CHAPTER 5
THE OUTLAWS’ PARTY
Bell Cranell
Level 2
Strength: G 267 –> F 365 Defense: H 144 –> G271 Utility: G 288 –> F349 Agility: F 375 –> E 469
Magic: H 189 –> G270
Luck: I
(Magic)
“Firebolt”
• Swift Strike Magic
(Skill)
“Argonaut”
• Charges automatically with an active action
Hestia informed Bell of his new Status inside their tent.
“Hmm, this is your first big jump in a while…”
“Y-yes it is…”
There were no pencils or paper for her to write down his status in Koine, but just as Hestia had said, Bell’s basic abilities hadn’t improved by this margin since he’d leveled up. Apparently traveling from the thirteenth floor to the eighteenth floor and narrowly escaping a floor boss gave him enough excelia to receive a big boost.
“Your abilities did go up, but you got quite a bit of high-quality excelia, too.”
“Huh?”
“You’ve done something great. It means you’re one step closer to leveling up again.”
Hestia giggled at the stunned look on Bell’s face.
Overcoming countless brushes with death on the journey to the eighteenth floor must’ve been what did it.
Accomplishing something great, overcoming an extraordinary obstacle—these things were required to level up and couldn’t be done by continuously defeating low-level monsters. Bell mulled over these thoughts in his mind as he re-equipped his armor.
“Loki’s children are busy getting ready. We should get out of their tent as soon as possible.”
“I think so, too.”
Today was the day that Loki Familia would leave the eighteenth floor. The antidotes had arrived late last night from the surface, so they were finally able to leave as a group. The sounds of Loki Familia’s adventurers disassembling the campsite rang out from all around their tent.
Bell gave a quick wave to Hestia, who was still cleaning up the equipment she needed for updating his Status, and stepped outside.
“Why the hell is rabbit boy here?! No one told me a damn thing!”
“Because we knew you’d react like this, Bete. Now come on, let’s get going!”
“Hey, hands off, idiot Amazon!”
Bell walked through the area surrounded by people busily folding tents and toward the spot where Loki Familia’s leaders were gathered just outside of camp.
“A-Aiz!”
He noticed a girl with long golden hair standing apart from the others and called out to her.
The girl who turned around was fully equipped for battle, breastplate snug over her chest and saber hanging at her side.
“Are you leaving already?”
“Yes…I was asked to join the forward party.”
Due to the large amount of party members needed for an expedition, these groups were required to travel in smaller parties starting on the seventeenth floor, to avoid blocking the passageways. Loki Familia had been split in two.
Aiz, along with Tiona and the others, was assigned to the first group.
However, Bell’s group would be returning to the surface along with the second party.
“U-um…”
“?”
Of course, this meant that Aiz would be part of the battle to slay the Goliath lurking just upstairs.
Bell felt ashamed that he could only wait for them to carve a safe passageway for him. It reminded him just how much further he had to go to catch up to her.
He knew just how useless these words were, but he went ahead and said them anyway.
“…Please be careful.”
“…You, too, be careful.”
Aiz’s normally expressionless mouth curled a bit as she responded.
“See you again,” she said softly. She joined her companions as they set off toward the tunnel opening that led to the seventeenth floor. Bell stood there and watched her leave until every single member of the forward party had disappeared into the tunnel.
“Mr. Bell, shouldn’t we be getting ready?”
“Ah, yes!”
He heard Lilly call out to him from behind and quickly turned to face her.
They made their way to the center of the diminishing campsite, checked to make sure their bags were completely stocked, and took a look at their weapons.
“Yo, Bell, pass those over here!”
“Sure. Thanks, Welf.”
Bell took his two knives out of their sheaths and handed them to the red-haired boy, who quickly ran them across a grinding stone. Bell watched as the Hestia Knife and Ushiwakamaru shone brighter and brighter with each passing moment, their cutting edges revived.
Mikoto walked up next to the mesmerized Bell, her blades already sharpened and equipped.
“I apologize, Mr. Welf. To sharpen our weapons as well as yours…”
“No big deal. This is my job, after all. Another three or four is a piece of cake.”
“Did you end up buying that stone in Rivira?”
“Nah, I lowered my head and called in some favors…”
Welf jerked his head toward a few of the remaining High Smiths in the camp in response to Ouka’s question.
The prices had been so high in Rivira that all Bell’s group could afford to buy in the town were an old broadsword and Lilly’s new backpack. Both had been purchased using Welf’s Familia’s crest, so he was already feeling the empty space in his wallet.
The sword in question, as well as the long weapon wrapped in white cloth, lay on the ground next to him as he worked.
“I’ve been wondering…Where are Lord Hermes and Ms. Asfi?”
“Lord Hermes said he wanted one more chance to go exploring. He told Lilly to go back to the surface with everyone ahead of him. Asfi looked very tired and frustrated at the situation.”
“Quite the hard worker…”
Mikoto, Lilly, and Welf’s conversation made Bell think about Lyu. She, too, was planning on going back alone, at least that’s what she had told him last night after safely escorting him to the campsite. Considering her situation and Status—Bell’s jaw had dropped when she told him she was Level 4—her plan was no surprise.
Everyone’s splitting up, Bell thought to himself as he looked up at the “Morning” ceiling above the forest.
“Okay, all set…”
Putting the last of the potions she received from Nahza into her pouch, Hestia stepped outside the tent.
The thick forest canopy blocked a great deal of the morning light coming from the crystals above. All she could see was the dark green of the forest surrounding her. The campsite was almost deserted, only a few random boxes still on the ground and no people in sight. Hestia was just about to call out to Bell to have him help her fold the tent.
“…? Is someone there?”
Swissh, swissh. The sound of someone stepping through the grass caught her attention and she turned around. But all she saw was trees and the dark green shade they provided. No one was there. Maybe some leaves fell? she thought to herself as she looked toward the upper branches.
“—Muguu?!”
Something suddenly clamped itself over her mouth.
But it didn’t end there. She felt a thickly armored arm wrap around her and something solid press against her back. Her eyes frantically darted all over, desperately searching for something that couldn’t be found. It was almost as though she were acting out a scene in which she was being restrained.
Then her feet left the ground as her small frame was hoisted into the air and moved away from the campsite.
An invisible human?!
Almost as if confirming her speculation, a strange object that looked like a fistful of paper appeared out of nowhere beneath her, hit the ground, and rolled to a stop. She flailed her body, kicking her legs as potions inside her still-open pouch fell onto the grass.
“Mgghh?!” Hestia’s muffled screams went unheard as she was carried off into the forest.
“Goddess? Goddess?”
Bell looked from left to right, calling out to her.
Everything in order for their return to the surface, the boy realized that Hestia was not there. He returned to the tent where she had just updated his Status. He left soon after, scratching his head once he realized she wasn’t there, either.
