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

"Okay, sure!"

The eye crystals attached to the gauntlets glowed, and Hestia's voice guided Bell.

It's obvious that Bell will fail to catch up with Ais using normal methods. Bell's goal is to find Winnie's location on the "magic map" before Ais does.

Winnie turned the corner of the alley and stepped into the spiderweb-like, intertwined paths. A cloud of dust billowed from the flames and lightning, and Bell leaped onto the rooftop of a house, sprinting towards the dragon girl and Ais as quickly as possible.

From the rooftops, the rows of buildings along Daedalus Road resembled numerous rafts floating on a calm sea. Bell leaped over footholds that wouldn't sway with the waves, and after running at high speed for a while, his vision caught sight of long, golden hair running along the path.

Bell leaped from the rooftop and landed right in front of Ais.

"!"

"Miss Ais!"

Ais stopped in her tracks, staring wide-eyed.

The location was a narrow, single road with no side streets nearby. Just as Jin Tong quickly scanned her surroundings and her delicate chin was about to lift to look up at the sky, Bell closed in on her in one breath.

--Don't even think about it!

Bell tried to escape to Ais on the rooftop first and launched an attack.

"...!"

Unable to retreat to higher ground after being blocked, Ais had no choice but to fight.

The two daggers and the sword clashed once more.

"I don't want to fight you..."

"I didn't want to either!"

Ais managed to squeeze out a low murmur, and Bell roared in response.

This is completely different from the exercise we did a few months ago on the city wall until sunrise; it's not training at all.

The intense back-and-forth forced Bell to endure physical pain, as if his chest were being burned alive. He repeatedly recounted:

"Miss Ais, please, listen to me! That girl... those 'heretics'—!"

My answer... will not change.

"!"

Why?!

Seeing that Ais didn't even want to listen, Bell cried out in his heart, but could only glare at her.

He gripped the hilts of the two swords tightly.

Since words cannot convey his thoughts, he can only entrust his will to the blade—Bell unleashes his full power in a slash.

"call!!"

「!?」

A flash of black and crimson light crossed Ais's vision.

Rabbit Rush. Super-continuous slashes. The endless combo of raging waves begins.

Black and red streaks struck the sword, which had switched to defense. As if telling of Ais's astonishment, unusual sparks and metallic clangs flew and scattered. Bell's body accelerated, even abandoning his thoughts.

It needs to be faster, faster than anything that has ever happened before.

Surpassing the battles between first-class adventurers of the past, such as the Giantess (Friline) and the Hunter (Dix), Bell displays his full power to those he admires with even greater speed and directness.

"...!"

The narrow path, coupled with its terrain, forced Silver Sword into a disadvantageous position. Its long blade made movement difficult in the confined space, and it couldn't effectively utilize its attack range. Conversely, the boy's short sword (dagger) was able to achieve its full potential.

Ais, who had been at a disadvantage all along, gasped, staring intently at Bell's face, as she blocked the final slash and jumped back.

"Haa, ha...!"

"..."

Bell's breathing echoed in the dimly lit back alley.

Seeing the distance between them widen, and noticing her hands were indeed numb, Ais spoke:

"...You've gotten stronger."

"!"

Bell was taken aback by this compliment.

however……

"I can no longer show mercy."

At the same time, it also heralded that the sword fights were about to become even more intense.

"────"

Ais's figure blurred.

All Bell could perceive was the afterimage of the long golden hair.

When his opponent broke into Bell's arms, his reaction to the approaching slash was entirely based on instinct and a sense of crisis. In addition, he had also learned a great deal about the girl's swordsmanship during his training, and his limbs had memorized it.

The moment Hestia's Blade touched the blade, an irresistible impact struck Bell.

「!?」

His right arm swung wildly overhead, narrowly escaping being torn off. It was a miracle that Bell didn't release the dagger.

Gold and Silver continued their rapid advance without stopping, while Ais spun around like a whirlwind, her blade slicing through the walls of the path as if it were butter, all the while performing a miraculous flash.

Faced with this lightning-fast spinning slash, Bell could no longer react or defend.

──It’s over.

Two strikes, and that was it.

Bell, with the instincts of an adventurer, knew his death was imminent.

"!"

However, Bell's body was not cut in half.

Ais slightly tilted her eyebrows, and just before the blades made contact, she twisted her wrist.

