For a moment, let's turn our gaze elsewhere.
Here is the port city of Melren.
All over the city, sudden outbreaks of man-eating monsters were appearing one after another, throwing the whole place into chaos.
And in the middle of all that, there were those who slipped out of sight to do shady things.
"Gehgehge! Hey, what's with you? You're way too slow, Sword Princess!"
"Tch."
Ais thought to herself.
The attackers were Amazons.
But they were not from Kali Familia.
That was because the monster in front of her... no, the bulky Amazon woman before her was not a stranger.
"Phryne Jamil...!"
Phryne Jamil, the man-hunter.
A Level 5 top-class adventurer and the nominal captain of Ishtar Familia.
Setting aside their old grudge, Ais had thought they would never meet again like this.
"Why are you here?"
Why had she attacked them?
Even in response to Ais's question, Phryne offered not a single excuse.
She only kept taunting Ais as if mocking her, letting out that unpleasant "gehgehge" laugh over and over.
Unable to get any answer from such one-sided hostility and ridicule, Ais gave up on asking.
"Out of the way...!"
Move!
Just as she was about to truly throw herself into the fight at last.
Tap.
"Huh?"
Something, very faintly.
For a split second, there was a vague sensation, as if something had brushed against her body.
At the same time.
Thud!
"Ghk!"
An unknown pressure.
No, a sense of helplessness and pain washed over her body.
Then.
"Now, Shalee!"
At Phryne's command, one of the Ishtar Familia members appeared from a nearby rooftop and pointed a staff at Ais.
At the same time, Ais felt the "wind" she had believed would stay with her forever suddenly scatter and vanish.
"This is... a curse?"
A curse that nullified magic, too.
The fact that the wind she always relied on had vanished without a trace was proof enough.
Uneasy, she muttered [Tempest] under her breath just in case, but nothing happened.
Her face naturally twisted in frustration.
Seeing that, Phryne laughed even more gleefully.
"Gehgehge! I prepared this specially just for you! Without that precious wind of yours, a plain ugly thing like you is absolutely nothing!"
And besides, I hear you, Sword Princess, just got promoted to Level 6 recently?
"How arrogant, for such an ugly little thing!"
Whoosh, crash!
Confirming that Ais's wind had been sealed, Phryne immediately went on the offensive.
Her monstrous axe hacking down mercilessly toward Ais.
Hastily drawing her sword, Ais blocked the attack.
"Ghk!"
"Gehgehgegek! You're weaker than I expected! I wasn't too sure since it came from those suspicious, ugly bastards, but they really did have something good after all, those sewer roaches!"
Fortunately, thanks to the [Indestructible] property, her weapon did not break.
But apart from that, Ais could do little more than be overwhelmed by Phryne's strength, unable to break free from the assault.
Her companions could not hide their shock at the inexplicable crisis before their eyes.
Especially Lefiya.
"A-Ais! What in the world happened to you?!"
What had they done to Ais?
At Lefiya's scream, thick with that question, Phryne generously answered the source of it all.
Of course, she still spoke in that mocking tone aimed at Ais.
"A curse keeps her from using her wind magic, and that 'shadow' has weakened her body. Honestly, I'm so sorry for her that I could cry."
Of course, that was a lie.
Gehgehgegegegegegegek!
A laugh so vulgar it was almost disgusting.
But now was not the time to worry about something so trivial.
At Phryne's arrogant confession, Lefiya hurriedly checked Ais's condition again.
Then, as expected.
"What is that...?"
Only then did it come into view for her as well.
Ais's shadow beneath her feet.
There, something extremely thin, like a sheet of paper.
A tiny shadow, fluttering like a paper doll, was clinging tightly to Ais's ankle.
And then.
Lefiya met the gaze of that strange existence.
Crack!
"Ah...!"
Kyaaaaaaaa!
With the sensation of something being torn apart, she felt unbearable pain in both eyes.
Then, as red tears of blood streamed down her face, her vision went black, and she collapsed like a cut string, unconscious.
Thud!
"Lefiya!?"
"Kyaa! L-Lefiya?!"
Her companion's sudden scream and withdrawal from the fight.
Everyone watching was shocked by the incomprehensible reality before them, but the reactions that followed were polar opposites.
Ishtar Familia wore cruel smiles.
Loki Familia's faces twisted with worry and confusion.
"Lefiya!"
"Gehgehgegek! Where do you think you're going!"
Crash!
Seeing Lefiya's strange condition, Ais hurriedly tried to rush over to her.
But there was no way her enemy, Phryne, would just let that happen.
"Moveeeee!"
"Gehgehgegek! If you can, then try it!"
Crash!
Their weapons collided.
But Ais still could not push this Amazon even a single step back, nor force her out of the way.
Even so, the helplessness controlling her body remained, and the faint pain she felt with it slowly grew larger, making its presence unmistakably known.
On top of that, Phryne herself was different from usual.
'This woman was definitely Level 5 not long ago, wasn't she?'
