Poem of Despair, Poem of Triumph

No matter what I do, it's always the same.

No matter what I say, no one listens.

No matter how I beg, my pleas reach no one.

It's always the same.

The world always stomps on my hard work.

The world always jeers at my tragedies.

Even when I gather my courage and struggle, even if I scream at the top of my lungs, I

always bump up against absurdity.

So many times, my desperate warnings have been ignored.

So many times, my determination has crumbled like a sand castle.

I have tasted defeat again and again.

Time after time, I have been hurled from the cliff's edge into the depths of darkness.

But what can I do? I'm surely cursed.

What can I do, what can I do… what can I do?

When did those words begin to invade my heart?

When did I start feeling a shade of resignation even in the moments when I tried to

change the future?

No one trusts me.

No one even tries to believe me.

Not even my own familia members.

Not even her, whom I call my best friend.

So I gave up.

I didn't really go all out trying to change the future.

Just once, a boy appeared who believed my words.

I thought this time I have to succeed.

I took a step forward because I'd made some friends I desperately didn't want to lose.

But as usual, the world jeered at me.

Ahh, in the end, all was useless.

Who could blame me for thinking like that?

Faced with such despair, who could punish me and my broken heart?

Alone, the prophetess of tragedy drowned in sorrow.

It was clad in white.

Two rearing heads.

The huge, beautiful body brought to mind the phrase "dream dragon," but in fact, it was

the embodiment of violence and destruction.

"The Monster Rex of the twenty-seventh floor—"

The dragon's double cry echoed forth. The two weaving heads blended hostility and

murderous intent in perfect harmony.

"—The Amphisbaena!"

As a stunned prum looked up at the dragon, the Amazon beside her spat out the

monster's name.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

Its immense roar thundered across not only the twenty-fifth floor but all three floors

of the Water Capital. The members of the alliance backed away in unison when they

heard the battle cry of the Amphisbaena, the floor boss that had emerged from the

Great Falls linking the three floors.

The alliance had been formed by multiple familias to carry out an expedition, with

Hestia Familia at its core, venturing into the lower levels for the purpose of uncovering

the truth about the murder that Lyu, the Gale Wind, was being blamed for.

They had parted ways several hours earlier with Bell, who had joined the elite party

that went on ahead to the twenty-seventh floor. After that, there had been a chain of

explosions so great it seemed the entire Water Capital would be demolished, followed

by the appearance of an irregularity in the Dungeon—the banquet of calamity—that

had occurred only a scant twenty or thirty minutes earlier, although Lilly's party had

been untouched.

Now it was appearing again in front of their eyes, together with a new Irregular.

"That's… a floor boss from the lower levels."

It was the next Monster Rex after the seventeenth floor's Goliath.

Chigusa, who belonged to Takemikazuchi Familia, stared at the monster in a daze as

she spoke. It was looking up from the huge lake that was the twenty-fifth-floor plunge

pool.

She had to crane her neck to take in the majestic form towering over twenty meders

high. Dozens of times as wide as an orc, it truly lived up to the moniker "floor boss."

Its entire body was white. The form encased in chalky scales was certainly huge, but

it also evoked a certain magnificence.

The light in its eyes, however, was undeniably that of a monster—the glint of a heinous

being that abandoned all logic to indulge its instinct to destroy.

"A two-headed dragon…"

The two heads, which seemed to move independently, were particularly noteworthy.

The long necks split apart at the point where they emerged from the body. Each ended

in an unmistakably bestial face covered in dragon scales as large as breastplates. The

pair of eyes set in the left head was blue, while the pair in the right was red.

As those whispered words fell from Mikoto's lips, not a single member of the party—

not Lilly, Welf, and Haruhime nor Ouka, Chigusa, Daphne, and Aisha—could hide their

shock.

"…Ah."

Daphne's face turned white. Her clenched fist opened audibly. She could hear the

shattering of forgiveness after she had sacrificed so many lives to save her friends.

The dragon she faced was truly an embodiment of despair.

"——"

Its roar—so deafening that even the persistent din of the Great Falls, the Dungeon's

largest waterfall, could not drown it out—broke off, leaving the residual cries to echo

through every corner of the Dungeon.

As dim light from the crystals of the Water Capital reflected off its white body, the twoheaded dragon slowly trained its menacing glare on the foreign substance threatening

its mother, the Dungeon. In other words, it was targeting adventurers.

"—OOOOOOOO!!"

Another ferocious bellow.

The blue-eyed head exhaled a horrendous breath.

Blue flames raced forth, singeing the air.

The sight was so beautiful that the onlooking adventurers felt chills run down their

spines. Terrifyingly, the instant some embers touched the surface of the plunge pool,

a tremendous gust of steam exploded upward. Ouka and the others stared in horror

as the scorching flames marched toward them, vaporizing the water as they went.

"Scatter!!"

Aisha's scream, which didn't leave even the tiniest room for hesitation, spurred her

companions into action.

They launched themselves away in that instant. Welf grabbed his backpack and

forcibly pulled Lilly toward him, while Aisha hugged Haruhime to her chest, and

Mikoto fled with Chigusa as fast as they could.

"Cassandra?!"

The healer alone lagged behind. She was in a daze, stock-still. Unable to move.

Daphne had already started to escape, but she quickly reversed course and grabbed

Cassandra's arm. She was too late.

The blue light of the terrible inferno illuminated the two girls' faces.

What saved them from certain death was the vanguard's wall.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Ouka!"

"Sir Ouka?!"

Fulfilling his duty as the party's tank, Ouka thrust forward his large shield.

The Level 3 adventurer had narrowly escaped death more than once in the course of

venturing down to the lower levels. Now he used his mind's eye—which might also be

called his quick wit—to protect the party. Instead of blocking the flames head-on, he

held his shield at an angle.

Shoving the surprised Daphne and Cassandra out of the way with his back, he jumped

aside and deflected the barrage of fire breath. His quick thinking exhibited the skills

he had gained on the current expedition as well as his accumulated experience. But…

"Huh…?! But my shield worked so well in fending off the lambton…!"

Ouka gulped as he looked down at the hard valmars surface only to find it melting like

wax.

Equipment destruction. Although Ouka had managed to ward off the immediate

danger, his shield had not fully blocked his enemy's fiery breath. Any spots where the

flames had skimmed across the floor or collided against the walls were left with

gouges and melted pieces scattered about. Worse, the crystal columns had melted

exactly like candles under the heat of the blue flames, and were collapsing with

thunderous crashes.

In a panic, Ouka tossed aside his sizzling shield that still had blue flames dancing

across its surface.

"That heat is unbelievable…!"

Every hair on Welf's body stood on end as he kneeled on the crystal ground and stared

at the fiery dragon breath. Like the speechless Ouka, the smith who had forged the

shield shuddered in horror.

Until a few moments earlier, the twenty-fifth floor had been slightly chilly due to its

proximity to the great rush of water. Now it was so hot every adventurer present was

dripping sweat.

"The breath of the Amphisbaena… those flames are burning on the water's surface…"

Just as Lilly said, the flames burned not only on land but on water, too. From the crystal

shore to the steaming water, blue flames danced gracefully on everything that had

been in the path of the dragon's breath. Lilly had read up on the two-headed dragon

at the Guild before they set out, and now, as she kneeled on all fours beside Welf, the

very real, raw power of that horrifying monster was unfolding before her eyes.

The breath of the Amphisbaena was laced with a special type of flammable liquid

produced in the dragon's bile duct. Thanks to its extremely hydrophobic quality, the

substance repelled water, transforming the breath into a paradoxical river of fire. The

Amphisbaena was born in a watery world, yet its primary weapon was fire; this was

its special attribute.

Enchanting blue napalm.

Even on water, the blaze raged at unbelievably high temperatures.

It made for a surreal scene, but whatever or whoever was unfortunate enough to be in

the path of the Amphisbaena's deadly breath would be instantly incinerated, leaving

not so much as a dusting of ash behind.

A direct hit meant certain death.

"Don't let it touch you! You'll catch fire and keep burning! Recovery magic is useless!"

As Aisha shouted that warning, she set down Haruhime amid a swirl of blue sparks

and picked up her podao.

Rivulets of sweat were streaming down her coppery skin—caused both by the

skyrocketing temperature and her own panic.

We're gonna fight a floor boss right now?! What a nightmare! No way do we have the

manpower to take down that piece-of-shit monster!

Level 4 second-tier adventurer or not, the current situation struck fear into her heart.

When she had belonged to Ishtar Familia, Aisha fought the Amphisbaena multiple

times and always killed it. But that had been with a band of Level 3 Berberas, and even

more crucially, the Level 5 Phryne had been there.

The monster was so fierce it usually required more than twenty Berberas working

together to defeat it. Her current party was far weaker than Ishtar Familia. How in the

world were they supposed to get through this?

They lacked the combat strength, plain and simple.

"Damn the guys up there for taking off!"

Far above her, on the cliff at the southern tip of the huge cavern, not a soul was to be

seen.

Bors had stationed a group of adventurers at the mouth of the passage connecting to

the twenty-fourth floor to watch for Gale Wind, but it looked like they'd turned tail

and fled to a higher level. It wasn't surprising, given the string of irregularities topped

off by the appearance of a floor boss.

Adventurers tended to put themselves first. It didn't make sense to hold a grudge

against them for it, but Aisha couldn't help cursing as she glanced up at the cliff. If

they'd been able to work together to pincer the dragon from both sides, they might

have had a chance at breaking through.

What the hell?! If the Guild's information is right, the Amphisbaena shouldn't have

appeared for another two weeks!

Lilly, the brain of the party, had collected all the publicly available information she

could from the Guild before they left, but Aisha hadn't slouched on her intelligence

gathering, either. Checking on the presence of floor bosses and the intervals at which

they emerged was one of the most basic preparations whenever a party was setting

off on an expedition. It was essential to thoroughly investigate what the potential

dangers were on the planned route, including any irregularities, in order to eliminate

as many risks as possible. Indeed, Hestia Familia had timed its expedition to

specifically avoid the periods when lower-level floor bosses were expected to appear.

