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

Following Shakti's valiant command, the Ganesha Familia roared in response.

The sounds of metal clanging together rang out.

"Big sister, do we have to tame all of these guys?"

"Once the 'subspecies' are tamed, target the armed individuals!"

All the monsters that used to fight each other now attack any adventurer they see. Shakti took the training whip from the adventurer who was also acting as his support and shouted back to Ilta.

The two are easy to distinguish. One is a newborn individual, and the other is an armed individual; only the latter is an object to be tamed.

The most obvious point is that they are very strong. Once you've fought one, you can tell how unusual the enemy is without even looking at them.

Adventurers who could instantly kill bear-like beasts or giant beetles with a mere flick of their wrists still found armed monsters quite troublesome. Seeing these monsters not only repel their weapons but also retaliate, the members of the Ganesha Familia's faces contorted in disbelief.

"Fels—"

"Roar! Ro ...

"—Huh!?"

Bell, engulfed by the monster's roaring waves, was separated from Fels and forced to fight his opponent. Unable to draw his dagger, he could only roll to dodge or use the gauntlets he wore under his robe to block attacks.

The conflict in the forest began to resemble a three-way battle.

"The Ganesha Familia are being driven back in defeat."

—At the rear of this three-way battle, on a high, sloping hill.

Aisha, Ryu, and Asfi hid in the bushes overlooking the battlefield.

They followed behind Bell, relentlessly pursuing and attacking the home team, but ended up missing the chance to participate in the sudden battle.

"Those armed monsters... are very strong. Although there are differences between individual ones, they are all skilled in combat."

"They seem quite excited; monsters in that state are the hardest to tame. Although [Guild of Ganesha] and the others are indeed quite skilled, they didn't let the monsters gain the upper hand..."

But to be honest, whether they can actually be tamed is still a question.

After removing her helmet and deactivating her "transparent state," Asifi whispered something to Ryu.

The Ganesha Familia boasts the most Level 1 adventurers among all factions in the city, totaling eleven. Although all of them are at Level 5, with none above Level 6, they consistently achieve stable results during expeditions to the deeper areas, making them Orario's premier Familia.

At this moment, all thirty members of the extermination team present were at LV. 3 or above, and they spared no effort in throwing first-level adventurers into the battle.

Even the Ganesha Familia, faced with the difficult situation of simultaneously attacking and taming monsters, couldn't fully utilize their abilities. And this chaotic battle only exacerbated their disadvantage.

The most terrifying thing is the power of the armed monsters.

At least three—a gargoyle, a singing bird, and a lizardman—displayed potential abilities surpassing even the first-tier adventurers of the expedition. Their stone wings served as shields and blunt weapons, they emitted strange sonic waves from above, and their longswords and scimitars displayed wild swordsmanship. Except for the leader (Shakti), the other members fought desperately, fearing defeat instead.

Asif had received prior intelligence and knew a little about the "heretics," and remained calm and composed as she surveyed the battlefield.

"Aisa, Leon. Please don't get involved in the battlefield. It would be troublesome if you were discovered. We're only here to gather intelligence and help Bell Crane—"

Asifi was speaking when Ryu stood up.

"I'll go and lend a hand."

"Huh! What... Leon!?"

Seeing that the Ganesha Familia was gradually losing ground, the elven warriors couldn't help but unleash their innate sense of justice.

"Besides, I can no longer see Mr. Crannie's location. I'm searching for him while I fight."

"You're really overprotective. That little guy can get hard when he needs to be."

"You're the one who brought me here to protect him... Or are you not planning to go?"

"Of course I'll go!"

Leaving Asphie speechless, the female warrior (Amazonian) Aisha, driven by a surge of passion, shouldered her greatsword.

"At least wear a helmet! It's better for covert operations, and it's more convenient...!"

"I don't like hiding and attacking people from the shadows. Despicable behavior is not in my nature."

"I don't need it anymore. The helmet and armor are making my shoulders ache terribly."

"Wait...!?" Asifi's glasses slipped off, and Ryu and Aisha, right in front of her, tossed aside their black helmets. The two flipped up the hems of their combat suits and leaped into the battlefield.

The extremely rare magical item, meticulously crafted by the "Omnipotent One" and worth no less than several million, lay empty on the ground.

"Ugh, really...!"

Asphie picked up the discarded helmet—the magical artifact maker, whose very existence had been easily negated, stubbornly refused to shed her "transparent state" out of sheer willpower.

*

Humans and monsters engaged in a fierce battle.

Adventurers are bound by a shackle called taming, while monsters unleash their furious emotions.

In the armed monster series "Heretical Children," the humanoid monsters are even depicted with their faces smeared with blood.

To conceal her beautiful face, and more importantly, to express the rage within her, "Heretic" donned the face of a hideous monster. Her eyes were bulging and her face appeared to be splattered with the blood of her enemies, which certainly intimidated the adventurers.

"-------------ah!"

"Ugh...!?"

The deadly sonic wave emitted by the Golden-winged Singer Bird caused the female warrior (Amazon) Ilta to bend her knees.

