P/N let me know if there's any mistakes and I will try to fix them
CHAPTER 9
Dreams Of Beasts
A cracked and broken blue crystal pillar gave way and crashed to
the floor.
Piles of scattered debris were the only remnants of tents and
wooden buildings, while broken magic-stone products burned
amid the rubble. The town of outlaws had fallen silent amid
swelling dust clouds and pillars of smoke.
The Dungeon, eighteenth floor. The Under Resort.
On top of a large island in the middle of the lake on the west-
ern side lay the ruins of what once was the town of Rivira.
The walls of stone and crystal that encompassed the town were
badly damaged and crumbling from the north gate—a gruesome
record of the attackers' overwhelming onslaught. Blue and white
crystal stubs stuck out of the wreckage; the ground was strewn
with broken sword blades and shattered ax heads and splashes of
blood. The wreckage spoke to the residents' and adventurers' des-
perate attempt to fight back.
Smoke was still rising in small columns throughout the Dun-
geon's outpost town, now a mere shell of its former self.
"What have you done with my kind?! Out with it, human!!"
A deep, monstrous voice speaking in the language of the sur-
face echoed through the rubble.
An ash-colored stone gargoyle stood with its massive wings
spread wide over a male adventurer, who lay on his back with
both legs broken, at the end of a now abandoned street.
"Wha—huh…?! What're you talking about, freak…? I don't un-
derstand…!"
The man was one of the few adventurers who hadn't reacted to
the monsters' attack in time. He gasped at the pain while blood
gushed from his legs. With tears building in his eyes, the man
madly yelled at the ominous monster, insisting that the beast's
claims made no sense.
Fresh blood dripped from the goliath's stone claws—and Gros
bared his menacing fangs.
"Do not take me for a fool!! You reek of arachne acid!!"
"...?!"
"The will of my comrade says you're filth!!"
The human's face contorted as Gros bellowed each syllable
with burning rage.
It wasn't that the man had failed to escape in time. Unlike the
other adventurers, Gros and the other Xenos hadn't let him es-
cape.
He belonged to Ikelos Familia as one of the hunters who had
attacked Ranieh's group. The man left the group to receive med-
ical attention for the venomous burns and entered Rivira after the
hunt concluded, mingling with those who had a reason to hide
from the law.
The arachne poison's acidic fumes guided the Xenos to Rivira
just like a string of webbing would have. That was her goal all
along.
Monsters possessing an extremely acute sense of smell had no
trouble leading the others directly to the source.
Not only was destroying Rivira a way to weed out Ikelos's fol-
lowers, it also symbolized just how deep the Xenos's anger ran.
"Answer the question!! Where did you take my kind?!"
The gargoyle's grating yells continued as other Xenos with
Gros formed a threatening ring around the two of them. Terror
and despair flooded the man's face at the dozens of deafening,
beastly howls.
The other two hunters who accompanied him had been discov-
ered and slain soon after the attack on Rivira began.
The claws and fangs of the enraged Xenos had torn them
apart. Their shredded, bloody remains were sprawled out in front
of the monster ring.
With no way to talk his way out and no hope of escape, the
deathly pale man shivered as his trembling lips formed a smile.
"HAH! HA-HA-HA!…It'd be pointless to tell you, 'cause you'd
never make it…!"
He forced a brave face and tried to toy with his captors—but
when Gros plunged a merciless claw straight into his shoulder,
the man's laugh turned into a high-pitched scream. "KYAHHHH-
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" he yelled as blood
sprayed from his wound like a geyser.
"Speak!! Spit it out!!"
The gargoyle leaned in, his fangs close enough to sink into the
man at any moment.
Gros's terrifying interrogation was too much to handle, and
the man quickly gave in.
But rather than speaking, he lifted the only appendage still
under his control, his right arm, and pointed.
That trembling finger was aimed away from the island town—
toward the forest that dominated the east.
"The forest…? Where in the forest?! Tell me what is there!"
"E-east edge…There's a door…!"
Gros glared down menacingly at the man whose face was a
mess, covered in rivers of tears and snot.
The Xenos were familiar with many Frontiers, like their Hid-
den Villages, as well as many shortcuts that adventurers didn't
know existed, but none of them had ever heard of the door on the
eighteenth floor.
Gros reared back with a howl, hoping to extract more informa-
tion out of him, but…
"Like I said, you don't have one of those, so you'll never make
it inside…!"
"Explain!!"
"It's pointless…! Just give up…!!"
The man's answer made one thing clear: they were wasting
time on a pointless interrogation.
The gargoyle's stone-cold expression shifted into a fierce
scowl, glaring with fire in his eyes at the Ikelos Familia hunter
who had outlived his usefulness. His claws swiped down.
Ignoring the severed hand rolling across the floor, Gros turned
to face his fellow Xenos and spoke.
"To the east! The surface dwellers have our comrades in a base
on the forest's eastern edge!! Find it!!"
The monsters' instantaneous howl of approval rumbled down
the flattened street once the order was given.
They took the shortest route, a straight line leading east. The
Xenos who couldn't fly bounded down the sheer cliffs around
Rivira while winged monsters took to the air, their eyes locked on
their target.
"—Gros!"
The gargoyle was just about to join them when another Xenos
called out to him.
He turned to look where his comrade was pointing—the eigh-
teenth floor's southern edge.
"Those are…!!"
A group of adventurers emerged from the tunnel that con-
nected to the seventeenth floor.
"Rivira…!"
Bell spotted pillars of smoke rising from the west the moment
he emerged from the dim, rocky tunnel.
The subjugation team tore through the Dungeon at a break-
neck speed and arrived on the eighteenth floor in record time.
Ganesha Familia's elites single-handedly eliminated the mon-
sters in their way without breaking stride on the trip down, while
Bell was the only one gasping for breath and struggling to keep
up in his supporter garb.
The thirty-member subjugation team arrived at the scene and
wasted no time jumping into action.
"Commander, your orders…!"
"Wait, sister—look there!"
The Amazon Ilta interrupted Modaka and pointed high above
their heads.
Several dark shadows were flapping along in unison just be-
neath the ceiling's bright crystal lights.
"Winged monsters…wearing armor."
Shakti had difficulty believing what she could still clearly see.
Monsters equipped with protected plates and other armor. Ac-
cording to their information, these were the monsters that had at-
tacked Rivira, and what they had been sent to tame.
Ganesha Familia's strongest adventurers narrowed their eyes,
making Bell even more nervous, and stepped out of the tunnel.
The group marched directly through the thin forest in their path
and dashed into the vast plains beyond.
"…! There's other monsters, in the plains…!"
"Moving eastward…to the forest? Why would they be going
there?"
Coming from where Rivira stood on the western side of the
floor, they dashed across the plains and passed the Central Tree
entirely, going into the lush forest to the east.
Ganesha Familia watched the group of monsters, who out-
numbered their winged companions, travel across the landscape.
As for why the monsters that had destroyed Rivira would go
into the large forest, the subjugation team could only guess.
"Sister, what say you?"
"…We'll split in two. Momonga, take a small team to Rivira!
See if there are any survivors!"
"Yes, ma'am! Also, my name is Modaka!!"
