Is it Wrong to Live Transmigrated as Bell Cranel in a Dungeon?

by Meetra 0 Surik

A fan with partial knowledge of the series is merged into Bell shortly after Zeus left him. With no perfect recall, armed with vague knowledge from the anime and other fanfics - Can our protagonist use their knowledge to save OG Bell's loved ones? Can he save the world from the OEBD? Or will he fail everyone and himself? The answer will tell if it is wrong to live as Bell Cranel!

28. Chapter 23: Evilus Strikes Back

Is it Wrong to Live Transmigrated as Bell Cranel in a Dungeon?

Chapter 23: The Evilus Remnant Strikes Back

"Turning away from that which tempts you or causes you fear is not strength, facing it is."

— Kreia, KOTOR II

---

Having been healed up, training resumed. Just with different exercises. For starters, we came to realize that Lefiya's magic was only good for simulating the threat posed by large numbers, but not what it was like to fight large numbers. And outside of luring a large number of monsters for a mock battle, there was no work around to simulate that. Not that any of the monsters on this Floor wanted anything to do with us after all the magic Lefiya's been firing off.

So we went about focusing on increasing combat prowess. Getting better at using our existing weapons and magicks, essentially.

Ais wasn't a spear user, but being close to Finn, she still had plenty of tips on how to best use a spear and how to use it to keep enemies out of your guard. What to do when an enemy is inside the effective range of a spear, and so on. A lot of it was obvious in hindsight.

Lili had certainly been an attentive listener to Ais' lecture on spear-use. But that was probably because she knew that if Ryuu got her hands on Lili she would be put through the ringer again.

Ryuu and Lefiya had gone off to the side while Lili and I had listened to Ais. Probably to talk about magic?

I assume so, because after Ais' lecture, it was decided that Ryuu and Lefiya were going to shoot magic at me in rapid succession. To simulate being attacked by multiple attackers from multiple angles – or so they claimed. Part of me couldn't help but think it was revenge from me dragging them into chaos constantly. (I will remember this!)

While Ryuu and Lefiya conspired to eviscerate and set me on fire, Ais gave Lili a practical lesson on using her spear. Let's just say that Lili was really glad for all of the potions I bought, because Ais was still as bad as ever at holding back. And I could even hear Lili loudly complain over the sounds of magical detonations going off next to my ear. However, Lili never gave up and continued on with the hellish torture, err training I mean.

We took a brief and light lunch break after that. It was basically trail mix and cheese, the latter of which I had bullied Lefiya into using ice magic to make cold. Because who eats warm cheese when you have a mobile ice maker with you?

(Lefiya looked at me like I was an idiot. I didn't disagree with her assessment.)

After we finished eating, the lights of the Floor had transitioned back to being 'midday'. Which was seriously annoying and disorienting. If I was forced to live inside the Dungeon, I'd rather take my chances getting eaten by fish in the secret room on Floor 13. This day/night cycle was maddening.

After eating, I once again dueled with Ais while Lefiya was also giving Ryuu a taste of what it's like to get spammed with magic at.

Ais once again kicked my ass, but that was also in large part due to the fact that she was almost constantly using Ariel. Being covered in an armor of wind that constantly protected her from me and my Hiraishin knives made attacking her rather difficult. And I hesitated to use the likes of Vesta or Argo Vesta because if those did break through Ais' defenses, they'd definitely remove limbs.

That said, Ais had also held back on hitting me while using Ariel, so I think that was a two-way street. Ariel was likely so strong that she was afraid of hurting me while using it. So our duel was mostly a game of cat and mouse, with me being the latter. Still, it was good practice at fighting off a superior opponent without using magic. It essentially put me in a position where I couldn't use Hiraishin as a crutch, which was something I appreciated, as it was a worry of mine that I would become too reliant on it.

After doing that for a bit, we had effectively been training for a cumulative 8 to 9 hours and it was the late afternoon or early evening. We were all in varying states of exhaustion, mainly Lili and I, yet we were proud of the progress we had made for today. We all agreed to call it and the training expedition a success. The unspoken plan from then being to relax at camp for the day and to start heading back to the Surface at dawn.

But before we all went back to camp, Ryuu pulled me aside and informed everyone that we had something to do first and would meet them at camp later. Ais was confused at why we were heading off, while Lefiya was blushing, and Lili gave us a knowing smug look that I didn't understand.

Not having any objections, I went along with Ryuu, preparing myself for whatever serious conversation she wanted to have with me.

---

Other POV

"He split off from the Kenki!"

"Let's go. We'll strike when the time is right. We won't get another shot at this."

"Kek kek kek…!"

---

"Look, they're splitting up. Remember our Goddesses' orders, we are to observe and not interfere un–"

"""Shut up."""

"Stop acting like you're in charge because you're older."

""It's cringe.""

"..."

---

Main POV

When I was first being 'dragged' away by Ryuu, part of me almost expected her to bring me towards the Astraea Familia Memorial site. We hadn't talked about anything that happened with Levis yet, and that seemed like the thematic place to share knowledge and come up with a preliminary plan of action.

But no, we hadn't headed in that direction. While I hadn't exactly had this Floor memorized, I recognized enough to realize that Ryuu was taking us in the direction near where Mord had been up to no good. Along the path where we first heard the Juggernaut appear.

Where I had first kissed her.

Part of me pretended for a time that Ryuu merely wanted my help investigating the mystery surrounding the Juggernaut (which I was still intending to solve at some point). But I had strong suspicions that Ryuu was intending to talk to me about an entirely personal matter. When I confessed to Ryuu outside the Hostess, I did so with the knowledge, or belief rather, that she would either never answer or would reject me. Yet instead we grew closer, and Ryuu became more and more affectionate.

And then Levis became a turning point.

I had still been recovering from the entire ordeal when I woke up that night. Neither of us were in our right minds. Not to imply I regretted what we had done, aside from the timing being in poor taste considering Lili's condition. Just that we had both been high on emotions that clouded our judgment. I know that all of the feelings expressed that night were real – they existed.

We hadn't talked about it since. Partly because of me avoiding Ryuu. But also because we were both clearly embarrassed and it was easier to pretend nothing had happened… all while still enjoying silent companionship by basking in each other's presence.

But now… this atmosphere… this location… Ryuu… she is about to… She's definitely about to answer my confession to her, and considering the setting and recent events I can guess her answer.

I can't. Can't let her. Not without telling her the whole truth. Not if this conversation is what I think it's about to be.

Ryuu suddenly stopped, turning around to face me saying, "...This is close enough."

"Ryuu, I…"

"Did you know?" Ryuu talked over me, asking a rhetorical question, "That traditional elvish matrimony calls for making vows and oaths in a forest much like this one?"

"...That sounds familiar," I hesitantly said before commenting, "Though this is hardly an elven forest…"

"I'm not normally one to cut corners, but considering we are adventurers, I think it's an acceptable alternative," Ryuu continued to say. She was maintaining eye contact with me now. A shy yet happy smile on her face.

Oh my Hestia. Ryuu is totally about to…!

"Wait! Stop!" I all but yelled, begging Ryuu to stop talking.

"Bell–" Ryuu said firmly yet kindly, as if to assure me of something.

"No," I cut her off, "Before you say anything more, you NEED to listen to what I have to say. I won't accept anything you say otherwise."

"...Very well, if you insist," Ryuu said to me. It was clear from her tone that she respected me trying to communicate my concerns with her, while at the same time she was already assuming I was worried over something stupid and negligible.

"I… I've been…" I stumbled over my words, my body starting to shake as my anxiety spiked. Trying to find the right words to convey my sins without giving myself any undue positive self-bias.

"I've lied and manipulated you. You and everyone I know," I finally said it.

There was a beat of silence. It was clear from Ryuu's expression that she didn't understand nor believe me.

"A-Artemis called them visions," I blurted out, my speech and revelation coming out stammered and messy from my nervousness, "I've… known things. Seen things. About you, and Lili, and Ais, and Hestia, and basically everyone I know."

"Bell…?" Ryuu muttered, clearly confused.

"I didn't investigate your past. Well, I did, but that was just me confirming what I had seen. I knew it from the moment I knew you were Ryuu Lion," I declared truthfully, "It was simple to confirm that what my 'visions' said of you were true. Or close enough. Yet I acted like I knew nothing, omitted knowing things. I manipulated you and everyone else because I knew you all. Knew the events that would come pass."

"I was selfish," I admitted bitterly, "Full of myself. Wanting to be a hero, wanting to get close to the people I admired, wanting your love. I kept the truth to myself, built our relationship on lies of omissions, and took something from you I can never give back…"

"Bell," Ryuu said sternly, almost angrily, "Stop speaking so horribly about yourself. It's unseemly."

My eyes widened, my brain instantly recognizing that words I once said to Ryuu have been thrown back in my face. "But–"

"Nothing," Ryuu finished my sentence for me, just with a word I wouldn't have used. She then said, "I don't fully understand what you're saying. But you mean to imply that you saw things about me and others in your dreams before you even met us?"

I nodded slowly, and gave an example, "I knew the fate of Astraea Familia as if I had read it from a storybook…"

"I see…" Ryuu said, pausing and seriously considering what I said before saying, "...As ludicrous as it sounds… I believe you."

"Then–!" I frantically said, certain she of all people would understand the implications! I strung her and everyone along! Knew the right things to say, and the things to avoid mentioning! What makes me different from the Finn who knew the Xenos were innocent, yet subjugated then anyway?!

"It doesn't matter," Ryuu concluded.

"Bullshit it doesn't!" I angrily retorted, eyes watering, "I LIED! Manipulated you! I know you can't stand liars! So–!"

"Bell," Ryuu cut me off, "Say you had informed me at the earliest opportunity, do you honestly think I would have believed such an insane claim from someone I had just met and barely knew?"

"W-well no…" I admitted. It was insane. It's why I had never intended on telling anyone; at least until it started to dawn on me about the consequences of such a decision.

"And furthermore, manipulation is hardly an outright sin," Ryuu claimed.

"E-Eh!?" I flinched in shock at hearing such a declaration from Ryuu, having realized that Ryuu the Armchair Philosopher had come out to play.

"Listen to my words," Ryuu asked me before she lectured me, "People's actions, thoughts, emotions… all of those things woven together, that is Life. All of our choices, from the greatest to the smallest affect each other, and the echoes travel."

"Can't you see?" Ryuu asked rhetorically, completely in 'armchair philosopher mode', "Many adventurers are plagued with anger, desperation, and loneliness in their hearts. Where most don't care, you tried to heal that pain. Liliruca, Welf, Hestia, Naaza, Syr, Chloe, Lunoire, Anya, Astraea, Me, and more. You've helped all of them in some manner. And even if you knew they would return the favor someday, you still aided them with earnest intentions!"

I had nothing to say. Every word Ryuu had said was right. Even if I knew that the likes of Naaza, for example, would feel indebted to me for my help… I still genuinely wanted to help her. Felt genuine compassion for a fellow adventurer, for a woman who had been hurt by the world so grievously. A woman on her last legs, consumed by debt, and all alone with only her God for support. The idea that I may have to break Naaza's heart by supporting the Xenos, monsters like the ones who ate her limbs and traumatized her, terrifies me — I feel like scum just thinking about doing that to her.

Ryuu continued to lecture me saying, "The very act of healing is a manipulation, because without taking action, without change then nothing happens, does it not? Do you disagree with anything I've said? If so, then you haven't realized that healing is a matter of perspective."

"An act of healing requires action. Action that will resort in transforming something from one state to another. Thus manipulation. From the perspective of those who've sworn allegiance to Dark Gods, would the defeat of Evilus be considered healing? Do the casino conglomerates see dissolution and reform as healing? Apollo? Ishtar? What constitutes healing is subjective. The ability to heal is also the ability to harm and the inability to heal what is damaged can also bring about harm."

Again, Ryuu had a point. Morality and healing were things that were, to an extent, subjective because not everyone can agree on what is right and wrong. From the perspective of the fanatics in Evilus, the destruction of this imperfect world is right and just; while from the perspective of everyone else, that is sheer insanity. Apollo sees nothing wrong in adding pretty people to his collection. Ishtar sees nothing wrong in owning people like property as long as she satisfies their basic standards of living (food, water, shelter, and security).

Ryuu then declared to me, "And, importantly, you forget that to be a Hero, to change the world also requires manipulation. As you've said to me before, you are just one man. The actions needed to change the world are very similar to those who seek to dominate it. It requires one to feel the critical point in the fractured mass, that is society, and know how to strike it in such a way that the echoes travel to your intended destination. Salvation from evil and from the destruction of the world."

Ryuu was confident that my ultimate aim was to defeat evil and defeat the Black Dragon, she had no doubt or hesitation. And she had a point. Wasn't that what I declared almost immediately after realizing the situation I was in when I 'arrived' here? Wasn't that ultimately what all of my training was to achieve? To save everyone I'd come to love from the End of Days? To prevent the Fall of Babel and the rise of Age of Monsters?

"You know this," Ryuu asserted, "You know that from one act, can come tremendous power when the echo has traveled as far as it can. What all this means to say, is that to not manipulate others is impossible. That, instead, you need to continue being aware of it. Aware of the fact your actions have consequences. To be aware of what those consequences can be. And to be aware you can harness those consequences in order to

achieve your goals of saving others, the world... and yourself."

"It is up to you, to choose what to do in light of that awareness. A sword, any weapon, only achieves worth in how it is wielded. In the effort, in the struggle, of the one who holds it. Manipulation is a weapon, like a sword or magic spell. On its own, it's nothing. Not good, not bad. Who uses it, and for what, makes all the difference."

"Manipulation is done through propelling events, or selected ones into motion.

It is done through teaching, through example, and through conviction. People are often labeled 'manipulators' because they consciously manipulate with purpose for purely selfish gain, thus the negative stigma with the word. But someone can also consciously manipulate with purpose in order to bring about a cease-fire and ultimately end a war."

"How some situations play out depend on who is perceiving them and whether they are being perceived. Your ability to control the perceptions of others in such situations will allow you to manipulate events to resolve them peacefully... or violently."

Ryuu's last sentence was all but praising the fact that whatever knowledge I possess is in fact a boon in the fight against the Evilus Remnant. Her words, overall, asserting that manipulation is something that everyone does all the time. That it is far more important what I choose to do and why, than anything else.

But there was still one problem. Ryuu hadn't really addressed whether it was right or necessary for our relationship to go as deep as it has. The fact that it might not be genuine at all considering what I've known and done.

"On this very Floor," Ryuu then started to say, "You told me that 'We can be kind. We can care for others. We can sacrifice ourselves for them.' Are those the words of some malevolent puppet master? When you are the one who went out of your way to stop the Juggernaut before it could hurt anyone? When you stepped up to face Anateres? Are these the actions of some selfish, self-absorbed narcissist? I think not."

"Have you forgotten?" Ryuu asked me rhetorically, "That you confronted adventurers while you were without a Falna to save me without even recognizing who I was?"

My eyes widened, remembering how I first ran into Ryuu so 'long' ago. Ryuu was right, I hadn't actually recognized her until I woke up in her room after the fact! I had acted for Ryuu's sake without even knowing who she was at that time. An act that was perhaps the height of recklessness.

"That act alone is enough for me," Ryuu assured me, "That it doesn't matter if you knew of me. Because you are kind, loving, and with a heart yearning for justice. You may have omitted things, but so does everyone. We all have masks we wear in the search for happiness. But I can tell that you have never hidden your true self to me, to everyone. Nor can I blame you for others misinterpreting your words, considering the circumstances."

"Ryuu…" I uttered quietly. Completely shocked at the amount of faith Ryuu had in me, despite everything I had told her. Completely shocked at how deeply I had touched Ryuu's heart.

Ryuu stepped closer to me, grabbing my hands in her own, and said, "Bell, if you can love me despite all the lives I've taken, then why can't I love you for using your 'visions' to save me and everyone we know? If you sought to have me forsake you, like I sought you to forsake me, then you have failed as I had. I fully intend on making you fulfill your promise to stand by me and fight for a better tomorrow. Because you saved me. And I want to pay it forward and save everyone I can. I want to change. I too want to be a Hero. Because I love you."

My hands tightened around hers. I felt my eyes water as I choked out, "I… love you too. I really do! I promise…!"

"I know," Ryuu said with a soft smile before she leaned forward and closed her eyes as she kissed me.

My eyes widened in shock for just a moment at the unexpected boldness, before closing my own eyes and kissing her back, the taste of green apples on her soft lips and electricity shooting down my spine and heat on my cheeks.

Ryuu pulled her hands from mine before wrapping her arms around my neck, our connection deepening as I tentatively wrapped my hands around the crook of her back.

I don't know how long we stood there experiencing each other before we pulled back for air.

Ryuu breathlessly said to me then, "...I'd love to properly seal our oaths of love with our bodies… but I don't like being watched."

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Before I knew it, we had been surrounded by hostiles! And, unfortunately, they weren't of the monster variety.

I think this counts as a bruh moment.

---

Other POV

"Perhaps you are useful. It's as you predicted, they are in Rivira."

"...It's a gift."

"Now then… 'Luna' go now and subjugate the town. Teach those adventurers what it means to oppose us."

"Sheee… wants to see the sky!"

"Annoying… And… you, delay Aria and kill everyone with her. I'll retrieve the key and kill the elf and boy."

"...Yeah, because delaying the Kenki is as easily done as it's said."

"The sky… the skyyy…!"

"I don't care about the specifics. Aria is mine to kill. But the key and the boy are more important right now. Ein keeps on pestering me about it… annoying. Do whatever it takes to keep Aria from reinforcing them. The elf is surprisingly strong. I won't tolerate any interruptions. She's mine."

"...Understood."

"…What is with that idiotic look on your face now?"

"…Are you sure you want to kill Lion?"

"…What a stupid question—"

"You hesitated. Now if you would only stop to ask yourself why—"

"Irrelevant! The sooner… the sooner we finish, the sooner 'She' will stop ringing in my ears. You have your orders!"

"…Yes Ma'am."

---

Main POV

A sudden shrieking sound rang out, and with it I could feel my strength diminish and my connection to the Hiraishin database crash. As Ryuu and I separated, scrambling into defensive positions, she said, "Curses. They've lowered our Stats and neutralized magic…"

Curse Magic! I wasn't expecting to run into this until Dix and his cronies! That said, I know about them in part to my 'visions' but also because Ryuu had made sure to cover them in one of our many training sessions. Her words on the topic were hard to forget.

"Curses are a rare type of magic," Ryuu informed me, "But, perhaps unsurprisingly, they are more common amongst the criminally inclined. While curses come in as many shapes and sizes as conventional magic, they tend to have commonalities. They tend to lower the Stats of one or more Basic Abilities. Others weaken or nullify the ability for the opponent to cast magic."

"Is it obvious when you are under a curse?" I asked, wondering on that detail, "How does it feel?"

Ryuu seemed lost in thought, her eyes were distant as she fell back into distant memories. She hollowly explained, "...It is like standing atop the summit of a great mountain, the winds tearing about you, then finding yourself buried alive. Trapped, helpless, and alone. It is knowing what you want to say and never finding the words. It is a chorus replaced with silence. Hearing words without meaning."

Ryuu shuddered as she continued saying, "...It is like being a bird, with your wings clipped, finally managing to return to your nest only to find it empty and destroyed. Left knowing you are weak… fragile and a thing easily discarded. It is like having a beloved friend with whom you have shared everything… sacrificed everything… and then having them taken from you, dashing all of your shared dreams into empty memories..."

To put it succinctly, the effects of a curse tended to be obvious unless you were in a blood-rage or something. And were extremely debilitating unless you had experience fighting in such conditions. Like Ryuu most certainly did from her efforts against Evilus during the Dark Age and during her Crusade. Experience that I most certainly did not have. Fighting in this condition was going to be a massive pain.

But first I needed to figure out who I was fighting exactly.

"Who…?" I started to ask, but that was when our opponents stepped out from behind trees in the vicinity. How kind of them to answer my internal question so promptly. That said, their chocolate skin was hard to mistake. It was clearly a hit squad of Ishtar's Berbera Warriors!

How in the hell that Phryne Jamil of all people was able to sneak up on us was incomprehensible. I could also recognize the face of Aisha as well among the hit squad. She seemed apathetic. Like she took no great pride in being here, but neither did she seem to possess any qualms about it either.

"Why are you here!?" I yelled out at them, flourishing Orion's Arrow in a defensive position.

"You have only yourself to thank for making an enemy of my fickle Goddess!" Aisha called back, "Honor's not in her vocabulary. She cares not whether you die in the War Game or in an 'accident' in the Dungeon. Just that you are punished for interfering in her plans. It's pitiful really. Consider yourself lucky Ishtar-sama has questions for you, boy'ya."

I had the feeling that Aisha didn't particularly wish for my death. It was nothing personal and just an order she couldn't go against. Did Aisha want to beat me up? Certainly, but killing me was not her will. The rest of the Berbera, a total of 10 fighters not including Aisha and Phryne, were even more apathetic; this was just a job to them. In fact, they were all a little excited for a brawl. Classic Amazons, I guess.

That said, it felt a little weird that none of the other Amazons seemed to have any problem with Aisha blatantly talking poorly about Ishtar. Maybe they thought Aisha was joking, that she was being sarcastic? That was possible, since cliques tended to have their own inside jokes. And it made sense for Aisha to incorporate her grievances into such a misunderstood manner.

