Chapter 63: A new friend

Rain:

Jogging along with the thieves, Rain struggled to contain giggles. The more time she spent with these thieves, the more ridiculously bad they appeared.

Of the thieves, the only ones that seemed to have a head on their shoulders was the women at the entrance and the man that had 'recruited' her, Arthur.

Now, they made their way through Daedalus Street, pausing at every intersection for the leader to double check their direction. It was eerily quiet as the citizens fled into residences and hide-holes to escape the troupe coming through.

Having tons of time to look around, Rain kept a nervous eye focused on the roofs of the buildings surrounding them. She kept expecting one of the city's elites to appear there, a warrior far stronger than any of them that would bestow justice upon them.

Yet, as the minutes ticked closer to half an hour since leaving the bank, no one appeared. Rain was certain that someone with a slightly higher agility than her could cross Orario in that time.

Pausing at another intersection, the man was grumbling to himself, holding up the map and glaring at the odd three-way intersection. Besides the road they had taken to it, there was a narrow, curved staircase at a slight left that spiraled down somewhere. On the right was the obvious passageway to take with more of the generic rundown houses, eyes staring out malevolently at the intruders.

"You, Marco, run down the staircase and tell me what's down there!"

Shuffling in place, Rain took another nervous glance at the rooftops.

"Expecting something?"

Rain looked back at the women that had spoken to her. She had taken off her mask revealing the slightly pointed ears of a half-elf, a mirror of Rain's own. What should have been a beautiful face was marred by a crooked nose and a burn covering a scar across the right side.

"Not particularly," Rain shrugged, aware of the others listening in.

"Then stop looking, you're safe."

"Is that how you feel in this city?" Rain asked, curious. "Even at my level I never feel truly safe in this city. Too many dangerous people around, never knowing who is going to go on a power trip…"

"…Perhaps you have a point," she muttered in response, touching the poorly set nose.

In moments, Marco rushed up the stairs. "Boss, it leads down to a four-way intersection. One follows below this road whereas the other two paths run uhh… perpin… they intersect with it!"

"That's our path," Arthur grumbled. "Stupid Daedalus Street and its stupid overlapping streets."

Proceeding down the stone stairs, the pace was a little faster than before, the bandits have a nervous energy that Rain probably instilled in them with her words.

The woman pulled at her shirt, hissing in her ear, "We got away, make sure that you emphasize that point when you speak next."

"Sure." Rain shot her a smile. "I'm sorry I'm not as practiced in lying as you are."

"Tsk."

Rain smirked at the disturbed woman. She should probably be more worried, but there was little danger to her from these people. None of these bandits were a match for her in a fight or in a debate.

After the underground road, they took one more right turn and arrived at a seedy underground shop. Following them confidently in, Rain froze as she felt the presence of more people in here.

"Who is here?"

To Rain's question, the man waved at a wall, "just some real hostages. Do not concern yourself with them. They will be used to ensure that the guild signs our trade into being."

"I… see." That complicates things. They were not all Rain sensed, however. "There is someone else."

"There is no one else." Arthur snapped. "This is our secret hideout. I will now call our conspirators to—"

"We are already here," a deep masculine voice spoke out.

I'm in danger.

Three cloaked figures that Rain had not been able to see seemed to appear in the darkness of the room. Instantly, the nearly twenty-meter-wide space began to feel incredibly tight.

"Huh? But I thought—"

"Who did you bring back with you?" The cloaked figure ran over the man's objections and confusion. "This is…"

"A Hestia familia member!" Marco barked out, eager to please. "Can you believe that? Infinite Blade herself joining our cause!"

"Oh, did she?" The cloaked leader asked, voice filled with a teasing cadence. "What a surprise."

He's going to call me on it. He doesn't believe me. This villain gave the impression of true evil. There was such an aura of sadism around him that Rain instantly knew that this was the one that manipulated the bandit leader into his horrendous plan.

This would be the time of the backstab. Placing a hand surreptitiously on one of her sheathed blades, she tensed her body, preparing to escape.

"W-Well, anyway, she is my subordinate, so don't even think about recruiting her!"

"I would never dare" the cloaked man dissuaded the leader's concerns with a wave of his hand. "Anyway, let us do the exchange. Hand over the valuables from the safe."

"Ahh, I'll begin divvying them up. It will only take a moment."

"No. We will be taking all of them. After this the rest is your responsibility to get payment from the guild."

The leader growled threateningly. "Don't think you can—"

"Johnny."

"Hehehe."

Rain almost missed the small glint of a needle flashing in the light. Next thing she knew, the leader was grunting and staggering away from the trio, clutching his right forearm.

As he straightned up, he had a needle in his left hand. "The hell is this!?"

"A poison needle," the cloaked man spoke confidently even as the bandits began drawing weapons, pointing guns at the trio. From within his cloack, the leader brought forth a round-bottomed flask. "This is the only antidote to the poison in existence. Shoot us and it will be break uselessly against the floor, leaving you to die."

