Danmachi Vol 10 pt2

 CHAPTER 7

THE KING OF ATROCITY

Luminescent  moss clinging to the ceiling twinkled like stars dotting the  night sky.

The moist air smelled of a primeval forest after a heavy rainfall. Grasses and

wildflowers grew along the floor. In one corner, beads of moisture dripped from the roots of a massive tree into one of the puddles here and there, creating soft plips and tiny ripples.

The tree bark covering  the passage  walls marked  the Dungeon’s  Colossal

Tree Labyrinth.

A dragon girl stood alone.

Her silver-blue hair glowed in the light. Her amber eyes, streaked with tears, gazed high overhead, toward the ceiling hidden by wood and illuminating moss.

The girl knew the real stars.

She had gazed upon the night sky of the world above with a boy,  standing inside a small garden.

It was beautiful. So much that she had felt her chest tighten.

She had held onto the boy, enjoying his awkward smile, and always watched him.

All the trees and plant life illuminated by the specks of blue light  couldn’t hold a candle to the constellations in her memory. This dreamlike  realm had stolen the hearts and minds of countless adventurers. However—it  looked dull and subdued to the girl who had seen starlight with her own eyes.

After all, she had never stopped yearning for the real thing.

For the view on the surface.

For the people who had taken her in as one of their own, as family.

For the smile of a certain boy, who was always startled and flustered at her behavior before eventually indulging her.

The girl, Wiene, thought about what lay far, far overhead, beyond the many floors that separated the Colossal Tree Labyrinth from the surface, and clasped

her hands together by her chest. “Bell…”

Her lips quivered as they formed his name.

A sharp pain ran through her chest, so intense that her amber eyes  started glistening with a fresh wave of tears.

“Wiene, we’re leaving.”

Wiene heard the harpy girl’s voice behind her but didn’t acknowledge it right away. She gave a small nod after a few moments passed.

Tearing her gaze away from the ceiling, Wiene turned, her silver-blue  hair fluttering.

She stepped forward to join her comrades, and together they left the  room where they had been waiting.

The twenty-fourth floor of the Dungeon.

Wiene’s group advanced through the passageways.

The young vouivre girl, still unable to fight, walked in the center of a small squad of Xenos.

The group consisted of an arachne, a harpy, a formoire, a hippogriff, a  war shadow, and the vouivre herself, Wiene. A party of six monsters.

The  other  Xenos  had  split  off  into  groups  ranging  from  five  to  seven members for the journey to their destination, much like adventurers would do on an expedition.

Even  without  armor,  a  group  of  unrelated  monsters  from  various  floors traveling through the Dungeon in a group would stick out like a sore thumb. In fact, the sight of an arachne and a harpy clad in robes and walking in single file would have the same effect as a circus parade through the center of town.

There  were  currently  more  than  forty-four  Xenos.  If  all  of  them  moved together as a group, adventurers would surely spot them, and rumors  would spread like wildfire. One of them being discovered was bad enough,  but if a large group of armed monsters traveling together became public  knowledge, it would cause many problems. Not only would the sighting spread fear and panic among adventurers, it would also invite unwanted attention.

Hence why they always split up into smaller groups when proceeding en masse to avoid being noticed by passing adventurers. This was especially true in the middle levels, which were relatively cramped compared to the vast passages found in the deep levels.

Xenos leaders like the lizardman, Lido, and the siren, Rei, were part of the

first two groups to set out. It was their job to secure a route for the comparatively weaker Xenos to follow by making sure no adventurers were in their path. They also eliminated  other monsters and dealt with Irregulars  along the way. Their role was the most dangerous  in that they were often  drawn into combat  and forced to adjust to ever-changing circumstances.

Wiene was assigned a safe position toward the back.

Her protectors included a formoire from the deep levels along with seasoned veterans from the Xenos’s ranks.

Wiene  wore a long black robe with a hood hiding the glimmering  garnet embedded in her forehead. Unable to distance herself from thoughts of Bell and the others, she walked with her head down and constantly on the verge of tears.

“Wiene, you have cried enough.” “S-sorry, Ranieh…”

The arachne at the head of the party scolded her harshly, causing Wiene  to flinch and shrink a little.

Her name was Ranieh.

She possessed the shapely upper body of a human female but walked with the many legs of a spider—an arachne Xenos. Their group had been placed  in her care. Ranieh’s  upper body was well protected  by adventurer’s  armor,  and her helmet’s visor hid most of her face.

“This is no Hidden Village. Our wild brethren could attack at any time.  A

mind distracted by thoughts of humans will get you killed.”

Ranieh’s sharp rebuke was laced with irritation, and her flowing white  hair shifted as she glared at Wiene from behind her visor. Her humanoid red eyes— arachnes typically had compound eyes—were proud and willful.

Her skin was white as the frozen tundra, the same color as her hair. A human would assume from her pallor that she was deathly ill. However, that did nothing to detract from her stunning beauty.

If  an  adventurer  caught  a  glimpse  of  her,  her  arachnid  legs  would

immediately inspire fear and dread, only for her alluring feminine figure to draw their attention. She possessed beauty that would make goddesses jealous.

Despite that, Ranieh was extremely wary of both people and monsters. In fact, she refused to remove her helmet in the presence of anyone other than fellow Xenos, hiding her loveliness from view.

“Wiene, are you still sad?” “…Yes.”

“The surface dwellers…Bell and his friends. You’ll see them again, I know

it.”

The harpy named Fia, dressed in a robe similar to the vouivre girl’s, noticed

that Wiene was struggling to cope with Ranieh’s reprimand and came to  walk beside  her  to  reassure  her.  Fia  seemed  about  the  same  age  as  their  new companion,  with deep-red hair flowing past her shoulders and a  smile on her face.

The vouivre girl used her arm to wipe away her drying tears as well as  the fresh ones building up in her eyes, then managed to give the slightest of nods… when a giant, fur-covered finger reached down and gently wiped the last of the tears from her cheek.

“Uooh…”

“…Thank you, Foh.”

Wiene’s smile grew as she looked up at the hulking formoire named  Foh. Despite his massive and intimidating frame, Foh had a kind heart.

Unable to use language like Wiene and the others, he communicated through various howls and grunts. However, his expressive body language and tone were more than enough to convey his warm personality. In battle, that body became a shield thanks to the gigantic breastplate across his chest, transforming him into a living wall. Foh would then use his large mace to either crush enemies or launch them high into the air to protect his comrades.

Although it was difficult to interpret his thoughts just by looking at his round pitch-black eyes, he was always watching over the group.

As did the others.

The harpy Fia was much more interested in the surface and its  inhabitants than anyone else. Bubbling with curiosity, she always had a question to ask.

Cliff the hippogriff preferred to be airborne, and the sound of his  flapping wings was always close by. The lighthearted and cheerful monster also enjoyed teasing those around him.

The war shadow Orde, though unable to produce any sounds, was always the

first into combat and willing to do anything to support the group.

Ranieh might have been scary, but only out of concern for the safety of those like her.

Everyone was kind.

They welcomed Wiene with open arms from the moment they met. Very little time had passed, and yet she was treated like a longtime friend and ally.

Wiene belonged here. It was the one place she could be among those like her, ones who accepted her.

But still…

Even though Wiene understood all that, she couldn’t expunge that twinge of loneliness from her heart no matter how hard she tried.

All because of those people who had found her when she was crying alone, held her, and smiled together with her.

The vouivre girl still longed for their warmth.

It didn’t matter that they were people, unlike her.

“…Wiene, forget them. They’ll never bring you anything but pain.”

The arachne Ranieh appeared to take issue with Wiene’s conversation  and issued an irritated, contemptuous warning.

Unlike Lido and Rei, Ranieh was part of the group of Xenos that detested the people who lived on the surface.

The senior gargoyle, Gros, was the leader of this faction. While those  who shared their beliefs were in the minority, they still made up about one third of the Xenos, united by their mutual hostility toward the surface races.