"Kek, kek, kek!" Phryne chuckled disgustingly, drool trailing down the side of her wrinkled face, "I would have gladly taken you for myself if not for the damned Kenki and all those other ugly bitches you've had protecting your luscious ass! But it's all worth it now! The thought of taking you for myself in front of your lover is so exciting!"

I shivered. Gross, gross, gross! The thought of that frog of an existence raping me is beyond horrid! I'd rather eat literal shit. I felt vaguely nauseous, a feeling that would probably have been worse if I was not used to Syr's cooking. The fact that Aisha and the other Amazons also looked disgusted by Phryne was not very comforting. The solidarity meant little if they had no plans on preventing Phryne from molesting me to death.

Oh Hestia, I think I vomited a little from the thought.

"And so you intend to ambush my lover and I with curses and superior numbers? How pathetic," Ryuu mocked. I blushed as she addressed me as her lover in front of other people. Was it hot here, or just me? This is so embarrassing! Was she trying to communicate what our relationship was so I didn't get confused or something thanks to this interruption or something?

"Consider it due diligence and acknowledgement of the threat Ishtar-sama perceives you as," Aisha declared, as if those words would somehow make this sudden situation any better.

"Enough talk!" Phryne declared, drawing her battle axes, "Get themmm!"

Ryuu and I locked eyes for a moment. Silently conveying that Ryuu would take on Phryne and that I needed to hold out against the rest of the Berbera squad until she could win. My eyes conveyed agreement with the strategy, believing without a doubt that even with debuffs and no magic that Ryuu could best the opposing Familia Captain in battle.

We separated, Ryuu charging for Phryne while I targeted the weakest and closest apparent member of the Berbera for my initial attack.

It was a short Amazoness with black hair and orange-pearl eyes and looped earrings and wielded a scimitar – my intuition indicating she was in the high Level 2 range or thereabouts.

The Amazon's eyes widened as I closed the gap faster than expected. With the grace of a dancer, the Amazon tried to attack me and evade at the same time. But I was faster, batting her weapon to the side with Orion before using my forward momentum to add force to a solid kick into her stomach.

The Amazoness was sent flying… with hearts in her eyes. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but that was the feeling conveyed in her eyes as she was kicked away from me. I guess that particular Amazoness is a masochist, not a sadist.

Getting back in the game, I flourished my spear behind me one handed, blocking a downwards strike from Aisha and another unnamed Amazoness. I clenched my free fist, imagining what might happen to Haruhime should I, her main benefactor, be defeated here. How Ishtar would punish Haruhime for even daring to think of being free.

Ring-a-ling!

My clenched fist glowed with white and blue particles! I felt strong, my arm warm from the sheer power held in my fist. Pushing back with Orion, I created an opening and put my Argonaut Punch into the unknown Amazon's torso. I ignored how surprisingly soft the Amazoness' skin was under my fist as it rammed into her. There was an explosion of light and dust as the Amazoness was sent flying, barrelling into another unknown Amazoness wielding a pair of daggers.

Without access to my magic, and my body feeling like I was trying to fight while submerged in water with soaking wet clothes and armor, I was going to need to be creative with what remained of my arsenal. If using a couple of seconds long Argonaut charges was considered creative, because that was the main idea I had going for me at the moment. Believe it or not, but I hadn't exactly had much experience fighting while under the effects of a curse.

Maybe fighting Dix wouldn't be as easy as I initially made it out to be. Trying to fight like this sucks. My muscles feel weak, like I've been pumping iron all day without stopping to eat or drink anything. My head felt heavy, like I hadn't slept in days. Everything felt blurry and out of focus. The fact that Orion was ending up everywhere I intended was a miracle.

Glad to take advantage of my weaknesses, Aisha was quick to move to avenge her neutralized companions, quickly leaping back into melee range and attacking with a surprisingly quick flurry of attacks with her comically large greatsword. How Aisha wielded a greatsword with the finesse of a dagger was something I might never understand.

Thankfully, Orion provided enough reach that I was able to safely contend with Aisha's own weapon. Barely. Again, all of my movements felt off thanks to that Curse Spell that one of them cast – my attacks were sapped of their full strength. Keeping Aisha at bay required far more effort than I was comfortable with!

I winced as a different Amazon flanked me and swiped a sword across my back. If not for the quality of the battle cloth in the cloak that Hermes had gifted me, that attack might have done serious damage to my spine. As is it was, it 'merely' felt fucking painful and was bleeding profusely – I could instantly feel the warmth and stickiness of my blood gushing out of my back which was already stinging like a motherfucker.

Something about these curses must really be attacking my Vitality. The fact that a Level 2 adventurer could cut me so deeply, so easily, seemed wrong. My Vitality was so jacked that only the likes of Ais and Ryuu should be able to easily pierce my defenses with such ease. Just my luck for the enemy curses to hit my Vitality stat even more than my Dexterity and Strength.

Ring Ring!

Having focused a charge into one of my feet, I kicked the ground below me. An explosion of light and rock and dust rang out. The ground cracked beneath my feet, sending out a shockwave of earth and displaced air. As a result of my Argonaut Stomp, Aisha and the other Amazoness were pushed back and had earned themselves some nasty bruises from getting hit with debris. That said, in comparison, I was the one who was the worst off from that last exchange.

I noticed a different trio of Amazons charging for me, keeping up the pressure and not giving me a moment to rest unlike Aisha and the other one.

I jabbed Orion forward, forcing one Amazon to halt their charge or get themselves impaled on the end of my spear. I quickly swung Orion to the side, batting away the second Amazon from my front like she was a baseball.

IT'S A HOMERUN FOLKS! Is it arrogant of me to insert commentary despite the seriousness of this situation? I blame the blood loss, it's bringing out my sass. Or something.

Not forgetting the third Amazoness me, I jabbed the 'blunt' end of Orion behind me, catching her in the gut. I could feel saliva hit my back as my strike hit the Amazoness in the stomach, forcing air and more out of her mouth involuntarily. Gross.

I spun around on my foot, introducing the back of my fist into the Amazoness' face with the equivalent of a backhand bitch slap, except it was a fist instead of an open palm.

The Amazoness spun from the hit before collapsing in a faint.

I was rewarded for my badassery with two arrows hitting me in the back – thankfully they missed my existing backwound, that would have FUCKING HURT, well, even more anyway.

I quickly turned back around to block a counter attack from the first Amazoness, not having forgotten her. She was so focused on maintaining a lock between my spear and her sword that she wasn't prepared for me to introduce my foot to her ankles.

Swiping her feet out from under her, I bonked her on the head with the blunt end of Orion as she hit the ground, putting her head in the middle of a ground-spear sandwich, knocking her out.

I quickly returned to a defensive stance and took in my surroundings. It was just Aisha and another 5 Amazons, two of which seemed to be magic casters and one was an archer.

"What are they doping this rabbit with?!" One of the Amazons complained.

"I make sure to eat my daily carrots," I quip back.

Aisha snorted, "The boy'ya has quite the mouth on him."

"I wouldn't mind putting it to good use!" Another Amazon quipped lewdly.

"...Eh?" I let out a noise of confusion, feeling my cheeks light up. What the fuck? Did the beat down I've given the other Amazons make these ones horny? Goddamnit, the Bell Cranel Effect strikes again with more incredulity…

"Save it for after Ishtar-sama is done with him," Aisha said with authority, apparently still confident that I could be subdued thanks to my wounds.

…I hope these blades and arrows aren't poisoned. I tightened my grip on Orion. I'd need to finish this fight quickly then! Before the potential poison kicks in to knock me out or something.

That was when, of course, a familiar cacophony of noise erupted like a chorus of violence. The roars of countless monsters halted the battle in its tracks as the earth shook! The ambushers are now the ambushed! I blame the Bell Cranel Effect. Why else would the cries of Violas choose now of all times to appear, after all?

---

Other POV

Ryuu, having drawn only her Alf's Lumina, ran to close the distance between her and the opposing Captain. It was a simple fact that with her ability to cast magic cut off, that only left melee options to resist and defend herself and Bell.

Ryuu recognized the feeling of her magic being disrupted by a Curse. An experience she developed from the war with Evilus and the subsequent Crusade as Evilus resisted her efforts to purge them from the surface. So she didn't bother trying to cast magic. Not that it bothered Ryuu too much, as she hadn't really used much magic to crush Evilus during her Crusade in the first place; Ryuu was hardly a sitting duck in a combat situation without her magic.

The fact that Ryuu's stats had also been lowered, however, was more concerning. Phryne Jamil has been a Level 5 adventurer for some time now, whereas Ryuu had only recently Leveled up. Ryuu's rapid growth in Basic Abilities in the meantime, was the continuation of an anomaly she's seemed to be under ever since she met Bell. But surely it wasn't enough?

The point Ryuu was trying to get to was that these Debuffs warranted a tactical retreat, but at the same time made such a course of action dangerous. Ryuu and Bell may be able to outrun most of the Berbera even with lowered Statuses, but Jamil would be able to pursue despite Agility not being the opposing Captain's strong suit. That would just leave Bell and Ryuu at the risk of being hit with a sneak attack while in a forced confrontation with Phryne. The benefits of potentially Defeating this ambush party in Detail was not worth it if they couldn't take Jamil out in time before the opposing party could regroup.

That left Ryuu to do her best to defeat Phryne as is and wait for an opportunity to present itself for retreat. So Ryuu and Phryne charged each other, with Ryuu easily covering more distance in the same amount of time.

Phryne raised an axe high into the air before slamming it down in front of her. Ryuu easily spun on her foot, evading the attack, and continued to move forward without halting. Now partially behind her, Ryuu lashed out with her weapon and struck the back of Phryne's knee.

With a yell of pain, Phryne fell to a single knee. All the same, she partially turned and swung her axe at Ryuu who was no longer there. For Ryuu hadn't stopped moving, instead starting to circle around the relatively immobile larger 'woman' as she continued running.

Phryne took the moment where Ryuu had effectively disengaged to get back to her feet. Ryuu, meanwhile, ran at Phryne again for another attempt at a 'drive-by'.

Phyrne had caught on, swinging her first weapon to goad and force Ryuu into running into her second axe. To little avail as Ryuu simply used her flexibility and acrobatic skills to avoid the strike she anticipated from the large 'woman'. As Ryuu avoided the attack mid-air, she lashed out with her own weapon. Striking Phryne's wrist with the tip of her wooden sword, forcing the larger 'woman' to drop one of her axes.

Phryne, again, yelped in pain before growling at the nimble elf that easily evaded her twice now. It went without saying that Phyrne's pride and ego were immense to the point of being detrimental to her well being. It was only the fact that she was Level 5 that allowed her to get by despite being so universally disliked.

Phryne's pride could never accept that anyone was stronger or more beautiful than her. Even if it was blatantly obvious. Not without taking immense damage first, in any case. And she had yet to reach that point.

Ryuu landed on her feet a distance behind Phryne again, her eyes idly noting as Phryne's axe lodged itself into the ground some distance away. Ryuu tenses her legs, ready to move once more, before stopping herself as the cry of monsters rang out and the earth shook.

Ryuu recognized this sensation, the feeling of the earth shaking.

"Violas!" Ryuu cried out as the plant-monsters breached the surface. Their presence could only mean one thing!

The Evilus Remnant!

---

Main POV

"These again?!" I yelled incredulously, shivering as phantom pains suddenly appeared from my chest and right arm as soon as I recognized the sight and sounds of the Violas. My body instinctively quivered, as if associating the plant monsters with the actions of Levis.

"Grrr…. Retreat!" Aisha growled out an order, "Retreat! No more of my girls are getting eaten by those things on my watch! Fallback and regroup!"

Ah yes, thank you for reminding me that you are a decent person, Aisha. Between fulfilling her mission and protecting her girls, Aisha would always choose the latter. It was proof enough to me that Aisha was a good person, just one that was caught up in bad circumstances. Ishtar is not a Goddess one simply says 'no' to.

Aisha then looked at me with a mocking smirk, "Well then, Hero, please do the right thing and cover our asses. 'Kay?"

Nevermind. You're a bitch Aisha, I take back my positive thoughts about you.

The fact she already has me pegged (not that way), is kind of annoying. Even so, despite the fact that they've jumped me, I don't want these girls I've knocked out to get eaten by these things either. So I grimaced and yelled to Aisha, saying, "Grab your girls and go, I'll cover you!"

"Much appreciated, Hero," Aisha said mockingly as she and the remaining Amazon's moved to grab their comrades before fleeing.

Covering their retreat, I leapt at the closest Viola. As intended, the Viola lashed out with its tentacles, making it all too easy to dodge and dismember them with a swipe of Orion's Arrow. As if detecting how thankful I was for Orion's insane sharpness, the spear's glow intensified for a moment before going back to normal.

Just in time for the spear to experience another light show as I began charging Argonaut again, ironically using the thoughts of protecting the retreating girls to fuel its power.

Using all the strength I could muster, despite the curse, I leapt high into the air. I just barely avoided getting hit by additional tentacles from the other Violas that closed in on my position. At the peak of my jump, I threw Orion directly below me. Right where several Violas had clumped together in order to dogpile on me.

My aim was true, and Orion hit the ground in the middle of the monsters like a missile strike, exploding in a flash of white and blue light.

Landing in a crouch inside a crater, I idly grabbed Orion before standing back to my full height. The air displaced by my fall pushed away the smoke from the explosion, revealing that the four Violas had been ripped to shreds by the pure energy and all the rock moving at high velocities from the detonation.

I took in the battlefield, before freezing at what I saw. There were easily another 20 Violas around me, which was scary enough considering my Status was lowered and my magic was cut off. Nevermind the fact that all of them were focused on me, to the point of ignoring the fleeing Amazons. No, I was terrified for another reason entirely.

Levis was here. Squaring off against Ryuu. Who was also suffering from a lowered Status and was without her powerful magic.

This… was not good.

---

Other POV

Ryuu felt a fire burn in her chest as she stared at Levis across from her.

Phryne had taken one look at Levis before paling and fleeing like a coward, but Ryuu cared little for the apparent history that the two had at the moment. All Ryuu cared about was that she had gotten a chance at purifying Alise's spirit sooner than she expected.

"Let's continue where we left off last time, shall we?" Levis mocked rhetorically.

Ryuu deepened her stance, both hands on her Alf's Lumina. She was well aware that she was still without her magic, saying, "Of course. I'm not done with you, Creature."

Levis scoffed, drawing her weapon, "What? Not gonna cry for your precious 'Alise'?"

Ryuu scowled, gritting her teeth, "...I'm done living in the past. The future has no need for demons and zombies spreading death and despair. Lay down your weapon, and I will accept your surrender."

"Hah!" Levis mocked the offer of mercy, "How amusing! I can tell you hate my very existence, and still you offer me misplaced mercy? Interesting. You still look at me like I'm one of 'you'. Yet are still willing to cut me down? Heh. What is this feeling stirring within me? Excitement? Yes... Cutting you down will surely satisfy this feeling within me."

Levis' malice grew, a dark mocking smile overtaking her face, "Or maybe I'll beat you within an inch of your life. So you can watch me kill that boy in front of you for good."

"DIE!" Ryuu raged, utterly infuriated at the implication, bursting forward in a burst of speed. A shockwave rang out as Levis blocked Ryuu's attack with her own blade.

"Yes~" Levis hissed in twisted glee, "That's the hate I wanted to see! Ah, I can finally feel my blood pumping! Give me a good fight, Lion!"

Levis' face suddenly twitched in pain, like she was experiencing a migraine.

Lion! A cheerful voice unbiddenly rang out in the back of Levis' head. Flashes of unfamiliar halls. The smile of a woman with brown hair. The blush of a blond and indignant elf. These things appeared in Levis' head with no rhyme or reason.

Ryuu gladly took advantage of Levis' sudden lapse of focus, breaking the lock between their weapons and raising her sword high to crack Levis' head in two.

Levis barely blocked in time, using her immense strength to push against Ryuu's blade and force her back. Ryuu landed easily on her feet a few meters away, quickly resuming an offensive stance.

Levis, confused and angered by the sudden burst of mental pain she had experienced, scowled before raising her blade and readying herself for the duel to come. Finally, with no interruptions this time… Levis would get the fight to the death she desired!

---

'We really must be an odd sight', Lili thought to herself. A group consisting of herself, The Thousand Elf, and The Kenki. It was like the beginning of a bad joke. Especially because Lili was convinced that Ais Wallenstein had no idea about the sexual tension going on between Bell-sama and Ryuu-sama.

Meanwhile, Lefiya-sama was giggling like a maiden in love. She had been blabbering about how cute Bell-sama and Ryuu-sensei were, while Ais-sama nodded along absentmindedly. Lili couldn't help but think that Lefiya was as interested in Bell-sama's relationship with Ryuu as she was because Lefiya could imagine inserting herself into Ryuu's place since they were both elves. As someone who had a myriad of feelings for Bell-sama, Lili could tell when someone else also admired her Hero. And, in this case, could tell that the golden-brown haired elf was oblivious to her own feelings. Lili wasn't sure whether to be happy about it or not.

Because Lili cursed Bell for making so many women fall in love with him. Lili's self-esteem issues, which she was at least self-aware about their existence, didn't appreciate Bell having attracted so many women that are prettier than her. Most of whom were also stronger than Lili to boot. But, then again, it's not like Lili would ask Bell to change so that he'd stop inadvertently seducing women with his casual charisma. Because Lili knew that people were falling in love with his kindness and unwavering determination to protect others no matter the personal cost. It was an aspect of Bell that Lili would never ask or want him to change… though perhaps him being less reckless wouldn't hurt.

All in all, the walk back to camp so that Bell-sama and Ryuu-sama could have a private conversation was incredibly awkward for Lili. Sure, Lili was used to making small talk with Lefiya thanks to the Artemis Quest trip. But Lili couldn't help but feel out of place in the company of the Sword Princess. Especially since the Sword Princess was so introverted and silent.

Or maybe it's because Lili's instincts screamed that Ais Wallenstein was an adventurer? Something about Ais' presence screamed at Lili's instincts that Ais was bad news. Like if push came to shove that Ais would abandon her in an emergency situation if she was ordered to. That kind of vibe. Like she was a machine in a factory, only able to perform specific tasks. Ais Wallenstein more often than not felt more like a walking sword than anything else. But perhaps that is just because Lili is from a different Familia and is not acquainted with the Kenki on a personal level. Lili isn't sure she wants to know Ais Wallenstein on a personal level.

It showed in the way that Ais only ever seemed to talk when spoken to. In the way that Ais Wallenstein clearly didn't know what Lili's name was despite Lili's verbal tic of addressing herself in the third person.

"Hey, hey! You–you don't think they're saying vows and oaths of love do you?!" Lefiya gushed, "I thought all those rumors from the Ball were exaggerated, but I saw how much she fretted over him a few days ago!"

Lefiya was referring to events that Lili had been informed about vaguely but hadn't been present for. Ryuu fretting over Bell after facing the Evilus Remnant.

"Bell-sama has always been close with Ryuu-sama," Lili said conversationally, "Apparently Ryuu-sama was the first person Bell-sama became acquainted with when he came to Orario."

Lefiya squealed, "It's just like out of a romance novel! A boy from out of the country! Running into a retired veteran with a heavy heart! Hehe~"

"That's certainly one way to look at it," Lili grumbled with a roll of her eyes. It was childish, but Lili found herself annoyed at the reminder that Ryuu-sensei was the one closest to Bell-sama's heart. No, Lili was annoyed at the reminder that Ryuu-sensei's first interactions with Bell-sama were more genuine than his interactions with herself; and that was something that was entirely Lili's own fault. Too caught up in her hatred for adventurers to recognize Bell's kindness to her until it was too late.

"Oh!" Lefiya chuckled, "I'm sure it's been quite annoying to watch up close! My village was pretty used to outside cultures, so I can at least see how my own people are rather silly and stubborn at times. Good on you for keeping your patience around them, Lili-san! Though I reckon being around a troublemaker like Bell builds up your tolerance to nonsense really quick, huh."

"Oh, you've certainly got that right," Lili deadpanned in amusement, noting that they were close to entering camp, before returning her thoughts to the elf beside her. Lili liked Lefiya. The young elf treated her like a person. Talking with Lili and not down to Lili – well, metaphorically.

Ais Wallenstein suddenly stiffened. Lili only noticed after Lefiya asked Ais what was wrong. Ais answered, "There's an intruder in the camp. Something is wrong. They're strong."

Lili may dislike adventurers, but she wasn't one to discount the instincts of an adventurer like Ais Wallenstein. If Ais Wallenstein felt the need to warn them so, it was probably serious. Lili dropped the bag of supplies on the ground as she said, "Then let's confront them cautiously. Lili will hang back to overwatch."

Ais nodded, moving to draw her weapon, but keeping it sheathed as he moved forward. Lefiya flanked Ais, with her staff firmly in her hands and the words of her songs fresh on her mind – getting ready to start casting in a moment's notice.

Ais and Lefiya moved into the small camp, they quickly found a single figure casually leaving the inside of the girl's tent. It was a Pallum woman with brown hair and red eyes. Something about her… was familiar to Ais, but she couldn't place it. Ais was bad with names and faces (and, indeed, couldn't seem to remember Lili's name).

