Abrupt Reversal

Shifting his weight constantly in an effort to combat the quaking and to stay on his feet, Finn's eyes narrowed to a slit, his brows creasing warily. Although he had been forewarned about the creature that lurked beyond this hall, now that he encountered it firsthand, his warning bells were ringing nonstop. And that was despite it not having even directly appeared in front of him yet!

"Bete, Tiona, Tione! And you as well, Xenos allies. Get back!"

Due to the overwhelming aura that the hostile being emitted, the eight who hadn't reached Level 7 yet found themselves slightly distracted for a bit, so they needed a reminder from him to snap out of their daze. They immediately moved back into the hallway that they had come from and continued until they were many hundreds of meters behind Riveria, who was guarding the entrance.

With everyone who wouldn't even stand the slightest chance at safely combating the imminent threat out of the way, the corners of the blonde Pallum's lips rose ever so slightly. He clearly still appeared to be concerned, but his pulse began to become more rapid and excited. Grasping his spear a little tighter and cautiously repositioning himself so that the could react in whichever way necessary once the enemy broke through the wall that separated them from it, he glanced at Gareth and Riveria, who both gave him a short nod, hints of eagerness glimmering in their eyes.

Immediately after he had confirmed that their intentions were the same as his own, he whispered silently. To be fair, though, he could have just spoken normally, because currently, any and all words that weren't being shouted at the top of one's lungs were entirely drowned out by the earth's incessant rumbling.

"Isaac, please ask Ais whether or not it would be okay for the three of us to have a go at it first. We'd like to test our current limits and this is the first real opportunity to do so since our rank ups."

Not even five seconds later, the three Top Executives were given the go-ahead. It was just in time too, as the trembling and the roaring came to a sudden end. Not even a fraction of a second later, the adamantite wall of the expensive chamber shattered open a mere few hundred meters away, the debris pelting their surroundings randomly, creating huge craters in the extremely resilient metal, making it appear as brittle as glass.

"Via Shilheim!"

Judging these projectiles to be too dangerous to be left to their own devices, as evading them would be difficult, Riveria unleashed the Magic that she had pre-casted. This time, she spent five times the amount of mana than normal to erect a green magical barrier a few tens of meters in front of her and her companions.

When the wave of adamantite fragments crashed against her defense, it was only capable of offering up a modicum of resistance before shattering apart. Fortunately, the speed of the metal scraps had been slowed down significantly, so the High Elf, the Dwarf and the Pallum could now easily dodge them whenever they got close.

"It's just as I feared… this one is going to be tough. Gareth, I'll leave most of the defense to you this time, my shields won't be of much help."

A slight shadow cast on her features, Riveria prepared to switch to 'offensive support mode'. She had had a vague inkling that even her strongest barrier Magic wouldn't be able to resist the attacks of their opponent, so she had designated the area in front of the three of them as her target, instead of only their bodies. As it turned out, this had been the correct decision.

"Got it, I'll keep most of its attention on me. But after this is done, I'll probably need to rest for a considerable while… heh."

Chuckling mirthfully in spite of their perilous circumstances, Gareth positioned himself behind his shield and lifted his axe, ready to charge at any moment.

Only Finn had stayed silent all this time, focusing entirely on the cloud of adamantite dust that obscured the massive figure that was crawling into the hall after having made its own entryway. Eventually, the fine powder settled down just enough to reveal exactly what had been hidden underneath.

It was an ebony-coloured, ferocious dragon which would have been slightly taller than the around 50 meter high ceiling, even while standing on all fours. However, it had neither the room to spread its wings fully, nor enough space to avoid having to crouch down - nonetheless, it appeared imposing enough. Similar to a Demi Spirit, it had red and purplish lines running across its body, making it seem as if a parasite had grown inside of it, slowly taking over its body. In its chest area, right above where its heart should be, remnants of a green growth sprouted forth, one which hadn't developed into a feminine Demi Spirit. Instead, it looked as if it slowly got absorbed into the body of the dragon, transforming whatever it had originally been intended to become into nutrients as well as raw power.

