"Welf, Mikoto! The Xenos should be hiding in the sewers just ahead!"
"Understood, Lady Hestia."
Receiving Hestia's instructions, Welf and Lilli arrived at a collapsed well. Beneath it, Lyd and his companions were waiting.
"We finally reached the sky we longed for, yet here we are, forced to watch it from the shadows."
Lyd gazed up at the beautiful night sky. Even though he was breathing the air of the surface, the sense of joy and liberation he had expected was absent.
Perhaps merely being outside wasn't enough; something essential was still missing.
"....."
Wiene lowered her head, her expression clouded with gloom. Suddenly, a hand reached out and ruffled her hair.
"Hey, now. Why the long faces?"
"Akumo-san..."
"Where did that 'Mr. Optimist' go, Lyd?"
"But, because of us, the surface is..."
Thwack!
Akumo delivered a resounding flick to Lyd's forehead, cutting off his self-deprecation. His voice was calm and steady.
"It isn't solely your burden to bear."
"...Eh?"
"If you look at the process, it was the humans who forced you up here."
"But the result is still—!"
"The result is that no one has died."
"....."
Lyd chewed on Akumo's words. Akumo wasn't simply absolving them of blame. Because of that, his words carried more weight. It was proof that he truly viewed this incident as a conflict between people, not monsters and humans.
Step, step.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Welf-san, Mikoto-san!"
"Everyone, I am glad to see you are safe!"
Footsteps echoed from the other side of the waterway. Welf and Mikoto emerged from the darkness with smiles, greeting the Xenos they hadn't seen in some time.
"Will Bell be okay?"
Gros placed a heavy hand on Wiene's head, trying to reassure her. He was worried about Bell as well, but he had made his choice. He would believe in them.
"Trust the brat for now, Wiene."
"...."
"He's just repaying a debt, isn't he?"
"...Yes!"
Gros had decided to trust the humans who had chosen to save them.
"Lyd, if you would."
"Right."
Following Fels' signal, Lyd climbed up to the street level. He took a deep breath and let out a thunderous, primal howl.
"GRAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
It was the opening salvo, signaling the start of the operation.
"AWOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"ROAAAAAR!!!!!!!!!!!"
"GWAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"KYUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Starting with Lyd, the howls of countless Xenos echoed through the city, successfully announcing their presence to everyone in Orario.
"Ottar, can we talk?"
"Yes."
At the summit of Babel, the Goddess of Beauty sat leisurely, enjoying the view of the city below.
"I want you to move."
"However, everything I say from here on might end up being for nothing."
"Even I don't know how this will turn out."
"...Did you hear anything from that child?"
At Freya's question, Ottar recalled the conversation he had with his old friend a few days ago.
—'Is there anything you can tell me about this incident?'
—'Not really. It didn't seem like that big of a deal.'
—'...Are you serious?'
—'I only have one thing to say. I just fought and saved the people I crossed paths with.'
Ottar thought of the black Minotaur whose combat style felt familiar, and the hooded assailant who had fought his friend. He turned back to Freya.
"I heard nothing."
"Is that so?"
"However, regardless of what I may have heard, my duty to fulfill your divine will remains unchanged."
"Fufu... I wonder if everyone is being influenced by him?"
In the section of Orario the Goddess looked down upon, absolute chaos was unfolding.
"[Your wounds are mine. My wounds are mine.]"
'I'm scared...!'
"[Cinder Ella]"
'If something goes wrong, I'm going to resent you both!! Akumo-sama, Bell-sama!!'
Lilli's magic successfully transformed her into the likeness of the Almiraj Xenos, Alu. She threw herself into the street, drawing the eyes of every adventurer in the vicinity.
Crash!
"Kyuuu!"
She sprinted away, leading them into a secluded alley before immediately chanting the release.
"[The tolling of the twelve o'clock bell.]"
"Hey, you! Where did that Almiraj go?!"
"O-Over there..."
Fortunately, none of the adventurers recognized Lilli in her true form. They rushed past the alley, continuing their search for the monster.
"There it is!!!"
"No, it's over here!!!"
As Lilli repeated her transformations to lure the adventurers to designated locations, Bell moved in sync. The moment the crowd gathered at a specific point—
"It's [Little Rookie]!! He went into that house!"
"No! He ran that way!"
"Is there a swarm of monsters?!"
The gathered adventurers were hit by the hallucinogenic powder Naaza had scattered, making a proper search impossible.
"Heh, this really does cause hallucinations, doesn't it?"
"Where did Bell even get stuff like this?"
Watching the adventurers wander in confusion, Naaza remained hidden, moving to spread more powder for the next group. Bell, silently thanking Naaza, donned his invisibility cloak and slipped away through the streets.
"He vanished...?"
'No, I can still feel his presence.'