"What a shame…" the unknown Pallum complained before looking directly at the two of them, "Yo, sorry to barge in unannounced. I'm well aware it's not exactly polite, but one of your members got her hands on something she really shouldn't have. Well, at least if she didn't want to make enemies of my… associates."

The fact that the Pallum disliked her 'associates' was plainly heard in her tone. Which made Lefiya wonder why the Pallum was up to whatever she was. Why would you work with someone you dislike? Aligning goals? Coercion?

"...? We haven't stolen anything?" Ais stated in confusion.

"Who are you anyway? What are you doing barging into our camp?" Lefiya asked aggressively.

"Sorry, my parents didn't exactly stick around to teach me good manners," the Pallum joked darkly, "The name's Lyra. But I'd almost prefer you not use it. 'Tis the name of a dead woman, after all."

"Dead woman?" Lefiya said in confusion.

"I certainly don't feel alive," the Pallum named Lyra added mysteriously, "Anyway, where are your manners? I've introduced myself, now it's your turn. You as well, Pallum, don't think I didn't notice you."

Lefiya's eyes widened as Lili begrudgingly emerged from behind the tent, behind Lyra. Lili had certainly flanked behind Lyra quickly, though it's a shame that Lyra noticed anyway.

"Ais Wallenstein, Loki Familia," Ais said, her hands never leaving her blade's hilt.

"Lefiya Viridis, Loki Familia," the elf said, noting that the tense air was only building more instead of decreasing.

"Liliruca Arde… Hestia Familia…" Lili grumbled, her eyes showing anger and frustration, also sensing the other Pallum's hostile intent.

Lyra grabbed the odd, circular, knife-filled weapons on her hip and took one in each hand, as she said, "It's a pleasure. I'm The Cunning Rat Lyra, formerly of Astraea Familia."

"Astraea Familia!" Lefiya gasped, "Just like–!"

"Lion. Indeed," Lyra confirmed, "Look. I'm sorry it has to be this way, but I don't have much choice in the matter you see? I'd rather not be driven insane by 'Her' and end up like 'Luna'."

Lyra couldn't, wouldn't, forget Kaguya's screams of torment back then. When the Corrupted Spirit broke her. The Far Eastern woman had refused to obey 'Her' will. Kaguya had refused to align herself with forces that sought to destroy Orario and the world. Kaguya had always been the one to preach that Justice required sacrifices, but Kaguya also refused to be forced to walk the path of evil.

'Never again!' Kaguya had screamed and screamed as a mantra, likely to maintain her sanity, as the Corrupted Spirit had torn and wrapped apart Kaguya's body before rebuilding it over and over again. Until all that was left was a hollow shell and a mouthpiece for the Corrupted Spirit's unceasing words.

'I want to see the sky!'

"Luna?" Lefiya asked, confused at the unfamiliar name. Lefiya and Ais instantly recognized the capitalization of 'Her' as a sign that Lyra was a Creature and aligned with Levis. But Luna was another new name.

"Yeah," Lyra confirmed nonchalantly, "The one who is currently taking care of your fellows from Loki Familia who thought they could hide and draw us out from Rivira."

Lyra's plan called for Luna, the strongest of the three Creatures, to handle the adventurer town. Luna would be assisted by Violas attacking the town and drawing away the majority of adventurers; thus allowing for Luna to more easily distract the aces of Loki Familia. Violas were chosen as the ratio of speed, stealth, and power of the plant monster was unmatched. Swarms of Virga, the large maggot monsters, and Valg, crystal spider monsters, were best suited for the passageways of Knossos than the open fields of Floor 18 in Lyra's opinion.

"What?!" Lefiya yelled in shock. Their fellows from Loki Familia were here?! A quick glance at Ais showed that the golden-haired girl was also shocked at the revelation.

"Indeed," Lyra said casually, "Again, I'd rather not be here messing with good people like you all. But if I don't cooperate, then I'll end up like 'Levis' and 'Luna' and forget who I am. And someone's got to try and look out for them. Bring back the memories they've lost."

"Stop talking," Lili suddenly growled, "All this talk of 'I don't actually want to do this' doesn't matter if you are going to do it anyways. You're just trying to build up sympathy so we don't fight you with intent to kill. To get us to hold back."

"Smart kid," Lyra looked over her head at Lili, complimenting her with a smile before shrugging, "But you don't get it, 'She' is really serious about not tolerating betrayal. It's not like I can scream and beg for mercy or salvation. But I can convince 'Her' that explaining parts of my situation to gain sympathy counts as psychological warfare."

"Who… what is 'Her'?" Lili asked, not understanding everything Lyra was getting at and was blatantly phishing for information.

Lyra opened her mouth to answer, but then grimaced, "...I'm not allowed to say."

"There's some kind of monster deep in the Dungeon!" Lefiya called out, "And 'Creatures' like her are somehow connected to it!" This knowledge was learned from the mad ramblings of Olivas Act, before he was killed by Levis. Of course, anything spoken by that particular Creature (calling Olivas a man was too generous), should be taken with a grain of salt. But considering how his words of being able to control the Violas and other similar monsters without the use of Tamer skills have wrung true, it was hard to dispute his words.

"Close enough," Lyra confirmed wryly, "Again, I'm not exactly thrilled by my situation. If not for the fact I don't want to leave Levis and Luna alone, I'd gladly accept any of you cutting me down. As is, since Lion took the key with her I've got to contribute something or else Levis and 'Her' will get pissed. Apparently, unwillingly coming up with a counter strategy to the Braver doesn't count as being helpful enough."

It did not escape Lili's notice that Lyra kept mentioning a 'key'. As if Lyra was trying to subtly encourage that said item was extremely important. But Lili stayed silent, for the moment.

"Wait, Captain Finn! You said this 'Luna' was attacking them in town!?" Lefiya finally noticed that important detail, along with Ais.

"You two really didn't know?" Lyra seemed surprised, "Yeah. Once we got wind of this little trip of yours, it was simple to work out something that the Braver would do. Especially because of the timing not being long after that stunt you all were part of the other day. Your party was bait to draw Levis out."

Lyra then smirked in amusement, "But, of course, the Braver is only good at making plans when he has all, or enough of, the information at his disposal. His plans crumble in the face of the unexpected. I couldn't help but exploit that."

It was obvious that Lyra took some measure of pride in getting one over Finn. Like a rival was getting closer to evening the scores against their opponent who had been in the lead for quite some time. Lyra was criticizing Finn for not being great at adapting to chaos in real-time. Lili felt like Lyra was trying to convey constructive criticism to Finn through his Familia members.

"Loki Familia knew nothing about you or this 'Luna' figure," Lili deduced from the fact Lefiya seemed to know about Levis but not Lyra or Luna, "So you came up with a plan to satisfy your 'comrades'... while also revealing as much information as possible to their enemies in the hope they will defeat you down the road."

Lyra's head snapped back to look at Lili, her eyes wide and shocked, "—You!"

Lyra then laughed, "Ha! You've got me pegged! Congrats, kid, you're smarter than Levis and that damn monster down below! They never noticed!"

There was a reason why Lyra hadn't brought any monsters with her. It was for the express purpose of ensuring that none of her opponents would die. Or rather, to have an excuse as to why Lyra would be unable to kill any of her opponents. Lyra easily distracted Levis with the assertion that Luna needed more monsters than Lyra did.

Lyra sighed, idly spinning her odd weapons in her hands, "That said, while I wish you all the best, I really need to kick your butts. And, Kenki? If I were you, I'd go reinforce your buddies in Rivira. Luna is leagues stronger than Levis is."

"What?!" Ais gasped, finally taking part in the conversion. Ais was still shocked at the idea that their enemies had so many strong people on their side! That someone could be stronger than Levis, who Ais had already struggled against. That there were those stronger than her, than Riveria, than Gareth, than Finn. How many more great filters, great steps did Ais have to climb in order to reach her true goal?! The Dragon!?

The memory of an ungodly, behemoth of a roar rang in the back of Ais' ears. An unholy terror that shakes one's very soul. An evil entity that makes one feel like an ant underneath the boot of a Goliath. So small. And helpless. And weak. And alone.

"If Levis has horrible compatibility with Creaturification," Lyra said with a rueful smile, "And if I'm above average… Luna's compatibility is about as perfect as you can get…"

Ais paled, and the sight of the Kenki being frightened so horrified Lefiya.

"So?" Lyra said with a smug yet apologetic grin, "Will you stay here and abandon your friends in town? Or leave and abandon these two to my ministrations?"

"...How do we even know that Finn and the others are in town like you say?" Ais asked, having enough presence of mind to wonder why she should take Lyra's word as gospel.

As if the universe was waiting for just that question to be asked, a couple of large explosions could be heard in the distance. Everyone looked to the skies. While one of the explosions was out deep in the forest, the other was definitively in the direction of Rivira. No doubt about it. Lyra was not lying.

---

Finn was currently at one of the many inns in the town of Rivira. Indeed, he was the one responsible for a lot of inn rooms being booked as noted when Lefiya and Ais had stopped by the town. The intention being to try and obscure that Loki Familia had a sizable force on the 18th Floor.

All of his strike team, including himself, had descended to the Floor ahead of Bell's party. Indeed, the reason that there were no monsters ahead of Bell and co was because Loki Familia had killed a path through the monsters ahead of them. The reason that monsters hadn't spawned behind Bell and co was NOT a result of Loki Familia's strike force.

And they had done this in small, separate groups while disguised. In order to conceal their identities. It was done in this way to try and hide their efforts from being noticed by the Evilus Remnant. Since the 2nd entrance to the Dungeon was still unknown, Finn couldn't be sure as to the extent of Evilus' informational gathering capabilities. The chances of being seen on the surface and the information of their movements reaching down in the Dungeon ahead of them was something that Finn had to mitigate for this trap to work.

For, indeed as Lyra predicted, Finn used Ryuu and Ais as bait to lure out Levis. And was currently waiting for his forward observers to report if Levis or Evilus reveal themselves. Of course, trying to keep Bete from just storming out and ruining things was a thing, but it was well worth the hassle if they could finally get the upper hand against Evilus.

Of course, Finn's strike force was also there to protect and reinforce Ais and Lefiya in the case of the aforementioned attack. And that reasoning was enough to console Finn about his twisted intentions. Everything was for the Greater Good. That Evilus would be finally defeated and his Legend would grow; so that it would one day ring out to bring light to the Pallum race for all of time.

In any case, while stealth operations were hardly his Familia's strong suit (he wasn't thinking about Bete or the Amazon twins in particular, definitely not), he had high hopes that this operation would either go great or at worst yield nothing at all. At least, such were his hopes, until he heard an explosion occur at the nearby easterly gate. Followed immediately by the familiar sound of Violas attacking the town. Which, well, certainly suggested that his well thought plan wasn't working out like he intended.

Finn's door burst open, Raul rushing in and yelling out, "C-Captain!"

"I heard. Gather everyone. We need to repel the attackers and defend the town. Then we can go reinforce Ais and the others," Finn quickly ordered, grabbing his spear and heading towards the door. It was pretty obvious that the Evilus Remnant had caught onto the fact Loki Familia was here and was ambushing them. It was too coincidental to think that it could be anything else.

"Roger!" Raul saluted before heading back out the way he came, with Finn hot on his heel.

Meanwhile, finally eager for some action, Bete and the Amazon Twins had burst onto the city streets moments after the first explosion. Chaos and confusion were quick to overcome the town, the few native adventurers still in town were fleeing in terror from the sudden and unexpected monster attack. Memories of the last Viola attack had not faded, and they had barely overcome that attack with their usual population of adventurers and the full might of Loki Familia.

Since most of the few remaining people in town hadn't realized that Loki Familia had a strike team in the area, they understandably thought that protecting the town was pointless and began to flee for their lives.

"Where's the enemy?!" Tione growled, frustrated that her plans to infiltrate the Captain's room had been interrupted.

"Use your damn eyes, woman!" Bete growled, "Damn monsters have the whole town surrounded!"

Bete was simplifying matters. In truth, monsters were only attacking the north and south gates as well as the west wall. The eastern gate near them was suspiciously empty of attackers.

"Can you stop being an ass for five seconds?" Tiona growled in annoyance on her sister's behalf.

"How about you–!" Bete's words were cut off, because in an instant he was just gone; sent flying as the figure of an Eastern woman in a dark green kimono, weaved of plant matter, appeared in his place. Her katana, in her left hand, was outstretched from an unseen swing that was covered in fresh, dripping blood.

An instantly later the reverberated dust kicked up by Bete's flight could be seen. At the end of the street, submerged within a now collapsed building, Bete groaned in pain from the large bleeding gash across his torso as brick and wood dug into him and his open wound. Bete struggled to remain conscious, the single attack he hadn't even seen had done more damage than he could ever recall experiencing before now.

A brand new Level 6 adventurer had been taken out in a single hit, within an instant. Sent flying across the street before anyone had seen anything but the outcome.

By the time Bete had vanished and a woman (and smoke) had taken his place, Tiona and Tione began to react. Their muscles tensed up, readying themselves and their weapons to launch themselves at the sudden threat in front of them. Tione attacked first with a flurry of her kukri knives, aiming to slice Luna into ribbons.

Luna, a mad grin on her face, effortlessly brought her blade to intercept. The blades clashed and locked… before Tione's knives fell apart, cut cleanly in half.

While Tione was stunned still at the sight of the clean break in her weapons, her sister Tiona attacked within seconds of Tione's attack. Moving like a blur, Luna effortlessly blocked this attack as well. Tiona's Urga cracked where it met Luna's blade.

One second after her weapons had broken, Tione recovered from her shock. She tightened her fists and made to lash out in a martial attack, aiming to clock Luna across her pretty face. But before Tione could even throw a single punch, Luna planted the flat end of her blade into Tione's gut. Tione's ribs cracked and broke as Luna sent the Amazoness flying into the air like she was a mere ping pong ball getting hit with a metal baseball bat.

Tiona, not having the chance to process the damage to her weapon, still swung the second, undamaged blade at Luna to counterattack. Tiona hadn't even had the chance to process the fact that she had been forcibly separated from her sister.

Moving impossibly quick, Luna once more blocked Tiona's attack with a single handed grip of her katana. Once again, Tiona's weapon cracked at the point of impact. If anyone had the chance to even see Luna's weapon, they would remark that aside from being beautiful it had no special properties or durability; Luna was simply that strong, fast, and skilled with a blade. Luna's weapon was, at most, a 2nd Class weapon.

With a speed Tiona could see but not react to, in a single motion, Luna broke the sword lock with Tiona, sheathed her weapon into the scabbard on her hip, and unsheathed it again by burying the pommel of the hilt into Tiona's abdomen. All of the air in Tiona's lungs left her as she was sent careening into a nearby building. As the building collapsed around her, Tiona's last conscious thoughts consisted of her reckoning that had been hit so hard that her internal organs were bruised.

"A-haha! A-haha-haha!" Luna, momentarily alone, giggled like a child in a candy store. Utterly mad. Her eyes swirled incomprehensibly, yet those vermillion orbs were still as sharp as a blade. Despite that readiness, she didn't seem to react as a lone Pallum exited the hotel.

"...Gojouno Kaguya, the Valorous Dragon of the East," Finn said, recognizing Luna for the life she had before. It was as if Kaguya hadn't aged a day since she died. She was still an immaculate beauty from the East. If you ignored the mad grin and insane look in her eyes. It also helped that Levis was all but confirmed to be a revived Alise Lovell. If there were to be more Creatures, it made sense for more ghosts of Astraea Familia to rear their heads.

Not that Finn had thought far ahead enough to even ask if there were more Creatures or not in Evilus' arsenal. But that was a miscalculation he'd only share with Loki, Gareth, and Riveria.

"Sheeee… wants to see the sky!" 'Luna' madly recited.

"I see…" Finn uttered, deducing that Kaguya had been driven insane. Whether because of the Creaturification process itself or what may have come after was impossible to say. And was hardly relevant to him. The fact that Kaguya had once been an ally in the fight against injustice mattered little to Finn. All that mattered to Finn was finding a way to defeat his enemies and prevent Evilus from winning. He had no interest in saving a corpse. There was simply nothing in it for him, his image, and thus his goals.

Finn hadn't yet realized the danger he was in. He saw signs of battle, but did not know that it had been Tiona, Tione, and Bete who had done battle here. He saw the demolished buildings, but hadn't assumed that some of his strongest pieces had been so easily swatted aside. Made meaningless beneath Luna's sheer power. Sure, his thumb was aching, but he wrote that off as a result of the battle overtaking the entire town and not due to Luna alone.

"Ain't this a sorry sight…" the voice of Gareth could be heard sighing as he came down the street from the opposite direction of the gate. He was flanked by a certain High Elf.

"So the legacy of Astraea Familia is truly our enemy? How distasteful," Riveria huffed, her eyes tense. Both Riveria and Gareth were on their guard, detecting the sheer power that Luna was giving off with her mere presence. And both had also clearly recognized the Far Eastern woman.

"You guys will be the ones to break the news to Astraea-sama, right?" Finn said jokingly as he began to reach for his spear. As much as Finn wanted to keep operational silence on the threat of Evilus, it would be necessary to talk with Astraea anyway to confirm the abilities of her former children. Finn was aware that he likely didn't know all of Kaguya's capabilities from back in the day — not definitively anyway.

"Nah. That kind of responsibility is a Captain's responsibility, no?" Gareth said gruffly, his arms reaching for an axe and shield.

"Both of you are idiots," Riveria sighed, taking a ready stance in the backline.

""Stupid elf."" The Pallum and Dwarf complained in sync.

None noticed how Luna had frozen at the sight of the three adventurers. Whether out of hesitation or recognition or fear or something else entirely was something that had been missed in the midst of the banter. Obscured by her vermilion eyes that swirled with madness and insanity. No one saw her true self deep within.

Luna's mouth opened silently. Mouthing words unseen to anyone, because neither of the three adventurers looked at Luna like she was a person. Nobody cared to see the plea of salvation, because the three only looked at her as a broken enemy, a broken tool.

Nobody saw Luna mouth the words 'please, kill me'. Nobody but the Corrupted Spirit down below. Through their connection, the Corrupted Spirit demanded, "Kill them all for me, won't you? Can't you do this for me? Grant me my wish! I want! TO! SEE! THE! SKY!"

Kaguya internally screamed. Screamed for relief. Screamed for salvation. For anyone to save her. But nobody came.

Luna tensed her dense muscles.

"Enough, she's coming!" Riveria yelled, noticing that Luna had finally decided that she wanted to continue playing.

Loki Familia's Triple Threat against the Corrupted Spirit's Sword of Wrath. Three Level 6s or the Creature with the strength of a Level 8? Teamwork versus Strength. Who would triumph?!

---

"That enough for you?" Lyra asked, referring to the smoke cloud in the distance, "Don't worry, Kenki, I'll just disable these two so they can't oppose Levis or 'Her' again. They'll live longer that way. I don't get more innocent blood on my hands, you all get to love another day, and we all go home unhappy, but alive."

"Lili believes that saying isn't supposed to go that way," Lili deadpanned, cocking back a bolt on her Lil-Ballista.

"I'm well aware that I'm a sinner by going along with 'Her' whims. Even if it's under coercion and duress," Lyra said darkly, guiltily, "I was once an agent of Justice, after all..."

Lyra hunched over slightly, eyes tearing up for a moment before she quickly got over her pity-party. Lyra straightened up, a confident grin returning to her face, "So, what will it be?"

Ais bit her lip, the choice of choosing between the two beside her and those in Rivira (Gareth, her step-uncle. Riveria, her s-step-mother. And Finn who was like a step-father… But Lefiya and Bell's comrade…)

"Ais!" Lefiya called out, stepping in front of her, with her staff at the ready, "Go reinforce them! I'll distract her and protect Lili-san!"

"Lili didn't ask for your protection!" Lili protested with a growl, "Bell-sama will be sad if Lili dies or gets hurt here! But Lili knows how to take care of Lili just fine! Lili is sorry for thinking poorly of Kenki-sama, but don't hold yourself here for Lili's sake!"

"Eh? Eh?" Ais was confused at the determination from the two of them.

"I'm the fastest woman alive!" Lefiya grinned, palming a few Hiraishin-marked crystals the size of dice, "It doesn't matter if Lyra is stronger than me or not if she can't catch me! I'll keep her occupied and protect Lili-san until Sister Ryuu and Bell link up with us! We can draw her away and escape no problem!"

Outside of defeating an enemy, there was little to gain from engaging Lyra in a fight to the death. It's not like Lefiya and co had a particular objective that Lyra was preventing them from achieving. This was an enemy ambush. Why fight on the enemy's terms? It was better to retreat and regroup than try to fight Lyra to the death.

Especially since, assuming Lyra was as strong as Levis, the chances of death were incredibly high considering their current party was imbalanced. A swordswoman, mage, and novice spearwoman were not well equipped to fight a Creature without the risk of taking losses. Normally they would have little option but to have Ais to engage Lyra so that Lefiya and Lili had time to retreat. But the power of Bell's Hiraishin changed the equation. With Lefiya's insane Mind reserves, she could easily teleport across an entire Floor. Ironically, the further that Ais ran meant the farther that Lefiya could run away. Lefiya and Lili simply didn't have the Agility Stat to run away before Lyra could catch up to them. Hiraishining away to Ais was the only real way to successfully disengage. It was practically a Catch-22. A risky plan, but so is the life of adventurers.

