The corridor after the lightning had swept through it.
Thanks to the lightning cleverly veering away from Fels and the others, they hadn't been injured—but that didn't mean they were at ease.
"What in the world..."
"Good heavens..."
[...]
The lightning hadn't simply stopped. It had completely erased a section of the artificial labyrinth.
Just knowing that a being with such power was nearby weighed heavily on their hearts.
Fels was no exception.
"That one is..."
The unidentified being that had been discovered not long ago.
Uranos had told them not to dig too deeply, so they didn't know much about him.
"It was that strong...?"
Strength beyond imagination.
Fels's body trembled faintly at the power, enough to rank among the very best of Zeus Familia and Hera Familia.
"Just what kind of fellow is that?"
He wasn't the sort of existence that should suddenly pop up out of nowhere. What an absurd creature.
No, in truth, under normal circumstances it wouldn't have been such a problem. The problem was the moment they had run into such a being.
"Ah..."
Of all things, they had encountered him together with the Daughter of the Spirit, and with monsters practically packed in around them.
"You are..."
The man looked at them with a troubled expression.
Should they be relieved that the situation wasn't hostile yet? Or worried because it would soon become hostile?
But contrary to Fels's expectations, the one who acted first was not the man before them.
"[Gospel]."
A cold voice of judgment fell.
True to the name Silence, the verdict was delivered quietly—and then became a guillotine, sweeping over Fels's group at a speed they couldn't even react to.
Boom
"What do you think you're doing?"
"That's what I should be asking you."
The sound that crashed down on Fels's group.
If the rabbit hadn't reacted quickly and blocked it with his body, they would have been shredded by the sound itself and vanished into dust.
"He blocked my magic with his body?"
He had wondered how the fellow had survived after taking his attack in the previous battle, but... was it just that his body was tough?
No, that couldn't be it.
Unless he had transformed, no one could remain unaffected by his magic.
It was probably some kind of skill or item... most likely the effect of that black robe.
He didn't know what it was made of to grant such defense even against magic, but it was more reasonable to think of it as resistance to magic rather than innate durability.
He must have strong magical resistance.
"Protecting monsters... have you truly gone mad?"
But the important thing right now wasn't the robe's material.
What mattered was that the man before them had protected monsters—in other words, the enemies of humanity.
The ones behind him seemed just as stunned, unable to follow what was happening.
[...First, thank him.]
The sage, who had quickly grasped the situation, immediately sided with the rabbit.
Fortunately, the fact that these powerful beings hadn't all turned against them gave the sense that there was still a way out.
Could it be that being with the Daughter of the Spirit had worked in their favor? Surprised by the unexpected outcome, the sage inwardly let out a cry of triumph.
"We can get out of this alive...!"
He had lived for centuries and had no lingering attachment to life, but it was too soon to die and leave these children behind. At the very least, he wanted to build them a foundation before he went.
Fortunately, the man had taken their side.
He was grateful for that, and at the same time, it only made him more suspicious.
"Why did he protect us?"
He had assumed it was to protect the Daughter of the Spirit... but was there any need to shield all of them as well?
Could he know of the Xenos? Was he someone who could accept them, knowing what they were?
"...No, impossible."
He laughed at his own thought. Even he knew it was far too absurd, far too convenient for him.
A human who could join hands with monsters from the start? There was no way such a thing existed in this world. Even he himself had needed a great deal of time to accept the Xenos.
For a sage whose mind had grown flexible over centuries, that was the limit. For others, most would never accept them in their entire lives.
Yes, just like that Silence.
"Putting aside why Silence is here..."
Come to think of it, it was strange for Silence to be in a place like this, but there was something more important to consider first.
Yes, the most ordinary reaction was the one Silence had shown.
Questioning without hesitation. Immediate execution.
The most basic and fundamental attitude an adventurer should have toward monsters.
There was no adventurer in this world foolish enough to talk to monsters or try to build some kind of bond with them.
