Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka - Volume 6 - Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 

OUR WAR GAME 

The city was bustling. 

The War Game everyone had been waiting for was finally here. There was an atmosphere of energy and passion not normally seen within the city wall. 

Every bar opened early; workers at restaurants and food stands stood ready for the incoming onslaught. The reason this game had received so much attention was due to a few gods demanding that posters be hung all around the city as advertisement. These deities wanted as big of an audience as possible to build tension. The posters themselves were dominated by Apollo Familia’s burning sun and bow emblem. Since Hestia Familia didn’t have any kind of symbol, a white rabbit had been painted into the corner. 

Almost no adventurers even considered prowling the Dungeon on a day like today. Instead, they were jam-packed into their favorite bars with even more adventurers coming in every moment. As for the workers and citizens who managed to get the day off, they made their way to Central Park. Not a single one could contain their anticipation as they waited with bated breath for the opening bell. 

“Test—test, one…two…Ahem. Gooood morning and good day! I’ll be providing blow-by-blow analysis of today’s events, the chattering fireball himself, Ganesha Familia’s Ibly Archer! Some of you may already know me as the Fire Inferno Flame. Remember that name!” 

A temporary stage had been built in the front garden of the Guild headquarters. A dark-skinned man claiming to be a commentator for the War Game stood at the front of it with a magic-stone voice magnifier clutched in his hand. A large crowd had already gathered in front of him. 

“Joining me today to add his own insights into the festivities is none other than Lord Ganesha himself. Lord Ganesha, a word, please!” 

“—I am Ganesha!” 

“Yes, thank you very much for that!” 

A god wearing a large elephant mask climbed up to the stage at Ibly’s prompt and struck a pose as he yelled at the top of his lungs. The god received a round of applause. 

The Guild had worked with the merchants to turn this match into a holiday of sorts. Many people from other cities around the world would come to Orario to watch the battle, meaning more customers for the merchants. At the same time, the Guild used this opportunity to advertise Orario’s image and draw more adventurers into the city. 

But, of course, no one was looking forward to the War Game more than the gods. 

“Woah, they’re livin’ it up out there!” said Loki with her face plastered to the window, looking down at the crowds. 

Many deities had gathered on the thirtieth floor of Babel Tower. All of them were on the edge of their seats, overflowing with excitement. Hestia and Apollo, the two gods at “war” in this battle, were among them. 

The ones not present in Babel Tower had chosen to watch the game in the bars among the people or with their followers from the comfort of their own homes. 

“Lord Hermes…are you certain I am allowed here?” 

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. The only ones who would care aren’t here anyway.” 

One very uncomfortable mortal woman was among the gods and goddesses inside the wide confines of the thirtieth floor. But Hermes laughed off Asfi’s concern. She tried her best to make herself as small as possible as Hermes reached inside the front of his shirt. 

“…Should be about time.” 

The damaged pocket watch he withdrew showed three minutes until noon. 

Hermes lifted his chin toward the ceiling and took a deep breath. 

“Well then, Uranus, we need your permission to use our ‘power.’” 

Hermes’s powerful words echoed around the chamber. They were answered a moment later. 

“—Granted.” 

The response spread throughout the city, the heavy syllables heard everywhere from the Guild headquarters to the bars to the crowd gathered in Central Park. 

Deities all around Orario cracked their knuckles and set to work. 

“__________!” 

Mortals far and wide gasped in amazement as hundreds of “windows” appeared all over the city. 

The gods were only allowed to use one specific type of Arcanum—the “Divine Mirror.” Any god or goddess could use their power of clairvoyance to show what was happening at a different location at any time. It went without saying that it was to increase their enjoyment of life on Gekai. 

This way, every deity in Orario could watch the War Game alongside their children, even though the battle would take place far from the city. 

“Now that the mirrors are in place, I’ll set the stage once again! Today’s War Game is a Castle Siege battle between Hestia Familia and Apollo Familia! Both factions’ combatants are already in place and waiting for the signal to begin!” 

Magic “windows” of various sizes filled the bars, the Guild’s front garden, and Central Park. Each of the circles hovered in midair, showing different angles of the castle, Apollo Familia’s oversize emblem, and the surrounding prairie. A roar of excitement erupted from the crowd as Ibly raised the voice enhancer back to his lips and started giving background information. 

“All bets in—?! Won’t accept any once things get under way!” 

Ibly’s voice echoed through all the bars in the city. The owner of one such establishment raised his voice to cut through the din of his patrons as well as the commentary. Merchants and adventurers alike were laying odds and making bets on the outcome of the War Game between Hestia Familia and Apollo Familia. Their favorite ale in one hand and large amounts of money in the other, the patrons made their bets and took their seats in front of one of the many “windows.” 

“Team Apollo and Team Hestia, outnumbered almost twenty-five-to-one…” 

“But the odds are twenty-to-one in Apollo Familia’s favor…Lower than I thought it’d be. What idiot bet on the little guys?” 

Two adventurers sitting side by side at the table looked over the information they were given at the betting counter. Team Apollo was the overwhelming favorite and betting on them should be the smart thing to do, and yet there were some who had put money on Team Hestia. 

“Gotta be those deities over there…” 

Gods and goddesses were known for going after the jackpot rather than making safe bets. The two adventurers looked at three in particular with blank stares as the deities became more and more enthralled with the mirror in front of them. “Uahh!” “It’s time, it’s time!” “Come on, lucky rabbit!” Tickets in hand, all three were shaking with anticipation and praying with all their might. 

Meanwhile, at another bar… 

“What’s this? Borin’ as hell if everyone bets on Apollo…” 

Another bookie looked around the bar, a bit disappointed. At that moment, a human adventurer walked up to the grumbling dwarf and set down a large bag of coins on the counter. 

“—one hundred thousand on the rabbit!” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” 

“Are you serious? Hit your head or something, Mord?!” 

“Anyone else willin’ to ride Hestia Familia’s luck? Aha-ha-ha!” 

The excitement level in the bar doubled as the tough-looking human placed his bet. The man smirked at his companions’ looks of disbelief—for he had once attacked Bell with seething hatred on the eighteenth floor of the Dungeon. Mord sat down on the nearest chair, folded his arms, and thrust his chin forward with unwavering confidence. 

Every corner of the city had been whipped into a frenzy. Their furor would boil over at this rate. 

“I hope you’ve said your last good-byes to Bell Cranell?” 

“…” 

High above the whirlwind of tension and street level, Apollo approached Hestia inside Babel Tower. 

The god’s hair had been perfectly set for the occasion. He approached Hestia’s seat with a smug grin plastered on his lips. Hestia didn’t respond, only turned her back to him with her eyes glued on her own personal mirror. 

“My, my,” said Apollo with a shrug. He started back to his own chair, calm and extremely self-assured. 

“We are just seconds from noon!” 

The commentator’s voice filled the thirtieth floor. 

Waves of cheers ran through the garden in front of the Guild headquarters. 

“Here we go…” 

“Yes…” 

Eina and Misha talked quietly as both girls watched the large Divine Mirror floating behind the stage. 

The eyes of adventurers, bar owners and staff, merchants, and gods all focused on the images inside of those “windows.” 

And then… 

“The War Game—has begun!” 

Loud, deep bells rang out to signal the start of the battle. 

At that moment, inside the castle ruins… 

The ringing of the bells that signaled the start of the War Game wafted through the windows from afar. 

Compared to the thrilling atmosphere in Orario, the battlefield itself was underwhelming. 

Since this was a castle siege, the time limit had been set at three days. The vast majority of Apollo Familia believed that their opponent’s strategy would be to wait until the last day when their concentration would be lowest because they didn’t have the numbers to attack the castle head-on. As long as they kept their eye out for any probing attacks, they should be fine right where they were. 

The mood inside the castle walls was relaxed. 

“Hey, Luan. Go take a lookout post.” 

“Wha……Why do I have to?!” 

Luan the prum’s superior ordered him to leave the meticulously cleaned and decorated inner sanctum. “You’ve got good eyesight, right? Since you can’t fight, go do some laps around the wall like you did yesterday. Might as well be useful while you can.” 

The castle itself was deceptively wide, big enough that one hundred people would have difficulty maintaining a constant visual around its entire circumference. They would always be shorthanded somewhere. Luan didn’t want to leave the comfort of the inner castle, but he begrudgingly obeyed the order. 

He could hear the others laughing at him as he closed the door to the chamber and climbed the stairwell leading to the top of the wall. 

“Hey, Luan. What are you doing here?” 

“…Looking out.” 

Two archers on patrol spotted him immediately when the prum emerged on the north edge of the wall. The two chuckled to themselves as soon as they heard those two words, knowing exactly what had happened. Luan turned his back on the two of them and looked out at the northern plains. 

There was almost nothing out there. Sure, there was a random tree or boulder here and there, but no place for anyone to hide. The grasslands spread out from the north and out to the east. A river ran past the castle to the south and the edge of a forest was visible to the west. A gust of wind passed through the prum’s hair as he narrowed his eyes toward the north, when he heard voices coming from behind. 

“Magic is really the only threat.” 

“What’re you worried about? This big guy’s got a few presents for anyone who shows up.” 

An animal person stroked his longbow and bared his fangs in a long grin, completely brushing off the other archer’s warning. 

The power and range of all Magic was determined by the length of its trigger spell. The defensive wall was so thick and sturdy that only a really powerful type of Magic would have any hope of doing damage, let alone cracking it. Magic with a long trigger spell would be the enemy’s only option. 

Any mage who wandered within range of their bows would be greeted by a rain of arrows long before they could finish reciting their trigger spell. The animal person wasn’t worried in the slightest. 

“Keh,” coughed Luan in disgust, knowing that the two of them had everything covered. He had been given a pointless errand. 

It was then— 

The prum’s eyes caught something moving in the distance. 