"No one move!" Arthur roared. "You bastard… Fine. I'm sure the guild will pay up shortly. Now take the bag and leave."

"You are a wise one, Arthur. Always knew you wouldn't disappoint us."

"Right, Now hand over—"

With a sharp whip-like motion of his arm, the cloaked man threw the round-bottom flask hard. It whipped straight past the bandits who barely had time to recognize it.

Reacting to the throw, Rain reached out high with her right hand, catching it as the glass slapped solidly against her gloved hand.

!?

Even as she made the catch of the flask, there were two shadows flanking her. Drawing her left blade with one motion, she tried to deflect a stab from a needle-thin blade with the side of her own.

With a soft cling, the edge of the blade skirted off and promptly cut through the edge of her suit and sliced her back.

Wincing against the pain, Rain's eyes flicked to her right where the other shadow was approaching, knife drawn.

"Catch!" Releasing the flask with a soft toss, Rain tried to grab her second blade.

Too slow!

Trapped between her two assailants, Rain felt the chill of approaching death. Kicking off the ground, Rain broke away from the attack at the cost of hitting her head on the ceiling. With a sharp crack, her vision went briefly blurry from the pain and shock.

"Shit, I missed!" The dagger user whined in a high voice.

"Idiot, I set you up perfectly."

It was only as she was landing did the rest of the bandits begin to react. Nervous movements and confused wide-eyed stares failing to follow the high-level movements.

Thankfully Arthur was paying enough attention to catch the second toss of the flask. Pulling out the stopper he downed the entire flask as Rain backpedaled further, both swords in her hands now.

"What now, PoH?"

"Pull back, we got the treasure we wanted."

PoH!? "It's you three," Rain whispered. "The one's Leafa and Silica fought off."

"Tsk, tell them that we have a slow, painful death planned for them."

Rain felt an incredible surge of anger at the men before her. "I won't give you the chance." Perhaps being stupid, Rain took a step forward.

Her actions were pointless as all three fled deep into the building. Containing her rage, Rain sheathed her swords with a sharp click. As she did, the pain from the cut and her head flooded back in.

Wishing that she had a potion on her, Rain touched the cut, hoping the small trickle of blood would clot soon. All things considered, she was lucky to have escaped from this intact.

"…Thank you." Arthur's deep voice resonated. "Without your quick actions, I would be dying right now."

"…No problem." Rain eventually answered, feeling the lie sit bitterly in her mouth. This group of men and woman would almost certainly be caught in the next few hours and dealt with cruelly. More so since the guild would not be recovering the stolen valuables from the vault.

"E-Everyone else, your reactions were horrible! No one else reacted properly to their attacks!"

They were tough words supposed to focus the group, but the truth had been shoved in their faces. Rain could have slaughtered them all at the bank before they had a chance to react if she had wanted.

"Anyway," Rain spoke up, "shouldn't we be getting a move on?"

"A move…? Where to?"

"This is… your hideout?" Rain looked around at the mats piled in one corner, the burned-down candles. She could even hear the scuttling of rats in the walls.

"We will upgrade after our payday." Arthur answered, sounding embarrassed. "After all, it was hard enough to win this location from the squatters that were here before."

"Yeah, that one cat woman merced Gregory. What a bitch."

You lost people fighting squatters!? Every single thing that she heard made the bandits more pathetic. There was only one thing that didn't line up with that…

"So where did you get the guns? Also, how on earth did you struggle with them?"

The embarrassed silence was answer enough. "They're fake!" Rain accused them. "You have one, maybe two working ones and the rest are fake!"

"Haha, I guess we aren't exactly the awesome revolutionary force you thought we were," Marco laughed, scratching his head in embarrassment. The same endearing tic in Kirito made Rain want to cave his face in.

Just as she was able to yell at the group of idiots, Rain heard a sound from the other room. The place the hostages were being kept. The sound of a lock opening.

That makes things easier.

Helping the hostages escape by not being here, Rain pointed at the back, "I'm going to track those three. Good luck negotiating."

"Huh? Wait? How are you going to find your way back?"

"I'll manage!" Rain waved and disappeared from the hideout.

Silica:

"These are… the professional burglars?"

Philia flushed from Silica's rather pointed question.

Hiding on one of the rooftops of Daedalus Street, they looked down on the group of bandits leaving the hideout with a piece of paper proudly raised above them.

"Rain isn't with them," Shakmi said. "I'll confront the leaders, you 'rescue' her."

"Got it," Silica said in unison with Philia. Sharing a nod, they descended from the roof in unison. The old brick wall was rough on Silica's hand, giving her plenty of friction to allow her to control her speed. It produced more noise than Philia's wall-hopping but neither of them alerted the thieves that had turned a corner.

Landing on the cobblestones that were in a continual cycle of degrading and being replaced, Silica took off down the corridor that they had come from. One of the Ganesha members had reported back about a commotion in a building that the thieves had emerged from.

