The battle was over.
Of course, there were still more Amazons from Ishtar Familia left, but with Phryne, the strongest among them, having been utterly overwhelmed, what fighting spirit could they possibly have left?
The only choice left to them now was to stand silently and do nothing.
"Lefiya!"
"This voice... Ais?"
Meanwhile, Loki Familia took the chance to check on their injured comrades.
Seeing Lefiya, whose condition was the worst of them all, Ais bit her lip.
She blamed herself, thinking that her own inadequacy and weakness had caused a precious comrade to end up like this.
But what mattered right now was not such useless self-reproach.
What Lefiya needed immediately was, of course, urgent treatment and rest.
"My eyes... My eyes hurt so much, Ais."
"It's okay. Right now, just take a potion..."
Suppressing her anger at herself and her anxiety for the injured Lefiya, Ais turned hopeful eyes toward the nearby girl with glasses.
Her name was Line Arsche.
She was the only healer among the Loki Familia members present here.
So everyone's expectant gazes gathered on her.
"How is it, Line?"
"I'm sorry. It's beyond me."
But Line's reply was only a negative answer full of regret and sorrow.
At her weak, unbelievable answer, not only Ais but the comrades around her were forced to harden their expressions.
In response, Ais hurriedly asked again.
Was there really no other way?
"It's not just a simple injury?"
"I don't know. Not only my treatment, but even the potions I have are barely working. It seems like something similar to a curse. If it were Amid, maybe, but with my skill, there's just no way..."
"No way...!"
As Line answered tearfully and with difficulty, sighs of pity rose from the comrades around her.
As she said, if they could get to Amid of Dian Cecht Familia, there might be some other way.
But this was the port city of Melren.
It was not the labyrinth city of Orario where they usually stayed.
And Amid was currently in Orario.
So bringing her here was, of course, impossible.
Even so, no matter what, even if the fastest among them, Ais, took Lefiya and ran all the way to Orario, it would be far too late.
And Lefiya's eyes, if she did not receive treatment in time...
"Ais."
"...Bell?"
Then Bell stepped toward the confused Ais, who did not know what to do.
At times like this, it would be far better for a third party with a slightly more distant connection to step in instead.
"For now, let's move locations. We should go somewhere safer than here and look for another way..."
Bang!
"Gih, you filthy trash, I'll tear you all aparttttttt!"
But Bell did not get to finish.
And the source of that disruptive noise was none other than Phryne.
She, who had been thought to be completely flattened and driven off the field, had somehow gotten back up in her mangled state.
"Huff, huff...!"
"Phryne Jamil."
"To still be conscious after taking that much damage."
"Her toughness really is first-rate adventurer level."
Bell and Loki Familia, and even the Amazons on her own side, all looked at her with expressions that seemed sick of her filthy tenacity.
Well, whether the surrounding gazes were like that or not.
"I'll kill you... I'll kill you... I'll tear that ugly rag of a body to pieces and kill you all...!"
Phryne bared the rage and irritation boiling inside her without hiding a single bit of it, and glared murderously at Bell and Ais before her.
Just by her presence alone, she looked so ferocious and savage she seemed ready to kill even that "Menge" on the spot.
And yet, there was one person who dared to stop her.
"Hey, Phryne. Cut it out. It's about time we headed back."
"Geh, Aisha? You were hiding somewhere and only show up now to get in the way, you ugly thing!"
"Quit spouting nonsense, you damn toad. Our top priority is definitely not you. Remember that it's always 'that girl.'"
A tall, beautiful, and yet valiant Amazon warrior woman.
By attitude and by presence alike, she looked far more like the captain of Ishtar Familia than Phryne did.
But to Bell, none of that mattered much.
What mattered more was the familiar face of "that girl" being held captive in the Amazon's hand.
"Mikoto!"
"Little Rookie, was it? This girl's your comrade, right? While you were busy dealing with Phryne earlier, she bravely rushed us on her own, so I gave her a little lesson. Don't glare at me so openly, though. I handled her carefully enough to avoid any danger to her life."
"What do you want?"
"Not bad. Unlike before, you're pretty easy to talk to."
She met Bell's glare with a strange look, then wiped her lips with her tongue.
Under normal circumstances, Bell might have had some reaction to that sultry gesture, but this was no time for that.
She understood that perfectly well too, so she did not bother with any more pointless provocation.
What she had to do now was, naturally, negotiate.