Especially not first-class adventurers, who had killed monsters over and over again.
In that sense, the strange one wasn't Silence, but the man.
"...Why did he protect us?"
Suspicion soon curdled into doubt.
No matter how he thought about it, the man had no reason to shield them. He could easily have pulled Ais Wallenstein out by herself, so why?
A small wariness began to bloom inside Fels.
But he never let it surface.
Because right now, Fels had no choice.
No matter how suspicious it was, the fact remained that the man before him was his only lifeline.
So Fels prayed.
Please, let this man not be a damned being like his god.
"To attack all of a sudden..."
"And what's the problem with that? I adjusted it so the little brat wouldn't get caught up in it."
"That's not the issue. Without even knowing who we are—"
"Who you are?"
Ha, Arphia laughed for the first time.
It was a chilling, merciless sneer.
"I misjudged you. I thought at least you were first-rate as an adventurer."
"..."
"Those things are monsters. Enemies of humanity, a blight upon the world. Beings that should not exist in this world."
The blade called words butchered the Xenos.
Before the cruel reality thrust before them by the witch, the future they had dreamed of was utterly denied.
They were still young, which was why they could dream—but they were still young, which was why they could be hurt so easily.
And when they were hurt, the reaction most beings showed was resistance.
"No!"
Their leader, Reed, spoke up.
Arphia's eyes twitched at the fact that a monster could speak, but she showed no other reaction.
"A monster that speaks..."
"We're different from the others! We can talk, we can have conversations, we can laugh together!"
So please, don't deny us. It was such a pitiful plea that it almost sounded pathetic, but Arphia didn't care.
"Nonsense."
"Ugh..."
"It was a little surprising that you could speak, but that's all it was. Why should I believe a word you say?"
"That's... if we work together, we can prove it—"
"Wouldn't it be far more reasonable to cut off the roots of that unease in the first place?"
Cut off the roots of unease. Only Ais understood the meaning behind those words.
[Wait, Silence. This is Lord Uranos's—]
"Shut up, undead."
[I'm not undead?!]
"You think I'd let this pass just because you have a god's name backing you? The fact that someone called Uranos is watching over you changes nothing. Why do you think Uranos has kept you hidden in the first place?"
[Th-that's...]
The reason Uranos hid the Xenos. The answer was obvious without even looking.
"No one accepts them. They can't accept them, and they don't want to accept them."
[Kgh...]
"And yet you know that yourself, while selling a god's name to persuade others. How laughable."
He couldn't say anything.
The witch's words were too perfectly correct.
Trying to persuade others when even he himself thought they couldn't be accepted—it was such a foolish sight, even to his own eyes.
The witch, having silenced the sage, once again delivered judgment.
But once again, the rabbit stood in the witch's way.
"Please stop."
"That's what I should be saying. What idiotic nonsense are you spouting, brat?"
"They helped us."
"Helped you? No, those are just monsters. Anything else coming before that is impossible."
The sage and the outcasts could say nothing in response to the witch's words.
Ironically, only the rabbit was shielding them here.
Even after giving up himself, the rabbit still refused to give them up.
That sight brought bewilderment before suspicion.
Why was he going that far to protect them? Was it pity? Or did he think he owed them a debt?
Either way, it was ridiculous. After all—
"What have you been killing all this time?"
"..."
"What has killed your comrades until now? What have adventurers fought, what have they died to, and what have they tried to destroy?"
A question not even worth asking. Any adventurer, no—any human would answer the same.
"Monsters."
The enemies of humanity, the absolute evil that had continued since myth.
"There can be no exchange with monsters. Do you understand that your actions now are turning your back on everything you and your comrades have done until now?"
"..."
"And that's not all. What about the dead? Even now, somewhere in the world, humans are being killed by monsters. And even so, you would still say you want to interact with monsters?"
The witch's blade did not dull even against the rabbit. If anything, because it was the rabbit, the blade of words was honed even sharper, striking again and again.