"—Huh!?"

The impact that pounded into his side—the spine of his arm—shoved Bell into the wall beside him.

The heavy impact to his shoulder caused a significant shock to his vision. This was followed by dizziness and nausea.

Bell couldn't bear it and knelt down... Ais's boots moved leisurely as she walked past him.

“Ugh…!”

Bell didn't want her to leave, forcing his trembling knees to straighten.

He mustered all his strength and stood up.

Ais stopped and turned around. Facing Bell, whose deep red eyes still held unwavering fighting spirit, she brandished her sword with a cold expression that concealed her emotions.

"I'm going to go."

The next instant, a vortex of slashing energy appeared in Bell's vision.

“──!?”

That was a true series of slashes unleashed by Fiora.

As if in retaliation for Bell's previous barrage of attacks, Ais began her sword dance. Bell reflexively raised his dagger, but it was too late to parry. He barely managed to defend against one attack before five slashes lashed his entire body. Welf's armor, crafted from an ultra-hard metal (Dirgence steel), emitted a series of piercing screams.

Had Ais used the blade instead of the spine, this overwhelming sword fight would have already claimed Bell's life. His vision was obscured by the silver streak, and the pain and impact clouded Bell's senses, but he clearly understood one thing:

She is stronger than the Giantess (Phrine) and faster than the Hunter (Dix). There is no comparison at all.

Those first-level adventurers who had once utterly defeated him were nothing compared to him.

He knew; he had known all along.

Although I already knew, but—

(She's tougher than anyone else!!)

A blade of light, accompanied by a strong gust of wind, swept up and cleaved through Bell's breastplate, sending him flying into the air.

He immediately slammed his head against the stone floor and lay on his back, unable to get up.

"ah……!……"

In her hazy consciousness, Ais lowered her gaze and turned her back to herself.

Bell wanted to reach out and stop the departing figure, but the burning pain gripped his entire body, rendering him unable to move.

He tried to stand up again and again, but only his body trembled slightly.

The night sky, blurry in my vision, seemed so distant.

(...I think I've seen this before...)

As the body, baptized by the person it admired, sank to the ground, its hazy consciousness recalled trivial matters.

Bell had been filled with questions ever since, feeling a strange sense of familiarity with this back alley. When and where was it? He asked himself these questions in his sluggish mind.

"Bell! Bell!!"

At that moment, Hestia's voice faded into the background, echoing in her consciousness as it was about to sink into darkness.

Ais's sorrowful expression and Winnie's tears came back to mind.

Bell closed his eyes for a moment, then raised his eyebrows and gripped the stone slab with a "crack" sound.

*

They were some distance away from Bell and his group who were heading south, in the north-northwest section of the maze street.

A large broadsword was stuck in the ground, and a shrewish woman lay beside it.

"That dead werewolf... he really didn't hold back at all."

Aisha, covered in wounds, spoke bitterly to Bert, who had already left.

There were bruises and blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Aisha glanced at the chipped broadsword and said, "Ouch—it hurts so much!" Her face was contorted, yet she seemed somewhat pleased.

"Sister Aisha, Sister Aisha...!"

Tears soaked Aisha's brown skin; it was Haruhime crying.

After Aisha lost to Bert, Haruhime held her hand and sobbed as she apologized again and again: "I'm sorry...!" Apart from the scratches she suffered from being hit by the stone fragments, she was perfectly fine.

The girl's sobs echoed in the open space of the back alley, and Aisha frowned as if annoyed.

"Stop crying, this little injury won't kill you."

"But! But...!"

"Instead of wasting time crying, why not do something you should be doing?"

Aisha ran her fingers through her long golden hair as she spoke to the girl wiping the corner of her eye.

"You know where to go, right?"

"……yes!"

She took out a blue crystal from the sleeve of her kimono.

Haruhime took the eye crystals allocated to her as a supporter and looked down at Aisha.

"Then go ahead. I'll rest for a bit and find something to do."

"Thank you... Sister Aisha."

Chunji, her eyes red, thanked him and stood up.

After watching the fox's tail rush away, Aisha suddenly lost all her strength.

"I've been losing one battle after another lately, really... Maybe I should find a [rising star] to accompany me on an 'expedition' instead of training."

A smile appeared on her luscious lips as she closed her eyes and drifted into a longer sleep.

*