"Oh?"
Hedin gazed coldly at the distant "Hunter," and after a moment's thought, spoke.
"Then let's get going."
"Right——"
The other party began to walk ahead, keeping its distance from the group, vanishing into the vines, and soon headed off toward the depths of the distant forest.
No words were needed.
Allen Fromel was already the first to follow.
It was impossible to tell what sort of creature that "Hunter" had been — its entire body was wrapped in a tattered robe of a serpent-woman's hue, and as always it wore a bone mask over its face, looking thoroughly mysterious.
The large bow slung across its back, however, was quite conspicuous.
But that wasn't the point.
Hedin, Hogni, and Ottar all quickly caught up to Allen Fromel, who had gone on ahead. Although the officers of the Freya Familia had rarely ventured into the Dungeon together in the past — most of the time they acted alone — their coordination when working together was hardly lacking.
Almost imperceptibly, they fell into formation, ready to respond to whatever sudden situation might arise at any moment.
Toward this "special Dungeon," Hedin and the others now harbored a certain reverence as well.
Those Loki Familia folks hadn't been wrong.
In here, one careless slip meant death; the Dungeon's sheer, pure malice was far too direct, and many of the encounters were blatantly obvious — they existed for the sole purpose of killing you.
But it was precisely because of this.
that growth came swiftly; for an adventurer, brushes with life and death were forever the best means of self-improvement.
"Phew…"
Hedin's mind was racing at this moment.
He wasn't naive enough to simply trust the "Hunter" that had just appeared, and besides, what it had said was far too outlandish.
Why suddenly go hunting the Loki Familia?
Was it because they had triggered some kind of story event?
In that case, was the Astrea Familia's side also going through an experience similar to his own?
Or was it because his own group was relatively "special" (having visited the [Hunter's Black Market]) that this particular story segment had been triggered?
Countless possibilities flashed through his mind, but the final conclusion was simple.
"It's nothing more than fighting powerful monsters."
So said Ottar.
In a sense, it was pure to the utmost extreme.
And indeed it was so. At this moment, what he held firm to was his resolve to keep growing stronger — not just Lv. 8, but Lv. 9, and even beyond——
Having once witnessed this world's strongest, what he sought was not to catch up to her receding figure, but to defeat her as well.
Only then.
could he accomplish what even they had been unable to.
Kill the [Black Dragon].
The champions of the Goddess of Beauty sped through the dense forest. Compared to where Isagi and the Loki Familia were — the very top and the very bottom — the place where Hedin and the others now found themselves was somewhat different.
Located in the very middle of the [Ancient Hunting Grounds], this place was like a "castle in the sky" formed of giant trees and vines.
Massive platforms of outstretched branches and leaves.
Or vines that wound and twisted like ancient great serpents.
Entangling with one another in midair, they ultimately formed a rather peculiar terrain.
There was almost no flat ground.
Giant trees would always abruptly block the way; one either passed through the gaps or "caves" that opened in their trunks, or detoured along the branches and vines.
And in the depths of that endless verdant green and darkness, countless dangers and monsters lay hidden.
Fortunately, Allen Fromel, who was clearing the path, was extremely diligent and dutiful.
Along the way, all Hedin and the others could see were the corpses of monsters, one after another, pierced through by his spear — some with even their internal Magic Stones utterly shattered, dissolving into drifting ash.
Until.
A long while later, they saw Allen Fromel standing on an enormous tree-stump platform.
The surface of the completely severed giant tree bore the traces of some kind of "corrosion"; upon closer inspection, one could roughly make out that it was riddled with holes left by insects gnawing at it.
Around it, one could also see clump after clump of "white silk," which seemed to be the remnants of some kind of spiderweb. Hedin and the others walked over as well, and then they saw a gray mist rising up all around them.
As expected, it was a trap.
It wasn't the first time they'd been deceived by a "Hunter"; in fact, Hedin even had the illusion that this time was relatively decent — after all, the other party hadn't waited until they were busy fighting monsters to first feign helpfulness and then suddenly stab them in the back.
Still, this time did seem somewhat special.
Had they directly entered that "boss battle" the boy of the Astrea Familia had mentioned?
More importantly.
