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

"There's no time to take it slow. Leave this to them, Bell, you guys get going."

"Eh... But... but..."

"Listen to me. This war won't end until you're safely out of here. Do you understand?"

Bell was still hesitating when a loud shout came from deep within the alley.

A new wave of enemies has arrived; reinforcements have come.

Bell and Hestia stopped breathing, and Mih, looking anxious, urged them on:

"Alright, let's go!"

"...I'm sorry, Mich!"

Hestia stood up, and Bell nodded as if in pain.

As the two fled again, Bell glanced back at his men, who were fighting alone behind him. He felt a pang of guilt for dragging his acquaintances into the conflict.

At the same time, he also realized that this was the struggle between the [Family].

Once one faction starts a conflict, allied factions will join in like a chain reaction, dragging the war into a quagmire. The longer it goes on, the more intense the factional fighting becomes, with no end in sight. This forced him to understand why the Familias don't openly engage in armed conflict.

"We're very close to the city walls. Are we currently at the western end of the city...?"

Running desperately alongside the badly injured Bell, Hestia looked up at the narrow path above.

Ahead, the city walls surrounding the city looked down upon Bell and his companions. Judging from the distance of the towering stone walls, Hestia deduced that they were not far from the western edge of the city.

Perhaps because they were only focused on escaping their pursuers (Yacintos), they strayed significantly from the direction of the guild headquarters.

"Found it!"

"...!"

Before long, the two were captured by the enemy, who had mobilized a large number of assassins.

Breaking through Naza's barrage of arrows, the adventurers who had been rushing along the building pounced on the injured Bell and Hestia.

With a push off the roof, the three adventurers launched a swift attack from above Bell and his companions.

"Don't even think about succeeding!"

"!"

Just as the three figures enveloped Bell and Hestia, suddenly, a black shadow darted into the fray with the speed of a cannon. With a powerful swing of its single-edged greatsword, it sent two opponents flying in mid-air.

Not only that, but a flying metal arrow then pierced the cheek of the remaining person. The enemy adventurer lost his balance and fell, and the dark figure that had just descended from the sky kicked him in a wide arc, sending him flying.

"...Are you alright, Bell?"

The red-haired youth who had defeated his opponent turned his head, letting his kimono flutter in the wind.

"Welf!"

Bell stared wide-eyed at his companion who was carrying a large sword on his shoulder.

"Lord Bell!"

Lily arrived at their side a step too late, just after Welf.

As she checked the feel of her right arm after firing the crossbow, she called out Bell's name.

"Even the supporter lady..."

"How did you end up here...?"

"Of course, it's because I'm worried about you, Lord Bell!"

"It's causing quite a stir in the streets, everyone's saying that 'the rabbit' was being chased in the street."

Lily, who had transformed into a beastman, stopped in front of Hestia and Bell in surprise and immediately noticed something.

Bell's face was swollen and bleeding. His light armor was pierced by slashes and had dents. Lily hurriedly took out items from her backpack—high-grade elixirs and two dual-attribute elixirs she had previously bought from Naza—and handed Bell three test tubes.

"Thank you, Lily..."

Seeing Bell smiling despite his injuries, Lily felt a pang of pain in her small chest. It was too tragic. Seeing the boy's horrific state, she even hallucinated, thinking that she was the one who had been slashed.

Bell seemed unable to swallow the medicine. As he uncorked the bottle and poured the ultramarine solution onto his head, Hestia urged, "We shouldn't stay here any longer. Let's move quickly."

"Lily roughly understands the situation, but... is the reason really the argument at the tavern?"

"No, including that incident, it was all part of Apollo's plan."

As the four of them ran, Lily asked Hestia a question, and Hestia briefly explained what had happened.

Whether it was a joke or the truth, when Hestia whispered to her that the boy's virginity was in danger, she almost fainted.

"Hey...you're here!"

"!"

"Welf stared intently ahead," he said. "First there were three people, then several more appeared behind them."

Lily urged the stiff-looking Bell and Hestia to speak:

"Lord Bell, please head to the guild immediately!"

"We'll catch up after we take care of the enemy, don't worry!"

Bell looked distressed and was about to retort when Welf interrupted her. Lily looked at Hestia, and Hestia said, "I'm sorry, please!" and took the boy's hand.

"Little Riko, cover me!"

"I know! But are you sure you'll be alright on your own?"

After Bell and Hestia took a detour, Lily and Welf took the initiative to approach the enemy ahead.

Ignoring her concerns, Welf charged into the enemy lines alone.

"No, if it were me now—"

Then they faced the first three adventurers who approached.

He pulled the large sword he was holding behind his back to gather strength, and then swung it horizontally (full swing).

Faced with a powerful blow that generated wind pressure, the stunned enemy had no time to dodge and was sent flying with a scream.

"—It should be alright, right?"

"...It's good that you're highly skilled in martial arts, but please be careful not to let anyone take advantage of your weaknesses!"

The adventurers, who had been flying upwards, spun like cones and crashed heavily behind Lily.

Witnessing Welf's potential at Lv.2, Lily suppressed her feelings of trust and reminded him.

The two immediately engaged in battle with the subsequent enemies.

"There's a guy whose movements are different!"

