Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka - Volume 10 - Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 

THE FOOL 

In Orario’s southeast block, one corner of Daedalus Street was wrapped in an eerie silence. 

The scene unfolding beneath the blue sky was far from normal. 

A vouivre lay halfway through a building wall, pinned to the ground by a spear. Directly in front of it, standing in the middle of the wide street with his weapon raised to protect the monster, was Bell. Hestia and the rest of her familia were huddled up against the side of the road, the townspeople were watching from farther back, and Loki Familia was gathered on the rooftops directly behind them. 

As plumes of dust billowed up from the brick rubble, the boy stood before the onlookers and their suspicious glares. 

“So…what do we do about that?” 

Tione’s substantial breasts swelled as she sighed at the boy positioning himself to oppose them. Her twin sister, Tiona, was in shock next to her, as Bell, Aiz, and Loki Familia’s strongest adventurers stared each other down. 

“Wh-what should we do?” 

“Just ignore him. No idea what he’s thinking, but it doesn’t matter. This ends now.” 

Bete almost sounded bored as he took a step forward. 

Just as the remainder of Loki Familia prepared to follow the adult werewolf’s lead toward the monster—“FIREBOLT!” 

“?!” 

Boom! A burning thunderbolt tore through the sky with a roaring explosion. 

Bete and his allies were moments away from jumping down from the roof, but they all froze in midstep. Startled by the sudden explosion, Daedalus Street’s residents covered their ears in fright. 

Bell had stuffed the jewel into the pouch at his waist before thrusting his left arm toward the heavens and triggering his Swift-Strike Magic. 

It was a threat, a warning to come no closer. 

He stood completely still, with sweat running down his skin in rivulets. 

“—AAh?” 

“?!” 

Raw emotion surged from Bete, from Loki Familia, and from the residents. 

“What’s the big idea?” asked countless sets of eyes in unison. 

Criticism for the boy protecting the monster wasn’t the only thing in their eyes—terrible disdain and hostility were rising as well. He was a mere step away from being ostracized. He could see Aiz’s and Tiona’s confusion, the wary gazes of the rest of Loki Familia, and the shocked faces of his own familia. 

The Hestia Knife trembled in his right hand, and the boy’s sweat and heartbeat had reached a crescendo. 

—This could be the end. 

One wrong word here and it was all over. 

Bell Cranell would become an enemy of the people. 

As for what he said next… 

“…Th—” 

His parched tongue tangled in knots. 

Bell fixed his gaze on the people in front of him and raised his voice. 

“…This…this one’s mine.” 

Those words came from his mouth. 

“I saw this vouivre first; it’s mine…!” 

Bete and the others were taken aback, as Bell drove his point home as harshly as he could. 

“So hands off…!!” 

Backed into a corner at the moment of truth, Bell chose to act like an ill-tempered adventurer. 

After claiming the monster’s magic stone and all drop items for himself, he brandished the weapon in his right hand at the slack-jawed onlookers, including his own familia. 

“??!” 

“!” 

That’s when the vouivre, who had been thrashing about, finally ripped the spear from the ground and broke free. 

Spewing blood, it bolted away, as if trying to escape both the adventurers and its own pain. 

Bell turned his back on the residents and pursued the monster without a moment’s delay. 

“Ooookay…So what did he mean by that?” 

Tiona tilted her head in confusion. Aiz opened her mouth. 

“It’s against the rules for one adventurer to steal a kill from another…” 

“Ahh…vouivres are pretty rare, aren’t they?” 

“Punk-ass kid…That’s only true in the Dungeon. Those rules don’t belong out here!” 

Aiz’s explanation satisfied Tiona, who nodded in agreement, but Bete was on the verge of tearing out his ash-colored fur. 

The werewolf wasn’t the only one upset that the boy had prioritized his own gain during this state of emergency—other members of Bete’s familia and the townspeople were fuming with anger and animosity. 

“General…” 

“There’s no need to let a child have his way. Follow that vouivre.” 

Tione kept her eyes on the monster and the boy approaching the end of the street as she turned toward Finn, who started issuing a string of orders in a steady voice. 

Loki Familia’s forces obeyed. Some jumped off the rooftops while others remained above the streets per his instructions, when… 

“—OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” 

“?!” 

A monster’s ferocious howl echoed through the sky as if to drown them out. 

Over twenty monsters carrying weapons appeared on the street a moment later. 

“Armed monsters!” 

“It looks as though there was a connection to Rivira’s destruction, after all…” 

Furious footsteps echoed through the backstreets as a lizardman jumped to the forefront and a gargoyle descended into the dungeon-like maze of buildings from above. The two monsters led their allies forward from both land and sky. 

Chaos erupted on the street once again—the civilians screamed as adventurers looked on in disbelief. The swarm of monsters gathered in front of Loki Familia as if to block their path—offering themselves as decoys—and to prevent their advance. 

“Lido, Gros…!” 

—Meanwhile, Fels, who had pursued the Xenos in an attempt to stop them, watched helplessly from an alley. 

“Please do not stop us, Fels.” 

“Rei…!” 

“We’ve made our decision. We will help that person and our kin. Should we leave them to their fate now…We lose the right to pursue our desire.” 

The siren took a bite out of the end of her wing, smearing her face in blood before smiling at Fels and taking flight. The black-robed mage’s gloves clenched into fists as her golden feathers fluttered down from the blue sky above. 

“Damn…You realize my feelings already move me to help you, do you not?” 

Fels left the hiding place, determined to assist the Xenos. 

“Finn, your orders?” 

Riveria began a counteroffensive with her bow as she addressed Finn. 

“…Take as many alive as possible.” 

“Alive?” 

Bete scoffed, but the prum general responded with a nod and said, “Yes. There’s something I’d like to know. First off, Tione, lead a group to engage them head-on. Avoid casting powerful magic. It’ll damage the city.” 

“I got you!” 

“Understood!” 

“Fine, then…” 

“Magic users will help protect townspeople as they retreat. Their safety is our top priority. Now go.” 

“Sir!” 

Having received the orders in quick succession, those under his command immediately set off to carry them out. 

As Tione, Tiona, and Bete charged forward with the brunt of Loki Familia’s forces right behind them, Finn called out to Aiz before she could jump down from the rooftop. 

“Aiz, you stay here.” 

“…?” 

“Riveria, prepare a barrier. I know what I said, but I doubt the townspeople will escape right away.” 

“…Too much renown poses its own problems. I understand, we must be cautious.” 

“See that it’s done. Gareth, I hate to ask, but would you set up a perimeter over there?” 

“Hmm? Fine by me…Ye sure they can handle those armed monsters?” 

“Yes, those three alone should be enough.” 

Outright ignoring Aiz’s confusion, Finn issued orders to Riveria and Gareth. 

They glanced at the civilians, who were hesitant to evacuate now that they felt safe—not to mention excited by the prospect of seeing Orario’s strongest familia in action with their own eyes. Riveria sighed to herself as she leaped off the rooftop, already casting her spell. 

Gareth hoisted his ax over his shoulder and ran off in the direction Finn had indicated. 

“…Finn.” 

“Oh, sorry, sorry. Aiz, you’re our insurance.” 

Stare…Finn apologized right away once he felt Aiz’s eyes on him. 

He forced a smile as if sensing the aloof, normally quiet Sword Princess’s thoughts—her disappointment or perhaps her discontent. 

“…Is there…something coming?” 

“My thumb is a bit…you know…” 

Aiz asked him to elaborate with a docile look on her face while Finn ran his tongue across his thumb. 

Now alone with the girl on the rooftop, the prum general lifted his gaze. 

The adventurers and monsters were already engaged in combat before him. 

The curtain rose over the battle between Loki Familia and the Xenos. 

The battle commenced as the combatants spread out across the eight-meder-wide street. 

The Xenos forces fought with the city’s eastern wall at their backs, trying to hold off the adventurers’ advance. Loki Familia came from the west, closer to Babel Tower, and the two groups collided in the middle of the street. 

A troll exchanged blows with a male werewolf; a human girl faced a lamia in combat; a stunningly elegant elf archer fired arrows toward a griffin. Each was armed with their weapon of choice. The battlefield resounded with a nearly constant cacophony of weapon against weapon. 

“GAOOOOOOOO!!” 

“Lizardman, eh…” 

Lido, donning a monstrous visage, clashed with the Amazon Tione. 

The former was armed with a longsword and scimitar while the latter wielded a pair of Kukri knives. The two dual-wielding combatants exchanged a flurry of strikes and slashes. 

“……?!” 

However, Lido soon felt that he was fighting against a storm surge at high tide. 

Her long black hair swirled, and her blades blurred in a surging, furious dance. Each high-speed strike was powerful enough to inflict critical damage. Lido blocked them with his full-strength deflections, creating tremendous metallic clangs that overwhelmed his hearing. 

The Amazon’s dance continued to flow, but she mixed in her own style of martial arts. Her supple wheat-skinned legs lashed out like whips, breaking Lido’s prized, solid red scales on contact. What’s more, her bare feet didn’t have a scratch on them. 

As her blades carved through the air like a net, her exceptional hand-to-hand technique used her elbows and legs as well. 

When his blades were deflected, the impact sent unbelievably fierce shocks through his gauntlets and into the muscles beneath. 

To the lizardman’s eyes, to an actual monster, her savage fighting style conjured images of wild beasts; her two Kukri knives were fangs in their own right. 

Lido found himself on the defensive almost immediately. 

“Interesting…” 

Tione narrowed her eyes at the lizardman that was weathering her attacks, managing to avoid the fatal blows grazing past its scales. 

Suddenly interested in Lido’s swordsmanship, she picked up the pace as if to determine exactly how many skills and tactics the monster possessed. 

S-so strong…! 

Lido’s reptilian yellow eyes trembled. 

He had faced many adventurers in combat today and—excluding Ganesha Familia’s elite, Shakti, and the man in goggles, Dix—he was confident he could handily dispatch any foot soldier. That was neither an overexaggeration nor a bluff. His confidence came from his many years of consuming other monsters’ magic crystals to acquire enhanced-species potential, as well as the time he had spent perfecting his wild fighting style. 

Against this opponent, however, he couldn’t see the slightest glimmer of victory. 

Lido had no choice but to accept the fact that he, a monster, had become the prey before this sharp-eyed Amazon. 

—Freya Familia and Loki Familia. 

—Lido, you must avoid them at all costs. 

—They must never become your enemy. 

Lido remembered the advice that Fels had imparted deep in the dark Dungeon. 

They’d gone far out of their way to avoid the two groups because of the mage’s warning, and now Lido knew the true meaning behind Fels’s words firsthand. 

But—I can’t go dying now! 

