The sudden arrival of the strongest Xenos sent tremors of dread through Tsuna and the others.
"Supporter-kun, Haruhime-kun!?"
Hestia panicked as Lili and Haruhime, their faces drained of color, lost consciousness and collapsed. Welf and Mikoto had been forced to their knees, their bodies trembling, incapable of standing. The citizens hiding in the surrounding ruins had also fainted.
A [Howl]…!!
During their expedition with the Loki Familia, Lili had explained the concept of a [Howl] after recounting Bell's first encounter with a Minotaur.
A [Howl] was a unique, terrifying roar emitted by specific high-tier monsters. If an adventurer who lacked the necessary strength was subjected to it, the primal fear would forcibly paralyze their body, locking their nervous system in place.
Typically, a Minotaur's [Howl] could be easily resisted by anyone Level 2 or higher. However, the [Howl] emitted by this Black Minotaur had not only paralyzed Welf and Mikoto—both Level 2s—but had actively suppressed every single member of the Loki Familia, save for their elite executives.
That Minotaur…
Tsuna's Hyper Intuition flared violently toward the Black Minotaur. But knowing this was not the time to be distracted, he shook his head and forcefully banished the thought.
"Tione, dodge!!" Finn suddenly screamed.
The Minotaur lunged at Tione with explosive speed. She crossed her twin kukri knives to block, but the overwhelming kinetic force behind the Minotaur's left arm shattered her guard. She was launched backward, smashing through a stone wall and vanishing beneath the rubble.
"—Don't get cocky, you damn cow!!"
A second later, Tione blasted the rubble away, charging straight back at the Minotaur with lethal fury.
"I'll turn you into mincemeat!!"
Enraged by the humiliating blow, Tione unleashed a storm of ferocious, close-quarters martial arts strikes. Yet, the Minotaur didn't flinch. It met her head-on, returning her blows with equal savagery. Tiona and Bete quickly joined the fray to support her, but even in a three-on-one assault against First-Tier adventurers, the Minotaur refused to yield an inch.
What the hell is this guy…!!
Tione, Tiona, and Bete were the premier close-quarters brawlers of the Loki Familia, second only to Gareth in pure physical strength. The fact that the Minotaur possessed the combat prowess to fight all three simultaneously—and the absurd durability to shrug off their most devastating strikes without slowing down—left Tsuna in absolute awe.
"My body…"
"I can move…!?"
Tsuna ignited Sky Flames on his index fingers and pressed them against Mikoto and Welf's foreheads. Instantly, the paralyzing weight crushing their bodies vanished, replaced by a feeling of sudden lightness.
He had utilized the Sky Flame's Harmony trait to perfectly neutralize the physiological paralysis induced by the [Howl], restoring their nervous systems to normal. Because Lili and Haruhime were already unconscious, he couldn't wake them.
"Grab them and get out of here. Move Lili and Haruhime to a safe distance."
If they stayed, they risked being paralyzed by another [Howl]. If they were caught in the crossfire of a battle of this scale while immobilized, they would be slaughtered. Judging that securing their safety was the highest priority, Tsuna ordered them to retreat out of the [Howl]'s effective range.
Suddenly, the Minotaur reached back and gripped the handle of the colossal Great Axe slung across its back.
"—Run!!"
As a blacksmith, Welf recognized the apocalyptic danger radiating from that weapon. Tsuna scooped up Hestia, Welf grabbed Lili, and Mikoto carried Haruhime. The three of them sprinted away from the epicenter of the battle at top speed.
The Minotaur swung the Great Axe down with terrifying force, burying the blade into the cobblestone. A devastating shockwave of purple lightning erupted across the street.
A Magic Sword… The area of effect is massive!!
Seeing the expanding wave of high-voltage lightning, Tsuna calculated that escaping the blast radius in time was impossible.
"I'll absorb it!!"
"G-Got it!!"
Tsuna dropped Hestia and skidded to a halt, placing himself between the expanding lightning and his escaping friends. Trusting him, Hestia didn't look back, sprinting away as fast as she could.