Someone walking through the grassland to the north straight toward the wall…A vaguely human figure completely covered by a cloak. 

“H-hey!” 

“What’s that…?” 

It was very strange attire for anyone to be wearing. Most likely, the person had a hooded cape on underneath a long cloak that hid everything above the ankle. The archers took notice of the hooded figure as well. 

There was no doubt it was an enemy. However, the enemy warrior was alone and not casting a spell. The hooded figure was walking slowly but surely in their direction. Luan’s eyes opened in fright at the mysterious warrior’s aura of calm, which smoldered like hot coals buried under ash. The breeze made the figure’s cloak sway, the flapping sounds reaching the sentry’s ears. 

All three of them stood, watching the figure come within one hundred meders of the castle wall. 

The hooded figure chose that moment to make its move. 

Whoosh! It spread its arms out wide, outer cloak flying open, exposing what was hidden underneath. 

Two thin, feminine hands held on to scarlet and violet blades—twin magic swords. 

“Huh?” 

Luan’s eyes became as round as the full moon as he watched the two long blades swing forward at the same time. 

An overwhelming mass of magical energy was reflected in the eyes of everyone present on the north edge of the wall. 

“Wh-what—wassat?!” 

Utter chaos broke out within the castle the second that the magical energy hit the wall. 

Screams echoed through the stone hallways as more impacts rocked the structure. Those who emerged from the main tower were immediately lost for words when they saw what had happened to their precious wall. 

The breeze took enough of the clouds of smoke away for them to see that a piece of the wall was missing. 

“U-unbelievable! It’s them—they’re attacking!” 

Luan, who had been knocked off the top of the wall by the first blast, climbed back up. The same people who ordered him to “look out” a few moments ago brushed up to him in a panic. 

“How many?!” 

“J-just one!” 

The prum’s superiors squinted at him, as if trying to make sure they’d heard him right. Luan, himself, was visibly shaken by fear. Still, he forced trembling words out of his mouth. 

“C-could that be…N-no, it has to be! Crozzo’s Magic Swords! They’re going to break down the wall with legendary weapons?!” 

A collective gasp emerged from the small group of people who had gathered around him. They knew he spoke the truth. 

There was no other magic sword in this wide world that could possibly break through a wall of that size in one hit. Since this wasn’t cast Magic, Luan’s suggestion was the only explanation that made sense. Any doubts they had instantly disappeared. 

Almost on cue, the voices of lookouts on top of the main tower rang out. “One enemy?!” “Attacking with magic swords!” Words that started as a call to arms ended in screams laced with fear and surprise. 

“The castle’ll be blown sky high at this rate!” 

Luan yelled in sheer terror, his comrades frozen on the spot. Suddenly, KA-BOOM! The remains of the lookout tower only a few meders away took a direct hit. Large chunks of stone flew in every direction, showering the archers and onlookers with debris. 

“UWWAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!” Luan shrieked at the top of his lungs. Leaving his allies behind, he rushed back into the relative safety of the inner sanctum. 

“To think, there would come a day when I would use this magic sword…” 

The hooded figure, Lyu, whispered to herself as she swung both blades toward the castle. 

One flick of the scarlet blade sent a giant, crackling fireball hurtling toward the target. Bringing down the violet blade brought forth a thick column of electricity that snaked its way to the castle in less than a heartbeat. Both were powerful enough to pierce the outer layer of rock, sending bits and pieces high into the air. 

The weapons had been prepared by Welf in less than a week. Crozzo Magic Swords. 

The blades created by men with cursed blood were so powerful that they overpowered opponents to the point a counterattack was impossible. The kingdom of Rakia had demonstrated their power during the war, and the world had not forgotten the devastation they wrought. 

There were even stories about how they’d used Crozzo Magic Swords to turn a previously impenetrable fortress into a pile of rubble in one night. The ultimate siege weapon. 

“You cannot hit me from there.” 

Archers hastily brought down a rain of arrows from the still-intact parts of the wall. However, Lyu had no trouble dodging them. Every time she spun, she swung one of the magic swords forward, engulfing the archers and magic users with flaming explosions and electrical eruptions. The sound was deafening even from this distance as even more of the castle wall came crumbling to the ground. 

Its structural integrity gone, the heavily damaged northern wall started to tilt inward. Hurling a series of magical attacks stronger than regular Magic, Lyu worked her way east as she continued the assault. It wasn’t long before the castle’s eastern wall began to crumble under their power. 

“If you insist on doing nothing, I’ll bring the castle down on top of you.” 

Her sky-blue eyes narrowed from beneath her hood. 

Another beam of electricity shot straight through the opening in the castle wall, lighting up the inside like a storm cloud. It didn’t take long for screams of pain to reach her ears. 

“Now, come out.” 

One more spin, and yet another explosion rocked the castle. 

“S-status report! What the hell is going on?!” 

Screams of panic and terror replaced the relaxed atmosphere inside the castle as Lyu continued her bombardment. Everyone was at a loss as to how to handle such an unpredictable and dangerous opponent. 

Their arrows weren’t connecting, spells couldn’t be finished—Luan emerged from the middle chamber, running as if his life depended on it. 

“Orders from Hyacinthus! Take fifty fighters and take that guy out!” 

“Fifty?!” 

Everyone present inside the sanctum was taken aback by that number. That would slice the forces defending the castle in half to take care of one enemy. Luan was quick to cut them off. 

“Those magic swords will mow down any small groups we send! They don’t even have ten fighters—just get rid of that one and get back here!” 

Everyone fell silent in the face of reason. Yet another explosion rocked the wall, sending shock waves through the stone and cracking the surface beneath their feet. “UwaHH!” Luan jumped back as small stones fell from the ceiling, and he ran away. 

“C-come on, let’s get going!” 

“Tsk…No choice. Move out!” 

Luan’s message being the final push, fifty adventurers gathered around the elf, Lissos, and rushed toward the east gate. The iron doors swung open, an early afternoon breeze hitting their faces as another round of explosions made their ears ring. 

“Spread out!” Obeying Lissos’s command, the adventurers split into ten groups of five as they converged on the hooded attacker from different angles. 

“Guh, guahh…?!” 

As predicted, the group that had taken point position was blown backward by a sparkling electrical explosion. One group after another was mercilessly knocked out of commission every time their enemy swung one of those two magic swords. Lissos jumped over the burning grass and weaved his way through the electrical strikes as he closed the distance. 

Then he heard a cracking sound immediately after dodging a fireball. A moment later, the crimson blade shattered into thousands of pieces. 

“Now! Attack as one!” 

The magic sword had exceeded its limit. The violet blade began to crack the moment that Lissos ordered a full-out assault to seize the opportunity. 

The hooded adventurer threw the remains of the weapons into the dirt and withdrew a wooden sword from beneath her cloak to engage the thirty remaining adventurers in close-quarters combat. 

“S-so fast?!” 

“Stay in formation; do not break ranks!” 

It didn’t take long for the group under Lissos’s command to fall into chaos as the hooded adventurer sprang into action. Most of them were third-tier, Level 2 adventurers facing down an enemy who was on her own—yet she unleashed a massacre, wielding her wooden weapon with the force of gale winds. Cape flapping vigorously behind her, she deflected three oncoming swords with one upward sweep before sending a human who got too close twenty meders into the air, using the momentum of her backswing to propel her blade forward. 

Thirty adventurers couldn’t even land one blow against a single enemy. 

“Haa!” 

“!” 

Lissos timed his sneak attack to land the moment the hooded adventurer was repelling another weapon. The tip of his dagger cut across the enemy’s cheek. 

The side of her hood had been sliced open enough to reveal, for just a moment, a long ear in the shape of a leaf. Time froze for Lissos as he realized the hooded adventurer was another elf. Fury spread through his veins like wildfire. 

“Bastard! An elf dirtying her hands with foul weapons such as magic swords—have you no shame?!” 

Rage filled Lissos’s body to the point that his ears were burning red as he dove toward the hooded adventurer. 

Crozzo’s Magic Swords had turned an elvish forest into ash. “Those weapons destroyed the home of your people! How could you not know?!” He roared with the anger and grudge of an entire race. In response, the hooded adventurer—Lyu—remained expressionless and calm as she sideswiped the dagger, breaking it in half. 

“—” 

“Regrettably, there is something more important to me than the animosity of one people.” 

Time stood still as Lissos watched his opponent step in, her words overpowering him as her weapon came forward. 

“If it is shameful to rescue a friend, I shall gladly accept that.” 

Lissos saw her feet leave the ground in a spin before losing consciousness on impact. 

“This is incredible! Could Hestia Familia be looking to end this sooner rather than later?!” 

Cheers of surprise and excitement erupted all over Orario. 

The mirrors floating in the air showed images of the smoking north and east walls as well as the damage already taken by the inner tower of the old castle. Still others focused solely on the relentless attacks of the mysterious hooded adventurer who eliminated upper-class adventurers one by one in the blink of an eye. She was gaining fans by the moment. Onlookers filling the streets shouted cries of encouragement to the beautiful elf. 

“Please tell us, Lord Ganesha, just what are those ferocious magic swords?” 

“Those are—Ganesha?!” 

“If you don’t feel like adding anything to the commentary, please go home, Lord Ganesha!” 

The atmosphere in the Guild’s front lawn was absolutely electric as the announcers’ voices rang out throughout the city. 

Meanwhile, inside the confines of Babel Tower in Central Park, many gods and goddesses voiced admiration for her exploits. 

“That hooded adventurer—damn good, am I right?” 

“According to Hermes, that’s a ‘helper’ from outside the city.” 

“Hooded adventurer…Leon something or other…” 

“Apollo Familia’s response time is very quick.” 

Three gods had gathered in the corner, all watching the same mirror and exchanging opinions. Back at the main table, “Cheh!” Apollo snapped his tongue in disgust. He bared his white teeth menacingly at Hestia, but the young-looking goddess didn’t look up from her own mirror. 

