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

Anya was full of questions, Lunova was confused, and only Chloe calmly asked for an explanation.

Hestia, who had been sticking her upper body out, fell silent upon hearing this.

"……this."

She handed over a letter instead of a reply.

Anya took the letter, and Lunova and Chloe came over from both sides to read it.

"This is a letter from our support lady on the 18th floor..."

The letter described the situation of [Gale] and requested the dispatch of "reinforcements".

The three men, who should have been nothing more than tavern staff, suddenly became sharp and perceptive, like battle-hardened warriors.

Pichi!

The hammer cracked open with a loud thud.

"Hmm...?"

This is the workshop of the young man (Welf) built in the backyard of the "Hestia Familia" headquarters, "Kamakura".

Despite not being the owner of this place, she treated it like her own home, forging swords and blades here, and carefully examined the cracked iron hammer.

"Was it overheated? No, no, it's all Brother Will's fault for not taking good care of the blacksmith's soul tool! That must be it! It's definitely not my fault... no, maybe it really is my fault... Oh no, this is bad... I'm going to get scolded."

Her upper body was wrapped in a white cloth around her ample breasts, and she was holding her head and muttering to herself. There was no other word to describe her except "suspicious," but...

She turned her gaze back to the broken hammer and suddenly murmured:

"Or... perhaps this is a bad omen?"

She was in the silent workshop looking at the hammer when the door behind her opened.

"Hmm! Who are you? Could it be that you've come to trespass on the Hestia Familia's door...?"

"Don't misunderstand, just as you were sent here by the God of Forging (Hephaestus), we were also entrusted to stay here."

"Oh, is that so? Sorry, sorry. Now that you mention it, you do look familiar... I remember you are the god Mih and his retinue?"

Upon seeing Mihe appear and Nazha waiting behind him, the woman lowered her guard.

She smiled generously, originally intending to chat with the visitors for a bit, but upon seeing the expressions on their faces, her expression immediately turned serious.

With the mansion's owner (Hestia) away on her way to "the bountiful mistress," Nazha began by saying:

"Could you... take on a troublesome request? [Cyclops]?"

The woman's nickname and the word "commission" echoed in the room.

Tsubaki Kobrand, the leader and master smith of the Hephaestus Familia, squinted his right eye, which was not covered by an eyepatch.

Volume 14, Chapter 7: Poems of Despair, Poems of Rick

It doesn't matter what you do.

No one listens to anything I say.

No one listens to my complaints.

It's always been like this.

The world always tramples on my efforts.

The world always mocks my tragedy.

No matter how hard I try to struggle or how desperately I shout, it always forces me to confront unreasonable situations.

The moment when the desperately shouted warnings came to nothing.

The moment when resolve crumbles like a sandcastle.

I have experienced these moments countless times.

Time and again, I was pushed off the cliff into the dark valley below.

I must be cursed, that's why there's nothing I can do.

Yes, there's nothing we can do, nothing we can do... nothing we can do.

I don't know when it started, but this sentence has slowly eroded my heart.

There was a time when, even though I tried to change the future, deep down I had already given up hope.

But that's because nobody trusts me.

There's nothing I can do; it's because nobody wants to believe me.

People from the same clan are also included.

My best friend is one of them.

So I gave up too.

No longer trying so hard to change the future.

Once, as if by miracle, a boy appeared who was willing to believe in me.

Because I met a group of people I didn't want to lose...

So I made up my mind again and took that first step, but...

Sure enough, the world still mocked me.

Ah, in the end—it was all for nothing.

Even if I can't help but think this way, who can blame me?

Seeing me succumb to such despair, who can punish me?

The prophet of tragedy was all alone, lamenting all day long.

○

The object was covered in "white".

The creature has "two" heads.

The beautiful, colossal body that evokes the image of a "phantom dragon" is actually an embodiment of overwhelming "violence" and "destruction".

"The 'Lone King of the Labyrinth' on the 27th floor—"

The cries of the dragons echoed in unison.

The twisting, two-headed wills became one, unleashing hostility and murderous intent.

"—'Amphispina'!"

Beside the dumbfounded, gazing up at the little people (Palum), the Amazon spat out that name fiercely.

"Roar!!"

The enormous roar shook the 25th floor... no, the entire "Water City" that spanned three floors.

The shouts of the floor master, "Amphispina," who appeared along the "Great Fall" that ran through all the floors, made the adventurers of the "Faction Alliance" lean back in shock.

—With the purpose of an "expedition," a "factional alliance" centered around the Hestia Familia came to this "lower level" to investigate the truth behind the suspected murder of [Gale].