"Do you know what people call someone like you?"
"A hypocrite."
Words once spoken by a hunter long ago.
Words that had once pierced him as though carving out his conscience.
There had been a time when those words hurt, when they made him hesitate.
There had been a time when he thought those words were right—that he was the one in the wrong, and they were the ones in the right.
There had been a time when he wandered between reason and conscience.
But—
"Then I'll just be a hypocrite, then."
"..."
It was a hardship he had already long since overcome. By now, the rabbit had become shameless enough that mere reason wouldn't shake him anymore.
"So what? If I'm a hypocrite, what changes?"
"How can you even say that..."
"Is it only monsters that kill people in this world?"
Monsters were certainly humanity's greatest enemy in this world.
But if one asked whether monsters alone had killed humans, the answer was no.
"How many humans has your magic killed? How many people have the others killed?"
Adventurers were not dangerous only to monsters.
When that blade was turned toward people, they became even more terrifying and threatening than monsters.
"Would you exterminate all of humanity because one human killed another?"
"What sophistry. Humans and monsters are different."
"How are they different?"
"Humans are not uniform. If there are humans who harm others, there are also humans who live for others. That is a different matter from the enemy of humanity."
"If people can be different, then monsters can be different too, can't they?"
"As if."
"Have you checked?"
"It's obvious without checking."
"No, you don't know until you look."
Yes, more than anything, wasn't it true that you knew nothing until you looked?
"Just as there are people with the heart of a monster in a human body, if there are monsters with human hearts in monster bodies, then they are surely human."
"..."
"That's what I believe."
He truly believed in their hearts.
The rabbit was speaking from the heart.
Anyone could speak. But the meaning carried by those words varied wildly.
Who was speaking, in what situation, with what voice, with what tone—so many factors mixed together to deliver an extraordinary force of persuasion and sincerity.
The rabbit was strong. That proved how many monsters he had faced, and that he was not some naive brat.
The rabbit stood before the witch with his back to the monsters. That proved his words were no joke, no mere formality.
There was not a trace of hesitation or doubt in the rabbit's voice. Those words, carrying overwhelming conviction, seeped into the hearts of everyone there.
And even into those who were not there.
[...Uranos, are you listening?]
[Yes... I am listening.]
The small sanctuary in the sage's arms. Through it, the god watching over the Dungeon let his voice tremble slightly.
That was the decisive blow.
At least for the sage and the outcasts.
And though the god's voice could not be heard, the witch and the little spirit were not unaffected either.
In fact, the two of them were the most shaken.
Especially the still-young Ais.
Her common sense began to crumble little by little, and changes started to take place within her.
And the witch—
"..."
She could not bring herself to say anything.
She could not bring herself to crush the stubborn, contradictory, shameless insistence of a foolish child.
Had her logic been lacking? No.
Had the other side's persuasion been extraordinary? That was not it either.
There was no reason she should have been left speechless. And yet she was, unable to speak.
"...How hot."
And then she realized why.
The rabbit was hot. Burning like a sacred flame, he stood directly in the witch's way.
The witch was only rational. A mechanical heart that did things simply because they had to be done.
And with such trivial resolve, she could not endure that heat. That was all there was to it.
"Not a single part of you resembles her..."
A murmur no one heard. That tiny voice never reached anyone, wandering through the vast Dungeon before fading away.
But surely they were not completely unlike each other.
At the very least, the fact that he was dazzlingly bright, unlike herself, was something they shared exactly.
"...Do as you please."
"...!"
"It's not my concern anyway. If you're willing to take on the trouble yourself, there's no need for me to stop you."
Her voice was clearly annoyed, but the meaning behind it was easy to infer.
[...Thank you, Silence.]
"Tch. Get lost. Don't make me deal with your trouble because of this."
[I'll keep that in mind.]
Outwardly calm, the sage was actually exhilarated.
That Silence had backed down. That alone was astonishing, but the more important thing was something else.
"That man..."