"The rest of you, with me! We follow the monsters into the for-
est!"
The young man, his name mistaken yet again, swiftly assem-
bled a team of five adventurers to join him before separating from
Shakti's main force. Bell paused for a moment at the back of the
formation as both groups took off in opposite directions, wonder-
ing which way he should proceed, when…
"Let's make for the forest."
"Fels!"
"Rivira is likely little more than a ghost town. Lido was among
the group that went east."
Fels, practically invisible at Bell's side, conveyed the informa-
tion.
It was true; Bell had seen them as well.
He had seen a siren and gargoyle among the winged monsters
in the air. And the ground procession included a lamia, a troll, a
unicorn…and a lizardman racing across the plain.
The truth was starting to set in for Bell, his heart pounding
harder than ever before. The boy was relieved not to see the
dragon girl among their ranks at first, but then it made him un-
easy.
With a deep breath to calm the surge of complicated emotions,
Bell gave Fels a nod and turned to follow the larger group. He
pumped his arms and ran so fast that his robe flapped behind
him like a flag in the middle of a storm.
The dense, thick forest that stretched from the southern edge
all the way to the eastern perimeter of the eighteenth floor was
shaped like a massive gulf, the perfect spot for a port if the safe
point in the Dungeon were connected to an ocean. It was enor-
mous, covering more than one fifth of the Under Resort. Com-
pared to the southern region of the floor, the foliage of the east-
ern and southeastern areas was a deeper green, and the trees
were noticeably bigger.
Moss grew on the exposed tree roots. Tall trees formed a thick
green canopy far overhead. Pristine blue rivers snaked along the
ground. The trickling sound of water filled the air. White and blue
crystals so large they could have been mistaken for shortswords
sparkled. All this dreamy, beautiful landscape was nothing but a
blur. Bell was so focused on keeping up with the subjugation
team that he didn't have time to wonder if the invisible Fels was
still with him.
Then Shakti, who had kept a consistent eye on the winged
monsters far overhead through the branches and leaves at the
head of the formation, raised her arm. It was a signal to her sub-
ordinates. They were on course to intercept their targets. The
long-awaited encounter was upon them.
Bell braced himself for the moment. But before he got close
enough to see the monsters himself, snarling howls drew his at-
tention elsewhere.
"Huh…?"
"What the hell is…!"
Ganesha Familia accelerated toward the ferocious roars com-
ing from just ahead and saw—monsters locked in an all-out brawl
to the death.
"They're fighting each other…!"
The leader Shakti, the Amazon Ilta, and the other members
squinted and tilted their heads, struggling to comprehend what
was going on.
In fact, the only ones who understood what they were seeing
were Fels and Bell.
The Xenos, targeted by both humans and monsters like them-
selves, were under attack.
At first glance, Bell didn't realize that the monsters hell-bent
on tearing their opponents apart were the ones he'd shaken
hands with only a few days ago. Their aura was so different. It
was almost as though bloodthirsty savages were hacking and slic-
ing their way through obstacles—bugbears and mad beetles—in
their way.
Bell stared from beneath his hood, eyes trembling, when one
of the Xenos realized they had company.
Suddenly—the Xenos let out a roar and charged without a sec-
ond thought.
"?!"
Battle broke out before Bell and Fels could process their shock.
Seeing humans reignited the Xenos's rage, and their bloodshot
eyes pulsed as they descended upon the newcomers with beastly
vengeance.
"Forward, my warriors!!"
Shakti spoke with calm determination, the rest of Ganesha Fa-
milia howling their own war cries behind her.
The clashing of swords echoed through the forest.
"Sister! Do we have to tame each one of these things?"
"Only the subspecies! Focus on the ones wearing armor!"
Without warning, all the monsters that had been fighting
among themselves suddenly turned to attack the adventurers in a
mad rush. Supporters hastily drew taming whips, passing them to
Shakti as she issued orders to Ilta.
Their targets were easily distinguishable. Monsters fighting
with nothing more than the claws and skin they were born with
stood out from the ones equipped with blades and steel. There
was no question their focus was on the latter.
But above all—they were strong. Even if their targets weren't
wearing armor, the adventurers could tell the difference immedi-
ately on contact.
The bugbears and mad beetles fell easily, but they were at a
loss as to how to handle the armed monsters. Ganesha Familia
members scrunched up their faces in frustration as their weapons
were effortlessly knocked away time and again.
"Fels—!"
"ORHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"—Gah!"
Bell became separated from Fels in the surge of enemies. It
took all he had just to keep his feet. With no time to draw his
knife, he dove, jumped, and evaded incoming claws and fangs
until he was forced to defend with the gauntlets beneath his robe.
The battle inside the lush forest had become a three-sided
free-for-all.
"Those Ganesha Familia guys are losing ground."
—A few sets of eyes watched from a high vantage point not too
far behind.
Aisha, Lyu, and Asfi lurked behind a thick bush as they ob-
served the tide of battle.
The three women had followed Bell and the rest of the subju-
gation team all the way here, staying far enough behind to avoid
detection. The unexpected battle was well under way when they
arrived.
"The armed monsters…they're strong. Some more so than oth-
ers, but all are combat veterans."
"Yeah, and their blood's boiling by the look of them. Good luck
trying to tame that. So it looks like 'Ankusha' and the other lead-
ers are holding their own…"
"Well, that's assuming they can even be tamed at all."
Asfi remarked in a quiet voice next to Lyu as the elf removed
her helmet, appearing out of thin air.
Ganesha Familia had more first-tier adventurers than any
other familia in Orario, eleven in total. All of them might only
have been at Level 5, but they could safely travel well into the
deep levels on expeditions, making the group one of the
Labyrinth City's prominent familias.
Now, the subjugation team was composed of thirty adventur-
ers all at Level 3 and above. There was no shortage of first-tier
adventurers in their ranks.
However, being straddled with the unfortunate obligation to
tame these monsters meant Ganesha Familia couldn't fight at
full strength. This unorganized scuffle of a battle only made mat-
ters worse.
But their biggest fear was the armored monsters' power.
At the very least, three of them—a gargoyle, a siren, and a
lizardman—had demonstrated the potential to go toe to toe with
the subjugation team's first-tier adventurers and come out on
top. Stone wings went from being a shield one moment to a blunt
weapon the next; powerful sound waves blasted from overhead; a
longsword and scimitar moved with a skill belied by the wielder's
wild techniques. Other than Shakti, the adventurers were forced
to defend lest the vicious counterattacks finish them off.
With access to a plethora of information, Asfi had been aware
of the Xenos's existence beforehand. She stayed calm, carefully
observing the situation from afar.
"Asfi, Leon. Please avoid unnecessary engagements. Explain-
ing ourselves if we're seen will cause more trouble than it's worth.
Our purpose here is only to collect information and to serve as
Bell Cranell's—"
Whoosh. Lyu suddenly stood up in the middle of Asfi's direc-
tions.
"I shall assist."
"Huh, wai—Leon!"
The elf warrior's sense of justice wouldn't allow her to sit on
the sidelines and watch Ganesha Familia suffer.
"Moreover, we have lost sight of Mr. Cranell. I shall fight and
search at the same time."