Lily and her team were facing a mixed squad of Lv.1 and Lv.2 adventurers. The slow-moving novice adventurers were taken down by Welf first, while the remaining advanced adventurer was instantly drawn away by a clever arrow from Lily.

Then, Welf's spinning top-like slash sent the advanced adventurer crashing into the wall behind him.

"Lord Welf, please make way!"

"Hey, that can't be...!"

Facing the enemy group that appeared again ahead, Lily took out a bag the size of her fist.

Before she even threw the thing away, she had already pinched her nose. It was—a "strong odor bag".

Welf's expression changed drastically, and at the same time, Lily threw the thing into the company compound. Instantly, terrifying green particles... no, it was all stench that erupted, spreading through the narrow, inescapable back alley.

"Wa ...

"Shouldn't you let me know before you use it?!"

"Didn't Lily tell you to move aside?"

The two, each pinching their noses, desperately fled from behind, as a burst of green, explosive stench wafted towards them.

After destroying the nearby battlefield, Lily and Welf engaged in several more battles with the enemies rushing towards them.

"...There are so many enemies!"

Upon seeing the number of enemies attacking them, Welf exclaimed.

Enemy figures appeared one after another from all directions. The incessant sirens were probably a signal from those who had spotted Bell and Hestia. Before they knew it, the two of them couldn't even slow down the enemy's advance. Under these circumstances, Lily looked around.

"Is... someone really directing things on the other side?"

Judging from the enemy's intermittent attacks, their coordinated actions seemed somewhat chaotic. It looked like a hastily arranged operation to fill the gaps.

An encirclement strategy that relied on sheer numbers. Just as the unusually large number of enemy troops made Lily uneasy... she froze, staring at the adventurers that Welf had slain.

"Huh, this...that can't be, why...?"

"Hey, what's wrong!"

Lily forgot to cover Welf and stood frozen in place. In front of her, the armor of the fallen human was engraved with an emblem of a crescent moon and a goblet. Lily reflexively grabbed her left shoulder.

A chilling sensation, making her nauseous, surged from deep within her abdomen, yet at the same time her skin felt hot and she was sweating profusely. "No way, no way, no way," those three words filled Lily's mind.

As if confirming Lily's suspicions, the exposed badge represented the Soma Familia.

Looking down at the emblem of the goblet symbolizing "divine wine," her chestnut eyes trembled with shock.

"!"

She abruptly looked up and around. There was the orc giant locked in fierce combat with Welf; the Amazon woman rudely calling for reinforcements from the rooftop; the dwarf, his face contorted with rage from an arrow wound. Had she, estranged from her own faction, seen their faces somewhere before?

Just as Lily unfortunately guessed the excessive number of enemies... and where the faction colluding with the [Apollo Familia] came from.

As if to deliver a fatal blow, she discovered that the person commanding the adventurers was a thin-faced man wearing glasses.

"Little Riko!"

Ignoring Welf's shouts, Lily rushed out, kicking and thrashing her slender legs at the pile of wooden crates before dispelling her transformation magic and landing on the roof of the building.

"Lord Chanis!"

"...Oh, I knew you were here, Erd."

Upon seeing Lily appear, Chanis, the leader of the Soma Familia, was not particularly surprised and even smiled.

On a wide, flat rooftop, a human male confronts a girl who has transformed from an orc back into a dwarf.

"What are you doing?! Why are you helping the Apollo Familia?!"

"This was commissioned by Apollo. They said they would pay me; in return, they wanted me to help them fight against the [Hestia Familia]. The chief god (Soma) also granted it... no, he gave me full authority to decide."

Indeed, in some respects, the Soma Familia is the easiest faction to control in this city.

The main god, who is only interested in brewing wine, is unfamiliar with worldly affairs and indifferent to power struggles and the distribution of power. As long as he can get the funds for brewing wine, he will probably take the bait easily.

For this day to come, the Apollo Familia, who have long planned to seize Bell, must have had their eyes on this easy-to-use helper (partner) long ago.

"Are you serious?! You'd get involved in something like this for a huge reward... The Apollo Familia should be prepared for guild punishment for this commotion, and the Soma Familia, who helped out, will definitely be punished as well!"

The factional operations of the [Soma Familia] were already considered problematic by the guild, which had requested the guild to regulate the Familia's activities. If the Familia is now found to be assisting other factions in disrupting the city's peace, they might actually be expelled from the city this time. Chanis and his group are essentially holding a sword to their own throats.

Lily loudly asserted that the Soma Familia had no reason to assist Apollo and his group, nor any reason to attack Bell and the others.

"No, we have a valid reason."

However, Chanis remained calm, clasping his hands behind his back as he spoke to Lily.

"Justified, the reason...?"

"That's right. Even disregarding the Apollo faction's request, the Soma Familia has every reason to fight the Hestia Familia."

Seeing his calm and confident demeanor, Lily looked on in surprise. Chanis, a cold smile playing on his lips, narrowed his eyes, raised his chin, and looked down at her condescendingly, as if asking, "Don't you understand?"

It's like asking her to ask herself where the problem lies.

"No way, right?"

A fleeting thought made Lily turn pale.

As for Chanis, he readily confirmed her worst suspicions.

"Yes, it's you, Erd."

He nodded arrogantly.

"Someone has deceived our irreplaceable compatriots. I will snatch her back from those people and then carry out my just revenge to prove our righteousness."