Deep within the depths of the Dungeon lay a virgin territory, a place where the feet of the Loki Familia had never trod, and where even the Zeus Familia had failed to reach.
Passageways of pulsing green flesh and walls twitching with life defined the area, as viscous droplets leaked from the ceilings. The stench of monsters and decay choked the air, mingling with the rancid smell of old blood. Mountains of white ash—the remains of pulverized monsters—accumulated like snow. Nearby, a wretched human grove stood where the green flesh swallowed people alive, their faint groans still echoing through the space. It was a hellscape that would make even the most seasoned adventurers' skin crawl.
In the heart of this nightmare stood two monstrosities.
Both were true monsters, beings that even elite first-class adventurers could not hope to match. The mountain of white ash was merely the aftermath of a slaughter carried out by one of them.
"You seized four completed jewels, along with the most hideous 'Hero Killer' weapon, yet you still failed to kill a single person."
"..... Shut up. If you had fought, the outcome would undoubtedly have been different."
The power gap between them was as clear as day. One was a creature draped in black, hiding its face behind a mask; the other was Revis, the red-haired creature with emerald eyes. Her body was covered in countless wounds, her exhaustion reducing her to human wreckage.
Unlike Revis, who had devoured massive quantities of magic stones and wore green flesh armor representing the blessing of a corrupted spirit—barely reaching the lowest ranks of Level 7—Ein, the masked creature rebuking her, had not consumed a single magic stone. Yet, Ein stood at the peak of Level 7, perhaps even surpassing it.
"... Are you asking me to fight alongside you?"
A sinister murderous intent emanated from Ein, an aura so thick it would force the bravest adventurers to their knees in mortal terror. It was a magical energy exceeding that of anyone in the city—a power capable of single-handedly annihilating the surface dwellers.
"You hid from me the fact that Olivas Act remained alive as a creature."
"..... Those were Enyo's instructions. You have no right to hold me accountable."
Even the powerful Revis showed a flicker of fear on her cold features before the wrath of this superior being, a rage that nearly solidified into overt killing intent.
"..... Regardless, that hero will die. He threw himself into destruction to protect Aria."
Even if the curse was broken, the most hideous death-venom in the Lower World continued to gnaw at Al's body. Any effort he made to summon his will, push through the pain, and fight was merely a fleeting spark before the fall. No matter what spells or miracle drugs they used, he would die a slow, agonizing death.
To Revis's certainty, laced with mockery, Ein replied in a cold voice:
"You are pathetic. You have fought Cranel twice and you still do not understand his essence."
From behind the mask, through a voice-altering magic item, clear derision emerged as Ein looked down at the unhealed Revis. When Revis looked back with suspicion, failing to grasp the meaning, Ein continued:
"Cranel... that man... do you truly believe mere poison will kill him?"
Ein left her with the implication that she knew nothing of Al Cranel's true nature, then chanted a third spell to split her body in two.
The masked half, carrying the persona of the creature Ein, moved toward the deeper reaches of the Dungeon. Meanwhile, the half carrying the human persona prepared to head toward the 18th Floor in the Upper Floors.
"..... Ais Wallenstein, the Sword Princess."
She whispered the name of the girl who had caused her hero, Al Cranel, to be wounded by Revis. She spoke the name of the "Princess" who could stand proudly beside the hero, unlike herself, who had fallen into the mire of monsters and become utterly defiled.
She spoke the name of the "Princess" the hero had risked his life to protect.
"I don't even have the right to feel jealous.....!!"
The girl, having removed her mask, was an elf of god-like beauty, with ebony hair and porcelain skin. Her features were contorted by the surging emotions wringing her heart.
●○●○●
At Twilight Manor, the headquarters of the Loki Familia, Loki had been emptying bottles of potent liquor since the early morning. She sat shivering, her face pale as the intoxication began to fade. The other members in the headquarters worked in silence, ignoring their goddess, who seemed even more lethargic than usual.
"When will everyone be back... Ais and the others have been gone so long~"
A full week had passed since Ais and the others set out on their expedition. Loki muttered in a low voice filled with longing rather than anxiety; everyone trusted they would return safely. As Loki passed her time lazily, someone burst into the room.
