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

Seeing Lily's stunned silence, Hestia continued:

"Bell is working alone to achieve victory!"

“Eh…”

"To win the war game, that child is currently suffering hellish torture! But that's not enough! To win, we need your strength!!"

—What is she saying?

To win the war game, we need Lily's power?

How could that be? How could Lily, who only knows how to sabotage others, possibly contribute to victory?

To this day, the little people are always being abused, trampled on, and have all their things taken away; driven by dark emotions, they even commit dirty crimes.

How could someone like me possibly save them?

Hestia is talking nonsense.

"We can't win without you! You're indispensable!"

But she kept talking, no matter how hard she tried.

The goddess yearns for Lily, who has never been needed by anyone until now.

This self that only a boy is willing to save, this self that only a boy is willing to need—the goddess says, this time it's your turn to do your part for the boy.

Hestia is asking Lily for help.

"Please, help us—help Bell!!"

run.

Lily rushed out as if she had been electrocuted.

She ran through narrow stone corridors and dark passages, her footsteps echoing as she continued running, Hestia's screams replaying in her mind.

Weak Lily couldn't possibly do it. Useless Lily couldn't possibly help Bell and the others. She overestimates herself. Hestia is clearly a goddess, but what she's saying is way off track.

(But……!)

She said she needed Lily.

She pleaded with Lily for help.

It wasn't someone else, but Lily.

I, who was never needed by anyone, am now needed by a group of people.

"Ugh...!!"

My vision blurred, my cheeks burned, and a feeling welled up inside me as if a dam was about to burst.

An indescribable emotion surged through Lily's body. Her only thought was to help Hestia and the others who were still fighting, and she cried out to her entire being, "Go! Go!"

Since Chanis is commanding the battle, the only being capable of stopping it is a deity with even greater power—the supreme god Soma. Lily did indeed see Soma's figure inside the building when she was taken to the prison. This is also to break free from the factional curse; Lily must persuade him no matter what.

She desperately tried to recall her first visit to the wine cellar. This building was a management tower with an attached dungeon, and Soma should have been in his private room on the top floor.

With transparent tears dripping from her eyes, Lily hurried to the side of the Supreme God.

●

"This is really troublesome..."

Chanis muttered to himself as he looked down at the battlefield from the roof of the warehouse.

In the area in front of the management tower of the wine cellar, which houses five warehouses storing "divine wine" on each side, and a watchtower nearby, the invaders gathered in the outermost wine cellar and engaged in battle with the members of the [Soma Familia].

Seeing the less than ten invaders fighting desperately, Chanis scoffed again, laughing at how they dared to attack despite such a large disparity in numbers.

If he could capture that little goddess, it would be quite interesting to do Apollo and his group a favor. With this plan in mind, he gave his next instruction to the group members.

"...?"

Just as Chanis was observing the battle with a sadistic gaze, something passed through his field of vision.

It was Lily, running faster down the corridor between the two buildings of the management tower.

He frowned, wondering what the prison guard (Chandra) was up to, but then immediately resumed his smirk.

"Interesting, what tricks is she planning?"

In order to catch up with Lily, Chanis handed over command to a high-ranking adventurer and left the scene.

She raced through the vast and complex passageways of the management tower.

After finally finding the stairs, Lily quickly ran up to the second floor.

Unlike the cramped downstairs, the upstairs feels more open, with wider corridors and numerous doors leading to rooms. The windows, which can be opened or closed, offer a view of the blue sky, illuminating the tower's interior instead of the peeling, candlestick-shaped magic stone lamps.

Soma's room was on the third floor.

Everyone was summoned to fight, and Lily ran through the empty tower.

"Where are you going, Erd?"

「!?」

A loud crash came from behind Lily, who was running down the corridor; a window had been broken.

"It's Chanis." The high-level adventurer, who had easily infiltrated the second floor from the outside, stepped on the shards of glass and called out to Lily from behind.

—We've been discovered!

Lily screamed inwardly and hurriedly kicked the floor as she ran around the corner of the corridor.

"There's only a staircase leading upstairs?"

“Wu!?”

When Lily felt something rapidly approaching from behind, she was suddenly touched.

Chanis slapped her on the back, but that alone sent her flying to the floor.

Lily rolled over and got up, her back burning with a nauseating pain, and then ran away again.

"Heh... Hahahaha! Hey, Erd, what's your rush!?"

Chanis's laughter came from behind. Lily twisted her face and ran forward as fast as she could.

The man who caught up with her quickly and easily delivered a side blow, this time to her shoulder.

"ah!?"

"Are you trying to ask Soma to plead for mercy? It's useless, it's useless!!"

Her body was slammed against the wall, but she continued to move forward.

She roused her slender, unsteady legs and pushed open the cold stone wall with one hand.

"That god would listen to you? No way! We gods are only interested in brewing wine!"

"babble……!?"

