by Fujino Omori
“Any news about the black minotaur?”
“Nothing so far.”
“I see…We’ll hold the formation. For now, I’m going to wait and see what happens,” the prum faction leader said.
He resumed his quiet watch.
“Wow…the captain is incredible. Just like he said, the battle has begun.”
Raul Nord was a lackluster second-tier adventurer in Loki Familia. Despite his Level 4 Status, he didn’t make much of an impression on members of other factions. This was due mostly to his personality. He was the polar opposite of Finn and the other leaders. By his own account, he had accumulated excelia by stealthily picking up opportunities others left behind. This was one reason for his poor self-esteem, the end result of which was his reputation as a bore. His exceedingly average appearance—black hair and black eyes, medium height and weight, and facial features that were neither overly handsome nor especially ugly—probably didn’t help. The deities had given him the alias “High Novice.”
In short, the distinguished leaders of the faction, in whose presence he simply withered, constantly overwhelmed him.
Even now, the human boy was in awe of Finn’s ability to accurately assess the state of the battle, and he whispered in amazement as he looked out over the southern and southwestern areas, which were roiling with activity.
“Raul!”
He turned around, surprised by the voice calling his name.
“Um, uh…Captain?!”
It was the very same prum commander he had just been marveling at.
Raul was in the western sector of the Labyrinth District, on a line of defense some distance from the central zone. The sight of Finn walking along the front, not back at headquarters where everyone expected him to be, threw other familia members present into similar confusion.
“Wh-why are you here, General? Don’t you need to be directing the action…?”
“The main monster force has arrived in the southeast! And so has the black minotaur! Meet Aiz there and crush them! Tell your unit—we’re changing formation! I’ll join you there!”
“Yes, sir!” Raul said, standing at attention and responding reflexively to Finn’s strong tone as he mentioned the black minotaur.
“Also, Raul, do you remember our positions in Knossos?”
“Uh, do you mean the underground Knossos? I remember, but—”
“Tell me what they are. Something has been bothering me.”
Raul was flustered but obeyed Finn’s command.
“Uh, Gareth and his group should be guarding the four doors we discovered—northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast…”
“I see…Well then, I’ll head out first. Gather everyone in this area and come to the southeast.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
As Finn set off in that direction, Raul shifted into frantic action, passing on his leader’s command to those posted near him. He was a bit concerned that no similar order had come through the signaling device, but he told himself it was all right because he’d heard it directly from Finn himself. He ceded his own judgment to the order from his eminently accomplished superior.
But what happened to the captain’s spear…?
The memory of Finn standing there empty-handed struck him as strange.
“Huff, puff…!”
Finn was running at full speed.
He flew down the steps at the end of the alley, looked around to make sure that no one was nearby, and then, still running, pressed a hand to his forehead.
“Stroke of midnight’s bell.”
Finn’s form instantly dissolved into thin air. In his place stood Lilly.
“I did it!”
Once again, she’d used Cinder Ella.
“My apologies to you, Finn, but that fuss over the marriage proposal really came in handy!”
Cinder Ella allowed Lilly to transform her external appearance, but she couldn’t fool anyone unless she imitated the personality of whomever she was impersonating. When Finn proposed to her, she had come to understand his character, and in that sense the experience was now proving extremely useful. Her sharp insight, honed through her former career as a thief, had efficiently analyzed Finn’s speech patterns, mannerisms, and character.
It wasn’t that the memory of his earnest feelings left her completely cold, but her own life and that of the Xenos were on the line. She had no other option. And so, to deceive Loki Familia, she had transformed herself into a spot-on copy of Finn.
Lilly’s role in the storming of Daedalus Street was both to create a distraction, like Bell, and to use his actions as a cover for spying.
Most of Loki Familia’s members were upper-class adventurers, and the Guild made their basic profiles public. In order to successfully fulfill her role as spy, Lilly had memorized them all. Her old thief’s sense had told her that the High Novice would be the easiest to control, and therefore she had targeted him.
“He’s as simple as Bell!”
Quite pleased with herself, she insulted both adventurers at once as she took an oculus out of her pocket.
Her cheeks flushed, she shouted into the crystal the information she’d extracted.
“As we suspected, the guards are posted at the northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast doors of Knossos.”
“Well done, Supporter!”
“Lady Lilly, you’re amazing!”
Having listened to Lilly’s report through the oculus, Hestia and Haruhime applauded her.
“With this, we’ll be able to breach their defenses…!”
Hestia Familia’s ace in the hole was Daedalus’s Notebook.
As Fels had pointed out, there was a high likelihood that Loki Familia had not discovered all the entry points shown in the book’s maps. The aim of Lilly’s spying had been to find an unobstructed route into Knossos.
Hestia flipped through the pages of the book, which she had with her in addition to the map spread out on the rooftop. She was trying to figure out which of the unguarded entrances to the upper floor of Knossos—in other words, the one directly below Daedalus Street—was closest to the Xenos’s current location.
“The west one! Fels, the western door is unguarded!”
“Thank you, Goddess Hestia!”