The moss huge, the lambton… it's been one Irregular after another!

"Shit!"

The bad-tempered Amazon scrunched her beautiful face into a scowl.

"Ms. Aisha! I think retreat is our only choice…!"

"Obviously! There's no way we can put up a real fight against that thing!"

Aisha returned Lilly's shriek from behind without taking her eyes off the two-headed

dragon.

We can't go back into the maze on the twenty-fifth floor. It caved in after that last huge

explosion. It's a long shot, but the only way we'll have a chance is by escaping to the

twenty-sixth floor…!

Neither humans nor monsters could pass through the interior of the cliff now that the

explosion caused by the Inferno Stones had destroyed it. Aisha glanced back at the

gaping maw of a tunnel on the southeastern side of the cavern, which led to the floor

below them.

The problem was that since the Amphisbaena was a mobile floor boss, it could use the

large rivers that connected with the Great Falls to leave the cavern and enter the

labyrinthine sections of the Water Capital. If they were driven into a corner, the second

a jet of that blue napalm came shooting down a passageway, they'd all be toast—

Aisha's line of thought had gotten that far when she heard a dripping sound.

"…?"

Something was raining down hard.

When it hit the ground, blue sparkles scattered apart.

It sounded like hail.

Tiny motes of light danced around Lilly and the others, bouncing off their hoods,

robes, and battle clothes.

"Crystals from the ceiling…?"

She peered up at the ceiling of the twenty-fifth floor far, far above. The whole surface

area was carpeted in crystals, with huge roots emerging from the blue field here and

there. They were the same roots Bell had seen when he first arrived on the floor,

measuring five meders in diameter and radiating outward, a sign of the Colossal Tree

Labyrinth above.

"OOOOOOooooooo!!"

The Amphisbaena roared.

Ignoring Aisha and the others as they pressed their hands to their ears, it looked up

and let loose another cry.

The cavern shook. The showering hail of crystals intensified. Countless ripples spread

across the plunge pool.

The roar sounded like an accusation.

Like the dragon was begging the Dungeon for something.

No one knew for what, though.

But the next moment, the ceiling of the twenty-fifth floor creaked.

"—"

As Lilly, Welf, Mikoto, Haruhime, Ouka, Chigusa, Daphne, and Aisha gazed at the ceiling

and saw it quietly begin to crumble, all of them felt as if time had stopped.

Slowly and steadily at first, and then with irreversible force, the crystals rained down.

Fragments of the shattered ceiling were falling around them.

And then.

"The colossal tree is—"

The trunk had lost its support.

Like a proclamation of unending despair, the roots that had radiated across the ceiling

plummeted downward.

"The cage of despair—"

Her face white, the prophetess of tragedy whispered as if she had finally realized

everything.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

The roots tore through the air with a whipping noise and fell toward the plunge pool.

On their way down, they scraped against the cavern walls and even struck the Great

Falls with a horrible crash, as if the immense dragon was dragging its claws down the

cliffs and waterfall. The iguaçu lurking behind the falls were swept up by the fallen

debris. With no time to escape, the brilliant scarlet swallows were smashed flat and

hurled into the plunge pool, the remains of their ruined wings scattered everywhere.

Like the iguaçu, Welf and the rest of the party had nowhere to run. All they could do

was take up positions for battle, eyes wide.

The mass of roots finally smashed into the ground.

"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?!"

As she violently bounced up and down from the impact, Lilly had the illusion that the

entire floor was caving in.

A storm of crystal fragments flew from the walls and floor, shook the plunge pool, and

were swallowed up in the waves caused by the burning blue flames.

Unable to withstand the shocks, the adventurers stumbled and lost their footing one

after another. Gradually their blank minds rekindled and started to process their

surroundings.

It took a few seconds to realize they were still alive.

And it took another few to become aware of the new environment that had been created.

"What—?"

An enormous dome rose from the center of the plunge-pool lake.

The strange object was actually formed by the enormous roots of the colossal tree.

Like a crushed birdcage, the twisted heap had landed between the shore where Lilly

and the others stood and the wall.

The entire twenty-fifth-floor cavern was carpeted by the fallen roots that had once

stretched across the ceiling.

"The colossal tree from the twenty-fourth floor… fell?"

"Must be because the part of the twenty-fifth floor that had been holding it up was

destroyed…"

Ouka's mutter answered Daphne, who still hadn't stood back up.

It wasn't that the entire twenty-fourth floor had collapsed. What they had witnessed

was one portion of the Colossal Tree Labyrinth's roots dropping down.

And only the bottom-most part of the roots at that.

"Wait…! We lost our escape route!"

Aisha snapped her head around to check the southeastern shore.

A long, thin splinter that must have come from a massive root had pierced the wall

and mercilessly demolished the connecting passageway. Which meant that the

adventurers had indeed lost their way out of the cavern.

"Oooo…"

The two-headed dragon was undeniably still in the center of the lake. It was moving

each of its heads in turn, without the slightest sign of confusion or distress.

The roots were woven together like a net, blocking their escape.

The dome-shaped lid now covering the plunge pool was indeed a cage.

"We can't escape…"

"It's…"

All color drained from their faces as Mikoto and Chigusa voiced their trapped

companions' fears.

It was now impossible for them to leave the Water Capital. They couldn't even escape

to the twenty-sixth floor. Their only option now was to face the dragon that was the

embodiment of despair.

A compulsory battle demanded by the Dungeon.

"OOOOOO!"

"?!"

As if to say the stage was set, the Amphisbaena belched a stream of blue flames.

Lilly and the others reflexively jumped away from the hellfire that burned water and

crystal alike. Flames flickered across the northeastern shore where they stood.

Again, the temperature on the floor skyrocketed.

Fires raged around them as if they were inside the devil's cookpot.

"Ready your weapons! We've got no choice but to fight!"

Not surprisingly, Aisha was the first to recover from the shock.

She brandished her podao, shielding Haruhime behind her.

"But… Lady Aisha…"

"Steel yourself!… I already made my peace."

There was no way to retreat. They had to fight.

That is, if they considered themselves true adventurers.

A moment after shouting at the rest of the party that they needed to prepare for the

worst, Aisha grimaced.

Is this even remotely possible…?

The faces of the party members as they stared up at the floor boss seemed on the verge

of losing all hope.

This was different from their encounter with the moss huge. Their lives were at even

greater risk this time.

No one present was so stupid as to be oblivious to the difference in combat strength.

The Amphisbaena had a potential equal to a Level 5. Aisha was unaware of this, but on

paper, it was on the same level as the Black Goliath. A hundred upper-class

adventurers had been present for that battle. Asfi, Lyu, and Bell had all been there.

Right now, there were only nine of them. Even if the goliath's insane ability for selfregeneration made it stronger than this dragon, the party still had plenty of reason for

succumbing to despair.

There was only one thing that was certain.

They were under attack by a mountain of absurdity that seemed like it had been sent

specifically to kill them.

This would break them. Break their will, and their spirit.

It was almost as if the Dungeon was whispering to them. Don't think you'll escape!

Their will to fight was sputtering like a candle in the wind. Cassandra was the worst

off. She simply stood in place, having resigned herself to her fate.

We don't have enough combat strength. We don't have enough firepower. We don't have

enough morale.

We don't have a pillar to rally around.

It was astounding how unprepared this party was for a fight with a floor boss.

Even Aisha wanted to throw in the towel.

"This is an ill-fated day," she muttered, thinking about how they'd already encountered

so many Irregulars that she had never seen, even in the deep levels.

If only Bell Cranell were here.

She almost said the words out loud. Suddenly, her face flushed with rage.

Get yourself together, Aisha Belka! Since when were you the kind of spineless woman who

relied on a man?

She denounced the passing thought, ashamed of herself. As a pureblood Amazon, she

couldn't tolerate such whining.

She let out an indomitable battle cry, hardening her resolve.

But these guys…

She had fought this monster before. She had faced its brutal, absurd reality multiple

times and overcome it. That, above all else, was her prime weapon against losing

heart.

But the same could not be said for Lilly and the rest of the party.

They didn't have Aisha's strength or as much experience straddling the line between

life and death. And without that, they couldn't hold back the encroaching despair.

Aisha had said something to Bell when they entered the New World on the lower levels

for the first time a few days before.

If you stumble, the party stumbles. That's the kind of party this is.

She'd been mistaken.

The alliance and Hestia Familia were strong. They were tough enough to beat back

adversity even when the boy wasn't with them.

But this was different.

They were staring into the jaws of death. The strength of the vessel was being tested.

The situation threw into sharp relief the importance of a figure like Bell who could act

as the support pillar.

For them… Bell Cranell is a hero.

Or at least something close to a hero.

He was a weakling and honest to a fault, but when he gathered what courage he had

and challenged hopelessness itself, he became a beam of light propelling forward

everyone who knew him.

His tears wrung Lilly's heart.

His raging voice stole Mikoto's heart.

His back shrinking into the distance spurred Haruhime's feet.

But he was not with them now.

What became of troops who didn't have their hero?

In fairy tales, they were crushed by monsters like sacrificial victims.

If Bell were here.

If only Bell were here.

Aisha could see at a glance that those words were rising in Lilly's throat.

Bell Cranell was so important to them that not even Aisha could fill his shoes.

They needed a pillar to take the place of Bell.

A voice to spur them forward.

Right now, they had no pillar.

But…

…they had flames.

An instant later—Bang!

"!!"

Lilly and the others swung their heads toward the clang of metal being thrust against

the crystal floor.

The redhead at the tail end of the party steadied his greatsword with both hands, his

casual kimono still swaying.

Everyone's focus was on him.

Even the Amphisbaena stopped moving for a moment to train its eyes on him.

Still looking down, Welf sighed loudly. His face was dripping sweat, but when he

turned toward Lilly at his side, his expression was nonchalant.