“Look at that—here comes another one!” 

Movement could be seen in a mirror showing the northern grasslands. This time, it was a human girl racing across the landscape like a predator on the hunt. 

Wearing camouflage to conceal herself in the grasslands, Mikoto took advantage of the chaos of battle to approach the castle unseen. 

Thanks to Lyu’s distraction, she was able to climb over the rubble on the north side of the castle and get inside. Holding a rustic longsword in one hand, she ran into the damaged remains of the base of a lookout tower. Small piles of debris had accumulated inside, but she simply jumped over them. 

“Fear, strong and winding—” 

Then she began casting while running. 

“A sneak attack—! Another enemy coming in from the north!” 

The prum Luan was the first to recognize the danger and alerted his allies to Mikoto’s presence. 

She used the stairwells inside the tower to emerge on the roof of the inner sanctum, all the while keeping her eyes locked on the strange tower where the enemy general was waiting on his throne. Her enemies moved to surround her and cut off her advance. 

“I call upon the god, the destroyer of any and all, for guidance from the heavens. Grant this trivial body divine power beyond power.” 

“That one’s got a magic sword, too! She’s going for Hyacinthus!” 

Luan’s keen eyes had caught sight of the unorthodox weapon in her grip. Members of Apollo Familia swarmed in, flooding the roof from both sides. 

“Saving, purifying light. Bring forth the evil-crushing blade!” 

Arrows and spells shot from higher towers peppered the stone roof at her feet. Mikoto pushed on, the song of her spell dancing on the breeze. 

Heat welled up as magic energy swirled within her body, splashing with every step and hit taken. Her skin was slick with sweat, droplets flying in her wake. 

“—?” 

“Hey! That’s no magic sword!” 

An archer fired an arrow from below and managed to hit the longsword dead on. The blade snapped on impact. 

Her ruse was over. The next wave of arrows ripped the camouflage clean off her back and exposed her lithe limbs. The attacks of her pursuers intensified; arrows buried themselves in her battle cloth and spells burned her tender skin. Fragments of stones flying through the air left cuts and bruises on her face and neck. 

She almost fell countless times, but never did she stop conjuring her spell. Mikoto pressed forward at full speed. 

“Bow to the blade of suppression, the mythical sword of subjugation.” 

Every nerve on fire, Mikoto conducted a very unpolished Concurrent Casting. There was a very real danger of Ignis Fatuus—unstable magic energy exploding before release. Every attack that connected, every step she took made even more energy churn within her. She was already on the brink. 

Keeping the magic energy under control through sheer willpower, a memory flashed within Mikoto’s eyes: the song of the “Gale Wind.” 

The exquisite melody produced by that amazing warrior while engaged in fierce combat with a strong enemy was still ringing in her ears. Mikoto had seen the next level; she had sworn to do whatever it took to reach that plateau. 

No matter how many arrows hit her, how many spells barred her path, she would grit her teeth and press on. 

Conjure and run—that was all. That fairy warrior managed to attack, move, dodge, and cast her spell at the same time. But that was still a distant dream, one that she would never realize if she failed to complete her mission. What’s more, she would be unable to face her new allies should she come up short. 

More and more enemies emerged from the castle. Mikoto forced her legs to move even faster. 

“I summon you here now, by name.” 

Mikoto raced across the stone roof. Knowing full well that she would be unable to finish her spell if drawn into combat, she made a hard turn and rushed toward the central tower, arriving at the castle’s inner courtyard. 

Doing her best to evade incoming arrows and keeping her eyes focused on the looming tower, she jumped off the roof and into the air. 

“Descend from the heavens, seize the earth—” 

Enemy warriors appeared in the courtyard, emerged from the castle, jumped down from the roof in hot pursuit. 

The threat of a magic sword had drawn them in. The adventurers in the courtyard looked up at the girl in the air as she focused her gaze toward the clouds. 

Countless sets of eyes on her, Mikoto finished her incantation. 

“—Shinbu Tousei!” 

A wave of magic energy was released the moment Mikoto landed in the courtyard. Her enemies only gawked for an instant and threw their swords, spears, axes, or anything else on hand in a desperate attempt to silence her before she could flip the trigger, but it was too late. 

The wave spread out fifty meders in every direction, maximum range. 

A glimmering pillar of light in the shape of a sword appeared above Mikoto’s head—her Magic had been activated. 

“Futsu no Tama!” 

Many rings of light shot out from beneath her as the sword of violet light came crashing down to her feet. 

An immense gravity field forced all of the airborne weapons straight to the ground before they could find their target. All adventurers within the outer ring, including Mikoto herself, fell to the ground under the tremendous weight. 

“Gh-gahhhhhhh…?!” 

The adventurers trapped underneath the violet dome generated from the top of the sword cried out in pain. 

Apollo Familia members who had been lucky enough to be outside the ring launched arrows and threw even more blades at Mikoto, but all of them crashed to the ground the moment they hit the light purple barrier. “Ka-ting!” The sound of metal on stone echoed throughout the courtyard. Humans, elves, and animal people inside the outer ring fell to their knees, some on all fours as they fought to keep their heads upright under the insane pressure of Mikoto’s gravity magic. 

The girl had her fists clenched, feet planted firmly on the ground as she endured the full brunt of her own spell. 

“Are you freakin’ serious…?!” 

Self-sacrifice. 

By getting caught up in her own Magic, she had managed to capture every adventurer inside the courtyard and keep them there for as long as she could hold out. 

Mikoto watched as more and more of the adventurers collapsed. However, she didn’t budge at all. Her eyes met the closest human’s gaze as he howled at her. 

In the middle of this test of endurance, Mikoto responded in a resolute voice. 

“You shall remain here with me for the time being…!” 

“Stay strong, Mikoto…” 

Takemikazuchi watched the battle from a mirror he’d summoned into his Familia’s home. 

“Hang in there…” 

“She plans to keep the enemies in the courtyard?” 

Chigusa and Ouka were by his side, grimacing as they watched the sweat pouring down Mikoto’s face. 

Twenty-two enemy combatants had been trapped inside Mikoto’s gravity cage. Anything that touched the outer layer of Futsu no Tama, be it physical or magical, instantly came crashing to the ground. Nothing was coming close to the magic user at its center, which meant that the spell would not be broken until she collapsed from exhaustion. 

Including the group that had gone to engage Lyu during the magic-sword attack, Apollo Familia’s forces had been cut by almost 80 percent. 

—At the same time on the thirtieth floor of Babel Tower… 

Hermes spoke as he followed the tides of battle on the mirror in front of him. “Much too fast.” 

“What is?” 

“Team Apollo’s movements. They’re reacting too quickly.” 

His eyes jumped from person to person reflected in the mirror as he responded to Asfi’s question. 

“How they responded as a group to the power of Crozzo’s Magic Swords, how they all ganged up to stop little Mikoto’s sneak attack—don’t you find it a little odd? It’s almost like…they’re being guided somehow.” 

Asfi’s eyes went wide in recognition as Hermes looked away from the battle to enjoy the look on her face. 

“Information is a weapon in war.” 

“The better the quality, and the faster word comes in, it can be the ultimate trump card.” 

“However, should a little bit of poison be mixed in with said information…it spreads much faster.” 

Asfi exchanged words with her god before looking back at the mirror. Only one person was reflected inside: a prum with his head on a swivel as he ran through a hallway. Luan encountered no guards as he ran quietly to the fully intact west gate of the castle. 

“Just one drop of poison can lead to unthinkable tragedy.” 

Then the man opened the west gate by turning a wheel with his own hands—granting Bell and Welf entrance to the castle. 

“A traitor—?!” 

Townspeople all over Orario stood up, heads between their hands and jaws slack in surprise. 

In the main streets, in front of the Guild, in Central Park, no one could believe what they were watching and yelled at the top of their lungs. 

“That guy just betrayed Apollo Familia?!” 

The many “windows” floating in midair showed two humans running side by side with the prum man. Everyone seemed to be drawn closer to the mirrors in shock. 

An unthinkable betrayal—Bell and Welf entered the castle without any resistance whatsoever thanks to Luan. What was left of the fifty adventurers dispatched to take care of Lyu were still fighting in the east. Almost half of the castle’s remaining troops were currently trapped by Mikoto’s magic in the courtyard. The passages in the western part of the castle felt deserted. The guards who were originally stationed there must have gone to protect the heavily damaged north and east walls, creating this blind spot. One unlucky adventurer who happened to be passing through the hallway stared at the three for a moment before taking off and yelling at the top of his lungs. But he wasn’t fast enough to get away from the white rabbit and was knocked unconscious with one quick strike. 

Absolutely floored by the turn of events, waves of excitement and anxiety passed through the spectators. 

“Wha…Eh…Hah…?!” 

A speechless Apollo was one of them. 

He stood up from the table with such force that his chair flew backward, slamming to the floor behind him. Anger had boiled up inside him to the point that his face started to contort and change color as he opened and closed his mouth. 

Yes…! 

Hestia made sure to keep her celebration out of sight of the visibly shaking god as she silently pumped her fist beneath the table. 

She gazed at all the members of her family with trusting eyes in the mirror in front of her. 

“You get them goin’?” 

The castle ruins, inside Apollo Familia’s castle. Welf ran up to Luan’s side. 

“This is the only way Lilly can be useful.” 

It was most definitely a man’s voice, but Luan’s tone was surprisingly feminine. His face was male, too, but the way he smiled at Welf was the spitting image of their young ally. Bell ran up along the other side and grinned at their unsung hero, their supporter. 

Luan the traitor was actually Lilly in disguise using her magic. 

