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

She took out all the explosives from the leather case, even the spares, and threw them down. She then suddenly spread her arms and scattered the small bottles downwards.

The white-clad man's eyes, deep inside his helmet, were wide open.

Explosive bombs filled with scarlet liquid made a sound like a torrential downpour as they were dropped from the sky onto the battlefield.

"————————————————————!?"

The bombing operation began.

Explosions that uprooted trees and shook mountains erupted wildly, blasting monsters one after another into oblivion, even drowning out their dying screams. Colorful petals, sharp teeth and pieces of flesh, tentacles, and the monsters' long, thin bodies were all blasted to smithereens.

Asif used the remaining ammunition to unleash a torrent of explosives.

She looked down without changing her expression, watching the ruthless annihilation battle unfold.

"Tsk!?"

The man in white barely managed to manipulate the monsters into forming a protective wall, but the fiery claws also burned him. Crimson flashes filled the surrounding area from all directions, tearing apart the monsters' shield-like bodies.

The scale of the attack was comparable to carpet bombing, shaking the entire Great Hollow.

“——!!”

Amidst the billowing smoke, Asif saw an opportunity and swooped down.

She plunged into the dome-shaped plume of smoke, continuing to accelerate. As the creator herself, she used the Skywalker with agility, rapidly approaching her prey from above like a falcon.

Riding the white smoke that obscured her vision, she launched a powerful attack on the enemy.

(Too slow!)

She plummeted downwards and glided close to the ground, rapidly closing in on the man's back.

Asphie dodged the man's guarded head and attacked him by surprise. Although he reacted immediately, she was faster.

The enemy couldn't even dodge and was caught off guard by Asifi's fatal blow.

—Got it!

The sharp dagger shot forward like a serpent emerging from its hole.

“——”

however.

「!?」

Her sword blade was caught by her opponent with his bare hands and blocked.

"What……!?"

The sight before her left Asif speechless.

The man in white turned around, grabbed the short sword with his left hand, and blocked the attack.

Even if the opponent recklessly grabs the weapon with their bare hands, they are able to completely suppress the thrusting attack, which is combined with the maximum speed of the Flying Shoes, using only one arm.

This is illogical. The man holding the sword in his palm had blood flowing from his left hand, yet the blade couldn't cut through the muscle beneath his fingers. Moreover, no matter how much Asufi, at level 4, pushed or pulled, the short sword remained completely still.

Strong muscle tissue, coupled with terrifying strength.

And the emotionless eyes of the man beneath the bone helmet.

A strange chill crept over Asphie.

The alarm clock rang, urging Asphie to release her sword and try to escape, but the enemy was not so kind.

"Hmph!"

“Guh!?”

Asif was grabbed by the front of her clothes by the enemy and slammed to the ground.

The extraordinary strength in her arms caused Asphie to roll several times on the ground. She crashed into a pile of man-eating plant corpses, scattering the pieces of the body as she flew far away.

The pain in his injured shoulder made Asfi grit his teeth as he barely managed to put his foot on the ground to absorb the impact.

Amidst the still-pervasive thick smoke, she suddenly stood up.

Asifi's gaze swept from one end to the other, trying to find the man who had disappeared from sight in the thick smoke.

Afterwards.

With a soft gurgling sound.

"----squeak!"

Asphie's body emitted a terrifying sound.

Then, centered on the part of her body that made the sound, her body became as hot as if it were on fire.

Blood-red stains spread across her combat suit. The gleaming silver blade, stained with blood, emerged from Asif's abdomen. She trembled, turning her gaze back.

A man dressed entirely in white stood there.

He tossed his white hair and plunged the familiar short sword into Asfi's body.

Asfi's weapon pierced her own side. Facing the enemy who had circled behind her with astonishing speed, she broke out in a cold sweat, then coughed up blood.

As the sword slipped smoothly from her body, Asifi collapsed to the ground, spitting blood.

At the same time, she cursed her own carelessness and the unfathomable disparity in strength between herself and her enemy.

"Asphie!?"

With a clang, Asifi's short sword was thrown to the ground.

Lulu's screams echoed from afar. The sight of their leader collapsing to the ground dealt a heavy blow to the Hermes Familia, and their previously barely held front began to crumble completely.

As the clanging of metal rang out, the man dressed entirely in white walked up to Asifi.

The man stomped on her winged flying shoes, breaking them, and grabbed her by the neck.

"Gah, gurgle...!?"

"He's probably only half alive now, isn't he?"

Asifi's body was easily lifted up, her feet dangling in the air.

Her pure white cloak and clothes were stained with blood, making her look like a saint nailed to a cross. Even in this state, she was still tragically beautiful.

The flowing blood droplets formed a pool of blood on the ground.

The man in white tightly gripped Asif's slender neck with one hand, a smile on his face.

"Don't worry, I know very well how resilient adventurers are... I'll give you a quick death."

His fingers dug into Asfi's throat.

Asphie struggled, her face contorted in pain, trying to shake off his hand. The man's eyes, hidden deep within his helmet, gleamed with a brutal, savage light, as he wanted to crush the woman's warm neck in one swift motion.

