlier speed.
They raced past the magic circle currently forming on the ground to find the rest of their companions awaiting their triumphant return.
“Grab the wounded! Hurry!”
“Get them up and outta here—now!”
Alicia and the rest of their old crew extended their hands, yanking the stupefied adventurers forward and out of the maze. Those who couldn’t walk were hauled up on shoulders before everyone was taken out, all at once.
“This…Th-this is…” Lefiya stuttered as the rest of her familia bustled around her in ceaseless waves.
“You did well, Lefiya. The staff you left behind—it was the perfect sign.” Riveria smiled, not even turning her head as she bombarded the next rush of incoming enemies with her magic. The strategy she’d been using above, utilizing her magic circle as a sort of radar, had detected the rare magic in the magic jewel of Lefiya’s staff, and Riveria herself had figured out everything else. She and the rest of the group had used the newly discovered entrance to infiltrate the maze and seek out their companions within.
“Riveria!”
“Are you all right, Aiz?”
“Mister Gareth, Tiona, and Tione…They’re still down there…!”
“Our enemy currently lacks leadership. We’ll use this opportunity to save them. Gather together those who can still move and find them. We must persevere as long as it takes!”
“Okay!”
“Hey, lady—I’m goin’, too!”
As the adventurers reached Riveria’s party one after another, Aiz, Bete, Raul, and Aki joined the search-and-rescue effort after some brisk emergency treatment for their wounds.
Lefiya, too, after shaking away her stupor, made to join Aiz. However…
“Lefiya, you will return to the surface.”
“B-but, Lady Riveria! I can still move, too! I should go with them…!”
“Says the one severely drained of Mind. I, too, have little power remaining. Leave the efforts to those who can yet fight!” Riveria urged, jade-colored hair clinging to the sweat on her forehead in clumps. Summoning her magic circles again and again for such a powerful spell had drained much of her Mind, to the point where not even her Mind-restoring ability could keep up.
“Lefiya.”
“…I know.”
Filvis was pulling gently on Lefiya’s arm, and Lefiya finally bit down on her lip as she gave the other elf a nod.
Moving away from the rescue party, she and Filvis made their way up the tunnel toward the exit, surrounded on all sides by the protection of their companions. Her lungs were gasping for air now as she ascended that topmost step, but finally, she crossed over the threshold of melting ice and into the freedom beyond.
“…Ah.”
In every direction, her wounded companions were being brought to the surface.
Shouts of anger and sorrow formed a storm around her at the sight of their captain.
Tears descended in great, rushing rivers at those they’d been one second too late to save.
The damage the man-made labyrinth Knossos had done was great, and Loki Familia had paid a hefty price, but in the end they’d escaped.
“Goddamn…Got away…That slippery blond bastard…Finn…”
The woman, Valletta, wandered the labyrinth’s halls in solitude. She was bathed in red from head to toe—blood from the assassins she’d used to wash herself of the monster-attracting powder—making her look very much like a casualty of the carnage herself.
Even after everything, her anger would not be stopped as she tenaciously pursued the prey that had escaped her.
“—Hurry! I hear someone fighting. They must be nearby!”
“…Haaah?”
The bedraggled party crossed her path without warning—one without an arm, one scorched black as though fresh from an explosion, and one weeping bitterly from the pain of untreated wounds. The fact that they were even still alive at all was likely thanks to the healer in glasses following them. She was lending a shoulder to one of her wounded companions, her own face covered in blood as she offered words of encouragement to the rest of the group—even from Valletta’s vantage point, it made for a lovely picture.
There was something radiant about her. So devoted. So utterly gallant.
“Leene…it’s…fine…Leave me…You need to…get out of here…”
“Please, be strong. It’s only a little farther! Just a bit more, and…help will be here!”
And that was why Valletta’s thoughts darkened in sadistic glee.
Because what she was about to do next would surely let her see true horror on the face of her mortal enemy.
Yes, how good it would feel to snuff out that glimmering, dazzling light, ahhh—
“Oh-ho-ho…”
Her tongue glided across her bottom lip as she slunk forward, as quiet as a phantom.
“Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho…” Now she was pulling a dagger out of her bloodstained overcoat. Its blade was deep, deep red, imbued with the unimaginable, unadulterated malice of the curse bound to it.
“Hey, kiddos! You’re with Loki Familia, ain’t ya?” she announced, finally revealing herself to the group as her lips curled upward in an impish smile.
“Hmm? Who are—?”
But before the spectacled girl could finish her thought, all she could see was the dagger rushing toward her, accompanied by a high-pitched, carnal laugh.
Blood splattered across the Trickster emblem, coloring it a brilliant vermilion.
Red. So much red.
