Chapter 79 – When Hero Meets Heroine: A Thread of Fate, Severed
"Akira-nii... what do you mean by that?"
"Bell, you're a good kid. Kind-hearted and innocent. That's a wonderful trait to have… but it's exactly that kind of purity that people will try to exploit."
"Ah..."
"Remember this well. The world isn't all kindness and sunshine. That doesn't mean you should change who you are, but… even if we never intend harm, that doesn't mean we should let our guard down against others."
"I understand, Akira-nii."
Even if Bell didn't fully grasp the depth of Akira's words, he still nodded softly.
He didn't want to disappoint Akira. He believed in him—and more than that, he trusted him.
A deep, echoing roar rang out again—this time, closer.
Akira narrowed his eyes.
From the sound of it… this wasn't a monster being hunted.
It was a human… being hunted by a monster.
"Please...! Help me!"
A voice came screaming from deeper within the dungeon.
A bloodied figure suddenly stumbled out from a lower passage, armor cracked and limbs barely holding together. One of his arms hung limp, bleeding heavily.
He was clearly running for his life.
The heavy thud of footsteps echoed behind him—each one causing the ground to faintly tremble.
And then it emerged.
A towering creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull stepped into view.
A Minotaur—a monster that should only appear in the middle floors of the Dungeon, specifically around floor 15 to 17.
There had never been a recorded instance of one showing up this high. Not on the fifth or sixth floor.
Unfortunately, the injured adventurer had already vanished into the corridor. He was nearly eighty meters away now. No way to call him back for answers.
"Akira-nii… w-what is that thing?!" Bell cried out in fear, instinctively hiding behind Akira's back.
As a beginner—especially one as small and inexperienced as Bell—just the presence of the Minotaur was enough to freeze him in place.
Its chest was broad and muscular, rippling with raw power. Each breath it took was heavy and beastly.
"That's a Minotaur. A powerful monster native to the mid-floors. It's incredibly strong. Logically, one shouldn't be up here…"
Its presence here could only mean one thing.
The Minotaur had climbed all the way up from the middle levels—probably killing countless adventurers along the way.
For low-level adventurers exploring these upper floors, encountering a mid-tier monster was nothing short of a disaster.
The man who ran past them had been lucky… too lucky.
This was the nature of the Dungeon. No one could predict what would happen next. And this—this incident—was worthy of being called a Dungeon anomaly.
"Graaaah!"
The Minotaur let out a guttural roar and locked eyes with the two of them.
Then it charged—straight at Akira and Bell.
Bell could barely stand. His legs trembled. His fingers clutched Akira's coat with desperation.
He wanted to run. His instincts screamed at him to flee.
But Akira didn't move.
Even though he could feel the pressure, even though a weaker person might've collapsed in fear, Akira remained firm. He wasn't someone who left his companions behind.
"You've got guts, charging at me like that. I almost respect that," Akira muttered softly. "But unfortunately… you're just an annoyance."
A shadow shifted beneath his feet.
In a blur of darkness—
—something lashed out.
The Minotaur froze mid-charge. There was no impact, no cry.
Just a sudden, eerie silence.
Bell, who had clenched his eyes shut and braced for the worst, slowly opened them.
He saw no attack. No grand explosion or light.
Just the Minotaur… standing still.
Until—splurt—
Its massive body split clean down the middle. With a heavy thud, both halves slammed onto the floor, spilling blood across the stone.
Bell stared in awe.
From Akira's shadow, a long, whip-like tendril had extended—dark, fluid, and razor sharp. One hit. That was all it took.
Bell was stunned.
That terrifying beast... was defeated in a single instant?
As the monster's remains dissolved into two clouds of black mist, Bell noticed something else.
There was no Magic Stone left behind.
Even the core had been shattered in that strike.
In that moment, Bell looked up at Akira with wide, disbelieving eyes.
He wasn't just strong.
He was overwhelming.
A strange feeling welled up inside Bell—an emotion that clung tightly to his heart.
Admiration.
Unshakable, absolute admiration.
And little did Akira know… by slaying that Minotaur, he had just replaced a key moment from the original story—snatching away the scene where Ais first saved Bell.
The first thread of fate… severed.
Clack, clack, clack—
A sharp rhythm of footsteps echoed from the lower corridor.
And then, she appeared.
A young woman with a striking presence—cool, composed, and elegant, as if she herself were carved from starlight.
The moment Akira saw her face, he understood.
So that's why it felt familiar...
That odd sense of déjà vu when the Minotaur appeared—now it all made sense.
This was supposed to be the scene where Bell first met Ais.
In the original story, a lost Minotaur from the lower floors had made its way up here due to Loki Familia's carelessness. Bell, still a rookie, had nearly died.
Then Ais Wallenstein—the Sword Princess—appeared and saved him.
It was the spark that ignited Bell's admiration… and eventually, his dreams.
The beginning of The Boy Who Challenged the Bull.
"Shin Akira?"
Ais's voice was calm, but her eyes narrowed slightly.
Just yesterday, she had seen Akira deep in the lower floors. And now, here he was—on the upper floors?
That was odd.
Even odder, there was a white-haired boy beside him, clinging tightly to Akira's sleeve like a lost child.
And for some reason… Ais felt a strange pang in her chest.
"So it was you, Ais. You were chasing that Minotaur, weren't you?"
"Yes."
"So this whole thing… was caused by you guys?"
"...It was. We're deeply sorry."
Ais bowed her head sincerely.
She knew full well that this was Loki Familia's mistake. That rogue Minotaur had likely hurt or killed multiple adventurers during its climb.
"...It's fine. It was just one Minotaur. I dealt with it."
"I apologize..."
Ais bowed again, quieter this time. She wasn't used to apologizing—especially not to someone like Akira, whose power was still a mystery to most.
But Akira didn't seem fazed. One Minotaur was nothing to him.
Still… a thought crossed his mind.
Did I just ruin Bell and Ais's destined meeting...?
"By the way, Akira… what are you doing here?"
She hadn't meant to ask—but the words came out before she could stop herself.
"Oh, I'm mentoring a beginner."
"A beginner? Is he from Hephaestus Familia? But then… why are you the one training him?"
It wasn't that she wanted to pry.
But usually, a high-level Familia like Hephaestus would assign mid-tier members to train newcomers.
Yet here was Shin Akira, the prodigy, doing it personally?
It didn't add up… and for some reason, it bothered her more than she expected.
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