"Aren't you being a bit overprotective there? That kid can fend
for himself when he has to."
"You are the one who brought me here for the sole purpose of
protecting him…or am I to believe that you will stay behind?"
"Oh, you know I'm going."
Ignoring Asfi's gaping mouth, the Amazon Aisha lifted her
thick wooden sword and placed it on her shoulder with excite-
ment.
"A-at least wear the helmets! It's much easier to move when
unseen, and convenient besides…!"
"I have a natural aversion to hiding my form in battle. Cow-
ardly tactics don't suit me."
"I don't need it, either. All helmets and armor do is get in the
way, am I right?"
Asfi reached out, glasses sliding down her nose. "Wait…!!" she
cried out in vain as Lyu and Aisha discarded their Hades Head
items on the ground. Battle cloth shifting as they turned, the two
women raced into battle.
Perseus custom-made rare magic items, worth hundreds of
thousands of valis each, lay abandoned on the floor.
"I swear…!!"
Asfi quickly moved to collect them. The item maker, whose life
work had been rejected, left her Hades Head right where it was
and stayed invisible.
The fierce battle between surface people and monsters continued
to escalate.
With the need to tame their adversaries holding them back,
the adventurers fought hard as the monsters unleashed their
rage.
The armed monsters—even the humanoid Xenos—were
doused in fresh blood.
It hid their normally tidy appearances and formed an outward
sign of their inner fury, transforming them into hideous beasts.
Pupils narrowed to vertical slits, dripping in the blood of their
victims, they overwhelmed the adventurers.
" !!"
"Guh…!"
The Amazon Ilta fell to one knee after taking the brunt of one
of the golden-winged siren's malicious sound blasts.
The two had been fighting at a blistering pace, zipping from
tree to tree. The Amazon's punches and kicks tore through the
air, but her opponent's ranged attack also damaged her nearby al-
lies. With no answer for the siren's troublesome technique, it was
only a matter of time before the first-tier adventurer took a hit.
The siren flapped its wings, launching a volley of feather bul-
lets directly at Ilta—but…
"Careful there!"
"!"
A large wooden blade swung in from out of nowhere, deflect-
ing every bullet in one swoop.
"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?!"
"?!"
Aisha kicked off a nearby tree into the air and forced the siren
to jerk out of the way of her oncoming heel.
Ilta, arms still raised to protect herself, watched in shock.
"Antianeira?! Why are you here?!"
"Don't get hung up on small details, Amazoness. Let me get in
on this."
Aisha looked over her shoulder with a grin the moment she
landed.
"Besides, you could use some help, right?"
"…Enough sass. Defend us while we tame!"
Ilta shouted and slammed the whip in her right hand into the
ground hard enough to send a plume of dirt into the air as she
and Aisha raced back into the fray.
"Their strength is undeniable—but their rage blinds them."
"GAH!" a monster shrieked.
"While they are a force to be reckoned with head-on, they are
vulnerable to sneak attacks."
While the Amazonian warrior went her own way, delivering
blow after powerful blow, Lyu dropped into battle from a tree
overhead with her wooden sword ready to strike. She locked on to
an armored silverback's head and knocked it out with one blow.
Lyu appeared just in time to save a male adventurer from cer-
tain death. Dumbfounded, he stared at her while she readjusted
her hood to keep her face hidden.
"Y-you! Who are you? What are you?!"
"…Just a traveler passing through."
"You can't be serious!!"
Ganesha's antics had made his followers familiar with the art
of responding to nonsense. The unknown hooded adventurer
joined the battle in support while others chimed in.
"Reinforcements…? Must be adventurers who came up from
the deep levels. Then again, that elf…"
Shakti took notice of Lyu and Aisha almost immediately. She
realized that having two warriors not restricted to taming in bat-
tle could be advantageous. After sending a charging troll flying
backward with a single punch, she whirled away from a unicorn
trying to skewer her and knocked it off balance with her whip.
The monster spun to the ground.
Her battle cloth probably would have been more appropriate
at a festival rather than the battlefield. The long slits in the fabric
allowed her freedom of movement and whipped around as the
other members of Ganesha Familia regrouped around her.
"SHAAA!!"
"Wh…?!"
Elsewhere, Bell was struggling to defend himself just beyond
the newcomers' range.
A lamia's long, sharp blades flashed out of his line of sight. Its
green hair, splattered with just as much blood as its face, billowed
behind it. A putrid smell assaulted Bell's senses as the creature
attempted to slice him apart.
A combination of fear and sorrow prevented the boy from call-
ing out to the Xenos who had once shaken his hand. Bell's throat
tightened, his eyes filled with anguish.
"!"
He tried to jump past the lamia to dodge a swipe, but it drove
its bladelike claws straight through his robe.
Bell lost his disguise along with his backpack and revealed
himself to the battlefield.
The Xenos fighting the forest monsters were on the verge of
regrouping despite the adventurers surrounding them, when sud-
denly—
"GRAAAAAAAAHH!!"
A single lizardman burst through, appearing from between an
adventurer locked in combat with monsters.
—Lido!!
The lizardman charged headlong toward the momentarily
frozen Bell.
Rather than using the longsword and scimitar strapped to its
sides, it grabbed hold of both of Bell's shoulders and drove him to
the ground instead.
"—Why have you come, Bellucchi?!"
"?!"
The lizardman was several times heavier than Bell and over-
powered him as they rolled across the forest floor, but he spoke
like a sentient being. The two became entangled, moving away
from the battle as Bell got an eyeful of Lido's monstrous face.
Next, Lido used the centrifugal force to throw Bell farther into
the forest.
When the lizardman jumped back to his feet in pursuit, Bell
understood what he was trying to do. So rather than fight his mo-
mentum, he let it carry him even farther away from the battle.
"Newcomers…More surface dwellers have come!"
A fair distance away from Lido and Bell's scuffle at almost the
same time…
The gargoyle Gros studied the tide of battle from behind the
Xenos's line.
His eyes narrowed at Lyu and Aisha, glaring with hatred as his
kind fell into disarray.
"—Gros!"
"Fels?!"
Gros turned to the side at the sound of his name.
Out of the adventurers' sight, the black-robed mage appeared
in a crystal pillar's shadow.
Casting the veil aside to disable the invisibility, Fels called out
to the airborne gargoyle.
"Bring an end to this battle at once!! There is no point to our
conflict!"
"No!! Should we stand down now, those adventurers will
slaughter us!"
"I promise you, I will not allow that to happen! Please listen
—!"
Clashing metal and the roars of battle drowned out the conver-
sation.
Fels pleaded with the Xenos leader, desperate to convince him
to see reason within the chaos, but…
"Then make the adventurers retreat!! We will rescue our com-
rades!"
"?!"
"You promise with words, show me action!"
Fels had no immediate response for Gros's demand from over-
head.
The goliath looked down at the mage, then howled with an ex-
plosion of anger as if he already knew the answer.
"That's impossible, right, Fels?! Because at the heart of it, you
are on their side!!"
"...!"
"You must put humans first, not us! You could never under-
stand our rage!!"
Nearly fifteen years had passed since Fels first made contact
with the Xenos.
