CHAPTER 6
A DEITY’S SCHEME
As Hestia held the soaked book in her hands, the blood drained from her face.
“The writing isn’t disappearing…The ink isn’t bleeding…!”
The letters weren’t even blurred.
The truth struck Hestia like a shock wave.
There was even something strange about the texture of the pages, which hadn’t been warped at all by the water. If thousand-year-old paper remained unchanged after absorbing water, then this notebook must be—
“Is this whole thing a magic item…? It’s not impossible, and it’s certainly not unimaginable, but…?”
The master craftsman Daedalus had supposedly created this cursed book. Hestia had heard that he was one of Ouranos’s few children and one of the first generation of humans to be blessed with Falna. But even in the latter part of his life, which fell in the early years of the Divine Era when the deities descended from the heavens, there was no way the technology for magic items could have been this advanced. The skills to manifest abilities—not to mention knowledge about magic items—had been accumulated over the past thousand years. Maybe Daedalus could make an orichalcum door that did no more than open and close, but it was impossible to imagine his creating a book like this.
It dawned on Hestia that someone must have deliberately forged the notebook to look like it was from the Ancient Times—specifically as a deception.
“And this ink that doesn’t dissolve…I recognize this.”
It was the same type of ink as in the letter that Fels’s familiar owl had delivered. That crimson writing hadn’t bled in the rain, either.
Fels had written the letter with a Blood Feather, a magic item that allowed blood to be used in place of ink. The red feather pens were popular among adventurers in Orario these days.
And who had invented them? None other than Perseus.
“Of course I didn’t get the Notebook from Ikelos,” Hermes announced to the dumbstruck Fels and Xenos.
“Dix Perdix owned the original Notebook. But now he’s dead. More likely than not, the real one is lying around somewhere in Knossos,” he continued.
The heritage of Daedalus was passed on to his descendants. That was true of the Notebook as well as Knossos. Even a patron deity couldn’t take it away from them, Hermes explained, still smiling.
His smile served only to enflame Fels’s confusion and anger.
“Then what is that book?!”
“A fake. One of my children forged the book that Hestia received. She did a darn good job of it, too, wouldn’t you agree? I had her use all sorts of magic items to create the illusion of a thousand-year-old book.”
A beautiful woman with aqua-blue hair and dark, tired circles under her eyes stepped out from behind Hermes. It was Perseus. She had responded to her patron deity’s entreaty, and in the space of a few short, sleepless days forged a replica of the book that Daedalus had poured his crazed obsession into.
The only truth Hermes had spoken when he came before Ouranos was that he had thoroughly surveyed Knossos. His familia had searched the same places Loki Familia had. In other words, everything in the plans below the first underground level was nonsense—and the maps Hestia and Fels had used were interlaced with lies.
The spot where the Xenos stood now was one of those falsehoods.
“So you drew doors that didn’t exist and lured us down here…?!”
“Put it that way if you like. Since Loki Familia was guarding all the other doors, I knew you’d be forced to take the bait and try your only other escape route.”
A dead end with a nonexistent door.
Fels and the Xenos had followed the Notebook headlong into the god’s trap. In that light, it was only natural that Finn had read the situation incorrectly. Of course his instinct for danger hadn’t set alarm bells ringing. The Xenos had gone right down the wrong path.
“As long as I knew whether you were heading east or west…all I had to do was trust in my plan and wait. Wait right here, I mean,” Hermes explained, rubbing the brim of his traveling cap. “Don’t blame Ouranos for this. I commandeered his help, so to speak, in return for everything he’s asked of me in the past.”
But why hadn’t Hermes given the Notebook directly to Bell?
The answer was simple. He didn’t want to raise suspicion. By putting Ouranos in the middle, he’d softened the doubts of Hestia and Fels. Ouranos had served as his cover. They had trusted the book without reservations because it came from the strictly impartial old deity.
“Wait long enough and even Loki Familia will find you here, although they would never expect you to walk into a dead end of your own accord.”
“…!”
“But please don’t worry. There’s still a way out. If you can get that far, you’ll most likely make it to the Dungeon.”
Having cornered Fels and the Xenos, Hermes stood in front of them dangling despair and hope before their eyes.
The meaning of the situation was clear.
Their lives were in his hands.
The Xenos looked even more shocked than Fels as the god’s smile pinned them in place. Fels’s gloved fingers rustled as they rubbed together. Alongside the anger, an overwhelming impatience welled up inside the mage.
This Sage who had lived for eight hundred long years was forced to realize what was happening.
The god was toying with them.
“—Fels, something weird is going on! I dropped the Notebook in a puddle, but nothing happened…It’s a fake! Ouranos—no, Hermes—he did something…!”
Hestia’s shouts echoed through the oculus and into the fear-laden air of the dead end. Hermes looked at the blue crystal, and Fels, obeying his unspoken command, crushed it. Hestia’s voice was silenced.
“What is your objective, God Hermes…?” Fels asked in a voice saturated with resentment.
“I want to make a deal—or rather, a request,” Hermes responded, narrowing his eyes.
The Xenos could not refuse.
As his follower stood behind him, Hermes looked over the monsters before him and slowly curled back his lips.
“Die for me, maverick monsters.”