"Li'l E, I bet this is your first one."

"Um…?"

"Your first adventure without Bell."

Lilly's eyes went wide at his words.

"You might think that you can't fight without the strongman, that you can't stand up

without your hero—but that's wrong, right? That's not the case, yeah? That's not how

it is for adventurers."

Mikoto and Ouka held their weapons with trembling hands.

"It's about time we show Bell what we're made of! We've gotta prove we can take

down floor bosses on our own!"

Haruhime and Chigusa gulped.

"If we tell him, 'We're helpless when you're not around'…well, that's just causing him

trouble! Am I wrong?!"

They didn't have a pillar.

But they had a smith who had fought beside them and watched over them from the

very beginning.

They had the flames of a furnace that rang with the sound of the hammer through

thick and thin to arm them with weapons.

Welf smiled a resolute, fearless, and impudent smile.

"…Obviously! Lilly and her companions are not mere luggage!!" the prum snapped

back loudly. "Lilly will stand side by side with him and play a part in the adventure!"

She pressed one hand to her small chest and hollered her big decision.

"I… I, too, refuse to be left behind. I will not go back to being a prostitute who only

waits for him to save me!"

As she spoke, Haruhime wagged her fox tail.

"…I'm on board, too, Mikoto. We must not bring shame to Takemikazuchi's name!"

"Yes!"

"Chigusa, I won't let Bell Cranell beat me!"

"Yes!"

Ouka, Mikoto, and Chigusa all shouted their battle cries.

"Oh, come on, you guys… aren't you a little too simpleminded?"

Daphne was the only one who hadn't said anything yet, and while her comment was

spoken in a profoundly exasperated tone, she was visibly on the verge of tears. A

moment later, she was smiling.

"I know, I know… We're adventurers, after all. If we're really pushed into a corner,

we've gotta fight."

To Daphne, who strove to make decisions objectively, their rising morale felt like a

sign—like a fair wind blowing them toward battle.

"Daphne…"

In front of her dazed eyes, Cassandra watched Daphne step into the battle line and

draw her baton-like dagger, confirming her decision.

"…I'm in excellent condition, Ignis," she said.

As Aisha watched this go on, she gave the big-brother figure of Hestia Familia a silent

word of praise.

The job of a smith was to bring fire to weapons.

And the job of adventurers was to use those weapons to kill monsters.

Flames tinged the faces of both adventurers and smith.

Ignited by the fire the smith had lit, the adventurers turned their eyes forward and

took in the monster.

They met the eyes of the two-headed dragon awaiting them.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

"Forward!!"

Welf's roar matched the dragon's. Mikoto copied him.

It had begun.

The quest to resist despair.

"Kokonoe!"

The one who blew the battle's starting whistle was neither the floor boss nor the

adventurers.

It was a certain magic user.

"Beloved snow. Beloved crimson. Beloved white light."

Before anyone else had even moved, she began to chant.

Haruhime had watched fights with a floor boss play out many times before.

It was a typical scene when she was a part of Ishtar Familia.

When the adventurers gathered everything they had to take on such a tenacious

monster, her job as a sorcerer was to immediately invoke her magic.

Sorcery combined with firepower.

By conferring an overall level boost, she was able to improve the performance of the

entire party.

Either Lilly or Aisha would direct her to the person she should buff, so she prioritized

focusing on the chant. As she wove her spell, which was one of the longest chants, she

began to summon the golden tails with all her strength.

"Hiya!"

The next to take action was Welf.

He swung his deep aqua longsword down from above his head.

He aimed the magic-blade ice gun at the water.

"?!"

The lake instantaneously froze. Four dragon eyes registered surprise as water

transformed into a field of ice.

Ouka and the other adventurers had the same expression on their faces.

There had been no strategy meeting, and no one had told Welf to do it. He had simply

concluded that in order to approach that massive floor boss and take it down, they'd

need something to stand on. That was what made him bring down the huge magic

blade that had the power to freeze everything in sight.

There could have been no better strategy for taking on the two-headed dragon.

Normally, the preferred method was to fight Amphisbaena inside specific rooms

where the waterways were dotted with numerous islands, providing places to stand.

Large numbers of adventurers would go to these specific areas on the twenty-fifth,

twenty-sixth, or twenty-seventh floors and lie in wait while others lured in the floor

boss.

"Not bad!" Aisha cheered with a smile.

Her worry over the lack of natural footholds necessary for this battle had just been

dispelled.

"OOOO!!"

The third to make a move was the Monster Rex itself.

As if to say it had no intention of letting the adventurers do as they pleased, it twisted

its two necks and breathed out a stream of dreamlike blue napalm.

Cracks appeared all across the frozen lake as the blue flames began to melt it. The solid

field of ice was quickly becoming a multitude of islands.

Now they had the ideal terrain for taking down Amphisbaena, just as Aisha had been

hoping for.

"With me, brave conqueror!"

To round off the preliminary skirmish, the Amazon began her concurrent chant. She

intended to draw the monster's attention until Haruhime finished the level boost.

The renart girl couldn't move at all while performing such a powerful chant. To make

sure no attack reached her, Aisha quickly jumped onto one of the islands and approached

the floor boss.

"OOOoooooOOO!"

"—!!"

The dragon zeroed in on Aisha, who had begun to activate her impossible-to-ignore

magic and was now acting as a decoy. The dragon's right head bellowed as if to spur

its left counterpart, which responded by spitting out blue flames.

Aisha leaped out of the way in the nick of time, grimacing at the deadly heat, and

circled the floor boss in a broad arc. Dodging the enemy's torrent of fire, she continued

casting without pause before finally unleashing magic in place of a greeting.

"Hell Kaios!"

She slammed her podao down on the iceberg at her feet, launching a slicing wave that

sped forward like a shark's fin. The dragon's second head moved quickly in response.

"HAAAAA!!"

Though the left head had spit out blue flames, what the right brought to bear was a

crimson mist. A sickle-shaped band of dense fog protectively curled around the

dragon's body. Not even a second later, the magic podao hurtled toward the monster's

side.

The moment it made contact, the magical power clearly weakened. The wave swayed

like a shimmering heat haze and grew smaller, but managed to break through the mist

in the end. As it made contact, the floor boss's body made a popping noise.

The dragon scales were entirely unscathed.

"Huh…?!"

"The power of the magic dropped?!"

Mikoto and Ouka were stunned. Aisha replied to the confused pair without pause.

"It's the Amphisbaena's mist! Any magic that touches it gets diffused!"

This was the second dragon head's ability.

If the blue flames were the dragon's sword for eradicating its quarry, then the crimson

mist was the shield that warded off its enemy's attacks. The effectiveness was obvious.

It could neutralize even a second-tier adventurer's deadly attack that had slaughtered

every kind of monster the lower levels had to offer.

Aisha sounded irritated as she shouted her next words.

"The only way to kill Amphisbaena is to strike it from close range!"

That was why adventurers typically chose rooms with many islands when they had to

take it down.

Normally, voluntarily fighting an oversized water dragon over water would be

considered suicidal. But because the crimson mist suppressed the magic that was so

crucial to killing other floor bosses, adventurers were forced to engage Amphisbaena

in close-range combat.

Their weapons couldn't reach the magic stones in the monster's massive body, either,

which meant killing it with a single stroke was not an option.

"If we pounded it with magic, it would eventually open a hole in the mist or blow it

away, but it's not worth it! At the very least, we cannot manage that!"

Lilly added what she'd learned about the monster even as she trembled before the

living specimen.

The mist wasn't impenetrable. Each time it crippled incoming magic, the mist itself

thinned out a little. But the dragon could replenish any openings with fresh mist from

its right head. It was reasonable to liken the immense body of the Amphisbaena to a

bottomless storage tank of mist. In all likelihood, a party's magic users would run out

of Mind before the monster ran out of mist. Or they would be incinerated by the blue

flames first.

The dual breath of the Amphisbaena was truly ideal for both offense and defense.

"So this magic blade won't work either…!

Welf looked down at the Crozzo's Magic Sword he gripped in his right hand and smiled

ironically.

"Grow. Uchide no Kozuchi!"

With that, Haruhime finished her preparations.

The five fox tails that had manifested as she performed the concatenated casting were

now fully charged with level-boosting magic.

"Give them to Mr. Welf, Mr. Ouka, Ms. Mikoto, Ms. Chigusa, and Ms. Daphne!" Lilly shouted

immediately.

The Amphisbaena had the potential of a Level 5. If a Level 2 adventurer took a direct

hit from its attacks, the results would be fatal. Fortification of the front and center was

essential. At the same time, Lilly's list left out the Level 4 Aisha and the rear guard

made up of herself, the party's supporter, and Cassandra, the healer. The prum had

decided on conducting a quick strike.

Lilly had stepped into the role of commander now that Aisha stood on the front line,

so Haruhime quickly heeded her orders.

"Dance!"

The tails of light that had grown from Haruhime's lower back separated from her body

and transformed into orbs of light. The Kokonoe enchantment, charged by the Uchide

no Kozuchi spell, flew to Welf and the others, entering their bodies as though the

magic was possessing them. The level-boost light orbs formed a chain.

But there were only four.

One tail of light was still attached to Haruhime's body. She pressed one hand to her

chest, panting as she took out a magic potion.

If all five were sent out at once, I'd collapse. But if I hold one back for a moment…!

Haruhime had learned that lesson from their battle with the moss huge.

If she tried to use all of the Kokonoe magic simultaneously, she would suffer a Mind

Down and crumple into a pathetic, useless heap.

This was a method she had come up with to sidestep that problem. By activating all

but one of the magic tails and keeping the last bit of magic on standby, she could retain

one tail's worth of Mind and avoid fainting. Once she recovered, she could provide the

party with level boosts again. Plus, she could use the remaining tail as a spare in case

of emergency.

She simply couldn't afford to collapse at this moment.

That much was plain to see.