“This is strange…”
Bell did another lap around the campsite, his right hand on the back of his head. Only a few of the tents were left; there was nothing to obstruct his view. Even though there were many trees in this area, none of them was thick enough to completely conceal the goddess’s small body.
However, there was no way she could have just disappeared.
“Maybe she went to see others off…?”
Bell turned toward the tunnel that connected to the seventeenth floor with an even more confused look on his face. The trees became much thicker only a few steps out of the campsite, enough to block his vision. Even though it was relatively safe in this area, it was also true that monsters lurked in these woods. And it was very unlike Hestia to disappear without saying a word to anyone…These thoughts and others passed through Bell’s mind.
“Eh…?”
He found it immediately.
It was a small grassy area just a little ways from the campsite. There were many vials of potions scattered on the ground and a small ball of paper.
Bell came to a sudden stop, his eyes practically jumping out of his head at the scene before him.
“Aren’t these…?!”
He picked up the closest vial—a double potion made by Nahza, one that Hestia had carried with her from the surface. Bell fell to his knees, forgetting to breathe. The way the vials of potion were sprawled out on the ground gave him a hint as to what had happened to Hestia.
His head snapped up, his eyes scanning the surroundings. The feeling that something bad had happened washed over him as he reached for the crumpled piece of paper.
…LITTLE ROOKIE. I HAVE YOUR GODDESS. IF YOU WANT HER BACK, COME TO THE CRYSTAL ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE CENTRAL TREE, ALONE…
Bell’s eyes went wide in shock upon reading it before jumping to his feet.
A crude map was scribbled at the bottom of the message. Bell took off at full speed, the paper firmly in his grasp.
“Ah…”
Chigusa caught a glimpse of Bell out of the corner of her eye, but he had been oblivious to her presence.
Who would do something like this, and for what?
A new wave of confusion thundered through Bell’s head. Not a monster, but an adventurer just like him had put his hands on Hestia. There was only one thing he knew for certain: The adventurer in question wasn’t playing around. His actions and the note were enough to figure that out. Enough to make him dizzy.
Was Hestia okay?
That question lit a fire within him. He carved through the forest at full speed, leaving nothing but dirt and sweat in his wake.
Bell ran. He emerged from the forest and into the great plain on a course directly for the Central Tree in the distance. Thump, thump, thump. He coaxed even more speed out of his legs. Monsters in the area noticed him and gave chase but couldn’t keep up. The white rabbit left all of them in the dust.
“—JYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
Several large shadows blocked his path.
A group of medium-size, two-legged insect monsters called mad beetles stood their ground. Bell thrust out his right arm in response.
“Firebolt!!”
The electric inferno emerged from his palm the same instant that Bell’s voice erupted from his throat. A heartbeat later, Bell broke through the hole in the mad beetles’ formation and kept right on going.
“Hee-hee, this is awesome…The real deal.”
Mord fought back tears of joy.
He held a black helmet in the shape of a hat in his hands.
He looked down at the magic item made by Asfi, aka Perseus—“Hades Head”—with the eyes of an adventurer who had just struck gold.
“Hey, you over there, release me! You think you can get away with this?! I’m a goddess, you know?!”
Mord looked over his shoulder at the source of the protests.
They were somewhere in the middle of the southern forest on the eighteenth floor of the Dungeon. Crystals were scarce in this area while thick grass spread out between the trees. Hestia lay beneath one of the big ones, her hands and feet bound with rope.
“My apologies, Lady Worship. Please forgive my sloppiness.”
“You don’t feel sorry for anything at all, now do you…?!”
There were two more adventurers standing around the tree, the same ones who’d sat next to Mord at the bar in Rivira.
They surrounded Hestia on her left and right, watching her.
“Disappearing and reappearing out of nowhere, is that your Magic?! Why did you bring me here?!”
“Ha-ha-ha, I can’t answer all those questions at once, Lady Worship.”
Mord kept the Hades Head out of Hestia’s line of sight as he turned to face her, a faint grin on his face.
The power of the magic item he received from Hermes granted the wearer invisibility. Requiring no Mind or physical strength to perform a Skill, the person remained invisible as long as the item was equipped. Mord used this ability to kidnap Hestia from the campsite and bring her here.
It was easy for him to find an opening once he knew that Bell’s group, along with Loki Familia, would be busy preparing for their return trip today.
“We have nothing against you directly, Lady Worship. So please don’t worry. None of us is stupid enough to raise a hand to a deity. The repercussions are just too scary. So won’t you please quiet down?”
“What reason do I have to be quiet, now that I know you won’t hurt me?”
“Hee-hee-hee, Lady Worship. Please forgive me, but if you aren’t quiet…I’ll be forced to cut that beautiful hair of yours, or maybe those clothes, until you shut your mouth.”
Mord grinned as he pulled a longsword hanging from his waist halfway out of its sheath. Hestia fell silent. Her shapely breasts shook under the one thin layer of fabric keeping them contained, as if expressing the fear that overtook her.
Mord was satisfied by the look of distress in the small goddess’s eyes and thrust the blade back in. Leaving the others in charge, he once again turned his back to her.
“Hey, we’re not finished here! What are you trying to do?!”
“…I’m going to teach a member of your precious family a lesson.”
Mord’s teeth flashed as he grinned at Hestia’s wide eyes.
“The boy’s got a thing or two to learn about the code adventurers live by.”
“You find them?!”
“No, Mr. Bell and Lady Hestia are gone!”
Lilly’s voice shook responding to Welf’s call as the young man ran up to her.
Not much time had passed since Bell took off by himself to find Hestia. Lilly was the first to notice his absence and asked for help searching the campsite and the surrounding forest.
Lilly hunched over, trying to catch her breath. Mikoto and Ouka joined them.
“This is not good. If we don’t find them soon, Loki Familia will leave us behind.”
“There is no time…”
The two of them were still looking around the forest even as they spoke.
Although Loki Familia’s second group had agreed to escort them back to the surface, they were under no obligation to wait. With no formal agreement to hold them back, they would start their journey according to their schedule. The window for the young adventurers to join up with them was closing with each passing second.
Welf furrowed his brow and said:
“This ain’t like Bell and Lady Hestia, especially not at a time like this.”
“That would mean…something has happened to them?”
Lilly said what all of them were thinking. The four quickly formed a circle, stress and anxiety overtaking them. It was written clear as day on their faces.
“Can we request assistance from Lord Hermes and Ms. Asfi?”
“They could be on the other side of the forest by now. With no way to find them, we lose too much time.”
“Ms. Lyu…No, the hooded adventurer. Does anyone know where she is?”
“Only Bell would have any idea where to start looking.”
Welf started swearing to himself, frustration overtaking him as he folded his arms. That was when a new voice reached the party.
“E-everyone—!”
Chigusa came running into view from between the trees north of the campsite, frantically waving her arms. “What’s wrong?” “Did something happen?” Rather than try to explain, Chigusa led them to the spot where the vials of potions littered the ground.
“Aren’t these the ones that Hestia received from Nahza…?”