Bell and Haruhime stood on a hilltop in the northern section of Daedalus Street. After saying good-bye to Wiene and the other Xenos, they had left the back garden of the orphanage and headed here.
“The town feels quieter now, doesn’t it…?” Bell said.
“Yes, you’re right. By now the Xenos must be back in the Dungeon…” Haruhime replied.
The waves of chaos seemed to be receding from the sprawling slums beneath the railing where they stood side by side. The black mist that had filled the western sector was entirely gone, and they could tell that the excitement was dying down.
As they looked out at the tangled streets of the Labyrinth District, Bell and Haruhime felt a sense of accomplishment but also a certain loneliness.
“…The final Xenos who’s still here…we can’t save him, can we?”
“Master Bell…”
“He’s here of his own free will, and it may be none of my business…but…”
Bell was thinking of Wiene and the others. He wanted the final Xenos to survive if at all possible, but he hesitated to express that thought directly.
Haruhime was giggling at the younger boy’s evasiveness when the goddess’s voice suddenly rang out from the oculus on his gauntlet.
“Bell, Haruhime! Can you hear me?!”
“Goddess? What’s the matter?”
“We need to talk! I want to meet up with you two. I’ll head toward you, so just follow my directions!”
“Uh…um, okay. I understand.”
The desperation in the goddess’s voice bewildered Bell. As he and Haruhime looked at each other, they both realized something was very wrong.
Forgoing any explanation, Hestia immediately began giving them directions. Eventually, they found themselves in a plaza on the west side of the Labyrinth District.
Hestia tottered toward them under a backpack stuffed with the magic map and other items. Without even pausing to thank them for their hard work, she plunged into an explanation of what had happened.
“Daedalus’s Notebook is a fake! And I can’t get in touch with Fels and the others!”
“A f-fake…? And you can’t contact the Xenos…?”
“Wh-what does this mean, Goddess?”
“I don’t know! I don’t know, but…I have a bad feeling about it…!”
The goddess twisted her ponytails anxiously as she responded to Bell’s and Haruhime’s panicked questions. From her expression, they could tell how serious the situation was.
“Bell, I’m sorry to ask you this, but can you go into the underground passage and see what’s happening? I know Loki Familia is still around and it’s dangerous, but I want you to check out the situation!”
“Y-yes, okay!”
Without further explanation from Hestia, Bell grabbed his Reverse Veil and was about to run off when she stopped him.
“Wait a minute, Bell!”
“What?”
“Just to be safe, let’s update your Status…We don’t know what could happen.”
Hestia rustled around in her belongings, pulled out her Ichor needle, and drew Bell into the shadows where no one could see them.
“Um, but…everyone just did it together…”
“You fought the Sword Princess, so it’s gonna really—Uh, anyway, it’s fine; just sit still.”
Hestia didn’t want to say any more about that particular skill, so she simply ordered Bell to obey.
“Yes, Goddess?!” he said, and began removing his gear.
“Haruhime, tell Lilly, Welf, and Mikoto to come here.”
“Y-yes, ma’am!”
Hestia had prioritized meeting up with Bell so that she could strengthen his Status. Now she hurriedly finished up the procedure as she gave orders to Haruhime.
“What the…?! Just how badly did that little Wallen-something-or-other beat you up?”
“Uh, is anything wrong?”
Bell sweated nervously as Hestia gaped at his back. He wanted to know what injuries he’d suffered, but they had no time to waste. He put his gear back on and gulped down several dual potions that Hestia gave him to get back in top form. He was just about to head for the underground passage ahead of Welf and the others when—
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—!!”
The hideous battle cry of a monster thundered across the night sky.
“…Huh?”
At first, Bell didn’t understand what had happened.
Hestia and Haruhime were stupefied, too. They looked up in the direction that the cry had come from.
A grotesque form was flapping its way across the moon behind a veil of clouds.
“Where is it? Where the hell is that sound coming from?!”
Mord Latro turned red and spit on the ground.
A Guild employee had flagged down him and his companions, and they were now in the midst of very reluctantly carrying out their assigned task. At the sound of the monster’s roar—surely the fiercest of the entire day—the rogue upper-class adventurer looked around with a terrifying scowl.
The two ghost-white humans standing next to him pointed at the sky.
“Mord…”
“It’s up there…”
“Huh?”
Several forms were visible in the direction they indicated. All of them had wings. As they soar across the sky, their silhouettes grew steadily larger.
They were heading straight for Mord and his companions.
He stared at them intently. The moment the indistinct silhouettes came into focus and he realized that one of them was a gargoyle, he opened his mouth wide and screamed.
“Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
“Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”
As the monsters crashed to the ground with a battle cry, Mord and his companions jumped backward as fast as they could.
The monsters landed one after the next, sending up a cloud of dust. Their stone claws ripped through the cobblestones with a terrific roar.
Everyone watching fell completely silent.
Mord and his companions were in the northwestern sector, on the outskirts of Daedalus Street, near the large crowds of evacuees.
“Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekk!”
As time once again began to move forward, angry yells consumed the district.
People shrieked and screamed as the heinous winged monsters invaded from the sky. The terror that the helpless townsfolk had been suppressing exploded all at once, and a tidal wave of demi-humans tried to flee the scene.
“A-adventurers!! Beat them back!” a Guild employee shrieked.
“Down with the monsters!” they shouted in return.