Wiene had no idea of what had happened to them in the past. But it made her sad.

“Ranieh, why do you hate Bell and his friends so much…?” “……”

“Bell, Haruhime,  and the goddess are all very nice. They gave me lots  of hugs!”

“That’s only because they felt like it at the time…” “That’s not true!”

Ranieh’s refusal to acknowledge  the bond that Wiene had shared upset  the vouivre girl, bringing tears to her angry eyes again.

The arachne’s face contorted bitterly as she watched her new companion. Ranieh had been this way since they met. She had better command of  the

language spoken by people than most Xenos, but her feelings concerning the

surface dwellers were far from longing or admiration.

Her words were always infused with anger, hatred, or perhaps something bordering on grief.

“Such ignorance.” “Huh?”

“You know nothing of the people. Nothing of their cruelty, their cunning.” Other members of the group remained silent as Wiene glared at Ranieh with

burning intensity. The arachne’s response was short.

One day, they’ll come for you, too.

Just as those words began to leave her mouth, something happened. Wiene’s curved, tapered ears picked up a desperate scream in the distance. “!!”

Wiene’s shoulders gave a huge twitch.

Ranieh and the other Xenos turned toward the voivre girl, confused as to why she’d suddenly stopped walking.

“Wiene?”

“Hey, what’s the matter?” “A-a voice……”

The arachne watched with concern as Wiene’s ears flicked back and forth. Dragons were known as the strongest of all monsters for a reason, as  their

potential strength and abilities were much greater than other species’. Vouivres, a type of dragon, had particularly acute senses, such as hearing.

The very faint sound was coming from somewhere far away on this floor—a scream inaudible to the other Xenos, though the dragon girl’s ears could pick it up.

“She’s crying…‘Save me’…” Wiene knew right away.

The scream didn’t belong to an adventurer or monster but to a Xenos  like themselves. A monster capable of thoughts and feelings, one of their own kind.

At the same time, the shrieking was so desperate that Wiene almost felt like she was the one being torn apart.

Wiene hadn’t been alive very long, but this was her first time hearing such an agonized scream.

Shuddering, she wrapped her thin, branch-like arms around her body. “‘Save me’…Is it one of our comrades calling for help?!”

“Y-yes…She’s hurt, really bad…We have to save her!”

A wide-eyed Fia inquired about what she had heard, and Wiene nodded.

It took all the courage the vouivre girl had in her small frame to reply as she tightly hugged her body. Memories flooded her mind, reminding her of how that boy had responded to her cries, as she looked around at her companions again and again.

“What should we do, Ranieh?” “……”

The harpy, hippogriff, war shadow, and formoire all looked to the arachne. Judging by Wiene’s words, the screaming didn’t belong to a member of their

group. Chances were that it was a Xenos they had never met before.

Ranieh paused for a moment with all her companions’ eyes focused on her. Taking one last look at the tears forming in Wiene’s eyes, she broke the silence.

“…We will investigate. Wiene, lead the way.”

The arachne, in charge of the group, could tell from the dragon girl’s  eyes that something was seriously wrong.

In the vast Dungeon, ignoring a comrade desperately calling for help while in mortal danger was something that the Xenos could not do.

As  Ranieh  donned  her  metal  helm,  the  atmosphere  became  tense.  The formoire’s fur stood on end, the war shadow audibly tensed, while the hippogriff flapped its wings vigorously.

As they postponed their plans to rendezvous with Lido in the deep levels, the arachne led the party in a different direction.

“Orde, go.” “         .”

The war shadow took off quickly at Ranieh’s  order. The rest of the  party followed him a few moments later.

The war shadow wore full-plate body armor.

Since his human-shaped shadow form was hidden from head to toe beneath the  armor,  it  was  impossible  for  adventurers  to  know  there  was  a  monster beneath it at first glance. Therefore, he took the point position to make sure their path was clear of adventurers and other dangers before the party advanced.

Orde raced through the dark hallways, seeming to the unwary observer like no  more  than  a  solo  adventurer  on  the  prowl  in  clinking  heavy  armor.  He checked around corners and scouted intersections before informing them it was safe and guiding the group to a clear path. Whenever a monster barred their way, he pulled back his gauntlets to reveal five sharp fingers—a war shadow’s deadly armament—and easily sliced through enemies on his own.

“—Gros, we may have found another like us. Going to take a look.”

Ranieh held a red crystal and spoke into it while rushing ahead on four legs. The crystal glowed for a moment before producing a response. “What?—Wait, Ranieh. Do nothing until we arrive.”

“No, I must insist.”

Ranieh firmly vetoed the reply from the crystal.

“Listen, Ranieh. Something isn’t right. It could be a trap—.”

“Even so, it cannot wait, Gros.”

She interrupted the escalating plea and tightened her grasp on the crystal. “Now that I’ve heard the cry, nothing can stop me.”

The group was close enough that the others could hear it as well.

It was a sharp cry, like metal scraping against metal, that made them want to cover their ears. The sound grew louder with each step and agitated them. Their feet thudded a little harder, and their wings flapped a little stronger as the Xenos accelerated.

Ranieh clenched her fangs together to endure the tormented wails  piercing her ears.

“If humans are behind this, all the more reason we cannot ignore it.”

Her face devoid of emotion beneath her visor, she ended the conversation.

The arachne ignored the voice attempting to stop her and shoved the crystal back into a pouch beneath her armor.

“There…!”

“Orde, the room up ahead!”

Wiene  had  guided  the  party  this  far,  but  her  directions  were  no  longer necessary. Ranieh shouted orders at the top of her lungs.

She was looking at a tall gap in the bark-covered Dungeon wall. It led to a room that branched off from the main path. Orde, in his full-plate armor, charged through the opening.

As soon as Ranieh, Wiene, and the rest of the party made it inside a moment later—a horrifying scene greeted their eyes.

“Wha—?”

The ground was flecked with feathers and red droplets.

Luminescent moss lit the center of the room. A single, lone tree stood there with blood pooling at its roots.

And chained to its thick trunk was a thin body.

It was as though a shrike had caught and impaled her.

Her body was covered in wounds from head to toe, and she had lost so much blood that her garments appeared glistening red—evidence of the torture  she’d been subjected to. Her winged arms, spread wide, and bloodstained lower body formed the shape of a cross as her head hung limply.

It was a lone siren, both her wings nailed in place with steel stakes.

“Eep…?!”

Wiene had no words for the horrid scene. Only a gasp of shock escaped her lips.

The crucifixion of a monster.

A grotesque sight that was unthinkable in the Dungeon.

A swarm of giant black insects buzzed in the air, circling around the top of

the tree like vultures. More than likely, the deadly hornets were drawn here just like Wiene and the Xenos. Their unfeeling eyes were trained on the dying siren as they darted about, moments away from digging their pincerlike jaws into her flesh.

“…!! Fia, Cliff!” Ranieh shouted an instant later.

The  harpy  flung  the robe  from  her shoulders  before  their  leader  finished calling her name and leaped with the mightily howling hippogriff. The swarm of giant  insects  immediately  moved  to  intercept,  but  they  were  no  match  for feathery projectiles and a razor-sharp beak. Soon, the skies were clear.

Then they rushed  to the siren, shattering  the chains  and stakes  with  their talons.

Suddenly free, the siren’s limp body toppled forward as the formoire dashed to her side with huge strides and caught her.

“What happened?! Answer me!”

Ranieh rushed to the siren lying in Foh’s massive arms. Wiene and the  rest were close behind.

The siren’s feathers were naturally brown. Even covered in blood, she had a shapely form and a beautiful countenance. Most important, the moment they saw other monsters attack her, they knew she was one of their brethren.

The girl was a different race of siren from Rei’s, and she must have lost the ability to speak. Glassy-eyed, she barely moved her lips as she tried to tell them something.

Damn…!

It  was  impossible  for  monsters  to  do  something  like  this.  It  was  clearly

people.