She had discarded modesty and humbleness. What the party needed most in their

current situation was her power. In order to stand a chance against the outrageously

strong floor boss, she had to continuously produce that level-boosting light in order

to support Mikoto and the others.

She felt guilty, but this was the only way she could manage.

Haruhime's eyes met Chigusa's, the one person among those named by Lilly who had

not received a boost.

"I'm so sorry, Chigusa."

"It's okay."

What Chigusa meant was I can still fight.

Haruhime felt tears come to her eyes as her childhood friend smiled, one kindhearted

eye peeping out from behind her swaying bangs. In her hands, Chigusa held a bow and

arrow. She was part of the center guard.

Her tail wagging, the renart fixed her gaze on the battlefield, determined not to look

away for even a moment, then focused on recovering.

"I didn't want to use this, but… this isn't exactly the time to be stingy, is it?"

Daphne chuckled hollowly as she stood beside Haruhime and watched the Amphisbaena

thrash about. Looking reluctant but resigned, she began her own chant.

"Follow blindly the sun in the sky. Blossom, armor of laurel, so that all will flee from thee.

"

It was a short chant. Drawing a circle in the air with her dagger, Daphne completed

casting the spell.

"Raumure."

A film of deep green light enveloped her entire body. It was protection magic, similar

to enchantments. The result was a small increase in her endurance and a large

increase in her agility. It was the only magic Daphne had, and she didn't like to use it

because it reminded her of a certain deity; she hadn't even used it during the war

games, when her familia's very existence had been on the line.

"Ooraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"

With that, the pseudo–Level 3 adventurers, boosted by Haruhime's magic, charged

forward.

Their statuses had risen dramatically. Including Daphne's magic, the party buffing was

complete.

All their preparations had been made. They were about to shift from skirmishing and

begin the main battle.

With a powerful battle cry, Ouka and the others moved from the shore onto the islands

atop the water and rushed the floor boss.

Their boots stomped on ice and their new strength rocketed them into the air. Using

the momentum granted by their temporary Level 3 status, Welf, Mikoto, and Ouka

leaped energetically from one island to the next, scattering in three directions as the

floor boss bore down on them.

Together with Aisha, who had already circled around to the dragon's back, they

surrounded it, all aiming at different targets.

But…

"UOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"?!"

As soon as the two heads let slip a double roar, the advancing trio found themselves

instantly on the verge of defeat. Welf dodged the dragon's right head by a hairbreadth

as it swooped ferociously down on him, while Mikoto and Ouka had to leap away from

the left head's attempt to mow them both down. As the head swung horizontally,

grazing the soles of their shoes, their fighting stances crumbled and the huge ice island

they were standing on split in a V-shape.

A flurry of water droplets flew into the air, beating down on the three adventurers as

they somehow managed to land on another island.

"It's so fast!!"

"But more than that…!"

"It never lets its guard down!"

Welf, Mikoto, and Ouka spoke with voices that trembled in fear.

The two rapidly undulating dragon heads each had minds of their own. Whether they

were surrounded or caught in a pincer attack, the heads' combined situational

awareness eliminated all blind spots. Moreover, the long, powerful necks braided with

dragon muscles attacked with extraordinary speed and were able to strike at enemies

approaching from any direction.

"—?!"

Without so much as a pause, the dragon's right head shot forth in dogged pursuit of

Mikoto.

She had let her attention waver for a mere instant, not even long enough that it could

be called a moment of carelessness. But even with her Level 3 status, she was still

unable to fully escape.

This dragon-hammer was more than enough to prevent Mikoto from recovering.

"Watch out!"

"…! Lady Daphne!"

Daphne swept Mikoto out of the way without a moment to spare. Her outstanding

precognitive ability warned her about Mikoto's impending danger, and by using the

extreme agility gained by combining the effects of Raumure with Haruhime's level

boost, she had managed to leap to Mikoto's side from her position in the party's center.

The dragon's attack missed its mark but shattered the hunk of ice where its intended

prey had been moments earlier. Carrying Mikoto by the waist, Daphne landed on

another shelf of ice and set her down.

"This may sound unreasonable, but you've gotta get used to this monster quick. I can't

be rescuing you over and over."

"Right, of course!"

Dripping sweat, Daphne returned immediately to the battle line.

Mikoto stood up, a shiver of terror running through her as she realized that becoming

distracted meant instant death in this fight against the floor boss. As she gazed at the

dragon, she told herself to sharpen her senses even further.

"The dragon floor boss… I thought I understood how fierce it was even without seeing

it up close, but this strength is unbelievable!"

The grand appearance of the white dragon shrouded in crimson mist alone struck awe

into its opponents.

Though the menacing glint in the dragon's eyes threatened to overwhelm them

entirely, Mikoto and her comrades flew at it once again. This time they attacked in

unison from the dragon's front, left, and right. Thanks to Aisha stepping in to help,

Ouka was able to escape the Amphisbaena's notice and finally land a successful blow,

but the results were not what he had hoped.

"Eh?!"

A violent storm of sparks flew from Kougou, his huge battle-ax made from the highquality ore varmath. The tough dragon scales had hindered his attack.

Penetrating a dragon's scales—which were among the highest quality drop items

available—was one of the greatest challenges any adventurer could face. The

combination of vicious attacks and this nigh-impenetrable defense was what gave

dragons their reputation as one of the strongest monsters.

Completely unaffected by Ouka's assault, the dragon swung its two necks back and

forth as if they were caught in a violent storm. The four attackers were forced to flee

the scope of its assault, their protective gear already battered.

No sooner had they pulled back than a blue haze appeared around the dragon's mouth.

"The breath is coming!"

Daphne shouted the warning from one of the ice islands where she anchored the

center of their formation, her dagger-style magic blade gripped in one hand. Chigusa

ran behind her and loosed an arrow in an attempt to distract the white dragon, but it

did not pause.

"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?!"

New waves of blue napalm swept over the battlefield.

In the blink of an eye, an ice-float measuring ten meders across melted into nothing,

and the surface of the lake ignited.

The blue napalm fueled by dragon-bile propellant did not rely on magic, but rather on

pure firepower. For this reason, even Welf's anti-magic fire chant was useless against

the monster's breath.

The billows of steam rising from the path of the blue flames had made the entire floor

incredibly hot and humid. It changed the normally cool waterside environment into a

sauna—or more accurately, into a cauldron of blue flame.

"I can't breathe…"

"My throat's burning."

Every time adventurers fought Amphisbaena, the Water Capital underwent this

transformation. Aisha was used to it, but the others were different. This baptism by

steam—despite the fact that it wasn't a volcano floor—was unpleasant even for upperclass adventurers and eroded their ability to concentrate. And when they did manage

to collect themselves, they were still significantly weakened.

Standing near the blue flames that constantly consumed the oxygen in the air, Mikoto

and Ouka groaned.

This crimson mist… it doesn't just block magic. It also interferes with attacks by reducing

visibility. Combined with the heat and humidity… this is awful.

Daphne stood at a distance from the front line, carefully observing the Amphisbaena.

If they entered close combat, the mist veiling their enemy acted like a curtain blocking

their view. Most likely, Ouka's first strike had been ineffective not only because the

dragon scales were so protective, but because his timing was off, too.

We technically have footholds to stand on, but these ice platforms are unreliable

compared to solid land…

Thanks to the water pounding down from the Great Falls on the north side of the

cavern, the countless fragments created when the iceberg shattered were like

unstable floating islands. The distance between them was constantly varying, so it was

impossible for the adventurers to move as they pleased.

To start with, those two heads move way too quick for a humongous floor boss!

When they faced the goliath, all the adventurers needed to avoid taking lethal damage

was being vigilant when they were directly in front of it. Plus, they were able to creep

up close to attack.

But this battle with Amphisbaena was different.

Its speed seemed impossible for an ultra-large-class monster, and it skillfully used that

speed to both gather information and intercept attacks. It was like an extra cherry on

top of the potent blue flames that seemed to incinerate everything they touched and

the misty barrier that blocked magic.

"Wish I could escape… even though I can't."

Thanks to the commanding roles she'd been pushed into ever since her time in Apollo

Familia, Daphne couldn't help analyzing the enemy, and muttered her gloomy conclusion

in spite of herself.

"GUaaaaaaaa?!"

"Damn, too shallow?"

Aisha had slipped past the enemy's sharp teeth with her usual confidence and landed

a blow aimed between the protective scales, but she managed to draw only a few drops

of blood. Fury at the Amazon who had hurt it seeped from the eyes of the floor boss.

The two heads roared in turn, and the next moment the dragon plunged under the

water's surface.

Apprehension consumed the adventurers as they watched the monster disappear

deep under the water.

The white dragon dove nearly to the bottom of the lake, glared up through the rippling

surface with its four eyes, and then burst upward.

"—OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

"Guooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!"

The two heads surged above the water followed by the massive body, which barreled

straight for the adventurers.

Neither retaliation nor defense was possible. As Ouka and the others fled the hulk

shooting out of the water toward them, they were overtaken by the tsunami it had

created.

The water dragon—which reached its greatest potential in the water—was charging

them. After achieving incredible acceleration underwater, both the force and the range

of the incoming attack were on a different level compared to everything they had seen

so far.

The shock waves even reached Daphne and Chigusa in the center, cowing them.

"Cough, cough… Argh!"

Their undine cloths now sopping wet, Welf and the rest of the front guard kneeled on

an island and glanced up at the floor boss as it peered down at them.

The Guild rates them at Level 6 when they're encountered on the water, Aisha had

mentioned before. The others were only just beginning to understand the meaning of

her words.

The watery world that spread out on the other side of a single piece of ice was itself

their enemy's most important weapon. It went without saying that if they were pulled

into the depths, they would be brutally killed in the blink of an eye.

"Damn it's strong… Stronger than any monster we've fought before!"

"But we'll take it down! Right?"

"That's right. Here I go!"

Welf and Ouka returned the dragon's glare, hoisted their weapons onto their shoulders,

and rushed forward to renew their assault.