"It's nothing special. I know it's not really something the side that started the ambush should say, but we'll hand this girl over quietly, so why don't we all just part ways and go our separate ways?"
"What did you say?!"
"How dare you...! After making Lefiya look like this, you think you can just say something so ridiculous!"
"It's not even worth listening to!"
The moment she finished speaking, of course, furious protests burst out from Loki Familia.
Ais beside Bell also silently placed a hand on her sword hilt, her cold gaze revealing her hostility without a trace of concealment.
At that savage reaction, the Amazon woman shrugged as if to say this was troublesome.
"This is a problem. This is all I have to negotiate with."
"Do you have some way to restore Lefiya?"
"If we had something like that, we would've brought it out already. We only got this from our goddess, so we didn't even know exactly what it was."
"Is that so? Then the conversation is over."
With that, the discussion ended.
The atmosphere once again boiled with fighting spirit and hostility.
Feeling uneasy, Bell was just about to time his move to rescue Mikoto when...
"Negotiation, my ass! Don't talk that crap! Hey, Haruhime! One more time! Cast that magic on me again...!"
Crash!
"Kyek!"
An unexpected intruder burst in, once again slamming Phryne into the ground and revealing himself anew.
A man who was a savage wolf in human form.
It was Bete Loga.
"Huh? What's this? Why is Ishtar's monster toad here?"
"Bete!"
"Tch, even the fierce wolf got involved. Today's luck is the worst."
The reactions to him were polar opposites.
Loki Familia breathed a sigh of relief, while Ishtar Familia clicked their tongues at their unfortunate fate.
It seemed the goddess of fate was thoroughly not on their side today.
"Hey, Ais. Explain. What are those things, and why is Lefiya like that?"
"That's...!"
Then it happened.
Rumble...
"Hm?"
"What was that?"
Following Bete's arrival came a massive, strange vibration felt throughout the city, and the ground itself began to shake.
"E-everyone, look over there!"
Right after that, Line's scream rang in everyone's ears.
When everyone around her unconsciously turned their eyes in the direction she pointed,
"What is that... thing?"
an unbelievable, hateful reality greeted them anew.
*
Meanwhile, at that same time.
"Huff, huff..."
"Haa, haa..."
The battle in the cavern, the fight between the two Level 6 adventurers and the black monster, had not changed much from when it first began.
The Amazons of Kali Familia were still trembling and unable to move.
Tiona and Gareth had shattered and smashed the monster in front of them down again and again.
And the black monster, the hound, had revived again and again, baring its fangs at them.
A stalemate repeated dozens of times already, like a record stuck on the same groove.
-Grrrrrrr!
"Damn it, this never ends."
But even that had reached its limit now.
However much they might be seasoned veterans, the two of them could no longer keep this up.
They had reached their limit physically, and every means they could use had already been exhausted.
Even so, they could not kill the monster before them.
They could not kill it.
There was no hope left here anymore.
And above all else.
Twitch! Squirm!
"This is insane. Just how big is it planning to get?"
The more they killed it, the more times the hound revived, and each time it did, its restored body grew a little larger to match.
It was already big enough to occupy most of the cavern's space.
And with that larger body came even greater power, which had long since surpassed Gareth's strength.
Even he, fighting one against a hundred, could no longer stop its charge.
They had done all they could, so retreating safely here would be the wise choice.
"This really is impossible now. Hey, Tiona!"
So Gareth swallowed his frustration and, as an older and more experienced adventurer, gave the younger Tiona his orders.
They should retreat for now.
And Tiona...
"This is really hopeless! Let's pull back, regroup, and come back again! Finn or Riveria should be able to come up with something better! So for now, let's retreat with the gods...!"
"I'm not leaving!"
Bang!
She cleanly ignored him.
Then she charged the hound again and landed a single uppercut.
The impact lifted the hound's jaw slightly.
But that was the end of it.
-Kerk...!
Its body no longer shattered like before.
Now it did not even stagger from the impact, standing perfectly fine.
Instead, as if telling her to try harder, the countless eyeballs covering its body mocked Tiona with taunting stares.
At that, Gareth shouted in exasperation, exactly as expected.
"Tiona! Don't be stupid!"
"I don't know! I'm stupid anyway!"
"Tiona!"
But even so, even against Gareth's urgent attempts to stop her, Tiona Hiryute did not back down.
No, she could not.
Because...
"You idiot! Stop acting spoiled! If it's that Magus guy, he should be fine! Trust him and retreat for now...!"
"That's...! Not it!"