The eyes of the ebony dragon were a dark crimson, but the small, almost imperceptible blood vessels within had turned a poisonous green. There was no clarity nor spirit within its gaze, only a single-minded focus on massacring all that entered its sight - it was exactly like one of the dungeon's monsters in that regard. From the power of its blow that had shattered the adamantite wall, as well as the speed at which the debris had rocketed away, the three veterans could pinpoint it to be comparable to the strongest of veteran Level 7 adventurers.

And yet, momentarily, it wasn't their main focus, despite the danger that it posed. From deep within the hallway that they had come from, a bloodthirst so excessively strong that it felt tangible burst forth for a second, giving them all goosebumps. But as quickly as it had welled up, it also subsided again.

'Oh Ais… I'm so proud of you. When Isaac told us that there was going to be a black dragon, you assured us all that you would be fine. I'm overjoyed to see that you didn't go haywire this time.'

After internally praising her little girl with a soft smile, Riveria emptied her mind of any and all distracting thoughts, zeroing in on solely the hulking opponent that had just finished examining the place that it had wandered into..

Without needing to communicate any further, the three Top Executives instantly adapted a suitable strategy, their practised teamwork a result of their many years of camaraderie.

"Silent herald of erosion. Thunderous cyclone of destruction."

Rattling off the long chant to her strongest offensive Magic as rapidly as she possibly could, Riveria quietly slipped out of the dragon's field of view, circling around it to its left side. As soon as a good chance presented itself, she would let it have a taste of it.

At the same time, Gareth bellowed loudly and launched himself directly at the enemy, his shield protecting his front and his axe above but slightly behind his head, ready to strike this monster with full force the moment he arrived. Finn had simultaneously made his way to the dragon's right, chanting his own Magic as well.

"Magic spear, penetrate my forehead offering blood. Hell Finegas!"

Right as he finished and a familiar rush of incredible power overcame him, raising all of his stats besides Magic while dulling his mind as well as inciting a desire for slaughter deep within his heart, Gareth's shield collided with the claw of the enemy's right foreleg, which it had swung in an effort to swat away the miniscule, flea-like fleshbag in front of it.

Very shortly before he had had to bear with the blow, the experienced Dwarf had let his axe bear down upon the approaching limb, reducing its speed as well as crushing a huge number of scales, leaving a slight gash plus a big contusion behind.

To deal with the remnant force of the dragon's blow, Gareth took three steps backward, leaving behind indentations in the adamantite ground that were about five centimeters deep. Narrowing his eyes, he repositioned his shield just in time to defend against the black tail that was swishing at him with incredible speed. Right after its initial attack had been interfered with, the monster had instantly launched its second one!

This time, Gareth was sent stumbling tens of meters away before he could finally catch himself again. However, despite how grim this collision had made the situation look, there was no hint of worry on his face.

From slightly outside the enormous dragon's field of vision, a spear stabbed towards its right eye. When it finally noticed the attempt at partially ruining its eyesight, even the claw that it hastily raised was too slow to successfully defend in time, so it could only close all two layers of its eyelids, leaving nothing but a deceptively thin layer of scales as well as a seemingly flimsy membrane between the sharp point of the spear and its right eyeball.

Fractions of a second later, its somewhat pained, but mostly annoyed roar shook the entirety of the massive hall, but its assailant had already safely distanced himself from it, leaving only two pierced lids as well as an almost ruined eye in his wake. After the attack had been met with the eyelids' resistance, it hadn't had enough force left over to completely destroy its target, but the result still wasn't bad.

Concerning amounts of slightly reddish, gel-like fluid dripped down the monster's cheek, mixed with traces of bilious green blood, making it appear almost as if it was crying. From how blurred its pupil had become, it was clear to see that it had at least been partially blinded in one eye.

"Vas Windheim!"

