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

"Why didn't you say so sooner!"

Bert frowned when he heard that the Lord God was only now thinking of offering advice.

Before their eyes, the man-eating flower monsters, which had been lying on top of each other, slowly rose to their feet.

Undefeated and careless, Bert stared at the four monsters in total, listening to Loki mention how effective Ais's slashes and Lefia's magic were...

"...Even though I'm annoyed, I'll use it anyway."

Bert said in a low voice, reaching his right hand towards his waist.

With the sound, a crimson dagger that seemed to be burning was drawn—the "Demon Sword".

He pressed the drawn blade against the silver metal boot on his right foot.

A crimson wave gradually flowed from the blade of the "Demon Sword" into the special weapon "Frosvelt," which absorbs magical effects.

"By the way, how much did that 'Demon Sword' cost?"

One million.

"Wow—! An attack worth a million fares—that's quite a sum—"

The topaz, mounted in the center of the boot, absorbed almost all the magic from the blade, causing the "magic sword" to shatter and scatter across the ground from Bert's hands. In its place, the topaz turned crimson, and the entire boot burst into flames as if set ablaze.

With a loud, intense roar, Bert's right foot was engulfed in crimson flames.

"—Watch me kick you all away."

It evokes the ferocious smile of a wild beast.

The monsters adjusted their positions ahead, and Bert slowly walked towards them, step by step. His right foot, wreathed in crimson flames, left a fiery footprint on the ground as he moved forward slowly, then accelerated in one breath.

Facing the approaching horde of monsters roaring like broken gongs, Bert, still smiling, contorted the tattoo on his face before leaping into the air. He soared high above, looking down at the monsters that had lost their pursuers. With a snort, he pushed off a stone pillar with his left foot, using the recoil to leap back and forth between the pillars, changing direction three times, until he found a monster's blind spot. He then pulled his right leg, imbued with blazing fire, to the side—and then kicked it down with tremendous force.

"——————————————————————————!?"

The monster's head exploded, bursting into flames and red flowers.

The dazzling bursts of flame were an additional effect of the combination of the "Demon Sword's" fire and the attack power of "Frosvelt". The carnivorous plant's screams were drowned out by the explosion, its head was blown away without leaving a mark, and it turned into dust and collapsed to the ground without any painful struggle.

Immediately afterwards, the monster that first discovered Bert's landing landed came down from directly above in an attempt to retaliate.

"Burn it!!"

Somersault kick

A bright crimson line of fire scorched the air, tracing an arc before an explosion rang out, shattering the monster's long body into fragments.

As Bert spun in mid-air, his world turned upside down, he watched the raging flames that burned the corpses to ashes, and a smile crept onto his face.

007

"Bert, remember to leave behind a magic stone—!"

"Ugh? This is so troublesome..."

Having dealt with the monster, Bert heard Loki's instructions and locked onto a monster diagonally in front of him.

Through the battle, he learned that the magic stone was deep inside the mouth. Bert quickly approached the enemy and unleashed a controlled, explosive attack.

He adjusted his attack angle, blasting only the petals and the area around the ugly mouth away. Before the monster's screams had even finished, it collapsed to the ground with a thud, convulsing uncontrollably. Then, Bert stepped on its smoking lower jaw, grabbed its upper jaw with his left hand, and mercilessly tore its mouth open—ripping it apart from top to bottom.

He was enveloped in the warm breath, and with his remaining right hand, he forcefully tore the magic stone out of the depths of his mouth.

"It stinks!" He frowned involuntarily, and at the same moment dodged the charge of the remaining monster.

Bert, having tucked the magic stone into his robes, turned and dashed towards his opponent.

"Your turn is last!"

Faced with the werewolf who could accelerate to its limit in just a moment, the carnivorous plant monsters, ready to fight back, simultaneously unleashed multiple tentacles.

He clearly saw the yellow-green whip coming at him, dodged, slipped through the gaps, and broke through the attack in an instant. The monster's tentacle spears all missed their mark, and its long body trembled, as if it felt a chill and froze on the spot.