"Loki, Mr. Bete is back!!"
"Oh?"
Loki sprang up the moment she heard the report. She strode out of the room and hurried down the stairs behind the member who had summoned her. In the reception hall, she saw the familiar young man.
Bete Loga looked as foul-tempered as ever, but his arm was wrapped in white bandages, and pain was etched clearly into his expression.
"Oh, Bete! Welcome back!!"
"Shut up, I still have work to do."
Bete annoyedly dodged Loki's lunging hug. His combat gear was scorched in several places, and small cuts marked his face—evidence of a fierce battle. Even as he spoke to Loki, his eyes moved quickly to monitor his surroundings while barking orders at the members who had greeted him. They scurried to obey under the weight of his intensity.
Loki decided to ask what was on her mind:
"Tell me, Bete, where are Al and the rest?"
"Still in the Dungeon."
Bete answered curtly as he prepared to head out again. Loki's eyes widened in surprise. It turned out that during the expedition's return, the venom from a swarm of Poison Vermis had hindered the main team's progress. This necessitated the return of Bete—the fastest among them—to fetch antidotes from the surface.
Worse still, Al had been struck by a completely different kind of death-venom, leaving him in a critical state.
"A cursed weapon made from Behemoth remains? Is Al okay?"
"The curse is gone, but the venom is the real problem. The old woman's (Riveria) magic didn't work on it. She's using enhancement magic to slow the spread, but that only buys so much time."
Behemoth venom can only be countered by the antidote effect of Al's own magic, Rea Phoenix, and even then, it does not heal but merely maintains the status quo. No matter how efficient his Mind consumption, he cannot keep the magic active forever.
"I'm going to the Dian Cecht Familia. That 'Saint' (Airmid Teasanare) is the only one who can treat him. Have Rocks distribute the Vermis antidote to everyone."
"Alright! This might take two or three days~"
Poison Vermis are rare monsters, and antidotes made from their bodily fluids are not easily found on the market. Distributing them city-wide would take time and deplete stocks quickly even with intensive manpower, requiring new batches to be manufactured at the Dian Cecht Familia.
Despite the exorbitant costs and the debt they would incur to Orario's best healer, Airmid, necessity overrode all concerns. Airmid herself would not hesitate to cooperate secretly for Al's sake. While Loki ran the numbers, Bete checked his equipment and headed for the exit.
"By the way, Bete, aren't you going to rest? You just got back from the Dungeon and you should be completely spent, shouldn't you?"
"I don't need rest. And stop with the nonsense."
Bete scowled at Loki's mockery as she followed him with a wide grin. He took a backpack from a member, and as he prepared to leave, Loki placed a hand on his shoulder. When he turned, he saw a look of genuine seriousness in her eyes.
"Then, let us at least update your Status."
"Hah?"
●○●○●
A "Monster Parade"—a tactic where adventurers in the Dungeon lure monsters toward others to save themselves—was an act that occasionally occurred among those who placed survival above all else. Unless done with malicious intent, the Guild did not punish it, viewing it as a necessary measure in emergencies.
However, the reality remained that the receiving party faced mortal danger. This was exactly what happened to Bell, who was tackling the Middle Floors with his supporter, Lilliruka Arde, and Welf Crozzo, a new member from the Hephaestus Familia. They fell victim to this "Parade," leaving them in a desperate situation.
Instead of returning from the Middle Floors to the Upper Floors, a collapse in the labyrinth caused them to fall deeper, making the surface seem like a distant dream. At Lilliruka's suggestion, they fought their way toward the 18th Floor, the Safe Zone.
But they faced consecutive attacks from dangerous packs of Hellhounds and then the Minotaur, Bell's arch-rival. Welf, who had completely drained his magic power using resistance magic against the Hellhounds' flames, reached his limit and collapsed from Mind Down.
Lilliruka had also lost consciousness. The pressure of the Middle Floors was vastly different from the Upper Floors, exhausting the body and soul of Lilliruka, who remained a Level 1 with modest attributes, unlike Bell, who had reached Level 2.
