Her hero

Why did Cassandra say so? 

Because the adversaries they faced were of a caliber far beyond anything they had encountered before, in their path stood a monstrous humanoid woman, her body a twisted amalgamation of plants, and she was not alone. Dozens of towering man-eating plants encircled her, their gaping maws hungry for the flesh of any adventurer on this 18th Floor. 

On the other hand, there was also a fight between Aiz and a powerful woman who clearly wasn't human. 

Isao took a deep breath, wondering why it had always been like this. 

18th Floor. 

It was said to be a safe haven in the dungeon, a utopia, a place to rest from the cruelty of the dungeon as monsters wouldn't appear on this floor. Moreover, due to the beauty of its nature and natural scenery, many called this place "Rivira," the heaven of the dungeon. 

Nevertheless, even if monsters didn't appear on this floor, the monsters would appear on the 19th Floor and 17th Floors, so occasionally, those monsters would come to the 18th Floor, destroying the city and causing all the adventurers who stayed on this floor to keep rebuilding it. 

Isao remembered that this city had been destroyed 300 or so times, yet people never gave up. 

However, what he didn't expect was the monsters that came to this floor... always this powerful?

'It wasn't like a monster that came from the Middle Floor.' 

In the case of that large, half-woman, half-plant monster, Isao wouldn't be surprised if it appeared on the Deep Floor, such as the 50th Floor below. 

Still hearing the screams of many, Isao took a deep breath and said, "Don't fight, but let's help. Just help those who can't run away. Our power is limited after all, but in case there is a danger, prioritize your lives first." 

"Yes!" 2x

Kind, yet realistic. 

Either Daphne or Cassandra didn't hate this part of him or even loved it. After all, they weren't the protagonist group, and they knew how cold and cruel this world was. When Apollo persistently chased them, no one helped them, and they could only fall into despair, into the hands of that disgusting god. 

When they begged for help, many ran away, alienating them, and even felt schadenfreude at their despair. 

While Isao never said anything, they knew that his experience definitely wasn't below theirs and it might be even worse, yet somehow, he never sunk deeply into the abyss, letting himself fall into despair and watching the world with nihilism and despair-like views where there was only suffering. 

Isao might not be a good guy, but he tried to be one. 

Or rather, he was a good guy! 

When no one knew he had saved this world so many times from the anger of the goddesses, powerful adventurers, and even assassins. He even used his body, letting them sully it, yet he never complained and just endured silently. 

He was a hero, but he never wanted anyone to know his deeds. 

Oh, what a good guy he was! 

Still, before that, the three quickly saved the people who couldn't escape from the danger, and at the same time, how did a disaster come to the 18th Floor?

Everything returned this morning when they discovered a powerful adventurer, a Level 4, was killed inside one of the inns. 

Loki Familia, who also happened to be inside to get money for their expedition, decided to take this matter over. After all, unlike on the surface, where everything was decided by the guild, on the Riveria, the dungeon, everything was decided by the strongest group. 

Usually, Bors, the boss of the Rivira, a Level 3 adventurer, took care of most of the things in this city, but as there was Finn, Riveria, Aiz, Tiona, Tione, and many others, he could only sulk and leave everything to the Loki Familia. 

As they tried to find a clue as to who the killer was, they found out the death was someone from the Ganesha Familia, which made this situation even more horrible. 

Nevertheless, Finn never gives up, and he tries to search for the culprit by sealing off the Rivira so no one can exit until they find the killer. 

While they didn't know who the killer was, for one thing, they knew that the killer was female since the last time this dead adventurer was found, he entered the inn with a beautiful woman with a voluptuous body. The body of the woman was still vivid in the mind of the inn owner, and he even had this lustful expression on his face when he described how gorgeous and sexy the woman was. 

Naturally, many were disgusted, especially the females, but the men roared in excitement since they knew that they could use this chance to search every part of the women in this place as they might be culprits! 

Fortunately, Riveria and the other female members of the Loki Familia didn't allow that to happen, and they became the ones who checked those females, whether they were innocent or not. However, among all the women present, no one appeared to be the culprit, and they didn't seem to have the power to kill a Level 4 adventurer. 

Still, Aiz noticed a movement in the distance, a female chienthrope who appeared frightened from a distance. 

As this female noticed Aiz's gaze, she quickly ran away. 