"W-w-w-wait! Just wait a…!"

Meanwhile.

Standing on the shore behind the attacking members of their party, Lilly couldn't do a

thing.

Her last action had been to tell Haruhime what to do with her level boosts. Since then,

she'd felt like a lost child.

What in the world should we do about this thing…?!

A fight against a floor boss was completely different from an ordinary battle.

There was just too much information to take in. When they were in passageways

within the labyrinth, Lilly had been able to handle the job of commander. But now they

were in a cavern. The space was incomparably huge, and it included difficult

waterfront terrain. The scale of it was alien to her, especially with that oversized

dragon diving in and out of the water to attack them as it pleased. To top it all off, there

were the countless ice floes, raging flames, and the final straw—the root dome

surrounding them overhead and on all sides. Lilly wanted to ask someone if she was

in a fairy tale.

Lilly was still a commander in training. The current situation was beyond what she

could handle.

What should Lilly do…?!

In the vast wilderness of her brain, the options were endless. She couldn't swiftly

figure out the correct choice.

Far downshore, flames swirled around the ajura tree. It burned briefly, its fallen petals

scattering to the ground. Lilly watched Haruhime press her hands to her chest and

rest both elbows on the ground, desperately trying to recover. To Lilly, the renart

seemed to mirror her feelings of anguish.

Sweat rolled down her cheek as she drank in this profound scene from the corner of

her eye.

"Lilliluka! Keep it together!"

"!!"

It was Daphne, her teacher in the basics of leadership.

"What's most important for the rear, especially the commander, is insight and

decisiveness! And composure! You must keep a cooler head than anyone else in the

party!"

"I-I understand! But…!"

From the far side of the iceberg, Daphne cut off Lilly's cry with a shout of her own.

"The best commanders don't ask what they should do in a given situation. They ask

how they can change the situation!"

"!!"

"Once you can do that, you're ready to graduate."

With that, Daphne took off running.

"We're short on people! I'm going to the front!"

She left command of the party entirely to Lilly.

The prum paused for a moment as she considered the unspoken trust that Daphne's

decision rested on. Then her chestnut eyes flashed angrily.

The confusion had vanished from her mind. All she felt now was the will to fight

blazing brightly in her heart.

The heavy pressure that came hand in hand with responsibility was gone. In its place

burned the heat of an oath to not fail the party, to not let a single one of them die, and

to fight alongside them.

Invigorated by Daphne's encouraging advice, Lilly's little head began to spin big plans.

There's the frozen plunge pool and the tree overhead…

First, she observed her surroundings.

We have four magic blades left, and the status of the party members who can use them

is…!

Next, she scrutinized the cards in her hand.

Luckily—though that may have been the wrong word—the destruction of the maze

meant no other monsters could find their way onto the shore. She was still within

range of the blue napalm, but as long as Welf and the others were keeping the dragon

occupied, she had time to think.

Eventually she settled on a strategy.

"Ms. Mikoto, do your chant!"

The other adventurers turned around at the prum's loud shout.

"Trade positions with Daphne and drop back to center! Everyone in the vanguard,

please hold back the enemy with all your strength! Ms. Chigusa, continue providing

support!"

Issuing a flurry of orders, their commander set her plan in motion. Her powerful,

clear-cut voice had the authority to spur warriors to action. It was like a beam of light

piercing the darkness. No one questioned her.

Mikoto nodded, Welf smiled, and Aisha licked her lips.

"Forgive my impudence as I beseech thee—"

Mikoto fell back to the center of their formation where Chigusa was and began her

chant, as ordered.

Meanwhile, Daphne—who had a higher status than Mikoto to start with—adroitly

filled the gap she had left, using the bird's-eye perspective she'd gained before to

skillfully coordinate with the rest of the front guard.

"There's no one who fills in more smoothly than you!"

"Well, thank you, sir!"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Welf and Daphne, who had faced off against each other in the war games, now ran side

by side while trading banter. As the dragon's right head darted toward them at a

downward slant, Daphne lured it as close as possible before pulling back. Meanwhile,

Welf used his greatsword to slice at the monster's trunk.

Aisha and Ouka threaded between the crackling blue flames to suppress the left head.

"Bring forth the evil-crushing blade! Bow to the blade of suppression, the mythical sword

of subjugation. I summon you here now, by name."

All this time, Mikoto was steadily building up her store of magic.

She had decided that staying in one place would be dangerous, so as she performed

her concurrent casting, she constantly moved from island to island. It took everything

Chigusa had to keep up and guard Mikoto, who was leaping and sprinting like a Level

3.

"!"

The Amphisbaena had noticed the adventurers' threatening movements.

As the monster attempted to aim its blue napalm at Mikoto, Aisha and the others

intercepted the attack. The white dragon shook its two heads, as if annoyed at the tiny

beings that hovered around ready to brandish their blades at the slightest opening.

"OOOOOOOOO!"

"AAAAAAAAAA!"

"Shit!"

Perhaps having realized their current attack pattern was getting them nowhere, the

two heads roared and then disappeared underwater. More icebergs cracked as the

dragon's huge body banged against them, and Welf retreated with a curse.

His target wasn't visible anymore. He didn't know where it might pop up next. Would

it target the chanting Mikoto? Or would it attempt to scatter Welf and the others on

the front line? As electrifying tension ran through each member of the party, Lilly

issued another command.

"Ms. Mikoto, use your Yatano Black Crow skill!"

"!"

Mikoto reflexively obeyed the divine revelation. Yatano Black Crow allowed her to

detect previously encountered monsters. Thanks to her level boost, the dragon could

not escape her notice even after diving underwater.

On the black map that unfurled at the back of Mikoto's mind, there was one crimson

dot moving with extreme speed.

She had continued her concurrent chanting while using this other skill, so she simply

pointed to indicate where they should direct their attacks.

"Northwest! Under Ms. Aisha!"

"!!"

Without missing a beat, Lilly screamed the information. As the prum's voice echoed

into the corners of the yawning space, Aisha and those near her promptly leaped away.

Less than an instant later, the floor boss struck.

Ice fragments scattered and water sprayed into the air. The adventurers had successfully

avoided the attack originating from underwater.

"Shinbu Tousei!"

Almost simultaneously, Mikoto finished her chant.

Its attack failed, their enemy was now fully exposed. This was a perfect opportunity.

But with astounding reaction time, the right head breathed a new screen of crimson

mist. Ouka and the rest of the front guard scowled with frustration as the dragon

donned its armor in the nick of time—but Lilly quietly issued her final command.

"Aim as far and as high as you can."

"Huh?" Mikoto muttered, but as she looked to where the prum was pointing, she heard

ice cracking.

The noise came from directly above the floor boss.

From the cage-like root dome encircling them.

Mikoto guessed Lilly's intention and spoke the name of her spell.

"Futsu no Mitama!"

A sword made of deep purple light appeared, and concentric circles rippled outward

from the Amphisbaena.

Mikoto had activated her gravity-controlling magic.

"UUUUUU…"

The gravity attack bearing down from overhead surrounded the Amphisbaena, but

predictably, its armor-like mist weakened the impact. The most it could do was force

the monster's neck down until it barely touched the water's surface. The field of

gravity shaved away at the mist's density, but the dragon immediately breathed out

more. The magic strike was not a lethal blow.

The floor boss shook its heads in apparent irritation.

"—GA?!"

Then, a series of fierce blows landed on the two heads. The rain of blows did not stop,

continuously pouring down on the Amphisbaena without pause. Its mind went blank.

There was no way for it to grasp what was happening.

"The colossal tree roots…"

"She brought them down with her gravity magic!"

The adventurers were watching the scene unfold from a distance. Ouka and Daphne

were amazed.

The sword of light—a sign of the gravity being manipulated by Futsu no Mitama—had

been deployed at its maximum range, appearing right by the root dome above the

dragon's heads. In other words, the massive tree-cage overhead was within range of

its power.

Pulled down by extreme gravity, the section of the root dome directly above the floor

boss had collapsed in on itself.

The mist could only weaken incoming magic; it could not block a hail of tree roots.

With the added force of the gravity, a mountain of roots measuring five meders wide

hurtled down at the Amphisbaena.

"...?!"

One head of the immense floor boss was bludgeoned by massive amounts of debris. It

was instantly stunned.

"You did it Li'l E!"

"Your turn now!!"

They were not the kind of adventurers who would let an opportunity like this slip by.

The dazed floor boss was like a sitting duck quietly floating on the water.

The attackers licked their chops at this ideal prey—an oversized, defenseless target.

Aim for the legs and bring it to the ground. That was standard practice when fighting

floor bosses and other large-class monsters.

Lilly had done the opposite: Aim for the head and bring it to the water.

Welf and Aisha cheered their young commander, while Ouka and Daphne flew forward

so they wouldn't miss their chance.

"UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

The instant Futsu no Mitama dissipated, Welf sliced, Ouka smashed, Daphne pierced,

and Aisha shredded.

Dragon scales flew off under the onslaught of greatsword and battle-ax. Blood spurted

from a shower of dagger thrusts, the blade working its way between scales. A hunk of

flesh came away from one neck as the sharp edge of the podao bit deeply. Mikoto's

sword and Chigusa's arrows joined the assault.

The huge body covered in countless large scales was injured, and the two necks

suffered damage as well.

Not long after, the dragon recovered from its stunned state and roared in outrage at

the all-out attack that the adventurers had launched.

"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?!"

Its roar also served the dual purpose of summoning other monsters to the fight.

The adventurers jumped back from the thrashing dragon only moments ahead of

multiple snake heads bursting out of the water.

"Aqua serpents!"

"And harpies, too?!"

"Looks like it called its friends!"

The long bodies of the aqua serpents emerged from the water between the ice-islands.

The party cursed as a flock of harpies descended from above at the same time.

In all, six monsters had appeared.

The reinforcements were irritating opponents. But their number wasn't anything the

party couldn't handle.