The adventurers in the crowd started running, weapons in hand.
Four monsters—a gargoyle, a crimson eagle, an iguaz, and a deadly hornet wearing armor—had landed in the large oval plaza. The adventurers split into a rearguard that hung back to protect the townsfolk and a vanguard motivated by a mixture of courage and greed for the bounties on the monsters’ heads.
The first line of troops consisted of animal people who moved with their race’s characteristic agility.
But the gargoyle’s stone eyes knew no reason as he mowed them down across the troops.
“Yaaaaaah!”
“Ooof!”
A single swipe of his sharp claws sent the animal-person adventurers tumbling across the cobblestones. Humans and dwarves met the same fate. The rearguard fired a volley of arrows, but the solid stone wall of the gargoyle’s wings deflected all of them. Forgetting that they were smack in the middle of town, sorcerers began preparing their magic, but chants turned to screams as the other monsters attacked them.
The sight of adventurers being kicked about spurred the crowd to panic. Adults were paralyzed with fright, Guild staff cowered, and children hugged one another. As people ran barefoot toward East Main Street, the roads became clogged and the evacuation ground to a halt.
“Captain Shakti!”
“…!”
Ganesha Familia’s captain was guarding the townsfolk at the site, but she was flustered for a different reason than they were.
Idiots! Now, here…?!
Shakti, who knew about the Xenos, couldn’t believe her eyes. She was unable to hide her agitation over the strange behavior of these supposedly intelligent creatures. They looked exactly like ordinary monsters on an indiscriminate rampage.
She gritted her teeth and shouted an order to her faction members, who were looking to her for direction.
“The safety of the townsfolk comes first! Obey the divine will of Ganesha and continue assisting with evacuation and protection!!”
“Understood!”
That was her only command.
Meanwhile, Ouka was desperately shouting a different order.
“Chigusa! Work with Asuka to get those kids out of here!!”
“Uh, okay!”
Ouka and several other members of Takemikazuchi Familia were among the crowd of totally overwhelmed adventurers. Ouka was trying to beat back the attacks of the winged monsters with the side of his battle-ax, and he clearly had his hands full. Following his instructions, Chigusa shielded the children she’d brought back to the plaza and tried to lead them toward safety.
“Uh-uh…”
“Lai, we have to get out of here fast!”
“…!”
Lai, Fina, Ruu, and the other children were not responding to Chigusa’s and Maria’s calls. They had frozen at the sight of the hideous monsters.
Screams led to more screams, and the plaza succumbed to the downward spiral of terror and chaos.
“What are they doing?!”
Bell had climbed to a rooftop, and he shouted in disbelief as he surveyed the chaotic scene.
“Th-the Xenos are rioting in the plaza…”
“…?!”
Haruhime pressed her hand to her mouth, and Hestia gaped in astonishment. They could not make sense of the nightmarish scene before their eyes. The creatures flailing violently about like common monsters were unmistakably Gros and several other Xenos.
“W-wait a second, Bell!” Hestia shouted.
The boy ignored her and, tossing aside his veil, leaped toward the crowd. He headed straight for the plaza as if the screams of the townsfolk were pulling him forward.
“Lady Hestia!”
An instant later, Welf, Mikoto, and Lilly arrived on the rooftop. They had heard about the chaos, but when they saw it for themselves, they were just as shocked as Bell.
“Hey, this must be a joke…What’s going on?” Welf yelled.
“I don’t know! How am I supposed to know?!” Lilly shouted back.
“Please calm down, you two!” Mikoto said, regaining enough calm to interrupt their quarrel.
As her familia members shouted next to her, Hestia watched the charging Xenos from a distance. Suddenly a thought occurred to her.
This looks like a play…
The plaza was the stage, the townsfolk the audience, and the monsters and adventurers the cast. As the audience screamed at the bloody, cruel fight scene with ever-increasing terror, they seemed to be waiting impatiently for the turning point to arrive.
Just then, the star, the hero of the play, rushed onto the stage—
“—!!”
Hestia looked up. As she gazed at the empty sky, she furiously cursed the deities who must be watching the scene from some distant perch.
“F-Field General?!”
“I know.”
Without so much as a glance at Raul, who was approaching him, Finn took in the scene on the outskirts of the northwestern sector where the monsters had descended.
“This is no different from the Dungeon…” Finn sighed. The night seemed to be one long string of strange occurrences.
He guessed that the enemy’s aim was not to attack an evacuation site…and he sensed the will of an intervening third party in the totally incomprehensible and unacceptable behavior of the monsters. Finn didn’t like it, but he also knew that once things had gone this far, Loki Familia had no choice but to dispatch a unit.
He looked down at his right hand. He was surprised to feel his thumb throbbing slightly.
Is something going on? Or is something about to happen?
As he licked the pad of his thumb, he recalled the words of his patron deity.
“‘Get to the bottom of this with your own two eyes,’ was that it? And so I will.”
“Huh? What did you say, Captain?”
Ignoring Raul, who had overheard his mumbled words, Finn made a decision.
“Raul, I’m going to lead a unit over there.”
“What?! Th’ captain himself? Who will stay here at headquarters and give orders?!”
“I’ll leave that to Riveria and you. Use this chance to redeem yourself.”
“Meeeee?!” Raul shrieked.