He didn't know why. Why did he believe in them so much?
Unidentified. He didn't know who he was or where he came from, but that didn't matter.
He was hope. The hope and possibility of the outcasts.
The future that might one day come. If the future they had imagined ever arrived, he was certain that man would be there.
-Can you bring him here once?
Uranos's order came through the sanctuary. Fels had been thinking the same thing, so he agreed and began planning to make contact with him.
He seemed friendly toward them too, so it probably wouldn't be difficult.
"Were you the one who protected Ais?"
"Y-yes. By chance, but..."
"Thank you. If it hadn't been for you, we would have been too late."
The Xenos stirred at the kindness they were receiving for the first time in their lives.
They had dreamed of a situation like this all their lives, but now that they were facing it in reality, they couldn't quite keep their composure.
Fels sighed at their typical outsider behavior.
But he didn't step in to help them either.
When it came to the time he had spent as an outsider, Fels was the undisputed champion.
"Ais."
"..."
I called out toward the golden hair hiding among the Xenos.
No answer came. But I could clearly feel her hesitation.
Was she embarrassed, or just awkward? Either way, if I did nothing now, this spirit would never come to me first.
"I'm sorry."
"...!"
"I was thoughtless and hurt your feelings. I'm truly sorry."
"Ah..."
Ais, who had been hiding behind Rey's wings, slowly peeked her face out.
Her expression was a pitiful mix of anxiety, worry, and guilt.
"I-I..."
"Will you forgive me?"
The one who had done wrong was me, yet he was the one apologizing as if it had been his fault.
That dug into the conscience of the young Ais and stirred up even more guilt.
After facing death so closely, she had realized just how much she treasured her relationship with him.
And she had realized that she had ruined that precious relationship with her own hands.
"I also..."
The apology that came while she was blaming herself only amplified those feelings, shaking the girl's heart even more.
"I'm also... sorry..."
"..."
This time, Vesta's eyes widened.
Then she smiled faintly and patted Ais on the head.
"We were both at fault. Then shall we make up now?"
"...Mm."
Ais nodded and bowed her head deeply.
She looked so small and crumpled that she resembled a little animal, stirring up a strange urge to protect her.
Of course, there were those who didn't care about that sort of thing at all.
"Is the little drama over?"
"Arphia..."
"Then let's go back. I don't like this place. The air is terrible."
True enough. It wasn't a place with good air, even as a figure of speech.
Then again, how many places in the Dungeon could honestly be called pleasant?
"Right... Then let's—"
Just as I was about to say, Let's go back.
Arphia and Vesta's eyes turned toward one spot.
It was something like intuition, or perhaps instinct.
A sensor of danger sharper than anyone else's, possessed by the strong.
The two of them pointed to the same place at once.
"Ah, how cruel this is!"
"That's... Evilus's..."
Evilus had Falna too, so of course there should be a god behind them... but something about that god's condition was strange.
It was as if he had been bewitched by something, like a human under Freya's charm—something so deeply immersed that it carried a hint of madness.
It was such a dangerous sight that, if he hadn't been a god, I would have attacked him on the spot.
And that brief hesitation was fatal.
"Ah, my lovely angel—"
The male god stepped straight toward something hideous.
Instinct screamed at its highest pitch, and a single scene flashed through the rabbit's mind.
The day he shattered the moon with his own hands. The symbol of the sin he had committed.
The resentment of that day, which he would never forget, surged up all at once.
"Sto—"
Before the rabbit's trembling voice could reach him, the male god arrived before the monster.
"Stooooop!!!!!!!!!!"
"[Gospel]!"
Along with the rabbit's howl, the witch's magic shot out and swept over them.
But it was a step too late.
Just before the witch's magic could land, the monster opened its maw and swallowed the male god whole.
And then, in a flash—
The Dungeon went dark for a moment.
========================
The website for reading paid chapters is available on my Patreon. The number of chapters on Patreon: 83
Link: patreon.com/UltraMagnus_T