Chapter 8 part 2

P/N let me know if there's any mistakes and I will try to fix them

The little round eyes glittered as the al-miraj rubbed its face against

her chest. Cassandra took that as a yes—but an instant later, a shock

ran through her, taking her breath away.

"That dream I had…with the jet-black wave and the rabbit charm…"

It had happened about twenty days earlier, just before the battle on

Daedalus Street. She had seen a prophetic dream that led her to

shelter the al-miraj.

In the dream, a jet-black wave had swallowed her up. Just as she was

on the verge of death, she had taken out a rabbit charm she'd

received beforehand and managed to escape. At the time, she'd

taken the black wave as a representation of the black minotaur.

Because she protected the al-miraj, she'd avoided being attacked by

the frightening beast.

But now that she thought about it more closely, that interpretation

seemed odd.

If she hadn't protected the "rabbit" like the oracle had dictated and

gone to the place it had told her to go, she wouldn't have

encountered the minotaur in the first place. Maybe Daphne had

been right when she'd gotten mad and told her she was acting in a

play she wrote herself.

In other words, the destruction she avoided by protecting the al-

miraj hadn't taken place that day.

Cassandra looked around in a daze.

The voltemeria were black. And when a mass of them crowded

together, they looked exactly like a jet-black wave.

Could it be that the dark wave that swallowed her in that dream

wasn't the minotaur but rather the school of black flying fish?

Had the "rabbit charm"—that is, the al-miraj—grown used to her

scent when she cared for it for days on end and then used it to locate

her in the Dungeon?

Squeezing the fluffy white monster with her right hand as it gently

pawed her cleavage, she realized that she had only just evaded the

fate laid out in the prophetic dream moments ago.

"Can prophetic dreams be redundant…? Was the vision of that day a

warning to avoid the destruction of today?"

Cassandra looked questioningly at the al-miraj and the hellhound

who seemed so overjoyed to see her.

Meanwhile, Daphne—who was totally overwhelmed by the

unexpected turn of events—wasn't paying attention to Cassandra,

who had mustered up her courage and was about to furtively hug

the monsters.

"…Nope, can't do it!"

"Meep?"

Well intentioned or not, it seemed that she still wasn't ready to go

that far.

"You guys…"

On the verge of a Mind Down, Welf could only manage a few

mumbled words. But as he watched, a troll, a lamia, and a deadly

hornet wiped the floor with a huge school of voltemerias while

totally ignoring the adventurers.

"Wh-what…the hell is going…on?"

"Are these…the armed monsters we heard about?"

"I thought Loki Familia wiped them out on Daedalus Street!"

Bors, Chigusa, and Ouka were hopelessly confused. Daphne was still

frozen, unable to understand what was happening. The monsters appeared to be protecting the adventurers, or rather prioritizing

their fierce battle with their own kind as they ignored the

adventurers. Bors, Chigusa, Ouka, and Daphne couldn't manage

much more than a freaked-out response, let alone a coherent

reaction.

But Welf understood what was happening.

A gargoyle flew over his head, noticed Welf's stare, and glanced back

at him before turning away like a rude person. Suddenly, savage air

combat commenced. Completely overpowered by the Xenos with its

huge, nearly indestructible stone wings, the voltemerias fell one

after the next.

Below the gargoyle, a certain lizardman was fighting his own battle.

With countless ground-battle victories under his belt, the proud

warrior sliced through several furious flying fish with one swipe of

the scimitar in his right hand, while pounding still more with a bold

swing of the longsword in his left.

As he sped in front of Welf, the lizardman turned up the corners of

his fang-filled mouth.

He looked like he was about to smile.

—Guess who else is here?

That's what the indomitable glint in his narrowed reptilian eyes

seemed to say as he glanced across the room.

Welf followed his gaze and jumped in surprise.

A figure in a black robe was dashing across the battlefield—

"…Ahh."

Haruhime's eyelids fluttered as something moved against her cheek.

She felt very groggy, almost like some gauze draped over her ears

was muffling the sounds around her.

The one thing she knew for sure was that she was on a battlefield.

Perhaps due to the persistent aftereffects of the Mind Down, an

extraordinary exhaustion and lethargy weighed down her arms and

legs. But she had to sing. She understood her role as a sorcerer. She

could not afford to remain lying down.