It had taken many conversations over those longs years to es-
tablish trust.
However, the gargoyle was so consumed with rage that he had
forgotten the bond they shared.
"I will not be swayed by your sweet words!"
"Gros, I'm…!"
"It's far too late now!!"
Gros turned his back on Fels as if to signify the end of the con-
versation and chase away the last of his doubts.
He took off deeper into the forest, ash-gray throat wide open
and pulsating.
" OOo!!"
It was a howl directed to his fellow Xenos.
He called to his companions fighting in the forest with a sound
human ears couldn't distinguish.
It was an order to search for their kind, and to follow him.
—Rei, keep the humans distracted!
—Understood.
The gargoyle made eye contact with another airborne Xenos,
the golden-feathered siren, just before leaving the battlefield.
Rei, whose face was just as bloody and filled with rage as the
other Xenos's, led a group of their comrades into the fray out of
the corner of his eye, and Gros turned his attention to the eastern
edge of the forest, his destination.
"Lido…!"
In a small clearing a great distance away from the tree-lined
battlefield…
Bell and Lido stood face-to-face in a clearing surrounded by
thick tree trunks and tall blue-and-white crystals.
"Why…Why did you come here, Bellucchi…?!"
Roars of battle were off in the distance.
Nothing stood between them in this place Lido had chosen for
their discussion.
In any case, he didn't want their reunion to be like this.
Clutching a scimitar and longsword, the lizardman narrowed
his reptilian yellow eyes as though trying to bear great pain.
"I heard…I heard that Rivira, the adventurers' town, was de-
stroyed by monsters armed with weapons…! Was it…was it really
the Xenos? Did you guys do it?"
"…Yes. We attacked it."
At those words, Bell remembered the face of a brokenhearted
girl.
"But why?!"
"My comrades were murdered…by adventurers in that town.
No, by hunters."
His rubellite eyes opened wide.
Lido continued, strengthening the verbal assault on the mo-
tionless boy.
"Those humans also took Wiene and Fia…!"
Bell's blood turned to ice.
Hunters had captured Wiene—Ikelos Familia?
The god Ikelos's unnerving smile appeared in the back of Bell's
mind.
The possibility had been eating away at him since the begin-
ning, and now he knew it was true. Buckets of cold sweat poured
from his skin.
"Sorry, Bellucchi…Turns out we're just as the surface races
say: monsters."
"Huh…?"
"I tried to stop them, all of them. But it was no use!"
He couldn't stop Wiene from being taken and couldn't stop his
kind.
Lido offered an apology, stewing in his own uselessness. A
powerful resolve soon took its place, however.
"But it's not only them. I'm just as furious!! Can't control…the
rage…!"
Bell gasped as he saw the lizardman's irises split in two, the
whites of his eyes turn bloodshot and become their natural form.
"I thirst for revenge, to kill the ones who killed my…!!"
Bell could see every muscle in the monster's body twitch, as if
preparing to charge and exact revenge right now.
Lido's eyes pulsed, and Bell knew his monster instincts were
taking over.
He lost himself for a moment and took an involuntary step
back. Bell desperately tried to force his muscles to stay in place.
—But that's…
The same as humans.
Humans also burned with indignation should anything hap-
pen to their friends and allies.
All the emotions coursing through Lido and the other Xenos
right now were not monstrous.
Bell opened his mouth to put his thoughts into words, but
nothing came out. Those thoughts remained silent, buried in his
heart.
"Our comrades are here, in the eastern forest."
"…! How did—?"
"Forced it out of a hunter in the town; he said there's a door
around here. We're going to rescue Wiene and Fia."
Bell was stunned, but it made sense. All the Xenos's seemingly
bizarre actions now made sense.
There was so much he had to think about.
However, right now, Wiene being in captivity came first.
"—Lido, I'm coming, too."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than—
"Stay back!!"
Lido swung the longsword, slicing into the ground at his feet.
Bell immediately shielded his face with his arms from the on-
coming wave of rocks and dust.
"...!"
Bell had to swallow his surprise as soon as his vision recov-
ered.
A long, deep crack had appeared in the ground between him
and Lido, separating the two.
A visual barrier keeping their worlds apart.
"Bellucchi, do not cross. Go back."
"Lido…?"
"We're finished. There's no taking back what's done. Our
dreams will never come true," the lizardman stated, tightening
his grip on both swords. All hope was lost.
"But even so, we will stop at nothing to free our comrades…!!"
However, the fighting spirit in his eyes was still burning
bright.
"We will take Wiene and Fia back…So Bellucchi, stay out of it."
"...!"
"If you're seen with us, you're finished, too. All of this is our
fault. I don't want you involved."
Please don't cross that line.
Lido was pushing him away.
He was trying to keep him off the path to ruin.
He was trying to keep his burning hatred for surface people at
bay.
He was afraid of being betrayed.
Bell couldn't move under the gaze of those beady reptilian yel-
low eyes, contorted with pain.
No, he didn't move.
He couldn't bring himself to agree with what the "monster"
was saying.
"…What are you hanging around for, Bellucchi? What if you're
seen?! Go back to the surface, back to Lillicchi and the rest!!"
Bell bit his lip, trying to gain control of his trembling body
with Lido's fuming voice in his ears.
His knees shook, his gaze was locked with Lido's, and he
wouldn't tear his eyes away.
Crystal light flashed off the lizardman's two blades, burning
his eyes.
As far-off echoes overtook them—the gargoyle had left the bat-
tle.
"You are human, Bellucchi! Don't waste time worrying about
monsters!!"
"Lido…"
"Go!"
"Lido…!"
"Get out of here!!"
"Still, I—!"
Bell took one step closer, over the crack in the ground. Lido
didn't let him finish.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
A shiver of fear traveled down his spine at the monstrous roar.
The boy's face contorted, his spirit broken as the lizardman
howled his flat-out refusal.
"—Mr. Cranell!"
""!""
A sharp voice sounded; a thin wooden sword flashed between
the two of them immediately afterward.
Lido deftly dodged the attack aimed in his direction, jumping
back as a hooded adventurer wearing a torn cape landed in front
of Bell.
The lizardman took one look at the elf protecting the boy be-
fore spinning around and racing off in the other direction.
Bell was left behind, watching that thick tail disappear into the
trees.
"Are you injured, Mr. Cranell?"
"…Miss…Lyu? Why…?"
"I shall provide details at a later time. For now, it is dangerous
to proceed on your own. Rendezvous with Ganesha Familia for
the time being."
Lyu, who had followed the lizardman's howl to the clearing,
turned to leave.
Although Bell saw her cape flowing from her back, he stood
firm, as if his feet were nailed to the spot…and looked down.
"Mr. Cranell?"
Realizing the boy hadn't followed, the elf turned to face him.
"I'm sorry, Miss Lyu…"
Then Bell looked up to meet her gaze.
"That monster…I'm going after that lizardman."
"!"
Lyu recoiled in surprise beneath her hood as he shouted what
was in his heart.
"I…have to follow that lizardman…!"
The boy might have been on the verge of tears, but there was
no wavering in Bell's eyes.
Lyu fell silent before him.
