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

She stood up on the spot with her trembling legs.

His lips were trembling as he breathed heavily, looking down at his wine glass.

She had to drink it. To save Hestia and the others, and to sever the long-standing feud with the faction, she had to down this cup of wine.

Lily brought the wine glass to her lips with trembling hands.

The divine wine that bewitched Lily and turned her into a beast.

The culprit who stole Lily's salvation and twisted her life.

Under the watchful eyes of Soma and Chanis, Lily made up her mind and drank the "divine wine" in one gulp.

“——”

The next instant, the world softly distorted.

An overwhelming sense of ecstasy, a peak of emotion that twists and turns consciousness.

With a clatter, the wine glass rolled onto the floor.

Her hands and feet trembled, and she could not stand. Like a puppet with its strings cut, she knelt down on the spot.

Her cheeks felt hot, and she couldn't focus... but Lily was smiling.

"—Ah, ha…"

I can hardly believe that such a fine wine exists in the world; its taste melts away my body and soul.

As Lily, who had lost her composure, sensed Soma turn away and walk away indifferently, the mission and intentions she had previously held in her heart were forgotten.

The view gradually became blank and cloudy.

The senses of the body, consciousness, and the mind.

It's getting more and more murky, murky, and increasingly murky.

Then, just as everything turned white and cloudy, the last thing Lily saw was...

The boy's pure white smile.

“——”

Just before his uncontrollable thirst turned him into a beast who only knew how to pursue "divine wine".

In her vision, stained white and cloudy, she found the smile of the boy who had rescued her years before.

His smile remained in the deepest corner of his heart, gradually being covered up by paint.

"..."

A tear slowly slid down her cheek.

The smile on his relaxed lips vanished, and he forcefully lifted his chin.

The boy's tenderness always lit a lamp in her heart, causing her emotions to overflow and tears to fall.

Meanwhile, Lily cheered up.

"...Please..."

The hoarse whisper escaping from her small lips made Somo stop what she was doing.

Then, as if he had been electrocuted, he turned around abruptly.

Beneath her long bangs, Lily's trembling hands and feet were reflected in her wide eyes as she stood up.

"...Please, stop them."

She spoke clearly, word by word.

Before the astonished eyes of Somo and Chanis.

Lily suddenly looked up.

"Please—stop this battle!!"

Then she shed tears and shouted out her unwavering wish.

"Varied……"

Was that murmur from Soma? Or from Chanis?

She waved goodbye to the temptation and resisted the magic of the "divine wine".

She bid farewell to the divine wine that had captivated countless hearts and bewitched the masses. The seemingly fragile and powerless young girl triumphed over the "divine wine."

Even though she was from a lower class who had not been elevated by "favor," she resisted Soma's curse solely through her willpower.

"Lily wants to help them!!"

Lily shouted at him, pleading and expressing her feelings.

Like a child sobbing.

Like a girl covered in soot (filth), she found her destiny with others through her own efforts.

"Even without divine intervention, Lily understands that she was born for this very moment!"

Lily will probably never forget.

Even if one loses their life, is reborn many times, or falls into the abyss of hell.

I'm afraid Lily will never forget what happened to that boy.

"All the mistakes Lily has made all along have led to this day!"

The warmth of the hands that saved me from danger, the tenderness of their embrace.

She would never forget that pure white smile that forgave her.

Even if Lily becomes someone else, she will never forget.

Only that scene, imprinted on this body and soul, will never fade.

"This time, Lily must become his power!"

Lily recounted her story, remembering Bell who had given her smiles and her first warmth.

She harbors regret and emptiness for her gray past filled with mistakes, yet she continues to shout for the present moment.

"Lily absolutely has to help them."

She gazed directly at the supreme deity, revealing the surging emotions within her heart.

"Please stop this fight!"

She expressed her wish in a loud voice that echoed all the way to the outside of the tower.

“…………”

Su Mo stood frozen in place, staring at the girl's petite figure.

The scene before us is beyond the reach of the gods who neither suffer nor grow.

Witnessing the living appearance of the inhabitants of the lower realm for the first time left him speechless.

"No way...!?"

Seeing Somo's reaction, Chanis began to worry.

He lost his composure and cried out to the supreme deity:

"Soma God, do not listen to this man! We are currently under attack from other factions—!?"

