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

"Damn it!...You all know perfectly well that I've developed feelings for you!"

To cover for the "heretics," Fels also began to leave his original spot.

"Finn, what do we do?"

Riveria began to fight with a bow and arrow and sought Finn's instructions.

"...capture them alive if possible."

"Captured alive?"

Bert said in surprise, and the Lilliputian leader nodded, "Yes, there is something that concerns me."

"First, the vanguard, led by Tione, will engage the enemy. Avoid using 'magic' as much as possible to prevent damage to the city."

"learn!"

"knew--!"

“This is so troublesome…”

"The rearguard mages are guiding people to safety while protecting them, prioritizing the safety of the citizens above all else. Go!"

"yes!"

Finn quickly issued orders, and everyone immediately began to take action upon receiving them.

Tiony, Tiona, and Bert led the way, and the rest of the group ran out; just as Ais was about to jump off the roof like the others, Finn called her back.

"Ais, you stay."

"...?"

"Rivia is preparing a barrier. Although I said that, the residents probably won't take refuge immediately."

"...Being too famous can be a problem. I understand, just in case."

"Thank you for your help, Grace. I'm sorry, but I'll tell you the location now. Could you please go and keep watch over it?"

"Hmm? It's alright... but don't we need to deal with those armed monsters?"

"Well, I think Bert and the others are enough."

Ignoring Ais's puzzled look, Finn gave instructions to Riveria and Grace as well.

Seeing the citizens below so excited to witness the battle of the city's largest faction (Loki's Familia), and more importantly, so reckless as to hesitate to take refuge, Riveria sighed and began to chant as she jumped off the roof.

Grace picked up the axe and set off for the location Finn had designated.

"...Finn."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Ais, you're staying for your safety."

Finn immediately apologized when Ais stared at him intently.

He seemed to sense the change in the expressionless and taciturn [Sword Princess]'s emotions—discontent or resentment—and responded with a wry smile.

"...Is there a problem?"

"A little bit, um..."

Upon hearing Finn say "just in case," Ais asked with a serious expression, licking the pad of his thumb.

On the rooftop where only the girl and herself remained, the leader of the dwarfs raised his head.

In his line of sight, the adventurers made contact with a group of monsters, and a battle was about to begin.

The battle between the Loki Familia and the Heretics has begun.

*

They began to fight along the entire eight-meter-wide avenue.

The "heretics," attempting to block the adventurers, surged in from the east, away from the city walls, and clashed fiercely with the Loki Familia, who were rushing in from the west, near the Tower of Babel, in the middle of the road.

The orc youths confronted a large-scale monster, a human girl fought against a half-human, half-snake, and an elven beauty used a bow and arrow to snipe a griffin. Each wielded different weapons, and in an instant, the sounds of metal clashing together filled the air.

“Guoooooooooooooooooooo!”

"A lizardman..."

Reed, wearing a monster mask, engages in battle with the Amazonian Tione.

The former wielded a longsword and a scimitar, while the latter was equipped with a pair of recurved blades (kukri kenife). Both were dual-wielding warriors, and they engaged in a fierce sword fight.

"...!?"

However, Reed's heart soon became as turbulent as a stormy sea.

As his long black hair flew wildly, blades swept in at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye. Each high-speed swing of the blades was designed to kill instantly, and Reed deflected these attacks with all his might, causing an astonishing metallic sound that exceeded the limits of hearing to resound incessantly.

That's not all. The opponent skillfully employed the unique martial arts techniques of a female warrior (Amazon). Her supple, brown jade legs bent like whips, shattering Reed's proud, hard red scales upon impact. Her bare feet remained completely unharmed.

A complex web of interwoven double blades, interspersed with elbow strikes and kicks in a super-melee combat style.

The incredible force of the impact pierced through Reed's defensive weapons or gauntlets, reaching straight to his body.

Even in the eyes of Reed, a true monster, her ferocious physical skills were still like those of a beast, and her two recurve swords were reminiscent of sharp fangs.

The battle situation quickly shifted in Reed's favor, favoring his one-sided defensive strategy.

"Oh……"

As for Tione, seeing the lizardmen withstand his attacks and always manage to dodge the decisive blows without serious harm, he narrowed his eyes.

She quickened her pace again to probe Reed's swordsmanship—his "skills" and "tactics."

(Wow, so strong...!)

Reed's bright yellow eyes twitched.

He was confident that he could defeat any of the adventurers he had fought all day—the first-class adventurers of the Ganesha Familia besides the hero (Shakti) and the goggles-wearing man, Dix—in a direct, hand-to-hand combat. This was not an exaggeration or bluff; rather, it was the latent ability of a "reinforced species" that had devoured many of its own kind's (monsters') "magic stones," along with its wildly honed swordsmanship, that made Reed certain he would not be defeated by them.

However, he could not even imagine himself defeating this opponent (the phantom).