It flew at high speed, leaping continuously between the trees. Its own attacks all missed, while its opponent's high-frequency attacks covered a wide area and could inflict damage on both itself and its allies simultaneously. The repeated use of long-range weapons finally tripped up the first-level adventurer.

The singing bird immediately flapped its wings, sending countless feather projectiles hurtling towards Ilta, however—

"Be careful!"

"!"

The large broadsword that came from the side cut off all the bullets in one go.

"You've been using quite a few unusual tricks so far!"

「!?」

Then Aisha kicked the tree at the enemy, and the singing bird dodged in time.

Ilta, who was about to defend against the attack, was taken aback.

"Lijie!? What are you doing here?!"

"Don't worry about trivial matters, fellow Amazons. Let me fight a couple of rounds too."

As Aisha landed, she turned her head and gave the other person a smile.

"Besides, aren't you short-staffed?"

"...You arrogant woman! You provide cover while we tame the monster!"

As Ilta slammed her right whip to the ground, Aisha ran up to her in response.

"Indeed very strong—but my vision has narrowed from anger."

"Gah!?"

"The opponent is tough to deal with, but a surprise attack is easy to succeed."

The Amazonian heroine skillfully used her unique martial arts to descent rapidly from the tree, swinging her wooden sword. She aimed at the head of the armed silverback ape, knocking it unconscious.

Faced with the stunned male group members who had been saved at the last moment, she covered her face again.

"Who...who are you?"

"...I just happened to be passing by."

"That's a ridiculous excuse!"

The team members brilliantly displayed the witty remarks honed by the main god (Ganesha), while the masked adventurers of unknown identity continued to assist the expeditionary force in maintaining the front line.

"Reinforcements...? Are they adventurers exploring the 'lower levels'? And who is that elf...?"

Shakti, who was the first to notice Ryu and Aisha's participation in the battle, decided to take advantage of their untamed nature and ability to fight freely. She knocked away a large (giant) monster that approached her with one hand, and used her whip to repel a unicorn that charged at her and tried to stab her, knocking it to the ground.

She fought, her robes resembling those of a ritualistic ceremony and featuring high slits; centered around her, the Ganesha Familia slowly regrouped.

"Sand!!"

"Ugh...!?"

As for the areas where Ryu and the others couldn't reach for help, Bell was waging a defensive battle.

The half-human, half-snake figure brandished her long, sharp fingernails. Her wavy green hair, stained crimson with blood like her face, emitted a foul stench as she tried to tear Bell to shreds.

The murderous intent directed at him by one of the "heretics" he had once shaken hands with filled Bell with fear and sorrow, making it impossible for him to even call out to the other. Bell's throat seemed to be choked, unable to utter a sound, and his eyes were filled with bitterness.

"!"

As they brushed past each other, Bell dodged, and the claws of his half-human, half-snake body tore through his robes.

With his disguise and backpack torn apart, Bear Grylls revealed his true identity on the battlefield.

Surrounded by a chaotic battle involving forest monsters, "heretics," and adventurers, just as he was about to regroup—

"Gaa ...

A lizardman appears, intervening between the fighting monsters and adventurers.

—Mr. Reed!

The lizardmen charged straight at Bell, who had momentarily stopped moving.

Without using his scimitar and longsword, he grabbed Bell's shoulders and pinned him to the ground.

"What are you doing here, little Bell?!"

「!?」

Bell was crushed by a being more than twice his own weight, and as he rolled on the ground, the lizard-like creature before him uttered rational words. Ignoring Bell's wide-eyed stare, Reed maintained his monstrous expression, making it appear to onlookers as if they were engaged in a fierce struggle, and gradually rolled away from the chaotic battlefield.

Then, he used centrifugal force to throw Bell into the depths of the forest.

When the lizardmen closed in, Bell understood their true intentions and went along with it, thus being ejected from the battlefield.

"Help...are the humans coming again?!"

Almost at the same moment that Bell and Reed left the battlefield.

On the "Heretics'" side, the gargoyle Gross noticed subtle changes on the battlefield.

He glared hatefully at Ryu and Aisha, who had disrupted the battlefield.

"—Guros!"

"A fool (Fels)!"

Hearing his name called, Guros turned to his side.

In the adventurers' blind spot, the black-clad magician appeared from the shadows of the crystal pillar.

Fels removed his magical artifact to break free of his "transparency" and then spoke to the gargoyle hovering in mid-air:

"Stop fighting! There's no need for us to fight!"

"I refuse!! If we stop resisting now, those adventurers will kill us!"

"I won't let them do that, I promise! Listen to me first—"

The sounds of fierce fighting drowned out the voices of a man and a monster, preventing them from reaching the ears of others.

In the chaos of battle, Fels found one of the leaders of the "heretics" and tried to persuade him, however—

"In that case, let those adventurers stop! We must go and rescue our compatriots!"

「!?」

"If you say you can guarantee it, then show me!"

Upon hearing the request from Guros in the air, Fels was unable to answer for a moment.

Looking down at the magician's reaction, the gargoyle seemed to have anticipated it all along, and his tone became agitated:

"You can't do it, Fels!! You're on their side after all!!"

"...!"

"You've always put humanity first, not us! You can't possibly understand our anger!!"