"Shut up, Chanis."

Soma didn't even glance at him, and dismissed his statement with just this one sentence.

Ignoring the spasms on Chanis's face caused by the rebuttal of his objections, Somo and Lily exchanged glances.

The girl's resolute posture was reflected in his dark eyes, and then he took a step forward.

He opened the huge window, holding the bottle of "divine wine," and walked towards the spacious balcony. A battle was raging below. Soma tossed the bottle from the railing, which offered a panoramic view of the entire area.

The bottle traced an arc as it fell from the sky to the ground, shattering in the very center of the battlefield.

The bottle shattered into pieces with a loud noise, causing the members of the Soma Familia to stop what they were doing.

They all gasped when they looked up at the balcony, without exception.

"Cease fighting."

Under the gazing gaze of many, Soma made a proclamation to the people below.

Upon hearing the strict command issued by the main god, who was only interested in brewing wine, the group members all stood frozen in place, offering no resistance.

They all abandoned Zanis's orders and obeyed God's will by laying down their weapons.

"Soma... he actually took action...!?"

Seeing the deathly silent battlefield and Soma's back as he stood on the balcony, Chanis shook his head, saying it was impossible. His mask of feigned wisdom crumbled, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

Shocked, he was momentarily paralyzed, but the loud thud of the management tower door being kicked open startled him, and his shoulder swayed.

Sensing that the intruders were about to approach from downstairs, Chanis anxiously looked around the room, his ugly, crooked eyes piercing through Lily.

"Damn it! If that's the case, I'll at least get my hands on you—!!"

Chanis pounced on Lily like a beast.

Driven by lust, he had to at least get his hands on Lily; the girl's battered and bruised body was unable to react to his actions. Chanis, drawing his one-handed sword from his waist, grinned and extended his demonic hand.

However, just before his hand touched Lily.

An arrow flew towards him.

「!?」

At the last moment, Chanis dodged an arrow that flew from the side.

Trembling at the arrow that had pierced the wall and cracked it, he looked toward the balcony, the direction from which he had been sniped.

The eye caught sight of a dog-man setting up a longbow on a watchtower within the site.

"Well done, keep going!!"

"I know without you having to tell me."

The moment the man's voice rang out from the opposite tower, the dog-woman immediately fired the metal arrow he had given her. However, this time the arrow wasn't aimed at Chanis, but instead embedded itself deeply into the wall of the balcony protruding from the management tower.

What was she planning to do? The question that had been forming in Chanis's mind turned into disbelief and astonishment when he saw the extra-thick steel cable extending from the arrow stuck in the wall.

As if mocking his shock as the "correct answer," a red-haired man with a large sword slung over his shoulder ran along the steel cable.

「!?」

Crossing the cable bridge spanning the watchtower on the opposite bank, the man sped towards them like an acrobat. The cables tied to the tower showed no sign of breaking. The man carrying the large sword—Wilf—runned the entire cable in an instant, soaring over Soma's head as he looked up, and landed on the balcony.

The blacksmith, his black kimono fluttering in the wind, entered the room and appeared before the speechless Chanis and Lily.

"The runaway is over, Riko."

"Welf, sir..."

"Let's go back quickly."

The smiling Welf suddenly turned fierce, confronting the frozen-in-place Chanis.

"Give this girl back to me. My sworn brother (adventurer) is waiting for her."

"Stop joking, okay?! Aa ...

Trembling, Chanis charged forward, roaring as he attacked. Welf countered with his own weapon.

One-handed sword and broadsword, one-on-one.

The weapons of both sides collided and bounced off each other with the first strike, thus beginning the battle.

"He's just a blacksmith!"

With an expression that resembled that of a savage thug, Chanis used his one-handed sword to slash downwards and then reach upwards.

Each dodge left shallow cuts on his casual kimono. Despite the swift attacks that a novice adventurer couldn't imitate, Welf remained unfazed, seizing every opportunity to unleash a leftward slash with his greatsword, thus repelling Chanis's offensive.

Both sides were at Lv.2, unleashing powerful slashes that went back and forth.

The clash of blades created an impact that sent Lily reeling backward, accompanied by a whistling sound. Welf countered Chanis's occasional powerful kicks with his free left elbow, determined not to let himself be hit.