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

"Recently, Ishtar has been keeping an eye on my actions. It would be troublesome if she accidentally found a reason to investigate or cause trouble... If Hermes wants to do something, let him do it."

She spoke these words to Ota, recalling the other "goddess of beauty" whose language clashed with hers at the assembly of the gods.

Regarding Hermes, it's enough to know for now that he had no intention of harming Bell.

She looked down out the window.

From the top floor of the Tower of Babel, one can enjoy a panoramic view of Orario. From here, it appears as if granular crowds are moving from the main streets towards the center. The rows of streetlights lining both sides of the avenues shine like a celestial river, dazzling in their brilliance.

Freya slowly lowered her delicate chin.

The central plaza unfolds directly beneath the tower.

She saw a group gathered in front of the Tower of Babel and smiled at them.

●

"Why are you so slow, Hermes!"

Hestia said angrily as she saw Hermes emerge from the Tower of Babel.

This is the west entrance to the skyscraper complex. The central plaza, now dark, is much less crowded than during the day. The empty space is quite noticeable, and the sparsely planted broad-leaved trees maintain their original stillness.

The search party was fully prepared. Hestia wore a travel robe to avoid revealing her divine identity and carried a small backpack. Her attire was somewhat similar to that of her supporter, Lily. The Takemikazuchi Familia had also assembled and was ready to depart.

Seeing Hestia's impatient and irritable state, Hermes, who had come with Asphie, gave a wry smile.

"Oh dear, I went to take care of some personal business, or rather, some paperwork... just handling a few things."

Hermes, looking somewhat tired, gazed up at the top of the Tower of Babel and said obediently, "Sorry I'm late."

Unable to contain her anxiety, Hestia was about to give the order for everyone to set off immediately.

"...The goddess Hestia."

"!"

Just then, Fate leaned in and whispered something to her, which Hestia noticed as well.

A mysterious figure walked up to them.

The person wore a hooded cloak that reached their waist. Because the hood was pulled down low, their face was not visible except for their full lips. They wore shorts and long boots that covered half of their thighs, highlighting their slender and delicate legs.

From the hem of the cloak, one can vaguely see the long wooden sword worn at the waist and two small swords.

Judging from her slender figure, she was probably female. Clad in adventurer's combat armor, she stopped silently in front of Hestia and her group.

Seeing that they had become more vigilant, Hermes smiled at everyone.

"She's a great helper, and she's very strong. Everyone, don't worry."

Hestia turned to look at Hermes with a surprised expression, then looked back at the person referred to as her helper.

The eyes peeking out from under the hoodie were a clear sky blue.

With the addition of the masked adventurers, the search party set off from the gates of the Tower of Babel.

In order to rescue Bell and the others, Hestia and her group entered a vast underground labyrinth.

Volume 5, Chapter 3: The Maze of Desperation

The ferocious roar of the beast immediately turned into a wail.

A sharp, piercing sound of wind cutting through the air was followed by a series of death screams. The wooden sword, swung to its hilt, even carved afterimages around the wound, depicting a one-sided battle of offense and defense.

It billowed with extraordinary speed, the cloak snapping violently in the air. Illuminated by phosphorescence were sky-blue eyes peeking out from beneath the hood.

Surrounded by up to ten monsters, she swept through the enemy like a whirlwind.

"Chirp!"

"Gah—!"

The unicorn rabbit was caught off guard when she stepped into her arms with her right foot and was struck by a downward slash. With a backhand swing of her longsword, she knocked away a monster that was right next to her, and then with a scooping strike, she instantly defeated a total of three monsters.

The monsters' encirclement was futile. They couldn't keep up with the cloaked, masked adventurer's speed. A hellhound, its fangs dripping with saliva, lunged at her from behind, only to become a victim of the spinning wooden blade, its chin shattered and sent flying.

"Chirp!"

With a sharp cry, the two unicorn rabbits hurled their natural weapon, the stone axe.

Faced with the rabbit monster's deadly attack, the masked adventurer knocked one of the stones down with his wooden sword—then grabbed the other stone axe with one hand and threw it back without hesitation.

The stone axe sank into the face of the wide-eyed unicorn rabbit, sending it flying backward and causing it to fall to the ground, unable to get up.

The remaining rabbit, still stunned as its companion disappeared beside it, was suddenly enveloped by a dark shadow. It abruptly turned forward, and in the next instant, a wooden knife was already piercing its forehead. With a hoarse "Chirp!?", its bright red eyeball flew out of its socket, and the unicorn rabbit breathed its last.