Descending into an under street, Silica locked onto the home that she was sure was their base. Philia was, if possible, more focused. Even as Silica slowed down to further hide her presence, Pina likewise not making a noise, Philia continued on unabashed.

In the moments before she reached the door, it burst open, a man in ragged adventuring gear stumbling out of the house, thieves on his back. They turned the other direction and were in pursuit without once looking back.

Philia, with a decisive action, pulled the final thief by the back of his robe and tossed him against the side of the house. Knife to his throat, she growled. "Is Rain inside?"

To the man's credit, he showed a touch of bravado by smirking. "S-She's with us now!"

Pushing the knife tighter, Philia growled even deeper. "Is. She. There?"

"Eek, no! She left to chase the backstabbers out of some back entrance!"

"…That back entrance is straight through your hideout, is it not?"

"M-Maybe? I haven't seen it."

Jerking her knife away from his throat, Philia rammed it against his temple. Even before his eyes finished rolling back into his head and he sandbagged to the ground, Philia was turning to Silica. "I'm going to get that foolish girl back. Do something about the thieves."

"D-Do something about…!?"

Silica had no time to complain as Philia was already in the hideout through the front door. Doing her best to stay on her heels, Silica froze as she saw Philia carve a path through the thieves. She had no mercy for anything in her way. Silica had no way to confirm that the shapes that went flying were even still alive.

"Save me, please!" Distracted by the feminine voice, Silica tore her eyes from Philia who has already through the dank room to the owner of that out-of-place voice.

It was a falsetto of a woman oozing damsel-in-distress vibes. At the same time, there was a subtle hint of mockery, or perhaps simple humor there.

Finding her was easy. She was the only person in the room with somewhat clean clothes and hair. Wearing a red dress, the neckline cut low to accentuate her voluminous chest.

Why am I the only small one?

Briefly distressing over the body that she had little confidence in the appeal of, Silica gave an order. "Pina, heal her."

"Kyu!"

As the dragon took off, Silica threw herself at the thieves. Despite the guns in their holsters, the group she approached did not draw theirs.

Ducking under a wild slash from a greatsword that hit one of his friends, Silica tried to be a little gentler to these people than Philia was.

Kicking one in the stomach, Silica uppercut another one, getting an ominous cracking sound as reward for her actions.

"Retreat, retreat! They sent elite units after us! Pull back!"

So Naïve… Still Silica gave credit to the leader for her quick decision making. Silica almost felt bad for the kick she delivered to the woman's head a few moments later.

Seeing their leader go down, the scared and swarming bandits split and fled in all directions.

"Ah… Umm…" Head swerving, Silica started moving half a dozen times before reanalyzing distances. Her central location backfired dramatically as the room swiftly emptied.

Giving up, Silica let out a disappointed sigh as only two people were left conscious in the room. Going over to the woman, Silica offered her a hand.

"Hi, I'm Silica from Hestia familia. Are you alright?"

"Thank you for the timely rescue. If you were a handsome prince, I'd give you a kiss right now."

"Ahaha," Silica laughed as her hand was swallowed by the woman's. Pulling her up, Silica's eyes barely came to her breasts. She was taller than Kirito, taller than a lot of men.

"As you are not, I will settle for a simple introduction." Pulling her hand away, she curtsied politely, "I am Rosalia, a stranger to this world. It is nice to meet you, Silica."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Rosalia." Feeling like something momentous had just happened, Silica left the hideout to regroup with Ganesha Familia.

Philia:

Frantic pace long gone, she plodded along the tunnel slowly, feeling an unnatural presence to the air. She had almost missed the entrance, finding it only because of a stray, unnatural air current. Well, that and Rain's small bloody track that had ended there.

"Did Rain really come down here?" Philia felt very far from the hideout and the emotions that had been propelling her.

"I dropped my problems on Silica…"

Regretting her choices, Philia took a look back through the pitch-back alley. Even with her enhanced eyesight and level, there was simply no light for Philia to see by. Unlike the dungeon, the walls and roof did not emit any light in this manmade structure.

Logically, Philia knew that the total absence of light should make it impossible for her to see. Yet her feet instinctively moved over cracks and rubble on the floor. Taking a step over another piece, Philia found herself continuing down the passage.

She no longer expected to find Rain down here, but Philia was drawn on by the sense of adventure. The potential of undiscovered treasure. "Oh, treasure… How I wish the dungeon had proper treasure boxes…"

The sound of her voice was one of the few things keeping Philia sane. If she could not speak, or at least whisper to herself, she would have fled ages ago.

As she continued to walk, Philia ran a hand over the wall. It had the same old brick construction of Daedalus Street. It must have been made at the same time as it went under the street, adjacent to the sewer system.

Why make it though? There were dozens of possibilities. Secret tunnels for escaping, transporting goods, evading the guild. It was impossible to know without having a better idea of what the city was like at that time and the troubles that would lead someone to designing this underground tunnel.

As she was giving up on the train of thought, Philia's instincts notified her of a change in atmosphere. There was nothing that Philia could point to as to why she tensed up, only that something had changed.