Ranieh’s rage at what one of her kind had been subjected to reached a boiling point. But one memory still lingered in the back of her mind, a  voice  she had heard on the way here cautioning her this could be a trap.

The arachne looked up, determined to warn her allies, when—

“—Run…away.”

Eyes open, the blood-soaked siren pleaded in a wavering voice. And then—

“Wow, so monsters really can cry, huh?”

A man’s thin, wispy laughter reached them.

“You guys care for one another way more than us adventurers do.”

Discarding their tree-bark-patterned camouflage, some twenty adventurers

revealed themselves, forming a ring around them.

Tossing aside the fragrant pouches that masked their scent, the  adventurers surrounded the tree, trapping Wiene and her companions.

The Xenos looked toward the room’s only exit and found a man in goggles tapping the shaft of a red spear against his shoulder and blocking their escape.

“Agh, seriously, that was too easy.”

The man’s lips curled like a crescent moon. “Adventurers…!”

All questions  had been answered—Ranieh  snarled  at the people  who  had ambushed them.

More accurately, at the band of hunters.

It was a mix of humans, animal people, dwarves, and Amazons. All of them wore the same cruel smile as the apparent, goggled leader while tightening their grips on an assortment of weapons. Several blades and spear points dripped with fresh blood, almost certainly having torn into the siren’s body over and over.

“You’re the ones who…!”

“Do you even have to ask, spider lady?” Their tortured companion had been bait.

The adventurers had chained her to a tree and nailed her down to prevent her from escaping, then tormented her to make her scream.

The hunters had used the siren’s exceptionally loud voice to cut through the din of the Dungeon and lure in the Xenos.

Ensuring  that Wiene,  whose sensitive  ears could hear the screams,  would come.

Behind the smoky-quartz lenses, Dix seemed amused by the stunned girl.

“We set up here to make sure you didn’t get into the deep levels but…damn, I

didn’t think it’d work this well!”

With five hunters at his side, their backs to the room’s only exit, Dix had sealed the Xenos’s escape route.

The man’s ominous laughter echoed in the deserted corner of the Dungeon. “!!”

It happened in an instant.

While most of the group was still trying to grasp the situation, the ever-silent

Orde shattered the silence and rushed at Dix head-on.

He tore through the air with speed worthy of a mid-level, second-tier adventurer. His heavy jet-black armor was a blur as the seething war shadow channeled his rage into the tips of his claws and descended on his target like a

vengeful spirit.

However, the man wearing goggles didn’t even bother raising his spear  in defense. Just as Orde’s outstretched arm was about to strike him right between the eyes…

“             !!”

A greatsword appeared from behind Dix’s shadow and cut Orde in half. “Eh?”

Another sound slipped from Wiene’s lips.

As if in slow motion, she watched the war shadow’s body split in two  and collapse to the floor.

The massive blade had cleaved through the plate armor—Orde’s  torso  fell away from his lower body and rolled to a stop.

“Gran, you idiot. What if we could have sold the monster inside?” “M-my bad, Dix…”

Orde had been slain by a tall, muscular man.

A black tattoo covered most of the bald hunter’s face. It was  unmistakably that of a criminal.

Despite his towering frame, Gran had swiftly jumped out from behind  his leader and eliminated the threat with one flash of his greatsword. But even with his jaw-dropping strength and speed, one angry quip from Dix  was enough to make him cower in fear.

“O-Orde…?” whispered Wiene in disbelief as she drifted listlessly toward the dying war shadow.

As Orde lay facedown,  his armor clattered  as he extended  a shaking  arm toward the dragon girl—Stomp!

Dix drove his foot straight through the helmet, crushing Orde’s head.

A pool of blood grew from beneath his boot, the dark liquid seeping out  in every direction.

A moment of silence passed among the Xenos. But the man didn’t care. Dix

took a few steps forward without even glancing at the fallen monster.

“Less than I expected…Guess there’s no need to use that, then.” The man in goggles mumbled, “What a letdown,” in disappointment. However…

The corners of his lips peeled back as his gaze fell on Wiene once again, frozen in place.

“All right—the hunt’s on.”

The hunters howled their approval of their leader’s order. “Damn you all!!”

As Ranieh yelled, the Xenos let loose their howls.

In the blink of an eye, the grinning hunters had collided with Ranieh and the others in battle.

“Ah…ahh…!”

Wiene couldn’t move.

The mixture of ferocious howls, clashing blades, and unbridled desire to kill was too much for her. Her comrades, who had been so kind and warm  to her, suddenly became savage beasts that only heeded their instincts.  They brought talons, claws, and fangs down upon their enemies without hesitation.

Blood spurted through the air, followed by shrieks of pain.

The arachne ensnared several hunters with her spider webbing, the  harpy’s feathery missiles ricocheted off armor, and the hippogriff dived at  the hunters over and over from high above.

Any human or animal person who came too close was instantly caught up in the onslaught.

“?!”

“Ha-haa—!!”

However, the hunters weren’t fazed.

One adventurer would seem to fall as another leaped over him from behind; the shielded body blow that followed would become a swipe at the legs to knock a monster to the ground before it knew what had happened. They struck out with their blades, using even their own allies as bait, and worst of all was the light of magic bringing supernatural healing and arrows of flame.

The hunters were strong. Moreover, they had a solid strategy.

None  of them  was  foolish  enough  to single-handedly  take  on any  of  the Xenos,   who   were   much   stronger   than   average   monsters.   Instead,   they overwhelmed  weak points with sheer numbers,  attacking  in quick  succession like a vicious pack of wolves. It might have been humanity’s most rudimentary strategy for hunting monsters, but it was efficient and effective. What’s more, the hunters forced Ranieh and her allies out of formation by  targeting the vouivre girl.

The four Xenos fought valiantly to protect Wiene, who was unable to join the

battle. However, they drifted farther and farther apart as time dragged on. “Agh!”

One Amazon snuck past her badly injured allies and managed to get in range, slamming the harpy girl to the ground with a high roundhouse kick. At the same time, a magic spell hit home and sent the hippogriff hurtling to the floor. As soon

as he  reached  the  ground,  several  spears  mercilessly  skewered  him  at  once. Ranieh was so focused on protecting Wiene from volleys of arrows and thrown hand axes that she didn’t see Gran’s greatsword in time, her lapse luckily only costing her her helmet.

With such a wide array of weapons and magic at their disposal, it appeared the hunters would overwhelm the Xenos in a matter of moments.

“ORRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!” “Wha—GEHHH!”

Suddenly, the formoire unleashed an earsplitting roar and swung his mace in a sweeping arc that sent several hunters flying.

Foh stood alone,  his two-meder-tall  frame  staying  upright  no matter  how many hunters tried to cut him down. Their clever teamwork and strategy weren’t enough. Unlike typical monsters, Foh could read their movements,  giving him the chance to protect himself from the waves of arrows and magic raining down on him with minimal injuries. The formoire knocked the  hunters away, one by one.

A dwarf attempted to block the incoming mace with a shield but wound up facedown on the floor from the sheer impact.

“It’s no good, Dix!! This thing’s insanely powerful!”

One of the hunters raised a desperate cry. Even with five ganging up on the formoire, they couldn’t suppress him.

“Oh, come on. It’s just one beast.”

Dix  watched  the  battle  from  his  spot  at  the  entrance,  responding  with exasperation. He lifted the twisted spearhead as he hoisted his red weapon.

The man in goggles, nothing more than a spectator up to this point, began to move.

“ORHOHH!!”

The formoire Foh noticed the man casually advancing.

Seeing the badly injured hunters take several steps back, he narrowed his eyes at the newcomer. Shoulder muscles bulging, the Xenos took aim at the man’s head and swept the mace to the side with all the strength he could muster.

It traced a straight horizontal line.

The air howled from the powerful force.

The attack could instantly turn him into a mangled lump of meat, and Dix—

smoothly deflected it with the shaft of his spear. “        .”

Sparks flew as the loud clash of weapons rang out.

air.