The apocalyptic wave of lightning crashed into Tsuna.
"[Zero Point Breakthrough: Revised]."
Tsuna caught the lightning in his palms. The magical energy was rapidly siphoned into his gloves, spiking his flame voltage. Because Tsuna absorbed the brunt of the attack, Welf and the others escaped the blast radius unharmed.
Meanwhile, on the frontline, Bete had leaped forward, utilizing his magic-absorbing metal boots to negate a portion of the blast. Riveria deployed a defensive barrier, shielding the surrounding area and ensuring the Loki Familia suffered zero casualties.
Thank God Welf was here…
Tsuna's Hyper Intuition allowed him to perceive the true nature of living beings, but it was completely useless against inorganic objects. He hadn't realized the Great Axe was a Magic Sword until it was almost too late.
However, as a master smith, Welf possessed a profound, instinctual understanding of weaponry. He had recognized the Great Axe's true nature the instant the Minotaur touched it. If Welf hadn't warned them, their reaction would have been delayed, and they would have been caught in the lethal blast.
『VOOOOOOOOOOOH!!』
Tsuna's relief was shattered. The Minotaur's right arm was severed at the shoulder, the massive limb spinning through the air in a spray of crimson blood.
Despite Tione, Tiona, and Bete throwing everything they had at it, the Minotaur hadn't suffered a single scratch. Seeing its arm effortlessly severed in a single strike left everyone paralyzed by shock.
Ais…!!
While the rest of the battlefield stood frozen, trying to process what had just happened, Tsuna saw her. Ais, her body wreathed in the emerald winds of her [Ariel] magic, had severed the Minotaur's arm with a single, hypersonic strike.
Cloaked in wind, Ais utilized her overwhelming speed to dance around the Minotaur, unleashing a relentless barrage of slashes. Despite being pushed entirely on the defensive, the Minotaur roared and launched a desperate counterattack, clashing blades with the Sword Princess.
Despite losing its dominant arm, the Minotaur swung its remaining left arm with apocalyptic force, shattering the wind barrier coating Desperate through brute strength. Ais managed to block the colossal fist with the flat of her blade, preventing a direct hit to her body. However, the kinetic shockwave traveled straight through the unbreakable sword, violently rattling her bones and temporarily paralyzing her right arm.
"Pincer it, Ais."
"…Gareth, I can still—"
"I'm not letting you walk a tightrope with a numb arm. Enough with the stubbornness. Right, Finn?"
"Agreed. Well, with Gareth here, I suppose my assistance isn't strictly necessary."
Judging that fighting the Black Minotaur alone was too dangerous, Gareth and Finn smoothly integrated into the vanguard, surrounding the beast.
This is bad…
Having lost an arm and now facing the coordinated assault of Ais, Finn, and Gareth, the Minotaur was finally forced to its knees.
Suddenly, thick, choking black smoke billowed out from the surrounding alleyways, rapidly obscuring the battlefield.
A smokescreen… Backup!?
There was no tactical advantage for the Loki Familia to deploy a smokescreen in this situation. The only ones who stood to gain from blinding the First-Tier adventurers were the Xenos.
Under the cover of the smoke, Lyd unleashed a torrent of fire from his jaws, intentionally igniting the surrounding buildings. As the flames spread and chaos erupted, the injured Xenos used the distraction to break away from the frontline and retreat.
When the smoke finally began to clear, the Black Minotaur had vanished.
They escaped underground.
Tsuna deduced that the Xenos had utilized the massive craters left behind by the bizarre stone golems to retreat back into Knossos.
"I'm going after Wiene!!"
Finn and the executives prioritized extinguishing the spreading fires to protect the city over pursuing the Xenos. Trusting that Lyd and the others would successfully escape, Tsuna resolved to find Wiene, who had fled into the labyrinthine slums while in a state of mindless berserk. He used Mist Flames to disguise himself as a generic adventurer and sprinted off in the direction she and Bell had disappeared.
But even if I find her, what then…!?