Haruhime whipped her body with the lash of her will. She needed to

summon strength in her limbs and bring a chant to her lips. She had

to grant that miraculous light to her companions. But right as she

was thinking that she should stand up, and fast, like Bell had done on

that day in the past—somebody took her in their arms.

"…?"

As she realized that her body was being gently supported, she

opened her eyes.

She saw a pair of amber eyes, and then a face filled with a warm red

light.

It looked exactly like the face of the girl Haruhime had been thinking

of ceaselessly since they parted.

As soon as her hazy vision came into focus, Haruhime's lips spoke the

girl's name.

"Lady…Wiene…?"

In response to the feebly whispered words, the dragon girl's face

blossomed into a smile, her blue-white hair swaying.

"Yes, Haruhime."

Tears fell from Haruhime's green eyes at the sound of the vouivre's

voice.

"I've come to save you!"

"Ah…ahhhh…!"

Still kneeling, the Xenos drew her close in her slender arms.

Haruhime found holding back her emotions an impossible feat.

She had never stopped thinking of this girl who felt so much like a

sister or a daughter. Not a day had passed when she did not think of

her. Her tender feelings at seeing Wiene again swept away any

thought of exhaustion. She wrapped her own arms around the

dragon girl and pulled her close. Wiene nuzzled her tear-stained face

against Haruhime's.

"I wanted to see you so much, Haruhime!"

"Me too…me too!"

"I didn't cry the whole time! I didn't want to make you worry!"

Like Fia, Wiene was wearing a robe that concealed her head and

body. Her beautiful voice sounded like birdsong to Haruhime's ears.

"But…now I can't stop crying!"

Haruhime felt as if her heart would burst. The dragon girl's smile was

as pure as the clear tears rolling down her cheeks.

They embraced once again.

"Ms. Wiene…!"

"Wiene has been taking part in our various activities, and when she

heard you were in trouble, she said she wanted to come no matter

what."

Lilly had been watching the reunion unfold in happy surprise. As Lett

explained the dragon girl's motivations, she sensed the truth in his

words. She thought back warmly on the days she had spent on the

surface with Wiene. She truly had become a part of their familia.

"What is going on in here, meow~~~~?!"

Just then, she heard an oblivious voice shouting at them from the

room's entryway, accompanied by the sound of a monster being

brazenly kicked aside.

Ahnya and her party had arrived just a few steps behind the Xenos.

"We found the adventurers, but…"

"The monsters are killing one another, meow?!"

The panting Ahnya was startled out of her wits by the scene they

found inside the room. Runoa and Chloe also gaped at the ferocious

battle between the various monsters—that was to say, between the

voltemeria and the Xenos.

After the band of four heard Lilly's scream, they had followed Chloe's

hunch to the twenty-seventh floor, where they caught a glimpse of a

terrifyingly strong parade of armed monsters from behind. Sensing

the monsters might be up to something based on their single-minded

march into the floor's depths, Ahnya and her companions had

decided to follow them. Whenever they lost sight of the parade, they

simply followed the sounds of fighting before eventually ending up in

this room.

"Ms. Ahnya…! Lady Hestia really came through for us!"

Lilly was the first to guess the meaning of their arrival, silently

cheering her patron deity's response to her request for support from

the surface.

Meanwhile, a certain half-dwarf was advancing toward a certain

young man as if drawn to him magnetically.

"Welf…"

"Tsubaki?! Why are you…?"

Tsubaki stopped in front of the confused smith.

Her former colleague was in tatters. He was gasping for breath,

covered in wounds large and small, and seemed ready to collapse at

the slightest nudge.

But for the moment, she didn't care. All her single eye could see was

the sword in his hands.

"That magic sword…"

It was a crimson longsword. Not a Crozzo's Magic Sword—a Welf's

Magic Sword.

Her right eye opened wide with a level of emotion Welf had never

seen in it before.

She was not so unsophisticated as to ask what it was, however.

To the contrary, she found herself momentarily dumbstruck. One

glance at the sword's gleam told the master smith what Welf had

achieved.

"Heh-heh-heh, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!! So you've finally gone and

don't it, eh, greenhorn?"

Her roaring laughter was hardly appropriate for a battlefield. As Bors

and the others peered crossly at her, only Welf returned her gaze

with clear eyes.