With his right foot burning, Bert approached his opponent with the speed of a hungry wolf, then kicked the ground and leaped into the air.

He shifted his posture in mid-air, kicking out his fiercely burning metal boots like a flaming arrow.

"May you be reduced to ashes! Aa ...

The next moment, a beautiful blow to the head triggered a massive explosion, sending the monster flying with astonishing force.

The violent impact on the stone pillars was not enough to dissipate the force; it continued to strike two, three, until it finally stopped after destroying the fourth pillar.

The monster, its long body now devoid of its flower-shaped head, was buried beneath the rubble of the pillar, eventually turning to dust and losing its original form.

"Wow, that's quite the show..."

Loki, observing the entire battle, murmured softly, his voice echoing in the silent water tank.

Not long after, the topaz on the boots lost its luster. Bert stood there, the crimson flame on his right foot slowly fading until it went out completely.

The battle ended, and in the dim light, the metal boots, now back to their normal state, shone with a beautiful silver glow.

*

"Although we've made some progress, we still haven't found any clues about the culprit—"

"It made me use up a 'magic sword,' which is not worth it at all."

Loki tossed the magic stone in his hand and walked with Bert through the underground waterways.

Having finished their battle with the man-eating flower monster, Loki and his companions were now retracing their steps back to the surface. They searched the water tank thoroughly but found nothing. Furthermore, Bert hadn't prepared enough "magic swords" as spares, so their investigation ended there. They judged that venturing further without adequate equipment would be dangerous.

The two had emerged from the old underground sewers, with only a short distance remaining in the main waterway. Loki looked down at what he held in his hands. The magic stone he had extracted from the carnivorous plant monster was multicolored at its center, clearly different from the usual blue-purple magic stones. Gazing at the crystal that emitted a slightly dazzling luster, Loki uttered a long, thoughtful "Hmm—"

"By the way, Tione also got the same magic stone from the monster on the 50th floor."

"Floor 50...you mean the new type of monster we encountered during the last 'expedition'?"

"Yes, it looks like a disgusting larva."

"It's somewhat similar to those man-eating plants (monsters) from before," Bert added. Loki, hearing this, looked again at the magic stone in his hand.

Not long after, the two arrived at the spiral staircase they had seen before. As they climbed the circular staircase and opened the wooden door of the cabin, the surface air they hadn't been exposed to for hours embraced Loki and his companion.

Facing the sunlight streaming down from the azure sky, she stretched and yawned. Bert, whose face showed no signs of fatigue, seemed to relax as well, cracking his neck with one hand.

"Let's go back first," Loki said to him, and then the two set off from the hut.

Leaving the narrow alleys, we walked onto the streets lined with many hotels. As the roads widened, more pedestrians appeared, and the sounds of bustling crowds began to fill the air.

Then, after the two had walked along the street for a while...

They encountered a god at a corner of the street where they turned into a side street.

"Hmm? Isn't that Dionysus?"

"...Loki?"

Upon seeing a familiar face, Loki stopped in his tracks.

His long, flowing blond hair reached his neck, and his handsome face could make any woman's heart flutter with just a smile. The god-like man, whom she had met just a few days ago at the "Feast of the Gods," opened his glass-like eyes wide.

Although she wasn't wearing a formal dress today, her seemingly expensive attire complemented her气质 (qi zhi, a kind of refined elegance or aura), making her appear like a noblewoman. Standing beside her was a beautiful black-haired elf girl, presumably a member of her [Familia].

Just as Loki was about to greet him, finding it quite a coincidence...

"Wait a moment."

However, a voice stopped her feet from stepping forward.

"Hmm?" She looked behind her and saw Bert staring coldly at Dionysus and the others.

"It's them."

"……What's the meaning?"

The member of the clan nudged forward with his chin. Loki asked, his sharp gaze fixed intently on the other person, and then he spoke:

"The lingering smell in the sewers is their smell."