Lili, meanwhile, would have honestly preferred that Ais Wallenstein stay to fight the unknown attacker. But Lili recognized the fact that Lyra was good with words, and would talk her way around Ais. Ultimately distracting the blond-haired adventurer by playing on the girl's weaknesses and insecurities. It was already clear that Lyra had Ais pegged by threatening Finn and the others considering Ais' reaction to Lyra's threats. Lili also refrained from taking command of their makeshift party because she honestly believed that Ais wouldn't listen anyway, with Lefiya being a coinflip of whether she'd follow Lili's orders or not.

"Stop saying you'll protect Lili!" the Pallum growled in annoyance, "That word reminds Lili of Bell-sama! Makes Lili want to do something stupid like fight when Lili should be running away!"

Lili aimed her ballista at Lyra's back, her chestnut eyes shifting and turning ruby red like Bell's as Unbreakable and Apotheosis involuntarily kicked in, "Lili won't let you get through Lili! You'd be forced to go after Ryuu-sama and Bell-sama after you beat us, no? They're closer than Rivira!"

"That's right," Lyra confirmed, addressing Lili specifically, "Though I'd probably let you go if you run."

Lili growled in frustration, "You're just planting doubt in Lili's head! You've noticed Lili is smart enough to potentially counter your plans in the future and you don't want Lili to accidentally die here for being stupid!"

"Stop reading my mind kid," Lyra grumbled, annoyed that Lili saw through her machinations.

"Jokes on you!" Lili laughed, "But Bell-sama has turned Lili into an idiot like himself. If Lili is going to hate adventurers for being selfish, then Lili needs to be more selfless to not be a hypocrite! Lili can't let you just do what you want!"

"It's not what I want to do, but what I must, but that's not really the point…" Lyra grumbled. Lili couldn't help but think that Lyra was desperate to justify her own actions considering how she was being forced to act on behalf of Evilus despite being an agent of Justice.

"And why are you still here?!" Lili growled at the Kenki, her now-ruby red eyes boring deep into the golden eyes of the half-spirit girl, "Lili can't keep this stupid conversation going forever!"

"Go!" Lefiya urged as well, throwing her Hiraishin-marked crystals into the air to land all over the camp. Lefiya had already left her mark on Ais' Desperate back during the training exercises. Every moment that Ais wasn't running away, their window of opportunity to delay and teleport away from Lyra shrunk more and more.

"R-Right!" Ais stuttered before turning to run. Lefiya and Lili's words which tempted Ais to selfishly flee succeeded. Because Ais was no heroine, prioritizing her loved ones over those right in front of her. Though, to her credit, her own poor social skills had been taken advantage of to manipulate her into making that decision.

"Firebolt!" Lefiya chanted at the same time as Lyra's body tensed to intercept Ais. As fast as a machine gun, Lefiya repeatedly fired dozens and dozens of tiny bolts of fire and plasma at Lyra. The sheer volume of fire made dodging pointless, and so Lyra simply stood still and took it. Her arms crossed in front of her, Lyra withstood the barrage of magical attacks.

At the same time, Lili fired her crossbow bolt into Lyra's back before moving out of the literal line of fire. For while most of the baseball sized bolts struck Lyra, some flew wild to the side. The tent and forest behind Lyra quickly caught fire.

With a couple of seconds purchased by Lefiya's barrage, Ais managed to flee the battle and urgently began running for the town of Rivira. It was now up to Lefiya and Lili to hold out against Lyra until it was safe to flee.

Lefiya, after those few seconds, let up on the fire attack. Part of her hoping that all of this had simply been a case of her and everyone's instincts being too paranoid about the threat Lyra posed. And Lefiya had, unfortunately, been provided evidence that did suggest that Lyra was indeed stronger than she would have liked.

Because while Lyra's clothes, made of some kind of looted Battle Cloth, had been incinerated where Lefiya's attack had struck – Lyra's skin had been unmarred. Well, that wasn't exactly accurate. Lyra's skin had been charred, but it had healed over so quickly that it may as well have done no damage. Lili's crossbow bolt, however, had merely bounced off of Lyra's skin like it was a steel beam.

Unnoticed by Lefiya and Lili, however, was that Lyra had been too stunned to move as soon as she felt the electricity within each bolt hit her skin; it was only after Lefiya had ended the barrage that Lyra found herself able to move again.

"Sorry about this," Lyra apologized suddenly, her eyes narrowing as she stared down Lefiya.

"Wha–?!" Lefiya questioned before gasping as Lyra blurred forward before reappearing right in front of Lefiya. One of Lyra's arms was poised back, ready to swing forward and lob one of Lefiya's arms clean off.

Lyra swung…!

…And missed as Lefiya narrowly Flashed out of the way, reappearing next to Lili. Lefiya, her face pale, rapidly chanted, "A-Assemble, breath of the earth – my name is Alf! Veil Breath!"

Upon casting a version of Riveria's magic, Lefiya and Lili glowed with a jade light as warmth enveloped them – their physical and magical resistances rising considerably, and also provided healing even though that part wasn't particularly needed at that point in time. The idea Lefiya had was that, just in case she wasn't fast enough, the magic might be enough to help protect her and Lili from Lyra's attacks. Especially since the other Pallum seemed intent on cutting off their limbs…

Lyra meanwhile, had frozen for a few seconds in surprise. She had no idea how Lefiya had managed to dodge her attack and move so quickly. Any goons of Evilus that had witnessed Bell's magic hadn't exactly lived to tell the tale and spread awareness about it. And while Levis had witnessed Hiraishin once, she hadn't realized that Bell had used a spell, and instead had only assumed that Bell was surprisingly quick on his feet. And so Levis had been unable to share that knowledge with Lyra.

Either way, Lyra quickly recovered and located her opponents' position. Her face held an expression that was a mix of being impressed and annoyed. If there was one thing that Lefiya had to admit to herself, it was that it did seem that the look of regret in Lyra's blood red eyes was genuine. But Lefiya still shivered in fear as those red eyes hardened, focusing on Lefiya's arms with violent intent.

"Shield!" Lili suddenly ordered from behind Lefiya, as she rummaged through a pouch on her back at the top of her armored skirt.

Lefiya latched onto the order without hesitation and so she sang, "B-Become a shield, holy grail of crushing evil. Dio Grail!"

A white shining, ovular barrier interlaced with magical sigils appeared out of the end of Lefiya's staff as she finished singing her song.

Sensing a trap, perhaps an attempt to lure her into close range for some unknown purpose, Lyra hesitated to just move forward and attack with brute force. So instead, standing completely still, Lyra too began to sing, "From the depths of Terra's embrace, Let stone and soil heed my call, with grace–"

Lyra's chant was cut off as she noticed Lili throw a few objects at Lyra's general direction. Lyra tensed to jump away, but stopped as one of the objects detonated – releasing a plum of noxious gas. It was a Gas Bomb, one of the items used to dissuade monsters from attacking a party.

Lyra's nose scrunched in discomfort, her guard lowering at the disappointing result. The smell was certainly awful, but it wasn't enough to stun, scare, or intimidate her…

Lyra noticed the trap too late. The other objects that Lili had thrown exploded after the gas bomb, but this time did so in an extremely violent manner. The devices exploded with a loud bang, sending fire and shrapnel flying in all directions… but mostly into Lyra's body, as she was within the effective range of all three of Lili's fragmentation grenades.

Indeed, they were makeshift grenades fashioned from Bell and Naaza's invention of gunpowder and at Bell's idle idea for a throwable weapon. Lili had intended on testing them out on the trip back to the surface. This seemed as good a time as any to try them out. Lili had Lefiya deploy a barrier in order to protect them from the shrapnel while also discouraging Lyra from attacking them in close quarters, where Lili and Lefiya are at their weakest. And it was just the first bit of her gambit.

For after the reverberations of the explosions hit Lili's ears, she immediately ordered the elf, "Attack!"

Lefiya was quick to start singing another song. She had a feeling as to the plan that Lili was executing as soon as she noticed Lili throwing her utility at their enemy after having asked for a protective barrier. So she was ready to rapidly change tact and sing a different song, her magic barrier dropping after she began to sing, "Sweep, holy staff of crushing evil! Dio Thrysos!"

A bolt of golden lightning struck Lyra through the haze of smoke created by the grenades. Inadvertently dispersing the smoke cloud in the process. Which, unfortunately, revealed that the grenades did less to Lyra than Lili would have preferred.

Unseen to the other girls, Lyra's eyes had initially flinched at the sight of lightning. Her body flinching as lightning struck her and enveloped her body with burns before thankfully dissipating.

Lyra, her arms covering her face, chuckled slowly before gradually laughing with greater enthusiasm. She was covered in shrapnel wounds. To the average Level 1 or 2 adventurer, those devices were deadly without the best medical care out there. But thanks to Lyra's nature as a Creature… her wounds sizzled as they rapidly healed, bits and pieces of metal being forced out of her body and falling to the, now dirt, ground with inaudible thuds. Her electrical burns receding away like water from the beach at low tide. All evidence of Lefiya's magical attack and Lili's physical attack vanished from her body like they never existed.

"Hahaha!" Lyra laughed, "You got me! Man, I'm rusty! Or maybe you're just the newest genius to represent us Pallum! Ah, how nostalgic! I was quite the fan of bombs back in the day… can't exactly make them now. Nice job on the follow-up magic too. A shame that my resistances are insane."

Lyra's coy grin widened, her battle against Lili's wits exciting her, "And it's a shame that I have new things to throw around! From the depths of Terra's embrace, Let stone and soil heed my call, with g-grace!"

"Sweep, holy staff of crushing evil! Dio Thrysos!" Lefiya sang again as she began walking backwards to gain more distance from Lyra. Lili, at the same time, took a position in front of Lefiya while loading something unusual into her ballista – a colorful knife.

Seen by the other girls, but not noticed by them at that moment, Lyra's eyes flinched at the sight of lightning, her voice quivering.

The bolt of golden lightning then struck the immobile Lyra. Her skin burned and charred from the intense plasma before instantly healing from her healing factor. And for the process to repeat all over her body over and over again as she Lyra continued to weather the magical attack.

Lyra's limbs didn't physically lock up from the electricity — the currents not even penetrating deep enough into Lyra to trigger her nerves. Her grin quivering, Lyra endured the magical attack before she then continued to sing, "E-Earth's might, by my will, awaken and rise, Grant me strength, grounded and wise. With nature's fury, grant my enemies demise! Wingus Smite!"

A dozen brown magic circles appeared in the air around Lyra as she glowed with a similar aura. Within a second, multiple rocks the size of basketballs formed in the floating magic circles. Lefiya and Lili paled as the entire salvo of rocks were shot at them like cannonballs, moving similar to speeds shot from modern artillery pieces — the varying launch vectors leaving nowhere for the two of them to dodge or run…

---

Main POV

"You know—!" I grunted out as I frantically dodged getting swatted by a Violas' vine like I was a baseball. I could feel the air being pushed out of the way by the vines blowing by like the winds of a tornado against my skin as the vines narrowly missed me.

"I'm usually—! A big fan—! Of plants—!" I continued my quip, slashing with Orion's Arrow with each pause. A Viola's vine being dismembered from its body with each swing. I was forced to duck and roll under a vine aimed for my stomach. A swipe that was followed up by another Viola striking the ground where I stood a moment before; the impact shattering the ground and sending debris in all directions. I was pelted with rocks the size of baseballs hitting me like they'd been shot out of the end of a grenade launcher.

As someone who has been beaten up at lot (by Ryuu), I am an expert in bodily harm. So believe me when I say that those rocks hurt and would definitely turn into bruises without medical attention. Though some more bruises was the least of my concerns right about now!

I was brought out of my inner monologue as I noticed another vine headed right for my head! I frantically tried to pounce over the attack on all fours in an attempt to dodge. "Agh!" I screamed in pain as I was batted across the clearing, my flight only stopping after I hit and knocked over a tree.

"Fuuuuck!" I groaned, frustrated at myself for my body not responding like how I want it too. Now I'm covered in tree limbs, getting poked by the sharp ends of detached tree limbs.

I quickly shoved the tree limbs off of me. But before I could get to my feet, one of the Violas 'kindly' wrapped one of its vines around me. Tightly, like it was trying to break me in two. I tried grabbing for the Hestia Knife, having dropped Orion's Arrow. But before my hand could find it, the Viola yeeted me back across the clearing. Instead of barreling into a tree again, another Viola intercepted my flight path and smacked me down into the ground.

I felt the ground shatter beneath me. If not for my insane Vitality stat, I'm sure my ribs would have cracked under the pressure. Either way, it hurt to breathe after that impact. My body felt like cement. Violas were closing in around me.

Maybe it was a bad idea to underestimate those curses.

As I wallowed in pain, I heard a loud cry of pain from nearby. It changed everything.

---

Other POV

Starting their duel in earnest, Ryuu did her best to ignore the effects of the curses as she ran at Levis for a frontal assault. She attacked with her Alf's Lumina, only for Levis to easily block and parry her attack.

Levis then countered by kicking at Ryuu's waist. But Ryuu saw and evaded the attack, leaping backwards with an efficient kick against the ground to send her out of the way.

Despite dodging Levis' counter, Ryuu quickly found herself on the defensive as Levis chased after her. Ryuu began to sweat and breathe deeply as she blocked and narrowly evaded swipe after swipe from Levis' longsword. The long, plant-like weapon moving so fast it was like a blur even to Ryuu's senses. It was only Ryuu's experience and instincts that allowed her to predict the path of Levis' attacks before Ryuu could see them.

With each strike blocked, Ryuu's arms shook, the force taken like the strikes of the Goliath. With each strike executed, Levis' grin full of bloodlust grew more and more. Ryuu blocked and blocked. Pushed back under Levis' onslaught of attacks. Her arms and legs slowly accumulated small cuts that shed blood and refused to stop from each slash that Ryuu only narrowly and nimbly dodged instead of blocking.

Seeing a strike that would cut her down if she didn't block in time, Ryuu and Levis' blades clashed and locked together. Ryuu's arms shook as her debuffed strength was not enough to truly counter Levis' power. Levis was quickly overcoming the deadlock. Getting the upper hand, Levis pushed forward, breaking the lock and sending Ryuu flying back.

As dexterous as ever, Ryuu easily landed on her feet some distance away. Her arm quickly reached for her supply pouch. Ryuu knew that if she didn't drink one of Naaza's Anti-Bleeding Curse Potions soon, she'd be in even worse straits from the blood loss. She desperately needed to minimize anything that would impair her in this fight, or Levis would surely kill her. Ryuu kept the potion on her person… just in case Bell might need it… for some reason…

Ryuu had just pulled the potion vial from her pouch when Levis suddenly blurred and appeared in front of her. Ryuu's eyes widened, her body tensing to react. But she was too slow to stop Levis from grabbing her by the neck and lifting Ryuu off the ground. Ryuu dropped Alf's Lumina and the potion vial as she attempted to use both her hands to get Levis to let go, or to at least prevent Levis from breaking her neck.

Levis, meanwhile, stabbed her longsword into the ground. Levis' pride and ego wanted to draw out Ryuu's suffering, a quick death would no longer satisfy her. Those are the reasons Levis told herself as she reached into Ryuu's pouch with her now free hand. A moment later, Levis pulled out a silver sphere with a red eye in the middle.

"Thanks for returning this to me," Levis mocked before she tossed Ryuu aside like she was a broken doll.

Ryuu fell to the ground some distance away, coughing and hacking as she desperately tried to regain her breathe.

Levis casually shifted the key to her other hand and pulled her weapon from the ground with her fighting hand. She walked over to where the weakened Ryuu was struggling to get on her fours. With a swift kick to the abdomen, Levis flipped Ryuu onto her back as Ryuu coughed out saliva and blood.

Levis idly placed the tip of her sword on Ryuu's thigh, without pushing down yet. "Suffer," Levis commanded, as she slowly started to stab downwards.

"Rrrrghaaaa!" Ryuu screamed in pain, eyes wide. Her body shaking unconsciously, the curses on her body and the fight with Levis leaving her completely drained and unable to defend herself. One of the curses must have stolen her stamina!?

Levis' grin grew as she enjoyed seeing the elf below her squirm in pain…

"Ardi… ARDIII!" The younger voice of Ryuu Lion bawled and wailed in horror and unbearable grief as she was dragged away by an older woman with blue hair.

Levis flinched as the flash burst through her head. Levis uncontrollably felt her heart become momentarily overwhelmed with feelings of loss, grief, and despair. Before the feelings vanished as quickly as they suddenly appeared. Levis growled internally in rage and confusion, 'What the…?!'

Her confusion kept Levis from stabbing Ryuu as deeply as she had intended. And the universe would conspire to halt Levis' torture. For a sudden W hite Flash of light changed everything.

---

Main POV

The sound of Ryuu's cries of pain knocked me back to my senses. My exhaustion didn't matter. My curse-ridden state didn't matter. My absent magic didn't matter. What mattered was that I wasn't going to give up and lose to some dumb plants. Not when Ryuu – when everyone – still needed me!

Why was I lying on the ground when I should be fighting until I literally can't fight anymore?! Get up, me! Protect them, me! Keep on fighting, me! Push! GET THE FUCK UP!

It was then that I felt something within me snap. All of a sudden, my senses came into focus. I felt the sluggishness in my muscles vanish. Power flowed within me. My Hiraishin 'database' came back 'online'.

I felt a feral grin come over my face as I quickly took advantage of this sudden development. Driven by a desire to protect Ryuu from Levis, I easily summoned Orion's Arrow to myself before teleporting to Ryuu in the next instant.

I blinked.

Levis was literally right in front of me now as I stood over Ryuu's prone body. Levis' eyes widened in surprise as I noticed that her weapon was stabbed into Ryuu's thigh. Without hesitation, I swung my spear for Levis' torso.

Abandoning her weapon, Levis managed to jump back in time to only earn a shallow cut across her stomach; the battle cloth of Levis' red leotard unable to defend against the sharpness of Orion's Arrow.

"Sorry for taking so long," I said with a cheeky grin, not taking my eyes off of Levis as I addressed Ryuu, "I almost took a nap, but my pillow wasn't that great. Nothing can compare to your thighs, you'll help me out later right?"

"I-Idiot!" Ryuu sputtered, scrambling out from under my legs and picking up her weapon as she got to her feet. "T-This is hardly the time for that kind of talk!"

Levis, about 5 meters away, gagged. "You two are sickening. Adventurers like you should just accept your fate and die diligently. And stop making my life so troublesome. You damned annoying pests! The reason 'Her' words keep crawling in my skull…!"

Levis was clearly pissed that the Violas hadn't killed me despite me getting jumped by so many of them all by my lonesome. I mean, a lot of them were still alive. Don't think I don't notice how they are casually moving to re-encircle us while you're talking to me Levis-san!

"We aren't just adventurers," I declared, my grin widening, "We're big damn heroes. When and wherever you go to spread evil, we'll be there to stop you. Right Ryuu?"

"...Right!" Ryuu exclaimed after a moment, her voice full of confidence as well as affection. Standing beside me, she drew her 'new' secondary weapon and took a ready stance; dual wielding her Alf's Lumina with whatever sword she had acquired recently. I followed suit, deepening my stance with Orion's Arrow in my grip.

Levis seemed oddly distracted by Ryuu. More specifically, Ryuu's newfound weapon. It was like Levis hadn't noticed that Ryuu had it up until this point or something. In fact, Levis looked like she suddenly had a headache. Though that easily could have just been her annoyance at how chunni I sounded a moment ago. Don't judge me.

Levis growled, "One or two of you against me, it doesn't matter. You'll end up just like all the other damned 'heroes' of antiquity – dead. Pray to your incompetent gods while you can."

As if the two of us read each other's mind, Ryuu and I replied in unison:

"...In the name of the sword and wings of Justice…"

"...In the name of Hestia's undying, holy flame…"

""You are going down! The real battle starts here!""

The Violas around us roared back at us, as if eagerly announcing the second bout of this conflict. Levis snarled, clearly still raring to fight even after losing possession of her weapon and impeded by carrying a Knossos key. If Levis had hoped to easily split Ryuu and I up to kill us via defeat in detail, she had another thing coming. She's right to try that, because there is nothing that Ryuu and I can't do together! It's as we said, the real battle starts now!

---

Other POV

Before one front of the wider Battle of the 18th Floor turned around, the Battle of Rivira began in earnest. Finn's Strike Force consisted of most of Loki Familia's Level 4s and higher, most of which were currently working to fend off the swarm of Violas ten times the amount that Bell and Ryuu had been tackled with. Hundreds of the beasts trying to breach the city's defenses and its makeshift protectors. But, of course, the real threat was not the Violas but the Creature 'Luna' that was facing off against the three strongest adventurers of Loki Familia.

Gareth attacked first, charging Luna and aiming to chop her in half diagonally. To the surprise of the three adventurers, Luna easily matched Gareth's strength by easily blocking the attack; Luna's blade, however, cracked slightly from the pressure.

Luna started to push back against Gareth with her blade, but stopped as Finn butted in to attack her side with his Fortia Spear. Luna, however, dodged by pushing herself back off of Gareth's blade.

