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

"You little rookie, you rascal!?"

Seeing Bell's barrage of fiery lightning interfering, the adventurers turned red in the face and roared wildly.

Regardless of whether they were novice or advanced adventurers, or from which faction they belonged, everyone was cursing the new adventurer who attacked them.

Even the women and children peeking from the upper floors of the house were stunned and dumbfounded, witnessing Bell's barbaric behavior.

"Are you crazy? You really want monster treasures (dropped items) that badly? What do you mean by this?" The curses from his companions caused Bell a sharp pain in his heart; his hands trembled, but he continued to unleash "spells." He protected the dragon girl and continued the relentless pursuit.

Soon, the endless escape led them into the redevelopment zone of Fengyue Street.

This area was once the territory of the Ishtar Familia, but was recently destroyed by the Freya Familia. In the red-light district, this area bears particularly deep claw marks of destruction, and many buildings remain in ruins; the general public is prohibited from entering. Half-ruined brothels, overturned wooden barrels, and streets ravaged by fire. The Goddess Palace (Heroine's Brothel), having lost its master, overlooks the city's former glory.

The two ran aimlessly through the intricate network of abandoned alleyways.

Wherever Belle and Winnie went, adventurers would always be there to greet them.

"...?"

Unintentionally, Bell felt a sense of unease.

(...No one attacked?)

The weapons made no sound of wind cutting, and the pursuers stopped.

The adventurers will only appear to block Winnie's path or fire threatening shots, but will no longer launch any obvious attacks against her.

It's like they've given up hope—

(No, that's not right.)

Bell kicked away his complacent assumptions, and at the same time a chill ran down his spine.

(Were I misled...?)

The next instant, all the color drained from Bell's face.

"Winnie, you can't go!"

She was lured to a specific location.

Bell realized this and shouted desperately.

Humans appeared in front of their path, and the dwarves raised their large shields. To escape these obstacles, the dragon girl kept turning through the alleyways. In desperation, Bell tried to grab her tail, but an arrow shot from the side prevented him.

The orcs sniped at Bell from the rooftop, as if telling him to mind his own business.

"...!"

In the end, Bell's prayers were in vain.

The dimly lit alleyway suddenly opened up, and the twilight sky, nearing dusk, enveloped the view.

It was a mortar-shaped plaza composed of open spaces and dilapidated ruins.

The dragon girl rushed into the square, smashing the iron fence to pieces. Since her footing had disappeared, she fell into a deep depression.

She crashed through the stone slabs with a deafening roar and arrived at the center of the plaza. Looking up, she saw countless adventurers standing on the ruins, looking down at her; she was surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Adventurers formed gangs. The [Families] joined forces to set up schemes.

As the mages surrounding the plaza prepared to unleash their completed "magic," Bell's heart pounded incessantly.

Without stopping, he jumped into the square himself.

"Hey, newcomer, stop right there!"

"Are you fucking crazy?! You're going to die!"

When the adventurers warned and roared at Bell in the landing plaza—

"Ignore him, just shoot!"

The burly man's seemingly irrational voice rang out from within the encirclement, igniting the fuse.

Countless magical lights rose up on the scene, simultaneously igniting the cannon fire.

"—"

The intense light from the artillery fire hurtled toward the center of the square.

The light illuminated the dragon girl's wide-eyed expression and instantly covered her entire body.

"Aa ...

The screams of monsters were annihilated by the "magic" bombardment.

The girl's figure gradually disappeared in the blast wave.

"————————!"

Bell charged forward.

Despite being buffeted by flames, electric shocks, and icy winds, Bell continued running toward the center of the square.

Despite his charred skin, burnt hair, and frostbitten skin, he was only anxious to reach the girl who had been swallowed by the shelling vortex.

Incoherent shouts scattered everywhere.

Time passed so slowly it was nauseating.

In a world where time is sealed off, Bell stretches out his arms.

As the debris from the bombardment flew everywhere, the dragon monster, having lost all its scales, looked up at the sky.

She was smoking all over, her charred hands and feet decaying, her fragile, fleeting silver hair swaying.