“Oh, and also, I saw Mr. Cranell run off that way. He looked very distressed…”
“…Lilly thinks it’s safe to say they’ve got mixed up in something bad.”
Said the prum as she reached down to inspect the potions for any kind of clue.
“Indeed, it seems unlikely that a monster did something to Lady Hestia. So that means this was the work of other adventurers?”
“Kidnapping? Without any of us or Loki Familia noticing?”
Welf and Mikoto’s conversation going on over her head, Lilly’s hand shook as she found something.
“This is…”
“Found it…!”
Bell saw a large blue crystal reaching up toward the ceiling as he made his way among the trees.
Stuffing the map down the front of his shirt, Bell picked up his pace. The ground was uneven with thousands of thick roots. He tore through the forest with powerful strides as if guided by the wind.
The Central Tree was due east of the crystal landmark that stood directly in front of him. He squinted his eyes as the crystal’s glow grew more intense with each step. The trees thinned out as he emerged into a very open and bright location.
“He’s here, Mord!”
An adventurer hidden in the shade of one of the last remaining trees saw the boy and called up toward the crystal.
Bell came to a stop. The adventurer who emerged from behind the blue crystal was none other than the person who he’d bumped into in Rivira, Mord.
“That was fast, Little Rookie!”
“…The goddess?!”
He immediately figured out that the man in front of him was the one responsible for Hestia’s disappearance and wasted no time asking him about it. Mord moved out from under the shadow of the crystal, his lips forming a toothy grin.
“Yer Lady Worship was nothing more than bait to draw you out, little punk. We haven’t done jack shit! After all, who’d be stupid enough to hurt a god? They can hold one hell of a grudge!”
Bell’s eyes sharpened. He was their real target.
“Why…What do you want with me?”
“You must have some idea. You can’t seriously be that stupid, can you, record holder?”
The man’s voice was laced with a thick, cold hatred. It told Bell everything he needed to know.
The reason that the man had gone as far as capturing Hestia to lure him out was…
“You alone?”
“…Yes.”
“Is that so? Well, I brought some insurance, just in case.”
Rustle, rustle.
Upper-class adventurers emerged from behind trees and under grass. There were too many for Bell to count offhand, at least twenty in all.
Mord’s group moved to surround Bell, his body tensing up on the spot.
“Don’t have a heart attack, they won’t touch you—follow me!”
Mord jerked his chin over his shoulder. Bell had no choice but to do what he was told. The squad of adventurers wasn’t far behind—clack, clack—tapping their exposed blades against their armor as if waiting for the fun to begin. Bell kept his mouth shut and tried to ignore the thinly veiled excited smiles that surrounded him.
His first priority was to rescue Hestia, but that was impossible under these conditions. He didn’t know where she was being held, and no one here was about to let him have a look around. Bell came to the conclusion that he had no choice but to listen to their demands for the time being.
He had fought enough monsters to be calm in the face of danger. However, he didn’t recognize the quiver running through his limbs at this very moment as fear.
“This place…”
Mord led Bell to a small plateau.
The surface was almost perfectly smooth, with a circular area slightly higher than the rest. About seven meders in diameter, it was unmistakably a stage designed for an audience.
“Up, now.” Once again, Bell did as he was told. Mord was close behind. The squad of adventurers surrounded the stage. There was no way to escape.
“And now is when the fun begins. We duel.”
“Duel…?”
“That’s right, a duel! And the pathetic loser has to do whatever the winner tells him…When I win, I’m takin’ all of yer good-looking equipment and selling it for profit.”
The scars on Mord’s face warped as he grinned yet again, as if to say, you might as well hand everything over now. The look in his eyes and the tone of his voice showed extreme confidence.
The winner would take everything from the loser. Bell needed a moment to let that archaic and violent rule sink in. He narrowed his eyes, eyebrows sinking as low as they would go.
Steadying his breath, Bell responded with as much resolve as he could muster.
“Release the goddess if I win.”
“…Sure, sure. If you win.”
Mord’s face went blank for a moment when Bell issued his demand. However, a thin, cold grin reappeared on his lips in no time, his eyes glaring.
The surface of the stage was covered with loose dirt and small pieces of crystal. The imposing form of the towering blue crystal stood not too far away. Bell and Mord took their places in the middle of the arena, pulling weapons from the sheaths around their waists.
The type of weapons they carried gave clues about each of the combatants’ fighting styles. The Hestia Knife in his right hand and Ushiwakamaru in his left, Bell fought with a combination of high speed and an overwhelming flurry of knife strikes. The crowd of adventurers around the stage started whistling and hollering as Bell took a defensive stance.
As for Mord, he slowly withdrew a great sword that he kept strapped to his back, longsword still at his waist.
“But don’t get the wrong idea, ya punk-ass brat.”
He rested the gigantic sword on his right shoulder and reached behind his back with his left hand.
Then he laughed. Dark and evil, his eyes glinted at Bell.
“This is a show—where I beat the livin’ shit out of you!”
He thrust the massive weapon into the ground.
The force of the impact was enough to crack the stage as well as send up an explosion of loose dirt and debris. Bell felt the ground shake through his boots as Mord disappeared from sight. “Dammit, man!” came the angry voice of an adventurer behind him as he took a face-full of the dust. Bell quickly jumped away from the cloud to gain some distance, set his feet, and watched carefully.
“Huh…?”
The dirt cloud was gone, but Bell couldn’t believe his eyes.
The great sword was still stuck in the ground, but Mord was gone. Not left or right—Bell quickly scanned the audience to see if he was trying to sneak up on him from behind using them as cover. Mord wasn’t there.
Above. His eyes went wide as he looked toward the ceiling—but the blow came from the side.
“Ge-HA?!”
Something about the size and shape of a fist swung in from the right side of his head. It was powerful enough to take Bell off of his feet. He quickly recovered, rolling a few times before jumping back up. Bell quickly looked around the stage, doing his best to ignore the throbbing pain in his right temple. But Mord was nowhere to be seen.
Bell had just enough time to register confusion before the next hit came.
—A jump kick?!
Whoosh. He could hear air whistling by his ears a moment before the heel of a sabaton iron boot buried itself in his chest. Eyes flying open as all the air in his lungs was expelled, Bell was once again launched backward. Landing flat on his back and fighting for breath, Bell quickly rolled away from the spot after sensing a violent aura coming right for him. The place where his head was just a moment ago suddenly crumbled. A stomp attack had just landed.
Absolute hell was waiting for him as Bell climbed back to his feet.
An unrelenting storm of punches and kicks were unleashed on his body.
“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
Blood and dirt flew with every blow. Left-right, right-left. The audience roared with excitement as Bell was pushed closer and closer to the edge of the stage. Their arms waving and fists pumping, Bell was caught in a fierce whirlwind of bloodlust.
The boy was seeing stars every time a blow landed, but he came to realize that he couldn’t see the attacker.