Ignoring this dull outburst, Finn quickly set to work. The creature he was most worried about was still alive and well. The prum leader told Aiz and the other first-tier adventurers to remain on alert, then set out toward the northwest, a band of familia members in tow.
“Please do not go toward Main Street! Please follow orders from Ganesha Familia!” Eina shouted. She was desperately trying to hold back the out-of-control townsfolk, though their trampling feet and shouting voices created a roar like a waterfall to drown out her voice.
Although she had headed to Daedalus Street largely for personal reasons, she was now doing her utmost to ensure the safety of the townsfolk here on the outskirts of the northwestern area. At least, she had been until a moment earlier.
Now she was trying to guide people through the chaotic plaza, but she wasn’t sure she was doing any good.
Did the monsters end up here because they were being pursued? But why come to the evacuation site of all places, given the size of Daedalus Street…?
She watched as the monsters took on adventurers in the center of the plaza.
Despite all her knowledge, Eina’s normal role was limited to waiting at Guild Headquarters for adventurers to return. She was filled with just as much fear as the other Guild staff and townsfolk. She willfully tried to steady her shaky hands and feet as she assessed the state of the battle.
That gargoyle is extraordinarily strong!
One after another, not only lower-class adventurers but even those who had leveled up to third tier, and the handful of second-tier adventurers present in the plaza, were thrown back so forcefully they couldn’t get up again. The gargoyle’s stone body was nearly impervious to long-range weapons as well. He was so strong she suspected they wouldn’t be able to take him down without magic.
It was hard to believe, but with Ganesha Familia concentrating on keeping the townsfolk safe, this small band of monsters had the upper hand.
If only Loki Familia would show up…!
Eina watched from the corner of her eye as an adventurer toppled over vomiting blood and was pulled away by a companion, and she prayed for someone to rescue them. At that moment, her eyes met those of the brutal gargoyle.
“—Huh?”
She was certain it was looking at her. She felt like time had stopped. As she gaped at the lifeless stone eyes, she felt like something had reached inside her chest and was clutching her heart.
She did not notice that the purple gems on the bracelet wrapped around her wrist were flashing. Nor did she notice that the gargoyle was concealing the same type of stone in his hand.
She stood rooted in place as the gray stone form flew toward her with a howl.
“OHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
The adventurers looked up in shock at the gargoyle’s sudden movement, while the townsfolk let out screams that rent the air like ripped silk.
The rearguard troops were protecting other people and could not make it to her in time with their shields. Ouka, locked in fierce battle, was struck dumb. As people ran this way and that, disappearing behind the gargoyle, Eina’s green eyes took in the stone claws that were about to pierce her.
“—Aaaah!!”
But someone blocked those talons.
“?!”
“!”
Just as Eina felt death approaching, a purple-blue flash of metal intercepted it.
The white-haired boy had leaped in front of the gargoyle, Hestia Knife drawn.
“B-Bell…”
“Miss Eina, please step back!!” Bell said in a loud, anxious voice.
The dazed Eina, the townsfolk, and the adventurers were all staring at him, but he did not have a speck of attention to spare for them. His entire body was throbbing with a single question: Why?
As Bell silently asked the monster before him that question, the hideous gargoyle seemed to narrow his eyes before flying at Eina once again.
“Gaaahh!”
“Wha—?!”
Bell intercepted his lunge. The hand holding his knife shook at the force of the attack, and a fragment of stone flew from the gargoyle’s claw.
The monster spread his wings and once again aimed for Eina.
Gros?!
As Eina stood riveted to the spot, claws met knife again and again.
Perhaps because the gargoyle’s potential was higher, the Little Rookie was forced into an inferior position. Setting aside their grudges for the moment, other adventurers attempted to support him, but the other winged monsters would not let them get close.
Bell had no choice but to fight back against the gargoyle’s fierce attacks. The threatening growls astonished him.
Has he completely lost his mind?!
He recalled the incident on the eighteenth floor. Right now, the gargoyle looked a lot like he had when his brethren were killed and carried away. Had something happened to them now, too?
“Why?…What happened?!”
“…”
The monster did not answer Bell. Only his claws and fangs responded.
As he listened to Bell’s bewildered voice, the gargoyle—Gros—pushed down his emotions and swiped his claws through the air.
He was as rational as ever.
His outer form as a monster hid a commitment to an agreement.
Within his stone hand, he gripped a sparkling jewel that resonated with Eina’s bracelet.
“Die for me, maverick monsters.”
That was what the sinister god had said to Gros and the other Xenos.
“What?!” Lido answered, uncomprehending.
“God Hermes, what are you asking?!” Fels added after regaining the ability to speak.
Hermes responded as if it was the most trifling matter in the world.
“Oh, not everyone needs to die. I’d say three or four of you should do.”
His unwavering smile struck terror into the hearts of the Xenos. The deusdea were different from both humans and monsters, and the Xenos found them horrifying without exception.
“I am Hermes. I will hold up my end of the agreement I made with Ouranos—half of it, at least.”
He narrowed his long, tapering yellow-orange eyes and curved his lips up.
“As for the other half, I’ll consider that payback.”
He looked the Xenos over.
“To save the lot of you, a boy has been put in a difficult situation. I just can’t bring myself to tolerate that.”