Changing her gait to that of a stalk, she suppressed her presence and continued along, hand on her sword. As she entered battle mode, her speed actually ended up increasing.

Heart beating rapidly, a second rush of adrenaline reignited her blood that had just finished cooling off. Taking long, deep, yet crucially silent breaths, Philia became little more than a shadow as she progressed the hallway.

After about a minute, Philia's feet slowed. The tunnel that had sloped downwards for a bit was evening out and opening into a larger area. She could just make out the far end, with what seemed to be a pair of doors.

Sensing nothing living, Philia straightened up and walked towards it. "If only I could… See."

Getting an idea, she smiled at her own cleverness and began casting her magic. In moments, she finished the short cast, "Astral Eyes!"

In a rush, her vision was restored.

"Ahh, Ahh…" It was far from the first time that Philia had used her magic. She tried it out occasionally, but never once had she been this overwhelmed. From almost full blindness, a wall of light was shining before her, overwhelming her senses.

Falling to her knees, Philia covered her eyes with her hands to no avail, the image was burned into her mind, brought to her by her magic that she had not shut off.

Slowly, over the course of a long minute, she calmed herself and managed to gaze up once more at the sight before her. Never before had Philia sensed such a collection of power amassed into one place.

Set into the rock wall that was dull and barely glimmering with magical energy was completely overshadowed by the massive metal door. It was forged from a singular type of metal with intricate murals embossed onto it. At the top, Philia could sense a magical item that went to some sort of mechanism.

A way to open it?

She did not know, nor could she focus on it at the moment. Staggering to her feet, Philia stumbled over to the door and began to caress it.

"Is this adamantite?" Philia was not sure, but it didn't seem right. This solid, unwavering wall of energy was something different, something harder.

"Could it be… Orichalcum?" She had heard that it was the rarest metal in the world. While it did not have the same destructive potential of pure adamantite, it could be used to create weapons that did not break. Or apparently doors.

Flashing through Philia's memories was Ais' blade, Desperate. It was the only piece of the rumored metal that she had ever set her eyes on.

"Until now…" Giggling, Philia felt like she was on the verge of another breakdown. The sheer absurdity of what she was seeing made her wonder if maybe the bandits had shot her in the head, and she was trapped in an odd purgatory.

Hsss…

Freezing, Philia expanded her senses, turning away from the door. She had confirmed there was nothing living in here, so what could…?

From the roof, a knot of magical energy began to move and uncoil. Tracing the lines, Philia formed the outline of the creature. Three heads with flower-like manes and thick, flowing necks.

As the heads untangled further, Philia realized that they were three different creatures. She had never heard of a monster like this weird snake thing. More importantly, Philia almost dropped her sword as her Astral eyes identified the anomaly that had hidden it from her previous assessment.

"There's no magic stone…" The magic energy did not converge and pulse from a central point. Instead, there was only a continual swirling through its body. Its skin seemed to possess a hardness to it that would resist blunt attacks.

"Hisaaa!"

Letting out an animalistic noise, the creature lunged. Dodging to the side, Philia's battle instincts went into overdrive.

She was as fast as the creature, but not faster. That made it a three-on-one against monsters that are her equal. Eyeing the exit, Philia saw that the other two were staying back and guarding against her potential flight.

"Guess I have to fight…" Stalking sideways, Philia swiped at the creature which recoiled. Despite the lack of light, the creature seemed able to sense her.

Well of course it can, it would be useless here if it couldn't see.

Berating herself, Philia jockeyed with the creature that seemed reluctant to lunge all out again. The two at the back were still hissing, but neither approached.

Seeing that, Philia made more aggressive motions, her blade cutting slightly into its face, but not landing any hit that did decisive damage.

"HSS!"

Letting out an angry sound, the monster coiled back, energy coalescing. The moment the energy peaked, Philia rolled to the side. The monster's body shooting past her in an instant.

Yes! Letting out an internal exclamation, Philia came up hard with her sword. The monster's dense body briefly resisted and then parted under the cutting edge.

The slash was did not cut deep enough to reach the core of the body, but the slash still managed to leave a huge rent.

"HISAAA!" Roaring in pain, the monster reeled back. Its thrashing body filling the corridor ahead as it continued to scream.

"Kisa!"

With a sharp cry, the other two lunged forward, seeking revenge for their companion.

Tracking the movement of magical energy through their bodies, Philia froze as she identified the problem. There was no way out. The two flower-snakes were offset slightly, preparing for her dodge and escape attempt.

"Ahh, screw it!" Yelling, Philia pulled out a knife from her waist with her left hand, threw it at one snake and ran straight at the other.

As it opened its mouth to eat her, Philia jumped. Her feet just cleared the gaping jaws, her free hand grasping for a handhold. On the verge of falling off, Philia found one. Using the sudden possibility, she jerked as hard as she could, ramming her short sword into the beast. With the limited power behind the blow, the blade only sunk fifteen centimeters in or so.