"Harbinger of the end, the white snow!" Riveria chanted loudly, deliberately trying to bait Luna with a false chant. Riveria wasn't sure if adventurers were trapped in the nearby collapsed buildings, so she couldn't actually afford to cast her battlefield magic.

Luna, however, either didn't notice the magic buildup, didn't recognize that Riveria was chanting, or didn't care that Riveria was chanting. No matter the reason, Luna didn't divert her attention from Finn and Gareth in the slightest. Luna continued giggling constantly as she sheathed her katana. Luna blurred forward, quickly entering Finn's guard before he could do much to react.

Luna drew her weapon, and Finn barely raised his spear in time to block the attack. For a split moment, Finn noticed in shock that Luna had attacked him with the blunt side of her katana. Finn's mind raced at the observation as Luna's attack still sent him airborne, and his spear out of his hands.

Before Luna could turn to attack Gareth, Riveria appeared in front of her. Swinging to strike Luna upside the head with her staff. As a feint anyway, Riveria's intention was more to distract Luna for a few moments so Gareth could land a blow.

And besides, Riveria might be a mage and have a relatively nonexistent Strength stat, but just by being a Level 6 adventurer she can easily overcome the strength of most Level 4s. And her staff is one of the greatest quality and strength on the planet; a first class weapon with immense durability. It's purpose was not intended for beating people or monsters up like a bokken, but it certainly did the job in a pinch. In other words, it couldn't hurt for Riveria to do some chip damage. And again, Riveria's intent was never to deal actual damage, it was just to distract Luna for a few seconds.

And thus Riveria's eyes widened in horror as Luna still noticed and gracefully parried Gareth's attempt to bury his axe into Luna's back – all while contorting her body out of the way of Riveria's swing. The way the relatively small Eastern woman easily blocked and parried attacks while standing with off-balance posture AND without straining herself from arguably the 2nd physically strongest adventurer in Orario was deeply disturbing.

'And here I thought those damned Demi-Spirits would be the only thing to instill fear in me…' Riveria remarked to herself, quickly and clinically recognizing the fact that Luna's strength terrified her, as she quickly scampered away from the insane woman. Riviera had almost forgotten what fear was like until running into the first Demi Spirit. And had hoped that nothing more in the near future would reignite those feelings. Luna shattered those naive fantasies.

That said, Luna's strength seemed to have downsides of its own. Her blade shattered in the seconds after she deflected Gareth's axe. This fact didn't perturb Luna, however, who continued to laugh maniacally as she merely dropped the broken blade before kicking at Gareth with the flat of her foot.

Despite being off balance from the unanticipated parry, Gareth wasn't a 1st Class Adventurer for nothing and managed to block the kick with his shield as he barely regained balance. His shield dented from the force of Luna's foot against the near-indomitable metal.

And, almost insultingly, intent to injure didn't even seem to be Luna's goal as she kicked off of Gareth's shield to perform a backflip. At first it was as if Luna merely wished to head further into town. But it became more clear as Finn's spear stabbed against Gareth's shield, Finn having returned and attempted to stab Luna from behind but was too slow.

Landing gracefully on her feet, Luna glanced at the trio of adventurers for a moment before turning and running deeper into town.

"She's getting away?!" Riveria called out to the two, calling out that Luna seemed to be disengaging from them for some reason.

"Pursue!" Finn ordered, concerned that Luna might run into the other members of Loki Familia. If Luna struck his men from behind, it might as well be akin to being in the middle of a pincer attack – Violas in front with a mad Creature in the back. His forces would rout and the city would surely be completely destroyed as Violas swarm the settlement.

At that same moment, just behind them, the rubble of one of the buildings shifted as Tiona burst out like a mole rat. "I'm awake! I'm alive!"

"Tiona! Where's your sister!?" Riveria loudly called out to the Amazoness in a rush.

"Learning how to be a bird?" Tiona said with a wince as she pulled herself and her damaged Urga from the rubble. "Man… Blacksmith-san is gonna kill me…"

"Regroup and catch up with us if you can!" Finn called out, urgently moving to pursue Luna.

"You heard him!" Tiona said, yelling at a nearby destroyed building, "Nap time's over!"

"Piss off!" the voice of Bete could be heard muffled through the debris as Finn and Gareth followed by Riveria left the street behind.

"You alright, lad?" Gareth asked, keeping pace with Finn as the two quickly followed the direction Luna had disengaged.

"As novel as the concept of flight is, I'm not a fan!" Finn quipped, before saying, "Aim for her right. She refuses to use her right arm besides grabbing her sheath."

"Wondered why something felt off about the lass," Gareth commented, revealing that his intuition noticed that something about the way Luna fought was weird but not specifically what had given him that impression.

"Hurry, she hasn't gone far," Finn nagged, the trio of adventurers hurrying after the roaming Creature.

---

Luna needed a weapon. She wasn't safe without a weapon. She needed a weapon to fight. She would get mad if Luna couldn't fight. Luna needed a weapon. She wasn't safe without a weapon. She needed a weapon to fight. She would get mad. Luna was scared. Luna needed a weapon.

"Damnit!" A male voice that Luna vaguely recognized complained loudly from nearby, "...Can't even try to go on vacation for two seconds!"

Luna wasn't sure why she recognized the voice, but all she knew was that for some reason that voice gave her the impression a weapon was nearby. So Luna honed in on the source of the sound. Luna quickly found herself outside of a semi-open shabby shack with an occupant consisting of a single man with an eyepatch.

"...Oi! The hell are you looking at, woman?! Haven't you noticed the town's under attack!?" The man, Bors, yelled at the woman. Bors couldn't tell from a glance that Luna was a Creature and an enemy, she just looked like a weirdly dressed adventurer. His mind was also preoccupied with evacuating and surviving, and so he didn't recognize that Luna was a long deceased member of a Familia he hadn't potentially interacted with in half a decade.

Luna, meanwhile, had ignored Bors soon after seeing him. Instead, her gaze locked onto a sword that was featured prominently. The blade was as black as the night sky. The blade was an odd shade, like multiple three-dimensional diamonds were stacked atop each other. A hilt had been crudely fashioned onto the blade, a result of a monster drop having not been properly refined by a blacksmith.

Indeed, this was the Udaeus Sword won by Ais that was then traded to Bors at a bargain. And Bors had noticed how the woman was focusing on his most prized possession. He stood in front of the weapon, saying, "Oi, oi! I know this is an emergency situation and all but buzz off! She's mine!"

Luna blinked. Then blurred forward, lifting Bors off the ground by his neck with her left hand. She then kneed him in the crotch before tossing him aside.

"WHY?!" Bors yelped in pain on the ground as he clutched his private parts on the ground, having barely avoided passing out from the pain. He was finally knocked out as Luna idly tossed her empty katana scabbard at his head.

Luna proceeded to claim the Udaeus Sword. And upon finding the blade too long for her liking, she casually broke off part of the blade with her sheer strength so that it was more in line with the length of a typical katana; casually tossing the small broken bit aside. Bors, of course, cried pitifully at the casual mutilation of such a pristine blade. Luna, ignoring the prone man, also claimed a scabbard that was conveniently large enough to hold the blade within. Luna casually strapped the scabbard to her hip before sliding the Udaeus Sword within it.

And just in time for Loki's Triple Threat to catch up to her. The three adventurers stood shoulder to shoulder as they lined up to confront the insane agent of evil.

It was time for Round 2.

---

A dozen brown magic circles appeared in the air around Lyra as she glowed with a similar aura. Within a second, multiple rocks the size of basketballs formed in the floating magic circles. Lefiya and Lili paled as the entire salvo of rocks were shot at them like cannonballs, moving similar to speeds shot from modern artillery pieces — the varying launch vectors leaving nowhere for the two of them to run…

In a flash of golden-brown, Lefiya and Lili suddenly appeared about 10 meters away and out of the line of fire. A mere moment later, less than a second, a salvo of rocks struck in a concentrated blast where Lefiya and Lili once stood.

Lyra, meanwhile, widened her eyes in surprise at how Lefiya and Lili easily evaded her attack. Lyra then winced, chiding herself for having forgotten that the elf seemed to have some kind of strange speed technique…

'...why aren't they running if they have a speed technique?' Lyra wondered in confusion before deducing, 'Perhaps there is a cooldown of sorts. She can only use it for a short distance?'

Lyra couldn't know that her assumption was both right and wrong at the same time, just not for the reasons she would have guessed.

Meanwhile, Lili's eyes narrowed in thought, having noticed something about Lyra's attack. 'Some of those rocks were launched before the others…'

At the same time as Lili analyzed the Creature's attack, Lefiya was casting her own rebuttal. "Frozen skies, heavenly rain. White ice that colors the forest, shoot the shameful barbarians. Freeze, binding chains of winter. Hail Dust!" Lefiya sang Alicia Foresight's song, having inadvertently picked up the spell after Alicia innocently taught Lefiya how her magic worked – under the false assumption that Lefiya could only copy Evlen Magic (in this universe).

A blue magic circle appeared underneath Lefiya's feet as multiple balls of blue magic appeared around her before launching at Lyra in one combined salvo. As if inspired by Lyra's stone magic bullets, Lefiya decided to fire bullets of ice magic right back at the Pallum.

Unfortunately, Lefiya's chanting revealed to Lyra their location and thus gave Lyra plenty of time to dodge. Still glowing with a light brown aura, Lyra all but danced around the magic bullets with ease, like a macabre ballerina. Her speed was faster than before, not that anyone present had the cognition to notice the increase in Agility.

At the same time, Lili finished internally analyzing Lyra's attack. She outwardly shared her findings, "Her stones flew at different speeds on purpose! The ones launched first would either hit us or force us to dodge by heading into the path of the follow-up stones. An undodgeable attack!"

"Somehow, the fact you keep figuring out my tricks is getting kind of annoying!" Lyra quipped, all but confirming that Lili had deduced her magical attack strategy correctly. Aside from repositioning herself to face where Lefiya and Lili were standing, Lyra seemed to be in no rush to attack them. Whether it was a case of confidence or arrogance was something subjective to the beholder.

"The aura must be some kind of enhancement to her Stats…" Lefiya murmured, not taking her eyes off of Lyra for a moment. Not even to blink. She continued to mutter aloud, "I didn't get a good look at the magic circles. But I saw it too. Each of the circles in the air were slightly different…"

Lefiya was implying that the magic circles in Lyra's attack represented how Lyra was making the 'calculations' for the velocity and vector and how they reflected in the subsequent magic circle sigils. Lefiya wasn't Riveria's personal student for nothing, and all of that studying wasn't for nothing! Lefiya had also deduced that the glow surrounding Lyra was some kind of buff to her Stats.

"Anyway," Lyra said, cracking her neck before shifting over one of her Carnivores so that she was holding both of her weapons in one hand. "Playtime's over. Time to start being a little serious. Fights aren't really supposed to have this much talking anyway. Usually. Sort of."

Lyra trailed off after making her initial statement, remembering that her Familia tended to have long winded conversations in the middle of really important battles – the battle against Alfia the Silent comes to mind in particular.

'She wasn't being serious? Those rocks would have killed us though?!' Lili internally exclaimed incredulously. Lili couldn't comprehend how any of what had proceeded could be considered 'playing around'. Lili was reminded of the fact that high level adventurers were insane and had little to no grasp of common sense. How her interaction with Ryuu, let alone Ais, hadn't brought this fact to Lili's attention already was truly a mystery.

Not liking the sound of the threat, Lefiya leveled her staff at Lyra and attacked by singing, "Firebolt!"

Lefiya once again sent a machine gun's salvo of bolts of flame and plasma in front of her. Trying to ensure that no matter how fast Lyra was that she would still get hit. Nothing could be heard over the sound of repetitive booms of thunder rang out one after the other from Lefiya's magic staff. Lefiya's face and arms began to sweat from the sheer heat erupting forth in close proximity.

But Lyra vanished from view with her sheer speed as she completely moved out of the way of the attack; the only thing Lefiya's casting accomplished was successfully catching the entire treeline surrounding the camp on fire. Faster than Lefiya – and especially Lili – could see, Lyra ran at them and easily slid to and fro between each of the dozens of bolts of fire and plasma heading her way. Even the bolts that did graze Lyra did little against her 'natural' magic resistance from being a Creature.

And so, with the speed comparable to a Level 7 adventurer, Lyra snuck into their personal space. In a swift motion, Lyra batted Lili away by planting her fist in Lili's cheek as she stabbed one of the many small blades on the end of her bizarre weapon into Lefiya's abdomen.

Lili squawked as she was sent flying before roughly landing on the ground just shy of the treeline. Even through the pain of a broken cheekbone, Lili managed to recognize that Lyra had held back; part of Lili wondered if Lyra could have punched Lili's head clean off her body if Lyra wanted to. Lili's intuition was screaming that the answer to her question was 'yes'.

Lefiya, meanwhile, unconsciously dropped her staff as both her hands grabbed for the crescent openings of Lyra's Carnivores. Lefiya's instincts knew that she needed to try to keep her wound plugged momentarily to help prevent further bleeding from the blade being pulled out. And also to keep Lyra pinned if even for a few moments. Lefiya hadn't really thought of what to do with a pinned Lyra, much less if she could actually keep Lyra pinned with her meager strength as a mage. Let it be known that Lefiya's instincts for handling close quarters combat was almost nil. And that she had severely underestimated how grave the threat that Lyra had truly posed.

"Fire–!" Lefiya began to sing, blood starting to stream down from her clenched lips, before being interrupted as Lyra punched Lefiya's stomach with her free hand several times within a second. Lefiya's eyes rolled to the back of her head from the pain and sudden oxygen deprivation as she passed out. Lyra caught Lefiya in her arms like she was trying to catch a ceramic vase from falling from its stand.

"L-Lefiya-shan?!" Lili slurred, her voice distorted due to her head wound, as she leaned up off of the ground.

"Calm down," Lyra huffed as she laid Lefiya down on the ground with her free hand. "I'm not so cold as to disfigure you both while either of you are conscious for it. I'm a cruel sinner, not a sadist. I'm a tough gal, but I don't want to see your screaming faces either. I'd rather not test and see if I can puke or not."

Lyra chuckled at the end, as if she was telling a joke. Lili did not like this brand of dark humor at all.

Lili felt herself pale and shiver for a moment as Lyra's cold threat – no, promise – registered. Just because Lili would never yield to torture, didn't mean she fucking enjoyed it! Lili would much rather continue on without being tortured or disfigured, thank you very much! Lili didn't think she was as pretty as Bell teasingly claimed she was, but it didn't take a genius to know that being disfigured would do her no favors. Not that Lili was being vain at the moment, she was just trying to cope with this stressful situation.

Of course, with Lefiya (even momentarily) out of the picture, Lili knew she had no chance. Lili knew this without a doubt. She was too smart to not see her situation for what it was. Lyra and Lili were in completely different leagues of strength and power. No amount of Lili's genius alone could bridge THAT gap. Lili internally cursed her luck, knowing that they only needed to have held out for a little longer so they could Flash to Ais-san and be far enough away from Lyra to not have to worry about her again. Alas, Lili's luck was terrible. Or perhaps the 'Bell Cranel Effect' had rubbed off on Lili?

Lili felt herself unconsciously grin and chuckle at the thought. The mere mention of Bell's name was enough to suddenly calm herself down. All the fear within Lili's heart was washed away. A wave of confidence suddenly surged within her as she pushed herself to her feet, even though her rational mind knew that this situation could only end one way. Her, now, ruby red eyes glowed with determination and the white flame of hope.

Despite knowing that, Lili found herself getting up to her feet. Lili refused to submit, no matter how dire or impossible the situation. Just like Bell-sama. Because she knew that the only battle that really matters is the one in Lili's heart. As long as Lili stays true to herself, then it didn't matter what happened to her physical self. It would just be a nice bonus if Lili could keep her ideals and her limbs at the same time.

Lili quickly glanced to check her ballista was still loaded with her unusual ammunition before flicking out the Hidden Blade on her other wrist. Lili's spear lay on the ground by Lefiya's prone body, taking away the melee weapon that stood the best chance at keeping Lyra at a distance. All while Lyra looked on with an impressed look on her face.

"Those are some good eyes…" Lyra commented, her voice approving and nostalgic, "Alise and Astraea-sama would have snatched you up in an instant…"

"As nice as Astraea-sama is, Lili is just fine dying as a member of Hestia Familia, thank you very much!" Lili quipped as she subtly dropped an object from within her sleeve into the open palm of her hand with the outstretched Hidden Blade.

Lyra seemed surprised, "You talk like you know… her…"

Lyra at that moment realized that Astraea herself had returned to Orario. While Lyra could just be looking too deeply into Lili's choice of words, Lyra couldn't believe anything besides the fact that the patron of Justice had returned to Orario. Something about her instincts screamed that Astraea-sama had returned and that Lili had interacted with her. And Lyra felt bitterness enter her heart. She already loathed having Lion potentially see her like this. The thought of Astraea-sama herself also witnessing how far Lyra had fallen… pissed her off at how fucking unfair the world was.

"Where…" Lyra growled to herself. 'Where was my Justice? Isn't it supposed to come back around, Lion? Why is it that, once again, I am lost and alone?!'

Lyra raged internally at the unfairness of it all. The circumstances of her birth; of managing to escape being born in a damned prison. All the things she suffered through before meeting Astraea-sama – beatings, starvation, and a million other cruelties. The friends she lost in the fight against Evilus. Dying to that damned Demon. The mind-breaking pain as her body was put back together from the chunks the Demon left her in. Being turned into a marionette on strings for an Evil Being("I want to see the sky, you ungrateful wench!"), and having to work alongside those same bastards who killed and slaughtered for the hell of it. All while being surrounded by insane or amnesiac reminders of the days she loved and cherished?!

Lyra's heart wailed in despair for herself. The sight of Lili, strong and resolute and determined in the face of overwhelming Evil. It was everything that Lyra wished she could be. Everything that Lyra couldn't be, thanks to the damned monstrosity whispering in her ear. This proof in front of Lyra, that she had a choice to resist or die, was what finally caused Lyra to break. Lyra's heart fell into despair, no longer unable to pretend like she had for the past five years that she wasn't a monster.

Lyra's teary, anger filled eyes locked onto Lili. Unable, or unwilling, to believe in redemption anymore… Lyra heart angrily and emotionally began to lash out at the one who ruined the illusion she had been hiding behind ever since she had been woken from her slumber. In the face of her pain, Lyra was no longer acting rationally. All that was left was pain, anger, grief, and overwhelming guilt and failure.

"Kill them, kill everyone who opposes me. Won't you? Do it! Do it now! Grant my wish! Grant it now! I want it! I want to see it! I WANT TO SEE THE SKY!"

"Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky. Iwanttoseethesky."

The Corrupted Spirit never ceased in her whispering. Lyra, like Levis, was able to tune it out most of the time, at least able to tune out constantly focusing on the neverending whispers. But now, Lyra's metaphorical heart matched the physical heart in her chest – cold and hard stone. How could Lyra keep the whispers out of her skull while also trying to quell the rising flood of despair within her?

Lili flinched in fear, but held her ground in the face of Lyra's dark, blood-red, watery eyes promised untold levels of violence. Lili held firm, because she wasn't going to be like some kind of selfish adventurer and abandon Lefiya just to attempt to save her own hide. She'd rather die than have Bell look at her and see a disappointment reflected in his ruby red eyes.

Lili moved first to re-engage the battle, throwing the object in her hand at Lyra's face. Lyra snarled as she effortlessly cut the object in half, only for the sliced grenade to still rapidly release a large amount of smoke and toxic gas. Lyra involuntarily coughed at the sudden intake of fumes into her lungs – not that her constitution was actually affected much.

Taking advantage of Lyra's momentary state of being stunned, Lili leveled her crossbow and fired. The Magic Knife loaded within flew across the field in a second. However, upon hitting Lyra, it merely bounced off of her skin, not having enough penetrating power to break past Lyra's resistances.

Not having waited for the magic knife to go off, Lili ran at Lyra instead of away from her. As Lili got within several meters, Lyra swiped away the smoke cloud with her Carnivores. As if not surprised at the turn of events, Lili didn't break stride as she pulled her hood up before ducking and rolling – ending up in a crouch by Lyra's feet.

Perplexed at Lili's enthusiasm to enter close quarters, Lyra couldn't help but hesitate for a single instant before shifting her body with the intent to swipe downwards with her weapon at Lili's back.

Lili, not pausing for a single instance, grabbed the fallen magic knife on the ground and stabbed it into the ground while yelling out, "Electromagnetic Murder!"

The magic knife lit up, lightning crackling as Lili re-primed the magical weapon… right at both of their feet. Lyra flinched at the crackle of electricity by her feet.

"Y-you insane bitch!" Lyra gasped out fearfully, deciding to ignore Lili as she stomped the ground, dislodging the knife that was still embedded in a chunk of earth. Intent on kicking the weapon as far away from her as possible. (And perhaps because part of her still didn't want anyone to really get hurt…)

Meanwhile, Lili continued moving as she too paid her enemy no heed. Instead, Lili ran over to Lefiya who was still prone on the ground right behind Lyra. Lili did her best to stretch her arms and body out to shield Lefiya from Lyra behind her.

