Pushing through the fear to move on

After enjoying a pleasant dinner with their friends, Yuri decided to call it a night and get some early sleep in preparation for their return to the dungeon the next day. Upon reaching her room, she discovered Lilly waiting by her door. Since waking up that morning, Yuri had noticed Lilly's attempts to seek comfort from her, yet she was unsure of how to effectively reassure her. Despite her uncertainty, Yuri approached Lilly with a warm, reassuring smile.

Lilly, filled with a whirlwind of thoughts upon seeing Yuri, felt a sense of calm wash over her when she saw the genuine smile on Yuri's face. Gathering her thoughts, she tentatively asked if she could sleep in Yuri's room that night. Taken aback by the worry in Lilly's eyes, Yuri couldn't bring herself to turn her away.

Lilly had feared rejection, but before her worries could spiral, Yuri took her hand and led her into the room, gesturing for her to lie down in the empty space on the bed. Without hesitation, Lilly settled in, resting with her back to Yuri.

Yuri was surprised by how readily Lilly settled into the bed and pressed herself against her. Realizing that Lilly needed reassurance, Yuri instinctively wrapped her arm around Lilly, pulling her close in a comforting hug and assuring her that everything was going to be okay. As Yuri spoke these words, she felt Lilly begin to tremble, and before she knew it, Lilly had turned around and nestled her face into Yuri's chest.

Throughout the night, the quiet sobs of Lilly filled Yuri's room. The next morning, when Yuri awoke, she found it difficult to extricate herself from the peaceful slumber of Lilly, who was reluctant to wake up. Eventually, after some gentle coaxing, Yuri managed to rouse her. As they got ready and left the room, Yuri noticed a concerned look from Hestia in the hallway, who had observed Lilly's puffy eyes.

Hestia, after inviting Hephaestus to stay over for the night, had passed by Yuri's room and overheard Lilly's crying. The two goddesses found themselves spending a significant portion of the night discussing their concerns for the two girls under their care. In the end, their only conclusion was to be there for them and provide unwavering support.

After they ate breakfast, Yuri, and Lilly gathered their things and left for the dungeon. As they got closer to the dungeon Yuri noticed that Lilly seemed to get more uncomfortable. Releasing a sigh Yuri grabbed Lilly by the hand an pulled her into an alley. After coming to a stop Yuri stared at her without saying a word. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Lilly broke down.

!!! Trigger warning talk of suicide or self-harm!!!

" I'm just worried that something is going to go wrong and next time we won't be so lucky. You're the only person who ever took the time to help if something happened I am scared that things would go back to how they were. And to be honest, if that happened I think I would either hurt myself trying to take my mind off things or just kill myself to make it end."

!!! End of trigger warning!!!

Hearing her concerns Yuri once again pulled Lilly into a tight hug and told her " Please don't ever do something like that. I care about you and if you truly care about me you should know that if you did something like that it would hurt me. You are no longer part of the famillia that did those things. Hestia truly seems to care about her famillia. And hey Hephaestus would be around to help if you ever had a problem. As far as the incident in the dungeon while I can't say anything will never go wrong. I can say the best way to avoid things going wrong is to become so strong that you can put a stop to any problems that may come up."

Hearing Yuri put Lilly at ease realizing that she was no longer in that bad situation and even that she was no longer alone. While she still had concerns she also realized she had to move forward to overcome her fears. Little did either of them know that this would one day lead her down a path to becoming one of the strongest Pallum. But that is a story for another time.

After calming Lilly they headed back toward the dungeon. After they got there they continued as scheduled Lilly would fight for the first bit then act as support after. However unlike usual today Lilly had a fire lit in her. She wound up fighting by herself until they arrived at the sixth floor. As they defended she left no monster in their wake. Both surprised and happy that she was fighting through her fears. Yuri was happy thinking about how much stronger Lilly would become now that she wasn't stuck only supporting others

As they entered the sixth floor Yuri gave Lilly the option she could either act as support like normal or they could work together. Surprising them both Lilly chose to keep fighting. Over the course of four hours, they managed to get down to the tenth floor. As Yuri stepped foot on the tenth floor she received a notification.

!!! Going away from actual events a little!!!

[Emergency quest: Destroyer of fate- due to your existence the fates of others in the world are changing. Help change the fate of someone close to the original Mc currently in the dungeon. Change their destined pat.

Objective: Sanjōno Haruhime has found herself captured by a bandit famillia. The famillia found out about her special magic and brought her to the dungeon. Currently, under attack by a variant infant dragon save her.

Optional objective 1: let the bandits die in the attack.

Optional objective 2: defeat variant.

Rewards: completion of the main objective- permanent increase to all stats by 100 points, luck increase from B - A.

Optional objective 1- 60 sp, 1 free gatcha roll.

Optional objective 2- 1 new spell random, 80 sp, permanent increase of stats by 250.

Conditions of failure- Sanjōno Haruhime dies or the host dies.]

Getting this notification Yuri looked at Lilly and told her to wait at the stairs. Then explained that she heard the sounds of a fight and didn't want to risk losing her in the fog that surrounded the floor. Explaining she just wants to make sure everyone involved is okay. 

Getting a nod from Lilly Yuri rushed to find Haruhime. She knew that this was dangerous but she decided to try to complete this quest in its entirety. Yuri searched for around ten minutes before she stumbled across the bandit famillia.

After finding her target she looked around and noticed three people at the back of the group two bandits holding a chained Haruhime. While the others were trying to fight off the infant dragon they only made sure that she didn't escape. Seeing this Yuri stepped back into the fog to make her way back toward them unnoticed.

Once she made it close to them Yuri waited for the opportune time. When the guards got distracted by the breath attack released by the monster and charged in. Seeing how Haruhime was crouched over in fear it allowed for Yuri to take the heads and therefore the lives of both men at the same time. As the bodies fell some blood splashed on Haruhime's face alerting her that something happened. When she looked up and saw the lifeless bodies of her captures with Yuri standing above she about let out a scream.

Yuri noticing was quick to cover her mouth to silence her. As she stood there blocking the scream she held a finger up to her lips telling the Renard to stay silent. Getting a nod Yuri released her and turned back to the group fighting the infant dragon.

The battle continued on for around ten minutes before the bandits decided to retreat. Knowing they couldn't win they turned around. As the first few finished turning they were met with the sight of their ally's headless bodies lying on the floor. Before anyone knew what happened Yuri came from the side and charged into the middle of the group ending the lives of four more of their comrades before they could respond.

Yuri was unsure of the group's levels so she made sure to keep some between her and the dragon as a way to decide their focus. As she fought it appeared to those around her like an angel of death descended upon the dungeon.

She would dance around their attacks while avoiding the attacks of the infant dragon. And with every swing of her blood-covered scythe, more of their companions fell. The fight only lasted for around five minutes by the end the last few to fall had lost all hope of survival.

However to Haruhime who watched everything happen from the side. It was like a goddess ventured into the dungeon just for the sole purpose of rescuing her.