"HIZA!" Letting out a feral, agonized scream, the snake began to jerk under her. Hanging on for her life, Philia quickly lost track of down as the creature seized, making desperate motions to dislodge her.

As her body flailed through the air, attached only by her blade, Philia had the unnerving realization that it was stuck.

Ah, this is the stupidest death ever… It was like some stupid bucking bull from a western. As her mind was losing its sanity, a soft shick came from the blade.

"Ehh?" Despite maintaining her grip on the hilt, Philia was airborne. For longer than should have been possible she soared before crashing heavily and rolling. Vision doubling, the blue shapes of the snakes were no more than a fuzzy blur that stretched into infinity.

Groaning, Philia placed a hard against the ground and forced her mind to recalibrate. Thankfully, the status that propelled her and made her resistant to poisons and other kinds of damage, helped out again. Far faster than a normal person would have, Philia got her bearings as she stood back up.

Thankfully, the monster had tossed her back down the tunnel. From what she could tell, the one she had sliced through was currently dying and the second one was still struggling to get its bearings from having a blade inside its upper neck.

Only the last one was able to track and pursue her. Taking one last look at the creature and the door beyond, Philia turned around and began sprinting down the corridor.

Rain, where did you go!?

After only a few minutes at max speed Philia face planted into the secret underground door. The decrepit wooden thing bursting apart like an over-filled balloon. Right on the other side of the door was a figure that Philia crashed into.

The short sword still in her right hand came up instinctively, Philia stopping just short of ramming it into the figure's neck.

"My my, this is even rougher than how you greeted me when I called out to you after Kayaba left us in the arena."

"Rain!" Throwing the blade away, Philia hugged unto Rain's body. "Where did you go? I followed your blood and then-!"

Unable to finish the statement, Philia sniffed into her chest. With her left hand, she beat uselessly against her.

"Ah, sorry about that." Rain apologized, pulling her tight. "I'm sorry I left you alone. You've been worrying all day, haven't you?"

"Of course I have! One mistake and you'd get a bullet in your head!"

"Ah, my poor Philia," Rain stroked her head sympathetically. "To answer your question, I was going to follow the real thieves down there but when I opened that wooden door you so neatly destroyed, PoH was standing there with the blue statue that Anvil Hands took from the vault. I feel like I ran away from something… When I came to, I was somewhere different. I hurried back to the door and just arrived when you came bursting out."

Philia pulled away, blinking in confusion. "What? PoH? A blue statue? Anvil Hands?"

"Ahaha, I'll explain as we walk. I assume there was nothing at the end of the tunnel? Just branches and resurfaces?"

Getting pulled up by Rain, Philia shook her head. "No, it goes somewhere. There was a large door and…"

"HSS!"

"Watch out!" Whirling, Philia spun to the opening where a large monster was not slithering out off.

It followed me?

Her surprise at getting tracked however was quickly surpassed by the appearance of the snake creature. For there were no animal aspects to it at all. That plant-like mane was exactly that, a plant. A ring of flower petals surrounding a green vine. The mouth was a creepy hole with six or seven mandibles that peeled away to reveal an acid-dripping death.

"Yikes!" Rain yelped. "What is that!?"

"No idea, kill first, ask later." Philia responded. They were still underground; only faint rays of light were creeping in through loose boards of the roof above.

Rushing forward, Philia picked her blade off the ground and swung at the plant-flesh body with her knife, trying to draw its attention. Rain, of course, was able to read Philia's intentions and instantly jumped back, drawing her swords and assuming a stance from which she can cast her magic.

"Dance.

Blades of fire, Blades of Ice,

Obey your mistress and dance."

The reaction of the monster was instant. Its head flung away from Philia, focusing on Rain and its mouth gaped expectantly.

"HISAAA!"

Philia needed to give Rain no warning. Her red-haired friend had already cancelled her magic, jumping away from the heavy strike.

Tsking in annoyance at being ignored, Philia drove her blade into the tail-end of the creature drawing a strange green blood that looked to belong to a plant and not a monster.

As it whirled back to look at Philia, Rain struck at it as well. "Holy hell this thing is hard!"

"Hey look, you managed to keep it English," Philia teased as she took another step back, the monster now trapped between them.

"Хуй тебе!" Rain called back, sticking out her tongue.

The fun exchange calmed Philia's racing heart. As they surrounded the now-injured creature, it was clear they had the upper hand.

"HISA!" Crying out, the monster decided on Philia and rushed towards her.

No, not me, the door!

Gritting her teeth, Philia roared and swung. From top to bottom, she timed her swing to hit the muzzle of the beast as it tried to run straight through her.

"Philia!"

"Guh!" Getting pushed back, Philia kept the pressure on the knife. It had cut through part, but not enough. "Go… through!"

With one last jerk, Philia pulled her knife through its head, splitting it neatly down the center. The remains of the monster flailed for a moment and then stopped in a convulsed position and exploded.