"Wait!" 

Aiz quickly chased after this female, and the cute elf, who was secretly in love with Aiz, also quickly chased after her. 

"Wa-Wait, Aiz-san!" 

Even though this female chienthrope had run away, it was impossible to escape from Aiz, who was a Level 5 adventurer. Soon, she was chased and explained everything, whether it was the secret quest or why she was frightened. 

"I-I don't know anything! I only accept this job because it is easy! It's not me! I am not the killer!" 

She was in fear, thinking that she would be targeted next. 

"Let me see what you bring first," Aiz said as she looked at the item that was brought by this female chienthrope, whose name was Lulune Louie, a member of the Hermes Familia. Yet, when she saw the item brought by Lulune, her heart almost stopped. It was something disgusting in the shape of a transparent egg with a monster-like being inside. When she saw it, the monster inside opened its eyes and screamed, then suddenly leaped into her! 

Naturally, Aiz dodged, but that thing landed on one of the man-eating flower monsters, known as Violas before it suddenly transformed into a humongous female monster that resembled the monster that she saw on the 50th Floor.

"...what is this?" 

Aiz was shocked, but fortunately, Finn and Riveria came. 

"Aiz, what's wrong?"

"What is that?" 

By then, everything was in chaos; this monster was on a rampage, destroying everything on the floor, bringing terror and chaos. 

Yet, when Finn, Riveria, and the other adventurers on the Rivira fought this monster, Aiz, Lefiya, and Lulune met a new enemy, the female killer, who killed the Level 4 adventurer. 

"You-You are the killer!!" 

Watching the female killer tear the skin of the Level 4 adventurer on her face, showing her beautiful face, the three felt creepy as no one would expect her to use the face of the dead adventurer as a disguise. 

It was clear the purpose of this killer was the egg shape of the thing that was brought by Lulune, something like a seed for the monster, but as it had latched into Violas, her objection changed into Aiz, especially after Aiz showed her wind magic. 

"I see. You are Aria." 

When that woman said those words, Aiz's expression became stunned, but she didn't give her time to think. 

As the two fought, Lefiya naturally tried to support Aiz, but the female killer only lifted her hand and blocked the magic with her bare hand. 

"Wh-What...?!" 

"Aiz-san!" 

Aiz ignored Lefiya's scream, facing this new opponent with her everything. Whether Lulune or Lefiya weren't this killer's opponents, so she knew that she had to face this killer, especially when Finn and Riveria were busy defeating the monster who ravaged this place. 

Yet, she wasn't her opponent; facing this killer, she was almost defeated. 

If it had been before, she might have been able to handle this killer, but after she called her "Aria," she became shaken and lost her calm. Moreover, the brutal way of fighting this killer, ignoring the wounds on her body and chasing her, attacking her relentlessly without giving her time to react, overwhelmed her! 

Using her hands to block this killer's attack, she could feel her arm broken, and she was slammed into the distance cliff, stuck, and covered in dust and gravel. 

"You are weak." 

The killer didn't have mercy and came to Aiz, ready to give her a finishing blow. 

The powerful fist was about to blow her head off, killing her by breaking her head like a crushed watermelon. If it had been before, she would have been in despair, thinking that no one would save her, alone and desperately trying to stay alive, yet she was no longer alone, and she knew her hero would come. 

The killer felt strange because of Aiz's peaceful expression, but she didn't care and just wanted to kill Aiz. 

"AIZ-SAAAAAAANNN!" 

Lefiya screamed in horror, but suddenly the killer felt her entire body tense as she felt danger, but it was too late. 

Like a centipede, it suddenly struck silently, eating its prey when no one noticed. 

At that moment, the killer saw her arm fall, torn by a blade, and at the same time, she felt a presence come from behind. She wanted to turn, using her momentum, to strike this person down, but it was too late; her head was beheaded, and she was killed silently. 

Still, as her head fell, her eyes never closed, watching the cold eyes of the person who beheaded him. 

Isao person when he noticed Aiz was in danger and quickly kicked the female killer away, ignoring this corpse. 

"Are you okay?" 

"Um..." Aiz nodded softly with a smile as she saw him come to save her. 

"..." 

On the other hand, Isao was speechless. 

Was it his imagination, but didn't she become weaker? 

However, it didn't matter as he was there to protect her.