A single spear turned aside the massive mace, delivering the blow to empty

Though the formoire’s arms were three times larger than Dix’s, the hunter

successfully neutralized the attack.

Skill and technique.  It was a demonstration  of the strength and ability  the ruthless hunter had cultivated.

In the moment before the next attack, the man’s evil sneer reflected in  the formoire’s black eyes.

Dix used his momentum to slip past his opponent and position himself in a blind spot.

“One time I got busted up pretty bad capturing a big one.”

Still at the end of his swing, Foh’s back was completely exposed.

Dix’s eyes locked  onto his solid, muscular  target,  and he thrust his  spear straight forward.

“You ain’t what I need.”

Shing! A sharp, metallic sound echoed through the room.

The rubellite spearhead pierced the heavy breastplate before plunging into the formoire’s thick torso.

Foh was completely run through, and blood spurted from his mouth. “Foh?!”

Ranieh screamed, still fighting on her own farther away. Wiene could only stand and watch.

“Gurh, oorh……!”

The mace slipped from his weakened grasp.

Looking down at the sinister spearhead  protruding  from the middle of  his chest, the formoire took hold of it with trembling fingers.

As he tried to pull it out—Dix laughed cruelly behind him. “Die.”

He yanked upward with all his might, and the spearhead sliced through the

rest of his torso.

The formoire, chest split apart from the sternum, dropped to his knees before collapsing to the ground.

“         .”

Just before hitting the floor, Foh looked slightly to the side, his lifeless gaze meeting Wiene’s eyes.

Blood pouring from his body, he still managed to reach out slightly with his right hand—the same large, furry hand that had once dried her tears. The world

lost all color for the dragon girl. “…Foh?”

There was no answer to her faint call.

Wiene could hear the arachne fighting against more hunters as tears  began blurring her vision.

“Orde, Cliff, Fia……?”

The cloven war shadow lay in a pool of his own blood, several spear shafts protruded from the deceased hippogriff’s body, and the limp harpy lay facedown on the floor, possibly dead as well.

The siren had been laid to rest on the floor, the light already gone from her eyes.

Wiene called out her friends’ names, her spirit breaking. “N-no……No!”

Tears spilled from her amber eyes, streaking her light-blue cheeks.

Her building emotions burst free, tearing through her as she screamed. “NOOO!!”

Yelling at the top of her lungs, she rushed to the slain formoire’s side.

She kneeled next to him, paying no attention to the blood before embracing his large right hand against her chest. Never again would it wipe away her tears.

She didn’t know how to stop the gushing from her eyes and simply kneeled there, wailing.

“No, no, noo…!!”

With gasping sobs, she dampened the formoire’s corpse with tears.

This can’t be happening.

This has to be a dream. Someone, please wake me up!

Wiene  pleaded  as emotion  rent  her heart  in two. But  the silent  Dungeon didn’t grant her wish, only showed her the cold reality of the  corpses in her midst.

She clung to the formoire, her sobs showing no signs of stopping. Then.

A dark shadow fell over Wiene. “Don’t fret, monster.”

“    .”

Dix looked down at the sobbing dragon girl and grinned.

He laughed, as if nothing could give him more pleasure than the pain in her eyes.

“You’re not gonna be left out.” Wiene’s tearful eyes opened wide.

Her hood had started to slip off. He caught a glimpse of the beautiful jewel glinting underneath and swung his red spear with one hand.

Her vision flashed red. Jarring pain coursed through her entire body. Wiene lost consciousness soon after.

“Gah, raaawh…!”

Both arms and all spider legs broken, Ranieh fought to the last but reached her limit.

A deep silence fell over the room. It was so quiet, the battle that had  just transpired seemed like a distant dream. However, the badly gouged floor  and walls told the story of the fierce struggle that had only just ended. Apart from the hunters, the room was eerily still.

Ranieh was dragged up to where Dix stood near the harpy girl. “Just had to do it the hard way—didn’cha!”

“GAH!”

“Damn, that hurts…”

The   large   man,   Gran,   kicked   her   with   the   tip   of   his   boot   before unceremoniously throwing her to the floor.

Pressing the wound he had suffered from fighting Ranieh, the man scowled at her. Many around him tended to their own injuries with a combination of magic and potions.

……!

Ranieh had lost her helmet, leaving her beautiful white hair and snowy skin in plain sight. Lying on her stomach, she scanned the surroundings.

Wiene lay motionless at her side. The dragon girl’s eyes were hidden by her hair, so it was impossible to make out her expression. Ranieh could,  however, see  several  bruises  and  lumps  all  over  her  body.  The  hunters  must  have administered a beating to ensure the defenseless girl remained unconscious. Her robe was damaged and torn in many places; even her tough scales were cracked and broken.

“When did these things get so strong…? Damn.”

“That formoire, I tell ya. These guys must’ve been the cream of the crop.”

Foh was dead. Orde and Cliff had been killed as well. All three of them were nothing more than piles of ash now.

The harpy lying on the other side of the dragon girl was still breathing. Eyes

closed and face slack, she was only unconscious like Wiene.

Only monsters with human features had been left alive. Ranieh immediately understood what that meant.

These were the hunters the Guild messenger Fels had told them about. These people  captured  monsters  like  Wiene  and  sold  them  on the  black  market  to satisfy their own greed. The arachne knew they intended to sell off the Xenos to some unknown buyer.

Ranieh gritted her fangs as she listened to an Amazon and animal person chat nearby and drowned in her own anger and feelings of powerlessness.

“Hey, all of you. Get your asses moving and carry the vouivre out of  here. There could be more of these things on the way, so keep your eyes open.”

Dix issued orders while tapping the spear against his shoulder.

The other hunters shuddered and obeyed at once. They split into two groups, one to take care of the monsters emerging from the Dungeon walls and the other set to work on the Xenos.

…!

As Wiene was lifted from her line of sight, Ranieh focused what strength she had left into the tip of her finger.

Pointing at the vouivre, she launched a single thread of silk. It was normally used to ensnare prey—a spiderweb.

However—slice!

“……?!”

“What do you think you’re doing?”

The warped, rubellite spearhead severed Ranieh’s web.

Somehow,  Dix  was  able  to spot  the  nearly  invisible  thread.  The  arachne forgot to breathe as he stared down at her.

“Spiderweb…Trying to leave a trail? That ain’t happening.”

The goggled man smirked as Ranieh scowled and trembled with rage. This man was clever, cunning, and sly.

Those very traits inspired fear in his allies. He was always calm and prudent, leaving nothing to chance. Ranieh was certain that the reason her Xenos comrades, Fels, and the others on the surface were still unable to locate the hunter base of operations was because this man was in charge.

She glared at him with enough hatred to kill. But Dix just stood there, red spear over his shoulder.

“Aww…This one’s no good. We can’t relax around it. Pocketing this one would just set your jacket on fire.”

He grabbed a fistful of Ranieh’s white hair and hauled her up so that her eyes were level with his sneer.

Dix’s smile only deepened as the arachne’s face, contorting in pain and anger, reflected off his goggles.

“This one dies here.” “……!!”

He sentenced her to death, merciless judge, jury, and executioner.

Other hunters gathered around Dix as he let go of her hair and stood up. Ranieh broke out in a cold sweat as she watched the humans  unsheathing

their weapons and drawing near. “H-hey, Dix, can we?”

“Can we what?”

Just then, three men took a step toward Dix to get his attention.

Their intentions were evident from the grotesque smiles on their faces. “We’re gonna kill it anyway, so before that…can’t we have a little fun?” “……”

“We don’t got much time, I know that…J-just look at it. It’d be a waste.” Ranieh didn’t know what they were talking about at first.

However, a wave of nausea and revulsion coursed through her the instant she understood.

“…Do as you like.”

Dix glanced between the arachne and the men before sneering.

He jerked his chin in Ranieh’s  direction,  and the three men couldn’t  have been more excited, dark smiles twisting their faces.