With supplies gone and Lilliruka giving equipment to Bell and the others at her own expense, her energy had completely vanished. She was the weakest in terms of Status within the team. They had no Mind-restoring potions or healing salves left, and Bell had no way to wake them.
In a heavy silence broken only by the sound of his breathing, Bell bit his lip hard, overwhelmed by his helplessness. No one could see his expression in the darkness, but his face was as pale as a corpse. Bell gripped the unconscious Lili's small hand and propped up Welf's shoulder, barely maintaining his own consciousness as he teetered on the brink of collapse.
Fear, anxiety, and regret wrung his heart. He tightened his grip to drive away the terror. He had discarded all his belongings except for the bare minimum of weaponry to lighten his load, but his movements remained slow as he carried Lili on his back and supported Welf.
"Oh... ugh....."
He exerted every effort just to support his companions' bodies. He had endured countless attacks, and his body was now a map of wounds from fighting in this state of exhaustion.
Had he not leveled up, he would have perished long ago. Bell, buckling under the weight of his friends, realized he wouldn't last much longer. The next encounter with any monster would be the end.
His muscles screamed in pain, his feet felt like lead, his head throbbed, and his vision began to blur. His throat was so parched from sweat that breathing became painful. He rebuked himself for nearly surrendering to tears and kept walking. He walked without thinking of the consequences; he simply moved.
He lost all sense of time, knowing only that stopping meant death. He didn't know how far he had traveled or how much time had passed. Perhaps a full day, or maybe just half. In this sunless Dungeon, time was impossible to track accurately.
He felt the darkness grow deeper. Once he finished descending the stairs to the 17th Floor, the area turned into a space dominated by pitch blackness, as if night had fallen. Bell moved forward cautiously, prepared to fight at any moment, but strangely, no monsters appeared.
A suffocating tension gripped the area, and the sound of his own heartbeat became annoyingly loud. His heart hammered wildly, and a ringing echoed in his ears.
In the middle of this arduous journey, his spirit nearly broke. He felt a crushing loneliness as he advanced through this endless darkness, trapped in a place where he didn't know if an exit existed. A desire to surrender and flee from everything seized him.
── Creak!
He gritted his teeth so hard they nearly shattered, driving those feelings away. If I fall, who will protect them? Who will save them? If I collapse, they die with me.
"I will never let that happen!" He convinced himself of this, forcing his trembling legs to move. Driven by the desire for heroism forged from his deep admiration, he continued through the corridor leading to the end of the 17th Floor, shivering at the possibility of a monster appearing.
".... Why?"
His voice came out as a faint whisper in the still silence. The words weren't addressed to anyone; it was merely a thought that slipped out. He was startled by the echo of his words in the room, but he spoke again. There was a sense of monsters present in this dark cave, yet for some reason, they didn't attack.
He had felt their presence for a while, but they were content to watch. He felt the "strangeness" of the situation, and a bad feeling washed over him. The silence here was suspicious and deeply unsettling.
This increased Bell's anxiety. He adjusted Lili on his back and picked up his pace toward the 18th Floor. But no matter how far he advanced, no monster appeared. This was impossible; such a thing had never happened before.
A chill ran down his spine as if he had walked into a trap. Bell broke into a run, carrying his companions, his muscles groaning under the strain. His lungs burned, and his heart felt ready to burst. But he couldn't stop. He didn't have the luxury of looking back; he had to move forward even a second faster.
The walls, the ceiling, and the vast spaces—everything was shrouded in darkness. He saw nothing but rock, with no sign to guide the way. The ground was rugged, and the weight of his companions further restricted his movement.
Finally, on the left wall, he saw a patch of polished, shimmering rock. The walls were smooth with no protrusions, as if precisely carved. Bell headed toward them as if led by something. It was a massive rock wall extending to the end of the hall.
".... The Wall of Mourning!!"
It was the final obstacle of the 17th Floor, the end of the floor that birthed only one monster.
── Crack!
A fissure appeared in the mirror-like wall. Cracks spread across its entire surface like ripples in water. Bell felt a surge of intense terror, as if a piece of ice had touched his back. He gripped his companions tightly and sprinted.
