Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

A voice as cold as ice rang out.

It was a voice driven by rage and filled with murderous intent.

The dark elf turned his head and stared directly at the terrified girl in my arms.

"Little girl, the white rabbit is an offering to the goddess, and you are not someone who can easily defile it."

White Rabbit? Are you talking about me?

Offerings to the goddess?

What on earth is Mr. Hegney talking about?!

The person before me ignored my visibly shaken state, unleashing an overwhelming killing intent and declaring decisively:

"I will end you."

My face turned pale on the spot.

The ten fingers kept spasming.

I suddenly stood up, and beside me, that head of light gray hair was trembling slightly.

"Mr. H. Hageny... I...!"

"There's no need for sophistry. What I see is simply a fact that absolutely cannot be allowed to occur."

Faced with the murderous Level 1 adventurer, I reflexively drew Goddess's Blade from my waist.

The dark elf maintained his serious expression and stared at me.

"Get out of the way, White Rabbit. This little brat is foolish enough to break her 'promise' with the goddess. In that case, we have no choice but to kill her."

"What...what are you saying!?"

"I'm saying, I must execute the person behind you."

This statement is not a threat.

He's serious!!

"It's all for the goddess—die, girl."

With a flick of his cloak, the dark elf swung his sword at us.

With only Lv·4 dynamic vision, it's completely impossible to keep up with the speed in front of you.

Faced with a lightning-fast attack that came slashing diagonally at the same time, I was a beat too slow to react, and all I could do was protect her with my body.

"Don't get in my way!"

“Hmm!?”

The dark elf swordsman easily sent me flying, even as I used my entire dagger and body to intercept his attack.

The pitch-black dagger and the pitch-black sword clashed head-on, followed by a powerful impact that nearly shattered the bones in my hand.

As I was being knocked to the side, my vision blurred, and I quickly reached out to her shoulder.

“Ahh!?”

I managed to pull her into my arms, and the two of us were sent flying together.

Using the recoil from the powerful blow, he tumbled several times on the ground, successfully creating distance between himself and his opponent once again.

However, this situation was far from reassuring. I quickly got up, and was also terrified by the reality before me.

In just one battle, I deeply realized the gap in strength between the enemy and myself.

—Let alone counterattack, the enemy can even kill me instantly before I can defend myself.

Unlike Miss Ais, who always showed me mercy, whether during training or the Heretic incident.

This is the true strength of a Level 1 adventurer... This is the true power of a Level 6 adventurer!

I had absolutely no chance to turn the tide of the battle!

"Fall down!"

The dark elf's figure disappeared again.

He pushed off the ground, soaring over my head, as if transforming into a bat and attacking me.

Faced with a high-speed attack from behind, I could only use my own body as a shield.

The intense impact sparked a flame on the dagger.

Even if I am killed in an ugly manner, I will fight to the death to maintain my body on just one leg.

Seeing this, Mr. Hegney launched a furious attack on me.

"Ughh ...

A horizontal slash from the right, a horizontal slash from the left, a downward chop, and a downward swing—I blocked the fierce attacks one after another.

Despite successfully blocking the attack, my stamina was being depleted at an alarming rate!

"Get out of my way, White Rabbit! Do you want to die by my sword!?"

"...!!"

"Don't provoke me any further! It'll make it hard for me to control my strength! If I accidentally slip up, you might lose your head!!"

A fierce, angry rebuke, no less powerful than a slash, landed directly on my face.

The previous image of being afraid to face others and crying is no longer there.

Whether it's an excited attitude or a tone that has absolutely nothing to do with weakness.

Saying he was blinded by anger doesn't seem quite right.

(Judging from his appearance, he's practically a "different person"!)

I remember hearing chanting and "magical names" before the attack.

Could it be that he activated some kind of "magic"?

That wasn't offensive magic or enchantment magic, but a much more special kind of magic...!

"...?"

Besides the massive loss of stamina that happened in the blink of an eye, I also noticed something else.

--Could it be that he can't attack me?

Mr. Hegney's strikes were so precise that they almost always hit a single leaf on the tree, making him even easier to read.

The enemy's only target is "her," whom I'm currently protecting behind me.

It's probably on someone's orders that Bell Crane must not be harmed in the slightest.

Realizing this, I actively used my own body as a shield.