“…!”
“Were you planning to go home just like that after all he’s done for you? ‘We’re sorry, thank you, you really saved us.’ Were you just going to slink back underground with a few shallow words of appreciation? Now, now, even we fickle deities wouldn’t act so insincere.”
His words were a means of negotiating, and they also resembled the skillful lines of a man gently deceiving his lover. But more than anything, they were a poison that widened the Xenos’s wounds until they festered with pus.
Sure enough, the Xenos turned pale and groaned with guilt.
“God Hermes!!”
Fels’s fists were clenched in fury.
The mage was not angry at Hermes’s betrayal but outraged that the god’s divine will was trampling on the hearts of the Xenos and the decision Bell had made of his own accord. But Hermes had no interest in such opinions.
“Let me guess, Fels—you want to tell me that Bell made that decision himself? You’re wrong. You’ve become ensnared in your own situation and in the divine will of Ouranos. Bell had no other options.”
He swept aside Fels’s words before they were even spoken. To him, they were nonsense from a mere child of eight hundred years. He, on the other hand, could see the difference between Bell’s subjective truth and the real nature of the situation.
“The world needs heroes, and I’ve bet everything on that shining white light. He can’t be allowed to have dealings with monsters…Oh no, that would never do.”
Fels stood frozen in astonishment at the god’s divine will.
“I, Hermes, ask this of you, maverick monsters. Save the boy.”
His whispered words were half entreaty, half deception.
“…You’re asking us to attack him?” Gros said, to the gasps of the other Xenos.
“You really catch on quick.”
“I’ll go.”
“Gros?”
“I don’t think the boy will fight against Lido or Rei or you others. Since I used to abhor humans, I’m best for this role.”
“But, Gros, that means you’ll—”
“Any way you look at it, we don’t have a choice.”
Lido and Rei surrounded Gros, who had been their companion since the Xenos first joined together, but he shook his head. Hermes threw them a sidelong glance, silently affirming the gargoyle’s words with his smile.
The other Xenos clenched their fangs and hung their heads.
“Brave gargoyle, tell me your name.”
“…Gros.”
“Thank you, Gros. Although you are a monster, I shall call you by your name.”
He removed his hat respectfully. Then he handed Gros a purple jewel.
“What is this…?”
“Insurance. It’s quite likely that Bell, that nice boy, won’t raise his knife against you even if you attack him. A person he cares deeply about will activate this item. Please attack her first.”
The item maker standing behind her patron deity gasped as if she detested him.
Gros gazed at the jewel.
“I understand…” he said, squeezing it in the stone skin of his hand.
“The girl I am speaking of is most likely in the northwest section of the Labyrinth District. I want you to bring chaos there first. There will be many of those humans you hate so much…but I would appreciate if you don’t kill any of them.”
“You ask for much…” Gros spit out. Then he looked around at Lido and the others. “It’s a promise. Save my brethren,” he said to Hermes.
“Now, now, I am Hermes after all. I keep my end of any bargain.”
“I don’t want to hear it,” Gros said, turning his back to the god and spreading his wings.
Joined by three other winged monsters who offered up their lives alongside him, Gros retraced his steps through the underground passage and took off into the sky above the Labyrinth District.
So this is how I will repay him.
Gros laughed to himself as he flew at Bell and Eina.
In spite of Gros’s former hostility, Bell had rescued his brethren, and now Gros was paying with his life for what Bell had done. It was terribly ironic. But perhaps it was fitting that one who had detested mankind as the vilest of creatures should pay in this way.
Especially if he met his end at the hands of a human he had come to be a bit fond of.
Don’t second-guess yourself, boy.
He’d told Lido and the others that they were not to begrudge the boy for this.
Gros flapped his wings monstrously at Bell, who was grimacing like a child trying to tolerate pain.
Pretending to be mad with fury, playing the role of a violent monster, the gargoyle bellowed for the boy to sink his knife into the magic stone in his chest.
If you don’t, I’ll kill the girl—!!
Roaring hideously to urge Bell into fiercer battle, Gros swung down his claws.
“Bell…!”
Hestia and the others had arrived at the plaza-turned-battlefield.
Fewer adventurers were fighting hard now, but the plaza was still filled with trapped townsfolk. And there was Bell, over in one corner, locked in battle with Gros as he protected Eina behind him.
Eina seemed on the verge of tears as she watched Bell suffer blow after blow. She was desperately trying to get away so as to free him from the burden of protecting her, but the stone wings would not let her pass. The gargoyle’s attacks from the air made the battle completely unpredictable.
“Bell…!”
“Mr. Bell!”
Welf, Lilly, Mikoto, and Haruhime were at a loss for what to do. Was it okay to help Bell? Was it okay to attack the Xenos? They had no idea.
Hestia, who was standing beside her bewildered children, was equally unable to make a decision.
Should I tell Bell about Hermes’s scheme? But if I do that…!
Hermes had coerced the Xenos into something. But what would be the outcome if she told Bell?
It seemed likely that if things continued as they were, Gros would really kill Eina. Hestia didn’t know the terms of the agreement that the Xenos had made with Hermes. If the lives of their kin had been taken as pawns, then her words would only plunge Bell’s heart into chaos.
“Support troops are on their way! Keep holding out!”
The words of the adventurer only spurred on Bell’s agitation.