Lido, his eyes alight, skillfully deflected his opponent’s strikes and set his sights on a counterattack. 

Once he had gained a bit of distance with a few well-placed, deft slashes, he swung the longsword and scimitar forward with all the might his body had to offer. 

Of course, Tione knocked the blades away with ease—prompting Lido to lash forward with his tail, and the waist-level appendage connected with incredible force. 

“!” 

The third strike caught Tione off guard, and the two Kukri knives were knocked from her grasp. 

How’d you like that? 

The moment Lido slashed the scimitar for the finishing blow—Tione disappeared. 

Too fast for his eyes to register, she grabbed hold of Lido’s head from the side with her bare hand and slammed him into a nearby wall in one smooth motion. 

“—GHAA!” 

The blackened brick wall burst on impact, burying Lido in rubble as one eye widened in horror. 

“…You’re not just any lizardman, are you?” 

The one who had flung the lizardman’s entire body into a wall with one slender limb said it matter-of-factly as she tightened her grip, cracking his skull under the pressure. 

The monster’s tail thrashed forward in pain, and Tione jumped back immediately. Now free, Lido pulled his body from the rubble but could barely stand. 

“?!!” 

“Oh shut up…” 

—Near the edge of the street, away from Lido and Tione, Bete covered the wolf ears on top of his head to shield them from a sound wave blasting overhead. 

A monstrous-looking siren easily dodged the arrows and other weapons thrown its way while unleashing high-frequency sound waves over a wide area. Bete nearly lost his sense of balance to the powerful onslaught despite the considerable distance between them. Adventurers directly in the line of fire didn’t stand a chance and collapsed hand-first to the ground with blood leaking out of their ears. 

Menace burning in his eyes, Bete kicked off the ground. 

“?!” 

The siren Rei flinched as he rocketed toward her from the lower left. As Bete tore through the air like a ravenous wolf hell-bent on devouring the moon, she immediately ceased the attack and banked to evade him. 

The two slid past each other in midair, and the siren broke out in a cold sweat as the werewolf’s fist brushed against her face in a near miss. At the same time, her opponent seemed to have anticipated this and landed against a nearby building. Whipping his body around in a split second, he sprang off its surface. 

Again, he closed the distance like a bullet. 

“?.” 

Rei, a flying monster, was about to take an attack from the rear. There was no time to gawk. 

Bete grinned, his mythril-metal boot flashing in the sunlight as it arced high over his head. 

“Crash.” 

Despite being wingless, Bete slammed his foot into the airborne monster’s back. 

“?!” 

Rei plummeted to the ground like a meteorite. 

Unable to breathe or break her fall in any way, she shattered the stone pavement on impact. 

It was over in a single blow. 

“Why’d you have to go and give that annoying order, Finn…?” 

Cursing his instructions to take the monsters alive, Bete walked over to Rei to see if he’d held back enough. His injured allies watched, wanting nothing more than to pay the siren back for what she’d done to them, as he walked over to the small crater where she lay facedown and rolled her over with a careless kick. 

The siren’s shapely chest shuddered beneath a single layer of battle cloth as she landed flat on her back. 

“Ahhn? The hell…?” 

Sliding across the stone pavement had wiped away a part of Rei’s mask of blood. 

She had long, dark golden hair, eyes as blue as the sky, and elegant facial features on par with the elves. 

Bete cocked an eyebrow at the form Rei had purposely concealed and grinned. 

“Quite the looker for a monster, aren’t you?” 

Then he lifted his right leg and mercilessly drove it straight into Rei’s stomach. 

“…ah!” 

“But monsters can go to hell.” 

The siren’s lower body lurched upward on the boot heel’s impact. With a smile of scorn and anger, he pounded the divide between people and monsters into Rei. 

A beautiful yet harsh sun burned into Rei’s eyes. 

She had yearned to see the surface light for so long, and all it did was illuminate her cruel reality. 

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” 

“Do any of them know how to shut up?!” 

A gargoyle dove for the werewolf with his boot on Rei. 

Bete jumped backward, avoiding Gros’s rage-filled charge, and shattered the swiping stone claws with a kick before they could rip his head off. 

Time stood still for the gargoyle as the stone-claw fragments flew past his eyes, and Bete’s metal boot bore down on him with a high roundhouse kick. 

“Gwah?!” 

“Your kind doesn’t belong here.” 

The brutal werewolf followed up with another kick, telling the gargoyle to hole up in the dreary underground. 

“One…and two!” 

“?!” 

Denied an aerial escape route, the gargoyle desperately fended off the barrage while Tiona disarmed her opponent, a red-cap goblin. The ax was far too big for its tiny wielder, and she sent it skyward with a few skillful swings of her giant, double-bladed sword. 

—It’s a goblin, but it’s about as good as a Level 4, maybe? 

Tiona thought to herself, both impressed and bewildered by her most likely enhanced-species red-cap-goblin opponent, as she threw several kicks in a variant of her sister’s fighting style. 

“Hi-yaaa!” 

“GUH!” 

In the blink of an eye, Tiona defeated the especially challenging monster. 

“I’m not Bete or anything, but it’s hard to hold Urga back.” 

Balancing the double-bladed weapon over her shoulder with one hand, Tiona jogged her way through the clashing adventurers and monsters. “Can’t have any fun…” she mumbled to herself in search of prey. 

“KIIH!!” 

“Heh? An al-miraj~?” 

Round red eyes looking right up at her, it had fluffy, cotton-like fur. 

It was charging her with one arm held high as if screaming, “This is for my kind!” 

The monster resembling a certain boy didn’t perk Tiona’s interest in the least, and she stuck out her arm to slap it. 

“KYU!” 

SMACK! An unbelievable sound burst from its cheek as the wide-eyed al-miraj rolled back down the street and slammed into a wall. 

The blank-eyed al-miraj—Aruru—lost consciousness with a soft squeak. “Kyuu…” 

Her hellhound partner left her there and hid behind a nearby building. 

“This is very bad…!” 

Fels anxiously whispered, surveying the battle from the roof of a tall apartment building before rushing into action. 

One Xenos, then another and another fell to Loki Familia. Even the weaker members behind Tiona and the other captains demonstrated considerable strength and outstanding teamwork. Having been in continuous combat since the Dungeon’s eighteenth floor didn’t help matters as the lamia, troll, and the injured harpy had reached their physical limits. 

The writing was on the wall. It had come to this. Grinding bony teeth together beneath the black hood, Fels looked up from the street and scanned the surrounding area. 

“The battle is taking place in a corner of Daedalus Street, relatively close to the Coliseum and East Main Street…!” 

Catching a glimpse of the amphitheater from between two buildings, Fels’s mind was set. 

“My apologies, Ouranos…I’m using it!” 

Fels withdrew a golden wand from beneath the folds of the cloak and sprinted off to the north. 

“…An earthquake?” 

Fwump. The lizardman collapsed to the ground in front of her, and Tione glanced at her feet. 

Bete had taken down the gargoyle, and with very few monsters left standing, tremors raced through the earth. They were getting stronger—no, closer—and the members of Loki Familia were united in their surprise and disbelief for a moment. And then… 

The ground split open with incredible force to reveal a mass of shining metal. 

“Uwoah?! What is that?!” Tiona cried in amazement, followed by her allies’ surprised yells. 

“A metallic monster?!” 

“A new species?!” 

Just as the adventurers said, the thing was made of a silver-like metal. 

Its arms and legs were thicker than any large-category monster. The head looked like a small mountain due to the position of its neck and had parts that resembled eyes. A symbol, deeper black than any language could describe, was just above its eyes. Standing over three meders tall and lacking symmetry on either side, the thing might as well have been cobbled together from large chunks of metal. Its crooked body shared some similarities to flame rocks, a type of monster that resided in the Dungeon’s deep levels. 

“A Golem…It’s my own magic item, dispatched into the sewer system after the Monsterphilia incident…!” 

Fels monologued on the verge of desperation, announcing the trump card. 

The creator could channel magic energy through a wand to control it at a distance, but it was autonomous for the most part. A metallic warrior that carried out simple instructions. 

An unquestionably loyal combatant without a soul of its own—an extremely high-quality magic item requiring a level of skill that only Fels, formerly known as the Sage, possessed. 

Fels used the wand to order the warrior into battle and assist the Xenos. 

“What is this?! One of their friends?!” 

“How the hell should I know?!” 

Tione and Bete immediately moved to engage the rampaging Golem, attacking at close range. 

“—Damn, that’s hard!!” 

“It’s made of adamantite?!” 

However, the tips of both Kukri knives snapped on impact, and the shock of his metal boot striking the solid mass reached Bete’s foot. 

“You’re absolutely right…!” 

Fels, looking down from high above, would have been smiling with satisfaction had there been the muscles or skin to do so. 

The Golem’s entire body had been created using adamantite. And not just the standard form but a purer form of adamantite mined from the deep levels. Not even the first-tier adventurers’ weapons could easily break it. In terms of money, it would be valued at one billion valis, an ace in the hole that Fels had kept hidden for centuries. 

“?!!” 

As the mage chuckled with glee far overhead, the Golem effortlessly deflected Tione’s and Bete’s attacks while advancing toward the other adventurers without so much as a scratch. Its movements might have been clumsy, but the sheer weight and density of adamantite made each wild swing of its arms extremely powerful. 

Many adventurers thought better of their attack while others were launched skyward along with their shields. Bete clicked his tongue, when suddenly— 

“—Oh-ho-ho! Now that’s what I’m talking about!!” Tiona’s eyes sparkled; she was grinning from ear to ear. 

Fels froze in place, watching as the tide of battle shifted before his eyes. 

“Everyone, get out of the way!” 

“That idiot…!” 

“Hey! Kick all those fallen monsters out of the street!” 

Tione’s mood turned sour when Tiona appeared, whirling her double-bladed sword over her head like a windmill in both hands, and Bete snapped at her. They were rattled. 

The same was true for their allies. “Run away!” “She’s coming!” they yelled to one another, desperate to get out of her path. 

The townspeople—and Hestia Familia, still in the same spot—glanced around in confusion as Finn smiled wanly, Riveria let out a long sigh, and Aiz watched with a hint of envy. 

The Golem slowly turned around, suddenly alone on the abandoned street. 

The metallic warrior charged her head-on as Tiona flashed an innocent smile at her target—and attacked with her double-bladed weapon. 

“Heeereee I gooo?!!” 

Then, SLASH! 

“?.” 

The townspeople, Hestia Familia, and the fallen Xenos couldn’t help but watch. 

The massive blade came down at an angle. 

Sparkling metal fragments scattered as the adamantite body collapsed to the ground with a thunderous bang. 

Still as an eroding statue, Fels stared blankly at the two halves of the cherished Golem. 