Loki opened her narrow eyes, and Dionysus and the elven maiden appeared before her with stiff expressions.

*

The lingering noise was absorbed by the stone walls and blue crystal pillars.

The many adventurers present lost their composure, and the cave inn became chaotic, with the scene growing increasingly disorderly.

Willie Inn, located on the 18th floor of the dungeon in Rivera Town.

Ais and the others looked down at the [ability values] exposed by the headless corpse with different expressions.

"...Was this person really violently murdered? Could it be poisoning or something...?"

"You mean he might have been poisoned and unable to move, and then he was killed?"

In response to Tione's question, Lefia nodded stiffly.

Her azure eyes trembled as she peered at the gruesome corpses behind Ais and Tiona.

"The ability panel includes 'Abnormal Status Resistance,' so it shouldn't be..."

"Someone as powerful as Hassanal shouldn't be affected even by poison."

Ais and Riveria said this as they continued to decipher the sacred text.

Hassan's back (ability stats) revealed a development ability called "Abnormal Resistance"—an ability to prevent various abnormal effects such as poisoning, and this ability has reached G-rank.

A G-rank "Abnormal Resistance" can nullify almost all abnormal effects. Even a highly potent poison concocted by a professional apothecary would likely not be enough to render him immobile. "Although she took advantage of his carelessness during intercourse, this woman actually managed to take the life of a second-rank adventurer in bed..."

"...Could it be a battle prostitute from the Ishtar Familia?"

After hearing Finn's words, Tiona shared her own speculation.

Hearing her mention those shrewish prostitutes with both alluring beauty and fiery bodies, Finn made a "hmm" sound while staring intently at the corpse. Then he said, "If that's the case, the crime is simple. But this kind of murder scene makes people suspicious of them."

"Yeah, isn't that too obvious?"

After Finn answered, Tiony continued—just then…

Inside, a bystander pointed at Ais and her group, almost insanely.

"You...you all talk like it's the truth!! You're putting on this act like you just arrived in town, but it was actually one of you who did it, wasn't it!?"

Starting with this statement, Perth and the others all turned around.

The first-level adventurers, whose mere presence would make even a child afraid to cry, are now under suspicion. Indeed, besides Ais and her group, there are currently no other suspects capable of killing second-level adventurers through sheer strength.

"What—?" Tiona looked surprised, Tione's eyes showed disgust, Riveria closed one eye, and Lefia was startled. Finn smiled wryly and scratched his cheek with his finger.

Ais also seemed a little troubled and shifted her body slightly.

"If these guys were the ones who did it..."

"Well, Finn is the least likely to be..."

The adventurers surrounded Ais and her companions. Willie, feeling frightened, slowly distanced himself, while Perth, his throat gurgling with nervousness, nodded at him. Finn, being a small, male dwarf, was the first to be excluded by the adventurers, who then proceeded to scrutinize Ais and the others' figures. The mysterious woman in the long robes, whose breasts and figure were clearly visible even through her outer garments, was striking.

The crowd's gaze swept over Ais and Lefia, then settled on Riveria and Tiona.

They stared at her slender bust... especially at Tiona's revealing figure. "Hmm," everyone nodded.

"That guy is impossible."

"Yeah, that's impossible."

"Ugh—!?"

Tiona raised her hands as if to act silly, but Ais caught her from behind.

Just as a commotion began to break out in one corner of the room, the adventurer's suspicious gaze finally turned toward Tione.

"...With this body, I could seduce as many men as I wanted, right?"

Her full breasts, forming a deep valley, her firm waist and large, delicate buttocks, and her supple thighs are rounded and well-proportioned, with just the right amount of flesh.

As soon as Perse said those words, the adventurers' lewd gazes lingered on her, whose clothes were even more revealing than her sister's.

"--What?"

In response to their reaction, Tiony...

She opened her almond-shaped eyes wide and said with an unimaginable expression, her anger blazing:

"Didn't I say my virginity belongs to the commander?!"