"We'll take care of these monsters first! Ms. Aisha and Ms. Daphne, distract the floor

boss!"

Wasting no time being indecisive, Lilly directed the flow of the battle with her swift

command.

Welf, Ouka, Mikoto, and Chigusa went after the monsters. Meanwhile, Aisha and

Daphne distracted the dragon until the rest were exterminated.

"Dance!"

Just when she needed it most, Chigusa found herself on the receiving end of a level

boost. When she and Mikoto looked up, they saw Haruhime moving on to the next part

of the Kokonoe chant, plump beads of sweat rolling down her body. Mikoto's heart

swelled to know her friend was supporting them, and she threw herself into a sword

attack on the monsters.

"Push them back—!!"

The fierce clanging of sword attacks rang out, the song of the battlefield.

The adventurers wielded their weapons with all their might.

How strong these people are.

This was what Cassandra thought as she stared at the scene before her.

They keep on fighting… without giving in to the despair.

How brave they looked, their bodies covered in wounds and their cheeks bloody.

They fought with all their strength, not a single one cowering in fear.

I…

Cassandra couldn't do it.

Hopelessness was still wearing away at her heart. Terror had nested deep within her.

No matter what we do, it will happen again. It will happen again.

The words echoed incessantly in her ears.

She felt overwhelmed by her powerlessness to surmount the nightmare.

Even if she were to join the struggle, the world would push her off the peak of hope

into the depths of the abyss. Terrified by the misery and heartbreak that would assail

her when that happened, her hands and feet refused to move.

If this is the "cage of despair" then… does that mean this cavern where the floor boss

appeared has already become the "coffin"…? We won't escape death in time…? It's no

good, I can't think…

Some part of her heart wanted to ask a question: Is it okay to give up on everything

here and now?

But just as if the wires connecting her mind and her physical body had been severed,

her body refused to move as she willed it. She felt like she was watching a tragic play

unfold.

Cassandra had left so many adventurers to their fates. She had offered them up as

sacrifices to calamity. That, too, was a cancer that fed her resignation. Shouldn't you

pay for your sins with your own life? her weak heart whispered to her.

She lost both her spirit and her will to fight.

Cassandra could not stand.

Cassandra could not face it.

"—Get it together!!"

"Ow!"

All of a sudden, something hit her on the side of the head and the world filled with

stars.

"D-Daphne?!"

Her best friend was standing next to her with one hand clenched in a fist and her

breathing ragged. The teary-eyed Cassandra was about to ask why Daphne was there,

but she didn't have a chance.

"Pull! Yourself! Togetherrrrrrrrrrrrr!!"

She was interrupted by an intense demand. It was the most terrible yell Cassandra had

ever heard. Haruhime, who was standing on the same shore, shook her tail in surprise

at the furious voice.

A whimper escaped Cassandra's lips in spite of herself.

"You're a healer! What are you doing just standing here?! You guys in the rear are more

important than anyone else in floor-boss fights! Do you think we can hold the line with

you acting like this?! We don't even have enough people on the front line!"

In response to Cassandra's terror, Daphne went on a rant, her eyes bloodshot.

The sight of the healer neglecting her work apparently drove her mad, prompting her

to leave the combat on the front and race over to bring down a hammer of righteous

fury.

"And now I have to run all the way back over there! It's double the trouble! I didn't

have time to spare in the first place!"

Cassandra leaned back to avoid the incensed Daphne. Then she noticed something.

Daphne was covered in wounds.

Red lines crisscrossed her arms and shoulders.

Her undine cloth was in tatters and her shoulders heaved as she breathed.

"Daphne… is this my fault…?"

"That's what I've been saying! Hurry up and get to work!"

Cassandra looked down, pale-faced, as she gripped the undine cloth wrapped around

her. She didn't look up when she spoke.

"Why hasn't everyone given in to the despair?"

"Huh?"

"Aren't you all afraid of the despair that's going to swallow us whole?"

Cassandra knit her brows. She knew her real meaning wasn't getting across, but she

asked anyway.

This was the Dungeon, the endless labyrinth. The fight she and her companions put

up was nothing more than a speck of dust in comparison.

She was asking whether the embodiment of the Dungeon—the dragon that transformed

hope into despair—failed to terrify them.

In response, Daphne, who already had a habit of glaring on a regular basis, glared even

harder.

"Isn't it obvious just by looking at me?! Of course I'm afraid!"

"What?"

Daphne held out her arm, which was shaking even now. Then she continued ranting

at the bewildered Cassandra.

"But I fight anyway! I fight to survive!"

She leaned forward, her voice full of determination.

"Despair sure is a convenient word, isn't it?! You know you might get in even more

trouble if you try to fight! It's the best excuse for giving up instead!"

"?!"

"I was the same until a few minutes ago! But what choice do I have? Lilliluka and her

friends stood up to fight, and I figured I wasn't ready to give up, either!"

No matter how difficult the struggle, Daphne wanted to return home alive.

Plus, in spite of herself, she had found a group of companions she was actually growing

fond of, and she didn't want them to die. Her motives were as simple as that.

"You like them, too, don't you? It's hard not to like them, right?!"

"!!"

"So make yourself useful already! Heal someone! Protect someone! You're still alive

and so am I! Don't let the word 'despair' beat you!"

Daphne's words were like a rousing slap to the face. She was telling Cassandra not to

turn away from reality. It wasn't over yet.

Cassandra interpreted that to mean she shouldn't give in to the future that hadn't yet

arrived, or to a prophecy that hadn't yet been realized.

Regardless of how hard or painful it was, she had to struggle with all her might until

the very end. She had to because she was an adventurer, and adventurers never gave

up on a challenge.

Yes! Even if despair awaits—

"—Look to the future! Rise up!"

Always.

Always, Daphne was spurring Cassandra forward. She didn't believe Cassandra's

prophecies, but when Cassandra curled up in grief, she scolded her and pulled her

back up.

Daphne was Cassandra's polar opposite, and Cassandra felt a combination of envy,

curiosity, and admiration toward her. That was why she had become so attached to

her. That was why she wanted to be her closest friend.

"…I…"

There was no time to waste—that is what Cassandra gleaned from Daphne's receding

form as she rushed toward the battlefront once more. One look at her made it obvious

she believed in Cassandra.

Still rooted in place, Cassandra gripped her crystal rod in both hands and pressed it to

her forehead.

Just a little bit longer.

Just a little bit more.

She would keep resisting despair.

Cassandra had failed to save many lives. But those most important to her were still

alive. She would do it again. She would challenge the tragic prophecy one more time.

"Heavenly light, once rejected. Merciful arms that save my shallow self."

Light shot up from her rod. The magic that was released sent out sparkling brilliance

full of a warmth that banished the darkness.

"Lady Cassandra…!"

Haruhime, who had been watching the scene from the same shore, could not help

smiling.

"Rescue my miserable companions in place of my words that cannot reach them. Oh

sunlight, may you beat back ruin."

Chanting the spell with her eyes closed, Cassandra looked like a prayer maiden.

The prophetess of tragedy shunned by the world sang her song of resistance once

more, and when she was done, she opened her eyes.

She set her sights on the central area where fighting had become most fierce.

Summoning all her mental power and aiming as far as she could, she cast her magic.

"Soul light."

Sensing the spell sooner than anyone else, Daphne shouted.

"Recovery is coming! Everyone, gather around Ignis!"

Warm magical light poured down onto the ice-islands from the air. Ouka and the other

fighters abandoned their positions and raced to a circular area measuring about ten

meders across that had been illuminated.

In the blink of an eye, their bodies were fully healed.

"Yeeesss!"

"Ready to go again!"

Welf and Mikoto shouted with delight, energetically mowing down the monsters that

flew toward them. Now that they had recovered from their exhaustion, their

movements were as crisp as they had been at the start of the battle.

"I'm so sorry… so, so sorry! I'm rejoining the fight!"

Cassandra pressed her hands to her chest and shouted as loud as she could. Her words

of atonement faded on the battlefield, which had reached a new level of ferocity. None

of the fighters could even spare the breath to respond.

But she thought she caught a glimpse of Daphne smiling at her as she sliced through a

monster that happened to cross her path.

"You've finally recovered! Ms. Cassandra, you really are slow!"

"I'm s-sorry!"

"I'm going to work you and Haruhime to the bone! Without you two, we won't be able

to win!"

""U-Understood!!""

Lilly was her usual self—or rather, she was even more prickly than usual, which

compelled Cassandra and Haruhime to answer sharply.

For some reason that made them both very happy, and they broke into grins.

"This is no time for smiles! We're changing location! The monsters have noticed us!"

""Yes, ma'am!""

The three members of the rear guard moved together to a different spot on the shore.

Though still embroiled in a pitched battle, the party was now at its very strongest.

"What do ye mean?! I demand an explanation!"

Dormul Bolster raised his voice. The dwarf, a member of Magni Familia, was in the

eighteenth floor Under Resort, where he and his familia members were waiting. He

leaned in closer to the adventurer who had collapsed before his eyes.

"I-I already told you, an Amphisbaena spawned in the Water Capital!"

"But there should still be half a month left before the next interval! Why would a floor

boss appear now?!"

"No idea! We just heard about it from some guys who escaped the lower levels and

came running back here like mad!"

The adventurers who had fled to the safety point of Rivira, the Dungeon's post town,

were members of the hunting party pursuing Gale Wind. These particular underlings

had been tasked with guarding the connecting passageways between floors to prevent

the fugitive from escaping, on the orders of their leader Bors. After learning what was

happening on the twenty-fifth floor, they had run a relay of sorts to get the information

back to Rivira as quickly as possible.

"The guys who escaped from the twenty-fifth floor were half-crazy…! They said the

Dungeon was 'crying' and the Great Falls were stained red… the only thing we know

for sure is that there were a bunch of huge explosions and the labyrinth on that floor

collapsed."

"Collapsed?! That stupidly gigantic maze?!"

Dormul stared in shock at the pale adventurer whose words had trailed off at the end.