“………………!” 

“Huh? The thing’s still moving?!” 

Crick, crick, crick! Its severed upper body reached outward, startling Tiona as she slashed again. 

Light left the Golem’s eyes the moment her blade cut through the symbol on its head, and its arm collapsed to the ground. The metallic warrior became silent as the grave. 

“Oh! So the head was the weak spot! Finn, I did it!” 

“Tiona, you idiot!! The general said to take them alive, didn’t he?” 

“Ah.” 

Tione’s rebuke struck her sister like a lightning bolt as the younger girl waved. Having given in to her berserker instincts, Tiona froze on the spot. 

Her custom-made, double-bladed sword—two massive blades on either end of the hilt—was huge even by adventurer standards. The hulking weapon glinted in Tiona’s grasp. 

A few moments passed before the quiet crowd once again erupted with cheers. 

“Hah, ha-ha-ha…It’s no use, Ouranos. They are the true monsters after all…!” 

After coming out of the daze, Fels could only force an empty laugh. 

A mixture of awe and fear had taken hold of the mage after seeing Loki Familia’s true strength. 

And, right then… 

“Finn’s hunch was right on the money. Sharp as a tack, as always.” 

“?.” 

A dwarf’s low voice came from behind Fels. 

It was Gareth, his battle-ax at the ready. 

Finn had reasoned that there must be a tamer—or someone—calling the shots, due to the timing and coordination of the Xenos’s appearance, and ordered Gareth to circle behind the strange figure watching over the battle. 

“Are you the monster mastermind?” 

“……” 

“Are you a person or a monster…? Well, taking that robe of yours away should make it clear enough.” 

The mage froze, unable to come up with a way to escape the first-tier adventurer’s overwhelming presence. 

Beneath the black robe, Fels remembered the sensation of cold sweat, despite not being able to feel it anymore. 

“……!” 

With the Xenos’s cries of pain and the townspeople’s cheers of joy in his ears, Welf tightened his grip on his greatsword. 

Hestia Familia hadn’t moved from the street side. They hadn’t been able to pursue Bell due to the Xenos suddenly appearing in their way, but above all else, they’d been in awe of Loki Familia’s teamwork and skill in battle. 

The young smith’s vision was filled with badly injured Xenos, bleeding as they crawled across the ground. Welf couldn’t take it anymore and stepped out from their hiding place. 

“You mustn’t, Mr. Welf!” 

Lilly jumped out right behind him, grabbing ahold of his waist. 

“Let go, Li’l E!! At this rate, they’ll all—” 

“We can’t! Mr. Bell’s situation is still unresolved, but should any of us protect them as well, Hestia Familia will be…!” 

Lilly was also fighting against fear. 

Fear of what would happen to their soon-to-be-denounced familia and fear of the first-tier adventurers’ unparalleled power, scarier than any of the monsters. 

Welf bit his lip, seeing Lilly tremble as she warned of persecution and retribution. 

“…It’s fine. Go to it, Welf.” 

“Lady Hestia?!” 

“Just say your goddess told you to. Followers can’t go against their deity’s wishes, can they? Deities are always after entertainment…If it looks like my whim, people shouldn’t be too hard on you.” 

Lilly couldn’t ignore her goddess’s words and compassion for Wiene’s comrades. Letting go of Welf’s jacket, she thrust her hand into her item pouch as though determined to assist their cause. 

“…I shall attempt to weigh the adventurers down with my magic. Use that opportunity to reach the Xenos.” 

“Miss Mikoto…” 

“Lady Haruhime, would you lend me your Level Boost? To be blunt, I doubt my ability to restrain top-tier adventurers for long…” 

“…But of course!” 

Mikoto stepped up to Welf’s side, sheathing her katana. Haruhime gave her a firm nod. 

Everyone sweated as the tension escalated, and Mikoto and Haruhime were just about to hide behind the nearest building so that the renart’s spell wouldn’t be overheard, when suddenly— 

A rumbling howl filled the air. 

“?” 

Aiz, Finn, Riveria, Tiona, Tione, Bete, and Gareth—each stopped what they were doing on the battlefield and immediately turned toward it. 

Welf, Mikoto, and the rest of Hestia Familia froze at the sight of the trembling sky. 

“What…was that…?” 

The cheering crowd was suddenly silent. 

The combatants of Loki Familia had come to a sudden halt, but even the noncombatant Haruhime stood completely still, her fox tail twitching, her instincts telling her to flee in terror. Hestia, a deity, was stunned. 

Then…thud…thud… 

The heavy, threatening echoes and shuddering earth heralded the arrival of a newcomer. 

No one needed to see it to know those were footsteps. They were approaching, steadily, from behind the wall that the vouivre had broken through on its arrival. 

Every set of eyes focused on the wall, still shrouded in smoke. 

Many monsters were still lying facedown in the street, and all other sound disappeared from the battlefield. 

Moments later… 

A shadow appeared in the smoke, crushing rubble underfoot as its form took shape. 

“—What the…?” one of the adventurers whispered. 

It had skin so black it could have been born from the deepest, darkest bowels of the Dungeon. Over two meders tall with muscles built like boulders, it was equipped with adventurer’s armor. 

A nigh-indestructible breastplate, shoulder armor, gauntlets, waist plates, and greaves. 

The full set of plate armor couldn’t cover the entire body and almost resembled light armor on its massive frame. Holding an enormous Labrys aloft with one hand, the new arrival had another massive ax strapped to its shoulder armor. Each weapon’s blades were dyed red with the blood of its victims. 

Both of the horns on its head were crimson. 

The sight called to mind the words raging bull. 

A creature absent from the Guild’s files and unfamiliar even to Loki Familia—an “unknown” monster stood before them. 

The ever-calm Finn unfolded his arms and stepped forward, suddenly anxious. 

His thumb convulsed, sending spasms down his arm. 

“?.” 

Huff, huff. The monster rotated its thick neck in their direction, and its ragged breathing sounded in their ears. 

The instant it saw the adventurers and the fallen monsters— 

—it roared with all its might. 

“oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” 

A dreadnought Howl obliterated the silence. 

The residents of Daedalus Street tumbled to the ground one by one, their eyes rolled up in shock after the dust-raising roar. 

“?a.” 

“Supporter! Haruhime!” 

A pale Lilly and Haruhime weren’t far behind the townspeople, knees buckling until they were sitting on the street. 

Welf, Mikoto, and many members of Loki Familia were blown back, fighting tooth and nail to remain standing as Hestia screamed. 

A Howl, far stronger than normal. 

A monster’s intimidating song that bound living creatures with primitive fear. 

Those unworthy to meet the challenge were immediately rendered motionless—the roar restrained its victims. 

Welf and Mikoto dropped to their knees. They both stared into the palms of their quivering hands; even their higher Levels couldn’t save them from its effects. There were many within Loki Familia’s ranks who were on the verge of losing their will to fight, jamming their swords into the ground for support to keep on their feet. 

“……!!” 

With only the worthy remaining on the battlefield, the monster charged. 

The rocketing, massive black shadow’s first target was Tione. 

“!” 

Tione glared at the monster descending upon her like a night-colored storm surge. 

Raising her two Kukri knives, she planted her feet to meet the attack with her own. 

“Get out of there, Tione!!” 

The air whistling past the Labrys drowned out Finn’s desperate call as the silver blade streaked straight down—into the ground one meder in front of Tione’s feet. 

There was an explosion and shock wave, followed by sudden weightlessness. 

Awe flashed through Tione’s eyes. 

Her feet left the ground, robbing her of any chance to evade as swirling dust and stone debris blinded her. The monster immediately descended upon her, its left arm homing in on her. 

Tione crossed the Kukri knives at the last moment to defend herself, but the two blades could do nothing in the face of that massive palm. 

They shattered. 

“?GHaHH?!” 

The blow broke through her defense and collided with the left side of her body—strikingly similar to Aisha’s fate—and sent Tione hurtling into the corner of a nearby house. 

“Tione?!” 

It all happened in the blink of an eye. However, the scene was more than enough to rob the adventurers of their will and sense of time. 

The monster stood tall, roaring at the other adventurers before Tiona’s scream could reach their ears. 

“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” 

As it stepped forward with a ground-shattering stomp, the monster swung its clenched left fist in a wide semicircle with the force of a hurricane. Every single adventurer standing over a Xenos was swept up in the blast and launched backward, just like Tione. 

Bones broken and coughing up blood, the adventurers collided with their allies who happened to be out of range, screaming at the top of their lungs. 

“UWAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” 

As the men’s screams rose into the sky, Loki Familia lost more than half of their forces in one devastating fell swoop. 

“You’ll pay for that—!!” 

“Cruz, move it! Outta my way!” 

Tiona charged forward, double-bladed sword held high with Bete right behind her, jeering with all his might. 

First-tier adventurers collided with the raging bull as other adventurers dragged those affected by the Howl and the injured to safety. 

The double-bladed sword couldn’t power through the Labrys’s solid strike. A wide-eyed Tiona managed to absorb the heavy blow and fight it off, immediately opening a window for Bete to come in low and attack its legs. 

The monster was knocked off balance. Two Level 6 adventurers worked in tandem to drive it back. 

“Elfie, get all the unconscious people to safety! Now!!” 

“S-sir!” 

Finn called down to the pale, cowering magic users at the back of the formation. Startled at their general’s direct order, the women quickly moved to the bodies sprawled out nearby to speed up the evacuation. 

“Finn, shall we support them with magic?!” 

“No. That would only draw the enemy’s attention toward the bystanders around us. Your barrier is powerful, but it won’t hold up against a direct hit.” 

Riveria looked up from her position at street level as Finn told her to hold off until the evacuation was complete. 

With a magic circle spreading at her feet, the high elf shifted her completed spell to standby mode as she frowned at the front lines, frustrated. 

“A black minotaur…?” 

“I don’t think so…Looks more like a black rhino subspecies to me.” 

Aiz kept her eyes on the rampaging monster that was paying little attention to Tiona’s and Bete’s wave upon wave of attacks. Finn noticed the girl looked anxious to join the fight, following her gaze and theorizing that the creature was an Irregular from the deep levels. 

That, and that it was an enhanced species like the rest of the armed monsters. 

“…A-Asterios…” 

The fallen Xenos looked up from the ground to face the black shadow. 

Badly injured, Lido whispered the name of their final comrade. 

“…Damn show-off.” 

—Elsewhere, amid a pile of brick rubble… 

Tione emerged from the debris and, coughing up bloody saliva, smoothly pulled back the bangs that hid her eyes from view. 

Then her eyes flared to life. 

“So you think you’re hot shit, bovine bastard?” 

