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

It bent its knees slightly and took a step closer to me and the gods.

—It's coming.

As my heart clenched, the silverback ape pounced on me in one breath.

"!"

"Waaaaah!"

I leaped sideways. I pulled the immortal into my arms and dodged the enemy's charge.

I didn't have the energy to worry about anything else. With a scream, I and my petite, fairy-like body tumbled heavily onto the stone bricks.

It rolled two or three times before stopping. I suddenly looked up and knelt on one knee.

I regrouped and hid the immortals behind me.

"Waaah...!"

The silverback ape, whose attack had been dodged, turned towards me.

It stared at us with piercing eyes and launched another attack.

(Why are they specifically targeting us!)

I stared wide-eyed at the monster charging straight at us without hesitation, and I managed to shoo the deity behind me to my right. This position was outside the enemy's path.

In my desperation, I tried to get the deity away from the danger, but within seconds, my efforts were in vain because the silverback ape changed direction.

(What!)

The silverback ape that changed direction surprised me greatly.

This guy isn't even looking at me. His target is—a god!

My feet started moving on their own. I forced my body into the monster's path to block its advance.

The silverback ape completely ignored my attempt to block its path, treating me with utter indifference.

It raised its thick right arm and swept it.

"—Ugh!"

"Gooooooooooooooo!"

A brutal side punch unleashes its power.

Although I managed to shift my body slightly to the side, the enemy's attack still struck my side abdomen.

Even though I was hit through my protective gear, the attack still had an extraordinary impact, completely taking my breath away.

The moment I felt my vision blur, my body was already thrown into the air.

“Ah!”

I crashed into a roadside stall. A loud, resounding crash echoed as wood snapped.

The excruciating pain, as if my entire body were being torn apart, left me only able to struggle in agony. Half of my body was embedded in the vendor's stall, and I groaned repeatedly as I pressed my side against my lightly dressed clothes, which had distorted into the shape of a fist.

"Ughh ...

The streets were already in serious chaos.

The surrounding crowd screamed and fled in all directions without thinking.

People scattered and fled from the main road in a panic.

Nobody wants to help the gods.

"...!"

"call--……!"

I saw her standing frozen in fear as the silverback apes approached.

My head suddenly burst into flames.

"Ugh, damn it! Aa ...

I freed myself from the pain that ravaged my body and whipped myself into action. I rushed out with tears in my eyes.

I lunged at the chains attached to the monster's wrists, which were dragging along the ground.

"Gah!"

With a "clang," the chain snapped shut, and the silverback ape stopped in its tracks.

Seeing me tighten the chains, the monster's gaze sharpened, and it pulled its arm away with an annoyed look.

My body almost tripped and fell easily.

"Ugh...!"

“Chichi!”

The difference in strength was enormous. Faced with my opponent's brute force, my resistance was futile, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Even so, I still used all my strength to keep pulling on the chain—and then, unexpectedly, I let go of it.

"Chirp!"

The sudden loosening of the chains caused the silverback ape to lean backward sharply. The chains drew a huge arc in the air, creating an opening.

I rushed past the monster and grabbed the god's hand.

"This way!"

—If we stay on the main road, we'll get caught! I grabbed the fairy's hand and rushed into the road leading into the alley.

The roar of a ferocious beast immediately rang out from behind.

The endless escape drama has begun.

"God, how did you get targeted by that guy?!"

"I...how should I know! I've never seen a monster like that! I didn't do anything!"

I gripped the fairy's tiny hand tightly and asked in an almost screaming voice. The fairy replied with, "I was about to ask you something too," and seemed unable to hide her unease as she gripped my hand in return.

The menacing aura pressing in from behind never disappeared.

The silverback ape was clearly chasing us—no, chasing the gods.

Unlike ordinary monsters that attack one after another; yes, it seems to possess a clear will, as if "being manipulated by someone".

(What on earth happened?!)

Harboring unanswerable questions, I fled with the gods.

Even in broad daylight, the gloomy alleyways only amplified the sense of unease. Although the blue sky, shaped like the alleyways, could be seen overhead, the sunlight couldn't penetrate.