Finding Wiene was one thing; stopping her was another. She was currently consumed by a mindless rampage. If her madness was the result of a magical charm, Tsuna could simply use the Harmony trait of his Sky Flames to purify the spell and restore her sanity. But her rampage was a biological, instinctual response triggered by the loss of her forehead gem. It was an inherent trait of her species, meaning Tsuna's flames were completely useless.
Unless he could trap her in a flawless, hyper-realistic illusion to pacify her, or somehow construct a physical replacement gem out of thin air, calming her was impossible. And since Tsuna wasn't a true illusionist, both options were far beyond his capabilities.
There has to be a way!!
As he sprinted through the winding alleys, Tsuna desperately racked his brain for a solution, but came up empty.
"That damn [Little Rookie]!!"
"He actually fired magic at us just to monopolize the loot for himself!!"
"That arrogant little shit!! Next time I see him, I'm going to kill him!!"
Bell…!!
Tsuna overheard a group of furious adventurers cursing Bell's name. A Vouivre's Tear was an incredibly rare drop item that fetched an astronomical price on the market. The adventurers believed Bell had attacked them solely to hoard the valuable gem for himself.
Tsuna knew perfectly well that Bell had only attacked them to protect Wiene. But realizing that Bell had already crossed the point of no return—burning bridges with his fellow adventurers and permanently staining his reputation—a bitter, sorrowful grimace twisted Tsuna's face. Still, he didn't stop running.
Over there!?
A deafening crash echoed through the slums. Certain that Wiene was at the epicenter of the destruction, Tsuna altered his course and bolted toward the sound.
A wave of panicked adventurers fled in the opposite direction. Tsuna deftly wove through the retreating crowd, pushing deeper into the danger zone.
That's…
Past the fleeing adventurers, Tsuna spotted two familiar figures standing near a collapsed wall. Gros and Ray.
"Gros, Ray!!"
There was no one else around, but in case they were being watched from the shadows, Tsuna maintained his disguise. Praying they would recognize his voice, he called out their names.
Hearing a human casually call their names startled the two Xenos, but remembering that Tsuna was an illusionist capable of altering his appearance, they instantly realized his true identity.
"Bell and Wiene are inside the crater in the plaza ahead!! Hurry!!"
"Got it!!"
Guided by Ray, Tsuna sprinted toward the plaza. Exactly as she had described, a massive crater had been blown into the center of the square. Without a second thought, Tsuna leaped into the abyss.
"Bell, Wiene!!"
He landed in the subterranean waterways beneath the city. He spotted the two figures huddled in the shallow water.
"Tsuna!! Wiene is…!!"
"!?"
Bell screamed, his voice breaking, tears streaming down his face. Tsuna rushed forward, his eyes widening in absolute horror as he saw the scene. Cradled gently in Bell's arms, Wiene's body was slowly crumbling, turning into fine ash that drifted away into the dark water.
"Bell… Tsuna…?"
Wiene's eyelids fluttered open, and she softly called their names.
"…I'm sorry…"
"You're going to be fine!! You're going to be fine!! I'm right here!!"
Desperate to reassure her, Bell tried to force a comforting smile, but his face was contorted in agonizing grief.
"I kept having… scary dreams… No one would save me… I was so scared…"
As her body continued to disintegrate, Wiene slowly raised her trembling hand and gently touched Bell's tear-stained cheek.
"But… this time… people came to save me…"
Bell, who had protected her from the other monsters in the Dungeon.
Tsuna, who had swooped in to save her when she was being stoned by the cruel citizens of the surface.
Hestia, Lili, Welf, Mikoto, Haruhime, Reborn, and all of her fellow Xenos.
In her final moments, the faces of the people who had given a lonely, terrified monster a place to belong flashed through her mind.
"I'm so happy…"
Tears spilled from her amber eyes, but a beautiful, radiant smile blossomed across her face.
"…I love you."
With those final words, Wiene's body shattered completely, reducing to a pile of grey ash that slipped through Bell's fingers.
----
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