Struggling to stay conscious, Bell focused on the area directly in front of him and tried to assess the situation. This wasn’t a Skill—maybe Magic? He had never encountered anything like this and was much too slow to react. Taking punch after punch, explosions of pain erupted all over his body.
The force of each hit sent his body right and left, flicks of blood scattering across the stage floor.
“Smash his head in, Mord!”
“Amazing! We can’t see ’im either?!”
“Rip that smart-aleck rabbit’s nose clean off his face!”
There were still sounds. Iron boots were clicking, the air was rustling.
However, all the noise surrounding the duel canceled them all out. Bell had no way to predict where Mord’s next blow was coming from.
Even shifting his body when he could feel the attacker’s aura did little to protect him. The amount of damage Mord had inflicted using this strategy had completely negated Bell’s Agility advantage despite their Statuses and Levels being fairly equal. Bell’s half-a-second delayed reaction was becoming his downfall.
Mord used Bell’s lack of knowledge as a shield and didn’t give him any time to react.
“Get back in there!”
“…?!”
Bell had been forced all the way to the edge of the stage. One of the onlookers shoved him back toward the center. Leaning forward to catch his balance, Bell took another direct shot to his ribs from Mord’s knee.
His consciousness was unstable. But the pain from every punch and kick was not the cause.
It was the spite, malice, and hostility of people.
Bell had never encountered anything like that before. Not once had he been trapped in a whirlpool of hate and jealousy. This was his first time confronting the darker side of humanity.
—It was making him dizzy.
Jeers and insults were hurled at him from every direction, joyous laughter and piercing glares as well. Light-headed and with a twinge of fear, Bell realized that this stage was in a completely different world from the one that he knew, the warm, supportive realm that he called home.
It was an adventurer’s baptism of fire.
This was part of being an adventurer, a rite of passage. Now, this was what made an adventurer.
Wine and women, riches and titles were all required to make an outlaw’s party.
Bell gritted his teeth in a desperate attempt to stay conscious even as the blows kept coming.
Bell and Mord’s very one-sided duel was surrounded by a ring of excited adventurers yelling at the top of their lungs.
Two sets of eyes watched the “show” created by the outlaws from a safe distance.
“You have vulgar taste…Do you seriously find watching this kind of fight interesting?”
“Harsh, Asfi, very harsh.”
Hidden in the canopy on the edge of the forest overlooking the stage, Hermes shrugged as his follower glared at him with unyielding eyes.
“You said that you wanted to see the power of Bell Cranell with your own eyes…Did you come all the way down into the Dungeon to see something like this?”
“Actually, I was hoping to see him fight a floor boss, but that didn’t work out so well.”
A shade of disappointment filled Hermes’s orange-colored eyes as he watched Bell jerk and shake below. “This is even more sadistic,” Asfi responded with a tone of sadness in her voice.
“Going out of your way to give them my helmet, informing all of those adventurers…I’m beginning to think you have a grudge against him.”
“Oh? I’d call it tough love.”
“It’s impossible to call this love.”
“Now hear me out. Sooner or later, adventurers were going to bare their fangs at Bell. You said it yourself, he wasn’t well-liked, yes? Bell was naïve, and at that rate he would eventually meet up with something far crueler. Vulgar or not, I wanted him to understand this side of humanity.”
Asfi fell silent at her god’s level of tolerance and acceptance of all types of people.
Not only did Hermes inform them of a way to get Bell isolated, but he’d also provided a magic item that allowed them to avoid any entanglements with the Kenki. He’d even asked them to entertain him with a show.
This might have gone too far to be a simple test for Bell, but perhaps it was exactly what he was hoping for.
“But while I can’t deny I’m enjoying this on some level, I’ve done something terrible to Hestia.”
“…And if the boy should fall here?”
“Then he didn’t have what it takes, that’s all.”
Hermes didn’t take his eyes off the fight, even as he responded without hesitation to Asfi’s questions.
Until finally, he lifted his eyes to a different angle and said:
“But even now…both Bell and the others shine brightly with the thoughts of their friends.”
“—Found ’em!”
Welf signaled to the others as soon as he caught a glimpse of a large group of adventurers.
There were three people behind him: Ouka, Mikoto, and Chigusa with her backpack. Shf-shf-shf, all of them quickly ran through the grass in the forest to meet up with him. Moving as a group, they analyzed their surroundings and made their approach.
“Loki Familia really did leave us behind.”
“Let’s consider our options after we have safely recovered Mr. Bell and Lady Hestia.”
Mikoto and Ouka exchanged words while equipping themselves with short bows and arrows from Chigusa’s backpack.
“Just to warn you guys, I’m pretty useless against people that strong. All I can do is seal their magic!”
“That’s plenty.”
Ouka nodded at Welf before joining Mikoto behind a large tree root. The two of them made eye contact for a moment and jumped into the air, unleashing arrows toward their opponents.
“Oi!” “What was that?!”
“The ones who were with the Little Rookie! How the hell did they find us?!”
Although the shots came from behind them, the upper-class adventurers drew their weapons and deflected the arrows with ease, proving their skill. Mikoto and Ouka fired four arrows per second, creating a rain of unrelenting projectiles. The adventurers who had been watching the fight quickly broke away from the stage and ran toward the source.
“This was part of the plan anyway! Wipe them out!”
“Who the heck would be intimidated by Takemikazuchi’s banner, huh?!”
The fastest of the upper-class adventurers quickly maneuvered through the arrow rain, shouting threats as they went. Ouka saw the first few break through their ranged attacks when he fired his last arrow. He discarded his short bow without hesitation.
“Chigusa, a spear!”
“Sir!”
Taking one from her a second later, Ouka moved to engage.
“Too slow, nimrod!”
A werewolf with particularly high Agility sidestepped Ouka’s first strike. Smiling as he made it past the first defense, the werewolf turned his claws on Mikoto, who had just thrown down her own short bow.
“—Yah!”
“?!”
Seizing the opportunity, Mikoto quickly grasped hold of her attacker’s wrist and flung him cleanly over her shoulder.
The werewolf landed square on his back. Before he had a chance to register the pain, however, Ouka stomped straight into the werewolf’s gut with all of his might.
“Gheh?”
“We are followers of Lord Takemikazuchi, yes?”
The werewolf’s body flinched in response. Ouka and Mikoto’s teamwork had put one of the upper-class adventurers completely out of commission.
Being a god of combat, Takemikazuchi made sure that all of his followers were proficient with many types of weapons, even empty-handed fighting styles. Not limited to just bows and spears, Ouka and Mikoto were able to adjust their battle style to fit any situation.
With their supporter Chigusa by their side, the two of them were able to respond to the newcomers as well. Using a mixture of techniques and battle savvy, the three of them moved to find the most advantageous position to continue the fight.
“The sons of bitches are hard to put down…!”
“Idiots! We’ve got the numbers! Surround and overwhelm them already!”