The alleyway we rushed into was located south of East Street. In other words, we were now aimlessly wandering around the section between East Street and Southeast Street.

I have no recollection of any of the places I've been. I don't have the energy to care about that.

I looked back. The face of the immortal, panting and struggling to breathe, was close at hand, behind which stretched a long, shadowy passage. I couldn't see the monster.

However, it is.

My gut feeling tells me that it's following us closely.

I turned my gaze back to the front and ran even harder, completely absorbed in the moment.

All I could think about was escaping this situation; I had to get out of there no matter what.

"...Bell, no, this is...!"

“Eh!”

The voice that the deity had no choice but to utter instantly brought me back to consciousness.

As we rounded the big bend in the road, I understood what she meant.

“——”

The narrow passageway came to an end, and what appeared in its place was a space that could only be described as chaotic.

Several twisted passageways, square rooms that jut out unnaturally from the walls, and countless staircases haphazardly intertwined. The houses that form the alleyways stand side by side in a dirty mess.

The multi-layered structure was like an underground city divided into several floors.

"Daedalus Road"...!?

Another labyrinth existing within Orario.

After repeated reorganization of the district, the large residential area has lost its order.

This complex and strange area inhabited by the urban poor is said to be a place from which one can never escape once one enters. Named after the designer who originally oversaw the development of the area, this residential district, in its ability to cause disorientation, is in some ways more like an underground city than an underground city itself.

The artificial maze is lower than where we are now. I stand frozen, gazing at the unfolding scene before me.

This is too reckless. Of all places to choose, why play hide-and-seek with monsters in a place like this?

You could encounter a dead end at any time, with nowhere to retreat.

My eyes met those of the immortal whose shoulders rose and fell. His hesitant eyes seemed to see through my worries, twisted with bitterness.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

"!"

The monster's figure was clearly visible in the alley.

My only remaining option was to move forward. I took the hand of the deity and stepped into Daedalus Road.

We scrambled down the wide staircase and rushed into the labyrinth, which prided itself on its dark and imposing appearance. The air in the residential area, made of blackened bricks and tiles, was damp and sticky.

Inside the residential area—no, the labyrinthine area—several hastily constructed stone houses had been erected. Scattered among the walls of these houses were a few magic stone lamps, emitting a faint glow. Only the residents of the neighborhood, dressed reasonably well, navigated the intricate network of narrow passages with practiced ease.

They saw us running towards them, and then their eyes changed when they saw the silverback apes chasing after us. In the blink of an eye, screams echoed, and the road became deserted.

“Guga!”

"...!"

They're about to be caught. Even a god with the same stamina as an ordinary person is about to give up.

She's already doing quite well to have held on this long. The relentless silverback ape seems poised to grab the lagging immortal at any moment.

"God, turn right ahead!"

"Uh-huh……!"

We abruptly left the path we were running on and entered another passage. Then we immediately veered off this slightly uphill section and entered other paths. I changed direction several times.

(Have you gotten rid of it...?)

After using the maze-like structure to create distance between myself and the silverback ape, I looked back.

The monster vanished without a trace. Had it been shaken off? I was just about to feel relieved, but...

“——”

The auditory system detected the abnormality.

The sound of kicking something, and the sound of stone being crushed.

Just then, a dangerous sound gradually approached from afar, and a huge shadow darted across the stone slab beneath their feet.

(Oh no!)

Directly above, a white object passed through the blue sky seen between the houses several times.

The monster, resembling a wild ape, moved nimbly between buildings, leaping from tree to tree. Ignoring the maze's layout, it rapidly approached us from above.

The silverback monkey descended in a straight line.

"Gaa ...

"!""ah!"

A surprise attack from above. The monster landed right between me and the deity, forcing me to let go of his hand. A deafening thud followed, almost like an explosion, and I was completely separated from the deity.

The shattered stone slabs turned into numerous fragments that scattered into the air.

Just as I was facing the silverback ape that had raised its face, eager to run back to the immortals who were separated by distance, I took a step towards the monster blocking my way.

"Ooh o ...