Completely ignoring her broken ribs, she exploded with anger. 

Tiona and the others didn’t have time to react to her snarling howl, barely recognizable as a person’s voice, before Tione raced back into battle, unarmed. 

Clearing Tiona and Bete in a single bound, she hurtled toward the raging bull with her left fist held high, challenging the beast one-on-one. 

The monster shifted to meet her head-on, pulling its own left fist back and setting its feet. 

“GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!” 

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” 

Tiona slammed a punch directly into the enemy’s clenched, metal-like fist. 

The resulting bloodcurdling collision made bystanders want to cover their ears. 

The tremendous impact drove the monster’s fist straight back and snapped every bone in Tiona’s hand. 

She clenched her fleshy, broken, bleeding blob of a hand tight and threw another punch. 

“?!” 

Taking a hit to its solid midsection for the first time, the raging bull staggered backward. 

“I’ll make mincemeat outta you!!” 

Tione didn’t stop. 

Consumed by a fiery rage that became her strength and fueled her onslaught, she unleashed a rush of punches and kicks onto her enemy’s large body. Heel, elbow, knee, fist. As her long black hair trailed behind like a snake, her furious dance of physical blows shook the monster’s metal-like frame from head to toe. 

“—UoHoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” 

The black bull didn’t flinch, taking each blow head-on and responding in kind. 

“Wh-what are you doing, Tione?!” 

“Shut the hell up!!” 

Tiona called out despite being knocked back, but Tione would have nothing of it and yelled at her furiously. 

Bete and Tiona looked at her with fatigue. 

“No use. She’s pissed…” 

Her true self had been exposed—Tione was even more of a berserker than her younger sister. 

Her offensive continued to escalate no matter how much of her skin was torn up on contact with her enemy’s towering, solid body or how many of her leg bones cracked in the process. Evading the occasional counterattack, she had every intention of obliterating the enemy in her sights. 

Living up to the sea serpent of her title, her hair whipped back and forth as she fought with extreme ferocity. 

“SHII!!” 

Then, after weaving past her enemy’s massive arm, Tione put all her strength into a left-footed kick that caught the bull square in the face. 

It was a shattering blow, even for monsters from the deep levels. 

Tione, who had launched the hit in the air, glared up at her opponent only to go wide-eyed in disbelief. 

Even with her foot buried deep in its jawbone, the black minotaur was still standing. 

Damn, this, thing ?. 

She had no answer. 

An adventurer could never attain this amount of resilience, this toughness no matter how hard they trained. Not only was its defense powerful enough to break Tione’s foot on impact but its two legs were still firmly planted on the ground. 

The black raging bull grabbed Tione’s left leg, still wedged in its face, and flung her. 

“?!” 

Tiona threw down her double-bladed sword and dove to catch her sister just before she careened into a wall. However, that didn’t prevent the ensuing explosion from the building. 

“The heck’s gotten into you?!” 

“Keep your nose out of it!! I told you to shut the hell up, didn’t I?!” 

The two went through the wall together, pulverizing it as they argued back and forth. Meanwhile, Bete moved in to engage the monster one-on-one. The werewolf unleashed a barrage of kicks no less potent than Tione’s, while the bull howled and countered with the Labrys. The two went back and forth, alternating offense and defense until Tiona and Tione rejoined the battle, their argument escalating to the point of exchanging insults. 

The double-bladed sword and the Labrys violently collided, the metal boots redirected attacks, and a frenzy of physical blows connected with the creature’s armor. 

Neither adventurers nor monster surrendered a step. The rest of Loki Familia watched in awe, and then they saw it. 

“Th-that’s a grin…” 

The ferocious smile on the monster’s face. 

Its large white teeth had appeared from beneath a split in its cheeks. No doubt, the raging bull was having the time of its life. 

Taking on three first-tier adventurers at once and absorbing countless hits did nothing to deter the colossal fighting spirit pulsing through its body. 

The black bull swung its head and loosed a ferocious roar. 

Is it just me, or does this feel like…? 

Tiona’s skin broke out in goose bumps as she weathered the roar and brought her double-bladed weapon down for another strike. 

This sensation, I’ve felt it before…!! 

Clicking her tongue in frustration at the ineffectiveness of her attacks, Tione dove out of the Labrys’s path. 

This creature, it’s almost…!! 

Bete felt as though he were fighting against an extremely small floor boss. His metal boots were a blur. 

This excessive strength. 

It was the same as something else, a distant shadow lurking in their memories. 

The young adventurers were reminded of a certain man. 

“……” 

Ottar watched the battle unfolding in the dungeon town from the highest floor in Babel Tower. 

“Do you recognize that minotaur?” 

One rectangular wall was constructed entirely out of glass. Standing before it, watching the entire scene at once from Orario’s highest point, Freya addressed her attendant, who was fixated on Daedalus Street. 

“That…No, then again…Impossible.” 

Ottar’s face remained stoic as he faced forward, fumbling around to find the right words to respond to his goddess. 

Stepping beside the warrior and taking a sip from the wineglass in her hand, Freya looked away from Loki Familia’s battle. 

Even at this great distance, the deity’s silver eyes could see a blur of color and a shimmering, transparent streak. 

It was the vouivre, weaving a path of destruction through the dungeon town, and the boy, hot on its tail in pursuit. 

“Helen.” 

“My Lady.” 

A girl standing nearby straightened her posture at the goddess’s call, but Freya kept her back to her as she continued. 

“Any word from Alfregg and the party I sent to the Dungeon?” 

“They have yet to return.” 

“I see…Could you catch up to the charging vouivre if you departed now?” 

“…I do not believe that I would make it in time.” 

Taking her follower’s honest opinion in stride, Freya ordered, “That’s fine. Go.” 

As the girl made a bow and exited the room, Freya whispered quietly under her breath: 

“To think monsters like this existed.” 

Marveling at this world’s unpredictability, the silver-haired goddess smiled from ear to ear. 

“—Like I’ve been telling you, my brats have been catching those monsters.” 

Gareth narrowed his eyes as a god’s confession dissolved into the sky. 

“They were after money in the black market, but the darn things escaped, as you can see.” 

“And you’re expectin’ me to believe that?” 

“If my word isn’t enough, I’ll tell you right where to go in the sewers beneath Daedalus Street. You’ll see the cages where these monsters were kept.” 

Ikelos had appeared on the rooftop with Gareth and Fels mere moments ago when the dwarf was distracted by the black bull’s entrance. Then, he suddenly began explaining his involvement in the situation. 

“So, how about letting Black Cloak here go, eh?” 

“……” 

“The poor sap’s got nothing to do with my brats. Just got caught up in all this, is all.” 

Ikelos pointed his finger a few times at the black-robed figure, who was still as a statue, facing away. 

While he wasn’t lying, he was also not telling the truth. After decades of training under Loki, Gareth could see through Ikelos’s faint grin and decided to press for an answer to what had been on his mind from the start. 

“And why are you tellin’ me here and now?” 

“Because I lost…Had to do what the winner wanted.” 

Right after he said that… 

The black-robed figure jumped from the rooftop, slipping away during a lull in the conversation. 

Gareth sighed as he saw his quarry disappear over the edge but made no efforts to pursue. 

“…I’ll be askin’ fer details later. For now, ye’re comin’ with me.” 

“Yeah, sure. Just be gentle, okay?” 

Ignoring Ikelos’s words and his grin, Gareth grabbed hold of the deity’s collar. 

As the battle escalated out of the corner of his eye, the dwarf knew that time was of the essence and paid no attention to the screaming god as he bounded through the air. 

“Looks like he’s on his way.” 

“…You have my thanks, God Hermes.” 

—Hiding in a backstreet, Fels watched Gareth disappear from the rooftop above and turned to thank Hermes, standing before him. 

Not only had Hermes been observing the battle from his vantage point on top of the brick tower, he had also witnessed Gareth’s approach behind Fels and convinced Ikelos to intervene with a one-sided negotiation. Knowing that the mage functioned as Ouranos’s right hand, he had saved Fels by offering up the deity instead. 

“What can I say? The way things are now, we’re gonna need your power to get through this, Sage.” 

“…I go by Fels now, God Hermes.” 

The black-robed mage sounded bashful, but the dandy god simply shrugged. 

But Hermes knew that there was no time for small talk and got right to the point. 

“All right then, Fels. As a way to thank me for saving your life, I’ve a favor to ask…Bell is alone right now. Please help him.” 

“But…were I to leave now, the Xenos…” 

“Thanks to that black minotaur, things should work out okay, don’t you think? And from what I’ve seen, Braver wants to capture them alive. Worse shouldn’t come to worst today.” 

Hermes carefully crafted his argument. 

A few moments passed in heavy silence, and then the deity narrowed his eyes behind the brim of his hat. 

“I have a lot of things I’d like to sweep under the rug as well, you know? I’m sure Ouranos’s right arm understands.” 

“……” 

“This won’t make amends for the past but…could you find it in your heart to do this for me?” 

Hermes leaned in close to whisper beside the silent mage’s hood. 

Fels took a few moments to think before extending a hand toward Hermes. 

Then several black spheres, smaller than an oculus, fell from the black glove into the palm of his outstretched hand. 

“These are for an emergency. Break them to use them.” 

“…Understood. I am Hermes and swear by my name. Lulune.” 

Hermes handed the spheres to a chienthrope girl who appeared from deeper down the alley. 

Watching her disappear, Fels set out in accordance with Hermes’s will. 

“Bell and the vouivre were headed south. I bet they’re out of Daedalus Street, probably somewhere in the Pleasure Quarter reconstruction project by now.” 

“Acknowledged.” 

After Hermes had imparted what he saw from on top of the tower, Fels sped down a path leading southeast. 

The battle raged on. 

Combat between first-tier adventurers and the black minotaur had reached a fever pitch. One step forward, one step back. Offense and defense switched sides every second in an epic back-and-forth while the other adventurers gawked. However, numbers were on the adventurers’ side. Once Tiona and Bete ignored Tione’s raging fury and showed some semblance of teamwork, the monster was forced to give ground. 

Just as the tides of combat appeared to be flowing in their favor… 

The monster’s next action turned the entire battle on its head. 

“WOOOOOOO!” 

As yet another blow connected with its armor, the black minotaur reached behind its right shoulder. 

Those five meaty fingers wrapped around the elongated metal ax hilt. 

—Dual Axes? 

Faced with the prospect of an abrupt change in battle style, the three watched the black minotaur’s every move with nervous eyes. 

“?.” 

The first one to recognize the danger wasn’t in Loki Familia’s ranks—it was Welf. 

“—We’re getting out of here, now!!” 

“Eh?!” 

“Just move it!!” 