"May I know your reasoning?"
"..."
Bell responded with only silence when she finally spoke up.
Lyu studied him, unblinking.
Her sky-blue eyes probed his rubellite ones.
"Have you not been drawn into the Evils's…Ikelos Familia's
foul plot? I have heard as much."
"!"
"You have not been yourself as of late. Syr is worried...As am
I."
"..."
"Your reasoning for chasing after that monster is a mystery to
me. However, I…I do not want you involved with that familia."
With eyes full of unrestrained emotion, Lyu extended her right
hand to the boy as though sensing danger, as though afraid of
what was to come.
Just as on that day when they shook hands on this very floor.
"Will you not return to the surface?"
Bell didn't look away.
He stepped away from the hand trying to stop him.
That step took him across the crack in the floor, bringing back
the painful memories of how it got there—and thus Bell retreated
from Lyu, just as Lido had done to him moments ago.
"I see…"
A second silence fell. Lyu looked away from the fiercely deter-
mined boy.
It pained Bell to turn a cold shoulder to one so kind, but he
knew he needed to endure. Suddenly, an incredibly powerful
noise from the battlefield blew through the trees.
A siren's song of destruction was protecting the Xenos's rear
flank.
Lyu narrowed her eyes at the rush of sound that was far more
powerful and damaging than those thus far.
Then she made eye contact with Bell once again.
"You have become a full-fledged adventurer."
"Miss Lyu…"
"Any attempt to stop you would be futile. Follow it."
Lyu pulled a small pouch from her waist as she spoke.
She then proceeded to pull out an assortment of high potions
and other healing items.
"However, I will be following right behind you…Once the sub-
jugation team is out of danger," she added.
Bell couldn't turn her down.
He had no choice but to accept.
"Thank you very much…and sorry."
Bell took off at a sprint.
He sensed Lyu run off in the opposite direction behind him as
he tightened the pouch's drawstring and raced forward.
"Dix, word is that the monsters are closin' in on our base."
Dix looked up at the stone-slab ceiling once he heard Gran's
report.
"Baroy or somebody couldn't keep their mouth shut…I'd love
to drive my fist through their faces, but they're probably already
dead anyway."
Sitting on top of a small, empty cage, the man in goggles
started laughing in joyous anticipation.
He then looked back toward his subordinate and lobbed some-
thing over to him.
The large man caught the piece of processed metal, an ingot
that fit in the palm of his hand.
"Gran. Open the door, would you?"
"D-Dix? Are you sure? If monsters get in here…"
"Ganesha's followers can't be far behind 'em. It'd be real an-
noying if they got suspicious, seeing a whole bunch of monsters
hanging around outside."
The man grinned below his goggles.
"I say we give the monsters a little invitation."
A dark, evil chuckle came from his throat.
"We hunt on our home turf."
"Gros!"
"You're late, Lido!"
The lizardman caught up with the gargoyle leading the Xenos's
advance.
They had arrived at the forest's eastern rim. The end of the
floor. A steep rock face rose all the way to the ceiling in front of
them.
There was no way forward. The ground didn't go any farther
than this.
Many Xenos were scouring the vegetation and crystal pillars
for clues, combing the area for any minor detail they might have
missed, leaving no stone unturned.
"What of the door? Have you found it?"
"No, there's nothing here!! Our comrades won't answer, no
matter how much we call!"
Gros was getting anxious. Lido joined the search, his field of
vision obscured by trees or stone in every direction. Nothing
seemed out of place in the repetitive scenery.
Perhaps they had been deceived after all. Gros, Lido, and the
other Xenos fought to remain calm as a certain hunter's last
words—You don't have one of those, so you'll never get inside!—
rang in their ears.
"—Lido!"
That's when it happened.
A red-cap goblin cried out in shock as it pointed.
Lido's gaze followed the goblin's extended finger.
"That's…"
Bell was dashing through the trees, jumping over roots that criss-
crossed the ground like giant tentacles, when suddenly a black
shadow came into view.
"Fels!"
"Bell Cranell! You've come!"
Long robe flapping, Fels joined Bell to run by his side.
"Are you all right?" asked the mage with a sigh of relief once
they were shoulder to shoulder.
"Yes!" Bell answered.
"I made contact with Gros, but it was no use. He mentioned
something about taking back his kind…The only conclusion I can
draw is that the hunters sparked their attack. Nothing can stop
the Xenos now."
"I spoke with Lido!"
Bell recounted his conversation with the lizardman. He told
Fels that several Xenos were killed, that Wiene and Fia had been
captured, everything.
A painful groan escaped from beneath Fels's hood.
"While I do not want to admit it, the hunters were a step
ahead…I believe it is safe to assume that they belong to Ikelos Fa-
milia."
"…!"
"But this door you mentioned…Does it lead to the enemy's
home base?"
Fels and Bell exchanged words as they advanced, matching
each other stride for stride.
"Fels, what about…the Xenos fighting Lyu and the subjugation
team? What about them…?"
"Not an issue. Ganesha Familia has been ordered to tame
them. I doubt any of the Xenos will die. I'm more concerned
about the tamers, to tell the truth. The Xenos are not themselves
at the moment…although, now that Gros and Lido have left the
battle and divided their forces in half, I'm sure those fears are un-
necessary."
Fels explained that now was Ganesha Familia's chance.
"We might have failed to convince them to retreat, but we are
able to move about unimpeded. Now, we must find and infiltrate
this hidden base."
"I'm right behind you…!"
At last, a clue to find the hunters was in their grasp. The mem-
ory of Wiene's tears when they parted ways spurred Bell onward,
and he picked up speed alongside Fels.
The dome of branches overhead thinned, and the trees in their
path parted to reveal a stone wall. A cluster of blue crystal pillars
stood in an oddly circular formation nearby. But the two figures
didn't bother taking in the view, instead rushing at top speed to
reach their destination.
"Is this it…?"
"Yes, the eastern edge of the forest and our destination. How-
ever…"
Fels's voice trembled slightly next to a startled Bell, who sur-
veyed the area after coming to a stop.
"The Xenos are nowhere to be found…Disappeared? Incon-
ceivable."
They had followed the path of destruction the Xenos made on
their way through the forest, and there were uprooted plants and
broken crystals scattered everywhere. The Xenos were here, of
that they were certain.
But they were nowhere to be seen. Bell and Fels listened
closely to their surroundings, but there was nothing.
The Xenos had vanished. All those monsters were gone, in the
blink of an eye.
"What exactly is the door? Did they find it…?"
The two stood back to back, scanning the area with increasing
urgency.
But they couldn't find any spot, any clue that would signal the
existence of a "door." Between the eerily tranquil forest air and
the demolished floor surface, their uneasiness only continued to
grow.
As the sound of his own heartbeat was starting to mess with
Bell's head—something caught his eye.
Fragments of a large crystal destroyed by the Xenos were scat-
tered across the ground.
While it was the sparkle that caught his attention, the crystal's
rapid regeneration kept it there. It was re-forming right before
his eyes.
A certain sound reached his ears as the crystal began to take
its former shape, a sound that he had heard once before.
I've seen this before, but where…?
