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

Swish, swish! Faced with the "Vortex Dime Fish" floating into the air one after another, Cassandra first, and then Chigusa also began to panic. There were at least thirty or more planktonic fish in their eyes.

(This is bad.)

Seeing this, Daphne's face turned ashen.

The desperate "forging" battle on the 26th floor was, in other words, a "defense battle." They managed to barely hold on by limiting the monsters' attacks to the entrances and exits.

But the current situation can only be described as an "encirclement battle." It's almost like an ambush from all sides. The monsters are rising one after another from the water, and taking advantage of the vast space of the cave, they can attack from any place—even overhead or in the water. It has to be said that Daphne and the others alone are simply not enough to deal with them all.

Not only that, the enemy can also move in both water and air.

Even Welf's "magic sword" could not completely annihilate the enemies that were stealthily approaching from the water and those attacking from the air.

"...Will it burn completely? [Won't it get cold?]"

"What else can we do but burn it all!"

Hearing Aisha say this while sweat quietly trickled down her cheeks, Welf roared back as if cursing.

Mental exhaustion was approaching. Aisha glanced at the young man's profile, which had lost its composure, and unfortunately realized what was happening.

The adventurers realized that this was the third "battle to the death".

They also realized that they had completely lost track of Bell and Hayate (Ryu), and without a reliable compass, their strength and stamina were like a candle in the wind.

“…………”

The "Vortex Dimai Fish," with their stone bodies, never uttered a sound.

They just kept blinking their single eye on their foreheads, letting their prey know that they would never let their prey go.

The school of fossilized fish surrounding Lily and her companions resembled a coiled serpent. From another angle, it also looked like a raging, dark wave attempting to engulf the adventurers.

From the passage leading to the cave, came the intense, chaotic sounds of another group of different monsters stirring.

Faced with the dungeon's seemingly limitless resources, the adventurers are about to kneel in submission.

"─────!!"

In an instant, the taut nerves snapped, and the monsters pounced at them all at once.

A cold-blooded and ruthless siege has begun.

Facing the approaching "Vortex Dime" with a scale equivalent to a "Monster Party," the first to engage was, as expected, Welf's "Demon Sword." Although the fire-breathing "Radiant Moon" annihilated ten "Vortex Dime," more than thirty individuals approaching from another direction still clashed with the squad in close combat.

Perth and his men fought desperately. They slashed, cut, thrust, and smashed, fighting to protect the wounded or the rearguard positioned in the center of the circle.

However, this was nothing more than a death throes.

"Damn bastard────────!"

Lily's supplies were long gone, and the healer's (Cassandra's) mental energy was nearly depleted. Welf's fingers, gripping the "Demon Sword," were about to slip off the hilt. Sakura's stamina, Daphne's agility, Chigusa's weapon, and Perse's tenacity for life were all about to be worn down. Even Aisha's angry curses were a consequence.

No matter how relentlessly they hacked and slashed, the enemies continued to swarm, and instead, the monster's massive jaws bit into Daphne's shoulder. The girl coughed up blood, and Sakura forcibly pulled the monster away. Then it was her arm's turn to be bitten by fangs, and Cassandra and Chigusa screamed in agony. Seeing that her commands were no longer meaningful, Lily despaired.

The world is about to be stained black.

It was caused by a school of planktonic fish that flooded the surrounding space.

The adventurers were on the verge of being crushed by the "Vortex Dimai Fish," and they could be swallowed up by the massive, dark purple waves at any moment. It was like the "cage of despair" that the tragic prophet thought he had already avoided.

As the final blow, the scene that shattered the adventurers' spirits rushed to the edge of their vision.

"How could this be...?"

A group of monsters, led by a half-human, half-snake, swarmed in from outside the cave.

Monsters of various races let out terrifying roars.

Seeing the approaching numbers, everyone gasped in shock.

"Is this... the end of it?"

Someone's lips involuntarily uttered those words.

Unfortunately, everyone heard those words.

The swarm of "Vortex Dimai Fish" attacked the adventurers whose will had been completely shattered.

"—!! Haruhime!?"

"Cassandra!?"

The deadly fangs were closing in on the defender.

The monsters, having broken through the vanguard, finally approached Lily and Cassandra, who were protecting the unconscious Mikoto and the others. The "Vortex Emperor Fish" rammed into Cassandra, sending her and Haruhime, whom she was protecting, flying.

As the fox-girl was thrown to the ground some distance away, Cassandra raised her face, and her gaping, ugly jaw came into view.

Constricted pupils.

The eyes of a girl who understands her impending death.

Daphne and the others shouted loudly all around.

Faced with an inescapable entity of death, Cassandra closed her eyes.

Then...

A half-human, half-snake creature flew in from the side and tore the "Vortex Emperor Fish" apart.

"────Huh?"

Bloodstained claws traced arcs, tearing the planktonic fish to pieces.

Right before Cassandra's eyes, who was stiff with limbs, the half-human, half-snake used its long snake lower body to sweep away all the surrounding "Vortex Dimai Fish" in one fell swoop.

"Aa ...

The half-human, half-snake creature let out a piercing scream and went on a killing spree.

