Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

"────"

The elf froze on the spot as if time had been stopped.

The enemy (Ota) has vanished.

He vanished from her sight without a trace.

No, Ryu has misunderstood.

She was the one who was knocked away.

It has only taken one step.

It was an unprecedentedly swift step.

With just this one movement, it transcended Ryu's vision, instantly closing the distance between them. As it approached Ryu, it swung its right arm.

A horizontal sweep from the inside out.

That's all.

Liu was unable to dodge that arm as thick as a tree trunk, and immediately lost the ability to fight it.

"────Cough!?"

After recalling the events as if her life were flashing before her eyes, an unprecedented shock struck Ryu, causing her to cough up blood and groan.

For Ryu, who has gone through all sorts of fierce battles up to this day, the power of this punch is still enough for her to assert that it is the "strongest".

She flew out, crashed through the stone wall, and fell directly into the building.

"Miss Ryu!?"

First, there was a loud bang and a tremor, followed by a large amount of dust.

Bell cried out in alarm, followed by screams that erupted from the crowd, plunging them into panic.

As panicked people scattered and fled the scene, Bell saw the elf lying motionless in the smoke and desperately wanted to rush forward.

But he can't even do this simple thing.

"────"

Instinct suddenly sounded an alarm, and a chill ran down Bell's spine.

Bell, who had been focusing his attention on Ryu for a moment, turned his head away following the warning in his mind, and then froze.

A hand, large enough to cover the entire field of vision, stretched out.

The giant-like hand was already close at hand.

You could see the boar-man's cold eyes through his fingers.

Once we shift our focus away from the existence that forces us to remain on high alert, the price we pay is the prospect of "the end."

"────Huh!?"

Bell was grabbed by the head and slammed hard to the ground.

The stone pavement dented in response, sending debris flying everywhere and creating alarming cracks.

The intense impact that surged from his back throughout his body immediately shattered Bell's consciousness.

He lay there unconscious in the crater, looking utterly miserable.

"...!?"

Asphie was speechless.

Like Aisha and the others, she was sent by the main god to monitor the Freya Familia, and she had no chance to intervene in the situation unfolding before her.

The attack lasted only so briefly.

"Leon... Bell Craney..."

Ryu was instantly killed, and Bel was also knocked down with a single blow.

The two Lv.4 level 2 adventurers were defeated in an instant.

Asifi understood the meaning of the word "strongest" all too well, but after witnessing its domineering strength firsthand, she could only stand there stunned like a statue.

"..."

Without saying a word, Ota hoisted the unconscious Bell onto his right shoulder.

They paid little attention to Liu.

He even ignored Asphie, who was standing in the middle of the road, and calmly walked past her.

With a deathly pale face, Asifi couldn't even manage to call out to the other person, let alone step forward to block their path.

*

"W-What's going on!?"

Two places.

In the vast city, distinctly different "explosive sounds" came from the south and southwest, and Hestia suddenly looked up.

The noise echoing under the overcast sky was indeed mixed with fear and anxiety.

"My retinue (children) is attacking your children."

"Huh...!?"

What a joke! ?

What's happening here! ?

Just as Hestia was about to shout that, Freya interrupted her again.

"And it's over."

The moment those cold words were spoken, the clamor from the south and southwest receded as if the tide had gone out, turning into silence, as if announcing the end of the battle.

Hestia was stunned.

Although stunned, he still spoke up in denial.

"You...you're lying...how could this possibly happen...!"

"It's true. And—look, they're here."

Even Hestia's attempt to escape reality was not tolerated by Freya.

Four shadows flew at high speed toward Hestia.

"~ ...

It landed right next to her.

As the object crashed into the ground with a deafening roar, Hestia reflexively covered her face with her hands.

She let the flying sand and stones hit her, then slowly opened her eyes and gasped.

That was a large knife.

That was a Japanese sword.

That is a magic sword.

It was a fan.

Indeed, it was these weapons, held by his own followers, that returned to the Lord God's side, carrying with them remorse.

"These are all... Welf and the others...!?"

They are Welf's greatsword, Mikoto's katana, Lily's magic sword, and Haruhime's fan.

The broken weapons, stuck in the ground at intervals, looked like tombstones.

Seeing this scene, which was enough to show that the holder had been murdered, Hestia, unable to utter a word, raised her head. She vaguely saw four dwarfs and cat-people holding silver spears standing on the rooftops in the distance—probably the perpetrators who had thrown the weapons.

But there was no sign of Welf or the others anywhere.

"...No, no way..."

No matter how Hestia resisted or tried to escape.

The undeniable reality is right before our eyes.

This situation is completely different from the "battle" that broke out among the Apollo Familia; they were utterly crushed by their opponents.

A huge gap in strength.

The class structure of the faction itself.

A series of absurd events followed.

Faced with the strong insistence on the rules that the weak cannot defy, Hestia stood helplessly in place.

Moreover—

"—Bell!?"

The last person.

A burly wild boar man appeared out of nowhere—

He threw the load he was carrying on his shoulder right in the middle of the damaged weapons.

The white-haired boy, who had fallen heavily to the ground, was unconscious.

He didn't react. His clothes had probably been torn during the battle; his upper body was completely naked, with only a tattered sleeve remaining on his hand. Because his eyes were covered by his bangs, half of his face was shrouded in dark silence.

Hestia wanted to go over and check on her.

Just as she was about to touch Bell, the boarman's greatsword suddenly blocked her way.

"...!?"

"No, Hestia, you can't touch him without permission anymore."

The greatsword held in one hand by the rugged warrior stood like a boundary line before Hestia.

Blocked between herself and Bell by the silver behemoth, Hestia abruptly stopped moving, while Freya leisurely walked to the young man's side.

The spot that should have been Hestia's has now been taken by Freya.

"Freya—...!!"

"So you can look at me like that too, Hestia. But didn't I tell you? I'll take him away by force."

Those pale blue eyes opened wide, igniting a raging fire, once again displaying the goddess's (woman's) fury.

Freya, however, remained expressionless, completely unconcerned.

"The game is over, and the time for the girl (Seele) has come to an end."

"...So that tavern waitress was you, my goddess! Ha, how ridiculous! To put it bluntly, you got dumped by Bell, so you're just jealous! And you call yourself the 'Goddess of Love'!"

Based on the boy's (Bell's) reaction last night, Hestia had a vague idea that something was going on between him and the girl (Seele).

So he deliberately provoked the goddess (Freya) with his words.

No, to be precise, the only thing Hestia can do right now is to mock the other party.

Hestia, contrary to her usual behavior, lashed out at people, revealing her pent-up emotions, which was a pathetic reaction of being unable to accept defeat.

The reason is that the outcome of this match is already decided.

"That's right, the girl (Seele) failed, so I'll use whatever means necessary."

In contrast, Freya's face remained expressionless.

She spoke calmly, her beautiful face showing no emotion whatsoever, as she stretched out her hand.

Then he grabbed Hestia's hair.

"Hmm—!?"

"Therefore, no matter what means I have to use, I will make Bell mine."

As Ota sheathed his greatsword and stepped back, Freya forcefully pulled the black hair she was holding in her hand, drawing Hestia's face close to hers.

It was a one-sided act of violence.

Because of the vast difference in physique between the two, like that between an adult and a child, Hestia was unable to resist.