Bell heard the sound of the wall collapsing behind him. He didn't need to turn to know; that giant monstrosity had begun to move.
The shaking of the earth, the sound of crushing rock, and the violent tremors—fleeing from the thing that was gradually approaching, Bell ran with every ounce of strength he possessed.
── Thud, thud!
The sounds of destruction grew louder. With every heavy, approaching step, the terror doubled. It was right behind him and would catch him in seconds. Fear and confusion pushed him to increase his speed. The severely cracked wall left him no respite.
The earth shook, the threat closed in, and finally, the moment he feared arrived. With a massive crashing sound, the monster appeared.
The massive body emerging amidst the stone dust looked human at first glance.
But the difference in size was terrifying. It stood over five meters tall, a brownish-gray color. A human giant—there was no other way to describe it. Its pale gray skin suggested death and evoked a sense of profound disgust.
Facing this monster, which exceeded in size anything Bell had ever seen, he could only feel an instinctual terror, similar to the fear he felt toward his teacher, the Werewolf.
Bell recognized the overwhelming power gap, and his knees shook. As if mocking him, a hideous smile spread across the giant's mouth.
Goliath, the secluded King of the Labyrinth, finally appeared before Bell in all his majesty.
Bell had heard of him from his advisor, Eina, and from his teacher, Bete.
"This is it... the Floor Boss."
It was undoubtedly the strongest being in the Middle Floors, classified as Level 4. Due to its massive body, it possessed immense endurance and energy, considered an opponent that required a team of Level 4 or higher to defeat.
It exuded the aura of the powerful, a majesty truly befitting a King of Monsters. At the mere sight of it, Bell's thinking froze, and his mind agreed with his instinct on one thing.
Without a second thought, Bell fled at maximum speed. But, with utter ruthlessness, that mighty arm extended to strike the fleeing Bell's back.
A violent shock. Bell's body flew through the air with incredible force, rolling across the ground. When he finally stopped, pain tore through every inch of his body. He fought off unconsciousness and stood up immediately.
"Oooooooooooooooh!!"
To the monster's roar, Bell encouraged himself and ran again. But his body, having reached its limit, no longer obeyed. He rebuked his failing frame, thinking of only one thing: escape.
He readjusted his companions and sped off. But countless rocks flew through the air, raining down on him like a stony shower, blocking his path. He tried desperately to dodge them, but some struck his body. He endured the pain, gritted his teeth, and pressed on. However, he couldn't break free yet.
The ground shattered behind him from the giant's fist strike. Rising dust obscured his vision, and in the next moment, a massive palm appeared before his eyes.
"Agh... ugh... cough!?"
He took a horrific impact that sent him bouncing and rolling like a ball over and over. His collision with the ground forced all the air from his lungs, and he let out a muffled cry of pain.
Struck from all angles, he flew and rolled deep into the cave, finally stopping after hitting a wall. Terrible pain, as if his body were disintegrating—simply breathing made him want to vomit, and he could no longer move a single finger.
In his fading vision, Bell crawled toward the exit leading to the 18th Floor. He crawled toward the hole where light emanated, trembling away as far as possible. Otherwise, he would die. The terror of death filled Bell's mind.
When he finally reached it, he found a space of green grass that didn't seem like it belonged inside a labyrinth. Lush green grass and plants, with a gentle breeze blowing through.
But he could no longer move.
Because of the excruciating pain, Bell's body went completely still. As his consciousness began to fade, he slowly placed his companions on the ground.
"At least... those two must be saved."
He reached out desperately with this hope, but he couldn't make it.
Yet, a moment before losing consciousness, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. He gathered what remained of his strength and looked toward the source. In his blurred vision, he gripped the ankle of a person who seemed pale-skinned.
He didn't know who this person was.
But he felt a warmth that was somehow familiar.
He moved his trembling lips with difficulty and spoke words that came out with great effort:
"Help me... brother."
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[Q&A]
Q: Is there an opponent that Al feels he would never want to fight in terms of combat power?
A: In truth, if it would lead to sadness or tragedy, he would fight even if the opponent were the One-Eyed Black Dragon head-on. That's just the kind of boy he is.
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