by Fujino Omori
The peculiar noise grew louder.
Something was approaching along the path.
The entire party took a few steps back as the ominous tension became too much to bear.
When their nerves had been wound tighter than a bowstring—the sound’s source revealed itself.
“Are those…bees…?”
Haruhime asked her question in a shaky voice as black shadows began to appear at the very edge of her vision.
Their insect-like bodies were covered in thick black plates resembling armor. Angular and menacing, each shadow was as tall as an adult human. Pincers shaped like scissors jutted from their jaws, but the adventurers were more concerned about the other end—a poisonous stinger shaped like a pike.
“…Deadly hornets.”
Bell turned pale as he said the species’s name.
They normally appeared on the twenty-second floor and below as one of the monsters that prevented third-tier and second-tier adventurers from advancing into the deep levels.
Its fearsome pincers were one thing, but the deadly hornet’s stinger was powerful enough to pierce heavy armor and even kill Level 2 adventurers in one thrust. Those who survived its sting usually succumbed to blood loss soon after. With armor strong enough to deflect attacks that didn’t land just right, they were like killer ants with wings.
Killer ants were known as “novice killers” in the Dungeon’s upper levels; in the same vein, deadly hornets had a nickname of their own: “upper-class killer bee.”
Each of the lethal monsters was equipped with four wings, two on each side. More and more shadows emerged, their number surpassing twenty.
“—RUN!!”
Welf’s scream was the signal.
The whole party turned their backs on the deadly hornets and took off as fast as their legs could carry them.
“Hornets—really, really big hornets!! And too many to count!”
“Please stay focused, Lady Haruhime!!”
“Bell, I’m scared!”
“So am I!!”
Racing past what was left of the gigantic poisonous mushroom colony, the party sprinted down the middle of the wide main path.
The screams of the terrified adventurers joined the near-deafening buzz of their deadly insectile pursuers as they fled. Many had painful memories involving bees, such as a grandfather drawing off a swarm to help him escape or the searing pain in her tail when she had been stung at her family’s home, but nothing compared to this very moment.
If the hornets caught up, they would be impaled before those massive pincers devoured them.
Bell’s party raced across the wooden ground, their bodies soaked with sweat.
“Why do deadly hornets have to show up now of all times?!”
“This ain’t a time for questions, Li’l E! Run for your life!!”
“LILLY IS RUNNING!!”
Lilly screamed, lamenting the Irregular that had ascended several floors to meet them. Welf howled back, greatsword resting on his shoulder.
The supporters were the slowest members of the party, and the others had no choice but to keep the same pace. Lilly and Haruhime were going as fast as they absolutely could.
“…I’ll slow them down with Magic!”
“No, Bell! It won’t work!”
The insects were too fast. A ranged attack would never land against monsters that could move so freely.
In this wide and cavernous passageway, taking down any one of the extremely agile deadly hornets with Firebolt while on the run would be next to impossible. What was worse was that magic swords weren’t an option because there was too much space overhead, nearly ten meders. They could easily dodge the blast.
But above all else, there were too many.
Welf yelled out that it would be like trying to empty an ocean with a bucket.
“And we do not have time for that…!”
“!”
Mikoto screamed as she saw something farther down the passageway. Bell’s head whipped around, his eyes going wide.
Dark shadows shaped like mad beetles slid over the walls up ahead, right in their path. Mikoto and Bell sped up, their faces contorted in desperation.
It was up to them to eliminate the obstacles and clear the way for the rest of the party.
“Hah! Haa, haa…!”
Run. Run. Run.
Their formation was in shambles. Welf was in the back, furiously pumping his arms and legs.
The supporters raced past the corpses Mikoto and Bell left in their wake, sprinting deeper and deeper into the Dungeon.
Their lungs burned as their ragged breaths echoed through the hall. Their pursuers were gaining; the swarm wasn’t going to let them escape.
“Lilly, what’s up ahead?”
“This is a straight path to the twentieth floor! Should be almost there…!”
Bell slipped under a bugbear’s claws, his counterattack slicing the creature in half as Lilly’s desperate, almost pleading voice reached his ears.
The party ran through the curving path and, just as Lilly had predicted, they spotted a large hollow alcove at the other end.
It was the entrance to the next floor.
Their goal suddenly in sight, everyone’s eyes flashed as they dashed toward the hole with even more vigor.
However…
Crack!
“—”
Crack! Crack!
The sounds were coming from their destination as well as the walls on both sides of the path. A mere fifty meders stood between them and the entrance, but ominous cracks spread out like spiderwebs. Their environment was crumbling before their very eyes.
The party fell into stunned silence as a massive horde of monsters was born simultaneously in the passageway.
A monster party.
The most underhanded of all Dungeon gimmicks.