Within two seconds of Lili priming the magic knife, it 'finally' detonated. Now midair, the knife exploded right next to Lyra with the force and intensity of an entire thunderstorm in an instant; like a small sun made of pure lightning had formed before exploding outward in all directions like a tesla coil.

The brunt of the explosion flowed at the closest thing to the detonation – Lyra. The Creature screamed out in pain as her natural magical resistances only did so much against a magic sword crafted by one of the Crozzo bloodline. The feeling of electricity coursing, burning, and frying her body and organs was not the only reason Lyra screamed. The feeling reminded her of how the Juggernaut's magical rebound had blinded her long ago with Celty's magic. The flashback paralyzed Lyra, her brain tormented with a pain both mental and physical.

But while Lyra took the brunt of the explosion, not all of it went her way. One of the bolts struck Lili right in the back, the kinetic forces enough to knock Lili over. The material of the Black Goliath hoodie was durable enough to prevent most of the electricity from hurting Lili directly. Mostly. Some of the electricity coursed down her hoodie, down her Goliath skirt, down her Goliath leggings, before finally going down into the earth through her protected feet.

If not for the Black Goliath material in her armor, Lili would have most certainly died; and if not death, then she would have endured serious, nigh-unhealable, nerve damage. Lefiya wouldn't have fared much better, even with an additional Level to boost her Vitality and defenses.

That said, the kinetic forces were still enough for it to feel like Lili had been struck in the back with a warhammer from a 2nd class adventurer. And the fact that Lili's face had fallen face first into Lefiya's chest did little to ease her physical pain.

"HEH?!" Lefiya muffled a startled exclamation as the impact from Lili woke her back up. Or maybe it was a result from getting a rather forceful facefull of Lili's own chest that awakened Lefiya, take your pick.

Behind the duo, Lyra had fallen to her knees in the wake of the electrical attack. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as her charred body involuntarily twitched from lingering electricity. The attack had done significant damage, but Lyra's healing factor was rapidly restoring her to health. Lyra was still very easily able to fight; but her own trauma and PTSD had given the duo a window of time to recuperate.

Lili groaned into Lefiya's chest as she ever so slowly managed to push past the aching of her body to lift herself off of the elf. "H-Hey…" Lili moaned in pain at the elf beneath her.

"Y-Yes?" Lefiya stuttered, her face confused as her brain momentarily struggled to remember what was going on. And why on earth she had woken up to a face full of Pallum booba.

"Can we leave yet…?" Lili asked cautiously, looking over her shoulder at the stunned Lyra, "Lili is not sure why she isn't trying to kill us right now, and Lili doesn't want to stick around to find out."

"Eh?" Lefiya's brain still needed a moment to reboot, "Oh! Right! I'll get us out of here!"

Lili only took a moment to grab her spear by Lefiya's body before grabbing the elf's clothed wrist. And just like that, a flash of golden-brown and chestnut whisked the duo away from an electrocuted rat.

"...E-eh? AH!" Lyra stuttered as she recovered, having lost control of herself for something like 5 to 10 seconds. Lyra frantically jumped to her feet, looking around for her targets only to recognize that she was completely alone. Only the crackling of burning trees and foliage was there to accompany her. A tent chose that moment to comically fall in on itself.

Lyra's eye twitched as she gave her environment a second look. Perhaps because of the fire itself, but Lyra couldn't tell which way the girls had run away in – their trail had to have been destroyed. That said, it was a safe bet to say that the duo was running in the direction of Rivira. That was the way that she had lured Ais Wallenstein into going, and it made sense for the Elf and Pallum to also head that way to link up with friendlies.

Lyra patted the soot off of her before running in that general direction. "I hope Levis and 'Her' don't get mad at me…"

---

Main POV

My blood was pumping. I couldn't wipe the determined grin from my face, I didn't want to. It wasn't like I had a lust for battle. It wasn't like I was thrilled at having to face Levis in battle while getting ganged up on by dozens of Violas. I shouldn't be this relaxed and confident, considering the rather poor odds; I knew this rationally, the situation wasn't exactly ideal. But still, I was… excited. Something about Ryuu standing by my side, the both of us united in a singular purpose to survive and strike down evil… It really felt like it was impossible for us to lose, because we were together.

We were going to defeat Levis and her pet plants, pump her for all her info on the Evilus Remnant, and let Alise Lovell finally rest in peace! This is our Justice right now!

Levis was the first to start moving. She quickly began to move backwards so as to fall behind the line of Violas that were currently encircling us. Levis' intent on having the Violas distract and tire us out was obvious.

I switched my grip of Orion's Arrow, throwing the spear like a javelin at Levis with all my strength. As my spear flew in the air across the field, I witnessed Ryuu chasing after it – after Levis rather.

Alas, Levis successfully ducked behind an adjacent Violas. Orion stabbing right into the belly of one of the plant monsters. Without hesitation, I flashed to my spear and quickly grabbed hold. Flaring my magic, I casted, "Firebolt!"

Fire traveled through the holy metal, hitting the damaged magic crystal on the end that was now within the belly of the beast before exploding violently. I was blown off of the side of the Violas as flaming plant matter was shot all over the place. After performing an unintended backflip, I landed cleanly on my feet in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by fucking plants.

Ah yes, I love this trick so much. Deadly and efficient. If the monster gets hit, it's a guaranteed game over, and these Violas aren't exactly the greatest at moving out of the way most of the time despite their snake-like movements when standing upright.

Anyway, exploding that Viola made a big enough opening in the encirclement for Ryuu to make a breakthrough and pursue after Levis, not giving the unarmed Creature a chance to do as she pleased. Meanwhile, a quick glance revealed that all twenty or so Violas were now solely focused on me. Again. Likely because of their fixation of attacking anybody using magic.

As much as I would love taking my time and using my body's rejuvenated state to get some good ol' revenge on these man-eating plants, I would much rather get these monsters out of the way so I can support Ryuu against Levis. To that end, my hand shot down to my pouch and I quickly scattered Hiraishin-knives around the clearing.

I tucked Orion's arrow under my armpit, wrapping my arm around the shaft of the spear in a firm one-armed grip as I pulled out the Hestia Knife with my right hand. I softly chanted, "Firebolt," as I flashed out of the way of a Viola trying to flatten me with it's vines.

I appeared at the base of another Violas in a flash of white. Teleporting with Hiraishin forced me to cut off magic to other spells to 'flash'. That said, the fire and plasma still lingered thanks to the instantaneous travel time. I couldn't do something as insane and impossible as dual/parallel casting; but I sure could mimic it!

I slashed through the stalk of the Violas in front of me with my flaming, electrical knife, cleanly cutting it down like a lumberjack to a tree in one fell swoop. Both ends of the Violas caught on fire as it roared in pain and agony as it fell and died.

One down. Twenty or so to go.

I proceeded to backflip as the nearest Violas tried slapping me like a scorned lover, having seen the attack coming out of my periphery. Ryuu's words of always paying attention to my surroundings whispered in the back of my head.

Landing cleanly on my feet, I span to face the nearest Violas. In a feat of acrobatics backed by the strength of an adventurer, I leap into the air like a corkscrew, Orion pointed ahead of me as I flew right for where the Violas' magic stone is hiding – near the base of the monster's 'neck' – though saying it was in the Violas' throat would be more accurate. A different Violas attempted to intercept me with its vines, but the Hestia Knife in my offhand cut through the vine as I span, leaving me unaffected as my flight flew true.

I felt my body jerk as my spear pierced through the monster, striking the stone within. The monster burst into dust and ash as its magic stone shattered. As gravity took hold of me, I righted my orientation midair before flashing to the next monster.

Their numbers and ability to track me via magic use mattered little if they couldn't catch me. Couldn't overpower me. Couldn't take advantage of their numbers because of how slow and bulky they were. It was time for me to get my revenge for all the tossing around they did to me when my Stats were fucked up!

I yelled out a nonsensical battle-cry as I fell into a flurry of slaughter. Cut open a monster with Orion before shooting a Firebolt up its insides. Kick the next Violas into another of its brethren, finishing them both off with a throw of Orion into both of their magic cores – two for one throw. Blast three more Violas with Firebolts right in their ugly 'faces'; their natural magic resistances meaning little in the face of my overpowered, over-juiced blasts of fire and plasma as their plant-like bodies caught flames and burned in holy flame.

Before I knew it, I was surrounded by a burning field of grass, trees, giant plant-monsters, and ash. But this wasn't the real battle. No. The real battle was up ahead. Especially since Ryuu may still be under the effects of the Curses.

Hoping that Ryuu held Levis back without hurting herself – hoping that everyone was still alright – I followed after Ryuu's Hiraishin-mark that was nearby. Ready to end this battle once and for all.

---

Other POV

Luna proceeded to claim the Udaeus Sword, as well as a scabbard that was conveniently large enough to hold the blade within. Luna casually strapped the scabbard to her hip before sliding the Udaeus Sword within it. And just in time for Loki's Triple Threat to catch up to her. The three adventurers stood shoulder to shoulder as they lined up to confront the insane agent of evil.

It was time for Round 2.

Finn moved first, beginning to charge at Luna as he chanted, "Demonic spear—!"

But before he could continue chanting, Luna blurred forward, planting the pommel of her sword into Finn's gut. Finn hadn't been unable to react, not even having sensed that Luna had moved at all before it was too late to react.

He was sent back by the force, the only thing keeping Finn from flying all the way down the street was that Riveria had intercepted him and caught him in her arms.

Without pause, Gareth seamlessly moved in front of his comrades defensively. In a one handed grip, he swung his axe upwards at the still hunched over Luna. Only to miss as Luna easily fixed her posture and slid back out of the way of the strike. Luna sheathed her weapon as she gave herself distance from the dwarven adventurer. Luna was casually moving at speeds that made the attacks of Level 6 adventurers seem snail-like in comparison.

As Gareth covered for them, Riveria quickly began singing a song of her own, "Assemble, breath of the earth – my name is Alf! Veil Breath!"

The three adventurers of Loki Familia quickly found themselves enveloped in warm light-green light as their bruises were healed and their resistances raised. It was clear to Riveria that the three of them would need every advantage possible in this fight. The fact that Finn had attempted to lead off the offensive with his Hell Finegas might as well have been the indicator that collateral damage to the town around them was now on the table.

Luna quickly took back the initiative by reversing her momentum and slashing at Gareth, who blocked with the shield in his offhand. The sounds of metal grinding against metal rang out for a moment as a deep gash was carved into Gareth's shield. The structural integrity of the gear was holding on by a mere few millimeters at its most shallow — making the shield functionally useless.

As if to add insult to injury, Luna followed up with a downwards strike that finally broke Gareth's shield, slicing through his armor in the process. Thanks to Gareth's monstrous Vitality, Skills, and buffs, the flesh wound he received from the blow cutting through his armor was minor to the point of being negligible.

At the same time, having recovered, Finn had taken the opportunity to circle to Luna's side before thrusting his spear for Luna's head. Only for Luna to duck under the blow without even looking.

Luna then spun in place, intent on knocking Gareth and Finn to their feet. Thankfully, for their own sakes, the two adventurers managed to jump back in time to avoid the attack. Luna quickly rose back to her full height, her wide eyes and twisted grin focusing on Riveria who was now directly in front of her–

Only to spin her body around as three Violas erupted from the ground behind her. Without hesitation, and to the confusion of all three adventurers, Luna jumped up and slashed through all three monsters in a single stroke. Their magic stones shattered, the monsters exploding into ash as Luna fell back down to the ground gracefully. Sheathing her weapon once more as she did so.

"DIEEEE!" a guttural male voice roared out, the form of Bete appearing behind Riveria as he lept at Luna with a flying side kick. At the same time, Tiona and Tione ran by either side of Riveria as they too joined the fray – Tione having recovered and regrouped with her sister along the way to here.

Making it look like child's play, Luna casually caught Bete and halted his attack by grabbing his booted ankle. She then spun in place before throwing Bete at Tione with great force. The two collided and collapsed to the ground in a tumble, Tione complaining at the unwanted contact, "Stupid werewolf! Why can't it be the Captain?!"

"Shut Up you stupid Amazon!" Bete groaned in annoyance, quickly trying to untangle himself from the idiot Amazoness.

Meanwhile, Tiona proceeded to attempt to keep pressure on Luna. The Amazoness unleashed a flurry of blows with her double bladed greatsword. And yet all of her attacks missed as Luna effortlessly ducked and weaved her body around the slashes and strikes with each step backwards.

"Hahahahaha!" Luna continued to laugh madly all the while. And as if deciding it was now her turn to attack, Luna hunched down before planting the pommel of her sword into Tiona's torso, sending the Amazoness flying right into where Bete and Tione had just gotten off of each other – the three adventurers toppling over each other.

Luna's eyes then widened in surprise as Finn and Gareth appeared to either side of her. The two adventurers have used her fight with Tiona as a distraction to get close! Finn struck first, thrusting his spear forward and finally managing to strike the Eastern woman in her torso. An attack that would normally pierce completely through even the toughest of monsters… only penetrated about 8 centimeters through her adamantite-like flesh.

To be fair, for most adventurers, this was quite the extreme wound that would require immediate medical attention. To Luna, however, it might as well just be a minor flesh wound.

Not that Luna had the chance to display any such annoyance, because Gareth's attack hit right after Finn's. A powerful downwards slash that tore through flesh and bone before the kinetic forces removed Luna from being impaled on Finn's spear and sent her flying into a nearby building.

It was at this moment, having come from the East gate behind Riveria, Ais joined the encounter. "Everyone!" Ais called out, seeing almost all of her friends and close comrades were before her and mostly unharmed. Ais felt gratitude and relief.

All of Loki Familia present turned and looked at the new arrival. The shock at seeing Ais at this time, especially by the Triple Threat catching them red handed where they shouldn't be, distracted the adventurers. Unconsciously lowering their guard.

"Ais! What are you—?" Riveria began to ask in surprise, one of many wondering why Ais had been able to get her so relatively quickly. But was distracted like everyone present when the building Luna had crashed into exploded as the insane Creature burst out from it. Her expression was no longer solely that of an insane smile and laugh. Luna was pissed, her facial expression furious as her wounds sizzled as they rapidly closed back together.

Everyone turned back from Ais in the direction of Luna, an action that was not only too slow to stop what was to come but also an action that conveniently and luckily allowed for Lefiya and Lili to flash into existence behind Ais without anyone noticing. (Lili didn't spare any time and had immediately began moving to administer a potion to Lefiya who was woozy and still bleeding from the wound to her abdomen.)

Ignorant and uncaring of the new arrivals, having not recognized Ais yet since she hadn't used her magic, Luna focused more on getting revenge for her injuries. As if teleporting, Luna vanished and reappeared by Gareth — sheathing a sword that no one had seen her pull out. An instant later, a torrent of blood erupted from Gareth from five separate slashes across his front.

"Gareth!" Finn yelled out, genuinely concerned for his longtime friend and comrade as Gareth collapsed to the ground with a loud 'thud'. Almost everyone could see the blood beginning to pool under the dwarven adventurer.

The adventurers, the Aces, of Loki Familia froze in horror as the physically strongest adventurer among them had been struck down in an instant.

Finn tensed his body, preparing to counterattack and get revenge. Only for Luna to blur in front of Finn once more and plant the pommel of her sword in his abdomen once again.

Even though Finn should have clearly expected such an attack from Luna by this point, it didn't matter since he couldn't move fast enough to defend or evade it. And so he was sent tumbling down the street at high velocities, only narrowly missing Riveria who couldn't quite catch him in the air this time around.

Finn skidded across the ground, coming to a stop in the middle of the street – having formed a small ditch from friction with the ground. He groaned as he slowly made to move to stand back up. Only to pale in realization that the shadow looming over him was not from an adjacent building. Luna had apparently decided she wasn't done with him, completely ignoring Riveria and the others to meet him here.

Finn raised his arm to guard, knowing that an attack was coming and that he had not the time to defend his vitals in any other way in time. Only to be surprised when the blow hadn't come, instead hearing the sound of metal clashing against metal. Finn looked past his arm, his eyes widening at the sight before him.

Lili, her eyes still ruby red and glaring balefully at her opponent, had attacked Luna with her spear. An attack that Luna chose to block over ignoring — something slightly odd considering the Level disparity. Perhaps something deep within Luna considered Lili to be a threat.

Chestnut hair billowing from her movements, the swinging of her spear. The determination and fire in Lili's reddened eyes. The angry grimace of injustice on her lips. To Finn, it was like the Goddess Fianna was before him in the flesh. He was mesmerized, enchanted. And was thus distracted. Too distracted to take advantage of the second of time that Lili had bought him. And so, uncontested, Luna batted Lili's weapon from her grip before kicking her away. Lili sent tumbling down the street like a bowling ball - her Black Goliath gear once more saving her from more grievous injuries, like broken ribs and ruptured organs.

Thankfully for Finn, someone else was able bodied enough to provide more of a distraction. A bolt of golden lightning erupted from nearby at Luna as Lefiya quickly fired off Filvis' magic at the Creature. The lightning only grazed the skin of Luna's hand as the Eastern woman dodged, moving away from Finn and sheathing her weapon as she did so.

Which put Luna right into the combat range of an enraged Amazoness. "How dare you try to kill my man!" Tione yelled, her eyes and expression filled with utter fury as she rapidly began to punch at Luna with all her might. Despite her rage and fervor, however, Tione found that Luna was easily blocking all of her attacks with her left hand.

But Tione was not the only attacker that Luna was facing. Tiona and Bete came up on either of Luna's flanks. A sword and boot raised to strike respectively. Only to miss and hit each other with a loud 'clang!' as Luna elegantly blitzed and maneuvered herself forward all the way around Tione without the Amazoness being able to react. Luna proceeded to kick Tione into where Tiona's Urga and Bete's boot had clashed — sending all three adventurers rippling over each other once more.

"Sis!" Tiona cried out loudly in fright upon noticing that Tione was spitting up blood while lying on top of her.

Luna, surrounded by Loki Familia's strongest, once more laughed maniacally, "HAHAHAHAHA! Sheee! Wants to! See! The SKYYY~! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The ace fighters of Loki Familia tensed their bodies to resume the melee… all while shivering from fright from the sheer insanity and power emanating from the Eastern woman who loomed over them like the Shinigami…

---

Truly, it seemed the fight was going nowhere anytime soon. It was like Luna was still playing with her food, at least that was all that Finn could deduce in that moment. Luna was overpowering all of his forces, but aside from Gareth and the Violas, had yet to make attacks with intent to kill. And even though Gareth's wounds had been severe, Finn new better than to presume that Gareth would die that easily. Frankly, Gareth has survived much worse. And yet, the important fact remained that Luna was clearly capable of inflicting a killing blow that not even the likes of Gareth could just shrug off — she just wasn't aiming to kill for some reason that Finn simply could not understand.

It was like Luna was trying to immobilize them, but why would an insane berserker do that? Finn, in the heat of battle, couldn't understand why an enemy would behave this way. It didn't make sense. How could someone whose mind was as broken as Luna's was able to hold back from using all of her strength to begin with? That level of intelligent thinking should be impossible, no?

Luna should have defeated all of Finn and his forces long ago with her sheer strength and power. Why hadn't she? What was holding her back? Finn struggled to find answers to his questions.

Riveria then appeared by Finn's side, the two watching as Ais moved to engage Luna while Lefiya was healing Gareth. The two adventurers didn't pay much attention to when and how Lefiya had gotten there and instead quickly began plotting their next moves. They were too busy being grateful that Luna's moment of rage had passed and she was now back to playing with them instead of killing them all like she clearly could do with ease, if she chose to do so.

"We need to lure her out of the town," Riveria suggested, idly watching as Ais began a rapid series of attacks at Luna who easily blocked and parried without nary an effort, "I'd prefer not to use my stronger magicks. Who knows if there are more adventurers trapped in the rubble."

A major reason Riveria had resisted the urge to blast Luna to kingdom come was out of a desire to prevent unforeseen casualties. Who knows how many adventurers are caught in the rubble of buildings destroyed by Violas that managed to breach the perimeter?

"Can your magic take her out?" Finn asked, having noticed a problem in dealing with Luna. At the same time, Luna was easily blocking all of Ais' attacks with her own weapon. And was almost comically swatting away anyone else who attempted to jump into the melee she was having with Ais.

"…If she doesn't find a way to avoid it," Riveria answered. Most of Riveria's spells that were powerful enough to deal with the likes of Luna were AOE attacks. It was telling that Riveria was concerned that Luna would still find a way to avoid Riveria's attacks. As if that wasn't problematic enough, Riveria also had the suspicion that the others wouldn't be able to delay Luna long enough for Riveria to cast her magic while also giving them time to get out of the blast radius. No, Riveria was pessimistic enough to recognize that even if she was able to cast her magic dead-on, that Luna would still be fast enough to simply outrun the blast zone.

It was part of why Riveria hadn't bothered casting Wynn Fimbulvetr. Luna was so fast that Riveria was certain that her attack would just miss and end up hitting an ally instead. Not unless something or someone was able to keep Luna still long enough for Riveria to get the drop on her. Something that was easier said than done considering that Luna seemed to be able to detect the casting of magic spells. It didn't help that Riveria had been in the bad habit of being used to fighting as artillery in the rear – it has been sometime since she had the need to fight in close quarters and was rusty.

