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

"This life will go to Iris's side—!!"

Luluni jumped back and crossed her arms.

The next instant, the man who ignited the incendiary box was blown to pieces.

The resulting explosion sent Luluni flying.

A sudden gust of hot wind arose, and a massive amount of sparks rained down upon them.

Her skin was burned, and her back slammed hard against the ground.

Luluni struggled to sit up, staring blankly at the fiery red flames ahead, and blurted out:

"...Self-destruction?"

The male body, still retaining its original form, is burning intensely.

The man knelt down and collapsed with a heavy thud. His back, still engulfed in the flames of the explosion, was already burned away along with his skin, rendering the "unlocking drug" useless. Of course, the man was already dead.

In order to prevent the information from being leaked, he resolutely chose to self-destruct.

Faced with an enemy who treated her life like trash, Luluni's face turned ashen.

"—Bless your foolish people!!"

The same was true around them; the robed figures were also self-destructing one after another.

Those who were no longer able to fight seemed to think all was lost, so they lit their tinderboxes or stretched out their arms, intending to perish together with their opponents, and were engulfed in the bright light. With a deafening roar, clumps of flame scattered in all directions, illuminating the great cavern.

The Hermes Familia, caught in the explosion, screamed.

"Asphie, these guys are the Death Fighting Group!?"

Luluni, disregarding her need to remain calm, screamed at the top of her lungs.

These people sacrificed everything for their mission.

They are the worst kind of group, one that isn't even afraid of death.

Faced with a suicide squad that was risking their lives like bombs, the screams of the Hermes Familia echoed all around.

—Ser has been infected!?

—Can someone please help with this treatment?!

—No…stop it!!!

Startled, Asifi saw her companions engulfed in the explosion and flames. She used her cloak to shield herself from the overwhelming blast winds, but the pungent smell of gunpowder and the stench of something burning instantly dominated the battlefield.

"Comrades, do not be afraid to die!"

From behind the battlefield, someone spoke up to encourage the heretics.

The man in the unusual-colored robe, with bloodshot eyes that held a dark light, encouraged his companions.

"The afterlife is our true desire! We pledge our loyalty to our supreme god (master)!!"

The encouraging words that followed urged the people in robes to abandon their fear and commit violence.

Beneath their veils, their dying faces emerged, bringing a poignant flame to the battlefield.

"Forgive me for my mistake, Sofia!"

"Lena, please use this sacrifice to atone for my sins—!!"

"Ah, Julius!!"

Explosions broke out everywhere, with people risking their lives as if they were being set off.

The explosive sound and impact, which nearly shattered her eardrums, made Asifi's face contort, and the repeated scenes made her gasp.

(A god's name... no, a person's name!?)

The dying screams of men and women rose and fell, disappearing on the other side of the explosion's flames. The strange group of people who self-destructed while shouting what sounded like someone's name sent chills down her spine.

All of this is to prove loyalty to God, or to sacrifice oneself for the will of the Lord God.

What kind of "familia" are they now fighting against? Asphie felt a chill run down her spine.

At the same time, she whispered with a trembling heart: Is this behavior allowed?

"A bunch of madmen, fools bound by God... How ridiculous."

—In another place, far from Asif and the others, at the deepest part of the Great Hollow.

The white-clad man, who was watching the fight, sneered and stretched out an arm.

He pointed to the battlefield, his eyes narrowing deep inside his helmet.

"Man-eating flower".

The moment the man opened the cannon, all the monsters in the huge cavern raised their heads.

As if guided by a will, the monster broke its silence and began to move with astonishing speed.

They broke through the black cage that confined them, and began to slither around, attacking Asif and the others.

"What!?"

"The monster has made its move!?"

Even the carnivorous plants joined the battle, launching a general offensive.

Seeing the monsters swarming in as if they had timed it perfectly, the Hermes Familia's agonizing screams grew even louder. Hundreds of tentacles and enormous fangs mercilessly attacked the members.

"Woohoo woo ...

The carnivorous plants weren't just targeting Asphie and her companions. They wildly lashed out with their tentacles, attacking anyone in their path, even those right under their noses. Enemies, their lower bodies swallowed by the massive jaws, screamed in agony, blood splattering everywhere.

The monsters indiscriminately ravaged the land, friend or foe.

"Everything's a mess...!?"

The scene descended into extreme chaos.

The carnivorous plants devoured their enemies along with the monsters, and the relentless fighting group, utterly unafraid of falling into the monsters' jaws, relentlessly attacked Asif and the others. The Hermes Familia, constantly caught in the blast, were unable to coordinate their actions or effectively defend themselves. Chaos reigned, resulting in a scene of utter carnage, a veritable hell on earth.

Even the defenders had to find a way to protect themselves, and Luluni, who was being chased by the monster's tentacles, couldn't help but complain.

"This is not good...!"

As the battle lines crumbled, anxiety burned on Asifi's face.

Unable to distinguish whether they were enemy or friendly personnel, they fell one by one.

At this rate, total annihilation is only a matter of time. The berserk monsters are rampaging fiercely, and our side is powerless to resist. We are also afraid of being caught in the blast wave of the self-destruction of the robed Death Warriors, so we cannot launch a full offensive.

Under these circumstances, retreat was virtually impossible. The moment they abandoned the fight and turned to flee, the squad would be completely routed.

