Tsuna rescued Wiene. Although the appearance of a monster in the city had caused a panic, they fortunately managed to avoid the worst-case scenario: the public discovering that the Hestia Familia was harboring her.
The next day, Bell was summoned to the Guild by Eina. When he returned, he brought a formal document detailing a [Mandatory Mission]. The directive ordered the entirety of the Hestia Familia to escort the Dragon Girl to the 20th Floor, accompanied by a detailed map marking their specific destination.
The fact that the Guild already knew about their connection to Wiene just one day after the incident, yet issued no punishments and instead handed them this highly specific mission, left everyone bewildered.
Is Fels really behind this? And if so, does that mean Lord Ouranos is involved too…? It wasn't public knowledge, but Fels was affiliated with the Guild. The Siren they met in the Dungeon had explicitly mentioned Fels's name. Connecting the dots from the mission directive, Tsuna deduced there was a high probability that Fels and Ouranos were aware of the talking monsters.
He considered sharing this deduction with the group, but since Fels had explicitly asked him to keep his existence a secret, Tsuna chose to remain silent.
"Sitting around talking isn't going to solve anything. If you want answers, your only option is to head to the 20th Floor," Reborn stated flatly.
Since Reborn's logic was sound and defying a [Mandatory Mission] was impossible, Tsuna and the others began preparing for the expedition.
"The letter says, 'Come to District 7, 4th Street after your dependents have departed. We mean you no harm.' Still, just to be safe, should I tag along as your bodyguard?"
"You can read [Hieroglyphs]!?"
After Tsuna and the others left the room, Reborn spoke up, leaving Hestia completely stunned.
Along the margins of the mission directive, bordering the main text, was a decorative pattern. To an ordinary person, it looked like simple ornamentation. However, to any God, it was instantly recognizable as [Hieroglyphs]—the divine language.
"As a home tutor, continuously educating myself is a given."
"Who on earth taught you that?"
"Hm? I'm completely self-taught."
"You make it sound so easy…"
"So? Do you need a bodyguard?"
"No, I'll be fine. I'm ninety-nine percent sure there won't be any danger."
"So you figured it out too, huh. Who's pulling the strings behind this."
"Yeah."
─────
That night. At exactly midnight, as instructed by the directive, Bell and his party entered the Dungeon and began their descent toward the 20th Floor.
Currently, they were traversing the 19th Floor.
"Wiene. You hanging in there?"
"Un."
Operating from the rearguard, Tsuna—currently maintaining an illusion of his normal Sky-attribute self while cloaking Wiene in a different disguise—checked on her.
Even though there was barely any foot traffic at this hour, if Wiene's true identity was exposed, it would trigger another massive panic. To prevent that, Tsuna was using his Mist Flames to mask her appearance.
However, because his [Tri-Ni-Sette] skill prevented him from using multiple flame attributes simultaneously, and because Mist Flames lacked the raw offensive power of the other attributes, Tsuna was forced to play a support role.
I planned to stick to the rearguard anyway, so I guess it worked out… Even before entering the Dungeon, Tsuna's Hyper Intuition had picked up on multiple presences watching them. If he fought on the frontlines, his true capabilities would be exposed to their unseen observers. Thus, he kept his combat involvement to the absolute minimum.
"By the way, did you use [Level Boost] while I was gone?" Tsuna asked.
"I am so sorry. I used it once when we were drafted for the Goliath subjugation raid. Because all the prominent Familias were mobilized for the Rakian invasion, we were severely understaffed for the Floor Boss…" Haruhime apologized, her head bowed.
"B-But please rest assured!! Absolutely no one found out about Lady Haruhime's magic!!" Mikoto quickly added, jumping to her defense.
"I'm not trying to scold you. I just wanted to check. Besides, if you were short on manpower and up against Goliath, using it makes perfect sense. I fought that thing too; I know exactly how absurdly tough it is. I had to push myself to take it down."
Seeing Haruhime's guilt and Mikoto's desperate defense, Tsuna offered a reassuring smile.
On his way back from the expedition, Tsuna had forcefully boosted his own physical strength using the Sun Flame's Activation trait to defeat the Floor Boss. Knowing firsthand how durable the monster was, he completely understood why they had resorted to [Level Boost].
"U-Umm, Master Tsunayoshi…? Did you just say you defeated Goliath…!?"
"Hm? Oh, the day after I met you on the 18th Floor, I headed back to the surface alone, remember? I ran into Goliath on the way up and fought it. Did something happen?"
""""""…""""""
Hearing him casually state that he had soloed a Floor Boss left everyone—except Wiene—speechless.
"Hey, Welf… If we used [Level Boost] on Tsuna, what do you think would happen…?" Bell whispered.