The real Luan had been captured almost four days ago on the night that Apollo Familia first set out to the castle ruins. He was currently in a random shed outside the city wall—no doubt viewing the War Game under Miach’s watchful eyes. Lilly had taken his place, copying his voice and mannerisms to the point that no one noticed a difference. She’d been collecting information from inside the castle ever since. 

She had an opportunity to reunite with Welf and the others the night before the War Game after being assigned to bring the last of the supplies into the castle. That’s when this plan all came together. 

Being Level 4, Lyu would draw out half of the enemy’s forces and keep them busy while Mikoto cut the remaining forces in half yet again by restraining them inside the castle grounds. 

Lilly would manipulate the commanders as well as anyone else from the inside to ensnare as many as possible in their trap. With their numbers reduced, she would then let Welf and Bell into the castle. 

Lastly, Welf would escort Bell all the way to the throne room. 

Everything was going exactly the way that Lilly and Hestia had drawn it up. 

A traitor in their midst—Lilly in disguise had been the Trojan horse all along. 

“I told you yesterday, but the enemy general is at the top of a strange-looking tower. In order to get there, you have to go through a long hallway connecting to the third floor.” 

Returning to Luan’s speaking style, Lilly explained everything to Bell. Rakia had made some serious design changes, the largest of which was an enclosed bridge that connected the whitish main tower to the rest of the castle. She pointed to it through the window as they ran. 

“We can’t break in from the outside?” 

“No, there’s no entrance. The thing may look pretty but it’s sturdy as a rock. It’ll take time to get there and enemies will swarm in. But, once you get inside…” 

“Straight shot to the throne room?” 

The small man nodded and grinned at Bell’s words. 

“There’ll be a ton of magic users in that hallway. Counting on you?” 

“Yeah, I got this.” 

The prum “man” asked Welf to watch Bell’s back and grinned. 

Then he split off from the two humans. The only people who knew “Luan’s” true allegiance were the people watching the mirrors in Orario. Lilly could still stir up enough chaos inside the castle to keep the remaining enemies away from her allies. 

“Let’s do this.” 

“Yeah!” 

Bell, wearing brand-new, refurbished light armor, and Welf, greatsword balanced on his shoulder, raced up the nearest staircase toward the sky bridge. 

“Tell me, what’s going on?! Out with it!” 

Daphne yelled as she watched the tide of battle turn against them from her post at the base of the main tower. 

“You don’t need to tell me the wall’s been destroyed, I can see that from here! Why is the castle so empty?!” 

Eyes widened, a tinge of fear in her loud voice, Daphne shook her hair as she yelled. 

Smoke was still rising from the north and east walls; she had a direct view from one of the many windows around her. She was trying to get a straight answer out of the messenger who had brought news from the front lines. 

Daphne, along with only eight other adventurers, stood at the end of the sky bridge as the last line of defense. 

“L-Luan said Hyacinthus ordered a direct attack…” 

“HHAH?! That man ordered no such thing! I’ve been right here the whole time! I’d have been the first to know!” 

Indeed, she had been ordered to stand guard in front of the only entrance to the main tower. No messenger carrying word from Hyacinthus would have reached the troops at the front line without her noticing. 

The elf messenger shrank backward in the face of Daphne’s intimidating aura. 

“Luan…betrayed us…?” 

It was believable, especially considering that Daphne doubted most of her comrade’s allegiance to Apollo in the first place. She bit her lip before pressing the messenger for more information. 

“What about Lissos and his troops?” 

“E-eliminated, by the looks of it. The enemy used some kind of magic in the courtyard and trapped many of our warriors inside it. I don’t know how many are left who can still fight.” 

She quickly reasoned that all of this had to be Luan’s handiwork; he had to be the reason that things fell out of hand so quickly. Not even an hour had passed since the start of the War Game, and the enemy had already made this much progress with almost no resistance. 

Daphne cursed through her teeth. Not only was she angry at Hyacinthus’s way of looking down on their enemy since before the War Game, but also at herself for hesitating to act the moment the north wall collapsed. 

“Daphne, they’re here! Two humans…The Little Rookie!” 

“…This ends now. Alto, deliver a message to Hyacinthus for me: Bring reinforcements down from the throne room and we’ll crush Bell Cranell.” 

One of the adventurers had spotted the two advancing up the outer tower and alerted Daphne to the danger. She issued her orders to the elf, who immediately bowed and disappeared into the main tower. 

Daphne’s plan was to flood the sky bridge with so many warriors that it would be impossible for Bell and Welf to pass. The hallway in the sky was surprisingly wide—it would take more than ten large men in full body armor, standing shoulder to shoulder, to seal it off completely. She knew it would take several seconds for them to approach from the other side. Windows dotted the walls, a very solid ceiling above and a red carpet running down the full length of the floor. There were no obstacles in the way, no cover. Daphne ordered the mages to start casting. 

Finally, the two humans appeared at the other end of the hallway. 

“Archers to the front! They have nowhere to run—shoot everything you’ve got! Mages, fire on my command!” 

Each archer and magic user had a straight shot to their target, a literal firing range. Magic with a decent blast radius would wipe out anything in this confined space. There would be no escape. 

Daphne’s eyebrows sank, visions of these would-be attackers’ demise in her head. Withdrawing her shortsword from the hilt at her waist, she pointed it directly at their oncoming enemies. 

Archers nocked their arrows; magic users reached the final phrases of their trigger spells. 

“—GO!” 

At the same time, the man with the massive sword over his shoulder—Welf—yelled. 

The white-haired boy beside him leaned forward for an instant before taking off in a mad dash. 

“FIRE!” 

Bow strings cracked as arrows hurtled forward. Magic users moved their lips to bring their magic to life. At that moment— 

Welf thrust his right hand forward. 

“Blasphemous Burn!” 

A short-trigger spell. 

Silver, murky mist silently flowed like mercury from the palm of his hand. 

The mist overtook Bell and inundated the enemy ranks around Daphne. 

“____” 

She watched in horror as the bodies of each of the magic users started to glow, flickering like flames inside a furnace as the mist washed over them. 

A heartbeat later, each of them flinched awkwardly as their bodies flashed from within. 

KA-BOOM! 

“Huh?!” 

Sparks erupted like flower petals all around her. 

Every single magic user in front of her had failed to cast—victims of Ignis Fatuus. 

—He turned the mages into bombs?! 

Welf’s anti-magic Magic. Archers caught up in the blasts were tossed like rag dolls left and right. The mages lay where they fell, black smoke steadily rising from their limp mouths. They would not be casting again anytime soon. 

The series of explosions shook pieces of rock loose from the ceiling and walls of the hallway, the singed red carpet in shambles. Daphne managed to brace herself just before the explosion and kept her feet despite the raging winds howling inside the stone bridge. 

A swirling cloud of black smoke in front of her, Daphne steadied herself as the white-haired boy burst through it. 

“?!” 

Bell bounded right by her like a rabbit on the loose, making a break for the staircase at the base of the main tower. 

Dammit! Daphne turned to give chase when suddenly, “Ekkkk—!” A scream stopped her in her tracks. 

Spinning on her heel, Daphne saw an archer bounce face-first off the floor and a red-haired man walk toward her over the remains of the carpet. 

Black jacket rustling in the wind, Welf came to a stop a stone’s throw away from Daphne —THUD. 

The tip of his sword on the floor, Welf looked Daphne in the eyes just over the hilt of his weapon. 

“Real adventurers settle things with blades, don’cha think?” 

The young woman’s eyes trembled as she looked at the smith’s fearless grin. 

Welf’s and Daphne’s blades flashed in what little sunlight came through the sky-bridge windows. 

Loki watched the two battle on her own mirror, a playful grin growing on her lips as she watched the red-haired man force Daphne away from the main tower. 

“Fei-fei, that kiddo’s somethin’ else!” 

“Why, thank you.” 

The main table inside Babel Tower. Loki sat next to Hephaistos, who had just allowed Welf to join Hestia Familia. This was the trickster’s chance to have a little fun. 

“Those flashy magic swords—forged by him, right? Regrettin’ lettin’ him go?” 

“Who knows.” 

Loki’s pearly white teeth glistened as her grin grew even deeper. Hephaistos looked at her with a warm smile, as if happy about something. 

Elsewhere, the conversations taking place just outside Babel Tower were nowhere near as high-spirited as the two goddesses’. 

“I’m screwed at this rate…” 

“There’s still a chance, there’s still a chance…” 

The atmosphere inside the bars had become thick with tension, adventurers restless. 

Many eyes twitched as they watched Bell run on one of the many mirrors floating in the air. “Give up already!” one shouted as he stood up, shaking his fist at the boy. “Like hell you can lose!” yelled another, cheering on Apollo Familia with all of his might. Every adventurer who had bet money on Apollo’s victory was suddenly extremely vocal. Their shouts could be heard all around the city. 

“Go, Whitey! Make ’em cry, meow!” 

“Did she place a bet behind our backs…?” 

“Be glad she didn’t bet on Apollo Familia, meow…” 

West Main Street, The Benevolent Mistress. 

There wasn’t a single empty seat at the bar. Chloe screamed at the mirrors along with the adventurers while carrying jugs of ale in her arms. Runoa and Ahnya watched her in disbelief. 

“…” 

Syr stood next to the two girls, unable to focus on her job in the slightest as she watched Bell on the mirror. 

Her silver-gray eyes traced the boy’s every step, as if pleading for him to make it out alive. 

“—Wow, just wow, Aiz! Look at him go!” 

“Yes.” 

On the northern edge of the city… 

Loki Familia’s home was also brimming with excitement despite being far away from the bars. 

Tiona’s eyes sparkled as she watched Hestia Familia’s carefully crafted attack unfold on another mirror. 

Aiz stood next to her, golden gaze nailed to the boy reflected inside. 

“Yes, they’re doing very well…But even without all the tricks, couldn’t they have just sent that hooded adventurer with the magic swords straight in and let the cards fall as they may? That would’ve been so much easier.” 