"To that god-like figure, you're nothing but noise! ​​Going to beg him will only result in being rebuffed!"

She was caught and knocked away by Chanis several times. Powerful punches and kicks, each time they grazed any part of her body, knocked her to the ground.

Lily struggled to her feet and fled from the shadowy figure that had stopped and was looking down at her with amusement, barely managing to move forward. Chanis burst into laughter, as if to say that her actions were utterly ridiculous.

"You've changed, Erd! I thought you'd be smarter! The only thing I've ever admired is that cold, resentful look in your eyes!"

The dark past, which had repeatedly pulled her back into the darkness, was now cloaked in the guise of Chanis, who sneered at Lily.

The tears welling in her eyes—yes, were the price of enduring physical pain. They were not tears of regret. She would not shed tears of regret. Only towards the past that bound her, she would never again shed tears.

Hindered by the disdain of Chanis, Lily kept running forward. Dodging the approaching man and rushing up the stairs, she finally reached the third floor.

Apart from the passageways, the top floor of the management tower was entirely divided into one room. Lily mustered all her strength, intending to break into the main god's room.

"Hey!"

“Ugh!?”

She was hit by a powerful kick from Chanis and flew through the air.

Her petite body flew towards the room door, and Lily used the force to smash through the double doors.

With a loud thud, Lily tumbled into the room.

"..."

Soma was in the room.

Deep inside the room, which features a spacious balcony, he was mixing several plants in a pot on his workbench.

He remained indifferent to the battle outside and Lily entering the room, focusing solely on mixing the ingredients for the liquor.

"Soma God, Soma God! Please, listen to Lily!"

Covered in wounds, Lily lifted her face from the floor and shouted at the god who had his back to her.

Soma, who was working in a slightly dirty robe, turned around irritably after she called out to him several times.

He stared at Chanis, who had just walked into the room, from beneath his long, flowing hair.

"It's so noisy, Chanis. I'm leaving all the chores to you."

Just when Lily was deeply hurt to see that the Supreme God didn't take her seriously at all...

Unable to suppress a laugh, Chanis glanced down at her and said:

"Excuse my rudeness, God Soma. This Liliruka Erd seems to have something she wishes to appeal to you directly. May I ask what she has to say?"

Chanis's composed demeanor suggested he knew exactly what outcome was coming.

In response to his request, Soma glanced lazily at Lily.

Lily managed to kneel down.

"I beg you, Soma, please call upon those fighting outside to cease hostilities—please save Hestia and the others, save the people outside! I beg you, I beg you…!"

Hearing the heart-wrenching pleas, Soma slowly turned to face Lily.

As if it were extremely troublesome, he began to speak:

"What's the point of listening to you kids... who so easily drown in alcohol?"

“——”

Hearing that monotone voice, Lily was speechless and froze on the spot.

Faced with the chilling divine presence of the Supreme God, Lily understood his inner thoughts.

Soma was disappointed. Disappointed with the members of his own faction, and also with the inhabitants of the lower realm.

The collapse of the Soma Familia stemmed from its use of "divine wine" as a reward. The chief god originally intended to reward the members with the wine, using it as a catalyst for factionalism. However, the members, as he predicted, became addicted. Every member wanted to grab the wine first, and eventually, they even resorted to ugly tactics like kicking other members aside in their struggle.

As for Soma himself, he probably just wanted to use the homemade, fragrant wine as a reward, paying only what he could afford. However, the children instead became addicted to the divine wine, repeating their foolish behavior. Seeing their utter disgrace, the god couldn't help but feel a sense of near disillusionment.

—Soma had no malicious intent and no intention to harm anyone. It should be said that Soma had absolutely no interest in or concern for Lily and the others.

Soma had given up on the pathetic stupidity of the lower realm inhabitants, and was merely using them by constantly bestowing rewards upon the annoying believers who clamored for "divine wine."

"The voices of children who are addicted to alcohol are... extremely frivolous."

Beneath his long, flowing bangs, his dark eyes weren't looking at Lily. What met his gaze was a crystallized, human-shaped expression of disappointment.

Just as Lily was unable to move due to the cold gaze of the gods, Soma slowly moved.

He took a white bottle of wine from a cabinet that was fixed to the wall.

Soma walked towards the stunned Lily, handed her the wine glass, and said:

"If you can still say the same thing after drinking this, then I'll listen to you."

—Breathing stopped.

The liquid poured into the glass, with its dazzlingly cool and fragrant aroma, was reflected on the surface of the glass and on my own pale face.

My throat became parched, and I was sweating profusely. I almost dropped the wine glass I was holding.

Memories of being bewitched by the "divine wine" and going mad in the past flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern. She trembled with fear and looked up to see Soma staring down at her with an emotionless face.

Chanis seemed to have known this would happen all along, and watched the show with a smile.

"Ah, ah...!?"