Mikoto reflexively triggered Yatano Black Crow. Forty-four enemies.
Mad beetles, bugbears, gun libellulas, dark fungi, battle boars—a nightmarish parade was advancing toward them.
They were trapped in a pincer attack from ahead and behind. The Dungeon had bared its fangs yet again, sending the adventurers into the deepest pits of despair.
“Aahh—”
Wiene’s face froze in fear, the deadly appendages reflected in her eyes.
The rest of the party wasn’t faring much better, terror threatening to overtake them.
That’s when—
“—KEEP GOIIIIIIIIIING!!”
Welf didn’t let it happen.
He screamed at his allies, ordering them forward just as they started to slow down.
Bell, Mikoto, and the rest decided to put their faith in the voice urging them from behind.
Kicking at the ground, they sped up.
Right into the jaws of the ferocious beasts roaring in their path.
“!!”
Welf sheathed his greatsword and jumped into the air.
With a clear view over his allies’ heads, he grabbed a longsword’s hilt with his right hand—removing the magic weapon from the other sheath strapped to his shoulder.
He brought the crimson blade down in one swift motion.
“Breakthrough…!!”
Roaring flames.
The magic sword came to life in response to its creator’s call with a burning howl of its own.
Torrents of flames crashed into the monsters barring their path. Even their dying howls of agony couldn’t escape the inferno.
The rest of the party watched in awe, their eyes opening as wide as they could.
Their path had been transformed into a smoldering gorge.
The Dungeon itself seemed to scream out in pain, the magic sword’s overwhelming power incinerating the walls and ceiling and every plant in its path.
Bell led the party straight into the charred wasteland at full speed. Enduring the heat and holding their breath to avoid burning their throats, they raced through the passageway’s charred remains.
At the same t
ime, a crick! sounded from the magic sword.
Releasing that much energy at once took its toll on the weapon. Cracks appeared along the blade, now close to its limit.
“Come on, buddy, hang in there…!”
Welf called out to the sword in his hand, fearing the worst.
Even as it started disintegrating, the magic sword continued to glow as if to reassure its wielder that it would fight to the end.
“!!”
The swarm of deadly hornets closed in.
There was almost no space left between them. The closest ones flapped their wings at a frantic pace, the echoes reaching a crescendo as if building suspense before the kill.
Their prey was in range—the fleeing adventurers right in front of them. They raised their stingers.
“!!”
In that moment, Mikoto leaped off the ground.
The farthest ahead, she dove the final four meders and landed inside the hole.
Bell, Lilly, Haruhime, and Wiene were right behind her, jumping through the threshold one after another.
As his companions bounded down the stairwell composed of tree roots, Welf made it inside.
“Of course you’d follow! Take this…!”
The deadly hornets didn’t hesitate. They swarmed into the hole en masse, determined to catch their prey.
Welf twisted his body mid-leap to face the tenacious monsters, lips creased into a grin.
His unblinking eyes on the deadly hornets, he gripped the magic sword with both hands and lifted it high above his head.
Flight was meaningless.
In this narrow tunnel, no amount of agility could save them in this constrained space.
For the second time, Welf roared along with his weapon.
“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
A massive fireball engulfed everything in its path.
Every deadly hornet began glowing like hot steel in a forge.
“Ahhh!!”
The swarm of lethal insects, having been drawn into the connecting tunnel, were vaporized into nothingness.
At about the same time, the magic sword let out a high-pitched ring and shattered.
“—Thanks.”
This was no apology but gratitude.
Welf smiled at the hilt still in his grasp as he performed its last rites.
The shards gave off one last crimson sparkle as if offering their own farewell.
Then, the explosion launched Welf, Bell, and the rest of the party into the air, as if to hurl them out of the wooden cavern.
““““““?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!””””””
Torrents of wind carried them down the stairwell.
Light appeared at the end of the tunnel, causing one boy to experience a serious case of déjà vu. Suddenly, the adventurers flew through the exit.
Thud! Thump, thump! Thud, wham! Dull impacts rang out one after another.
“The twentieth floor…”
“Finally, we made it…”
“W-we…we’re here…”
“Hurry up and get off Lilly!!”
“Ooph, oh…”
“Ouch…!”
Mikoto tried to regain her bearings; Welf smiled through his bumps and bruises; Bell was filled with relief and Lilly with anger while Haruhime and Wiene shook their heads in pain.
The party slowly untangled themselves after landing in a big pile. And an unexplored labyrinth filled with looming trees spread out before them.
It all happened so fast.
She remembered speaking to someone wearing a black robe before a black fog enveloped them. After she coughed a few times, some kind of fabric had been slipped over her head, muffling any noise.
After that, there was just steady swaying like she was being carried, and then she was here.
“…Was that some sort of magic just now?”
“Nothing that impressive. Just a simple magic item and a shortcut, Goddess Hestia.”
The cool air inside the stone passageway chilled her skin.
Hestia trudged along behind the black robe’s shadow through the man-made tunnel.
The tunnel itself was rather cramped, barely wide enough for three people to stand side by side, along with a low ceiling. While she couldn’t tell what material the walls were built from in the dim light, she could see the seamless surface was engraved with many patterns. Without any windows or doors to speak of, Hestia was certain this was a secret passage of some sort.
Well, I sure got outplayed…Hestia thought to herself. From the moment her “guide” told her to follow, she had done so without complaint. Taking the immaculate planning and execution of her captor into account, she knew it was useless for a powerless goddess like her to resist.
She still spoke with her usual casual tone, but both knew who was really in control.
“Very few individuals are aware of this shortcut. It’s possible to count on one hand the number who have used it.”
It went without saying that the black-robed figure lighting the way with a portable magic-stone lamp had their back to Hestia while speaking.
Her guide seemed confident that the goddess wouldn’t try to escape. Either that or knew that Hestia could be easily caught if she did make a break for it. Probably both.
Hestia held in a sigh, frowning slightly at the mysterious figure. Whoever it was, they didn’t seem to have any interest in hurting her. So she focused on the passing walls instead.
“A shortcut, you say…”
If her captor had been telling the truth, she must have been carried into this “shortcut”…That meant the entrance was extremely close to their meeting point in the fourth block.
Visualizing a map of the city, Hestia thought about where the main streets and landmarks were to get a general idea of her current location. Then she asked another question:
“Is this a shortcut for your master to use to escape in an emergency?”
“……”
Hestia was confident in her theory, but the black-robed figure’s response was only silence.
Except she got the funny feeling this person was smiling beneath that hood.
Not planning to answer me, I see…That’s fine. If my guess was right, then soon…
She would learn everything she wanted to know.
Her captor’s master would tell her.
Hestia didn’t pry and kept up.
“Oh? A dead end?”
They reached the end of the tunnel a little while later.
Hestia raised a suspicious eyebrow as the black-robed figure reached out to the wall and ran a hand across the grooves carved into the surface.
“—”
As soon as a few words like an incantation came from beneath the hood, the wall started sliding away with a low rumble.
Did whoever this is say “Open sesame”…? Hestia jokingly thought to herself as the hidden door opened, disappearing into the adjacent wall to let them pass.
It connected to a chamber shrouded in darkness.
“……”
Hestia followed the robed figure up a small flight of stairs and into a stone hall.
She looked around the room as details emerged from the gloom.
The floor was covered with large slabs. The ceiling was high overhead, its shadows seeming to hover in the air around her. The stones that composed the walls were showing their age. Perhaps it was once a temple, built in the Ancient Times and long forgotten.
Disregarding the “shortcut,” there was only one other entrance to the chamber. It was located at the top of a stone stairwell, signaling to Hestia that they were underground.
Then her gaze fell
toward the middle of the chamber.
“He” was present, sitting on an altar among four lit torches that provided the only source of light.
“—Ouranos.”
The guide led Hestia to the front of the altar. She turned to face the deity, looking him square in the eyes.
The majestic yet wizened god sat on his throne—a large stone structure fit for a king. Over two meders tall when standing, he exuded an intensity, a presence, and a divine authority that were in a league of their own, unmatched by other deities. Heralded as a “Supreme God” while residing in the heavens, he was one of the truly influential deities.
White hair and a similarly colored beard spilled from beneath the hood of his robe. His robust arms were propped on the throne’s armrests—a god immovable. He simply existed in that spot, surveying the chamber like a ruler and a statue at the same time.
A towering, unyielding king, the true leader of the Guild lifted his chin to look down on Hestia.
“It’s been a long time, Hestia.”
“Yeah, Ouranos…I haven’t seen you in, what, over a thousand years?”
There was no joy in this reunion. Ouranos maintained his calm expression and aimed his booming voice toward the young goddess.
Hestia wasn’t the least bit intimidated by his overwhelming presence and addressed him like an acquaintance from days long past.
The goddess had only recently arrived in the mortal realm as a participant. She didn’t know much about Ouranos—especially over the last thousand years—other than he was often referred to as the “Father of Orario.”
She did know a few basics, such as the fact that he was part of the first group to descend to this world, one of the gods who brought an end to the Ancient Times and settled in Orario.
He had worked together with the mortal children to plug the “Great Hole” in the ground that constantly spewed monsters—helping to build the “lid” that turned the Labyrinth City into the first line of defense.
With his familia eventually becoming the Guild, he oversaw both the city and the Dungeon. However, he realized that someone with that much power must maintain a constant stance of neutrality. Therefore, he bestowed his followers with political power rather than Falna.