Shaking off the last effects of the Howl, Welf willed his body forward, picking up Lilly’s unconscious body and grabbing hold of Hestia’s hand. With Mikoto carrying Haruhime in her arms close behind, Welf ran headlong in the other direction, toward where Riveria stood with her staff held high in front of Loki Familia’s forces. 

“!!” 

Arm and shoulder muscles pulsing, the monster swung the bloodstained ax down with its right hand. 

The instant it connected with Tiona’s double-bladed sword—thunder struck. 

“““?!””” 

A flash of light engulfed Tiona along with her weapon, and Tione and Bete on either side of her were also swept up in the shock wave. 

Crackle! An electrical current danced across the blade in front of the dumbstruck trio. 

The blood coating it was blasted away, and the weapon’s true beautiful golden hue came to light. 

Tiona, Tione, Bete, and the rest of Loki Familia all recognized in that moment the weapon for what it was. 

The blood-splattered ax—was a magic weapon. 

Finn’s face contorted, Aiz watched in amazement, and Riveria readied her staff with incredible speed thanks to her abilities as a magic user. Welf, who had prioritized his own familia, gritted his teeth while the rest of Loki Familia, still on the battlefield, froze with fear. 

“OOO?” 

Still reeling from the unexpected electrical shock, the three momentarily numbed adventurers watched as the hulking black shadow’s right arm swung the ax yet again. 

The weapon rose high into the sky. The beast prepared for another volley to blow all of them away. 

Finn called out, and Riveria triggered her magic at nearly the same instant. 

“Riveria, the barrier!!” 

Just as the last member of Hestia Familia dove into the magic circle… 

Riveria’s magic—an enormous dome barrier—took shape. 

“—ooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” 

The Howl tore through the air along with the shock wave. 

“—Damn you!” 

Bete forced his tingling foot high into the air and brought it straight down onto the magic weapon. Brutal lightning bolts burst forth the instant his metal boot touched the black minotaur’s weapon. 

Blinding yellow light drowned out their surroundings. Each bolt raced forward like one of a hydra’s many heads, with electrified fangs that tore up the street and turned the vicinity into a swirling whirlpool of destruction. Being so close to the blast, it went without saying that not only Tiona, Tione, and Bete but adventurers still out on the street had no chance to evade. They were all caught up in the barrage. 

The bolts advanced all the way to Riveria’s barrier. Ka-boom! An immense shower of sparks flared on impact. The barricade of green light shielded the unconscious townspeople, the young magic users, Finn, Aiz, and Welf without so much as a quiver. 

As their ears recovered from the blast, they all waited for the smoke to clear…only to see an utter ruin before their eyes. Every house and building that once lined the street had been razed, the stone pavement was carved up as if by dragon claws, and the burned, smoldering bodies of adventurers were scattered throughout. 

It looked as though the apocalypse had arrived, but they all were still breathing by some miracle. 

“S-so tingly…! I’m paralyzed~!” 

“Damn it…! Why couldn’t you take the whole thing, you damn werewolf!!” 

“Want me to smash your head in, damn Amazon…?” 

Just before the explosion, Bete had put his body on the line to block the blast at close range by sticking out his metal boot—the mythril absorbed the electricity—and greatly reducing its power. But of course, he couldn’t block the entirety of a discharge on that scale. 

After hurtling through the air and rolling across the debris, the three badly burned first-tier adventurers were on their knees on a corner of the street. They were the only ones still moving, but they exchanged harsh words despite their injuries. 

Although they managed to get through the blast in one piece, sparks traced their bodies like flashing thorns, and none of the three could move from the spot. 

“…” 

Apart from where the monsters lay on the eastern side, not even a shadow remained of the buildings on the central road where the minotaur was standing. Everything to the west was completely unrecognizable. 

Finn narrowed his eyes as he took in the destruction, glancing over the mountains of rubble and the monster staring up at him. 

“Forget about taking them alive.” 

Golden hair shifting on his head, the prum general opened his mouth to speak. 

He said from his spot, alone on the rooftop: 

“Do it, Aiz.” 

Suddenly, thump! 

“?” 

With the unmistakable sound of boots on stone, the blond-haired, golden-eyed knight landed behind the monster’s back. 

“Understood.” 

A soft chant left her lips at the same moment she withdrew her silver saber. 

“Awaken, Tempest.” 

Her beautiful voice sounded on the breeze. 

The extremely short trigger spell activated her magic. 

“—VUOOOO!” 

Its back vulnerable, the minotaur immediately turned to swing with the magic weapon in its right hand. 

The blond-haired, golden-eyed knight saw the electrified blade coming toward her and quietly whispered: 

“Airiel.” 

Wind blew. 

The moment it enveloped her body, she slashed forward with blinding speed. 

Her blade—pierced the enemy’s arm. 

“?.” 

Time stopped for Hestia Familia, the Xenos, and the black minotaur. 

The wind-lined blade sent the magic weapon spinning along with most of the monster’s right arm. It twirled through the air until it slammed blade-first into a broken piece of stone pavement with the handle sticking straight up. 

Electrical energy pulsed through the ground underfoot as the gigantic monster reared back. 

“??!” 

As the minotaur screamed into the sky, blood gushed from what was left of the creature’s upper arm; everything from halfway above the elbow was gone. 

Protected by the wind currents around her body, Aiz avoided the fountain of blood entirely. Every drop of blood was blown away. 

Her Magic was called “Airiel.” 

A wind enchantment that enhanced the user’s weapon and physical attributes. 

As they didn’t belong to her familia, that was all that Welf, Mikoto, and even Hestia understood. 

—Aiz Wallenstein. 

The only being other than adventurers not to be affected by the Howl, Hestia was taken by the girl’s majestic appearance in that moment. 

The Sword Princess. Aiz Wallenstein. 

A prominent adventurer in both name and reality. Orario’s strongest female knight. 

Bell’s idol. 

Engulfed by wind, blond hair flowing in the breeze, she had the air of a fairy straight out of a hero’s tale, and she was so beautiful that Hestia had to accept her as worthy of the boy’s admiration. 

The only one unfazed by the monster’s Howl shaking the battlefield, the girl whipped her sword through the air. 

“?OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” 

The minotaur, eyes wide open, swung the Labrys down in a counterattack. 

It was a blow that had permanently removed many adventurers from battle. The monster’s mobile guillotine. 

And Aiz knocked it away with a single flick of her thin saber. 

There was no time to take pride in her successful ambush that claimed her enemy’s arm, nor could she let her guard down. 

She stared down the flabbergasted monster, her golden eyes narrowing. 

“Here I come.” 

She attacked at full strength, sword and wind combining into their own melody. 

“?AAH!” 

It was a series of unrelenting, merciless strikes. 

Aiz carved into her opponent’s towering body, slashing from countless angles seemingly all at once. 

Diagonal over the shoulder, upward arcing, spinning, down from overhead—the now one-armed minotaur had no hope of blocking them all. Gashes opened in the beast’s incredibly tough black skin; lines appeared in the thick armor covering its body with every movement. 

Facing a bladed storm, the minotaur stepped back for the first time. 

“You know, Aiz’s magic is sooo unfair!” 

“You’ve only just noticed, bonehead…?” 

She moved faster than Bete, hit harder than Tiona, and struck more often than Tione. 

The Amazonian girl, unable to join the fight, watched in anguish. Next to her, a werewolf clicked his tongue in frustration at one of the main reasons the girl had become known as the Sword Princess: the power granted to her by the wind. 

The monster stopped trying to defend itself and went on the attack. Aiz charged to meet it, their blades clashing with incredible force. 

Saber crossed ax. There were no sparks in the air, only deafening wind. The currents pounding against the unyielding minotaur were far more powerful than normal, allowing Aiz’s unholy technique to land three strikes in the time it took for her opponent to swing once. 

She picked up speed. 

Her face devoid of emotion, Aiz saw only the minotaur while blocking out everything else. 

Her precise strikes escalated, as if she were pushing herself to a higher plane, progressing further than ever before. 

Blood spewed from her enemy’s large body with every howl of wind and every flash of silver. 

“Th-that’s…” 

Although already taken, Hestia watched in shock, her face twitching as she gulped. 

Mikoto was much the same, pale as a ghost and voice quivering. 

“That’s…the War Princess.” 

She’d heard the term somewhere before. 

“War Princess.” 

A monster slayer wearing a girl’s skin. The one standing atop a mountain of dead beasts. Fearless, ever prowling the deepest bowels of the Dungeon without tiring. 

Welf, and even the other members of Loki Familia, beheld the incredible girl with a mixture of awe and fear as she danced amid the fountains of blood, though her wind protected her from the spray. 

The wind screeched louder still over the battlefield. 

“!” 

The large body staggered. The enemy was off balance. 

Wounded yet again, the minotaur had shown weakness. Aiz took the opening, determined. 

Kicking off the ground with enough speed to turn the stone pavement into gravel behind her, Aiz put all her strength into a diagonal, over-the-shoulder blow to finish it off once and for all. 

“?OO!!” 

“?!” 

However, the enemy’s next move took Aiz by surprise. 

Realizing that there wasn’t enough time to counter with the Labrys, the minotaur swung its head instead—its mighty horns. The crimson projections deflected Aiz’s wind-coated saber strike on contact. 

With a suddenly vulnerable girl in its sights, the minotaur stuck its foot into the ground and swung the Labrys with all its might. 

“?!” 

Wind howled. 

The beast’s sheer strength tore apart the gale protecting the silver blade. 

Blown back by the overwhelming force, Aiz’s feet carved up the stone pavement before she finally came to a stop and examined her saber. 

It was trembling, the wind enchantment completely obliterated. 

Aiz’s hand had gone numb after absorbing the devastating impact and could no longer maintain a strong grip on the hilt. While her face was still aloof, her golden eyes opened a little wider before looking up at what stood before her. 

Huff! Huff! The blood-covered minotaur gasping for breath was smiling. 

Even now, the beast was ferocious, gruff, and fearless. 

Aiz’s eyebrows furrowed, her eyes wide. 

“Awaken, Tempest.” 

Airiel’s currents engulfed her tingly arm once again, forcibly tightening her grip with the power of wind. 

The minotaur howled at its powerful, unyielding adversary, swinging its ax directly into the charging Aiz’s path. 

Their blades collided as the battle started anew, the resulting clash knocking Hestia Familia and other onlookers backward, when suddenly… 

“NGAH!” 

“GOOH?!” 

Just as Aiz appeared to have gained the upper hand, the battle was interrupted. 

It was Gareth, equipped with heavy armor. Finally returning to the battlefield, the dwarf had dropped off Ikelos on top of a nearby building after a constant stream of complaints from the deity (“Brats these days, I swear…”), and then he had jumped down behind the minotaur and sliced the beast’s back with his massive battle-ax. 

