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

The scenery in his field of vision rushed to the side with astonishing speed, and Bell flew towards the center of the battlefield.

Although the griffin, writhing in pain from being struck squarely by the stick, served as a buffer, Bell was thus distanced from Fels and the others. The cries of the Red Softcap were drowned out by the surrounding shouts, which sounded almost like pitiful groans, leaving Bell isolated.

He barely managed to push the griffin away and escape from below, his face tilting back in an instant.

"————"

The lizardmen, weapons raised high, stood before him.

—Mr. Reed

A terrifying, bloodshot gaze. A scimitar pointed at the ceiling. A monstrous face that inspires repulsion.

Faced with the lizardmen who wanted to kill him, Bell's mind went blank.

Looking up at that excited yet ugly face—and enduring the true killing intent directed at him—Bell's hand gripped the dagger, but he couldn't move it.

In the blink of an eye, the lizardman's scimitar slashed down.

Time seemed to slow down. Just as Bell was staring blankly ahead, watching the approaching blade about to slice his body in two, "Gulp!?"

The colorless impact pierced between the two, sending the lizardman flying to the side.

“——!?”

Bell's time resumed its normal flow, and when he turned his head, he saw the magician standing there, his left glove extended straight out.

"Forgive me, Reed...!"

Fels, determined to rescue Bell, made a desperate decision and unleashed a long-range shot; he then shouted:

"Stop the [Brutal Barbarians], Bell Craney!!"

"what?"

"These kinds of 'curses' will be dispelled once the warlock falls! Reed and the others will also regain their sanity!!"

Bell snapped back to reality, turned in the opposite direction of Fels, and saw the goggles-wearing man holding a red gun standing there.

The distance between the two sides was very short. Bell, who was thrown into the center of the battlefield, was closest to him, within arm's reach.

Bell's gaze met the crimson eyes that appeared behind his goggles—then he burst into flames, punched the floor, and stood up.

The boy, who had always been at the mercy of circumstances, was now filled with intense fighting spirit for the first time.

"Want to fight, huh, 'Rookie'? I'm a Level 5, you know?"

"...!!"

"I'm not bluffing. Among the talking monsters, there are some really tough ones. This business has gone through a few so-called 'adventures' along the way."

Dix looked at Bell, who had stood up, with great interest, and spoke without falsehood.

Just as he was showing off his extraordinary strength and intimidating the wide-eyed boy—

"The 'curse' is powerful, but sacrifices are necessary! That man has now paid the price!"

"Ugh, damn it, why did you have to reveal my secrets?"

Hearing Fels shout again, Dix smiled with a hint of anger.

The clear distinction between a "curse" and "magic" lies in whether or not a sacrifice is required.

During the use of sorcery, the sorcerer must be forced to accept various penalties as a price.

Bale glared angrily at his opponent.

Holding a jet-black dagger in his right hand and a crimson dagger in his left, he starts running.

He sprinted across the battlefield.

Bell dodged past the menacing monsters that were baring their teeth and claws at him, leaving them behind, and rushed toward the man who stood leisurely.

"Dixie".

"It's alright. You guys go and deal with the magicians and their group."

Dix gestured with his chin to his men beside him, then a smirk appeared on his lips.

As his men left, the brutal hunter stood alone, raising his spear at the boy who was charging at him.

"Defeat him, Bell Craney!!"

The moment the magician roared, the dagger clashed with the spear.

Amidst the sharp clang of metal and the flying sparks, Bell and Dix engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

*

"Hey, survivor spotted!"

"Are you alright? Answer me!?"

In the town of Rivera, bathed in crystal light.

A smaller party, operating separately from the main Ganesha Familia, is conducting rescue operations in the destroyed dungeon inn town. The members rush to find survivors, locate dwarves buried under the rubble, or elves collapsed by the roadside, and begin treating them.

"That's...that's terrible..."

Among them, a member of the youth group (Mendaka) discovered several bodies that had been tortured and murdered.

Each corpse lay in a pool of blood, utterly disfigured beyond recognition. It was as if they had been murdered out of personal vendetta.

He couldn't possibly know that all those who lost their lives were members of the Ikelos Familia.

In the town, scarred by destruction and billowing with smoke, a youth (Mundaka) turned pale and covered his mouth with his hand.

"...?"

The youth group member (Mundaka) was initially frozen in fear at the sight of the gruesome corpses of his fellow members, but suddenly his gaze was drawn to the view of the cliff from his current position.

He saw in the center of the great grassland that a monster emerged from the central tree leading to the 19th level.

