The wind swept through the forest, carrying with it a trail of tears.
"Le...fiya..."
With each syllable Bell uttered, the metallic taste of blood spread through his mouth.
"Please, don't speak anymore! I'll take you to the town Healer immediately!"
Lefiya carried the youth on her back as she moved swiftly through the forest. Her magic power was nearly depleted, and her legs below the ankles were scalded by corrosive liquid. Yet she ignored the pain, running frantically, her heart burning with urgency. Compared to the boy's suffering, her own injuries were nothing but the tip of the iceberg.
"First... past the town... to the Goddess..." Bell conveyed his thoughts as succinctly as possible.
"...?!"
Lefiya furrowed her brow, shock tightening her voice.
"You mean... the culprit's target is the Goddess Astraea?!"
Humans cannot assassinate Gods. With Astraea present, the Evilus remnants should never have dared attack that residence. The moment the Goddess intervened, any killing intent would be wiped out by her divine will.
Lefiya was stunned by the boy's reasoning. What shocked her even more was that Bell Cranel still intended to keep fighting. He could barely even walk...
"I... I can't take you there!"
She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood but paid it no mind. It was an agonizing choice. To save the boy's life, she was willing to become the villain and deny his wish. She knew Bell was battered, near collapse, every word scraping through the nerves of his broken body.
Cowardly or foolish, whatever others might say, Lefiya refused to bring him to the battlefield in his condition.
"Please... Crystal Drop..." Bell's words were slurred.
He had to reach the Goddess. His [confession] had never been a lie.
"..."
Lefiya sobbed softly. Even from those few words, she understood. It was a mutual understanding, a secret only the two of them shared.
On the Eighteenth Floor, she had once entrusted the boy with a rare, paired Crystal Drop. She didn't know its true meaning. But every night before bed, when she looked at that faintly glowing candy inside the glass jar, courage would well up within her. As if it encouraged her, as if it lit her path forward.
That candy they encountered by chance held a mysterious kind of magic.
Lefiya had asked the boy to keep it, and she had never tasted the Crystal Drop herself. She only looked at it. Yet its sweetness lingered beside her, like honey... like that unexpected first kiss.
A thread, with the Crystal Drop as its medium, connected the two of them.
Lefiya knew the candy she entrusted to Bell had remained unbroken. Bell wanted her to repay that favor. But one side had merely kept a candy safe, while the other was being asked to carry a grievously injured boy to a Goddess.
The two were far too unequal, weren't they?
Yet Lefiya couldn't refuse. The only thing linking the two of them was this secret.
Saving Ais, protecting Ais, performing Concurrent Chanting beneath the cliff in an awkward posture—those memories were known by others. Only the Crystal Drop belonged solely to Lefiya and the boy. No one else had noticed, no one else knew. Their secret, and theirs alone.
To bring it up now felt terribly unfair...
Lefiya pressed her lips together and changed direction.
"I'll take you there... Just don't overdo it..."
"Please, Bell!"
Through the forest, the golden-yellow-haired elf hurried onward, carrying the boy on her back.
The wind had not stopped.
The tear stains had not yet dried.
...
Inside the Monsterphilia venue, Laurier activated her invisibility spell. She and Ryuu slipped past the guards and made their way through the shadowy underground corridors until they reached the holding area for the monsters.
In the dim, spacious chamber, rows of massive cages held weakened creatures that let out low, unsettling growls.
"They're all weakened monsters," Laurier murmured as she examined them. These weren't Dungeon beasts but suitable targets prepared specifically for the Monsterphilia. Even if they rampaged, they wouldn't cause a large-scale disaster. Judging from their Status, the guards—armed with high-performance weapons—should have no trouble dealing with them.
Yet the chaos spreading around Monsterphilia wasn't so simple.
Rumors had surfaced about sightings of serpentine monsters, with several deaths and injuries already reported.
A bad feeling gnawed at Ryuu. Monsterphilia felt like nothing more than a front—true malice lurked behind it.
Just as they were about to leave, Ryuu sensed something off.
"Over here."
Ryuu was a veteran at hunting down villains. Perhaps that was why Bell had paired Laurier with her. With invisibility magic supporting Ryuu's keen instincts and intuition, the two traversed the elaborate underground passages as if nothing could hinder them.
Finally, after passing through an exceptionally hidden tunnel, a different kind of wide-open chamber appeared before them.
More monster cages lined the room, but these were far larger and sealed far more tightly than the ones before. Every last one stood empty.
Stacked among the vacant cages was a massive metal gate.
Ryuu grasped the enemy's intentions instantly.
The Evilus remnants had used the Monsterphilia to transport a monster of abnormal caliber. They built this gate to block their retreat. Beyond the end of that passage lay the forest, poorly guarded and easy to exploit.
They didn't need to carve a path. The monster would do it for them.
And their target was the Goddess Astraea.
Ryuu's brows drew tight. The Evilus remnants didn't need to act directly—the monster they had transported was the true weapon of their assault.
"We must return immediately."
But just as Ryuu turned, several figures emerged from the corridor behind them.
Laurier's magic couldn't sustain invisibility forever; with no cover in this open space, the enemy spotted them instantly.
"So, a couple of rats slipped in!"
Shouts rang out as the Evilus, having finished their preparations, began to close in.
"Ryuu-san… I'm sorry."
Laurier apologized while drawing her sword.
"It's fine. I was the one who pushed you to come here and spend your magic," Ryuu replied softly.
She had known there was a risk of being exposed, yet she had wanted to investigate thoroughly. None of this was Laurier's fault.
Ryuu swept her wooden blade in a tight arc, knocking down the nearest enemy.
"Our priority is to take them out and get back to Astraea-sama!"
Their opponents weren't particularly strong. With Ryuu covering her, Laurier managed to handle them by taking advantage of the terrain.
But these Evilus remnants were blood-soaked avengers.
"Astraea's lament is already decided! You can't stop it now!"
Cackling madly, one man tore the ignition device from his belt.
Ryuu reacted instantly, shielding Laurier as she kicked the man backward.
A heartbeat later, his body erupted into shreds. The explosion sent a blistering shockwave surging through the room.
"A suicide attack…"
Laurier froze for a moment, stunned.
Evilus didn't need to win this fight. All they had to do was drag out time.
The fires of revenge burned fiercely, baring the full malice behind them.
"Astraea-sama…"
Amid the roaring flames, malice exploded outward in full force.
Ryuu's worried whisper never reached the Goddess's ears.