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

(Tione...!)

Seeing that the ship carrying Tione and the others had begun to sail, Ais guessed the enemy's purpose.

She had to catch them before the boats left the brackish lake and sailed out to sea through the gorge.

Ais, like a golden bullet, increased her running speed even further.

However, at this moment——

"—Roar! Ro ...

「!?」

The broken gong roared loudly.

"That's... a man-eating plant!?"

"Choosing a time like this!"

The storage area, filled with goods transported by numerous ships, exploded open, revealing a total of seven long, monstrous creatures. Colorful petals bloomed, and their hideous jaws shocked the peaceful port city.

As they moved across the rooftop, the group members who arrived later than Ais cried out in surprise.

"Wa ...

The carnivorous plant appeared in the center of the harbor, near the trading port. Upon seeing its long, slender form stretching towards the sky, the sailors remaining in the harbor screamed and fled.

Why? How could it be now? Is it really just a coincidence?

In an instant, countless questions flashed through her mind. Ais had no time to think and had to make a decision.

Ahead of him, the ship carrying Tiony gradually sailed away.

Behind it, the carnivorous plant raised its tentacles and smashed the moored passenger ships one by one.

In the blink of an eye, screams echoed throughout the trading port. Ais, staring in disbelief, forced herself to suppress her anguish and cried out:

"—Take care of the man-eating plant first!"

She called a halt as soon as she landed on her footing and turned back.

Ais turned her back to the ship her companion (Tione) was on, prioritizing the lives of ordinary people.

"A man-eating flower!?"

Tiony also witnessed Ais and her bandmates attacking the man-eating flower.

When she was speechless on the ever-accelerating ship, Argana said to her:

"That was just to stall them, nothing more, don't worry about it."

"...So you guys are also connected to that man-eating plant (monster)?"

"I don't understand what you're talking about. We haven't heard anything about how to stall them."

Argana simply changed the subject in response to Tione's stern gaze.

Tiony was still annoyed when the ship crossed the lake's narrow passage from the brackish water and finally reached the open sea. The port city (Melén) shrank in the distance, and the lakeshore receded further and further away.

"That's not important. Okay—let's fight."

Aljana declared that the time had come, revealing an unprecedentedly joyful smile.

Tiony turned away silently, as if accepting a challenge, and confronted the opponent of the "ritual".

"..."

Ahead, the blond-haired, golden-eyed adventurer and his companions were battling a monster.

The ship was struck in two by the swung tentacles, capsized, and sank. Sailors and merchants fled from the trading port, while fishermen stood frozen, pointing at the monster. Screams of women and children could still be heard from the other side of the town.

Faced with all the sights that came into view, the man went against the fleeing tide of demi-humans and left the place.

"—Rivia."

Loki didn't miss the man's actions.

The location was a bustling fishing port, where people were pouring in from the trading port. Despite the chaos, the fishermen were still guiding the crowd toward the edge of the town, which was situated on higher ground.

Riveria and Ais, along with others, laid a dense net around the port. They waited in the fishing port area with a few other members. When they saw the situation, they wanted to rush to the rescue immediately, but Loki stopped them.

"What is it, Loki? The situation is urgent."

"We need to get out of here. I'm going to track down the person who put the carnivorous plant in the lake... and make sure the culprit has nowhere to escape. Time for a detective game."

Rivera and the other members were surprised to see Loki's half-joking tone but serious look in his eyes.

"Should we go too? What about the monster?"

"There are only a few of them, Ais and the others are enough. I mean, if everyone crowds together there, we might fall into the enemy's trap."

Loki, seeing through the opportune appearance of the carnivorous plants as merely a "stumbling block," glanced at Rivera. "You noticed them too, didn't you?"

"Something unexpected seems to have happened to them as well... They might actually reveal their true colors."

"You mean now is a great opportunity?"

"Yes, I want to catch them red-handed, so the criminal has no way to defend himself."

Loki stared intently in the direction where the man had disappeared.

The other members all looked bewildered, but Rivera, who had already heard about the "insider information" of the current predicament in the port city (Merlen), remained silent for a moment before asking:

"...As you said, Ais and the others should be enough to deal with the carnivorous plants (monsters). But what about Tione and the others?"

Even though Riveria sensed the trap, she still chose to immediately annihilate the carnivorous plant so that Ais or herself could chase after Tione and the others.

The faction's vice-leader worried that the supreme god might abandon the girls for his own purposes, but Loki replied without any pessimism:

"I believe in my children. Everything will be fine!"

Riveria couldn't retort to that statement.

Instead, she transformed her trust in the supreme god into a sigh between her lips.

"Besides, we can't just use 'magic' in town and turn it into a sea of ​​fire, can we? Didn't you say it wouldn't work either? Let's leave the battle in town to Ais and the others."

"...Looks like there's no other way. I understand."