"…The Xenos Hidden Village?"
A wall of quartz had kept the Frontier entrance well hidden.
That quartz repaired itself in no time at all.
Bell's eyes opened a bit wider when he realized the patch of
crystals on the wall was the same type of quartz, and that they
were recovering just as fast.
Then Bell felt something hot under his armor as he took one
determined step in that direction.
"Huh?"
"Bell Cranell?"
Feeling Fels's inquisitive gaze on his back, Bell reached for the
hot spot, equally confused.
His hand wrapped around the pouch that Lyu had given him.
Reaching inside, his fingers worked past the high potions and
antidotes until—he pulled out a piece of metal, an ingot that fit in
the palm of his hand.
"Bell Cranell, what might that be…?"
"A magic item…?"
Streaks covered the edges, as though the metal had once been
so hot it almost melted. But yes, it was a magic item for sure.
The roundish silver object was probably made from mythril.
A red orb was embedded deep within the metal—like an eye
staring out from the core.
A very simple character that wasn't written in Koine or hiero-
glyphs had been inscribed on the item's surface: a D.
"Wh-what is this…?"
The circular magic item kept producing heat, giving the two no
time to acknowledge the dread growing in the back of their
minds.
What's more, the heat and intensity varied based on location
as though it were responding to something nearby.
Bell's mouth hung open as he let it guide their path.
The magic item brought them to a protruding segment of the
rock wall.
"Nothing looks unusual about this…"
"Fels, this area…it's the same as the room that led to the Xenos
Hidden Village."
There was nothing different about this piece of the wall from
any of the other jagged formations that spread out in either direc-
tion as far as they could see. As the magic item reached a fever
pitch in the palm of his hand, Bell told Fels about his earlier ob-
servation.
The black-robed mage paused, gazing at the wall with the ut-
most intensity.
"Stand back, Bell Cranell."
A right arm appeared from the swishing black robe to point at
the wall.
The intricate patterns on Fels's glove flared to life.
Suddenly, a colorless shock wave burst forth from the palm.
"…!!"
"Well, that's unexpected…"
Not only had the thundering wave caught Bell off guard, but
what lay beyond the wall after the explosion left him speechless.
A single tunnel entrance yawned before them as the last bits of
quartz fell to the ground.
It was large enough to allow large-category monsters to easily
pass through, and the passage was made of numerous types of
rocks and minerals.
"This is not a natural Dungeon formation but something…arti-
ficial," said Fels in a stunned whisper, taking a step inside.
After they crossed the regenerating threshold, Bell forgot to
breathe as the two made their way farther into the tunnel.
Their path was suddenly blocked by a towering metallic gate
not even five meders in.
The two froze in front of the gigantic doors. Two demonic stat-
ues looked down from either side of the gate in front of them.
"Orichalcum—a masterpiece ingot that can be forged into un-
breakable Durandal-class items. It surpasses even adamantite."
It was the densest rare metal in the world, the end result of
blending various materials together with human and demi-hu-
man techniques. Even Bell, still on the outer edges of the adven-
turer hierarchy, had heard the name.
"It is physically impossible to destroy…But."
Fels glanced over and beckoned the boy forward. Bell stepped
closer.
He held out the magic item with trembling hands—the crim-
son jewel buried deep within the item flashed in response.
The tunnel rumbled around them as the door rose.
"Unbelievable…Something like this, inside the Dungeon?"
A dim tunnel was waiting for them on the other side, barely il-
luminated by flickering magic-lamp light.
Bell cleared his throat, staring down at the round item in his
hand as Fels whispered quietly at his side.
The magic item was the "key" that opened the door.
Did Lyu know about this when she gave me her pouch? Or is
it just a coincidence?
Ikelos Familia—the Evils—was an organization said to have
infested the Dungeon a mere five years ago but was much more
prominent than today, and a vile group.
Lyu said that she had fought to the last with Astrea Familia—
their emblem depicted a winged sword of justice—to protect
Orario from them.
Bell thought back to the day when the elf ex-adventurer told
him that story on this very floor, in a hidden spot where her com-
rades had been laid to rest.
She might have seized this magic item from one of her foes
during her quest to avenge her fallen allies.
Many thoughts crossed through Bell's mind as his hypothesis
came together. Then he looked up.
The stone tunnel in front of him had clearly been designed and
constructed by human hands.
The statues weren't the only indication.
Since it was hidden behind a regenerating Dungeon wall in a
safe point where monsters were never born, construction could
have gone unnoticed.
But that triggered so many more questions, like who built it?
When? How? The list went on.
Fels walked past Bell, who didn't even notice the cold sweat
covering his skin, and approached a piece of the wall beyond the
door.
The stone surface was silent but for a single shabby sign in
Koine.
"…Daedalus."
Fels read a single name in a hollow voice.
A cold chill completely unrelated to the Dungeon swept
through Bell. The boy stared into the dark abyss that seemed to
stretch out endlessly before him.
The bright sun of the surface started to sink from the center of
the sky.
Babel Tower stood tall in Central Park, which was still
crowded even though the subjugation team had long since de-
parted.
Ganesha Familia was still hard at work maintaining a no-en-
try zone around the tower. Other adventurers approached them
for information, but most of the crowd was anxiously waiting for
a triumphant return. As time passed, however, the tension waned
to an easy lull.
"Dammit, are we really stuck waiting on the sidelines…?"
"With this heavy surveillance, sneaking inside is out of the
question…Every adventurer and deity who tried got caught."
"Waiting is hard, isn't it…? I do this every day, Welf."
"Master Bell…"
Welf, Mikoto, Hestia, and Haruhime had gathered in a corner
of Central Park. They exchanged words while gazing at the white
tower from afar. With no way to assist Bell's return or find out the
Xenos's fate, all of Hestia Familia was on edge.
"Back to what we were talking about before…If it's true that
those hunters started this whole mess by kidnapping one of the
Xenos, why don't we try to find their base? If they're working the
black market and selling to collectors or whoever, they gotta keep
their stock somewhere in the city, right?"
"That must be true…but if the honorable Fels and the Guild
have been unable to locate their hiding place, what point is there
in us trying…?"
"Hermes is good at this kind of thing, but…then again, captur-
ing monsters and selling them for profit? Only someone with no
fear of the gods or the Dungeon would even try."
Hestia voiced her displeasure as she listened in on Welf and
Mikoto's conversation.
That was also the moment when Lilly, the brains of the group,
had an epiphany after hearing Hestia's words.
"Sell monsters for profit…"
She tilted her small head to the side as though memories were
flooding through her mind.
"Lure out monsters, capture them, and sell them for profit…"
"…Li'l E?"
"A-are you feeling unwell?"
Welf and Haruhime glanced at the prum with concern as Lilly
continued muttering to herself.
Suddenly, the small girl's head snapped up as the rest of her
familia eyed her.
"Let's go."
"Supporter?"
"Lilly might have a lead."
Lilly turned her back on Babel and strode away with those
words. Hestia and the others made brief eye contact before taking
off after her.
"Go? Where to?"
Lilly turned around to answer Welf's question.
"Lilly's former deity—to Lord Soma."