The last of the upper-class adventurers arrived to join the fray, yelling at those who were already engaged in combat.
Welf looked on, overwhelmed as adventurers just kept coming.
“Hey, there’s too many of them!”
“We’ll have to use the trees to our advantage…Stay close!”
Ouka’s voice was steady and in control despite the twenty enemies brandishing their weapons in his direction.
Welf took his place to form a four-man cell as they used the landscape for protection during the brawl.
“Hey, what’s going on?!”
Hestia’s eyes went wide as the sounds of battle echoed through the forest.
She could tell that this was no skirmish but something much, much bigger. The sound of clashing swords and small vibrations through the trees was more than enough to make her shiver in fright.
She had a bad feeling that this had something to do with the “lesson” Mord had planned for Bell. Something bad was happening to him, she knew it. Fighting hard against the ropes cutting into her wrists and ankles, she desperately tried to get answers from the men Mord had left behind.
“Ahh…Sounds like they’re having a good time…”
“Dammit, I wanna go watch…”
“—Hey! No ignoring gods! That’s an order!”
The two adventurers sitting on the ground on either side of Hestia just stared blankly back at her. “Urrggghhhaaaaaaa!!” she yelled as her face bulged with rage. Unfortunately for her, her small build was not the least bit intimidating. Her captors weren’t sure how to react.
“!” “Who’s there?!”
“Huh? Huh?”
Hestia looked left and right in rapid-fire succession as the adventurers suddenly sprang to their feet.
Rustle, rustle. They quickly spotted movement in the thick bushes just beyond their hiding place—two long, white ears emerged as a rabbit poked its face out from behind the leaves.
“B-Bell?”
“’Course not!”
“Al-Miraj, eh?…Scared the shit out of me.”
The rabbit monster flicked its head from side to side, its red eyes scanning the surroundings before it hopped out of the bush. Holding a honey cloud in its small hands, it quickly bounded through the area and out of sight as if looking for more fruit.
One of the adventurers breathed a sigh of relief, but then suddenly furrowed his brow.
“Wait a second, why would there be an Al-Miraj on the eighteenth…?”
That particular rabbit monster only appeared on the thirteenth and fourteenth floors of the Dungeon. Monsters tended to attack anything they perceived as a threat, including other monsters. So how could one Al-Miraj, a fairly weak monster, make it all the way down to the eighteenth floor on its own? The adventurer couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss.
He stepped away from Hestia and toward the spot where the rabbit disappeared when suddenly—splat splatt!
“Huh…?”
“Ghaa.”
Something hit him square in the chest. Honey-colored juices ran down the front of his armor. He looked toward his ally; the man had been hit in the head with the same thing.
The moment the two of them realized they’d been hit with fruit, the ground shook as a tree collapsed behind them.
The two of them slowly turned around to find…
“Guuraa…”
Three bugbears, each drooling with hunger.
““—UWAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!””
“ROOOOAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!”
The three monsters howled in unison and set their sights on the fruit-covered adventurers. They were after the honey cloud, but it was suddenly mobile as the adventurers took off in the opposite direction. The bugbears gave chase, leaving Hestia by herself, blinking in confusion. Boing, boing, the Al-Miraj came back to the clearing and stopped in front of her.
“Oooooh! I taste horrible, so don’t eat me!”
“—Stroke of midnight’s bell.”
The voice came from inside the monster’s body. Hestia watched in shock as the Magic was lifted.
“Even monsters would get sick if they tried to eat Lady Hestia.”
“Supporter!”
A cloud of gray ash surrounded the rabbit’s white fur. As soon as the cloud cleared, there was no monster, only Lilly in its place.
She had fooled the adventurers using her Magic, Cinder Ella, which could transform her body into anything she could clearly picture in her mind, even monsters. The technique that had served her so well during her days as a thief allowed her to sic monsters onto her adversaries.
“You’re alone?! No, that’s not important. How did you find me?!”
“Lilly was with Welf until she figured it out right before finding Mr. Bell. Lilly found this place because…of the perfume that Lady Hestia put on this morning.”
Because someone had taken Hestia against her will, chances were she was being held as a hostage. Lilly had connected the dots, broken away from the main group, used her Magic to transform into a monster, and rescued the captured goddess.
She found the bottle of perfume that Hestia had purchased in Rivira among the scattered vials of potions. The smell led her straight to Hestia.
“Lilly’s Magic can copy physical forms as well as basic characteristics of the target. Lilly can’t get any stronger than her Status, but copying an inborn sense of smell is possible.”
“Th-that’s convenient! Shape-shifting magic!”
Certain types of animal people were known to have particularly sharp senses with the assistance of their Status.
Lilly’s sense of smell had been enhanced by spending time disguised as a chienthrope and a werewolf. That’s what tipped her off.
“Mr. Bell is fighting at the base of that large crystal. Let’s get going.”
“Yes!”
Lilly cut Hestia’s bonds with a knife and the two of them ran headlong toward the crystal.
“Blasphemous Burn!”
Anti-magic Magic—Welf activated Will-o’-the-Wisp, causing the three adventurers who were conjuring Magic to be overtaken by Ignis Fatuus. Three explosions erupted around the battle.
The afflicted adventurers collapsed to the charred patches of ground at their feet, smoke wafting from their mouths.
“One of those bastards has some frickin’ weird Magic!”
“Smash him first!”
Mord’s two buddies, human adventurers, converged on Welf.
“You wouldn’t gang up on a smith, would you…?!”
Two Level 2 adventurers advanced on the Level 1 Welf. While he had time to set his feet, the two of them were far too fast for him to counter. He barely managed to use the flat side of his broadsword as a shield.
The two blades clashed, sending the strongest shock wave Welf ever experienced through his body. His defensive stance broken, the young man had no time to regain his footing because the second adventurer had already launched his own assault.
“Eat this!”
“—?!”
The man’s iron boot carved an arc through the air and came down hard into his right shoulder, cutting into Welf’s salamander wool jacket. He managed to avoid a deadly strike by shifting his body to the left, but the strap used to hold his broadsword snapped in half.
The broadsword’s sheath and the weapon wrapped in white cloth fell away from his body.
The sheath simply fell to his feet, but the weapon fell down the steep hill at his back and into the thick forest below.
Time stood still as Welf watched it tumble farther and farther away, helpless to retrieve it. He took an iron boot to the ribs and fell down a second later.
“Geh—?!”
“It’s over!”
Welf felt the impact throughout his back and saw a sword coming straight for his chest—then suddenly a strong gust of wind—
“Haggh?!”
The blade of Lyu’s wooden sword.
Welf watched in amazement as the man who was about to kill him took a hard hit from behind and collapsed like a bag of dirt.
“I thought the forest was too loud…So this is what’s going on.”
“You…!”
The one who saved Welf was none other than the hooded adventurer.
She kept her wooden sword pointed toward the ground and stared down the remaining adventurer.