Before her enemy could even fully grasp the situation that it was in, Riveria's whispered chant concluded, swiftly trapping it in a vortex of excessively sharp blades of wind, which closed in on it almost instantly.

This time, the dragon's roars contained far more agony than any time prior to this and shook virtually the entirety of Knossos. Almost as if its scales had been entirely disregarded, the blades of wind had deeply cut into its body thousands of times, leaving it in an extremely sorry state. However, as if a switch had been flipped, the red and purplish lines that covered it began to glow, causing all of its wounds, including its damaged eye, to begin healing rapidly.

"Quick! We can't let it recover fully!!"

Shouting hurriedly, Finn once again shot towards their opponent, stabbing his spear straight into the same eye as earlier, just before it could regain all of its eyesight, successfully blinding it this time. Gareth also rushed forward, using the momentum of his charge to bash his shield straight into the dragon's right foreleg, cracking the bones within a little. Riveria didn't lag behind either, as she had already begun casting her next Vas Windheim right after the previous one had started its momentary assault.

Once more, a vortex of wind blades tore the beast apart, but it couldn't injure it seriously enough to endanger its life… leading to it healing itself incredibly quickly yet again. This time, however, it waited for both Finn and Gareth to get close to it in an attempt to continue their offensive, before using its tail to slap them aside with a speed that was hard to defend against.

Gareth didn't get dealt too bad of a hand, as he only grunted unhappily and furrowed his eyebrows, superficially unharmed, but Finn barely managed to defend against the blow with the shaft of his spear, which was then pushed directly into his chest, leaving him breathless and coughing up a few mouthfuls of blood.

A similar exchange continued for a couple of minutes, but it always resulted in the same outcome. The monster's regeneration would take care of its wounds, and the Top Executives would be dealt minor injuries. If there was a saving grace, then it was that their almost ceaseless, rapid assault didn't allow it to use any breath attacks.

'How can this even be considered a dragon!? It seems more like a cockroach to me!'

Cursing internally, Finn wiped away some more blood from the corners of his mouth, then he read his foe's movements once more, readying himself to strike its weak points like he had done tens of times prior to this. What kind of veteran adventurer hadn't had many encounters with opponents that didn't keel over immediately?

-----

Caught somewhere between a smug sense of perceived victory and annoyance at how long this fight would have to drag on to see the results that he wanted, Dionysus frowned. It was clear as day that Braver, Elgarm and Nine Hell couldn't vanquish his Nidhogg - even now, they could merely eke out a state of strained equilibrium. However, this wasn't what he wanted to see.

The rest of the intruders very likely had already sent someone to deliver the news back to other forces in Orario, which meant that reinforcements could come here within the next half an hour or so. Although only the Freya Familia's King could possibly be of any help, if that man actually arrived here, then Nidhogg could very well be overwhelmed. In fact, it might just die against him even in a one-on-one battle - at least in its current, minimally completed state.

'I can't allow this stalemate to continue on! Time to pull out all of the stops…'

Turning to face Filvis, who had positioned herself next to a particular section of this secret room's wall, ready to open up a prepared escape route at his notice, Dionysus took a deep breath.

"My child, there is a change of plans. Get out there and ambush Nine Hell. Without her support, the other two will stand no chance against my Nidhogg. If you can do so, then kill her, but if that doesn't work, then stall her for as long as possible and let her have no opportunity to give the others a helping hand."

Nodding firmly, the raven-haired Elf bowed respectfully, then she rushed towards the entrance which she had used to make her way into this place mere tens of minutes earlier. Seconds later, a black, almost unnoticeable shadow appeared on the mirror that Dionysus was fully focusing on.

He didn't have to wait for long for his last remaining child to make her move. With a speed that surpassed even that of the currently Magic-buffed Finn, she darted straight at Riveria, who barely managed to deflect her dagger's stab with her staff. In the process, however, the physically frailer High Elf was flung away and her whispered chant got interrupted.