Hestia gripped the oculus she had withdrawn from her bag.
At almost the same moment Hestia and her familia arrived at the plaza, a Loki Familia unit led by Finn emerged onto a rooftop overlooking the area.
“What’s going on?”
“The evacuation of townsfolk is still not complete! Adventurers from other factions are fighting the monsters—and so is the Little Rookie…”
As one of his familia members reported on the situation, Finn narrowed his eyes and fixed them on the boy and the gargoyle.
“…Take your positions. Ground troops, keep them in check. We’ll stay here and prevent them from flying off.”
“Yes, sir!”
Bows were readied in response to the faction leader’s command.
Just then, a murmur was beginning to ripple through crowds trapped on the edge of the plaza.
“The Little Rookie…”
“…The Little Rookie? You mean Bell Cranell?”
The adventurer they were pointing at was risking his life to save the half-elf. The brave boy had walked gallantly into the most difficult of situations. With their own well-being at risk, people dropped their malice and disappointment and instead watched the scene unfolding before them with clear eyes.
“B-big brother…”
Even the little boy who had cursed him as a traitor now whispered his name in awe.
A change began to sweep over the crowd, which up till then had been consumed by pure panic.
“Good timing, young Bell. Ah, this is very fortunate.”
In a high tower near the plaza where the night winds howled, Hermes gazed contentedly down on the battle between the gargoyle and the white-haired boy.
Asfi stood behind him. Hiding her tired eyes behind her silver glasses, she sighed for the umpteenth time.
“You may be my patron deity, but you make me nauseous…”
“Ha-ha-ha. That’s quite harsh, Asfi.” Hermes laughed without turning his head. She glared fixedly at him.
“You’re using the Xenos for the sake of Bell Cranell…I’ll give you that. But what do you have to say about dragging ordinary townsfolk into it?”
“In one sense, those ordinary townsfolk are the root cause of the situation he is currently in. A little staging is necessary, after all, wouldn’t you agree?”
There was the theater and the audience, the hero and the supporting players tasked with drawing out his best performance. As Hestia had suspected, Hermes had created a stage on a grand scale. He shrugged and glanced over his shoulder.
“Anyway, you agree with my decision to abandon the Xenos, don’t you?”
After all, they would only bring harm to both the boy and the city of Orario.
Asfi remained silent as her patron deity sought her affirmation with his eyes.
“…I’ll take my position now,” she finally said.
“Right. Rearguard, just in case.”
Hermes waved at Asfi, who was now invisible after slipping on the Hermes Head.
After she silently left the tower roof, Hermes smiled down on the scene below.
“Well…my apologies, Ouranos. Sorry it turned out like this.”
He watched as the boy and the gargoyle flew at each other.
“Coexisting with monsters, you say? Utter nonsense. Friendship with them is no more than a pipe dream,” he said, continuing his imaginary conversation with the aged god.
Hermes had always carried out his clients’ orders calmly and obediently, but here on the top of the tower, he laid bare his true feelings.
“What will happen if we overturn thousands of years of hatred and destiny? Even Zeus would probably say it’s preposterous.”
He gazed at Bell and lowered his voice.
“The mavericks’ hero. Nobody wants that!”
Hermes spread his arms wide and smiled down on the stage where humans and monsters were playing out their opera.
“It’s time to get back to the basics of heroism, Bell.”
The god continued to speak.
“Kill the monsters. Kill them and save the people. Make your comeback as a hero.”
As if he were offering a beam of light from the heavens or pointing out the path to salvation, he pressed his atrocious divine will on the boy.
“Forget the Xenos.”
Ouranos had tasked Hermes with suppressing the disturbance. He was to be the emissary who calmed the chaos in the city and delivered the Xenos to the Dungeon.
But Hermes had no interest in that.
Because he was in a position to use the chaos, he had skillfully manipulated it. That was all.
“If you kill just one of them, you’ll see reason. You may suffer, but one day you’ll get back on your feet. Lady Freya and I won’t let you get bored.”
Hermes’s divine will was that Bell cut his ties to the Xenos, who would lead him straight to ruin. He had the confidence to drive his hero into battle—the unshakable egotism to lead him into the finale that the deities were longing for.
Controlling human destiny was the gods’ favorite game.
He would make Bell break his connection with the monsters and walk forward as the hero of the people and the favorite of the gods.
The divine will of Hermes was focused on that one goal.
“If you don’t do it, then your dear Eina will die.”
Hermes laughed, narrowing his yellow-orange eyes.
The ever-intensifying fight was pushing the boy toward a choice. The only possible choice, the one the god had prepared for him.
Before the god’s eyes, the final act was playing out on that grand and ridiculous stage.
Why, why, why?!
The fangs that threatened Bell and the claws that pursued Eina once again wounded Bell.
He deflected the next blow and parried it with his knife, injuring Gros. There was no way he could hold back when the gargoyle was trying to kill both Eina and him.
Again and again, other adventurers tried to support Bell, but they were thrown back. Gros’s stone wings deflected arrows and flung away anyone careless enough to get close to them. They functioned as two extra arms, both blunt weapons and shields in one.
“Bell…!”
At the sound of Eina’s hoarse, pained voice, Bell’s face twisted in distress. The adventurers, Guild staff, and townsfolk were all watching his every move and praying that one of his blows would strike down the menace.