"She might be worse than the King," Finn recognized the extent of the threat that Luna posed. Her speed, her power, her reaction speed, all of it was incomprehensible. The gap between Level 6 and 7 was not that extreme – oh it was certainly big but not enough to make them unable to properly react. Finn had seen Luna's attacks coming, he just couldn't respond fast enough to react to them.

But to be able to toy with multiple Level 6s attacking her? Luna's strength was easily Level 8 – Finn suspected she was either pushing the limit of her level or perhaps was Level 9 in strength outright. Finn wasn't certain, it was too hard to tell specifically where Luna's strength lay. Either situation meant that they were dealing with a threat the likes of Alfia the Silent. Which was an impossible fight to win without proper preparations and a plan.

"Should we retreat?" Riveria asked, noting the frustration on Ais' face as she continued to fail to land a single hit on Luna. The Creature's eerie laughter and the distant sounds of battle providing a very unpleasant background music.

"..." Finn was silent. Partly because he was honestly considering that option, but also because he was closely analyzing Luna's fighting style. He was now completely certain about a crucial detail that before he had only hoped to be correct, "...She doesn't attack with her right arm."

"What?" Riveria asked, momentarily confused at the unexpected line.

"Outside of using her right arm to stabilize her sheath, the Creature isn't using her right arm in combat. Even to block attacks," Finn clarified, deliberately not using Kaguya's name so as to dehumanize her, "Some kind of mental block must be preventing her from using her arm. It's in perfect condition. If anything, her using her arm to grab her sheath is an instinctual action that she might not even realize she is doing."

A second female voice joined the conversation, "Neither of you… have noticed have you?"

The two 1st Class adventurers turned to glance at Lili who limped over to them while she was clutching one of her arms in pain, while the other dragged her spear along the ground with her. Her eyes were still red like rubies.

"...Noticed what, Arde-san?" Finn asked, an unwanted speck of pink gracing his cheeks as of to match the eyes of the other Pallum.

"That woman…" Lili gasped out, "Is distracting you from the real fight…"

"A… distraction—!" Finn didn't immediately understand what Lili had meant, but realized something quickly enough regardless. The red-haired Creature, Levis, was nowhere to be seen. And the only members of the training expedition that were also missing… were Bell Cranel and Ryuu Lion.

"Finn, what does she mean?" Riveria asked her Captain, having noticed that he had come to a conclusion. At the same time, Lili idly pulled out a potion and downed it, recovering her health.

"This was all a distraction so the red-haired Creature could get at weiẞes and Gale without interruption," Finn said, almost incredulous at the realization that the destruction of Rivira and the wrath of Kaguya was only a distraction so as to get at a couple of adventurers. Yet it was the only explanation that fit. Even though the fact that Levis was more interested in Lion now than Ais was both interesting, confusing, and disturbing. The fact that Ais was not the one being pursued by Levis at the moment was proof that Levis' priorities had shifted. Was it because of Levis' connection to Astraea Familia or was it something else that he hadn't foreseen? The truth would require investigation to determine.

"Until Bell-sama… and Ryuu-sensei are victorious this battle will continue," Lili asserted boldly. Lili didn't know much of the details on Levis, but she had been informed of the fact that Bell and Ryuu had engaged strong elements of the Evilus Remnant. So Lili had enough information to deduce that those elements were the reason why Bell had failed to regroup with them by this point. She correctly assumed that Bell was currently busy with his own battle. And from Lyra's words, Lili knew that the Creatures were after a 'key' that was likely in either Bell or more likely Ryuu's possession. In other words, Lili was confident that this entire battle was centered on Evilus attacking Bell (and Ryuu).

Lili had also been using her manipulation and lying skills to hide her disdain for Finn from her voice. She had correctly concluded that the presence of Loki Familia's strike force was definitive evidence that Finn had used Bell-sama (and perhaps Ryuu-sensei) as bait to lure out his enemies for a trap – only to have the trap reversed on him. The idea that Loki Familia's presence AND that Lyra was after a 'key' supposedly being held in the possession of a temporary party containing two members of Loki Familia was just a coincidence was not something Lili would bet on. No, Lili was convinced that their training expedition was a honeypot for Loki Familia's enemies. Of course, she was personally offended at being caught in the crossfire, but she was mostly pissed off that Finn had used Bell-sama's desire to train with his friend from Loki Familia as a means to manipulate Bell-sama for Finn's own ends.

Lefiya certainly seemed like a sort of kindred spirit of Bell-sama, in Lili's eyes. And it was clear that her Hero looked at the golden-brown-haired Elf with a level of fondness that was hard to define cleanly. The fact that Finn had used Bell-sama and Lefiya-san for his own ends rubbed Lili the wrong way.

That said, while Lili was upset she didn't feel betrayed. Betrayal required Lili to trust Loki Familia as a whole to begin with. As a whole being the key phrase. Because Lili did believe that Ais' and Lefiya's surprise at the presence of their comrades was genuine. All in all, Finn proved in Lili's eyes that the words she spoke to him on this very Floor were in fact true — Finn was no Hero, Finn was just an Adventurer.

And Lili hated Adventurers. At least Bell, Ryuu, Welf, Naaza, and the rest of those gathered in Bell's orbit were 'Human'.

"We are playing into the hands of the enemy," Lili concluded, focusing more on the problem at hand, "Not that we have a choice otherwise. Not in the face of such monstrous strength."

"No hope of turning the tide, huh…" Finn idly commented, noting that Lili's perspective of victory was bleak.

"Not when you've stumbled right into their trap, Finn-sama," Lili declared bluntly, "The enemy commander had implied as much. They had you pegged from the start."

Lili deliberately withheld Lyra's name. Feeling petty and vindictive, Lili decided she wouldn't trade valuable information without being duly compensated. Finn noticed that Lili hadn't mentioned the name or description of the enemy commander — he merely assumed at the moment that Lili simply hadn't known the name or even gender of her adversary.

"…Raul and the others should be finishing off the waves of monsters besieging the town soon," Finn stated, "it should be easy to lure the enemy into the woods, perform a fighting retreat, and give her the slip. It'll give you a chance to try magic out without as much fear of friendly fire, Riveria."

"Understood," Riveria said simply, accepting Finn's orders as reasonable considering the circumstances. They have gained knowledge on the enemy. Now it was time to try and escape with that information with their lives before their luck runs out. They needed to bug out before Luna actually kills someone, which could happen at any moment. At the drop of a Valis.

And so Finn had his exit strategy. And so Lili was vindicated that she was right in never believing in the so-called 'Light of the Pallum'.

Yes, the situation was bad. But Finn was certain that it couldn't get any worse.

And so the Universe decided that kind of thinking could not be contemplated without consequence. Like a meteor crashing into the earth, an explosion erupted behind the trio of adventurers – the earth shaking from the impact. They quickly turned around, trying to look through the cloud of debris in shock at the sudden series of events.

The smoke cleared, revealing the back of Lyra who was crouched down in a 'superhero landing' position in the middle of a crater. The Pallum stood to her full height, dusting the dirt from her shoulders as she turned around. A cheeky grin on her face, Lyra quipped, "So. Regret not marrying me now, Braver?"

Finn's fake smile twitched. He really needs to learn to stop jinxing himself.

---

Main POV

Running through burning foliage, I quickly located where Ryuu was fighting Levis. And it was clear at a glance that Ryuu was on the defensive, despite the fact that her opponent was unarmed. Ryuu was being pushed back as she used her two swords to block and parry Levis' devastating punches and kicks. The Knossos key was no longer in Levis' hands, but I got the impression that Levis hadn't dropped it.

…She stuffed it between her boobs, didn't she? Why the Corrupted Spirit decided to buff Alise's chest from a size B to size D, I'll never know. It was clearly proving to have some tactical advantage. Hopefully my staring at Levis' boobs hasn't raised a flag or something. Okay, enough jokes to help keep my composure, time to kick some red-headed ass. That said, I find myself in the odd position of needing to hold back against Levis. Why? Because I'd rather avoid breaking the Knossos Key if I can help it; we need to take it back before we can blow Levis up with Argonaut-boosted blasts.

Being able to think quickly with my adventurer-boosted senses is awesome, by the way. Only about a second has passed since I located Ryuu and Levis' battle.

Hefting Orion like a javelin, I threw my weapon at Levis' head. The instant after the weapon left my hand, I went to throw Hiraishin-marked knives across the forest clearing in Levis' general direction.

At the same time, Levis broke past Ryuu's guard and punched her across the face. As Ryuu flinched back from the impact, Levis grabbed Ryuu's wrist before wrenching the metal sword from Ryuu's grasp.

Driven by an urge to protect her, I flared my Mind in rapid succession as I drew the Hestia Knife. As my spear narrowly flew past Levis' shoulders, a flash of White and Blonde-Green signified that Ryuu had taken my place while I reappeared directly behind Levis. I quickly lunged forward, plunging the Hestia Knife into Levis' back as I began to chant, "Fireb–!"

I was cut off, however, as Levis grabbed me by the throat before tossing me over her shoulder without even looking at me. Choked, my throat barely enduring the rough treatment, I had let go of my weapon in shock and so it was still lodged in her back. My back hit the ground with a thud. I coughed as I looked up, seeing that Levis was preparing to swipe her weapon at my neck.

I rolled on the ground out of the way, idly hearing the sound of weapons clashing as Ryuu re-engaged Levis in combat in my defense. I made out a series of strikes as Ryuu and Levis tried to kill each other, their swords clashing violently again and again.

Levis was grinning like she was having the time of her life. The red-headed 'woman' appeared to be lost in her bloodlust. Ryuu meanwhile, was glaring, her emotions cool yet her eyes still burned with passion – the passion to defeat her opponent and end the suffering of a lost friend.

I rolled to my feet, opening my hand and summoning Orion back into my grasp. I whispered a chant, "Firebolt…" Fire and plasma traveled down the shaft of Orion from my hands as the holy metal channeled my magic. The bell of heroes began to ring as the red fire turned white and the lightning blue. Argo Vesta - Orion Edition.

As I charged my attack, Ryuu and Levis continued to duel. Levis laughed as their swords locked and clashed, saying, "Yes! Entertain me more, Lion! Become a sacrifice for my amazing self to become even stronger! I'll kill the past if it means I can finally be free from 'Her' whispers!"

Ryuu's eyes watered as her glare deepened, her voice full of pain as she growled, "Aliseee!"

"Ryuu!" I called out to her, not only to stymie her rage but also to let her know my intention of attacking. A couple second charge ought to be a nice balance between not obliterating Levis while also putting her down, right? Maybe? (I sure hope she isn't fire resistant…)

That… and for Ryuu's sake… part of me couldn't help but hold out hope that the Alise that Ryuu knows and loves is still inside Levis. Somewhere we can't reach her just yet. Because the anger and pain I could see in Ryuu's eyes, it… it's agonizing to witness. I can tell that Ryuu doesn't want to kill her best friend – just the monster wearing her skin. And if Alise is somewhere deep down still… then perhaps we can make our cake and eat it too?

Even so, I can't afford to have misplaced mercy either. Even if Alise is still in there deep down, it doesn't mean I'm gonna let the monster wearing her skin hurt or try to kill Ryuu while I'm still standing. I've already died once doing just that. I've not exactly forgiven Levis for momentarily turning me into a donut.

"Catch me!" Ryuu yelled back gutturally, relinquishing the sword lock and continuing to attack Levis without fleeing. Levis casually blocked each of Ryuu's attacks, not giving a centimeter of ground. I recognized the fact that Ryuu was planning on using herself as bait to keep Levis still to increase the chance of my being able to land a hit. Or, more simply, Ryuu wanted me to pull her away so she wouldn't get caught in the backblast of my attack and as such was also well placed to distract Levis.

The idea of using Ryuu as bait was not something I liked at all. But it wasn't like Ryuu was giving me much of a choice in the matter; she knew I couldn't teleport her away while I had Argonaut charging. She really is the one wearing the pants in this relationship, isn't she?

Reluctantly, I aimed for Levis' feet as I once more threw Orion like the arrow it was once meant to be. My ears popped as thunder cracked as soon as the spear left my fingers.

It took no effort at all to summon the protective will required to pull Ryuu out of the blast zone with a reverse-Hiraishin.

And it was good I had done so, because Orion reached its destination in just a second. The flaming, lightning-crackling spear shattered the ground at Levis' feet before exploding in a ball of blinding light. The ground shook like an earthquake was going off, and the sound was so deafening that even my adventurer-boosted senses were ringing. The winds being blown away from the sight of detonation were so fierce that I, with Ryuu in my arms, was forcibly pushed back with my feet skidding against the ground.

I think I accidentally used too much magic…

…Or not.

Because as the smoke cleared, the most visible sign of damage on Levis were some gnarly Lichtenberg burns all over her body. It was like the flames generated by my attack did barely anything and it was only the lightning that really affected her. That said, Levis' limbs were stiff and twitching and her face was stiff and furious. It would seem that my attack had 'short-circuited' her bioelectricity and momentarily paralyzed her. Levis had also dropped the weapon she had taken from Ryuu. I also idly noted that the explosion had knocked the Hestia Knife from Levis' back.

"Alise always was rather fire resistant…" Ryuu idly commented bitterly, also noticing that my attack had done less than desired. It raised the question of why I overheard that Ryuu had used Fire magic the last time she had fought Levis, but that was a conversation for another time.

"Your turn for magic?" I asked quickly, trying to come up with ideas while we had a moment to communicate a plan of action.

"Still cursed," Ryuu replied, not in any hurry to leave my embrace, "How'd you undo it?"

Ryuu was breathing deeply, her body shaking as she completely leaned on me in order to keep standing. It was clear that the combination of fighting Levis and enduring the curses had taken a lot of Ryuu's stamina with it. I wouldn't be surprised if she has minor breaks in her bones or is just bruised in places.

"The… power of love?" I answered questioningly, both because I was unsure and because it was embarrassing to say out loud. It's not like I had any abilities that made me resistant to curses or the 'duration' shorter. So the fact that I was free, but Ryuu was still under their effects, left only one option…

"...Oh," Ryuu answered simply, I could see her ears turn red. She's so cute.

"You two… can flirt in the afterlife…!" Levis growled, regaining control of her body.

"Yeah, but not today!" I retorted, still trying to come up with a plan of attack to neutralize Levis in light of the fact that Ryuu was not able to fight at one hundred percent. Sure, this may have been a golden opportunity to retrieve the key, but my instincts screamed that just walking up to Levis would result in her stabbing her hand through my chest.

H-Huh? Are my legs quivering? M-maybe I'm not as over getting impaled by Levis as I thought…

Thankfully, it would seem I had no need to confront my newly realized phobia today. For mine and Ryuu's ears to flickered as we heard something – no, someones – enter the field…

---

Other POV

Lyra may not have wanted Luna and Levis to defeat their enemies in battle, but the reverse was also not something she could easily allow either. As broken as Luna and Levis were, Lyra still loved them. Even if Lyra had fallen onto a dark path against her will, abandoning Luna and Levis without a fight was not something she could tolerate – which is probably why the Corrupted Spirit hadn't also tortured her to insanity like Luna had for all of Lyra's rebellious thoughts.

The Corrupted Spirit was smart enough to know that by having Luna and Levis under her thrall, that Lyra too was shackled to Her will. And it probably didn't hurt that Lyra's mind being intact was more of an asset than Luna or Levis'. Lyra couldn't have hidden her plan to completely checkmate Finn from Her if Lyra tried.

This was why Lyra had rushed after Lefiya and Lili for the town of Rivira. Lyra was afraid that Luna might get overrun with enemies. An irrational fear considering Luna's absurd strength, but fear is not a rational emotion and Lyra is not an entirely rational being. And so, in order to quickly close the distance, Lyra had taken advantage of her high durability, healing factor, and physical/magical resistances. More specifically, she used her Wingus Smite spell on herself by hitting herself in the back at an angle that would send her flying.

And with her natural Pallum eyesight, it was easy to pick out where Luna was fighting as well as spot the Braver himself. All she had to do on the end of her parabolic arc was flail her arms in a manner to angle her descent to where she wanted to land. All in all, this was something she was only able to pull off because of the sheer height of the ceiling on Floor 18.

The aerial view also allowed Lyra to see that the various forces of Loki Familia had almost finished off the waves of Violas that were literally besieging the town. It would be at most a few minutes before the forces of Loki Familia would finish up and be able to turn around to reinforce the fight surrounding Luna in the middle of town.

"What? Are you not happy to see me, Braver?" Lyra asked with a cheeky smirk, a hand on her hip and the other with weapons in hand.

"I must admit that the circumstances are less than ideal," Finn said with his usual smile. "You seem to have your faculties in order…"

"For all the good it does me," Lyra scoffed, "Look, I don't want to do this either. Fact of the matter is I have little choice in the matter. That said… I can't just let you hurt 'Luna' either."

"Then call her off and we'll go our separate ways," Finn offered a compromise, trying to bargain.

Lyra shook her head, "No can do. She won't allow us to stop, allow us to disobey. She'll only let us retreat if Levis decides as such."

The only other 'person' that She ever seemed to take input from besides Levis was The Masked Ones – Enyo and Ein. And between the three, Levis was the one that She heeded the least.

Lili chose that moment to chime in, "...Do you mean to tell Lili that Finn-sama proposed to you too, Lyra?"

There was a beat of silence. Followed by Finn coughing and sputtering in embarrassment, Riveria holding back chuckles behind her hand, and Lyra fuming with an embarrassed blush.

"The other way around! I was rejected!" Lyra exclaimed, furiously embarrassed, "Wait! You mean to tell me he proposed to you?! What?! For fuck's sake!?"

"Lili rejected Finn-sama," Lili deadpanned instantly, almost having to resist the urge to vomit at the thought.

Finn winced, holding back the urge to clutch his chest in pain. Surely it's just phantom pains from those hits from 'Luna'...

Riveria meanwhile, and despite the seriousness of the situation, was holding back tears of laughter.

Lyra blinked. And blinked again. She asked disbelievingly, "...You? Rejected him? The best Pallum bachelor in Orario? No, the world? The strongest Pallum adventurer of all-time? Finn the Braver? Rejected? By you?"

"Indeed, Lili rejected Finn-sama. He's not my type," Lili deadpanned with lifeless, red eyes as she held up a peace sign. Finn winced again at Lili's words, taking a lot of emotional/mental damage despite his Noble Brave Skill.

Lyra looked completely done with this conversation and with life in general, which was ironic considering her lease on life. "...I'm just gonna skip to the part where I kick all of your asses now."

At the same time Lyra said the word 'kick', Lili casually dropped more smoke bombs. Fumes quickly began to fill up their portion of the street as Lili slung her spear onto her back before vanishing from sight. Ducking into a nearby alley, Lili began a flanking maneuver… and because she'd rather someone the likes of Finn to be the one to deal with Lyra in a conventional fight.

While vision was quickly obscured, such an inconvenience was not enough to keep the likes of Finn and Lyra from battling to the death for long. With a swipe of her unusual weapons, Lyra quickly cleared the majority of the smoke. Revealing that Finn had already closed half of the distance between them while Riveria had jumped back to gain some distance.

"Harbinger of the end, the white snow…" Riveria began to chant under her breath, not yelling out for everyone to hear her song. Not that it was enough to conceal what she was doing from Lyra. But Lyra had bigger issues.

Lyra's stats were equivalent to a Level 7 adventurer – which was certainly impressive, but it didn't mean that she could rest on her laurels against two veteran Level 6s either.

Lyra shifted her weapons so that she was properly holding one in each of her hands. Just in time to one-handingly parry Finn's attempt to stab her in the face. She counter attacked with the blade in her offhand, earning a small graze on Finn's face as he jumped back.

"…Blow the wind before the twilight," Riveria continued to quietly sing from the back line. At the same time, Lili quietly reappeared in the street from an alley behind Lyra with her spear in her hands.

Lyra swung at Finn with her weapons, one after the other in an upwards motion as she advanced forward. Forcing Finn back lest she shred him apart. She then leaned forward as she jabbed her weapon at Finn's midsection, the male Pallum barely dodging back; at the same time her heel went up to parry the attack meant for the back of her head from Lili's spear. Knocking the weapon out of Lili's hands and high into the air in the process.

Lyra quickly spun around and kicked Lili straight up into the air. Finn tried to take advantage of Lyra's back being turned, intent on running through her heart from behind. Only for Lyra to turn and duck under the strike, and then slash across his chest with both of her Carnivores.

Riveria's eyes widened at the sight of Finn falling to his knees, a pool of blood quickly forming beneath him. "…Closing light, the freezing land! Blizzard, the three severe winters — my name is—!"

The fight was going so fast, that Riveria had barely enough time to sing a few sentences. And she couldn't even finish her song, as Lyra kicked the descending Lili mid-air right into where Riveria stood with great force. Riveria was simply too empathetic to not catch Lili, and so didn't bother dodging out of the way. As Lili and Riveria collided, the rolled and tumbled to the ground.

Once their momentum ended, Lili once again found herself with a facefull of something that most male adventurers would be willing to die for. Lili muffled, her face smushed into Riveria's breast, "Lili is getting sick of this…"

Lili's entire body was sore from getting tossed around all day. Once again, her Black Goliath gear was the only reason she hadn't gotten herself killed today — but the gear didn't protect much from knockback and kinetic forces. And potions could only do so much in excess. Lyra's kick broke who knows how many bones? Lili didn't know, she had a hard time feeling which bones exactly were damaged, the pain was too much to differentiate.