It was a white blob riding a black four-legged beast. It wasn't very clear from a distance, but it should be a hellhound and a unicorn rabbit.

The strange monster duo looked around and then ran straight eastward.

"What... what is that?" The youth group member (Mendaka) was completely bewildered—he froze the moment he saw the new shadow emerging from the central tree root.

"...This is bad."

Then, the sentence that came out of his mouth was this.

"This is bad, this is bad... this is bad, this is bad, this is bad!?"

"Hey, what's wrong!?"

"Run!! Bring the commander and the others back too!?"

"What are you talking about!?"

"This is no longer the time to tame monsters!!"

The youth group member (Mundaka) was in a semi-mad state, and the other members all came to ask him what was going on.

He was drenched in sweat and shouted as if his throat were about to tear:

"An anomaly has occurred—a 'subspecies (monster)' has appeared!!"

"Okay! Hold it down!"

"How many are left!?"

Several adventurers from the Ganesha Familia worked together to subdue the frantically struggling half-human, half-snake creature.

This is the large forest on the east side of the building.

The battle against the armed monsters was drawing to a close, with the extermination team holding the upper hand. Many of the enemies, except for a few, had vanished into the depths of the forest. Under the cover of the masked adventurers, the extermination team seized the opportunity to attack, gradually stripping the remaining, defiant enemies of their fighting ability.

Although the armed monsters remained completely untamed, and fighting continued in a few places, they were few in number. Only a few remained uncaptured. The surrounding area was littered with the corpses of forest monsters and piles of dust, and the battle was finally coming to an end.

"Seriously, it keeps squeaking and squeaking...it's making me dizzy."

"However, that golden-winged singing bird... seems to be avoiding hurting people."

Aisha and Ryu, carrying a large broadsword and a wooden sword, along with Ilta and other members of the Ganesha Familia, looked up at the golden-winged singing bird perched on a tree branch.

Several monsters put up a fierce resistance until the very end, with the Songbird being one of the main ones. It used its powerful sonic attacks to stop the adventurers from moving, but Ryu launched a surprise attack after parting ways with the boy, interrupting its attack and leading to a chaotic battle.

Although the opponent displayed potential at a first-tier level, they were ultimately outnumbered. After the Deadly High-Frequency Wave was sealed, it quickly fell along with the other monsters.

"...!"

As the adventurers surrounded him under the tree, the singing bird's chest heaved, and he closed his eyes tightly.

Now, she is the only monster left that has not yet surrendered. The singing bird folded its injured wings, its ugly face, painted crimson, twisted in a grotesque manner—perhaps the blood splattered by its enemies.

"It's finally over..."

Looking around at the battlefield, which had maintained a stable state, Commander Shakti breathed a sigh of relief.

(If it weren't for needing to tame monsters, we wouldn't have had to fight so hard... Never mind, let's not talk about it.)

This is the will of the supreme god (Ganesha). She shook her head.

We need to pursue the other group of monsters, who have split into two groups. Shakti intends to give instructions.

"...?"

At that moment, Shakti turned his head away.

Her gaze followed the sound of the grass parting and the approaching scent.

—Cerberus and the One-Horned Rabbit?

Just as the two monsters seemed to have no intention of fighting, but were simply passing by.

"————"

She saw it.

It's too late to say.

Bang! A loud sound.

"...Eldest sister?"

Hearing the heavy rumble, the female warrior (Amazon) Ilta, who was looking up at the tree, turned her head.

In the distance, she could see her sworn sister leaning against a tree trunk.

Shakti leaned against the tree with his back and head pressed against it.

No, that's not right.

She was thrown up there.

She slipped very quickly.

Shakti coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground.

“Eh…?”

The trees that blocked her path crackled and sputtered ominously before collapsing with a loud crash.

Ryu, Aisha, the other members of the crew, and even the monsters all turned to look.

Apart from Shakti lying motionless on the ground—unable to get up again—the entire great forest was shaken.

"Big sister!?"

Ilta screamed in agony, and Ryu and the others stared in disbelief.

The ever-expanding mass of presence made no attempt to conceal its aura, trampling the grass and tree roots as it advanced.

The singing bird suddenly came to its senses and flew away unnoticed; then it saw "that" emerge from the depths of the trees.

"Varied--"

"That one" has fists as hard as rocks.

"That" is proud of its enormous, towering body.

"That one" was wearing sturdy and durable armor.

"That one" is wielding a huge double-edged axe (labrys).

A dark figure with jet-black skin looked down at the speechless Ryu and the others.