"Then, I'll leave it to Riveria to handle that."

"Okay. Alicia, come here!"

"Okay, okay... Are you talking about me?"

Riveria called the elf Alicia over and quickly whispered a few words in her slender ear.

After hearing something, Alicia first showed a surprised expression, and then immediately nodded.

As the elves of the magic group rushed out, Loki summoned the remaining members of the group.

"Sorry to call you guys so soon after I've just recovered. Sakta and Elfie, come with me~ You guys protect me. Healer (Lene) and the others stay here to take care of the wounded."

“Okay, okay!”

Loki, who quickly gave the order, also led the panicked rabbit girl and others into action.

"Alright... just one more move and it'll be checkmate."

✿

Tiona ran in a straight line in the direction Algana pointed out.

She walked past a corner behind the shipyard where parts were piled up haphazardly, and entered a thicket of mixed trees very close to the lake shore.

Algana had just said, "You'll find out how to get there soon enough." Tiona was still wondering when, as she walked through the trees, a scent brushed against her nose.

"This tastes like..."

It was the taste she knew.

Tiona sniffed like a dog and immediately recognized the scent.

A strong, rusty stench mixed with the musty smell.

In that stone house, in the arena, the stench of the Kingdom of Tir Sculla, which they had grown accustomed to.

He probably deliberately cut his skin with a rusty weapon, using the dripping fluid as a marker. Tiona understood Algana's meaning and ran through the woods following the unforgettable scent of blood.

"here it is……"

Passing through the woods, a lagoon came into view below, similar to the place where Tiona and the others had enjoyed a lake bath a couple of days ago.

This place is narrower than that place, making it difficult to see; it could even be described as a deep valley. The biggest difference is that there is no lakeside here; the rock walls are eroded not by lake water, but by waves formed by the saltwater of the sea.

"Sea caves...?"

The rock wall, carved out by the waves, has created a cave that allows several people to pass through easily.

Tiona descended the cliff to the cave entrance and found it to be so deep that the end was nowhere in sight. The black rock surface resembled a grotto, etched with tunnel-like shapes. Standing there observing the cave, Tiona stepped inside.

Perhaps due to the ebb and flow of the tide, the seawater only reached below her knees. After walking for a while, Tiona came to a level surface resembling the shore, where the seawater stopped. She walked barefoot on the black rocky ground, and a complex network of paths, like an anthill, appeared before her.

"It looks like an underground city."

No wonder they couldn't find them. Even if they found the sea cave, it would be difficult to locate the people hiding deep inside. So, it turns out that Kali and the others who abducted Lefia were hiding here.

(It seems to have been dug out separately using the natural terrain?)

Moonlight streamed in through a few cracks in the ceiling, and magic stone lamps hung on the walls of the dark sea cave. Tiona stepped onto a path marked by bloody trails, sometimes descending slopes, and running through long, large caverns.

finally--

"You've come, Tiona."

"!"

Tiona arrived at a wide-open void.

The roof forms a towering, cylindrical shape, yet it is very wide. Of course, the rocks here also expose their black surfaces, as if one were inside a giant, upright sarcophagus.

Surrounded by layers of overlapping rocks, warriors of the Kingdom of Tir Sculla were present. Kali sat cross-legged on the highest spot, offering words of welcome to Tiona.

And in front of Tiona.

Silently awaiting her arrival were Amazons with faces veiled in black and hair of sandy color.

"Baj..."

"..."

Tiona looked at Bajie, who didn't answer but just looked back at Tiona.

Beneath the sandy-colored bangs, a pair of eyes held a sharp gaze.

"...Kali, where's Lefia?"

"I've locked her in another empty cave. Don't worry, I'll let her go... after the outcome of the 'ritual' is decided."

The goddess narrowed her blood-red eyes as if she had found a lost treasure.

"I never imagined this day would come... The relationship between master and disciple has grown to this point, and we are about to face a struggle."

Kali was filled with emotion, and spoke softly with passionate words.

But after saying only a few words, Kali glanced at a certain part of Tiona's body and looked at her with pity.

"It's just that one of them didn't have much breast tissue..."

"I told you! You're not allowed to talk about my figure—!"

Upon hearing the former chief god's extremely regretful comment, Tiona waved her hands and shouted.

Incidentally, Alganna's bust size is similar to Tione's, while Baje boasts an even more impressive figure. In the bust size contest between the sisters, Tione is completely outmatched.

"—Strike a pose, Diona."

Facing a furious Tiona who was red-faced and visibly angry, Baje spoke for the first time.

As if announcing the end of a farce, a monotone voice emanated from beneath the veil.

"Let's fight to the death!"

With a concise and clear sentence, she struck a pose with her right arm slightly extended forward.

"...Do we really have to fight?"

"What kind of time is this to be saying such nonsense, Diona?"