Riveria meanwhile, was in a position where she couldn't speak, because she was still just a few words away from casting her spell. And she needed to cast it soon lest the buildup of Mind result in an unwanted explosion. But she couldn't cast her spell, because Finn had fallen over to his side and was in the way of her attack.

"C-Captain!" The voice of Raul called out. He and a squad of fellow Level 4s and 3s had finished repelling the Violas and had come to check back in with Finn — only to witness the sight of Lyra almost easily cutting him down.

Riveria hoped that her allies would catch on to what was needed as she pointed her staff at Lyra from the ground and shouted, "—Alf! Wynn Fimbulvetr!"

Raul instantly knew what he needed to do, and didn't hesitate. Using all of his Level 4 muscles, he ran ahead of his comrades to scoop Finn into his arms and out of the way of Riveria's ice attack. Just barely getting out of the way of the icy wind in time.

Lyra, meanwhile, let Raul retrieve Finn without contest. Lyra had no desire for Finn to die, after all. He just needed to be incapacitated so the rest of the plan couldn't be hindered – that would be enough to satisfy Her. Besides, her focus was better served in dodging Riveria's coming attack.

But Lyra found herself frozen for a moment, flinching uncontrollably. She instinctively and unwillingly looked over Riveria at the fight behind them. She was forcibly taking control of Lyra's body to get an additional perspective of…

"ARIA!" the Corrupted One howled through her entire network, notably in Lyra's and Luna's ears.

For at that moment, a powerful gust of wind blew through the street, the distant sound of 'Tempest!' could be heard fairly easily. Her attention was instantly focused entirely on Ais, leaving Lyra unable to move or look away from Ais' general direction. Lyra regained the ability to move soon enough, but not in time.

Blasts of ice magic erupted from Riveria's staff, rapidly firing across the open street before they narrowly missed hitting Lyra directly as she jumped out of the way — but neither was she completely unscathed.

Lyra's left hand, weapon, and foot were frozen solid – just barely grazed by the attack cold enough to stop time in its tracks. The cold chill of ice slowly crawled up her magically resistant skin and flesh. Lyra winced at the chill biting at her limbs, finding her ability to move impeded, to put it lightly. Lyra knew that if she'd been completely caught by that magic, she'd have been completely immobilized and an easy kill. Finn's attacks aimed at her chest were proof enough that he knew her weak point. Finn had been aiming for the Magic Stone that was her heart and core.

Lyra frowned at how the situation was developing while Riveria and Lili got back to their feet. The latter of which with much reluctance. The miscellaneous members of Loki Familia slowly moved to encircle the lone Creature all the while. But Lyra ignored them, freezing in place metaphorically, her eyes widening.

That's when Lyra suddenly felt the order come through from on high. Her head ringing as Levis gave new orders via their connection to each other through Her.

It was time.

---

Ais was angry. This was hardly something unusual. There's always a small simmering of rage deep in her heart. It just usually is never expressed outwards. A dark flame burning deep within her soul for only her to embrace its cool and lonely heat.

Ais never really understood why people fought each other. Not really. It didn't make sense to her. Ever since she was a child she wondered why people fight each other. Shouldn't they be focusing on killing monsters? It was something that Ais, even to this day, still really didn't understand completely. She certainly understood that the likes of Evilus had to be stopped, but the nature of the conflict was so idiotic that Ais struggled to understand its nature.

But after seeing Uncle Gareth on the ground, in a pool of his own blood, Ais felt like she finally was understanding the desire to kill another person. Yes, this was her true, ugly self. Ais knew she was no heroine, not with the black flame of hatred burning within her heart. And that was fine by her. After all, it's been said that the Black Dragon cannot be slain by heroes. But that was something for another time. For now, all Ais wanted to do was strike down the woman who hurt Uncle Gareth, the woman who attacked Finn, the woman who hurt all of Ais' comrades.

Ais launched herself at the Eastern Woman, whose face bore a wide grin and an expression of insanity. Luna drew her weapon, easily parrying Ais' attack before counter attacking. Ais just barely ducked under the attack, a large chunk of her long, golden hair getting cut off from her opponent's swing.

Uncaring about the damage to her luscious hair, Ais continued to attack relentlessly. And Luna casually blocked each of Ais' attacks as she laughed equally unceasingly, almost like she was mocking Ais for being unable to pressure her.

Ais grit her teeth in frustration as she continued her assault. But to no avail, it's like the Eastern woman wasn't even trying. The gap between their power was as wide as a great canyon.

No, that wasn't it. Not entirely. It was almost like Luna wasn't passionate about the fight, which seemed contradictory considering the laughter. Luna's spirit was in the fight, in stark contrast to Levis. It was like Luna wasn't even taking this seriously. Regardless of Luna's true desire to fight or not, however, Ais didn't care. Ais just wanted her down on the ground. Eternally unmoving.

But bringing her desires into fruition was easier said than done. Because Luna's fighting was perfect — no gaps to exploit, no weaknesses to take advantage of. Luna's swordsmanship was perfect – a deadly combination of technique, power, and speed. The only weakness was the fact that Luna refrained from using her right arm in combat. And yet, not only was Luna strong enough for such a weakness to mean nothing against an uncoordinated assault, the woman's right foot seemed to be just fine in kicking one's bones into dust and thus effectively dissuaded that avenue of attack.

As if to exemplify that very point, Luna kicked back into Tiona's gut while she continued to clash blades with Ais – by definition, not even looking at the flanking Amazoness. After parrying Ais' blade, Luna jumped mid-air as she spun and kicked the flanking Bete in the face – sending the werewolf spiraling away in a daze, just barely avoiding hitting the wounded Tione. The kukri-less Amazoness was still dripping blood from her mouth, her face wearing an enraged expression as Tione continued to get back up to rejoin the fray despite her condition. All the while, Luna continued to casually force Ais back step by step with each swipe of her blade.

Nearby, Lefiya finished uttering words of healing over Gareth, the multiple deep lacerations across his body quickly closing up. His eyes quickly opened, though Lefiya had a feeling that Gareth would have woken up around then with or without healing; Gareth had not been knocked down for more than a minute or so.

Gareth groaned as he slowly picked himself up, noticing that there was another dead woman on the field, "...Oh for goodness– There's another one of them now?"

"T-That is correct," Lefiya confirmed, still personally surprised at how quickly that Lyra was able to catch up with them. And shocked at having witnessed Gareth's deplorable state.

"..." Gareth said nothing, looking around for his weapon so he could rejoin the battle.

It was at that point that Ais lost her patience. Or rather, determined that she had no other choice to break the deadlock. Ais couldn't afford to hold back anymore, warmup time was over. Ais gathered her Mind as she chanted, "Tempest!"

Ais and her weapon became completely enveloped in wind, the air was blowing so furiously that Luna was even getting minute cuts from being too close; though those cuts, however, healed over almost as soon as they formed.

Luna twitched for a moment as the spiritual wind blew around her. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head before her expression became mad with glee. Speaking in a foreign, yet familiar tone, another voice spoke through Luna's lips, "Aria! Aria! ARIA!"

Ais' eyes widened as Luna's style of combat had shifted. It was like a switch had been flipped. Any semblance of restraint in Luna's movements was gone. No, that wasn't quite right. Luna was striking to kill, but her motions were stiff. Even with Luna's movements undergoing some kind of impediment, Ais' heart raced with terror as she frantically blocked, ducked, and weaved around Luna's attacks. Each strike and slash of Luna's blade was only a sliver away from removing Ais' head from her body.

Luna's mad smile was accentuated as she sloppily licked her lips. Her tongue hanging out of her mouth as if she was already savoring the taste of human flesh.

Ais only got a single second's reprieve when Tiona and Tione attacked once more from behind. Only for Luna to whip around, shattering Tiona's greatsword with a single slash. Luna kicked Tiona away as she then buried her weapon through Tione's gut, impaling the older Amazoness. Blood gushed everywhere as Luna immediately pulled her blade back out before once more aiming her blade for Ais' head.

Ais paid no heed to the screams of pain and terror around her. She couldn't afford to. Not with the wrathful sword in front of her aiming to drag her black soul down to hell where it belonged.

Ais had poked the metaphorical hornets nest. The only question was if she and everyone else would live to tell the tale…

…only for Luna to suddenly freeze, inadvertently sparing Ais' life as Luna's eyes rolled back to the forefront in confusion and utter, "Captain…"

---

Main POV

"Yeah, but not today!" I retorted, still trying to come up with a plan of attack to neutralize Levis in light of the fact that Ryuu was not able to fight at one hundred percent.

Only for mine and Ryuu's ears to flicker as we heard something – no, someones – enter the field…

Four Pallums landed in a square around Ryuu and I. They wore sand colored armor along with full face helmets of the same color. Their stature and body type were identical. Along with their armor, they each wore two long pieces of cloth, one attached to their breastplates and one on their backs. The colors of the cloth, however, were different for each of them: light blue, yellow, green, and red.

They each bore a different weapon that was almost comically bigger than them. A spear, hammer, axe, and a greatsword respectively to the color of their garments. And, by this point, I was well versed enough in my knowledge of notable adventurers to recognize who these men were after a moment or two. They were the Bringar – the Four Warriors of Burning Gold – the Gulliver brothers of Freya Familia.

Oh boy. Freya sent people to spy on and guard me didn't she? I can't wait to hear the hula hit excuse that these guys might use to justify their presence on behalf of Freya. Not that I am opposed to the help at the moment.

Meanwhile, Levis' eyes narrowed as her body tensed. It was clear that Levis had noticed that the new arrivals were 1st Class Adventurers from their stances and presence. And I could be wrong, but I had the impression that Levis' posture had shifted like she was preparing to run.

"More adventurers…" Levis growled distastefully, like she was looking at lepers or degenerates, "I don't have the time or patience to deal with you peons."

""""Shut the fuck up bitch,"""" the four Pallums said in stereo. And while it may be hypocritical of me to say it, it was rather creepy to hear them so nonchalantly talk in perfect unison like that.

"Haaah?!" Levis snarled angrily, her temper rising at the sight of the four adventurers talking smack. Her body sizzled as her lightning burns 'slowly' healed and clean flesh took its place.

"We don't give a shit about your opinion," the blue one commented, saying perhaps one of the most based things ever uttered.

"""Evilus trash,""" the other three sneered in unison.

"Freya-sama is not ignorant of your organization's return," the light blue one monologued, "We only had orders to observe you. But we think bringing you in for interrogation would please our Goddess greatly. Please do not resist."

The sarcasm in the blue one's voice was impossible to miss. He was daring Levis to fight back.

"""Go on. Fight back bitch. Make our day,""the other three said derisively, all but begging for Levis to give them a fight to entertain them. Let it not be said that aces of Freya Familia are cowards. That said, the bloodthirst is a little much.

I must say, this is an interesting development. This is certainly an excellent excuse for their presence – that they are just here to gather reconnaissance against the Evilus Remnant. The only problem is that it makes little sense to be looking for Evilus on Floor 18 without also knowing about the entrance to Knossos that is on this Floor. Something that Freya shouldn't know about.

That said, their intervention now does make sense in the context of them 'just so happening' to be nearby. Levis is battered and her stamina is zapped. The Bringar are completely fresh. Levis may have a Level advantage, but the teamwork of the Level 5s of Freya Familia were likely easily enough to overcome that disadvantage. Jumping in now to capture Levis made perfect sense tactically. The fact that they probably would get brownie points from Freya likely didn't hurt either.

In other words, even if their true reason for being here was as guard detail, it made sense for them to change gears given the context. Or maybe that's just my opinion.

Either way, Levis sneered, her gaze was full of utter loathing. But it was clear that Levis was not so arrogant as to be ignorant of how the odds have very suddenly shifted out of her favor. Levis could probably still take all of us at once, but I doubt that it would be a fun time for our red-headed enemy to deal with. (Mainly because Ryuu was tapped out, and I was not in the best mental state. Why must Singularity be so finicky with things like this?)

"You're damned luck will run out some day, Hero," Levis snarled, hissing the last word at me specifically, before bolting from the clearing – heading east.

""""Our Goddess is gracious!"""" The four said gleefully in unison as they chased after Levis, clearly enthusiastic about getting to face a 'worthy' opponent or something along those lines. I wish them the best, that they get the fight they are looking for.

While I'm not thrilled at the prospect of just letting Levis run, she's got Ryuu's key after all. In this case I don't think it can be helped. Ryuu's body is constantly shuddering, having to face Levis while under multiple curses must have put immense strain on her body. And besides, there is always the chance that Levis is only running so as to lead us into a trap – maybe even lure us into Knossos without a key so we are trapped and easy pickings.

Walking into Knossos without a key is probably one of the most idiotic and reckless things someone can do. Even I'm not that stupid. Which is saying something.

In any case, I found myself alone with Ryuu in an empty clearing… that was on fire. If the Universe is sending me a metaphor right now, it's not appreciated!

"They won't defeat her," Ryuu murmured, in no hurry to leave my embrace that was keeping her standing. And I was in no hurry to remove my arms from hugging her right below her small yet sensual chest. Clearly my priorities are completely correct.

"What makes you say that?" I said, believing her instantly but curious as to why she would say that. My own intuition was also screaming that Levis would make a clean getaway just fine even with aces of Freya Familia after her.

"It's not their destiny…" Ryuu muttered, her ears reddening as she then said, "But perhaps that's just wishful thinking. That I greedily wish to be the one to redeem Alise. Is it wrong of me?"

"No," I answered her without hesitation, "She's of your Familia, your responsibility. And you have the power to do something about it."

"Great power, great responsibility…" Ryuu whispered, leaning her head on my shoulder as the adrenaline was no doubt wearing off by this point.

"I think it's safe to say you're not planning on chasing after them," I commented idly, making sure that Ryuu wasn't going to do something stupid like trying to continue this pyrrhic encounter.

"Seeker of justice… I am, but… not suicidal anymore…" Ryuu murmured before slumping in my arms, having passed out.

"Shit!" I cursed, it finally clicked that Ryuu was covered in small cuts made by Levis' cursed sword. Add blood loss to the list of reasons why Ryuu was unable to fight anymore and why continuing the fight would be stupid. I can bemoan the loss of a Knosso Key later. Ryuu's safety took priority. I could get a new key a lot more easily than a life.

I quickly shifted Ryuu to my back before quickly scooping up our weapons, including the sword Levis left behind, before bolting in the direction of our campsite. We should have some anti-curse and healing potions back at camp. And hopefully it would allow me to link up with Lili and the others and make sure they're okay.

We may have lost the key to Knossos, but Ryuu's life was more important. We can get our hands on another key, Ryuu is not so easily 'replaced'. With that in mind, I bolted away from the fiery field of battle, back to our campsite.

---

Other POV

Lyra felt it. Levis declared the battle over on her end. Lyra had almost gasped in despair at the thought of Levis killing Lion, but held back upon noticing that Levis had seemed pissed off. It was enough for Lyra to know that Levis had not been successful in her goal and had been forced to retreat. Which is exactly what Lyra had hoped would happen, that Levis would find herself unable to truly hurt Lion.

Either way, Levis had given permission. The battle was over. Lyra and Luna were to retreat. Which was fine by her. She hadn't wanted to be here, doing all this in the first place.

Without any more hesitation, Lyra punched the ground, creating a smokescreen before blitzing over to Luna's position. Her sheer speed made it relatively simple to regroup with Luna. Even with a comical chunk of ice surrounding her foot.

Grabbing Luna's right hand, Lyra then commanded, no, pleaded, "Luna! Let's go! We're done here!"

"And just where do you think you're going lass?!" Gareth roared as he charged for them, reinvigorating the fighting spirit of the confused members of Loki Familia (all confused at why the Creatures were suddenly in a rush to flee). But it would be all for naught.

For Luna did not hesitate to follow Lyra's wishes, rapidly back-hop-stepping away faster than Gareth could run at them – all while dragging Lyra along by the hand; a sight that would have been extremely comical if given different circumstances. The adventurers of Loki Familia had little choice but to give up and watch in awed silence as Luna essentially exited the town from its center within a couple of seconds. Outpacing the likes of Gareth with humbling ease.

There was a long beat of silence that was only backdropped by the sound of crumbling buildings and the wind as Ais' Tempest reluctantly faded away. A silence that was only interrupted when Bete eloquently summed up the situation, "...That fucking sucked."

"Can somebody heal me already…?" Tione growled, spitting up blood while lying in a pool of her life essence from the hole in her abdomen. A hole that was mere milimeters from striking vital organs that would have certainly killed her on the spot, no matter her Level.

Needless to say, but Lefiya, Riveria, and other healers that happened to be nearby scrambled to get to work. Finn, meanwhile sighed in defeat. His strike team may very well avoid taking any casualties today. But even so, Loki Familia lost today.

And the threat posed by the Evilus Remnant loomed over them. For this was just the beginning.

---

Alise 'Levis' Lovell

Creature

Level Equivalent: 6

Alias: Scarlet Harnel, Levis

Strength: E: 475

Vitality: F: 380

Dexterity: E: 402

Agility: D: 529

Magic: S: 999

Magic:
(Agaris Alvysenth)

-Arga

-Arvana

-Arvelia

Skills:

Lubrude Bequia – Blossom into a new tomorrow. Strength is increased when in combat. Endurance and Dexterity are increased in the face of adversity. Agility and Magic are raised when fighting against a powerful opponent. Stat boosts are increased even further when all conditions are met.

Batleate Asyrath – Effects of Skills are increased when fighting in close combat as well as the potency of magic.

Monstrum Union - Gain strength by consuming magic stones. Increased durability and magic resistance. Healing Factor at the cost of stamina and magic. Enhances senses. Unable to gain Excelia – erosion of Anima; Falna is 'powered' by the stone within.

Development Abilities:

Hunter - H

Abnormal Resistance - I

Fire Flash - I

- Immunity from fire damage generated by the user

- Increased fire damage generated by the user

- Increased fire damage resistance from damage not generated by the user

---

Authors Notes:

Bell spills the beans about having foreknowledge and that, by proxy, he's been manipulating everyone. Ryuu's response can be summed up as 'I don't care because you still used that knowledge to help people so stop angsting about it, also I love you'. Ryuu's attempt to finally have an elvish wedding, however, is interrupted by the Berbera finally having an opportunity to jump Bell. And then by Levis who wants Ryuu's key and to fulfill Ein's request for Bell's assassination.

Ryuu also has her philosophical opinion on manipulation thanks to Lyra. Ryuu had to find a way to justify Lyra's sketchy knowledge and essentially determined that it matters more what you do with knowledge rather than the 'goodness' of the knowledge itself.

Yep, the Pallum is Lyra. Unlike Alice and Kaguya, Lyra actually has her memories and sanity intact. Unfortunately, she's in a position where she can't do anything but cooperate with them or be driven insane like Kaguya. And someone has got to look after her Familia members…

Anyway, her hair isn't pink because Lyra has been unable (unwilling) to dye her hair color. Her reconstructed eyes, now red, is a reference to her previous incarnation – as that was her eye color.

But yeah, this chapter is essentially Evilus' first attempt at killing Bell – to go out of their way to do so in any case. They went with heavy guns because they assumed Ryuu would be with him thanks to those rumors about them. And as an attempt to not be blatant about their existence to the wider populous. 'Good' thing that Evilus is soon at the point where they don't care much about being too discrete.

The memory of Alise witnessing Ryuu's reaction to Ardi's death occurred because Ryuu's cries of pain were similar enough to her tone back then. Alise's memories are still around, but the synapse connections are all kinds of fucked up. Why'd you have to die so awesomely Alise?!

Bell gets his butt kicked at first because he's not used to fighting while under curses. As soon as he frees himself with the Power of Love, he goes right back to easily kicking Violas butt.

Finn falls in love with the one Pallum who meets his criteria yet doesn't like him. Go figure. I don't feel bad for him.

The reason that Levis doesn't immediately clobber Ryuu while Ryuu is under the effects of the curse is because Levis enjoys fighting and toying with Ryuu too much to end the fight early. And for other reasons that she isn't even aware of. Anyone else probably would have just been killed and dealt with.

I've felt lately that my fight scenes have been too short. This was my attempt to challenge myself on that front. That said, I'm gonna avoid having multiple battles happening in unison. This chapter was a nightmare to write, haha.

On that note, there are reasons as to why Luna managed to avoid killing everyone despite outclassing everyone. It probably has something to do with the fact that there is still a semblance of Kaguya still in Luna. I also have bits that hint at aspects of the Character Sheet I've written up for Luna since Kaguya's wiki page is pretty barren of details on her kit.

Sorry for the late release. Life stuff happened that interfered with my editing process. My dog Mia (a somewhat ironic name, I know) passed away at the end of July. She'd been my companion for 15 long years, and needless to say her passing hurt. So let this be a reminder to shower your fuzzy and non-fuzzy animal friends with love and affection while you can. (I'm okay btw, not looking for condolences or anything.)

Next time… is gonna be Chap 23.5, where Bell and co will go over what happened. Meanwhile the Hostess girls will enter Folkvangr and confront Freya for Anya's freedom. Yeah, they're screwed.

Aiming for 4 weeks for the next update, but don't be surprised if I'm late again. Ooof