“W-who the hell are you?! A friend of this punk?”
The man menacingly brandished his sword, but the girl calmly put her hands on either side of the hood and pulled it back.
“Apparently you didn’t learn your lesson. We shouldn’t have held back the first time.”
“—Gaaaaaiiiigh!!”
The man let out a scream as if he’d seen visions of his own death the moment that the hooded adventurer’s face—Lyu’s face—was exposed.
He had been with Mord at The Benevolent Mistress when the waitresses overpowered them. He screamed because the most frightening and violent among them, the elf, had now appeared right in front of his nose once again.
A look of despair overtook him as he turned to run, but Lyu showed no mercy and struck him down before he could take a step.
“I apologize for my tardiness. My blade shall assist you.”
“Uh, yeah, thanks.”
Lyu pulled her hood back over her face and swished the cape. She advanced on the group attacking Ouka and Mikoto. Their enemies dropped like flies, on the ground seconds later and moaning in pain.
Welf looked through the forest, the ground littered with fallen upper-class adventurers, for a moment before looking in the direction that the white-wrapped weapon had fallen.
“…”
He moved up to the edge as if it were a wall and looked over.
He glared down the hill like it was his father’s sworn enemy for a few seconds.
Turning his back to it, he rushed off to rejoin Ouka and the others.
Impact after bone-crushing impact echoed through the clearing.
Bell bobbed and weaved, the outside of his arms pulsing with pain as he stood his ground.
The ring of adventurers who surrounded the stage was already gone. The sound of weapons clashing and roars of battle could be heard in the forest not too far away. Takemikazuchi Familia, with the assistance of Welf and Lyu, was putting up quite a fight. Bell and Mord’s duel continued on the suddenly quiet stage, its audience nowhere to be seen.
One scream, and then another. The outlaws were dropping fast.
“…?”
There was an invisible attack, a solid fist on the end of the meaty arm that tore through the air. The blow landed squarely on the outside of Bell’s skinny arms.
There was also a sense of confusion—Bell could feel it coming from the opponent he couldn’t see. Mord took a step back, changed his angle, and unleashed a flurry of powerful kicks.
Block. Block. Block.
Although his defense wasn’t perfect, Bell had a good idea where the attacks would come from, as well as their timing. The boy showed no signs of losing his footing.
His ruby-red eyes had a lock on where Mord’s invisible body was at every moment.
The invisible presence shook once again. Thump, thump. The sound of iron hitting stone reverberated through the air as the invisible man jumped backward to gain some distance. This can’t be right, he thought to himself as he set his feet and held his breath. He completely hid his presence from Bell, like an assassin on the job.
Once he was certain that those ruby-red eyes hadn’t followed him, Mord snuck around Bell’s right shoulder and charged.
“—!!”
Bell’s body reacted in an instant. He swung his left leg back and to his right with the utmost confidence.
It was a long, sweeping kick with his well-armored heel leading. His left foot cut through what looked like open air.
Whok! His greave hit the chin of his assailant.
The confusion turned to shock. The invisible presence backed away to avoid yet another counterattack, shaking—Mord’s eyes burned with pure rage as he roared with anger.
“H-how can you see?!”
Bell couldn’t see him.
Mord’s aura of fury and confusion engulfed the air around the stage. Bell could not see him, and yet he was looking right at him. In truth, it wasn’t the man’s aura that Bell was sensing, but the intensity of his eyes.
—Just like the intense gaze of another, the feeling of being judged.
In the past two months, Bell had noticed the gaze of a certain pair of silver eyes always following him. The feeling of being watched had heightened his senses tremendously. He didn’t know who it came from, but it would strike without warning, making him jump in surprise. His sensitivity had dramatically increased after feeling it brush across his shoulders so many times.
The intense stare of a deity had had a great impact on the boy who was already much more cowardly than other humans. He was nothing more than a rabbit looking for cover.
Mord’s “gaze” of malice was like a beacon—as were the two sets of eyes looking down at him from the trees. Bell could feel them all.
He knew where the enemy’s eyes were looking, he knew where they were looking from, he could “see” where his enemy was.
The fact that Mord was invisible was irrelevant. It was the intensity in his eyes that gave him away.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it all to hell!”
The sound of a sword being drawn.
Mord had been enjoying himself, punching and kicking Bell to his heart’s content up until now. Playtime was over, time to kill. The weapon, just like his body, was invisible due to the power of the Hades Head.
Bell’s eyes flew open. Sensing his opponent’s charge, Bell dove headfirst to the side. He heard the air whistle just as he got out of the way of the sword.
Bell rolled a few times on the surface of the stage. Snatch! He flung out his right hand in mid-roll and grabbed a handful of loose dirt and small blue crystals before regaining his feet.
“I’m gonna slice you like a—”
Screamed Mord as he raised his sword and charged in for another attack.
Bell once again picked up his attack angle from the man’s gaze and clenched his right fist, grinding the crystals and dirt into a fine powder.
A heartbeat later, he threw the powder straight into Mord’s path.
“Wha?!”
The blue powder hit Mord square in the face. Thousands of pieces of crystal spread out over his body.
The man’s ghostly blue outline appeared in the center of the stage. Even the sword came into view. Bell now knew exactly where he was.
Bell squared his shoulders toward his mostly invisible opponent, the twinkling blue crystals guiding him.
“Heh!”
“Ha, hooooooo!”
Bell drew Ushiwakamaru, flipped it to a backhanded position, and charged headlong toward his opponent. Mord raised his longsword and brought it down on the white rabbit.
Bell saw the twinkling blue outline of the weapon coming down diagonally from the left and deflected it using the crimson blade in his left hand.
The blades collided in an explosion of sparks; the screech of metal on metal pierced the air. A sudden crack sounded from the invisible but sparkling blue longsword. Suddenly, a piece of it appeared out of nowhere as the blade snapped in half. The force of the blow pushed Mord back a few steps. He froze in shock, holding what was left of the sword in his right hand.
However, Bell didn’t stop.
Planting his left foot directly in front of his enemy, Bell used the clockwise momentum from the previous swing to jump and spin into the air.
His right foot whipped through the air with the strength and speed of a tornado, the technique he’d acquired from Aiz.
“Graaaagh!!”
His right heel made contact with the side of Mord’s head.
“GAHH?!”
He hit the same place that Mord had attacked first, the right temple, with his own armored boot.
The man’s body was thrown back by centrifugal force, the motion accompanied by yet another cracking sound. Except this time, it was coming from the magic item he was wearing, the Hades Head.
Cracks covered the helmet like a spiderweb before it shattered into pieces. Mord’s body reappeared at the same moment.
He landed on his back, his fists shaking in anger as he once again made eye contact with Bell.
“Wh–at the…fuck!! Rot in hell, you bastard!!”
Mord clutched the side of his head as he climbed back to his feet, bloodshot eyes never once leaving their target.