"Wow, that's amazing..."

"He took care of so many monsters all by himself."

"Ah, ahhh..."

The members of the Takemikazuchi Familia witnessed the scene before them, and although Mikoto, Sakura, and Chigusa expressed it differently, they were all equally shocked.

We are currently on the 13th floor of the dungeon.

Only a few hours after setting off, Hestia and Bell's search team had already broken through the "upper level" and entered the "middle level." The speed of their ascent was much faster than initially predicted.

The progress is so fast thanks to the active performance of the masked adventurers.

Without anyone else needing to lift a finger, she defeated all the monsters single-handedly. This is a far cry from their current predicament—she was even known in the past as "Gale"—her strength is at Lv.4.

Even Hermes's confidante, Asphie, was speechless at the speed and skill of the monsters. No matter how many monsters came from the upper and middle levels, they would not be a match for them.

"Roar! Ro ...

Employing a violent spinning sound, the armored rat monster—the Armadillo—rushed through the depths of the passage.

Facing the massive bullet hurtling towards her, the masked adventurer silently drew her katana. In the instant of contact with the enemy, she easily dodged their path, and as they passed each other, she flashed the white blade horizontally in her reverse grip.

Unaffected by the intense spinning, the slashes cut straight through, and the monster's body slid towards the ground.

Its body split into four pieces that flew through the air, falling one after another before the stunned Ming and his companions.

"That's good, it's nice to have an easier time. Even if she's in the middle ranks, it shouldn't be a problem to hand over the forward duties to her... Ah."

Asphie, who had been speaking to the powerful forward, shifted her attention to the rear of the squad, to the monster emerging from a horizontal cave in the passage. The Takemikazuchi Familia, snapping back to reality, also turned around, allowing Hestia and Hermes to hide behind them.

"Excuse me, please come this way."

"what?"

Ignoring the two hellhounds that appeared, Asphie tugged at Chigusa's shoulder, who was carrying a backpack.

Asifi pushed and pulled her behind her, who was standing by the wall—the cave wall looked like a mole digging a hole underground, with raised marks rushing towards her in a straight line.

Asphi reached inside her pure white cloak and drew a short sword from her waist.

Almost at the same moment, the "Dungeon Worm" that had been drilling holes in the wall suddenly burst out.

This faceless monster, with only a mouth full of teeth and resembling an earthworm, wriggled its ugly, slender body through the wall and leaped out. Facing the labyrinth predator that had dug into the wall and leaped out, Asifi swung her sword from the front, slicing it from the monster's mouth to its tail in one go.

The dungeon worm sprayed out blood and split in two. Seeing its beautifully split, long body fly to the left and right, Chigusa froze on the spot.

"We need to finish this quickly."

Asfi turned directly to the hellhound and reached her hand to her waist again.

A thick leather belt was wrapped around her slender waist. Besides the scabbard of her short sword, several pouches hung from the belt, containing various items.

She took a small bottle filled with a moss-green liquid from one of her pouches. Asphie threw the bottle at the hellhounds.

“Gu!”

"...!"

The small bottle hit its target and shattered, spilling liquid that covered the monsters' faces. The highly viscous gel-like solution adhered to their faces, sealing the hellhounds' mouths where they had been gathering flames.

The monsters were determined to get rid of the moss-green slime on their faces, but this time Asphie pulled out a spiral-patterned flying needle and threw it in an instant.

The two flying needles pierced the monsters' foreheads with pinpoint accuracy, killing them instantly.

"Judging from this, I should be able to handle the defense on my own."

She skillfully used props to easily defeat monsters, drawing their attention.

Asif Al Andromeda.

A high-ranking adventurer belonging to the Hermes Familia. The title bestowed upon her by the gods is "Perseus".

She is the possessor of the rare ability "mystery," which is held by fewer than five people in all of Orario, and is also a rare item magician.

"...Hermes, aren't all your band members Level 2?"

"Haha, I just remembered, I forgot to apply for the [upgrade]!"

Facing Hestia's staring gaze, Hermes answered with a thick-skinned grin. Asphie's ability to easily deal with mid-level monsters clearly didn't qualify her as a Level 2, and he readily admitted it.

While it's probably not because they're worried about attracting too much attention, it seems that the Hermes Familia is a peculiar family that would rather give up status and reputation than lose their rank.

