When they returned to the city surface.
Isagi never expected that they would be chased by the guards of the Ganesha Familia for a while.
It was probably because a god had just been sent back in the Dungeon, and immediately after, only he and the Elf girl came out, dressed like ninjas. It was simply too suspicious.
Fortunately, Ryuu-senpai seemed very experienced. Grabbing him, she instantly vanished into the alleyways of the city under the night sky.
He once again felt the speed of [Gale].
The surrounding scenery shifted rapidly, turning into blurred lines. Finally, when Ryuu stopped—
"Ouch!"
Clearly, she wasn't used to running while carrying another person.
So, his Familia senior's "brakes" failed, causing the two of them to roll into a ball in the pitch-black corner of the alley.
Ugh!
The Elf girl looked quite slender, but she felt so soft. Is that how all girls are?
Isagi quickly climbed up from his Familia senior's body.
By the faint glimmer of the stars and moon, he could see the Elf girl's rather cramped and somewhat flustered appearance. From the moment they were in the Dungeon until now, Ryuu-senpai had been acting quite cute. Compared to when they first met, it was truly a world of difference.
Isagi had pretty much figured it out.
The Elf girl was cold on the outside but warm on the inside. At first glance, she seemed distant, but in reality, once you got to know her, she became a somewhat clingy and adorable person.
"Isagi, we are now..."
Her heart was in turmoil.
As if wanting to change the subject, Ryuu silently stood up from the ground, pretending that nothing had happened just now.
Although it was late at night, the city was somewhat lively.
The long streets were full of Ganesha Familia guards running back and forth, as well as gods coming out to watch the excitement, and confused city residents, among others...
Can we still go to the Dungeon like this?!
Of course, there was no problem, because the Ganesha Familia's primary objective right now was to figure out exactly which god had been swallowed by the Dungeon.
So they would definitely go to verify the situation of the gods in various Familias in the city first.
On the Dungeon side, there wouldn't be anyone guarding it instead. Moreover, the excitement would only last for a while. After a bit, when everyone realized there was no follow-up, they would definitely go back to sleep.
[That makes so much sense!]
Ryuu nodded, and then, under Isagi's beckoning, they walked toward the North Main Street, to the base of the Loki Familia, the Twilight Manor.
Isagi thought to strike while the iron was hot and go see tonight what kind of "BOSS" the Divine Wine would summon in the Dungeon.
But to be safe, besides Ryuu-senpai, they definitely needed to find another helper.
Who Isagi thought of was, of course, Miss Ais of the Loki Familia.
She had already leveled up to Lv.5 and was a very powerful adventurer herself. Most importantly, Tiona had mentioned before that Ais really wanted to team up with him.
It was just that her level was too high, so it wasn't convenient for her to adventure together at that time.
Doesn't this work out perfectly now...
Soon.
Isagi and Ryuu arrived outside the Twilight Manor.
The base of one of the city's strongest Familias, occupying a vast area, was now silent.
Isagi had heard Tiona and Alicia say that Loki had previously taken most of the Familia members to the port city to investigate the man-eating flower monsters that he and Ryuu had encountered.
So there weren't many people in the Twilight Manor right now.
However, Ais was there. Isagi remembered the Amazon girl explicitly saying that the Sword Princess had stayed in the city and didn't go to the port city.
But even so.
Standing outside the towering manor, Ryuu couldn't help but wonder: are they really going to call a girl out in the middle of the night?
That sounds too strange, doesn't it?!
Calling a girl out of her home in the middle of the night or something, no matter how you look at it, it's weird, hey!!
Are Isagi and Ais that close?
Come to think of it.
Ryuu couldn't help but think of the time she and Isagi went to Goddess Demeter's residence late at night last time.
That was so awkward back then!
And now...
Hmm.
Isagi was actually also thinking about how to call Ais out. Tiona should be asleep by now, and Alicia probably was too, right?
After coming out of the Dungeon with them earlier, the girls had gone back to rest. He had only found Miss Asfi and asked her to help notify Ryuu, while he took Goro to the farm outside the city to wait for his Familia senior to return from the port city.
Otherworlds are troublesome; if only there were mobile phones or something.
Just as Isagi was thinking this.
Suddenly.