Gros.
As he repelled claws with knife, Bell’s gaze met the gargoyle’s inscrutable stone eyes. He was so confused and sad he wanted to scream. But his voice could not penetrate those ears. His mind raced futilely. The Divine Knife trembled.
He had to make a decision. The decision was like a curse, for if he did not make it, he would lose a person he cared for deeply. It wasn’t even a choice.
He tried to think carefully about the situation, but in the face of Gros’s fierce attack, his thoughts quickly came to a dead end.
As he muttered “Why?” over and over, he remembered Wiene’s words.
You know what Lido told me? It might not be possible right now…but he said that if people like you exist, then our dream might come true one day!
Our dream.
The dream of the Xenos—of Gros.
…Thank you. You have…my gratitude.
Gros had said that to him.
Perhaps it was only Bell’s imagination, but he could see the Gros of that earlier moment on top of the monster who faced him now with such genuine bloodlust in his eyes. He must be mistaken to see volition behind the claws and fangs bearing down on him.
It was as if he knew that Bell did not want to fight him and was telling him not to hesitate—
“Loki Familia has arrived!!” an adventurer shouted.
Upper-class adventurers with the emblem of the fool engraved on their armor rushed into the plaza and flew at the winged monsters.
“!!”
The gargoyle began to feel anxious.
Bell Cranell must be the one to take down the monsters attacking the people. This was how they would clear their debt to the boy. It would not do for Gros to utter his last words on a pile of ashes, his contract with the god unfulfilled.
Realizing he could delay no longer, Gros spread his wings and flapped. Flying parallel to the ground, he launched his special attack. Astonished, Eina and Bell could neither escape nor defend themselves—he was forcing the boy to respond and throwing away his own life in the process.
“Bell?!”
“Tulle!”
Hestia and the Guild staff cried out in unison.
“Assume your positions!” Finn shouted. As other members of his troop prepared to shoot their arrows at the winged monsters, he readied his spear to pierce the gargoyle.
“Now, Bell!”
Standing above the crowd of people holding their breath, Hermes pulled the puppet string—his divine will.
It was the instant before Gros’s deadly blow landed.
Bell brought down the hand holding the knife.
“Are we really doing the right thing, Fels?” Lido shouted.
They were inside Knossos, the maze that Daedalus had dreamed up.
Hermes had indeed kept his promise. After Gros and the others flew off, he had delivered the Xenos through the door to Knossos, making use of feints and clandestine routes so Loki Familia would not discover them along the way.
“If we’re just thinking about Bell, then this may be the better option. But how can we abandon Gros and the others? It…feels wrong for us to return without them!” Lido cried at the top of his lungs. He had stopped walking as the group headed dejectedly for the Dungeon they had come from.
Rei and the others did not respond.
“You’re wrong, Lido. I believe in him,” Fels said.
In an attempt to conceal the anger in the voice emanating from the depths of the hood, the mage did not turn toward Lido.
“I believe that foolish boy can overcome some god’s trivial divine will—”
“—!!”
The gargoyle rushed at Bell and Eina with a roar so powerful the people watching shrank at the sound. His fanned-out wings tore through the wind as he glided straight toward them.
Bell looked at the approaching gargoyle and his twisted claws that resembled giant stone spears. Everything before his eyes seemed to alternate between standing still and speeding up. The screams echoing toward him from the outside world sounded very far away.
He heard Eina gasping in terror behind him, helpless to defend herself against the monster’s charge.
The gargoyle’s intent to kill was real.
If things continued on this trajectory, those stone claws would surely drown Bell and Eina in a sea of blood.
His instincts were screaming for him to slash the monster with his knife, to plunge its point into the magic stone in that chest that was so perfectly exposed as it charged toward him, to transform the monster’s intent to kill into a pile of ash.
The shouts of the adventurers and the shrieks of the masses, too, urged him to kill the monster.
The god’s divine will pulling the strings affirmed the voice of his instinct.
It was the instant before Gros’s deadly blow landed.
Bell brought down the hand holding the knife.
—
But.
The boy’s consciousness turned away from the monster before his eyes and focused instead on a scene deep within his heart.
It was as if he were being guided by a flash of light—perhaps grasping a bolt of lightning deep within himself and pulling it up.
The door to a faded childhood memory flew open.
Do not leave your decisions to other people.
It was the voice of his grandfather.
The same goes for ghosts and gods. I, for one, will never tell you to do anything.
His grandfather’s advice was speaking to him.
Do not take orders. Decide for yourself.
His grandfather’s eyes were pleading with him.
This is your story.
His grandfather’s smile had taught him that long ago.
“Errrgh!!”
Bell shouted out in revolt against the absurd reality all around him.
Without even knowing what he was doing, he tore off the strings of the god’s divine will that had wrapped themselves around him without his knowledge. His heart, filled with the memory of Wiene’s dream and Gros’s gratitude, thrust aside the choice that had been forced upon it.
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
Time, which had stretched to its limit, returned to its normal pace, and the world regained its color.
The monster’s claws were on the verge of skewering both Eina and him.
He made his choice.
He chose to believe.
“—”
He slipped his knife into its sheath, spread his arms, and waited.
Hermes stared from above. Gros widened his stone eyes in astonishment.