“H-heh-heh…Be good now, you hear?” Rough breaths, perverted grins.

Gazes that practically licked her body. She understood. These men had a monster fetish.

It was a perverse attraction that some people felt toward monsters, more

specifically  humanoid  ones  like  lamia  or  monsters  that  possessed  human characteristics.

Most people shunned and despised them for it. And they were going to violate her.

Not only had they robbed her of her friends, they intended to trample her dignity as well.

Dix and the other hunters watched with anticipation as the clearly excited men descended upon her.

Ranieh’s fists clenched beneath her broken forearms, shaking with rage. “S-stop this…! Don’t touch me!!”

“Don’t be feisty, now. You there, hold it down.”

The men ignored Ranieh’s threats and feeble thrashing and reached for her. Badly injured and outnumbered  three to one, she could do little to  defend

herself. Her arachnid lower body was pinned in their strong grasp, and  goose bumps rose on her skin. Her armor was ripped away, exposing her  substantial chest, and a single layer of adventurer’s battle cloth was her last line of defense from the hunters’ prying eyes.

The first signs of fear passed over her face as their hands crept closer  and closer.

The men noticed her expression, and their hearts skipped a beat in  sadistic excitement. Licking their lips, the three of them dove for her.

“       .”

In that moment.

Ranieh’s  expression  changed  from fear of abuse  to her body and soul  to something much more vicious.

Her fangs bared, and her pupils narrowed to slits to form the face of a truly ferocious monster.

She opened her jaws wide and spat some fluid onto the three men in the blink of an eye.

“Geh—GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” A chorus of bloodcurdling screams ensued.

“I-it burns…!!” “It’s melting!”

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! The hell are you guys doing?”

Lured  in  by  Ranieh’s   acting  skills,  the  three  men  staggered   back   in excruciating pain. The other hunters chuckled at the spectacle as the three men clutched their eyes or collapsed to the floor.

Insectoid monsters were known for their poison-based attacks.

While many of them were paralyzing agents designed to prevent prey from escaping their webs, Ranieh’s was highly acidic and powerful enough to liquefy targets.

Indeed, the onlookers recoiled from the clouds of putrid smoke rising from the three men.

“G-GODDAMN MONSTERRRRR!”

Enraged, the trio who had fallen for the arachne’s unexpected trap drew their

weapons.

Ranieh saw the metallic blades flash—and smiled. “—Ghh!”

Three swords pierced her torso all the way through.

The blade tips struck the Dungeon floor, protruding from her back. Blood gushed from the three wounds and burst from her mouth.

The liquid splattering across the floor was red, no different from a human’s. “Agh, gh, ha…ha-ha! Aha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha—AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!” Cries of pain and suffering became one ferocious howl.

Ranieh,  her  lips  dyed  red  and  slick  with  blood,  swung  her  broken  arms around with the last of her strength. Though fatally wounded, she  managed to strike the three men who stabbed her. They tumbled backward, screaming.

Dix whistled at the spectacle as the other hunters called out to one another, arming themselves once again.

“Hah! Haa…! I won’t allow any of you bastards to shame this body!!” Forcing herself upright despite her broken limbs, Ranieh breathed  heavily,

then shouted as loud as she could.

The hunters watched, taken aback by her overwhelming fortitude. “Even…if I die—I’d never let you have it!!”

Then, using her hand, Ranieh gored herself in the chest.

Dix and the hunters watched in amazement as Ranieh took hold of the “core”

buried deep inside her flesh and flashed a bloody smile. “Gro…s—I leave the rest to—.”

Those words trickling from her mouth became her last.

She  tightened  her  grip,  and  crack!  Everyone  heard  it—the  magic  stone shattered.

The bloody yet still alluringly beautiful arachne disintegrated into a large pile of ash right before their eyes. A moment later, it vanished.

“……I-it freaking offed itself.”

The hunters shrank back after witnessing the monster choose her own escape. A pile on the floor was all that remained of her. She hadn’t even left a drop

item behind.

The hunters watched with quivering eyes, her brave yet tragic death burned into their memories.

“Ho-ho…Now that’s what I call cool. That’s my kind of style.”

Dix was the only one among them unaffected by what had just transpired. Seeing their leader completely unmoved by the spectacle, the subordinate

hunters began to recover, their calm smiles returning one by one.

The man in goggles smiled at the heap of ash—the monster’s remains on the floor.

“She was on to something there. The only one allowed to do something to me is me. I take orders from no one. Turns out we were pretty  compatible,”  Dix declared self-centeredly, even though he was the offender.

The male hunters jeered, “Are you really one to talk?” inviting laughter and guffaws.

The man adjusted his goggles with one hand and turned to face them with a slight grin.

“We could use this as bait to draw out more of the ones that might be around but…no need to get greedy. We’re leaving,” Dix flatly stated as he turned on his heel.

The three men with patches of melted flesh staggered to their feet, and  the rest of the hunters followed the leader toward the exit.

“We got us a vouivre to show off. Best to get it back to base first.”

Turning their backs on the ash that was once an arachne, the hunters left the room for good.

As the group of criminals advanced through the Dungeon halls, the  harpy’s and vouivre girl’s limp bodies swayed under a hunter’s arms.

A single, round tear dropped from a closed amber eye as the dragon girl was taken farther and farther away from what was left of her comrades.

Several hours later. “……ou.”

A gargoyle landed in the middle of a room absolutely littered with ash.

The monster’s gaze traveled from end to end as a unicorn and a  silverback came up beside him.

A familiar breastplate with a gaping hole in the middle. An oversize mace. A

shredded robe and a complete set of heavy plate armor sliced in half. The monster’s stone body trembled and clattered at the sight of the scattered equipment among the ashes.

From there, the gargoyle walked to the other side of the room and reached into an uprooted flower bed.

His quivering fingers grasped a red crystal that had been thrown there while the marauders were distracted.

The gargoyle held another crystal just like it in his other hand. Gros flung his

head back and gazed toward the ceiling. “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRHHH!!”

He unleashed a monstrous roar of burning indignation that echoed throughout the labyrinth.

“       ?”

I turn around and look behind me.

All I see is the bluish Dungeon walls and ceiling. Randomly  located  light sources illuminate the intersections and labyrinthine halls that seem to stretch on forever. A party of adventurers must be close by because I can hear their restless voices coming from around a nearby corner.

I’m standing in the middle of a passageway,  staring at the ground that  so many of my fellow adventurers have walked.

I could’ve sworn I heard something……that the Dungeon just shook. “BGYAA!”

“!”

As  I  look  over  my  shoulder,  a  sudden  cry  rushing  toward  me  gets  my attention.

A goblin is charging. I spin away from the low-level monster’s swipe at my chest and raise the Hestia Knife in my right hand.

I’m in the Dungeon, third floor.

It’s been so long since I spent time on the Dungeon’s upper floors that  this area looks new to me. Back when I first joined my goddess’s familia, when I was just Level 1, I came through here all the time. This is where  my adventures started.

I’ve been on this territory for lower-class adventurers since morning.

“GIII!”

The monster swipes at me with both arms in a frenzy, but I dodge by leaning slightly left and right.

The goblin’s movements are slow and lethargic, or at least that’s how it seems to me now. I could bury my knife in its chest, breaking the magic stone inside right now if I feel like it.

But I can’t bring myself to follow through on a counterattack. “UggAHH!!”

“……!”

The goblin yells at me, frustrated that none of its attacks are connecting.

Its rage-filled eyes lock on to me—its urge to kill sends a jolt down my spine, making my hand twitch.

My fight-or-flight  instinct kicks in as a natural urge to challenge  monsters pushes me forward. The Hestia Knife traces an arc through the air.

“—GIAA!!”

The violet blade carves a chunk out of the monster’s chest. Just like I wanted, it pierces the magic stone.

The goblin freezes in place, as if it knows its core crystal has broken, before fading into ash with a soft swish.