Bell’s body was in rough shape. Cuts, bruises, and blood covered his arms and face as he steadied his breath and took another defensive stance.
The sounds of battle still raged around them as they stared each other down, getting ready for one last charge to settle this.
“Stop—this—now—!!”
Cling…Everything fell silent.
Even Mord and Bell froze in place with their fists raised and looked in the direction the loud voice came from.
Standing there for all to see was Hestia. Lilly was standing next to the small goddess as she looked out over the battlefield.
“Bell, everyone, I’m okay! This battle is now pointless! All of you, stand down!”
Bell felt a wave of relief wash over him upon hearing her voice, and he let his arms slowly drop.
Welf’s group also sheathed their weapons, following the goddess’s wishes.
On the other hand, Mord’s rage did not subside. Veins throbbing on his face, he turned to face his allies, who were at a loss as to what to do.
“The words of a goddess don’t mean shit! End them, all of them!!”
Most of the upper-class adventurers were on the ground and writhing in pain thanks to Lyu’s counterattack. But they’d already come this far; they couldn’t turn back now. The adventurers rose to their feet as Mord turned back toward Bell and set his feet to charge.
However.
“—You will stop.”
The entire floor seemed to fall silent with those words, the air eerily still.
Mord and all of the adventurers’ bodies stopped moving as if they were being restrained by unseen chains. The color leaving their faces, many sets of eyes locked onto Hestia. Their throats quivered in fear. Even Bell and those who came to help him were lost for words at the power exuding from the expressionless goddess.
This was the power that made the people of this world bow down to the gods. They had no choice but to lower their heads to a being from the heavenly plane of Deusdia.
Hestia unleashed her godly providence not for her own benefit, but to stop the children from hurting one another.
“Put down your weapons.”
“Uh, ah…”
Bell had never seen Hestia look like this, or use such a persuasive tone.
Mord and his adventurers could only grunt and moan as they stepped backward, overwhelmed by the immense pressure being emitted from the goddess’s blue eyes.
“…uwaHHHHHHH!!”
One of the upper-class adventurers turned tail and ran. Then a second and a third, the others watching and contemplating their options. Suddenly, everyone started a full retreat. “W-wait, you idiots!” screamed Mord. It didn’t take long for him to join them.
A distinct calm filled the forest, as if the storm had passed.
“—Bell, are you all right?!”
“Ughaa?!”
Bell still couldn’t move even as Hestia tackled him to the ground. Time came back to him. The goddess sat on top of his stomach as she took one of Miach’s high potions out of her pouch, popped off the lid, and poured it onto Bell’s face. “Bwff?!” Bell spat in surprise even as the sweet liquid flowed into his injuries and healed them. The potion made its way into his bloodstream and through his body, healing his other wounds in the process while restoring his strength.
“Uwahhhh, I’m sooooo sorry, Bell! It’s my fault you ended up like this—”
“Ah, no, Goddess…I couldn’t protect you in the first place, so…Please don’t cry.”
Bell didn’t know how to react as Hestia collapsed onto his chest, tears pouring from her eyes. He slowly wrapped his arms around her, as if trying to comfort a crying child. Just moments ago, she was unmistakably a deity from another world. But now she was looking very human. Bell didn’t know what to think anymore.
The gods were still worthy of the awe and reverence of the children of Gekai even with their divine powers, Arcanum, sealed.
This was because their life on Gekai was nothing more than a game to them…They could still unleash their divine providence and force everyone around them to bow down. But at the same time, they cared about the children who had pledged to follow them, and they wanted to assist in their life stories.
Bell looked down at the deity who had used her power not for her own gain but to save people just like him…Hestia looked up, eyes filled with tears. At that moment, Bell felt something new for his goddess, an even deeper connection.
“You in one piece, Bell?”
“Welf…”
“Lilly understands the situation, but please don’t act alone! Mr. Bell had plenty of chances to ask us for help!”
“Mmm—” Hestia once again buried her face in Bell’s chest as Welf and Lilly appeared on the stage. The red-haired young man was doing his best to force a smile as Lilly scolded Bell. The boy apologized and thanked them both. Mikoto and her group watched from a distance, smiling at the bonds of friendship that held the battle party together.
“…Hmmm. Sorry, Takemikazuchi Familia, I’ve caused trouble for you, too.”
“Not at all, Lady Hestia. We were happy to help.”
“Thank you for your help too, Hood.”
“Hood…”
Hestia had stopped crying and stood up, finally acting like the goddess she really was. Her face hidden under the hood of her cape, Lyu mumbled to herself as everyone’s shoulders relaxed.
A soft breeze came to the forest with the battle finished. Everyone there had a genuine smile on their face.
Then: “Anyway, how should we—” Hestia began. That’s when it happened.
“Eh—?”
The ground beneath their feet shook.
No, the entire floor was shaking.
“Q-quake?”
“No, this is…”
“The Dungeon is shaking?”
Chigusa, Mikoto, and Ouka spoke to one another with their eyes on the ground.
Zhaa, zhaa—the vibrations became more intense, causing the leaves to rub against one another.
“This is…a bad tremor.”
Bell realized at the moment that those words left Lyu’s lips…
An Irregular was about to occur, and this was a warning sign.
Every feature of the eighteenth floor seemed to shiver around them—the next moment…
Something above them cast a massive shadow over the stage.
“…The hell is that?”
The words fell from Welf’s mouth as he looked upward.
The entire ceiling of the eighteenth floor was covered in millions upon millions of crystals, each providing light. The largest one of these, the “sun” of the floor, had something inside it.
Something big. Something moving.
A piece of it reflected onto every surface of the massive white crystal, as if it were inside one big kaleidoscope. It was blocking the source of the light, each one of its movements casting a shadow across the vast landscape.
Just like the others, Bell had noticed the thing inside the crystal and watched it closely as the biggest tremor yet overtook him. All of the adventurers present on the stage took a defensive stance, their hands going for their weapons out of reflex.
Then—crack.
It appeared.
The thing was still moving inside the crystal, but a thick line had appeared on the surface of the crystal itself.
“A crack…?! Monster?!”
“That’s impossible. This is a safe point!”
Several pieces of crystal fell away, glinting in the sky as they fell to the ground.
More and more lines appeared on the surface of the crystal as Mikoto and Lilly practically screamed at what they were watching.
The black thing inside the crystal was doing more than wiggling; it was punching and kicking from within. The figure seemed to grow with each passing moment.
“Aw, c’mon…No way. This is my fault.”
Whoosh. Every head snapped in Hestia’s direction.
Completely ignoring the stares of the people around her, Hestia didn’t take her eyes off the ceiling and continued:
“That was almost nothing…There’s no way?”
The echoes of the cracks were getting louder, as though they were attempting to crush everything beneath them. Hestia watched in disbelief.
“I was noticed…?!”
“No, this isn’t Hestia’s fault.”
Hermes watched the entire floor continue to shake from his perch on top of the tree.