The dwarves had suspected something strange was going on. Several hours earlier,

they'd felt the ground shake. It hadn't been an earthquake, but more of an up-anddown motion that seemed to originate from the floors below.

"If the explosions caused the floor boss to ignore the interval… then what caused the

explosions? Did Gale Wind and the main hunting party get into a flashy magic shootout or something?"

Next to the dumbfounded Dormul, the Modi Familia elf Luvis grimaced sternly as he

swung his empty right sleeve.

There was no way Bors's underlings—who hadn't gone with the main party into the

Water Capital and didn't know what Jura and Turk had done—could have a proper

grasp of the whole situation. Of course, the same was true of Luvis, Dormul, and

Dormul's familia. They had all stayed on the eighteenth floor.

They didn't even have any way of knowing that a calamity had caused a massacre.

"According to the guys who escaped, Hestia Familia was left behind in the cavern, with

the floor boss…"

"What…?! Ye mean to say you lot abandoned them?!"

"Couldn't be helped! Who wouldn't run from a floor-boss fight when equipment and

manpower are lacking?"

"And the monsters were acting weird! We heard them screaming all over, and just

before we left, a pack of all sorts mixed together barreled right through the connecting

passageway on the nineteenth floor that we were guarding!"

It seemed those monsters were headed for the Water Capital.

Dormul and Luvis fell silent as they listened to the adventurers relate this information.

But everyone present had the same word at the back of their minds:

Irregular.

Something so extraordinary it made the affair with Gale Wind seem like a mere trifle

was occurring in the Dungeon. Each of the experienced upper-class adventurers

shared the same strong hunch.

"What do we do…? Send in support? Or return to the surface first and inform the Guild?"

"…Both. We can't do much if we don't know what's happening down there, and we can't

find that out here in Rivira."

In contrast to the agitated Dormul, Luvis's response was wise as he assessed the

situation.

Thanks to the hunting expedition, much of Rivira's population was away. Of the

remaining upper-class adventurers, the members of Magni and Modi familias ranked

highest. Bors's underlings waited for those familias to decide since their own minds

had gone blank in the face of such an unprecedented situation.

"Above all, we must not abandon Hestia Familia! Shario, Alec, get your weapons!"

"Wait now, Luvis! What can yer bunch do in yer current state? We dwarves will go to

Bell's party. Ye elves wait here!"

"Do you think a band of elves would desert those we are indebted to? Or are you saying

we'd hold you back? You slow-footed dwarves are the real dead weight, I'd say!"

"Rubbish! Count on an elf to take my kindly words and twist them!"

The onlookers scrambled to end the budding argument between dwarves and elves

that had broken out at exactly the wrong moment. But just then, another voice

interrupted.

"What did you say about Hestia Familia?"

Everyone present froze at the sound of the strong voice that cut through their

bickering like a sword.

"C-Cyclops?!"

"What's the captain of Hephaistos Familia doing here?!"

"What, a smith can't enter the Dungeon? Forget about that—just tell me what's going

on!"

The smiling half-dwarf standing before them had dark skin and a patch over one eye.

Tsubaki had apparently arrived at that very moment in Rivira. Behind her were what

looked like three female adventurers—two cat people and one human.

Luvis and his companions were curious about the newcomers, but as the first-tier,

Level 5 High Smith had instructed, they shared what they knew of the situation.

"A floor boss, you say? And the twenty-fifth floor exploded? And on top of it all,

monsters are acting strangely?"

"Look at us however you like, that's all we know!" Luvis snapped at Tsubaki, who was

questioning him with a suspicious look on her face.

"What happened to Gale Wind, meow?"

One of the cat people had jumped into the conversation with no concern for propriety.

"Hey, who are you?"

"Just a curious cat this smith brought along. Now, answer my question."

The bewildered Luvis and Dormul examined what appeared to be Tsubaki's party

once again. They were outfitted with lightweight equipment such as hooded robes and

knuckledusters. They were in the Dungeon, after all, so their gear wasn't a particularly

odd sight, but still, they seemed oddly unlike adventurers. Especially the human and

the catgirl with the black fur. At the very least, they were unfamiliar faces in the

middle-level base camp of Rivira.

It was ridiculous to use the phrase to describe adventurers in general, but these people

didn't quite seem respectable.

I feel like I've seen this catgirl who just interrupted us somewhere before…

Luvis glanced at the one properly outfitted catgirl, who was wearing red-and-white

battle clothes and carried a spear embossed in gold. She seemed familiar. But his train

of thought was cut off by her impatient demand of "Tell me, meow!"

"Gale Wind hasn't yet been captured. We hear she's likely to be on the twenty-seventh

floor, and that's where the elite hunters have headed… but to be honest, that's the least

of their worries at this point."

"You're talking about what they call Irregular?"

"This place is a real monster's nest. Ah, I wish we could hurry up and get out into the

sun again, meow!"

The human and the other catgirl reacted to Luvis's explanation as if it wasn't their

concern. Just as Luvis and the others were wondering who the hell this motley crew

was, Tsubaki interrupted.

"Right then, leave the twenty-fifth floor to us. We'll go take a look."

"Huh?! What's the meaning of this?!"

"Is there a problem? We're faster than you, so we're better suited to the job. All the

more so because time is short. Plus… a former coworker I used to keep as a pet is with

Hestia Familia now."

"W-wait! Hey!"

By the time Luvis and Dormul tried to stop them, Tsubaki and her party were already

becoming distant specks. The adventurers watched in a daze as the four figures

disappeared, leaving Rivira behind.

"Now we've done it. We're not in disguise like Lyu. Think they guessed we're bar

waitresses?"

"In that sort of situation you ought to melt into the shadows, meow. If they don't

remember your eyes and voice, you'll be okay, meow."

"I can't pull off assassin stuff like you can."

The party had crossed the marshlands on the eighteenth floor and emerged into a

broad meadow. The catgirl Chloe, dressed in a hooded robe, and the human Runoa,

wearing knuckledusters, chatted as the group advanced in a tight formation. Their

casual voices were completely at odds with their superhuman speed.

They cut across the central zone of the eighteenth floor so fast the monsters lurking

in the meadow didn't even notice them, and if they had, they wouldn't have been able

to even come close to them.

"Man, are you still telling me you all are just a bunch of regular tavern waitresses or

something? Alehouses sure must be mighty dangerous these days!"

"Well, it's not like we make a habit of partying with characters we don't know, meow…"

Still maintaining her speed, Tsubaki gave a childlike laugh. Chloe shot an indignant

glance as she ran alongside her.

"You've never heard of The Benevolent Mistress? It's pretty famous."

"That's the place Mia runs, right? I'm always holed up in the workshop so I don't know

about all that worldly stuff. I had no idea girls like you even existed! Forgive me, haha-ha!"

"This lady sure is hard to work with, meow…"

These were the support troops Hestia had sent in. The party had been quickly thrown

together in order to rescue Gale Wind and assist Hestia Familia. It was made up of the

three bar waitresses Ahnya, Chloe, and Runoa, plus Tsubaki.

If someone in the know had seen them, however, their eyes would have bugged out at

the nearly first-tier party.

"And what do you think about what that elf said, meow?"

Chloe glanced questioningly at Tsubaki.

"All I can say is, it's totally different from the story we heard before we left. I thought

our job was to help Gale Wind escape if she'd been captured for something she didn't

do."

The four of them had rushed into the Dungeon before they even finished introducing

themselves. Chloe, Ahnya, and Runoa were there to rescue Lyu, whose life was at risk,

while Tsubaki was there to lend a hand to Welf and his companions as they treaded a

dangerous path. But now things were heading in an unexpected direction. Tsubaki

knit her brows, sniffing something fishy.

"That's beside the point, meow! So what if we encounter monsters or adventurers get

in our way? We'll blow them away and save Lyu, meow! Along with the white-haired

boy and his party, too!"

Ahnya, who was running as fast as she could at the front of the pack, shouted back to

Tsubaki. Her coworkers gazed at her as she twirled her long lance in one hand and ran

like crazy, her battle clothes fluttering in the wind.

"Idiots sure have it easy, huh?"

"But we're the ones who have to clean up her messes when she dives in without

thinking, meow."

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! I agree with that girl! The simpler the better!"

"Cyclops catches on quick, meow!"

Runoa, Chloe, Tsubaki, and Ahnya kept up the lively banter. Despite their relaxed, jovial

tone, their speed hadn't reduced in the slightest. Every adventurer turned in surprise

to stare as this strange group passed them by on the way to the Central Tree leading

to the nineteenth floor.

The battle with the floor boss was a test of endurance.

The monster's massive, seemingly tireless body didn't even flinch in response to minor

attacks. Even a concentrated barrage of magic—one of the keenest weapons available

to adventurers—could not take the beast down in a single shot. As long as the levels

of the adventurers involved were not overwhelmingly superior, fighting Amphisbaena

tended to be a waiting game. Lilly's alliance party, made up of fewer than ten members,

should have been at an insurmountable disadvantage.

But they were determined to overcome adversity. They were making an all-out effort

to tip the scales and achieve victory.

"Hiyo!" the magic blade shrieked.

Welf—greatsword in his left hand and magic blade in his right—launched his attack.

The supply of stable islands on the lake was dwindling, but now the bluish ice blade

that had once made a certain first-tier dwarf moan transformed the lake into a field of

ice for the second time. The floor boss was in the line of fire, and it turned its head at

the flapping ice wings.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

Naturally, the Amphisbaena offset the attack with its crimson mist.

But Welf's attack was so powerful the dragon was forced to use the mist as a shield

rather than a suit of armor encasing its entire body. The dragon's irritation was

evident as its right head roared at the young smith and breathed out more mist.

The floor boss's white body was marred by frostbite.

"Mr. Welf! The Amphisbaena is a water dragon, so ice magic blades won't affect it

much! Please hold off on more of those attacks!"

"I know!… This blade is at its limit, too."