I slew the monster with a technique that has become second nature. “…”

I look down at the gray pile at my feet. There’s a sharp tooth in the middle of it.

It’s a drop item like any other…I stare at the goblin fang for far too  long, unable to bring myself to pick it up.

I came into the Dungeon today because there’s something I need to know: Can I still kill monsters?

Can I still hunt monsters and stay as an adventurer in Orario?

…I…can do it.

I’ve slain several of them since entering the Dungeon this morning.

All by breaking their magic stones, reducing them to ash like just now.

Yes, but—I haven’t been able to look away from the truth that  complicates everything, that nothing can sugarcoat.

Not since I met Wiene.

I  know  the  monsters  called  Xenos  can  feel  emotions  and  think  for themselves.

Now, when it comes to murdering monsters…I hesitate.

Even though I can still fight…it’s nothing like how it was before.

I wonder if I’ll ever go back to how I was, prowling the Dungeon like the adventurer I used to be.

It’s impossible to get the question out of my head.

A single second is the difference between life and death when facing monsters. It’s only a matter of time before I die if this keeps up. And to a monster’s claws or fangs, no less.

“GRUAHH!” “OOO!”

Several  kobolds  and  a  dungeon  lizard  climbing  on  the  wall  appear  as  I

meander through the Dungeon halls. I grit my teeth and engage them in combat.

The small group comes at me at once, and my body responds on its  own. While I evade their deadly attacks, their dying breaths reach my ears as my knife destroys the dark-purple stones inside them.

“Don’t waver. Don’t hold back for our sake.”

A certain lizardman’s voice rings in my ears every time I come face-to-face with a monster.

It was the last thing he said to me at the Xenos hideaway before we went our separate ways.

“Don’t you ever die. I want to see you again.”

I’m pretty sure I’d be practically useless right now if he hadn’t said that.

Don’t die—I can still hold a weapon thanks to that admonition.

Because he…a monster hopes I stay alive so we can meet again one day. “……”

I turn away from the piles of ash that were once the monsters I defeated and walk  on. In the end, no clear  answer  has presented  itself,  even  after  all my contemplation. My heart still troubled, I set a course for the exit.

I should hurry up and reach a decisive conclusion. That would be the logical thing to do.

Regular monsters are completely different from Xenos like Wiene and Lido. Even if I hesitate, monsters will keep trying to kill me. People and monsters are bound to fight.

But for the purpose of earning money…and  catching up to my idol…is  it really okay to kill them? Am I allowed to fight and kill for personal gain?

I realize that I don’t really have a reason why I need to kill monsters.

If I’m having thoughts like this in my line of work…I won’t last long. “Bell Cranell…”

“It’s the Little Rookie.”

A party consisting of animal people, prums, and other demi-humans glance at me as I silently trudge by, whispering among themselves. I’m sure I heard my title at some point.

The Dungeon layout is circular.

It gets wider with each successively lower floor.

The fifth floor, part of the upper levels, is said to be about as wide as Central

Park on the surface. I wonder if it’s because there’s less space up here compared to the middle levels, but it feels as though I keep finding  adventurers  around every turn. Then again, there are a lot more lower-class adventurers in the first place, so it only makes sense people run into one another more.

I guess Hestia Familia’s fame from the War Game against Apollo Familia is still alive and well. People recognize me fairly often.

It’s true that I’m hanging around a floor that people officially recorded at my level don’t usually stick around—and all by myself, too—so I’m sure it’s a sight to see. Every time I meet their eyes, they seem puzzled.

But I can’t do much more than stare back.

Oh, I’m already here…?

Having arrived at the Beginning Road on the first floor, I make my way up into the yawning opening that connects the Dungeon to the surface.

There’s a spiraling staircase beneath Babel Tower, and the ceiling overhead is decorated  with  a sky-blue  mural.  There’s  hardly  anyone  else  here,  since  the morning  rush  is  over,  and  it’s  too  early—right  before  lunchtime—for  most adventurers to head home. My eyes are fixed on the silvery steps as I ascend one at a time.

Just one foot in front of the other until…someone stops in front of me. “Ah…”

When I look up, I see a single adventurer.

A silver breastplate and a single sword hanging from the waist.

Long blond hair sparkles in the magic-stone lamplight like radiant sand in the desert.

And two eyes the same golden color as her hair look back at me. “Aiz…”

My idol’s name slips from my mouth before I realize it.

“……”

The blond-haired, golden-eyed girl and white-haired boy exchanged a few words before returning to the surface together.

A black-robed mage silently watched the scene unfold through a blue crystal

set atop a pedestal.

“Has something happened, Fels?” “…No.”

Fels responded curtly to the deep voice’s question from beneath the  robe’s black hood.

This was the Chamber of Prayers beneath Guild Headquarters.

The  four  burning  torches  in  the  middle  of  the  room  were  all  that  kept darkness  at bay  in the  stony  space.  Directly  in the  center  of this  seemingly ancient  temple  was a towering,  majestic  altar  with an equally  majestic  deity seated on it like it was a throne—Ouranos.

“So then, there has been no movement beneath Babel.”

“Unfortunately  not. These  hunters…There  has not been a single  sign  that

Ikelos Familia has passed through the tower.” Fels nodded, confirming Ouranos’s thoughts.

Fels had an “eye” set in place over the pit leading to the Dungeon  beneath Babel in the form of a spherical blue crystal hidden in the artwork adorning the tower’s basement ceiling.

It was an oculus, one of a set of twin crystals created by “Fels the Fool,” once known as the Sage.

Each crystal could display what its twin was seeing and hearing. It was the only  magic  item  in existence  capable  of long-distance  communication.  They were extremely  difficult to make; Fels had struggled from lacking the  correct materials on hand, and the task had required a level of mastery that even Perseus had yet to achieve. The mage had also supplied the owl familiar that had been rescued from death with one of these magic items to replace its missing eye.

Fels used the power of this mobile oculus to keep a literal eye on outlaws and blacklisted  adventurers—similar  to how Wiene had been monitored  while she was on the surface.

These activities were such a well-kept secret that Ouranos’s subordinates—in other words, the Guild employees themselves—didn’t  even  know Fels existed. Ignoring minor transgressions or isolated incidents, the  black-robed mage had kept watch over the Labyrinth City for many years to make sure Orario and the Dungeon did not take a turn for the worse.

“There  have  been  no  new  developments, Ouranos. Despite learning our

enemies’ true identity, tracking them has proven impossible.”

Thanks entirely to Hermes Familia’s efforts, they were almost certain that the hunters responsible for selling monsters on the black market belonged to Ikelos Familia.

Fels had used an oculus to observe the Dungeon’s entrance during the recent journey  to  the  Xenos  Hidden  Village  two  days  ago.  Despite  the  constant

surveillance  since then, there were no sightings  of any adventurers  registered with Ikelos Familia passing through.

The movements of the hunters remained in the dark, as if they were laughing at Fels’s efforts.

“Since they haven’t returned to Babel, they’re either still in the depths of the

Dungeon or hiding in Rivira…But then again, that seems unlikely.”

The heart of the problem was how they were able to avoid Fels’s eyes while still bringing captured Xenos to the surface and smuggling them outside Orario’s walls.

Only one possibility came to mind.

The black-robed mage turned away from the blue crystal on the pedestal and peered up to make eye contact with the deity on his seat at the altar.

Making the best attempt to speak in a calm, concise voice, Fels laid it  out plainly.

“It must be what we’ve suspected for some time…There is another Dungeon entrance, separate from Babel.”

“…”

“As we thought, our enemies who abduct monsters are not operating from a base located on the surface—.”

Crackle. Sparks scattered from the torches.

Motes of light fell to the stone floor as silence descended on the Chamber of

Prayers.

In the dim light, Fels and Ouranos exchanged eye contact but no words. “What is the Xenos situation?”

At long last, Ouranos spoke again.

Fels’s  intricately  patterned  black  glove  disappeared  inside  folds  of  dark fabric.