A girl's cool and calm voice came from behind him.
"Um... Good evening. Are you looking for someone?"
"?!"
Isagi and Ryuu were both startled.
Looking back, they saw Ais, who seemed to have just walked out from the corner of the pitch-black alley across the street not far away.
For a moment, they were frozen in place.
What's the situation?
Why would Miss Sword Princess suddenly walk out from a place like that?!
And regarding this.
Ais blinked, not considering this issue at all—
"Okay!"
Although Riveria-mama had forbidden her from going to the Dungeon during this period.
But if it's just the Upper Floors, it doesn't matter, right?
Mainly, Isagi had said that he needed her power to deal with some potentially very powerful monster.
Upon hearing this.
The golden-haired girl's surging heart began to beat uncontrollably.
Originally, Ais had actually wanted to go find Isagi. That was why, shortly after leaving the Familia base, she spotted the boy and girl walking from the long street. She then secretly followed behind them all the way, finally discovering that they had actually come to the main gate of her own Familia base—
That's right!
Ais couldn't sleep either. So after Tiona returned and she learned that Isagi and the others had finished their adventure, she thought about going to Daedalus Street to see if the boy was asleep. If he wasn't asleep, she would gather her courage to go talk to him, and then, go train outside the city together!
If he was asleep, she would watch the boy from the "old place" until he woke up, and then ask him to go out for training!
Gather courage!
Ais thought that she absolutely had to do this.
Her mind was full of that exaggerated fighting style Isagi used during his battle with Goddess Astrea, something she had never seen before!!
The girl was not a "battle maniac"; she just wanted to become stronger, and then, take revenge on that "Final Darkness".
For that, she had to work harder!
The result.
To be able to fight a powerful monster, and then fight the boy afterward—this sudden arrival of goodness made Ais feel a bit dizzy.
Also, also—
"Miss Ais became an adventurer very early on, didn't you?"
"Yeah."
"So amazing, fighting monsters since you were a little girl..."
Isagi really thought so.
Calculating carefully, Tiona, Anya, and the others he knew all started being adventurers at a young age. It was simply ridiculous!
Is it really 'Lolis fighting monsters', huh!!
"It was okay."
"Did Miss Ais and Ryuu-senpai know each other, before?"
"Ah... I guess we knew each other..."
They really weren't close.
Ais and Ryuu could only say that. But, strictly speaking, the two had actually fought once during the [Great Feud] three years ago.
Of course, it was because of a misunderstanding.
For the Elf girl, it was even considered a "dark history" in a sense. Back then, the two were evenly matched and were both regarded as the future stars of the city.
As for later, Goddess Astrea had a good relationship with Loki, but of the two girls, one was an airhead who knew absolutely nothing about what "socializing" was, and the other was cold outside and warm inside, almost never taking the initiative to make friends.
Naturally, there was little interaction.
It was much the same now. Ais still didn't feel anything at all. While walking toward the Dungeon, she talked with the boy, thinking in her heart:
[So talking to boys is this simple?!]
[There's no difficulty at all!]
But in Ryuu's eyes, this was simply her Familia junior being considerate, constantly taking the initiative to find topics to chat with her!
Hmm?!
Stare—
The Elf girl watching from the side realized something was wrong!
Of course.
Now, the two of them were inviting her to go to the Dungeon to fight monsters together.
So logically speaking, Ais should be considered a "guest," so taking care of her a bit was no problem.
But isn't my Familia junior a little too good at getting along with girls, hmm?!
Ais, who usually spoke very little.
Under the boy's guidance of topics, her small mouth had already started going "blah blah blah," talking incessantly.
"The way to use the sword... I actually don't know very well either... It's all in dreams..."
"Dreaming?"
"Yeah, I have memories of my father swinging the sword..."
"What was it like?"
"Ah, probably like this..."
As she spoke, she even pulled out Desperate and began to demonstrate.
Ryuu remained silent, not knowing what to say.
If a goddess like Astrea were present at this moment, she would probably only lament: How did Isagi, this guy, so effortlessly hook Miss Sword Princess into a beaming chatterbox?!
Before long.
The three arrived at Central Park.
As Isagi expected, the Ganesha Familia had not continued to increase guards at the Dungeon entrance.