-Kyaruk! Kyaaaaaaak!
Crash!
Tiona narrowly dodged the hound's charging attack.
But perhaps because her body was too exhausted to evade perfectly, her right shoulder was torn open by the grazing blow and was now completely covered in blood.
Even so, she did not so much as frown.
"It doesn't hurt!"
With her unchanging, steadfast gaze,
"I'm not scared of someone like you at all!"
forcing a smile onto her lips,
"No matter how painful or hard it gets!"
she glared at the monster before her, at this strong enemy.
"I can always smile!"
Because...
"That's what a hero is!"
That was the hero she believed in.
Always moving forward, never losing their smile, and enjoying adventure, trials, and all.
The path of the hero that the girl she admired, Tiona Hiryute, loved most of all.
So...
"I'm going to smile!"
She had never lost her smile, no matter when or where.
At first, for the sake of her blood relative who could not smile.
And now, to stand side by side with "that person."
"Gareth, I like An."
An is amazing.
Just watching her from the side, it feels like there's nothing she can't do.
But even An must have things she can't do.
"An loves heroes more than anyone."
But she thinks she can never become one herself.
She gives up, telling herself she can't do what those people do.
Maybe that's why she hardly ever shows a truly genuine smile.
"So I'll become one!"
I'll show her that even a fool like me can become a hero.
I'll smile enough for both of us.
For my sister's sake, and for An's too.
"The hero I know is someone who smiles better than anyone else in the world!"
So I'll smile.
First, I'll imitate the hero I admire with a smile.
And then, before long.
When that smile becomes genuine and not just imitation,
she will become not a fake, but a truly proud "real one."
"So I will never back down. No, I can't back down."
The moment she backed down, it would all be over.
She would no longer be able to smile.
If she gave up at only this much.
"Then I wouldn't be able to stand beside the one I really... love, An!"
So come at me.
I'm not afraid of you at all.
Such hardship, such absurdity, such unreasonable nonsense.
"I'll laugh and get through all of it!"
That was resolve, that was conviction.
It had already become a faith that surpassed even that.
That was the declaration of a girl who admired heroes and carried love in her heart.
Tiona Hiryute's challenge.
At that cry filled with resolve, even Gareth, who had urged retreat, was left speechless.
"Hah, this shameless little brat."
"Hehe, sorry. I'm being selfish."
"Ha! So you know it. You little troublemaker. To think you'd make an elder like me feel ashamed."
Though he grumbled like that, Gareth did not retreat.
Instead, he too stepped forward.
He had long since thrown away any thought of retreating.
"At this point, whether it turns into porridge or beer, let's settle this one way or another."
That's what you think too, right?
The one who answered that was not Tiona.
"Yeah. I guess that's true."
"B-Bache?"
"Don't misunderstand, Tiona. This is also a struggle for my own survival."
Even so...
"Not bad. You now. And me too."
"...Yeah!"
And with that, the conversation ended.
The three Level 6 adventurers steeled themselves once more, renewing their fighting spirit.
But the situation was still unfavorable.
Though the number of combatants had increased from two to three, all three were injured here and there and utterly exhausted, already at their limit.
It was a truly negative, even miserable, disparity in force.
Even so, there was no way they could back down now without dignity.
"Good! Then let's really give it another go...!"
That was why it could not be helped.
That was why it had become this way.
He, this man...
-Kk...
"Hm?"
-Kkup, fuhahahahahaha!
...was not the sort of person who would quietly keep his mouth shut in a situation like this.
"That laugh..."
"No way...?"
As if to kindly confirm that very suspicion, his voice spilled from the hound's mouth and echoed through the cavern.
-With that body soaked in exhaustion, standing before an immortal monster that revives even after being killed, and you're not afraid? You're going to laugh it all off?
Did you hear that, warriors?
Did you hear that, gods?
-Without a doubt. You are...! You all are...! You are the ones who truly are!
Indeed, humans who hunt down and kill monsters, heroes all.
"Ah..."
-Well now, the fool who can't even see what's right in front of him was me after all.
To have wasted his effort on something so pointless, right here and now, without even realizing the truth he already knew.
-I wonder how much that friend of mine, Caster, would have laughed if he saw me like this?
"No way... An?"
-That's right, twin Amazon. Tiona Hiryute.
What a lovely moonlit night for a stroll, and for killing.
Amid the bursting, cheerful laughter.
A devilish clown, or perhaps a madman of dreams.
The Magus appeared once more.
And the story continued.
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