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

Ais and Tiona simultaneously told the panicked Lefia.

Before she and the other members could panic, Ais and the others ran out.

"Lefia, Loki is in the mansion next door. Go and call her!"

"We'll go ahead first."

After leaving their instructions, the two Level 1 adventurers vanished like a gust of wind.

They abandoned the fishermen, including Rhodes, who were acting in a panic, and Lefia and the others, and rushed to the town.

✿

The sky was clear and cloudless.

As usual, the blue sky, shrouded in white clouds, overlooks the port city. The brilliant sunshine makes the surface of the brackish lake shimmer and radiate a beautiful emerald green glow.

Contrary to the fine, sunny weather, Mellen Street was eerily quiet, having forgotten its usual bustle.

Pedestrians on the road stopped moving.

No, that's not right, it's that I dare not move.

Speechless, their gazes were fixed on an Amazonian man in the middle of the street who had grabbed a fisherman by the neck with one hand.

"You wanted to see me? Is something wrong?"

The woman spoke in broken Common, a smile on her face.

She had long, sandy-brown hair tied in braids. Her unique clothing, which revealed her brown skin, was undoubtedly that of an Amazon. The fur wrapped around her waist was not fur, but scales—dragon skin, a "dropped item."

Although she possessed a beauty that could be described as striking, her piercing eyes and upturned lips inevitably evoked images of reptiles. Her appearance was far from alluring. To men, her presence conjured the image of a serpent facing its prey. A long tongue, unbecoming of a human, licked her lips.

The strong young fisherman had nothing to say about women.

A slender arm was gripping his neck, his dangling legs thrashed about, and his throat made a flute-like sound as he tried to inhale. He desperately tried to pry open the fingers that were biting his skin.

"Please, have mercy on him! Because... because you're so beautiful, he was stunned and bumped into your shoulder! So... so..."

The fisherman's companion, who had been captured, begged for mercy.

The Amazonian simply turned his face toward the man, whose eyes were filled with tears and who looked flustered and disoriented.

"In my country, bumping a soldier with your shoulder... means you're ready to fight."

This declaration turned the man's face deathly pale.

The hand gripping his neck tightened its hold, and the fisherman's body began to tremble as if in a spasm.

The onlookers finally began to scream, while the Amazonian group with the woman watched the spectacle with malicious smiles. The woman's sister, who also had sandy-colored hair, remained expressionless, simply observing.

Looking up at the fisherman, whose eyes were rolling back and whose arms were hanging down, the woman narrowed her eyes.

At this time.

"Let go."

A brown hand reached out from the side and grabbed one of the woman's arms.

It is Tione.

"...It's Tione."

"I told you to let go, Argana."

Despite the immense pressure that seemed to break her bones, the woman's smile remained unchanged, even growing deeper.

Under Tione's almost suffocating gaze, the woman—Argana—seemed to have lost interest and released the fisherman.

The man's body fell to the ground with a thud, and at the same time, she shook off Tiony's hand.

"Where have you been? I've been looking for you and Tiona."

"You can speak Common Tongue? I thought you were just a monkey whose mind was only focused on fighting."

Tiony glanced sideways at the fisherman's companions as they dragged him away, and seeing that they were speaking a common language rather than their own (Amazonian) language, she snorted angrily through her nose.

Algana seemed completely unconcerned, and said happily:

"The goddess (Kali) taught me. The goddess (Kali) teaches me everything. She taught me the joy of becoming stronger... and she also let me know what the prey outside is saying."

Her eyes swept across the crowd.

"I've wanted to know for a long time... what are my prey crying out for? Are they angry? Are they begging for mercy?"

Seeing that Algana had revealed her sadistic nature, Tione clicked her tongue in disgust.

Nothing has changed. She is only interested in power and bloody "struggle".

Facing the Amazons with whom she shared a deep-seated grudge in her homeland (Tir-Scylla), Tione could not suppress the turmoil in her blood. Her hands clenched into fists.

"I heard, Tione? You seem to have become very strong in the outside world?"

"..."

"I also heard that you, like me, have become the [Angry Serpent (Serpent)]."

"Don't drag me into this."

Something on Tione made a cracking sound.

Her corrected speech reverted to her natural rudeness, and her face took on an angry expression. Algana's lips curved into a crescent shape, and she slowly tilted her head to one side.

"So—how much stronger have you become?"

For a moment, a blank space appeared on the street.

The next moment.

"!"

Both players kicked their opponents.

Tiony's overhead kick was blocked by her left arm, and similarly, Algana's overhead kick was also blocked by her left arm.

In the blink of an eye, a fierce battle of fists and feet began.

"Tione!?"

Tiona and Ais arrived at the scene, but they were too late.

Fearing being caught in the crossfire, the crowd screamed and pushed each other in a panicked flight; behind this scene, the two engaged in a fierce, rapid exchange of blows, their combat as swift as a dance. Their long, black and sand-colored hair billowed and danced, their fists and feet, capable of easily shattering an ordinary person's body, clashed relentlessly. The dull, heavy sounds echoing through their defenses sent shivers down the spines of their ears.

The two are evenly matched... no, compared to Tione—

Seeing the two using extremely similar martial arts techniques, Ais felt a sharp, needle-like tremor run through her chest.