“Lord Hermes, what did you do this time?!”
“Of course, none of my little amusements could trigger something like this.”
Asfi’s lack of trust in her god came out in her voice as she unloaded all of her frustration at the top of her lungs. Hermes, however, kept his eyes on the black shadow inside the crystal.
“Ahh, Uranus…Haven’t you been listening to the prayers? I didn’t hear anything about this.”
Hermes’s eyes narrowed in frustration. He was so upset by his predicament that he practically spat the words out of his mouth.
“Stop ignoring me and please tell me what’s going on! What is that thing?!”
“Out of control, I’d say. And for some reason it’s more sensitive than usual. And it’s noticed our presence.”
Hermes once again ignored Asfi’s borderline panicked confusion and continued talking quietly, almost to himself.
“The Dungeon hates it, you see. It hates the fact that gods are all the way down here.”
Hermes continued to watch the ceiling despite the suspicious look he was getting from Asfi. She opened her mouth to speak but was suddenly interrupted by the sound of another loud crack.
The monsters lurking in the forest chose that moment to howl at the “sky.” The sound of their vicious howls mixed with the cracking sound coming from above and resonated through the whole landscape.
“Asfi, go to Rivira and call for reinforcements.”
“Reinforcements? Don’t tell me we’re going to have to fight that thing? Not run away?”
“Certainly looks that way…”
Hermes let his words trail off. A moment later, a new series of echoes joined the chorus from the south—a rockslide.
Asfi’s head snapped in that direction. The pupils of her eyes shrank behind her glasses.
“The tunnel, our only escape route, is blocked…I don’t think it wants us to get away.”
“—?! I’ve had it! If I don’t get out of this alive, I’m haunting you until the end of time, Lord Hermes!”
Asfi flung herself out of the tree with reckless abandon. Hermes watched her go, his shoulders slumping out of sympathy for her situation. He looked back up toward the ceiling once she was out of sight.
“Well, then…”
The cracks were growing, scattering like a spiderweb of lightning. A rain of crystal shards fell to the ground below.
The thing stuck its face out from the top of the crystal, shaped like an open lotus flower, with a thunderous boom.
Hermes watched in awe, frozen to the spot, before cracking a smile in spite of himself.
“Yep, that’s a floor boss.”
The monster thrust its face out of the bottom of the heavily damaged crystal.
It was almost as if a severed head had been placed on the ceiling of the eighteenth floor. However, this head was most definitely alive. Its massive eyes glared at anything that moved as it stared down from above. Its shoulders and chest emerged with another explosion of crystal shards shooting out in all directions. With most of its upper body free, it opened its gigantic jaws.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
A booming roar made the entire floor tremble. The otherworldly monster, a Goliath that surpassed the seventeenth floor’s version in every way, was born into the safe point of the Dungeon.
The Goliath slammed its fists into the crystal until its legs started to emerge and gravity took care of the rest.
It fell toward the ground like a black meteor, surrounded by twinkling crystal shards, large enough to engulf any humans in its path. Flipping its feet downward in mid-fall, the beast landed with a loud crunch directly on top of the Central Tree.
The resulting shock wave was deafening. The trees roots were crushed under the monster’s weight. In fact, the trunk was thrust halfway underground as the colossal tree buckled under the giant’s weight. The crystal shards weren’t far behind, slicing into the trees and tall grass of the plains, embedding themselves in the ground.
The “blue sky” was gone. The crystal that supplied the most light to the floor—the one the Goliath just smashed to pieces—had lost its luster. A shroud of darkness fell over the eighteenth floor. What was left of the broken crystal faintly glowed in the middle of the sea of blue crystals. An unnatural night with a full moon had come to pass.
An irregular Monster Rex stood in the middle of it all.
The monster slowly lifted its head as it stepped down from the tree.
“…Wh-wha…?”
The people with the best view of the Goliath’s landing were Mord and his group of adventurers.
They were running away from the edge of the eastern forest and toward the plains. Unfortunately for them, they were coming up on the Central Tree when the first crack rang out.
The Goliath on the seventeenth floor had skin the color of ash; this one was pure black, with eyes the color of blood. It loomed over Mord, unblinking.
“—OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW!!”
“H–HYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!”
Everyone in Mord’s group had been waiting for another party to defeat the floor boss on the seventeenth floor to gain safe passage. Engaging this new beast in combat wasn’t an option. The group scattered in all directions, desperately trying to escape.
“What the hell is that…?!”
“Black Goliath…?!”
Bell’s party had emerged from the forest and stood in shock of what greeted their eyes.
The Goliath made its move toward Mord’s group as Welf and Lilly spoke to no one in particular. Even from this distance, Bell could tell that this Goliath was much more agile and powerful than the one he’d encountered on the seventeenth floor.
“That monster was probably sent to kill me…No, sent to kill the gods who came too deep.”
The Dungeon had sensed the presence of the deities and had sent this monster specifically to assassinate them.
The others didn’t completely understand what was going on. But every single one of them gulped as soon as Hestia told them that this floor boss was more than likely after her.
Although the beast was extremely powerful, it chased after anything that moved. Perhaps it was born too quickly to inherit the intelligence of other floor bosses.
“…W-we have to help them?!”
Bell was just as shaken as Welf and the others. But the sight of the other adventurers in danger helped him control his fear as he braced his legs to spring forward.
“Stand down.”
“?!”
Lyu grabbed Bell’s hand from behind.
The boy could see her sharp sky-blue gaze coming from underneath her hood.
“Do you really intend to assist them? With this party?”
Her expression was so blank, her very words seemed cold as she asked what should have been an obvious question.
Their party had only five upper-class adventurers to take down what was most likely at least a Level 4 Monster Rex. The difference in their strength was astronomical.
But most of all, was that group of outlaws worth saving at the potential cost of his friends’ lives? Lyu’s body language accented everything.
The boy’s eyes opened a little bit wider as a look of uncertainty passed over his face.
But it lasted only for that instant.
“Let’s help them.”
Lyu’s eyes narrowed at the boy’s quick decision.
“You are unfit to lead a party.”
Being who she was, Lyu’s criticism cut deep.
Then he met her sharp gaze for one moment—and she smiled.
“But you are not wrong.”
With Bell’s expression fresh in her mind and a grin on her lips, Lyu raced away from the forest and toward the Goliath with her cape fluttering in her wake. She was the first to move to help the other party.
Bell’s heart twinged for a moment before he took off after her at full speed.
Then Lilly, Welf, Mikoto, Ouka, Chigusa, and lastly Hestia.
No one voiced any disagreement, only exchanged glances and nods.
Sorry—and thank you. Their hearts and minds were unified.
Bell yelled:
“Let’s go!”
Seven figures left the forest and entered the plains.
Screams of fear and confusion accompanied by echoes of powerful footsteps lay before them in the center of the eighteenth floor.
Bell’s party threw themselves toward the giant, screaming a battle cry with all of their might.
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