Tione stood behind the two girls, watching the action over their heads as she asked her own question. 

“Amazonian to the bone, thinkin’ like that…” 

“Hmm, simply put, would a Goliath stand a chance charging into a battle party of one hundred?” 

“…Impossible.” 

“Additionally, those two magic swords alone would have been unable to destroy the entire structure. There is no doubt that Apollo’s forces are much better organized. Hestia’s group couldn’t afford to have a wide-scale battle, chaotically mixing friend and foe.” 

Gareth, Finn, and Reveria rolled their eyes at Tione’s proposition and each explained their reasoning in turn. 

A battle party composed of only Apollo Familia members led by the Level 3 Hyacinthus was already powerful enough to take down a Goliath on their own. 

The three started calmly breaking down the group’s tactics for her when— 

“Doesn’t mean shit.” 

Bete entered the conversation. 

“Rabbit Boy wants to settle the score with the perv himself.” 

Many members of Loki Familia had gathered in the common room of their home. Loki had set up many Divine Mirrors before leaving earlier that morning. The young werewolf was watching a different one from the girls, one that showed the side of Bell’s face as he ran. 

“He’s a man, that one.” 

Talking loud enough to be heard by everyone, his amber-colored eyes didn’t leave the mirror. 

“Do you know something?” 

“…Nope.” 

Bete spat out a response to Reveria’s question. 

“This’ll work, this’ll work! They’ve already come this far!” 

Completely ignoring what was going on behind her, Tiona started running around Aiz and pumping her fist in the air. Tione, Bete, and the others watched in annoyance as the young Amazonian girl started jumping up and down as well. Tiona didn’t care as her cheering became even more acrobatic. 

Her face beet-red, the girl came to a stop and punched toward the mirror with each word. 

“Fight! Win—! Argonaut!” 

Bell made it through the sky bridge and into the main tower by following the instructions that Lilly had given him. 

The tower containing the throne room was expansive. Old rugs covered the stone floor and the walls were decorated with dust-covered artwork. Bell felt like he’d walked into a mansion that had been abandoned by its owner. 

“SHAA!” 

“!” 

An animal person jumped out at him from the shadows. Bell calmly moved to engage. 

Handily dodging two swings of the attacker’s white blade, Bell knocked the sword out of the way on the third swipe and swung his left leg out and high. “Gah!” His left foot buried itself in the attacker’s cheek, sending him crashing to the floor. The animal person’s body rolled two or three times before lying still. 

—Mr. Cranell. I am only lending you my strength. 

As more enemies appeared from the shadows, Bell’s mind flashed back to the conversation he had last night. 

They’d spent the night before the War Game in the forest to the west of the old castle. The experienced elvish warrior had pulled him aside under the moonlight. 

—This conflict must be resolved by your Familia—no, by your hand. 

Thanks to the hastily forged magic swords, Bell and the others wouldn’t have to worry about directly assaulting the castle. Considering the defensive advantage given to an already powerful enemy, a plan to have the “Gale Wind” spearhead an attack was also scrapped. 

But that was all just a premise. 

Without a doubt, everyone was hoping for a defining moment. 

Hestia, Lilly, Welf, Mikoto, the audience, and most likely every god—but most of all, Bell himself. 

Everyone wanted to see the boy bring an end to this War Game. 

—I want to beat him. 

Determination burned within him. 

He wanted to roar out with the pain of not being good enough, the tears he’d shed. 

The bar, in the middle of the city, and today. Bell swore that he would surpass that man on their third encounter. 

To regain his honor, to claim victory for his goddess, and to reach that next plateau. 

Today, Bell would settle everything with his own hands. 

I think that’s the last one… 

Leaving the bodies of his assailants on the floor, Bell advanced to a circular hallway where he couldn’t sense anyone else. 

The last of his enemies were in the throne room. The general, Hyacinthus, and his personal guards were waiting for him there. 

Returning all weapons to their sheaths, Bell looked at the palm of his right hand. 

Clenching his fist, the boy looked up—ring, ring, ring. A chiming sound echoed around him. 

“We’re under attack! The Little Rookie is here!” 

The messenger elf flew through the main doors and instantly sent a wave of panic through the throne room. 

The fact that Bell had penetrated this far into the inner defenses of the castle left all of them in shock. Word that reinforcements were needed below made all of them draw their weapons and dash toward the door. That is, all but one. 

“Denied. What is running through your heads?!” 

Hyacinthus was seated on the throne at the back of the room. He slammed his fist down on the armrest. 

Cape swishing behind him as he stood up, veins in his head pulsing with anger, he looked around the room. Everyone present recoiled in fear. 

“Displaying this much cowardice is beyond shameful. How can we face our Lord Apollo in such dishonor…?” 

His normally charming and beautiful face wrinkled into a horrifying expression. 

Hyacinthus couldn’t hide his annoyance at the fact that his own forces had allowed the enemy to come this far, as well as the anger he felt toward himself. 

“General? General, sir! I beg you, please leave this place at once!” 

“Cassandra, enough already!” 

The girl shouting from beside his throne had provided Hyacinthus with an outlet for his anger. 

The girl, wearing a dress-style battle cloth, her long hair tied back, had been pleading with Hyacinthus to vacate to the throne room since early that morning. Everything about the desperation in her cowardly message made his skin crawl. 

“Please, please believe what I’m telling you…!” 

“Silence! Keep your nonsense believable!” 

Hyacinthus waved her off in anger. 

Apollo had appointed him as general of his forces. A leader could never abandon his post without reason. A loss was still unthinkable, even with the current conditions. 

“Can you not see?! I’m here along with several other warriors. Bell Cranell coming in here alone would spell his own demise!” 

The man gestured to the other adventurers in the room. They had been hand selected by Hyacinthus for their skills in battle. Ten in all, they would be more than enough to handle a Level 2 rookie. Victory was all but guaranteed with their Level 3 general leading the charge. 

Every person in the room stared at Cassandra as her eyes started to well up with tears. She looked down at her feet in terror. 

She held her quivering body, her line of vision jumping from stone to stone on the throne room floor. 

“Ah…ahhh.” 

The long-haired girl started to moan, her face losing color every second. 

Hyacinthus’s cheeks twitched out of annoyance as he turned to face her. That’s when the girl looked up and whispered: 

“Lightning…” 

Ring, ring. 

Bell kept moving, chimes echoing around him until he found a staircase leading higher up the tower. 

There wasn’t a soul in his way. His ruby-red eyes traced the path of the spiral stairwell before focusing on the specks of light circling around his right arm. 

The Grand Bell had not been heard since the battle on the eighteenth floor of the Dungeon. 

There must be some kind of trigger because Bell was sure this was exactly the way he charged his attack before. Scouring his memory, he got the feeling that the voice of a divine being came to him at that time. 

It revived him, provided vision, filled him with a burning desire—that was all Bell could remember. Something had just suddenly come to him during that battle. At the same time, Bell realized that the power he wielded that day was not something he could conjure up each time. 

But he didn’t need it right now. 

“…!” 

Argonaut’s trigger, a clear vision of a hero. This time, he saw the warrior Argis. 

The seemingly immortal hero had fought to his dying breath, slaying monster after monster in order to take back a stronghold that had been overrun by a horde. His courageous deeds were legendary. 

Every nerve in Bell’s body came to life as he visualized the hero storming the castle on his own. Light started to flicker in the palm of his right hand. 

“Lightning—really?” 

Hyacinthus slowly exhaled through his nose, his voice laced with sarcasm as he responded to Cassandra. 

The man looked outside each of the windows that surrounded the throne room. Still facing away, he looked at the girl out of the corner of his eye. 

“The sky is an azure blue, white puffy clouds here and there. And you’re telling me lightning will fall?!” 

With no hint of a storm on the horizon, Hyacinthus laughed at the prospect. 

However… 

“Not fall…” 

Cassandra’s rebuttal barely squeaked out of her lips. 

Grasping her pale face between her hands, Cassandra made eye contact with the man and whispered: 

“Lightning…will rise.” 

Once again, her gaze fell to the stone floor. 

“What?” 

The base of the stairwell directly beneath the throne room. 

The massive spiral spread out to his left and right. Bell stood directly in the middle, looking straight up like an archer sighting a target. 

The footsteps of an adventurer trying to descend echoed down the wide tube and reached his ears. 

Bell reached skyward as if he were trying to grab hold of the sun. 

—One minute. 

A sixty-second charge. Pulsing white light had come together around him. 

Next, one voice. 

“Firebolt.” 

A white inferno of electricity burst forth. 

“____” 

Cracks ran through the bulging stone floor, light leaking through. 

All words left Hyacinthus the moment he saw the first blast break through and continue into the ceiling. 

A deafening explosion. 

“What was that, did you see that______?!” 

Babel was full of screaming deities. 

“No trigger spell?!” 

“That kind of power without casting___?!” 

“I want that human sooooooooooooooo bad!” 

Not a single deity in the chamber kept their seat as they roared with excitement. 

Most of the gods and goddesses were filled with a mix of shock and admiration for Bell’s trigger-less spell. 

“…,…?!” 

Separated from the gods enjoying the moment, Apollo stood frozen in place with his mouth wide open. 

“…!” 

Hestia didn’t move, either, eyes not budging from her mirror. 

She watched as the enemy general emerged from a pile of rubble on its surface. 

“Haa—, ghaa—…?!” 

Bits and pieces of stone fell off of Hyacinthus as he sat up, writhing in pain. 

The upper half of the main tower was gone. The throne room itself had been completely destroyed by a blast that came from directly beneath it. Even now, the last of the electrical blasts were carving their way through clouds high in the sky, on their way toward the shining sun. 

“What…what just happened?!” 