"You tried your hand at it even though you didn't know how far the

heights of mastery go! You aimed for the peaks of the heavens!"

"…"

"I said you were an idiot, but to think you were actually an idiot even

among idiots! And all the more a fool for giving unnecessary advice!

Ahhh, what a cheeky bastard! A unique pleasure, this is!"

Tsubaki's words were neither insults nor criticisms, but instead the

expression of pure delight.

They were a sign of the rivalry she felt toward this boy who had

exceeded her expectations.

And they were proof that she had accepted him as a part of her

tribe.

"Congratulations, Welf Crozzo. You're finally one of us."

Then she added, "And…welcome to hell."

Her praise was genuine; the master smith celebrated Welf's

achievement from the bottom of her heart.

"I'm in a good mood. Leave the rest of these monsters to me."

"…! Wait, Tsubaki, those monsters are—

"

"I know, I know. I'll only take down the ones that aren't armed."

Tsubaki turned away from Welf, licking her lips at the arrival of a

fresh school of voltemeria that the waterway had carried to her side.

Unable to hide her excitement, she grinned as she set upon them like

a demoness.

Ahnya, Chloe, and Runoa threw themselves into action and joined

Tsubaki in slaughtering the voltemeria for the sake of the paralyzed

party they had come to save.

A bitter battle between monsters, adventurers, and Xenos had

begun.

"Lido! Lidoooooooooo!"

A soprano voice pierced the ceaseless sound of fierce fighting. The

lizardman looked up to see the Xenos mermaid Mari popping her

head out of a waterway. He hurried to her side.

"Mari, you're here of all places?! Then you must know what happ—

"

"Bell! Bell went below!"

Mari tearfully interrupted Lido's human words.

"Bellucchi? Mari, you were with him?!"

The surprised lizardman quickly made sense of Mari's halting words,

gleaning that Bell and an elf had been sucked into a wormhole and

taken to a level somewhere below them, only to be followed by the

"apostle of murder" that had recently spawned. The report matched

up with what they'd learned about the "calamity" from the wizened

god via Fels.

"UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

The Xenos whipped their heads around toward Lido as he bellowed a

war cry. That call was a message to monsters that humans could not

understand. Having received his information, the lamia and several

other Xenos howled back at him and immediately raced out of the

room.

"The armed monsters have…!"

"One minute I think they're fighting among themselves, and the next

they're taking off. What exactly is going on, meow?! I don't

understand one bit, meow!"

Chigusa and Chloe watched in shock as the eccentric monsters

hunted down the last few voltemerias before suddenly rushing out of

the room.

"Mr. Lido has—?!"

"He said that Mr. Bell and an elven adventurer were taken to a lower

level by another monster!"

Lett, still wearing his adventurer disguise, had remained behind with

Fia. He relayed what they had just learned.

"It seems that an apostle of our mother, the Dungeon…a huge

monster chased after Bell and the elf!"

"…! And what floor are they on?!"

"We don't know! But if the god Ouranos's guess is right…they could

be in the deep levels."

Lett's words left Lilly speechless. Her mind went completely blank at

the prospect of this worst-of-all-possible news.

"And Lido had a message for you…'If you want to come, then come.

We will take you there.'"

"!!"

Lido's call to action startled Lilly. She perfectly understood what he

was trying to say.

"Ms. Ahnya!"

"Meow, meow, meow? The white-haired one's supporter is

calling…?" The catgirl raised her voice as she turned toward Lilly

without moving. The prum ran up to her.

"What level are you, Ms. Ahnya?"

"What kind of question is that, meow? More importantly, where is

Lyu—?"

"Oh for goodness' sake! Just answer my question!!"

"Meow? Level Four! Chloe, Runoa, and I are all the same level as Lyu,

meow!"

Frightened by Lilly's bloodshot eyes and indignant expression, Ahnya

answered reflexively. Lilly's heart pounded at her answer.

"

—Then we can clear the Water Capital!"

The very next instant, Lilly shouted a command to the party.

"It is highly likely that Mr. Bell and Ms. Lyu were carried through a

wormwell hole to a lower level! We'll all head to the safety point and

regroup! From there we will go to rescue Mr. Bell and Ms. Lyu!"

"What…?!"

Bors and the others stared at Lilly in a daze as she shot out her

orders.

"No arguments!!"