It stained the inside of his eyes crimson, and it was proof that his consciousness was returning.
“…Ngh.”
Wrenching his eyes open, he was met first by the harsh light of the magic-stone lanterns, dim though they were, and he was forced to close them again. The moment his world became dark once more, the unsettling vestiges of reality came crawling back like a dream.
The red returned, so vivid his stomach roiled, and with one last attempt to distance himself from it, he forced his eyes back open.
“Are you awake?” someone asked from just beside him, finally pulling him free of the dream’s grasp.
Fighting off a sense of fatigue unlike any he’d ever experienced before, Finn finally opened his eyes.
“…Riveria…Where am I?”
“Dian Cecht’s clinic. You’ve been bedridden since the curse was broken,” the mage explained with a candor Finn’s sleep-addled mind appreciated.
As for Riveria herself, she’d yet to change from her dirty robes. Accepting only simple treatment, she’d likely been sitting here at his side ever since.
“You’ve got Amid and the quick-witted efforts of Aki and the others to thank. It came down to the wire, I hear.”
The stark white of the sanitized room struck Finn’s eyes like dazzling light. He let his gaze travel toward the ceiling as he waited for his surroundings to come into focus…then promptly threw off the sheets, fully prepared to rise to his feet.
“Down, Finn. Back to sleep.”
“…”
“Do you even know why I’m here? For exactly this reason. To keep you from leaving this bed.”
“…”
“Now, down with you. It’s no use masking your true intentions from me,” Riveria warned, pointing a finger against the prum’s forehead and lightly pressing him back into the comfortable confinement of the bed.
“…I apologize.” They had far too much history for him to think he could hide anything from the high elf. “The situation, then…?”
“Last I heard, Aiz and her crew were making ready to withdraw from Daedalus Street. Likely, they’ve already finished that.”
“Then…Gareth and the others?”
“Successfully evacuated. And once everyone was out, all known doors in the labyrinth were closed. There were no signs of pursuit from the enemy.”
“…What about casualties?” Finn asked, his voice raspy like that of a sick child.
As he asked this quiet question, sweat beading on his forehead, Riveria’s face clouded. Ever so slightly, she averted her eyes.
“There were losses. Seven dead, including those who’ve gone missing. Lloyd, Crea, Anju, Liza, Kalos, Remilia, and…Leene.”
“You all back in one piece, Gareth?”
As the dwarf walked by, Loki asked him a question, gazing out toward the night landscape of the city.
“That I am, ma’am. Right as rain.”
“Yer tough as nails; you know that, right?”
They were atop one of the roofs of Daedalus Street. The scarlet-haired goddess was dangling a leg over the edge as she surveyed the dark expanse of the Labyrinth District. Though she didn’t turn toward him, Gareth took his place beside her.
“Seems Finn’s finally come to.”
“Oh? That’s good, then.”
“Loki.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m sorry.”
“…”
“For lettin’ so many die.”
Neither one looked toward the other.
“…Even after all this time, I still don’t know how to react when stuff like this happens. I know this ain’t our final farewell, so to speak. I’m a god, after all. And part of me gets it.”
“Is that so?”
“But…I can’t help thinkin’ of their faces, y’know? When I’d cop a feel or grab a little ass and they’d get all up in arms. Moments like that, we’ll never have again…How do I put it? Feels kinda like losin’ yer first love or somethin’.”
“I see.”
They continued to gaze out across the city.
“Me, I…can’t help thinkin’ I shoulda shared a few more drinks with ’em.”
“You think so…? Yeah…a lot more drinks. Woulda been nice.”
They simply peered into the darkness before them with heavy expressions.
“We lost. Those damned orichalcum doors kept me from makin’ headway through the maze. Even if I did get the chance to go it again, I don’t think the outcome would’ve change any.”
“Those orbs really are the ‘key’ to everything. At least as far as infiltratin’ that place goes.”
Their enemy’s hideout was truly an impregnable labyrinth. Without a way to move freely through its halls, they couldn’t even hope to launch a successful raid. They’d finally had the calamitous “egg” hell-bent on wreaking destruction to the city right under their noses, but they hadn’t been able to follow through.
“For now, we’ll go seek out info—as well as those keys. Smoke out anything we can find, take any place that seems like it could be connected to those degenerates and turn it upside down. ”
“Mmn.”
“All right! Meeting adjourned. Time to start cookin’ our revenge!” Loki suddenly exclaimed, rising to her feet and giving her clothes a quick dusting. Making to leave together with Gareth, she took one last look out across the city. “Wait for us, you shitheads. This war’s just beginning,” she hissed.
The wrath of Heaven had been released.
Eyes widening, she vowed then and there—Knossos hadn’t seen the last of them.
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