However—at that moment, a thunderclap boomed in the great void.

「!?」

The man in white turned his head and saw a werewolf unleashing its power in the distance, along with two elves raising their staffs.

■

"Proud warriors, archers of the forest! The advancing raiders are ahead, take up your bows. Answer the voice of your brethren, nock your arrows!"

Arriving at the Great Hollow of Lefia with Bert and the others, following Philwis's chanting, they prepared to launch an artillery barrage.

Like Ais and the others, Lefia and her group, who were heading to the grain depot, had also entered through the "door" in the green wall. The changed dungeon—a disgusting plant maze—was enough to unsettle them, prompting the three to quicken their pace and hurry to this place.

The crystal shards on the ground pointed out the footprints of the team ahead. If they continued to follow the corpses of the defeated monsters, reaching this large cavern would be quite easy.

"Damn it, what's going on here?!"

Upon seeing the adventurer team besieged by the robed group and the man-eating flowers, Bert immediately cursed as he rushed towards the battlefield.

It seemed he wanted to help the team attacked by the man-eating flower (monster) first. Following his decisive action, Philwis cast a spell to provide cover, and almost simultaneously, her silver boots delivered a powerful kick, sending the monster flying. With the adventurers' astonished gazes fixed on him, Bert began to drive away the enemy.

"[Light the flames, forest lights. Command your arrows, fire arrows of the elves!]"

Bert considered all the attackers as enemies.

The robed men who rushed forward while roaring were sent flying by Bert's fists and feet before they could even make their strange self-destruction moves, and they lost consciousness with a single blow.

As for the carnivorous plant that attempted to approach Lefia, it was personally repelled by Philwis, who was chanting incantations and acting as bait.

"[Like a sudden downpour, the barbarian tribes are set ablaze!]!!"

The moment the incantation was completed, the golden magic circle beneath their feet emitted a bright light.

The young female adventurer and the dwarf mage suddenly turned around, her expression changing as she shouted:

"Everyone, run!?"

The sheer scale of the "magic" it filled terrified the young mage.

As the adventurers retreated upon hearing the warning, Lefia unleashed the artillery magic that the girl, also a mage, had feared.

"[Volley of Fire Javelin]!!"

The blazing fire and torrential rain poured down.

The wide-area attack magic, capable of wiping out hordes of monsters with a single launch, shocked the battlefield.

The magic output was maximized, extending the range to its limit. The robed group scattered in panic, desperately dodging the fire arrows. They dropped their carnivorous plants and barely managed to escape the area of ​​effect. A barrage of parabolic magic projectiles covered half of the vast void, annihilating all the long, giant beasts in one fell swoop.

All that could be seen in everyone's vision was a red glow.

"What!"

The man dressed in white was taken aback when he saw the powerful, wide-range magic his opponent was unleashing.

Several stray bullets, missing their intended targets, struck the ground right in front of him. The shockwave from the shattered ground sent shockwaves through the air, and the man used his free arm to shield his face.

Just as the situation unexpectedly reversed, Asphie, who was being held high with her neck being choked, suddenly opened her pair of blue eyes wide open.

She mustered all her strength, pulled out her secondary weapon (dagger) from the holster, and stabbed it into the wrist of the person grabbing her.

“Hmm!?”

"!!"

The man's grip loosened slightly, and as Asif's neck was freed, she kicked him in the chest.

As the fire arrow flowed past her field of vision, Asphie, bleeding from her abdomen, escaped from the man's grasp.

"Damn it..."

The man pulled the dagger from his wrist and glared at Asphie, who was lying on the ground.

She collapsed some distance in front of the man, groaning and struggling in pain. The man pressed his bleeding wrist and was about to walk to her side when a loud artillery barrage and flashes of light caused him to stop in his tracks.

He abandoned the dying Asphie and turned his gaze and attention to a new group of invaders.

"Ha, ha... where exactly is this place...?"

After annihilating the entire monster army, Lefia put down her wand and looked around again.

Inside the cave, enveloped in green flesh, three giant flowers parasitized the main pillar. The ground, blasted open by the explosion, slowly healed with terrifying sounds. The ceiling and walls were submerged in countless flower buds, constantly displaying colorful blossoms, and sprouting slippery, man-eating plants.

These flower buds are all man-eating flower monsters—Lefia realized this, her expression changed drastically, and she also began to question this plant maze.

Then, she saw the dead bodies all around her and gasped in horror.

"Several factions are embroiled in a chaotic war...?"

"Many burned corpses, groups of adventurers, and monsters," Philvis said softly, frowning beside Lefia.

"You...you're Lefia, right!?"

"Huh! Miss Lulune!?"

Hearing the dog-woman Luluni call her name, Lefia ran to her side.

The girl, whom I met during the Rivera incident, was covered in injuries, just like her companions.

"How did you get here—"

"Hey, isn't Aisren here? Answer me."

Interrupting Lefia's question, Bert stepped in from the side and approached Luluni.

The dog-woman kneeling on one knee was startled by his glare, causing her animal ears and tail to jump up.