(That tasteless man in white...!)

As Asfi wielded her short sword to rescue her companions, she peered ahead through the gap between enemy soldiers and monsters.

Further behind the man in the oddly colored robe, a mysterious figure dressed entirely in white leisurely observed the battlefield. Asphie hadn't missed it; it was a single movement by the man wearing the bone (dropped item) helmet that triggered the monsters' simultaneous attack.

—Most likely an animal trainer!

From a very limited number of options, Asifi deduced the enemy's true nature.

The sheer number of monsters, coupled with the successful taming of colossal creatures, defies common sense, but if one considers this mutated food depot as the work of a beast tamer, it becomes somewhat plausible. Moreover, that person is undoubtedly connected to the current battle situation.

Fighting each other would play right into the enemy's hands... no, it would play right into the hands of that man in white.

Even if we manage to defeat the Death Fighting Group, our forces will be severely depleted, making us vulnerable to attacks from the monsters.

Including the man in the contrasting robe who commands the fighting group, as long as these two leaders can be defeated...

In order to break the current chaotic situation, Asifi pushed off the ground and sped away.

"Falgar, you're in command! Gather everyone together and hold the line!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Asifi picked up the explosives and threw them into the center of the battlefield.

Her target was a man in a long robe. The man stared in disbelief as the small bottle struck his body, shattering and detonating the firestone he had used for suicide, causing a massive explosion.

Monsters and the Death Squad were both blown away, along with all other creatures in the vicinity. Meanwhile, at the tiger-man's call, Lulu and the others quickly regrouped, while Asphie dashed through the sea of ​​explosions and flames.

She wrapped herself in a homemade cloak to protect herself from the intense heat and traversed the battlefield in a straight line.

The leader in the heterochromatic robe was astonished to see her break through the barrier formed by the Death Battle Group and the monster.

He quickly raised his equipped one-handed sword, but the rapidly approaching blade was faster than him.

“Gah!?”

As Asphie passed by, she swiftly and decisively cut her opponent down with a single blow.

She let her flowing, water-colored hair flutter as she left the limp, collapsed man behind her.

Immediately afterwards, she rushed to the man in white.

Asif gripped her short sword, ready to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the eerie enemy who remained motionless beneath the main pillar.

"Let's not put up a futile resistance and just let the man-eating plants eat us..."

"You've made me go through so much trouble." The man in white smiled, a wrinkle forming at the corner of his mouth, and stepped forward to greet him.

He distanced himself from the main pillar to which the female fetus was attached, seemingly intending to confront it.

The distance between them shortened in an instant. Asphie stared intently at the man who remained unarmed and simply stood there, wanting to stab him to death, and pounced on him even faster.

"Get started."

「!?」

It's too late to say.

Just as the distance between them and the man closed to within five steps, countless green guns shot out from the ground in an instant.

Seeing a hail of gunfire rapidly approaching from below, Asif jumped to the side at a right angle, managing to change direction and dodge the surprise attack.

Having narrowly escaped death, she hurriedly turned her head and saw numerous tentacles sprouting from the ground, protecting the man. Immediately afterward, several carnivorous plants tore through the green fleshy ground and emerged from underground.

These monsters, which seemed to have been lurking underground, stood in front of Asifi like an ambush.

"Not bad, adventurer... no, [omnipotent one]."

"Huh—!?"

"But I need to take your life."

Employing a chilling sound, the man controlled the monster to attack.

Asphie struggled to overcome the recoil from her emergency dodge and tried to regain her composure, but the man didn't give her that time, instigating the entire swarm of carnivorous plants to attack her.

The massive, flower-shaped mandibles relentlessly attacked Asphie, much like a hydra, forcing her to desperately dodge in an unstable posture. However, the onslaught of fangs, coupled with the chaotic thrashing of countless tentacles, suddenly left her with nowhere to run.

Asphie used her cloak to block the tentacles, causing her to lean back, and the enemies immediately attacked her from all sides.

With a distorted expression, Asif clicked her tongue and lightly stroked the boot-shaped sandals on her feet with her fingers.

"Talalia".

As the words were uttered, tentacles and fangs pierced her body.

The monster tore through the green fleshy ground, and the sound of cracking echoed repeatedly.

"What?"

The man, dressed entirely in white, looked up at the sky.

The ground, pierced by tentacles and fangs, held no corpses. Seeing Asphie vanish into thin air, the monsters looked around in confusion, only the white-clad man's gaze fixed on a single point in the air.

In the vast, distant cavern at the top of the cave, Asifi spread the pure white wings on her boot-shaped sandals and floated in the air.

"It's flying into the sky..."

Asifi drew the attention of the astonished man in white and the still-fighting Death Warriors to herself, looking down at the scene below.

This is the Flying Shoes (Talalia), a magical artifact masterpiece invented by the "Omnipotent One".

These shoes, with their four paired wings (four in total), grant the wearer the ability to fly. This is a particularly wondrous ability among the inventions of the "Omnipotent One," and has therefore been kept hidden until now, a crystallization of "mystery."

As the monster group and the man in white looked up at her, Asif adjusted her glasses as she soared into the sky.

"You've forced me to even use flying shoes (these), I have to take care of you all."

After saying that, Asphie reached under her cloak.