They were currently busy working with the Guild to investigate exactly which god had been swallowed by the Dungeon.
Therefore.
The boy and the girls entered the Dungeon very smoothly.
Isagi had a target and an idea long ago, so he quickly led Ryuu and Ais to the [Border Fortress] on the 4th Floor.
This time was mainly a test.
So for safety's sake, Isagi definitely wouldn't go to a place like the [Kingdom Core] and then use Divine Wine to stimulate the Dungeon.
What if he really brought out the "Infant Dragon" in its full state?
According to previous speculations, just the [Remnant Miracle] with only a head left should be around Lv.4, stronger than the Meat Cup Princess and the Lightless King.
And if it were in a complete state, it would be at least the peak of Lv.4 or Lv.5?
At least it was certain that it would be stronger than that [Golden Miracle] in the Colosseum, and possibly even stronger than the [Pale King]?
After all, the story of the Dungeon mentioned—
"The King and his strongest knight killed the Infant Dragon together."
Thinking about it this way.
Then even with Ais, it wasn't safe. After all, he was only Lv.3. If they really fought a Lv.5 level BOSS, what sense of participation could he have?!
That was why Isagi came here.
They walked into the pitch-black fortress, then took the elevator to the bottom of the large pit.
But this time Isagi didn't continue downward. Instead, he led the two girls through a cave on one side and arrived at an even more massive pit on the other side, which was covered in rotting plank roads.
Ryuu was still somewhat shocked by the buildings before her eyes.
But Ais was much better.
This reaction made the Elf girl feel a bit strange, and then, perhaps due to some inexplicable competitive spirit, the Elf girl also kept her pretty face taut, putting on an "indifferent" expression.
Thus.
Right at the bottom of this large pit where everything could be seen at a glance and there was nothing, Isagi took out Soma's Divine Wine from the cloak behind him and opened it.
"..."
Seemed useless? Could it not sense it?
Isagi blinked, then poured the Divine Wine onto the ground.
"!!!"
Now it sensed it, right?!
When the divine power contained within the Divine Wine tangibly landed on the surface of the Dungeon, everywhere, in all directions, began to vibrate violently!
The Dungeon really exhaled.
Ryuu almost subconsciously came to the boy's side. The Elf girl naturally thought that as a senior, she naturally had to protect her Familia junior well!
On the other hand.
Ais was actually somewhat familiar with the situation before her eyes and the "thing" that was about to arrive.
Because.
Many, many years ago, she had encountered a strange god in the Dungeon. Then, the other party released divine might, causing a pitch-black "Wyvern" to appear in the Dungeon even in the Upper Floors.
After killing it, she obtained the [Excelia] sufficient to upgrade to Lv.2.
Even until now, Ais didn't know who the other party was. In fact, before the [Great Feud], it was very normal for such things to happen.
Although the pitch-black monsters were called [God's Assassin].
But most of the time.
They were actually utilized by Dark Gods. They would deliberately release their divine might to summon powerful monsters, causing heavy casualties to the adventurers on the scene.
And the gods who caused all this would have long since run away laughing, without any loss at all.
[The Dungeon is so stupid.]
Ais had always thought so.
And now—
Something fell from the sky.
In the boundless darkness above the pit, suddenly, a massive darkness smashed down.
A Goblin clad in pitch-black armor, like a small steel fortress, held an iron hammer that was entwined with deep purple lightning.
And landing together with it.
There was also a huge Dungeon Lizard. Its surface scales displayed a completely pitch-black luster under the dim fluorescence, and within those deep purple eyes, along with the gaps between the scales, palpitating deep purple lightning always shone through.
"Huu—"
The Goblin who rode onto the lizard emitted a muffled sound. It didn't look particularly tall, yet it gave off a considerably heavy and immense pressure.
[Kingdom General · Gmorrs]
"?"
The moment the BOSS's name surfaced in his heart, Isagi twitched the corner of his mouth, thinking that his previous guess was indeed correct.
After combining with his skill.
The divine power that made the Dungeon exhale didn't attract a simple [God's Assassin], but an enhanced BOSS!
Damn it.
This isn't just a "rematch"!
Wasn't this guy an old man before? How come now, mount and rider included, they've all rejuvenated into their "Prime State"?!
___
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