"There."
Ais realized Bell had been leading them on from the start. She prepared to track his presence, but—
"Sword Princess, I request a duel."
".....?"
'The one who was with Bell earlier...'
"Here? Now?"
Ais turned to see Ryu, her body enveloped in a glowing aura, standing before her with a calm voice.
"For tonight, I wish to hone my fighting spirit rather than my sense of justice."
'I cannot use magic if I want to keep my identity hidden, but...'
"Please, indulge me."
Gripping her signature weapon, [Fairy Leaf Dance], Ryu charged at Ais with an overwhelming pressure.
"...!"
'This aura... a Level Boost...!'
"[Awaken, Tempest.]"
Clang!
The blades of two warriors who had reached the same pinnacle clashed, signaling the start of a true battle.
'It's started.'
"Almiraj spotted to the south! Sightings reported in the southeast as well!"
"Bell Cranel has also been spotted in the southeast! It seems Ais-san is tied down!"
Sounds of combat and chaos flooded into the Loki Familia's command post. Despite the barrage of information, Finn maintained a strategy that kept their formation intact.
"Ignore Bell Cranel. Maintain current positions."
"Any news on the black Minotaur or the hooded figure?"
"Nothing yet, sir."
"I see. I'll go check the situation myself."
Finn prioritized the most dangerous threats while analyzing the current state of affairs with cold precision.
'Judging by the howls, the monsters are moving in a large group. The fact that we can't find them means it's either magic items, a path we don't know about, or both.'
Finn rested his spear on his shoulder and turned to his irritating friend, who was casually overlooking the Daedalus scenery.
"This is troublesome, Akumo."
"I'm just standing by in case of an emergency, right?"
"...Yes."
'I can't send him out recklessly and risk giving information to the enemy. I also need someone who can mitigate the damage if those specific entities show up.'
"You've used your head well."
"Is it only my head that's good?"
".....?"
Finn felt a prickle of unease at Akumo's words. He re-examined the enemy positions and their own defensive lines on the map, but found no obvious openings.
A few minutes passed. Just as he began to think his worry was misplaced—
BOOM!
"A monster army has suddenly appeared in the west!"
"What? What about Raul's defense?!"
Finn was stunned by the sudden collapse of the line he had trusted. Before he could analyze the situation, Raul and his group arrived in person.
"Raul? What are you doing here?"
"Eh? But the Captain told us to move to the center..."
"The Captain gave no such order!"
"But the Captain came to us himself and said..."
Aki continued to scold Raul, but Raul insisted he had received the order directly from Finn.
"Looks like you were tricked."
'You've got that intuition of yours, so you can handle a few tricks, right?'
Akumo, knowing this was Lilli's [Cinder Ella] at work, smiled quietly as he watched Finn take a rare hit to his pride.
"What is the enemy's path? Where are they heading?"
"They seem to be heading straight for the east!"
"The east?"
'We found four underground doors. If they're in the west, they should be heading northeast or southeast...'
'Is there another door we don't know about?'
Finn's intuition was correct, but the Xenos were already moving at high speed.
"There are almost no adventurers thanks to Bell-chi and Lilli-chi!"
"Don't drop your guard. They're coming!"
Fire magic flew toward them instantly, but it was easily blocked by Lyd, Ray, and Gros, who all possessed Level 5 strength.
"Hah!"
Ray's feather rain hampered the path of approaching adventurers, inflicting minor injuries to delay them.
"Archers, ready!"
"Fire—"
Crack!
Before they could release their arrows, Welf and Mikoto—hidden by invisibility cloaks—unleashed the ice of Welf's magic sword, binding the adventurers' bodies.
"With this, we can avoid destroying the city, Welf-dono!"
"Yeah!"
The Xenos advanced smoothly under Haruhime's guidance, but the resistance grew fiercer as they neared the exit.
"Now!"
"As if I'd let you!!"
"[Ice Edge]!!"
Welf intercepted three fireballs with his magic sword and suppressed the adventurers, bringing them closer to success.
"Good, keep moving!"
".....!!"
They only needed to reach the entrance. However, Lyd's senses suddenly screamed with a lethal threat, forcing his gaze toward the sky.
"HRAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!"
BOOM!
Shattering the ground as he landed was one of the Loki Familia's top executives, Gareth Landrock.
"Oops, did I overdo it? Finn and Riveria are going to give me an earful again."
Gareth looked at the destruction he'd caused with a troubled expression, then noticed his feet were encased in ice.
"A magic sword, eh?"
"We'll handle this guy. You guys go on ahead!"
Fels had no choice but to leave Gareth to Welf and Mikoto. He led the Xenos toward the entrance.
"...She's not here."
"You there! Keep run—"
"Wiene is gone."
A truly unforeseen disaster had struck them.
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