The elf man was still thinking about the matter on the Loki Familia's side — could it be that because they had triggered something, his own group had run into this boss battle?
And then what came next?
Could it be that the boys and girls of the Astrea Familia would, because of his own group, run into some "new story event"?
Was there some connection between all of this?
And just as Hedin was pondering, everyone else had already drawn their weapons and stood ready.
Allen Fromel had been the first to arrive here.
He had remained in place, partly to wait for Hedin and the others, and partly because the "Hunter" that had just been leading the way had suddenly vanished.
It was very strange.
The thing had simply disappeared outright.
This wasn't the first time. Before, some of the "Hunters" they'd encountered would also vanish right after finishing their words, or, mid-fight, seeing that they were no match, would surrender, flee, and disappear.
It wasn't just his own group; the Loki and Astrea sides had encountered similar things as well.
Everyone had discussed this issue.
Because from the perspective of traditional adventurers like Allen Fromel and the others, it was extremely strange.
A monster clearly inferior to oneself in both level and speed could not possibly escape right before one's eyes within the Dungeon — unless it possessed some special ability.
"Monster tracking" was also a fairly common skill among adventurers; after all, rare monsters usually meant rare materials, and there were more quests concerning them.
And the income of exploration Familias basically came from this.
So whether it was Allen Fromel or Hedin, they were all quite confident in this regard.
But Isagi said such things were perfectly normal, which led to what seemed like a certain discrepancy in understanding between the two sides.
In the boy's view.
For certain "NPCs" in the Dungeon to walk off right after delivering their story exposition, or to enter an "invincible state," was indeed entirely normal.
But…
he still couldn't understand it.
At this moment, Allen Fromel still wanted to search for the figure and presence of that "Hunter" from before, but everything had vanished without a trace, as if it had disappeared into that thick, misty gate.
It even gave one the illusion that the creature might have been "recycled" by the Dungeon.
Something just felt off.
But soon, Allen Fromel and the others had no time to ponder this matter, because the "boss" had arrived.
Not just one.
But, quite abruptly, three figures emerged from behind the misty gate.
[SS-Rank Hunter · The Hope-Erasing Mercenaries].
Only a single name surfaced, yet there were, without a doubt, three of them.
A great spear, a dagger, a crossbow.
The three wielded entirely different weapons, and silently yet suddenly, they launched an attack straight at the group!
"One each."
As captain, Ottar concisely laid out the battle plan.
Of course.
The "one each" here referred to him, Allen Fromel, and Hogni — the three who excelled at close combat — while Hedin, the mage, would serve as ranged support.
Whoever finished off their own opponent first would then go help the others.
It was that simple.
The boaz warrior wielding a greatsword let out an utterly muffled roar. Clad in golden armor, like a dazzling golden sun, he bore the brunt head-on, blocking the Hunter wielding the great spear outright.
The opponent's attire wasn't anything special.
A hood, a robe, and beneath it some rather ancient armor caked with blood and filth.
And a bone mask.
Only this time, their bone masks were no longer shaped like animals such as cattle or sheep, but rather some deeply distorted form.
At a glance they were human faces, but the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth were utterly contorted, as though stuck on haphazardly by a mischievous child — without order, completely abnormal, their numbers possibly more or fewer: some had three eyes, four ears, two mouths.
Because their numbers and positions were entirely different, the three masks were completely different from one another.
Yet all of them, alike, gave off a strong sense of unease.
But Ottar couldn't care less about all that.
He didn't even hold back; from the very start, he simply chose to go all out.
And so.
The Black Tyrant Sword in his hand began to shine with a blindingly dazzling golden light.
"Mercy of the silver moon, fields of gold, turn this body into a war boar of the battlefield. With the goddess's divine will, surpass it all!"
"[Hildis Veni]!"
Ottar's magic.
It was a slash, instructed by a god, that condensed pure power.
And the result was that the monster before him was blasted away outright. In that instant, even Allen Fromel and Hedin couldn't help but glance over, and the other two "Hunters" were likewise taken aback, as if unable to comprehend why such a thing had happened.
By comparison, Ottar at this moment seemed more like a "boss."