In terms of unarmed combat, Tione and Tiona possess unparalleled strength even within the Loki Familia. Grace is superior in strength, while Bert has the advantage in speed, but from a "technique" standpoint, the unique martial arts of the Amazons are more ferocious than anyone else's. If Ais didn't have a sword, she would likely be defeated in just a few moves.

Despite her exceptional martial arts skills, Tione was forced to retreat by her opponent, Algana.

With long limbs and a low growl, she unleashed a barrage of blows on Tione. She anticipated Tione's moves with incredible speed, striking before Tione could even retaliate. Her level was definitely Lv.6, and her [ability stats] were likely slightly superior.

Facing Algana's piercing gaze, Tione's expression twisted, his anger overshadowing his anxiety, and he defiantly increased the speed of his attacks.

Ais and Tiona easily leaped over the surging crowd, eager to stop the two, but...

"!"

Someone stood in their way.

He is another Amazon with sandy-colored hair, who is related to Argana by blood.

"Get out of the way, Baje!"

"...Lu Mu."

Facing the shouting Diona, the expressionless Bage spoke a single sentence from beneath the veil covering her mouth.

It was a language Ais didn't know, but even though she couldn't understand its meaning, she could still grasp the sense of rejection it conveyed.

Tiona's eyebrows furrowed as she lunged from the right, trying to shove her aside. Ais, cooperating, sped from the left, attempting to run past her. They encountered two first-level adventurers with perfect teamwork, a coordinated attack honed in the dungeon—Baje was taking on both of them simultaneously.

She caught Tiona's punch with one hand and almost simultaneously kicked the ground, launching a flying kick at Ais.

""!?"

Although her opponent was airborne, she used only one arm to perform a spinning throw on Tiona; although Ais dodged in time, several strands of her golden hair were still severed by the powerful kick.

They had no time to be startled. Ais and the others braced themselves with their hands, trying to quickly regain their scattered posture, but Bajie gave them no chance to catch their breath and immediately attacked. She spun like a top, her punches and kicks coming from all angles like a rapid-fire cannon, attacking Ais and Tiona on both sides at the same time.

--So fast!

Contrary to her indifferent gaze, Bajie's unleashing of a series of powerful attacks left Ais speechless.

A swordsman without a weapon (herself) cannot defeat such an opponent. Ais realized this in an instant and drew a substitute sword from its scabbard—a one-handed sword to replace the indestructible sword (the Sword of Despair) that had been sent for repair. But at that moment, the remaining female warriors (Amazons) launched an attack.

"...!"

They probably understood that even Baje would be at a disadvantage against two Level 1 adventurers who had entered a state of combat readiness, so they joined the battle armed.

Baje deals with Tiona, and the Amazons deal with Ais.

Tiona and her friends had already engaged in a fierce battle, and Ais, who was standing nearby, was also pulled into the melee.

"Hahahaha! You've changed, Dione, you've changed!"

"...!"

—On another battlefield, Tione, who was fighting with the laughing Algana, was furious.

It was a mixture of rage towards her opponent and frustration with herself. Her skill, Berserk, increases her attack power with each instance of damage she takes, growing stronger with increasing rage. Even with this special skill constantly boosting the power of her punches, Algana was able to strike Tione through her defenses, deflecting her attacks. Even attacks capable of shattering an enemy are meaningless if they don't hit their body.

Algana, whose "skill" is slightly superior, uses physical techniques that are very similar to Tione's, just like a mirror image.

However, that's to be expected.

Because the physical techniques that Tione used were ones that this Amazonian forced her to learn, even while she was in pain.

“Gu!”

The powerful high kick sent Thione flying backward, back to the roadside stalls lined up in front of him.

Tiony managed to defend herself, ignoring her numb arms, and immediately tried to rush forward—but she unfortunately noticed.

"Alas……!"

(child!?)

He noticed a human girl behind him, who was cowering in fear.

How could there be a child here? She was initially anxious, then berated herself for losing her temper and being so foolish as to start a fight in the street. The girl was only left here because she didn't have time to escape.

The child looked up at her with teary eyes, and Tiony was speechless for a moment; a shadow approached her.

“——”

It was Alganna. She grinned fiercely, raising her fist to strike.

She could barely dodge now, but the girl behind her couldn't. The impact of an attack that grazed her would easily send the carriage flying and would shatter her; even the aftershocks of the shattered ground would break her delicate limbs.

The opponents wouldn't care at all about the girl who got caught in the crossfire. They wouldn't even give her a second thought.

The female warrior (Amazon) could only see Tione.

Without the slightest hesitation, Algana unleashed her punch.

"——!"

Tiony shoved the girl aside, and the punch landed squarely on her body.

"Tione!?"

She crashed with a deafening roar, smashing through the vendors behind her and slamming violently into the wall of a building further back.

Tiona and Ais stopped fighting and turned around to see a huge cloud of dust swirling in front of them.

"Crack...!?"

Although Tione managed to put up a defense, he still managed to carve an astonishing number of cracks into the wall and coughed up blood.

As for Algana, who launched the attack, she blinked several times, looking puzzled.

"What did that mean...? You stepped in to protect... that?"

She glanced at the girl who had narrowly escaped the tiger's jaws and was now trembling on the ground, then looked away.

He addressed Tiony, who had detached himself from the wall and was kneeling on one knee: