Their attire was a dead giveaway—identical to the dark robes of the crew they’d battled down in the twenty-fourth-floor pantry. There was no doubt about it. These were surely associates of the Evils’ Remnants.
Lefiya sucked in her breath in disbelief.
There were two of them on their way somewhere. Their destination couldn’t be far.
She made a note to herself of the direction in which they were heading, then quickly bounded back down the tree.
Carving her way through the latticework of leaves, she gave one final leap before landing with a thud in front of the expectant boy.
Bell’s eyes dilated in surprise at her sudden appearance.
“Put out the light!” she quickly hissed.
“Huh?”
“The light! Put it out!”
“R-right!”
In a flurry, he did as he was told.
Their one source of light gone, the world turned black around them. Now, at least, they wouldn’t be seen by the hooded duo.
Leaving Bell to his confusion, Lefiya attempted to make sense of the situation, her mind racing.
Those two must be associates of the Evils…but what are they doing here? On this floor?
Could they be plotting something on the eighteenth floor? Were they going to do what they’d done on the twenty-fourth floor by setting loose those giant flowers and turning the pantry into a plant?
What should she do?
Return to the campsite and inform Finn and the others?
But what if they were unable to find them again? It was already a miracle as it was that she’d caught sight of them in this vast forest.
And if she tailed them, she just might be able to get more information on the series of events that had been besieging them since the Monsterphilia…
What do I do…?
Again and again, she weighed her options.
All the while, Bell continued to watch her in silence as a grim determination colored her features, and her brows furrowed.
As the seconds ticked away urgently in her mind, she finally realized what she had to do.
I need to follow them…
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity if ever she’d seen one.
To be able to put a stop to their no doubt dastardly plans before the situation got out of control?
And besides, she was simply going to trail them a while—determine what it was they were doing, where they were going. That was all she needed. A simple mission, overall.
Once finished, she’d report back to Finn and the others with anything useful.
These encouraging thoughts pushing her forward, she made up her mind.
The only problem now is…
Lefiya raised her gaze.
Her eyes landed squarely on Bell, still sitting beside her in acute bewilderment.
She certainly couldn’t leave him here all by himself.
Even if she told him exactly how to get back to camp (which she’d ascertained from her earlier treetop ascent), and even if he was able to follow that path all the way there, he’d have a hell of a time at his measly Level 2. And to make matters worse, he had no armor equipped—only his salamander-wool linens—and nothing but a single onyx knife for protection.
Telling him to simply sit tight and wait for her return was also out of the question.
As she sat there staring at him, and as he sat there doe-eyed and mystified, she quickly realized she had no choice.
“I…apologize, but…could you perhaps come with me for a moment?” she said before rising to her feet and vacating the premises.
Then, following the path she’d memorized from her bird’s-eye view, she hurried in the direction the two Evils associates had been heading. She moved quickly, maneuvering past tree after tree, all the while attempting to mask her footsteps and stifle her pounding heart and labored breaths. Bell followed behind her in equally fervent pursuit. Though she’d quickly explained the situation, he was still far from completely understanding.
The trees and brush ran thick, making it hard for Lefiya to see where she was going, but her vigorous efforts paid off in the end, and before long, her destination came into view.
She slammed to a halt, gesturing for Bell to stop, too, then hid herself in the shadows.
I found them…!
Holding her breath, she curled her fingers tightly around the length of her staff.
They were right there, not more than fifty meders away—the two figures she’d seen from high up in the trees.
She took a moment to check that they were alone. Then, still keeping her eyes keen for signs of company, she began to follow them.
Bell stiffened next to her, not having had much choice in joining this game of cat and mouse.
“Wh-who are those people?”
“…An enemy organization. To put it simply.”
“An enemy of Loki Familia…?” he whispered, attempting to hide himself in the dense, low-hanging foliage. Clearly, the idea of the strongest familia in Orario having any enemies, let alone the two robed figures in front of them, came as startling news.
“Look, don’t ask so many questions!” she hissed back, anger evident despite her hushed tone.
“S-sorry, I won’t!” Bell immediately squeaked.
Lefiya continued her careful, focused pursuit.
The two figures were also monitoring their surroundings, making steady progress despite their lack of light. And Lefiya stuck to them like glue, keeping just enough distance to ensure they wouldn’t be spotted but not so much as to lose them among the dark trees. It continued like this for a short while until they finally arrived at a certain deep corner of the forest.
They were close to the Dungeon wall.
She could tell, peeking between the branches, that they’d reached the end of the line, meaning they were at the very farthest edge of the eighteenth floor’s eastern side.
The forest had grown considerably sparser. Everything merged into one main path, trees and shrubberies all but gone, and even the branches and leaves overhead had thinned, leaving no room for voyeurs or assailants to hide themselves.
Scattered here and there about the open field were blue crystal pillars, all at least two meders in size. It almost looked like the ruins of a stone circle left over from the Ancient Times. The “Crystal Grove,” perhaps?
As Lefiya watched, the hooded figures cut through the middle of the grove, directly for the Dungeon wall.
“There’s no going back now…” Lefiya muttered to herself in encouragement. She knew they must be near her targets’ goal.
Despite the butterflies dancing in her stomach, she eyed Bell meaningfully to signal their continued pursuit. Bell, despite his misgivings, nodded in response.
Leaping free of their cover, they dashed straight forward through the Crystal Grove.
They skirted from one crystal to the next, noiselessly darting in and out between the pillars.
The whole time, she kept her eyes fixated squarely on the two figures in front of her.
It was almost as if they were being led, weaving as they were, back and forth, back and forth, when suddenly—
Crack!
The ground opened up of its own accord in front of them.
“”
It happened the moment her foot touched down in a round clearing devoid of pillars. The mighty crack echoed around her as the earth plunged downward, creating a giant hole. Almost as though it had been waiting for her arrival.
“Huh…?!”
All of a sudden, she was floating. The floor disappeared beneath her. And her breath quickly got itself caught in her throat.
For a brief moment, she could feel the boy’s dumbfounded presence behind her.
It took a split second for gravity to take hold.
“—Uuuaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”
And then they plummeted, their screams of terror layering atop one another.
Grass, dirt, and leaves plunged with them. Lefiya’s gaze
rose skyward as she fell just in time to see the “lid” of the hole close up behind them with another rumble.
Cut off from the forest landscape and night Dungeon air above them, the ground rose up to meet them.
“—Unnnngh!!”
Somehow or other, both of them managed to land on their feet, the impact sending up a giant splash of something all around them.
The entire bottom of the hole was steeped in a light-purplish liquid.
Now that there were two additional bodies in it, the stagnant pool quickly rose from shin height to waist height with an unsettling sqwoosh.
““Ack!!””
It was hot. Like boiling oil. Their battle clothes sizzled against their skin.
No, not sizzled. Melted.
Their faces paled as they looked in horror at the bubbling, smoking liquid all around them.
“This is…” Bell’s voice trembled.
“…Acid?!” Lefiya finished his thought with a scream that echoed off the walls of the hole.
While the acid wasn’t strong enough to disintegrate flesh and bone instantly, the tangible feeling of the substance eating away at their skin was enough to invoke a very real sense of panic in the two adventurers. The magic-stone lantern, having fallen from Bell’s hand, was now ever so slowly sinking into the liquid with a bubbling hiss, still shining its light even as the acid broke it down piece by piece.
They frantically scanned their surroundings, faces tight.
They were at the bottom of a long, deep hole.
It boasted a diameter of some seven meders and a height of at least ten.
As for the walls of the hole, they were reddish in hue and had a repulsive fleshlike texture with no sign of anything they could use as footholds or handholds.
In fact, it almost felt as if they were inside a living being, like the stomach of some treacherous beast. No matter what it was, however, the cylindrical structure they currently occupied was clearly a pitfall.
The walls of flesh gave off a faint light, coloring everything in a dim red phosphorescence, and the air felt humid and hot and carried a strange odor, quickly drawing sweat from their pores.
“Ugh…b-bones?!” Bell yelped as he let his eyes scan the perimeter.
Lefiya spun around to see for herself, only to bring her hand to her mouth in disgust.
A decomposed carcass lay sunken in the acid next to them, no doubt the remains of some poor soul who’d fallen into the pit prior.
Its skin, flesh, and organs had all been dissolved, leaving behind nothing but its bones. Next to it was a collection of armor, no doubt worn by the adventurer while still living. Looking away from their skeletal companion, they saw weapons of all kinds, swords and staves alike, either sticking up out of the ground or half-submerged in the boiling acid.
“Th-that’s an adventurer…! Th-then all of these, too…?!”
Now that they were looking, they saw bones everywhere. Gleaming white bones. More than they could count. Belonging to who knew how many souls. It was clear that all of them had once been adventurers.
There were cracks and chips in some of the bones and skulls, as though something or other had bashed them in. There were even a few items of seemingly monster origin floating about—drops, perhaps.
Was this some sort of undocumented Dungeon gimmick? Here? In the safety point? Involving monsters, no less?
Lefiya’s eyes watered at the rancid odor of melting flesh, confusion overtaking her thoughts…until Bell’s trembling voice broke her from her trance.
“Miss Lefiya…look up,” he whispered, features all but devoid of color.
“Huh?” She turned her gaze skyward.
Something was slowly peeling itself away from the fleshy walls of the hole, lifting its upper body…and enveloping them in its massive shadow.
“”
Suddenly, the true origin of the “lid” became clear.
As Lefiya and Bell looked up in terror, the monster hanging upside down from the top of the hole peered at them from its humanoid torso.
It was the only exception to the solid red of the hole, its skin a sickly shade of yellowish green. Its chest and abdomen, too, were colored in vibrant, venomous hues.