In the next instant, confronted by Bell’s defenseless form, the gargoyle aborted his charge and flew away from them.
“—Wait!”
Finn reacted faster than anyone. High above the plaza, to the great surprise of his troops, he shouted at them to halt their attack. His blue eyes were glued to the gargoyle that had stopped its charge. His shock seemed to spread to the people watching from below in the plaza, for the same feeling swept through their hearts.
Hestia, Lilly, Welf, Mikoto, Haruhime, Ouka, Chigusa, Shakti, and even Eina all felt the same emotion.
Bell had neither killed the monster nor allowed Eina to die. Instead, he had chosen a third, exceedingly foolish path.
The eyes of the sweat-drenched boy met those of the stunned gargoyle. For an instant, time stopped.
“…”
As for Hermes watching from his perch on the tower, he put his finger to the brim of his hat and pulled it down, as if to hide his wide yellow-orange eyes.
“Aah, so that’s how it will go…He really is an idiot.”
A queer, incomprehensible silence had descended on the plaza.
The emotion in the countless eyes fixed on Bell was shifting from shock to a suspicion that he did have some sort of deep connection with the monsters after all. It was a spark that could light the fire labeling him an “enemy of the people.”
The instant the crowd awoke from its collective daze, a storm of outraged shouts and chaos would likely erupt.
“Well then. Asfi, do it.”
Hermes would not accept this outcome.
In a corner of the plaza where his whisper fell, a shadow lurked. The invisible Asfi withdrew a flying needle inscribed with a spiral, so red it seemed formed from blood.
It was a Crizea, a magic item designed by Perseus to stir monsters into an excited, brutal frenzy. During Dungeon expeditions, it carried the risk of increasing their strength, but it also caused them to attack one another. It was not difficult to imagine what it would do in a place like this.
Hermes had prepared for the current situation. He had predicted the boy might act in the same stupid way as he had five days earlier.
Following her patron deity’s orders, Asfi fixed her green-blue eyes on the gargoyle.
“…I won’t ask your forgiveness.”
For just an instant, her gaze landed on the boy facing the gargoyle.
As if he sensed her presence, he started and glanced back toward the place where the invisible woman stood.
She was about to shoot the crimson needle.
Urged by instinct, the boy’s feet prepared to run.
In that moment, the only figures who moved were Asfi, Bell—and Finn.
“—”
The prum’s thumb had never throbbed so strongly.
It was blaring an alarm that something was approaching.
Finn alone lifted his head. The next instant—
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
A monster’s battle cry shattered the still air.
With no warning, the man appeared before him.
“—”
He stopped in the dim alleyway. He was forced to.
The commanding figure was holding a large sword. He was a warrior in perfect physical form.
He knew immediately.
With only one arm, he would lose. No—even with two arms, he might not prevail. That’s how powerful the man before him was. More powerful than the soldiers who had made his blood boil and perhaps even more powerful than the golden-haired, golden-eyed swordswoman who had severed his arm—.
At the same time, there was something familiar about the man who stood before him. He had rust-red hair and eyes of the same color, which gleamed like a fierce wild boar’s. It was not a memory so much as a throbbing of his heart, though he could not remember what it was. But he was certain of one thing. This warrior would kill him.
As he stood before this extraordinary figure, he smiled.
He was grateful for this meeting, even though he knew it would lead to certain defeat. His entire body was buzzing. Struggle was the only way to overcome the hunger. All the more so if his opponent was as powerful as this. Even if he were chopped to pieces—well, that was one of his wishes. There was no reason to flinch from it and no meaning in turning away.
He brandished his ax and stepped forward on his strong legs.
“…”
In response, the warrior slowly raised one arm and pointed.
“That which you seek lies ahead,” the man said.
He stopped.
He opened his eyes wide.
He looked behind him, where the warrior had pointed. The sky stretched wide over the land, and voices echoed from afar. It was the sound of battle. Among them, he felt he could hear the voice of the thing that drove him on.
He turned his gaze forward again. Unexpectedly, the warrior was gone. But that was a trivial matter now.
He began to run, as if he had found his direction. He rushed forward.
He gave no thought to concealing his too-large presence. Tossing aside the screaming hunters in his way, he obeyed only his pounding heart and his hunger.
Crushing the cobblestones under his feet, he bounded to the top of a building beside the road.
“—”
In the middle of the plaza, fighting in the midst of people of all races, was—the white-haired boy.
A flash of light ran through his heart at the scene before his eyes. It was a brilliant white flash that restored all other scenes.
He was awakened. He was brought back to life. He quivered.
Ah!!
That’s it! That is it! His dream, his desire, his yearning!!
The answer he had been searching for!!
At last, he had found it. He took in everything surrounding it.
There were many hunters, and he was face-to-face with a brother.
No, there was not a chance he could accept this. This alone he could not allow.
Could he hand over this chance to someone else? Could he leave it to another? This was his once-in-a-lifetime opponent. Rematch. Rematch. Rematch.
He was born for this and this alone.
His blood surged. His body filled with rage. His hunger called forth a tremendous power within him.
A great joy and an even greater hunger for battle welled up inside him. He let out a battle cry.
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
A tremendous roar that shattered all hesitation, all sorrow, and all artifice rang through the air.
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