A cross-dressing anime, starting with Kaguya-sama: Love Is War.

Lynn's brain started racing.

A vast torrent of memories of Alphia flashed rapidly through his mind.

Countless magical knowledge and combat techniques appeared like a revolving lantern.

However, most of them are unusable due to his current physical condition.

Those powerful area-of-effect annihilation spells require enormous magical power and precise control, which he simply cannot cast now.

His exquisite close-combat skills became useless due to his weakened body.

and many more……

An inconspicuous little magic trick, categorized as "magic," suddenly popped into his mind.

It was an auxiliary magic that Alphia developed when she was young to play pranks on her fellow members of her kin.

[音貝].

A harmless little magic spell that can compress, store, and then release sound in a specific direction.

In Alphia's vast magical treasury, this magic was as insignificant as a drop of water in the ocean.

But at this moment, it became Lynn's only lifeline.

He took a deep breath and mustered every last bit of strength in his body.

His gaze swept over the monsters that surrounded him.

He could see that those aquatic monsters all had fin-like organs on their heads, which they used to sense sound and water vibrations.

This is it!

A wild smile curved Lynn's lips.

He opened his mouth and, with all his might, let out a deafening roar.

"Roar--!!!"

Then, he instantly activated the [Sound Shell] magic.

The roar was compressed into an invisible, unseen "sonic bomb," which was then launched towards the weakest point in the encirclement.

next second.

The "sonic bomb" exploded above the heads of more than a dozen aquatic monsters!

There was no light, no fire.

Only one extremely high-frequency sound wave, powerful enough to pierce the eardrum, spread out in a fan shape in an instant.

Those aquatic monsters didn't even have time to let out a single mournful cry.

Their organs, which are used to perceive sound, were instantly and completely shattered by this violent sound wave.

The brain was also turned into a mess.

At the same time, more than a dozen LV2 level monsters stiffened and fell straight down, dying instantly.

A gap has appeared in the encirclement!

Right now!

Without the slightest hesitation, Lynn transformed into an arrow released from a bow, charging fiercely towards the gap.

He squeezed out every last bit of his strength, pushing his speed to the limit.

The smile on Revis's face froze instantly.

She never expected that this man, who seemed to have reached the end of his rope, could still launch such a precise and effective counterattack in such a desperate situation.

"Want to run?"

A flash of anger crossed her eyes.

"Stop him!"

The filthy fairy let out a shriek, transformed into a streak of light, and chased straight toward Lynn's back.

But Lynn's speed was too fast.

Before the filthy fairy could catch up with him, he had already successfully broken out of the encirclement.

Without looking back, he plunged into a complex, labyrinthine cave nearby.

"Chase!"

"Ravis roared in exasperation."

She led all the monsters, following closely behind, and rushed into the cave.

However, just as their figures disappeared into the cave entrance...

In the shadows not far away.

Several figures of different shapes slowly appeared.

263. Heretic

There was a winged lizardman, a burly stone dragon, and a graceful birdman.

They all exuded a powerful, monstrous aura.

They are the "heretics" of the underground city.

"It's that human from earlier..."

Reed the lizardman looked in the direction Lynn had disappeared, his tone tinged with complexity.

"He seems to be... being hunted down."

"So what?"

"Stone Dragon Guros," he said in a hoarse voice.

"That's between humans and that crazy woman, what does it have to do with us?"

"But... he looks like he's about to die."

A timid voice came from behind them.

Winnie, a girl with dragon wings, emerged from the shadows, her face etched with worry.

"Should we...save him?"

Winnie's question silenced the heretics present.

save him?

This idea sounds so absurd.

They are monsters.

They live in the deepest part of the dungeon, despised by all races, and regarded by adventurers as experience points.

Lynn, however, is human, an adventurer.

They are their natural enemies, standing on the opposite side.

The monster went to rescue an adventurer?

This is simply the biggest joke in the world.

"I object."

Stone Dragon Ancient Ross was the first to break the silence.

His voice was deep and firm.

"What we should do now is find a safe place to hide, instead of getting involved in human conflicts, especially those involving that crazy woman."

The "crazy woman" he was referring to was, of course, Rives.

“Gulus is right.”

Birdman Rei nodded in agreement.

“We all know how powerful that beast tamer is. The monsters under her command, and that damned fairy, are simply no match for us. Charging out now would only be a death sentence.”

"Besides, who knows who that human really is?"

She glanced at Winnie, her tone becoming somewhat stern.

“Winnie, I know you have a kind heart. But don’t forget how humans treat us. Even if he didn’t lay a hand on us before, it doesn’t mean he’s a friend. Maybe he was just using us.”

"I don't think so!"

Winnie immediately retorted, her emotions running high.

“I could sense that he didn’t have that kind of…malice towards us.”

"That only means he hasn't discovered us yet!"

Guros interrupted her gruffly.

“Listen, Winnie. This is not the time to let emotions get the better of us. Our priority is to survive and protect our fellow human beings. Any action that could be dangerous must be stopped.”

Reed the lizard man remained silent.

His brows were furrowed, as if he were engaged in a fierce internal struggle.

As the leader among the heretics, who was the calmest and most thoughtful, he knew very well that both Guros and Rey were right.

From a rational perspective, standing by and doing nothing is currently the best and safest option.

but……

Reed glanced at his arguing companions, then looked again in the direction of the cave where Lynn had disappeared.

The sounds of battle over there seemed to be getting more and more intense.

He could feel Lynn's breath rapidly fading away.

If this continues, he really will die.

"Reed, you decide."

Lei's voice pulled him back from his reverie.

0...Requesting flowers...0

“You are our leader. Whatever you say, we will do.”

Although Guros still looked unwilling, he did not refute it again.

He knew that among all the heretics, Reed had the highest prestige.

In an instant, all the heretics’ eyes were focused on Reed.

Reed felt unprecedented pressure.

Every decision he made concerned the life and death of the entire tribe.

Saving them might plunge them into an abyss of no return.

No rescue

But he always had a mysterious feeling that this Lynn might be the key for them, the heretics, to walk into the sunlight.

................

Of course, he didn't know whether this feeling was correct or not.

From deep within the cave came a suppressed groan of pain from Lynn and a maniacal laugh from Revis.

"Run! Why aren't you running anymore!"

"Where's your flame? Show it to me again!"

Hearing the piercing laughter, Reed suddenly opened his eyes.

A resolute glint flashed in his eyes.

He made a decision that he might regret for the rest of his life, but which he had no choice but to make at that moment.

He looked at Guros, his voice unusually solemn.

“Guros, take Winnie and most of your people and get away from here immediately via another route, as far away as possible.”