The strongest champion of the Goddess of Beauty rarely brought out his full strength, because on the surface there was no longer an opponent worth going all out for — not even that Lv. 7 from the Academic District.
The man known as the [Greatest of Knights] had already devoted the rest of his life to cultivating the next generation.
He was no longer a warrior.
He could die to protect the hope of the world's future, but he could no longer fight for his own life — to take one step further and surpass the figures of the past.
Such a person, naturally, could no longer be any kind of opponent.
So for Ottar, to fully unleash his power, he could only venture into the deep levels of the Dungeon and challenge the currently known strongest Monster Rex within it.
[Balor].
That evil-eyed demon king deep within the volcano.
But Balor's respawn time was far too long — nearly once a year — which for Ottar was hardly an enjoyable experience.
Until he came here.
The hands gripping the Black Tyrant Sword were even trembling slightly — not from excitement, but because the recoil just now had confirmed for Ottar that this "SS"-rank Hunter before him was indeed a full tier stronger than the previous "S"-rank ones.
At least Lv. 7.
Fascinating. Fascinating, fascinating, fascinating, fascinating, fascinating, fascinating, fascinating.
Here was only around the 30th floor — if he kept going down, wouldn't he encounter even more terrifying creatures?
Including even his own "old acquaintance" — what would Balor become then?
Ottar did not stop.
Greatsword in hand, he strode forward, charging swiftly toward the Hunter he had just blasted away.
[Make Haste].
Not a single second could be wasted; he wanted to see for himself just what sort of creatures and opponents existed in the deeper levels!
And moreover.
He began to look forward to it once again.
Looking forward to that boy — the one whom a Dungeon like the one before him would forge for him to face.
The boy's growth rate was clearly faster than his own, which was a good thing — because that way, the time when he truly became worth fighting would come all the sooner.
He had to grow stronger — ideally, even stronger than himself.
If so.
then at last, even within the city, there would be an opponent worth fighting!
The immensely heavy, pitch-black greatsword crashed down once more, nearly smashing the enormous tree-stump platform to pieces.
In fact.
Hedin and the others all saw that, with Ottar at its center, the moment the tree-stump platform was destroyed, it began repairing itself at a speed visible to the naked eye — clearly a forcible intervention by the Dungeon.
And toward this, what the champions of the Goddess of Beauty felt was not horror or dread, but a certain resolve to give chase.
And so.
The battle was on the verge of erupting here——
"Isagi, Isagi, are we going to go look for that guy from before?"
"Mm…"
After the boss battle ended, the boy and girls rested briefly, then pressed onward, intending to follow their original plan — first find a passage leading to the lower floors before anything else.
But the way that guy from before had simply fled really did give the feeling that "there must be a hidden story event behind this."
But Isagi also knew.
With absolutely no hints at present, trying to trigger a so-called hidden story event was simply like searching for a needle in a haystack. All they could do was explore the places they hadn't explored before.
Or else turn back and re-explore the places they had already explored.
To put it bluntly, it was just sweeping the map.
There was no helping it — in this Dungeon, there was no walkthrough to consult.
Hmm… wait!
Isagi suddenly remembered the little mermaid Marie from before!!
Hadn't she been playing the role of some "Fire Keeper" NPC this whole time? Why was it that after reaching the lower floors, she'd stopped showing up entirely?!
Surely she wasn't just slacking off?!
Or was it that he hadn't triggered the story events related to her?
She couldn't have just vanished like that, could she?
That included how, earlier, the Dungeon had clearly shown the intention of pulling the Xenos in to serve as NPCs.
Besides.
If Isagi remembered correctly, whether it was the mermaid Marie or the Siren Ray he was acquainted with, both were, in fact, monsters that only appeared on the lower floors.
Although, having become Xenos, they certainly couldn't be regarded as "normal monsters."
But if Isagi's memory served him right.
There had been a standing bounty on the Guild's side, saying that some adventurer had heard a beautiful singing voice in the [Great Waterfall] area on the 27th floor, and so wanted to commission others to find the source of the song.
And obviously, the one singing was Marie.
She herself had said before that she liked staying in places with water, so she often ran back and forth between the [Great Waterfall] and the [Elf Garden].
If that was the case, then——
____
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