The blue crystal at the far end of the row of oculi—the one connected to Fels—sparkled brightly.
The sign hanging at the entrance of the backstreet in western Daedalus Street read 98TH BLOCK.
“Hey, everyone is up in arms about some monsters on the south side. Don’t you think we should head over there, too?”
“Yeah…damn it, we’re off the mark again.”
The pair of adventurers was walking down the abandoned tunnel-like street. One was a human, the other a dwarf. All the other adventurers guarding the area had rushed off to the south side as soon as they heard about the monsters.
On the ceiling above the two stragglers, something was listening to their conversation.
“?!”
Without a sound, the scarlet tail dangling behind the two men wrapped itself around the dwarf’s neck.
Unable to cry out, he was whisked upward off the street.
“Huh? Where’d ya—Ack?!”
The dwarf’s ax was knocked from his hand by the impact of the attack and fell onto the back of his companion’s head.
Looking up, he saw a lizardman clad in armor, his four feet stuck to the ceiling. Easily hoisting up the hefty dwarf, the monster was now looking down on the man with glittering yellow eyes.
The terrified human opened his mouth to scream, but before he could—
“Pardon me.”
A mellifluent female voice that one wouldn’t expect to hear in such a location echoed from directly behind him. In the next instant, a strange sound wave emanated from directly next to his ear and overwhelmed him.
“Ah-ah-aahh…!”
“Ouch!”
Robbed of both his balance and his consciousness, he fell flat on his face, blood streaming fro
m his ears. The dwarf fainted as well and fell from the rooftop, bubbles frothing from his mouth. The two adventurers lay sprawled on the stone pavement.
“Thanks to Bellucchi and the others, the adventurers have really thinned out…But of course there are still some around,” Lido said, dropping from the ceiling with a thump.
“It’s unlikely things will go easily,” the siren Rei responded.
A lamia and a troll, who had been waiting nearby, poked their faces into the tunnel and then ran over to hide the unconscious adventurers in the shadows. Wiene, still an apprentice, rushed to help.
“They sure are good at this…” Welf said.
“Yes, they really are. They’re as stealthy as the ninjas in my hometown…” Mikoto replied. She and Welf had already seen the Xenos take down quite a few adventurers, but they couldn’t help commenting on their skill once again.
“We had to do it all the time in the Dungeon,” explained the gargoyle Gros, standing next to them. Shortly before, he had been hiding among the stone statues in the Labyrinth District and attacking one unsuspecting adventurer after the next.
“Lady Haruhime, are you sure it’s near here?” Mikoto said into the oculus she had just taken out.
“Yes, Lady Mikoto. The closest one to it is…Lady Wiene.”
“Me?” the dragon girl asked, cocking her head. She tapped her bluish-white hand along the wall of the tunnel until one of the stones slipped in with a grinding noise.
“Oh!” she exclaimed in surprise as the wall slid aside to reveal the entrance to a hidden passage.
“Hurry up, before Loki Familia gets here. According to Hestia, Braver is a cut above us.”
Fels and the Xenos were advancing through Daedalus Street by way of secret passageways and hidden doors in order to avoid adventurers and Loki Familia scouts. One reason Fels had asked Hestia to get the Legacy of Daedalus map from Ouranos was that some of the secret passages in the area were unknown even to the mage.
This one, like many of the others they had used, was thick with dust.
Lido breathed flames to serve as an impromptu torch in the stone passageway, which was completely devoid of magic-stone lamps, and the group headed down it. The unicorn neighed as if seized by a fit of coughing, tossing its silvery mane.
“It’s Lido, right? There’s a branch in the passageway up there. Please take the route that slopes down to the right. The next exit will take you out right near Loki Familia.”
“Got it, Goddess.”
Having Hestia guiding them was a huge help. Not only could they proceed smoothly through the tangled streets of the Labyrinth District while the adventurers were busy getting lost, her support also enabled them to use secret passageways like this one. It was thanks largely to the communication support from her and Haruhime that the circus-like procession of Xenos had remained undiscovered.
“You’re the one who surveyed the Labyrinth District, right? Don’t you remember where the hidden passageways are?” Welf asked Fels.
“Well, it’s been six hundred years since I made that map. Certain points are less than clear,” the mage replied, black robe shifting as if with a sigh. “I made the map at Ouranos’s request. It took me five years just to survey the ordinary streets, you know…”
“And you didn’t find any streets that led to Knossos?” Mikoto asked.
“No, probably because I was only able to map the surface. Or maybe it was that six hundred years ago the expansion had not yet begun.”
“You’re just a sore loser,” Welf said. But Mikoto sensed some truth in Fels’s words. Daedalus’s family was connected to evil in the city, and she guessed that at the time they may not have had adequate capital or manpower to do the work.
“I…wonder if Bell is doing all right,” Wiene murmured, her words echoing among the long shadows of the monsters in the passageway.
“Wiene, have faith in him for now. Remember what you said about repaying this favor?” said Gros from next to her.
“…Yes,” she answered, nodding firmly.
“Halt!” Fels said.
The end of the passageway was in view. Before they emerged onto the streets, he wanted to have one final meeting.