“Aiz, pincer attack.” 

“…! But Gareth, I—” 

“Ye’re puttin’ us all at risk, actin’ like that. Tone down that ego—don’cha agree, Finn?” 

A long spear answered Gareth’s question by hurtling toward the monster. 

“……?!” 

“That I do. Then again, I might not be needed with you here, Gareth.” 

Having retrieved his spear, Finn had thrown it again, and he shrugged as it pierced the minotaur’s shoulder. Whether he had sensed an issue with Aiz or not, he had temporarily set aside his duties as commander to join the battle himself. 

Under his stern gaze, Aiz reluctantly nodded. Three seasoned first-tier adventurers surrounded the minotaur. 

The monster put up a fight despite being seriously wounded, but it wasn’t long before…thud! 

“……!” 

The battered, bruised, and bloody frame fell to one knee. 

“Asterios…!” 

Lido grimaced at the sight of the minotaur kneeling before the adventurers and their silver saber, massive battle-ax, and spear. 

And so the last of his kind had been rendered unable to fight. He sensed the other Xenos like Gros and Rei shifting nearby as he glared at those adventurers’ backs—when from out of nowhere, three black spheres were thrown into the middle of the street. 

“!” 

They broke open on contact with the pavement, spewing a stream of black smoke. 

Lido’s, Gros’s, and Rei’s eyes flashed with immediate recognition. 

Fels’s magic items. 

“!” 

“Smoke screen…!” 

“This smoke, it’s spreadin’ out fast!!” 

Aiz, Finn, and Gareth were stunned to see the swirling, intertwining smoke not only rushing toward them but threatening to engulf the entire battlefield. 

A few seconds ahead of the first-tier adventurers, Lido and his two comrades exchanged knowing glances, gathered the last of their strength, and all moved as one. 

“?!!” 

The gargoyle roared. 

Other Xenos began to stir as the cry reached them, the minotaur immediately looking skyward. 

While the tremendous roar was still ringing in their ears, the siren took to the air and unleashed a powerful, ever-expanding sound wave. 

“““?!””” 

The threatening wall of sound targeted only the first-tier adventurers. The three of them froze in place, bracing against the attack coming from behind. 

Visual and aural senses. 

They might have been first-tier adventurers, but a momentary lapse was inevitable without sight and sound. 

 ! The minotaur’s aura is…! 

Gone. 

Limited by the smoke obscuring their vision, her ears under assault, Aiz couldn’t believe it when the monster’s presence seemed to disappear into the darkness. 

“I’ve seen that…!” 

—Meanwhile, Hestia’s memory flared to life as she watched the black smoke inundate the street, hiding Aiz and the other adventurers from view. 

On the moonlit night when she had met Fels for the first time, only a few days prior, this same smoke had come pouring from the black-robed figure’s sleeves before the mage brought her to Ouranos. Another black sphere landed right in front of Hestia’s group only a moment later, engulfing the area in a black fog. 

“!” 

Unable to hear Finn’s or Gareth’s voices due to the deafening sound waves, Aiz decided to use Airiel on her own. 

The torrents of air surrounding her increased in velocity and cleared a space around her in a few moments. 

Once the coiling, almost animal-like fog retreated far enough to see, it was true. The minotaur had vanished without a trace. 

—Don’t hold this against me! 

Then… 

The instant Aiz and the other adventurers emerged from the fog and into Lido’s line of sight, he swelled up his chest like a balloon and released it all at once. Aiz, Gareth, and Finn had been distracted by the missing minotaur and swiftly turned to face this new threat, but they were too late. 

An inferno came streaming out of Lido’s mouth. 

“A fire-breathin’ lizardman…?!” 

Aiz ignored Gareth’s flabbergasted remark and enveloped them with a protective wall of wind. However, they weren’t Lido’s target. 

The lizardman swept his head to the side along with the inferno, igniting a wide area. 

“?!” 

Aiz’s wind alone wasn’t enough to protect the residential buildings on either side of the street from the flames. 

This being the slums, many flammable objects immediately caught fire. Wooden materials and magic-stone products ignited, turning the whole block into a hellscape right before their eyes. 

“GROOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” 

The siren and lizardman ceased their attacks and took off running the moment the gargoyle’s voice echoed through the din. 

The other monsters were already barreling through the backstreets; the Xenos were in full retreat. 

“……!” 

“…We’re shorthanded as it is. Cruz and the others take priority.” 

Finn looked defeated as he ordered Aiz to stay put just as she was about to give chase. The three of them included, very few adventurers could still move. 

“What is transpiring out there…?!” 

Riveria stood motionless, making sure the barrier protecting the townspeople remained firmly in place. 

She couldn’t dismiss the magic due to the smoky black fog obscuring her vision and keeping her from comprehending the situation—and her concern it might be poisonous. The people she was tasked to protect had become her fetters. 

Without someone to orchestrate their movements after Finn joined the front line, Loki Familia had lost the offensive advantage. 

The adventurers were quick to regroup once Finn retook command. Gareth went to Tiona, Tione, and Bete before collecting Ikelos and bringing them all to safety. Aiz also took part in the rescue effort. To contain the fire, uninjured magic users joined Riveria in freezing the area with ice magic and summoning streams of water to douse the flames. Even Hestia Familia, who was unable to side with either the Xenos or Loki Familia, pitched in. 

The damage was contained to a single block within ten minutes thanks to the powerful magic users’ efforts. The fire had been completely extinguished. 

Pillars of black smoke rose above the stone street, now a charred, barren wasteland of rubble. 

“Finn, what happened to that minotaur…?” 

“…It’s underground.” 

Aiz walked somberly through the middle of the street toward Finn, who was looking at the ground. 

The paving stones had broken open from underneath to form a passageway to the area below. 

“What’s this…?” 

“The hole that metallic giant left behind. That monster probably passed through here to enter the sewers.” 

Aiz looked with surprise at the hole where Fels’s golem had emerged. 

Indeed, there was a trail of blood leading into the darkness beneath the charred opening. The black monster had disappeared into this gap during the commotion. 

“…Should we pursue?” 

“Yes, please do…but considering how well they pulled off the escape, I think it’s safe to say these armed monsters are quite intelligent. Please don’t go after them alone.” 

Finn sighed as he answered Aiz’s question, noticing that the minotaur’s severed arm had also disappeared. 

A little more time passed before other adventurers and Guild employees arrived on the scene in a flurry. 

As people still suffering from the Howl received medical attention all around him, Finn looked up at the sky and reflected on his blunder. 

“That was a mistake…This failure is on me.” 

The vicious monster howls, explosive echoes, and, above all, the stories of the townspeople fleeing from the labyrinthine district plunged the relatively calm Orario back into chaos. 

As Royman and the rest of the Guild’s upper management blanched and issued orders to every familia left and right, adventurers descended upon Daedalus Street in the city’s third district, the southeast block. 

“Keh…!” 

The setting sun had nearly reached the city wall, burning one side of the boy’s face. 

Bell was running. 

He was in hot pursuit of the vouivre destroying everything in its path. 

“Wiene!” 

Bell’s scream didn’t reach the wailing dragon girl as she plowed forward. 

Breaking through walls and racing up stairwells, the vouivre and Bell burst out of the dungeon-like district, leaving the slum behind. 

“Eep…! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKK!” 

“Hey, you—adventurer! Over here! It’s over here!” 

A group of demi-humans shrieked and scattered in all directions once they caught sight of the furious monster. 

Leaving Daedalus Street meant that they were now careening through busier city roads, creating a ruckus and terrified cries. Women dressed like courtesans called out to adventurers one after another. 

Bell grew more anxious by the moment. 

“Wiene, stop!” 

“AAAAAAAaaa!” 

He’d jumped onto her many times while passing through the dungeon town; he’d held on to her only to get bucked off by her undulating snakelike body. His hands were already cut up and bloodied from trying to hold on to her sharp dragon scales. Calling out to the girl had proven useless, making the task of returning the garnet jewel next to impossible. 

Bell had clung to her dainty upper body, and her relentless convulsions had flung him around like a rag doll until he was dislodged by a collision with a street sign and rolled across the ground once again. Witnesses screamed, fearing for his life. 

The curse should have lifted by now…! 

The ominous red tint was gone from Wiene’s eyes. 

Dix’s curse should have been broken. But even so, the dragon girl’s rampage persisted. 

Bell, blood flowing down his face, glanced at the messy puncture wound in Wiene’s left hand. 

—The spear that had pierced her. 

As unfortunate as it was, there was a high possibility that Finn’s spear attack had been exceptionally traumatic. 

It was a reminder of Dix’s spear, his scornful laughter, his wickedness. 

The curse of his existence wouldn’t go away. 

“There it is! Right there!!” 

“?!” 

Unable to stop Wiene, adventurers started appearing one by one. 

They were hesitant at first, seeing a crazed vouivre, a rare large-category monster like a lamia, charging toward them. However, they raised their weapons, determined not to let it come any closer. 

Their longbow strings creaked with arrows at the ready; their fingers clasped around javelins; the jewels of their staffs glinted. 

Bell screamed, enough to hurt his throat, at the adventurers lining the road and standing in their path. 

“STOP—!” 

However, Bell’s cry was drowned out by the adventurers’ shouts as they attacked. 

A javelin plunged into the dragon’s tail; an arrow pierced her shoulder; fire magic hit head-on. Countless broken scales fell from her body. 

“?!” 

A shrill howl came from Wiene. 

Writhing in pain from the adventurers’ merciless assault, she sped up in a desperate attempt to escape from the threat. 

She bowled over the adventurers in her path. 

“……!!” 

Bell clenched his teeth so hard they nearly snapped. 

As even more adversaries gathered in the vouivre’s path, Bell cast aside the discord and doubt in his mind and thrust his right arm in their direction. 

“Firebolt!!” 

A round of Swift-Strike Magic raced toward the adventurers preparing to attack. 

“The hell?!” 

“?!” 

“WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAA!” 

At their feet, off their armor, into their bodies. 

An electrified inferno ignited, knocking them onto their backs in an explosion of sparks. 

Hot on Wiene’s tail, Bell rounded on those who should be his allies, the adventurers. 

“Little Rookie, you bastard!” 

Red-faced adventurers roared at Bell as his burning lightning bolts interfered with their attacks. 

Lower-class, upper-class adventurers, even their familia didn’t matter. They all seethed at the lone newbie getting in their way. 

Wide-eyed women and children peeked out from the higher floors of buildings lining the street, bearing witness to his barbaric actions. 