Smirking derisively at Riveria's furrowed brows, Dionysus clenched his fists in anticipation. He had almost turned insane previously when his meticulous plans had constantly been torn apart, but now he finally felt as if some control had returned to his hands.

'Yes, I can do this. It can still work out. Perhaps not as well as originally intended, but I won't need to pay the ultimate price…'

As he was relievedly observing, Filvis pressured Riveria more fiercely, forcing the Loki Familia's mother hen to solely worry about her own safety, robbing her of all chances to support her comrades and keep Nidhogg in a perpetually injured, barely recovering state.

Noticing immediately that things weren't going decently well any longer, Gareth once again attracted the ebony dragon's attention by causing it to stumble. He had used his only Magic, Earth Raid, to destroy parts of the adamantite ground right below where it was standing.

Momentarily comparatively out of harm's way, Finn's expression turned more grave than it had ever been on this day and he got into a spear throwing pose before closing his eyes, chanting something that Dionysus couldn't make out from the other side of the magical 'screen'.

"Hehe, what a futile, last-ditch effort. You won't be able to ki--- HUH?!"

Right as he was complacently denouncing the Lower World's strongest Pallum, Finn's words had come to a close with the loudly shouted phrase "Tir na Nog!". Having imbued all of his power within this toss, he let go of his spear at precisely the perfect moment. It flew faster than any speed that Dionysus' eyes could catch up with, practically instantly piercing straight through Nidhogg's head, shattering its skull and obliterating its brain in the process.

With the battle having ended, Finn almost fell to his knees, breathing heavily and barely staying upright by keeping his nerves taut. Gareth briefly thought about what to do next, before rushing to reinforce Riveria, who was still struggling. All seemed to have gone well.

But Dionysus' temporary fluster had subsided. In its stead, an even more shit-eating grin had spread on his lips.

"I admit, that caught me off guard for a bit. But if that's all you have, and considering your exhausted state… Dear Braver, today, you're going to be devoured by a dragon! Enjoy your last moments while you still can, ahahaHAHAHA!!!"

Cackling in an almost demented state by the end of his short, unprompted monologue, Dionysus waited for the inevitable to come.

About ten seconds after Nidhogg had been 'killed', its brain, as well as its skull, started to rapidly regenerate. Finn noticed it instantly, because he hadn't let his guard down all this time, but Gareth, who had only just managed to come to Riveria's aid, as well as the High Elf in question, were one step too late. They couldn't possibly attack in time to keep the dragon's brain in a non-functional state - neither could Finn, because his power had been completely consumed by his previous offensive.

Seeing the unwillingness as well as the resignation that followed shortly afterwards flashing across the face of the weary Pallum who was like an arrow at the end of its flight, Dionysus' eyes almost began to tear up from joy and excitement. His breathing accelerated and beneath his mask, a faint blush had crept on his cheeks. However… the despair and fear that he was still longing for, the most beautiful parts of the madness that he wanted to lay his eyes upon so desperately… they never came.

'He has just sighed and is now whispering something to himself. Last words, perchance?'

Smirking at his, Dionysus shook his head slightly in pity, but before his mental faculties could even begin to process another thought, something flashed across the mirror, then an incredibly deafening tempest's howl assaulted his ears. Additionally, before this sound had rang out, the gigantic body of Nidhogg had entirely disappeared, leaving only a few drops of blood as well as a couple of scales littering the ground.

"... W-WHAT?!!"

His hopes shattered once more, his face turned excessively pale and his eyes widened so far that anyone would start to worry about his eyeballs popping out of their sockets. Blankly, Dionysus stared at the inconceivable scene that had shown itself to him. Only when he finally realized who was standing right at the location that Nidhogg had been at did his mind finally catch up with what had occurred.

Surrounded by a few remaining gales of black wind, the Sword Princess silently sheathed her blade. Right as she did so, the air around her returned to a calm state, the black colour fading from it entirely. Her face showed a slight but happy smile - she was clearly content with her handiwork.