Instead of arms, it boasted two long, fat tentacles—feelers of sorts that dangled downward like quivering snakes. Its long lower half writhed and squirmed, attached to the wall like some kind of parasitic worm.
Its head consisted of nothing but a colossal eye and a strange crown-like organ floating around it. The eye itself was connected directly to its neck with the crown encircling it like the mane of a lion.
It was disgusting to look at, its coloring far different from that of the countless other monsters they’d fought.
“A…a new species…?” Bell’s words quivered, the fear and dread palpable in his voice.
“It’s one of those…brightly colored ones…!!” Lefiya exclaimed next to him as everything suddenly fell into place.
This “pitfall” they’d plunged into was none other than one of those monsters, the same as the carnivorous flowers and their roots—a brethren of the creatures born of the corrupted spirit—and its body was the pitfall itself!
If she had to guess, those Evils associates had planted it here as a security measure in order to keep whatever was past the Crystal Grove, some all-important secret of theirs, away from prying eyes. It was a “trap monster” whose sole purpose was to eliminate any and all witnesses to their evil plan.
No doubt, the other adventurers who’d fallen prey to this “Guardian of the Forest” had either been trailing the Evils, similar to Lefiya and Bell, or had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Completely ignorant, they’d been gobbled up by this repugnant creature, and their carcasses had been left to rot at the bottom of this pit.
“”
The creature’s great eye spun around and around before centering itself on Lefiya and Bell.
Its next move was immediate. Both its feelers shot from its body straight toward the two adventurers.
““Gngh!!””
They leaped from their spots simultaneously.
The giant whips collided with the ground immediately behind them, straight into the middle of the acidic pool.
A massive wave of acid erupted upon the impact as the pit shuddered around them.
“Miss Lefiya!!”
“I am fine! Look after yourself!” Lefiya shouted back, one arm up to shield her eyes from the spraying acid.
They were soaked now, steam rising from their hair and clothes, but they’d somehow managed to avoid the attack. Still, it wasn’t over yet, and the whips were quick to begin their second wave.
“Hngh!!”
Once again, the earth shook around them. The shock was enough to send the bones flying into the air with hollow clatters.
Though Lefiya just barely managed to evade the incoming attack, the resulting rush of air and stone-rattling tremor were enough to make her blood run cold.
The sheer brute strength of this thing could give the monsters in the Dungeon’s depths a run for their money. Even if the adventurers put all their efforts into defending themselves, their complete pulverization was only a matter of time. The elastic-like flexibility of the two tentacles didn’t help matters, either—as long as they were stuck inside this hole, they were vulnerable. And the fact that the attacks were coming from straight overhead made defending against them a struggle, to say the least.
If this thing is here…it means…!
Lefiya’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the trap monster above her, whose upper half alone was easily twice her size.
For the Evils to leave this kind of extraordinary creature here as a sentry meant that whatever it was they were hiding had to be of great importance.
She had to escape and let Finn and the others know.
I have to make it out of here alive…No! I have to kill this thing!
It was do or die now. There was no way she’d be able to escape wi
thout taking the body of that thing head-on. Or if there was, at least, she had no idea what it might be.
If they wanted to get out of here fast, their only choice was to destroy that creature’s main body, as that was what was currently blocking their only way out.
Lefiya’s fingers tightened around the grip of her magic staff, Forest’s Teardrop.
“!!”
It was coming.
Its great eye goggled and whirled in ceaseless orbit, omniscient in its surveillance as it launched its two feelers at the adventurers.
Once again, it was aiming to kill.
“Hgh…gggnnnnn!!”
Bell was floundering, racing about wildly in his attempt to escape the oncoming attack.
He’d never seen this kind of monster before. The Guild hadn’t even confirmed it. How was he supposed to defend himself against a monster he hadn’t even known existed? Leaping about blindly, he narrowly avoided one attack after another, looking more and more like a rabbit in panic mode.
His sensational rate of growth aside, Bell Cranell hadn’t actually seen many battles.
In fact, that same growth rate in some ways was actually an impediment—his lack of real combat experience exposing just how fragile he really was.
And somehow, as Lefiya watched him, giant beads of sweat leaking down his face, a sense of tranquility passed over her.
—The fact that this was an enemy she’d never faced before calmed her all the more.
She let the teachings of her mentors in Loki Familia, of Riveria, of Aiz, wash through her.
She knew what she was supposed to do upon first contact with a monster, to analyze and deal with it. She might not have the same level of perception as her first-tier adventurer peers, but it was more than nothing, and as the situation accelerated around her, she focused everything she had on understanding the creature in front of her.
Dodging attack after attack, girding herself against the pulsating shudders echoing around her, she studied the main body of the beast, focusing her elven eyes, which had originally made the elves “Archers of the Forest.”
It was then, while scrutinizing the creature’s great revolving eye, that she saw it.
“Watch where that thing is looking!”
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 5 Page 15