“When we go out this door, we will be immediately in front of Loki Familia’s camp. And there are no more hidden passageways we can use.”
“So that means we’ll have to race to our destination without stopping?” Rei asked.
“Yes. The underground passages leading to Knossos are all under the central zone, which is in the heart of enemy territory. We’ll aim for this one that leads to the western door,” Fels said while spreading out the copied plan of Knossos and pointing to the route.
“Thanks to Bell Cranell and Lilliluka Erde, the activities of Loki Familia and other adventurers have fallen into disarray. Now is our only chance to break through. Welf Crozzo and Mikoto Yamato…I’m counting on you to intercept any attacks.”
Welf and Mikoto nodded.
“Leave it to us. We’re on top of it.”
“We will protect your lives with our own.”
Both were wrapped in the same black Reverse Veil mantles as Bell. In the shadows of the mantles, Mikoto carried a knife and an aqua dagger at her waist, while Welf had a similar dagger and a sword. The hilts of the aqua daggers glinted in the dim passageway.
“…I’m going to count down. Please prepare yourselves.”
The line of Xenos and humans moved into a wedge formation well suited to charging. The atmosphere was tense.
“Five, four…”
Lido, armed with a longsword and scimitar, was in the vanguard, together with the unicorn. The middle guard was made up of the lamia, a winged monster, Fels, and Rei, her face smeared with blood for battle paint. Those who were the size of a troll or smaller, along with the slowest of the group and those like Wiene, who had poor combat skills, brought up the rear. Gros, his stone wings creaking, played the role of key rear defenseman.
“Three, two…”
At the front of the formation, Welf and Mikoto threw the Reverse Veils over their bodies and put their hands on the door. Watching on the other side of the oculus, Hestia and Haruhime gulped anxiously, their nerves frayed from the tension in the dark alley. The dragon girl wrapped her arms around her robed form and hugged her slender chest tightly.
“One—Go!”
The instant Fels gave the command, they flung open the door.
“…!!”
Like an arrow released from a taut bowstring, the Xenos shot into the dark night.
They found themselves on a street so narrow it resembled a ravine. Beneath the watchful gaze of the dark brick buildings on either side, the group sprinted forward.
The powerful legs of the lizardman pounded the stone pavement, while above him, the siren’s golden wings and the gargoyle’s gray ones beat the air.
“E-ENEMY ATTAAAAAACK!!”
Almost as soon as they had set off, the scream of an adventurer rent the air. It was a Loki Familia member standing on a rooftop. The first-tier adventurer had noticed the group of monsters materializing from the darkness. He abandoned the signaling device and moved to ring a bell.
Before he could do so, the now-invisible Mikoto scaled the wall as skillfully as a ninja, grabbed the man’s ankles, and pulled him off the roof. He didn’t even have time to yell out when the unicorn raised its horn and sent the adventurer spinning through the air. His body slammed onto the ground. But that was only the first opponent to spot them.
Another lookout was already ringing bells that echoed through the Labyrinth District.
“They’ve seen us!”
“It doesn’t matter. Keep moving forward!”
Clang! Clang! Clang! As the high-pitched ringing of bells and the angry bellows of adventurers engulfed the Labyrinth District, the Xenos ran even faster.
The parade of the monsters had begun.
Shortly before…
“—Raul?”
Finn had quickly noticed the mo
vement in the west.
Troops were leaving their posts and advancing southward. From his position on the high ground, Finn could see the signaling devices flashing, as if they were swaying.
“Th-the western troops are on their way south! He said they were going to encircle the pack of monsters that showed up there!” the messenger said, staring at Finn.
“I’ve heard nothing of the sort! And I never gave a command, so why are they moving on their own?”
“B-but, uh…Mr. Raul said you came directly to him and gave him the command…”
“What?!”
As the messenger explained the situation to the captain, a buzz passed through the central encampment. Finn alone was seized with a sense of déjà vu.
Yes! This is just like the war game between Hestia Familia and Apollo Familia!
The prum who had invited Bell and his team into the castle—assuming it hadn’t been a trick—and then the prum girl who had appeared only at the end of the battle—
Finn whispered unconsciously to himself as the pieces came together.
“So that’s what happened…”
“Captain?”
Finn ignored the faction member who was giving him a strange look and instead focused on the face before his mind’s eye.
It must be that girl.
He had witnessed the bravery of his fellow prum and guessed that she was the sharpest member of Hestia Familia. She must have some magic item—no, some form of magic. He realized she had duped him.
At the same moment, he realized that he had allowed Bell Cranell to monopolize too much of his attention.
“Pull back the troops. And tell Narfi to fill the gap in the formation…No, scratch that. It’s too late,” he said, shaking his head.
As if to confirm his conclusion that it was too late, the high clanging of bells echoed through the air. Since the sound was coming from the west, it could only be a warning that the monsters had been sighted.
In the next instant, a cacophony of shouts surrounded Finn.
“C-Captain! A large group of monsters has suddenly appeared from the west. They have breached the gap where Raul’s troops were and they’re heading for the central area!”