'How could the Sword Princess possibly be this strong?! At best, I would have thought her an experienced Level 6 by now, and even that was giving her more credit than she seemed to be due, but this… No, I can't waste any more time! Now that it's come to this, I'll have to do it. Let my return to Heaven obliterate at least parts of the city, and some of these vermin with it!!'

Frenzied like never before, Dionysus reached underneath his coat and took out a dagger that looked just like the one that Filvis owned, then he stabbed it straight towards his heart as swiftly as possible.

Next to him, Barca shot backwards in fright, arriving at the wall and attempting to open the escape route before the blade could pierce the insane deity's skin.

CLANG!

Right when his weapon was about to impale him, Dionysus felt a strong resistance. It seemed almost as if he had hit a suit of armour. This successfully managed to deflect his dagger, causing him to lower his head to try to figure out what had happened.

A few gusts of wind that were clearly infused with mana were still visible, before tapering off as quickly as they had appeared.

"... huh? What just… happened? Who did this?!"

Even though he hadn't expected to get an answer to his queries, a voice that he felt to be a bit familiar resounded in the secret room that only he and Barca should currently have been in.

"My apologies, but I can't allow you to die just yet."

Without giving him a chance to say or do anything else, except for wondering about how someone unknown had managed to get so close to him, Dionysus unexpectedly found himself in an unfamiliar forest's glade. The last remnant rays of the sun, which had already set close to an hour earlier, barely lit up the sky, letting him know that he had somehow arrived aboveground - presumably, he was still somewhere in the Lower World, as this certainly wasn't Heaven.

"How?!"

His eyes shaking with disbelief and bewilderment, Dionysus stumbled backwards until he arrived at the edge of the clearing, his back hitting a tree. This sudden impact finally served to calm him down again, enabling him to analyze what had just happened.

'A few gusts of wind kept me from killing myself, then I heard a voice. Immediately after, everything changed and I found myself here - with no transitionary period whatsoever. But was instant teleportation always capable of achieving such a result? Usually, one would feel at least a slight sense of discomfort, or a minute burden on the body due to the spatial shift, but this… it's honestly impressive! I've never experienced anything like this before.'

With nothing better to do, Dionysus ventured to the center of the glade, which was a slightly raised hill that allowed him to inspect his surroundings. Looking at the horizon, he made a shocking discovery.

'I can't even see Orario's walls from here. Just how far away did I get teleported?'

Before he could grow more used to his current situation than he already was, a polite cough interrupted his thoughts. Whirling around with his guard up, his dagger raised and ready to strike, Dionysus looked behind himself, at a spot which was maybe four to five meters away.

Previously, nobody had been there - or at least, he hadn't noticed anybody - but now, a young man who looked to be almost in his early twenties stood there with a merciful, saintly smile decorating his face. His unkempt, brown hair was quite short, barely reaching the top of his ears, while his blue-green eyes, akin to extraordinary turquoises, shimmered at him with merciful warmth.

His clothing was extremely simple, yet elegant: A black jacket with a minimalistic white shirt worn underneath, a reddish-brown leather belt sporting a silver buckle, a pair of shoes made from the same leather, as well as black pants. While these garments had definitely been made from extraordinarily high-quality materials and indubitably had been crafted by the best of the best, their restrained design served to keep the wearer from sticking out in a crowd. However, this man's divinely handsome looks that could easily rival those of the gods, paired with his natural charisma as well as the approachable, holy aura that he exuded, only served to separate him from the common folk. There was no doubt that this person would find himself heartily welcomed wherever he went.

And yet, Dionysus' gaze had turned frosty. After a short moment of being taken aback and almost having been swayed into negligence by the air around the young man, he had snapped out of it. The cause of this hadn't just been his gut feeling warning him of the incredible danger that the seemingly innocent, kind-hearted smile on this person's lips represented, but also the realization… that he knew exactly who this guy was.