Soma Familia's home and "wine cellar" stood between East
Main Street and Southeast Main Street in Orario's third district.
Lilly led the group to the former first.
"Lilliluka Erde…How is your health?"
They met the god Soma in his private quarters.
His long hair kept his eyes and the vast depths behind them
practically hidden. He looked more like a hermit than a being
from a higher plane, but he was also none other than Lilly's for-
mer god, the head of Soma Familia.
"It has been a long time, Lord Soma. Lilly is very well, thank
you."
"Hey, Soma, what'd you mean by that? Does it look like I've
been that rough on Supporter to you?"
Lilly bowed to the deity she had not seen in nearly two months
as Hestia jumped out from beside her. "Sorry…" said the god in a
feeble voice as Hestia scowled at him with puffed cheeks.
Soma Familia's strange behavior had become all but nonexis-
tent after Lilly's transfer and the War Game. It was because Soma
had stopped using the divine wine soma as a reward to manage
his followers.
Lilly knew just how little Soma cared for the people of this
world, so his slightly friendlier appearance made a deep impres-
sion on her—and made her happy as well.
She briefly summarized their situation. "All right…" Soma
nodded without any resistance. "I'll summon Chandra…"
He motioned to one of his nearby followers. A rugged dwarf
appeared at the door a few moments later.
"It has been a long time, Mr. Chandra. Lilly heard you became
the leader. Congratulations."
"Enough of that. I ain't cut out to lead a damn thing…Can't
drink soma like I used to, either. Just adding insult to injury."
Chandra Ihit's surly response was somewhat fatigued. The
short-haired, short-bearded dwarf who had joined Soma Familia
for the sole purpose of drinking the world's finest wine had as-
sisted Lilly in her time of need and now sat at the head of the
struggling organization.
He led Lilly and the rest of the group to the wine cellar, taking
a swig from the gourd hanging at his waist as they moved along.
While Soma Familia's home was relatively close to the city
center, their wine cellar was located only a few blocks from the
city wall.
The deity had all but given up on producing soma, a wine po-
tent enough to entrance any person on Earth. The familia was
now focused on developing delicious wines essentially for the
purpose of earning small profits, and the wine cellar had been
renovated to support this research. However, only one place re-
mained unchanged:
The holding cell, where the familia used to keep unruly mem-
bers under control.
"You there…Food! Where's the food? Hurry it up, I'm starv-
ing!"
A gruff man's voice, not much different from a stray dog's
bark, came from deep within the stone hallway.
As unreliable magic-stone lamps flickered and the damp air
cooled on their skin, Soma and Chandra led the way with Hestia
Familia close. Lilly tensed.
"Pipe down, Zanis. Quit your yappin'."
"Ehh? Chandra, what're you doing here…? Oh, if it isn't our
lord and…You lot…"
A familia member serving as a guard pointed them to a certain
cell containing a human man.
The prisoner with sunken cheeks gazed at his visitors one by
one until he reached Lilly at the end. His lips curled into a sneer
almost at once.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha...! Never thought I'd be seeing you here."
It took everything Lilly had to keep her expression steady
under his unblinking stare.
The man's name was Zanis Rustra. He was a Level 2 upper-
class adventurer like Chandra, and he had been in charge of
Soma Familia until recently.
He was a shadow of his former self. There was no trace of in-
telligence in his visage, and his glasses were nowhere to be seen.
Given his ragged and torn clothes, the word shabby summed him
up nicely.
Zanis had been stripped of his position after the events that
led to Lilly's departure from Soma Familia.
In addition to the many victims of the familia's violent, rowdy
behavior, the deciding factor for his dismissal was how he used
and sold Soma's divine wine to manipulate others for his own
personal gain.
His Status sealed by Soma as punishment, the man now spent
his days confined in the holding cell.
Welf was visibly angry, and the man cast a hostile glare in his
direction as he walked up to the black iron bars and addressed
Lilly at the front of the group.
"Come to laugh at poor Zanis, have you, Erde?"
"..."
"My, my, how things have changed. We were on opposite sides
last time…" said the unshaven former leader, peering at her with
a dark grin.
Lilly looked up into Zanis's tortured, hate-filled eyes.
"…Lilly has…a question for you."
"For me? What could the one who robbed me of everything
possibly want to ask?"
She ignored Zanis's sarcasm and asked in a calm voice:
"About talking monsters…Would you happen to know where
the 'business venture' you mentioned is based?"
The man froze, completely silent after hearing her words.
But it was only for a heartbeat. His sneering chuckle swelled
into delighted laughter.
"Now I get it…Ha-ha-ha-ha! Did you see one? Did you meet
one of those talking monsters, Erde?"
The man's laughter resounded in the hallway.
So it's true, Lilly thought upon seeing his reaction. Chandra
cocked an eyebrow, Soma silent at his side.
It had all happened just before the War Game, when Zanis
locked Lilly in this very cell during negotiations with Apollo Fa-
milia. The man came to Lilly in her weakened state and asked for
her assistance.
His plan was to use Lilly's transformation magic, Cinder Ella,
to capture monsters.
"There's a project in which I would love your participation.
Nothing much, just a new business venture. Luring out mon-
sters, capturing them, and selling them for profit…Isn't that sim-
ple?"
Lilly had laughed it off at the time. Monsters profitable? She
told him as much, and the man laughed right back at her with
greedy eyes.
But now she knew. She knew which monsters would fetch a
high price.
Because now she knew of the beautiful and sentient Xenos.
Zanis had known about them that day, possibly even well be-
fore then.
Judging by the way he spoke, it was highly likely Zanis was in-
volved in the black-market dealings, selling the talking monsters
to depraved collectors. Therefore, he was much more involved
with these secret transactions and the hidden base where the
Xenos were kept than any of Hestia Familia.
Hestia and her followers watched with trembling eyes as Lilly
frowned and demanded an answer.
"Fwa-ha-ha-ha-ha…! Well then, you might find something in-
teresting on Daedalus Street, should you be going that way."
The man twisted around with a sneer on his face, and his
sunken eyes fell on Lilly as he provided a tantalizing clue.
Lilly's nerves tightened as she pressed for more information.
"Where exactly would that be?"
"Go find it yourselves. I'm not saying another word."
Zanis's laughter once again echoed through the stone halls; he
clearly enjoyed the position Lilly was now in. "Wanna convince
him with a little force to talk?" offered Chandra, but Lilly shook
her head, declining the violent suggestion.
Zanis would never break. At the very least, not until this inci-
dent was resolved.
"Our best lead lies somewhere on Daedalus Street…Let's go."
Lilly turned her back on the holding cell and addressed her al-
lies. Once they gave her a nod, she asked Soma and Chandra to
keep what they heard to themselves before leading the group
back down the hallway.
"Best of luck to you, Erde…Hah! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-
ha!"
With the man's sinister laughter echoing behind them, Hestia
Familia set a course for Daedalus Street.
"This place…connects to Daedalus Street…?!"
Bell made his way through the stone hallway, unable to hide
the surprise in his voice.
"Yes, I have no doubt. A route to the surface that circumvents
our surveillance and allows illicit sales outside Orario…Should
this structure go aboveground, it would be the last logical piece of
the puzzle. It's safe to assume there's an underground passage
leading outside the city wall as well, enabling them to avoid in-
spection at the gates."