"spit!"

As I expected, Mr. Hegney clicked his tongue in annoyance when he saw me forcefully rush into the attack range.

Normally, I wouldn't have been able to withstand an attack from a level one adventurer; the battle would have ended with the very first blow. Even considering the special circumstances, it's absurd to deliberately put myself in a vulnerable position, yet it's the only resistance I can offer at this moment.

To disrupt Mr. Hegney's attack range, I kept rushing into his slashing range.

I could barely make out the longsword that wasn't being swung with full force. After deflecting it with my dagger, the dark elf flipped his cloak and jumped back to create some distance.

"Huff... huff... huff...!"

"How dare you try to be clever and deliberately use your own life as a shackle to bind me! You have completely disgraced yourself as a Level 4."

"...!"

"You must reciprocate the favor of the supreme goddess. I advise you not to disappoint her again—or I will truly kill you."

Mr. Hegney, who hadn't broken a sweat yet, pierced through my gasping breaths with an absolute zero gaze.

I was trembling, but not because I was despised or because I was subdued by the other party's power.

Instead, the dark elf still squinted, staring menacingly at the trembling girl hiding behind me.

(Even until yesterday, the Freya Familia was still protecting Seele...!)

I believe Mr. Hegny, who is standing right in front of me, feels the same way.

Why have they suddenly become enemies?

Breaking the "agreement"? Violating the "rules"? I completely don't understand what he's trying to say!

Before I left, Welf said that it was impossible for us to start a full-scale war against the Freya Familia!

He's absolutely right!

Instead—it's a young girl being chased!

What on earth is going on?!

"The noisy 'quadruplets' and the ferocious 'cat' will be here soon. Rather than being torn to pieces by them, my strike is far more merciful. Stop running, stop, accept it silently, and let me transform the moment of death into eternal bliss—White Rabbit, I don't have time to keep messing around with you."

To prevent her from being killed behind me, I have to find a way to escape this place with my people.

Even though I want to do it, I can't.

As I frantically searched for an opening, Mr. Hegney, whose hands had been hanging down, suddenly slumped down.

"I won't let you get in my way anymore."

The next second, he had escaped my perception.

"────"

Mr. Hegney, who displayed incredible speed, has disappeared from my sight.

In the frozen moment, all I could see was the afterimage left by the cloak. The instant I finally saw the afterimage clearly, the dark elf had already kicked the wall of the building to the side.

Even though he was originally positioned in front, he planned to launch a strong attack from the 90-degree side.

This unexpected attack was as unpredictable as a ricochet.

I shattered the frozen moment, quickly turned around and reached out my hand, but it was too late.

She stood frozen in place, about to be pierced through the chest by the black sword—

"Drink it!"

at this time.

A swift attack intervened from the side, barely managing to block the black sword.

"What?"

"Ah... Miss Ryu!"

The elf, wielding two small katanas, quickly shielded us behind her.

After the stabbing went off course, I wasn't sure if Mr. Hegney had taken a step, but the floor to the side shattered with a crack, quickly putting distance between us. The bar uniform the newcomer was wearing billowed in the strong wind, and when I recognized this unexpected reinforcement, I couldn't help but cheer.

"Bell...! What on earth is going on...!?"

Miss Liu, who had made a dashing entrance, now frowned anxiously.

She had no time to look away from her compatriots standing in front of her, and could only talk to us with her back turned.

"Why is the Freya Familia attacking you!?"

Even Miss Ryu, who possesses the name "Swift Wind," could not hide her inner turmoil. At the same time, three other figures appeared one after another above our heads, seemingly following closely behind her.

"Wait! What's going on here!?"

"I was wondering why I heard such unusual fighting sounds, but it turns out it was just a romantic entanglement between Seele and the boy, meow!?"

"...!"

Miss Lunova, Miss Chloe, and Miss Anya jumped down from above in a flash.

As they shielded us in the middle, Miss Anya looked at Mr. Hegney with a bewildered expression.

"Get out of my way, girls. All I have to do is take that girl's life."

"What?! Are you kidding me?!"

"It's rather petty for a super-powerful adventurer to confront an ordinary person with such murderous intent, meow~ I think you should go to the toilet to calm down first, meow--or rather, I'm begging you, please go quickly."