Getting coated in ash, Philia hacked as the substance got in her lungs. Stumbling through the strange phenomenon, a soft click almost eluded her notice.

Relying on her instincts, Philia found the sound and her hand closed on a hard stone.

A magic stone? But I…?

Philia was even more confused now. Stumbling from the cloud of ash that was slowly dispersing, she was caught by Rain.

"Nice one. Risky, but I guess it worked out. Should we ask Kirito to massage your sore chest?"

"It doesn't hurt." Even as Philia denied Rain's claim, she felt that first slow twinge suggesting there was more damage than she had expected. Looking down, she understood why Rain said what she had. The impact with the monster had ripped away most of the street clothes that had once covered her.

"Ahh, damn it." Crossing her arms over her chest, Philia looked pleadingly at her friend. "Can you…?

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be right back." Halting as she was jogging out of the room, Rain looked back and gave Philia a wide smile. "Thanks for looking for me. Next time, we go together."

"Ah, we better or you will pay!" Waving goodbye to Rain for now, Philia looked at the magic stone in her hand. The thing she could not sense with her magic. It was a deep orange colour completely different from all of the purple ones that she had seen in the dungeon.

Rubbing her forehead, Philia felt a headache coming on as the pain in her chest continued to ramp up. "What the hell did we stumble into this time?"

Bell:

"Lili's going to kill me…"

Grumbling, Bell limped out of Rivera, magic stone pouch completely empty. All of his hunting on the way down and the days that he had spent here had been negated. It wasn't just that though, Bell had to hand over a familia token and sign for a ridiculous sum to procure a room while he recovered.

As he finished descending the bluffs, Bell took one final look back at Rivera and glared at it. Then, with a defeated sigh, he staggered away. Even now as he walked under the blazing light of the fully illuminated crystals, Bell did not know if the 'training' had been worth it. Every interaction with Lefiya had been awkward.

There was something about the elf that made it hard for Bell to concentrate in a fight against her. Which, in turn, had upset the elf until she started firing off spells with the intent to injure, which had motivated Bell to kick her leg and…

Moaning, Bell covered his face with a hand. He had yelled at her. Never before had he expressed such emotion to a woman. When she had yelled back, Bell's vision had gone red, their sparring descending into a full-on brawl.

Bell had only heard of sibling brawls, but it was very much what he imagined. "I hope she got back alright…"

Looking up, Bell realized that Lefiya may already be back in the dungeon with the Loki expedition.

"Maybe I can, no. I'll just have to find her when they get back."

Remembering the deep floors and the mystery and horror within, Bell felt a sense of worry and dread. Stay safe.

Fervent wish finished, Bell was finally able to put the powerful elf from his mind as his body got used to walking and moving again. It was probably the longest time he had spent recovering due to a complete lack of healing potions and Lefiya needing to run away with the little mind she had left to reach the surface.

Breaking through the thick forest, Bell began to reach the northern rim where the entrance to the seventeenth lay. Hoping that the Goliath was still dead, Bell limped up the dirt road that was the final obstacle on this floor.

As he reached the peak, Bell noticed a group emerging from the Seventeenth. Every second, more and more members spilled out. It went beyond even the largest parties Bell had seen.

There was only one answer: "The Loki expedition…" Gasping, Bell's feet came to an uncomfortable halt about fifty meters away.

Obviously, any movement from such a close distance had garnered the expedition's attention. Bell quickly realized however, that his stopping had done more than that. It was suspicious behaviour prompting the leaders to approach.

At their front was the golden-haired prum of legend. A maestro of acumen and battlefield tactics. His suggestions and help had been involved in shaping his parents' battleplan at The Valley of Dragons.

"Finn Deimne, The Braver."

Bell's quiet whispered words clearly reached their ears as the figures chuckled quietly. As Finn got within ten meters, he called back. "You are Bell Cranell, correct?"

"Y-Yes sir!" Stuttering, Bell could not help but steal glances at the elf behind Finn's shoulder. She had such beauty that she could easily stride among a room of goddesses and hold her head high. The line of suitors after her must be enormous.

As is the pile of corpses from those that have tried…

Bell had heard stories growing up about the things elves did to the men who dared try to take the hand of the Queen of the Elves. A high elf of royal lineage, Riveria Llos Alf, Nine Hell, was probably the strongest magic user alive.

With her long flowing green hair, the shade of freshly budding leaves and eyes of pure crystal, Bell thought he understood those men. When she flashed him a smug smile at his utter shock, Bell started wondering if maybe those dead men were righteous in their pursuit.

"Ehh, is he important?" A bored voice asked.

Looking over at the third member, Bell saw an amazon that he didn't know. She was likely part of the second wave of Loki adventurers like Ais. Her amazon outfit revealed a lot of skin, but unlike someone like Aisha, there was no blatant sexuality in her bearing or movements.

"I'll turn her question to you," Finn redirected the question. "Are you important, Bell?"