Fels explained his train of thought as the two ran deeper into
the hallway.
The intertwining network of stone hallways was complex. Each
fork and intersection had been painstakingly measured to create
perfect angles that didn't exist in the Dungeon, signifying this was
a man-made labyrinth. If it weren't for the trail of blood left by
the monsters wounded from battle, the two would have gotten
lost in no time. Although no monster would be born into the
darkness from these walls and ceiling, eerie sculptures and stat-
ues depicting the beasts stood throughout the halls.
The feeble lights embedded in the walls illuminated Fels's
vague, floating outline.
"The assumption that this connects to Daedalus Street is based
on that sign carved into the wall…" groaned Fels. "Mad
Daedalus…A famous architect who lived at the turning point in
history when gods came to this world, the one who built Babel
Tower and several other structures that became the very founda-
tion of Orario…"
Fels explained that this human lived nearly one thousand
years ago, long before the Sage's birth.
The black-robed mage delved deeper into the story of one of
history's greats.
"Legend has it he was among the followers of Ouranos, the
first deity to grant Falna on Earth."
"!"
"He made many contributions to Orario, following Ouranos's
will…However, it is said that the man's speech and actions grew
more outlandish with each passing day once he entered the Dun-
geon. Hence, the epithet 'mad'…Then at some point, he disap-
peared from Ouranos's sight and Orario itself."
Fels explained what he knew, bringing the situation to light.
"Apart from Daedalus Street, his citywide sewer system and
other creations have been a thorn in the Guild's side for some
time. Do you not remember, Bell Cranell? The bizarre network of
passages that exist beneath the city."
"Now that you mention it…"
Fels's words triggered a few memories, specifically ones in-
volving Haruhime and Syr.
The hidden tunnels beneath the Pleasure Quarter. Phryne and
Haruhime said that it was because Daedalus Street was so close.
In the same vein, Bell recalled the stairwell behind the orphanage
that he had used along with Syr and the children. That confirmed
it for Bell—Daedalus's legacy was ingrained into Orario's very
core.
Back then, people had shuddered to think that one man could
build so much on his own, but Fels explained that might be the
reason Daedalus the Artisan lived on as one of history's greats—
and as a madman.
Bell swallowed, completely awestruck by the prodigy who had
surpassed the physical limits of the human body thanks to a
Blessing. He didn't know the man's face or if Daedalus was even
his real name.
"We have considered for some time the possibility of a second
entrance into the Dungeon separate from Babel. Of course we in-
vestigated Daedalus Street, but…Damn it."
"Fels…?"
"…To be blunt, this far exceeds anything we ever imagined."
Their thoughts dwelled on the legendary architect as the two
arrived at another metallic gate.
Fels withdrew Bell's key from the sleeve of the black robe and
pressed it against the gate. The tightly closed door swung open.
Once inside, Fels reached toward a nearby wall. Light traced
through the glove's intricate designs, and another colorless shock
wave burst from the palm. Bell looked over his shoulder in sur-
prise to see a completely intact metal plate beneath the crumbling
stone surface.
"What's that…?"
"Adamantite. I noticed a metallic gleam coming from behind a
deteriorating rock face on the way here. These hallways were first
lined with adamantite before a layer of stone was adhered to the
surface."
Although its purity varied by level of origin, adamantite was an
extremely rare, dense metal that could be mined in the Dungeon.
It went without saying that the expensive substance was not easy
to acquire.
Another shock ran down Bell's spine.
"A main entrance protected by orichalcum, hallways con-
structed with adamantite…Without this magical key, it would
have been next to impossible to infiltrate, even if we did manage
to locate this structure."
Crick! The glove on Fels's outstretched hand creaked as it
clenched into a fist.
"A series of artificial passageways connecting to the Dun-
geon…As difficult as it is to believe, only history's most famous
madman could have accomplished this feat."
But unanswered questions still remained.
Was it physically possible for one man to create a structure
from the surface to the Dungeon's eighteenth floor, and possibly
farther? There was also the orichalcum-and-adamantite issue to
contend with.
Fels spoke up as if reading Bell's mind.
"We have yet to comprehend the scale of this structure.
Daedalus might have been in a league of his own, but it would be
next to impossible to do this alone. However…"
Fels let that word hang as he peered farther down the dark
hallway.
"The answers we are looking for surely lie ahead."
Another entrance to the Dungeon, one created by human
hands.
They had discovered Ikelos Familia's hidden base.
Years of hard work and suffering finally had borne fruit. The
mage's voice trembled with swirling emotions.
"We finally found it, Ouranos…!"
"I've found you—Ikelos."
A voice drifted out across the sky.
On the surface, far above the underground labyrinth…
Hermes addressed a certain god from behind as he stood on
the roof of a tall brick tower.
"…Hee-hee-hee! So you have."
The god Ikelos slowly turned around on the deserted rooftop.
It was part of a series of residential buildings designed with no
rhyme or reason, inconsistent in height and breadth, making the
area difficult to navigate.
Hermes and Ikelos stood on top of a brick tower directly in the
middle of Daedalus Street, Orario's "dungeon town."
"How did you ever find this place, Hermes? Truth be told, I
never thought anyone would catch up after coming this far."
"Sure wasn't easy…finding a god who's hiding his trail with his
power. It might not be much, but using your ability for your own
gain while here on Earth borders on blasphemy…You broke the
rules."
"Hee-hee! What's wrong with showing off a little bit? Not like
it would do anything to stop those high-level brats…Besides, how
boring would it be if I got caught before all the fun started?"
Ikelos stood at the railing-less tower's edge.
All of Daedalus Street was visible from this spot beneath the
sky over Orario.
Alleyways weaved in all directions, surrounding the tower like
a web. Stairways led up and down amid a jumble of multistoried
buildings. Only those close to its creator could understand the
source of his inspiration, the chaos he was trying to emulate.
Hermes ran his fingers along the wide brim of his feathered
hat, glaring intensely at his quarry through narrowed orange
eyes.
As for Ikelos, the god was laughing as if enjoying a game.
"You've won this round of hide-and-seek, Hermes."
"..."
"It won't stop the show, but…I think I'll answer any and all
questions as your reward."
The navy-blue-haired, wheat-skinned god opened his arms as
if teasing the other deity.
A faint grin on his lips, he narrowed his eyes at Hermes.
"So then, what would you like to know?"
Several shadows passed over the stone floor under the magic-
stone lamps.
Footsteps in sets of two and four echoed through the man-
made, stone-enforced hallway, closely followed by the sound of
dragging tails and flapping wings.
More than twenty monsters marched onward.
"Our comrades' scent guides us closer—advance!!"
The airborne gargoyle shouted as the battle boar's acute sense
of smell led the way. The faint scents lingering in the air guided
the procession of monsters, the Xenos, through the stone pas-
sageways. At every fork in the road, the Xenos always chose the
direction with the strongest traces of their companions and
picked up speed every time.
"Lido, every door in our path has been open…We're being
lured in!"
"I know that, Lett! But we have to go…!!"