“I  believe  they’re  en  route  to  a  separate  Hidden  Village  as  planned…

However, I have yet to receive word from Lido confirming their arrival.”

Another crystal the same shape as the one on the pedestal appeared from

Fels’s robes.

Being  on  the  surface  didn’t  prevent the  mage  from  maintaining regular contact with the Xenos, thanks to another set of oculi. The magic item served as an important link that enabled Fels to maintain communications wherever they happened to be in the Dungeon, as well as rapidly issue quests to investigate and/or eliminate Irregulars.

However, the oculus did have one drawback, in that it could interact only

with its paired twin. In other words, Fels needed a separate crystal pair for each location  that  required  surveillance  and  each  person  who  required  a  line  of communication.  It was cumbersome at best. Indeed, Fels’s full-body  robe was bulky with crystals.

The Xenos had been given several sets of oculi to use, but their leader, Lido, carried the only one that connected to the surface.

Fels grasped a yellow crystal, attempting to peer inside—and abruptly froze. “What is the matter?” Ouranos inquired, sensing something was amiss.

After a long pause, the black-robed mage finally spoke in a shaky voice. “Lido’s crystal has gone dark…”

A violent sound cut through the air.

The yellow crystal slammed into the floor and shattered. “—What’re you doing, Gros?!”

A  lizardman’s  surprised  and  angry  voice  echoed  in  the  Colossal  Tree

Labyrinth.

It happened  inside a room deep within the Dungeon’s  twenty-fourth  floor. Sundry monster  species  had gathered  in a dark room devoid of  Lamp  Moss. They were equipped with armor and weapons: Xenos.

The lizardman Lido and the gargoyle Gros were in the middle of the group, staring each other down.

“Why’d you break the crystal?! Now we have no way to reach Fels and…!”

“We have no reason to listen to Fels’s words!! No reason to follow his commands!! We know what must be done!!”

Now that the only oculus capable  of communicating  with the surface  was broken, Lido demanded an explanation from Gros.

It started with a message from Gros’s group.

—Ranieh’s band has been slaughtered; Wiene and Fia, captured.

Hearing the news, Lido had used all the oculi in his possession to summon each Xenos troupe. The siren Rei and other leaders immediately led their units to the current room to receive details and share information. Then, just as Lido was about to inform Fels—Gros’s stone claw ripped the crystal from his grasp and destroyed it.

“Fels will say the same thing he always does! ‘Endure. Stay your hand

for now.’ Enough!! We’ve tolerated far more than we can take!”

The ash-colored gargoyle shouted back, overpowering Lido’s voice.

Fels and those who sided with the mage were concerned only with keeping the Xenos a secret. Gros no longer cared about the concerns  of  those on the surface.

He  had  dammed  up  his  rage  every  time  another  of  their  comrades  was abducted, but now he howled furiously.

Several pieces of broken armor and weapons lay at the feet of the  Xenos assembly.

Gros had retrieved what was left of their slain allies and brought them here.

“I saw everything; I heard everything!! I saw what the people did; I saw

Ranieh’s death!!”

“……!”

He shared a set of twin crystals with Ranieh.

In an ironic twist, it was the oculus Fels had given him that pushed Gros over the edge, igniting the black flames in his heart. After witnessing  firsthand the hunters massacre his friends, nothing could soothe his seething hatred.

Gros wasn’t alone.

Both Xenos factions, Lido’s and Gros’s, were up in arms.

Gros’s side viewed people in a negative light to begin with—but the Xenos who allied themselves with Lido were also boiling.

A griffin’s eyes smoldered with anger that the hippogriff had been murdered. A lamia whipped her hair about as she wailed, swearing revenge.

A troll pounded the ground, fists clenched so tightly that blood dripped from between his fingers as debris filled the air.

A unicorn, a silverback, a crimson eagle, a metal gazelle…Most of the Xenos gave in to the fury coursing through them.

Other  than  Lido,  the  only  Xenos  capable  of  rational  thought  were  the depressed, downtrodden red-cap goblin, the tight-lipped siren Rei, and an  al- miraj with her front paws clamped tightly over her eyes, fighting back tears.

“We don’t need Fels’s help! Nor will we allow anyone to stop us!! This

is our problem and we will solve it!!”

Shaking with rage, Gros widened his red stone eyes, incapable of tears, as he howled  a  truly  monstrous  declaration:  “Revenge!!  Revenge  for  Ranieh, Orde, Cliff, and Foh!! Rescue our brethren!! The surface dwellers shall regret this day!!”

The gargoyle roared.

The surrounding Xenos joined in, howling in agreement.

—Revenge!! Revenge!! Revenge!!

The room shook as more voices joined, rife with intensity.

Amid  his  comrades  howling  with  no  regard  for  nearby  adventurers  or monsters, Lido winced.

His scaly red hands clenched into trembling fists.

“Kill them all!! Murder anything and anyone that stands in our  way! Wipe them out!!”

“If  we—if  we  do that…we’ll  be no better  than  the  ones  who  kidnapped

Wiene and Fia…!”

Lido bellowed through clenched fangs. On the verge of tears, the lizardman forced the words from his throat.

The flames in his heart blazed as strongly as Gros’s faction’s. There was only one thing allowing him to stay calm enough to see reason—his yearning.

“After  everything  we’ve  done,  everything  we’ve  been  through—are  you going  to  throw  it  all  away?!  Will  you  abandon  the  dreams  of  our  fallen comrades, to one day see the light on the surface…?!”

It  was  his  dearest  wish  to  walk  aboveground,  to  coexist  peacefully  with humanity.

Lido couldn’t let go of this powerful desire in his heart. This ideal gave him a sense of purpose and a reason to live. He pleaded with the other  Xenos to see how they were about to step over a line that shouldn’t be crossed.

“There are people like Bellucchi!! Have you already forgotten?!” Lido shouted the name of the boy who had shaken his hand.

“Not all adventurers, not all people are bad!”

Lido poured his heart and soul into every word, but it was no use. His comrades were too far gone.

Without faltering, Gros immediately countered.

“How many times do you need to be betrayed to understand?!”

“!!”

“Where are all the people who showed us kindness now?!”

Many Xenos had been fortunate enough to encounter merciful adventurers before meeting Bell. Lido and his group felt hope for the future every time that happened.

However, when push came to shove, they all sided with the surface races. They abandoned the Xenos to their fates.

“The truth is that that boy will turn his back on us!! He will forsake us one day! People and monsters cannot live together in peace!!”

“……!”

“Open your eyes, Lido!”

The gargoyle pulled no punches as he urged the lizardman to give up on his absurd dream.

Lido had no response, offering little resistance as Gros pushed him aside and called the Xenos to action.

“We’ll take back our friends, no matter the cost!! Ranieh’s last wish

shall not be in vain!”

Gros spread his ash-colored wings and flew out of the room. Answering the gargoyle’s thunderous roar, other Xenos followed him.

Thirty-some  monsters had come together to accomplish  a singular goal  as one.

“It’s no use, Lido…Nothing can stop them now.”

As Lido  slumped,  tormented  that  he couldn’t  stop  his allies  in time,  Rei approached and spoke to him.

She had tucked both winged arms against her chest as if hugging herself, and it was all she could do to keep her shoulders from quivering.

“Damn it all…”

He glanced at the siren resisting her anger as his face contorted.

Then he looked straight up, gazing toward the surface landscape he had never seen.

“I’m sorry, Fels…Bellucchi.”

His feeble apology faded into the darkness.

The die had been cast. The only option left was to move forward.

Even  if things  could  never  return  to how  they  once  were—his  comrades could be freed at the very least.

Lido’s mind was set. At the same time, he released his dam of anger and rage and let them wash over his heart. The raw emotion he kept sealed away instantly consumed him.

The lizardman took on a vicious aura as he jerked the vertical longsword and

scimitar at his feet out of the ground.

“Rei, Lett. Come with me. We follow Gros.”

“…Yes.”

“Understood…”

“Aruru, go find that person.”