"N—" The word died before Bell could fully speak it. He wanted to deny it, but he could not say so. Caught in a quandary, Bell said the next thing that came to mind. "I want to be."

Finn laughed loudly at that. "A man after my own heart. Say, where are you going in the dead of the night? Do you want a place to bed down for the night? We likely have an extra bedroll."

"Dead of night?" Bell could not contain the rude sounding words. Glancing up at the central crystal, he sent a confused look at the Prum. What do you mean?"

"No one told you?" Finn raised an eyebrow. Riveria covered her mouth to conceal a snicker while the amazon rolled her eyes and walked away. "The cycle of the crystal's light is only around eighteen hours. It is right around ten at night on the surface."

"I-It is!?" Then Bell had another revelation. "The innkeeper ripped me off! No wonder he sounded so smug as I departed…"

Finn clapped him on the shoulder. "Part of being an adventurer. Learn from mistakes and improve."

"Y-Yes sir!" Learning from the seasoned veteran adventurer was both amazing and humiliating at the same time. On the verge of taking him up on his offer, Bell caught sight of a group approaching.

Composed entirely of females, it had an elf front and center with a human on one side, two cat girls on the other and a second elf hiding behind the human.

"A-Ahh, h-hello, Asuna, Astrid, Anikitty, Ais, and umm…. L-Lefiya."

"That's a lot of A's," Astrid noted.

"Never mind that," Anikitty whined, crossing her arms. "We went to the deep floors together and you can't call me Aki?"

"S-Sorry," Apologizing, Bell was struggling to look away from Ais and the elf hiding behind her.

At least Lefiya feels as awkward as I am.

"Why are you still down here?" Asuna asked with a gentle smile.

While the distraction from the looming demons in his thoughts of Ais and Lefiya should be a blessing, Asuna was little better. The sight of her just brought back the bad memories of the final dinner of the expedition and sitting and eating quietly while the rest of Kirito's girlfriends ate in enraged silence.

Perhaps reading Bell's thoughts in his reddening cheeks, Asuna coughed and stepped back. "N-Never mind."

With his awkwardness, Bell had effectively killed the conversation. He did not really know the cat sisters who were sharing strange looks. Also, the two leaders were still watching on with raised eyebrows and if Bell did not mistake it, Finn had sent a brief glare in Ais' direction.

"I'm sorry!" The shouted words into the silent shocked Bell's gaze back around to the elf he had trying to ignore. Lefiya was bent double, face pointed to the ground, loose hair strands hanging around her in brilliant streams of flowing sunlight.

"Eh?"

Lefiya kept going, ignoring his confusion. "I shouldn't have used so much magic on you. Honestly, there was just something kind of annoying about you so I went harder than I should have. Then again, that kick was uncalled for, and your magic really hurts as well so…"

"L-Lefiya!?" Bell's face went scarlet. That was supposed to be secret.

Her back jerked into unnatural stillness. Then, without raising her head, she rotated ninety degrees, and ran away.

"W-Well, thank you for the offer but I'm going back to my familia. Bye!"

Giving them an awkward wave in the midst of poorly controlled snickers, Bell tried to flee for the seventeenth floor.

As he hurried past, an iron-like hand on his arm stopped him. Looking up, Bell was surprised to see Ais. The blond swordsmen was right next to him, a soft smile on her face.

"You are… trying to get… stronger?"

"Y-Yes, I am."

"That is… good." Saying nothing more, she released his arm and nodded in farewell.

Overwhelmed with odd confusing emotions, Bell ran away. He needed time to cool down. From the leaders to a reunion with the girls, it was too much for his teenage mind to comprehend. As he ran away, Bell wondered if it was possible to overdose on beauty, or maybe it was simply catalyzed by his own awkwardness.

"Ah well, at least its behind me… Lili would hit me if she had seen that…"

Contemplating that, Bell wondered why his back felt warm. It wasn't the first time, but it was a strange time. Feeling at it, Bell found it emanating from his luck slot.

Climbing up to the seventeenth floor, Bell was quickly forgetting about the girls. This was unprecedented for his status to heat up outside of battle. Plus, it was not burning, but a low warmth.

"Seriously, why would I need luck?"

Turning another corner, Bell figured out immediately why he would need luck. "Lyu…"

There they were, the four Astraea familia girls standing at the entrance to the tunnel, waiting to progress to the eighteenth.

"Mr. Cranell."

As she greeted him calmly, the other three's smiles turned predatory. Luck would not be enough.

Kirito:

"Taken hostage…" Growling, Kirito's hand twitched toward the blade he had slung on his back. He had a strong desire to draw it and start swinging.

Instead, he glared toward the blue-haired woman that was running in front of him, showing him the way. It was only complete chance that he had overheard her conversation in the first place. At least she hadn't hidden it once she realized he had heard.

"She will be fine," Shakti assured him, turning back to look at him.

Staring into her blue eyes, Kirito released that despite knowing her sister, he did not know this woman. There was a sense of rigidity to this woman that Shakmi had never shown in their encounters.