Hyacinthus climbed to his feet. The once perfectly set and clean cape around his shoulders was torn and badly damaged. His normally stylish hair was ragged and filled with dirt. 

—Cassandra had tackled him just as the first electrical burst came through the floor, knocking him out the window. 

He could vaguely remember hearing the glass break as everything went white and his body was pelted with thousands of stone fragments. He must have lost consciousness during the fall, because he couldn’t remember how he’d ended up on the ground outside the castle. Looking around, all he could see were small mountains of debris and thick clouds of smoke obscuring his vision. 

“Cassandra?! Ron?!” 

He called out to his allies in confusion, anger, and an emotion he couldn’t recognize that was welling up inside of him. There was no response. 

The smoke lifted enough for him to get a better view of the pile of stones a few meders away from him. A chill ran up Hyacinthus’s spine when he realized there was a human body buried in the rubble. 

—Wiped out. 

He was the only one left. His normally calm and refined demeanor crumbled. 

Eyes flashing in fury, Hyacinthus drew his sword as the sky bridge fell apart, collapsing onto the castle below. 

“Where are you?!” 

Flamberge firmly in his grasp, Hyacinthus roared into the smoke. 

His enemy was still alive—he knew it. The urge to tear that boy into pieces consumed him. 

His heart was racing; sweat continually poured down his face. The enemy was hiding in the smoke, blade trained on his throat. 

Hyacinthus spun to the left, looked back to the right, and then turned all the way around. The coolheaded warrior was gone. He couldn’t stand still, watching every single twist of the rising smoke in all directions. 

At last, the sun’s rays started to pierce the smoky clouds. He could see deeper and deeper—until… 

“____” 

The air seemed to shiver. 

Two dots of ruby-red light flickered deep in the smoke behind him. 

Hyacinthus could sense it: the beast covered in blood. It made his skin crawl. 

A heartbeat later, Bell burst through the smoke cover. Hyacinthus spun to meet him. 

Two red knives and one long, rouge blade collided in an explosion of sparks. 

“UWHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” 

Orario shook. 

Adventurers, commentators, and gods alike. 

A duel between enemy generals. This highly unexpected turn of events sent the city into a frenzy. 

Thousands of sweaty palms were clenched into fists as unblinking eyes watched the mirrors with the utmost intensity. 

None of the onlookers could form actual words, only make as much noise as possible as the duel of the century unfolded before them. 

“…?!” 

A forward thrust. Two whirling crimson blades. 

Their attacks were too fast to follow. As soon as the mirror reflected one successfully blocked attack, the echoes of the next three came through loud and clear. The moment that Hyacinthus squared his shoulders, the white-haired boy darted away, rolling to his side, then to a blind spot, always staying out of the flamberge’s path. 

Forced to go on the defensive, there was no window to counterattack. 

The man could feel every impact of the two knives against his weapon in the bones of his fingers. Pain shot through them every time. 

Hyacinthus’s eyes shook as he watched Bell’s double-bladed onslaught, desperately trying to keep up. 

—Who? 

The boy’s strikes increased in ferocity. What was worse, he couldn’t predict them. 

Hyacinthus had the Strength advantage. But strangely, and obviously, the boy was faster. 

—Who is this? 

Techniques, footwork, nothing mattered if his blade couldn’t connect. What’s more, the boy got behind him. 

His Agility had increased so much that memories of their previous battles became cloudy. 

—Just who is this? 

The word “growth” didn’t do him justice. 

Barely managing to block the boy’s attack, Hyacinthus looked at him in disbelief and screamed at the top of his lungs: 

“—JUST WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!” 

Abilities, strategy, techniques—everything was on his own level. 

The boy who had been easily overpowered by simple, straightforward strikes in an instant only ten days ago was nowhere to be seen. 

The man put all of his strength into one overarching swing at the head of this strange adventurer and yelled: 

“I’m Level Three!” 

Hyacinthus swung again and again, attacking wildly, when suddenly Bell’s body became a blur. 

Catching the oncoming flamberge between both knives on a down stroke, the crimson blades flashed as they broke the rouge sword in half. 

“What’s wrong with you, Hyacinthus?!” shrieked Apollo as he watched his prized follower lose the sword that symbolized his Familia. The deity’s face couldn’t hide the amount of stress he was under. 

Angry jeers could be heard from the city below as every god inside Babel watched Hyacinthus draw a shortsword from his belt and continue the fight. Hestia bit her lip as she watched the two engage in a highly mobile, hit-and-run style of combat on her own mirror. Hermes cocked an eyebrow and made his way to her side. 

“Well, well, it seems Bell had some extra excelia stocked up when he became Level Two.” 

Hermes flashed his usual charming smile as he looked at the side of Hestia’s face. 

There had been no announcement that Bell had reached Level 3. So the only way that it was possible for him to keep up would be for his Level 1 abilities to have combined with his current Level 2 stats. It made Hermes tingle inside just thinking about how high his basic abilities must’ve been to produce such a result, and he just had to know. 

“What was his Status before ranking up? Come on, I promise I won’t tell anyone else. The secret’s safe with me, so please?” 

Hestia’s eyes didn’t leave the mirror. She didn’t even move as she responded in a quiet voice: 

“You won’t believe me anyway, so no.” 

“Of course I’ll believe you, so please, tell me.” 

Hermes kept pressing, so Hestia told him Bell’s basic ability levels after his battle with the Minotaur. 

“Everything but Agility was SS.” 

“Ha-ha! You must be joking.” 

“See?” 

Hestia continued watching the mirror, her serious face in stark contrast to Hermes’s laugh. 

Hermes came to realize that Hestia wasn’t smiling and the reality of what she had said began to sink in. 

“Really?” 

“Really.” 

Hermes took a step forward, the tingly feeling flooded his body as yet another smile grew on his lips. 

“…So, what was his Agility?” 

“Quiet, Hermes.” 

Bringing an abrupt end to the deity’s questioning, Hestia returned her focus completely to the mirror. 

She was determined to watch this fight to the very end. 

“Hu…!” 

“______?!” 

Crimson arcs sliced through the air as Hyacinthus absorbed each hit with his shortsword. 

His main weapon, the Solar Flamberge, lay in pieces on top of the rubble. One direct hit from the weapons in Bell’s hands was powerful enough to break it in one strike. Covered in sweat, the man was suddenly being driven backward. 

Ushiwakamaru-Shiki. 

Welf, now a High Smith, had put his heart and soul into forging this new weapon from the remaining half of Bell’s Minotaur Horn. With far more destructive power than the original Ushiwakamaru, the menacing spirit of the Minotaur seemed to reside within the blade itself. In fact, Bell had to concentrate with all his might to prevent the Minotaur’s bloodlust from overtaking him as he advanced on Hyacinthus. 

However, just because he’d disarmed his enemy and had him against the ropes didn’t mean Bell was confident of victory. 

Using Argonaut had taken a heavy toll on his body despite drinking one of Nahza’s dual potions. Bell knew that he would lose this battle should his opponent draw it out. His arms and legs were getting heavier by the second. 

Bell needed to end this in less than a minute. Every ounce of his strength, every drop of energy was going into each strike. 

Body and mind working as one, the boy’s movements picked up even more speed. 

“Guhh…?!” 

Hyacinthus’s handsome face, one that his god adored, twitched violently as anger mixed with desperation. 

One week of combat training under Aiz and Tiona had come to a head. Bell was on par with his opponent in terms of technique and footwork; everything was coming together. Every lesson that had been pounded into his body by fist, foot, and blade by the top-class adventurers was pushing Hyacinthus farther and farther back across the field of debris. 

The boy’s focus and greatly improved Status were overwhelming the second-tier adventurer. 

“U-OOHHHHHHHHHH?!” 

“?!” 

All of the accessories attached to his body flailed in the air as Hyacinthus spun and twisted to dodge the crimson blades. Yelling at the top of his lungs, Apollo Familia’s general slammed his shortsword into the debris under his feet. 

The resulting impact sent a fresh cloud of blinding dust into the air. The strike was powerful enough to reach the soil, adding a plume of dirt to the explosion. Bell was quick to react, his reflexes sending him backward before the cloud could overtake him. At the same time, Hyacinthus kicked off the ground, launching himself away from the boy like an arrow shot from a bow. 

Then— 

“—My name is love, child of light. Glorious son, I offer you my body!” 

Hyacinthus played his trump card. 

A good deal of distance between them, he started casting Magic. 

“My name is sin, jealously of the wind. This body calls forth your gust!” 

Magic—the power to come back from the bleakest situation in the blink of an eye. 

Unable to hold his own in hand-to-hand combat, Hyacinthus decided to try a different strategy to turn the tide of battle to his favor. 

“Come forth, ring of fire—!” 

Bell could sense a large amount of magical energy gathering on the other side of the swirling dust cloud. 

Returning Ushiwakamaru into its sheath, Bell thrust his left arm forward in an attempt to stop the magic in its tracks. 

“Firebolt!” 

It took less than a second for Bell’s Swift-Strike Magic to cut through the cloud and tear into Hyacinthus. 

“______?!” 

The thundering inferno enveloped him, dispersing the dust. 

The man’s long body bent backward. His battle cloth was now nothing more than rags covering charred skin. However, Hyacinthus endured. 

Not only that, the magic power gathering in his hands was unaffected. 

The man gritted his teeth, stood up straight, and continued casting. 

“—on westerly winds!” 

Bell’s eyes opened wide. He watched the man in disbelief. 

He took in a deep breath, preparing to hit his enemy with another round of the Swift-Strike Magic, when out of the blue… 

“YAA–?!” 

“?!” 

A long-haired girl had emerged from the rubble and attacked Bell from the side. 

Cassandra’s tackle made contact with his arm at the same instant the boy’s magic was released, protecting Hyacinthus from the blast. 

“Well done, Cassandra!” 