Was he crazy? Did he want the drop item that much? What was he thinking, at a time like this? Each one of his fellow adventurers’ criticisms cut deep into his heart and made his hands quiver, but Bell continued casting his magic nonetheless. Protecting the vouivre, chasing her down. 

The endless pursuit soon reached a new arena, the Pleasure Quarter reconstruction zone. 

Formerly Ishtar Familia’s territory, it had been heavily damaged during the attack from Freya Familia that drove the former owners out of business. Many buildings still bore the scars of that day, and piles of debris were still rampant even for the Pleasure Quarter. Citizens had been forbidden to set foot in the area. Brothels stood in shambles; scattered barrels and ash covered the streets. A master-less Belit Babili overlooked a lonely, empty castle town. 

The two barreled their way through the web of debris that filled the street. 

A group of adventurers had circled ahead, waiting for Bell and Wiene directly in their path. 

“……?” 

Zing! Bell immediately knew something was off. 

…They’re not attacking? 

Weapons held at rest, even the sounds of their pursuers had vanished. 

The adventurers just stood to block Wiene’s path or perhaps intimidatingly fire off their weapons, but the onslaught had stopped as far as Bell could see. 

Almost like they’d given up… 

—No, that wasn’t it. 

A cold chill zipped down the boy’s spine the instant he revoked his own reassuring hypothesis. 

They’re leading her…! 

All color left Bell’s face a moment later. 

“Wiene, don’t go that way!” 

She was being drawn into a trap. 

Nothing else mattered to Bell once he realized it, and he screamed at the top of his lungs. 

A human alongside a dwarf with a massive shield at the ready appeared in their path. The vouivre veered away, racing down a different passage to avoid the people blockade. Bell reached out to grab her tail, but an arrow crossed just in front of him, denying him the opportunity. 

It came from an animal person on top of a nearby roof as if to say, “Don’t get in the way.” 

“……?” 

Then Bell’s wish was proven to be in vain. 

The dim backstreet suddenly opened into a wide area that was illuminated by the setting sun. 

It was like a bowl, a clearing surrounded by a ring of rubble. 

The vouivre broke through an iron gate, shattering the bars with astonishing force before the ground disappeared beneath her, and she fell all the way to the bottom. 

The stone pavement crumbled with a series of crashes until she came to a stop at the very center. Countless adventurers stood on the rim looking down at her from all directions. 

The adventurers had conspired together—across familias. 

Bell’s heart pounded even louder at the sight of so many magic users prepared to release the spells they had on standby. 

He dove into the clearing without missing a step. 

“Little Rookie! Stand down!” 

“You crazy or something?! You’ll die!” 

Adventurers shouted angry warnings at the boy the moment he landed. 

“Doesn’t matter! Just do iiit!” 

A man who seemed to have lost himself in the chaos shouted from somewhere around the rim, and his voice set everything in motion. 

Innumerable flashes of magical energy erupted in a volley of simultaneous spells. 

“?.” 

The fusillade descended directly toward the center of the clearing. 

Wiene’s eyes shrank, her face briefly illuminated before the light engulfed her. 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” 

Magic explosions drowned out the monster’s shriek. 

Wiene disappeared amid the roaring wind. 

“?!” 

Bell raced forward. 

Streaking flames, electrical discharges, and icy wind rocked his body back and forth as he made a break for the middle of the clearing. 

No matter how much his skin was scorched, his hair sizzled, or his body burned with frost, Bell rushed to reach the girl at the eye of the swirling vortex of magic energy. 

A wordless scream burst from his lungs. 

Time slowed to a nauseating crawl. 

Trapped in this world without time, Bell reached out. 

There, amid the flickering magic energy, was a scale-less dragon monster staring up at the sky. 

Smoke was rising from all over its body; its faint silver-blue hair swished back and forth as its ash-colored extremities started rotting away. 

Catching a glimpse of the approaching boy, she looked at him with vacant eyes as her lips formed one word: 

Bell. 

“!!!!” 

Bell thrust his hand forward with all his strength and was just about to reach her, when suddenly— 

A crimson spearhead plunged through her chest. 

“?.” 

The missile had been thrown from behind Bell. 

It was a cursed blade with a deep-seated grudge. 

“HAH! Hya-ha-ha-ha! AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! Got it! I finished it off!” 

A large man hooted with the scornful laughter of the insane. 

Half his face missing, the stocky human’s cackling set time in motion again. 

The skewered girl’s body started to tilt ever so slightly in front of Bell’s eyes. 

“—Wiene!” 

Just as the crying boy’s scream rang out—the ground gave way. 

“What’s that?!” 

“It’s caving in!” 

The clearing crumbled at the center, the focal point of the magic volley. 

The stones disappeared from beneath his feet, and he fell right along with her. 

Bell grabbed hold of the girl falling into darkness and embraced her. 

Adventurers and magic users shielded their faces with their arms, motionlessly observing the scene below. 

A cave-in. 

Swelling clouds of dust in the air. 

A gaping hole had opened in the center of the bowl, making the area resemble a man-made inverse anthill. Crumble! Crack! A few stone fragments collapsed into the hole as if only just realizing what had happened. 

Designed by Daedalus himself, secret underground passageways crisscrossed beneath the Pleasure Quarter. One of these underground tunnels passed under the bowl, meaning the space beneath the clearing was hollow to begin with. Unable to withstand the cascade of magic, the stone pavement had collapsed in on itself. 

A few adventurers cleared their throats, filling the silence. 

The boy and the vouivre had fallen deep into the hole and disappeared without a trace. 

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” 

There was a large human among them, laughing like a madman. 

It was Ikelos Familia’s Gran. The last surviving hunter had used a key to return to the surface via Knossos’s stairwell and, lost in his own rage, hurled Dix’s spearhead at Wiene. 

“Did you see that, Dix?! I killed the beast, killed it dead! Me, all me?!” 

“!!” 

A gargoyle claw plummeted from the sky and crushed the deranged man. 

Gros had witnessed the shining beacon from the air after escaping from Loki Familia and led the winged monsters in a dash to the clearing. That was when he saw it. 

The gargoyle, having ended the hunter’s life for sure this time, stood amid the adventurers’ screams and gawked at the hole where Bell and Wiene had fallen, trembling. 

“?OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” 

“A flying monster?! What’s it so upset about?!” 

“Dammit, let’s get out of here!” 

The Xenos went wild. 

With the last vestiges of strength in their badly injured bodies, they rushed after the screaming adventurers in full retreat. 

All so that the boy and girl could spend their last moments together uninterrupted. 

A steady stream of sand and rubble poured down around them like an hourglass counting down the remaining time. 

The stone and debris of a dark underground tunnel surrounded them. 

A red sky looked down on Bell embracing the girl’s limp body from a hole over their heads. 

“Wiene…Wiene?!” 

Eyes glistening with tears, he took hold of the cursed spearhead lodged in her chest. 

The curse was already eating into her flesh. Pulling the wickedly curved blade from the girl’s body, Bell cast it aside with a dry clang. 

The light-blue body twitched. 

Bell withdrew the garnet jewel from his pouch and pressed it into the limp girl’s forehead. 

Although a faint flicker passed through the reddish stone, the girl in his arms didn’t move. 

In fact—thud! 

The long dragon tail was turning to ash. 

“…?!” 

Deep inside the spear wound in her chest… 

The bloody purple crystal just visible inside the opening was cracked. 

Outer portions of her body turned to ash, falling away as the crack expanded. 

“No…Don’t!!” 

Bell kept yelling, bawling like a child. 

Don’t, don’t do this—don’t go. He repeated the same words over and over again. 

An endless stream of tears fell from his eyes, squeezed shut, and dripped onto her cheeks as she lay weakly in his embrace. 

“…Be…ll?” 

“!” 

Bell’s eyes flew open the instant he heard her weak whispers, barely more than breaths. 

Wiene was awake. The light had returned to her amber eyes, peeking out from behind her cracked eyelids. 

Her cheeks were still solid and elongated. 

She gazed up at Bell, so feebly she seemed about to expire at any moment. 

“Wiene……!” 

“…Be…ll…I’m…so sorry.” 

She apologized in a hoarse voice, fixated on Bell’s bleeding face. 

As the sound of crumbling ash grew louder in his ears, Bell shook his head over and over. 

He laughed through his tears with a smile that could hardly pass as genuine. 

“I’m fine, just fine, so…don’t worry about me, just…!! Please, Wiene—!” 

—Don’t disappear. 

Bell tightened his grip on her shoulder, pleading with all his heart. 

Trembling, Wiene pressed her cheek against the boy’s chest, smiling as if all was right with the world while tears welled up in her amber eyes. 

Fsh…a faint sound came from her chest as her dragon abdomen crumbled to the floor. 

“…I…had a dream.” 

“You did…?” 

Only Wiene’s humanlike torso remained as she gazed up into Bell’s wide eyes. 

“No one…would save me…It was so scary.” 

She was turning to ash in his arms. 

The last moments of her life ticking away, Wiene lifted a quivering hand. 

“But, you know?” 

It softly brushed against his cheek, crumbling on contact. 

Her voice barely audible between sobs, Wiene continued. 

“This time…someone came…Someone saved me.” 

Bell’s eyes opened as wide as they would go. 

“I’m so happy…” 

She closed her eyes, and a single transparent tear ran down her cheek. 

Her lips parted, but a single dream, one tiny desire, held her close. 

In that moment, the exceptional girl was whole. 

Her body was dissolving. 

The girl’s form was becoming unrecognizable. 

“Thank you,” she said to the shocked boy. 

As she cried, a smile bloomed on her lips. 

Then… 

“Bell…I love you.” 

She was gone. 

She had crumbled. 

Ash flowed through Bell’s fingers. 

Her warmth had vanished. 

“?.” 

Time stood still as unyielding tears silently slid down Bell’s cheeks. 

The motes of ash drifted gently around him, glimmering in the light and fading as his memories of her did the same. 

Their meeting. 

The fear. 

The sadness. 

Bewilderment. 

Touch. 

Gratitude. 

Name. 

Joy. 

Smile. 

Embrace. 

Tears. 

Amid the ash falling from his chest, only the beautiful reddish jewel remained intact. 

“Agh, aaggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh—” 

His heart was breaking. 

A hole had opened in his core. 

His throat quivered, but just before a wail could follow… 

“O untrodden domain, O forbidden wall. Today on this day, I turn my back on the laws of heaven—” 

The words of a spell echoed. 

“?!” 

Tears flew from his cheeks as Bell whirled around to look over his shoulder. It was the black-robed mage. 

“Rod of Asclepius, Goblet of Salus. O ye who is beyond the power of healing—I ask you to wait.” 

A white magic circle expanded by the moment. The twinkling magic energy surpassed the realms of human comprehension. 