Faced with the sharp gaze of the female warrior (Amazon), Reed had to realize that he, now the monster, had become the prey.

—The Freya Familia and the Loki Familia.

—Reed, you absolutely must not get involved with them.

—They are the only ones we absolutely cannot afford to mess with.

Reed recalled his conversation with Fels in the dark labyrinth (dungeon).

Fels had always made a big deal out of their advice to avoid contact with either faction; now Reed was beginning to understand the magician’s warnings and the true meaning behind Fels’s words.

(But... I can't let them kill me!)

Reed, with a fierce expression, skillfully deflected the enemy's attack and launched a counterattack.

He filled the gaps with small, quick slashes, then used all his strength to thrust out his longsword and scimitar.

Of course, Tione easily defended against the move—but Reed immediately swung the thick tail around his waist and launched a powerful attack on her.

"!"

The third strike from the tail knocked two recurve swords away from the astonished hands of Tione.

(How about it!)

Just as Reed swung his scimitar to deliver the final blow, Tione's figure suddenly vanished.

In the blink of an eye, Reed's profile was grabbed at an imperceptible speed and slammed into a nearby house.

"—Gah!"

Reed smashed through the blackened brick wall and was literally buried inside, one eye wide open, almost bulging out.

"...Looks like they're not ordinary lizardmen."

He lifted the lizardman's massive body with a slender arm and slammed it into the wall, speaking calmly as he squeezed the face in his palm until it made a squeaking sound.

Reed couldn't take it anymore, and with a flick of his tail, Tione jumped backward without hesitation. Although freed, Reed, who had managed to prop himself up from the wall, was already staggering.

"———————————————————————————!!"

"It's so noisy..."

—In a corner far from Reed and Tione, strange sonic waves emanating from above made Bert press his beast ears flat against his head.

The hideous singing bird effortlessly dodged arrows and other attacks, unleashing a high-frequency sonic wave with an extremely wide range. Even Bert, who was some distance away, almost lost his balance due to the powerful sound waves. Several members of the band who were directly attacked could not bear it, bracing themselves with their hands on the ground, blood flowing from their ears.

A murderous glint flashed in Bert's eyes as he kicked the ground.

「!?」

The enemy rapidly approaching from the lower left startled the singer, Ray. Seeing Bert soaring through the air like a ravenous wolf ready to devour the moon, she halted her attack and focused all her energy on dodging.

The two passed each other at the last second, and the fist that grazed her cheek made her break out in a cold sweat; however, the werewolf who had dodged the surprise attack seemed to have expected this, and kicked the wall of the building that was approaching.

The werewolf, like a bouncing bullet, closed in on the singing bird once more.

"————"

Rei, a flying enhanced species (monster), was suddenly taken from behind. She didn't even have time to be shocked.

Bert laughed as he kicked out his mithril metal boots, which reflected sunlight.

"Go down."

A person without wings shot down a winged monster.

"!"

Kicked into her body by the raised left foot, Lei fell like a meteorite.

With her back slamming violently into the ground, Rei struggled to breathe and was unable to regain her balance, shattering the stone floor in the process.

One strike and it's over.

"Finn is really something else, giving me such a troublesome order..."

Bert landed on the ground, complaining about the order to capture her alive, and walked toward Rey, whom he hadn't attacked with all his might. The other members of the band, unable to handle the Songbird, also looked at Bert with trepidation. He rudely kicked Rey, who was lying in the collapsed ground, causing her to roll over.

With a sway of its beautifully shaped chest beneath its combat suit, the Golden-Winged Singer-Bird assumed a supine position.

"Huh? You..."

She was slammed to the ground, which caused some of Lei's blood-soaked makeup to be wiped away.

She had long, dark golden hair, blue eyes like the sky, and a beautiful face that rivaled that of an elf.

Upon seeing Rey's concealed face, Bert raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Ha! It's clearly a monster, but it looks quite human."

Then he raised his right foot and stomped down on Lei's abdomen without any mercy.

"……ah!"

"However, monsters deserve to die."

The singing bird bounced up from its lower body as it was stepped on by the sole of the shoe. Bert added insult and anger to his smile, mercilessly projecting the divide between humans and "monsters" onto Rey.

Lei lay on her back, the beautiful yet cruel sunlight burning into her eyes.

Even the long-awaited surface light forced her to confront an excessively cruel reality.

"Roar!!"

"One after another, it's so noisy."

The gargoyle lunged from the air at Bert, who was trampling on Rey.

Enraged, Guros attacked Bert, who jumped back, reaching out to tear him to pieces. However, in an instant, a flying blade shattered the stone claw.

Stone claw fragments scattered across the field of vision toward the gargoyle whose time had stopped, and Bert followed up with a spinning kick, unleashing the power of the metal boots.

"Ugh!"

"You've come to the wrong place."

"Hide in the dark underground and don't come out." The ferocious werewolf kicked the gargoyle away and pressed his advantage.

"Yo, drink!"

「!?」