A few hours earlier, they split up with the boy (Bell) who was accompanying the elite squad to the 27th floor; then, just a few tens of minutes ago, after a chain of explosions that nearly destroyed the entire "Water City", the dungeon underwent an "anomaly"—a "killing feast" that Lily and the others were unaware of.

At that very moment, accompanied by a new "abnormal situation," that thing appeared in front of Lily and the others.

"That's... the 'floor owner' of the 'lower level'..."

This is the second "Lone King of the Labyrinth" after "Goliath" on the 17th floor.

Looking up at the monster gazing up at the center of the waterfall pool—a huge lake on the 25th floor—Chigusa of the Takemikazuchi Familia murmured in a daze.

The imposing presence, which requires looking up to see clearly, is actually over twenty meters high.

Its width is several times that of a large-scale (orc) building, living up to its reputation as the floor owner.

Its entire body is snow-white, and its massive body covered in chalky scales gives it a sense of solemnity.

However, the gaze emanating from the head was undoubtedly that of a monster. It was the gaze of a ferocious monster devoid of reason, driven solely by instinct to wreak havoc.

"A two-headed dragon..."

What is noteworthy is the pair of dragon heads that seem capable of moving independently.

Its neck forked and extended from where it connected to its body, with the front end bearing the unmistakable features of a dragon. The neck was covered with enormous dragon scales, each one a plate-like hard shell. It had azure eyes on the left side of its head and crimson eyes on the right.

When the name was murmured by the lips of the person in question, Lily, Welf, Haruhime, Sakura, Chigusa, Daphne, Aisha... everyone in the team was unable to hide the shock they felt.

"...Ahh..."

Among them, Cassandra's face was ashen and devoid of all color.

She heard the sound of a clenched fist loosening.

I heard the sound of the absolution charm shattering, which read, "To make a great sacrifice to save my comrades."

The despair symbolized by their confrontation is so immense.

"────"

The dragon's roar, so loud it overwhelmed the grand chorus of the largest waterfall in the dungeon, "Giant Azure Waterfall," abruptly ceased, leaving only the lingering echoes of its call reverberating through every corner of the dungeon.

Its chalky white body reflected the faint crystalline glow emanating from the "Mysterious City of Water," and it slowly...

The eyes of the two-headed white dragon glared down at the alien creatures threatening Mother (the dungeon)—a group of adventurers.

"--Roar!!"

It roared with overwhelming force.

The blue-eyed dragon head spewed a terrifying breath from its mouth.

The azure flames burned the air as they hurtled toward them.

The flames are so beautiful they send chills down your spine, and what's frightening is that they generate a lot of water vapor as soon as they approach the surface of the waterfall pool.

As the scorching army advanced, drying up the pond water as they marched, Sakura and the others were dumbfounded.

"spread!!"

Aisha screamed urgently and kicked her teammates.

The adventurers all pushed off the ground together. Welf grabbed Lily's backpack and pulled her towards him, Aisha picked up Haruhime, and Mikoto and Chigusa jumped away with all their might.

"Cassandra!?"

Of them, only Cassandra was unable to escape.

The distraught teenage healer did nothing. She was paralyzed.

Daphne, who was about to dodge, turned around abruptly and grabbed Cassandra's arm, who was standing frozen in place, but it was too late.

The fierce flames surged forth, turning the faces of the two girls a pale blue.

However, the "wall" wielding a large shield stepped forward to block the fatal breath attack for Daphne and the others.

"Ugh...uh ...

"Cherry blossoms!"

"Sakura-sama!?"

Cherry blossoms thrust the large shield forward to fulfill their role as a human shield.

Having crossed countless life-or-death situations while exploring this "lower level," the level 3 adventurer cleverly used his defensive "insight." Instead of blocking the flames head-on, he angled his large shield.

Sakura leaped backward, using her back to force the astonished Daphne and the others to retreat, successfully deflecting the breath attack. This was a precise "skill" the young man had mastered during this "expedition," and irrefutable proof of his "growth" through accumulated experience.

however……

"...!? The great shield that blocked multiple attacks from 'Lemton' is actually...!?"

Sakura looked down at the white diamond shield, its surface melting like wax, and gasped.

"Armor Destruction". Although the attack was neutralized and the victim escaped unscathed, it was ultimately impossible to completely block the enemy's breath.

Large chunks of the floor along the path of the fire, or the walls struck by the flames, were torn away, melted, and peeled off. Bathed in the intense blue heat, the crystal pillars melted like candles, collapsing and crumbling in response.

Seeing that the azure flames were still burning intensely on the great shield, Sakura hurriedly threw it away.

"What kind of firepower is that...!?"