"Are you kidding me…? He'd obviously become a walking disaster…" Welf groaned.
Knowing Tsuna could solo a Floor Boss on his own, the very thought of exponentially magnifying that monstrous power with [Level Boost] was terrifying, though neither of them could truly fathom the ceiling of that hypothetical strength.
Still reeling from the revelation, the party pressed forward toward the coordinates marked on the map. Eventually, they reached the 20th Floor.
The gazes watching us… vanished? The moment they crossed into the 20th Floor, the unseen observers withdrew. Though Tsuna had no idea why they stopped trailing them, he maintained Wiene's illusion just in case and kept walking.
"We're here…"
They finally arrived at the destination marked on the map: a massive cavern overflowing with vibrant green Quartz.
"We made it, but…"
"There is nothing here. No one is present…"
"Miss Lili, are you sure this is the right place…?"
"I am positive. The map definitely points to… here?"
Welf, Mikoto, Lili, and Haruhime scanned the cavern, bewildered by the empty, silent room.
"I hear something."
As confusion settled over the group, Wiene's sharp ears picked up a faint sound. At her words, everyone strained their ears. A beautifully clear, resonant singing voice drifted toward them.
"Are they… calling us?"
Wiene intuitively understood that the song was meant to guide them. Following the melody, the party realized it was emanating from the other side of a massive cluster of Quartz crystals at the back of the cavern.
Noticing the crystals faintly vibrating in time with the song, Welf stepped forward and shattered the Quartz wall with his greatsword, revealing a hidden tunnel behind it.
Understanding this was the path they were meant to take, the party stepped into the dark passage. The moment they were inside, the shattered Quartz regenerated, sealing the entrance behind them, and the mysterious singing stopped. Lighting their Magic Stone Lamps, they carefully navigated the pitch-black tunnel.
The gazes are back… Feeling the invisible eyes lock onto them once more, Tsuna remained perfectly calm and kept moving forward.
"…Miss Mikoto."
"Yes, Sir Bell?"
"Are there any monsters around?"
"N-No. I cannot perceive any."
Like Tsuna, Bell had sensed the myriad of unseen gazes. He asked Mikoto, who had her [Yata no Kurogarasu] skill active, for an update on their surroundings, but her skill was drawing a blank.
[Yata no Kurogarasu] could only detect monster species the user had previously encountered. This meant the entities currently watching them were either entirely unknown monster species, or humans.
They were navigating an uncharted domain absent from the Guild's official maps. Being surrounded by countless unknown observers in this claustrophobic darkness sent a spike of tension through the entire party.
『GURAAAAAAAAAH!!』
Suddenly, a monster lunged from the shadows. It was a bipedal, reptilian creature possessing crimson scales and two sharp horns, wielding a longsword in its right hand and a curved blade in its left. A Lizardman.
Before it could strike, Tsuna launched himself forward, flawlessly blocking the dual blades with the back of his right hand. As Tsuna prepared to counterattack, the Lizardman swiftly leaped backward, melting back into the darkness.
"Lili!!"
"Y-Yes!!"
Hearing Tsuna bark her name, Lili instantly grasped his intent. She pulled a clump of moss from her pouch and violently scattered it across the cavern. The moss immediately began to emit a brilliant, luminescent glow, lighting up the entire area.
This was Glow Moss, a naturally luminescent plant Lili had harvested on the 19th Floor precisely for emergencies like this.
"This is…"
Illuminated by the Glow Moss, the darkness receded, revealing the true horror of their situation. Surrounding them were not just Lizardmen, but Goblins, airborne Harpies, and a terrifyingly diverse horde of other monsters.
Realizing they were surrounded by a bizarre, diverse horde of monsters, a cold wave of terror and panic washed over Bell and the others.
What is going on here? Amidst the panic, Tsuna maintained his absolute composure, analytically assessing the enemy composition.
Gargoyles, stone-bodied sentinels.
Griffons, majestic beasts with falcon wings and equine bodies.
Almiraj, rabbit-like monsters bearing a single, sharp horn.
Lamias, horrifying amalgamations of human torsos and serpentine lower halves.
Fomorians, bipedal beasts crowned with twisted goat horns.
Arachne, grotesque fusions of human upper bodies and spider abdomens.
Unicorns, equine monsters wielding a singular, piercing horn.
War Shadows, humanoid entities entirely dyed in pitch black.
Hellhounds, calf-sized black dogs capable of breathing scorching fire.
The horde was comprised of countless different species. But what struck Tsuna as profoundly unnatural was the fact that these monsters hailed from completely different sections of the Dungeon—the upper, middle, lower, and deep floors. For them to be gathered in a single location like this defied every known law of the Dungeon's ecosystem.
So that's how it is, huh…? ─────
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