And yet the strength she felt was unmistakably Level 6.
She had never heard of Phryne accomplishing some great feat or living in the Dungeon, so this could not be a normal level-up.
'Then...'
Ais guessed that the sparkling particles of light flickering all over Phryne's body since a moment ago might be the source of that power.
In other words, the enemy was stronger than expected, and she herself was weaker than before.
And now Lefiya had suddenly been forced out of the fight in a serious condition.
Her heart was in a panic, but there was not even the tiniest sign of an escape route.
Clang!
"Ah...!"
"Gehgehgegek! It's over, Sword Princess!"
At last, as her weakened body changed under the strain of blocking Phryne's attacks, Ais lost her grip on her weapon.
The moment of utter crisis.
"Dieeeeeee!"
Phryne's cruel axe came crashing down toward her face at terrifying speed.
There was no way to block it, and no way to dodge it either.
"Ais!"
"N-no!"
Her companions' screams seemed to reach her in slow motion.
But faster than that was the shadow of death drawing closer and closer before her eyes.
Unable to hide her frustration, Ais shut her eyes.
Clang!
"Huh?!"
"Gegk! W-what is this?!"
Just as she was about to roll her body and struggle in a desperate attempt to resist.
Another bond, another fate, saved her from the crisis.
"Bell!"
"Ais, are you all right?"
It was a cliché line, but.
The "hero" had appeared here.
Loki versus Ishtar.
Bell Cranel had safely joined the battle.
"How did you get here?"
"I happened to spot Ais from over there, but you didn't look well, so... was I in the way?"
"No, it's fine."
Thank you for coming to help, Bell.
Smiling awkwardly, Bell apologized, and Ais shook her head and thanked him.
Bell Cranel, flustered and shy at hearing that she was glad.
Between the two of them, a warm, tingling air began to rise...
...or it would have, if not for Phryne's interruption, spat out with all the tact of a gob of phlegm on the roadside.
With that, Bell and Ais once again took up their battle stances.
"Ais, who is this?"
"Phryne Jamil. She's the captain of Ishtar Familia. Her level is 5... no, maybe 6."
"That means she's the same as Ais...!"
Having barged in midway, Bell turned a tense gaze toward the monster before him... no, toward Phryne Jamil, after Ais's explanation.
Phryne, too, seemed to finally realize who Bell was, and she showed a hint of curiosity.
"Ah? Now that I look, you're Hestia Familia's 'Little Rookie,' aren't you? Why are you in a place like this?"
But only for a moment.
Then, as usual, she showed off her filthy arrogance and swept her sticky, disgusting gaze over Bell from head to toe.
She was the very image of a toad inspecting prey it had already caught.
"Well, whatever. I've been bored lately since there haven't been any decent men around. This works out nicely. Your looks are exactly my type, so it's been a while since I found someone worth playing with, gehgehgegegek!"
"Ugh...!"
"Bell, don't look away. I understand how you feel, but still."
"I-I'll do my best...!"
Bell, receiving that disgusting look for the first time in his life, unconsciously took a step back.
But then he remembered Ais behind him and steeled himself once more.
"Now then, Little Rookie. Surrender your body to this world's greatest beauty at onceeeeee!"
"She's coming! Back me up, Bell!"
"...No, Ais."
I'll handle this.
And then came the line that was impossible to believe even after hearing it.
At that, Ais stared at the boy before her in surprise.
What? What did he just say?
"Bell?"
"I caught a glimpse while I was coming over here. Lefiya doesn't look good at all. And I know Ais isn't in good shape either for some reason. But right now, the other side is more urgent."
So please go over there, to your companions' side.
"I'll handle things here."
The boy's heartfelt resolve and will, free of any arrogance or foolishness.
Recognizing that in his words, Ais found him truly admirable.
How had that weak little boy grown so much before she even realized it?
But that was that.
Reality was still reality.
Ais's mind was neither young nor carefree enough to forget that truth, even for a moment.
"No way. No matter how much you've grown lately, Phryne Jamil is...!"
"It's okay."
I learned that men are supposed to push themselves in times like this.
Finishing that slightly boastful remark, Bell ran forward before Ais could even answer.
He ignored her calls from behind, trying desperately to stop him, and kept running.
His target was the bulky Amazon before him.
She was, like the person he admired, undeniably one of Orario's strong.
Crash!
"Gehgehgegegek! How bold of you to come charging in! You tiny rabbit! Did you get aroused after seeing the most beautiful body in the world?"
"Huu...!"
Without slowing down, he barely dodged Phryne's axe by a hair's breadth.
But before he could even catch his breath.
"Gehgehgegegek! Here I go again, Little Rookieeeeeee!"
Immediately after, even more violent and ferocious axe swings, like a storm of steel, came flying at the boy.
And facing that scene head-on.
"Bell Cranel."
I'm going!
Thud!
A mask was layered over his face.
Pure white, like snow.
A skull mask, resembling a rabbit from a winter mountain.
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