"You don't know that," Kirito countered. "You don't know guns. If they had a whole bunch of them then the thieves are related to PoH. That man has a vendetta against my familia."

Shakti nodded reluctantly. "I am sorry, but we are very late already. The outcome of the raid against the thieves should already be decided. You were simply too far away."

Growling again, Kirito could not stop himself from running a finger along the hilt of his blade. "It's Daedalus Street, right?" Speeding up, Kirito eyed the nearby roofs as a shortcut to get there.

"Didn't you hear me?" Shakti answered with a sigh. "Everything has been decided and—"

Kirito had heard enough. Speeding up, he leapt unto the nearby roofs with one large leap. The superhuman abilities of his body now felt natural to him and he utilized those abilities to the maximum.

Crossing over to the next street, Kirito felt the wind whipping through he's coat as he got a new perspective on the city. They were quickly closing in on their destination.

Thump!

It was soft, but Kirito just caught the sound of the Ganesha familia captain landing beside him. Glancing over he could tell that the blue-haired beauty was upset on top of still having more power remaining.

"You didn't have to come…" Kirito mumbled, feeling a little abashed. That feeling was quickly quashed as he remembered that Rain was kidnapped by a group with guns.

"…If it was one of my sisters… Well, I apologize."

Nodding in mutual understanding, Kirito let silence reign as they finished their journey.

Near the entrance to Daedalus Street, they caught sight of another head of blue hair. Heading towards them, Kirito came to a nervous stop as waited for an explanation.

Three people were on the ground, hands tied behind their backs, while Shakmi stood over them talking to some subordinates.

"Kirito… You heard?"

"I did, where is she?"

Shakmi looked briefly shocked at the poorly suppressed bloodlust in his voice. However, she quickly composed herself. "I am still unsure. I was getting a testimonial from these three. They have a 'contract' here signed by Rain giving them permission to take the things from the vault. They now want us to pay them for the return of what they took."

Kirito blinked. "I don't care about the idiot thieves. Where is Rain!?"

"I don't know!" She snapped back. "Philia and Silica raided their headquarters. I have yet to head over and—"

Kirito did not listen further. Jumping off the ground, he landed on the side of a wall to push himself over the massive three-story building beyond which the deeper sections of Daedalus Street lay.

From that vantage point, Kirito looked. Restraining the nervous energy that begged him to continue moving, continue searching, Kirito perused the street.

Normal, normal, normal. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Even the fight between rival gangs was to be expected in this region.

"Come on… There was to be…" And then he saw it. A man running away from others with a limping gait. That in of itself was not unique, but in the low, magic lantern light that filled the bustling nighttime streets was the outline of a gun in the pursuer's hand.

Silent as a wraith, Kirito moved, his black cloak fluttering out behind him. A few jumps later and he landed right above the fleeing man.

Instantly, the man reacted, head turning rapidly to stare at Kirito.

Strong.

It should have taken a high-level adventurer to notice him.

"H-help me please!" He cried out. "These bandits are chasing me!"

Instantly, Kirito disliked the voice. It was whiny and scared, but in a very forced way. It almost sounded like he was telling a joke that Kirito did not understand.

"Sure, get to safety." Leaping off the low building, Kirito landed right in front of the two pursuers, only one with a gun. The other had one, but it was still in holster, the man instead using a knife.

"I-It's The Black Knight!"

"Ah, it is, now tell me where Rain is." Drawing his sword Kirito took a step toward the man. As he did, the man closed his eyes and tightened his fingers.

With battle-honed instincts, Kirito rotated his sword, tracked the line, and placed the blade in the way.

BANG! With a sound like a hundred thunderclaps, the gun went off, leaving Kirito with only the softest touch against his sword.

Huh, that was a little anticlimactic. Lowering the sword from the guard, Kirito stepped forward again. "Rain, where is she?"

"The bullet… you… you blocked it…"

Kirito caught the man with his free left hand before he sunk to the ground in defeat. His partner turning tail and fleeing.

"Where. Is. Rain?" Ramming his sword against the man's neck, Kirito was interrupted by a cough from behind.

"Whoa, thanks for helping me out, dude! As for Rain… that's the red-haired chick yeah? I was in a different room, but I'm pretty sure she chased after the guys that stole the haul from these guys."

"The guys who… what?" Keeping a hold on the collar, Kirito turned to address the man who had spoken. Looking him up and down, Kirito was slightly surprised by how young her was. Likely only a year or two older than himself.

With a bright and open smile, he approached Kirito, hand raised for a shake. "The name is Morte. In return for saving my life please think of me as your… vassal, yeah, that's a good word. I'll help with whatever I can."

Sheathing his sword, Kirito took the hand, responding with his own name. Lifting the blubbering thief, Kirito tossed him against the wall to render him unconscious.

"I don't need a vassal or whatever. If you can lead me to this headquarters, I'll be in your debt."

Morte's smile broadened if that was possible. "Then to the headquarters we go."