Winnie saw the boy approaching her, his eyes vacant, and a faint sound escaping his lips.

Bell.

"!"

Just as Bell stretched out his hand with all his might, about to touch the girl...

The blood-red spear tip pierced through the girl's chest.

"—————————"

The spearhead was thrown from a distance.

That was a cursed spear of resentment.

"Ha! Hahahaha! We took it down, we took it down!"

The burly man laughed. He laughed irrationally.

The loud laughter of the man who had lost half his face shattered the pause in the flow of time.

Before Bell's eyes, the girl's pierced body slowly tilted.

"—Winnie!"

Just as the boy's tears and screams burst forth—the ground collapsed.

"what happened?"

"The ground is going to collapse!"

Starting from the center of the simultaneous artillery bombardment, the square gradually collapsed.

As his footing disappeared, Bell himself fell.

He grabbed the girl's body as she fell into the dark abyss and pulled her towards him.

*

The adventurers and mages covered their faces with their arms and stopped, looking at the scene below.

The collapsed ground.

A vast, rolling sandstorm.

A large hole was carved out in the center, which, combined with the original shape of the space, resembled an artificial hellish lion. The stone slabs would occasionally crack and break, falling into the cave.

It was a network of secret underground passages designed by a peculiar man (Daedalus) that spanned the entire red-light district. The plaza, already hollowed out by these underground passages, collapsed under the shock of the simultaneous artillery barrage.

The adventurers made gurgling sounds in their throats.

The boy and the dragon girl both disappeared at the bottom of the deep cave.

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!"

A burly man ignored them and let out a deranged laugh.

This person is Gran of the Ikelos Familia. The only survivor among the hunters, he used the "Key" to come to the surface from the man-made labyrinth (Knossos). In a state of irrationality, he was consumed by rage and threw the man's (Dix's) spear at Winnie.

"I took it down, Dix! I killed the monster, I finished it off! It was me—"

"!"

The mentally deranged giant was crushed by the gargoyle's claws that descended rapidly from above.

Gross, fleeing the pursuit of the Loki Familia, saw the flashes of artillery fire overhead and rushed to the plaza with the winged monsters. Then, unfortunately, he witnessed that scene.

Under the astonished gazes of the adventurers, the gargoyle finally took the hunter's life this time. He stared at the depths of the cave where Belle and Winnie had fallen, trembling all over.

"!--Roarooooo ...

"Winged monsters!? So many!?"

"Damn it, run!"

The "heretics" caused a huge disturbance.

They forced their battered bodies to move, squeezing out their last bit of strength to attack the screaming adventurers.

In order not to let them interfere with the boy and girl's last moments.

*

Like an hourglass announcing the remaining time, grains of sand and stone flakes fall like rain.

In the dimly lit underground passageway surrounded by collapsed rubble.

Outside the cave above, a vast, maroon sky looked down upon the two; Bell held the girl's limp and powerless body.

"Winnie!...Winnie?"

Tears welled in the boy's eyes as he gripped the cursed gun that had pierced the girl's chest.

The power of the curse was still eroding the girl's body. Bell pulled out the tip of the gun and threw it away.

A crisp clang rang out. The pale, bluish body convulsed and trembled.

Bell took the red stone from his bag and set it into Winnie's empty forehead.

Although the red stone regained a faint glow, the girl did not move.

Not only that—there was a "poof" sound.

The long dragon tail turned to dust and gradually collapsed.

"...!"

Deep in the chest pierced by a spear.

The wound reveals blue-purple crystals filled with blood, and cracks have formed.

As the cracks widened, the front parts of the girl's body began to turn gray.

"No...no!"

Bell repeated the same phrase like a crying child.

No, you can't do this, you can't leave.

Bell held the girl tightly, tears streaming from his closed eyes onto her pale, bluish cheeks.

"...Bell?"

"!"

The soft, sigh-like murmur that touched her ear snapped Bell back to reality, and she turned her gaze to her.

Winnie opened her eyelids slightly, her amber eyes regaining their luster as she woke up.

The hardened, calloused cheeks remained unchanged.