His reluctance to engage in political maneuvering and his self-proclaimed neutrality are indeed very much in line with Hermes' style of dealing with people.

Hestia, who had dealings with him in the celestial realm, thought to herself that this was what she was thinking.

"...It's so dark."

For quite some time, they hadn't encountered any monsters. As they advanced to the 13th floor, only Hestia's unusually loud mutterings could be heard.

Leaving aside the fact that the upper level maintained a certain level of brightness, the middle level, lacking phosphorescence, was extremely dark. "Do the children usually go into places like this?" Hestia wondered.

For the Familia (whose five senses, including vision, are enhanced by their [ability values], even a small amount of phosphorescence ensures clear vision. However, for the goddess (Hestia), whose "divine power" has been sealed and whose abilities have been reduced to below normal levels, this underground labyrinth is simply too dark and terrifying. Unable to see where she is standing, honestly, even walking requires courage.

Darkness oppresses the mind and body, and constantly induces unease. This is also true for gods. To dispel the unsettling feeling of suffocation, Hestia illuminates every corner with a portable magic stone lamp, similar to a light fixture, held in her right hand.

The gray, empty rock walls contained large, protruding rocks known as the "Arsenal of the Labyrinth"—filled with natural weapons—and the half-destroyed remains of swords and blades scattered on the ground. Hmm? Following the direction of the remains, she saw a blood-soaked hellhound staring up at Hestia with lifeless eyes. She cried out, "Aaaah!" and recoiled in fright. "Be careful," Hermes said, supporting her shoulders from behind.

The hellhound lying on the ground showed no signs of life. Its corpse, preserved in its original form without the "magic stone" removed, seemed to have been left there for a long time, emitting a pungent, putrid stench. Hestia, her heart pounding, looked up and saw Hermes with lowered eyebrows and a slight, bitter smile.

His travel spree seemed to give him excellent night vision, making him much more adaptable to the dungeon than Hestia, which she found somewhat annoying. Although Hestia couldn't help but pout and look up at Hermes, she suddenly remembered something and looked back down at her feet.

A broken sword, bloodstained remains. This seems to suggest that both the adventurers and the monster were severely injured. At the very least, it indicates that the adventurers have no resources left to recover the magic stones.

Concerned for Bell's safety, Hestia couldn't help but think of the boy's fate from the sword and the corpse.

"Andromeda, where exactly are we supposed to look? We're not going to run into Bell Crane and the others even if we search everywhere."

As Hestia swallowed, Sakura asked in his deep voice.

With his imposing stature, towering 190cm, and majestic appearance, he asked this question. Asif glanced at him and turned to face forward.

"Bell Crane and the others arrived at the middle level with the equipment they used for a day trip, so it's unlikely they chose to linger in the maze... The most likely explanation is that they encountered some kind of accident and are unable to leave this area."

"You mean an accident?"

"Yes. They weren't all wiped out, but they stayed in the middle level for more than a day. The theory behind this is really hard to understand. They probably fell into a vertical cave."

Both Mikoto and Chigusa opened their eyes wide, while Asifi put her glasses back on.

"What would they do if they fell into a deeper level where they couldn't return to the surface on their own? They're unlikely to be threatened by monsters and would be wandering aimlessly in a vast labyrinth. A squad that makes such a foolish choice would be wiped out in less than a day... That's my opinion."

She paused here and then drew a conclusion.

"They may have abandoned the option of returning to the ground and deliberately headed for the safe floor, which is the 18th floor... I think that's quite possible."

"...Is it really possible to do that? No one in their right mind would do something like that."

Anyone familiar with the horrors of dungeons should have firsthand experience of how dangerous it is to recklessly venture into a floor they haven't reached. As the name suggests, it's practically digging your own grave.

Sakura made a face as if she had heard something unbelievable.

"If it were me, I would do the same."

A silvery voice rang out.

The masked adventurer, who had never spoken before, finally spoke.

Sakura and the others suddenly turned their heads to look at her, who was standing at the front of the team, in the forward position.

"They are also—no, I think he, having overcome the hardships of the past, wouldn't turn back, but would choose to move forward."

A chilling voice rang out among the team. The masked adventurer didn't say anything more after that.

Asphi stared at the profile hidden by the cloak for a moment, then asked, "What do Hermes and Hestia think?"

"Yes, I also support Asphie's opinion."

"Yeah, I also... I think Bell is on the bottom... I guess so..."