Bell watched with wide eyes as Fels continued to chant in a loud voice. 

“Lord’s judgment, lightning of conviction. Shall I be burned, rejecting your providence—” 

The white magic energy illuminating the underground tunnel burst through the hole overhead, forming a white pillar that reached to the heavens. 

Everyone in Orario, both monsters and people, spotted the beam piercing the twilight. 

“That light—Fels?!” 

“……?!” 

Rei and Gros had successfully driven off the adventurers and were now carrying a badly injured Lido over their shoulders. The lizardman whispered in disbelief as all three stared at the bright light coming out from the cracks in the pavement under their feet. 

“Lady Hestia!!” 

“A deity being sent home…? No, it’s not!” 

Hestia was checking up on her familia’s condition when Welf got her attention by pointing to the pillar of light. 

“Finn…” 

“From the Pleasure Quarter…Bell Cranell—no, the vouivre?” 

Loki Familia’s adventurers stared up at the heavens as well. 

“Using that now, are you, Fels…?” 

A wizened deity closed his eyes. 

“That light, how many times have I seen it now?” 

A silver-haired Goddess of Beauty smiled from her vantage point at the top of the giant tower. 

“Somethin’ big’s goin’ down…” 

So said a goddess with cinnabar-red hair, sitting cross-legged on a rooftop. 

“A miracle if I’ve ever seen one.” 

A god narrowed his eyes beneath his traveler’s hat. 

“—I shall journey to the realm of the dead myself.” 

The song’s tempo increased. 

As the magic circle glowed even brighter, Bell’s face and the black robe disappeared in the white light. 

“Gates of Charon, over the river of time. Lend your ears, O Lord. Listen to this deranged melody.” 

It was a reverberating, majestic tune. A divine harmony. 

And a sinful deed that went against the laws of the earth. 

“Never-ending tears, lamenting wails. The price has already been paid.” 

It was taboo magic conjured with an extremely long chant. 

It could overturn predetermined fate, a secret technique capable of defying an irreversible, absolute truth. 

“O path of light. I ask you to sacrifice the given past and cast light on this foolish desire.” 

Resurrection magic granted to only the Sage of old. 

“Yes, I will not turn away.” 

The conjuring was complete, the magic energy at its peak. 

And a request was made in exchange for all of Fels’s Mind. 

“Dia Orpheus.” 

The pillar of light began to flake apart. 

In its place, millions upon millions of light fractals overwhelmed the underground tunnel. 

Sparkling white jewels fell like snow. Bell’s wide eyes glittered with the reflections as a high-pitched tone filled the air, and the pieces began spiraling into a single point. 

Lastly, soft blue light from beneath the magic circle swirled into Bell’s chest. 

The light pillar shattered a moment later with the sound of breaking glass. 

Bell reflexively shut his eyes to protect them against the blinding flash that turned the world white for an instant, shuddering as weight and warmth returned to his chest. 

Slowly, cautiously, Bell opened his eyes as if in prayer…only to see the dragon girl, eyes closed and curled up against his chest. 

“Aa?.” 

A small cry escaped him as his vision blurred and he placed a hand on her cheek. 

Cold. And yet warm. He felt a soft beat. She was breathing. 

She had four supple, humanlike limbs. Gone were the dragon wings, and the piles of ash on the floor were noticeably smaller than before. 

The reddish jewel embedded in her forehead started to glow, spotlighting Bell’s eyes. 

“…That…was my first success.” 

Plop! A dull thud sounded soon after. 

The black-robed mage fell to a seat on the floor behind Bell, every ounce of energy and willpower spent. 

“Eight hundred years, has it been…? How I loathed this pointless magic, this useless hope that took up one of my Status slots all this time…” 

Bell met the mage’s gaze, certain he could feel a smile coming from beneath the hood. 

Fels looked up, staring into empty space. 

“But yes…there was a point.” 

Tears flowed from Bell’s eyes as he watched Fels struggle to form the words. 

The boy then turned his attention to the girl, feeling the warmth in her cheek once again—and embraced her with all his strength. 

A single, transparent tear trickled out from between the girl’s closed eyelids. 

The sun sank into the west. 

The white pillar piercing the heavens had vanished without a trace. 

The world had been momentarily cast in white light, but it was now silent. Twilight returned to Orario, leaving behind only confused townspeople and the excited whispers of deities. 

In a corner of the slum in the white tower’s shadow… 

Finn was receiving an update underneath the evening light. 

“Sorry, Finn…A water main broke halfway through…and we had to give up the chase.” 

“The winged monsters that appeared in the Pleasure Quarter also vanished into the sewers beneath the broken courtyard…There’s no trace of them.” 

“I see…What of Bell Cranell? The vouivre?” 

“He is still missing. However, on the spot where he fell along with the vouivre…we discovered traces of blood among a great deal of what appeared to be monster ashes.” 

Finn said nothing, running his tongue along the base of his thumb as he listened to Aiz and Riveria’s report. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he took note of Aiz’s reaction to Riveria’s information and added, “All right, thank you,” with a nod. The prum general dismissed the two women and cast his gaze back over the battlefield. 

“So they got away in the end…” 

He whispered while surveying the damaged and burned cityscape. 

At long last, he started issuing new orders to Loki Familia, which had been busy helping the other adventurers attending to the wounded and rescuing people from the rubble. 

“……” 

Aiz watched him in silence before gazing at her own hand, then silently raised her head toward the sky. 

The red sun was about to sink below the city. 

Bell quietly stared ahead, hidden deep in the shadows where the evening light could never reach. 

“Wiene, Wiene…!” 

“Th-thank goodness…!” 

They had arrived at the entrance to a drainage canal located deeper inside the city’s sewer network. 

Concealed behind a trapdoor, this tunnel was surprisingly large and resembled an area beneath a bridge. Bell had a feeling he’d been here before, but he couldn’t place it at the moment. 

Bell, Fels, Wiene, and all the Xenos who had been able to make it this far had hidden in this drainage canal, which was still beyond the adventurers’ range. 

Lido, Gros, and Rei, as well as a lamia and a troll, were all huddled around Wiene in front of Bell. Although she had yet to wake up, the Xenos were trembling and crying tears of joy to see that their comrade was safe and sleeping soundly. 

“…Fels.” 

“What troubles you, Bell Cranell?” 

Bell wanted to pose a question to the mage, who was standing outside the ring of the Xenos just like him. 

“Are they all that’s left of the Xenos who came up to the surface…?” 

“No, there are Xenos who have yet to regroup. You might not be aware, but many of them were separated during the retreat from Loki Familia and are still hiding in the city, or…” 

Fels’s words hung in the air, and Bell closed his mouth. 

Bell could count the Xenos survivors in front of him on his fingers. He was concerned for the safety of all the monsters who had rushed into the battle to buy time for Wiene and himself. 

Lost in his train of thought, Bell focused again on the Xenos surrounding Wiene. 

“Bell Cranell…” 

Still exhausted from the earlier spell, Fels spoke in a meek voice while leaning against the wall. 

“May I ask as to why you seem upset?” 

Fels stepped forward immediately, pressing for the boy’s thoughts as he looked upon the Xenos with a heavy heart. 

“……” 

“The Xenos were saved thanks to your efforts. That is no lie. The same is true for Wiene. You have my gratitude as well.” 

“I…” 

“Regret your decision, do you?” 

You regret the actions you chose to take? 

That was the question, but implied rather than spoken. 

Bell immediately started to shake his head, but then stopped and stared at the ground as he answered. 

“That man…The adventurer who wore goggles said something to me.” 

The tyrannical hunter who had captured and tortured the Xenos. 

Bell repeated Dix’s words. 

“That…I’m a hypocrite.” 

“……” 

The goggled man had declared and laughed scornfully at him. 

He claimed that Bell’s decision was nothing more than pretty words, an absurd dream, a fabrication. 

Nothing more than a “bat” flapping back and forth, unable to make up its mind. 

—He was correct. 

Bell was desperate not to get driven out by the people but lent the monsters a helping hand. 

He’d become the target of Loki Familia’s hostility. 

He’d attacked other adventurers with his magic. 

Bell remembered everything. 

He had betrayed so many during his single-minded effort to save the girl. 

He’d stood opposite his idol, driven away his allies. 

He’d even turned his back on his desire to be a hero according to his grandfather’s teachings. He had been that close to leaving it all behind. 

A monumental feeling of powerlessness had been waiting for him at the end of it all. 

For without assistance from Fels, the other Xenos, Lyu, and so many others, he would never have been able to rescue Wiene. 

He was unable to protect or save anyone—a hypocrite. 

That man’s laughter resounded deep in his ears once again. 

“……” 

Fels listened to the boy’s answer as he hunched over. 

Stepping away from the wall, the mage turned toward Bell. 

“Bell Cranell, this is nothing more than a theory…However, I see it like this: Only those criticized for hypocrisy possess the necessary qualities to become a hero.” 

Bell’s eyes flew open, and he looked up. 

“Please continue to worry, feel anguish, and doubt as you make decisions, like today.” 

“Fels…” 

“Heroes have to make decisions that are sometimes cruel, heartless, and go unforgiven…but they are also the most noble.” 

Bell couldn’t help but feel that Fels was smiling deep within the darkness underneath the hood. 

“Because your answer—just like the heroes’ of old—was not wrong, no matter how scorned or criticized it might be.” 

Fels’s words touched his very soul. Bell had no response and could not answer. 

It took everything he had to manage the emotions coursing through his heart. 

“Allow me to speak as one who has lost flesh and skin. I, a mage composed of nothing but bones and regret, say this to you.” 

The long-lived, black-robed skeleton got to the point at last. 

“Be a fool, Bell Cranell.” 

“……” 

“You are the one who must do so. What you possess seems foolish to us…However, I’m absolutely sure it is irreplaceable in the eyes of the gods.” 

Fels stepped aside, allowing Bell to see the monsters again. 

“Bell, thank you, thank you so much…!” 

“Sorry, Bellucchi…And thanks!” 

“…Thank you. You have…my gratitude.” 

Bell’s vision blurred at the sentiment of these monsters who could never see eye to eye with people. 

He took one look at the sleeping dragon girl, and his throat trembled. 

“There were many who showed compassion and shared an unusual bond with the Xenos just like you…However, none of them were able to care for and save them, as you have just done. 

“Thank you.” 

Bell looked back down at his feet upon hearing those appreciative words. 

The boy’s back was toward the setting sun, and the last of its rays dyed the sky red as they caressed the boy’s cheek. 

You don’t have to be proud. 

You can doubt yourself. 

But never ever regret. 

Because lives saved by foolish hypocrisy are surely right before you. 

—He felt as though the red rays had borrowed his grandfather’s voice to tell him so.