Apollo yelled into his mirror inside Babel Tower. Another shadow appeared in the field of rubble, this one making a beeline for Cassandra. 

“Mr. Bell!” 

“Kyaahhh?!” 

Lilly, undisguised, had arrived to provide support. 

The girl was the first one to arrive from the castle. Tackling Cassandra from behind, the two of them rolled down the pile of stones and onto the grass below. 

“—Nuuuahhhhh!” 

Bell immediately stuck out his left hand to fire again, but Hyacinthus had finished casting. The man pulled his shoulders back as his torso twisted at the waist. 

Bending his knees to lower his center of gravity, Hyacinthus reached his right hand high into the air and dropped his left to just above the rubble beneath his feet—a discus throw. 

The boy watched in horror as Hyacinthus’s eyes locked onto him, right hand pulsing with magic energy. A heartbeat later, the man triggered his Magic. 

“Aro Zephyros!” 

A ring the size of his body appeared between his hands, shining bright as the sun. 

Hyacinthus flung the ring forward in one swift motion, his right hand aiming the disk at Bell. It spun with blinding speed as it rushed forward. 

“Firebolt!” 

Bell launched his own Swift-Strike Magic a second later. 

A burning disk the size of a human torso; a snaking pillar of violet, flaming electricity. 

The two Magics collided, but the disk had no trouble cutting through the electric flames. 

“?!” 

Sparks flew in every direction as the violet light was swallowed up by the burning rays of the “sun.” 

Firebolt had been overpowered. That was the weakness of Bell’s Magic—it might be quick, but it lacked destructive force. 

In the face of Hyacinthus’s Aro Zephyros, it didn’t stand a chance. 

“Guh!” 

Bell managed to dodge the oncoming disk by the slimmest of margins. 

“Pointless!” 

However, the disk suddenly turned skyward as if guided by Hyacinthus’s voice. Flipping around, it set a new course for Bell. The oncoming flames reflected off Bell’s ruby-red eyes. 

Homing Magic. The magical energy would not disburse until the disk hit its target. 

A westerly wind pushing his body to the east, Bell made a desperate jump to get out of the disk’s path. 

“Rubele!” 

A blinding flash and then a sudden explosion. 

“—GAH!” 

Bell’s body had been extended, arms reaching out, when Hyacinthus triggered the explosion of the disk. 

The explosion threw the boy’s helpless body several meders, careening into another pile of debris. 

“Mr. Bell?!” screamed Lilly as she clung to Cassandra’s body, watching the battle from the corner of her eye. 

Hestia forgot to breathe as she stared, eyes transfixed on her mirror. Everyone cheering for the boy around the city suddenly fell silent. 

Body shrouded in smoke, Bell bounced off the debris two, three times, droplets of his blood flinging through the air around him. Clang! The knife fell from Bell’s right hand on the next impact. 

Finally coming to a stop, the boy managed to climb to his feet. However, the armor protecting his right shoulder was gone, his arm hanging limp and useless at his side. 

“Now I have you!” 

Drawing the shortsword from the sheath at his waist, Hyacinthus charged. 

Bell watched his enemy pick up speed, but he couldn’t react. 

The sun reflected off Hyacinthus’s blade as it homed in on its motionless target. 

(____) 

Bell saw his opponent charging in slow motion. Meanwhile, far away in Orario… 

Hestia’s eyes shook. 

Apollo smiled with glee. 

Eina’s face turned pale, Syr prayed, Bete snapped his tongue. 

Tiona held her breath—but in the golden eyes of the girl sitting next to her… 

Was the same memory that was flashing before the boy’s ruby-red eyes. 

(____) 

Two shadows colliding above the city wall, the sky orange before sunset. 

I told you. I listened to you. 

—People become easier to read when they see a window. 

The boy had paid attention to every word. 

—Guard is lowest when the final blow is near. 

Their hearts were connected by this one memory, accidentally, inevitably. 

—Your greatest opportunity lies when you are most vulnerable. 

She’d taught him. The boy took it to heart. 

—Don’t forget. 

So, not yet. 

((—Now)) 

Hyacinthus’s arm pulled back, the blade of his shortsword even with his shoulder. 

All of the emotions stewing inside him were focused into the point of his sword for one deadly thrust. He was going to end this by running Bell clean through. 

The man’s face morphed into that of a wolf salivating over a kill. Bell started to lean backward. 

The corners of Hyacinthus’s mouth curled upward, interpreting Bell’s movements as cowardly. He sliced the air with his sword once, taunting his foe before resetting for the final approach. 

Bell bent his knees and rolled onto his back a moment later. 

Forcing his center of gravity as far back as possible, he rolled backward over his shoulder. 

Seeing his enemy less than three meders away, Bell vigorously rolled backward once again in time to dodge the incoming blade. 

He used that momentum to swing his legs upward. 

The shortsword was held in his opponent’s outstretched right hand. Bell felt the tip of his right boot brush against the hilt. 

From there, he kicked with all his might. 

“____” 

CLING! The shortsword flashed in the sunlight as it spiraled upward and out of sight. Disarmed, Hyacinthus froze on the spot. 

His enemy’s confidence and carelessness had opened the path to victory. 

Bell rolled over his shoulder once again and felt his feet connect with soil—he sprang forward. 

“—Haa!” 

Point-blank range. 

“—W-waaaaaaiit!” 

Limp right arm at the mercy of centrifugal force, Bell made a fist with his left hand. 

Hyacinthus saw the boy coming but was unable to evade his attack because his body was still stuck in the same thrusting position, right arm forward, left arm back. 

The Vorpal rabbit was a fearsome, murderous white rabbit that lurked in the deeper floors of the Dungeon. And yet, here was one aboveground. That’s what Hyacinthus saw as fear overtook him. 

Every muscle in the boy’s body tensed before filling the “fang” of his fist with every ounce of energy he had left. 

“UWAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” 

Impact. 

“GeHAA?!” 

Bell’s fist buried itself in Hyacinthus’s cheek; shock waves rolled all the way around the man’s head. A heartbeat later, his feet left the ground. 

A sharp thud rang out before a loud crash. The man’s body hit the ground with such force that he flew high into the air on the first bounce; what was left of his cape was torn to shreds as he spun like a top. He fell to the ground again only to have his momentum launch him skyward once more. 

His body came to a merciful halt after a thirty-meder trip through the debris field. Hyacinthus lay on his back, arms and legs spread out like a fallen angel in the middle of the grassland. 

Eyes rolled back in his head and the giant crater on his cheek, the man did not try to stand. 

The wind stopped blowing as silence descended on the battlefield. 

Cassandra was about to throw Lilly off her body when she saw the final blow. The long-haired girl fell to her knees. 

“__________ __________ ______!” 

The sky above Orario erupted in a tremendous outcry. 

Church bells rang out throughout the city to mark the end of the War Game just as the final blow had been delivered at the castle ruins. 

Demi-humans of every race looked at the young boy reflected in the mirrors and yelled at the top of their lungs. 

“Eina, look at that!” 

“Bell…!” 

Misha wrapped her arms around Eina’s shoulders in front of the Guild headquarters. 

Emerald eyes tearing up, Eina forgot her position as a Guild employee and joined in the celebration taking place around her. The anxiety masked by refinement was gone, pure joy taking its place. 

“There’s the final bell! That was amazing, ranking right up there with the deeds of the ‘Giant Killers,’ Loki Familia! The victor of this War Game is Hestia Familia ____!” 

For some reason, Ganesha struck manly poses in the middle of the stage, completely ignoring the fact that Ibly was shouting through the voice magnifier with so much intensity that his face might explode. 

His voice echoed throughout the city, enveloping every building and reaching the ears of every onlooker. 

“““Yahh HAAAA!””” 

Three deities, who’d bet on Hestia Familia at a certain bar in the city, jumped up from their table, celebrating their improbable winnings. 

“““SON OF A BITCH!””” 

At the same time, all of the adventurers who’d bet on Apollo swore at the top of their lungs and threw their tickets to the floor in disgust. 

“Oh, oh? Lady?! You win, too?” 

Judging from all the shrieks of agony, Mord had thought he was the only one who came out on top. That was when he saw a rather happy young woman sitting in the corner of the bar. 

The man walked up to her, happy as could be. The Chienthrope woman—Nahza—smiled back at him, wagging her bushy tail and making a V with her fingers. 

“““YESSS–SAA!””” 

The cries of anguish were just as strong on West Main at The Benevolent Mistress. However, Ahnya, Chloe, and Runoa were jumping for joy, slapping their hands together over and over. Other employees of the bar came over to the three girls, exchanging hugs and smiling right along with them. 

“…Bell.” 

Tears of happiness were flooding Syr’s silver eyes. Her lips quivered as her face tried to express the intensity of her feelings all at once. 

Her cheeks blushed as she finally looked away from the mirror floating in front of the wall and turned her attention toward the customers. “Dammit, I’ve lost everything!” “Hey, Syr, I’m gonna need a crap-ton of ale over here!” She managed to put her “work smile” on as the patrons began to drown their sorrow in as much alcohol as they could afford. 

“Com–ming!” she responded in a bright voice, pep in her step as she went to take their orders. 

“…Punk pulled it off.” 

Bete practically spat those words out of his mouth as he listened to the celebrations coming from outside his Familia’s home. 

He turned his back on the common room and walked toward the exit. 

“Bete, where are you off to?” 

“Wherever the hell I feel like.” 

The werewolf responded to Finn’s question before disappearing out the door. 

Everyone left behind in the common room exchanged glances. They came to a consensus surprisingly quickly. 

“Dungeon, huh.” “Tha’d be da Dungeon.” “The Dungeon, no doubt.” 

“For sure…” 

Finn and Gareth forced a smile as Reveria closed her eyes in frustration. Tione looked more bored than annoyed. 