The little commander proclaimed her decision like a tyrant.

The mysterious waitresses from The Benevolent Mistress are

actually Level Four fighters! And Tsubaki, the captain of Hephaistos

Familia, is Level Five! If we work together with them and the Xenos,

we can make our way through the twenty-eighth floor and beyond…!

Lilly noted the fighting ability of Ahnya and her companions on her

mental battle map, calculating whether the strategy she envisioned

was feasible.

She had guessed the intention behind Lido's message correctly.

The Xenos planned to rescue Bell together with Lilly's party. Most

likely they would maintain a certain distance from the adventurers as

they searched for Bell and Lyu, relaying messages back and forth via

bestial howls that Lett could interpret for them. This is what Lido

meant by saying the Xenos would take them there.

Starting with Lido and Gros, who both had Level 5 potential, the

Xenos had high fighting ability. Including Tsubaki's party meant they

had more than enough strength for the battles that lay ahead. Plenty

to break through the lower levels. All Lilly and the other Level 1 and 2

adventurers had to do was provide support.

It was clear that an unexpected opportunity—a kind of opening—had

materialized. But could they properly execute the strategy needed to

take advantage of it?

We might.

No. We're absolutely going to make it work!

They would take up the challenge to defeat the Dungeon and find

the boy and the elf.

Nearby, Daphne and Cassandra were debating their next move.

"You mean we're looking for the wormwell's hole? But we have no

proof Rabbit Foot was even taken down there, let alone any

assurance they're alive…" Daphne argued.

"L-let's go with them, Daphne!! Let's save Bell and Lyu!"

"Oh geez! Fine, I'll come along! It's not exactly a question of logic

now that we've come this far, anyway."

Daphne tried to voice her doubts about Lilly's plans, but when

Cassandra eagerly leaned forward to convince her friend, Daphne

gave in and responded in a detached manner.

Meanwhile, Bors was looking for a way out. As usual, he was putting

his own safety first.

"I'm not obligated to go along to the end…!"

"What are you talking about? A Level Three fighter like you is

valuable to us. We're going to squeeze every drop of strength out of

you until you're bone dry!"

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

Aisha laughed shamelessly, having effectively denied him any chance

to escape. At the same time, Tsubaki's party was renewing its

commitment to saving Lyu.

"I don't really get it…but if Lyu's down below, then I'm going,

meow!" Ahnya said.

"In the Dungeon, the lower you go the worse it gets, right? Whew,

I'm already exhausted."

"It's a losing proposition if we're not getting compensated for this

quest, meow…And we're not even adventurers."

"Ha-ha-ha! We're all in the same boat now!"

Tsubaki's laugh swept away Runoa's and Chloe's lingering pessimism.

Chigusa and Ouka, on the other hand, were still thinking about the

scene they had witnessed on Daedalus Street, when a certain vouivre

had rescued the children.

"…I feel like those armed monsters…were intentionally helping us…"

"…And those guys hiding behind robes who seemed to be

adventurers…Smith, you better explain all this later!"

"Not sure I can explain it very well!"

Brushing aside their questions, Welf threw his two companions an

annoyingly calm smile.

That same vouivre was still standing beside Haruhime.

"Let's go, Haruhime! Let's save Bell!"

"Yes, Lady Wiene!"

The dragon girl reached out her hand, and Haruhime squeezed it

firmly.

As Lilly looked around at the determination and high morale

apparent in the faces of her companions, her little chest grew warm

with emotion.

We can do it…! With this party, we can make it to the deep levels!!

There was just one problem left.

"From here on out it's a battle against time. We've got to find Mr.

Bell while he's still okay!"

"…!"

"Progress in the lower levels is slow. It'll take us at least a day or two

to reach the deep levels…!"

Lilly responded to Lett's muttered concern by clearing her throat.

Without proper equipment, they would only be able to function in the lower levels for a limited amount of time. They didn't have a

second to spare. They had to advance at top speed if they were going

to rescue Bell and Lyu. She momentarily pushed away the anxiety,

uncertainty, and fear she felt swirling around her and issued an

order.

"We're off!"

The adventurers began to run.

They left the room and flew into the main route leading to the next

floor.

The Dungeon could not stop them now.

The war cries of the Xenos thundered ahead of them, as if they were

welcoming this advancing front of courage

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