Welf glanced down at the weapon in his right hand. With a popping sound, a web of

fissures sped through his magic blade Hiyo.

As she watched, Lilly realized time was running out; they had to up the intensity of the

fight.

"Ms. Haruhime, support please! Ms. Cassandra, heal Ms. Aisha first and then focus on

Ms. Mikoto and the others on the front line!"

"Grow. That power and that vessel. Breadth of wealth and breadth of wishes."

"Rescue my miserable companions in place of my words that cannot reach them."

Two chants seemed to melt together behind Lilly.

Haruhime and Cassandra had been supporting the front line by constantly casting

spells. Without a magic user to provide artillery fire in their current party, these two

unquestionably held the fate of the battle in their hands.

Haruhime in particular played a key role. She was already entering her third round of

level boosts. Normally during battles she was mostly a tagalong, but now she was truly

proving her worth. The adventurers were rapidly draining their magic potions, too—

and that worried Lilly.

If this thing does what that Black Goliath does… I'll be mad enough to cry!

She couldn't help comparing the Irregular they'd fought in the past with their current

foe.

When a Monster Rex was able to regenerate, it was a nightmare terrible enough to

crush anyone's willpower. As a commander who incessantly yelled out orders to limit

the damage they suffered, Lilly knew that better than anyone. The fight on the

eighteenth floor had been truly hopeless.

But the water dragon she was looking at now didn't have that secret weapon. Or at

least she didn't think it did. That would be unthinkable. Lilly offered a silent prayer as

she continued to issue orders.

The Amphisbaena doesn't have a secret weapon. What's scary is the blue napalm. If it

catches us with that, the situation will immediately take a turn for the worse.

The other person thinking furiously was Aisha.

This two-headed dragon's most terrifying weapon was its hellish flames that couldn't

be stamped out, which made its attacks fatal. Allow a hand to catch fire and the only

result would be tragedy. Welf and the others were taking extreme care to avoid the

blue napalm, but the loss of even one fighter would undermine the entire front line.

Now how many vials of that fire-quenching potion did I pilfer from Asfi just in case…?

Several methods did exist for extinguishing the blue napalm flames.

The most well-known was the anti-napalm healing solution produced by Amid

Teasanare, the Dea Saint of Dian Cecht Familia and the greatest healer in Orario. It was

much sought-after for expeditions in the lower levels because it not only snuffed out

flames, it also healed the skin they had burned. The item had contributed enormously

to the efforts of upper-tier adventurers because it had opened the door for them to

conquer the Amphisbaena.

What was less well-known was that Perseus had developed a similar magic item.

Asfi belonged to Hermes Familia, which lied about both its official level and the floors

it had reached. The first time the captain of Hermes Familia laid eyes on Amphisbaena,

she set about developing an antidote with the greatest trepidation.

Only members of Hermes Familia were permitted to use the secret item. It didn't help

with recovery, but it was universally acknowledged to put out flames. Plus, unlike the

anti-napalm heal, it could be used to extinguish all sorts of other flames.

"Yah!"

"UUU…!"

The cavern had turned into an oven fueled by the wavering blue flames, but Aisha

ignored the sweat dripping off her as she lunged at the Amphisbaena with her podao.

Unable to hide its flagging strength, the dragon swung its neck away to avoid taking

serious damage but writhed at the assault on its scales.

One more push and the balance would crumble. Aisha was sure of it.

The effects of Haruhime's Uchide no Kozuchi last fifteen minutes at most. The interval

before she can activate her magic again is a little over ten minutes… so if we can just get

through the next ten minutes, we can count on another level boost!

Aisha had looked after Haruhime when they were both prostitutes, and they'd worked

as a pair on the battlefield, too. She knew all there was to know about the renart's

magic. By cleverly manipulating the length of the magic's effectiveness and the waiting

interval, it was possible to have an extra person fighting with a level boost for about

five minutes. The burden on Haruhime would increase, but this time she'd simply have

to push through.

Aisha glanced back at the shore. Despite the distance between them, Haruhime sensed

Aisha's gaze and nodded as if she understood her intention.

I like the look on her face these days.

Aisha smiled briefly at Haruhime's determined expression.

The girl who had once lamented the real world was nowhere to be found.

Most of all, for me—

Then Ouka yelled.

"It dove in!"

The dragon had disappeared underwater again, sending up a wave in its wake.

The threat of attacks coming from underwater would have sent a chill down the backs

of most adventurers. But this party was different.

"Mikoto!"

"It's moving west! South… no, east! Lady Lilly, get out of the way!"

Thanks to Mikoto's Yatano Black Crow skill, they had the upper hand.

By moving quickly, Lilly was able to narrowly avoid a strike from the Amphisbaena,

which had emerged exactly where Mikoto said it would. Several smaller monsters

suffered the impact of the attack instead.

A figure sped across the landscape, timing its approach to the instant when the floor

boss showed its face.

It was Mikoto, whose detection skill verged on premonition.

She drew her longsword, Shunsan.

Although it was hard to maneuver due to its great length, there was no better weapon

for fighting a large-category enemy. The sword was also ideal for performing her

special move.

Golden glimmers of light from the level boost swirled around the god of martial arts'

disciple. She leaped forward, twisting her hips as she drew the sword.

"Zekka!"

Spirit and technique melded perfectly in the attack that burst from her scabbard. The

blade sliced a dragon scale in half and tore deep into the neck of the floor boss's right

head.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The Amphisbaena screamed as fresh blood rained down from the center of its neck.

The blow was unquestionably fierce, and Welf cheered at the sight of it.

Yup, with Eternal ✝ Shadow here, we can even head off those damn underwater attacks!

Mikoto was an all-rounder who fought in the vanguard and could detect as well as

track enemies. She was bringing her full potential to bear in this battle.

The party had insanely powerful magic blades capable of not only devastating attacks,

but even of creating terrain to stand on.

On top of that, they had Mikoto's detection skill.

Combined in the right way, those two assets gave a party of fewer than ten adventurers

the upper hand in a water fight with an Amphisbaena.

Mikoto was as crucial to winning this battle as Haruhime.

We're so good we can even knock out the other monsters in our spare time!

Because the massive explosions had caused parts of the Dungeon to collapse, the

monsters inside hadn't been able to reach the cavern. That, too, was a great advantage

in this battle. Normally, part of the party would be occupied taking care of monsters

other than the Monster Rex, but that wasn't the case now.

Aisha's podao sliced through an aqua serpent, bringing the number of visible monsters

below five.

"Hey… do you think this might actually work?" asked Daphne, fighting back-to-back

with Aisha. The Amazon nodded.

"Yeah. With these magic blades, it seems we can even win a fight in the cavern."

The wounded Amphisbaena was clearly drained. The proof lay in the fact that the blue

napalm the dragon had been breathing out so fiercely in the early stages of the battle

was now coming in ragged puffs.

At this point, a water dragon would normally have stopped fighting and hidden at the

bottom of the lake until it recovered. From the adventurers' perspective, that would

have been the worst possible outcome.

But from the dragon's perspective, the prey might escape in the meantime. In a real

emergency, they could scale the cliffs leading to the twenty-fourth and twenty-sixth

floors.

This floor boss had ignored the basic interval for its emergence, and it was also

ignoring its ordinary behavioral patterns to prioritize slaughtering the intruders. At

least, that's how it appeared to Aisha. As long as it was worrying about the possibility

of their escape, it most likely wouldn't rest for long.

Lilly and the rest of the rear guard were moving constantly along the shore to avoid

coming under attack as they supported Welf and the others who were maneuvering

around on the icebergs. In an emergency, Lilly could use her own dagger-type magic

blade to fend off the enemy. Meanwhile, Welf's group was intermittently launching

assaults on the floor boss.

Everything was coming together in perfect harmony.

The wind was blowing in their favor.

This party, even with its scant number of fighters, could take down an Amphisbaena.

We can win.

Aisha was sure of it.

She was too sure of it.

This was the Dungeon. The endless labyrinth.

And she had forgotten that the Dungeon was anything but predictable.

"…"

Four bloodshot dragon eyes glared at the scene.

The accumulated damage… the lost blood… and worst of all, these inferior adventurers

who had the nerve to oppose a dragon despite their puny stature.

Everything about the situation fueled the Amphisbaena's anger, until its huge body

burned with rage.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

"UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

Both heads roared at once. Then the dragon dove underwater.

Welf and Ouka shivered as its massive fin split the water, sending up a storm of droplets.

"Again?"

"Mikoto, we're counting on you!"

"Got it!"

She activated Yatano Black Crow. There was no way the massive underwater motion

beneath her feet could escape her notice. She tracked the monster's direction and was

about to relay the information to her companions—when suddenly she froze.

"..."

Time stood still for Aisha at the same moment.

The adventurer's instincts she had honed so well rang in alarm.

In the past, Aisha had always lured the Amphisbaena into more favorable terrain

before fighting it, so she hadn't realized.

Indeed, none of the battle-hardened adventurers who had taken down the Amphisbaena

in the past knew.

No one had seen what an Amphisbaena would do if they fought it in the cavern of the

Great Falls and drove it into a corner.

They didn't know what irregular behavior it would use to annihilate its enemies.

It's heading for the waterfall—

The water dragon's track cut across Mikoto's detection net.

Without a backward glance toward the adventurers, it charged straight at the waterfall

on the cavern's north side. It was moving with the same terrific force it had when it

ascended from the twenty-seventh floor to the twenty-fifth.

An instant later, it shattered the ice and collided with the Great Falls, raising a massive

spray of water.

Welf, Lilly, Haruhime, Ouka, Chigusa, Daphne, and Cassandra watched as the white

form ascended the huge waterfall.

Only Mikoto and Aisha had managed to guess their enemy's intentions.

Even they were too late.

Having reached the top of the waterfall, the Amphisbaena leaped into the air.

"...…"

The cavern went silent.

Even the roar of the waterfall ceased.

In this hushed world frozen in time, the adventurers saw the dragon dancing far

overhead.