The other monsters followed suit. The horde of monsters that had just flooded into the cave began attacking the group of "Vortex Mai Fish".

Before the adventurers, whose lives had been frozen in time, monsters began to kill each other.

"They're having internal strife?!"

"What on earth happened!?"

Daphne and Sakura looked around again and again, shouting in confusion.

Battles erupted between monsters all around. Faced with the sudden chaos, the adventurers couldn't keep up and stood frozen in place.

"So, what exactly is going on...?"

“…………”

Cassandra was completely immobilized, and behind her, Lily stared blankly at the monsters attacking the "Vortex Dime Fish".

Those monsters were terrifyingly powerful.

The monsters had stained their faces red, as if they were wearing makeup with blood.

Those monsters were all equipped with weapons.

"──────"

Lily's chestnut eyes widened to the extreme.

Noticing the gaze, the half-human, half-snake—"she" who had just saved Cassandra—gave Lily a cute look that only she could perceive.

That was not the blink of a "monster," but rather the blink of a human with a "friendly" heart.

An overwhelming surge of emotion, almost suffocating, resonated deep within Lily's heart.

"—'Heretical Child'!"

Lily nearly burst into tears and cried out.

"Long time no see, everyone on the surface!"

Immediately afterwards, as if dancing in the air, a figure swiftly flew above Lily's head and landed beside her.

The man wore a hood and a robe to conceal his true identity. Lily recognized this "disguise" of an adventurer.

Lily remembered her gentle and kind eyes despite being a "monster".

"We've come to rescue you all!"

Facing the tearful Lily, the girl with crimson hair swaying under her hood—Fei, a half-human, half-bird (Happy Tribe)—smiled broadly at her.

"Are you alright, Lady Lilyluka?"

Not only that, a short figure wielding an axe far too large for his height, splitting groups of "Vortex Dime Fish" in two, also appeared beside Lily. It turned out to be the self-proclaimed gentleman, the red cap—the little monster (goblin) Lett.

Seeing him dressed in the same robe as Fei'er, Lily asked, still shaken:

"How did you all end up here...?"

"It's Fels's order! Rey and the others have split up and gone off to carry out a mandatory mission; as for us, led by Reed, we rushed here!"

This was a divine command issued by Uranus after he sensed the anomalies in the underground city.

Having accepted the divine command from the old god, the heretics, who were originally tackling the man-made labyrinth, split their people into two groups.

The heretics left behind in the artificial labyrinth were led by the singer-bird (Serene) Rey. Rett and the others entered the dungeon through a secret passage on the 18th floor, arriving directly at this "Water City" based on the information provided by the old god. Moreover, they took the shortest route, using any means necessary, and even breaking through the defenses set up by the adventurers without any explanation.

The "group of out-of-control monsters" that caused such a stir in the hotel town actually refers to them.

Everything is done to prevent the [Calamity] from happening again, and even more so to rescue the [Hestia Familia] who are likely to be in danger.

Hearing Rhett and Fly explain their actions—which involved disguising themselves to avoid arousing suspicion—Lily was at a loss for words.

"We made a promise with His Excellency Bell! I promised him that when you are in trouble, it's our turn to rush to your aid!"

They were able to catch up because they were "heretics".

This tragedy unfolded when even the other group of "reinforcements" that Lily had called for help couldn't reach her in time.

Only by establishing a friendly relationship and mutual trust with the Hestia Familia, and by having been rescued by these "monsters," can they catch up with Lily and the others in their time of crisis.

"We've come to repay our irreplaceable 'friends'!"

Here comes another passage.

A "friendship" woven by Bell.

Just as Lily had been saved by Bell, these "heretics" who had been rescued by the boy were also coming to repay his kindness.

Tears finally welled up in Lily's chestnut-brown eyes.

"But...but how did you all manage to get here? How did you manage to find Lily and us in this vast dungeon..."

Hearing Lily, who hurriedly wiped away her tears, ask this question...

The half-human, half-bird Fei'er laughed heartily and answered:

"We have to thank Aluru and Helge for this!"

"Chirp—!"

A white rabbit (unicorn rabbit) riding astride a black dog (hellhound) appeared before Cassandra, who was slumped on the ground.

She was startled and froze, but the white ball of fur ignored her and neatly raised a hand—as if to say, "Long time no see!"

"You, you are...?"

Cassandra, her eyes wide open, remembered the two of them.

They were there on the day the "Armed Monsters" appeared on the surface, plunging Orario into chaos...

The white rabbit and black dog were secretly protected by Cassandra through a "premonition dream".

"Chirp-ah! Chirp-chirp!"

"Woof, woof!"

"Eek—Ya ...

Cassandra was scooped up and hugged by the white rabbit, and then licked a few times by the black dog, causing her to scream in pain and forget her current situation.

The monster not only hugged her, but also buried its face in her cleavage, groping around on her chest. Cassandra was so frightened she almost fainted, but…

When she saw the white rabbit raise its head from her arms and stare at her with its red eyes, she was startled.

"Could it be... that you've found me?"

Her big, bright eyes blinked, and she nestled against Cassandra's chest, rubbing her face against him.