The al-miraj gazed up at Lido’s emotionless face with round red eyes from next to the siren and red-cap goblin.

“They  should  have  arrived  at  the  Hidden  Village  by  now.  Explain  the situation and bring them along.”

The rabbit monster stayed quiet but nodded, long ears flicking forward.

With a short high-pitched  squeak, the al-miraj  jumped onto the  hellhound waiting  beside  her.  She  straddled  its  back  like  a horse’s,  and  the  hellhound bounded away. The rabbit’s blue battle jacket fluttered in the wind behind her.

“Let’s go.”

Lido and his allies raced to catch up with Gros.

The lizardman’s thick, snakelike tail whipped back and forth as he picked up speed.

The bloodshot yellow eyes in his profile—were already those of a monster.

“Falgar, they’re here—Ikelos’s crew.”

Hiding their emblems, which depicted winged traveler’s hats and sandals, a small group of people started to follow three men.

Trailing the new arrivals, they blended into the flow of adventurers in Rivira. As always, crystals shone overhead.

Light shone down from the rock formations  shaped  like mums in  bloom, indicating  it  was  afternoon  on  the  eighteenth  floor.  Upper-class  adventurers walked in and out of the small town built atop an island in the center of a large lake. Many used this amalgam  of hotels,  shops, and bars  as a base for trips deeper into the Dungeon or as a rest point on their way to the surface. Thanks to the town’s  various  businesses,  heated  negotiations  between  greedy  merchants and residents were not uncommon.

Angry shouts formed a cacophony with hearty laughter as members of  two rival familias stared each other down on the streets. A fight broke out soon after, but no one batted an eye at such a familiar sight in the town of rogues.

“Boris!”

“Yeah? What’s buggin’ you?”

It didn’t take long for the residents of this town surrounded by jagged rocks and crystals to realize that something out of the ordinary was happening.

“The monsters seem restless…Something isn’t right.”

The fully equipped adventurers gathered on a cliff for a better view.

Every set of eyes was drawn to a single location amid the forest and plains of the safe point.

At the center of the floor, where the roots of the Central Tree led below… “Those are…”

Now that I’m out of the Dungeon, the sky is bright and blue like always.

The sun is right overhead, so it must be close to noon already.

I’m a good distance away from a main street. Shops of all kinds line the road. There’s a crowd of people around a flower shop manned by several young demi- human women who don’t have connections to any familia. Several neighborhood kids are with them,  bright  smiles  on their faces  as  they look at the colorful plants. I watch them for a few moments before I realize that I’m staring.

For a moment, surrounded by lively, peaceful sounds of the city, I feel  like

I’ve gotten lost wandering down some unfamiliar street.

Erasing  those  thoughts  from  my  mind,  I  walk  past  all  the  shops  before coming to a stop.

“…Um, sorry. For, you know, taking up your time.” “It’s all right.”

We face each other in a vacant lot surrounded by houses. It’s just Aiz and me. During our chance meeting on Babel’s spiral stairway, I stopped her knowing

full well she was on her way into the Dungeon.

As for why, I wasn’t sure. But I’ve been chasing after her for so long as my idol, and I felt like there’s something that I needed to ask her.

My mind wouldn’t settle down. Aiz must’ve noticed my internal struggle and suggested that we go someplace else. Leaving Babel, we started  looking  for a sparsely populated corner of town. Now here we are, face-to-face.

“…” “…”

Our eyes meet.

How long has it been since the two of us have been alone like this?

Her beauty could give any elf or goddess a run for their money, and looking at her is enough to make you forget time is moving. Her face doesn’t show much emotion, and I can’t tell what she’s thinking, but it’s like her eyes keep pulling me in.

I forget almost everything, and I even start to think, If only that golden luster could keep me under its spell…

“…What’s wrong?”

Aiz asks slowly.

Her words are heavy with meaning. It’s like her golden eyes see right through me. As though she’s asking, What happened? Why do you seem so confused?

My lungs feel tight. My heart is pounding obnoxiously loud in my ears. My mouth is drying…Finally, I manage to spit it out.

“Aiz…” “…”

“If monsters had a reason for living…had feelings just like you or me, what would you do?”

And now I’ve said it.

If you met monsters who could smile like people, worry about things,  shed tears just like people—could you still draw your sword against them? I ask the swordswoman who I adore.

“…”

Aiz closes her delicate lips.

Even  though  she almost  certainly  doesn’t  understand  why I’d ask such  a question, she’s still thinking of a sincere answer rather than responding casually or analyzing the question.

Time passes.

A warm summer breeze passes between us.

Never once taking her eyes off me, Aiz finally opens her mouth to speak. “If monsters hurt someone…No, that’s not it.”

She stops in midsentence, shakes her head—then she gives me her answer. “If anyone cries because of a monster—I’ll kill that monster.”

“!!”

My shoulders jump after hearing those words. I’m not breathing. Aiz declared her intentions without any hesitation whatsoever.

Even if the monster had a soul like a human, she would strike it down right then and there.

My idol’s reply is blunt and brutal. I freeze up.

Aiz’s saber mercilessly tearing into Wiene and the other Xenos…The image flashes through the back of my mind.

Dumbstruck, I stare at her focused, unchanging expression. In fact, her eyes are asking me:

—Would you not?

“……!!”

That’s right. I’ve lost someone important, too.

Gramps, an irreplaceable person in my life, was killed by a monster. And I remember how I cried when it happened.

The reason I didn’t become consumed by hatred and a desire to avenge  his death is because I never actually saw his body and that I felt so lonely at the time that the anger never had a chance to set in.

I’m paralyzed, straddling the threshold between ideals and reality,  between people and monsters.

My heart drums a furious rhythm under Aiz’s stare. “I—”

Then.

As I break out into a sweat and muster the courage to speak—at that  very instant…

Clang! Clang!!

A shrill ringing echoes through the sky. ““?!””

Aiz and I turn and look up.

The bells that go off every day at noon? No.

Those always ring from the east end, but this sound is clearly from the north. What’s more, the intensity of the ringing definitely isn’t normal.

It’s like the messenger is distressed.

“That direction, probably Guild Headquarters…The city’s warning bells?” Aiz’s mumbling sends a jolt down my spine.

Yes, now I remember. I heard these bells go off not too long ago.

When the Rakian army—when Ares Familia launched an attack on Orario, they rang the same huge bell above Guild Headquarters.

An alarm only used to announce a state of emergency. This is for sure

Orario’s alert system.

I hold my breath as that earsplitting tone assaults my eardrums. “—Emergency! Emergency!! Attention all familias residing in Orario! The

Guild will soon issue a mission!!”

As if confirming my fears, magic-stone amplifiers carry a voice from Guild

Headquarters.

A familiar half-elf’s voice echoes throughout the city streets.

“Monsters equipped with armor and weapons have destroyed Rivira on  the eighteenth floor!! Large numbers of them on the move have been confirmed!!”

—Then comes the knockout blow, emptying my lungs of air.

“The  Guild  is  ordering  the  immediate  deployment  of  all  adventurers  to exterminate—What? A-are you certain?…U-understood.”

As the world comes crashing down around me, the announcer pauses in utter bewilderment before continuing.

“All  citizens,  including  adventurers,  are  hereby  forbidden  to  enter  the Dungeon!!  The  Guild  will  contact  familias  directly.  Please  stand  by at  your respective homes!! Once again…”

The urgency is palpable.

Aiz’s intense gaze looks up at the sky. I can’t say a thing. Rivira, destroyed?

Armed monsters? Large numbers on the move? Lido and the others…Wiene?

It can’t be. What could’ve…?

A wave of heat rushes through me as my thoughts spin wildly, to no  avail. Confusion and turmoil flood every corner of my being, and sweat  pours from me.

The warning bells echo endlessly through the city, while my vision blurs.

Our everyday lives have been turned upside down. The ominous news drops like a stone and sends ripples out into the city.

Trouble is about to fall on Orario.