With Bete gone, everyone in the room returned their attention to the mirrors. Thinking back to the desperate boy who’d come to their doorstep almost ten days ago, it was hard to believe that pitiful rabbit had seized victory. No one said a word. 

That is, until… 

“…Good for him.” 

“Yes…” 

Tiona had been literally dancing around the room just moments earlier, but now the Amazon stood next to Aiz as they watched a mirror. Slowly but surely the wheat-skinned girl turned to her friend with a radiant smile on her lips. 

The blonde nodded in response and watched Bell’s friends gather around him in the mirror’s reflection. Her lips opened before she realized what was happening. 

“Congrats…” 

The largest mirror in the street showed the boy’s allies gathering around him, ruffling his hair and congratulating him like family. Others showed scenes of other cities overtaken by the thrill of the good fight. 

The same was true of the gods in Babel Tower. Several of them had gathered together, comparing notes and admiring the children or offering criticism in their own reviews of the War Game. 

“Wha…ha…, eh…?” 

One of them however, Apollo, looked like a ghost as he stood frozen next to the table. 

His mirror showed nothing but reflections of his children, powerless and kneeling all over the castle ruins. The fact that he couldn’t escape this reality just hit him like a brick wall. 

He took two steps back, then another as his crown of laurels fell from his head. 

“A-PO-LL-O.” 

Then, schreee. 

The feet of Hestia’s chair squeaked as they slowly slid across the floor. The goddess who had kept quiet all this time had broken her silence. 

A dark aura emerged as she stood up from the table. Head angled down, no one could see her eyes behind her black bangs. Her chin suddenly jerked up, blue eyes flashing as they locked on her target: Apollo. Tap, tap. She walked toward him. 

“Hy-hyeee!” 

“You’ve made peace with yourself, I hope?” 

Hestia’s low voice sounded as though it were summoned from the deepest pits of hell. Apollo fell backward in fright. 

Bell had nearly been stolen from her, her home was destroyed, and she’d been chased at arrow point around the city, among other hardships. 

All of the pent-up anger that hadn’t been allowed to vent until this moment was on the verge of exploding within her. The god on the floor could see it in her eyes. He shook as Hestia stood over him, glaring down with the utmost intensity. The god’s eyes began to water. 

“H-hear me out, Hestia! This was all just an impulse! That child of yours was just so cute, I couldn’t help but pinch his cheeks a little…P-please, have mercy on me, O Goddess of Affection! We were once destined to share marital bliss!” 

“Shut—your—mouth.” 

The young goddess cut off his pleading with the ferocity of Hades himself. 

Apollo’s face took on a shade of blue and fell silent. Even in Tenkai, he had never seen Hestia be so terrifying. 

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Hestia’s twin ponytails whipped about behind her head, riding the waves of her aura. It was proof of just how deep her rage ran. 

“You promised to do whatever my little heart desires, yes?” 

Apollo, who never even considered the possibility of defeat, had indeed said that. 

All the other gods present had made a large circle around the two deities, enjoying every second of the climax. They couldn’t wait to see the young goddess’s Divine Judgment on the offender for his sins. 

Apollo started to panic, gasping for breath as he looked to the faces of his former allies. They were now just faces in the dark, white teeth sparkling in the dim light from the mirrors. The deities were thoroughly enjoying watching him squirm. 

Apollo’s robes dragged across the floor as he squirmed away from them and backed into Hestia. Looking up, he saw blue orbs flash in anger the moment he made eye contact. 

“Everything you own, including your home, is now mine. Disband your Familia—and you will go into exile! Never set foot in Orario AGAIN____ ___!” 

“HyGAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” 

His scream sent a shiver through the city. 

Hestia gave no quarter to the dangerous god who had very nearly taken everything away from her. 

Far away from the battlefield, amid a swirling storm of emotions… 

Another final blow had been struck. 

At the now peaceful castle ruins… 

Bell reunited with his allies inside the castle that was now missing its throne room and a good deal of its outer wall. Of course, all of them were elated by their victory. 

“We actually defeated a Familia possessing that much power…by ourselves.” 

“Had to rely on a ruse or two but…Yeah, we can brag about this one.” 

Mikoto and Welf exchanged words, adrenaline still pumping through their veins. She had taken the brunt of her own Magic and he had crossed blades with one of the enemy captains, so the two of them were in rough shape physically. However, their faces were so full of life and a feeling of accomplishment that no one could tell if they were in pain at all. 

Bell walked away from their conversation and approached Lilly. 

“Lilly…Thank you for saving me.” 

“Mr. Bell…” 

“Really, thank you…” 

The sincerity in Bell’s eyes, despite the fact he was covered in blood and beaten to a pulp, overwhelmed Lilly so much that she couldn’t speak clearly. The muscles in her small body tensed up as she hid her face and worked up the courage to ask. 

“Was Lilly…useful?” 

“Yes. It’s all thanks to Lilly that…I can go home to Orario.” 

Bell’s words made Lilly’s childlike face smile. 

She hadn’t felt like this since the day that their relationship had been reset. The prum girl blushed as she looked up at him with a smile as radiant as a blooming sunflower. 

“Mr. Cranell, we should move out of this location. The Guild employees will be here soon; it is necessary to find a place to rest and recover.” 

“Ah, sure.” 

Lyu suggested from beneath her hood, eyes locked on Bell’s injured right shoulder. 

The taste of victory in their mouths, the group made their way through the debris inside the castle walls. 

“…?” 

Without thinking, Bell placed his left hand on his chest. 

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the string around his neck and pulled the amulet out from under his shirt. 

However, it was broken. 

The jewel had a series of spiderweb-like cracks running through it and the golden casing was falling apart. The radiance it had the moment that Syr gave it to him was gone. 

…Did it protect me? 

Hyacinthus’s Magic packed a very powerful punch. Taking a direct hit, like he did, should’ve knocked him out of commission for good. 

Bell couldn’t help but feel that this amulet had sacrificed itself to save him. 

Bell took a closer look at the broken jewel and saw something that looked like an emblem engraved in the casing behind it. 

Due to the thousands of cracks in its surface, however, he could only see that it was someone’s face in profile. 

“Something wrong, Bell? We’re leaving.” 

“Ah…yeah. Right behind you.” 

The boy stopped moving to look at the jewel. Welf had noticed and called out to him. 

The white-haired boy nodded, keeping his gaze on the jewel in his left hand before slowly looking up to the sky. 

“…” 

Just who was the adventurer who gave Syr this amulet? 

It was given to her for a reason, so that she would give it to him. 

These thoughts ran through Bell’s mind as he looked up at the azure sky. 

He couldn’t help but feel that someone watching him through a mirror in the city was smiling at him at that very moment. 

And so the curtain fell on the War Game, with Hestia Familia standing victorious. 

The exploits of combatants on both sides became the talk of the town. Bell and his allies became hometown heroes overnight. They were the center of attention wherever they went after returning to the city. 

Obeying Hestia’s demands, Apollo Familia was disbanded immediately. Apollo said his good-byes and released every one of his followers from their contracts before being escorted out of the city for the last time. 

As for the now Familia–less adventurers, they went their separate ways. Some went on journeys of self-discovery, others were scouted and joined other Familias, and a few fell into despair. A small group, including Hyacinthus, went against the laws of Orario by leaving the city to follow their god. 

The effects of the War Game were felt in many places. 

The fervor had yet to die down, but there was still something that needed to be taken care of. 

“…This is the money owed for Lilly’s release, as promised.” 

The small girl held out a bag stuffed full of gold coins. 

Soma, clad in his dirty robe, took the bag from her without a word. 

Two days had passed since the War Game ended. Lilly had journeyed to Soma Familia’s home by herself. 

Every val that had been held in Apollo’s name now belonged to Hestia Familia. Lilly took a large part of it and returned to her former home to exchange the money for the Hestia Knife, which had been used as collateral. 

Her new family offered to go with her, but Lilly declined. She told them that she had to see this through to the end on her own. 

“…” 

She had a reputation to uphold as a member of their Familia. Soma accepted the money without a fuss. 

He didn’t even check the contents of the bag before pulling the knife out from inside his robe and handing it to Lilly. 

Lilly was taken aback by how quickly this exchange transpired. In a room full of different types of plants and a wide array of wine bottles, she blinked a few times before straightening her posture. 

Clearing her throat, she prepared to say her final good-bye. 

“Thank you for everything, Lord Soma…” 

There was no hint of irony or resentment in her voice. She wanted to end things well. 

The Status on her back clearly identified her as a member of Hestia Familia. She no longer had any connection to Soma Familia. 

Her loose robe bent around her small body as Lilly bowed. Her face down, she never had a chance to make eye contact with Soma. One step back, turn, a few more steps, and she paused for a moment in front of the door. 

“…” 

Soma was standing in the corner of his room, the muscles in his face shifting as if he were deep in thought. He stared at the back of his former child…and spoke to her. 

“Lilliluka Erde…I have done you wrong.” 

Halfway out the door, Lilly froze on the spot. 

She looked over her shoulder in surprise. The deity’s expression was hidden behind his long hair as he continued. 

“…Make sure to take care of your health.” 

The first words he had ever spoken to her. 

Slowly but surely, Lilly’s chestnut eyes began to moisten. 

She had wanted to hear his words for the longest time, but at least now, at the end, she was grateful to hear them. Lilly nodded, her chin hitting her shoulder. 

“Lilly will…” she said in a quivering voice to the deity who had remembered her name. 

One last step, and she left the room behind. 

“…” 

Soma stood in silence for a while after Lilly disappeared from sight. Finally, he turned to face the shelves on his wall. 

Removing all the wine bottles, he carried them to a wooden box in the corner of the room, slipped them inside, and closed the lid. 

Filling the empty spots with the now useless wineglasses, Soma’s eyes narrowed from behind his long bangs. 

The conditions within Soma Familia gradually improved from that day.